Chapter 2:
That night he dreamt of an endless sea of green trees. Of a childhood friend. Of a song and an ocarina. Of happier times and the innocence of a child.
An innocence he would never feel again.
One comfort that he would forever be content in doing was swordplay. With it he felt as if he was still just Link. A hopeful boy on a quest to defeat evil with his fairy companion at his side. Some nights he wondered if he should just steal a sword and some gold and become a hedge knight. To sleep under the stars and help people without needing to be a Lannister. But then he thought of the sadness that he would leave in his wake. Once he had heard that his Uncle Gerion was going on a quest to reclaim the Valyrian Steel Sword Brightroar , the ancestral blade of his house which had been lost for centuries in the ruins of Old Valyria, Link seized his chance and begged his father to allow him to go with his Uncle, to make him proud.
"No." His Father said softly.
"Father please, I'll do everything Uncle Gerion tells me to, I'll even-"
"NO!" His father suddenly roared, every bit the lion of their sigil, making Link flinch back.
"You may not accompany my brother on this foolish quest of his! You are a Lannister and you will give up on these foolish dreams of adventure and glory at once. You will focus on your responsibilities as a member of this family." He spoke thunderously.
"Do I make myself clear?" He asked harshly.
"Yes father."
His Father was a cold man indeed.
Link hated goodbyes.
He had hated saying goodbye to Saria and the rest of the Kokiri and he hated saying goodbye to Uncle Gerion.
The usually golden Sunset Sea seemed to have lost its lustre as Link stared at the dockhands loading his uncle Gerion's ship, the Laughing Lion, with supplies. It was a huge warship, only the best for house Lannister, even if his father thought it a fool's quest. Tywin Lannister may have called Gerion a fool for going to Valyria for Brightroar , but Link knew that his father hungered for a Valyrian Steel sword more than any man in Westeros. His family stood on the docks of Lannisport to all give their goodbyes to Gerion, even his father was here, though he only gave Gerion a curt nod. Is he incapable of feeling anything but disdain and anger?
At last, his uncle turned to him and wrapped Link in his broad arms for a hug. "Don't cry, Link. I'll be back before you know it, look after everyone here for me will you, son? But please, most especially, look after yourself." Gerion said as Link sobbed in his arms. Even as he hugged his uncle goodbye for what could be the last time in many moons, he could feel his father's disapproving gaze drill into the back of his head.
"Please uncle, take me with you! I could squire for you and polish your armour as you go to Valyria." Link pleaded with him, before his uncle separated from him. An unusual solemness seemed to weigh on his usually jubilant uncle's shoulders as he looked upon his family. Gerion gave one last hug to Link's baby cousin Joy, and with a wink to Link, he was gone. It tore at Link's heart to hear his cousin Joy's cries as her father sailed away at Lannisport, and it made him even more angry at his father as Link saw his eyes look at her disapprovingly. By the Seven, she was barely more than a babe.
It wasn't long afterwards that his father announced that he and Tyrion would be travelling with him to King's Landing for the Crown Prince Joffrey's sixth name day. It would take them two weeks to get there and he had to pack accordingly. For the first time in a long while, excitement crawled in his stomach. Not to see the royal family, he would take Tyrion's word for their characters, but for the Kingsgaurd. To put himself against Barristan the Bold or his brother Jaime was a dream. A dream he was sure that his brother Jaime at the very least would indulge in. His father couldn't prevent him from swordplay, it was a key part of a Lord's education after all. A part of him wondered whether his sister Cersei would be like Zelda, but as soon as he thought of it he banished it from his mind.
Zelda was Hyrule's bright blue sky and endless green pastures, she was the sweet ringing laughter of children and the looming peaks of Death Mountain. She was beauty and grace personified, wise and lovelier than the sun bleeding against the sunset sea. Zelda was dead and gone, left to rot with the ashes of his beautiful homeland.
Zelda had been the brightest jewel of Hyrule, the very soul of his quest whose memory had warmed him on the very darkest of days and there would be no replacing her.
There was no use dwelling on impossibilities.
The morning was cool as they left the Rock in Uncle Kevan's capable hands. As cool as any summer in the West could get, that is, which still made him shift in his saddle and fidget under his crimson travelling cloak. The trip would take them roughly two weeks due to the large retinue they were taking with them, and as they travelled through the rough hills and the rolling plains surrounding the Goldroad he was reminded of the endless lush green plains of Hyrule Fields and the mountainous area surrounding Death Mountain. It made him feel bitter about the lush fields being turned black under Ganondorf's regime.
Tyrion broke him out of his unpleasant reverie, trying to speak to him about something or the other.
"-Deep Den tomorrow. Are you even listening brother?" Tyrion said, faintly amused.
"Sorry, you were saying, brother?" Link asked, his ears flushing red.
"I said that we would arrive at Deep Den tomorrow, where we will stay for the night before moving on. We will then continue on to King's Landing where we will meet our oh so lovely family!" Tyrion said in a mocking tone.
"Enough Tyrion" Their father said with a tone of finality from atop his majestic destrier, its coat of auburn shining like burnished copper in the morning sun. Tyrion scowled hatefully, his ugly face twisting into something monstrous.
As Tyrion started to tell a story about a brothel, their Lord father nudged his horse forwards, to ride ahead of them, incensed at Tyrion's antics. Good riddance, Link thought scornfully. He then proceeded to ask Tyrion questions on House Lydden and its current head and Lord of Deep Den.
Link did not like Lord Lewys Lydden.
He was the fattest man Link had ever seen, including the King of Zora, who had been so fat that he was seemingly rotting in his ornate throne-like chair. The sweet smell of decay hung around him like a cloak and he shamed his house with his actions. This did not make Link dislike the man, no, what he truly disliked about the man was his treatment of his wife, or lack thereof.
He publicly scorned and shamed her with his disgraceful parading of paramours and whores around him and Deep Den castle, giving them gifts and jewels rightfully meant for her, given that she was the Lady of the keep.
If that was not enough, he made cruel, mocking japes about her and her personality, enjoying the tears that pooled in her eyes that refused to spill over, enjoying the pain that he made her suffer through. It made him want to duel Lord Lydden himself for her honour.
But he knew his father would scorn that, and as much as he would like to defy his father, he knew, in this world of politics and drudgery that he had only vaguely heard Zelda reference in his past life and which maester Creyelen lectured him daily, was full of consequences for the brash and righteous actions that he longed for. He knew, even if he didn't want to accept it, that Lady Lydden was helpless in her misery.
No Link thought, No I will not allow her to suffer this way. Was I not the Hero of Time, charged with protecting the weak and helping the helpless? If he didn't do anything he would be no better than his cold father, who cared for nothing but the name Lannister.
No he would help Lady Lydden, no matter what came in his way.
Hi everyone, I've edited this chapter but I'm still not quite pleased with it. I don't particularly like how I've depicted everyone's characters that much and it's too much telling rather than showing but I digress. If I have time, I will properly rewrite this chapter from the ground up at a later date, this will have to do, for now.