Disclaimer: Legend of Zelda belongs to Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo. anime animal wants to find the rites to it in her stocking tomorrow morning.
A.N: *anime animal cringes as everyone glares at her* I know, it's been ages but I've been stumped. Totally and utterly stumped with this. And I've had a cough since the third week of September and I've been knackered. A-S Levels are satanic. I do promise that I will update more, that will be my New Year's Resolution and also (crosses her fingers!) I think/hope I'm getting a laptop for Chrimbo so if I do… Frequent updates. That's a promise. That being said, I will make it my mission to finish Endeffera by the end of the Christmas holidays.
Chapter 6: Fraught Tempers
Zelda paced back and forth nervously, her heart hammering against her chest like the beat of a drum. Fang sat by the door, staring at it expectantly as if she expected her mistress to open it any moment and occasionally whined in sadness. The door creaked as it opened, causing the wolf's ears to prick and the princess to turn quickly and search the open doorway for a small, blonde haired figure. The figure was blonde, but he was not the one she had been hoping to see.
"There's no sign of her?" she asked, already knowing the answer.
Olaran shook his head.
"I couldn't find her Zelda, but Link's still looking."
Zelda's face grew pale as she slumped down on the window seat.
"He won't come back until he finds her," she said quietly. "But what if he doesn't? Oh Gods, I can't believe that this is happening!"
Olaran sat beside his daughter in law and put his arm around her.
"Zelda, she'll be alright. Nothing bad will happen to her, she's already proven that she can defend herself."
Zelda recognised the slightly icy edge to her godfather's voice and closed her eyes.
"I should never have started training her in magic, it's all my fault."
"It is no-one's fault. We've heard both sides of the story and she acted out of self-defence. You should be thankful that her magic wasn't strong enough to kill the girl."
Zelda nodded. An icy hand had gripped at her heart from the moment she had heard of Orla's attack on Alanya, and the feeling had failed to subside even now that she had the knowledge that the girl had made a complete recovery. Ran hadn't spoken all afternoon, and it had been Navali who had informed the adults of the events of the day.
Princess Ruto had been watching the proceedings from the water and had been the one to summon Nabooru, Link and Zelda to the scene. Nabooru had revived Alanya from her state of unconsciousness with a fairy, having disproved Cirys' accusations upon her arrival. By this stage, both parties were arguing their story and had to be silenced by Zelda who had been desperately trying to discover the whereabouts of her daughter.
But Orla was nowhere to be found, even when her mother had tried to contact her psychically. The young princess' mind was either too tormented to be reached or she was deliberately trying not to be found. Zelda prayed that it was the former. Link had set off immediately, telling Zelda to return to the castle and send Olaran and Aidyn in search as well. For hours she had sat in her room, waiting for them to return. Two thirds of the search party had now returned, and there was still no sign of her.
******
"Where could she be Epona?"
The evening wind had picked up and was whipping bitterly against Link's cheeks. He pulled the collar of his tunic up against his face and shivered involuntarily before calling out again.
"Orla! Orla, where are you?!"
Horrible images began to materialise in his mind where Orla was in terrible danger, unarmed and helpless. But then he remembered that she was by no means helpless, Zelda had seen to that. The hurt he was feeling was indescribable, the fact that she hadn't told him that she was training their child in magic arts was one that made him feel betrayed and ignored. She'd gone behind his back. As much as he wanted to talk to his wife about her secret lessons with Orla, that wouldn't bring their daughter back.
What's the matter, lost your daughter?
The familiar and unwelcome voice made its presence known in its dry and sinister voice. Link's eyes narrowed. This was the last thing he needed.
"Get out of my head."
Aw, the poor pathetic hero's been betrayed by his wife, his daughter's nearly killed someone and now he's on a wild goose chase to find the little-...
"Don't you dare say anything about my family, don't you dare," Link snarled. "I'll kill you myself if you say one more thing about any of them."
Amusing. How do you kill what you don't see?
"Leave me alone!"
Epona snorted nervously and tossed her head in alarm. Link looked around and apologetically patted his mare's neck.
"I'm sorry girl, I didn't mean to scare you like that. I think I'm going crazy."
He sighed and slumped in the saddle as he called out against the wind.
"Orla!"
There was nothing but the whispering of the wind across the field. Link looked up to the sky and saw the storm clouds gathering overhead, clouding the horizon like Orla's absence was clouding his mood. How could she have run away like this? He was certain that she trusted him and Zelda enough to come to them if she had any kind of problem, so why did she run away?
She was scared Link.
Link jumped as Zelda's voice filled his mind and then sighed in relief.
"Zel, thank the gods it's you. I thought..."
He shook his head sadly.
