Legal Blurb – Back to this again huh? You know, somehow I doubt a representative from Nintendo is gonna be scanning through all these fan fictions making sure no ones saying that Zelda is their game, not only would everyone here know they're lying, it's a complete waste of time. Mine and yours. In short. I don't own diddly.

Okay, I'd like to apologize for my shifting tenses, jumping occasionally from past to present tense, this is the first time I've written first person, my standard and preferred way of writing is third person, so just bare with me while I get the hang of it. Hope I'm not confusing too many people.

And don't worry, Zelda will not remain in the caverns for much longer, she will be going all throughout Hyrule you just have to be patient. A few more things have to happen before she can leave is all.

Other then that, enjoy.

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Chapter Five

I have no doubt the devil grins

As seas of ink I spatter

Ye Gods forgive my literary sins

The other kind don't matter

-Robert William Service

--------------------

Aria had arrived and left the training field in under five minutes.

Until the chaos (that was the caverns) was sorted, our only instructions were to remain in the field and not go anywhere or do anything stupid.

This suits me just fine, I need a chance to look over everyone.

Rin has been watching me like a hawk, she doesn't even blink, waiting for my reaction to her announcement. The others seem to be waiting on me too, now that Aria is busy elsewhere and there's no one about to watch or hear us.

I look at them each critically. I trust Rin, and I know I can trust Ketari and Thomas, but can I trust these others?

"So," I say, my words taking on an air of authority, call me arrogant but I like being the one in charge again. "You all know why we're here I take it?" I glance at Rin, she nods from where she's standing at my side.

If observations are right that would make me the temporary leader and her the second in command. How did this come about exactly?

"We're here to prove we're ready to be active Sheikah." The dark haired boy, Tas said, his voice sounding almost contemptuous.

I give him a cold glare, I've stared down nobles and politicians and people a lot more intimidating then this little puppy. He holds my gaze for a moment, and then looks elsewhere.

There's something almost feral about staring down ones opponent, an animal instinct of authority. I don't really care what triggers it or why so long as I'm the one that wins it in the end.

"We're here," Rin in a sharp voice, oh yeah, she's definitely Aria's child, "To find out what's going on, and to find out if there's a way we can stop it." Her blue eyes glance towards Ketari and Thomas then back to Tas, "But if we want any chance of getting away with it we have to trust each other, we have to be able to work together as a team, and to defend ourselves if things get bad. Ketari is already fully trained, myself and Tas are close to completion. But you three," she points as Kris, Kayl, and Thomas, "and you," she turns to me. "Need some serious work if you wanna survive this."

Kris huffed, "Come on, it's not like we're going into battle or anything, we're just collecting information, simple recon stuff."

Both Ketari and I turn angry glares on him, and I take no small amount of satisfaction when he winces. "Someone's been killed." I snarl. "And whoever did it isn't just gonna leave, there's going to be more attacks, and if we want to stop it soon or late we're gonna have to face whoever's doing this, before they decide to bring the fight to us."

"How do you there's going to be more?" Tas asks, and I can't help but note his voice is still condescending, though not as much so as before. This boy has obviously been spoiled by somebody!

"If we were all safe why's the Caverns in a lock-down? They think this is an inside job, Tas," I practically spit his name, "This is gonna get hella worse before it gets any better."

"So what do we do right now?" Kayl asks.

"We train." Ketari says, her voice even. "I'll be taking over your training in the stead of an active Sheikah. Rin will be running you through tactics and agility if we feel you need it."

"But first," Rin says, holding up a hand. "We need to get to know each other, why we're here, and what we want out of this. Trust and secrecy are the two things we need more then anything right now. We need to make sure we can get them, that none of you are gonna go running your mouths off at any time to anyone. I approached each of you specifically because I think you're trustworthy," her glance shifts over to me, "even if we do have our little secrets that we keep. Now, we need to prove our trustworthiness to everyone."

