When Maester Luwin heard Catelyn's plan, he immediately understood her intention.
"With all due respect, my lady, if you truly want Jon Snow to marry Ygritte, it is not impossible, and even canceling this trial by combat is possible, but you need one person's help," Maester Luwin said.
"Whose help?" Catelyn asked.
"Queen Cersei."
"What does that mean?" Catelyn asked.
"If the two of you step forward to resolve this trial, King Robert will tacitly agree out of respect for you, and Lord Eddard will tacitly agree out of respect for Cersei. Out of courtesy to their brothers' wives, they will be compelled to drop the matter."
"Lord Eddard, am I correct?"
Eddard Stark nodded. He might be able to get angry at Catelyn, but he couldn't get angry at Cersei, who was his brother's wife.
King Robert was the same; he would absolutely never get angry at Catelyn.
"It seems I need to meet with our Queen again," Catelyn thought to herself.
The next day, Catelyn invited Cersei to go to the sept with her for worship again.
Many people came this time, including Ygritte.
Many were curious as to how she had managed to get out of the dungeon.
However, because Ygritte was always with Arya and the others, they never had a chance to ask her. She was well protected by Arya, Sansa, and Myrcella.
After the hymn was sung, Catelyn Tully dismissed the others and stayed in the sept alone with Cersei.
"Your Majesty, Ygritte has become my foster daughter, but her danger has not yet been averted."
"Please, for the sake of the Mother, save her!"
Catelyn Tully's look of worry made Cersei secretly pleased.
"The Stark family is indeed experiencing discord because of the issue with Ygritte."
"My Lady Stark, what can I do to help ease your worries?" Cersei asked.
"We must stand together and, at the appropriate time, jointly announce to everyone the cancellation of Ygritte's trial, allowing her to live."
"And Ser Mufasa should also withdraw from the trial of seven. He is still young and should not take this risk."
Catelyn's words struck a chord with Cersei.
A trial by combat was too dangerous; sometimes the ones who died were famous knights or nobles. Even royalty from the Targaryen family had died in trials by combat.
"Mufasa, he is still young, and indeed should not participate in the trial by combat," Cersei said.
Thus, at another dinner in Winterfell, Catelyn and Cersei together proposed to Robert and Eddard Stark that the right for Ygritte and Mufasa to participate in the trial by combat be rescinded.
Eddard Stark had already been informed by Catelyn, so he remained silent, which counted as tacit approval.
Robert was just about to get angry at Cersei, but he saw Catelyn blocking Cersei's figure. He also found it difficult to say anything harsh to his brother's wife.
And so, a trial of seven became a trial of six.
The wildlings' injuries were healing day by day. However, the better their injuries got, the more anxious Ygritte became. She wanted to save her people, at least Mance Rayder.
So she came up with an idea: to secretly let them go at night when the jailers were not paying attention.
The straightforward wildlings were just that clear-minded and simple-headed.
Ygritte acted on a dark and windy night.
She first knocked out the jailer at the door, took the keys from his waist, and entered the dungeon.
The dungeon in Winterfell held not only the wildlings but also other prisoners, all of whom were slated to be sent to the Wall to join the Night's Watch.
However, Ygritte decided to give them a chance.
"If you want to live, you must follow my command, understand?" Ygritte said to the prisoners, twirling the key ring on her finger.
"You're just a wildling, only lucky enough to be adopted by Lady Stark. What is there to be so proud of?"
A rapist said. His gaze incessantly scanned Ygritte's delicate body.
"If you let me have some fun, I might not mind going beyond the Wall with you. How about it? Open the cell door, come in, and let's have some fun together!"
"Hahaha, little beauty, let big brother show you some love! Open the door quickly!"
The rapist was like a pervert, pressing against the cell door, reaching out his hands, and trying desperately to grab Ygritte. But his arms were not long enough to reach her.
Ygritte silently walked towards the rapist's cell door, picked out a key, opened the door, and stepped inside. Then, screams like a pig being slaughtered erupted from the rapist.
The people in the adjacent cells said fearfully.
"It seems that wildling woman is still a wildling at heart. We must never provoke her."
When Ygritte emerged again, her face held a look of ruthlessness.
She did not close that cell door; it remained open, but the person inside would never be able to come out again.
Although he wasn't dead, he was now completely crippled. The kind Maester Luwin couldn't cure.
Next, she opened the cell doors for her wildling companions.
"Let's go quickly, Ygritte," Aguda said.
Despite his young age, he was already the leader of a wildling tribe. Aguda was the young chieftain of the Tangut people.
"No, we must let them out too, to distract the Winterfell guards," Mance Rayder said with great experience.
He planned to let the other prisoners cause a disturbance in Winterfell so that the guards couldn't immediately go after them.
"Worthy of Mance!" Tormund said.
Mance Rayder took the keys from Ygritte and tossed them to one of the prisoners.
"You can't escape alone. Find a few more companions! A prisoner's companions are also prisoners."
After saying this, he immediately led the other wildlings out of the dungeon.
Ygritte had already familiarized herself with the layout of Winterfell during this time, and she led Mance and the others to the stables.
Mance and the others each selected a horse, mounted it, and rode away.
When they reached the city gate, Ygritte first spoke to the guards.
"This is bad, this is bad! The prisoners in the dungeon have escaped! Many of them are murderers and rapists, hurry up and catch them!"
"I even saw a rapist running towards the princess's room."
When the guards heard this, they panicked and immediately rushed off to apprehend the escaped prisoners from the dungeon.
After they had gone far, Ygritte called Mance Rayder and the others, and together they pushed open the city gate and fled into the distance.
When they felt they were safe, they stopped.
Mance Rayder looked at Ygritte.
"We owe you a lot for your help this time, but do you choose to stay in Winterfell? Or return beyond the Wall? If you wish to stay, we won't blame you!"
Ygritte was conflicted. Although she had her own people, the Free Folk, the Kissed by Fire tribe, beyond the Wall, her parents and siblings were all dead.
She essentially had no close blood relatives left.
Staying in Winterfell might offer temporary safety, but she had witnessed the terror of the Others and knew their power. Staying in Winterfell might just be an act of evasion.
Ygritte was a brave Free Folk warrior woman, a spearwife, not a sheltered lady specializing in needlework..
"I choose to return beyond the Wall and face the danger with my companions," Ygritte said.
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