Treacherous Intentions

By: dontwaitupxx


Chapter Seven


A week had passed since the incident on board Vah Rudania. Link, asleep in his quarters, was awoken by the sound of pounding on his door.

Not a second after he had unlocked his door was the door slammed open, and in one swift movement, he was pinned up against the cold stonewalls of his quarters, his arm twisted behind him as his head was shoved into the wall.

Ah yes, it was the Commander, it seemed. Good morning.

"What did you do to her?" The Commander's voice growled in his ear, and instantly, all traces of sleep bled out of him entirely.

"What are you talking about?" Link hissed right back, struggling against the Commander's grip. Her grip only tightened.

"What do you think I am talking about? The Princess!"

"What about the Princess? I'm not on duty!"

"The Princess is missing, and you not being on duty certainly does not help your cause."

Link, in a surge of strength, pushed off the Commander and turned to face her. The Commander, in turn, did not move to try and restrain him again, yet she did deliberately place herself between the Captain of the Royal Guard and his doorway out.

Link sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "In case you hadn't noticed, before you barged in, I had been fast asleep. Did you check with the guard that was stationed outside her door?"

"He was the one who had informed me that she had disappeared."

"Did you check the library?"

"Of course I did; I'm not daft."

"The dining hall, the gardens, the chapel – did you check all those places?"

"Aye, and she is not in any of those spots."

Link pushed passed the Commander then, having already shrugged on his tunic, his boots, and a pair of trousers, the Master Sword strapped to his back.

"Where are you going?" Commander Impa asked, her head swiveling around to face him.

"First her quarters, then the ranch," Link said, nearly running as he made his way down the hall, "I'm going to see if she left a clue as to where she went. Then, I'm going to see if the stable master prepared Storm for the Princess. If they didn't, and her horse is still there, then she couldn't have gone far."

"Wait a minute," Commander Impa caught up to Link, jogging beside him, "You mean to tell me that you think the Princess just left of her own accord? That she would decide to leave without telling anyone?"

"Correct."

"The Princess has not yet been cleared by the court physician to go out on field expeditions. That does not sound like something the Princess would do."

"Actually, Commander, it sounds exactly like something the Princess would do," Link bristled, turning the corner, "Does the King know that she's disappeared?"

"Not yet, as I was just made privy to this information. I intend to inform him immediately and to do a full search of the servant's and Royal Guard's quarters, including yours."

"As you should; I have nothing to hide."

And indeed, he did not. Link had left the Yiga Clan hideout in the Karusa Valley with nothing but simple Hylian clothing on his back. He was careful not to bring anything with him that could trace him back to the Yiga: no masks, nothing red, and not even a lone banana to eat along the road.

They made their way to the Princess's quarters, where the guard that had been outside her door was still stationed there uselessly, as though he was still guarding her. The two of them pushed the useless guard to the side and barged in, Link leading as they made their way to the spiral staircase that led to the Princess's study.

Her quarters were completely empty, her bed completely made, and her nightgown still hung next to her changing screen. It was clear that she had left in the night, before having gone asleep, which by the early rays of dawn, meant that she had at least a few hours head start on them. According to the guard, she had retired early the night before, just after supper, which didn't help their cause.

The two of them sprinted up the spiral staircase, and across the bridge leading to her study. The doors to her study were left ajar, which could have been disastrous had there been weather in the night. Link stepped inside and reeled slightly, being taken aback by the sheer amount of experiments and books she had lying haphazardly around the small tower.

He looked to her desk, which was blocked slightly by various scrolls and various texts. One in particular was an Ancient Sheikah text, opened to a page written in small print. Beside it was another tome written in old Hylian, and it looked as though the Princess had been cross-referencing the two texts. The Commander looked over his shoulder, her eyes calculating on the Ancient Sheikah text.

"This looks to be a text on those shrines my sister has been studying," Commander Impa murmured, turning one of the old, dusty pages delicately, "It keeps repeating the phrase 'Tena Ko'sah', but I haven't the faintest idea what that means."

