Chapter 240

The man let out a grunt, unwilling to do any such thing.

"Do as the boy says." The king ordered and the Kingsguard reluctantly took out his sword from it's sheath and pointed it at the Ice Sword.

"Be sure to strike hard and true." He said and the Kingsguard grunted in response before hitting the Ice Sword with his full might.

There was a sound of shattering steel and a moment later, Ser Meryn Trant was holding only the hilt of his blade, looking at the pieces of steel that once used to be his sword and then at the Ice Sword in terror.

"What sort of sorcery is this?" the man said as he backed away from the sword.

He chuckled "The sorcery of the White Walkers I suppose. Something that our feeble human minds cannot even comprehend." He said and put the Ice sword back in the wooden box before he picked up one of the Steel shards and gave it to the King.

Ser Barristan Selmy also picked up a shard and both the King and the Kingsguard looked at it in silence for a long moment before he said "That is why it's useless to fight a White Walker without the proper weapon. Not only do the White Walkers have an advantage in weapon, they are also almost as strong as Baka and faster and as experienced as Varko. Not to mention the thousands of wights they bring with them. Wights that would continue to try to kill you even if they only have a single hand remaining. You must kill them by either fire, Valyrian steel or dragon glass."

The King remained silent for a long moment before he sat down on a chair and pointed a hand at the Ice Sword "Close it. I've seen enough."

He nodded and closed the lid of the wooden box. They all took a collective sigh of relief as the cold in the room vanished at once. The Ice coating the various surfaces still remained but it would melt before the end of the hour.

The King rubbed his forehead "Bloody hell. So the White Walkers are really back. Is that what you're telling me Ned."

Ned Stark's face remained stoic and he nodded once "Yes your grace."

Robert slumped even further in the chair "When your boys told me about fighting Wights in the North… I didn't believe them, even if my intuition told me otherwise. I should not have doubted your boys Ned. It was my mistake."

"Anyone else would have thought the same."

They remained silent for a moment after that before the King finally got up from his chair and looked at his oldest friend.

"What do you want from me Ned?"

"What can you give?" Lord Stark asked.

Robert thought about it for a moment and said "Well, the crown definitely can't give you any money. I spent all of it in tourneys and whores." He laughed but there was no joy in it "6 million gold dragons in debt Ned. That's what Petyr Baelish told me. 3 million in debt to Tywin Fucking Lannister who can shit gold even when his gold mines have run dry. Tell me what you want Ned because I'm frankly at a loss for words."

"If I may your grace." He said.

The King turned to look at him and motioned him to go ahead.

He unrolled a map of the North and laid it on the table. Then he pointed at a great mass of land below the Wall.

"When Bran the Builder built the Wall, he gave a large chunk of land to the men of the North to the Nights Watch for their sustenance and support. When Good Queen Alysanne visited the Wall on her dragon, she held the Nights Watch in great esteem and convinced her husband to double their land, extending it further twenty five leagues south. The problem is that as the condition of the Nights Watch decreased, more and more Wildling incursions started to occur. This led to the people in these Old and New gift abandoning their homes to go further south where they could gain the protection of their lords."

"Now, despite being some of the most fertile lands in the North, the New and Old gift are mostly deserted." He then pointed at the New Gift "The first thing you can do is return the Old and the New gift to the North. The Lords who'll settle in these lands could give a percent of their taxes to the Wall and also protect their small folk. Win win. This will also cause wandering hedge nights and people who're down on their luck to travel North and will increase the population of North."

The King nodded his head "It… can be done. If the Watch is in as bad a condition as you're telling me then it would be better if these lands are given to you. What do you say Ned?"

"It would be a wise decision." Ned said and the King banged the table with his meaty palms.

"Consider it done then." The King said "What else?"