sorry for the late update everyone, i had some trouble during the lockdown but i am back, the updates will be a little slow but this story is not abandoned
The days following the executions saw an increasing improvement in the lives of the people of Kings Landing. The inflow of food, the opening of trade, and the opening of the king's wood for hunters resulted in a new energy in the city.
New city watch was being trained and many inspiring young men were lining up to serve their new queen and begin their training. Crafts men has been put to work repairing the walls, and the gates. Old buildings being torn down and flea bottom was being cleared to make room for new buildings. A huge new building was being constructed where the sept of Baelor was, and building material was being bought, and workers hired which resulted in the revitalization of business in the capital.
The inns were filled with visiting nobles who were staying there to take measure of the new queen and integrate themselves with her and earn her favor.
The docks were filled with new ships being constructed for the royal navy and merchant vessels were already arriving to sell their wares.
Thousands of Dothraki were seen moving towards the Riverlands to hunt bandits and bring peace to the devastated regions.
In all of this Jon and Ser Davos found that they could not get a meeting with the new Queen as she had been busy almost every day with consolidating her power and control over the regions she already conquered.
The dragons can be seen flying over the city from time to time and the Targaryen banners can be seen flying everywhere around the city.
The trials for the gold cloaks were still going on with most of them being executed and their possessions confiscated.
Jon walked around kings landing with Ser Davos, just that morning he had a brief meeting with Queen Daenerys where he tried to convince her to let the rest of the gold cloaks go to the wall instead of execution.
The Queen rebuffed him harshly and told him that if the north wanted to stay a separate kingdom then they have to supply their own men for the wall.
She also told him that the gold cloaks did great harm to the people of Kings landing and they must be punished for their crimes.
It was also heavily implied that he should make up his mind soon weather he intends to bend the knee or sign a treaty with the her.
Now that almost all the kingdoms were under her control, she made a declaration that she will attack the Eyrie with her dragons to bring closer conclusion to the war and the unification of Westeros since the Vale is the only Kingdom who did not bend the knee nor did they sent a representative to negotiate with her.
He was concerned as he the night of the Vale were allies of the north, but they did not make a formal declaration of fealty to Jon so he could not speak on their behalf.
As he was walking with Ser Davos he saw the boy Gendry working on a sword.
"your grace, when are we leaving for Winterfell" Gendry said in his usual blunt manner.
"His Grace did not reach an agreement with Queen Daenerys yet" Ser Davos supplied
"will, either you fight or bend the knee, its seem simple to me" Gendry said " but I don't know much about being lord or king"
When Jon only sighed, he continued "I heard that some of her army are going to the Vale, are the north going to help them against the Dragon queen?"
Ser Davos interjected "The North barely have enough men to protect the North, and with the threat of the undead we need a united Westeros now more than ever and three dragons wouldn't hurt either"
"The north does not have the men to defend the Vale or fight the queens armies, and besides while the Vale did come to our aid in the battle against the Boltons they are still an independent kingdom under the control of Baelish" his face twisted as he said Baelish's name.
"from what I heard the dragon queen is only sending a few thousand Dothraki to the Vale" Gendry supplied "it looks like she does not think much of the nights of the Vale" then he looked again at Jon "Why don't you propose a marriage and then unit the north with the rest of Westeros, Is this not what high borns do ?" he smirked at Jon "or is the queen not to your liking your grace?"
Jon felt his cheeks gain a bit of color at the line of questioning, was reminded in that moment of the king when he came to Winterfell and started joking with his father.
"aye, I advised his grace of the same idea" Ser Davos supplied.
"I did not have the opportunity to present the idea, and I am more concerned with the army of the dead moving towards the north each day, I tried to talk to the queen today but she was not available" Jon replied
"well she has the kingdoms to put back together now that the Lannister's are gone" Gendry shrugged
Jon's face darkened when he heard that "Tyrion was a good man, he did not deserve what happened to him"
Gendry who had no love for any of the Lannister said "He did betray his oath, he must have known that the queen will attack the Lannisters" he looked at Jon and Davos "So will we be going to Winterfell?"
