A note from the Hime no Argh herself—

Yay for new material! This chapter and all those to follow are brand-new, never before posted writing. Also, as you've undoubtedly noticed, the update speed has slowed down. It's my hope to post approximately a chapter a week, but we'll see how things go. Writer's block is always a factor that has slowed me down at spots on every fic I've written thus far. But I know how frustrating it is to wait forever for new chapters, so I'll try to keep updates as consistent as possible.

Thanks to everyone who cleared up the "lz" mystery. I had kind of a "duh" moment there. ;; I'm just used to seeing it written as L/Z or Zelink or just plain Link/Zelda. To answer the original question…well, maybe you'll find out eventually. :3

Chapter 4
Spy

For a moment Zelda saw nothing as her eyes adjusted to the dark inside the cathedral. Watery moonlight filtered in through the gilded windows, lighting the temple with a soft silvery glow. Once she could see, Zelda stared around briefly, confused. The hall was completely empty.

Or was it? A prickling on the back of her neck told Zelda she wasn't alone. Someone was watching her. Her heart thudded in her chest as she remembered Impa's words: I want you to know I had nothing to do with this…

"Who is there?" she demanded, her voice clear and bereft of any nervousness. "Show yourself immediately."

She heard a soft thwap behind her, and whirled around to see a small, wiry shape rise from a crouch.

Zelda stared into blood-red eyes over a makeshift linen mask. He looked to be about her age, though it was difficult to tell with the mask covering the lower half of his face; his hair was a pale blond, similar to hers, a few silken strands falling over his right eye. He dressed in a formfitting outfit of royal blue and a tattered white tunic embroidered with the image of a crimson eye shedding a lone tear—the Sheikah eye symbol.

He inclined his head in a short bow, but his eyes remained boldly fixed on hers. "My apologies, Your Highness. People like me are best suited for hiding in the shadows, wouldn't you agree?"

His voice was light and male, persuasive. The instant Zelda heard that voice, she knew she didn't trust him any farther than she could throw him. It seemed to her the kind of voice that could trick her into selling her soul, if she wasn't careful.

"You're Sheikah," she said, giving herself time to recover her scattered thoughts.

"Yes. My name is Sheik."

"What do you want from me?"

"The regus sent me." Zelda knew the word—it referred to the leader of a Sheikah tribe. He meant Kakariko's headman, Kylint. "I am to do whatever is required. A person of my skills may be very useful to you."

"And what is it that you do, Master Sheik?"

"I hide, and I listen."

Zelda blinked at him, engrossed despite herself. A fascinating notion occurred to her as she remembered Link's words at supper. Could it be…?

"Are you a spy, Master Sheik?"

"Just Sheik. Your Highness." Was that laughter in his voice?

Zelda gave him a measuring stare. Impa had told her that people went out of their way to ignore a Sheikah. This one, slender and barely taller than her, looked as though he were at home in the shadows. And if she was not mistaken, he had been hiding in the temple's rafters when she entered. To do that—not to mention jump from such a height and land unhurt—he must be extremely acrobatic.

Hylia didn't have spies, but with all the strangeness occurring lately in the kingdom, it seemed they could use one. "We'd best go to the palace," she said decidedly. "I'll introduce you to my parents, and they can decide how and where you can be best used."

"My apologies, but I think you misunderstand." A disturbing light appeared in his crimson eyes. Somehow Zelda knew he was smiling. "I serve none but Your Highness alone."

Zelda froze at his words. It was the opportunity she had hoped and prayed for. With Sheik, she could know all that went on during the talks with the Gerudo. It didn't matter what secret meetings she was kept out of. She would no longer be blind and deaf to the future.

She didn't trust him. A part of her even feared him. But she would have to be an utter fool to pass up an opportunity like this.

A smile crossed her face, in spite of herself. "The possibilities are dazzling."

In the days after Fallen's prophecy, the Gerudo were conspicuously innocent. Contests between Gerudo and Hylian warriors returned to friendly displays of skills. The peace talks reportedly were going well, with the Gerudo cooperating and agreeing on points that they had previously disputed. Though the king had the tribe watched, they did nothing suspicious and sent no messages to their sisters in the desert aside from their own reports on the progress of the peace talks. No one knew what to make of it.

Link was of the opinion that the Gerudo were up to something. Their behavior was so innocent it was suspicious. He wasn't the only one who shared this view—he overheard Lin telling Benek that she was betting on war before the end of the summer. Others took a more optimistic outlook, saying that Fallen's predictions were nonsense and that the Gerudo clearly wanted peace as much as the Hylians.

If Ganondorf had an opinion about the situation, he didn't share it, and Zelda merely said there was no evidence in what Fallen had predicted. Once the pandemonium over Fallen's prophecy had died, many seemed to lose interest in what the woman had said and treated the whole thing like some sort of party trick.

Link himself wondered whether he believed what Fallen had said. Seers were rare, and usually were of the Sheikah; fortune telling was a business he had never held any stock in. But something had moved through Fallen when she spoke on that night, something ancient and powerful, something he'd felt like an ache deep in his bones. He didn't know what to make of it.

The day after Fallen made her prophecy, Zelda told Link and Ganondorf that her father had changed his mind and allowed her to attend the border talks. Link was surprised to hear that. King Harkinian was a man who rarely backed down from his decisions, whether they concerned the kingdom or his daughter. But certainly it was useful to learn, through Zelda, everything that went on during the talks, even if there was little to report these days.

The summer slowly waned, as taut as a hair stretched over a knife edge. Link spent the days going through the motions of his usual routines, waiting to hear of a change. He prayed that an agreement would be reached soon, and a treaty signed.

