Chapter 8

A Pre-emptive Strike

"Your Highness"

"Advisor. Brief me."

"Our allies are ready. They wish to see proof, though."

"They will see it soon enough. Vance, I must admit. This is one of your better plans. I thank you for sharing it with me."

"No I thank you, Your Highness. It had to be modified a little to accommodate the Freelander. But this way we kill two cuccos with the same Deku nut."

"Have you found the girl?"

"Almost, Your Highness, almost. Patience."

"This is a dangerous game we play, Vance. We cannot stretch ourselves too thin. Now we attack on two fronts."

"We are prepared. Nothing will deny you what you seek."

"What of the Morolaks?"

"Dealt with, sire. The Duke and Duchess are dead."

"Excellent. We will tell the Morolaks that there was a storm or some such tale. They will send new emissaries. This time no one will interfere with the treaty."

"Your Highness, after tonight Zelda and Chizan will no longer be a problem."

2

"Link is coming here?"

Cyle's angry voice rang out from the Royal bedroom. Zelda watched him, her gaze firm and unwavering. He paced around the room, fists clenching and unclenching. His steps were so hard that he left footprints in the dark blue carpet. The scent of perfume hung in the air. Zelda spent a lot of her free time in this room.

"I have summoned him," she said, sitting on the edge of the bed, her hands folded on her lap. The bed was far too big, especially now that it was occupied only by herself. Cyle slept in his study. She knew that he wouldn't like the idea of Link's return, but now she was beyond caring. Link was coming and it would do her good to see a familiar face. She felt a flicker of doubt. That is, if he still wanted to talk to her.

"No, no, no, no, no," the King said, shaking his head with each word. "Unsummon him."

"Don't be absurd." She was a little taken back by the heat of his response. They had spoken little about the Hero during their time together. She still couldn't understand why Cyle hated him so. "He is already on his way."

Cyle stopped abruptly, spinning around to look at her, his face contorted in anger. "How dare you?" he growled. "How dare you bring him here without first consulting me?"

Zelda felt her own face burn in indignation. She rose from the bed, hands on her hips. "I am the Queen of Hyrule. I can keep my own counsel on whom I shall summon to my castle."

"Queen of Hyrule," he said, the acid bite of sarcasm in his voice. He rolled his eyes. "You are nothing but an ornament, brought out to appease the dull-minded masses."

"You were nothing," she said hotly, eyes narrowed and pointing her finger. "Without me."

Cyle seethed at the truth of the words.

"Where would all your high and mighty friends be, Cyle … where would all your wealth be … where would your power be … had you not married me?"

The muscles in his jaw spasmed as he bit back a retort. He closed his eyes, then said with a sigh. "Zelda, Zelda, Zelda." He smiled. "Forgive me, my dear. I am under … so much stress. The talks with the Freelanders go unsuccessfully. I did not mean to be so sharp." He stepped up to her and put his hands on her arms.

The Queen wasn't fooled. She knew her husband well, knew that he thought his smile could help him out of any situation. Even help him get away with murder. She froze, blinking. Where had that last thought come from?

He kissed her lightly on the forehead. "Am I forgiven?" Again, that smile. Zelda was familiar enough with it to be able to see it for the deception that it was. In this case, familiarity bred more than contempt, it created outright hatred. As she looked up at him, she hoped he wouldn't see that loathing reflected in her eyes.

She wriggled out of his grasp, not bothering to even reply, and went to her mirror, smoothing her hair down and pretending to check her face. She would not cry. She would not give him the satisfaction.

Cyle watched her as she sniffed away tears. "Tonight there is a feast," he said.

Another one! Did he think that Chizan would be impressed with food? She turned to give him her opinion, but he held up a hand saying, "You do not have to attend. It is for men only."

Zelda paused. Somehow she didn't like the sound of that. "Who has been invited?" she asked.

The King picked up an ornament from her dresser. It was a tiny replica of Death Mountain, encased in a glittering crystal. As he examined it, the Queen remembered that it had been a gift from Darunia on her wedding day. "Representatives from four of the nations that have signed the treaty. Plus, Elders from the villages of Hyrule."

"This sounds important. I should be there. What is to be discussed?"

"No, nothing important," he said. Zelda noticed that he had turned away from her. "Just a little celebration of our alliances. Men having a drink and gorging themselves." He turned back, smiling. "You won't like it. Just rest tonight."

She heard the false tone of concern in his voice and ignored it. Instead she asked softly, "Cyle … why do you hate Link?"

