A week after Aegor returned to King's Landing ahead of the fleet aboard Rhaegal, the slower ships, lacking wings, also returned to the Seven Kingdoms from Braavos. Laden with countless spoils and prisoners, the victorious Imperial Navy held a grand and solemn triumphal parade along King's Landing's newly renovated and widened east-west avenue.
Over the following months, envoys from the remaining six Free Cities arrived by ship one after another. Each city eventually reached its own agreement with Daenerys concerning an armistice and submission, though the precise terms varied.
The conflict between the Targaryen Empire and the alliance of slave masters finally ended in victory for the newly founded Empire. The war not only marked the beginning of the end of slavery, but also heralded the dawn of a golden age for a great dynasty.
After establishing a mighty empire spanning two continents and turning the Narrow Sea into an inland sea, Daenerys did not slow her advance. Declaring herself wedded to the realm, she devoted herself tirelessly to governing and continued to carry out sweeping political, economic, military, and cultural reforms throughout the Empire. She unified its religion, language, weights and measures, and currency. She established a comprehensive system of national reserves to withstand unstable climates and further introduced policies that preserved both counties and kingdoms while weakening feudal separatism. While strengthening central authority, she also created a series of internal checks, balances, and divisions of power, laying a firm foundation for the regime's stability and endurance over the millennia that followed.
In the decades that followed, the Empire suffered no further major unrest apart from two city-state rebellions that were swiftly suppressed. The people lived in peace and prosperity, and the population continued to grow. With the arrival of the Industrial Revolution, the eastern frontier advanced to the Dothraki Sea and Slaver's Bay, fully reclaiming the former territories of Valyria. Meanwhile, fleets sailing west achieved the great feat of crossing the Sunset Sea and successfully proved that the world was round.
This period became known not only as the Reign of the Mother of Dragons, but also as the Age of Women's Awakening, a golden era distinguished by the rise of many prominent female politicians. With a queen standing at the pinnacle of power, women across the Seven Kingdoms began taking part in politics and government in unprecedented numbers.
Lady Arya Stark of the North became an inspiration and pioneer of the movement for women's rights. She not only opened the way for women to serve in the military and participate in politics, but also made lasting foundational contributions toward great achievements later realized by future generations, including women's access to education and freedom in marriage.
Although Asha Greyjoy of the Iron Islands never held the title Lady of the Iron Islands, she was their ruler in all but name. Under her leadership, her people embarked upon a path of peace and prosperity through shipbuilding, maritime trade, aquaculture, and metal exports. After abandoning the Old Way, the ironborn were no longer as feared as they had once been, but they became steadily wealthier and more prosperous.
The Reach was greatly reduced after much of its territory was absorbed into the Crownlands. However, House Tyrell, having once again surrendered decisively and remained steadfastly loyal, turned misfortune into opportunity and became both the lawful and actual ruler of what remained. As the eldest daughter, Margaery used her talents and abilities to tirelessly assist her father and brothers. For a time, she even became the Empire's unofficial deputy spymaster.
Nina of Rosby, a former executive and founding member of the Night's Watch industries, had once been the apprentice of Tyrion Lannister, the Empire's first Master of Coin. Though not of noble birth, she earned more favor and trust from Daenerys than even her mentor, who came from the ruling family of the Westerlands. After serving for many years as an assistant and advisor, she was eventually elevated to become the Empire's third Master of Coin. Daenerys personally granted her a title, making Nina the first woman to serve as a formal member of the Small Council.
Maeve Snow, who, like Nina, was a bastard of humble birth and was said to descend from an extinct northern house, remained a somewhat mysterious figure. Her life before adulthood was obscured and impossible to trace, while her youth passed without any renowned achievements or heroic exploits. During the latter half of her life, however, she rose to become one of the chief strategists and most important advisors on the Imperial Small Council. After the first Hand resigned, she even served as acting Hand of the Queen for several months. Like Nina, she became a model for countless common-born girls striving to improve their lives, both in her own time and in the generations that followed.
