The last seventeen years had been long and heavy on Zelda. Too many tragedies, too much anger and too much fear.
So when one of Baron Taburd's men came announcing a 'Lord Garrand', she didn't feel terribly welcoming.
"I'm not in," she told the old man, an Osun or something like that.
"I think you'll want to see this young man, Your Majesty," he insisted. "He's wearing all green, just like he did seventeen years ago."
Her first instinct was to tell him off, to tell him to take his 'Lord Garrand' and make him go away before she had them burned at the stake for disturbing what little peace she got before her brain kicked into gear. Seventeen years ago. That was the last Hyrule had seen of a young boy who dressed all in green.
Lord Garrand, her ass.
"Show him in, and next time, don't be so deceiving with his name, Master Osun," she told him, torn between venom and glee.
Osun smiled. "Just calling him by his real name. We found his family, or what it was. I'll get him." Osun stepped out into the hall, then led him in.
Oh, Link. Such a familiar face grown up, rough around the edges, hidden back in a hood attached to his tunic rather than his familiar hat, but still her precious, wonderful Link, her best friend and first love. "Please leave us, Master Osun," she said, standing and staring in wonderment at this very real ghost from her past. "Tell Lord Taburd thank you for sending along Lord Garrand."
Link made a strangled rude noise at that name and shot Osun an offended look, even as Osun bowed and walked out. Zelda waited about three seconds for Link to try to say something before she walked over and grabbed him tightly, crying out several years of heart hurt in his absence.
At first, he didn't seem to know what to do, and she didn't care, but after a few second's hesitation, he wrapped his arms around her and pet back her hair with hands that were covered with gauntlets and fingers that were rough with callus.
"I know I told you to go," she whispered through the dying tears, "but I've regretted that decision since."
"I was needed elsewhere, Zelda," he said quietly. "And we had to keep the keys from Ganondorf."
"Where are they?" she lifted her head to look at him. She was sure her make up was smeared and she probably no longer looked beautiful to him, if she ever had.
"With me still," he admitted. "But something worse is going on, isn't it?"
She sighed, drawing back and walking back over to her seat to sit heavily in it. He followed her, propping himself up on her desk. "There's a lot going on in Hyrule that's bad," she said quietly. "I'm sure you noticed it. People are scared, there's no peace anymore. My father forced me to marry a weasel who'd managed to get in good with him before he fell ill. And now Ganondorf is my husband's advisor. My father's peace treaties with the other nobles and races are failing with Neshir on the throne. And I've had no power to stop it."
Link frowned. "Your father fell ill when he did this? Can't you just divorce this guy and send him on his way?"
Divorce? A concept unknown to Zelda, probably one he picked up from the countries he'd been visiting, but she could guess what it meant. "My father left all the power of the throne to Neshir," she said.
"Did he lose his damn mind or something?" Link said, annoyance clear.
Oh, her father. "Yes, as a matter of fact, he did," she said, voice quiet. "He started forgetting things, recent events, then slowly, he just became... like an infant, needing constant care, not remembering anything. Neshir managed to get a proclamation of our marriage and his right to all power of the throne before my father went completely senile. Then Neshir brought in Ganondorf as his advisor and things have gone downhill."
Link was silent for a second. "What about the sages? Where are they?"
Zelda lifted her head to look him in the eye. "Disappearing," she said. "I lost contact with Nabooru about two weeks ago. Darunia and I were still on decent terms, and his son informed me that he also disappeared a few days later. The Kokiri have come out of their houses and have been chancing the adults to look for something, and I can only imagine they're looking for Saria. I've asked Lord Taburd's men to watch for a girl with green hair, and they say they haven't seen her."
"What about Impa and Ruto?" he asked, voice rising slightly in pitch.
"Ruto's still there as far as I know," Zelda said. "But Impa disappeared yesterday. I was in my outer room, talking to her while she took care of a dress for me in my bed chambers. I asked her a question and got no answer, so I went in. My dress was on the floor and Impa was nowhere to be found. My bed chambers only has one window and it's higher than even a Sheikah can jump. She was just gone."
Link's eyes drifted close, worry etched across his face. "It's Ganondorf's doing," he said. "And I'll bet he's having Twinrova do it for him."
"I had a feeling," she said. "I don't know about Twinrova, but I knew it was Ganondorf's doing. I've been having dreams again. But in them, there was no light from the forest to drive away the dark cloud."
"I've been having dreams, too," Link said, opening his eyes and looking down at her. "That's what brought me back. Whatever he's doing, it's working to open the way to the Sacred Realm, if my dreams are correct."
"What is he doing?" she asked.
"That I don't know," he said. "But I can almost guarantee it has something to do with the sages disappearing."
