Hi readers! This chapter is also a bit more lengthy, almost reaching a word count of 6k words. It's also a little bit uneventful, but hey, I have to introduce the plot somehow. I'm just trying to set up everything (while making it the least boring as possible) so the book isn't super fast paced. Things will ready start to pick up around chapters eight or nine.
I'm also going to begin cross-posting on AO3. However, creating an account on there is super freakin' complicated for no reason, so it may take a few more weeks until I'm ready to begin uploading there too. I will put my AO3 in my bio once it's ready.
Enjoy this chapter and please, make sure to leave a review. I'd appreciate some feedback, whether it's good or bad.
Have a wonderful day.
BEHIND THE BOOKSHELF
Evidence Rooted in the Dark
Princess Zelda sat on the edge of her bed, staring especially hard at the patterned carpet beneath her. Gentle morning light bled through her curtains, giving her chambers a faint, but beautiful glow. It was dawn, and Zelda hadn't slept a wink all night.
She had been in the same position she was in now for hours, staring into absolute nothingness. She had slept like this for two days straight, right after she received the news of Maurice's suicide.
Shockingly enough, the young hero, Link, was the one to discover the body. A mere ten minutes after she briefly spoke with him outside, he came bursting back into the ballroom in a frenzy to deliver the news to her father, which completely disrupted the ball. The peaceful event soon turned into a chaotic mess, and guests quickly left after.
The situation was so completely unexpected and traumatizing that Zelda couldn't even begin to form words in her mouth. She just stood there in silence, frozen completely to her inner core, as she watched the guests crumble into chaos.
She didn't even know what to think or how to feel. All she felt was shock, but she couldn't seem to accept that her greatest friend was dead. It hadn't hit her at all. She felt completely numb.
Perhaps her numb reaction to Maurice's death was a product of how her father dealt with his own emotions. When she was around the age of seven, her mother passed of an extreme illness that was undefined. She didn't really remember much of how she felt herself, but what she did remember was how her father reacted.
He reacted with absolutely nothing.
Suddenly, a soft knock rapped outside of Zelda's chamber door. She quickly snapped out of her empty trance and weakly looked up.
"Who is there?" she asked, forcing herself to sound a bit less weak.
"It's Evelyn, my dear. His Majesty requires your presence quite soon. I will help you get ready."
Zelda stopped herself from letting out a sigh. "Very well. Come in."
The door creaked open, and the old person maiden, Evelyn, walked inside. She was a short and stout woman, with long, wispy gray hair and a hunched frame. Because of her old age, her skin slightly hung below her jawline, and deep wrinkles lined her eyes. She had worked at the castle for years, and tended to Zelda's mother when she was also a young woman.
"Hello, dear." Evelyn smiled gently at Zelda, her blue eyes crinkling with kindness. She walked closer to where Zelda was seated. "Are you well?"
Zelda eyed her personal maiden with some curiosity. There was a clear elephant in the room, and it was painfully obvious that Evelyn was attempting to be careful with her words.
"I am doing just fine, thank you," Zelda said softly, giving her the most genuine smile she could muster.
But she knew Evelyn could see right through it. The maid had known her for too long at this point.
Evelyn gave Zelda a once-over and sighed. "Darling, you look like you haven't slept in ages. Did you get proper rest last night?"
"I slept just fine," Zelda lied. "I went to bed a bit late, that is all."
Evelyn paused for a moment and studied Zelda's face, her expression clearly sprinkled with disbelief.
"Zelda. You don't have to lie to me."
Zelda swallowed thickly and set her eyes to the ground. Evelyn was the only maiden in the castle that would dare to call her by her first name, even though she constantly reminded the other maidens that they didn't have to address her so formally. However, even so, it was still rare that Evelyn ever used her first name. She only did it when she was serious.
Zelda continued to stare at the ground stubbornly, causing her personal maiden to let out an exasperated sigh.
