Chapter 19

Plans Revealed

"Now that you are the last heir to the throne alive, and are of age…we of the council agree that you should be crowned Queen as soon as you are able to in order for peace to be re-established in the kingdom. As the new Queen, your new duties would be…"

"ZELDA!"

Zelda turned with a start as the door to the council chambers burst open, Cimar and Impa running through it, dragging a figure behind them. Malon was running behind them, holding what appeared to be a dagger towards the unconscious figure. The council members turned in surprise and as the running figures drew near, gasps could be heard as they started to whisper among themselves.

"Impa, Cimar, Malon what you are doing here?"

"We found the man who murdered the king." Gasps filled the chamber as the members of the council stood to get a better view of the man being dragged behind the threesome. "He was in the castle and was about to murder Malon." Cimar quickly said as he dropped the man unceremoniously to the ground.

Zelda walked towards the figure on the floor and gasped when she finally saw the man's face. The man lying on the floor looked exactly like Cimar; the only difference was that his hair was jet black. Zelda would have bet her crown that if his eyes were open, that they would be blood red as well.

"How did he get in, why was he after Malon, how did you catch him?" Zelda asked, the questions coming out as quickly as she could think of them. Impa raised a hand, motioning for the princess to slow down. "Please princess Zelda…"

"Queen, Zelda is her title now" interrupted a short council member as he re-adjusted his glasses. "It has been agreed upon that she should be crowned Queen after the funeral tomorrow."

"Queen, princess it doesn't matter right now" Zelda replied quickly shooting a look at the council member who sat back down in his seat "what matters is that we question this man immediately. As of right now, you are all excused. Would you please leave this room immediately."

She heard the sound of chairs scrapping against the floor and muttering as the council members left the room, most of them taking one last look at the prone figure on the floor. Zelda nodded as the last of them left and turned to Impa.

"Impa, find Link as quickly as possible and tell him to come here as quickly as possible, also, bring some rope with you so we can bind this man to a chair." Impa nodded curtly and disappeared out the door, heading in the direction of the library. Zelda turned to face one of the guards that stood off in one of the corners of the room and smiled.

"Sastur, come here."

The guard sauntered over to where Zelda stood and bowed low, "Yes your highness?"

He was Zelda's personal bodyguard now after Link had told of his skills in battle. She questioned Link's sanity when he had first approached her with the idea since she clearly remembered her first meeting with him. Link decided to show his skills to her instead and lined five of the castles elite guardsmen up against Sastur. Less than three minutes later, the five guards lay on the ground moaning while Sastur stood above them, smiling cheerfully. At that moment she had made him her personal bodyguard and he had not left his post since.

"Sastur, go find General Dagoron and tell him to post more sentries around and inside the castle walls. Tell him that princess demands it."

"Will you be ok without my services your highness?" he asked looking a bit concerned as he looked down at the unconscious figure near his feet.

"Yes, I should be as long as you get back here quickly that is." He smiled and gave a quick salute before jogging out of the room, the sound of his boots quickly fading into the hall. A new set of boots could be heard coming from outside the room and Link came sliding into view, barely stopping in time to turn into the door.

"You found him?" he asked. He walked forward and felt something soft under his feet and the sound of moaning. Link jumped off of the man on the floor grinning slightly, "I guess you did find him. Where was he and how was he captured?"

Cimar beamed, "You should ask Malon that question, she was the one that found him and helped catch him." Malon blushed slightly and nodded as shock registered on Link and Zelda's faces. "You did what?" they both asked at the same time, their mouths hanging open.

'Well, it's not like I wanted to find him. He found me out in your courtyard Zelda when he was disguised as Cimar and I thought it was you" she said turning to Cimar who had taken a seat at the large table that stretched across the room. He was staring at the man lying on the floor but looked up at the mention of his name. "Is their disguise really that good? That a disgusting person like that could look like me?" he asked.

Malon looked down feeling a bit of shame for falling for an imposter.

