XXVIII.
It was somewhere between waking up all the guests in the south wing (who were not happy, for anyone who cared to know) to move to the west wing and waiting tiredly in Zelda's study that she finally apologized for giving Link a black eye. After accommodations had been made and rooms made empty for the arriving Sheikah, Zelda properly greeted Jalin despite being in just a white nightdress and purple cloak. But the Queen really never cared about appearances and Jalin looked one part surprised and one part satisfied with how unlike royalty she was.
As they sat in the quiet of her dim study, she finally hugged Link and let out a sigh of relief it felt like she'd been holding in since they left for the desert.
"I am so glad you are okay," she said quietly, after he had filled her in on most of the specifics he could with Jalin sitting right there. Link determined he would keep the new information he had gained about Kalyh to himself for the time being; although Jalin hadn't explicitly told him not to share the story, it was implied somehow during their conversation in the field.
Soft hands held Link's face, drawing his thoughts away from Kalyh as Zelda finished healing his bruise with a gentle expression.
"You will be happy to know you've missed little excitement…well, aside from the terrible Nether monsters descending upon Hyrule."
"I was worried they would attack the castle," Link said with a grim nod.
"It's hard to plan for a war when something is being burned by acid or set on fire by giant, rotting wolves," she conceded with a bemused expression. "I was able to decipher the message and my premonition was, unfortunately, the same...the full moon is only two weeks away, Link."
"I was hoping we were wrong," he mumbled, rubbing at his face and feeling terribly exhausted.
"The Goddesses are adamant we know about this one event…I do not know, however, if they intend for us to change it or prepare for it."
The consideration made Link's blood run cold; was Zelda actually considering the possibility that the premonition had to pass? He couldn't accept that. While Link knew she was always methodical about interpreting premonitions, prepared for all possibilities and outcomes, he felt a spike of anger that she wasn't as obstinate about it not happening as he was.
Before Link could argue with her, noise came from the closet and Sheik emerged half-covered in blood. Horror gripped Link as he leapt to his feet and met the Sheikah halfway out of the closet before gripping his shoulders and demanding what had happened.
"I am fine, Link," Sheik assured him, eyes smiling a bit in relief as the Congruence shivering between them. And upon closer investigation Link noticed the blood looked thicker and smelled like rot."Baltas. Had to wrestle a few. They seem to really like me."
There was sound approaching from farther back in the closet and Sheik took the moment to whisper, "I'm glad you erased the message – I had forgotten about it. If they had seen it…"
Link gave a nod to Sheik's grim look of understanding.
Kalyh then appeared beside them, her hand glued to the hilt of her sword, looking around much like a wild animal. She spotted Jalin with a bit of relief but immediately went still as Zelda approached them.
"Welcome back to Hyrule, Kalyh," she said calmly in, thankfully, a voice that was not completely Queen-like but formal enough. "It is an honor to meet you and a honor to have you and your people here."
Kalyh gave her a wide-eyed stare as Zelda gave a low, respectful bow, as though she was convinced she was hallucinating. Watching the Sheikah look so bewildered almost made Link laugh as she seemed to determine if she was going to be offended or accepting.
There was no way Kalyh was going to be polite or return the gesture. This was Kalyh. This was the woman who held fast to the grudges of her people, to the long hatred towards the Royal Family.
But then she did.
"Thank you for allowing us refuge here, Queen Zelda," Kalyh replied after stretch of uncertain silence, bowing back just enough to be considered decent.
The rest of the Order filled the closet and Link couldn't help but find the entire thing very silly. The last of the Sheikah race was standing in the closet of Zelda's study and that was the point he began to realize just how exhausted he really was. Also, his hand was still on Sheik's arm.
Sleep. Link needed sleep.
Everything following that was the part of being under Zelda's command that Link had a hard time tolerating. He needed to help coordinate room assignments and food and water and two completely separate rooms for their gear and supplies – having Sheikah armor and weapons suddenly appear in the castle's armory would raise a lot of questions. It wasn't until dawn that everyone managed to get settled in and quiet.
And Link didn't know what to do with himself after that.
