A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, #2)

by George R.R. Martin

The Watch had once manned seventeen castles along the hundred leagues of the Wall, but they had been abandoned one by one as the brotherhood dwindled. Only three were now garrisoned, a fact that Mance Rayder knew as well as they did. “Ser Alliser Thorne will bring back fresh levies from King’s Landing, we can hope. If we man Greyguard from the Shadow Tower and the Long Barrow from Eastwatch …” “Greyguard has largely collapsed. Stonedoor would serve better, if the men could be found. Icemark and Deep Lake as well, mayhaps. With daily patrols along the battlements between.” “Patrols, aye. Twice a day, if we can. The Wall itself is a formidable obstacle. Undefended, it cannot stop them, yet it will delay them. The larger the host, the longer they’ll require. From the emptiness they’ve left behind, they must mean to bring their women with them. Their young as well, and beasts … have you ever seen a goat climb a ladder? A rope? They will need to build a stair, or a great ramp … it will take a moon’s turn at the least, perhaps longer. Mance will know his best chance is to pass beneath the Wall. Through a gate, or …” “A breach.” Mormont’s head came up sharply. “What?” “They do not plan to climb the Wall nor to burrow beneath it, my lord. They plan to break it.” “The Wall is seven hundred feet high, and so thick at the base that it would take a hundred men a year to cut through it with picks and axes.” “Even so.” Mormont plucked at his beard, frowning. “How?” “How else? Sorcery.”