What is the most popular topic in King's Landing now? Of course, it's the Godsworn, Others, and wights. These legendary beings have appeared before people's eyes, and they've discovered that those ancient legends might all be true, and even gods might be real. For a time, all sorts of items related to gods in the hands of port vendors became the hottest commodities.
However, no ancient deity's item could compare to the Seven-Pointed Star of the Seven, because the Others were defeated by the Chosen of the Seven, and the wights were captured by the Chosen of the Seven. While Azor Ahai had not yet been reborn from smoke and salt as per legend, the Chosen of the Seven had already begun working to save the world from the Others in the future.
Now, the Great Sept of Baelor is the most popular place in all of King's Landing, not only because devotees come here to pray to the Seven, but more importantly, after King led his ministers to verify the wight's authenticity, he placed it in the Great Sept of Baelor for public viewing, so that the people would also know that the legendary Others' apocalypse was not far from them.
Almost every day, people are willing to queue for an entire day to see the undead wight imprisoned in the Sept, and some are even willing to pay a high price just to stab the wight.
Septs in other cities also submitted applications, requesting the Great Sept of Baelor to transport the wight to Septs across the realm for a while, to display the glory of the Seven.
However, the Great Sept of Baelor was clearly not very willing, so it pushed the matter to the Red Keep, claiming that the wight was given to King by the Godsworn for disposal. Since King placed the item in the Great Sept of Baelor, the Great Sept of Baelor naturally dared not act without authorization to place it elsewhere.
The other Septs knew this was an excuse from the Great Sept of Baelor, but they could not refute it and could only appeal to King Robert. However, King Robert currently had no mind to deal with the wight's ownership. He was troubled by the matter of expanding the Night's Watch.
"So, you've discussed for days and given me this piece of junk, expanding the range of prisoners sent to the Night's Watch from serious offenders to minor offenders?" King Robert threw the scroll in his hand onto the table, completely disregarding Duke Eddard, Duke Tywin, Duke Hoster, and Duke Mace sitting in the audience seats, and began scolding the Small Council members before him, "Even a brothel madam's ledger is more reliable than this! Where's the funding for the Night's Watch? Where are the war supplies for the Night's Watch? None of these are here, you just send some prisoners over. How is this different from the past? Didn't you see that monster? That was just one insignificant monster among a group of them! Do you want these monsters to climb over the Wall and into your beds, humming your grandmothers' lullabies to you?"
Faced with King Robert's reprimand, everyone in the Small Council fell silent. Jon Arryn looked at Baron Morran Moriarty, the Master of Coin, who sat silently with his head down, and wondered if it was time to replace the Master of Coin. This Baron Moriarty was truly terrible; he had made a mess of the entire court's finances.
It wasn't that Jon Arryn didn't see the horror of the wights or didn't know the importance of the Night's Watch. It was simply that the Red Keep currently had no spare funds to support the Night's Watch, and even manpower couldn't be spared. Only the prisons still held a large number of minor offenders. Therefore, sending these prisoners to the Wall to become Night's Watch members could both alleviate pressure on the prisons and provide manpower support to the Night's Watch.
However, this decision clearly did not please King Robert. King Robert had already decided to fully support the Night's Watch, even boasting at a feast with the dukes that when the apocalyptic war with the Others began in the future, he would don his armor, lead the knights of the Seven Kingdoms, and charge at the forefront of the decisive battle.
However, the plan Jon Arryn offered to support the Night's Watch was undoubtedly a slap in his face.
"This is already enough," Eddard Stark said, coming to his foster father's rescue, "The common people's view of the Night's Watch cannot be changed in a short time. Forcibly recruiting people will only make the commoners of other kingdoms dissatisfied with the Night's Watch. Moreover, the manpower supporting the Night's Watch is already sufficient; no additional manpower is needed. Furthermore, Lord Linde Terra has only found signs of Others and wight activity Beyond the Wall; there are no signs yet that the Others' army has appeared at the edge of the Wall. We actually don't need to be so anxious."
