The burning of kings landing would forever be remembered as a nightmare. The day fire rained from the skies; survivors would say for years to come. Some said that when queen Daenerys first saw the ruins of the once great city she smirked triumphantly, others say she laughed like a madwoman at the death and destruction before her. The truth however, was much less dramatic.
Tired from childbirth and exhausted from all the emotions rocking her, the dragon queen had barely reacted to the destroyed city. Instead, she focused on the red keep and later the throne of her ancestors. Sitting in that throne, the feeling assaulting her was beyond her ability to comprehend. Victory, joy, sadness, all played a part for her. As she sat their overlooking her new throne room and the few nobles who had made it there so far, she allowed a satisfied smile to grace her lips. Now, now her reign could truly begin.
When Thomas first met his children, it brought him to tears. His two perfect hatchlings who cooed at him with their wide eyes and grasped his fingers with their tiny hands. Looking upon them he knew they would grow to be strong, fearless rulers.
When he introduced his dragons to them, he was pleasantly surprised to see how accepting Cinder was and astonished when Saphira licked little Rhaenyra and cooed over her. The babies were just as excited to meet the dragons and many who witness the event would go on to say how natural it was for the twins to interact with the dragons.
Of course, while all of this was going on, the city had to be cleaned up and be rebuilt. A task monumental in size due to the destruction caused by fire. With so many dead or missing. Smallfolk had to brought in from other kingdoms to help with reconstruction. It was determined early on that the city would take years to be rebuilt and while many thought it couldn't be done, Daenerys' determination and Thomas' grit pushed the population to rebuilding it better than before.
The new small council Daenerys instated was something that historians would debate for years to come. Whether good or bad each appointment was met with its fair share of detractors. The master of ships would go to Yara Greyjoy, once the iron born queen decided to submit to Targaryen rule.
The master of laws would surprisingly go to Tyene who had taken it upon herself to rebuild the gold cloaks and bring back order to the rebuilding city. The gold cloaks would soon change their name to the golden vipers in honor of their new liege.
The master of coin's seat was filled by lord Velaryon who helped finance the rebuilding of king's landing. The chair reserved for the commander of the king's guard was filled with Grey worm to no one's surprise.
To the surprise of many, the seat for the master of whispers went to Missandei of Narth. The young woman had taken to the streets of kings landing, rounding up the orphans and making sure they were taken care of. Rather unintentionally, this led to them bringing her information useful for the queen and other members of her council. Daenerys had wanted Varys to remain as spymaster but the man had disappeared on the road to kings landing. If he was still alive, he was to be treated as a traitor and killed.
The seat for grand maester went to Sarella Sand who had trained at the Citadel and was fiercely loyal to Tyene. As for the position of Hand of the king, that was gifted to lady Ward. Most people assumed the position would go to Thomas Ward, but when the man refused to take the pin, Daenerys decided that her mother-in-law would make good hand.
With so many noble families dead and gone, the 6 kingdoms struggled for years to get back on track. Eventually, though her rule stared out with bloodshed and fear, many came to love Daenerys for her dedication to the smallfolk and her sense of right and wrong. As the years rolled by, she became known as Daenerys the wise, in honor of Jaehaerys the first. Many proclaiming that she was the conciliator reborn. But, for everyone who called her that, many called her Daenerys the cruel, or the mad dragon. The woman who set upon them with fire and blood.
The North had managed to stay independent with Jon Snow eventually marrying Sansa Stark after the Woman proclaimed him to be Aemon Targaryen, son of Rhaegar and Lyanna. Many maesters thought this would cause dissention in the south, for a male had more claim than a female. Alas, the dragons kept the southern houses from even thinking of backing the northern dragon.
In the Stormlands, Edric storm was legitimized by Daenerys herself as Edric Baratheon, lord of Storms end. This unified the Stormlands and brought them back into the fold. The reach was given over to the newly formed house Ward. Thomas would take Highgarden as his seat in honor of their allies and proclaim Lara of the Dothraki as his regent while he stayed in kings landing with Daenerys and their children.
The westerlands, were put to the torch soon after Daenerys arrived in kings landing. Genna Lannister had come to swear fealty but was instead stripped of her titles and nobility before being cast out. After a quick rebellion resulting in the burning of Casterly rock and Lannisport, the west was granted to house Broom, one of the few houses to not raise their banners against the newly restored house Targaryen. Since that day, the west had never recovered and remained one of the poorest realms.
Daemon and Rhaenyra would grow to be powerful dragon lords, with Daemon succeeding his mother after 45 years of ruling. He would eventually marry one of Tyne's daughters and have many children. He bonded with Drogon soon after his mother's death. Rhaenyra, eventually bonded with Cinder and together the pair would return to Dragons Bay where she would proclaim herself queen, raise an army and expand into Old Valyria. Starting a new Valyrian empire. She would eventually take one of her servants to husband. And the two would lie a long life with their only son Thomas, after her late father.
Thomas Ward would live until his early sixties when he died in his bed surrounded by his family. Daenerys would follow soon after with many claiming she just couldn't stand to be apart from him any longer. She passed quietly in her sleep, a smile on her face. And a hand clutching her chest, where her heat was.
There is the epilogue. Finally. I have written, erased, and rewritten this again and again. I'm not too happy with the final product but I just can't keep redoing this. So, I settled for a summary of what happened after the ending of last chapter. Varys is still alive, the north still its own kingdom, but the south is growing strong once more. If anyone actually reads this, thank you! For those who have supported me throughout this whole process, thanks so much! Like I said last chapter, My next big story is for the Mandalorian. I do have quite a few chapters written for it already. I will be cross posting it onto Archive of our own since Fanfiction is still being a pain with notifications. I'll probably post the first chapter for that within the month. Again thank you for reading and have a wonderful life!