"Yes, the magic that works their disguise is really that effective, that is why Zelda here was entirely convinced that it was you who murdered her father." Impa walked into the room and closed the door behind her. Malon looked up and saw Zelda give her a reassuring glance. It was one thing for a friend to believe they saw Cimar, but he was her husband. She should have known that it wasn't him, was her connection and love for him so shallow as to fall for an imposter?

"Malon, could you continue?" Malon started out of he thoughts as Link looked up at her and asked her the question again.

"Sorry, I was thinking of something else there… Anyways, he said he had a surprise for me and led me to an abandoned room somewhere in the castle. I don't know where because he led me around almost everywhere it seemed and I've only been here a couple of times so…"

"It's ok Malon, just keep going" Zelda said as she smiled softly at her.

"Well, when we got to the room, he locked the door behind him and started to laugh. He said something like he had been waiting a long time to see me. He shook his head and his hair started to turn black and his eyes turned blood red. I tried to scream when he approached me but he did something to me and I couldn't talk anymore. He tried to grab me but I grabbed a pot filled with ink and hit him with it.

Zelda leaned down and saw that the man's face was covered in a dark liquid. At first she thought it was blood but at a closer look it was indeed ink.

"After that, I ran to the door and started running for my life, all the while hearing him cursing and threatening me as he chased me." Malon stopped as she heard a groan originate from the floor of the room. Everyone's heads turned to watch as the perfect twin of Cimar moved his hands and started to try and lift himself up. Before anyone could do anything, Cimar leapt off of his chair and brought his hand down across the back of his darker half's neck, crumpling the man back to the floor. Everyone looked over at Cimar who simply shrugged his shoulders as he sat back down in his seat.

"What, he deserved it." Cimar said blankly, folding his arms across his chest while leaning back in the chair.

Zelda rolled her eyes while Link started to chuckle. Malon quietly thanked Cimar for his fast reaction because if he would have waited another second she would have done the exact same thing. Cimar had changed her, not by much, but she was starting to notice it. Malon cleared her throat and started to tell the rest of the story.

"I ran down some stairs and hid next to where it came out into the hall and waited for him to run by. When he did, I threw my arm in front of him and caught him in the neck. I thought that it was the only way for me to escape. I ran after that and the next corner I rounded I ran straight into you two. After that, when he rounded the corner after me, Impa hit him in his leg with one of her knives and Cimar knocked him out, then dragged him here."

Silence pervaded the room after Malon finished, each person wanting to absorb her story before saying anything. When the silence was broken, it was Cimar who was first to speak.

"So I guess now we throw him into prison and interrogate him about what he was planning to do with Malon and why he killed the king then."

"Not quite Cimar," replied Zelda. "I believe that Impa can get all of the information that we need right now, isn't that correct Impa?"

The sheikah nodded, "That is correct; however I will need to have him awake in order to extract the information out of him. An unconscious mind can prove to be a very unreliable source of information. Also, if he is going to be awake, we need to have him bound so that he can't escape no matter what he tries."

Link and Cimar turned and nodded at each other as they hefted Dark Cimar onto their shoulders and shoved him into one of the chairs around the table. Impa revealed some rope that she had managed to find while looking for Link and quickly tied him to the chair so that the only part of his body that could move would be his head.

"There is one last thing I will need you all to do before I wake him." Impa said, staring at each of the people in the room. "I will need for all of you to leave." A chorus of yells greeted her and she groaned silently to herself, knowing that it was going to happen.

"What!"

"You can't be serious!"
"Why?"

"Silence, please, I have my reasons for this decision."

"But Impa," Zelda pleaded walking towards her attendant, "We can't leave you with him. He murdered my father, tried to murder Malon and for all we know could try to kill you!"

"I agree with Zelda Impa," Malon quickly added, "That man is dangerous, even if he is bound hand and foot he could injure or kill you."

"I know the risks involved, yet in order to get the information we need, I and I alone need to talk to him. Believe it or not but I have dealt with far worse creatures than the people of shadow. If I need any help, I will call for you however, I need to try and do this by myself first. Trust me; I know what I am doing." She stared at each of them, seeing the questioning looks in their eyes, knowing that even with all of her pleas they would still not trust her alone with Dark Cimar.

