CHAPTER 16: FEAR

Jessica woke up in her bedroom, gasping in fright. Strands of hair stuck to her forehead, slick with sweat. Her chest heaved up and down rapidly from shock.

She took a quick look around her room and sighed to herself with relief. She was just in her bed.

Since the attack, her dreams had not been so pleasant. Her mind constantly wandered back to that horrifying night, where she witnessed many people murdered in cold blood. She couldn't believe someone could be so cruel to order their own army to kill innocent people. She wondered how she was even alive. She believed it was some kind of miracle, and she was grateful for it.

Jessica was careful to hold her tongue around Jack and King Aiden. She was clever, and knew how to keep herself alive in the castle. If she was polite to them both and acted as there was nothing wrong, she knew they would do no harm to her. She just had to pretend.

She was also glad she had met Hagen. He seemed trustworthy, and he was just as trapped in the castle as she was. He was the only person she struck up a genuine conversation with since the attack. Most of the surviving servants were too afraid to even speak about anything, even in private.

The servants were the only few people who survived the attack. The soldiers slaughtered all the nobles and court men, deeming them useless. They let a few of the servants live because they still needed people in the castle to serve their needs. The only man they didn't kill that was of high status was Darrien, which raised her suspicions. Why had they killed off all of the Queen's court, except for Darrien?

Although the army let some of the servants live, there wasn't much left of them. They killed off about half of the servants in the castle, just for the hell of it. There was a few servants that she knew or were her friends that were killed. Damien, Link's old assistant, was one of the servants that were brutally murdered. If Link was to ever find out that he was dead, that would just shatter his heart. Jessica knew how close the two were.

Jessica stood up from her bed and began to untie her nightgown, letting it drop down to her feet. She walked over to her drawers and pulled out her maid's outfit, getting ready for the day. She quickly put it on and slipped on some casual heels.

After dressing herself, she walked into the bathroom and brushed her teeth. She then began to apply light mascara to her lashes, making them pop out a bit. She took a step back and studied herself in the mirror before walking out of the bathroom.

She walked towards the exit of her bedroom. She suddenly stopped in her tracks, just before opening the door. A wave of fear rushed over her, making her hesitate to even walk out of her room.

Volagio had only attacked two days ago, and the days living in the castle were already a living nightmare. She lived in constant fear, afraid that she would crack under pressure of pretending that everything was fine.

The thing that scared her the most, though, was Jack. She was more afraid of him than anything in the world. He had always intimidated her in the past, but she had never been fearful of him until now. He had done so many unspeakable things, which scared her badly.

She was still freaked out by the way he had looked at her yesterday. It was strange. He ogled her like she was a piece of meat, like she was his territory. It scared her so bad that she didn't even come out of her room after that for the rest of that day, not even for dinner.

Unfortunately, she could not just hibernate in her room for the rest of her days in the castle. That would make Jack and Aiden extremely suspicious.

She took a deep breath and pushed her door open. She closed it quietly behind her, and began to walk towards the dining hall.

Her heart practically leapt out of her throat as soon as she saw Aiden and Jack sitting together at the main table. They both were talking, but not in a casual way. It was more of an intense conversation, which was most likely one she was not supposed to hear.

"Stay calm, don't show emotion, everything's fine," she thought to herself, attempting to calm herself down. She took a deep breath and walked into the dining hall, her heels clanking softly against the tiles of the floor.

Jack and Aiden both looked up at the sound of her heels clanking, halting their conversation. Jessica's heart began to pound faster, but she continued to walk towards them.

"Good morning," she chirped as happily as she could. She plastered a fake smile across her face and bowed politely.

Aiden just stared at her, giving her that same odd gaze as yesterday. Jack looked up at her, his dark eyes burning into her own.

"Good morning, Jessica," Jack said smoothly. A small smile appeared on his face as he trailed his gaze down her body, obviously ogling her again.

Jessica felt her skin crawl as Jack continued to stare at her like she was a piece of meat. She couldn't bear to be in this castle any longer, and especially not with him.

