LOVE IN A TIME OF CALAMITY
Part 2: After Catastrophe
Chapter 15: The Funeral, Part 3: Traysi's Investigation

Important author's note at bottom.

Chapter Warnings: None

"Miss, I stand by the crown's statement, as I have already stated. If you continue to disrupt my post I will have you removed from the ceremony."

Traysi furrowed her brow but shut her mouth as it was well on its way to its next question. Clearly she would get nothing from this guard. If she wanted to maintain a respectable front she'd need to cut it short here and backtrack in her aggression. Lowering her notebook and folding it neatly, she hid her consternation behind a forced smile, nodding respectfully at the man.

"Well, thank you very much, sir, for your time. And thank you for your service."

The guard eyed her suspiciously, grip tightening around the pole which held his lantern aloft before finally nodding in return and resuming his stance. Traysi turned and walked away from the stable entrance and back towards the crowd milling around the bonfire erected in the road between the two monuments. Her pack jangled with her footfalls as she made her way up the road. She'd thought perhaps the guards stationed on the fringes might be newbies that she could manipulate into loosening their tongue, but it seemed the Princess and the council had placed all their best men on the ground. Rats.

Traysi KNEW there was some truth to this rumor. She'd first picked it up from a stable boy at the Riverside Stable who'd heard it from his cousin who was a stable hand at the Wetland Stable who'd heard it from a farmer in the Lanyru Wetlands who supplied the castle with rice, who'd heard it from a castle scullery maid, who'd overheard two nurses talking in hushed whispers in the castle corridors about how they doubted whether "the King would ever recover". When she'd asked Barlow about it, he'd hesitated before uncomfortably repeating the council's statement almost word for word. Barlow was always an easy tell, which was why she'd buddied up to him a year and a half ago when the Master Sword had been drawn. She'd wanted an inside man on castle gossip, and he'd proved over that time a most valuable asset—especially over a pint or two of ale.

Some of the rumors she'd picked up elsewhere were a bit wild: that the King had been assassinated during the calamity by his own council, that he'd been turned into a poe by Ganon. Others seemed somewhat more likely: That the king was slowly dying, that his injuries had caused amnesia and he was no longer fit to rule or that he'd hit his head so hard he thought he was a fairy. Whatever the case, something was seriously wrong with the King and the council wanted to keep it under wraps.

She could understand, the Calamity had only just been defeated, but still she worried what an ailing King—and a lying council—could mean for Hyrule. If he was dying or ill enough to be unable to rule in a more permanent capacity, where did that leave the Kingdom? Would it entice enemy nations to seek dominion over them? Would they be safe from dangers within the Kingdom? She'd heard rumor from more than one source of increased Yiga activity in recent weeks. And though there was an heir, she was so young; was she ready to lead the kingdom through a potential crisis? But even more than that, she was the last of her line. What did they do if something happened to her?

Which led to the big, unsolved question: What exactly was going on, and how did that affect the people? Being the intrepid journalist (and rumor-monger) she was, Traysi was determined to find out.

She walked away in barely-concealed annoyance, considering her options. This guard had proved a dead end, as had been all the ones before him. She was having no luck it seemed, and with darkness falling she was starting to run out of steam. Perhaps a break was in order.

As she neared the southern gate, she neatly dodged a pack of children running down the road playing an impassioned game of tag and approached the line up to the buffet table with hungry anticipation. It had, thankfully, thinned after the first wave of people had eaten their fill, and she found herself situated near the bottom of the steps up to the podium, behind a thin Sheikah man whose pack jangled with paint brushes.

Traysi mused on the day as the line slowly moved forward. Though her progress in confirming the rumor surrounding the King had gained really no traction, the trip had not been a complete waste: it had been an exceptionally moving ceremony. She'd seen and done a lot of things, been a lot of places, and so wasn't one easily moved to tears; but even Traysi couldn't hold back the emotions the Princess' speech had evoked. She'd always been somewhat ambivalent towards the Princess, but today had done much to endear her to the journalist. She seemed a sincere and caring young woman, if a bit naive, and she had unquestioningly proved her love of Hyrule in her actions not a month ago. It had been a relief to find all those pre-Calamity rumors utterly false.

She'd heard plenty of them before Ganon had emerged, and most (if not all) had not been kind. There were the rumors that the Goddess' power had died out of the royal line, there were rumors that the Princess, in all her luxury and finery, just didn't care enough to try. There were rumors that the Goddesses were punishing her for some publicly-unknown slight against them. As the years passed and she continued to show no results, the people had taken to accusing her of being heir to a throne of nothing but failure. They were afraid, and losing hope.

