Chapter Thirteen—Exposed
'Mom? You there?'
Tetra hadn't let on how relieved she had been to see the windows in the cells where she and Jack were locked up; she didn't know how she would have coped with this imprisonment if she hadn't been able to see the stars. It had been hard enough aboard the Red Lion, craning to see them out the porthole, watching the waves shimmer with their reflections.
'Hi, Mom,' she whispered, when she felt sure that the spirit of her mother, wherever she was, was listening. 'How are you doing? Better than me, I bet.'
She smiled weakly, and blinked twice to clear her eyes.
'I never thought this would happen,' she went on softly, so that she herself barely even knew she was speaking. 'I never thought…I never thought he would do this to me…I never thought my own people would hate me…I never thought…'
She felt her breath quickening in her chest and panic rose into her lungs.
'I don't know what I'm supposed to do,' she said, voice cracking. 'I've never had that problem before. It was always easy, obvious, simple… But now… I can't just be Tetra, because they hate her. And I can't be Zelda, either, because they hate her, too. What am I supposed to do? Who am I supposed to be?'
Dropping her head back, she moaned quietly toward the ceiling, 'Goddesses…I can't believe I'm actually asking those questions. Didn't I swear I would never become one of those weak, lost tortured souls who spends days composing abstract poetry about stupid identity crises? I remember telling you that I would always, always know my own name and my own story, and nothing would ever change me except me. Now look at me.'
She slowly lowered her face to look out the window for a silent moment, then lowered it further to stare down into her lap.
'I don't know my name. And I'm not the only one. Tetra, Queen of Pirates, is as non-existent as Zelda, Princess of Hyrule. And what's worst of all,' she added, her voice cracking, 'is that I actually care that people don't like me. That there's a part of me that wants to be nice and sweet and accepted. A big part.' With a moan of frustration, she demanded, 'Goddesses, what is wrong with me? This is not me!'
Sitting perfectly still in her cell, she let these last words echo through her thoughts. Not me…
'Why is it,' she asked in a slow whisper, 'that I know what's not me more than I know what is? How can I understand one without understanding the other?'
In the next cell, she heard Jack give a snort in his sleep, and looked over sharply, but he showed no signs of waking. She let out the breath she had caught, and turned back to the window.
'I don't know,' she muttered, unsure exactly to what she was referring. 'But…well, I'll figure something out. Close my eyes and run, right? That's been the plan so far, and it's always worked okay.' She gave a small laugh. 'Until Link came along.'
At this, she lapsed into silence. Link always changed everything. Always.
'Next time I see him, I think I'm gonna punch him,' she mused in a grumble, narrowing her eyes in irritation and staring at the wall before her. 'Just because I can. So maybe I won't hate him anymore. You know, to simplify things a bit.'
This thought left her feeling oddly fulfilled, and a wry smirk crossed her lips. It widened into a real smile when she looked up out the window again.
''Night, Mom. I should get some sleep. Say hi to Dad for me, 'kay?' She blew a kiss out into the sky. 'I'll talk to you soon.'
Link was nowhere near ready to wake up the next morning when the sound of someone knocking on the main door to his quarters, two rooms away from his bed, broke into the peace of sleep. He groaned, throwing a hand over his eyes, and screwed up his face in displeasure. He and his mysterious visitor had been planning into the early morning the night before.
'Reyga!' came Yentiko's voice sharply, making Link's eyes snap open in alarm; he didn't like that tone. 'Are you awake? I need to talk to you!'
Somehow Link found the strength in his voice to call, 'Coming!' He ignored the sudden, unpleasant chill when he threw aside his blankets and rolled himself out of bed and to his feet. He grabbed a dressing robe on his way out to the living room, and was still tying it when he reached the door. As he fumbled with the knob, he explained himself quickly.
'I'm sorry, Majesty, I didn't sleep well—'
'Reyga, this is serious.'
Link stepped back as the emperor pushed into the room; that stiff-faced looked of rage made the general's heart plummet. He could think of a dozen pieces of bad news of which the emperor could have received word, and didn't know which he would least like to hear.
