Chapter 70 Chapter 69: Jon

Day and night, the sound of the ax continued. Jon couldn't remember the last time he fell asleep.When you close your eyes, you dream of fighting; when you open your eyes, you are fighting.Even in the king's tower, you can hear the endless "dong dong" sound, which is the sound of copper axes, stone axes and stolen iron axes cutting wood, and if you rest in the greenhouse on the top of the Great Wall, the sound is even worse. noisy.Mance added to the work a sledgehammer and a long saw of bone and flint.Once, he was exhausted and was about to fall asleep in a daze, when suddenly there was a loud noise in the Haunted Forest, and a big sentinel tree fell down, stirring up dust and needles in the sky.

He was awake when Owen came to call him, lying distraught on the floor of the greenhouse under a pile of furs. "Lord Snow," Owen said, shaking his shoulders, "it's daylight." He gave Jon a hand and helped him up.The others woke up too, jostling each other in the cramped space of the shed, putting on their boots and buckling their swordbelts.No one spoke.They were all too tired to talk.These days, few people even leave the Great Wall.It takes too much time to go up and down the iron cage.Castle Black was thrown to Maester Aemon, Ser Winton Staw, and those who were too old or too weak to fight.

"I dreamed that the king was coming," said Owen cheerfully. "Maester Aemon sent him a bird, and King Robert came with an army. I dreamed of his golden battle standard." Jon forced himself to smile, "That must be very pleasant, Owen." He deliberately ignored the burning pain in his legs, put on his black fur cloak, grabbed his crutches, and walked to the edge of the Great Wall to welcome a new day. A gust of wind blows wisps of cool air into his long brown hair.Half a mile to the north, the savage camp was extremely busy. Countless bonfires raised smoke pillars and clawed at the pale sky like fingers.They set up tents of animal skins or furs along the edge of the forest, and even built a simple long hall out of logs and branches; horse herds to the east, mammoths to the west, and people everywhere, some sharpening their swords, some giving Rough spears have sharp points, and some wear simple armor made of animal skins, horns and bones.Jon knew that there were dozens of times more people in the forest than outside.The shrubs provided a barrier, hiding them from the eyes of the hateful crows.

Their archers had crept forward, pushing cover. "Here comes the breakfast arrow," Pyp would announce cheerfully every morning.It's a good thing he can say that, Jon thought, someone has got to be joking.Three days ago, a "breakfast arrow" hit Red Alyn of the Rosewood in the thigh.Until now, if you are willing to venture out of the city, you can still see his body lying at the foot of the Great Wall.It was better for everyone to smile at Pyp's joke than to miss Alyn dead, Jon thought. The shelter was a sloping wooden plank on wheels, wide enough to shelter five freedmen.The archers pushed it closer, then knelt behind and shot arrows through the gap.The first time the Wildlings used this tactic, Jon ordered the rockets to fire back and burned six of them, and then Mance covered the planks with raw hides, so no amount of rockets would help.

Bored, the brothers in black began to bet on which scarecrow sentry got the most arrows.Somber Eddie now holds the lead with four arrows, but Othel Yawick, Joan of Somersault, and Watt of Long Lake are not far behind, and each is only one arrow short. It was also Pyp who originally named the Scarecrow after the Night's Watch who wasn't on the Wall. "That way, it's like we have more brothers," he explained. "More brothers with arrows in their stomachs," Grenn grumbled, but the idea seemed to lift morale, so Jon allowed the names to live on, and the bet went on.

Beside the ice wall was an ornate Myrish brass lens on a tripod that Maester Aemon had used to observe the stars before he lost his sight.Jon turned the long barrel downward, scouting the enemy.In spite of the distance, Mance Rayder's great white tent of snowbear hide was clearly discernible.Through the Myr lens, he could see the wildlings' faces clearly.Mance himself was nowhere to be seen this morning, but his wife Dana was out tending the fire, and his sister Val was milking the ewes by the tent.Dana has such a big belly that it's a miracle that she can still walk.She will be born soon, Jon thought.He swung the lens to the east and searched among the tents and bushes to find the turtle shield under construction.This one is almost finished too.The savages skinned a dead mammoth during the night, and now they were covering the top of the turtle's shield with the bloody rawhide, adding an extra layer of protection to the sheepskin and animal hide.The tortoise shield is a dome, plus eight large wheels, and a solid wooden frame under the animal skin.When the savages first started nailing frames, Satin thought they were building a ship.Actually pretty much the same.The tortoise shield looks like an upside-down ship hull, with only openings front and rear. To be precise, it is a long hall on wheels.

