“The Gift awaits your arrival, my lord.” Aegor let out a quiet breath of relief. Though the itinerary was now set, he couldn’t simply send Robb straight to the Gift. There were still preparations to be made. Before crossing over, Aegor had often criticized the superficial formalities of preparing for leadership inspections. Who would’ve thought he’d one day become the very kind of person he used to despise?

“But there are still some matters to settle. I came south because of a lack of supplies, yet I’ve been traveling and fighting all the way and haven’t managed to obtain a single grain of food… Please allow my men to briefly encamp outside the city. I’ll assign tasks to my subordinates and send them out to various locations to purchase food and materials before we set off for the North. You’ve just returned from the South as well, and you must need to remain in Winterfell for a while to manage domestic and political matters.”

“Two days,” Robb said curtly. “There is indeed much that needs to be addressed, but my brother’s whereabouts are unknown and his life uncertain. Finding him is the top priority. We depart for the North in two days.”

“No problem.” Robb’s tone left no room for negotiation.

“In addition to myself, I’ll also invite Glover, Umber, Karstark, and Bolton—the four houses closest to the Gift—to join in jointly deciding this major matter concerning the North, particularly their security.”

“This…” Aegor was momentarily stunned. Of these four houses, only Glover and Umber could be said to have even minimal acquaintance with him. He had expected to deal with Robb alone. Who would’ve thought the number had grown to five? With the addition of the other four, the number of variables in his plan would increase greatly. He had to send a message to Crown Town immediately. “As a liege lord, your concern for your bannermen is admirable. If that is the case, then I shall take my leave for now…”

“All right, even you are flattering me now. Sit back down. We’re done talking about the Wildlings. Next, I have a few things—or rather, a few people—to hand over to you. Or rather, to the Night’s Watch.” Robb raised a hand, stopping Aegor, who had already stood up. “Joffrey, Tommen, and their sister Myrcella are now in Winterfell. Although their parentage is no longer in doubt, King Robert’s final will asked that they be allowed to live. Therefore, my father planned their futures: the two boys must ‘voluntarily’ join the Night’s Watch, and the girl will change her name, be adopted by Winterfell, and grow up alongside Sansa and Arya.”

“I’m to take the two boys back to the Wall?” Aegor had heard about this several months ago and was unsurprised. “The Night’s Watch has no authority to refuse. I’m only concerned that… having the Kingslayer and his two sons reunite at the Wall like this—he might take it as a deliberate humiliation and act impulsively.”

“If the Kingslayer has even a shred of sense, he should understand that this is to protect those two children!” Robb replied firmly. “Even if this were a deliberate humiliation—so what? The Targaryens relied on dragons to terrorize Westeros and force the people to accept their incestuous legacy. Who is Jaime Lannister? The moment he lay with his sister, he should’ve been ready to face the shame of the realm.”

Robb paused, realizing that the person sitting across from him wasn’t Jaime Lannister, and his tone softened slightly. “Even if the Kingslayer does feel wronged and wishes to act, how to handle him will be the Night’s Watch’s responsibility. I believe… you won’t disappoint me.”

…

No one likes to take on a hot potato, but handling those who “can’t be killed and are difficult to deal with” was part of the Night’s Watch’s role—especially when they were asking others for favors. Aegor shrugged. “My lord places such trust in me. I will do my best to see this matter handled.”

“Keep a close watch on them. It doesn’t matter whether the Night’s Watch treats them as idle members or trains them to become proper brothers. What’s crucial is this—do not, under any circumstances, let them fall into the hands of those with ill intent and bring further disaster to the Seven Kingdoms.”

Aegor nodded. He knew all too well what Robb meant by “greater disaster.” Leaving aside everything else, if Joffrey were to fall into Tywin Lannister’s hands, once the Westerlands recovered from the ravages of war… after Stannis, Aegor, and Euron Crow’s Eye, Westeros would almost certainly find itself with yet another claimant to the throne.

