-Ryo-

Ryo stood outside of the palace. A kettle of tea sat on the table beside him. Steam gently rose from its lips. In the cool night air the only thing that disturbed it was the wind, the snapping of flags, and the torches illuminating the otherwise blank canvas. The city was hushed. Even the nightlife laid itself down to sleep. The news of Zhao's invasion had stilled the heart of Qin itself, and all men and woman seemed to pray in silence. The temple had never been fuller.

The torch besides Ryo went out, and Ryo didn't have to turn to know there was a presence there. He was left in darkness.

"What is your report?" Ryo asked.

"I investigated the boy, Link, no family name, as you requested."

"Good. Proceed."

"He joined Princess Zelda's party in the village of Jouto. He was a slave there, and has been recently freed for assisting the Princess in retaking the throne. As payment for his service in defeating the rogue Sheikah, Zant, he was sent to Ouki Mitagi for formal training. No report has come in since."

Ryo hummed to himself. Yes, that tends to happen when the only report coming from Ouki is caught in transit. Admittedly, Ryo considered he may have made an error in burning the letter rather than allowing it to reach Impa, as the letter intended. However, she would have a keen eye and would notice the seal had been broken.

"Continue. I hope that is not all there is to it. Your reputation is supposed to be professional."

"I entered the village of Jouto. Masquerading as a well-informed traveller I inquired further into him. He is a thirteen year old boy who was taken in by the plantation owner as a slave. He is a war orphan. He has a reputation for working hard, talking loudly and often, and... training daily to one day obtain a high rank in the army."

"An interesting dream, he has. He very nearly made it, too. Not bad for a slave. You usually don't see them so motivated."

"Yes, well... it all stems from his boasting of being the son of a great general."

Now this drew Ryo's attention. Up to this point there had been nothing of note. He had put it together that Princess Zelda had used a body double, he wasn't dumb. He hadn't known she had gone through Jouto before attacking the capital, but it was a detail of minor consequence.

But for Link to boast of being the son of a great general.

Ryo mused, "Interesting. Explains the ambition. Generals tend to father a great many bastards. If he has proof, then it is worth something. Is there any proof to this claim?"

"The townsfolk said a soldier had brought the boy to the Mayor's doorstep as a babe, with the message that his mother was a great general. Since then, that is what the boy has held onto dearly."

"Mother?" Ryo questioned.

"Correct. That is the claim."

Ryo chuckled. "Clearly someone has their facts confused. Is there anything more?"

"No, sir. If I may, there doesn't seem to be much to him. Empty claims and boasting gives the boy ambition, and admittedly luck and some skill had gotten him as far as he did. Yet..."

"Yet? You have further thoughts on this?"

The spy cleared his throat. "If this is all there is to him... then why would the Chancellor have him executed in private?"

"A good question. A very good question. That is the question I had in mind in asking for your services." Ryo stroked his beard in thought. "Thank you for your services. If there is nothing more, then I suggest you leave."

Ryo didn't hear him depart, but the torch beside him flickered back to life a moment later and Ryo saw he was alone. Ryo sat at the table and sipped the tea. It was still warm.

"Great general..." Ryo mused.

Ryo felt there was a great many pieces to this puzzle that didn't fit. On the surface the boy looked like a nobody, but his instincts told him otherwise. If Impa had left it alone, he may consider him to be nothing more than a youth with a stroke of luck and skill, and an aspiring bastard. But Impa had played a hand far too big for a mere insect.

So what was it? Was the boy flirty with the Princess? A boisterous youth can be flirty and overthink their station in life. Ryo shook his head. "No. If he had, the Princess would have made a big deal of it... unless she allowed it... But then the last thing Zelda wants is romantic or sexual advances. She doesn't allow mirrors in her room, only accepts the uglier concubines, and even then only virgins with no experience. With all the tension constantly bottled up inside, wouldn't surprise me if she refuses to be touched and won't touch herself. And the only suitor to ever step forward had the gates slammed in his face..." The Princess hated her own looks and refuses advances. Her cold personality extended to herself.

Ryo spent the night considering the various facts. He laid them all out one by one in his mind across a great canvas. He juggled them, turned them around, looked at them from different angles.

"Thirteen years... Jouto." A thought, or rather a memory, struck Ryo, and he stilled briefly as he contemplated it and explored it.

Thirteen years ago he had been in Jouto on a tour across the western country. He had a brief entanglement with a lovely girl, and Ryo remembered hearing the sound of soldiers outside. It had woken them both, and Ryo had left the girl's home to investigate. They were Qin soldiers. The soldiers were spreading the word that General Kyou Mitagi had fallen in battle to Harken Dragmire.

In the background, Ryo remembered now they had handed off a baby in a basket to the mayor.

