CHAPTER 254
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CHAPTER 254
296 AC
POV THIRD PERSON
Aermir smiled. Ned was making many assumptions, but because Ned knew him well enough, he was able to guess most of the things. Aermir looked at his confused face and realized it was time he told him everything.
"Night King is real and very much alive with a huge army of undead in the lands of always winter."
Ned froze, not knowing how to respond to this for a moment, and thought Aermir was joking.
"Don't make fun of me, Aermir; you might be a powerful man, and you may not have to give me a reason, but you are someone my son's age. I expect you to at least respect my age, and I am trying to have a serious conversation here."
Aermir, with a dead serious face, said,
"Do I look like I am jesting?"
"You... Are you serious?"
Aermir nodded. Ned was still having a hard time accepting it and said,
"Let's say it is the truth."
"It is the truth."
Aermir told him everything that happened to him when he connected with the Root network of weirwood trees and convinced him about the Night King.
"Then this doesn't make any sense at all; why are you fighting with Vale when we have a common enemy."
Aermir sighed and said,
"Because there is no such thing as permanent enemies, and no permanent friends, only permanent interests when it comes to the Seven Kingdoms, and even that is unclear when it comes to the Seven Kingdoms. Let's put our hands to our hearts and have a real conversation about this. Let's say I told the whole world that the Night King is real; what are the King and the seven kingdoms going to do? Be objective, and don't put your feelings into your answers. Can you do that?"
Ned thought a bit and said,
"It will take a lot of work to convince them they are real without putting one of them right in front of their face."
Aermir nodded,
"Exactly; until we can capture one of them, we can't even create an environment for a possible alliance. That is why I have created a surveillance network around the wildling colonies in the Far North using one of my familiars. The second I caught sight of them, I am going to attempt to catch one of them as proof."
He looked into Ned's eyes and continued.
"Let's say we jumped through this hurdle; what will be the next? We will create a unified army under the rule of Robert, the strongest army this land has ever seen, right?"
Ned nodded excitedly,
"Right."
"Wrong; I told you not to be sentimental and don't use your feelings. Be cold and objective. Think like you are the Old Lion, Lady Olenna, Jon Arryn, Prince Doren, or every other slithering lord; think like your interests are more important than anything else. What would you do?"
Ned thought a bit more, and then he came to a realization. His eyes grew, and he said,
"They wouldn't do that, but they would be gambling with their future. No, tens of millions will die!"
Elmi sighed and said,
"Do you think they would care? As long as their households remain standing, they wouldn't care what happens to the rest of the people. So, tell me, what would they do?"
Ned looked right into Aermir's eyes, and a knot formed in his stomach. Could he be right?
"If what you are saying is right, they would mostly send levies and average soldiers at best and keep their elite forces."
Aermir continued,
"To them, we wouldn't lose to the Night King, and even if we did, they would think we would weaken it enough that they could kill him when it was their turn. To them, it would be mainly our and Riverland's problem. They would all expect us to be the main bulk of the army."
Aermir looked a bit frustrated and continued,
"You will see; I will find an undead and put it in front of them, and using Robert, I will unify them, but as you said, it would be an army of mostly levies and average soldiers. To them, we cannot lose since we have our own magic user."
Ned's eyes glowed with hope, and said,
"Can you beat him?"
Aermir shook his head,
"I don't think so; he is so much more powerful than me. "
He pulled his pants up and showed Ned the purplish hand mark around his ankle.
"This is a forced invitation curse; if I don't hold it back, most likely, he can pass around the wall, or the worse possibility is the wall will crumble down. In an army or one-on-one, I don't think I can beat him, but if I can isolate him and use all of my familiars and tricks, I might be able to beat him. We are not hopeless; I have plans against him, but until I witness his power, they are just plans." Aermir sighed with a thoughtful expression, "I don't even know if they would work, a wise man once said plans only work up until the first arrow is released."
Ned looked thoughtful and said,
"I still don't believe they would hold their power back when we are facing a common enemy."
"I hope you are right, and I am wrong, but I am sure they will hold main power for themselves, at least most of them. Some of them might surprise us; for example, Old Lion could help us, but he will most likely demand a high price. He had worked for the betterment of the realm but his house's reputation benefited from it immensely. He would never do something for free. "
Ned looked confused,
"This still doesn't explain why are you fighting against Vale?"
Aermir smiled and said,
"In a way, it does; let's say your main force is weakened. Most of your men died in a battle. Would you have the courage to fight such a threat by yourself? Would you want to gamble, as you said? If we weaken them, then they will send more of their remaining main forces rather than sending fodder."
Aermir looked a bit hesitant if he should share the other reason, too; Ned sensed this and said,
"What is it? There is something else you are not telling me."
"Let's say we beat the Night King; in the best case, we would lose two-thirds of our army."
When he heard him, Ned's face lost some color.
"Now we are after a huge battle with a battered army and a poor kingdom with a unified army in our lands. This creates a huge opportunity for some people. Can you guess who?"
He looked frustrated and said,
"Don't play games and tell it to me straight."
"Okay, the Faith... I am one hundred percent sure they would try to end the reign of Old Gods in the North. Andal would be able to pass the Neck after 6 thousand years without fighting, and their long-cherished wish would come true. Do you think they will go back without resisting?"
Aermir's eyes looked more serious, and he continued,
"When we are weak, they will not go back. Huster Tully doesn't have the guts to do something like this. Tywin Lannister is too smart to allow Faith into his ranks, but the Vale is the perfect place. Jon might not be a devout believer. To him, Faith is a tradition, but not to his lords. Almost all of Vale is made out of zealot believers; when the Great Sept orders them to convert the North, they will not hesitate."
Aermir looked into Ned's eyes with determination and continued, "So when the great war happens, I am going to make sure Vale is in the thick of the battle with us all the time. After the great war, Vale needed to be the weakest kingdom, so they could never even dream about another war for a long time."