Chapter 36
Zelda's heart leapt with joy as the first, faint buildings outlined themselves against the snow-clad boulders of Death Mountain. It was a dreary sight that would normally arouse no interest, grey and white mounds huddled together like men around a fire, but to the storm-wearied princess, it was the gates of the Sacred Realm themselves, opening to admit her. There were very few things that would have been more welcome than this inviting prospect of warmth and relative safety.
Despite her healing, Zelda was still barely able to drag herself through the Village gates and into the square beyond. Whatever Demon had said about their destination being close, the journey had sapped the blonde-haired woman's strength considerably, leeched by the ever-present chill. Dimly, the princess wondered how the warrior at her side could even stand, nevertheless fight, as it looked as if he had every intention of doing. It was strange, how, as they entered the town, he seemed to grow more tense rather than less, one hand fingering the hilt of a knife at all times as he shifted his razor-sharp glare between the buildings that flanked them.
A fleeting sadness filled Zelda as she watched him, here was a man who had been so alienated by his fellows that he was more at home in the screaming hell of a blizzard than in the company of others. Indeed, the princess realized, it was only for her sake that he had entered the town at all, despite the blizzard. It was a sobering thought that made Zelda vow once more to heal him, whatever the cost to herself.
The princess had been to Kokariko Village before on royal visits, usually during the summer months when travel was easiest and the golden halo of Death Mountain, rising to unsurpassed heights above the village, seemed almost beckoning. But she had never witnessed the true spirit of the town, without the endless banners and cheering throngs which habitually mark the visits of royals. Now, the village seemed almost asleep, as if in their endless war against the blizzard, the inhabitants had withdrawn to the separate world of their own mantles, and forgotten about the wide existence outside their small bubbles of light and happiness. Lost in thought, Zelda started as Demon lightly touched her shoulder, his ice-hard gaze belying any tenderness in the touch.
"We must find shelter." He roared, working hard to make his voice be heard over the storm.
"An inn." Zelda yelled back, thinking for a moment before continuing. "I think I can find one."
Nodding mutely, Demon waited for her to take the lead, then fell into step behind her, ready to step in should she collapse again. Circling around a covered well in the middle of the square, Zelda turned down a side-street between two buildings and hurried forward. She was thankful for the shelter the narrow space offered, the first since leaving the chamber that Demon had dug into the snow-bank. It was refreshing to be able to see snowflakes falling around her in gentle patterns, instead of being driven by the wind into ice-clad needles.
She was looking for a certain inn, a momentary glimpse she had stolen during her last visit. It had been from the middle of her honor guard, riding through the streets of Kokariko Village in one of the processions that had marked her regency. Her gaze had been drawn by a small child ducking into a side-alley, but it was the sign above him that held her attention. Upon it had been a man clothed in green, holding a sword and shield in the ready manner of one who knew how to use them, and beneath him the words, "The Warrior". It had struck her as a bizarre name for an inn, especially since the ancient legends of the Hero of Time and the Cycle were almost forgotten in Kokariko, but she was glad of it now, for otherwise she would not have remembered.
Abruptly, the swinging, gold-edged sign appeared out of the snow in front of her, along with the inn which it heralded. As Demon rounded the corner behind her and saw the sign, she felt him stiffen, but Zelda was concentrating too hard to pay it any mind. On both sides of the street around it, other businesses slept under the obscuring cloud of the storm, dark windows and barred doors showed the absence of their proprietors. But The Warrior was in the height of its business, flowing with the inhabitants of the village, and, judging from the tracks that wandered through the fallen snow, some of the proprietors of the other shops themselves.
Eager to escape from the biting cold, Zelda hurried up to the large wooden door, but then paused as she remembered the silent presence behind her, She turned to the Demon and eyed him worriedly, noting both the blood-stains on his clothing and the harshness of his face. The princess had hoped to lie low in the village, to evade any influence Gabriel might have among the inhabitants of Kakariko, despite its remoteness from the capital, but with a companion like Demon, that hope seemed hardly possible.
Demon smiled wryly in the lantern light, reading some of her emotion from her face. "An interesting name for an inn, princess." He muttered, smiling grimly. "Are you searching for omens?" It could have almost been a joke, but the princess could see the bitterness in his eyes. Letting his face fall once more into an expressionless mask, he brushed past Zelda and wrenched open the door, holding it open for her to pass through.
Sighing, the princess daintily stepped over the threshold and entered the inn, feeling flakes of snow brush past her onto the dark, stained wood floor. If she could have, she would have turned right around and left, but it was impossible as Demon had followed her through the opening. The final straw was when he closed the door behind them, cutting their connection to the blizzard outside, which in hindsight seemed almost welcoming.
The front room of The Warrior was a collection of rough tables separated by aisles which ran to a hidden kitchen beyond the back wall. At the left, a staircase ran to the second-floor, where Zelda assumed the accommodations were kept for overnight guests. But it was the people at the tables who had made the princess uneasy.
