Zelda stood in the centre of the room, in between two men, so vastly different, twisting her fingers together furiously. She had a choice to make, but which one was right? She turned her gaze back to Ganondorf, who now looked utterly furious.

"Now just wait one moment." He said, taking a step forwards. "Who exactly do you think you are?"

Lubal tossed his hair. "I am Prince Lubal, of Holo-"

"Am I supposed to care?"

Zelda barely stifled a snicker at the extremely offended look on Lubal's face as Ganondorf continued.

"You are certainly bold, to invade my Kingdom mere months after I have conquered it myself. Tell me, what makes you think you can take it from me?" Ganondorf's voice had taken on a dangerous quality, becoming silky smooth and even, just barely concealing the rage beneath. Zelda was momentarily glad it wasn't her he was speaking to that way; his softly spoken promises of violence were always far more terrifying than his shouting and blustering.

Lubal took a moment to swoosh his cape dramatically. "I am not without abilities myself." His voice became smug. "After all, I got to Hyrule right under your nose, and you didn't even realise. You see? You might as well give up now, for I fully intend to drive you from Hyrule and take the lovely Zelda as my wife."

Zelda watched Ganondorf's eyes narrow, his fingers twitching. Truly, she'd fully expected him to have lunged for the mans throat long ago. His restraint was almost admirable.

"Indeed you have."

She frowned; Ganondorf sounded almost conversational.

"You've snuck in, as you say, right under my nose. If you are so assured of your victory, then perhaps you wouldn't mind enlightening me as to how exactly you did so?"

Zelda grinned slowly; he was playing Lubal to get the information he wanted before he killed him. Sneaky.

Lubal preened. "Well, it wasn't hard." He boasted. "Zelda helped me."

Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open as Ganondorf spun around to glare at her. "What?"

"Well, not consciously." Lubal amended. "Rather, her determination to have her advisors restored to her helped me. It wasn't exactly difficult to get in touch with the Hylian rebels and give them aid, and in return, they put me in contact with one of my lovely Zelda's ministers, who relayed to me all the necessary information."

Zelda frowned, taking a step forwards. "Which minster?" She asked, hoping Lubal wouldn't have enough brains to realise he ought to keep his mouth shut to protect his co-conspirators.

"Why, Lord Barrum, of course. He told me all about you, my darling, and only hastened my plans." He snorted. "Fat lot of good he was. The man's about as handy as tits on a bull. We tried to get him out of the way first before coming to get you, my pretty, but…" Lubal sighed. "The idiot nearly killed you instead. I could have throttled him."

Her brows drawing together, she stared at Lubal. "Barrum poisoned me?" There came a distinct growl from behind her.

"Well… yes. I am sorry about it Zelda. It was unintentional. Can't you see, my lovely? All that I've done I've done for you."

Zelda turned away slightly, feeling vaguely uncomfortable. A look at Ganondorf told her he was mentally adding Barrum to the list of men he was to slaughter in a painful fashion later. She felt momentarily sorry for the man, but then hardened herself. He was a spy, and he'd nearly killed her baby.

Lubal clicked his tongue impatiently. "That's enough blather. Come to me now, my dear."

Ganondorf raised his blades threateningly. "You won't take her from me." He snarled viciously, and Lubal frowned slightly, before flexing his fingers towards her. Still, Ganondorf made no movement towards her, though he could so easily seize her, physically stop her from joining Lubal if he wanted to.

"Zelda." Lubal snapped. "Choose."

Her brows drew together as she considered things. Lubal was… an unattractive prospect in terms of conversation and attitude, but he'd let her run her Kingdom the way she wanted, providing she didn't get in the way of his… exploits. Zelda wrinkled her nose at that; she would rather prefer a husband who was faithful to her, though in the world of arranged marriages, such a thing was not common. On the other hand… provided he was in a good mood, Ganondorf's conversation was intelligent and thoughtful. He wouldn't let her run Hyrule on her own, but it was true that as the months passed, he had become more and more willing to hear her opinions on things… perhaps…

She bit her lip. What of her people? Her duty? She'd sworn to herself that they would always come first, and now… these two men – each of them had their positive sides, and each of them had rather large negative aspects as well. The choice was difficult indeed. Not to mention how utterly furious Ganondorf would be if she went with Lubal, and the Demon King ended up slaughtering the prince.

Zelda took one step forwards, towards the centre of the room, and Lubal nodded happily, his voice crooning and oddly seductive. "That's it, my dearest. Leave the savage behind. You needn't think of him ever again."

