Chapter 298: Good News, Bad News (Part 1)
The commotion caused by the standoff at Castle Black this morning was significant. Although Egger had intercepted the letter of complaint, fire cannot be wrapped in paper; news of this scale could never be entirely hidden from the Lord of the North. Since Robb would find out sooner or later, Egger's task now was to seize the initiative and ensure that Robb Stark heard the story from him first—using the power of first impressions to ensure the subsequent development of the matter remained in his favor... or at least harmless.
Egger had just personally experienced how potent a first impression could be, and he intended to strike while the iron was hot, exploiting this weakness of human nature.
They ascended the spiral stairs along the well wall at a steady pace. Upon reaching the surface, Robb instructed the Flint clan to cordon off the well and station guards. They then left the ancient kitchen to inspect the buildings and tents of Nightfort, now bustling with clansmen.
Since advance notice had been given, the entire castle was as prepared as Queenscrown had been during its inspection.
The same prosperity was evident, the same sense of order. However, compared to the Capital of the Gift and the Logistics Department's headquarters, Nightfort's newly built walls, bristling towers, ubiquitous guards, and the sentries stationed every few paces atop the Wall gave this resurrected ancient fortress a much more militarized and vigilant atmosphere.
This looks like a proper garrison for the Wall, Robb thought to himself. He didn't say it aloud, but in his heart, he felt a surge of approval.
Egger did not waste the opportunity. As they walked and talked, he provided the Warden of the North with a concise and strategic report on the incident that had just transpired at Castle Black.
In his telling, the source of the trouble was not Jaime Lannister's unauthorized actions, but rather a small, recalcitrant faction within the Night's Watch who harbored a deep-seated hatred for the new Gift residents. To achieve their goal of driving out the wildlings, they had supposedly planned to assassinate the former King-Beyond-the-Wall to create a massive scandal, thereby provoking a rebellion among the former Free Folk who were just beginning to integrate into the Gift!
Fortunately, the conspiracy of these ill-intentioned men was uncovered by the keen officers of Castle Black before it could succeed. Several high-ranking officials and Maester Aemon had stepped forward just in time to prevent the atrocity.
Except for the fact that "a minor skirmish occurred between brothers of the Night's Watch at Castle Black this morning," Egger's story scrubbed away any information that might reflect poorly on himself.
He skillfully adjusted the cause and effect, shifting all blame onto the extreme Conservatives who opposed the Gift Settlement Plan. Simultaneously, he refrained from naming the specific individuals involved in the conflict, referring to them only as a small group at odds with the majority of the Watch. This was intended to prevent Robb's preconceived notions of certain people from influencing his attitude toward the event itself. (Clearly, between Jaime Lannister the Kingslayer and Commander Carter Pyke—or the seasoned ally and elder Yohn Royce—Robb, as a typical Stark, would instinctively favor the latter). Finally, he even spared a word of praise for the three Firsts and Maester Aemon, who had actually only stepped in at the last moment to force a resolution. Egger did not want to push the neutrals or moderate conservatives entirely into the opposition; describing everyone who disagreed with him as a villain would only make him look suspicious of slandering colleagues.
The same event, described with a few shifts in narrative, can produce a completely different reaction in the listener. By the time Egger finished his description, Robb Stark's brow was furrowed into a tight knot. "How could they be so reckless? To have such total disregard for the stability of the Wall and the Gift! Have the troublemakers been detained? Who are they?"
"They were primarily a few brothers from Eastwatch. Because the plot was discovered in time, their conspiracy failed; they only caused a stir beneath the tower where Mance Rayder's family resides, and no one was harmed. As you know, many in the Watch are only here because they were criminals; aside from military law, no institution is responsible for punishing brothers who err... We cannot arrest sworn brothers for a crime not yet committed and thus weaken the Wall's defenses; we can only strive to prevent it." Egger spoke in a consultative tone. "To that end, I am requesting to move Mance Rayder's family to Queenscrown, to ensure they aren't harmed by impulsive brothers."
