Chapter Eight:
"...and so that is what we have planned," Impa finished as she sat down onto one of the chairs that surrounded the long table in the main dining hall of the castle. From next to her, Kaya glanced quickly towards her and nervously moved a fork through the food sitting on the plate in front of her. Zelda sat on the other side of her mother, quietly eating her breakfast and attempting to look interested in what her attendant had said. Her pointed ears had pricked up at the mention of having a picnic somewhere off the castle grounds but she had lost interest seconds later, resuming her morning meal.
Impa had taken the majority of twenty minutes explaining the simple trip to the Hylia to the king who, like Kaya, barely touched the food that had been set in front of him. He had been too busy staring at the Sheikah and watching her speak, looking just as interested as Zelda did. If she messed up in anything that she told him, anything at all, then the entire trip would be in jeopardy. By the way he was looking and frowning at her, it was apparent that he didn't seem to have taken the bait for it; if he did, surely he suspected something else underlined this trip. They suspected he knew something else would come out of this no matter how small and Impa had to choose her words carefully to him if she wanted this to happen.
Kaya had remained silent the entire time, her eyes often moving up to the guards that were stationed at the doorway of the hall. They had their backs to the walls, spears in their hands, and taking in every word that Impa had said. These two were trained in decoding words that had little meaning to anyone else and surly the queen expected them to tell their king what was really meant in a Sheikah's words. However, if she looked at them more closely then she had, she would have seen one of them scrunch his nose up and frown slightly; even those good with decoding words would have had trouble finding the underlying meaning behind simple words of a Sheikah.
"Why are you taking my daughter into Lake Hylia besides somewhere that's closer? You can have a nice little picnic right at the fountain or in the garden," the king said, gesturing towards the grounds of the castle. "It is closer, easier, and doesn't involve trying not to get the Gerudo's attention. The last thing I want is another Gerudo entering the castle grounds."
He said the last words with venom, his eyes flickering over towards Kaya before moving his gaze to his guards. Both did not return the look back to the king, who frowned deeply at them before turning his eyes back to Impa. Kaya bit her lower lip, moving her eyes down to her food as she tried to force down the nervous feeling that had started the night before. She had expected him to jump at the opportunity to get Zelda and herself out of the castle despite the threat he had made days earlier but it was harder to do then what Impa had explained the night before. Despite all the short comings that he had, the king of Hyrule wasn't all that stupid and could see through a lie for the most part.
"It is a good way to show the princess what her kingdom looks like beyond the castle walls. She will be learning how to rule it in a matter of years and what good does it do if she doesn't know where things are?" Impa offered, a light smile lighting her face up to show that she genuinely cared. Deep inside, though, she wished she had other things to do then to try and persuade this man into a simple trip. "Why shouldn't she be able to get a head start in knowing what each part of Hyrule looks like? Granted she could be a little older when she ventures elsewhere, but we will be in the safety of the Hylia."
"You have a point there, Sheikah, but Zelda has another year before she has to learn what parts of this land she has to know." Lifting his goblet to his lips, he took a drink before sitting it down onto the table. "She is too young to venture out of the protection of the castle, and I don't want the brat to be harmed in any way. If she gets hurt in any way while out in the open, then that means fewer suitors for her."
Kaya had to forcibly hold herself to her seat and keeping herself from throwing the fork she held in her hand at him. If she hadn't needed to stay calm in order for this to go through and had a chance to get away from the castle, then she would have done something right then. She couldn't stand him much longer and the life she led; if Impa had sensed this about her while sitting there, she made no indication of knowing. Zelda, on the other hand, reached underneath the table and patted her mother's leg before withdrawing her hand back to her lap. Kaya looked over at her daughter and smiled at her, her head turning back to her plate in a vain attempt to look calm and peaceful.
"Then why not start now even if she is too young? You said it yourself that anyone of royal blood should know his or her kingdom before they reach the age of nine." Impa gestured towards the princess-heir with a hand. "Zelda is five now and kids half her age already know Hyrule better than she does. Even if it's to the Hylia, she will at least see what the Field looks like and the lake."
