Chapter Thirty-One
"I don't like how they've not attacked," Link remarked, sitting on the edge of the catapult as he finished the last of his dinner. Night was beginning to fall, and the Tophetians had not many any more assaults on the main gates.
"Aye, `tis unsettling," agreed Lance, squatting on the ground and picking idly at strands of grass. "Prolly the most unsettling thing they've done all day, I'd reckon." The Hero of Time clenched and unclenched his fists; somehow, to be sitting about thinking of why the enemy wasn't attacking seemed so... inactive. He began to wish that they /would/ break through the gates, so that he would have something to do, someone to fight...
"I wonder," Miyako remarked casually, looking up at the darkening sky, "if they've not got another plan to get past those gates."
"What sort of plan might that be, missie?" Lance nibbled on one of the grass stalks, then spat it out. Link suppressed a smile with one hand.
"Oh, I can't think of anything clever, but it just seems like they wouldn't waste time by sitting around all day. It's not very clever of them to start battering at night; what advantage would darkness give them?" Link frowned; something itched at the back of his mind. For a moment, he had it, then it slipped from his grasp, like trying to hold water with a splayed hand.
"Aye, that's certainly something to think about," the sailor agreed dubiously, "but I'd doubt that Viru would see any advantages o' the night."
"Well, we're not trapped in here because of his stupidity, are we? We've got to give him credit for some things. After all, that trick he pulled at the Massharte Ruins /was/ clever..."
Without a word, Link got up and walked over to the gatehouse staircase. Climbing the spire, he edged around the protective wall and peeked over the bulwark.
The Tophetians were milling about on the far side of the hill; they had set up tents and several had some fires going. The Hero of Time espied King Viru sitting with several others and appearing to converse, although about what Link could only guess at.
`He's certainly not giving the soldiers a break out of the kindness of his heart,' the blonde teenager thought wryly, turning and striding back down the staircase. `But I'll bet he's planning something I'm not going to like.'
"Anythin' to see?" Lance called, looking up as Link returned to the catapult. The Hero of Time shook his head, but was unable to shake that itching sensation that bothered him.
Ceifeiro crouched by the dead guard's body, his eyes shifting back and forth from the East Hall corridor to the staircase by the parapet. No other guards had heard, but how would he dispose of the body? He couldn't simply toss it over the side, as tempting as that was...
Looking down at the guard, whose throat was torn open in a ragged, bloody grin, he began to smile. It might just be crazy enough to work.
Miles shifted uneasily, glancing up at the higher parapet every now and then. The walls were high and closer to the castle at its rear, but... he couldn't help but feel the need to go and check on the guard above the staircase. He was a new fellow, a bit quiet, but the young soldier felt an obligation to follow his intuition, and he did not want to bungle up a job while Link was about. (Imagine, the Hero of Time, talking to him! It was just too good to be true!)
"Hey, up there, everything well?" He called nervously.
" `Tis fine," Ceifeiro called back in a passable Selintan accent as he dumped the guard's body, now sporting his hood and clothing, over the edge. "Just saw a Tophetian lurkin' back here, and I killed the bastard, sure enough." Miles blew a sigh of relief and wiped his forehead. Sure, it was a tough job, keeping a castle safe.
"All right then, call if you see any more," replied the young Selintan nervously. Tophetians, lurking at the rear of the castle? `I might do well to tell Link about this...'
Even after being assured that the guards would keep a watchful eye on the gate, Link couldn't sleep. He paced around his room, cursing aloud at himself for not being able to figure out why what Miyako had mentioned was bothering him so much. A cover of darkness, what advantages would it give the Tophetians? He couldn't think of any...
There came a knock at his door, and Link winced slightly, then cursed himself again.
"Are y'in there, matey?" It was Lance, concerned as ever.
`If he was right about feeling my emotions, then he and Miyako must be feeling really edgy right now,' he thought, opening the door with a jerk.
"Yes?" A part of Link secretly prayed that the sailor had come to tell him that the Tophetians were attacking again, if only to ease his mind.
"Ah, I was just wonderin' where ya went. Oh yeah, and there's a guard out here, by the name o' Miles or summat, wants to talk to you." Lance scratched his forehead as though confused. "Sure, I didn't think you'd be here though."
"Where else would I be?" Link asked, following the sailor. Then he thought for a second about how Lance's mind worked, then quickly added, "Don't answer that."
"Nay, nay," chortled the sailor, and the Hero of Time could /hear/ the broad grin in his friend's voice. "I'd not dare to."
"Mmm-hmm," Link replied skeptically. "Sure you wouldn't, and I'm the Queen of Rinthen, so I am."
"So y'are, and a right fine pretty queen ye'd make, though I'd say yer a bit flat in the bosom, matey," agreed the sailor laughingly. Miles, the castle guard, was waiting anxiously in the Great Hall.
