Princess Daenerys of Dragonstone had not yet been born when her elder brother and her father died one after another.
After becoming the last princess of her house, she caused her mother's death in childbirth, and then endured thirteen years of wandering and hardship, until she was later sold like a slave to the horse-lords.
Fortunately, Drogo—that old, experienced man—treated her fairly well.
But the God of Death soon came knocking again. Her brother was killed by her husband; her husband and unborn son were sacrificed by a witch to a demon—the other face of R'hllor, the Lord of Light.
This was only the bleak first half of her life.
During those turbulent years in Slaver's Bay, while she freed others from slave chains, she placed shackles around her own neck.
After suffering for years and finally fighting her way back to Westeros, she discovered she was never some prophesied chosen one at all, but merely a stepping stone to help the true Child of Prophecy ascend the throne.
Her loyal followers died one after another; those who survived all harbored ulterior motives. Jorah, who loved her, died miserably; the one she loved betrayed her.
The dragons she had raised as children became nothing more than a victory bonus for the winner of the game of thrones.
(PS: Daenerys must die. Even if A Song of Ice and Fire is never finished, her ending has already been decided. She is a reformer of a decayed old world—but what revolutionary pioneer ever survives?)
It seemed that two of the most miserable souls had come together—misfortune piling upon misfortune?
Well, now that the soul inside her had changed, Dany no longer believed herself unlucky… except right after transmigrating.
She would not allow herself to live as a walking disaster. Anyone who crossed her would be the one out of luck.
"Lynesse is a daughter of House Hightower, isn't she?" Dany recalled for a moment and tried to speak. "If I remember correctly, the captain of the Kingsguard under the previous king—the legendary 'White Bull'—was also a Hightower, wasn't he?"
"Yes. Ser Gerold Hightower is Lynesse's great-uncle."
"That's House Hightower we're talking about. Wouldn't her actions bring shame upon her family?" she asked in disbelief.
"I've already brought shame upon my own house. I'm a man without honor," he said painfully.
"She could have returned to her maiden family. Did she go back?" Dany asked.
"It's said that she is now Prince Tregar's most favored concubine. Even the lawful wife gives her some leeway." Jorah spoke as if a large pit were lodged in his throat; each sentence came with great difficulty.
But Dany had to make him suffer a little longer. She asked, "Did you ever go look for her again? After you returned from the Rhoyne, did you go to Lys?"
The pain in Jorah's eyes deepened. This iron-tower of a man looked as though he was on the verge of collapse.
"The Trade Prince is immensely wealthy and powerful. While I was still on the road to Lys, he personally intercepted me halfway. He—"
"Did he want to kill you?" she asked hesitantly.
This was a hurdle he could not avoid.
Dany did not need to know all of Jorah's secrets, but if this matter was not made clear, what would happen if they encountered Lynesse again in the future? Could she still trust him then?
"He merely used words. He made me see the situation clearly—there was no point in futile struggle, in making things ugly for everyone. But if I failed to recognize reality and insisted on harassing them, I would soon vanish without a sound somewhere on the western continent of Essos."
"I'm not afraid of his threats," the knight emphasized solemnly. "I only left after confirming that Lynesse had not suffered the slightest coercion."
Those two adulterers were probably already tangled up behind your back long ago, Dany thought.
"Do you still love her?" she asked, seemingly casually.
"Love? Love! Love and hate intertwined," Ser Jorah answered. He seemed unable to hold on any longer. "Your Highness, please allow me to take my leave. I'm a little tired."
"Wait," she called out to him, asking directly, "Do you also harbor feelings for me that go beyond those of liege and subject?"
Like the original Daenerys, she could not respond to his affection. But she also did not want to string him along as some spare option.
Better to speak plainly—stay together if you can, part ways if you can't.
Without Jorah, without any ties to Westeros, she would rely entirely on the Dothraki and fully integrate into their people.
Ser Jorah's expression was complicated—there was the embarrassment of being seen through, and also joy that she could perceive his feelings. He stopped, forced a smile, and said, "The first moment I saw you, I felt that you resembled her a little, Daenerys."
In truth, Jorah was only expressing his feelings sincerely and indirectly: that toward Dany, he felt the same intense love he had once felt when he first met Lynesse.
But to Dany, that answer—
Zero points!!!
You're completely done, do you know that?
"I am nothing like her. And even if Drogo is dead, I will never marry another man." She rejected him cleanly and decisively.
Drogo was a complete stranger to her, but that dead man was the perfect shield—and a convenient excuse for turning down suitors.
Perhaps if the Faith of the Seven learned of this, they would follow the old precedent of "Saint Baelor" and bestow upon Dany the title of "Saint Daenerys"?
Jorah also understood her refusal and said, "Your Highness, I am your Queensguard."
After saying this, he bowed deeply and left with heavy steps.
The Kingsguard—those who relinquish their inheritance rights, never marry, never have children, and devote the rest of their lives to serving their monarch. Loyalty is their sole duty and honor.
Early the next morning, as dawn barely broke, Dany mounted her little silver horse. On her back was a modified wicker basket, while three dragons stretched out their snake-like necks, probing around her waist and shoulders, occasionally letting out rough "sii-gaa" cries.
Hooves struck the stone-paved streets with crisp tap-tap sounds. The city, silent as a dead realm, was shrouded in a thin layer of mist. Dany felt as if she had entered a dreamlike world.
"Khaleesi."
"Khaleesi, are you leaving the city?"
Near the gate, two Dothraki warriors crawled out from the gate tunnel, yawning as they greeted her.