"She has four years to learn, and I am not interested in what common folks children know since that is not my concern." The king hardly looked interested in continuing the conversation, as he began to eat the food that had long since gotten cold. Impa, however, had always been a persistent person and would not stop until she got what she wanted.
"Very well, then. If your child grows up to be incompetent, then all the blame falls onto you. If she doesn't know her own kingdom, she cannot rule properly and you would have to have another heir." Impa pushed the chair back and rose, her eyes glaring towards him. Her intent was to make the king angry enough to see his stupidity but quietly allow him to agree.
"What did you say?!" The king choked on the food he had been eating, grabbing the goblet to help him swallow it down. Impa leaned onto the table and looked directly into his eyes once he was able to breath a bit better and could glare up at her.
"Your child must know at least something about her kingdom if she is to rule properly here or elsewhere," Impa said slowly and cautiously. "It may not sit well with a suitor if she doesn't even know the first thing about her own kingdom. Just remember it is not too early to start her training."
Kaya had to force down a smile and a laugh in order for her to maintain the same tranquility as her daughter, who also tried to hide a smile. They both knew that Impa did not mean the words that she had said and would be the last person in all of Hyrule to give the princess-heir a verbal lashing. It had been said to merely give the king another thought to the plans that had been laid in front of him and to give him more reason to allow Zelda out of the castle. The more that she was away from him, the better off she would be.
The king looked at each woman separately as though he was trying to take in their expressions, the anger that Impa had wanted to bring to a soft simmer already showing on his face. She had done well to get him to think about what his daughter would learn from this small experience; if she could get the child out of the castle even for a moment, it would give her a sense of freedom that she hadn't had before. There was a world outside the castle and Zelda had to know that it existed. If she couldn't, there were other ways that she could sneak the child, and her mother, out of the castle without others taking notice. And the king had never once expressed any intimate relations he wanted with Kaya, not after she had become pregnant with Zelda. As long as there was at least one heir to the throne he would be satisfied; it wasn't like he didn't have any mistress's to share his bed with.
"Very well, then. You and Zelda can go to Lake Hylia for this picnic," he said after a few minutes of silence, waving a hand in defeat. "I expect her to know what the lake looks like and some of the deposits that may drop into it." He glared towards his daughter. "It's a learning experience, use it well. Don't expect it to come often, either."
"I also specified that Kaya go along with us," Impa said calmly when she sat back down into her chair. The king's hand froze by his goblet, his eyes drifting over towards Impa as though he was silently threatening her. After all, she had told him that she wanted the queen to come along but not why.
"Why do you need her to go along for?" He asked quietly, his calmness unnerving Impa. The Sheikah just as quietly returned the look given to her, Kaya holding back everything that she wanted to say and do to him for the past hour. The whole point of her going to the Hylia was for her to learn more about the pendant and to see how it was used if Impa could show her. "There is no reason why she should be going as well."
"She does need to get out the castle and it would be good for the two of them to spend some time together." Impa quickly glanced towards Kaya then back to the king. "She has already done her duties for the week and she hasn't seen the Hylia in a number of years."
"And you will be with her the entire time?" He asked, staring straight at Kaya and not moving his gaze from her. She felt uncomfortable under his stare, shifting slightly in her chair. The threats of sending guards after her if she so much even stepped foot out of the castle still was fresh in her mind and she wouldn't soon forget it. Once she learned the secret of the pendant, no guards from the castle could find her unless they could use one as well.
"Yes, she will. Zelda and I both," Impa said, nodding twice. A voice deep within her mind told her otherwise, but she choose to ignore it so that she could concentrate instead on getting Kaya out of the castle. There need be no other explanation that the king needed and she would be more than willing to return Kaya back to the castle once they returned.
"As long as someone is with her, you, Zelda, and Kaya may go to the lake. However," He paused for a moment then continued, "several guards will have to accompany you as well to the lake. After all, there is no knowing what is out in the Field now-a-days"
"Thank you, Your Highness. I will be more then capable of protecting the queen and princess once we reach the Hylia," Impa told him just as softly. Kaya felt some of the color drain from her face as her heart started to pound in her chest when she heard the word guards echo through the room. Impa had expected guards to come with them to the Hylia and she hoped that they would stay as far away as possible from the lake when the three of them went inside.
