Chapter 10 – Informing the Council

"Zelda…Zelda…wake up sleepy head," Link whispered gently into his wife's ear. After the assault from the so-called doctor, Zelda had been so sleepy that she had slept until noon. Link had slept faithfully by her side, because he knew that if he got up, she would awaken. He had dozed off a few times, but he mostly just lay perfectly still, admiring Zelda's beautiful sleeping face. Now he felt was the proper time to inform Impa and the king about what had happened, though he knew that they already knew something.

Zelda smacked her lips and made a sleepy groan, but her eyes remained closed. Link chuckled to himself at the sight of her. She had a peaceful smile on her face, and she was hugging her puppy dog plushie close.

I remember when I gave her that puppy dog plushie, Link thought with a fond smile. Seven years ago. She hasn't been able to sleep without it. He leaned in close to her mouth and breathed into her face, "Darling, wake up."

At that moment, Zelda's eyes slowly opened and she smiled sleepily at him. "Good morning, Link," she said softly, in an almost squeaky voice.

A smile tugged at Link's lips as he moved so close to her that when he talked, his lips brushed against hers. "It's not morning," he whispered. "Actually, it's noon."

The sleepy princess let out a small yawn. Then, after blinking several times, she said against his husband's mouth, "But Linky, I'm sleepy."

Link almost melted at the sound of her voice. She had sounded so adorable, and all he wished to do was cuddle her in his arms forever. But he knew that wasn't possible. They had already put off telling the king this important information long enough, and they needed to get up. "I'm sorry, Zellie," he murmured. He puckered up his lips against hers, giving her a quick but tender kiss, before continuing. "But we need to inform your father. You know, about what happened."

Zelda tilted her head drowsily. "What? What happened?"

Suddenly, Prince Link's eyes grew wide. Aaaa! She looks so cute when she tilts her head! he thought. He couldn't take it anymore. He brought his face to her neck and started to trail fervent kisses down it. "Nothing," he murmured. "Nothing happened."

Link's lips tickled her neck, causing her to giggle. "Oh, Linky, you're so romantic," she sighed. She leaned her head against the pillow, surrendering to her husband's affections. After a moment of bliss, she asked, "So, Linky-pie, what was it you were trying to tell me?"

Link grabbed one of her golden locks and pressed it to his lips. "That I love you so much," he whispered heatedly.

Princess Zelda giggled cheerfully. She then placed her hands on his cheeks and tilted his head up so she could meet his azure gaze. "Aw, Link-Link, I love you too," she sighed. "Now let me look at your handsome face." A wide grin tugged at Prince Link's lips as he wife studied his face. "Let's see," she pondered aloud, memorizing his facial features. "You have a nice smooth chin. I remember when you had a beard." As she talked about each part of his face, she stroked it affectionately. "And you have the most adorable little nosey. And your eyes are so blue and playful and yet mysterious. And…oh…your skin is so soft! And you have nice thick eyebrows that match your face and hair perfectly." She paused for a moment before continuing. "And look at that hair! It's so…Linkish!"

Link chuckled, gazing at her affectionately. "How is it, little one, that sometimes you can act so wise and other times so adorably childish?" he inquired curiously.

Zelda shrugged. "I guess I act childish when I'm around you."

Link moved his face closer to hers, and a serious look came into his eyes. "Yeah, but you don't always act like a child with me," he said, his voice falling to a low tone of voice that Zelda had scarcely ever heard.

Zelda's face turned deep red, knowing all too well what he was talking about. "Uh…let's talk about something else. Ah, yes, I forgot to mention one other delightful facial feature you have."

A spark of curiosity and excitement appeared in Link's sapphire eyes. "What?" he breathed.

"This," was the princess' soft reply. She snatched Link closer by his shoulders and drew him into an intense kiss. Link responded feverishly, making sure that this was a kiss his wife would never forget. Zelda scooted closer and closer to him, trying to get a better hold of his lips when Link pulled away.

"There," he whispered lovingly into her face. "How did my lips taste?"

"Delectable," Zelda giggled, tapping Link's nose.

As Link began to viciously tickle Zelda's body, causing the princess to burst out with joyous laughter, there was a knock on the doorpost (because the door had been knocked down). The sound startled the young prince so he quickly ceased the tickling and strained to see who it was over the large amount of blankets piled up on the bed.

There Impa stood, her face emotionally untouched. Immediately Link remembered why he was trying to wake Zelda up in the first place.

"Link, Zelda, what happened?" Impa inquired.

"Impa, summon the Council," Link ordered. "Then we will discuss it. Zelda and I will be down in ten minutes."

Impa readily obeyed, leaving them alone to change.

* * *

The Council room was packed with people, and still Link and Zelda hadn't arrived. The king sat at the head of the table, and Impa was to the side of him. Then the other council members: General Geoff, General Ruindien, Sir Gwaian, General Rupurt, Lord Arin, Lord Eowlrin, Lord Ankropyn, Lord Onophi, Lord Srandell, Lord Trandiger, Lord Nunstopier, and Lord Pieree (the former Caleb Tales had been recently disbarred). And at the other end of the table were the two empty chairs that the prince and princess usually sat in.

"What is going on?" asked Srandell anxiously.

"I heard that a cloud of purple gas killed Ranchnen and Vurns," whispered Nunstopier.

"Oh, don't forget Auscar and Ingurd," added Arin.

"I'm not surprised those guards were killed," sneered Geoff.

"What do you mean, Geoff?" Pieree inquired.

