Chapter 10

Lich

Midna had almost expected to find her home as silent and deserted as when Zant had been in power. Instead, she could see people hurrying through the rain to get inside as palace guards combed the streets. Fear fell into her stomach; she was too late. One of the guards pointed in her direction and Midna readied herself for a fight as three of them warped from the mainland. As they took form around her, she recognized Lieutenant Rahl Morlen, who had been given his command only weeks before.

"Princess, come with us," he said. "Hurry. You are not safe outside, and a messenger demands your audience."

"What's happening?"

"The traitor Areanna has escaped. She killed the escorts you assigned to her, and only minutes ago, Councilor Sareth was reported missing. We fear she may have murdered him as well, and now that you have returned –"

"Sareth is not dead," Midna said, putting the pieces together. "He is plotting a coup. Recall the guards to the palace immediately."

"A coup? How do you know?"

"There is no time to explain. Do it."

Morlen nodded to the men with him, who warped away without a moment's hesitation. "As for the messenger, he will speak to no one but you. I do not know what news he brings."

"Take me to him. You will need to help me…"

"Are you hurt, my Lady?"

"I will explain later." She seized his hand and they were away. They materialized on the palace steps where an anxious scout stood apart from three stationed guards, oblivious to the downpour. He jumped to attention as soon as he saw Midna.

"Princess, I bring urgent word." His eyes shifted to Morlen. "Might we speak alone?"

"There is no time. Out with it."

Reluctantly, he continued. "Have you ordered any military activity recently?"

"No. Why?"

"The garrisons of Irkust, Rakust, and Chu'Goba have mobilized without authorization or provocation."

"They were waiting for his signal." Filling with dread, she spun to face Morlen. "Go to the garrison and alert Commander Reelar. Send all forces to the perimeters and let no one enter the city!"

"Immediately, Princess," he said, and disappeared.

If invasion were imminent, the palace would be the target. It needed to be emptied and secured. Wet clothes clinging to her body, Midna hurried up the steps and threw open the doors only to be met by a crowd of statesmen and nobility.

"Princess! Have you news?"

"Has the traitor been captured?"

"Any word from Councilor Sareth?"

"Is it true you are betrothed? Why the secrecy?"

Midna held up her hands angrily. "Listen! Wherever Sareth has gone, he is in no distress. He is responsible for the murders and for conspiracy to seize the throne."

There was a moment of shocked silence before a chorus of denials rose up.

"Quiet!" Midna shouted over them, wincing as pain pulsed in her head. "I did not believe it at first either, but you must trust me. Sareth has assembled a militia, and may be here soon on the offensive. Leave while you can. Return to your families and be sure they are safe."

"A militia?" scoffed a rotund representative of the banking guild. "Are we expecting a war?"

"Honestly, yes. You must leave, for your own safety."

"This is preposterous! I demand evidence before I send my poor wife into a panic."

"And where is the great Hero?" asked a man with a reedy voice. "If what you say is true, then surely he should be standing alongside you. After all, you have apparently taken it upon yourself to plan his coronation."

"Disregarding every institution and tradition!" sniped another.

"Enough!" Midna tried to keep her composure even as her sense of isolation grew. "If Sareth succeeds, he will be king and we all shall suffer!"

"Sareth was a momentous leader," huffed the banker. "The Twili prospered under his regency. I say, better he than a Light-dweller."

"Or a princess with sordid secrets," drawled the reedy-voiced man. "Your father would be ashamed."

"My father would tear you apart for your insolence!" Midna yelled. "Come to your senses! We can bicker about this later. It is not safe for any of you here!" Through the open doors she could see legionnaires, the city's true standing military, spreading quickly through the streets. Disciplined, imposing, and armed with long, fearsome blades, they were a sight to behold. Five of them had accompanied Midna and Sareth to the conference with Zelda, and had easily intimidated the more numerous Hylian soldiers. Now, the garrison's full numbers – normally close to a thousand, but severely depleted after the senseless deaths at Zant's hands – manned every inroad. No one could arrive unwelcomed; a barrier like those covering all large cities prevented anyone outside its limits from warping directly into the streets. Sareth himself was likely powerful enough to evade the defense, but any substantial force he intended to bring with him would have to first fight through the legionnaires. Ten of the elite soldiers were now taking up positions of attention at the base of the steps as the first of the palace guards trickled back from their pursuit of Areanna.

