WiSh - Chapter 5

Chapter 5: First Meeting with Catelyn

Suddenly, Jory heard Eddard Stark's distinctive, deep voice: "Will, kneel down and speak the prophecy, let us seek divine guidance."

There was no response from Will.

Jory opened his eyes and saw Will standing stiffly to the side.

This stinking black-clad fellow was too rude.

Jory stood up and pushed Will hard with his hand: "Bastard, kneel down."

Will fell to the ground like a log. He lay there in the same posture he had been standing in, as if he were a statue of ice.

Eddard Stark was surprised and stood up, reaching out to touch Will. He found that Will still had a very faint breath, but his whole body was cold, his eyes were closed, and his body had frozen.

"How could this happen?" Jory exclaimed in horror.

"Go and see if Maester Luwin has arrived? He's probably in the maester's tower at this time." Eddard Stark quickly instructed Jory.

On their return from the execution hill, Eddard Stark had already sent Desmond on a fast horse to notify Maester Luwin to come to the godswood. For some reason, Maester Luwin had not yet arrived.

"Yes, my lord." Jory quickly stood up and hurried through the godswood, soon disappearing.

"Will, wake up. Will, what's wrong with you?" Eddard Stark slapped Will hard, and Will's body swayed like a puppet.

Above the Wall, the transparent human form of Will, enveloped in warmth, began to dissipate bit by bit. The cold, like knives, pierced his body. To avoid freezing, he could only desperately gather all his consciousness, imagining himself surrounded by flames. And his soul power grew stronger as he resisted the increasingly sharp, unbreakable cold. His pain, however, deepened rapidly, reaching a critical point where Will felt his entire body becoming part of the cold, his consciousness blurring, his will beginning to dissipate. Was this the end of his soul? Such pain was unbearable; he would rather have a quick end. In his hazy thoughts, he was completely consumed by the cold...

After an unknown amount of time, Will heard a very distant voice: "Wake up, wake up quickly, Maester Luwin, we can't let him fall asleep completely..."

His consciousness began to return bit by bit. The first thing he felt was the bone-chilling cold on his back, and then he felt shaking, as if he were sitting in a boat.

"My consciousness is returning. I must try to open my eyes and not let myself fall asleep, or I will truly sleep forever." As a former doctor, Will desperately told himself this in his heart. This thought could strengthen the will to survive and stimulate the enormous potential for survival in the human body... At the same time, Will felt fear deep within him—the fear brought by the unbeatable, overwhelming cold. He had just experienced the pain of his body being torn apart bit by bit by the cold. The cold's sharp blades were like merciless executioners, skillfully slicing his flesh inch by inch, from the skin to the flesh, to the veins, to the bones, all the way to the depths of the marrow...

The pain was such that even thinking about it now made Will shudder with fear... Perhaps only the word "hell" could describe it...

He had just walked a circle through hell... This method of forced soul training, at the moment Will lost consciousness, he would have preferred a quick end...

Will opened his eyes and saw four faces before him, somewhat blurry and still shaking. He felt dizzy and closed his eyes to control the nausea in his heart. An old, excited voice sounded in his ear: "Lord Eddard, he's awake, he's awake, he'll be fine for now."

"He needs to drink a bowl of poppy milk," Eddard Stark said, his voice sounding relieved.

"Eddard, don't worry, he won't die as long as he wakes up. The Night's Watch are the ones who fear cold the least, and besides, Winterfell isn't cold. The hot springs that run through the castle walls make the temperature here much higher than outside. I don't understand why he would freeze under the heart tree... Could this be a trick by a disgraceful deserter?" A clear, feminine voice spoke, filled with vigilance and suspicion.

Historically, the Night's Watch was a legion of warriors, but unfortunately, in recent times, it has become a refuge for thieves, robbers, rapists, swindlers, and other dishonorable scum.

The woman's suspicion of Will was justified!

Will opened his eyes again, took a deep breath, and felt warmth return to his body. He sensed the frozen blood in his veins beginning to flow again. He sat up and saw before him a woman with beautiful auburn hair, well-defined features, and blue eyes. She looked at Will with a cold and scrutinizing gaze. She wore a black cloak that trailed on the ground, with a noble black mink fur shoulder cape and deer leather gloves.

Although her gaze was cold and disdainful, it couldn't hide her dignified and noble demeanor.

Will said, "Night's Watchman Will greets Lady Catelyn Tully Stark." He was surprised by the calmness in his own voice, wondering if it was because his soul had been strengthened.

Was it because his soul had been strengthened that he could face the duchess with such composure? It was as if he had seen the world and understood life and death, remaining detached and calm.

"You've met me before?" Catelyn raised her head slightly, her tone distant and cold.

"Before this, I have not had the pleasure of meeting you, my lady." Will stood up slowly, neither servile nor overbearing.

"Then how did you know it was me?"

"Intuition, my lady."

"Your intuition is very accurate?"

"Intuition with logic, my lady. Because Lord Eddard Stark is here, because this is the godswood, and because of your extraordinary bearing and grace." Will bowed slightly.

"Maester Luwin, send the fastest raven to the Wall to inform Lord Commander Mormont that we have captured a deserter from the Night's Watch. Also, tell Lord Commander Mormont that we want to know everything about this man. Oh, right, your name is Will, isn't it?" Lady Catelyn was not as beautiful and gentle as she appeared. In fact, she was filled with disgust and suspicion for this stinking black-clad bastard.

"Yes, my lady, my name is Will." Will's family belonged to the lower class of commoners, without land or property, essentially propertyless. In the past, they would have been slaves. Many of these poor people had no surname, only a given name.

"Will?"

"Yes! When I was a free man, I had no surname." Will looked at the heart tree and then saw a pair of brown eyes in the heart tree's eyes, watching him cautiously. Will tried to look closer, but the brown eyes disappeared, and everything returned to normal.

Catelyn was a believer in the Seven, not the old gods of the First Men. The old gods had the trouble of being nameless and faceless, with no specific idols for people to worship. All the gods with divine powers in the forests and mountains were objects of worship for the followers of the old gods, be they tree gods, beast gods, wind gods, fire gods, snow gods, or any other ancient deities. Catelyn's faith in the Seven was different; they had names, faces, and specific domains.

"Will, are you a believer in the old gods?" Catelyn asked, with a barely perceptible frown.

"Yes, my faith is the same as Lord Stark's. I believe in all the old gods, the ancient deities, and the gods of the First Men."

Although Catelyn had married Eddard Stark, a believer in the old gods, her faith had not changed. There was an empty space to the left of the main keep where Eddard Stark had built a sept specifically for Catelyn, with statues of the Seven inside, for her to worship alone.

"The divine revelation of the old gods granting you a surname is your glory; I have nothing to say about it." Catelyn said indifferently, her eyes turning to Eddard.

Will politely bowed slightly again, like a very well-mannered sworn knight. His politeness and unhurried demeanor were not what one would expect from a rough ranger of thief origin.

Eddard Stark and Jory had seen many rude and impolite rangers, and even the learned Maester Luwin was secretly amazed by the manners of this tattered, likely illiterate, black-clad fellow of common birth.