He wasn't injured save a few minor scrapes but his body ached to the degree that even sitting was too much. He bathed, found clean clothes, devoured food, drank an obscene amount of water…but when Link went to his bed, he could only lay down for five minutes before he was back up.
It was too bright, even despite the drapes blocking the sun from his eyes. Maids and other loud-voiced people bustled down the halls outside his room and it all felt just too ridiculous.
Didn't they know what was coming? How could they carry on their lives with all the terrible things that had been happening? Weren't they having nightmares or constantly at the cusp of anxiety attacks over the horrors and…?
No. They weren't. They had no idea what had happened in the past month. They didn't know what was coming. They didn't have to think about the things that had happened because, to them, nothing had happened. There were no nightmares or meltdowns for them if left to the mercy of their own thoughts for too long.
Link couldn't imagine the bliss of such ignorance.
A few more minutes of fruitless effort to sleep and he shuffled to the library because he had no idea where to find a place any quieter. It really shouldn't have surprised him to find Sheik was already there with his nose in a book.
Red eyes appraised him from the couch and, if Link had not been so impossibly tired, maybe he would've cared more about the affection that was now permanently affixed to that gaze. Well, he did care. But he also wanted quiet and Sheik being there was definitely an enormous bonus.
"Link, you should –"
But Link held up a hand to quiet him and tiredly crossed the room to the window. He shut it and pulled the drapes closed, earning a sigh from Sheik as most of the light was taken from the room. Unable to even offer an apology, Link slumped onto the other end of the couch and leaned back with a tired sigh. He had finally found silence.
Well, almost.
"Some people need light to read," Sheik commented.
"Some people need quiet to sleep," Link replied. The Congruence was slow and warm between them, luring him closer to unconsciousness.
Here they were, back on the couch in the library where everything had started in the first place. Now that they had returned and were (mostly) safe, true exhaustion set in and Link finally felt the tension he'd been carrying for a month unravel just a little.
"You could order the maids out your particular hallway," Sheik offered after the distinct sound of a book snapping shut.
"I don't like throwing my weight around like you do."
"What else is weight for?"
Link snorted. It could be a month ago. It could be a normal day before Evanna and Foursky and Vaspra and the Nether. Link could have been up all night doing something stupid and taken refuge in the library to block out the loud castle. It was just him taking over the couch, disturbing Sheik's reading, and poking fun.
"Are you going to let me sleep or not?" Link groaned, pretending to be annoyed but really loving every little nudge. Even without touching, Congruence was tangible and comforting.
"Well, I suppose so, considering you are kicking me out," Sheik said with a hint of amusement. Weight started to leave the couch and without thinking, Link reached out and grabbed the Sheikah's arm.
"Don't leave," was all he could manage as their bond flared at contact. His brain was too sleep-addled to feel embarrassed or apologize. Because now Link knew how Sheik felt and clinging a bit on the eve of war wasn't necessarily out-of-line anymore. Because Link had known, somewhere in his slow mind, that Sheik would be in the library with the same thought as him: get away from all these normal people with their normal lives.
Link, in some ways, had counted on it. Because, no matter which way he spun it, he knew he would only find sleep that morning if Sheik was beside him.
"Just…stay?" For a moment Link felt like it was post-war all over again and he needed someone to keep him tethered to reality. But then he knew he had every right to the request; war was coming and they had to eventually contend with everything between. But right now he wasn't asking for anything more, anything less – just a living, breathing Sheikah beside him.
Sheik's eyes were deep red and full of warm emotion and Link could feel all sorts of things that weren't being said leak through their connection. There was an openness there that Link hadn't had a chance to fully appreciate.
Link knew – if they survived the war in one piece – there was no way he could walk away from what he was staring at. Only on pain of death, which had more meanings than just that one.
"Of course," was all Sheik said, sitting back down.
And for a very tired and very distressed moment, Link felt like he should say something. He didn't know what – and honestly what words could possibly surmise and equate to everything that had happened between them? Just like his walk through the field with Jalin, Link didn't know what to do or say or think. He just knew they cared about each other and they were bonded. Permanently.
Sheik still hadn't really asked him what the book had said and Link didn't know if he wanted to tell him. Because he didn't want the truth about Congruence to change what they were, to cast yet another shadow of doom over an already gray future.
Bonded.
