Chapter 41 Chapter 41 Daenerys

Curtains keep out the dust and heat of the street, but not disappointment.Dany climbed wearily into the car, thankful to be out of the sea of ​​Qarthian eyes. "Make way!" Jhogo yelled at the crowd from his horseback, whipping his whip. "Make way! Make way for the Mother of Dragons!" Reclining on a cool satin cushion, Xaro Xhoan Daxos poured ruby ​​wine into a pair of matching emerald and gold goblets, his hands steady despite the rickety cart. "Light of my love, seeing the deep sorrow written on your face," he handed her a cup, "are you sad for your lost dream?"

"Delayed dreams, that's all." The silver collar tightly wrapped around her neck hurt her, so she untied it and put it aside.There was a magical amethyst embedded in the collar, which Xaro promised would protect her from all poisons. The "royals" had a bad reputation for giving poisoned wine to those they thought were dangerous, but they didn't even give Dany a glass of water.They don't see me as a queen at all, she thought bitterly. I'm just an afternoon sideshow, a horse girl with a weird pet. Rhaegal hissed as Dany reached for the wine, digging sharp black claws into her bare shoulders.She had to withdraw her hand and move it to the other shoulder so that it only picked at the clothes and not the skin.Xaro had warned her that fine royals would never listen to Dothraki, so she dressed in the style of Qarth: a flowing green satin that showed half of her breast, silver sandals on her feet, and a belt of black and white pearls around her waist. .If I had known it would be useless, I might as well have gone naked.Maybe that's exactly what I should do.She took a swig of wine.

The royal family is the descendants of the ancient king and queen of Qarth. They command the civil guard and a luxurious fleet, and control the straits connecting different seas.Daenerys Targaryen wanted that fleet, if only part of it, and wanted some soldiers.She offered traditional sacrifices to the Temple of Memory, traditional tributes to the Keeper of the Registers, traditional persimmons to the Opener of Doors, and finally received the traditional blue silk slippers that summoned her to "The Palace of Thousand Seats". The royal family sat high on the ancestor's huge wooden seat to hear her petition.The wooden chairs are arranged in an arc, stepping upwards from the marble floor to the high circular zenith, which is painted with the glorious scene of Qarth in the past.Those chairs were not only huge, but also strangely carved. The gilt surface was bright and brilliant, inlaid with amber, agate, jade and emerald, and each chair was different, competing with each other.It's just that the people sitting on it look listless and drowsy.They were listening, but they didn't listen, and they didn't care what they heard, she thought, they were the real "dailies" and didn't want to help me at all.They came because they were bored, and the dragon on my shoulder interested them more than I did.

"Tell me what the royal family has said," Xaro Xhoan Daxos asked. "Tell me what they said that grieved the Queen of my heart so much." "They said 'no.'" This wine has flavors of pomegranate and summer. "Of course, it's polite and polite, but under those beautiful words, it's still no." "Did you praise them?" "I have the audacity to compliment you." "Are you crying?" "Real dragons don't cry," she said irritably. Xaro sighed. "You should have cried." The people of Qarth wept easily, and tears were considered a sign of civilized people. "What about the people we bought?"

"Mathos said nothing. Wendro praised the way I spoke. 'Aegon the Grace' joined the others in rejecting me, but he cried afterwards." "Alas, these Qarthites are really dishonest." Xaro was not a royal family himself, but he told her who to bribe and how much each should give. "Weep, weep, weep for the treachery of man." Dany would rather weep for her gold.The money she spent bribing Mathos Malaravan, Wendro Kardis, and the "elegant" Aegon Amorrow was enough to buy a ship, or hire a dozen or so mercenaries . "May I send Ser Jorah to get the gift back?" she asked.

"In this case, I'm afraid that one night the 'Regret Guest' will sneak into my palace and murder you while you are asleep," said Xaro. The Regrets are an ancient cult-like killer guild who always whisper "I'm sorry" before killing their victims, hence the name.The biggest characteristic of Qarth people is politeness. "As the saying goes, getting money from the royal family is harder than milking Pharos' stone cow." Dany didn't know where Pharos was, but to her Qarth was all stone bulls.The great merchants who made their fortunes from overseas trade were divided into three mutually suspicious factions: the Ancient Spice Guild, the Tourmaline Brotherhood, and the Thirteen, of which Xaro belonged.Three factions competed with each other for the dominance of trade, and at the same time fought endlessly with the royal family.The sorcerers watched from the sidelines, blue lips and terrifying strength, rarely seen but formidable.