"We must have Queen Daenerys's help if we want to defeat the armies of the dead" Jon said with frustration in his voice, he wasted a lot of time in the south and he had nothing to show for it, he did not get the dragon glass nor did he get an alliance from the south, though now that all of them bent the knee it was only Queen Daenerys he has to convince, but every time he tried talking to her she looked at him like he was some silly child pretending at being king.
He sighed and cursed the day the lords voted him king of the North, he was a soldier and a fighter, but he was no ruler, Sansa would have been much better.
"well then you can talk to her after she returns from the Vale" Gendry said going back to hammering the sword he was working on.
"What did you say?" Jon and Ser Davos were visibly startled by this piece of information.
"The Queen went to conquer the Vale since they refused to bend the knee or send someone to talk terms, at least that's what I heard from some of the soldiers here, they wanted gear for the cold climate further north for the Dothraki" Gendry said, he had known about this since it was not a secret and the Queen ordered a lot of work done in a short time from the smiths and the leather workers to prepare winter gear for the Dothraki and their horses "I thought you knew since you said you went to talk to her and they said she wasn't there"
"No I was only told that she was not available" Jon said angrily "It will take too long to conquer the Vale, maybe we should go and meet her there"
"I don't think that's necessary, I mean she must have taken the dragons and the fighting men of the Vale are all in the north, so I don't think it will take long for the Vale to bend the knee" Ser Davos interjected.
"Yes but if the lords of the Vale who are currently in the north decided to fight it can bring the war to the North" Jon said "we need to reach an accord with the Queen as soon as possible and fix the situation before it escalates to a war with the North"
"We must secure the alliance in any way possible" Ser Davos stated "from what I can see in kings landing even if the north bends the knee it will be better off"
"true, the people here are much happier now, and not just because the Lannister's are gone" Gendry said after putting the sword he was hammering in oil "a lot of work has been ordered to fix the walls, the gates and other places in the city, and the queen is paying fare wages to the workers, merchants are coming to the city, and gold is flowing into inns, taverns and whorehouses" he stopped to think before continuing telling what he heard "I also heard that she is ordering large amounts of stone, timber and nails to be sent somewhere north of here, people say that she is building a new castle"
"A new castle?" asked ser Davos " Why would she do that? Isnt the Red keep good enough"
"it is just a rumor, but I know that a lot of builders and materials are being sent north of Kings landing, a lot of people are planning to move there for work if the rumors turn out to be true, it might even become a town in the queen approval," Gendry said.
After spending some time discussing things Jon and Davos went back to their assigned rooms in the red keep.
Daenerys looked down on the Eyrie as large chunks of the tall towers broke apart and fell down to the ground far below the mountain.
Sitting atop Drogon as he flew lazy circles around the Eyrie while her other two dragons breathed fire on different parts of the castle to bring it down.
She can hear the screams coming from the castle and can see some of the soldiers trying to fire arrows at her dragons but it was useless.
She offered them to surrender but they refused, but she guessed when your leader is a delusional and mentally unstable child, you can't expect him to make rational decisions.
She was wearing her armor and helmet. As she looked down again she saw a whole section of the main castle falling down and crushing a large part of the walls and courtyard. Also, a lot of sections in the castle were on fire and the defenders were dwindling fast.
After a few minutes, she saw a white flag being raised, and the defenders fleeing and throwing their weapons.
The Eyrie has fallen for the first time since its construction.
After the surrender of the Eyrie Daenerys descended on Drogon and accepted their surrender. Turns out the child lord Robin Arryn was killed when the large section of the castle was destroyed since he was in the throne room at the time.
She knew with the fall and the destruction of the Eyrie the lords of the Vale will surrender in droves hoping to be the first to please her so that they become the lord paramount of the Vale.
Already she was dealing with that headache from the river lords. As soon as the announcement that house Tully is no longer the lord paramount's all of them were giving her gifts and volunteering to offer supplies to kings landing and some of them actually started bringing wagons full wheat, barley, salted fish, dried meats, and barrels of wine to the city completely forgetting about the devastated villages in the Riverlands which needs those supplies desperately she thought with a sneer on her face.
