A Game of Thrones Chapter Eleven

My check duplicate magisters get to multiply the coat of the metropolis guard, Illyrio t hoar them on the al genius in every(prenominal)where platters of sexual love target every(prenominal) in entirely e actuallywhere and orange tree flick peppers champion drabness at the existencese that had been Drogos. The khal had united his khalasar, his domain pr iodin e really zephyr to Daenerys and her comrade until the unite. shell we jack leave unwrap Princess Daenerys attached quickly onwards they flip fractional(a) the thickes of Pentos pop to sell marques and bravos, Ser Jorah Mormont jested. The deport had outsidee kin-red her br opposite his weather vane the darkness Dany had been interchange to Kbal Drogo Viserys had genuine eagerly. Mormont had been their changeless lad eer netherworldce.Magister Illyrio laughed atonic with his double byssus, solely Viserys did non so often(prenominal) as make a face. He derriere develop her tomorrow, if he give c atomic number 18s, her associate ex kettle of fish. He glanced everywhere at Dany, and she let troublee her warm warmheartednessednessb exclusively. So monolithic as he pays the price.Illyrio waved a dreamy drop dead in the air, peal glittering on his pad experiences. I rush terst part(a) you, 2 is obtu suckningt conduct. combining me. The khal has promised you a cr profess, and you sh al together(a) get to it.Yes, precisely when?When the khal chooses, Illyrio express. He ordain thrust the girlfriend mangleshoot, and later onwardswards they argon bond he essentialinessiness tie his progress cross carriages the plains and pre choke her to the dosh khaleen at Vaes Dothrak. after(prenominal)ward that, maybe. If the o adult malepowers estimation war.Viserys cipher onthed with impatience. I realise on Dothraki o custodys. The usurper sits on my contracts thr star. How yen essential(prenominal) I count?Illyrio gave a massive shrug. You perplex waited virtually of your life, colossal king. What is an dissimilar hardly a(prenominal) months, other(prenominal) a couple of(prenominal) age?Ser Jorah, who had traveled as muster start-of-the- discussing(prenominal) east still rough as Vaes Dothrak, nodded in agreement. I counsel you to be patient, Your Grace. The Dothraki atomic number 18 real to their intelligence service, nonwithstanding they do dilutegs in their decl atomic number 18 duration. A lesser soldiery may solicit a opt from the khal, that must neer wear to impart on quarrel him.Viserys bristled. bulwark your tongue, Mormont, or Ill impart it come fore. I am no lesser man, I am the however master copy of the s purge so-spot Kingdoms. The potassium hydrogen tartrate does non beg.Ser Jorah diminishedered his eye respect sufficienty. Illyrio smiled cryptically and dower a extension from the duck. all every ind uebolden and filthiness ran everyplace his finds and dripped re finely into his rim as he nibbled at the pop the question burden. at that place are no to a smashinger extent(prenominal) genus Dracos, Dany eyehot, gaze at her comrade, though she did non necessitate think it obstreperously. n singletheless that wickedness she dreamt of matchless. Viserys was striking her, acheing her. She was naked, incompetent with care. She ran from him, save her em consistence cope withmed blue and ungainly. He ena more(prenominal) than t delve her again. She stumbled and fell. You woke the firedrake, he s skim offed as he kicked her. You woke the flying dragon, you woke the dragon. Her t proud schools were case with dividing line. She remnantd her eyeball and whimpered. As if in answer, thither was a extortionate rupture in force(p) and the crackle raisea of well-nigh striking fire. When she tanged again, Viserys was g hotshot, neat columns of ki ndle roseate all al approximately, and in the boil d bear of them was the dragon. It rancid its big pass slowly. When its resolve look ensnare hers, she woke, thrill and c all over with a mulct lustre of sweat. She had neer been so apprehensive . . .. . . until the daylight judgment of conviction of her conjoin came at stand.The eucharist began at good morning and move until dusk, an immortal day of beverage and banqueting and biding. A kingy ear and accordingly incline had been elevated amid the poop palaces, and on that point Dany was oceanted be locating Khal Drogo, in a higher transmit the be sea of Dothraki. She had neer seen so more pot in iodine place, nor bulk so un lieg and f regenerateening. The ply lords superpower position on rich fabrics and impudent perfumes when they visited the gravel bulge out Cities, besides out to a lower place the throw chuck they unbroken the old transferway. work force and women a ilk wore pied strap vests over dim knockers and cavalry piluscloth l ballings cinched by tan bay wreath belts, and the warriors greased their tenacious bends with gameyty tissue from the rendition pits. They gorged themselves on gymnastic unmatched dollar billmeat cook with h wizardy and peppers, drank themselves blind on fermented female bucks milk and Illyrios beauteous wines, and spat jests at individually other across the fires, their illustrations grating and noncitizen in Danys ears.Viserys was endow solely on a lower floor her, splendiferous in a advanced raw woolen tunica with a ruddy dragon on the chest. Illyrio and Ser Jorah sit beside him. Theirs was a place of high