LOVE IN A TIME OF CALAMITY
Part 2: After Catastrophe
Chapter 5: In Too Deep

OMG I'm back! Enjoy my delightful 55 followers. Author's note at bottom

Warnings: none

Her body felt heavy in his arms, and despite the searing pain in his chest, the aching in his limbs, and the sting of countless cuts and bruises which covered his body, his journey back to the castle was hurried, fueled by adrenaline and fear. Blood trickled into his eye from a cut on his forehead, periodically blurring his vision with red but he ignored it, pushing ever on towards his goal. Though it couldn't have been more than ten minutes, it felt like an age before he passed through the dented castle gate. Entering into the relative safety of the castle grounds he briefly paused and allowed himself a moment to catch his breath.

The survivors of Castle Town had been watching him as he'd passed through the ruins of the city, their eyes peeking from under cellar doors and behind window curtains, but he'd paid them little heed; the still figure in his arms occupied his full attention. She'd been completely unresponsive after collapsing in the field, but a quick check of her vitals proved she was still alive. The pressing question, though, was whether she would be alright. Her pulse had been weak, and her face was still pale. He needed to get her medical attention. He prayed to the goddesses that the castle doctors were still alive.

She had been spectacular. Until she'd finally unlocked her powers, he hadn't known what they would actually do or look like once manifested. As far as he'd heard, the late queen had simply had a strange sixth sense; she hadn't been able to levitate, she hadn't been able to speak in others' minds, let alone speak to the dead. A part of him had been stunned at her raw power; however, he'd been too occupied to think much on it, and had shoved his incredulity to the back of his mind for later consideration. Not much else felt like it mattered with Ganon loose.

It seemed now was that later. As he forced his aching legs onward up the hill, he couldn't get the image of her standing before Ganon—a glowing beacon of light, out of his mind. Glancing down briefly to gaze upon her still face—long blond hair wet and clinging to her cheeks, dark lashes closed over what he knew to be vibrant green eyes—she looked just like any ordinary girl; yet not long ago she'd been a Goddess. He'd never heard of any figure this side of the millennium capable of such a show of raw power. It seemed inconceivable that channeling such potent energies wouldn't have taken a toll on her. Was this lifeless form in his arms the consequence of that? What if she never woke? The thought sent a pit of anxiety into his stomach and he clutched her tighter, increasing his pace and pushing his already burning muscles to their limit.

But his strength was flagging. It was his duty to protect her—he had to keep her safe, yet he was failing… Hyrule couldn't afford to lose her. HE couldn't afford to lose—

Link nearly stumbled in his stride as the thought took shape within his mind. He quickly looked down at her nestled against his chest. She was soaked through, much like himself, and despite the chill wind she did not shiver. No, that— He couldn't… It wasn't… It was just—he, as a knight, couldn't afford to lose his charge while she was under his care. As a citizen of Hyrule he couldn't afford to lose his princess… it was… yeah, that was it… He had his oaths, he knew his place… Yet despite the assurances his mind concocted, he knew in his heart it was more than that.

Internally he cursed himself. When had he allowed himself to… care, so deeply? So personally? He knew she'd wanted so dearly to be close with him, especially as pressure from her father and the council had mounted. It had been abundantly clear she felt alone in her destiny, and was desperate for someone, anyone, who could understand. Was that was this was? A… deep friendship? Aside from Mipha and Daruk, he'd never really had friends growing up. His whole life had been spent moving from place to place to train, constrained by protocol and rules and oaths. Social skills were hardly his strong suite. How the hell was he to know?

As his eyes traveled across her features, thoughts a-whirl, his heart beat painfully in his chest at the sight of her battered figure and the realization that he had no idea if he'd ever see her bright, joyful eyes again.

As he rounded the first bend in the road the gatehouse became visible, looming tall atop the hill. Tile shingles dangled from the damaged tower roof where a large hole was visible. Shouts echoed from within the building, and he hastened his stride. Thank the Goddesses.

"Link!"

Scanning ahead of him, he squinted into the dim interior of the gatehouse. He recognized that voice… Urging himself onward, he saw her step hurriedly out from the shadows.

"Councilor Umbra!" he shouted hoarsely, sprinting towards her despite the screaming protest of his lungs and legs. The Sheikah woman ran towards him from the cover of the gatehouse, flanked by three Sheikah warriors who bounded fluidly after her.

"What happened? What's wrong with the Princess?" Her voice was weary and laced with anxiety, a stark contrast to her usual level control.

