The Legend of Link:
The Bastard Prince
11. Arbiter's Grounds
The sky was a dusty pink and orange colour when Zoelda woke up, her neck and back slightly stiff from sleeping half upright. She couldn't see the sun through the opening of the inlet, but dawn seemed to have just approached if the colours of the sky were to be trusted. Though the last remnants of sleep threatened to pull her back under, she was determined not to sleep too late today - and she didn't particularly want to go back to her dreams again.
While, like all her dreams since she'd arrive in Hyrule, Demise's presence lingered heavily, always watching, always waiting; this time he didn't make a move to control her, seemingly having given up on that idea since the last time didn't work. So, in the dreams of last night, she'd been subjected to simply staring at him as he did her, with Alarink stood between them. Alarink's presence in her dream made her slightly nervous, not because of the conversations they'd had before she'd fallen asleep, but because he seemed subtly different in her dream.
Though she hadn't known him for very long, she suspected she knew him better than most people who'd known him his entire life, and as such, she liked to think that his lack of fear in dangerous encounters had a limit, that he probably wouldn't stand up against Ganondorf in the flesh in the same way he had against her the day before. But, in her dream, he'd seemed more than willing to give his life up against Ganondorf, to the point where it felt like he wouldn't even put up a fight.
Plus, there had been that mark on his chest, a cut that ran from his left shoulder to right hip that bled both blood and the golden light of the Triforce.
It was that mark that made her curiously regard his torso as she pushed herself away from him, noticing that the cut on her leg didn't hurt as much as she did. The belts that secured his weapons to his back covered where the cut would have been visible, and his slightly too small tunic was thick enough that it wasn't see-through. So, she racked her thoughts back to any time she'd seen even the slightest glimpse of his torso under his shirt, trying to remember if there had been some kind of scar or cut crossing it.
Lost in her thoughts, a slight blush on her cheeks as she thought of all the times she'd caught a glimpse of Alarink's chest, seemingly by accident, Zoelda didn't realise she was looking directly at his face until she felt him grinning at her.
"OH!" She exclaimed as she realised, turning her face away slightly as he continued to grin. "Sorry…"
"Oh, no, don't worry about it," he replied, his voice light as he untied the cloth that held his hair in a short tail and shaking the sand out of it. "I've had many people stare at me in the early morning, though none with the same kind of concentration as you. Something on your mind? Something on my face? … Is there something on my face?"
Looking up at him again, watching as he brushed sand off his face and out of his hair a little self-consciously, she noticed the light shadow stubble on his chin that had grown quickly over the course of the night and the deep shadows under his troubled pale eyes that seemed to suggest that he hadn't slept. She also noticed the red mark on his cheek from where she'd slapped him, a small grin coming to her lips as she did.
"Ah, fuck, I do have something on my face, don't I?" He asked, pulling his hair back up. "Alright, where is it? What is it? Bug? Sand clump? Something unspeakable?"
"A red slap mark." Zoelda giggled slightly, feeling no remorse over her slap causing a mark that lasted overnight.
"Really?" He rubbed a hand over his cheek, wincing a little as he did. "Impressive, Zo."
"Thanks, and sorry." She smiled, brushing her own face free of the sand that had collected the night before, knowing better than to try and clean her hair of it - she'd have to do that with water at some later point.
"It'll be hard to explain why you slapped me to the Princess later, but I suspect she won't think you needed a reason." Alarink rubbed his chin as he reached around for one of the bags, pulling out some fruit for their breakfast. "Speaking of her 'highness', I told her and 'Link' we'd meet them at Arbiter's Grounds before this afternoon, so we should probably get moving soon. We don't want to get caught out in the heat waves later."
"Right," she muttered, pushing herself into a sitting position and removing the blanket from about her legs. A part of her seemed to have forgotten they were currently in a desert and that if they stayed there much longer they were liable to start boiling. So, she grabbed one of the apples and got to her feet, noticing she was slightly unsteady but certainly not as bad as she could have been. "We aren't going to walk to Arbiters, are we? It'll take us all day!"
