Chapter Ten

Zelda smirked as she sat in a meeting with all that was left of her kingdom, the village leaders and mayors of the cities along with Gorons, Zoras and even Deku Shrubs were there. They were all chattering about the possible threat of war as she hid her growing smile behind her hand.

"This is outrageous! To attack an innocent boy and kidnap him? The Gerudo have gone too far! He's not even of age!" shouted an old woman, shaking a gnarled hand in anger.

"But it's part of the treaty that they could have any pick of unmarried men and we all know that he had yet to settle down!" cried a younger man, but still old.

"Please, settle down! I know that we agreed on this, but they did attack and kill the healer I had assigned to treat him while they were on their way here," Zelda said, lying as plain as day, but no one took note of it.

"But princess! With all that's been happening, how could we not go to war with them? Before the peace treaty these things never happened! We've lost so many and in such a short time and we've heard that Termina has been devastated! No one survived, only those living on the boarders of the Termina managed to survive, if barely!"

"I know, I was shocked when I heard the news, but we don't have many who would stand up against the Gerudo and besides wouldn't it be better to have them come here where we have the advantage over their massive numbers? The Gerudo Tribe is mostly women, but the few men there aren't push overs either. Besides without their brilliant king, they won't be as demonic as when father had first gone to war with them!" Zelda said.

"But princess, how can we be sure that they attacked the healer?" the Zora Queen asked, her son, Rulis, hiding his face in her side.

"This is the proof." She held up the golden earring she had been wearing. "The Gerudos dropped this this on the corpse when the made off with Link."

"But, princess, they could have been check to see if the healer could be saved when it fell." The Gorons' Patriarch said.

Zelda felt her eye twitch, but she relaxed herself and conjured an image of the Gerudo woman who had been about to kill her and then made a false alternate of it. The others gasped when they saw the Gerudo plunge her blade into the healer, the earring slipping off as she turned and slung the unconscious Link over her shoulder and vanished.

"Do you still believe that they are not to blame?"

The Zoras said nothing the Goron's lips tightened in displeasure. Something was off. The Hylians began demanding that they do something and even a few offered to go and bring back Link before it was too late. Rulis hid further into his mother's side as she pet his head lovingly as she turned to the Goron Patriarch. He shook his head and turned to the Hylians again.

"Please princess, allow us to go and bring back Link! We know he's a dear friend of yours and we all adore him as well! Please, let us go!" a group of young men demanded.

"Fine, but please, bring him back alive. I want my friend back and... tell him I love him." She began to cry, sobbing softly as a woman rushed to her side and offered a hankie to dry her tears.

Now everyone who knew Link and Zelda knew they were the best of friends, but they had a feeling that they secretly loved each other, but said nothing because of the social differences between them. Now that they heard the princess say that she loved him, they knew they had to bring him back, Zelda and Link would make an excellent king and queen after Zelda's coronation.

"We will leave as soon as we can!"

"Wait! No!" she called. "We can't let the Gerudo know that something is up! I moved my coronation back by three weeks because in about two weeks we need to send a shipment of goods to them!"

"Oh, I see! You want us to take the shipment there and when we come back, we bring Link back with us!" said one man getting what she was hinting at.

Zelda nodded and thanked him for being so smart. Soon everyone was planning in detail what they were going to do and were considering the possibilities of the Gerudos using magic on Link to make him think that they were his friends. Zelda could almost laugh in glee, but didn't, she'd have to hold her poker face a few moments more. Soon the plan was set, they would deliver the goods and stay a few days. During those days they would map out the fortress as well as find Link and sedate him and they will keep him sedated until he was safely back here in Hyrule and in the castle with his fiancé...

After everyone had left, the Zora queen, Rutela sighed and shook her head as she walked with the Goron Patriarch.

"This is madness."

"Yes it is. I know the Gerudo wouldn't attack unless they felt it necessary. Something was not right about what she showed us," he said, his deep voice rumbling like a dormant volcano.

"Yes, but there isn't much we can do, but be wary," she said. They couldn't speak what they really felt until they were safe in their own lands. The patriarch nodded his head as he sighed; this was not easy.

He looked up and smirked, there was a desert Hawk peeking at them from a tree. Rutela nodded her head as she caught sight of it as well, Rulis smiled and almost ran to it, but remembered that he needed to be careful or they all would be in trouble. The Goron elder sighed as they came to the river, he wasn't a fan of traveling alone so he asked if he could join them.

