And so the story slowly comes to a close. I am so proud of my characters. Sniff.

Thanks to the people who have put me on favourites, alerts, and given me reviews. I'll put you up on the credits once the final chapter comes out. Oh, and the deal from now on, the faster you review me, the faster I type! XD BWAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!

I mean, come on. I'm slow as it is, give me the incentive to be fast, peoples!

Anyway... to the anonymous review replies....

megane-tan: You're lucky you came to read this so late, have you noticed the starting date of this story? Geese, it's like two years ago, THAT'S how long updating takes me. Ugh. Anyway, hope you like the chapter.

HelloToday: Thanks for all the praise, and no problem for the advice. I'm glad you like the chapter, and hope you like this chapter too. Though I gotta say I don't think I'll be writing an EarthBound story due to the fact that I don't know what the heck that is. XD

Meg: Oh yeah, the King'll be very, very lucky if he lives through this. XD I hope this chapter doesn't fall in expectations or anything since it is kinda short... but things do happen in it. Sorta.

P.S. FOR WATCHERANDREADER!!!

Sorry I put this up before you could get your betaed version back to me, but I got so excited and impatient I had to put this up. And I hope you're doing well in health, had a nice trip, and stuff like that. I also hope your computer survived. XP

ANYWAY... let's get on with the show!

Empty Promises

"Hey," Navi whispered, "Listen."

The figure with the purple and orange aura stopped, and was incredulously annoyed. "Navi? What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to tell you that before you go in there, she's had a rough time with the king, and if you do anything else to upset her I am going to have Ruto and Darunia and Nabooru do away with you."

"Al…right,"

"Good." She flew away, leaving him in the garden a confused and worried man, before he teleported to her windowsill.

Savir carefully stepped through the window, the rain clinging to his hair and clothes like miniscule crystal webs. It was light rain, and as soon as he brushed at them they sunk into the fabric, dampening only the surface. The Hylian shirt and breeches—both black—weren't as resilient to weather as his native clothing, but he didn't mind; he hadn't planned to stay outside anyway.

He glanced at the immobile princess, and the fairy's warning was apparent. She hadn't acknowledged his presence, despite her sitting at the chair only a mere metre away. She just stared into the night with her forehead attached to the window, the rain splattering outside reflected blankly into her eyes.

"Lynda."

She responded vaguely to her name, glancing at the kneeling man before her, only just comprehending the concern. "Hi."

A scowl crossed his masked face as he cupped her cheek, "What did the King do to you, Lynda."

A sad, sad smile crossed her lips, "Nothing much. Just … something."

Savir was not usually patient. Especially when someone he cared about was not telling him what was bothering her. "Lynda," he insisted, saying a little more firmly, "What did the king do to you?"

She gave a snort of pitiful scorn before saying, "I'm engaged."

Savir froze, for a second not understanding. The word sunk in, and it was heavy as metal.

"What…?"

"Zelda's barren, Savir. She can't produce an heir… or she's so unlikely to, that she'd be lucky to have a child, and then live through the process. So I… I'm going to replace her."

Bleakly she gave him her right hand, where the mark of the Bond lay like an imprint of a pearl, with miniscule hieroglyphics carved into its skin.

He snatched at her appendage, disbelief and horror written all over his visible eye as he stared at the innocent looking symbol.

He realised how stupid, how idiotic he had been to not have seen it. That was why the King had suddenly wanted his second daughter back, he'd known.Of course; Zelda was a Sage, by rights and responsibility she wasn't allowed to be married. Damn it, why hadn't he seen it? Why hadn't he guessed?

Lynda abruptly stood and began to pace, frantic fear and panic writing itself on her face with her tears, "Zelda warned me she actually warned me but I didn't listen and I'm scared I haven't even met him not even in those stupid interviews that we had I just saw his father and he is a shifty bastard and if his son's like him I can't! I can't… the wedding night even thinking about it much less with someone I don't even… I just-just can't…"

Warm hands cupped her cheeks; Lynda's head dipped up and she felt his hot lips touch her forehead. He pulled back after a moment, and in the face that looked down at her, even without the familiar scarf covering it and eyes that hid behind a fringe, Lynda saw a fierce fire.

