This is extremely late, I apologize. I've been doing a lot of overtime at work and regrettably had little opportunity to write. But the deadline is passed so now I'll have my evenings free again! The next chapter will not take so long to post, I promise.
Surprisingly I did revise this chapter before posting, so any mistakes/spelling errors etc. are inexcusable.
Thank you to everyone who has continued reading this story! And thank you especially to those who review and who have supported me on ko-fi! I hope everyone is safe and doing well!
Chapter 24:
The water mill was just as she had left it. Old, surrounded by logs, and rotting, and bolted thrice over with heavy rusted locks.
Link inspected the devices and immediately declared them unmanageable.
He stepped down from the porch.
"Stay back," he warned.
Zelda didn't have to be told twice. Already cautious of the structure, she had approached it as one approached a dead dragon. Hesitant and ready to bolt at the merest notion that it could be alive.
She watched as Link withdrew a bomb from his pouch and by some mechanism at the wick had it lighted and on countdown. He waited a few beats then tossed it at the mill where it exploded a few feet away, blasting the door apart in the impact, leaving a gaping jagged hole of wooden teeth and splintered shards.
"There," said Link, wiping a smudge of gun powder from his palm. "In we go, I suppose."
Zelda stared quietly ahead. Full of thought and the simmering emotions that fueled them. The blast had torn apart the porch and stairs leading up to it, so she had to jump and lift herself through. Link went in first and helped her up, his hand lingering on her elbow before rubbing a path downward and releasing her.
She didn't know what to expect on the inside. Signs of activity, perhaps. Proof that the girl she'd seen in the window had existed and had wandered through the building stirring up the dust and shuffling around the small appliances on the countertops. That she wasn't just another dead person to mourn.
Reality rarely exceeded expectations however. Inside was a small entryway which branched off down a set of stairs to a lower level where the gears, wheels, and rods that powered the machinery of a saw mill had been built. Her eyes strayed to the vicious cutting edge of an axe on the wall. All sorts of tools had been left behind, abandoned in the village's flight.
"Is there anything in particular that you're looking for?" said Link, shuffling a few shards of wood out of the way with his boot.
Zelda sighed. "No. I guess not."
Link strode down to the bottom floor and casually looked over the machines and devices.
"Why was this place locked up so tightly? If it was just a security measure to keep people from meddling with the machines and getting hurt then one lock would have been enough. But three?" He shook his head.
Zelda opened a door, anticipating a closet of some sort, but was surprised to find a crammed staircase. Each step was twice as tall as a regular stair with less than a hand span of space for a foot to perch.
"There's a door here," called Link.
She glanced down to see that light was streaming around him, originating from a hidden door. Zelda hurried over to take a look outside and was faced with stack of logs piled high above their heads like a miniature barricade concealing this side of the building. There was enough space between the wood and the mill that one could squeeze their way out down a long stretch of dirt. From the outside it would have appeared as though the logs had been stacked directly against the wall.
"And to think we had an easy way of entering this entire time," she murmured, annoyed at herself for overlooking it in her initial search. But then again she'd been quite distracted at the time.
"Not really," said Link, creaking the door as he jiggled it back and forth a few times, testing the ease of the hinges. "It was locked from the outside. But see." He brushed a thumb over the disturbed patina on the oxidized bronze handle. "Someone has been paying this backwater town many visits."
He pushed it shut, not bothering to twist the lock in place, as there was now an entire new mode of entrance and therefore little point.
"It could be one of the former residents," she supplied.
"I hope not," he said furtively. "If someone got this close to the hexer's domain then I wouldn't be surprised if they were snatched up to be used as fuel."
Something unpleasant and bubbling curdled in the pit of her being at that notion.
"Come on," she said. "I found the way to the upper level. That's where I saw the girl."
Using the stairs was almost like climbing a cumbersome ladder. Zelda only had to lean forward a bit to place her hands on the next steps up. Link tripped when he reached the top, catching himself against the wall.
"Bloody hell," he groused, flattening his fringe. "What failure of an architect designed this place?"
They emerged in an old dwelling where the former miller and his family had once resided. Zelda went instantly to the window, standing where previously the young ghost girl must have stood, looking out with a clear view of the spot near the river where Zelda had spotted her.
Link roamed the small living space, peeking into each of the three additional rooms and finding little of interest.
Zelda too looked around to no avail. For the most part the dwelling had been cleaned of dust, supporting their discovery of the mill's occupation, but it spoke nothing of the inhabitant's identity. It may very well have been a traveller or a hermit.
"Nothing," said Link unsurprised with the verdict. "No evidence but for a clean house."
Zelda felt the dash of hope within her fade, like a meekly flickering candle flame down to the stub. She became more pressed, more determined to find something, anything, related to the curse. The hexer had to have been here. Perhaps it was a base of operation, or a stop along the way to where the focal point nested.
She almost jumped when a hand came to rest on her shoulder, a feather light touch.
