Below, a sea of people stretched as far as the eye could see.
Holding Daenerys's small hand in his, Gryn could not help but think of the past.
Crackclaw Point had been chaotic and barren. After the war seventeen years ago, every man of House Crabb had fallen in battle, leaving the house on the brink of extinction.
Afterward, they had been forced to abandon their ancestral seat, The Whispers, relocating and building Whispers. Only then had they barely preserved the family's line.
With the family in decline, as Gryn grew older, he had become a—Westeros's older bachelor who could not find a suitable marriage match.
Two years ago.
When he had traveled to The Reach as an envoy (Chapter 67), its wealth had always made him think of House Crabb's family words at the time—Strong Taking Over Bitter Tilling.
He had hesitated several times... wondering whether he should simply carry Little Rose away. Of course, it had only been a thought; after all, he was a sufficiently rational chieftain.
Later, he had met the exiled Princess of Dragonstone—Daenerys Targaryen—in Pentos.
Later still, they had fallen in love...
Now, as king and queen, they had completed their wedding ceremony under the witness of The Gods and the Seven Kingdoms.
Targaryen and Crabb had fully joined as one, becoming the lawful Targaryen-Crabb royal house of the Seven Kingdoms.
Below, people fell to their knees before them one after another, the motion spreading outward like a tide.
At that moment, Gryn was even somewhat dazed. He was now the rightful and lawful supreme ruler of the Seven Kingdoms.
Slowly withdrawing his gaze, Gryn placed a soft kiss on his wife's forehead. "Dany, thank you."
Daenerys's beautiful, love-filled eyes blinked lightly. Because she loved him, she knew him intimately, and her