章節 20: Black Axe Tribe (2)
Blake led the Night's Watch from the south entrance to one of the stables, it was the most recently built, and only had four goats inside.
"Sorry, Lords, although we have stables where you can leave your horses, they are not made for horses but for goats, so the horses might be a bit uncomfortable inside."
Blake moved the goats to another stable and took the reins from the Night's Watch horses after they alighted, who looked at him with some distrust in their eyes.
The stable in question was about ten meters long and wide, with about two and a half meters high. The outside walls had manure, branches, and leaves to keep the cold from seeping in too much. The floor was wooden planks with a layer of dirt that they changed every few days to keep the place clean.
"You'd also be better off leaving one of your men to take care of the horses, although there are some tribal brothers in charge of the goats and the Aurochs, they've never tended a horse."
"Stonesnake!"
Lord Jeor Mormont shouted to one of the scouts and he stepped forward.
"Take care of the horses."
After that Jeor looked around, looked at the log cabins without differentiating whether they were other stables, dwellings, or warehouses, and spoke towards Stonesnake again.
"You'll have to sleep in the stable for today."
"No need sir."
Blake pointed to a cabin a few yards away and said.
"You can sleep in that cabin, it's where the..."
Blake thought for a moment how to refer to his tribal brothers who were in charge of looking after the cattle.
"Yes, the grooms, when it storms and they need to watch the stables closely."
Usually, there were no names to refer to workers on specific tasks. Sometimes tasks were performed by whoever was available, and constant rotations were normal as Blake wanted tribal members to learn as much as they could.
"They are very well prepared in your tribe, boy, how have they managed to put all this together?"
Blake noticed how Lord Jeor Mormont narrowed his eyes as he asked the question. There were two warriors from the tribe accompanying him, so Jeor spoke with a relative tone of respect.
"It is necessary to be well prepared if you wish to prosper north of the wall, Lord."
Blake then pointed to the stables and chicken coops.
"I have noticed your distrust since you entered the tribe, we are not going to eat you alive, if you want to see how we survive then I will show you, I have some time before it gets dark and I have to prepare dinner for the tribe."
Blake showed the Night's Watch, with Lord Jeor Mormont at the head, all the stables, and chicken coops.
"We have forty-two goats, ten Aurochs, and about sixty hens. Half of them were all brought from Shadow Tower, the other half we raised ourselves, along with the goats we caught in the Frostfangs."
Qhorin looked at all the livestock, and Blake noticed how his serious face showed a hint of surprise.
"Lord Denys and I thought Oswin was using the Aurochs to eat meat."
"Not at all, we raise them for their milk, and from their milk, we make cheese and butter. For now, we need them to feed the clan, but when we have a surplus we'll sell them at Shadow Tower."
Blake signaled to Wren, who had been following him all this time along with Cam, and he quickly went to the storehouse and brought a bowl with a large chunk of cheese and butter.
"Try it, Lords, I'm sure you'll like it."
Blake took the bowl and pulled out a knife he had hidden under his shirt, cutting the cheese into chunks, spreading it with butter, and offering it to the Night's Watch.
The Night's Watch stepped forward took the cheese and tasted it, except Lord Jeor Mormont, who held it in his hand for a few moments unsure if he should eat it.
"It is good cheese, it is better than several I tasted at King's Landing."
The one who spoke was Ser Jaremy Rykker, who was hungry after chasing the wildlings for so long in the middle of the Haunted forest. Since he had only recently become part of the Night's Watch, he was not used to being cold and hungry at the same time, and he did not expect to taste such a delicacy in such a desolate place.
"In Shadow Tower, there is only old and sour cheese, you have to tell Oswin to bring us some when he goes again."
Blake watched as one of the scouts next to Qhorin nodded happily after tasting it.
"Go ahead, Lord, you won't regret it."
Blake finally urged Lord Jeor Mormont, who after watching all his men eating the cheese, gave in and took a bite.
