A/N: I've become inspired, truly. LOL Really this is more of like a foundational chapter, so that you can see Helaena start to set up her rule, see who is on a part of her Small Council and how she is dealing with everything. Whether or not she'll be a good ruler is still very much in question, whether or not she'll end up mad...well Cersei Lannister phrased it best: "Every time a Targaryen is born, the gods flip a coin..."
Anyways please R&R and let me know what you think! I welcome constructive criticism but if you want to flame me you will be blocked (is that a thing here?). Have a brilliant day, hopefully I'll crank out a couple more chapters by the end of this month!
xoxo
M
"Sir Gregor Clegane," Helaena was sitting on the Iron Throne, her white dress still soaked at the bottom with the blood of her family members. The men of her Queensguard now surrounded her, some of them absent, having not heard news of what was going on in the Capital and still out fighting. It was something that Helaena was readily trying to remedy.
The Targaryen Princess, now Queen, had not bothered to change into another dress. Deciding instead to remain on the Throne, the idea was to establish herself visually at the very least. It had been Robert's idea and Helaena hadn't bothered to refute it. Lord Baratheon stood vigilant at her side, but Helaena was also fretting about Ned, who had gone to the Tower of Joy to retrieve Lyanna and the rest of Aerys' Kingsguard—including Ser Gerold Hightower and Ser Arthur Dayne. Both extremely skilled Knights who ranked high in terms of skill and seniority within the Kingsguard. Hopefully, Helaena thought to herself, both knights would come peacefully and accept her.
The main in question stood stoically in front of his new Queen, aware of what was potentially going to happen next. All of the Lords who had yet to bend the knee were crowded together in the throne room, awaiting with bated breadth to see what the fate of the Mountain would be. Many, whilst clearly unhappy with Aerys and believing Rhaegar to be completely foolhardy, wanted to see Helaena in action before fully deciding to swear fealty to her. They couldn't have another mad Targaryen on their hands, but they also couldn't have an irresponsible one. No one was brave enough to defy her and try to seize the throne for themselves, when she had the backing of the two people that started the rebellion in the first place—Robert Baratheon and Ned Stark.
"May I ask you a question?" the inquiry was obviously rhetorical and the Mountain made no move to answer. The silence caused Helaena's temper to rise slightly but she remained calm and still, an air of force casualty surrounding her.
"Can you escort my good sister Elia to me? And my darling niece and nephew, I'd love to see them and make sure they weren't unduly harmed during the raid upon our home," everyone in the hall still at Helaena's order, her finger clenched firmly on the Iron Throne being the only give away to how furious the Queen truly was. Everyone knew what had happened, either they had witnessed it or the whispers had filtered all throughout the ranks but either way—everyone from the Queen to one of the wildlings beyond the Wall probably knew what had went on.
Gregor Clegane did not move, staring unflinchingly up at Helaena. His bod was held perfectly still. The man had been bred and raised to take orders, and while there was an inherent savagery to him, he would not have done what he did unless someone of a higher standing had given him license to do so. And Helaena knew this, however she also knew that trying to punish one of the Lords of the Great Houses she was trying to make bend the knee would not do well in currying her their favor.
Helaena could care less whether Gregor Clegane did this on someone else's orders or not, whether or not he felt like the act was wrong itself or not, she just wanted to make an example of him. She needed to it quickly, strongly, and with just cause so that no one could accuse her of being weak, or worse, mad.
"Sir Gregor Clegane, you stand accused on murder and treason again the House Targaryen. Do you deny it? Helaena's voice vibrated throughout the room, and while her words were directed at the Mountain—her eyes locked with Tywin Lannister.
The Queensguard was lined up on either side of the Queen. All of them were actively ready to draw their swords should the Mountain make a move. Ser Barristan Selmy, the man that had practically raised her, stood directly on Helaena's right, with Robert standing on the other side of the throne—his battle hammer ready in his hand. All the other Lords watched expectantly in the audience, waiting for Queen Helaena to finish her judgment.
"Elia Martell is dead, after you defiled her body and killed her. Princess Rhaenys and Prince Aegon are dead, after you bashed their skulls in. Do you deny it?" Helaena rose, and straightened to her full height. Her face was impassive but her words were sharp and carefully pronounced, no one in th throne room could deny how much like a Queen she seemed like in that very moment.
