Chapter 393: A Surprise

Maester Aemon's remains were cremated in Castle Black's courtyard according to the Night's Watch's current customs. Nearly every officer of the Night's Watch attended the ceremony, and even Stannis and the others, upon hearing of Maester Aemon's death, set aside their affairs Beyond the Wall and hurried back to The Wall to participate in the funeral.

Maester Aemon's ashes were divided into two parts. One part was buried in the Night's Watch cemetery at The Wall, while the other, following Lynd's suggestion, was entrusted to a group of Silent Men to be taken back to King's Landing and interred in House Targaryen's royal tomb, next to Aegon V.

Maester Aemon's sudden death caused Lynd to stay a few extra days. Meanwhile, the situation on the Frozen Shore underwent a dramatic change. The Silent Men and the Sisters of Redemption, who had originally been stationed in the Thenn region, had retreated to a temporary camp upstream along the Frozen River. They had completely abandoned efforts to block the wight army under the White Walkers' command and were preparing to observe for a few days before returning to the Walrus People's camp to join the others in leaving the Frozen Shore by ship.

The decision to retreat wasn't because they had learned that the Free Folk tribes had surrendered or that the war between the Night's Watch and the Free Folk coalition had ended. Rather, it was because they could no longer stop the wight army. Not only had their wildfire supplies been nearly exhausted, but the number of wights advancing to the Frostfangs was simply overwhelming, seemingly endless.

Facing such a situation, the two commanders decisively ordered a withdrawal before they could be surrounded by the wights, pulling their forces back to the upper reaches of the Frozen River. From there, they continued to send scouts to monitor the wight army's movements and dispatched reports to Castle Black every few hours.

At present, the wight army, led by numerous White Walkers, was advancing through the Frostfangs. Based on the wights' movement speed and the rugged terrain of the Frostfangs, it was estimated that the vanguard would reach the Haunted Forest in about four days. From there, it would take no more than another five or six days for them to reach The Wall.

This meant there was very little time left for the Free Folk to migrate south.

To expedite matters, Lynd ordered the Night's Watch to deploy all available warhorses, packhorses, and wagons to Storrold's Point to pick up refugees. He also sent word to Hardhome, urging the Free Folk tribes to evacuate as quickly as possible.

Receiving this message, Mance Rayder made full use of the wooden rafts he had previously constructed but not used. He linked the rafts together to form large floating platforms capable of carrying many people. With ships from White Harbor and the Miracle Fleet towing these rafts, they were able to transport the old, weak, sick, and injured to Skagos for temporary settlement. Meanwhile, the young and strong traveled overland toward The Wall.

Thanks to these efforts, by the time Lynd left The Wall, nearly half of the Free Folk had already crossed it and had been settled into shelters built in the Gift.

Seeing the orderly progress of the Free Folk's resettlement and reorganization, Lynd felt reassured leaving the rest of the work to Stannis and Sam.

Before his departure, Lynd also visited Icemark to see Willas and Bran—or rather, the new Three-Eyed Crow.

Just as Lynd had suspected, the raven with the fleshy tumor on its forehead had been hosting the consciousness of the old Three-Eyed Crow. When Jojen Reed brought the raven to Bran, Bran gladly accepted the Three-Eyed Crow's inheritance, becoming the new Three-Eyed Crow himself. With the addition of this powerful force, the mystical strength residing within The Wall grew even stronger, perhaps explaining the invisible barrier Lynd had encountered when he previously tried to fly over The Wall.

Before leaving The Wall, Lynd had planned to fly to Braavos on his own, but Deltos arrived just in time, flying from the ruins of Valyria to The Wall and sparing Lynd the effort of expending his runic power to create a whirlwind for flight.

After boarding Deltos and leaving The Wall, Lynd did not fly straight to Braavos. Instead, he first visited Winterfell to check on Sansa's situation.

