Chapter 494 The King Sees the King (Two in One)
In the snowstorm, thousands of campfires flickered outside the Great Wall, but compared with the dark and cold scene, the light seemed small and powerless.
Mance Rayder, King Beyond the Wall, was dragged up to the Great Wall while sitting unsteadily in a bamboo basket.
"Lord Dennis Mallister," Mance patted off the snow on his body and smiled, "I didn't expect you to come to greet me."
"How can you be sure that I'm here to greet you, not to kill you?" Sir Dennis looked at the former subordinate in front of him with a gloomy face, and held the hilt of his sword with his right hand.
"Hold my head, but I can't go back and report to your king." Mance stepped forward with a smile, and actually gave him a hug.
Dennis roughly pushed Mance away:
"Don't think that we can laugh away our grievances. The night watchmen will never forget the traitors they once were. Just wait, one day, I will cut off your head!"
"I'm here anytime."
Sir Dennis snorted coldly, and then led the King Beyond the Wall down the Great Wall and into Castle Black.
The night watchmen they met along the way all watched this wildling king from beyond the Great Wall with vigilant eyes.
Mance Rayder turned a blind eye to these gazes, but looked at the castle leisurely, as if a traveler revisiting an old place was looking for memories of the past.
At the door of the library, Sir Dennis stopped and said:
"Go in, His Majesty is waiting for you inside."
Mance thanked him and pushed the door open.
The air in the room smelled of old dust and decaying paper.
What caught the eye were tall wooden bookshelves, the tops of which were submerged in darkness. The shelves were full of leather-bound books and boxes of ancient scrolls.
Mance shuttled through the narrow aisle, and after crossing several rows of bookshelves, he found a young man sitting in a niche embedded in the stone wall.
"Samwell Caesar."
"Mance Rayder."
Mance looked at the face in memory in front of him, with a rather sad tone:
"You are completely different from five years ago, and now you really look like a king."
Samwell smiled:
"And you, my friend, still look nothing like a king."
Mance laughed out loud.
He really had no kingly appearance, no crown on his head, no gold rings on his arms, no chains around his neck, in short, no adornment at all. She was dressed in wool and leather, and the only thing that stood out about her was a ragged black wool cloak with several long rips stitched together with faded red silk.
"I have never worn a crown, and I have never sat on a damned throne." Mance said flatly, "I came from such a humble background that no monks anointed me with holy oil. I don't have a castle, and my queen wears animal skins and amber , rather than silk gems.
I am my own warrior, my own jester, and my own fiddler. Any king beyond the Great Wall does not rely on blood, free people do not follow surnames, and do not care which brother was born first. They believe in the strong.
As I left the Shadow Tower, there were five clamoring to be King Beyond the Wall. Tormund was one, and Magnar the other, and now they are both my servants, and as for the other three, I have killed them, because they would rather resist than obey.
Then I became King Beyond the Wall. "
"But now you have come to Senai." Samwell said, "There can only be one king here."
"That's why I insisted on seeing you in person." Mance stepped forward, sat down at the table, poured himself a glass of wine, and drank it down.
"Good wine!" He let out a pleasant admiration, put the wooden wine glass back on the table, and made a bang, "Caesar, do you know why I defected from the Night Watch Legion in the first place?"
Samwell shook his head.
Mance stood up, unfastened the buckle of the cloak, and spread it on the table:
"I'm for this."
"A cloak?"
"A black cloak of a night watchman." Mance said, "Once, we hunted a reindeer when we were out on patrol, and we were busy skinning it, but the smell of blood attracted the shadow lynx nearby.
After some fighting, we managed to drive it away. But my cloak was also torn to shreds in the battle. The beast also tore my arms and my back.
The brothers worried that I would not be able to make it back to the castle, so they carried me to a savage village. A medical girl in the village saved my life and stitched my cloak with scarlet silk.
You know what silk means to a wildling girl, I don't even know where she got this precious cloth. But she gave me her greatest treasure.
