Worship of strength and double standards are prevalent in all aspects of the human world.
When the opponent is similar in strength, being suppressed and forced to yield often provokes indignation and resistance. But when utterly crushed, the defeated may instead become convinced, prostrate themselves, and even take pride in it, unable to muster the slightest resistance.
When the Night's Watch outmaneuvered and forced the Free Folk to surrender, the Wildlings wailed and refused to accept it. They believed that the Crows had only gained the upper hand by relying on the advantage of the Wall and were not truly stronger. Even during surrender negotiations, they could not hide their arrogance, constantly repeating that they would never kneel. To appease these stubborn fools and maintain stability in the Gift, ensuring that they would work diligently and risk their lives, Lord Commander Jeor Mormont, under Aegor's suggestion—in a land where kneeling ceremonies were already uncommon—added an unnecessary new rule: to abolish kneeling entirely within the Gift.
And now, the first to publicly break this agreement was the man who had proposed it in the first place.
When Aegor reluctantly knelt and swore fealty to Daenerys, he had prepared himself to face resentment and ridicule from those among the New Gift who despised kneelers. But things turned out better than expected. Everyone seemed to think it was no shame to submit to a Queen riding a dragon. The people of the New Gift were overjoyed at the dragons' support, knowing it meant fewer dangers ahead. Radicals within the Night's Watch secretly clenched their fists, glad to finally abandon neutrality and choose a side. As for the nobles who were, in theory, enemies of the Queen—every one of them had come to the Wall because they believed in R'hllor and were willing to fight in the great war. Their response to the Night's Watch Commander's strategic choice was mostly understanding rather than resistance.
No one stepped forward to call Aegor a kneeler. No one openly questioned his violation of the Night's Watch's neutrality. Instead, the Queen's excessive enthusiasm became the first issue. Perhaps pleased by his swift and unwavering oath, and eager to show favor to her newest follower, Daenerys immediately inquired about the whereabouts of the remaining wights after their vows were completed. She seemed ready to fly off with her dragons and burn away the threat in one swift strike, eager to conclude the battle and turn Aegor's attention to reclaiming the Seven Kingdoms.
Aegor could sense the Queen's eagerness and goodwill, but he could only appreciate it, not accept it.
They had already paid far more than expected to weaken the enemy to this extent. If the Queen, in her excitement, sent her dragons to strike at this critical moment, the war might have to begin all over again. After some effort, Aegor managed to persuade Daenerys that "the enemy possessed the means to attack and possibly turn her children into undead dragons," convincing her to abandon the idea of fighting alone and instead cooperate with the main force.
For this campaign, to prevent any surprise ambush, Aegor had brought along most of the wargs from Crown Town who could control animals, and even transported the crippled Bran Stark in a specially outfitted carriage.
Regarding the Greenseer, whose age and identity were difficult to classify, Aegor no longer believed he was in league with the Cold God, but he continued to doubt whether Bran was using his full strength in the war. Bringing him along on this Southward Expedition served not only the explicit purpose of using his ability to control flocks of ravens for scouting and communication, but also the implicit goal of tying his personal safety to the army's fate. If they fell into a desperate battle or faced defeat, the Greenseer would share their fate. If he had any hidden strength, he would be forced to use it.
The triple combination of wargs, Bran, and patrolling rangers reduced the chances of a surprise ambush to nearly zero. The addition of dragons completely tipped the balance of power toward humanity. Aegor's long-dreamed foolproof scenario had finally taken shape. This was, without a doubt, the most effective army ever assembled against the White Walkers, and it advanced steadily—though not slowly—toward the South.
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Feeding three dragons placed immense logistical pressure on the army, but the benefits they brought far outweighed the costs. To conserve energy for both people and dragons, Daenerys remained in the army's carriage most of the time, like Bran, instead of riding atop Drogon. With three massive flying flamethrowers circling overhead day and night, the army's march seemed almost effortless.
Following Aegor's orders, the fortresses along the Wall dispatched elite, lightly equipped troops as soon as they received the call. Within a few dozen hours of the army's march south, these detachments caught up with the main host. By the day after the pursuit began—four days after the White Walkers crossed the Great Gorge—the joint forces had reached the northern edge of the Wolfswood. That afternoon, they arrived at a fork in the road near the White Knife, which led toward both Last Hearth and Winterfell... and there, they caught up with the enemy.