The other queen, the Princess of Dorne, was probably the highest-ranking and most influential of these women. Under her rule and leadership, Dorne became not only Daenerys's most loyal and steadfast supporter, but also the Empire's primary producer of high-value crops and one of its most celebrated tourist provinces. After joining the Seven Kingdoms in name, Dorne finally became fully integrated into the economic life of Westeros and has remained one of the Empire's most loyal and stable provinces to this day.
...
After conducting extensive comparative studies of the prominent women who rose during this period, modern historians discovered a striking similarity among many of them. Without exception, they made major life choices almost identical to those of Daenerys Targaryen the First. They either swore lifelong celibacy or declared themselves devoted to the nation, R'hllor, or some other noble cause. None ever married, yet all bore descendants officially recognized by the new faith as children granted by the gods.
Today, society has moved beyond blind worship and fanatical belief in R'hllor. More and more people have come to understand that these so-called god-given children were almost certainly protected and legitimized through religious doctrine. If this interpretation is correct, then the identities of the husbands, or rather the fathers of the children born to these powerful women, constitute the greatest mystery of that age.
Any discussion of this question inevitably leads to a name known to everyone, Aegor West.
This man, whose origins remain a mystery, lived a life of immense controversy. He claimed to come from a land that had yet to be discovered, while popular legend held that he had crossed into this world from another age or another world entirely. His first appearance in verifiable records identifies him as a shipwreck survivor who committed theft and voluntarily took the black to escape punishment.
Yet after a series of strange and complicated adventures and struggles, he eventually became not only the final Lord Commander of the famed Night's Watch and the earthly representative of the Lord of Light, but also the founding and longest-serving Hand of the Queen of the Targaryen Empire. His unequaled achievements during Daenerys's unification of the Seven Kingdoms and conquest of half the known world, along with his immense contributions to the establishment of modern science, are now known by heart to every child who has received a basic education.
Yet this supreme statesman and military leader, a man capable of mastering nearly anything and standing above all but one, inexplicably remained faithful throughout his life to the vows of the Night's Watch, even after the order itself had been dissolved. He never married, fathered acknowledged children, or accepted a noble title before his death, becoming the legendary founder and sole member of House West.
The most widely accepted explanation is that Aegor West was the secret lover and true husband of Daenerys Targaryen the First. According to this theory, his refusal to relinquish his identity as a brother of the Night's Watch was a tremendous concession to his queen and wife. It allowed the royal line, beginning with Daenerys, to acquire a sacred religious aura under the title of children granted by the gods while naturally and without dispute inheriting their mother's name.
Another, less popular but still widely believed theory reverses their roles entirely. According to this account, the man who stood behind Daenerys at the summit of power was the true founder and ruler of the Empire. Nearly all the prominent women of that generation, whether recorded by history or not, were supposedly his lovers or concubines, and every child recognized by the new faith as god-given was, in truth, his offspring. This extraordinary man simply refused to let any of those bloodlines bear his name because he did not wish to show undue favor toward the children of any particular woman.
The author agrees with neither of these extreme theories and firmly believes that the truth lies somewhere between them. Regrettably, the full truth may have been lost forever to the passage of time.
Viewed from another perspective, however, is that very uncertainty, with the truth half concealed and half revealed, not precisely what gives the subject its enduring fascination and value?
To those who despise Aegor West, he was a shameless and unscrupulous liar, thief, and charlatan, a vulgar and immoral scoundrel, an insatiable womanizer, and an arrogant bastard who insisted on attaching his name to every scientific work and innovation.
To those who admire him, he was the Slayer of White Walkers, the Dragonrider, the Iron Hand, the savior of mankind, the defender of civilization, and the greatest military strategist and statesman in history.
The wider public, however, neither loving nor hating him, usually remembers him by the title given in his most famous biography:
The King on the Wall.
(The End.)