THIRTY-EIGHT
NINE MONTHS AFTER THE BATTLE
Princess Zelda
As I stride through the corridor, I can feel my heart racing.
Finally, after everyone's hard work, I can barely wait for the ground-breaking ceremony to commence. I gather my voluminous robe around me, still struggling to get used to Royal finery once again, but Sidon insists it is proper for today. I suppose he is right this time.
My future husband greets me at the end of the corridor, and the castle doors are flung wide open. I see the construction workers, men and women of all kinds of shapes, sizes, ages and races, and I feel a sense of pride: this is what the spirit of rebuilding Hyrule is all about.
These men and women have worked tirelessly to create not only my new home, the remodelled Hyrule Castle, but also to rebuild the Castle Town. No future Queen or King will ever need a castle the size of the one I grew up in, so once I had sent for and met with the man known as Hudson and his construction firm, I insisted that the most of it be torn down in order to expand the town boundaries further. Lots of the outer portion of the castle was basically rubble, having been devastated in the battle against Calamity Ganon. It only made sense to tear it down and start again.
Nearly eight months of hard work from the construction team meant that the town stretched out to cover twice the size it had before. There were houses ready to be lived in, space for places of business just outside the Castle like there had been in my childhood, and the interior itself had been reduced dramatically in size. After Hudson assured me the foundations were still secure, I had left the lower portions of the Castle much as they were, but the inside was completely changed.
Sidon was unsure at first, but after seeing my plans, he relented. If it will soon be just myself and occasionally him living there, it seemed sensible to downscale. Although admittedly, we haven't even discussed yet what will happen once we are married: whether I would live here permanently, or between here and Zora's Domain, or some other arrangement.
Sometimes I wonder if our wedding will ever go ahead. We have both filled up so much of our time, Sidon with the preparations for his ascent to the throne, and me with my Castle and town renovation, that we have hardly had time for each other. Something between us still feels as if we are getting to know each other, not preparing to spend the rest of our lives together.
Something inside me keeps waiting for it to happen: for the day when I fall truly in love with him. I know it is due to happen sometime soon. After I parted from the man I loved, and he took himself away somewhere to learn how to be a Knight again, I have not heard a single word. My sadness turned to anger, which died down into something close to understanding, and now there is just a quiet longing just to know he is still alive and well. I have given up on asking even Impa or Purah, the only ones who would conceivably know where he is, and even they seem to have no idea.
I know that enough time has passed, so why am I not yet in love with the man I will marry?
He smiles broadly and takes my hand as we walk to the podium, and I clear my throat. All of my people look up at me with expectant expressions.
"Good morning to you all," I say, my voice echoing around the circle of new building. The fountain in the centre trickles away happily as the hubbub quietens. "It brings me great pleasure to dedicate the new Castle Town of Hyrule to each one of you."
"Towns are not built – or even re-built – overnight, and every one of you has worked tirelessly to re-establish the town to beyond how it was before. I live in hope that those without homes, those who are lost and in need of shelter, and those who wish to return here will come and join us, and once more, make our town a place of prosperity and beauty."
"Let it be known to all that Hyrule is risen, once again!"
I finish to generous applause, cheering and whooping. I smile, watching the craftsmen and the construction workers mingle, and hoping that my wishes for the town will come true.
Hudson, the construction manager, approaches with a bow as I step out from behind the podium and into the town centre.
"I cannot thank you enough," I say, as he rises. "You and your men have done a most wonderful job. You were born to construct."
"Not a problem, your Highness." He seems shy but pleased, and he rubs his moustache demurely. His impossibly beautiful wife watches politely, just within earshot. "Everything should be functional; the houses are just waiting for someone to live in 'em. I'll be staying until every lot has an owner, in any case: people might want their houses furnishing, if that's alright with you, your Highness."
"Stay in whichever house you would like, for as long as you would like." I say, touching his arm lightly. He inclines his head. Behind him, I see Pikango standing patiently, waiting until I am free.
"Princess Zelda," he bows to me as we approach. "A most enheartening speech."
"Thank you, Pikango." I am glad to have him here. During the process of rebuilding, he came to visit with a gift: a painting of Mother and Father. He became a guest of Sidon and I, and during that time he revealed himself to know a lot more about the running of a town than I did, to the extent that I made him the town's alderman. However, I know that once the town is full, he will become restless again: he agreed to the position only out of his loyalty to me.
"Thank you, Pikango. Tell me, have we had any interest from nearby?"
Pikango raises his brows. "Indeed. We have seen a few returns from your visits to the stables."