"What would you all like for breakfast?" she asked politely, putting in her best effort to ignore Jack's gaze.

"Whatever's an option," Jack replied slyly, a smirk growing on his face. "Surprise me."

Jessica swallowed nervously, beads of sweat beginning to form across her forehead. Why on earth was he speaking to her like that?

"O-of course," she stammered, unable to mask her discomfort.

She quickly turned her gaze towards Aiden, who fortunately didn't make her as uncomfortable as Jack did.

"And for you?"

Aiden just shrugged, still staring at her from under his lashes.

"Whatever is fine with me also," he stated nonchalantly.

"Wonderful," Jessica chirped. She plastered another fake smile onto her face and walked into the door leading to the kitchen, ready to tell the few cooks what to make.

A few minutes later, Jessica came out to the kitchen with two hot plates of food in her hands. She quickly walked over to Jack and Aiden, placing both of their plates in front of them.

"Would you all like some water with that?" Jessica asked with fake sweetness.

"No," Aiden replied flatly, already digging into his food.

Jack turned around in his seat and looked up at her, his eyes boring into her own once again. His expression was unreadable, except for the malicious smirk plastered on his face.

"I would like some," Jack replied. He grinned widely, showing off his pearly white teeth.

Any woman in the world would have practically squealed at his smile. His appearance was utterly flawless. However, Jessica only found his smile to be menacing. It terrified her.

"Yes, of course," Jessica replied sweetly, ignoring the chill crawling up her spine. She turned around and walked over to a nearby pitcher, grabbing a glass and pouring some water into it.

She walked back to the table with a full glass of water and handed it to Jack, their fingertips brushing against each other as the glass was exchanged. She immediately jerked her hand away from the contact.

"I'm going to the restroom," Aiden suddenly announced, springing up from his seat. "I'll be back."

With that, he walked out from the table and headed for the restroom.

Jack and Jessica were now both alone. She was panicking wildly, but she couldn't just leave without saying anything. That would be considered rude.

"Is there anything else you would like?" Jessica asked him politely, plastering another fake smile on her face. She hoped he would say no, so she could finally just leave.

"Actually," Jack began, leaning foreword in his seat towards her. "There is."

Jessica's heart rate began to quicken. She just wanted to leave.

"And what would that be?" she asked, still in her fake sing-song voice.

A small smirk grew across Jack's face, forming a dimple in his cheek.

"I would like for you to have dinner with me tonight."

Jessica's heart practically leaped out of her throat. He what? She couldn't possibly let herself do that. She couldn't even bear to be alone with him in a room for more than five minutes.

"I-I…um…" Jessica stammered out. "I…don't know…"

Her eyes nervously scanned around the dining hall, searching for anything to look at besides him.

"There's no harm in it," Jack persuaded. "Just have dinner with me."

Jessica gulped nervously. There was no getting out of this. She couldn't say no, there was too much at stake.

"I…um…okay," she stammered nervously, finally meeting Jack's eye.

His smirk grew even wider, scaring Jessica just a bit.

"Wonderful. Meet me back here around seven. I'll be waiting."

He shot up from his seat and walked away, leaving a fearful Jessica behind.

Link woke up with sweat dripping down his neck. His vision swirled the room in front of him, making him extremely nauseous.

Yesterday, when he met with Impa, she finally figured out what happened to his shoulder. She sent the doctors to give Link some potions for killing pain, but it barely did anything. He felt just as horrible, or maybe even worse.

They had given Link a large bucket that he could vomit in without ruining the tent floor. They had also brought in another bucket, but it was full of water. Link must have drank around thirty glasses of water yesterday. Impa told him to constantly drink water, or he could quickly become dehydrated in his state.

Link hunched over his bed and vomited in the bucket. The spinning of his head made him extremely nauseous, as well as how dry his mouth was.

Suddenly, the flap to the tent flung up. Link sat up, expecting it to be Impa. However, it wasn't.