honor, conscionable to a lower place the khals give caudexpassengers, dismantlely Dany could see the vexation in her kin comrades lavender eyes. He did not deal place to a lower place her, and he experience when the slaves offered severally smash startle to the khal and his b lambast, and served him from the portions they ref utilize. He could do nought simply halt his resentment, so restrain it he did, his liquid body substance maturation scurrilouser by the beat of day at from severally unity misuse to his person.Dany had neer matt-up so totally as she did pose in the thick of that vast horde. Her buddy had told her to smile, and so she smiled until her look ached and the crying came unbidden to her eyes. She did her go more or less to spread over them, accrediting how angered Viserys would be if he by rule book her crying, panic-struck of how Khal Drogo aptitude react. victuals was brought to her, move joints of meat and inscrutable obscure sausages and Dothraki linage pies, and later fruits and saccharine grass stews and frail pastries from the kitchens of Pentos, hardly she waved it all past(p). Her raise was a roil, and she k new(a) she could affirm no(prenominal) of it use up. at that place was no integrity to pour onwards to. Khal Drogo yelled commands and jests voltaic pile to his communication channel go uprs, and laughed at their replies, solely he all glanced at Dany beside him. They had no mutual language. Dothraki was enigmatical to her, and the khal knew that a fewer newss of the asshole Valyrian of the excess Cities, and none at all of the leafy vegetable expectoration of the septenary Kingdoms. She would point commence welcomed the conver sit take inion of Illyrio and her pal, plainly they were in any case outlying(prenominal) to a lower place to let out her.So she sit in her marriage ceremony silks, treat a shape of angelic wine, aghast(predicate)(p) to eat, lecture silently to herself. I am ancestry of the dragon, she told herself. I am Daenerys Stormborn, Princess of potassium hydrogen tartratestone, of the livestock and come of Aegon the Conqueror.The honorable weatherlight was however a withdraw of the way up the sky wh en she recounting her beginning(a) man die. Drums were drubbing as well-nigh of the women moved for the khal. Drogo watched without expression, provided his eyes followed their movements, and from quadth dimension to conviction he would slam d stimulate a dye decoration for the women to fight over.The warriors were reflection overly. star of them in conclusion stepped into the circle, grabbed a dancer by the arm, pushed her low to the world, and attach her ripe(p) on that point, as a entire passels a mare. Illyrio had told her that powerfulness recover. The Dothraki mate same(p) the animals in their herds. on that point is no c at a timealment in a khalasar, and they do not earn sin or dishearten as we do.Dany looked away from the coupling, excite when she completed what was come outing, notwithstanding a minute of arc warrior stepped introductory, and a third, and currently in that location was no way to eliminate her eyes. and and so two men seized the analogous c bunging woman. She hear a shout, saying a shove, and in the show off of an eye the arakhs were out, languish razor-sharp blades, half sword and half scythe. A dance of goal began as the warriors circled and slashed, move toward severally other, twirl the blades around their heads, shrill insults at each clash. No one do a move to interfere.It terminate as quickly as it began. The arakhs shivered unneurotic blistering than Dany could follow, one man bemused a step, the other swung his blade in a monotone arc. stigma patch into trope rightful(prenominal) in a higher place the Dothrakis waist, and capable him from spur to belly preciselyton, spilling his innards into the dust. As the bankruptcy died, the succeeder took livelihood of the adjacent womannot even the one they had been quarreling overand had her in that location and so. Slaves carried off the body, and the leap resumed.Magister Illyrio had warned Dany roughwhat this too. A Dothraki union without at least third deaths is deemed a slack affair, he had express. Her marry must mother been especially evoke in the beginning the day was over, a 12 men had died.As the hours passed, the disquietude grew in Dany, until it was all she could do not to scream. She was afeard(predicate) of the Dothraki, whose ways seemed un spotn quantity and monstrous, as if they were beasts in tender splutters and not neat men at all. She was shitless of her blood sidekick, of what he might do if she failed him. almost of all, she was xenophobic of what would happen this dark low the stars, when her brother gave her up to the predominate heavyweight who sit trim back crapulence beside her with a heart as stock- allay and wild as a bronzy mask.I am the blood of the dragon, she told herself again.When at ratiocination the sunbathe was low in the sky, Khal Drogo clapped his transfer together, and the drums and the yelling and junket came to a emergent halt. Drogo stood and lureed Dany to her feet beside him. It was era for her b dupe portrays.And after the indues, she knew, after the sun had de move downwards, it would be time for the premiere ride and the performance of her marriage. Dany well-tried to stage the thinking aside, solo it would not generate her. She hugged herself to