"Let us just get you ready to see your father, alright dear?" Evelyn spoke gently. "I'll pick out something casual for you to dress in."
Zelda nodded slowly, and Evelyn quickly retreated into her closet to pick out a dress. Unfortunately, when Evelyn wanted to pick out something "casual," it never meant that it was a genuinely comfortable dress. It only meant that the dress wouldn't be accessorized with items such as earrings or jewelry. The bodice was still much too tight, and the dress was always much too elegant for just staying on the castle grounds.
It was all so irritatingly pointless.
Evelyn quickly came out with a light, flowing blue dress with a bodice that Zelda had struggled to get into many times prior. Holding back an irritated sigh, she got up from her bed and retrieved the articles of clothing from her maiden.
"Thank you," Zelda said politely, placing the clothing on her bed. She walked over to her desk and sat in her chair in front of the elegant mirror nailed to her wall.
"Would you like me to do your hair first?" Evelyn asked. "Or would you like me to call in your ladies-in-waiting so we can get multiple things done at a time?"
Zelda winced. She absolutely despised when her ladies-in-waiting were all in her room at once, mostly because it was a bit overwhelming. She enjoyed their company, but sometimes it got to be too much, especially listening to their constant gossip.
"No, but thank you. Just you is fine. You are welcome to do my hair first."
Evelyn smiled brightly and began to brush Zelda's tangles, which were very minimal because she hadn't slept all night. Zelda kept her eyes glued below the mirror, mostly because she was fearful to see how miserable she truly looked.
After a few moments, she daringly looked at her reflection. Her heart squeezed as she noticed the dark bags lined under her eyes, and the lack of color dwelling on her skin. Her skin was naturally pale, she knew, but it was much paler than it usually was. She almost looked sick.
She quickly tore her eyes away from the reflection and kept her eyes glued to the floor until Evelyn finished the loose braid at the bottom of her head.
"Alright," Evelyn sighed as she pulled her hands away from Zelda's hair. "Now, let's get you into that dress."
Evelyn grabbed Zelda's hand gently and helped her up from where she was seated. Zelda quickly undressed until she was left in her undergarments, and Evelyn began to tie the bodice tightly around her chest. Each pull felt like she was being crushed, literally, as her ribs and stomach smashed down to fit into the tight bodice. Fortunately, Zelda didn't struggle as much as she previously did to fit into the bodice. She had shed some weight ever since the war, when she was held captive in her own castle.
The war. Zelda's stomach twisted in knots as she looked down at her bare leg, which had an enormous, deep scar that lined from her hip bone to the knee. Nobody had seen it except for her ladies-in-waiting and Evelyn. They never said anything about it, but she knew they noticed, as she frequently caught them staring at the large gash from time to time.
It was humiliating, really. Truly humiliating. Not even her father or her fiancé knew about the imperfection.
Forcing herself to tear her eyes away from her leg, she looked towards the ceiling as she waiting for Evelyn to finish tying her bodice. Then, once Evelyn finished, she quickly put on her dress, with the old maid's help.
"You look absolutely beautiful, my dear," Evelyn said softly, stepping back a few feet to admire her appearance. "You resemble your mother so much in that dress. She loved blue."
Zelda smiled, and for the first time that morning, it was genuine. She loved it when Evelyn told her things about her mother. Zelda had little memories of her, so she enjoyed hearing as much as she possibly could. Evelyn and the late queen were apparently very close.
"Thank you, Evelyn." Zelda's smile grew a bit wider. "Although, I could do without the bodice. They're just so…dreadful."
Evelyn laughed. "I know, honey." She walked over and pinched Zelda's cheek affectionately. "Now let's get you to your father, hm?"
Zelda's smile instantly faded, her small amount of high spirits quickly souring at the thought of speaking with her father.
"Wonderful." Zelda forced herself to smile again. "Let us get going, then."
