CHAPTER 11: AFTER HOURS

Two months had passed since Link's encounter with his son. Two months had passed since they had spoken.

Link kept his son's wishes and stayed away from him and Zelda, even though it pained him horribly. He still hadn't even spoken one single word to Zelda. It was too hard for him.

He wanted nothing more than to rebuild his family together, but his doubts about Zelda and his son's warnings persuaded him to stay away from them. So, he kept his distance, respecting his son's request for space.

Having to eat in the dining hall was especially awkward for Link. Since he was considered a high-ranking soldier, he ate everyday with the rest of the captains in the dining hall for breakfast and dinner. Jack and Zelda both ate in there, at their separate table, of course. Although Link wanted to so badly talk to them, he couldn't. He simply ignored them and acted like they didn't even exist.

Over the past two months, Link trained his branch of his army hard, putting them through excruciating training every single day. Although it was tough on the soldiers, Link could tell that they were already getting stronger. Many of the soldiers that were overweight had lost a lot of fat off their body, and the soldiers that were skinny gained weight in pure muscle. It was a huge improvement.

Link loved to spend time with the soldiers. He developed a strong bond with each one of them, especially with Hardy. Hardy looked up to Link like he was his own father.

Link had sent a few of his soldiers to investigate the murder in the castle. Although he had trained them to become smarter, they just couldn't seem to find any evidence towards the murder of Georgie. There was nothing, all except the evidence that Jack was in that room the day he was killed.

As much as Link didn't want his son to be questioned for murder, he couldn't help but doubt the court's decision to call off the questioning. He couldn't help but be suspicious of his own son. Jack was nowhere near the young boy Link remembered him to be.

He also couldn't help but be suspicious of how much Darrien favored Jack. It was strange. He defended him, argued for him, and voted in favor of him. It made no sense. What was the reason? What was he getting out of it?

"Linky!"

Link shot his head up from where he was sitting. Link was sitting on a small bench in the gardens of the castle, reading a large book. He had come out there for some privacy, but obviously his plan had failed miserably.

"Barnes," Link greeted, a small tone of annoyance hinted in his voice. As much as he loved Barnes, he could be a bit clingy and over-friendly sometimes. Link just wanted his space. However, Link wouldn't have really minded that much if Barnes chose to stay.

"Whatcha doin' out here all alone?" Barnes questioned, walking over to Link and sitting on the bench besides him. "It's getting dark out."

"I came out here for some privacy."

Barnes's eyes widened, suddenly realizing that he was probably being a bother. He then quickly got up out of the bench, shooting to his feet.

"Ah, I, uh, didn't mean to bother you," Barnes sputtered nervously. "I-I'll be out of your hair."

Barnes turned around and began to step away, but Link grabbed his arm firmly.

"It's alright," Link said kindly, compassion swirling in his eyes. "I don't mind. I'm getting a bit lonely out here all by myself."

Barnes nodded quickly and sat back down next to Link, a bit surprised that he actually didn't mind.

Link shut his book and rested his chin in his fist. He then looked up towards the sky, trapped in thought.

After a few moments of silence, Barnes became a little uncomfortable. He hated long silences.

"A rupee for your thoughts?" Barnes finally asked, poking Link's shoulder.

Link looked back at him. Barnes noticed how tired he looked, with dark circles forming under his blue eyes.

"Ah, it's nothing really…"

Barnes raised an eyebrow at him and nudged him with his elbow.

"Is that so?" he asked, studying his friend's face.

Link sighed and pressed his palm to his forehead.

"I don't know…" he started. "It's just…I guess I've been expecting my return here to be a bit more…I don't know, pleasant?"

Barnes furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

Link sighed again, closing his eyes in frustration.

"Well, I haven't told you this, but I talked to my son," he said slowly. "Let's just say it didn't go well."

Barnes' eyes widened in shock, surprised that he didn't even tell him about this.

