As well, there is a key element to this chapter which is NOT at all related to this story at all, and there's only a slim chance of it being explained. If I ever get around to it, this will actually be a cross-over reference to my planned story 'Time and Again', another Zelda Fanfiction. Keep an eye out for it!


Matters of the State

Chapter 11

"But… that is a river, Child."

"For now, yes…" I reply, smiling at Miriam where we sit together in her salon. One of the slanted trays upon which we ate our lunch is still spread across her lap where her majesty reclines in her sofa. She is as always surrounded with blankets and pillows to assure her comfort. I will need to apologize most profusely to Blossom when I return; it's been three days at least since I arrived!

"Not one of the roads is still in use?" She asks me, still looking over the map spread across the dining tray and tracing one thin finger along a dark line which runs through the Goron Range to Labrynna's north west. The map before us covers all three nations, Labrynna and Holodrum to the north east, and the sloping south-ward coast towards Hyrule which lies far to the south west of here. It is a vague map in most terms, but is marked with lines of caravan trails and well used trading routes across both land and sea. If Ralph can manage at least a third of any such marks for his own maps, Labrynna will profit greatly.

"Years of disuse led to a lack of proper maintenance from the Gorons." I explain, "What portions of road are still in tact are inaccessible by any party large enough to require a wagon. Ralph surveyed them himself with a Goron escort last summer, and determined that much of the old ways are too brittle with age to rebuild. The gorge left behind by the river, however, is nearly solid stone and follows the same general path through the mountains. The Gorons had already begun working away at the project when I left."

"So… it will move south into Sunken City then?" She asks, and I nod in agreement, aware of the hidden message in her eyes and addressing it in turn.

"It will provide a good deal of revenue for the city and Holodrum, and –yes, we know, Sunken will most likely be in a position in a few years to impose heavy tariffs, but again, Ralph is working towards something manageable. Before he made to leave for Hyrule, he sent word to Sunken Ci-"

"Hyrule!?"

I give a violent start as I'm interrupted by Miriam's sudden exclamation, the queen's eyes widening as she looks at me, a dangerous light flaring within them, coupled with a fair bit of anger. She sits straight up on her sofa, but I dare not touch her as her temper is so suddenly sparked and explodes.

"You sent him to Hyrule?!" She shrieks at me, "Nayru, how could you? He can't go there, and certainly not alone! When did he leave? How long will he be there? Why didn't youaccompany—Aye! Foolish girl!" A pained expression crosses her face as she brings her hands up in front of her as though trying to grasp something out of reach. I watch in a stunned silence as she buries her face into those hands, and I simply cannot fathom a reason for her strange reactions; is it the babe?

"Miriam-" I stand and try to make my way to her again, touching her shoulders only to have the queen instantly flail around to stave off my attentions.

"Don't touch me!" She barks, well and truly enraged despite that momentary pause, her eyes flash at me behind the red fall of her hair, "Why are you still here? Go, girl, go! Leave! Do not stay here another instant! Guard!" I balk at that,

"What are you doing!?" I cry, almost afraid as she interrupts me to call again for the guard who stands outside the chamber. "Miriam I didn't-" I'm only further cut off as the door to the salon abruptly swings open, and the thick stature of the hall guard appears in the doorway, javelin in hand. I feel my own temper beginning to rise up towards the frail queen before me, but I force it back down, the last thing can allow myself to do is grow angry.

"Escort the Oracle out into the village, she is leaving us and returning to her own time!" Miriam barks, causing the soldier to blink as it is well known that I am well acquainted with her. "And bring me my scribe! Now!" I feel myself stiffen in indignation; I know quite easily when I am not wanted, and say nothing more as the guard nods and looks to me expectantly, if not with a hint of accusation in his eyes. As though Iwere to blame for this!

I make to walk around the queen's seat before one of her cold, thin hands clasps around my wrist and jerks me back to her side. I'm forced to bend with the unexpected force of the pull, and feel her other hand come down on the side of my neck, keeping me in place as I staring into her Majesty's dark grey eyes. For all that the colour is different and there are ages between them, the forceful emotions behind the Queen's eyes echo the passion in Ralph's livid green set. That resemblance alone keeps me from instantly pulling back and away from her, my pride is bruised enough as it is without being tugged around by a frail woman.

"You will return to your time," She says firmly, her voice dropping down to a low murmur so that the guard may not overhear. "You will return to your time, and you will employ the fastest means of transportation to reach Hyrule. And when you have done that, girl, you will never leave my grandson's side again. Obey me, and go." I feel goaded by her tone of voice with me, humiliated in my stooped position at a raving woman's side, and that she speaks without reasons for her order does little to appease me. However, for all the harshness of her voice and words, as I stand so close to her there is a definite shimmer of fear in her deep, stormy eyes, and the anger which masks that fear is not truly for me.