"But of course, you have been most kind since my husband's passing, please come. We'll guide the surf so you don't drown."

"We Gorons can breathe under water. It is our brother tribe that's deathly afraid of deep water," he said and she nodded. Rulis jumped in with a childish cry of delight and Rutela laughed as she dove in as well, they waited as the patriarch tested the water, shocked that it was cold, but never the less he got in and curled up into a ball and rolled along the bottom as they swam ahead.

They traveled for a few miles before stopping near an underground trench. Rutela sighed as she stood on the bottom of the river and Rulis entertained himself by swimming after the fishes that swam around.

"We best wait, they think we are taking the route back to Death mountain in the Eldin Regent," she informed as he nodded, they watched Rulis play happily as the sun slowly set and when it finally did, the Goron opened the secret door to the trench and Rutela had called Rulis to her and they went in.

As they traveled much faster now, they finally made it to Lake Hylia and they got out on shore. The Goron sighed as he sat down on the cool grass and the Desert hawk he had seen before came to land on his shoulder. Rutela took the message from it and read it over before she sighed and removed a coral gem from her 'hair' and slipped it onto the hawk's talon before it flew off.

"It said that the princess knows that HE'S free and it seems that the other one is also free. I will contact my niece's people in Great Bay, you may want to send word to Snow Peak as well."

"What about the Dekus?"

"The Deku Shrubs have already relayed the message. Remember they communicate with other plants as well as have underground tunnels. We best get going before someone sees us," she said, calling her son to her. They both dove into the water and he stood up, sighing softly before he curled up into a tight ball and road away...

Deep in the Gerudo Desert, the sun was slowly reaching high noon when the small caravan could spot a massive stone and steel structure, also known as the Iron Fortress, from a rocky cliff. If you think the out side was massive, wait until you got inside and blew the surface. Link had been sleeping restlessly since he told Isis about what was going on.

He had felt better to get it off his chest, but at the same time he felt scared still. He didn't understand what was going and didn't know what to make of all the strange happenings going on around him. He didn't understand why all these bad things kept happening to him; was he being punished for something?

He moaned and slowly opened his eyes and looked around, he was still in the wagon, but it had stopped for some reason. He was about to sit up and pull on the curtain when it was yanked open and someone not of the Gerudo tribe came in. He opened his mouth to scream, but it was muffled by a hand over his lips and a soft chuckle, a familiar one.

"Sorry, little one, I didn't mean to scare you. Welcome to the desert."

Link blinked and saw a pair of red eyes looking at him.

"And I must say you look much better without the makeup and dress, though you did look really cute," he teased.

Link's eyes got as wide as the moon as his face, even his hairline and ears, turned a bright pink and it looked like steam was coming out of them.

"S- Sh- Sheik?" Link gasped and the Shiekah smirked softly as he moved to sit beside Link.

Link blushed and lowered his gaze, unable to hold the Shiekah's stare. Sheik thought it was cute how submissive Link was; he looked really beautiful. Bringing up a hand he lightly traced his cheek and Link looked up in shock of the gentle gesture.

"We're waiting for the other scouts to arrive and then we'll continue, and yes, the Shiekah and the Gerudo work together. We are sister Tribes after all," Sheik said as he pulled his hand back.

"Oh, so you came to the castle to protect Isis?"

"... Yes, and to also protect you," Sheik said, giving him another smile, though the cowl hid it from view, but the slightest curving of his eyes told Link that he was smiling or smirking.

Link blushed gain and hid his face as he mumbled a thank you. He recalled how Sheik had protected him from the arrows as well as took care of him after the Poe attack. Sheik sat back against the wall, the truth was, they were actually waiting for a rival tribe to leave the area before they moved, but he didn't want to worry the Hylian.

'I can't believe it, he was right in front of me and I didn't even notice... Then again he was in disguise. He did make a beautiful Zelda, though,' he thought as he watched the boy fiddle around from the corner of his eye.

He looked to the back when he saw Isis climb in, she gave him a curt nodded and he hit the back panel of the driver's seat letting them know they were okay to move. The wagon moved from the shelter of the cliff and joined the rest of the caravan once they got the all clear. Link sat silently as Isis spoke in the Gerudo tongue with Sheik who spoke it just as fluently that you'd think he was one of their tribe members.

"Are you hungry?" Isis suddenly asked Link.

"Yes, and do we have any milk?" he asked a bit hopeful.