"Of course we're not walking." Alarink said, pulling his bag over his shoulder and putting his weapons back away. As he sheathed his short sword under his tunic, Zoelda covertly watched his lower torso, trying to spot any sign of the cut from her dream as his tunic rode up a little.
"Hey," Zoelda jumped, not so much at his sharp tone but in embarrassment as a blush flooded her cheeks again. Looking up at him, she saw him grinning, the troubled look in his tired eyes gone, replaced by amusement and some other unnamed emotion. "My eyes are up here."
He then very deliberately turned around so she couldn't see his eyes and he couldn't see her roll hers. Sighing as she dropped the apple core in the sand - knowing some Moldorm would enjoy that later - she began to sheath her swords as well, noticing she was already beginning to sweat in the morning sun. It was going to be a long day, she suspected as she watched Alarink walk a Bullbo back to where she stood.
"We'll ride him," he said, giving the creature his own apple core to eat while he brushed himself down of sand, rubbing at his chin again afterwards. "Ugh, I can't stand this. Let's wrap up here in the desert quickly so I can shave."
"I was thinking more let's get out of the desert quickly so we don't burn, but sure." Said Zoelda as she looked the Bullbo over. "We can't spur these into a gallop, can we?"
"I wouldn't recommend it, no," Alarink said, motioning to her to get on first, much to her surprise. "You steer, I'll take care of any Moldorm. With that injury I don't think you should be doing any fighting right now."
"Okay," she replied, limping ever so slightly as she made her way over to the Bullbo and mounted it. It was shorter than a horse, but she supposed they rode in the same way, though she didn't like the way her feet almost touched the floor when seated on it. As he got on behind her, Alarink tucked her legs up so her knee was the lowest point, reaching just above the creature's ribs.
"Straddle it like that so you don't injure your legs," he said as he tucked his own legs up and rested them on the inside of hers. "They're more suited to Hylians and Blublin height, but I'm sure we can manage."
"What are you that's made you so much taller than normal Hylians?" Zoelda asked as she wiggled the reins, moving the creature into its standard run, deliberately trying not to think about the way her legs were supporting Alarink's or of the conversations they'd had the night before. She knew she was taller than a normal Hylian - or even human - thanks to the blood of the Goddess being watered down over the generations of breeding with humans, though the question of why Alarink was so tall, of where he came from and what he was, still plagued her.
"You'll find out later, Zoelda," he said in response, shooting an arrow into an approaching Moldorm as he did. By now, she knew better than to push it, so she settled on simply steering the Bullbo in the direction of the spires growing taller on the northern horizon. That feeling that something important was going to happen in Gerudo grew ever stronger as they rode on and the heat bore down on them.
It took them until just before noon to reach Arbiter's Grounds, and by then the heat was almost unbearable. It didn't help that Zoelda was raised in Britain, where the heat rarely got above 25ºC in the summer, so she wasn't used to the heat or the sun hitting down on her without any clouds to block it. The fact that she was also wearing an armoured dress of coarse fabric was not particularly helpful and she was practically drenched in sweat by the time they arrived in the courtyard before Arbiters.
As she and Alarink dismounted and walked into the slightly shaded courtyard, she noticed he wasn't sweating anywhere near as much as she was, a fact that made her unnecessarily angry. For a moment she even wondered if Alarink was part Gerudo, which would have explained both his height and seeming imperviousness to the heat, before disregarding it as a stupid thought. Even if there were still the occasional Gerudo women around, it would've be unlikely that any of them would've enticed the former Link from Ilia.
They made their way to the entrance of the coliseum that was Arbiter's Grounds, sticking to the occasional shade provided by crumbled old prison cells as they did, Zoelda willing herself not to spontaneously combust as the heat continued to overwhelm her. She could practically feel her skin peeling away from her body when the sun beat down on her.
"Keep moving," Alarink muttered encouragingly to her when she slowed under the heat. "We're nearly there." Looking over at him, seeing the strained look on his face and haunted tiredness to his eyes, she wondered if he was saying that as much for her as he was for himself.
Finally, just as the sun hit its highest point, they arrived at the base of the coliseum to see Link and the Princess hiding in the shaded entrance to the dungeon. Zoelda looked up once at the coliseum, her mind boggling at the fact it could be so high and yet the spires of the sages could be even higher. Heatwaves obscured much of her view, and the crushing sunlight made looking up at the pale coloured structure for too long painful, so she finally looked away and walked into the shaded doorway with great enthusiasm.
