It had been a night that felt like a lifetime ago. When Aegor walked out of the River Gate garrison and stepped onto the street, the world had already changed dramatically. He had been the absolute center of attention that night, the key figure pursued by one faction and protected by another. Yet, with the farce ending at dawn, he had suddenly become nothing more than a passerby no one cared about.
He descended the stairs from the captain's office in the River Gate garrison barracks, walked down the corridor, passed the training grounds, and exited the camp onto the street across from the River Gate. No one looked at him. No one spoke to him. Let alone attack or assassinate him.
Jaime Lannister had come and gone in a flash. His appearance seemed solely to rescue his brother. Countless gold cloaks rushed back and forth on the street in front of the River Gate garrison, lining up to be counted before returning to their respective posts. Ser Bywater, the Ironhand, was nowhere to be seen, but Aegor spotted him further off, gathering soldiers at the River Gate.
What's that for? Are they about to search the East Camp? But that wouldn't require so many men.
Tyrion stood with the boys from the security team and the wight escort squad at the base of the garrison wall, making way for incoming traffic. They were easy to spot as the passing crowd avoided them.
...
"Ser Alliser." Though they had never gotten along, after a night of life and death, Aegor couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity at the sight of someone from his own ranks. As he approached the wight escort team, someone finally noticed him. "I just received your letter a few days ago. I didn't expect you to arrive so soon."
A youthful voice replied, "It was a fast warship. The wind and current were in our favor. We had more than a dozen men rowing in shifts every day. Of course we were fast."
"Dommi!" Aegor grinned and high-fived him. This was one of the recruits who had trained at Castle Black alongside him. They had gotten along well. After graduation under Alliser, he had been assigned to Eastwatch. The dragonglass dagger Aegor had used to kill a White Walker had been acquired through trade with merchants visiting the Night's Watch port—thanks to him. It wasn't an exaggeration to say he was half his savior.
...
...
"I heard this whole scene was caused by you? Master Aegor is quite the figure in King's Landing now." Alliser clearly didn't want to hear his two former students reminiscing, so he interrupted them, emphasizing the word "Master." "What's that on your shoulder? Were you injured?"
"It's just a minor wound, nothing serious." The injury stung, but Aegor feigned nonchalance. Glancing at the half-shirtless members of the wight escort team, he realized that, as their host, he had to take care of them. "Nina, have someone bring twenty sets of black summer clothes..."
"We can discuss that after we finish our mission. What matters most now is getting the wight to the Red Keep and presenting it to King Robert. If this thing rots on the final stretch, Mormont won't forgive us."
That made sense. Aegor didn't want to stir up more trouble. "Nina, just leave the clothes in the office. We'll deal with them later. I'm heading to the Red Keep with Ser Alliser and the others first."
"Yes, ser."
Slynt's remnants hadn't been entirely cleared. Aegor assigned two guards to accompany Nina to buy summer clothes for the Night's Watch. Then, he heard Tyrion quietly calling his name. As he approached, Tyrion lowered his voice and said, "Aegor, something's not right. I'm heading back to the city now to pack... and I'm leaving for Casterly Rock today."
"Something's wrong? What did you find?" After all the twists and turns, Slynt had finally been taken down. Aegor had survived, and Tyrion no longer had to worry about changing his name. They should be celebrating the Night's Watch's first victory. Why was he running?
---
Avoiding the crowd, Tyrion quickly explained what Slynt had shouted during his arrest, how Jory had silenced him, and how Jaime had turned back toward the Red Keep after hearing it. Additionally, the sudden change in the garrison's command and the current troop assembly... None of these details meant much on their own, but together, they painted a troubling picture.
Could Robert be planning to strike against Cersei today? But then, why send Jaime away now? The Kingslayer couldn't storm the Red Keep alone, and even if he could, Barristan's swordsmanship was only slightly inferior to his... Aegor's mind raced, and he gradually pieced the situation together. He realized something truly was off. "You've kept your promise. You brought down Slynt within three days. You've done your part. Go now. Don't hesitate."
"Right. There are still things I haven't explained. I'll write them down once I return to the industrial zone. Let's hope we're just scaring ourselves."
"Safe travels."
"You too. Remember, always keep your guard squad with you when moving around the city. Don't get careless."
After their whispered exchange of warnings and farewells, Tyrion left with Jack and a large group of unarmed security recruits, making his way back toward the River Gate.
This day had finally arrived, and Aegor's scalp tingled with unease. As for the power struggle among the high lords, he had neither the means nor the strength to intervene. But now that Eddard's captain of the guard had seized control of the city's garrison, at the very least, the worst-case scenario of "Cersei seizing power" would not come to pass.
