Seeing Zelda in the infirmary bed was gut-wrenching. She lay motionless, her chest rising and falling slowly, her skin paler than it should be.
Link worried endlessly about the ifs and hows of her fainting episode. He hoped that the fighting in the courtyard wasn't the reason for it.
She felt it when he'd bruised his ribs nearly a month ago, he didn't desire knowing how a blast of Urbosa's magic felt coming out of nowhere.
He was relieved to see his father leaning against the window, but he was more worried about the window being broken and shattered. His father had a bloodied hand that was being wrapped by a nurse, but he didn't seem too worried about the injury
When asked why Arn hadn't been here longer, his father had told him that they had brought her to the infirmary but Arn had relegated her protection to him and quickly returned to the King's side in the midst of all the fighting.
Robbie, who Link didn't even know was in the castle at the time, had assumed Sheikah protection of Zelda in Impa's place and hadn't left Zelda's side one bit.
"Why's the window broken?" was one of Link's first questions upon entering the blindingly white room.
"Yiga." Robbie and his father said at the same time.
"Ah," Link managed.
"Two smashed through the window no less than a full minute after we arrived. One of them may or may not have a very broken nose." Robbie said, pulling a face. "The first was barely through the window when he got it in the face."
Link wasn't going to lie, a sucker punch to the face with glass mixed into it didn't sound very pleasant and he felt a tad bit bad for the guy… But then again, the footman did break through a glass window on the fourth floor of the castle in an ambush attempt so the feelings subsided very quickly. Seeing Zelda's scrunched-up brows alleviated his guilt very quickly. At least where the Yiga were concerned.
"And the second one?" Purah asked.
"Got the same treatment." Robbie laughed. "Both fell to the courtyard but they vanished on contact."
Link nodded, not really knowing what to say to that.
For the hell of it… Link sighed and looked at his dad. "Are you alright?" He asked semi-sarcastically.
"No, I may never recover from such a grievous injury." Sir Fredrick's face was stoney, unreadable, but he looked unharmed aside from some small scratches on his knuckles. Link almost snorted. He'd seen their fiendish cucco do more damage to his father's hands than the Yiga just had.
"He's fine." Link waved him off. "Did anyone else try to come in?"
"A few gentlemen tried," His father spoke up, throwing the bloodied rag into the small bing next to him. "Most came to see the Princess."
"Most?"
"One gentleman came to see you, actually." He snickered. "I believe it was the first man you danced with earlier."
"Lord Anton?" Link blurted in surprise. "The anti-botanist? What did he want with me?"
The looks he received caused him to laugh a bit.
"Poor guy gave the impression of a knight in shining armour. I think he wanted to know your well-being."
Link didn't recall seeing the man in the council room a few minutes before, despite having been the Princess's old suitor.
"I think, while we're all here, we should talk about what happened out there." His father walked to the door and locked it. Then he faced the occupants of the room, his arms folded and his eyes flinty. "How many people in this room already knew of the situation beforehand?"
The silence was deafening, safe for the heavy sigh from his father.
"Right, you should all deny knowing about it, including you-"
"He can't do that…" Purah muttered, cutting him off.
"Why is that?"
His father watched him like a hawk, then shifted his glance to Purah.
With hesitation and a clear need to laugh, Purah recounted the events of half an hour ago, recounting the way Link had told them noblemen off with the least care in the world. With every word that came out, Link watched his father's face grow colder, a bit confused, heavy annoyance, disbelief, and finally, extreme exasperation.
"So you're telling me, not only did you confirm the rumours that Her Royal Highness was pregnant, but you also challenged the nobles in that room?"
"Essentially, yes."
"It was glorious, sir." Purah declared with awe in her voice and stars in her eyes.
"Purah please," Link shot her a pleading look.
His father shot a questioning glare between him and Purah. "I'll be sure to ask Arn about this later."
Zelda didn't remember very much.
She was standing behind Link and they were surrounded by the Yiga, then she'd felt a strong tug in her chest followed by a headache.
Link had seemed to almost flicker left and right as he moved; she knew he moved fast, but she's never recalled him moving that fast. The next thing she knew, most of the threats surrounding them had been dealt with and he was dashing out of the door with Urbosa.
