***DISCLAIMER STATEMENT: The Legend of Zelda and Hyrule Warriors are copyright and trademark of Nintendo and Techmo Koei. **

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In Sotto Voce

By The Wolfess

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Sotto voce (adv): under the breath. In an undertone. Also, in a private manner.
The speaker gives the impression of uttering involuntarily a truth which may surprise, shock, or offend.

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Chapter 1

Although Princess Zelda was already eighteen, the young heir to the throne of Hyrule had never visited the Knight Academy's training grounds before. She preferred to spend her time focusing on academic pursuits rather than watching a bunch of sweaty trainees hitting each other with practice swords. There were certainly enough books in the royal library to occupy any one reader for several lifetimes. Why would she want to be anywhere else, really? The linage of her Royal House went back to the Sky Era and the age of the First Hero, before Hyrule Kingdom was founded by Queen Zelda the First—beginning a long line of scholarly royals with a love of knowledge. As a result, the library shelves were packed floor-to-ceiling with well-preserved books. She was proud to tell anyone who would listen that the oldest volumes dated farther back than Hyrule itself, as they had belonged to the Headmaster of the first Knight Academy long before the birth of Hyrule's first queen.

Unfortunately, her father's new ward did not seem to appreciate the treasure trove of wisdom within the dusty library. The King of Hyrule had agreed to foster the heir to the Zora Kingdom, a young Zora princess named Rutella, on behalf of King Zora. Behind closed doors, it was rumored that the young Zora princess was far too rebellious and full of passions, and her father was at his wits end trying to tame her. King Zora hoped that the studious, well-mannered Hyrulian princess might be a good influence on his own daughter.

Zelda wasn't sure that it was possible for anyone to tame the Zora princess. She went by the short, jazzy nickname "Ruto" rather than her more elegant and historied name, and she was constantly sneaking around the guards or daydreaming out the window during their studies with Masters Shaddrick, Owlan, and Horwell. To make matters worse, the fish-girl had a strange and somewhat unhealthy obsession with Hylian men, which is what brought them to the training grounds that morning.

"You can't tell me that you've never come out here before," Princess Ruto was saying as she followed Princess Zelda across the battlements. Her clammy blue skin was flushed with excitement. The Zora princess was wearing a deep blue-violet gown with rosy eye-shaped dots along the hem about the size of a hand. The bodice was a little low and the shoulders a little too revealing for the Hylian princess's tastes, but it was a lovely gown if you didn't mind the cut.

Zelda shrugged. "Well, I have come this way to attend a few ceremonies. However, other than that, no. I have never really had a desire to," she responded. "I have guards all around me every day, trained soldiers and officers all. I tire of seeing them constantly. Why would I desire to see more soldiers, and the less skilled trainees at that?"

Ruto rolled her eyes. "Wow, you're kind of clueless, aren't you? Do they ever let you out of that library?"

Zelda didn't honor that comment with a reply. They had come to the battlement just north of the training grounds. From there, they would have the best view of the yard and the practice square. Ruto would have wanted to get closer, but Zelda didn't think that it was possible without drawing undue attention to their presence. Better that the trainees weren't distracted from their work than the Zora princess got a closer view.

The sounds of trainees talking and wooden swords clacking rose from the training grounds below them. It was a hazy spring morning, and the sunlight filtering through the vapor seemed to give the world a glow. A morning dove stood on the farthest merlon and cooed his sad song into the morning. Zelda turned her head to watch the small gray bird as Ruto leaned through a crenel and began to rant about the trainees.

"Oh wow! Do you see that one? He's got nice chestnut hair. And the blue eyes on that one, wow. That guy with the ax has fine pecks. Hey, are you even looking? Oh! Who's that in the middle of the circle there? He's fighting against four people and doesn't even seem phased. Wow!" Ruto squinted her eyes, raising her hand above them to block the sun. "WOW! Seriously, Zelda would you look at him go? Five, six…he could beat that whole rabble of trainees down there and not break a sweat!"

Zelda looked down at the trainee in question. He was indeed impressive. Wielding a wooden sword shaped like a great sword, he seemed to swipe his attackers aside like flies. Zelda squinted, looking a little closer at the soldier in question. "Wait a minute," she said to Ruto. "I think that might be a woman."

"What?" Ruto glanced at Zelda, and then looked harder at the trainee. Indeed, when the trainee turned her attention on those attacking from behind, the princesses could see the impression of breasts beneath her standard-issue trainee uniform. "Oh poo," the Zora pouted. "Just when I was starting to get a crush. That dries my fins." She moved on quickly enough, though, focusing on a blond-haired boy doing well in his own way on the other side of the yard.

