"Madness!"
Alliser Thorne was the first to break the dead silence.
He stepped out from the crowd, his face twisted with undisguised mockery and hostility.
"Lynn, just who do you think you are? The Lord Commander?" Thorne sneered. "Burn the bodies of our sworn brothers? That is the most absurd, vile suggestion I have ever heard!"
Thorne's words immediately struck a chord with the surrounding men of the Night's Watch.
"He's right! Othor and Jafer were our brothers!"
"We can't treat our own kin with the savage customs of wildlings!"
"He's lost his mind! The slaughter beyond the Wall has driven him mad!"
Questions and curses rose and fell like a tide.
Those brothers who had just begun to view Lynn with a measure of awe were now filled with hostility again, provoked by what they saw as treasonous speech.
Lynn ignored the noise.
His gaze remained locked on Lord Commander Mormont. He knew that in this place, only the word of the "Old Bear" truly mattered.
"Lynn, give me a reason."
Lord Commander Mormont's voice was low and commanding. He didn't reject Lynn outright like the others; he chose to give him a chance to explain.
This allowed Lynn to breathe a slight sigh of relief.
"My Lord."
Lynn's gaze swept over the two corpses.
"Do you remember what I told you before?"
"Beyond the Wall, the Others are waking."
"Their eyes burn like blue sapphires."
"And they have the power to make the dead stand again."
Lynn's words caused the clamor in the courtyard to die down once more. Everyone stood frozen.
Make the dead stand again?
This sounded even more preposterous than burning a brother's corpse.
"What sort of ghost stories are you spouting?" Thorne scoffed. "Do you think you are telling bedtime tales to a toddler?"
"I am not lying."
Lynn met Thorne's gaze, then turned back to Mormont.
"My Lord, I found the same thing in the wildling village."
"The eyes of those things... they looked exactly like the eyes of Othor and Jafer do now!"
Lord Commander Mormont's pupils constricted sharply.
He remembered the report the scouts had given him after Lynn led the men to clear the wildling settlement. Pale corpses, ice-blue eyes. At the time, he had dismissed it as some rare phenomenon or trick of the light.
But now, the same situation had appeared before him.
A coincidence?
Once is a coincidence.
Twice... is it still just chance?
"Ghost!"
Jon Snow's startled cry drew everyone's attention.
His direwolf, Ghost, had suddenly broken free from his grip and lunged toward the two sleds.
The wolf didn't attack. instead, he stared intently at the two corpses, a continuous, threatening growl rumbling deep in his throat. His white fur stood on end, stiff as needles.
It was the kind of extreme caution a beast shows only when facing a natural predator.
Arya's direwolf, Nymeria, reacted the same way. She stood firmly in front of Arya, baring her teeth at the corpses and emitting a low, warning growl.
The instincts of animals are far sharper than those of men. They could sense the foul aura radiating from the dead flesh.
The atmosphere in the courtyard turned eerie. Everyone looked at the two agitated direwolves, a shadow of unease falling over their hearts.
"Lord Commander," Maester Aemon's ancient voice drifted through the cold air.
Though he could not see, he could clearly feel the shift in the atmosphere.
"Perhaps... we should be cautious."
"At the very least, we should bind them with chains."
Lord Commander Mormont's brow furrowed deep.
He looked at Lynn, then at the direwolves, and finally, his gaze rested on the cold, stiff bodies.
Reason told him that Lynn's words were utter nonsense. But his gut—the intuition of an old soldier—was screaming a warning.
After a long silence, the Old Bear finally made his decision.
"Bring them inside."
There was a trace of exhaustion in his voice that he couldn't quite hide.
Lynn's heart sank.
"However," Mormont added, shifting his tone. "Do not keep them together."
He pointed to one of the bodies.
"Take Othor to my solar. I will watch over him personally."
He pointed to the other.
"Take Jafer to Maester Aemon. Maester, examine him carefully. See if there are any abnormalities."
"Furthermore," Mormont's gaze swept across the courtyard, finally landing on Thorne's face. "Tonight, no man is to be without his steel. Double the watch."
It was a compromise.
He hadn't fully accepted Lynn's frantic suggestion, but he had ordered the maximum level of precaution.
Thorne looked disapproving, but he dared not disobey a direct order from the Lord Commander.
"As you command, Lord Commander."
Two brothers stepped forward and dragged the sleds toward the castle structures. As the corpses were hauled across the courtyard, a cold wind seemed to rise from nowhere, whipping everyone's cloaks around them.
Lynn watched the bodies disappear behind the doors, his hand tightening unconsciously around the hilt of his sword.
He knew the Old Bear had made the best choice he felt he could, given his position. He had to consider the morale and beliefs of his men.
But it wasn't enough.
Tonight, Castle Black was destined to be sleepless.
Lynn walked over to Jon and Arya.
"Stay with your wolves," Lynn said, his voice low and urgent. "Tonight, they might just save your lives."
Jon looked at Lynn in confusion, but he nodded nonetheless. Arya wrapped her arms tightly around Nymeria's neck.
Lynn didn't say anything more.
He turned and walked briskly toward the barracks housing his one hundred Northmen guards.
If the Lord Commander wouldn't believe him fully, he would have to rely on himself.
He had to be ready for anything.