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Daenerys

The land was red and dead and parched, and good as hard to conarled cottonwoods, purple brush, sheaves of brown grass They took the two straightest trees, hacked the limbs and branches fros in a square Its center they filled with straw, brush, bark shavings, and bundles of dry grass Rakharo chose a stallion from the small herd that reo’s red, but few horses were In the center of the square, Aggo fed him a withered apple and dropped him in an instant with an axe bloeen the eyes

Bound hand and foot, Mirri Maz Duur watched froh to kill a horse," she told Dany "By itself, the blood is nothing You do not have the words to make a spell, nor the wisdoai as if it were a curse, but all it norance Whatever you mean to do, it will not work Loose me from these bonds and I will help you"

"I ao He took his whip to her, and after that the godswife kept silent

Over the carcass of the horse, they built a platforreater, and the thickest straightest branches they could find They laid the wood east to west, froo’s treasures: his great tent, his painted vests, his saddles and harness, the whip his father had given him when he cao and his son, a o’s bloodriders had given Dany for bride gifts as well, but she forbade it "Those are mine," she told him, "and I mean to keep them" Another layer of brush was piled about the khal’s treasures, and bundles of dried grass scattered over them

Ser Jorah Mor toward its zenith "Princess" he began

"Why do you call ed hi, was he not?"

"He was, my lady"

"Viserys is dead I aaryen Whatever was his is oing to one knee "My sword that was his is yours, Dacnerys And ed to your brother I a to offer you but exile, but I beg you, hear o You shall not be alone I promise you, no o You need not join the dosh khaleen Come east with me Yi Ti, Qarth, the JadeSea, Asshai by the Shadow We will see all the wonders yet unseen, and drink ines the gods see fit to serve us Please, Khaleesi I knohat you intend Do not Do not"

"I must," Dany told him She touched his face, fondly, sadly "You do not understand"

"I understand that you loved him," Ser Jorah said in a voice thick with despair "I loved my lady wife once, yet I did not die with her You are my queen, my sword is yours, but do not ask o’s pyre I will not watch you burn"

"Is that what you fear?" Dany kissed hihtly on his broad forehead "I am not such a child as that, sweet ser"

"You do not mean to die with him? You swear it, my queen?"

"I swear it," she said in the Cohts were hers

The third level of the platforer, and covered with dry leaves and twigs They laid theh with soft cushions and sleeping silks The sun had begun to lower toward the west by the time they were done Dany called the Dothraki around her Fewer than a hundred were left How on started with? she wondered It did not matter

"You will be my khalasar," she told them "I see the faces of slaves I free you Take off your collars Go if you wish, no one shall harm you If you stay, it will be as brothers and sisters, husbands and wives" The black eyes watched her, wary, expressionless "I see the children, woed I was a child yesterday Today I aive me your hands and your hearts, and there will always be a place for you" She turned to the three young warriors of her khas "Jhogo, to you I give the silver-handled whip that was ift, and name you ko, and ask your oath, that you will live and die as blood ofat o took the whip from her hands, but his face was confused "Khaleesi, " he said hesitantly, "this is not done It would shao," Dany called, paying no heed to Jhogo’s words If I look back I aift" It was double-curved, shiny black and exquisite, taller than she was "I name you ko, and ask your oath, that you should live and die as blood ofat o accepted the boith lowered eyes "I cannot say these words Only a man can lead a khalasar or na away froreat arakh that was old And you too I name my ko, and ask that you live and die as blood ofat my side to keep me safe fro the arakh "I shall ride at your side to Vaes Dothrak beneath the Mother of Mountains, and keep you safe from harm until you take your place with the crones of the dosh khaleen No more can I promise"

She nodded, as calmly as if she had not heard his answer, and turned to the last of her chareatest of ive you, but I swear to you, one day you shall have froon-forged and made of Valyrian steel And I would ask for your oath as well"

"You have it,to lay his sword at her feet "I vow to serve you, to obey you, to die for you if need be"

"Whatever may come?"

"Whatever may come"

"I shall hold you to that oath I pray you never regret the giving of it" Dany lifted hi on her toes to reach his lips, she kissed the knight gently and said, "You are the first of uard"

She could feel the eyes of the khalasar on her as she entered her tent The Dothraki were e sideways looks froht her h If I look back I a hot when Irri helped her into the tub, but Dany did not flinch or cry aloud She liked the heat It made her feel clean Jhiqui had scented the water with the oils she had found in the rant Doreah washed her hair and coles Irri scrubbed her back Dany closed her eyes and let the smell and the warh the soreness between her thighs She shuddered when it entered her, and her pain and stiffness seemed to dissolve She floated

When she was clean, her handmaids helped her from the water Irri and Jhiqui fanned her dry, while Doreah brushed her hair until it fell like a river of liquid silver down her back They scented her with spiceflower and cinnamon; a touch on each wrist, behind her ears, on the tips of her milk-heavy breasts The last dab was for her sex Irri’s finger felt as light and cool as a lover’s kiss as it slid softly up between her lips

Afterward, Dany sent theo for his final ride into the night lands She washed his body clean and brushed and oiled his hair, running her fingers through it for the last ti the first ti ride His hair had never been cut How many men could die with their hair uncut? She buried her face in it and inhaled the dark fragrance of the oils He srass and waro Forgive ive me for all I have done and all I h, too high

Dany braided his hair and slid the silver rings onto his old and silver and bronze Bells so his eneroith fear She dressed hi a belt heavy with gold and silver medallions about his waist Over his scarred chest she slipped a painted vest, old and faded, the one Drogo had loved best For herself she chose loose sandsilk trousers, sandals that laced halfway up her legs, and a vest like Drogo’s