Rucas found his husband at home, as expected. Theden was working the evening meal today, and was not due at the Castle a few hours yet. He was at the table, writing what appeared to be a recipe.

The knight crashed down on the chair opposite his husband and just blurted it out. "The King is taking Link to the Master Sword to see if he can claim it."

"What kind of ridiculous joke is this?" Theden said to the announcement, not looking up from the recipe he was writing down. "Do you expect me to buy that? At all? He's twelve. Not up to your usual standards as far as pranks go, dear."

Rucas couldn't help a nervous chuckle. "That's what I said too! To myself. But..."

Theden finally looked up and locked eyes with him. After a moment, the blood drained from his face and he seemed to shrink in on himself.

"You're... not kidding?" he asked. "But... he can't. I know he's good, you keep telling me and so does everyone else, but..."

Rucas looked down and nodded. He heard the chair scrape against the floor and Theden's hands slam on the table.

"NO," the cook said.

"Love," Rucas said in an attempt at a soothing tone, "it's no good..."

"NO GOOD? If the King wants MY SON, he can pry him from my cold dead arms! Where is Link now?"

"Training," Rucas said. "The King doesn't want this anymore than we do, love. He doesn't get a say in it. Any more than we do. It looks like Link's chosen. And if he is, nobody else is going to be, so either he wields the blade against the coming calamity or nobody does and... well, he's Link, isn't he? He's going to go fight it right along with the rest of us, and when we all die, he will too."

"What do you mean, it looks like? And how did he even GET chosen?" Theden's voice was creeping higher, edging nearer and nearer to panic. "What did he do?"

"Talked to Koroks, for one thing..."

Theden tutted. "Well, obviously he's hallucinating. Not great, but..."

"He's not hallucinating. They've told him things I'm not even allowed to tell YOU." He swallowed, an unwelcomed thought suddenly surging to his mind. "Goddess, he might have told others, he doesn't even realize they're secret, I don't think... no, he wouldn't. Would he? He's smart. If they told him anything he'd never heard about before he's going to assume they're secret..."

"Dearest," Theden interrupted. "Nobody can talk to Koroks. Nobody."

"They told him what's in the Lost Woods, Theden. Don't make me go in more details. I need you to trust me. I have good reasons to know for a fact that Link has been talking to Koroks. And they're not the worst thing he's been in contact with."

Theden's eyes had done wild at the mention of the Lost Woods. He swallowed, nodded and gestured his husband to go ahead. Rucas told him everything, including the Legends about the voice in the sword, and the King's reaction. By the end, they were holding each other in silence, both feeling stunned and full of dread.

Rucas let go with a sigh and took a deep breath.

"I have to go get Link and get him to get ready," he said. "I have to get ready myself too..." he added, his pitch rising slightly as he started worrying about not being ready by the time the King sent for them.

"Get ready," Theden said, "I'll go get him. Didn't I SAY that you should turn down the Knighthood and that we should stay in Hateno? Didn't I?"

He didn't give Rucas a chance to answer, walking right out of the door and towards the training yard.

Link flushed when the Captain screamed at him over the din of the sparring and other exercises going on that his Other Dad, aka not their fellow knight Rucas, wanted him. His fellow trainees were grown ups and didn't get called out of practice by their PARENTS. The snickers that rose all around didn't help.

Link blocked his opponent one last time, then jumped back and ran over to the Captain. As announced, his Cook Dad was with him. Link got worried as soon as he saw him: his hands were clasping his apron – he was WEARING his apron, outside - and his mouth was trembling.

There was no actual fighting going on right now, and last he knew, his Knight Dad was going to go talk to the King. But what else than his husband being hurt would put Theden in such a state?

"Dad?" Link asked. "What...? Is Dad okay? What's going on?"

Theden swallowed and tried to smile. "He's fine. Goddess, you can tell I'm upset and that's where your mind went, is it? No, I..."

Theden stopped, suddenly thinking that it was probably best not to mention the whole Chosen by the Blade thing until Link actually had the sword in hand. If they were very lucky and it turned out this was all a big mistake, he didn't want people to make fun of them or worse, of Link.

"By order of the King, Rucas and yourself are going on a trip, right away. Come home and get ready," he said instead.

Link frowned in puzzlement.

"Now, Link," Theden insisted. He turned and walked away, leaving Link no choice but to look at his Captain, who nodded his permission.

Link trotted after his father.

Link and Rucas sat at the table to wait once they were ready, having both changed into their travelling clothes and their travelling bags packed and ready at their feet. Theden paced the room. Link had asked repeatedly to be told where they were going, but his parents had refused to say anything beyond the fact it was Kingdom Business.