"I'm not letting you go."

Lynda hiccoughed with misery. "But…"

"No, listen to me." his hands had moved from her cheeks to her arms, grasping them firmly, almost angrily, "I'm not going to have you taken away from me. I'm not going to let some stupid Duke have his way with you. We are going to escape just as planned, do you here me?"

"This is isn't that easy!" Lynda yelled, wrenching herself away from him, "This mark goes when and only when he's done doing me and I can't handle that! I can't! I've already tried everything I know to remove it and it just. won't. go!"

She surfaced from her hysteria as Savir gripped her shoulders, shook her urgently. Their eyes met, and his voice was fierce as he asked, "Can you handle this from me?"

"What-?" she made a sound that sounded close to a squeak as she felt his hot breath against her cheek, his hands firmly holding her head. His lips touched her skin, brushing against her lashes, and she closed her eyes as he kissed them. Lynda whimpered and blushed deeply as he slid down her face, sucking at her tear tracks, wiping them away. On the other he did the same; but Lynda's eyes opened wide as his tongue flickered out to touch her.

She gasped as he suddenly pressed her against him, letting, no, making her feel the contours of his flesh through her flimsy gown. Her face could go no redder as he looked at her, cowl straggled around his neck, revealing the mouth that had so brashly caressed her skin. They were so close, his torso burning against her, his forehead nearly touching hers. He regarded her with not the playful amusement, or the wry resignation that she usually saw in him, but a contemplative seriousness that made him seem… hungry, possessive.

"Gods, Lynda," he muttered, nuzzling his face against her neck, "The thought of you belonging to someone wilfully or no, makes me want to tear this castle apart, murder the king that's giving you away like some gift and rip the man that intends to drag you through his bed limb from limb. I will do anything to keep you, without condition, without restraint, because without you I will bleed dry faster than a snowball in the desert."

He was angry. Angry with the King, angry with his father, Zelda, Impa, this unknown duke and less known son, and with himself, especially with himself, because he had strayed from his Lynda's side and now she was being taken from him. He released her and held her gaze.

"Don't be upset. I'll make them take it back. I'll fight for you. So don't fret; you'll be just fine, alright?"

Then Savir shied at the look she was giving him, because it looked far from fine. His stomach lurched as he realised that he had been rash, he had been insensitive. His selfish need for her had made him step over the precious line he had always been barely conscious of, and now she was frightened of him.

He should leave. He'll give her time to collect herself, and himself to curse everything that he had said and done in the past fifteen minutes, and he would come back in the morning, offer her his company in their escape, if she still wanted it, after making perfectly sure that every inch of the throne room was painted with the blood of the King, the Duke and the man who had the audacity to even think of marrying his Lynda for the mere Hylian throne.

He was about to turn, mouth open with words of goodbye, when a hand clasped over his bicep, stopping his escape.

"Why do I mean so much to you?"

Savir met that blue gaze that haunted him, stuck his feet to the spot in awe, bent his knees with guilt, made him want to die and live at the same time with the sheer ferocity for life it had, and his throat would not work. He swallowed dryly, and said with difficulty, "I love you."

The hand was joined with another, and arms shaking in anxiety circled around his torso as his princess, his princess buried her nose in his chest. "It's late. We should get to sleep."

Savir didn't miss the collective pronoun.

"Are you sure about this?"

They had a small staring contest, but it was the red eyes that yielded, moved the blankets and took off his shoes, let smoothing fingers take away the cowl that wrapped his face and brush away his fringe. A shy grin was pulling at blue eyes, as she tumbled in after him, curling into his embrace like a kitten as he pulled the blankets around their shoulders.

