Leadership Philosophy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Leadership Philosophy - Research Paper Example The importance that has been given to this area of research is the importance of leadership on employees, performance and overall success of the organizations. There have been a lot of facts and myths associated with the concept of leadership. In the past, leadership was linked by people with the superhuman characteristics bestowed by God to various leaders. This idea was further developed by Weber and named as Charisma by him. The leadership charisma involved the qualities and special characteristics that leaders posses. The leaders having leadership charisma are Charismatics. The concept of Charisma actually directs towards the special power and influence of Charismatics over the followers (Rickards & Clark, p79). In addition to the concept of charisma in leadership, it has been a point of debate if leadership skills are inborn or they can be taught. Researchers have been struggling to find an appropriate answer to this. However, it is not unjust to say that the answer to this ques tion contains an equal portion of both statements. The answer to this question has been given attention for the reason that it may help organizations have effective leaders. Brainpower is the only thing that requires being in a person naturally. Knowledge can be gained, skills can be learnt but intelligence cannot be generated. A person needs to be intelligent and sharp in order to gain knowledge and utilize it. Leadership requires certain traits in a person. These traits include strength of mind, interest to resolve issues, ready to face challenges, power to proceed with plans, will to succeed, determination and passion (Levicki, 2008). Personal Values of my Leadership Leadership qualities, theories and concepts are valuable and useful when it comes to practical life. The leadership skills are not limited to benefit in businesses but are useful in leading all teams including the political, social, cultural and virtual ones. The leadership techniques, qualities and skills are of par amount importance in successfully handling the followers. Religious and political leaders may be taken as a helpful example of how influential leaders are. My personal experiences helped a lot in learning the concept of leadership in a better way. The theory and practice of leadership differ in some ways. However, the theory and literature on leadership helps in understanding and building a better and more influential personality to handle and motivate the followers. To make my opinion more clear and effective I would describe Managerial work and leadership. Since my personal life involves being a financial manager who directly reports to the president of the company I know quite about the concepts of leadership. The step by step development of my career and promotions helped me in understanding which traits are valued and which ones are not. Managerial work is closely linked to leadership. A leader is a person who carry out plans and knows what to do, whereas, a manager is a person who knows how to do things and how would they actually complete a particular task. For instance, a student who is making a plan to carry out a stage performance on some occasion and take the responsibility to select

Microprocessor Based Water Level Controller Communications Essay

Microprocessor Based Water Level Controller Communications Essay A microprocessor incorporates almost all of the functions of a CPU on a single integrated circuit .The first of the microprocessors emerged in the early 1970 since then they are being used for electronic calculators. Computer were for a long period constructed out of small and medium-scale Integrated circuits containing the equivalent of a few to a few hundred transistors. The integration of the whole CPU onto a single chip helped a lot and therefore greatly reduced the cost of processing capacity. Other embedded uses of 4 Bit 8-bit microprocessors, such as printers, various kinds of automation etc, followed rather quickly. Affordable 8-bit microprocessors with 16-bit addressing also led to the first general purpose microcomputers in the mid-70s. From their humble beginnings continued increases in microprocessor capacity have rendered other forms of computers almost completely obsolete with one or more microprocessor as processing element in everything from the smallest embedded systems and handheld devices to the largest mainframes and supercomputers. Since the early 1970, the capacity of microprocessors have increased which suggests that the complexity of an integrated circuit, with respect to minimum component cost, doubles every two years. In the late 1990s, and in the high-performance microprocessor segment, heat generation due to switching losses, static current leakage. What is a Water Level Controller? It ia a Product which makes you tension free. It Avoids wastage of water, microprocessor based water level controller is technically advanced and simple to use, It switches ON when the water in the over tank drops down below level and puts OFF the pump when the water level rises above level. When the sump reaches valve level the system switch OF the pump automatically and switches ON the pump when the water reaches full level, BASIC INTRODUCTION: The circuit described here control the water level inside a tank. There are two different modes of operation.. The first is empty mode and it will take the water out of the tank, the pump will be used to suck the water until the water level drop below the lower level. The second is fill mode. Here the pump will be used to fill the tank, the pump will be activated until the water level reach the upper limit. Here is the schematic diagram of the water level controller circuit: The circuit uses NOR logic gates, only one integrated circuits package and one transistor is needed for the active components, very simple design. The default position of SW1 is empty mode, just switch to other position to make the water level controller works in fill mode operation. The relay can be used to control almost any type of water pump motors. Please be aware that this circuit works only with water or other electrically conductive liquids. MICROPROCESSOR BASED WATER LEVEL CONTROLLER: The water level Controller is a trustworthy circuit. it takes over the task of checking and Controlling the level of the water in the water tanks. The water level is displayed in the LED graph. The cu probes are used to detect the water level, These are inserted into the tank which is to be monitored. This water-level Controller-cum-alarm circuit is configured around the 8 bit Microprocessor 8085, It continuously monitors the overhead water level and display it and it will automatically switch On and off. All the input and output functions are done through the Programmable Peripheral Interface IC 8255. Basic block Diagram: Features very stable. Easily adjusted for operating requirements. Instant reversion to emergency. microprocessor basePID/Fuzzy controller. Principle The Autonics Water Level Modulating controlsystem is a single element Electro-pneumatic control with a pneumatic Positioner and PID/Fuzzysystem, The system comprises a Transmitter, converter module float chamber, a feedline modulating control valve and an electronicmicroprocessor based PID/FUZZY controllers. LEVEL TRANSMITTER Description The Autonic Water Level Modulating control system is a single element Electro-pneumatic control with a positioner and PID auto tuning system. A Level Transmitter with double-float chamber mounted on the boiler shell, fitted with a coil which can be make according to the requirement. A flanged mount fully stainless steel Control valve, fitted with a positioner and pneumatic actuator, which is mounted in the boiler feedline. A microprocessor-based PID/FUZZY Level controller is mounted on the control panel. An electronic Converter module is also mounted on the control panel. Operation A positive change of water level in the boiler alters the level transmitter inductance value of coil causing an imbalance in the system; This signal is transmitted through the electronic control box and connected to PID controller. Then the microprocessor-based PID level controller transmitted an electrical signal to the pneumatic positioner to position and adjusts the position of control valve. A additional low/high water level alarm or burner cut out contact are also provided in the microprocessor-based level controller with the adjustable setting position. Control valve The V control valve has many different inserts for precision throttling control. The inserts are pinned to the END CAPS and are used in conjunction with any of our standard seats. They are designed to change the flow characteristics of the valve and are offered in different shapes to meet a variety of modulating application. For very low C v applications. a specially designed â€Å"Soft† V insert incorporate both the flow element and the ball seal into one component, and maintains continuous contact with the ball. This arrangement provides excellent low end accuracy (EQ%) and repeatability ADVANTAGES OF WATER LEVEL CONTROLLER: Saves electricity Can be used any type of pumps Protection to the pump, LED Indication to monitor the water level in the over had tank and sump Low voltage and High voltage cut off (Working Range: 160v to 260v) Motor control: Direct switching up to 1 HP, through starters for ranges above. Application of water level controller: Residential buildings, Apartments, Hospitals, Educational Institutions, Hostels, Hotels, etc. In maximum homes water is first stored in an underground tank and from there it is pumped up to the tank located at the roof. People normally switch on the pump when their taps go dry and switch off the pump when the tank starts overflowing, which results in the unnecessary wastage and sometimes non-availability of water in the case of emergency which is to be controlled and corrected. The author used a piece of non-metallic conduit pipe (generally used for domestic wiring) slightly longer than the depth of the overhead tank. The common wire C goes up to the end of the pipe through the conduit. The wire for probes L and H goes along with the conduit from the outside and enters the conduit through two small holes bored into it as shown in Fig. 2. Care has to be taken to ensure that probes H and L do not touch wire C directly. Insulation of wires is to be removed from the points shown. The same arrangement can be followed for the underground tank also. To avoid any false triggering due to in terference, a shielded wire may be used. This water level sensor is good or appropriatefor liquids that have a conductivity of equal to or more than 25m Siemens,not only this It is your best choice for a water level switch. The system is economical. The level probe and the evaluation unit can be connected using a long cable. Two point sensors for independent switching and automatic control of pump TECHNICALLY Housing :aluminium, Weather-proof enamel painted suitable for back panel Cable Entries :3 Nos. of  ½ BSP Mains 110 or 230 Volts AC (-15 to + 10%) 50 Hz. Relay Output 50Hz for non-inductive load Power Consumption 5 VA . Fail-Safe Mode High or Low field selectable Response Time 0.5 secs Switching Delay 0.5 to 20 seconds Indication Red LED for Alarm, Green LED for Normal Operating Temp. : -20 ° C to + 60 ° C Weight ~2 Kg.

The Detrimental Effects of Soda :: Coke Pepsi

What is your favorite soda? Coke? Do you know what is in soda? Cutting down on soda can be the geginning of a healthy lifestyle. Studies show that soda, though it tastes good, has many negative effects that outweigh the positive effects. Soda, especially diet, is detrimental to the health of your body. My cousin’s teacher did an experiment with coke. She put a tooth in coke and left it for at least a week. The next time they checked the tooth had disintegrated. The coke had eaten away at the tooth. If this can happen to a tooth imagine what it does to your body. How healthful are these drinks, which provide a lot of sugars, calories and caffeine but no significant nutritional value? And what happens if you drink a lot of them at a very young age? Soda is a sweetened, carbonated, acidic, often caffeinated drink. Forty-five gallons of soda is consumed per person/per year by the average American. Even adults are just as vulnerable to tooth decay, from drinking excessive amounts of soda, even though they have good enamel and well calcified teeth. In America soda manufacturers are the biggest users of sugar. At least ten teaspoons are in each, 12 ounce, can which provides you with the maximum recommended intake of sugar a day. Sugar creates insulin which tells the body to store all carbohydrates as fat. Sugar in soda can cause heightened cholesterol levels, heart disease, diabetes, weight gain, and premature aging. (Mercola) Sugar isn’t the only thing in soda that is bad for teeth, but the acids included in many soft drinks eat away enamel and make teeth more vulnerable. The pH, measure of acidity or alkalinity of a solution, of regular and diet sodas ranges from 2.47-3.35, the lower the pH the more acidic it is. The pH in our mouth is normally about 6.2 to 7, slightly more acidic than water. A pH of 5.2 to 5.5 or below can dissolve the hard enamel of our teeth. Phosphoric acid is in all soda and interferes with the use of calcium which can lead to osteoporosis. Phosphoric acid also neutralizes hydrochloric acid and so digestion cannot properly take place. Aspartame is another ingredient in sodas, particularly Diet Soda. Aspartame is a carcinogen and becomes wood alcohol also known as methanol. In large amounts Aspartame can make someone who drinks diet soda, constantly, feel depressed, fatigued, dehydrated, and/or hungry.