Without Xaro, Dany would have been at a loss.Most of the money she wasted opening the doors of the "House of Thousand Seats" came from the generosity and resourcefulness of the merchants.The news that there are real dragons in the world spread all over the east, and more and more dragon seekers came to visit——Xaro Xhoan Daxos stipulated that everyone, regardless of their status, must pay tribute to the Mother of Dragons. The trickle he started quickly turned into a raging flood.Merchant captains brought lace from Myr, crates of saffron from Yidi, amber and dragonglass from Asshai; traveling merchants brought bags of coins; silversmiths brought rings and necklaces; pipers played for her ; Actors perform acrobatics; entertainers play tricks; dyers and weavers give her colored cloth, rich colors that she has never seen before.Two Jogosnai gave her a zebra, black and white and fierce.One widow even offered the mummified body of her husband, covered with silver leaves, which were said to be extremely powerful, especially since the deceased was a wizard.The Tourmaline Brotherhood insisted on giving her a crown in the shape of a three-headed dragon: the dragon's curled body was gold, its wings were silver, and its heads were carved from emerald, ivory, and agate.

The crown was the only gift she had left, and the rest were sold to raise money that was wasted on the royal family.Xaro wanted her to sell the crown too—the Thirteen had promised her a better one, he swore it to God—but Dany would not allow it. "Viserys sold my queen's crown, so they call him a beggar. I will keep it, so people will think I am queen." She kept it, though its weight made her neck ache. Even with the crown on, I'm still a beggar, Dany thought. The brightest beggar in the world, but a beggar anyway.She hated this fact, and her brother must have felt the same way back then.For so many years he fled from city to city, hunted down by the killers of the Usurper, begging for aid from governors, maharajas, and business tycoons, and even bartering flattery for food.He must know how they looked down on him, no wonder he became so violent, so unapproachable, and finally drove him crazy.This would be the same fate if I let myself go.A part of her just wants to bring her people back to Ves Torojo and rebuild the dead city.No, that's tantamount to failure.I have something Viserys doesn't.I have dragons.With dragons, everything has changed.

She stroked Rego.The green dragon closed its mouth together and bit her hand hard.Outside the car, the huge city was roaring and boiling, and countless sounds merged into a low voice, like a raging sea. "Make way! You milkmen! Make way for the Mother of Dragons!" Jhogo yelled, and the Qarth moved to either side, not because of his shouting, but to avoid the cattle pulling the cart.Through the fluttering curtains, Dany caught glimpses of Jhogo on his gray warhorse, whipping the bull with the long silver whip she had given him now and then.Ago stood by the side of the car, while Rakalo rode behind the team, responsible for checking the crowd and preventing danger.Today, she left Ser Jorah at her lodgings to guard the rest of the dragons; the outcast knight had opposed the foolish plan from the start.He didn't trust anyone, she thought, and with good reason.

Dany raised her goblet to drink, Rhaego sniffed the wine, retracted her head, and hissed. "You have a nice dragon nose." Xaro wiped his lips. "This wine is very ordinary. It is said that there is a golden wine opposite Yuhai. Both of us." "The best wine in the world comes from the Arbor," Dany announced.She remembered that Lord Redwyne had fought the usurper for her father, and was one of the few who remained loyal to the end.Will he fight for me too?Many years have passed and nothing is certain. "Come with me to the Arbor, Xaro, and taste the finest wine. But we will go by warship, not yacht."

