Daenerys could hear the morning well before she could see it. People were tending fires and preparing food for the day well before the sun began to greet the new day. She had often wondered how they managed to do it, but then reasoned that the slaves only had to wait for the last of the bloodriders to drunkenly pass out wherever they might, and then decide it was a new day. She was glad Drogo didn't do much of that anymore, well, not without her nestled in his lap, anyway. He didn't seem to mind her nodding off, either. He would just lift her up and carry her to bed when he was ready to sleep.
She rolled over and looked at him, surprised to see him still asleep next to her. He always woke up before she did. He looked beautiful, so serene and even peaceful as he slept. She reached out to touch his face, tracing her finger around his cheekbone and over his scarred brow before his hand came up and clasped hers gently. Dark green eyes met her lavender ones, and almost seemed to look through her before he smiled. She noticed that the corners of his eyes crinkled up when he smiled at her, changing his whole face. His other hand wandered down and touched the slight bulge where his son was growing, and his smile grew bigger. He leaned in for a kiss, pulled her flush against him, and held her quietly for a few moments before letting her go and sitting on the edge of the bed, rubbing his face before standing fully and stretching his arms over his head. He turned and grinned at her, catching her watching him. He leaned down and grabbed the blanket and tugged it off her, laughing quietly at her scrambling to grab it back, smacking her lightly on her naked rear as she leaned over, admiring the view. She flashed him a smile as she gave up, and flipped over on her back and grabbed a few cushions to burrow under, but he was too quick and scooped her up from the bed and set her down on her feet.
He casually bent down and retrieved her pants and handed them to her, then put on his own. She laced them up and adjusted the waistband a little to hide her bump. Apparently this is what he was waiting for her to do, because he reached out and untied them, loosened them a bit, then retied them so they settled lower on her hips, their baby suddenly on prominent display for anyone paying enough attention. He grinned at her as she huffed at him, and he sauntered out of the tent, shouting to his bloodriders as soon as he had stepped outside.
Irri came in to help braid her hair and teach her some more words. Pride was one word that she was having a hard time grasping. She was about to move on to the next one when she finally succeeded in wrapping her mouth around the word, just about the same time Irri put her palm to her breast. Her handmaiden's touch made her breast ache as if it were bruised. They felt fuller, heavier, and she had begun to wear tighter vests just to give herself some support. "What are you doing?" she asked.
"When was the last time you bleed, Khaleesi?" she asked with a smile, letting Dany know that she knew. Dany huffed a breath out, but said nothing.
"You're changing Khaleesi. It's a blessing from the Great Stallion," Irri said, smiling.
Dany gently cradled her little bump, smiling. "I know," she said. Happy 16th nameday to me, she thought, suddenly remembering. She hoped Viserys wouldn't ruin it. Irri had said he'd caught up to the khalasar when the sun's first light touched the sky, and Khal Drogo had offered him a cart to ride in. Dany had groaned inwardly at that, knowing her brother had taken the offer as genuine help instead of recognizing it as the insult it was. She was going to have to figure out a way to convince Drogo to let her brother have his horse back. It wasn't going to be easy, she knew that Drogo would enjoy the joke as long as he could. Viserys, why do you have to be so . . . stupid? Stubborn? Blind? She sighed. There really wasn't a word she knew that would cover everything her brother was.
After mounting her silver filly, she rode straight to the head of the khalasar to avoid her brother. She found her place between two of her khas with Drogo just a few horses ahead of her. Irri rode next to her, with Rakharo just behind. Surrounded and protected. She glanced back once that morning, but couldn't distinguish which cart her brother was in. Khal Rhaggat was the joke by the time the sun reached its zenith and the khalasar stopped for a little while. She sighed, knowing it couldn't be helped if the Cart King was going to be purposely culturally ignorant of the people around him.
She ate a little while they were stopped, and drank some water while standing next to her silver filly. Her stomach was suddenly churning, and her mouth watered as she broke out into a cold sweat. She sprinted out into the plain, throwing herself down in the tall grass before she started heaving, tears streaming down her face from her stomach's violent reaction to the food. She stayed there for several long minutes before taking a handful of grass to wipe her mouth. She made to stand up, jumping slightly as Drogo stood over her, leading her horse and his. He reached down and she took his hand, standing slowly. Without a word, he handed her a water skin, and encouraged her to drink. She obliged him, drinking several long swallows of the cool water as he stroked the back of her neck and pulled her hair away from her sweaty skin.
