Triforce of the Gods
Chapter Four: The Masquerade
They walked the road in silence, all of them pulling their horses instead of riding them so that they could move slowly and with little noise. Link kept casting nervous glances Zanna's way– probably noticing that with every step she withered a little more. Zanna could feel his concern, but it was nothing in comparison to what she felt further down the road: a cloud of emotion so thick and bitter that she almost choked.
Eventually a soft but dreadful noise reached them from up ahead. It was a desperate scraping, intermixed with the low, hair-raising hum of human moaning.
"What is that?" Resha asked tensely, unsheathing her scimitars.
"It doesn't sound like a party," Rowan muttered.
"Oh really? Because I could have sworn that's what it was," Resha said sarcastically.
Suddenly, Zanna gave a soft cry and tripped, tumbling to the ground despite her best efforts to grab onto her horse. Link was beside her in an instant, pulling her to her feet.
"Are you all right? Do you need to stop?" he asked, frowning as he studied her troubled expression.
"No, it's okay," she insisted in embarrassment, waving Link's hands away. "I'm fine. Really. I just–" she gave a sharp intake of breath and winced– "I can feel the Gerudo. Ahead. I don't know what's happened to them, but... there's a lot of pain involved."
Resha noticed how labored Zanna's breath had become, and gently took her friend's shoulder. Resha's empathetic powers were less than mediocre, but even she could feel the waves of terror radiating from the people up ahead. Touching Zanna helped amplify Resha's own ability, and allowed her to pinpoint what was happening.
"I can feel it too," Resha said suddenly. "It's almost like... they're dreaming. Rowan, can you feel it?"
Rowan nodded grimly, staring fixedly ahead.
"Wait, what's going on?" Link asked uncertainly, somewhat frustrated to be excluded.
"The Gerudo ahead," Resha explained. "They all have the illness, and all of them are trapped inside their own minds. They're barely aware of what's going on outside of them."
"They're living their worst nightmares," Zanna explained through clenched teeth, clutching Resha's arm in a death grip. Just prodding deeply enough into the emotional cloud to gather information was excruciating. She struggled to create a barrier to block out some of their pain, but it didn't help much.
Rowan's eyebrows rose. "Ah. That explains it."
"So... what are you saying? The illness traps people in their greatest fears?" Link asked.
The three Sheikah nodded. "It feels that way," Resha said.
There was a tense pause as everyone exchanged uncertain glances. The scraping and the moaning was getting closer every second.
"All right," Zanna said as authoritatively as she could manage, her face flushing with effort as she called upon every ounce of her strength. "Everyone mount your horses. We'll have to break through them." She paused, managing not to betray the intense physical and emotional pain she was receiving from the caravan of Gerudo ahead– although her teeth were grit so tightly she thought they might crack. "They're trapped in their own minds– I don't think physical force will do us any good. Resha, keep up a barrier against the disease while Rowan and I use concussion spells to knock them out of the way. We'll just have to storm through. And, Link–"
The hero looked at her expectantly.
"Keep your bow ready. I know you understand that we can't... kill them. But, if one of our lives is in danger and there's no other way..." She found that she could not continue speaking without gasping in pain, but no further description was necessary. "Just worry about Colin. We'll handle... the rest." Zanna's speech was becoming more ragged as the Gerudo slowly closed the space that was keeping them apart.
Link nodded solemnly, swinging one leg up over Epona. "Of course" he said. "I'll take care of it."
"Okay then... Let's move." Resha helped Zanna into her saddle, begging her to share a horse with Rowan so that she didn't fall, but Zanna stubbornly refused. She did agree to let Rowan lead the procession.
As they rode slowly down the road, the groaning and shuffling got louder and louder. Colin's face was very brave, but his skin was white as a sheet– and even Link looked tense. Finally a bend in the road allowed them to see the shadow of the caravan cast across the cave wall by the torchlight. It got larger and larger until–
There were no wagons– probably because the donkeys that would have pulled them had been killed. There was just a mass of nearly 100 Gerudo clambering over one another in a frenzy. Their skin seemed to be decaying on their bodies– it was tinted yellow and green and seemed to hang from their bones. Everyone of them had dark purple bruises under their eyes and many of the Gerudo were bleeding or injured. Some of them were sobbing, others were screaming but all of them pleaded for help. Blindly they groped at each other, desperately seeking relief from the nightmares they were all individually experiencing.