"Well," It's Thomas this time who speaks up. "What do you want to know?"

-------------------

It's been a few hours already, when is Aria or Khaz gonna come and get us? Or at least tell us what's going on! Honestly, I expected them ages ago.

I sit staring blankly at the doorway leading into the caverns for a moment longer before turning my gaze away from the entrance into the field to look over my co-conspirators. Our little heart-to-heart went pretty well, all things considered.

I know Ketari is trustworthy and damn but she can fight, I wonder why she was at Summer-fell in the first place? Thomas is okay too, a little naïve maybe, but loyal to a fault and completely devoted to his sister. Thomas is in it to make sure no one else gets hurt, Ketari is in it for a personal vengeance and closure. Of the two, I'd worry more about her then I would him.

The Sheikah have a number of proverbs, and there's one that says something about a too sharp blade cutting the hand that holds it. I think I'll have to remind Ketari of that proverb some time soon.

Kayl and Kris seem okay, they're in it strictly for the adventure. Like the rest of us (with the exception of Ketari) they're more or less ignored, left out, too old to be kids, and too young to be active Sheikah, they're thirsting for a chance to prove themselves and a chance to be a part of something that will probably go down in Sheikan history.

Tas is in it for almost the same reason as the twins, he wants to prove himself too, but mostly he's after whatever glory he can get, I can see it in his eyes, he's got a romanticized idea of what this is gonna be like, something from the ballads and lacking any trace of reality. He wants to be hero.

I'd hate to break it to him, but heroes don't go looking for that title, it's actually a part of what makes them heroes in the first place. I'm expecting trouble from him.

Not a bad crew though, all things considered, apparently since it was Rins' idea that's why she feels she gets to boss everyone around. Leadership hasn't exactly been decided, but the only two who seem to be stepping into the role are me and Tas. I can see some issues later from this, nothing I can't handle. So for now, things are good.

I'm actually surprised Ketari didn't automatically get appointed leader, being the oldest and most skilled and ready for her Quisros (a test in Sheikan culture that proves whether or not a young Sheikah is ready to become an adult, a right of passage kind of thing). She always did seem like a loner though, maybe she's just not comfortable being in charge of anyone other then herself.

There's just one thing that plagues at my conscious now.

We need to trust each other, sure enough, and they all know I have my secrets, they've got a couple of their own too, but theirs have nothing to do with anything we're doing.

Mine on the other hand . . .

So do I tell them? I don't thing they really care right now what I'm hiding, but Rin already suspects me, and by the looks she's giving me I'd say she's giving me a chance to come clean about it on my own before she confronts me on it . . .

"Knock off the daydreaming already Sheik! You're up!" Kris shouts at me, punching my shoulder in a friendly but still kind of painful way.

He's standing over to me, holding out a couple fighting knives, Ketari figured that while we wait she could assess our skills and run us through some basic exorcises, Kris looks pretty beat up, like he spent more time on his back then in the ring we put together.

Which is sadly the truth of the matter.

And now it's my turn to get throttled.

Ketari, (I learned through Thomas) was undefeated in Summer-fell, her sword skills are near perfect, and completely lethal. There is no show to her style, just a single minded performance that if often frightening.

And now she's looking at me.

I sigh and take the knives from Kris, he grins at me and promptly plops down onto the grass to watch.

After her initial assessment Ketari figured it was too late to teach me any sword work, me and the knives, however, were apparently well suited to each other.

I know she's going to beat me, hands down, no questions asked, no bets made.

This will probably hurt my pride more then my body though. But since pain still hurts either way, I drag my feet as I walk towards her.

------------------------

"Alright you lot gather up!"

Ketari and Tas stop their spar and turn with the rest of us to look at Khaz walks steadily towards us.