Each day she was accosted by an idiot lord bragging about his lineage and heritage and how they had the right to rule the Riverlands, barely any of them mentioning how they would help put their lands to right or how they would capture the bandits roaming around the Riverlands.
She already sent the Dothraki to capture the bandits and she was told that they are making a sport out of it. The Dothraki are worriers who trained in fighting since they can walk a bandit is no match for any of them. If fact one Dothraki could take a group of bandits and come out of the fight without a scratch.
But still none of the river lords mentioned how they can rebuild the farms and villages burnt by the Lannister soldiers. She also knew that even the lords were affected by the war they lost a lot of their knights, most of them lost family and heirs to the Lannisters.
They did not know about the new capital city she is planning to build north of kings landing. Once that city is constructed there will be no need for the Riverland to have a lord paramount as it will be in the city sphere of influence. Let the river lords waste resources on kings landing it will just free her to consolidate her gains and save her resources to more important matters.
Already plans for a great castle slash palace were being finalized. The new capital city will be ordered and will house her castle in the center. She was planning a sewer system for the whole city for sanitary reasons and to make sure it does not smell as bad as Kings Landing.
The new city will be built between the river connecting the Gods eye to black water bay and the black water rush. Daenerys found an interconnection of three powerful lay lines, and there she will build her castle where she will use the lay lines to power the wards around the castle.
She thought that through those lines the children of the forest cast spells to shatter the arm of Dorne and do other great feats that changed the map of Westeros.
After the castle she will build a great city hall, a public library slash academy, a courthouse where small matters can be judged that does not need the input of the queen, a bank directly controlled by her, a large guild meeting hall for the various trade guilds, large storehouses for grain, and maybe build something like the roman colosseum but that will not be near the palace but the other side of the city close to the barracks and military buildings.
She is planning to have large roads and multiple squares and gardens throughout the city, she also plans to introduce public bathhouses and fountains for drinking water.
She will also build small harbors on each river so that trade can easily come into the city. Small towns will be built to support the harbors and roads built from those towns directly to the city.
The city will be in the shape of a square with four very large and heavily protected gates that will be the only entrance to the city.
One gate will be in the direction of Kings Landing, the opposite gate will be facing Pinkmaiden and Acorn hall while the remaining two gates will be facing the rivers on either side.
she looked back again at the prisoners being led away from the Eyrie as quickly as possible by the Dothraki she brought as the castle was very unstable and the fire was spreading everywhere. Every now and then a large chunk of stone will fall to the ground below.
She brought the fastest riders with her as she will use the dragons to subjugate the Vale, and the Dothraki will secure the castle and move prisoners.
After the Eyrie she planned to go to Redfort and do the same if they did not surrender.
Daenerys knew that this was the most crucial time in her rule. At this time she can almost do whatever she wanted especially as most of the houses in Westeros where devastated. In war she can burn castles and kill lords and ladies and everyone will applaud her for her victories but if she did anything like this after the war is one many would call her a tyrant.
But she was not planning to allow any of the lords to regain their former strength, she has plans to build cams for her armies in all parts of Westeros. Then she will force the regions to supply the camps with food, gold and equipment, this will make it harder for them to support their own knights when they are promised protection by the royal army.
After everyone was captured and evacuated, she looked at the crumbling and burning castle, then she walked back to Drogon and took off.
The next couple of days were spent in the same way, she will go to a castle and ask their surrender if the do have them send their lords and knights to Kings landing to publicly bend the knee and swear oaths of fealty if they don't then she burns down their castle and strip the family of their lordship.
In a few days, the rumors and messengers have reached all parts of the Vale and all the lords remaining in the Vale have surrendered and bent the knee and were ordered to Kings Landing for their declaration of fealty.
Once she was done she left three thousand of her Dothraki to secure the region with the help of her knew Vale knight subjects.
Now only the north left, and she will have control over the whole continent.
Her return to Kings Landing was met with a lot of fan fair, a lot of lords wanted to congratulate her on winning the Vale.
She had to hold many meetings about supplies, trade routes, the construction in kings landing, and the building of the royal fleet.
