5 Blood Pact
Kahen's wound had been infected and he spent a whole day unconscious, with all the sheikah doctors around him.
Being so far from home, Kahen and his men had gone to the Rito Village for help, and two rito flew him to the castle. No matter how quickly they came back, it took almost two days, at which time Kahen's wound was open and suppurating. One of my brother's dirty-eyed men had been buried by the rito in Hyrule's land, just across the border. Elinald-hooknose had flown with my brother, and just one day ago the last soldier arrived, with his clothes full of blood and mud.
Father spent his time meeting with Gerry and Impa to organize a proper strategy to welcome Grenmak, the head of the Western peoples, and in the meantime, Gae and I swarmed around the castle in a kind of false calm, appearing an abnormal normality, with at least twice as much escort around us than usual. Father even ordered a sheikah to follow me everywhere.
The subject of my marriage had gone into a discreet and logical background. Prince Richard left back to Lumbar as soon as he heard the words "the road is safe" from Impa's mouth. He ran away, almost without saying goodbye, as if he were afraid to get trapped in the castle. Gae made fun of him by saying that he could never defend me from anything with that letter opener to the belt and his "enormous bravery." He doesn't understand. I don't want a brave husband, or a great warrior who enjoys savoring chaos, like Prince Ganondorf. I just want someone to let me live in peace, without wars or conflict, just in peace. Speaking of Ganondorf, he insisted on staying. He offered his troop of twelve women to Father, he said he would defend the castle tooth and nail against the barbarians of the mountains. Father was angered by his excessive insistence and had to ask the gerudo prince to return immediately to the desert, as he didn't want to further aggravate the "diplomatic conflict." How can Father call what had happened 'diplomatic conflict'? What punishment awaited Kahen?
"Zel, may I come in?", Gae was on the other side of my door. Night had fallen and I was hoping he would come to visit me from one moment to the next.
I opened him and took out two glasses to serve us some Necluda wine. We were both crestfallen and worried, and we needed that time of intimacy more than ever.
"Prince Ganondorf has already left. I've seen him with his women crossing the gates on horseback."
"It's about time," I snorted, "I thought he'd stay and live at the castle forever."
"You haven't been able to talk with worm-neck either..."
"No," I grinned, and I took a triumphal sip of my wine, "it's probably going to be a while before we get back to this matter, first, things have to calm down."
"That sheikah is still at your door. He looked at me as if I came here to ransack your chamber," he laughed.
"It's absolutely unbearable and exaggerated. We are perfectly safe at the castle." I grumbled, "Anyway, let's forget about him. Do you bring any more news? Any word on the barbarians?"
"The truth is I do..."
As Gae studied with some of the temple priests, he was always close to messaging. He knew what messages came and went, it used to be a reliable source of information and news in the castle. Ladies (and obviously among the ladies, the princess) were excluded from almost everything relevant, even more so from possible news of war, so I had no choice but to rummage through information in the same way I rummaged through the cellars to steal wine.
"C'mon, the stupid sheikah can't hear us, the walls of this room are thick."
"A hawk arrived with a message from Lord Tyto, the Rito patriarch. An army of Western peoples was trying to cross the border into Hyrule. That happened several days ago, so they must be near the castle."
"For goddesses' sake, none of this should have happened, Kahen is an idiot!"
"The good thing is that Lord Tyto prevented them from crossing and almost the entire barbarian army had to stay at the Rito region, only few of them were allowed to cross the border. We could defeat them easily."
"And then what? It doesn't make much sense to do something like that..."
Just then, the horn of the royal guard of the castle rang. Gae and I hurried to look out the window and saw a parade of horses and torches in the distance, making their way through the gates.
"Father's out," Gae whispered.
"The barbarian army must be at the gates," I deduced, with anguish, "Father is an idiot, why is he exposed in this way?"
"Look, Gerry goes with him."
"Gerry is not almighty. Why isn't Kahen going? Why doesn't he confront his mistakes?"
"He's still convalescing, you know, Zel."
I snorted angry and rushed my glass of wine. Kahen had exaggerated his wound as much as he could to quell the wrath of Father and escape from this conflict. Gae didn't agree with me, in fact, he took care of our brother the time he was unconscious as if he were going to pass away at any moment.
We rushed the bottle of Necluda wine in the dark and leaning on the edge of my window, waiting to see a light, hear a horn, something. None of that happened, in the end we were sleepy and Gae and I fell on my bed without changing our clothes.
