A/N: Guys, before you read this chapter, I didn't want to put a lot of dialogue into this chapter since it is basically a retelling of the some stuff that happened in the show, but I needed to write it in order to further the story itself. There is lots of inner dialogue for Jorah though! And after this chapter it should be taking a newer route than the show did, so hopefully you'll be getting that chapter sooner than this one. Sorry for the wait!
Chapter 5: A Second Miracle
After having bickered back and forth for hours as they waited for their Queen to return to them, trying to figure out what to do, Jorah and Daario had decided on leaving the palace in search of their Queen on their own accord. The Dragon had been injured by the spears thrown at it from the Harpys and Jorah was beginning to become doubtful that the beast would be able to bring the two of them safely back to Meereen, which meant that they needed to act before something happened to her if it hadn't already.
Setting out on horseback, Jorah's mind kept drifting back the scene that had unfolded all around them in the Fighting Pits. Daenerys had already been apprehensive about taking part in something that had seemed awfully barbaric in her mind, but none of them had expected for it to turn out the way that it had. He also thought of Dany's husband and how he had been killed in the commotion and it bothered him that part of him held some sort of sick satisfaction that he would no longer be standing between the two of them even though Jorah knew that he was not fit to be the Queen's husband himself. Someone new, someone different, would always be standing between them and he hated it.
She had kissed him, though, and that had to count for something, didn't it? No, because it wasn't her husband that had stood between them to start with, it was the politics of Westeros. Politics and Alliances stood between the two of them and they always would and it was the only thing that he was sure of in this world at the moment. He was not, and never would be, fit for Daenerys. She needed an alliance with many connections back in Westeros if she truly wanted to be accepted back into Westeros after everything that her father, the Mad King, had done and it wouldn't be him, no matter what she had told him the night before. Jorah thought of their kiss for a moment and the way that her body had been pressed up against his own and wondered if he would have the strength to do what was right for her? Or would he mess everything up just as he always had in the past? Or should he just let go and let her decide what she felt was best for herself? Jorah knew that she was more than capable of taking care of herself and yet he always felt the need to protect her.
Jorah had been ripped away from his own thoughts many of times by Daario, while Jorah did his best to ignore him while he offered comments to him here and in hopes that it would be enough to pacify him. Jorah only wished that he had wool that he could stuff into his ears just to keep from hearing him brag about how he had slept with Daenerys, or about how old he was, just to suggest that he should back off of their Queen and let him have her. Jorah didn't need or want to hear any of this, or to be drug down to the other man's level, and it's not like he needed to be reminded about all of this anyways. Daario was crude and vile and it angered Jorah to hear this man, who was supposed to be her faithful servant, talk about her in the manner that he had. If Daario had been any other man, Jorah would have stuck him with his sword and left him lying long ago.
It was going to be a long ride to say the least.
After some time, they had found something that had looked… off. He had seen this many of times before this. Hoof prints of thousands and thousands of horses, belonging to that of a Dothraki horde. And it wasn't the hoof prints that seemed off, it was the way that they encircled something, leaving a patch of untouched grass there in the middle of upturned earth. Someone had been standing there and deep down he knew that it had been Daenerys.
Bringing his horse to a halt, Jorah hopped off of his horse and walked over to the patch of grass and his eyes began searching for any sort of clues that could tip him off as to who had been standing there in the middle as the horde came sweeping through the area, surrounding her. And all of the sudden, a glint of white caught his eye and he stooped over to pick the object up. It was a ring and Jorah knew, without a doubt, that it was hers.
"She was here." Jorah said out loud, more to himself than to Daario, as he grasped his Queen's ring in his hand and stood up to return back to his horse. "And I know where they will be taking her. Vaes Dothrak. I have been there once before…"
Jorah's stomach once again began tying itself in knots as he thought of his Queen being in the clutches of the Dothraki horselords once again. Would they take her as a slave? Or would Dany be able to convince all of them that she was a Khaleesi once before and that her Khal had died? It was the truth, but would they believe her and what would they do to her now if they had? Would there be some kind of punishment to her for avoiding being taken there when Drogo died? There were so many questions left to be answered and there was no time to waste. They needed to get to her before anything happened to her. He needed to get to her…
The two of them hastily made their way towards the north where Vaes Dothrak lay in the middle of the grassy desert. Their focus was now lying more on getting to the sacred city than it had talking amongst themselves, which had suited Jorah just fine. And after a while, they had to hop off of their horses and leave them a ways back in order to keep from drawing attention to the two of them as they began their search for the best vantage point and after some searching, they finally decided on a rocky mountain side that would give them the best view to scope out what could be considered a city. It was still lively during the middle of the day and Jorah was smart enough to know that it would be stupid of them to just come traipsing in there and snatching up one of their prisoners without any kind of back up, and so they decided to wait and watch while Daario continued making jabs at him.
