“You seem to have taken a keen interest in this one.”
Thorson looked up to see Ragnar standing behind him.
He quickly got to his feet.
“Just curious, that’s all.”
Ragnar glanced toward the wildlings seated beneath his feet.
“Let the man catch his breath a little.”
He gestured to one of the Vikings nearby.
The man came over, grabbed the wildling by the collar, and escorted him back to where the rest of his people were being tied.
“Come.
Let us walk.”
Ragnar laid a hand on the boy’s shoulder and steered him away from the camp.
Thorson did not know what to say.
He simply followed as Ragnar led him away.
The two of them remained silent until they had gone a fair distance from the others.
“What else did he tell you?” Ragnar asked casually.
“Nothing much,” Thorson replied.
“I only wished to know about these lands south of the Wall.”
“And have you?”
Thorson nodded faintly.
“The man says this land is called Westeros.
That there are Seven Kingdoms, yet they are all ruled by one king.”
Ragnar frowned thoughtfully.
“Seven kingdoms…
and one king.”
He rubbed his beard.
“Then why call themselves seven kingdoms?
They are all under one ruler.”
Thorson nodded and smiled.
“I wondered the same.
I think they each had kings once, but now those kings answer to one greater king.”
Ragnar gave a slow nod.
“That makes more sense.”
He was quiet for a few steps before asking again.
“What else?”
Thorson paused for a moment.
“He does not seem to know much himself.
Most of what he knows comes from stories passed from one man to another.
He has never been south of the Wall.
He says he has lived his whole life beyond it.”
Ragnar eyed him but still kept walking.
“So it could all be tales.”
“It could.”
Thorson shrugged.
“But stories usually begin with some truth.”
Ragnar glanced sideways at him.
“You sound convinced.”
Thorson, however, shook his head.
“Not quite, but there is one man who would know.”
“Who?”
The boy hesitated as if trying to reconstruct it in his mind.
“The one he mentioned before.”
“Mance Rayder.”
Ragnar now stopped.
They were now a good distance from the camp, and other than themselves, there was only the endless ringing of forest beetles.
“Didn’t he say earlier that this Mance is king of the free folk?” Ragnar asked, his eyes now lighting with that hunger of curiosity.
“He did.”
“Then how would he know?
Aren’t these free folk wildlings as well, meaning they have all never lived beyond the Wall?”
“Not Mance…
The man says this Mance once lived in Westeros, but crossed over to unite the wildlings.”
“Intriguing.” Ragnar scratched thoughtfully at his beard.
“So there is one king beyond the Wall…
and one king ruling seven kingdoms on the other side of the Wall.”
He looked back toward the direction where they had left the prisoners.
“If you ask me, that king beyond the Wall has gathered himself a kingdom of beggars.”
Thorson said nothing.
Many of the wildlings’ stories sounded impossible.
Yet after speaking with the man at length, he had become convinced of one thing.
The man believed every word he had spoken.
Whether the stories were true or not was another matter entirely.
Ragnar broke the silence.
“Forget all that.”
He stopped walking.
“There is something I truly wanted to ask you.”
Only then did Thorson realize everything before had been small talk.
This had been Ragnar’s purpose all along.
“Back in Kattegat, you warned us.”
Ragnar’s eyes settled on him.
“You said we should not travel north.
You said we should go south instead, that there was nothing to the north except a great wall of ice.”
He held the boy’s gaze.
“How did you know?”
A chill passed through Thorson that had nothing to do with the cold.
He had wondered whether this moment would ever come.
If Ragnar was willing to believe him, then now was the time.
“I saw it.”
Ragnar did not speak.
For an instant it looked as though he might laugh.
Then he realized the boy was completely serious.
“You have been here before?”
“Not with my feet,” Thorson clarified.
Ragnar narrowed his eyes.
“Then how?”
Thorson hesitated.
“In dreams.”
He paused, searching for the right words.
“The gods have sent me dreams.”
Ragnar’s expression changed immediately.