"Shouldn't such matters be decided internally by the Night's Watch? Why bother applying to an outsider like me?"
"Keeping Mance Rayder's family under house arrest at Castle Black was the Old Bear's command. A new Lord Commander has not yet been chosen; we need someone neutral and respected to act as an arbiter."
Robb was currently being pestered by Arya for details about what was at the bottom of the well. Hearing this, he didn't even hesitate before nodding. "If moving them can guarantee their safety, then so be it. At a time like this, the stability of the Gift and the Wall must unconditionally come first."
"Naturally," Egger agreed. "In that case, I will send word back to Castle Black and Queenscrown to begin the transfer immediately."
"Mmm."
Though his face remained grave, Egger smiled inwardly. With just a few words and zero effort, transferring Mance Rayder's family had shifted from a risky contingency plan and an unauthorized move to a stabilization measure officially sanctioned by the Lord of the North.
In truth, he was acting first and asking for permission later—Jaime Lannister might already be halfway to the destination with the prisoners—but in this backward world without instant communication, events occurring in two places ten miles apart... well, since he controlled the raven communications between most of the forts along the Wall, who could possibly prove the exact sequence of cause and effect once the dust settled?
After a tour of Nightfort and watching the snow from the top of the Wall, the sky over the northernmost border of the Seven Kingdoms darkened. Having had his fill of the cold wind, Robb waved his hand and dismissed the group. The Flint clan began bustling about to arrange the feast and accommodations for the Northern guests, while Egger, after a day of travel, finally carved out some time to deal with the more pressing matters he hadn't finished.
Aside from the letter of complaint from Castle Black—which he had read and immediately burned upon arrival—he had several other letters from Queenscrown or other newly reactivated forts that were not urgent but could not be ignored.
They were the usual nuisances concerning grain supplies, price adjustments, and the next phase of construction for the Logistics Department's headquarters. Though tedious, his two capable subordinates at Queenscrown had already attached optional solutions to each problem. Egger only needed to review them and make a final decision, a task that would take less than half an hour... Thus, he first granted an audience to a Night's Watch Industry employee who had hurried from Queenscrown and had been waiting in the hall for some time.
"It's been a long trip." Good news rarely arrives with such urgency. Egger felt a sense of unease and spoke with a guarded tone. "What could not be said in a letter that required you to ride all this way?"
"It's not that it couldn't be said in a letter, but the message Yam sent you this morning used the last raven destined for Nightfort. This news only reached us from Eastwatch in the afternoon. We weren't sure when the raven would return, and this matter cannot wait, so I took several fast horses and rode hard all afternoon to report to you in person."
"I see." Egger nodded. "What is it that cannot wait?"
"The envoys from Braavos have arrived at Eastwatch by ship. They will shortly be stationed at Castle Black and Queenscrown to oversee our defense of the Wall. Their leader informed us that the first fleet of grain ships is right behind their fast galley and will arrive any day now. He demands that either the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch or the Chief Logistics Officer personally arrive at the port to oversee the reception of the loan grain."
So that was it. Egger breathed a sigh of relief; at least it wasn't bad news.
By decisively sending troops south to help the North expel the Ironborn, the Gift Settlement Plan had been operating on thin ice, sustained by grain support from the Northern lords as a token of gratitude. It had narrowly avoided collapse, and now, help from across the Narrow Sea was finally arriving.
Back when the Night's Watch Industry was mortgaged to the Iron Bank for a loan of 100,000 gold dragons, both Mormont and Egger had signed the contract. Now, the other party logically demanded that a signatory be responsible for receiving the goods.
Unfortunately, with Mormont's unexpected death, Egger was busy hosting the Northern inspection tour and focusing on the election for Lord Commander. How could he find the time to travel all the way to the coast to receive grain?
