Edd
Jon had written to Edd a few days ago. He told of the victory and the return of his dragons. Edd was glad to read that he wrote his dragons and not the dragons. But what was more surprising is that the message was signed as Jon Snow, the King in the North. Edd rolled his eyes reading that. Of course Jon would become a king. He couldn't stop with being brought back from the dead or having dragons.
Being Lord Commander looked easier than it actually was. At least for Edd, it was. Aside from the tasks Jon had to do, he now had to take charge of over two thousand men who came from Essos. For the first time in centuries, Castle Black was crowded with too many people as were the other two castles. There were men from Essos of all colors and sizes. One would have thought that they would look Dornish but even they were too different.
The three Castles weren't large enough to house all of them, so Edd had to recommission several others. The Torches, Greenguard, and Stonedoor were once again manned with the men of the Night's Watch. But the castles were like rotting fruit wasting away over the years. It took months to get them operable but it would be years before they would be restored and from what Edd witnessed at Hardhome, it wouldn't be a surprise to him if the horn blasted three times in the next hour.
He couldn't garrison men at the Night Fort yet, there wasn't enough. A thousand men alone were needed to keep it maintained. But there were still many who from across the Narrow sea. Their numbers grew now that the fleet of three ships expanded to seven. Some Free men from Slaver's Bay, or the Bay of Dragons as it was now named, stole some ships from former masters and came here. All it took was some black paint and removing the unnecessary wealth of the ships to make them the Watch's. Edd didn't care for whose property they were, they needed ships. If they lived through this, he would have them returned.
Edd had arranged for sixty brothers to begin the reconstruction of Greyguard. The damn place was meant to be rebuilt a year ago but after Slynt's punishment, things got busy with Stannis Baratheon and the dragons. But now that the Stark's ruled once again, everyone could breathe easy and not worry about armies coming from the south.
The Wall has never been as strong as this for at least a thousand years. Had Grenn not gone to Essos then things would have never been this way. Castle black would be rotting just like the other unmanned castles with less men than Eastwatch and the Shadow Tower. In fact, if they lasted through the next few years, there might not have been enough to garrison even three castles.
There was also the issue of Wildlings being allowed past the Wall. They weren't all at Hardhome when the dead attacked, thankfully., and they were coming in groups ranging from a few to a few dozen at a time. Word had spread about the massacre and also about what Jon did for those that survived it.
Jon said to let them all pass, but twice already some of the small groups tried to attack the Night's Watch and they had been forced to kill them. But it never happened with the giants or their mammoths. They seemed to keep to themselves and ignore the men as if they didn't care for fighting them, and no one dared to raise any weapons against them.
Edd was currently with his new officers, sitting at the High Table in the Commons, discussing the fortification of the Rimegate and possibly Sable Hall when enough men were available, and it wouldn't be long until there were.
The First Builder, Ser Andrew Lorch, was explaining that they did not have the time nor the resources to do both. He was a rather large man but not as much as Sam. He had been a brother for nearly forty years since he was twelve. "We have the lumber and the steel, but we don't have the food to feed the men. The game in those parts is scarce and even with the supplies that come from the Essosi ships, we won't have enough. I can only restore one of the castles."
The First Ranger, a man of twenty-two named Jack Ironsmith, voiced his opinion. He was one of those men girls were probably crying over for choosing a sworn life of celibacy. "The Wall above Rimegate has been untouched for two hundred years. It's the only section that can't be patrolled and the stairwells haven't been fixed for an even longer time. But if we do, we'll have access to another gate beyond the Wall and the ballistas on top. And if memory serves me right, they were a gift from one of the Targaryen kings. The design is far advanced than what we have and can fire six bolts in ten seconds. But the Sable Hall on the other hand, if we have a garrison there, we can start sending men to train for mounted combat. And the way some of these foreigners fight on horses is incredible. We could learn a thing or twenty from them." He had only just recently joined the Night Watch not more than three moons ago and he was as nearly a good a fighter as Jon.
