Castle Black
POV of Domeric Bolton
"Lord Commander Jeor Mormont." He said with a stoic voice.
"Lord Bolton." The leader of the Night's Watch replied in an equally stoic manner. "I see that you've prepared well for your expedition north of the Wall."
"That I have. And I also brought gifts for you."
"Gifts?" Jeor Mormont asked.
"Yes." He said and gave an order to the men as they started bringing forth carts upon carts filled with food, weapons, furs, and gold.
"200 swords made of Frost Steel. A new type of steel that is sharper and more durable than Castle Forged Steel." He said as he removed the cloth from the first cart and showed the swords to the old man whose eyes gleamed with surprise as he picked up one of the swords and swung it around a few times.
"It's a good sword." Jeor Mormont admitted after a moment.
"A very good sword. Ser Alliser. Have the recruits take these swords to the Armory." Jeor Mormont commanded and a disgruntled-looking middle-aged man started ordering some young recruits to do as was ordered by the Lord Commander.
"Next is furs and blankets for the men of the Night's Watch." He said as more carts came forward that were filled with 500 fur coats and 100 blankets.
"That is... too much. Thank you for the contribution, my lord." Jeor Mormont said as he looked at all the black fur coats and the blankets in shock.
"We're not finished yet." He said as the men led 70 more carts inside the gates of Castle Black.
"I heard that you have a thousand men in all the Wall. These carts have enough grain to last you for 2 whole years. After which my house will continue to send you the food that you require each year."
"You'll do that for us. Why?" Jeor Mormont asked with shock as he had no idea about the bumper harvest in the Bolton lands.
"Because I can." He replied simply. And it was the truth. With the large amount of food that the Bolton lands were generating, he now had enough food at his disposal. Sparing enough food for the Night's Watch was like chump change for him.
"And last but not the least."
He gave a motion, and Raksa came forward with a giant chest on her shoulder before she carefully put it down on the ground in front of him.
He could already hear the men from the Night's Watch murmuring about Raksa's height and he tuned them out easily.
After all, with her height, Raksa would pull the attention of people anywhere she went. There was no denying that fact, so it was better for them to get used to such unwanted attention.
"Ahem." He coughed and Lord Commander Jeor Mormont who was also looking at Raksa in shock, which was making her uncomfortable, looked back at him and then rubbed his eyes before going back to his stoic expression.
"Last but not the least." He said and opened the chest to show gleaming gold to the old man whose jaw opened once again at the sight of so much gold.
"10,000 gold dragons for any and all supplies that I was not able to bring to you."
By now he realized that the entire Castle Black had gone silent and everyone was looking at him with shock, admiration, and awe.
After all, he doubted that they had ever received such large donations from anyone in living memory.
"That... is..." Jeor Mormont rubbed his eyes which had become a little wet from happiness.
"Thank you, my lord. Thank you very much." The old man took his hands and bowed in front of him. "The Night's Watch thanks you for your contribution."
And that was how he introduced himself to the men of the Night's Watch.
From there on, persuading them to open the gates so that his 1,000 men could pass through and go on their expedition was a simple task.
He might not have needed to donate so much gold to these men to get them to open the gates but if he found what he wanted in the North, then he would definitely need their goodwill, or they would not allow him to enter back in through the Wall.
Imagine that he was coming to the wall from the True North with giants, children of the forest, wargs, and beasts like direwolves. Would any stranger open their doors and invite him into their castle? No sane man would do that.
So, he had to build a strong relationship with Lord Commander and the men of Night's Wach. He knew he couldn't build that kind of relationship on trust, so he chose to build on interest.
Bolton House was now the biggest sponsor of the Wall. And he knew that people wouldn't upset their sponsor if they didn't have to. Some of them might change their loyalty from their lord or their people to their sponsor for interests.
Like Minister Fuge from his past life. There were very few things that man wouldn't do as long as Lucius Malfoy told him to do.
They nearly lost the war even before it began because Minister Fudge didn't want to accept the reality. The man declared everyone who said that 'Voldemort is back', his personal enemy.
That fucker!
Anyway. It was not the time to reminisce about the past. They had a mission and to complete it they had to go to the True North.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.38: Warg (This Chapter will be published as a Bonus Chapter in a moment.)
Ch.39: Expedition Continues
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