On the fifteenth day of the Month Without Gods, half a decade after taking the city, Daenerys Targaryen raised her banners on the parade ground, outside the city. She stood beside her dragons, in front of the assembled soldiers. Zengi, Daario, Marsalen, Andar Royce, Lord Sunglass, and the other commanders stood before her, Arya alongside her. Thousands upon thousands were gathered. Dothraki, Unsullied, men of the Vale, the Crownlands, the Stormlands, the Riverlands. But few from the West or the Reach. The people there would always hate her. Her lords struggled to keep control of those regions. Lady Megga could scarcely venture safely outside Highgarden. Her own visits to these regions were met with hard stares and sullen glances, though scarcely any dared to challenge her openly. Nor, indeed from Dorne. The recent assassination of Princess Ellaria, by relatives of Prince Doran, had sparked a succession battle, between them and Tyene Martell. Not that it mattered. She led a mighty host, to a war she would not survive.
She addressed the crowd. "Comrades. Five years ago, you overthrew tyrants, to restore the Realm's rightful Queen to the Iron Throne. We now face a greater tyrant. A demon of ice who threatens to enslave the world. We march North, to save the whole Realm. We march to glory and to victory!" "But, I doubt if I will ever see that victory" she thought, even as the soldiers roared their support for her. She mounted Drogon, with Arya behind her, and launched into the air, accompanied by the other two beasts. The army began to march. She circled above Kings Landing, which even now, remained a building site. The first aqueduct had been constructed, and thousands of homes built in brick and stone, in place of wood. Not that it made any difference. The inhabitants of the city mostly hated her, and so would their descendants, she knew. She had her supporters, in districts settled by immigrants from the Crownlands. But the survivors, and immigrants from the Reach were the vast majority. She had exiled half the city's council after one of their number pledged a drunken toast to the "true Queen, Joanna Baratheon" at a civic banquet, to enthusiastic cheers. Joanna Baratheon? Had she been wise to allow her to inherit, she mused, as she flew away from the city? Well, that would not be her problem, before long. Lady Margaery had certainly behaved with discretion, even reporting to her an attempt by disgruntled lords to recruit her into a conspiracy. Daenerys had varied the conditions of her exile, allowing her to reside where she wished, so long as it was outside of the Reach. She preferred to remain at Storms End.
"I can't wait to meet my brother again. I'm sure you can't either", Arya wryly commented to her as they flew North from the city. She had returned from her travels a few months previously. Daenerys had frequently flown North, since taking power, to discuss the threat from beyond the Wall with Jon Snow, the King in the North. Thousands of soldiers had been sent to man the Wall, no longer required to take the oaths of the Nights Watch.
"It's hardly a secret any more that we're in love. Do you approve?"
"I'm very happy for the pair of you. Sansa told me she was scandalised at first, but she's come to terms with it. She's always been prim and proper. Will you marry?" Arya's sister had chosen never to return to Kings Landing, due to the painful memories it brought her. To everyones' surprise, Lord Robyn Arryn was still alive, though incapable. She and her husband ruled the Vale in his place.
"If he wishes, yes, although I can never bear him a child. But, I doubt if I'll be alive long enough for that to matter. He can always remarry."
"I don't believe the future's set in stone, Daenerys. What you have foreseen is a possible future. Or more than one possible future. Now you can take steps to avoid it. "
"Perhaps. But, I think the Gods will have their due. The steps you take to avoid your fate just bring it closer. I fly to my death".
"I say you might now fly to your death. Or you might die in your own bed, forty years from now. Or anything in between. Do you even know that the witch told you the truth? That you could never bear children?"
Had the witch lied? It had never occurred to her. Could fate even be fought? But what was her fate? Her heart soared. Live or die, she would save the world!
Notes:
I guess, this needs a sequel