Policy Initiatives for Change and Innovation Essay

Contextualisation The education system in Ghana has undergone enormous changes in the last 50 years. Over this period it has gone from being highly regarded among African nations, through a period of collapse and more recently rejuvenation, supported by a donor-funded reform programme (FCUBE). Underlying these ups and downs and, more recently, the recognition of the need for change, are changes more fundamental still: different ways of knowledge and different ideas about the nature, purpose, and scope of school subjects and how to meet the needs of a diverse student population have come to the fore. These remain among the many challenges facing the education system in Ghana. The paper that follows reviews this ‘history’ and the process, and events, which shaped and informed it. It concludes by examining recent developments and what still remains to be achieved. Abstract: Using an historical perspective, the recent history of educational policy making in Ghana, as it relates to the provision of basic education, is examined. Three periods or phases are identified corresponding to the situation prior to Independence, the period between 1951 and 1986 and the reforms instituted in 1987 and the years that followed. Despite the willing cooperation of various donor agencies and the availability of resources, progress has been limited. The policy and contextual reasons for this comparative lack of progress are examined in turn. The paper concludes with what can be learnt from these attempts at reform and suggests that, whilst the issues involved are complex, greater attention needs to be focused on the training and support of teachers in their classroom role rather than focusing on the provision of resources. Helping teachers to understand the desired changes in their practice and the need to make pupils independent learners, coupled with reforms of teacher training and support, and the nature and quality of teacher continuing professional development, can all be seen as key ways in which further progress may be made. Introduction This paper aims to trace some of the major changes which have taken place in Ghana’s education system since the country gained Independence in 1957, ie, almost 50 years. Although Ghana’s education system had previously been regarded as one of the most highly developed, and effective, in West Africa (Foster, 1965), by the 1980s it was in near collapse (Scadding, 1989; Peil, 1995) and viewed as dysfunctional in relation to the goals and aspirations of the country. The academic standards of pupils, support for teachers, instructional materials, school buildings, classrooms and equipment had declined through lack of financing and management. In 1996 the Ghanaian government embarked on a major donor-funded reform programme called the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) programme which touched all levels of the education system and attempted to address the perennial problems of access, retention, curriculum relevance, teacher training, provision of physical structures, and financing. What follows examines basic education in Ghana by dividing its policy history and practise into three major phases; that of the preIndependence era, the period from 1951 to 1986 and the period from 1987 to 2003. Each of these is discussed in turn in the following sections. Stanislaus Kadingdi Basic education in the pre-Independence era This first phase in the development of basic education policy and practise in Ghana can be described as having been dominated by missionary activities in relation to literacy for trade and the teachings of the Bible. Formal education in Ghana dates back to the mercantile era preceding colonisation. European merchants and missionaries set up the first schools and Christian missionaries are said to have introduced western-style education into Ghana as early as 1765 (Antwi, 1991a; Graham, 1971). Many of these institutions, established by Presbyterian and Methodist missionaries, were located in the south of the country in what became the British Gold Coast Colony. The main aim of these early schools was to facilitate the training of the local inhabitants as interpreters for purposes of trade and as a conversion of Ghanaians to the Christian religion. Thus the curriculum had a narrow focus on basic literacy with the Bible and scripture as the main texts of schooling. Early attempts to improve the quality of primary education in Ghana (then known as the Gold Coast), by Sir Gordon Guggisberg in his role as Governor, took place in the period between 1919-1927. He emphasised a need for better teaching and improved management of schools but the shortage of teachers and inadequate funding meant that his plans for improving primary education were hardly achieved. Most schools in the rural areas were still based in unsuitable buildings, were poorly equipped and staffed or, in some cases, centred under trees! Major policy initiatives in basic education from 1951-1986 The second phase was characterised by instability in governance as a result of successive military takeovers. This political instability coupled with the rise in oil prices in the early 1970s resulted in economic decline in the country. It was a period of a harsh and repressive revolutionary zeal on the part of the military regime of 1981 and resulted in a significant number of trained and highly qualified teachers leaving the country (Nti, 1999). Education was therefore faced with political instability, ad hoc measures, and frequent changes in education policy. Teaching and learning in basic schools had deteriorated to the extent that the majority of school leavers were illiterate, and confidence in Ghana’s once enviable education system was shaken. In 1951 the first president, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, embarked on a massive expansion of the education system to speed the pace of educational development in the (then) Gold Coast. This was in response to popular demand for education and to the new Africa Government’s intention to organise a planned campaign to abolish illiteracy. This initiative was followed by further developments with Ghana’s Independence in 1957. In fact the next 35 years saw a wide range of developments and reform initiatives taking place in Ghana’s education system. Within this period three significant stages can be discerned. These were the Accelerated Development Plans (ADPs) for Education in 1951 and 1961, the findings of the Dzobo Committee of 1973 and the following, New Structure and Content of Education Plan in 1974. The intentions associated with the new military government of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) in 1981 led to further changes. The first of these is discussed in the next