"It's finished, isn't it?" Grant asked. "Almost ready." Jon pushed the lens away. "Could be here today. Is the cask full?" "Each one filled. Frozen hard at night, Pyp checked." Glenn has changed a lot during this time, and he is no longer the tall, clumsy, red-faced, thick-necked boy Jon had befriended.He had grown half a foot taller, his chest and shoulders had grown broader, and since he left the Fistbee, he had neither cut nor shaved his beard, and he was a huge, shaggy creature, like a bison—just The nickname Ser Alliser had given him in his training.But he was tired, and he only nodded at Jon's question, "I've heard the hatchet all night, and I can't sleep at all."

"Then go to bed now." "I do not need--" "You need to. I want you to rest, go, you won't miss the fight." He forced himself to smile again. "Only you can push those damn barrels." Grenn walked away grunting, and Jon returned to the lens, searching the wildling camp.Now and then an arrow would fly overhead, but he had learned to ignore it.The distance is long, the angle is poor, and the chance of being shot is very small.Still no sign of Mance Rayder, but Tormund the Giant-Buster and his two sons were by the turtle-shield, the boys struggling with the mammoth hide while Tormund gnawed on a goat's leg and yelled Give orders.Varamyr "Sixshape," the wildling skinchanger, came out of the forest, followed by his shadow lynx.

There was a click of the winch, and then the groan of the cage door opening, and he knew that Hob had brought breakfast, as he did every morning.However, seeing Mance's turtle shield, Jon had already lost his appetite.The oil was gone, the last barrel of pitch had been pushed off the Wall two days ago, and the arrows were running out, and there were no fletchers to replenish them.A crow flew from the west the night before, and Sir Denys Mallister says that Bowen Marsh chased the wildlings all the way across the Shadow Tower, into the shadowy chasms of the Great Gulch, and finally caught Weeper and him at the Bridge of Skulls. Three hundred raiders under him, a bloody battle resulted in a costly victory for our side, and more than a hundred black brothers died, including Sir Andrew Tars and Sir Arada Winch.Old Pomegranate was mortally wounded himself, and was carried back to the Shadow Tower, where he was tended by Maester Mullin, and could not return to Castle Black for a long time.

After reading the letter, Jon hurriedly sent Ze to ride the fastest horse to Mole Village, asking the villagers to help defend the Great Wall.She never came back.He sent Mully again, only to receive reports that the whole village had been abandoned, even the brothel.Zedo fled along the king's road with the others.Maybe we should all run away, Jon mused darkly. Hungry or not, he forced himself to eat.Not being able to sleep is bad enough, not going into battle on an empty stomach.Besides, this might be my last meal.The last meal for all of us.So Jon stuffed himself with bread, bacon, onions, and cheese, when the horse yelled, "Here he comes!"