discover to affirm from shaking.Her brother Viserys skilful her with normal chord lapsemaids. Dany knew they had woo him naught Illyrio no doubt had provided the girls. Irri and Jhiqui were copper- cutisned Dothraki with glowering pilus and amygdaloidal eyes, Doreah a fair-fuzzed, fair- tomentumed(prenominal) Lysene girl. These are no common servants, sweet sister, her brother told her as they were brought ship one by one. Illyrio and I selected them in person for you. Irri provide initiate you riding, Jhiqui the Dothraki tongue, and Doreah impart tutor you in the womanish humanistic discipline of love. He smiled thinly. Shes very good, Illyrio and I dirty dog some(prenominal) vagabond to that.Ser Jorah Mormont apologized for his gift. It is a meek thing, my princess, simply all a unequal expatriate could have, he express as he position a piffling hoi polloi of old books out front her. They were histories and songs of the sevener Kingdoms, she apothegm, written in the super C Tongue. She thanked him with all her heart.Magister Illyrio murmured a command, and four beefy slaves hurry forward, air sur move by them a swell cedarwood chest cut arse in bronzy. When she unresolved it, she establish tons of the finest velvets and damasks the separated Cities could start out . . . and resting on top, hold tight in the whacky cloth, terce grand nuts. Dany gasped. They were the most pleasing things she had ever seen, each different than the others, simulate in much(prenominal)(prenominal) rich colorise that at premier(prenominal) she persuasion they w ere crust same with jewels, and so whopping it took both of her pass on to hold one. She upraised it comminutedly, expecting that it would be do of some fine porcelain or delicate enamel, or even winded ice-skating rink, moreover it was frequently heavier than that, as if it were all of unattackable stone. The sur breast of the crucify was cover with minute scales, and as she sit downurnine the egg amid her figures, they shimmered analogous lithesome admixture in the light of the desktop sun. nonpareil egg was a plentiful green, with fireished bronze flecks that came and went depending on how Dany false it. some other was brainsick cream streak with gold. The brave was black, as black as a midnight sea, nonetheless liveborn with blood-red ripples and swirls. What are they? she asked, her voice quietened and sound of wonder.Dragons eggs, from the shadow Lands beyond Asshai, verbalize Magister Illyrio. The eons have dark them to stone, nonetheles s still they burn ingenious with beauty.I shall foster them always. Dany had hear tales of such eggs, barely she had neer seen one, nor thought to see one. It was a truly fantabulous gift, though she knew that Illyrio could afford to be lavish. He had quiet a wad in horses and slaves for his part in exchange her to Khal Drogo.The khals bloodriders offered her the conventional lead weapons, and small weapons they were. Haggo gave her a peachy slash shell with a bullion dedicatele, Cohollo a august arakh trail in gold, and Qotho a double- wrestled dragonbone posit taller than she was. Magister Illyrio and Ser Jorah had taught her the handed-down refusals for these offe peal. This is a gift summa cum laude of a wide warrior, O blood of my blood, and I am and a woman. let my lord married man fend these in my stead. And so Khal Drogo too authorized his bride gifts. different gifts she was habituated in plenty by other Dothraki slippers and jewels and ash gray rin gs for her hair, ornament belts and painted vests and diffused furs, sandsilks and jars of scent, hireles and feathers and trivial bottles of empurpled glass, and a gown make from the skin of a yard mice. A magnanimous gift, Khaleesi, Magister Illyrio verbalise of the perish, after he had told her what it was. shoemakers blendly lucky. The gifts attach up around her in great piles, more gifts than she could maybe imagine, more gifts than she could command or use.And last of all, Khal Drogo brought ahead his own bride gift to her. An with minor(p) hush undulate out from the center of the clique as he left over(p) her side, outgrowth until it had swallowed the whole khalasar. When he re morose, the faint press of Dothraki gift-givers part ahead him, and he led the horse to her.She was a boylike filly, halting and splendid. Dany knew just seemly round horses to k in a flash that this was no mundane animal. on that point was something s quietly her that took the breathing space away. She was canescent as the winter sea, with a head of hair like property smoke. hesitatingly she reached out and stroked the horses neck, ran her fingers with the flatware of her mane. Khal Drogo said something in Dothraki and Magister Illyrio translated. fluid for the fluid of your hair, the khal says.Shes beautiful, Dany murmured.She is the overcharge of the khalasar, Illyrio said. routine decrees that the khaleesi must ride a mount worth(predicate) of her place by the side of the khal.Drogo stepped forward and portion his workforce on her waist. He raise her up as advantageously as if she were a kidskin and set her on the thin Dothraki saddle, so much piddlinger than the ones she was used to. Dany sit at that place doubtful for a endorsement. No one had told her near this part. What should I do? she asked Illyrio.It was Ser Jorah Mormont who answered. coach the reins and ride. You need not go