Disclaimer: I still don't own Zelda or any related characters. Excuse me whilst I cry about it…*Sniffles and sobs* Ok, on with the story!

*

Sorry time fallen

Past lives calling

Autumn leaves falling

Winter draws near.

Cold anger blazes inside

Dragging me along for the ride

Washing my mind out with the tide

Calling on my greatest fear.

Darkness and death

As I draw my last breath

But instead the sword is sheathed

And maybe I'll live out another year.

*

The castle's activity had quieted down. Hardly anyone was awake. However, that 'anyone' did not include the wizard, Damion. He sat in his chambers, quietly contemplating daggers. The one dipped in poison, or the one that touched painlessly? Or perhaps one after the other…

The only problem Damion had was who to blame this on. Obviously, Zelda was not unhappy enough to . Link would never do such a thing, nor would her parents. And he certainly couldn't blame himself. He sighed and decided he would worry about it when the time came.

Damion got up from his armchair by the fire and crossed into the darkness, where bags of colored powder sat. He picked one up; it contained the spell of Invisibility. The next, Sleep. The next—should Zelda be awake when he came in—Darkness. She wouldn't be able to see him, but he wouldn't be able to see either. Damion cursed himself for only bringing enough Sleep with him to take out the guards.

Damion opened the pouch that contained Invisibility and poured it over his head. The magical dust slowly sunk into his skin, disguising him from sight. It would last until he poured the antidote over himself, but anyone else with magical abilities—Zelda —would be able to see him. Damion took the poisoned dagger and the painless dagger, shoved them into his belt, and was gone.

*

The guards, the poor s, didn't expect a thing. Damion undid the pouch and sprinkled it across the four men as he was standing right in front of them. One by one, they fell to the floor, in a dreamless sleep. Damion took his painless dagger and stabbed three of the them deep enough to . The fourth he wounded gravely, but, if found by morning, he would live.

Damion then quietly picked Zelda's locks with his dagger and slipped into her room.

What Damion saw he wasn't quite ready for. Sleeping beside Zelda was a tanned, muscular, blonde man. Link, by the will of the godessess! Damion's plans were spoiled for the night. If he killed Zelda he would have to kill Link too, and Link would prove useful later. And Damion had made the mistake of killing the guards, so security would be tightened on Zelda the next night.

Damion softly slipped from the room, mentally cursing his stupidity. If Zelda did not die soon, his plans would be ruined. For if Zelda did not die, the King and Queen would not die either, and Hyrule would be left in peace. Peace was not what Damion wanted. Peace was bad.

Damion would also have to wait until he could get more sleeping powder. Zelda would be safe…for a few more weeks. No more. Damion would not fail again.

*

"Oh, Link, you have to get out of here," Zelda said as she and Link surveyed the dead guards. "Father doesn't like you now. Think about what he'll say if you were in my room when this happened…"

"Yeah," Link said. "Definitely not good." He kissed Zelda quickly on the cheek. "All right, beautiful, I'm out. What are you going to do about these guys?"

"Well, obivously," Zelda said. "I'm going to get dressed, open my door again, and scream for Impa. For help. For you. For somebody, by the goddesses."

Link grinned. "All right, beautiful. I'm off, then." Stepping carefully over the dead bodies of the guards (the fourth one had died of his injuries; Damion had miscalculated his stab), Link ran down the hall and away. Zelda closed the door, took a deep breath, and searched for a dress to wear. She chose a blue one, midnight blue at the top and powder blue at the bottom.

            Zelda finished getting dressed some time later (it's hard being a princess) and opened the door. She opened her eyes wide and screamed. "IMPAAAAA!"

            The big nurse came jogging down the hallway. Zelda, a wonderful actress, was in tears. "Impa, Impa, my guards! The guards are dead! Impa, Impa!"

            Impa stopped in front of the dead guards. "Oh, goddesses," she whispered. "Did you hear anything last night?"

            Zelda calmed down and shook her head. "My door was locked last night, and when I woke—woke up this morning, the door was unlocked. This was only just a—a moment ago, and I saw the blood, and the guards, and I panicked and screamed."

            "Well, come out of that room, child," Impa said, holding out her hand. Zelda took Impa's hand and hopped over the dead guards. "We have to go see the King and Queen. You'll need more guards, and…oh, who could have done this? Who would want you dead?"