Behind her, the crowd's more skittish members were murmuring amongst themselves at the sight of the military mobilization. A few gathered their cloaks around them and vanished, but the banker and his cohorts were not to be deterred. "You've gone too far," he said as he peered outside. "All this to satisfy your paranoia?"

"It isn't paranoia," Midna growled. "But it is your neck on the line if you choose not to heed me." She saw Morlen returning through the doors and held out her hand to him. "The ballroom deck, please."

"Right away, Princess."

The balcony to which he took them was the palace's largest and most centralized. It afforded a wide view of nearly everything going on in the city below. "Princess… you mentioned before that you were injured…"

"In a sense. I don't know how he did it, but Sareth has inhibited my powers, presumably to make it seem like I had lost the ancestral magic. And like a fool, I believed it."

"You cannot use magic?"

"Barely. Doing so nearly knocks me out with pain."

"Princess, without your power you are in terrible danger! If our lines fail and Sareth reaches you, you'll be defenseless. We must get you away from here."

"No," Midna said, pushing his hand away. "I will stay." As she gazed out across the vista, a flash and movement caught her eye. "Look there." She pointed to a cluster of figures emerging from a swirl of magic at the distant head of the main avenue. Even from far away, she recognized the leader immediately by his poise. "Sareth."

Morlen joined her at the railing. "That's no army. What's he playing at?"

As the group approached the city, the legionnaires' line closed to bar their path. One, who could only be Commander Reelar, strode toward them and held up his arm. Sareth paused, and Midna squinted to try and see what was happening. Reelar suddenly clutched his throat and fell. The legionnaires drew their weapons, but one of the tall figures behind Sareth raised an arm and the soldiers were thrown through the air by a red blast. Sareth stepped over Reelar and the group proceeded into the city as warning trumpets sounded.

"They'll be here any moment!" Morlen cried. "Let me take you to the Mirror, and-"

"No! I will not flee like a coward. It's me he wants, and they will not stop until they have me."

"But, my Lady-"

"I will go out to meet them," she said, her heart beginning to pound. "And hear their demands."

"It is suicide!"

"It is necessary." She tore herself from the railing and extended her hand to Morlen. "Please help me downstairs."

"I will not!"

"Rahl. Please. Trust me."

Grudgingly, he took her hand and growled, "Yes, Princess."

In the foyer, the crowd was in chaos. Through the open doors, the clarion calls and flashes of battle were unmistakable. In the rush to flee, no one took notice of Midna as she and Morlen fought their way outside. Civilians ran through the streets for cover as the alarms drew nearer. The few palace guards who'd made it back in time joined the ten legionnaires in a protective semicircle around Midna. Morlen's knuckles were white on the hilt of his rapier. "There is no more time. Are you sure of what you're doing?"

"Absolutely." Whether or not he could detect her lie, she didn't know. There was no turning back now; she knew what had to be done.

Within minutes, retreating guards and legionnaires barreled into the plaza to join the force already surrounding Midna. "They're coming! Prepare yourselves!"

"Who are they?" Midna demanded.

The first soldier to stumble up to her replied, "Sareth's men! Sorcerers like I've never seen! We couldn't even get close enough to touch them."

"Sareth's men?"

"Like him. In appearance. I've never seen any others." The man's comrades helped him to his feet as they struggled to catch their breath.

"When they arrive, do not attack," she ordered. "They want me. I will attempt to negotiate."

"And if they refuse?" Morlen wondered.

"Let us hope they do not refuse."

Sooner even than she had expected, the air shimmered and darkened in the center of the plaza and Sareth stepped from the shadow as if from the rain itself. His councilor's robes had been exchanged for a long cloak adorned with red glyphs. "Midna." He smiled his shark's smile. "I see you've been alerted to my coming."

"You weren't exactly subtle," she replied.

He laughed. "I no longer need subtlety." Behind him, more shadows bloomed from the air and one by one, seven sorcerers in similar garb, but with hooded faces, stepped from the shadows along with one man whose appearance froze Midna to the spot.

