In the Winterfell dungeon, King Robert stood with his arms crossed under his armpits. After listening to Jon Snow recount his dream of the Wildling Army, he immediately grew excited.
"Jon, if your dream comes true in the future, if an army of giants and Wargs truly besieges The Wall, then I will personally lead the charge."
Jon said, "Your Majesty, I believe you will make the enemies tremble with fear."
Initially, King Robert cared nothing for The Wall and the Night's Watch. Jon Snow accurately captured King Robert's love for battle, successfully persuading him. Now, King Robert had promised to personally lead an expedition.
Benjen and Eddard looked at Jon with admiration.
Theon and Robb, standing nearby, began to envy Jon's Green Dream talent.
Eddard seized the opportunity to say, "Robert, before we head south to King's Landing, we must go see The Wall. Only then can we understand the threat Beyond the Wall and prepare for your personal expedition."
King Robert nodded slightly, "It is settled then."
King Robert's greatest hobby in life was leading troops into battle. He usually only participated in team Tourneys because they were closer to real combat, allowing Robert to wield his warhammer and fight to his heart's content in the arena.
In the war that overthrew Mad King Aerys, Robert, clad in antlered helm and armor, wielded his warhammer and swept through the battlefields of Westeros, defeating one enemy after another.
Whether it was the lords of the Vale and The Riverlands who supported Mad King Aerys, the Dornish army brought by Prince Lewyn Martell, or the ironborn during the Greyjoy Rebellion, Robert defeated them all.
Now, nine years after the Greyjoy Rebellion of the Iron Islands, Robert yearned to return to battle, and the Wildlings Beyond the Wall became an obvious target.
King Robert's gaze lingered on Mance Rayder, a smile on his face. "Mance, do your Wildling folk truly have giants and Wargs?"
Mance Rayder swung his shackles. Even as a Captive, Mance Rayder had no intention of revealing any useful information to his enemies. He sneered.
"Not only do I have giants and Wargs, but my Wildling Army also has Children of the Forest. Mermaids build my fleet, harpies soar through the sky to scout for me, I've invited krakens and Nagas, a Griffin King, and even the witches of the East have hatched a few dragons for me. Just wait for The Wall to collapse!"
The smile vanished from King Robert's face. "This fellow is not being honest. Why did you become a Night's Watch deserter? If you continue to spout nonsense, I'll go back to the feast."
Mance Rayder smiled, "King Robert, I'm happy to share my experiences serving in the Night's Watch."
"My mother was a Wildling living Beyond the Wall. According to her, my father was a Ranger from Castle Black. That Ranger got lost in the Haunted Forest, and my mother hosted him in her forest hut. She gave the Ranger some Gifts, and the Ranger also left my mother a Gift; she became pregnant with his child and gave birth to me ten months later."
"As a child, I lived with a group of Wildling raiders in a village Beyond the Wall. The raiders often crossed The Wall to raid and plunder the Gift or the North, stealing women, goods, and food, then retreating back north of The Wall before the Night's Watch or local lords discovered them."
"One day, Rangers from Castle Black attacked my village, executing the local Wildling raiders. As a young boy, I was adopted by the Night's Watch. The surname 'Rayder' means raider. I grew up and became a Night's Watchman at Castle Black."
Benjen said, "To this day, many black brothers at Castle Black still speak of your excellent swordsmanship. But I heard from 'Halfhand' Qhorin, the Ranger Commander of Castle Black, that you weren't a Ranger at first; you were just a Steward. How did that happen?"
Gared, the Night's Watch deserter in a nearby cage, grumbled, "It's simple. Mance Rayder's Wildling blood made him untrusted in the Night's Watch."
Mance Rayder smiled at his old comrade Gared. "Gared, you truly understand me."
"Even though in my youth I surpassed most Rangers in swordsmanship and mounted archery, I was still not trusted because of my Wildling blood. The Commander of Castle Black is our esteemed Ser Denys Mallister, a relative of the Earl of Seaguard. He believed that I, a Wildling, was more suited to be a woodsman than a Ranger."
King Robert frowned, "Just because you couldn't be a Ranger, you became a deserter?"
