Chapter 55

The moblins raced forwards like an incoming tide, spilling out of the fog and rushing towards the cave. Their hideousness unnerved the defenders, but none fled before them. All stayed, thrust their spears out over the barricade, and waited.

With a sinking heart, Omar realized what he'd suspected all along: the number of moblins would overwhelm the defenders. They would rush blindly onto his company's spears, impaling themselves two, maybe even three deep, but eventually the rest would climb over the bodies and force their way into the cave. Despair clawed at the captain's heart, but he grit his teeth and refused to give in. He thought of the women and children behind him, huddling together as the curses and growls of moblins bounced off the cave walls

"It must not end like this." He heard Kashi growl from beside him.

But it would, Omar knew, it would. This was their last stand, and this time there were no reinforcements racing down the mountain to save them. For the second time that day, the merchant captain realized he was about to die, and with that realization came a surge of hatred.

"Curse you all!" He yelled, and hurled his spear through the face of the foremost moblins.

Immediately, the first rank of monsters stumbled and fell, the long, white-fletched arrows of Termina buried in their throats. Shock engulfed the merchant guards and moblin horde alike, utter incomprehension apparent on both sides. Where had the arrows come from? Neither knew. And then a second volley, and a third, came tearing out of the mist, and the momentum of the battle changed entirely. The moblins began to run again, but this time away from their enemies, not towards them. They did not know what deadly foe lay within the cloaking mist, but the sudden devastating attack had scared the creatures into total retreat.

Omar stared after them, tense with adrenaline and rage. He had gone from staring into the face of impending death to complete redemption in the space of a few moments time, and he really had no idea who or what had saved him. He turned to Kashi, about to comment, and found Demon crouched between them. The assassin has his hands on his knees and was breathing heavily, but his eyes had the unmistakable glint of satisfaction.

"I can explain." He gasped, between breaths.

"As can I." A regal looking man holding a longbow dropped down in front of the cave. "It's a rather remarkable story."

Behind him, a bowstring thrummed, and a moblin straggler roared its death-cry, but the man did not turn. His handsome features were filled with the light of battle, and his well-muscled body was still tense with the expectation of combat. Omar and Kashi just stared at their savior, waiting for the promised explanation.

"The women and merchants are safe, I trust?" he asked, delaying the answer to their curiosity.

"Yes." Omar affirmed slowly as he struggled to remember the parts of himself that had not been centered on killing moblins, "they were all within the cave. Toryn!" he turned. "Tell Lady Ariana and the others that the battle is over." One of merchant guards ran back into the cave.

The tall man looked inquisitively to Demon. "Ariana? If I remember correctly the Princess of Hyrule is named Zelda."

Demon paused, and Omar shot him a shocked glance. "The Princess of Hyrule! What! How?"

"Given the circumstances, she is travelling under an assumed name and title. To the merchants she is Lady Ariana, a minor Hylian noble."

"And she is safe?" he asked with some urgency.

"Yes. She is." Zelda announced, as she emerged beaming from the cave. "Well met, Garret."

Omar let out strangled cough, which was unanimously ignored.

"It is good to see you safe your highness!" Garret exclaimed, bowing low. "When I heard from your servant you were here in Termina I could barely hope to believe it. The rumors out of Hyrule before the pass closed for winter were few, but…terrible. I did not think you had survived."

"That survival would have ended here, but for you. I thank you for my life." Zelda said gratefully. "But pardon my asking, did you vanquish the foe singlehandedly?"

Garret laughed wholeheartedly. "I wish it were so princess, that I could claim such a deed in your presence, but honor binds me to admit the truth." He took a bone whistle from where it hung around his neck and blew it three times. The piercing notes scattered into the fog, and brought back the sound of running feet.

Men began to emerge around the cave, all bearing the arms and symbol of the royal house of Termina. Each carried one of the massive bows favored by Terminians, along with a quiver and broadsword at their sides. When all had come they numbered about five score, and they bowed down before the princess of Hyrule.

"Captain!" Garret shouted, turning to the nearest. "Report!"

A tall man snapped straight and thumped a gauntlet to his chest. "The moblins are scattered and fleeing. They run without sense or order, and they have already retreated far into the mountains."

Garret laughed again. "Good. Then you," he turned to Zelda "are in no further danger."

"That is the best news I have heard…in a long while." Zelda sighed, and for the first time Garret seemed to notice how tense she and the company were. "We have been fleeing before them for the better part of a day, and many of our companion's bodies lie unburied at the site of our first battle. As you witnessed, this cave was the site of our final desperation."

