Chapter 21: A Guilty Conscience

Word that the prince of Hyrule was dead spread quickly and became the number one subject to gossip about. It had only been two days, but everyone seemed to know that Zeke had been mutilated by a vicious demon spawn that ripped out his still beating heart, or so the latest story said. All facts surrounding the prince's murder were just speculation, but there was one thing everyone knew that was not false in any form. In bars and at dinner tables, citizens of New Castle Town were talking about the queen's absence from the throne room since she had been informed of her son's death.

"I heard from my cousin, who was on guard duty in the throne room, that after he and the other guards had been told to leave that the queen screamed so loud that it cracked the window above the throne," a man was saying to his drinking buddies.

"Can you believe this?" Reeve asked, looking around the bar with contempt. "You'd think these people were all standing right there by the way they talk."

Terence shrugged and took a swig from his mug. "There's nothing we can do about it," he said, but not without a twinge of disgust. "It's human nature to gossip, and this is the biggest thing to happen since the queen's early pregnancy. The citizens will talk about this for a few weeks and eventually exhaust their imaginations if our queen drags herself out of bed and goes about like she normally would."

"…in bed for the last two days. I don't see why she is taking it so hard, she never even liked the boy…"

"But that's not going to happen," Calintz mumbled, downing his fifth mug and burping. For the passed two days, he had spent most of his time being inebriated, trying to erase the screams from his ears. "You guys weren't there when she broke down. It was like she had lost all hope in the world. I don't think she wants to even live anymore."

Fandarel gave his young friend a pat on the back, pouring him another drink. "It'll be alright, lad," he said. "Zelda's been through worse than this, and she'll be bouncing back onto her feet in no time."

"…queen's been losing her freaking mind for the last eighteen years. It's only a matter of time before she gets us all killed because she's as useless as a one winged duck."

Scowling, Calintz spun around and shouted, "Hey! Quiet down over there or I'll have your back whipped open for your impertinence!" Everyone in the bar fell silent, just now noticing that there were four knights sitting amongst the crowd of drinkers. Turning back to his companions, Calintz started to mumble about the lack of respect in the town. "If someone had been talking like that in Zephyr they would have been flogged and left in the woods for a few days."

Conversations started up again, but they stayed low in volume out of fear. "Rest easy knowing that we can still these rumors in the military," Terence said, ducking in time to dodge a mug that had been thrown by one of two arguing men. "I myself told the soldiers that if I heard any of them talking about Zeke's death or Zelda's breakdown that I would personally string them up by their ankles and leave them to hang for a week."

"That's too good for them, Terence," Reeve growled, moving to avoid another mug. "If it were me I would have told them that they would receive twenty lashings and a week without food."

Fandarel shook his head and sighed. "Take it from someone who used to work with soldiers. They do not respond well to treatment that they deem unfair. I think Terence was wise with his words."

Someone shouted and threw a chair that struck Calintz and knocked him to the floor. Already close to falling unconscious, the chair jarred his head just enough to make him black out. Sliding out of his chair, he spilled his ale and curled up on the floor.

Reeve cracked his knuckles and stood up from his seat. "Time to bust some skulls."

"Try not to hurt them too bad, Fandarel," Terence said, rolling up his sleeves.

"I should say the same to you."

The three knights jumped into the middle of the bar brawl and started pulling people out of it, incapacitating anyone who thought they could stand up against them.

When Calintz woke up, he found himself lying in a bed in the medical wing of the castle. Lady Aurora was sitting next to him reading a book and waiting for him to come around. "I've seen Roland passed out drunk, I've dragged Fandarel out of bars, and I've even witnessed Terence jumping onto a table and belting out drinking songs, but I had always expected you, young Calintz, to be a responsible drinker." She put her book down and looked down at the knight with a disappointed expression on her face. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Ignoring the pounding in his head, Calintz sat up and even got out of bed. "I say that I have things I need to do." Belting on his sword, he started to leave the room. Lady Aurora got up and followed him to the door, hoping that Calintz was as sober as he appeared to be. "Who do I have to thank for paying the bill?"

Lady Aurora crossed her arms and smirked. "I think Fandarel got it this time, but it's about time Reeve started paying." Opening the door for him, she gave him a short bow. "If you want my advice, I say you take the day off. You've had a rough time these passed few days and you deserve a break." Much to her surprise, the knight nodded and thanked her for the advice.

