-Chapter 195-

-Chapter 195-

-POV MC-

"Finally, damn it," I said, ripping off the last piece of my personal Valyrian steel armor without anyone's help.

'Without my strong physique, I doubt anyone could remove this thing as quickly,' I thought as I removed everything covering my chest and lay down on my bed, closing my eyes for a few seconds to recover from my long journey.

I had barely slept this week, being too busy running around and thinking about the future. Even though I felt my body didn't demand it, my mind couldn't keep up. I desperately needed a short nap to be able to lead and get my empire out of the crisis I had placed us in.

'Damn it, who is that?' I thought as I heard sounds on the other side of the door.

Knock... Knock... Knock...

"Yes," I said, irritated, as I hadn't even had time to rest for five minutes before being interrupted.

"Princess Daenerys Targaryen," said Thoros from the other side of the door.

"Let her in," I said almost immediately, in a calm tone, slightly curious to know what she might want from me.

Still with my eyes closed, lying shirtless on my bed over the covers, I first heard the sound of Thoros' armor moving, then delicate little steps, almost imperceptible except for the heels clicking on the hard stone floor.

"What do you want, princess?" I said without opening my eyes, without sitting up, or even dressing.

"To see if you were still alive?" she replied bluntly.

"As you can see, I'm not dead enough for you to take my crown and put it on your head," I joked, not really expecting her to laugh, but surprisingly, I was wrong.

Daenerys sniffed, and I opened one eye, surprised, as humor didn't seem to be a trait she particularly appreciated in me.

"Did I dream, or did someone laugh less than two seconds ago?" I said, raising an eyebrow, but she didn't honor me with another laugh and said, "Next time you leave the capital of your kingdom defenseless, I’d like to be the first to know."

"I didn't leave it unguarded; I knew you would be here," I said, closing my eyes again, disappointed for some reason I couldn't explain in a sentence, not to see her smile at one of my jokes.

"I'm honored that you consider me so much, but I think what you shouldn't forget is that I'm still a princess; I don't have the authority to lead."

"And I haven't given it to you yet," I said before adding, before she could seriously get angry:

"I have a place I absolutely need to go, and you'll accompany me."

"Do I have the right to say no?" she asked, more for the sake of formality than a real desire to stay locked up within the four walls of Dragonstone.

"No," I said, slightly amused by the power I had over her.

"Are you going to explain why?" she asked, probably knowing the answer before asking the question.

"No," I said without any pity.

She let out a deep sigh of annoyance before finally asking:

"You're not going to tell me anything about this place?"

"It's a forest," I said, knowing it was a clue that would give her nothing more than a vague, totally false idea, by the way, of where I wanted to take her.

She said nothing more, and I could almost imagine her rolling her eyes in annoyance with her eyes closed.

Daenerys was about to say something, but finally, she said, "I'll be at the council."

I raised an eyebrow, opening one eye, and saw that she wasn't asking for my permission but informing me of her decision.

For a few seconds, I thought I saw the perfect image of the Empress I needed, and I said, hoping I had finally found the rare gem: "Very well, from now on, you will hold the position of Empress on the Imperial Council."

"Your supporters won't be happy, as this will officially seal the failure of their plans to place their grandchildren or great-grandchildren on the Iron Throne," Daenerys said, surprised by my audacity, probably thinking that I followed every piece of advice from my small council to the letter, as I usually did.

"I am the Emperor, and my word is law. Let them confront me if they disagree with my choices and decisions," I said, displeased with the idea that my vassals were trying to manipulate me, even though I was usually perfectly aware of it.

'As long as it stays subtle, we won't have a problem, but they need to know their place; otherwise, heads will have to roll,' I thought, considering who I could shorten by a head in such a scenario.

'Olenna or Kevan Lannister?' I thought, unable to decide before putting off this debate for later to focus entirely on Daenerys.

"They won't do it," Daenerys said.

"I know, that's why we'll marry tomorrow before a Weirwood tree, and you will truly take your place as Empress by my side, if you wish, of course. I'm not forcing you into anything; we can postpone," I said, as I knew the degree of terror I inspired in my vassals, even though time had passed, no one had forgotten the sea of blood I had spilled to sit on the Iron Throne.

"No, it's fine, let's get it over with quickly," Daenerys said, accepting, to my great surprise, quite easily.

'Maybe she misses wearing a crown,' I thought.

"Quick isn't exactly what characterizes me the most," I said jokingly, and she rolled her eyes, smiling, before leaving.

I closed my eyes, thinking back to that beautiful smile, feeling extremely lucky to have the chance to marry the most beautiful woman in two worlds.

---

-POV 3rd-

"Well, now that everyone has arrived, we can begin the meeting," said the Hand of the Emperor, looking at all the people sitting at this table, who represented the greatest houses of the kingdom as well as the Emperor's personal advisors.

