Chapter 7 Horsemen Nomadism
Unlike modern people who stay up past midnight, horsemen fall asleep after dusk and wake up before the morning light. When Daenerys gets up, dresses and walks out of the tent, Drogo's camp is already boiling.
Women yell at their children, warriors give loud orders to pull out the tents, and horses neigh.
The gray-black smoke and steam from the iron pots blur Dany's vision. The horse meat rolling in the hot water, the fresh and warm horse manure outside the tent, and the broken grass under the horse's hooves mix together to create a strange and vibrant atmosphere.
Based on the egg yolk-red sun that just popped out from the horizon in the distance, Dany guessed that it was no later than five in the morning. Well, I don't know if my guess is right, because she can't even figure out the season here and now.
The world of "Ice and Fire" does not have fixed seasons. The Stark family's motto "Winter is coming" is not a joke, but the most severe warning.
There are often several consecutive years in this place. If the cold winter without harvest lasts too long, humans will die of hunger even if they don't freeze to death.
Every time there is a "long winter", more than half of the people in the north of Westeros will die. If you are even more unlucky, the "long night" comes, it is not uncommon for 90% of the population of the entire continent to be exterminated.
Breakfast is mutton soup, barley, onions, carrots, turnips, mutton, sprinkled with pepper, saffron and other seasonings, stewed for more than an hour-long before Dany got up, her maid had already started cooking.
Dany ate a large bowl of red copper bowl as big as a dining hall lunch box. After eating, she was surprised at the appetite of a pregnant woman.
Or, because of the awakening of the mother of dragons' physique, she resonated with the soul of the black dragon in her dream last night?
She was not sure whether her physique had improved, but she woke up in the morning with full energy, and Daenerys, who was full of energy and followed behind Drogo's black horse, looked down at the black dragon egg in her arms, thinking about something in her heart.
Less than half an hour after breakfast, bathed in the golden red morning light, the huge Khals slowly moved forward like a dark cloud, leaving a mess behind it, like a brown stain on a green curtain.
The direction of the Khals's advance was where the khal's horse hoof pointed.
Drogo was more drowsy than yesterday. Even Dany didn't recognize him when he got up in the morning. He didn't even drink much mare's milk, let alone mutton porridge. His once sturdy and thick body was visibly shriveled, and it was only supported by the jagged skeleton that it didn't collapse.
At noon, the lush green grass and farm wheat fields gradually became scarce, and finally disappeared, replaced by low hills and yellow-brown sandstone ground.
The ruthless sun was like a local tycoon who had become rich overnight, wantonly waving light and heat.
The ground in front of her formed twisted air folds in the air, and sweat flowed slowly from Dany's chest like thin streams.
The only remaining sounds between heaven and earth were the firm clatter of horse hooves, the rhythmic ringing of the bells in Drogo's hair, and the whispered conversations behind him.
Drogo, in a daze, lost his way, straying from the Laza River Basin and gradually going deeper into the red wasteland further south.
The direction of the khal's horse's head was the direction the horsemen were heading.
The horsemen only had breakfast and dinner, and at noon they would eat dried meat on horseback when they were hungry. The reddish-brown horse meat was light and thin, with each muscle fiber clearly visible. It was completely original. It was a good thing that she could not have eaten even if she had money in her previous life, but it was so hard that it almost cut Dany's mouth.
She had to take a mouthful of mare's milk, puffing her mouth, waiting for the meat strips soaked in it to slowly soften. In the end, she actually tasted a strange sweetness.
The sound of horse hooves came from far away. Dany looked up and saw that Ago's warhorse had stepped out a thin line of reddish-brown smoke and dust, running from afar to Drogo.
"Khal Khaleesi, there is a wasteland ahead, no people and no danger, but the direction seems to be wrong." Aggo hesitated and looked at Drogo, then said to Dany.
The khals did not blindly follow the khals forward. There were scouts scattered in all directions at all times, exploring the environment and avoiding sneak attacks from other khals.
Daenerys rode to Drogo's side and was about to remind him to change the route, but suddenly her pupils shrank suddenly, and she pulled the reins to drive the little silver horse to turn around in small steps. During this time, Daenerys looked around: the horsemen were struggling to move forward in a dark red desert.
She immediately had an idea in her mind, "Don't ask anything, keep moving forward. Well, go find a suitable place to set up camp ahead."
After Aggo left, Daenerys looked at Khal Drogo beside her worriedly. The two of them had a loud conversation just now, but he didn't respond at all. Swarms of blood flies slowly circled around Drogo, and the buzzing sound of their wings echoed at the edge of Dany's hearing.
Bloodflies were as big as bees, heavy and purplish, with a wet, sickly glow.
They lived in swamps and stagnant pools, feeding on the blood of horses and men, and laying their eggs on the bodies of rotting or dying humans and animals. Drogo had hated them, and whenever one came near, he would catch it with lightning speed, and never missed. Then he would hold the fly in his huge hand, letting it buzz wildly around, and finally squeeze it tightly. When he opened his hand, the fly was a red mark on his palm.
Now a bloodfly crawled around his horse's rump, and the horse lashed its tail angrily, trying to shoo it away. Other flies flew back and forth around Drogo, getting closer and closer, but the khal did not react.
