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

It is often said that the reign of Aegon II was the second golden age for House Targaryen after the devastating Dance of the Dragons and far more consequential for Westeros as a whole, establishing the foundation stones for the future of Modern Westeros. He was called Aegon the Victorious after winning the Dance of the Dragons, while later, towards the end of his life, near the end of his forty-eight-year reign, he was called Aegon the Golden Halfhand for bringing even greater peace and prosperity to Westeros, similar to that of his Great grandsire.

His critics often decried him as a brutal man who mercilessly eradicated entire noble families that existed from the Age of Heroes and greedily took their lands to accumulate his wealth. He established an autocracy from the feudal system that continues to this day. He concentrated nearly all power into the hands of the Crown which has since produced both famously great and infamously horrible kings in equal measure. Historians patronized by the nobility after his death would paint him as a monster who hated the aristocracy and sought to exterminate them while promoting the common rabble in their place.

His supporters cite that he was one of the few Kings in Westeros who ever cared about the smallfolk and created a meritocratic army and bureaucracy that gave chances for commoners to rise in rank. His great restructuring of King's Landing and building of monuments throughout Westeros expanded upon the glory of House Targaryen to all the King's subjects, near and far.

King Aegon II also did what even his namesake couldn't achieve, the complete conquest of Dorne in his fiftieth year alongside his son and grandsons. House Martell was extinguished and House Yronwood was raised in its place as Lord Paramounts of Dorne.

His establishment of the House of Wisdom and the House of Healing in King's Landing would go on to topple the Citadel as the main centres of learning in Westeros. He would also bring the High Septon and the Most Devout to King's Landing thereby increasing royal control over the Faith to the point that it was said by the end of his reign, the king could cherry-pick the next High Septon at will.

King Aegon also brought about economic freedom to Westeros by promoting the merchant class against the nobility. One of the ways he accomplished this was by giving city charters to virtually every single major town in Westeros alongside the establishment of the Bank of King's Landing. This would bring about greater economic growth throughout Westeros even as the Crown began to engage in trade, an act once considered too crass for the Iron Throne. King Aegon gave nearly thirty city charters throughout his reign that many felt decreased the value of the charter. King Aegon, seeking to reduce the influence of the nobility and the clergy, instead relied on skilful civil servants who did his bidding without question.

His establishment of the Royal Army made of volunteers would become known throughout the world as the most formidable army ever. An army that would become famous as the main instrument of Targaryen might alongside their dragons and equally infamous as the enablers of the tyrannical rule of the House of the Dragon during the reigns of their more unsavoury kings. King Aegon would lead this army to conquer Dorne, the kingdom that resisted the Targaryens once and for all alongside bringing the Stepstones to heel. The Royal Army would become famous for having never lost a war to this day.

Along with the Royal Army, King Aegon established the dreaded and infamous Black Legion. In the year 135 AC, after winter broke King Aegon II chose around two hundred young boys aged ten to twelve, most of them orphans from the war or the plague and had them sent to Dragonstone wherein under the tutelage of the King's fiercest knights. These boys, who had survived on their own in the fierce winter and during the plague, were hardened into the merciless killers of House Targaryen after five years of intense training. They were renowned and feared for their fanatic zeal towards House Targaryen, sheer ruthlessness, blood lust, and superior fighting abilities. The legionaries, now numbering around seven hundred would eventually go on to take over the role of the Kingsguard by the time of King Aegon's death.

It is said that King Aegon II, alongside High Septon Eustace, instilled upon the young and impressionable minds of the boys a religious fervour that made them even more loyal to the House of the Dragon. Armed and armoured in the finest steel that money could buy, these men were armed to the teeth and brought fear upon all who faced them on the battlefield alongside the Targaryen dragons.

The Black Legion has also intervened multiple times during dynastic troubles within the royal family decisively ending succession problems at the edge of their blade for their favoured claimant before a wider war could break out.

As one commander of the Black Legion once said, "We were tasked by the great King Aegon to ensure that no succession problem inside the Royal family ever spirals into a bloody civil war like that of the Dance." This approach while praised or critiqued multiple times depending on the results of the new king, it has prevented any large-scale civil war within Westeros while at the same time poisoning the Black Legion's leadership with politics with a significant portion of them serving as the Crown's secret police as well as their elite bodyguards and shock troops in the battlefield.

