The perks of being a Royal Guard Captain was that he could plan and schedule ahead of time when they would leave the castle.

Now that he had unofficially lost that position—he still hadn't picked a replacement—he was still taking care of some of the duties on paper.

Now the perks of being with Princess Zelda as her bonded meant there were very few people in the castle who could tell him no, and Link had full intention to abuse that particular perk this morning.

And so, by request of his dearest Zelda, at the crack of dawn, he was waking up Barnabus who was still assigned to guard him until arrangements could be made, then sent him to fetch Dame Caya, who he'd only told the day before that she'd be taking over guard duties for Zelda.

She was ecstatic to have guard duty for Zelda, but waking up before the sun even broke the horizon was not something she seemed too keen about.

By the time the sun broke the horizon, they were already riding out of the main gate of the castle, and by the time they were leaving Castletown, Purah, Impa, Robbie and another Sheikah man had joined them for the four hour trip to Hyrule Garrison.

The towers quickly came into view, glowing orange in the distance. He could see one very far off on the Great Plateau, one just north of the castle where the old training grounds had been, and one on Death Mountain when he turned to the east.

Link spent the better part of four hours riding in silence, listening to Zelda and Purah's animated conversation regarding the towers, the shrines and potential new discoveries. Robbie and Impa discussed quietly to the side regarding safety measures and something regarding the guardians.

Link shivered at the thought of the giant mechanical spider-like creations. He had exactly zero fond memories regarding the lasers it blasted and it caused him nothing but stress, stress, and more stress, no matter how much Zelda seemed to defend them even after their stumble through the Forgotten Temple.

The Forgotten Temple… Haven't had any weird dreams since then…

He still occasionally wondered if his meeting of the first hero's spirit had been nothing but a figment of his imagination, simply something not worth his time pondering over.

"Link! The Garrison!"

He must've been deep in thought when Zelda's voice broke through his thoughts. He snapped back to reality and watched as the main Garrison of Central HYrule came into view, much bigger than Kolomo's.

And right next to it stood an incredibly tall glowing orange tower.

"Let's get our first tower." Link called out to Zelda as the full structure came into view.

It was much taller than he'd originally thought.

...

"Commander Cassian, how are you?" Link asked, opening the door of the commander of the Garrison's office.

The man looked up from the desk with urgency, and bowed his head. "Your Highness."

Eww. "That's not necessary, please." Link deadpanned. "Sir Link is fine."

Cassian shook his head, but kept it bowed down. "Nonsense, we have been designated to call you this title until we have confirmation from either you or Her Royal Highness regarding your bond completion." Cassian explained.

Link sighed internally. "Alright, but sir is fine."

"I can work with that, sir."

Nevermind, I don't like that either. Link resisted the urge to grimace at the oddity of being called sir like that, but chose to move on instead. "I'm not here on official business from the castle, but rather sheikah matters." Link reported, motioning out of the office window and towards the orange glowing tower.

Cassian need not look behind him to know exactly what it was about. "Is it the tower?"

He nodded.

"I've been having to repeat to the boys to stop trying to climb that thing, honestly, look at it—HEY!" Cassian leant out of the window and shouted, projecting his voice far. "STOP CLIMBING THE DAMN TOWER! YOU'RE GONNA HURT YOURSELVES AGAIN."

Link moved towards the window curious and looked out towards the orange glowing tower and quickly spotted three soldiers at the base, somewhat hidden behind the tower, but clearly still visible through its column designs. The three looked surprised and walked away with their heads down.

"Right, what was it about the towers you needed to tell me?"

Link looked away guiltily. "I need to climb the tower."

...

"Two and a half hours?! Really? Don't you have better shit to do?" One of the soldiers laughed, looking up at the tower from the base while shielding his eyes from the midday sun.

"Obviously, but it seems only I'm supposed to be going up." Link answered back plainly. "Others have tried and they all think I'm meant to."

"Shit man, I'm sorry." One of the older ones said, kicking the base of the webbed walks of the tower. "You got the endurance for it?"

"Of course I do," Link glared at the soldiers. "But two hours… I could get half way back to Castletown in that time."