Soulmates.
Congruent.
If one subject of Congruence dies, the other dies as well.
Link felt as though if he said the words out loud, they would break the silence of the room, break the calm, break him. He wanted to check out for a few hours, be just as blissfully unaware as the maids and butlers.
So Link bit his tongue and reached down to lace their fingers together, the energy it caused shooting down his arm and clouding his mind in a delicious way. Long, warm fingers twined around his without hesitation. Link closed his eyes to the caress of Congruence and the sense of comfort and security he only seemed to find anymore with Sheik.
Link was woken up a little after noon by the last person he wanted to see: Duchess Morsa.
"The Queen requested your presence in the map room, Guardsman," she said in a terrible sing-song voice that could've woken him from death. She was perched next to him on the couch far, too close for his liking as he jumped back into the waking world. "You shouldn't sleep so late into the day! When did you go to bed? And why are you sleeping in the library?"
It took every fiber in his being to not snap at her; Link had no time for her questions and no patience to play escort.
"Uh, long night," he mumbled back, struggling to his feet and checking for his weapons, which were no longer on his person. "Where are my…?"
Morsa grinned like he had said something funny and pointed to the table by the now open window. "You don't even know where you put your own equipment? How much did you drink, Guardsman?"
Link bit back the groan of irritation her comment brought on. Maybe it was time to start to visiting that habit now that he was back in the castle and stuck with her. Link had been so wiped he hadn't even woken up when Sheik must have rid him of the uncomfortable gear at some point during the morning. And he worked incredibly hard to keep the ideas that summoned out of his head while in her presence.
"How was the desert?" Morsa pressed, now lounged on the couch as though he were there to entertain her.
"Hot," was all Link said, trying to get his equipment back on as fast as he could so he could excuse himself from the room.
Morsa giggled at him. "I wish I could've seen it. My father won't let me go to the desert. He doesn't trust the Gerudo."
A flash of sadness passed through him as he realized that it was entirely possible no one knew about the massacre of the Gerudo. Zelda was probably aware – she kept good intelligence in even the worst of times – but he doubted the information would be shared with the rest of the castle just yet. And the inherit racism too many Hylians held towards the Gerudo would leave the tragedy without the respect it deserved.
"Trust me," Link assured her. "You don't want to see the desert."
He bowed quickly, excusing himself before Morsa could demand an escort, and made his way to the map room. Dealing with the Duchess was more aggravating than he could imagine now with the war only two weeks away. And she was far too nosy; he would need to warn Zelda that the girl would inevitably try to find out why the south wing was blocked off to everyone but the three of them.
As he made his way through the winding corridors he knew so well, Link could finally sense what he assumed Sheik had felt all along – there was something there in the castle that wasn't entirely Hylian. It shifted around, too foggy to pin down to one area. It made him uneasy as he crossed the silent and dark throne room to the door beyond it.
Zelda, Sheik, and Kalyh were already inside, eyes flickering to him as he shut the heavy door behind him.
"The Hero has awakened," Zelda teased softly. But Link could see the terrible stress forming lines on her forehead. Her hair was pulled back and out of her face which was bare and tired-looking. He wondered if Zelda had slept at all. Even despite the rest he had gotten, Link felt slow and exhausted as he took his seat on her other side, across from Sheik and Kalyh. Stacks of parchment and maps and inventories were scattered around the table in a mess that stressed Link out just looking at it. "You look like you barely slept, Link."
He waved her off, rubbing his face to wake himself up more, and taking the cup of coffee Zelda offered him. Link took the moment to study the paperwork that was in front of him – it was an entire registry on every garrison of the Royal army, updated just that morning.
This was his army.
Link pushed away the image of his premonition with a shake of his head.
"I assume they've gotten you up to speed on everything?" Link asked Zelda, moving the papers to the side; he'd deal with that much later.
Zelda nodded. "And we have reached some agreements about the Order's life for the next two weeks. We will use the old enclosed arena so they can get out and train. We will have to be very careful about getting people to and from that location. I want a complete lock down on the Order's presence here. If anyone finds out I will have to wipe their memory – I normally avoid such things but we can't risk anymore leaks of information."
"Of course."
