Chapter 494 The king meets the king (two in one)

 Amidst the snow and wind, thousands of campfires flickered outside the Great Wall, but their light seemed small and weak compared to the dark and cold scene.

　　The King Beyond the Wall, Mance Rayder, was being pulled up to the Great Wall while swaying in a bamboo basket.

"Lord Denis Mallister," Mance brushed off the snow on his body and smiled, "I didn't expect you to greet me."

"How are you sure that I am here to greet you and not to kill you?" Sir Dennis looked at the former subordinate in front of him with a gloomy face, and held the hilt of his sword with his right hand.

“You can’t go back to your king with my head.” Mance stepped forward with a smile and actually gave the other party a hug.

Dennis roughly pushed Mance away:

"Don't think we can laugh away our grudges. The Night Watch will never forget the traitors. Just wait, one day, I will cut off your head!"

 “I’m always here for you.”

Sir Dennis snorted coldly, and then led the King Beyond the Wall down the Great Wall and into Castle Black.

The night watchmen I met along the way all looked at the barbarian king from beyond the Great Wall with vigilant eyes.

 Mance Rayder turned a blind eye to these glances, but looked at the castle leisurely, as if a traveler returning to an old place was looking for memories of the past.

 At the door of the library, Sir Dennis stopped and said:

 “Go in, His Majesty is waiting for you inside.”

Mance thanked him and pushed the door open.

 The air in the room smelled of old dust and decaying paper.

What comes into view are tall wooden bookshelves, the tops of which are submerged in darkness. The shelves are filled with leather-bound books and boxes of ancient scrolls.

Mance walked through the narrow aisles, passed several rows of bookshelves, and found a young man sitting in a niche built into the stone wall.

 “Samwell Caesar.”

 “Mance Rayder.”

Mance looked at the face in memory in front of him with a rather sad tone:

“You are completely different from what you were five years ago. You really look like a king now.”

Samwell smiled:

 “And you, my friend, are still nothing like a king.”

Mance laughed when he heard this.

He certainly had no kingly appearance. There was no crown on his head, no golden rings on his arms, no precious chain around his neck. In short, he had no decoration at all. He was wearing a woolen sweater and a leather coat, and the only thing that caught his eye was the ragged black wool cloak, which had several long rips patched up with faded red silk.

"I have never worn a crown, nor have I sat on a **** throne." Mance said calmly, "I come from a very humble background, and there are no monks to anoint me with holy oil. I have no castle, and my queen wears animal skins and amber. , rather than silk gems.

 I am my own warrior, my own jester, my own harpist. Any king beyond the wall does not rely on blood, and free people do not follow surnames, nor do they care which brother is born first. They believe in the strong.

 When I left the Shadow Tower, there were five men clamoring to be King Beyond the Wall. Tormund was one, and Magnar was the other, both of whom were now my servants, and the other three whom I had slain, for they preferred to resist rather than obey.

 Then I became the king beyond the wall. "

"But now you are in Senne," said Samwell. "There can only be one king here."

“This is why I insist on seeing you in person.” Mance took a few steps forward, sat down at the table, poured himself a glass of wine, and drank it all.

 “Good wine!” He exclaimed happily and put the wooden wine glass back on the table with a bang. “Caesar, do you know why I defected from the Night’s Watch?”

 Samwell shook his head.

  Mance stood up, loosened the buckle of his cloak, and spread it on the table:

 “I’m here for this.”

 “A cloak?”

“A black cloak of a night watchman,” Mance said. “Once, we hunted a reindeer while out on patrol and were busy skinning it. Unexpectedly, the smell of blood attracted the nearby shadow lynx.

 After a fight, we managed to drive it away. But my cloak was torn to shreds in the battle. The beast also tore my arms and back.

The brothers were worried that I would not be able to return to the castle, so they carried me to a savage village. A girl in the village who knew medicine saved my life and sewed my cloak with bright red silk.

 You should understand what silk means to a wild girl. I don’t even know where she got this precious cloth. But she gave me her greatest treasure.