"Where is my scribe?!" Her touch, too, betrays her in part as she abruptly shoves me away from her, flinging my wrist from her hand as though she were tossing a soiled rag. It is only the almost lingering touch at my neck which faintly tells me again that she is not mad at me specifically. That does not, of course, explain or excuse her.

As I straighten and make my way from the salon, out into the green-stone halls of the castle, I cannot understand her violent reaction to Ralph's current venture. I know that she told me that she was grateful that she had not herself married a Hylian lord, but as yet that has been the only mention of the land to which she has shown distaste.

Again, I feel a deep sense of insult as I review her pin-pointed instructions, and despite them, I feel no inclination to go rushing through the mountains to appear at Ralph's side. In any light, even if I left the moment I reappear in our age, I would not arrive in Hyrule until perhaps a day or two before Ralph is set to leave the Golden land on his own! And to make that date I would need a steed who runs as the wind itself, and ride endlessly through rain, shine, night, and day! Impossible! I may miss Ralph for all the time he has been gone since he left Labrynna, but I will not go gallivanting off across the continent when he already left me with duties back home!

The guard of course would know nothing of these issues, so although it is unlike me, I do not try to speak with him as he escorts me through the corridors towards the chamber I was granted. I enter the rooms without him, as I'm sure he'll perhaps rush off swiftly to summon the queen's scribe before I am through with my business. My chamber is one of the grander guest rooms within the palace, and I walk through the green and blue antechamber with hardly a pause to reach the bedroom, a bathroom branches off to the left as a true luxury, and a woven screen of gold vines and silk curtain sections off a corner of the room for changing.

Safe behind this screen although I doubt any maids will enter at this time, I strip off the warm fur-lined dress which has covered me from wrists to ankles since my arrival. The air within my chamber is cool since the fire died earlier, and there will be no need for it to be rekindled again today. I shiver slightly as I pull on the thinner garments I arrived with, my skin crawling with goose-flesh as the bands of yellow metal which hold up my half-sleeves are frightfully cold. The only pieces of jewelry which I am never without are the coiled bracelet and necklace around my left wrist and throat, which act as symbols of my position as Oracle. They are the only pieces of true gold I own.

I am grateful now for the cloak Blossom reminded me to bring, although I must say that it is far too thin for me as I fold it tightly around me to keep my teeth from chattering. I would fold the dress behind me as I normally do when leaving Lynna castle, but today I cannot be bothered to perform the ritual courtesy. When I open the door to the hall once again I find the same guard as before standing as he was, but the faint traces of red across his gruff cheeks tell me that I was correct in assuming he'd run off to carry out his Queen's orders.

I am hurt by her behavior. There is no sense in my trying to tell myself it was just the babe within her, or some sort of fear she cannot explain to me. I am hurt by how she so suddenly flew into a rage with me over something so small, how rudely I was ousted from her presence, and now how I am being removed from her own castle! The guard is blessedly respectful of my silence and angered mood, for the longer I stew over the details of my abrupt dismissal, the harder it becomes to contain my emotions.

As we reach the winter-locked gardens, I bite back a slight yelp as the snow is a shock to my sandaled feet once more. I bite down on my lip as I continue to walk, wary of patches of ice as the walkways have been shoveled repeatedly, but there are too many curved patches of frozen white for wood and metal to scrape away.

When we reach the gates, the guard who has escorted me thus far speaks roughly and shortly to his companions who are on duty at the entrance. If anything is said to me, I do not respond as I don't want to hear it just now, and I promptly dismiss any lessons from my girlhood which strictly prohibited ignoring the voices of others.

Once the gates rattle open, I am no longer in need of an escort, and do not look to any of the guards as I swiftly move through the barrier before it is even open completely. I risk taking a horrible fall down the snow covered stairs as I move more quickly than I ought to, but I'm near desperate to be out of sight at the moment.

The nerve of her, I'm surprised to find these thoughts flying through my mind as I shiver under my thin cloak, my feet growing numb in the snow as I walk. The nerve of the Queen to treat me this way. I do not think myself an overly proud woman, I have my dignity and my position, but I like to think that I do not flaunt my rank to others. And although I will not preach it, I do expect a certain level of respect and courtesy. That she would treat me like this over something so small when we are supposed to be good friends is utterly beyond my understanding.