Aegon II was a king who ended serfdom that kept the masses oppressed yet at the same time extracted ruinous taxes upon them that burdened the people to fund his many ambitious projects such as the expanding road network, the monuments to his greatness, the increasing uptake for maintaining the army, the Royal fleet, the bureaucracy and for the development of King's Landing. Yet these enterprises brought employment and opportunities for the people's provision. During times of need, King Aegon took it upon himself to provide for his people during the devastating famine that followed the Dance during the famously severe winter of 130-135 AC, which also contained the Winter fever, a plague that devastated Westeros.

He was a warlike king who preferred to keep Westeros out of the wars of Essos. He ably managed the Dornish incursions with his new Royal army before conquering Dorne in his fiftieth year, and he brought the Stepstones into the control of the Iron Throne a few years after conquering Dorne. Even towards the end of his life, the threat that King Aegon would intervene riding upon the battle-hardened beast Sunfyre was enough to convince many not to provoke the Iron Throne into war. The final war that Westeros underwent during his reign was the final pacification of the Lands beyond the Wall, led by his grandson and heir, Prince Aerion.

As Historian David Lannister noted ' A just king to the smallfolk, an excellent and intimidating statesman to his contemporaries, a god-like warrior king to his soldiers yet utterly lacking in morals to his nobles'

An excerpt from 'The Reign of King Aegon II 'The Golden Halfhand' Targaryen' from Historian Vaegon Waters of the House of Wisdom.

177 AC

"Should I hope that the lands beyond the wall may have tempered your thirst for war, grandson?" I asked my grandson Aerion after he returned from his two-year expedition beyond the wall. I gave in to his demands for a campaign after years of begging. He looked like a near replica of Aemond that I found rather unsettling and despite my daughter's entreaties, I let him go because it had to be done. He wasn't my only grandson but he was Jaehaerys and Jaehaera's only son. After five daughters, they finally had a son. Now, he stood to inherit the Iron Throne after me at age twenty-one. He needed to learn how to lead men in battle.

Aerion dutifully reported, "I couldn't fly Shrykos across the wall; she refused no matter how hard I tried, so I had to fight on foot with the men; it was difficult, but we did it. For two years we fought in the snow. More than a third of the wildlings have been killed while the remaining have either been forcibly resettled into the lands of the North or they have been chased deeper into the snows where they are more likely die freezing."

I sat on a cushioned chair by the window in my bedchamber overlooking my city. My old aching joints made it difficult to move much these days. Even Dragonlords are mortal.

"Have you done what I asked of you?" I then asked him looking at the evening sun over my bustling city.

"Yes, I have, grandfather," Aerion nodded, "I found the Black gate in the Nightfort and I had it sealed up with obsidian. Now with the Wildlings either dead or settled in the South, the Night's Watch is redundant. I have ordered all the noble houses and the courts in Westeros not to send any more men to the Wall. All the tunnels have been sealed, and since a good number of them did die in the expedition, I assume that the Night's Watch will be dead within a decade." And hopefully, the White Walkers will stay beyond the wall doing their thing; maybe they won't attack Westeros as long as dragons fly over the skies.

"I gave allowances to the remaining members; if they wished to seek employment under any of the Northern Lords, they could do so, and many have already done so."

I had to hold back a snort, those Northern Lords were no different from Southern Lords. They worshipped the Seven, they shared the same Andal blood, and they were raised in the ideals of chivalry and knighthood. The only thing separating them from their Southern counterparts is that they were raised in the cold of the North. Many people in the North had converted to the Faith of the Seven over the past generation. The act of bring the North over to the light of the Seven ensured that Faith was forever under my grip.

I looked at Aerion and said, "My time is up, I can feel the Stranger beckoning me and I find myself waiting for the day. You will be king after me; tell me if you have any fears or doubts to ask of me; now would be the best time."

Everyone I knew from my glory days were now dead, all my friends, my allies from the war. I am a relic of a bygone era at this point. Criston, Tyland, Alicent, and Otto passed away during the Winter Fever.

