Chapter 14- Dad

Link walks around his room in circles, obviously restless and frustrated, he contemplated the idea of breaking his desk or even burning it, but he chooses to be civilized and now finds himself behaving like a lion in a zoo cage.

I am going to kill someone or something if I continue doing NOTHING, it's been a week now, I have explored the whole castle, I even meet Seneca and he showed me how the storage connects with the garden through a trap door, It makes sense, the loaded carriages enter the garden, then the service men can quickly move the load inside through the storage, it's been interesting but right now I have NOTHING to do, and Zelda still refuses to even be in the same room with me… I may have gone a little too far but she started it.

RING! RING! RING!

He picks up his cell phone from the bed and looks at the screen, once he identifies the caller, he presses the screen icon to answer and waits.

"I can't get you out of there" says General Zalatoris

"Good day to you too, don't worry chief, I have been holding just fine" of course not, but he doesn't need to know that

"You… are fine? Not anxious? It must be that you don't know. Hehehe, you weren't able to open the King's envelope I presume… I would love to celebrate this with my secretaries, but this is important… you certainly choose the wrong time to fail at something."

"What do you mean General, what do I need to know?"

"The Gerudos pose a threat, not all of the Gerudo race, but there is a group of them who idolize Ganondorf, and he is been absent for 2 years, all they know is that he was heading to Hyrule, and he never came back, they assume he is being held captive in Hyrule and they have to retrieve him. I don't know when this is going to happen but the castle is not the saftest place to be in, we are not sure how, but they obtained fire weapons, rudimentary weapons but I assure you… the castle is going to fall"

No, he is playing me, he must be… the King looks so at peace. My King would do something to protect the castle and his people wouldn't he?

"Did SWORD inform my King about this?"

"Yes, well… we gave the notification about the upcoming Gerudo attack in a letter inside the envelope you delivered, but we did not inform about the guns, since we can't prove the Gerudo have them, and it would be hard to explain firearms in a letter."

"Why would you want to pull me out of here then? Seems like I am where I am needed"

The General sighs "because that is NOT how we do things, you know this, we are not SHIELD. I wanted you to walk out of this conflict, gain more perspective on the matter, make a defense strategy, plan escape routes, and then we get you back in the fry, IF it does not pose a threat"

"But now you can't extract me, Hyrule requested help clearing an issue and SWORD agreed to investigate, since the issue is not resolved yet, if I leave now, it can be considered treason from our end, they can and will kill me… well, maybe just imprison me since I am a royal now. I understand William, I am not bitter, angry or even scared, I will make this work"

"You CAN'T, you are alone in there, people are going to die… just DON'T LET THE KING FALL, if he stays safe Hyrule can rise again, forget about the queen and the princess, Daphnes is the important chip here"

If only… Daphnes is a family man, if you want to destroy him all you need to do is hurt a member of his family, that means I will have to make sure the Queen and the Princess are safe too, not just the King… DAMN! I am his son now, I will have to keep myself safe too if I don't want him to break, shit just got a little more complicated.

"That won't work, if it the Queen or the Princess die or are left behind, it's the same as killing the King, believe me, it's all of them or none" Link says and immediately regrets saying it, since he knows what the answer will be.

"If Nohansen still has a pulse, we don't care if he is dead inside, the agreement we have with the Kingdom holds as long as Hyrule's King lives" the General makes a pause closing his eyes "I know you Kid, that horrendous thing you just said was no mistake… you care for them, don't you?" he sighs and continues, trying to mask his desperation and fear.

"LISTEN VERY CLEARLY to what I am about to say, I FORBID you to save them, Daphnes is an exception but even then, if you find yourself at risk, YOU RUN. I am not losing an agent again; IS THAT CLEAR?"

Link closes his eyes and forces himself to answer "crystal clear" then he quickly hangs up and gives a punch to the wall, then closes his eyes and raises his head.

I may consider obeying the General but, I need to talk to the King first… I need to know if he is being passive about this or actually doing something, BUT I must head to check the garden first.

