Mother Of Dragons

Chapter 6

Having been in a situation where I knew only a few words of the language spoken around me, I'm having Dany use my 'game' to have some fun with the language barrier. If only she wouldn't constantly worry about what was going on, and let her brain just float on the sea of words . . .

Daenerys rejoined her Khal at the fire after she had finished her swim, refreshed and happy. She nervously looked around for her brother, but there was no sign of him yet. Rhakaro sat at the far edge of the group with Irri curled up next to him, and he gave her a reassuring smile and a small gesture of his hand to tell her that Viserys had not reached the khalasar yet. She couldn't tell whether it made her feel better or worse.

She worried for a moment that he had gotten lost, but then shook her head at the absurdity. Khal Drogo's khalasar was so big that they cut a swathe through the grass large enough that it would have to be an impossibly dark night indeed to not find the road they had made. She hoped he would catch up to them soon, but part of her didn't want him to come back at all. Drogo had yet to see the cut on her throat, though it was shallow and she had repeatedly wiped the small line of blood so many times that it was just a faint, stinging pink line underneath her jaw. If she kept her head down, perhaps he wouldn't notice at all. She wasn't aware of the bruise marks that just fit the size and shape of her brother's hand on her neck.

As she sat and relaxed in the warmth of the fire and Drogo's skin, she started her nightly game of picking out words from conversations that she could understand, and attempt to figure out what they were talking about. She was finding herself more and more successful as the nights went on, and it encouraged her to keep trying. Rhae Mhar were words repeated over and over again from many different conversations around her. Everyone was talking about the same thing tonight. A word she didn't know, and the word foot. Irri was sitting too far away, and not facing her, or she would have called her over and asked. Instead, she watched as her handmaid leaned back into Rhakharo's arms and Dany sighed as she watched him toy with her hair. She looked up at Drogo and smiled, her view of his face obscured by his beard and chin.

He was intently following and participating in an animated conversation with two of her young khas, and she had a moment of panic. Would they tell him about what Viserys had done? She breathed a quiet sigh of relief as Drogo roared with laughter and stroked her hair softly as she reclined in his lap. They must be talking of something else. Drogo repeated the Rhae Mhar and laughed again. Oh, it was some sort of joke, she realized, and leaned back sleepily, allowing her mind to relax and let go of the words and puzzles around her. Why would feet be a joke?

She awoke as Drogo gently scooped her up in his arms and carried her to their tent. A few drunken whoops, whistles and loud catcalls followed them, and she giggled softly, waving over his shoulder at them. Loud laughter followed her gesture as the tent flap came closed and cut off the outside world. Drogo set her down on her feet and pulled her by the hand to one of the braziers. He knelt down and before she could duck her chin down, he had a hold of it and was lifting her chin to see her neck. Oh fuck, oh shit, oh fuck, oh shit, she thought, panicking. He tilted her head back a bit more, and sighed softly before kissing the stinging pink line. He brought his fingers up to her neck, tracing around the mark. She winced as she discovered the bruises he was prodding.

Dany struggled to duck her chin back down so he would stop poking around on her neck. He simply moved his hands to her cheeks and pulled her face to his for a gentle kiss before resuming his task. As he prodded another bruise, she realized what he was doing. He was wanting a reaction so he could judge how badly she had been hurt. She grabbed his hand and pulled it away from her neck, shaking her head slowly and smiling, touching her bruises and shrugging her shoulders. He grinned at her, and let her go, standing up and lifting her vest over her head, groaning in approval at the sight of her breasts.