A powerful surge of energy flooded into her veins faster than she could realise. Impa, Purah and the Captain of her father's guard stared at her for a moment as she glowed brilliantly.
She didn't remember anything afterwards, but she did remember hitting the floor.
She felt the impact reverberate through her body, wincing. But now she found herself floating. It felt like she was in a warm bath, cradled perfectly by the inky darkness. Around her, stars winked into existence until there were thousands of them around her. She somehow got the feeling that if she reached out for one, it would feel warm and sweet—like the puffy cream buns Link would sneak her from the kitchens.
What was she doing here? Why was she here? She'd fainted before, but it was never anything like this. The last time, it had felt as though she'd been in a short dream—this was far too lucid, too strange of an experience to be just a dream.
She tried to identify something, anything, but found nothing of great importance apart from a small blue flame, a small flickering light that lay just out of reach.
It felt important. It felt familiar somehow.
Much like Link's description of his out-of-body experience back at the temple.
"You've grown, Little Bird,"
The voice was strange and distant yet all around her, yet it was unmistakably full of love and admiration. It pierced deep into the recesses of her memories, things buried so deep she couldn't remember them of her own volition.
The light slowly took the form of a woman in a royal gown, a delicate tiara atop her hair, braided around the crown of her head.
She'd recognise her from any of the portraits around the castle.
Mother…
She couldn't get the words out of her mouth. It stuck in her throat like glue, unable to move or give way.
Zelda wasn't expecting to see her mother sitting in front of her. From everything Link had told her, she was fully expecting an ancestor of hers from legends like he had met, but her mother was not the ancestor she was expecting.
"Odd how things may happen out of the realm of expectations, isn't it?" her voice was smooth, comforting, a hug wrapping around her heart.
She was speechless. How in the world had her mother appeared before her? What was she supposed to say to her long-deceased mother? She hasn't seen the woman in over fifteen years and here she was, before her.
"How… How are you here?" Her voice cracked. As much as she felt like letting tears loose, it seemed as though that action wasn't possible. Her eyes burned but nothing came from them.
Her mother smiled brightly before shrugging. "There was a lot of magic flowing around tonight, some of it may have gotten to your little cutie of a man," She giggled.
If it had been any other court woman, Zelda may have assumed there were no thoughts behind her eyes, but it was clear that it was simply her mother's demeanour. She seemed almost innocently bright, as though nothing bothered her and she had the ability to smile at anything.
Cutie…of a man? That was an interesting way to describe Link…
"O-oh, I don't know if that's true or not, Link was fighting…" Zelda mumbled, not quite sure of what to make of her mother's very happy demeanour.
"Oh it absolutely came that way, I know." Her mother waved off.
Despite how dark this place seemed to be, her mother seemed to be a walking personification of the term 'ball of sunshine'. Maybe she'd ask how extroverted her mother was back in the day, because right now, it seemed overwhelmingly so.
What does she remind me of? She tried to think of what it was her mother reminded her of, but couldn't put her finger on it.
"Dear, it's a Hylian retriever," she laughed joyfully. "Arnie and Freddie always said so."
Zelda snorted quietly. Arnie and Freddie? Zelda would definitely be teasing the captain with that nickname now. Sure he looked all stoic and strict all the time, but the thought of calling him Captain Arnie was enough to have her snickering to herself.
And Freddie? She was sure to pass that information along to Link just to watch him crack a smile. He always spoke about his father being strict, an asshole at rare times, and just being overwhelmingly hard to read sometimes, it was a breeze of much needed air to know the man was being referred to so childishly.
Though the idea that two mere guards were comparing the queen to a dog bothered her, it almost seemed like they were right.
"Oh it's not weird, dear. It's just how we were together."
Zelda was pulled from her thoughts when she realised her mother was still talking to her. It was as though her mother could read her every passing thought.
"I can."
She would have coughed if it was possible to choke on the air of this place, but she simply stared in discomfort.
That particular sentiment seemed to go right above her mother's head though; the woman was simply smiling and very likely reminiscing about her days alive. Her eyes were closed, but she was clearly enjoying the images flowing through her head.
"Oh I miss those days—they were so silly!" she said, clearing reminiscing.
Zelda had a hard time thinking of Captain Arn as silly, he was far too strict and rigid as he was now for her to realistically imagine him any other way.