There was sadness in the prince's eyes when she finished, but also admiration. "It is a very defensible place." he commented. "But I humbly ask forgiveness for not coming to your aid earlier. If I had only known…"

"It is good you came when you did," Zelda assured him, "More than that we cannot ask you, for it is impossible to change what has already happened."

Garret nodded, seeing that all silently agreed with the princess. "Your wisdom and beauty have not changed princess. Thank you for easing my guilt. But if I may ask, how is it that you came to part of this merchant caravan? By my knowledge, they set forth from Silva two days ago, a day after I did myself, that is not enough time for them to cross the mountains and meet you."

At this, Omar stepped forward and bowed low. "If I may my Prince," he began, "I would tell you a story, one that I would not believe real unless I had witnessed it."

The prince studied him for a moment, before answering. "Yes. I would hear this story."

Omar bowed again. "The merchants, my men and I set out from Silva as you said, two days ago. We travelled for a day and a half without incident, but on the second morning we grew uneasy, for we felt that we were being watched. One of the children wandered too far from the caravan, and we sent out a search party for him." Omar shivered, "We did not find him alive, but we stumbled upon a band of moblins. More flowed out of the surrounding mountainside, and the search party was driven back to the caravan with loss. The merchants abandoned their horses, formed their wagons into a ring, and joined my guards in its defense. We were about to be overwhelmed.

"Then," his voice rose, "over the edge of the valley came a beauty of vision itself. Clad in white and waving a shining sword, she and her two attendants came to our rescue with no thought to their own safety or survival. The moblins fled before her prowess like wheat before the scythe, and as men waking from a nightmare, we realized that our lives were being saved. When I too led my men onto the field, we drove the fiends away, and delivered the merchants and ourselves from the monsters. I did not realize then that our saviour was the princess of Hyrule, but I should have, for the kind of nobility and dignity she radiated was that of no common lady."

Omar shook himself out of his reverie just in time to catch the look of awe Kashi threw him, along with Zelda's accompanying look of puzzlement. The innkeeper was amazed by his friend's skilled tongue, the princess was confused by his somewhat altered account of her part in the battle, and Garret, for his part, was completely taken with the captain's romantic vision of Zelda the warrior princess. Demon was wondering whether to slit the man's throat for relegating him to such a minor role in the battle, but then, reminiscing on his actions, he realized that it was probably a good thing if the merchants didn't mention them.

"I had not noticed that you wore a sword," the prince murmured, looking at the weapon at Zelda's hip. She clutched the hilt self-consciously, not entirely liking her new role as a killer, even of monsters. It was something she would have to grow used to, but she knew why she wore one, and she was not afraid to tell Garret.

"My people are being enslaved and murdered." She looked the prince in the eye. "They are at war, and so therefore am I. My sword is their sword."

The prince shook his head in amazement. "Much has changed princess, since we used to play together in my father's gardens as children. I wish now we could have met again in less troubled times, and in a better place

The princess and prince talked for a while longer, Garret exclaiming over elements of Zelda's story, and the princess hinting at the true purpose of her visit, before both retired to their respective companies, Garret needed to receive a full report from his captain, and Zelda had to rally the merchants. Even though the sky was now pitch-black, she, Omar, and Kashi had decided the caravan should keep moving while there was no further chance of a moblin attack. The merchants, despite their weariness, completely agreed. Besides, they did not want to spend the night in a place they had come to see as a tomb. All of the company were glad to be alive, and thankful for their miraculous deliverance, but they didn't want to push their luck.

Garret, for his part, ordered fifty of his men to stay and guard the caravan the rest of the way to Silva, and then disappeared with the rest farther up the pass. Demon had painted him a vivid picture of the monster hordes which infested the high mountains, and therefore the danger his path led him to, but Garret had ignored him, and instead elaborately described the glory he and his men would achieve deep within enemy territory. The assassin shrugged and gave up, but not before drawing the prince a rough map of the pass and pointing out a few of what he suspected were moblin encampments. Zelda felt the prince's actions were foolish, that he risked too much for mere glory, but she was surprised by the loyalty of his men. All seemed as eager as Garret to head forth into great danger.

The princess did not understand it.

And yet, she didn't think it would be proper to argue with a man who had so recently come to her rescue, so she busied herself with helping the merchants prepare to travel. Wagons had to be righted and repacked, fires put out, and wares reorganized. Corwin insisted on leaving an entire pot of purple dye in the cave as an offering to the Maiden, and the appropriate prayers and incense burnings delayed the caravan for what seemed like forever to the princess. Zelda understood his need to thank the gods, she herself had offered several prayers already, but she wished the man could have delayed his reverence until he had city walls around him and a roof over his head. Zelda was pretty sure the Maiden would have forgiven him.

