My father swings my mother in the air, her silver braids twirling behind her. She laughs and clings to him. He cradles her close to his chest and kisses her. Baelor sits next to me sharpening his arakh, and snorts when our mother giggles for our father to let her down. She is tiny compared to us and our father loves to tease her about it. I watch our parents together and my heart yearns for what they have. I want the ever-burning love they share and the fierce devotion to one another. I squeeze the weapon in my hand and close my eyes. I want a family of my own to love and protect. Baelor notices my silence and pokes me in the side, like he used to do when we were children. I open my eyes and smile briefly at him. He raises his brows at me in question and I merely shrug.

"Do you think we will have what mother and father have?" Baelor stops his work and cocks his head to the side, watching our parents. Mother sits behind our father braiding his long hair and telling him about her day. Father listens with rapt attention, hanging onto her every word. Baelor grins slightly and resumes sharpening his blade.

"I believe they share a love and bond that is rare, especially in Dothraki culture. I have hope that one day the Great Stallion will bless us with our own moons." I bump his shoulder with mine and grin at him. He returns the gesture and picks up another blade.

"Sometimes it's easy to forget you are the younger brother. You are always so serious." Baelor huffs in amusement and we fall into a comfortable silence.

...

Mother putters around the tent, sitting dishes of food out for us and Father pushes aside the tent flap, before washing his hands of blood. He fed the dragons their nighttime meal and I can faintly hear them chittering at each other. Father kisses mother briefly and she pats his face, a smile on her lips. Baelor places the plates on the table and Father pulls out a chair facing me. Despite a man of his years, our Father is still a hulking, impressive Khal. His body littered with various scars and puckered flesh. His ink black hair is starting to be sprinkled with gray and his beard growing lighter with age. Baelor sits beside me and our Mother slides in beside our Father. She smiles brightly at all of us and we dig into the meal she has prepared.

"How is your training going Rhaego?" I have trained since the day I could hold a blade, to take over leadership from my Father when the time comes. I smile at my Mother and shovel another mouthful of food in my mouth.

"Good." Mother frowns at my one word reply. Despite the years she is still a vision of loveliness. Her face is marked with laughter lines around her mouth and her eyes crinkle from smiling so much. When I look her in the eyes though they still hold the sharp wit that was always present when I was growing up. I quickly swallow my food and elbow Baelor to get him talking. He launches into a tale about how he plans to hunt down the large stag that we've seen roaming the grasslands. Father chuckles and Mother smiles indulgently at him. At this moment I can almost forget the nagging longing that I feel in my heart.

After hours spent around the table catching up, Father left to spend some time with his bloodriders before turning in for the night. Baelor went with him and I can hear their raucous laughter from inside the tent. I help Mother with the dishes and she hums quietly as she cleans. Despite being a man of twenty and five, being around my mother still brings me comfort.

"Something is on your mind my love." She pulls me from my thoughts and smiles over her shoulder at me. She always was so perceptive.

"I've been thinking about this a lot lately and I've decided I want to have a family of my own." Mother doesn't stop her cleaning for even a moment.

"That's wonderful Rhaego." She wipes her hands off on a cloth and comes to sit beside me. She runs her fingers through my hair and I lean into her touch.

"Irri and Rakharo have mentioned that Jirri also wishes to settle down soon. They asked me if I could arrange for her to meet eligible warriors from another Khalasar." I startle at this news and Mother smiles coyly at me.

"Jirri is too young to be married off to a strange Khalasar." I glower at the table and Mother simply laughs softly and pulls my hair from the braid I had it in. Her swift fingers work out the knots.

"She has just celebrated her twenty-third name day. She is certainly old enough to be wed if that is her wish." Mother scolds me lightly. The thought of Jirri wedding a strange warrior has me grinding my teeth in anger. Mother pats my chin and I tilt my face up to look at her. She smiles gently at me and I relax my jaw.

"Why do you care so much who Jirri weds?" Mother twists my hair into a new braid and I search my mind for an answer to her question. I shouldn't care who Jirri marries as long as he is a good, strong man capable of taking care of her and any children she might have. My mind goes dark and I have to keep from snarling at the thought of another man touching Jirri, of filling her belly with babes. Possessive, jealously twists in my stomach and I clench my hands. Mother ties my braid and strokes my cheek. She yawns in her hand and rubs her tired eyes.

"I'm going to retrieve your father and retire to our furs. You think on my question and get back to me." Mother smiles sneakily at me, as if she already knows the answer. How she would know, I will have to think on that as well.