Link woke up early the next morning, and yawned as he pulled a small blanket off of himself. The floor wasn't as comfortable as his usual bed, but he couldn't make Zelda sleep on a floor. She was probably already having a hard time adjusting herself from her normal life at Hyrule Castle. Standing up and stretching, Link silently vowed to try and make Zelda feel as welcome as possible, and to start with, he could have her breakfast ready by the time she woke up. Grabbing his fishing rod, he moved swiftly out of the door, only to return successfully a few minutes later, with a giant salmon.
Preparing it quickly, he managed to start cooking it over the fireplace. After a few minutes of boiling, Link took out the fish and gently placed it on one of his finest plates. Smiling, he was distracted when he heard a door opening behind him. Turning around, he saw Zelda, groggily standing in the doorway, who noticed him and muttered, "Morning…"
As soon as Zelda noticed the fish, Link noticed her facial expression change. First, her eyes opened, and her mouth twisted in disgust, as if she was thinking, 'Does he really think I'm going to eat that?', but before she said anything, she saw that Link was looking at her and quickly changed her expression to a much sweeter face, which said,
"Oh, how splendid! You caught some food!"
The false enthusiasm was dripping in her voice, but Link didn't want to seem rude, so he ignored it as Zelda continued.
"How… nice of you to prepare a meal, but, I'm sorry to say, I'm not terribly hungry at the moment…"
At that moment, there was a loud crash at the front door. Link and Zelda jumped backwards as three armed Hylian guards rushed into the room. One of them pointed at Zelda and screamed,
"She's here! Get her!"
Link automatically drew his sword and jumped in front of Zelda, but he found himself being pushed out of the way by Zelda herself, who ran towards the guards and shouted to them,
"Please, save me from this madman!"
Link dropped his sword in shock and was quickly subdued by a guard, who forced a pair of handcuffs onto his hands and dragged him to his feet scruffily. Link opened his mouth to protest, but Zelda spoke first.
"I was walking through Kakariko when this… evil man kidnapped me! Then he forged a note from me and planted it in Hyrule Castle! Please, get me back to my throne, I beg of you!"
Link was too shocked to speak. Here was Zelda, the woman he had taken into his house to help her recover and keep her protected, and now she was getting him arrested just to get herself out of trouble. He tried to speak again, but was bundled into a cage within a carriage, while the guards escorted Zelda to the front seat. Link stood up, which was no easy job considering his hands and legs were both cuffed, and tried to catch Zelda's eye, and eventually he overheard her whispering to one of the guards,
"Are his hands and feet bound?"
The guard replied with a gruff 'yes' so Zelda asked, "May I talk to him?"
The guard was confused as to why Zelda would want to do such a thing, but he permitted it and stopped the carriage, leading Zelda from the front seat around to the cage, and letting her in.
"If he tries to attack you, just shout." Instructed the guard as he locked the cage and went back to the front to tend to the horses pulling the carriage.
Link opened his mouth, but was again interrupted by Zelda, who was whispering to avoid anyone else hearing.
"Link, I know you must be confused, but listen. Do you know what the punishment is for deserting your position as queen? You get at least 10 years in jail, that's what! I can't face that, and I'm sorry, but this is the only way to stop it!"
Link's face fell and his blue eyes began to fill with tears as he pleaded with Zelda.
"What will happen to me?"
"Don't worry, I'll get the court to go easy on you, you'll only get 2 years in jail, maximum."
Link's eyes widened as he took all this in.
"Two years? I'm going to be in jail for two whole years?"
"Ok, fine, I lied, it will probably be five or something…"
"Five years!"
"Link, keep your voice down!"
Zelda paused to make sure nobody had heard them, before continuing.
"Listen, Link, I know that this is tough, but isn't it better for Hyrule this way? They can't see their own Queen being thrown in Jail for 10 years! Wouldn't it be better for you to just, please, do this?"
Link was on the verge of tears when he felt something. Zelda placed his hand in her's and whispered, "For me?"
Link paused for a second before silently nodding, with tears beginning to fall from his eyes. This earned him nothing but a pat on the back from Zelda, who whispered, "Don't worry, after 5 years is up, you can go back to living in your house, and everything will be back to normal, ok?"
Link reluctantly nodded again before breaking down completely, with tears pouring down his face. This still didn't seem to faze Zelda in the slightest, as she shouted, "Guards! I am finished here!" and was quickly escorted out with not so much as a goodbye for Link.
They arrived at the castle soon after, and Link was dragged into a dungeon by a burly guard.
"Your case will be held immediately in the high court, we'll be back for you in a few minutes."
Link didn't have the energy to nod as he slumped into the corner of his cell, his heart pounding and his eyes still watering. Why was all this happening to him? Why wasn't Zelda helping him? Link didn't have time to ponder these questions for long, as another guard soon opened the cell and dragged him into a huge, marble room, where several people were sat in the balconies, watching him. Zelda was amongst them, but this didn't calm down Link, especially when he saw an old noose hanging in the corner, which he assured himself was just for decoration.
"Please state your name for the record."
Link was shocked to hear the voice of the judge, but nervously stuttered his name.
"Link."
The judge sighed. "Alright, Link. You are charged with the kidnapping of Queen Zelda, and also treason. How do you plead?"
Link looked up and saw Zelda who was urging him to say something. Swallowing hard, he obeyed her.
"I plead guilty."
Everyone in court seemed to relax. Link hoped that it was because they wouldn't be punishing him too harshly, but he knew deep down that it was because pleading guilty meant that nothing had to be discussed except the punishment. The jury, who were sitting with Zelda, whispered to her. Link let out a sigh of relief. If Zelda was deciding the verdict, at least she wouldn't be too harsh on him. However, Link's face fell as Zelda took a long time talking with the jurors and she didn't appear to be arguing with any of their ideas. Eventually, Zelda stood up and cleared her throat, before delivering the verdict.
"This man has committed the worst crime, and therefore, by law, is required to receive the worst punishment."
Link cringed and wondered when he would be getting out of jail.
"This man shall receive the death sentence."
Link's eyes opened wider than they had ever been before as he looked up at Zelda in disbelief, who shrugged at him when nobody was looking and mouthed, 'I'm sorry!'
So this was it. After saving her life numerous times, taking her into his house, and showing her nothing but kindness, Zelda was ordering Link's death. He half-heartedly tried to tell himself that she had no power over the final decision, but even he didn't believe that.
Link began to silently cry again and he felt guards dragging him towards the noose, and he thought of all the things he would never do. He would never meet Ruto at Lake Hylia again. He would never see Epona have foals. He would never see Saria, Malon, or anyone else he cared about again.
And it was all because of Zelda. Looking up again, Link was just in time to see her leaving with a blank expression on her face. She didn't care, and she never had.
Link broke down even further, loudly letting tears stream down his face as he felt a rope being tightened around his neck. As he took one last look of the court through tears, he heard a lever moving, and then he felt himself falling. Everything went black.
...
Link sat bolt upright on the floor and panted. Looking around for a few seconds, he calmed down. He was still in his house, and he could hear Zelda sleeping softly in another room. Breathing heavily, he found a towel and wiped the mixture of sweat and tears from his face. Trying to get all memories of his nightmare away, he took a few more deep breaths and reassured himself.
Zelda was his friend, and she was truly grateful to him for letting her stay with him. She would never do anything that she had done in the dream, and she would certainly never betray him like that…
Would she?