As if catching herself, her mother cleared her throat politely and brought herself back to the current time, turning her image from that of a blushy teenager to that of a composed political woman.
Weird.
"My apologies, it really has been a while since I've communicated with anyone," she apologised profusely. "How may I be of assistance, dear?"
Assistance? She can be of assistance to me?! Damn, the bond really was coming in handy, she'd have done this ages ago if she'd known it could do this.
"Dear, that's not a valid reason to bond yourself to someone," her mother laughed nervously. "Whatever could have happened for such desperation for help?" her tone suggested she both wanted and didn't want to know.
Now how to answer that question, Zelda wondered. There were loads she could say about that situation, especially with the fact her father was the root cause of all of most of her insecurities behind her failures at the springs.
She didn't want to mar her reunion with her mother with such a depressing topic, but with the newfound knowledge that she could read her mind here, maybe she already knew.
Zelda glanced at her mother's expression and found worry lines in her brow—those weren't there a minute ago.
Even her mother seemed to hesitate. "Tell me what's on your mind, Little Bird. I don't wish to know via your thoughts." she told her with all sincerity. Zelda didn't notice how much closer she seemed all of a sudden. She could almost reach out to touch her mother, but it was as if she knew her hand would simply go through the apparition.
So her mother could read her thoughts here…That was both comforting and not at the same time. Zelda decided to come out with it. If she was going to know either way, it might as well be from her mouth if possible.
"My powers…They're not waking." Zelda revealed through a heavy sigh. "The Sealing power that has been prophesied so much, it's refusing to show itself." If she could cry, she just knew there'd be a stream of them on her face. She felt her throat closing up as she spoke.
"I'm sorry Zelda, I wish I could have been there." Her mother said, sullen. "Has your father not been of any help to you?"
More of a hurdle than anything.
She forgot her mother could read her mind at that moment, Zelda watched her mother's expression harden for a quiet moment.
"He's not helping you, is he?"
Zelda hated how defeated her mother sounded, almost like she'd been hoping for the opposite. Her mother, who'd been so happy and cheerful, was seeming the exact opposite. It was like Zelda was looking through the mirror.
"What has he said?" She asked, almost hesitantly.
"Too many things," Zelda replied back. Don't think about it, she'll know…
"Might I offer you some guidance in terms of your powers?" She offered. The smile was back, but it seemed forced, as though she was trying to remedy the situation as she could—it was probably what she was doing.
"Anything at this point." She prayed multiple times per day, the trips to the springs were draining her emotionally and now she was pregnant in the wake of the Calamity's resurrection.
"Praying will do you no good here." She said with a heavy heart.
Of course I've been using a dead-end solution…
"Father said you used to pray a lot,"
"And he was right—sort of."
"Sort of?"
Her mother nodded with an uneasy smile. "I was a very... Uh… confused woman," she explained, scratching and smoothing out her hair. "I often sat in the chapel praying for answers to the oddest of dilemmas."
"Like?"
She laughed nervously and averted her eyes. "Sometimes it was for when I was trying to get pregnant… sometimes it was for silly things like boys… sometimes to decide what snack I wanted prior to dinner."
Great Goddesses, you used it for just about anything. It baffled her that her mother would use the chapel for such mundane issues.
Her mother gaped at her as if offended. "The chapel has no such rules! I shall pray as I see fit!" she pouted a bit.
In the few minutes she had communicated with her mother, Zelda had a hard time believing such a bubbly woman could be related to her.
Zelda sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "So how do I unlock this power?"
She regained her composure once more, displaying a more mature front. "You won't be able to, not until you're in mortal peril, Zelda." She explained. "The Sealing power you speak of will only present itself in an incredibly high-stress situation, likely when you face Calamity Ganon."
"So you're telling me I must continue to endure everyone's torment until then?"
"Well, you don't just have the sealing power, you can shut the gossip up in other ways!" She smiled brightly with her two thumbs up.
Very much a ball of sunshine, Zelda compared her quietly.
"Oh? Do tell."
"You inherited old Time magic!" She revealed happily.
Zelda gaped at her mother. "Time magic? You couldn't have told me before?!" She asked incredulously. Through all the records she spent hours rifling through, she's never heard even a peep about time magic.