"Eddard is very right," the aged Hoster Tully said, his face extremely pale and his voice somewhat weak, perhaps due to his recent recovery from a serious illness. "In the past, the Night's Watch was composed of brave knights and warriors from the Seven Kingdoms who volunteered to join. It was only later, due to various reasons, that the Night's Watch's honor and responsibility were lost, leading to prisoners taking their place. However, with the reappearance of the Others and wights, I believe the Night's Watch's honor and responsibility will soon reawaken the courage of the Seven Kingdoms' knights. At that time, we won't need to send people; knights will choose to go to the Wall themselves and don the black cloaks. Until then, continuing to use prisoners to fill the Night's Watch's vacancies is also very appropriate, don't you think, Duke Tyrell? I remember your heir, Velas, seems to have always supported the Night's Watch."
"Yes, Velas has always supported the Night's Watch. He has always remembered the Night's Watch's importance to humanity," Mace Tyrell said, head held high and with immense pride. "If the Night's Watch's funds are insufficient, Highgarden is willing to donate twenty thousand gold dragons to the Wall to support the Night's Watch."
Although Mace Tyrell felt that doing so could both alleviate the Night's Watch's urgent financial needs and demonstrate Highgarden's strength before the Iron Throne, in reality, his actions were practically a slap in Robert's face. Robert's gaze towards Mace Tyrell grew even more disgusted.
Duke Tywin quietly observed everyone's reactions and said, "Because Stannis is leading the royal fleet to clear out pirates in the Stepstones, my fleet has recently made quite a haul, earning me a good number of gold dragons. I am willing to lend this portion of gold dragons to His Majesty for unforeseen needs."
Upon hearing Duke Tywin's words, Robert's expression brightened slightly, while Stannis, the Master of Ships on the Small Council, remained expressionless, showing no hint of pride despite Duke Tywin's praise.
At this moment, Renly, who was seated beside Robert, also spoke, saying, "The Stormlands are also willing to contribute a portion of funds to replenish the Iron Throne's treasury."
Hearing Renly's words, Robert smiled and stroked Renly's head, saying, "No need, your big brother here still has this much money."
Stannis, standing nearby, looked at his brother with a hint of disgust, likely thinking that everything Renly now possessed should have rightfully been his.
Robert turned to Jon Arryn and said, "Draft a new plan. Even if we can't provide enough manpower, we must give the Night's Watch sufficient financial support. Who knows what kind of monstrous things those Night's Watchmen will encounter up north. Since we can't give them powerful enough helpers, we should at least give them more money so they can eat better and have better equipment."
"But our current finances…" Jon Arryn frowned and said.
Robert grumbled, "Then borrow! Borrow from the Faith! All those yellow, white, and green donations from the followers of the Seven, instead of keeping them in the vault, it's better to lend them to me."
"It's hard to borrow money from the Faith now," Jon Arryn reminded him. "The Faith is funding the Earl of Summerhall's castle and port city construction, so they can't spare more funds to lend us."
"Damn it! This Lynd is really giving me trouble!" Robert couldn't help but curse, though there wasn't much anger in his voice, but rather a hint of helplessness.
"Recently, I've received some information regarding this Godsworn. Would His Majesty like to hear it?" Varys, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke.
"He has news again?" Robert straightened up and urged, "Quick, tell me, tell me!"
Varys recounted, "The first thing is that he and the oath-breaking Night's Watch encountered the Others' army at the Fist of the First Men Beyond the Wall. It is said there were over a hundred thousand wights. At the time, Lord Linde also thought he was finished, but then the blizzard suddenly stopped, and the Others led the Corpse Ghoul Army to retreat before Lord Linde."
"They just retreated like that?" Everyone showed surprised expressions. They had been waiting to hear how Lynd fought his way out of the Others' army, but it turned out to be such an unexpected turn.
"The blizzard suddenly stopped?" Archmaester Pycelle, detecting a clue, said in a hoarse voice, "I've seen records about the Others in the Citadel. The records always mention that when the Others appear, they are accompanied by blizzards and extremely cold weather. If Lord Linde's encounter is true, then it proves that the Others' desire to go south is conditional, and that condition is extremely cold weather."
"Could the extreme cold natural disasters of the past two years be the reason for the Others' appearance Beyond the Wall?" There were many intelligent people in this Council Chamber, and they quickly connected the two.
"Not long ago, the Citadel sent word that, after measurements, they found that for a long time to come, our entire continent of Westeros might enter a long summer. So, I believe the Others should not be a threat to us in the short term," Archmaester Pycelle gave his assessment, but added, "But the Night's Watch should still be prepared, because if the next long winter comes, then it could be the time of the prophecy."