Of course, if the Maiden was even present, none of the company knew it. The mist thickened and deepened outside the cave so that by the time the merchants left, each driver could barely see the back of the wagon in front of them, let alone the sky. Omar and Kashi had spread Garret's men the length of the wagon train, and ordered them to form a defensive perimeter, but most walked within a few paces of the merchants, more afraid of losing their way than being attacked. The mist was both a shield and a cloak to those who passed within it, making men and horses into insubstantial ghosts that hardly seemed real in the darkness.

Omar alone carried a torch, of all the company, and it was he that that lead wagon followed down the mountain. Of both merchants and soldiers, it had been discovered that he was the most knowledgeable of the many paths and trailed which riddled the Terminian side of the mountains, so he had been chosen to lead the company. It was a responsibility that he did not carry lightly. The trust of all who blindly followed him, and the sudden revelation that 'Lady Ariana" was a Princess, spurred him onwards.

He led them true, always taking the quickest paths, but not ones that were too narrow or steep for the horses. Not once did he pause at a fork in the path, or forget the path he wished to take, and if the merchants could have but seen their surroundings under the light of day, they would have understood how skilled a guide they had chosen. Unfortunately, their searching eyes could not pierce the darkness, and instead conjured phantoms of moblins and chasms to entertain their fear. Time crawled, as it is always does when one thinks one is lost, and men began to grumble that they recognized what little of the scenery they could see. Zelda quietly travelled from wagon to wagon, soothing fears and comforting children, and urging parents to trust their captain to do his duty.

Some asked her why Demon had not been chosen to lead the caravan, and they hinted that they wished he had. "Twice today," one man said, "he has brought us aid in the moment of our ruin. Whether he is actually a demon I care not, for maybe in this evil fog it is better to be led by a demon than a man." Zelda forced down her anger at the callousness of the man, but silently agreed that she too would have felt safer if Demon had not handed the torch to Omar. Not that she didn't trust the merchant captain's instincts, but he did not have Demon's ability to win the day despite any odds.

Really, it was not until the path widened into a cobbled road, and fences reared here and there to either side, that the merchant realized how well founded their trust in Omar had been. The night was not half-done, and already they were passing the outer settlements of Silva. Unconsciously, all sped up the pace, feeling the exhilaration of a runner on the last leg of a race, and turning it into energy. Omar and Kashi were relegated to trotting beside the wagons as the drivers coaxed the last bit of speed out of their horses. Then the gates of Silva were before them, and the merchants let out a ragged cheer.

The gate guard didn't know what to make of it. Some of the company wept, others laughed, and a few, among them Corwin and Elayne, knelt in silent prayer to the Maiden. Somehow, they had cheated death, the mountains, and the moblin hordes, and lived to tell about it. True, many had fallen in the process, and they would be remembered and mourned in due time, but for the single blessed moment as the gates opened before them, the merchants were amazed by the miracle of their survival.

Really, neither Zelda nor Omar had planned past this moment. Their goal during the entire desperate flight had been to reach Silva, and place its solid oak gates between them and the moblins. There had been no point speculating farther in the future than that when they and the merchants were running for their lives, and even after they were rescued from the cave by Garret's men, neither party had decided what to do once they reached the Terminian city. Instead, they staggered down narrow streets, battling a sudden, and yet potent weariness which threatened to engulf them. Luckily, Garret had foreseen their plight, and his men quickly took over leadership of the merchant caravan.

They led the company to the best inn in the city, paying with Garret's own money to accommodate even the lowliest of the merchants. All the generosity was in Zelda's honour of course, but at the moment they entered the inn, the princess was barely aware of what was happening, other than the fact that she wanted a bath and a bed, in that order. Completely exhausted and grimy beyond belief, she stumbled through the common room and up the stairs without perceiving the many curious stares which followed her. Even when Demon had to partially carry her up the final steps to her room, she didn't object, but let her head rest on his shoulder and sighed sleepily. The assassin swallowed hard, and looked at her with an expression half pain and half tenderness, but Zelda was already asleep.

Two minutes later the assassin had laid her onto a massive bed, as big as two of the beds in Kashi's inn combined, and was back outside in the hallway. He was just as tired as the princess, but there were things he had to attend to, that he wished to do before the next morning when the town would buzz with the news that the Hylian princess was amongst them. The soldiers were already talking, Demon had seen the stunned look on the innkeeper's face when Garret's captain had paid him, and the assassin did not doubt that Zelda's time of anonymity was over. Of course, he had known that subconsciously when he had come across Prince Garret in the mountains and begged him to save the Princess, sacrificing her cover to give the Terminian a compelling reason to come to her aid. It was a necessary trade, but it meant that the assassin would have to be more careful than ever before.