"Here's how things are gonna work for you for the next while. You're gonna be alternating between running messages between the ranking Active, kitchen detail. Which means cleaning and scrubbing, as well as repairs to damaged uniforms, weapons, and anything else we can find for you that could be of use. If you are asked by an Active to do something, so long as it doesn't interfere with those jobs, do it. Your free time is now our time, if I catch any of you with nothing to do I'll find something for you. Any questions?"

Blunt much?

"What about training?" Ketari asks, "You can't expect us to stop that."

"Ketari," Khaz starts, and for the first time in my memory his voice is gentle, caring even. "We can't spare anyone right now to train you. Most of the Active have already been sent out, trying to get a scent of who's behind this, all the rest are making this place as impenetrable as possible."

"I could train them." Her voice is hard, thick with challenge. "I could be active if I wished, I passed my tests and I'm qualified as an instructor."

"Maybe kid, but you haven't had your Quisros yet. In the eyes of our laws you can't be Active until after that. By our laws you aren't even considered an adult yet."

Ketari tosses her ponytail over her shoulder, giving him a haughty smirk, but there's no happiness in it. "So let me train them until I do. Just a couple hours a day can't hurt for us to all get together and work towards our Quisros together."

Khaz seems to think it over for a second, and I notice his gaze turn to me, his expression dark.

The silence around us is so thick it actually sounds loud to me. We desperately need time to be together every day if we want this to work.

"Alright then," he says at last.

Relief flashes across everyone's face, though it's quickly hidden so Kahz doesn't catch on.

"Three hours a day, immediately after lunch this field is yours. No longer then that, and if we find you aren't using it for training you won't be getting it all."

We all nod agreeably.

"You can begin your training the day after tomorrow, your chores start first thing ion the morning, so finish up today's lesson and get to bed. You'll be needing the rest." He doesn't waste anymore time with us, disappearing back through the door as soon as the words have left his mouth.

"That was better then I'd hoped for." Rin said when we're sure it's safe. "I was thinking we were gonna have to hold some midnight meetings and stuff."

I think she sounds disappointed that wee won't.

"We'll probably still need to." Tas says. "Three hours may be good but we'll more the likely have someone checking up on us every half hour or so." His gaze takes in both Rin and myself, "Form what I hear you two aren't exactly popular with Aria right now."

I wince, but for Rin that counts as a compliment and she grins from ear to ear, winking at him as she wells with pride.

"Farore favours the bold," Is all I can think to say in reply, an old Sheikan saying Impa taught me, amongst many others.

Everyone nods at that, Sheikans take their proverbs seriously. They consider them teaching tools, words form the wise to be respected and remembered.

"Come on then you slackers, let's get back to training." Ketari says after a long moment of silence. "This isn't the time to daydream."

--------------------

I'm practically dragging myself to my room right now.

Ketari, I've learned, doesn't believe in giving anyone a break. Every time one of us complained or asked her to slow down or take a breath she'd just give us a look and say 'Will your enemies give you a break when you're tired?' and wail on us some more.

She's worse then even Khaz!

I push the door to my barracks open and collapse onto the bed. The room itself is small and sparsely furnished.

More of a glorified closet really.

I don't even have the energy to pull the covers up and around myself, but in the end it doesn't really matter. My eyes are closed before I hit the pillow.

------------------------

I'm standing before the huge obsidian doors, I'm Zelda again.

Excitement fills my mind.

I believe, truly, deeply, unquestionably, that these aren't dreams.

I pull the doors open and move inside, Links smiles and waves at me from where he's sitting cross legged on the alter.

"I was wondering when you'd come back." He says, hopping down.

I smile back at him, "Truth to tell, so was I."

I look him over critically for a moment, he looks just as worn and torn as I feel. "What happened to you?"

He rubs the back of his head absently and looks a little sheepish. "Training," he mumbles. "I shot off my mouth about how good I was and Rauru ran me through this monster course as punishment."

Well now, that's surprising.

"You train?"

He nods, "Of course, Rauru says I need to. I was impressive getting the spiritual stones, but I'm nothing compared to Ganondorf. That's why I've been sealed in here, to train so I can actually be of some use to everyone." Now it's his turn to look me over. "You look a little ragged yourself."