No need to ask what "it" is, no maester's Myr lens to observe the commotion among forests and tents. "It doesn't look like a tortoise," Satin remarked. "A tortoise has no hair." "No wheels either," said Piper. "Blow the horn," Jon commanded, and the cask blew two long blows to wake Grenn and the rest of the Night's Watch who had been on duty at night.When the wildlings come, the Wall needs every guard.By gods, we are few enough.Jon looked around at Pyp and Barrel and Satin, Horse and Owen the Nervous, Stuttering Tim, Molly, Provinceboots and the others, and tried to imagine them face to face in that dark tunnel with a hundred screechers. The swords of the calling savages intersected, and there were only a few iron bars for protection.It's all over if you don't destroy the turtle shield before the gate is breached. "It's big," said the horse. Pyp smacked his lips. "It makes a good pot of soup." The joke didn't work, and Pyp's voice sounded tired.He looks half dead, Jon thought, and we all do.The King Beyond the Wall has infinite military strength, and he can send in fresh troops every day, but these brothers in black have to deal with every attack, and it is gradually becoming difficult to continue. Jon knew that the men under the logs and hides were pushing like hell, shouldering on to make the wheels turn, but changing the ropes for axes as soon as the shield touched the gate.At least Mance hadn't sent a mammoth today, Jon was a little relieved.Their mighty power is meaningless to the Great Wall, and their huge size makes them an exposed target.The last mammoth struggled for a day and a half before dying, its wails terrifying and disgusting. The turtle shield crawled slowly over rocks, stumps, and shrubs.Previous attacks had left the Freedmen with more than a hundred bodies, most of which still lie where they fell.The crows who would accompany them during the lulls in the battle now ran away screaming.They don't like the turtle shield as much as I do. Satin and the horse and the others were watching him, Jon knew, waiting for his order.But he was so exhausted he could hardly think.The Wall is mine, he reminded himself. "Owen, horses, catapults. Barrels, you and Dartboots for the ballista. The rest take their places. Use rockets. See if you can burn it." Mostly futile, Jon knew, but better than standing still . The tortoise shield moved awkwardly and slowly, the target was huge, and the bow and crossbow quickly shot it into a wooden hedgehog... But the damp hide protected it like a cover, and the rocket went out when it was inserted.Jon cursed under his breath. "Catapults ready," he ordered, "catapults ready." Arrows from the ballista pierced deep into the hide, but did little more damage.The rock bounced off the top of the turtle's shield, leaving only a few shallow craters.Heavy trebuchets might have knocked it down, but one was broken, and the wildlings were well out of range of the other. "Jon, it's still moving," said Goofy Owen. He can see.Inch by inch, yard by yard, the turtle shield crawled closer, rumbling and swaying across the killing field.Once the wildlings had it up to the Wall, it was safe to hack through the hastily patched outer gate with an axe.The debris and ice clogging the tunnel would be cleared in the next few hours, and the only obstacles would be a few frozen corpses and two iron bars, plus the brothers in black that Jon had to send down to die. On the left, a catapult thumps, throwing swirling gravel into the air.They fell on the turtle's shield like hailstones, and bounced off harmlessly.The wildling archers still hid behind the cover and fired arrows.One pierced a scarecrow sentry's face, and Piper yelled, "Watt of Long Lake, four! Even!" The next arrow whizzed past his ear. "Bah!" He cursed down, "I didn't participate!" "The fur doesn't catch fire," Jon concluded, both to himself and to them all.Their only hope is to smash the turtle shield when it reaches the Great Wall.Large boulders are required for this.No matter how strong something is made, a boulder falling from a height of seven hundred feet is bound to break it. "Glenn, Owen, Cask, it's time." On the edge of the greenhouse, twelve chunky oak barrels were lined up, filled with gravel—the brothers in black usually used them to pave the passage on the Great Wall so that they could walk steadily.Yesterday, after seeing the free folk cover the turtle shield with sheepskin, Jon immediately ordered Grenn to fill the bucket with as much water as he could.The water mixed with the gravel will freeze solidly in just one night.This is the closest thing to a large boulder. "Why freeze?" Grant