"No," the gruff answer was the only reply Gregor Clegane had. What else was there to say when he knew exactly what he had done? The crowd erupted in whispers and exclamations but Helaena only raised an eyebrow in reaction.
"Elia was my good sister. Before donning the Targaryen cloak, she wore that of the House Martell. Thus, not only are you standing accused of murder and treason against the Crown, you are also accused of murder against the House Martell," motioning toward the crowd, Helaena beckoned Oberyn Martell forward.
The Dornish man broke the crowd, he and his current lover being the only two officials to come from Dorne, and headed straight for the Queen, "Helaena," the Dornish princes greeted, completely disregarding the Queen's title. Doran Martell had yet to bend the knee and Oberyn was not in a place to do so for the whole of the Summer Isles.
"Oberyn Martell, several moons ago my brother treated your sister with great dishonor. And now, she is dead because of a member of my father's own Kingsguard. House Targaryen has offended your House time and time again. I hope to mend those bridges," casting a hand toward Sir Gregor, Helaena gestured for Oberyn at the Mountain, "A trial, by combat, if it pleases you Lord Oberyn of House Martell,"
Oberyn looked between the Mountain and Helaena, startled. The Prince was unsure if this was supposed to be a gift, or a punishment for Doran not coming to the proceedings and bending the knee himself. However, he wasn't about to reject getting the opportunity to exact revenge upon the person who defiled and slaughtered his dear sister and her children.
"And the champions?" Oberyn's eyes settled upon the Mountain, unable to look away whatsoever, hatred filling every single cell of his body.
Helaena's eyes lit up slightly, her mouth quirking into a small smile, "Yes, the matter of champions. Think of this as an added gift if you will—let us dash tradition for a moment. The both of you can be your own champions, considering you both are not the only male members of your household left,"
The Queen sat back on the throne and smiled pleasantly at Oberyn, who looked incredibly conflicted about what he had just heard. A moment of indecision passed the man, he felt completely unsure of whether or not he should accept Helaena's offer, or if he should just wait in the shadows and attempt to gain justice for himself later. Oberyn shook his head at the idea, it was ridiculous. The Mountain was right there in front of him and if he didn't avenge Elia right now, when would he ever get the opportunity?
Oberyn locked eyes with Helaena and gave a stiff nod, "I accept, Queen Helaena," the words struggled out of his mouth but Oberyn managed to utter them.
His submission and acknowledgement of Helaena resulted in an eruption of whispers amongst the crowd, causing Helaena to stand and wave a hand at them all to remain silent. At the exercise, everyone quieted at the sheer authority that the Queen was emanating—no doubt bolstered by what had just played out.
"In a fortnight, Lord Oberyn of House Martell will duel Ser Gregor of House Clegane in a trial by combat," Queen Helaena declared to the waiting audience, "Until then, Ser Gregor will await his face in the Black Cells, and Lord Oberyn you and your party are welcome to stay in the guest rooms until the date arrives,"
At the announcement, members of the Queensguard surrounded Ser Gregor and escorted the man to the Black Cells. He went with little struggle, knowing that when the time came, he would be ready and he would prevail. The confidence nearly radiated out of the terrifying man. When the doors finally shut on the back of the Mountain, it only took another moment before Lords and Ladies of the various Great Houses and Lesser Houses started to line up in order to swear fealty to Queen Helaena.
…
"A clever play," Tywin mused, having not yet sworn his fealty and was instead standing in the back of the throne room with his sons—observing the chaos that was occurring before him.
The Lannister Lord watched as the Queen sat on the Iron Throne, men and women tripping over themselves in order to swear their fealty and reaffirm their loyalty to a House that they had wanted to rebel against mere days earlier. Robert Baratheon stood by her side, impatiently, as if waiting for another battle to erupt. The remaining Queensguard lined up around her, all of them glaring lethally at the people before them—ready to do anything to protect the last Targaryen in Westeros.
Tyrion, with a mind more towards politics than his brother but still young and not completely familiar with all the trappings of King's Landing, looked up at his father for guidance, "Father?"
"If Prince Oberyn is to be his own champion and the Mountain as well, their duel is more than likely to end in death as opposed to a surrender," Tywin explained, the only time he would speak cordially to his youngest son being moments like this.
