Victory is in Your Veins: Chapter 15
moodboard by @libradoodle1
Chapter 15
Day Three: Daenerys
Astapor was naught but a smoldering heap. Daenerys petted Drogon’s frilled head, caught somewhere between terror and elation. She had deliberately thrown stones at a hornet’s nest, and would inevitably be stung. The slave trade encompassed not only Slaver’s Bay, but the wider continent. Drogon sensed her disquiet, and nuzzled her arm. All was forgiven regarding the chain, it seemed. Her eye fell to the map on the table, and the painted stone bearing her House’s sigil. She traced the frilled coastline to the next logical step. Yunkai. She must crush these hornets beneath her heel. And the yellow city was the next nest to topple.
Ser Jorah paced in the narrow confines of her tent, his plate armor spattered with blood. He noisily chewed on a loin of pork. Aggo took his ease as well, fresh from battlefield. Ser Barristan, Rakharo, and Kovarro were bringing the Unsullied and Dothraki cohorts to heel. All told, the coup was a stunning victory with not a single Unsullied or Dothraki life lost. The count of slave masters slain and slaves freed was still being tallied, but the number was in the thousands. Astapor’s red bricks were painted with a fresh coat this day. Missandei flitted like a golden butterfly in her white linen, offering fingerbowls of water and freshening watered wine goblets.
“In a single stroke, you’ve made thrice the enemies you had yesterday, khaleesi,” Ser Jorah grumbled. Drogon flew to his post and Daenerys turned to face him square.
“Well put, ser,” she said, not bothering to quench the choler in her tone. No slouch at reading her tones, Ser Jorah swallowed hard.
“I only wish you had trusted us with your plans,” he said, gulping wine from his cup. Sweat streamed down his face. The evening heat was punishing. Even the light weave of her sandsilk tunic clung to her.
“Will you take refreshment, Your Grace?” Missandei asked, unobtrusively offering a goblet. A relic of a master’s, it was fashioned of bronze with a scorpion-like harpy carved around the rim.
“Yes, watered wine, please. A horn cup will do,” Daenerys said, with a gentle squeeze on her forearm. I’ll not drink from the harpy’s bosom.
“I would have included you had I known myself what I was to do. It was not until the whip was in my hand that the path became clear to me,” she said mildly. Daenerys was feeling the effect of such a tumultuous day followed by a poor night of sleep—weariness made her marrow ache; her wits were slow.
“And what of Westeros, khaleesi? You waylay your plans to see strangers unchained?”
Daenerys clenched her jaw so hard her teeth hurt. Though she had forgiven him for his past, the words still stung. Slaver. The whisper rose from somewhere deep within.
“Yes, Ser Jorah,” she said with soft-spoken vehemence. Freedom was a gods-given right of any man who breathed. The world she would forge must be made from the chains of the old.
“Children should not be born in bondage. Women should not suffer rape at the hands of their masters. Men must not be brutalized for entertainment.” To her it was simple. To her, the answer was plain as the sun in the sky. Slavery must end. I will not be swayed in this.
Ser Jorah loomed, stinking of old blood and rancid sweat. What had he said to her? There’s a beast in every man, and it stirs any time you put a sword in his hand. Those deep-set blue eyes were earnest, though. And as always, it snagged her heart.
“And if you die on this errand, gods forbid? The last Targaryen of Valyria, slain to save trained monkeys and dung shovelers?” he said, taking her hand between both his warm scarred palms. Daenerys held his gaze, groping for the words to make him understand. She chose practicality.
“What you have me do? The river cannot flow backwards. I’ve already sacked a slave city. There is no path but forward.”
“There’s always a way. Make peace with them. Ride west. Shake the dust of the continent from your feet.” Daenerys stepped back, dropping her hand.
“Eight thousand Unsullied is not enough to retake Westeros.” Why was she indulging him? She could not turn her back on these people. A headache began to pound behind her eyes. A long, trying day after a long sleepless night had worn down her patience. Ser Jorah pressed on.
“There are a thousand sellsword companies in Pentos or Myr. We have the gold to hire them.”
Daenerys took a long draught from her cup. The cool liquid slid down her throat, soothing. Though his advice was sound, Daenerys would not be swayed. Onward. Onward to freedom and home.
“Even if I considered abandoning this course, it would not last. It was you who taught me to guard my back. I cannot leave harpies to nip at our heels. We must take Yunkai, and Meereen after it. This is my decision, ser. Will you follow me?”
Appealing to his loyalty always had the intended effect, even if sometimes begrudgingly. Ser Jorah bowed before her. His blue eyes watched her as if she hung the moon.
“I will follow you to the ends of the earth,” he vowed. Despite her irritation, his devotion touched her—also as always. She combed a sweaty tendril of his thinning grey-blond hair from his eyes.
“Seek your bed, Ser Jorah. We march at dawn,” she said. The scowl seemed permanently etched into Ser Jorah’s face, but he rose and excused himself.
As the tent flap swayed shut behind him, Aggo grunted.
“Jorah the Andal buzzes like a fly. Battle and blood are good,” Aggo grumbled in Dothraki, sinew crunching in his teeth. Grease shone on his mustache and beard. Daenerys found a dry chuckle.