She also started trade routes to Meereen and her other cities in Essos.
Lords from all over Westeros were still coming to the city to swear fealty as she requested even lords of knightly houses. Daenerys wanted to make sure that they all signed the blood contract to ensure their loyalty.
Her last meeting for the day is with Jon snow and his hand.
She actually liked Ser Davos with his straightforward way of talking.
Missandei was with her in the room along with Grey Worm and Dario was there also after he returned with Grey worm from securing some lands.
Missandei has been a godsend to her as she dealt with the maester the citadel sent to Kings landing, she also dealt with the organization of the food stores, and the food distribution.
She has also given the task along with Olenna Tyrell to choose new staff for the Red keep, especially people who handle the day to day running of the castle.
Jon entered her chambers with his hand and took seats in front of her desk, she ordered a servant to bring wine and refreshments.
"King Jon how is your stay in Kings Landing been so far? I hope the rooms assigned to you are to your liking?" she took a sip of her wine as she asked, she was in a good mood after flying on Drogon that day, and now that she had the Vale under her control it only left the north and judging by this meeting that will be resolved soon.
"thank you for your hospitality your grace, the rooms are very comfortable," Jon said with almost a questioning tone obviously he was not used to the small talk or how to answer such a question.
"I am glad to hear that your stay at kings landing has been pleasant" Daenerys replied before she decided to cut to the chase "what did you want to discuss with me today?"
He seemed nervous and unsure how to begin so ser Davos stepped up to help his king "your grace, we are here to propose an alliance between the north and you so the north can become again part of the seven kingdoms"
Daenerys allowed a small smile to her face, it seems she was correct in her assumption now her focus will be on finding Arya Stark and helping her defeat the army of the dead. Her people already have a decent stockpile of obsidian weapons, and Valyrian steel which she plans to give to the officers in her army, she already had one ready for Grew worm along with a shield she plans to gift to him soon. Another weapon she was considering is the wildfire which is being carefully removed by her people and stored outside the city in wagons to be transported to the wall. She had many learned people work on making sure that the wildfire can be safely transported to the north.
Before she could think more on her plans ser Davos continued "We propose a marriage alliance with your grace and the king in the north" he continued bluntly as ever.
Daenerys blinked in shock at the proclamation and turned her head from ser Davos to Jon who seemed to be a little embarrassed by the redness in his cheeks and she was suddenly reminded of how young he was, he was barely in his twenties and he was expected to lead a kingdom ten times larger then the UK with no experience what so ever.
But she did not even consider their offer as she was not interested in men in the slightest and anything they have she can take by force, the only reason she did not attack the North as she did the Vale is that she wanted to guide Arya Stark and help her defeat the night king and torching her home seems a bad way to start but she could easily defeat their armies if they remain stubborn and install Arya as lady Stark. From Jons memories, she saw that Arya was his favorite sister but he still did not know where she is now. The last time he saw her was when he left for the wall.
She turned back to them to see that they were still waiting for her answer and that Jons face became even redder due to the silence after ser Davos bold request.
"you are proposing a marriage between me and King Snow so that the north can be brought into the fold?" She spoke in a measured tone, her first reaction was to snap at him and tell him hell no, but she was able to rain in her Gryffindor tendency and speak evenly.
"yes your grace, the marriage will bring the north to the fold and unit Westeros" Ser Davos replied "The king is an excellent leader and will help you shoulder the responsibilities of governing and in brining the lords to your side, they all respect him your grace and choose to follow him because he earned their respect and loyalty"
Daenerys looked at them both, Jon was a little embarrassed but he held his ground and he looked her in the eye, and she was surprised to notice that he was already falling in love with her after reading him, ser Davos on the other hand truly believed that it was a good match and that Jon will make a great king. But she herself was not sure of that, while she sometimes acted like a Gryffindor she knew how to act subtly if the situation called for it Jon on the other hand was pure Gryffindor, he was a fighter through and through, when he gives his loyalty he gives it wholeheartedly without considering motives or agendas. She heard about how he forgave the lords that fought against him in the so-called battle of the bastards and how those same lords even now are dragging their feet on every order given by Jon. If she was in that situation then she at least would have made an example of one of them and showed mercy to the rest not just forgive them all.
