The stone floor felt colder than the Wall of the North. Link leaned his head against the heavy mahogany table of the King. His vision was a blurred mess of colors. Every time he breathed, a sharp pain blossomed in his side like a flowering thorn. He looked up at Jaime Lannister. The golden knight was still standing with his sword drawn, but the tip was no longer pointed at the throat of Link.
[Status Alert: Health 5 percent]
[Warning: System shutdown imminent due to mental exhaustion]
"You are a dying man," Cersei said. She walked around the table while rubbing the red mark on her neck. Her voice was like shards of glass. "Why should we listen to the ravings of a guard who cannot even stand? We should kill you and find this man in the city. My father has enough gold to buy every tongue in King's Landing."
"Gold cannot buy what does not exist," Link whispered. He managed a bloody smile. "There is no man in the city. The message is already set to be delivered by a raven if I do not stop it. You can kill me, Cersei. But the moment my heart stops, your world ends."
Jaime stepped between Link and his sister. He looked at the blood on the floor and then at the door that led to the secret passage. "If the King reaches the docks, we are at war," Jaime said. "The North will rise. Stannis will sail. The Reach will hesitate. My father is strong, but even he cannot fight the whole world."
Link coughed and wiped red from his chin. "Then do not fight the whole world. Fight the right enemy."
"The right enemy?" Cersei spat the words. "Our enemy is the man who just ran into the dark with a ledger. Our enemy is Ned Stark."
"No," Link said. He forced himself to sit up straighter. His System pulsed one final time, showing him a glimpse of the far North. "The enemy is the winter. It is coming for all of you. It does not care who sits on the Iron Throne. It does not care about the name Lannister. When the dead march, your gold will be useless."
Jaime looked at Link with genuine confusion. "You speak like a priest of the Old Gods. Or a madman."
"I speak like someone who has seen the end," Link replied. He looked Jaime in the eye. "I can keep your secret. I can make sure the King believes the ledger was a forgery or a mistake. But in exchange, you must help me. You must convince your father to send steel to the Wall. Not criminals and rapists. Real steel."
Cersei let out a short and bitter laugh. "You want the crown to defend a pile of ice? Because of some ghost stories?"
"It is not a story," Link said.
Suddenly, a loud crash echoed from the hallway. The door was thrown open. A messenger in Lannister colors ran in. He was gasping for air.
"Ser Jaime," the messenger shouted. "The King. He did not go to the docks. He was spotted near the Dragonpit. He has a hundred Northmen with him. They are not fleeing. They are digging in."
Jaime turned to Link. His eyes were sharp. "He did not flee. Why?"
"Because the King does not run," Link said. His head felt like it was filled with lead. "He is waiting for the bells. He is waiting for the city to realize that the Queen tried to kill him. If you attack him now, the common people will tear this castle down."
[Quest Updated: The Great Standoff]
[New Objective: Negotiate a ceasefire before the city burns]
Link felt his consciousness slipping. The mental fatigue had finally reached its limit. The world began to fade into a dull gray.
"Wait," Jaime said while reaching for the shoulder of Link. "What do you mean he is waiting for the bells?"
Link did not answer. He collapsed forward. His head hit the table with a dull thud. The last thing he saw before the darkness took him was the flicker of the candle and the terrified expression on the face of the Queen.
[System Status: Emergency Hibernate]
[Status: Timeline Divergence 92 percent]
...
Author Note
Hi guys! Thank you for reading my fanfiction. I'll be realising 4 Chapters a day from now on.
Also I'll be still releasing bonus chapters for Power Stones. Here are the goals:
15 Power Stones: 1 Bonus Chapter
30 Power Stones: 1 Bonus Chapter
50 Power Stones: 1 Bonus Chapter
75 Power Stones: 2 Bonus Chapters
100 Power Stones: 2 Bonus Chapters
Thanks for the support!