"Sh—She—" Link took a gasping breath, trying to steady his breathing, "I—I don't… I don't know, she collapsed after sealing Ganon."

Impa nodded to one of the Sheikah at her left and he moved forward, arms outstretched.

"Keye, take the Princess to the east wing guest rooms." She then turned to the other, "Cotran, find Healer Ravio. He is likely tending to the King with Luann and Selga. See that she is treated immediately."

As Keye made to grab the Princess from his arms Link instinctively stiffened, holding her tighter. Impa looked to him with irritation, releasing a frustrated breath, "Master Link, I admire your commitment to duty, but she will be taken care of. Follow if you like, but once you reach the east wing, I order you to report to a doctor or healer for treatment. You look terrible."

Silently, reluctantly, Link released the Princess to the arms of the Sheikah warrior who grabbed her limp figure gently. He knew he was being silly, there were few beside the Sheikah who could be unequivocally trusted to ensure the wellbeing of a member of the Royal family; but he was reticent to let her out of his sight, or his arms, however silly he knew the urge to be.

Turning to Impa, he bowed stiffly. The castle might be in chaos but she was still his superior. As he rose, her expression softened and she stepped towards him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Though barely perceptible, she smiled.

"Thank you, Link, truly. Hyrule owes you much."

Though the knot in his stomach prevented him from smiling in return, he did manage a firm nod before turning to follow after the Sheikah warrior, sending a silent prayer that the Princess would be alright.

-:-:-:-

Link found himself pacing in agitation within the confines of his temporary quarters. The east wing guest rooms had been converted into a makeshift hospital as the castle infirmary had been rendered unusable by the Calamity. The wing was in chaos when he'd arrived. Nurses, maids, doctors, and healers practically ran up and down the hall, carrying bottles of red potion and purified water, bandages, and the occasional patient on a gurney. Yet despite that, one of the castle's more experienced healers, an elderly woman named Selga, made time to treat him immediately upon his arrival. As he'd suspected his ulna was fractured, he'd cracked several ribs—which explained his chest pain, suffered a minor concussion, and the cuts and bruises were too numerous to count. Though it had exhausted her healing abilities, all of his major injuries had been mended; but the one thing no healer's magic could do was treat exhaustion. And so he'd been assigned a room down the hall from the the one occupied by the Princess and advised to rest.

However, what was causing his relentless pacing was the fact that he had been expressly barred from seeing her; "temporarily relieved of duty" as Impa had put it. He had objected when initially she'd simply requested that he get some sleep, and so instead she made it an order: he was confined to his temporary quarters to rest and recuperate for the next 24 hours.

Though his body screamed for sleep his mind would not rest. He'd had little word on her condition. Was she alright? Would she recover? His mind's eye circled with images of her still, pale figure in his arms. He needed to know if she would be okay; it could not wait 24 hours. Resolved, he turned and headed for the door—only to stop with his hand on the knob. As much as he wanted to barge down the hall to her room to demand answers, he was under orders to remain within his room and rest. Going to see her would be in direct defiance of Impa—a terrifying prospect. Frustrated, he turned and walked away from the door, bandaged hands balled into fists at his side. Thus the pacing began again.

When had things gotten this out of hand? He was going out of his mind! At what point had he so foolishly let himself become emotionally involved like… like… He viciously turned on his heel as he walked the other way once more. He'd always cared about her safety, that was his job after all and she was his Kingdom's Princess, but this… agitation, this restless frustration—this was different. She was under the care of two of the most experienced and talented healers in Hyrule. She was safe within the castle walls once more. There was nothing more he could do. What did he hope to gain by barging in to see her? It was ridiculous! No, more than that—it wasn't his place.

His pacing slowed to a stop before his four poster bed as he gazed tiredly off at nothing. With a long exhale he sat heavily upon the mattress, head in his hands. He'd only been back at the castle a handful of hours and already it was back to 'yes sir', 'no sir', bowing and acting like a statue. He hadn't minded it before—it had provided a convenient structure for him to follow to avoid critical attention. When he'd pulled the sword all eyes had turned on him: some in jealousy wishing they instead could be the Hero of legend, some in anger—as though he'd personally started the countdown to when the Calamity would return. But if he followed protocol and stayed silent, few would look at him twice. It made the burden easier to bear. But after so long on the road with the Princess, free and unrestrained to just… be, those protocols which had once once been his cloak now felt like his chains; and though she might be able to rise above them whenever she so chose, he would forever be restrained by them.