Traysi hadn't bothered to pursue the rumors, in part, because she didn't really want to know. The prospect of their only hope of defeating the coming Calamity being unable to harness the needed power was a horrifying prospect, and one that induced heart-palpitating nightmares of what might be coming. So Traysi had ignored them because a small part of her feared they might be true. She wanted to hold fast to the hope that the Princess would pull through for them; and thank the Goddesses her faith had proved worthwhile.

As the Sheikah man ahead of her stepped up onto the platform, Traysi finally came in view of the table and her stomach rumbled at the sight. So much food! There must have been twenty different dishes! And for each dish which was polished off, scullery maids swooped in to replace them with a fresh, steaming plate brought down from the castle kitchens. This was truly a banquet. Eagerly, Traysi grabbed a plate—a simple unglazed stoneware affair, and began piling it high. There were breads, meats, rice, fruits and vegetables… Well, that was another point in the Princess' favor! Plate filled, Traysi made her way back down the podium towards an empty seat surrounding the bonfire and tucked in.

She unabashedly devoured her meal. She'd made the trek to the ceremony from the Lanayru Wetlands where she'd been following up on her lead regarding the King's condition. Though she'd stopped at stables along the way for full meals and a bed in which to rest her weary bones, she'd still spent a couple nights camping in the wild and eating solely from her small supply of dried fruits and meats. So this meal, this rich, delicious, savory meal, was just the the ticket to refill her energy reserves. By the time she'd polished off the last drumstick on her plate, she felt ready to give interviewing another go.

Handing off her dishware to one of the castle servants, she looked around critically to see who she hadn't already hit up. The guards at the podium? Nope, already talked to them. Hmm… The guards at the bonfire? Nope, she'd covered them too. Scanning her eyes along the road, she noticed a small but dense crowd of people. In front of the civilian monument, lit brightly by a series of lanterns artfully placed around it, the crowd moved and shifted, suddenly revealing the Princess emerging from the gaggle, escorted by her Knight. She was speaking with each around her in turn, some bowing, other kissing her hand.

The crowd was slowly thinning, and as the Princess made to head in her direction a sudden thought occurred to her. It was bold, even by her standards, and if she wasn't careful it would come across suspiciously; but the daring, insatiably curious part of her personality urged her to give it a shot. With projected calm, Traysi made steady strides towards the Princess.

An older woman held the Princess' hand reverently as she approached, bowing repeatedly with tears glistening in her eyes.

"It just means so much to me—for you to truly understand what I am going through, your Highness, I just… thank you, thank you…"

The Princess nodded, offering a small smile, and lifted her free hand to pat the elder woman's where she tightly grasped her hand. Traysi slowly approached as the elder woman released the Princess, backing away with repeated thank you's. Heart pumping, she mentally prepared her words as the Princess turned her attention to her, offering a polite smile. Stuffing any of her lingering nervousness aside, Traysi met her gaze and spoke with a put-on air of excitement.

"It is an honor to meet you, your Highness. Your speech was truly moving." The Princess nodded to her, gazing kindly.

"Thank you. What is your name?"

"My name is Trrr…isha. My name is Trisha… Smith, your Highness." Inside Traysi felt a cold chill run up her spine. That was close! Giving away her real name would be a dead give away to who she was, and what she might be up to. Her last issue of The Rumor Mill had sold like hot cakes and gained her a good deal of notoriety. Best to keep who she really was under wraps.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Trisha. Where do you hail from?"

Brushing off the near-miss, Traysi tried to re-focus on the conversation, and her performance.

"I hail from Menoat, your Highness, south of here."

The Princess nodded knowingly, "That is a long way to travel. Thank you for your attendance, today. It is my hope that through this loss we might all forge new connections—near and far."

"Indeed, your Highness, that is a noble goal," Allowing a momentary pause for effect, Traysi ignored the rapid beating of her heart and spoke her pre-prepared words, "If it is not too bold to say, when you shared your experience—of the loss of your mother, I was so moved." She let her voice wobble just a bit before continuing with heavily put-on concern, "Though, I can't imagine how hard that experience must make it feel for your father to still be recovering from his injuries. How does the King fare, your Highness? I know all of Hyrule wishes him well."

Traysi held her breath as the words left her lips, eying the Princess closely, blood rushing in her ears. She was rewarded with an almost immediate reaction. The Princess' countenance, only moments ago displaying friendly politeness, shut down the moment she'd mentioned the King. More than that, though, her Knight shifted just slightly in response as his gaze on her sharpened. Aha! Aha aha!

Though taking a moment to recover, the Princess quickly replaced her smile, but it was clearly forced. No such emotion shone from her eyes. She responded simply and with little detail.

"The King fares well. Thank you for coming, Trisha, and I wish you safe travels on your return home. If you'll excuse me…"

With a polite nod the Princess moved on, her Knight keeping his gaze on her only a moment more before turning to trail after her. Traysi stayed rooted to the spot, heart still hammering and eyes tracking the Princess as she moved further into the crowd with calculating intensity. She may not know what was wrong with the King, but that encounter had confirmed one thing: he was anything but faring well.