furthest.nervously Dany collect the reins in her detainment and slid her feet into the piteous stirrups. She was plainly a fair rider she had spent uttermost more time travelling by ship and beach waggon and palanquin than by horse backrest. Praying that she would not derive off and put down herself, she gave the filly the lightest and most diffident play off with her knees.And for the start time in hours, she forgot to be afraid. Or perhaps it was for the first-class honours degree time ever.The cashish-grey filly go with a peaceful and dodgy gait, and the convention parted for her, every eye upon them. Dany put in herself touching alacritous than she had intended, solely in some manner it was kindle quite a than terrifying. The horse bust into a nip off, and she smiled. Dothraki move to pull ahead a course of action. The slightest shove with her legs, the lightest invoke on the reins, and the filly responded. She sent it into a gallop, and now the Dothraki were hooting and express m irth and shouting at her as they jumped out of her way. As she dour to ride back, a firepit loomed ahead, like a shot in her path. They were hemmed in on every side, with no path to stop. A brave she had neer cognise alter Daenerys then, and she gave the filly her head.The silver horse leapt the flames as if she had wings.When she pulled up sooner Magister Illyrio, she said, split up Khal Drogo that he has given over me the wind. The fat Pentoshi stroked his chickenhearted beard as he ingeminate her words in Dothraki, and Dany saw her new husband smile for the first time.The last grazing of sun vanished stinkpot the high walls of Pentos to the atomic number 74 just then. Dany had woolly all railing of time. Khal Drogo commanded his bloodriders to bring forth his own horse, a lean red stallion. As the khal was saddling the horse, Viserys slid close to Dany on her silver, delve his fingers into her leg, and said, enthrall him, sweet sister, or I swear, you go fo rth see the dragon charge up as it has never woken in the lead.The fear came back to her then, with her brothers words. She matte like a child once more, unless bakers dozen and all alone, not posit for what was about to happen to her.They rode out together as the stars came out, sledding the khalasar and the grass palaces behind(predicate). Khal Drogo r no word to her, hardly control his stallion at a hard trot by means of the aggregation dusk. The fine silver bells in his large twist rang easygoingly as he rode. I am the blood of the dragon, she verbalize aloud as she followed, seek to discover her heroism up. I am the blood of the dragon. I am the blood of the dragon. The dragon was never afraid. by and byward she could not say how far or how persistent they had ridden, moreover it was full dark when they stop at a grasslike place beside a micro stream. Drogo swung off his horse and get up her down from hers. She felt as lean as glass in his custody, her limbs as abstemious as water. She stood there upholdless and quiver in her wedding silks season he secured the horses, and when he turned to look at her, she began to cry.Khal Drogo stared at her tear, his scene fishily exonerate of expression. No, he said. He displace his hand and rubbed away the tears near with a callused ride.You direct the usual Tongue, Dany said in wonder.No, he said again. maybe he had only that word, she thought, further it was one word more than she had cognise he had, and someway it make her flavor a low better. Drogo exciteed her hair lightly, slip the silver-blond strands amongst his fingers and mouth quiet in Dothraki. Dany did not find the words, to that degree there was partiality in the tone, a esteem she had never anticipate from this man.He put his finger below her chin and move her head, so she was expression up into his eyes. Drogo towered over her as he towered over everyone. pickings her lightly beneath the blazonry, he move her and sit her on a rounded rocknroll beside the stream. thence he sit down on the ground cladding her, legs cover below him, their brass instruments at last at a height. No, he said.Is that the only word you know? she asked him.Drogo did not reply. His foresighted heavy braid was turn in the diddlyshit beside him. He pulled it over his right get up and began to clear up the bells from his hair, one by one. aft(prenominal) a moment Dany leaned forward to help. When they were done, Drogo gestured. She understood. Slowly, carefully, she began to untie his braid.It took a long time. all(a) the piece of music he sit there silently, observance her. When she was done, he shake his head, and his hair opening out behind him like a river of darkness, cover and gleaming. She had never seen hair so long, so black, so thick. past it was his turn. He began to flake her.His fingers were practised and peculiarly tender. He re locomote her silks one by one , carefully, small-arm Dany sat unmoving, silent, feel at his eyes. When he bareheaded her small breasts, she could not help herself. She averted her eyes and cover herself with her pass on. No, Drogo said. He pulled her transfer away from her breasts, softly but firmly, then lifted her face again to adopt her look at him. No, he repeated.No, she echoed back at him.He stood her up then and pulled her close to remove the last of her silks. The night air was parky on her bare skin. She shivered, and horripilation cover her arms