Or rather, that's how most people described it. Aegor, however, felt more like the enemy had been waiting for them to arrive.
"The wargs report that the birds under their control spotted the army of wights less than ten miles to the south. Judging from the tracks, they left Last Hearth not long ago."
Although Last Hearth was not directly on the King's Road, it wasn't far from it. Since the wight army had passed through the castle and resumed their southward march, the fate of House Umber was clear. Aegor saw no value in wasting hours retaking a lifeless ruin. Once Bran confirmed that all nine White Walkers—"one strong and eight weak"—remained within the horde and had not separated, Aegor didn't linger in mourning for the Northmen. Instead, he ordered the main host to slow its pace but continue pursuit. Bran and the wargs were to maintain close surveillance of the wights and the White Walkers, while a small patrol would be dispatched to investigate the situation at Last Hearth.
The sky had already darkened. The reports from the rangers later confirmed Aegor's judgment. However, the strange discovery of thousands of fresh corpses inside and outside Last Hearth, still untouched, caught him off guard and immediately heightened his sense of danger.
"Are you certain they're corpses and not wights pretending to be dead? How many are there?"
Halting beside the advancing army, Aegor questioned the scout commander intently about the details.
Years ago, when he followed Tyrion south to King's Landing, the rangers who had gone with Benjen to search for Waymar Royce had, just like in the original timeline, returned to Castle Black feigning death and attempted to assassinate Jeor Mormont. Aegor had not forgotten that trick of feigning lifelessness.
"Excluding the wights clearly killed during the siege, there are roughly one to two thousand," the scout reported. "But they're all women and children, with almost no adult men or soldiers. We did a tentative test, stabbing some with dragonglass weapons. They appeared to be genuine corpses. No anomalies were found." He chose his words carefully. "But for safety's sake, and to prevent the enemy from using a two-sided assault with reanimated dead, I suggest assigning a hundred men to return with me to Last Hearth and cremate the bodies."
"No need for that," Daenerys, who had stepped out of her carriage and stood nearby, shook her head. "I'll summon the dragons and fly ahead to intercept the wight horde. We'll burn those... White Walkers before sunset. Then we can deal with Last Hearth at our leisure. Whatever tricks the enemy has planned, they won't have time to carry them out."
"No. Although ten miles on a map may seem like we've caught up, the enemy is not a stationary target. In real combat, even if the army runs at full speed, it will still take half an hour to reach them. That may not sound long, but if the enemy uses any means to injure or bring down Your Grace's dragons, we won't have time to intervene or rescue them. I insist that we follow the original plan. Your dragons must not enter the battle until the ground forces are engaged."
He spoke with the air of a loyal subject concerned for his Queen's safety, but in truth, Aegor cared little for the dragons' lives.
No, that wasn't quite right. In truth, he would prefer for all three dragons to perish with the White Walkers in the coming battle. As long as Daenerys survived, that was enough. His loyalty was not to her dragons, but to her status as the "Last Targaryen," a symbol and stepping stone to the stage he wished to stand on. Daenerys without dragons was still a Queen, still the monarch he had sworn to follow. But without her dragons, she would have to rely on his gunpowder. And the more she relied on the Night's Watch, the higher Aegor's standing would rise in the new True Dragon dynasty. Perhaps even ruling from behind the throne wouldn't be a dream.
That said, it would be foolish to deliberately have the dragons die before victory was secured. The real reason Aegor insisted on keeping the dragons with the army was simple: only by acting in concert could they ensure that if a White Walker brought down one of the dragons, the Night's Watch would have time to strike the corpse with dragonsteel arrows before it could be raised as an undead dragon.
Naturally, Aegor would never speak that truth aloud.
He ordered his guards to relay the command to halt and establish camp immediately, setting up sentries. Then he squatted beside the road, opened the map on a small table taken from the carriage, drew a few lines, and began to explain his reasoning.
"Something's not right. I suspect the White Walkers are plotting something. That's why they happened to appear in our sights right at sunset."
(To be continued.)