Unfortunately, I am a night watchman, and I swear not to marry a wife or have children.
Back to the Great Wall, they found me a brand new black cloak, no frays, no scratches, and of course no red silk.
Night watchmen must wear black.
But I want to keep this old cloak I'm wearing.
Ser Denys Mallister berated me harshly, and threatened to burn my old cloak.
So I ran away.
To a place where desire is no longer a sin, and people are free to choose the color of their cloak. "
"It's a touching story." Samwell commented, "But I want to tell you that in the Seven Kingdoms south of the Great Wall, people can also kiss their beloved girls and choose the color of their cloak."
"But they still have to kneel." Mance said, "That's what you want us to do, isn't it? Bow down to you."
"Yes." Samwell nodded frankly.
Mance shook his head firmly:
"Caesar, we free people will never kneel to anyone!"
"Mance, I actually don't like people kneeling to me, but this is the rule within the Great Wall." Samwell said earnestly, "You savages are used to being loose, you don't kneel, you don't pay taxes, you don't obey the law If you want something, just grab it with your hands.
If you allow you to act recklessly within the Great Wall, how should I explain to the people of the Seven Kingdoms? "
"Your laws may not be suitable for us," Mance said, "If we need laws, we will make them ourselves. And I will also restrain them to ensure that they will not disturb your people."
"Mance Rayder, can you really restrain hundreds of thousands of wildlings?"
"I can take them south to the Great Wall of Impossibility, and I can naturally restrain them to obey the rules within the Great Wall."
"Don't overestimate yourself, Mance Rayder." Samwell said, "Even I can't guarantee that all the people of the Seven Kingdoms will obey my orders. But because of the law, as long as they commit crimes, I can obey the law." punish them.
And you? Your Majesty the King Beyond the Wall, if your people commit crimes within the Great Wall, can I punish them? "
"Free people have different customs, and some things may be crimes in your eyes, but..."
"I know." Samwell interrupted, "I heard that you savages want to marry a wife, so go knock the girl you like and bring them home, don't you?"
"There is this custom." Mance admitted, "Only those who can steal a girl are eligible to marry."
"This is not allowed within the Great Wall."
Mance said with a sullen face: "I will set a few rules for them."
"I have already set it up for you." Sam Will said, "First, the savages who enter the Great Wall can voluntarily become citizens of the Seven Kingdoms,"
"Second," Samwell continued, "Savages who don't want to be my people can only stay in a few fixed areas and are not allowed to go out."
Hearing this, Mance immediately protested:
"You can't limit our freedom!"
"This is our land," Samwell said coldly, "Since you don't want to abide by our laws, kneel down, or pay taxes, of course you can only stay in the area we have designated. And, wait Cold winter has passed, those of you who do not want to kneel down must leave immediately and return to the north of the Great Wall."
"Where is the designated area?"
"Wolf Forest." Samwell said, "You can only stay in Wolf Forest."
Of course Mance Rayder knew about Wolfwood.
This is a forest in the northwest of the northern border. It is close to the Ice Bay. It does occupy a large area, but it cannot support hundreds of thousands of people.
He knew very well that Caesar was using this method to force the wildlings to submit.
"What if we disagree?"
"Then stay north of the Great Wall and don't come to my territory!"
The atmosphere in the room suddenly became tense.
The eyes of the two intersected in the air, as if there was a flash of fire.
"Caesar, did the night watchman forget to remind you." Mance said, "If you don't let us enter the Great Wall..."
"Are you going to blow the horn of winter and make the Great Wall collapse?" Samwell said.
"I don't want to do this either, but if we have to," Mance's tone became cold, "we will never hesitate."
Samwell smiled slightly, as if he didn't care about such a threat.
Mance frowned:
"Caesar, you don't want to kill me, do you? Before coming here, I told my queen Dana that if I can't return safely today, she will blow the horn of winter herself at dawn tomorrow!"
"Do you think that I won't dare to kill you?"