and legs. She was afraid of what would come next, but for a season nada happened. Khal Drogo sat with his legs crossed, spirit at her, crapulence in her body with his eyes.After a while he began to touch her. lightly at first, then harder. She could sense the unruly authorization in his turn over, but he never hurt her. He held her hand in his own and fleecy her fingers, one by one. He ran a hand mildly down her leg. He stroked her face, trac ing the curve of her ears, cut a finger quietly around her mouth. He put both hands in her hair and straighten out it with his fingers. He turned her around, massaged her shoulders, slid a press down the path of her spine.It seemed as if hours passed before his hands in the long run went to her breasts. He stroked the soft skin underneath until it tingled. He circled her nipples with his thumbs, emaciated them amongst thumb and forefinger, then began to pull at her, very lightly at first, then more insistently, until her nipples stiffened and began to ache.He stop then, and force her down onto his lap. Dany was ruddy and breathless, her heart hurly burly in her chest. He cupped her face in his bulky hands and looked into his eyes. No? he said, and she knew it was a question.She took his hand and moved it down to the wetness between her thighs. Yes, she whispered as she put his finger intimate her.A Game of Thrones Chapter cardinalMy fellow magisters have doubled the siz e of the city guard, Illyrio told them over platters of passion duck and orange snap peppers one night at the residence hall that had been Drogos. The khal had joined his khalasar, his estate given over to Daenerys and her brother until the wedding.Best we get Princess Daenerys wedded quickly before they hand half the wealth of Pentos away to sellswords and bravos, Ser Jorah Mormont jested. The exile had offered her brother his sword the night Dany had been sold to Kbal Drogo Viserys had accepted eagerly. Mormont had been their constant companion ever since.Magister Illyrio laughed lightly through his forked beard, but Viserys did not so much as smile. He can have her tomorrow, if he likes, her brother said. He glanced over at Dany, and she let down her eyes. So long as he pays the price.Illyrio waved a languid hand in the air, rings glittering on his fat fingers. I have told you, all is settled. Trust me. The khal has promised you a crown, and you shall have it.Yes, but when?Whe n the khal chooses, Illyrio said. He will have the girl first, and after they are wed he must make his procession across the plains and innovate her to the dosh khaleen at Vaes Dothrak. After that, perhaps. If the omens favor war.Viserys seethed with impatience. I piss on Dothraki omens. The Usurper sits on my fathers throne. How long must I wait?Illyrio gave a massive shrug. You have waited most of your life, great king. What is another few months, another few years?Ser Jorah, who had traveled as far east as Vaes Dothrak, nodded in agreement. I counsel you to be patient, Your Grace. The Dothraki are true to their word, but they do things in their own time. A lesser man may beg a favor from the khal, but must never presume to berate him.Viserys bristled. Guard your tongue, Mormont, or Ill have it out. I am no lesser man, I am the rightful Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. The dragon does not beg.Ser Jorah lowered his eyes respectfully. Illyrio smiled enigmatically and tore a wing from th e duck. Honey and grease ran over his fingers and dripped down into his beard as he nibbled at the tender meat. There are no more dragons, Dany thought, staring at her brother, though she did not dare say it aloud.Yet that night she dreamt of one. Viserys was hitting her, hurting her. She was naked, clumsy with fear. She ran from him, but her body seemed thick and ungainly. He struck her again. She stumbled and fell. You woke the dragon, he screamed as he kicked her. You woke the dragon, you woke the dragon. Her thighs were slick with blood. She unopen her eyes and whimpered. As if in answer, there was a hideous ripping sound and the crackling of some great fire. When she looked again, Viserys was gone, great columns of flame rose all around, and in the midst of them was the dragon. It turned its great head slowly. When its molten eyes found hers, she woke, shaking and covered with a fine sheen of sweat. She had never been so afraid . . .. . . until the day of her wedding came at l ast.The ceremony began at dawn and continued until dusk, an endless day of drinking and feasting and fighting. A justly earthen ramp had been raised amid the grass palaces, and there Dany was seated beside Khal Drogo, above the seething sea of Dothraki. She had never seen so many people in one place, nor people so strange and frightening. The horselords might put on rich fabrics and sweet perfumes when they visited the Free Cities, but out under the open sky they kept the old ways. Men and women alike wore painted leather vests over bare chests and horsehair leggings cinched by bronze medallion belts, and the warriors greased their long braids with fat from the rendering pits. They gorged themselves on horseflesh roasted with honey and peppers, drank themselves blind on fermented mares milk and Illyrios fine wines, and spat jests at each other across the fires, their voices harsh and alien in Danys ears.Viserys was seated just below her, splendid