"Well, it was more of a secret and I wasn't expecting to die so quickly." She sighed. "There aren't many people who could tell you about it, I didn't use it as a parlour trick."
That made sense. The more people who might know about such a powerful thing meant more people who would want her dead or take advantage of it.
"Who knows, if I may ask?"
Her mother thought for a moment. "Mother knew, Chief Urbosa knows and so does Freddie!"
"Grandfather didn't know? Not even Father?" She gaped once again.
Her mother shook her head. "It was meant to be a secret, and Rhoam and I weren't in each other's company very much for him to accidentally find out either."
Zelda did the math quietly in her head. How her grandfather and father didn't find out was a miracle, but how a guard did was incredibly surprising.
"So how does a guard come to find out if it's meant to be a royal secret?"
She averted her eyes again. "He… figured it out… really quickly. He's smarter than he looks."
If the guard was the captain of her guard—Zelda was sure he was—and if she compared it to the way Link was always by her side day in and day out, she could see how someone might figure that out.
That or her mother was bad at keeping secrets. Zelda didn't doubt for a moment that the list could be much longer than her mother thought.
"Nevermind that!" Her mother waved off. "I cannot offer much guidance for your Sealing power, but I can say you should speak with him regarding the other, he can be of help to you. Maybe even Little Link can as well!" she happily declared.
Zelda never recalled Link being able to offer any assistance in terms of her magic. Little Link eh? He wasn't little anymore, Zelda laughed at the idea.
"How would they help?"
"Well, Linky should have a similar ability, it runs through his father's line."
Zelda was going to strangle him.
"No way."
"Oh yes! Those boys absolutely can, even if they haven't said anything!"
Zelda was absolutely going to strangle Link for not telling her that important tidbit of information.
"Dear, you can't kill the father of my grandbaby so quickly, he needs to see the baby first!"
"Well he better have a damn good explanation then."
Over the course of the next three hours, Link refused to leave the infirmary.
Occasionally, various people would poke their heads through the window, such as council members, noblewomen, servants, and noblemen as well.
All were quickly shooed away by the young knight's glare—most were not keen to pick on his bad side, they'd all seen him fight earlier that night against the Yiga, taking them down one by one as if child's play.
Most were smart enough to know pissing off the already angered alpha was ill-advised, especially with the Princess—his rumoured would-be bonded mate—in a hospital bed unconscious and pregnant right beside him.
The only ones allowed to enter were those among the Royal Guards, but even then, only Captain Arn and Captain Reinhartd paid their visits, even if brief.
Arn poked by twice. The first time, he was quiet; simply opening the door, eyeing the princess, Doctor Finri, his father, then Link before retreating back out.
He was likely making an initial damage report to King Rhoam regarding Zelda's condition, Link guessed easily. The King had been surprisingly quiet earlier during the chaos of the council room.
The second time, he stuck around a bit longer before waving out Fredrick and Purah, leaving Link alone with the doctor and Zelda. Robbie had been called away not too long before by Lady Impa, who'd been attempting damage control to the best of her abilities in the wake of Link's 'outburst' not too long before.
Link really did owe her an apology… he wondered if she would accept food as a worthwhile apology.
It was quiet for a while, only the doctor moved around the room, occasionally checking Zelda's temperature, taking her pulse and writing down the details on a sheet for himself.
He'd glance at Link sometimes, maybe he was expecting something out of him, but the man remained quiet in the chair, simply watching with an emotionless face.
"She's safe, you know." Dr. Finri told him, writing something on the sheet. "It's late, you can sleep." he motioned to the open bed in the room, separated by only a thin white curtain.
He shook his head quietly.
"No one is coming in here, I can wake you if there's anything."
Link simply shook his head again, suppressed a yawn and looked outside. The moon was high, the sky was cloudless, the stars were bright, but there was an odd lack of wind.
Outside was just quiet.
"I doubt Sirs Arn and Fredrick would let anyone in here without putting up a fight." Dr. Finri snickered quietly. "They would sooner pummel even a regular guard for coming in without your permission."
Link didn't say anything. If the doctor wanted to fill the quiet air with words, he'd let him. Finri was nice enough, he supposed. The doctor was kind enough to suggest to Zelda to go to Faron and enjoy herself months ago, about not stressing as much, to relax about everything in her life.