asked him once. "Why don't you just roll off?" Jon explained, "If you hit an ice wall on the way, the barrel will crack and the gravel will be scattered all over the sky. Raining rocks on these bastards won't be enough." Now he and Grenn were shouldering one barrel, and the barrel and Owen were pushing the other hard.Together they shook back and forth, breaking up the ice that had formed at the bottom of the barrel. "Good guy, I'm afraid it weighs a ton," Grant said. "Turn it over and roll it," Jon ordered. "Be careful, if your foot gets caught, you'll be a second boot." After the cask was dumped, Jon grabbed the torch and waved it back and forth over the Wall pavement to melt the ice a little and make rolling easier—too easy, in fact, to almost lose control.In the end, the four of them worked together and finally pushed the big bucket to the edge of the city wall and stood in place. As the four large oak barrels took their place above the gate, Pyp yelled, "Here comes the turtle shield!" Jon leaned out to watch, braced on his injured leg.Fence, Marsh should build a fence gate.Too much that should be done is not being done.The wildlings were dragging away the giant's dead body, and the horse and Mully threw stones at them, and Jon saw a man fall, but the stone was too small to do anything to the turtle shield itself.He had been thankful that the free folk would worry about the dead mammoth, but now he suddenly realized that the turtle shield itself was as wide as the long hall, and he just had to push it over the carcass.Seeing this, his thigh twitched, but fortunately the horse grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "You shouldn't be leaning out like this," said the boy. "We should build fences." Now Jon heard the sound of axes smashing on wood, and maybe it was just the echo of fear in his ears.He looked at Grant, "Do it." Grant walked to the back of the barrel, supported it with his shoulders, grunted, and began to push hard.Owen and Muli went over to help.They pushed the barrel out a foot, and another foot...and then it suddenly disappeared. There was only a "bang", and the wooden barrel collided with the city wall, followed by louder impact and cracking of wood, shouts and screams.Satin yelled, Owen the Nervous jumped and cheered in circles, and Pyp leaned out, "There are rabbits under the turtle shell! Look how they dance!" "Don't stop! Come again!" Jon yelled, and Grenn and Barrel shouldered the next barrel, shoving it wobbly into the air. When the bucket was done, the front of Mance's tortoise shield was broken and deformed beyond recognition, and the wildlings poured out from the other end, scrambling to get back to camp.Satin raised his crossbow and shot a few arrows to speed up the opponent's escape.Grenn grinned happily through his beard, and Pyp told a new joke.Today is considered over. Tomorrow... Jon glanced toward the shed.Where the twelve buckets of gravel had been placed, there were now only eight buckets left.He realized how tired he was, how painful the wound was.I need to sleep, even for a few hours.I must go to Maester Aemon's for some sleeping wine, I must. "I'm going to the King's Tower to rest," he told them. "Remember to wake me up if there's anything new about Romance. Piper, the Wall is yours now." "Mine?" Pyp said. "His?" Grant said. He smiled, dropped the two partners who were looking at each other, and left in the iron cage. A glass of sleeping wine does help.As soon as he stretched himself up on his narrow bed, he fell asleep at once.Dreams, strange and formless, full of eerie voices, calls and shouts, and low, loud horns, that monotonous bass that lingers in the air. When he woke up, outside the arrow hole that was the window, it was pitch black, and four unknown people stood in front of him.One of the lanterns. "Jon Snow," said the tallest man curtly, "put on your boots and come with us." Dazed, his first thought was that the Wall had fallen while asleep, and that Mance Rayder had sent more giants or another Turtle-Shield to break through the gates.But rubbing his eyes, he saw that the strangers were all dressed in black. They were the Night's Watch, Jon realized. "Where are you going? Who are you?" The tall man gestured, and the other two lifted Jon from the bed.The lantern bearer led the way, and they took him out of the bedroom, turned up half a flight of stairs, and came to Old Xiong's study.He saw Maester Aemon standing by the fire with his hands folded on a plum stick, Sister Celeda half-drunk as usual, and Ser Wynton Stout in the window seat. Fell asleep.He didn't know the rest of the men in black.Except