Treacherous Intentions

By: dontwaitupxx


Chapter Eleven


A week had passed since the incident in the rocky cliffs at the base of Death Mountain. Surprisingly, upon returning to Hyrule Castle, and submitting his report to the Commander, Link was not found with his arm twisted behind his back, with a demand to know what his intentions were. No, instead, he was met with the equivalent of a pat on the back for a job well done, and sent on his merry way.

The Commander's behavior was odd, he supposed, but not unwelcome, if he was completely honest. If the Commander wanted to choose now as a good time to stop giving him a hard time, so be it.

It would make his job a hell of a lot easier.

Normally, a cut from a Lynel was not something that Link would have worried about. He could tend to the wound himself, and probably do a better job at dressing it than the physicians at Hyrule Castle. However, upon returning to the castle, the Princess took it upon herself to all but march him straight to the infirmary to have his arm properly tended to. Rather than put up a fight, he let her, as he tuned out the exasperating tones of her voice as they walked down the echoing halls.

Indeed: normally, a cut from a Lynel was something Link wouldn't have given a second thought. Except now, even a week after the entire incident was over and done with, the cut on his arm still hadn't healed. In fact, it looked as though it had not made any progress healing whatsoever. The cuts were still raw, still red and angry, and stung with a pain not unbearable, but most certainly not pleasant. Link was sure to always keep the cuts covered by his bracer, to ensure that it was covered with that extra layer to minimize any jostling or unnecessary prodding.

His last encounter with a Lynel, where he did not come out unscathed, was just that on Shatterback Point, nearly a decade prior. The encounter had left the raised scar he now had on his leg, but it had healed in just two weeks time.

Of course, Mipha had been there to help expedite the healing process, but as far as Link was concerned, that wouldn't be necessary now: he did not need the assistance from a fish to recover from what could be viewed as a glorified scratch.

Yes, had Link been left to his own devices, and dressed and cleaned the wound himself, it would probably have been halfway healed by now. Instead, the physicians at Hyrule Castle had to go and muck it up.

The Princess, since the Yiga Clan encounter in the Gerudo Desert, was avoiding Link exponentially less, now. In fact, it seemed as though she was going out of her way to spend time with him; even more time than which was required. She now was specifically requesting his presence in the library of Hyrule Castle, as she scoured over different books and tomes and scrolls, muttering to herself about something regarding the Ancient Sheikah.

Oh, it was positively riveting.

However, no sooner than he began to nod off to the incessant cadence of her voice was the tome she was reading slammed shut in front of her, with an exasperated sigh escaping her parted lips.

"Don't get me wrong," the Princess said, "The Ancient Sheikah are absolutely fascinating, and the technology they have left behind for us to tinker with and to try to understand is absolutely priceless, but if I have to translate one more text in this stuffy library, cross referenced with its Old Hylian translation, I think my head will just about burst."

Oh, it would be absolutely splendid if it did, Link thought amusedly, however he kept his face neutral, and without missing a beat, said, "What should you have me do, Princess?"

"Distract me."

How?

"…How?"

"Tell me about yourself."

Oh, these were some shark-infested waters she was dragging him into. He had a feeling that telling her his allegiance to a certain organization would not be the best course of action to follow.

However, it was always easiest to stick to certain truths, when able, he supposed. He cleared his throat, "What would you like to know?"

"Honestly? Anything," the Princess said, "You seem to know about almost every aspect of my life now, being my appointed knight. I hardly know a thing about you, other than the fact that you knew Mipha from before you became a Champion."

"Growing up, I had spent my summers in Zora's Domain," and it was the truth, up until his tenth year.

"Where are you from?"

"Deya Village," also the truth.

"What did your mother and father do?"

Good grief, was this an interrogation now?

"My mother was a fisher, as is the primary export from Deya Village," Link said, "She took care of me and raised me growing up. My father was stationed as a soldier in some garrison out in Tabantha. I don't remember him much."

"You don't remember him?" The Princess asked, "Did you ever ask your mother about him?"

Of course he had, but his mother never liked to talk about him. He knew that his father spent most of his time working out in Tabantha, and would only be able to come home to Deya Village for a day or so, before being deployed out west again. He would send home rupees to help support the family. However, by the time Link had turned ten, the rupees had stopped coming, and his mother had grown ill.

As a child, Link had told his mother that he would take the trip out west, to find his father and find out what had happened. However, his mother had stopped him, saying with a tearful look in her eye that she would much rather have her boy at home with her. It was something that still puzzled Link even to this day. Wouldn't his mother rather have medicines and warm food, and her husband at her side?