I slept poorly, assaulted by nightmares. Sometimes it happened to me, I dreamed of sinister things that I tried to forget as soon as I opened my eyes. This time I had a slightly different dream. The dark and poisonous vapors of other nightmares returned, but I could see the entrance gates to the castle open wide. And there was... a presence. There was someone at the door, someone trying to set aside the darkness, and that comforted me. I wasn't alone, a kind of warmth grew inside my chest. It was the first time I dreamed of such a thing, in all the recurring nightmares I always ended up helpless and swallowed by the darkness.
"Someone has come to the castle!" I exclaimed in my sleep. That woke me up, I jumped sharply and discovered Gae by my side, rubbing an eye with his fist.
"Take it easy! You scared me with your nightmare, Zel. It's just Gerry's horn, they're back."
"Gerry...," I murmured, half asleep.
Gae pulled me to peek into the window. I breathed again to see that Father and his men had returned unscathed, with the spears aloft and the peace flag still unfurled. Then we went to bed again, it was still dawning, and we wanted to get more sleep. The bad news is that that day Amy came unusually early. She didn't even scold Gae when she found out he was asleep on my bed. She also pretended she hadn't seen the empty bottle and glasses over the window.
"Come on, we must hurry, princess, Prince Gaepora. Your Father wants to talk to you three this morning, he asked me to get you ready as soon as possible, before breakfast," Amy said, throwing Gae out of bed and pushing him to the door.
"Kahen too?" He asked, drowsy.
"Yes, everyone, everyone. Come on, let's hurry!"
Even half slept, I went to the living room where we used to have breakfast. Gae was more asleep than I was, and he hadn't even combed. His hair was scrambled around a swirl that formed in his crown, every time I looked at him, a smile was slipping away from me. Kahen appeared helped by a couple of servants, who sat him in an armchair near the fireplace.
"What's wrong with the old man?" Kahen growled, moaning every time he moved a little.
"Don't you know? The barbarians are in Hyrule!" Gae exclaimed.
"Goddesses, we should send the cavalry and crush them all," Kahen grumbled.
"Really? Do you think that after murdering a girl and abandoning her to her fate, it's best to send the cavalry?" I reproached him. I couldn't stop moving around and circling the room, arms folded over my chest.
"I didn't murder anyone. Murder is a very different thing. And I remind you that a prince of Hyrule has been wounded. Thank you for your concern —Kahen filled his throat with a glass of water that Gae served him. We were alone, there were neither guards nor servants.
"Thank you for getting that scratch," I replied. I was nervous and I was paying my unease state with him, but I didn't care. He got us into that mess.
"It was an accident, sister. I would never have killed a girl, and you know it. You know me and you know it."
"Then why did you abandon her?" I snapped at him sulkily. I couldn't even think about what he and his stupid men had done.
"Because... Women don't understand anything. I've already explained my reasons to Father."
"Coward," I roared.
"Calm down, " interjected Gae, standing between the two.
"It doesn't matter, Gae. He lets himself be advised by that hook-nosed idiot and now we're at the gates of a war."
"A war we would easily win if Father had the guts." He replied. Then he coughed and drank water again. He looked bad, and I was glad that the scratch had caused him to have a hard time, as his conscience seemed to be unharmed.
There was no more time to argue, which I thanked. Normally after an argument the reproaches about old squabbling between siblings surfaced, and I used to end up furious and slamming the door. Father appeared as an exhalation. He asked Gerry to leave us alone for a while, and he locked himself in the room with us. He had two huge bags of tiredness under his eyes, the result of spending the night awake. He poured water on a chalice and drank it whole.
"Take a sit," he asked me and Gae. We both exchanged a look before obeying.
"Have the barbarians come? How dare they?" Kahen was the first to speak.
"It was expected they would come; don't you think?" Father fulminated him with a look and squeezed his lips. "First of all, I demand respect and silence. I expect a worthy behavior of the heirs to Hyrule's throne—I looked at Father and he avoided my eyes. That gave me a bad feeling and I started to feel the nerves sticking to my stomach. "Last night I met Grenmak of Fort Hawk, and the leaders of the clans of the lands of the West. They came with a reduced version of their army, thanks to the intervention of Lord Tyto. But they have a lot of men. Many more."
"Not even the eighth of us," Kahen growled, crossing his arms.
