The Heir of the Dragon: A Rhaenyra Targaryen Quest

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You stood in the office of the Hand of the King, staring at Otto as he stared back at you. If one were to glance at the two of you they would assume there was some great tension between you, that the two of you hated each other though you wouldn't admit it. That wasn't true. Otto could have been your enemy once upon a time, but he wasn't. Indeed, you were hoping for him to consider you an ally. There wasn't tension between the two of you so much as awkwardness. Of that there was an incredible amount though.

You needed to have this conversation. Even if your romantic relationship with Alicent somehow didn't work out, you still wanted to help her as a friend. It only seemed fair. You had found something of a balance between your desires and your duties, and Alicent should get the chance to do the same.

But even though this conversation was needed, even though you were the one to convince Alicent you needed to do this, you couldn't deny the dread building up inside you. Even if everything went right, this was still going to be an awkward and uncomfortable conversation, one that would probably lead to several more deeply awkward conversations between Alicent and her father.

You weren't even sure how to begin the conversation. How did one ease into a conversation like this? Thankfully, Otto broke the ice first.

"My nephew was quite surprised when he learned of his new position," Otto remarked as he stood by his desk. "Not that I had no hand in given him the position of course, but that position had ultimately come from you. He asked why it was the young Princess who proposed this toll authority in the first place, when the king had so many experinced lords advising him?"

You had wondered that yourself a bit. It seemed a fairly simple idea when really thought about it. A lot of roads had tolls, straits were about as close to the idea of a road of the sea as you could get, so it made sense to have an organized toll effort.

"Perhaps I was just lucky enough to be the first to suggest it," you said with a hint of modesty.

"Perhaps," Otto repeated, "then again, a lot has changed recently. Perhaps the council is still trying to adjust to our new reality."

"Speaking of your nephew." You seized the chance to take the reins of the conversation. "I was hoping that since I have done so much to further House Hightower's interests in King's Landing, you might be able to grant me a favor. A rather serious one at that."

"Ahh..." Otto nodded before gesturing to a chair in front of his desk. "Come. Sit."

The two of you sat down, starring at each other for a moment.

"We can be honest with each other, right?" you asked.

"Of course Princess," Otto replied. "It would do poorly if the heir to the throne did not think they could trust their king's hand."

"Very well," you folded your hands as you leaned forward. "Since becoming heir, I have made your daughter my handmaiden, helped put your son on the city watch, and have now made your nephew second in command of an organization that could become quite powerful in the realm. I given your family quite a considerable amount of influence in a short number of years."

Otto's face tensed, he looked as though he wanted to say something, but thought better of it.

"If you hold resentment over my father not marrying Alicent," you replied, realizing what he was thinking, "you can't hold that against me. If my father wanted that marriage he could have easily asked for her hand."

You knew Otto tried to push your father into marrying Alicent, and you were pretty sure he knew that you knew. But how much he knew was still in question.

"I never asked your father to even consider such a match," Otto replied. Honest, but still deceptive.

"Of course," you nodded. "Still, the matter is settled and I have done a lot for your family."

"A lot is perhaps overstating things, but that is largely correct," Otto half agreed. "Even Daemon seemed to have noticed. I heard him complaining to your father he was surprised you didn't dress in green now."

Both of you smirked at that.

"Right," you looked down at your hands for a moment before starring back at Alicent's father. "And I am more than willing to keep advancing the interests of your house, provided you and I reach an understanding."

Otto raised an eyebrow. "What kind of understanding?"

You took a deep breath and steadied your nerves, bracing yourself for what was to come.

"As I am sure you are aware," you began, "in the past few years, Alicent and I have renewed our friendship, indeed we're becoming closer than we were before we had our fights. A good deal closer in fact. This has changed things.

"I take it you've become aware of my daughter's particular affection for you?" Otto said, shifting slightly in his seat.

"You know?" you found yourself quite surprised.