"There's nothing here, Zelda."
His voice grounded her, gave her something to hold onto as her mind whirred with half-formed thoughts. A clamor of emotion rose like a tide within her.
"I thought we'd find some sort of indication," she breathed out. "It's just… We haven't made any progress in determining the identity of the hexer. And after waking up in the village and finding this place, I had a feeling there'd be something here. Something that would give some clue…" She gave a deprecating laugh. "I suppose I should know better than to rely on intuition. Such a thing forms its basis on wayward hopes. In science many a researcher have been made fools of for relying on instincts over proper systematic analysis."
"You're no fool," Link said firmly, giving her shoulder a squeeze. His hand then slid down her back, futilely working to smooth out the tension laced in the muscle there. "So instinct doesn't work. What does analysis tell you?"
She scoffed. "It tells me nothing. An analysis are thoughts and ideas that I formulate myself as a result of what we can examine."
"And from what we've examined what has your brilliant mind come up with?"
That earned him a wisp of a fleeting smile. "Nothing as brilliant as you may think." She took a deep breath, tasting cold musty air on her tongue. "We simply have to continue following the ghost lamp as intended."
"An ingenious idea, that," said Link, and Zelda quickly hid her smile from him before pivoting on her heel to face him, seemingly lacking any trace of amusement.
Without any forewarning, she lifted to her toes and kissed him softly on the lips.
Link gave a few quick blinks and smiled, winding his arms around her midsection. "I don't know what that was for, but I'm not complaining."
She ducked her head at the rash feeling of embarrassment. Would it be too odd to say that she kissed him because she simply wanted to? Because his touch was pivotal to calm her frustrations?
"Let's go," she said, still looking away. She grabbed his hand. "This place is dreary. And knowing Anne she'll need help setting up the wards."
His demeanor changed then. A subtle shift without actually altering his facial state. It was the air of him rather than anything visual.
"Yeah, let's get out of here."
Zelda pondered at his sudden terseness. She got the feeling that at that moment he didn't really care for their unexpected ad-on and took it like a sea captain forced to adjust ration proportions because of a stowaway.
She for one was glad that Anne was here with them. Although she did worry for her safety. Sybil must be worried sick. First Zelda herself disappeared, and now Anne abandoned her too. They were both bound to get an earful on returning to the castle. That was something she did not look forward to.
They left the mill not an hour after they'd entered it. Although she had no clock to consult, Zelda was acutely aware of the hours before dark. The interlude between day and night was swiftly closing with the approaching twilight.
Following the burbling river en route to the village, Link's hold on the atmosphere was prominent. It was as if the very air dare not breathe. The area around them rippling in the tide of the Master Sword. Zelda doubted whether any other living being could feel it as she did. The connection between them both, blade and master, like a phoenix and its flame.
She had noticed the blade absently when he'd embraced her, yet now when it pulsated with miniature shockwaves, a humming vibration of contentedness one didn't feel so much as sense, it seemed to demand regard.
That was how they'd separated. He'd been out retrieving the Master Sword.
"I apologize," she said suddenly and elaborated as he gazed at her in confusion. "We left you behind."
"Hmm?" Link arched a brow. "Ah, it's fine. Retrieving the Master Sword was my task. Ashei told me why you left. Some highwaymen were after Lady Anne apparently. She said they'd run into them earlier today."
"Are they still pursuing her?"
He seemed wholly unbothered as he responded. "Probably."
She could forgive him for his lack of concern simply because Anne wasn't supposed to be here in the first place and it was understandable he was annoyed with her.
"What took you so long finding the sword?"
That elicited a scowl from Link, likely remembering the event as unpleasant. "Stupid puzzles, as if I hadn't already proven that I am the hero reincarnate. And it takes a while to get there. That's a good few miles of self-modifying forest to cover."
"Oh, well, you are adept at puzzle solving. From what you've told me of the many dungeons you've explored, many of the trials sound complicated and would require a highly skilled mindset to work through."
If she hadn't been looking up at him right then she wouldn't have noticed his microscopic wince.
"Would it alter your glowing perspective of me were I to admit it took me seven tries to get it right?"
She hummed in consideration. "Not quite so highly skilled of a mindset as I'd thought."
"You slay me, your majesty."
Zelda gave a small laugh.
They passed the first few skeletal houses on the outskirts of the village. An overcast shadowed them, the familiar scent of rain misted the air. The prelude to an oncoming downpour. She wondered at the prospect of the night, at where she might wake up in the morning. Goddesses, she wouldn't be able to stand another event like today. She couldn't stand to be alone. Not now with all the dead lured to her. She couldn't be alone again.
Link's hand sought out hers and he intertwined their fingers, giving a small squeeze.
"Stay by my side at all times, alright. I'm not going anywhere. I promise I won't leave you again."
She searched his eyes for the sake of admiring them. Deep blue, swimming with conviction. It was difficult not to believe him. "Alright."
