After some discussion, Daenerys accepted Aegor's overall proposal. She drafted a concise order, remotely mobilized and redeployed the army far in the South, and summoned her closest attendants and guards to travel by sea to the Wall to rendezvous with her.
Leaving the draft for Aegor to copy, the Queen, worried about her child, adjourned the meeting and went out to check on the progress of the transport team dragging Drogon into the castle.
Because of impressions shaped by film, television, and certain theme parks, most modern people think of castles as places like Winterfell or the Red Keep, large stone fortresses with strong walls, high towers, and extensive defensive structures. But the noble castles of Westeros in this era were rarely that magnificent, especially in the North.
Except for the Starks, who, as the former Kings in the North and now Wardens of the North, had to maintain a grand castle for prestige, many middle and lower-tier lords held territories that were vast but cold, barren, and sparsely populated. Their castles often consisted of a large courtyard or a small enclosed village for attendants and servants, with only a slightly taller and sturdier keep in the center or on the highest ground for the lord to reside in. Last Hearth, located in the far North, was a typical example. Its remote position at the northernmost tip of the Seven Kingdoms, combined with its lack of resources and harsh climate, meant it was almost never attacked by other lords. The occasional Wildlings who made it this far south were exhausted and starving from crossing Night's Watch territory, and rarely in any condition to trouble the Umbers. With so few enemies, the Umbers had no reason to build a massive or luxurious fortress that was difficult to maintain. It was cost-effective. At least its walls were not entirely wooden but used some stone, making it more castle-like than Deepwood Motte. It covered less than half the area of Winterfell and had a so-called godswood more like a large flowerbed, with even traces of vegetables once grown beneath the weirwood.
Since it had never been a fortress cast in steel and iron, and having suffered damage during the wight attack, it displayed remarkable flexibility under the combined efforts of hundreds of the Gift's People. They spared no tools, effort, or destruction, quickly removing the obstructive door frame, doors, and the beam above the west gate, creating a massive opening in the wall.
There was now an entry point, but dragging the dragon transport sled inside proved difficult. The combined sled was simply multiple sleds lashed together, not a solid, unified structure, and it could not pass smoothly over the drawbridge across the frozen moat. A group of Night's Watch brothers and Gift's People discussed solutions but failed to find one. Finally, the impatient Queen could wait no longer and took matters into her own hands. Daenerys walked to the sled, soothed Drogon, then urged him to stand up and leave it. He stumbled the last two hundred meters on his own, crawled through the hollow west gate, and settled into the raised area the Soldiers had prepared inside the newly built lair.
Once the dragon was in place, the final stage of construction could begin. Due to limited conditions and time, they could not design and build a true Dragonpit for Drogon. After much consideration, they chose the simplest approach. Start construction once the dragon was in place, build a semi-enclosed tent above him to shield him from wind and snow, minimize work and resource use, and let it last as long as possible. Once the Black Dragon's wounds healed enough, they would dismantle the structure or let him break out himself. The temporary lair would have served its purpose.
The sun gradually hid behind western clouds. The temperature dropped sharply. Torches and oil lamps were lit throughout the castle. People hurried back and forth with enthusiasm. Some drove wooden stakes, some tied ropes, and others clumsily sewed canvas.
Aegor tried to persuade Daenerys to return indoors and let the Soldiers work, but once the Queen realized Drogon would be confined to this large tent for at least the next ten or more days, she became very invested in the lair's construction. She walked back and forth with elegant yet commanding steps, unaware that her presence distracted the workers more than anything else. At times she ordered the tent roof raised higher so Drogon could lift his head and stretch. At other times she insisted the frame be sturdier so wind and snow would not collapse it and crush him. In every word and action, she was clearly the most demanding and exacting client in the world.
Seeing that her participation relieved her sadness and anxiety, Aegor stopped persuading her. Instead, he led his guards to follow from a distance, silently protecting her and letting her exercise the authority a monarch should have. Meanwhile, he reflected silently in his own mind.
---
The crisis caused by Rhaegal flying over the castle earlier seemed, on the surface, to be an accident caused by the Queen's impulsiveness, but the greater responsibility ultimately lay with Aegor himself.
Not long after the Battle of Long Lake ended, he clearly had not calmed down from the excitement and thrill of surviving twists and turns before achieving a near-perfect victory. But it was not that he had been swept away by success. His larger problem was that he felt he had suddenly become much less capable.
When dealing with enemies, he could plot their downfall ruthlessly and without hesitation. But when faced with those whose stance was ambiguous, sometimes friend, sometimes foe, he became naïve and unprepared.
The mind becomes sharper with use. The White Walkers had not injured his head or dullened his intelligence, so why did he feel as though he had become less perceptive?
As the saying goes, "Reflect three times a day." The intense pressure of the White Walker assault had left him no time to self-reflect. Now that he calmed down, he quickly realized the issue and found the root of the problem.
Although on a macro level he had included "being enemies with the North" in his calculations, he had not considered the practical details of how to deal with the North if conflict became unavoidable.
Before the decisive battle at Long Lake, he did not think of these matters because he had more immediate duties to complete. But even several days after the victory, he still had not considered them. Put nicely, he was being sentimental and subconsciously unwilling to turn against the North. Put bluntly, it was carelessness and underestimating the opponent.
Like thinking about how to write a better essay after finishing the literature exam when the math exam had already begun, his failure to shift from "Lord Commander of the Night's Watch" to "supporter of the Queen," from soldier to strategist, was the core reason. His long-standing trust in the Starks, his instinctive closeness and subconscious goodwill toward the North as former allies, were silently influencing his judgment. Continuing like this, even without the Karstark incident, he would eventually fall into another trap.
Fortunately, it was not too late to mend the fence after the sheep were lost. Now that he had found the problem, the solution was simple. Immediately construct a new plan, one in which he and the North became mortal enemies who could not coexist. From that premise, he could fill in the details and plan all subsequent actions.
His expression gradually turned solemn. His gaze lost focus as the Queen's graceful figure faded from his thoughts. As he adopted this new mindset and ran through mental simulations, Aegor quickly realized the situation was several orders of magnitude more complicated than the war against the wights.
(To be continued.)
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