Ryo placed his hands flat on the cold table as he juggled this memory with what he knew. Thirteen years ago Kyou Mitagi was killed in a battle near Jouto, as the Dragmire exile had been hiding in the western mountains. Thirteen years ago this baby was dropped off as a war orphan conveniently close to the battle, by the very soldiers reporting this news, with the message that he was the son of a general.

Could Link be the son of Kyou Mitagi?

If Ryo allowed this thought to be taken further, was Kyou Mitagi... a woman?

"No!" Ryo slammed his palms on the table and shook his head harshly to banish the thought. "That makes no sense. Ouki was one of his lovers and he is gay. He always was and always has been. He has numerous male lovers. Kyou... had female lovers along with men... Kyou was a man. It was established by everyone. The Mitagi, the Sheikah-" Ryo's eyes widened.

The same two groups who joined to kill Link...

"This makes no sense!" Ryo whispered harshly. "Why would Ouki kill the child of his lover?!"

Ryo rubbed his temple and felt the facts jumble together in his mind. He was tired, and he knew it. He felt he was on to something, but the many cords of thought were getting entangled and complicated. He needed to sleep on it. He had to be over thinking things.

Ryo needed to consider this in simple terms. Either Link's boasting had created a spin of lies to give himself some sort of importance, or the Sheikah and Mitagi were both lying about Kyou in some way to hide that she was a woman, or they were both telling the truth and Kyou was a man while Link was the son of Kyou and one of his female lovers.

The last one was the one Ryo wanted to believe. It fit, except for the fact that Ouki had played a part in murdering the child of his lover to cover something up. Which brought Ryo to the inevitable conclusion. Someone was covering something up.

Ryo had reached the end of what he felt he could reach with the facts he held this night. He doubted he could come to any true conclusion without sleep and without more information; but if there was one thing Ryo knew, it was the smell of profit. The harder they wanted to hide something, the more valuable it was.

Someone was lying.

-Kanyou, Capital of Qin-

The days following Ouki Mitagi's departure were stressful ones. The work had not ceased by any means, but it was put on hold. All parties involved felt they had done the best they could to prepare Ouki, and Qin, for the battle to come. Now all that was left was to carry it out. Logistics were established and a backup base of supplies was set up nearby Ouki's estimated location, reinforcements and supplies were sent to Bayou to resupply and help them recover from their losses. The Qin to scatter from the Zhao invasion, who survived at least, were met by humanitarian efforts by their neighbors, and to Zelda's pleasure, Lady Reiga and her father stepped up to take in as many as could make it.

It was a large-scale project that made Zelda feel she was drowning. As it was, she could only watch as Ryo and Impa took the reins with a smoothness that made her feel inadequate. Zelda could only sit in silence, struggle to keep up with their thoughts and plans in both its grand scope and miniscule detail, and nod when requested for permission for an action to be taken.

Zelda knew the power of a united palace could accomplish much, but the combined knowledge, wisdom, adaptability, intuition, and experience of the combined factions could move mountains. Ryo was a powerful man. Zelda knew this. She had played games with him, but now she understood more than ever just how far ahead he was in every way. And a thought came to her that made her both fear him, and admire him.

Up to this point Ryo had merely been playing games. Now the games were over, and he was serious.

What she saw terrified her.

When Zelda did not always work. With the primary work done, Zelda tried to do what she could to relax and ease her mind as the tensions rose with each day. During the day she spent time with Andim, perused the gardens of the Fae Grove, focused on her private tutoring. During the night she would relax and seek some company from the concubines of the royal harem, but inevitably, as is the way of the harem, Zelda would cast them out when they got a bit too... assuming as to what she desired, so ultimately they proved to be a source of stress and annoyance rather than a diversion from it. Zelda was expected to accept a variety of night servants despite having a favored, and Zelda had come to accept that, but these days her tolerance was slim.

With each day she grew more icy, more cold, more closed off, more stressed, and with it grew more volatile. Her decreasing state of mind gave rise for Impa to implore the Royal Harem for Sarah to be returned. Sarah did, and this helped Zelda greatly for a time. Sarah had come to be one of the few Zelda trusted most, even swiftly becoming loved like a sister Zelda never had, though if one were to remember Zelda's perspective of family, then perhaps Sarah could be considered even closer. She found Sarah's perspective of a normal life to be utterly fascinating as Sarah recalled her family before joining the Harem.

Sarah was the daughter of a poor family, one among many siblings. She had sisters, she had brothers, a mother, and a father. Too many mouths to feed and too few hands, life was difficult, but worth it. A survey went out to see the beauty of all the girls in the city upon Zelda's return, and Sarah was found to be acceptable, if barely. Being one of the youngest siblings, she did not take on the burden of the family as much as the others and was unscarred, unblemished. She desired to help in what way she could and sold herself to the Royal Harem.