But no: Link heeded his mother's wish. He watched at her bedside, as she grew more and more ill over the years, until she finally passed away just a few months before his fifteenth year. In those years prior to her death, Link had to grow up quicker than most children in the village, and he had to learn to provide for the two of them while watching other kids his own age playing in the murky waters of Deya.

His mother's death had sent him into a vicious downward spiral that had him angry, lost, and confused. He had prayed and prayed to the Goddess Hylia, and for what? More blood on her handkerchief? He had worked so hard, and had been able to successfully support his mother when she wasn't able to and his father wouldn't.

He had left Deya Village in a fit of rage in the night, with furniture displaced and dishware smashed in his childhood home. He had realized in that moment that he hated the Goddess Hylia, and though he didn't truly remember the man, hated his father as well: both faceless beings with empty promises.

The weeks following this had found him traversing the plains of Hyrule, wandering and roaming with no real goal in mind. He wasn't sure where he was going, nor did he quite care. Was he heading to Zora's Domain to seek comfort from a childhood friend? Maybe. Was he heading west to the Tabantha region to seek out his father? Perhaps. Whatever his intentions were in those weeks, they probably didn't matter. Those weeks, Link remembered, were blurry, and he was overwhelmed with the suffocating depression of being truly alone in the world.

It wasn't until he had stabbed that bitter old man on the road that the world finally focused and sharpened in clarity.

In hindsight, he hadn't meant to, but he had been starving, and the old man had some roasted apples by his fire that he had refused to share. Rationally, it was either kill or be killed, and though the old man had proved no threat to his wellbeing directly, his empty stomach had.

He had fallen asleep later that night under the trunk of a large billowing tree, as he huddled in on himself, struggling to keep warm. When he woke, he was in a place unfamiliar, with menacing stone walls and benevolent tapestries, surrounded by a mass of people wearing masks with an inverted Sheikah symbol. One of them, the strongest of them all, had stepped forward.

Master Kohga had him brought there to give him an offer that he just could not refuse.

Link blinked, and he was back with the Princess in the library, and he realized he had not yet answered her question. She had asked if he had ever asked his mother about his father. Her face was quizzical, and it was clear that he had taken a long time to answer, "I, uh… I did," Link muttered, "But she didn't like to talk about it."

"You and her both have that in common, it seems."

Link chose not to answer that.

The Princess sighed dramatically, leaning back in her chair with a slouch that was very much unbefitting of her title, but he supposed matched her personality flawlessly.

She then stood up abruptly, making her way towards a bookshelf on the lower level, her eyes skimming the faded letters of the old books, placed next to their newer counterparts. She stood there for a while, her eyes searching, until with a triumphant 'aha!', she plucked a book from the shelf and brought it over to their table.

"What is that?" Link asked, as the Princess opened its old, withered pages, for the first time in probably a decade.

"It's a census of all the major Hylian settlements from ten years back," the Princess replied, "I would like to find out more about this little village of Deya, since you don't seem very apt to tell me about you. Perhaps I can string together some theories and hypothesis about how you grew up. It might just be easier than having you outright tell me."

Was she really peeved with him that he did not want to tell her about the worst days of his life? Was she really that shallow to only think of herself, and to use his experiences as a catalyst for her own amusement?

"Finally, Deya Village!" The Princess whispered, "It just has a small snippet. There are only a couple of pages detailing Deya while every other village has an entire chapter. Why would that be?"

Did she not know her country at all? Deya was just a few shacks on top of a swamp, and while their main export was fishing, they paled in comparison to both Lurelin Village and Zora's Domain. It was a wonder that the Princess was even next in line to succeed the throne.

The Princess had paused, her eyes growing wide as her finger froze on the page. Well, certainly, she must have found what she was looking for. Then, they could move on from this nonsense, and Link could do something that was actually worth his time.

"Link," the Princess finally whispered, "Where did you say your father was stationed at?"

"Tabantha," Link replied, his neck craning and his eyes squinting to see what she was looking at.

The Princess let out a shaky breath, looking up at him with wide, green eyes, "Your father wasn't just a soldier, Link. He was a knight."

"A knight?" Link echoed distantly. A soldier or a knight, what did it matter? He had been young, and perhaps hadn't understood his father's rank. So what?

"And your father, he wasn't out in the Tabantha region," the Princess continued, "He was stationed here, in Central Hyrule, at the castle, and had been enlisted in the Royal Guard."

