Chapter 4
Attempted Murder

The castle stood encased in a shroud of the night's starlit darkness. Zelda's eyes snapped into an abrupt wakefulness as moonlight flooded through her window. Without hesitation, she shoved her bed sheets from her body and rose with no sign of weariness about her person.

Torchlight illuminated the hallway outside her door and she crept stealthily toward it. No one stalked the corridor, so no one stopped her as she ventured out. Quickly maneuvering to the top floor, she ducked behind tapestries and empty suits of armor anytime she thought she heard someone coming.

She ran into no trouble and the convenience proved exceptional, but the ease of her actions plagued her with a question. Where was Impa to impede her progress? Surely that woman had not left her without spies if not her own careful attentiveness, would she not? Her mind remained fully alert and though she heard nothing, she could not shake off the feeling that something was amiss. When she arrived at the king's door, she became especially suspicious due to the lack of guards.

"Fine then, if they want to make this easy for me, let them," she growled, promptly twisting the knob and sliding in. A ceremonial sword hung by the door and she pulled it down, untroubled by its weight. "And this will have to suffice for the job."

She could easily discern a sizeable mound on the bed, though, her vision was limited by the minute crack of light she permitted entry. She held the sword close to her and brandished it with two hands locked firmly on the hilt. No sound escaped her as she stole to the bedside and raised the weapon high.

The lump on the bed moaned then and flopped on its side. Zelda braced herself to put everything she had into the sword strike when something rammed into her from the side and sent her crashing into the nearby bed stand. The sword flew from her hands and slid across the floor on the opposite side as that something went down with her.

The bed's occupant became no longer a lump as a light flashed from an unknown source and lightened the room. Zelda did not let this setback disorient her, however. She pushed her body free from their entanglement and rose quickly, but the other was already a step ahead of her and had Zelda pinned to the wall with her hands held painfully behind her in mere seconds.

"Tell me then, is this the princess I've apprehended or another?" Link's strong voice hissed in her ear; his body pressed hers in a vice against the wall.

Somehow managing to twist an arm free, Zelda threw a sharp elbow into his stomach which caused him to stumble back and grant her freedom.

She lunged towards him in an attempt to gain the upper hand, but he recovered faster than she had anticipated and caught her in a tight bear hug that fastened her arms to her side and made her struggles futile. Another indistinguishable presence stood on the edge of her line of vision. Her chance to kill the king had to be at hand, and yet the imbecile boy was about to blow it for her.

Link slightly lengthened the distance between them, but did not slacken his hold on her as he locked eyes with her. "Now, who are you?"

"It's certainly a pleasure to see you up and about so soon," she said nonchalantly.

Link shook her as pure anger burned through any mask of emotion in the menacing expression his face bore. "Tell me now. Whoever you are, leave Zelda alone."

"Whatever do you mean, Link?" she asked innocently bewildered. "I am Zelda."

"Maybe in body, but certainly not in spirit," Link spat.

"Now, now, you wouldn't want to hurt the poor dear. This body is still hers after all as you so blatantly put it."

Link had been prepared only to keep her from breaking away, so when she stepped closer, he was completely caught off guard, especially when her lips met his. He stood unresponsive at first, stubbornly refusing to relinquish his hold on her, but then a change seemed to sweep over him as his mind gave into passion instead of reason and he found himself unable to resist. All self-control left him and he feverishly pulled her closer as a flood of uncalled for emotion washed through him.

This lasted for only a minute, however, when Zelda took advantage of her diversion and kneed him hard before twisting around to face the other person. Her face fell when she saw it was not the king, but a lowly guard. Her suspicion had been right to suspect as she realized the trap she had so easily fallen into.

Link grabbed her from behind and knocked her to the floor where he held her in an uncomfortably tight position. "Who are you?" he sounded breathless, but another unnamable emotion laced his voice.

She smiled fiendishly. "Maybe another time, boy, but my hold fails for now. Your darling princess has such astonishing will power after all."

Link stared at her blankly in response to this answer, but knew the change for what it was when the malevolence about the princess fell away. Link helped her up and she stood in a daze. She hesitantly raised her eyes and a tinge of pink danced across her pale cheeks. "You kissed me, Link."

