Chapter 23: Dynamic

Why was he here?

It was a fair question, in his opinion, from his position on the raised offshoot from the enormous circular table that filled the room. A chair scraped against the stone floor and, opposite to him but two or three places, Captain Russel stood.

Now he looked like he belonged. He donned a perfectly shaped beard, clearly styled specially that very morning, and had traded his usual uniform for a much fancier one; a mix of deep greens with fine golden embroidery decorating the fabric, giving the Symbol of the Spirit's on his chest a blinding sheen. The soft murmurs rumbling around the grand table fell away as everyone's attention pulled to him.

"Even if there is something beyond those new spirit tracks, which we can't be sure of," The Captain said, sternly looking towards Honcho of the Anouki before he could speak up again, "we're about to enter Winter, and we've only had more and more reports of Moblins attacking produce trains – if they were to try and raid our food stores…" he clenched a fist in front of his chest, before sighing and loosening it, "we can't spare a single guard to protect a train of explorers right now."

He was right, Link considered, and from what he'd heard most of those were new recruits – some having not even finished basic training yet.

Captain Russel had barely finished before a gruff "bah" came from further round the table.

The noise maker stood. Scots; his deep purple overcoat – thick and running down to his ankles, with a collar threatening to engulf his head and a white dove painted on the breast – marking him as the head of the royal engineers.

He barely reached the Captain's shoulder, even with the added height of what Link noticed were platformed shoes, which made his stomach drop all the more when the man spoke in a voice so deep and booming it shook his bones.

"Those attacks are only because everyone insists on still using those outdated wooden trains – the steel trains we've been testing are far too tough for them," he spun towards their end of the table, eyes trained on Zelda as he flourished a dramatic bow, "Princess, if we were allowed to use them there'd be no worry of losing supplies, and with the guards freed up we could explore these new tracks before winter truly starts."

Zelda nodded slowly, keeping a perfectly poised smile on her face, one he recognised from every painting of her around the castle.

"I must say it certainly makes sense, and we could do with checking that new tunnel north of the Snow Realm too - the last thing we'd need is a Rocktite to come searching for food."

Captain Russel stood again, taking Zelda's words in stride as he fixed a glare on Scots and began arguing his counter point.

Link's eyes flickered between the two men, attempting to follow their arguments, each point shouting over one another in his mind till he couldn't string a thought together.

Link deflated into his chair. It made sense that both the men were here, they were vital parts of the kingdom, necessary for a meeting of this scale. However, the swell in his gut made him pretty sure that, even stripped of all titles, the two would be in exactly the same positions.

And that went for everyone, Orca representing Paupuchia, ever attentive and wily, and her husband – Dovok – the imposing, big nosed Whittleton chief, Gongoron the Goron Elder with his grand, striking tattoos and Honcho with his magnificent beard and towering antlers; everyone here belonged, all in their element as debates and diplomacy flew around the room.

And then there was him; uniform smart but plain, not even a train to his name and unable to bring his voice above a squeak.

Why was he here again?

He finished moving his gaze around the table, landing on the person he was seated next to.

Zelda stood out even amongst the fine clothes gathered here; with her magnificently frilly light pink dress, accented by cool blues that flowed around her every time she moved, she perfectly fit the image of a ruling princess, drawing respect without even needing to ask for it.

Unlike him, her attention was welded to the conversation, her furrowed brow and bitten lower lip clear signs of her concentration as she committed every word to memory.

Her eyes flickered to him, and she offered a quick smile before leaning over, whispering, "are you alright? If you bite your lip any harder, it'll bleed."

He hadn't even noticed, though now the throbs of pain made it difficult to speak as he whispered back, "honestly it's a little much, I don't know how you keep track of all this."

She smirked, glancing back to the ongoing debate and, presumably, deciding it didn't need her full attention, said, "you give me too much credit, Teacher's the one who writes it all down," she tipped her head to the frantically scribbling man on her other side, "I always end up re-reading everything later."

She was giving herself too little credit, though that would explain the ever present piles of sheets on her desk, "what about yourself?" he asked, mirroring her as he too leant over, till they were practically whispering straight into the other's ear.

Zelda sighed, "frankly I'm still not sure, it all sounds like a giant mess," though it was just for a moment, her face fell and she pinched her nose, quickly rubbing her drooping eyes, "but that's nothing unusual," she cocked her head, now fully facing him, "you've been in the fields more recently than I though, thoughts?"

She wanted his opinion? What could he offer that no one else had brought up? Though as she waited, blue eyes glistening with intrigue, the desire to answer swelled in his chest.

