6 years later.
...
"See that target, that's what your gonna hit." He gently moved the little girls elbow to match the arrow and the target. "What I find easier about shooting a bow, is I hold my breath in. It helps focus me more."
She puffed her cheeks before huffing in a huge gulp of air. Xeri looked at the child as if she was merely deaf and playing around. She stopped puffing her cheeks before letting a giggle out.
"Seriously, don't take a huge gulp of air either." He said sternly, her pale face turned serious and she looked towards the target. "Shoot."
She let go of the air, and landed perfectly in the red bullseye circle. She leaped up before squealing. "Xeri, I did it! Did you see it!?"
He chuckled before he kneeled down to her level. "I did, Zelda." Her face lightened up with a smile. Six years being the appointed knight for the Queen had made him a new life. Away from crime, homelessness and hunger. He ate whenever he wants, he does whatever he wants and most importantly. He takes care of Zelda.
She at that age where she can hold a bow, although he doesn't trust her with a blade just yet he thought she'd be ready for a bow. The world is getting crowded with monsters and dangerous people, and with her being the Princess; Xeri thought it was a necessary for her to know at least the basic of how to hold a bow and how to fight. Other than that, she studies her prayers and goes out to study nature. Her favorite flower is the Silent Princess. A beautiful flower which is rare around Hyrule, she loves it so much she had it planted in her study. Whenever it dies, Zelda puts a new one.
Aside from being the appointed knight, Xeri has visited his grandmother twice a month for the last 6 years. Never missing a date, always bringing her gifts that the castle can offer. Gaining trust from the public, and glares from people time to time was his life as well. He had also let some stubble grow in from always having it shaved. The Queen hadn't been feeling well, and had come down with a sickness she hasn't been able to be Queen in a couple weeks due to it.
Rhoam hadn't left her side of course, doing king stuff and immediately returning to the infirmary where the Queen laid. He had been out of it, so far to even ignoring Zelda or simply dismissing her. He shook off his thoughts before walking over to the aiming target. He roughly pulled out the arrows, before spinning around walking back towards Zelda.
"What now?" Her six year old voice squeaked. Her green eyes looking to his green eyes. He smiled before he held out a hand, she smiled before grabbing and walking back towards a secret door to the castle. He opened the door, letting her in before closing it behind him. She leapt, skipped and hopped in front of him walking towards her room.
He felt a finger tap on his shoulder, he spun around to see two royal guards. His heart skipped a beat. "What is it?"
"The king has summoned you." The taller one said. Xeri looked at Zelda who was now next to him tugging on his hand. He sighed before looking at the guard, turning to the short one.
"Escort her back to her room." The guard nodded before taking Zelda's hand who followed him. He looked towards the taller, red headed guard. "Give me an update, how is she doing?"
The guard gulped before looking over his shoulder. "The king suspects she's dying." His heart stopped, then continued to beat at a much slower pace. He looked at the younger guard before nodding his head.
"You may dismiss." The guard nodded before rather quickly leaving him alone. Xeri sighed before reopening his eyes and walking to the infirmary. How is Rhoam taking this? He hadn't exactly talked to him over the last couple weeks. Too busy at his wife's side, and on top of that he's not even attempting to try and hide it. Always has a frown on his face, yelling at castle workers or taking his anger out on anyone who got in his way. Wouldn't try that shit on Xeri thought, a nice scuffle a couple years ago left Rhoam with a busted lip.
He made the turn towards the infirmary before knocking on the door. It was a couple seconds and he had planned to knock again before it was answered by a nurse. "Tell the king I would like to have a word with him."
She nodded before the door closed. It was a couple minutes of a wait but out came Rhoam himself. He looked as if he hadn't slept in weeks, his usual cloud white beard had looked grey in spots along with the heavy baggage of his eyes which made him look about twice the times older than he actually was.
"What is it?" He asked flatly.
"You need to stop moping around, your the goddamn King. The people need you." Xeri stated. Rhoam's eyes turned to daggers and he stepped up eye to eye to Xeri. His eyes now burning with rage, Xeri must've said something that pissed him off.
"Moping? My wife is laying on that bed dying!" He viciously spat. "What do you know of? You never had a family!" And with that Xeri smashed his forearm into Rhoam's chest driving him to wall. Rhoam's head bounced off the wall, not struggling to defend himself. Rhoam's face still scrunched into a furious look now matched with the deadliness in Xeri's eyes.