As he swept down the stairs, Demon realized that Garret would have probably come to their rescue even if he had only known Zelda as a pretty Hylian noble. The man had a good heart, and his love for his subjects would have driven him to protect them without any added incentive. But at the time, Demon had known of Garret only what Zelda had told of him in the few instances he had been brought up in their conversation, and so the assassin had revealed to him the only thing sure to bring him and his men running to her aid. Demon did not regret doing so, but it made the next step, reaching the Terminian castle, more difficult. They still had a long way to travel, and many burdens to overcome…

And then he was back at ground level and the innkeeper was bowing low and asking him if "the Princess desired food, or drink, or even entertainment? Anything at all, to the limit of my power."

"She's sleeping." Demon said bluntly. "But she will need food and drink when she awakens. Simple fare please, that will not make her ill after a hard journey."

The man positively danced his assent. "Ah yes, I completely understand. I will see to it at once and then have my quietest maid bring it up to her. She will not be awoken I assure you of it-"

"No." Demon interrupted him. "I will bring it up. And understand that if anyone other than me passes through her door tonight, I will cut them to ribbons. No matter how quiet."

Frightened, the man retreated, but he was back, oozing protest, within the moment. "But sir!" he cried. "I was not properly ready for your arrival! She will need maids, and mirrors, and more furniture, and blankets, and fancier curtains, and sweetmeats, and perfumes, and-"

Once again, the assassin cut him off. "Tomorrow. For now she sleeps, and so should I. And you." He pointed to the innkeeper. "Why you are still awake is beyond me."

"Prince Garret planned to return tonight. It is his room that houses the princess." He glared at Demon. "You must let the maids in tonight or she will never forgive me! The room is not to the right standard!"

"Why not? It was fine for the prince." Demon asked him suspiciously.

"She's a princess!" The man practically growled. "Men don't care about having towels that match the carpets, and having all the woodchips removed from the fireplace!

Demon leaned in close, and his eyes flickered. "Yet you do, and you are a man," his eyes flickered scornfully over the plump innkeeper, "I trust. Although I may fix that if you disturb the princess."

This time, the innkeeper didn't bounce back as fast. He just hunched nervously. "Then, if her ladyship permits, I can send the towels up tomorrow?"

Demon looked at him, and gave up. "Yes. Now where's the princess's breakfast?"

He was led to the kitchens and burdened with a tray so completely full that he ended up having to take two trips up the stairs to Zelda's room. He didn't understand how one person was expected to eat so much food, let alone a slim princess. Knowing Zelda, the one tray would probably have provided her with breakfast for five or six days, but the assassin had a sneaking suspicion that an identical feast in her honor would be provided every morning. Not that the assassin was complaining, it had been a long time since he had tasted some of the dishes present.

Setting the tray down outside the door, Demon drew a knife and carefully inserted it between the door and frame, jimmying the locking bar free in the process. The room was meant to be locked from the inside, but the assassin hadn't been near naïve enough to leave it unbarred while he had gone downstairs to talk to the innkeeper. It had taken some skill, but he had managed to knock the bar into place from outside the door, and now used the same method to enter.

When he finally got the door open, he walked in to find the scene unchanged. Zelda lay curled up on the massive bed, sleeping deeply, without notice or care of the surrounding world. Demon cast her a measuring glance, and then carefully, quietly, went to her side. His steps made less sound than ever the innkeeper's quietest maid had dreamed of, and he barely seemed to breath as he slipped over to stand beside the bed. Carefully quietly, he pulled a blanket from the pile next to the bed, and cast it over her, laboriously tucking in the edges so it wouldn't slip off during the night. He stepped back to survey his work, and frowned as the princess shifted in her sleep and thrust a single foot out of the blanket and across the bed. Zelda had been so tired she had forgotten to cast off her boots, and Demo stared unhappily at the swathes of dirt they streaked across the linens.

Well, Demon decided, she can survive the discomfort for one night at least. She's been through worse on this journey. He was about to turn away when a soft noise at the door made him whirl around, daggers appearing in his hands like coins in the palm of a travelling magician. Silently, his feet carried him behind the slowly opening door. A form crept in, and Demon had a dagger to its throat before he himself knew who it was, but then he became far to busy muffling the maid's scream and catching her dropped tray to cut her throat. Shoving her bodily into the hallway, he closed the door behind them and glared at her.

"She was not to be disturbed!" he hissed, mad enough to rage, but not able to due to the proximity of the sleeping princess. "Why are you here!"