"And what does that matter? Trials by combat usually always end up in a death, I can't remember the last time there was a surrender," Jaime, who hadn't felt brave enough to speak to Helaena about his own role in her Queensguard, had decided to stay beside his family in case she just so happened to remember that he murdered her father.
"Yes, but usually the offended parties choose their own champions. Right now, Helaena is searching to force Doran Martell's hand," Tywin smirked, slightly impressed with the plan, "If Oberyn wins, Doran will have no choice but to come to King's Landing as repayment. If Oberyn loses, Doran would be forced to come to retrieve his brother's body and undoubtedly receive pressure to bend the knee once he got here,"
"So it's just a matter of which path Doran ends up choosing—either way he comes to King's Landing," Tyrion surmised, the pieces clicking together in his head.
"Well, he doesn't get to choose. It's balanced on the point of whether or not Oberyn dies," Jaime pointed out, actually understanding somewhat of what was going on, usually not one for mind games.
"Yes, the point of contention is if Oberyn dies, Doran might feel slightly more hostile about the whole situation. However, he wouldn't be able to just leave his brother's body here—he would have to come and at that point, I'm sure the Queen would make sure he wouldn't be able to leave until she got what she wanted," Tywin watched as several more houses (those that were the bannermen to House Targaryen) bend the knee, which was expected of them really.
From what Tywin knew of the Queen, from when she was a Princess, was that she could be a promising leader. She had learnt how to rule from the knees of both her grandfather Jahaerys before he died, and Aerys before the man went mad. The girl had been born on Dragonstone, raised in King's Landing, fostered at the Vale for only a couple years alongside Ned Stark and Robert Baratheon before returning home.
She had been known to travel somewhat, to the Reach and the Summer Isles and other various parts of the Seven Kingdoms. Princess Helaena had taken on the touring duties that the Heir Apparent would usually do because Rhaegar had taken a liking to a pretty wench or was playing his lyre out in the streets and thus declared himself unavailable.
Neither King Jahaerys nor the Mad King had tried to set Rhaegar on the right path. And Tywin attributed this failure in parenting as to why any of them even currently stood in the throne room—with Rhaegar and Aerys burned corpses in the corner, covered by a shroud as if that would stop people from noticing they were there.
"But what if he were to declare war?" the question came from Tyrion, who hadn't fought in the Rebellion and didn't particularly feel jolly about there being another battle on their hands.
"It wouldn't be smart of him, not when all these Houses have already begun to swear fealty to House Targaryen and the Crown. There is also the North and the Stormlands to consider—both of the Lord Paramounts have already declared themselves to her and the Tyrells were already sided with the Targaryens during the Rebellion—they have nothing to worry about," a frown settled itself onto Tywin's face, "Tread lightly—unfortunately in this round we Lannisters were on the wrong side. We must do everything to ensure that the Queen forgets that,"
Both sons bowed their heads, "Yes, Father"
….
"Who will be your Hand, my Queen? And the rest of your Small Council? Unless you wish to keep the same persons who occupied your Father's?" Petyr Baelish inquired, stepping up from amongst the Lords, who all looked upon him rather disdainfully. Everyone knew of Littlefinger and his reputation, no doubt the man would try his hardest to work his way into the Queen's Small Council now.
Helaena resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Petyr's simpering. The man had ignored her for the better half of her life, favoring instead to cater toward Rhaegar's wants and needs, and now here he was making an appearance now that she was Queen. It was such typical behavior from the man, who had very much started out as just nothing more than a street urchin.
"Who else would be my Hand, but the Lord of one of the Great Houses in the Seven Kingdoms? Renowned for his cunning…" Helaena allowed the question to hang in the air, and watched as the chest of a number of men in the crowd puffed up as if she were referring to those simpletons. Scanning her eyes about the room, Helaena saw exactly who she needed in order to address this whole Hand business. However, the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms wanted to play a little game first.
"Varys," her voice echoed throughout the silent room, everyone waited for Helaena to continue for surely she could not have thought to make the Eunuch the newest Hand? "You've been Master of Whispers for so long—I can't bare to think of you in any other position, will you accept and swear fealty to me?"