"Once you reach Lake Hylia, they will not bother you. They will stand watch at the entrance instead so that they can monitor who comes and goes from the lake grounds," he said, his voice rising several degrees above from the last he spoke. The queen breathed a half sigh of relief in that; even if her husband was not as caring to her privately as he was publicly, he did not break the promises he kept. Most of the promises, anyways.
"It is a deal, then. We will go as soon as possible." With that, Impa stood up once again and bowed her head as a small sign of respect. She then beckoned for Kaya and Zelda to do the same before they would follow her so that they could get ready for the day. Before either one could stand up, the king held a hand, ordering them silently to stay where they are and could do anything else.
"Where do you think you are going?" He asked, blinking his eyes at them as though he had no idea as to what they were doing.
"To get ready for the picnic. You said that..." Kaya started before she was cut off.
"I'll set the day and time for when you can go," he snapped at her before turning to Impa. "You are not done either. I need to know if there is anything else that you require, minus the lunch basket."
"Two horses, just two. One for myself and Zelda and another for the queen, as Zelda is small enough to ride with me. The guards can either ride horseback or walk the entire time, as it doesn't matter the least to me." Impa held her breath after that, feeling the same annoyance that Kaya was feeling but to a lesser degree. There would be no more than a couple of days of delay, not if she could help it.
"Is that it?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. When Impa nodded, he stood up, took in a deep breath, then smirked at them. "I'll tell you the time when you will be able to go. After all, I do need some say in this."
He pushed the chair he had been sitting in back, moving away from the table and towards the large doors of the dining hall. As he went, he did not notice two glares stabbing him in the back as the guards stationed at the door opened it for him and allowed him to exit. He had done what they wanted him to do, to allow them a certain freedom outside the walls of the castle even if it was for a certain amount of time. It was just enough to allow for an explanation of something that went beyond what they knew about the World they lived in.
Kaya let out her own breath, leaning back into her chair as Impa continued to watch the doorway long after the king had left. She could relax for the time being, until they went on their way to the Hylia and out of the reach of the king. Even with the guards present in the room and on the picnic, they posed little threat to the three inside the room. Kaya had little doubt they would be bothered so far away from the castle and could always blame a Gerudo attack if the guards somehow managed to have bruises or somehow become unconscious during their picnic. The only thing that worried her was that it would be too late for them to go when the king allowed them to go.
"It seems like we have done it," Impa said hoarsely, gripping the back of a chair as though she needed to steady herself. "I didn't think he'd allow it to happen."
"He would have eventually, even if you kept asking," Kaya said, looking up at the Sheikah. Impa nodded, pushing herself away from the chair and started to move away from the table.
"There is too much to prepare for, Kaya. I suggest you and Zelda do anything the king says until we go on the picnic and that means holding your tongue." She gave the queen a hard look as she walked quickly towards the doorway that the servants used to come and go into the dining hall. Kaya opened her mouth to say something but closed it once Impa had left the room, turning her gaze instead to Zelda. The child had remained quiet the entire time, having finished her breakfast and was now sitting quietly and waiting to be excused. She smiled at her daughter and laughed inward; she could hold her words back for the child, despite meaning every last word she breathed.
It would be worth it in the end, she had hoped. More worth then staying in this living hell.
XXXX
The days had grown longer and the nights shorter; spring would eventually end and summer would soon bring light rains from the west and hot winds from the north. It would be a time of change, where the old ways would come back as ghosts of the past. All the creatures in Hyrule could sense this change and they did not like it; if there was anything they could do to stop it, they would. Like those within the Hylian race, they knew that if they disrupted the flow of Time and Fate then that would cause disaster greater than one could imagine.
The same changes could be seen, not felt, in the Valley near the Hylia. If one excluded the tense atmosphere of the Fortress, that is. Even the low-ranking Gerudo, who knew nothing of their leader's plans, were more on edge then they had in previous weeks. They knew something was going on by the way Ganondorf stalked around the hallways and barked out orders but they didn't know what. It was better to get out of his way and remain silent than it was to ask questions and possibly be killed over it. They valued their lives more than they did answers and kept to the shadows whenever the male Gerudo stormed by.