"I think I'll do just that." But first things first. Before he had been knocked unconscious, he told himself that he would visit Zelda and try his best to console her if he could. After all, he was responsible for putting her through so much pain that she was bed ridden. When she had stopped screaming, it became apparent that she had abused her voice to the point where she could hardly talk anymore and her sobs and pleas for it to be false were hoarse and barely audible. This, on top of being distraught, made her reclusive and quiet, ignoring any company she had.

In order to prevent her from getting worse, he had kept Roland so busy with orders that he never had a chance to go to the queen. If he went to her, he just knew that he would exacerbate things by saying he had been right all along about not sending Zeke away.

"Psst." Calintz turned and saw Princess Faye hiding in a doorway, looking over at him with her big blue eyes.

"What can I do for you, your highness?" he asked, bowing down as low as he could to the little girl. It had been a big joke between them that he make an effort to appear small to her since she was a little on the petite side. He never wasted an opportunity to make a joke about her stature.

Quickly running over to him, Faye reached up and took his hand. "Walk with me and listen." Likewise, Faye never missed a chance to take advantage of her being a higher rank than the knight. "It has come to my attention that my mom has been in her room for the third morning in a row, and by the way things look she doesn't plan on coming out," she said formally, talking "down" to the knight next to her. "Now, seeing that you are the one who informed her of my brother's terrible fate, I am ordering that you take me down to the florist so I can get some flowers for her."

Despite the topic of Faye's proposal, Calintz grinned. "Well it just so happens that I was on my way to see your mother, so you are quite fortunate you ran into me at this time." He stopped walking and knelt down so that he could look her in the eye. "How do you feel about Zeke?"

Faye looked away and a small tear fell down her cheek. "I only just stopped crying." She wrapped her tiny arms around Calintz's neck and hugged him tightly. "I'm really going to miss him."

"We all are," Calintz said, returning the embrace. Rising to his full height again, he took Faye's hand and together they walked down into the town. Flowers. Why didn't I think of that?

It was an odd sight to behold, Calintz and Faye walking into the square holding each other's hand. Faye only stood a little bit taller than Calintz's waist and her soft features made her a gem in any setting, but standing next to the emotionless knight with a short fuse was too much of a contrast to comprehend. Many stopped to look at the two, but Calintz shot them a quick glare that sent them back to work.

Entering the florist's shop, Faye ran to the counter and, standing on her tiptoes so she could be seen, said, "Excuse me, but I would like to get some flowers for my mom."

Calintz knew the girl behind the counter as the daughter of the owners, and thought she was the most pleasant person who worked in the square. She was around the same age as himself and she was one of the first people he had met the first time he had been brought to the castle. "Your majesty," she said with a smile and a quick curtsy. "I would be most happy to help you today. Do you know what kind of flowers your mother likes?"

Faye scrunched her face as she tried to remember. This gave the girl behind the counter time to greet the knight who had escorted the princess to her shop. "Welcome, Sir Calintz. Can I help you today as well?"

Pointing at Faye, Calintz said, "I'm with shrimp here." Leaning against the counter, he stared down at the princess with an impatient stare. "Hurry up and quit wasting Becca's time."

"Shut up. I'm thinking."

Becca chuckled and tucked her dark green curls behind her ears. "Just take your time, princess." Turning her attention to Calintz, she asked, "How've you been? I see you running around all the time but you never come to the shop."

"I've been pretty busy," he responded, jerking his head in the princess's direction. "Being a knight is tough business, especially when you're one of the Crimson Tears. There's a lot of pressure to perform well." He noticed that the girl had a few more accessories than the last time he had seen her, and he wondered where she had gotten them. "Where did you get the sage glasses?" Sage style glasses were specially made with small lenses that helped with reading and were often given a dark hue that was said to preserve one's sight. The lenses were fastened to a flexible metal wire that could be adjusted so the glasses could clip to the bridge of a person's nose. Due to the complicated process of making them, they were expensive and would easily exceed the average worker's budget.

"They were a gift from my aunt," Becca said. "Since I read a lot, she thought it would be good for me to have some so I don't become blind like the bats in the Archives. Take a look at that Kenji, he's only eighteen and he already wears glasses. It's a shame." Smiling down at Faye, she asked the princess if she had made up her mind yet.

Faye nodded and said, "My mom really likes red roses."

"Ah, your mom is quite the classy woman." Becca walked with Faye over to a bucket of roses that had been picked that morning. "The red rose is a very special flower. Do you know why?" When Faye shook her head, the girl explained. "It's special because it is often given to girls by boys who really like them. Of all the different colors that roses can take, none are as prized as red because it's the color of passion and love."