After watching Tyrion vanish into the distance, Aegor turned to find Jaqen leaning against the cage, observing the wight. He suddenly remembered—he had never actually seen a wight up close either... But as a brother of the Night's Watch who knew of their existence and had even killed a White Walker, his curiosity and anticipation were low. That's why, even with the creature right in front of him, he hadn't thought to take a closer look.
"This man is dead." Jaqen spoke with certainty, not as a question but a statement. He rarely spoke of his own accord, but the thing in the cage clearly defied his understanding, so he had to ask, "There is no life in him. How do you make him move?"
"We didn't make him move. He was dead, then raised by dark magic into a bloodthirsty monster, sensitive to heat and light," Dommi explained. Although he didn't know Jaqen, he kindly warned him, "You'd better stay back. This is a fresh corpse, not yet rotting. It's strong. If it gets a chance, it can snap a man's neck."
"North of the Wall, they are all like this?"
"Thousands, tens of thousands."
In truth, there weren't that many. Not yet, at least. But the Night's Watch members in King's Landing had agreed on a unified story, when asked, they would all say "tens of thousands." It was instinctive for those seeking help to exaggerate the threat, especially since they couldn't bring a White Walker to show the king. For now, the Night's Watch could only use the sheer number of wights to instill fear.
Alliser gave Jaqen an impatient glance. "Don't stare at it. Just take it to the Red Keep and show the lords. You can study it all you want afterward. You can even cut off an arm and take it home to play with."
Jaqen stepped away from the cage and stopped staring at the wight. Aegor didn't know if it was an illusion, but when Jaqen turned around, he saw a trace of genuine fear in his eyes. It was hard to imagine that a Faceless Man, so powerful and elusive, could be afraid. Perhaps, for someone who worshipped the Many-Faced God and made a living through death, "an enemy who couldn't be killed" and "the dead rising again" were the most terrifying things in the world.
The gold cloaks had mostly assembled. Several units had already returned to their barracks. Meanwhile, Jory—Eddard's former captain of the guard and now "acting commander of the garrison"—remained behind to meet with the officers of the Iron Gate, Aegon's High Hill, and River Gate garrisons to get acquainted. Three hundred soldiers might not seem like much, but within the narrow confines of the Red Keep, they were an armed force capable of deciding the outcome of any confrontation.
Something big was about to happen in King's Landing.
There was no time to delay. Aegor quickly assigned a flurry of small tasks to Nina and Neil, then, along with Jaqen and four remaining bodyguards, joined the wight escort team and set out for the Red Keep—before Jory finished reorganizing the garrison.
...
Dragging the wight through the streets, they arrived at their destination under the watchful eyes of King's Landing residents. The royal castle gate was closed, with two Stark soldiers standing guard who stopped them.
Aegor stepped forward and said, "Sers, please inform the Hand of the King that the Night's Watch has an urgent matter to report."
The guards shook their heads. "We're sorry, brothers of the Night's Watch. The Hand has ordered that the Red Keep undergo full lockdown today. No visitors, no business. Please return another day."
(Just as expected.) Now there was no doubt. Robert and Eddard would take action today. Aegor took a deep breath and was about to find an excuse or offer a bribe to persuade the guards when Ser Alliser pulled him back and said, "I'll handle it."
The trainer from Castle Black drew his steel sword and, under the wary eyes of the gatekeepers, repeated the performance of "demonstrating the wight" as he had at the River Gate. He stabbed the wight three times inside the cage, then handed the sword over hilt-first so they could confirm it was real. "There are tens of thousands of these wights north of the Wall, and the Night's Watch can no longer hold them back. If the Wall falls, the entire North—perhaps all of Westeros—will become a living hell. We rowed day and night to get here, and now you're telling us to come back another day?!"
The Stark guards were Northerners. Both of them and their families hailed from near Winterfell. Alliser's threat struck a nerve. The man who took the steel sword examined it again and again, confirming it was genuine. He and his comrade exchanged a glance, visibly shaken.
Alliser wasn't particularly eloquent, but the wight—moving even in death—was proof enough. The guards whispered to each other, returned the sword, circled the cage to observe the creature, then finally nodded. "Wait here. I'll report it. But I can't promise the Hand will agree to see you."
One of them knocked firmly on the Red Keep gate and shouted. A guard inside opened a narrow slit, and the messenger slipped through quickly.
Moments later, the door opened again, and the same guard reappeared. "Follow me. But leave all your weapons behind before entering."
(To be continued.)
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