After breakfast, once everything was ready, Margaery took Daenerys's hand and said, "Come on, let's set off now. We shouldn't keep the flowers waiting too long."
Margaery took Daenerys to the riding grounds inside the city, where two horses stood ready, one pure white and the other dark brown, their tack polished clean.
They mounted and left Highgarden City with a hundred men of the City Watch, taking the city's only avenue that led straight through all three gates. Then they followed a narrow path between flower fields westward toward a small hill backed by the Mander River.
Daenerys rode the white horse. Not far behind them were her three dragons, controlled by Viserys, who kept them following overhead to protect the women.
"How did you sleep last night? Why do you still look so sleepy after sleeping for so long?" Margaery asked with a smile, noticing that Daenerys still seemed rather drowsy.
"Well enough, though some noise woke me several times during the night." Daenerys brought her horse alongside Margaery's and said with a hint of teasing, "Perhaps the walls here in Highgarden don't keep sound out very well."
Margaery's smile did not change, but her ears grew noticeably redder. "We'll be more careful next time. Come on, while the weather is still nice, let's hurry out and see the flowers."
Once they were outside the city, the breeze of the Reach gradually picked up the scent of flower fields warmed by the sun, making the air seem sweet to Daenerys. Near the Mander River, that sweetness mingled with the cool dampness rising from the water, making it wonderfully pleasant.
Daenerys rode ahead on the white horse, her silver hair streaming behind her in the wind. Every so often, she glanced back at the sky, where her three dragons