Ah ha ha... heeeey guys! So you've probably been wondering where I've been huh? Well, to be honest I've been going through some personal situations getting my life in order. I've also been trying to make more time for my other hobbies like video games and biking.
To help me get my creative juices flowing again, I've also been going back to older chapters and editing them for typos and such. In addition I've also been coming up with new ideas for future stories I want to do besides HoTD, things like a Smash Bros Ultimate series that focuses on spirit hunting, as well as a Pokemon story focusing on Cynthia, as well as a few completely original story concepts.
Not to say I've neglected HoTD though, I've taken time to plot out my roadmap for the rest of the Hyrule Castle Town arc, and there will be some plot-heavy chapters as well as fun side chapters, including introducing some a new potential marriage candidate for Link... who will it be? You'll have to wait to find out!
As for this week, the preliminarily meeting is about to resume, but a new face has arrived just in time! Yes folks, it's time to finally meet the mysterious prince of Fargent! Enjoy!
"Malon, perhaps you should take a little rest?"
"No way... I can... keep going! Just... a little while... longer, another five laps!" Malon said.
"Very well, if you insist." Sarami nodded, "Then let's go."
"You're doing great, girls!" Link called out in support of Malon and Sarami as he was watching the two run laps around the Hyrule Castle Courtyard one fine morning. The doctor had put Malon on a diet and exercise routine to help her lose some pregnancy weight, and she was quickly getting into the routine.
The two girls were currently wearing some stretchy elastic wear consisting of black tops and tights. Sarami picked them up a while ago when she started training herself, and they were just about the right size for Malon to fit into as well, even if they did show off more skin than she was comfortable with.
"Whew, I'm really building up a good sweat Sarami!" Malon said.
"That's good, perspiration helps eliminate the excess sodium and sugars left over from when you digest protean." Sarami said, "And the sweat helps reduce your body's internal temperature to prevent overheating! Keep at it!"
While Malon was getting a health lesson from the doctor, Link was focusing on getting a good view of Malon's sizable bouncing chest from the front as she approached, and then being treated to an equally nice view of her rotund rear as she ran past him. If he wasn't so supportive of her passion to lose weight, he may have told her he wouldn't mind if she-
"Enjoying yourself Link?"
Link quickly snapped out of his daze to see Nabooru looking down to him with a knowing smirk. She sat down beside him without even asking permission.
"Ah ha ha, can you really blame me?" Link grinned sheepishly as he watched the girls run by again.
"Nah, not really. After all I'm the reason you started seeing girls that way to begin with." Nabooru shrugged, "So you ready to conclude the preliminary meeting today?"
"Definitely. One thing we're going to need to do is ask the king to grant us passage into town so I can show everyone around. Since the meeting with the Parliament itself isn't going to be for another month it'll give everyone a chance to wind down and prepare."
"Plus this would be a good opportunity to boaster our reputation with the citizens before the main meeting. The more of the public on our side the better." Nabooru spoke, she sported a smirk, "In fact, I have a few ideas that I'm cooking up as we speak..."
"Why are you giving me that look...?" Link asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Nothing, for now anyway." Nabooru said cryptically, "Another important thing we need to do during the meeting is address the matter with the Ebony Sisterhood. The Parliament will probably deny the situation to the king, so this private meeting free of their influence will be a good time to discuss it."
"And what about getting permission for me to use the Master Sword?" Link asked.
"That's going to be a tough one, especially with what we know about it being the key to unlocking the Sacred Realm where the Triforce lays." Nabooru said, "We'll have to discuss a means of guarding the gateway while you're using the sword to fight Commander Imono as well."
"Fight... what now... Lady Nabooru?" gasped a voice, as Link and Nabooru turned to see Malon walking up to them panting out from her exercise.
Malon was completely soaked in sweat from her laps around the courtyard. Her long red hair was drenched from some water she poured on herself and it was clinging to her bare shoulders. Her large breasts were more pronounced than ever against the stretchy fabric of the top she wore, and the two could somewhat make out some of her more... delicate parts through the skin-tight outfit.
"Oh, nothing to concern yourself about." Nabooru smirked a little as she looked Malon up and down, "Looks like you're putting in a good effort there. If you like we can see about having you go through some more intense Gerudo training courses sometime in the future, put some real muscle on you!"
"Eh...?" Malon spoke,"W-Well, I don't know about goin' that far or nothin'!" she paused and looked to Nabooru and her lean muscular frame, then cast her gaze over to Link and how much his own body had toughened up during his time in Gerudo Town, "I mean, maybe I could give it a... little... a little..."
"Malon?" Link asked. He saw she was starting to get a little dizzy, and he quickly caught her in his arms just as she stumbled over a bit, "Hey, are you alright?"
"Oh I'mma just fine..." Malon said in a daze. She gazed up at him dreamily, "Thanks for supporting me Fairy-Boy..." she gave him a little kiss on the cheek, "You've always been there for me... Hee hee..."
"Aw, isn't that cute?" Nabooru snickered as Link just blushed heavily in response.
"Oh no, I told her to pace herself!" Sarami said catching up to the group. She observed Malon carefully, "The poor thing, I knew she was overdoing it! She's quite passionate about getting in shape, but she has to think about her stamina as well!"
"Y-Yeah." Link muttered as Malon nuzzled him affectionately against his chest, "I'll see to it she gets washed up then get her into bed."
"Oh my Link, I think she's way too tired for something like that right now!" Sarami giggled.
"You know what I mean!" Link exclaimed in annoyance, lifting Malon up in his arms and carrying her off as Nabooru and Sarami both laughed out together.
"Oh, King Link! Is that poor maiden okay?" exclaimed Sir Knave, Impa's personal bodyguard, as he saw the Gerudo King carrying a dazed, sweaty woman in his arms through the castle.
"Hi Knave, and yeah she's fine. She was just exercising." Link greeted him with a nod, "It's good to see you again by the way, still keeping up watching over Lady Impa?"
"Of course!" Knave said saluting him and banging his hand into the side of his head, "Granted she hasn't had much use from me lately since she had little Shikki, but I've been working to strengthen myself for when she's ready to have her next child!"
"Good to hear, maybe we could have a spar sometime." Link nodded as Malon playfully dabbed at his hair locks, "So what about Sir Lackey, is he anywhere? I've been wanting to thank him for my sword."
"Actually Lady Impa told me he was transferred to another division of knights the day after we got back from Gerudo Town." Knave shrugged and sighed sadly, "It's a pity, I really enjoyed working with him. I hope I didn't make him angry for letting myself get caught by that cultist..."
"..." Link pondered on that, but he grinned, "Don't sweat it, I'm sure it's nothing to do with you. You may be a bumbler at times, but you put your all into watching over Impa. I can admire someone who wants to protect my friends, it lets me know they're in good hands."
"Mr. Gerudo King..." Knave said trembling, he stood upright and saluted, "You can- YEOW!" the knight shouted as he accidentally jabbed himself in the eye with his hand, "You... can count on me!"
"Uhhh... what was that about having another kid...?" they heard Malon mutter in a half-asleep daze, "I'm not ready for another one yet Link..."