"I said silence." Father roared. Kahen bowed his head and Father kept talking, "they explained me what happened. The versions of the story have been proven and fit. It's true that that girl's death was an accident, but it wasn't an accident to abandon her like that. It's true that one of our own fell, and it's true that we attacked first."
"There was no choice! You should see those bloodthirsty barbarians..." Kahen risked it, interrupting again.
"I have seen them and spoken to them," Father replied, "and I know they let you run away on purpose. It could have been worse. The negotiation hasn't been straightforward. The girl's father cried for vengeance, and with him many of the voices that represented him in that camp. We can't risk going to war with them.
"They are few, really few… a ridiculous tiny army. With minimal effort we could have the control of Fort Hawk."
"I don't want that control!" The voice of Father resonated this time throughout the room, "I wish I could live in peace with our neighbors and use force only if necessary. Hebra's clans are bordering Ikana, Kahen. And those clans just need a bag of gold to change their minds and side with our enemies. You should know their ambition. I trust Grenmak, he's a noble man who has always kept his word towards Hyrule. But I don't trust the clan chiefs. An offense could mean opening the door to an enemy of a massive dimension. It had to be solved differently, the trust must be restored."
"We have gold too," Gae interjected, "couldn't we get ahead of a pact with Ikana?"
"And indeed, we will," Father replied, "it will be our turn to disburse a not inconsiderable amount."
"I'm glad everything cleared up," I said, breathing soothed.
"Gold is not enough," Father then looked toward the chimney, "gold it's volatile, when it's spent, they'll want more and look for it in the best bidder. So, I have no choice but to ensure a pact that establishes a strong alliance, which lasts in time much longer than a few gold chests."
"Father...?"
"Grenmak has children and so do I."
"You must be joking," Kahen said, alarmed.
"It's not what I wanted, the goddesses know," Father seemed exhausted, as if he had aged suddenly.
"What have you agreed?" I asked, and Father looked me in the eye for the first time.
"You'll marry Chief Grenmak's eldest son in a week."
Suddenly it was as if my legs failed me, luckily, I was sitting down. A week? No, Father would never allow this madness. He protected me from Ganondorf. Kahen, he was the only guilty. I hadn't done anything wrong. I was going get engaged to Richard, in several years we'd get married and go to Lumbar, to live near the sea, in the East.
"Why me?" It was the only thing I dared to say. I looked serene, spoke serenely, but tears scurried down my cheeks and I was helpless, unable to stop it.
"Grenmak's youngest daughter is only seven years old, she's little for your brothers. We can't wait that long for her to be a woman, that would be taking a too big risk."
I fell silent, blinked trying to open my eyes and discover that all that was just another nightmare. Gae and Kahen were crestfallen, unable to articulate words. It was our duty of princes to ensure the peace and stability if a political marriage was needed. We were taught that almost before we walked or babbled our names, so there was no possible complain.
"The boy is Kahen's age, his name is Link."
Father kept talking, but I heard him as a distant echo, as a resonance against the walls of the room. My whole life had turned around, I could no longer settle near the East border. I couldn't go to the excavations, the whole project I had in mind had just been shredded.
"... that it's a Blood Marriage, as is tradition for the peoples of the mountains."
Those Father's words brought me back to reality, I didn't know that the pact also came with a special clause.
"Blood Marriage? What's that?" I asked. I've probably studied or read it, but I was too obfuscated to reason about anything.
"Mountain clans only consider a marriage to be valid when it has been consummated. Such an important union should be consummated on the same night it is celebrated."
I felt like laughing, like crazy. Weightlessness was replaced by a kind of fire that burned in my stomach. And Father couldn't even face me. Thus, the king of Hyrule protected his daughter from a bad marriage: he would give her to a western barbarian from which we had no record of his existence, force her to give her virginity in less than a week, to a stranger, to someone who could be a potential monster, "bloodthirsty barbarians", Kahen said. I heard some justifications, such as that he would try to guarantee my safety, that it was an ancient tradition, that we could not take any risks and that in the past all the royal marriages were Blood Marriages to ensure a strong bond was established (it wasn't like that for him because the tradition fell into disuse, praise be the goddesses!). To hell with everything, I couldn't take it anymore.
I got up and didn't answer Father when he begged me to say something. I couldn't look at Gae. I took two strides and slapped Kahen with all my might, so hard my hand hurt. He ducked his head and whispered a "sorry."