Another hand squeeze. She felt the smooth band of his courtship ring against her fingers. She loved knowing it was he who wore it. That it was him she was promising herself to.
"It scared me, you know," he said after minutes of contemplative silence. "When they told me you disappeared. All it took was an instant and you were gone. It was that easy. I thought I'd lost you."
His voice was strong and controlled, but in the undertones she detected a small waver of silent dread. A small crack in his being that reflected the frailty within.
They had stopped walking by now. Standing in the lee of a deku tree and half crumbled wall. Link's head was down, his shoulders shaking. A hand was conveyed to his face, pressing at the moisture budding beneath his eyelids. In a flash Zelda was upon him, embracing him for all she was worth, and without a second's hesitation Link's arms were around her too. Clinging desperately as if to the only beam of light in a dark shadowy place.
"I thought I'd lost you," he wept into her shoulder, his heart bleeding relief and dread. "You were gone. I thought I would never see you again."
His tears triggered her own and she dug her face in his chest, staining his tunic. "I'm here. Even if they'd taken me across the world I would have fought to come back to you."
She felt one with him, so close were they pressed together as if their very beings would be torn and frayed were they to separate.
"I would fight to keep you."
Zelda had never doubted her affection and eventual love for Link. She'd thought what she felt for him now could never be surpassed. She was wrong. She had so much more love to give him. And she would accept everything he offered in return.
She poured her entire being into their hug. All the affection she could give him, she gave. Only once his shuddering had ceased and his limbs around her slackened their hold did she pull back, but only a fraction. She created enough room to reach for the belt as her waist, grappling with the hook that had been slotted over the leather.
"You should keep this with you," she said, handing him the ghost lamp.
She prodded him with the one of the pointed corners of the lamp until he raised his head from its rest sunken within her long leaf addled tresses. Her braid had been undone by his hand and he'd been sliding his fingers through the soft waves it had created.
He appeared puzzled and took the lamp, looking to her inquisitively. "Zelda?"
She offered him a soft smile. "It is better that you carry this. If I am taken again I will be brought closer to the focal point or possibly directly there this time. We are nearly there. The ghosts are after me, they want me to reach them." She clasped her hand over his grasping the handle. "This way you'll be able to find me."
His eyes, red from crying, steeled into vicious cutting edges. "They won't have you. I won't let them."
She didn't have a response for him. She couldn't make promises with their future so uncertain. At least she knew that she would no longer be stolen away in the middle of the night. Now that they could create their own wards. How fortunate that Anne had appeared to them when she did.
"Link…"
He hooked the lamp in his belt and again pulled her close.
"I mean it," he hissed into her hair. "I don't ever want to exist in a world without you. I couldn't bare it."
"Nor could I live without you," she whispered back. "I love you, Link."
He held her away then, shaking fingers caressing the soft contours of her face. He cupped her cheeks to still them. His eyes, endless as the ocean, mesmerized her as he held her gaze.
"Marry me."
She blinked.
"Pardon?"
His hand smoothed over her cheek, wiping away the lingering traces of tears. He smiled softly at her.
"When this is all over," he took a deep, shuddering breath, full of emotion. "I would be honoured if you'd accept me as your husband. I want to be with you forever. I want you to be mine, and in return I'll be yours. Please, Zelda. I love you."
Another few blinks. Her entire system processing his words one by one then reading their meaning altogether. She had thought she was past her blushing phase, but apparently she'd thought wrong.
"You're proposing…"
His fingers fluttered at the edges of her face, smoothing a few wayward tendrils of chestnut brown hair behind the point of her ear. It flickered in reaction to his touch. "Do you accept?"
"I do." She savored his every caress, the tender means he roamed her face, as if admiring a perfect painted canvas. "Most emphatically, I do."
He smiled handsomely then. A restfulness settled upon his visage and his eyes closed, head dipped low, as one would engrossed in receiving a blessing from the goddesses.
"Thank you," he murmured, a prayer of adoration. "Thank you."
With such a proclamation she expected wholeheartedly to be kissed. She waited for it impatiently for all of thirty seconds before deciding to take matters into her own hands.
She wound her arms around his neck, attempting to pull him down, but he was so solid she ended up hoisting herself higher. She kissed him once.
"You are a strange man, Link," she mused playfully. "First you ask permission to kiss me, and now you thank me for agreeing to marry you."
His face went red, although she couldn't fathom why. Perhaps being called strange made him self-aware of his rather controversial way of doing things.
"It's because I don't want to take what you're unwilling to give," he said with resolution. "And agreeing to marry me is the greatest gift I've ever received."
The things he said... It really made her wonder how he'd remained single for so long. He practically held her heart in the palm of his hand when he made declarations like that.
She leaned in closer. "You realize that by marrying me you'll become king?"
His ocean blue eyes danced as they watched her. "I considered it."
She kissed him twice. "There's a lot of work that goes into being king."