"W-what?" Barnes sputtered. "When? Why didn't you tell me? Was it really that bad-"

"I'm sorry for not telling you," Link interrupted. "But the whole conversation was just kind of hard to swallow."

Barnes waved him off. "It's alright," he said nicely. "I'm just a little surprised. I thought you guys weren't on speaking terms."

"Well…" Link started, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "We still aren't on speaking terms. He clearly established that he wanted it to be that way last time I spoke to him."

Barnes swallowed nervously, afraid that he was now overstepping his boundaries with all his questions.

"He told me that he basically didn't want anything to do with me," Link continued. "And that I shouldn't talk to Zelda—er, the Queen, because he thinks I'll screw her up again or something like that, I don't know."

Barnes pursed his lips together, deciding not to speak on anything that Link had told him. He honestly didn't know what to say.

"Sorry," Link apologized after a few beats of silence. "I didn't mean to dump all my problems onto you-"

"No, no, it's fine," Barnes blubbered, waving him off. "I'm the one who asked in the first place."

More moments of uncomfortable silence fell between the two. Barnes shifted in the bench awkwardly, unsure if he should just go back into the castle or stay there with Link.

"What do you think of him?" Link suddenly asked, breaking the long silence between them.

Barnes turned his head towards Link, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"Think of who?"

"My son."

Barnes pursed his lips together in thought. He honestly wasn't too fond of Jack, but he didn't want to say anything that could offend Link. That would be a bit rude.

"Well," Barnes started. "He's really strong. He's also very clever, probably even smarter since the last time you saw him. He doesn't study medicine anymore, though, which is kind of a bummer. He seemed super into it."

A sad look crossed Link's face.

"Do you two get along?" he asked curiously.

Barnes took a deep breath, trying to figure out how to even answer that question nicely.

"Well…uh…" Barnes started. "It's not that we don't get along, per se. It's more that we kind of just don't click. He's kind of scary to approach—oh wait, sorry-"

Barnes immediately clamped his hand over his mouth.

"I didn't mean that!" he sputtered. "I didn't mean to say that your son is scary, he's just-"

"It's fine," Link interrupted flatly, waving him off. "You've told me worse about him."

Barnes' face immediately reddened, embarrassed of how easily he blurted out certain things. More moments of awkward silence grew between the two men.

"I'm going to get a drink," Link suddenly announced, shooting up from his seat.

Barnes raised an eyebrow, a little confused.

"Right now?" Barnes questioned. "Isn't it kind of late? Aren't you going to bed soon?"

Link shrugged.

"I just need to get my mind off things."

Zelda sat at a table in a small brewery. The brewery in the castle was next to the dining hall. It stored all the drinks for the cooks to serve in the dining hall and gave people in the castle a place to sit and drink together. Tonight, however, Zelda sat in the brewery alone.

Zelda swirled her wine glass around in her hand, deep in thought.

Since Link had returned, her drinking habits had still been the same, or possibly a little more excessive than usual. Although she was upset at him for just popping up out of nowhere after six years, she still found it incredibly hard to just blatantly ignore him. She didn't even have the courage to utter a single word to him.

She wondered why he had even returned in the first place. She knew for a fact he wouldn't just come back to help get the army back together. He clearly was there for other reasons than that. Did he want to talk to her? Did he miss her?

These questions constantly plagued her mind for the past two months, stressing her out. She wished with all her heart that she could read his mind, but that was clearly not an option.

She also wondered what he was like. She had heard from the nobles that he was really cleaning up Branch F of the military, but that was all she truly heard about him. What was he like now? She wondered if he was the same as he was when he left.

Zelda sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose in stress. She still couldn't believe that he was even alive. She had so many questions, but she just couldn't ask them. It was too hard.

Suddenly, the door to the brewery swung open. Zelda lazily craned her neck to see whoever had walked in, but the shelves of liquor were blocking her way. She decided to ignore whoever was in there and continued to gulp down her glass of wine. She determined that the person was a man, basing off their heavy footsteps when they walked inside.