Without warning, she was back on her knees, vomiting up the water. Drogo deftly hopped back a few steps before it could touch him, and he called for Irri to tend to her, looking a little green himself. He stood back a few paces, Dany realizing he was reluctant to leave her, but he didn't seem to want to stay, either. She tried her best to shrug and smile as she knelt in the dirt and grass, waving him away with her hand before heaving again. Irri came running with more water and a wet cloth for her face. As Dany held the cloth over her face, she could smell mint. Relieved at the fresh scent, she wiped her face clean and sipped the water slowly.
All the commotion had attracted Viserys from his place in a cart further back in the khalasar. "What's the matter with her now?" he demanded impatiently. His question was directed at Irri, who steadfastly ignored him and went about tending to Dany without so much as glancing in his direction. Dany stood shakily, using Irri as support, but Drogo stepped in and scooped her up before she could make eye contact with her brother, deliberately turning his back to Viserys as he lifted Dany not onto her silver filly as she had expected, but on his red stallion. He swiftly mounted behind her and held her tightly to him as they rejoined the khalasar.
Dany kept her face buried in Drogo's chest as they began to move again, hiding from the bright sunlight and the rank smell of horse waste. She could taste the mint that Irri had used in her water, relieved that it seem to help calm her stomach. She could smell Drogo's familiar and comforting scent of clean wind and grass, sex and smoke from last night's fire. She relaxed in his embrace, willing to be held as long as he wanted her to ride with him, and drifted off to sleep.
She was being carried, she realized as she woke slowly, her mind foggy and disconnected. "Drop me," she suddenly squeaked out, and Drogo immediately set her on her feet so she could drop to the ground and vomit again. Spitting out the last bit of nastiness, she slowly sat up until she was on her knees. A blanket dropped over her shoulders, and she noticed that it was dark out. Irri guided her to the great tent, a warm bath already waiting for her. Easing herself into the warm water, she breathed a sigh of relief. Her aching muscles felt better in the water, and she didn't feel so sick.
Irri tried to get her to eat something, what she wasn't sure, but it didn't smell remotely appetizing. She just shook her head and asked for her water instead. Irri brought it to her, and moved a brazier closer to the side of her bath to warm the water more. Before long, she was feeling well enough to be interested in finding Drogo and something to eat. She pulled out her long unused sleeping silks and wrapped them around her and tied the ribbons before reaching for her heavier dressing gown. Wrapped so warmly, she headed out in search of Drogo.
She hadn't taken more than a dozen steps out of her home before her brother stood before her. "Where have you been, you little brat?" he sneered. "I've been looking everywhere for you."
She backed up a step, glancing around, desperately searching for Drogo, knowing she was going to bear the brunt of her brother's anger if she couldn't get away. "I was sick today . . . I was . . . . I was laying down," she stammered.
"Sick on purpose, you mean. You're slowing us down. I want my army, and apparently we need to go to Vaes Dothrak first. This is your fault," he raged. "Some bloody ceremony for the whelp you're carrying."
"Why . . . what?" she whispered. "I only go where Drogo tells me," she answered, trying to placate him. "You've taught me to be obedient, and I'm trying to just do as you've told me . . . " She was cut off as he slapped her face. She whimpered, but refused to cry out. Drogo is going to kill him if he sees this, she realized, panicking. She brought her hand up to her stinging cheek, and managed to block his next slap with her free hand. "Viserys, stop. Please!"
"You tell your husband that I want my army, we are marching the wrong way with my army, and I want the crown he promised me."
Dany nodded quickly, and looked down at the ground. "I will," she said softly, and backed away from him, and went back to the tent. She rubbed her cheek for a moment as she sat down on the bed. Her tummy rumbled in hunger, and she blinked back tears. She didn't dare go out now. She laid down on her bed, making sure to put her now burning cheek on the pillow to hide it. She held her little bump with one hand, silently apologizing to her baby for the lack of dinner before the tears began to run silently down her face and falling to soak the cushion below.
She could hear stirring in the tent. She opened her eyes, realizing it was much later than she thought. Drogo was trying to be quiet as he took off his boots and put his arakh by the door. He came over to the bed and stood over her for a moment, not realizing she was awake, so she sat up slightly. "I'm hungry," she whispered to him. "I was too tired to come out."
He smiled at her then, the worry suddenly gone from his eyes, and gestured to the low table where a hunk of roasted meat and some bread were waiting for her. "I hoped you might be," he said softly. "Not horse. Boar."
She got up slowly and went to the table. "Sit with me?" she asked, glad she knew the words for an invitation.
He sat next to her, and touched her chin, turning her face before she could stop him. She felt the tears swell in her eyes again, and couldn't look at him, but to her surprise, he said nothing. He kissed her cheek softly, and then her lips before pulling her into his embrace. She curled up in his arms as he began tearing her dinner into smaller pieces for her to eat.