Winter's Fire → Game of Thrones

xxi. Vaes Dothrak

Our journey was going to reach an end today. At least for a short time. Today we ride into the Dothraki's only city known as Vaes Dothrak.

Right in front of the city were two bronze stallions rising high into the sky. It frames the large mountain behind it that is known as the Mother of Mountains by the Dothraki. They were impressive statues, due to both their size being incredible and their detail being so intricate for something on such a large scale.

Although the bronze statues stuck out, my focus was on the statues on the sides of the road. There must have been hundreds of them and no two statues were the same. From what I had been told, the statues were all taken during Dothraki during their conquests. Most were holy symbols, but some were monuments.

Viserys, Daenerys and I were advised not to draw weapons in the holy city and that it was best to leave them by the bronze statues. I knew this already and so earlier I had asked Rakharo to train me before sundown just outside of the city.  As for Ser Jorah, well, I am sure he will be willing to assist me in going through more Westerosi moves as well.

From what I know, there are two markets in the city - one in the east and the other in the west. Most of the huts in the city are made from wood and a very basic amount of stone and due to the fact that horses go through often, the ground is quite muddy. Although I find it unimpressive, I am sure there will be something about the city that will interest me.

As we moved into the city more, I noted log halls and stepped pyramids. There were also a few wooden towers, stone pavilions and manses of woven grass. All of these building styles would have been introduced by the slaves who were instructed to build them. The only buildings noticeably Dothraki were the wooden huts.

The Dothraki were noticeably excited to be in their only city. Although it is the largest city I have entered in Essos, it is also small as there are very few times when the city is at even a quarter of its potential capacity. The only full-time residents are slaves and the Dosh Khaleen, who are Khaleesis of dead Khals. Everyone else just comes and goes.

I was not paying any attention to the conversation between Viserys, Daenerys and Ser Jorah until Viserys rode further forward. For once we were in the middle of the Khalasar so us moving too far forward was not going to be an issue. I will see him when we are shown to our rooms anyway.

"If my brother was given an army of Dothraki, could you conquer the Seven Kingdoms?" Daenerys questioned.

"The Dothraki have never crossed the Narrow Sea," I stated. "They fear any water their horses cannot drink."

"But if they did?" She persisted.

"King Robert is fool enough to meet them in open battle, but the men advising him are different," Ser Jorah said.

King Robert is not exactly a fool. He is just proud and braver than he is intelligent, like most skilled warriors who had or have good looks in Westeros. Why bother learning history or math or politics when you can fight and whore your way through life and most likely earn more respect? It is the good type of respect too. It is the type where people admire you, not the type where they fear you.

"And you know these men?" Daenerys asked.

"I fought beside them once, long ago," Jorah confirmed. "Now Ned Stark wants my head. He drove me from my land."

My temper, which I had been working on calming lately, flared. I gripped the reins on my horse a little tighter and let out a scoff. I wanted to hold my tongue. Oh, how I wanted to hold my tongue, but I just could not do it. I could not let this man talk like this about my father, who I know is a good man.