When the letter from the Wall reached Lynd, he had been preparing to make a trip to the Stepstones. The redeploynt of the Kraken Dagon Harlaw, the integration of the Sunspear fleet into the Miracle Fleet—these matters all required his personal attention to ensure nothing went awry.
But after reading the ssage from the Wall, he changed his plans and set off for Castle Black instead.
The death of Old Bear Jeor Mormont had caught Lynd completely off guard. With the recent increase in manpower, Castle Black now housed over two thousand people, including stewards, rangers, and trainee brothers. Old Bear alone had ten stewards at his side. By all accounts, he should have been well protected.
Yet the letter reported that when Old Bear was assassinated, stewards had been stationed both below and beside his room. None of them had slept that night. No one heard a sound. It wasn’t until morning, when the steward next door ca to wake him and announce the day’s tasks, that they discovered he had been murdered.
Had those stewards been anyone else, Lynd might have suspected they had lied and simply fallen asleep, failing to notice anything. But those stewards were Jon Snow and Samwell Tarly. With them involved, lying was out of the question. That could only an soone had infiltrated Castle Black without a sound and killed Old Bear.
Who stood to gain most from Old Bear’s sudden death at such a ti? The wildling tribes beyond the Wall? The White Walkers? Or soone within the Night’s Watch itself? The na Willas suddenly ca to Lynd’s mind. On his way to Castle Black, he changed course and flew to Icemark to et with Willas.
“Who killed Lord Jeor Mormont?” Lynd asked bluntly the mont he saw Willas.
Willas was silent for a mont before replying, “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” Lynd frowned. “You’ve rged with the Wall. The entire Wall is your domain—including Castle Black. You should know everything that happens here.”
“I was asleep,” Willas answered unexpectedly.
“Asleep?” Lynd was stunned. He hadn’t expected that.
“I was surprised too. I haven’t slept in a very long ti,” Willas said, knowing exactly why Lynd was so shocked. “Ever since rging with the Wall, I’ve never needed sleep. I’ve always been conscious. But on the day the Lord Commander was assassinated... I fell asleep. Looking back, sothing feels off—like so kind of force influenced , pushed into sleep.”
“Was it the White Walkers?” Lynd didn’t believe Willas was lying and followed his lead.
“No,” Willas said with absolute certainty. “The main force of the White Walkers is still gathering in the Lands of Always Winter. What’s co south so far is just the vanguard—they don’t have that kind of power.” Then he added, “If anything, I find the wildling tribes beyond the Wall more suspicious.”
“Why?” Lynd asked.
Willas explained, “Not long ago, they uncovered an ancient burial site and found an artifact of the God of Winter inside. It was a trophy Brandon the Liberator claid after killing the Night King. That artifact couldn’t cross the Wall, so he buried it among the fallen of the Night’s Watch. Now, that artifact is in the wildlings’ hands. If they know how to use it, it could influence —especially when I’m caught off guard.”
“The wildlings beyond the Wall?” Lynd mused, then asked, “Is there a chance this ca from within the Night’s Watch?”
Willas paused, then said, “It’s possible.”
“Is there soone in the Night’s Watch who can make you fall asleep?”
“No,” Willas replied firmly. But then he added, “Others, however, might influence .”
“Others?” Lynd questioned.
Willas answered, “The Followers of Doom have appeared near the Wall. The Horn of Winter in their possession can affect .”
“The Followers of Doom?” Lynd’s voice dropped. “Weren’t they founded by Euron?”
Willas said sothing shocking. “No. Euron was only the executor. I was the one who truly established the Doomsday Faith.”
Lynd stood there, stunned for a long ti before asking, “Why would you do that?”
“Because no one takes the White Walkers or the coming Long Night seriously. Everyone thinks the Doom is too far removed from their lives. Even when they see wights with their own eyes, they still dismiss the threat. Now, they’re more willing to fight amongst themselves than prepare for what’s coming.” For once, the usually cold Willas seed agitated. He sighed. “It’s a pity the Doomsday Faith failed. I didn’t expect you to ally with the Faith of the Seven to destroy it. If it had survived, maybe this war in the south wouldn’t have happened.”
Lynd didn’t share Willas’s view. Perhaps it was a matter of perspective, but to him, the Doomsday Faith only disrupted the existing social order. It wouldn't have raised the alarm among the great lords and nobles—and it certainly wouldn’t have helped him execute his plans step by step.
Lynd then asked a crucial question.
“Were the Doomsday Believers who appeared at the Wall outsiders, or mbers of the Night’s Watch?”
“They’ve already left the Wall and gone beyond it,” Willas replied. Though his words were vague, the implication was clear. Only mbers of the Night’s Watch can cross the Wall, and among them, only rangers would go beyond it.
Lynd pressed further.
“Did they leave before or after Old Bear was assassinated?”
This ti, Willas gave no answer.
“Willas, what exactly are you trying to do?” Lynd demanded angrily.
Willas replied in a low voice, “I can say with certainty that the Lord Commander’s death had nothing to do with the Doomsday Believers.”
Lynd was a little surprised by the conviction in Willas’s response. Then, suddenly, a surge of magic erupted from Willas, enveloping the entire ice cave. As Lynd instinctively prepared to defend himself, Willas spoke.
“Don’t resist. I’m going to show you myself.”
The mont Willas finished speaking, Lynd felt an invisible force tugging at him—so strong he couldn’t resist. His body moved forward involuntarily, and with that single step, the surrounding scene transford. The freezing ice cave vanished, replaced by a warm room. Inside, Old Bear Jeor Mormont sat at the desk beside his bed, reviewing docunts.
“This is the mont just before the Commander was assassinated,” Willas’s voice ca from beside him.
Lynd turned and saw that Willas had taken on a normal, human appearance, standing and walking like any ordinary man.
