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

130 AC

King's Landing

"With the heavy autumn rains lashing across the Riverlands, the Blue and the Green forks have begun to overflow. The bridges at Oldstones and Fairmarket have been washed out. Ser Byrndon nearly drowned while trying to cross at Ramsford. The other option would have been to go around the Blue Fork but Prince Aemond decided to pull back to Harrenahal instead of marching on the Twins." Grand Maester Orwyle reported to the Small Council from the message delivered from Alicent's kinsman Hobert.

A Small Council with no King, Lord Commander or Hand, Alicent noted. Alicent stayed quiet as she looked around the table. Her father looked thoughtful while Lord Jasper nervously drummed his fingers on the table. The war was supposed to be over, Daemon was dead yet those Northern barbarians and the toll collectors of the Twins fought for a dead woman and her bastard son.

"It is a prudent choice to pull back now that we have received word that Cregan Stark has begun his march down south since he has crushed the Bolton uprising," Lord Jasper remarked stroking his beard. "Our reports suggest that there are around ten thousand Northmen along with around four thousand Freys, no doubt that they will combine forces but even so they will be less than half of Prince Aemond's army."

"How many men does Aemond have?" Alicent asked looking at Lord Jasper, "Ser Bryndon left King's Landing with around ten thousand and Aemond with six. The reinforcements from the Stormlands could have been no more than four thousand." Twenty thousand against fourteen thousand was a good advantage for them yet Alicent couldn't help but feel worried.

Her father answered, "Aemond has around thirty thousand men, supplemented by the Riverlords who have bent the knee as a sign of loyalty. Aegon is marching up from Highgarden with another army of thirty thousand with the Ser Criston and Ser Tyland. Let us hope Aemond has the patience to wait for the king instead of rushing into battle."

Alicent doubted if Aemond would wait, he left King's Landing without Vhagar in search of glory. In his eyes, Aegon was hogging up all the glory of winning the war, he was the second son under the shadow of his older brother. Never in a hundred years would Alicent or anyone else have imagined that Aegon would become a military mastermind as everyone was now calling him. The Conqueror reborn indeed, Alicent thought with pride though she wished that Aegon would be more subtle about his avarice for power, the rumours of tyranny were already swirling around.

"In other news, Queen Helaena will soon be arriving at King's Landing," Grand Maester Orwyle continued and Alicent gave out an inward sigh of relief. The children especially Jaehaerys were getting wilder day by day, the lack of his parents was causing the boy to lash out at everyone around him while Jaehaera became even more withdrawn. Maelor began to follow his brother crying for Aegon and Helaena. Alicent tried to raise the children yet she found herself at her wit's end with handling the three children who were much worse than both Aegon and Aemond at their age and having to help rule the realm while Aegon was away.

Her father tried to convince her to devote herself to only raising the children but Alicent would have none of it. She was the reason why he managed to even enter the Small Council chambers and Alicent was under no delusions that her father wanted to regain his lost power.

"If that is all my lords," Alicent then spoke up dismissing them, "We will reconvene tomorrow once my daughter arrives." Lord Jasper and Grand Maester Orwyle stood up and bowed their head before leaving her along with her father.

For a moment neither of them spoke before he poured wine into her cup and said, "The war is nearly over, you should be relieved and thankful. Yet you look worried."

"As long as Rhaenyra's children live this war is not over." Alicent resolutely replied. Every breath that the whore's spawn took was an insult to her son Daeron's memory.

"Once Cregan Stark is defeated, the remaining northerners will hand over the children, dead or alive. This war is coming to its violent end as we expected it to and I would say that we have won decisively." Her father replied.

Alicent held back a snort, "Aegon was right, for all your learning you are terribly ignorant. If the Northmen were to hand over the children to us then they would have done it the minute they received word of Daemon's death yet they have not which means that this war will reach its bitter end not in the overflowing banks of the Trident but in the frigid snows of the North."

"Aegon, huh?" Her father snorted, "After years of pretending to drunken idiot more interested in drinking himself to a stupor every night, he reemerged from the coronation as his namesake. How could I have ever seen that coming?"

