As they pushed the door open the first person to come into view was Link, turning at the sound of the door. There was already a grin on his face from his conversation, stopping mid-sentence to nod a polite greeting at the three of them before backing away from the guests to give Zelda room.

Zelda immediately recognized that there were two people waiting in Link's room rather than one, which was not something she expected, but then, she saw one of the two and immediately recognized him. "Shad!" she gasped, hurrying over to him, and pulling him into an excited hug as she breathed out a sigh of relief. "You made it out of Saria alive! Thank the Goddess!"

He pulled away and bowed before her, pushing his glasses up as he did. "Yes, I did, thanks to you and Link. The Goddess worked through you two to spare my life. And I made it to King Zora. He will happily aid you, though he confesses his troop numbers are very low compared to what you'll need, but I can give you details later. I came along for the ride when I heard where he was going."

She turned to the other man that Shad gestured to, older than Shad by a fair bit, but they had a very similar look to them. The older man was perhaps somewhere in his forties, and had red hair, like Shad. However, besides a decently grown-out beard, the man was average and oddly forgettable. It was in the way he'd dressed, the manner he held himself, the way he slouched forward with his head down, almost as if he were asleep. It made him small, easy to overlook. Perhaps that's how she noticed Shad before the absolute stranger.

Shad patted the man on the back. "This is my brother, Viscen. He came to get me from the Zora's. We just returned."

Zelda turned to Seres with an interested look on her face. Seres grabbed Viscen by the arm, affectionate and familiar, like they'd known each other for a long time. "Princess," she said, "This is the man I wanted you to meet. I wasn't aware that you knew his brother, however."

"Viscen, it's a pleasure to meet you," Zelda said, extending her hand.

Viscen looked up at her for the first time and nodded, sighing fondly as he grasped her hand in both of his. "You do look just like your parents, Princess."

She glanced at Link first before back to Viscen. "I'm sorry. Have we met?"

He lowered himself to his knee and pressed a hand to his heart as he regarded her. "No, Princess, never officially. I worked for your family for many years in my youth."

"Please, stand," Zelda said, urging him to his feet before continuing. "You worked for them? Wouldn't I have met you then?"

"I did work for them. I was… well… an agent of theirs." He looked up to see if she understood, but her expression was plainly confused. "I worked directly for Lady Laurel." He waited again. Still, nothing. He smiled kindly at her. "I gather you weren't privy to any of that information yet. How much do you trust the people in this room, Princess?"

She looked around. "A great deal."

Viscen chuckled to himself. "The wise answer would have been that you don't trust them. Always remember to trust but a few so completely, Princess. But I defer to you on that. Lady Laurel was your family's spymaster. We agents were her eyes and ears in Hyrule. Our job was to gather information to pass along to the crown.

"However, since my time there ended, I have known Seres since the day she arrived here. I helped her get her current position, which is a part of the story on how she learned of my trade. Since you do not seem to know much about that position, I gather Seres brought me here with a lovely story, but just that. So, Princess, why am I here?"

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" Zelda asked calmly. "If you claim that I should trust few, why trust you?"

Viscen returned to his seat and to his position from earlier, head ducked and arms crossed. "You will never know for sure. But I can try to set your mind at ease: I knew your parents well. Lady Laurel and I would sit with them personally in their study. Your mother would sit in the red armchair and sip her tea throughout our meetings, and your father would pace, drinking his so quickly it would burn his tongue and he'd be forced to listen rather than speak. I gather your mother must have enjoyed the reprieve at times." Zelda giggled at the memory, though it wasn't hers. It could have been. She knew her mother's favorite spot, and her father's poor habits . Viscen could see her trying to process that information. "Would you like to ask me a question that only a friend would know?"

Zelda stuttered, wracking her brain. She turned to Link, who just made a face at her. He didn't know.

"Uh… where… where did they go after they were married?" she said, deliberately keeping her hands at her sides, despite her nerves.

Shad, surprisingly, was the one who spoke first. His words weren't unkind when he spoke, but an attempt to be helpful. "Even I know that one. That's common knowledge, Princess. You should ask something else."

Zelda turned to Viscen expectantly. He smiled and nodded at her. "Good choice, Princess. They went to the abandoned village in Shadow Valley for three days. Lady Laurel and I were the two who made sure no one suspected such a thing."

Zelda felt a small smile tug on her lips as she looked around the room at confused faces. Again though, it was Shad who spoke. "No, the story is famous! They… they went to Lake Hylia where they were…" his voice trailed off, suddenly unsure of himself at Zelda's expression. "They were rescued from a capsized boat from King Zora himself. Even he told me that story when I was there."

"King Zora is an old friend," Zelda shrugged. "He would keep my family's secrets. My parents didn't know each other well when they married. It was arranged. They sent two of their bodyguards to Lake Hylia to masquerade as them at a distance for the crowds while they snuck off to learn more about each other in private. They went to Shadow Valley with only a handful of guards along the outskirts for their protection."

"Wow," Shad muttered, sitting back.

