The following days passed slowly. When Link wasn't busy being paraded around by Ruto and glared at by the king, he was shivering in some damp, dimly glowing cave, passionately wishing he had never set eyes on a fish. They'd managed to find a human bed for him—Ruto had not realized Link would need anything but a puddle to sleep in—but even so, the nights were long and cold and damp, and Link got very little sleep. Shivering became a normal part of life, and it was not long before Link caught a very bad cold.

None of the Zoras noticed.

After two weeks, Link was done. He was tired to the bone, clumsy and cold, his head felt full of fluff, and he could hardly remember the warmth of the sun. He took the now-empty bottle that had once housed the golden fish, stole a scrap of strangely-textured paper from somebody's desk, and composed a message for Malon.

Help—kidnapped by fish

Cant get out

Link staggered down to the cold tunnel that ended in water, that sunken gate to the outside world, and he tossed the bottle in. With moments, it was gone. Link whispered a plea to the Goddesses, asking that Malon find it.

He turned to walk away—to return to his cold, damp chambers and await Ruto's next whim—but a noise from the corridor made him pause. Footsteps. Link ducked into an alcove and hid. Three figures passed by without noticing him.

"Tell me you've found him." That was Ruto's voice, and her words were soft—Link could barely hear them over the quiet hush of the water. He peered around the corner carefully, and the saw the princess standing with her hands clasped in front of her, facing two tall Zoras clad in the armor of the Royal Guard.

The taller one of the pair shook his head. "No sign. I'm sorry, Princess."

The other guard added, "Forgive me if I speak out of turn, your Highness, but perhaps it's time you considered—"

"No!" Though she did not raise her voice, Ruto's word rang down the hall. "I will not give up on him. Take what time you need to rest, then return to searching. We will find him. We have to. I can only buy time for so long."

The guards exchanged a glance, but they both bowed. "As you wish, your Highness."

Without another word, the two of them dove into the tunnel and swam back out into the world.

Ruto's shoulders fell, and she collapsed against the nearest wall, face drawn tight in misery.

Link cleared his throat and stepped out of his hiding place. "What was that about?"

The princess' eyes flew open, and she drew herself up in a quick display of anger. "What are you doing here!"

Link crossed his arms—as much for warmth as anything. "You know, I've been wondering that same thing since you dragged me here. What am I—I—" he broke off in a coughing fit, and it was a moment before he could catch his breath. "What am I doing here? Besides dying slowly. I've been wondering for ages, and that little exchange right there looked suspiciously relevant."

Ruto frowned. "That's my business and my business alone."

Link sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, I get it. You're in charge and the rest of us are just underlings to be commanded. Fine. But you said something about buying time. I'm here helping you buy time. So the information is need-to-know—I think I'm probably one of those people who needs to know. Who knows? Maybe I can help."

"You can't," Ruto insisted, turning away.

"You don't know that."

"You're doing enough."

"Well, maybe I can do more."

Ruto turned back to face him, shooting an impressively miserable glare. "You'd need a miracle."

Link shrugged. "Maybe. Or maybe dumb luck is enough to make do. Come on, Princess—I'm already here, sworn to secrecy at your beck and call. And I'd like to think I've done a pretty good job keeping up our charade, so far. What have you got to lose?"

Ruto sighed and slumped, sinking down the wall until she sat crosslegged on the cavern floor with her head in her hands. Carefully, Link came and sat beside her.

"Do you know the main reason I don't want to marry?" she eventually said.

Link shrugged and shook his head. "It's your life to do with as you please."

"Well, it's not just because I don't want Father choosing a suitor for me. That's a part of it, but… it's more because I've already chosen. We wanted to marry, Mikau and I. At first it was fine—he was a warrior, the pride of our people—but then Father sent him off to aid Hyrule in the Great War, and Mikau came home different. He set down his spear, renounced his title, and said he would never fight again." A faint smile played about Ruto's mouth. "He said he was a musician, now. A pacifist. Of course I still loved him, but..." Her smile faded. "Father was furious. Called him a disgrace. He nearly had Mikau exiled and branded a traitor until I threatened to leave, too."

