Hi guys! I've written another chapter. It's a longer one, just over 4000 words, and my fingers are starting to cramp. Anyway, here are some review responses.
bluetoonlink: I'm glad you like him. He'll be making many more appearances, don't you worry.
TheEpicNoob: I disagree. Torture is very unpleasant. The idea of losing fingers is very compelling, even to a disciplined operative. Especially since what he did reveal was only the most basic overview of his training (an overview that, as was mentioned, was likely already known by Impa).
Masquerade Link: Thanks! I'm glad you liked it.
SailorZeldatheLightAlchemist: Yeah. Michael sucks.
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Dudes! If you like the story, please leave a review. It makes me smile, and more importantly motivates me to write!
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Anne sat in her carriage, wincing. The bumps in the road jarred her old bones. It had been a long journey to the cabin. The princess had been quiet when Ann had dropped her off. Anne worried for her. Zelda was such a smart girl. Why had she gotten involved with that Michael character?
Ann smiled sadly. She remembered what it was like to be young. Hopefully Zelda would get out before it was too late though. "Dolf!" Ann yelled.
"Whatisit!" The young man yelled back from the driver's seat. Good boy, that one. Anne had raised him well.
"Make for Kakariko! The drop off is at the end of an offshoot of Kakariko road!" She hollered. Anne had told Dolf already, but it was good to remind him. The boy could be absentminded.
The drop offs always made Anne nervous. She knew Impa valued secrecy above all else. No meetings in person, no more information than was necessary. It would be nice if she didn't just stash Anne's pay in some bushes. Still, no one had ever found the drop off before Anne did. Impa knew her business. Ann respected the Sheikah for that.
Anne smiled. The money she was getting for this job would be enough to retire on. Of course, she couldn't retire. Ann owed Impa a life debt, and she would dutifully do what the woman asked of her until Impa absolved her of that debt. Of course, the money was good too. Dolf would make some woman very happy when she found out he was half as rich as a duke. Anne closed her eyes for a moment.
The carriage stopped abruptly. Anne was thrown to the back wall. She cursed. She had fallen asleep. Divines, that had been a thump. What was that boy doing? He knew better than that. She fumbled for a handhold and stood up. That damn boy. She hobbled over to the back door and shoved it open. "DOOOOL-" A hooded figure with a curved blade stood before her.
"Hello ma'am. Interesting path to take so late at night. Would you be so kind as to step out of your carriage and answer a few questions for me?"
Anne swallowed. Where was Dolf?
Zelda was knee deep in mud. Captain Jacob had sent her out to forage for berries while he and Michael hunted. Zelda didn't mind being excluded. She had chosen to pick berries. Botany was one of the few things her tutors had taught her that was useful outside of court. And besides, if all they had was meat, they'd all go crazy inside of a week. Literally. The human body couldn't live off just meat. Zelda had read that somewhere. Probably. She snorted.
Gods above, but she was itchy. Zelda itched herself. Then looked around quickly. Right. No one was here to see her act piggish. Very liberating, that thought. Scratch herself any time she damn well please. She scratched her ass. Nice.
Of course, she'd trade back the mud for onlookers any day. Zelda was used to life in a castle. It was strange. She had always thought of herself as a tough, grounded woman. Now here she was, knee deep in muck, fingers covered in scrapes, every inch of her body itching from the low thread count of her clothes. Zelda was miserable.
Zelda laughed at herself. At least she wasn't dead. She grabbed a nearby branch and pulled herself out of the muck. She had enough berries for the day. Hopefully the men had gotten back. And hopefully they didn't hate each other as much as they did in the carriage.
Zelda picked up her basket and began to walk back. A stream was nearby. She would wash off her clothes, and herself. She wasn't looking forward to that. She'd have to wait for the clothes to dry, or risk hypothermia. Zelda made a face. Not the appropriate response to hypothermia.
Zelda laughed again. She could laugh at her own stupidity for hours. She was a very self-contained girl. A lot of alone time in the castle. Zelda began to take off her clothes. She whistled. A shame she couldn't sing. Zelda stepped out of the muddy dress at her feet. She shivered, then looked at herself in the stream. Ugh. Bad angle. She crouched down and looked again.
Anne had done a great job. She barely recognized the girl who looked back at her. Dark brown shoulder length hair. Deep brown eyes. She didn't look like royalty. She looked… she looked like Michael's sister. She smiled and splashed the water, ruining the image.
Zelda stuck her foot in the water. She yelped and jumped out. Then she laughed. Then she rolled her eyes. She needed friends. She slowly put it back in. Michael. What an attractive man. What a wealthy, educated, arrogant, selfish, idiotic man. Zelda couldn't marry him. She had been thinking about it for a while. It was foolish of her. They were both heirs to their respective thrones. The marriage would unite the two nations and create a new country powerful enough to dominate the continent.
