"This... I beg Your Grace to consider it carefully!" Aegor had understood Daenerys's implication, but he had to pretend otherwise in order to raise the concerns that followed. "You are the sole legitimate monarch of the Seven Kingdoms, the head of the Targaryen Empire, the center of all policy and authority, and even the prophet of R'hllor and the new faith that is soon to be born. You are so sacred and unique that suddenly taking a husband would not only diminish the aura surrounding you and remind the world that you are still a woman, but it would also create countless other problems. What status should your husband hold? How much power and glory should he share with you? What role should he occupy within the new faith? Every one of these questions would become a serious difficulty."
"Furthermore, given the dignity of your position, who in the known world possesses the reputation, status, and qualifications to marry you? No matter whom Your Grace chooses, you would be marrying beneath your station. Joining yourself to any family would completely upset the balance of power within the Empire. Your marriage is a matter that concerns the stability and peace of the entire Empire, perhaps even the whole world. Please think carefully!"
"That is indeed the perspective a conscientious Hand should have. I agree with most of what you said, except for one point." Daenerys regarded him with a faint, knowing smile for several seconds before continuing in a teasing tone. "At this very moment, in this room, is there not a man who is both a hero who saved mankind, a distinguished commander who conquered two of the greatest Free Cities, and the earthly representative of R'hllor, the Lord of Light, while belonging to no family at all? Does such a man not possess the qualifications to marry me?"
There was only one man in the room. Her meaning was so direct that she might as well have replaced "such a man" with "you" and placed a marriage contract in Aegor's hands.
Reserve had never been part of Daenerys's nature. She had lived through hardship, weathered countless storms, and was steadily maturing in both body and mind. Her view of love and marriage was simple: a queen did not wait to be pursued.
Her proposal to Aegor was not impulsive. She had considered it carefully. If asked publicly why she had chosen him, she would say that she had been drawn to his talent, ability, and personal charm, and that their shared ideals, ambitions, and experiences fighting side by side had deepened those feelings.
None of that would have been a lie.
Beneath those reasonable explanations, however, lay considerations more befitting a ruler. Only by marrying Aegor could she bind such a shrewd and capable man securely to her side. Only then could she claim a share of the achievements he had already accomplished, many of which were already half hers. Most importantly, through inheritance, her descendants could one day lawfully absorb the Wall Territory, the Stormlands, and the military-industrial system that generated wealth as rapidly as the Night's Watch industries and the royal mint, further strengthening the Crown and the Empire's central authority.
Although Aegor had been confident that his overture would receive a favorable response, Daenerys's enthusiasm still exceeded his expectations. He could no longer continue pretending not to understand.
He quickly rose from his cushioned chair, crossed the short distance between them, and sat beside Daenerys, who had not moved. Taking her right hand, he enclosed it between his palms and held it against his chest.
"I am truly overwhelmed by Your Grace's favor!" Aegor looked into her eyes with complete sincerity, though his expression remained troubled. "However, I am a man of the Night's Watch. I swore never to marry or father children."
"You should know that the Crown has the authority to release a man from the Night's Watch." Daenerys did not enjoy being forced to state matters so plainly, but since Aegor came from a place with customs unlike those of Westeros, she chose to forgive him for the moment.
"I know." Aegor nodded, but his expression did not ease. "But does Your Grace know that the Night's Watch vows are sworn by the individual, not to any king or queen? In other words, the Crown's power to release me would not truly invalidate my oath. It would merely amount to the ruler declaring that I may break it without being punished. In that case, your authority would protect me from the consequences, but it could not erase the fact that I had broken my word."
"For a vast empire of hundreds of millions, upheld by loyalty and oaths, there could be no more absurd or dangerous arrangement than placing an oathbreaker among its highest rulers. No one possesses every virtue, but as sovereign, even if you refuse to deceive your people by pretending to be a saint, you still cannot openly declare that you lack certain virtues or consider them meaningless. If I accepted your release and then married you, I would stain your sanctity and purity with my own dishonor. I would taint a noble and lawfully founded empire from its very summit and leave you condemned by history."
"So your answer is no?" Daenerys's previously pleasant expression instantly turned cold.
She had never expected her warm invitation to be met with such resistance. She tried to pull her hand free, but Aegor held it so firmly that she could not move.
"Then remain a man of the Night's Watch. The men willing to marry me could form a line from the Great Sept of Baelor to the Dragonpit!"
Aegor had to preserve his carefully cultivated image, but there were limits. If he carried the performance too far and truly angered Daenerys, it would do more harm than good.
He knew he had gone far enough.
"Your Grace, my heart, my life, and everything I possess belong to you!" He quickly slid from the cushioned chair and knelt on one knee beside her. Still holding her hand firmly, he pleaded, "At your command, I would walk through fire for you. Taking off a black cloak would be nothing by comparison. No man in this world wishes to marry you more than I do. But if I can cast aside my vows to the Night's Watch, what proof is there that I would treat my vows to you, to this country, or to anything else with greater seriousness? I cannot satisfy my own selfish desires by placing Your Grace in a position that invites accusations of injustice and hypocrisy, or by exposing the entire realm to danger. There must be some way to solve this problem!"