"We can't fight him head on like we did before," she said. "Not with the political power he has and I don't. Unless you have care to just go into the Sacred Realm now and grab the Triforce now."
"Not really." He shook his head. "I'd rather leave that thing sit where it is. But it still needs protecting. And Hyrule needs fixing. My family died in the War of Unification, I won't let that rat and Ganondorf undo what they died to do."
She gave him a faint, amused smile. "So, Lord Garrand, huh?"
Link sighed deeply, rolling his eyes. "Please. I'm 'Lord' nothing. It's a family name on lost lands. Those are Taburd's lands now, and I don't have interest in taking them back. I have more important duties to you and the goddesses."
"You list me first?"
"You're more important to me."
"Careful, one of them might smite you for that."
Link chuckled. "Maybe, but they know where my heart's always been."
She felt a flush creep up her neck and to her cheeks. If things had gone differently, if his family hadn't died off, he would've been considered a good match for her, hopefully before her father's illness set in. Things could've been so very different.
But then, if he'd been raised nobility instead of Kokiri, he would've been a very different person, so maybe it wouldn't have been as ideal for them as it would now.
If only she weren't married already.
"Neshir's been causing the destruction of those treaties that held Hyrule together," she finally said, catching her breath. "The country's on the brink of civil war again. At this point, the only way to fix it that I can think is to declare war on Neshir and gather whatever forces are loyal to me."
For a moment, Link looked distant, like he was a million miles away. "Do you know who's all loyal to you yet?"
"The Taburds are," she said. "Lord Taburd would know more who else is, he keeps in contact with other nobles better than I can from my pretty guided cage."
"Do you have a map of Hyrule marking territory boundaries?" he asked.
"I do, why?"
"Let's take a look," he said, straightening off her desk.
She got up and went to the cabinet of her sitting room, digging through various maps and papers that no longer mattered to a queen without power. She finally found what she was looking for and took it back to the desk, spreading it out for him to see.
He studied it, then pointed to Taburd's lands. "We need all of these on our side," he said, sweeping his finger in an arc around Taburd's lands. "The Kokiri can't do anything, but I can probably get the new Deku Tree to put up a barrier to keep people from getting in or out that way. What's the story with the Gorons and the Zora?"
"The Gorons have blocked off the route to Death Mountain. Queen Ruto is kept just barely mollified to keep the river flowing here. Neshir is clumsy with dealing with her. She's rather prickly, though."
"I remember that, she's a spoiled brat," Link said, frowning. "I need to get to her and Darunia's son and get them on our side. Shouldn't be too hard for us, we're old friends of those two races. I want someone over by Gerudo Desert to block them from joining things. Keep the majority of the battle here at the castle, block Neshir in. We also have to figure out where to hide Ruto. Anywhere wet will be too obvious, but she can't stray from water, or she'll dehydrate. You, I can take with me and keep you on the run."
"Me?" Zelda looked at him. "No, you must find this seventh sage, this Sheik, and protect him."
Link shook his head. "Zelda, you are Sheik. I know I didn't get really specific about that when we were younger, but no, you're the seventh sage. The sage of the Temple of Time. You disappear, and we're in big trouble. Ruto's bound to be next, I'm not sure I can protect her. But you I can."
Zelda sat down hard. "Me? But. Oh, Link, I'm surely not her anymore. I can't be. I've changed too much."
"And we've all changed," Link pointed out. "Saria's probably the only one who hasn't. But they're all the same, and they're all disappearing. That'll be you next."
She stared down at the map. "We're waging war on the king," she said. "As soon as I leave with you, it's throwing down the gauntlet. We won't have much time to amass an army."
"Neither will they," Link pointed out.
She considered. "The only real army Neshir has is the royal guard, who are all soft. He has a few barons and viscounts that have been benefiting from his weaseling, but the majority army he'll get will be the Gerudo from Ganondorf."
"And his pet army of monsters," Link added. "I don't know how many he can amass without the Triforce of Power, but he had them before then. We'll need a big army. What's this large county over here?"
"That's Countess Vorai's territory," Zelda answered. "She's a military powerhouse, but she's had wavering loyalties. She's been known to chase off Neshir's people, but she's also made deals with the Gerudo for commerce and trade with the desert towns just on the edge of Gerudo territory."
"We need her," Link said firmly. "Can you get to her?"
"I can try," Zelda said, firm in her conviction.
"Good, we need her to block that border, and if she's a powerhouse, we could use some of her infantry at the castle."
Zelda didn't know if the lump in her stomach was fear or giddiness. She was deeply afraid of repeating the war her father waged, but Neshir and Ganondorf had left her little choice at this point. But she was giddy; Link was home, and helping to fix things again, and she'd finally get to squish the two very big bugs that had been stalking the halls of her home for too long.