As soon as she'd crossed into the shadow, the Princess embraced her. The sudden hug caught Zoelda all off balance, leading her to stand there awkwardly patting her back until she finally let go.
"My apologies," Princess Zelda said, her eyes slightly watery as she pulled way. "I'm just so relieved to see you alive. I truly feared the worse for a while there."
"Oh," Zoelda didn't particularly know what to say to that as she stood a little awkwardly, unable to break the Princess' gaze. "I'm sorry to have worried you."
"Hey, where's my hug?" Alarink asked, his arms held open wide and expectantly just behind Zoelda. His stance caused his tunic to ride up slightly, revealing a sliver of skin that was very hard to see against the light behind him. Still, Zoelda squinted against the light, trying to see even the hint of the cut she'd seen in her dream at his right hip. "Okay, seriously, Zoelda. What is with you staring at my chest today?"
"I'm not staring at your chest." Responded she automatically, meeting his quizzical gaze with her own, willing her blush not to rise as she did. There was something about the way he looked today, something subtle but profound, that made her to a double take every time she looked at his eyes - sometimes they were haunted, sometimes just tired or slightly strained, but there was now something there in them that she couldn't place. It was an almost silent question, teasing her into understanding it, but one she wasn't sure she knew how to answer.
"Right…" Alarink said sarcastically, his arms still open for a hug and his features serious though a laugh was hiding behind his haunted eyes. "Sure you're not."
"Regardless, Alarink," the Princess said, rolling her eyes and walking over to Link, who had been setting up a small platter of food for lunch - a selection of different breads and cheeses to go with the fruit that seemed to accompany every meal in Hyrule. "I'm not going to hug you and we need to carry on moving. So, let us eat before we carry on to the Mirror Grounds."
"Very well," he said, moving to sit next to the food set on a small blanket. "Though in future, you could at least pretend to have missed me a little. One hug isn't going to kill you."
"I'd rather not take my chances."
"I'm just a guy asking for a hug here."
"Ask the Twili."
"Speaking of the Twili," Zoelda said carefully, watching the way that Alarink was eyeing the Princess after her last heartless statement; there seemed to be a warning not to push it in that glance. "How are we going to get to their realm and who is going there?"
"I'll be the one to open the gate to the Twilight Realm," said Alarink, the warning in his look at the Princess still there. "And, as long as it's alright with Zeldy, you and I will go through together to get the blessing and Master Sword."
"Why am I not allowed to come through with you?" The Princess asked, her tone genuinely curious. "It's a royal duty to keep the communications to the Twili open, after all."
"It's a duty you've ignored your entire life, Princess. And I doubt Midna will want to see you since you've ignored her all this time and believe her to be dead."
"It would be an opportunity for me to see her alive with my own eyes." The Princess remained stubborn and Zoelda suspected there was another argument brewing. "You can't refuse a royal request, Alarink."
"Oh, but I can, Zelda." Alarink was equally as stubborn on the matter as the Princess, a strange note of command in his voice. "You will remain here with 'Link' as I take Zoelda with me to the Twilight realm."
"You can't order me around!" Princess Zelda shouted at him, shocked that he'd even try to do such a thing. An angry blush stood on her hardened features as she pointed at Zoelda. "And why does she get to come if I can't?"
"Because Zoelda will prove our cause to Midna, who may be on the fence about giving her blessing otherwise; Ganondorf's body is in her Kingdom after all."
"Surely my presence will help prove the validity of the cause too?" The Princess insisted. Behind her, packing away the rest of the food, Link was rolling his eyes, motioning to Zoelda to help him as the others continued to argue. "You can't refuse me, Alarink!"
"Princess," said Alarink firmly, his features hard as he stared her down. "Since the end of the Twili invasion, no member of the royal family has ever visited their realm."
"Yeah, because-"
"You couldn't?" Alarink smiled, though there was no amusement in his eyes. "That's a lie and you know it. There was only one brief period of time when no one could open the Twilight gate, between Link dying and me arriving. Before and after then, there has been a way for you to keep your communications open, you just didn't use it. I have even offered to take you there in the past."