Rowan was so stunned by the procession that he momentarily forgot to act, so it was Zanna that fired the first concussion spell. A stream of gold shot out of her palm and knocked at least three of the Gerudo backwards. Gritting her teeth against the pain, Zanna kicked her horse into action and pressed into the gap she had created– overtaking Rowan. The others followed.
Rowan soon began firing concussion blasts from behind Zanna and Link was knocking away Gerudo who got too close to his horse by slamming them with the flat side end of his sword.
Focusing on her concussion spells was helping Zanna block out her empathy, so she soon began unleashing the full brunt of her abilities. She let out a fearsome yell and fired a particularly strong blast– a golden light shot out and hit a large and muscular Gerudo head on, sending her reeling and knocking away a group of smaller women in the process. The Gerudo pushed desperately toward Zanna's horse, clawing at her with hands, daggers, and even teeth.
"Help me! Mother! Don't leave me!" The cry distracted Zanna, and she looked down to see a teenaged girl frantically reaching for her leg. The girl's wide yellow eyes were clouded with fear, but she looked so innocent and so sorrowful that Zanna couldn't imagine cursing her. Zanna had so much sympathy for the girl and felt her terror so strongly that she suddenly had an overwhelming urge to cast a healing spell. These people needed help. She had to at least try– she couldn't let them suffer this way.
"ZANNA!" Rowan yelled, ripping his own powerful spell through the air. It hit the side of the girl's face and sent her spinning away from Zanna's horse. "What are you thinking?! Don't get yourself killed!!"
Zanna was startled. "I'm sorry!" she cried, shaking her head. Rowan was right– the only way to help these people was to find the Winged Sheikah. Empathetic pain was building up in Zanna's mind again, so she fired another concussion spell and pressed forward. They were almost to the end of the Gerudo– they had less than 12 feet to go– But unfortunately their horses were thoroughly spooked, and now they were fighting not only to keep away the Gerudo, but also to control their mounts.
"Come on!" Zanna muttered, smacking her stallion on the rump before firing another concussion spell. The shot cleared an opening to the other side of the Gerudo, and Zanna wasted no time.
Resha cried out in pain as her leg was grazed by a dagger, but the group pressed forward and had soon cleared the caravan.
"Is everyone all right?" Link cried, checking the group as they trotted steadily.
When everyone nodded or answered, Zanna pushed toward the front of the group. "All right then, let's get out of here!" she cried, taking off. Soon they were all careening down the road, racing to put as much distance between themselves and the plagued Gerudo as possible.
At first it took every ounce of Zanna's energy to stay on her horse and keep her empathy at bay, but the farther away they got the more she was able to relax. After two hours of rigorous riding, a pale blue curtain of sky was finally seen at the end of the road, and they burst through it eagerly into the glow of the early dawn.
They came to a stop, and Zanna shakily slid off her horse. Everyone was tired, but probably no one more than she. Still, there was one last thing to attend to.
"Rowan, Resha," Zanna called, beckoning for her friends to join her at the mouth of the cave. They dismounted and returned to the cave's entrance.
"We need to seal it, don't we?" Rowan asked, popping his knuckles.
Zanna nodded wanly. "It's the only way. We can only hope to the Goddesses that the first group of Gerudo we passed will think to do the same thing to the other end of the road. Otherwise..."
"The village will be in danger," Resha frowned. Zanna nodded again, and they all looked gravely at one another. Resha briefly bowed her head in prayer, at which point Zanna turned stiffly away.
"Are you all right Resha?" Rowan asked. "I heard you yell back there..."
Resha shrugged. "I'm fine. I just have a small cut on my leg. All of the horses look injured, though, so we'll have to heal them before we go on."
"I need to rest anyway," Zanna sighed. "We'll break until the sun has fully risen. But first..."
All three of them turned, stepping away so that they were equally spread apart.
"Let's just do this the easy way," Zanna said.
"Sounds good to me," Resha smirked, amused despite her exhaustion. "On the count of three?"