Jorah was already profoundly tired from the lack of sleep, stress, and from all of the injuries that he had sustained while fighting back the Sons of the Harpy in the fighting pits and then the worst of all, the greyscale on his arm wasn't doing him any favors either. He wanted to yell at Daario and to tell him that he was the one that needed to back off, since Dany was with him now and he would treat her with all of the respect in the world and more. Dany deserved better than a man who saw her body as some kind of toy to do with it as he will. She deserved to be treasured for her great man beauties and treated with all of the respect that she deserved too, not only as a Queen, but as a woman. And yet, Jorah continued to hold his tongue the best that he could, knowing that it wouldn't be wise for the two of them to get into a fight before they rescued their Queen because they needed one another, as bad as Jorah hated to admit to it.
The next part of their mission felt almost surreal to him as they hid their swords away into the mountain side and crept into the city while trying to pose as merchants. It was a long shot at best, since they didn't actually have anything with them to sale, and with Daario still wearing his armor, it was only a matter of time until they ran into the wrong horselord and they would have every living person within the city surrounding them. When they were nearing the temple, and just when Jorah started thinking that they would make it, it happened. Two of the horselords stopped to talk to him, and Jorah fumbled to come up with an excuse as to what to say to them, momentarily cursing himself for not coming up with a better excuse before they waltzed into the city. One took off to fetch some others and Daario took off after him while the other stood watching Jorah, almost as if he were daring him to try something.
Jorah lunged at him and landed a blow, but it almost felt as though he were hitting a bolder and before he knew it, the other had him on the ground and despite his best attempts at defending himself and fighting back, even stooping so low as to throw sand at him (which ultimately failed), the other eventually had his fingers grasping around his neck and Jorah could taste the blood in his mouth and just as his vision was about to go dark, there was Daario standing there with a knife, blood trickling down the blade. He had never been so glad to see the brazened dark haired man before, until now.
The whole ordeal was wrapped up by Daario who quickly, and without any thought, used a rock to crush the other man's skull in a faulty attempt to cover of the fact that he had been killed by a knife. It was an attempt to make it look as though he had just gotten into a fight with another one of the Dothraki horselords and lost, so that none of the rest would come looking for the two strange knights who were wandering about their city. After all, it would be easy to find them since they stuck out amongst all of the others who were wearing horse leather vests.
After wandering around the city for a while longer, looking for a safe way to get into the temple, they spotted Daenerys walking around the outside with one of the other Dothraki women and when her two knights approached her, while taking her companion as a hostage (and earning a few angry glares from their Queen in the process), she was quick to inform them that she had a plan to which Jorah reluctantly agreed to. Jorah let the Dothraki woman go and Dany stepped forward and placed a hand on his face and then stood on her toes to plant a kiss on his cheek, and his mind suddenly drifted back to the first time that she had suggested that she wanted to step through the flames at her husband's funeral while he stood there and watched her feeling helpless. His stomach had tied itself in knots that night as he watched her step through the fire and her dress caught lit aflame, knowing that she would be next and when the fire died down, there she was. Why should he have any doubt that this time would be any different than the last?
And so he let her, not saying another word about it because he both trusted and believed in her, even if he worried that something else could go wrong, he knew that his Queen was always full of surprises.
"Alright then. I will trust you." He had told her with a bow of his head, before he let her and her companion go along on their way, leaving both Jorah and Daario to find a place to wait and watch the temple for the miracle that was about to take place right before their very eyes and what a miracle it was to behold.
They waited for what must have been hours through the long hours of the night before anything happened. It was not a small fire like the last one, but the whole temple had gone up in flames and there were screams of men from the inside as they tried to beat their way out of the building. There was still no signs of Dany coming out of the building though, and Jorah was on pins and needles as his eyes stayed glued to the scene unfolding before them. All of the Dothraki in the city came flooding into the area, watching as their temple burned to the ground, scrambling to find a way to either put the fire out or trying to find a way to get inside to get their Khals out of the temple. Jorah would have been right there with them, trying to get his Queen out of the burning temple if he hadn't seen her unharmed by the flames the very first time this had happened. He knew that she would be alright, deep down, but he still couldn't help but to be worried about the woman that he loved being in there with seemingly no way out.
And then there she was, standing in the doorway, looking out at the great sea of Dothraki that had surrounded the temple, seemingly yet again untouched by the flames that were engulfing the temple around her and all of the Dothraki in the city looked upon her as if she were some kind of god and each of them bowed down to the earth beneath their feet as a show of respect—as did Jorah and Daario who walked nearer to the temple first. Jorah kept his head bowed until he felt a hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up to see her standing there with a smile on her face. "Thank you." She told him and offered him a hand as a signal for him to bring himself to stand on his own two feet. "I didn't get to say thank you earlier, for saving me." She brought her hand up to begin running her fingers through his hair. "My brave bear… you look so—tired… I promise you, you will get all of the rest that you need when we return to Meereen and you will be cured." She stood on her toes yet again, but this time Daenerys didn't place a kiss on his cheek, she placed a kiss on his lips, kissing him deeply for a long moment, before she pulled away from him. Jorah knew that there was a lot of work to do before heading back to their own city and they needed to head back in great haste.
Jorah glanced back at Daario just to see the expression on his face as he fought back the urge to smile at him. The man looked flustered and confused by what he just saw, and perhaps a bit hurt, but he just looked away, not saying a word, as Jorah followed his Queen to get ready for their trip back to Meereen.