WILOW-Ch.327: Judgment
Lands Beyond the Wall
POV of Domeric Bolton
The wives and daughters of Craster had come out of their house by now and were watching the scene in silent apathy.
Domeric had no idea what they felt for the man.
On one hand, the man was their husband or father. And both in a few cases. On the other hand, the man had no qualms about sacrificing any baby boy to the White Walkers and acted as a tyrant in his own home.
Raksa brought the coffin and put it in front of Craster.
"You see. My men and I were searching for White Walkers in the True North for over half a month." He said, "When we finally found one, we discovered that the White Walker had a baby with him. The baby's smell brought us here. And now I'm filled with curiosity. Why would someone give away their baby to the White Walkers? What do you have to gain, Craster?"
Craster coughed a few more times and spat on the ground. He looked up, and then his eyes fell upon the bundle in Ygritte's arms, and his eyes widened.
"What have you done?" Craster asked.
"See for yourself." He said and opened the lid of the coffin.
The temperature fell in an instant, and a loud screech rang throughout the clearing.
Craster pissed his pants as he gazed at the White Walker kept inside the Dragonglass Coffin. "That's… not possible."
He closed the lid and looked at Raksa. "Put it back inside." He said and turned to Craster once again.
"Now. Why don't you tell me why you sacrificed your children to the White Walkers?"
"What have you done… what have you done… They'll kill us all." The man looked at him, his expression a mixture of terror and rage. "They'll kill us all!!!"
He sighed, "My patience is running out. This is your last chance to explain yourself. Speak up. At least afterwards, you can face judgment and die quickly."
"I won't tell you anything! They'll kill us all!! We'll all die!!!" Craster said.
"You've lost your chance." He said, then took Craster's face and forced him to look him in the eyes, whispering, "Legilimens."
He wanted to grant Craster at least the right to explain and defend himself. As the lord of the lands and people, he wanted his people to have at least this fundamental right.
Otherwise, his judgments would be tyranny, not justice.
He came out of Craster's mind a few moments later and sighed.
Craster had chosen the White Walkers as his gods and deemed it appropriate to sacrifice the male babies.
Getting rid of his male children suited him, ensuring they wouldn't become his rivals in the future.
However, he didn't know what the White Walkers did with the babies.
"Hold him and make him look at me," he said, and then he pronounced his judgment on him.
"For the crime of filicide and aiding the White Walkers. I, Lord Domeric Bolton, sentence you to die. You were allowed to explain and defend yourself, but you chose to remain silent and conceal the truth. Given the magnitude of your crime, your death will be a painful one."
Then, turning to his men, he said, "Throw him to the direwolves."
His men dragged Craster away, who was screaming, begging, and cursing.
There was silence in the courtyard after Craster was taken away.
He turned to Ygritte and said, "Give the child back to his mother. And gather the women. I want to have a talk with them."
Ygritte nodded and left.
He took his communication mirror out of his pocket and called Lyra.
The call didn't connect, and he remembered that the Wall blocked all magical connections.
"Tell them that I'll return in a minute." He said to Varko and left the clearing.
Once he was out of sight, he apparated to the top of the Wall. Then he called Lyra once again.
She picked up after the first ring.
"My lord. What can I do for you?" she asked.
"Update me on the current situation." He said.
She nodded, "Stannis Baratheon has gathered the Royal Fleet and has left for the south. Probably to siege Storms End. Renly Baratheon has gathered about 80,000 men. 20,000 more will join him by the end of the week, and then he'll start his war campaign. Ser Devan Lannister broke Ser Edmure's army and took him captive. Lord Tytos Blackwood retreated to Riverrun and closed its portcullis. Ser Devan Lannister has now put Riverrun under siege with 15,000 men. Lord Tywin Lannister has also crossed the Golden Tooth with 25,000 men. The Mountain is still burning and pillaging villages with his 3000 men." She said, "Last but not least, Lord Stark has also left Winterfell with some 35,000 men."
"What of King's Landing, Vale, Iron Islands, and Dorne?" he asked.
"Queen Regent Cersei is gathering the Crownlanders and mercenaries as well as conscripting men to defend King's Landing. Mannequin Sansa is not having a good time in the Red Keep, but she'll survive. Vale has declared its neutrality in this whole conflict. The Iron Islands have still not recovered from the last war. But they harbor a great deal of resentment. They don't have the men or the ships to do anything dangerous, so they're out of the equation for now. As for Dorne, Prince Doran Martell has once again declared neutrality."
He nodded, "I have a task for you, Lyra."
"What is it, my lord?"
"I want you to send Bran Stark and Meera Reed to Craster's Keep."
"Through portkey?" Lyra asked.
"No." He shook his head, "I might reveal that I'm a wizard sooner or later, but I'm not going to show my magical travel power to others that easily, maybe never. No. You'll send them to me with a wyvern."
"Wyve… you want Varamyr or Orell to bring them to you on one of their wyverns."
"Yes." He nodded, "Send Varamyr. Its wyvern is bigger and faster. That would take the least amount of time. However, don't forget to give some warm magical clothes to Bran and Meera. I don't want them freezing up in the sky."
Lyra nodded, "I'll talk with Varamyr and the kids. Those two have been staying in Dreadfort for over half a month and have started to become impatient."
"That'll be all, Lyra." He said and cut the connection.
With no White Walkers in sight, it should be fairly safe for Varamyr to fly on his wyvern and reach Craster's Keep within a day or two.
It was finally time for him to return the favor to Lord Bloodraven.
With another apparition, he came back to the place he had apparated from.
He went to where his men had gathered and saw that Ygritte was still talking with the women.
He turned to Walton, "Have the men prepare their tents. We'll stay here for the next two days. And tell them not to touch the women. Any man who rapes a woman will get capital punishment."
With that, he left to talk with the women.
He knew that killing Craster essentially left these women defenseless, so he wanted to take them south and give them homes of their own.
Suppose they accept, then good. If they don't, then he'll have to use some compulsion charm to make them accept.
Because if they remain here, then they'll die, and he didn't want that on his conscience.
After settling in the south and enjoying a lifestyle free from tyranny, they can decide whether to return here.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.328: Wyvern Journey
Ch.329: Returning the Favor
Ch.330: Secret Passage