section. The Accelerated Development Plans (ADP) for Education of 1951 and 1961 The ADP, launched in 1951, gained legal backing through the introduction of the 1961 Education Act, which sought to provide free, universal and compulsory basic education (of 6 years duration) for all children from 6 years of age. The 1961 Education Act empowered Local Authority Councils to be in control of educational management whilst parents and guardians were expected to make some contribution to the running of schools in their areas. Primary education underwent a rapid and steady growth and the number of schools rose from 1,081 in 1951 to 3,372 in 1952. Enrolment doubled in a period of five years and Ghana was acclaimed as having the most developed education system in Africa (Foster, 1965; Ghana Human Development Report, 1998; Scadding, 1989). Realizing the importance of trained teachers for the expanded system, the 1961 Education Act opened new teacher training colleges, expanded those already in existence and made provision for the training of unqualified teachers in the field through various emergency and short-term in-service training programmes. Teachers’ numbers increased by 1,000 between 1951 and 1953, with the yearly output rising from 420 to 1,108 trained teachers from teacher training colleges. In 1961 the entire basic education system (primary and middle school education) was made free and compulsory, although uniforms and books were not free. However, even though school enrolments increased following the 1961 Education Act, the quality of teaching and learning appears to have remained the same. The changes that were effected to cope with the increased pupil enrolments had been insufficient to create a balance between the quantity and quality of the education provided. The most significant factor that affected the imbalance was an inability to provide schools with trained teachers. With the increase in the number of schools, more teachers were needed and so many ‘pupil teachers’ (ie, untrained teachers) had to be employed to teach, resulting in poor teaching and learning in schools during this period. Following this, the second significant source of policy development, mentioned earlier, arose through the Dzobo Committee of 1973 and The New Structure and Content of Education policy of 1974. The Dzobo Committee of 1973 and The New Structure and Content of Education of 1974 Prior to 1972 the education system had been criticized as being elitist in character built, as it was, on a selective system similar to the British grammar schools. In 1973 the in-coming military government carried out a review of the educational system, and formed the so-called Dzobo Committee to recommend appropriate measures to improve the situation (Dzobo, 1974). This led, in 1974, to the government putting into operation the first major, postIndependence, reform in pre-university education. This reform is generally referred to as ‘The New Structure and Content of Education’ (NSCE) and reduced the length of pre-tertiary education from 17 years to 13 years. The 6 years of primary education remained the same. The four years of junior school was reduced to three years. The five years of senior secondary school, lower stage was reduced to two years, and the period of senior secondary, upper level, remained the same (ie, it went from a pattern of 6-4-5-2 to one of 63-2-2). The aim was to make it possible for school leavers to leave at any point of exit from the system with skills that would enable them to be employable. The reform was expected to raise standards at the various levels so that educational standards would not be compromised as a result of the decrease in the number of years spent in pre-tertiary education. The thrust of the content of the reform programme was to vocationalise preuniversity education in Ghana and to make it more functional and oriented towards contextual demands and challenges. It also constituted a bold attempt to reduce educational expenditure. However, despite its laudable intentions, the NSCE did not have any sustainable impact on the general education system of the country. There were still unqualified teachers in the education system, inadequate resources to support teaching and learning in schools, and challenges for teachers within the context and content demands of the curriculum. This again led to intense unease among parents, employers, academics and some politicians. The significance of the Government’s White Paper on the Committee’s recommendations was the acceptance of 13-years duration of pre-university education for all. It endorsed the introduction of pre-technical and pre-vocational subjects in both primary and junior secondary curricula. The period also marked the establishment of the Ghana Education Service which brought together, for the first time, teachers, educational administrators and education sector workers into a new government agency, under the Ministry of Education, to implement th e new structure of education. The third significant policy development in basic education provision arose from the virtual collapse of the education system and a further military takeover in 1981. The virtual collapse of the Ghanaian Education System and the PNDC of 1981 December 1981 marked the takeover of yet another military government under the name of the ‘Provisional National Defence Council’ (PNDC). By 1983, Ghana’s education system had seriously deteriorated in quality; enrolment rates stagnated and the percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) allocated to education dropped from 6.4% in 1976 to a low of 1.7% in 1983. Government resources were no longer available to construct, complete or even maintain the existing education facilities and the down-turn in the economy resulted in the mass exodus of qualified teachers to other parts of the continent causing a significant fall in the ratio of trained to untrained teachers in the basic education sector. Abdallah (1986), then Secretary for Education, speaking on the state of the education system at the time, had this to say: ‘Over the past decade, there has been a sharp deterioration in the quali ty of education at all levels. There has been a virtual collapse of physical infrastructure in the provision of buildings, equipment, materials, teaching aids etc†¦ To solve these problems, the PNDC has decided to embark upon a comprehensive programme of educational reforms’ (p 1). Arising from the economic constraints that faced the country in the late 1970s and early 1980s, as well as the bureaucratic bottlenecks and sheer lack of interest and commitment from administrators, the new programme never went beyond the experimental stage. There was stagnation and near demise of the experimental Junior Secondary School (JSS) system. By 1983 