The room spun as her words sunk in. His father was of the Royal Guard? That couldn't be right. Hastily, and probably a bit too aggressively, Link grabbed the book from her hands and searched the text she had laid her finger on. Sure enough, the census detailed his mother's name, with her occupation being a fisher, and right above it was his father, listing him as a Knight of the Royal Guard.

Like father, like son.

He didn't know what to make of this information. He stared at the text, thinking that at any moment, the words would shift and the letters would spin and it would say 'Tabantha Garrison' or 'Soldier in the Hyrulean Royal Army'. However, none of the letters budged from their spot on the page, and the words 'Knight of the Royal Guard' were burned and etched into his mind's eye, till the words flashed in his vision every time he blinked.

His mother had always told him that his father was a soldier out in the Tabantha region. Why would she lie about this? Surely she knew, that her husband was enlisted in the Hyrulean Royal Guard. Why would there be a need to keep this a secret from him?

The Princess looked at him then, this time with a careful look in her eye.

"Come on, let's get out of here."

With that preamble, the Princess grabbed Link by the arm and hoisted him onto his feet. Link bit his tongue, schooling his face and trying not to hiss from the pain as the Princess dragged him from the library by his arm with the Lynel gash.

By the time they had made it to one of the doors, Link had managed to yank his arm back without causing too much pain, "Princess, where are we going?"

"We're going on a ride," the Princess replied, without looking over her shoulder, as she made her way down towards the gardens, "You got this blank look on your face back there, and quite honestly, looked as though you were going to pass out. I think some fresh air would do you some good."

Link had no fight in him to argue with the Princess. He wordlessly nodded, letting the Princess lead them outside and beyond Castle Town.

It was midday, the sun casting brilliant shadows from beyond the wispy clouds on the Hyrule Fields. The sun was bright – too bright – and Link was squinting in the sunlight as they made their way out to the ranch for their horses. As quickly as they had arrived, their horses had been meticulously prepared: a flash of blonde hair and the crest of the Royal Family had the Stable Master flying to prepare their horses, as they had given no notice.

A swift jump onto Storm, and the Princess was off in a mesmerizing gallop, towards the northwest.

They made excellent time, making it to the Royal Ancient Lab in just under a couple of hours. Though Link had been schooled on the major landmarks around Central Hyrule and all across the country during his time with both the Yiga Clan and as a Knight of the Royal Guard, he could not say that he had actually been to the Royal Ancient Lab in person. From the Princess's tower, the lab looked small, just a cluster of small buildings on the other side of the moat. However, in person, the structure was expansive: one main building with connecting labs via outdoor walkways. On the side facing the castle was a small greenhouse, cultivating various flowers.

One glance in saw a series of delicate blue flowers, withered and dying.

Someone should really take better care of those.

Link expected the Princess to climb down from her horse near the entrance to the main building; expected her to hand off her reins to him to tie up without so much as a glance back towards him. He expected for her to walk right inside the Royal Ancient Lab without so much as a knock or preamble, and to leave the invitation for him to come in behind him unspoken and undesired.

She did none of these things.

Instead, she kept her horse walking past the series of buildings, towards where an open greenery spanned for acres beyond the lab, where the hills rolled, blocking out the rest of Eastern Hyrule from view. From beyond the Elma Knolls, just the tops of the cherry blossom petals of the Great Hyrule Forest could be seen.

It really was quite picturesque, Link admitted, but he really could not understand what the Princess was doing.

"Princess," Link called out, "The lab is back that way."

"I'm well aware of that, thank you!"

"Isn't that what we came here for?"

"We came here for some fresh air," the Princess said, over her shoulder, "As lovely as the lab is, we did not come here for that."

The Princess sat down underneath a tree, facing away from the castle, and she motioned for Link to sit beside her. Link hesitated for a moment, sparing a glance towards the castle, towards where prying eyes may be watching. The last thing he needed were rumors of him alone with the Princess – with people searching the tree trunk for carved initials.

The Princess waved a hand towards the castle, her eyes fluttering in an eye roll, "Never mind the castle, O Chosen One. This is my favorite spot for a reason."

With that, Link crouched down beside her, resting his arm on one of his knees and facing the Princess.

"So," the Princess began, "What happened back there?"

Which part? The part where she was boring him to death with her Sheikah research or the part where he found out his father was of the Royal Guard?

"My father," Link said simply, "I… I didn't know."

"You didn't know your father was a Knight of the Royal Guard," it wasn't a question.