Ganondorf growled at Lubal's term of endearment, but still, he did not speak. Instead, his eyes held firm to hers, before his gaze slowly lowered to the swell of their child, and Zelda bit her lip, turning back towards Lubal, who stared at her with undisguised greed and delight. He could see her weakening resolve as her gaze flitted between the two men.

Zelda took one step, then another barely conscious of where her own feet were taking her. Before she even realised it, she was standing before him, and he reached out, curling her into his side. Zelda nestled against him, feeling incredibly comforted as the weight of his arm held tight around her shoulders, holding her close to him. She opened her eyes and took a deep breath at his whispered oath, relief plain on his tongue, then stared across the room at Lubal, who looked confused and outraged, from beneath Ganondorf's touch. She had made her choice.

"Zelda? What is the meaning of this!?" Lubal sounded furious as he advanced several steps; Ganondorf growled in retaliation and took a half step forwards to meet his challenge, pushing her behind him slightly. Zelda clung to his hand for a moment then let go, stepping backwards until her hands found the wall behind her, content for the moment to hide behind her husband's bulk. Husband. Never had the word sounded so comforting in this moment. Easing around so she could see Lubal, Zelda eyed him critically. Now she thought about it longer, even if she did 'choose' Lubal, and he managed to kill Ganondorf, she didn't have to marry him. She could hold her own against him, personally, but… his army was a different matter. If she refused him further, with no buffer in the form of a certain Gerudo King, Hyrule would fall – again. No, this was the best choice – her heart swelled at the thought. Ganondorf was the best choice.

"No." She breathed. "I won't go with you."

Ganondorf seemed to become taller at her words, and she noticed him peer at her out of the corner of his eye, a triumphant smirk on his lips. He was confident now – not that he hadn't been before – but now, the Gerudo King carried himself as though he were a God, and Lubal? Well, he was just a man. He seemed to know it too, backing away slightly, an intense sneer on his face.

"You're making a mistake, Princess." Lubal said coldly, reverting back to formality. "I'll give you one last chance to rectify it."

Zelda shook her head wordlessly, and Ganondorf snickered slightly, which made Lubal swell in indignation.

"Enough nonsense, man." The Gerudo King snarled, taking another step towards the Holodronian prince. "You really think you can defeat me? I am the Demon King. You are delusional."

"This isn't how it was supposed to go!" Shrieked Lubal, spittle flying past his lips. Zelda furrowed her brow, watching his wild look with concern. "Ipim said-" He cut himself off with a fearful glance, and Zelda gasped.

"You're working with the Zora." Growled Ganondorf flatly.

Lubal looked furious with himself. "Fine!" He shouted. "Yes! The Zora let my army through their territory to get here, sort of."

Zelda frowned at him. "Sort of?"

"Behind the backs of the royal family, spineless fools that they are. The stupid Queen wouldn't agree to move against Hyrule." Lubal made a dismissive gesture. "Ipim helped me bribe who needed to bribed, all the while avoiding the eye of Nalame."

Ganondorf was quiet for a moment as he absorbed this new information.

At that moment, a bolt of light flew over their heads and smashed into the wall. Ganondorf snarled viciously and threw himself forwards, away from her. Lubal stood there with glowing hands, and sent another bolt towards Ganondorf, who deflected it with his swords, and it hit the pianoforte, smashing it into pieces. Zelda stared at in horror, and realised trying to get to the door would put her in danger of being hit by an errant blast of Lubal's magic, so she stayed were she was, moving swiftly along the wall and wedging herself firmly into the corner. Without any warning at all, the conversation, if you could even call it that, had devolved into flat out warfare. She prepared to call her magic as a shield at any moment as the fight between the two men became more intense.

Ganondorf was slowly but surely making his way towards Lubal with murder in his eyes, deflecting the bolts as they came, though he made no defensive move of his own; Zelda knew then that he intended to kill the prince with his bare hands. Lubal looked ever increasingly desperate, shouting racist insults and hurling bolts of his magic at Ganondorf without any real attempt at accuracy. The wall he was up against had no door for him to escape through, and he stabbed a finger towards the Gerudo King with wild eyes.

"Ignorant savage! If I can't have her-"

The rest of his sentence was lost to her as he loosed another energy bolt. This time though, it was aimed directly at her, hitting the wall just a little above her head. Zelda screamed as the world exploded around her.

Ganondorf felt his heart stop as he watched most of the stone wall and a good section of the ceiling crumble and collapse on top of Zelda. Movement out of the corner of his eye drew his attention, and he saw Lubal launch himself out the window, catching himself with his magic.