"Sorry with the extreme temperatures of the desert milk would just curdle and sour before we could even settle down to drink it, but as soon as we get to the castle I'll get you a pitcher of fresh milk," she promised him.

Link smiled and nodded as she got up and jumped out the back. The ride was fast, but still smooth. He didn't get tossed around like in Hyrule, though it wasn't the guards' fault or Zelda's when they got attacked. He sighed as he stretched what little he could in the overly stuffed space. Sheik remained silent, keeping watch and listening for any threats.

Link took this time to examine him better. He wore a strange blue suit that was hard and yet flexible, on the front was the symbol of the All Seeing Eye. He heard from Zelda that the red tear drop was blood because the Shiekah had done something so horrible that they had cried tears of blood and that the blood permanently turned their eyes red allowing them to always see the truth, but if that was true then how come they didn't point out that he wasn't really Zelda the first time?

Shaking that thought out his mind, he looked at Sheik's hands, they were bigger than his own, but they were still slim and he had long spindly fingers he wore bandages around his lower palm, wrist and forearm with the leather like gauntlet over it on both hands and even had bandages around his fingertips to help him grip certain weapons without hurting himself. The cowl was also strange, it hid his most of his hair and face and he noticed that on one side there was a small slip knot that held it closed over the older boy's face.

He looked at his bangs and noticed they were a shade darker than his own golden locks. Sheik was also a pale tan compared to Impa's own golden brown color. Link looked at his own skin, he was a creamy color, but he was almost the same color as Sheik. He looked up again and blushed when Sheik was staring right at him and almost like he was looking right through him. He ducked his head and fiddled with the blanket a bit before he jumped when Ganon jumped in. These Gerudo were going to scare him to death with how silently they move!

"We're almost to the Iron Fortress. Here's something light. When we settle in we'll give you a proper meal," he said handing Link a bowl of porridge.

Link thanked him silently, still scared to death at the fact that Ganon was back from the dead. Sheik noted Link's unease and gave Ganon as small jerk of the head and the larger male gave slight bow before he jumped back out and from the sounds of it he was riding his horse directly in back of the wagon. Link managed to finish eating just in time since the Gerudos were letting out what sound like war cries before they picked up speed.

Sheik moved over to him and held him steady as the wagon began to rock a bit more heavily. The speed kept up for a good hour or two before they began slowing down to a walk. The horses were breathing heavily from the heat of the desert and from the mad dash they just preformed. Link hoped that they would be okay. He jumped when they suddenly stopped and there was clattering all over the place, sounding very much like chains and locks falling to the floor.

Sheik got up and walked over to the back and jumped out, he spoke in the Gerudo tongue, sounding like he was giving orders. It was no less than five minutes later that Sheik came back in and carefully picked up Link and climbed out.

"Shield your eyes," he said softly as he walked out of the dark area and into a sun filled one.

Link quickly ducked his head into Sheik's chest, the body suit felt funny, kind of like an exoskeleton type of armor. Sheik smiled a bit as he took note of the Hylian using him as a shield.

'I don't mind. I'm just glad I finally have him in my arms. . . And I am not letting him go,' he thought as he kept walking.

He was also glad that Link refused to lift his head otherwise he'd wonder why the Gerudo and Shiekah were watching them and throwing flowers at their feet. He didn't want the boy to know just yet, but it would be hard to hide it from him. Link looked up when the intense heat was replaced with coolness and shade. He looked around to see that they walked into a building.

Sheik walked as if he owned the place and knew where he was going since he didn't stop to ask for directions nor seem to care that the Gerudo and Shiekah were staring at them. Link blushed as this kept up until Sheik got up stairs and stopped in front of a room that had two guards in front of it, one Gerudo and the other Shiekah.

They opened the doors and Sheik walked in and over to the bed. Link's mind went running wild then.

Why was he carrying him to a bed? Was he going to rape him and make him sex slave since he couldn't runaway on an injured foot? Was this really why he was at the castle? And why the hell wasn't he fighting back and screaming for help?

As the questions raged through his mind, he began to shake and silently whimper, but Sheik heard him and gently set him down on the bed and sat beside him. He wrapped his arms around him and gently pulled him into his side, holding him tightly in a protective hold.

"What's wrong? Is it something I did?" Sheik asked, sounding rather worried and a bit upset.

"... I'm scared," Link mumbled around his tears as they began to flow. He was really scared, what did they want with him? Why were these things happening?