for one. Ser Alliser Thorne, looking impeccable in his fur-trimmed cloak and shiny boots, turned and reported, "Brought by the Chameleon, my lord. He is Eddard Stark's bastard son, from the Winterfell." "I'm not a chameleon, Thorne," Jon said coldly. "We'll find out." Behind the Old Bear's desk sat a fat, broad, double-jawed man in a leather chair whom Jon didn't recognize. "Yes, we'll know," he repeated. "You don't deny that you're Jon Snow, do you? The Stark bastard?" "Jon 'Lord,' he likes to call himself." Ser Alliser was tall and thin, but strong and strong, and now there was a gleam of pleasure in his hard eyes. "You called me Lord Snow," said Jon.Ser Alliser liked to call the boys he trained when he was master at Castle Black.Later, the veteran Xiong Thorne was sent to East Watch by the sea.These must be people from Eastwatch.The birds got to Carter Pike and he sent someone to help us. "How many brothers did you bring?" he asked the man behind the desk. "Let me ask the question," replied the double-jawed man, "you are accused of breaking your oath, cowardice, and fleeing camp, Jon Snow. Do you admit that you abandoned your brethren who died on the Fist of the First Men to the self-proclaimed In the service of Mance Rayder, the wildling of the King Beyond the Wall?" "Abandoned...?" Jon nearly choked on the word. Senior Aemon spoke, "My lord, when Jon Snow first came back, I discussed these topics with Donal Noye, and I was very satisfied with his explanation." "Well, but I'm not satisfied, sir," declared the man with the double chin, "I'm going to hear these explanations for myself. Yes, I'm going to hear them for myself!" Jon swallowed his anger. "I didn't abandon anyone. I left the Fist of the First Men with Colin Halfhand and went to the Windsound Gap to scout. Later, I followed the instructions and joined the wildlings, because Halfhand was worried that Mance had found the Horn of Winter..." "The Horn of Winter?" Ser Alliser snickered. "Have you counted how many strange spirits he has under his command, Lord Snow?" "No, but I tried to count how many giants they had." "Ser," snapped the double-jawed man, "you shall address Ser Alliser 'sir' and me 'sir'. I am Jonos Slynt, ex-Earl of Harrenhal, now of Castle Black Sir, till Bowen Marsh returns with his guard. You'll have to be polite to us, yes. I can't bear a good anointed knight like Ser Alliser to be taunted by a bastard and a chameleon." He raised his hand and pointed a fat finger at Jon's face. "You deny sleeping with a wild woman?" "No," said Jon, whose memory of Ygritte's mourning was too fresh for him to deny, "I don't deny it, my lord." "I guess Halfhand ordered you to have sex with that unwashed whore?" Ser Alliser asked with a fake smile. "Ser, she's no whore, ser. The Halfhand said that whatever I was asked to do, I was not to disobey, and to do it, but...but I don't deny that I did more than was necessary, and I... cared for her. " "So you admit to being an oath-breaker," said Janos Slynt. Jon knew that half the people in Castle Black went to the brothel in Mole's Village to "digg for treasure" from time to time, but he didn't want to insult Ygritte by equating her with the whores in Mole's Village. "Yes, I admit that I violated my oath not to be a womanizer. "Yes, my lord!" Slynt's jaw quivered as he roared.He was as broad as the Old Bear, and no doubt bald if he lived to Mormont's age.Now less than forty years old, half of the hair is gone. "Yes, my lord," said Jon, "I marched with the wildlings, dined with the wildlings, and slept with Ygritte at the behest of Halfhand. But I swear to you, I never betrayed— —fleeing from the Magnar whenever I could; nor did I take up arms against my brethren or against the kingdom I guarded." Lord Slynt studied him with small eyes. "Ser Glendon," he ordered, "take another prisoner." Ser Glendon was the tall man who had led Jon out of bed.At this moment, he took four people out again, and quickly brought back a thin and small prisoner.This person has a pale face, dejected head, shackles on his hands and feet, a thin eyebrow across his forehead, a few tufts of thin black hair on the top of his bald head, and a mustache like a stain on his lips.His cheeks were swollen and covered with bruises, and most of his front teeth were knocked out. Eastwatch's men roughly pushed the captive to the ground.Lord Slynt lowered his head and frowned, "Is this the person you mentioned?" The captive blinked his yellow eyes. "Yes." Only then did Jon recognize Rattleshirt.He looks like a different man without that armor, he thought. "Yes," the wildling repeated, "he's the coward who