"No." He gasped blankly, dropping his blades and throwing himself across the room to the pile of rubble, and began clearing the stones, ignoring the pain in his wounded shoulder, seizing chunks of rock and hurling them aside, dreading what he was going to find.

"Zelda? Zelda!"

The more stone he removed, though, the more he could see a faint golden light shining through. A still burning candle? His wife… his child… agony ripped through him. If Zelda were to die, then everything would have been in vain. The cycle would not be broken. He couldn't hold her again. Panic well and truly setting in, Ganondorf heaved a large chunk of plaster to the side, when he suddenly stopped and stared, frozen with amazement. Zelda was there, curled up tightly with her face buried in her knees, her wrists crossed over her head, surrounded by a second skin of glowing golden light.

He reached out to touch her, but couldn't; it was a shield. "Zelda!" He called, digging through the rest of the rubble to get to her. She lifted her head and stared, the light around her winking out, her face bloodless and shocked. He could touch her now, and Ganondorf sank to his knees, pulling her into him. Zelda let out a choked gasp and buried her face in the base of his throat, her hands digging into his armour plating. Relief hit him like a punch to the gut. She's alive, she's fine. He pulled her back slightly to carefully examine her, holding her closely as if to reassure himself that she was real, that she was all right.

"Are you hurt?"

She still looked utterly shell-shocked, but shook her head.

"No, I'm all right." She said shakily. "I… I had a shield."

As he watched, her eyes filled with tears. "He tried to kill me." She whispered, and he growled, pulling her closer.

"He will pay for this."

Zelda managed a weak chuckle, and brushed her fingers along his jaw. "Good." She said, and he leaned down to brush his lips over her hair; she let out something halfway between a sob and a gasp. Adrenaline flowed through him; he wanted nothing more than to find Lubal and rip him apart with his bare hands. The longer he looked at Zelda, the angrier he became; she could have been killed, and that simply didn't even bear thinking about. After she'd chosen him. He frowned slightly. Did that mean what he thought it meant? He didn't even know anymore.

Ganondorf stood up, cradling Zelda to his chest as he stepped carefully out of the rubble, ignoring the sounds of battle echoing in through the open window, and lowered her down onto the nearest dusty chaise lounge, grabbing both her hands in his.

"You're all right but…. the baby?" He asked anxiously, and Zelda nodded slowly, still looking rather shocked.

"Okay…" She breathed. "We're okay."

Utter relief flowed through him and he half frowned to himself. He was worried about the princess. When she'd been standing there, so obviously torn between himself and Lubal, he'd felt – what? He'd felt as though a portion of him had been torn from his breast – in truth, his heart. He might be trying to ignore it, but there was one truth he couldn't; this wasn't entirely about his child. Ganondorf somewhat abruptly realised that somewhere along the way, he'd come to legitimately care for her. Damn it. How could he have let this happen? This was an alarming and slightly uncomfortable development, really. Hmm. But what was he supposed to do now? He doubted Zelda would feel the same way; she hated him…. Didn't she? Or at least, she had. Mind working furiously, his thoughts returned to how she spoke, how she smiled, how she touched him now… Maybe, just maybe… If she still hated him, why had she chosen him when she could have gone to Lubal? Hope blossomed within him, and Ganondorf worked to ruthlessly stamp it down. He couldn't be certain of anything yet. His thoughts returned to what she'd told him just a little while ago. Hadn't she explained that her emotions couldn't be manipulated? Therefore, if the way she acted was genuine… He shoved these suspicions further down; they could wait until later.

Zelda bit her lip as she stared at her husband. Ganondorf was covered in blood and a fair amount of unidentifiable dust and grime. There was a fresh cut across his cheek, dints in his armour, and a hole in his shoulder that dribbled blood with every movement, but otherwise, he seemed okay. She noted this with relief.

The expression on his face was… interesting… to say the least. He looked very genuinely relieved that she was okay, and the intensity of his golden eyes as he stared at her was causing warmth to spread through her.

She frowned anxiously at the wound in his shoulder. "You're hurt." She said, her eyes flashing up to meet his.

Ganondorf nodded and flexed irritably. "Stupid soldier got lucky." he muttered, sounding annoyed.

"Let me…"

Zelda reached out a glowing hand cautiously, watching his face. He didn't object, simply watched her with that unidentifiable look on his face. Zelda closed her eyes as she laid her hand over the wound, concentrating as she pooled her magic at her fingertips, feeling his flesh knit beneath her touch as the pain faded. Opening her eyes, she grinned at him as he moved his arm, examining the smooth skin where the wound once was.