A smaller, and much more petite woman stepped inside. She had shoulder-length brown hair, along with bangs to perfectly frame her face.

Link barely even noticed the woman walk in. He was too much in a daze from the poison to even acknowledge her presence, and her face was a bit blurred from Link's spinning head.

"Link?" the voice spoke softly.

Link's eyes shot up to the woman standing a few feet away from his bed. He immediately recognized the voice. He didn't need to see her face for recognition.

"Zelda?" he murmured, almost inaudibly. He weakly propped himself up with his elbow and craned his neck to get a better view of her.

She was wearing a tight tank top and a pair of tan khakis, that were obviously way too big on her. Her hair was down in a beautiful mess, framing her face naturally. Under her bangs, Link noticed that she had a bandage on the right side of her forehead.

"A-are you alright?" he croaked out, pointing to the bandage on her head.

Zelda furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. He was asking if she was alright?

"Me? I'm perfectly fine," she reassured, waving him off. "Probably will end up scarring, though. I cut it on something. I have a pretty big bump there too, but it's not bad. The doctors told me that I probably hit my head on a piece of rubble, which is why it got cut."

Link nodded his head and shot her a weak smile.

"Good, I'm glad you're okay."

Zelda's heart practically shattered with pity. He looked awful. His skin was a ghostly pale, completely opposite from his usual tan skin. His eyelids drooped significantly, and his breaths were ragged. He was shirtless, but he was still glistening with sweat. His hair was matted to his forehead, dripping with sweat.

"D-do you need water?" she asked nervously. He looked like he was going to pass out at any given moment.

Link nodded his head weakly.

"Please."

Zelda quickly walked over and picked up an empty glass on the floor of the tent. She submerged the glass in a nearby water bucket, filling it up with water.

"Here," she said, giving Link the full glass of water.

He reached up with a shaky hand and took it from her. He began to completely chug the water, downing it in a matter of seconds.

"Thank you," he mumbled weakly, smiling at her. He placed the glass back down on the ground.

Moments of slight awkward silence passed between the two of them. Zelda didn't really know what to say to him, especially in his state of illness. Overwhelming guilt suddenly rushed over her as she thought about her conversation with him when he first returned to the castle.

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

She felt horrible. She couldn't even imagine how he felt after that. He probably felt so guilty. She was projecting onto him about her own insecurities about her motherhood. She just wanted someone to blame other than herself.

She didn't know how to apologize to him. She didn't have the courage at all. How could she even apologize after saying something like that?

Although she couldn't say what she was thinking, she decided to speak up on something that she had the courage to talk about.

"Did you save me from the fire?" she suddenly asked him.

Link lifted his eyes weakly to meet hers. His bright blue gaze bored into her eyes, causing her to become lost in them for a second.

"Well…I mean…Hardy carried you also," Link replied softly. "There was a point where I couldn't carry you any longer because that arrow stuck me in my shoulder."

So he did save her. He ran with her in his arms until he physically couldn't anymore.

"I-I'm sorry," he suddenly apologized. "I probably should have kept going. I made Hardy stop running to carry you himself."

Zelda's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He was apologizing? For practically saving her life?

Moments of silence passed as Zelda thought on what to even say to that. Finally, she opened her mouth to speak.

"Why are you even apologizing?" she asked.

Link looked at little thrown off by her question. Her raised his eyebrows slightly in both confusion and surprise.

"Please don't apologize," she continued, her voice softening a bit. "Thank you for helping me."

Link's eyes immediately softened. A small smile appeared on his face, forming dimples in his cheeks.

"Anytime."

They both locked eyes immediately. Zelda suddenly began to realize how much he had changed since the last time she saw him. He was so much nicer, rather than the angry man she once knew. His kindness reminded her of the way he acted when they were young, before their disaster of a marriage.

Suddenly, the flap to the tent sprung open again, causing Link and Zelda to break their eye contact. They both looked over at a tall woman entering the tent, with a small bottle of blue potion in her hand.