"My wife expressed concern about it not long before she passed," Otto explained. "And since then, I've come to notice how Alicent speaks of you in private. As has her brother I suspect, though, as you can imagine, we don't talk about such things."

"Well that makes this much easier," you replied, starring directly at the man. "I will be blunt. I have, for sometime now, returned those affections. Enthusiastically."

For a long moment there was silence between you, Otto starring at you with an uncomfortable expression.

"I see," he said simply, looking away awkwardly. "I must admit some surprise. I had always thought Alicent's desires were one sided."

"Well they're not," you replied awkwardly.

"Hmm," Otto replied uneasily. "Well. That's all well and good for you, but I don't quite understand why you felt the need to inform me directly about this.... development."

You expected more of a reaction, but it seemed he didn't particularly wish to speak of the matter.

"I have come to value Alicent's company a great deal, as a friend, as a handmaiden and advisor," you pressed on. "For all of those reasons I would very much like to have Alicent by my side for as long as we both wish. And I was hoping you would agree to certain arrangements to help make that possible."

"Did you make my nephew Inspector-General because you wanted me to delay Alicent getting married?" Otto asked, Eyebrow raised in disbelief.

"I seek to prevent her getting married at all," you corrected. "Alicent does not wish to get married and I would prefer not to share her attention with some husband of hers."

"And yet she will have to share your attention with Prince Qoren," Otto remarked.

"The prince is a reasonable man," you explained. "I cannot be sure of that with any husband you find for Alicent."

"Arrangements can be made," Otto tried to argue. "And Alicent understands her duty well."

"I think I found a way for Alicent to fulfill her duties to you and others in a way we will all find agreeable," you pushed. "Are you familiar with the The Order of the Crone motherhouse?"

Otto's stare turned piercing for a moment, threatening to flay you down to your very soul.

"Right. It's near Oldtown. Of course you are familiar with it," you replied sheepishly. "Anyways. I believe an arrangement could be made with them. After my wedding, Alicent will go there to become a septa. After she's done with her training, she will return to King's Landing to act as my personal spiritual advisor. Alicent is happy, and she's doing duty to both the faith and you by acting as my close advisor."

"You want me to give up my only daughter and have her become a septa?" Otto said with incredible skepticism.

"You would hardly be giving her up," you explained. "She may legally be giving up her Hightower name, but you know as well as I do she would still listen closely to you. This is in both our best interests since it ensures Alicent will have my ear for decades to come."

Otto sighed and buried his head in his hand.

"Since we are being honest here, I must confess that you, princess, are perhaps one of the most vexing people I have ever met," Otto replied sharply and bluntly. " You are single-handedly undermining my efforts by accident. Half the time you seem the dutiful heir, and the other half you seem utterly beholden to your own whims! Most of the lords on your Royal Progress thought you had the makings of a fine queen and then you had to go and pull that outrage at the tourney and have half the realm thinking your an uncontrollable child. And now you're telling me you made my nephew perhaps one of the most powerful men in the cities across the realm, in an effort to ensure you could sleep with my daughter while she wears a Septa's robes!"

You folded your arms as you leaned back in your chair.

"Outrage?" You questioned "May I remind you, good Hand, that were it not for my victory at the tourney, Prince Qoren might not have expressed any interest in a match at all? And without the Dornish, control over the Stepstones would not be possible and your nephew would not be Inspector-General of anything right now. I know what I am doing."

"I very much doubt you knew your actions in the tourney would have caught the attention of the Prince of Dorne," Otto rebutted, "to say nothing of the ire many in the Stormlands and the Reach now hold towards you."

"The point is my 'whims' as you call them," you replied snarkily as you gestured with you hands, "have not been without merit. And maybe I did all of this for Alicent, but that's even more reason to agree to this. Because my affection for Alicent and our friendship have helped your interests considerably. I've certainly been a better friend to House Hightower than the Westerlings will ever be."

Perhaps it was stupid to give away so much power to help a relationship, but you didn't care.

Your words provoked a curious look from Otto as sat there for a moment.

