Link and Zelda had woken early the next morning to the chatter of koroks. After a quick breakfast they were eager to depart, and left the koroks behind, their calls and cheers fading into the distance. They'd taken a liking to Link, something he seemed entirely uncomfortable with.
"They were the strangest creatures." He said, studying the hilt of the Master Sword.
"I rather liked them." Zelda replied, laughing a little. She watched him, sword in hand. "What is it like?"
He spun the sword around, the light reflecting its almost bluish glow. "When I first pulled it, and while I was fighting the shadow, it was heavy. It was nearly impossible to fight with. When I was nearly beat it was at its heaviest, and I dropped it. I couldn't carry it at all. When I picked it up to finish the shadow though, it was as light as air." He looked down at her, smiling a little. "It's that way now. It's lighter than anything I've ever held."
"My great great grandmother said it spoke to her. Do you hear its voice?"
He looked a little disappointed. "No. I can't hear a thing."
He returned the sword to its scabbard and they walked the rest of the way in silence, retracting their steps past the eerie trees and lit torches. Getting out of the forest was easier than getting in it seemed, and the journey was rather uneventful. Eventually, the crumbling stone archway marking the entrance of the forest came into view. Zelda wanted to quicken her step, eager to feel the sunlight warming her once more, but she hesitated. She knew reality was on the other side of the fog – war and fear and sleepless nights. The suffocating pressure of the world.
"What's the plan?" Link said. His steps had slowed with hers. It seemed neither of them were ready to face what lay ahead.
Zelda had tossed and turned all night, playing and replaying every possibility in her head. Would it be a massive group of guards to arrest them? Her father's best generals? Anna? Worst of all, perhaps her father himself would ride out to arrest them.
Despite her restlessness, no clever solution had come to mind. She had given up on knowing the answer, and had secretly hoped no one would be waiting at the end of the path at all. She knew it was foolish. Her father would have sent his best men, though Zelda prayed that Anna was among them to ease the situation.
"I think we should approach without the sword drawn." She finally said, eyes lowered to the ground. "Perhaps we will come across less threatening, and it will give us a moment to two to negotiate."
"I suppose that makes sense." Link sounded only half-convinced, and Zelda didn't miss the undertone of doubt in his statement. "And if they are not interested in negotiating?"
She sighed. "We flee, I suppose. We go straight to the desert."
They crossed under the archway and the fog began to thin. Zelda's stomach dropped as three shapes became clearer in the distance. The sounds of horses drifted towards them with the crisp scent of a cmapfire. She took a step towards Link, though she couldn't say if it was to hide behind him or protect him.
"Lord Alrich?" Link said, incredulous. He corrected his surprise quickly, pulling himself into a more impassive expression.
Alrich was seated on a small, overturned log, warming his hands by the fire. Two guards stood nearby, eyeing the situation. The group must have arrived the day before and made camp as a few tents had been set up in the area.
"It's Prince now, actually." He said, rising to his feet.
Zelda's mind raced with the possible meanings behind the title. She felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up, a cool sweat cover her palms. She had a thousand questions, but was rendered speechless.
Link put voice to the panic coursing through her veins. "Is the King…dead?"
Alrich looked horrified. "No, no. Of course not. Though we have forced him to step down as ruler of Hyrule." The words came out in a rush.
Zelda was too shocked to speak once more, and she was left only to stare at the man in front of her. The fact that Alrich and Ruta, two people who in their own right seemed rather timid, rose to take power from her father was nothing short of amazing.
"You usurped the throne?" Link said, visibly surprised once more.
"I suppose…" Alrich shifted his weight, avoiding eye contact. It was a heavy accusation - one that no new monarch would wish to take hold.
A silence stretched on for a moment before Link spoke again.
"Are there any further details to that or…?" He gave Zelda brief look, and she knew what he was thinking.
This was the man slated to take her father's place?
"Right. Yes. Sorry." Alrich seemed completely out of sorts, and he fumbled for the right words to say. He took a deep breath in. "My apologies. Things have been a bit of a whirlwind." He regained his composure, standing straight, his voice clearer. "After you fled the city the King went mad. He was furious. He started going on about closing off all access to the desert. He said he would starve the Gerudo out of existence. Exile them from Hyrule. He called his counsel into the Sanctum immediately and tried to pass a law stating that any Gerudo caught within mainland Hyrule would be taken prisoner. They would be immediately banished to the desert."
Zelda could practically feel the anger rising from Link. There was a heat that radiated from him. He was on edge, watching everything around them, preparing for a possible arrest. Through all of this, he remained silent, allowing Alrich to carry on.
