The Birth of Dragons

Princess Daenerys Targaryen

The flames licked at Drogo's body, reducing him slowly to ash. There were screams echoing from the pyre as well, the maegi, whose name she could not remember, was burning as well. Her brother had decided to sacrifice the woman for daring to try to bring back her child. She'd miscarried Rhaego after her husband's death, but she felt nothing for the child now, she had cried and cried, but now she was simply numb. The screams echoed in the air, and to filter them out, Dany turns to her brother and asks. "Why did you do it?"

Her twin does not need to ask what she means, instead he simply replies. "He was going to kill us all. He was going to lead us into the darkness, wait for you to give birth, then he was going to kill us. I could not let that happen."

Dany knows that perhaps she should protest this line of reasoning, and claim that Drogo was not going to do anything of the sort, but the thing is, she knows better. She knows her husband was planning on seeing off her brother at some point. Just as he had done Viserys. And that was a thought she could not bear, she loved Aemon, loved him like she loved no one else, and so she had acted. And now her husband is dead, and her twin rules over his Khalasar. "What now?" she asks instead.

Her brother keeps looking at the flames, his thoughts hidden behind shadowed eyes. "Now we plan and we move forward. We have horse riders, but we need ships."

"Where will we get ships from? Will we go to Volantis?" Dany asks, something in her telling her that they should go to Volantis, that they will find what they need there.

Her brother shakes his head, and she feels a slight tinge of disappointment. "No, we shall not be going there. Not yet anyway. There is somewhere else we can go, where we can get one of the best fighting forces the world has ever seen."

Dany quirks an eyebrow at that, she had not thought there was a fighting force that could rival the Golden Company and they had rejected their brother. "Where is this?" she finds herself asking.

"Astapor." Her brother states. "We must travel through wastelands and through passes of darkness to get there, but we shall get there. The Unsullied are some of the finest fighters this world has ever seen, and they obey without question."

Dany nods, and then looking around at the Khalasar and how they all seem quite so fractured, she asks. "What will you do about those of Khal Drogo's bloodriders who refuse to accept you as their new leader?" she finds herself worrying now, she does not think much of the Dothraki, but they are a fierce people.

Her brother shrugs. "Those who will not bend, will be killed."

Dany nods, and silence falls between them for a time. She watches the flames lick at her husband's body, she feels as though she should feel something, something like guilt, it is because of her that her brother felt the need to act, that someone has lost their life. But she finds that she cannot be bothered enough to care. Drogo was many things, he was kind to her, but he was also someone who'd have killed her twin, and she learned long ago, that family was more important than anything else. She takes her brother's hand in hers and whispers. "I am sorry."

Her brother says nothing, he merely nods his acknowledgement of her statement, before he turns and looks at Ser Jorah and says. "Bring the eggs."

Dany looks at her brother curiously, as Ser Jorah brings the chest with the three eggs inside it. "What are you doing?" she finds herself asking.

Her brother looks at her briefly, then looks back at the flames, before responding. "There is a story that states, that when the first dragons were hatched, the man of the flames and his wife, stood in the fourteen flames of Valyria, and brought the dragons screaming to life. They had found the eggs underneath the mountains, and knew not what to do with them, until one day the man brought his wife and the eggs into the flames. When they emerged from the flames they had twelve dragons and they were Gods."

Dany looks at her brother, then at the pyre that crackles with flame and light. "You want us to walk into the flames? But we are not married." It sounds like a stupid excuse, and it is, but the thought of walking into the flames terrifies her.

Her brother kisses their joined hands and says simply. "We are as good as married sister. Now follow me and do not hesitate." Dany watches speechless, as her brother turns and picks up the black as night egg, and then gestures for her to do the same. Hesitantly, she picks up the eggs with green and white swirls, and follows him toward the pyre. Her brother stops before the fire and says. "Do not feel afraid Dany, I shall be right at your side." Then her brother walks into the flames, Dany watches him disappear into the haze, before deciding to follow him.

The flames prick at her skin, and she feels as if she might suffocate underneath the fumes hitting her nose and mouth. But somehow she survives, she feels something cracking, but she cannot see what it is, she thinks it might be the eggs, but she does not know. The heat continues prickling at her, eating away at her defences, she feels as if she wants to scream, but eventually, the heat becomes accustomed to her and she it, and she settles down. When the wind comes, the flames die, and there she finds herself with two dragons suckling at her breast, whilst a black beast roars on her brother's shoulder.