Chapter 7

In Which Aryll Digs Down

The walls of Hyrule Castle pressed in, too close, too tall, too loud, too full of people. I wanted nothing more than to run back to the woods of Faron and never come out again. I worried the tassels at the edge of my stole. I had felt like a king myself when I left Faron, the green and gold fabric rich over my battle robe. At least, I had looked impressive next to Akkarani, who wore the animal skins and bone armor of our tribe. Only the elaborate golden cuff that snaked up her right arm betrayed her rank. Now, surrounded by Gerudo in bright silks and Hylians in shining brocades, I felt under-dressed and over-exposed. I heard bits and pieces of the whispers from the crowd around me. I picked out "Zonai" and "barbarians" and "Sword". I heard one man say we were just "dirty sheep-eaters," but I tried to pretend I didn't hear the jeers. Akkarani certainly paid them no mind. She held her shoulders back and chin tipped up proudly. None of this was new to her. She had spent some time in the city, as a young woman, and it was rumored that a Hylian prince had fathered her oldest son.

"That's Lady Vatorsa," my chief whispered my ear. "She leads the confederation of Gerudo tribes in opposition to this so-called 'Demon King'."

I looked down the aisle of the crowded room, where a contingent of Gerudo kneeled before the throne. The woman's strong brow and keen eyes reminded me of an eagle, and her nose protruding under her veil did seem rather beak-like.

She kept pointing out people in the crowd. This man, who kept a secret second family in Tabantha. That feathered Rito, who had racked up a debt gambling on sand seals. The slick-skinned Zora, who had the ear of the King. A stony-faced Goron, who once threw a Talus straight off of Death Mountain. My head spun. I didn't know how she expected me to keep track of all of this.

"That's Lord Firnas, he leads the Sheikah tribe, and his cousin, Lady Impa, companion to the Princess. Discontent rumbles within the family. Some Sheikah want to support Ganondorf's claim, and it is rumored that Firnas is among them. He used to be the Queen's trusted advisor, before he was dismissed from her service. Nothing is so dangerous as an ambitious man whose ambitions have been thwarted, remember that, Link."

I looked at the silver-haired Sheikah, wondering how the chief saw what she saw. How she could look into a man's eyes and read him like a book. I never had the patience for it. When I was still a boy, I flipped over the chatrang board in frustration when her footsoldiers captured my second elephant. For punishment, she sent me out into the jungle, and told me not to come back until I had fashioned her a new set of pieces out of axe-breaker wood. "Think about some better moves while you whittle, boy."

When I came to her, years later, bearing the Sword of Legend, she laughed. "If anyone could do it, Link, I knew it would be you. All courage, without a thought for the blessings of other Goddesses. It's no wonder Farore chose you for her own."

Finally the crier called us forth. "Presenting Lady Akkarani, Chief of the Faron Zonai, and…Link." The crier looked at his parchment more closely, even checking the back, as if expecting to see a title, or a notable accomplishment, or some reason that some half-clothed forest boy might be announced before the Queen.

Akkarani nodded to me, and we stepped in front of the throne. I bowed, but she gave the Queen only the barest of nods.

"Chief Akkarani," the Queen said. There was no warmth in her tone. "You have returned. I would ask that you show proper respect, here of all places."

"Calamity laps at your doorstep, Zelda, and you want to quibble about manners and forms?" She grabbed me under the arm and pushed me forward. "Here. I have brought you your salvation."

I stumbled slightly, hands pushing against the steps leading up to the throne, trying to keep from falling on my face. But as I looked up, my eyes were not on the Queen, but on the glorious creature behind her, who was rushing forward to help me. The light from the portrait window behind the throne gave her a golden halo, and when her blue eyes locked onto mine, everything else stopped.

"Princess…" I breathed.

I woke to the sound of creaking metal gears and huge, stomping feet. Urbosa had arrived outside the city walls aboard Vah Naboris. "We got some of the Yiga, but not all of them. I still don't feel comfortable sending you down the canyon," she said. "Too easy to get trapped on all sides if they found you. But there's really no reason to go on foot at all, is there?"

We climbed onto the Divine Beast, and Urbosa set off into the desert, past the statues of the Seven Heroines. The long-legged machine climbed easily up over Spectacle Rock.

"You pilot it so easily now!" said Zelda. "I told you you had nothing to be concerned about."

"I read the papers you brought me. The ones you translated from the ancient Sheikah. It helped me understand her so much more. I was treating Naboris like she was just a big wooden cart, but she's oddly…" Urbosa ran her fingers gently over the guidance stone, "...alive, in a way. I'm beginning to think of myself not as a pilot, but as a partner."

"It's funny," said Zelda. "Revali said much the same thing. He was having such a hard time getting Vah Medoh to do anything. He forbid me from telling anyone this–" Zelda leaned her head in towards Urbosa, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, "but he said he knelt down in front of Medoh's guidance stone and apologized for his arrogance, and asked for help from his ancestors."

Urbosa tilted her head back in that hearty, full-throated laugh again, and I couldn't help but chuckle a little bit along with her. I didn't know he had it in him to apologize for anything.

Urbosa brought us along the mesa, and down into the Taobab Grasslands. Mulberry trees swayed under the shadows of the much larger Baobabs, planted in neat rows and irrigated from Lake Hylia. The irrigation canals ran full and turbid today, however, as a heavy rain fell.

