Royal Blue
A flock of large birds flew in formation passed billowing banks of clouds.
Not native to this land, they would fly above it far to the northwest beyond Akkala, heading back to their birthing lands now that spring was in full bloom.
At their leader's direction, the birds banked sharply to the north through the wispy edges of another cloudbank before the clouds were left behind and the world below became visible.
A mighty castle stood above the lake and green fields around it, its tall pointed tower granting it an iconic symmetry and timeless majesty, blue-tipped spire thrusting into the sky.
A great city spread just beyond the lake's edge, south of the mighty castle, housing nearly two hundred thousand souls, busy and bustling now with the sun nearly at its zenith.
Within the heart of the castle, the Great Hall was a truly prodigious chamber, fluted columns of white stone coming down in two rows from near the center of the room, somewhat sectioning off the central portion of the mighty hall. Scarlet banners hung from each of the great stone columns, which led up to a grand dais at the northern centermost point.
Upon the dais stood two tall thrones, carved from white stone, their high backs reaching ten feet tall with an engraved triangular symbol inlaid in pure gold at their peaks.
Behind the grand thrones arose a huge stone statue. It was intricately carved with wing-like symbols rising up like laurels to frame three great triangles that formed together into one massive triangle…
It was a symbol ancient beyond reckoning, known simply as the Triforce.
As vast as this great chamber was, it was nearly filled this day with dignitaries from all over the country, present to witness the crowning of a new Queen.
Princess Lyza stood before the twin thrones in an elaborate blue and white silk dress, a line of four La Nayra priests and priestesses to her right side, dressed in their ceremonial white robes with blue trim, miters worn upon their heads, all bowed before their princess. To Lyza's left were a line of four La Farora priests and priestesses, dressed in their simpler brown robes with green trim, each wearing diadems carved of juniper in the likeness of antlers upon their brows. Their heads were all bowed as well.
Below the dais were hundreds of others, nobles and dignitaries, emissaries from each of the great races that ruled over their own fiefdoms within the bounds of the ancient kingdom.
Duke Gavin Gadok and the Duchess Arnessa of Roth, which ruled just under the Royal Family, their domains consisting of Western Central Hyrule and Eastern Central Hyrule respectively, stood on opposite sides of the dais with bevies of lesser nobles, all of which were beholden to them under the kingdom's feudal structure.
Chief Durok of the Goron stood stoically, his head wreathed in a mighty mane of white hair, huge arms folded across his barrel chest. He stood flanked by two relatively smaller Gorons, each one hefting a mighty hammer over his shoulder.
Chief Olara of the Gerudo stood with one hand on a cocked hip, tall and athletic, a dozen spear-maidens surrounding her in an honor guard, though her personal bodyguard stood right next to her. Taller than even her Chief, Renga stood with her feet planted shoulder-width apart, both her hands resting on the pommel of a wicked-looking sword she had before her, blade down.
Queen Delphina of the Zora stood in the midst of many trident-wielding guards. The soft rounded lines of her natural headdress were not sharp or fierce as those of her shark-like guards, but she wore the symbol of her people in gold upon her brow, her aquamarine eyes focused on her liege lady standing upon the dais above them all.
Old Kepora of the Rito stood amongst a dozen fierce-eyed archers of his tribe. The old owl suddenly blinked several times before readjusting his spectacles and then rested his hands on a gnarled wooden cane that kept his old legs steady.
The Leader-Guardian of the Sheikah stood not far from the lines of the clergy near the princess, a tall woman dressed in the sleek blue and gray and white leather armor that all the warriors of her tribe wore, though her face was not concealed.
Impa was seemingly the only one of her people present in the Great Hall, her white hair short, scarlet eyes steady even as they searched for any hint of a threat to her sworn charges.
Royal Guards lined the walls of the mighty chamber; each dressed in an elaborate blue and red uniform with berets upon their heads, all standing rod straight, unwavering.
Princess Lyza stood above them all at the very lip of the dais, chin lifted regally, hands folded before her, long pale blond hair flowing over her shoulders, light blue eyes steady.
One of the La Nayra priests came up to her right side, speaking clearly, the acoustics of the cavernous chamber easily carrying his voice to all those present. "We now take from the Princess her royal circlet, and thus she sheds the final trapping of her minority station. The Queen Mother is in poor health and has given her consent and the sages have found Lyza Ophelia Hyrule of proper demeanor to succeed her father, the King Majesty, who has passed from this world."
