Chapter 6
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Legend of Zelda- Nintendo owns it.
Zelda paused before knocking on her husband's office door. She didn't want to interrupt his meetings of war tactics, but she had to tell him about his daughter's passing.
It was the next day and the funeral was to be held that afternoon. Her son Derek was devastated to hear that his baby sister had been stillborn- which broke Zelda's heart once again.
She briskly knocked three times with the door latch. Hurried feet and a tired-looking male servant opened the door. It was the same servant who helped her to the healer the day before.
"Your Majesty!" he whispered as he ushered her inside. "How are you feeling? You're not sick, are you?"
Zelda gave him a grim smile. "No, I wasn't sick. But I'm still not feeling too well from what just happened."
The servant looked confused. "What happened your Majesty?" he said as he led her towards the main rooms.
Zelda sighed as she sat down on one of the chairs. "Might as well tell you since I'm about to tell the King- I had my baby."
"Congratulations your Majesty!" the servant said, clapping his hands. "So, is it a boy or a girl?"
Zelda stared at her hands that were clasped in her lap. "A girl," she said. "But she was stillborn."
The servant's face turned to the one of sadness. "I'm so sorry your Majesty," he said. He turned towards one of the doors. "I shall get the King for you."
Zelda nodded as the servant closed the door behind himself.
Footsteps and the door opened once again, only Jonah stood there, with an expectant expression on his face. "So, what can I do for you my dear Zelda?"
Zelda looked up at him as he sat himself down into his chair. "I have devastating news Jonah." Stuff flattery, she thought.
Jonah frowned. "It can't be about the war now, isn't it? Look, if it is then-"
"-It's not." Zelda interrupted. "It's about our baby. She was stillborn yesterday."
Jonah's face, to Zelda's horror, turned not to sadness or disbelief, but to bored. "You said that it was a 'she' right?" he said, leaning forward. "Of course, if it was a boy, it would have lived."
Zelda's jaw dropped. "How can you think nothing of this? Your child is dead and you just think that just because it was a girl, she's worth nothing?"
She abruptly stood up out of her chair and purposely walked towards the door that led out to the hall.
"We will have another child Zelda," Jonah called as she opened the door. "And I will make sure that you conceive a boy."
Slamming the door behind her, Zelda had a sudden urge to crumble onto the floor and cry.
But she held herself up and started walking. Where, she did not know. She just let herself just walk through the palace.
She came back from her brief daze to find herself in the courtyard.
Zelda glanced around and sat herself down onto the grass, ignoring her sore abdomen, which has started to shrink. What am I to do now? She thought. I can't just stay here and be forced to have another child with Jonah.
Zelda looked down at the Triforce mark on the back of her right hand. It glowed dully, the bottom left triangle glowing slightly more than the others. My guardian Goddess Nayru, watch over my dear daughter Adalia.
Zelda sat there for a good half hour just playing with the grass while her mind thought about the funeral that was to come in a few hours. Might as well start to get everyone organized to leave. She thought as she stood up and made her way to the stables.
The stableman, and friend, Marcus asked her if she was all right, as she walked through the door.
"I'm fine Marcus," Zelda answered as she checked the horses for the trip to the Karkariko village Graveyard. "I just need to check these horses to see if they're ready for the trip."
Marcus nodded and indicated to the coach horses. "These horses can be ready for anything these days, ever since we just hired that new horse trainer."
Zelda raised an eyebrow. "New horse trainer? When did this happen?"
"Your husband, the King, hired him two days ago," Marcus went over to a cabinet near the back of the stables, where the document of sales and such were kept, and took out a sheet of parchment. "Here's the paperwork if you want to take a look."
Zelda took the piece of paper and quickly read through it. It read that the man's name was Michael of Dalloway and that he had been a horse trainer for eight years.
Zelda nodded and handed Marcus back the parchment. "He seems to be properly trained for the job- what's he like as a person?"
Marcus frowned slightly at the ceiling, thinking. "Mysterious fellow- doesn't talk much. But he has a long scar from his left ear down his left cheek- says that he got it from falling off one of the horses he was training." He paused as he was looking into one of the stalls. "And that's his horse that he uses for travel. He has a warhorse as well, but he insists to keep it in another stable in the nearby village. Strange."