"There's not even a scar." He said, sounding surprised and pleased. Zelda snickered slightly.

"Healing magic." She said, then hooked her fingers into his breastplate, pulling him forwards. "Come closer."

When his face was in range, she traced her fingertips along the cut on his cheek, watching as it sealed beneath her gaze. She pulled back and smiled at him. "All better." She said cheerfully, and Ganondorf captured her hand and pressed a kiss to her knuckles.

"Thank you." He said gruffly, and she smiled, before he narrowed his eyes at her. "Why has Lubal…?"

Zelda bit her lip and looked away, her hands coming to rest protectively over her child. Ganondorf didn't need to finish the question.

"He wants me to marry him. I don't know why he has such a fixation on me… He doesn't seem to be overly coherent." She said, explaining in a rush. "Lubal's not very happy with the fact that I'm pregnant with your child. He said once you were… dead…, he'd marry me to save my reputation, and then… he said he'd make me take something to quicken my baby before its time." She blinked away tears as Ganondorf snarled under his breath. "He said it wouldn't matter, because the baby would be Gerudo… would barely be human."

She let out a shaky breath and glanced up at Ganondorf, who wore such an expression of fury she nearly cringed.

"I will kill him." He said shortly, standing up and holding out his hands; his swords flew into his grip. He looked down at her and frowned.

"But you can't stay here." He said, and sending his swords away, he bent down and picked her up. Zelda leaned her head against his shoulder despite the uncomfortable armour plating as he hummed thoughtfully. A moment later and black shadows swirled around them, then dissipated, revealing them to be in the astronomy tower. Ganondorf lowered her to the floor and grabbed her hands.

"Stay here." He said roughly, and Zelda nodded. "I don't think he'd come up here if he went looking for you." He continued with a scowl. "So stay put."

Zelda nodded, and he stepped backwards.

"Now." He said, summoning his blades again. "I have a battle to win and a prince to disembowel."

Zelda moved forwards, pressing herself against him, ignoring the sticky blood, resting her hands lightly on his chest. "Be careful." She breathed, no longer caring what he thought of her regard for him. Ganondorf stroked a hand down the side of her face, and she captured his hand with hers, turning to nuzzle into his palm, hearing his intake of breath as she did so. "I mean it." She continued with a choked laugh. "Don't make me come down there."

His grin was laced with emotion, and his arms wrapped around her, pulling her close. "Is that a threat?"

Zelda smiled weakly as he leaned down, and she brushed her hand over his jaw. "Only if you make it one."

Ganondorf kissed her then, sweetly, lightly, just the merest brush of his lips over hers. Zelda's eyes fluttered open as he pulled back, looking almost pained as he did so until they were connected only by their fingertips. Zelda finally let the feelings she'd been trying to repress for so long go. The thought that he could be killed made her chest hurt, and she closed her eyes, feeling the finality of her emotions settle all the down to her bones. Despite her better judgment, she really had fallen in love with him. How stupid of her.

"Lubal has some sort of a plan to kill you." She said, biting her lip. "He told me that much, but he didn't say what he was planning."

Ganondorf snorted. "I'd like to see him try." He said darkly.

Zelda frowned. "Promise me you'll be careful."

He rolled his eyes, but ran a hand down her hair. "Heh. It's almost as though you actually think this miserable prince could best me in battle!" At her frown, he softened slightly. "Very well, Zelda. I'll be careful."

He seemed quite pleased about something, but she couldn't imagine what.

"Come back to me quickly." She breathed, and Ganondorf's expression changed, his golden eyes burning intensely.

"You have my word." He said firmly, brushing his thumb over her lip for a long moment, his eyes darkening as her lips parted. Ganondorf released her as shadows wrapped around him, and he vanished.

Zelda immediately dashed over the window that would over look the front of the castle and pried the curtain back, wedging herself into the space between the fabric and the windowsill. Far down below, she could see the battles spilling through the streets of Hyrule town, frowning anxiously, she looked around, hoping to spot either Ganondorf or Lubal. Flashes of light caught her attention, and she looked down to see Ganondorf fairly wading through enemy troops; even from this distance she could see how he towered over them. His fighting style appeared to be brute strength combined with magic; he was a warlock after all, she reminded herself. With every devastating swing of his blades, a shockwave of black shadows and bright purplish white energy rippled outwards, blasting soldiers back several men at a time. He moved forwards slowly but surely, cutting down hordes of Holodronian men as he moved.

