Chapter 406: The Proof
Hah. Egger was amused by the young Queen's willful streak: he had only offered a polite courtesy—You will surely rule the world in the future—and yet she was wasting no time, already making advance use of her monarchal powers.
Pardoning past crimes—as if he needed her to pardon the crime of stealing a few potatoes or staring at an egg in someone's chicken coop. And commanding him to immediately cast off the black to serve her was even funnier—exactly what kind of service did she want? Without his identity as a man of the Night's Watch, how would he command the massive population of the Gift? One had to remember that even the Night's Watch industries, which he controlled entirely by himself, were legally registered under the name of the Order.
Egger's decision to decline a few times was merely a matter of procedure and professional reserve. After all, if the process looked like this:
[Queen: Hey you, come help me conquer the world.]
[Self: Coming, gorgeous!]
...that would be far too undignified. No one values what is delivered to them for free.
However, while it is a universal truth that things gained through effort are more precious, one must maintain a sense of balance when playing the game. Others could pull off the Reluctant Advisor strategy because their talent and network were truly worth that price, but Daenerys was no penniless queen—even without him, she had plenty of other paths to take. If he played his hand too hard and forced her into a marriage alliance with Young Aegon and a pact with the Reach and Dorne, leading to a unified South, she would become the ultimate final boss he had to fight. That would be farcical.
Since he didn't intend to force her into three visits, and this was her second time showing favor and giving him an out, it was time for Egger to take it.
But, things were not quite that simple.
"Your Majesty, I am very willing to join your cause for the welfare of the people, but... I am, after all, the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, responsible for the Wall. The White Walker threat is imminent. With duty upon me, I dare not abandon my post," Egger said solemnly. "How about this: if Your Majesty agrees to certain conditions and performs one task first to prove that you prioritize the people, I will not only swear fealty to you but can even lead the entire Gift to fight for your cause."
This was actually nonsense. Once he decided to join a camp, he would inevitably commit his entire foundation without reservation. As a lone transmigrator with no family or children, he naturally didn't consider leaving himself a way out.
Of course, the Queen didn't know that—Egger was actually using a bonus gift that should have been included with fealty to hike up the price.
"Speak."
With the foundation laid firm, everything else followed naturally. In the time that followed, Egger used a few choice words to successfully convince Daenerys to abandon the settlement of old accounts from the Usurper's War, to pardon the Kingslayer who had already joined the Night's Watch... and secured her agreement to a series of suggestions.
"The final task is this—that you, with your three dragons, fight for the side of humanity in the war between the Night's Watch and the White Walkers."
None of the miscellaneous suggestions listed above were born of selfishness; they were problems that had to be resolved before he could board Daenerys's ship. Conversely, that final task—though seemingly simple—actually contained many layers of consideration.
First, Egger definitely wanted to leap out of the Gift, but he needed a legitimate excuse—a just cause. Helping the Queen conquer the world was clearly not a good excuse; it completely violated the neutrality of the Night's Watch and would be looked down upon by the people of the Seven Kingdoms. However, Because the Queen helped the Night's Watch in the final battle, the Night's Watch is returning the favor by fighting for her changed the narrative. Although the essence remained the Night's Watch illegally interfering in the internal affairs of the Seven Kingdoms, it sounded much better.
Second, by getting Daenerys to agree to this, he was invisibly and logically delaying the timeline. The Night's Watch and the army of the Gift could only spare a hand for other matters after defeating the White Walkers. If he had said directly to Daenerys, "Wait a bit, I'll help you after I finish off the White Walkers," it would be easy for her to perceive it as slighting her or a malicious attempt to stall for time. But saying, "Let us solve the enemy of all mankind before we conquer the realm!" avoided that awkwardness entirely.
Finally, the news of The Queen riding her dragon to the Wall to help fight the White Walkers would, in itself, greatly reduce the hostility and resentment the people of the Seven Kingdoms—especially the North—felt toward Daenerys. After all, she was the Mad King's daughter. No matter how much Egger talked, he could never convince the Northerners to help the Queen conquer the world. But with such an event as a positive premise, the difficulty of keeping the North neutral was significantly lowered. Eddard and Robert were ironclad allies, but Robb Stark and Stannis Baratheon shared no such bond. The Northern army had fought several battles for a new King and the Reach without gaining any benefit—they had nearly even had their homes taken from under them. The loyalty of those in the North toward the Iron Throne, which wasn't high to begin with, had long since been discounted. Hadn't they stopped their southward march after driving out the Ironborn?
As long as he could offer attractive enough terms—such as the Queen not pursuing the Starks' involvement in the Usurper's War and allowing Robb to remain the ruler of the North—he could likely avoid conflict with his Northern friends and head south to participate in the grand melee fully intact. The population of the Gift included Mountain Clans; if he couldn't avoid war with the North, it would be difficult for him both emotionally and practically.
