#tkasp

1. this next chapter is gonna be fairly long, but I’m not gonna split it up like I did with Chapter 7/8. It’ll be ~6K I think.

[excerpt]

Hi gang! Giving you guys a preview of what’s coming next week. :0

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Crossing his arms, Link leaned on one of the stable’s door frames. “We’ll probably be getting a new one in the Order,” he said. He wondered if Kai had heard about that.

If Kai had been surprised to hear Link contribute to the conversation, the only indication was the small pause in his movements.

Benji perked up, shifting on his sitting stool to face the two of them. “I know. I applied, actually, but so did several others. Only one will be selected.”

So Benji had volunteered, then. If he got the position, he would need to go through proper training, but squires already held some basic fighting skills, taught to them in the early stages of their employment. Would the training be rushed, Link wondered, with the ball so close? The Imperial Guard needed to appear in tip-top shape for the arriving nobility.

“It’d be cool if you got the promotion,” Kai commented. “You’ve been a squire for eighty years, about time for a change.”

Benji gave a small smile. “Not quite that long.”

“Four years is still a long time,” Link said.

“Maybe, for the younger ones,” Benji admitted, turning back around to continue his work with the blue horse. “But it’s definitely on the shorter end. Some squires have been here for twenty years. I applied, though I’m not sure I’d be ready for it.”

Did Captain Edeline have opinions on Benji potentially becoming a knight? The thought bubbled its way into Link’s mind, floating around and stubbornly refusing to dissipate. Link thought back to when, after he’d joined the Guard, he’d immediately been asked to join the Knight’s Order. His father had seemed hesitant on the idea, but his mindset had been appropriate for the situation - figuring that Link was already the Goddess’s chosen, if this was where fate was to take his son, then he’d let his son be the ultimate decision-maker. It was that lax-but-only-just parenting strategy that left Link feeling like an adult as the age of fourteen. But Benji wasn’t in any sort of special case. Maybe there would be more of a careful tip-toeing into service that Link never had the chance to experience. But that was assuming he’d be selected…and even then, Benji was almost twenty-one, practically an adult by certain standards...

Enough. He needed to stop thinking about these things and focus on his day.

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Here you guys go!

[excerpt 2]

Here’s a second preview of what’s coming in chapter 6 :)

It was as they made their way down another set of stairs that she looked behind her - why, she couldn’t have remembered. But Link wasn’t looking at her.

A faint alarm bell rang in her head.

She knew his rhythm by now. Months of being followed, of constantly having her knight as a breathing shadow, had clued her into how he performed.

It was the silly little things. Link always tried to match her pace, so their footsteps may match and be more uniform. He always remained five paces behind her. And he never took his eyes off of her. It had been bothersome, early in his time as her knight escort, when she felt she could never escape. It had taken her too long to realize that he was nothing to run from.

But Link was closer, now. A quick glance at the steps between them told her so - three paces. Three steps. Had he forgotten? How could he, when his eyes were at his feet and not her face?

She had stopped descending the steps in thought, without realizing. Link stopped walking as well, as an instant reaction, and she was reminded of yesterday, when they had stood exactly like this.

Shaking her head, she began walking up to him, closing the distance. “You look tired, Link, do you feel alright?”

If her concern stirred something within him, it didn’t show on his face. “I’m fine, Princess,” he assured her.

It was something in the air - a lie. But what could she say?

Link was a smart person. Quick on his feet, quick with his intellect. Zelda knew that every detail that Link had shared with her about himself had been on purpose. There were no accidents, no afterthoughts. She could see it in his face, in his careful breaths and straightened shoulders. He was considering something. He was considering telling her something. But could she push for it? Should she?

hehe

awah, thank you!

I’ve been getting some asks regarding the next update, so I’ll tell you guys now that I’m actually working on a Zelink fic for @hwaoc-big-bang! That fic is set to be released in November. I’m currently writing chapter 9 of TKASP as well, so I’m going to try to release that in November too.

so uh yeah, check it out! hope you’re ready for some plot.

***ALSO - IMPORTANT: a dead body is found in the castle’s moat in this chapter, and, well, yeah, it’s kinda gross. If that kind of stuff triggers you (which is valid), just skip that small paragraph when you get to it.

Sorry for making you guys wait an entire chapter for Link’s POV, I’m an evil lil gremlin I know