"I trust you," she said in answer.

A disappointed smile twitched his lips as he rolled over and wrapped an arm around her waist, slipping the other under the pillow so he could completely encase her in his embrace. "…Alright."

Lynda blew out the candle, and the room sunk into blissful darkness. She felt his heat seep into her, and she felt safe, unbelievably safe, even with the circle of magic that was burnt into the centre of the back of her hand.

But nervousness kept her awake as Savir's breath became longer and deeper. It was only when Lynda was sure that he was asleep that she leaned in and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. Her heart shuddered. It felt too good and unreal for everything to be like this, him so close, asleep, as she whispered into his relaxed face, "I love you too."

Nonetheless, the arm around her waist tightened and a glad red eye opened to regard her tenderly. She blushed as he whispered back, "Thank you."

"Damn you," she muttered, and he chuckled. He was glad too, that the sages wouldn't be after him in the morning to kill him.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

When Lynda woke up it was still dark; the grey of predawn. She wondered why she didn't feel like moving, wondered why she'd woken up so early, and what was that dark silhouette sitting beside her…?

"Wait," she mumbled, groggily lifting herself up, "Stay. Please."

The silhouette turned and extended a hand out to her, brushing locks of her hair away from her face. Savir smiled. "I'm not going anywhere," he replied, gently holding her against his chest, "Not yet, anyway."

"Good," she sighed, pulling him down onto the pillows, "I'm sleepy, and you're warm. Get back down."

He laughed, and savoured her calm breath against his shirt. It was best thing he had felt in years. "I wonder what would happen if we were caught now."

Lynda froze. There was genuine terror in her face as she stared at him as if he were mad. "Don't. Don't even think it."

"I'm thinking it, and this is how I see it." He stroked her hair reassuringly, and she was distracted enough with the action for him to explain himself. "If, say, a maid or a manservant or even Zelda caught us in here right now, their conclusions would inevitably go for the worst. The story will catch incriminating detail before it reaches the King, and it'll grow worse as it reaches the townspeople. They would think you a loose-hinged girl with no sense of morality, and would want you out of the country in no time."

"And I want my reputation defiled because…?"

"It makes it a whole lot easier for me to kidnap you and there'll be fewer guards after us," he reasoned, "Zelda would be pitied, the King shamed, and this Duke and his son will never want to associate with Hyrule ever again. What more could we wish for?"

"Oh, I don't know, the lack of a sketch of your face on those 'Dead or Alive' posters?"

He chuckled. "Aside from that, it's a pretty full-proof scenario, no?"

"Well…"

"What are you doing!?"

"Then again," he muttered, as Lynda squealed and tumbled out of bed, "The good prospects of getting caught by someone appropriate can stretch only so far…"

Navi was simply livid as she bounced about in the air, "Are you two insane? Do you know what's going to happen to you two if you get caught!? Savir where is your belt why are you in her bed and Lynda! Was this all part of your plan!?"

"No!" was her earnest protest as she untangled herself from the linen and the floor, "No it wasn't I swear Savir just kinda came along to cheer me up and… I'm okay now?"

Navi's glow flashed orange and green before settling to blue. "Fine, fine, fine! But you!"

"Damn it," Savir muttered, having thought that he had been forgotten,

"You better love her. You better take good care of her and I better have a couple of says in this relationship because I have been hanging around Lynda far longer than anybody outside the Kokiri so it's fair for me to say that I know what's best for Lynda and most importantly I am her spiritual guide so I am not going to be pushed aside for some guy and even if those aspects didn't count there is no way in the Golden Realm I am going to leave you two alone forever because I am a fairy and I'm allowed to do it and you have some explaining to do like what you guys are going to do now and how you guys are going to cope with this and you better cope with this because you are with my Lynda, my Lynda so if you so much as upset her I will have all the sages behind me in a war of revenge!"