I was glad to have met more of my people on my little tour of the local stables. Everywhere I went, people seemed at least keen to listen to me: I just hope that I have encouraged them to come to the town and help to repopulate it. With the aid of Pikango, I met with a number of craftsmen in need of places to set up workshops, along with a doctor of medicine and a few shopkeepers. Over the next few days, I plan to spend settling everyone into their new shops and abodes.
I thank Pikango and rush back into the Castle, Sidon hot on my heels.
"Bravo," he cries, as I impolitely rush on towards my chambers, not even wishing to stop to converse with him. "An absolutely brilliant speech, Zelda."
I touch the handle of my chamber door and turn back to him. His arms are spread. "And now, we rest, and take breakfast?"
I shake my head, and his expression drops. Why is he always trying to get me to slow down? "I'm going to change out of this," I say, raising and dropping the heavy layers of material, "into something a little more manoeuvrable, and then I'm going to inspect the new buildings with Pikango, and the Innkeeper I think has arrived, and check that the Doctor has all she needs-"
"All right, very well," says Sidon, a touch impatiently. "But-"
"What?" I say, perhaps a little rudely as my hand drops from the door. Every minute I spend convincing him to let me go – and view my own town, for the Goddess' sake, fulfil my own duties – is a minute struck from my busy day.
"Do you really need to change clothing to do so?" He wrings his hands briefly as I try not to exhale heavily through my nose, like a distemperate horse. "I just feel that your people ought to view you once more as a Princess, and I'm not sure that-"
"My attire has nothing to do with being Princess-like," I say darkly, my brows lowering into a frown. I don't understand his obsession with appearances: I know he mingles with his own townsfolk, although he is so greatly admired and revered that a lot of his people give him a wide berth out of politeness. He does not seem to understand that my people are not used to my presence, and I am all too aware of my unique situation: turning up after long suspected of being dead and swanning about with my robe and crown might look as if I am trying to take over. My approach, I feel, is more collaborative.
"Sidon," I continue, trying to make a better go of it. "My people have been ungoverned for a century. They don't know if they need a ruler. Our situations aren't the same: when you ascend your Father's throne, you will be ruling your peers and those who know you. My people do not know me, and the first impression I want to give is of some distant figurehead."
Sidon blinks. "You… find me distant?"
"No!" I cry, balling my hands into fists and throwing them down by my sides. "That's not what I meant. You grew up a Prince, didn't you? None of these people in this town are the same people that remember me as a little Princess, or my Father, or anything about the Castle town. They might have had families here once, but Hylians don't live as long as Zora do."
"I'm sorry. I see now," nods Sidon, with a little relieved smile. He places his hand between my shoulders. "I should let you govern your people as you see fit."
I am calmer now that we have reconciled, but I can't help but wonder how we will ever rule together if our kingdoms are so different. I suppose if we can solve this argument for now, then there is nothing we could not solve in the future, but as he lets me go and do as I will for today, a worry settles in my stomach. Why did we even need to have that argument in the first place? Is he just trying to prove a point?
I brush the many little niggles away, like a swarm of fruit flies, as I undress and change eagerly into my leggings, undershirt and jacket, and I brush out my long hair and plait it quickly and smartly to keep it from getting in the way. My full day's itinerary excites me as much as it did when I was exploring a Shrine, or taking a ride out with Link at my side…
I bite my lip, sit at my mirror, and allow myself my daily indulgence. My mind races off like an unbridled horse. Oh, Goddesses above, and the damned below! Where is Link? What is he doing now? Did he see the vacancies for Castle Guards I posted along all the stables as I travelled, each time hoping I would somehow bump into him there? When is he going to return, and which one of my dear friends is lying to me about knowing his whereabouts? My mind switches, and I suddenly miss Paya. I wrote and invited her to the new town, and she wrote back within a few days promising a visit soon. Soon. Exactly how soon is 'soon'? Will Riju ever visit, or reply? How I miss my old life: the one taken away from me, just like the last.
Enough indulgence. I rise, place down my hairbrush, smarten my collar and stride through the palace. I don't see Sidon even on my way through the entrance hall: perhaps he is in his chamber on the other side of the library, doing whatever it is he does while I am out busy with builders or meeting with Pikango. I feel bad, but I know I would be similarly trying to entertain myself if we were in Zora's Domain.
The new buildings are fine – more than fine, in fact. I meet a young family moving into one, a few streets back from the centre of the town. The father shakes my hand vigorously while his wife juggles unpacking with a sleeping baby wound tight to her in a sling, and watches his overzealous gesture with a mix of amusement and disapproval. Apparently, her family came from the original Castle Town, once.