"They say that during the reign of strong and able kings, the Hand is the chief agent for coordinating and carrying out their plans. During the reign of weak or ineffectual kings, the Hand is often the real power behind the throne, and the man chiefly responsible for holding the realm together. You only bothered to think about the second part. Then again, after ruling for two invalid kings you have forgotten that there can be young and able kings, especially your grandson." Alicent snarked.

"Did you know?" He asked, "That your son was playing the entire realm for a fool until the last moment because I don't think you did. Besides, Aegon may have proven himself as an able soldier he has not proven himself to be an able statesman. A power-hungry king most certainly but all he will end up doing is taking over the extra duties of Lord Paramount of the Stormlands and the Riverlands which will leave the Crown stretched thin and unwieldy. This isn't even mention the fact that the Crown will now have to deal with the Dornish raiders."

"I admit that I too was surprised by Aegon's true nature but I am immensely pleased for it and I am certain that he will rise to the challenge of being an able king during peace as he has been during war. You made a great deal of doomsaying after you were removed as Hand about how Aegon and our cause were doomed without you 'guiding' us, I think it safe to say that you are the one who has been proven wrong in every regard. Aegon has proved himself more than able to wage a war as the Conqueror was, I made no mistake when I named my son." Alicent responded evenly.

Alicent continued, "The Riverlords come to the Red Keep regardless of whatever Riverrun says and Aegon has placed Aemond with Storm's End with a separate council to help deal with the matters of the Stormlands and to throw back any Dornish incursions. The Dornish will know better than to attack a land protected by Vhagar."

"And what about all the lands he has confiscated into the Royal fiefdom?" Her father questioned, "Hayford, Rosby, Stokeworth, Driftmark, Duskendale, Rook's Rest, Harrenhal, Stoney Sept, Lord Harroway's Town, and Fairmarket. This is simply too much land that can easily be given to the loyal lords who have fought for him but instead, he takes it for himself and how exactly is he going to rule over all this land? The Small Council can barely handle the matters of the city and the realm now adds ten times more work for the Small Council."

"Aegon has already appointed people to administer the new lands under the name of the Crown in case you have forgotten," Alicent reminded him. She was starting to bore off her father's repeated complaints.

"Yes, I have heard," He scoffed, "Commissioners and Secretaries he calls them. Not one of them is of noble blood, chosen by the king to serve for a term of five years. All of them are commoners whose only qualification is knowing their letters and sums."

"Last I checked, one needed to know their letters and sums if they were to administer a place," Alicent dryly replied. "I supported Aegon in his decision for it better to have loyal commoners instead of disloyal nobles serve the Crown."

"This restriction of the privileges of the nobility will have dire consequences and the promotion of commoners over nobles will not go over well with many," Her father warned. "Our loyal lords are not fighting this war to put a tyrant on the throne when the entire point of this war was to prevent Daemon from becoming a tyrant."

Alicent rose from her chair, she was tired of this conversation, "They are free to complain to Aegon if they see it as such. As for you, father, Aegon merely broke your nose the last time you tried to undermine him, next time however I doubt that it will be your nose that breaks."

Alicent walked off away from her father who replied as she reached the door, "Accursed is the kinslayer, surely you taught your son that."

Alicent turned and chuckled, "Look around you father, this war has been nothing but kinslaying. What is another body to the mound of corpses that has already formed of House Targaryen."

Harrenhal

"The Northmen have crossed Moat Cailin, they will have reached the Twins by now. They will be marching down the Kingsroad, so the question now is whether we should march forward to face them or wait here for the King to arrive," Ser Tyler Norcross reported as Byrndon and the other leaders of the Royal army gathered around the map placed on the table of Prince Aemond's solar.

Byrndon replied, "The King must have reached the Stoney Sept by now, it is only a matter of time and we needn't rush things. We wait here and Cregan Stark will be forced to lay siege to us and then once the King arrives we will crush them between the anvil of our walls and the hammer of the king's forces."

"We have nearly double the numbers of the Northerners, we can win this before the king arrives, my Prince," Lord Byron Swann said straight to Prince Aemond who was sitting quietly with his whore Alys Rivers. Byrndon did not trust that woman one bit and he was not alone in that mistrust.