But it bothered Link that the doctor reported directly to Rhoam.
While Zelda reassured him that he often omitted details to her father, Link had no way of knowing that for sure.
"The child is fine," the doctor told him. "I won't do anything, if that's why you're still here." He joked.
Link glanced at the doctor quietly and looked back outside.
Dr. Finri sighed and put the stack of papers on the desk before leaning and crossing his arms. He wasn't silent for long, but Link could tell the man was deep in thought.
"The King will know about it, I have to tell him. Too much was said by the Yiga tonight and he heard everything, Link." he sounded defeated. "I know you were hoping to keep it under the rug, but the time has come to come clean."
Link met his eyes before standing out of his chair and moving towards the window, leaning on the frame and looking outside. "This can't end well." he too sounded similarly defeated.
"I can only wish you luck from here."
"Thanks." he would need it.
The room remained quiet again until his father came back in with Purah behind him.
Must've been a long talk. Link looked at the clock and counted nearly twenty minutes. He didn't really wonder about the topic, he was sure he already knew.
With his father back in the room and Doctor Finri turning to note a few things onto his pack of papers, he met his father's eyes in a silent conversation.
His father nudges his head her way with a raised brow.
Is she fine?
Link shrugged and nodded. She seemed fine and Finri was in no way stressed at the moment so that was something.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught his father's hands moving quietly.
'Rhoam wants to talk to you.' Link caught. He stifled a quiet snicker—of course his father would call the man a clown king.
'Why?' he motioned back with a hand. Why did he even ask, it was obvious it was about the events of earlier.
'He sent for the General, The Commander, and your uncle-' he meant Arn '-and other councilmen.'
Curious.
'What does that have to do with me?'
'If he tries to get in your head, stand your ground.'
Before he could relay anything more, there were small sounds coming from Zelda, alerting Doctor Finri to her bedside with a small light.
"It would seem Her Royal Highness is waking up momentarily," Dr. Finri said, peering down at the Princess' face.
Link glanced over—he was right. He could see movement beneath her eyelids and her breathing increased in depth.
It was slow and gradual; she slowly moved her fingers first, her hands clenched weakly next, then she started shifting until finally, her eyes opened groggily.
While Zelda's skin was still paler than normal, Link was simply glad that she was awake.
"Link… Have you ever tried wildberry-voltfruit cookies?" were the first words out of the princess' mouth upon opening her eyes.
Everyone shot Zelda the most confused of expressions, but no one dared ask why she was saying this.
That sounds disgusting, Link could only think as he tried to contemplate the culinary disaster those two ingredients might make when paired with cookies.
The sheer amount of moisture within the batter would require either an extraordinarily long baking time or highly absorbent flours… either way, the texture would be a nightmare.
"No, Princess," Link replied. "I have not tried… Wildberry and-" He suppressed a gag" -and uh—voltfruit cookies."
Ignoring every other person in the room, she continued on this confusing thread of baking questions. "Can we try? I had a wonderful dream about them." She slurred her words as though she had been drinking.
Link shot the doctor a look, only to be met with a shrug and a silent claim of innocence.
"Wildberry-voltfruit cookies? That sounds…" he tried to find a good word that wouldn't hurt his princess in any way. Bad? Ick? Yikes? Vomit-inducing? No that was too harsh, he would legitimately enjoy eating charcoal more.
His father answered for him with the uneasiest of smiles and a mild shudder. "It is a terrible idea."
A glance in his direction told Link that there were memories hidden behind these strange flavoured cookies, but did he want to ask about that?
Looking at his father's face, he decided no. No he did not need to know.
True to his father's warning, it wasn't long after Zelda woke up that Captain Arn returned a third time, this time in full uniform and with his fancy black lanyard.
Fantastic, he was going to be confronted with every higher echelon commanding officer.
Greaaat.
He quietly thanked his dad and the small ceremonial-only uniform pieces for the warning.
As he made his way closer and closer to the Sanctum, he caught the nervous glances of other guards, noblemen and knights his way.
What the hell am I walking into? He wiped his palms on his pants knowing he'd be doing it again in just a few more minutes.