Although Sansa had only recently become Lady of Winterfell and was still somewhat inexperienced in governance, she had previously served as an attendant at Summerhall, assisting Jon Bulwer in managing the hall's affairs. That experience allowed her to quickly adapt to handling Winterfell's administration. With the help of Dacey and Brienne, Winterfell and the North's various matters had been brought under control after only a brief period of confusion.

After meeting with Sansa, Dacey, and the others, Lynd briefly asked about the recent developments. Then, without delay, he told them about the situation Beyond the Wall—especially the impending arrival of the Long Night, the eternal winter, and the extreme cold poised to cross The Wall.

"Your Grace, do you mean that soon it will become as cold here as it is Beyond the Wall?" Sansa asked, her face turning very pale after hearing Lynd's words.

"Yes," Lynd nodded, then corrected himself, "Not just as cold as Beyond the Wall, but even colder—perhaps comparable to the Land of Always Winter. In any case, it will no longer be fit for human habitation."

Brienne asked with a frown, "Even colder than the extreme winters that once swept across the Seven Kingdoms?"

"Yes," Lynd said in a deep voice. "Much colder than back then."

Sansa pressed urgently, "So, that means we will have to migrate elsewhere, correct?"

Lynd nodded again. "It's not a possibility—it is a certainty."

At that moment, Sansa felt worse than she ever had before. She had only recently become the Warden of the North and Lady of Winterfell, and now her lands would soon become uninhabitable. She would have to abandon everything and lead her people to migrate elsewhere. No one could easily accept such a fate.

"It's not just the North that will be affected," Lynd added seriously. "If the extreme cold is as severe as I expect, the entire Seven Kingdoms will have to migrate. Even the people of Essos may be forced to move further south."

"Further south?" Dacey asked, unable to hide her concern. "Do you mean the continent of Sothoryos?"

"Yes," Lynd nodded. "I've already organized an expedition to explore the northern coastline of Sothoryos and establish suitable settlements. In a few years, it should be able to accommodate a large number of refugees."

Brienne asked solemnly, "Your Grace, when exactly will this extreme cold arrive?"

Lynd shook his head. "It could be this year, or next year. I can't say for certain yet. The Citadel, the Sphinx Academy, and the Black Hollow are all trying to predict the exact timing through astronomical observations, but so far, there's no definitive answer. In any case, you must prepare, so you won't be caught off guard when the extreme cold comes."

Lynd then explained what preparations needed to be made and promised to send people to assist them.

After that, he didn't linger in Winterfell. Mounting Deltos, he flew to White Harbor, where he needed to meet with Lord Manderly to discuss the migration plans for the Free Folk...

Lynd had no intention of allowing the Beyond the Wall tribes to remain in the Gift for an extended period. Though the Free Folk had surrendered and the tribes were cooperating for now, centuries of blood feud between the Free Folk and the Night's Watch couldn't simply vanish. Even if Lynd's authority temporarily suppressed old hatreds, forcing two enemy peoples to live in close proximity would inevitably lead to future conflicts.

Thus, Lynd planned to resolve the situation in Braavos first, and then use ships to relocate all the old, sick, weak, and noncombatants among the Free Folk to the Disputed Lands, where there was ample room to resettle them.

For this, White Harbor was the most suitable transit point in all the North. The migration of tens of thousands of people was bound to cause some incidents, so it was necessary to coordinate with the master of White Harbor to prevent misunderstandings and avoid conflicts.

Lynd's visit to White Harbor was a surprising and joyful event for Lord Manderly—but unexpectedly, Lynd himself also received a pleasant surprise from Lord Manderly.

"Lord Manderly, are you sure?" In Manderly Castle, after hearing Wyman Manderly's report, Lynd looked incredulous and asked again for confirmation.

"Yes, I've confirmed it several times with the captains of the merchant ships that have arrived," Wyman Manderly said with a smile, his large belly sticking out proudly. "Her Majesty Queen Nymeria and Her Majesty Queen Daenerys have indeed taken Braavos. The city is now under your rule."