"Oh right." Link said sweatdropping, :"Say Knave, would there happen to be a more spacious bathroom she could wash up in instead of her personal room's tub?"
"Well there's the royal family's bathing quarters..." the young knight contemplated, he suddenly jolted a bit and did another salute which tipped over his helmet, "B-But that's strictly for the royal family! You'd have to get written permission from the king or princess to use it!"
"Alright thanks for the info." Link nodded, seeing Knave off and going on his way.
After asking around, Link soon arrived at one hallway where the princess was having her study time. As he approached the door though, he heard some commotion from inside.
"But please, it's matter of..." he heard Zelda say, she seemed to be having an argument with someone, but he couldn't understand the older male voice speaking to her, "...n-no, I understand, I apologize. … ...yes, thank you and good day."
Zelda left out the door shortly after that, and Link could have sworn he had saw a brief flash of blue light coming from the room. Before he could ask her about what happened, Zelda turned to see Link before her holding a sweaty, exhausted Malon in his arms.
"Greetings Gerudo King, what brings you here?" Zelda asked pleasantly, she glanced to Malon and giggled lightly, "Oh my, at this time of the morning? You must be quite a busy person."
"Ah-ha-ha... it's not what you think." Link said embarrassingly, wondering how long this misunderstanding was going to go on, "She was out exercising, can she possibly use the royal washroom to clean up?"
"Oh the poor thing, of course she ca-!" Zelda suddenly stopped herself, looking a bit distantly.
"...your highness?" Link asked.
"...um... forgive me, but with the ongoing investigation of the assassins as of late I don't think I can grant that kind of permission at this time." Zelda said, doing a polite curtsy, "My apologizes Gerudo King, but I must leave to prepare for the preliminary meeting."
"Oh, sure thing." Link shrugged. He watched Zelda walk off rigidly down the hallway, a stark contract from her more casual walk from before, "Wonder what that was all about?"
He then heard Malon groan a little and realized he needed to get her to her room before anyone else asked anything about her, and hurried off to take her to Togau and Epona.
"Hey, Link you about ready in there?" called out Nabooru from her and Link's bathroom.
"In a minute!" Link shouted, splashing a bucket of water down on top of himself, before shaking his wild bleached hair around of the excess water. He brought up a leg and started scrubbing down his foot with a wash cloth, "Just gotta get between my toes!"
"Heh, you're usually not that thorough with your washing, unless I make the servants do it for you." Nabooru grinned as she slipped on the wrist sashes of her outfit, "You must really want to put on a good impression for the princess and king."
"You bet! There's a lot riding on this part of the meeting!"
About ten minutes later Nabooru was applying a bit of makeup when she saw Link step out from the bathroom, now fully decked out in his royal king's Gerudo outfit. He had even combed back his normally wild hair down and straight.
"Nice, you even did your hair as well." Nabooru smirked, "When did you get so good at that?"
"I had to learn or else Nemisa and Saria would make me sit still while they try to yank the tangles out." Link sighed.
Nabooru laughed out loud and strolled up to adjust his clothing a little bit, "Well it pleases me to see you so ready. You've truly become a grand king for us."
"I owe it all to you Nabooru." Link nodded.
"He's here!" shouted a voice suddenly, it had been a maid who was running alongside some other servants, "The Fargent prince has arrived back from his mission!"
"Well that was good timing." Nabooru commented, "What do you say Link? Ready to meet this guy?"
Link put on an earring and nodded, "Yeah, definitely."
Link and Nabooru came out to the castle entrance where not just Hylian knights were gathered, but a number of other knights in different booking armor with purple sashes on as well, presumably they were soldiers from Fargent. Also standing there was Princess Zelda, Impa, King Reinald and an unfamiliar older man in a green robe.
Link noted Zelda seemed to have an anxious look in her eyes, as a group of more Hylian and Fargent knights rode up on horses, and at the center of the group was one man dressed in blue. A Hylian knight hurried ahead of the others and hopped off his horse to bow before the royal family.
"Your highness, I'm pleased to report the mission at Eldin Bridge was a success!" the knight said.
"Very good." King Reinald nodded, "And what of my son-in-law, the prince?"
"The monsters were more numerous than originally reported, but it was because of the prince's effort that our victory ended with no causalities." the knight assured him.
"That's good to hear." Zelda said, "I was so worried of him while he was on that trip, I really should have hel-" she stopped herself, "I-I mean, I wish I had sent more troops with him..."
"...?" Link looked back over at Zelda for a moment, but then heard a clomping of horse hooves as the prince rode up, staring down at everyone from atop his horse.
He appeared to be just about a few inches taller than Link, with wild orange hair, green emerald eyes and a young, handsome face that lacked in scars or blemishes. He wore a royal blue tunic that showed him to have a lean physique. He had a matching blue cape attached around his neck with a symbol that Nabooru recognized as the mark of Fargent . He also had a sword sheathed on his left side, indicating he was right handed.
The prince's orange hair shadowed his facial features, but Link had the feeling like the Fargent prince's eyes were drilling into him.
"My boy, I see you've made it back safely!" King Reinald stated with a wide smile.
"Thank you, Your Highness." the prince spoke up with a calm tone, he stared back down at Link and Nabooru, "So I take it these are the new Gerudo leaders I've heard so much of...?"
"Indeed, this is Gerudo King Link, and his Queen Nabooru." King Reinald nodded.
"...I see." the prince spoke. His stare was frankly starting to unnerve Link. Could the prince consider him a threat due to the rumors the Hylian citizens were talking about before...?
"..."
But just then, the prince's body seemed to shift a little, as the horse saddle he was siting on slid slowly to the right, before suddenly slipping and taking the prince with it, until he was hanging upside down from under the horse.
"...uh..."
There was an silence among everyone as the prince hung from underneath the horse, not moving a muscle. The prince reached up and undid the buckle on his saddle, causing him to fall off the horse and impact the ground on his back.
"Ack, are you okay Prince?!" exclaimed a Fargent knight, attempting to help him back up.
"Is... he okay?" Nabooru whispered to Impa.
But before Impa could explain, the prince pushed away the knight trying to help him and quickly stood himself back up straight and tall.
"It seems I was once again thwarted by those blasted reins!" the prince said with a confident smile, "But fear not, a true hero gets right back up after each and every fall!"
'Huh?' Link looked in confusion to the prince's sudden shift in attitude and tone.
"It seems Hyrule owes you greater than ever before." the king nodded his head to the prince, "I apologize for the misinformation on the monster situation. No doubt if we had known the numbers were greater it would had only led to more time wasted gathering resources to prepare. But it seems I didn't have to worry with you leading the team. I couldn't-be prouder to call you my son!"
"But of course!" the prince said with a wide pearly grin and a thumbs up, "Words and planning can only go so far, and sometimes swift and awesome action needs to be taken!"
Link's eyes widened at the words of the prince, while Nabooru chuckled a little in amusement.
The prince then stepped up to Princess Zelda, "And a greetings to you my lovely princess, a thousand and two apologizes for being gone longer than I said!" he flicked out a flower and held it to her, "A simple little gift I procured on the way back!"