She hesitated, gathering her thoughts. Link waited. After a moment, Ruto licked her lips and continued.

"It wasn't wonderful, after that. But it wasn't awful, either. Father kept finding reasons to delay our marriage in hopes that I'd give up, but Mikau and I were together. We used to sit sometimes for hours—he would practice his guitar, and I would help him write his songs. I would always there to soothe him when… when the war came back in his dreams. The things he saw…"

She trailed off again. Link cleared his throat gently. "What happened to him?"

"It was pirates." Ruto's voice was strong again, reinforced by anger. "Those lawless Gerudo thieves have been a scourge on our waters far too long. They stole something very dear to me, and—and Mikau—Mikau went to get it back. He can't stand fighting, but he took his spear again and went to get it back for me because he knew I couldn't tell my father I'd lost it but now he's gone and Father won't look and—and—"

Link hushed her softly as she broke down, placing a comforting hand on her cold arm. "It's okay. I understand. You—" he suppressed another coughing fit and wheezed, "You don't have to talk anymore. I think I see the whole picture, now—you and me are killing time so your search parties can get out there and do what they need to do without your father knowing, right?"

Ruto nodded, scrubbing angrily at her face with her hands. "I'm weak—a sorry excuse for a princess. I should be able to handle this. I shouldn't be—shouldn't be sharing such things with a Hylian commoner…"

"I don't know if it makes you feel any better, but I'm a Hylian commoner who's found his way into the direct service of Princess Zelda and more or less singlehandedly saved the Goron people, so… there's that."

Ruto glared at him. "What?"

"Yeah, it was weird, and it sounds even weirder to say out loud. But my point is, as far as Hylian commoners go, you could do worse."

"What?" Ruto repeated.

"You could do worse. I fact, there's a good chance I might be able to help."

Ruto opened and shut her mouth for a moment before repeating her question a third time.

"Hear me out—" Link said, his voice strained from not coughing, "I've got a boat that flies, and I'm a better fighter than I am a diplomat. As far as these things go, my odds aren't bad. Also, it's only a matter of time before staying here kills me, so I may as well make myself useful before I keel over."

Ruto's glare darkened. "This is no time for jokes."

"I'm not joking. I truly want to help, and I truly think I'm dying. I mean, look at me. Do you see how pale I am? My skin is not normally this color. Please—let me try. It'll be doing both of us a favor."

Ruto hesitated a long moment before speaking. "I… suppose you have been good on your word thus far…"

"I have. Don't worry—my reasons might be different, but but I want to see this resolved as much as you do."

After another pause, Ruto sighed and climbed back to her feet, offering Link a hand up. "Very well then. Dawn tomorrow I shall return you to the shore. But I will expect regular reports. Once a week, at midnight, I expect to see you at the place where we first met."

Link nodded and accepted her hand. "Fair enough. I promise you, Princess—I'll do all I can."

Ruto nodded. "Dare I say, I'm counting on you."

So... it's been a while.

Turns out that slump thing I mentioned last time is still going strong. I'm not gonna quit kicking, but gosh if it ain't sometimes a struggle.

There's some exciting stuff, though. This story has passed the 10,000 view mark, so that's pretty cool. Thanks for reading, friends. I appreciate you.

Other exciting stuff-I'm almost done with my next book, so that's pretty neat. Sooner or later I'll be ready to publish that.

And as for the book that's already out, the kindle version of Wardbreaker is gonna be on sale for cheap this Christmas. If you haven't already checked that out, December 25-31 is a pretty good time for it.

So yeah. Thanks for reading, thanks for sticking with me, thanks for following and favoriting and reviewing, thanks for your patience, and thanks for your support. I'm doing my best. I can't promise when the next chapter will be out, but I can promise I won't give up.

I'll see you next time.

~Garsson