Page 11 (1/2)

Daenerys

Daenerys Targaryen wed Khal Drogo with fear and barbaric splendor in a field beyond the walls of Pentos, for the Dothraki believed that all things of importance in a man’s life o had called his khalasar to attend him and they had come, forty thousand Dothraki warriors and uncounted numbers of women, children, and slaves Outside the city walls they carass, eating everything in sight, andday

"My fellow uard," Illyrio told theht at the o’s The khal had joined his khalasar, his estate given over to Daenerys and her brother until the wedding

"Best we get Princess Daenerys wedded quickly before they hand half the wealth of Pentos away to sellswords and bravos," Ser Jorah Mormont jested The exile had offered her brother his sword the night Dany had been sold to Kbal Drogo; Viserys had accepted eagerly Mormont had been their constant cohtly through his forked beard, but Viserys did not so much as smile "He can have her tolanced over at Dany, and she lowered her eyes "So long as he pays the price"

Illyrio waved a languid hand in the air, rings glittering on his fat fingers "I have told you, all is settled Trust me The khal has promised you a crown, and you shall have it"

"Yes, but when?"

"When the khal chooses," Illyrio said "He will have the girl first, and after they are wed he must make his procession across the plains and present her to the dosh khaleen at Vaes Dothrak After that, perhaps If the omens favor war"

Viserys seethed with impatience "I piss on Dothraki o"You have waitedWhat is another few months, another few years?"

Ser Jorah, who had traveled as far east as Vaes Dothrak, nodded in agreement "I counsel you to be patient, Your Grace The Dothraki are true to their word, but they do things in their own ti a favor from the khal, but must never presume to berate hiue, Mormont, or I’ll have it out I ado"

Ser Jorah lowered his eyes respectfully Illyrio srease ran over his fingers and dripped down into his beard as he nibbled at the tenderat her brother, though she did not dare say it aloud

Yet that night she drea her She was naked, clumsy with fear She ran froainly He struck her again She stuon," he screaon" Her thighs were slick with blood She closed her eyes and whi sound and the crackling of soreat columns of flaon It turned its great head slowly When itsand covered with a fine sheen of sweat She had never been so afraid until the day of her wedding caan at dawn and continued until dusk, an endless day of drinking and feasting and fighting A rass palaces, and there Dany was seated beside Khal Drogo, above the seething sea of Dothraki She had never seen so htening The horselords ht put on rich fabrics and sweet perfumes when they visited the Free Cities, but out under the open sky they kept the old ways Men and women alike wore painted leather vests over bare chests and horsehair leggings cinched by bronzebraids with fat froed themselves on horseflesh roasted with honey and peppers, drank themselves blind on fermented mare’s milk and Illyrio’s fine wines, and spat jests at each other across the fires, their voices harsh and alien in Dany’s ears

Viserys was seated just below her, splendid in a new black wool tunic with a scarlet dragon on the chest Illyrio and Ser Jorah sat beside hih honor, just below the khal’s own bloodriders, but Dany could see the anger in her brother’s lilac eyes He did not like sitting beneath her, and he fumed when the slaves offered each dish first to the khal and his bride, and served hi but nurse his resent blacker by the hour at each insult to his person

Dany had never felt so alone as she did seated in the midst of that vast horde Her brother had told her to smile, and so she smiled until her face ached and the tears came unbidden to her eyes She did her best to hide the, terrified of how Khal Drogojoints of es and Dothraki blood pies, and later fruits and sweetgrass stews and delicate pastries from the kitchens of Pentos, but she waved it all away Her stomach was a roil, and she knew she could keep none of it down

There was no one to talk to Khal Drogo shouted cohed at their replies, but he scarcely glanced at Dany beside hie Dothraki was incomprehensible to her, and the khal knew only a feords of the bastard Valyrian of the Free Cities, and none at all of the Codoms She would even have welcomed the conversation of Illyrio and her brother, but they were too far below to hear her

So she sat in her wedding silks, nursing a cup of honeyed wine, afraid to eat, talking silently to herself I aon, she told herself I aonstone, of the blood and seed of Aegon the Conqueror

The sun was only a quarter of the way up the sky when she saw her firstas soo watched without expression, but his eyes followed their movements, and from time to tiht over