Hel passed away in childbirth with our daughter Daenerys only a few years after the war; her death crushed me. I nearly lost the will to live; if not for my children, I probably would have killed myself had Jaehaera not intervened. I lived far too long for a person who returned home from the war scarred and half-broken by his losses emotionally and physically. After Hel's passing, I never remarried despite many offers, I lost my temper multiple times whenever anyone ever broached the subject in front of me. I became ever more distrustful of the Maesters and I went ahead with my plan of replacing the Citadel by establishing the Houses of Wisdom and Healing to ensure that no other mother dies in childbirth.

My brothers died in the war, as did Jaehaerys who died of a poisoned arrow during the occupation of Dorne, while Maelor died of consumption two years before the Dornish invasion. Jaehaera, my only daughter died a year ago of what I am assuming is cancer, the progression was so sudden that I and even the physicians were caught off guard. Aerion did not come back home even after learning of his mother's death, instead he threw himself further into the fighting making a name for himself in his grief and rage.

I have never felt so broken before, even my battle with Daemon was less painful than this. Only Sunfyre remains to me, my faithful golden boy. He is getting older and bigger and crankier, his once shiny golden scales are losing their lustre. His scars from the Dance remained though healed from the inside. I wonder if there will be a fight to claim Sunfyre after I am dead.

With four children, eight grandchildren, and two great grandchildren whose names I am starting to get mixed up, I would have assumed that I had a good run as a father. At least I was a better father than Jaehaerys and Viserys while it was not a high bar to clear, it was still better than what I had growing up. Though my efforts to be a great king meant I couldn't be as great of a grandfather and my sons didn't live long enough to set their kids straight.

"I find myself fearing that Gaemon or Aelor might plot to overthrow me," Aerion confessed. "They are much older than me, they have both fought in Dorne and they have children of their own. They have bigger dragons, Gaemon has Vermithor and Aelor has Stormcloud both are larger than Shrykos. Gaemon has made no hiding of his lust for the Iron Throne and Aelor is a cunt. They both seek the crown. Elaena, my own sister plots with Gaemon to usurp me, I know it. Elaena has ever hated me, she seeks to be Queen, with Dreamfyre and Vermithor, I am severely outmatched even with Rhaella on Grey Ghost."

I couldn't fault the boy for his fears, after Maelor's untimely death and before Aerion's birth, Gaemon and Aelor were supposed to be Jaehaerys' heirs as Maelor's sons came before Jaehaerys' daughters. As a compromise, Elaena, Jaehaerys' oldest daughter and my first grandchild was wed to Gaemon to tie the bloodlines together and then on cue, Aerion was born.

Atleast I had the excuse of calling Rhaenyra my half sister. This time, there is not even that. What is wrong with this bloody family? And why does everyone want that wretched chair, it isn't even comfortable to sit on. No matter how hard I try, the lust for the throne overcomes all love in this family.

Aerion was married to his third oldest sister Rhaella and they hadn't had children yet. Even if they had children and I managed to betroth them to Gaemon and Elaena's children, Gaemon was still an ambitious cunt who wanted the throne for himself. This wasn't even mentioning Aelor, yet another nutcase. So much for the happily ever after.

"There is a reason why I forbade your cousins from joining you beyond the wall. I knew that your dragon would not fly beyond the wall so you would have to fight in the snow with the grunts. You earned their respect doing all this all on your own which is much more than what Gaemon and Aelor who had the luxury of fighting upon their dragons have done. The Army will side with you going forward, you needn't worry about anything." I assure him. "You will be king after me and your cousins and your sister will not trouble you. The Black Legion will remain loyal to you."

I advise him, "Being king means that you will have to make difficult choices, you will have to do unspeakable things if needs be for the betterment of our family but never lose your sleep over it. Good men have made terrible kings and terrible men have become great kings. I chose to be the latter and so should you. Being a king isn't your birthright, it is your solemn duty, remember that."

"The truly great kings are not great for the number of great victories they won in battle but for the number of years of peace they gave their people. Your job as king is to give peace, prosperity and plenty to millions who live under your aegis. Do not go about seeking war as how the war hawks and warmongers in court would have you do but should any fool seek to provoke the dragon then teach them their mistakes with extreme prejudice."

