A DANCE WITH GHOSTS » VISERYS TARGARYEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

DAENERYS
WITNESS

BEFORE HER VERY EYES, EVELYNE was becoming proficient at her newly acquired skills. It came as a shock to Daenerys, who had been teaching her friend for so long that it felt as though the gods had bestowed reading the writing ability upon Evelyne over night. That, or maybe everything finally came together or she was studying outside their designated time.

Perhaps none of that really mattered. What really mattered was that Evelyne was improving greatly and at an incredible pace. It also meant that there was more time to gossip and learn new songs from Evelyne. Both girls were happy to be in each others' company, especially now that frustration and confusion were out of the picture.

Evelyne, on top of her success, looked happier. Truthfully, Daenerys didn't think that was possible, but the vibrancy of Evelyne's smiles and the newly ecstatic aura she runs with is quiet noticeable. The young woman also spent more time at Illyrio's mansion and even spoke to Viserys as if no tension had ever existed. And, even stranger, Viserys spoke in return.

Daenerys also could not help but notice the shift in mood her older brother had been taking. For the past couple weeks, Viserys was very unlike himself. Skeptically so. He was still the same hotheaded and brash man, but there was a slight bounce to his step, his lilac eyes always seeming farther away that he really was. Nothing had changed as far as the princess knew, which left her with nothing but her own observations.

"I did not know that the Dothraki were as violent as the tales have told me."

Daenerys looks up from the book she is reading to find Evelyne's blonde brows pinching together in resentment. In her hands, a book on the cultures of Essos. It looks vaguely familiar, but she cannot place why the leather binding sticks out in her mind.

Nodding her head, Daenerys looks over the page at the drawings of the savage men. "Yes, I'm willing to believe that all the stories about them are real." Daenerys shudders when her eyes scan over the infamous ways the Dothraki raid villages. "They're so scary."

"Well, then," Evelyne says, shutting the book on the page. "I say we've had enough of these scary wild-men stories."

This proclamation led the girls to spending the rest of the evening telling silly stories and Daenerys talking about how cute she finds the new servant Illyrio had hired. Amidst their giggles, Evelyne promised she would introduce them. Daenerys shook her head, though was secretly hoping Evelyne would hold up her promise. After all, Evelyne can't be her only friend and books are all the same after a while. A small distraction would be nice.