He looked toward the brown hills in the distance, and the reins hung loosely in his hands.
Then a bloodfly landed on the khal's bare shoulder, and another hovered for a moment, then landed on his neck and crawled towards his mouth. Khal Drogo swayed slightly on the saddle, the bells in his hair tinkling softly, and his mount continued to move forward at a steady pace.
Finally, a bold bloodfly climbed up his long beard, climbed onto his cheek, and landed in the wrinkles next to his nose. Khal Drogo swayed on the saddle, slowly tilted his head while Dany, who had been keeping an eye on him, swooped out with his left hand like a snake and pulled him back.
The swarm of bloodflies was startled and scattered for a heartbeat, then wandered back and landed on him.
The next moment, the whispers in the crowd behind him turned into a noisy heat wave, and all the horsemen were shocked.
"The khal almost fell off his horse!"
"The khal who fell off his own horse"
The khal was the leader of the khals, the direction of advance, the focus of everyone's attention, and his behavior seemed to be observed under a magnifying glass.
A Dothraki who couldn't ride a horse didn't even have the qualifications to be a normal horseman, let alone the leader of the tribe?
"Shut up, the khal is still on horseback." Dany turned around and shouted, and she loosened her right hand that was holding Drogo.
Drogo had been awakened by the shock of the moment before, and now he could control the reins.
"The moon of my life"
It was the first time in a few days that he consciously looked at Dany and called his "lover" for the first time. Daenerys was embarrassed for a moment, searched her memory, and said: "My sun and stars, do you want to stop and rest?"
Her face must have been distorted at that moment.
But no one cared to study her expression, as Drogo's bloodriders had already come riding.
"Blood of my blood."
"Blood of my blood, how are you?"
Daenerys announced loudly without waiting for Drogo to speak: "The khal has ordered that it is getting dark today, so we should camp here."
"Here?" Hago looked up at the sun hanging high in the sky, which was probably around two or three in the afternoon, and then looked around. The plants were dry and brown, unsuitable for human habitation.
He stared with his ferocious triangular eyes, "We can't camp here."
"Women have no right to order us to stop," Qotho also said, "Not even Khaleesi is exempt."
"Khal Drogo gave the order." Dany stiffened her neck and pretended to convey the imperial decree.
The old bloodrider Coholro looked at her deeply and said to his two companions: "Find the nearest water source and set up an oval camp between the khal's palace and the lake."
Qotho was stunned, and he and Hago took the order and left.
Then Coholro began to command people to build Drogo's thatched palace in the shadow behind a hill.
Soon, news came from the front that a stream had been found, and the large group of people passed Daenerys and continued to move towards the water source.
"Save me, I need water, save me."
A faint cry for help came from the wooden cart passing by. The voice was weak, but it made Dany feel familiar.
Silver-haired Lilith!
After returning last night, she got information about Lilith from Doreya.
Like Doreya, she was a prostitute purchased by Illyrio from Lys and a gift from Drogo to Jarkoko when he got married.
However, Doreya was the current top prostitute, and Lilith was nearly 30 years old and could only be regarded as the former "first prostitute".
At this time, she was lying alone on the creaking and shaking wooden cart, the blood dripping from her lower body soaked her dress, one of her golden sandals fell off, and her pale calves swayed unconsciously with the bumpy carriage.
"Wait a minute." Daenerys called the woman driving the carriage, covered her nose to block the pungent smell of blood, and asked: "What's wrong with her? Why don't you heal her? Where is her maid? She keeps asking for water. Didn't you hear it?"
"Khaleesi, Lady Lilith fell off the horse." The black woman hesitated, not knowing how to continue the next wording.This Dany was stunned. Because of what she deliberately provoked her yesterday, Lilith really tried to ride a horse today?
In fact, even the bravest Dothraki women cannot continue to ride long distances on horses when they are close to giving birth.
Therefore, in the tradition of horse people, pregnant women riding carriages are not discriminated against.
Daenerys is a special case. She has always had the help of dragon dreams to recover her body, and she is extremely tough.
Seeing that Dany was still looking at her, the woman continued in an ambiguous tone: "Because of her inappropriate words, Jacoko deprived her of her status as a lady. Now she is a slave like me, so naturally she has no maids, and the hairless people will not treat slaves."
"What did she say?" Dany asked, but she actually had some guesses in her heart.
Before the skinny black woman had time to talk, Lilith on the wooden cart moaned in a daze: "My child, the son of Jacoko, save him. He is the future khal of the Jaco tribe. I am Khaleesi, save me."
Uh, this woman really came from the world of love? How can she not have any scheming at all.
The black slave immediately collapsed on the ground in fear, with fear on his numb face, "Have mercy, Khaleesi, I will drag her out to feed the dogs immediately."
"Feed the dogs?" Dany asked back in disbelief.
"Jacoko asked me to drag her to the outskirts of the KaLS to feed the wild dogs." The slave woman said.
"Is Jaco crazy? She's pregnant with his child!"
"She can't give birth." The black slave pointed at Lilith's deformed belly and explained, "She fell off her horse this morning. Jaco sent the hairless man to take care of her, but she kept bleeding.
The doctor said she couldn't be saved, but she refused to die and kept saying some treasonous words."
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(End of this chapter)