"I know you are, but please relax and breathe. Come on, I'm not going to hurt you and no one here is going to either. If you thought I was going to rape you, you needn't worry."

"Why?" Link asked despite his fear of Sheik suddenly doing just that.

Sheik stiffened, which in turned caused Link to struggle out of his arms, but he held him tight and sighed while saying, "Because I like you very much. I'd never hurt you, not intentionally."

Link stopped fighting to get away and froze.

'He likes me? But that's wrong, men aren't suppose to like men!' he thought but then an afterthought hit him. 'But I'm no longer in Hylia, and I've seen the Gorons, Zoras and even the Dekus had same sex relationships... Also, I do find Sheik attractive.'

Sheik watched the boy's emotions like a book. He was confused, scared still, but there were hints of attraction on his face. He could always peek into his thoughts, but then Impa would kick his ass for even thinking it. Finally Link's face went blank and he sighed, having calmed down during his internal war.

"I'm so tired..."

"I know you are. You'll be like this for a while so get some sleep. I'll bring you something to eat in a little while," Sheik said softly, kissing his temple through the cowl, but it still left a tingling feeling on Link's skin as he was gently tucked into bed and then left alone in the room...

Sheik sighed as he walked out the room, the two guards looking at him with concern.

"Silva, Phire; no one gets into this room and no one is to touch him while I am gone. When he awakens bring him something to eat and water. He's not much for wine." They nodded as he was giving them a glare the promised death if they didn't do as he said. "And inform Isis. She'll take over caring for him. I have some things to do before lunch."

"Yes, your Excellency," they said and bowed before he walked off.

Sheik made it to the end of the hall where Ganon's office was when said male appeared from nowhere and fell into step behind him.

"The boy's frightened. He thought I would rape him."

"Most would assume so when they think they are a captive and instead of shown to a cell or prison, they are shown a lavish room," Ganon said.

"Yes, well let's not forget Arthur and Zelda's ideas of ruling is causing fear. Since she has no say over the other tribes of Hylia she can't command them to do as she pleases," Sheik said recalling all he learned when he spying around looking for both Majora's Mask and his bride at the time. "Lovers had to meet secretly away from the towns and villages lest they be found out for loving another man or another woman."

"Tsk, and they say we are barbaric. At least we acknowledge those who prefer the same sex. We only expect them to keep with tradition and our heritage. Just because they love the same gender doesn't mean they stop believing in their beliefs."

Sheik nodded his head as he walked into the war room and smiled at Vaati who was busy reading over more of the books a deep frown in on his youthful face.

"Vaati."

"Sire. Ganon," he answered, bowing as he looked at them. Then moved so that he could be standing out of range of Sheik's wrath more so than Ganon's. "I've managed to get my books as you can see, but I also found some interesting things while I was there."

"Oh?"

"Detailed records of your reign, but here's the shock, they were written in Hylian script," he said, setting down a few books and opening them.

Ganon took one and began reading it over, his eyes widening as Sheik did the same, a large evil smile pulling tightly over his hidden features, making his eyes look like narrow slits similar to those of a Keaton Fox. He looked through more of the books and found one that was bound in a dark green leather that had only a symbol on the front of it.

He picked it up and noticed it was a black Tri-Force symbol. Shocked he pulled off the gauntlet on his left hand and removed the bandages to look at the back of his left hand. Vaati and Ganon noticed his near frantic movements and moved over to see. They looked between the book cover and his hand and then Sheik flipped the book open to the first page to see an ancient Shiekah prayer.

"'Bless me with love divine and place upon me your dear embrace, O' God of my people.'" He read aloud before he began flipping through the pages. "A Shiekah mother wrote this... It's a diary."

They blushed and began to close it when one of the pages caught Vaati's attention.

"Wait! Look here! 'Flynn wasn't like anyone I've ever met...'"

He's strong and courageous, but then again he did bear Goddess Farore's symbol on his right hand. But he was also uncommonly kind to those in need. I guess that's why I love him. He stayed with me even when that doctor tried to kill me for being what I am...

The bastard child of the Shiekah...

Honestly you couldn't tell I was one of the Shiekah since I was so pale. And my eyes were green instead of red, but in certain lighting my eyes would take a red tint. Not to mention I was very tall for a Hylian child. I better go to bed.

Tomorrow Flynn and I are going to see the king. He's the only person around that I know who could tell me about my people and why everyone seems to hate us so much. And don't worry I asked Mili to watch the baby for us. Flynn was so fussy about taking the baby with us and I agreed to leave him here so Flynn would relax.