"Just make sure I don't accidentally sign a declaration of war."
"Not without my say so."
"Of course."
On their third kiss their mouths met in a clash of lips and teeth, of reverence and possessiveness. He kissed her as if she were the sole purpose to life. Drinking her in as if he were drinking the sea, surfacing only for brief gasps of air before diving back under. She arched her back as he clenched his arms around her, wrapping her in his cloak, cocooning them together into a single chrysalis.
She pulled back before the pitch in her ears could rise to intolerable decibels. Link understood at once the problem and retained a frown. It appeared they could outrun the ghosts that haunted her but they couldn't keep away for long from the things crying out in her head.
But for now neither of them wanted to think of phantoms and creatures of the night.
She wanted nothing more than to stay wrapped up in his embrace. The world could run itself, let them be together just the two of them, without the need for anyone or anything else for once. She supposed it was not meant to last though. Someday when all this was over with then they'd have their moment.
With a flippant grin, Link snagged her hand and led her down the road toward the others.
"So I was thinking, as king, I insist on doing some redecorating," he said, staving off the edge of grim thoughts for those of levity. "I've seen your room, and darling, we're going to need a bigger bed."
She laughed. "My bed is already massive. Do you really require so much room to sleep?"
"Not massive enough for the sort of sleeping I'm imagining."
Her hand flew up to cover her face. "Oh goddesses." Yes marriage came with all sorts of added perks. And he'd simply gone and implied the one that was most significant.
Link went on, taking delight in her embarrassment. "Also, I'd like to convert the Rose Chamber into a men's lavatory."
She laughed again at his ridiculousness. "You'd be murdered in your sleep."
"We'll say it was Raleigh's idea."
"You are the worst."
Shad knew that after this event he would come to despise small villages. Especially empty ones. As if the Hidden Village hadn't been bad enough. The old Kakariko with its legacy of death and entire culture of torture and terror. Now there was this place, tame in comparison, but no less troubling.
Sighing, he silently consulted the heavens. Why did it have to be him investigating this virtual blood bath? Why was it necessary to investigate at all? Her majesty had already informed them that she'd looked over the area and discovered nothing conclusive other than the fact that a poor soul had suffered a gruesome, terror infested death.
Even Sir Justin looked queasy at the sight and had to breathe a few controlled breaths before he followed the blood-marked trail and reached the ditch where it abruptly cut off. Like brown paint, it stained the soil with its macabre strokes, a depiction of a brutal murder.
Shad hugged himself and tried not to fidget as he kept an eye out, looking anywhere but at the blood stains. Justin bent down to study the marks.
"This is just shy of a week old." He furled his fist and rose, a calm anger flaring within his gaze. "Five days, maybe six. It hasn't rained since before then. Strange. You'd think we'd have found pieces of flesh and bone, or at least the poor bastard's clothing around. That's half a body's worth of blood here, yet blood is the key ingredient for the curse, is it not."
Shad frowned in agitation. This was really not something he wanted to talk about.
Justin continued his musing. "Why waste so much of it?"
"Why throw out all that food in the castle kitchens after a banquet?" Shad interjected, trying not to sound like a smart ass but knew his efforts were in vain. "Because there's an excess. Most of it will go bad before it can be eaten. You were there at the end of the ball, weren't you? You saw how many of those dead things attacked us."
His companion was not at all satisfied. "Then why continue killing? If the hexer has enough blood why harvest more?"
"Because whoever it is, is a goddessdamned psychopath and glutton for murder," he spat. "You'd have to be to heartlessly slaughter innocent children." He grasped chunks of his hair, tugging them painfully, as if by doing so it might bring the world to a better light, or at the least alleviate the stress of the gruesome scene. Of that vision that kept swimming just beyond his periphery. Countless red eyed children, gazing from within a black hole. The innocent reduced to heartless monsters, marionettes in some bastard's horrific game. "They must have been so scared."
"I can't imagine..." Justin shook his head, hand fisting the sheikah dagger belted at his waist. "There's something residual here. Similar to the particles of magic where her majesty had disappeared."
"The same method, obviously," Shad surmised, releasing his hair and sleeking it back in place. "Some form of teleportation. You don't need to be a mage to figure that one out."
"Yes, but if the ghosts are capable of relocating an entire person why hadn't they done it before?"
"As Impaz said, the curse is progressing. My guess is that they weren't capable of it before." Shad wrinkled his nose and indicated at the blood smears. "Who knows, this victim could have been an experiment before they targeted the real person of interest."
Justin sighed. "You know, when I joined the queen's guard I never anticipated having to protect her from things like ghosts."
Shad sympathetically clapped his shoulder. "This is Hyrule. Allegedly there are ghosts and poes everywhere. We were just fortunate not to have seen them beforehand."
Yes, Hyrule's history was one deeply shrouded in darkness and death. And as long as the general population were left ignorant, nobody ever cared.
"Can we go back now?" he urged, looking toward the darkening woods. "I don't see that there's anything else to discover here."