"This is the end of Gerudo land," she said, when she dropped us in the shadow of Mount Hylia. "I dare not go further with Naboris. But you are close to the garrison at Lake Hylia, and you are far from the reach of the Yiga here. Your horses are being sent back to the Castle from the Canyon Stable, along with a letter for your father." She enveloped Zelda in a long hug. "I know you are in the best possible hands, little bird. May the Goddess light your path."

I would have preferred that Urbosa not put our travel plans in writing, but what was done was done. Urbosa and I clasped each other's forearms, and she pressed her forehead to mine, gripping my shoulder with her free arm. "Just take care of her," she said, and she climbed back into her Divine Beast and stomped away.

I had planned on skirting under the shadow of the Great Plateau, making our way to the road west of Scout's Hill. From there I had hoped to grab some fresh horses from the Eastern Outpost and ride back to the Castle through Hyrule Field. But it seemed like this heavy rain had been falling for some time; the waters of Lake Hylia lapped right up to the walls of the Plateau, blocking our access.

We found a fisherman pulled up along the little bit of shore that remained, and begged him for passage across the lake. At the very least, if we could get to the south shore, we could head north across across the Bridge of Hylia.

"I can take you 'crosst," said the fisherman, "But I 'ent going nowhere near the south shore in this weather. The Menoat'll suck you right out to sea. I'm going to Deya Village, boy, take it or leave it."

Take it, I decided, and again throw myself on the mercy of my Deya relatives. We could get a hot meal and a warm bed, anyway, and cross the Proxim Bridge to the Outpost tomorrow. The water was extremely choppy, and we both lost our breakfasts over the side of the boat. Imagine my relief when the Deya locks came into view, manned by my cousin Sancho. The wind whipped at the hem of his oilskin cloak.

"Well, look-ee here! You must be in deep shit again, cos, if you're out in this weather. And with such a fine woman, at that." He tipped his hat at Zelda, sloshing out a large amount of water that had pooled around the wide brim.

"Sancho, may I introduce Zelda, Crown Princess, Chosen of Nayru, and High Priestess of Hyrule." I'm sure Zelda hated the full introduction, but I couldn't resist the urge to tease Sancho a little bit. He stared, open mouthed, still holding the brim of his hat.

"Oh! Your Miss Excellent-ness! I'm sorry that I said 'shit' in front of you!" The corners of Zelda's mouth twitched. "Oh! I said it again, didn't I? Shit! No! I mean–"

"'Your Highness' is fine, or even just 'Zelda', in conditions such as these. I'll begrudge you nothing if you can find me somewhere dry and warm to wait out the weather, though."

Sancho smiled. "Ay, I can do that, Your Ex–, I mean, Your Maj–, I mean, Zelda." Color rose in his cheeks and he quickly guided us onto his poleboat and punted us into town.

We took rooms at the tavern, the tavern owner giving me a wink as she passed over the keys. "Stop by and see me before you leave town, eh?"

"I think she might have a bit of a crush on you," Zelda remarked as we walked over to Alwhin and Rortru's for supper. I shrugged noncommittally and tried to keep the tips of my ears from going pink.

We arrived at the same time as Alwhin, who stood by the door, tipping water out of his boots.

"Well, there's the man of the hour," he said. "Good to see you, Link m'boy! And it's not too often we sup with royalty! Welcome to our home, Princess." He bowed deeply. "I figure you're trying to get back to the Castle, the sneaky way. Yes, some of the Rito folk flew in with a yarn about the trouble you'n faced there in the desert, we know about that now. I'm sorry to say, the road on the east side of Proxim Bridge is unner water. I reckon the same for the Owlan and the Horwell. I could take you down across the lake, to the southern shore, and you take the Bridge of Hylia northward."

"Please no," Zelda whispered. She was still rather pale from the trip in.

Alwhin let out a belly laugh. "I should say so. I dun' hardly want to be out on that lake at t'moment and I been plying these waters longer than you been alive, girl!" He slapped his knee. "If we get a break in this goddess-forsaken weather, I kin get you across the Squabble, then you's head home Goponga way. See that sister of yours," he nodded at me.

I nodded back. It was likely to add a few days to our trip, but it was unexpected, and thus safer– no one would be looking for us on the road to Goponga. It would also be a good excuse to see Aryll, and maybe even Mipha, if I was lucky.

We agreed on that plan of attack. I lingered over a third bowl of stew, while Rortru told us of the problems the rain was causing to this spring's planting.

"Flushed all the seeds right out t'ground, it has! 'S good we can grow plenty of rice, otherwise our babes'd be going hungry this winter. But those'n growing wheat and millet might not be so lucky. You be sure to tell your Lord Father that, Princess."

Zelda nodded solemnly, and we headed back to the the inn. The common room was full, the poor weather driving villagers and travelers alike indoors. A group of musicians had been picking out a rollicking tune while several people stepped out a dance in the middle of the floor, but it gradually came to a stop as more people became aware of Zelda's presence. People turned from their meals, set down their flagons, to watch her move through the room. By the time she reached the group of musicians, you could practically hear a pin drop.

Zelda approached one of the players, who had a lyre braced against his thigh. "I haven't played in so long! Do you mind, terribly, if I stepped in?"

The musician practically fell over himself to give his seat and his instrument to the Princess. She settled into the chair, giving a few tentative plucks to the lyre and adjusting a few of the tunings. She nodded at the man to her right, who played a set of deku-wood horns. "Would you lead me off?"