The days after were the preparations for my wedding. I barely got out of bed.
I slept long hours thanks to those sheikah potions that made you sleep without dreams. Hours of emptiness, blank, to escape reality.
The barbarians kept their camp in the royal forest, a couple of hours' horseback ride from the castle. They had no time to return to their lands and be back for the wedding, and thousands of hawks flew with invitations to the event. They had to delay the wedding date so that the most important attendees would be in the castle on time. So, the wedding wouldn't be in a week but in ten days.
I didn't participate in any preparations. I didn't choose flowers, or music, or what dishes would be served at the banquet. The news had hit me so much that I felt empty, I ceased to exist to be just a body, like a hollow shell. My answer to everything was "yes" or "fine", and when they realized they weren't going to get anything more out of me, they stopped asking.
Amy broke in tears every time she came to take care of me in my quarters. She didn't say a word to me, she said everything with her tears. She cried while I was being measured for my wedding dress, and even more when tried it on. She cried when she was braiding my hair, untangling it after many hours of bed and sleep. I couldn't stand to see her like that anymore and asked Mel to spare her mother from such torture. Since then, only Mel and her sister have attended me directly.
I also received the visit of Impa, the most embarrassing of all the visits of those days. She was appointed to explain me the ins and outs of my marriage's "consummation ceremony." She would be present as a representative of my family, along with another witness from Fort Hawk. They had to make sure that the marriage was consummated, and it was a real marriage that would end the conflict, and there had to be witnesses to avoid deception on the part of the bride and groom. "I will not look, Your Highness, and I'll make sure that the other witness does not look either if he wants to keep his eyes within the basins."
I didn't flinch, I just looked at her with my empty eyes from those days. Then she gave me some advice on the ceremony itself. How I was supposed to position myself, what I had to do with my body to make the experience as less traumatic and painful as possible. I would never have imagined that a sheikah would have to lecture me on something like that. She also promised that she wouldn't hesitate to stab my husband if he became violent, if he tried to hit me or if... I didn't want to hear it. I didn't want to think of all those "attractive" possibilities. Impa would be there to protect me that night, yes, but what would happen to all the other nights? I burst into tears in silence, and she withdrew, without saying anything else.
Sometimes Gae came to cheer me up, fill up two glasses of wine that he would end up drinking alone. His visits became a kind of forced monologue. I was usually distracted by small things: altercations between squires, his sheikah training, corridor rumors. Things that made us both laugh before everything twisted.
"Zel, you're up," he said this time, forcing that unnatural cheerful tone.
I was looking out the window, thinking about what would happen if I got on the edge and jumped from there. No. I was ruined, but even ruin was more attractive than ending up crushed on the ground beneath my tower. I could always throw myself from the tower of Fort Hawk or wherever I went to live, that would be much more dramatic, the minstrels would have a field day with such story.
"I bring news," Gae sat in front of me and filled two glasses of wine. He offered me one and I silently rejected it, he gave a drink to his—There is a visit to the castle. Your... your... Grenmak's son is here.
I looked at him for the first time, frowning.
"He asked for you," he went on, avoiding my furious gaze.
"And Father sent you to convince me to go see him," I reasoned. I hit the mark, as Gae ducked his head in embarrassment.
"He just wants to be polite to you before your wedding," he justified, "the boy seems friendly, really."
"You can save yourself all the courtesy for me."
"He doesn't look like a bloodthirsty barbarian, he's young and handsome, Zel. Oh! And I heard that his mother was from Hyrule," Gae continued.
"I don't want to hear from him, and I don't intend to leave this chamber. If you're here just to convince me, you're wasting your time. I know very well what my duty is as a princess and I will do it when the time comes. All I ask is that you leave me alone, all of you! These are my last days as Zelda Bosphoramus, then I'll never be me again, Father has sold me out, you understand? I don't want to see that barbarian, Father, Kahen, or anyone!"
Gae nodded and put the glass of wine on the table. Then he left me alone, he… not only he, in fact all of them treated me as if I was crazy or sick. I was going to do my duty, of course, I was going to atone for Kahen's sins. I was a princess and knew what my duty was. But I also wanted to give myself my last and only selfish whim: to disappear, not to feel, not to participate, to be alone, to say goodbye to myself.