Zelda turned back to Viscen. "How do you figure your information out? You just… listen to people?" she asked, glancing around. She already had people doing that.

Viscen leaned forward and his eyes trailed slowly from face to face before landing on Link. He pointed a thin, almost bony finger at him. "You've known this one longest, and you trust him the most. Your eyes go to him first every time you look around." His finger then moved to Finn. "Your soldier trusts his friend. They've been through a fair few things together before, and they knew each other in the past. Whenever there's a creak of the floor as someone shifts, or if I say something he doesn't like, like right now, he looks to you first, and then to his friend to see if he's ready to move. Almost always on cue, his friend notices, and his fingers twitch toward his weapon, ready to strike me down. I'd wager that they served together and at the same rank. They don't act equal though. The cues to act go through your soldier, not his friend. It might be because you are closer to him, or potentially, your soldier might have been in line for a promotion before he was… well, I can't tell what caused him to leave. Likely the invasion, which may have been what prevented him from moving up in rank as well. In times like these, you'd rather keep foot soldiers who are good at taking orders over ones giving them. He's still not used to it. He hesitates, looking at you first, which is why I assume the promotion never happened. I would then go about verifying all of that in various ways to do so." He glanced between Finn and Link, waiting.

Link shifted uneasily and turned to Zelda with a small shrug. "I never planned to accept, but they asked if I'd consider taking a small command unit. It wouldn't have mattered though. We all quickly had other things to worry about."

Viscen smiled. "Would you like me to tell you other things about your soldier, Princess? None of it is bad."

Zelda shook her head, but Viscen tsked. "Fine. But what is it you three haven't said? Seres looks very stressed." His finger passed from Zelda, to Finn, to Seres. "I have a feeling it's what you'd like my assistance with first."

She turned to Finn and Seres. "Do you remember his exact words?"

Seres stepped forward. "We overheard Master Niko dispatching a message to one of his men: "'Have him come quickly. Tell him it's Prince Daltus' request. We spoke earlier so he is aware. I'm sure she will get the credit again, but at least we'll have his soldiers.'"

Viscen nodded as she spoke and continued to long after she stopped. "Well, Princess, who out there has soldiers that your cousin might be contacting? I can tell you, but can you tell me?"

This one she was able to figure out. Not only had her parents mentioned them, but so had Daltus. "King Auru or Prince Midos both command armies and Daltus said at least one would be willing to help."

"Good. And think… why would either of them need to come here quickly? What would Daltus have to offer them?"

"I…" Zelda stopped, unsure of the answer.

So Viscen continued. "Rumor has it that you and your cousin have been butting heads. Is that true?" Zelda nodded, so he kept going. "He is a pompous man, greedy, and ambitious. He'd thought your death meant that he would get Hyrule. He likely didn't realize that it would have made him Ganondorf's main target until your lovely speech that called us to action. He'd be left unprotected in the event that you are killed. He's frightened of you and of your power. He doesn't have it, thanks to his parents. Does this sound correct so far?"

Link, Finn, and Seres all started to nod, though Zelda couldn't bring herself to move as she tried to make her brain work as fast as his.

"Well, let me offer you a lesson about the delicate balance of power that is often learned the hard way," he said, eyes boring into hers. "Which of you holds more power? Easy: you. But, can he do anything about it? Does he have anything left to trade to keep a grip on any semblance of power that he can?"

"No?" she said uneasily. "Everything is still his parents'."

"Wrong." Viscen leaned forward, cautiously glancing at Link for a moment before turning back to Zelda. "How do you control a kingdom that isn't yours?"

"Invade."

"How?"

"An army?"

Viscen shook his head. "Have you ever played chess, Princess?"

Her eyes landed on Link, though neither could find anything to smile about as Viscen's tone set them both on edge. "Yes," she all but whispered.

Viscen nodded again, watching her start to realize something, though the words weren't coming to her. He pointed to an imaginary board in front of him. "Tell me, what happens when you take a queen out of play? Are you more likely to win, or to lose? Who's left?"

Zelda took a moment to think about his analogy, putting it into place with everything she knew about her cousin. And then, pieces slowly began to click, her eyes widening in actual horror to the point that Link stepped forward, hand ready on his sword for some unseen threat.

"Zelda?" he asked, shaking her shoulder.

But she couldn't breathe, and she felt her knees were weak. "Me?" she choked out, addressing Viscen.

He nodded slowly. "That would be their smartest move, and my best guess, yes. Of course, I would need to confirm this."

"What? What's happening?" Link muttered as she leaned into him, feeling sick.

He helped her to the bed where she sat staring at the wall in shock. Link let go of his sword and grabbed both of Zelda's shaking hands, uncaring about the audience. "What?"

Viscen stood up and pulled Shad along with him. "Princess, I'll go see what I can find to verify or deny this. I'll set Shad up at the local physician's, should you need him or wish to call on him. But for now, I think our presence is not necessary. I will contact you, Seres, when I need to."

Seres showed him out, but she and Finn stayed inside, too concerned that something was physically wrong with Zelda to leave her.