Zelda, however, stayed where she was. The female trainee had started doing flips and somersaults as she fought. The wooden sword was like an extension of her arm, and what muscular arms they were. She wore a simple tunic under her standard-issue white trainee tabard, no chainmail, and the short sleeves rode up as she fought, exposing the woman's sculpted biceps. She had white hair tied back in a bun, with four small braids—three woven into the bun, and one beaded lock which hung loose on the side of her face. As Zelda watched, the trainee flattened a whole group with a single circular sweep and then used the momentum to dig the tip of the weapon into the ground and vault her body over the heads of those approaching from her right. "Wow…" she whispered under her breath.

"What's that?" Ruto paused in her constant narration long enough to glance at the Hylian princess.

Zelda shook her head. "Nothing," she said, looking away from the display.

Ruto looked from Zelda to the female trainee and back. "Uh huh," she said. "Okay, whatever you say."

When Ruto turned back to watching the rest of the trainees, Zelda looked at the woman again. She was just finishing, it appeared, as she had set the tip of her wooden great sword on the ground and was wiping the sweat from her brow with the end of her tabard. Just then, a voice shouted in a commanding tone, and the overseeing office strode over to where the display was taking place. They were too far away for the princesses to hear what he was saying, but his tone sounded positive. The trainee bowed when he was done and went to sit down on the sidelines as the defeated trainees stood up and limped off to the medical building.

Zelda wished that she had gotten them a closer vantage point now. If they were closer, perhaps she could make out what color the woman's eyes were, or what those marks on her face were. As it was, all she could do was squint in the sunlight and try to make out what she could from a distance. As she looked, however, the trainee raised her head and turned her eyes up to where the princesses were watching. Across the yard, their eyes met. Zelda blushed and turned her face away, tilting her head down just enough that her blond hair would shield her face.

"We need to go," she said, tugging Ruto's arm. "Professor Shaddrick will be waiting. It is time for our Histories."

Ruto sighed overdramatically. "You're killing me, here, Zelly," she said, but when the Hyrulian princess stalked away, going much faster than when she had come, the Zora princess had no choice but to follow.

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The day she first saw the white-haired trainee might have been the first time that Zelda went to the training grounds, but it wasn't the last. She returned the next day with her Sheikah Bodyguard, a now-elderly woman named Kishla. Despite her age, Kishla wore a hard-edged steel breastplate over a short-legged Sheikah body suit with hardened leather knee-high boots. It was the same uniform that she had been wearing since before Zelda was born when she served the previous Queen Zelda. Her face, though wrinkled with age, was hardened by a life of frowning, and her eyes were sharp. Still, despite her strength and extensive skills, her hands and arms had begun to shake of late, and her back gave her a lot of problems in the rigid breastplate. Whispers were going around about how much longer she could fulfill her role as protector of the princess.

The female trainee was practicing again, this time alone in a corner with a great sword made from real Goron Steel now while the others continued practicing with their wooden weapons. "Her name is Impa," Kishla said.

"Huh?" Zelda replied, not looking up from the trainee. The princess was leaning both of her elbows on a merlon and resting her chin in her hands.

The elderly Sheikah just smiled her usual sharp, pierced-lipped smirk. "The trainee you're watching. Her name is Impa."

Zelda perked up and turned surprised eyes on her bodyguard. "You know her?" She prompted, her heart jumping in her chest. She hadn't expected anyone to know who the trainee was because most of them were just peasants or younger children of lesser noblemen who wanted something more out of life. The princess had been dying to know who she was but was too afraid to ask for fear of being too obvious in her attentions.

Zelda was already too obvious to those who knew her. She had been distracted during her lessons with Professor Shaddrick all afternoon the previous day. It had gotten to the point where he asked her if she needed a break. When Master Owlan asked her if she was feeling ill later in the day, Ruto had grinned at her in a knowing way. The young princess just couldn't get the trainee off her mind, and she felt her thoughts continually drifting away to dwell on the trainee's arms or the way she had leapt in the air while wielding that large weapon as if were a toy.

Kishla chuckled a little. "I should know her. She's the daughter of our tribal leader."

"So she is a Sheikah…" Zelda murmured.

Kishla nodded. "And a very talented young Sheikah at that. As you have noticed, I can see. Captain Raltz gave her permission yesterday to train with real weapons, but only by herself. None of the other trainees, or most of our knights for that matter, can stand against her."

"Wow," Zelda murmured, turning her eyes back to watch the Sheikah practice. "She is really talented."

Kishla nodded. "And fast, and agile, and has a good grasp of water and fire battle magic."

Zelda raised her eyebrows. "Really? How old is she?"

"Twenty, your Highness," Kishla responded. "A prodigy, even among our people."

