Things were unpredictable.
The timely arrival of the Unsullied, which should have been a pleasant surprise, turned into a shock in an instant. Instead, the Eastwatch guide who accompanied them, whom Aegor had barely acknowledged during their brief encounter, brought genuinely good news. The group of Night's Watch brothers stationed at the eastern end of the Wall, the very ones whose actions he had been preparing to guard against, had somehow suddenly become his allies.
After hearing Iron Emmett's mysterious "tip-off," which the young man believed to be explosive, Aegor was briefly confused. For a moment he could not tell whether Cotter Pyke, whom he had dealt with before and thoroughly offended, had truly undergone a dramatic change of heart and become a loyal subordinate… or whether he was playing a deeper game, pretending to surrender in order to lower Aegor's guard before striking at the last moment.
But the answer to that question did not matter, because regardless of which it was, Aegor had no intention of changing his original plan.
He would still order Cotter Pyke to take all his trusted men who could still serve on patrol, bring supplies five days before the "expedition" began, and head Beyond the Wall to "scout the way."
If Cotter had no conspiracy, then this action would serve as a routine training exercise. But if the opposite were true, then no matter how intricate the Northmen's and Eastwatch's rebellion plan was, it would be crushed by the nearly two hundred meter high Wall and the force Aegor would use to take control of Eastwatch-by-the-Sea.
He had already compared and verified intelligence from multiple sources to deduce the real situation of the meeting in Winterfell. No matter whether Cotter Pyke was involved in the Stark-led conspiracy or which side he supported, the result would not change in the slightest. So long as the North's spies ran around conspiring and planning to rebel while he led his army Beyond the Wall, their plan would collapse entirely when he suddenly marched South instead, long before anyone expected it. A rapid, thousand-mile advance straight into the North's heartlands, reaching Winterfell before the Stark family could react, would destroy the Northern Lords' ability to gather forces before they even realized what was happening.
Aegor was not afraid of Cotter Pyke being his enemy. What made him uneasy was Cotter's unexpected "choice to stand with him." It was not necessarily a bad thing, but it dramatically increased the chance of unforeseen complications. Unreliable allies were often more dangerous than declared enemies.
He had stirred public sentiment into a flame, directing hatred toward the enemies he had chosen. So far, the fire was under control. But if a new element, such as Cotter suddenly appearing to switch sides, began throwing the Stark family into the fire as well, then his carefully controlled blaze could spin out of control, igniting a full-scale war with the North and eventually consuming him.
His personal desire to "avoid dragging his friends into the storm" was a small matter. The terrifying possibility was that the fire of hatred, once fed with fresh fuel, would burn beyond any control.
Thus Aegor found himself in a comical but dangerous position. Although he was the target of the conspiracy, not only did he have to pretend to know nothing despite receiving repeated warnings, he even had to cover for Robb Stark's poorly concealed plan… shielding his opponents' conspiracy for them.
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"You did very well." Aegor suppressed the urge to sigh, maintained a serious expression, and praised Iron Emmett without hesitation. "Go back and tell Lord Pyke that I have received the message and will begin preparing countermeasures. Thank him for his timely report. But before a final decision is made, I require him to guard this secret strictly. Not a word may leak. This matter is extremely important. Make sure he understands."
"Understood." The young Ranger nodded, hesitated for a moment, then suddenly changed the topic. "There is another matter, my Lord. After hearing of Her Grace leaving King's Landing and the Iron Throne, which she could have easily taken, to come to the Wall and save the realm, I was deeply moved. I wish to repay her selflessness. Lord Commander, I wonder if you could give me a chance to… do something for the Queen in her war to reclaim the throne?"
Yesterday, Iron Emmett had still been persuading Cotter Pyke to overthrow Aegor and become Lord Commander himself. But after reading Aegor's order sent to Eastwatch, and after coming to Crown Town to witness everything himself, he finally understood. First Ranger of Eastwatch, Commander of a stronghold… everything he had striven for or was still pursuing… was meaningless. No, worse than meaningless when compared with true ambition. Following this man before him was the only path forward.
He wanted to defect. He wanted to leave the Night's Watch and follow Aegor down from the Wall.
Aegor lifted his eyes and looked at him, instantly understanding.
A defector.
There were many restless men within the Night's Watch who wished to shed their black and change their fate. Aegor simply had to identify them, choose the competent ones, and cultivate them for his own use.
At Castle Black, which was close and familiar, suitable men had already been absorbed. But many in Shadow Tower and Eastwatch had never had the chance due to distance and unfamiliarity. In the former case, most had died in battle. In the latter, some still had time to catch the last train. Iron Emmett was clearly one of the sharper ones.
In truth, the man before him was a heroic figure with excellent archery, two White Walker kills to his name, and reportedly strong swordsmanship. Even if he lacked strategy, so long as he showed loyalty, Aegor would gladly recruit him as a personal guard. But right now, when things were dangerously unstable, he had no time or energy to assess a new man's reliability.
After a brief consideration, he made a decision.
"There will be many opportunities, and they will always be reserved for the capable and prepared." Aegor stared directly into his eyes, emphasizing that he had heard and understood the man's intentions. "But right now, defeating the Stark family's conspiracy and completing the expedition Beyond the Wall are the top priorities. I will personally ensure the first is handled. The second requires a Night's Watch man like you, with both courage and wits. Since things have changed, the plan must change. I have decided to move the expedition forward. Instead of next month, it will begin one week from now. Return to Eastwatch, assist your Commander in keeping the secret, and complete this patrol Beyond the Wall. Once all is done, return safely to the South side of the Wall and find me. I guarantee there will be a place waiting for you."
The larger the ship, the harder it is to turn. Though Aegor had planned ahead, no degree of preparation could override reality. Even though the Gift was not enormous, shifting the entire region from "defensive posture" to "ready for war at any moment" required time. His public plan announced that the expedition would begin in one month, with three vanguards departing a day early to scout the way for the main force.
But the truth was that the main force would not follow that public plan at all.
After sending all potential troublemakers Beyond the Wall, Aegor would mobilize the main army the very next day. A portion would seize Castle Black, Eastwatch, and the new Shadow Tower, blocking the three vanguard detachments from returning. The elite core would then launch a lightning-fast invasion of the North.
The true plan was clear, but what Aegor did not reveal even to his closest subordinates was this: even the public plan, fully announced and meant to misdirect, contained deliberate inaccuracies.
When half the month had passed, he would announce the expedition had been moved up by two weeks. Two weeks offered only enough time to avoid fatal errors, but the advantage of striking before conspirators were ready far outweighed that disadvantage.
Now, with both Varys and Littlefinger arriving in the North to stir trouble, Aegor had no choice but to shrink the timeline further.
He knew that a rushed, underprepared campaign would cause constant problems. But he believed it was less risky than letting the Queen wait another week under the influence of the Spider and Littlefinger.
(To be continued.)
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