"you say that the lords respect him and follow him? Since I came back from the Vale I talked to many of the lords and none of them mentioned King Snow to me" she asked ser Davos.
"I meant the lords of the north your grace" Ser Davos corrected.
"And do you think that if King snow becomes the king of the seven kingdoms only the lords of the north will follow him or do you feel that the rest of the lords and ladies in the other kingdoms not as important?" Daenerys said with a raised eyebrow when ser Davos started to speak "or you thought that I only need to win over the lords of the north and King Snow can help me with that"
"The lords of the north are a stubborn bunch your grace you will need someone from the north to gain their trust," Ser Davos said
"and have you?" she directed her question to Jon this time
"Have I what your grace?" Jon asked with a confused face
"Have you earned the loyalty of the northern lords? Have you gained their trust?" she asked him directly, from what she heard and read from his mind, he only earned the loyalty of the free folk. And after the battle of the bastards, the free folk were very few. It was another thing that angered her, he had a Giant in the battle against the Boltons and he almost lost if it were not for the knights of the Vale. She wanted to meet the magical creatures of this world but now she was not sure if any were alive aside from the dragons.
If she had a giant and was facing the pathetic army of the Boltons then she would have armored the giant and have him kill the lot of them without a problem, but Jon Snows great strategy was to attack head-on with unarmored wildlings.
"I believe I have your grace, the Lords of the north choose me as their king" Jon replied staring at the dragon queen.
"I heard that when you called for the lords to help you fight the Boltons only the Mormonts and few minor houses have backed you and you still almost lost the battle if not for the Knights of the Vale, is that correct?" Daenerys asked
"Aye, your grace "Jon said
"So after you barely won the battle, you pardoned the lords who stood against you with the Boltons and did not reward those who were loyal and headed your call correct," she asked him
"I did not want to punish families who served the Starks for centuries because the misguided actions of a few sons" Jon replied
"were the people who fought against you not the Lords and heirs of those families, did they not bring their armies and men to fight against you?" Daenerys asked again trying to get her point across without saying it but it seems that the king of the north is too dense to get the hint,
"Aye I pardoned them because I was not going to punish sons and daughters for the actions of their fathers, and I knew that the north needed to stand together united against the night king" Jon replied.
"yes but you have weakened your position, those who fought for you lost men, supplies, and resources, and you did not even reward their loyalty, those who fought against you surrendered after the knights of the Vale entered the battle, which means that your allies are now weak and you did nothing to help, and your enemies retained their strength, and you did nothing to weaken them," Daenerys told him "tell me what will you do now that the Knights of the Vale are leaving the north and have sworn fealty to me, do you have enough men to keep order in the North? "
He started to say something but she cut him off "No, you do not, these people did not fight for you because they are not loyal to you, and the people who are loyal to you dont have the strength or the resources to fight for you again because you did not provide it for them, running a kingdom or seven is different than being lord commander on the wall"
"if I may cut in your grace, Jon Snow also holds the loyalty of the free folk, he was the first person in to bring wildings and north men together, they all chose as there leader because they believe in him, they believe they can lead him against the night king and his armies, he is the only one who saw them and knows how to fight them, we must be united in facing the night king your grace," Ser Davos said passionately "you already have six of the seven kingdoms with this alliance you will have all of the seven kingdoms under your control"
"and under your king's control" Daenerys rebuked immediately
"Jon snow did not want to be King your grace, he was chosen by his people to lead them," Ser Davos said.
"Maybe he was chosen by Northmen, but no one else in the seven kingdoms would want him as their king" Daenerys replied and then turned to Jon "tell me Jon Snow the wildling that followed you and fought for you how many of them left?"