Once she was sure the Princess was well out of sight, Traysi pulled forth her notebook and pen from the pouch at her waist and began to dictate her conversation with the Princess, and all of her observations. Finally, a solid lead!

As she finalized her thoughts, a smooth voice coming from her right interrupted her concentration.

"Did I hear correctly that you hail from Menoat?"

Startled, she turned her head towards the source of the voice to find a handsome, well-dressed gentleman leaning casually against the side of the monument. He was tall, with dark hair slicked back in the latest fashion. He wore a cream colored shirt beneath a navy vest, cinched at the waist with a dark leather belt. An elegantly cut brown jacket with matching navy embroidery marked him a nobleman, but the crest embroidered on the pendant which hung from his neck marked him a Lynnhurst, a member of the most powerful family in the bustling port city of Menoat. Her eyes widened in surprise. Why would a LYNNHURST bother speaking with her? Why would a Lynnnhurst be mingling down with commoners at all?

Pulling herself from her thoughts, Traysi schooled her expression and tucked away her notebook, addressing him politely. She was a bit too familiar with that family for comfort.

"Yes, that's right. You must be a member of the Lynnhurst family. Lord Freder, son of Coren if I am correct?"

Freder pulled away from the monument in one smooth movement, striding casually towards her.

"Guilty as charged," He then flashed a charming smile as he reached for her hand and lifted it to his lips, bestowing a feather-light kiss upon her skin. Shock hit her as she felt his lips touch the back of her hand, and an uncomfortable shiver run up her arm as well. "And you are Trisha Smith? I do not recall any family by that name. Are you newly arrived to the city?"

Traysi felt flustered, and could feel heat rising to her cheeks. He was behaving completely out of character—at least so far she knew the Lynnhursts to be. How did one react to such a gesture—and from Lord Freder of all people? Attempting to gather her jumbled thoughts, she forced herself to string together a coherent sentence. It helped that he'd finally released her hand.

"I, uh…" Newly arrived to the city? She'd grown up there… Oh, her fake name! "Yes, yes, I am new to the city. I've lived there for… about five months?" That seemed about right, that would give someone enough time to learn about the Lynnhursts but still be relatively unknown to their all-seeing eye, in their gaudy mansion high above the city. Or so she hoped. Would he buy it? Her heart started pounding just a little bit faster.

Without missing a beat he smiled again, displaying a dazzling row of white teeth, "I see. Well, we Lynnhursts must be getting quite notorious if you're able to recognize me after so short a residence in our beloved city." He then winked at her as he pulled his arms behind his back. Traysi gulped, hoping he wouldn't pursue that line of thought. Thankfully, he let it drop.

"Trisha, it was a pleasure to meet you. I hope we cross paths some time in Menoat. Have a very pleasant evening." He then pulled forth one arm to wrap around his waist as he bowed low, offering her that same dazzling smile. Turning on his heel, he strode off towards the podium and out of sight.

Traysi let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. It had been effort enough to work up the gall to intentionally provoke the Princess, but she had not been prepared to carry on the lie in front of the very man whose powerful family she'd grown up in the shadow of. In fact, it had been all the rumors and intrigue surrounding the Lynnhursts in her youth that had spurred her interest in journalism. Staring up at their big, dark mansion on the top of the hill, she'd always wondered which rumors were true and which were fiction, and who those people truly were. And now she'd come face-to-face with one of the men which so much mystery surrounded. She shivered. As charming and, dare she say, attractive, as Freder was, there was just something about him that gave her the creeps. He was almost… too polite, too charming. Plus she couldn't shake the feeling that he'd seen right through her poorly-fabricated lie.

Feeling rattled by the exchange, Traysi decided it would be best if her next move was to simply take a break and review her notes from the day. Maybe that would help her regain her bearings. Heading for the nearby tree line and working her way around pockets of people still milling about, she pulled off her pack and rested it against the trunk of a tree along the road, settling in beside it. Opening up the pouch at her waste, she pulled forth her pen and notebook and set to work, reading her notes by the dim light cast by the bonfire and nearby lanterns.

The guards had largely been a bust. Save for Barlow none had given any hint that there could be truth to the rumors. The Princess' reaction had been strong evidence in support, but that still didn't tell her what, exactly, was wrong with the King. She huffed in frustration, flipping back the pages of her notebook in a fruitless effort to see if anything stood out or connected in some way. Nothing. Leaning her head back against the wood of the tree, she sighed. She wasn't regretting coming all this way to the ceremony—it was worth it to simply have been a part of such an important event; and admittedly the Princess' speech was pretty spectacular, she hadn't lied to her when she'd said as much. But still… she'd hoped to make headway on this rumor, and had hit a dead end right where she thought she'd make a breakthrough.