I shrug and grin at him, "I've been training too."

"Not in a dress I hope."

I actually laugh at that, Goddess, it's been a while since I've laughed like this. "No, not in a dress."

Silence falls between us for a moment. Not entirely uncomfortable, but not exactly a fluffy pillow either.

"Link." My voice sounds odd, even to myself.

He looks up at me, eyes curious and concerned at the same time.

"I've been hiding, since, since that day, and the people I've been hiding with don't know who I am." I take a deep breath, not entirely sure what I want from this or why I'm saying these things at all. I guess I just miss having someone to talk to, someone I can be myself with. Friends were few and far between at the palace, and I never see Impa anymore.

Link moves and sits down next to me. "And?" he asks gently.

"Things are happening right now, Link, bad things, and me and a few others are trying to find out why and how to stop it. I think these things are happening because of me, because, because Ganondorf knows It's me." I take another deep breath, and look away from him. "Should I tell them?"

"Do you trust them?"

His question catches me off guard, so much so I turn to stare him straight in the eye. Unlike everyone else I've met, he doesn't turn away first. "I trust one or two of them. I'm pretty sure the others are okay but I'll need to spend more time with them first." I offer a small smile that doesn't reach my eyes. "I have issues trusting people."

"Does it hurt?"

Now I'm confused.

The smile fades to a frown. "Does what hurt?"

"Hiding, pretending to be someone else, not having anyone to talk to."

I turn away from him, my cheeks flushed from embarrassment. That's all the answer he really needs.

In silence lays consent.

"Tell the ones you trust to keep the secret, the more information you all have the better chances of defending against these bad things right?"

"What about you?" I ask, turning the topic away from me, suddenly uncomfortable even though I'm the one that started it.

"What about me?" He grins.

"Does it hurt?" the grin fades and he sighs, deep, sad, resigned. I continue when he doesn't say anything. "Being alone, being trapped here, not being able to do anything about it? Does it hurt?"

"Sometimes," He offers, "But I'm not alone, not really, Rauru is good company, old fashioned and stiff, yeah, but still good company, I still have Navi too." He pauses, and gives me a look so full of meaning it actually frightens me. "And now there's you." He says softly. "When I first got here Rauru didn't know anything about what was happening beyond the sacred realm. It killed me not knowing if you'd made it or not. I know Impa's good but I saw Ganondorf, I faced him, and he terrified me, him finding you terrified me. So, all in all, I've found more reasons to thankful for my situation then bitter." He gives me another long look before turning away, "maybe you should weigh your reasons too."

Silence falls between us again, and he won't look at me. Since I'm not looking at him either I can't say that I mind.

"Do you train in this mock temple?" I ask, not being able to take the silence any longer.

He laughed at that, "No, the temple is only for you. After you leave, or wake up, or whatever it is that happens, the temple melts away and becomes whatever it is Rauru wants. A field, an arena, a castle. Training changes and so does the landscapes. But the temple is just for you, Rauru's sense of humour I guess, that or he figured you'd be more comfortable here."

I grin at him, as long as we're ignoring everything we just said I will thankfully play along. "Personally, I think I'd rather some place more open, maybe a field, a midnight sky, something that doesn't remind me of where I came from."

"I thought you wanted to be Zelda again? Would you rather the palace?"

I shake my head vehemently, "I want to be Zelda alright, I don't want to be Sheik anymore, and I don't want to be the princess either. They're both just masks I wear to get me through the day." I look down and sigh deeply, "I'm afraid that I don't even know who Zelda is anymore."

I can feel Link put his arm over my shoulder and hug me briefly. "Don't worry about it. I'm great at finding things, there was this one time this crazy girl sent me on a quest to find these spiritual stones. . ."

I laugh at that but don't comment.