Everyone agreed with Archmaester Pycelle's deduction, or rather, they hoped Archmaester Pycelle's deduction was correct. After all, the sudden appearance of the legendary Others had somewhat flustered them, and they needed some time to adapt and adjust. A long summer might be just right.
"That was just the first thing. Is there anything else related to Lynd?" Robert eagerly asked again.
"This matter concerns Lord Velas of Duke Mace's house," Varys said, looking at the puzzled Duke Mace Tyrell. "Lord Linde's journey Beyond the Wall this time was primarily at Lord Velas's request, to search for the legendary artifact, the winter horn."
Upon hearing Varys's words, everyone became focused. They had all heard their grandmothers' bedtime stories, knowing the tale of Joramun, the King Beyond the Wall, blowing the winter horn to awaken giants from beneath the earth and end The Night King's reign.
"Did he find it?" Robert anxiously asked.
"Yes, he found it!" Varys nodded, saying, "It is said he found it also at the Fist of the First Men, and at the same time the winter horn was found, the Others' army appeared at the foot of the Fist of the First Men, seemingly also after the winter horn."
Eddard Stark, hearing this news for the first time, couldn't help but exclaim excitedly, "Thank goodness, thank goodness, the Others retreated and didn't steal the winter horn."
Although it was just a few brief sentences, everyone present could feel the tension of the moment, because once the Others obtained the winter horn, the Wall's defenses would cease to exist, and the Others' army would advance unimpeded, leaving the Seven Kingdoms with no defenses.
"Damn it, damn it! I shouldn't be sitting on this iron chair; I should have been at the Fist of the First Men, facing the Others directly. I should have created a legend like Linde Terra and become part of an eternal legend." Robert pounded the table in extreme frustration, regretting that he hadn't been there at the time.
Jon Arryn said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, you are already part of a legend. Ending the Mad King's reign and bringing peace back to the Seven Kingdoms has already been written into the history books by the Citadel. There is no need for any additional legends."
"Alright, alright! I was just talking," Robert waved his hand impatiently.
Duke Tywin, more concerned with other matters, asked Varys, "Can that winter horn still be used now?"
"It cannot be used," Varys shook his head and said, "Someone struck a crack into the winter horn with a weapon, it might have been…" He then looked at Eddard Stark and said, "It might have been Brandon the Breaker, the King of the North back then."
"Eddard, it seems your ancestor did a good deed too!" King Robert laughed heartily.
Eddard Stark smiled, unsure what to say for a moment.
"So, this winter horn is now a useless piece of junk?" Duke Tywin said with a slight hint of disappointment.
"The Night's Watch also asked Lord Linde this question, but Lord Linde said that although the winter horn is damaged, it still possesses extremely powerful energy and is connected to some mysterious power within the Wall, still posing a great threat to the Wall," Varys replied seriously. "Therefore, Lord Linde decided to bring the winter horn south and entrust it to Lord Velas for safekeeping."
"How can it be placed in Highgarden?" Robert couldn't help but frown and say, "Where else in this world is safer than King's Landing, than the Red Keep? The winter horn should, of course, be placed in the Red Keep, don't you think, Duke Mace?"
"Of course, the Red Keep is certainly more suitable than Highgarden," Duke Mace quickly nodded in agreement.
After hearing Duke Mace's reply, King Robert nodded with satisfaction, and Archmaester Pycelle, who had been slightly bowing his head, also had a gleam in his eyes. He too was very interested in this legendary artifact.
"The last matter is quite interesting. It is said that Lord Linde subjugated over twenty giants Beyond the Wall, each as tall as a city wall," Varys then added the last piece of news, saying, "Lord Linde has now arrived at Winterfell, and I believe it won't be long before he reaches King's Landing. When that happens, King's Landing will be much livelier."
"Giants?" Robert's eyes widened upon hearing this, and he said with immense envy, "When he passed through King's Landing, I should have gone with him, gone to the North, to Beyond the Wall. This is too…" He then looked at Duke Arryn, who was about to say something, and sighed again, saying, "I know, I am the King and shouldn't be so willful. Dismissed! I want to be alone for a while."
Everyone rose and left the Council Chamber. As Eddard Stark left, he saw Robert sitting forlornly in his chair and suddenly felt that perhaps Robert becoming king was a mistake.
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