"Ahem," Impa interrupted from the doorway and Link abruptly turned her way with a flustered expression on his face. "It would seem I shall have Sir Daniel here report as he is the least disoriented, I should hope."

The guard referred to ambled his way over to Impa in which they conversed in muted tones.

"Were you aware of the spirit this time?" Link asked. His mask of total composure was falling back into place.

"Yes…" Zelda answered softly. "It wanted to kill my father. How did you know to stop me?"

"Wasn't terribly hard. Impa heard you talking in your sleep and it sounded as though you were arguing with someone over the idea. She set the trap as a precaution with the hope of finding out who is using you."

"How is my father taking all of this?" she stared shamefaced at the ground. She did not know whether to be relieved or disappointed that the kiss had faded as irrelevant, but she knew it was past bringing it up again.

"Currently he is in the dark, and he will be kept that way until we deem it necessary that he knows."

"How…?"

Link partially smiled. "Don't hate us too much, but Impa had to resort to trickery."

"Where is he now?"

"Vacationing out of harm's way. Did you know the other's motives in doing this?"

Impa interrupted at that moment as the guard sauntered off, "Now then, Link, I am terribly disappointed at your lack of self-control and I hope you can maintain a better hold on it should it happen again." Link merely nodded without emotion as Impa continued, "And is there anything you two can tell me about the intruder?"

"No, it released Zelda when I had it pinned," Link stated mechanically.

"Were you at least able to discern the person's gender?" this she directed specifically at Zelda.

"Well…I thought it would be female, but…when it…kissed Link…it channeled that to my being and let me have control…on the…receiving…end…" Zelda's skin radiated pink as she carefully phrased her response.

"Hmm…Well either way, I think it high time we exorcise this spirit," Impa said.

Zelda gave her a confused look, "What? How…?"

"I'll work out the details to you later, but for now it's off to bed for you my dear to get a few more hours of rest before sunrise."

xxxxx

Zelda leaned heavily on the railing of her balcony. Sleep evaded her now of all times, though she knew she needed to keep her strength up to fight off the invading spirit. She had tried to kill her father. Spirit or no, she would never have been able to forgive herself had something happened. It was a good thing she had others looking out for her…

Zelda started when a hand brushed her shoulder and nearly screamed except that the trespasser spoke first. "Shouldn't you be in bed, Princess?"

Zelda whirled around to face Link, "What are you doing here?" She had not meant to come across so bluntly, but she had not comes to terms with her surprise yet either.

It did not seem to bother him, however, as he continued in an effort to explain himself, "Your light was on and…Impa said you wanted to talk to me." If she did not think she knew better, Zelda would have thought Link was hesitant to approach her on the issue.

"Well…I had a few questions…" Zelda replied uncertainly. She resumed her former position on the balcony rail and Link joined her.

"Ask away then and I'll confirm to you what I can…though I think I know where this is going."

Zelda was stunned at his readiness to be open. "Well, first of all…why did you leave Hyrule in the first place?"

Link stared intently at the stars as he pondered over the answer he was to give. Finally, he said, "When you sent things back to the way things were…I became restless," he seemed to catch a worried look somewhere in her expression and hurriedly added, "Not that what you did was bad of course. Your decision saved countless people from death and more so from the horrors of that world, and not to forget, you gave me back seven years of life…but with no memory of who I was and what I had done, there was no way to make anything of myself in a time of peace. The ways of a warrior were so ingrained in me after all I had fought for, my body could not welcome the chance to relax and get on with a normal life. I certainly could not return to my former home in the Kokiri Forest and live among children knowing what I knew, after seeing what I'd seen. I felt useless and without a place in the world; a forgotten hero with no other purpose than to fade into history, my story to remain untold. I've never thought myself to be so self-centered and glory-bound, but a simple life in the background was no longer good enough for me it seemed…and then I will be forever scarred by the horrors Ganondorf's reign forced on Hyrule. Ganondorf brought me so much pain and matured me mentally well beyond my years. He gave me cause to learn to fight, something I seem to have taken a decent hand to, but he will have forever taken my joy, my peace from me. My ultimate goal in leaving was to forget…and find another land where I could feel useful. I wanted to save other kingdoms from anything even half as bad as what Ganondorf did here. The nightmares still come and I have not forgotten, but I'm still trying…"

Zelda gently placed her hand on his in support. She sensed the hardship he faced in letting all of this out to her in the stiff way he voiced his feelings. A comfortable silence developed between them as they both seemed to be contemplating Link's words.