I finish with, "Also, next time onwards when you are king you must decide who gets to bond with dragons and what kind of dragons. I made a mistake that I didn't foresee. I let everyone bond with whichever dragon they wanted simply because I hoped you remember that you are all one family like my own sire's false hope. Clearly I was just as wrong."

The two main commanders of the Black Legion knelt before me. To ensure that one man didn't get too much power, control over the legion was split. Kyle Waters and Jeffery Miller were the commanders. They were amongst the first two hundred boys selected for the Legion. They have served me for nearly forty years. They wore the same armor as everyone in the legion, black gothic plate armor with a little bit of red and golden trimmings.

"Tell me, Kyle, Jeffery, how far along have Gaemon and Elaena plotted to overthrow Aerion?" I ask my bodyguards/secret police.

Kyle raised his head and promptly answered, "According to our informants, Prince Gaemon, Princess Elaena, and Prince Aelor are in Summerhall as most of their supporters are from the Marches. They plan to declare rebellion from Summerhall as soon as they learn of your death before marching on King's Landing. Considering that they have the largest dragons in Vermithor and Dreamfyre, it is likely that they might prevail should they not be stopped right now."

I closed my eyes, Gaemon, Elaena, and Aelor, they were my grandchildren. I loved them yet they sought to kill for the throne. Why is this family like this?

I said to them, "I cannot let them start a war, no not again. Not for that bloody chair, this nonsense has to stop before it spirals out. Westeros should not suffer for their ambitions."

"The Feast day of our Father Above is coming in a fortnight I believe, summon my grandchildren from Summerhall but do not say anything to scare them. Tell them I have recovered yet again, anything to bring them here do you understand."

"Yes, Your Grace," They nodded.

"Once they are in the Red Keep and their dragons in the Dragonpit, they are to be arrested, taken to the Black cells and put to death within the hour. Their children are to be taken into custody as well. Their fates will be decided by Aerion. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Your Grace," They answered without question as they stood up.

"And one more thing boys," I continue before they leave, "Tell your successors this same thing. Should they find any solid evidence that anyone in the family is plotting to take over Iron Throne and start a war, they are to report it to the reigning King and counsel the King no matter what that they should be put to death then and there. The fact that they are royalty or they are the blood of the dragon means nothing. Understood? Write it down in the secret book meant only for the commanders."

"Yes, Your Grace." As they leave, I bury my face in my hands.

Westeros cannot be under the mercy of egoistic and ambitious Princelings who care nothing about their duty and are blinded by the power for the throne.

A fortnight later

As I lay dying in my bed with my life flashing before my eyes, my granddaughter Daella, Jaehaerys and Jaehaera's second daughter who had become a Septa sat by my side reading the Seven Pointed Star. She was a clever girl, very intuitive and I would had Aerion marry her had she not chosen to become a Septa of her own volition.

I heard the roar of Vermithor followed by that of Dreamfyre and I am assuming Stormcloud. My heart starts hammering away as for the first time in decades I feel very much alive even as I am on my last legs.

I held Daella's hand tightly as I felt seconds last as long as hours. She closed the Seven Pointed Star and she took my hand and said, "Today is the Feast Day of our Father Above, the most auspicious day for kings to give judgement."

"No matter how bitter the cup may be any amount of bitterness is worth not going back to dark days of civil war," She continued. Clever girl, she understood what was about to happen.

"Elaena considers herself the most beautiful and the most deadliest dragon rider especially amongst us sisters, yet the Crone hasn't shined her light for Elaena else she would remember how you, grandfather gained the throne in the first place. As for Gaemon and Aelor they are both hot headed fools, they won't understand a thing until the last moment and maybe not even then."

"The world may look upon what you have done with aghast grandfather and call you a kinslayer yet the future will thank you for saving them."

Then after what seemed to be an eternity, both Jeffery and Kyle stride into the chamber, I can see some sweat mixed with grime and blood in their beards.

They knelt as they said, "It is done."

I let go of Daella's hand and I whisper, "It is good, it is good."

I close my eyes for he last time