Apocalypse Here...

"I don't see why not," Iko replied. "Hasn't he been agreeable during my absence?"

Zelda avoided the bare facts. "Not...exactly."

"Well, I'm sure he won't mind..." She donned her cloak. "Shall we?"

"Yes, Mother." she said, following the woman.

[...Ehehe...Iko doesn't know the entire floormap of the Castle...]

{Yes, I know that. (-3 }

Iko realized that she wasn't sure where to go to exit the castle. She thought she knew, but she was uncertain; she knew that uncertainty could get yourself killed.
"Zelda, dear, come walk beside me. Why are you hanging back like that?"

"It's customary for the Queen to walk ahead of the Princess." Zelda reminded her. "You should know that..."

[Love that smiley! Very cute! ^^]

{Yar, thankee. I love my kitteh smileys.}

Drat... "Yes, I suppose you're right, dear..." Iko cursed inwardly, wracking her mind for the directions outside. Where to go, where to go...

Zelda once again ran an appraising eye over her mother, trying to decipher the strange behavior.

She paused at a division of the hall, took the left path, and prayed that it was right.

[[XD I love that}}


The mother and daugther pair emerged in the courtyard after some walking, and Zelda looked at her mother,

"You remember here, don't you?"

Iko nodded, glad that she did know this place, having snuck around it for so long. "Yes, I do dear. You so loved to comeout here during the spring when the flowers would bloom..." She blinked, surprising herself for saying something like that. She shrugged it off.

((Layout? Yes. History? Not a chance.))

Zelda sighed, "That was a long time ago..." she said, smiling.

Instantly, she felt a pang. "...I used to sneak Link in here, and we'd play pretent until my governess came for me..."

Iko frowned. "Link...than boy who you were with when the guards brought you...where would he be now?"

(Uh, oh...>.>)

"Wherever Father sent him," she said innocently, "Probably the dungeon..."

Zelda's heart ached...and it showed.

"Your father dislikes this young man, hm?" Iko turned towards the dungeons, she knew well enough where they were. "I don't see why he shoudl be kept there simply because your father has a disliking for him..."

"But...Father...he--" she was cut short as her mother led her to the dungeon's entrance.

She followed Rosaline through the corridors of the prison, amid jeers and curses from some captives, and respectful murmurings from others.

Iko paced up and down the dungeon, peering into each cell. "Where is this boy, dear? All I see are criminals."

"I-I don't know..." she said, her eyes falling suddenly on an empty cell, with a heavy, iron door standing ajar on its hinges.

The cell she'd visited not an hour ago...

"Question," Fell asked, whispering since they'd left teh saftey of the sealed room. "What happens if they realize Link is gone?"
Tara hissed. "Goddesses. I forgot about that..."

-------
Iko frowned. "You're sure he was brought down here?"

Link's jaw set in a grim line. "Then we'll have to fight our way out," his hushed voice asserted.

-------

Something was wrong...Link was supposed to stay here...she was going to hatch a plan to save him...

"He was here..." Zelda breathed, "He was!"

"So has someone let him out, or--" Her gaze fell upon the guard that Fell had dispatched earlier. "Oh, my..."

Zelda flinched. "Link wouldn't do that..." she said, shock making thoughts jumble inside her head hazily...

Tara raced down the corridor, abandoning all silence. "We need to leave, now," she hissed.
Fell motioned to Link. "Come on!"

----
Iko stepped aroung the fallen guard. "He's unconcious..."

Zelda wasn't paying attention...some secret knowledge danced on the edges of her comprehension, tantalizing her, drawing her in, and yet still remaining maddeningly out of reach.

"Link wouldn't do that..." she mumbled again, lost in thought. Her eyes were clouded with concern and confusion... "He wouldn't do that..."

Once again, she felt a horrible nagging at the back of her mind...as if she were missing something terribly important...

"Unless..."

Something was wrong, she could feel it in the core of her being...she thought with all her might...Why would Link, who was going to be freed and brought out of captivity with little struggle or fuss if he'd wait until night for Zelda, suddenly decide to break out, and greatly jeperodize their chances for escape togeher...?

And just like that, it all snapped into place. "Unless I was in danger..." she finished, deathly quiet.

She raised a terrified gaze on Rosaline. Zelda suddenly felt her stomach tie itself up in knots...how could she have been so blind?

Her mother's obvious oblivion to things that should have been common knowledge...how she'd 'forgotten' the layout of the castle she'd lived in for a great portion of her life...how she'd remained infuriatingly vague on her absence...

It all made sense. But now...it was far too late.

Iko knew her plan was blown, but she still played at it. "You aren't in danger, dearest heart. What on earth do you mean?"

-----
Tara was miles ahead, it seemed. "Come on! We've gotta get out before she changes!"

"Changes how??" Fell panted for breath.