Link attempted to avoid thinking of Maurice's immovable, lifeless corpse that he discovered two days prior. However, whenever he closed his eyes, his mind was invaded with the image, how his eyes were still shot wide open, the blue of his eyes turned into a deep mist, as they stared motionlessly up at the ceiling above. He couldn't escape the image of all the blood, the knife stabbed straight to his heart, the unusual paleness of his skin. It was a disturbing sight that Link was beginning to believe would never exit his mind.
"It's a real shame the lieutenant makin' us investigate this mess," Barnes spoke up, breaking Link out of his thoughts. "He couldn't have picked nobody else?"
"I don't know," Link muttered, forcing himself to stare at the floor. "Just the lieutenant's orders. Nobody else would be willing."
"I know, but I ain't see a reason as to why we should be investigatin' in the first place. I mean, there's a goddamn suicide note. Ain't it clear that's what happened?"
Link swallowed thickly. The news of Maurice's suicide spread like a wildfire amongst the civilians dwelling in the castle. Everybody thought the news was shocking, clearly, but nobody thought there was something odd about it. The members of the castle all seemed to accept it for what it was: a tragic and sudden suicide.
However, it was protocol to have the militia's trainees to investigate the scene. There were around twenty trainees chosen to search, including Link and Barnes. The other trainees were looking all around the castle for evidence that could prove that the suicide was faked, but unfortunately, Link and Barnes were tasked with investigating the room right where Maurice's corpse had previously dwelled.
As a matter of fact, the trainees searching the castle barely took the investigation seriously. It was extremely rare that a suicide was faked, and there had never been a documented case of a faked suicide in Hyrule's history. None of the trainees thought the suicide seemed bizarre, no matter how sudden it was.
Except for Link. There was something so wrong about Maurice's death, so odd that it gnawed at his gut constantly since the day he found the body. Something was clearly off, and to make matters even more frustrating, nobody seemed to notice.
Link's heart dropped as he accidentally thought back of Maurice's corpse, of those haunting, dull eyes. His stomach twisted in uncomfortable knots.
"Gee, I'm sure shocked ya hadda witness the body," Barnes mumbled, rubbing the dark stubble on his face in thought. "That's just real disturbin.' I'm sorry 'bout that, Linky."
Link gave no reply, choosing to stare at the ground in deep contemplation. It was uncomfortable seeing Maurice's dead body, without a doubt. Link absolutely hated that he had to investigate the area right around where Maurice's corpse dwelled.
"You don't believe there's anything…bizarre involving the suicide?" Link asked Barnes quietly, his eyes glued to the floor.
Barnes looked over at his friend with clear concern embedded in his expression. Link was always quite anxious, and although he was good at hiding it, Barnes could see right through his facade. He could clearly sense Link's uneasiness about Maurice's death.
"Er…I ain't think so," Barnes said cautiously. He eyed Link up and down. "…Don't tell me yer thinkin' this suicide was faked. 'Cause let me tell ya, yer just gonna drive yerself mad over this 'ole mess."
Link swallowed thickly and gave no reply, which in all honesty, Barnes didn't expect much of a reply from him anyway. After a few moments of silence, Barnes sighed and placed his hand gently on his friend's shoulder.
"Listen here, ol' pal. I ain't blamin' ya for feelin' weird 'bout this mess. A whole lotta stuff done happened in this past year. A whole lotta bad stuff that yerself was in. I get it."
Annoyance immediately shot through Link's body. The amount of times he had heard this same topic of conversation rekindle was much too frequent. Especially when he returned back from the war to Ordon, that was all he heard from his relatives. Over and over again he listened to the same thing, and the worst part about it was that it didn't help him at all. Not one small bit.
"Just forget it," Link muttered, shrugging Barnes's hand off his shoulder. "Let us get to searching. The lieutenant only provided us with an hour to do so. We shouldn't waste any time."
Barnes eyed his friend with clear concern, but complied nevertheless. They both began to search all around the room, under bookshelves, in the fireplace, and even on the walls for some sort of clue.