At last, I can take it no more, my feet are frozen and my hands are numb, the hem of my cloak and skirt are slowly growing wet as an icy wind causes my teeth to chatter unbidden. The village way is clear now; slopped homes of wood and stone are oddly quiet as they line roughly cobbled streets despite it being mid-day. I draw the mantel of my hood up over my hair and face as I walk, keeping the cold air from my cheeks and hiding my surely livid eyes. I at last take advantage of the quiet to finally rid myself of this chill weather.

Looking up towards the gray clouds piled high overhead, I force myself to clear my mind of these angered thoughts and hurt emotions. I require calm now, calm and quiet until I can make the music to carry me home. If I am honestly expected to charge across the continent to Hyrule, then Queen Ambi is to be disappointed for I shall do no such thing.

Although I am reluctant to submit to the cold, I open my cloak so that I may extend one hand into the wind as it comes to me. Suppressing a shiver, I know that soon I will be embraced with the warmth of spring and early summer, and am contented by that knowledge. The wind seems almost to curl around my fingertips, gently combing through my hair over my ears before whispering to me silently. Slowly, softly, I begin to hear a song… and I sing.

All of my worries and troubles fade as my voice slowly filters into the air around me, forming that same bubble of frozen time about my person to still the winds in my palm. The song however, remains in my mind, and I carry the melody gently. Closing my eyes, the sweet sound of nature and the endless winds lift my heart and I feel a rush of warmth through my being. I am reminded of the time which I am returning to, and suppress the urge to jump ahead to a number of weeks farther than the date I will be stopping at. A pair of green eyes under a mop of unruly red hair beckons for that jump through seasons and time, near the latter half of summer when he will return. But, I know my place, and seeing Ralph again shall have to wait a few weeks more…

The familiar weight of the Harp of Ages forms slowly against the inside of my right arm, the hand which was extended towards the wind. Already, the cold of the season has faded from my mind and body, and I am as one floating in the song of the world frozen around me. A smile gracing my lips as the flow of ages carries me forward…

To the future… home.

My fingers grace the golden threads of the harp shyly at first, wary as always of the dangers of my craft. But soon, I am further lost in the magic of the melody, and the sun and moon begin their dance, draping the world in an endless twilight as the days blow past me. Buildings rise, sway, fall, and are rebuilt. The river swells and deepens, widening and altering its course. Cobble, dirt, slate, cobble; the road shimmers below my sandaled feet like the flowing waters of a clear brook. Home, I'm going ho-

Why!?

Violent, like a slap to the face, I choke over the wordless melody of my song, startled nearly into halting my fingers across the string.

Why!? Tell me why!!

A voice, my fingers slow on the strings, but continue to stroke them softly. The seasons slowing their blur of pale greens and golden yellows so that I can clearly distinguish spring leading to summer, to fall, to winter, and once again the emergence of new growth… I can hear a voice; an anomaly I have never yet experienced in my time as Oracle. Someone… the voice of someone… calling across time itself…?

No! Stop it! This isn't right, don't show me- NO!

Slowing, slowing, my passage through time is winding down, and I am vaguely aware of myself passing the time where I belong, my home, and continuing forwards listlessly. My eyes are turned to the west, far to the west and the south, the blur of twilight slowly gains contrast, the days and the nights forming before me while my gaze continues to wander the horizon. A soul… a lost soul forced into life apart from its' other halves and pieces. Its cry is so undeniably… sad…

Stop it! Stop, stop, just STOP! St-Nayru, please!

My name, be it a cry to me or to the Goddess with whom I share that name, I cannot tell, and I don't know if I shall ever find the answer to it. My fingers do not simply end the song, but they stop in the most horrible way. I catch one of the golden strings out of turn, giving it a sharp pluck while thinking it a different note. In return, I scream as hot fire races up my hand from the contact, as though a thin strip of metal were lashed across my skin.

No.

I swiftly make to correct my mistake, my fingers flying to the strings only to have the Harp nearly pull itself from my grasp. It will not have me abusing it, and shrinks from my touch forcing me to halt my attempts. My heart leaps into my throat as the blur of days and swirling seasons is abruptly beyond my grasp and control. The twilit blur of seasons swirls around me beyond reason so that I can hardly even tell whether I am moving forwards, backwards, or anywhere at all. I cannot sing nor hum it into order again; my scream has already shattered the melody.

Paradox…

All I can do is hold the instrument to me and wait for this wild ride to end, wait for the echoes of my sour note and frightened shriek to fade before walking through time again and correcting the damage caused by my carelessness. It is mistakes such as these which may alter the flow against what the gods designed to take place. An Oracle who alters time for their own needs is swiftly struck down and replaced, and I have more than enough respect for the power of the gods. An Oracle who is sloppy and careless is likewise quickly dispatched.

