DAENERYS OF THE STORM, OF THE HOUSE TARGARYEN

"Should I just burn them to ashes?" Daenerys Targaryen thought, fury burning within her as she considered what to do with the Dothraki.

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[Visenya Targaryen's POV]

I sat down in front of Daenerys and gently took her hands. They were small and delicate, warm under her touch.

What I was about to reveal to her would be difficult.

I didn't know how to say it tactfully. I didn't know how to express myself. I had never expressed my feelings so freely.

I opened my mouth to speak, but the instant I tried to get the words out, all the ways I had planned to say them vanished.

"..."

I was silent for a few seconds. All the elegant phrases I had rehearsed to soften the news vanished. In the end, I could only say,

"I'm getting married."

What an idiot. I hadn't been tactful at all.

I expected a reaction of surprise, maybe even disbelief, but her sister didn't seem surprised.

"You're not getting married," Daenerys replied confidently.

I sighed deeply at her answer, denying the reality.

"I have decided to marry Khal Drogo. He is barely thirty years old and leads the largest khalasar in the Dothraki Sea, with forty thousand warriors," I explained, but Daenerys only frowned and removed her hands from his.

"You are a Targaryen. You are a dragon," she reminded him.

For a moment, she saw the silhouette of her mother, Queen Rhaella Targaryen, superimposed on Dany's.

I looked at her confused.

"We will recover what was taken from us with blood and fire, not with sacrifices," her sister declared firmly. "No sister of mine will open her legs to a Dothraki barbarian, much less in exchange for an army that worships a horse god."

His words surprised her, but nothing more. He would not convince her otherwise.

"The decision has already been made, Daenerys. Magister Illyrio will take care of everything. There's nothing you can do about it."

Dany stood up abruptly. The chair fell to the floor with a thud.

"We'll see," she muttered under her breath, fury in her eyes, before walking away.

I watched my younger sister's back walk away, letting out a long, tired sigh.

The next few days would be awkward. Dany knew perfectly well how to become unbearable when something displeased her.

But, in the end, it didn't matter. As I had already told her, there was nothing I could do to change her decision.

"I should have told her…" I muttered, "…that there is no other way to get home."

Or rather, that this was the only way at least one of them could get home.

[END OF VISENYA TARGARYEN'S POV]

...

That night, Daenerys went out to gaze at the stars, Saphira curled up beside her. The night breeze was cool, but it did nothing to calm the storm inside her.

"Why haven't you grown up yet?" she muttered, staring at the little dragon in frustration. "You should be as big as this damn place."

Saphira narrowed her eyes, as if she understood her frustration, but offered no response.

Daenerys would never have imagined that Visenya would take her place, that she would be the one to marry Drogo.

She didn't envy her. She didn't want to be in her position. And though she was glad that her sister wanted to protect her, she couldn't help the anger and helplessness that burned in her chest.

"I will not allow her to marry that monster, Saphira," Daenerys whispered, her gaze fixed on the stars. "I know what she will suffer if I allow her to."

The little dragon raised her head and looked at her with her bright eyes. Through their bond, Daenerys felt her support.

Saphira should have grown long ago. Instead, she was still the same size as the day she was born.

She could barely fly properly, as it was not safe to allow her to do so, even in the dark of the night. The few times Daenerys had let her spread her wings had been few and brief.

Yes, Saphira was a dragon, but she was also a magical being. She relied on magic, and in this world magic was as scarce as that of her kind.

If magic were more plentiful, Saphira would have already used it to grow, at least to a state of "adolescence."

A size large enough that Daenerys could proudly claim her title of Dragon Rider.

If that were the case, she would already be on her way to the Dothraki Sea, burning them to ashes with Saphira's searing flames.

Men, women, old people, and children… even their damned horses. All of them.

The fire would consume everything.

Feeling Daenerys's fury intensify, Saphira gently dropped her head onto his shoulder. His touch was warm, firm, a reminder that she was not alone.

The anger inside her began to dissipate, like embers slowly cooling.

As much as she wanted to kill all the Dothraki right then, for the situation they had put her sister in, she knew she would not be able to kill children.

Even if, in time, those children grew up to be the same savage barbarians she so despised.

...

[ILLYRIO MOPATIS's POV]

"Ungrateful girl."

The thought crossed his mind as he entered his room. A slave girl rushed to pour him a glass of wine as soon as she saw him.

For days now, Daenerys had been looking at him with open contempt. He had always sensed a certain disdain in her attitude, a hatred for no apparent reason, but she had never shown it so clearly as now.

"Visenya must have told him about her engagement to Drogo... and my part in it."

He could think of no other reason.

For a moment, his mind wandered to an idea he had considered more than once: taking Daenerys as a wife, now that Visenya was to marry Khal Drogo.

He sighed, dismissing her, as he had done in the past every time she tempted him again.

Yes, he enjoyed imagining the face of that defiant brat beneath him, in his bed. But, to be honest with himself, he didn't think it gave him any pleasure.

After all, he already had what he really wanted. Visenya had promised to name him Master of Coin when the Targaryens regained the throne.

For once in his life, he wouldn't be greedy. He would keep his hands off her... unless the situation forced him to do otherwise.

He took a sip of wine and snorted in disdain.

"I don't understand Varys' interest in them. They have the blood of the dragon in their veins, but they are nothing more than mere lizards."

[END OF ILLYRIO MOPATIS' POV]

...

"I don't think this is safe, Saphira..."

Doubt weighed in my voice, but the dragoness didn't seem to share it.

It had all started as a foolish idea, a fleeting thought born of frustration. But ever since, Saphira hadn't stopped encouraging me to try it through our bond.

If her growth was hampered by the scarcity of magic in the world, why not transfer some of mine to her?

It was crazy. I didn't even know if it was possible… or if it was safe.

But Saphira believed in it. And in me.

If it worked, both Saphira and I could stop hiding and go out into the world without fear.

She could take flight, soar through the sky like she had so often expressed her desire to do.

And, like her, I longed to be up there, soaring through the skies beside her, free at last.

I stared at her, feeling her anticipation through our bond.

I took a deep breath and nodded to myself, letting determination settle in my chest.

"Let's do it" I said firmly.