They came to an empty room just outside the ornate hall where Arn stopped and put a hand on his shoulder to halt him.
Link didn't enjoy what he saw in the older captain's eyes. Worry lines were etched everywhere in his usually stoic face.
"Rhoam is mad. Pissed. He's going to try his best to get you removed." He revealed quietly in a whisper.
That's probably the least he'll do.
"Trust me, I know. Good ol' dad warned me." He scoffed, kicking the floor lightly with the toe of his dress shoes. He hadn't even had the time to get changed from the suit he'd been wearing at the Ball. He only lacked the tailcoat, removed earlier during the battle but he still looked somewhat clean.
Arn seemed to pick up on the tone of his voice.
His father was saving his ass left and right the last few days, and it was strange, off putting. Something wasn't sitting right in his gut.
He was never like this until recently.
"If it seems like your father is riding on his high horse, it's just because he's worried about you." Arn tried to reassure him.
"Right, it seems like he's only thought about me the last six months." he said sarcastically.
"You don't like that," Arn guessed correctly.
Link couldn't help but recall the last ten years of near constant silence from his father's end.
Until he went home three months before, his father had been emotionally distant, involved in the least direct ways possible and now he was lurking in the shadows at every turn thwarting disaster after disaster that was coming his way.
Arn was all too aware of how Link felt towards his father. He was among the first people to hear the long winded vent sessions of his mid-teenage years. While Link wasn't sure just how private those conversations stayed—Link fully expected him to share it, they're best friends—but even now, he's never heard a peep about those conversations from his father.
"It feels like he doesn't trust me." Link muttered. "Grateful and all, but I think I'd rather be left alone with my problems," he nudged his head in the direction of the Sanctum.
Arn sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "Listen, I don't know what's gotten into him. One second, he wants nothing with the castle, the next it's how it used to be," there's an unspoken before something that Link has very little interest in knowing about at the moment, but he kept listening. "I know you dont want his help—you rarely want anyone's—but when it comes to King Rhoam, you want his help."
"And why do I 'want' his help with Rhoam?* He asked, quoting the words with his fingers. "He was never here, what's he going to do? Cover my fuck ups with lies to piss off Rhoam further?"
"Don't get me wrong, he's done some equally dumb shit, but he has no reason to lie or cover anything up." Arn deflected confidently. "He entered the palace at seventeen, everyone is dumb at that age, but you seem to forget that he spent over half his life here. He's got dirt on His Majesty that could run the guy into the ground in an instant."
Run Rhoam into the ground? The idea made him want to laugh. The monarch was far too conscious of his image, there was no way.
The rest of that statement on the other hand? Yeah, seventeen year olds were stupid, but still, he found it hard to believe he could lump his father into such a group. "Equally dumb? That's funny. How do you accidentally insert yourself into the line of succession? How do you accidentally get the Crown Princess Pregnant despite using copious amounts of birth control? How do all your secrets come out in one night for everyone to hear? How do you—"
"Slow down kid," Arn whistled. "Yikes you're overdue for a good drink, I'm taking you to the pub tomorrow, Hylia knows you'll need it." He dug into his pockets and pulled out a silver flask and shook it near his ear before untwisting the cap with a mischievous smile.
Link didn't argue before accepting it and smelling it. "You really are an alcoholic." He took a swig and grimaced. "What's in here?" he gagged and almost refused to swallow the vile tasting tincture.
"Right, almost equally dumb shit then." Arn corrected himself. "You stop drinking it for the taste eventually," he claimed, taking the flash and a swig as well. "Champagne tastes like water these days, how else am I supposed to get through those annoying balls? Be good and take it, don't you go spittin' my liquor."
Link shook his head. The more he tried to analyse which drink he had in his mouth, the less sure he was, but the burn was in his nose already and he hadn't even swallowed it yet.
"It's good for confidence. Swallow, you'll thank me later."
It took him two attempts to actually swallow it down, it barely had time to get into his throat before it tasted of a bonfire blazing in his stomach. "How strong is this crap?"
"Have to guess 65? Maybe 70?"
"You didn't buy that, did you?"
"I did not, no."
Link watched Arn pocket the flask after one last swig. "Why do you have that with you? Do you just drink on the job all the time?"