"I would never take you up on that sort of an invitation."
"Then you have no right to request it of me now." He said sharply as he stood up, brushing himself down and keeping a level gaze at the Princess. "You might be Princess here in Hyrule, Zeldy, your say here might be absolute and you may have never been refused access anywhere here in your life, but you'll have no power in the Twilight Realm. And, as much as I think it'll do you some good to see things from a commoner's point of view in the Twilight Realm, I doubt you'd appreciate having to answer to someone you've looked down on."
"I may surprise you." The Princess rose to her feet, raising her chin in an attempt to look down on the man before her and command herself over him. It was a humorous sight considering she was a head shorter than him in Ilia's boots.
"I doubt it," Alarink grinned at how she was looking down on him from below.
"I command you to take me with you to the Twilight Realm!"
"And I command you to stay here." The Princess blinked in surprise, a flush coming to her cheeks. Alarink was looking down at her sternly, even regally, his eyes amused but face set as he did, the sun coming in from behind him to make him look even more intimidating.
Despite them being nearly the same age, there had never a more clear divide between their maturity than then - Princess Zelda looked every bit of a spoilt young Princess while Alarink looked every inch of an aged bastardised hero.
It was in that moment that Zoelda remembered how the Princess had mockingly called him "Bastard Prince" in the inn two nights before, asking him: "How did you feel when people treated you differently because of that title, Link?"
A shiver went down Zoelda's spine as she watched the two of them stare each other down, the implications of Alarink's nickname becoming ever clearer as he held his ground against the Princess of Hyrule.
After a few more moments - and the feeling of eternity passing - the Princess finally lowered her eyes, silently admitting defeat.
"I'm glad you could see it my way, Zedly dear." Alarink smiled, patting her gently on the shoulder, an act that only added more insult to injury. "But chin up, you've yet to show us your way to the Mirror chamber. I'd imagine it's a lot easier to traverse than going through the dungeon like I usually do."
"Follow me…" The Princess mumbled, her head down as she walked over to the seemingly solid right wall of the coliseum entrance and removed a brick from it. Behind the thin brick was a key hole, the key itself hidden in the back of the removed the brick. Princess Zelda unlocked the door and motioned to Link to push the door open for her, revealing a flight of roofed over stairs that seemed to run the entire perimeter of the coliseum. "This is the way Mother used to take Princess Midna back a score of years ago. We walk the perimeter of the coliseum once on these stairs before reaching its peak and descending the stairs there into the Mirror Chamber."
Alarink whistled lowly, testing the second step's integrity with his foot as he looked up at the rest. "Much easier than traversing the dungeon…" He muttered before jogging up a few of the stairs. "Come on then, we should try and get to the Chamber before dark."
Zoelda, still a little shaken by the argument between him and the Princess, shrugged and started after him, leaving the Princess to follow after her and Link to close the door before he brought up the rear.
It didn't take long until the stair jogging became stair trudging. Though the roof over the stairs protected them from the sun, the heat still sapped their energy and the stairs seemed to go on forever. Plus, there was the fact that Zoelda had been injured the night before, and while it didn't hurt all that much, it was still healing and causing her an uncomfortable thudding pain.
Maybe half an hour later, they reached the piece of crumbled stair. A distance of perhaps ten feet had crumbled into nothingness over the years of use, though the outer wall of the stairs still held firm to the roof over it. Alarink was regarding it carefully as Zoelda approached him from behind. Though her and the other two were beginning to tire, Alarink hadn't even broken a sweat and would already be half way there if it wasn't for the rest of them slowing him down.
It was almost as though the promise of going to the Twilight Realm was giving him more energy than he ever seemed to have had before, all the tiredness that had so plainly spoken of no sleep the night before had disappeared as soon as they'd started climbing the stairs to the Mirror Chamber. Or perhaps it was just a high after besting the Princess in an argument.
