RoWE - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Heading South

No matter why Benjen Stark originally joined the Night's Watch, Aeg had to admit: he was indeed a dedicated Chief Ranger. This lean and tough man learned through a message raven that the king should arrive in the North in three weeks, and the journey from Castle Black to Winterfell would take less than two weeks. So, he busied himself with arranging patrols and defenses at the Night's Watch base for a few more days before preparing to leave. Fortunately, he was able to wait for Will to return to the Wall and provide testimony consistent with Aeg's, thus changing his mind and deciding to take Aeg with him to Winterfell to report to the Warden of the North.

Aeg was somewhat relieved. Not everyone sought comfort like he did. If he were the Chief Ranger and received a summons from his brother, the Lord of Winterfell, he would probably have packed his bags and set off south on the same day. Compared to the Wall, even Winterfell, which southerners considered cold and eerie, was definitely a paradise.

There are always some people in the world who are noble beyond the imagination of ordinary people. Aeg would never dare to judge Benjen Stark's honor and dedication with his own narrow-mindedness just because he couldn't understand it. He admired Benjen's sense of honor and duty, but Aeg himself was not born or raised here, nor did he have a brother who was the Warden of the North. Like a soldier conscripted by force during the Chinese Civil War, he felt no sense of belonging to this world or this kingdom, to be threatened with mutilation to force an oath and then be expected to live and die here? No, thank you. Aeg was an ordinary person, neither noble nor selfless. Even if the oath were ten times more grand and inspiring, he would refuse such a fate.

Even without selfish motives, Aeg believed that with his knowledge and understanding of this world, he could definitely contribute more to the world anywhere else than by being confined to the Wall fighting White Walkers.

Opportunities only come to those who are prepared. For this trip to Winterfell, Will, who had watched Waymar Royce being killed by the White Walkers from a tree, was originally a more suitable candidate. But Benjen didn't hesitate to choose Aeg. Partly because of Will's condition, which made him unsuitable for the journey, and probably also because the former was simply not presentable. Compared to the poacher, who was always timid, spoke with an accent, and occasionally stuttered, Aeg, with his fluent speech and clear thinking, was obviously more suitable for reporting the situation to the Lord of Winterfell.

Moreover, he had heard rumors that Will seemed to have been scared out of his wits by the White Walkers and was somewhat neurotic.

*****

He and Benjen set off in the afternoon. To save time, they would follow the King's Road, cutting through the wolf woods straight to Winterfell. They would not pass through the Last Hearth or visit Deepwood Motte, so like their patrols beyond the Wall, they brought enough food and drink for the journey. The only difference was that for the sake of convenience, each of them brought two horses.

Snow was falling lightly from the sky. In the silence, they rode out of the gates of Castle Black. The road beneath their feet, though named the King's Road and indeed an extension of the King's Road, was not much wider than a forest path. The true road began in King's Landing and ended at Winterfell. Beyond that, it was only an extension in name.

Riding south in silence, they soon approached Mole's Town. As they crested a gentle slope, Aeg couldn't help but look back.

Castle Black was located on the south side of the Wall, and the light it received was not affected by the high wall. The color of the ice itself was not conspicuous. For the Night's Watch, it was not difficult to ignore the presence of the Wall in their daily lives. To protect their necks and because they were used to it, Aeg learned to ignore the towering ice wall beside him after living in Castle Black for a few months.

But the Wall did not disappear just because you didn't look at it. It stood there as if it had existed since the beginning of time and would continue to guard the North until the end of the world.

Now, a few miles away, the entire outline of the Wall was visible. The colossus that had once filled the sky and the entire field of vision gradually became a gray-blue screen spanning the northern horizon. It extended uninterrupted to both ends, stretching east and west to the edge of the vision, until it disappeared into the distant gray-white cold fog.

From a distance, one could more intuitively feel its grandeur. This was the most massive structure built by humans in the world of ice and fire, and it was definitely the tallest man-made structure on at least the continent of Westeros. From here, the towers and huts of the Night's Watch outposts looked like toy blocks scattered in the snow at the foot of the wall; and the black-clad men moving about were like busy ants between the blocks.

