Author´s notes:
1 - If someone is reading this...this is my very first attempt at writing anything other than my uni´s reports, so feedback is highly appreciated :)
2 - I am a ZeLink shipper to the bone, so some fluffiness will be inevitable, but this is not exclusively a romance fic.
3 - This is an original story, not based on any particular game, but on the general universe of Zelda, so there´ll be some made up places and OCs.
4 - English is not my first language, and I have some problems with grammar that not even 10 years of speaking the language daily can change, so if spot some grammar or spelling error, please do correct me.
5- The prologues are a bit short, but the chapters get bigger after chapter 4.
6 - Disclaimer: I don´t own Legend of Zelda. Otherwise my OTP would be canon :( (is this mandatory?)
Edit 19/12/17: typos
Edit 18/01/18: text and grammar improvements.
Prologue - Part 1
Lord Lucast Elron´s back was hurting by the end of the first part of the trial. He was kneeled, head down and listening to all accusations against him and awaiting for his brief moment of defense. He felt outraged. How dared this bitch set him up like that? Was everyone blind to how much it would benefit her if he were convicted? It was obviously her doing.
After Lord Cyril finished his prosecution with wide eyes and face red in anger it was finally his time to say his piece to all these traitors. He looked up directly at her ready to strike that porcelain face with all his rage and with the truth….he was innocent. But when his eyes met those of the Queen of Hyrule he froze. She had won, and she knew it. No one would believe him after so many evidences. he had been caught in the act after all, a framed act, but still…
He was a quite impulsive man, he admitted, but it had never crossed his mind that he could feel so much hatred towards someone. He wanted to choke that smile out of her face.
He wasn´t constrained. He had to kneel, obviously her doing in order to humiliate him even more, but at least his title granted him the right to face his trial without chains. He could simply run the few steps that separated him from her throne and show her that she had messed with the wrong man! For Din, he was the Lord of Alanova…one of the richest regions in all Hyrule...
But as soon as the though came to him, as if reading his mind, he heard the low, guttural growl of The Beast of Hyrule Castle, the gigantic dark-gray wolf sitting by the Queen´s throne and he immediately disregarded this possibility. Uncomfortable was an understatement to describe how he felt every time his eyes happened to lock with those of the Beast, the bluest eyes he had ever seen, and he could swear by all his wealth that the Beast knew all of his darkest secrets.
"Lord Lucast, you are now allowed your defense. What do you have to say in face of such grave accusations?", asked Queen Zelda Nohansen.
She was wearing a very regal lilac and white dress and a gray bodice that bore the emblem of the Royal House of Hyrule. Her auburn hair falling from her back in elegant waves until they met by her lower back, tied with golden strings. It seemed that every single thing about her was carefully designed to make her look the incarnation of Hylia that she was. But it was her eyes, strong violet and cat-like, that unsettled him. There was a new acquired confidence in them that wasn´t there before. What had changed in her? She was just a scared little girl until not long ago, tormented by her past and completely devoid of any self-appreciation. But this person who was sitting on the throne was a wise and cunning woman who seemed to finally have found her place in the world. Was it all an act?
Lucast panicked. Nothing he could say would ever be enough to invalidate the accusations of two Lords of the Council and a Royal Knight. She had clearly thought this through. There was only one course of action left for him…
"I demand the Champion´s Justice, Your Majesty" he said with a shaky voice. It was a desperate attempt and he knew it, but if he were to suffer such horrendous injustice, he would at least draw some blood.
"Which is in your rights." said Zelda, that damned smile never leaving her face. "Please do select your Champion, my Lord."
Lord Lucast couldn´t count on anyone to fight for him now. It was obvious in the faces of all the Lords and Ladies of the Council, nobles, knights…even that old and bushy scrivener…who composed his audience. They wouldn´t risk crossing that bitch for a lost cause like him, not even for all the money he could offer.
"I will be my own Champion, my Queen" was his answer. The audience exchanged concerned looks. Lord Lucast was not young anymore, but was still on his prime as a combatant.
"And We elect the Beast as Hyrule´s Champion.". His blood froze on his veins and sheer panic took over. Was this even allowed? Had this woman no dignity at all? She wanted him down and she wasn´t sparing any dirty tricks to ensure that. Goddesses, he hated her!
He remained unmoved for a long time, trying to grasp how could his life have gone so wrong so fast. Until a week ago he was one the most powerful persons in all the realm, Lord of Alanova and one of the ten prestigious Counselors of the Crown. Now he was being accused of violating Lord Cyril´s still-not-adult daughter (he simply refused to think about the right word for it), one of the two highest crimes according to Hylia´s law, along with assassination.