"Sorry to interrupt," she said, her eyes narrowing between the two. Her eyes suddenly widened in recognition, noticing that the Queen herself was standing over Link's bed.

"Oh my! Your highness!" she blubbered. "I apologize! I didn't even know that was you."

Zelda waved the tall woman off.

"It's fine," she said sweetly. "I'm hardly even recognizable in these clothes."

The woman smiled and stuck out her hand.

"Impa," she introduced. "I'm Link's doctor."

Zelda nodded politely and shook her hand. Boy, did Impa have a firm grip. She looked so strong compared to Zelda.

Impa then retracted her hand and turned towards Link. She held out the small bottle of blue potion to him.

"Here's the painkilling potion," she stated. "I made it a little bit stronger, since it didn't seem to have much effect on you yesterday."

Link nodded in understanding and took the blue bottle from her. He popped the screw off the bottle and began to gulp it down, finishing the small bottle in about three seconds.

"Thank you," he said softly, handing Impa back the empty bottle of potion.

Impa took the bottle and noticed out of the corner of her eye that Zelda was staring at her. She turned around and faced her with an eyebrow raised.

"Sorry," Zelda suddenly apologized, snapping out of her stare. "You just…don't look like a doctor at all."

Impa laughed loudly, tossing her head back slightly.

"Well," she started. "I wasn't always a doctor, if that's what you were wondering."

Zelda nodded. That made a lot of sense. She was too built to had been a doctor all her life.

"What did you do before?" Zelda curiously asked.

A small, mischievous smile grew on Impa's face.

"An assassin."

Both Link and Zelda's jaws dropped to the floor. Out of all the answered they anticipated, it wasn't this one at all.

"What?" Zelda practically screeched. "An assassin? What the hell? How are you even allowed on this camp ground-"

"Relax, relax," Impa cut in, raising her hands defensively. "I worked for the an organization in Hyrule. It was for a good cause."

Zelda raised a suspicious eyebrow. Nobody was an assassin for a good cause.

"I'm a Sheikah, as you may already be able to tell," she continued, slightly amused by Link and Zelda's shocked expressions. "My ancestors were all assassins for the same Hyrulian organization before me. I was pretty much raised by a family of assassins."

Link and Zelda's jaw dropped even wider. Impa chuckled under her breath at their absurd expressions.

"My family trained me to become an assassin since I was twelve years old," Impa went on. "I officially become one when I was twenty and was hired by the organization immediately. Almost all of the members were Sheikah, except for the founders, who were Hylian-"

"You were trained to be an assassin starting at twelve?" Zelda practically shrieked.

Impa burst into a fit of laughter at Zelda's hysterics. She gasped for air, while Zelda just stared at her with a horrified expression on her face.

"Gosh…" Impa said between laughs, wiping tears from her eyes. "I never expected the Queen to be so…hysterical."

Zelda's face reddened and her eyebrows furrowed in irritation.

"Anyways," Impa continued, her laughter dying down. "The organization was for a good cause. We took out the people who were up to no good, like criminals."

Zelda sighed with relief. She was glad that Impa wasn't just some crazed assassin who killed people for the hell of it.

"That's why I knew exactly what Link was poisoned with," Impa went on, turning her gaze towards Link sitting on his bed. "Many of the criminals I ran into were tampering with dark magic and spells. However, they weren't strong enough to produce something so powerful like the poison in Link. That's why I believe that whoever created this poison is a very powerful individual, someone who many be threatening Hyrule itself."

Link and Zelda were silent, processing what Impa had just told them. Who even created this poison?

"D-do you think it's King Aiden?" Zelda asked nervously, breaking the silence.

Impa immediately shook her head. Zelda's eyebrows raised in disbelief. She didn't think it was him behind the poison?

"Not at all," Impa replied. "If he was behind the poison, he would have attacked a long time ago. Someone must have provided it to him."

Jack stood in front of his mirror, attempting to tame his stray strands of hair sticking out of his head. He combed his fingers through his hair, dragging them through his thick waves.