"It doesn't matter. Did Dad and Aidyn..."
No.
Her voice was quiet for a moment.
I take it that means you haven't either.
"I'm sorry. I've looked everywhere, I can't find her."
He felt Zelda's presence leave for a moment and hung his head.
Please come home.
"No. Not until I've found her."
I want you with me, I can't do this alone.
"You're not alone, I promise you. I'm with you..."
It's not enough, I need you here. Link, I'm so scared! My baby's out there all alone and I'm alone too. Please Link...
Her pleas echoed in his mind like needy whispers.
"Alright, I'm coming home."
Besides, there were some questions he needed to ask her in person.
******
"I'm cold and I'm hungry and I want to go home."
Orla trembled from the bitter cold that whipped against her small body as she hugged herself underneath a rocky outcrop.
You can't go home. You're a murderer.
Tears trickled down Orla's cheeks as the painful memory struck her. Ranlink's look of horror, Navali's expression of disbelief and fright. The look on Alanya's face as she fell against the ground, her eyes unblinking and unseeing. Orla could see her face reflected in those eyes. It had been furious and hard, her own eyes dark and raging with evil intent.
"I'm a killer. I killed her. Alanya's dead. I killed her."
She shivered, not just because of the cold.
What where her parents going to say?
Her parents would despise her. They'd hate her. Their daughter was a murderer. She was everything her father fought to destroy, everything her mother detested.
Rain had started to fall like arrows of ice, soaking the child's tunic in a matter of moments. She shivered involuntarily and felt her teeth begin to chatter from the cold, her small hands rubbing her arms to keep warm.
I wish Daddy was here.
But he wasn't. He was at home, probably debating with her mother over the best way for her execution to be performed. That's what happened to murderers, they were executed.
Or exiled.
That was probably what was going to happen to her, what with her being a princess and everything. The exile would be worse, living forever with the guilt and the knowledge that she had killed someone and also with the memory of a loving, supporting family that probably couldn't bear to look at her. She couldn't even bear to be her, so what anyone else would think when they looked upon her murderous form was beyond her.
Her shivering became more visible as the shower progressed. She backed up closer to the rock, hugging her knees against her chest and resting her chin on them.
******
A small fork of lightning cut through the late evening sky, causing Zelda to close her eyes.
"Oh gods, what a mess. And she's out there all alone, my baby..."
Link removed his waxed cloak from a chest and fastened it around his neck before deliving through the container to retrieve bottles containing potions and fairies.
"I will bring her home Zelda."
Zelda turned to face him, her eyes full of tears.
"I don't know why she did it, I don't understand how she could have turned on someone like that!"
"She did it in self defence. What I don't know is why you taught her the skills to turn on someone like that," Link muttered dryly.
"What did you say?" Zelda asked sharply.
"Cut the crap, you know what I'm talking about. Magic."
She froze and stared at him. His eyes were afire with anger, anger which was directed at her.
"She needed to know-"
"Needed to know! Gods Zelda, she didn't need to know how to use it! She didn't need to be given the excuse to use her powers, she's dangerous enough as it is!"
"What?"
"Orla is dangerous," Link snapped. "We have known that since before the day that she was born. OK so it was hard to believe when she was a tiny baby but she's not a baby any more Zelda. She is dangerous."
"How can you say that? She's our daughter!"
"Yes, she's our daughter, but she's Endeffera too. Sometimes I think that you forget that."
"How can I forget that?" Zelda snapped. "Every second of every day I try to forget, but I can't. I have suffered enough with this prophecy, I am sick of it! How can I possibly be her mother when I am always wary of what she can do? How can I take care of Amalia properly when I'm always watching out for Orla? How can I?"
Link looked at her, her eyes ablaze with hurt and shining with unshed tears.
"But then again, I have you. You're there when it gets too much, you're always telling me that things will be OK, that we'll get through it. And now you're turning against me and it's too much for me to bear!"
"Gods Zel, I'm not turning against you!" Link cried. "And if this is too much for you to bear then what the hell is this doing to me?"
Zelda looked at him in surprise, noting how his hands were shaking with suppressed anger. Instantly she felt guilty.
"I'm sorry..."
"Sorry? Sorry for what? The fact that you're wallowing in self pity about this or because you didn't even tell me you were teaching her how to use magic? Farore Zelda, I'm your husband! We don't keep secrets, I thought we promised each other that! How could you do something that important without even telling me? She's my daughter too."
"I never meant for you to find out like this."
"No, and my mother was never meant to find out about yours."
Zelda's eyes darkened.
"What the hell has she got to do with it? How dare you bring her into this!"
Link knew that he had just shot a low blow but was too angry to care. She'd hurt him too much to care.