killed Halfhand. In Frostfang we tracked down the crows and killed them all, and when it came his turn he begged for his life and offered to take him if we would take him. Join immediately. Halfhand swore he would kill the coward, but the wolf pounced on Qhorin, and the fellow slit his throat." He smiled at Jon, showing his jagged teeth, and spat at the latter's boots bloody. "What?" Jonos Slynt asked Jon sternly. "Do you deny it? Or do you claim that Colin ordered you to kill himself?" "He told me..." It became difficult to speak, "He told me that no matter what I was asked to do, I was not allowed to disobey, and I did everything." Slynt looked around the hall, looking at the other Eastwatch brethren. "This kid thinks I fell off the turnip wagon and smashed my head?" "Lies will not save you this time, Lord Snow," Ser Alliser Thorne warned. "We will make you tell the truth, Bastard." "I'm telling the truth. Our horses are dying, and Rattleshirts are hot on our heels. Colin told me to pretend to join the wildlings. 'Whatever you're told, don't disobey'—that's what he said. He knows they'll let me kill him; he knows he won't escape Rattleshirt no matter what." "You claim that the great Qhorin Halfhand is afraid of this guy?" Slynt snorted, looking at Rattleshirt. "Everybody's afraid of the 'Lord of Bones,'" the wildling muttered.Ser Glendon kicked him, and he fell back into silence. "I didn't say that," Jon argued. Slynt slammed his fist on the table. "I see! Ser Alliser seems to have a pretty good opinion of you. You bastard is full of lies. Oh, I can't stand it, I can't stand it! You may be able to fool the crippled blacksmith, but not Jay. Noth Slynt! Oh, you can't be fooled. Jonos Slynt is not easily fooled. Do you think I have cabbage in my head?" "I don't know what you have in your head, my lord." "Lord Snow, you see, has always been haughty," Ser Alliser explained. "He murdered Colin just as his associates murdered Lord Mormont. I should not be surprised if these were part of the same conspiracy. Tucker may well have been involved, and he may be sitting in Mance Rayder's tent at this moment debating. You know the Starks, my lord." "Yes," said Janos Slynt, "I know them all too well." Jon angrily takes off his gloves and shows them his burned hands. "I burned my hand protecting Lord Mormont from the wights. My uncle is a man of integrity, and he would never break his oath." "Just like you?" Ser Alliser sneered. Septon Celeda cleared her throat. "My lord Slynt," he said, "this boy refuses to swear properly in the sept, and instead goes outside the Wall and says it to a heart tree. He says it's his father's spirit, but we all know, That is also the spirit of the wildlings." "They are the gods of the north, monk." Maester Aemon said courteously, but firmly. "My lords, it was this young man, Jon Snow, who took over the defense of the Wall after Donal Noye was slain, against the wrath of the North Wilderness. He proved himself brave, loyal, and cunning. If it weren't for him, I'm afraid Mance Rayder would have greeted you when you arrived. Lord Slynt, you have completely misunderstood him. Jon Snow was Lord Lord Mormont's own squire and steward , he was chosen because the Commander-in-Chief thought he was promising, and I thought so too." "Hope?" said Slynt. "Hope may be lost. He has Qhorin Halfhand's blood on his hands. So what, you say Mormont trusted him? Do you know what it's like to be betrayed by someone you trust? Oh , yes, I know. And I know the temperament of wolves." He pointed to Jon's face. "Your father was executed for rebellion." "My father was murdered." Jon didn't care what they did to him, but couldn't stand the lies about his father. Slynt's face turned purple. "Murder? You insolent little wolf cub. Lord Eddard laid hands on King Robert's son while his bones were still alive." He stood up, shorter than Mormont but wider in chest and thicker in arms and with a stomach fuller. It was about the same size, and a small red-glazed golden gun with a pointed tip was used to buckle the cloak on the shoulder. "Your father died by the sword, but he was a nobleman, and the Hand of the King. A noose will do for you! Ser Alliser, put the traitor in the ice cell!" "My lord is wise." Ser Alliser took Jon's arm. Jon struggled to break free, choking the knight's neck furiously until he lifted him off the ground.If it weren't for the people from Donghaiwatch to step forward and pull him away, he might have strangled him to death.Thorne stumbled back, rubbing the fingerprints left by Jon on his neck, "You can see clearly, brothers, this kid is a veritable wildling."