"It's quite fine, my prince," Zelda spoke sweetly, taking the flower, "You and your men did a truly noble thing for Hyrule. I only hope you didn't hurt yourself."
"Of course not!" the prince said proudly, "The monsters were plentiful, but so was my stamina! Your husband struck down those beasts flawlessly, and without a single scratch!"
But then a second later some blood started to drip down from the prince's head, and he staggered around a bit woozy with his eyes spiraling.
"Oh no, you took a blow to the back of your head!" Zelda inspected his wound and sported an annoyed pout, trying to hold him up, "Oooooh, you can be such a liar!"
"Ah hah ha... sorry, it must have reopened when I fell off my horse. I didn't want to bother you about it, Princess..." the prince chuckled, as some mage knights frantically used healing spells to try and mend his head wound.
"We'll have a chat about your recklessness later, but for now I think you should properly introduce yourself to our guests." Zelda said gesturing to Link and Nabooru.
"Ah yes, I think I left my manners with my horse." the prince cleared his throat and stepped up to the two with a bow, "Pleased to meet you both,"
"My name is Prince Darius Leofrick Terricus Salvador Dragonhand Fargent!"
"That's... uh, quite a name." Link said, he turned to his 'queen', "Right Nabooru?"
"...Dragonhand?" Nabooru asked raising an eyebrow.
"...he made that part of his name up." Zelda rolled her eyes amusingly.
"If it's too difficult to remember, you can just refer to me as Prince Darius." the prince said with a hand to his side, "I admit even I've forgotten the order of my name at times!" he slapped his forehead and threw his head back laughing, "Haha-ha-haha!"
'That's worrying.' Link thought sweatdropping, he cleared his throat, "Hello Prince Darius, it's great to finally meet you as well. I've heard a lot about your exploits."
"Yes, and I've heard many interesting things about you yourself King Link." Darius said with a good-natured grin, "Now come, we have much to discuss!"
"..so then you all struck down those vile sorceresses?" Prince Darius spoke, "That's an impressive feat to say the least. The wicked deeds of Twinrova were infamously known even in my kingdom."
"Couldn't have done it without Kesuta and Korume's help." Link nodded, "They may be Twinrova's descendants, but they both have noble hearts, and they cared so deeply about the Gerudo people that they were willing to die for them."
King Reinald has some busines to do before the meeting, so Link, Nabooru, Zelda, and Darius had all gathered at the meeting room early to properly introduce each other. Standing at the walls was Zelda and Darius' personal knight guards, as well as Link's own bodyguards Aviel and Nemisa standing on the opposite side. Impa was standing by Zelda as per usual.
"I can't help but respect them, a heavy sacrifice like that can't be easy." Prince Darius said.
"..." Impa glanced down at Zelda, who looked a little downcast, and looked away a bit bothered herself.
"But Link wouldn't allow that to happen." Nabooru smirked, "Without a hint of hesitation, he vowed to save them both so neither would have to die. It's because of his assertive attitude we unraveled Twinrova's dirty scheme."
"How fascinating," Darius said, "Now from what I was told, you also had a hand in taking down the Wyvern Keepers as well! I just have to know how that went down!"
"Okay, okay!" Link laughed, "Well you see..."
As Link and Nabooru discussed with them what happened at the Dank Salamander tavern, Aviel looked over at the knights who were standing guard. Among them was Impa's personal bodyguard Sir Knave, he recognized Aviel and Nemisa on the other side and discreetly waved to them. Much to his dismay, Aviel waved both her arms excitedly right back, prompting an older knight to smack Knave upside the back of the head.
"Oops, sorry Sir Knack." Aviel muttered quietly. She turned to watch Prince Darius as he chatted with Link, and whispered to her partner, "So Nemisa, what do you think of the prince?"
"I was concerned about that man at first, but after finally meeting him, he seems trustworthy enough." Nemisa whispered back, "He seems more down to earth than most noblemen we've deal with."
"He's not a bad looker either, not like those pompous make-up covered stuffshirts." Aviel observed, "Though Link is still way hotter."
"Agreed." Nemisa nodded.
"...and after that we brought the slaves to the border knights, and they helped escort them back to Hyrule." Link concluded his story to Darius, "Though the leader Master Rassan escaped shortly afterwards."
"Still, the death of the infamous 'Lady Killer' Jayde is quite an accomplishment." Darius said, "To think the son of a nobleman would had been dealing in such horrific deeds."
"Jayde was a nobleman's son?" Link exclaimed, which got Nemisa's attention as well.
"From what I've been told his family came to Hyrule from the kingdom of Vividel, just before it had been destroyed." Darius nodded, "I don't recall meeting him myself, but my parents were acquainted with his own."
"I wonder what it was that drove him to become a slaver then...?" Nabooru pondered, "It couldn't have been the money."
Link spoke up, "I was actually curious to learn more about your own accomplishments Prince of Fargent. Namely how you defeated that dark cult, the Order of Reyahm back in your home country."
"Ah, so you have an interest in my own awesome exploits, you say?" the prince asked, "I'd be happy to indulge you! And please my friend, no need for extreme formalities, you can just call me Darius if you so desire!"
"We'll make a note of that." Nabooru nodded with a growing smile, "So then Darius, tell us about what happened."
Darius explained himself, "Well years ago you see, my father had been receiving numerous reports about some members of the public acting strangely. Whether it be protesting our kingdom's traditional events, or some even going so far as to make speeches rejecting our churches and gods." he grimaced a little, "At first it seemed harmless... but then there was an increase in crime, and even worse people started disappearing, there was many reports of spouses and children being abandoned..."
"That sounds awful." Link frowned.
"That's when we started learning more of this 'Order of Reyahm', a religious cult that desired to destroy the deities of our world and replace them with new gods of their own choosing. Truly a group of maniacs." Darius said.
"Yes, we've encountered them ourselves a couple times in the past." Nabooru spoke.
Darius sighed, "There was a time when my father was seeking an alliance with Vividel, but unfortunately, we were unable to assist with the crisis there at the time, so there was a lot of public distrust with the Fargent royal family. Attempting to do what was necessary to root out the Order of Reyahm would only further stigmatize things, our people were even speaking of revolt."
"Sounds like you had it tough." Link said. Having only ever been the king of Gerudo Town, his duties had been very minimal, and Nabooru handled the more complicated tasks. But it seemed bigger kingdoms had much more complications, "So what did you do?"
"After some time of my father being unable to do anything about this cult I had enough." Darius spoke, he suddenly stood up with a smile and did a a few odd dramatic poses, "I took my blade and hunted down the fiends personally!"
"Even knowing it could hurt the people's view of yourself?" Nabooru asked.
"Of course, no risk of sullying my reputation would interfere with awesome heroic justice!" Darius said proudly, he took a breadstick and started swinging and thrusting it around like a sword, "We eventually tracked down the hideout where the Reyahm Order were performing their rituals. I took charge with my most loyal knights and we brought down their organization!"
"So that's how it happened." Link said.
"Shohoho, his majesty gave you quite a scolding for your recklessness as I recall, Prince." chuckled a new voice, as walking into the meeting room was the elderly man that had been at the castle entrance when Darius arrived. He had gray hair that hung down in strands, as well as a matching long thin beard. He was wearing glasses and a long green robe, and holding a staff in his left gloved hand.