the education system was in major crisis through lack of educational materials, deterioration of school structures, low enrolment levels, high drop-out rates, poor educational administration and management, drastic reductions in Government’s educational financing and the lack of data and statistics on which to base any planning. The Military to the rescue – the 1987 education reforms Moving beyond the events just described, the third phase structuring this historical account embraces the period referred to here as ‘the military to the rescue’ phase and covers the period of major reform from which the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) reform of 1996 emerged. It was characterised by Ghana’s participation in, and endorsement of, international agreements such as Education for All, the Declaration on the Rights of the Child, the Beijing Declaration on Women’s Rights and the Lome Convention. This meant that the Government had to remain committed to her constitutional obligations as a guide to policy and was influenced by the bilateral and multilateral negotiations it had taken part in. Also significant in this period was the strong ambition of the government to reform the education system by leaving no stone unturned in restructuring the nation’s economic base to bring it into conformity with the financial credibility c riteria required by the World Bank. With this condition met, Ghana had the opportunity of negotiating for credits and grants to finance major education reform. Apart from the World Bank credits, several donor agencies came to the aid of Ghana in her reform implementation, a greater part of which was directed to basic education. In spite of the fact that Ghana had successive military governments from 1966, 1987 marked a new phase in government thinking. In 1987 The New Educational Reform Programme (NERP) was introduced with a focus on the total restructuring of the entire pre-tertiary education system and on improving access through the provision of infrastructure whilst making the curriculum more relevant to social and economic needs. According to a Ministry of Education Report (MOE, 1988), the NERP sought ‘†¦to salvage the educational system and make it more meaningful to the individual and the nation as a whole’. It is therefore worthy of mention that, even though similar to the NSCE reform, in terms of structure and content, there was a marked improvement on the latter with a revised curriculum which reflected radical c hanges at the basic education level. The launch of the World Bank supported programme for education infrastructure also led to the building of 3000 pavilions to support the school system. The goals of the 1987 NERP as summed up in the Sector Adjustment Policy Document of the World Bank (World Bank, 1986) included the following: (i) to expand access to education; (ii) to improve the quality of education; (iii) to make education more relevant in meeting the needs and aspirations of the individuals and the socio-economic conditions of the country; (iv) to re-structure pre-university education to 12 years (6-3-3); and (v) to ensure costeffectiveness and cost-recovery. A major thrust of the 1987 NERP reform was the diversification of the formal academic courses offered in pre-university institutions by the inclusion of practical courses. These changes were intended to correct the perceived elitist education that downgraded technical, vocational and agricultural education. This perception was captured in the address of Professor Dzobo, the Chair of the committee which had reviewed previous reforms, at a National Workshop on the 1987 Educational Reforms when he stated that: ‘In spite of the bold educational innovative measures of the 1920s and of the subsequent ones, Ghana’s formal education system remained Western and predominantly academic and elitist. As a result of the Accelerated Development Plan of Education in 1951, the pre-university educational system has become increasingly dysfunctional as it turns out a lot of school leavers who have no marketable skills, neither do they have the mind to go into self-employment ventures. These leavers could see no bright future for themselves and they come to constitute a veritable economic and social problem for our society to solve†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Dzobo, 1987 ).

A Game of Thrones Chapter Twenty-three

Daenerys The Dothraki sea,† Ser Jorah Mormont said as he reined to a halt beside her on the top of the ridge. beneath them, the plain stretched out immense and empty, a vast flat expanse that reached to the distant horizon and beyond. It was a sea, Dany thought. Past here, there were no hills, no mountains, no trees nor cities nor roads, only the endless grasses, the tall blades rippling like waves when the winds blew. â€Å"It's so green,† she said. â€Å"Here and now,† Ser Jorah agreed. â€Å"You ought to see it when it blooms, all dark red flowers from horizon to horizon, like a sea of blood. Come the dry season, and the world turns the color of old bronze. And this is only hranna, child. There are a hundred kinds of grass out there, grasses as yellow as lemon and as dark as indigo, blue grasses and orange grasses and grasses like rainbows. Down in the Shadow Lands beyond Asshai, they say there are oceans of ghost grass, taller than a man on horseback with stalks as pale as milkglass. It murders all other grass and glows in the dark with the spirits of the damned. The Dothraki claim that someday ghost grass will cover the entire world, and then all life will end.† That thought gave Dany the shivers. â€Å"I don't want to talk about that now,† she said. â€Å"It's so beautiful here, I don't want to think about everything dying.† â€Å"As you will, Khaleesi,† Ser Jorah said respectfully. She heard the sound of voices and turned to look behind her. She and Mormont had outdistanced the rest of their party, and now the others were climbing the ridge below them. Her handmaid Irri and the young archers of her khas were fluid as centaurs, but Viserys still struggled with the short stirrups and the flat saddle. Her brother was miserable out here. He ought never have come. Magister Illyrio had urged him to wait in Pentos, had offered him the hospitality of his manse, but Viserys would have none of it. He would stay with Drogo until the debt had been paid, until he had the crown he had been promised. â€Å"And if he tries to cheat me, he will learn to his sorrow what it means to wake the dragon,† Viserys had vowed, laying a hand on his borrowed sword. Illyrio had blinked at that and wished him good fortune. Dany realized that she did not want to listen to any of her brother's complaints right now. The day was too perfect. The sky was a deep blue, and high above them a hunting hawk circled. The grass sea swayed and sighed with each breath of wind, the air was warm on her face, and Dany felt at peace. She would not let Viserys spoil it. â€Å"Wait here,† Dany told Ser Jorah. â€Å"Tell them all to stay. Tell them I command it.