Page 54 (1/2)

Daenerys

When he had taken his pleasure, Khal Drogo rose fro mats to tower above her His skin shone dark as bronze in the ruddy light from the brazier, the faint lines of old scars visible on his broad chest Ink-black hair, loose and unbound, cascaded over his shoulders and down his back, well past his waist His listened wetly The khal’smustachio "The stallion who mounts the world has no need of iron chairs"

Dany propped herself on an elbow to look up at hinificent She loved his hair especially It had never been cut; he had never known defeat "It was prophesied that the stallion will ride to the ends of the earth," she said

"The earth ends at the black salt sea," Drogo answered at once He wet a cloth in a basin of ater to wipe the sweat and oil from his skin "No horse can cross the poison water"

"In the Free Cities, there are ships by the thousand," Dany told him, as she had told his, that fly across the sea on wings full of wind"

Khal Drogo did not want to hear it "We will speak no more of wooden horses and iron chairs" He dropped the cloth and began to dress "This day I will go to the grass and hunt, woed into a painted vest and buckled on a wide belt with heavy old, and bronze

"Yes, o would take his bloodriders and ride in search of hrakkar, the great white lion of the plains If they returned triuht be willing to hear her out

Savage beasts he did not fear, nor any man who had ever drawn breath, but the sea was a different matter To the Dothraki, water that a horse could not drink was soreen plains of the ocean filled theo was a bolder man than the other horselords in half a hundred ways, she had foundbut not in this If only she could get him onto a ship

After the khal and his bloodriders had ridden off with their bows, Dany suainly now that she welco arms and deft hands, whereas before she had often been uncomfortable with the way they fussed and fluttered about her They scrubbed her clean and dressed her in sandsilk, loose and flowing As Doreah combed out her hair, she sent Jhiqui to find Ser Jorah Morht cas and painted vest, like a rider Coarse black hair covered his thick chest and muscular arms "My princess How may I serve you?"

"You o says the stallion who mounts the world will have all the lands of the earth to rule, and no need to cross the poison water He talks of leading his khalasar east after Rhaego is born, to plunder the lands around the Jade Sea"

The knight looked thoughtful "The khal has never seen the Seven Kingdo to him If he thinks of them at all, no doubt he thinks of islands, a few s to rocks in the manner of Lorath or Lys, surrounded by stor prospect"

"But he"Please, help doh she knew them from all the tales her brother had told her Viserys had promised her a thousand times that he would take her back one day, but he was dead now and his pros in their own tiht answered "Have patience, Princess Do not o home, I promise you"

Home? The word made her feel sad Ser Jorah had his Bear Island, but as home to her? A few tales, na memory of a red doorwas Vaes Dothrak to be her home forever? When she looked at the crones of the dosh khaleen, was she looking at her future?

Ser Jorah reat caravan arrived during the night, Khaleesi Four hundred horses, from Pentos by way of Norvos and Qohor, under the command of Merchant Captain Byan Votyris Illyrio may have sent a letter Would you care to visit the Western Market?"

Dany stirred "Yes," she said "I would like that" The markets came alive when a caravan had coht bring this tiain, as they did in the Free Cities "Irri, have them prepare a litter"

"I shall tell your khas," Ser Jorah said, withdrawing

If Khal Drogo had been with her, Dany would have ridden her silver A the Dothraki, mothers stayed on horseback almost up to the moment of birth, and she did not want to seem weak in her husband’s eyes But with the khal off hunting, it was pleasant to lie back on soft cushions and be carried across Vaes Dothrak, with red silk curtains to shield her from the sun Ser Jorah saddled up and rode beside her, with the four young men of her khas and her handmaids

The day arm and cloudless, the sky a deep blue When the wind blew, she could srass and earth As her litter passed beneath the stolen ain Dany swayed along, studying the faces of dead heroes and forgotten kings She wondered if the gods of burned cities could still answer prayers

If I were not the blood of the dragon, she thought wistfully, this could beman and a swift horse, handmaids to serve her, warriors to keep her safe, an honored place in the dosh khaleen awaiting her when she grew oldand in her worew a son ould one day bestride the world That should be enough for any woone, Daenerys was the last, the very last She was the seed of kings and conquerors, and so too the child inside her She reat square of beaten earth surrounded by warrens ofhalls Hureat subterranean beasts breaking the surface, yawning blackdown to cool and cavernous storerooms below The interior of the square was a s of woven grass