'What's serious, Majesty?' he asked, hoping against all rationality that his dread wasn't audible.
Yentiko stalked around the living room, on the hunt for something. 'She's not here now, is she?'
'Who?' Link asked. He could hear his own voice beginning to shake slightly.
'You know who!' The emperor pivoted on the spot to glare at his general.
'N-no, sir,' he lied, 'I'm afraid I don't…'
'Damn it, Reyga!'
Link jumped when the emperor slammed his fist onto the fireplace mantel with surprising strength. Spitting with rage, Yentiko ranted on.
'You've been making a mockery of everything we've worked so hard to achieve! The idea that you would think you could get away with something like this behind my back is an affront to every honour I've given you and all the respect and admiration you've earned! I could charge you with treason! I've got half a mind to do just that!'
'Majesty, what—?'
Yentiko paced toward Link, whose voice died when he was faced with the fire in the emperor's eyes.
'Tetra,' he said clearly. 'Tetra! I knew she must have had some good tricks up her sleeves, being on the run for as long as she has, but… Reyga, this is unforgivable!'
'Are you accusing me of helping her in some way?' Link demanded, straining to say something rational. 'Because need I remind you that I am the one who brought her here—'
'As your concubine!'
Link, whose mouth was already open as he spoke, gaped. 'Excuse me?' he managed with difficulty.
'You didn't think anyone would notice?' Yentiko hissed, a vein going in his neck. 'Well, maybe the majority of your crew is willing to turn a blind eye to your exploits, but Commodore Faudry at least had the decency to inform me of this…this unthinkable behaviour. It is treason, Reyga, she's an enemy of the state!'
'Faudry—You're willing to take his word?' Link blurted, struggling for an excuse. 'You know what he thinks of me—'
'And now I know why! This is… Reyga,' the emperor warned threateningly, 'believe me, I didn't want to think that you could be too good to be true, even if there was a part of me that always suspected you'd crack and break out of your perfect image sometime. But to do it like this…'
'I—Majesty, I never—'
'Don't bother, Reyga. I looked at the records from your voyage, and Faudry's story is the only one that makes sense. First you interrogated her for an entire night without getting any information out of her, and the next morning you were both well rested and she showed no signs of having endured any punishment? And then a few days later, the entire crew saw her in your bed! I'd like to know how you were planning to explain that away! All of their eyes must have been playing tricks on them, right? Despicable.'
With that, Yentiko pushed past Link again, this time on his way out.
'Your punishment can wait, but only because we'll be trying your prisoners first, Reyga. And as you brought them here, you must necessarily attend their trial.' He paused at the door and looked back. 'This afternoon.'
Link flinched when the emperor slammed the door closed behind him, leaving an echoing silence. Then he rubbed his tired face with his hands and muttered the only phrase that made sense at the moment. 'Goddesses damn it.'
As soon as they woke up that morning, Will and Elizabeth set off to find Link and speak with him about Tetra and Jack. They barely spoke as they dressed quickly and left their room, until she asked, "Do we know where Link's room is?"
Will, walking along the hall outside their room with his wife, paused, considering this for the first time. "Near the emperor's?" he guessed.
Elizabeth stopped walking as well, and looked at him as if demanding a better answer.
"It's as good a place as any to start looking," he pointed out.
She rolled her eyes. "I suppose."
Their own quarters were situated fairly near Yentiko's, as they were highly respected guests, and so within moments they were passing the wide, high, elegant double doors that belonged to him. In fact, the emperor himself arrived at the same time they did; he was walking at an unusually fast pace and muttering under his breath, though of course they didn't understand a word of it.
'Emperor Yentiko?' spoke up Elizabeth uncertainly.
The ruler looked up in surprise at hearing his name; when he saw who was speaking, he sighed. "Hello, Mr Turner, Mrs Turner."
Taking a brave stab at the language, Will asked stiltedly, 'Where is General Reyga?'
At these words, Yentiko's face darkened alarmingly, though the tightness around his mouth revealed that he was trying to remain civil.
"Iltuh," Elizabeth added politely; she had picked up some simple interjections of this language, and that word seemed to mean "please."