With a wry smile, Egger began mentally selecting someone who could stand in for him. But a few seconds later, his body jolted as he realized his focus was entirely wrong: not having time to show up wasn't the biggest problem. The most troublesome part was that the Night's Watch had only one port capable of receiving grain from across the sea—Eastwatch-by-the-Sea. And the commander of that seaside fortress, due to various reasons, was now his enemy!
It wasn't that he didn't know Eastwatch was the only seaport held by the Watch, but when he had represented the Watch in negotiating the loan and grain purchase with the Iron Bank, who could have predicted Mormont's sudden death? And when he had hurried back to Castle Black recently to dress down the two commanders and offend them, it had been a moment of crisis—there had been no time to consider the future.
Venturing his anger at the time had felt satisfying, but offending people never comes without consequences. At least now, the backlash Egger had invited was arriving.
"Dammit..." Egger's expression shifted from relief to gravity as he slapped the table. "The grain is a godsend, but the timing is terrible!"
At Castle Black, he had indeed made Cotter Pyke look like a fool several times, holding every advantage. A major reason for that was the gap in strategic calculation, but the fact that Pyke was away from his home base without sufficient men or resources was also key. This morning, Jaime had publicly—and quite literally—slapped his face. In such a defenseless situation, the Commander would likely choose to return to his own turf. If Cotter Pyke arrived back at Eastwatch at this exact moment, just as the Braavosi grain ships arrived requesting entry, what would he do?
Would he act with noble grace, put aside past grievances, and cooperate with the grain reception? Or would he play some small tricks to cause trouble for Egger?
One could guess with their toes.
The first batch of new recruits from the Gift had finished their training and sworn their vows, securing Egger's lead in the election... Once the second batch finished, his votes were projected to approach two-thirds. Even by the most conservative estimates, the third batch would ensure he won with an unstoppable advantage. The entire process would take a month at most.
The grain at Queenscrown was more than enough to last a month. In other words—with the North as his backer, Egger wasn't afraid of the Braavosi grain arriving late. What he feared was the grain ships arriving at Eastwatch before he was elected Lord Commander, only to be seized by Cotter Pyke as a means of revenge. Refusing the ships entry wouldn't be the worst of it; the real nightmare would be if the ships were allowed into the port only for some accident to occur that saw them put to the torch!
How could the timing be this coincidental? Egger thought irritably. But complaining is the behavior of the weak; the mark of the strong is to maintain control even when things are precisely this coincidental.
"Can we notify the grain ships to delay for a while? To wait until the Lord Commander is elected before docking and unloading?"
The messenger clearly didn't understand why this was necessary, but he thought seriously for a few seconds. "That might not be ideal. I heard there are several ships, all of them large... Keeping the ships and crews waiting would likely cost dozens of gold dragons a day, wouldn't it?"
"The late fees for the waiting period will be covered by the Night's Watch Industry," Egger said, gritting his teeth. He indeed had money, but the Industry was supporting the massive machine of the Gift Settlement Plan while simultaneously building Queenscrown... the leaves on this money tree were being picked clean. He might have to find a way to borrow some money from Tyrion, far away in the Westerlands, to get through this crisis.
Only the Westerlands had been battered into a sieve by the war and were currently undergoing post-war reconstruction...
"No, wait." The soldier frowned and interrupted Egger's thoughts. "The most critical factor doesn't seem to be the money; it's the weather and sea conditions... I heard from that Iron Bank employee living in Queenscrown that the colder it gets, the more frequent and violent the storms on the Narrow Sea become. Crossing is seven parts luck, two parts ship, and only one part man. For a large-scale shipment like this, the fleet commanders spend a fortune on experienced weather-predicters, choosing a day when no major storm is expected for several days. They sail at full speed the entire way, praying to arrive before the weather turns... To arrive is the blessing of the gods. But to arrive and then float at sea without entering port? I doubt any captain would agree. No amount of money is worth dying in a winter storm on the Narrow Sea and ending up at the bottom of the ocean!"
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