"It is nice to be here," she admits to me quietly, after Pikango tactfully urges her husband to take some of the burden of unloading their cart into their new home. "Rather strange, Highness, but nice. The buildings are very fairly priced, and well-made. That builder man is a strange fellow, but most kind."
Right on cue, Hudson arrives with a pair of Gorons hefting a large dinner table, and I politely leave them to get on. There is an Innkeeper to greet - a huge woman with a permanent look of disapproval, even as she is curtseying 'your Highness' to me and praising the construction of the new town – and a few shops to inspect, as Pikango and I make note of who is settled and where. My main concern is that there is nowhere to source produce: I know that when I was young, there were farmhouses and a ranch nearby, but of course, the great field is now bare.
Pikango places his quill in the corner of his mouth, just as he does with his paintbrushes, and I feel upset that I have diverted him away from his true love of travel and observation. "I will think on it, your Highness," he promises, furrowing his brow.
"I will, too," I promise, hoping to take some of the burden from him. I think, hard. How does Riju manage it? Oh, but she has the market trade. Or Sidon? Perhaps I should ask him, but then, I also fear setting up another little argument somehow.
"More people are approaching from the stables, so I've heard," Pikango says after a small mutual silence. "Perhaps, after all, we will have a Guard. We would be in grave need of one, soon enough, if the population continues to rise."
"Mm," I answer thoughtfully, as the statement opens up yet another question: how will I train a Guard? That was one of the reasons I hoped Paya may visit: I know she has begun her Sheikah training, and although there is no way I would ask her to drop that and come to my rescue, perhaps she would return my hospitality by taking a few basic combat lessons with any willing recruits. As much as I swore I wouldn't, I start to think more like Father: if someone had something he wanted or needed, he would reward them first, and then ask for their favour when they could not possibly refuse. Maybe it is manipulative, or maybe it is simply making use of what you have versus what you may need.
"We will have to see what tomorrow brings," I say to Pikango, somewhat unsatisfactorily. "If we can assemble a Guard, I will have to look at who is more experienced, and work with that."
Pikango frowns, but kindly doesn't say anything. I thank him, and dismiss him for the morning, heading back up to the palace, just in time as dark clouds arrange themselves into a pattern of rain and the square seems to empty. Inside, Sidon is arranging the table with a frown on his face, deep in thought. He drops his expression as he sees me.
"A fruitful morning?" He asks me with a smile. I nod, and take a seat, as he swings a plate of food into my line of sight.
"Well, here's a fruitful plate." He beams and winks, and I can't help but chuckle at his little joke, and feel moved by his efforts: with no kitchen staff, we are sourcing and making our own food. Completely aghast at first, Sidon seems to have at last taken it in his stride, and assembles basic and nourishing meals for us to share if I am out for the morning. He pulls his own chair, sits, and starts on a plate of mostly fish.
From the small windows either side of the main hall, I can see as rain begins to come down. Sidon fills up my goblet with water. I realise that the weather will put paid to any more visits to the town this afternoon. I have plenty of reading to do: only now am I part of the way through my texts on the Ancient Shrines, having somewhat selfishly restored the library first of all, and reassembled my home around it. Most of the books were still in one piece, but I could sadly never find any of the texts my Father hid away from me when he grew frustrated of my interest in reading. Maybe I will uncover them; maybe they are lost forever.
The rain is really coming down now. I have eaten all that I care for, and I am about to stand when the castle door suddenly swings wide open and bangs hard against the wall.
A hooded figure strides into the entrance as the door bounces and swings behind it. Sidon stands, pushing his chair away with his legs, as a small cloaked figure enters the hall. I stand quickly as well. Sidon's dagger is already drawn.
"Forgive the intrusion, your Highnesses."
I recognise her voice immediately, and as Paya removes her cloak and folds it over her arm as she bows, I see immediately that she is tired. She must have travelled non-stop to get here.
"Paya!" I run without thought from around the table, and clutch at our old friend. "To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit? Please, come and sit, and eat with us."
Paya shakes her head. Her hair is bound away from her face, and she wears delicate silver ear cuffs over the tips of her long ears. I notice that the top of her hair is veiled in black. My heart drops to my feet.
"I regret to bring you the news of the death of my Grandmother."
The wind takes the castle doors, and with that final announcement, slams both of them closed.
I apologise wholeheartedly for the massive gap between updates! Have had a lot on. Rewrites are going well though, thanks to your support. -Neet