† The knight smiled. Ser Jorah was not a handsome man. He had a neck and shoulders like a bull, and coarse black hair covered his arms and chest so thickly that there was none left for his head. Yet his smiles gave Dany comfort. â€Å"You are learning to talk like a queen, Daenerys.† â€Å"Not a queen,† said Dany. â€Å"A khaleesi.† She wheeled her horse about and galloped down the ridge alone. The descent was steep and rocky, but Dany rode fearlessly, and the joy and the danger of it were a song in her heart. All her life Viserys had told her she was a princess, but not until she rode her silver had Daenerys Targaryen ever felt like one. At first it had not come easy. The khalasar had broken camp the morning after her wedding, moving east toward Vaes Dothrak, and by the third day Dany thought she was going to die. Saddle sores opened on her bottom, hideous and bloody. Her thighs were chafed raw, her hands blistered from the reins, the muscles of her legs and back so wracked with pain that she could scarcely sit. By the time dusk fell, her handmaids would need to help her down from her mount. Even the nights brought no relief. Khal Drogo ignored her when they rode, even as he had ignored her during their wedding, and spent his evenings drinking with his warriors and bloodriders, racing his prize horses, watching women dance and men die. Dany had no place in these parts of his life. She was left to sup alone, or with Ser Jorah and her brother, and afterward to cry herself to sleep. Yet every night, some time before the dawn, Drogo would come to her tent and wake her in the dark, to ride her as relentlessly as he rode his stallion. He always took her from behind, Dothraki fashion, for which Dany was grateful; that way her lord husband could not see the tears that wet her face, and she could use her pillow to muffle her cries of pain. When he was done, he would close his eyes and begin to snore softly and Dany would lie beside him, her body bruised and sore, hurting too much for sleep. Day followed day, and night followed night, until Dany knew she could not endure a moment longer. She would kill herself rather than go on, she decided one night . . . Yet when she slept that night, she dreamt the dragon dream again. Viserys was not in it this time. There was only her and the dragon. Its scales were black as night, wet and slick with blood. Her blood, Dany sensed. Its eyes were pools of molten magma, and when it opened its mouth, the flame came roaring out in a hot jet. She could hear it singing to her, She opened her arms to the fire, embraced it, let it swallow her whole, let it cleanse her and temper her and scour her clean. She could feel her flesh sear and blacken and slough away, could feel her blood boil and turn to steam, and yet there was no pain. She felt strong and new and fierce. And the next day, strangely, she did not seem to hurt quite so much. It was as if the gods had heard her and taken pity. Even her handmaids noticed the change. â€Å"Khaleesi,† Jhiqui said, â€Å"what is wrong? Are you sick?† â€Å"I was,† she answered, standing over the dragon's eggs that Illyrio had given her when she wed. She touched one, the largest of the three, running her hand lightly over the shelf. Black-and-scarlet, she thought, like the dragon in my dream. The stone felt strangely warm beneath her fingers . . . or was she still dreaming? She pulled her hand back nervously. From that hour onward, each day was easier than the one before it. Her legs grew stronger; her blisters burst and her hands grew callused; her soft thighs toughened, supple as leather. The khal had commanded the handmaid Irri to teach Dany to ride in the Dothraki fashion, but it was the filly who was her real teacher. The horse seemed to know her moods, as if they shared a single mind. With every passing day, Dany felt surer in her seat. The Dothraki were a hard and unsentimental people, and it was not their custom to name their animals, so Dany thought of her only as the silver. She had never loved anything so much. As the riding became less an ordeal, Dany began to notice the beauties of the land around her. She rode at the head of the khalasar with Drogo and his bloodriders, so she came to each country fresh and unspoiled. Behind them the great horde might tear the earth and muddy the rivers and send up clouds of choking dust, but the fields ahead of them were always green and verdant. They crossed the rolling hills of Norvos, past terraced farms and small villages where the townsfolk watched anxiously from atop white stucco walls. They forded three wide placid rivers and a fourth that was swift and narrow and treacherous, camped beside a high blue waterfall, skirted the tumbled ruins of a vast dead city where ghosts were said to moan among blackened marble columns. They raced down Valyrian roads a thousand years old and straight as a Dothraki arrow. For half a moon, they rode through the Forest of Qohor, where the leaves made a golden canopy high above them, and the trunks of the trees were as wide as city gates. There were great elk in that wood, and spotted tigers, and lemurs with silver fur and huge purple eyes, but all fled before the approach of the khalasar and Dany got no glimpse of them. By then her agony was a fading memory. She still ached after a long day's riding, yet somehow the pain had a sweetness to it now, and each morning she came willingly to her saddle, eager to know what wonders waited for her in the lands ahead. She began to find pleasure even in her nights, and if she still cried out when Drogo took her, it was not always in pain. At the bottom of the ridge, the grasses rose around her, tall and supple. Dany slowed to a trot and rode out onto the plain, losing herself in the green, blessedly alone. In the khalasar she was never alone. Khal Drogo came to her only after the sun went down, but her handmaids fed her and bathed her and slept by the door of her tent, Drogo's bloodriders and the men of her khas were never far, and her brother was an unwelcome shadow, day and night. Dany could hear him on the top of the ridge, his voice shrill with anger as he shouted at Ser Jorah. She rode on, submerging herself deeper in the Dothraki sea. The green swallowed her up. The air was rich with the scents of earth and grass, mixed with the smell of horseflesh and Dany's sweat and the oil in her hair. Dothraki smells. They seemed to belong here. Dany breathed it all in, laughing. She had a sudden urge to feel the ground beneath her, to curl her toes in that thick black soil. Swinging down from her saddle, she let the silver graze while she pulled off her high boots. Viserys came upon her as sudden as a summer storm, his horse rearing beneath him as he reined up too hard. â€Å"You dare!