Link looked over to the tome written in old Hylian, and though much of the text was beyond his level of comprehension, Link was able to decipher that it was a text on ancient Hylian cultural relics. The Princess had underlined some key phrases here and there, though they meant nothing to Link, until he came across another familiar phrase.

"Commander," Link breathed, pointing towards the Hylian text, "This text also mentions 'Tena Ko'sah'. It's underlined. What does this mean?"

The Commander knew not how to reply, though Link realized in the next second she did not need to. He looked up to where a map of Hyrule lay, just beyond the two tomes. The map was notated in fine Hylian handwritten script, no doubt the Princess's. Things such as the three springs were notated, as well as the major settlements, the major mountains, and each region. Additionally, there were things circled and crossed out; most notably, the region of the castle being circled with the word 'columns?' scrawled beside it. In the margins of the map, was the phrase 'towers for each region?', and near the Great Plateau was the phrase 'Shrine of Resurrection' listed near the Temple of Time. Link's gaze travelled farther west until he spotted 'Tena Ko'sah' written in the Tabantha region, near where the Ancient Columns were, a pin marking its place.

A memory flashed through his mind's eye of the Princess on the Tabantha Great Bridge, wistfully looking and taking a picture of the Ancient Columns at the peak of the Rayne Highlands.

Link knew where the Princess was.

"Tell the King I'll have her back by high noon," and with that, he took off running, back down into the Princess's quarters and outside, down the side staircase leading towards the gardens. He could hear the Commander yelling after him, more of a question on her voice than anything. It was a short run to the great gates leading into Castle Town, and then again to the ranch on the Hyrule Fields.

As it was, at this time of morning, the citizens of Castle Town were only just beginning their day, and most had not left their homes. The streets were deserted for the most part, with the occasional beggar being startled awake at the Hylian Champion sprinting across the cobblestone streets.

By the time he made it to the ranch, the sun had just peaked over Shatterback Point. He ran into the stables and sure enough, Storm was gone, and sure enough, the Stable Master had simply leant it out to the Princess of Hyrule without an escort, and without any questions.

Sure, she's the Princess, and Link was certain the Stable Master didn't want to tell her no, but all he wanted to do was strangle the senseless man and send him careening through his front window. Really, to allow the sole Princess of Hyrule out into the wilds of Hyrule with no guard or escort was reckless; it was irresponsible.

It was making both of Link's jobs as her appointed knight and as her assassin impossible.

Link mounted Epona hastily and sent her off in a furious gallop towards the west, where the twilight of nighttime had been all but washed away in the rays of the sun. He made his way past the Sacred Grounds and towards Carok Village and the Carok Bridge, which was now back in commission.

He recalled faintly that a notice was sent to the Royal Guard the day before that the Carok Bridge had been repaired from the collapse of the Breach of Demise. If he hadn't been convinced of her whereabouts before, he was now. Of course the Princess would make a run for it the second that bridge was repaired. The detour to the south would have added a day's worth of travel to her journey; even she knew that she wouldn't be able to fend for herself for more than a day out in the wilds.

Following the bridge, Link thought briefly to check the Royal Ancient Lab to see if the two Sheikah researchers knew of her whereabouts. Perhaps she had stopped there to share her discoveries that she had made up in her tower. Link thought against it, however, and continued his way towards the Tabantha Frontier. Had she stopped there, it would have been hours ago, and she would have been long gone to her final destination by that point. Should, for some reason, he not find her in the Rayne Highlands, he would stop there on the way back to the castle.

He spurred Epona onwards, past the West Hyrule Plains and the Seres Scablands, and it wasn't long after that before he made it to the Tabantha Great Bridge. Link did not slow Epona's gallop, but he squinted upwards, trying to see if he could catch a glimpse of blonde hair or of a blue tunic. From his vantage point, however, he could not, seeing as he was low to the ground.

Between the Piper Ridge and the Nero Hill was an unmarked path that would have been easy to miss had Link not been looking for it. The path was precarious, wrapped along the edge of a canyon that separated Hyrule from the rest of the world. One wrong step, one loose rock would mean certain death to any princess with a temperamental horse.

Link could only think of one princess who fit the bill.