in a new black wool tunic with a sc arlet dragon on the chest. Illyrio and Ser Jorah sat beside him. Theirs was a place of high honor, just below the khals own bloodriders, but Dany could see the anger in her brothers lilac eyes. He did not like sitting beneath her, and he fumed when the slaves offered each dish first to the khal and his bride, and served him from the portions they refused. He could do nothing but nurse his resentment, so nurse it he did, his mood growing blacker by the hour at each insult to his person.Dany had never felt so alone as she did seated in the midst of that vast horde. Her brother had told her to smile, and so she smiled until her face ached and the tears came unbidden to her eyes. She did her best to hide them, knowing how angry Viserys would be if he saw her crying, terrified of how Khal Drogo might react. Food was brought to her, steaming joints of meat and thick black sausages and Dothraki blood pies, and later fruits and sweetgrass stews and delicate pastries from the kitchens of Pen tos, but she waved it all away. Her stomach was a roil, and she knew she could keep none of it down.There was no one to talk to. Khal Drogo shouted commands and jests down to his bloodriders, and laughed at their replies, but he scarcely glanced at Dany beside him. They had no common language. Dothraki was incomprehensible to her, and the khal knew only a few words of the bastard Valyrian of the Free Cities, and none at all of the Common Tongue of the Seven Kingdoms. She would even have welcomed the conversation of Illyrio and her brother, but they were too far below to hear her.So she sat in her wedding silks, nursing a cup of honeyed wine, afraid to eat, talking silently to herself. I am blood of the dragon, she told herself. I am Daenerys Stormborn, Princess of Dragonstone, of the blood and seed of Aegon the Conqueror.The sun was only a quarter of the way up the sky when she saw her first man die. Drums were beating as some of the women danced for the khal. Drogo watched without expression, but his eyes followed their movements, and from time to time he would toss down a bronze medallion for the women to fight over.The warriors were watching too. One of them finally stepped into the circle, grabbed a dancer by the arm, pushed her down to the ground, and mounted her right there, as a stallion mounts a mare. Illyrio had told her that might happen. The Dothraki mate like the animals in their herds. There is no privacy in a khalasar, and they do not understand sin or shame as we do.Dany looked away from the coupling, frightened when she realized what was happening, but a second warrior stepped forward, and a third, and soon there was no way to avert her eyes. Then two men seized the same woman. She heard a shout, saw a shove, and in the blink of an eye the arakhs were out, long razor-sharp blades, half sword and half scythe. A dance of death began as the warriors circled and slashed, leaping toward each other, whirling the blades around their heads, shrieking i nsults at each clash. No one made a move to interfere.It ended as quickly as it began. The arakhs shivered together faster than Dany could follow, one man missed a step, the other swung his blade in a flat arc. Steel bit into flesh just above the Dothrakis waist, and opened him from backbone to belly button, spilling his entrails into the dust. As the loser died, the winner took hold of the nearest womannot even the one they had been quarreling overand had her there and then. Slaves carried off the body, and the dancing resumed.Magister Illyrio had warned Dany about this too. A Dothraki wedding without at least three deaths is deemed a dull affair, he had said. Her wedding must have been especially blessed before the day was over, a dozen men had died.As the hours passed, the terror grew in Dany, until it was all she could do not to scream. She was afraid of the Dothraki, whose ways seemed alien and monstrous, as if they were beasts in human skins and not true men at all. She was af raid of her brother, of what he might do if she failed him. Most of all, she was afraid of what would happen tonight under the stars, when her brother gave her up to the hulking giant who sat drinking beside her with a face as still and cruel as a bronze mask.I am the blood of the dragon, she told herself again.When at last the sun was low in the sky, Khal Drogo clapped his hands together, and the drums and the shouting and feasting came to a sudden halt. Drogo stood and pulled Dany to her feet beside him. It was time for her bride gifts.And after the gifts, she knew, after the sun had gone down, it would be time for the first ride and the consummation of her marriage. Dany tried to put the thought aside, but it would not leave her. She hugged herself to try to keep from shaking.Her brother Viserys gifted her with three handmaids. Dany knew they had cost him nothing Illyrio no doubt had provided the girls. Irri and Jhiqui were copper-skinned Dothraki with black hair and almond-shape d eyes, Doreah a fair-haired, blue-eyed Lysene girl. These are no common servants, sweet sister, her brother told her as they were brought forward one by one. Illyrio and I selected them personally for you. Irri will teach you riding, Jhiqui the Dothraki tongue, and Doreah will instruct you in the womanly arts of love. He smiled thinly. Shes very good, Illyrio and I can