Justin assented. "Yes, of course. I'd like to check up on her majesty, anyways. I do trust Sir Link, but I am her personal guard."
Relieved, Shad was swift to lead them away from the morbid patches of dried blood. He'd seen enough death and destruction during the Twilight Invasion, thank you very much. For some reason the evidence of this serial killer left a far more disturbing impression than the ravages of war ever could. Knowing the intentions behind both, the motivations and end goals of war were far more understandable than a murderer's.
"What can you do exactly as her majesty's bodyguard?" asked Shad, filling in the ominous silence. "You don't seem as proficient at magic as I would have thought. No offense."
Sir Justin gave him a bland look. "The scholar doesn't know?"
He sniffed in a huff at that. "The scholar is a highly educated individual who is well-versed in many disciplines. It doesn't mean that I know everything. I do know that the lot of you can do something called armament."
"Armament magic. The conjuring of weapons and shields," elaborated Justin. "Yes, it is vital that if we ever find ourselves unarmed we have the means of acquiring weaponry."
"Like how Zelda can conjure her bow?"
"The queen is a sorceress of magnificent proportions. When her powers are not impeded," Justin tacked on. "As is Lady Anne to a lesser extent. We of the queen's guard are a lesser class of elite mages. Our magical profession is in defense, magic resistance, and physical augmentation. Anything to increase our fighting ability and to protect ourselves and the queen from aggressive attacks. We are essentially her majesty's darknuts."
Shad shuddered at the very mention of the term. He'd seen a few of those from afar and even then he'd easily discerned their hulking forms and massive size. He presumed them to have been at least twice as tall as a regular hylian. Justin was impressively tall, there was no question there, and bulky in a way that was all lithe muscle. The ease of which he maneuvered in his regular knight's armour (left behind in the castle for this occasion) was remarkable. But he was shy a few feet and a horned helm from an actual darknut.
"Fascinating."
Creak creak creak
His left ear gave a flick. Shad chanced a perfunctory glean around for the source of the sound. With a sudden intensity, every nerve shot into awareness as if his system jumped from the inside.
An empty swing hanging from the bow of a dead tree was swaying back and forth. The motion was slow and deliberate, with no visual cause and no wind.
Shad stared, mouth agape, hands quivering beneath the cuffs of his sleeves.
The swing continued its motion, back and forth, carried by an invisible being.
Shad jolted as Justin's broad hand gripped around his bicep.
"Whereabouts does your family hail?" asked Justin, tugging Shad along, encouraging forward movement. "Not from Castle Town I wager?"
Propelled by Justin's insistence, Shad continued walking, taking quick strides to keep up with the taller man. Eventually he tore his eyes away from the swing.
Creak creak creak
His ears flattened. "Er, uh no. Not from Castle Town. They're from a town in Eldin province."
Sir Justin nodded. "I have a nephew. He's a spry young sprog. Wants to become a knight someday."
"Admires his uncle, does he?" said Shad, willing the ominous creaking of the swing moving of its own accord to bloody cease.
Justin's smile was a touch smug. "He does. I've been training him when I'm off duty, which hasn't been often these days. He was away at school when the invasion began. He and any other children of notability had been held hostage. If my brother and his wife had strayed an inch out of line he would have been taken like the others. I had been a soldier in the castle and was imprisoned in the dungeons at the time. I didn't learn about the situation until afterward."
And Shad once more felt horrible. "The family talk was a good idea until you mentioned the invasion," he groused.
Justin shrugged. The creaking hadn't stopped, but Shad was no longer actively paying attention to it.
He nudged his spectacles to a better angle. "I hate this place. Even Ashei's mansion at Snowpeak is more preferable, and it snows eleven months of the year."
His companion blinked in mild astonishment. "Dame Ashei has a mansion?"
"An ice fortress is more like. It's occupied by two yetis at the moment, but Ashei isn't at all bothered by them."
"That would explain her harsh demeanor."
Shad frowned, ready to leap to the defense of his love. "And what do you mean by that?"
"Simply that one's living conditions shapes a person," said Justin, raising his hands in supplication. "I've heard her call our knights pansies, loafs, layabouts, laggards and all sorts of labels that denominates pampering. Originating and living in the harsh climates of the north would explain her evaluations."
"Parenting too," added Shad. "Her father was a knight who trained her in the art of warfare and mercilessness."
"Yes, she's also that."
Shad groaned, knowing firsthand just how merciless she could be. Most recently he recalled all those long hours of brutal training she'd forced upon him and even still he was just managing with holding his dagger properly. "You have no idea."
His attention successfully diverted, neither of them realized when from behind them the swing stopped its movement, held suspended mid-motion taught against the ropes as if someone were leaning back on it.
"You're upset."
