Crowns and Cruel Intentions || Game of Thrones

6| 𝔰𝔞𝔢𝔯𝔶𝔞

pentos, essos

— SAERYA WASN'T REALLY BOTHERED BY THE IDEA OF THE DOTHRAKI WAY OF LIFE. She was more than used to packing up her life again and again and again. Not that she had much to pack up besides a few clothes and a ring that was little more than an iron band she'd found on the beach one day, and somehow manage to hide from Viserys. Oh, how he loved to hold over the girls' heads that all that they owned was actually his. Honestly, it was the most joy Saerya had experienced in a while to see the look on his face at Daenerys' wedding as gifts after gifts were laid at the feet of her and her new husband. The twins were still trapped at his side, but she tried not to think too much about it, instead focusing on the hot sun tickling her skin and the beat of a drum vibrating into her very bones, the smell of meat and blood as bodies writhed and danced together out in the crowd below.

Viserys was grumbling, as he often did, this time about how soon Khal Drogo would fight for his crown, but Saerya's attention was brought to a fight that had just broken out, two men drawing blades on one another. As they fought, she cringed back slightly, unsure of what to expect. She blinked in shock when the first man's stomach was slit open by the second, exposing his insides. And yet, the queasiness she expected to roll over her did not. It wasn't frightening or disgusting, it was just... there, and a part of her couldn't help but find the ease with which these men concocted violence intriguing. The winner sliced the braid from the now-dead man's head, waving it in the air before tossing it to the roaring crowd.

Glancing subtly to her left, Saerya couldn't help but notice that even her brother looked somewhat nauseated by the display as he looked to Illyrio for answers. A quick glance at Saelyra confirmed that her twin had noticed their brother's discomfort and found it just as amusing. "A Dothraki wedding without at least three deaths is considered a dull affair." he clarified.

The next man to approach with a gift appeared different from the others. He wore different clothes, and his skin did not bear the bronzed colour of most who'd spent their lives in Essos. Khal Drogo beckoned to him in Dothraki, and with a reply and small bow, he ascended towards them. "A small gift for the new Khaleesi." He spoke, and even his voice sounded like that of someone foreign to this land. "Songs and histories from the Seven Kingdoms."

"Thank you, ser." She replied softly, taking the leather-bound books and parchments in her hands. She blinked at him with a tiny furrow in her brows. "Are you... from my country?"

"Jorah Mormont of Bear Island." He introduced himself. "I served your father for many years." He turned to look directly at Viserys. "Gods be good, I hope to always serve the rightful king." his eyes flickered to Saerya and he added, "and queen."

When he stepped away, Illyrio stood, gesturing to his servants. The first pair set a beautiful chest down before Daenerys, but Saerya frowned in confusion when a second and third pair laid nearly identical chests before them, the only difference being their smaller size. Illyrio seemed to catch the girls' expressions, as well as the disgruntled look on Viserys' face, and explained. "The Dothraki believe that twins, especially identical twins, are sacred. As such, it would be improper for the two of you not to receive anything today."

"Oh." Saerya spoke quietly, the first emotion of the day to leak into her voice. Then the lids were opened, and her eyes flew wide. They appeared almost as stone; three scale-patterned ovals in Daenerys' chest and one each in the other two. And where Daenerys' were black, green and yellow, Saerya's was gold, and Saelyra's silver. Saerya trailed her hand over the egg's surface gently, the rough stone tickling her palms.

"Dragon's eggs." Illyrio said. "From the shadow lands beyond Asshai. The ages have turned them to stone, but they will always be beautiful."

Saerya's words caught in her throat, everything swallowed quite suddenly by the thrilled fascination in her eyes. "Thank you, Magister." Saelyra put in for the both of them, and Daenerys nodded too. All attention was finally brought back from the eggs when Drogo stood, and Saerya felt her stomach sink. Poor Dany... And as her sister rode off with her new husband, she wondered if this was truly how their story would begin. Three girls with dragon's blood and dragon's eggs, one of them sold off to the edge of the world, and the others enslaved by their brother's shadow.