What a coincidence?
Aegon naturally understood what Maester Aemon was talking about—the Hand of the King's death signaled the start of the main plot. This was an important point in time, but he was really not in the mood to think about it now. Fleeing for nearly ten days and nights had exhausted his physical and mental strength. Although forcing himself to answer the questions from several high-ranking Night's Watch members fluently didn't take much effort, it made him feel as if the last drop of his brainpower had been evaporated by thinking. He was almost supported by two Rangers to the confinement room and immediately collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep as soon as he touched it.
The days of so-called confinement, which were actually semi-detention, lasted for several days. While imprisonment was incredibly painful for ordinary people, Aegon found it sweet. He ate when he was hungry and slept when he was full every day, not even participating in training. He enjoyed dozens of hours of pure comfort and finally recovered his vitality.
Having rested enough, it was time to worry about his personal future and fate.
***
Littlefinger had already killed the previous Hand of the King, and during the King's upcoming journey to the North, Robert would invite the Warden of the North, Eddard Stark, to take over this position... Immediately after, the game of thrones would begin.
None of this had much to do with him, a Night's Watch member. The only relevant parts were: the deceased Jon Arryn was the Warden of the East, the ruler of the Vale, the Lord of the Eyrie, and the liege lord whom Waymar Royce and his family served. It was unknown how Yohn Royce would feel upon receiving the news of his liege lord's death and his son's disappearance simultaneously, but if he was lucky enough to be too busy, perhaps he would give up pursuing him, the deserter who "killed" his son?
Aegon smiled self-mockingly. Pinning hope on others' carelessness or kindness was a gamble in itself, and in this cruel world, it seemed utterly foolish.
The Royce Family's wrath was far away and didn't need to be considered for now. He still had to face another pressing issue: Benjen Stark had been summoned back to Winterfell by his Brother to participate in the banquet welcoming the King. The day this fellow returned to The Wall would be the day he personally led Rangers the North to search for White Walkers and Waymar Royce... By then, would he, named by the First Ranger to be the guide, be wiped out like the Ranger team in the original plot, or would he, like Benjen, be turned into a wight by the Children of the Forest?
Neither was a fate he was willing to accept.
Something had to be done.
From the Black Brothers who delivered his meals, Aegon learned that Gared had woken up from his coma, so he decided to go visit him after lunch under the pretense of checking on him. If there was a chance to be alone, perhaps he could ask about ways to cross the Great Canyon. Although his freedom was restricted, preventing him from getting a horse from the stables or leaving the camp, moving around within Castle Black was not a problem.
But before he could act on his decision, he was summoned again by the high-ranking Night's Watch members.
(Are we leaving now?) Aegon walked into the meeting room uneasily, finding the scene a re-enactment of the day he was interrogated. The only difference was that someone he hadn't expected was sitting in the interrogated seat.
"Will, you're not dead!?"
"Aegon!" The other person turned back and exclaimed in surprise. The speaker looked quite haggard—Aegon and Gared had ridden away the only two remaining horses, and the warhorse Waymar had ridden away had actually returned to Castle Black on its own even earlier than the other two. This meant the poacher had fled back to The Wall without a horse or any supplies. He had taken longer and endured more difficulties. If not for the richer wilderness survival experience gained from his past life as a hunter, plus not being discovered by the White Walkers, he definitely wouldn't have made it back to Castle Black alive.
The already thin Will now looked like skin and bones. There was even half a bowl of hot porridge on the table in front of him... He was being questioned while drinking the porridge: "Seven Gods be praised, if not for you, I would definitely be dead!"
...
"What?" Aegon didn't understand. The other person survived purely by his own ability; how did it have anything to do with him?
"That day, I hid in a tree and personally watched Ser Waymar being hacked to death by those ghostly things. After they all left, I waited a long time before climbing down." Will tremblingly picked up the bowl with his hand and took another sip of porridge, letting out a hiss as he was scalded: "I was just about to find something to bring back as evidence... He... Ser Waymar stood up from the ground. His body was terribly mangled, but his eyes were glowing blue, and he reached out to strangle me. He was... truly terrifying. If you hadn't reminded me to be careful of dead people at the end, I definitely wouldn't have reacted in time!"
So that's how it was! He hadn't expected that a casual remark made in extreme tension, treating a dead horse as if it were alive, had actually saved a comrade who would have died. But why was he summoned now?
He scanned his surroundings and saw some things on the table in front of several high-ranking Night's Watch members.
Judging from the hilt, this was Waymar Royce's sword. Forged from better steel, it had withstood more blows against the White Walkers' weapons, but the result was that it was shattered more thoroughly: besides the tip and hilt, about a palm's length, and a section at the base of the blade remaining intact, the middle of the blade was fragmented into who knows how many pieces, like a tree struck by lightning. It was truly difficult for Will—after witnessing the terrifying scene of White Walkers killing and the dead rising, he was actually able to calm down and collect most of the broken sword fragments, and then travel over mountains and rivers for more than ten days, bringing them all the way back to The Wall.
Now, Waymar's broken sword... or shattered sword, to be precise, had been mostly put together or "assembled" by Commander Mormont or someone else. Just as he had said a few days ago, the breaks in the fragments could fit together neatly, like shattered glass, with almost no deformation after being pieced back together.
This was extremely strong evidence for what he had said! Aegon's heart stirred, and he suddenly realized that some favorable turn of events might occur for him.
"You few, take Will away," Benjen Stark, who had been sitting quietly to the side, spoke up. "Don't give him too much food at once. Someone who is starving won't realize they've eaten too much. Getting good rest is the priority."
Will was helped out of the meeting room by two Night's Watch members. As he left, he was still asking Aegon how he knew the dead would get up. Once the room quieted down, Benjen motioned for him to sit.
"What Will said doesn't differ much from what you and Gared said. Looking at his state, I don't think the three of you colluded to have him deliberately return a few days late," Commander Mormont said with a serious expression. "I now have reason to believe that some kind of strange enemy has indeed appeared North of the Wall... perhaps White Walkers, perhaps something else."
Will's words were certainly not the only factor that changed the minds of the high-ranking Night's Watch members. In fact, during the days Aegon spent eating and sleeping, they had questioned the Blacksmith of the Night's Watch and conducted a series of experiments. The results proved: indeed, no one could make the standard steel swords issued by the Night's Watch look like the one broken by the White Walkers. And the shattered sword the poacher brought back this morning was even more exaggerated. Regardless, Mormont did feel that something was unusual.
"I will be leaving for Winterfell soon. Get ready and come with me," Benjen took over from the Commander. "I want you to report your experiences to the Lord of Winterfell to request support... Bring the broken swords of the three of you. Prepare your draft in your head and narrate it as quickly and concisely as possible. King Robert is about to arrive in the North, and my Brother will be very busy."
Maester Aemon nodded and added, "You don't need to be overly deliberate. Just do as you did when you reported to us a few days ago. You did well that day."
"Understood." Aegon suppressed the excitement in his heart: "I... I'll go get ready now."