The Queen was asleep, newly silent after a second dose of the foul green
fluid given to her by the physician. Cool moonlight crossed her pillow,
highlighted the dark blond hair, stroked the fever from her brow. She
slumbered, unaware.
The six Sheikah assigned to guard her (half of the squad brought in and trained by Impa herself) were restless. They prowled around the room, checking window, closet, privy, door. They were trained to protect the Royal Family of Hyrule; they were the personification of their people's mission. They waited, unaware.
Hours passed. The moon was covered by swirling skirts of fog. Something crashed in the corridor, startling everyone on the floor save the Queen, who was too lost in sleep to wake. Five of the Sheikah, armed and ready to defend, rushed for the hall. One stayed behind out of custom, and she was caught completely unaware.
Two men rushed the window, silently, expertly, and burst into the room. The Sheikah started to cry out, but her voice was lost in the noise in the hall, and an arrow caught her in the throat. Her last thought was to wonder how the men had scaled the sheer white wall of the castle.
The Queen roused slightly when one of the men threw a surcoat over her and bound it with cord from her drapes. She asked a muffled question when the stronger put her over his shoulder, and was silent again as they vanished out the window.
The commotion outside turned out to be a servant taking a last load of dishes down to the kitchen before retiring for the night- he had dropped a tray of silver on the hard stone floor. The Sheikah cursed each other and themselves for being so jumpy, and returned to the room.
The bed lay empty, covers tossed aside. Their fallen comrade lay in a heap near the window. The look of awe on her cooling face, her comrades assumed, came from the shock of being caught completely and entirely unaware.
The six Sheikah assigned to guard her (half of the squad brought in and trained by Impa herself) were restless. They prowled around the room, checking window, closet, privy, door. They were trained to protect the Royal Family of Hyrule; they were the personification of their people's mission. They waited, unaware.
Hours passed. The moon was covered by swirling skirts of fog. Something crashed in the corridor, startling everyone on the floor save the Queen, who was too lost in sleep to wake. Five of the Sheikah, armed and ready to defend, rushed for the hall. One stayed behind out of custom, and she was caught completely unaware.
Two men rushed the window, silently, expertly, and burst into the room. The Sheikah started to cry out, but her voice was lost in the noise in the hall, and an arrow caught her in the throat. Her last thought was to wonder how the men had scaled the sheer white wall of the castle.
The Queen roused slightly when one of the men threw a surcoat over her and bound it with cord from her drapes. She asked a muffled question when the stronger put her over his shoulder, and was silent again as they vanished out the window.
The commotion outside turned out to be a servant taking a last load of dishes down to the kitchen before retiring for the night- he had dropped a tray of silver on the hard stone floor. The Sheikah cursed each other and themselves for being so jumpy, and returned to the room.
The bed lay empty, covers tossed aside. Their fallen comrade lay in a heap near the window. The look of awe on her cooling face, her comrades assumed, came from the shock of being caught completely and entirely unaware.