Anne shrugged and carried on with her work, scripting blazons of glowing blue characters in midair with her pinky. Painting out a circle of defence sigils at each of the four points of the house they'd chosen to occupy that night. It was a single story wooden and clay structure, built much like the dwellings in Ordon. A cursory look around had revealed very little charring. The only damage had been a single shattered window which Hadrian and Ashei were busy boarding up right that moment.
"Not really," Anne answered.
Zelda frowned. She didn't like it when her friends lied to her.
"You should be. Link certainly was."
The aforementioned lying friend went on. "You're the queen. You might have arranged some sort of mock constitutional monarchy to govern the country, but we all know where the true power lies. Different means of governance can't erase that the blood of Hylia runs through your veins. Link is some boy from a small forest village run by a mayor and whoever is old enough to have a voice," she scoffed. "He believes he's entitled to your consideration. That he deserves an explanation for every remotely significant thing you do. You don't see Justin or Hadrian complaining, do you? That's because we grew up on politics and the understanding of an established, unquestioned, social order. If the queen desires to keep secrets from us, who are we to whine about it. It's not our place to question the highest authority. So no, I am not upset. I would like to have known, but you are the paragon of wisdom. I trust your decisions."
Zelda wished she would get mad at her.
"I question my decisions," she said forcefully. "And you should too. Everyone should."
Anne drew her hand back from her work and paused. "That sounds like a messy sort of business. If everyone were to question you that would be too many opinions to deal with. You can't please everybody."
She almost forgot how frustrating Anne could be without Sybil or Desra there to support her.
"A woman once called me 'the greatest criminal of Hyrule'. It was an inference to my greatest mistake as ruler."
Anne paused again and turned to Zelda in befuddlement. "Who in the blazes dared to call you that?"
She thought of bright red irises and a small imp of blue and black. Of a foreign magic that was so potent she could taste it in the air, powerful despite the wielder's altered form.
"It doesn't matter," she replied, thoughts of Midna shoved aside for the moment. A pity she was the only person who dared say such open truths to her.
"When was it then?" said Anne, returning to her task, her pointed ears erect and listening.
"Nearly three years ago."
"Oh," Anne said simply. She spent a few seconds in thought before saying, "Then you would have been a prisoner at the time. Do you think that maybe you misunderstood that person's meaning?"
She recalled Midna's personality. Her blunt statements and lack of hesitance in her remarks. "I understood she was deriding me."
What a hypocrite. Midna had fought and been the first to fall to Zant. Then she had the gall to reprimand Zelda for giving in to him after losing over half her hylian forces.
"Well perhaps another perspective is required," said Anne. "You seem to think that this person was calling you out for surrendering, am I correct? That giving up your throne made you a criminal to Hyrule. How I understand it was at the time you were the Zant's greatest threat. All the rebellions that had arisen had been established in your name. So long as you lived there was the hope of restoring you your kingdom. If you had escaped you can wager there'd have been a bounty worth three Hyrule's for your capture. Thereby under Zant's reign, you were the greatest criminal."
Anne finished the west corner and proceeded to the northern, stamping the same sigils out in midair to imbue into the structure.
"Do you think the former king could have done better?"
Zelda was taken aback. Her grandfather?
"I don't suppose…" She honestly had no idea how her grandfather would have fared against Zant and his hordes. In truth, if he hadn't perished before the invasion, he'd have probably been killed during the first assault. He was a military man, and had been unsurpassed in his day, but even he would have succumbed easily to the foreign foe.
"How about your second cousins? Or anyone, actually?" Anne purposefully ceased her scribing and looked directly at Zelda. "Could anyone have done as well as you have?"
She wasn't sure how to answer that. Or rather, it was impossible to answer because she didn't know.
"Maybe," she responded in deep consideration. "Someone might have thought up a strategy I overlooked."
Anne directed a hopeless glance to Link, who was speaking with Hadrian while simultaneously keeping an eye on the two women. When he caught Anne's look he was confused and unable to reciprocate.
Anne didn't seem bothered by this. She rolled her eyes and massaged the nerves in her brow.
"Now I'm upset," Anne scoffed and Zelda bristled. "No one, I repeat, no one could have done what you did. Surrendering would have been difficult in itself, but restoring the life force of the Twilight Queen, facing Ganondorf and calling upon the light spirits? Shooting light arrows from the back of a horse at full gallop is no amateur's task."
How had they even reached this topic? Would the events of the invasion be destined to haunt her forever? It seemed the span of her imprisonment competed against her childhood for worst period of her life.
"Do you know what I believe," said Anne, tapping a finger to her chin. "I believe you were born specifically during this time to ensure it was you in charge during the invasion."
A moment of stunned silence, then, "What?"
Anne nodded, convinced of whatever theory she had drawn up. "The triforce makes it almost certain. I've thought about it for a while. But notice that all direct heirs to the Harkinian throne are male, but for when the goddesses predict a crisis is about to arise. That is when a new Zelda is born and given the triforce. None of the male heirs endured any difficulties during their reigns. Well, nothing that they themselves hadn't started. So no one is meant to fight against the worst odds but you."