Mance frowned even tighter. He could see the cold killing intent in the eyes of the king in front of him, which made him feel incomprehensible.
But the next moment, he heard an incomprehensible spell coming out of Caesar's mouth.
The light in the room dimmed instantly, and the whole space seemed to be shaking.
"Caesar! You—" Mance thought that the other party was really going to attack him, so he jumped up immediately, and at the same time drew out the long sword at his waist, and assumed a defensive posture.
He had heard of the legendary king's terrifying achievements, and he was terrified, but he would never die without a fight.
"Take it easy, my friend." The king's voice came again, but it sounded a little weird.
The fading light gradually brightened, and Mance Rayder was finally able to see again.
But what he saw in front of him frightened the king beyond the Great Wall.
Because, standing in front of him is another king beyond the Great Wall!
"You, you...how...witchcraft!" Looking at the identical self in front of him, Mance couldn't keep calm at all, and fine cold sweat oozes from his forehead.
"Yes, witchcraft." Samwell smiled, his Adam's apple squirmed slightly, and he made Mance Rayder's voice, "Do you think that if I go to your camp like this, your dear queen will still blow the winter song?" the horn?"
Mance's face changed for a while, and finally he said dejectedly:
"Okay, you win, Caesar. I agree to your terms."
Samwell smiled slightly, but shook his head and said:
"Sorry, Mance, your previous behavior made me lose my trust in you. Therefore, I think it's better to use your identity to get back the Horn of Winter first. It's too dangerous to keep it in the hands of you wildlings .”
Hearing this, Mance's expression changed drastically.
He is also a decisive person, and immediately flew towards the other "self" in front of him.
But he obviously underestimated the strength gap between himself and the opponent.
Samwell lightly raised his hand, pinched the tip of Mance's sword, and then twisted it casually, and the whole fine steel long sword was shattered into countless pieces.
"You can be a guest at Castle Black for a few days now." Samwell easily restrained Mance Rayder, "I will make arrangements for your people."
After speaking, he strode out.
Outside, Ed Stark and others were not surprised when they saw "Mance Rayder" coming out, and they had obviously been informed in advance.
"Make arrangements, I'm going to the Great Wall."
"Your Majesty, do you need me to send someone to go with you?"
"No. Even if things are revealed, those savages won't be able to keep me."
"yes."
Soon, Samwell left the Great Wall through the hanging basket.
Not long after walking north, a group of savages greeted them, and the leader shouted:
"Captain Mance, how are you talking with the southerners?"
"A deal has been reached." Samwell didn't want to talk too much, so as not to reveal his secrets, he walked quickly to the camp, "We'll talk about it when we go back."
Continued to walk a few miles, and the group entered the tent area.
This is a typical savage camp, with bonfires and urinals extending in a mess, children and goats wandering around at will, no planning, no order, no defense, men, women and animals everywhere.
Children squatting by the fire, old women in dog carts, cavemen with dyed faces, warriors with painted claws, snakes and skulls on their shields, and giants, giants seven or eight times the height of ordinary people.
When they saw the King Beyond the Wall, they all stopped busy and turned their heads to pay attention.
But no one kneels.
Samwell kept his eyes open and walked all the way to the tall camp in the center.
The tent is very warm, there is a fire under the smoke vent, and there is a woman with a big belly beside the fire, and there is a beautiful blond girl beside the fire.
Samwell immediately guessed that the pregnant one should be Queen Dana of Mance Rayder, and the blond girl was her sister Val.
But his attention was all focused on a huge black horn in the tent.
"Mance, has the king of the south agreed to our terms?" Queen Dana asked.
"Yes." Samwell nodded casually, but walked towards the Horn of Winter.
But just before he touched the horn, he heard a low whining horn.
woo woo woo woo-
Samwell was taken aback, and when he realized that it was the horn sound from outside the tent, he heard Dana screaming:
"This is the scout's horn! Mance, there are enemies coming!"
Two chapters into one chapter
(end of this chapter)