The stories of the Harem were horrifying when Sarah entered in. Rivalries, gangs of women within its walls, were everywhere. It was a saying that two woman in one house is trouble, but to have a thousand woman in one mansion was a war in its own right. Sarah was, thankfully, unnoticed by the major players and most beautiful or popular of the woman, as she was normal by every standard imaginable. This allowed Sarah to virtually disappear within its walls and not be seen as a threat to the popular woman's chances at being favored by the king. It also meant Sarah's chances of earning favor, and thereby earning her family some money as well, was gone. Though it was a bitter pill to swallow, she thanked the Goddesses that it was not as bad as said to be in past generations. In the time of past kings, any woman found with the slightest favor of the king would wind up dead. A woman found with child could not expect to last the day. Death filled the halls as the master of the Harem employed no controls. The new master employed many controls, ensuring every woman knew her place. So Sarah considered her life comfortable... but also quickly empty.

Then Zelda desired a concubine who was as plain as possible, and Sarah was chosen, not because anyone believed Sarah had the slightest chance, but because they believed she did not.

Sarah had an idea to help put Zelda at ease, something she had done many times with her sisters and mother. Bathing together. For her it was as normal as anything else. Commoners did it among the same sex with a shortage of baths. Nobles did it with their servants, even the female ones, which lead to many a scandal. But she understood Zelda's reluctance. However, Zelda conceded and to her surprise it was not an evil to relax in a warm bath with one's friend. Though she did vow Sarah to silence on the matter, which only lead, understandably, to rumors and wild speculation among the servants that it had gone much further than it really had, where it would only spread among the nobles until it returned back around to Zelda's ears and she was highly embarrassed.

So... once again Zelda was stressed, cold, and closed off.

The first day of battle came, but as is the nature of the times, the palace would not hear of the earliest report until several days after the fact. The days following the estimated time for the first day of battle were the most stressed and quiet of all. Zelda could hear mourning in the city as some woke, believing their child or husband dead that day or in the days to follow. She called for the palace to hold no meeting, but for each man and woman, both in the palace and outside, to pray all the day. Ryo and Impa both gave their immediate consent, so their factions did not dispute or argue, and so there was a day of peace and prayer at least in one corner of the world.

Several days would pass before the first messenger arrived from Ouki Mitagi from the first day of battle. The men were gathered to hear the words of Ouki. Ryo took the scroll, opened it before all, and read it aloud.

"By the words of Ao Zhang, scribe to Ouki Mitagi. This day the morale is good and discipline is strong. There is smoke in the distance. Qin has assembled on the hill overlooking Bayou. Bayou is filled with smoke and fire. The army of Zhao sieges Bayou on all sides and rain arrows of fire upon it, but there are yet some defenders on the walls. Zhao moves east to the plains of Badong. Qin moves to meet them. We have established ourselves before the castle of Badong. The ruins of the city lie on our west, and the haunted forest on our right. The castle is behind us. Men of the seven nations have been found within the castle sent to observe the coming battle, including Moubu's son. Harken Dragmire rides alone to meet us. Ouki Mitagi, Moubu, and Ganondorf Dragmire ride out to meet him. The words exchanged are written by Ouki in another scroll."

Ryo paused to check, and the messenger presented several more scrolls. They would get to them later. Ryo continued, "Ouki has sent Kei Ki, the Beheader, to lead Qin on the far eastern flank. Ouki has sent Matsubi to lead the far western flank. Ouki has given Moubu the vanguard flank in the middle. Qin, lead by Moubu ride out to meet the Zhao in battle. Zhao ride out to meet us. Moubu swept into them like a great spear penetrating deep. Chariots come from Zhao to cut Moubu off and surround him, they cut down and trample all of Qin before them. Great smoke rises from their wheels and horses. The losses are great. The chariots return from the smoke only to flee in small numbers. Moubu leads the return of Qin from the battlefield, the head of Zhao's ten-thousand man commander in his hands."

A cheer erupted from all men, guards, and servants in the meeting. Zelda breathed a sigh of relief. It was a small victory, but a necessary first step.

Ryo smiled and lowered the scroll while the men cheered. Impa said, "Now, now! Let us not get ahead of ourselves! I share in your relief, but let us remember this is the first commander to fall among many, and we must not delude ourselves from how easily it can turn against us. We must remain vigilant." She looked to Ryo, "Continue, please."

Ryo briefly picked up a cup of tea from a nearby table, sipped it, and continued, "There has been no word from Kei Ki, and nor has there been any report on Zhao's movements within the forest. It is believed them to be occupied with each other and are beyond communication with the outside world until a command structure can be reached. Matsubi reports that Zhao has made slow movements toward them, but has not engaged in battle this day. Moubu has given special recognition to a group of one hundred soldiers lead by-" Ryo's eyes briefly widened and he very nearly paused. But he did not. He knew to pause here would give them reason to think it special that he read this name. "Link of Jouto and Ganondorf Dragmire of Majora, for they led one-hundred soldiers against the chariots and prevailed. Ouki means to give Link a temporary promotion in leading these one-hundred, as in the loss of their one-thousand man commander, Link took up the flag of Qin and lead them. This night has ended in good spirits and much hope. In closing, Moubu insists I request for a wagon of Ryo's best wine, as he gave it-" Ryo blurted out theatrically, "Damnit man, that's my best stuff!"

