From Westeros to Essos : The Crusader King

"Bloody hell, it's cold here." Robert turned his head towards one of his men who was shivering despite wearing furs to protect him from the cold.

"We are close to the wall what did you expect?"

"I don't know captain, but not this… May God protect those bastards from the cold."

Robert let out a sigh leaving the man alone on the deck as he walked back towards his cabin. They were close to Eastwatch-by-the-Sea where they left almost a hundred and forty men, from which almost fifty of them were the survivors from the battle against House Baelish while the rest of the bulk were men, both volunteers from the capital's poorest area or prisoners whom Robert had took from the coastal castles. Sad as it was, the wall was a better choice than death, especially after hearing that Konrad Arryn would take care of their families, promising not to let them die in the winter.

Even now, more than five moons after leaving Volantis, Robert couldn't believe what he agreed to do. It was bad enough with so many unruly men on a ship, but having wildings on board was even worse. Thankfully these four were men, otherwise, nothing in this world could have stopped the men from having their way with a wilding woman or girl.

Picking his sword and putting it in its sheath, Robert walked out of his cabin eager to be done with this mission and return to warmer parts of the world. The wall was a breathtaking sight, he had to admit, but as beautiful as the wall looked, he would never give away everything for a life beneath this wall of ice and stone.

As the ship approached the port, Robert could see the black cloaks of the Night's Watch on the walls and towers of Eastwatch-by-the-Sea. Rather than thinking he would be welcomed with open arms for bringing more recruits and more than enough supplies to last three hundred men half a year, Robert wondered how they would react to his arrival, and whether whoever is in charge was an arse or not. Everyone knew that the Night's Watch was in dire need of men, so the only thing he could do right now was to hope for the best.

He ordered his men to lower the sails and drop the anchor, and then he grabbed a horn and blew one long blast, signaling his peaceful intentions knowing very well that the sound would reach the ears of the commander of the castle, and that he would send someone to greet him.

Not expecting an immediate response, the captain of the ship, Robert ordered everyone to stand at the ready while they waited for a few minutes, scanning the horizon for any signs of movement. After fifteen or so minutes, Robert finally saw a few figures emerge from the gate, making their way towards their ship.

"Who are you and what is your business here?" one of the men of the Night watch shouted.

"I am Robert Oakshield, captain of the Stormbringer. I come from Volantis, by order of Lord Konrad Arryn, the son of Hand of the King. I bring you men for the Night's Watch, and four wildings seeking passage to their home."

The man frowned and narrowed his eyes when he heard Robert's words, clearly not liking what the captain had just said. "Men for the Night's Watch? And wildings? What kind of men are they? And why in the seven hells do you bring wildings here?"

Robert sighed and prepared to explain. He knew that this was not going to be easy, but if God's watching then hopefully the commander of Eastwatch-by-the-Sea would be more reasonable than this guard.

"It's a long story, my good man. Would it be possible for me and a small escort of two to come to your castle and talk with the commander?"

The brother of the night watch who he was talking to turned his head slightly to another man, a shorter one with a scared face earning himself a nod from the man before turning his head back towards Robert.

"Aye, that sounds good. Follow me."

Signaling to two of the best men he had on his crew, Robert quickly disembarked and followed the rangers back to their keep. In all honesty, Robert was surprised by the rather hostile reaction coming from those rangers, making the young captain wonder what in God's name was going on and why were they not welcomed here.

Once they entered inside, the temperature drastically changed making the captain let out a sigh of relief that he wasn't going to lose his balls from staying in the cold for longer than necessary. For a second, Robert didn't know if he would even talk with the castle commander seeing the rather clear hostile, but to his surprise, the same scarred man who nodded at the ranger walked forward until he stood just a few feet away from him.

The scarred man cleared his throat and spoke in a raspy voice. "I am Cotter Pyke, the commander of Eastwatch-by-the-Sea. And you are Robert Oakshield, the captain of the Stormbringer, who claims to bring men for the Night's Watch and wildings for the Wall. Is that correct?"

Robert nodded and bowed slightly. "Yes, Ser Cotter. It is an honor to meet you."

Cotter snorted before glaring at Robert. "Spare me your flattery, captain. You have not come here to praise me but to explain yourself. What the hell are you doing here, bringing an unexpected ship full of men and savages to my doorstep? And why did you not send a raven ahead to inform us of your arrival? Do you have any idea how dangerous this is for me and my men?"