It had been for this reason that Zelda had tried so hard to love Michael, and had until recently succeeded. She couldn't do it anymore. Michael had proven himself to be an uncaring and selfish man, and Zelda could not allow someone such as he to rule her people.
Zelda stuck her hands in the icy water, quenching her burning scrapes. It reminded her of the scars she had seen on the Link's chest. She blushed. He was quite a specimen. The way he had taken charge after the attack had been impressive. He seemed to know what he was doing. Zelda had promised him a kiss…
"Stop that." Zelda became very aware of how naked she was. She was so cold. Link was probably really warm- "No." She said to herself. She got out of the stream, drying herself on the clean parts of her clothes. Zelda then proceeded to stick them in the stream and scrub them.
Link was attractive. It could not be ignored. But there was no future there. Her people would never accept a commoner to be king. Link would need to be some kind of hero to gain the authority necessary to rule. And an affair was out of the question. A marriage was one of the most powerful weapons in diplomacy, and Zelda could not afford to tarnish her sterling image by fooling around with a guard.
Zelda couldn't believe herself. She was thinking about affairs while her life was at stake. She needed to get her priorities straight. She took her wet clothes and hung them on a bush. She sat down. Who would send an assassin to kill her and Michael? Obviously someone didn't care for the idea of them marrying. Enough to hire the Ghul. Something only heads of state could afford.
Hyrule didn't have any political enemies. Their land was too remote. The only thing that lay beyond the Gorian Mountains to the north and east was the Great Sea. The Enchanted Forest to the south could not be navigated through. Burna was their only neighbor that actually had access to Hyrule, and only after a grueling weeklong ride through the Gerudo Wastes.
Burna was a different matter. Its expansionistic policies of the last few monarchs had soured their relations with almost all of their neighbors, Hyrule being the exception.
The Cyric Confederacy to the south had suffered the most from Burna. They would be dead set against Burna gaining more power. Of course, the Cyric Confederacy was disorganized and penniless, so funding the Ghul would be impossible for them.
Ugral was also an outspoken opponent of Burna. But they were also barbarians, with no centralized power. Their more powerful warlords might be able to hire the Ghul, but it would likely bankrupt them. It didn't make sense. The warlords were too busy killing each other and attempting to conquer Ugral to hire assassins to kill a foreign lord.
That only left Thayne and Raush. Thayne was rich and powerful, but they lay far to the south, past the Confederacy, and rarely got involved in wars. Thayne operated off the tradition of the political teachings of Sean Rator, a Thaynian statesman who believed that an emphasis on trade and defense led to the prosperity of a nation. The Thayne rulers had taken this principle to heart.
Now Raush, Raush was a possibility. It was, along with Burna and Thayne, one of the continent's great nations. It also exercised an expansionist mindset in its foreign affairs, having taken bites out of both the Cyric Confederacy and Ugral. Burna and Raush were neighbors, and their diplomatic relations had deteriorated in recent years. It made great sense that Raush would want to keep the alliance from going through.
Zelda could see why. In many ways, Burna and Hyrule complemented one another. Burna was the most populace nation on the continent, but lacked mineral wealth. Hyrule was sparsely populated, but had the forests and iron deposits to become a great industrial power. Combined, the two nations could conquer the continent given enough time. Raush could see to that never coming to pass.
Zelda wouldn't jump to any conclusions. Raush had been a friend to Hyrule, and many times in the world of politics the most obvious answer was the wrong one. She sighed. She should get back. Her clothes were dry now.
Garzha pulled the titanic container forward. She had on servant whites, and so did four of her associates. Together, the five of them wheeled it through the west wing, Sky wing. Garzha glanced toward a door. Two guards stood beside it. Garzha separated herself from the container. The others slowed to a stop without her, their container clogging the doorway to the next hall.
"Oi! What shift is this?" Garzha called, stopping a fair distance away from the two men. They immediately readied their spears, pointing them at her.
"Leave this hall at once citizen! We have been ordered to detain any who loiter in this hall. You must leave, or I will be forced to shackle you." The one on the left declared.
"Oh come on. What shift is this? I just want to know when I can get back to my husband." Garzha said earnestly.
"Leave now citizen!"
"Its D shift, major superior." The one on the right said.
"Wha-" The right guard thrust his spear into the left's neck. The left one gargled in surprise, then fell to the ground in a fast growing puddle of red.
"Four royal guards and six crossbowmen lie in wait, major superior. They will be expecting us." The right guard stated.
Garzha nodded as the other four Ghul ran toward them. The wheels on the mighty container had been destroyed. One handed Garzha her curved sword. "We have prepared for such an occasion. Come, we must hurry." The guard Ghul nodded. They opened the until recently guarded door and ran up the spiral staircase it revealed. The hall only had two entries. The first was now totally jammed with a container containing gravel meant for a garden. The unblocked doorway went directly outside, to said remote garden. There was a gap in security in between the D and E shifts in that garden, so they could make their escape once they had achieved the objective.