"We're still discussing what involvement Kalyh should have in the war," Zelda continued. "And we seem relatively divided on that subject."
It wouldn't take a genius to figure that Zelda and Sheik didn't want her there and Kalyh was demanding to be involved. Link wondered how far Zelda would push her authority considering Kalyh would have to abide by the laws of Hyrule now that her people were given asylum at the castle.
"Your armies will leave the castle undefended," Kalyh chimed in, her voice just barely controlled. "If I stay here it leaves Foursky the perfect opportunity to capture me."
"Capture you?" Link couldn't help but ask with a smirk. "I'd love to see him attempt that."
Kalyh gave a snort of laughter but smiled darkly. "Unfortunately, up against that much Vaspra…it would not be much of a fight. It would be like one against an army."
Of course, she was right. Right about all of it, in fact. Link voiced this and earned a frown from both Queen and Sheikah. But he knew they saw the logic, too. The castle would be vulnerable. They knew nothing about Foursky's army so there would be no telling if he would send a small group to break its walls while they were away on the battlefield.
Neatly changing the subject, however, Zelda said, "Kalyh estimates his army to be at five thousand as of six months ago. We have to assume it has grown since then…but this is the only number we have to work with. As of now, we have seven thousand. I am considering enacting a draft so that number may increase."
"Against Vaspra, though…it might as well be one thousand," Link countered. "This could end up being a slaughter. Perhaps we shouldn't send everyone out at once."
Zelda nodded. "I have considered that as well. We will speak with the cabinet and decide."
"There is also a chance that he may try and barter with us for the words," Sheik spoke up. Link glanced over at his companion, suddenly realizing his unconscious avoidance. The moment they made eye contact, the Congruence pressed back into his mind and distracted him for a full second.
"Yes, but let me make this clear as day: we are not bartering our allies," Zelda said in a hard voice. Kalyh blinked in surprise at this, clearly not expecting such protection from someone Link was sure she still considered somewhat an enemy. "In fact, I would prefer no barters even though bloodshed is not high on my list either. We need some sort of advantage."
"Could always stop by the Nether again and pick up some more Vaspra," Link suggested humorlessly.
Sheik threw Link an unamused look and said, "Speaking of the Nether…have there been any reports of Void Walkers about?"
Zelda shook her head, interest obviously piqued by the inquiry. "Nothing. I tried doing some research on them as well but there is no record of them ever being seen in Hyrule. I wonder if they are not able to cross over. What do you think?" she asked Link. "You are the only one who has had direct contact with one, other than Sheik."
Link furrowed his brows thoughtfully. "The one I spoke with only said the Goddesses banished them to the Nether because the recycling process was so destructive that it didn't belong in the living world. Perhaps the Void Walkers are banned from returning through a tear. The other creatures there were made that way by the Void Walkers so that is probably why we're only seeing Vog and the like."
Zelda seemed satisfied enough with this. "Well, aside from those things and the budget and training – which Link and I will go over later – we're only left with one thing to discuss: how much Vaspra do we have and how much will it take to seal the Nether with Foursky and Evanna in it?"
A quiet fell over the table and Link frowned. Kalyh shifted uneasily next to Sheik and he wondered if Kalyh was going to forfeit her Vaspra.
He seriously doubted it.
"We have four pounds," Zelda continued, glancing at a stray piece of parchment beneath her. "And six ounces."
"Will that be enough?" Link pressed.
"Will it?" Zelda redirected the question to Kalyh whose face was hard and stressed. "You're the only one at this table who has used it, Kalyh."
"I'm not sure," she muttered, staring at the table in concentration. "Using Hexa on a human life takes a handful of Vaspra, sometimes more if they are powerful magic users. I've used it with large area spells like explosions and remote capture. Those sorts of spells take hardly any at all. I could guess and say four pounds would be enough…but I'm honestly not sure. Either way, we have to find the hole first."
"Wait, how do you know?" Link asked in surprise.
"Foursky knows everything there is to know about the Nether. I read it in one of his accounts of the place. The tear in the Nether is a physical hole. It is much different than the passage you and Ra went through – that one is held open by the magic of Death Mountain and acts as a one-way door. When someone returns, it opens a tear. When Foursky returned from the Nether he created a hole in Termina. He used Vaspra to collect the Nether creatures and shove them back in, sealing it. But he did not notate how much Vaspra it took," she explained.