"We may have the numbers but not the horses," His cousin Hobert replied, "Most of our horses are sick because of the unbalanced humours that have risen due to the rains. They are in no position to be ridden to war. I dare say that we have less than a thousand healthy horses, around nine hundred if I am being generous. This is not even mentioning the soldiers who are sick with camp fever."

"Then we have to make it an infantry battle, a battle where our strength in numbers comes to the fore. If we allow ourselves to enter into a siege this camp fever will only increase tenfold. We have to march now." Ser Victor Risely replied.

"This war is nearly won, why risk so many lives on something needless like this?" Byrndon protested.

Ser Jon Roxton revealed, "The Lannisters and the Tyrells are taking all the glory by being close to the King, there is enough glory to go around for us all. One victory here and we will be the ones who have ended this war for good." Byrndon had to fight back the urge to groan. Glory, it was always about glory. Byrndon could see that the notions of glory were getting into Prince Aemond's head.

Jon then pointed to the map at the place a little further from Lord Harroway's town near the Green Fork, "Here, it is an ideal spot for an infantry engagement. With the river to our left and the woods to our right, there will be no chance of a surprise attack and we will prevent the Northern horsemen from encircling us and the battlefield will be narrow enough for it to come down to our numbers."

"That would mean that we have to force another crossing of the overflowing river," Hobert pointed out with no small amount of wariness.

"With Maidenpool having bent the knee, we can have barges sail up the Trident to ferry our army across," Lord Byron answered.

Ser Tyler then asked, "Even so, wouldn't it be wiser to simply wait for the King? I am certain that once Cregan Stark sees the King arrive upon his dragon, the Northmen will surrender, they cannot hope to win."

"My thoughts exactly," Byrndon nodded agreeing with him. It was refreshing to find someone who didn't espouse needless war.

"I figured that you would have bigger balls than this, Byrndon. You are the foremost knight of Oldtown and yet you seek the coward's way out instead of a glorious battle," Jon began to taunt Byrndon. He had half a mind to bury his axe into that dumb fucker's face.

Byrndon replied with gritted teeth, "There is a time and place for battle, there is nothing to gain by facing the fresh Northmen head-on while our forces are half-starved and diseased."

Byron then asked, "If we wait a while, will we not end up eating through our supplies? Our supply lines from King's Landing are barely enough as it is. It is better to finish this war right here and now before the camp fever spreads through the entire army. Just one victory over Cregan Stark will likely be enough to end this entire campaign."

"Well, we would have more supplies if we were allowed to requisition them from the locals but that is not allowed," Jon replied rolling his eyes.

Hobert replied, "The King himself ordered that we do not plunder the locals. These people are the King's subjects and are to be treated as such, not as the enemy. If we need to acquire more good then we need to buy it."

Jon scoffed, "Which idiot of a farmer will willingly part with his harvest with the onset of winter, this is not even mentioning the part in which the Blacks took what they could before they left." If it were any other king then most Lords wouldn't care about what the king ordered and take what they wanted from the people but even the fool Jon for all his bluster knew not to disobey King Aegon's commands.

"My Prince," Byron then turned to Prince Aemond who was sitting silently, "If we march now, then we can have all the glory of finishing this war. If we stay here any longer all we will do is starve and spread diseases across the army. Already this weather is not good for the health of our men the least we can do is finish this war and send our men home in glory and honor."

"The king will arrive well before we starve. Our supplies will last us that long. The king is arriving with reinforcements and supplies and even if the Northmen do not cross the Trident by then, we will have an unassailable advantage in men and resources." Hobert objected but Jon spoke over him to Aemond.

"The glory of winning this war is yours for the taking, my Prince, the King may have defeated Daemon but this will be the final battle and the glory for it will go to you, my Prince. Some sycophants and lickspittles mock you for doing nothing throughout the war with Vhagar forgetting your great duel above the skies of Driftmark, this could prove them all wrong and show them your true might as not just a dragonlord but also as a warrior and a commander."

Byrndon knew immediately what the Prince would choose. Prince Aemond then tilted his head to hear what that whore of a milk cow whispered into his ear something that made him decide.

Prince Aemond then stood up and declared, "Prepare the army for a march at first light. We will condense our forces into a massive sword and shield break through the centre of their frontline like a battering ram and end this war for good and then we shall see what these Northmen are made up of. It will be a battle where pure strength will decide the battle. No negotiations, no dragons but purely sword and shield and no one will be there to stop me this time."

