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"Waaaaa!" A baby's cry pierced the dawn.
The sky was just beginning to lighten, and the Dothraki in the tent were still sleeping soundly. Only the eunuchs and slaves moved quietly back and forth through the morning mist.
"Khaleesi." The maid greeted softly while cradling the child.
Jhiqui and Irri were Dothraki girls with bronze skin and black hair. They had been wedding gifts to Dany.
Daenerys Targaryen, born amidst storm and thunder, Khaleesi of the largest khalasar on the Dothraki Sea, and mother of the stallion who would mount the world. She asked softly, "Is it Rhaegal?"
"It's Viserion, Khaleesi." The maid rocked the child gently in her arms.
Among Dany's handmaidens was a girl from Lys named Doreah. She was the oldest among them and had the most experience in childcare, but the Dothraki did not allow wet nurses to care for the children of their warriors.
Drogo's bloodrider Cohollo had said, "Those who need wet nurses are all cowards, and so are their children. The milk of weaklings is not worthy of noble horsemen."
Just then, the child in another maid's arms burst into tears, as if the sound had disturbed his sweet dreams.
Dany hurried over, thinking that this was truly the waking of the dragon.
"Are they hungry?" Dany held little Rhaegal in her arms and prepared to feed him.
"We have fed him mare's milk," Jhiqui said. The great horsemen grew up drinking mare's milk. They learned to ride horses from birth, regardless of whether they were men or women, and they would ride until the day they died. "It's fresh mare's milk, taken from pregnant mares during the night."
But the baby still sucked hard, clutching at her with both hands, though he had stopped crying.
By now, morning light was streaming into the tent, and the horsemen began mounting their steeds one by one. They had crossed the Forest of Qohor and set out from the Dothraki Sea, heading all the way to the western coast of Essos.
When Dany mounted her silver mare, she was flanked by her three handmaidens and an armored knight, with her khas—the small group of warriors that she, as Khaleesi, commanded—riding behind her.
Rhaegal and Viserion were carried on the backs of the maids in silk slings.
"Where are we, ser?" Dany asked Jorah Mormont.
Ser Jorah was undoubtedly well-informed. Once the Lord of Bear Island and loyal to House Stark in the North, he had become an exile for selling a few slaves. He had wandered Essos for years and visited many lands.
He had sworn himself to Viserys, and now he had sworn himself to Dany.
Drogo had kept his promise and given Viserys a golden crown, though not the one he wanted. Her brother had promised to take her home, the home across the Narrow Sea, but he had failed. Now Drogo would reclaim their family's Iron Throne, and he would kill the usurper to avenge her father and brother Rhaegar.
"We're almost to Myr, Khaleesi."
Myr was renowned for its fine craftsmanship—the most exquisite lace, lenses and woodcarvings. Throughout both Essos and Westeros across the Narrow Sea, people regarded Myrish silk as a symbol of wealth.
Viserys had once told her that there was a Myrish carpet in the hall of the Red Keep that stretched from the Iron Throne to the bronze-inlaid door.
"Myr, Tyrion and Lys were once allied as the Kingdom of the Three Daughters, but this alliance lasted only thirty years," the knowledgeable Ser Jorah explained, recounting the history of Myr.
"Aren't Tyrion and Lys enemies?" Dany asked.
They were returning from Lys.
"Volantis was once powerful. Their army broke through Myr and their navy conquered Lys, which forced the three Daughter cities to form an alliance to fight their common enemy. But the final victory was won by your ancestor, Aegon the Conqueror, riding the black dread Balerion." Jorah knew she liked to hear these tales.
When he spoke of Rhaegar and Aegon the Conqueror, her face always lit up with delight.
"After the defeat of Volantis, Myr allied with Tyrion against Lys," Ser Jorah continued.
But now they were outright enemies. He had crossed the bay with Khal Drogo's khalasar, broken through the walls of Lys, and plundered the city-state.
The Archon of Tyrion had promised that if they helped him capture Lys, he would help them capture King's Landing.
With the combined efforts of pirates, sellswords, and Dothraki, Lys hadn't held out for long.
Originally, they were supposed to sail directly back to Tyrion, but Khal Drogo had strongly insisted they land on the shore and ride back to Tyrion. The ship was not the wooden warhorse floating on the sea that the Khal had imagined.
Many Dothraki warriors had been sick, vomiting throughout the voyage, and when they landed, they had little energy left to fight. Drogo told Dany that these mounted warriors should not cross the sea to Westeros until they could overcome their seasickness.
"They can capture King's Landing just as they captured Lys, right?" Dany asked him.
Jorah considered this. He had heard some news recently. "The horsemen are not good at sieges, Khaleesi. The walls of King's Landing are much thicker than those of Lys, and they will not let us land so easily."
"But you said that Robert Baratheon would fight Drogo."
"It is no longer Robert who sits on the Iron Throne, but his eldest son Joffrey Baratheon. He is only thirteen years old and not as brave as his father."
"The usurper is dead?" Dany's face showed surprise.
Ser Jorah nodded. He had died, and died at the tusks of a wild boar. This was such a frustrating and foolish way to die. If he had to choose, Jorah would rather die on the battlefield.
Some people said the wild boar was the incarnation of Rhaegar. Jorah would not tell Daenerys that—it was an insult to call a true dragon a wild boar. He thought, unless the wild boar had silver hair.
He told Dany the news from Westeros. Now the western lands seemed to be at war.
"Are you saying that Robert's brothers Stannis and Renly were dissatisfied with Joffrey taking the throne, so they rebelled? But aren't they family?" Just like her and Viserys, she left the rest unsaid.
"Stannis claims that Joffrey is the product of incest between Queen Cersei and her brother the Kingslayer, and thus unworthy of sitting on the Iron Throne."
Dany said angrily, "They are not worthy of sitting on the Iron Throne. That is the seat of the true dragon."
They spoke a while longer before one of Drogo's bloodriders rode over. He was looking for Jorah, saying someone from across the Narrow Sea had arrived.
Jorah was gone for a long time before returning. Dany saw that his expression was complex, so she asked what had happened.
"Khaleesi, this is good news for us," he said. "The man calls himself Victarion Greyjoy. He came on the orders of Euron Greyjoy, King of the Iron Islands."
PS : A new chapter begins.