† he screamed at her. â€Å"You give commands to me? To me?† He vaulted off the horse, stumbling as he landed. His face was flushed as he struggled back to his feet. He grabbed her, shook her. â€Å"Have you forgotten who you are? Look at you. Look at you!† Dany did not need to look. She was barefoot, with oiled hair, wearing Dothraki riding leathers and a painted vest given her as a bride gift. She looked as though she belonged here. Viserys was soiled and stained in city silks and ringmail. He was still screaming. â€Å"You do not command the dragon. Do you understand? I am the Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, I will not hear orders from some horselord's slut, do you hear me?† His hand went under her vest, his fingers digging painfully into her breast. â€Å"Do you hear me?† Dany shoved him away, hard. Viserys stared at her, his lilac eyes incredulous. She had never defied him. Never fought back. Rage twisted his features. He would hurt her now, and badly, she knew that. Crack. The whip made a sound like thunder. The coil took Viserys around the throat and yanked him backward. He went sprawling in the grass, stunned and choking. The Dothraki riders hooted at him as he struggled to free himself. The one with the whip, young Jhogo, rasped a question. Dany did not understand his words, but by then Irri was there, and Ser Jorah, and the rest of her khas. â€Å"Jhogo asks if you would have him dead, Khaleesi, † Irri said. â€Å"No,† Dany replied. â€Å"No.† Jhogo understood that. One of the others barked out a comment, and the Dothraki laughed. Irri told her, â€Å"Quaro thinks you should take an ear to teach him respect.† Her brother was on his knees, his fingers digging under the leather coils, crying incoherently, struggling for breath. The whip was tight around his windpipe. â€Å"Tell them I do not wish him harmed,† Dany said. Irri repeated her words in Dothraki. Jhogo gave a pull on the whip, yanking Viserys around like a puppet on a string. He went sprawling again, freed from the leather embrace, a thin line of blood under his chin where the whip had cut deep. â€Å"I warned him what would happen, my lady,† Ser Jorah Mormont said. â€Å"I told him to stay on the ridge, as you commanded.† â€Å"I know you did,† Dany replied, watching Viserys. He lay on the ground, sucking in air noisily, red-faced and sobbing. He was a pitiful thing. He had always been a pitiful thing. Why had she never seen that before? There was a hollow place inside her where her fear had been. â€Å"Take his horse,† Dany commanded Ser Jorah. Viserys gaped at her. He could not believe what he was hearing; nor could Dany quite believe what she was saying. Yet the words came. â€Å"Let my brother walk behind us back to the khalasar.† Among the Dothraki, the man who does not ride was no man at all, the lowest of the low, without honor or pride. â€Å"Let everyone see him as he is.† â€Å"No!† Viserys screamed. He turned to Ser Jorah, pleading in the Common Tongue with words the horsemen would not understand. â€Å"Hit her, Mormont. Hurt her. Your king commands it. Kill these Dothraki dogs and teach her.† The exile knight looked from Dany to her brother; she barefoot, with dirt between her toes and oil in her hair, he with his silks and steel. Dany could see the decision on his face. â€Å"He shall walk, Khaleesi,† he said. He took her brother's horse in hand while Dany remounted her silver. Viserys gaped at him, and sat down in the dirt. He kept his silence, but he would not move, and his eyes were full of poison as they rode away. Soon he was lost in the tall grass. When they could not see him anymore, Dany grew afraid. â€Å"Will he find his way back?† she asked Ser Jorah as they rode. â€Å"Even a man as blind as your brother should be able to follow our trail,† he replied. â€Å"He is proud. He may be too shamed to come back.† Jorah laughed. â€Å"Where else should he go? If he cannot find the khalasar, the khalasar will most surely find him. It is hard to drown in the Dothraki sea, child.† Dany saw the truth of that. The khalasar was like a city on the march, but it did not march blindly. Always scouts ranged far ahead of the main column, alert for any sign of game or prey or enemies, while outriders guarded their flanks. They missed nothing, not here, in this land, the place where they had come from. These plains were a part of them . . . and of her, now. â€Å"I hit him,† she said, wonder in her voice. Now that it was over, it seemed like some strange dream that she had dreamed. â€Å"Ser Jorah, do you think . . . he'll be so angry when he gets back . . . She shivered. â€Å"I woke the dragon, didn't I?† Ser Jorah snorted. â€Å"Can you wake the dead, girl? Your brother Rhaegar was the last dragon, and he died on the Trident. Viserys is less than the shadow of a snake.† His blunt words startled her. It seemed as though all the things she had always believed were suddenly called into question. â€Å"You . . . you swore him your sword . . . â€Å" â€Å"That I did, girl,† Ser Jorah said. â€Å"And if your brother is the shadow of a snake, what does that make his servants?† His voice was bitter. â€Å"He is still the true king. He is . . . â€Å" Jorah pulled up his horse and looked at her. â€Å"Truth now. Would you want to see Viserys sit a throne?† Dany thought about that. â€Å"He would not be a very good king, would he?† â€Å"There have been worse . . . but not many.† The knight gave his heels to his mount and started off again. Dany rode close beside him. â€Å"Still,† she said, â€Å"the common people are waiting for him. Magister Illyrio says they are sewing dragon banners and praying for Viserys to return from across the narrow sea to free them.† â€Å"The common people pray for rain, healthy children, and a summer that never ends,† Ser Jorah told her. â€Å"It is no matter to them if the high lords play their game of thrones, so long as they are left in peace.† He gave a shrug. â€Å"They never are.† Dany rode along quietly for a time, working his words like a puzzle box. It went against everything that Viserys had ever told her to think that the people could care so little whether a true king or a usurper reigned over them. Yet the more she thought on Jorah's words, the more they rang of truth. â€Å"What do you pray for, Ser Jorah?† she asked him. â€Å"Home,† he said. His voice was thick with longing. â€Å"I pray for home too,† she told him, believing it. Ser Jorah laughed. â€Å"Look around you then, Khaleesi.