So many questions were fighting to get out of her mouth that Liesl couldn’t even get a word in edgewise as Rowan began to drag them toward the door. Well, drag her toward the door. However, with Zelda in her other hand, the princess naturally followed. Most likely more on instinct because she appeared to be in a stupor as she shifted her eyes between the two attackers with a horrified expression on her face.

The big man stepped right through the expanding pool of blood from the woman he’d killed, but both Liesl and Zelda danced around the edges…because they didn’t have boots on. And not only were they not wearing anything to protect their feet, but they were still in their nightgowns from bed!

“Rowan,” Liesl finally spoke up and pulled on his hand to get him to finally stop. “Just…hold on!”

“There’s no time, Liesl,” he said in protest. “We need to go.”

She could hear the pleading in his voice, but held firm and used her head to indicate to Zelda where she was beside her. “Were not even dressed, for Goddesses’ sake!”

“And?” He asked before looking between both of them. “Would you rather die in something more appropriate or run in your nightclothes? I’m fighting in mine.” That assertion gave Liesl pause, but at least he had boots on! “Besides, don’t worry about it, I have a plan.”

What? He did? For this!?

“What plan?” Zelda asked, apparently coming from her disbelief at the glimmer of hope in an increasingly dim situation.

“We need to get you both out of the castle,” he started before looking back at Liesl. “But first, we need to ensure Liesl has the Master Sword.”

“You think the King will give it to me now that we’re under attack?” Liesl asked.

“I think the King doesn’t have a fucking choice. Now, come on. More will be making their way to the Princess’s room. So, can we go? Please. “

Liesl looked at Zelda, who nodded a moment later. At which point Rowan didn’t wait to start moving again, dragging them both with him. However, as he neared the door, he slowed and let Liesl’s hand go so he could bring both to his sword.

Zelda clung tightly to Liesl’s arm as Rowan peered out slowly, turning his head in both directions to ensure a thorough check. Apparently satisfied, he waved them along and started down the hallway first, with the girls quickly following. It was eerie as they moved now that the fire’s glow was out of sight. The hallway looked like it had every other time they moved down it with little disturbance. Except, when Liesl moved to the next junction, she found two armored bodies that lay motionless at the crossroads.

“Oh, Goddesses,” Zelda cried before rushing forward and bending down to check over the stilled forms. “Thada and Rolf…”

So, this must’ve been the guards that watched over Zelda while she was away from their room? Tears started streaming down the Princess’s cheeks, and she had to wipe them away lest she not be able to see.

“It was most likely quick,” Rowan said in an attempt to offer some kind of comfort. However, he only spared a few moments of silent thanks to each before reaching down and taking one of the soldier’s daggers from its sheath.

“Zelda,” he said before grasping the blade and offering her the hilt. “Take this.”

“I don’t know how to use it,” she admitted.

“It doesn’t matter; you just need to make someone think twice before getting close. Enough that Liesl or I can get to you.”

He then returned to the soldier’s waist and undid his belt to pull the sword and its scabbard free. Whereupon he turned and stood, facing Liesl’s direction. “You’ll need this.” He hesitated for only a moment before unsheathing the sword and letting the scabbard fall to the floor. He did the same then, and turned the blade so Liesl could reach out and take the hilt where she stood. “I wish I could’ve taught you more,” he started before taking a deep breath. “But I know you can wield this weapon effectively. Don’t doubt yourself, trust your training.”

“Okay,” Liesl whispered before she took the sword from his hand and judged its weight and balance. It was so much lighter than either the practice weapon or the Master Sword. However, any further reverie would have to wait because Rowan, standing once more, drew her attention.

“Come on, we have to keep going.”

And so, Liesl moved the sword point to the side so she could hook her free hand under Zelda’s arm and lift her up. “Come on,” Liesl repeated, albeit in a quiet, gentle voice.

Zelda nodded and slowly stood, huddling close to her friend with the knife held cautiously in her other hand. They all started moving once more, with Rowan in the front to stop them or wave them forward every so often. Somewhere in the distance, more screams rang out, causing both Zelda and Liesl to momentarily freeze even before Rowan indicated they should stop.