"Well we all know that the garden guards are the weakest," General Geoff replied.

"Yeah," Ruindien agreed. "Why, I heard from this little fairy that the guards let the prince and princess swim in the private pool without any guards. Those two naughty children ended up skinny-dipping!"

The maids, who had been busying themselves with dusting and polishing, gasped.

King Harkinian groaned. He then put his hands up and said, "Gentlemen, please, leave your gossiping for the court." When everyone was silent he said 'thank you' and sat down.

At that moment, the heavy doors opened and Link and Zelda walked in. Link was wearing and golden version of his tunic, and had a sparkling gold crown on his head. Zelda was wearing a dark green velvet dress that was lined with glittery red, and she had her own crown atop her head. They presently sat down and waited for the king to begin.

The king took a stand and began. "As you all know, my daughter Princess Zelda has been struggling with nightmares and such for a while now. She says she even heard voices, dark whispers, as she calls them. And recently she and Prince Link were relaxing in Lake Hylia when the water turned black. She had stayed in the water too long and had been poisoned, but luckily the Zoras came to her aid. Now, it is entirely apparent that some form of evil is after her and her husband. Which leads us to today's little incident… Now, I am not aware of much that has happened, so I'll let my daughter inform you all." With that, he took a seat and gestured for Zelda to proceed.

The princess stood up and addressed the Council. "As you may or may not know, this morning a suffered from severe morning sickness. Hence, Link sent for my doctor, Dr. Hardy. However, Dr. Hardy was on vacation, so a new doctor, supposedly from the Gerudo Valley, substituted. When I first laid my eyes on this doctor, who claimed his name was Dr. Norman, I sensed something wasn't right. He had this eerie air about him. However, my father hadn't noticed, and allowed him to examine me. My father then departed, leaving me in the 'care' of Dr. Hardy. My suspicions were raised even higher when the doctor forced my husband to leave as well, and locked the door behind him. That is when the man started to seem more and more menacing. Now, Link wasn't just staying still, he knew something wasn't right about this doctor either. He had been banging on the door for quite some time, and eventually succeeded in knocking the door down. When he entered the room, he found that Doctor Norman had slashed me on the shoulder, on purpose, with a dagger. Rage taking over him, Link hurled the 'doctor' out of the window, which sent him falling into the gardens below. That is all I know, however, because Link hadn't the time to tell me what he knew." She then took her seat.

"Well," said the king, stroking his beard. "Tell me what happened after that, Prince Link."

"Well," Link began, standing up. "When he hit the ground, his body turned into a toxic cloud of purple gas. I quickly closed the window, and then I heard the sound of some guards suffocating. That's all I know." With that, he sat down.

"And let me tell you all," the king began. "That the gas only suffocated four people on its way into Hyrule Field. Because it was toxic, my men kept a far distance as they watched the gas just vanish into the ground. It was most peculiar."

"You are most right, your majesty," pondered Ruindien, stroking his chin. "It is quite peculiar. Now, who do I know that possesses the magic to create such a monster…" His eyes fell on Link.

Link flew out of his chair in protest. "No! I would never use the magic of the triforce for evil! And never against my own wife!" he bellowed angrily.

Ruindien shrugged. "I'm just saying…"

After a moment of glaring at the general, Link retook his seat.

"No, we know that no one here is responsible for this," the king said. "Some evil is. Now what we must decide today is what to do about it."

"We'll search Hyrule from top to bottom!" Eowlrin announced heroically.

"Fool, evil wouldn't just be somewhere out in the open," said Geoff dryly.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Trandiger inquired, squinting his eyes.

"We could all wait peacefully for it to return," suggested the very old council member, Sir Gwaian.

"That's a coward's idea!" Onophi spat.

"We could do more research," Link suggested quietly. Suddenly all eyes were on him.

"And what, pray tell, would we research?" Ruindien asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, the doctor form of this evil said he was from the Gerudo Valley. Nabooru might know something," Link replied.

"Hah! Nabooru," Nunstopier scoffed. "You just want an excuse to cheat on your wife."

Link flew up in rage. He was appalled by such an idea. And he didn't appreciate everyone accusing him for having those intentions. "No! I would never do that!"

"Right!" Zelda agreed, standing by his side. "I trust Link and I know he would never do that! But visiting Nabooru might be a good idea. She has plenty of books about Gerudo and Sheikan magic.

"Alright, it's settled," said the king. "We will send some to the Gerudo Valley to research magic."

"I was hoping Link and I could go," Zelda voiced. Everyone turned their heads to stare at her.

"That's preposterous!" Arin exclaimed. "Much too dangerous, aren't I right, your majesty?"

"Please, father!" Zelda pleaded. "This is my problem; I would only know what to look for. And Link would protect me. And besides, Impa taught me some fighting too. And it would be nice to meet with Nabooru again. And I don't think that evil would expect me not to be at the castle. It's better to be as far away from here as possible."

The king pondered his daughter's wise words for a moment before deciding. "Alright. As long as you are accompanied by four guards, as well as Link, then you can go. I will give you a day to pack and then you will leave the next."

"Oh, thank you father!" Zelda exclaimed. She was so excited that she threw her arms around Link and whispered, "This would also be a good time to spend some alone time together. You know, without any guards or maids spying on us."

"Yeah, but those four guards…" Link began.

"We'll talk about it later," said the princess, seeing how people had started to stare.

"Alright, council dismissed," the king said, despite all the groans from the dignitaries.