After more than a month of arduous travel, Liu Qian and Jelena finally returned to Conqueror's Holdfast with their enormous column of prisoners.
Eighty thousand captive Screaming Warriors were linked into long lines by thick iron chains, their bronze torsos bare and their faces full of defiance as they stumbled forward under the lash.
They had once ruled the grasslands, but now they were no different from livestock.
Together with the fifteen thousand remaining from his earlier defeat of Khal Drogo, the number of Dothraki prisoners in his hands approached a hundred thousand.
Besides these, Liu Qian had brought back three hundred thousand horses from the Dothraki Sea. The boundless herds gave low whinnies, and the dust raised by their hooves obscured the distant mountains.
Led by an attendant, Viserys Targaryen climbed the steps to the watchtower on a high hill outside Crown Town.
Seeing the Dothraki prisoners surging below like a black tide and the herds covering the distant horizon as far as he could see, he drew a sharp breath. His pale violet eyes flew wide, filled with incredulous awe and wild delight.
"Gods-above-"
He murmured involuntarily, his voice trembling with excitement, "Your esteemed Majesty, are all these for me-"
Liu Qian turned, his gaze calm and unruffled, while inwardly he sneered.
Give you everything? How could that be possible?
Liu Qian said evenly, "Prince Viserys, I will give you thirty thousand Screaming Warriors. This will be my gift for marrying your sister."
"Mine-?"
Viserys whipped his head toward Liu Qian, his pale violet pupils contracting with overwhelming delight, as though flames were burning within them.
"Your Majesty! You mean you're giving all these to me?!"
Immense joy engulfed him like a towering wave, nearly making him dizzy.
Thirty thousand Screaming Warriors!
Enough to sweep through any kingdom!