Dragmire's War - Part 4
-Mitagi Estate, Link-
Link could not sleep. He could barely keep his eyes closed. He was used to being anxious, but the knowledge that he would be trained by the greatest general in Qin's history threatened to make him lose his mind! How could anyone sit still in such situations!? Link did push ups until his arms collapsed, ran up and down the long hallway making the boards rattle until his neighbour threatened to beat him senseless, swung Midna (still in the sheath) until his sweaty grip loosened and it flew through the paper thin wall and hit his neighbour in the shins.
The following morning Ouki's messenger showed up to find Link was exhausted, had no sleep, and waa covered in bruises.
"What happened to you?" The messenger asked.
"He fell down some stairs." The neighbour grumbled.
"I fell down some stairs." Link guiltily agreed, with a wide smile.
The messenger looked at them, confused. There were no stairs there. "No matter," he decided. "Lord Ouki requests your presence."
"Sweet! Let's go!" Link exclaimed. All of his energy briefly returned, his angry neighbour forgotten, and he ran down the way the messenger had come.
Ouki and his blond friend were waiting with a set of three horses. Ouki's horse was large, and brown. The blond's horse was small and spotted. The third horse was by far the smallest, little more than a golden-brown pony.
"Lord Ouki, may I present Lord Link." The messenger politely motioned to the boy.
Link may have felt the urge to puff out his chest. He could get used to being called a lord.
Ouki chuckled, "Don't let it get to your head, brat. He was being polite." He motioned to the horse. "I presume you know how to ride?"
"Pft, of course!" Link scoffed. "Who doesn't?"
Link walked up to the pony as he spoke. He immediately whispered, "Please, for the love of Naryu behave! Please, oh please, oh please! I'll give you a bushel of carrots if you do!"
The ponies ears perked up at the word 'carrot'. Link started to climb on. Technically he knew how to ride. He had ridden farm animals plenty of times. The problem came after where he would always be kicked off. His track record with animals was just short of abysmal.
Link closed his eyes as soon as he sat on the stirrup, waiting to be thrown off and embarrassed in front of his idol. A moment passed. Another. Link risked opening one eye... and he was still on!
"Yes!" Link raised his hands and cheered in victory.
"I thought you said you knew how to ride?" Ouki mocked him childishly.
"Shut it!" Realizing his mistake in tone, Link quickly added, "My Lord, Sir!"
Ouki merely laughed rather than be offended. "Cheeky brat!" His eyes widened maliciously and his smile turned predatory. Ice shot down Link's spine. "I look forward to taming you."
Link gulped. He was in for it now.
The dangerous tone lifted as quick as it appeared. "So! Let us go! I have special training in mind for you, oh friend of the Princess!"
"Yeaaah..." Link cheered far weaker than before. He felt his mouth may have screwed him over this time. Was he being given special training just because he told the man to shut it? Link feared so.
Ouki, the Englishman, and Link rode out into the country. They passed military tents and groups of soldiers training. Hundreds of men ran together while singing military songs, hundreds more shot arrows into targets, hundreds more wrestled in sand, hundreds more fought with sword or shield or spear or axe on foot, and yet hundreds more fought on horseback. With each group, Link thought they were the ones he was being escorted to. Surely he would learn the bow? No, they passed by. Surely the sword and shield or spear? He had a sword and had some experience, but once again this proved to not be it. He was convinced he would be thrown in the group of horsemen, he was on a small horse after all! The horse was small and he was small, but he would give it his all! But still, no. They passed all these groups and rode out into the country.
Link said absolutely nothing, nervously expecting anything and everything as possibilities! They rode through a mountain pass nearby. Surely it was mountain climbing! A chance to work on his muscles and to learn to scale walls! But no, they rode on until the morning sun passed into midday.
The blond man looked at Ouki with concerned curiosity. Normally Ouki was boisterous, loud, and confident. But today Ouki was anything but. To anyone else Ouki's strong back could be seen as unwavering as he lead them onward. But he saw the conflict in him from years of friendship and understanding. Ouki was silent on the outside only because he was filled with noise on the inside.