Zelda peered around, trying to identify different people; she could see Lieutenant General Lugolph standing in the courtyard, gesturing in different directions as he directed troops. On the stone battlements directly below her, Zelda could see Hylian archers busily picking off Holodronian troops, and down in the village, she could just see a mob of darknuts shielding some Hylian civilians as the monsters led them down and out of the town. Zelda smiled thankfully at that; Ganondorf really had ordered his troops to help the civilians, despite the fact they were Hylian. Speaking of Ganondorf, she could no longer see him, but she could see great blasts of magic emanating over the rooftop of the building that was blocking her view; as well as hear the screams of the enemy soldiers that were hit. From her vantage point, she could see that the Holodronian soldiers were mounting a pointed attack against the castle gates; her lips thinned to see it. She wondered where Lubal was.

All of a sudden, Zelda felt cold fear grip her heart. Where was Link? She'd completely forgotten about him. She dashed for the door, wrenching it open and starting down the stairs. How could she have forgotten about Link!? Where was he? She'd told him to stay, but what if he'd gone outside? Walking proved to be taking too long, so Zelda called her magic to her and her feet left the floor, and she flew down the stairs, golden motes zipping along after her, her gown billowing out behind her. Once she reached the landing, she hovered in mid air, closing her eyes as she searched for the little boy's mind. She found him after not too long, and sent her thoughts into his.

*Link?*

*Princess!?*

*Link, where are you?*

*Um, I'm down in the kitchens. Cook is making me hide in the cupboard*

*Good. Stay there*

Flying down the staircase, Zelda ignored the startled looks she got from the Hylian civilians and servants milling about anxiously in the grand hall, as she flicked her wrist, causing the heavy doors to fly open and close behind her after she zipped through.

She was halfway down a corridor when an enormous boom rocked the castle. Zelda froze, listening to the screams and running feet echoing throughout the halls as tiny poofs of dust came free of the ceilings with a sickening grinding noise, dropping into her hair. Her heart hammering in her chest, Zelda immediately changed course, flying through the corridors at top speed, seeking a window. When she arrived at a window, she stuck her face out to recoil in horror as a huge flaming stone went whistling over her head to smash into the side of one of the towers, knocking vast chunks of stone to come crashing down on the courtyard. Looking down, Zelda could see that there were several bodies lying under some of the stone; evidently, some people hadn't been able to get away in time. Biting her lip, Zelda scanned the horizon, looking for – there. The Holodronian army had constructed four massive trebuchets, and they were assaulting the castle.

Zelda floated up and through the window, letting herself fall to the ground, catching herself before she impacted on the cobbles. Lieutenant Carobi stopped in the middle of barking orders to stare at her, his mouth hanging open, before he dashed over.

"Should you be out here, your Majesty?" He asked worriedly, flinching slightly as another projectile flew over their heads to impact on the battlements, scattering archers installed on the battlements. The sound was almost deafening.

"Possibly not." She said. "What's happening? What's being done to stop the trebuchets?"

Carobi shrugged desperately. "Honestly, ma'am, I've no idea. We've tried a counter attack, but the Holodronian forces have made themselves into a shield around the catapults. Be nice if we had a shield around the castle." He muttered. "We could sure use it."

Zelda gasped. "A shield?" She held up a glowing hand. "I can do that."

Carobi stared at her for a second before understanding dawned on his face. "Yes!" He crowed, then turned. "Where's Lugolph when you need him? This way, ma'am!"

Zelda followed as Carobi led her through to where Lugolph was standing. The young man seized the older general by the shoulder and hurriedly explained the plan; the old man stared, stunned, before turning to face her.

"You can do that, your Majesty?"

Zelda nodded. "I can." I think so.

"Well then!"

Zelda grinned and floated up off the ground as she held out a hand to Carobi. "Come with me; I'll need you to tell me where to put it."

Carobi, to his credit, didn't even hesitate. He put his hand in hers, and Zelda pulled them both up off the ground as she headed up and up.

"Where are we going, ma'am?" Carobi shouted this over the wind, looking both exhilarated and terrified as he held his hat on his head.

"The top of the astronomy tower." Zelda yelled, veering to the left to avoid another missile. After another few seconds, they alighted on the roof of the astronomy tower.

"Now." She said, grabbing Carobi's sleeve. "Where do I put it?"

"Um." He said, scanning the area. "Right. See there? We want it past the moat and along the outer walls; if it's there we can pour our resources into defending the town rather than the castle."

"Okay." Zelda released the lieutenant as he grabbed hold of the spire to avoid falling off the roof. They were certainly high up; it must be above 200 feet; a sizeable enough drop.

