Chapter 15: The King's Banquet (Part 1)
Drying off the water droplets from his body, Aeg picked up the clothes that had been delivered by a servant: a long, black tunic characteristic of the Night's Watch, but made of velvet, clearly not a uniform both the material and the craftsmanship were worlds apart from what the Night's Watch soldiers wore. Slipping it on, the fabric brushed against his skin, the comfort making him almost moan out loud. In Westeros, only the Night's Watch wore all-black clothing, but judging by the size, it didn't seem to have been made specifically for him, so it must have been Benjen Stark's own attire.
'Following a leader on an official trip is indeed much better than staying at the Wall.' Aeg thought wryly.
He had certainly worn better clothes before. Before coming to this world, his family, though not wealthy, at least owned a house and a car. His mother was a tailor and the owner of a clothing store, a true expert in the field. Without boasting, any piece of clothing picked from his wardrobe would be a practical and presentable item. Growing up, wearing "good clothes" was almost a given. But that life seemed like a distant past from a previous life. Not long ago, he was still striving for a higher level of living, but now he had fallen to the point where wearing slightly comfortable clothing was enough to satisfy him. Among time travelers, he probably ranked among the worst.
Winterfell was built on a hot spring, with hot water flowing through pipes within the walls. Even the worst rooms without fireplaces were at least twenty degrees warmer than the outside. After a bath, sitting in a chair, Aeg was so comfortable that he almost didn't want to move a finger. But there was still business to attend to tonight, so he rallied, tidied up his clothes, and left the room.
The Night's Watch was a "welcome guest" at Winterfell, which was just a polite way of putting it. With the king in attendance, no one had the mind to care about a mere soldier. Guided impatiently by a servant, he arrived at the banquet hall and found his place in a corner. He began to wait with a large group of other early arrivals.
The hall was filled with steam, wafting with the aroma of roasted meat and freshly baked bread. The grey stone walls were adorned with the banners of various houses: the grey and white direwolf of House Stark, the gold crowned stag of House Baratheon, and the crimson roaring lion of House Lannister. A singer was plucking a harp, singing a ballad, but Aeg, unfamiliar with the Westerosi language and seated at the far end of the hall, couldn't make out the lyrics at all.
Jon Snow was at his table. At this king's banquet, regardless of whether his father was Rhaegar Targaryen or Eddard Stark, as long as he wasn't a legally recognized heir, his status as a bastard was the same as that of any Night's Watchman: "welcome," meaning he had the qualification to enter and sit, but was the lowest-ranking participant. This was the cold hierarchy of the world of ice and fire, but the young man didn't seem to be bothered by it and even appeared quite at ease. Sometimes feeding the little direwolf hiding under the table, sometimes eagerly questioning Aeg about the Night's Watch, showing a carefree and optimistic demeanor.
Besides bastards and Night's Watchmen, there were many young squires at the same table. Some served House Stark, others were loyal to the royal family, and some came from Casterly Rock or Lannisport. These lowest-ranking participants had no old grudges between their families and no enmities from their elders. Despite coming from all corners of the world, they sat shoulder to shoulder, sipping fine wine and chatting freely in the same language about their experiences. Jon asked Aeg with interest about the Wall, and he answered each question. As he spoke, more and more people put down their knives, forks, and glasses to join the conversation.
"Do giants really exist?"
"Do people beyond the Wall really mate with goats?"
"I heard that wildlings eat their own children when they're hungry!"
Aeg understood that talking about White Walkers would only be seen as bragging, so he didn't mention them at all and instead picked interesting topics that could serve as conversation starters.
He was already in his twenties, and his Eastern features made him look younger, allowing him to blend in with this group of young men. His age and experience made him the most mature and steady person at the table. Some popular science readings on psychology he had read before crossing over made him aware of how to cater to others. In his original world, he wasn't particularly slick, but in this world where the theme was often fighting and killing, dealing with a few kids was a piece of cake. In no time, the Night's Watch ranger in his new black attire became the star of the table. The young men gathered around him, constantly toasting and questioning him, the atmosphere was lively to the extreme, and even people from neighboring tables moved their benches to come closer and listen to Aeg's stories.
"However, the Wall hasn't been very peaceful lately." After covering the interesting topics, Aeg began to steer the conversation towards serious matters. "The weather is getting colder by the day, and hundreds of thousands of wildlings are gathering under the leadership of the King-beyond-the-Wall, preparing to break through the Wall to spend the winter in the south. Rangers have begun to spot what appear to be White Walkers in the Haunted Forest. Several brothers have gone missing on patrols north of the Wall this year."
Telling such things to the bastards and young squires at the table was naturally meaningless, but news spreads, and behind the bastard was the head of House Stark and the future heir, while the squires served knights and nobles from various places, the actual resource holders of Westeros. Spreading the Night's Watch's predicament through various channels would, in the long run, benefit the Wall's garrison.
The higher-ups of the Night's Watch were all upright men, but the era and environment in which they grew up destined their limited understanding of the role of "public opinion". Aeg had a far broader perspective and knowledge than they did and ultimately wanted to use what he knew to make a small contribution to the legion. In this cruel world, one had to prepare for multiple contingencies. If he couldn't find a way to escape the Night's Watch, he would still have to rely on his comrades to survive. What was beneficial to the legion was beneficial to him.
"Hundreds of thousands of wildlings?" Some listeners didn't believe it at all, while others showed expressions of amazement and tension: "Can the Night's Watch hold off the attack?"
"This is just an estimate. Among the hundreds of thousands, there are old and young, families with livestock. If there are ten thousand combat-ready forces, that would be the maximum." Aeg raised his glass and drained it in one gulp: "If they attack head-on, even ten thousand elite soldiers couldn't scale the Wall. The problem the Night's Watch is facing now is that the Wall is too long, and our forces are too few. We simply can't defend every inch of it. If the wildlings choose an undefended area to cross and attack from both inside and out, we would be defenseless."
"What should be done?"
Aeg gave a wry smile: "Good question. The Chief Ranger came to Winterfell this time to discuss this very issue with the Warden of the North."
A bunch of young people were about to ask more questions when the main characters of the banquet arrived.