Chapter 246

“Our Lord Commander led a few of us to investigate near the spot where Lady Meera Reed was nearly abducted. It was close to a wildling—no, I mean, a ‘New Gift settler village.’ We were trying to find out who was behind it,” said the ranger who had been with Mormont at the time. He nervously recounted the events to the Night’s Watch leadership. “At first, everything seemed fine. The villagers would come out of their holes and tents to watch us but just stood there, staring coldly. When the Commander asked questions, they said nothing... Then someone shouted, ‘It’s the old crow who ordered the gates shut!’ And everything changed.

“The villagers, who had been keeping their distance, suddenly swarmed us, yelling things like, ‘Don’t let him get away!’ and ‘Blood for blood!’ When we sensed something was wrong, we tried to cover the Commander’s retreat back to Castle Black. But we hadn’t gone far before a stone came flying... And he was not wearing his helmet.”

“So it’s our Lord Commander’s fault for not wearing a helmet?” Bowden Marsh sneered. “From now on, even on our own land, Night’s Watch members must stay fully armed and armored. Is that your idea, First Steward?”

For once, Aegor had no interest in trading barbs. The fallout from Mormont’s death was catastrophic to his plans. Opposition to his radical resettlement proposals far outnumbered his supporters. Things had only gone smoothly because of Mormont’s backing. But now the head of the military—and the most prominent supporter of his agenda—had been killed by the very wildlings Aegor had worked so hard to let through the Wall. How could he salvage the wildlings’ reputation now?

How many conservative members of the Watch would curse Mormont under their breath, thinking he got what he deserved? And how many would use his death as ammunition to attack Aegor’s New Gift plan?

“Blood for blood?” Aegor forced himself to remain calm and asked, “Was the village the Commander visited one of the tribes admitted last, on the day the wights attacked?”

“It seems so.”

Aegor remembered clearly as soon as he asked. He and Mormont had deliberately prioritized resettling those tribes because, during the wight attack, many of their members had been locked out of the Wall and left to die. Aegor and Mormont feared that grief and rage might lead to unrest if they weren’t handled carefully. So, they had placed those tribes around ten active forts under the supervision of the Watch and their trusted allies, like the mountain clans. The Flint clan, being the largest, had the most wildlings settled near Long Night Fort.

The arrangement had been a cautious one, but who could have predicted that these carefully placed wildlings would cause such trouble? It was like digging a pit only to fall into it yourself. Aegor brooded for a moment before anger overtook him. He had convinced Mormont to let the wildlings through the Wall, racked his brains to figure out how to feed them, and now these ingrates had turned around and done this?!

The resettlement plan had been Aegor’s brainchild, but the ultimate responsibility for its implementation lay with Jeor Mormont. Leadership came with burdens as well as privileges, and now the wildlings who had lost their families to the wights had laid the blame squarely on the Old Bear.

The Lord Commander, a man of such high standing, had gone to investigate a crime in a newly settled wildling village—how could he not have taken fifty armed guards for protection?

Aegor’s mind churned with regret and anger. Then, a new thought struck him. “Wait, the Commander had gone to meet the Reed siblings and Bran Stark. Where are they now?”

The ranger shook his head. “I don’t know... The Commander had brought Stark out of his quarters that morning, intending to escort the group back to Castle Black after the investigation. But then this happened before noon. We were so busy trying to save the Commander that we lost track of the three children. Later, we realized they were nowhere to be found. It’s strange—there were mountain clan guards at every exit from the fort that day, and none of them saw the children or that giant leave. One cripple, one idiot, and one giant—how could they have climbed the walls?”

So it was true. The ranger’s words confirmed it: if Mormont hadn’t been killed, he should have brought Bran Stark back to Castle Black by now. Aegor felt a chill run down his spine. This incident looked like reckless wildling behavior on the surface, but was it possible that the greenseer had orchestrated it to stop Mormont from hindering Bran?

It sounded like a conspiracy theory, but it made sense. Aegor had avoided getting involved precisely because he feared something like this.

“We don’t have time to worry about the children,” the First Ranger said, unaware of Aegor’s thoughts. “Did you catch the one who threw the stone?”

“No. If we hadn’t retreated quickly, I doubt any of us would’ve made it out.”

Aegor snapped back to reality. What was done was done; there was no point dwelling on whether mysterious forces were at work. Many wildlings still hadn’t adapted to their new status as settlers, and the Night’s Watch and mountain clans were still adjusting to their presence. If this incident wasn’t resolved swiftly and decisively, it could become a Sarajevo moment—a spark that ignites a war between the two sides of the Gift.

If chaos erupted, the dream of using the settlers to drive the ironborn from the North would die. Worse, the mess might be so large that Robb Stark himself would have to march north to clean it up.

In that case, Aegor wouldn’t be a hero but a scapegoat. All his ambition and plans would be ruined by a handful of foolish wildlings.

“We must catch the culprit and make an example of them. If we can’t establish the Night’s Watch as the ruling authority and ensure the settlers respect the law, the Gift will never know peace.”

“You still think these wildlings are worth saving?” Marsh sneered. “If you ask me, we’ve got the grain. Gather the troops and drive these savages back beyond the Wall. Let them kill each other and the Others.”

“Ser Marsh,” Aegor said firmly, “I respect your right to voice your opinion. But only the Lord Commander can enforce your suggestion. For now, we agree on one thing—the killer of Lord Commander Mormont must face justice.”

The emergency meeting without the Lord Commander ended. As First Logistics Officer, Aegor appeared calm, but inside, he was panicking. Since returning to the Wall, he had focused entirely on the resettlement plan. With Mormont’s support, he hadn’t bothered building alliances within the Watch. Now, with Mormont dead, Aegor lacked the influence to continue pushing his agenda.

If a conservative were elected as the next Lord Commander, they might overturn his plans, even restricting Watch activities in the Gift. Everything he had worked for would be lost.

Panic aside, Aegor made a quick decision: he needed to resolve Mormont’s murder before the election. He had to deal with the culprits and claim credit for doing so, ensuring his enemies couldn’t use the incident against him.

The First Ranger remained neutral between radicals and conservatives. At Aegor’s recommendation, the council appointed Ser Warner Buckwell to lead the hunt for the killer. Aegor knew this was an extreme situation that required an extreme response. He intended to use this opportunity to make an example of the wildlings, both to assert the Night’s Watch’s authority and to redirect the blame.

Buckwell was ruthless and cunning—the perfect man for the job.

“I’ll send a hundred more men from Crown’s Rest to support you,” Aegor told Buckwell in private. “And you can borrow as many warriors from the Flint clan as you need. If the villagers resist, show no mercy. No matter how many die, I’ll back you up.”

Buckwell, a seasoned manipulator, understood immediately. He nodded. “I see your plan. But don’t forget—you promised us in King’s Landing that you’d seize the Lord Commander’s position, or at least ensure your faction’s control. Without that, nothing will stick.”

Aegor knew this was true. But becoming Lord Commander wasn’t so simple. After giving Buckwell his instructions, Aegor went to find the person who destiny suggested should take the position: Jon Snow.