"So, someone returning from the Nether causes the tear…We have to find the hole," Link surmised. "How do we do that? Follow the sounds of Bloodbacks and Vog?"
"That is not the problem," Zelda assured him. "We know where the hole is."
"Where?" they all seemed to ask in unison.
"Lon Lon Ranch."
Before Link could go storming off to Lon Lon Ranch, Zelda assured him that the entire living population of the farm had been safely relocated to Kakariko. The Ranch was completely blocked off by barricades, and a terrible and powerful aura surrounding it kept any curious thrill-seeker from getting near it. The Nether monsters also were a great deterrent. Despite the armed perimeter Zelda had set up around it, some monsters still managed to make it through.
The meeting ended there; the new Captain of the first garrison pulled Zelda away for a discrepancy in the armory. And there really hadn't been much left to say. They knew where the hole was, they wouldn't know exactly how much Vaspra they needed, and it was still a bit undecided if Kalyh would be joining them on the battlefield. Link was sure he would be called again for another meeting to discuss the budget and training for their troops, which he wasn't excited about.
Goddesses, he had to get seven thousand men ready for war. And he knew they would enact a draft to all villages and towns of Hyrule. The more men they could get, the better.
They scattered after that. Link headed for the active training grounds to observe the first garrison; he and Zelda hadn't had a chance to discuss what their statements to any of the men would be but at least going out there would make him feel a little less overwhelmed by the impending battle.
And, somehow, that was where he lost himself for the rest of the day, doing something he hadn't gotten to do since he was inducted as High Royal Guardsman: train his men.
In spar after spar, he found a mindless rhythm that calmed him. Form after form, he stopped thinking about all the horrors that cluttered his head and only focused on the clang of iron. The men of the first garrison were understandably the best, most seasoned of fighters. Many of them had long-served the Royal Family since the King's rule and they kept him on his toes.
And then he visited the next few garrisons, wandering from training ground to training ground, allowing himself to be pulled into whatever the Captains were working on with little fight.
Link could pretend he was just the General, checking in on his troops and assessing their skill. And the faces of the soldiers weren't a blur to him like he thought they would be. With each one, he memorized the story attached. He took account of their jokes and their laughs, the power of their swings and the twist of each muscle. He learned which ones had children and which ones had just left home.
Some had graying beards and gave him uncertain looks – there were many older Hylians that had mixed feelings on the Hero of Time being their General at only age twenty. Others were just as young as – if not younger than – Link and looked at him with a high respect he didn't know what to do with. It was a strangely mixed response but the challenge of gaining respect with all of them was enough to keep him occupied for the next seven days, in fact.
In between drills with the garrisons and long, stuffy meetings with Zelda and her cabinet, Link was practically running to spar with the men. Four days after their return to the castle, Zelda finally made the public statement of possible war to the people. She finally revealed what had happened to the Gerudo and announced a memorial to be held for them at the banquet before the march to war.
In a graceful way Link would never understand, Zelda had managed to word everything delicately enough to keep most civilians calm.
The garrisons, however, were given the brunt of the inevitability of a battle with skilled magic users and the potential that they may be possessed by a spell. The men all took it with hard, confident faces, clearly standing by the oaths they took the day they became soldiers:
Do not desert the Crown no matter the danger.
Pride swelled in Link's chest when many of them said something along the lines of, "I'd love to see that tyrant try!" when he stressed the part about Hexam.
Link's time with the troops kept him on a constant rotation of sleep, breakfast, training, lunch, training, dinner, sleep, and then repeat. He saw Zelda, Sheik, and Kalyh in the morning, but after that they separated.
Sheik would go with Kalyh to the enclosed arena almost a mile from the castle and pointedly out of the way, assisting with their own sort of training. According to Sheik, while the Order was incredibly skilled in subterfuge, they knew nothing of open warfare and needed as much training as the Royal armies did. Link saw Zelda in their meetings but other than that his attention was mostly focused on his duties as General.
