CHAPTER 165: REBELLIOUS SOUNDS

Chapter 165: Rebellious Sounds

The Wall

POV of Domeric Bolton

Qhorin looked disgruntled but didn’t push his luck.

"So... you’re coming with us this time?" Domeric asked. Qhorin had his own mission the last time he and his men went up North, and thus couldn’t join him. This time, both Benjen and Qhorin had been informed in advance and were ready to support him.

He had a feeling that Lord Commander Jeor Mormont was preparing for something, but he couldn’t find what it was with the surface-level legilimency probe, and he didn’t want to use a deeper-level legilimency scan.

"Yes." Qhorin nodded, "Me, Benjen, Lord Jeor Mormont himself, and a thousand Night’s Watch brothers." Qhorin said, and Domeric turned to look at the man incredulously.

Qhorin noted his expression and chuckled, "Don’t worry. We, the brothers of the Night’s Watch, will have our own supply lines. You don’t need to wreck your head trying to feed more men."

"That’s a relief." He said with a sigh. Because he did not want to make any more changes in his supply lines than he had already made. Feeding 3000 men up in the cold North was already going to be difficult. Adding 1000 more men to that would not have been pleasant.

"When was the last time Night’s Watch sent out so many men up North in an expedition of their own?" Domeric asked.

"Two decades ago," Qhorin replied. "It was a mess. Over 2000 members of Night’s Watch went North of the Wall. Few returned. And the Night’s Watch has been in decline ever since. Then again, I suppose the Watch has been in decline for a long time. But the failed expedition just added to that. There has been no further large-scale expedition in the lands North of the Wall since then."

"Until I came along." He said with a chuckle, and Qhorin chuckled with him.

"Yeah. Until you came along. I think you punctured the pride of many of the older brothers in the Watch by going into the wildling territory and coming back without a scratch. Looking as pretty as ever."

"Is that why Lord Mormont is joining us this time? To soothe punctured pride?" He asked.

"That. And because he couldn’t allow so many of the heirs to die in his watch." Qhorin said and shook his head, "Gods know what Lord Stark was thinking by sending his heir up North like this."

He shrugged and looked at where Robb Stark was being forced to drink another cup of wine by Smalljon Umber. He remembered when he was forced to do the same by Greatjon Umber in Last Hearth, like father, like son.

"The boys are unsettled about something," Qhorin said, bringing him back to the present.

"Hımm...?"

"The boys you brought with you," Qhorin said as he pointed toward the place where all the heirs were sitting together at a large table, which was two tables connected together to make space for everyone. "They’re hiding it well enough, but I can sniff these things from a distance. They’re tense about something. And afraid. And it’s not about the expedition either. If I didn’t know any better, then I would say that they were spooked."

"Get to the point, Qhorin." He said.

"Why are you going on this expedition?" Qhorin asked. "You have more than enough wargs in your army. You’ve the Children of the Forest. And you have the last tribe of the Giants. What more do you want? Why are you going to the North this time?"

"Because it’s necessary." He said, and Qhorin opened his mouth to say something, but closed it back up as he gave something to the man.

Qhorin looked at the bundle of cloth in his hands and asked, "What is it?"

"Open it." He replied. Qhorin did so, and a Dragonglass dagger came out from beneath the cloth.

"If you want to come with us on this expedition, then you might want to keep that close." He said as he got up and took his ledger with him, "Who knows. It might come in handy."

With that, he turned around and left, the men sitting around him doing the same. He did not doubt that Varko and Walton had put them up to guard him. And even if he might not show it, he was grateful for that.

He might not be Allistar Moody, but he did take his and his loved ones’ safety seriously.

Now he needed to go and talk to Smalljon Umber at a convenient time. He’d been hearing that Smalljon was lamenting about his leadership of the expedition lately.

It was quite clear what Smalljon’s intentions were and what he was trying to do. He wouldn’t expect a subtle, quiet plan from Smalljon anyway. The Umbers were too vocal to operate from behind the scenes.

No, instead of trying to sneak around behind the scenes, Smalljon would make his request face-to-face. He wanted to be the leader of the expedition, and of course, he would be the one to receive the most credit for it at the end.

After all, if a Bolton could be the leader of an expedition, why couldn’t an Umber? That was probably how Smalljon felt.

But that didn’t change the outcome of that bastard’s desire to remove Domeric from leadership of the expedition he had organized.

But Domeric had to be cautious about this. As the expedition’s organizer and leader, he could have told Smalljon Umber to disappear and take his men with him while expelling them from the host.

But the outcome of this wouldn’t have been quite what Domeric wanted. Smalljon would never have been able to bear this humiliation and would likely have marched North of the Wall with his own men to prove his worth.

And probably, he would have died there, causing Domeric trouble.

No, Domeric needed another solution. A method that would silence not only Smalljon Umber but all those who disagreed with him, and ensure that they would listen to Domeric until the end of the expedition.

"Oh, I think I know exactly what to do."

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Next Chapters’ Name:

Ch.166: Squid Boy - I

Ch.167: Squid Boy - II