"Wow. I want a boy to give me a red rose," Faye said, peering into the bucket. "Can I get a dozen of them?"

"Anything for you, princess." With deft fingers, Becca plucked twelve roses from the bucket and carried them over to the counter where she tied them together with a red ribbon that she fashioned into a bow. "There you go. A dozen red roses for the queen." She handed them down to Faye who took them and cradled them in her arms. Calintz took out his wallet and asked how much they would cost. "Don't worry about it. They're a gift for the queen, and she deserves them. Especially when she's going through such a tough time as this."

"Thanks Becca. I'll try to stop by to say hello more often." Taking Faye's hand again, Calintz once again became her escort.

"She's nice," Faye murmured, looking up at Calintz. "You should marry her."

With a frown, Calintz said, "You are the last person I'm going to take that kind of advice from."

*

They stopped outside the door that led to the living quarters of the queen and her family, and Faye handed the flowers to Calintz. "You should be the one to give her the flowers," she said quickly.

"Why is that?"

"Because you were the one who gave her the bad news. She already loves me, so if I give them to her she'll just say 'Aw, thank you, Faye. You're so sweet.' But if you give them to her, it'll be like you're apologizing for being a big jerk."

Confused by the girl's logic, he just rolled his eyes and opened the door. The royalty suite was quite different from the rest of the castle. While a lot of rooms in the castle that had been made to be accommodations had to be furnished for all occasions, the suite had multiple rooms for the queen and her family that was set up like a regular house. Calintz had never been in this part of the castle, and was quite intrigued by its layout.

Following the princess, he entered the home and, closing the door behind him, went in search of the room Zelda was occupying. Faye stopped at a door and reached up to turn the knob, but the door was locked. "Why would she lock the door?"

"Avert your eyes," Calintz ordered. "A princess doesn't need to learn this." Pulling an instrument out of the bottom of his belt knife, he knelt down and started fiddling with the lock. When it clicked, he motioned for Faye to go ahead and open the door.

Zelda's room was quite plain and rather small much to the knight's surprise. The only furnishing was a desk that sat in a corner of the room with a multitude of pictographs on it. The queen was a bit more conservative than he had expected. The only overly elegant object in the room was the Purity Sword, and that sat on a stand near the door.

Faye ran over to the bed and shook the lump that Calintz only knew was Zelda due to the hand that was sticking out of the covers. "Mom, wake up. It's Faye."

"Mommy can't play right now," Zelda said, sounding groggy. Lifting her head from her pillow, she blinked a couple times to clear her vision and smiled at her daughter. "But if you're feeling tired you can join me."

The princess climbed onto the bed with her mom and happily accepted the hug she was given. "You have a visitor, mom."

Zelda turned her gaze to the door and saw Calintz standing just outside the door. "Well don't just stand there. If you went to the trouble of picking the lock then you should at least come in."

Grabbing a chair on his way over to his queen, Calintz sat down next to the bed and handed the flowers to Zelda. "Faye and I got you these," he said with a soft smile. "How are you feeling?" Zelda looked better than she had in the throne room, but there was still a deep sadness in her eyes.

Sitting up and placing some pillows behind her to support her back, she took the flowers and held them close to her nose so she could take in their scent. "I'll be okay. Thank you." She asked Faye to take the flowers and to put them in a vase with water so they would stay pretty and waited for her daughter to do as she was asked before saying, "I must be the worst mother in the world."

"That's not true." Calintz reached over, took her hand in his, and gave it a soft squeeze. "You're a great mother, even to people who aren't your children."

"I treated you and Faye well, but not Zeke," she muttered, lowering her gaze. "I used to be so good to him. For the first two years of his life I gave him all of my love and affection to the point that everyone thought I was going to spoil him. I was so happy because he was like a gift from my mother with his red hair and green eyes, and for a while we were the happiest mother and son in the world. But my people disapproved of me because I had a child outside of wedlock, not to mention at such a young age. I could no longer go out into the square and happily converse with the people that used to compliment me on my looks and tell me that I would find myself a great man to marry. Though it's bad of me to say, Zeke was the root of all of my problems.

"In order to preserve my sanity, I chose to distance myself from the child. I stopped spending time with him, and after awhile I thought I could forget about him entirely. I developed an indifference to him, and then a bitter hatred. After all, he had caused the worst days of my life. He slowly started to despise me, and that made it easier to dislike him. I mean, how can you love a child who openly hates you? I thought my troubles would be over. My people started to sympathize with me, and not long after I was back to conversing with them again.

