Halfhand's Legacy: A Dance of Dragons - A Self-Insert Tale

129 AC

"Before we begin, I believe that there is something I need to do," I stood and announced to the Small Council as they sat down for our first meeting under my reign.

As everyone looks on expectantly, I walk over to Otto and before he knows it I backhand him with my gauntleted hand and he falls face-first on the floor from his chair. Before anyone can react, I place my foot on his neck, "Let this be a lesson to the rest of you. I am not my father and will not tolerate any disobedience from any of you, kin or not."

"Aegon, what have you done?" Alicent screeches as she gets put, pushing her chair away as she rushes to her father. Aemond chuckles while the rest of the council looks in shock. Nobody saw this coming except maybe Aemond.

I took my foot off his neck and grabbed the pin on Otto's chest signifying his position as Hand of the King. I walk around the table nonchalantly while the nonplussed members are looking at each other in more than a little dose of fear. Even Larys is surprised for once.

I toss the pin over to Tyland who struggles to catch it, "Congratulations, Ser Tyland. You are now the new Hand of the King. Try not to overstep your boundaries like your predecessor. Feel free to move into the Tower of the Hand at your earliest convenience. Be sure to find replacements for the Master of Ships and Master of Coin."

He hesitantly holds the pin while I walk over to Orwyle and Alicent helps Otto, now with a broken and bleeding nose up. I bend down and whisper into the ear of the Grand Maester, "I will be expecting my brother Daeron to arrive here in King's Landing within a fortnight and if he doesn't receive the message, I think I know who to blame."

Orwyle shivers as he nods, "Yes, Your Grace. I shall send a missive immediately."

"Good," I reply and before Otto and Alicent can respond I call out to my faithful sworn shield. "Ser Arryk, please do escort Ser Otto from the chambers for he is no longer a member of this council."

The loyal Cargyll twin walks over to Otto and shows his hand toward the door, "Will you go by your free will, Ser or will I have to force you."

Otto hesitates while Alicent pleads, "Aegon, why are you doing this? He is your grandfather, he only wishes what is best for you."

Unconvinced, I reply, "I fail to see how leaving us at understrength in the capital city is in my best interests. Already we are outnumbered, the last thing we need is to split our precious handful of dragons. In case you didn't realize Rhaenyra outnumbers us by seven dragons to four. Daemon and Rhaenys are far more experienced in dragon riding than myself, Aemond, Hel, and Daeron combined. We do not have the luxury to wait."

I turn to Otto and I say in a cold voice, "You made a mistake to think that you could walk over me like you did my father, Get Out."

Without bothering to hear his response I turn to the rest of the table, "Let this be clear to every one of you. Your allegiance is to me, not to him," I say pointing to a departing Otto who is being forcefully escorted out by Ser Arryk, "Not to her," I say pointing to Alicent who is still in shock at how all her plans have unravelled in rather dramatic and anticlimatic fashion, "But to me, me and me alone. If any of you have secondary loyalties to anyone else, then get out of this chamber right now."

Once the dust has settled, Alicent excuses herself from the meeting and I turn to Tyland who is cautiously walking over to what was once Otto's chair, "What is the next step that the council thinks would be prudent in light of an upcoming war?"

Tyland shares a glance with the rest before turning to me and saying, "The Stormlands, while the West and the Reach are most certainly behind your Grace every step of the way, we believe that the Stormlands are the deciding factor. It is the consensus of this council that should Prince Aemond fly upon Vhagar, he will be able to intimidate Lord Borros into siding with us. Of course, he has four daughters and as such Prince Aemond, could if he and your Grace wish, offer his hand in marriage to nullify whatever blood ties he has with the Lady Rhaenys Velaryon. Lord Borros is not his father and as such we believe willing to see reason."

Tyland does have a way with words, I nod in agreement, "Very good, that is a sound idea. Aemond, any objections?" I ask him who shakes his head.

"I have none, I will fly over to Storm's End tonight and treat with him," Aemond replied.

I clapped my hands and said, "Good but we are missing something big." I turned to Tyland and continued, "You have believed my grandfather's hubris that the whole Reach will walk hand in hand with us, you are mistaken. The power of the Hightower is not what my grandfather imagines, many look upon Oldtown with envy. Not to mention, the Lord Tyrell is an infant and the second fighting breaks out in the Reach between the two factions, his mother and regent will declare neutrality. I am certain of it."

"She is after all a mother of a young child, I doubt the Lady Regent of Highgarden would want to risk anything," Orwyle cautiously backs me up.

Criston slams his hand on the table, "Yet, she must side with us. We are meant to be strongest in the Reach, yet if the Tyrells do not side with us then many will take it as a sign that they can stay out of it as well."

I nodded, "Exactly, which is why I will be heading to Highgarden to convince Lady Tyrell to side with us once Daeron arrives. If she doesn't I will make another Harrenhal of Highgarden, let it be known, there is no question of being neutral in this fight. You are either with us or you are against us, there is no middle ground."