He thinks as he leaves his room heading down to the garden, as he walks, he notices changes in the castle walls, new wall tapestries decorating, more candle illumination, and even a portrait of the royal family. Once he reaches the garden, he notices that a few bushes have been trimmed into animal figures.

Ok, definitely we are preparing for something, but what?

Link then glances at the trap door that leads to the storage, and once he reaches it, he draws the dagger that Zelda used on him to pick at the lock, after a few tries the lock opens, he then removes the lock and hides the trap door with a few overgrown bushes and dirt.

There, that is an exit route through the storage

Link stands and leaves the now hidden trapdoor, then he notices the King, at the entrance of the garden, leaning against a tree trying to light a cigar. Link closes his fist, squints and approaches the King irradiating anger and frustration. The King raises his eyes and smiles when he notices Link approaching.

"Good morning son" Link stops dead on his tracks

DON'T FUCKING DO THAT!, how dare you call me that NOW, right when I feel like I want to punch that fucking smirk out of your face.

"Good morning… smoking is a nasty habit" Link says angry

"Yeah…yeah, I know that, Claire doesn't like me doing it either, but there is nothing else I can do to lower my stress"

Link looks at the King in the eyes and says "Why would YOU be str… please tell me the reason is the Gerudo attack"

"So, you DID open the envelope"

"No, I couldn't… I was just informed of the content. If you don't mind me asking, what measures are you taking about this my Lord?" Link asks, really hoping the King is doing something… he came to really admire this man; he does not want to be let down so soon.

"What can I do?" he takes a puff on his cigar "I can't cancel the royal ball, since that would strip me of my title and destabilize Hyrule's economy, I won't do that to my people. I can't use my soldiers either, the nobles coming would take their presence as a war warning, and this could cause a revolt. I can't tell my family either… they can't do anything about this so why put them in distress?"

So that is what we are preparing for, the annual ball, I never understood why we celebrate them, not that I care to know,

Daphnes points at the top of a tower

"They are trying their best but if you look closely, you can see the lookouts I placed on the towers and the roof of the castle, they are also armed with bows and arrows, they are instructed to give a warning if they see the Gerudo, and also try to stop them as much as possible but… " the King gives another long puff "if I can't trust them to recognize their princess when she disguises, can I trust them with this?" he says rubbing his temples and starting to pull on his hair

"I have also ordered to strap the horses to the royal carriage, in case we need to flee the castle fast, but it still feels like I am not doing enough, what else CAN I do please tell me" The King says with desperation.

My King is breaking right in front of me, what do I tell him? he is right, he has done everything he can, he could do more if his hands were not tied by his title… SWORD!

Link reaches for the King's shoulder with his hand and shakes him a little

"Notify SWORD my King, allow them entrance on the territory"

"Can't do that son, the agreement with them is written in stone… can't be changed, and it reads that only one agent is allowed"

"Unless there is an ongoing event that menaces the current king's life, I think THIS is an event that puts you in danger"

"Yes, but the treat has to be ongoing, I can't call them in advance"

"But you can request a distress call, you will have to call them every 30 minutes to notify you are ok, if you miss a call, it means you are in need of help, the agents enter the territory immediately, it's not them being here from the start but better late than never, they will help regain control here" Link states confidently

"All right, that IS one thing I have not done yet, I will do that immediately" the King starts walking towards the castle and turns to Link once more "I am sorry you had to see me like this" says the King lowering his head with regret

"I am not, if anything it reinforces my original idea about you my Lord"

The King smirks "that I am a manipulative fucker that can't take no for an answer?" he says

"YES, but also a responsible and strong leader whose only fault is that he thinks of others before himself, a leader worthy of my loyalty and trust" Link glances to the side breaking eye contact, suddenly very interested on a leaf falling "you should hurry and make that call dad."

The King widens his eyes but quickly recovers, turns and starts jogging to reach the castle, a wide grin plastered on his face.