With tears of rage filling my eyes, I opened my file cabinet. All my maps, my annotations, my notebooks... I teared them to pieces, one by one. When I was done, a mountain of shredded paper and broken dreams lay on the floor of my quarters. Somehow, I felt released, my whole past was gone along with my tears. I was ready to face my destiny.
And… the wedding day came.
Overcoming all my inner demons, I got up differently. I had already grieved, I had cried, I had let myself be carried away by anger. Now all I had to do was to fulfill my duty. I'd been prepared for this since I was a child, although I always thought it would be Kahen and not me, ever, who had to go through all this. It was even more unfair if I thought it was him who had provoked everything, I should be engaged to Richard, I should be planning the camp for research, not letting myself bathe and perfumed by my maidens for my wedding day.
I got up long before dawn, there was a lot to grooming and styling to do. Before noon I had my dress on and I looked at myself in the mirror, in my room. It was a beautiful dress; I would have chosen it that way if I hadn't been too angry to think about it. The cut of the neckline suited me and the corset, even though it was tightening, it was not drowning. The gold lace was soft as a caress, it wasn't heavy, and it made a pleasant sound as I moved it around the room. And it was blue, a beautiful dark blue. Luckily for me pink was not a colour for a wedding, the brides in my family had to choose between red or blue.
Amy came to say goodbye to me, wept more than any other day, but this time I gave her words of comfort that didn't exist for me, and I hugged her. Then I was left alone to wait for the time to come. I peeked out the window, the carriages arrived at the castle almost nonstop. There were rito flying around, and the goron made the ground shake, as they rolled down the cobbled paths of the Citadel. They knocked on my door, it was Gae. I asked him to take me to the temple, I wanted to get there on his arm. Father and Kahen would be on the throne, presiding over the ceremony, as protocol dictated, and would only be lowered from their position upon my arrival. There would also be the barbarian and his family, of course. My stomach twisted at the thought.
My brother burst into tears when he saw me. He also had a hard time with all this, but I had been too enclosed in my feelings to see his. I hugged him, and he cried over my shoulder for a few seconds.
"You look too pretty, it's unfair," he said, grinning. A genuine smile from my Gae at last.
"Unfair?" It made me smile.
"Because it's unfair that you look so pretty for something like this, so unnatural and forced. It's appalling that you have to give yourself up like this —he wiped away the tears and pulled himself together. He had grown a lot in the last few weeks, he was becoming more a man and less a child, my Gae...
"I'm so sorry about my behaviour these days. I had nothing against you. I was just... furious. I was afraid. And I still am." I admitted, holding his hands.
"Don't apologize, I understand. We all understand, even Kahen."
"Don't mention him," I drew a grimace.
"Will you forgive him one day?"
"Perhaps. When I'm an old lady with half a foot in the other world," I made Gae laugh.
He helped me drape the long bridal cape over my shoulders. It was white, and it was several feet long. It was tradition for the bride to wear the cape with her family emblem on the wedding's day, in my case the emblem of Hyrule's royal family. I adjusted the diamond tiara that had belonged to my mother and took a breath in front of the mirror, trying in vain to fill my lungs.
"They're waiting for us," Gae raised his elbow and offered it to me.
I hooked on his arm and walked slowly, the dress was light, but the cape was heavy, and it was hard to walk with it. The bells of the Temple of Light began to ring, cheerful, indolent. Nerves settled back into my stomach. I had tried to mentally get ready for the moment, but how can anyone get ready for something like this? Especially for that cruel ceremony that Father had agreed without hesitation.
As I left my quarters, I met Gerry and Impa. They'd escort us.
"Your Highness, I will always be with you, never forget it. And don't forget what we talked about," Impa said. I smiled at her, she managed to give me some strength.
Gerry bowed and made his way along the corridors of the castle.
As we got closer to the temple it smelt of flowers. Petals rained down from the sky and there was a great din, people had crowded around to watch me walk up the stone steps. I could also see the barbarians dressed in furs and horned helmets. They were shouting and mingling in the crowd, on both sides of the street. My nerves were on edge every time I saw them. I was on my way to a kind of prison.
I reached the top of the stairs and I took a last breath. Everything had to happen fast. I'd close my eyes, and when I opened them again, it would all be over. I felt Gae's arm leave me, and the temple organ rumbled, announcing my arrival. I began to walk towards the altar of ceremonies, my last steps as Zelda Bosphoramus. After that, only the goddesses would know what could happen.