"I'm going to train the dragons. The plains outside are more spacious." She instructed the khalasar to move aside the "city gate"—a wooden barrier made of several tree trunks nailed together like a raft.
Although the three dragons could already fly, Dany's standards were far stricter. Thinking of the dragons in the TV series—clumsy like fat cattle—she worried for her future.
Poor maneuverability, sluggish movements, weak lower limbs, unstable stance, useless once grounded; wings fragile like rags; scales that couldn't even stop a hand crossbow; long, brittle necks—
So many weaknesses. How were they supposed to conquer the world?
The previous night, she had melted down all of Drogo's golden medals and forged them into shining golden chains. Now she held the dragons in her arms and locked a chain—each as thick as her little finger—around their hind legs. Only three links, less than ten centimeters long. Each leg bore roughly an extra pound of weight.
"Come on, Big Black. You're the eldest—set an example for your younger brothers." Just like before, she tossed the dragon into the air.
Clatter clatter—thud!
Big Black flapped his wings with all his might, but after flying less than ten meters, he plunged headfirst into the sand.
"Sii-gaa—" The black dragon twisted his head around and let out a wronged hiss at Dany.
"Climb back yourself." Without even lifting her head, she continued fastening the "shackles" onto the white dragon.
Clatter—thud!
The white dragon did even worse than Big Black, tracing almost a perfect arc before slamming into the ground.
"Sss—boom—"
Angry, the white dragon spat a thin stream of red flame into the sky.
"Don't waste your strength. Come back and continue," Dany shouted sharply.
The white dragon ignored her, spinning around aimlessly, struggling as he flapped his wings and spewed dragonfire at random.
Dany was furious. She walked over and flicked his little head hard.
"Gaa-sii—!" The white dragon roared at her, clearly angry as well.
Unlike the black dragon, Dany could not use her mental connection to soothe or persuade the white and green dragons. Her words and gestures were difficult for them to accept, making the training process extremely troublesome.
Left with no choice, Dany bent down, steadied the white dragon's body, helped him stand upright, and guided him step by step back to the wicker basket.
She could not carry him. Once would lead to a second time.
Letting them walk back themselves was mainly to train their lower-limb strength and their sense of balance on land.
After spending these days together, Dany discovered that dragons possessed an innate sense of spatial awareness—but once they landed, they walked less steadily than ducks. Ducks only had two legs; dragons, aside from their legs, also had a pair of wings that functioned like forelimbs.
If even walking was difficult, how could they run quickly?
Dany did not expect them to outrun galloping horses, but without agile and rapid ground movement, a dragon that landed and lost its momentum would be easily surrounded, trapped, and injured.
A dragon's wings could never be trained to withstand a scorpion bolt, and their wingspan was enormous. Perhaps the vital parts of their torso could evade bolts, but the wings were far too easy to hit.
If they were ever forced to land within an enemy formation, lacking the ability to break through at high speed would be disastrous.
After training weighted flight all morning, Dany did not remove the chains at noon. She carried them along as she went to search for food.
Some Dothraki were specially assigned to find prey for the dragons. In the morning, Avanti and several old Dothraki tended the horses while keeping an eye out for small animals in the sands and hills.
Very small ones.
Big Black's first "catch" was a scorpion no bigger than a palm.
Boom! A thin jet of dragonfire burned the scorpion with a sizzling sound, leaving only a pinch of black ash on the sand.
"Don't burn it. It's so small—you lose more than you gain," she said, patting Big Black's head.
Maintaining the dragon-spirit state at all times, Big Black was almost in perfect sync with her thoughts.
"Khaleesi, there's another venomous scorpion here!" Avanti shouted from atop a sand dune.
This time, Big Black pecked like a chick. His long, snake-like neck flashed like black lightning. Dany only felt her vision blur, and the scorpion was already clamped in his mouth.
"Dodo!" The scorpion's tail stabbed wildly at the corner of Big Black's mouth, producing dull impacts. Dany saw several times when the venomous stinger, glinting with an eerie purple sheen, pierced the soft flesh inside his mouth.
"Were you poisoned? Do you feel unwell?" Dany asked anxiously. She had heard the Dothraki say that this red scorpion could paralyze a horse with a single sting.
The Dothraki did not dare eat that horse's meat, so Dany had ordered it to be smoked into jerky and fed to the dragons.
Because Jorah had told her that in the hundreds of years of Targaryen dragon history, there had never been a case of a dragon being poisoned.
Dragons were made of fire, Jorah said. Beneath their skin flowed magma.
They clearly had muscles and bones, so beneath their skin it could not truly be magma—but the temperature must be extremely high.
At this moment, touching a hatchling dragon's scales felt like holding a scorching hand warmer.
Their blood temperature must be even higher.
After quite some time, the black dragon sent no sensation of discomfort at all. Only then did Dany finally relax.
...
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Here are a few fan-fic titles that I've recently uploaded on my Patreon:
"Game of Thrones: Dragon Prince"
"Game of Thrones: Political Life"
"Game of Thrones: Holy Flame"
"The Game of Thrones Upgrade System"
"Game of Thrones: Lannister Kingdom"
"Game of Thrones: Godzilla vs. Dragons"
"Game of Thrones: Ruler of the Deep Seas "
"Game of Thrones The Glory of a Knight"
"Game of Thrones: The Most Powerful Dragon Queen"
" Game of Thrones: From the Elden Lord to the Young Wolf"
"Game of Thrones: Rise of a Lord with the Army-Building System"
(End Chapter)