As soon as Zelda slowed to carefully move through the carnage in front of the king’s study, Liesl was able to catch up and wrap an arm around her waist. Both to protect her physically from any danger that might appear and also from what may be awaiting them. Namely, the body of the very man the Princess was concerned about. And even if that man had been frustrating to a fault, Liesl didn’t want him dead. That would only further complicate already delicate matters. Besides, was his thinking really that much different from the other noble families? Who, by the way, were all represented and headed by men. No, losing the king would only turn their need to win over one man into the need to win over many.

“Liesl, let go!” Zelda protested as she tried to wriggle free. But despite the objection, she held firm. However, before Liesl could explain why she would do no such thing, a voice boomed from inside.

“Who’s out there?” It was deep and one she couldn’t place. Unfortunately, Liesl didn’t recognize the face that popped through a moment later either. Most likely to investigate after the trio froze in place and did not answer.

Liesl met the stranger’s red eyes as they widened in recognition, only for a hint of fear to replace that surprise once they shifted to a very pissed off Rowan, charging him with sword held high.

“Shit!” The man hissed before disappearing back inside, narrowly dodging the blade that was headed straight for his face.

“Stay back, girls,” Rowan barked as he passed and turned to give chase inside.

Liesl tightened her grip on Zelda, who now pressed her body backwards in an attempt to get closer. That sounded like a good plan to her, but the single, unrecognized voice soon became two. And it was only Rowan in there. Were there more attackers? Was he going to be overwhelmed by a group of them?

“Stay behind me,” she told Zelda as she switched their places and moved forward, close enough that she could peer inside the open doors.

The first man had apparently alerted a friend because both were trying to get past Rowan’s defensive swings. The tight quarters made it difficult, as did the mess left behind from their ransacking. Papers were thrown everywhere, drawers pulled free from the desk and surrounding cabinets, and bodies of both guard and attacker lay dead on the carpeted floor. Which must have explained why there were only two assailants left standing.

Should Liesl rush in? Or did she leave it to Rowan? He’d just handled two enemies on their stairs, so he should be fine, right? Ugh, but Liesl didn’t want to leave it to chance, and her hand tightened on the hilt of her sword in indecision. At least until Rowan’s foot landed on a piece of paper and shot out to the side, coming from underneath him and taking him down to one knee.

A single piece of paper was about to take away one of the most important people in her life. No, she couldn’t stand for that and immediately lunged out of Zelda’s grip to raise her sword and deflect the blow that was mere seconds away from connecting with Rowan’s shoulder.

Liesl could tell the attacker was stunned because it took him a second to figure out why his blade wasn’t buried in Rowan. It no doubt became even more confusing because the wielder of the sword and the reason it failed was a young Hylian woman…in a nightgown.

Luckily, his momentary stupor allowed Rowan to stand once more and subsequently join Liesl’s side. Then it was one pair facing off against another, longswords and curved blades pointing across the room, waiting. Well, she saved Rowan, but now what? He hadn’t taught her how to fight in a group. Not yet. Goddesses, there was so much he hadn’t taught her, so much she needed to learn.

But she couldn’t think about that right now. Right now, she needed to focus and keep her attention on the closest attacker, who was now moving off to the side. Probably to give his partner room, if she had to guess. “Just remember your training,” Rowan said before taking a step forward, preparing himself to fight with the second man. The one who had peeked his head out through the door initially.

The one Liesl stared down had the same red eyes, ones full of nothing but malice. In fact, his whole face contorted with it. But she didn’t understand, he was a Sheikah. They both were. So, why were they fighting them? Their people had been Hyrule’s allies for…well, for as long as anyone could remember. Rowan was, too, obviously. Not to mention Impa, and many others in the army and on the castle’s staff. What was going on?

Liesl would have to ponder that question another time because Rowan was the first to make a move and lunge forward, trying to gut the man in front of him. That grunt of effort set off the man opposite Liesl, but her sword was there, ready, and more than capable of blocking the testing blow. Despite the small space, she was able to use the superior reach of her sword to keep the man at bay.

