Chapter 15: Cut Off
Zelda's quill rapped against her desk, ink flinging from the nib as her hand flew across the page. A sharp pain shot through her wrist and she dropped the quill, the clatter echoing around her office as it fell to the desk. As it did the papers, formerly delicately stacked besides her, flew from the desk. She barely supressed an enraged yell.
Stupid paperwork. Stupid quill.
She glanced to the once neatly stacked papers, now strewn about the floor and sighed.
Stupid me.
Crouching down, she began to organise the mixture of contracts and agreements. One from the Anouki asking about ice trade, the one messily buried underneath it half a bill from Whittleton. As she slowly ordered them, from the corner of her eye she glimpsed another loose sheet stuck against her chair leg. Grabbing it, she flipped it about in her hands, looking for any sign of the sender. Then she saw it, printed into the top of the page was the ruby shaped emblem of the Goron's. Her heart froze. He'd popped into her thoughts once again. How many times had she fallen down this route since Link'd left? To be honest she'd lost track. She shook her head, attempting to shake the thought loose.
She needed some air.
Clumping the papers into somewhat of a pile, her eyes darted to the window, and she flung it open barely a second later. Taking a deep breath, she embraced the cool air as it washed over her.
Propping herself up on the window sill, she started to scan over the view. A couple of other smaller stone towers framed the deep green ocean of forest that flooded the land behind the castle, the occasional splash of branches reaching over the castles walls. She felt a smirk tug at her lips. On one hand, she should probably tell someone about that. On the other, they would no doubt make a useful route out of the castle if she needed it.
Her eyes were drawn to movement. Two specks darted about the sky, spinning about one another as they soared above the forest. No, on a second look the specks were in fact a couple of small birds, spiralling around one another as they climbed higher and higher above even the castles towers. She followed them as they ebbed through the sky, watching the pair weave around one another in an elegant dance. As they reached their peak, they shifted. In sync the two pulled apart, one darting into the treeline as the other shot over the rolling fields. She wondered, would they see each other again? And if so, for how long would the two be split apart?
She stopped the track of thought before it developed any further, forcing her eyes to look beyond the forest, scanning for anything to occupy her mind. They settled on the great tower in the distance, grasping at the sky beyond the trees. The Tower of Spirits. It was grand, in her opinion, even if it no longer danced like it had not so long ago. And a part of her longed for it, memories willing her to reach for it.
It was awfully quiet. True the loud rumble of tiles in the wind rattled above her, while the harsh clang of swords rang up from the courtyard below. And yet, Link's absence was abundantly clear. It was a strange thought really. Link wasn't particularly loud, sometimes to his own detriment in her opinion, but now the lack of pencil scratching against paper, or the flutter of turning pages, or even the ever so slightly irritating tapping he did as he thought, it was just a little…odd. She clutched at her arms, a boundless energy running through them that she couldn't quite set loose.
It was only supposed to be a short trip, go and chase some monsters out of the Goron mine's and be back within the week. It was something Link could handle easily, that was why he went. It was why she chose him. That was obvious, that was logical.
The thought did nothing to fill the emptiness in her stomach.