Link looks around solemnly, "and about changing the scenery to something more open. Me too, maybe I'll mention it to Rauru next time he runs me ragged and see if I can work something out."

-----------------

I come awake with a start as something heavy drops on me, growling to myself at the intrusion. I didn't want to end that conversation. Me and Link talked for a long time, about little things, nothing serious or personal, he told me about his training I told him about mine, and about the Sheikah, and although I still left out my cross-dressing I did tell him I was going by the alias of Sheik. It was nice, almost normal, comfortable.

"Hey there Sheik, its time to greet the day."

"Get off!" I snarl kicking at her.

She just laughs and jumps neatly out of the way as I rib my eyes and sit crouched in the center of the bed as though trying to defend it from her.

"What the hell do you want."

"Forgotten already Sheik?" she sighs dramatically, "Our first day as little more then slaves starts now." This time the sigh was for real. "My first assignment is the kitchens," she grimaced with distaste at the thought of scrubbing all those pots and plates and the messy business as a whole. "You have to go and tend to Sha'doe, a full grooming and bath and exorcise. Mother told me to tell you that. So hop to it."

Rin disappears through the door as I drag myself off the bed and begin the slow and laborious task of starting the day.

------------------------

Standing in front of Sha'doe with her saddle and reins at my feet I brace myself for anything. After Rins little performance when trying to mount her I'm not counting on me accomplishing very much as far as her exorcise is to go.

I've come prepared for her though. One hand is holding several sweet carrots by their stalks, my other stretched out to pet her. Maybe if I make friends with her first she'll be less inclined to buck and kick and otherwise maim me.

Warhorses, honestly, why am I in charge of her again?

Sha'doe gives me a decidedly unimpressed look well she practically inhales the carrots as I scratch her forehead I grab a curry comb from the pile at my feet with my now carrot free hand and begin the task of grooming.

The horse leans into my hand, her eyes half-closing with bliss at the attention.

One thing I was good at and I loved at the palace was my equestrian lessons. I like horses, they're better people then most people, and I'm doing my damndest to make sure this horse likes me too.

As dust and dirt fall away from her coat my mind drifts back to Link and everything he'd said to me.

I don't think I can tell them.

I'm afraid to tell them.

I'm afraid of what they'll think of me, I mean, it's because of me that Dune, Ketari and Thomas's mother, is dead! I wouldn't blame them if they hated me for it, for being who I am, for hiding here and putting their entire community in danger, I'd hate me if I were them, I'd –

"Sheik."

I bite off a scream as I throw myself to the left and crouch in a defensive position. Sheikah training mixed with an already paranoid mind making me move all that much faster. I may not be much in a fight right now, but my speed can usually make up for it.

Ketari is standing right behind where I was a moment ago, smirking at me as I try to catch my breath and straighten myself out.

"Farore Ketari!" I growl, "Don't sneak up on a person like that! You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry about that," she shrugs, obviously not sorry at all.

"Don't you have chores to do?"

"Yes, but nothing that can't wait a few minutes. I came out here to speak with you."

The way she says that makes my hair stand on end.

"Oh?"

She nods, and glances around as if making sure there's no one to over hear. "Listen Sheik, I know who you really are."

My blood has officially turned to ice now.

"I know why Impa brought you here and I know you know, or think you know, why my mother was killed, and why she won't be the only one."

Damn!

"Ketari, listen I - "

She cuts me off with a wave of her hand, "Listen, I don't blame you."

Her voice is too hard to mean that, she must hate me.

"Impa did the only thing she could do at the time. As Sheikah our first duty is to the royal family, our second to our clan, and our third to ourselves. I just wanted you to know that."

"How did you know?" I ask, looking away, feeling suddenly like a child caught with my hand in the cookie jar.

"I'm Dune's daughter." She answers, as if that's explanation enough, "I could shock you with some of the things I know about the Sheikah."

Damn, think Sheik think, say something, anything!

"Uh . , ,"

oh, real smooth Sheik, good job.

