Promises : A Zelink Story

Chapter 3

The morning bells that served as a wake-up call were quite useless of course, sleep hadn't come easy to Link that night.

There was a knock on the door, and a servant entered the room after Link invited him in.

"Good morning Prince-General." he said kindly, "I trust the accommodations were comfortable?"

"Of course, most satisfactory." well he wasn't lying, it wasn't the finest quality cucco feather stuffed-king sized bed's fault that he couldn't sleep.

The servant looked pleased, "I'm glad to hear it. You have been summoned for breakfast and a meeting to discuss strategy. Her Majesty will be in attendance, along with the senior military officers of Hyrule.

"Well of course if Her Majesty has summoned me, then I shall be there."

Fortunately the servant missed, or ignored, the sarcasm in his tone, bowed and left the room. Link groaned as he collapsed backwards onto his bed. It was gonna be a long day.

On the other side of the fort, Queen Nohansen was feigning sleep as her handmaidens came in the room to dress her and draw a bath. No, she laid awake, deep in thought about a set of piercing blue eyes.

•••

Link opened the room to the breakfast hall to find a group of around a dozen men chatting animatedly. Everyone seemed to be indifferent to his arrival, except for Jorulph who led him to his seat and told him that they were waiting for the Queen, who was expected shortly.

No sooner had Jourlph left him than the doors opened, and two guards entered, followed by Queen Zelda herself. The room fell to silence, unless you count the scraping of chairs as everyone got up and bowed their heads to the monarch.

"Generals; Ministers; Prince-General." she greeted the room, although her eyes were addressing just one.

"Your Majesty." was the unanimous reply, except for Link's "Queen Nohansen", which earned him a few looks.

Zelda didn't care, or pretended not to, as she half-heartedly wore the best smile she could muster, and said "Let us begin."

•••

"I say we wait here. We've surrounded Gerudo Town, all trade routes have been cut off, their stock of Hydromelons won't last forever. Sooner or later, Ganondorf will have to come to us." said Florian Haywood, a proud officer of the Hylian Army.

"But that's exactly what he expects us to do! The Gerudo know the desert better than we could ever hope to. We'd be sitting cuccos if we waited here! No– no; we need to take the fight to them!" Link was exasperated, he expected resistance but this was something else.

"And pray tell, just why would I follow an order from a grubby little foreigner?"

"General Haywood!" Zelda said, aghast, "The Prince-General is an esteemed guest who is here at our invitation. You will treat him with the same respect you would show me."
Link raised a hand, "It's all right, Queen Nohansen. If General Haywood doesn't require our assistance then perhaps it would be better for everyone if we withdrew, you know, like this whole thing never happened." He gave another look that only Zelda could understand, and she still couldn't match his eye.

Jorulph stood up with a disarming look, "Now, Prince-General– you will find that the majority of us are greatly appreciative of the Terminian support, and consider ourselves indebted to you. As for our plan of action, let's put it to a vote, shall we? All those in favor of an aggressive approach?"

Link raised his hand as he scanned the room, and saw Jorulph, and his Terminian second-in-command Rusl raise their hands, along with about half the people in the room.

"And those in favor of holding our position?"

Again, around half the room seemed to raise its hand. Zelda had not supported either man yet.
Jorulph did a quick count and exhaled, "There seems to be a tie. Your Majesty, you have not voted yet. I believe you would be the fairest tiebreaker."

Zelda nodded, her decision already made as she looked at Haywood, and Link. I'm judging the idea, not the man, she told herself as she stood and said, "I support Prince-General Harkinian's approach." Link, who was expecting her to go against him, was positively thrilled at this, and smiled at her before remembering himself. Though, he had a feeling she caught it. "Jorulph, make preparations for the same. I want a full rundow-"

"But Your Majesty!" exclaimed Haywood, incredulously, "You cannot possibly mean to support the outlander's-"

"Florian Haywood." Zelda said, in a tone Link would not have believed possible from her, "You served my father well, but if you interrupt me, or disrespect our guests again you will find yourselves excluded from these meetings in the future."

Haywood was a proud man, but a man of duty too, as he seemed to have a retort before he made a funny movement and stopped himself at the last second. "Beg pardon, Your Majesty... Prince-General. But if I may say so, you will see some genuine flaws with this approach. We are scantily informed about Gerudo Town and its defenses and launching an attack without knowing what we are going into, would be nothing short of madness!"

Zelda turned towards Link. "I have to admit, this is a good counter, Prince-General."

