(A.N. Hey everybody! Another Chappie for you lot! Hope you enjoy- I know I did while I was writing it cause it's good!)
To Take Chances
Chapter 11
Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Zelda- Nintendo owns all things good like Zelda
Zelda dressed herself in her finest Hyrule clothes- a full-length dress with the Triforce and family crest of the red Phoenix embroidered on the removable apron on the front of the skirt. She wore her dress armour on her shoulders, clearly for decoration only. The last part of her dressage was the simple crown which sat across her forehead, the red jewel burning with the inner fire which had protected many generations of princesses and queens in the Hyrule royal family.
Zelda took a deep breath before exiting her room to begin her long trek towards the Public Chamber where the trial would commence.
Zelda knew that Jonah would be arriving early afternoon- by then he would've been proven guilty by the jury personally chosen by her Councilmen and arrested on the spot. Zelda knew that the people of her country would not object the banishment of the King- for he had treated them with absolutely no respect.
Zelda took a breath to regain her posture before the doorman opened the door and announced her presence. Zelda walked over to the dais where a long table was set up with her Councilmen sitting either side of a single throne- hers.
On the right of the dais was another long table where ten jury members were to be seated. They all rose as Zelda walked past them, bowing or curtseying in respect. To the left of the dais was a small table where a scribe sat, quill, ink and parchment at the ready to record the Royal Court's proceedings. In front of the dais were some of the townsfolk of the villages that Jonah had neglected until Zelda stepped in and saved their way of life.
When Zelda reached the dais, all of her Councilmen stood and bowed, as was protocol.
Once Zelda had sat, one of her Councilmen stood and said, "Let the trial begin".
Zelda stood. "I wish to bring forth evidence to prove that my husband, King Jonah of Sytania, has been committing adultery on several occasions." Zelda turned toward the Councilman who had spoken before. "You may bring forward the first witness."
For three hours, the three maids each said their part, including a nervous Sari who was clearly stressed on being surrounded by official-looking people.
"…And you say that you cannot remember the night you slept with his Majesty?" a Councilman asked.
Sari glanced at Zelda who gave her an encouraging look. Sari looked back at the Councilman. "No, I-I don't. I don't remember a thing."
"What is you belief of what happened that night if you don't remember it?"
Sari swallowed. "I believe his Majesty drugged me. I remember him giving me a drink of wine and the next minute, I wake up with my clothes on the floor and his Majesty gone."
The Councilman glanced at Zelda, who gave him the signal that she may ask the next question.
Zelda took a breath. "Do you have a healer's opinion on the child you're carrying's father?"
Sari nodded and placed a hand on her expanding belly. "She said that it is definitely his Majesty's child. And she has the documents to prove it."
"And may we have the documents?" Zelda questioned.
Sari nodded again. "She's waiting outside the door with the documents."
A guard opened the entranceway door and escorted a middle-aged woman in a healer's uniform of the palace. Zelda recognised her as the woman who had delivered her stillborn child months before.
The woman, clearly shaking with nerves, moved forward to stand beside Sari. She held out a hand with a wad of official-looking papers. "Here are the documents your Majesty," she said.
Zelda held out a hand and the healer stepped forward and placed them into Zelda's palm.
Zelda glanced through them and saw the recordings of what the healer did to determine the baby's father. There was even a document commenting on the baby's gender. Zelda smiled grimly. It was to be a girl.
Zelda looked at Sari. "There is a document in here stating that what you have told us is true. That is all that we needed to know." Zelda paused as she passed the documents to one of her Councilmen who in turn passed them onto a member of the jury. Zelda secretly kept the document about the baby's gender to herself.
A Councilman on the far left stood. "There will be a short recess for the jury to come to a verdict. It will be heard in a half hour."
Zelda breathed in deeply as the members of the jury stood and filed out into a side room. She just hoped that it would all turn out well.
Zelda glanced at the hourglass that perched at the head of her table. Almost time, she thought. She wondered if Jonah was going to burst into the room at any minute and cause a raucous. If the villagers caused any harm to Jonah- or killed him- Zelda would be all thumbs. But she didn't have enough time to imagine the sort of horror Jonah would have inflicted upon him, for the jury had been called back into the Public Chamber to deliver their verdict.
Silence was instantaneous as a single member stood, a piece of parchment clutched in his hand. Zelda recognised him as a head of a village who she had helped restock the food stores, saving their village.
The man coughed to clear his throat. "We, the jury, have reached a verdict." He paused.
"You may say your verdict jury," a Councilman said, gesturing for the man to continue.
The man took a breath. "We believe that his Majesty, King Jonah of Sytania, is guilty of adultery, meaning annulment of his marriage to our Queen Zelda of Hyrule and having nothing further to do with our country."
Zelda almost lost it in containing her glee as the villagers cheered. She settled in a satisfactory smile as she watched the villagers hug and kiss each other in celebration. She knew it was not protocol, but she badly wanted to join in the celebrations.
A villager looked at Zelda and started clapping. Others joined in and soon it was a cheering squad of well-wishers towards her goodwill. Zelda blushed and held up her hands to quieten the cheers. "Thank you all for helping me. Our country is now going to be a better place, for a dark time has, once again, been ended!" Cheers erupted once again.
I wish you could see this Link! I have for once defeated a bad guy by myself! Zelda rubbed the back of her hand, where the Triforce glowed.
Congratulations Zelda- I will see you soon so we can celebrate together. Link responded.