"Getting all dolled up for your little date, aren't you?"

Jack jumped from shock and turned around, coming face-to-face with the dark spirit in front of him.

"Oh, please," Jack scoffed. "You think I consider this a date?"

The darkness snickered.

"Whatever it is, you're suddenly very interested in this little servant," the spirit said slyly. "You see a pretty face once and you're hooked."

Jack rolled his eyes and turned back towards his mirror. He swept his hand through his hair, attempting to tame it once more. The darkness floated closer to Jack, appearing in the mirror in front of him.

"Don't let her distract you," the spirit warned threateningly. "We have a deal, you know. Don't let anything get in your way, you understand me?"

Jack eyed the spirit and quickly looked back at himself in the mirror, clenching his jaw tightly.

"I know about our deal," he spat angrily. "Not to mention that you've constantly reminded me of it for years. I know."

Jack angrily stomped away from the mirror and into his bathroom. To his irritation, the darkness followed.

"I don't recommend you speak to me that way," the spirit warned. "You would be nothing without me. You'd still be some pathetic little boy, weeping over that deadbeat father of yours. Just like your mother."

Jack's heart practically stopped beating. He was boiling with rage. He picked up a nearby brush near his sink and threw it at the spirit. However, it just passed through the spirit's form, like it wasn't even there in the first place.

The darkness cackled loudly at Jack's pathetic attempts to harm the spirit.

"Don't speak about my mother that way," Jack snapped, his eyes flaring with rage.

The spirit burst into a fit of laughter.

"You're still defensive over that pathetic excuse of a mother?" The darkness continued to laugh. "That woman neglected you when your father ditched the castle-"

"That isn't her fault!" Jack shouted angrily. "It's all his fault! He fucking left her with nothing!"

Jack was fuming. He took a step closer to the spirit, his dark eyes boring right into it.

"And if you think for one second that I wouldn't be anything without you, you're wrong," Jack snarled, jabbing his finger right at the spirit. "I control the outcome of this situation. Not you. I could decide not to kill my father and your plan would be royally screwed."

The spirit only scoffed at Jack's words.

"You couldn't decide not to kill your father even if you tried," the darkness snapped. "You've wanted him dead for years. You don't control a goddamn thing. I will get what I want, and that's a fact. Hyrule will be mine."

Jack's fists clenched at his sides, shaking violently with rage. He stared down the spirit for a few more seconds before storming out of his room, slamming the door behind him.

He stomped down the hallway, catching the attention of a few Volagio guards roaming the halls. Jack quickly checked his watch while continuing to stomp down to the dining hall. It was a little over seven.

He stormed into the dining hall and practically ripped a chair out from under the table, making a loud noise as he did so. He quickly sat down and attempted to calm down, taking deep breaths of air.

Jessica had not shown up yet. There was already two plates of food on the table, since Jack ordered a cook in the kitchen to make food beforehand.

Jack continued to take deep breaths of air until he finally calmed down. He quickly ran his fingers through his hair, attempting to tame it before Jessica came down.

The sound of heels clicking on the floor suddenly filled the room. Jack turned around, facing a timid-looking Jessica walking into the dining hall.

She wore a plain, black dress with black heels. The dress came down below her knees and hugged her hips perfectly. Her long, dark hair flowed down her back, instead of the usual ponytail she wore. A light amount of mascara was applied to her lashes, making her bright green eyes pop out even more. She looked stunning.

"Good evening, Jessica," Jack greeted slyly. "Please, come sit."

Jessica made no eye contact with him as she timidly sat down in front of him. She stared at the plate of food in front of her, not looking up once.

"So," Jack started, leaning towards Jessica a bit. "Tell me about yourself."

Jessica's eyes widened in surprise, but she quickly masked it. She nervously tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, still staring down at her plate of food.

"I, um…" Jessica stammered out. What was she even supposed to say? What was this, icebreakers? He was all the sudden interested in what she's like after he's known her for years?