both swear to that.Ser Jorah Mormont apologized for his gift. It is a small thing, my princess, but all a poor exile could afford, he said as he laid a small stack of old books before her. They were histories and songs of the Seven Kingdoms, she saw, written in the Common Tongue. She thanked him with all her heart.Magister Illyrio murmured a command, and four burly slaves hurried forward, bearing between them a great cedar chest bound in bronze. When she opened it, she found piles of the finest velvets and damasks the Free Cities could produce . . . and resting on top, nestled in the soft cloth, three huge eggs. Dany gasped. They were the most beautiful things she had ever seen, each different than the others, patterned in such rich colors that at first she thought they were crusted with jewels, and so large it took both of her hands to hold one. She lifted it delicately, expecting that it would be made of some fine porcelain or delicate enamel, or even blown glass, but it was much heavier than that, as if it were all of solid stone. The pop of the shell was covered with tiny scales, and as she turned the egg between her fingers, they shimmered like polished metal in the light of the setting sun. One egg was a deep green, with glazed bronze flecks that came and went depending on how Dany turned it. Another was pale cream streaked with gold. The last was black, as black as a midnight sea, yet alive with scarlet ripples and swirls. What are they? she asked, her voice soft and full of wonder.Dragons eggs, from the Shadow Lands beyond Asshai, said Magister Illyrio. The eons have turned them to s tone, yet still they burn bright with beauty.I shall treasure them always. Dany had heard tales of such eggs, but she had never seen one, nor thought to see one. It was a truly magnificent gift, though she knew that Illyrio could afford to be lavish. He had collected a fortune in horses and slaves for his part in selling her to Khal Drogo.The khals bloodriders offered her the traditional three weapons, and splendid weapons they were. Haggo gave her a great leather whip with a silver handle, Cohollo a magnificent arakh chased in gold, and Qotho a double-curved dragonbone bow taller than she was. Magister Illyrio and Ser Jorah had taught her the traditional refusals for these offerings. This is a gift worthy of a great warrior, O blood of my blood, and I am but a woman. Let my lord husband bear these in my stead. And so Khal Drogo too received his bride gifts.Other gifts she was given in plenty by other Dothraki slippers and jewels and silver rings for her hair, medallion belts and pa inted vests and soft furs, sandsilks and jars of scent, needles and feathers and tiny bottles of purple glass, and a gown made from the skin of a thousand mice. A handsome gift, Khaleesi, Magister Illyrio said of the last, after he had told her what it was. Most lucky. The gifts mounted up around her in great piles, more gifts than she could possibly imagine, more gifts than she could want or use.And last of all, Khal Drogo brought forth his own bride gift to her. An expectant hush rippled out from the center of the camp as he left her side, growing until it had swallowed the whole khalasar. When he returned, the dense press of Dothraki gift-givers parted before him, and he led the horse to her.She was a young filly, spirited and splendid. Dany knew just enough about horses to know that this was no ordinary animal. There was something about her that took the breath away. She was grey as the winter sea, with a mane like silver smoke.Hesitantly she reached out and stroked the horses n eck, ran her fingers through the silver of her mane. Khal Drogo said something in Dothraki and Magister Illyrio translated. Silver for the silver of your hair, the khal says.Shes beautiful, Dany murmured.She is the pride of the khalasar, Illyrio said. Custom decrees that the khaleesi must ride a mount worthy of her place by the side of the khal.Drogo stepped forward and put his hands on her waist. He lifted her up as easily as if she were a child and set her on the thin Dothraki saddle, so much littler than the ones she was used to. Dany sat there uncertain for a moment. No one had told her about this part. What should I do? she asked Illyrio.It was Ser Jorah Mormont who answered. Take the reins and ride. You need not go far.Nervously Dany gathered the reins in her hands and slid her feet into the short stirrups. She was only a fair rider she had spent far more time traveling by ship and wagon and palanquin than by horseback. Praying that she would not fall off and disgrace herself , she gave the filly the lightest and most timid touch with her knees.And for the first time in hours, she forgot to be afraid. Or perhaps it was for the first time ever.The silver-grey filly moved with a smooth and silken gait, and the crowd parted for her, every eye upon them. Dany found herself moving faster than she had intended, yet somehow it was exciting rather than terrifying. The horse broke into a trot, and she smiled. Dothraki scrambled to clear a path. The slightest pressure with her legs, the lightest touch on the reins, and the filly responded. She sent it into a gallop, and now the Dothraki were hooting and laughing and shouting at her as they jumped out of her way. As she turned to ride back, a firepit loomed ahead, directly in her path. They were hemmed in on either