"Oh, Link, I--" The guard paused and ran his hands through his hair nervously. "I thought you'd like to know, that... one of the guards on the rear parapet... He... er, saw a Tophetian wandering around back there, and kilt him with an arrow, so he did. I thought... I thought you might like to know... that." But Link was already running towards rear of the castle.
The Hero of Time leaned cautiously over the edge of the wall, peering down and noting the limp body resting at the base of it. But... even in the dark night, he did not see an arrow embedded anywhere in the cadaver. Still, in the darkness, he could not be sure.
Ceifeiro watched Link with slitted eyes, biding his time. But his quarry was so near...!
`Lyutli (Patience),' he told himself in comforting Dinesenese, `res sa n'jin nah (you will have your time).' So "the reaper" watched the nineteen-year-old carefully, observing how deliberate the Hylian was being.
"Excuse me," Link uttered, turning towards him. The Dinesenese fighter stiffened slightly and lowered his head a little; perhaps Link would not recognize him. "Are you the one who slew that Tophetian?"
"Aye," Ceifeiro replied gruffly, jerking his head towards the wall. "He was scaling the wall, so I slit his throat when he made it to the top, and shot an arrow into him, to be sure he was dead, and so he is."
"Hmmm...." Miles had said that the guard had said that he'd only shot him, yet the guard's story was different... Perhaps it was only to protect Miles. The young Selintan guard was good enough at his job, but really too nervous and faltering to make him feel comfortable.
`Ah well, this is probably the most eventful happening in his career as a soldier, and will probably always be so,' the Hero of Time told himself, looking thoughtfully at the eastern horizon. Before the rest of him could react, his mind jumped to a conclusion that was too crazy to be true, but too risky to overlook.
"If ye'd let me, I'd take my supper now," Ceifeiro stated, faking the accent perfectly this time. No goat like an old one. Link nodded distantly, but remained unmoving. "...Link?"
"I was just wondering... why the body down there doesn't seem to have an arrow in it." Ceifeiro hesitated, his quick mind searching desperately for a plausible reason.
"Aye?" He asked weakly. It was the only answer that Link might have accepted, and to the Dinesenese fighter's relief, he did.
`He is taking too long, what is going on?' King Viru thought, working his hands together behind his back as he surveyed the castle's front bulwarks vigilantly. `Ceifeiro had better not be distracted by his obsession with fighting Hyrule's hero; I'll not have my plans spoiled by the whims of a former mercenary.'
"King Viru, sir, should we begin battering the gates? Seirios thinks the guards might be wary that we've not attacked for a while," Intol stated gingerly. The Tophetian king waved his squire away.
"Let them be wary; it will keep them guessing at what I've planned, and they won't be able to figure it out before it takes its course."
Ceifeiro's eyes flicked over the mass of guards in the Great Hall; some were injured while others were taking supper, and more were resting peaceably. Obviously none of them were accustomed to long siege or battle.
`I may be able to get past the guards in the courtyard unnoticed,' he considered, `and open the gates so that Viru may bring the troops in, but... What if I cannot? The gates may be too damaged to open easily; I will need a safeguard...' Ceifeiro sat down on a makeshift bench and thought for a moment. `A hostage, perhaps, but... not any soldier, for they would not think to spare the life of a soldier for the greater cause...'
There were only two people he could think of that would be acceptable; Link or the Queen, Eloisa. Link... he would be a bit harder to overpower than the queen, but he was much closer. A soldier skulking about the chambers of a queen might bring up too many questions.
Yet....
----------------------------------------------------
Cliffhangers are wonderful tools of torture, but only if people are actually reading this. I'm not going to be like a lot of authors whom I could name and say "U ppl need 2 revue! I wun upload no more chapters `til i get 20 million revues!" [Spelling errors and such intentional, mind you, to mock those who write something like that.] Yes, it is disheartening to find that only a few people *truly* enjoy my work, but it's also encouraging, because an audience of some is better than an audience of none, right? Plus... I will write no matter what, come flames or praise, I will keep writing. Because I love to write. You shouldn't write for reviews (though they are nice), you should write because you love it, because your passion in your words, your characters, and your conflicts. Writing is an art, and I will always love to write.
So! Even if people hate my work, I will write because I enjoy it and it's much better than going out and messing up my life with drugs. Or something.
Now, I forgot what I was really going to say... Oh yes! Well, hopefully more people will review (if more people actually read this) and let me know what they think, so I can improve. Because that's what reviews are there for.
Plus... I'm curious if anyone wants the prologue for Part Two to be posted, because I've got +70 pages on Part Two done. (I haven't been slacking, no sir/ma'am!) So, please let me know, and I appreciate you, Faithful Reader, for enduring this fanfiction. I promise Part Two has a lot more action.