He obliged, piping out a peppy tune in ¾ time. The dancers lined up along the edges of the open space, facing one another. A minuet, I realized. Before long, Zelda found her part of the the rhythm, and plucked out a lively melody. The crowd clapped to the beat as the dancers twirled around each other. Any discomfort the people may have felt about having their Princess among them was forgotten.

She played three more songs, before pushing the instrument back to its owner, hands clasped together in gratitude. The horn player actually dropped to his knees in front of her, kissing her hands and asking for Hylia's many blessings on the throne of Hyrule. She was blushing and giggling as she fell into the chair across from me.

"A thing that doesn't change with time is a memory of younger days," I mused.

"What's that?" She asked.

I shook my head. Just something someone told me once. I looked up at her. For the briefest moment, instead of a Princess in Champion blue, there was a Goddess all in white, plucking her lyre and smiling at me. I blinked, and the Goddess was gone. Only the girl remained.

I shook my head, clearing it, and complimented her skills with the lyre. I didn't know she played so well.

"Thank you! Impa taught me, actually."

I asked after that. I remembered vaguely my father being upset about Zelda being sent to live with the Sheikah, and a few recent references to her childhood with Purah and Impa had reminded me. Had she spent much time in Kakariko?

"Almost two years, before my mother died. And as much time at the research lab as I could, once I came back to the castle. Impa stayed with me, though, for a few years." She paused, eyes cast about as if lost in recollection. Then she shook her head, as if to clear it. "I'm parched! Do you mind if I have a sip of that?" she asked, pointing at the flagon of beer in front of me.

I pushed it over to her, flagging down a barmaid. I ordered another beer, as well as a fruitcake.

"A cake? You ate three bowls of stew earlier, how could you possibly be hungry?"

I shrugged. I was always hungry.

Zelda took a swallow of beer, nose slightly wrinkled at the bitterness of it. "Well. I see you're quite the glutton. I suppose it's good to know you have at least one flaw."

She stared at me. I stared at her. She stared back at me until her shoulders began to shake in silent laughter, then I broke too. We laughed until we cried, as the music and the warmth of the room washed over us.

…

The next day, there was a break in the weather. I was getting antsy to leave, but Alwhin still had several boats to guide in through the canals.

"It'll be a few hours yet, m'boy. Take yer young lady up the hill, show her this kingdom she's to rule, eh?"

So we did, lacking anything better to do. We headed up the slope through an immense trunk of a fallen tree. When it was alive, It must have been hundreds of feet tall and at least fifty wide. I wondered if it had been a Deku tree, if it had guarded an ancient secret once. We followed the ridge of the land, heading north along the swollen river, when the rains started up again.

Zelda sheltered under a crop of rock, near a shrine to the forest spirits. I could have sworn I heard a mischievous giggle and a flash of birch-bark when she sat down. I wasn't in a mood to sit. I had never been very good at standing still, anyway, unless I was asleep. I pulled the Sword from its sheath, swinging at imaginary enemies.

"I doubt this is going to let up anytime soon," Zelda mused, watching my swordplay. "Your path seems to mirror your father's– you've dedicated yourself to becoming a knight, as well. Your commitment to the training necessary to fulfill your goal is really quite admirable."

I paused, glancing at her out of the corner of my eye. Was it possible she had no idea of the truth of the matter? Did she think I had desired the knighthood? Either my father had done an excellent job keeping a lid on things, or she was completely impervious to any court gossip.

She continued, "I see now why you would be the chosen one. But what if–"

There was something in the sadness of her voice that begged my attention. I turned back towards her, lowering the Sword.

"What if, one day…you realized you just weren't meant to be a fighter? Yet the only thing that anyone ever said, was that you were born into a family of the Royal Guard, and so no matter what you thought, you had to become a knight. If that was the only thing you were ever told? I wonder, then, would you have chosen a different path?"

I stood there, staring at her, for a long time. Droplets rolled down her cheeks, but I couldn't tell if they were tears or rain water dripping down from the rock above. I stepped forward, picking up the scabbard and resheathing the Sword. I set it down on the ground in front of us, then sat myself down on the rock where the scabbard had been.

"If you head east from here," I said quietly, "and follow the road along the Squabble, you'll come to a village called Hateno. Do you know it?"

She flicked her eyes at me curiously. "Of course I know their dyes, though I've never been there. We did have a report from the Mayor a few months ago. Shortly before you turned up with the Sword, in fact. It talked about how you saved the town from an attack. Is it true that you killed a Lynel single-handedly?"

Not quite single-handedly, I amended, but nearly.

"What were you doing in Hateno?"

I told her a little about my dreamy few months there. Napping on the roof in the afternoons, combing the beaches for snails. That I'd planned on having a small farm there, maybe raising a family.

"That hardly sounds like the path of Hyrule's finest knight."

"I never wanted to be a knight," I said, almost whispering. "I never wanted any of it. Not the Citadel, not the Knighthood, not the Sword."

"You must think me terribly self-centered," she said. I raised an eyebrow at her, questioningly. "When you disappeared from Goponga, the night of the funeral. I just assumed it was because of me. That you were so disgusted at the idea of pledging your service to me, the only thing you could do was run away."

