Chapter 202

LORD COMMANDER JEOR MORMONT

Jeor Mormont let out a tired sigh and looked at the pile of unopened letters on his desk from the various lords in the North. He hadn't opened them because he already know what was written in them.

It has been about three and a half months since Lord Bolton and their armies had left the Wall. 2 months since their armies returned to Shadow Watch and from there, it took them 2 weeks to get to Castle black.

The armies that came back without their leaders still stayed in the Nights Watch and emptied their larders.

Well, Lady Barbrey Dustin had sent more food for the Watch along with the letter enquiring about her nephew.

He didn't know what he should write back to them.

How was he supposed to tell them that Lord Bolton took his best men and went further into the Wildling territory to continue his mission when they themselves came back to the safety of the walls.

In the end, he wrote the only thing that he knew. That Lord Bolton and the heirs had gone further into the Wildling territory and they had not heard any more from them.

Lady Barbrey Dustin had not liked his response. Nor did he expect her to. But he had nothing else to give her except the cold hard truth.

That Lord Bolton, his men and all the others he took with him might be dead at the hands of the Wildlings by now.

He plopped down on his chair and wondered if Lord Bolton had decided to go all the way up to the Land of Always Winter to accomplish his goals.

He personally thought the notion foolish but Lord Bolton was young and his string of victories in every field he stepped into only bolstered his recklessness.

He also wondered what he would do if Lord Bolton was right.

If the White Walkers had truly returned.

He jerked as he heard a sudden knock on his door. Though mere thought of White Walkers made him jittery. What kind of man would abandon his safe home and go in search for them on a self anointed mission.

Or was it the old gods who told him to do so.

He was not one of those who believed that Lord Bolton was chose by the old gods. But after seeing the easy with which his men pushed back the Wildlings on that Mountain and the small amount of causalities they themselves took in that battle made him wonder.

Even if Lord Bolton was not a chosen of the Old Gods, he was still a prodigy the likes of which had never been seen before. And a great battle commander on top of that.

He did hope that Lord Bolton would come back.

"Who is it?" he asked when he heard another knock on his door.

"It's me Lord Commander" his steward replied.

He got up from his chair, walked across the room and opened the door.

"What is it?" he asked the boy.

"Lord Bolton and his men had been sighted Lord Commander." The boy didn't have to say anymore as the gates of the tunnel leading to the other side of the Wall opened up and Lord Bolton himself led his men out of the tunnel.

Three of the Night's Watch patrol he had sent out were also mixed in that group.

He noticed that his men looked haggard and tired. Even fearfully looking at the rectangular wooden cage half covered with with a hastily made leather cloth.

He moved his steward aside and went down to meet Lord Bolton.

"Lord Bolton." He greeted the man who had removed his helmet and was now watching him with his cold pale eyes that held none of the warmth they usually did "What took you so…"

His words were cut off when one of the curious boys went near the wooden cage.

A deathly scream rattled the entire Castle before a hand with half of the flesh missing from it jetted out from within the wooden bars and reached for the boy whose eyes widened in fright and he fell on his butt, the snowy ground underneath him becoming yellow every second as he pissed himself at whatever he saw inside the cage.

All the chattering in the Castle stopped and only the sound of the hooves of Lord Bolton's horse could be heard as he brought his horse up beside him and said "Call all the lords of the North to Castle Black. They need to know."