Before coming to White Harbor, Lynd had still been thinking about how to take this city on the water without causing widespread destruction. What he hadn't expected was that Nymeria had already completed the task ahead of him, catching him completely off guard.

"How did they manage it? Did they use dragons?" Lynd asked curiously.

Wyman Manderly shook his head with a wry smile. "I'm not sure exactly how they did it. The ship captains couldn't explain it clearly either—it seems they blocked off the waterways or something like that."

Lynd was momentarily stunned but quickly understood. Nymeria and her forces must have taken control of Braavos' Sweetwater Canal and cut off the city's water supply. Without access to fresh water, Braavos would collapse internally in ten days or less. Combined with pressure from the Temple of the Storm and the House of Black and White, surrender would have been their only option.

Thinking of this, Lynd felt an impulse to immediately fly to Braavos to see the situation for himself.

However, he managed to suppress the urge and stayed at White Harbor for half a day, discussing the transportation details for relocating the tribes Beyond the Wall with Wyman Manderly and drafting a rough plan.

Only after settling these matters did he leave White Harbor and fly across the Narrow Sea toward Braavos.

Deltos flew swiftly, and in less than an hour, they crossed the sea and reached the waters near Braavos.

Even before reaching the city itself, Lynd could tell that Wyman Manderly's information was accurate—Braavos had indeed fallen.

The Miracle Fleet, once positioned in battle formation to blockade Braavos, had shifted to patrol formation, and numerous cargo ships and merchant vessels were now sailing freely between them. Clearly, the blockade had been lifted.

When Lynd flew over Braavos, he saw ships from the Braavosi fleet with newly changed banners, and flags of the Kingdom of Lorne, Qarth, and the Tyrell Dynasty hung from all the city's major buildings, including the Sealord's Palace and the Iron Bank.

There was no significant damage to the city—just a few collapsed rooftops, likely from catapult fire. Otherwise, order had been fully restored. The main difference was that all the patrolling soldiers now wore the banners of the Kingdom of Lorne, and the guards at the Sealord's Palace and the Iron Bank had been replaced as well.

As Lynd soared overhead on Deltos, everyone in the city stopped what they were doing and looked up. It didn't take them long to recognize him from the distinctive shape of Deltos's two pairs of wings.

Someone was the first to shout, and soon voices calling out "Storm God," "Chosen of the Seven Gods," "God of Calamity," "God of Magic," and other titles echoed throughout Braavos. Many people even climbed onto rooftops and waved frantically to get Lynd's attention.

After circling Braavos once, Lynd directed Deltos to descend onto the large platform of the Sealord's Palace and landed in the square.

At that moment, the Kingdom of Lorne had fully taken over the Sealord's Palace, and the person managing the palace was Arianne Martell. She stepped out of the Sealord's former study, quickly approached the platform, and greeted Lynd with a deep curtsey.

"Your Grace, it is a pleasure to see you at the Sealord's Palace."

"I'm pleased to see you too, Princess Arianne," Lynd said as he dismounted from Deltos.

Arianne smiled and said, "Please, just call me Arianne."

Lynd didn't waste time on formalities. "Where are Nymeria and the others?"

"Her Majesty Queen Nymeria and Her Majesty Queen Daenerys are currently meeting at the Iron Bank with the Keyholder families and the city's Magisters," Arianne answered promptly. "Although they have surrendered, there are still many issues to resolve—such as the future ownership of the Iron Bank and the structure of the new government."

"Are there problems?" Lynd immediately picked up on something from her tone.

"Only a few fools who think they still have the right to bargain with us," Arianne said confidently with a smile. "They don't understand that the moment the Kingdom of Lorne's troops took over the city's defenses and the Miracle Fleet took control of the Braavosi fleet, they lost any standing to negotiate."

She laughed lightly, then added, "They even tried to hire the Faceless Men from the House of Black and White to assassinate Her Majesty the Queen. But what they didn't realize was that the moment they left the House of Black and White, their entire scheme had already been reported to us by the High Priest. Now, Her Majesty is preparing to deal with them!"