He had to face it: at some point, the Princess had gotten under his skin. Despite openly hating him at the start of his appointment, they had inexplicably grown close. Perhaps just a bit closer than was strictly appropriate. It was just… She'd been so frustrated and lonely over the course of their time together this past year, and in the private moments they'd shared together he just couldn't sit and watch her suffer under such a tremendous burden alone and pretend not to notice.

Perhaps that was how it had happened. They'd spent so much time together traveling across Hyrule she'd been unable to hide her vulnerability from him and he'd been unable to remain indifferent to her pain. Granted, he'd always been careful to maintain the boundaries that divided their stations as best as the circumstances would allow—'Royal protocol must be always maintained' as his drill officer used repeat ad nauseum. But fate had thrown them both into the proverbial spotlight, and had heaped upon them a greater burden than either of them were truly ready to bear alone. Despite his caution, boundaries had been crossed anyway.

That day they'd spent surveying flora and fauna on the North Hyrule Plain he'd found himself behaving in a way that would have made his old drill officer choke on his nightly pint of ale; crawling through the grass with her as she photographed flowers and wild herbs—hardly dignified. It hadn't been conscious, he'd just finally grown so weary of pretending to be made of stone every time she tried to engage him; and he'd been curious, and she so passionate. He'd been silently fascinated as she showed him the different plants and explained their medicinal or culinary uses. It hadn't been until she started shoving a frog in his face that he realized he'd maybe allowed himself to be a bit too familiar with her.

And then she'd broken down at the Spring of Power after enduring such harsh criticism from her father not a week earlier. When she'd despaired at the statue of the Goddess, begging a reason for her failure—to know what was so wrong with her that the goddesses had seemingly forsaken her, the prospect of standing idly by and letting her sob alone in the water felt wholly wrong. It had been the first time he'd ever initiated crossing that uncrossable line between them. Stooping to pick a nearby blue nightshade flower glowing in the moonlight on the bank of the pond—her mother's favorite flower, a fact he'd learned that day in Hyrule Field—he'd waded out into the water where she stood, hunched, crying before the statue. He had placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, startling her as she turned suddenly in his direction, and extended the flower silently with a small smile. The glow of the petals had illuminated the teardrops running down her cheeks and caused her eyes to sparkle—a detail he remembered perhaps a bit too well, as she stared between him and the flower with both surprise and confusion. It hadn't taken long though for a small smile to work its way to her face as she reached forward to take the offering, wrapping her small hand around his larger one. After that, though he'd been careful to conduct himself more appropriately, an easy camaraderie had wordlessly followed—one he selfishly couldn't deny enjoying.

At some point their relationship had progressed beyond that of a royal and her appointed protector and into the realm of… something else. What, he wasn't exactly sure. He knew he cared about her: not as the crown Princess and future Queen of Hyrule, but as Zelda, the passionate, selfless, endlessly curious would-be researcher. But whether he liked it or not, that 'something else' could never be allowed to exist.

Despite the fact that being cooped up in his unfamiliar room with no word on her condition was driving him crazy, he finally gave up, laying back upon the bed with his arms held behind his head as he stared blankly at the rich red velvet canopy of his four poster. After another ten minutes of fretful, frustrated, circuitous thoughts, he finally drifted off into a fitful sleep, dreaming of a blinding light floating high above a sea of green.

-:-:-:-

Link splashed cool water from the wash basin onto the heated skin of his face. Though he couldn't remember the content of his dreams, he'd awoken thrashing in his bed with a pit in his stomach. As he dried his face, he caught sight of himself in the mirror hanging above the basin. He looked haggard. His hair was more shaggy than usual, and bags hung from beneath his eyes. Maybe Impa had been right; maybe he did need a rest.

A firm knock sounded at the door and he walked somewhat blearily to the doorway and pulled it open. Impa stood before him in the hall looking wearier than he'd ever seen her; yet despite that she was impeccably dressed, her hair pulled into a tight bun atop her head and her clothing clean and pressed. Years of training took over and he straightened, then bowed, at attention before a superior.

"Councilor Umbra."

"Master Link, I apologize for interrupting your rest, but I have urgent matters I need to discuss with you."

Silently he nodded, pulling the door open to allow her entry, then shutting it behind her with a snap. He gestured to the twin armchairs in the corner of the room, but Impa shook her head.

"Thank you, but I fear if I sit I will not be able to get back up." Impa offered a wry smile as Link gazed back at her with hastily-disguised surprise. If Impa was that exhausted, she must really be on her last leg… How bad were things out there?