Link dug his heels into Epona's flanks, galloping up the final turns of the Rayne Highlands to its peak. There, the Ancient Columns began to appear around him, and sure enough, near a column up ahead was Storm, grazing amongst the grass. The Princess was not much further, near another one of those odd monuments, which Link presumed was the shrine she had discovered in her texts.

There was a certain amount of satisfaction at being correct at figuring out the Princess's whereabouts, Link had to admit. Epona whinnied as they approached Storm and Link jumped off of her back, jogging up towards the Princess. The Princess, having heard his approach, had huffed, turning around with a livid look in her eyes.

"How did you find me?" The Princess demanded, placing her hands on her hips.

"You had left your texts open on your desk in your study," Link replied, matter-of-fact, "and had marked this location on your map."

"Oh, so now you're snooping through my things?" The Princess snapped, "I thought I made it clear that I am not in need of an escort."

"Leaving the castle in the dead of night, without telling a soul, is certainly not 'perfectly clear'," Link retorted, "The castle is in high alert now; your father is worried sick. The Commander believed you to have been abducted by the Yiga Clan."

"Yes, well, as you can see I am perfectly safe," The Princess bristled, turning her nose up, "It seems I am the only one with a mind of my own. I, the person in question, am fine, regardless of the King's orders."

"The King's orders," Link reiterated, "are to keep you safe at all times. Furthermore, the court physician had not cleared you yet to leave the castle."

"Like a bird trapped in her cage," the Princess muttered to herself, "Must I repeat myself? I am fine; I don't need some old man to tell me when I am well enough to travel," the Princess stomped past him then, making her way towards Storm, "Return to the castle, and tell that to my father, please."

"Gladly; we can tell him together," Link agreed, following behind her to their horses.

The Princess froze mid-step, her hands fisting at her sides, "Yes, and that," the Princess whirled on him, a furious look in her eyes, "You would do well to stop following me!"

Link sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "You know I can't do that."

"You can, and you will," the Princess retorted, jumping onto Storm's back, "You have freewill, do you not? Exercise it."

In a flash, Link had Storm's reins gripped in his hands. He was already atop Epona himself, and gave the Princess a severe look, "Either you come back with me to the castle of your own freewill this instant, or you're coming with me on Epona and we are leaving Storm behind: monsters be damned."

"You wouldn't dare," the Princess whispered, pulling her reins slightly from Link.

"Try me," Link challenged, yanking the reins clear out of her grasp. The Princess inhaled, her bottom lip trembling slightly, before she nodded almost indistinctly. Link shoved the reins back into her grip and gave Storm a small smack on its backside, sending the horse in a light trot down the hillside.

The trip was silent, much to Link's delight, back to Hyrule Castle. The sun was rising, much further past the center of the sky. He was going to be arriving later with the Princess than he had said he would. At the crossroads of the Breach of Demise, the Princess looked longingly over towards the Royal Ancient Lab, the question on her tongue, but Link merely grabbed her reins and pulled her and Storm to the right, across the Carok and away from the lab.

As they were about to pass the gates to Castle Town to take their horses back to the ranch, two soldiers met them. They informed Link that they were under direct orders from the Commander to lodge their horses for them. They were to go straight to the castle, no stops within the town, which suited Link just fine.

Commander Impa was waiting for the two of them as they walked through the gates leading into the castle. By her side were two members of the Royal Guard, their postures stiff and faces impassive.

"You're late," Commander Impa directed towards Link dryly, "It is after high noon."

Link merely shrugged, "I found her and brought her back, didn't I?"

"There have been some developments," the Commander said, lowly, "Princess, the King would like to see you immediately in the Sanctum, however, he has instructed that you are not to be left alone within the castle, or anywhere else, at this time. These two members of the guard have been cleared of any suspicion, and they will keep you safe."

"Impa," the Princess questioned, her tone breathy, "What's going on?"

"You'll find out in due time; however, it is not my place to tell," the Commander sighed, and for the first time Link had ever seen it, her features softened, "Go on – your father is waiting."

The Princess merely nodded, and walked up the hillside towards the Sanctum, the two members of the Royal Guard walking pristinely behind her.