“He means well.”
A shadow moved. Aggo lurched to his feet and loosed his whip in one smooth motion.
“Your Grace?” the sound of his deep, accented voice made gooseflesh stipple her skin. Jon Snow. Her breath caught. Jon moved through the tent’s partition to stand before her.
“Peace, Aggo,” Daenerys said in Dothraki with a staying gesture. He had tasted battle today. Whole, uninjured save for a scabbed cut on his shoulder, she noted with relief, but dried blood coated both arms to the elbow. Crusts adorned his chest in ragged ripples and splashes. She could smell the faint metallic tang of dried blood in the air. It shouldn’t have thrilled her, but the sight of it displayed his strength, his savagery. He wore a pair of over-large green sandsilk trousers and leather sandals that laced to the knee.
In his hands was a sword. Even sheathed, she knew it to be a peerless weapon, a white wolf at its pommel. Isn’t that what the slave masters had called him? White Wolf? Jon glanced at Missandei and fugitive warmth filled his eyes as he murmured a greeting. Missandei returned it with the ghost of a smile. Daenerys’ heart beat in a hard, swift rhythm. He had returned, but perhaps not for her. He and Missandei had a shared history.
Jon Snow’s dark gaze was steady, unwavering. She waited for him to break the silence.
“I brought a gift,” Jon said at last. He ducked out of the tent and hauled in a bulging sack. Upending it, a cascade of leather and bronze fell in a heap. Whips and collars. Master’s whips, some bearing the bloodstains of their former owners. Collars in leather, brass, tin, gold. He’d gathered them as a man would gather flowers for a sweetheart.
“In Volantis, the slaves say we must pave your way with blood and the whips of masters. It turns out they were right,” Jon said. Daenerys glanced at Missandei.
“The slaves are . . . expecting me? How--”
“This one has heard of slaves whispering about dragons, and the kind woman who is their mother. A woman who frees those her Dothraki husband takes, who battles warlocks. It is not so unbelievable then, to assume she would free slaves,” Missandei said with an admiring smile. Daenerys swallowed hard. Men and women in bondage already pinned their hopes to her. Hope for the future. It was a heavy burden she sought to shoulder.
“I hope I deserve it.”
“You do.” Said so simply, in that gruff voice, with those ink-dark eyes looking at her like that. Steady, focused, but with something else lingering in his gaze, something she couldn’t name. Daenerys braided her fingers together over her belly, a protective gesture. Jon Snow was unbothered by the lapse in conversation, seemingly content to look at her. Unnerved, Daenerys cast a glance at the equally inscrutable Aggo and Missandei and cleared her throat.
“I am pleased you made it through the day unscathed. Battle is messy business.”
Snow shrugged.
“The masters made me into a killer. So I kill,” he said laconically. Daenerys chewed the inside of her lower lip. There the cadence of a lament in the words, and her heart was moved.
“You are free now. I hope it is some small recompense,” she said softly. A muscle jerked in his face.
“More than you know,” he whispered. Daenerys’ heartbeat fluttered. Curse her wayward heart, so eager to pin its hopes on Jon Snow! He had returned, hadn’t he? He could be the one. Gruff voice, pale skin, scarred . . . oh gods, how could she endure it if he left again?
Jon Snow bent the knee before her, the sword angled across his knee.
“Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, I swear you my sword and my life. I will shield your back, and give my life for yours if need be.”
Daenerys clenched her jaw to keep it from hanging open. Whatever she had expected him to say, it hadn’t been that.
Day Three: Jon
In the dying twilight, lit by dancing oil lamps, her fair hair gleamed. Those eyes were more vivid than the sky outside. Not a muscle moved in her face—Jon supposed it was a queen’s task to hide her true feelings. It had been far too easy to slip into her camp, into her own tent. Jon resolved to change that, if she accepted him or not. He would browbeat and threaten as many as it took until she was safe. Listening outside the tent, he heard that worm Mormont wheedle and cajole. His queen would not be moved. Fierce.
She deserved a loyal man to serve her. A vow more binding than slavery: Queensguard. It rested on his tongue to pledge himself to be one of her Seven to keep her safe. History had great knights with peerless lineages don the white armor, but Daenerys already had exiles and criminals on her Queensguard, so perhaps a bastard former slave would also be acceptable. And yet . . . and yet his freedom was so fresh. The choice to serve her as he wished to was too great a temptation to resist.
“You seek to renounce your freedom so quickly?” she asked sharply, echoing his thoughts. Cold sweat slicked his skin. Would she refuse him? Jon knew he could not turn away.
“I am free because of you. Valar dohaeris,” he said. The crease between her brows relaxed a little.
“‘All men must serve.’”
“I will serve you,” he said, holding her gaze. However she wished. On the warpath, in the council chamber, in her bed. I must keep those thoughts in check. She deserves someone who serves out of love. Gods, but a man could drown in those eyes. Beautiful yes, but sharp with intelligence, warm with kindness. Ah, yes. Her face was remote and unreadable, but her glorious eyes betrayed her. Jon read perplexity and piqued interest in her them. What forestalled her? The gentle touch of her hand on his wrist startled him.