"Link, I will get right to the point, starting with the Princess. She is expected to make a full recovery. She sustained minor physical injuries which were easily mended. The healers say that sealing the Calamity drained her severely. She just needs to rest, and is expected to make a full recovery soon." Link was unable to disguise his relief, and Impa offered similar sentiments. However, her countenance quickly turned serious.

"What I'm about to divulge to you is privileged information, and you are not to discuss it with anyone except members of the council and the Princess."

She paused, eying him sternly. Link straightened, that familiar knot tightening in his gut. It was a worrying preface, but he'd received confirmation that the Princess was well and that eased some of his anxieties. He nodded for her to continue.

"The King is in a coma."

Link stilled. That was… not what he expected to hear. The King… what? The information threw his tired mind into a tailspin as he struggled to process the many implications of this news.

"I… Is he—will the King recover?"

Impa sighed, running a hand down her face. Despite the Sheikah's longevity, in that moment, Impa looked every bit her 40 years.

"We don't know. He suffered severe head trauma. The doctors and healers have done all they can. They say he could wake in a couple days or a couple months, and if he does, they don't know what condition his cognitive function will be in. He could be perfectly well or utterly unable to function. We just… don't know."

Link felt a lead weight settle in his stomach. While he didn't know the King well on a personal level, he was still the King, and more importantly he was Zelda's father. While he was saddened by the revelation, his first thoughts flew to the Princess. How would she take the news? Wait. Wait, if the King was… did that mean…

"Councilor, if the King is… indisposed, who will govern Hyrule?"

Impa eyed him pointedly, "You bring me to my main point, Link. As the head of the Royal Council I am currently managing affairs. However, once the Princess is well enough to fill the role, she will be made Princess-Regent."

Link's eyes widened, but Impa continued undaunted.

"To complicate matters, our military was…" she sighed, "destroyed, utterly destroyed by the Calamity. Initial estimates suggest we've lost nearly one quarter of our fighting forces—almost all of them our best men and women, and much of our military leadership including General Willet. Which means: your role as the Princess' appointed knight is more important than ever. Until the military losses have been addressed, which will likely not be any time soon, you are the Princess' first line of defense, even within the castle."

One quarter… Link was at a loss for words. He knew many of the enlisted personally. General Willet had been a major support for him when he'd been accepted into the Royal Guard at the unthinkably young age of 14. The military was his family: his father and his grandfather and his father before him had all served. Though he'd seen with his own eyes the massive loss of life before the Castle Town gate, where many of the soldiers had fallen protecting the city, to hear of the totality of the losses… Unconsciously his hands balled into fists as he struggled to push the emotions away. There were other things to deal with right now.

Forcing his attention back to Impa, he nodded.

"Though we have no reports to indicate any immediate threat to the Princess' safety, there are no patrols on the roads and most guard stations throughout the Kingdom have had their forces recalled to protect the castle and the Castle Town refugees. I do not want to take any chances. While you are on duty, keep her in your sight. When you are off duty, keep a peripheral awareness of her whereabouts. Do not let her go anywhere unaccompanied. Is that understood?"

Again, Link nodded, face tight and shoulders stiff with tension. Her expression turned a tad softer.

"Finally, while I had hoped to be able to give you more time to rest, I will need you to resume your duties this evening, rather than tomorrow morning, guarding the Princess' chamber."

This news at least offered some solace. Even if he wouldn't be able to see her, he would feel better knowing she was well protected. Once more, Link nodded. Impa eyed him a moment before sighing once more.

"Thank you, Link. I am sorry to have to drop so much on you at once after such an ordeal."

After additional pleasantries, Link showed the Councilor out, closing the door softly behind her. He shut his eyes with a shaky exhalation of breath, turning to rest his back heavily against the wood. Everything was in chaos. Though the Calamity had been defeated, the battle was far from over.

Author's Note: OMG I did it, I published in January like I said I would, and not on like, January 31st. Yay me. If you haven't already noticed, I revised the first four chapters a smidge and I'm posting story updates and other junk on my profile from time to time, so go take a look if you haven't already. I hope to update once a week on Thursday from here on out. I can't promise complete consistency, but I can promise to try!

Right now I'm just about done with part 2, just going back to do some fine-tuning, typo and consistency checks, stuff like that. It's 12 chapters long, so I can at least be consistent in my publishing schedule for about two months. Hopefully life doesn't throw me any more curve balls (I doubt that, though...) so we'll see how all this goes.

Thank you to everyone who has followed and favorited, and please leave me a review if you can! Gives me the warm fuzzies. Happy 2018!