Carefully, the priest removed the simple golden circlet from the princess's brow before taking it back to the line of the other La Nayra. Then, a priest of the La Nayra and a priestess of the La Farora both strode forward slowly in procession until they stopped at each of the princess's flanks, each reverently holding one half of an elaborate golden headpiece in their hands.
Then, together, they went up to the princess, each placing their half of the artifact over her brow where it suddenly shone with a golden light before fusing into a single elaborate diadem with a square-cut sapphire glittering upon the brow. Then two others from each set of clergy came up and handed those at Lyza's side two more artifacts.
Into Lyza's right hand was placed a crystalline orb, representing Wisdom, the sight to see beyond the ordinary and to temper the Power represented by the golden scepter placed in her left hand, crowned with a likeness of the Triforce, symbolic of the right to rule.
Then both priests and priestesses intoned in unison: "Before you stands The Lady Highness, Descended of the Goddess, Defender of the Realm, and Chosen of the Sacred Power. Here she stands resplendent before you, Queen of all Hyrule!"
Each of the Royal Guards about the walls suddenly unsheathed their swords in one unified rasp and held the blades out before them at an upward angle.
Slowly, Lyza Ophelia Hyrule lifted the golden scepter above her head, and nearly everyone within the vast chamber bowed low. No matter how mighty, no matter how proud, every dignitary and noble in the chamber bowed low… all but one, the only one that did not, by tradition, have to do so.
At nineteen, Lyza was hardly the youngest princess to become queen in the long and storied history of her country, but her sister, standing just beyond the La Nayra priests at the right edge of the dais, was three years her junior.
Bowing merely at the waist in a dress similar to Lyza's, the young princess stood.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Knight-General Roland Hues strode down the stone corridor in his burnished steel plate-and-mail. The old soldier was nearing sixty but did not have an ounce of fat on him, though his grizzled countenance was heavily scarred, one gray eye covered over with a patch and every expression he made tugging at facial scars. His once brown hair was now thoroughly gray, a thick beard covering his lower face.
He moved urgently, his steel helm tucked under one arm. He wished to speak to the Queen immediately, but, of course, he knew that was unlikely. Having just been crowned two hours ago, the newly raised Queen was in the Grand Council chamber with the racial leaders, accepting gifts from them and renewing pledges of fealty. It was tradition back as far as anyone could remember when a new ruler of all Hyrule was raised.
The old soldier shook his head irately, and then rounded a corner and was suddenly joined by the Leader-Guardian of the Sheikah.
The woman seemed to appear from nowhere, startling the knight-general. "Din-blast it, Impa, don't you have better things to do than give old men heart attacks?"
"Not at the moment," the woman said evenly, moving urgently as well.
The old soldier sighed. "Have your people managed to find any stronger leads? I know you said the enemy scattered after the attack on the wagons, but two months should be long enough. My knights are not for tracking in any case, and I lost a good lot of them in that bloody ambush! There are still families I have yet to sign letters of condolence to."
He growled angrily at that, it was the most painful part of his duty, but he absolutely had to do it. His knight-commander was the one in charge of recruitment and training, keeping Hyrule's only standing military force in fighting shape. Roland used to do that before he'd been promoted to Knight-General six years ago. Now all he did was see to the political and ceremonial aspects of running the army, but everything had changed two months ago when his son and daughter had gone missing. Now the old soldier knew a type of pain that physical wounds paled against.
He looked to the Leader-Guardian, knowing she was in a similar boat. "You know, Impa, I always wondered how you can trust your own people at times? How do you know you don't have Yiga spies among them as we speak?"
She glanced at him, her scarlet eyes holding no hint of consternation. "No traitor can bare the Eye of Truth, General, it is a talisman against deception, and all my people in the castle bear it."
"I thought the Yiga did bear it… just upside down."
"That is not the Eye of Truth, General, and I have sworn to kill every Yiga responsible for the attack on the King and Queen Mother."
Roland growled again. "Aye, another great loss there—bloody rotten backstabbing traitors! I thought your people did kill all the Yiga that acted as a distraction in that attack. It was the Goriya with their… contraptions… that killed the King and wounded the Queen Mother."
"Those contraptions were called Guardians, General, and we were utterly unprepared for their onslaught. How the Goriya managed to find and gain control of some only two months after stealing the relics from the Hebra dig, I do not know. And no, though we killed many Yiga, many also escaped in the confusion caused by the Guardians' attack."