“Is this the power of the Greenseers?” Lynd asked.
“Yes,” Willas nodded. “I’m only imitating it. As long as sothing happened at the Wall, I can relive it this way.” He paused, then turned to Lynd and said solemnly, “I’ve also seen the Wall being built, when humans and other races fought together against the White Walkers. It’s a forgotten chapter of history. That’s why I understand better than anyone how terrifying the White Walkers are.”
Lynd didn’t respond, but quietly watched the historical scene unfolding before him.
At that mont, Old Bear finished his work, set the docunts aside to be handed to the stewards the next day, then stood up. He removed his sword, Longclaw, and placed it nearby. Just as he began to undress and prepare for rest, the door suddenly opened.
Alert, Old Bear grabbed his sword. But upon seeing who had entered, he lowered the weapon and said,
“It’s you two? What’s so urgent at this hour? Is there news of Benjen?”
The ones entering were Alliser Thorne and Bowen Marsh.
“No, still nothing from Benjen,” Alliser replied. “Bowen and I just had sothing we couldn’t figure out and wanted to confirm it.”
Alliser stepped forward, approaching Old Bear, while Bowen casually closed the door behind them.
“What can’t you figure out?” Clearly, this wasn’t the first ti Alliser and Bowen had visited Jeor Mormont late at night. He didn’t find their visit strange and simply sat down in his chair to listen.
Alliser’s face was grim.
“I just got a report from the front lines—over a hundred of our brothers have fallen in a battle with the wildlings. Their bodies were strung up on the fences by the wildling tribes.”
Jeor Mormont sighed, his face full of sorrow.
“I’ve seen the report too. I’ve already ordered the rangers to recover the bodies and bring them back to the Wall for a proper burial. Each one of them was a brave man—they deserve our respect.”
“Yes, they were all brave n. And in the past few months, we’ve lost over a thousand just like them,” Alliser said angrily.
“And yet we can’t even avenge them. Worse—we’re supposed to let the very people who killed them cross the Wall, give them land, give them supplies, help them live better lives. Is that fair to the thousands of brothers who died fighting wildling invasions over the centuries?”
Old Bear frowned, displeased.
“I’ve said it before—our greatest enemy right now isn’t the wildlings, it’s the White Walkers. They’re the enemy of all life. We need to unite every force we can…”
“We could just trap them north of the Wall,” Bowen Marsh interjected, stepping up beside Old Bear.
“Let them fight the White Walkers first. Once they’ve weakened them, it’ll be easier for us to deal with the threat.”
Old Bear shot Bowen a look of pure disgust.
“Have you lost the ability to think? Doing that will only swell the White Walkers’ ranks. Have you forgotten what Prince Lynd said? The White Walkers can raise the dead, turn corpses into wights to serve them. The more people who die beyond the Wall, the larger the White Walkers’ army becos. It won’t weaken them—it’ll strengthen them.”
Alliser’s anger boiled over.
“All of that is just what Lynd Tarran said. We’ve never seen it for ourselves. Why should we do whatever he tells us? Are we just his lackeys now?”
Old Bear stared at the two of them in disbelief.
“Have you both gone mad? Saying things like that... Do you not understand how important Lord Lynd is to the Night’s Watch?”
“Alliser,” he said furiously, “I don't know exactly how important he is. What I do know is that the Night's Watch is supposed to be completely independent from the Seven Kingdoms. No lord should control us. But now, we're losing that independence, bending to the will of a noble from one of the kingdoms. We're even abandoning the vows we've kept for thousands of years, letting our enemies into our ho on soone else's orders. Lord Commander, this is betrayal!”
“Betrayal? How dare you say that to ... What are you trying to do, Bowen?” Just as the Old Bear was rising in fury, ready to argue with Alliser, Bowen Marsh suddenly reached out and grabbed his arm, forcing him back down into the chair.
Jeor Mormont was completely stunned by Bowen’s action. Before he could react, he saw Alliser suddenly draw a dagger and thrust it at his neck. With his body restrained, he couldn’t dodge or stop it—he could only watch as the blade plunged into him.
A surge of blood gushed from the wound, so spilling out, so flooding into his windpipe and lungs. Breathing beca impossible, and soon all consciousness slipped away. He slumped lifeless in his chair, his eyes still open, his face frozen in a look of stunned disbelief.
Even at the mont of death, the Old Bear never imagined that his trusted Master-at-Arms and Chief Steward would conspire to murder him. He couldn’t believe it had happened so suddenly, so swiftly. What baffled him even more was the lack of response to the commotion—Jon and the others, in the rooms next door and downstairs, never appeared. Maybe, in those final monts, he even wondered if they were in on it too.
“Is he dead?” Bowen Marsh asked quietly, not even bothering to wipe off the blood splattered across him.
“He should be.” Alliser was still breathing heavily, despite not having used much force. It was as if that one stab to the Old Bear’s neck had drained every ounce of strength from him. He had to brace himself against the leg of the table just to stay on his feet.
“That stuff they gave us really works,” Bowen said as he stood, glancing at the wall that bordered the next room. “It really blocks out all sound. Jon and the others still don’t know what happened in here.”
“We’re not done yet. We need to clean this place up before it stops working.” Alliser picked up a cloth from the table and wiped the blood off his hands. Then he pressed it against the wound and pulled the dagger free, the cloth muffling the fresh spurt of blood.
Bowen quickly erased any trace of their presence. Once they were sure nothing was out of place, they turned and slipped out of the room in haste.
As they left, Lynd saw Bowen gently remove a rune-marked black stone from the door of the next room. At first, Bowen seed about to toss it, but changed his mind and slipped it into his pocket.
As the two figures vanished into the corridor’s shadows, the scene before Lynd shifted back to the ice cave...
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