Chapter 112

"Mance will live." He told Tormund who had a slightly worried look on his face and the tent erupted with cheers.

Mance might have been a man of the Nights Watch once but he was truly loved by the free folk now.

The cheers lasted for a while and once everybody had calmed down, he took a seat opposite to Tormund with Karsi and Varko standing behind him (yes, he had been trying to get them together every chance he could get) and asked the million dollar question.

"What happened Tormund?"

The atmosphere turned grim as soon as he asked the question and he could see a hint of anger in Tormund's eyes.

"Weeper took the men you had told to fuck off and made a large band of his own." Tormund said with barely restrained anger in his voice "Should have killed that fucker when I had the chance. Now he had fashioned himself the King Beyond the Wall though with how few people he had left after the battle, I doubt anyone else thinks of him as the same."

"We had some 10,000 people before Weeper attacked us." One of Tormund's son said "Now we barely have half of that."

"The main point is… Weeper might have lost as many as us in the battle… but he still has a good deal more." Tormund said "So he's stopping anyone else who wants to go to South with you. I have no doubt that he has already made a few examples of anyone he found coming to Hardhome." Tormund shook his head sadly "We'll not be able to bring any more people South from here."

He thought about what Tormund had said and mulled the facts in his mind.

In the past few years, he had already brought about 40,000 Free Folk to his lands. Of the remaining Free Folk in the North, 20,000 were Thenns. People who were known for their Cannibalistic tendencies. He didn't even want to touch them with a ten foot pole let alone bring them to his lands.

This Weeper had about 10,000 people under him. There must be about 10,000 more whom he rejected who are currently scattered in the North and about 20,000 who did not rejected Mance offer.

Well… he could go to the 20,000 who are scattered in dozens of different tribes all over the North and see if they're worth saving. If they are, then he would have to kill this Weeper and defeat his men before he had any hopes of brining anyone to Hardhome.

Did he really wanted to put so much effort and risk his life for people who rejected Mance's offer in the first place.

No. No he did not.

There was a point in his life when he had a Savior's complex but he had been cured of that long ago.

Now he was a more pragmatic man.

"This will be the last time then." He told Tormund with the seriousness that this news deserved. "Prepare your people Tormund. I want them in the ships before Nightfall." He said and got up from his chair, turning to leave before he stopped and said "And don't worry about Mance Rayder. I'm taking him with me to my lands personally. When you reach Dreadfort you'll be able to meet him once again."

With that, he left the tent with Varko walking behind him and Karsi talking with Tormund and his men and telling them about life in his lands as they had discussed beforehand.