Traysi redirected her attention out at the crowd. The bonfire in the middle of the road burned brightly and a good number of people still remained, chatting and eating and enjoying each others' company. She observed, for the first time that day, genuine smiles upon the people's faces. She smiled as well. The Princess had done good, here. The people needed this.

Her musings were cut short by the sound of rustling off to her left. Startled, she whipped her head about expecting to see a stray boar—they were known to wander close to Castle Town after dusk, and was instead met with the anxious face of one of the castle butlers hiding behind a bush further into the tree line. Spotting her, the man crept forward quietly, one hand holding a finger to his mouth, the other indicating she move towards him. Curiosity piqued, Traysi tucked her notebook into the pouch at her waist and turned to sneak towards him, leaving her pack leaning against the tree. It was dark within the trees, and as she approached him she could barely make out the man's features. She met him behind the bush, and as he leaned forward, he looked anxiously left and right before speaking barely above a whisper.

"Are you the one who has been asking about the King?"

Traysi's pulse spiked. A source! She nodded eagerly, confirming in an excited whisper, "Yes, that's me."

Upon hearing her response, the man pulled a slip of paper from within his jacket and handed it to her.

"If you want answers…"

Traysi grabbed the paper, attempting to read its contents but found despite her efforts she couldn't pierce the darkness of the wood. Instead she tucked it into the pouch at her waist, slipping it in between the pages of her notebook. As she raised her head, preparing to inquire as to who the man was, she was met with empty space. The man was, inexplicably, gone. Traysi stood straighter, looking around and squinting into the darkness, but she could see nothing but the dim outline of trees and shrubs. Confounded but too excited by the note to bother chasing after him—she had what she wanted, after all—she headed back towards her pack. Settling in against it once more, she pulled the slip of paper from her pouch and examined it in the dim firelight. In elegant script it read:

"Scull Cave at the entrance to the Breach of Demise. Midnight on the Full Moon."

Excitement surged through her. It was less than a week away! Folding the paper neatly and returning it to its place within her notebook, Traysi grinned, all traces of weariness gone. Well, she thought triumphantly, tenacity and persistence had won out once again! It seemed she'd get answers after all, she only needed to wait.

A/N: Fair warning this will be somewhat of a rant. With swears.

So... I realized at some point yesterday that taxes will be due soon and I... completely forgot to start them. Add to that my three jobs, and my brother and sister-in-law who recently moved back from across the country who are being arrogant, self-absorbed, selfish assholes who are so overwhelmed with the consequences of their naive, piss-poor life decisions to even consider (or have the awareness they're not considering) the effect their actions have on others, and things have really piled up in my life right now... so I'm going to be taking a publishing break for a little while. Which I'm really pissed about because one of the things I was striving for with this story was a consistent publishing schedule.

GODDAMN STUPID FUCKING IN-LAWS $&!^) selfish #*!&? fucking $*!&# pieces of #(!?...

Okay, it's out of my system, I swear.

So in short, I need to scramble to start and finish my taxes over the next several weeks. And then, maybe try tackling the in-law problem. It may or may not involve moving. I'll try and keep you updated on when I might resume publishing, I'm thinking currently late April or early May, but I'll put a notice on my profile when I have a better idea. Part 3 is 80% complete at present, so it's just a matter of finding the time to finish and do my final sweep of edits.

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In the mean time! Review responses!

Guest 1: Thank you kindly.

Nightwing2013: Aw, yay. I'm so happy I made you tear up. lol. Also, those deets come out in Kass' final song.

Guest 2: Yaay, thank you! I can't tell you how many times I rewrote her speech trying to get the emotional tenor just right. I was totally reminded of when I was back in high school forever ago, in advanced MultiMedia, and we were tasked with doing this Every 15 Minutes drunk driving crash simulation video (look it up if you're not familiar), with the goal of, basically, being as heart wrenching as possible. We stayed up all night working on it for the assembly the next day, and after editing video of crying mothers for like, 5 hours straight, we all became kinda numb to it. So when it was shown at the assembly and everyone was bawling we were all like, "YUSSSSS", giving each other secret high fives. Also, you will love part 3. It's all about the ZeLink.

Awakening5: Thank you! That was exactly my goal (as with this chapter, and next). Hope you enjoyed!

Blizzard Nova: Woo, thanks! Welcome to the party.

Markus-Antonius: Thank you, as always :D Hope you liked the one about King Rhoam thinking he's a fairy. Kinda stole that from Tingle.

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So I hope you enjoyed, everyone. The next two chapters will follow shortly after this one. Please fav, follow, and review! I love me some reviews. See you... some time in May?

Peace.