"In case you're wondering why I haven't taken leadership responsibility it's because I have no experience in it, and truth to tell I wouldn't like it anyway." Ketari says, conversationally, but I can tell there's something else she wants to say.

I pick up my curry comb and return to tending Sha'doe, who watched out little exchange with nothing more then indignation at having been ignored for so long.

"I had wondered." I say without elaboration.

"You on the other hand have experience in leadership, and despite being younger then me I get the distinct impression that mentally you're older, I think the others have that impression too even if they don't know the truth about you."

The triforce of wisdom probably has something to do with that.

"Rin suspects you know, all she's waiting for is you to confirm it, and it won't be long before the others suspect as well."

God damn it Ketari! Spit it out already, what is it you really want to say to me!

"And?" I encourage.

"and if she can come to the right conclusions what's to stop whoever's behind this? Someone who won't wait for confirmation, someone who'll just kill you out of turn is they even get the slightest little inkling that you're not who you seem."

The comb stops midbrush and I stare at it sightlessly. She's right of course, things aren't safe here anymore, maybe I should just high tail it out of here. Lead the murderer away and just end this whole ordeal.

"And before you start to seriously think about it, leaving is not the answer to this." Ketari says suddenly.

I feel my eyes widen in surprise as her words echoed my own thoughts and turn to stare at her.

"A sheikahs first duty is to the royal family, and you're all that's left of them. You are the royal family, when this is all over you will be the Queen, Zelda."

She whispered that, as if she thought there was someone nearby.

"We can protect you here." Stretching her arms above her head she takes a step back and regards me curiously. "We're meeting tonight, here, midnight, I would strongly urge you to tell the others before they get to talking about it amongst themselves and the wrong person overhears. There's something else I want to say, but I want to tell everyone at once."

Her voice is angry, her eyes getting a faraway look to them.

"I meant what I said Sheik, I don't blame you, I'm pretty sure I know who to blame, but we'll get to that at midnight."

Before I can call her back or demand to know what she found out Ketari is across the field and through the entrance.

Dumbfounded I stand stalk still, just staring after her, until Sha'doe nudges my back roughly.

I finish her grooming quickly and struggle to get the saddle, finally giving up and opting to ride barebacked.

I'm not sure why, but she lets me mount and ride without any of the fuss and trouble she had given Rin.

I'll think on that later, after I figure out what to do next.

Ketari's word play at the back of my mind, mixing with Links and even my own inner thoughts, everything seems to want me to tell them.

I think I will.

--------------------

Using everything that I've ever been taught since I got here I move slowly, silently, through the caverns and towards the field.

I didn't get lost once today, kind of scary really considering all the running around I did, maybe I'm getting better at this whole 'be a Sheikah' thing.

MY nerves have been on edge all day. Worrying about whatever it was that Ketari wants to tell us, and gathering up my courage for my own little announcement weighing heavily on my mind.

I open the door and step outside into the darkness and gloom, whatever sliver of moon that would have been visible covered by thick black clouds, I can smell a storm on the wind.

I move towards the group huddled at the far end of the field where Sha'doe was. Sheikan war horses can be the most vicious creatures imagined when they want to be, if anyway came within ear shot of us she'd know about it and if she did sense anyone nearby her body language would let us know about them too.

A smart place to have a meeting.

I sigh as I sit down and complete the circle, once again I'm the last one to arrive.

"Now that we're all here let's get this done as quickly as possible." Ketari says, her voice so low I have to concentrate to hear it at all. "Has anyone heard or seen anything worth reporting?"

Rin, Kris, and Tas all shake their heads.

Kayl leans forward, "I heard one of the higher ranking active arguing with someone, saying something along the lines of 'it couldn't be a Sheikah who did this, the style was wrong.' Is it anything or nothing?"

"Probably nothing, but good job, and keep your ears open for anything else, if someone is working this from the inside they've probably got outside help which would explain the style difference." I say sullenly.