"Who are you now?" Nabooru asked with a raised eyebrow.
"This here is my beloved royal adviser and tutor, Counselor Xeres!" Darius said, his breadstick now had a bite taken out of it, "He's helped to tutor me since I was just a mere child!"
"And you still have much to learn it seems." Xeres said shaking his head, he glanced up and ran a finger through his pointy beard, "I was told how badly you injured yourself fighting the monsters of Eldin Bridge. You can only hope your father does not find out about this."
"Ah ha ha ha! It seems I've been humiliated in front of my new friends by my own adviser!" Darius said, throwing his head back and laughing.
"ACK! You're right! I've forgotten my manners!" shouted the old man in shock, Link and Nabooru looked in surprise as he started pummeling himself across the face with his gloved hand, "Bad Xeres, bad! You need to know your place in front of the prince!" he scolded to himself.
"Hey calm down there!" Link exclaimed.
"It's okay Gerudo King, it's the Counselor's method of self-discipline." Zelda assured him.
"Rather odd method." Nabooru said sweatdropping, as the old man's face was now swollen and red.
"It's quite fine, I have no regrets taking charge putting a stop to the Order of Reyahm!" Darius said, but then looked somewhat downcast, "As it turns out though, there was a number of those cultists who escaped. We soon learned they returned back here to Hyrule."
"As terrible as Ganondorf is, the Order of Reyahm could be just as cruel." Zelda said sadly, "They have committed many horrible crimes to Hyrule in the past, one of the worst being the murder of the former Queen Louruta of Zora's Domain. Poor Princess Ruto had been devastated by it, I could understand how she felt after having lost my own mother..."
Link dwelled on that, knowing it was due to the Order's actions that led the zora guard Sir Titas to go mad and become the leader of the Zola pirates under the name Admiral Krehaul, and how he and his crew had stolen the royal Smooth Pearl, resulting in Ruto almost dying from her own power she had gained in the zora queen ritual.
"Despite the lecture my father gave me for disobeying him..." Darius said, "He was actually proud of the lives we saved taking down the Order, and it gave him the motivation to seek out new alliances!"
"It was actually the prince himself that proposed we go here to Hyrule." Xeres nodded, "He had read up on this kingdom's history, and felt it would be ideal for an alliance with Fargent."
"Ha ha ha, you flatter me too much, my adviser!" Darius said scratching his cheek modestly.
"Ack! I spoke out of line again!" Xeres exclaimed, he started pummeling himself across the face again, "Bad Xeres!"
"And as part of this alliance, you and Zelda had to marry together?" Link asked.
Darius nodded, "Granted at the time I wasn't aware of what our fathers had planned. Just when relations were kicking off, they dropped on both of us that we would be wed! It was certainly a surprise to be handed an engagement ring to give to the princess I had just met!"
"Initially I didn't agree with the marriage." Zelda said sipping some tea, she turned to her new husband and sported a light smile, "But the more time I've spent with Darius, the more I grew to find him a good, noble man."
"Eh heh... I admit back then I was awestruck by Princess Zelda." Darius said, turning away and placing a hand dramatically to his forehead, "She had beauty that could only be matched by a goddess, and I was drawn in by her nature as sweet as honey. I realized quickly just how perfect she truly was for me, and I'm quite happy to have her by my side!"
"Wow..." Link said, surprised by Zelda and Darius' genuine love for each other. He recalled Impa mentioned before that Zelda had become happy with her marriage, but getting to see the two firsthand gave him a great deal of relief.
"He's certainly an interesting fellow, isn't he?" Nabooru whispered in amusement to Link.
"Yeah, and it's good to see he's treating Princess Zelda well." Link nodded.
As the group continued to talk, some servants came in and set down some extra refreshment for everyone. While the others helped themselves, Link was somewhat hesitant about caving into his usual gluttony. He looked over at Zelda who seemed drawn to a carrot cake that was on the table.
"Here you are my princess, just a little plate of fresh essentials to keep your lovely fair skin as lovely and fair as usual!" Darius said sliding a plate of fruits and vegetables to Zelda.
"Oh, of course. Thank you so much." Zelda smiled beautifully at Darius, taking a bite of a brussel spout.
'Huh, I remember back as a child she used to hate brussel sprouts.' Link thought, 'She's grown so much...'
As Zelda chewed, her eyes shot open and Link could swear she looked like she was almost about to discreetly gag out, but she forced herself to swallow it down before wiping her mouth and going back to smiling pleasantly.
'Or maybe she just tolerates them.' Link then thought sweatdropping.
"Still, I wonder what's holding my father up?" Zelda asked, looking up at the doorway.
"I'm sure he's merely trying to get his choker collar on just right, you know much trouble he had with those." Darius said, "Why I recall trying to put one of those on for a fancy dinner party once and nearly choked myself to death!" throwing his head back and laughing again.
"Royal life sure can be dangerous it seems." Link muttered.
Suddenly though, the doorway were thrown open, and in came a group of Hylian and Fargent knights.
"You majesties, we apologize for bursting in, but we have a situation!" a knight said saluting and gasping, "An assassin has been spotted in the palace!"
"What?" exclaimed everyone, standing at attention.
"You don't think it's that 'Widowmaker' serial killer we were told about before?" Nabooru spoke.
"This is bad, they've never gotten into the castle before," Zelda pondered, she exclaimed in worry, "What of my father?!"
"He's been brought to a safe place, but we need to escort all of you to safety as well!" said a knight, "Please come with us immediately!"
"Is there anything we Gerudo can do to help?" Link asked, ready to snap into action.
Zelda paused in thought, she was about to speak, but then Darius stepped up beside her.
"No need, you're our honored guests!" Darius said, "Not to worry, me and my men will heroically detain this foul fiend!" he unsheathed his sword and held it out confidently, he turned to Zelda, "Go with Lady Impa and your guards to safety, my princess. I'll deliver this assassin an awesome dish of justice with chive potatoes!"
"...okay, thank you Prince Darius," Zelda nodded, "And please be safe."
Impa, Knave and the knights had escorted Princess Zelda to the royal safe room where her father was, while a somewhat reluctant Link and Nabooru were led off by Aviel, Nemisa and some Hylian knights to another safe room. The other Gerudo were located and placed in their personal bedrooms for the time being.
"Do you know anything about what this assassin looks like yet?" Aviel asked a knight who was standing guard at the door.
"And how did he even get into the castle?" Nemisa asked, practicing her karate just in case.
"Reports say it was a single man wearing a full-body dark blue cloak with golden symbols of some kind decorating it." said the knight, "We don't know how he got in, but we've blocked off all the doors and windows to keep him from escaping, so we should find him fairly easy."
"Hm, there's something strange about that..." Nabooru pondered, she looked over at Link who was leaning backwards on a chair with his feet against a coffee table, his right foot was fidgeting, "And you look like you're about ready to escape this place yourself."
"Can't help it, I'm worried about the king and princess, I want to help stop this assassin instead of just sitting in here doing nothing." Link said with a grumpy pout, "We helped Ruto and the Zora against those pirates after all!"