"Zant!"

"Did you miss me, Princess?" His fishlike mask retracted to reveal his face, mottled like a corpse and dominated by horrid, sunken, black eyes.

Midna shuddered. "You're dead! I watched you die!"

"I am dead, thanks to you," Zant said. "Though I warned you I would be reborn, and lo, here I am to take my revenge. To see justice served at last!"

Morlen shouted, "Treacherous filth! Because of you, my sister died a lunatic!" He spat on the ground.

"You dare insult me! I'll snap your neck for that," Zant seethed.

"Stop babbling and let's see you do it!"

A blue bolt from Zant's hand struck Morlen, knocking him to the ground. The standoff broken, the two sides threw themselves into combat. Midna could only watch in horror as Zant and the sorcerers laid waste to the soldiers who tried to defend her. Weaponless, she dodged errant curses and running bodies, stumbling on the stairs. Sareth was suddenly in front of her, looking down at her with triumph in his eyes. Before she could regain her footing, he grabbed her by her hair and clamped his hands on either side of her head. Her world swam red with agony before all was swallowed in blackness.

Princess Zelda was leading Link and Kiri through Castle Town toward Telma's inn. It was dark by now and the only light came from the streetlamps and the torch Link held before them. Kiri had offered to conjure light for them, but Zelda had thought it best not to draw attention with such a display of shadow magic.

"Again, I apologize for not lodging you in the castle," Zelda said. "Even I have been staying at the inn until repairs are complete. I'm afraid Telma is tiring of guards loitering about, but at least they give her business."

"It's no trouble, Princess," Kiri murmured. "You could give me the softest bed in the land and I still would not be able to sleep tonight."

"I promise you, Kiritsana, I would feel it if Midna were in danger," Zelda said. "I would alert you both immediately."

"Do you really think she will be all right? Truthfully?"

"I am always truthful," replied Zelda. "And I do believe Midna can handle herself, but I worry that there are unknown forces at work that she does not recognize.

Kiri groaned softly and looked at the ground. She felt ill. "I wish she had let us go with her. I hate this."

Zelda nodded. "I did plead with her to stay, even for a few days, but she would not be swayed.

"She tends not to be," whispered Kiri.

Link maintained his stony silence all the while.

When they arrived, Telma was warm and welcoming as always. The four of them sat together at a table and picked at light dinners to save Link and Kiri from being alone with their own deafening thoughts. Telma even drew a smile from Kiri with a steamy mug of hot cocoa. ("This is commonplace to you? Even at the palace, we haven't had any in years!") The tension was only just beginning to lift when Zelda frowned and shut her eyes.

The conversation faded and Link asked, "Princess? Are you all right?"

"Oh, I hope it wasn't that cheese," Telma muttered. "Just throw it away, I thought. But no, I had to risk it…"

"It was not that," Zelda breathed. "I only felt strange for a moment. I didn't mean to cause alarm."

Link hadn't relaxed. "Is it Midna?"

Zelda knew the feeling had come from her connection with Midna, and that it had been strongly negative. There was now a decision to be made: to tell Link and Kiritsana, or not to tell them. Less than an hour ago, she had promised that she was always truthful. Then again, she had only ever needed to consider her own conscience. Now, she had to weigh her own against Midna's; she knew describing what she'd just felt would send Link galloping back to the Mirror chamber, and Kiritsana after him. They would return to Twilight and no doubt confront whatever had distressed Midna, which was in all likelihood the man called Sareth. Midna had seemed convinced Link could not survive a duel with Sareth. Therefore, according to Midna, to tell them now was to send them to their deaths. She could almost hear Midna's voice begging her not to reveal what she knew. And so I shall make of myself a liar. Zelda looked up at Link, her face pleasant as always. "I would know if she were in danger. Surely, I am just tired. Thank you for dinner, Telma. I think I shall go to bed."

Kiri and Telma bid her goodnight, but Link wasn't so relaxed. He'd had a bad feeling ever since Midna left, and it was not just worry. His instinct told him something was not right, and Zelda's body language as she rose and climbed the stairs to her room told him she felt it too.