“Goddesses damn it,” he mumbled to himself before starting off again. “We have to reach the King’s study as quickly as we can. That’s where the Master Sword is.”

“Is that wise?” Liesl asked from behind him. “Shouldn’t we get Zelda out of her, first?”

“No,” Rowan answered hastily. “Once you’re out, I’m not sure you’ll be able to get back in. I’m…not sure we’ll keep control of the castle.”

That admission hit Liesl like a blow, but it wasn’t long before she realized why. As they went deeper into the castle, more and more carnage became apparent. Servants and soldiers alike lay dead in the hallways, most with wounds in their backs or with weapons still sheathed.

“This is despicable,” Zelda muttered as she stepped around the pooled blood of a young maid where she lay still. The tray of food she must have been carrying lay before her, dishes broken and individual bits scattered about.

Liesl was almost relieved she couldn’t see the young woman’s face, which caused a momentary guilt to grip her chest. How could she think like that? Didn’t each victim deserve to be known? But what if it was one of the servants Liesl knew? How could she get Zelda out if she fell to pieces? No, she had to be strong, and she encouraged the Princess to speed up lest her friend dwell too hard on it.

It wasn’t until they caught sight of a particular soldier sitting slumped on one wall that Rowan stopped and bent down. The other man’s red eyes were half closed, and blood crusted in the white hair atop his head.

“I’ve seen this before,” Rowan said before coming to a stop and bending down so he could reach out and let his fingers brush over a piece of red fabric tied around one arm.

“Where?”

“On another soldier who tried to attack me. He had it tied on the same arm.”

Zelda took a cautious step forward following the assertion and peered down at the indicated cloth. “That’s not a part of any uniform I’ve seen,” she said a moment later.

“No,” he said before shaking his head. “But it might be how they’re identifying themselves, how they can tell who is friend and who is foe.” He bit his lip then and groaned as he stood tall. “We have to get to the central staircase.” The one on the other side of the grand hall. It was undoubtedly the fastest way, but who knew how many of the assailants would be swarming around there?

“It’s not safe,” Liesl muttered, pulling Zelda closer to herself. “The grand hall? It’s too exposed.”

“Maybe,” Rowan said. “But if we can slip through, we’ll be up to the King’s study in a matter of minutes.”

Liesl didn’t like it, but she let him lead them forward for now. However, it didn’t take long to pick up the faint sounds of something that sounded less than friendly. By the time they reached the last corner before turning and seeing the grand hall proper, she could pick out individual ones. Steel hitting against steel, intermixed with grunts of effort and groans of the wounded or dying.

She could see the look of conflict on Rowan’s face, like he was trying to weigh his options at this moment. His fingers tightened and released on the hilt of his sword as he thought, and she was surprised he didn’t draw blood he was biting his lip so hard.

“Rowan!” Liesl hissed.

“Hmm?”

“No.“

This was a tradeoff that she was not willing to make. Liesl would not let them head toward that danger, not with Zelda here.

Thankfully, he finally seemed to get the message, and with a heavy sigh, he nodded. “Alright, we’ll find another way.”

Thank the Goddesses.

He turned then and led them back the way they came, at least until he turned down another hallway. The fighting grew distant in Liesl’s ears with each step, and she allowed herself to relax a little more once it went mostly quiet. 

“After we get the Master Sword, what then?” Liesl asked as they went. 

“Then we get down deep into the castle, down by where we train. There’s a room with a secret tunnel leading out. From there, we escape the city and head north.”

Honestly, that there was a way out didn’t surprise her that much. The castle undoubtedly contained many secrets that even long-time inhabitants were unaware of. Who knew what else lurked down there?

“North?” Zelda asked. “To the Gerudo?”

“No, to the mountains. There’s another village…I can explain, but not now.”

The trio fell into silence then as Rowan did his best to navigate the castle and keep them all safe. However, despite his best efforts, there was more fighting when they arrived at the next staircase.