Even in his exhausted state at the end of every day, it was hard to sleep; sleep only yielded more images he couldn't bear. As much as Link wanted to barricade himself in the library and sleep, he tried to find rest in his bare room. Because running to the library made him feel like a child. Link knew that was where Sheik was and, in the past week, any contact he had had with the Sheikah clouded his mind.
The tension between them was nearly tangible and enough to catch the attention of Zelda on the eighth morning after Sheik had left with Kalyh for the day.
"So, what is going on with you and Sheik?" she asked, halfway between the parchment to her right and throwing Link a glance to her left. Her eyes were crystal clear and keen, making Link want to shift uncomfortably; it was very hard to lie to her even on his best days.
Link shook his head, knowing he was about to lie miserably. "Nothing. Why?"
"Well," Zelda told him with a knowing sound to her voice as she pushed away the document and gave him her full attention, "it's odd you say that. Especially considering the very noticeable connection you both acquired since arriving from Vrika, not to mention the fact that both of your auras now look identical."
Lying to Zelda was impossible. Especially when one considered she could see their auras were the same, a side-effect of Congruence he hadn't even been aware of – and it didn't even surprise him at this point. There was no way Link could explain that away and he wasn't even sure why he wanted to.
Congruence felt so personal. Link didn't know if he wanted anyone to know about it.
"It's complicated," was the answer he decided on, knowing it was complete horse shit and Zelda would inform him of that.
"Which is the fodder you would throw anyone else asking the question. But I am not anyone else and, as your superior, I am asking you a direct question," Zelda recited carefully, her authoritative Queen-voice making Link want to let out a groan. More and more she was using this card on him to wheedle out information. Why did he even try?
Begrudgingly, he explained most of what had happened and then, finally, what he had learned about Congruence. Zelda seemed at least familiar with the subject…but clearly unfamiliar with the death clause. Her eyes went wide, eyebrows shooting up, and the quill she had been spinning between her fingers went still.
"That can't be right," she whispered.
"I wish it wasn't," Link sighed, having already accepted what Zelda was now struggling to believe.
"Can you please bring me this book? Now?" Zelda said, a tension to her voice Link didn't like.
Uh oh.
"Um," he muttered, "I sort of threw it out the window in Vrika."
She gave him a disbelieving look and pressed her palm to her forehead. "Link. You're ridiculous. Have I ever told you how ridiculous you are?"
"Many times," Link replied.
"We need to make sure there's nothing else about Congruence in there. You need to go back through the Portal and get it," Zelda insisted with a frown. "There's nothing about Congruence in the prophecy and if the premonition really comes to pass…"
"I know," Link groaned. "I didn't think about that dumb book. But I read the whole chapter…I didn't see anything else about it."
"But if it was a book about magical bonds, it may have some advice on how to sever them or…I don't know, Link. But we can't risk not knowing."
The moment she mentioned severing it, everything in his body jolted. Sever the Congruence? The chapter clearly stated that wasn't an option. And why in the name of the Goddesses would he want to? Congruence was like a drug to him. It was a connection with Sheik he wouldn't want let go of, even if prophecy depended on it.
But Link knew she was right. He had been so foolish to throw the book like that. With everything that had been going on it had never crossed his mind to go back and get it before they returned to Hyrule. Luckily he wouldn't have to cross entire desert to get it…but he would have to return to Vrika and face the possibility of Nether creatures attacking him.
Link agreed to go back, departing for Kakariko before noon.
"You'll take Sheik of course," Zelda commented.
Link had been deciding on that since their conversation and his decision was motivated by fear more than he had expected.
He didn't want Sheik to leave the castle, to travel back to Vrika, to be anywhere near danger. Because darkness was closing in fast and every day Link felt more and more fearful of losing him. The thought of Sheik leaving the protection of the castle twisted his stomach painfully, gave him an anxiety he didn't know how to quell.
"Actually…no," Link replied, feeling out of place even saying it.
She gave him a befuddled look. "You and Sheik rarely go anywhere without each other. What's going on?"
Link shook his head dismissively and opted for a half-truth. "Nothing, Zelda. It's just better logistically. He needs to stay with Kalyh and help her train the Order. We're sidetracked enough because of my idiocy. It will just be a quick two-day trip. It's not like I'm crossing the desert again."
"You know he will follow you," she reasoned.