The man walked closer, giving Zelda a better view of the person. He seemingly didn't notice the Queen sitting by herself at the table.

The man wore dark pants with a long, dark cloak. He had brown boots on, explaining why his footsteps were so heavy when he entered the brewery. He was tall, with strong arms and long, blonde hair.

Zelda choked on her drink, her eyes snapping wide open in shock.

"Link?" she thought in horror. She had to get out of there. However, there was no exit out except for the entrance that Link had just walked through.

Link walked towards the liquor shelf and grabbed a bottle. He then popped it open with his teeth and poured it into a nearby glass. After, he began to walk over to the table where Zelda was sitting.

Zelda began to panic, frantically looking around the room to miraculously find another exit out of the brewery. Unfortunately, she was out of luck.

Link walked into the area where Zelda was sitting. He suddenly jumped, startled by Zelda's presence in the brewery. His eyes then widened in shock, surprised that Zelda was sitting right there.

Link and Zelda locked eyes, making intense eye contact. Awkward silence grew in the room, making Zelda extremely uncomfortable.

Suddenly, Link spun on his heel and began to walk out of the room, ignoring Zelda's presence completely.

"What?" Zelda thought anxiously. Why was he leaving? He was going to completely ignore her again?

Zelda, with an addition to the alcohol, gained a new boost of confidence. She couldn't just let him leave like that.

"You know, you can't just ignore me forever," Zelda said boldly, slightly slurring her words.

Link stopped abruptly at the door and whirled around to face her. More moments of silence passed as they locked eyes again, making more intense eye contact.

"I-I…" Link finally choked out, breaking the deafening silence. "Zelda…"

Zelda took a large sip of her drink, most likely for another boost of confidence.

"Ah. The first word you've spoken to me in six years."

Link realized that Zelda was clearly drunk. Her eyelids were extremely heavy, along with how much she was slurring her words when she spoke.

"I-I should get going," Link said quickly.

Zelda snorted loudly, startling Link a bit.

"What, you afraid of me?" she slurred, laughing loudly.

Link scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. He didn't even know how to talk to her after six years. Especially not when she was drunk.

"Well, I…" Link started awkwardly. "…I just was going to go to bed-"

"Oh, so your bedroom's in a brewery?" Zelda retorted sarcastically.

Link sighed and dragged a hand down his face.

"Look, it's probably not best if we speak to each other anymore, it won't make anything that happened disappear. As much as it pains me, we just can't-"

"Jack told you that, didn't he?" Zelda suddenly cut in.

Link raised his eyebrows to the top of his head. How did she know that?

"Y-you knew that?" Link asked in shock.

"Well, I just figured he would say something like that to you," Zelda replied flatly. She swirled her drink in her hand and took another large gulp. "He's not so happy that you're here, as you might be able to tell."

Link began to walk towards the table that Zelda was sitting at. He then pulled out a chair and sat down next to her.

"You've probably had enough," Link said quietly, reaching over to take Zelda's almost empty glass of wine. Zelda pulled the glass away from him and proceeded to finish the last sip of her drink, gulping it down.

"There," she said, shoving the glass in his hands. "You can take it now."

Link sighed, taking the glass from her hands and placing it at the other side of the table.

"Where are those from?" she blurted, pointing to the scars on Link's face and neck.

Link looked away from Zelda and stared at his lap.

"Nothing you need to know about," he said quietly.

Zelda went quiet, not wanting to push him to say anything about it. Link took a sip of his own drink, wincing slightly as the alcohol went down his throat.

"You shouldn't have left," she suddenly said, breaking the silence. Link looked up from his lap, his eyes widened a fraction.

"Zelda-"

"No, no," Zelda interrupted. "I don't wanna hear your excuses. You had a good reason to leave me. But you should've stayed anyways."

Link closed his mouth, not wanting to say anything more. If anything, he was glad she was drunk, otherwise their confrontation would've been too awkward for him to even bear.