Zelda became quiet, thinking on this new information. The Goddesses must have some great purpose for this young Sheikah warrior for her to be so skilled at such a young age. Zelda found herself wondering how, if at all, she would play into this Sheikah's destiny.

They stayed for a while longer, but when Impa started to put her Great Sword back in its giant sheath, Zelda quickly left with her bodyguard. The princess felt shy about Impa knowing of her interest. She, herself, wasn't sure why she was so interested. All she knew was that she felt drawn to the Sheikah woman as she had never been drawn to anyone before. Of course, the young princess knew exactly what to do whenever she felt particularly interested in someone: hide it.

As long as no one knew that she was interested in the Sheikah trainee, neither of them would be hounded by gossipers and moochers. People often tried to get into the princess's inner circle through her friends, or to get gossip about her personal life from her friends. The publicity was bad on both sides. Terrible rumors started about both the princess and whoever the friend was. Zelda had lost friends in the past who didn't want the kind of limelight brought on by such fame. It happened often enough that the princess didn't have many friends and was wary about showing overdue interest in anyone. She spent much of her time alone or with Kishla. At least, that was until Ruto arrived.

Zelda didn't go to the training grounds the next day or the day after that. She threw herself into her studies and tried to find amusement for Princess Ruto that didn't involve going to the training grounds. By the third day of not seeing the Sheikah woman, Zelda was almost starting to feel like herself again. She was in the library reading when Ruto decided she had had enough of the castle and wanted to see the trainees again, whether Zelda was coming or not.

"Come on, Zelda! You need to get out of this musty library!" the Zora girl had said.

Zelda flipped a page in her book, pretending to be absorbed in the story. "Not now, this is just getting good," she responded.

Ruto let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine, I'm going without you."

She pranced off, and Zelda set the book down. She wasn't really into it at all. The truth was, she hadn't been able to read much at all that day, despite her best efforts. Every time she tried to focus on the story, her mind would wander to the white-haired woman in the training yard. As if the past two days hadn't been excruciating enough, last night she had dreamed about the woman. They had just been talking in a little garden, nothing more than that. Then Impa reached out and touched her hand, and Zelda woke up.

On the fourth day, Zelda couldn't take it anymore. Ruto was developing a crush on the blond-haired recruit and asked Zelda, once again, if she wanted to come with her to the yard. This time, to the Zora princess's surprise, Zelda agreed. Once again, she quietly watched Impa train, and when the Sheikah was done Zelda left. They repeated this routine the next day, and the next, and the one after that. Every morning, Ruto and Zelda went from the breakfast table to the training yards. Zelda would stand in the shadow of the turret, praying that no one saw her there. Ruto would openly swoon over the trainees, though she refrained from drawing overdue attention to herself at Zelda's earnest behest. Then, when Impa was done training, Zelda would leave through the nearest turret door to prevent detection. Sometimes Ruto left with her, sometimes she didn't. Then they would have their studies, dinner with the King, and a little free time before bed. It became their daily routine.

After a couple weeks of this, the blond-haired recruit that Ruto favored was allowed to use real steel as well—a modest sword and shield—and he and Impa would practice against one another. On the battlements, Zelda and Ruto quietly cheered their respective champions. Impa won often, but the blond-haired recruit was never phased. He always got back up, ready to go again. There was incredible courage in his attitude.

The princesses were having a quiet dinner with the King one wet spring day when fate threw a deku stick in Zelda's careful routine. "Zelda, Ruto, I have bad news," said the King, setting down his spoon and pushing away his empty bowl of Pumpkin Soup. He was a large man with a thick brown beard and bright blue eyes. Dressed in a heavy red robe with white trim and a golden crown on his head, he was fierce to look at. His subjects fondly called him the King of Red Lions. For all that he appeared imposing to those who didn't know him, however, or to those upon whom his wrath was turned, to his daughter he was always her big teddy bear of a father. Still, lately be had been more distant and gruff than usual. Kishla assured her that there were grave matters of state weighing on his mind and cautioned the young princess not to trouble him too much until the matter was settled.

Zelda set her spoon down and folded her hands in her lap. "Yes, father?" she asked, keeping her face carefully blank. There had been a troubled atmosphere about the entire castle of late, and the Advisors and Councilmen—which included Kishla—had been locked up in long war councils. Still, although the military was running extra drills and every soldier who could be reallocated to scouting was out who knows where looking for who knew what, most of the military was just staying on guard. No information had been released outside the meetings, not even to her. The servants whispered that there were signs of the approach of the next Divine Cycle. All eyes were turned to Hyrule Castle—and Zelda's eyes were turned to her father, awaiting the moment he would finally choose to tell her what was going on.