"If it is assurances you want," Otto sighed wearily, "we don't have to do this Septa plan of yours. Alicent is only seven and ten years old. I could easily hold off arranging a marriage for her for another ten years. I could even put that in writing if you wish. I'll tell people you simply value her services as your handmaiden a great deal and don't wish to lose her anytime soon."

"That still requires her to marry eventually," you observed.

"I know," Otto replied. "But ten years is more than enough time for me to find a match that's suitably agreeable to your wishes."

You stared at him silently for a moment.

"Surely you must realize what you're asking my family to give up politically by giving Alicent to the Faith?" he pushed back.

"Have I not done enough for your family on that front?" you asked flatly.

"Not quite," Otto replied. "If you must insist on making her a Septa, I would ask one more thing of you."

Of course there had to be more. Of course all your favors wouldn't be enough for this man.

"With Daemon's return, he's pushed for the interim head of the city watch to be removed," Otto explained. "Thankfully, his grace the king has the wisdom to realize restoring Daemon to his old office is out of the question. But I worry Daemon will push for someone aligned with his interests."

"I can't make Gwayne commander of the City Watch," you argued. "You know I don't have that power."

"You can write a letter to your father explaining how Gwayne has performed his duties in the city watch excellently though," Otto insisted. "And that you believe he would make an excellent fit for commanding the Gold Cloaks. Daemon's not going to allow such a thing of course, but your letter will help prevent Gwayne from being pushed out and ideally keep my son in your father's thoughts when Daemon's pick inevitably screws up."

So less making Gwayne the next commander and more pushing things so Gwayne had a better shot at becoming the next commander's successor. Daemon would find out about the letter of course, and while you very much doubted he'd kill again, you knew he'd think you even more of a Hightower puppet.

A simple letter was all you needed to make your plan happen. It seemed easy enough. Yet part of you was annoyed that Otto was pushing for one more favor even after all you've given him. And you could accomplish near everything you wanted by just agreeing to have Otto hold off on finding a husband for Alicent for another decade. That would mean Alicent would have to marry eventually, but Otto could almost certainly find a husband for her the two of you could tolerate.

If you went to Alicent, she would probably tell you to listen to her father and go with the marriage plan. She might prefer becoming a septa but her sense of duty to her family was too strong for to completely refuse her father's will.

You could also agree to write the letter and go with Otto's marriage plan. That would definitely make Otto an ally at least.

One thing was for sure, you had no intention of backing out at this point. Otto was at least tolerating your relationship it seemed and you weren't about to screw that up by refusing to make some sort of deal

How Do You Respond to Otto's Deal?

[] [Otto] Stick with the Septa Plan, Agree to Write the Letter.

[] [Otto] Agree to let Otto marry off Alicent in Ten Years.

[] [Otto] Agree to let Otto Marry off Alicent, and Agree to Write the Letter.

[] [Otto] Write-in (Subject to Heavy QM Approval)

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It turned out escaping to the city was harder than you expected. The Red Keep had too many guards, particularly after what happened to the Maesters, for you to just walk out. You knew well the rumors that Meagor had filled the keep with numerous secret passages and hidden alcoves, but actually finding them took a fair bit of effort. After weeks of poking around hallways and some of the empty rooms, you eventually discovered one of these hidden paths. In your own apartment no less.

It was one of the six large inlaid paintings of a dragon the flanked your bed. You had been inspecting the walls around your bed room one night when you heard something unexpected, the faint sound of water dripping past the painting. With a simple push, the painting opened like a door, revealing a small stairwell. It was dank and dark, even a candle providing barely enough light to see the next step in front of you. You followed the stairs down as far as they could take you. Eventually you found yourself in the basements of the Red Keep, walking past burning torches shaped like dragon mouths, and past massive skull of the Black Dread himself, were your father had revealed Aegon's prophecy and his intent to name you heir.

You became lost again, spending hours sneaking around the catacombs until you found another exit, this one leading directly to the city. By that point it was nearly daylight though, forcing you to return the next night.