"So what I'm hearing is that you want to get up there as soon as possible." The soldiers looked between each other with shit-eating grins. Link vividly remembered when he had last seen such a look. It had been during his training-camp days and he hadn't been able to move his left leg for six hours. Young soldiers bored on the job with a shiny new thing to pique their interest wasn't a good combination.

"Nothing that'll land me in the infirmary please."

The soldiers scoffed and laughed. "You'll only end up there if we screw up."

"Would that really be so bad though? With that fine thing taking care of yo—hey what was that for!"

"You don't say that shit in front of him, goddesses, do you know nothing? Sorry about him, sir, no manners. We think you and Her Highness make a fine couple!"

What the fuck is happening?

What Link hadn't been expecting was to be shown to a catapult by the soldiers. While he'd learned how to operate one in his training in Akkala years ago, now that he was fully grown, the thing still looked massive. It was being pulled back by two young men in their casual uniforms—minus the armour, it was far too hot today—and another was ready with an axe to the side. They looked no older than twenty.

"So what's the plan again?" Link asked with a fair amount of scepticism.

The bigger of the group stepped forward with a smile, ready to explain the plan. "So we aim this at the tower, and we shoot you as far up as we can."

Link blinked. "How long did it take you to think of this plan?"

He looked back and shrugged at the two others who copied the action. "Five minutes?"

That tracks.

"So while Theo is aiming that thing, we're gonna have you sit in the bucket and hope you go where we want you to go."

"And…hope I go where you want me to…" Link repeated back slowly.

"Mhm!"

"And…um…" Link scratched the back of his head. "What does that trajectory look like?"

The soldier looked at him for a second before moving away from the catapult, then pointing a large arc in the sky with his hand. "Something like that, give or take a couple metres."

"Has… this been tested?"

"Tested? Ha! No, when would we have had the time to do that?"

"Not even on a rock? Or a bag of flour? Anything?"

"Nope!"

Oh Great Goddesses save me.

Link studied the tower for a bit through the shouts between the soldiers and the wood cranking a few feet away. It was very high, and even as far as he was, he still had to look up to see the ornate top, still clearly covered in mud and sediment from being underground for what could have been thousands of years.

He estimated, at the very least, a height of two hundred feet.

Link was either going to collide dead-on with the tower, get flung over the tower and far out into the field, or miss it entirely and be forced to walk back for an hour or two by foot.

I'm not sure which option is worse.

"I do hope we can ascertain enough information from this tower to make the remaining easier," Purah prayed quietly as Zelda sipped her tea by the window of one of the guest parlours of the Garrison.

Link had wandered off somewhere after mentioning that he was going to study how best to climb the tower, but after Robbie had told him it would take hours, she assumed he'd be climbing it while she was entertained by the commanding officer of the Garrison, Commander Cassian.

"Fifteen, if we start from here, we can make our way to the Great Plateau and then to the Gerudo Canyon where the next closest is." Robbie explained, pulling out his map and laying a small horse statuette throughout the path.

"We can camp or rest at the Colosseum then continue tomorrow if that works for you, Your Royal Highness?" Impa politely offered, pointing at the Colosseum on the map.

"I can gladly send word to Commandant Rale today to expect you tonight if you so wish." Commander Cassian bowed his head. "There are more than enough suitable lodgings there for Your Royal Highness, His Highness and your attending guards."

Zelda smiled with a quiet laugh. "It's almost odd to hear Link be referred to as His Highness," she giggled behind her cup of tea. "That would be wonderful, Commander. Please do so if it isn't a bother."

Commander Cassian stood up, bowed, and left the room to go write the letter as Zelda continued to enjoy the small snacks and tea she'd been served. She hadn't expected the Garrison to have such a fine quality of tea, perhaps it was meant for the officers.

It took about twenty minutes for the Commander to return to the parlour, the letter written and sent off already to the Colosseum's Commandant.

"When His Highness returns, could you give him this report?" Cassian asked the female guard accompanying the group. "It's a report of Monster camps in the area and sightings."

"Yes, sir." Dame Caya nodded and pocketed the report. "I'll be sure he gets it."

Cassian thanked the woman and retook his seat across from the princess.