Mance Rayder shook his head. "Not so. After a year as a woodsman, I still became a Ranger, because my scouting abilities were outstanding at Castle Black. I became a deserter because of a cloak."
King Robert was utterly confused. "I didn't realize the Night's Watch was so short on supplies. Can't the Night's Watch even provide cloaks? You didn't get a cloak, couldn't stand the cold, so you deserted?"
Mance Rayder gave a wry smile. "No. One year, after I became a Ranger, I was patrolling in the forest Beyond the Wall when a Shadowcat suddenly attacked me. I was gravely wounded. Fortunately, a passing Forest Witch and her daughter saved me. They took me to their Forest Witch, where she healed my wounds. The witch's daughter, Misha, saw that my cloak was torn and mended it for me with red silk."
"Silk is expensive everywhere. The Forest Witch's silk came as a Gift from the sea. They found a small box of it while salvaging a shipwreck by the shore. It became a family heirloom for the mother and daughter. Misha mended my cloak with this precious silk. After I recovered, I endured many hardships and finally returned to Castle Black."
"However, the esteemed Ser Denys Mallister merely glanced at my cloak and sent someone to the storeroom for a brand new one. That cloak was as black as night. Ser Denys told me that the Night's Watch could only wear black, and my cloak, mended with red thread, could be thrown away."
"That night, I left Castle Black wearing my old cloak. I was determined to go to a place where kissing was not a sin, where freedom was undisturbed, and where everyone could choose their own cloak."
Everyone fell silent.
King Robert stroked his beard. "Mance Rayder, you are indeed a man of courage. Your experiences are regrettable, but your crimes are unforgivable."
"You are a Night's Watch deserter, a Wildling raider, and furthermore, you are the King-Beyond-the-Wall, gathering an army Beyond the Wall to attack the Seven Kingdoms. With a single command, I can have your head chopped off and sent back to Castle Black to feed the crows."
Mance Rayder showed a shrewd smile. "I have eaten Lord Eddard's bread and salt, and therefore I am entitled to guest right. King Robert, I believe you and Lord Eddard understand that guest right is sacred. Harming a guest under one's own roof will incur the severe wrath of the gods."
guest right is an ancient custom passed down for thousands of years. According to guest right, neither host nor guest may harm the other while the guest is under the host's roof. Whether by the faith of the Seven or the old gods, violating guest right is a heinous crime.
Mance Rayder had eagerly eaten bread and salt at the start of the feast. When a guest enters the host's home, as soon as the guest consumes the food and salt provided by the host, guest right immediately takes effect.
The emergence of every King-Beyond-the-Wall posed a great threat to the North and the Night's Watch.
Mance Rayder spent years forging the Wildling alliance Beyond the Wall. He created a fragile peace among Wildling leaders like Harma the Dogshead, Alfyn Crowkiller, Tormund Giantbane, and The Rattler, bringing peace to the tribes of the Milkwater River and persuading Magnar Mar Tun Doh Weg of the Thenn and the forest tribes. Some Wildling leaders who fiercely resisted him were executed.
If Lord Eddard could execute Mance Rayder, the Wildling alliance Beyond the Wall would crumble, and the various Wildling tribes would return to their days of infighting and mutual attacks. Once the Wildlings were embroiled in internal conflict, the North could then calmly join the Night's Watch in dealing with them.
Lord Eddard pondered for a moment. "Mance Rayder, you disguised yourself as a singer, approached the King, and intended to assassinate him. You yourself have already violated guest right."
Mance Rayder laughed hollowly. "Lord Eddard, if you wish to harm a guest under your own roof, then you can naturally find a thousand reasons. I would never stoop to such a sordid act as assassination under someone else's roof. My purpose in coming here was simply to see the King."
"It's just a pity that I unluckily appeared in your baseborn son's dream, and my careful disguise was thus exposed, reducing me from a singer performing for the King to a Captive."
"If you insist on violating guest right and executing me, then let's not waste our time. However, I must warn you, the Wildlings are not the greatest threat north of the Seven Kingdoms."
King Robert, Eddard, and Benjen exchanged confused glances. King Robert clenched his fists.
"The Wall was built to defend against the Wildlings. Besides the Wildlings, what other threat could there be?"
Mance Rayder lowered his voice, "The Others