"I had assumed that already," said Zelda, becoming more irate. "It is written that all three bearers of the triforce shall inevitably encounter one another in every lifetime in which they are reborn."
"Then stop moping about the past." Anne scribbled a messy glyph, hand slashing at thin air. "La, but I can't understand why people harp about it to you. That Geraude especially is a nasty character. You should have seen him moping at the ball after Link showed off his ring. Ha, hilarious! And I cannot for the life of me understand why you hold yourself accountable for things that were beyond your control. Most of us are grateful to you. Both of you."
Zelda snatched a peek at Link, her heart thrumming in her chest. The both of them…
He too had berated her for her self-criticism.
"You added an extra line on the glyph for 'repel'."
Anne frowned and swiped the glyph away to redo it. "I'm merely saying that you have more supporters than you realize. And you should seriously stop being miserable all the time. We notice it, and it is extremely depressing to witness."
She rolled her eyes at that. "I'll make an effort."
"Spiffing. Oh damnation, this glyph is not cooperating." Anne huffed and wiped the glowing blue away then started again.
Zelda nudged her aside when she saw her friend was getting nowhere. "Here, arc your hand like this."
Her two fingers dipped in a small swoop in mimicry of the line work. She had meant it as a mere demonstration, but both women became startled when a trail of blue, darker than Anne's markings, blazed in her wake.
She stilled, hand outstretched in bewildered hesitance.
Anne eventually broke the silence. "I thought your magic wasn't working."
"I – I thought so too…"
Zelda attempted to gather the power deep within her and was shocked to feel it bubbling and riling up in meager splashes of gold within the confines of her being. It was there, accessible to her. No longer simply the dregs within a barren pit, a smattering of dust in a wide expanse of emptiness. Her magic was replenishing itself as it would after a good rest. True it wasn't nearly so much as she was accustomed to, but she could convey it to her fingertips, her channels were no longer dried out.
"Wasn't the curse supposed to block your magic?"
Zelda, in full scholar mode, decided to experiment. She continued where Anne left off, drawing the glyphs for defense, protection, and then the target, the undead, in quick sequence. Her middle and forefinger stung with the exercise and her wells had once more mostly depleted by the end, yet she didn't find herself at all upset about it. Her glyphs glowed brightly accompanied by Anne's.
She made the final hand motion and the writing flared before dissipating in streams of blue. Fully activated. Her reserves were now completely emptied.
"Showing me up was unnecessary," muttered Anne, "But I am glad to see your magic has returned to you."
"It is only a fraction," she replied, observing her hand, imagining the black vile things she knew were squirming beneath her skin. Was it because they were away from the castle? Or could it be that Impaz's charms worked better than they'd thought? Had the curse been weakened somehow?
This was something she'd have to discuss with the others. Goddesses, but she dearly wished for Impaz's council right now.
"Are you girls finished?"
Zelda looked up as Link came over, twirling his sheikah dagger in his hand. He stopped short when he perceived their expressions.
"Is something wrong?" His eyes hardened. "What happened?"
She tamped down her worry. "Nothing. Let's head inside. Dusk is upon us. It won't be long until the ghosts come hounding."
His unoccupied hand found a place between her shoulder blades as he swiftly steered her indoors. Zelda mentally prepared herself for the discussion that was to ensue. Just what in Hyrule was going on here?
The rito, Savorre, was an eccentric creature. A magpie of his species, he often placed more value in pretty trinkets than in living beings. Sleek as an eel and dark as ebony but for the white flashes of his secondary wing plumage and markings upon his face and neck, he was a bird of savage cunning and extreme intelligence. He was also a character of defined boldness. Willing to brave the most dangerous dungeons for the potential troves within. Most importantly he was able to realize when he was in over his head. As with his current objective.
He sped through the air, not the swiftest flier by far, his family had never been of a warrior faction, but he was silent and he knew at which height above the ground was best to fly to disguise his size to mimic the ordinary guay. No he would never compare to other ritos more massive and deadly than him, had never found the inclination to care about the difference. He was agile enough, more inquisitive, and by far cleverer. And this served his ambitions just fine.
He found his party not too far up the hillside and banked his way downward. Folding his wings, he alighted in a crouch upon the dense turf and rose to the curious gazes of his four companions. A mottled band they were. One female and three males, all human with rounded ears, and the lot of them thieves. His current assembly of traveling companions and work cohorts. All of them as greedy for ill begotten wealth as he was.
"Well? Have you found the woman?"
Savorre cast his cutting yellow eyes at the speaker, a foul-tempered male who was the cause of most of the grief in the group dynamics. He definitely had deserved the zapping that noblewoman had given him at their attempted robbery of her.
"Down, Brodie," he intoned in a smooth voice. "I spotted her alright. She's in an abandoned village just south of here."
Brodie turned a chipped sword in his grip. "Perfect. Then we can surround her and with some intimidation find out who her family is and demand a ransom."