Both Criston and Jasper Wylde nod approvingly. Orwyle then speaks, "Your Grace, the Queen Dowager and I had planned to send terms to Princess Rhaenyra hoping to make her see reason and avoid bloodshed. Should I hold off on that?"

I shake my head, "No, send her the terms. Let it not be said that we did not give a hand out in peace, she should be the one to refuse the peace, not us." Rather generous terms in my opinion.

Tyland agrees, "Yes, we must not be the aggressors here."

I continued, "Now as for the rest of the Kingdoms, we should count Dorne out for they will not join us, if anything I am certain that a vulture king is certain to arrive in Marches. So we must look to the Vale. The home of Rhaenyra's mother, Jeyne Arryn will without doubt declare for her, we cannot do anything about that but we can stop the Vale from joining its strength to Rhaenyra."

"How will that be done?" Criston asks puzzled. "That woman probably sees Rhaenyra as a kindred spirit as a woman."

"We do it through Gulltown," I reveal and I say to Tyland, "Begin correspondence with the Graftons, the Arryns of Gulltown, and Royces, none of them has a love for Jeyne Arryn and Royces have no love at all for Daemon. We must use it, to sow discord and division in the Vale, it doesn't matter if they win or not as long as Gulltown is closed off to Rhaenyra's supporters in the Vale, they will be trapped in the mountains. The weather is soon to turn for winter which means soon the Bloody Gate will be impassable as well. Let the Vale tear itself apart, once it is all over we shall sweep in and bring order."

"A truly ingenious plan, my king. We hadn't thought of this at all," Larys says in a slick manner. I wonder why nobody thought of this. I can see that the rest of the council approves of this plan.

Jasper then asks, "But what if the Seasnake sends his fleet to put down the Graftons, Rhaenyra need to send only one of her sons for this campaign or none at all."

"Once Dragonstone hears of my coronation, they will close the Gullet. I have no illusions of that, if the Seasnake is to go and put down the Graftons it would mean taking a significant chunk of his ships and men which in turn means that the blockade will be stretched thin allowing our blockade runners to slip through," I responded before continuing, "Speaking of blockade runners, we need to hire every smuggler and captain with a fast boat for this. The merchants will be unhappy as it is. Either way, it will be a win for us so we needn't worry."

Tyland then follows up, "If we are going to court Daemon's enemies in the Vale, should we not court his enemies in Essos? Daemon and the Seasnake have made themselves a bitter enemy in the Triarchy. We can have the Triarchy break the Seasnake's blockade should it come to it, we can give them some concessions to lure them and their hatred of Daemon and Corlys will do the rest."

"We should but the Triarchy would demand that the Iron Throne recognize their rule over the Stepstones and pay their ruinous tolls and stop any future private wars from the Seven Kingdoms trying to dislodge them," Orwyle warns.

Aemond flippantly answers, "Treaties can be broken."

"So we agree," I ask around the table, "Send an offer to the Triarchy to destroy the Seasnake's fleet and break the power of House Velaryon." Everyone around the table nods.

"Tyland, begin negotiations with the Triarchy, they are a slow beast prone to infighting but once they get going, they will be worth it," I say to him and he begins noting down in his ledger all his homework to be done after this meeting.

"The next order of business is the Riverlands. It will be split in two as we all know, we shall cross that bridge when it comes to it for we can do nothing about it for this is how the Riverlords are but now let us look at the North. The North is most likely to side with Rhaenyra if we give them nothing," I continued speaking.

"We can promise increased shipments of grain for the North for the coming winters and a return of the New Gift. I am sure that Lord Cregan will accept it," Orwyle replied.

"I am pretty sure that even the Blacks will be giving the same thing, we need to give them something else," Aemond drawled.

"What shall we give the North that will make the Starks come over to our side?" Criston asks.

"Perhaps marriage, a Stark girl for a future Targaryen Prince, Lord Cregan does not have any daughters but he will, I presume," Orwyle advises.

"Why should the Northmen who have stayed away from the court get a Royal marriage while the rest of us who have been loyal to House Targaryen are left wanting?" Jasper angrily responds.

"Are you insinuating something, Lord Wylde?" Aemond cooly asks him to which he pales and looks around the table looking for support but finds none.

"Of course not your Grace, the King knows best when it comes to his house," Jasper conceded. I know that even Tyland is thinking the same thing so I leave it at that.

"Send Stark the offer of receiving back the New Gift and the increase in grain shipments along with that send offers to Manderly that one of his sons will be given a seat in the Small Council. And just in case that doesn't work, send a raven to Lord Bolton, and tell him he has much to gain siding with us instead of with Rhaenyra." I decide.

"Now that we are done with the Northmen, I believe that the Ironborn are all that is left," Criston remarks as I signal the cupbearers to pour wine, ruling is exhausting work.

"Your Grandfather wished to offer Dalton Greyjoy the position of Master of Ships in my place in exchange for declaring for you Your Grace," Tyland slowly reveals. I scoff, for a man known for his learning, he was naive as fuck.