"I know how you feel Link, but unlike back at Zora Coast, we're not in a place where we can just speak out like that." Nabooru said, "We should try to have faith in the knights and Prince Darrius for now."
"Have faith in Darius..." Link muttered, recalling how he felt before about Knave watching over Impa in his absence. He let out a sigh of defeat, "Fine, I'll wait."
"That's a good boy." Nabooru chuckled, giving him a pat on the head. Link heard Aviel, Nemisa and even the guards snicker a little, but he shot them all an annoyed look to shut them up.
Meanwhile, Darius and his men began a full scale investigation of the castle, searching every room they could.
"Do everything you can to find this assassin! Leave no stone unturned, no cabinet unopened, and no bed-sheets untucked!" Darius commanded.
"Yes your highness!" the knights saluted.
As his men rushed ahead, Darius spotted one unopened door and looked inside, only for the other knights to hear a loud woman's scream as a wash barrel flew out and bashed the young prince upside the head. The knights came to a stop and turned to see him staggering around.
"Look like the women's bathing room is clear..." the prince groaned with spiraling eyes, he snapped out of it when he heard a strange thunk, as he looked over at a mysterious figure in a dark blue cloak had been trying to creep away, but they had bumped into a knight's armor display.
"The assassin! There you are!" Darius said, taking his sword and running after the man.
The cloaked figure ran off as Darius followed him in close pursuit down another hallway and through a pair of large doors.
They found themselves in the palace ballroom. There was no other way to leave the room other than two viewing balconies high up near the ceiling.
"Well now, if you only wanted a dance you should have brought a lady with you!" Darius said kicking the door shut behind him and holding out his sword.
"..." the man silently reached into his cloak and pulled out a gentleman's cane, opening it up to reveal a concealed sword which they held out at Darius.
"So you'd prefer a dance of blades instead? Well you're not my type, but sounds like fun, have at you!" Darius said as he dashed at the man.
The two of them clashed steel before stepping back and swinging at each other. Darius evaded two swipes before lunging forward with his blade. The assassin dodged left and right, attempting to slice at Darius's legs to incapacitate him, but Darius leaped up and swung his blade outwards, forcing the man to bring up his sword din defense instead before back-flipping away.
"Think I'll take the lead this time," Darius said, swinging his sword at the assassin again, "I don't know what reason you have to try and kill the king, but I won't allow it!"
"..." the assassin reached into their cloak, before suddenly throwing a ball to the ground that exploded into dust.
"What th-?" Darius looked around in confusion at the smoke surrounding him.
With the smoke blocking his vision, the prince closed his eyes and focused. He could very faintly hear the near-silent sound of a shoe stepping on the echoed ballroom floor, before quickly turning around and smacking the sword of the assassin away just as they were about to attack him from behind. The assassin backflipped away and tossed out some kunai knives, but Darius was able to deflect them away with his sword.
"I see, so it's one of your kind then?" Darius said narrowing his eyes, "It's been quite a while, but I'll show you how a hero deals with pests like you!"
Darius dashed forward, flipping and dodging the knuai that impaled into the ground. He leaped and flipped into the air to avoid two more, and just as one kunai came right at his head from above, he swung out his sword with such accuracy that it was deflected away and managed to scratch across the assassin's arm.
"Gah...!" the man stepped back in pain, clutching at his sword arm, as Darius held out his sword at him.
"Sorry my friend, but I don't condone cheaters." Darius said, "Now how about you surrender before-"
Suddenly the doors burst open, and standing there was seven people that Darius quickly recognized. It was Governor Balterius and the other six members of the Hylian Parliament. Standing alongside Captain Andreas was the lady knight and Link's fiance Lieutenant Ashe.
"Prince Darius, what is the meaning of this?" shouted the governor.
"Ah, its you lot." Darius said, "Well as I recall, the word 'this' comes from the language of the North Sea, 'tha-si', and it identifies a specific person or thing close at hand or being indicated or experienced."
"Huh?" Duke Geronim asked scratching his bald head.
"But that is neither here or there. I have good news," the prince shook his head and bowed, "as you can see the assassin has already been dealt with!"
"Amazing." Ashe spoke in awe, her eyes focusing in particular at the fine sword he Darius held. She had heard about the young prince's incredible skill in swordplay.
"You can go ahead and find him a nice, dark and dirty cell to stay in." Darius said, "The rats will appreciate the company."
"...I don't recall us giving you permission to take this matter into your own hands Prince Fargent." Andreas scowled, staring down at Darius with bloodshot eyes from under his galea helmet.
"Upset that I'm doing your men's work for you, Captain?" Darius shrugged, "You all were so busy down in your basement talking about whatever that someone had to take charge of the situation."
"And in doing so you put yourself at risk getting killed by this assassin." Countess Roseia spoke sipping a martini, "I don't think your father would be appreciative if we had to send your body back in a bag to him."
"Yes, you were already overstepping your boundaries by personally dealing with those monsters at Eldin Bridge." Minster Odleh said scowling, "It was just supposed to your knights that went mind you."
Darius stomped his foot forward in anger, "But the knights were presented with limited information, they could have easily been overwhelmed based on that!"
"Ugh, and look at this mess you've made of the royal ballroom." Marquess Haralden spoke, running a gloved finger across the powder made by the smoke ball, "Just before the Zora Queen is to come here, she was looking forward to dancing here with her fiance."
"You can send me the cleaning bill later." Darius spoke, "Right now I think you should have the knights take this man off to be arrested."
"You forget your place here, prince." Balterius spoke, "You're in no place to give us orders. You are merely here to help bring an alliance between Hyrule and Fargent. If you keep putting your nose into our affairs you may live to regret it."
As the standoff between Darius and the Parliament went on though, the assassin took a step back and snatched up his cane sword. He quickly took a pair of kunai and threw them up at two banners hanging overhead in the ballroom, causing them to fall down, and then leapt up at the banners to get to the left balcony exit.
"What th-!" exclaimed Darius in shock, "He's getting away!"
"As I said, it'll be handled by ourselves." Governor Balterius said calmly, adjusting his sleeve collars, "Come along, all of you."
"..." Darius narrowed his eyes as the Parliament left the ballroom.
As she went out the door, Ashe took a moment to look sympathetically at Darius, before she was called by Andreas. Coming in shortly after that was the prince's counselor Xebes.
"Are you okay Prince?" the old man asked to the clearly annoyed young man, "I swear these Parliament members are running quite a racket, aren't they?"
"You're right about that." Darius said dusting himself off, "I think we're going to need some help to deal with this situation, and I know just the ones."
"Hm... according to Marquess Haralden's directions, the exit to the left balcony leads to this hall." Captain Andreas spoke as he escorted some knights down the path.
"This whole thing's really terrifying." spoke a nervous knight, "We've never dealt with an assassin this persistent!"
"Yeah, not since Ganondorf's attemtped attack on the castle have e dealt with something like this!" said another.
"Quiet you fools!" Andreas said, he sniffed at the air, "Hmm... yes, I can smell it... the fresh blood shed by that man..."