"You," the Commander turned towards him then, an unreadable look in her eye, "Come with me."

Link followed the Commander into the castle, and was surprised when the Commander began leading him down a series of stairs, towards where the lockup was.

"Commander," Link questioned, "What's going on?"

"There is a traitor amongst us," Commander Impa muttered, turning the corner, the walls turning colder and greyer, "While you were gone, searching for the Princess, I overturned every bunk, searched every corner. Though we could have presumed that there was not any Yiga activity, since the Princess had left of her own accord, I had a gut feeling; and I'm hardly ever wrong."

A cold feeling settled in the pit of Link's stomach, though he fought not to let it show. Was she leading him down to the lockup to arrest him? Was there an ambush down there, waiting for him? Was that why she was so quick to separate both him and the Princess? Had he left something in his quarters that would have been damnable evidence? A red cloth? A mask? A banana peel?

Link straightened his spine and readied himself to grab the Master Sword as the Commander rounded the corner in front of him. Should there be an ambush, he would be ready. He had gone up against the top admirals of the Yiga Clan; what were a few measly members of the Royal Guard and one worthless Sheikah?

But as Link turned the corner, he was not met with an ambush. He was not met with the steel of the Commander's Eightfold Longblade. No, what he was met with was a far cry from what he had been expecting.

Inside one of the high security cells was a man, beaten and battered, shackled to the cold stonewalls of the lockup. His left leg was twisted at an unnatural angle underneath him, and his eyes were nearly swollen shut, his upper lip bleeding from a nasty gash. His clothing was tattered, and did not signify him as part of the Royal Guard, or even of the army. No, this man wore peasant clothes, not uncommon of the servants that roamed and worked in the castle.

The man turned his head slightly towards the two of them, and though his eyes could barely open, they locked with Link's, and Link instantly recognized him.

It was the servant from the ball. The man who nearly blew his cover a week ago. The Yiga Clansman. His brother.

He had been found out.

Shit.

"We found this in the servant's bunk, at the bottom of his chest," the Commander held out a Yiga mask in her left hand, her nails practically puncturing the material. Link fought to keep his face neutral as he stared at the familiar disguise, "Though we haven't gotten much from him yet, while we were interrogating him, we managed to find out that he has another brother that has infiltrated the castle, although we are not sure in what capacity."

"Have we checked all of the servant's quarters?" Link managed, staring back into the eyes of the Yiga Clansman. In his defense, the man gave no indication that he had ever seen him.

"Yes, and unfortunately, we haven't found anything as of yet," the Commander turned to him, "However, we begin questioning at dawn, checking out every servant's, every guard's, every person who resides here in the castle's alibi's. We will find out who this second 'brother' is."

"Let me know how I can assist," Link muttered, casting his eyes briefly towards the Yiga.

"Of course," the Commander nearly smiled. Blazing fiery eyes locked with ice cold ones as she whispered with a malicious glint in her eye, "Although, I doubt we will have to question the people of the castle for long: I'm positive that this traitor will break soon, and we will have proof as to who this second brother is."

The look the Commander was giving him was not lost on Link. She believed she had him cornered, with his only way out to be to run to the Gerudo Highlands and abandon his mission altogether. She seemed quite confident in herself, the way spoke so candidly to her Captain of the Royal Guard.

Though… that was the politics of it, wasn't it? It was a game of cat and mouse, and it was clear which one she viewed herself as. With the King on his side, she knew that she needed undeniable proof of his intentions.

And she felt so confident in herself that she had this proof, that she would rub it all in his face.

One look at the battered man's confirmed the Commander's statement: it would not be long before his cover was blown and the servant would bend and spill. Though the man was Yiga, he was only a Foot Soldier, and would not be able to endure the inhumane torture of the Sheikah's interrogation techniques for long. The Commander thought him cornered, and yet Link always had a backup plan.

Action would have to be taken to ensure his silence.

There was no moon that night over Hyrule Castle. No light: just shadows and darkness. In the shadows of the night, Link was undetectable. It was a practiced art, one that required patience and stealth. Though much of the castle was asleep, it was still on high alert. This, however, proved not to be a challenge to the Lieutenant.