Upon hearing Cotter's tone and his words, Robert was taken aback not expecting even in the slightly this kind of reaction from the commander, then again, he did indeed come out of nowhere. Besides for all the captain might even be an enemy considering the wilding onboard of his vessel.

However, he didn't come here unprepared for such a task. His lord had written a letter addressed to who was in charge of this castle informing them of the legitimacy of this gesture alongside a formal request asking the Lord Commander if he required more help with anything other than men since those were kind of hard to voluntarily send that far north.

Robert cleared his throat and spoke in a calm voice. "I understand your suspicion, Ser Cotter. This is a strange and unprecedented situation. But I assure you, I am here on a noble and lawful mission, sanctioned by the crown and the Hand of the King himself. I have a letter from my lord, Konrad Arryn, the son of Lord Jon Arryn, who is currently serving as the Hand of the King in King's Landing. He has entrusted me with the task of delivering these men and wildings to the Wall, as a gesture of goodwill and support for the Night's Watch. He also wishes to know if you have any other needs or requests that he can help you with, as he is aware that the Night Watch is no longer the honorable brotherhood that it was hundreds of years ago."

 Robert reached into his cloak and pulled out a sealed parchment, bearing the sigil of House Arryn and the royal stamp. He handed it to Cotter, hoping that the letter would convince him of his sincerity and honesty. "Here, Ser Cotter. Please read it for yourself. You will see that I speak the truth."

The captain had to admit that seeing the commander's expression change quite a few times as he read the letter made him smirk slightly before regaining his composure, after all, it would be ill-served to anger the man. Yet despite the short emotional journey the man had, Cotter quickly returned to his usual self, before glaring up at the captain.

"So, a lordling has the balls to do what most of the southern lords don't even dream about?" The commander added with a scoff. "Seven hells damn me. I might not like to admit it, but this… shipment of both men and supplies would help the Watch tremendously, especially now that the wildings had started some kind of probing operation, trying to find an easier way of going down south. But do tell me, captain, what's with the four wildings on board of your ship?"

"I don't know if the news has reached the wall, but House Baelish of the Vale is no more. Their Lord, Petyr Baelish, ex-master of coin had decided to make a living out of slavery." Robert stopped for a moment watching how Cotter's expression darkened when he heard about slavery. "Amongst those people that we brought here to serve at the wall, these four wildings were forced to be slaves, but once freed, they petitioned, believe or not, to my lord for a chance of getting back to their tribe beyond the wall. I have no desire to help them more than this, but if all possible, could you get them on the other side alive?"

Cotter frowned and shook his head. "Slavery? In the Vale? By the Seven, what has this world come to? And you expect me to believe that these wildings are grateful to you and your lord for freeing them? That they don't harbor any ill will towards us? Or that they won't try to stab us in the back or even join their kin in raiding our lands?" He looked at Robert with a skeptical gaze. "You must think me a fool, captain. Or a madman. Or mayhaps both."

Robert held his ground and met Cotter's eyes. "I do not think you a fool, Ser Cotter. Nor a madman. I think you are a brave and honorable man, who has sworn to protect the realm from the enemies that most people don't even believe exist. I think you are a man who knows the value of a gift, no matter how strange or unexpected it may be. And I think you a man who can judge for himself the truth of my words, and the sincerity of my lord's offer."

Cotter sighed and rubbed his temples. He knew that bloody captain was right, in a way. He knew that he could not afford to turn down such a generous and timely donation of men and supplies, especially when the Watch was so desperately in need of both. No matter how much he wanted to decline, the commander knew he had to take a risk, and hope that it would pay off in the end, after all, other than the North, none of the rest of the kingdoms cared even a little about the wall and the Night Watch. He knew that he had to trust Robert, and his lord, and even the wildings. But he also knew that it was not going to be easy. In the end, duty won over personal vendetta against the savages. He knew that he had to do his duty, as the commander of Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, and as a brother of the Night's Watch. "Very well, captain. I will accept your gift and your word. I will take these men and supplies in exchange for letting those wildings go back to their god-forsaken lands."

"That's all I ask of you ser. If this is acceptable, I will return to the ship and have my men start bringing the supplies and men to the keep so that they can be put to good use."

Cotter nodded, but before he could call for one of his brothers to gather a group of volunteers to escort the fresh recruits, everyone heard the overly familiar horn of the night watch. However, their faces quickly morphed into panic and horror when the horn had been used a second time. Gritting his teeth, Cotter turned towards Robert.

"Go to your ship and gather everyone who can fight. Those recruits would get to bloodied before they could take their vows. Now run, captain!"

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