"…then, why did you come back?" Zelda eventually asked. "Surely to forget it does not do one good to return to the place of dreaded memories…A favor to Impa does not seem strong enough to be your only purpose here."

Link shook his head vigorously, "No, I cannot tell you now. I am here to face my emotions and put that behind me…that is all I can say to that."

Zelda met his eyes frantically, the mask was falling back into place and she would never know the truth. Because of what the both of them had gone through for Hyrule's sake, they held a close bond in that aspect and she wanted to help him. He had saved her kingdom…and she had never realized there was something deeper trapped inside of him. Yet, here she was…about to lose the chance of finding out sooner rather than later. "Link, please. Answer me. Tell me the rest."

He shook his head again and moved to pull his hand away, but not before an indignant cough interrupted them. "It's a bit late for visitors isn't it?" Brayden glowered at Link from the balcony's entrance.

Link rolled his eyes at this. "And just what is it you want?"

"Only to check on the princess, and it turns out I was right to do so. What are you two up to, anyway?"

"Just talking," Zelda answered almost too quickly. "Link's been away for a long time so we have a lot to catch up on."

"These are certainly odd hours for conversation," Brayden snapped; he was quite agitated. "Most would be sleeping at two in the morning."

"Then let us allow the princess her sleep," Link replied calmly as he moved to walk in past Brayden. Brayden followed suit and made sure Link exited before he did. "Good night, princess," he called softly and then the door was shut.

Zelda blinked at how sudden their departure had been and despair reached her as she realized Brayden had picked the worst time to intrude on their discussion. She had been close, yet so far away at the same time. She sighed sadly to herself and closed off her balcony before deciding that she might as well climb into bed and try to get a little bit of rest.

xxxxx

When they had gone several feet from the door, Brayden caught Link off guard and shoved him into a wall. Link took it patiently and raised an eyebrow in inquiry. "Well, what was that for?"

Brayden snorted in disgust. "What do you think you are doing with a princess? She is obviously of nobility…and you are…not."

Link grabbed onto this bit of hesitation in his voice, "And just how do you know this about me? You are not to be the only suitor courting her, you know."

"Well, I asked around…but I didn't have much to work with. The princess is mine, though, so back off."

"Who said I was interested in that sort of relationship? And since when has the princess become a possession to be owned?"

Link's curt questions caused Brayden to gape at him as his words failed to come. Instead, Brayden retaliated with something entirely off subject, "And just how did you recover so quickly? Last I saw you it seemed the whole right half of your body was crushed."

Link cringed and answered without thinking to the unexpected question, "Impa managed to scrounge up some people with a little knowledge of red potions…it was enough to heal the extent of the damage but I'll be pretty sore and still a little bruised for the next few days."

"Excellent," Brayden smirked. "Then tomorrow you wouldn't mind having a duel in the courtyard to win Zelda's favor?"

Link gave an uncharacteristic snort, "I have no need of that, and I would easily beat one such as you."

"Are you too much of a chicken?" he taunted.

"Says the guy that wants to fight a recovering cripple…" Link muttered. "It would be your funeral should you push for this."

"Yeah right, I could take you. And it wouldn't be with swords, it would be too tempting for me to kill you."

Link eyed Brayden's much bulkier form thick with gym equipment based muscle, "How long did it take you to plan this brilliant idea of yours? All you'd have to do is sit on me if that were the case."

Brayden's face burned a bright red at this rude comment, "Do you accept or not?" he growled while his fists clenched together in an effort to control his temper.

"Fine, but like I said before: it's your funeral."

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I had something important to say, but now I can't remember what that was, lol…Oh well, life goes on. I hope this chapter didn't deviate too much from a positive turnout, but I'll see depending on what you wonderful people reading this tell me. Well, thank you for your time! :D

-blondie91