Arn simply stared back.
Link thought for a quick second—he would turn to drinking on the job if he had to deal with Rhoam for eighteen hours every day for close to twenty-five years.
"You know what, don't answer that," the mere thought of having to do that was tempting Link to ask for the flask once more.
"Smart, don't ask if you don't want to know." Arn cleared his throat and looked at the doorway. "Right, so most of us are in there too—not for good reasons. We're all on your side, trust me, no one is throwing you to the wolves."
They better not. Link knew if one of them said anything wrong, all of them would lose their positions—it was practically a group effort to get him with Zelda.
"But Cassian is having his own day right now, so don't mind him. He's a little mad and he's taking it out on everyone else."
Fantastic.
Arn dug back into his pocket for the flask. "One more?"
Why the hell not. Link prepared himself for the vile alcoholic mix to go down his throat as he untwisted the cap and downed one more painful gulp.
...
When Link arrived at the Sanctum with Arn, he was greeted with an uneasy picture; the room smelled of ice and sulphur—fear. The other Guard Captains were already here, kneeled, eyes on the ground and bodies stiffer than steel.
The General acknowledged him from the right side of the throne with a small nod of the head, the knights' Commander Cassian was on the left and he did seem to be having his own day as per Arn's previous warning.
"You're in the middle," Arn whispered to him. "Do not kneel," He added before leaving him and joining the Commander and the General.
He stood tall, shoulders back and head held high as he faced the senior members of the Castle.
General Lance and Commander Cassian shared a glance and a mutual nod before Lance stepped forward with a sheet of paper.
"Sir Link, Appointed knight and Captain of the Princess' Guard, presumed mate to the Crown Princess of Hyrule, do you know why you're here?" There was no warmth of friendliness the General was usually known for.
That's a new title… Link tried to cheer himself up despite the rather grim-appearing situation he was stuck in.
"I do." He said, trying to keep his voice steady and firm.
"That saves me a few minutes," he heard the General joke as he slipped one page in his pocket.
The King cleared his throat loudly and shot a glare.
"Right, my apologies, Your Majesty." any jesting manner disappeared and the general's face grew grave and serious. Link glanced at Commander Cassius, whose face was more stony than a goron's. "Captain Link, you stand on potential treason charges and conspiracy against the Crown."
Link kept his face free of expression, but these were pretty bad.
"Earlier this evening, it was revealed by the Yiga Clan that you are the parent to the unborn child of Crown Princess Zelda of Hyrule, confirmed by your outburst earlier in the courtroom. Do you deny any of these allegations brought forward?"
It did feel nice to let that out on the nobles…
"I do not."
There was the faintest upturn of a lip from the General.
"There were additional mentions of a golden connection between yourself and Princess Zelda. Can you elaborate what you think this might be?"
It meant the shared bond. "I cannot." He answered.
"Cannot or will not?" Commander Cassius barked.
He really is pissed today, it'd been a while since Link saw Cassian like this. The last time he was anywhere near this level of anger was when some of the knights had barricaded themselves in the barracks using their mattresses.
Focus Link, "I cannot." He stood firm.
At that moment, a guard entered the room but kept his head down, signalling Captain Arn to the door.
The Commander and General continued.
"Captains Barnabus Reinhartd and Randall, did either of you have previous knowledge of a potential child?" The Commander redirected.
"No, Sir." The two kept their heads down.
Arn bowed and retreated to the king's side, his face unreadable even to Link. Rhoam began flipping through the book, the sound of each rustling page echoing through the Sanctum.
Link immediately recognised it as the book on Bond Laws.
Whispers were exchanged between the two, then to General Lance and Commander Cassian. All was quiet for a few minutes until the king pocketed the booklet.
Link began to wonder if he was going to have to fight his way out of this.
"Leave us," Rhoam ordered the guards and other councilmen out of the room.
The room emptied quickly, everyone filed out one after the other, but Link caught a glimpse of the shadows behind the throne move.
Impa was hiding.
Though whether Rhoam was intending to assassinate him remained to be seen. Link had, after all, just effectively announced he was usurping him.
But does he know that I know that?
Link strode forward, to the centre of the Sanctum. Moonlight filtered down through the many windows as it sank toward Hebra. Whatever happened next, he had to emerge victorious. For Zelda's sake—and for the sake of the child she carried.