"I have no ships. War is bad for trade. I have told you many times that Xaro Xhoan Daxos is a pacifist." Xaro Xhoan Daxos is a money-worshipper, she thought, but his money will buy me the ships and warriors I need. "I didn't let you take the sword, I just wanted to borrow your boat." He smiled. "Yes, I have a few merchant ships, but who can tell how many tomorrow? Perhaps one ship is sinking in the summer sea storm at this moment. By tomorrow, another ship may hit the sea The next day, one of my captains might covet the treasure in the cabin and think, "It's all mine." Those are the risks of doing business. You see, we The longer we talk, the fewer boats I may own. I'm getting poorer by the minute." "Lend me the boat, and I promise you will get it back with interest." "Marry me, bright light, raise the sails in my heart. I think of your beauty, sleepless every night." Dany smiled.Xaro's moving declarations of affection amuse her, but his words and actions don't match up.Ser Jorah could barely take his eyes off the bare side of her breast as he helped her into the carriage, but Xaro paid little attention to her body, even in such a confined space.She also found countless beautiful boys gathered around the great merchant, coming and going in his palace dressed in thin silk. "That's a nice word for you, Xaro, but I catch another 'no' behind your words." "The iron chair you mentioned sounds cold and hard. It's a monster. The thought of those jagged spikes scratching your lovely skin makes my heart ache unbearably." The jewelry on Xaro's nose showed him It looked like a glorious strange bird.He waved his slender and elegant fingers in denial. "Make this your kingdom, most noble queen, and let me be your king. If you like, I will send you a throne of pure gold. If you are tired of Qarth, we can travel around the Jade Sea , travel to Yidi, look for the dream city in the poet's mouth, drink the wine of wisdom with the head of the dead." "I will sail to Westeros and drink the wine of vengeance from the head of the Usurper." She scratched Rhaegal's eye bags, and his emerald wings spread slightly, stirring the still air in the car. A glistening tear rolled down the face of Xaro Xhoan Daxos. "Nothing can change your fanaticism?" "No," she said, wishing she was as determined as she sounded. "If each of the thirteen giants lends me ten ships—" "You'd have a hundred and thirty ships and no crew to drive them. Your justice means nothing to the people of Qarth, why should my sailors care about some kingdom at the edge of the world, by whom How about sitting on the throne?" "I'll pay them to care." "Where's the money? My lovely star of heaven?" "Use the money sent by the seeker." "You can try," Xaro admitted, "but you'll buy a lot of care, and it won't come cheap. Besides, my generosity has already made the whole of Qarth laugh at me as a prodigal, and the money you need will be far away." Far more than is currently being spent." "If the thirteen giants refuse to help me, maybe I should ask the Spice Guild or the Tourmaline Brotherhood?" Xaro shrugged lazily. "They'll give you nothing but flattery and lies. The Spice Guild is full of hypocrites and blowhards, and the Brotherhood is full of pirates." "It seems that I have to obey Haiya Puli and go to the wizards for help." The giant sat up straight suddenly. "Haiya Puli is a blue-lipped guy! Blue lips can only spit out lies, the saying is true, trust the one who loves you! Wizards are difficult monsters who rise from dust and shadows Take nourishment. All they can give you is nothing, because they have nothing." "If my friend Xaro Xhoan Daxos can meet my needs, why would I ever think of seeking the wizard's help?" "I have given you my home and my heart, don't you care? I have given you perfume and pomegranates, monkeys that tumbling and serpents that spit messages, heads of gods and feet of demons, and There are scrolls from Lost Valyria. I also send you this chariot of ebony and gold, and a pair of matching bulls, one white as ivory and the other black as jade, with They're all studded with jewels." "Not bad," Dany said. "But what I want are ships and soldiers." "Peerless beauty, didn't I give you an army? A thousand knights, each in shining armor." The armor was of gold and silver, and the knights of emeralds, emeralds, agates, tourmalines, ambers, opals, and amethysts, each as tall as her little finger. "A thousand lovely knights," she said, "can't make the enemy fearful. And a bull can't carry me across the sea, and I—why stop?" The bull slackened his pace. The car stopped abruptly. "Khaleesh," Argo called through the curtain.Dany leaned on one elbow and poked her head out.They were already at the edge of the market, and the road ahead was blocked by a thick human wall. "What are they looking at?"' Jhogo rode back in front of her. "A fire mage, Khaleesi." "I also want to