I've said enough, bye now!
"I don't like how they've not attacked," Link remarked, sitting on the edge of the catapult as he finished the last of his dinner. Night was beginning to fall, and the Tophetians had not many any more assaults on the main gates.
"Aye, `tis unsettling," agreed Lance, squatting on the ground and picking idly at strands of grass. "Prolly the most unsettling thing they've done all day, I'd reckon." The Hero of Time clenched and unclenched his fists; somehow, to be sitting about thinking of why the enemy wasn't attacking seemed so... inactive. He began to wish that they /would/ break through the gates, so that he would have something to do, someone to fight...
"I wonder," Miyako remarked casually, looking up at the darkening sky, "if they've not got another plan to get past those gates."
"What sort of plan might that be, missie?" Lance nibbled on one of the grass stalks, then spat it out. Link suppressed a smile with one hand.
"Oh, I can't think of anything clever, but it just seems like they wouldn't waste time by sitting around all day. It's not very clever of them to start battering at night; what advantage would darkness give them?" Link frowned; something itched at the back of his mind. For a moment, he had it, then it slipped from his grasp, like trying to hold water with a splayed hand.
"Aye, that's certainly something to think about," the sailor agreed dubiously, "but I'd doubt that Viru would see any advantages o' the night."
"Well, we're not trapped in here because of his stupidity, are we? We've got to give him credit for some things. After all, that trick he pulled at the Massharte Ruins /was/ clever..."
Without a word, Link got up and walked over to the gatehouse staircase. Climbing the spire, he edged around the protective wall and peeked over the bulwark.
The Tophetians were milling about on the far side of the hill; they had set up tents and several had some fires going. The Hero of Time espied King Viru sitting with several others and appearing to converse, although about what Link could only guess at.
`He's certainly not giving the soldiers a break out of the kindness of his heart,' the blonde teenager thought wryly, turning and striding back down the staircase. `But I'll bet he's planning something I'm not going to like.'
"Anythin' to see?" Lance called, looking up as Link returned to the catapult. The Hero of Time shook his head, but was unable to shake that itching sensation that bothered him.
Ceifeiro crouched by the dead guard's body, his eyes shifting back and forth from the East Hall corridor to the staircase by the parapet. No other guards had heard, but how would he dispose of the body? He couldn't simply toss it over the side, as tempting as that was...
Looking down at the guard, whose throat was torn open in a ragged, bloody grin, he began to smile. It might just be crazy enough to work.
Miles shifted uneasily, glancing up at the higher parapet every now and then. The walls were high and closer to the castle at its rear, but... he couldn't help but feel the need to go and check on the guard above the staircase. He was a new fellow, a bit quiet, but the young soldier felt an obligation to follow his intuition, and he did not want to bungle up a job while Link was about. (Imagine, the Hero of Time, talking to him! It was just too good to be true!)
"Hey, up there, everything well?" He called nervously.
" `Tis fine," Ceifeiro called back in a passable Selintan accent as he dumped the guard's body, now sporting his hood and clothing, over the edge. "Just saw a Tophetian lurkin' back here, and I killed the bastard, sure enough." Miles blew a sigh of relief and wiped his forehead. Sure, it was a tough job, keeping a castle safe.
"All right then, call if you see any more," replied the young Selintan nervously. Tophetians, lurking at the rear of the castle? `I might do well to tell Link about this...'
Even after being assured that the guards would keep a watchful eye on the gate, Link couldn't sleep. He paced around his room, cursing aloud at himself for not being able to figure out why what Miyako had mentioned was bothering him so much. A cover of darkness, what advantages would it give the Tophetians? He couldn't think of any...
There came a knock at his door, and Link winced slightly, then cursed himself again.
"Are y'in there, matey?" It was Lance, concerned as ever.
`If he was right about feeling my emotions, then he and Miyako must be feeling really edgy right now,' he thought, opening the door with a jerk.
"Yes?" A part of Link secretly prayed that the sailor had come to tell him that the Tophetians were attacking again, if only to ease his mind.
"Ah, I was just wonderin' where ya went. Oh yeah, and there's a guard out here, by the name o' Miles or summat, wants to talk to you." Lance scratched his forehead as though confused. "Sure, I didn't think you'd be here though."
"Where else would I be?" Link asked, following the sailor. Then he thought for a second about how Lance's mind worked, then quickly added, "Don't answer that."
"Nay, nay," chortled the sailor, and the Hero of Time could /hear/ the broad grin in his friend's voice. "I'd not dare to."
"Mmm-hmm," Link replied skeptically. "Sure you wouldn't, and I'm the Queen of Rinthen, so I am."
"So y'are, and a right fine pretty queen ye'd make, though I'd say yer a bit flat in the bosom, matey," agreed the sailor laughingly. Miles, the castle guard, was waiting anxiously in the Great Hall.