"Speaking of Link, has he gotten any climbing done? I don't seem to see him anywhere." Purah noted as she peered out the window at the base of the tower.

The Commander shrugged at the head of the table. "The last I saw of him, he seemed determined to find the most time efficient way to climb the tower."

"Well, he's not there and he left an hour ago." Purah commented.

"He's not there? He should be halfway up by now," Zelda stood from the chair and joined Purah at the window. "I wonder where he might—SWEET HYLIA WHAT IS HE DOING?!" She shrieked quietly as she watched the father of her unborn child get flung into the air via a catapult.

They ignored the rushed steps to their side as all four of them watched Link fly through the air towards the tower,

"Is he going to make it?" Purah asked, almost looking away.

"It…almost seems like he's gone too high…" Cassian commented quietly to himself.

Almost as if he'd done it hundreds of times before, Link seemed to confidently pull out his paraglider for one second or two before stashing it away, dropping down from the high arc he'd been flung into by the weapon.

"He's going to end up killing himself one of these days…" Impa groaned as she left the view of the window.

"If he doesn't, I'll do it myself." Zelda muttered under her breath as she tried to calm her heart rate.

She felt a little bit of her anger ease as the tower glowed a brilliant blue, with some of the prongs on the top snapping upright and into place.

Now if only he could get himself there without being flung higher than Hylia, she lamented. She noticed that Purah was looking rather thoughtful.

"How portable is that catapult?" the scientist mused.

"No."

"I mean the accuracy is untenable, but I think I could make a prototype that just launches him vertically. It would be much more accurate and have a higher likelihood of avoiding…" Purah cut herself off as she saw Zelda's face. "Collisions," she finished faintly.

Despite the catapult-related shenanigans, Link managed to get himself cleaned up to meet Commandant Rale with Zelda. The princess wore a neatly-pressed travelling tunic in her signature blue, with her hair done up in a braided crown around her head. Link wore a matching suit and had brushed his hair back into a neat (ish) ponytail. He wore a set of trousers and boots that were clearly a riff on those of the Royal Guard, and a similar jacket. But given that it matched Zelda, he could hardly complain. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She had given him a dressing down about his recklessness—though the strength of that lecture had been slightly undermined by her kissing him the whole time. Link had accepted his "punishment" with grace.

They walked into the Colosseum with her hand in his elbow, flanked by Impa and Purah.

Commandant Rale stood in the centre of the Colosseum. She was a tall, imposing woman, dressed in dark blue military regalia, the gold ropes and medals shining in the diffuse light of sunset. She had grey hair that was drawn back into a bun, and her left ear was missing a chunk—allegedly it had been bitten off by a moblin during a battle in Akkala according to Link. She had a wicked-looking scar on the same side of her face, from her cheekbone down to the corner of her mouth, stark against her warm brown skin. Her eyes were a piercing blue, sharp as steel. She stood with her feet shoulder-width apart, hands clasped behind her back in an informal salute. Yet Link looked like he was waiting to be told to be at ease.

"Commandant," Zelda said magnanimously. "Thank you for hosting us for the night."

"When duty calls, the Garrison obeys, Your Highness," Commandant Rale said curtly. "We have prepared a meal for your group, as well as adjoining rooms here in the Colosseum."

"Rooms?" Zelda echoed, surprised. "I didn't realise there were quarters here."

"They're for the garrison to retreat to in times of crisis, though the nobles prefer to use them as viewing boxes when the tournaments come around," Commandant Rale replied. "Your privacy will be uncompromised, however. All measures have been taken to assure you of both comfort and safety. Your Highness, I trust that you would like to conduct an inspection, however I would prefer to coordinate that with the head of your guard," she continued.

It took Link a moment to realise that she wasn't talking to him but to his friend. "Oh—er, yes. Captain, please review the quarters with the other captain," he said.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zelda's Lips twitch.

...

"I can't believe we got a room to ourselves," Zelda looked around their room. "How did you manage this?"

Link set the slate on top of the dresser and undid the numerous belts holding up his sword and travel packs. "Rale is a good friend of mine, she's pretty reliable and she's good at what she does." Link praised her. "I met her a year or two into training when I was picking up two-handed weapons for the first time."

Zelda finished changing into her nightgown, having almost completely changed out of her riding clothes by the time Link had arrived to the room.

"Was she a commandant at the time?"

He shook his head. "No, she was rising the ranks with the knights, she didn't want to pursue a career with the Guard so Cassian was pretty happy to keep her within the Knights' ranks."

"I can see why, she seems very confident." Zelda noted. The way they'd talked over dinner regarding the training of knights at Kolomo's Garrison and in the Colosseum seemed to speak volumes about her work ethic. "But how is it we get a room together for once?"

"Rhoam has more control at the palace than he does the Garrisons, as hard as that may be to think about." Link had a faint smile. "But out here? Politics does little more than dirt. Military officers wield much more influence and power and we're more likely to get our way, granted Rhoam keeps his nose out of this place."

"Don't they report to my father?"

"They used to, but recently it's changed a bit. Power shifting and political movements typically have the commanders stick to themselves. They don't usually enjoy mixing themselves into politics, it makes things too complicated, and considering they train the military, politics are useless when it comes to soldiers."

When she put any thought to it, it made more sense; most soldiers weren't from the cosy nobility, they were from common families looking to make a living. Those who did come from aristocratic families typically had private tutors until they were confident enough to rise the ranks to a strong position, like Link's close friend Captain Barnabus Reinhartd. She recognised him as the younger brother to one of the councilmen that went by the same last name. They weren't high nobles, but they were still barons at the end of the day.

"So… will we be bothered tonight?" She asked, glancing his way. At the Castle, they never had anytime to themselves, constant interruptions by councilmen, guards and others, but here?

Link shook his head. "No interruptions for us tonight! Barns said there might be a guard here or there throughout the night, but we've got the place to ourselves."

"Good," Zelda said, and pushed him onto the bed hard enough that he bounced a bit. He gaped up at her, taken aback.

"Three weeks, Link." Zelda tugged her nightgown over her head in one swift motion and tossed it aside. "Three weeks since we've last done anything together." she pushed his shoulders down onto the bed and straddled his waist, not wasting a moment more of their precious time alone.

Three long torturous weeks since the ball. Three long torturous weeks where he's been kept away from her bedchamber for the dumbest reasons known to man, and three long torturous weeks where she's had to tend to her own needs because those damn illogical councilmen won't let her enjoy her own bonded partner.

She gave a filthy grind against his awakened cock through his pants and sighed. The fire in her belly roared awake as it had so many times recently in his absence from her bed.

"At least wait—Goddesses Zelda—wait until my pants are off." He struggled to get out as her movements were rough against him. He ripped his belt out of the loops and gripped her thighs to stop her from continuing. If she kept going as she was, she was sure to get him off before he could even get undressed.

This was a heavenly gift after such a terrible wait. "I've missed you so," she rolled her hips desperately against him, itching for that shock of pleasure. "Yesterday, you were so-Oh!" She chased that hint of pleasure over and over again.

"Yesterday?" He struggled to push down his trousers, lifting Zelda very briefly as he pushed them down and kicked them off completely.

Eyes screwed shut, Zelda nodded as she took a hold of the base and sank down on him eagerly, not wasting another moment. "In the library," she placed her hands against his torso and began moving her hips slowly, stretching around him. "You were so-" the words caught in her throat.

"So what?" He teased and brought a hand to cup her swelling breasts. "Tell me."

"I-" her words caught in her throat once more as she grinded down particularly hard with her body quivering lightly. "I wanted you to take me on that table." she moaned out.

"In public?"

She nodded frantically. "Every time I think back—oh-" her breath caught as he thrusted up harshly out of nowhere. "I almost wanted to shove you onto the floor and take you there myself," she admitted, her cheeks flushed a deep red at the admission.

The more she thought about yesterday afternoon, the more she wanted him to do things to her.

She wanted his head between her legs as she studied one of the many books he'd grabbed. She wanted him to keep her quiet by any means necessary as she wrote her notes in the library, maybe even touch her under her skirts despite the other patrons hidden by only the bookshelves separating them.

"What's gotten into you all of a sudden?" He teased her with a smirk. He held her hips and moved her along painfully slow, holding her eager movements back.

Curse the confidant bastard. She pushed herself against his strength, panting quietly. "Link, please."

He held her firmly in place. "Please what?"

She tried to move against his hands, but found that she couldn't. He would make her say it, no matter how embarrassing.

I did admit to wanting to be taken on a library table in broad daylight.

"Please," she pleaded quietly, trying to buck her hips. Her desires blazoned in her belly, nearly causing her to shale with need on his cock.

"Say it and you can have whatever you desire," his voice was smoother than honey, nearly dripping with desire himself.

Her skin burned at the thought of begging for his cock.

Saying the word dick, penis, cock, whatever the euphemism may be, still embarrassed Zelda to the core. The thought of being so vulgar brought fiery blushes to her cheeks and every part of her screamed not to say it

"Say it and it's yours," he teased her mercilessly, dragging her across his hard length in such a torturous way. It scratched the itch just barely to be called satiable but it left her desires so much more from him.

She needed the friction, the sliding of him inside of her, the pounding.

"I need you," she grinded almost desperately, the words stuck in her throat like glue.

"More specific," he thrusted up roughly only once, but it was enough to have her wanting to chase that spark again.

"You—your penis, please!" She begged, finally letting the words free from her throat. "I need it please!"

"As you wish, my dear," he dropped his force entirely and let her move freely.

Like a floodgate released, her hips moved with a rush she had yet to see come from herself in a long time, reminiscent of her days in heat not too long before. She moved back and forth feverishly, chasing the mounting electricity.

Zelda's nails dug into his pectorals and abdomen, clawing and scratching as her aching core pushed her for more pleasure, for the relief she so desperately craved.

So many nights she had been pushed to chase the relief using her hands or the tools left to her by her friends, but it couldn't beat Link's hard erection inside of her.

And Link? He didn't seem to complain, far from it. His eyes were screwed shut, lips gaped and lungs heaving quietly.

Zelda brought a hand between her own legs to rub frantically at her clit. Combined with Link inside her, she felt like lightning was unleashed within her, racing all the way down to her toes.

She climaxed with a muffled shriek, throwing her head back as she did.

Link thrust upwards into her as she clenched around his knot, and came hard enough for her to feel it twitch within her.

Spent of her energy, Zelda slumped against Link and pulled the blanket over them.

"What's gotten into you?" He panted quietly, wrapping and tightening his arms around.

She shrugged her shoulders. Not long after she found out she was pregnant, all sorts of things had been happening to her, but particularly, her sex drive had gone through the roof when otherwise, she'd have been content barely touching herself for weeks apart from her off-days.

"I blame you," she laughed between breaths.

"Keep blaming me, I like it." he said with a goofy smile.

She rolled her eyes and smacked his chest.

She heard him chuckle before his arms came to wrap around her shoulders. He peppered small kisses to her cheek, each warm and slow as they started moving towards her ear. "I missed holding you like this." he whispered in her ear.

She missed being held like this as well.

Zelda lifted herself off of Link and laid next to his side, happily laying her head into his shoulder and her arm across his chest.

She was content laying there by his side. His arm wrapped around her, hand on her shoulder as his thumb stroked her skin gently. It was a soothing act, one she absolutely adored. He wasn't a very touchy person outside of their few moments of privacy, so she embraced every bit she could get from him.

She cuddled in closer to his side and listened to his calming heart. "Did you want to go again in a bit?"

The answer flew from her mouth faster than she realised.

Link jumped a bit at the volume of her 'yes' and seemed almost as if he didn't know what to do for a moment before propping himself onto his elbow and moving closer to Zelda with the intention to kiss her.

"Before we go again, just give me one minute." Zelda stopped him and leant over to the nightstand and pulled open the drawer.

It was the sweet and savoury smell of their earlier dinner that hit his nose when Zelda rose back into bed, plate in hand.

"Is that a ham sandwich?" He asked, dumbfounded.

She took a generous bite of the sandwich, glaring at him. "Don't judge me."

After dinner, she had asked the chef if she could have some of the ham for later, sliced and made into a sandwich to sav her the embarrassment of eating just ham in bed.

Link gawked at the sandwich. There were four thick slices of ham between the two very thin slices of bread.

She could practically feel his thoughts seeping into her mind regarding the contents of her midnight snack. "There's more ham than there is bread in that sandwich. Might as well forget the bread when there's that much meat." Was probably what he wanted to say.

"I'm not, but why is it here?"

She swallowed her bite before speaking. "Isn't it obvious? I asked for it."

"I see that yes, but my question was why?"

"I started getting hungrier at night."

"Then eat more at dinner? If you're not full at dinner, you should have more."

"That's just it. I feel full at dinner, then I just get hungry again not long after so I've been packing myself a sandwich for bed the last two weeks."

Link was bewildered. " Then eat more at dinner. "

Zelda huffed and took another bite of the sandwich. "You can talk about my hunger levels when you get pregnant with a ravenous baby, now shush. Let me enjoy my sandwich."

There was silence in their bedroom as Link settled in the blankets next to her, one arm draped over her waist as she continued to eat.

It was delicious. The bread was fresh—sourdough with rosemary—and the ham had been fried a little bit before it had been put in the sandwich. The smell of roast honeyed ham and sourdough started to fill the room and she didn't need to look at Link to know his mouth was watering.

"Can I have a bite?" he asked quietly.

She avoided looking into his blue eyes, she just knew he'd be giving her his puppy eyes. "No, you judged and questioned my sandwich. Starve."

Despite refusing to give him any part of her sandwich, she eventually relented and ripped a piece of ham no bigger than a large crumb and dropped it into his mouth.

...

When Zelda finally emerged from her room late the next day, both of her Sheikah attendants were waiting for her in the small dining hall.

"Well good morning to you, Princess." Purah teased her, her smile growing wide.

"Don't you mean, good afternoon?" Impa snickered behind her hand.

Zelda turned briskly toward the grandfather clock in the corner of the room.

It wasn't noon yet, thank goodness.

She turned back and glared at the two girls. "Ha ha, very funny." she grumbled out. "If it isn't too much to ask, could I have some help bathing today?" she asked quieter, looking around.

"Why don't you ask Linky for help?" Purah asked with a wicked grin.

Zelda snorted quietly and looked back at the hall. "I'm afraid if I do that, it will defeat the point of a bath."

Impa choked on her water and coughed.

No more than an hour and a half after leaving the colosseum, they reached the town at the base of the Great Plateau that towered over the land beneath it with its large intimidating walls.

Gatepost town had never been a big place, a few rows of houses here and there, a few barns, three or four stores but mostly the bare minimum. Castletown and Mabe Village were barely a leisure day's ride away by horseback, Deya wasn't too far off either so it wasn't as though they were isolated away. The town had begun as a glorified barracks, catering to the trio of garrisons that were stationed near the official border—remnants of more turbulent times between the occupants of the continent. Now though, it was more of a trading outpost than a military base.

As they pulled up to the small outpost town, Link could already see its inhabitants coming out to peek at them. Mostly soldiers and travellers who were there for business, as well as a few well-dressed people who looked to be pilgrims.

Link glanced over to the side where Zelda was pulling her riding cloak around her. She wasn't trying to hide her face, but he could see it as clear as day what she was trying to do; her hands brought the openings of the cloak to the front, hiding her swelling belly from their view.

"You alright?" He asked quietly as they pulled closer to the first homes.

She nodded. "I'd rather not have rumours so far out already," she stated plainly.

It was highly likely that most of the country already knew of her pregnancy; three weeks since the news had been announced... No way they didn't already know, but if Zelda wished to stay oblivious, he could honour that wish.

He stared a bit longer at her expression, trying to figure her out. Zelda was watching the walls before them with what seemed to be fear at first glance.

Right, the Temple of Time is here. Link had completely forgotten the old religious landmark was waiting for them on the other side.

He looked at Dame Caya and caught her attention briefly. He tapped his wrist briefly and she acknowledged the motion with a head nod before riding up to the gate at the end of the road.

"We'll go right through, there won't be a need to stop by the temple if you don't want to," Link tried to comfort her.

"It has been a while, Father mentioned the temple before we left." She told him, shaking her head.

"If you're sure…"

They picked up the pace through the town, looking straight ahead until they reached the opening gate to the Great Plateau's elevated area.

The guards inclined towards them as they made their way up the long dark path, illuminated by torches until they reached the top, where the sun shone brightly above them.

The Temple of Time stood proudly at the end of the path, and while Link thought it was a work of art, ancient architecture withstanding the test of time, the same could not be said for Zelda by a simple glance in her eyes.

Link saw nothing but pain with a few hints of fear here and there.

On her other side, he spotted a glowing orange shrine.

"Zelda, look," he whispered and pointed to the now illuminated shrine.

He watched the light return to her eyes as they went wide with excitement, replacing the fear and anguish he'd seen moment's ago.

It was almost like a flip with the way her entire demeanour perked up with excitement, her body nearly shaking with excitement. They'd never seen the shrines without this glowing light before and now here she was, a mere few strides away from one. "Can we?" She turned back, her voice squeaking.

"Of course, I still need to climb that thing." He pointed behind him to where the tower was situated, just a few more minutes away from the shrine. "Why don't you go look at it with Purah while I deal with the tower?"

"Won't it be dangerous?"

"I've still got my eye on you from here," he patted the bow strapped to his back. The soldiers posted along the walls and the entrance to the Plateau were equally reassuring just in case.

"Well folks, let's get to it!" Purah cheered as she veered off, following Zelda's eager pace as Robbie followed Link's casual ride the opposite direction.

...

This tower proved to be much shorter than the one next to the Garrison, with each platform right over the next. Link rested on the platforms suspended from the webbed wall of the Sheikah tower, and each brought him closer and closer to the top, until no more than an hour later, he found himself at the top and out of breath.

It was colder on the plateau due to its elevation, but it was getting much colder and windier as he got closer to the top until finally, he reached the top, heaving loudly as he finally pulled himself up.

I spoiled myself the first time… As much as he wished to repeat his trip to the top he'd done to the central tower, he didn't wish to see the horror on Zelda's face again today despite how rewarded he'd felt after last night.

He got up from the floor and moved towards the pedestal with the slate in hand before pausing and looking out into the distance. He quietly restashed the slate on his belt and moved towards the edge of the tower.

Hyrule Castle stood beautiful and glorious, Death Mountain towered above everything else, Link could swear he could see the trails of lava coming down its faces even from here despite being halfway across the continent. The towns, the outposts, the Garrisons, travellers, undisturbed forests, he could see it all from atop the tower.

He looked down to where Robbie and Barnabus were sitting in the shade of a small shed.

"Oy!" He called down.

The two men looked up and waved.

"How long is our longest rope?" He shouted down.

The two men looked between each other before moving with haste.

...

"How safe is this?" Zelda called out with uncertainty. She looked between the ground as she hovered a few metres above on the first platform, back to the top of the top where Link was looking at her.

According to Robbie and Purah's reports of the various towers, this one's platforms were by far the closest together and had the shortest climbing time with how many resting spots there were, and with how quickly he climbed this one, it had taken less than ten minutes between each platform.

"Don't worry, Your Highness, if anything happens, we're here." The brown haired captain reassured her.

"R-right," she rubbed her gloved hands together before taking a solid grip along the walls and took a tentative step against the tower.

On each platform, Robbie climbed one ahead of her, extending a hand out to her as she climbed to each.

It took longer than it did for Link to climb the tower, but on the final stretch Link passed down a rope to the top of the tower and instructed her to simply sit in the loop he'd tied before pulling her up himself

And he did so quickly. Zelda almost consistently kept rising as though she weighed nothing, until a few moments later, when the top was within reach, two separated hands extended out and pulled her up until she was on firm land again.

"My poor heart," Zelda smiled with a hand on her chest. "I thought this was going to be your catapult idea again." She joked.

"With you? I would never." Link joked. He pulled the rope off of her and set it to the side. "Close your eyes." he instructed her.

"Why?" She rose a brow at Link sceptically before doing as she was told and closing her eyes.

She tried not to focus on the chill in the air, they were so far up in the air now, atop a tower and the Great Plateau. The main platform wasn't smooth like the flooring in the castle, but not too rocky she would lose her balance. She felt Link take her hands forward.