The old soldier thought for a second. "Wait, wait, wait… you mean Guardians, like in the legend with the Divine Beasts and the sealing of the Calamity two thousand years ago? I thought the Guardians were supposed to be on our side!"
"With machines it is not about sides, General, it is only who can manage to control them."
The old man quickly looked up, realizing they had stopped nearby the doors to the Grand Council room sometime ago, but continued with his inquiry. "But your people built the bloody things, Impa, shouldn't you know how to control them… or at least how to kill them?"
She shook her head. "They were built by a version of my people that no longer exist, General. No, we would have to restart the research from scratch."
The knight shrugged irately. "Well, you said you managed to pop one of the legs off one. That's a sound strategy, immobilizing a foe can render him easier to kill."
Impa folded her arms. "Unless one can immobilize the turret, they are still very lethal, even without any legs. The real problem is that most of our weapons are too weak to penetrate their armor, even where weaknesses are apparent. Even the eye that focuses the energy beam is as hard to shatter as thick glass. I broke two daggers just trying to pry it out, and the thing still managed to lumber away. We could not even stop one of them."
Roland nodded. "Yes, and your people were ambushed when they tried to follow the one back to whoever controlled it."
The woman did not respond immediately, showing rare signs of what seemed anger on her face. "…Yes, Skitch was there… and I could not defeat him."
The old man wiped a weary hand down his face. "Right, the Yiga Master. You know, Hyrule is home to fish people, bird people… even rock people, but I've never for the life of me heard of rat people before. That is a new one, though I am hardly the most studied in the many legends of this land. Perhaps somewhere in the annals there is mention…"
Impa shook her head. "I am studied in many legends, General, and never have I heard of such creatures. Where he came from, however, is a mystery I have not yet had time to solve."
The general sighed, pain suddenly pulling at his scarred features. "…Impa… have you…?"
The woman understood, her face smoothing. "I am sorry, General, but I still haven't discovered the fate of your children. The Yiga and Goriya laid many false trails after they took the relics from the Hebra dig. I have my people hunting them, but it is slow going. It is obvious that a lot of effort was put into these last two major attacks by our enemies."
The old man forced a nod, when a sudden knock came from the other side of the great double-doors that led into the Grand Council chamber. Both the Royal Guards to the sides of the doors quickly went to pull them outward, and soon after a dozen armored guards with crossed rapiers emblazoned on their breastplates strode out of the chamber with Duke Gavin Gadok in their midst, a bevy of lesser nobles following in his wake.
The duke stopped when he spotted the knight-general across the way, giving a gesture that had his guards part before him. He then strode over to stand before the old soldier.
Roland was not a small man, but Gadok stood a head taller and was broader besides, wearing a suit of white-enameled plate-and-mail trimmed in gold, far more elaborate than the plain steel armor that Roland wore, even burnished as it was.
The knight-general looked up into the coppery eyes of his former pupil. "Greetings to you, young pup. Have you finished swearing your oaths to the new Queen?"
The younger man's stony countenance did not shift, his long coppery red hair barely twitching. "Careful, Old Wolf, we are not in the training yard any longer. You would do well to remember just exactly where it is you stand in relation to me," he announced in his sonorous voice.
The old soldier merely gazed back. "Well, Lord Duke, it seems I am standing just right in front of you at the moment."
"So it would seem," the duke announced gravely, before his eyes shifted over toward Impa. "And here we have the Leader-Guardian. I do hope you are using every means at your disposal to locate the killers of the King Majesty, Spymaster. I am not certain I could bear the shame for such a failure where I in your shoes."
Without any hint of emotion, the woman gazed back. "We all bear what we must, Lord."
"True enough," the man said, lingering only a while longer before turning back toward his guards, who closed around him once again. His entourage then followed him down the hall.
After the duke had rounded the corner, Roland shook his head. "I suppose I should have bowed. Gadok and Roth are just one step below the Royal Family and my House is barely noble at all."
Impa shook her head. "You are more noble than many a so-called noble I have met, Roland."
The old man rounded on her in surprise. Impa was not one for flattery after all. Before he could respond, however, a royal page in a red tabard with the golden Triforce symbol embroidered upon it, slipped through a gap in the double doors just before the Royal Guards re-closed them.
The young man gave a courteous bow. "Honored Knight-General, it is fortuitous that you are here, for I have been bade by her Lady Highness to inform you that she will be detained in the Grand Council chamber until the Evening Toll. She says that she will be delighted to meet you later in the Small Council room with the other council heads."