"Now. I don't know if you got the fucking message," He shoved his forearm into Rhoam's chest again, earning himself a small groan from the king. "Frankly, I don't give a damn about what your going through but you listen to me. Since you've been moping about your wife, I'm the one who has taken care of Zelda. Helping her study, tucking her in at night. Taking her on her daily walks and most importantly making sure she knows her Father loves her. I care about the Queen, but snap out this shit. The only people your hurting is Zelda and the fucking kingdom." He pressed his forearm into his chest deeper. "Be a king. Yeah things are hard right now, but Hyrule needs they're King when they're Queen is dying."
He eased up before slowly taking his elbow off his chest. The King slowly came off the wall taking a small breath in. He nodded at Xeri who nodded back. "What's the word on the war in Akkala."
"General Jonah is dead." Xeri said flatly. The King huffed before putting his palm. He sighed before tightening his fist. "Bokoblin gutted him. More monsters have been sighted around Hyrule. Especially in Hebra."
"Heavens sake." The king muttered.
"Rhoam. Get some sleep, I'll watch the Queen." Xeri announced. Rhoam looked at him before closing his eyes and looking towards the sunset. The orangish-pinkish sky colored the sky of Hyrule. He looked back at Xeri and nodded. Rhoam walked towards him before grabbing his head and leaning into shoulder, slapping his back he walked away from him and turning the corner, he disappeared. Xeri looked at the closed infirmary door before sighing and walking in.
The Queen was in the biggest bed, he didn't know if she were asleep or not but she looked in pretty bad shape. Black rims had placed themselves around her eyes, her pale skin was turned to a grayish looking. Almost as if she couldn't breathe. Hylia.
She opened her eyes slightly and locked her sights on Xeri before smiling. "Rhoam sent you?"
"No, I sent him off to bed."
"He? Listened to you? That's a first." She weakly joked. It made him smile, pulling up a seat for himself. She breathed heavily before her breathing went back to normal. "I'm dying."
"Your majesty..."
"Xeri, I know I'm dying." She lightly let out. She looked up at the light that lit the area up, her blank expression and emotionless eyes made his blood cold. "This illness has only gotten worse the past couple weeks."
He lowered his head, he felt an uncomfortable chill climb down his spine. This illness was severe, but why couldn't nurses and Hyrule's best doctors find out? He pondered at the thought before looking at the sickened Queen again.
"It's not fair," She softly said. Xeri looked at the sick women, she looked at him before letting a tear escape. "What if I never see her grow up...What if-"She let her mouth agape, before she closed it. A sniff and she wiped her tired red eye with a tissue. "Tell me Xeri, what was it like to find your mother...dead?"
The question stabbed him in the heart, almost angered the man himself. He let himself calm, no one had ever asked him that question. Not even his grandmother. He sighed before looking away, it was a couple minutes before he could look at the Queen again. "I was eleven. My mom and grandmother were the only blood I had at that age, it's hard to imagine. An young eleven with barely any family. All my family were made of close friends who have they're own lives and old people in the village. It was an oddly cold day in Lurelin. Coldest I probably seen there, and my mother was drugged out of her mind. Her red, cloudy eyes that would be filled with love and adoration were filled with coldness and brokenness."
He stopped himself, he felt a tear escape his eye. He didn't cry, he doesn't cry. He hasn't cried in years, since he found that poor girl. He quickly wiped it, not allowing himself to let his guard down and look weak. He was a man, he was suppose to put on a forefront in front of people. And deal with emotions in his time.
"So, she told me to go play with my friends while she cleaned up. I stupidly did was she did instead of realizing she was planning to take more drugs, overdosing herself. I came back an hour later and found her pale as snow. I couldn't fathom the fact that she was dead for awhile. I used to wake expecting for her to be next to me, like it was a bad dream. Even burying her didn't seem real, it seemed like a gigantic nightmare. Until I woke up one day, and she just wasn't there. I even forget that it was so long ago, and that it'll never happen again."
The Queen looked away with a sad face, he seen tears brimming in her. He looked back at the women after staring at the ground before opening his mouth. "But I'm glad. Because I know she isn't suffering anymore. I used to deny it...but I believe she was better off dead than living while suffering."
His heart throbbed saying that. The Queen wearily opened her mouth to say something but stayed silent before closing it. Frankly, Xeri didn't feel like answering or responding to her questions. Damn, why did she always make him vent to her.