"It wasn't you I was running away from." I lifted up my tunic, showing her the thatched skin of my back. "You asked about these scars."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry. I just thought, if your father was the Captain, they wouldn't dare–"

"It was my father who ordered it."

Zelda gasped. "No! His own son? What kind of father would do that?"

"The kind who doesn't think his son is worth a damn."

She was uncharacteristically silent for a long time, but eventually found her words. "I suppose…I suppose I owe you another apology. I was jealous, I thought everything must have been so easy for you. My father always speaks so highly of you, thinks you can do no wrong. I assumed your father felt the same. I'm a little ashamed to admit this, but…I'd give anything for him to tell me, just once, that he was proud of me."

I nodded. "Then I guess we're the same, you and I." I thought I had long since given up seeking his approval, telling myself it was a fool's errand. But maybe there had always been that little boy inside of me, begging for Papa's praise. I was a little ashamed, myself, but I had to admit it was the truth.

"I have to say, if I had the chance to just…walk away, I would. Ensconce myself in the research lab and forget about ever having been a princess. You'd never see me in court, or in that blasted cathedral, ever again!" She chuckled ruefully. "But you came back, eventually. You found the Sword, and you found me, up on the Plateau."

I nodded, eyes to the ground.

"Why?" she asked. "Why did you come back?"

Because I didn't have a choice. Because Hyrule needed a protector. Because my family was in danger. Because Hylia reached out to me across time and space, setting me on this path. Because the Sword whispered in my ear night and day, showing me my duties, showing me everything I had to live up to. But how could I tell Zelda any of that? We had only just reached a sort of detente. If I told her everything, it would crush her. Before I could come up with an answer, I was interrupted by an ear-piercing whistle from down the hill.

"Ooooyyyyy! Hey, cos! Pa is back with the boat, let's go, eh?"

I got to my feet,extending a hand to Zelda. She gave me a lingering look, but grabbed my proffered hand and followed me without saying anything else.

The Squabble was narrow, but the crossing still took the better part of an hour, with how rough and strong the current was. Alwhin deposited us on the north shore, quite a bit downstream of where we had started.

We arrived in Goponga just as the sun was going down, soaked to our bones and shivering cold. Aryll's young maid answered the door tentatively, obviously not expecting any guests at this hour, and in this weather.

"Link!" Aryll struggled to her feet from where she had been resting in an overstuffed chair. "And Your Highness! You'll have to forgive my appearance, we weren't expecting you!"

"You look lovely, Your Grace," Zelda said smoothly.

"I look like a sand seal turned loose in a hydromelon patch. I can't believe I have a few months still to go." Aryll rubbed her low back and stretched, accentuating the growing swell of her belly. "But you're kind to say so, Your Highness, and please, you can call me Aryll."

Zelda laughed. "Only if you promise to call me Zelda."

Aryll nodded in agreement, and came over to embrace me, before stopping short. "Goddess bless, but you look like a pair of drowned rats! Link, why don't you show Zelda up to the bedrooms on the second floor, I'm sure she'll want to change into something dry. I'll have Kumi put some tea on. We'll have dinner when my husband returns, he's been out at the canal all day. In this weather, bless him. Could I bring you anything to eat in the meantime, Zelda?"

"I'm not hungry, thank you," Zelda smirked, "but I'm sure Link is."

Right on cue, my stomach grumbled. "You know him so well already." Aryll laughed, before bustling off to the kitchen.

An hour's passage found me in dry clothes, cleaning the remaining meat off the bones of a roast pheasant, while the others sipped tea and chatted. The fire burned low in the hearth while Zelda updated Aryll on the status of the automatic spinning machine she was developing.

"The Guardians have been buried for thousands of years, and yet they powered right on when we excavated them and found the right commands. It was rather incredible– they didn't seem to need any fuel or external energy added. It was almost like magic! But with further investigation, I discovered the cores of the Guardians. Those seem to be the power source. Luckily for us, the larger cores generate their own spinning force. So it's just been an issue of perfecting the twist and the tension to get the right quality of thread."

"I can't wait to see it," said Aryll.

"I haven't had quite as much time as I would like to work on it, or any of my research, lately, with all the travel we've been doing. But I expect all of the Champions will have their Beasts well in hand very soon. I've had letters from Lady Mipha. It seems she's mastered hers quite quickly. Do I understand that she's been helping to build the canal? How has that been going?"

"It's been going…fine." It was obvious to everyone that things were not, in fact, fine, but I could tell Zelda felt to awkward to press the subject.

"You're a terrible liar, you know," I said, corners of my mouth twitching. She shot me a nasty look, that I'm sure would have been accompanied by an even nastier gesture had the Princess not been present.

"Darling, why not share some of our troubles with Her Highness? Perhaps she can help," said Piero, who had returned from the canal shortly after we arrived, and just as soaked and windblown. His hair was still a bit damp.

"I realize I was a bit distracted the last time I came through your lands, and I apologize for that. I want to know my land and my subjects as well I as I can," Zelda said solemnly. "And if there's anything I can do to help, I will."

Aryll sighed deeply. "The project has hit some snags, but that's not my biggest concern. I'm sure you saw on your way in, the flax crop is ruined. The ground was already too marshy for the seedlings to grow well. Yesterday the Rutala overtopped the levees and flooded the fields. In a normal year, that would be bad, but not disastrous. We would just grow rice there instead."

"But this year?"