The girl was almost in tears, frightened out of her wits by her sudden brush with death. "Master said," she sobbed, " that the princess will not have a clean garment for tomorrow morning, so he sent me with one. I swear we only seek to please her!"

"I almost killed you," Demon growled in frustration, "for a robe. Fool girl."

"May I leave it with her?" The maid whispered tentatively.

"Fine." Clenching his hands into fists, Demon let sparks flash through his eyes for a second, before another thought struck him. "Actually, I may have a use for you. Her highness…needs a woman."

The maid stared at him, her fear tinged with curiosity. "For what?"

"To remove…her boots." The assassin forced. "I can't do it."

"Why not?"

"Would that not be improper?" Demon growled back.

"I suppose." She stared at him doubtfully. "Promise you won't kill me?"

Demon sighed. "I swear it."

He turned, and slowly swung the door open. True to the quality of the rest of the inn, it did not even give of a semblance of a squeak, and he quickly had it closed and locked behind them. The maid immediately went to the bed, her slippers making soft sounds on the floor as she went. Murmuring in disapproval, she skillfully began to unlace Zelda's boots.

"Her feet might be a little swollen." Demon whispered from over her shoulder, and the maid almost squeaked.

"My apologies." She whispered back, before returning quickly to her task. "It's fortunate you let me in, her feet would have been in a fine state tomorrow morning when she woke up. Besides, she's cold, almost shivering! Did you really think one blanket would be enough this early in spring, hardly before the snow's even melted?"

Now that she was back in her area of expertise, the maid was quickly losing her fear of the assassin. Demon gritted his teeth as she reprimanded him for this and that, but he marveled at her skill. She had both Zelda's boots off in a flash, and then somehow managed to get the princess under all the blankets she had been sleeping on without waking her. After that, she took the initiative and bustled around the room, fixing things and tidying, and generally making the room more presentable than it already was.

Finally, she returned to Demon, and managed to look him in the eyes. "That's the best I can do without making a few trips downstairs. I'll be right back up in a second with some matching towels, now that you've realized how important it is not to terrorize people trying to help you. And don't you pull a knife on me again!"

But Demon was not to be bullied. "Tomorrow you can bring as many towels as your heart desires. Now I must sleep, and so should you, if you have any sense."

The girl glared at him. "Women," she whispered loftily, "do not need as much sleep as men. Especially ill-mannered louts like yourself with too many blades and not enough brains."

Demon almost laughed. It had been so very long since someone had really tried to insult him that he actually found it funny. "What is your name girl?"

She kept glaring at him. "Woman, actually. And it's Katie."

"Tell your master that from now on, you are the only one allowed to serve the princess, and therefore you must be released from your other duties to be on constant attendance." He grinned, but on a face like his it was more of a threat. "Zelda will like you."

"I don't know," she whispered, "there are older maids, and better ones. I'm really not very good, and I don't know anything about princesses!"

Demon looked at her. "Princess Zelda will like you, I am sure of it. Now I want to see no more of you until tomorrow. Go." He shut the door and locked it again.

Before going to bed, he made one last circuit of the room to make sure all the windows were shut and locked, and that the fire in the hearth was burning nicely. Then he grabbed another couple blankets of the pile beside Zelda's bed and lowered himself down in front of the door. All in all, it was the best sleeping arrangements he'd had in a while too, even if it was on the floor. His last thought before he drifted off to sleep was of what Katie had called him. An ill-mannered lout with more blades than sense. Well, it's not too far off the truth, he thought, before drifting off into oblivion.

Author's Notes:

Well, I went on a bit of a binge and wrote a whole chapter over the last couple days, so I was free to post this one. I like it, although I'm playing a little free with character continuity, so some of you may be a bit confused. My problem is that sometimes the characters evolve in my head, and I forget what they used to be the six to eight months ago when I introduced them. So please forgive me.

It's also important to note that the next few chapters in Termina are going to involve a lot of social contact between various characters and Demon, which will force him to depart from his aloof role as the medieval equivalent to the "master-chief". You all should be warned in advance, that he is still not a terribly like-able character, unless of course you are so lucky as to know his heroic background (which we are). Frankly, what Katie calls him is fairly true. He even admits it. :-)

I apologize for the punctuation errors in the dialogue. My general philosophy has been not to care about the small details, but I'm revising that now. I would like to go back and give this story a more polished look, so I may be going back and doing some editing. Those of you who were around when I mistakenly erased this whole piece will remember that I had to upload everything from my rough drafts, causing some humorous additions to the main text. But, I admit, there's not excuse for me to have kept this mistakes in my published work for as long as I have.

Not that I'm able to make any promises. :-)