"Careful with your steps, move with me." he told her, leading her forward and turning her to the right. A few hesitant steps and she felt the ground texture change to rigid lines

Behind her closed lids, she could see the sun's bright rays shine through.

"What are you doing?" She inquired, feeling with her foot as she moved forward slowly until she came into contact with a rounded surface.

"Stop." He stopped tugging her hands forward and she heard his steps move around her. "Open your eyes, mind the sun."

"Oh my…" her hands flew to her mouth as her eyes adjusted to the light and captured the land before her.

She's seen Central Hyrule from the height of the towers, but from the other side of the country? It was entirely different.

In the midday glow of the late afternoon, the rays of sun had yet to begin setting in Hebra. Its warm rays bathed the fields overlooking Hyrule in golden light; forests sitting at the base of steep mountaintops were slowly covering in darkness over to the west.

Lush green bathed in the growing light made her sigh, awe of the flora and fauna bringing warmth to her on the chilled morning.

Along the dirt paths, she could see riders trotting along, travellers walking about together, she could even see the singular bokoblins who were hunting in nearby forest running amok, looking for prey.

Over the distance, the split mountains of the Duelling Peaks stood proudly the ranges of Necluda. The architecture of the posts, the temples and the city walls could be seen from this high, this far away. The stonemasons and builders had created a beautifully simple thing, and had blended it to the woodlands surrounding wildlife wonderfully.

This is my kingdom. She smiled, tears almost stung her eyes. Our Kingdom, little one. She placed a hand on her protruding belly. Her gaze softened, letting both her hands sit upon the bump. Their kingdom. Yes, it'd be their kingdom one day, and she'd show it all to her child. From the hidden nooks of sandy Gerudo desert to the highest points of snowy Hebra, it'd be theirs to gaze upon and care for.

"What do you think?" She heard Link ask behind her.

"Oh it's wonderful!" She turned and threw her arms around his neck and swung herself around him. "Thank you!"

"I thought you'd like to see it with your own eyes." She heard him muffle through her hair as he set her back down. He took a step back and unclipped the slate from his belt. "Here," he placed it in her hand and showed her the pedestal.

Zelda grinned and took the slate eagerly, inserting it into the glowing pedestal. She stepped back as the above component glowed and distilled one singular drop.

"Does it always do this?" she asked, awed at the glowing colours.

He nodded.

She watched the mysterious liquid drip down onto the glass screen. The screen began to glow as Link took it out of the slot and into his hands. She gasped audibly as the map updated itself before her eyes, showing the ridges, elevation and coloured areas of the map.

While she expected the map to show the surrounding terrain, she hadn't expected the map to update with the local towns, paired with names and everything.

The slate was wordlessly passed into her hands as she began zooming in with her fingers, zooming into the nearby towns.

"Oh…" She zoomed into the Temple of Time with the slate, but found it nameless. "Not everything is named."

He looked over at the slate with a hum. "It's likely because we haven't brought it there yet. Look," he swiped across the map, particularly on the route they took from the Colosseum to the Plateau. Each location was named until he swiped off their travel route. The lakes no longer had names, the forests remained nameless and outposts were left as blank squares. "I think we need to travel to the areas to see them named on the slate."

"That would make sense I suppose." She took the slate back and scrolled across the map, eyeing where there might be locations named that she hadn't realised had names to begin with.

Satisfied with the places she'd scanned briefly, she handed him back the slate for its resting place on his belt. He thanked her quietly before handing her his paraglider. "We can either go down together, or you can take the paraglider down and I'll follow."

She looked down the opening she had climbed through and noted how close the platform was. "Can the paraglider carry two?" She asked curiously.

He seemed hesitant. "I haven't tested it yet, but I'd rather not from this height." He commented. "I was going to hop down using the platforms, they're pretty close together so it shouldn't take me more than twenty minutes."

"Alright, I'll take the paraglider then." She stood at the edge of the tower with the two Sheikah next to her, ready to go with her.

"Zelda?"

"Yeah?"

"Please don't tell Finri I let you paraglide off a tower—or climb the tower. Actually, tell him none of this."