"We borrowed from the Cosimos on favorable terms to finance the build, with the expectation that we would have finished cloth to bring to market next spring. I've hired several skilled weavers away from Hateno, which, as you can imagine, has not endeared me to the textile guild. Now I might not have enough work to give them or wages to pay them."

That was quite the diplomatic way to say that the head of the Hateno guild had flipped a table over on her and called her a wily bitch, I thought, but I let it lie. I was confused about the wool, though. Surely there was plenty of wool to be woven?

Piero frowned. "We've lost quite a few sheep over the last few months. Lizalfos have infested Upland Zorana. They mount raids in the valleys, then melt into the hills just as quickly as they came. Many are armed with shock arrows, so the Zora are hesitant to hunt them down."

"A boy was attacked," Aryll said, knuckles turning white as she gripped her mug of tea. "One of the shepherds. He's going to recover, but…"

"But we've decided not to send the flocks up to the Highlands to graze this year," Piero finished. "Their fleeces will suffer, from the heat and a lack of quality pasture."

"I am so glad to hear he will be alright. I must visit him and his family tomorrow. And I will speak to my father the King as soon as I return. What is the point of an army if my people and their livelihoods are threatened by beasts? We will handle the Lizalfos." said Zelda resolutely.

"You would have our eternal gratitude, Your Highness."

"You said there were problems with the canal?" Zelda asked.

Aryll rubbed her temples. "I contracted a group of Gorons to do much of the digging. Now I'm constantly having to smooth things over between them and the Zora. Mipha has been bringing her Divine Beast down, which has been an immeasurable help. That Sheikah invention can completely control the flow of water. Can you imagine a more useful tool for building a canal? But the Gorons are offended. They say using a machine to do the work insults their skills. 'Sculptors of the Land,' they're calling themselves, and they refuse to work if Mipha and her Beast are present. The Zora, in their turn, are offended on Mipha's behalf."

"We've already had some sabotage of the earthworks there. A Zora youth was responsible, she seemed proud to take the credit." Piero added. "I thought it was going to come to blows if Lady Mipha hadn't stepped in and defused things, in that quiet way of hers."

I smiled. I Imagined Mipha stepping in front of an irate Goron, as small beneath him as a pebble next to a boulder, ordering him down while making him think it was his idea all along. I raised my mug, proposing a toast to the Sapphire of the Domain.

"Hear, hear," said Aryl, clinking her mug to mine with a grin.

"Tensions are still high, nonetheless," Piero said, "Perhaps the crown could intervene–"

"I would very much like to see the canal site tomorrow, and to see Mipha in action with Vah Ruta. But for the Crown to directly intervene in the conflict would create the appearance that we are favoring Goponga's side. I'm sure you understand, considering the situation with Hateno, why that is untenable."

"But– " Piero started to argue. Aryll placed a restraining hand on his, and motioned for Zelda to go on.

"I said we cannot directly intervene, but I will visit Goron City again soon. Champion Daruk is not quite as…comfortable with his Divine Beast in the way the other Champions are. I think once Daruk has become a confident pilot, the Gorons will be able to envision the possibilities and will come around. Daruk commands much respect among his people. I can ask him to put a quiet word in."

I didn't think Daruk was capable of a quiet anything, but I let that lie too.

Aryll nodded, placing a hand over her heart. "That's all we can ask for."

We solidified plans to visit the canal in the morning, and Aryll, stifling a big yawn, said she was heading off to bed. "This child of yours is draining all my energy," she said, ruffling Piero's hair affectionately.

"Oh, so when he's doing something you don't like, he's my child?" Piero demanded, mock-offended.

"She, and yes. I'm glad you're getting it." Aryll waved and headed up the stairs.

"We have a little bet going," Piero said to me, sotto voce. "I think it will be a boy. If I'm wrong, I have to wear my clothes backwards for a week, if she's wrong–"

"I'm never wrong!" Aryll called from the stairs.

Piero gave me a 'what can you do?' shrug and followed after my sister.

Zelda and I sat for a few minutes more to finish our tea. We gazed into the fire, which was down to just a few glowing logs. Her eyes flashed darkest green in the waning light. I asked if she wanted me to put a few more logs on.

"No thank you, I think I might go up to my room and give my prayers to the Goddess before I sleep."

I found this curious. I hadn't known her to pray voluntarily. She was always quick to give up her daily devotions when not under the watchful eye of her father. She must have caught the question in my eyes, because she said, "I know. But my heart is breaking for the people of Deya and Goponga, for the troubles they're enduring. It seems pointless, as the Goddess never seems to hear me, but I will pray for peace."

Peace. The word caught me like a punch in the gut.

Her eyes flashed blue in the light of the dying fire. "Link? What are you doing here?"

I swayed slightly as I looked at her. Even stinking drunk as I was, It had been trivially easy to sneak over the castle walls, through the garden, past the many guards, and into her chambers. I'd faced down the Scourge of Hyrule, the self-styled Demon King of the desert, with barely a care. But this? The courage I needed for this could only be found at the bottom of a bottle, and tomorrow would be too late.

Soundlessly, I padded across the room. I scooped her up in my arms, and carried her into her dark bedroom.

"Link. You can't be here. Not tonight. Not ever."

I set her down and backed away, my back against the wall.

"Do you want me to go?" I whispered. "Tell me to go and I'll go."