The large captain ran ahead and looked down on hall, seeing the dark cloaked man as he ran away down another hall.
"There he is, the assassin!" Andreas shouted, pointing his finger out, "Kill him now!"
The knights shouted out and charged at the cloaked man, who used his cane sword to knock away the blade of one knight, then kicking another backwards.
"Tsk, useless." scowled Andreas, "Don't let him escape!"
The knights followed the assassin around a corner and down the hall, until they soon arrived to see the dark-cloaked individual standing in what appeared to be a daze.
"He must still be worn out from his bout with Prince Darius." said a knight, "Attack!"
"...!" the cloaked man turned to the knights, and sounded like he was muffling something, only to take a step back nervously. One knight tried swinging his sword at the culprit, only for him to evade the swipe and kick the sword out of the knight's hand, before dashing off down the hall.
"Get him!" shouted a knight as they pursued after him.
"They still haven't caught him?" Link asked from the safe room he, Nabooru, Aviel and Nemisa were placed in.
"I'm afraid not, they've been searching everywhere but he seems to have disappeared." Ashe spoke, having come to their room.
"Then what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be trying to help?" Nemisa asked.
"Captain Andreas ordered me to check in on the guests." Ashe sighed, "Ironically because of my rank I'm considered too valuable to have going after this assassin."
"..." Link stared downwards in silence.
"Link, you holding up okay?" Aviel asked worriedly.
"No... I'm worried about Lady Impa and Shikki, not to mention Princess Zelda and the King." Link said clenching his fists, "I wish I could be out there helping protect them!"
"Seems you're all in the same boat as I." spoke a voice, as they all saw Prince Darius standing at the door, "I danced with the scoundrel myself, but got reduced to a wall flower by the Hylian Parliament."
"Geez, what a bunch of control freaks." Aviel said sticking her tongue out, "What do we do then?"
"I made a vow the day I married Princess Zelda; that I would protect her and her father regardless of what others thought of me. But now I'm being forced to betray my vow." Darius said staring downwards, "If anything happened to her I'd...!"
"...!" Link stared up at Darius with wide eyes.
"So what do you propose then?" Nabooru asked with a knowing smile.
"I think we all need to put together a plan." Darius said.
Meanwhile, the man in the dark cloak was running through the halls of the castle, stumbling over the cloak a few times as he did.
"Halt assassin!"
Some knights ran at him, so he quickly rammed into a nearby suit of armor and knocked it over to block them off, before running away again.
But as he ran, suddenly he heard a strange buzzing sound, as he saw a wasp buzzing right in front of him. He came to a stop and looked around to see many more wasps buzzing around him, which was very strange considering there should have been no way for them to have gotten in the castle.
"Wha-?"
Suddenly the wasps all swooped down at him with their stingers, forcing him to run away.
He came to a stop around a far off corner, straining himself to gasp for breath, but unaware that a very tall man had suddenly appeared right behind him. The man felt a chill, as he looked up just time for Judge Ismabard to bring up his gavel and slam it into the man, sending him flying across the hall and to the ground.
The cloaked man looked up in a daze to see the Hylian Parliament all looking down at him.
"And with that, justice is done by our hands." Isambard walked up, tapping his gavel in his palm.
"Loohuhuhu! It seems this poor little assassin underestimated the Hylian Parliament's power." Countess Roseia said as a wasp landed peacefully on her hand.
"Yes we may have our share of differences, but the one thing we can agree on is dealing with those who threaten our kingdom." Minister Odleh spoke with a bitter tongue.
"Mmph! Mmph!" the cloaked man seemed to be trying to shout.
"Now, how about we see who you really are!" Andreas said pulling on the cloak.
But try as he might he couldn't simply remove the cloak, as it was tied around the wearer's head. It took Governor Balterius to come up from behind and undo a pin that the cloak was attached to and pulled it down to reveal the culprit's face.
"W-What?" Andreas exclaimed in shock at the sight of a black-haired man who had a bandage gag tied around his mouth, "Calaway?!"
"By the goddesses, it was Calaway the whole time?! I should have known!" Duke Geronim exclaimed in shock, then a second later he asked the others, "Wait, who's Calaway?"
"He is one of my most loyal guards..." Andreas explained, staring down at the panicked man with his bloodshot eyes, "But it would seem he's taken advantage of that loyalty, and he shall pay for it tonight with his life!"
"Please Captain, allow me to explain myself!" Calaway said in a panic, "I'm not the assassin!"
"Huh?" the knights all looked to each other in confusion.
"You expect me to believe that after what you've done here?" sneered the Captain, unsheathing a sword, "You have committed high treason to the crown!"
"Judge Isambard, what do you have to say on this matter?" Balterius asked.
"As if you have to ask." Isambard said, he started banging his gavel on the wall, "I find this man guilty, guilty, GUILTY of attempted assassination of the king. I sentence him to an immediate death!"
"WHAT?" exclaimed Calaway, "Wait no, please!"
"I was hoping you'd say that." Andreas said with a menacing grin, as he brought up his sword at the man.
"Hold it!" spoke up a woman's voice. They all turned to see Nabooru, Link, Aviel, Nemisa and Darius all walking up to them, with Nabooru speaking, "Don't you think we need to hear his side of the story?"
"What are you all doing out of your safe rooms?" Balterius scowled, "This is official royal business."
"I think you need to listen to the Gerudo Queen, Governor, before you all make a very costly mistake." Link said with a serious glare.
"...?" Balterius rose an eyebrow at Link.
"Take a look," Nabooru said pulling up the cloak, showing that the man's hands were tied behind his back by rope, "Mind telling me how a man can tie his own hands up like this?"
"What...?" Andreas spoke in shock, "But he was fighting the prince earlier!"
"Not likely." Nabooru said, gesturing to Calaway's arm, showing that despite the cut Darius gave the assassin, there was no cut on the knight's arm, "It's clear he didn't fight the prince at all."
"That's right!" Calaway explained himself, "I was searching for the assassin, but someone snuck up from behind and attacked me! When I came to I was dressed like this, and my arms had been bound from behind! When I tried to ask a guard for help he thought I was the assassin and attacked me, so I had to run away!"
"That makes sense, with that gag and your arms restrained you couldn't exactly do anything." Darius realized, "And with that hood attached to your collar you couldn't even pull it off so people could see who you were."
"One thing had been bothering me since I heard about it," Nabooru rubbed at the fabric of the cloak, "Why the assassin would be wearing this clothing; bright colors like these golden symbols would give him away near the candles and torches reflecting light off of them."
"Then what are you proposing?" Geronim shouted stamping his foot, "Out with it, woman!"
"Since you're slow on the uptake I'll tell you." Nabooru said, "I believe the actual intruder deliberately wore this outfit so a person would be easy to track down when he dressed them up in his own disguise!"
"I see. This man isn't the assassin, but a decoy." Balterius spoke.
"Then that means the real assassin is still somewhere else!" gasped Roseia.
They then heard some stomping of feet, and turned to see Link darting down the hallway as fast as he could with his sword and shield drawn.
"Hey Link, wait up!" Aviel called out.
"Gyyaaaaah!" shouted Sir Knave as he fell to the ground after being struck by a sword, joining three other knights that had been taken down.