The Knight-General gave an irate huff. "Well, I should have known this was coming. Very well, boy, be on your way." He shook his head as the page raced off. "I might as well get back to the Grand Barracks and meet with my second-in-command. What about you, Impa…?"
The man suddenly looked about, however, as the Leader-Guardian was nowhere in sight.
Shrugging in consternation, the old soldier headed back down the way he had come.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"It is quite rare, but not unheard of," the girl said.
Dianza Candela Roth suddenly twitched back to herself, her well fitting red-enameled plate-and-mail as fine as any suit of armor ever made.
She stood upon the balcony of one of the castle's lesser towers, supposedly watching over her charge, chiding herself for letting her vigil become lax, and straightening up where she stood, both her hands resting on the pommel of her broadsword, blade down, before her.
She had failed to answer and her charge suddenly turned from the balcony railing to smile at her. "Have you taken a vow of silence, Dame of Roth?"
Her auburn hair cut short, silver eyes steady; the twenty-year-old Lady Knight shook her head. "I have not, Princess… I apologize for not answering."
The girl merely shrugged that away, looking out from the balcony again, gazing out over the world far below, out over blue waters and green fields with the mountains of Eldin rising to the west. "Lady Knights, I meant earlier, there have been a few recorded in our nation's long history, though they remain quite rare within the annals."
The Dame nodded uncomfortably, not quite certain what she should say. She was not much for words. "…My mother actually wished me to join the La Nayra as a priestess, but I suppose I was never one much for rituals and pilgrimages."
"Yes, those can get tedious. I am lucky, however, as my sister had to endure the worst of it."
Dianza looked over, "You mean your sister, The Lady Highness?" She immediately chided herself again. Of course that is whom the princess meant. She had only one sister.
Her charge suddenly looked down, clutching a slender hand to her breast, an air of profound sadness overcoming her, so poignant that even Dianza's eyes moistened.
The Dame lowered her head in shame. "I am sorry, Princess, perhaps I should take a vow of silence…"
The girl dabbed at her crystal blue eyes with a silk handkerchief. "Please no, Dianza, I wish more people would speak plainly around me. It is a rare enough as it is." She paused, looking out over the world again. "It is just that my sister becoming queen reminds me so of my mother's condition. She has not been in good health since the attack. And father…"
A surge of anger flooded through Dianza at the thought of the traitors, but she kept her mouth closed, knowing she would only makes things worse. Instead, she merely offered a silent nod to her charge, hoping a resolute presence could do for the princess what her words could not.
Afterward, there was silence for a time as Princess Zelda looked out over the world once more.
Soon, the bells in the city below began to toll again. Castle Town would have its bells ringing each hour on the hour for the rest of the day in commemoration of the raising of a new queen.
After five long tolls, the relative silence returned. Flocks of birds flew in formation overhead lending the occasional cries to the calm spring ambiance. Far to the southeast, probably somewhere over the Dueling Peaks, dark clouds moved in.
"I apologize for bothering you, Dianza… but I was wondering… is that the Sword of Roth you hold down before you?"
Dianza nodded, it was indeed her family's heirloom sword.
"I was told that there are stories of it containing some kind of power."
The Dame hesitated. "Well… uh, yes, there is a legend in my family of our sword granting a wieldier of the Line of Roth great strength in times of battle. I mean… it is no Sword that Seals the Darkness, but… well, it may be nothing more than a myth."
"Legends in this land tend to always be more potent than they may first appear, Dianza. Still, I am curious, have you ever witnessed its purported power?"
"I have trained with it extensively… but no, there seems nothing magical to it. Still, I am yet to be tried in true battle—not that I would ever rely on magical powers in combat. If I…" Suddenly, Dianza cursed herself for a fool, bringing up her blade and interposing herself between the princess and a sudden presence.
The presence, however, resolved itself into a Sheikah that quickly bowed before them. "Princess Zelda, the Lady Highness bids you to join her urgently in the Queen Mother's bedchamber!"
Immediate terror filled the princess's crystalline blue eyes. Without a word, she lifted the hem of her dress and rushed through the archway back into the tower proper.
Dianza immediately sheathed the Sword of Roth across her back and went after her charge.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"I know how busy you must be, my daughter, I am sorry for detaining you."