Well good night,

Felle.

It's me again, sorry for the sloppy handwriting, but Flynn and I are on our way home from castle. As I had expected the king knew a lot about the Shiekah, but not all of it was pleasant to hear about. Well I better not dally too long or you'll be bored! Mommy's silly isn't she, eh Link? Well anyway!

He told us that the Shiekah had once severed the royal family a long time ago, they protected them from assassins and evil beings that sought their power. Our people even have a strong culture rich with arts and music and even our prowess in fighting. I hope to seek them out so that way when you get older you can meet some of your family members! I bet you even have an auntie who's a Gerudo!

Ah, there I go again getting distracted! But still I'm sure you will have a lot to learn. Your father thinks so too. But like I said not all of it was pleasant. You see, some time ago, before the Shiekah were banished back to Gerudo Desert, they tried to form a coupe dé ta. They began telling everyone who would listen about a God called the Fierce-

Vaati stopped reading as he now noticed the rest of the page was stained in dried blood. Ganon carefully removed the book from Sheik's shaking hands as the Shiekah stared at the empty space in his hands. Sheik let out a shaky breath before he steeled his nerves and glared at the other books, he began looking through them, finding most were stained in blood others were burned. All of them had details of his reign, from when he had been the ruling god to his down fall. As soon as he found them all he put them in order so he could calculate the exact amount of time as well as how many deaths to keep him a secret.

Vaati scribbled furiously as the Shiekah cursed in the Minish's native tongue as he told him the notes and began raiding Ganon's books as well. By the time his fury had run dry there was five scrolls full of notes and details that would shame even the best school of scholars. Vaati's hand was killing him, but he bit back his complaints, not wanting to suffer the Shiekah's fury. He may not be powerful but he was strong.

Ganon had busied himself with looking over the blueprints of the castle and the castle town, taking notes on things like the sewer system to the secret tunnels in and out of the castle as well as secret passageways. He also noted that Vaati had found the older versions of the maps so most of these areas have been sealed off or forgotten so if they ever sunk into the castle they could use the secret passages.

"That bastard!" Sheik yelled, throwing the pitcher of water at the wall as Isis walked in, barely dodging the spray of water and glass.

Impa and Bertha stepped in as well, shutting the door as Sheik continued to pace.

"Sire?" Vaati ventured.

"Arthur killed Link's parents and stole the Dairy! He knew Link when they first met! He probably even planned on telling him about us to kill him or even send him here and learn about us and- That little bitch she's going down!" he bellowed before he stood there panting. No one said a thing as he slowly brought his anger and rage back under his control and sighed.

Ganon risked death for the second time, though he didn't really die, he just went into hiding to spy on things, and placed his hand on Sheik's shoulder.

"Breathe, sire. I know you're still angry from the betrayal all those years ago and you are angry now because of how many have died for even uttering your name. I still need to tell you everything I've learned and you will surely want to wish death to the whole of the world, but you need to bare in mind that not everyone thinks the same way. We have a war to plan and we have HIM to deal with before we can deal with THEM."

Sheik glared at him from the corner of his eyes, his eyes had paled to an almost off white color and even the red tribal marks had appeared on his face. Ganon held firm and he sighed. He nodded his head before he calmed down almost as quickly as blowing out a candle.

"What is it Isis?"

"The Hylian boy's fever has spiked again," she said.

Vaati jumped up.

"How bad?" he asked racing over to his pile of books looking for his medical ones and then yanking them from the pile.

"Bertha and I stripped him, but even his body is like fire to the touch," Impa answered as moved her hands. "I used one of the belladonna plants I had to put him into a deeper sleep until we could brew a cure or get the fever to break."

"That's fine. Ms. Impa come with me, Bertha too. I'm going to need a few things if we're going to keep him from dying."

Sheik made to go as well, worried for his little bride, but Isis stopped him and shook her head.

"You are still angry and that will cause more harm then good right now. For now, be of use to yourself and plan this war or we'll go into it unprepared," she said in a stern voice, very much like a mother scolding her unruly child.

He opened his mouth to protest and she smacked him in the back of his head and glared. Seeing that he wouldn't dare to talk back again, Isis left him and Ganon alone. Ganon snickered as Sheik rubbed his head and grumbled about evil women and hitting for no reason.

"You walked into that one, Sheik."

"Shut up, Piggy."

Ganon glared as Sheik snickered back and they both got to work constructing a battle plan...