One hazy day in mid-August, Link was practicing archery alone in the courtyard, working off some of his tension, when someone hailed him. He glanced up to see Lin hurrying toward him, her mouth drawn with worry.

"I had this from Captain Pavel, from the army," she said tersely upon reaching his side, keeping her voice low. "You know a soldier named Ganondorf?"

Link stared at her in alarm. "Yes, he's one of my best friends. Did something happen?"

"Pavel didn't know if he had any family or not, so he said to tell you. Your friend's been arrested."

Link dropped his bow. "What?"

"He was accused of conspiring with the Gerudo. Supposedly members of the Venom Snake Tribe have been approaching him. You know the king's decree—any encounters with a Gerudo aside from official business and contests of arms are to be reported immediately."

Link nodded reluctantly. The king had passed his word throughout the kingdom after Fallen's prophecy, to help keep their guests under close scrutiny.

"Well, he never reported those encounters, and he won't say what the Gerudo spoke with him about. A soldier in his squad saw him speaking with them and reported it, and the palace guard took him into custody."

Link nodded grimly. There was no doubt in his mind that no conspiracy existed between Ganondorf and the Venom Snake Tribe, but he knew that there were many who would see it differently. It didn't help that Ganondorf was a Gerudo by birth.

Lin squeezed his shoulder anxiously. "I'm sure it's all just a big misunderstanding."

"Right," Link said grimly. "If you'll excuse me, Lin, I need to go try and sort this out."

Lin nodded. "If there's anything I can do…"

Link bowed, then hurried to put his weapon away. In the storage shed, he found a piece of parchment and scribbled a note on it to Zelda, then found a footman in the courtyard outside and asked him to take it to the princess. She ought to know, and she might be able to do something about the situation.

The same footman soon found him as he strode through the lower levels of the palace. Scribbled on the back of the same piece of parchment was a brisk, angry note from Zelda. She already knew what had happened, and was on her way to see her father immediately. Link folded the parchment and thanked the footman, then continued on his way down to the dungeons where they would be holding his friend, hoping Zelda could take care of the situation quickly.

In the dungeons, the guards eyed Link suspiciously, but they led him to the cell where Ganondorf was held. The Gerudo sat with his back against the dank, damp wall, staring blankly into space before him. He glanced up when Link approached, and his mouth twisted wryly.

"So now I'm a conspirator," he remarked as though continuing a conversation over dinner. "The Gerudo who approached me haven't been accused, of course. No one wants to endanger the peace talks. But I am more than expendable."

Link wrapped his hands around the bars of his friend's cell, disgusted with himself for being helpless. "Zelda's taking care of this right now," he assured. "You'll be out of there in no time."

Ganondorf smiled bitterly. "It's done damage, Link."

Link knew what he meant. Those who disliked him because he was Gerudo would mistrust him all the more because of this incident, wrongfully accused or not.

He checked to make sure no guards were nearby to listen. "What did they want with you, Ganondorf?"

"They wanted me to come back to the desert. My place is among my people, they said. I refused."

"Did they—" Link was interrupted as the door at the end of the row of cells creaked open and Zelda stalked in, the guards in tow.

"Let him out, now," the princess snapped when she reached the cell where Ganondorf and Link waited. A guard hastened to obey, unlocking Ganondorf's cell and standing aside.

"You're free to go."

Ganondorf looked from the guard to the princess, then unfolded himself slowly from his seat against the wall and ambled out of the cell. Zelda patted his arm, and the three of them left the dungeons without another word to the guards, ascending the stairs into the higher levels of the palace.

"That was fast," Ganondorf remarked when they'd left the dungeons far behind.

Zelda was positively seething. "I went to Father and told him that I knew you well enough to know you were not conspiring with any Gerudo. He granted you a pardon."

"Generous of him." Ganondorf's voice was extremely dry.

"As if they had any right to arrest you in the first place!" Zelda burst out savagely. "All right, if you had actually approached any Gerudo there might have been cause for suspicion, but since they came to you—" She stopped and took a deep breath. "Why didn't you just report them?"

Ganondorf gave her a withering look. "I'm not you, princess. I'm a Gerudo, remember? Can you honestly say they wouldn't have thought I was conspiring even if I reported it myself? They probably would have arrested me on the spot regardless."

"But—" Zelda traded a helpless glance with Link. He was right, and they both knew it.

"Not everyone sees things as you do, Zelda. Not everyone has your idealism." He turned down a side hall that would lead him out of the keep. "I'm going back to the barracks. I'll see you two later."

Link and Zelda watched him go. "I guess he's angry. Can't really blame him," Link sighed.

"I am angry," Zelda said passionately. "As if arresting Ganondorf wasn't enough, I don't suppose anyone stopped to think how the Gerudo will react."

Link glanced at her, surprised. "What do you mean?"

Zelda made a face. "You know how proud they are. They have their own strict code of justice, and they don't appreciate outside interference. Ganondorf might not be on their side, but he's still a Gerudo. His arrest might affect the peace talks."

Link considered that. "I guess we have to hope he isn't that important to the Gerudo," he said at last, feeling rotten for saying it.

Zelda smiled bitterly. "Yes. If you'll excuse me, Link, I have to take care of some things."

"All right." Link squeezed her shoulder. "I'll see you later then, Zelda."

Zelda briefly covered his hand with hers, then headed off down the corridor. Link watched her go, momentarily wondering how she'd found out about Ganondorf's arrest before his note even reached her.

He'd ask her next time he saw her, he decided, and followed Ganondorf back to the barracks.

To be continued.