Chapter 267: Solar Talk (Part I)
Winterfell was Arya's home, and Egger felt it inappropriate to dictate where a daughter of House Stark could or could not go within her own family's castle. He could only allow the girl to follow him into the Lord's solar.
Upon entering, he found that Robb was not alone; his mother, Lady Catelyn, was also present.
Eddard Stark's widow looked at her daughter with an accusatory gaze. "Arya, why are you here?"
"Robb has been busy with one thing after another since he got back. I just wanted to talk to him." Seeing the atmosphere was off, Arya quickly abandoned Egger and ran to her brother's side, acting clingy. Her presence quickly softened the new Lord Stark's expression—like his father, he doted on his younger sister and found it difficult to maintain a stern face, naturally leaving him powerless against her whims.
"Sit, Egger," Catelyn said softly, though an unmistakable shadow of worry hung between her brows. Once the Night's Watchman was seated in the chair she indicated, she continued, "First, let me thank you for your efforts toward the stability and peace of the North. But please forgive me—as a mother, my only concern right now is to ascertain the whereabouts of my son, Bran Stark. Not long ago, the Night's Watch wrote saying they had found him. Winterfell immediately dispatched men to collect him, but by the time they arrived, they were told the boy had vanished again. It seems there was trouble within the Night's Watch itself, leaving the specifics unclear... Amidst the chaos of war, I could not travel north to investigate personally. As the Lord Steward of Logistics, you surely know the true state of the Wall better than most. Can you explain what exactly happened?"
"Of course, my lady." Egger nodded and recounted the events in full, providing more detail than he had given Arya earlier.
In the matter of Bran's disappearance, if the Night's Watch held any fault, it was simply 'failing to keep watch after stopping the child'. Fortunately, Egger had been cautious; he had never visited the Nightfort during that period and had not seen Bran even once, meaning he was largely disconnected from the incident.
Being disconnected meant he felt no guilt, nor did he need to cover for anyone or shift blame. He simply shared what he knew. He answered every question, and the conversation flowed smoothly.
"So Commander Mormont met his accident while going to fetch Bran?" Maester Aemon's report to Winterfell following the incident hadn't mentioned such minor details; Catelyn was hearing this for the first time. "I am sorry to have caused trouble for the Black Brothers. For such a thing to happen while the Wall faces crisis... as a mother, I cannot escape responsibility. But out of personal concern, I must ask: does anyone at the Wall know where my son went? If circumstances permit, could men be spared to search the Gift for Bran once more?"
"After Commander Mormont's unfortunate passing, the Night's Watch and the Gift fell into a leadership vacuum, followed immediately by a food crisis triggered by the need to feed the mountain clan reinforcements and the new Gift settlers... Amidst that tangled mess, no one truly had the heart to pursue the matter. I apologize to you for this, my lady. Once things here are settled and the situation eases, I will personally oversee an investigation."
"Mother, the Northern host has returned in full; we have plenty of men now. In a few days, I will personally lead a party north to track Bran's whereabouts. I will bring him back."
Robb was going north personally!? Egger was momentarily stunned by this stroke of luck. He had dug a massive pit intended to borrow the influence of the Starks, and the most critical step was convincing Robb to accompany him north. He had walked into the room only to find Lady Catelyn present and be grilled about Bran, nearly making him forget his prepared lines...
The irony was: before he could even mention it, Robb had jumped into the pit voluntarily.
Consider this: he had led troops south to expel the Ironborn and would return victorious a month later with the new Warden of the North following behind him. Faced with this fact, regardless of what Robb said publicly, everyone would interpret it as him—and by extension, the North—supporting Egger's policies. With that foundation and a bit of careful management, his comeback was within reach!
"I'm going too!" Arya interjected. Heaven only knew if she cared more about her brother or simply wanted to breathe some fresh air—though cynical speculation was unnecessary, as the two were not mutually exclusive.
"It's not a pleasure trip. What would you do there?" Robb shot his sister a stern look before looking back at Catelyn. "Mother, leave the task of finding Bran to me. Set your mind at ease and trust your son this once. Next, I have other matters to discuss with Egger. Why don't you take Arya back for now... we can discuss more at dinner?"
This was a son's request to his mother, but also a Warden of the North's polite command to a family member. Despite her worry and the urge to continue questioning Egger, Catelyn understood the importance of the big picture in front of an outsider. She gave face to her eldest son, who was now a sovereign lord in his own right.
She stood up and beckoned to Arya. "Come, return with me."
Arya didn't dare act out against her mother—especially a mother in such low spirits—as she did with Septa Mordane. She rose obediently from Robb's side, stuck her tongue out at Egger as she passed him, and left the solar.
Only the two men remained in the room. Clearly, the previous dialogue had been a mere interlude. Now... the formal meeting between the Warden of the North and the Lord Steward of the Night's Watch had begun.
"The Night's Watch has allowed tens of thousands of Wildlings through the Wall." Robb watched his mother and sister leave and close the door, shedding his persona of the dutiful son and kind brother. Once the room was silent, he looked at Egger with a grave expression. "I know Commander Jeor Mormont ordered this plan, but sources claim that you were actually the one masterminding and pushing it from behind the scenes. And that since the Old Bear's passing, you are the one still working to keep the Gift Settlement Plan operational... Is what I've heard true?"
(Robb isn't as ignorant of the events in the Gift as Egger previously assumed; in fact, he knows more than expected. Where are his sources coming from?)
Egger was slightly surprised, but he did not panic. "Yes, it is entirely true."
Back in the Gift, he could use the orders of the former Commander Mormont as a shield to prevent conservative candidates from terminating the settlement plan. But before Robb, he could not use the same trick. He had to state his position clearly and shoulder the responsibility—if for no other reason than the fact that he had come south specifically to secure this young man's support.
"Commander Mormont and I co-authored a comprehensive set of new laws for the Gift to manage the Wildlings brought through the Wall. We also took targeted measures to ensure they could not threaten the safety of the Night's Watch or the North. Coupled with the financial power of the Night's Watch industries and a complete social management system—"
"But none of that stopped the Old Bear from being pelted to death by rocks thrown by a few Wildlings."
Facts are always the most powerful weapon. Egger never imagined Robb could be so biting and sharp. His momentum was momentarily broken. "That... was an accident. The perpetrators and the tribe that harbored them have all been severely punished."
"I have heard. House Mormont is reasonably satisfied with the aftermath," Robb said, shaking his head. "As for it being an 'accident'... would the original Gift settlers or mountain clans have thrown stones at a Lord Commander of the Night's Watch if he hadn't brought Wildlings through? That is mere sophistry."
It was indeed sophistry. Egger quickly gathered his emotions, steadying his footing which had been rattled by Arya and Catelyn's interruption. "But—"
Robb raised a hand to cut him off. "I am grateful for you and your men coming from the Gift to help drive out the Ironborn, but I cannot support everything you do because of it. The North is not mine alone; I am responsible to everyone, starting with my vassals. And the fact is—almost the entire nobility is steadfastly opposed to this news. I used the excuse of 'the North does not interfere in the internal decisions of the Night's Watch' to keep them calm for now... but that is only a temporary measure. In the end, the Night's Watch—or rather, you—must give me an explanation. Only then can I give the Northmen a guarantee that will keep them from causing trouble for the Watch."
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