"Knave!" shouted Impa.
"Lady Impa, I'm sorry..." groaned Sir Knave in pain, before falling outcold.
"This can't be happening..." King Reinald spoke in shock as he protectively held Princess Zelda in his arms, "Prince Darius, why would you do this?"
"..." before them was what appeared to be Prince Darius holding a sword and staring at them silently.
"Don't be fooled your highness." Impa said narrowing her eyes as she protected the two of them, "This isn't the Prince, he's an impostor I know too well..."
"So you recognize me?" chuckled the mysterious man.
Impa scowled at the man, "I am a Sheikah after all, I know full well of the disguise cloak technique."
"Plus I know Darius too well," Zelda assured her father, as she noted the cane sword in the fake's hand, "He would never use another blade than his own."
"Heh, clever..."
The fake Darius smirked, grabbing and pulling off his disguise, revealing him to be a man of average height, very slim-bodied and with pale skin. He had short black hair and had red circles painted on his cheeks, while his lips were painted a light blue. The clothing he wore was a red and white striped vest with white sleeves, and he also wore thin black pants.
"That disguise was just enough to fool the knights into opening the door for me, but it looks like I'll have to deal with you with my blade."
"Who is that?" the king asked.
"Marceau the Mirror, a member of the Order of Reyahm." Impa said wielding a kunai, as she recalled what he did to trick Link into thinking Esolu had been killed, "You've caused enough trouble for this kingdom as it is. What reason could you have to try and kill His Majesty?"
"Oh it's nothing personal," Marceau spoke with a sinister grin, "I just need them both to die to settle things once and for all... I'll make him pay for what's been done to us."
"..." Impa said nothing, but stayed in a battle stance, focusing on defending Zelda and the king, while being prepared for anything Marceau might try.
"Eeeeerrraaaaahhh!"
But then Marceau heard a loud shout, and turned just in time for Link to bring down his sword on the disguise artist, and he pulled up his sword to block off his attack,
"Wha- it's you?" Marceau exclaimed, he forced Link backwards and held out his blade in defense.
"Yeah, it's me." Link took a look over at Impa, Zelda and King Reinald to see that they were all okay, then down to Knave's unconscious state, before turning to glare at the assassin, "And you got a lot to answer for, you bastard."
"Miiheheh... we'll see about that."
With that, the two dashed at each other and clashed swords. Despite Marceau's modest skills with a blade though, he was quickly becoming overwhelmed by Link's swordplay. The young king didn't give Marceau even a second to strike back and came at him relentlessly. As Marceau blocked a swing of his sword he got decked in the head with Link's shield before driving him back with a spin attack.
"Gaaah!" Marceau backed up, "Damnit, I should have just done you in back at Gerudo Town."
"..." Link narrowed his eyes at the man, his voice was definitely familiar, it was the indeed the same man who taunted him in that room and pretended to kill Esolu.
"King Link..." groaned a voice, as Link looked down to see Knave was clenching Link's leg, "I-I'm sorry... I couldn't protect Lady Impa after all..."
"...don't worry about it Knave, I got this." Link said, glaring back at Marceau, feeling his anger rising, "Lady Impa, please watch over Knave, I'll deal with this monster."
"Of course." Impa nodded.
With that, Link went right back into battle, clashing his blade against the disguise artist's weapon. The cultist tried flicking some kunai at Link, but the young king blocked them off with his shield before charging back in with some more slashes.
Zelda meanwhile stared in awe at Link's skill in battle, how focused he was at attacking and driving back the assassin more each time. It was no wonder he stood up to Ganondorf in the dark future and in the era of warriors he told everyone about.
Marceau tried to do another swing, but he flinched, giving Link an easy opportunity to drive back the assassin's blade and slashed at him across the chest.
"AAAARRGH!"
"Looks like that wound Darius gave you is hurting, ready to give up and surrender yet?" Link spoke.
"A-As if I will..." Marceau stammered, clutching at his wound, "I won't rest... until the Order has achieved it's true ambitions!"
Soon Nabooru, Aviel, Nemisa, Ashe, Darius and a number of knights all arrived to see what was going on, and saw Link expertly fighting against the assassin.
"Marceau the Mirror... just as I guessed, it was him all this time!" Nabooru said.
"Take him down Link!" Aviel cheered out.
Link shouted out s he went at the Marceau with all his might. The assassin took another swipe across his leg and he yelped out in pain. Since he was almost out of traps thanks to his duel with Darius earlier, he tried to come up with a means of distraction.
"Hmph, y-you're a fool to fight so hard to hold back your true potential." Marceau said, "If you only understood the pain that the gods of this world have brought to us mortals..."
"You have the chance to surpass them all, and rule as the all-powerful Fierce Deity!"
Link froze up for just a moment, looking to King Reinald and Zelda. The king was taken back in surprise and confusion, and while Zelda seemed to be startled it was oddly not as much as much as he had expected. He stared down, then glanced at Nabooru and the others who looked on with concern. He took a deep breath and hung his head down.
"I know full-well about the power I have within me... and the danger it could bring to Hyrule... Maybe some would prefer if I just disappeared from this world completely..."
"..." Ashe looked on worriedly, recalling when she confronted Link at the waterfall bridge, and she squeezed the handle of her sword.
"...but I frankly don't care about that right at this moment." Link scowled, he looked to Marceau with absolute fury in his eyes, ""And I don't care whatever sick reason you have to be trying to kill Zelda or the king... I'll strike you down first!"
"Link..." Zelda whispered to herself, clutching at her chest with both hands.
But just as Link lunged at Marceau with his blade, the mimicker man pulled out a smoke ball and tossed it to the ground, causing a bust of smoke everywhere that clouded everyone's vision.
"Gack, not this again!" Darius exclaimed.
Marceau took that opportunity to try throwing his sword straight at Zelda like a dart, but the sword was quickly deflected by a quick strike of Ashe's blade, sending the sword flying through the air and impaling far away into a wall.
"Nice try you sneaky devil, but now you're disarmed!" Ashe said to Marceau.
But as the smoke cleared, they saw that Marceau had managed to flee during the confusion.
"Find that assassin, search everywhere!" commanded Darius, he tuned to Ashe and Impa, "Can I trust you two to watch over the king and my princess?"
"Of course!" Ashe and Impa nodded.
"Okay Aviel, just as we were told!" Nemisa said.
"Got it!" Aviel nodded, as the two went running off down the hall ahead of the knights.
"Hey, wait up!" exclaimed a knight who couldn't keep up with the two agile Gerudo girls.
"Huh? Where did the Gerudo King Link and his queen go off to...?" asked one knight looking around.
Marceau the Mirror quickly turned and ran down a hall with Aviel and Nemisa in hot pursuit, having followed a new trail of blood leaking from the assassin's arm.
"Stop you bastard, or I'll shoot!" Aviel shouted to Marceau.
The man turned his head at her for a moment, but smirked and kept running towards a two way path. Her demand falling on deaf ears, Aviel narrowed her eyes, she aimed her crossbow and fired off a few shots to the right. The arrows seemed to miss and impale into the wall, forcing the man to quickly turn left to avoid getting hit.