Zelda pictured the border of the castle firmly in her minds eye; extending her arms, she let her magic consume her, golden motes pulsing from her body as she concentrated. Slowly, a shimmering golden border began to form on the ground around the castle.

Hearing shouts of confusion, Ganondorf looked back towards the castle, ignoring for a moment the dying Holodronian man at his feet, and did a double take. He could immediately see what both Hylian and Holodronian troops were shouting about; floating above the tallest spire of the castle was a glowing golden figure, arms outstretched.

"It's a Goddess!" Yelped one Holodronian solder nearby, and he immediately dropped his blade and surrendered, to the glee of nearby Hylian soldiers.

Ganondorf however, knew better. It was very obviously Zelda. What was she doing? He distinctly recalled telling her to stay put. He scowled intensely and began fighting his way back to the castle walls; suddenly, he drew up short, along with every other man in the vicinity, for emerging from the ground was a vast glowing golden wall. It surged over the outer walls of the castle, and he snarled as several more projectiles flew overhead, towards the castle. One flew low and hit the golden barrier and shattered, another smashed into the main body of the castle, and yet another flew straight and true towards the princess. A furious cry caught in his throat as the battle started back up around him, and though he blasted several more Holodronian men out of this life, he only had eyes for Zelda as the flaming stone headed straight for her.

However, just before it got within striking range, the great stone changed course, and slowed right down. Ganondorf swiftly scaled a nearby wall and ran along the rooftops, intermittently sending blasts of magic at areas of dense Holodronian soldiers. The golden barrier was gaining height rapidly, and several more projectiles flew over the top of it, only to be drawn upwards. He looked up to see that they had joined the flaming stone that Zelda had flying the astronomy tower. He swore. Her magic was evidently much more powerful than he'd anticipated, and a flicker of both apprehension and awe battled inside him. Her magical skills were clearly formidable to create a shield of this size. In fact, she could very easily have given him a run for his money, assuming, of course, her skill in offence was as great as it was in defence. Could she… defeat him, if she so chose? Most probably she was capable of locking him away. Damn. She still very clearly could, even nearly seven months pregnant, and yet, she hadn't. There was something to be found in these words, yet Ganondorf found himself watching his wife instead.

There was now an entire solar system of flaming stones orbiting the princess and the tower, and they were all gaining speed, until suddenly two of them were flung out one by one like they had been shot from a giant slingshot straight and true towards the enemy trebuchets, smashing into the ground and scattering the Holodronian soldiers. Ganondorf allowed himself a celebratory laugh as he continued running and swiftly scaled a tall building and jumped, using his magic to give him a push, just clearing the slowly growing barrier, landing on the castle wall and then jumping to the ground. He arranged himself in mid air so that when he fell the twenty or so meters down to the interior courtyard he hit the ground and executed a perfect roll and came up to land on his feet, earning himself several very impressed stares from the soldiers in the courtyards. Striding towards Lugolph, whom he could tell was currently in charge, he couldn't help the wide grin on his face.

Lugolph turned when he heard him approach. "Sire." He said dryly. "You look like you're having fun."

Ganondorf grinned wider. "Ah, who doesn't like a good fight? Now, what's the Queen doing, exactly?"

Lugolph smiled excitedly. "Young lieutenant Carobi helped her come up with it. They're putting up a shield so that we don't have to worry about defending the castle against the catapults; we can put all our troops into an offensive attack."

Ganondorf nodded approvingly, stroking his beard. "Good plan." As he spoke, Zelda loosed another flaming missile from her orbit, and it made direct contact with one of the trebuchets, smashing it to pieces, causing a cheer to go up from the Hylian soldiers. The golden barrier was now nearly complete, a massive golden dome covering the entire castle with a steady closing hole in the top. There was a loud whistling sound as the princess released the last three stones in her orbit, sending them flying through the narrow gap just before it closed to smash into the ground near the trebuchets. As the barrier sealed, it became eerily quiet through absence of wind, and the soldiers in the courtyard looked rather uneasily around.

"Right." He said, turning back to Lugolph. "Gather your troops; I'll open a portal behind the trebuchets – this is going to be an ambush."

Lugolph nodded, and turned to begin barking orders. Running his eyes over the crowd, Ganondorf frowned. There weren't really enough men here to launch a sufficient attack. He turned around to find Zelda alighting on the ground, releasing Carobi's sleeve; the young man looked rather glad to be on solid ground again. Zelda came over to stand beside him, and he frowned.