"We've managed to make it firm in consistency on the outer layers, and soft in the center, is it to your liking?"
Blake watched as the old bear's eyebrows went slack after eating all the cheese, satisfied.
"We have never done business with Castle Black, my father said it would be dangerous, but if it is to your taste I can convince my father to visit them and bring some quality goods like this."
Blake spoke like quite the trader, Castle Black was where all the high commanders of the wall stayed, and they, because of their status, could not trade freely with the wildlings, if he managed to convince Lord Mormont, it would go a long way in gaining the trust of some whales.
Lord Jeor Mormont furrowed his brows again at the mention of Castle Black, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and asked again.
"That's all very well, lad, but don't think I'll believe that everyone here lives on milk and cheese alone."
"Sure, this is only part of it, come on over."
Blake walked towards the warehouse area, where all the Night's Watch received looks of hatred, fear, and reproach from some of the tribesmen, causing them to put their hands on their swords
"Don't worry, they won't attack you, I have already given the order, you must understand why they are reacting, some have joined the tribe after losing their settlements."
Blake kept walking without stopping as he calmed the Night's Watch.
"And will they just listen to you? I understand the savages only listen to the strongest."
Blake recognized the voice as that watcher who would not leave Qhorin's side and replied without turning his head.
"The strongest in the tribe is my father Oswin, and if he is gone, I am in charge."
The Night's Watch looked at each other somewhat doubtfully, but Lord Jeor Mormont and Qhorin saw that the wildlings despite giving them hate-filled looks in some cases, did not approach, just as Blake said, so they nodded to their men and stopped touching the hilts of their swords.
Blake arrived at the old warehouse he was about to replace and opened the door revealing a large quantity of fish and meat.
"We have warriors hunting every day in the Haunted Forest and fishing along the banks of the entire Milkwater River."
Blake closed the door and looked at the Night's Watch again.
"We've also been trying to grow some fruits and vegetables."
Blake again led the way to the place where he had tried to build a greenhouse.
"But it's been impossible for us to have a good crop. The cold kills everything we plant, onions, carrots, cabbage, leeks, and even garlic and turnips. And when we get long snowfalls, everything dies."
Blake showed a couple of greenhouses, they had wooden bars and were covered on the west side. Inside, a few sprouts could be seen.
"We've managed to grow carrots, onions, garlic, and turnips, but it takes a lot of work, so the amount is minimal. Although we got compost from the goats that we mixed with ground charcoal along with the more fertile soil from the Haunted forest, and we've mulched with tree bark to cover the ground, the cold is relentless, and we have to wrap the whole greenhouse with tree bark and branches every night or all the plants will die."
Blake placed a hand on the wooden grates and his voice fluctuated for the first time as he said the last part.
Lord Jeor Mormont pursed his lips for a few seconds and finally spoke.
"You have done well surviving in this cold place boy, you make me feel pathetic, as I, when I was Lord of the Bear Isles, despite having far more resources and better weather, failed to have good crops."
"When we saw their settlement we thought they were eating human flesh, but seeing what they do, now I feel shame as well as Lord Mormont."
Qhorin said after Lord Jeor Mormont, stepping forward a pace.
"Well, this should have cleared all your doubts, there is one last place I want to show you, let's go."
Blake walked this time towards his workshop, it was where he taught the tribesmen how to handle skins and wood.
"This is it."
It was the largest hut in the tribe, about fifteen meters square and three meters high, it was in the center of the village.
"This is my workshop. I understand from my father that Lord Qhorin was very curious about how I made my crafts."
"Qhorin is not a lord, boy, he is a simple commoner."
Who spoke was Ser Jaremy Rykker, who had been correcting Blake throughout the ride. Blake didn't respond, Qhorin was Shadow Tower's second in command and he didn't quite know how to refer to him.
Blake entered the workshop and lit three fires that illuminated the entire room, opening the windows as well.