Queen Lyza shook her head. "It is no imposition, mother, all know of your condition and the racial delegations were honored to wait. The small council can be seen to first thing on the morrow."
Weakly, the blind woman reached out a hand and Lyza grasped it. "You will make a fine Queen, my child, you are everything a leader of Hyrule should be."
"I am who you raised me to be, mother."
The blind woman smiled, though with difficulty, her milky white eyes unfocused. Much of her face was bandaged from heavy burns, her hair singed to the scalp, no longer growing. She lay upon her canopied bed in nothing but plain white robes.
The mighty bedchamber contained ten attendants, a priestess of the La Nayra and La Farora among them, but all stood back in reverence when Lyza had entered the room.
"I do wish I would have had more time to spend teaching you personally, my daughter. That is one thing I shall always regret."
Lyza stroked her mother's hand. "Please, mother, think no more of such things. We queens have a great deal of duties, so many in fact that I am still dizzy with them. The tutors you assigned me in my minority were all thorough and fair. In truth, father was far more strict."
"Your father loved you dearly, Lyza, never doubt that."
"I do not, mother. The kingdom must be put first above all… both of you taught me that."
The bed-ridden woman nodded, wincing painfully from the movement. "It is who we are destined to be, my child. The power we wield comes with mighty obligations, obligations greater than our sorrow and our fear, our joy and our pain. Our dynasty has endured since time immemorial because we have always striven to maintain the balance that Hyrule rests upon."
"Then it may rest soundly, mother, for your line continues."
The woman managed a smile. "Speaking of my line, Lyza, has your sister arrived yet?"
The queen suddenly frowned. "No, mother, though the Sheikah should have gotten the message to her by now. She likely went out on the balcony again, shirking her duties."
"Do not judge your sister too harshly, Lyza. She is a gentle child who did not have to go through the special training you did. After all, the Calamity may be sealed, but the Sealing Power must always be made manifest by the next heir. That keeps its potency primed for when it is needed. Your manifestation was not strong, I hear, but it was enough to silence the gossipmongers."
Lyza nodded. "I wish you could have seen it, mother, it was like nothing I have ever felt, and I will never forget it."
The woman shook her head weakly. "Your witnesses were credible, my child, though I do wish I could have seen it myself. My own happened when I was but fifteen…"
Lyza nodded. "I know, mother, when Yiga ambushed you and a young knight at the Baroness Cintra's orchards during the Harvest Festival all those years ago."
The woman smiled fondly. "He was not your father then, and I should not have slipped my chaperones to meet him in the orchard. It was beyond foolish. He stood his ground and was wounded before I interceded… and the golden light came forth, defending us in a brief but mighty flash that stunned the assassins until the Sheikah could arrive to dispatch them…" She paused. "…I apologize for going on so about the past, my daughter."
"You are fond of the story, mother, I understand."
Just then, Lyza's sister burst in through the chamber door, running up to the side of the bed and dropping before it with a total lack of decorum. Lyza noticed that the Dame of Roth quickly followed her in, though the young knight went no further than the foot of the bed, immediately turning her back to them as she unsheathed her sword and stood resting both her armored hands on its pommel, facing the chamber door.
Tears were already streaming down Zelda's face. "Oh mother, I am so sorry for being late. Please forgive me; I should never have left the Royal Library…I just… I…" she trailed off, desperately gripping the hand her mother held out toward her.
"You only wished to fly free, my little bird…"
Zelda gave several deep sobs before holding her mother's hand to her tear-stained cheek. "Please, mother, please do not leave me. I… we… need you, your guidance, your wisdom. Father is already gone… we cannot afford to lose you too."
"My sweet child," the woman said, moving her hand to lift her daughter's chin. "Do not cry, Zelda, for I have a gift I wish to present you. I was hoping to save it until your birthday, but… well…" She paused to reach within the folds of her robes. "It is a simple thing, I know, but I thought you might like it."
The woman brought out a folded handkerchief, unfolding it to reveal an intricately embroidered swallow, royal blue, centered within a square of white cloth trimmed in gold.
"I was lucky to finish it. I may have lost my sight, but my fingers still remember the way."
The princess put the gift down on the bed, taking her mother's hand up again. "It is so beautiful, mother, I swear by the Goddess that I shall never be apart from it."
The woman managed a weak smile. "I am glad you like it, my child. I am so proud of you… proud of you both…" and her smile slowly went slack.
Her hand then slipped from Zelda's grasp, never to rise again.