Link nodded wordlessly, shifting his eyes off towards the lab.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Talking about it was probably the last thing on his mind. Again, Link nodded wordlessly, fixating his eyes on a specific point on the wall.

"We don't have to talk about it," the Princess affirmed, "But if you ever do want to, or if you want to talk about anything else, you can always open up to me. We're friends, after all."

Friends? The Princess actually thought they were friends?

Well, with friends like these…

"I know it might not be easy," the Princess continued, "but I want for you to be able to trust me, and confide in me, if you would like. I would appreciate it very much if we could start on a clean slate, and start anew," the Princess stuck out her right hand, her eyes twinkling, "My name is Zelda, Guardian and Ancient Sheikah Relic Researcher, and Crown Princess of Hyrule."

And his name was Link, Hylian Champion, wielder of the Blade of Evil's Bane, Captain of the Royal Guard, and Lieutenant of the Yiga Clan, tasked with the highly sensitive mission to assassinate the Princess of Hyrule in the light of the Blood Moon on the night of her seventeenth birthday.

He could have said any one of those things, but instead, he simply stuck out his right

hand, grasping hers in a firm handshake and said, "I'm Link."

The Princess giggled slightly, as she took back her hand from him, "Just Link?" She teased, poking at the Master Sword, "Surely you have your grand titles to introduce yourself to me with."

Link allowed himself to smile, pushing his bangs out of his face, "I think honorifics are overrated. All I need to be is just Link."

"Well then, just Link," the Princess smiled, looking out over the plains, "I would very much appreciate it then, if you would simply call me Zelda."

Thus, just Zelda and just Link spent the next couple of hours on the Irch Plain talking and laughing. Well, the Princess was laughing; Link's was more of a tight grimace if anything at all. Though Link could think of a million other things he would rather be doing than getting to know the Princess of Hyrule – erhm – Zelda… he knew that it would only further his cause to gain her trust.

Which found him with a pleasantly neutral look on his face as Zelda took portraits on her Sheikah Slate of Goddess-damned weeds.

"There's one!"

Dandelion; weed.

"Oh, and another!"

White clover; also a weed.

"The flowers we have in Hyrule aren't just beautiful…"

Yeah, because they're weeds.

"…They're also quite useful as ingredients for a variety of things."

Like destroying a perfectly good landscape with their embellishments.

However, he kept all of these thoughts to himself as Zelda took pride in her portraits, looking down at her Sheikah Slate longingly. He would not ruin this newfound trust that the Princess found in him. If he wanted his best chance at success in his mission, he needed the Princess to confide in him.

Zelda grew quiet then, as she leaned down to investigate that Link saw to be the first real flower she took interest in that afternoon.

"This one here is called the Silent Princess," Zelda whispered, her fingers touching the sides of the petals lightly, "It's a rare, endangered species. We have been trying to get them to grow in the greenhouses here at the Royal Ancient Lab, yet despite our efforts, we can't get them to grow domestically yet. The Princess can only thrive out here, in the wild."

Link shifted forward, getting a better look at the flower, "Are these the same flowers that are withering back there?"

"They are," Zelda said, her voice growing softer, "We have been trying to grow them in high numbers with the intention to transplant them back in areas where they used to thrive, however… we simply have not been able to get them to grow while in confinement."

The Silent Princess seemed to be doing much better out in the plains, with its delicate, blue petals opening up towards the rays of the sun. It was the lone flower of its kind, however, and once it died, there would be no more Silent Princesses in the plain.

"All that we can hope…" Zelda whispered, her eyes growing distant, "is that the species will be strong enough to prosper on its own."

Were they still talking about flowers?

Not anymore, it seemed, as Zelda gasped and lunged forward into the grass, her arms outstretched, and Link was face to face with Royal Ass.

Well, he supposed there were worse things than that.

"Is that what I think it is?" Zelda whispered, before confirming her hypothesis and downright giggling, "Look at this!" She turned around to show him, her hands cupped together, a childish light glinting in her eye, "I don't believe it, but I actually caught one!"

"Caught what?" Link asked, as he looked from Zelda's hands to her face as she shimmied towards him.

"This delicacy is known to have very, very potent effects under the proper circumstances," her voice was absolutely trembling with excitement.

"Uh, Armoranth?" Link guessed, before biting his tongue.

If she made any sort of connection, she didn't voice it, and instead opened her hands with a "Ta-da!" like the bow on a present.

Her discovery made a 'ribbit'. It was a frog.

It was a Goddess-damned, run-of-the-mill, hot-footed frog.

And did Zelda really go as far as to call this a 'delicacy'?