The men laughed, including Zelda who laughed quietly, and Ryo put on a bit of a show of pouting and putting his hand over his face and shaking his head. "What will I ever do with the man! I guess this is to be a lesson to me! As the wise say, 'do not give your pearls to swine', and I shall say 'do not give your wine to Moubu!'"

Ryo rolled up the scroll and placed it on the table.

Zelda felt suddenly in very good spirits, enough so to laugh at Ryo's attempt at humor in lightening up the meeting. Much of her unease seemingly disappeared. Link was not just alive and well, but was there so suddenly, and even achieved something! In the grand scale of things, perhaps it was small, but Zelda knew it was a step in his dream. The slave had become a one-hundred man officer. She had not heard from him in the last year since he left to be trained by Ouki, and Zelda had worried since she heard nothing, but now she felt Ouki had taken Link to war and the training was paying off!

And Ganon... despite Zelda's reprehension of him being there, he was proving himself to be an ally despite his potentially divided loyalty. She was thankful most of all.

"My dear, Impa. Whatever is the matter? You look as if you have seen a ghost." Ryo said suddenly.

Zelda had not noticed, but now that Ryo said something, Impa did look surprised, even a little shaken. It drew Zelda's concern.

"Nothing." Impa quickly replied. She straightened her composure. "I am merely worried. The first day has passed and already we have come close to losing a general. Moubu succeeded, but it sounds as if it was closer than I would like."

"To that I can agree." Ryo nodded. "Chariots are an invention of a distant land... and are a scattered few here. No one should have to predict such an oddity, but that is the way of war. We should only be thankful that close, personal friends of the princess-" Ryo motioned to Zelda, "-were there to save my own friend. To that, I thank you on his behalf, princess."

"Not at all, chancellor." Zelda replied with a smile. She felt it was a bit off that he would thank her, but took it for what it was worth.

"Ganondorf I know of, we have spoken. But this 'Link'... I know him to have been in your company, so I have no doubt of his loyalty to you. Where did you find him? He was of no nobility that I can recall. Jouto is... it is a distant village, is it not?"

"It is." Zelda nodded. "Link was a slave boy who served me well. In return for his service in following me in reclaiming the throne, I freed him."

"Yes! I remember that now!" Ryo said. "He also helped in Zant's attack, if the rumors are to be true."

"He did that as well," Zelda nodded. "He served me then, putting his own life on the line and helping me defeat Zant."

Ryo marveled, "Such loyalty! Truly worthy of a bodyguard, or even a champion were he to be more skilled or of higher birth. Princess, do tell me you did not let such a rarity go so easily."

"Indeed, I did not. I asked him for his choice of reward, and he desired to be trained by Ouki Mitagi himself, so that he may serve me better in the future."

"Truly a man that any soldier of Qin should take as an example!" Ryo replied. "Truly a rare marvel... a slave that would do so much in the name of his princess. I have never met a slave so loyal to a fault, have you, Impa?" Ryo suddenly directed his attention on Impa.

"I have not." Impa replied.

"And so it seems the training you sent him to have, princess, has borne fruit. He has saved the life of my friend, and so has served you well." Ryo smiled. "It is truly a pity I had not picked him first, but alas... let us hope he continues to have a long, healthy life in service to you, princess."

Zelda nodded in thanks. At this point, she saw that Ryo was putting on a bit of an act, but that was to be expected in a full room of ministers from all factions. Zelda tried to see what angle Ryo was pulling at or how, but all she could see was him giving her a moment of praise for the work of her loyal servant.

Truly, Zelda could not grasp the mind of Ryo, but then that was because she did not understand that the scheme of words was not aimed at her. It was aimed at Impa. Impa was shaken, disbelieving the boy lived, and troubled by Ryo's sudden attention on the matter. It also did not help Impa's soul to be reminded of the boy's strong loyalty to Zelda... the very person that loyalty may destroy. Impa did not show how shaken she was despite being caught off guard, but Ryo saw it. It was a rare opportunity to see her squirm and to confirm his suspicions. He made sure not to assuage in any way that he knew of the Sheikah's scheme. Instead his aim was to observe. He saw the fear in Impa's eyes, ever so brief as it was, and how deeply troubled she was, and from this Ryo knew there was far more to Link than was let on.

It was nothing new, really, but it was a confirmation. It was a foundation he could work from.