ABOUT NA: I'm working on Chap 8 as we speak. I'm already over halfway through. I think it'll be my next update, so keep hanging onto the cliff.
About this: I don't know. This chapter is a bit gross, but it's not a warning I'm giving you. It's just a personal opinion. You probably won't think so. Whatever. But I don't know what to think of this chapter. It creeps me out.
Hylian Kings
By CM
Ninth Chapter: Spying Eye
"I think," Ganondorf growled as he paced back and forth between Koume, Kotake and Nabooru, "that your little spying device failed."
He was speaking to the two hags, who were slowly beginning to cower in his shadow. Nabooru, on her part, stood straight but lazily. She could see a white dress splayed on the table, its pure clarity contrasting with the dark hall and the grey sky outside the high windows.
Even the coloured stained glass seemed lifeless. The white of the fabric was the only clarity she could see, the only purity in this tainted place, and it was so bright to the eyes that she had to avert them.
She turned her attention back to the other three. Ganondorf was now silent, still pacing. He appeared in contemplation. She feared to know what was on his sick mind.
Finally, he spoke up again. "I can't trust you two to get her back. We will send out the armies. We can't afford to have her plan a revolution."
"A revolution?" Nabooru scoffed. "With what army? She's so fearful of you she probably won't ever want to come back."
It was a daring move, to mock him, but he ignored her. His golden eyes were alight with slight insanity and a complete assurance that she would indeed try to take over.
"Have everyone ready to tear down the whole country if need be, Nabooru. I want her back."
Nabooru refrained the urge to cringe at the perverse look in those evil eyes. He seemed to be thinking immoral thoughts, ones that did not seem safe for the bearer of that white dress.
"I will, Ganon," she muttered, leaving the room.
As soon as she was out, she stopped, thinking she felt a strange wind blowing in from the windows, through the halls. She saw the female guards by the door look around worriedly, shivering.
She looked at one of them.
"Am I wrong," she asked, "or is this what our foremothers called…?"
"The wind of change," the other woman breathed, eyes wide.
Nabooru said nothing, gaze fixed on the two young women. The Gerudo knew many things about winds. They had been living in the desert, where winds blew stronger than any other place in Hyrule, and it was why they could recognise the different winds. "The wind of change," Nabooru sighed, feeling relief and sadness seep through her. "It has been so long since we last felt it, hasn't it?"
"Nabooru," the guard whispered, "Why are you so sad? Change is needed now. We have been starving again. The lands produce no more. At his command, we ruined more land than necessary."
"Our reign is ending," Nabooru said, looking surprisingly peaceful. She paused, closing her eyes and feeling the soft breeze on her face.
"The wind comes from the east." She turned to gaze at the two underlings who were fidgeting uncomfortably. "Change is good, but not for all." Remembering what she was out in the hall for, she added. "Ask Aveil to prepare for a woman hunt. Ganon will not rest until he sees Princess Zelda again."
"Why call her princess?" One of the women asked. "He is the king, she is no longer in power."
"She always was. Now go call Aveil." Nabooru was still calm.
"You're on her side," the woman spat. "Are you a traitor?"
"The only traitor here is Ganondorf, but you may become one if you disobey me."
Falling into silence, she nodded and ran down the hall. Nabooru rubbed her eyes, her gloved hand coming before her face. She gazed at it in silence, then came to a decision.
"Tell Ganon," she told the other guard, "that I will participate in the search personally as well." She took a breath as the guards left. "Far too long, I've waited. For nothing."
She had other plans. Ones that didn't include finding the princess.
A memory had haunted her in the long silence of the night. After seven long years, the princess had become a beautiful maiden.
What of the boy? The boy whose master she'd killed seven years ago on that fateful day? The boy whom Ganondorf let go? He had too much spirit in his eyes to be dead. He would have grown to become a young man now.
Hadn't Ganondorf omitted one thing? The rumour of a consort's existence?
She had to head east. Whether it was to find the princess or to find the boy, she'd head east.
Zelda gazed at her castle's ruins, wondering what she could possibly do to reverse things.
She was well aware of how she'd cut Link, how she had been cold despite his choice to come back. The fact was that no matter how courageous he was, he still had chosen to refute the past. He hadn't made any particular effort to apologize either in the past hour.
He most likely didn't care.
Zelda was all too aware of the pain that sliced through her heart. She knew what had gone wrong.
A few days alone had been enough for her to fall head over heels in love with him. It was most inappropriate, especially the way they had gone about… expressing themselves… yet, she felt it was something she had always known.
Behind her, walking in the shadows, the trio of friends followed in revered silence.
It seemed a deadly quiet hung over Hyrule Castle. The only sound she could hear was that of the wind blowing through the empty gate. But she feared entering through there. How the glory of her home had faded! As soon as it was back within her control, she would restore its former beauty. Starting with that gate.
"Pretty depressing, eh?" Mikau said conversationally, looking at the foggy plain, the ruined city and the dried vegetation hanging from the windows. She could hear him faintly, speaking to Darmani, as though they were taking a stroll in the park.
"Even the Shack was better up kept. We should drop in to tell that Ganondorf man how to manage."
"I think," she heard Link comment dryly, "that if we do drop by, he'll have to manage us first."
Mikau snickered. "Darn right. Whaddyou say we stop by for a cup of salt?"