Yentiko jabbed a thumb over his shoulder in answer. "There."
Of course this wasn't really enough information, but they all knew that Yentiko's poor English skills prevented him from being any more specific. Elizabeth therefore smiled and said, "Iltuh mikgare," a phrase which she had gleaned was equivalent to "thank you."
"Mikgare," Yentiko answered. He was already passing them into his room, evidently much distracted by something, and so they continued on their own way as well.
They hadn't gone ten feet before a door just ahead of them opened, and Link appeared in the hall. He looked rather hastily put together, wearing a uniform not very neatly tucked in and with his hair fresh from bed. Like the emperor, he also looked highly stressed.
"Link!" Elizabeth called.
He jumped as though she had shot at him and looked sharply around, relaxing only when he saw who was speaking and that no one else was present.
"Oh…hi," he muttered distractedly, raking fingers though his hair and continuing to scan his surroundings uneasily. "Listen, I can't really talk now—"
"But we wanted to ask you—"
"But if you two could prepare a formal statement—in English, I'll translate—on why Jack shouldn't be put to death, that'd be great."
"Wh—"
"By this afternoon. Thanks."
With a shaky smile, he clapped Will amiably on the shoulder and made to hurry away, but the other man took hold of his arm firmly and said, "Hang on. You're not going anywhere until you tell us what's going on."
Link chewed on his lip for a moment, visibly wanting to leave, but making no physical move to do so.
"They're being tried this afternoon," he finally said bluntly. As Elizabeth gasped and Will gaped, he went on, "I just got word this morning. I don't know what we're going to do, because honestly, Yentiko is looking to have them hanged within the week. So every little bit is gonna help right now. Like I said, if you could prepare a statement about Jack…"
"Yes, of course," Will answered, stunned; Elizabeth could only nod mutely, her mouth still hanging open.
"Thanks," Link sighed. "I don't know how this trial is going to go, but it can't hurt to have you say something good. I've got to go talk to them—Jack and Tetra—let them know…"
"Before you go," Will spoke up, "Jack wanted us to ask you… Do you think you could talk your men into returning his hat?"
Link's face, taut and pale with stress, slowly broke into a wide, genuine smile. "I'll be sure of it."
"Got something for you, Mr Sparrow."
"Captain Sparrow."
"Right. Here."
Link grinned as he passed the tattered hat through the bars to Jack's cell; the pirate took the gift joyfully and firmly lodged it onto his head. "Thanks, mate."
"You're welcome."
"Can't stand to see a man without his hat?" Tetra inquired, folding her arms where she stood and leaning against the wall behind her.
Link cocked his head. "He asked for it."
She nodded, looking at the general calculatingly. "Ah."
"And I figured I should bring some good to dull the blow of the bad news," Link added darkly.
Unable to bring herself to ask, Tetra looked helplessly to Jack; the captain was already posing the question, "And what bad news would that be?"
Looking down to avoid looking at them, Link answered in a low voice, "You're on trial this afternoon."
"What?"
"Tetra—"
"But we haven't had time to plan a defence or anything!" she objected furiously, waving an arm at Link as though this was his fault. "We don't even know what we're being tried for!"
"Piracy?" Jack guessed. In response to her icy glare, he added, "Just a thought."
"No, actually," Link spoke up. "You're just being charged with piracy, Jack, but Tetra is also facing some far more serious charges of heresy."
She went so still so suddenly that Link thought she might faint. "Heresy?"
He nodded ever so slightly. "All the…Hyrule stuff. It's a capital crime if you're convicted. There's no room for mercy."
Reaching a hand out for support, she found nothing, and slowly sank to her knees. "Oh, no…there's no way…Faudry knows…"
"Don't say that," Link warned her. "I'm still thinking. And—"
He cut himself off as he looked sharply at Jack, who snorted.
"Look, mate, I think I've seen enough of you two that you can say anything you want in front of me. Though if you would prefer, I could put my fingers in my ears and sing loudly to give you a bit of privacy."
Link wanted to laugh, but couldn't bring himself to. "That won't be necessary. But thanks."