"Oh I don't know, maybe it's because you seem to be so good at lying to people."
"I never lied to you!"
"But you still didn't tell me. You never told me. Would you have told me is this hadn't happened?"
"Of course I would, I was going to, it's just that-"
"Just what? That you wanted to do this behind my back? Well thanks a lot Zelda, thanks heaps."
With that, he stormed out of the door, slamming it behind him. Zelda began to tremble and then burst into tears.
******
Iza was cold. Her lady had sent her out to the town, unaware that heavy downpour was scheduled. Now it was dark, and having spent an hour and a half in town she had found no trace of the article that her ladyship had requested. She was cold, miserable and very tired.
The donkey behind her brayed stubbornly as the rain poured down. It balked behind her and refused to go any further.
"Oh for the sake of the Gods Amadeus, will you walk!"
The donkey glared at her maliciously and then tossed its head so violently that it wrenched the lead rope from Iza's hands. Surprised by this movement, Iza lost her balance and fell on her backside in the mud. The creature stared down its long nose at her and brayed like laughter. Iza glared back and slung a handful of mud at it.
"Wretched creature! Stupid, stupid animal..."
Her voice trailed off as she heard what sounded like a sniffle. A very quiet sound but a sniffle none the less. Amadeus froze, as did Iza who had drawn herself out from the mud. The sniffle was joined by a whimper and a soft moan.
"Hello? Is there anybody there?"
The sniffle was replaced by a gasp. Iza followed her ears to a rocky outface and found, much to her surprise, a small child huddled up under the rocks. She regarded Iza with wide, scared eyes and shrank back as far as she could.
"Stay back!"
Iza crouched low.
"It's OK, I'm not going to hurt you or anything. Come on, don't worry, I'm not armed."
The girl stared back.
"But I'll hurt you, I will!"
Iza laughed softly. Not patronizingly, but gently and encouragingly. It was a friendly sound.
"Oh come on, there's no need to be like that! It's freezing out here, you should be at home with your family. Where are you from?"
The girl froze.
"I can't go back. Ever."
Iza smiled sadly and extended her hand.
"Well why don't you come back with me? I don't have my own home, but my mistress is very kind. She'll let you stay the night."
The little girl looked at her warily and then slowly took her hand. Iza's chocolate coloured eyes widened.
"Dear Gods, your hands are like ice! How long have you been out here for?"
The little girl shook her head.
"I don't know."
Iza led her to the donkey and took out a blanket from one of the baskets which she wrapped around the little girl's shoulders.
"There, that should help warm you up a little. Now, you hop onto Amadeus here and we'll get you back to her ladyship and see if there's a hot bath going. What's your name sweetheart?"
The little girl frowned for a moment and then hung her head as she spoke.
"Ariala," Orla lied quietly.
"That's a pretty name. My name's Iza."
Orla smiled, liking this warm hearted woman already.
"OK Ariala, let's go and introduce you to Lady Cordelia."
*****
Zelda was sobbing into her pillows when her father softly tapped on the door.
"Zelda, Amalia's getting uppity, she wants you to-"
He was cut short as he caught sight of her puffy eyes and tear stained cheeks.
"Oh my darling..."
He gathered his daughter in his arms and held her close, brushing her hair softly as she sobbed into his tunic.
"It's alright sweetheart, they're going to find her-"
"Oh papa, this is all my fault!"
"Shh, no it's not your fault, it isn't your fault at all. It was just bullying that got out of hand-"
"But I taught her how to use magic! I gave her the means to kill someone-"
"Zelda, Orla did not kill anyone."
He held her shoulders and looked straight into her eyes.
"The girl is gifted, she has amazing magical skills. From what I have heard, she acted honourably in defence of her friends and that is the main thing. What she did was out of protection, it wasn't malicious and it wasn't prepared. It was self defence."
He brushed a stray strand of hair away from his daughter's face.
"You are not to blame for the events of today, and you will only suffer needlessly if you blame yourself. Link, Olaran and Aidyn are doing all they can to find her."
Zelda's eyes began to tear up again.
"Link hates me," she sobbed. "I didn't tell him, I didn't tell him about Orla's training. I was going to tell him papa, I was going to tonight. There were two things I needed to tell him and now..."
She shuddered heavily as she sighed.
"Now I don't know when I'll see him again, because I don't know that he'll come home when he finds our baby!"
She burst into tears again, and her father tried to sooth her again.
"Nonsense, he'll be back as soon as he finds her, mark my words. That man adores you Zelda, you know that. He would move heaven and earth for you, and he would never, never abandon you or the girls. Never."
Zelda murmured softly against her father's shoulder.
"I want them home, I want my little girl and I want my husband. I want them home."
To be continued...
Merry Christmas!