If Aeg were in his own world, this place would definitely become a top tourist attraction. Take a vacation, bring your loved ones, leave the noisy and fast-paced city, come to the northernmost part of the world to feel the cold wind and play in the snow, stand at the top of the Wall to overlook the endless Haunted Forest, "experience the baptism of nature," "cleanse the dusty soul". Not only would it be a great gimmick, but it would also add a topic for bragging.

But the existence of the White Walkers changed the Wall's image in an instant. It was a military structure for humans to resist extinction, the front line of a battle for survival. There were few places in the world more dangerous than here. If nothing unexpected happened, this trip to Winterfell would be Aeg's last chance to escape before participating in the next patrol. If possible, he hoped he would never return to this place for the rest of his life.

"Aeg," Benjen Stark, who had been lost in thought beside him, spoke up: "You're a foreigner, and I know you're dissatisfied with being forced to serve at the Wall for no reason. But I must kindly remind you, don't even think about running away. Countless people have proven with their lives that the price of desertion is quite heavy."

"I understand, I have no intention of running away." Aeg's thoughts were suddenly exposed, and he was startled. He quickly turned back to declare: "I have taken a sacred oath, and I will watch until the end of my life. The customs and culture where I come from are very different from Westeros, but the attitude towards promises is equally serious."

"That's for the best." Benjen nodded and did not continue the topic: "My brother, Eddard Stark, is a typical Northerner who doesn't adhere to formalities. But no matter what, he is the Warden of the North and the Lord of Winterfell. Our Stark family has the blood of the First Men flowing through us, and our lineage is quite ancient. So, I'll take this opportunity to briefly explain some basic etiquette and taboos to you. You must remember them well. Forgetting them won't cost you your head, but it's still impolite."

"Yes." Aeg nodded solemnly, giving the Wall one last complex look before turning away and temporarily putting it out of his mind, ready to listen carefully.

*****

The two of them traveled during the day and rested at night, passing through Mole's Town and Crown Village, moving away from the Night's Watch's sphere of influence. The road beneath their horses' hooves gradually widened, and signs of human life became more common along the way. The ruler of the North had granted the Night's Watch a large tract of land north of the wolf woods, allowing them to collect taxes and grain to sustain their operations. But as the strength of the Night's Watch waned and their numbers dwindled, wildlings increasingly raided the residents of the gift land by crossing the Wall. This led to a mass migration of gift land residents to the south, fleeing the Night's Watch, which was unable to protect them, and settling within the protection of other Northern lords. Today, except for a few small areas near the three major Night's Watch outposts where villagers still lived, the "gift land" had become almost a no-man's-land.

Ironically, the formation of the no-man's-land actually made the North safer. This area, together with the Wall, formed a double insurance. Few wildlings were willing to risk crossing the ice wall only to then cross the desolate and uninhabited gift land to raid villages protected by powerful houses like Umber and Karstark. The rewards for raiding beyond the Wall decreased, and naturally, no wildlings would do such a thankless task. This gave the Northern lords the most direct feeling that wildling incursions had decreased. Most nobles attributed this to the Night's Watch, and thus voluntarily provided food, clothing, and other supplies, resulting in mutual satisfaction.

Aeg and Benjen Stark's journey south to Winterfell was very smooth. Apart from encountering a group of suspicious wildlings who seemed to be fleeing south, they did not encounter any other accidents. Even this group quickly disappeared into the dense forest after seeing Benjen and Aeg's black cloaks. The Chief Ranger, unlike Waymar Royce, was not hot-headed and chose to let them go, not wanting to cause trouble.

The road continued to widen, stone bridges crossed rapids, farms formed settlements surrounded by stone walls and wooden beams, and other travelers and merchants began to appear on the road. After sunset, they no longer had to camp in the wilderness. Two weeks later, they arrived at their destination on time, as Benjen had predicted.