† But it was not the plains Dany saw then. It was King's Landing and the great Red Keep that Aegon the Conqueror had built. It was Dragonstone where she had been born. In her mind's eye they burned with a thousand lights, a fire blazing in every window. In her mind's eye, all the doors were red. â€Å"My brother will never take back the Seven Kingdoms,† Dany said. She had known that for a long time, she realized. She had known it all her life. Only she had never let herself say the words, even in a whisper, but now she said them for Jorah Mormont and all the world to hear. Ser Jorah gave her a measuring look. â€Å"You think not.† â€Å"He could not lead an army even if my lord husband gave him one,† Dany said. â€Å"He has no coin and the only knight who follows him reviles him as less than a snake. The Dothraki make mock of his weakness. He will never take us home.† â€Å"Wise child.† The knight smiled. â€Å"I am no child,† she told him fiercely. Her heels pressed into the sides of her mount, rousing the silver to a gallop. Faster and faster she raced, leaving Jorah and Irri and the others far behind, the warm wind in her hair and the setting sun red on her face. By the time she reached the khalasar, it was dusk. The slaves had erected her tent by the shore of a spring-fed pool. She could hear rough voices from the woven grass palace on the hill. Soon there would be laughter, when the men of her khas told the story of what had happened in the grasses today. By the time Viserys came limping back among them, every man, woman, and child in the camp would know him for a walker. There were no secrets in the khalasar. Dany gave the silver over to the slaves for grooming and entered her tent. It was cool and dim beneath the silk. As she let the door flap close behind her, Dany saw a finger of dusty red light reach out to touch her dragon's eggs across the tent. For an instant a thousand droplets of scarlet flame swam before her eyes. She blinked, and they were gone. Stone, she told herself. They are only stone, even Illyrio said so, the dragons are all dead. She put her palm against the black egg, fingers spread gently across the curve of the shell. The stone was warm. Almost hot. â€Å"The sun,† Dany whispered. â€Å"The sun warmed them as they rode.† She commanded her handmaids to prepare her a bath. Doreah built a fire outside the tent, while Irri and Jhiqui fetched the big copper tub—another bride gift—from the packhorses and carried water from the pool. When the bath was steaming, Irri helped her into it and climbed in after her. â€Å"Have you ever seen a dragon?† she asked as Irri scrubbed her back and Jhiqui sluiced sand from her hair. She had heard that the first dragons had come from the east, from the ShadowLands beyond Asshai and the islands of the JadeSea. Perhaps some were still living there, in realms strange and wild. â€Å"Dragons are gone, Khaleesi,† Irri said. â€Å"Dead,† agreed Jhiqui. â€Å"Long and long ago.† Viserys had told her that the last Targaryen dragons had died no more than a century and a half ago, during the reign of Aegon III, who was called the Dragonbane. That did not seem so long ago to Dany. â€Å"Everywhere?† she said, disappointed. â€Å"Even in the east?† Magic had died in the west when the Doom fell on Valyria and the Lands of the Long Summer, and neither spell-forged steel nor stormsingers nor dragons could hold it back, but Dany had always heard that the east was different. It was said that manticores prowled the islands of the JadeSea, that basilisks infested the jungles of Yi Ti, that spellsingers, warlocks, and aeromancers practiced their arts openly in Asshai, while shadowbinders and bloodmages worked terrible sorceries in the black of night. Why shouldn't there be dragons too? â€Å"No dragon,† Irri said. â€Å"Brave men kill them, for dragon terrible evil beasts. It is known.† â€Å"It is known,† agreed Jhiqui. â€Å"A trader from Qarth once told me that dragons came from the moon,† blond Doreah said as she warmed a towel over the fire. Jhiqui and Irri were of an age with Dany, Dothraki girls taken as slaves when Drogo destroyed their father's khalasar. Doreah was older, almost twenty. Magister Illyrio had found her in a pleasure house in Lys. Silvery-wet hair tumbled across her eyes as Dany turned her head, curious. â€Å"The moon?† â€Å"He told me the moon was an egg, Khaleesi,† the Lysene girl said. â€Å"Once there were two moons in the sky, but one wandered too close to the sun and cracked from the heat. A thousand thousand dragons poured forth, and drank the fire of the sun. That is why dragons breathe flame. One day the other moon will kiss the sun too, and then it will crack and the dragons will return.† The two Dothraki girls giggled and laughed. â€Å"You are foolish strawhead slave,† Irri said. â€Å"Moon is no egg. Moon is god, woman wife of sun. It is known.† â€Å"It is known,† Jhiqui agreed. Dany's skin was flushed and pink when she climbed from the tub. Jhiqui laid her down to oil her body and scrape the dirt from her pores. Afterward Irri sprinkled her with spiceflower and cinnamon. While Doreah brushed her hair until it shone like spun silver, she thought about the moon, and eggs, and dragons. Her supper was a simple meal of fruit and cheese and fry bread, with a jug of honeyed wine to wash it down. â€Å"Doreah, stay and eat with me,† Dany commanded when she sent her other handmaids away. The Lysene girl had hair the color of honey, and eyes like the summer sky. She lowered those eyes when they were alone. â€Å"You honor me, Khaleesi,† she said, but it was no honor, only service. Long after the moon had risen, they sat together, talking. That night, when Khal Drogo came, Dany was waiting for him. He stood in the door of her tent and looked at her with surprise. She rose slowly and opened her sleeping silks and let them fall to the ground. â€Å"This night we must go outside, my lord,† she told him, for the Dothraki believed that all things of importance in a man's life must be done beneath the open sky. Khal Drogo followed her out into the moonlight, the bells in his hair tinkling softly. A few yards from her tent was a bed of soft grass, and it was there that Dany drew him down. When he tried to turn her over, she put a hand on his chest. â€Å"No,† she said. â€Å"This night I would look on your face.† There is no privacy in the heart of the khalasar. Dany felt the eyes on her as she undressed him, heard the soft voices as she did the things that Doreah had told her to do. It was nothing to her. Was she not khaleesi? His were the only eyes that mattered, and when she mounted him she saw something there that she had never seen before. She rode him as fiercely as ever she had ridden her silver, and when the moment of his pleasure came, Khal Drogo called out her name. They were on the far side of the Dothraki sea when Jhiqui brushed the soft swell of Dany's stomach with her fingers and said, â€Å"Khaleesi, you are with child.† â€Å"I know,† Dany told her. It was her fourteenth name day.