The First Steward, Michael Stonehouse, didn't say anything. Edd assumed he was still preoccupied with adjusting to his new position. He had just been appointed the First Steward after the one before him died in an accident with the Wildlings while at Eastwatch working through a problem with Cotter Pyke.
"What about this one, right here?" Edd pointed at the castle east of Rimegate. "The Longbarrow is closer to Eastwatch and that's where the dead are likely to attack. It can house more than a thousand men but only needs about a hundred to operate. We'll need our fighting strength as close as we can get it."
"Longbarrow's been claimed by the Wildlings." Michael informed. "Fact some of the men call it Whore's Barrow because it's a tribe of women. But believe me, they're not turning a place into a brothel, that's for sure. Don't bother them and they won't bother you."
"They can't have it. The agreement was they can back south of the Wall, not take over the castle the Watch couldn't use until now."
"We should send word to the former Lord Commander," Andrew suggested. "Maybe he can intimidate them with his dragons. I keep hearing whispers that he's some kind of god to them."
Edd scoffed at that nonsense. Jon was just a lucky bastard who had friends looking out for him. "Enough of that. Michael, send a raven to Winterfell and to the Longbarrow. We'll see if we can come to an understanding before we draw swords. For now, we'll reconstruct Sable Hall. Jack's right, we're unprepared and compared to real soldiers we're all still green boys. We need to raise our strength so we can hit hard when the dead arrive. Ballistas would only be effective if there were giants coming. We'd be wasting shots on targets so small."
"By your orders, Lord Commander," Jack said. "However, I will only be able to spare about fifteen rangers. The Master at Arms and I still have our hands full training the new recruits. Most of the ones from Essos look like they can barely lift a sword, let alone wield one. But the few who can, their style of swordplay is vicious. Especially the horse riders. I forgot what they're called. Duthruggers? Dothrigee?"
"The Dothraki" Michael corrected. "We're lucky to have as many of them as we do. Hardly any of them have any braids." The other officers looked at each other, confused as to what First Steward Stonehouse had said to them. "The Dothraki braid their hair for every victory they achieve, but if they should lose at some point, they cut their braids off as an act of shame." Michael Stonehouse wasn't near the size of Sam, but he was just as knowledgeable in the things no one else would be.
"I don't care if they have enough braided hair to scale up the Wall" Edd snapped. "I care if they will be able to face the army of a hundred thousand dead men that's coming. All of you gather the men the castle will need. Jack, I want you to assign the commander before you ride for the Long Barrow." The first officers all bowed their heads and left Edd to himself.
Edd laid back into his chair and let out a long heavy sigh. He needed some time to rest. Unfortunately, he would not be blessed with such a luxury when he heard the horn atop the Wall blast twice. 'More Wildlings.' Edd got up from the table and gathered eight other brothers of the Watch to accompany him. With the violence that had broken out, he had to be cautious when letting the Wildlings through the Wall. He wished he had a Wildling with him to help keep the peace.
They each gathered torches and lit them before they entered the tunnel and walked to the gates. Six of the brothers had drawn their swords when the light from the true north cracked through the darkness.
By the time the gate was up, Edd looked upon only two people waiting for them, a boy and a girl. The boy was lying down on a crudely made sled, which probably meant he was a cripple. The girl carried a rusted sword at her side. They were dressed in furs, but they didn't look like Wildlings at all. They weren't as gruff or hardened as all the others, but Edd had to ask anyway. "You Wildlings?"
The girl gave their answer. "I'm Meera Reed, daughter of Howland Reed."
That was a surprise, to say the least. The Reeds were one of the House of crannogmen in the neck. What was a highborn girl doing beyond the Wall? But Edd felt he remembered the name from someone telling him about it. It was from Sam, he remembered, after coming from the Nightfort with Gilly. They ran into a group of people with a direwolf like Ghost and one of them was a cripple.
She gestured to the boy on the sled. "This is Brandon Stark, son of Ned Stark."
Edd nearly lost his breath and took a quick look at the boy's face, trying to see any resemblance to Jon but couldn't find any besides the color of his hair. His eyes were brown, but not as dark as Jon's. Regardless, he felt a bit cautious. "How do I know that's true?"