"I'll go get into travel clothes," she said. "Come on." She stood and grabbed his hand, rushing out the door of her drawing room.
Link squawked, a thoroughly undignified sound, but he caught up to her easily. "Easy, Zelda. You don't have to run."
She paused in her steps to look at him. "I have been living with those rats under my heels and haven't been allowed to squish their soft little heads for twelve years. I'm going to squish them now and love doing it."
Link's ears flattened. "I understand, but we can walk to your room."
She made a face at him. "Very well." But she didn't let go of his hand, hoping he'd not let go of hers. When he didn't, she felt heat in her cheeks again, all the way up to the tips of her ears. If Link noticed her blushing, he didn't say anything about it.
Once they were inside her inner chambers, she let him go. "I was standing here," she said, demonstrating. "I was talking to Impa in there, and then silence." She led him to her bedroom. "See? One window, too high up for even her."
Link walked over to the window, looking out. He made a small noise of consideration. "Yeah, way too high." He looked back at her as she sat down on the bed, studying him. He'd turned his tunic into more of a cloak, a deep cowl and excess length down the legs. It looked like he was wearing chain mail, too. He'd grown up into a warrior, perhaps more a soldier than a hero. But she knew he was still the Hero, and even if destiny had handed that title to someone else, he'd always be the Hero in her world.
He looked around. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"Nothing," she said, shaking her head. "Just looking at you. It's so hard to believe you're back."
He smiled, which was still beautiful, still full of youthful mirth, and she knew he was still who she'd seen leave seventeen years ago. "I'm really here," he assured her.
"Should I leave?" an unfamiliar high-pitched voice asked.
Zelda looked around in alarm. "Who said that?"
Out from under Link's hood zipped a little yellow fairy. "I'm Tatl, a friend. I knew he'd need help, so I came along, but I didn't know there'd be a romantic reunion I'd be spying on."
While Link turned red and swatted at Tatl, Zelda felt her face heat up again. "It's, no, Tatl. We're just old friends."
Link scowled, pulling back his hood. His hair had grown out some. "If you're not going to stay quiet, be helpful," he grumbled at his fairy companion.
Tatl flew between them. "I'll be helpful," she said, and Zelda had a horrible feeling that 'help' may be more in the matchmaker capacity. Not that she needed much help on her end, but Link had been away so many years, whatever he might've felt might've cooled in absence. Or he might have someone somewhere else. The thought made her ill.
"Where is she?" her husband's shrill voice demanded as the door to her inner room outside the bedroom opened with a loud thunk.
She grabbed her Sheikah dagger from her bedside and stormed outside. "I warned you, Neshir!" she yelled at him. "Cross my doorstep and I'll change your gender through nonmagical means!"
Link followed her slowly, and she felt a cold, dangerous vibe from him that almost made her back off and let him handle it. But Neshir had crossed her too many times, and the taste of his blood on her blade was temptingly in reach, now that war was about to be declared.
"But you'll drag in a commoner, you harlot?" Neshir shouted.
Link put a hand on Zelda's shoulder before she could say anything further. "I don't think you want to ever call her that again," he said, that wintry sense of danger she'd felt off of him lacing his voice like a gentle poison. "You'll leave, now, and you'll go tell your puppet master Ganondorf that his worst nightmare has come home."
"How dare you, you little-"
Link drew his sword, a heavy-looking blade that he held without trouble. "This is your only warning, Neshir. The next words had better be 'goodbye', or you'll find out how good nineteen years of swordplay has made me."
Neshir stared down the tip of Link's sword, and for a moment, Zelda thought her idiot husband might push Link into killing him, but he sneered, bowed to Zelda, and left.
Zelda started to relax, then tensed again when Link's sword smacked the ground soundly, and he held his sword arm side with his right hand, his left still barely holding his sword's hilt. "Link, what's wrong?"
"I think you need that medicine now," Tatl said. "Before we leave the castle."
"Medicine?" She looked at the fairy. "What's wrong? What happened?"
Link sucked in a breath. "Got shot with an arrow about four weeks ago. It's mostly healed, but this sword's heavy."
"Oh, Link," Zelda said, hand over her mouth. How close she'd come to losing him without ever knowing. She hurried over to her chest that she kept her travel things in. "Here, here's some medicine." She handed over the bottle of red liquid.
"Thanks," he said, taking a seat and setting his sword against the chair's arm before uncapping the bottle and taking a swallow. He closed his eyes, recapping the bottle. "I've missed that feeling. That whole waiting forever while using herbs and roots to clean up the stitches thing was tedious." He grabbed his sword with much more ease this time, and resheathed it. "So,we travel back to Taburd's. We may beat Master Osun there."
She smiled. "He'll be surprised to see us. Excuse me, I have to change now." She grabbed her tunic and pants from the chest and disappeared into her room.