In the Winterfell dungeon, as soon as Lord Eddard and Benjen heard Mance Rayder mention the Others, they exchanged shocked glances.
A few days prior, Lord Eddard and Benjen had interrogated the Night's Watch deserter Gared, who insisted that the Others had attacked his patrol.
Now, the King-Beyond-the-Wall Mance Rayder also spoke of the threat of the Others, making Lord Eddard and Benjen feel that the Others, creatures previously confined to legends and songs, had never been so close.
King Robert, convinced that Mance Rayder was spouting nonsense, suppressed a laugh. "Are there really Others Beyond the Wall? As far as I know, the Others, like the Children of the Forest and giants, only exist in legends."
Tyrion the Imp quipped, "Your Grace, I think Mance Rayder, this King-Beyond-the-Wall, plans to unite with the Others and attack The Wall together!"
Theon, Meryn Trant, Boros Blount, Jaime the Kingslayer, and others nearby all burst into laughter.
Jon noticed that most of those laughing were southern knights who had accompanied King Robert to Winterfell. The northerners, upon hearing of the Others, either looked solemn, frowned deeply, or showed fear; in short, no one laughed.
Northerners often experienced the power of winter. In the North, 'Others' was a cursed word; people would only say things like, 'May the Others take so-and-so!' when extremely angry or distraught. Northerners did not joke about the Others.
Amidst the general mockery, Mance Rayder said coldly, "Laugh if you wish! When winter and the Long Night descend, and the Others drive their army of the dead south, let's see how heartily you can laugh then."
The deserter Gared, from inside the fence, trembled and said, "Your Grace, my lord, at least on the matter of the Others, Mance Rayder is not lying. I witnessed the Others kill Will and Ser Waymar Royce with my own eyes."
King Robert stroked his thick chin. "That name, Waymar Royce, sounds familiar! Eddard, is this Waymar Royce a friend from when you and I were Squire at The Eyrie in the Vale?"
Eddard replied, "No, Ser Waymar Royce is the youngest son of Bronze Yohn, the Lord of Stony Sept."
Benjen added, "Ser Waymar Royce joined the Night's Watch only six months ago, but disappeared during his first patrol. Not a single member of his squad returned to Castle Black. It wasn't until the Winterfell taxi soldiers captured Gared in the Wolfswood that he, a deserter, insisted that the Others had attacked and killed Ser Waymar Royce and Will."
King Robert looked contemptuously at Mance Rayder, then glanced at Gared. "This Gared, like Mance Rayder, is a Night's Watch deserter."
At this point, King Robert gave Jaime a meaningful look. "They broke their sacred vows; oathbreakers are less than nothing in my eyes. How can one believe anything such people say?"
Jaime remained expressionless and silent. After so many years, he had grown accustomed to King Robert's various overt and subtle insults.
The King-Beyond-the-Wall Mance Rayder declared loudly, "When I was a member of the Night's Watch, I was a crow of Castle Black. When I donned an old cloak and went Beyond the Wall to become a Wildling again, I became the King-Beyond-the-Wall."
"I know every castle and ruin on The Wall, and every corner Beyond the Wall. I tell you, you kneeling men of the Greenlands, eight thousand years ago, the Night's Watch built The Wall, seven hundred feet high and three hundred miles long, not to keep out Wildlings, but to keep out the Others."
Everyone fell silent. Whether it was Lord Eddard, King Robert, Tyrion, or Benjen, they all found Mance Rayder's words very reasonable.
Beyond the Wall, there were few blacksmiths or furnaces; the Wildlings lacked ironworking skills. Wildling raiders typically used bones and wooden clubs as weapons, and only after killing Rangers of the Night's Watch did they have a chance to acquire armor, daggers, and swords. The Wildlings were not only poorly equipped but also severely lacking in discipline.