"I hate to tell you during supper, Zelda, but Kishla came to me today," said King Daphnes. "She has been diagnosed with a disease of the bones called arthritis. It causes the joins to stiffen and be very painful. She feels that she can no longer adequately perform her duties and has requested retirement."

Zelda sighed and frowned. That was not what she had hoped to hear. Not that this was good news, but she would obviously have to keep waiting to find out what was going on behind the closed door of Hyrule Castle. "I know what arthritis is, father."

"Yes, well. Even so, the situation stands. I am going to allow her retirement. She has served us for many years, since your mother before you, and she deserves whatever comforts we can provide her."

Zelda nodded. "I agree," she said, her voice growing quiet. "Although I will miss her. She has been as a mother to me."

King Daphnes nodded. The servants were bringing out a dessert course to finish their supper. "I understand, honey," he said. "And we are not going to rush the selection of a replacement. This person will be with you day and night, so it behooves us if you get along."

"I know someone!" Ruto piped up. Something in the way that she smiled made Zelda's gut churn. No no no, she thought. Don't say anything about Impa! Don't say anything about Impa! She gave Ruto a scathing look, and the Zora girl hesitated for a moment.

"Yes?" King Daphnes prompted when Ruto paused. "Who do you think will be suitable for the position? A guard from your own kingdom perhaps?"

Princess Ruto shot Zelda a malicious smile over her shoulder. Zelda could have died right there. "Not a Zora, your Grace," she said to the King. "A trainee who shows particular skill. Your daughter has taken an interest in her, although they have not yet spoken."

King Daphnes nodded thoughtfully, stroking his long white beard. "Yes, yes, you mean the Sheikah, correct? Impa. I know of this trainee. My captains speak highly of her skills, and Kishla mentioned her as a potential replacement. This is a good idea, Rutella, an excellent prospect. The Sheikah do have a long history as servants to the royal family, did you know that? But they have not yet spoken, you say? Then how can we know they are compatible?" He slammed his large hands on the table and smiled, picking up his fork to delve into the custard they had just brought out. "Well then, it's settled."

Zelda had the grace to suppress her anger and her humiliation. She kept her features blank as she responded. "What is settled, father?"

"Why, you will meet this young soldier of course," said the King. "Spend time with her. Get to know her. She is set to be promoted to base-level infantry next week, a full three years before the rest of her class. I do not see why this exceptional young Sheikah could not be in your service, especially if you have an interest in her. You so rarely have an interest in anyone, my sweet."

"I—" despite herself, Zelda's voice cracked. She took a drink of water to clear her throat before she tried again. "I am grateful, father, but certainly someone of a higher rank should guard me?"

"Nonsense," Ruto said, as the King's mouth was full of a bite of custard at the moment. "If she's able, then why does rank matter?"

King Daphnes swallowed. "It matters, young Rutella, but that is a lesson better heard from Master Owlan than from me. Zelda, if she pleases you then she may continue her training while in your service. From what I have heard of her, she will move up in the ranks faster than you think."

Zelda could think of no other protests. She had lost her appetite, so she sat in silence while Ruto and her father finished eating. When they were done and the king had excused them, Zelda and Ruto walked out of the dining hall together. Zelda waited until the doors were shut and they had turned a couple hallways before she rounded on the Zora princess.

"How dare you?!" she said, struggling not to raise her voice. "If I had wanted Impa I would have said so myself." She had backed Ruto against the wall and was jabbing her pointer finger at her as she spoke.

Ruto crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes. "No, you wouldn't have. I know you well enough to know that. You would have picked someone dull and capable, and I would have been stuck with them. At least she's interesting. And you do like her, I think."

"She interests me, it is different," Zelda murmured, backing down from her anger for just a moment. Then she let the edge back into her voice. "But you knew I did not want anyone to know of this, Ruto. You knew!"

"Whatever," said the Zora Princess. "I don't know why you're being so weird about her anyway. If she were a man, like that blond trainee for example, I'd understand why you're overreacting. A cute boy can do that. But Impa is a woman, and you are a Hylian, not a Zora."

Zelda cast her eyes downward. "You do not understand," she said, but all the fury had gone out of her. She really didn't understand herself, but she also wasn't examining it today. She sighed. "What is done is done," she said, then turned and walked away. She left the Zora princess alone and went off to the library. Between Ruto's betrayal and her father's continued silence on matters he used to discuss with her freely, Zelda felt like could use some alone time with her best friends. At least the characters in books didn't keep secrets from you or betray your trust when you gave it to them.

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Author's Notes: Revised chapter uploaded May 2022. Please see Chapter 19 for full author's comments on this revision process. Thank you for reading! And for those of you who have waited literally years to see the conclusion of this story—thank you for your patience. It's finally done and I'm excited to share it with you.