As soon as the door had opened, all of them had ceased their conversations and turned to gawk at the new arrivals with un-restrained curiosity. And when they had glimpsed Zelda, her face partially hidden by the hood of her coat, their interest had only intensified. It was not often that travelers came to the village in the middle of a blizzard, especially not ones with the exquisite beauty of the princess.
For a few seconds, the room was completely silent as the inn occupants continued to stare at the golden-haired woman. One young man in the corner went so far as to stumble half-way to his feet, a clumsy attempt to greet the angel who had just walked into his existence. A single coin clattered to the wooden floor somewhere in the room, but no one made any move to retrieve.
Then the first of the villagers noticed Demon.
His muffled gasp brought the attention of the others to the black-cloaked warrior, who had not moved from his position just inside the door-frame. Demon stared back at them, matching his audience gaze for gaze with a flatly threatening look which sent even the bravest back to their drinks and conversations. Within moments, the inn was once more a jumble of shouts and laughter, with Zelda and her companion carefully-ignored. It was so different than the stark silence from moments before that the princess could hardly believe that the crowd had even noticed her, instead of having spent a good half-minute gawking at her appearance.
Pulling her thoughts back into line, Zelda decided that their first duty was to obtain a room where she and Demon could warm themselves and unpack their belongings. Already, she was aware of how roastingly hot it was in the common room, and her discomfort was only amplified by the bundled coats that the princess was wearing. But most of all, she needed to get away from the villagers' prying eyes before any of them mustered the courage to question her and Demon about their strange entrance.
As she strode down one of the aisles to the kitchen beyond, Zelda could feel the black-clad warrior's presence at her back following her, and for once she felt grateful. It was an assurance of a safety in a strange world, despite the inherent dangers of Demon himself. Looking around the room, she could already see people drinking, gambling and laughing rauciously at jokes she sensed could hardly be appropriate. A different world, for a traveler, not the princess she had been before. So this is what it's like, Zelda mused, to be a citizen rather than a ruler.
She confronted the first person she found inside, a serving maid by her dress and bearing. "I wish to rent a room," she said, "Where can I find the owner?"
The maid stared curiously at the princess for a moment, before a glimpse of Demon caused her to go slightly pale. "Master Kashi?" she stammered, darting one more fear-laden glance at the princess's companion before returning her gaze to Zelda. "He's right over there." She pointed to a barrel-chested man in the midst of a lively discussion with a person who seemed to Zelda to be the cook. Turning back to the maid to thank her, the princess discovered that she was already gone, having scurried back through the door to the common room while their backs were turned. Shaking her head in frustration, the princess marched over to the man named Kashi, beckoning for Demon to follow.
The cook was crouched defensively behind his oven while Kashi yelled whole-heartedly at him when Zelda tapped him lightly on his arm. He waved her off absently with a muttered "Can't you see I'm busy?", before continuing his tirade, punctuating his points with shaken fists and rapid arm gestures, but Zelda would not be ignored.
"I need two rooms for the night," she said icily, glaring at the gigantic man before her, "And I will not wait."
Frustration largely apparent on his features, Kashi turned towards her, his vast height advantage making him positively loom over the smaller princess. "I said I was busy!" he roared, "Now leave me some peace." Whirling back to face the cook, who had been edging towards the doorway, he continued his lecture.
Baffled, Zelda looked back at Demon, who was absently stroking the hilt of one of his knives. "Stop that!" she hissed, "Killing him won't help us."
The black-cloaked warrior's eyes widened in surprise as he realized what he had been doing, but it didn't last long. "We don't belong here, princess," he replied, the cold edge of anger invading his speech. "There are other places."
"Which will be no different than this one. Most likely worse." Zelda interrupted, fatigue and anxiety causing her to lash out more than she usually would have.
"Then let us continue." He suggested, "We can find shelter in the pass. There are-
"There are no other options!" Zelda broke him up, then her eyes widening as she realized that the room had fallen deathly silent. As she looked up the princess could feel the eyes of the serving maids, cook and owner alike upon her, subdued into shocked silence by the volume of her words.
Kashi had his eyes fixed upon Demon, and in Zelda's mind, his face seemed a little paler than when she had first entered. It was a long moment before he looked at Zelda once more, and when he did it was with renewed respect. "You are traveling with…him?" he asked, wonder apparent in his words.
"Yes." Zelda replied, concealing her puzzlement behind her defensive tone.
"You said you wanted two rooms?" the bartender continued, crossing his arms over his chest.
Uncharacteristically, it was Demon who answered. "One." He rasped, eliciting startled looks from both Zelda and proprietor. "With two beds."
Kashi was solemn as he looked at the black-clad warrior. "Then you have it."
"Thank-you," said Zelda as she reached for her purse, or for where it should have been. Only then did it hit her that she had left it, along with all of her rupees when she had left the castle. Cursing herself, she prepared to apologize to Kashi, but Demon stepped forward before she could.