The voice through time is gone now, lost in the twisting swirls of Time's Flow and I feel a sadness abruptly well up within me, warring with my sudden anger at myself for spoiling things so. A striking pain enters my skull, throbbing through my temples to make my eyes water. Just a little bit longer…

A little longer until what I wonder? One word echoes through my mind over and over again as I tightly shut my eyes to block out the consuming twilight around me. Summer, winter, day, night, young, old... Time swirls around me in an angered whirlpool, and my heart pounding furiously within my throat as I try to calm my raging panic. Only once before have I been caught in Time's Flow this way, and I can only pray that my luck shall hold true again and I shall not be forced into some sort of twisted reality. A paradox...

Slowly, oh so slightly, the ripples around me begin to calm, and I fall to my knees with the harp clutched against my chest. There is no blood running down my hands from the pain the instrument inflicted upon me, although the scolding it gave for my mistake is still soundly felt. As the days finally slow, and I find myself sitting in a pool of frozen moonlight, I wet my lips before preparing to bring down the barrier around me. My hood fell at a moment within the swirling time, and I'm not surprised to find it so as I pull it back up over my face once more. There is little left to do save stop now, step out into the flow of time again, and regain my composure before trying anything more with the Harp or my abilities. Blossom will have to forgive me a few more days still.

I keep my harp with me this time, and it does not fight my touch any longer as the low hum of summer time insects fills the air slowly. I am suddenly very cold despite the warmth of the season however. I am within Lynna, but be it city or village, I cannot tell, and that has little to do with the current time of night. I feel... blind...

As Oracle, I am blessed with two forms of sight, I see the world around me as others do, the physical realm which time holds and alters as it flows as a stream confined by pebble and soil. Another sight however, is one that I have few words for, but many ideas concerning. I have a keen knowledge of the near past and present, able to see through disagreements to find their past causes with little instruction as to the situation to begin with, and the ability to foresee both triumphs and troubles days, weeks, sometimes even months in advance.

But here, now, I feel blind... I feel robbed of a sight which is mine by right of office. I rise to my feet in the empty thorough fair, and know nothing of what is before me. Nothing aside from what five senses, not six, can tell me.

There is smoke in the air; harsh, acrid smoke which forms a hazy shadow in the moonlight. It carries with it the smell of charred stone, rusted metal, and burnt timber. The street itself is dirty, in a manner similar to Lynna village of Queen Ambri's age during the dark time when she was no longer in control of her own land; the streets are littered with trash, and clods of dirt stick to the sides of buildings as leeches. The city is a sad sight...

Still holding my harp in my arms although I shall not be able to use it again so soon, I wander the quiet roads of the city. When I reach the main street which once led to the front gates of Lynna Castle, and branches off to the east towards the Maku tree, I find it maintained, but as dirty as the rest of the city. Following it to the east, I know the one person who in any age I can seek clarification from, and yet even before I reach her, I find a hint as to the time I have entered into, and it frightens me.

When Link saved Labrynna years ago from Veran and then the witches Twinrova, the people of the Past and the Present together built a statue in his honor, and it was erected in the square before the Maku Tree's massive gates. In the silver moonlight, the haze of smoke is neigh invisible to me now, so clearly I have moved farther from whatever the source was. Without that haze I am able to make out the gates to the Maku Tree's Sanctuary, and the place where that honorary statue stood.

Stood, because now it is no longer raised in tribute. Lying on its side, the statue of soft, pearly blue stone carved from the coastal cliffs is in shambles. It stood once with one arm raised lifting a sword made to resemble the mighty blade which appeared in Lynna when the Hero of Time was in his greatest need against the wild incarnation of the Dark King; Ganondorf. Along the statues' right arm he held a shield emblazoned with Labrynna's Royal symbol, altered to my liking and then adopted as Ralph's crest.

Now, that raised arm is missing, the glorified features of the boy-hero scratched off by some manner of blade as large chunks of torso, legs and shoulders are gone. I hurriedly make my way towards it, wary of the harp still as I kneel next to the statue. Yes, these chunks are not wear-and-tear, although by now the damage has indeed been softened by the elements, this statue was toppled in a violent display, beaten, and left laying in piles of its own chippings.

I look to the stand which remains in its' place, although the massive bolts which pegged it down have been loosened, and it is clear that whatever crowd was present jarred it on a hard angle before abandoning it to continue attacking the statue. The plaques on each side of the pedestal have been abused as Link's face; each of the words scratched and beaten from sight, even his name is gone now.