The King walked slowly around the bed. Laid there was the purple gown that he had spent thousands of rupees on as a gift. He had called in the best seamstresses from all over the globe, and they had spent a month working on it. She had accepted it awkwardly. On one hand, she thought it a terrible waste of money and on the other hand she had been slightly touched by this rare display of affection. She'd been planning to wear it this day. Cyle took the fabric in his fingers and rubbed it slowly.

"Is it because of what he said about Malon?" Zelda continued when he did not reply. "I thought you said you had forgiven him for his accusation. That you understood that anger had clouded his memories."

The Queen noticed a slight frown flicker over his features at the mention of Malon. "No," he said. "Not because of the farmgirl."

"Then why?" Her voice was gentle.

Cyle walked to the door, ready to leave. He paused to look at her, his eyes sad, his mouth only half smiling. For a heartbeat, she remembered why she had been so taken with him all those summers ago.

"Because you still love him."

3

"She suspects nothing, Your Highness?"

"No, I don't think so, Vance. This … this is leaving a bad taste in my mouth."

"Sire, now is not the time for weakness. Think of what you are about to gain."

"Is it really enough? Is this nothing more than a fool's quest? What am I giving up?"

"Sire! You have spent your entire life building for this. The gains you will receive immensely outweigh anything you will lose. Sacrifices have to made for things truly worth having."

"Sacrifices."

"Yes. When we find the girl and put everything into motion, you will be remembered for eternity. Not just in Hyrule. Not just on this world. Nay, in all the worlds!"

"Yes…yes. You are right. The beginning of the end starts tonight."

4

Zelda was awoke from her nightmare to the sound of someone thudding on her door. Her eyes adjusted to the inky darkness as she recalled her dream. Misshapen creatures with hissing voices and blood stained axes had swarmed through Hyrule, cutting down all in their path. Screams echoed through the land, but most unsettling of all was the low, constant murmur of despair that pervaded her country. She was surprised that she no longer woke up screaming.

The thudding came again, more insistent this time. "I am coming," Zelda said, still managing to recall her practised royal voice. As she slipped out of bed, blinking away the tiredness in eyes, she remembered that there were other dreams that disturbed her a lot more than her most recent one. Dreams of her plunging a knife into her husband's heart, then twisting the hilt. The dream was so vivid that she would wake trying to wipe the blood off of her hands. Curse Tyron and Chizan! How could what they plotted be considered a 'Heroic Deed'? The Queen wondered why the Freelanders were still here. The Prince had rejected both her and Cyle.

She heard Mina snoring lightly nearby, surprised that her Advisor had not awoken, too. There was little time to light a torch and find her dressing gown, so she tiptoed over the cold floor to open the door a little way.

"Yes, what is it?" she asked. Before her stood a Royal Messenger, his face flushed red with panic, his eyes darting this way and that.

"It is Prince Chizan! So terrible … maybe he's hurt. He kept asking for you. It is urgent!" he breathed quickly.

Her heart lurched, forgetting the irritation she had felt towards the Freelander only a moment ago. "Where is he?"

"The conference room, Your Majesty."

Wide awake now, she strode out of her room, still in her nightclothes. There was no time for her to worry about modesty especially if a friend was hurt. Running down the stairs, a small thought nagged at her. Why had she never seen that particular Messenger before?

The conference room was dark when she reached it. Puzzled, she noticed that the Messenger had not followed her in. The room had a lot of retractable walls that were used when more space was needed. Had Chizan stumbled into one of those walls and hurt himself? Strange…there were no lit torches nearby that she could use. She shuffled further into the room, feeling apprehensive. The faint moonlight trickling in through the windows revealed little. She hugged herself, feeling the cold more in her soul than in the air. Something wasn't right. She caught the sound of boots scuffing on the floor. "Prince Chizan…?" she called, her voice quiet.

"Your Majesty..?" His voice was faint.

Suddenly she felt something or someone breeze past her, and she was momentarily spun around, disorientating her. She was shoved to the ground, gasping. A moment later someone toppled on top of her with a grunt, making her lose her breath once again, and sending sharp pains up and down her back.

Zelda heard the deep rumble of a wall opening, bathing the conference room with light. She looked up to see Chizan's purple eyes directly above her, his golden features creased in confusion. In the new opening stood Cyle, the representatives of the four signed nations and the Village Elders, their faces grim. She also noticed some villagers, both men and women.

Chizan was still atop of her, their arms and legs entwined. They scrambled to their feet as she hissed in a whisper, "What's happening?"