Strike after strike came in to try and push her back or otherwise give up ground, but Liesl countered each while keeping a solidly defensive stance. At first, she was tense, gripping the sword in almost a deathlike hold. But with each blocked blow, each time she drove him back, she let herself relax, and did precisely as Rowan said. She trusted herself and what he taught her.

As she relaxed, her opponent seemed to grow more irritated, and his swings lost some of their earlier precision. Nothing wild, but she could tell he was getting frustrated at not being able to get to some young woman. That’s when it happened, just the tiniest wrong move on his part, and she was able to knock the sword aside enough to cut a gash across his forearm, deep enough that he dropped the blade with a yelp. But instead of a finishing blow, the sword was only leveled at his throat after Liesl took a step forward. Soon to be joined by another, as Rowan dealt with the other man and came to stand next to her.

The attacker clutched his arm to his chest but hardly cared about staunching the blood flowing freely down his arm. Instead, he only shook his head at Liesl as if he were disappointed. “So, you’re it, huh? The Hero .” Then he looked to where Zelda stood at the doorway, peeking in after choosing not to continue inside. “And the Princess. ” A derisive snort followed before the man shook his head and finally let his arms drop by his side. “If this is what stands in our way, it doesn’t matter that we couldn’t get the sword. With a Hero that can barely wield it and a Princess that can’t use her power, Hyrule is as good as doomed.”

“What are you talking about?” Zelda asked before stepping into the room proper and coming to a stop just to the other side of Liesl. “Doomed? What have you all done?”

But the man only shook his head before moving a hand to the small pouch on his belt. Despite it not being an obvious weapon, both Liesl and Rowan lifted theirs a little higher as if on alert.

“What we needed to,” he said before lifting out something small from within. A mushroom, maybe? “And now he’s returned.”

Rowan was the first to realize what was happening, but before he lowered his sword and lunged for the man with his free hand, the attacker had already slammed the mushroom in his mouth and began furiously chewing.

“No!” Rowan grunted again, trying to fight through flailing limbs to get to his mouth. “What have you all done!?”

As soon as the man swallowed, a wide grin played across his lips for a few seconds before a gasp of pain ripped free from his mouth. At which point, Rowan shoved him back so he could double over, clutching his stomach. “He’s…returned,” he said one more time through clenched teeth before falling forward onto the ground. Liesl watched in horror as he began to convulse a few times before ultimately lying still and letting out one last, ragged breath.

“Goddesses,” Zelda whispered. “Did he just…?”

“Yes,” Rowan answered with a shake of his head. “A better option than talking with us, apparently.”

But Liesl’s attention was back on what he kept repeating in those final moments. “He’s returned?” She parroted before finally bringing her eyes from the dead man up to Rowan. “He means the darkness, doesn’t he? The great evil?” Which was how such a thing was typically talked about.

Rowan kept his eyes on the assailant, though, and continued shaking his head. “It makes no sense; he can’t be here. He can’t be free…”

“Can’t be free?” Zelda repeated, apparently also curious what Rowan was talking about.

“What?” He asked before finally bringing up his head and waving away his words with his free hand. “It’s nothing. Let’s just find the Master Sword; there will be time to explain later, and right now we need to focus.”

Honestly, Liesl was growing tired of that excuse. She was getting the distinct feeling that important details were being kept from her and Zelda again, and that didn’t sit right with her. How many secrets was her life shrouded in? Both their lives. She almost confronted him on it, but Zelda’s raised finger pointing off deeper in the study stopped her from voicing those concerns.

“It’s in the other room, Zelda started before following her indication with a nod at another door, one that led deeper into the study. “I put it there after the last attempt to find another wielder.”

Rowan grumbled something Liesl couldn’t quite make out and started moving to the door before waving them along. “Is it locked away?” He asked as his hand landed on the handle.

“No,” she answered. “Father didn’t see a point to.” Well, Liesl supposed that was a fair assumption because who was going to steal it? “It was on a shelf on the far wall.”

Except, when they piled into the little room, they found the one shelf destroyed and the Master Sword lying on the floor among splintered pieces of wood.

“Idiots,” Rowan muttered before stopping just short and putting his hands on his hips. After a moment of consideration, he looked to Liesl and, to his credit, actually managed a weak smile. “Well, I suppose it’s yours now, Liesl.”

