Open the gates.
That question lay at the heart of every conflict.
Hatred had flowed through the blood of both sides of the Wall for thousands of years. A single duel could not easily dissolve it.
At least, these wildlings did not believe it could.
Lynn did not answer immediately.
His gaze swept over every wildling in the tent.
In their faces, whether awed, doubtful, or hopeful, he saw the most primal desire.
They all wanted to live.
They did not want to spend another moment beyond the Wall.
"Rest assured. In the Night's Watch, my word carries more weight than anyone's except the Lord Commander's."
"You have nothing to worry about on that score."
A chorus of sharp gasps filled the tent.
Even Mance Rayder froze.
The Night's Watch, the oldest order in the Seven Kingdoms, obeyed only its Lord Commander and the laws of the realm.
How could someone who was not the Lord Commander command them?
"From this day forward, I have the final say on both sides of the Wall."
Lynn looked around at everyone, his dark eyes holding no trace of humor.
"You want land, food, warm hearths. You want your women and children to stop dying of hunger and cold."
"I can give you all of that."
"South of the Wall, the vast stretch of land known as the Gift will become your new home."
"You can graze your herds there, till the soil, and build villages of your own."
"You will live there together, just like all the people of the North."
Lynn's words set every Wildlings Chieftain's heart burning with hope.
The Gift!
To southerners, it might be a barren wasteland where even birds would not bother to shit.
But that fabled fertile land was the place these wildlings had dreamed of