"Yes Navi." Savir spoke dutifully, although he wondered whether the fairy didn't get tired of using the same threat over and over again.

Navi huffed and said, "I'm giving you two minutes to get yourselves organized. Now chop-chop! The maids are coming real soon."

She slipped through the special compartment in the doorframe Zelda had made for her, muttering other things under her breath. Savir's and Lynda's eyes met, and the Princess burst out laughing.

"She kicked your arse!"

Savir had to admit to himself that he was miffed from the bout of berating. "She has no legs to kick me with, Princess,"

Lynda began to sing mockingly, "Navi kicked you a-arse, Navi kicked you're a-arse."

She squealed when she was tackled to the floor, the linen she had dragged down with her cushioning the blow. Savir straddled her as he trailed kisses up her neck, making his Princess gasp and moan. "You might want to consider stopping that," he purred against her cheek, "Because I might do something we'll both be in trouble for…"

Lynda blushed at the suggestive tone and pushed him away, grinning nervously. "Then let's do what Navi told us to do, shall we?"

Savir chuckled before rolling off; under a fold of blanket he found the belt he'd removed the night before. "So, what's going to happen now?" she asked him, handing him his cowl as he did his belt, "What do you have in mind?"

Savir gave her a devious smirk as he tied the garment around his neck. "You'd love it. I have it all planned out." He gave a dramatic pause before saying, "And I'm not going to tell you."

"What?"

"You prefer your surprises ruined?"

"I prefer no surprises period," she insisted as he sauntered over to the window he had come in through the other night, that playful smirk still rolling his lips upward.

"Ah, the more reason to keep it hushed then."

She hit him playfully in the arm. He rubbed the sore spot with a chuckle as he leaned against the windowsill, the new light playing in his hair. Lynda blushed at his intent gaze, looking down at their feet in an attempt to look unfazed. She flicked her gaze up. Savir was still staring.

Forcing the heat at her stomach to settle, Lynda grasped what little courage she had left and hugged him close. It startled him, which was a feat in itself. "I love you." She added, just to heighten the score.

"Me too," he replied, his tone tender and sincere, "Although I do have to admit that I love you just a tiny bit more than I love myself…"

She pulled away from him and huffed. "You egotistical bastard."

"I know," Savir replied, grinning for all he was worth, "You stubborn Princess."

"Say that again and I will do something to you."

He opened his mouth to tease her but the words walked out of his brain when Lynda coyly passed her hand through his hair, fingertips gently stroking against his scalp. She pressed herself into him, and her lips came dangerously close to his own, before they hastily side-tracked to the flesh of his cheek. When she retracted she was blushing like mad, her hand never leaving the nape of his neck.

Savir blinked again. "That… was quite unexpected…" Then he grinned. "But I think you missed."

"Bastard," she muttered as he kissed her forehead, her eyes, her nose, his hot breath ghosting over her mouth as he slowly closed the gap…

"OI!"

Savir retracted, giving an aggravated sigh as blue light tried to blind him. Fairy wings batted Lynda's nose and the Princess tumbled back sneezing. Foiled again.

"One day…" Savir promised himself, "One day, I'm going to get you, gas lamp."

"Bring it on, Bulk," Navi snapped back, "Now get!"

"Navi," was Lynda's whining complaint.

What he wouldn't do for a bottle right about now… But he must be calm, for if he squashed this pest, right here, right now, bye-bye Lynda's love. "I am leaving, not because you told me to, fairy, but because I have to." He leaned to the side and gave a quick wink in Lynda's direction, making her blush deeper. "The third time's the charm, Princess. And don't forget about what I said at the Colossus, when the time comes."

He clicked his fingers and there was a pulse of darkness and orange lights that swallowed him up to nothingness.

"Lynda," Navi asked her suspiciously, "What did he say at the desert?"