Daenerys pursed her lips and frowned without speaking.
She was displeased, but a voice within her admitted that Aegor was indeed thinking of her interests. She had been too hasty and had not considered the matter thoroughly enough.
Faced with his solemn and sincere attitude, Daenerys could only take a deep breath and reply irritably, "Then think of one!"
Aegor was already doing so.
He was delaying, of course, not because he found it amusing to tease Daenerys, but because he genuinely needed to consider the preservation of his image, his reputation, the domestic and foreign consequences, and the handling of certain private affairs.
When he had been nothing more than an ordinary brother of the Night's Watch, he could afford to be carefree and indifferent to the world's opinion, ready to disappear the moment an opportunity arose and leave everyone else to deal with the consequences. But now, the black cloak had brought him too many advantages, too much wealth, and too much status. He was no longer eager to cast it aside.
Only the most arrogant tyrants and the most thoroughly defeated men believed that public opinion and reputation were meaningless. Although the Faith and the alliance of slave masters had attacked and slandered him from every direction, Aegor's reputation across the Seven Kingdoms remained broadly positive. He had no reason to ruin it recklessly.
He could receive lands in the name of the Night's Watch or the Gift and thus evade the literal restrictions of his oath. Marriage and children, however, would cross a line that no one could deny.
The oath was not his only concern. Too much wealth and too many resources were held in the name of the Night's Watch, while countless relationships of loyalty and subordination were tied to his position as Lord Commander. If he abandoned the black cloak and severed himself from the order without preparation, ownership of those assets would inevitably lead to legal disputes and future trouble.
There were also his relationships with other women. If he ended them abruptly without settling matters properly, he might one day face scandal as a faithless man who had abandoned those who had once trusted him, and his reputation could be ruined.
"I have thought of two possible paths for now." Aegor spoke quickly, still holding Daenerys's hand tightly. "The first is for you to announce the complete dissolution of the Night's Watch. From then on, the defense of the Wall would be entrusted to a standing army supported by special royal funding. This would release thousands of brothers from their vows. With so many men sharing my circumstances and bearing the weight of public judgment alongside me, the Night's Watch oath would gradually cease to matter after a year or two of transition. The disadvantage is that Westeros would lose a stable and dependable means of disposing of political criminals, and we would need to decide what to do with the many men who were pardoned only on the condition that they take the black."
"The second path is for you to announce that you have wedded yourself to the realm and all its people, and that you will never take an individual husband. Combined with selected tax exemptions, favorable policies, and careful public messaging, such a declaration could produce astonishing results and win overwhelming popular support. If managed properly, it would greatly strengthen both your personal standing and the stability of the Empire. As for me, I would swear to remain beside you and support you without ever leaving, fulfilling every duty and obligation you ask of me, just as faithfully as I have worn this black cloak, until death parts us."
After declaring his loyalty and sincerity, Aegor paused briefly before adding, "Whether you choose one of these paths or devise some other arrangement, I will obey and carry it out without reservation. I will never harbor any second thoughts."
When Daenerys heard the first option, she had nearly decided to accept it immediately.
But the second, so bold and imaginative, captured all her attention at once.
To wed herself to the realm?
The novelty and sheer audacity of the idea exceeded even her wildest imaginings. It was absurd, yet it also seemed strangely suitable for someone like her, a woman determined to break the wheel of history and accomplish what no ruler before her had ever dared.
"Then what of my future children and heirs?" She was not so captivated by the idea that she forgot its consequences. "Would they be fatherless bastards?"
"The new faith, born from the union of the Seven and R'hllor, will become a powerful religion whose influence reaches across the world. Your children will be proclaimed gifts from R'hllor, future rulers of the Empire acknowledged by the Seven Kingdoms and the nine great Free Cities on both sides of the Narrow Sea. They will be supported by the Faith, bear your name, and become legendary sovereigns who restore House Targaryen to even greater glory. And we will have many years to build a world for them, a world in which everyone accepts their identity and their rights, and no one would dare speak the word 'bastard' in their presence."
It was becoming more absurd by the moment.
Daenerys instinctively felt that the proposal was unreliable, yet for some reason, her thoughts were in turmoil with a strange sense of anticipation and familiarity. Only after carefully considering it did she realize that it was the same feeling she had experienced when first reading The Prince and when first hearing of the Great King's Landing Plan.
At the time, she had thought Aegor merely possessed an unmatched talent for painting grand visions and persuading others to believe them. Yet in the end, he had delivered everything he had promised.
Could this seemingly fantastical plan of wedding herself to the realm also become reality?
Daenerys could not help imagining the inscription that might be carved upon her tomb a hundred years from now:
Founder of the Targaryen Empire, the Queen who wedded herself to the realm.
Was that not magnificent?
The coldness that had settled over her face slowly thawed. Her expression softened as she imagined the future, and she even felt slightly ashamed of her earlier loss of composure and angry words.
Then she remembered her original plans for the evening.
"I have not decided yet." She cleared her throat lightly, crossed her legs in the opposite direction, and stopped trying to withdraw her hands. "Are you occupied tonight? If not, there is no need for you to leave. Explain this plan of wedding myself to the realm in detail. I need to understand it fully before I can make a decision."
(To be continued.)