The warriors atching too One of therabbed a dancer by the arht there, as a stallion ht happen "The Dothraki mate like the animals in their herds There is no privacy in a khalasar, and they do not understand sin or sha, frightened when she realized as happening, but a second warrior stepped forward, and a third, and soon there was no way to avert her eyes Then two men seized the same woman She heard a shout, saw a shove, and in the blink of an eye the arakhs were out, long razor-sharp blades, half sword and half scythe A dance of death began as the warriors circled and slashed, leaping toward each other, whirling the blades around their heads, shrieking insults at each clash No one made a an The arakhs shivered together faster than Dany could follow, onehis blade in a flat arc Steel bit into flesh just above the Dothraki’s waist, and opened hi his entrails into the dust As the loser died, the winner took hold of the nearest wo over--and had her there and then Slaves carried off the body, and the dancing resuister Illyrio had warned Dany about this too "A Dothraki wedding without at least three deaths is dee must have been especially blessed; before the day was over, a dozen rew in Dany, until it was all she could do not to scream She was afraid of the Dothraki, whose ways seemed alien and monstrous, as if they were beasts in human skins and not true ht do if she failed hiht under the stars, when her brother gave her up to the hulking giant who sat drinking beside her with a face as still and cruel as a bronze on, she told herself again

When at last the sun was low in the sky, Khal Drogo clapped his hands together, and the druo stood and pulled Dany to her feet beside hiifts

And after the gifts, she knew, after the sun had gone down, it would be tie Dany tried to put the thought aside, but it would not leave her She hugged herself to try to keep froifted her with three hand; Illyrio no doubt had provided the girls Irri and Jhiqui were copper-skinned Dothraki with black hair and alirl "These are no common servants, sweet sister," her brother told her as they were brought forward one by one "Illyrio and I selected the, Jhiqui the Dothraki tongue, and Doreah will instruct you in the woood, Illyrio and I can both swear to that"

Ser Jorah Mor, my princess, but all a poor exile could afford," he said as he laid a small stack of old books before her They were histories and songs of the Seven Kingdoue She thanked hiister Illyrio murmured a co between thereat cedar chest bound in bronze When she opened it, she found piles of the finest velvets and da on top, nestled in the soft cloth, three huge eggs Dany gasped They were the s she had ever seen, each different than the others, patterned in such rich colors that at first she thought they were crusted with jewels, and so large it took both of her hands to hold one She lifted it delicately, expecting that it would be made of solass, but it was much heavier than that, as if it were all of solid stone The surface of the shell was covered with tiny scales, and as she turned the egg between her fingers, they shi sun One egg was a deep green, with burnished bronze flecks that ca on how Dany turned it Another was pale creaht sea, yet alive with scarlet ripples and swirls "What are they?" she asked, her voice hushed and full of wonder

"Dragon’s eggs, froister Illyrio "The eons have turned theht with beauty"

"I shall treasure thes, but she had never seen one, nor thought to see one It was a truly h she knew that Illyrio could afford to be lavish He had collected a fortune in horses and slaves for his part in selling her to Khal Drogo

The khal’s bloodriders offered her the traditional three weapons, and splendid weapons they were Haggo gave her a great leather ith a silver handle, Cohollo a old, and Qotho a double-curved dragonbone bow taller than she was Magister Illyrio and Ser Jorah had taught her the traditional refusals for these offerings "This is a gift worthy of a great warrior, O blood of my blood, and I am but a woman Let o too received his "bride gifts"

Other gifts she was given in plenty by other Dothraki: slippers and jewels and silver rings for her hair, medallion belts and painted vests and soft furs, sandsilks and jars of scent, needles and feathers and tiny bottles of purple glass, and a gown ift, Khaleesi," Magister Illyrio said of the last, after he had told her what it was "Most lucky" The gifts ifts than she could possibly iifts than she could want or use

And last of all, Khal Drogo brought forth his own bride gift to her An expectant hush rippled out fro until it had sed the whole khalasar When he returned, the dense press of Dothraki gift-givers parted before hi filly, spirited and splendid Dany knew just enough about horses to know that this was no ordinary ani about her that took the breath away She was grey as the winter sea, with a mane like silver smoke

Hesitantly she reached out and stroked the horse’s neck, ran her fingers through the silver of her ister Illyrio translated "Silver for the silver of your hair, the khal says"