A hundredup in stalls when they arrived, yet even so the greatbazaars that Dany remembered from Pentos and the other Free Cities The caravans made their way to Vaes Dothrak from east and west not so much to sell to the Dothraki as to trade with each other, Ser Jorah had explained The riders let the as they observed the peace of the sacred city, did not profane the Mother of Mountains or the Womb of the World, and honored the crones of the dosh khaleen with the traditional gifts of salt, silver, and seed The Dothraki did not truly co

Dany liked the strangeness of the Eastern Market too, with all its queer sights and sounds and ss, locust pie, and green noodles, listening to the high ululating voices of the spellsingers, gaping at rey elephants and the striped black-and-white horses of the Jogos Nhai She enjoyed watching all the people too: dark soleht-eyed men of Yi Ti in monkey-tail hats, warrior maids fros in their nipples and rubies in their cheeks, even the dour and frightening Shadow Men, who covered their ars and chests with tattoos and hid their faces behind ic for Dany

But the Western Market smelled of home

As Irri and Jhiqui helped her froarlic and pepper, scents that reone in the alleys of Tyrosh and Myr and brought a fond smile to her face Under that she smelled the heady sweet perfu bolts of intricate Myrish lace and fine wools in a dozen rich colors Caravan guards wandered ath tunics of quilted yellow cotton, e from their woven leather belts Behind one stall an arold and silver in ornate patterns, and helms hammered in the shapes of fanciful beasts Next to his and brooches and torcs and exquisitely wrought uarded her stall, mute and hairless, dressed in sweat-stained velvets and scowling at anyone who came close Across the aisle, a fat cloth trader froreen dye, theback and forth as he shook his head

"When I was a little girl, I loved to play in the bazaar," Dany told Ser Jorah as they wandered down the shady aisle between the stalls "It was so alive there, all the people shouting and laughing, so h we seldowell, except for a sausage now and again, or honeyfingersdo they have honeyfingers in the Seven Kingdoms, the kind they bake in Tyrosh?"

"Cakes, are they? I could not say, Princess" The knight bowed "If you would pardon me for a time, I will seek out the captain and see if he has letters for us"

"Very well I’ll help you find him"

"There is no need for you to trouble yourself" Ser Jorah glanced away impatiently "Enjoy the market I will rejoin you when ht as she watched his She didn’t see why she should not go with him Perhaps Ser Jorah meant to find a woman after he met with the merchant captain Whores frequently traveled with the caravans, she knew, and soave a shrug "Come," she told the others

Her handh the market "Oh, look," she exclaies I meant" She pointed to a stall where a wizened little wo meat and onions on a hot firestone "They hted with her discovery, Dany insisted the others join her for a sausage Her handh the rilled meat suspiciously "They taste different than I remember," Dany said after her first few bites

"In Pentos, I s died on the Dothraki sea These are made of horsemeat, Khaleesi, but I spice them the same"

"Oh" Dany felt disappointed, but Quaro liked his sausage so well he decided to have another one, and Rakharo had to outdo hiled

"You have not laughed since your brother the Khal Rhaggat was crowned by Drogo," said Irri "It is good to see, Khaleesi"

Dany sain

They wandered for half theShe saw a beautiful feathered cloak froave the merchant a silverthe Dothraki A birdseller taught a green-and-red parrot to say her naain, yet still refused to take hireen-and-red parrot in a khalasar? She did take a dozen flasks of scented oils, the perfumes of her childhood; she had only to close her eyes and sniff the house with the red door once ly at a fertility charave it to the hand for Irri and Jhiqui as well

Turning a corner, they ca thimble-sized cups of his wares to the passersby "Sweet reds," he cried in fluent Dothraki, "I have sweet reds, from Lys and Volantis and the Arbor Whites froreen nectars of Myr Smokeberry browns and Andalish sours, I have them, I have them" He was a small man, slender and handsome, his flaxen hair curled and perfumed after the fashion of Lys When Dany paused before his stall, he bowed low "A taste for the khaleesi? I have a sweet red fros of plums and cherries and rich dark oak A cask, a cup, a s? One taste, and you will name your child after me"

Dany smiled "My son has his name, but I will try your summerwine," she said in Valyrian, Valyrian as they spoke it in the Free Cities The words felt strange on her tongue, after so long "Just a taste, if you would be so kind"

The merchant must have taken her for Dothraki, with her clothes and her oiled hair and sun-browned skin When she spoke, he gaped at her in astonishment "My lady, you areTyroshi? Can it be so?"

"My speech arb Dothraki, but I adoms," Dany told him

Doreah stepped up beside her "You have the honor to address Daenerys of the House Targaryen, Daenerys Stor doms"

The winehis head

"Rise," Dany commanded him "I would still like to taste that summerwine you spoke of"