"Impa?"

"Yes Zelda?"

"If this is the only way you can find out if he murdered my father and to find out what any of his other plans were, then use any method you know of to get that information. We will be waiting for you outside the door. Be careful, we don't know what he is capable of."

Impa smiled at the concern in the princess's voice. "I will."

They slowly filed out of the room with Zelda leaving last, taking one last look at Impa before she closed the door. She had lost a father just a day previous and did not want to lose the attendant that had been like a mother to her. As the door closed, Impa turned towards the sunken figure sitting in the chair. It had been a long time since she had interrogated somebody. She cracked her knuckles then reached into a pouch on her belt, pulling out a small orange powder. Yes, it had been a long time and she needed to make sure she wasn't rusty.

It had been several hours since they had left the room and they were still sitting outside of the council chambers. Sastur had returned several minutes after they had begun waiting and reported back that general Dagoron had posted more guards around the castle and also as a precaution, had ordered the army to high alert in case someone tried to break into the castle to free their prisoner.

Link yawned and stretched his arms while looking out the window. The sun was started to set which meant that Impa had been in there for almost four hours now. He was started to become worried. What was taking her so long? His hands played around with the cucco bone on his plate, all that was left of the dinner that the servants had brought them. He looked around the hallway at the people around him. Zelda was sitting in a chair holding a staring contest with the door to the room where Impa was and appeared to be winning. He gaze had never moved from that door, even when the servants had brought them their dinner for the night. Her plate lay untouched on the floor to his concern.

Sastur was leaning against the wall next to Zelda, his eyes darting to and fro, always watching and waiting as if something was going to happen. Cimar and Malon had been sitting next to each other until Malon had fallen asleep. The event of the day had taken its toll and now her head lay on Cimar's shoulder, who had fallen asleep as well. They both lay propped up against each other, keeping the other from falling onto the floor. Link grinned when he examined them further and noticed that they were holding hands as well. He was glad that Malon had finally found someone who cared about her as much as Link did. It wasn't that he regretted marrying Zelda, far from it. It was just that every time he had come over to visit her, she always seemed a little less cheery than the time before. Her smiles seemed to come and go quicker and even her laugh seemed to have lost its warmth. It had worried him to see one of his best friends slowly losing the joy they had in life. Cimar had changed that. Her cheeriness had returned fourfold and her smiles and laughter always seemed to follow her wherever she went. The month that had led up to her marriage to Cimar was the happiest Link had ever seen her. He remembered hearing from one of the eye stones near the temple of time that Malon had been waiting for a knight in shining armor to sweep her off her feet. Well, it looked like he had arrived and Link couldn't be happier.

His memories slowly drew back to the present and his worry for Impa returned. Nobody had spoken for fear that it would interrupt whatever she was doing and they had heard no sounds issuing from the room, not even the sound of a chair scrapping across the floor. Even the sound of two swords clanging against each other would have been a welcome reprieve from the unbroken and hideous silence. The sudden sound of a chair grating across stone dispelled the silence and Link looked up to see Zelda stand up and start moving towards the door.

'I can't take this any longer, I have to know what is going on in there!" she cried as she started to grab the door knob. She felt as a hand covered her and pulled hers away from the door. Turning around she looked straight into the eyes of Link.

"Impa said she would be fine. We would have heard noises by now if something bad had happened" he whispered into her ear, trying to make as little noise as possible.

"I know" she whispered back, "I know, I just can't….I just can't stand this silence anymore, its driving me crazy. I have to know that she is alright." She said, both her voice and eyes showing betraying the worry she held over her attendant.

"I'm sure she is alright Zel, she will come out when she is finished gathering whatever information she is gathering." He led her back over to her chair and helped her sit down in it. He grabbed the plate of food that had been sitting on the ground and held it up to her while he crouched next to her. "You might as well eat something since I doubt you had anything to eat when you were in those meetings all morning."