"Always happy to help. And, of course, your other alternative is to just speak in your own little language."
Link realized that he had forgotten Jack only spoke English fluently. Somehow, the thought that the pirate knew everything that was going on had drifted into the assumption that he was bilingual as well.
"Well, yes, of course," he said with a confident nod, trying not to look wrong-footed.
Tetra smirked at him. "Oh, yeah, like you had thought of that."
At a glance from Link, however, her heart melted inexplicably into fear, and she noticed how long it had been, or at least felt like it had been, since any expression other than hate had consumed her when she looked at him.
'What did you want to say?' she asked quietly.
He knelt before her. 'I—I think I know what you're going to tell me,' he began, 'but I just…I can't not give you the chance.'
She reached for his hand through the bars, and he accepted the gesture, though neither of them consciously noticed it.
'They can't forgive you for being Hylian. They can't. They won't. The only way that they'll even think about letting you live is if you do something so good in their eyes that it's better than all the bad you've got on your record…if you follow me. I don't know, I didn't plan a speech. Am I making sense?'
'Yes, I think so,' she encouraged him.
'So…please, Tetra…for yourself…'
'Don't say it.'
The last time she had said those words to him, it had been an order. This time it was a request.
'Link, I just can't bring myself to…again. Please just forget it.'
He closed his eyes, let out a deep breath, then opened them. 'Yeah. That's what I thought. But I just wanted to…'
'Yeah.'
'You know?'
'I know. Thanks.'
Neither of them spoke again, and after a few seconds, they released their hands. To her dismay, however, Tetra could see Link working up the nerve to say more. In the tone of a man who wanted to talk before he thought better of it, he began, 'I know you hate me right now, and I know you have every right to because I was so…Well, because of what I did. But I really wish you could forgive me before the trial, because as stupid as it sounds, I was really trying to do the best thing for both of us. I never imagined that all this would happen, even though maybe I should have, so I probably don't deserve… Why are you laughing?'
He stopped in mystification when he saw her shaking with silent mirth and fighting a smile.
'Come on, Link, you've got a sister, you know how it goes. I hate you, you hate me, we both sulk like children, and then we get over it.' She shrugged. 'We always get over it, though. We always come back. As should be obvious from our little—' she waved a hand uncertainly, searching for a word and still laughing slightly, '—moment or whatever that was just now. 'Course, doesn't mean I'm any less mad at you at the time,' she admitted.
'So, does that mean…you forgive me?' he asked hopefully.
She tilted her head thoughtfully, but the childish worry in his question had cracked any resolve she had left. 'Yeah,' she said simply.
He gave a sigh of relief that looked like the first breath he had taken in weeks. 'Thank you. I'm so glad we can be a team again.'
'You and me both,' she told him candidly. 'Being on the side that's not yours is not an experience I enjoy.'
'The feeling is mutual,' Link assured her.
She grinned, but he had more to say.
'Tetra…you have to understand, I just don't want to give you up,' he explained pleadingly. 'I don't want to lose you again. I—You don't want to hear it, but I do love you. And I know you love me, too. Don't you?'
Her grin faded into a sad smile as he spoke. 'Oh, Link, that's a stupid question. I love you more than anything else in the world. And that's why I don't want to give in to you. To spend my life with you.'
He frowned. 'Why not?'
'Because, Link, it couldn't work,' she sighed in exasperation. 'You and I… We're not meant to be together. You wouldn't be able to stand my lifestyle, and I wouldn't be able to stand yours, and the goddesses know how terrible we both are at compromise…' She gave a small laugh as he did the same. 'So we'd just end up trying to do both and being completely miserable. We'd end up hating each other because of everything we'd have to give up for each other. And I do love you, I love you so much.' She shook her head sadly at him. 'I don't want to hate you.'
The look on his face, in his eyes, was one of physical pain. Tetra hated to hurt him, but she knew that in the long run, this would be for the best.
'Emperor Yentiko knows about us.'
His words took several seconds to penetrate Tetra's mind.
'What?' she asked quietly. She thought she knew what he meant, but she simply could not accept it.