So many troublesome things. Aegor frowned. But looking at it another way, since Robb was tossing trouble to the Night’s Watch, he would surely offer compensation or leniency elsewhere… The Stark family was known for its integrity. By taking advantage of this need to compensate, there might be ways to secure more benefits.

“Wait… sit down. There’s more!” Robb raised his hand again, stopping Aegor, who was eager to leave and begin preparing for the visit to the Gift. “You captured Asha Greyjoy in Deepwood Motte not long ago. Did you not think of anything?”

“Think of something?”

Aegor didn’t understand Robb’s meaning at first. Think of what? Asha was indeed a woman full of wild beauty, but not only was his mind preoccupied with the resettlement plan, even if it weren’t… there was no way he would lay hands on the Kraken’s Daughter. His upbringing, sense of order, and respect for gender norms aside, he was certain of one thing: any man who dared to rape a woman like Asha would either fail outright or end up stabbed in bed with a pair of scissors.

Seeing Aegor didn’t understand the hint, Robb stopped beating around the bush and gave him a prompt. “Your beautiful captive has a brother.”

“Oh… right.” Aegor’s mouth opened slightly, his brows lifted, and he realized more trouble was headed his way.

“During the previous campaign in the Westerlands, Theon had suggested sending him back to the Iron Islands to persuade his father, Balon Greyjoy, to send troops… but since the war was progressing well, I ultimately didn’t agree,” Robb continued. “That is to say, when the Lord of the Iron Islands sent his brother and daughter to attack the North, his son was still in my hands.”

Theon Greyjoy was a hostage. Even calling him an “adopted son” didn’t change the fact. And the point of a hostage was to make the enemy hesitate in critical moments. But if the other party ignored the hostage altogether…

Then the hostage was worthless.

Aegor could guess what came next. Given Robb Stark’s character, it was unlikely he would order the execution of an adopted brother he had grown up with, especially when the fault didn’t lie with Theon.

“Everyone says I should do the deed myself and end him,” Robb said, offering an explanation without waiting for Aegor’s input. “But when I think about it… by Westerosi law, Theon is the first in line for the Seastone Chair. Whether it’s his sister or one of his uncles, if they want to secure their position, they’ll need to eliminate Theon first. Why not keep him alive, and use him to threaten the next ruler of the Iron Islands in the future?”

“But once he takes the black, that leverage disappears.” Aegor shrugged. He nearly said aloud, “Just admit you don’t want to kill your foster brother,” but in the end held back.

Robb didn’t respond to that, likely having learned from Aegor how to keep a straight face while lying. “Keep him alive. Don’t let that mad uncle of his send someone to kill him in secret. Other than that, just treat him like an ordinary brother of the Night’s Watch.”

Aegor sighed. Keep him alive? Beyond the Wall were the cold god and his minions. In the South, humans fought each other. Across the sea were the mad Ironborn. What “ordinary Night’s Watch brother” could claim to be completely safe?

“I’ll do my best, but I can’t make any guarantees.”

Theon wasn’t Bran, and Robb couldn’t ask for more on his behalf… But this time, Aegor wasn’t in a hurry to leave. Having already stood up and sat back down twice, he patiently remained seated, watching Robb in case he stopped him again.

It seemed there truly was nothing more. The two looked at each other for several seconds. Just as Aegor was about to speak and take his leave once again, Robb Stark finally said something.

“Aegor, both Commander Mormont and I have always trusted your judgment. Do you think… I was wrong in this matter?”

He meant not killing Theon? Aegor’s expression was calm.

“Killing him is duty. Not killing him is sentiment. Based on Theon’s upbringing, his connections, and the resources he can mobilize—and given that we’ve already repelled the Ironborn—his life poses virtually no threat to the North. It’s not a matter of right or wrong. I’ll just say this from the Night’s Watch’s perspective—with the army of the dead advancing, the Wall needs usable manpower and war supplies, not one troublemaker after another dumped in for various reasons.”

(To be continued.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep