Hero by Heart

Chapter 48

Link watched in amusement how Zelda flung herself at the construction worker, thanking him excessively and continuously expressing her amazement.
     'It already looks so much better!' She exclaimed, finally releasing the man who looked a tad uncomfortable.
     Bolson smiled, obviously pleased with her reaction. 'We've had a lot of help. It went quicker than I had imagined.'
     The man cheerfully gestured them to follow him, leading them to the west where numerous small tents and wooden structures were scattered over the bare ground.
     Link watched around in awe, impressed by the sheer amount of people that already had a temporary home here.
     To his surprise he spotted a group of Gorons, sitting around a fire and feasting on hot rock roast while talking and laughing loudly among each other.
     'I didn't know you had Gorons in your employment,' he said to Bolson, his eyes never leaving the strong, rock-like people.
     Bolson smiled at him over his shoulder, the pride clear in his eyes. 'I asked around here and there, and these guys just volunteered. It seems like the two of you made some good impressions around Hyrule.'
     He chuckled. 'Those Gorons are unbelievable, the way they tear through the hardest rocks. They had this entire place cleared out within a week!'
     Zelda smiled at Link, obviously delighted to hear that so many people were willing to help.
     They followed Bolson towards a small fire, where he sat down and gestured them to take a seat as well.
     'There is still plenty of work to do, Princess,' he said to Zelda with a smile. 'But with the help of the Gorons I am optimistic that it will go along quickly.'
     Zelda nodded, looking a little grim. 'That's very good news. We might need to have a way to protect ourselves sooner rather than later.'
     Bolson raised both his eyebrows, asking her for more explanation.
     The princess sighed, before folding her hands and looking into the fire. 'There might be an attack coming from the desert. A new clan is moving this way, and it seems like they are set on the castle.'
     Bolson made a small, surprised noise, as he took in the meaning of her words. He then looked around at their encampment and the grounds surrounding them.
     'It's a good thing then that there is not much to destroy here,' he chuckled a little forcedly.
     'We have time to prepare ourselves,' Link said. 'We can ask for help from the other races and build a strong defence.'
     He looked at Zelda, before resting his eyes on Bolson. 'We will need your help for that.'
The man nodded grimly. 'Anything I can do for you. I'll need to rearrange some of the things I had planned so that my builders can focus on that, but that's no big deal. We will start first thing in the morning!'
'Thank you so much!' Zelda called out, giving him a relieved smile.
Link himself felt some of the burden fall from his shoulders now that there was a beginning of a plan, and help.
'We will need to send out scouts to check on their progress,' he said thoughtfully. 'We have to know how much time we can get.'
Zelda nodded along, rubbing her chin as she stared into the distance. 'I have to visit the Rito.'
Link pulled up one eyebrow, clearly hearing the 'I'-part. 'No chance that you are going there alone. I will not leave you out of my sight again,' he said sternly, barely containing the anger that boiled up in his veins.
It startled him a little, realizing just how angry he still felt. He remembered the battle in the desert all too well, and wasn't particularly proud of how his emotions had consumed him.
He thought those feelings had subsided when Zelda recovered, but there was obviously something there still, just underneath the surface.
He now stared at Zelda, his jaw clenched tightly as he tried to suppress his anger and not let it out on her.
She stared back at him, looking a little shocked at his reaction, but her jaw set in stubbornness. 'You can't stop me, Link,' she said softly.
Link shook his head. 'If you're going then I will too. You're still injured!' He raised his voice, slightly trembling from keeping his emotions under control.
'I... uh... I'm gonna make some plans...' Bolson muttered awkwardly, scrambling to get up and quickly walking away, the discomfort clear on his face.
'Link,' Zelda sighed softly. 'Calm down and listen to me.' She looked at him with pleading eyes, and despite it all he felt himself relaxing a little under her gaze.
'We have to ask the Rito for help, but they are not the only ones that we need,' she said calmly. 'We need all the help we can get, because we simply do not know what it is exactly that we're facing.'
She offered him a little smile, trying to get through to him. 'If this really turns into a full on battle we will need the Gorons, the Zora, even the Sheikah and Hylians. We will need an army, Link.'
The knight nodded, and finally unclenched his fists now that he was calm enough to notice the nails digging into his palms.
Zelda placed her hand softly on his, leaning closer to make sure he really heard what she was saying. 'For an army we need to have a leader. Hyrule hasn't been united like this in a very long time, and they need someone that everybody can trust. We need you, Link.'
He chuckled dryly, looking at her in disbelief. 'I'm not suited to be commanding anybody. Why would they want me?'
Zelda shook her head in astonishment. 'Do you really not understand, or are you just trying to be modest?' She scoffed. 'The people in Hyrule adore you. You've helped a lot of them on your travels, and you have been all across the kingdom. Everybody knows you. Everybody trusts you.'
She moved closer and grasped his hand tightly in hers. 'You are the only one who can unite the kingdom right now, and I need you to do that.'
Zelda looked up at him with big eyes, as she softly placed her hand against his cheek. It was warm and comfortable and Link couldn't help but lean towards it and temporarily close his eyes to enjoy the short moment.
'I still don't get why all of that means that I have to stay here while you go away,' he muttered.
He opened his eyes again to look at her. 'Send someone else, or let me come along. I don't need to be here when there is no army to unite.'
Zelda sighed sadly. 'I will be fine, Link. I know you blame yourself, but you really shouldn't. You did everything you could. You did your job.' She offered him a small smile. 'You have to learn to let me out of your sight again, because I am not the kind of princess to sit back and watch it all happen. You know that.' She gently squeezed his hand. 'I will always be traveling, or researching, and you cannot stay with me forever.'
Link softly shook his head, looking down at their intertwined fingers in despair. 'I can't lose you, Zelda,' he choked out.
'You won't lose me,' she said sternly. 'But you do need to let me go. Trust in me, because I will always find my way back to you.'
     Link sighed. 'How can you expect me to stay back and let you go out there now that I just got you back?'
     He looked at Zelda, taking in her golden hair shining in the firelight, her green eyes staring into his, and the paleness of her skin. Maybe it was the light playing tricks, but she looked way too pale for his liking. What if her wound was acting up?
Zelda smiled at him knowingly, probably guessing quite well what he was thinking.
     She gently leaned forward, making a shadow fall across her face so that only her eyes were still visible, reflecting the stars above. 'What do you do when you get thrown from your horse?' she suddenly asked.
     Link looked at her in confusion. 'You get back up,' he answered a little hesitantly, not quite getting where she was going.
     'Why?' Zelda asked, now leaning so close that he could feel her breath on his face.
     Link shrugged, blushing slightly. 'Otherwise you'll get scared to do it again.'
'Exactly!' the princess called out excitedly, spreading her arms as if that solved everything. She then pointed her finger at his chest, while giving him a stern look. 'You have to do that. Get back on the horse.'
     Link shot her a weird look. 'What horse?'
     Zelda sighed, before chuckling. 'It's a metaphor, silly. I mean that you have to let me do things alone again, or you never will, because you'll always be terrified of something bad happening.'
     Link shook his head. 'I don't think I can ever stop being scared of that.'
     'You're allowed to worry, but it shouldn't stop you from doing your duty.'
     'The duty that you just gave me,' he mumbled bitterly.
     Zelda leaned forward again, taking his face in both of her hands. 'You'll be perfect.' She quickly kissed the tip of his nose, before smiling and leaning back again, out of his reach.
     Link did feel the last of his anger dissipate, seeing the cheerful expression on her face. But just as he wanted to pull her back within reach, he heard footsteps approaching, making him look up.
     Bolson was returning, closely followed by a Goron and two Zora, to his great surprise.
'Princess!' one of them called out, waving excitedly.
     As they got closer Link recognized him as Rivan, an old member of the Big Bad Bazz Brigade, and the guy that had apparently had a crush on Zelda back then.
     Before he could get hung up on that fact however, he noticed the other Zora, the Big Bad Bazz himself.
     'Rivan! Bazz!' Zelda called out, excitedly jumping to her feet. 'What are you both doing here?'
'We came to help,' the dark Zora responded with a big grin, making a broad gesture around them. 'We heard you were rebuilding, so Sidon wanted to make sure you had everything you would need.'
Zelda's face split open in a broad grin, and she looked at Link with a new sparkle in her eyes, making him smile helplessly too.
'I don't know how to thank you,' Zelda started, but Bazz held up a hand.
'There is no need for all the formality, nor time, as I understand. Bolson here told us there is trouble,' he said with a sideways gesture to the small man.
'Please, sit down,' Zelda said, waving them closer to the fire.
She then looked at the Goron who was hanging back a little, offering him a kind smile.
     Link was pretty sure she did not know this guy, but he did. He recognized him from the Southern Mine, where he was head of the Mining Company.
     'Dorill!' He called out, trying to include him in the group. 'How come Bludo sent his best workers down here? How did we deserve that honor?'
     The Goron chuckled, sounding like a deep rumbling inside the massive chest. 'The Boss felt like he owed ya for all ya did. Without that lizard monster in our way we can finally reach the summit again.'
     Dorill happily patted his stomach. 'The Boss wanted to help ya get back your home too.'
     Link smiled. 'That's very kind, thank you.'
     Even though he had done the Gorons a huge favour, he still felt amazed that they were being so generous.
     'Now can we get back to the part where there is trouble?' Rivan interrupted the conversation. 'I'd like to know what we are getting into.'
     Zelda nodded solemnly, instantly back in her role as princess. She quickly explained the situation, making the mood grow more and more dour.
     'So there could be a war coming to our doorstep?' Bazz asked, involuntary glancing towards the main gate.
     Zelda nodded quietly, a frown on her face as she took in the reactions of their companions.
     'How big is their army? What do we know about their way of fighting?' Rivan asked.