Among the Vikings, dreams sent by the gods were not dismissed lightly.
“What did they show you?”
This time there was no disbelief in Ragnar’s voice.
Only genuine curiosity.
Thorson hesitated only a moment longer.
“They showed me that we were no longer in Kattegat…
That the land itself has changed.
We are in another world, Ragnar, a world called Westeros.”
Ragnar stood silent for a long while, and when he finally spoke, it was not what Thorson expected.
“It could be.”
Thorson’s eyes widened.
“So you believe me?”
Ragnar looked out toward the frozen wilderness.
“I have lived in Kattegat most of my life.”
“I have sailed farther than most men ever dream of sailing.”
He pointed toward the distant Wall.
“And yet after travelling less than seven days…
we stand before the greatest wall any man has ever laid eyes upon.”
He slowly shook his head.
“If such a thing had always existed…
someone would have known.
I would have known.”
He turned back toward the boy.
“Yes, I believe you.
The only explanation that makes sense is that somehow the land itself has changed.
The gods alone know how or why.”
After another thoughtful silence, he went on.
“Have you spoken of this to anyone else?”
Thorson shook his head.
“Only at the Thing, and no one believed me.”
Ragnar nodded.
“Good.”
“Keep it that way.
These men can endure cold.
They can endure hunger.
They can endure battle, but tell them the gods have carried them from their own world into another…”
He slowly shook his head.
“That is not a burden they are ready to carry.”
He looked once more toward the direction of the Wall.
“And perhaps they never need to.
If these southern lands are rich, their gold will still be the same they have always known.”
Thorson remained silent.
He understood what Ragnar truly meant.
He nodded.
“Good.”
Ragnar resumed walking.
“Now tell me something else…
You heard what that wildling said about the men in the Shadow Tower.”
“The crows,” Thorson corrected.
Ragnar smiled.
“Aye, the crows…
He spoke of a man called Halfhand.
What do you make of him?”
Thorson thought carefully before answering.
“I believe the man…
It would make little sense to build such a fortress and leave it unguarded.”
He paused.
“I have seen it, Ragnar…
In my dreams.”
Ragnar eyed him curiously, and the boy went on.
“The fortress we saw is not the only one.
There are others all along the Wall, and those men…”
“I think they are called crows because they dress in black…
Their purpose is to stop anyone from crossing from this side to the south.”
Ragnar nodded slowly.
“I wonder why.”
His eyes drifted toward the Wall once more.
There was something almost boyish in them.
As though he had already crossed it in his thoughts and was exploring whatever wonders lay beyond.
After a while he spoke again.
“These dreams, how often do they come?”
Thorson shook his head.
“I do not know.
They come when they wish.”
“And can you make them come?” Ragnar inquired.
“Can you learn to see more?”
Thorson looked at him.
“You want me to keep having them?”
Ragnar shrugged.
“Don’t you?…
I want every gift the gods are willing to give us.”
Thorson looked away.
He had imagined that proving his visions true would finally bring him peace.
Instead, they had only left him with more questions.
Why him?…
What did the gods want from him?
“I do not think I want them.”
He looked down at his hands.
“I would rather bear a shield than dreams.”
Ragnar smiled and grabbed the boy’s shoulders.
“You will make a good warrior, but we rarely receive what we want.
The gods do what they wish, to whom they wish.
There is little any of us can do about it.”
He squeezed Thorson’s shoulder.
“Perhaps you don’t have to choose.
You can be a warrior and have your visions, only don’t end up like our seer back home.”
Thorson smiled, imagining himself blind and licking men’s hands to see their fate.
“If the dreams return…
You tell me.”
Thorson nodded.
For the first time since the visions had begun, he felt lighter.
Someone besides his mother knew.
But more importantly, someone believed him.
For the first time, he no longer felt as though he were slowly losing his mind.
Ragnar turned back toward the camp.
“Come.”
“We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”
The next chapter will be on Monday…
See you then