Chapter 246: Panicked to the Core
"The Lord Commander took a few of us to the village of the Wildlings—no, the 'new Gift-dwellers'—near the spot where Miss Meera Reed was almost abducted, to investigate who was responsible." The ranger who had accompanied Mormont at the time of the incident faced the gathered high-ranking officers of the Night's Watch, nervously recalling the events: "At first, everything seemed normal. Though the villagers came out of their burrows and tents to watch us, they just stood at a distance, staring coldly. They refused to answer any of the Commander's questions... but then someone shouted, 'The Old Crow who ordered the gate closed is here!' and the scene changed instantly. The villagers who had been watching from afar swarmed us, screaming things like 'Don't let him get away' and 'A life for a life.' We realized something was wrong and prepared to cover the Commander's retreat back to the Nightfort, but we hadn't gone far when a stone came flying..."
"It seems our Lord Commander is to blame for not wearing his helmet. From now on, the Night's Watch must remain fully armed and on high alert even on our own land, wouldn't you agree, Lord Logistics Officer?"
Bowen Marsh's snide interrogation was the first time Egger felt completely without the heart to retaliate. The impact of Mormont's accident on the entire plan was nearly catastrophic. His radical proposal had far more detractors than supporters; it had only been implemented smoothly because of Mormont's unwavering backing. Now, the head of the Watch who stood on the side of the progressives had been killed by the very Wildlings he personally ordered to be let in. How was he supposed to justify the Wildlings' presence now?
How many conservative brothers would secretly mutter "serves him right" about Mormont? And how many would use Mormont's death as a weapon to dismantle the Gift resettlement plan?
"A life for a life?" Egger suppressed his panic and asked expressionlessly, "The village Commander Mormont visited—was it one of the tribes let in on the final day of the wight assault?"
"It seems so."
Egger remembered as soon as he asked. He had been present during the settlement planning. He and Mormont, wary that every tribe passing through that final day had lost kin trapped outside the gate, feared they might disrupt the order of the Gift out of grief and rage. They had specifically prioritized their placement—settling these tribes around the ten active forts to be monitored by the Watch and their reliable allies, the mountain clans. Because the Flint clan at the Nightfort was the most numerous, they had naturally been assigned the largest number of these newcomers.
The plan was meant to ensure stability, but who could have guessed these very people would cause such a disaster? It was the definition of shooting oneself in the foot. Egger brooded for a moment before a sudden surge of anger took hold: he had exhausted himself convincing Mormont to let them through and racked his brain to feed them, yet these damned savages, after only a few days of living here, had dealt him such a blow instead of showing gratitude.
While Egger provided the counsel for the resettlement plan, it was Jeor Mormont who had made the final decision and issued the direct orders. A leader enjoys power but also bears the responsibility. In this case, the Wildlings who lost family to the wights had clearly laid the debt at the Old Bear's door.
Mormont was the Lord Commander; given his vital importance, why couldn't he have been more cautious and taken thirty or fifty guards when investigating a village of new settlers!
Egger's heart was a tangle of regret and blame. But suddenly, another thought struck him: "Wait, what about the Reed siblings and Bran Stark, whom the Lord Commander originally went to collect?"
The ranger shook his head. "I don't know... Commander Mormont invited young Lord Stark out that morning, intending to return them to Castle Black after the investigation gave Miss Meera some closure. No one expected this to happen before noon. Afterward, we were so busy trying to save the Commander that we lost track of the three children. In the blink of an eye, they were gone; they couldn't be found anywhere in the Nightfort. It's strange—the exits were guarded by mountain clan warriors, and no report of three children and a giant leaving was made. Between a simpleton and a cripple, how could they have scaled the walls and fled?"
The suspicion was confirmed. The ranger's words meant that if Mormont hadn't met with an accident, he would have brought Bran Stark back to Castle Black by now. A chill ran down Egger's spine. It looked like a reckless accident caused by a transitionary Wildling, but thinking deeper, could the Greenseer have pulled the strings to prevent Mormont from stopping Bran from leaving the Wall to meet him?
Though it sounded like a conspiracy theory, it made too much sense. Why else had Egger been so reluctant to interfere before, if not for fear of exactly this?