Going down the left hallway, the would-be assassin spotted one glass window that had been left open.
'What a lucky break!' Marceau thought, as he ran right for the window to escape.
"Damnit, who left that window open? He's getting away!" shouted Nemisa darting after him along with Aviel who was catching up.
Marceau climbed up onto the windowsill, "Miiheheh, too late! Until next time you-"
But just as he was about to go out the window, suddenly Link and Nabooru both stepped out from the sides of the window's opening from the outside and swung their fists up, decking the cloaked man and causing him to fall backwards to the ground in a daze, where was he quickly nabbed by Aviel and Nemisa.
"Alright, your trap worked Nabooru!" Link grinned stepping into the hall.
"I figured in his panicked state he'd be desperate to get out of here and make a careless mistake." Nabooru said climbing in after him, "That's why I had Aviel and Nemisa lure him to this very hall where the window served as bait."
"Yeah, just like when he baited us with that fake assassin." Link said, looking to Aviel and Nemisa, "Nice work luring him over here, girls."
"Why of course my love." Nemisa smirked, "He played right into our hands."
"Ha ha, using an escape route as bait, how clever!" Darius said as and his men soon caught up with the others, he looked down at the assassin with a grin, "Well met Mr. Mirror, you thought you could get the drop on us, but it was us who did the dropping down instead!"
"..." Marceau narrowed his eyes as he sat there, immobilized by Link and Nabooru.
"I can't believe it worked." muttered a voice, as everyone turned to see Governor Balterius and the Hylian Parliament come up to the scene, "You actually captured that fiend."
"Yeah, no thanks to you guys!" Aviel snickered, sticking her tongue out at them.
"Hmph, what a childish attitude." Duke Geronim scowled, before discreetly sticking his own tongue out back at Aviel.
"Luhuhuh... not a bad effort, I applaud you all." giggled Roseia, clapping her hands in a graceful motion.
"Don't encourage them." Marquess Haralden said rolling his eyes, "Now I think we need to deal with this filthy assassin."
"Yes, I think everyone here would like to have him interrogated for information." Nabooru said glaring at the cultist.
"We'll be the judgment of that!" Judge Isambard shouted, "Guards, take this man away!"
"Hmph... no matter what you do... the Order of Reyahm will succeed someday..." Marceau said as the knights led him off, "You allow those cruel ancient gods to do as they please, and they'll strike you down when the opportunity comes! I mean it!"
"...well, I guess that about wraps things up." Nabooru said with a smirk.
"Indeed it has..." Governor Balterius said, he turned to the Parliament, "Come all of you, we have matters to discuss about this turn of events." he led them all off, taking a moment look over his shoulder at Link and Nabooru, before going off on his way.
"..." Prince Darius meanwhile had his arms folded, his gaze downcast in deep thought.
"Those stuck-up jerks, not even so much as a thank you from anyone other than that Roserade lady for stopping that guy! Just what is their problem?" Aviel asked with puffed up cheeks.
"It's okay Aviel, being able to protect Impa and everyone was more than enough gratitude." Link said with a smile, giving her an affectionate head-rub.
"On the contrary Link, we should be celebrating this victory." spoke a voice, as everyone turned to see Princess Zelda, Impa and Ashe walking down the hall towards them.
"Yes, you all did splendid work!" spoke Zelda cheerfully, "Thank you all so much for your service today! The Parliament may not approve of this, but Father was most pleased! Hyrule is indebted to you all!"
"Assuming they even acknowledge it..." Ashe muttered.
"Well despite all this, the king has said he'd like to continue the preliminary meeting as promised." Impa said, "We should probably head to the meeting room before then."
"But once it's over, we definitely do need to celebrate." Zelda said, she leaned forward and sported a wink, "Just a secret little party for you all!"
"A party? Yaaaay!" cheered Aviel.
"That sounds pretty good Princess, thank you." Nabooru nodded, "For now, let's get going."
"Before we go, there is just one last little thing that needs to be discussed..." spoke one voice.
Suddenly there was the sound of a loud thud from a fist pounding against the wall by Prince Darius, making an echoed sound that went through the hall. His head was lowered, and his orange hair was covering his eyes.
"Prince Darius...?" Link asked raising an eyebrow.
"So it seems there was truth to the rumors about you after all Gerudo King Link." muttered Darius in an oddly low tone.
"Huh?" everyone looked to Darius in confusion.
"You did indeed bring about that attack on the waterfall bridge border..." Darius spoke, "And within you dwells the Fierce Deity itself!"
"Woah, hold on!" Aviel said defensively, surprised to see the somewhat goofy prince suddenly so cold, "The whole thing was a misunderstanding! You see-"
"I've heard more than enough." Darius said looking up and scowling angerly at Link, "It's clear to me that you're indeed a dangerous threat to not just Hyrule's safety, but to that of Princess Zelda and King Reinald. As the heroic husband of the princess, and son-in-law of the king, I will not stand for that!"
"Listen, I can understand your concern, but Link has that power in check. He won't allow it take control of him." Nabooru stated.
"You mean just as he did back at the Princess and King's safe room?" Darius said, he turned to Link, "I saw the look in his eyes, that of hatred and fury... that same dangerous power Captain Andreas witnessed at the waterfall!"
"So... you know of this Fierce Deity?" Impa asked.
"I've heard of it in my studies, that it's existence dates back countless centuries ago, probably even before the birth of Hyrule." Prince Darius explained, "A power of awesome but dangerous fury, a force that knows no friend or foe, slaughtering whatever lays in it's path."
He turned to Ashe who was trying to comfort a shaken Aviel.
"Tell me Lieutenant, you were there. Did you see that look in his eyes as well?" Darius asked.
Ashe was surprised at being called out, she looked over at Link worriedly. He nodded slowly to her,
"I... can't deny that. I did see that same rage as you described..." Ashe then spoke up, "But there's much more to it than you think, if you just let Link explain-!"
"There's nothing else to explain, as long as the Fierce Deity is within you Gerudo King, I can't trust you to remain here any longer." Darius said.
"Darius please, you're taking this too far. King Link means no harm!" Zelda said.
"The princess is right Darius." Link said, "I would never hurt her or the king. I would lay down my life on that promise."
"...very well, then lay down your life you shall." Darius unsheathed his sword, "If you truly are the person you say Gerudo King Link, then heroically prove yourself," he pointed his sword at Link, "I challenge you to a duel!"
"What?" exclaimed everyone.
As a cold drop of sweat ran down Link's head, he stared down the young prince and the serious glare in his eyes, realizing this wasn't going to be something negotiation could settle...
And that concludes this week's chapter. Next time, it's King Link versus Prince Darius! How will Link get out of this mess? You'll find out next time!
Now I'm going to try and get back into a normal writing routine again now that I've charted things out again. Thanks to my new work schedule I also have more time to think of new ideas.
Also I feel the need to not celebrate returning with my 140th chapter, but I've also broke one million words! My fingers are screaming with joy... and pain!
Thanks again everyone for your continued support! Please drop a like, follow, review, or just send me a private message if you choose! Your feedback is always encouraged!