Either way, Zoelda resented his energy as she rested her hands on her knees at the chasm, happy for the opportunity to stop for a minute and catch her breath. A part of her was trying to wrap her head around how Alarink was acting towards the Twilight Realm, finally putting the final pieces of the puzzle of where he came from and who his mother was into place, while another part of her was avoiding looking at it too closely. The combination of puzzling thoughts, heat and bone-weary exhaustion was giving her a severe headache.
"It's a hole, Alarink." She said sarcastically as she straightened up, her breathing more steady.
"I can see that, Zoelda." He sarcastically replied, rubbing his chin as he continued to think. "I'm just trying to think of a way for the rest of you to cross it."
"What, you could do it on your own no problem?" Snapped she as the other two caught up to them, Link supporting his Princess with a hand on her elbow. Seeing such support made her irrationally angry at Alarink - why wasn't he helping her like that?
"Sure," he pointed at a few cracks in the coliseum wall to their left and the gaps in the outside wall to their right that acted like windows. "Light parkour."
"Here," the Princess pulled out a long, coiled up rope ladder from her bag, handing it to Alarink as she put the bag back on her back. Since their argument, the Princess hadn't said much and had obviously been avoiding the brunet, and as she spoke to him now, there seemed to be a note of respect, even submission in her voice as she left the problem of crossing the chasm in his hands.
"Thank you, Princess." Alarink took the rope ladder with a grin, securing it to the ground with a few chunks of rubble littering the stairs and looping the rest around his shoulder as he began preparing himself to cross the chasm. The rest of them stood out of his way and watched as he carefully planned his route, muttering incoherently under his breath. The Princess sighed as he turned to them and winked while Zoelda watched him with angry eyes, wishing he would simply get on with it.
Suddenly it struck her that her and the other Zelda had almost changed roles with dealing with Alarink since the argument, a fact that made her feel profoundly uncomfortable.
She didn't linger on the thought too heavily then as Alarink had wondered a few steps down to get a running start on his chasm crossing parkour. The three of them watched as he began running, his mutterings becoming louder as he ran, each step punctuated by a word they couldn't hear until he got closer to them.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…" Zoelda rolled her eyes, what else would he be muttering which each running step?
Then he launched himself at the right wall, grabbing onto the window ledge at the last minute, readying his feet to launch off again immediately into the left wall, grabbing onto an almost invisible crack to hold himself upright.
"Fuuuck! Fuuuuck!" He shouted each time he jumped from wall to wall, a certain type of elegance and grace in how he was managing to keep his momentum up without ever faltering. Only his swearing marred a graceful performance of crossing the chasm, though it did leave Zoelda wondering if the Links of the past were actually swearing every time they jumped or swung their sword, making that apparent "hyup!" sound as they did.
Finally, after no more of a minute of parkouring - though it had felt like an eternity to the secretly worrying Zoelda - Alarink reached the other side of the chasm, raising his arms above his head like a gymnast as he landed.
"Parkour!" He shouted, fist pumping the air immaturely as the rest of them watched him, relief and annoyance at his delaying them plain on their faces.
"Link!" Zoelda shouted at him from across the gap, her gaze hard. Even at such a distance, she could see him grinning at himself and at managing to annoy them.
"Alright, fine," shouted he back, securing the other end of the ladder carefully with rubble from his side of the gap.
When they were given the sign that it was safe enough to cross, Zoelda was sent first. Setting aside her fears that this wasn't safe and that she'd fall tens of feet to her death in a desert, she carefully got on her hands and knees and crawled across, pointedly not looking beneath her as she did. When she got to the other side of the chasm, Alarink offered his hand to help her up, which she took gratefully without even much thought at how annoying he'd been in his crossing before.
As she got to her feet, her hand still in Alarink's, she noticed their Triforces glowing like they had when he'd helped her to her on Malanya when they first met. Looking up from their hands, intending to ask him why he was yet to let go, she saw a sad smile on his lips. It was the same sad smile he'd had when they'd seen Demise in the Throne room, the smile of one giving themselves over to a destiny they don't like, but can't change.
But behind the smile in his pale turquoise eyes was the same question that had been there since this morning, the one she didn't know how to answer or even - more tantalisingly - what exactly it meant.
Finally, he let go of her hand and grinned that damned grin of his, though his eyes were still haunted by the question and sadness. "Next time, allow me a moment to celebrate, please."
