Chapter 226: Ice Crystals of White Walkers
Bolton Lands, Dreadfort Castle
POV of Domeric Bolton
"And what about us? Are we just going to sit and watch?" Bronn asked.
"No. Karsi will lead 5000 men and be charged with the defense of my lands or even the West Side of the North in case either the Lannisters or the Ironmen attack there, and the Glovers, Mormonts, and the Fishers fail. I'll also give her four wargs and half my giants for this task. Lundenhold and Regalis already have sizable garrisons of 4,000 and 2,000 men each, along with the 2,000 policemen who could serve as reserves. But be prepared just in case."
Karsi didn't reply but simply bowed to him.
"You and Mocqo, on the other hand, will be in charge of the offense. Your 7,000 men and Mocqo's 1000 horse archers will be charged with attacking."
"Attacking. Who?" Mocqo asked.
"Anyone that I point you at." He said, "In cases of emergencies, I can even send you to the wall to reinforce the castles with fewer men. Is that understood?"
Both of them nodded.
Domeric paused for a moment, thinking. Although he had repeatedly stated that he didn't want to conquer the North because he didn't want to shoulder all its responsibilities, here he was, trying to provide for almost all of the North's needs and defenses himself.
He might not face the same resistance he would have faced from the other lords if he had overthrown the Starks, but he indeed assumed more responsibility than the Starks themselves.
Domeric shook his head, clearing his mind of those thoughts. He had already begun making plans for the North's future, but now was not the time to dwell on them.
However, if the North needed a Red King in the future, Domeric could provide them with one if necessary.
"Anything else?"
"Transporting the master builders from other places will take a lot of gold, my lord." His head of R&I said.
"Don't care about the costs." He replied, "The Treasurer will provide you with all the necessary gold. Just don't skim too much from it."
The man laughed nervously, and Tyrion suddenly said, "You can marry Myrcella, my lord."
Everyone else in the room stopped what they were doing and stared at the dwarf.
"I mean. If the King breaks your betrothal with Sansa Stark, you can use it to your advantage to marry my niece, my lord. She's a kind, gentle, and sweet girl and would grow up to be as beautiful as her mother. It'll also give us a connection to the Royal House, which would be a great boon in and of itself."
"My marriage is not on the table, Tyrion. I've sacrificed a lot for my people, and I will probably make more sacrifices in the future. But I'm not getting a lifelong partner only for some future connections." He said, "I'll marry for love, and that is final. Besides, I don't believe Lord Stark would break the betrothal agreement between Sansa and me. If House Baratheon and House Stark were to make a betrothal, it would most likely be between Arya Stark and Tommen Baratheon."
"And what if Lord Stark were to break your agreement, my lord? I don't mean to be presumptuous, but I still think you don't fully understand the bond between Lord Stark and King Robert." Tyrion said.
"Then Lord Stark will have to pay the price for his decision. Anything else?"
"Will you go on another expedition beyond the Wall, my lord?" Walton asked, and he nodded.
"I will. But not anytime soon. And I'll only take a handful of people with me this time."
"Won't that be dangerous?" Karsi asked, and he shook his head.
The meeting continued for the next 2 hours, during which he explained and mapped a future for his lands for the coming few years.
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Bolton Lands, Underground Base
POV of Domeric Bolton
Domeric sat at the large table in his library in the underground base and looked at the Ice Crystals that he gathered after the White Walker's death.
He had come here directly after the Small Council meeting. Something was bothering him about the White Walker crystals, and he didn't want to postpone it any further.
He could feel the element of Ice and Death emanating from the crystals.
Now that he was a champion of Lady Death and had studied the Elemental Moons, he could understand this more clearly.
The Ice element was Grade 3 magic, like the primary elements—fire, air, earth, and water. However, unlike the four primary elements, Ice fell into a special element category.
The Death element, on the other hand, contained one of the highest-level magic, Grade 1. But from what he sensed from these crystals, the Death element used by the White Walkers was of the lowest grade. It could not even compare to the power of Lady Death's Death element.
And these crystals were very similar to the Ice Swords left behind by the White Walkers upon their death.
It made him wonder if White Walkers and the Ice Swords were made from the same thing. The crystals in the Ice Sword were just much more condensed than these ones.
Did the White Walkers make Ice Swords from their own body? Or do they have some gladiator matches between themself, and the winner takes the body of the loser to make an Ice Sword?
The idea did seem fascinating to him, but he honestly knew nothing about the White Walkers to base this theory upon.
He didn't even know if they could regenerate their missing body parts.
Regular steel swords simply shattered upon contact with their bodies, and Dragonglass or Valyrian Steel shattered them into thousands of ice crystals in turn.
He put the ice crystal inside the container where he had placed the ice crystals he had collected after the deaths of both White Walkers.
Surprisingly enough, the steel-like armor that White Walkers wore also shattered into ice crystals upon their death, but it was of much higher quality. Almost as high as their Ice Swords.
The whole thing made him even more curious about the White Walkers. If only he could catch one of them.
But he would have to make a Valyrian steel chain to do so, as normal Dragonglass was not strong enough to hold them captive.
He might make such a chain sometime in the future.
For now, he wanted to see if he could use these ice crystals as a magical source.
The ice crystals were not as magically powerful as the dragon eggs in his possession, but they were on a league of their own.
If he could remove the tainted magic of White Walkers from them, he might be able to use them for his own tasks.
But how would he remove the tainted magic of White Walkers from them?
He remembered reading an article about how experienced Curse Breakers at Gringotts removed the soul from a Horcrux item marked with Egyptian runes.
He took out a notebook and began taking notes based on his memory of that article.
If his theory were correct, then this just might work.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.227: You Naughty Little Minx
Ch.228: Getting Rid of a Burden
Ch.229: You Can Try