Chapter 268: Solar Talk (Part II)
The other man's unambiguous stance forced Egger to focus his full attention. Fortunately—though he appeared aggressive and sounded overbearing—young Stark's words actually revealed a crucial piece of information: Robb was not resolutely opposed to the Gift Settlement Plan. There was still a chance.
"First, I apologize for the unilateral actions of Commander Mormont and myself. Directly allowing the Free Folk through the Wall without consulting the Northern lords—especially the ruling House—was indeed ill-considered. But the fact remains: at that time, the army of the dead was hard on the heels of the living fleeing south. We had no time to notify the Northern lords and deliberate." When the Wildlings were attacking the Wall, the Ironborn were also invading the North in force. In such a situation, Egger doubted the nobles would have had the inclination to participate even if Mormont had broadcasted his intent and sought counsel. "A single step's delay in making that decision would have resulted in countless people being slaughtered beyond the Wall and turned into wights—adding thousands upon thousands of non-human adversaries for the Night's Watch and the North to face in the foreseeable future." Egger finally played this card. "I recall that Commander Mormont once sent a wight in a cage on a tour across the entire North. You must have seen the creature yourself; it is no fiction."
"No one says it is fiction. It serves as a somewhat persuasive reason. The Night's Watch is indeed facing an enemy beyond common imagination, and that has already raised the Northmen's threshold of tolerance for you considerably." Robb curled his lip. "But I do not believe those things have the intellect or ability to scale the Wall... As for the thinking, magic-wielding White Walkers mentioned in your reports, no one has seen them. They cannot be factored into the consideration."
"I have seen one, and I killed it. During my time in King's Landing on official business, the rangers killed another. If you do not believe me, you may summon your half-brother, Jon Snow, and question him... He is a loyal and reliable young man. You have known him longer than anyone; you should understand his character."
"I do understand him. In fact, Jon aside, I am personally quite willing to believe you." Robb shrugged at Egger. "But even if the White Walkers truly exist, what of it? The Seven Kingdoms combined have tens of millions of people. I do not believe that just because we lack these few tens of thousands of Wildlings... we will lose the war against the dead."
"The Seven Kingdoms have tens of millions, but what are those millions doing? They are throwing themselves into one internal feud after another, tossing their energy and resources into wars sparked by palace scandals and succession disputes! In this hour as the Long Night approaches, what we need is to concentrate our strength and resources to prepare for our natural enemy!" Egger grew slightly agitated. "Ten thousand Gift settlers fully prepared for war are more useful than ten million people of the Seven Kingdoms who haven't put their minds to the task! And I have confidence—under my leadership, the new Gift settlers will become the former!"
"Personal opinions are unimportant. Allow me to be blunt—you are a foreigner from a place we have never heard of; and Jon is my father's bastard. In this monumental matter of allowing the Wildlings, who have been our enemies for thousands of years, to live in the Gift, your confidence and guarantees hold no value for the Northern lords. What I mean is... they are meaningless."
It was a long sentence that simply meant: in this feudal structure, neither Egger nor anyone else in the Night's Watch was qualified to provide such a guarantee to the Northern lords; and Robb himself had only just taken his seat and lacked the prestige or power to overrule the consensus.
Though it wasn't pleasant to hear, it was the truth. Egger frowned, suddenly realizing where the problem lay. "Wait, I think we need to reset our thinking... otherwise, we are just talking past each other and will never get to the point."
Robb made a gesture of agreement and then leaned back, settling into his chair to wait quietly for Egger to speak again.
The Night's Watchman calmed down, quickly forcing himself into a state of high-efficiency thinking.
Throughout his journey from Queenscrown to the south to resolve the Ironborn invasion and his subsequent return north, he had already contemplated how to persuade Robb Stark not to immediately oppose the settlement plan and to get him to come north for the next phase. But just now, being pestered by Arya and then interrupted by Catelyn—whom he hadn't expected to meet—coupled with hearing Robb say he would "personally lead men north" without any mental preparation...
The conversation in the solar today had not started the way Egger expected, and a major goal had even been achieved before he made his move. A series of unexpected factors had made the situation as chaotic as a bugged quest in a game. Having been away from King's Landing for so long, his skills in manipulating those higher and mightier than himself had grown a bit rusty, and he had nearly forgotten how to do it.
But it didn't matter. Like riding a bike or swimming, the ability to analyze interests and adopt the correct strategy is hard to forget once mastered. Robb Stark's reasonably good personal relationship with Egger made the situation salvageable. What he needed to do now was quickly retrieve his original plan from memory, identify the problem, and adjust based on the changing circumstances.
After a long moment, Egger cleared his thoughts.
"What is the duty of the Night's Watch?" he began again. "I will summarize it here according to my own understanding: to act as a buffer between the lands beyond the Wall and those within, and to ensure the safety of the Seven Kingdoms—especially the North."
Robb knit his brows, thought for a moment, and found no flaw. "Correct. That is how it is."
"But there is no law or article stating how the Night's Watch should achieve this, just as there are no records showing the Wall was built solely to stop Wildlings..."
"Wait. If you are trying to say: 'As long as nothing happens to the North, what the Night's Watch does is none of my business,' then the discussion returns to square one—I, or rather the Northmen, have doubts about the Wildlings keeping to themselves and concerns for our own safety. Most importantly, we have the ability and the intent to intervene."
"I understand your meaning. You said just now that you are responsible to everyone. Allow me to summarize your meaning in my own words—the 'responsibility' you speak of is to be responsible for the 'safety of everyone in the North.' The demand of the Warden of the North and the duty of the Night's Watch intersect at this single point: the safety of the North." Egger's mind cleared. "In other words, our previous discussions about 'whether letting the Free Folk in is right' or 'should we have done it' are essentially unnecessary and put the cart before the horse. What we should be doing now is not arguing over right or wrong, but: judging whether the Free Folk brought through the Wall will threaten the North—and if they will, coming up with and taking measures to solve it!"
"Exactly. That is precisely what I mean." Robb raised his eyebrows. "That is what I meant by... you give me an explanation, and I give the Northmen a guarantee. You summarized it well. So, how do you intend to give me this explanation?"
"I can't."
"What?"
"I cannot sit here and, through words alone, make the Warden of the North believe that the tens of thousands of strangers let through the Wall by the Night's Watch do not threaten the North—that is a mission impossible." Egger shrugged. "Even if I could, I think it would be a form of gross irresponsibility. We should not rely on words... to decide the fate of tens of thousands."
"So?" Now it was Robb's turn to be confused.
"I have always believed that seeing is believing. To judge whether the Free Folk will threaten the North, is there any method more direct than walking among them... having face-to-face contact, and understanding their lives and state of mind?"
"I now, in my capacity as Lord Steward of the Night's Watch, formally issue an invitation to the Warden of the North. I hope Lord Stark can grace us with his presence—to deign to visit the Gift and personally inspect the progress and status of the settlement plan."
When Egger set out south from Queenscrown, his ultimate goal was clear: find a way to bring Robb Stark back to the North and trick him into visiting the Gift for an inspection. His presence would create the illusion that the "Warden of the North supports the Gift Settlement Plan." After the other party proactively mentioned heading north to the Wall, the plan had momentarily fallen into disarray for one reason: Egger had subconsciously shifted his goal, involuntarily trying to convince Robb then and there in Winterfell that letting the Wildlings through was the right move.
Shifting blame and trying to prove oneself right is human nature; taking an inch when given an ell is also survival instinct. But this time, the new goal was inherently difficult to achieve, and if a miracle occurred and Robb believed the Wildlings posed no threat, he might give up on the personal investigation, which would utterly wreck the subsequent plans.
One should pursue boldly when victory is in sight, but when it's time to quit while ahead, one must prioritize the big picture.
Robb was left bewildered by the rapid shift in topic, but given that he had already decided to go north to find his brother, the answer was not difficult. "Hmm... Very well. I accept the invitation."
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