"What are doing out here?" He inquired, flicking a significant glance at the swell of her child. He shot a suspicious glance at the shield; it was holding for now, but what if it broke? What if one of the trebuchets found their mark?

Zelda simply rolled her eyes. "What do you think? I was putting up a shield."

At that moment, she gasped and turned to the western wall, where the archers still positioned on the battlements were shouting and pointing. The golden barrier began to undulate with purple streaks, and Zelda paled rapidly, her fists clenched.

"Sire!" Yelled the archers. "Holodrum has mages; they're attacking the shield!"

Ganondorf swore viciously. The shield was necessary, but the effort of maintaining it against Holodrum's attacks was clearly draining the princess. He needed another solution fast, and abruptly, it hit him.

"Well Princess." He said almost conversationally. "Look's like you get to see what was in the Shiekah chest after all."

Zelda's eyes opened wide. "What?"

He grinned and slipped into Gerudo. "Once I have performed the spell, go back inside the castle. Hold the shield if you want; it is a great help, but drop it if it gets to be too much."

Zelda's brows furrowed as she watched Ganondorf turn away from her. He sent away his swords, and she stepped back, flinching slightly with every attack the Holodronian mages did against her shield. Her magic pulsed, and she could feel each point of the attack like a knife piercing her skin, and she was really quite thankful that Ganondorf had a plan. But what did he mean about the Shiekah chest? He'd brushed off her every attempt to question him about it for months, and now he was suddenly going to reveal it to the world? It must be defensive magic, she decided. Perhaps another sort of shield?

But she was wrong.

Ganondorf stood still for a moment, looking rather like he was lost in thought, and then he began to chant something quietly in a foreign tongue. He would have looked perfectly normal if it weren't for the fact that black shadow was oozing out of his very pores, wrapping around his form like a second skin. Abruptly, sigils that were very clearly Shiekah in origin appeared in mid air, floating around his body like a small hurricane, growing faster and faster with each rotation. Finally, when they were practically a blur, he raised his hands, flexing his fingers inside their steels talons, and the sigils froze, before they disappeared in a flash of light.

The entire courtyard was frozen as they stared at him, so it scared the living daylights out of most people when they stayed still, but their shadows didn't. Zelda turned, wide eyed, to see her shadow moving of its own accord, stepping up off the ground somehow, becoming not flat, but round and whole; like a proper being. Except wrong. The shadows looked fundamentally wrong, their forms growing and twisting into hunched, skeletal ferocious looking featureless beings, far taller than the people who had once possessed them, black as sin, bearing weapons that they hadn't possessed before. There was a second during which the forms stood still, and then Ganondorf made another motion, and suddenly, they swung into action, scaling the walls and passing through her barrier as if it didn't exist with an awful jittering movement that reminded her too much of a nightmare.

There was a small silence, and then the screaming began, and the pointed attacks against her shield reduced dramatically.

Ganondorf turned to smirk at her, and she stared in disbelief, along with every other person in the courtyard. He turned back to Lugolph, and raised a brow. The general returned this look, and so Zelda assumed they had a plan. This assumption was confirmed when Lugolph barked an order at the Hylian troops, and they immediately moved forwards – towards a portal opened by the Demon King.

Zelda blinked at it; she hadn't known he could do that, although now she thought about it, she supposed he hadn't really had any need to open one before, and so hadn't. She could see the town square through the hole in time and space, and she stared, fascinated, as the Hylian troops charged through, immediately engaging the Holodronian men still in Castle Town, bringing relief and reinforcement to the Hylian soldiers already in the town. Once the last man was through, Ganondorf grinned at her, then summoned his swords and opened a new portal, which opened directly over the melee over at the trebuchets.

Zelda watched as Ganondorf stepped through the portal and dropped straight down, lading directly on top of two unfortunate Holodronian solders, seeing the look of glee on his face as he began hacking away just before the portal closed.

Zelda glanced at Carobi as he moved to stand besides her; he looked completely awed.

"He's utterly mad." He breathed, before starting slightly. "Oh, I'm sorry, your Majesty, I didn't mean-"

Zelda grinned. "Don't apologise: I know he's crazy. He genuinely enjoys war, I think."

"Hmm." Carobi turned to Lugolph, who had walked up besides them and entered into conversation. There was a squadron of healers nearby who were busy digging through the rubble from the trebuchet stones and searching for survivors, and Zelda headed towards them. Now that the Holodronian mages had stopped attacking the shield, it wasn't quite as hard to hold it, so she could put her mind to other things. She aided the healers by using magic to suspend several of the stretchers in the air as they headed down to the physician's quarters. Once there, and she'd put down the injured men, she left in order not to get in the way of the healers bustling about. Zelda decided to head to the kitchens and find Link.

