Shad carefully considered Princess Zelda. She wore the most dangerous kind of poker face, the one that didn't appear to be a poker face. The young woman appeared as always; polite, regal, eager to help. The princess did not appear to be ready to throw a human being to the wolves for political expediency.
Shad nearly believed in her.
"Alright.", Shad began. "To unravel a mystery, one must seek every thread. The very puzzle piece that makes a picture complete, a mystery hopes to obfuscate.
"The crime is that someone attempted to assassinate Prince Ralis. There is no direct evidence linking anyone. Your grace has elected to charge Ashei, even though we both have indicted the Twili.
"This is in the midst of the Summit of Peace. The pretext of the conference is that a lack of coummincation allowed twilight to descend upon the land. So your grace has invited every civilized race; the Zora, the Goron...even the Oocca and the fae. On the other hand, your grace hasn't invited every 'unknown race'. While there was particular effort to invite the Twili, the Minish who constructed the sword Link brandishes or the fabled Kokiri from which the Hero of Time and Sage Saria hailed have not been sought out similarly."
Shad thought a moment. Then a dawning realization hit him. "You're using the Twili to frighten the others. The only nation with a garaunteed defense against Twilight is Hyrule, with the triforces your grace and Link wield. Every other race will come to your grace with an offer of some sort to be taken into a security envelope."
Princess Zelda smiled. "Yes. We've met with Oocoo this morning and she stated that she is most interested in a 'cultural exchange program'. Of course, the Ooccan contribution will be something she calls a 'college of engineering'. In turn, the Oocca will recieve an indefinite visit from some of the magical self defense tutors that schooled us."
Zelda started ticking off fingers. "With Ooccan technology and Sheikah mineral wealth, the Goron will race to offer us anything they can. Prince Ralis will be so entralled to accompany his coronation with a treaty of indeterminate military support that the Zora will never bring up Hylian control of their tourism industry or potential constriction of the waterways again. Even the Fae will offer us standing hospital staff in any settlement that isn't based upon a spirit spring."
"And as for the Twili. You know the story of the Gerudo better than we do.", the princess reminded.
Shad nodded. "The Twili stand to gain the most from a disruption of the conference, due to their potential adversary status. Adding in any potential grudges they hold from their transformation from Gerudo to Twili, the most likely candidate for any mischeif is a twilight dweller. A discontinuity of government would be something they would attempt. But to use overt means and not attacking your grace shows they don't want to start an outright conflict that could bring triforce backed retaliation."
"And if the Twili were exposed as the assassins, all would be for nought. Firstly, there would be another unwanted war right now. Secondly, Hyrule would be equal partners with engineering nations instead of having the oppurtunity to become the technological superior. By sacrificing Ashei, you're giving a chance to the peace process."
Princess Zelda shook her head. "We disagree. Now that Twili have attempted a gambit and failed, they will be awaiting our reprisal. But more importantly, they won't try again. The very fear that drove the destruction of the Mirror of Twilight will imobilize them now. We will easily persuade our personal friend Midna that Twili disarmament is the most constructive use of her kingdom's resources, particularly if we were to offer to find further investigation of today's incident dependantly unfulfilling. If Midna was behind it, she'll stand down. If this occured without her knowledge, she'll intervene. With Ashei's arrest, the peace process is now garaunteed.
"But more importantly, we are looking to the future. We know Link doesn't love us. When we order the marraige, we will bear the next Zelda. But the Hero will always go back to his true love-the childhood friend Ilia. That won't happen to my daughter. For the sake of the kingdom."
Shad shook his head as if to clear it. "What?", he exclaimed.
Zelda glared at him. "My line must continue unabated for Hyrule to prosper. If anyone less attempted the Summit of Peace, or was faced with Ganon, they would have already crumbled. So we don't have the oppurtunity for a happy marraige. Link will provide us an heir. And we know we won't be able to control his infidelity."
"The problem is the triforce of courage. It chooses its heir not by bloodline, but for potential heroism should the land call upon its wielder. Unfortunately for us, that person happened to be a quick witted peasant that spent his whole life wrestling beasts and making his living since he was a boy.
"Fortunately for my daughter, fate won't be so fickle. We just happen to know of a woman who is ferociously strong, extremely determined and very goal oriented. Her son would have all of those traits. The child simply needs to be tempered with patience, humility and unbridled intellect. Remind you of anyone?"
Shad's face twisted into a wholly new expression. "Are you suggesting that you've captured Ashei just so she would have the future hero?"
"No.", Zelda stated. "We arrested Ashei so she and you would have the future hero. Due to our federal positions, your son and my daughter will be childhood friends. Because of Ashei and your traits, your son will be the next wielder of the Triforce of Courage. Hyrule's next royal couple will be deeply in love. Our kingdom will have its happiness that is granted by the Summit of Peace maintained by an even stronger royal house next generation. And my daughter will have the happiness denied me."
"You can't force us together.", Shad warned.
"The darkness we can't!", Zelda told him. "If you don't convince Ashei that you have convinced ourself not to act on Prince Ralis' wishes, we will enforce his desired punishment. We don't wish to see Ashei's honor or form destroyed anymore than you do. Marraige to a royal official such as curator and motherhood to a triforce wielder will silence the Zora's calls for vengance, when his domain's defense against the Twili depends on our alliance. We already considered this when we chose Ashei as our scapegoat-any other person we may actually have had to torture to death. With our plan for the two of you, we sacrifice no one while appearing to sacrifice someone to the Twili and offering a sence of justice to the Zora."
"We know that women view you as undersirable due to your nerdiness. We know that you were recruited into Telma's little circle by Ashei. You cannot pretend to not have desired her for years. And Ashei may be many things, but subtle she's not. If she disliked you she would have tore apart your little conspiracy well before we did. You two just need the correct impetus to continue on a path that you may have walked anway. Just now it will under more auspicious stars."