"Where am I?" I whisper softly into the night, before I rise and look towards the Maku Tree's gates. A cold, sick feeling began to form in my stomach when I saw the statue toppled, and it increases tenfold as I look now towards what has become of Labrynna's guardian. Massive doors of living wood, carved with symbols of protection, well wishes, blessings, and incantations adorn the massive barriers which rarely -if ever- have closed in my time unless some great danger or injustice has hovered in the near future. Any force may physically close the gates, but only the Maku Tree herself, with her will focused on moving ancient roots and branches, may form an utter wall to keep herself safe as she has done now.

I stand in the moonlight for a time more, sighing at last as I find myself with few alternatives. If I am in the future, then I might as well seek one of the only other landmarks I expect is still standing and hopefully not barred off. I begin slowly to walk back along this branch of the main road, moving west towards the river which runs through Lynna and towards what in my time is little more than a scattered build site.

Oh, but I am blind without my sight! I cannot explain why it is gone from me, but the consequences of it, the lack of that foresight and warning; I do not feel safe without it. And I am not without good reason for that awareness either.

The sound comes to me slowly, although not softly. It is the rhythmic chink-chink-chink of metal clattering, lots of metal. I pause in my steps, listening to the sound as it begins to grow stronger, and through the darkness of the night a shape begins to form. There are no torches alight for me to see by, and I rely on the moon above to make things clear; the reflection of silver moonlight on burnished helms and chest plates. A troop of soldiers headed towards me along the road, jogging at a light pace but with strict regularity which boasts discipline.

I move towards the side of the street so as to avoid being in their way. All the while however I stand hoping that they will notice me and be able offer me a bit of assistance. I still have the Harp of Ages with me, tucked up against my side within the folds of my cloak so as to avoid calling attention to it. As they near me, still in ranks of three by six, they do indeed make to halt, but I notice something... odd... about their armor. It doesn't remind me of any style used in Labrynnia before, it looks almost-

"You, what business have you to be out so late? And hiding in the shadows no less!" One of the soldiers calls, and I ignore for now that slight nagging as I make sure I'm still well within the moonlight, disproving his comment about shadows, but not removing my hood in the process. Somehow, the presence of eighteen fully armored and armed guards does not sit well with me, such a large force to patrol city streets in the dead of night...

"Good sirs, I am a traveler." I reply, aware of the series of looks which flash through the men as I speak, and I pause to wet my lips. There is no need to suddenly announce myself as Oracle now when I cannot truly prove it; I am too weary for the Harp, and without my sight, fortune-telling is beyond me. "Is there not an inn somewhere to which you could dire-"

"Traveler? From whence?" That seems strange to me, his choice of words, formal as opposed to casual, it's almost as though he's trying to see if he can confuse me with the cultured word. I wonder again just how far within the future I have come... What is more, I feel a deep sense of unease build up within me. These men, they seem so... hostile... their gazes linger in a ways which tempt me to draw my cloak in closer around me, and they just seem... dangerous. From habit, I answer with him the name of my childhood home, but the words are slow in coming. Despite an end to their march, they seem to be fanning out almost, effectively having broken their ranks almost as though they're trying to block the road...

"From... From Lynna woods." I say shyly, feeling cornered, and with good reason again as it was not my mind playing tricks; they are blocking the road! And I feel more than one set of shadowed eyes narrow upon me as I name my forest home, Oh, Din, where am I? "I'm from the- to-to the east." The bare instant the words pass my lips I wish them back to me, but to no avail. Like crimson flags waved in the eyes of wild bulls, my words set them off into a flurry of angered shouts and bare weapons.

"Rebel!"

"Arrest her!" I blink, and time feels almost as though it were slowing around me against my will. The soldiers rush towards as a charge of metal and leather as though I were some beast come to ravage the town. I'm stunned into a stupor by how my luck has taken me from bad to worse and now down another notch again! Jolted by a flash of terror as the men are already nearly upon me, I stumble backwards only to find my back up against the wall of a building. On instinct I pull the Harp from the folds of my cloak, holding it out in front of me and praying that the aquamarine stones and golden threads may catch the moonlight. Against twenty men it is my only protection.

"Stop! I am the Oracle!" I shut my eyes tightly as I scream out my title at them. It does nothing; I hear the resounding clatter of the Harp of Ages as it is soundly battered from my hands and onto the cobbles below, pain blossoming from my temple as I'm struck. I don't fight back, their blades are out but do not stab at me; I will not prompt them into action. I fall to the ground both from the force of the attack as well as to try and cover myself, screaming into the dirt below me only to lose my breath as a heavy boot comes straight into me from the side. Then comes another… and another… and another...

Darkness…