"A reasonable condition." Daenerys nodded. While she understood that the previous list of conditions Egger proposed was for her own good, she was somewhat reluctant to agree to them. Only this final task... fighting for the people was already in line with her desires, not to mention the prophecy that she would certainly participate in this war. Since it was something she was going to do anyway, and doing it now would net her a powerful follower and an entire army in a buy one, get one free deal, why wouldn't she? "But, I wonder when exactly this war will break out?"
"Well—" Egger was actually stumped by this question. Everyone said the Great War was imminent, but heaven knew exactly how imminent that was. He couldn't exactly send a messenger to the Night King saying, We're all ready over here, the dragons are in place, come and die quickly. "It won't be long. Your Majesty is welcome to stay here for the time being; this tower will be your exclusive residence, and the Night's Watch will do its utmost to ensure your safety and standard of living."
With the terms of the surrender-and-allegiance settled, both sides felt they had gotten the better end of the deal. Facing a like-minded Egger, who already had half a foot on her ship, Daenerys's expression softened considerably. She gave Egger a mock-reproachful look: "Is it safety and standard of living I'm worried about? Lord Commander, it must be made clear in advance—I am personally very willing to satisfy your request, but I am not just your Queen. The war in the South is at its peak. My Unsullied and my Free Folk legions are invincible, but Stannis is a difficult opponent. It is my dragons that keep him pinned inside King's Landing, afraid to take the initiative, and my dragons that prevent the lords of the Riverlands and the Stormlands from coming to his aid. But if the news of my presence in the Gift reaches him..."
With the troop distribution map of the Crownlands provided by Varys, Daenerys's army was able to arrange its march and attack routes with precision. After landing on Crackclaw Point, they had advanced with irresistible force, taking most of the Crownlands north of King's Landing in just one month, and were about to complete the siege of the capital of the Seven Kingdoms.
Even having made full preparations, Egger still didn't dare say he didn't want the three dragons that had been delivered to his door—three large, flying wildfire sprayers could deal with at least several thousand wights in the final battle, reducing his own side's casualties by three to four digits. The fewer casualties he took, the more cards he would have to bring to the table after the war. Therefore, although he could roughly guess the current situation in the South, he could neither blithely say, "It's fine, Queen, go fight King's Landing, I can hold things here," nor could he weave a lie to forcibly trick her into staying at the Gift and leave himself vulnerable to future blame. After a moment's thought, he decided not to respond to that topic.
"Your Majesty has the freedom to come and go. If you have plans to go out or wish to tour Queenscrown, please call for the guards, and I will accompany you personally. You have had a long journey on dragonback. Since we have reached an agreement, I will not disturb you further. It is getting late; workers will come shortly to clean the rooms upstairs and make the bed for Your Majesty. Conditions in the Gift are harsh, and things certainly won't compare to the South, but I promise Queenscrown is doing its best to host you."
"Good." Daenerys did not dwell too much on the issue and nodded in agreement with his arrangements. "Prepare sheep for my dragons tomorrow morning; having them brought to the square where I landed will suffice. Drogon needs at least three, while Viserion and Rhaegal have smaller appetites; two each will do."
Tsk. If the Wildlings hadn't brought in a large number of livestock when they surrendered, it would have been truly difficult to feed three dragons in the previously desolate Gift.
"I will arrange it. Then... Your Majesty, I shall take my leave."
"Mm."
Daenerys was indeed a bit tired, but the vision Egger had painted for her was far too invigorating; she was wide awake now. Not only did she not want to rest, she even wanted to continue chatting with this Lord Commander she had only truly gotten to know today—whether to hear his further detailed thoughts on the Greater Crownlands Plan or to discuss life and deepen their mutual understanding. But since the host had taken his leave, as a guest, she could not stop him. She could only nod and watch him leave the room.
Leaving the tower, Egger let out a long breath. Although Daenerys's visit was somewhat sudden, after a series of twists and turns, things were proceeding according to his plan. Confirming the Dragon Queen would stay at least for tonight, he gave further instructions to the guards waiting outside. After ensuring the security work was without flaws and warning the young men once more not to embarrass the Gift in front of the Queen, he finally felt at ease returning to his office.
Through a report from Yam, he gained a brief understanding of the current internal state of Queenscrown. The panic and chaos he had feared had not occurred. Thanks to the prompt intervention of the Queenscrown officials to control the narrative, most people in the city now believed the story that the Dragon Queen was called by the Lord Commander to help. The three dragons had not only caused no ill effects but had actually boosted confidence in victory, which was an unexpected gift Daenerys had delivered.
However, Egger now faced a new problem: dinner time was almost here. Usually, he would accompany all his guests in the hall... but now there was a Targaryen Queen in the castle, and she and the majority of the other guests definitely wouldn't mix. It couldn't be solved by simply adding a chair to the table. Accompanying the large group would neglect the Queen, and accompanying the Queen would neglect the group. Though the issue was small, the trouble was not to be ignored.
After some thought, Egger had to resort to a crude but effective method: he locked himself in his office, pretending to be busy with official business and unable to get away, even having his food sent in. Since he feared playing favorites, he simply made it known that he would accompany no one.
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