Time flew as they occupied themselves with their search. In around forty minutes, the trainees finally looked at every spot in the library. Fortunately, they found nothing that pointed to any evidence for a fake suicide.
"Alright, I'm 'bout done with this," Barnes grumbled as he finished analyzing the lounge area. "I've looked in every nook and cranny 'round this place. I ain't see nothin.'"
Link stood from where he was crouched and turned towards his friend. "Are you positive you've searched everywhere?"
"Absolutely. Seen every darn spot in this library."
Link furrowed his brows, his expression holding a clear sense of doubt. He couldn't help but feel a shred of disbelief. There was something inside of him that told him there must be some evidence out there, evidence that could prove the suicide was faked. Maurice's death was too unsettling and sudden to be deemed as something so simple. There had to be more to it. Link could feel it.
"Linky, my friend…" Barnes walked towards Link and placed a meaty hand on his shoulder. "Don't ya worry 'bout nothin.' It'll only stress yerself out. I know this 'ole thing was kinda creepy, I get it. But there ain't nothin' more to it."
Link sighed. Barnes was likely right. Maybe he was just being paranoid, because in all honesty, he was a bit antsy about lots of situations. It was easy for him to hide his nervous behavior from most people, but when it came to Barnes, it was like his calm mask was transparent.
It was Barnes who knew him better than anybody else. At this point, Barnes even knew him better than his own family back in Ordon.
"…Alright," Link mumbled, taking Barnes's hand off his shoulder. "Let's get going, then. We'll inform the lieutenant that we've found nothing."
"Atta boy, Linky!" Barnes thumped Link on the back a bit too hard, causing him to stumble forward. "There's the spirit!"
Link just simply rolled his eyes and began walking towards the exit. However, as he neared the door, something else caught his eye, causing him to stop dead in his tracks.
"Hey, what ya stoppin' for?" Barnes asked. "Don't tell me yer havin' second thoughts again, 'cause I'm tryna get outta here. This 'ole place givin' me the creeps—"
"Do you see that?" Link interrupted, pointing to the far end of the library.
"See what? I ain't see nothin.'"
"Right there. There's another doorway."
Barnes looked to where Link was pointing, and sure enough, there was another door near the lounge area. The doorway looked old, with the wood splintered and cracked, as if it had been built ages ago.
"Er…that's probably just another exit outta here," Barnes said, admittedly desperate to leave the library.
"But we haven't searched there yet."
Barnes gave Link a once-over, and eventually let out an exasperated sigh. "Come on, Linky! I'm tryna get outta here! I ain't got time for this—"
"We're supposed to look everywhere, aren't we? Lieutenant's orders."
Barnes let out another exasperated sigh. "Fine. I'm tellin' ya now though, ain't nothin' gonna be in there. Don't get yer hopes up there, Detective Linky."
"I beg of you to never call me that again."
"I can call ya whatever I darn please." Barnes's mouth curled upwards in a sly smirk. "Detective Linky."
Link just simply rolled his eyes and stalked off towards the door, with Barnes quickly following behind silently. Unfortunately, that silence quickly diminished in a matter of seconds, due to Barnes's loud mouth.
"Say there, Detective Linky, what ya think is behind that door?" Barnes asked sarcastically. "A ghost? Maybe the goddess Hylia?"
Link rolled his eyes once more. "Just stay quiet. Please."
Link reached the door and turned the knob slowly. The door creaked open, and what was revealed beyond the door was an almost pitch-black room.
"Boy, I ain't able to see nothin,'" Barnes marveled as he peered into the room. "How're we supposed walk through?"
Link slowly stepped into the room, or rather, a long hallway, from what he could tell. There were a few dusty windows that illuminated the stone floors, so fortunately, the hallway wasn't completely pitch black. There was still some shred of light inside.
"It's not completely dark," Link said to Barnes, his voice echoing around the desolate hall. "There's windows to provide us with light. Come."
Link beckoned his friend to follow, and Barnes hesitantly complied. Sure enough, as Barnes looked down the hallway, there were spots that were illuminated with light coming through the windows.