"I quite agree, Your Majesty," it went unnoticed by many, but Zelda caught his acknowledgment of her proper title, "which is why I propose a reconnaissance mission before the attack is launched. It is believed that Ganondorf holds a powerful magical artifact, The Shield of Evil's Bane, although you may know it as the Hylian Shield. It is supposed to be unbreakable and resistant to all magic, which would definitely be invaluable against Ganondorf, whose magical prowess has reached us even in Termina. Not to mention, it would leave the door open for us to use magic of our own, through you."

Zelda looked toward Haywood expectantly, who let out a dejected sigh, "I suppose that is agreeable. We'll select a soldier or two from our camps and I suggest you do the same. Take your time, we need the stealthie-"

"Actually," Link cut Haywood off, much to his annoyance, "I will be going for the mission myself, along with Rusl Blackthorn, the Lieutenant of the Terminian Armed Forces, and my second in command.

His words ignited a murmur through the room, causing Jorulph to get up, "Apologies Prince-General, we cannot ask a Prince of Ter-"

"But you are not asking, I'm telling you." said Link in a tone which didn't leave room for questions, "I'm the General of this army right now, not a Prince."

"All the same, you are far too valuable to lose."

"Then I'll go with him." Zelda's words rendered everyone too shocked to speak for a second, before there was an explosion of disapproval.

"I think not!" exclaimed Florian Haywood, to shouts of approval.

"Your Majesty, do you really think us incompetent to this degree?" said another General, in dismay, "Do we really need to rely on our monarch for measly ground work?"

His words fell on empty ears however, because Zelda wasn't listening. Her gaze was searching the room until it fell on those piercing blue eyes, which shone of approval. Zelda could've sworn she saw him smile for a second, before he remembered his indifference and brought on a stern face.

"It is most ridiculous!" exclaimed General Haywood, "We have many more suitable candidates for this mission, it is beneath you! You are-"

"The Queen of Hyrule, and what I say goes. As for my credibility Florian, I would have you remember I'm not exactly a virgin when it comes to war. I'm lighter and quicker than most of your men, and I have trained under Lady Impa, a Sheikah, masters of stealth. I wager I could lift your sword right from under your scabbard before you could blink."

Haywood was red faced, he sat down and didn't speak again.

"I am the Queen." Zelda addressed the room, "which means I have a responsibility to all of you, the soldiers fighting for us, and every single person living in Hyrule. I will not sit idly by while I send men right to the enemy. I trust myself, and I trust Prince-General Harkinian."

"Tonight." Said Link, "I'll meet you in the courtyard. Lady Impa, please prepare for our departure."

"Of course Sir."

"Good." Said Link as he left the War room, nodding at Zelda.

•••

Zelda arrived at the courtyard that night to find it full of people.

"You're late." Link said curtly.

"Mind your tongue, Terminian." General Haywood bellowed, "You're talking to Her Majesty, Queen Zelda Nohansen the Thirteenth, Ruler and Protector of the-"

"I'm sorry." said an irksome Link, insincerely, "You're late, Your Majesty."

"Why you-"
"It's alright Florian." said Zelda disarmingly, "I apologize Prince-General, there were some last minute arrangements to be made. I trust you and Lieutenant Blackthorn are ready?"

"We are, Your Majesty." replied Rusl, holding the reins of his and Link's horses, "We should really be going now."

"And are we ready, Jorulph?" Zelda turned to her General.

"Yes, Your Majesty, however I still wish you would've let me or someone else accompany you." said Jorulph, handing Zelda the reins to Winter, her steed.

"It is a stealth mission Jorulph. Strength in numbers does not apply here." She turned to face the crowd, "As you very well know, I am the only surviving member of the Nohansen Dynasty, with no natural born heirs. If I fail to return, I proclaim Lady Impa of the Sheikah as the interim ruler, until a new dynasty is established through the feudal elective system in place. I trust all of you to take care of Hyrule."

"Ah, don't say that, Your Majesty." replied a solemn Jorulph, "If any harm came to you-"

"It won't." Link cut him off, "I swear it." he said, looking directly at Zelda, although she couldn't tell if he was trying to make eye contact or desperately hoping to avoid it.

"Wow, well- I really appreciate that Li- Prince-General."

"You can call me Link." he whispered as he got onto Epona, which Zelda wasn't sure whether she was supposed to hear or not.

As they rode, it occurred to her, he might not have been sure either.