You wore a large, rough spun cloak with a hood, along with pants and a shirt you bartered from one of the guards who matched you in size, trading one of your old dresses for it. The dress was worth more than than what the guard made in months and his wife had a name day coming up, so you were more than confident the dress was enough payment to keep his silence.

You carried a small bundle of coins with you and a large knife hidden under your cloak. Enough to do whatever you wanted in the city and the means to defend yourself should the worst happen.

Part of you wished Alicent was here to enjoy the night with you, but when you had hinted at such an idea a few weeks earlier she had laughed off the thought, saying she had no desire to spend an evening having to skulk through King's Landing.

It was a long winding route out of the Red Keep and into the city, but you made it eventually, winding up on a street absolutely filled with people.

The noise even at this hour was intense. So many people talking, screaming, laughing and shouting as you passed. The air reeked of rot and sweat and the sheer amount of people around you was almost overwhelming and yet you could not stop grinning.

You were just another face in the crowd. You had never been just another face in the crowd. When people bumped into you, they didn't stop and beg for forgiveness. Instead they drunken told you to get out of their way, if they even bothered to acknowledged you at all. They were living their lives instead of stopping to stare at a passing royal.

You found yourself greatly enjoying the anonymity as you wandered through the streets. Watching as a street performer used some kind of crude magic make fire dance in their hands, men played the drums better than any court performer for a few coins, eyeless women offered to tell people their futures, and more than few women made doe eyes at you. A few even made offers to share their bed for the night, clearly mistaking you for a man. Not that you were going to complain. Their interest was quite flattering and affirming, even if you had no intention of doing anything with it.

After a while of enjoying the sights and sounds of the streets, you realized you needed to find something to do for the night. Wandering through the streets was fun, but after nearly stepping into a drunkard's sick more than once and nearly running into a couple utterly lost in passion, you knew it was no way to spend your entire evening.

You found yourself in some kind of market square. Even at this late hour, there were still people selling their wares. Everything and anything seemed to be for sale, depending on the stall. You might be able to purchase something interesting for yourself or Alicent if you looked around. This seemed like one of the nicer market squares in the city at least. You also saw signs for numerous taverns and bars. A few hours in a bar might be a good way to relax and unwind, ease all the tension building in your shoulders. Of course, people also liked to talk in bars, and you couldn't help but wonder what the smallfolk said about the heir to the Iron Throne.

There was a sign on one of the streets leading out of the market square, an anvil with a arrow pointing towards the left, no doubt pointing towards the Street of Steel, where all the smiths set up their shops and forges. A few shops might be still be open at this hour. You could use this chance to order yourself some new armor, a helm or a shield if you wished.

As you considered you options, you heard people talk of horse races on the Street of the Sisters, magic shows being hosted by the Alchemist's guild, and then, suddenly, screaming. You had heard plenty of screams since taking to the streets, but something was different about this. The desperation in the woman's voice set your teeth on edge. The screaming seemed to be coming from a nearby alley, but you weren't sure. Nobody else seemed to even hear the screams so it was probably nothing, right?

Rhaenyra Has Discovered the Hidden Passages of The Red Keep

How Do You Spend Your Evening? (Pick Two)

[] [The City] Shop The Markets

[] [The City] Relax in a Bar

[] [The City] Shop the Street of Steel

[] [The City] Take Part in the Horse Races

[] [The City] Take in a Magic Show

[] [The City] Investigate the Screams

[] [The City] Write-in (Subject to QM Approval)

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QM's Note: I want to make clear the multiple offers you guys have gotten is not me saying "The Septa Plan is a bad idea, don't do it." It's just not something Otto is keen on so he's gonna to offer alternatives. I had originally plan for Daemon to pull something similar to canon and have Daemon lure Rhaenyra out into the city through the hidden passages, with the twist being that Rhaenyra immediately has no interest and goes off and does her own thing, but I could not plausibly believe Daemon would think that would work in this universe.