"Sure, Alarink," she rolled her eyes as she watched the Princess begin her crawl across.
Thankfully, that was the only crumbled area on the stairs and the rest of the journey was much like the beginning: uneventful and strenuous. Though, for the rest of the almost two hour climb to the Mirror Chamber, Alarink stayed a little closer to Zoelda, keeping their pace a little slower and helping her occasionally when the pain in her leg became a problem.
Alarink's differing behaviour that day was enough to give her whiplash, though she tried not to think too heavily on it as they climbed, instead focusing on the simple problem of putting one foot ahead of the other up the stairs. Although, more frequently than she liked, her thoughts travelled back to the argument between him and the Princess, and the final implications of who he was.
She was almost certain she knew now and with that certainty came the realisation that - while he had obviously kept it from her well and for a necessary reason - she should have figured it out much sooner. It was almost incredibly obvious in hindsight. Then again, what wasn't?
Finally, they reached the top of the stairs that lead into the Mirror Chamber itself. The Chamber had not been changed at all since the end of the Twilight Era, much to Zoelda's surprise. She'd expected to see a new Mirror of Twilight at least, but instead the old broken Mirror still stood staring at a blank slab of black rock.
Evidentially, the lack of new Mirror also caused some confusion to the Princess and her knight as both their faces were questioning and quizzical. It occurred to her that she still had no idea how they were going to open the road to the Twilight Realm, and it looked like the other two didn't know either.
Only Alarink, who was jogging down the stairs two at a time, almost desperate to get to the bottom and the slab that allegedly lead to the other realm, knew how it worked. They were all reliant on his ability to get them an audience with the Princess of the realm, on his ability to get to the realm in the first place.
The three of them picked their way down the steep stairs carefully, exhausted by the climbing in a way that Alarink wasn't, though Zoelda still suspected that his lack of exhaustion stemmed from the fact that he was eager to go to the Twilight Realm for whatever reason. As they finally reached the bottom, the sun edging its way to setting once again and the air around them turning very cold, they saw the brunet setting up a small fire and rummaging through his bag.
"I suggest we get something to eat and set up a tent for the night before Zoelda and I go in." He said as they approached. "Time can move very differently in there, a few hours can be days in Hyrule, or vice versa."
"Why is that?" Zoelda asked, putting her own bag down and getting out her food supply for Link, who seemed to have taken up the duty of cooking for them as he started arranging a few pans.
"I don't know," Alarink admitted. "It's just the way it is. The Twili control their time however they please now that they're not linked to Hyrule. Normally, they leave it alone though, so we'll probably be gone however long it seems we are."
"Huh," she muttered as she helped the Princess pitch their tent. "How strange."
"The Twili are a strange people." Alarink muttered, removing his weapons. "And there's no need for you to take any weapons with you in to their realm, in fact it'll hurt our case if you do."
"Okay…" Zoelda removed her weapons and their sheaths at his instruction, willing her stomach not to rumble as she smelt the food Link was cooking.
"I think now's as good a time as any," the Princess drew herself up as she helped Link dish up the food he'd cooked for them - nothing particularly exciting, just some toasted bread and cheese, but easily the nicest looking meal since they'd left the inn. "Alarink, how are you going to open the way to the Twilight Realm?"
"I'll show you when the time comes." He answered flatly, a twinkle in his eye as he winked at the Princess over his food. She scoffed at him, and, suddenly, Zoelda's faith in the natural balance of things was restored.
They ate their food quietly as Alarink rummaged through the bags looking for something, his cheese on toast in his mouth as he did. Beside him already was the robe he'd worn to the Eldin Spring a few nights ago and Zoelda was looking at it with thinly veiled curiosity. It was a black robe with a cyan lining and golden trim around the belled sleeves. There were thin, almost unnoticeable blue patterns embroidered into it here and there and the entire item altogether looked very Twili.
It was then that her suspicions on Alarink's lineage were practically confirmed, though she decided not to get confirmation then and to rather see for herself when they arrived in Twilight.