The moonlight slanted through the windows, glinting against the golden dragon on my stole. It fell across her face in such a way that I could make out the tears pooling in her eyes. The silence and the distance were unbearable. I cursed myself for the fool that I was, and turned to sneak out the way I had come. Then her hand closed around my wrist.

"I don't want you to go. Stay with me."

She guided me onto the bed, undoing the belt that held the gilded scabbard to my back and pulling off my clothes. She straddled me, pulling her chemise up around her hips and over her head.

She took me inside her and began to ride me with a wild abandon, that, later, I would realize should have been a warning sign. But I was too distracted, exploring her body with my hands as she brought herself to ecstasy again and again. I found myself actually glad for my liquor-dulled senses, as I would have been unable to keep up with her otherwise. I tried to burn the image of her moonlight-striped body into my brain, wishing this moment could last forever.

"Don't marry him," I whispered into the top of her head when she finally fell into my chest, exhausted. "Choose me. Come away with me."

Wearily, she pushed herself up to look me in the eye, palms pressing into my shoulders. "Link…" Her tone of voice cracked my heart into pieces. "Nothing's changed."

"How can you say that? We saved Hyrule together, how can you– "

"We defeated the Calamity together, but Hyrule is far from saved."

"I love you, isn't that enough?"

"Enough?" She asked incredulously. "Vah Medoh brought down half a mountain in Hebra. Entire villages, lost in the avalanche. The survivors are calling out to punish the Rito. Will you make them whole again?"

I kept trying to answer her questions, to protest that it was none of my concern, but she would not be deterred as she continued to list Hyrule's ills.

"Can you restore the people's trust in the Sheikah? The war destroyed most of the harvest. Winter is barely begun, and already food stores grow slim. Will you feed my people? Vatorsa's body had hardly cooled before the Gerudo and the Zonai started quarreling over borders again. Will you finally step up and lead your people, command them to lay down their weapons?"

"The Zonai can never be commanded to do anything," I snapped back, "you know that. The new Gerudo chief just needs to get her tribes to respect the results of the treaty."

"Will you reunite the Gerudo under their new chief? What of the tribes who supported Ganondorf?"

"Traitors," I scoffed at the last question. "Put them to the sword."

"All of them? Every last one? The youngest member of the Taafei tribe is four years old. Will you put her to the sword, Hero?"

"Well, no, of course not" I sputtered, "just the ones who were responsible."

"And who is responsible? Who decides? You? And after you execute their mothers, what will you do when the daughters grow into warriors themselves, and come after you, seeking revenge?"

I'd never had any stomach for politics, for what I saw as the petty squabbling of weak men. I remembered how I felt when I first came to Hyrule Castle, bearing the Sword. My opinion on the castle itself had not much changed, nor had my opinion of her. I just needed to convince her to go back with me. "Forget all of that," I begged. "Forget them. We can be happy together, on our own."

She brushed her fingertips softly over my brow. "I dreamed of you for months before I finally met you, you know. You're a sword shining through the mist. You're a thunderbolt against a dark sky. You're a fire burning in the night. You're not a man who schemes or makes grand plans. That's why I love you. And that's why I can't marry you. I need someone to bring peace to Hyrule."

"Link? Is something the matter?"

I pressed my hand to the edge of the table to steady myself, suddenly feeling very dizzy. I claimed a headache and quickly bade her goodnight. I sank down onto the floor of my room, pressing my forehead into the cool planks, taking deep, calming breaths. I had to keep this under control. Whatever Link the Hero had gotten up to in the past, it was past. These intrusions seemed to be getting more frequent and more vivid, and I had to find a way to keep them under control. I had to find a way to stop thinking about the Princess like– my hands sliding along her belly and up to her breasts – I banged my head against the floor. Stop. Stop, you idiot. I lay on the floor for a long time, feeling the seams of the floorboards on my face, smelling the scent of lilies that lingered on my skin, and listening to the rain lash against the window.

…

The rain had lessened to a spitting mist by the next afternoon, but the current was still as strong as I'd ever seen it. The Rutala River rushed and roared, whitecaps forming over snags of trees and rocks. Getting upstream in those conditions was a fool's errand; even the Zora did not swim in such.

Zelda and Aryll toured the village. Zelda cradled a tiny lamb that had been rejected by its mother, feeding it with a rag dipped in a bucket of milk. She stopped in to see the family of the boy who had been injured in the lizalfos attack. She went back to the shrine with her notebook, making a few measurements and sketches, but promised, with a self-deprecating laugh, not to become completely obsessed like the last time she had been through.

After dinner, Aryll took me into her study. "I hadn't moved Mother's desk or shelves at all since she died. I've been in sort of a nesting mode lately, though, and decided I wanted to rearrange things a bit. I found this loose tile under one of the shelves."

She struggled down to the floor, and felt at the edges of one of the flagstones until she was able to pry it up. There was hidden compartment under the tile, containing only a small cedar chest. She lifted it out and flipped open the lid. The chest was full of papers, letters with their wax seals sliced open, and a few leather-bound journals.

"I was expecting something more exciting," I said drily. "Like treasure."