Emperor Aegon Targaryen, First of His Name, raised his hand and said:

"We're still waiting for someone."

"Who?" asked Benjen, visibly unaware of the presence of another member at this meeting.

"Empress Daenerys Targaryen," said Balon Swann as he entered, his hand on his sword hilt, successfully carrying out the task his Emperor had entrusted him with.

The Emperor nodded at him, a small gesture, certainly, but one that meant so much for a man who had given up everything in his life to protect and serve the monarch of the entire continent.

Daenerys entered in a white outfit, lined with fur on the inside to keep her warm due to the plummeting temperatures since the first attack of the White Walkers.

"Empress," repeated Kevan Lannister, raising an eyebrow.

"That is indeed the title of Her Imperial Highness, Ser Kevan, and I wouldn't want to have to stain my sword to make sure you address the Empress correctly," said Ser Balon.

---

-POV MC-

I raised an eyebrow at his remark because it was the first time I had seen this side of Ser Balon. Turning my head, I understood from which little devilish mind this plan had been hatched, as Daenerys struggled to hide a small smile, satisfied with the discomfort of Tywin Lannister's brother.

'She enjoys putting the Lannisters in their place,' I noticed before Tyrion, who had been far too quiet, got up from his seat to my left and let Daenerys sit there.

What surprised me, however, was feeling her hand squeeze mine in front of everyone.

'Little manipulator,' I thought as I saw everyone’s eyes focus on this 'affectionate' gesture.

She was asserting herself and marking her territory and boundaries with everyone. It didn't displease me, but at that moment, I simply felt like her tree, and she was marking me so that other predators would stay away.

"First of all, thank you all for being able to free up your time so quickly. I imagine you all have a lot to do to ensure this Great Empire, which continues to grow day by day, can keep thriving in peace. But what I'm about to share with you, in addition to being extremely serious, threatens everything we've built since the deposition of the crowned stags," I said in a very serious tone, abandoning any superfluous expression that might suggest otherwise.

I took a deep breath and launched into it:

"Even though I've tried to gently introduce the subject to all of you, whether it's the people at this table or others, I get the impression that you still don't fully understand what we're up against. So I'm going to tell you bluntly so you can stop speculating about it."

"And what are we up against, Your Majesty?" asked Willas Tyrell in a focused but also very wary tone.

"The Second War of the Dawn."

"The Second... War of the Dawn?" said Kevan, incredulously, as if he couldn't believe those words had come out of my mouth.

"Your Majesty, if you are insinuating that the White Walkers exist, I..." began Wilys Manderly, trying to tread carefully to avoid offending me.

But it wasn't the time to undermine my arguments, and I quickly made that clear to him by replying:

"I'm not insinuating anything. A hundred men who survived Greyguard saw a White Walker with their own eyes. And even if you don't believe it, Ser Wilys Manderly, that's not what I'm asking of you. However, I order you to listen to me and make sure that all orders, no matter how far-f

etched they may seem, are carried out without delay, under penalty of immediate execution."

Everyone fell silent, and it was my adoptive father who spoke:

"I know my intervention may mean nothing, but before Robert came to the North, I was informed by the Night's Watch that Ser Yohn Royce's son had been lost beyond the Wall, and only parts of him were found."

"Not a walking corpse and frozen demons," muttered Ser Kevan under his breath as quietly as possible, but not only did I hear it with my sharp hearing, everyone did, and my uncle smiled before saying, "Maybe we didn't find frozen demons and walking corpses, but at that moment, I had a doubt before I drew my sword, a doubt I quickly crushed because I'm a man like all of you, and I only believe in what I see most of the time."

"This man, though anxious about dying in the moments that followed, still explained to me what he had seen beyond the Wall," said my adoptive father, without sharing the last words of Will, the deserter who had been the last to see Yohn Royce's son and the first man of the series to escape a White Walker.

"I didn't believe in magic; I would have had doubts for the rest of my life about the existence of dragons if I hadn't seen with my own eyes the immense skulls of dragons resting in the throne room when we arrived in King's Landing," my uncle continued.

No one dared to interrupt him, for the honor of Eddard Stark, though tarnished by the lie about my birth, was still as legendary and respected as ever.

"I raised Aegon myself, enough to assure you that I would know if he was lying, or at least I believe I would, and I can affirm without a shadow of a doubt that I feel no dishonesty. So instead of comforting ourselves with the idea that these abominations don't exist, we should follow the orders of our liege lord, our Emperor, and prepare to fight to save this continent from the cold and death."

Although not everyone was convinced by my uncle's speech, they all nodded.

'Now we can truly begin,' I thought, seeing that I had everyone's attention.