Mother Of Dragons

Chapter 14

Dany mounted her silver mare and took her place in the khalasar. Today was the day. Early evening would find her riding into Vaes Dothrak, to home. She was nervous and excited, but rode quietly with her khas and Ser Jorah. She was glad Rhakaro stayed close to her side as Drogo rode ahead.

The flat grasslands were behind them, replaced by gently rolling hills of green grass and low trees. She teasingly asked Irri if they were indeed trees, or yet another type of grass. "No, most are halahi, flowering trees, and are pretty in spring," Irri responded with a smile.

As they rode, she could see Drogo and his closest riders starting to ascend a hill, the path twisting like a snake in the grass. She watched as they began to reach the top, suddenly seeing two horses rearing at each other as they approached. They were enormous, carved out of stone, and were so lifelike that Dany was taken aback at how art like that could have found it's way to such a rough and wild place. She looked around. The two massive horses were obviously a gate to the city, but there were no walls. Just the horses, a beacon to call the Dothraki home. Drogo and his riders rode ahead, breaking their horses into a swift gallop and whooping as they ran for the city, preparing everyone for the khalasar's arrival.

She kept her horse to a brisk walk, Ser Jorah and her brother Viserys riding up next to her as they reached the massive gateway. She stopped, watching her husband ride ahead before turning her attention to first the stone horses looming above her, and then to Vaes Dothrak in the valley below. Dany warily let Viserys ride up to her, but kept out of his physical range. She didn't care so much if he hit her, but he was not going to get a chance to harm her unborn baby boy.

"Vaes Dothrak," Ser Jorah announced, stopping next to her. "Home of the horselords."

"Nothing but piles of mud. Mud and shit and twigs. Is that the best these savages can do?" her brother sneered, disgusted.

"These are my people now," she retorted, getting annoyed and letting him hear it. "You shouldn't call them savages."

"I'll call them what I like because they're my people," he answered, escalating his tone to overpower hers. "This is my army. Khal Drogo is marching the wrong way with my army."

Dany turned her head slightly and rolled her eyes. His complaints were such a tiresome and repetitive mantra that Dany began to wonder if he would ever say anything else. It was like trying to reason with a 2 year old. She sighed and nudged her mare to start walking again, following Viserys as he rode ahead, letting the distance between them become greater the closer they got to the city.

She spoke quietly with Ser Jorah, airing her doubts that her brother could take back their throne, even with all of Drogo's men behind him. He didn't know how to lead, or how to rule. Jorah agreed with her, just as quietly. She sighed in despair as she realized that this whole endeavor was for naught, except she had managed to find happiness despite all her brother's abuses and grand intentions. She rested her hand on her growing bump. Her son was doubly a gift to her in that moment, and she smiled despite the discouraging conversation. She felt torn, though. She wanted to take her rights as the Queen of Westeros, her birthright, but at the same time, she managed to find her place with Drogo, and her new home in Vaes Dothrak. Dany found herself having difficulty reconciling the two. Am I as restless as Viserys? Can I be happy with being Drogo's wife and a mother? What of my home, Dragonstone? Should I just let all of it go? She sighed heavily as she pushed her worries from her mind.

A low, mud wall bordered just outside the first dwellings, and several slaves stood there, waiting. Ser Jorah stopped, as did all her khas, and she watched as all the men handed over their weapons. "No steel blades are allowed in the city, Khaleesi," Ser Jorah explained. "We will get them back when we leave again, with no mistakes over whose weapon belongs with whom. You will see."