"Well, at least it ain't completely dark," Barnes said as he peered down the hall. "Now that would be a real problem."
"Mhm."
Link began to walk slowly down the hall, with Barnes following behind, their footsteps pattering heavily against the rigid stone floor. Link had to admit, the hall was quite strange. It was clearly aged, as vines grew all throughout the cracks of the stone, and dirt caked across the old, cracked windows. It was obvious that nobody had set foot in this hallway for years.
"Ya know, I heard 'bout this ol' hallway here," Barnes said as they continued to walk down the seemingly endless hall. "Built when His Majesty was first crowned, I think. Supposed to be a private hallway that went from the library and straight to His Majesty's chambers."
"That might explain why it's so aged," Link replied.
"Yep. Guess they never finished buildin' it."
The pair quickly fell into silence and continued to walk down the hallway. After a few minutes, the end of the hallway finally emerged, or rather, the dead end. The dead end was essentially a stone wall, with an endless amount of cracks and vines scattered across. It looked as if the wall was ready to collapse.
"Welp, that does it," Barnes said as he studied the wall in front of him. "Nothin.' What'd I tell ya?"
Link's shoulders slightly slumped with disappointment. He was so convinced that there was something out there, some sort of evidence that could prove the mysterious suicide wrong. He could almost feel it as soon as he stepped into the hallway. Something was so off about the hall, and he didn't know what it could be.
"Come on, Linky." Barnes grabbed Link's arm and tugged. "Let's leave. This place givin' me the creeps anyhow."
Hesitantly, Link eventually complied and began to follow Barnes back towards the library. The hallway was quite long, so Link occupied himself with looking outside the windows to pass the time. Surprisingly, the view from the hallway was beautiful. Daylight was dwindling from the descending sun, coloring the sky with soft hues of orange, and dotting the clouds with flecks of blood. It was a shame Link hadn't came to this particular hallway prior. The view was too fascinating to ever be ignored.
The pair walked for a few more minutes in silence, until Link's foot accidentally hit something on the floor. The unknown object skidded across the stone floor, causing Barnes to yelp in surprise.
"Goddesses above, what was that?" Barnes squeaked, looking around the hallway frantically.
Link chuckled lowly. "It's alright. I just kicked something."
Link crouched down and picked up the object that he accidentally kicked. It was difficult to tell in the dark, but the object was a large shard of glass, around the size of a small plate.
"See?" Link held the shard of glass up to Barnes. "It's just a piece of glass. No reason to fret."
"Oh. Well now I feel stupid."
Link chuckled softly again. "It's alright. I don't blame you one bit."
With the glass shard still in hand, Link looked around the hallway for where the glass possibly could've originated from. Sure enough, after just a few seconds of searching, he found a cracked window with a particularly large hole in the corner.
"Goddesses, this place has really been desolate for ages," Link marveled as he walked towards the broken window. "I bet this window has been cracked for decades."
"Yeah, yeah, sure. Can we get goin' now?"
Link ignored Barnes and held the shard of glass up in the light from the window, checking to see if the shard fit in the window's hole. Surprisingly enough, the piece fit right inside.
"Link…" Barnes said nervously, his eyes strangely fixated on the shard of glass. "What…what's on that piece of glass?"
Link's eyes zipped back in a panic to study the glass shard. His heart rate began to beat out of control as he noticed an angry, bright red patch of fresh blood caked on the sharp end of the glass. There were bloody fingerprints all around the glass shard, and when Link looked back towards the window, he noticed small spatters of blood smeared around.
"By goddesses…" Barnes mumbled in pure shock. "…What the hell happened?"
Zelda walked slowly into her father's studies, her footsteps pattering against the floor so lightly that they were barely audible. Her old etiquette teacher from when she was around the age of ten taught her that proper ladies didn't walk flat-footed, and since then, she was able to walk with completely silent footsteps.