"I wish you stayed," she went on. "But you didn't and you left not just me, but our son. He needed you, Link, and you just disappeared. You had good reason to leave me, but not him. Not him at all."

Link swallowed down a large lump forming in his throat.

"Zelda, I'm…" Link stammered. "I-I'm so sorry-"

"I forgive you for leaving me," Zelda interrupted. "But I don't forgive you for leaving our son. You ruined my boy."

Tears began to leak from Link's eyes, running down his cheeks slowly. Zelda slammed her hands on the table and pushed herself up out of her seat.

"Goodnight," Zelda mumbled. She stumbled towards the entrance to the brewery and swung open the door. She then walked out of the room quickly, slamming the door shut behind her.

The sky was bright, speckled with stars and a bright full moon. A wolf howled in the distance, echoing through the air and trees outside. Trees rustled in the warm night breeze and crickets chirped quietly.

Jack stood just outside the castle, his cloak flowing graciously behind his back. The Triforce symbol on his cloak was illuminated in the moonlight and his sword latched onto his leg glistened brightly. The warm, summer breeze slightly rustled his thick hair, causing it to fall in front of his eyes a bit.

Suddenly, another man came up behind him, leaves crunching under his feet as he walked closer. He was slightly chubby and balding, with beady black eyes and brown hair.

Jack turned around to face the man

"Good evening, Darrien."

Darrien's beady eyes bored into Jack's brown ones. He then scoffed, rolling his eyes to the back of his head.

"Why are you calling me out here at this hour?" he asked, with a hint of annoyance in the tone of his voice.

"I just called you out here to ask how everything is doing," Jack replied nonchalantly. "Is the case beginning to be forgotten?"

Darrien shook his head. "No, not at all. The case still has the same fire as it did before, or, it even might be more focused on than when it first started."

Jack exhaled quickly out of his nose and furrowed his eyebrows in frustration.

"Seriously?" he snapped, throwing his hands in the air. "Are you doing nothing to make this case die down? What are you even-"

"I am trying my best, general," Darrien suddenly cut in, not in the mood for Jack's scoldings. "However, my efforts create little ease. They are still highly suspicious, especially of you."

Jack sighed in exasperation. "We had a deal, you know," he said, slowly stepping closer towards Darrien. "Once I claim the throne, I'll release your son from exile. In return, you help me. Unless you want me to be thrown in the dungeons for murder, I suggest you get your act together-"

"My act is fully together!" Darrien suddenly shouted, interrupting Jack's scoldings. "I have already helped you find your father! What else do you expect me to possibly do? You clearly killed Georgie! They all know! You were the only person in the room that night!"

Jack eyes snapped open, flaring with anger. He took another step towards Darrien, completely invading his personal space.

"I suggest you don't speak to me that way," Jack growled in a threatening tone. "What am I supposed to do with my father, now that he's actually in the castle? I can't just get rid of him! Like you said, the court is already suspicious of me. You made the situation even worse by bringing him back here. Don't pretend like your act is fully together."

Darrien grit his teeth together, attempting to suppress himself from blurting anything else. He could never say what was truly on his mind. There was too much at stake. He was too afraid. However, he was feeling a bit bolder than usual tonight.

"If you want to see your son again," Jack continued. "I recommend that you get your act together and ease the court's suspicious-"

"You expect me to just pick up after your messes all the time?" Darrien interrupted boldly. "Keep in mind, this is your own doing, not mine."

"He already knew too much," Jack immediately responded. "I had to keep him from saying anything. There was nothing I could do."

Moments of tense silence passed between the two men. They both stared each other down, both not making a sound. The only thing that interrupted the silence was the soft chirping of crickets echoing in the night.

"So you killed him," Darrien mumbled quietly, breaking the tense silence. "You killed that poor young man. He nowhere near deserved that fate-"

Darrien was suddenly cut off by Jack's right hand shooting out and squeezing around his throat. Darrien's eyes bulged out, his throat abruptly being cut off from any access to oxygen.