The workshop was divided into three parts, in one there were carpentry tools, in another was the spinning machine where they wove the wool from the goats, and finally the tanning and tailoring area.
The Night's Watch entered and examined the entire workshop, especially Blake's finished and best-quality products, which were used as references and were on the walls.
One of the scouts took a bow from a shelf and examined it with fascination. It was the best bow Blake had ever made, carved in the shapes of branches growing from the hilt, the notches where the string goes being beautiful leaves.
Qhorin instead saw a white cloak made of wolf fur, so white it seemed to glow.
Ser Jeremy Rykker instead examined some goat wool scarves, there were thirty of them, and they would be sent to the Shadow Tower on Oswin's next journey.
Blake, as he looked at them, walked over to Lord Jeor Mormont, who was looking at the carved toys, especially a six-inch bear. Blake had carved its fur in such detail that it looked real.
"Do you like it, Lord?"
Lord Jeor Mormont nodded as he ran a finger through the sculpture's fur.
"It is excellent work, it must have taken a long time to make."
Blake nodded and looked at the toy as well.
"I understand Lord Mormont has several nieces, and a new one was born recently."
Lord Jeor Mormont turned to look at him with sharp eyes.
"And how do you know that?"
Blake picked up a leather pouch that was propped up on the wall. It had the clan symbol, an axe, painted on it and was closed with a drawstring. Then he took four of the toys, a bear, a wolf, a giant, and lastly, a night guard that Blake took out of a chest.
"These I have to keep aside, they are hard to make and my sister always takes them to play with her friends, and as you will understand, several times they have ended up broken."
Blake put the toys inside the bag and placed them in Lord Mormont's hands.
"News of your granddaughters is nothing important, and my father in addition to resources sometimes brings news about the other side of the wall. I also know that there is a new king, that the Stark family, guardians of the North, died almost entirely, and that the new Lord is named Eddard Stark."
Lord Mormont's eyebrows relaxed again as he listened to him.
"Even if they are a tribe of traders, we brought nothing of value to trade."
Blake smiled at Lord Mormont and replied.
"Never mind, your men can also take a scarf each, at the top of the wall it is very cold after all, and I think you should know that by now but, although Lord Denys has helped us a lot in the last few years, he only pays us 1/4th value of what we offer him, or maybe even less, so these things are not that valuable to us at the end of the day."
Qhorin who was listening to the conversation from the side discreetly, his face filled with embarrassment, that was not his day.
"We are not interested in attacking the Night's Watch since we started annexing the surrounding tribes, the savages in the west have stopped climbing the wall to loot villages or ambush Night's Watch."
Blake spoke and turned his gaze to Qhorin who nodded silently.
"We just want to trade at a slightly fairer price, you should notice by now that it's not at all easy to survive in this place."
"The Night's Watch has protected the Seven Kingdoms for 8000 years, our duty is to prevent all the wildlings on the other side of the wall from presenting a threat to Westeros, not trade with them."
Lord Jeor Mormont looked directly at Blake as he said these words and all the other Night's Watch gathered around him looking firmly at his statement.
Blake felt a pang of pessimism in his chest, as his efforts to convince the old bear were proving futile. Sighing internally, Blake replied.
"No one creates a 300-mile wall, and for those 8,000 years, you are desperately engaged in increasing its height to 700 feet by a handful of men, Lord Mormont. The southerners seem to have forgotten, but the real threat that I urge the creation of the wall is approaching."
A breeze is so cold that it extinguished the 3 torches that lit the workshop and blew in through the windows, sending shivers down the spine of all the Night's Watch present, along with the dark omen that came out of Blake's mouth.
"Just think about it, Lord Mormont."
Blake said as he turned to leave.
"It's late and I need to organize the tribe's dinner, you know where the hut is where you will sleep, I'll send someone with dinner when it's ready."
All the Night's Watch watched Blake's back as he walked out, although small, his back seemed to carry a bigger load than theirs.
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