He must have done well to hide his distaste on his face, for she continued, "Research from the castle shows ingesting one of these can actually augment certain abilities," Zelda was practically going cross eyed staring at the frog as it attempted to hop right out of her hands, "We wouldn't be in a controlled environment out here, but with your level of physical fitness… you'd be a perfect candidate for the study!"

A perfect what now?

"Go on!" Zelda said, an impish look in her eye, and the frog practically jumped out of her hands and into his mouth. On instinct, Link reeled backwards, a noise of disgust coming form him.

"Taste it!"


To be perfectly clear, Link did not taste the frog.

Willingly.

They made it back to Hyrule Castle as the sun lowered beneath the Gerudo Highlands, casting glimmering, magenta hues across the Hyrule Fields. They left their horses with the Stable Master at the ranch, Zelda expressing her desire to walk back to the castle amongst the plains. Link, on the other hand, would have much rather left his horse with a soldier or servant at the gate, to take back to the ranch. His body seemed stiff from all of the riding that day. It was bizarre, since they had not ridden much at all that day, nor did he really ever get sore from riding. A breeze blew in from the western mountains, chilling the air and sending a shiver down Link's back. Zelda seemed not to notice.

As they entered the castle, Zelda went straight to her quarters, biding him a good night. A guard was already stationed at her door, so then Link took that as his cue to take his leave, and began making his way down the corridor towards his quarters. He thought, perhaps, to skip supper and simply go straight to bed.

"Captain!"

He was never going to get a moment alone.

Link turned around, and saw that one of his knights was coming towards him at a brisk pace. Like all of his guard, Link didn't make a point to learn all of their names, and even if he tried to remember, his brain was too foggy to come up with any random name.

Link sighed, a headache beginning to form behind his eyes, "What is it?"

"Commander Impa wishes to see you immediately," the knight said, "She said she has a task for you from the King."

From the King? Well then, he knew he would have to make haste. Sleep would have to wait.

Link knew better than to ignore a message from his King.

Link made his way up towards the gatehouse and up the stairs to Commander Impa's study. There she was already seated with a missive unrolled in front of her, and a large map of Hyrule laid out. She looked up from her papers, and Link was taken aback by the lack of fire in the Commander's eyes. Actually, scratch that – there was always a certain level of fire in her eyes, but not in that same hatred-induced way that she had always regarded him in.

It was almost unnerving.

Commander Impa nodded towards the chair in front of her, "Have a seat," she said, her eyes drifting down towards the missive she had in front of her.

"You had a message for me?" Link asked, "From the King?"

"Indeed," the Commander muttered, taking the missive in front of her and handing it off to Link, who could not focus enough to read its contents. Luckily, he wouldn't need to, "The King expresses his concerns with his daughter having yet to awaken her ancient sealing powers," the Commander said, matter-of-fact, "His orders are for you to accompany the Princess to the three ancient springs, blessed by the three Goddesses. This ancient pilgrimage is a rite of passage for those wishing to receive the Goddess's blessing. The King hopes that by visiting and praying at the three springs, it will reveal something within the Princess."

"Very good," Link said, rubbing a hand on his face, "When does he want for us to leave?"

"The day after tomorrow."

"She won't like that it's such short notice," Link said, offhandedly, "but it shall be done."

"Good. I've notated the locations of these shrines on this map for you with the most efficient paths to each one. Be careful out there, as each of these three springs are amongst the wild, and there's no easy way to get to any of them."

"Do you really underestimate me?" Link said, as a joke, but he saw the Commander's eyes sharpen fractionally.

"I just may, because quite frankly, you look like shit right now. Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine," Link mumbled, though if he was honest, the room was spinning and the Commander's voice sounded muffled through his ears.

"If you say so," the Commander said, collecting the documents in her hands, "Get some sleep. You are of no use to the Princess being dead weight on your feet."

Link nodded, grabbing the documents from the Commander and standing up from his chair. He fully intended to go straight to his quarters to get some shuteye; to sleep off whatever nasty bug plagued him now. The Commander was right: he was of no use to the Princess being dead weight on his feet.

It was not a moment later, however, the room lurched violently around him. He staggered a bit, growing lightheaded and dizzy. If he could just right himself on his own two feet, then he could get himself to his quarters. Faintly, he heard the Commander's voice, but he could not decipher what she was saying over the ringing in his ears.

Link made a move for the door, but missed his mark and stumbled. Black spots covered his vision as he fell, and as he landed on the floor of the Commander's study, everything turned black.