The celebrations were in full swing an hour after the verdict was read. Zelda was just starting to get into the spirit of things when the doorway slammed open. There Jonah stood, looking livid as he scanned the room for someone in particular. His gaze found Zelda and Zelda knew that he was after her.
He started to walk forward but was stopped in his tracks by a burly guard.
"What do you want?" Jonah snapped, glaring up at the guard.
The guard signalled to his other guards and they surrounded Jonah, one of them with rope in his hand.
"You Sir are under arrest due to charges of adultery. Your punishment is annulment of your marriage to our Queen, and due to this, you are no longer welcome to our country." The guard with the rope moved forward.
Jonah simply smiled as he stood there. "But what about my son? Would he be banished along with myself? I hope not, for he is the heir to two thrones."
Zelda stepped forward. "Actually, Jonah," Zelda said his name as if it was befouling her mouth. "Derek is not your son." There, I said it. She thought.
Jonah laughed and pointed a finger at Zelda. "Then you claim that you have committed adultery!"
Zelda calmly looked at Jonah. "No," she said. "I was already pregnant when we were married. And there's no law to say that I cannot have relations with other men before I marry."
Jonah's jaw dropped. "Who is the father?" He demanded.
The crowd's curious looks made Zelda's hands sweat. Should she say more? Would they still support her if she revealed Derek's real father's name? He had saved them all from something bigger and much more dangerous than Jonah, so what was Zelda going to lose if she told the people of Hyrule that the heir to the throne was sired between the Queen and the Hero of Time?
Zelda took a breath. "The father of Prince Derek is-"
"-Me," said a voice at the back of the Public Chamber.
Zelda whirled around to find the crowd parting a pathway for someone who was obviously respected. Then, to Zelda's delight, Link stepped forward, his blue eyes full of courage.
Zelda hid a smile as she watched Jonah's expression turn from annoyance to fury as Link stepped up to stand beside Zelda.
"YOU!" Jonah screeched as he launched himself forward. The guards tried to grab onto him but he was too quick. Producing a dagger, Jonah chopped the air as he scrambled towards Link, obviously untrained in the areas of wielding a blade.
Link pushed Zelda aside and pulled out his sword. "Listen, Jonah-"
"-Don't you DARE call me that, commoner!" Jonah spat. "I told you to stay away, but you didn't listen-"
"-I had to come back!" Link dodged Jonah's attempt to cut his face as the crowd moved away, forming a circle. "Zelda needed me more than ever because she had had enough of your horrible ways!"
Jonah laughed- an evil laugh. "I was being a model husband- just ask any of these peasants!"
The crowd shouted out protests at being called such a lowly title. Some of the men moved forward beside Link, each of them producing daggers and knives. Link looked at them and thanked them in turn, but they all quickly dived to dodge Jonah's tackle.
Link fell to the floor, but as he was getting up, he saw Jonah lying on the floor at the feet of the men- a knife protruding out of his abdomen. One of the men shook his head. "What a mess," he commented, then turned away and walked back into the crowd. Zelda noticed that his knife that he had before was gone.
Zelda moved forward and stood over Jonah as he struggled to breath. "You disgusting pig," she whispered, loud enough for Jonah to hear. "I hope you rot in hell."
Jonah wetly coughed, blood trickling out of the side of his mouth. His clothes became stained with blood that refused to stop flowing from the wound. Eventually, Jonah took one last rattling breath and died.
The crowd stared at Jonah's body as if it was a dead rat.
Zelda ordered the guards to take the body and leave it in the Desert of the West for it to be food for the vultures and other creatures.
With that done, Zelda encouraged the celebrations to continue, for their unwanted King was, at last, dead.
As the tunes of a band started up and the grog was handed out, Zelda rested a hand on Link's arm. Her eyes told him to follow her.
Link nodded as Zelda led him towards a side doorway. It led to a set of stairs that ended up in a main hallway. Zelda opened one of the doors and indicated to Link to enter before her.
Link glanced around the room and saw that it was a child's room, and sitting in the centre of the room with his nanny was his son Derek.
Zelda signalled the nanny to leave as she surveyed what happened before her.
Link knelt beside the child. "Hello Derek- remember me?"
Derek stared at Link, deep in thought. Suddenly, his face lit up. "Sandman!" he exclaimed grabbing Link into a hug. "You came back!"
Zelda sat down beside her son, who promptly sat in her lap.
"Derek," Zelda began. "This is Link."
Link smiled as Derek stared at him with the wide-eyed curiosity children naturally possess.
"And," Zelda continued, "He's your real Daddy."
Derek's face was the look of confusion until he placed a hand onto Link's face, over the scar. "The Sandman is my Daddy? But what about Evil Eyes?"
Zelda laughed. "Evil Eyes was only pretending to be your Daddy. He's now gone back to where he belongs and you'll never see him again."
Derek nodded. "I didn't like him anyway." He looked at Link. "I like this Daddy better."
Link and Zelda laughed. Link held his arms out and gave Derek a hug.
"My son…" he murmured into Derek's hair. "My son…" He blinked back tears of joy as Zelda moved forward to be included in the moment. Link snaked an arm around Zelda's waist as Derek moved to hug both of his parents.
"I love you Mama," Derek said looking at Zelda. "I love you too… Daddy."
Link smiled at his son. He knew that he had found a place that he can call home for the rest of his life- and had finally found peace.
(A.N. WHOOHOO! One more chapter down, another to go! This story is almost over! Thank you all who have reviewed- I luv you all and thank you dearly!)