#ch.18

Link was walking down the hallways, following the guard who had offered to help him. Link tried to make a map in his head as the guard moved and turned inside the Castle. The guard had made no comments whatsoever. Aside from the throat clearings, Link hadn't heard much.

"You got yourself a guide, yeah?" the guard stumbled as he saw Ashei with a leg propped to the wall, "Thanks for bringing our Hero here, Hotel."

The guard looked uncomfortable and answered with a grunt before leaving.

"A man of few words," Ashei opened the door to Link's room, "I'm supposed to give you the key to your suite."

"Thanks for that," Ashei dangled a shiny key from her finger and Link took it before entering the room.

And Link stopped right in its entrance.

"Pompous, yeah?"

More than pompous, Link wanted to say. It was twice the size his house in Ordon.

"Goes to show you how things have changed for you, I guess."

Link went directly to the bed and let himself fall on it. He kept quiet, long enough for Ashei to wonder whether she should leave or not.

"Thanks for coming, Ashei."

Ashei walked towards him, stopped at the bed's post, "Well, you were desperate not to leave her alone," Link turned to her, his face red, "women will swoon when they hear the story."

"Shut up," Link muttered, he sat on the bed, "just take my thanks, all right?"

Ashei smiled, "Taken."

Link mulled things over in his head, squeezed his thighs a little, "And regardi-"

"Doesn't matter, yeah?"

Link looked at her, a frown in place.

"It was the first favor you asked of us, you know? Of me," Link tilted his head, more confused than before, "you did everything on your own, Link. Sure, we gave you information, but you were the one who made our dreams come true. You brought Hyrule to its former state."

"You helped fight in the Castle," Link mumbled.

"Right, the final battle." Ashei put a hand on his shoulder, ruffled his hair, "We owe you everything, Link. Don't forget that."

Link looked at his feet, readied himself to tell Ashei that she wasn't wrong, but she wasn't entirely correct either.

"And before you say anything else, I've got to give you two important notices," Ashei counted with her fingers, "one," she extended her index, "like eighty percent of the nobles and fifty percent of the peasants hate you," Link recoiled a little, frowned at her, "and two," Ashei extender her middle finger, "as far as everybody knows, except The Resistance and Zelda, you only sent me," Ashei pointed at her chest, "to be of assistance to the Princess, if you are pressed for answers you can give out Shad's name," Ashei gave him a pointed look, "only if you are pressed for answers," she then put her hand on her hip and with a nonchalant move of her head, said, "but you don't know Auru outside of textbooks."

Link raised one eyebrow, "Ok," he started, "Why so much-?"

"You know why."

Link looked away, "Well, then, it sucks."

"You won't hear me say otherwise." Ashei waved goodbye, "I'm counting on you to make it work, yeah?"

"I won't slip up."

The door closed and Link felt the room a little too big.

The room was still dark when Link opened his eyes and sat on the bed. It was still early morning. Too early, he thought. The door was closed and Link had made sure to lock it yesterday, but whoever was trying to open it hadn't gotten the memo.

Link let himself fall and tried to calm the thoughts going through his head, there was no way someone was here to hurt or fight him. He had to stop feeling under attack.

The knob stopped turning for a second. Link decided to let it go if it stayed quiet, maybe a maid had made a mistake. And then the knob turned again.

Link opened the door with a swift movement. A maid stumbled into his room.

"Explain yourself."

The maid was a young woman, black hair, small stature. She was too flustered to say much, and when she realized Link was just beside her she covered her eyes with her hands.

Link was tired.

"If you came to clean or prepare the room then can you please come later in the morning?"

The maid looked at Link through her fingers, steeled herself, "Si- Si- Sir Hero Link," she stammered, "I came because-"

"Leela?" William was prim and proper, and Link wondered at what time had he woken up, "What are you doing here?"

Leela started to give an explanation that no one understood. Link looked puzzled at William, William looked puzzled at Link and Leela left the room in a hurry spewing apologies neither man could make up.

"I wasn't interrupting something, was I?"

It took a moment longer for Link to understand what William had said, Link turned away from the man.

"Hey, just making sure, all right?" William closed the door behind him, "Either that or your got yourself a fan. She wasn't supposed to even be near here."

"Neither. She just mistook my room for someone else's."

William gave Link a package, "Sure," he drawled. Link was squinting his eyes in annoyance, "Hey, I'm not doubting you," William made a noncommital shrug, "just, you know," he then pointed to the package, "Her Highness wants you to wear that."

Link opened the package, an expensive looking tunic was inside, "Give her my thanks."

"You do it," William turned, his cape billowed behind him, "you'll see her in a couple of hours." William stopped in front of the door, "I'll be back in a little, dress up, will you?"

Link took off the shirt of his sleepwear, but he didn't hear the sound of the door opening. William had a hand on the door's knob, but was looking at Link.

"Yeah?" Link called.

"In the ceremony... Stay with Princess Zelda, all right? Let her talk, follow her orders, will you?"

Link nodded and hummed in agreement. But the door didn't make a sound. Link grabbed the cloth to wash himself and looked at William. The man wasn't looking at Link, he was pensive, lost in thought.

"Hey, don't worry. What's the worst that could happen?" William started at Link's voice, "I punch a noble in the face?" William gave a loop-sided smirk, "And then what? I get exiled or something?"

"Exiled to Ordona Province, probably."