"Then the flood ended and I knew I had to get the Master Sword back from the old castle so no one could lay claim to it. I knew the only person who could do it was Zeke, and so I sent him away to get it, but the mother in me wouldn't let me send him alone, so I went to Terence and begged him to let me have his best student to send with him. After he was gone, I spent a lot of time thinking about him and came to the realization that he was such a good young man. I knew I could count on him to return home with the sword in hand. After I came to this conclusion, I started talking to the people who knew Zeke, and they told me how he was respectable, courageous, and even wise beyond his years, although that one I doubt because Zeke never had any words of wisdom for me.

"I told myself that when he got home that I would apologize for everything I had put him through and I would beg him for his forgiveness, but now…" She started to cry and she hugged her knees. "I never got a chance to say I'm sorry."

Calintz rubbed her back and tried to think of something that would comfort her. "I think that deep down Zeke knew that you loved him, and if he didn't he desired nothing more than your approval. He would have forgiven you without hesitation." This brought about the desired affect, for Zelda stopped crying after she voiced a hiccup and smiled at him.

"I used to imagine that he would beg you to take him as your apprentice to become a knight. He always admired you."

For some reason this filled Calintz with pride. "He did express an interest in my home village. He would have made an excellent pupil, and he would have made us both proud."

Zelda shook her head. "I'm already proud of him. In just a few weeks, he sustained a wound that would have killed an ordinary man, he found love, and he died defending that love. If that isn't respectable then I don't know what is." She became glum again and said, "I would have liked to see him married. When I heard that he found someone special in Maiya I thought that he would finally receive the love he always deserved."

Faye finally returned and jumped onto the bed, taking a seat next to her mom. "I'm back."

With a pained smile, Zelda embraced her child and said, "At least I still have you. But now that you're my only child you can't be married."

"Aw, why not?" Faye asked, sounding completely devastated.

"Because then I'd have to share you with some filthy boy," Zelda said, chuckling. Then she looked at Calintz and said, "Unless you marry Calintz. I think I would be okay with that."

"EW! That's gross. He's like…a hundred times older than me."

"I am not," Calintz said sternly, glaring at the little princess. "I'm only seventeen years older than you."

"You're old."

"I am not!"

Zelda laughed, but still held onto her daughter protectively. "Settle down children, it was just an idea. I thought that if you two got married then Calintz would really be part of the family." She pulled Calintz into her embrace and she hugged both him and Faye. "Thank you for the flowers, you two. Your mother appreciates it."

"So Zelda's back in the throne room?" Reeve asked, surveying the bar crowd to make sure they were behaving. After the previous night's action, he was not about to let another fight break out.

"Yes, she is," Terence said, nodding. "I went and saw her this afternoon and she seemed to be in a good mood, but I can tell she's still really shaken up over Zeke's misfortune. That wound is one that will never heal I'm afraid."

Calintz smirked and imagined what would happen when Zeke showed up alive and in good health. "Well, I can't wait for Zeke to rise from the dead. Zelda will be the happiest woman alive."

Fandarel gave the white haired knight a rough pat on the back and laughed. "That's the spirit. Now let's raise our mugs high and sing the Bar Ballad of the Crimson Tears!" Together they raised their drinks and wrapped their free arms around each other's shoulders, starting to sing a song of their own composition.

'Oh, look at the knights of the Crimson Tears,

All of them merry and drinking beer.

Don't you worry there's nothing to fear,

'cause the knights of the Crimson Tears are here.

'When evil's a brewin' we raise our swords,

Running into battle we are noble lords.

No enemy can stop us, we'll slice'em like gourds,

With a roar and a chop we kill'em in hordes.

'My name is Terence I'm a gentle soul,

I don't want to hurt you, killing's not my goal.

I'll beat you in the head with my wooden pole,

You'll be bruised and ashamed but entirely whole

'We are the knights of the Crimson Tears,

Faultless and perfect we hear no jeers.

All the girls will love us 'cause we have no fears,

Together till the end, we're the Crimson Tears.

'Reeve be my name and I'm smarter than I look,

I've got more charisma than a romance book.

I'll catch you like a fish with a bait-less hook,

But I'll throw you back if you count on me to cook.

'With our mugs held high we take a solemn vow,

Only to the queen will we ever bow.

We'll drink to her health and declare our love for her now,

We'll protect you Queen Zelda, even from a cow!

'My name is Fandarel and I always fight fair,

You can play dirty and I don't even care.