He stood up on jelly legs and moved forward, reaching for his sword and he could swear in that moment that he never held such weapon in his life, for he had no idea what to do with it. For Din, he couldn´t even remember the name of his own mother.
When the Beast raised from its trademark place at Queen Zelda´s feet and made it to the center of the throne room to face Lord Lucast, he remembered what he had never really forgotten…this animal was huge! Lucast had always been proud of himself for being an imposing figure among hylians and yet, this demon (for no mere wolf could ever be this big) easily reached his waist even in four legs. It moved with ample steps and a confidence to match its size, its eyes never leaving the Lord of Alanova, which made the man feel like one of the rabbits they used to chase back home: small, defenseless and soon lifeless.
"I su-surrender!", he knelt and let go of the sword. The laughter that exploded in the room had to be the most excruciating pain he had ever felt. Even the demon, already returning to his master´s side, had a new glint in his eyes, or was he going crazy? He wanted to run away from that place, never to see these people again.
"Do you acknowledge yourself guilty of the charges pressed against you?" Queen Zelda asked and if he dared to look up at her he would see the smile still planted on her face. The sarcastic smile that wouldn´t reach her eyes, but was enough to leave every man and woman self-conscious, as if she were mocking everything they were.
"No, Your Majesty, I swear by the Three and by Hylia that I have never nor would ever lay a hand on any young girl, much less the daughter of an esteemed colleague of the court. But I am afraid that I have only my word and honor to it".
"You do realize that you leave Us in a difficult position, then? Pledging your innocence and yet refusing to say a word in your own defense, cowering away from the Champion´s Justice that you yourself request. What would you deem to be a fair outcome of this trial, my Lord?"
"I understand the gravity of the accusations and that the punishment for such crime is ex-execution, but it is also known that the application of the law can be subjected to the will of the one who carries the blood of Hylia. Only Your Majesty can request for an exception and if my colleagues from the council approve in majority, this punishment could be changed, so I beg Your Majesty's mercy. Put me in the dungeons..." he started crying. He had managed to be eloquent, in spite of his fear, but when realizing that spending years of his life in a dirty and smelly dungeon cell would be actually a good end to this nightmare, all his will broke, and his next words came out weak and desperate "and I´ll accept any penitence for as long that you see fit".
Her silence while pondering his fate was overwhelming. She knew he was innocent, everyone knew and besides, she had made her own, terrible, mistakes and as far as he knew she got away pretty easily with them. Her only real punishment was an arranged marriage to a not-so-bad-looking prince that she quickly set aside, the poor bastard now left to make strategic appearances only when she deemed necessary.
"Having no real defense and having declined your Champion´s Justice you leave Us with no choice but to see you guilty of all charges" she said with calm and grace, as if commenting on the weather instead of dooming a man´s life, "But for some people there are things in life worse than death, Lord Lucast and We are afraid that even if you spent the rest of you life on our dungeons with daily penitence it still would not be enough to atone for the trauma inflicted on our dear Lady Salin. You shall be banished from Hyrule, never to cross its borders again, taking effect immediately. We say this under Hylia´s law".
When he thought his life couldn´t get any worse. Being alone and poor in a country he didn´t know was the worst outcome possible, one he didn't consider for a second. He looked, astounded, at the faces of every single person in that room…people he had schemed with; people he had paid greatly to be his allies; people who until a while ago were opening up to him about how weak and lost their ruler was; how, no matter how much she tried, she would never be respected by her council or her people again…but he saw only indifference.
He lost all composure. Taking the sword back, Lord Lucast dashed to the throne. He would cut off that smile, cut off that beautiful head, tear her clothes and impale her to that throne so everyone that entered the room would see a dead Queen, bare breasts and his longsword between them, forever bound to her tomb. It was insane, and it was the only thing he could think about.
But before he could finish two steps, the Beast of Hyrule Castle had his sword arm on his powerful teeth and with a single movement, made sure that that arm would never be used again. He fell on his knees for the third time that day and, with blood staining the expensive, ornamented carpet, he didn´t even register the pain in his arm. Blind fury took hold of him, but for all his struggles, he couldn´t overpower the demon. One more movement from the massive beast and his arm would fall limp on the floor.
It didn´t take long for the Royal Guard to secure the man and start dragging him out of the Throne Room. Only then did he recover his capacity of speech and stated yelling with all his might. "You whore! Kill me! It´s so easy for you, kill me bitch! You fucking liar. You will fall…this was your last mistake…I´ll kill you! I´ll…" the massive double-doors closed on him and the trial was over.