"On the count of three. 1... 2... 3!" There was a tremendous crash as they all released concussion spells at the same time, exploding the mountain wall in a shower of falling rocks. When the dust cleared, Zanna stepped back to admire their work.
The roadway's entrance was completely collapsed– reduced to a pile of heavy rubble. "If they hit this end, that ought to at least hold them for a little while," she muttered, wiping her hands on her coat. "I'll go ahead and put some protective spells over it just in case..."
She held up her casting hand, but Rowan gently grabbed her wrist. "Zanna," he said kindly, looking at her with a mixture of worry and pity. "Let us do it."
For a moment, Zanna felt purely offended, wondering if she really looked as exhausted as she felt. But as she looked between her two friends, both of whom were gazing at her with nothing but concern, she relented. "All right," she said, sighing. "Thank you. I'm... I'm pretty tired." She smiled thinly and Rowan and Resha returned the gesture wholeheartedly.
"Go help Link start the fire," Rowan suggested. "We'll be finished in a minute."
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"Who do you think could place a curse as powerful as the one we saw last night?" Resha asked thoughtfully as they all packed up the next morning.
"I don't know," Zanna frowned, fastening her horse's saddle bags. "But there's no way that those Gerudo were suffering from an ordinary disease. It has to be black magic."
"Yeah, but who's behind it?" Resha reiterated. "Who could be powerful enough to cast a curse like that? And why have we never heard of them before now?"
Zanna paused, unable to come up with an answer.
"Regardless of who or what is causing this plague, we'll put an end to it," Link said firmly. "We'll find the Winged Sheikah, like the Princess's prophecy says."
Zanna had her doubts, but said nothing. She, too, had dreamed of this strange disease... and in her dream, no Winged Sheikah had swooped down from the heavens to save Hyrule. There had been only the Goddesses– abandoning their people yet again.
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They rode very swiftly into Castle Town, where Link intended to immediately visit the Princess and tell her what he had seen. Unfortunately she was out and would not return until that evening, so the group left their horses at a stable and set out to visit the mysterious Fanadi.
The three Sheikah were awed and wary as Link led them through the marketplace. Rowan had never seen Castle Town, and so was nearly overwhelmed by its sheer size and diversity; Resha had only visited it once. Zanna had actually been there several times to procure documents relating to Sheikah history, but because of the large number of people she always felt slightly claustrophobic there. There were so many emotions coming from so many different directions– she could scarcely keep up with them all.
"Down here," Link said, guiding them down a road that was small enough to be an alley. He led them to a doorway with a canvas awning above it, and then paused. "This is it," he said. "Just remember that I was always doubtful that Fanadi would be the one."
"Well, we'll never know until we try, will we?" Zanna asked stubbornly.
Link smiled at her certainty and opened the door. "After you, then."
The inside of Fanadi's shop was very small and dim, with faded colored scarves hanging from the ceiling. No attempts had been made to make the room feel more domestic– the walls and floor were all comprised of bare stone and the only light came from metal torches. In the center, sitting proudly upon a stack of luxurious rugs, was a very large woman with a very large hairdo. Zanna could only presume this was Fanadi herself.
Sure enough, the woman's forehead was tattooed with an Old Sheikah symbol, and her eyes were bright red. Zanna smiled widely.
"Oooooh, the herooo has returned, I see," Fanadi said in a bizarre, mystical voice. Her face fell, however, when all three of the Sheikah had entered. Her expression immediately changed to one of terror. There was a long, tense silence as Fanadi stared at them as though they were the walking dead, and then she dropped her forehead into her hands and sobbed. "You've come for revenge, haven't you?"
The travelers exchanged bewildered glances, but Zanna's eyes were narrowed upon Fanadi, brow furrowed as she attempted to pinpoint the cause of the guilt that was coming off of the woman in waves.
Rowan was the first to shake off his alarm. He slowly approached the weeping Sheikah, hands raised in an innocent gesture. "No, we're certainly not–"
"Yes," Zanna interjected suddenly, pulling Rowan back behind her and peering down at the distressed woman. "We are here to punish you for your dishonesty," she said icily. "Reclaim your honor by confessing, and we will show you what little mercy we still possess."