The warrior pulled a twenty-rupee piece from somewhere inside his attire and held it out to the bar-tender. "Will this be enough?" His voice held the same flat, emotionless tone he used in all conversation.
Kashi sighed, staring suspiciously at Demon once again. "Not nearly." He muttered. "Not nearly." But he took the purple rupee anyway and beckoned to the nearest maid. "Escort these two upstairs and give them a room. The best." Without waiting to acknowledge her incredulous response he turned back to the cook. "Now," he began. "Where were we?"
Their room was nice, Zelda admitted to herself as she set down her pack on the wooden boards beneath her. Not as elaborate as the ones she had been given on her last visit, but that had been as the Queen of Hyrule, not a desperate, half-frozen traveler. In fact, as she stared at the embroidered curtains and the carpets that adorned the floor beside the beds, it was almost too nice, something that would be given to a guest of honor or rich merchant.
Shaking the thought from her head, Zelda told herself to just be grateful, and busied herself shedding the various cloaks and coats she was wearing. Just behind her, Demon too removed his coat and then walked over to the hearth to start the fire. His boots left a trail of muddied snow and ice across the floor, but he did not seem to care.
It took what seemed like an eternity for the fire to start warming the chamber, and even when it did so, Zelda still shivered. Snow had been driven into every possible opening in her various layers of coats and now the Shiekan outfit she had been wearing ever since their exit from the Kokiri Village was soaking wet. She glanced longingly at the bath-chamber off to her right, but held back, knowing instinctively that there were still other duties and responsibilities that-
When she turned back, Demon was staring at her from his position beside the fire-place. "Go princess." He uttered, his face expressionless. "I will guard the door."
Zelda almost laughed at the suggestion, but then realized that the black-cloaked warrior was serious. He would be ready, no matter what the occurrence. Opening her pack, she almost smiled, as a picture of Demon standing guard outside her door filled her head.
Suddenly, shame filled her as she remembered her actions in the kitchen. She sighed, and stopped gathering clothing from inside her pack to look into his eyes. "There were some things that I said downstairs that I shouldn't have." The princess lowered her gaze uncomfortably. "They were untrue."
"No." Demon stated, "They were true. But…" He nodded his head once, a curious emotion present in his face. "I accept…your apology."
Zelda smiled, her pale complexion lighting up in relief. "Thank-you Demon." The princess stared at him for a moment longer, wishing to find something else to say, but in the end she just gathered her clothes and went into the bath-room. It was a very long time until she came out again.
When she had disappeared, Demon reached down into his pack and began searching for his bed-roll. He had no intention of sleeping on the bed that had been provided for him, not after months of sleeping on the ground. Indeed, he had only asked for it to keep Zelda from embarrassment. She had wanted two rooms. Two rooms! The black-cloaked warrior snorted, how was he to protect her if they were sleeping in separate rooms?
The princess, he knew, thought that the danger was past for now, that nothing could reach her in the midst of a village, but Demon knew otherwise. Once you had been revealed as one of the Destined there was no safety, ever. And as his experience in his past-life had shown him, Ganondorf had more than just monsters in his pay. Hylians too had gone over to the dark lord, seduced by his power, and they could easily infiltrate an inn and slip a knife into some sleeping throat. Demon growled at the image that thought conjured, clenching his hands into gauntleted fists. He would die, before letting them reach Zelda.
He finished rolling out his sleeping pad and turned his full attention to the room, noting potential spots for assassins to hide. Then he searched them, sticking his head into every corner and crevice in an attempt to assure himself that there were no threats within the chamber itself. Only once he had finished, did he crawl back to his position beside the fire in an attempt to dry his soaked clothing.
In some bizarre way, it reminded the warrior of the snow-shelter he had dug to shelter the unconscious body of the princess in. And with that memory came…anger. Anger at the loss of control which had almost driven him to abandoning Zelda in the middle a blizzard, alone against the elements around. Once again, the darkness that he strove so hard to fight had risen to the surface and drowned out all else, while he, an impotent observer lost in the swirls of rage, could only watch.
That Demon had thought the princess dead did not occur to him. It was his own weakness, he reasoned, that had made him lose control. He did not regret wanting to kill himself, he had lived with that thought for years, but that he had almost failed the princess once again, despite his vows. Maybe I am too weak, Demon thought, maybe Zelda is ashamed of the sacrifice she made to save my life.
The thought made the black-cloaked warrior snarl, tensing his hands into gauntleted fists. There was still too much pain in the name of the princess, flowing from a source that had been destroyed years before. She is gone, Demon forced the truth into his mind, forever. But the anguish was still there, and even as he tried to force himself to accept the death of his love, a part of him wished for the millionth time that it had been him, not her, who had died that day, seven years before.
Then a different thought occurred to him, brought by the sound of water splashing into a wooden bathtub behind the door. And for the first time, Demon almost allowed himself to hope that maybe, just maybe, there had been a purpose in his return, despite the pain. For now, he had a princess to protect once again.