At first, Liesl only stared at it, feet unwilling to close the distance and hands not ready to grasp the legendary weapon.  Especially after the insult that was just thrown her way. Was she really so bad? Was she unworthy to wield it? Would it not make a difference in the end, even if she did?

“You can do it,” Zelda said from behind her before coming up and putting a hand on her shoulder. “This is the weapon you were born to wield.”

“It’s a weapon, but I fear I am not,” she admitted before looking between both of them with an expression of unease.

“It’s one thing to learn how to fight,” Rowan started. “It’s another thing to learn how to kill. Or rather, to learn how to live with yourself when it’s done. And even if I had been allowed to train you overtly, I’m not sure that is a lesson anyone can impart.”

“But we can learn it together, right?” Zelda asked before moving from her side, stopping by the Master Sword, and bending down to pick it up. Whereupon she turned and made her way back to Liesl. “I’ll be with you, every step of the way.”

Well, when you put it like that, it didn’t seem so daunting, did it? Knowing Zelda would be with her. Knowing that, in the end, they could lie down and hold each other as they drifted off to sleep in a world they made safe. That was usually enough to help keep the nightmares at bay, anyway. “Yes,” Liesl said with a shaky smile. “Together.”

“Together,” Zelda repeated before lifting the Master Sword in the decorative scabbard that must have been commissioned to keep it in. “Now, this should be done in a ceremony more deserving of your station, but this is neither the time nor the place. For now, all I can do is ask that you accept this sword, Liesl. Take it and defend Hyrule…defend your Princess.”

Defend your princess. Now, that sounded like a considerably better and more achievable goal. At least when pitted against saving the world. “Okay,” Liesl said in something barely above a whisper. “I will…I promise.” Those words were said with a little more conviction before she tossed the sword she held onto a nearby couch, already forgotten. Then she reached out with trembling hands and wrapped her fingers around the hilt of the Master Sword. The same feeling of warmth and power rushed through her like at the temple, but this time, it felt lighter in her hands as she lifted it from Zelda’s. Perhaps her training had paid off after all? At least, in some respects.

“Good,” Zelda said before reaching up on her toes and planting a soft kiss on her cheek. “And that’s so you don’t forget that promise.”

No, Liesl never would. Of that, she was certain.

Their woefully inadequate ceremony complete, the princess turned and faced their witness, her expression shifting to one of curiosity. “Rowan,” Zelda said before stepping past him and glancing out the window. The slight glow from the fire illuminated her face while her eyes searched the scene below. “Where is my father?”

“I don’t know,” Rowan admitted readily enough before joining her a moment later. The last time I saw him was here with Impa a few hours ago, but we all left for the night.”

“Have you seen Impa?” Liesl asked before going and peeking out the door and back into the study.

“No. If I had to guess, she went to find the king.”

“Not Zelda?” Liesl tried to keep the frustration from her voice, but clearly failed, as evidenced by the look the other two gave her. But could you blame her? What was he going to do? It was his daughter who was destined to save Hyrule. Shouldn’t they all be trying to keep her safe?

“Well, I suspect she knew I would be coming to the aid of you both. Because the Princess is important, yes. But also, because she knows I care about Liesl a great deal.” Well, that made more sense, and the admission helped Liesl’s simmering annoyance fade to nothing. Goddesses, she was glad he’d shown up!

“What will she do if she finds him?” Zelda continued, concern starting to creep back into her voice.

“I suppose that depends on what he wants. Your father is a stubborn man, I’m not sure he’ll flee the castle,” Rowan said with a shrug before turning his attention to Zelda and fixing her with a hard stare. “You, on the other hand, will be leaving. And I don’t want to hear any arguments. If darkness has come to our doorstep, you both aren’t ready to meet it. We can’t risk losing either one of you before the fighting starts.”

“I think the fighting has started,” Liesl corrected before she permanently tore her gaze away from the carnage in the central part of the study. “In a big way, unfortunately.”

“Perhaps,” he admitted. “But whatever this is, I fear it will only pale in comparison to what is in store.”