"Zanna, what are you doing?" Rowan whispered, but Resha elbowed him hard in the stomach, her body tense as she kept her eyes on Zanna. Zanna, in return, glanced at them over her shoulder and did her best impression of Cedra– a look that said "play along or you won't live long enough to regret it!"
Fanadi had begun to shake. "I'm s-sorry," she stuttered. She closed her eyes, and there was a bright flash of light accompanied by a loud pop. When it faded, Fanadi's ears were no longer as sharply pointed as they had been, and her red eyes– a genetic trait that occurred exclusively in the Yerlli tribe– had turned to a murky hazel. The Sheikah tattoo on her forehead also disappeared, and the woman looked instantly cheaper– even pathetic– amongst her dusty scarves and the worthless glass orb she was passing off as a crystal ball.
"She would have wanted me to do it," Fanadi said quietly, taking Zanna's hand in desperation. "I was the only one who visited her and she had no family, I–"
"Quiet," Zanna chastised, shaking off the woman's grip.
"Zanna..." Link said warily, but Zanna pretended not to hear him.
"I didn't ask you for your reasons," she said brusquely. "Confess your actions. Leave nothing out– we'll know if you lie to us, Fortuneteller."
For a brief moment Fanadi looked so astonished and miserable that it appeared she might not have the physical ability to speak, but then– slowly– she rose and retrieved a small jar from the corner of the room. It was beautifully painted, and bore the Yerlli crest. Fanadi handled it tenderly, almost reverently, and gently placed it on the table between Zanna and herself. She remained standing.
"This is the real Yerlli Fanadi. She died more than 30 years ago." Her voice had dropped almost to a whisper, and she was trembling.
"Who are you?" Zanna asked.
"My name is Cass. I have no surname," she whimpered, looking at each of the Sheikah's faces as if begging for mercy. "I didn't do anything wrong," she insisted. "Not really– I loved the old woman, I swear I did nothing malicious–"
"Tell me how you came to impersonate her. Start from the beginning," Zanna said. Her voice was cool, but her steady gaze was full of fire. Cass seemed to shrink a little at the sight of it. She took a shuddering breath.
"I was born in Castle Town and raised in an orphanage funded by the temple," she said softly, the words tumbling out as if they were automatic. "Fanadi was an old woman even then, but she was very independent." Cass smiled wistfully. "She worked here, in this very shop, as a healer... and sometimes as a historian. She could identify tomes and artifacts better than anyone in the city, as was the custom of her–" she glanced suddenly at the three Sheikah– "of your people.
"I worked for her my entire childhood. I swept, dusted her library, comforted the sick. But mostly I just kept her company. Fanadi was the last of her kind, or so I thought. She had no children, no husband– she was all alone, just like I was." Cass looked pleadingly at Zanna. "I loved her, truly. We were family. When she died, I was devastated–" she slammed her fist against the table, to make Zanna look at her face– "I was!"
Her eyes darkened when Zanna remained completely unperturbed by the outburst. With an edge to her voice, Cass added: "But I was also out of a job. I hated the orphanage where I lived, and I was already 16– nearly old enough to leave it for good. I knew Fanadi's shop and all of her possessions would go to the state if no family members could be located. So, I thought..." She trailed off, and looked up at Zanna's burning gaze.
"Don't you judge me," Cass said with sudden venom. "How could you possibly understand what it was like to have nothing– nothing in the world except for this kindly old lady? I was desperate. I had no skills, no means of educating myself. I was facing a life of poverty. Very few people born into my situation escape that fate, but I did! I did... because I was willing to get my hands dirty and grab the opportunity in front of me. Using the elementary sorcery Fanadi had taught me over the years, I disguised myself as a Sheikah of the Yerlli tribe and claimed to be Fanadi's great niece. I even took her name, telling people that my mother had named me after her favorite aunt. With noone to dispute the claim, Fanadi's estate was left to me."
Zanna's expression crumpled into one of disappointment, and she dropped her inquisitor facade. "And then," she said hollowly, "You used the magic tricks Fanadi had shown you, and the mysterious allure of the Sheikah to convince people you were some sort of psychic. And that's how you've been making your living all these years."