“Is this truly what you want?” she asked gently.
“Yes.” With all my heart.
“Then I accept your sword. Your life remains your own.” Jon nodded. I will never leave you. His heart soared. Hers.
“You may rise,” she said with a dazzling smile. Jon smoothly stood. His heart all but glowed. Hers. Always.
Day Six
The Dothraki had the finest horses, and by their khaleesi’s word, Jon was to have his pick. The whipcord thin bloodrider, Rakharo, led him down their picket lines, saying nothing. Those black eyes watched him, weighing him by some unseen measure. The suspicious looks did not pierce his armor. After years under Morrgys’ thumb, the captain’s honest qualm did not trouble him.
It had been years since he chose his horse from among Winterfell’s herds, and Jon knew enough of Dothraki to know his choice of horse would be dissected. The mares wouldn’t do, nor the golden colt, or the sorrel filly. Jon considered the spotted brown, but it was ewe-necked. The blue roan had uneven wear on his rear hooves. He was sound, but wouldn’t remain so for long. The bay and the dapple were well-made. The charcoal grey of the dapple said he was young. Jon murmured to him, stroking his thick neck. The long white-tipped ears were pricked in interest, nosing Jon’s hand in search of treats. Clear brown eyes, even teeth. A strong barrel chest, hard, clean legs.
“This one,” Jon said, swatting a horsefly from the dapple’s neck. Rakharo grunted and shrugged. Jon took it as a good sign.
“See Jorah the Andal for tack. Westerosi do not ride well in Dothraki saddles,” he said with a thin grin. Jon nodded, clicking his tongue to the dapple and leading it from the picket by a handful of wiry black mane. Rakharo muttered something in Dothraki—Jon had gleaned enough from Morbo to know it wasn’t insulting—and strode off to gather his own black. The march to Yunkai began today.
“What do you think?” Jon murmured to the dapple, “ready for a ride today?”
Jon squinted into the sunlight as he waded through the scrum of a dissembling camp. In the distance, Dothraki dismantled Daenerys’ magnificent three-posted tent. Ser Barristan was at her side, along with the other two bloodriders. She had bade him to gather himself. ‘Join me at the head of the column.’
For a former slave with no belongings save Longclaw, he now owned a horse leather tent, a folding cot with sheepskin and linen coverings, a stool, a lamp, and two books. Daenerys had lent him one of songs and stories of Essos, another on Valyria. They were hers, dog-eared and much-loved, and thus more precious than gold. There had not been time to fit him with armor, so he wore a leather gambeson, horsehair trousers, boots, and a shirt of mail. Perhaps one of Ser Jorah’s cast-offs, it was made for someone far wider ‘round the middle and several inches taller. Still, the music of the links chiming was comforting. All his new belongings were stowed neatly on a pack pony. Longclaw he carried with him—he was missing a swordbelt.
For the nonce, he must answer to Ser Jorah, but the older man had served Daenerys the longest. The gleam of sunlight on his pauldrons caught Jon’s eye where he stood tacking his own red stallion—a gift from Daenerys’ former Dothraki husband.
“Ser Jorah, I have my horse. Is there a spare saddle for me?” he said. Cool, direct. The older knight grunted, directing him with a jerk of his chin. There was one saddle left on the ropetree. It had seen better days, but Jon began tacking his dapple in silence.
“Where did you get that?” Ser Jorah growled.
Unsure if he meant the pack or the horse, Jon did not answer. He murmured to his dapple as he guided the crownpiece over his long ears. Something shifted and Jon moved without thinking, ducking left and swiveling around, his eating knife drawn and poised at Ser Jorah’s chin. Ser Jorah had meant to grab at him, and Jon had reacted, swift as lightning.
“Apologies,” Jon said, sheathing the knife, “what did you say?” There was wariness as well as loathing in Ser Jorah’s seamed face now.
“Where did you get the sword?” he snarled. Jon allowed a knife-thin smile. I’m surprised it took him this long to notice. It is a credit Daenerys had kept herself alive with such unobservant guards. Jon hefted Longclaw.
“Before I was captured by the slavers, I was a man of the Night’s Watch. Lord Commander Mormont gifted me Longclaw.” Several emotions flitted across Ser Jorah’s face. Surprise, confusion, grief. Jon almost pitied him.
“Why?”
“I saved his life,” Jon said. A better man would have offered the exiled knight the sword his family had carried for five hundred years, but the bonds of former slave and former slaver lingered. Jon tightened the girth strap and swung astride his dapple. He hadn’t been astride a horse since his disastrous escape attempt near Eastwatch. Jon settled in the saddle, relishing it. The dapple’s ears were pricked forward, prancing in place. Jon was tempted to dig his heels in and gallop to the far horizon. Instead, he drew rein, waiting politely for Ser Jorah to gain his seat. Once astride his stallion, Ser Jorah heeled to a canter to join Daenerys at the head of the column. Jon loosed rein to follow when Ser Jorah forestalled him.
“Join the rear guard, Snow. It is a long road to Yunkai.”
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