            Zelda shrugged. "The only person I know who might do that is Ganondorf, for more of the Triforce," she said. "But Link and I defeated him long ago."

            Impa shuddered. "Oh, you poor child."

            "I'm fine, Impa, really," Zelda said.

            "We'll just see about that," Impa said, almost dragging Zelda down the hall.

*

"There were what?"

            Zelda sighed. "My guards were dead when I opened my chamber door this morning, Father," she said. "My door was unlocked this morning when I went to unlock it, but I locked it last night."

            The King shook his head. "Who would want to murder you?" he wondered aloud.

            "Ganondorf," the Queen murmured. "But I thought he was dead."

            "Not dead, just defeated," Zelda said. "But besides him, I didn't think I had any enemies."

            "All of our enemies are dead or in prison," the King said. "At least, our enemies in Hyrule." The King stood up and began to pace. He looked over at Zelda, an older, male version of the young princess. She had inherited his almost-blonde hair, his azure eyes, and his stubbornness. From her mother she had inherited her build and structure and her pale skin. "All we can do for now is increase the number of guards you have at night and have Impa or a guard—"

            "Or Link," Zelda interjected quickly.

            The King rolled his eyes. He did not approve of Link, but he knew he would never be able to sway Zelda. "Or Link," he said. "At all times. Or someone. Your mother, myself, Damion, someone. Do you understand, Zelda? No more solitary walks in the gardens and yards, no more solitary anything. You are Hyrule's throne's only heir."

            "Besides," the Queen said. "We as parents don't want you dead."

            "We'll begin questioning courtiers and the like today," the King said.

            "Thank you." Zelda said. "May I go now?"

            The King and Queen nodded. With Impa in tow, Zelda bowed, turned, and left.

*

Damion walked through the garden. His anger was expertly concealed, but angry he was. He had sent his raven for more pouches of Sleep and Invisibilty. It would take at least a week for the raven to reach its destination, three days for the order to be processed, a day for the raven to be prepared for its journey, and then at least another week back.

            Zelda was also strolling through the garden with Link. He had valiantly agreed to guard Zelda for the rest of the day (to the King, Queen, and Impa's great amusement. "Damion!" Link called. Damion looked up and spotted the two. "Ah, Princess, Link," he said. "How are you today? Besides the assassination attempt, I mean, dear Princess."

            Zelda smiled. "I'm fine," she said. "A little suffocated, perhaps, but fine. And how are you, Damion?"

            Damion shrugged with a sad smile. "I was a bit…overambitious in a project last night," he said. "I failed miserably and ruined my chances to try again until next month."

            Zelda thought about that. "You mean the next new moon?" she asked.

            Damion nodded. "Of course," he said. "But I'm confident I'll succeed next time." Damion sniffed the air appreciatively. "I love May, don't you?"

            "I do," Link said. "Of course, I may be a little biased, that being Zelda's birthmonth and mine."

            Damion grinned. "Really," he said. "When is your birthday, Link?"

            "Oh, mine was the first of May," Link said.

            "Link is older than me by almost a month," Zelda said with a smile. "Thirty days. I'm the very last day of May."

            "Well, don't let me bother you two," Damion said, beginning to walk past them.

            "You're not bothering us," Zelda said. Damion laughed. "Of course I am," he said. "I know just how much you cherish your time with young master Link, Princess." Damion nodded to both and was on his way.

            "Still don't trust him?" Link asked, putting a muscular arm around Zelda's shoulders.

            Zelda sighed and leaned closer to Link. "I don't know," she said. "He seems so nice, but there's something so wrong about him. Like he's only pretending to be so nice."

            "Maybe he's nicer," Link said. He looked at Zelda and laughed. "Yeah, right. But let's talk about something else, huh, Zeld? Like, oh, I don't know, that new horse in the stables? Don't you want to know about that?"

            "You got a new horse?" Zelda asked excitedly. "Really, that one's yours? What's his name?"

            Zelda and Link continued their walk, Zelda's thoughts pushing far away from Damion and darkness.

*

"Hm, Damion's not at supper again tonight," the King said, chewing reflectively on veal.

            Zelda looked up from her veal (which she hated). "He wasn't here last night?"

            "No, but neither were you," the Queen said, smiling dryly.

            Zelda blushed. "I hate eating here, you know that," she said. "It feels like everyone is watching me."

            Link leaned over and whispered, "That would be because they are."

            "Link!" Zelda whined. "Stop!"