"That's why you're not going to tell him. Cover for me," Link insisted.
Zelda gave a very tired groan. "Link, trying to keep something from Sheik is like trying to hold water in my hands for a day. He will find out and he will get angry, not just with you, but with me as well."
Link gave her an incredulous look. "You're the Queen of Hyrule, Zelda. And you're worried about the wrath of your bodyguard?"
She held up a finger. "The wrath of a super-powered Sheikah, actually."
Link rubbed at his face, his lack of sleep ebbing at his patience. "Just try your best. Can you do that for me? I'll do what I can to be back before he even knows I left."
Her blue eyes gave him a long, exasperated glare. They sat in the silence of her dining hall for a long minute, then she sighed and nodded. "I am not covering you when he asks why I kept it from him. I am going to tell him that you begged me. That is all on you, Link."
Link waved an impatient hand as he got up from the table. "Yeah, yeah, I know. By that point I'll probably already be in Vrika. Just don't let him come after me."
Zelda gave a bark of laughter. "Like I've ever been able to stop either of you from leaving."
But there was nothing else for it. Link just had to trust that Sheik would be too preoccupied with training the Order with Kalyh to notice Link's absence. And it wasn't like they had crossed paths much in the past week anyway. They saw each other at dinner and breakfast but during the day they were in completely different places. And, unconsciously, Link had almost found himself avoiding Sheik.
The Congruence clouded his head. It made him want to say and do things he didn't know if he was ready for. They had an army to raise and both of them couldn't just leave the castle now with everything spiraling towards war.
Link remembered all too well what had happened in the beginning when they both left the castle sans Guardsman and Bodyguard like morons. It had been a risk going to the desert and a miracle they returned to find everything still intact.
He wouldn't risk that again.
Link shook his head to clear his thoughts and excused himself to pack his gear for the next two days. Everyone in the castle had become an even more annoying flurry of activity as even the maids began to help with the preparation of war. They sat in a line in the armory, quickly polishing swords and shields, checking for imperfections to note to the blacksmiths.
A sense of urgency tied his stomach in knots; Link was leaving on the eve of war. No matter what he assured himself of, he couldn't shake his anxiety. What if something happened while he was gone? What if something happened to Sheik and he wasn't there to help?
But they needed that book. They needed to fully understand Congruence. They needed to add this variable into their growing equation for war.
Epona had long since returned to the stables, knowing well to abandon her wait in the fields with Kronos. The appearance of Nether creatures had probably scared them back as well. She nickered irritably at him as he knotted her cinch in a motion quicker than he meant to. Kronos stomped in the stall next to her and Link kept expecting to see Sheik any moment, ready to saddle up and accompany him.
It was the first time in nearly three years Link was leaving the castle without Sheik.
He left at noon, Zelda stopping by between meetings to kiss him on the cheek and give him a tight hug.
"Don't be stupid, okay?" she asked in a soft voice.
"Oh, Zelda, I'm never stupid."
Her elbow met his side and he couldn't help but smile. Well, at least this wasn't any different. Zelda always had her habit of teasing him before he left for any journey. It was a comfortable goodbye they had built over the years to dispel the worry and he felt a little less sick because of it.
He left the castle walls, then Castle Town Market, and then started his trek east towards Death Mountain.
I meant to address this like two chapters back, but I forgot. A few of you asked about the Congruence and why Link didn't die when Sheik died. Most of you answered your own question because you guys are very smart but just to give complete clarification, here's how that works:
Congruence, as that book stated, is awoken through varies methods. The bond doesn't actually form until then – the potential is there but the whole death clause doesn't apply. When Link and Sheik had their little gay healing sesh the Congruence activated and the death clause went into effect.
I'm losing my mind because a few of you did fanart for this fic and a) all of you artists are so talented and used such beautiful colors and conveyed the exact emotion I was envisioning and b) I am just blown away that Congruent was special enough to you to make art for it. So, there are not enough "thank you's" to express my appreciation and love.
You can see this art on the Congruent tag on my Tumblr (url is Sincosma), as well as nonsense I spit out through the process of editing.
Thank you to all the readers and reviewers – y'all are my favorite people. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. (◕‿◕✿)