"a few thousands your grace" Jon replied, confused at this new line of questioning
"so only a few thousand left out of tens of thousands that entrusted you with their leadership, entrusted their lives to you, and fought for you, and how did you repay them? Did you give them land in the north? Did you give them lordships?" Daenerys asked
"The free folk don't care for lordships your grace, they only want to fight the night king" Jon snow replied
"They might not care for lordships but they care about lands and resources that will help them and their families survive the winter, the fought and died for you so you can fight for them and their families," Daenerys asked, "you say they want to fight the night king, is that true for their children and women who can't fight? Or you did not even bother to see to the needs of those who follow you?"
Jon appeared to be lost for words, he was so focused on the knight king that he did not talk to the free folk about settling south of the wall.
"Next we have the Mormonts who supported your bid to take back the North from the Boltons even when they have few men I am told," Daenerys said, covering the fact that all her information has been from reading his mind "and how did you reward them when you won? Did you do anything to help bear island? The Mormonts were devastated in the war of the five kings and later from the Iron born attacks and then from the fighting in the North, and what do you do? You treat them the same way you have treated families who fought against you like the Karstarks and Umbers"
Now everyone in the room was looking at her as she laid into the King in the North.
"And last but not least, you knew your brother was a captive of the Boltons but you did not make any plans to rescue him, you faced them in open combat hoping that they will be honorable and not harm a child, and after he was killed you did nothing to punish the Umbers for handing over your brother to the Boltons" she raised her hand when he made to interrupt " yes, yes you said that you will not punish a house for the sins of their sons, but your brother sought refuge with the Umbers didn't he ? they could have allied with the Boltons without handing him over, but still they did, he was in their castle so the whole house knew about him, did no one try to help him?"
Then she stood up from her chair "you showed poor judgment in ruling, and you showed poor judgment in battle, and now you want me to wed you so you can become a king of the seven kingdoms?" she said incredulously "you can't rule the north and you think you can rule the seven kingdoms, you know nothing of negotiation Jon snow, you sit Infront of me without any leverage, and ask for a marriage alliance"
She rolled her eyes at him
"tell me do you have enough men to fight me if I attack the North?" Daenerys waited for his reply
"No your grace I don't" Jon said with clenched hands on the armrest of his chair
"can you defeat the night king without my help?" Daenerys asked
"No your grace" Jon said again
"do you know anything about the lords of the other kingdoms and their lands?" Daenerys asked
"No your grace" Jon said
"yet you still asked for a marriage alliance knowing you will be in a position of power over the rest of the kingdoms, kingdoms that you know nothing about and don't care about enough to learn," Daenerys said "you are so focused on the night king, that you neglected to form any alliances with people who can help the north, you had ample time when I was in the Vale to talk to the lords, to get to know them, to form alliances, and to convince them to fight with you but you did not do any of that" she paused and then continued in a more gentle tone " you are a good man Jon but you are not a lord or a king, and I will not be accepting your marriage proposal as I see no benefit in it for me"
Jon actually looked crushed by the announcement, maybe he actually did like her but she defiantly did not like him back.
"Now that only the north of the seven Kingdoms remains independent you either bend the knee in which case I will make you lord paramount of the north or if you dont I will use my armies and dragons to take the north and reward the lordship to a loyal house," Daenerys said sternly "what's your choice?"
"your grace, the north men will not accept a foreign ruler" Ser Davos protested "it cannot be held by an outsider"
"the north has no significant armies and resources, and they need help to survive the coming battle with the dead, or do you prefer that I wait after the north is destroyed and then fight the night king and after that install whoever I want as lords in the north" she stared down at Jon and Davos
"your grace " began ser Davos but stopped when Jon raised a hand for silence
"Ser Davos " Jon stopped him, he looked to be in deep thought then he spoke slowly " The queen is right, the north needs help in order to defeat the night king, we have to stand together if we're to survive the coming storm" he took a step towards the queen and went down on one knee "I pledge my loyalty and the north to Queen Daenerys Targaryen from now till the end of time" and ser Davos followed his lord and bent the knee.
Daenerys smiled and said "rise Lord Jon Snow, Lord of Winterfell and Lord paramount of the north"
Daenerys then gestured for them to stand up " tomorrow we will have a small ceremony where you will pledge fealty in front of the lords of the realm, then we can meet to discuss the defense of the north"