The boy looked at Edd. Something about his gaze wasn't human. It felt colder than the winds and snow passing by. "You were at the Fist of the First Men. you were at Hardhome. You've seen the Army of the Dead. You've seen the Night King. He's coming for us, for all of us."
That didn't answer his question, but it was enough to remind him that it didn't matter. These two didn't pose a threat to be worried about. But more than that, Edd was wondering how in seven hells this boy knew what he just said. "Come on, let's get them inside." Two of the brothers sheathed their swords and grabbed the ropes to Brandon's sled and pulled him through. Edd took one last look at beyond the Wall before going back inside, looking out for the storm that covered the dead. He turned around and returned inside the tunnel, the gate closing right behind him.
Edd brought them to the common room for some food, they looked like they haven't eaten anything in days. Two bowls of hot soup were given to them and Meera immediately began to scarf it down. Brandon, on the other hand, acted the opposite. He ate his soup slowly. "I'm the acting Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, Eddison Tollett. There's an escort of men from the battle at Winterfell arriving in a few days. You can leave with them when they return to Winterfell after dropping off their prisoners of war."
Meera had just finished her soup and set her bowl aside. "Thank you, Lord Commander."
Brandon lifted his head up from his bowl. "One of the men with them would suit your needs for the Sable Hall."
All eyes except for Meera Reed's turned to Bran. No one muttered a sound. "How'd you know about that?"
"His name is Harald Karstark, former Lord of Karhold." Brandon went back to eating his soup silently.
Edd expected himself to be estranged by this, but after all, he's seen this was just another item on a list of mysterious and impossible things proving otherwise. "You were let beyond the Wall by Samwell Tarly, weren't you?"
"Aye," Meera reached her hand to her belt and pulled out a dragonglass dagger. "He gave us what he could before we parted ways with him and his woman."
"Do you want to know what's happened since then? I'm sure you have a lot of questions."
"I know that Robb died," Bran said. "He died at the Twins along with my mother and lost the war. I know what happened to Jon and why he was released from his vows. I know about his dragons." Edd looked at him, amazed and confused. Brandon spoke of such things that someone like him would be amazed at so emptily.
"Why did you go beyond the Wall?" Edd couldn't help but ask. Anyone would ask that to a cripple who survived the true north longer than some experienced rangers could.
"There was someone I had to meet. Someone who had to teach me something very important for Jon and someone else. The Night King killed him after we escaped."
Edd was mystified, the more Bran said, the less he understood. "How do you know these things?" Bran was beginning to scare him. He had kept the same face he had when the gates had opened. He didn't seem to be hiding his emotions, it was as if he had none to begin with.
"It's complicated. Believe me when I tell you that. The less you know the better you might understand." Bran finished the last of his soup and set his bowl aside. "If you wouldn't mind, I would like to go the weirwood tree beyond the Wall some time tomorrow."
"I've forbidden any ranging parties to go beyond the Wall. We can't afford to lose even a single man." If he could afford it, he would take a force to lay siege to the Wildling women at the Longbarrow.
"The dead won't attack yet. They're not even marching south."
Edd looked puzzled as did Meera and the others with them. "How do you know that?"
"I've been keeping watch over them with ravens. You know what a warg is."
"Aye, I do."
"The Night King is adding as much as he can to his army. Not just men, he also has giants, snow bears, direwolves, and many other beasts. He won't be marching south for quite a while."
Edd just remained silent. This was good news from a certain angle. It meant that his men had more time than they thought they did. "Do you know where he'll attack?"
"The bulk of the army is still massing near Hardhome, but they're moving slowly. I'm not sure if they're going to the part of the Wall that's closest or where they can slip through unchallenged. I need more time observing them."
"Even so, I can't let you pass. If you want to pray to the old gods, you'll have to wait till you get to Winterfell."
"I'm not going to pray, I'm going so that I can see."
Edd still had no idea what he meant. If the Stark boy wanted to look out to the North, he should go to the top of the Wall. "See what?"
"Everything, everywhere, at every moment."