"We have no time to worry about those children." The First Ranger, unaware of Egger's internal musings, questioned his subordinate with a grim face: "Was the stone-thrower caught?"
"No. I was afraid the rest of us rangers wouldn't make it out if we didn't leave quickly. How could we stay?"
Egger returned from his wandering thoughts to reality. The deed was done; it was too late to ponder if mystical forces were at play. A vast number of Wildlings had not yet adapted to being Gift-dwellers, and the Watch and mountain clans had not yet fully accepted the newcomers. At this critical juncture, if this trouble wasn't resolved with a heavy hand, it could become a "Sarajevo incident"—a spark for conflict or even civil war in the Gift. If chaos erupted, let alone using the new settlers to drive out the Ironborn, he would be left with such a mess that Robb Stark would have to come north himself to clean it up.
By then, he wouldn't be a hero; he'd be a villain of history, his ambitions and ideas ruined by a few foolish savages.
"The culprit must be caught and punished. If we cannot establish the Night's Watch as the 'ruling class' and uphold the dignity and deterrent of the Gift's laws—making the rest of the settlers tremble at the memory of this outcome—the Gift will never know peace!"
"You still think those savages are worth saving?" Ser Marsh snorted. "In my view, since we already have the grain, the best way is to assemble a heavy force and drive these wicked people back beyond the Wall to kill each other alongside the wights!"
"Ser Marsh, I respect your right to voice your opinion, but only a Lord Commander has the authority to ignore dissent and do as you suggest," Egger replied unyieldingly. "For now, we agree on at least one thing: the killer of Commander Mormont must face swift punishment!"
The first high-level meeting since Egger joined the Watch to be held without a Lord Commander ended. As the Lord Logistics Officer, Egger appeared as steady as an old hound, but he was actually panicked to the core. Since returning to the Wall, he had focused entirely on the resettlement plan; because Mormont supported him, he hadn't bothered to court the other officers. Now that the crucial top leader was dead, he hadn't yet built enough influence or prestige within the Watch to push his agenda alone.
If a conservative were elected Lord Commander and overturned his plans—or even restricted the Night's Watch Industries' activities in the Gift—all his hard work would go down the drain.
Despite his panic, Egger made the most advantageous judgment for himself immediately: the murder of Commander Mormont had to be settled before the election. Resolve the trouble, seize the credit... never let this become fuel for his opponents to burn him.
The First Ranger had not clearly picked a side between the progressives and conservatives. At Egger's strong recommendation, the leadership eventually dispatched Ser Wymer Bukwell to hunt the culprit. The mob killing of a Lord Commander was an extreme act of malice; in turbulent times, one must use heavy laws. To show the heart of a saint, one must first use the hand of a thunderbolt. Egger was determined to make an example of the offending tribe—firstly to establish the Watch's authority, and secondly to shift the focus of conflict back onto the Wildlings.
To do this, he needed someone ruthless, decisive, and tough—there was no better candidate than Ser Bukwell, a man who had seized the Red Keep for Renly and even dared to betray a king.
Furthermore, most of the garrison didn't know that Wymer Bukwell actually had a private friendship and agreement with Egger. If he could settle this and gain credit, it was as good as Egger gaining it himself.
"Besides the rangers, I will pull another hundred men from Queenscrown for you. You can also borrow warriors from the Flint clan. The search for the killer won't be easy; if the people of that tribe continue to resist the law, show no mercy..." Egger found Wymer Bukwell in private, instructing him with a grave expression: "One sentence—'No matter how many die, I will cover for you.' It doesn't matter if you catch the actual culprit; what matters is that this is resolved with lightning speed!"
Wymer Bukwell had been a player in King's Landing; a moment's thought revealed Egger's strategy of killing the chicken to warn the monkey. He nodded. "Understood. However, I must remind you... if you want to fulfill your promise to those of us from King's Landing, it will be nearly impossible unless you take the position of Lord Commander yourself during this chance, or at least put someone you can control in power."
Egger understood this perfectly well, but becoming Lord Commander—how could that be simple? He feigned confidence and spoke a few more words with Wymer, then immediately went elsewhere to find the Child of Destiny who was meant to be the next Lord Commander: Jon Snow.
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