 It’s a pity that I am a night watchman and I have sworn not to take a wife or have children.

 After returning to the Great Wall, they found me a brand new black cloak with no wear, no scratches, and of course no red silk.

The night watchman must wear black.

 But I want to keep this old cloak.

 Sir Denys Mallister rebuked me severely and threatened to burn my old cloak.

 So I ran away.

Going to a place where desire is no longer a sin and people can freely choose the color of their cloaks. "

"A very touching story." Samwell commented, "But I want to tell you that in the seven kingdoms south of the Great Wall, people can also kiss their beloved girls and choose the color of their cloaks."

"But they still have to kneel." Mance said, "This is what you want us to do, isn't it? Bow to you."

"Yes." Samwell nodded frankly.

Mance shook his head firmly:

 “Caesar, we freemen will never kneel to anyone!”

"Mance, I actually don't like people kneeling to me, but this is the rule within the Great Wall." Samwell said seriously, "You savages are used to being undisciplined. You don't kneel, don't pay taxes, and don't follow the rules." Law, just grab what you want.

If I allow you to act recklessly within the Great Wall, how should I explain to the people of the Seven Kingdoms? "

"Your laws may not be suitable for us," Mance said. "If we need laws, we will make them ourselves. And I will also restrain them and ensure that they will not intrude on your people."

 “Mance Rayder, can you really restrain hundreds of thousands of wildlings?”

"I can take them south to the Great Wall of Despair, and I can naturally restrain them to obey the rules within the Great Wall."

"Don't overestimate yourself, Mance Rayder." Samwell said, "Even I can't guarantee that all the people of the Seven Kingdoms will obey my orders. But because there is a law, as long as they commit a crime, I can follow the law." The law punishes them.

And you? Your Majesty, King Beyond the Wall, if your people commit crimes within the Great Wall, can I punish them? "

“Free people have different customs. Some things may be crimes in your eyes, but...”

"I know." Samwell interrupted, "I heard that you wildlings knock out the girl you like and take her home if you want to get a wife, right?"

"There is this custom." Mance admitted, "Only those who can steal girls are eligible to get married."

 “This is not possible within the Great Wall.”

Mance said solemnly: "I will set some rules for them."

"I have already set it up for you." Samwell said, "First, the wildlings who enter the Great Wall can voluntarily become subjects of the Seven Kingdoms."

“There’s no problem with that.” Mance nodded, “If any of them are really willing to kneel down, I won’t stop them.”

"Second," Samwell continued, "the wildlings who do not want to be my people can only stay in a few fixed areas and are not allowed to go out."

 Hearing this, Mance immediately protested:

 “You can’t restrict our freedom!”

"This is our land," Samwell said coldly, "Since you are unwilling to abide by our laws, kneel down, and pay taxes, of course you can only stay in the areas we have designated. And, wait When winter is over, those of you who are unwilling to kneel must leave immediately and return to the north of the Great Wall."

 “Where is the designated area?”

 “Wolfwood,” Samwell said, “You can only stay in Wolfwood.”

Mance Rayder certainly knew about Wolfwood.

This is a forest in the northwest of the Northern Territory, close to the Ice Bay. It does occupy a large area, but it cannot support hundreds of thousands of people.

 He knew very well that Caesar was using this method to force the barbarians to surrender.

 “What if we don’t agree?”

 “Then stay north of the Great Wall and don’t come to my territory!”

 The atmosphere in the room suddenly became tense.

The two people’s eyes intertwined in the air, as if there was a flash of fire.

"Caesar, did the Night Watch forget to remind you?" Mance said, "If you don't let us enter the Great Wall..."

“You will blow the horn of winter and let the Great Wall collapse?” Samwell asked.

“I don’t want to do this either, but if we have to,” Mance’s tone turned cold, “we will never hesitate.”

 Samwell smiled slightly, seemingly unfazed by the threat.

Mance frowned:

"Caesar, you don't want to kill me, do you? Before I came here, I told my queen Dana that if I cannot return safely today, she will blow the winter horn herself when dawn comes tomorrow!"