Her first impression of the kitchen was that it was empty. Stepping inside with a look of confusion, she then noticed the kitchen staff huddled together on the floor, and she stifled a grin; there were no windows down here, so they'd been hearing the impact of the trebuchets and were scared out of their wits.

"Is everyone okay?" She called, moving towards them. The cook stood up.

"Your Majesty!" She said breathlessly. "What's going on? What were those dreadful explosions?"

The other kitchen staff stood up, and Link came running out from the middle of them.

"Princess!" He yelped, and Zelda grinned as she picked him up.

"There's a shield up right now; the Holodronian's had several catapults and they were attacking the castle, but the King and his army have attacked them back now they don't have to worry about defending the castle."

There was relieved muttering. "A shield?" Asked one of the scullery maids.

Zelda grinned and held up a hand, crafting a sphere of golden light which hovered just above her fingertips. Link gasped in delight and hit it, making his hand rebound from the surface.

"Like this, only surrounding the entire castle." She said, unable to hide all the smugness in her voice at their gasps of wonder as the light winked out. Zelda motioned at the stairs. "Go up to the first landing and have a look if you want; it's perfectly safe, and you can watch the battle." She didn't mention that she was feeling rather tired now, more so than before; the strain of holding such a shield up for so long was getting rather overpowering, and she sincerely hoped Ganondorf could take care of the battle before she was forced to drop it.

Link began wiggling in her arms. "I want to see! Princess! I want to go!"

Zelda tightened her grip on him as she turned and left the kitchen the staff trailing along after her. "Stop wiggling!"

Once the reached the upper landing, Link gasped in wonder as he leaned through the window, the rest of the kitchen staff gasping and talking amongst themselves as they leaned out the windows. Through the golden barrier, they had a clear view to the carnage taking place on the battle field. One of the trebuchets was in flames, a giant pillar of fire reaching towards the sky. Another had been tipped on its side, and the other two had been abandoned as the Holodronian troops fought for their lives. She could clearly see Ganondorf in the centre of the melee, and Link excitedly pointed him out.

There was an ever-increasing group of Holodronian men, in their distinctive purple capes that had evidently surrendered, for they were kneeling inside a large ring of sentient shadows. Zelda still couldn't quite believe Ganondorf had done that; no wonder he had wanted the chest. Wondering how exactly he had known about it in the first place, and what her father had been keeping it for, she resolved to ask him once this was all over. Biting her lip, she leaned further out, trying to see if she could spot Lubal, wondering if he was still in Hyrule, or had he turned tail and fled, abandoning his men to their fate?

After several more minutes, during which Zelda noticed more and more servants hanging out of windows to watch the battle, she noticed a circle opening up in the centre of the fight. Both Holodronian men and Ganondorf's monsters were skittering backwards, and it was soon evident why. Ganondorf was standing on one side of the circle, and Lubal stood on the other. The Holodronian prince was gesticulating wildly, and Zelda frowned, annoyed she couldn't hear what was going on. The prince then threw an energy bolt at Ganondorf, who dodged out of the way, and then they began to circle one another. The Demon King appeared to be saying something, making a broad, sweeping gesture to the men at large, and Lubal apparently took offense, for Zelda clearly saw, even if she didn't hear, his scream of rage, before he began to throw more and more blasts of magic. Ganondorf dodged out of the way for some, but most flew wide of their mark, scattering the troops as they fled the errant blasts. Zelda's breath caught in her throat as the Gerudo King then performed the most fantastically impressive move she'd ever seen; he brought both his blades up over his head, then slammed them down towards the ground.

The resulting shockwave that sent black crackling energy spiralling outwards knocked over most of the spectators, but the main event was the massive fissure that opened up along the ground as a bolt of energy chased the opening crevice and struck Lubal dead on. The man simply ceased to exist; one moment he was there, the other, he had disappeared in a massive explosion that they heard clearly, even through the barrier. When the dust and smoke cleared, it revealed Ganondorf to be standing there facing the smoking crater that used to be the Prince of Holodrum, and one by one, the Holodronian troops who were still standing dropped their weapons and knelt in surrender, in an almost domino effect. There was silence for a movement, before the castle servants began cheering wildly as they hung out of windows and danced in the courtyard, and Zelda grinned, relieved, as Link began bouncing up and down excitedly, pointing at Ganondorf.

The battle was over, and Hyrule was saved.