Lynda kept Navi's fate with the Shadow temple wisely to herself.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

When somebody knocked onto her door at a time that was considered very un-majestic for a Princess to be awake, Zelda was very sure this was not a royal staff-member that was doing the knocking. She sighed, standing from her desk and book, slipping a ribbon to mark the page she had finished. Wrapping the woollen cloak tighter around her form, she opened the door and saw that it was Savir Varekai.

She was not particularly surprised.

"Come in," she suggested, before he opened his mouth, which was fixed in a very suggestive grin, "May I assume that you've heard?"

"Lynda's engagement?" The Sheikah closed the door with a decisive click, "I've heard."

"You sound almost cheerful."

"Oh believe me, I'm furious," Savir snickered, and his eyes flashed with his rage, "I'm just really good at hiding it. You know, years of practice, under the Queen's service."

Zelda's eyes were flat, but they hid her renewed fear of this man. The one that was standing before her in the rage that was displayed in his pleasant smile, was not the man Lynda loved, but the man that had helped bring Zelda's kingdom down in the Lost Seven Years. Zelda realised that she had known, in the back of her mind, that she had seen this coming, seen the fact grow in front of her eyes for so long that she had hardly known that it was there.

If Savir had shucked the name and the background of Sheik, if he had lived these seven years without being used by her family, he would not have this rage, this pent up bloodlust for her parents. It was only Lynda's heart, constant in affection after all the twists and bends in time, that tempered his immense dislike for her, Zelda, his lover's sister. He was the man that he was in Ganondorf's reign because Zelda had not exacted fair judgement, but revenge on him, by refusing his identity and his innocence.

"What do you want, Savir?" she said, carefully, curling the hand that held the Triforce under her cloak, in case of battle.

"Oh, you know, to ask for permission, almost… well, a warning, really," ho-hummed, clasping his hands behind his back almost innocently. "You see, I think the throne room needs redecorating."

"Oh?"

"I thought red. I think the king's blood will make a nice coating. Poetically ironic, you know? Oh, and that duke and his son, too. The one that Lynda won't be able to marry, since he'll be dead as soon as I know who he is. What do you think? Can I? Please?"

Zelda turned pale. Her knees buckled, and she grabbed a chair to hold her balance. "You… you intend to…?"

"Well of course," Savir huffed with annoyance, "The only way I can see Lynda getting out of this is either the bastard refuses to marry her, or the bastard dies. Now, if the marriage proposal's going ahead, I'm assuming I believe quite rightly so in saying the bastard is in full support of screwing with my woman, so option two seems the way to go. More satisfying, too.

"Or you know, I was thinking of asking the sages a favour, give him a colourful end, like maybe frozen to death in the middle of the field with some rosebushes growing under his skin and volcano fumes in his lungs and the poes shrieking round his corpse so his soul won't go to the Shadow temple for judgment and make him feel awesome pain."

"You mustn't!" Zelda cried out, panic written across her features, "That would scream their involvement and that could lead us to war! The Hylians will demand revenge from all the races and the Sheikah will be blamed as well and the Duke's country will want retribution for a lost aristocrat!"

His tone was petulant. "I could take the rest and exterminate their whole kingdom, if you like?"

"No! Then the other countries will get involved and-"

"Yeesh, settle down, you're ruining all my fun," Savir rolled his eyes and smirked. "Then-?"

"No! You mustn't! You mustn't touch the King, or the Duke, or his son!"

"Why not?" Savir taunted, grinning like a shark, red eyes flashing with power. "I've been lenient all these years, Zelda, I've been patient. Seven years, I thought, I've lived through it, I'll live through it again. I'll rise up the ranks, as before, and I'll earn my right to freedom, because guilt did have it's hold on me at first. It rusted away, I have to admit, but right before I did something drastic against this palace, Lynda came along, and she healed me. You owe her for that. And right now, her perception of happiness solely lies with me, and mine with hers. I'm free, now Zelda, free to do what ever I want, have what ever I want, and right now, I want to get rid of what's stopping me from having Lynda by my side."