And Callon knew this the most, for she had asked one question too many and had been on the receiving end of her adoptive son's anger. She hadn't come close to feeling like her life had been in danger, not even when Ganondorf's fist came within a half of an inch from her head when she had asked him about his breakfast that morning. The anger on his face told her that she had pushed him too far and she wouldn't get away with it, despite being his adoptive mother. There had been no apologizes given by both, just cold, dark stares and calm, blank expressions. He had withdrawn his closed fist from the wall Callon had pressed her back against and stalked away, leaving her and a rather large hole in the wall behind.
She hadn't been the least bit afraid and refused to be escorted back to her room by three upper-ranked Gerudo who had witnessed the exchange. Callon had walked away just like Ganondorf had, with her head held up high but her eyes lowered to the ground. She didn't know exactly where she would head to in the Fortress grounds, avoiding curious stares and stupid questions. Unlike Ganondorf, she didn't respond with anger or power but rather with a quiet silence. There was no need to answer anyone when there was no need to and she was not in any mood to talk to anyone inside the Fortress.
She had always carried herself high after being threatened by another being, regardless of who it was or if she had deserved it. In her younger days, she had found herself in worse situations then the one she had been in only a few minutes earlier and those times were more dreadful. Even then she had not felt her life was in danger nor had the fear of death or worse; it was the mere thrill of the experience that kept her going for more. Some would have said she was reckless and stupid even for a Gerudo thief and she knew they were right; she had been reckless. As the years came and went, she found herself able to cool her lust for adventure and eventually settle down into the role of adoptive mother for Ganondorf.
Why and how she had taken up the role of adoptive mother was only a mystery those that actually knew better, when Ganondorf knew very well who his mothers were. He had learned his magic from them and more and at a very young age; it was customary to learn the skills of the parents. But, if Ganondorf knew and his mothers were still alive, then why had Callon raised him like he was her own flesh and blood? Callon knew that the ones that had borne Ganondorf had their reasons for allowing another person to raise their offspring in the clan when they couldn't do it. Oh the two women had other children besides the Gerudo male and could very easily still reproduce at their age but they couldn't risk their lives on Ganondorf's. They had debts to pay to other Gerudo fractions in other lands and if those clans knew that the women had a male heir then there was a chance they would come after them.
That was one reason out of hundreds that they had Callon take the mantle of mother to Ganondorf, to lure others in believing a simple thief had given birth to him. If their son hadn't any ties to them, then the two woman could just as easily kill him when they had no more use for him than they could if they had raised him themselves. Even with that thought, they still were afraid of what Ganondorf would do to him if he became more powerful than the two women combined and more.
Callon soon found herself standing in front of the large gates that were the entrance to the Haunted Wasteland, her thoughts drifting back from the past into the present. Gesturing to the woman in the tower, she watched as one of the gates started to open enough so that she could pass through easily and without anyone else taking note that she was leaving the safety of the Fortress grounds. In the Wasteland she would make a quick detour to the graveyard of the Gerudo where the majority of the high-ranking Gerudo and the leaders of the past were buried. After paying her respects to the dead and adding a green rupee to the statue in the center of the graveyard, she would then head to the Temple in the desert where she could get advice from the old crones that lived there.
"Don't get lost, Callon. We've lost four already to the winds and sands," the Gerudo guard standing next to the gate said, smirking at Callon. In return, Callon stared at her as though she was nothing more than a babe newly weaned and went forth into the Wasteland beyond the borders of the Fortress compound. She wouldn't get lost, the Wasteland was her second home to the Fortress. That had been the place where she had been tested as a young thief and left there to fend for herself. The shifting winds that brought sand up from the ground, the bleakness of the Wasteland, and the low vision had made it nearly impossible to navigate through it without a Poe guide. She had to do it alone and without the dead ghost to aid her and she had done it where others had failed. Even though she had been starving, bloodied from the stinging sand, and considerably paler, she had proved she could survive even in the harshest conditions.
Although that practice had long since been abandoned, it had given her more knowledge about the Waste then it did anyone else. And, as the gate closed behind her, she would use that to navigate her way back to the same spot where she had been born.
Beyond Book series and all original characters © Ameera Mae Laramie
Legend of Zelda games, characters, and places © Nintendo and their original creator