     'We know nothing,' Link said quietly, making all eyes turn to him in various shocked expressions.
     He sighed. 'I've been in their hideout, and I've seen some of their combat training, but nothing big, no preparations of war nor any sort of organisation.'
     Link looked around their small group, making eye contact with everyone in turn. 'I have seen the man who I think is their leader, but there was also a woman. The only reason that we know they are coming is because I heard them talking about it, but they didn't particularly specify the details.'
'So what now?' Bazz asked with a worried expression. 'How do we know if they will even come here?'
Zelda leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. 'I want to ask the Rito to be our scouts.'
The two Zora looked at her in surprise, but both nodded approvingly. 'That could work,' Bazz muttered.
Dorill and Bolson just sat there with blank faces, turning from one to the other, clearly not at home in the planning of strategies.
'What do you need of us?' Bolson then piped in, gesturing to the Goron and himself.
'I need you to strengthen our defences, build walls and shelter, and forge weapons if you have smiths present,' Zelda said with a kind smile that contradicted her words.
'How many Zora did you take with you?' she then asked Bazz.
'Twenty, but half of them are still children, who only came to carry supplies down the river.'
'And the other half?'
'Slightly older Zora and a couple of guards for protection.'
Zelda nodded, before glancing at Link. 'I want to leave Link in charge of forming our army, so if you don't mind I would like you to discuss with him if you can spare anyone to fight, or to help anywhere else.'
Bazz nodded thoughtfully, probably already counting in his head.
Link on the other hand felt more and more uncomfortable in his new position. How did he suddenly get this much responsibility? And he would have to do it without the princess at his side.
'So I guess that's all for tonight,' Zelda finished the sentence that Link had not been listening to. 'Now I would very much like to eat something and go to bed, if that's alright with you all.' She chuckled.
Their companions quickly nodded and took their leave, after promising to be back in the morning to discuss further plans.

'I think you should appoint a few leaders from the different races,' Zelda told Link as she sat down on her bed.
     'I don't know how to call them, generals maybe?' she chuckled. 'Whatever you deem fitting. As long as they are respected by the others and willing to take your orders.'
     Link sighed as he put down his sword and sat on the bed across from her.
     'Zelda,' he began softly, but she didn't seem to hear him.
     'They will give you the men and women they can spare, but they will depend on you to lead them and tell them where to go.'
    'Zelda,' Link said louder this time. 'How can you just give this task to me? It's not right! I am no more than a knight.'
     She looked up at him with big eyes. 'You are so much more than that, Link!' she exclaimed. 'You are the hope of Hyrule, a hero. You can bring them all together to fight for their kingdom.'
     Link scoffed. 'You are the princess. You said it yourself, back in the desert; you should lead them!' He fell back on the bed, but kept looking at her fiercely.
     Zelda sighed softly, as she pushed back the covers. 'I don't know enough about fighting a war, Link. My father was in charge of our army and he never had the chance to teach me how to do it.' She looked at him through her lashes, while fumbling slightly with her fingers.
     In the dim light of two candles Link could see her eyes glimmering, and he could tell she was fighting her emotions.
     'I don't know what strategy to use, or what people need from me. I can't be the one they turn to in the heat of the battle, because I will be too busy trying not to stand in anyone's way, trying not to die.' She took a deep, shaky breath, avoiding eye contact. 'I might be able to learn, but not on such short notice. For this war we need someone who already knows what he's doing.' She now quickly glanced at him. 'You are simply the best person for this job, Link. I need you.'
     He sat back up, leaning forward to reach out, but he hesitated when he saw her shoulders hunched up, as if to protect herself from him.
     Her obvious despair hit him like a fist in the face, and he didn't know what to do. He wasn't sure if she wanted to feel his touch at all, and some part of him still felt like she wronged him.
     He had never been more than an ordinary knight, appointed to protect the princess with his life. At that he had already failed more than once, and yet she was still trying to give him more responsibility.
     He had no authority, he was no prince or king, he was just Link.
     There was no way that he could keep all of them safe, and he would blame himself for every single person that got hurt.
     Their relationship was still so fresh, and so much had already happened. He remembered the talk he had had with Merina, so long ago in Akkala Citadel.
     He had voiced his worries about Zelda's expectations of him, whether he would have to become king or not. Back then he was terrified of the idea, convinced that he would be no good fit, and part of him still felt like that.
     Merina had told him to discuss it with the princess open and honestly, but with everything happening it just never seemed the right time.
And now Zelda had basically left him with the tasks of a king, whether he wanted to or not. She gave him no choice, and she would leave him behind to do it too.
'Let's just go to sleep,' Zelda softly muttered eventually, interrupting his thoughts.
Link hadn't moved from the edge of his bed, his hand awkwardly hanging over his knee. Now he abruptly lay back down, staring at the ceiling of the inn's room.
     'We'll talk tomorrow,' he mumbled to the ceiling, but he was met with silence, that lasted until he eventually fell asleep.