"I…don't take this the wrong way, but the problem area is the Snow Realm right? I really don't think we should use Steel Trains there."

Zelda's chin had fallen into her palm as she propped her elbow on her chair's arm, small smirk still present and joined by a cocked eyebrow, "and why not bring this up to everyone?"

"Ah…well, I mean, I'm sure…" Sure of what? He was going to say that they'd have already considered it but…that was a lie, wasn't it?

He sighed, "You know I'm not good at speaking Zelda, what if I say something stupid or…or wrong, what if they realize I shouldn't be here."

Zelda's face morphed into a statue like sternness, "Link, you absolutely should be here, don't convince yourself otherwise," her sternness flaked away to reveal a relaxed smile underneath, "and yes you may say something stupid, but I really doubt it, you know far too much about trains for that to happen."

Link froze and in that moment Zelda seemed different to how he'd seen her before. It wasn't her painted face, being far too soft and natural for that, but she still carried her chin high, giving a hint of relaxed confidence. He stood, sharp and far too quickly, his chair scraping the ground loud enough to quieten the room. Slowly he looked around, faces flashing in his vision. Taking a sharp breath, he spoke.

"…"

Or not. The world had fallen away, as if he was balancing on a cliff edge, a sea of eyes staring up from below and stealing his words. His hands clammed up. He could see all their thoughts, like reflections on the water's surface. This kid, barely tall enough to stand over the table, was going to speak? This no-name was really going to attempt to contribute? What about that ridiculous crease running across his uniform? Or that stupid bit of uncombed hair curling out from under his hat? The –

Something soft grabbed his hand under the table. His fingertips tingled, a freezing warmth running over his palm, and he found himself gripping back. A hand, one wearing a pristine white glove, each finger delicate but firmly wrapped around his own. He trailed along it, finding Zelda attached to the other end. A smile glowed on her face, gentle and soothing as she gave his hand a soft squeeze, as if gradually guiding him forward off the cliff edge. His mind spun as everything fell away, chest swelling as he took his final cool breath.

"I think…the Steel Trains probably won't work," Link said, pausing for a second to grasp the volume behind his words, but still only managing to raise his eyes to stare at the centre of the table, "when snow gets on the tracks it makes it difficult to power the trains; the Snow Realms already difficult to travel in Wooden Trains right now, and the Steel ones are even heavier, so need more than them," he took a breath, nerves coiling as his grip tightened around Zelda's hand, "we could only really use them in the Forest Realm, before the snow hits."

He stayed stood, head frozen forwards and unable to look around, but waiting for any kind of response. No one said anything, but Zelda's hand left his and, though his legs threatened to drop him, he forced himself to stay up upon hearing her stand by his side.

"What do you think of that, Mr Scots?" She asked.

"Yes… well… it isn't incorrect," Scots paused, giving a low cough to clear his throat, "and that seems a logical conclusion, though I still implore you allow us to demonstrate them, Princess."

"Very well," Zelda started, all eyes drawn to her, "then I propose we funnel all trains through the Tower of Spirits. We can use Wooden Trains for the further realms and transfer goods onto Steel Trains there for transport through the Forest Realm and to Papuchia." She clasped her hands in front of herself, the painted smile back on her face as she looked around the table. "It may take a little longer to transport everything, but that would free up some guards to ensure these new tracks are safe," she turned to Captain Russel, "does that seem reasonable, Captain?"

Captain Russel blinked, as if replaying what Zelda had said in his mind, before tipping his head and saying, "of course, Princess, I'll prepare a list of available guards for you tomorrow."

Zelda thanked them, delicately sitting back down. As she did, Link collapsed into his own chair, body aching like he'd spent a full day working a train.

Link clamped his eyes shut, running a hand through his hair in an attempt at forcing away the headache pounding against his brain. Around the room the conversation had moved on, but he couldn't make it out, the words just mumbles against his ears. Opening his eyes, he found himself matching looks with Zelda again.

He must have looked as tired as he felt, as she didn't even try to hide her bemused smirk. She leant towards him, about to whisper, until someone called her attention from across the room. Her eyes flickered away for a moment; narrowing to give them a dark shade, and his stomach swelled with sorry for the poor person. However, before responding to the voice, Zelda, deliberately clear, slowly turned back to him and silently mouthed "well done" before whipping around to address them.

He curled into his chair, already knowing he wouldn't be adding any more to the meeting, and watched as Zelda dealt with the next problem. He noticed then that, while it was physically gone, the tingle of her hand was still in his palm, warm and comforting as he attempted to follow the conversation again.

'Ah that's right,' he thought watching as she turned to address someone else's question. She was why he was here.