Before Zelda could dismiss the food her stomach let out a low grumble, signifying that her stomach had decided otherwise. They both let out a small laugh. In reality she was starving yet she didn't feel like eating when she didn't know what was going on beyond that door in front of her. Her stomach growled again and she knew that it would be pointless to disagree with it. She took the plate of food away from Link and tore into it as quickly as she could, abandoning all aspects of etiquette and manners.

"Your welcome" Link chuckled as he sat down against the wall with a soft thud as he hit the stone floor of the hall. Zelda quickly finished the rest of the food and dropped the plate to the ground on the opposite side of Link. With a loud crash the plate shattered into hundreds of pieces. Sastur jumped slightly and reached for his sword at his belt. Cimar and Malon bolted awake, looking around trying to find the origin of the crash. Link jumped up to face Zelda who was now holding her head in her hands sobbing quietly.

Link reached around Zelda and held her in his arms as she cried, whispering softly to her. She looked up at him; her eyes reddened and fell into his arms, her sobs beginning anew. He looked up at Cimar and Malon who were staring at Zelda intently and motioned with one hand that everything was ok. With a reassuring nod, Malon and Cimar went back to leaning against the wall and were soon sleeping peacefully again. After a few minutes, Zelda started to quiet, her tears starting to slow.

"I'm sorry, Link…I don't know what came over me. I just thought about my father and…" she wiped at her eyes, wiping away the few tears that had lingered.

"I know how you are feeling right now and it is ok. He was your father and the only family you had left in this world. It's ok to cry, really it is." She stifled a small sob and looked up into Link's face as she tried to smile but ended up turning towards the door again. She felt Links hand on her cheek and turned to see him staring at her, his cerulean eyes awash with care.

"She'll be aright, just you wait, just you wait…"

They both stared in silence towards the room that held one of the last people from Zelda's childhood and waited patiently. Another hour passed and Zelda had slowly begun to nod off. A few minutes later and she was asleep in his arms. He breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that she was finally resting from the torture that had marked the past day for her. He kept up the vigil, watching the door while everyone slept around him. Another hour passed and Link's head started to nod up and down. It had been six hours and still no sounds had come from the room. The sun had set, covering the land in twilight as the last of the light started to fade away. Sastur was sitting on the ground snoring softly to the amusement of Link. The seventh hour came and went like the last and Link could not stay awake any longer as he started to nod off.

Whether it was a second later, a minute or even an hour he didn't know but the sound of a door creaking open woke Link from his slumber. His eyes opened instantly and started to get up but stopped himself as he realized Zelda was still asleep in his arms. He looked up and to his relief Impa stood before him. She closed the door softly and motioned with her hands if Link could follow her. He hesitated for a second, then as carefully as he could so he wouldn't wake his wife; he got out from under her and laid her gently on the floor. Taking off his hat, he laid it under her head as a pillow before walking away a couple of feet where Impa stood.

"Well, what happened in there?" he whispered in as soft a voice as he could muster.

"It is true that he did kill the king" Link's mind let out a silent cheer knowing now that his friend was truly innocent. "However, tonight's raid on the castle was only the first of several steps in a plan that, if successful would end in the destruction of Hyrule and the death of all of its citizens."

Link looked quizzically at Impa. "Surely his plan couldn't have succeeded. He is only one man." Impa shook her head and Link started to frown. "You mean there are others here as well?"

"Yes, there are three others here besides him, in fact, the shadows of all four of you, Cimar, Malon, Zelda and yourself are in Hyrule as we speak."

"What is their plan then? Why did he try to sneak into the castle like he did and why did he go after Malon?" Link asked after a minute of silence.

"Their plan in its simple form is this; they had planned on kidnapping Malon to use as a sacrifice to break the seal on the fierce deity's mask. With the seal broken, the full power of the fierce deity would be unleashed on Hyrule destroying all who stand in his way." Impa shook her head and sighed. "They plan on conquering Hyrule as they did the shadow realm so many millennia ago. If they succeed" she started to whisper even more quietly than before, "it will end with annihilation of every living thing in this world."

Another long chapter that took a long time for me to write but I hope you enjoyed it though. Please review what you think about the story so far and I'll try and post the next chapter tomorrow.