Six moons.
Balon Greyjoy's rebellion lasted a total of six moons. It began with simultaneous attacks on major cities in the west and ended with House Greyjoy hanging by a thread. Only one of Balon's children survived, and Asha Greyjoy became the ruler of the Iron Islands. Two of her uncles were still alive, but their whereabouts were unknown.
Jaehaerys returned to Argentstone after the fall of Pyke.
He had planned to travel north immediately after the war. But Eddard urged him to go home first. He told him to see his wife and daughter. Besides, he would arrive first by dragon and have plenty of time to go north. Eddard and his men would take their time on the return north.
Lord Stark looked at him with a bit of disappointment, but didn't utter a word.
Jaehaerys wondered if Eddard was mad in him. Many lords viewed him with suspicion. That could cause him problems in the future. After all, he wanted to make his city a center of commerce, the center of the world. Perhaps in the future, there will be a saying: "All roads lead to ArgentStone."
'Did I get carried away?' the prince wondered.
He wondered how many people had died under dragon fire. He couldn't count them, hundreds, thousands. Now he was a mass murderer. Had it been worth it? The Ironborn were a plague. And Jaehaerys needed to make it clear that he was not an easy target, that conspiring against him would bring trouble.
'Ahhh... like Tywin with the Reyne,' he thought with a little disgust.
He landed in ArgentStone. Near a huge building, a new tower. It looked like an imitation of the Roman Colosseum, but it was not intended to house humans. It was a tower for dragons, or the beginning of one.
He watched a silver flash move at great speed in the distance. He didn't need to use his eagle to find out who was approaching. He climbed down from the dragon's back. His slightly numb muscles protested a little at the sudden fall.
"Jae!" Dany shouted as she stopped her horse, Silver, right next to her husband.
They had been separated for moons. Too long since they last saw each other. Jaehaerys promised to end the war quickly, but he couldn't force the armies to sail any faster.
Daenerys' arms found him in a crushing embrace. The woman had dismounted and fallen on top of him. Jaehaerys held her, keeping her from touching the ground. They kissed; it was a way of greeting each other. Jaehaerys felt some discomfort when he touched her. He felt his body dirty.
"What's wrong?" Daenerys noticed immediately; his discomfort did not escape her senses.
"Nothing..." he replied, earning a frown. "The war... things have changed," said the prince as he looked around. Rowena Stark was there too, along with a couple more of her soldiers, all women.
"We'll talk about it in private," Daenerys whispered. "Now let's go back to the castle," said Dany. It was a short journey that they would cover quickly on horseback. "You must see Rhaelle, she has already started walking," said the princess with a little excitement and affection in her voice.
'My daughter started walking while I killed thousands... were there children in the flames?' the prince wondered.
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Rhaelle was the world to Jaehaerys, the world he sought to protect. Just like Daenerys and Sansa. It wasn't that he regretted killing the Ironborn; they were his enemies.
They were the ones who threatened his world. But maybe he should have been less cruel?
"Ke-pa!" said the little girl in his arms. Even though she could already walk, Jaehaerys lifted her up in the air.
"You could at least smile a little; the little baby would appreciate it," Lyanna said. "War changes everyone. I remember how Ned's eyes changed after the rebellion," she said. "They were just like yours. More dull," she murmured nostalgically. "And they stopped looking at me with love, there was only hate in their eyes, she added with an uncomfortable giggle.
Lyanna was looking after the little girl. Apparently, the Queen Dowager liked to be around her. After all, she was her great-aunt.
"I don't think it was the same. He fought to get you back, and I fought for revenge. " Jaehaerys wasn't going to pretend he was a good man, someone honorable.
"Because they would hurt your daughter, your wife" Lyanna said. "You're not a monster," she told him. Jaehaerys remained silent. It didn't bother him to be a monster; sometimes you needed to be one. "You know... Rhaegar, he... when he came back from the war, his eyes were the same," she said with hatred. "Indifferent, cold, hiding the same madness he had before," she spat.
"Why are you comforting me?" asked Jaehaerys. He wasn't particularly close to Lyanna. He protected her, of course, but they hadn't formed a close bond.
"Because you saved me, I suppose. A good deed. You are capable of doing both good and bad things," said the woman. "I have to check that Visenya doesn't set fire to the gardens. The bell on the bedside table will bring a nurse," she said, leaving after speaking.
'I already did it. I can't change anything now. There were better options, yes, but there were also worse ones,' he said to himself. He didn't need to act full of doubts and fears; he needed to be the man who ruled ArgentStone.
He let his feelings get the better of him in the war. He did things he wouldn't do now. Was it a good thing? The coasts will suffer less, and the Ironborn will remember the dragon every time they light a fire and think twice before breaking the peace. Was it a bad thing? The houses look at him with suspicion, perhaps even fear. Not all of them, of course, some see him as a vigilante who dared to do what others could not.
Good things, bad things. He had to take advantage of the good ones and find a way to work with the bad ones.
After spending time with little Rhaelle, who had begun to learn High Valyrian from Daenerys, he went to his wife's Solar. He needed to catch up. Daenerys was waiting for him. Jaehaerys almost expected to sleep with her as they had done the last time he returned from war, but it seemed that their awkward reunion had dampened everything a little.
"Did you watch her walk?" Daenerys asked with a slight smile, not completely genuine but not entirely false either.
"No," Jaehaerys denied. "I carried her the whole time," he shrugged a little guiltily.
"I always knew you'd be a good father," Dany murmured.
There was an awkward silence between them.
"The dragon tower was completed in record time," Jaehaerys said, changing the subject.
"I made it a priority. Dragons need a place to live, the Godswood is not a good place for them. The construction of the castle towers has been delayed. It will take about two years more for them to be completed," she informed him.
Daenerys wore small, round glasses over her eyes. They were a bit crude compared to modern ones, but they served their purpose.
"It was a good decision," Jaehaerys said.
"And also..." Dany invited him to walk over to the window. In the distance, Jaehaerys saw a lake, which he had seen from the back of his dragon.
"I managed to fill it. Two connected wheels carry the water there," she pointed to one side of the wall, where a structure protruded. "Here," Dany handed him a telescope, not a Myrish eye, but one created in ArgentStone.
Jaehaerys looked at the piece. Apparently, the glaziers had returned to work while he was away, on Daenerys' orders, probably influenced by Qyburn.
"Those pipes carry the water to the lake, huh," murmured the prince. The pipes were attached to the walls. Dany had tried to make it discreet, and it worked quite well. The only thing that could be improved was putting it inside the castle walls, but as long as it was functional, it was fine.
Daenerys described the system she had implemented, a rather good one. The only improvement would be to use a water current instead of the animals they were currently using to move the wheels, but there was no current near the place where they collected the water.
Dany continued talking, moving from the most prominent changes to the finer details. Jaehaerys listened attentively. Olenna had already sent men who had settled in the village, creating a mansion there. The old woman didn't care about the war.
The prince would have three weeks to stay in ArgentStone before going north. He had to get to work.
"I need to talk to Rowena," he told Daenerys later, when she had finished telling him everything he needed to know.
"A mission?" Dany asked.
"Something like that. I need to know if she has contacts in Essos." Jaehaerys needed eyes on the disputed lands.
"Mhm... that can wait till—"
"Tomorrow, right?" Jaehaerys interrupted her, smiling. His hands went to her hips, then his lips moved to hers.