"Heartily approved," Darmani agreed. "I'll put these knives to good use. They won't know what hit them."
"The knives or the guards?"
"Ssshh!" Zelda hissed, and as they quieted down, they heard what she had. Footsteps on the dry grass. Ducking behind the boulder Link had practiced on, they waited. Zelda's heart was in her throat. What if they found her and brought her back?
After a few seconds, the footsteps stopped. They waited anxiously. Then, a woman's deep and confident voice rose. "I know you're somewhere there."
"Nabooru…" Zelda breathed so softly that only Link heard her. He gazed at her hesitantly, then looked back out at the fog.
They heard a rustle and then another silence. "I'm sitting here. I don't know where you are, but I know you're near. You'll have to come out, whether to kill me or speak to me. Until then…" They could hear the woman take a deep breath, "I will tell you a few things."
Link moved, as if to reveal himself and act, but Zelda put a hand on his arm and shook her head, eyes wide and alert. Unaware, Nabooru's voice continued.
"If Ganondorf finds Princess Zelda, he will force her to wed him. I don't believe that he will stay patient. This silent desolation around us may become hell fire in his hunt. Time is counted."
There was a long silence. No one budged. Nabooru went on. "I have stopped search parties from exiting the city's surroundings as long as I could, but Ganondorf grows wary. If you do not intend on acting soon, then leave without looking back, as there is no middle to the options." A meditating pause cut her words before she added, "Unless the rumours of a consort still living are true."
Link tensed. Zelda glanced at him, eyes conveying disgusted horror, but he smiled tightly and shook his head slowly, avoiding her eyes. She now knew about the consort. And the idea revolted her. She would hate the man unfortunate enough to become consort. Him. She'd hate him.
Link felt sick.
"The city's main entrance is heavily guarded, but there is another way into the walls. The grid in the moat that circles the castle inside was broken some time ago. By circling the walls to the west side, one can easily swim through and under the walls. The waterway will lead at the foot of the fortress wall. Beyond that, the guard shift changes. This drawbridge is too exposed. I suggest you try your way through the guardhouse moat."
Nabooru seemed to stretch and stand. Link could vaguely see her form in the fog.
"It seems you chose not to speak," she said. "Very well. I'll be on my way then. I wish you luck, Princess."
With that, there was a rustle, then nothing more. She was gone in the fog, out of view and hearing.
"Well," Mikau concluded after a silence, "do we trust the woman or do we skirmish?"
"I don't know how or why, but I think Nabooru can be trusted," Zelda whispered.
Ganondorf shivered as the breeze caressed his tanned skin. He hated the feel of this wind. While unsure of its significance, he still knew it was of no reassuring type.
"Ganon," one of the witches scratchily cooed, "Kotake and I have found something fascinating."
Waving impatiently, Ganon didn't bother straightening up in his throne. Koume came forward, bent over in semi-respect.
"It seems that the boy chosen long ago to be Zelda's consort still lives."
"Or so our mirror says," Kotake cackled, slowly stirring the contents of a steaming marmite.
Ganon, only mildly interested, shrugged. "I couldn't care less. The boy must have been too young to understand, and when we took over, he fled. He probably doesn't remember today."
"Do you want to see him?" Koume insisted, motioning excitedly to the pot. "There is more to it than you may think."
Ganondorf, restless because of the wind that came in through the windows, stood and walked over. He peered over the rim and blinked away the fumes.
The image became clearer and clearer.
Zelda shivered, feeling something ominous in the air. She motioned to the men to hide. They obeyed uncertainly.
"I see nothing," Ganon growled. "There was a spot of colour, but then it disappeared."
Kotake looked inside the mirror, frowning. "Your gaze might have alerted them."
"What is it?" Link whispered worriedly, gazing in disgust at the murky waters that they would soon be swimming in. A little ways upstream, the breach in the wall was dark and grimy. He was not excited at the idea of entering the city through there.
Zelda shook her head. "I don't know. I just had the feeling that we were being watched."
Mikau and Darmani, absorbed in their contemplation of the moat waters, seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Link. Suddenly, Darmani declared, "We should attract their attention elsewhere. What do you say Mikau and I become their target practice?"
Mikau nodded, eyes darting sideways constantly towards the disgusting moat. "Yeah, that'd be a wise decision."
Link sighed, looking at Zelda. She took a deep breath.
"When you reach the gates, enter and make as much noise and trouble as possible. Can we trust you to remain alive?"
" 'Course," Mikau shrugged. "Watch us."
"Besides," Darmani said, visibly relieved, "I wouldn't have fit into that moat exit."
Ganondorf, angry, knocked the marmite off the fire, sending its contents dribbling on the stone floor. Tiny, light greyish pink, fleshy, squishy bits of gods-knew-what wound up at his feet, sliding on the thick liquid. Ganondorf scrunched his nose as the smell. The fumes came from all over now. Parting the thin smoke just enough to glare at the twin witches, who were cowering in the corner beside the fireplace, the king of thieves growled, "Get out of my sight!"
Nearly running over each other in their attempt to get out of the throne room, Koume and Kotake screamed in panic, even as Ganon followed them and slammed the doors boomingly the second they passed the threshold.
Lalalala… Sorry for the numerous cuts.
Love,
CM