When no one else says anything Ketari clears her throat to reclaim our attention, her face wearing the expressionless mask that the Sheikah use so often. "I have a suspect." She says, "When, when my mother died all her personal belongings went to me, she kept many journals about anything she felt was important, or could become important to the Sheikah. In one of these journals she targeted an active named Detsu." A couple people gasped at that, "Impa has three seconds, or had three, Aria who commands in her absences, Detsu and my mother, Dune."

Ketari takes a deep breath screwing her eyes shut, obviously not as fine with everything as she liked to pretend.

"Before my mother was killed Aria sent a message for her, asking her to come and take over as Impas replacement, she said that is Dune wouldn't take it then she'd give it to Detsu. My mother wouldn't let that happen, she had nothing solid against Detsu, just intuition I guess, but it was enough to make her mount up and run for the caverns." She took another deep breath, "that was when . . . she never made it to the caverns."

Everyone sat in silence for a long moment as Ketari composed herself once again, brushing a hand across her eyes to take away any tears that escaped her iron will.

"Is Aria going to hold command now?" Tas asked, his gaze turning to Rin.

Rin nodded gravely. "Yeah, she's accepted that with the current happenings she has to be here and has to be in control."

"We need to keep and eye on him." I growl softly, "Nothing noticeable, just find out what he does during the day, whose company he favours, where his rooms are and when he's most likely not to be in them."

"Easy enough done." Rin says, Our newly acquired chores have us running through every crevice of the caverns, we can make runs between tasks, pretending to be on way to do something, no one's gonna question us about it they'll just assume we're suppose to be there."

"And we already know he's not in the eastern caverns or the Northern, so whoever's got chores in the south and west tomorrow keep your eyes and ears sharp." T as added.

"What if we find something useful? Should we just wait until our training hours to tell?" Kris asks.

"No," I say, "chances are there's always gonna be someone around this area during the day, I learnt this much this afternoon. This part of the caverns is usually only clear after sundown, it's why we'll be having all our meetings after dark. If you have something important to tell volunteer yourself to be first to spar with Ketari in the ring as soon as you get here for training. No one'll give that a second thought if they happen to be lurking about us."

Ketari glances around the circle when another long moment of silence descended. Her eyes resting on me with a very pointed look. "If no one else has anything to add we'd better get back to bed before anyone notices we're missing."

Silence.

They all start to stand as I sit here, frozen.

"Wait." I say, my voice very quiet, and very forced.

All eyes turn to me.

No problem Sheik, breath in breath out, just say it and get it over with.

I open my mouth . . .

And sit there, the words choking themselves off before ever reaching my lips.

I do manage to make a couple choking noises which seem to amuse the others as they watch me though.

Maybe I'd better just show them what I want to say. The spell is easy enough to take down and replace.

"I'm pretty sure I know why this is happening," my eyes glance guiltily over to Ketari, "why Dune was killed, and why she won't be the only one."

Everyone sits down again.

Here goes everything.

I close my eyes and concentrate, feeling the gentle flow of magic through my body. The intricate weaving of the spell that's been hiding me for so long.

With a careful thought I unravel it, pulling the magic away, feeling my body return to the way it should be, feeling my dress replace my uniform and my coronet replace the wrappings, feeling strangely exhilarated by it.

I hear a collective gasp from all but Ketari and a hushed but still very excited 'I knew It!' from Rin.

When I open my eyes next their blue.

Maybe it is true what they say, the truth will set you free, cause I feel a lot better with this secret at least partially exposed.

Now all I have to do is wait for the shock to wear off and deal with their reactions.

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A/N – This chapter, as you've probably noticed, is a bit longer then my others, I'm hoping for this to be the average size of chapters from now on. I'm crossing my fingers anyway.

And there we go. Now that this 'exposure' is out of the way things will probably start speeding up some more.

Hope you enjoyed it!

Ciao!