"Where did I put it?" Alarink mumbled to himself suddenly, one hand undoing the cloth that held his hair up while the other still rummaged through the bags. "I know I put you in one of these bags, so, where are you?"
"Alarink, perhaps if you tell us what you're looking for, we can help you." The Princess said nicely enough, though there was an annoyed undertone to her voice that undermined the pleasantness of her words.
"Very well," he said, his face confused as he pulled his short hair neatly through an onyx ring that Zoelda had never seen before. It was a beautiful ring, obviously pricey, and she couldn't help but wonder why she'd never seen it before. "I'm looking for a circlet. It's a thin silver band with a small ruby set in it and I can't seem to find it anywhere."
"Oh, you mean this?" The Princess pulled out a large ring from her dress pocket. It was very thin, thinner that Alarink had made it out to be, almost a cobweb thin line of silver supporting a ruby no bigger than a fingernail in its centre.
"Princess…" Alarink's tone was icy as he took the circlet from her gently. "Why did you have this in your pocket?"
"I thought you might have bought me a gift."
"And you decided to take it without checking first?"
"Well, I just assumed it would be easier than bothering you about it." Princess Zelda seemed to be missing the frosty tone with which he spoke, carrying on as though it was no big deal that she'd taken something that was clearly important to him.
"Next time, bother to check first." He said from between clenched teeth as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying not to let his anger get the better of him.
"Alright," said she, slightly peevishly as he settled the circlet on his head. Against his dark fringe, the silver seemed to shine like a thousand tiny stars and the ruby glowed like its own planet. "It just seems a shame that you own it. It's a gift befitting royalty, and yet it's worn by a bastard."
"You stupid, royal bitch." Alarink whispered, though not quite quietly enough as the Princess' eyes widened immediately after hearing it. His temper finally broke. "You're not the only member of royalty here, and you'd do well to remember that since you want access to my Kingdom."
He grabbed Zoelda's hand and pulled her to her feet with uncharacteristic force, grabbing his robe with his other hand as they walked over to the broken Mirror in front of the slab. Though he was obviously trying to hide it from her, she could see his hand was a pale blue where it held the robe.
"Make sure Ganondorf doesn't get to her while we're gone," he called to Link over his shoulder as he squared up to the slab before then. "And don't let her steal my shit!"
Then all his anger was gone and he seemed to draw from something deep within himself, breathing very steadily and forcibly calmly as he did. Still holding onto Zoelda's wrist, his grip no longer tight, but light and airy - almost as though he had meant to let go of her, but had forgotten to - he threw his cloak over his shoulder and raised his left hand palm forward to the slab, his eyes closed and his face set as he spoke:
"Here me, ancestors! I am Prince Link, of the Twili, and I request passage for me and this daughter of the Goddess Hylia to my Realm! Open the way and guide me ever more on my quest against the ancient evil!"
The Gate to the Twilight Realm opened slowly on the stone slab, and the bridge into it appeared out of the air before them as Alarink lowered his hand and smiled, crossing onto the seemingly insubstantial bridge with Zoelda by his side. She was far too shocked to do anything more than walk wide eyed next to Alarink into the realm of his childhood.
The realm in which he was not Alarink the bastard philander, but Prince Link, son of Queen Midna and the Hero of Twilight.
AN:
So, Alarink's parentage has finally been revealed. Like I said last chapter, I was both more and less subtle than I wanted to be alluding to that in previous chapters, so you might have figured it out before or you might not have, it doesn't exactly matter now.
I wanted to say here that the next three or four chapters are very long - all over 5000 words - with the next chapter being 8000 ish words in itself. But, from here everything starts moving a little faster - we're at the last battle by the end of chapter 16. Also, like I said last time, with one exception, all the rest of the chapters were written in a day, so they should have more of a cohesive flow.
The only other thing I wanted to say here is that I really enjoyed writing that little argument between the Princess and Alarink in this chapter, it wasn't intended before I started the chapter but now it's probably my favourite part of this one.
So, have a nice week and whatever, see you next time for the first look at the real Alarink.
~WWQ
PS. If you like BOTW, I wrote a little oneshot for Urbosa last Sunday that you can check out from my Profile, it should give an idea of how my writing style has changed, though it's a bit different in this.