Zelda looked at the horse Marcus was looking at and saw a beautiful grey horse with white socks and mane. It's not Epona, she thought as she bid Marcus goodbye and made her way outside. Why do I have to obsess about each new servant who comes into our employ? It will not be Link- and never will be.
A couple of hours later, Zelda was riding the Royal Coach alone towards Karkariko village, watching the people of Hyrule salute, bow or courtesy to their Queen. All of them bore a black piece of material- whether a band around the arm or a piece of clothing. As she was helped down the steps of her Coach, her people had formed a pathway for her to walk up the stairs to the village.
As she entered the village at the top of the stairs, the whole population had gathered to greet their Queen and to escort her towards the Graveyard. The attendants ahead of her carried a small coffin adorned with white and pink flowers.
When they had reached the Graveyard, the Priest began the service, asking the Goddesses to look after Princess Adalia Melody I, daughter to King Jonah IV and his wife Queen Zelda I. The attendants placed the coffin into the Royal Tomb and the priest said one last prayer before the service was over.
Zelda knelt at the Triforce, her family's crest, that was set in stone in the ground outside of the Tomb. She was well aware of the village people staring at her, with pity in their eyes.
She looked up at them all. "Thank you all for your support," she said. "It is a terrible tragedy to lose one's child and I'm sure some of you know what I am going through."
Some of the women and men nodded slowly in understanding, sadness on their faces. Then, a little girl came forward, holding a yellow flower in her hand. Sitting beside Zelda, she held up the flower to Zelda, offering it to her.
Zelda smiled at the girl as she took the flower. "Thank you," she whispered and gave the girl a hug, much to the girl's surprise.
Zelda giggled at the girl's look of surprise on her face for being hugged by the Queen of Hyrule. The adults that had stayed behind laughed gently.
"What is your name?" Zelda asked the girl, as she stood up from her kneeling position.
The girl spoke but was barely heard.
"I'm sorry, but I didn't quite hear you," Zelda laughed gently. "Can you repeat that?"
The girl looked Zelda squarely in the eye and squared her shoulders. "Tara," she said. "Tara Silto- my Daddy works at the Inn."
Zelda nodded. "My name is Zelda," she turned to the crowd. "You may all call me what you like, but I hate formalities."
As she made her way down to the village, Zelda stopped and spoke to several villagers who seemed to be brave enough in their standards to want to talk to her.
"…the King doesn't want to let you starve," Zelda assured a man who had come up to her with the problem of the food shortages in storage. "He just…is very busy in planning a war at the moment."
"A war?!" The man shouted, loud enough for the others to hear. "We're at war with a country? Which one is it?"
Zelda sighed. She was sick of pretending to take her husband's side. Might as well get even with Jonah right now than later. "The King is a very stupid man," Zelda said suddenly, making a few of the villagers gasp. "He is at belief that we are at threat with our neibouring country and friend Termania." More gasps.
"Will this affect us?" A woman spoke up. "Will we be in danger from the armies?"
Zelda shook her head. "I believe that Jonah wants to march Hyrule's armies into Termania, surprising them into attack."
Murmurs amongst the crowd, then a man spoke up, "Is the King wanting to get us commoners to fight?"
Zelda shook her head again. "No, you are all safe from that threat. Jonah wants only nobly-born men to fight because he is shallow enough to believe that you all are useless- which is not true."
Outbursts were heard as the villagers talked amongst themselves. Some of them glanced back at Zelda, as if they didn't believe her, but they were getting less and less frequent as the talking got louder.
Then, Zelda heard one of her attendants calling her name. Turning around, she asked what they wanted.
"This is treason your Majesty," one of them said as a few of them looked around nervously. "You've got to stop insulting the King."
Zelda glared at them. "You don't understand my situation, do you?" she asked them forcefully. They shook their heads, most of them with a bit of fear in their faces.
"The King is forcing me to have another child against my will- and before you deny, you had better ask his manservant what he said to me this morning." And with that, Zelda stormed off towards the crowd of villagers.
(A.N. I had to get this one over and done with cause I HATE doing funerals and such- they make me feel depressed. But, this story will lighten up and expect more killing- don't worry, you'll rejoice on who dies next.)