Varys, bald and in a rather ruffled looking robe—obviously he had been caught in some of the skirmishes during the attack upon the Red Keep, approached the Queen and bowed his head, "My Queen, nothing would honor me more than to continue to serve the House Targaryen,"
"Such flattery," Helaena crooned, "I hope you'll endeavor to always tell me, your Queen, the truth Varys. For both our sakes,"
Dismissing him with a wave of a hand, Helaena watched as Varys quickly backed away and settled himself on the other side of the room—back into the shadows where he was used to, awaiting secrets to come from his damn little birds. Petyr Baelish, seeing that he was most likely not going to get his answer soon, slunk back into the crowds lest he also face the wrath of Helaena Targaryen, who definitely seemed to be in a mood.
The throne room was aflutter, everyone whispering to themselves about Helaena's decision and inquiring to each other about who would be her next pick. To be a part of the Queen's Small Council would be an honor higher than most men would achieve.
"Have Gerold, Oswell, and Arthur arrived yet?" the very first amount of nervousness crept into Helaena's voice as she asked Robert, who had bene taking all the messages for her whilst she addressed the crowd.
Usually the large man was bored of things like this, always wanting to go drink and hunt or do both at the same time. Robert Baratheon thrived off a good duel. But he also knew that Helaena needed assistance in a time like this, and after basically bashing her brother's skull in, the man felt like he owed her just a bit of patience.
The knights and Lord Commander Hightower were all extremely loyal to House Targaryen. But, they were also close friends with Rhaegar. Despite writing a hasty letter that hopefully explained her side of the tale favorably, Helaena knew that news of her brother's death would upset them greatly. Even if Ned went there in peace, and with only the goal of retrieving his gods forsaken sister, the men would undoubtedly be reluctant to come back to the Red Keep peacefully.
"No, they haven't Helaena and they didn't five minutes ago when you asked. I'll let you know when they're here," Robert answered impatiently, earning a glare from Helaena when anyone else would have gotten their heads cut off or at the very least spent a fortnight in the Black Cells.
The new Queen huffed before casting her gaze back out in the crowd, gazing searchingly as everyone watched from below nervously, "Lord Mace of House Tyrell-the Reach has plenty of gold. You're good with it. Or at the very least your Mother, the Queen of the Thorns, is severely clever. As a reward for staying true to my House, you shall be named the Master of Coin,"
Mace stepped up quickly, and bowed and expressed his thanks. His mother, who was still at the Reach, would undoubtedly be pleased with the news and the man was happy to at least bring some good news back to the woman he called mother. Any other result and she would have most likely marched her own way into King's Landing and begun a fight with the Queen herself.
By this point, the crowd was getting impatient. Everyone wanted to know who was to be named the most coveted position of Hand of the Queen. Sighing, Helaena quickly scanned the crowd and found the familiar head of gold she had been looking for.
"Lord Tywin of House Lannister," Helaena walked down from the dais for the very first time, shocking quite a few people, and approached the golden lion who was standing with his sons in the crowd of people, "As Hand, you kept the Kingdom running for a very long time as my Father spiraled into madness. Now that he is gone, will you be Hand again, but this time in service to me? Aerys' daughter?" holding out her hand, Helaena watched expectantly for Tywin to respond in favor.
The Lord Paramount of the Westerlands did not disappoint, did not even hesitate. He grasped Helaena's hand and together the two walked back upon the dais, the Lord of Casterly Rock assisting Helaena in sitting back onto the throne before kneeling before her.
"I, Lord Tywin of House Lannister, First of His Name, Lord Paramount of the Westerlands, Lord of Casterly Rock, do swear fealty to you Queen Helaena, Second of her Name, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Lady of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm," looking up, Tywin met Helaena's eyes, "And I hope, that she can forgive my family for their part in the Rebellion and particularly my son, for murdering her Father,"
Helaena raised an eyebrow. Clever of Tywin, to ask for forgiveness in front of all the rest of the Lords of the Seven Kingdoms. If she didn't accept, she'd look like a hypocrite because Robert had been the one to lead the rebellion and now there he was standing by her side, still the Lord Paramount of the Stormlands. If she did accept, that means she wouldn't be able to punish them, especially Jaime, without looking excessively cruel.
"Your family was acting for the good of the Seven Kingdoms, just as we are all want to do. You and your family are forgiven, this time, Tywin Lannister," flashing a cruel smile, Helaena waved away her new Hand, who moved to stand on the other side of Robert Baratheon who would not move from his position by her.
With that done, Helaena called a recess so that everyone could break for their midday meal. So much had been done and the day wasn't even half over yet.