A wave of nerves hit the princess as she noticed her father sitting at his desk, with his back completely turned to her. She knew he noticed her enter, because no matter how silent her steps were, he always heard. He just always took a long while to acknowledge her.
Zelda stopped and stood a few feet behind her father, waiting to be acknowledged. This was possibly the worst part of being called down to his studies, worse than even speaking to him. Not knowing what he wanted to speak to her about definitely heightened her anxiety, and when she had to wait even longer to be merely acknowledged, it made this anxiety so much worse.
"Zelda," her father spoke lowly, finally, after a few moments of painful silence. He turned towards her in his chair. "…Are you well?"
Zelda blinked twice at the question. Was she well? Never once had he started off one of their meetings with a question like that.
"I…I…" Zelda cleared her throat. "…I am well. Thank you, father."
Daphnes gave her a quick once-over, his thick brows furrowed tightly. After a few more tense moments of silence, he finally let out an exasperated sigh.
"You haven't been sleeping much, I assume?"
Zelda's eyes swept across her father defensively. She knew no matter what answer she gave, whether if she lied or not, he would ridicule her. It didn't matter.
"I've…I've been sleeping just fine." Zelda put on a smile, one that was so trained that it was impossible to see through. "Thank you for asking, father."
Daphnes slouched back in his chair slightly. "You must make sure you get proper rest through these times. There are many things to do. We must start planning your wedding immediately."
Zelda wanted to scream. Her friend, her childhood best friend just died suddenly from a tragic suicide, and he was telling her this?
"Yes, father," Zelda replied mechanically. "I will try and get some extra sleep—"
"I didn't tell you to try. Do it. You are soon to take my place on the throne. No citizen wants a sleep deprived queen ruling their kingdom."
Zelda swallowed the rest of her words down, as hot anger began to boil inside. Why couldn't he just understand?
Zelda took a deep breath, more so to calm herself down. "Yes, father. I will do it."
"Good—" Daphnes suddenly coughed, for much longer than Zelda expected him to. After a few moments, the coughing fit finally died down. "—Next time, do not lie to me. I know you haven't been sleeping. The maidens have informed me of it."
Zelda's mouth opened to speak, but no sound came out. Of course one of the maidens said something about her lack of sleep. All their gossip was practically nauseating.
"M—My apologies—"
"I don't want to hear it. I called you down here to discuss your wedding, not your sleeping habits."
Goddesses, the wedding. She didn't even want to think about it.
"Your wedding will be in about six months, in the late of summer," her father said sternly. "I will provide you with proper etiquette teachers to prepare you for the ceremony. Your seamstress will sew you three dresses, and whichever fits best, you will choose to wear…"
Zelda quickly began to zone out as her father went on and on about the wedding. She felt as if she was some piece of machinery, who's only purpose was to be ordered around, with complete disregard to her own feelings. Her father even knew that she didn't want to marry her fiance, and he still refused to care. He didn't care in the slightest.
"…We need to start writing invitations to the guests," Daphnes went on. "I am estimating around three hundred people to show. I need you to start handwriting invitations immediately."
Now that caught Zelda's attention. Was he serious?
"Handwrite them?" Zelda asked in disbelief.
"Yes. Is there a problem?"
Zelda felt taken aback. Handwrite three hundred invitations? That was absolutely insane. Usually the councilmen who planned out large events were the people who created the invitations. But just her? That would take months, especially with all the other diplomatic work she was doing with her father.
"Well, I just…three hundred invitations is a lot to write by one person," Zelda stammered nervously. "And I—I just think I might need a little help with the matter, considering all of the other work I'm required to do at this moment—"
"You believe that three hundred letters is a lot?" Daphnes suddenly interrupted, his voice booming throughout his small study. "Tell me, Zelda, how are you possibly supposed to become connected with your future people if you can't even handle the simple task of writing an invitation?"
