A War of Fate and Prophecy

Chapter Two

A Dothraki Khalasar moves at the pace of the slowest among them, that is to say, the women and children whom were not on horseback. Drogo was leader of the greatest Khalasar the Dothraki had ever seen, forty thousand strong. The blood riders patrolled the edges of the slow-moving caravan and the Khal and his family travelled at it's head. That is where Alyssays found herself now, if she needed proof of what Illyrio had told her last night it had come this morning.

After a clearly satisfied and smug Drogo and a rumpled and some-what traumatized looking Daenerys had returned to them at dawn. She and her sister had been gifted with new Dothraki riding leathers to wear. Aly had admired the soft but simple well-made items even as Viserys sneered. Additionally, the Khal had presented both his new Khaleesi and the princess with handmaids, two for Dany and one for herself and a small sweet tempered red mare for Aly to ride.

When he had left them to prepare to depart Drogo had asked Ser Jorah a question that he had translated for the youngest Targaryen. "Can you ride princess?" She had assured the knight that she could indeed and after he had relayed the message to Drogo the fierce looking Khal had looked at Aly in approval.

He took a step closer to her and reached out a hand to carefully touch one of the soft curls of silver white hair that hung over her shoulder and to her waist. Aly did not shy away from him; she kept her head up and meet his dark eyes squarely. Despite her vision of Dany's wedding night, she did not get a sense that Drogo was a cruel or uncaring man, not in the way Viserys was. He clearly cared for his people, the Khalasar was well feed and prosperous and his people clearly were devoted to him. He was simply a product of his culture; this world was violent, and he was very good at being a warrior. Her bravery seemed to please him, and he gave the lock of hair a gentle tug and said something in Dothraki before turning away.

Ser Jorah smiled at her, "He said 'you will do well. Little sister.'" Jorah translated.

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Dany, Aly, and Ser Jorah had stopped their horses for a moment, as had the two blood riders who were apparently assigned to guard them.

Jorah Mormont handed them a water skin, "You need to drink, child." He told Daenerys who was clearly struggling and in a great deal of pain. After they both had drunk their fill, he held out a pouch of jerky and insisted "and eat."

Dany had reluctantly taken a piece of what they both knew was dried horse meat. "Isn't there anything else?" she asked sadly.

Jorah Mormont shrugged, "The Dothraki have two things in abundance, grass and horses. People cannot live on grass." Dany took a reluctant bite as did Aly. The taste was honestly revolting but Aly knew there was no other choice and they needed to keep up their strength, so she smiled bravely at her sister and encouraged Dany to take more.

"In the Shadow Lands beyond Asshai, they say there are fields of ghost grass with stalks as pale as milk that glow in the night. It murders all other grass. The Dothraki believe that one day it will cover everything. That's the way the world will end." Jorah told them as they chewed, trying to distract them from the taste of the meat. "It will get easier." he advised as Dany almost gagged on the meat and Aly could tell how very miserable her sister was.

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By the time the Khalasar stopped for the evening Deanery's was barely able to move, Aly was also sore from her day spent on horseback but she had not had the night before that Dany had. It took both of her handmaids to help her from her horse, which she had decided to name Silver during the day. Doreah and Irri exclaimed over Dany's raw hands from the reins and they and Alyssays and her new handmaid Acchi helped usher her into her tent. Aly saw to it that Dany had a hot bath and ate and then insisted that her sister try to rest before the Khal came to visit her for the night.