"That's right," Cass said, puffing up like an owl. "That's exactly how I've made my living. And Fanadi wouldn't have begrudged me a dime. She loved me. She would have wanted me to prosper." Cass spoke loudly, but with a doubtful expression that betrayed the distress she felt.
Zanna looked at the woman with genuine grief. "Don't you realize how perverse your actions are? What you do shames Fanadi's memory– if you truly loved her, you would see that."
Zanna's words had been so soft they were scarcely audible, but Cass crumbled as though she'd been struck. "I know," she whispered, shaking her head miserably. "Part of me knows it's wrong. But I'm old and stuck in my ways now. Have you no compassion for me? I wish every day that I had found another way in the beginning. But I had no skills, no way to earn money except for selling Fanadi's library, and when that ran out..."
Zanna's head snapped up, and her eyes widened. "What did you say?" she asked slowly, her heart stopping.
Spotting the trouble instantly, Rowan laid a hand on her shoulder. "Don't, Zanna. Let it go."
Zanna just shrugged him off, advancing on Cass like a dazed sleepwalker. "She was a Sheikah historian... and you sold her library?"
Cass looked genuinely confused. "Of course! I can't read– how could I possibly have appreciated the books?"
"You sold all of them?" Zanna cried in distress, putting both her hands on Cass's shoulders. "Please tell me you sold the collection as a whole and not in pieces."
"I sold them to whoever would take them– I told you, I can't read!" Cass exclaimed. "There were many booksellers who were willing to pay up to five or ten rupees per book, even though most of them were just old family trees. I had no use for them, I tell you, and I had to put food on the table somehow."
"You... sold an entire library of genealogy..." Zanna said faintly, feeling light-headed.
She had spent years collecting pieces of her people's lineage and stitching the scraps together one by one. Here, in Castle Town, had been an entire library of complete family trees– bound into entire books!– and they had been pawned by a Hylian con artist who was too ignorant to realize that the books could have been sold to the right antiques dealer for thousands of rupees a piece. Even a seven-book set of Sheikah genealogy would have been the largest collection of its kind... and it would have been valuable beyond measure, in more ways than one.
"My gods, you have no idea what you've done, do you?" Zanna asked in a quiet voice, staring at Cass in amazement. "You destroyed her entire life's work and you don't feel a shred of remorse."
Her eyes narrowed and she raised her voice. "But I can feel your shame... and what you did, you did out of greed. No matter what lies you tell yourself, you knew how important those books were to her and you sold them anyway, because you were lazy. You sold them even knowing they would only make you– how much was it? Did you even make 350 rupees?" Zanna shook her head, staring at the woman in wonder. "Even now you only care because you're afraid I'll punish you for it!" she exclaimed. "Well, your fear is misplaced. I wouldn't waste a single moment of my time trying to teach a lesson to such an ignorant cow!" She turned on heel, shoving her companions out of her way and storming out of the shop, slamming the door behind her.
She couldn't believe it. Oh, Goddesses, she thought, her heart burning with fury. You're just playing games now. You're seeing how far you can twist the dagger in my back... And laughing about it, no doubt! Zanna had never heard anything like it. An entire library sold for a pittance! A foolish woman who couldn't cast a decent spell if her life depended on it, pretending to be a Sheikah sorcerer just to turn a rupee? Zanna was heartsick.
All these years, she thought miserably, and it hasn't gotten any easier to accept. We're dying out. It's a terrible joke! And the Hylians are cheering us on.
Link looked apologetically at Cass, who was white and shaking. "I'm sorry..." he said awkwardly, not entirely sure how to make amends.
Rowan carefully picked up the woman's crystal ball, which had rolled onto the floor when she slammed her fist on the table. "Our friend is troubled lately. Please know that we don't share her feelings– what you did with your private library is absolutely none of our business," he said respectfully, gently placing the orb back onto its stand.
Cass nodded numbly. "I didn't know it was so important..." she said. "Could those old books really have meant so much to Fanadi?"
Resha snorted and turned her back to them, crossing her arms over her chest in displeasure.
Rowan nodded slowly, his eyes sympathetic. "Our friend seems to believe that it would have been a very unique collection, had it survived. But you aren't a Sheikah, let alone a historian– you couldn't have possibly known what you were looking at. I hope you can forgive our intrusion and our rudeness," Rowan said.