"But father, it's three hundred invitations—"
"And you think I just sit around and don't write letters to my people daily? The amount of letters I've received from the citizens are endless. And I have to write back every single one. So if you think this is too taxing for you, you are truly in for a rude awakening. Truly."
Zelda gnawed at her bottom lip, letting the sting of her father's words settle in slowly. There wasn't even anything she could say to that, because the worst part about it was that he was right. She was truly in for a rude awakening.
"I just want you to be prepared," Daphnes went on, the irritated tone of his voice quickly disappearing. "The fate of our kingdom rests in your hands. Don't make a mistake like you did before again."
And there it was. The same thing she had been hearing from her father for almost a year now. Her mistake.
"I…I was merely eighteen," Zelda argued weakly. "I had no prior experience with any sort of diplomatic affairs—"
"And you think that is some sort of excuse?" her father suddenly snapped. "There are no excuses for mistakes when you are on throne. None. Our kingdom fell into the hands of Ganondorf by your doing, and you use the pathetic excuse of age?"
Zelda immediately fell silent, as the bitter sting of tears began to burn her eyes. She quickly blinked them away and forced her face to settle back into a neutral expression. Showing any sort of emotion was worse than showing none.
Emotions. They were such a complex thing when it came to her father. She remembered when she was a little girl, around the age of ten, her father provided her with his very first piece of advice regarding the throne.
They will see your emotions as a weakness. Make sure to guard yourself. Do not let them see you.
For once, she actually agreed with his piece of advice. For once. It was possibly the only time she felt he was right.
"Leave my studies at once," Daphnes suddenly ordered, in a bit of a calmer tone, turning back towards his desk once more. "And get straight to the invitations. The list of guests should already be with the Council."
Zelda took a silent, shaky breath, feeling as if her knees were soon to give from how intimidated she was. There was only one person in her entire life that made her feel that way, and that one singular person was her father. Not even the councilmen or the god-awful suitors she had to meet with intimidated her in the slightest. It was only her father, and she believed that it would remain that way for the rest of her life.
"…Very well," Zelda replied softly after a few moments of silence.
She turned and began to walk towards the exit, but as soon she drew nearer to the door, a tall man in a dark cloak suddenly came bursting through.
Zelda studied the man curiously, honestly a bit shocked at his sudden entrance. He seemed to be around the age of thirty, only about ten years her senior. He had a neatly shaved beard and long, dark waves that curled slightly at the ends and the nape of his neck. His thick brows were knitted tightly on his forehead, giving Zelda the immediate indication that there was something wrong.
"Who in the goddesses name is that…" King Daphnes stood abruptly from his seat and studied the man who had just barged in with no warning. "…Lieutenant Adney?"
"Your Majesty. Your Royal Highness." The lieutenant bowed deeply to each of them, with his fist pressed over his heart. "My apologies for such short notice. I contain urgent news."
"Is this news so urgent that you barge into my private studies without warning?" Daphnes asked irritatingly. "If you wish to meet with me, you must schedule an appointment through the Council—"
"The news involves Prince Maurice's death." Lieutenant Adney awkwardly cleared his throat. "Your Majesty."
Zelda's heart immediately dropped. Daphnes zipped his gaze to Zelda for a split second, but she could not tell if it was because of genuine concern.
"And…is this involving the investigation?" Daphnes asked, surprisingly sounding a bit uneasy.
"Yes, Your Majesty. There was blood found on the end of a shard of glass. Fresh blood."
Zelda's face immediately went a ghostly pale. How could that be? It was impossible. Link found Maurice with a knife to his heart, the only weapon he could've killed himself with. Why was there another weapon lying around?
"What…" Daphnes sat back down at his desk and pinched the bridge of his nose. "…What does this mean, exactly? Do you believe that the suicide was truly a fake?"
A grave look passed Adney's sharp features. "It could be. It very well could be."
An awful feeling of dread suddenly washed over Zelda's body, because for the first time in a long time, since the war, she had a strong feeling that there was something bigger going on. And that ignited such an intense fear in her body that it gave her chills.