"I received a message," he said quickly. "It said you were hurt and …"

"Silence, Freelander," Cyle said. There was a tense moment of silence before he turned to the other people, his face sagging with sadness. "You see? You did not believe me, my friends." His voice was quiet, yet his tone acidic. "But, behold … the sad truth. Your Queen is being unfaithful to me."

The colour drained from Zelda's face as the realisation hit her. How must it have looked to these people, discovering Chizan on top of her in the dark? That she was still in her nightclothes and looking flustered must have added extra spice to the sauce.

"It certainly seems that way," the Calatian representative, a tall, muscular man, said. Zelda knew that marriage was sacred, one of the few things that all the nations agreed upon. Some would give their children and grandchildren to Ganon himself than witness a breaking of a marriage through infidelity or annulment. She herself shared that view, though she had pondered annulment a lot over the last few months. But only for the sake of her people. Now it looked like the decision had been taken out of her hands.

There were still expressions of doubt on some of the guests. Cyle noticed and said, "I know … I know. I did not want to believe it either. I had suspicions that she had done this before with other men, but I was willing to overlook it, hoping I was mistaken. What do you think she was doing, hidden away for two summers? A very strange thing for a Queen to do … unless she was hiding something!" He let the accusation sink in for a moment before continuing, "They are very clever these two, showing one face to the public while keeping their love hidden in private, meeting here every night for whatever sick pursuits took their fancy."

Zelda's head swam and tears poured down her face. She had embarrassed him during the Morolak feast, reminding him of how much the people loved her. And now he'd used that as a weapon. He had turned the people against her. She fumed inwardly, fixing Cyle with a dirty look. Her eyes were hard.

"Cyle, you bastard."

Some of the women hissed at the curse. "Be silent, you harlot," one of them spat.

Now Zelda realised why the villagers were here. They would no doubt go back home and tell all about the foul-tongued Queen caught in the arms of her 'lover'. She knew that any denial she made now would not be taken seriously.

Yet, she had to try. He would not win this way. "My people," she said, her voice faltering. What could she possibly say that would convince them?

Chizan, still looking serene, stepped forward, putting a hand on her arm. A few of the guests raised their eyebrows at this, but most waited patiently for the Freelander to speak. The Prince raised his arms, as if he were surrendering. "Look at me, friends," he said. "I am still fully clothed. We were in the dark, we slipped. This is nothing more than a misunderstanding."

Again, frowns of doubt crossed some people's faces. One or two started to murmur.

"And I wonder how many of those clothes would still be on you if we had opened the wall a few moments later," Cyle said, his sharp voice silencing the guests. "You were in the dark, you say? Highly suspicious I think."

"Cyle Narawan of No Heroic Deed," the Prince said, his own voice still calm. "You are without honour."

Cyle laughed. "You dare speak to me of honour? When you were doing this to my…my…" Cyle choked in mock grief, resting his head on the tips of his fingers. Some of the men patted him on the shoulder, while the villagers looked at him sympathetically.

Zelda noticed that her husband had not once met her gaze yet. "Cyle," she said, trying to keep her voice firm. "Look at me. Look me in the eyes."

The King kept his eyes on Chizan. "I refuse to look at you, woman," he said, his tone haughty and disdainful. "You have betrayed me." A pause. "This marriage is annulled."

There were some sharp gasps. One of the Elders carefully said, "Your Highness. Perhaps this is a little rash. She is but a woman and women make mistakes. And surely it is for the courts to judge…"

"I am the King and I need no court to judge for me," he replied. "For any other woman this may have been forgivable. But not for a Queen. Not only has she betrayed and deceived me, but she has betrayed and deceived all of you, too."

There were small nods of agreement and a few sighs as if people had just realised the truth of the King's words. Zelda looked around the room, her eyes wide in disbelief. Every person she laid eyes on quickly looked away, either staring at the floor or glancing at Cyle. With a choking feeling of despair, she knew she had lost.

"You have five days to leave Hyrule," Cyle said to Chizan. "Take the woman with you. If anyone finds you after five days, they will be permitted to kill you both. Go back to your country, Freelander and prepare your people for my wrath."

"Speak not in riddles, Cyle Narawan of No Heroic Deed or honour," the Prince said. "What are you trying to imply?"

"I thought it was obvious," the King said, his voice oozing with self-satisfied smugness. "An insult like this cannot go unpunished. On behalf of Hyrule and her allies," he said staring around the room, his gaze lingering on each of the four representatives who each gave him a tiny nod in return. "This is a declaration of war."