"A unique collection?" Cass sniffed, still in shock. "Do you mean it was actually valuable? If I'd have thought that, perhaps I wouldn't have sold it so quickly..."
Rowan and Resha exchanged incredulous glances. "I don't know," Rowan said uncomfortably. "And we have to leave. I know it's not much of an apology, but I'll cast a protective spell on your home before I go– it's the only gift I can offer. I hope it's at least some compensation for the trouble we've caused."
"No," Cass said suddenly, and all four of her visitors looked up in surprise. After a moment of Rowan's flustered attempts to respond, Cass picked up the jar of Fanadi's ashes and carefully placed them in Rowan's hands. "Do this for me instead," she said softly. "Please give her a proper memorial, as well as you can. Lay her to rest the way your people would have done it. I... I would feel much better if you did. She deserves at least that much."
"Of course," Rowan said solemnly. "I will take the remains of Yerlli Fanadi to my village, and scatter her ashes in our burial grounds. You have my word."
"Thank you," Cass said with a watery smile. She studied him for a long moment, her eyes flickering over his scarf and the large symbol on his tunic. For a moment she appeared so conflicted that it seemed she might break down crying again. Instead, she just drew herself up and lowered her gaze in resignation. "Please... get out of my shop."
They obliged, filing out one by one. As they closed the door behind them, there was a loud pop and a flash of light as "Cass" once again became "Fanadi."
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"Zanna! Zanna!" Resha cried, jogging to catch up with the other Shiekah, who was marching down the street without a clue where she was headed. Link, Rowan, and Colin were close behind.
When she caught up, Resha grabbed Zanna by the shoulders and slammed her against the wall. "What the hell were you thinking?" she asked, glaring as if she could bore holes into Zanna's forehead.
"Resha, take it easy!" Rowan cried. "Let's all just calm down."
"Calm down! Yes, let's talk about that!" Resha exclaimed, dropping Zanna with a loud thump. "Let's talk about calming down, as opposed to barging in on some stranger and tearing her apart bit by bit!"
"You heard what she said!" Zanna replied, her face still bearing evidence of the distress the meeting had caused her. "What Cass did is unforgivable. My Gods, I've never heard of such a library– it would have been the most complete record of our people in all of Hyrule!"
"You don't think I was upset by her foolishness?" Resha asked, throwing up her hands. "Of course I was! But you should have controlled yourself– she was helpless. We don't need that kind of attention!"
"Bickering is not going to solve anything," Link said in annoyance, but his voice was totally ignored by everyone except Rowan, who nodded vigorously and said "Thank you!"
"I am not going to idly sit by while all traces of our culture are destroyed. I just can't accept that– we have to leave something behind so that people know we were here!" Zanna insisted, her voice cracking as she forced the painful words out of her mouth.
"Zanna," Rowan scolded softly. "Please stop behaving so childishly"
Zanna looked as though she'd been physically struck. "Childishly?" she asked, shocked.
"Yes. It's unfortunate that this library– which, by the way, we have never seen and have no way of ever proving that it existed– may have been lost due to that woman's ignorance. But you of all people should have known better than to treat her with the self-righteous cruelty that you hate so much in other people."
"I wasn't self-righteous..." Zanna protested weakly, looking suddenly guilty. "What she did was–"
"Ignorant," Rowan said. "And maybe, if you were correct about her, a little selfish. But that's all. I'm pretty sure she didn't intentionally cripple your efforts to single-handedly preserve the Sheikahn race. You barged into her shop and assaulted her! You know better than to treat people that way."
When Zanna looked stricken, Link said: "Zanna, you did call her a cow."
Zanna's shoulders slumped. "Din's fire..." she sighed, clearly defeated. She rubbed her casting hand, which was aching horribly. "Cedra would kill me if she knew I'd yelled at a stranger." Her expression became one of distress as the mantle of regret settled upon her. "I'm sorry I lost my temper... that must have been very awkward for all of you," she apologized, lowering her eyes. She turned and stared thoughtfully in the direction of Madame Fanadi's shop. "I should apologize."
