Chapter 1: Dothraki
Chapter Text
She remembers Khal Drogo’s wedding to the white-haired foreign girl. It was a happy event, everyone fighting and fucking and celebrating. Still, she couldn’t help but notice how scared the bride, her new khaleesi, looked that day. She thought it was odd. The girl should be happy, she was marrying the fiercest khal in all of the Dothraki Sea. And from what she’s heard, he wasn’t a cruel lover. He didn’t take any pleasure from the pain of his partners, like she heard other khals did. It was strange, the girl’s fear, but she didn’t think much of it after that day.
--
She was horrified the day Khal Drogo died. She had already been distrustful of the khaleesi’s plan to venture into the poisoned sea for the sake of some iron chair. She knew her father was a great warrior, but the Dothraki had never traveled past their vast plains before, and she was fearful of what they might find in the places even their horses wouldn’t go. But her khal said it would bring them glory, so who was she to question it?
The day Khal Drogo died was filled with fighting within the khalasar, and then the khaleesi was performing forbidden blood-magic on their beloved khal, no matter how many times the bloodriders begged her not to. And then he died.
--
She left when the khaleesi said they could. That they could leave without suffering the same fate as the khal and his bloodriders. It pained her to leave behind some of the people she had known her whole life. But she didn’t trust this foreign khaleesi, who had brought nothing but devastation since the day Khal Drogo married her.
Still, she couldn’t help but look back one last time, before she left the khalasar forever. She turned around just in time to see the fires envelope the Lhazareen witch in its flames. Even from this distance she could hear the screams. She turned back around and made up her mind then and there.
She would not come back.
--
Time has gone by, and the years have been good to her. She found a new khalasar to follow and married a bloodrider to a strong khal. She even has a little boy, with another one on the way. For the most part, she’s been able to keep the thoughts of the demise of her last kahlasar at bay.
Today they are in Vaes Dothrak for the Khalar vezhen. Her husband takes charge of the khalasar while their khal meets with the others. Her husband tells her that he heard the khals will be discussing the issue of a former khaleesi who did not join the Dosh Khaleen after her husband died. She briefly remembers all of customs and traditions that were broken before the fall of her last khalasar and thinks Good. Customs must be upheld.
She spends most of her evening with the khaleesi, wandering the markets and watching their children play. The khaleesi wants to gossip about the Khalar vezhen, and the trial to come. She assures the khaleesi her husband would never leave her alone and unprotected in that way, should their precious khal ever fall. She soon finds herself desperate to change the subject, not wanting to think about losing another khal.
Instead they talk about how uniquely bountiful the past year has been, raiding those cities by the water. It seems the people there have lost their defenses, and have no leader to protect them. Oh well. She says. All the easier to raid.
--
She smells the fire before she sees. She looks out and sees giant flames, bigger than the ones seared in her memory forever, and far more terrifying. She runs, and soon finds herself facing her temple. The temple where she found refuge when her khalasar fell apart into nothing. The temple where she celebrated her new khaleesi when she was pregnant with her baby. The temple where she would pray that she may never feel the uncertainty she felt after she lost everything. The temple, now burning with great fire, filled with the screams of every khal in the Dothraki Sea.
The doors opened, and out walked not a single Dothraki khal, but the same white-haired demon that destroyed her last khalasar. She walked out of the burning temple, untouched by the fired burning down the house of their god, standing over the Dothraki people.
All she could do was fall to her knees and pray that the girl wouldn’t kill her next.
--
The white-haired girl takes all of the Dothraki fighting men, her husband included. She hears once more of the poison seas and of iron chairs, and it’s all she can do not to rip her own hair out. The day her husband leaves he promises he will come back, sacks full of riches and the gods of their enemies to add to the Godsway.
He would not come back.
Chapter 2: Qarth
Chapter Text
Her favorite part of the day is when her husband comes home with news from work. As a member of the Thirteen, he always had the most exciting news. Tales of sellswords and pirates and merchants. She was sure he was always exaggerating quite a bit with his stories, if not making some of them up completely. But she enjoyed them all the same, and it gave him great pleasure to tell them.
Today he tells her the story of a strange, dirty little girl, claiming to be a Valyrian princess, walking up to the gate with a handful of Dothraki savages and a Westorosi knight. She admits, she would not have believed him had he not said that Xaro had enacted sumai to allow the girl through the gates. Quite peculiar, as he was never one for dramatics. Certainly not as much as the rest of the people of Qarth.
She almost laughs when her husband tells her how the little princess mispronounces Qarth. She holds it in, though, as that would not be polite.
--
She eventually gets to meet the little princess herself at a gathering hosted by Xaro to celebrate her arrival. She can’t help but admit she’s quite curious to see what this young girl is like.
She is very pretty, with all the features of old Valyria, and they end up making lovely conversation. She even offers to take her to the night market of Qarth, before the young girl excuses herself to speak with her Dothraki soldiers. She thinks it’s a bit rude of the little princess to excuse herself so abruptly from their conversation, but quickly dismisses it. After all, the young girl hasn’t had the privilege in growing up in such polite society such as Qarth.
She ends up watching along with everyone else when Pyat Pree puts on a magic show for the little princess. She’s never been all that fond of Pyat, and she can’t help but be a bit disturbed at his unnatural displays, but she applauds and cheers along with everyone else once he’s finished. After all, refusing to do so would not be polite.
--
It’s not long after that that her husband comes back to her telling of his meeting with the little princess. She’s quite shocked to her that the charming young girl she had met at the party was so insolent and rude to her husband, demanding he give up his means of income for some hideous chair across the seas. She has to stop herself from laughing when he describes how the little princess’s response to his logical reasoning was to go on about dreams and magic, though her eyes do roll at the thought before she can help it. I understands the girl is fond of her little creatures, but surely she can’t think that her pets entitle her to my husband’s ships.
She can’t stop the anger that rises up inside of her, however, when he tells of her yelling that she will take “what is hers” with fire and blood. She has half a mind to confront the young girl on if she truly meant to threaten her husband.
Her husband has the good sense to stop her, though, reminding her that this young girl is no real threat to them. By the time they lay down to sleep, she is glad she did not go through with the confrontation. After all, it would not be polite.
--
She had run out of food days ago, and was quickly running out of water. She was able to keep looters away by handing over what few items of value she had left after being robbed by her servants, but soon that had run out as well. She knew the next group of looters would come around sooner or later, and the fear she had for when they found she had nothing to give was unlike any she had ever felt before.
She had tried to look for help from someone the day her servants had left with most of her valuables, but didn’t make it far before she was met with chaos and violence in the streets.
She’s pulled out of her memories by a pounding at the door, accompanied by the yelling of several men.
As she waits for them to break down her door, she cannot help but weep. She knew being the widow of a member of the Thirteen, she will likely be handed over to be executed by whoever placed themselves in power now that the Qartheen government has been wiped out by the young Valyrian girl.
The bodies of the Thirteen had been found the day after the little princess had fled with all of Xaro Xhoan Daxos’ wealth. At least her husband had been given the mercy of a quick death. It seemed those who had been inclined to help the young girl were met with far more carnage, with Pyat Pree being found burned to death in the House of the Undying, and Xaro himself was found locked away to die, along with the little girl’s own handmaiden. It seemed loyalty was not a trait the young girl found much use for.
As the door began to break down, she couldn’t help but think that perhaps it would be a good thing to die before this version of Qarth was destroyed forever. She can’t imagine her city ever being the same after this. They could never go back to the rich, polite society they once were.
No one was polite anymore.