Major Superior Garzha grinned. She could not wait to see more blood.
Link folded. The game had not been going well. The decoy Michael had turned out to be excellent at cards, and Link had already lost a week's salary to him after two hours of the damn game. Fake Michael, Henri was his real name, smiled in satisfaction. "Again, my friend?" Henri asked, for the tenth time today. Link gritted his teeth. He had to face he was just bad at cards.
"You need to learn how to give up buddy. Henri can read a man like a book, if Henri could read." Lucien said with a grin. He had stopped playing as soon as Henri won the second time.
"Don't listen to him, my friend! You have simply been dealt bad hands. It is luck, not skill. Come on, one more game. Double or nothing." Henri smiled widely, the very picture of honesty.
Link took a long breath. He needed to let it go. Gods above, but he hated losing. Link hated not doing his job even more, though. "I think you've made enough money today. No, I'm getting out of this seat. Can't fight assassins sitting down." Link got out of the chair.
Small Hans and Lucien were drawing caricatures of an at-attention Derrick on the other side of the antechamber. The crossbowmen had gotten seats facing the door, their crossbows knocked and ready to fire. Link looked back at Derrick. He could not for the life of him figure out that man. He had never so much as seen Derrick draw his blade, and for the most part the man just stayed quiet and still whenever Link had been around him.
The man was too still. Derrick had assumed that position when he woke up. Twelve hours ago. Captain Jacob respected the man deeply, so he must have substantial skill. But Link didn't like going off of reputation alone.
"Derrick." Link called. In the Royal Guard, there was the captain, and then there was everybody else. Link and Derrick were of equal rank.
"Link." Derrick replied. His eyes stayed at the door.
"Why have you never sparred with us?" It was the first question of many Link had for the man.
Derrick was silent for a moment. "It is… hard to say."
"You mean you don't have a reason?" Link was slightly offended. Was Derrick too good to spar with his fellow guardsmen?
"No. I just have never been asked before. I do not spar because my form does not allow it."
"What does that mean? What form does not allow sparring?" The very idea was absurd.
"I practice what Hylian tradition calls Void Stance. It is rare to find a practitioner this far north." Rare was a bit of an understatement. Link had never even heard of it before now.
"Why can't you spar in Void Stance?" Link demanded.
Derrick was silent. "Why can't you spar in Void Stance?" Link repeated himself. Derrick's eyes remained fixed on the door. Derrick unsheathed his sword. He did not carry a shield.
"Ready your blade." Derrick whispered. Link looked at him for a moment, then realized what was happening. Link spun around and yanked out his sword.
"Ready men! They are coming!" Link yelled.
"I just don't understand it, Dugg." Growley said morosely.
"Aw come on, buddy. It can't be that bad." Dugg said, patting the bigger man on the back.
"It is that bad. She won't talk to me. I tried knocking on her Da's door the other day, and all I got was her Da. He told me she didn't wanna come see me. Can you imagine? I've been seeing this girl for six months, and then she hears one rumor- one that's total horseshit I Might Add- and she won't have anything to do with me. I can't even explain to her that it ain't true. She won't let me!" Growley threw his hands in the air in exasperation. Then he grabbed his tankard and took a big gulp.
Dugg sipped on his own drink. "You act like you've given up. You haven't given up, have you?"
Growley put down his tankard and looked at Dugg, the despair becoming evident in his voice. "What else can I do? She won't let me explain. She won't let me show her how much she means to me." The big bear of a man turned away from Dugg then. He looked like he was on the verge of tears.
Dugg took another swig. "Growley. Hey. Growley. Look at me, big guy." Growley turned back to Dugg. "You love this girl?" Growley nodded. "And you want to spend the rest of your life with her?" Growley nodded again. "Then Growley, buddy, don't let her Da keep you from talking to her. Where does she work?"
Growley hummed sadly. "She's a barmaid at Mad Monty's. But she works on my shift. I can't" Growley paused a moment, holding back tears. "I can't not go to work. I'd get fired, if I didn't get thrown in a dungeon first. I have to be there."
Dugg looked at Growley for a long moment. "Growley. Hey, Growley. I'm not gonna just sit here and let your life get ruined. Let me take your place for a day. Let me give you a chance to make this work."
Growley just shook his head. "I can't do that. You can't just swap out this guard, Duggy. It's too important. They have check-ins. They know who I am. You don't look like me at all. It wouldn't work." Growley shook his head again.
Dugg rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, man. It's not like you're a royal guard. They don't know your face. All I have to do is come in with a couple sweaters under my mail to look as big as you, and I'll be fine. We got the same color hair and eyes. We got this man. C'mon! Buck up. We got this."
