The Khal was furious. All day he raved in his tent, cursing and pulling his hair, as he contemplated the terms that lay before him. He had attempted to seize the messenger who had brought him the missive he so despised, but Dany had watched him escape, cutting down a Dothraki warrior and maiming another in his flight. Several pursued him on horseback, but the messenger had gained too far a lead in the dark, and eventually the pursuers turned back to camp.
The Khal still had no patience for the letter though. He could not read, and the Alphabet the letter was written in was strange, but an old Lhazarene slave was found in the keeping of one of the merchants who followed the Dothraki Khallassar who was able to read it. A few hours after he'd read the message, he was found to have been missing as well.
Dany didn't know what it was that was troubling Jhaqo, and she didn't really want to know all that well. But eventually, as the sounds of the Khal's frustration grew louder and more anguished, Dany's curiosity rose. Soon, she wanted to know what it was that made the Great Khal Jhaqo's blood boil so, and eventually, she gathered the courage and walked the short distance to the Khal's tent.
"What is the matter?" Daenerys asked one of the Khal's bloodriders. "Why is the Khal upset?"
"He has received a letter that declares war," came the reply. "He is being demanded to surrender himself and cut off his braid and bells, and all of ours besides."
"Who would be foolish enough to demand that?" asked Daenerys. She couldn't think of any scenario where threatening a Khal would work, or even was an effective idea. And yet, here stood the great Khal Jhaqo, with twenty thousand riders at his command, besides unbraided boys and old men, and he was nervous.
While they stood there another rider came forth, this one Dothraki. He raced in towards the Khal's tent, leaped from his horse, and stepped towards the Khal. He whispered something in the Khal's ear and the fury and nervousness disappeared.
"Really?" the Khal asked.
"Yes." came the reply. "They have begun to move southwest. Their Warriors number thirteen thousands, many are men afoot, fit only to be ridden down."
"We shall see what will become of this King Isiv. Khal Drogo crowned a king. I should like to do that as well!" Jhaqo jested. "He will blunt his strength against the Yunkai'i before we meet. Whether or not he is victorious does not matter, we shall ride southeast and dispatch all the survivors."
Khal Jhaqo once more was pleased. He ordered feasting and celebration in the encampment, and the drinks flowed like water. Men toasted, swore oaths of violence and slaughter, and battled each other for various privileges that they desired. Khal Jhaqo himself would lead the Khallassar, and they would fall upon the survivors and slaughter all those who attempted to resist, riding them down underhoof.
Dany went to sleep that night with a full belly and the Lyseni girl at her side; she eventually relented to the girl's offers for assistance, and the girl was pleased to be of such assistance; one could almost think that she did it of her own enjoyment rather than a sense of duty. As the Lyseni girl knelt between her thighs and worked wonders with her fingers and mouth that Dany had not felt since Daario had last lay with her, Dany felt a serenity come over her, a calm that could not be shaken, the pleasure building together with the sleep that seemed to come to her eyes like a an assassin, silently stealing up on her and taking her unawares, but bringing her to sleep instead of death.
The dream came to her again. She watched as two creatures battled on a beach, a kraken, and a horse with the wings of a vulture and a single horn in the center of its forehead. Dragons flew over the battlefield, breathing fire around the two embattled creatures. The Kraken wrapped his tentacles around the horse's body but the horse's wings beat away the tentacles. The Kraken bore the horns of a dragon on its head, and tried gore the horse with them, but the horse flew above the Kraken and kicked it in the head, breaking its horns. Finally, the horse gored the Kraken with its own horn, and the Kraken fell dead.
Dany awoke, her chest heaving with her sharp and forceful breathing. She sat upright immediately, holding up the covers for modesty's sake, but there was no sound. The Lyseni girl next to her muttered something, and turned a bit, and Dany realized she had ripped away the covers from her. Softly she covered the girl's body, and pulled her close, feeling the warmth of her body. It filled a small longing she had, a small desire within her, but she did not know what it was. She had forgotten all about her desires in a matter of days, and by the time she remembered what her purpose was, she was already asleep again.
By the time she awoke, the sun was already high in the sky, nearing the fourth hour of the day. The Khallassar was nearly finished breaking camp, and Dany quickly joined them. It would be a long ride, but she was going south - if she managed to escape, she might even be able to make it back to Mereen. The very thought of it filled her with hope.
By the fifth hour, the horde was on the move, a city of over one hundred thousand individuals, and nearly twice that many animals, marching onwards in a trail that would go on for miles. First came the sciuts and outriders, who rode on ahead, independent of the rest of the horde, to find wells, rivers, settlements, anything of value to the horde. Then came the Khal, leading around half of the remaining warriors, then the non-combatants, and the remaining warriors. The herds and flocks came along with the horde, in the center as well, vastly outnumbering all the people. Every man had around two horses, aside from ither animals, and with twenty thouand men, Khal Jhago would have the largest cavalry force in all of the world.
Dany did not care that she was part of the column at the middle. She knew she would have to find a way to escape. It. was her only chance.