"This is a folly," Byrndon said to his cousin Hobert as they sat down in his chambers for some midnight wine before their march began.

"I figured that you would have protested more vigorously against this needless battle," Hobert replied taking a sip of the Arbor Gold.

"I would have but I already knew which path the Prince's mind was going to go. Prince Aemond came here for glory and so far throughout this entire war, he finds himself devoid of it. When this war first began, everyone on both sides thought it was going to be Prince Aemond upon Vhagar who would lead us to victory yet instead it was the King who did everything from putting down the rebellions in the Reach to bringing the Vale over to his cause along with Daeron who himself defeated the Vulture King."

"Ah yes, our cousin Daeron, a good lad he would have made a good Prince, tis a pity that the Gods can be so cruel," Hobert said raising his cup in honor of Daeron.

"Indeed," Byrndon replied as he raised his cup. "Once Prince Aemond got a proper chance to fight upon Vhagar, he nearly died fighting against a smaller dragon, if the rumours are true, then if the King had not saved his life he would lost to the Queen who never was. And now his old bitch is now in Driftmark for the foreseeable future and he has no glory to speak of, which is why he came up to the Riverlands to join us."

"Not that it did any good," Byrndon continued, "So far, there hasn't been a proper battle, since he came. Most of the fighting had been over by the time he arrived. He planned on leading the assault on both Riverrun and Raventree Hall but the Queen managed to have both castles surrender peacefully by holding their Lords hostage. I bet he feels slighted for that as well."

"So, we will be marching once more," Hobert said with a sigh but Bryndon shook his head.

"No, coz, you will stay here as Castellan. I am leaving you five hundred men. Once we leave, be sure to send a raven to the Stoney Sept informing the King of our movements. I doubt that he will be pleased with this decision to march so make sure that the King knows that Aemond, Jon, and Byron are responsible for this."

Hobert nodded, "I will, do not worry coz. Just take care of yourself and make sure that Aemond doesn't do anything stupid. He is still half a boy compared to the King and too hotheaded and easily under the sway of equally hotheaded fools."

"Aye, if only the King were here, that cunt Roxton and Swann wouldn't dare speak in front of the King the way they did today in front of Aemond." Byrndon thought morosely. He didn't have much of a choice at this point but he would have to make do.

Northern-Frey Camp, Kingsroad

"We are outnumbered and the Greens have chosen the battlefield well that plays to the strengths of their infantry. It is a wise choice, but not as wise as they think." Cregan remarked looking over the map with Robard Cerwyn, Sers Medrick and Torrhen Manderly along with Lady Sabitha Frey.

As they marched out from the Twins, the Greens had marched out from Harrenhal readying themselves for a decisive battle. "We do not have the luxury of waiting them out for with every passing day, the Usurper draws ever closer to join his brother. Fortunately for us, we know that Aemond is a hotheaded fool who is eager for glory and has found himself starved of it. We will make good use of his hunger and bring about his downfall."

"Our army is fighting from the north, which means that the northern autumn winds will be at our back and they will be blowing straight into the faces of the Greens," Robard pointed out.

"Yes, but that is not all. We shall position our forces as such," Cregan said pointing to the silver stag coins that made their army on the map, "Like the outside of a bow, an outward bulge. Lord Cerwyn and I shall command this force and just behind them out of the sight of the Greens will be Lady Sabitha's forces as our hidden reserves. Once the battle starts we will be pushed back by the overwhelming numbers of the Greens and we will let them. Until Lady Sabitha's forces can attack their flanks and then we will stop and fight back."

"If what I have heard of Aemond is true then he is more likely to fight on further even if he is surrounded on three sides which is when we close the noose," Cregan continued.

"There will be no way to run but back which is where you both come in, Medrick, Torrhen," Cregan then said to the Manderly brothers. "In a few hours, as soon as night falls I need the two of you to lead all our cavalry around the woods. You will reach the rear of the Green army by midday and Lady Sabitha's rangers will be of immense help in this regard. We will hold the Greens off for as long as you need because once you reach the rear of the Green army, there will be no mercy."

Cregan looked around the table to see all the expressions ranging from satisfaction to pleasure.