Victory tasted like ashes, quite literally in this case. Little black motes drifted lazily through the air as she rode her silver through the broken gates of old Selhorys, the largest city she had ever seen, which the Volantens named a town. They controlled the Rhoyne now. Volantis would have to seek terms.Clouds of smoke and soot blew in on the western wind. The Dothraki sea was still burning, three months later.Her present course was set the day she met Lady Mormont. A priestess of red R'hllor, tall and beautiful as the dawn, met Dany at the docks of Qarth and was stung by a manticore in her place. She took no hurt from the venom, to the wonder of all her khalasar, such as it was. Daenerys had been suspicious of magic, the treachery of the maegi and the warlocks fresh in her mind, but Melisandre of Asshai never spoke a lie.With her guidance, Daenerys forged a kingdom from nothing. First Asatpor, then Yunkai, and finally Meeren, chief of the slaver cities. All the bay was hers. She freed slaves and burned slavers, and in this made many powerful enemies, chiefly those who profited from the traffic in human flesh. All the so-called "Free Cities" were hungry for labor, and these Ghiscari she had conquered were only too happy to sell. They tried to compromise, sealing labor contracts in the Light of the Lord, where the faithful might sell their service for a certain term of years, but this appeased her foes but little. It would be war.Dany took pity on Ser Jorah, her stout protector and most faithful advisor, who often sent longing looks her way. Alas, she could never return his feelings. Then a brilliant idea struck! Lady Melisandre was as beautiful as she was, mayhaps more so! The queen asked her to take Jorah to husband, warm his bed, and soothe his loneliness. The red woman agreed, provided Ser Jorah consent to take the red god for his own, which he did, though with a certain reluctance.When it came to war, Ser Jorah was her general. He took likely lads of the cities of Dragon's Bay and trained them after the fashion of knights of Westeros, learning the sword and the lance. Hundreds of these, he told her, had earned their spurs in the battle for Selhorys. A thousand smiths signed labor contracts with the crown and forged them suits of steel. Of knights and squires, she had one thousand, but these were her most faithful followers.They were the hammer to the anvil of her Unsullied, who had sadly dwindled in the fighting. At war's start, the eunuchs were the whole of her foot. Everywhere she had need of them, they marched. They marched when New Ghis menaced Asatpor and landed the last of the lockstep legions on her shores. They marched against every sellsword and slave soldier Volantis could muster. They marched through the disaster on the Demon Road and through the Dothraki Sea when Lady Mormont advised a northern thrust against the Rhoyne, the stroke that brought eventual victory.Only one in ten of the Unsullied Dany won in Astapor remained to her. They died in battle or of sickness. Those who remained trained lads into new legions for her, yet none would ever be cut. The dragon queen forbade the practice in her realm. These new legions had been blooded on the Rhoyne and showed promise.Legions and knights she possessed in plenty, but Daenerys was the Mother of Dragons, and in dragons rested the bulk of her power. Lady Mormont helped her master her children. Melisandre's knowledge extended even to the training of dragons. When Drogon grew large enough to ride, Dany experienced more joy in a day than she'd had in years. Her bonded smiths forged a beautiful saddle and riding chains, the plans taken from an ancient Valyrian scroll. When the khalasars came calling, they met a dragonrider in battle for the first time since the Dance Jorah told her of.Three khals Daenerys overthrew, taking their khalasars for her own. Soon, the Dothraki learned not to trifle with her realm. They added greatly to her strength on land, though none was ever equal to the khalasar of her beloved Sun-and-Stars, not all the riders of three khals together.It was with all this power that she marched north into the Dothraki sea, around the treacherous swamps and marshes watered by the Selhoru. Daenerys turned west and challenged Volantis on the Rhoyne. She had few enough ships, and learned to her sorrow the Demon Road was impassible. Only this route lay open to her host.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.They warred for years. Fleets of river galleys sailed upriver, bringing all the power of old Volantis. In half a hundred battles she'd met them man for man, at times needing her dragons to turn the tide. On dragonback, she would fly swiftly to Meeren, should anything go amiss in her kingdom. Thus, she divided her time between ruling and warring.When the Golden Company was sent against her, they met under a peace banner."I am your brother Rhaegar's son, smuggled out of the Red Keep," claimed a handsome youth with blue-dyed hair and silver-gold roots. They called him Young Griff.Lady Mormont looked into her flames and called him false, a mummer's dragon. She sent them away, for there would be battle in the morning.Young Griff would not heed her and snuck into their camp by night. He attempted to claim green Rhaegal for himself and was cooked for his foolishness. Mummer's dragon indeed.In the battle, disaster struck! The Golden Company were not mere sellswords, and pressed them hard, knights, legions, Dothraki screamers and all. Like a dozen times before, Dany would have to turn the tide on dragonback, but Old Griff set a trap!They pulled poor Viserion into the waters of the Rhoyne with hooks, never to be seen again! As for her mount, Drogon, they wounded him in the wing with the sting of half a hundred scorpions. They landed roughly, breaking Dany's arm. Drogon tried and failed to take to the air again, but could not.It was all Ser Jorah could do to take hold of her host and withdraw upriver to safety. She hoped Melisandre would finally give him a son for his valor. They had been wed for years, but her belly never swelled.Only Rhaegal could still fly, but he would not allow Dany on his back. Dragons were jealous, Lady Mormont explained, and would take but one rider.Smelling blood and victory, the khalasars of the Dothraki sea who would not dare ride against her took their chance. Tens of thousands of screamers surrounded her camp. Only the wooden palisade Ser Jorah erected kept them out, but not for long.Hopeless and despondent, she begged Lady Mormont for help. In her grief, she wept for drowned Viserion, for wounded Drogon, for all the good men who fought and died for her in this war.When Dothraki arrows filled the sky, her moonsblood came. After years of nothing, she had a second flowering as a woman."There is a way," Melisandre promised, fire dancing in her eyes. They would take her tears and blood and build a pyre for the dead and dying. With crippled Drogon and willful Rhaegal, Dany lit a fire. This fire proved a living thing, reaching out and licking the grass like a thirsty horse lapping water. It spread and spread, consuming the sea of grass. It burned for months and still burned. It would burn until nothing that was green and grew remained. They drained the Dothraki sea, leaving a desert that fed no horses.Those foolish khals who still defied her burned like the mummer's dragon. A few came and cut their braids, throwing the weave of jingling bells before the walls of her camp. These, she took into her service, the last of Drogo's people.With fresh soldiers who marched through the ashes, Daenerys renewed her war. This time, no trick would save the Golden Company. To a man, she slew them. In their camp, hidden in a half-buried chest, they found Blackfyre, sword of her fathers, just as Lady Mormont promised. Daenerys drew the Valyrian steel, glowing hot out of the charred ground, and her men took it for an omen.Her host drove down the Rhoyne until they reached Selhorys. With a trick Lord and Lady Mormont contrived together, they broke the gates, and her men sacked the city Volantis named a town.When the moon turned, the triarchs offered terms. What was more, they brought a delegation from the Seven Kingdoms.Lord Victarion Greyjoy swore her his ships and sails, and Volantis offered half again as many galleys, surrendering the greater part of their fleet to her use. They held Dragonstone and Storm's End in her name, the Lord of the Iron Islands informed her.
When she looked at the devastation in her wake, the burning that didn't end, Dany knew what she must do. Lady Mormont saw it in the flames. The time was ripe to claim the Iron Throne!
Loading comments…