Growley looked at Dugg uncertainly. "It's a pretty important job, Duggy. I don't know if I should just give it to someone else."
Dugg shook his head. "You need to talk to Donna. You need to. I know I'm not as big as you, and I can tell right now you'd hold your own better than me in the event of an attack. But we both know an attack isn't coming tomorrow. What we do know is that every moment you spend away from Donna is one more moment another guy could swoop in and take her from you. You gotta do it quickly, bud, or else she'll be gone forever."
Growley stared at Dugg for a long moment, then downed the rest of his tankard. "Damn it. You're right. Here." Growley slammed a metal crest down on the table in front of Dugg. Growley got up. "Four to twelve. E and F shift. Password is 'Harkinian'. You're a good man for doing this Duggy. A great man." A smile was starting to grow on Growley's face. "Me and Donna are gonna get married. And you are gonna be there!"
Dugg grabbed the crest in front of him and pocketed it, taking a quick look around to see if anyone had seen. He smiled at Growley. "Course I am. I'm not gonna risk my neck for you two and then not come to the wedding. I better get a free drink for this."
Growley laughed. "Of course, of course. Hold on. I'll get you and me another ale." Growley sat up and lumbered off. Dugg smiled and then cursed. A pain came from his pointer finger. He took his hand out of his pocket and examined it. Damn. A splinter. How unfortunate.
Link was blind. He got his shield in front of him, frantically trying to figure out what was going on. The door had burst open seconds after Link had alerted the men. Then, there had been a bright flash. And now he couldn't see. He could hear men dying in front of him. He couldn't tell if it was Ghul or not. Probably not.
Link blinked furiously. His vision was returning. They had not reached him yet. Link thanked the goddesses for that. He popped his eyes over his shield.
The crossbowmen were dying. There were two left, desperately fending off six assailants. They hadn't hit a single one. "Men! Together!" Link screamed. Small Hans and Lucien scrambled to his side. Derrick stayed where he was. He had not moved since he had unsheathed his blade. Link cursed. Had the man frozen up?
Link advanced quickly on the Ghul, Lucien and Small Hans keeping pace. He charged at one dressed as a guard, assuming the best fire stance he could muster. The Ghul deflected Link's first blow with his curved sword and grabbed a dagger from his belt and attempted to get it over Link's shield. Link punched the incoming dagger with his shield, knocking the Ghul's hand back, then punched out again, connecting with his face.
The Ghul reeled back, but recovered in time to block a horizontal slash from Lucien. Small Hans had charged head first into the densest part of the Ghuls in an attempt to save the last crossbowmen. Three Ghuls were moving to flank him while he wailed his hammer down on a fourth.
Link sucked in air and charged at the Ghuls around Small Hans only to be intercepted by two Ghul before he could get there. A wicked cut took Link under the eye, while another raked sparks across his shield. Link took a few steps back. The two advanced.
They both wore servant whites. One, Link was surprised to see, was a woman. She was the one who had cut him. He frowned. He could not be bested here. He had faced worse.
The male came in low and from the right, while the woman came high from the left. They were trying to back him into a corner. Link would not be so easily played. Link ran directly into the man, shield catching his half formed slash, and shoved it into the man's teeth. The woman's sword came veering in from the side. Link ducked it, barely.
The man grabbed the lip of Link's shield and pulled it down, thrusting his blade at Link. Link turned out of the way and contorted his body into a roll, disengaging. He hopped up next to Derrick, who was still motionless. Lucien backed up to the other side of Link, the Ghul dressed as a guard still engaging him. Five Ghul advanced.
Link was feeling the panic set in now. They could not win this battle. The Ghul had them in a corner. Lucien was the least skilled swordsman in the Guard, and Derrick had apparently frozen up. Link could not take five Ghul alone at once.
A Ghul in white struck first. Link blocked the low blow with his shield, parrying a higher one with his sword, only to see the thrust coming from the woman Ghul too late.
A thrust that never came. Flecks of blood hit Link's face as Derrick's blade severed the sword arm of the woman Ghul. She shrieked in pain, only to have her head lopped off as well. Blood spewed from the stump. Derrick kicked the flailing body into the others. Their servant whites were red now. The first Ghul to strike at Link disengaged and slashed out at Derrick, who ducked under the attack and lifted the Ghul by the sword he had lodged into his stomach.
Link leaped into action. A startled, bloody Ghul awkwardly tried to parry Link's feint, his throat bubbling as Link flicked his sword across it. Derrick shoved the dying man out of his way and attacked the last man in white. The Ghul parried the first, second and third blow. Then he lost his hand, organs and head. The guard Ghul threw down his weapons.
"I submit!" He cried. Three swords went to his throat. "I submit." He said again.
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