see." "No problem." The Dothraki reached down for her to hold, then pulled her onto his horse and seated her in front so she could look over the crowd.The fire mage summoned a fire ladder out of thin air, and the swaying and circling orange-red fire ladder stretched straight to the high latticed ceiling without any support underneath. She noticed that most of the audience was not from the city: sailors disembarking, merchants in traveling caravans, dusty folk from the Red Wastes, wandering soldiers, artisans, and slavers.Jhogo slipped a hand around her waist and drew himself closer. "The nannies are avoiding him, Khaleesi, see that girl in the felt hat? Right there, behind the fat priest, she's a—" "—Pickpockets," Dany finished for him.She is not a pampered noble lady who has never seen the world.She had seen many pickpockets on the streets of the Free Cities in the days when her brother had fled from the killers hired by the Usurper. The mage kept gesticulating, swinging his arms wildly, urging the flame to rise higher and higher.The audience stretched their necks and raised their heads, while the pickpockets squeezed through the crowd with hidden knives in their hands.They steal vast amounts of money deftly with one hand while pointing upwards with the other. When the flaming ladder reached forty feet high, the magician leaped forward and scrambled along it like a monkey, alternating hands, each step dissipating behind his feet, leaving only a wisp. Silver smoke.When he climbed to the top, the ladder disappeared without a trace. "Nice trick," Jhogo couldn't help but admire. "It's not a trick," a woman said in Common. Dany hadn't noticed Quest in the crowd before, but there she stood, her watery eyes gleaming beneath the same mask of red lacquer. "What do you mean by that, madam?" "Half a year ago, this man couldn't even make fire with dragonglass. He only knew some tricks about gunpowder and wildfire. At best, he could only attract a few ignorant fools to watch, so that his pickpockets could have a job. He can walk through the hot coals, or let burning roses bloom in the air, but never expect to climb a fire ladder, any more than the common fisherman expects to catch a sea monster in his net." Dany looked uneasily at the place where the ladder had been.Now even the smoke has disappeared, the crowd is dispersing, and everyone is busy going their own way.Of course, it won't be long before many find their wallets empty. "what about now?" "He is now stronger, Khaleesi, and it is because of you." "Me?" she laughed. "how is this possible?" The woman came and put two fingers on Dany's wrist. "You are the Mother of Dragons, aren't you?" "Of course she is, and the Son of Shadow must not touch her." Jhogo brushed Kuese's fingers away with the handle of the whip. The woman took a step back. "You must leave this city quickly, Daenerys Targaryen, or you will never leave." There was a tingling on the wrist where Quexi had touched it. "Where do you want me to go?" she asked. "To go north, you must go south. To reach the west, you must go east. To go forward, you must go back. To go to light, you must go through shadows." Asshai, Dany thought, she wants me to go to Asshai. "Will the Asshai give me an army?" she asked. "Can I get money in Asshai? Are there ships there? Is there anything in Asshai I can't find in Qarth?" "The truth," the masked woman replied, before she bowed and disappeared into the crowd. Rakharo snorted contemptuously from behind his drooping black beard, "Khalishi, a man would rather swallow a scorpion than trust the Shadow Ones. They dare not show their faces in the eyes. You all know that. " "Everybody knows that," agreed Aggo. Xaro Xhoan Daxos leaned back on the cushion and watched their entire conversation.When Dany climbed back into the wagon and sat beside him, he said, "Your savages have wisdom they don't know. The 'truth' the Asshai can offer will make you smile." He stuffed it again. Give her a glass of wine and talk about love and lust all the way until you get back to his mansion. Dany returned to the suite and found some peace at last.She took off her gorgeous clothes and put on a loose purple silk gown.Her dragons were hungry, so she chopped up a snake and grilled the pieces over a brazier.They're growing, she thought, watching them gobble up and scramble for the blackened flesh.They were twice as heavy as they were in Wes Torojo, and even so, it would probably take many years before they could grow to the point where they could be used in battle.Before that, they must be trained, or my kingdom will be reduced to ruins.Although Daenerys has the true dragon blood of House Targaryen, she doesn't know how to tame dragons. As the sun was setting, Ser Jorah Mormont came to her. "The royal family rejected you?" "Exactly as you predicted. Come, sit down, I want to hear your advice." Dany made him sit