"What did I just say?" Jack hissed through his teeth. "I told you not to speak to me that way."

Darrien's vision began to become spotted with black dots. Veins in his left temple bulged out, and both of his hands were clasped around Jack's right hand, pathetically attempting to pry his hand off his throat. His feet hovered above the ground, his body being lifted into the air by Jack's strong grip.

"Can't…breathe…" Darrien managed to choke out, his hands raking at Jack's hand clamped around his throat.

Jack then suddenly released him from his hold, dropping him to the ground. Darrien collapsed into the grass, gasping for air and coughing loudly.

"End this case, or expect to face the consequences," Jack threatened. He then simply walked away, his cloak swaying from side-to-side behind him.

Jessica walked quickly through the halls of the castle. She pushed a cart with a dish of food and a glass of water.

She took a turn through the windy hallway and found two fancy double doors. She stopped in front of them, reaching her destination.

Jessica raised her fist to the door and knocked quietly. There was no answer.

"Hello?" she said politely, knocking once more. "General Jack, are you in there?"

There was again no answer. She sighed in exasperation.

"I brought you dinner," she chirped. "I was informed that you didn't show up to supper tonight, so I brought you some leftovers from the kitchen."

No reply. Jessica face-palmed, annoyed with the fact that she just wasted her time getting supper, for him to simply not even be in his chambers.

She then decided to go into his room and leave the food there for him once he came back. She thought he would surely appreciate that.

She slowly opened the double doors to his chambers and wheeled the cart into his room. She then quickly closed the doors behind her, not wanting to seem like she was snooping around his room.

She studied the room around her. His chambers were certainly grand, with a large, king-size bed backed up against one of the walls. The walls were painted gray, and held large paintings of the Triforce and the gods. The room had long, blood-red curtains covering the large windows in the front of his room. His room was dimly lit, with only a small lamp to light up the room.

Jessica wheeled the cart to the edge of his bed. She felt a little invasive, considering the fact that she had never been in his chambers by herself. She quickly let go of the cart and began to walk away, until something caught her eye.

On his bed sat a thick, red book. The letters on the cover were golden, sparkling in the dimly lit room. Jessica curiously glanced over at it and stepped towards it.

She had always been curious of Jack, even more so after the murder of the night guard. He was very closed off and strange, basically nothing like his mother. She was quite frankly a little intimidated by him, but that only spurred on her curiosity even more.

She reached over and picked up the book off the bed, despite her mind practically screaming at her to stop. She looked at the golden letters printed on the page. They were written in a strange language, one that Jessica could not define. She then cracked open the book and began flipping through the pages.

Jessica studied the pages and realized that the entire book was written in the same strange language that was on the cover. A bit thrown off, she continued to flip through the pages, attempting to find a page where there was actually a recognizable language.

"How can he even read this?" she thought frantically, flipping through the pages quickly.

Suddenly, a theory dawned on her, causing her eyes to widen in shock. Could this be what he's been reading all that time down in that secret room in the basement? Maybe this could be some evidence towards the murder.

Curiosity burned throughout her veins. She had to show this to someone. The whole book seemed strange to her. She had to figure out what this book was saying.

She quickly tucked the book into her shirt and speed-walked out of Jack's chambers, never turning back to grab the plate of food she left by his bedside.

Hello everyone! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I ended up posting this a little later than I planned to, but it wasn't too big of a difference. I just started school this week and I've just been busy. I also just haven't felt as motivated to write recently. As the school year goes on, I probably won't update as frequently as I do now, so don't be alarmed. I'm probably just busy with schoolwork.

Anyways, please review! I would definitely appreciate to hear everyone's feedback on this chapter. What did you guys think?

Review Responses:

Soledge1: Yeah, I agree. It's pretty hard to find a good Zelda story. There's only a small handful on this website that I really enjoy. And I'm glad you think this story is good! Thank you!