"I'm not so eager to be electrocuted again," spoke another man, rubbing his wrist where tendrils of burnt red webbed outward. "I say we forget the ransom and just rob her during the night. A woman like that must have her pockets full of rupees."
"I'm afraid neither option is available to us," said Savorre.
Brodie shot him a baffled look which soon turned to one of fury.
"Why the hell not? That damned bitch nearly zapped the life out of me! Hell if we don't get anything out of it."
"Calm down, Brodie," said the woman. She then turned to the rito. "I'm assuming the knights found her then?"
Savorre nodded. "Correct. There are no less than six others with her. Four of them, I am quite certain, are battle-hardened knights. Now unless you're up for the challenge of facing some of Hyrule's most prodigious warriors," he said this eyeing the man's weathered blade. "We must set our sights elsewhere. It was foolish to chase her this far into the foothills. Nobody ever comes here, and there's no notable mansions to scope out."
They had initially been on their way to the Lanayru region where there were many expensive mansions to divest of their goods, but when the noblewoman had appeared in their path it seemed the opportunity was simply too tempting for his companions who had experience in road robberies. A paltry convention. Savorre himself was only ever interested in heists that he could execute without being identified. Moreover, they usually yielded greater rewards.
"We could still ambush them," insisted Brodie, not yet deterred. He spun his sword once in his hand. "If we use a diversion, separate them, we could handle the remainder and grab her then."
"If you intend on doing something so foolish, be my guest," said Savorre, spreading a wing obligingly. "But then I would be forced to part ways. No profit was ever made by being dead."
"You're a fucking coward, that's what you are."
"And you're an idiot out for revenge." He knew the kind of man he was. The sort that was easy to offend when his own aggression was met with opposition. The sort that held a grudge when his fragile ego was scuffed.
That sort of pride shouldn't factor in to their profession. Theirs was the pride of success and nothing more.
"Bleeding cuckoo."
A click of his beak and Savorre was readjusting his tunic in readiness for flight. "In that case, I'll be off."
"Not so fast, Savorre," snapped the woman, getting to her feet. "We all just need to cool down and collect our thoughts. We can still do this. We just need to replan."
Savorre spread his wings belligerently. He wanted to be out in the sky before full darkness set. "I'm afraid our partnership is at an end. I bid you goodbye."
The woman then revealed the malicious crossbow from behind her back, bolt set and locked in place, ready to fire faster than one could blink.
"As I said," she intoned dangerously. "Wings down."
He was caught. This was why he hated collaborations. Far too many people were out to stab you in the back. He himself was included in those statistics.
"Very well," he tentatively lowered his wings, folding them up behind his back. "It's far too late to catch up with them now. We'll sleep on it."
The woman, the wretched thing, shook her head deridingly. "And have you be gone by morning? No, we're going after them tonight. Those knights are well paid. They travel lightly but will have many rupees on them to cover the expense of travel. You're going to sneak into their camp and pour a bit of this into their food. It will make them all incredibly sick and weakened, then while they're moaning from nausea we'll come in and grab the goods."
He eyed the bottle she held up, half full with purple powder. Something like that couldn't be legal.
"I see," he muttered, flexing one of his vulture like talon. He had little option but to obey for now. Perhaps this could even work out. And maybe he'd hold onto the bottle, save some of the powder for later and slip it in their food and drinks once the pillaging was done.
Hehehehe
Savorre's head instantly shot up and swiveled to locate the sound. Such an eerie voice.
The others too were alarmed and were at once on their feet, swords out, scouring their surroundings for the intruder.
"What was that? A child?" said one man.
Brodie was all irritation as he called out. "Come out welp! Else we'll drag you out."
Hehehe
Stupid red bloods. Stupid for coming here.
A pale faced boy stepped into the clearing, tongues of shadow flickering over him in the glow of their campfire. Savorre didn't like the look of him but eased regardless. Just a child. A child they could deal with.
"Where the hell did he come from?" snarled Brodie.
The woman sat back down on a fallen log, returning to minding her equipment. "He's heard too much. Just get rid of him."
Brodie sneered and brandished his sword. "Gladly. I'm sorry this has to happen kid, but you can't be getting in our way and reporting us to the authorities. I'm going to have to kill you."
The child gave a terrible smile and it was as if the moon was shining its malignant delight upon them. Savorre didn't like it one bit. There was something off about this child.
From all around them voices suddenly started whispering from the darkened trees, a multitude of faces emerged from the foliage to stare at them. His companions became rightly frightened. The woman once more leapt to her feet, while the men shook nervously.
"What the hell?" hissed Brodie, whirling in place. Staggered by the sudden presence of three dozen eyes staring vacantly at them.
The child laughed again.
Idiot red blood. You can't kill what's already dead…
The boy then let out a screech, his mouth opened wide, shark-like teeth poised for shredding.
Savorre knew no more.