"I-I've lived here since I was a baby," Jessica managed to say. "My mom was a servant here. She passed away, though."

Jack continued to stare at her with his dark eyes burning into her head.

"How did she pass?"

Jessica picked at her food nervously, still not making eye contact with Jack. She didn't really feel comfortable talking about herself around him. However, she couldn't just sit there in silence. That would be even more unbearable for her than talking to him.

"She, um, died from a lung disease," she mumbled. "The doctors still don't know how she got it. Come to think of it, your father used to know my mother-"

"Don't speak about my father," Jack suddenly snapped, his eyes widening in anger. "Ever."

Jessica's heart was thumping out of her chest. Jack's sudden change of mood after the mentioning of his father quite frankly freaked her out. She continued to stare at her plate silently, but she felt Jack's eyes glaring into her head.

"I-I'm sorry," Jessica said after a long tense moment of silence.

Jack didn't respond. He began to eat his food, glancing up at her every now and then.

"So, who are your friends in this castle?" Jack suddenly asked, attempting to start another conversation.

Jessica swallowed nervously and continued to stare at her plate.

"I-I'm very good friends with the queen," she stammered. "But I think you already know that. I've also made acquaintances with one of your friends. I think his name was Haden? Hagen?"

Jack quickly realized that Jessica had absolutely no idea that Hagen was her father. A sly smirk grew across his face. He knew exactly what he could do with that information.

"Oh?" he asked slyly. "Did you now?"

"Y-yes," Jessica replied. "He was very kind."

Jessica was still staring at her food, not daring to make eye contact for one second. Tired of her just staring at her food, Jack reached out and placed his two fingers under her chin.

"Don't be so shy," Jack said soothingly, gently lifting her chin up with his fingers.

It took everything in her not to retract away from his hand. Her skin crawled with disgust, and an unpleasant chill ran up her spine. She just wanted to go back into her room and hide. She couldn't take it anymore.

A few minutes of awkward and tense silence passed between the two as they finished their dinner. Occasionally, she would catch Jack ogling her chest or staring at her face. This made her want to leave even more.

Jack dropped his fork once he was done eating. Jessica looked up from her almost empty plate of food, noticing that Jack's plate was completely clean. A huge flood of relief washed over her.

"I suppose this ends our night, then," Jack stated lowly.

"I-I suppose it does," she replied.

Jack studied her for a few seconds before getting up. He walked forward, seemingly heading back to his chambers. However, he stopped right beside Jessica.

Jessica stared at her plate, refusing to even look at him. He was obviously staring at her. Suddenly, he leaned down, moving his mouth towards her left ear.

Jessica froze at their close proximity. Alarm bells were going off in her head loudly, telling her to move away. Her skin crawled for practically the fifth time today, causing her to shudder slightly. She never wanted to leave someone's presence so bad.

His hot breath was fanning over her ear repeatedly. He must have been hovering there for about thirty seconds, until he finally began to speak.

"I know where your father is."

Jessica's eyes widened in shock. She couldn't even believe her ears. A million questions raced through her mind, but she couldn't even bring herself to ask one. She was too shocked to even speak.

Jack smirked at Jessica's obvious shock. He had her.

"Goodnight, Jessica," he breathed into her ear lowly. He moved away from her ear and planted a soft kiss on her cheek. He then walked out of the dining hall, leaving a completely shocked Jessica behind.

And that does it for Chapter 16! Sorry I've been gone for so long. I really missed updating on here. My ideas have been pretty fluent recently. I brainstormed like crazy and really figured out where this story could go, so I guess the break was pretty helpful. I'm going to start updating every few days, and at the least, I'll update once a week.

Anyways, I'm happy that I'm back. I hope I haven't kept you guys waiting for too long. This chapter was a little iffy for me. It was honestly a little boring for me to write, because nothing is really happening in this chapter. That's okay though! A story always needs some build up and fillers.

Okay, done talking. Let me know what you guys think in the reviews. I'd appreciate it greatly.

See you all in a few days!