It wasn’t as raucous as they approached, but the sounds were unmistakable. They all pressed themselves flat to one wall as they slowed at the junction of hallways, and Rowan peered around the side quickly to judge the situation. It only took a moment, and when he pressed his head back to the wall, Liesl could see the tension in his jaw. “It looks like one soldier and two attackers. Two servants by the looks of it,” he whispered. 

Liesl considered for a moment but then looked to Zelda as if deciding on the risk. If they went out there, it would be three on two, and she liked those odds. Besides, as time went on, the chances of finding a perfectly safe place to climb seemed unlikely. “Okay,” she agreed. “Let’s–”

Her following suggestion was quickly cut off by a scream down the hall, and after Rowan looked back once more, he suddenly took off running down the hall with a shout, his sword held high.

“No!” 

“Rowan,” Liesl hissed before moving to the edge and peering out around it. Whatever he’d seen a moment ago was no longer true as the guard now kneeled before the attackers. Blood ran down his armor, but thankfully, Rowan’s shout caused them to stop whatever final blow they were about to deal.

The shock that momentarily flashed across their faces was short-lived, though, and one rushed to meet him head-on. It was a man who stood about Rowan’s height, with his long, white hair tied up close to his head. Judging by his clothes, he probably worked in the stables? Of course, he wielded one of the curved blades, and Liesl even spotted the red armband tied around the same arm they’d witnessed it before. Goddesses, what should she do? Run out after him? But she had Zelda with her…

Before Liesl could overcome her indecision, Rowan’s sword lashed out and batted the attacker’s blade to the side. And if he’d been anticipating the older man to come up short for a fight, he was sorely mistaken. Instead, Rowan dropped his shoulder and ran into the man nearly at full speed. Liesl could hear the air knocked from his lungs before he dropped his weapon and fell back to the floor, almost rolling past the other attacker, who was now on her feet and looking to join the fight.

Again, Rowan moved his weapon with impressive speed, bringing it up to block the overhead cut she performed with her curved blade. She lashed out again and again, trying to close the distance between them. However, everywhere she tried to find an opening, the longsword was there to stop her and prevent her advance.

Eventually, she lost the momentum of her attack, at which point Rowan went on the offensive. Thrusting, striking, searching. And once he did, it didn’t take long for him to create his own opening and finish the assailant with a slash across the neck. By that point, the original man managed to scramble back to his weapon, but a strike with Rowan’s cross guard sent him back to the ground. The thrust of the sword point that followed ensured he didn’t rise again.

Goddesses, it had all happened so fast, and for the first time, Liesl realized how skilled Rowan truly was. It felt like she could study under him for a decade and still not absorb everything the man knew. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been quick enough because the guard he was trying to save had dropped fully to the floor, lidded eyes now closed.

When Rowan realized his soldier’s fate, he bared his teeth silently and shook his head. But then he suddenly kicked the nearest attacker in a display of frustration before a hand came up to aggressively rub at his face. Liesl gave him that moment and waited until he looked up to find both her and Zelda staring. No words left his lips, and he waved them forward before starting up the stairs.

By the time Liesl reached the scene of the carnage, she noticed that her hand was shaking around the hilt of the sword she held. Thankfully, the one that gripped Zelda’s hand was firm and didn’t show the fear currently gripping her heart and the worry that made it hard to think. Could they make it to the Master Sword and back down? Even if they snuck out of the castle, would the city be dangerous too? And the countryside? Liesl had to push those questions back down because if she didn’t, it would be too easy to get overwhelmed.

Mercifully, no one else impeded their way on the stairs. However, the same sounds of strife found them no matter how high they climbed. After what felt like an eternity, the trio finally arrived at the floor that contained the King’s study. The landing was thankfully free of any signs of conflict. However, as soon as they turned the last corner, the fight that must have broken out was immediately noticeable. Numerous figures lay on the floor around the open double doors, both those wearing armor and others in various servant’s clothing.

Goddesses, had the King been inside when the attack started? Was he inside there now, wounded or…worse?

“Father!” Zelda yelled out and then immediately left Liesl’s side, rushing past Rowan toward the open door and dodging the bodies that lay strewn about.

“Zelda!” Liesl yelled before both she and Rowan took off after the Princess.