"Murder, is not the answer!"

"Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of manslaughter. Murder just seems too clean."

"Why are you telling me this?" was Zelda's hiss, "When you know I'll do everything to stop you?"

"You won't," he told her kindly, almost sadly, like he was explaining to a child that Subra, the Subrosian saint that wore red-and-white and rode caterpillars with bells on their legs and rewarded children with presents under their beds every winter was a big, fat, lie, "Not once you've seen this."

Savir grabbed her face and Zelda yelled and she tried to close her eyes but she couldn't because Savir's red irises were so dilated that his pupils were black holes, and they showed a shadowy figure wearing a ceremonial wedding gown, shivering with fright, being stalked by another figure, a man, that shifted from fat to skinny to tall to short to muscled to frail, and he touched her shoulder, and the newly-wed wife slapped his hand away and the man raised a hand and he smacked her and she retaliated but she was smacked the other way and tumbled to a bed and they struggled and her dress was ripped from her and-

"No!" Zelda tore herself away, dropping to the floor, trying to cover her ears and eyes.

"You really want that to happen?" Savir asked her, with a tone that was best used giving an opinion on which dress, the purple or the pink one, to buy. "I'm not a prophet, so all I showed you was just my imagination, but I think it'll be a whole lot worse, don't you think?"

"Lynda… oh Nayru…"

"Zelda," Savir sighed, as he kneeled down and tipped Zelda's chin up to make her meet his gaze, "Just tell me the Duke's name, and I will have his throat. I will cut him, and Lynda would be safe."

Zelda's tone was scathing. "But will she be safe from you?"

"Zelda, I'm genuinely hurt," Savir wore an appropriately sad expression, "Really, do you consider me so heartless that I'd do that? I love her, Zelda. There is nothing in this world that will make me hurt her. Or is it because I seem to be so excited about the idea I'll be a murderer? Princess, I know Lynda's going to hate my guts if I really did all those things, so why would I even bother? All I'm doing right now is bitching and complaining, and asking your permission, since you're the King's daughter, to get rid of at least the duke's son. And no, I don't find pleasure in hurting people. That's just sick. Although imagining it is kinda fun, sometimes. But for future reference, I'll tell you now I find people worrying and getting scared more amusing then anything else. What was my point again?"

Zelda slapped his hand away and Savir winced and shook the now sore appendage. "You're insane."

"Oh, hardly," Savir smiled, and then clicked his fingers in remembrance. "Right! I'm trying to persuade you that I'm a good guy!"

"You consider that possible?"

"I admit it'll perhaps take me years, but whoever said I couldn't start?" was his easy grin. Zelda noticed there was a lack of rage in his stance. "But seriously, would I go so far as to ask your permission to do these things if I knew you were going to stop me?"

There was a pause, and the sheepish, hopeful smile melted away. His shoulders slumped as Savir drained of rage and revenge and the urge to rend things to shreds. "Zelda," he whispered, "I'm terrified for her. If you couldn't undo the bonds, how could I? You know the issue isn't power; even if I did get rid of that mark, how do I know my magic won't damage her hand? I might risk it if it were her right… but if I mess up she might never be able to hold a sword. That would kill her."

His eyes were pleading. Zelda realised with shock that after all these years, it was the first time Savir had ever gotten close to begging. Her heart twisted for Lynda.

"Murder is still not the answer."

Savir threw his hands into the air to cry out in exasperation. "I'll make it look like an accident if I have to! I'll leave it to killing one person instead of three; I'll make it quick, clean, whatever you want! Or I'll hire men, does that make it better?"

"No!" Zelda snapped, "Just give me time! I will personally look into their past, at their lineage, and I will find anything that will free her. Give me three weeks! Is that so much to ask?"

Savir shook his head. To him a death was a necessity with or without his rage, for bribes were out of the question, and blackmail did not last forever.