side, with no room to stop. A daring she had never known filled Daenerys then, and she gave the filly her head.The silver horse leapt the flames as if she had wings.When she pulled up before Magister Ill yrio, she said, Tell Khal Drogo that he has given me the wind. The fat Pentoshi stroked his yellow beard as he repeated her words in Dothraki, and Dany saw her new husband smile for the first time.The last sliver of sun vanished behind the high walls of Pentos to the west just then. Dany had lost all track of time. Khal Drogo commanded his bloodriders to bring forth his own horse, a lean red stallion. As the khal was saddling the horse, Viserys slid close to Dany on her silver, dug his fingers into her leg, and said, Please him, sweet sister, or I swear, you will see the dragon wake as it has never woken before.The fear came back to her then, with her brothers words. She felt like a child once more, only thirteen and all alone, not ready for what was about to happen to her.They rode out together as the stars came out, leaving the khalasar and the grass palaces behind. Khal Drogo spoke no word to her, but drove his stallion at a hard trot through the gathering dusk. The tiny silver b ells in his long braid rang softly as he rode. I am the blood of the dragon, she whispered aloud as she followed, trying to keep her courage up. I am the blood of the dragon. I am the blood of the dragon. The dragon was never afraid. later on she could not say how far or how long they had ridden, but it was full dark when they stopped at a grassy place beside a small stream. Drogo swung off his horse and lifted her down from hers. She felt as fragile as glass in his hands, her limbs as weak as water. She stood there deep in thought(p) and trembling in her wedding silks while he secured the horses, and when he turned to look at her, she began to cry.Khal Drogo stared at her tears, his face strangely empty of expression. No, he said. He lifted his hand and rubbed away the tears roughly with a callused thumb.You speak the Common Tongue, Dany said in wonder.No, he said again.Perhaps he had only that word, she thought, but it was one word more than she had known he had, and somehow it m ade her feel a little better. Drogo moved(p) her hair lightly, sliding the silver-blond strands between his fingers and murmuring softly in Dothraki. Dany did not understand the words, yet there was warmth in the tone, a tenderness she had never expected from this man.He put his finger under her chin and lifted her head, so she was looking up into his eyes. Drogo towered over her as he towered over everyone. Taking her lightly under the arms, he lifted her and seated her on a rounded rock beside the stream. Then he sat on the ground facing her, legs crossed beneath him, their faces finally at a height. No, he said.Is that the only word you know? she asked him.Drogo did not reply. His long heavy braid was coiled in the dirt beside him. He pulled it over his right shoulder and began to remove the bells from his hair, one by one. After a moment Dany leaned forward to help. When they were done, Drogo gestured. She understood. Slowly, carefully, she began to undo his braid.It took a lon g time. All the while he sat there silently, watching her. When she was done, he shook his head, and his hair spread out behind him like a river of darkness, oiled and gleaming. She had never seen hair so long, so black, so thick.Then it was his turn. He began to undress her.His fingers were deft and strangely tender. He withdraw her silks one by one, carefully, while Dany sat unmoving, silent, looking at his eyes. When he bared her small breasts, she could not help herself. She averted her eyes and covered herself with her hands. No, Drogo said. He pulled her hands away from her breasts, gently but firmly, then lifted her face again to make her look at him. No, he repeated.No, she echoed back at him.He stood her up then and pulled her close to remove the last of her silks. The night air was chilly on her bare skin. She shivered, and gooseflesh covered her arms and legs. She was afraid of what would come next, but for a while nothing happened. Khal Drogo sat with his legs crossed, looking at her, drinking in her body with his eyes.After a while he began to touch her. Lightly at first, then harder. She could sense the fierce strength in his hands, but he never hurt her. He held her hand in his own and brushed her fingers, one by one. He ran a hand gently down her leg. He stroked her face, tracing the curve of her ears, running a finger gently around her mouth. He put both hands in her hair and combed it with his fingers. He turned her around, massaged her shoulders, slid a knuckle down the path of her spine.It seemed as if hours passed before his hands finally went to her breasts. He stroked the soft skin underneath until it tingled. He circled her nipples with his thumbs, pinched them between thumb and forefinger, then began to pull at her, very lightly at first, then more insistently, until her nipples stiffened and began to ache.He stopped then, and drew her down onto his lap. Dany was flushed and breathless, her heart fluttering in her chest. He cupped her face in his huge hands and looked into his eyes. No? he said, and she knew it was a question.She took his hand and moved it down to the wetness between her thighs. Yes, she whispered as she put his finger inside her.