"Oh, Link, I--" The guard paused and ran his hands through his hair nervously. "I thought you'd like to know, that... one of the guards on the rear parapet... He... er, saw a Tophetian wandering around back there, and kilt him with an arrow, so he did. I thought... I thought you might like to know... that." But Link was already running towards rear of the castle.
The Hero of Time leaned cautiously over the edge of the wall, peering down and noting the limp body resting at the base of it. But... even in the dark night, he did not see an arrow embedded anywhere in the cadaver. Still, in the darkness, he could not be sure.
Ceifeiro watched Link with slitted eyes, biding his time. But his quarry was so near...!
`Lyutli (Patience),' he told himself in comforting Dinesenese, `res sa n'jin nah (you will have your time).' So "the reaper" watched the nineteen-year-old carefully, observing how deliberate the Hylian was being.
"Excuse me," Link uttered, turning towards him. The Dinesenese fighter stiffened slightly and lowered his head a little; perhaps Link would not recognize him. "Are you the one who slew that Tophetian?"
"Aye," Ceifeiro replied gruffly, jerking his head towards the wall. "He was scaling the wall, so I slit his throat when he made it to the top, and shot an arrow into him, to be sure he was dead, and so he is."
"Hmmm...." Miles had said that the guard had said that he'd only shot him, yet the guard's story was different... Perhaps it was only to protect Miles. The young Selintan guard was good enough at his job, but really too nervous and faltering to make him feel comfortable.
`Ah well, this is probably the most eventful happening in his career as a soldier, and will probably always be so,' the Hero of Time told himself, looking thoughtfully at the eastern horizon. Before the rest of him could react, his mind jumped to a conclusion that was too crazy to be true, but too risky to overlook.
"If ye'd let me, I'd take my supper now," Ceifeiro stated, faking the accent perfectly this time. No goat like an old one. Link nodded distantly, but remained unmoving. "...Link?"
"I was just wondering... why the body down there doesn't seem to have an arrow in it." Ceifeiro hesitated, his quick mind searching desperately for a plausible reason.
"Aye?" He asked weakly. It was the only answer that Link might have accepted, and to the Dinesenese fighter's relief, he did.
`He is taking too long, what is going on?' King Viru thought, working his hands together behind his back as he surveyed the castle's front bulwarks vigilantly. `Ceifeiro had better not be distracted by his obsession with fighting Hyrule's hero; I'll not have my plans spoiled by the whims of a former mercenary.'
"King Viru, sir, should we begin battering the gates? Seirios thinks the guards might be wary that we've not attacked for a while," Intol stated gingerly. The Tophetian king waved his squire away.
"Let them be wary; it will keep them guessing at what I've planned, and they won't be able to figure it out before it takes its course."
Ceifeiro's eyes flicked over the mass of guards in the Great Hall; some were injured while others were taking supper, and more were resting peaceably. Obviously none of them were accustomed to long siege or battle.
`I may be able to get past the guards in the courtyard unnoticed,' he considered, `and open the gates so that Viru may bring the troops in, but... What if I cannot? The gates may be too damaged to open easily; I will need a safeguard...' Ceifeiro sat down on a makeshift bench and thought for a moment. `A hostage, perhaps, but... not any soldier, for they would not think to spare the life of a soldier for the greater cause...'
There were only two people he could think of that would be acceptable; Link or the Queen, Eloisa. Link... he would be a bit harder to overpower than the queen, but he was much closer. A soldier skulking about the chambers of a queen might bring up too many questions.
Yet....
----------------------------------------------------
Cliffhangers are wonderful tools of torture, but only if people are actually reading this. I'm not going to be like a lot of authors whom I could name and say "U ppl need 2 revue! I wun upload no more chapters `til i get 20 million revues!" [Spelling errors and such intentional, mind you, to mock those who write something like that.] Yes, it is disheartening to find that only a few people *truly* enjoy my work, but it's also encouraging, because an audience of some is better than an audience of none, right? Plus... I will write no matter what, come flames or praise, I will keep writing. Because I love to write. You shouldn't write for reviews (though they are nice), you should write because you love it, because your passion in your words, your characters, and your conflicts. Writing is an art, and I will always love to write.
So! Even if people hate my work, I will write because I enjoy it and it's much better than going out and messing up my life with drugs. Or something.
Now, I forgot what I was really going to say... Oh yes! Well, hopefully more people will review (if more people actually read this) and let me know what they think, so I can improve. Because that's what reviews are there for.
Plus... I'm curious if anyone wants the prologue for Part Two to be posted, because I've got +70 pages on Part Two done. (I haven't been slacking, no sir/ma'am!) So, please let me know, and I appreciate you, Faithful Reader, for enduring this fanfiction. I promise Part Two has a lot more action.
I've said enough, bye now!