"Zelda!" Link tried again.

Her hand went to her mouth. "Oh gods, I can't say no."

"What? Please."

Finally, she managed to bring her eyes up to his. "We were so stupid, Link. I never thought… I didn't think I'd get cornered like this."

He fought the urge to ask her again what was wrong, but he bit his tongue and tried holding her hands a bit tighter.

She made her mouth move, feeling like the words made her physically sick as she spoke them. "Daltus can't control Hyrule while I'm alive. He's just my cousin. But if he kills me, my people retaliate and would likely rebel, or Ganondorf would come for him. He's not protected, so Daltus wouldn't kill me. So, how else do you take a kingdom?" She breathed for a moment and let it out slowly before speaking again. "You offer an allied King a kingdom. You exchange a Princess for an army. You're then protected by that army because of the gift you've given the King. He comes in like he's a hero, offering troops to retake the kingdom, but it's a double-edged weapon."

Link sat back, his grip on her loosening as he closed his eyes, understanding too well where this was going.

Zelda needed to speak, feeling she might faint if she didn't. "Daltus is going to bring King Auru here under an alliance between themselves. They have similar ideas. They're like-minded and would be perfect allies. Auru might even be pliable. The only one who has more power than I do is a sitting royal, a King or Queen. Auru will offer me troops to save Hyrule. I can't say no. I can't say no."

"I don't understand," Finn said, looking at Seres then at Link, who looked like someone had physically hit him in the gut.

Zelda's voice dropped to a whisper as a tear fell down her cheek. "King Auru is going to come here to marry me. And I can't say no because we don't have enough troops to take Hyrule back alone. Daltus is playing at puppet master, and he has my string. This is what I've always been prepared to do. I 'd known that I would likely marry politically, for armies or strong alliances. But when my parents died, I just… I thought that future was far off and that I could take the crown first. Then I could… I could say no." She tried to turn to Link, but couldn't do it, tearing her eyes off him, feeling only the warmth of his hand still tight in hers. "I didn't think."

"Oh," Seres said, grabbing Finn and practically shoving him out the door with her. "Let's go. They need a minute. Go, go!"

When the door closed, Zelda felt her head crash into her free hand. "I'm so sorry, Link. All of myself for the Kingdom of Hyrule. This is how I save my people. I can't say no to them out of selfish desire, and I can't say no to Auru when he offers the troops we so desperately need."

"I know," he muttered into his palm.

She turned to him, and the very sight had more tears springing to her eyes. "I really did underestimate you, Link."

He shook his head, biting back a sad smile. "Same, Princess."

"I didn't think about this possibility…"

"You did," he mumbled. "We both did. We've talked about this happening: you marrying a royal for political reasons. We just never thought about what it really meant for us. But still, we both knew what mess we could be getting into every step of the way, and neither of us stopped it."

"I didn't want to," she admitted. "I still don't."

"Me either," he said, gripping her hand tighter. "But now we pay the price for it."

Her body wracked forward and she let go of Link so she could catch her head as it fell. He watched her with a pained expression etched into his own face.

"I didn't mean for this to happen," she whispered again. "I didn't mean to… gods…I—I…"

Link knew what words were on her tongue. They were the same ones that floated through his head every time he was with her, banging off the walls of his brain like a song stuck in his head that he couldn't sing out loud. He didn't think words he wanted could hurt so much, and it was only far worse to see the same war raging inside Zelda. He felt his hand reach out for her, though he had to fight a physical battle with himself not to bring it around Zelda. He didn't know if it would help or hurt. But, even now, he couldn't just watch her cry in pain. So, he nudged her, and her eyes went up to his. His smile was small, sad, despite his attempt. He knew what words she couldn't say. "I know you did." The playful cockiness of the statement didn't quite come out as he'd intended, but Zelda understood his intent.

She choked out a sob that was holding a laugh somewhere inside it. "Don't do that. Don't make me smile right now."

He stared at his hand, willing it to keep still. "And you… don't say it. It won't make it any easier to do what you need to if either of us says it."

"But you… know?"

"Don't you?" he said with the smallest smile, though it wasn't without pain.

She took a deep breath and stood up, nodding. "I do. I wish you felt differently than me, Link. It would have saved you some heartache. I'm so sorry that I did this to you. Of the two of us, I'm the one who should have known better. I was raised knowing this."

He joined her, keeping a safe distance away. "I'm an adult too, Zelda. I might not have had the royal education you had, but I could see where this was leading. I just selfishly preferred to ignore it, and look what it did."

"I want nothing more than to be selfish, Link. I wish we could both be selfish," she whispered, closing her eyes and imagining herself as anyone else. Before she reached for the door, she turned back to him. "But I won't be used by them, not like this. I'll still do what I have to, but I'm not done fighting. Not so long as I breathe."

His lips were tight together, but he forced them to move. "I would expect nothing less."

"I still need you."

He nodded, meeting her eyes with a fierce, sad, and determined expression. "And I'm still here. I've said it before: you'll have to do better than that to get rid of me."