"Just so you know," he sighed, "I would've been a whole lot nicer to you if Lynda and I were intending to stay here. But since we're not, you're in the way, even if you are Lynda's sister."

"So…?" Zelda crouched, and beneath her cloak the Triforce glowed.

Purple fire burst from his hands, "To protect her, I'm going to drag that name out of you by force."

"Try it!"

With a guttural yell Savir threw his weight into the punch against the shield of blue light Zelda erected, and the purple flames roared and backfired on him. Yelling, he was thrown against Zelda's cabinet, and his spine threatened to snap in two at the contact.

He groaned. Zelda let her shield down and golden energy immersed her fingers. They slipped and slid like strings of a marionette, and they glided, stealthily, towards Savir's still form…

There was a blur and a boom and Zelda was thrown back whacking against the wall as Savir leapt black lightening crackling his knuckles Zelda ducked crash there was soot all over the wall now and Zelda rolled and orange stars scratched his face as he kicked for her abdomen a magic barrier repelled him and Zelda's strings hissed and flailed like whips of fire and he had five shadows that stood next to him, took the golden blows and they died sticky shadowy deaths as blades thin as needles flashed in between his fingers.

Zelda rolled away as Savir stabbed the ground and she pulled at Time and the seams between this world and the next and with the borrowed power formed twin scimitar knives with long handles, and she countered Savir's blows of metal like a true warrior Princess.

Damn, Savir thought, Impa.

Damn, he also thought, why do I need Ganondorf now?

He rolled his wrists and black lightening crackled round his hands again only they gathered and writhed into a ball and he threw it and there was a flash of remembrance and fear on Zelda's face as she swiped her knife at the thing and cut it in half and it fizzled away. Sheik threw another and Zelda cut it with the other scimitar. They were both gasping and sweat was gleaming on their foreheads.

"Nice weapons," Savir complimented her idly.

"Weapon." She hissed, emphasising the singular. She thrust the pommels of the two blades together and there was a burst of light and her golden tendril connected the two blades together and Savir hissed with annoyance because it was a damn bow and Zelda had a light arrow caught in it, not the spell, but a real, pure, light arrow.

"You will sleep until you can think calmly, rationally, and finished with being tempted into rash actions."

Savir bared his hands shaped into claws at her and shoved, as if he were trying to squash something in between his hands. Her bow crackled with the energy it had just cut in half and it rocketed through her arms to her body and she convulsed with a short scream.

She crumpled.

Savir sighed. He carefully walked over to her and rolled her onto her back. She had a nosebleed. "Sorry I had to resort to cheating," he said to her, and her eyelids fluttered, with what seemed to be pity and plea. He looked uncomfortably away, noting almost wistfully that only a few months ago this sort of victory would have been the stuff of his wildest, fanciful dreams.

He touched her forehead, and shoved.

His magic whirled through her mind. Her memories. She is worried, she goes to Lynda, his Lynda who looks ecstatic with that beautiful smile, and they speak and Lynda scowls and they're walking. They go to the ballroom, they bow and the contrasting similarities of the sisters amuse him and there, the name is spoken.

There, the man accepting the King's camaraderie embrace, the name, Duke Serpine.

Savir blinked, and a wide, vicious smirk rose on his face, and its magnitude of malice and bloodlust woke Zelda enough for her to speak.

"No… don't…"

"I will," he pleasantly promised, his red eyes gleaming, "For I know of him. You know, from my old job, under the thumb of your mother."

Zelda whimpered. "Lynda…"

"She'll be safe," he promised her, with more sincerity, "I'll take her away from here, as soon as the deed is done. I'll keep her happy, by my life. Rest easy, Zelda, you'll have one less grub in your court."

He stood, dusted his tunic down, and tottered on his feet a little. He cursed; he had used a lot of magic.

Then, carefully, he left through Zelda's door, walked down the corridor, and making sure the shadows were empty of Impa's presence, entered it, and warped away.

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