on the cushion beside her, and Jiki brought a bowl of purple olives and onions soaked in wine. "You have no help in this city, Khaleesi." Ser Jorah picked up an onion between thumb and forefinger. "I am more certain every day. The royal family cannot look past the walls of Qarth, and Xaro..." "He proposed to me again." "Yes, I know what he's up to." When the knight frowned, two thick black eyebrows tangled above his deep-set eyes. "He thinks about my beauty, sleepless every night." She laughed. "Excuse my rudeness, Her Majesty, he was thinking of your dragon." "Xaro assured me that in Qarth, husbands and wives can keep their property after marriage. The dragon is mine." She smiled, and Drogon came hopping and flapping his wings on the marble floor, trying to climb up beside her. cushions. "He's right, but there's a little bit of deliberate concealment. The people of Qarth have a peculiar wedding custom, my queen. On the wedding day, a wife can ask her husband for a token of love, no matter what she asks for in the world, He must agree to everything. And he also has the right to make the same request to her. Although he can only ask for one thing, he cannot refuse no matter what it is. " "One thing," she repeated, "can't be refused?" "With a single dragon, Xaro Xhoan Daxos could rule the city, but a ship will do us little." Bit by bit Dany nibbled at the onion, reflecting woefully on the man's unbelief. "When we came back from the House of a Thousand, we passed the marketplace," she told Ser Jorah, "and I met Quest." She told him of the fire mage and the fire ladder, and of the woman in the red-lacquered mask if. "I long to leave this city from the bottom of my heart," said the knight after she finished speaking, "but not to Asshai." "Where is that going?" "East," he said. "This place is half a world away from my kingdom. If I go further east, I may never return to Westeros." "If you go west, you risk your life." "House Targaryen has friends in the Free Cities," she reminded him, "more loyal friends than Xaro and the Crown." "If you mean Illyrio Mopatis, I doubt it. As long as he can get enough benefits, Illyrio will sell you without hesitation, just like selling a slave." "My brother and I have been guests in Illyrio's mansion for half a year. If he wanted to betray us, he would have done so long ago." "He did sell you," Ser Jorah said. "He sold you to Khal Drogo." Dany blushed.What he said was the truth, but she couldn't stand his sharp bluntness. "Illyrio protects us from the Usurper, and he believes in his brother's ideals." "Illyrio believes in nothing but Illyrio. Gluttony must be greedy, that's a law, and those in power are always cunning. Illyrio Mopatis is both. Do you really know him? " "He gave me the dragon egg." He scoffed. "If he knew they could hatch, he would have sat on it and hatched himself!" She couldn't help smiling. "Oh, I have no doubt of that, ser. I know more about Illyrio than you think. I was indeed a young man when I left his mansion in Pentos to marry my sun and star. A child, but I am neither deaf nor blind. And I am no longer a child." "Even if Illyrio is as much a friend as you think," said the knight stubbornly, "he is not strong enough to help you ascend to the throne by himself, otherwise your brother would not have ended up like this." "But he was rich," she said. "Maybe not as good as Xaro, but enough to hire ships and men for me." "Mercenaries have their uses," Ser Jorah admitted, "but you can't win back your father's throne with the scum of the Free Cities. Nothing holds a divided nation together like an invading army." "I am their true queen," Dany protested. "You are a stranger, intending to land on their shores with a foreign legion who do not speak a single language. The lords of Westeros do not know you, and they have every reason to fear and suspect you. So before you set sail, you have to win them over, more or less." "Yes, if I go to the East as you suggest, how can I win their support?" He ate an olive and spat the pit into his palm. "I don't know, Your Majesty," he admitted. "But I know that the longer you stay in one place, the easier it is for your enemies to find you. The name Targaryen still terrifies them so much that they send for murder when they hear that you are pregnant. If they learn that you have What will you do if you lose the dragon?" Drogon curled up under her arms, hot as a stone that's been out all day in the hot sun.Rhaegal and Viserion were fighting over a piece of meat, wing-beating each other, smoke hissing from their nostrils.My rebellious children, she thought, must not be harmed. "The comet must have had a purpose in bringing me to Qarth. I had hoped to find my army here, but that didn't seem possible. I couldn't help but ask myself, what else?" I was terrified, she realized. , but I must be brave. "Tomorrow, you will go to Haiya Puli."