But if you so much as touch a single one of mine hair,

My mother'll kick your ass from here to over there.

'We take up our swords and we raise them high,

To our enemies, beware, you're about to die.

We'll stand in a line and look up to the sky,

After we throw you in a catapult and watch you fly.

'My name is Calintz but to you it's sir,

I'm related to Azel, how do you like that cur?

I can swing my sword so fast it's a blur,

My glare is so cold even Din would say brrr.

'We laugh and we stomp, we take a swig of ale,

Hard men we be, don't you dare think we're frail.

If you insult us too much we just might set sail,

To leave you to your enemies and watch you fail.

'We are the knights of the Crimson Tears,

Faultless and perfect we hear no jeers.

All the girls will love us 'cause we have no fears,

TOGETHER 'TIL THE END, WE'RE THE CRIMSON TEARS!'

The four men hit their mugs together and brought them to their mouths, draining them together and burping in unison. All of the people in the bar started to clap and cheer, praising the knights that they all respected so much. The four knights gave a low bow and roared with laughter, declining requests for a repeat of their song.

"It's too bad Grogh, Midori, Brudegan, Roland, Link and Zelda aren't here," Reeve said as he filled his mug again. "Then we could have sang the whole thing."

Terence laughed. "Oh yes, Midori and Zelda had the best introductions."

"I'm just glad that Calintz is old enough to drink with us now," Fandarel grinned. "Now he can really carry on Link's legacy."

"Link never drank, did he?" Calintz asked, confused. He could remember Link telling him on several occasions that he was opposed to drinking, and he could not recall ever seeing Link with a mug filled with alcohol.

The other three knights leaned in close and Fandarel said, "That's exactly the point. Now that you can drink, you can take Link's place. We would always drag him to the bar, but none of us could get him to take even a sip of drink. He was hardly any fun sober, but on the rare occasion that he would become intoxicated…well, that was part of what made the bar ballad so great."

*

"See yah later, Calintz." Terence and Fandarel were both supporting Reeve who had consumed more than his fair share of alcohol.

Calintz laughed as Reeve started to sing a song by the Indigo-go's in an off key tenor. The three older knights all roomed together in a house they had built close to the training grounds, but Calintz, preferring solitude, had chosen to build a small home for himself just far enough away to be free of the sounds of society. Knowing that using Farore's Wind while under the affects of alcohol was a death wish, he was forced to walk all the way up to his home.

"Care for a walking companion?" Enigma walked out of the shadows and fell in step with the knight. "I heard that you were the one who told Zelda of her son's fate. Would you mind telling me then why I saw Zeke, Kenji, and a young girl traveling towards New Castle Town?"

Calintz scratched his head and looked around to see if there was anyone close by that would over hear the conversation. "Zeke's not really dead. He ordered me to tell Zelda that."

"And why would he do that? Did he just want to put his mother through unendurable pain?"

"No, he thought that it would be easier to move around if people thought he was dead. He plans on delving into long forgotten stories to unravel a dark mystery that has presented itself to him on a couple occasions." Looking over at the cloaked man, he asked, "How goes freeing Maiya?"

"It's already done," Enigma responded, readjusting his hood so it hung over his face more. "She's staying in Ondine with Noèlle. Right now, Sherri of the Seeking Eye is disguised as Maiya and is currently trying to discover what the man's plan is, so we can't let Maiya roam around otherwise the man may become suspicious."

"Still no word on who he is?"

"He's always wearing a mask and we're sure that he's using a false voice just in case."

Calintz was dismayed by this, but there was little that could be done. "Tell the Seeking Eye that they are to monitor the man's actions, but if their spy is found then they are to pull out immediately. After you're done with that…go alert Link to this problem and ask him to aid us in any way he sees fit."

This caused the cloaked man to trip on his own feet as he quickly turned to look at Calintz. Jumping back to his feet, he ignored the questioning stare the knight gave him and asked if that was a wise decision. "Link has been gone for ten years. What makes you think he'll even want to help?"

"I don't know, but I think it's time that he returned to the surface. Just make sure he avoids New Castle Town, or Zelda might throw a fit. After all, she sent him away and didn't sound like she ever wanted him to come back." He tried to think of what else could be done, and then he returned his gaze to Enigma. "Go to Zeke and ask him if he'll share his plan of action with you. I want to make sure he's not doing anything foolish."

"As you wish, Calintz." Enigma burst into a flurry of leaves and was gone.

With a sigh, Calintz said, "May luck and fortune pursue you."