It was precisely for this reason that for thousands of years, the continuously declining Night's Watch had, for the most part, been able to keep the Wildlings north of The Wall. Even if a King-Beyond-the-Wall occasionally led his forces to breach The Wall, once they entered the North, the Wildling Army would ultimately be defeated by the attacks of House Stark and the northern lords.
The seven-hundred-foot Wall was one of the most magnificent structures in Westeros, and indeed the entire known world. It was hard to imagine that the builders, eight thousand years ago, constructed such a formidable defense to guard against Wildlings.
Lord Eddard said, "If the King-Beyond-the-Wall and the Night's Watch deserter agree on the existence of the Others, then we should at least consider that the Others might truly exist Beyond the Wall."
King Robert frowned, as if thinking caused him pain. "Strange things keep happening these days!"
When it came to interrogating prisoners and uncovering the truth, King Robert always showed great impatience. He scanned the people in the dungeon, and when he saw Jon, his eyes lit up.
"Jon Snow, have you dreamed of the Others in your Green Dream?"
Jon Snow had already prepared his answer in his heart. He nodded slightly, "Your Grace, I have."
Everyone was plunged into shock and fear. Jon's prophetic dreams had all come true recently, whether it was the prophesied death of the hand of the king, the Night's Watch deserter Gared, the King's visit to Winterfell, or the King-Beyond-the-Wall.
A flicker of doubt passed through Tyrion the Imp's mismatched eyes.
If even the prophet Jon had dreamed of the Others, then everyone had no choice but to believe in their existence.
The Others from Old Nan's stories had never seemed so real and terrifying.
The torches in the room began to flicker, and the light dimmed slightly.
Robert took a deep breath. "Jon, tell us what you dreamed?"
Jon Snow said, "I dreamed that the Others were tall and gaunt, with pale skin. They rode on ice spiders or dead horses, and some rode on dead Bears or elk."
The King-Beyond-the-Wall Mance Rayder began to look at Jon with admiration.
"bastard, your dream is very real! The Others in your dream are exactly as I witnessed them."
Gared, from inside the fence, said, "I swear, the Others who killed the patrol were also just like in Jon's dream."
Lord Eddard and King Robert exchanged shocked glances.
Jon continued, "In my Green Dream, they always appeared at night, or rather, when they appeared, night fell, accompanied by cold, ice, and white mist. The bitter cold made breathing feel like inhaling blades into one's lungs."
"I dreamed the Others spoke a strange language. They seemed to use some kind of magic. The corpses they had killed suddenly stood up. They opened their eyes, eyes of deep blue."
"The Others drove the wights to the foot of The Wall. The Night's Watch on The Wall fought desperately, but the wights surged like a tide. Tens of thousands of wights piled up, climbing The Wall, killing every Night's Watch member they encountered."
When Jon finished speaking, a deathly silence fell.
King Robert broke the silence. "If the prophecy truly comes to pass, won't the Seven Kingdoms suffer an attack from the Others? Damn it, the Others, who only appeared once eight thousand years ago, I actually have to deal with them."
Lord Eddard said, "Robert, if we prepare early, we will have a chance to use The Wall to keep the army of the dead out."
King Robert clenched his fists. "Eddard, I want to go to The Wall with you personally. Furthermore, order every lord in the North to prepare for war."
Lord Eddard nodded. "The North obeys the King's command. I will order the northern lords to recruit men and forge armor and weapons. We will also focus on analyzing the weaknesses of the Others and wights. The North is ready to reinforce The Wall at any time."
The Direwolves outside the door howled in unison.
Tyrion, nearby, immediately had a bad feeling. Jon Snow appeared calm, but deep down, he was already overjoyed.
This was why Jon had revealed the threat of the Others to King Robert. As long as the threat of the Others was made clear, the North could openly recruit soldiers and prepare for war.
While the nobles of the Westerlands, The Reach, The Stormlands, the Iron Islands, and other regions were still enjoying life in summer, the North's war machine had quietly started, under the guise of resisting the Others, preparing for the potential chaos that might arise in the future.