As such, he refused to kneel before Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule. There wasn't much point, anymore, enough had been revealed to warrant some form of rebellion.
It surprised him in no way to see that Rhoam seemed to have the same idea.
They stood face-to-face a few feet apart with the King glaring down at Link with something in his eyes akin to murderous intent.
"I will give you one chance to save your skin, Hero." Rhoam said, his tone full of venom. "Where do your loyalties lie?"
"My loyalties are to the Crown and the People of Hyrule." Link stated.
Zelda. My loyalties are to Zelda.
King Rhoam seemed to look him up and down with disgust as if it was the wrong answer. Link was no idiot, he knew Rhoam wanted him to say his name, but he wouldn't give him that satisfaction.
"Your recent actions lead me to believe you are loyal to own selfish needs."
Huh?
"You have besmirched my only daughter's good name by staking some animalistic claim on her and implanting your seed over her."
What is the aversion to just saying pregnant? And why did you chose to phrase it like that? He didn't consider himself the most verbose person, but even he wouldn't say "implanting your seed" out loud like that.
Too busy trying to keep himself from losing face to the ridiculous choice of euphemism, it seemed to only anger Rhoam more.
"Do you think you're special, boy?" Rhoam spat in his face, tone hushed down.
Would it piss him off if I said yes? Link shoved the thought down. "I do not control my circumstances, Sir." He retorted back with as much politeness as he could muster, but it was clear there was no respect in his words.
"I'll remind you of your oath, you serve this family. Nothing more, nothing less." Rhoam reiterated. Link could almost already hear the words "you are nothing to that child," already.
"I continue to serve the Crown, Sir."
It seemed to piss off the monarch even more. Link noticed the clenching of his fist and the low growl in the throat. "Don't think yourself smart." he threatened. "You overestimate your value in this castle, you'll find yourself disappointed."
This is kind of fun. I should have had more of that drink. "I haven't overestimated my value nor my position, Sir." The more he stood strong, the more it seemed like Rhoam was inching into his personal space, trying to push him back.
He knew he wasn't a big guy, and compared to Rhoam, he looked like a twig to a burly log.
Rhoam was trying to get him to physically back away and cower.
"I would rethink your allies in this castle—-"
"Take a step back Rhoam."
Link blinked at the sound of his father's voice echoing through the throne room. When did he get here? Link hadn't detected his presence at all, not by scent or by sounds until he'd spoken.
A slow deep exhale came from the king as he turned around and spotted Link's father. "Of course it's you."
Link looked around the King and immediately took note of the drawn Royal Bow, aiming directly at them as if they were deer in the forests back home. His father sat comfortable on the left arm rest of the King's throne, string pulled taunt with a steel arrow.
"You and I both know if you lay a hand on that boy, it's your own treason sentence and your head." His father smiled, pulling his bowstring tighter. It didn't quite reach his eyes, giving him a menacing aura.
Link took a few steps away from Rhoam, fearful of the arrow's trajectory. His father had spectacular aim and Link wasn't in the mood to see the results with a front row seat. If his father had snapped enough to raise a weapon against Rhoam, it meant that he was fully prepared to deal with the consequences of doing so—and fully prepared to follow through on actually shooting the reigning monarch.
Rhoam's face contorted with fury as he sneered defiantly at Fredrick.
"And you think your actions are not of the treasonous kind?"
"Not in the slightest. My oath only included Queen Zelda and Princess Zelda, never you." He pointed out humorously, though the smile didn't reach his icy eyes. "Now I demand you step away from my son before I take matters into my own hands." His grip did not loosen on the string, instead it seemed to tighten. "Would you like to recite, or shall I, Your Grace?" He mocked.
A bonded spouse retains the right to the Throne of Hyrule over a married spouse. Link remembered.
"If you intend to injure my son, Princess Zelda's bonded partner, you inflict injury to her as well," he informed Rhoam, his eyes never blinking away. "And you will deal with me personally."
Link could have heard a pin drop in the room for what felt like hours, until finally, Rhoam took two steps away from him, clearing the distance requested of him.
His father's bow hand relaxed on the string, but only enough not to damage the structural integrity of the bow itself.