'Yentiko. He knows that we…um…'
'Oh, Nayru,' Tetra whispered in horror. 'How?'
'Faudry,' Link answered, with sudden and vigorous bitterness. 'Who else would have told him? Bastard.'
Somehow, despite everything, Tetra thought it was nice to hear Link swear; he had been so polite and proper since she had seen him again. She missed the tough kid she had known.
But there were more important issues at hand.
'So…what does that mean?' she asked. 'What do we have to do?'
'I'm not exactly sure yet how that's going to change things. So far I'm trying to come up with a good defence for you, some way to twist everything that happened so it doesn't sound so bad,' Link explained. 'I think the best thing to do would be to try to come up with a way to justify our relationship other than the fact that we knew each other all those years ago…'
Tetra sighed, rolling her eyes in frustration at the sheer futility of what he was expressing; he didn't stop speaking.
'…and then we can get it down to just the piracy charges, and I'm pretty sure I can—'
'Link, listen to me,' she ordered, seizing his arms through the bars. 'This is all pointless. You know Faudry can rip us apart.'
'But—'
'No, Link, there's no but! The truth is on his side. I'm a pirate, and you protected me, and even if that wasn't enough…we're Hylians. That is enough to have us both burned or hanged or whatever they do to heathens.'
She waited for him to answer, but his voice was caught somewhere in his throat.
'All I'm going to say is this,' she told him, very slowly and clearly. 'I've always had to face tough consequences for the life I chose, but I accept them, because I would rather die than give up what I love. So if they want to kill me, I'll let them.'
Once again, she paused to allow Link to speak. 'What are you trying to say?' he managed to ask.
'I guess…' she stammered uncertainly; she hadn't really known where she was going with this, but she realized abruptly what was her only real course of action. 'I mean… Do you—want me to cover for you?'
This question was so unexpected that Link's voice was jarred out of him. 'Do I what?'
Letting out a deep breath, she reiterated more confidently, 'If you don't want to admit anything, I'll cover for you. You wanted to cover up our past, right? Well, Faudry already thinks I'm just a whore. So I'll deny that you're anyone special, I'll take the blame for seducing you or anything else… My record's stained enough as it is, what's a couple more felony charges? I'll cover for you,' she said again, 'because I still consider you a friend. But,' she couldn't help adding, 'it sure is going to make it hard to have any faith in you.'
Link licked his lips as he considered his options.
'Well…' he concluded finally, 'all right,'
She blinked. 'What did you say?'
'If you would…cover for me…protect my reputation…that would mean a lot to me.'
He could tell by the way her mouth was hanging open that, despite the sincerity of her offer, she hadn't thought for a second that he would take her up on it. She had expected to guilt him into being self-sacrificing.
'Oh,' she finally said, sounding rather choked. She released him, and his arms fell slack at his sides. 'Okay…fine. You can walk free and clear. And be remembered as the last man who ever had to suffer at the hands of the evil Queen of Pirates.'
She looked at him a moment longer, and he was sure she would say more, but she didn't. Instead, she turned where she sat and leaned against the wall of her cell, avoiding his eyes as thoroughly as if he weren't there.
'I—uh…' Link decided to address himself to Jack when he realized the Tetra would not respond. "I guess I'll see you this afternoon. At the trial. Try—try to look surprised when the guards come up here to take you," he advised.
"Thanks for the tip," Jack nodded at him.
Link glanced back at Tetra again, but though he cleared his throat, he was apparently unable to think of anything else to say. He merely ran his fingers through his rather uneven hair, then turned sharply on his heel and walked away.
Jack watched Tetra, waiting for her to speak. He could see her seething, but he had no idea what had transpired between her and the general.
Finally deciding to ask, he spoke up, "Tetra, love—"
"For five minutes," she interrupted. She sat up and twisted around to look at her captain, and corrected, "No, not even five minutes. Half a minute. Maybe. We were friends again. And then he has to go and do something like that."
There were furious tears in her eyes, and her teeth were gritted against them; shaking her head, she slumped back in her seat. "Maybe we're just meant to hate each other."