Aryll slapped my arm playfully. "It's Mother's correspondence, and her diaries. She kept the diaries from when she got married until she died. Isn't that treasure? And there's letters from all sorts of people. King Dorephan, Urbosa's grandmother, Queen Zelda. Even Duchess Aenore, the old bat. I was going to write to a few people, see if maybe they have the letters that Mother sent. A lot of it is boring– accounts, trade amounts, tax remittance issues. But it's like hearing her voice again." She rifled through the journals, flipping to a random page. "Here, read this," she said, passing the journal to me.

My appointment as ambassador to the Zora was made official today, after waiting quite some time. Not that it changes my day-to-day, of course, but it is nice to have the title.

Link had a grand time play fighting in the yard after the ceremony, he gave Mychal quite the shock, anyway. Even though it's years away, I dread the day that we'll have to send Link away to the Citadel. But I am glad he will have Mychal there to guide him. He's a good man.

Link also stood his ground against that little brat from Rauru – Air-something or another. I'll call him Air Head. The boy is three years older than Link and twice his size. He must have thought Link would be an easy target. More fool him! I'm expecting a nasty letter from Aenore any time now, chastising me for letting my son hurt her precious grandson. Well. She might feel like she's practically the queen up there in Rauru, but I know they're behind on their taxes. Seems to me that she needs to spend more time managing her land and less time putting her nose in everyone's business.

"There was a letter from Aenore, actually, and she did complain about you beating her grandson. And she asked for a loan." She snorted, then grabbed a few papers from her desk, and added them to the chest. "I'm going to start keeping some of my things in here as well. Who knows? My daughter might like to read them some day, even if it is just a letter from the Gorons complaining about the lack of suitably tasty rocks in the Rutala River valley."

I resolved, not for the first time, to write to her more. I had sent a few letters since taking up my post, but they had been vague and terse. I realized now the power in leaving the letters behind – a way to say to the future, I was here, I existed. I would have loved to hear these stories from my mother herself, to feel her squeeze my hand and brush the hair away from my forehead. But sometimes the record of the memory was all that remained.

"Oh, and one more thing, Mister Treasure Hunter." She opened a drawer under the writing desk, pulling out a small dagger. "I thought you should have this. It's not much compared a Legendary Sword, but it was Mother's. I got all of her jewelry, but I thought you should have something of hers."

I examined the dagger. It was exquisitely made, the rippled pattern welding and gemstone-encrusted crossguard could only be Zora handiwork.

I gave Aryll a long hug, bade her goodnight, and went to bed with my head swimming.

The next day, the river was still turbulent, but had quieted enough to make the trip. Piero and I both strained against the oars until we finally reached the dock just west of the canal site. Aryll had been munching on a pear, and threw the remains towards a flock of gulls begging on the dock.

"You did always love seagulls," I said absently.

"What?" Aryll said.

"Seagulls. You always– " I stopped short. That wasn't this Aryll who had loved seagulls. It was a different Aryll, a different sister, a different time. I fell silent, feeling very disturbed that I had mixed them up. What was happening, that I couldn't tell my own sister from the memory of a girl I never knew?

Aryll gave me the oddest look, full of concern and confusion. I could tell she wanted to ask me more, ask how I was doing, but didn't want to pry too much in front of Zelda, who Piero was helping out of the boat behind us.

We made our way down to the worksite to meet with the Goron diggers. Zelda made sure to praise the sharpness of their pickaxes and the strength of their arms. A young Zora was with them as well, sullenly stacking rocks at the base of the pylons that formed the temporary levee holding back the river.

"You find yourself in strange company," Zelda said to the Zora.

The Zora kept her eyes to the ground, fins clasped awkwardly behind her back. "Lady Mipha said I am to work for the Gorons for a fortnight, to make up for the damage I caused."

"I can't say I trust that contraption of hers," said the crew leader. "But Lady Mipha is very wise, and Dimai here is a good brother, in spite of everything. Who among us wasn't guilty of being a little too enthusiastic when we were youngsters, hey goro?"

Zelda's response was interrupted by a trumpeting roar from the top of the Rutala dam to the northeast. I looked up, and saw Vah Ruta beginning to switchback her way down the face of the dam, nimble as a mountain goat.

"Goddess!" Zelda exclaimed. "She really has mastered her Beast, hasn't she?"

Vah Ruta set down in the water with hardly a splash, and stroked down the river with unnatural ease for such an ungainly body. I imagined Mipha at the helm, fluid movements and calm voice urging Ruta forward.

Several of the Gorons grumbled, throwing down their tools and walking back to their cabins. Dimai watched them go, obviously upset. It seemed the peace that Mipha had brokered was still uneasy.

Vah Ruta swam up to the dock and lowered herself in the water, presenting a glowing platform. "Your Highness, Your Grace, come on up!"

Mipha gave us a tour of the expansive interior. Zelda, Aryll, and Piero hung back, examining the huge, onion-like guidance stone that controlled Ruta's movements. We found ourselves alone, watching the two great water wheels turning.

"I must wonder what the ancients must have intended all this for," Mipha said

Link the Hero's memories were not helpful here. They always appeared in little flashes, triggered by things around me. Or I'd get short vignettes, poignant, but out of order and lacking deeper context. I still wasn't able to get a good picture of the whole, and the more I saw, the more disoriented I was becoming. It might have been helpful if the Link that had been around when these things were built had known something about why, or how they were operated. Instead all I was really picking up was a memory of Zelda grabbing him by the wrist, dragging him into a side room for an impromptu tryst. It was decidedly unhelpful. Mipha would certainly find it odd if started banging my head against the wall, so I just shrugged.