            "Well, they are," Link said. "You're the Princess of Hyrule. You're fun to watch."

            The King laughed and almost choked on veal. Link colored scarlet. When the King could breathe again, he said, "Link is right, Zelda. You're watched all the time."

            Zelda looked at her mother. "Men," she said through gritted teeth. "Can sometimes be more trouble than they're worth!"

            The Queen tipped her head back and laughed. "Oh, yes, but when they're not being troublesome, they certainly are worth it," she said. She turned to the King and rapped his hand with a spoon. "Stop teasing her!"

            The King tried to look solemn. "Yes, dear," he said. The supper went on for a while without any talking, then the king said, "I wish I really knew if the deserts to the southwest were part of Hyrule."

            "What's the problem in the deserts?" Zelda asked.

            "Have you heard of the Tournaments?" the King asked. Zelda shook her head. "Odnetnin is the place that's the problem. It was a province of Hyrule hundreds of years ago, but they rebelled, and we recaptured it, and they rebelled again…" He sighed. "The Tournaments are several tests of strength and skill against others. Some volunteer, and those vary from year to year, and some are regulars. People come from all of Hyrule, Termina, and beyond to watch and be a part of it. It is the ultimate test of strength. But many of the people there die every year, including some of our best knights and soldiers."

            Link swallowed a sip of wine. "My younger brother is a regular there," he said after some thought. "My parents disinherited him."

            "I would have as well," the King said. "It's a barbaric custom. If Odnetnin was part of Hyrule, then I could abolish it. I wish I could."

            "Well, there's nothing you can do now but enjoy supper," the Queen said.

            So they went back to eating. When the supper was over, Link escorted Zelda back to her rooms, where eight guards now stood watch. But they needn't have worried. Damion wasn't ready.

*

Three weeks passed. Zelda's birthday was in five days. Damion sat on his balcony, sipping chilled red wine from a golden goblet. He watched the skies for any sign of his winged messengers. Ah, there was a bird, flapping rapidly through the evening sky. The raven landed on the edge of the balcony, with several small bags tied to its legs and more carried in its beak. Damion stroked the bird's head with one finger as he took the pouches with the other hand. "All right, go eat," Damion said. He waited until the bird had winged its way off, then he went inside and tossed the pouches on the table. He rummaged through a drawer until he'd come up with several more pouches. He took his daggers and jammed them in his belt, then poured the Invisibilty powder over himself. He took the Darkness and Sleep powders and left for Zelda's chambers.

*

Putting the guards to sleep was no problem. Just in case, Damion would wait to until Zelda was dead. Damion easily unlocked the doors and slipped in. Goddesses damn her! thought Damion. Zelda was awake.

            Damion undid the tie on the Darkness pouch and scattered the contents. The room turned pitch black. Suddenly, candles materialized and lit themselves, products of Zelda's magic. "Damion, what are you doing in here?" Zelda demanded. Her blue eyes grew wide. "You're the assassin, aren't you?"

            "Yes!" Damion cried, drawing the painless dagger and lunging at Zelda. He managed to wound her leg deeply, causing blood to seep into her bedsheets.

            Oh, goddesses, I'm fast enough or powerful enough to fend him off! Zelda thought. She only had one option. Ducking a swipe from Damion's dagger, Zelda whispered magic words. Glowing balls of light surrounded her and changed her. Instead of the princess in a nightdress, she was Shiek, her alter-ego, in a skin-tight blue catsuit. She had rags wrapped around her hands and rags in a turban-like fashion around her head, so all that could be seen of her face was red eyes and blonde bangs.

            Zelda—Shiek—backed to a window and opened it. "If you run, I'll hunt you down," Damion told her as she prepared to jump out. "I have the magic to alter people's thoughts. All people's—that is, but yours. That's why everyone trusts me but you. And I'll sure to change the castle's thoughts until all they want is to murder Shiek, not knowing you're really Zelda."

            Shiek stared at Damion, then jumped out the window. Damion smiled and produced a bowl of what looked like blood. He carefully poured some into Zelda's bed, then spattered the rest about the walls and floors. He cut himself and sprinkled some of the blood on him.

            Damion turned to leave and kill the guards, then tell the King and Queen that Shiek had killed Zelda.

*

Simi: Woohoo another chapter done! Please review if you have any shreds of human kindness. Hope you guys like it so far!

P.S. Lindsay: I think you'll show up in the next chapter.