"Promise me one last thing, Xeri. Considering I know it's time for your daily visit to your village."
"What's that?"
She turned her head and eyes filled with plead. "Please take care of her. Guide her to be the beautiful women she aspires to be one day, and a amazing Queen."
All Xeri could do is nod.
...
Lighting struck when he left Hyrule. Riding on a horse from the castle stable, he made it to Faron by the late afternoon or to make it more specific, sunset. He hastily hurried his horse the rest of the trip before finally reaching the fishing village. It didn't seem right leaving the kingdom in times like this, but Rhoam insisted he be with his family in times like this. And now here he was, entreating Lurelin Village.
Bamboo torches lit the town up with they're orangish flaming glow. The horse trotted into town before he took a curve got he right trotting towards his hut. Eh smiled before hopping off the horse from behind, running up to the hut. But his grandmother wasn't there. All that was there was a letter.
"Dear Xeri, I'm in Gerudo If your reading this. I won't be back for two days. Food is wrapped on the counter.
-Love Grandma."
He sighed before folding the paper and putting in a draw. What the hell was she doing in the desert? He didn't think much of it. He went to leave the hut before spotting a rolled cigar on the counter next to the wrapped plate of food. You know me too well. He thought before swiping it.
He pulled a lighter out of his back pocket before lighting it. He inhaled some smoke before blowing it. He watched the stars and moon dance in the darkness, lighting the ocean up with it's grayness. He took another hit of the blunt before hearing footsteps behind him.
"Gotta light?" The middle aged dark skin man asked. Xeri turned around to notice this man as Geryi. Owner of the gambling shop a couple huts away. His grey beard and balding hair matched his face in which you could tell he was an aging man. Xeri fumbled in his pocket and pulled out the lighter. He lit it so Geryi could put his cigar in the fire. Lighting it, he puffed a cloud a smoke from the blunt before blowing out more smoke. "Thought I wouldn't see you for awhile, kid."
"You know I visit every month." Xeri countered back.
"It's unpredictable. Sometimes you come the first week, sometimes the last week or the middle of the month. Also weird how late it is, everyone's asleep." He explained taking a hit from his cigar.
"I don't exactly have time to plan it out, it just happens. Regardless, I come back. I don't forget where I came from." He said firmly.
"Power to ya kid, not many celebrities or people with social status willingly to be proud where they came from." He said holding the cigar high before lowering it. "So what's it like working for the kingdom? Being the Queen's appointed knight?" Geryi asked. Xeri looked at him before blowing a cloud of smoke from his mouth, he tapped it to let the ash fall of before crossing his arms with the blunt in his hand.
"Definitely an experience. I get bowed at, I get called "Sir Xeri" or being bowed upon. It was a little shaky at first and definitely uncomfortable. But I eventually grew into it."
Geryi scoffed before taking another smoke of the cigar. He blew the smoke out before he threw the cigar in the sand, he turned towards the taller man. "Your momma would've been proud, kid. That's for certain. Besides drugs, she loved you with every fiber of her being."
He looked over before looking towards the never ending waves of water. "Lemme ask you something." Geryi grunted in response. "Take a deep look at the sky. Do you believe there is life outside of this planet?"
Geryi looked up at the sky. His wrinkled eyes squinted and locked onto different areas of stars before shrugging his shoulders. "Well it happened here, what makes other planets different?"
The man waved before turning to walk towards the gambling shop. He watched him until he disappeared into the hut and it before king Xeri plucked his cigar. He took one last look at the night sky.
A shooting star flew across the sky before disappearing. He sighed before walking towards his hut. He felt himself begin to shut down, and it wasn't long until he was lying on his bed.
He closed his eyes and sleep overcame him.
...
A knock on the door of his hut woke him up. Cloudiness filled his freshly opened eyes, before he could see what's going on another knock erupted from the doorway. "Yeah, one minute!"
He finally wiped the crust from his eyes before grabbing a cup of water and splashing it in his face. Inhaling a gulp of hair, he wiped his wet face with his shirt before walking to the doorway of the hut. Rain poured heavily down, and Hyrule knights stood in front of the hut. Goddamnit, what now?
"Sir Xeri." The sergeant greeted.
"Yes, what seems to be the problem?"
The sergeant gulped before taking a deep breath. "The Queen of Hyrule died last night due to illness. The kingdom has summoned your presence by tomorrow morning."
He felt hisheart skip a beat. Shit.