The Birth of Dragons

Daenerys Targaryen

They moved through the deserted land of eastern Essos, and there was an emptiness to her. She did not feel scared, Khal Drogo was not scary to her anymore, he was caring, and she had come to understand him. She understood him better than she understood her twin, and that was something that made her desperately sad. She did not know how to reach Aemon, there seemed to be a cloud of anger across her twin's face whenever she saw him now, he never bothered to speak to her, unless it was in clipped tones, Rakharo was always with him, and that made her nervous. Drogo was always watching her brother now as well, and that made her even more nervous. It was why she had come to his tent, in the dead of the night to confront him, to try and figure out what he was doing.

She stands before him, wearing Dothraki garb, it is more revealing than anything she had ever worn before, but she hopes it will work. "Aemon." Dany begins, looking at her twin, seeing him sitting down, garbed in a tunic and breeches in their house colours, he looks like a man possessed, a strong man. "What are you doing?"

He looks at her, his violet eyes blazing with barely concealed rage. "What do you mean what am I doing? I am sitting down, resting. We had a long journey through the deserted hovels."

Dany senses the bitterness in his words, and she cringes. She understands his anger, truly she does. How could she not? "I know that. I meant, what are you doing with Rakharo? Every time I see you now, you are with him and Ser Jorah. What are you plotting?" the words come out sounding more like an accusation than she meant them to.

Her brother's eyes narrow and his response is barely above a whisper when he replies. "I am ensuring the safety of our family. Not that that seems to matter to you."

Dany bristles, sensing the implication in her twin's words. "Viserys was a mad man, brother. Surely you know that?!"

Aemon stands, and comes to stand right before her, towering over her. "He was still our brother. He did not deserve to die the way he did." Her brother turns, making it so that his back is to her, his voice is filled with barely concealed anger. "Your husband murdered the King he had sworn to see on the throne. I do not know if he will not do the same to me."

The implication of her brother's words horrifies her, so much so, that she is forced to reply in hushed whispers. "You truly think Drogo would do something like that to you? You have not given him any reason to do that to you!"

Her brother whirls around and stares at her, rage in his eyes. "And Viserys had?!" he snarls. "Yes Viserys was mad, and he could be cruel, but he was still our brother, Dany. That savage of yours had no right to do what he did." Her twin looks at her measuredly then, and she tries to stand tall, to hide her emotions, but she knows he knows. "Unless you asked him to." That comes out in something barely above a whisper. Dany says nothing, she remains silent as her brother processes the truth. "Why?" is all he asks.

Dany hesitates, she had not expected this question, she thought that he'd understand, they'd often talked about Viserys' cruelty and what they were going to do to deal with it, but nothing had ever come about it. She expected gratitude, not this. "I… I… we… I… thought it would be better this way."

"You thought it would be better to allow a fucking savage to kill our brother? To allow the horse lords to see that they could kill us? Do you know what sort of message that sends?" Aemon snarls, all pleasantness gone from him, rage that she has not seen for years upon him. "You think they will stop with Viserys? Your fucking husband asks them to, they will gladly kill me as well."

"No!" Dany exclaims horrified by the very thought of losing her twin. "Drogo would never do such a thing."

Her brother laughs. "You aren't that naïve are you sister? You know that's exactly what he'd do."

Dany looks at her brother, wondering if he's gone mad, and instead all she sees is plain fear. "What do you mean? What do you think he's going to do?"

Aemon doesn't respond to that, instead, he asks. "Why are you suddenly appearing now? Why are you caring now?"

That takes her by surprise. "Because you're my brother. Of course I care."

Aemon snorts. "Doesn't seem like it. Didn't seem like it when Drogo was stabbing our brother to death."

"I… I… I didn't ask to marry Drogo. I did what I needed to do to survive, what I needed to do to make sure that we survived. That doesn't mean I liked it one bit." Dany replies quickly her heart stuttering in her chest. "I didn't mean to make it seem as if I didn't care. I… just… I. Just."

Her brother snorts and turns around. "Stop lying to me sister. You're in love with that savage, you're going to bear his child, and then leave me in the dirt."

Dany moves to stand in front of her brother, and looks up at him, her eyes pleading. "Aemon, please… don't do this. Don't do this to us."

Her brother looks at her in disbelief, and Dany feels as if she is falling apart. "If there was an us once, it seems as if it died, the moment Drogo fucked you."

She slaps him hard across the face, surprised at her actions, she looks at her brother, and sees his anger simmering. "Please, please don't."

"Don't do what? Don't state the truth? Why should I lie?" Aemon asks.

"Because it is not the truth!" Dany all but yells. "I don't love Drogo, Aemon, I've never loved Drogo!"

"Then who do you love?" Aemon growls.

"You." Dany responds.