Theden refused to say more because he couldn't stand the thought that Link might be excited or eager. He was well aware he had married a knight and was raising another, but there was only so much love of danger he could stomach to see right now.

Rucas refused to say more because he was afraid to say something he shouldn't. He didn't know what the protocol was for being taken to the Great Deku Tree and the Blade that Seals the Darkness. It was possible that Link wasn't to know. Or that the King would want to explain things himself. He just didn't know so he wasn't taking any chances. Messing any of this up was not an option.

They didn't wait long. Sharp knocking at the door startled them all, followed by a ringing voice they were all familiar with.

"HIS ROYAL MAJESTY KING BOSPHORAMUS RHOAM HYRULE," the King's crier announced.

Link's eyes went wide and he jumped for the door. He hurriedly opened it before stepping back, dropping to one knee and bowing his head. He heard the movement as his parents also kneeled.

From that point of view, all he saw were royal looking shoes and lower legs entering the house.

"Where is your eldest son?" the King asked abruptly.

Rucas flushed in embarrassment. The King had apparently never actually seen Link, or at least not with the knowledge of who he was looking at, and understandably thought the small child in front of him had to be a younger brother.

Meanwhile, Link suddenly thought a new mystery was being added to the one he was already in. He had a bigger brother? He wished he could ask about it, but talking without prompting, especially to ask a question the King did not need to hear, was out of the question.

His Knight Dad answered the query and killed the intrigue. "This is Link, your Majesty, our only son."

There was a pause.

"My mistake," the King admitted. "Rise, Link."

Link's eyebrows shot up but he did as told, raising to a full bow.

"Stand straight," said the King.

Link gulped and again obeyed, even straightening his head and therefore not bowing at all. He kept his eyes down in an attempt to still show SOME proper manners. He was starting to wonder if he was in trouble. Maybe his father had been wrong and talking to Koroks WAS an offense somehow.

"Have your parents told you where we are going?" the King asked.

"No, Your Majesty."

There was a pause.

"I'm told you have befriended the Koroks and that a voice, a feminine voice, is beckoning you to the Lost Woods. Is that correct?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. I'm sorry if I wasn't supposed to talk to the Koroks," he couldn't help adding. "I didn't know."

"There was no misdeed," the King said. "These two circumstances cause us to suspect that the voice calling you is the Master Sword itself, and that it has chosen you as its wielder."

Link tilted his head unconsciously. He had no idea what the King was talking about.

"Is this the first time you hear of the Master Sword?" the King asked.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"As it should be. We do not allow knowledge of it to circulate so as to prevent foolhardy attempts to claim it. The sword I speak of is also known as the Blade of Evil's Bane, the Sword that Seals the Darkness, and it is instrumental in driving away the Calamity, Ganon."

Several people, Link's parents and some of the knights behind the King, audibly drew in a sharp breath at the name. Link was shocked too – Ganon was not something you said in polite society.

"Link," the King continued. "If you are indeed the one Chosen by the Blade, nobody will be able to take on this burden in your place. It is best to know for certain, and if the Holy Blade deems you can already claim it, there would be no benefit in waiting: you may as well start training with it and bonding with it as soon as possible. Do you understand?"

Link swallowed. He wasn't sure he did because it sounded like the King expected Link to fight Ganon with a sword that was in the Lost Woods.

The King hummed. "I suppose it is a bit much to take in. Go ahead and ask questions, Link. I would not take you to the Lost Woods without your knowing what's ahead."

"There's a sacred sword in the Lost Woods called the Master Sword and some other names too," Link said, opting to summarize what he thought he understood.

"Correct," the King said.

"If... Ganon..." Link paused, waiting to see if someone would take offense at his saying the accursed name. Nobody seemed to. "If he was to come back, someone would need to use the Master Sword to defeat him," he finished.

"Correct."

"And the Master Sword chooses who that's going to be?"

"Yes."

"And Your Majesty thinks it's me."

"Yes."

Link swallowed again. That just about summed it up. "Does this mean Ganon is about to come back?" he asked.

"The Oracle tells us the Calamity, Ganon, will return in a few years, yes," the King said.

Link cast a quick look at his parents. They were still kneeling, not having been instructed to rise. Rucas was a rock, his whole body completely stiff, including his face, jaw clenched and brow slightly furrowed. Theden was trembling and blinking a lot. It was plain as day that they were scared, worried for him.

Link breathed deeply, silently, through his nose. "I understand, your Majesty," he told the King.