He slipped silently through the halls, keeping to the shadows and staying out of sight. The lockup would be guarded, he presumed, seeing as the clansman was considered to be a high security prisoner, however, it proved to be of little consequence to Link: a guard could not alert the castle if they were dead.

However, sadly for Link, he did not have to resort to such drastic measures. It seemed that the lockup was much less guarded than he would have initially thought. For shame, too: it had been a while since he had spilled blood for sport. He was getting antsy.

However, there was still the issue of the jailor, who sat at his table, on his third bottle of mead, with the keys to the cells spinning lazily through his fingers. It would not be easy to get the keys from him, and though Link could just go and slit his throat just as easily, he had another plan for him up his sleeve.

In Hyrule, a common household tea was brewed with mixture of Armoranth and Warm Safflina. On its own, Armoranth was impenetrable. However, when it was boiled in water, the fibers would be relaxed enough to be crushed up with a mortar and pestle. Together, the two ingredients created a relaxing brew, allowing the drinker to unwind and ease anxieties. It was cheap enough that the working class could procure it, and effective enough that the noble class utilized it as well.

However, ingested with an alcoholic beverage would be enough to knock out a hefty Hylian man; ingested with multiple alcoholic drinks in a short time span would render that man comatose, and in some cases, would result in death.

With the amount of Armoranth and Warm Safflina the Lieutenant had crushed up, it was clear that he was going for the latter.

As the jailer fell to the floor with a dull thud, Link slipped out from the shadows, reaching for the keys that were still in the jailer's twitching hand. He turned the corner and made eye contact with his Yiga brother, who had been startled awake by the sound of the jailer falling unconscious.

Link made quick work of the lock, the jail cell swinging open with a shrill screech.

"Lieutenant," the servant rasped, shaking as Link began to walk towards him slowly, "Are you here to get me out?"

"Not quite," Link whispered, taking another step towards him, "How far do you think you would get before the Hyrulean Royal Army found you? What would you try to say to your clan, having failed in your mission? You're far too injured to teleport back, and, to be completely honest: I can't have you blowing my cover."

"I would never rat you out," the servant beseeched, "Your mission is far too important."

"Yet it doesn't seem that you realize that," Link hissed, "Telling the Commander that there was another brother within the castle? Sloppy move, if I say so myself, and quite frankly, treacherous as well."

"I never intended to betray you," the servant shuddered, tears beginning to fall down his dirty face, "Please, you have to believe me! I had to say something! It was that Sheikah commander; she threatened to cut off my -"

"Intentions," Link interrupted, "are meaningless. It's the actions that speak louder than words."

"I'm sorry," the servant stammered, "It was an accident, and it won't happen again."

"That it won't," Link agreed, reaching down towards his boot, "Failure is not an option in the Yiga Clan, and traitors will not be tolerated."

"What are you doing?" the servant whispered, his voice wavering as Link pulled out a small knife from his boot, twirling it in his fingers.

Link paused, pondering with the knife, before he breathed, "Tying up loose ends," before he slammed the knife down, slitting the servant's throat.

Any scream that the servant had attempted was cut off, bubbling up in the blood that gushed from his throat. Link did well to avoid getting blood anywhere but his hands, and ripped the knife from the former Yiga's throat, wiping the blood off on the man's shirt and tucking the knife back into his boot.

The man's eyes glassed over, and he was dead. It was time for Link to get out of here.

Link kept to the shadows still, not letting down his guard until he was within his quarters. He stopped briefly in the servant's quarters to wash the blood from his hands and fingernails in a water basin, and to deposit the knife in a random chest. The room slept soundly, not a soul awake in the dead of night.

Upon closing the door of his own quarters shut behind him, he finally breathed, and smiled to himself for a job well done. He placed his boots against the wall, and shoved the trousers and shirt he had been wearing towards the back of his chest of drawers, opting for caution instead of recklessness. He turned in for the night, letting his head relax against his pillow, closing his eyes.

Link slept soundly that night, dreaming of crimson skies and Armoranth.