Aegon's voice held a rare tenderness as his fingertips gently brushed her cheek.
Daenerys stared at him, the shyness in her violet eyes giving way to a rising uncertainty before it had even faded.
"You... how are you here?" she asked, a trace of uncertainty in her voice. "What about Westeros-"
"It's over."
Aegon withdrew his hand, his tone calm, as though he were speaking of something utterly trivial.
"The Crownlands have been reclaimed, the Westerlands breached, and the Vale crushed. The Reach and Dorne have submitted. The Western Expedition is over."
Daenerys froze.
Her lips parted, but for a moment she had no idea what to say. It had only been a little over a year since Aegon declared the Western Expedition and set foot in Westeros-
"All of Westeros?" she asked.
"Mostly settled," Aegon said. "Jon is handling the remaining loose ends. The coronation will wait until I return."
Daenerys fell silent for a moment, absorbing the news.
Then she heard Aegon say, "I've come to take you back."
She raised her head and met his gaze.
"To Westeros," Aegon said. "To our home."
Daenerys's red lips moved slightly.
She gazed at the man before her, the man who had rescued her from desperation in Pentos and come this far, one step at a time.
Suddenly, she felt the sting of tears, but she held them back and simply nodded hard.
The corner of Aegon's mouth lifted slightly before he changed the subject.
"But before we return, there are a few things to settle."
He turned his head, looking through the council chamber's window at the city shrouded in dusk.
"Since you've already come to Meereen, we might as well bring Slaver's Bay under our rule."
Daenerys blinked.
"Now?" she asked.
"Now," Aegon said.
He turned to leave,