Chapter 12 — King Beyond the Wall 2
Mance Rayder leaned forward slightly. His voice was steady when he spoke.
"Say it clearly, Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. Why are you here? What do the White Walkers have to do with you walking into my camp?"
Lord Commander Jeor Mormont did not directly answer but questioned him in a firm tone.
"We heard that you were preparing to mount an attack on the Wall."
Mance raised his eyebrows. He was surprised, but not shocked. The rumour had already spread across the True North. Thousands of wildlings were moving south. Everyone could see it.
"Word travels faster than ravens these days." He gave a humourless smile.
"After we gather the remaining willing clans, we will march. If the Wall stands in the way, we will take our chance and cross."
Jeor Mormont nodded slowly. "But I do not think your purpose is only to kill the men of the Watch."
Mance's expression hardened. "No. We're not fools or children playing at war. We don't march to kill a few hundred crows. We march South."
Lord Commander continued, "Where in South?"
Mance stood straighter, and for a moment Manny could see why the wildlings followed him.
"We will go South, as far as we can. Away from the cold and away from the army of the dead."
"The Northern Lords understand this as well. So, they have made decision and sent a proposal on which the Night's Watch has also given its consent."
Mance gave him a sharp look. "A proposal?"
"Yes," Jeor said. "We are giving permission for your people to cross the Wall."
Silence filled the tent.
Mance stared at him, then laughed once under his breath. "Are you sure you hear your own words? Why would you and the Northern Lords care where we go? Why give us permission to cross a Wall built to keep us out?"
Jeor Mormont did not look away. "Because we understand what is coming. The hatred between us is old, but the enmity between the living and the dead is much older than anything."
Mance narrowed his eyes. "Do you think I have forgotten your wars against us? Do you think I do not remember my own years on your Wall? Or have you forgotten our war against you Southerners."
Benjen answered this time. "We remember the enmity. But we do not want the dead to slaughter the living."
Mance snorted. "Do not play schemes with me, Stark. Southerners live for schemes."
Benjen's voice remained calm. "We are not the Southerners you know. The North keeps its own honour."
Mance's tone sharpened. "This is the True North and to us, anyone south of the Wall is a Southerner. I don't care if you are a Stark or Lannister or Martell. You are all the same. Southerners like to invite you with a smile, then stab you with hidden knives. I will not let my people walk into a trap and be slaughtered."
Manny interjected here and reached into his cloak. "We have proof of good faith."
He pulled out a parchment and placed it before Mance Rayder. This parchment was from Winterfell, written by the Northern Council, brought to the Wall and Lord Commander, and finally meant for Mance and his people.
Mance took the parchment.
Tormund leaned closer, impatient as always. "What does it say?" he asked. "Are they asking us to kneel? Or to gather in one spot so they can burn us all at once? It smells like tricks. Southerner tricks."
"Tormund, stay calm," Mance said. "You cannot read it anyway."
Tormund grunted. "Does not mean I cannot smell a scheme."
Mance unfolded the parchment slowly. For a few breaths he said nothing. His eyes moved across the lines. Each word made his expression harder to read.
Manny watched closely. There was something amusing about seeing the King Beyond the Wall read a formal document like a maester. But he remembered that Mance had once been a ranger at the Wall, so he could read and write the Common Tongue.
Beside him, Tormund whispered, "What does it say, Mance? Are the crows trying to make us pets of the Starks?"
Mance ignored him for the moment. He read the lines twice. He read about the Northern Lords making a council, their preparation for the upcoming War and finally the permission to Wildlings for crossing the Wall.
His voice came out low.
"This is too good to be true."
He looked from Jeor to Benjen, then to Manny. His eyes stayed sharp, but not as dismissive as before.
"You say the Northern Lords agreed to this? You say they will let tens of thousands of us cross into their lands? Men, women, children, giants, all of us?"
"Yes," Jeor said. "That is exactly what they decided."
Benjen added quietly, "We would rather fight beside you than watch you die beyond the Wall. The threat we face is greater than our old hatred."
He exhaled deeply.
It was the kind of offer he had never expected to hear in his lifetime. The kind of offer no one would believe without proof. Something no one of the free folk would even dream of.
Mance folded the parchment once more.
His voice, when he spoke again, was quiet but firm.
"The offer is generous. Too generous. And generous things in this world often hide sharp edges."
Manny said, "There are no hidden edges. There are only some guidelines and promises you would have to agree on."
Mance looked at him with suspicions, "Guidelines, Promises, all are fancy words meaning the same thing. So tell me, what are your conditions?
End of Chapter 12 — King Beyond the Wall 2