"No, I don't think so," Link said, shaking his head. "Rowan patched things up pretty well. I think we should just leave her in peace."
Zanna nodded numbly, the weight of the last 24 hours finally settling upon her. She studied her companions remorsefully. "I shouldn't have let something so irrelevant take precedence over finding the Winged Sheikah and curing this plague. I'm sorry."
"We forgive you," Rowan said, putting his arm around Zanna. "Right?" he asked, nudging Resha with his elbow. She folded her arms stubbornly, watching a vendor wheel past them with a cart of dried flowers. Zanna made note of it and promised herself to come back and get some for Helyn before they left... which would be soon, it seemed.
"There's nothing to forgive," Resha said stiffly, after a long pause. "Don't do it again– your temper is going to get you killed."
Zanna smiled blackly. "Resha is telling me I have a temper. Now I know I have problems."
"Don't push it, Zanna," Resha said, her eyes narrowing, and Rowan burst out laughing.
Zanna immediately recoiled, lightly shoving him away from her. "Not so loud," she winced as Rowan's laughter rang right in her ear. "Trying to keep the whole city's emotions out of my brain is giving me a horrible headache. I need to get out of this crowd..."
"We could go back to the castle, couldn't we?" Colin piped up, causing everyone to turn and stare. He was so quiet, it was easy to forget he had a mind of his own. "I mean, if you want to rest. We can just wait for the princess there."
Link nodded. "I think that's a good idea, Colin. We could all use a break.." He grinned at the three Sheikah. "Have any of you been to the palace before?"
"What do you think?" Resha snapped testily.
"Lighten up, Resha," Zanna laughed, slinging an arm around her friend and giving her a little shake. "I said I was sorry, let's just–" She trailed off suddenly, eyes widening. Something bad was about to happen... a threat was rippling through the emotions clouding the market, and it was racing in their direction from both sides of the street.
Rowan's head whipped around in alarm. "What is it?" he asked. Link, too, was glancing around the cobbled street, trying to see the cause of Zanna's surprise.
She opened her mouth to speak, but it was too late. A group of eight armored guards rounded the corner, and four more came up from behind the group, effectively trapping them.
"Zanna Impree?" one of the guards asked, looking between the three Sheikah.
"Impree Zanna," she corrected, stepping out in front of her companions to shield them from the soldiers. The last thing she wanted was for Rowan or Resha– or worse, Link– to get themselves in trouble trying to protect her.
"My sincere apologies," the guard muttered sarcastically. "Either way, we are placing you under arrest by order of the Princess of Hyrule."
"What?" Link exclaimed, reaching out to stop the guard's approach. "That's ridiculous! This woman has been summoned by the princess. She's my guide– I brought her here by royal decree!"
"I'm sorry, Hero," the guard said, looking genuinely regretful. "But these are my orders. I'm sure you can take it up with the princess."
"And I will," Link replied heatedly. He looked at Zanna. "I have no idea what's going on, but I promise I will fix this immediately. You'll be out by sundown– I swear it."
Zanna was too exhausted to be afraid. "Well, don't rush on my account," she muttered dryly, a crooked smile pulling at the corner of her mouth. "It's extremely flattering to be wanted by someone as important as the Princess of Hyrule."
"Men, tie her up!" the guard ordered, and Zanna found her hands being bound behind her back.
"Are you sure there's nothing you can do?" Resha asked Link anxiously. "We can't let them take her!"
"No harm will come to her in the castle prison. I'm going to go find Zelda right now and figure out what the hell is going on," Link said.
"Don't worry, Resha, I'll be okay," Zanna said, nodding reassuringly to her companions as the guards began pulling her away. "Just behave yourselves and don't do anything stupid while I'm gone!"
It's really kind of funny, she thought as she walked calmly through the unfamiliar street, bowing her head benignly as she was shepherded toward a prison cell in handcuffs. I of all people should have expected a betrayal. But she'd slipped– she let her guard down for just a moment and the Goddesses had trapped her between their fingertips again. Well, just keep it coming! I can't find your Winged Sheikah if I'm in jail, and your prophecy will be for nothing, Zanna taunted mentally, glaring defiantly up into the sky.
Not surprisingly, the Goddesses did not answer.