"You think I won't dare to kill you?"

Mance frowned even more tightly. He could see the cold murderous intent in the eyes of the king in front of him, which he couldn't understand.

 But the next moment, he heard an unintelligible curse coming from Caesar's mouth.

The light in the room dimmed instantly, and the entire space seemed to be trembling.

 "Caesar! You-" Mance thought that the other party was really going to attack him, so he immediately jumped up, and at the same time he pulled out the long sword at his waist and took a defensive posture.

 He had heard about the horrific achievements of this legendary king, and he was extremely frightened, but he would never die without hesitation.

"Don't be nervous, my friend." The king's voice came again, but it sounded a little strange.

 The fading light gradually brightened, and Mance Rayder was finally able to see again.

 But what he saw in front of him frightened the king beyond the wall.

 Because, there was another King Beyond the Wall standing in front of him!

"You, you...how...witchcraft!" Looking at the exact same self in front of him, Mance couldn't keep calm at all, and thin cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

"Yes, witchcraft." Samwell said with a smile, his Adam's apple squirmed slightly, and he actually sounded like Mance Rayder, "Do you think if I go to your camp like this, your dear queen will still blow the winter sound?" The horn?"

Mance’s face changed for a while, and finally he said dejectedly:

 “Well, you win, Caesar. I agree to your terms.”

Samwell smiled slightly, but shook his head and said:

"Sorry, Mance, your previous behavior made me lose my trust in you. Therefore, I think it is better to use your identity to get back the Horn of Winter first. It is too dangerous to leave it in the hands of you savages. .”

 Hearing this, Mance's expression suddenly changed.

 He is also a decisive person and immediately pounces on the other "self" in front of him.

 But he obviously underestimated the strength gap between himself and the opponent.

Samwell gently raised his hand, pinched the tip of Mance's sword, and then twisted it casually, and the entire stainless steel sword was reduced to countless fragments.

"You are now a guest at Castle Black for a few days." Samwell restrained Mance Rayder easily, "I will make arrangements for your people."

 After saying that, he strode out.

Ed Stark and others outside were not surprised at all when they saw "Mance Rayder" coming out. They had obviously been informed in advance.

 “Let’s make arrangements, I want to leave the Great Wall.”

“Your Majesty, do you need me to send someone to go with you?”

"No need. Even if the matter is exposed, those savages can't keep me."

"yes."

Soon, Samwell left the Great Wall through the hanging basket.

Not long after walking north, a group of savages came up to meet them. The leader shouted:

 “Chief Mance, how was the conversation with the southerners?”

"An agreement has been reached." Samwell didn't want to talk more to avoid revealing his secret, and walked quickly towards the camp, "We'll talk about it when we get back."

 After walking a few miles further, the group entered the tent area.

 This is a typical savage camp, with campfires and urinals spread out in a mess, children and goats wandering around at will, no planning, no order, no defense, men, women and animals everywhere.

 Children squatting by the fire, old women in dog carts, cavemen with stained faces, warriors with shields painted with claws, vipers and skulls, and giants, seven or eight times the height of ordinary people.

When they saw the king beyond the wall, they all stopped busy and turned to pay attention.

 But no one knelt.

Samwell walked all the way to the tall tent in the center without squinting his eyes.

 It was very warm in the tent, and there was a fire under the smoke vent. There was a woman with a big belly beside the fire, and there was a beautiful blond girl beside her.

 Samwell immediately guessed that the pregnant woman should be Mance Rayder's queen Danna, and the blond girl was her sister Val.

 But all his attention was focused on a huge black horn in the tent.

“Mance, does the king of the south agree to our terms?” Queen Danna asked.

"Yeah." Samwell nodded casually, but walked towards the Horn of Winter.

 But just before he touched the horn, he heard a low whimpering sound.

woo woo woo woo-

Samwell was startled. When he realized that it was the horn sound coming from outside the tent, he heard Dana exclaim:

 “This is the scout’s horn! Mance, there is an enemy attack!”

Two chapters combined into one

　　

 (End of this chapter)