"Dalton Greyjoy has been raiding since he was ten, he will not be enticed by fancy things like positions in the Small Council. Daemon will give him the leeway to raid the Westerlands in her support and he will take it. It is closer than raiding Driftmark," I respond after gulping down my wine, "Tyland, I suggest that you send word to your brother to be prepared for a possible Ironborn attack. If the West is caught with their breeches down when the Ironborn start raiding, it will be his fault."

Tyland dutifully nods and writes it down in his to-do list which is growing by the hour, I wonder if he knew that it was so much work being the Hand of the King.

After a few hours of going through the finer details of our plans, I decided to adjourn the meeting until tomorrow, "If that is all my Lords, you may leave. Ser Criston, Aemond, stay. The rest of you may leave. My Lord Hand, I shall meet with you later in the night over our next plans. Grand Maester, once we receive word that Rhaenyra is willing to wage war, you may leave for Dragonstone."

Everyone nodded and once the others had left, I turned to Criston and Aemond, "Is it just me or is it that everyone around me is an incompetent buffoon? I tell my grandfather to recall Daeron and somehow it doesn't go through his head. I warned the two of you that Steffon Darklyn was going to turn. I ordered you to keep him under guard but somehow he slips through your fingers, steals a crown and manages to escape the city."

"I am at my wits end, it is like everyone is trying to lose the war for me," I exasperatedly exclaim. I couldn't be seen losing my shit in front of my councillors so I do it in front of my closest advisors aka Aemond and Criston.

Criston has the decency to look ashamed, "I am terribly sorry Your Grace, and a thousand apologies will never make up for my failure. I did have him disarmed and placed him under guard but unfortunately, his squires and the traitorous men-at-arms helped him escape, they killed his goalers and I couldn't spare any of my fellow knights to watch over him for we are understrength."

"That is no excuse for failure," I snarl back before taking a deep breath and I calm myself down.

"How did you know that Ser Steffon would turn cloak?" Aemond curiously asks.

I drop on my chair and let out another long-suffering sigh before saying, "Ser Steffon was a knight of the Kingsguard from the days of the Old King Jaehaerys. He was certain to be the Lord Commander if not for Ser Criston here. Not to mention, Lord Gunthor Darklyn supports Rhaenyra. It all adds up."

I rub my eyes before saying, "Never mind, Ser Criston, you must find replacements for your missing brothers. And as far as security of the Royal family is concerned, I do not want my wife and children outside of Maegor's holdfast after sundown, is that understood?"

Criston Cole nods before the doors open with a bang and Alicent barges in angrily, "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?" She shrills.

"Good evening to you too, Mother, you seem rather agitated," I snark back at her and she is not impressed and positively fuming.

"You have humiliated my father, your grandfather, in front of the entire Small Council and soon this will spread across the realm," She rants off, "You have humiliated House Hightower in front of the realm, your greatest supporters."

"Wrong, House Targaryen is my greatest supporter, oh wait, I am House Targaryen," I reply sarcastically before saying, "I have sent a message across the entire realm that I am not Otto's puppet and I have assured all the Lords across the realm, especially those who have quarrelled with Otto which are admittedly many thanks to his attitude, that they need not fear that they have a hostile king in the Red Keep which could easily push them into Rhaenyra's arms."

"As for our cousins in the Hightower, they will do nothing against us," Aemond joins me, "If they do nothing then they will simply leave all the glory for the Houses that support us. It is bad enough that House Beesbury, a vassal of Oldtown is already in open rebellion against us if dead old Lyman is anything to go by. Ormund doesn't have the luxury of suffering any more insults to his pride much less that of his uncle so he will be our loyal dog."

Alicent is shocked that Aemond has taken my side and that we have called the Hightowers our dogs but that is what it is.

I coldly reply "We are House Targaryen in case you didn't realize Mother, we are not Hightowers."

Before a shocked Alicent can say anything I turn to Aemond, "You will be leaving for Storm's End, tonight. I am sure Borros will welcome you with feasts, hunts, and jousting. Indulge him and promise to marry one of his daughters, whichever you choose. I am certain that once Rhaenyra gets word of my coronation, she will send someone to bring the Baratheons over to her. Most likely one of her bastards."

Aemond snorts, "I would love to meet a certain bastard again."

"Aemond, you cannot be the one to draw first blood," Alicent exclaims aghast.

I merely sigh before saying, "If Rhaenys Velaryon comes to treat with Borros then you must sway him harder to our side. Play to his pride, let him think that Rhaenyra thinks of him as a dog, she has taken him for granted but don't start a fight with her."

"And if it is one of the Strongs?" Aemond asks with a small turn of his head toward Alicent who is understandably shocked.

I merely remove the gauntlet that has remained on my hand the whole time and unsheathe my right hand with its two remaining fingers, my answer is abundantly clear.

I turn to him and say, "Do as you like. It is in your hands, you can give mercy or get vengeance."