"His counsel tried to tell him that was madness. No one in Hyrule would stand for it. Your father said the Gerudo were nothing but constant trouble, and that all of the nation's issues stemmed from their existence. He wouldn't budge. He ordered the immediate exile of any Gerudo living within Hyrule. He wanted a special force of soldiers to patrol the land, offering a reward for any Gerudo brought to them. Anna stepped in then, refusing to lead any portion of an army if that was the case."
Alrich's grey eyes shifted to Zelda. "Your father removed her from her post. Your mother tried to evoke her right as Queen by birth, overthrow any authority he had, but he refused to acknowledge her birthright." He ran a hand over his face, clearly exhausted. "It was a disaster. The counsel were useless. Ruta demanded he step down as King. He refused, of course, but Anna, Lota and your mother informed the counsel of their intention to support her claim to the throne. The counsel tried to coax him into resigning, but he wouldn't. He tried to order a guard on Ruta, saying she was a usurper."
"I can imagine that went over well." Link grumbled, though slightly amused.
"Yes. As well as you would imagine. Anna got between them…she knocked him out. Ruta declared herself Queen, named me Prince, and Anna was reinstated as a general. Your father was imprisoned, and he has refused to see or speak with anyone since. Everything was over so quickly, I believe we have managed to contain any word of a scandal. This morning Ruta had plans to address the public. She is going to keep it simple, saying that your father is no longer in fit health, and that he abdicated the throne. She's gentle, and I think that her ascension will go over well."
"What of my people then? Are they safe under your rule?" Link's eyes burned furiously, staring down at Alrich.
"Yes, of course. That is a conversation to have with Ruta directly, but she has always known of the King's unfounded dislike for your people. We had worried for a long time it would come to this."
Zelda was shocked. "So she knew he was scheming from the start?"
Alrich nodded. "She wasn't going to stand by. Your father thought she was an ally, he trusted her and she knew his plans. Your father thought that she was easily swayed. She is quiet, and thoughtful, but she is not cruel. Ruta played along, biding her time and retaining everything. In turn, your father thought she would be his legacy…but she couldn't go along with it. What sort of person could?" A look of slight disgust crossed Alrich's soft features.
Zelda's mind raced. Every day she learned of some new familial twist, hidden just beneath the surface. Her family had more secrets than she knew what to do with. Link, in turn, was simply staring at Alrich. A man who they had had very little involvement with up until that point. He had always been quiet like Ruta, hovering on the sidelines of any family event. He and Ruta had kept to themselves, but Zelda got the sense now that they were always observing, retaining snippets of information and sharing them with each other at a later date. They were privy to her father's most devious plans, and they had formulated their own plan to take power from him. To say the least, Zelda was impressed.
"We've been gone a day…" Link said, awestruck, shattering the silence around them.
Alrich placed his hands on his hips. "A long day. It seems we've all been busy. I see you have the Master Sword." He said, motioning to the weapon on Link's back.
The comment seemed to bring Link back to reality. "Yes. Though I don't know if that is a good or bad thing."
Alrich frowned, seeming to understand Link's apprehension. "It is a heavy burden, no doubt. War is an absolute now it seems." As if sensing what Link was about to say, he shook his head, looking at his hands in disappointment. "There has been no word – good or bad – about an attack on your home. We did send a few men only after things were settled yesterday. They have probably just reached the desert now."
"What is the new Queen's proposed solution to this impending war?" Link said. His voice was calm and even despite the circumstances with which he spoke.
"She was meeting with the generals this morning after addressing the public. There should be plans that are more concrete once we return to the castle, but my understanding was that all soldiers were to be prepared for battle. Marching an army through the narrow valley to the desert will be risky. We will be bottlenecked in there, and it will slow us down, but if we have to march on Gerudo City to save it, we will."
Link nodded, weighing the situation. "I think it's best that we ride for home. Ganondorf knows that we are both cut off from one another through that valley. He could attack in either direction and it would take days for the Gerudo or the Hylian army to get through. One party will be advancing to the back of the battle. He's got a steep advantage. You will last longer in battle with the entire army at your back. We have a much smaller faction, so if I can be there, at least with the Master Sword, it gives us hope to survive until the army can reach us and I can face Ganondorf head on."
Alrich seemed to agree, and he motioned for his men to prepare the horses. Link began to prepare their own horse, how brow creased in frustrated thought. They would need to ride hard for two days to get back home. No one knew what waited for them along the canyon walls, or once they made it back to the city. The reality of the situation weighed down on them all, and Zelda felt her shoulders slump, exhausted, as she watched the men prepare.
She looked down at the back of her hand, focusing, hoping to feel the tingling itch where the Triforce would glow, but she felt nothing.
No one knew what Ganondorf's next move was, and it left them all crippled under uncertainty, waiting. Zelda was sure that was the desert king's goal.
Sorry for how terribly short this one was. It was the best place it break things up over the next few chapters though. Next one will be back to normal length :)