"Things are going well for you, then?" Mipha asked. "Aryll said that Princess Zelda was a bit…distant the last time you came through, but she doesn't appear so now."

I nodded. I apologized for not stopping in at the Domain then.

"I understand," she said gently. "I've had letters from Zelda. I know Daruk has been struggling with Rudania, it was better that she went to help him. Ruta and I clicked right away."

I wondered what it was like, piloting the Divine Beast.

"When I'm connected to Ruta it's like… I see what she sees. So even though the guidance stone is in the back, I feel so connected to every part of her. And it's odd, I can't quite describe it, but…you're going to laugh at me."

I took her hand in mine and squeezed it. "I would never laugh at you."

"What about that time when I tried to climb a tree and I got stuck and you had to come rescue me? You were in stitches, while I clung to the trunk like my life depended on it."

"Fine. I did laugh at you, that one time, but that was genuinely funny. You were barely five feet off the ground! But I promise, you can tell me anything."

Mipha chuckled quietly, but then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, rolling her shoulders. It was something I'd seen her do a thousand times when we sparred, clearing her mind before pressing the attack with her trident. "I can hear her voice. Ruta's. It's not even in a language I can understand, really, more like a song in my heart. I don't know if that makes any sense at all."

I pressed my lips into a thin line, shuffling my feet against the smooth stone floor. I knew exactly what she was talking about, although my experience was clearly less positive.

"Link? Is there anything you'd like to talk about?"

"Link!" Aryll called, as she emerged from the control room, a letter in hand and trailed by a bedraggled Rito courier. "We have company."

I snapped to attention, the urgency and tone of her voice making me think that more Lizalfos had been spotted. She handed me the letter. As I read, my expression of concern turned into a furrowed brow, then to an outright scowl.

"He's here? Now?!" I demanded.

"Yes, and I can't wait to hear his various opinions on how I'm mismanaging everything and tarnishing my mother's legacy," said Aryll dryly. "That is, if he's not already too busy turning the screws on you over your…what was it again?"

I reexamined the letter. "My 'failure to evaluate the threat posed to The Royal Person.'"

"I'm sorry," Zelda said, "but who are we talking about?"

I shoved the letter at her in disgust.

"Dear Aryll," she read aloud, expression beginning to mirror my own as her eyes moved down the page. "I write this from Goponga town square. I have arrived with a detail of knights to escort Her Royal Highness back to Hyrule Castle with all haste. As you may be aware, Princess Zelda was recently attacked by the so-called 'Yiga Clan.' Link's failure to evaluate the threat posed to The Royal Person was a grave miscalculation that has led to this circuitous return path. Have no doubt, I will see the Princess home safely. Please inform the Her Royal Highness that this lapse will not be overlooked, and she can rest assured that she, as sole heir to the throne, will need no longer suffer the reckless 'protection' offered by her 'Appointed Knight'. Signed, your loving father, Sir Bernhardt, Lord Commander.' Oh for Goddess' sake!" she said, crumpling the letter into a ball. "He can't be serious."

"Oh, I'm sure he is, Your Highness, I'm sure he is," said Aryll, shaking her head. "I suppose we'd better head back, before he manages to fire half of my household staff."

"I bet Renaldo could take him in a fight," said Piero.

"You think so?" said Aryll.

"Sure, the old man is peerless when it comes to pure spite, that's got to count for something."

Mipha giggled behind her hand. Zelda sighed, finger tracing a swirl of ancient Sheikah carving on the wall.

"There's so much left still to study," Zelda said mournfully. "I'd hoped to get some sketches to take back to the Research Lab. But I don't wish to cause any trouble for either of you. I know too well that your father can be…difficult."

Aryll snorted, but there wasn't much left to be said. Mipha embraced each of us, and then we were off, the river's current speeding the little boat back to Goponga.

My father waited for us on Kincean Island, along with Selene, Tian, and half a dozen knights. Before I had even gotten out of the boat, he started laying in on me. How stupid I was for being ambushed by Yiga, what a weakling I was for relying on a band of women to save me, how foolish I was going through Deya, what a panic I had caused when we didn't turn up at the Outpost per Urbosa's letter.

I consciously avoided eye contact while I helped Zelda to shore. "You forget our bargain, Father," I said quietly. I hadn't really expected him to honor it, of course, but I enjoyed reminding him that I had bested him in combat. I could feel him stiffen, readying another tirade, when Zelda cut him off.

"Sir Bernhardt, I'll ask you not to speak to my Knight that way. Sir Link defended me at great personal risk, and I shall be ever grateful for it. Thank you for bringing our horses. That will be all."

"Your Highness!" my father spluttered, stupid mustache twitching with indignation. But Zelda was in full Royal mode at that point, shoulders back, chin tipped up. She wasn't giving him the time of day.

"Sir Link, if you could help me onto my horse, please?" She stepped to Tian's left side and gave me the slightest, knowing smile. I cupped my hands under her knee and boosted her up into the saddle. Tian danced around a bit, but the rainy weather seemed to be dampening some of his fire. "Lady Aryll, Lord Piero, thank you for your hospitality. You were a safe harbor in a storm, and the Crown will not forget your service. With me, Sir Knight." She clucked to Tian and pointed him northwest. I swung myself onto Selene's back, and she quickly caught up to the white horse. Side by side, we trotted back to the Castle.