The blond man sighed. He did not know what words his lord had with the Sheikah, but he could easily read that it was by no means good. He looked over at the boy. The boy was energetic, excited, and yet not ignorant of the work training entailed. Rather, the Englishman saw determination and raw will. The kind of student a teacher loved.
He pitied the boy.
They rode alongside the cliffs edge where it dropped valleys extended for forever and Ouki slowed their pace. In the distance below at the foot of the cliffs was a village.
"Where's that" Link broke the silence.
"It is a village with no name. It exists illegally. It is little more than a bandit camp." Ouki replied. He stopped his horse at a creek that ended in a waterfall. The waterfall fell to a lake that ran as a river beside the village. The others followed suit. Ouki walked up to the edge of the cliff and gazed down. He called for Link to come.
"A bandit camp? So near? Impossible!" Link walked beside him. "You are so powerful you can wipe them out without a second thought!"
"True that..." Ouki smirked. It wavered slightly. "But my attention is on the borders. My eyes are on all of Qin. I am the pillar holding our nation up proudly against all others, but with a focus on what is far it is easy to not see what is near... and evil always finds a way to fester in the cracks."
"Then? You will do nothing? You won't stop them?"
"They are smart enough to stay low and quiet and not draw my attention." Ouki replied. "So they are not a priority worthy of my attention. I have heard of no caravans being robbed of mine, so I imagine they wish to live quietly. Would you destroy them for that?"
"I..." Link stopped. The tone in Ouki had changed. This was a serious question. "No. If they behave, then who knows? They might join Qin someday."
Ouki nodded. "Link." Ouki asked. "Why do you want to become a soldier?"
"I-"
"Not a general. A soldier." Ouki reminded him. "There is a difference."
Link hesitated. It was easy to say it was in his blood, but that answer had changed since he met Zelda and his eyes were opened. Now he understood loyalty, at least a little bit, and wanted to do what he could to help his friends the only way he knew how. Both his home village, and the capital. "I... want... to help people. I-I want to prove myself... to do my part. I thought my dream to be a general was just that: a dream. But... then I had a friend who was a slave one day, and became a king the next and saved all of Qin."
Link tightened his grip on Midna, the sword that he had named after her, which had been left to him from her hand. "She gave me this sword to protect the kingdom. I would be spitting on her to toss it aside."
Ouki looked at the sword and believed him to be referring to Zelda.
"If a slave can be king... then who is to say a slave cannot be a general? If she can do so much then..." Link left the rest unsaid.
Ouki closed his eyes. "Who is to say a servant cannot be a general?..." Ouki mumbled quietly, his thoughts distant.
"Well... slave. But close enough." Link said awkwardly.
Ouki's eyes snapped back to Link, as if just remembering the boy was there. His gaze darkened and Link hesitated, thinking he had said something wrong and was on the verge of apologizing, but did not know for what. Ouki's behavior baffled him.
The Englishman turned around.
"For what it is worth..." Ouki said. "I am sorry."
"For wha-"
Ouki interrupted, "When you arrive in the next realm, tell them I sent you. And then apologize on my behalf for the inconvenience."
Before Link could respond, Ouki kicked him off the side of the cliff.
Ouki stood in silence. His gaze inward and filled with self-loathing. After a long moment he turned and straddled his horse. The Englishman followed suit, his heart torn for the open turmoil his master was in and knowing no word could comfort what he had done. This was not the general's way. He reveled in bloodshed, in war, but assassination, and the murder of one so young, was against him.
They rode a bit further. There a group of Sheikah showed themselves, weapons drawn. "Where is he?" They questioned.
"It is done." Ouki said. "This ambush is unnecessary."
"So he is dead then?"
"You are free to look for the body at the bottom of the cliff. The body sank to the bottom of the lake."
The Sheikah looked between themselves and the leader asked, "So the body did not wash down the river?"
"No." Ouki said. "He wore heavy items that weighed him down. He sunk."
Seeing that Ouki was not lieing, the leader said, "The Sheikah thank you. I know this matter was not proper, but it was necessary."
"Mhmm." Ouki hummed.
-Joket, Ganondorf-
Another former-Qin had disappeared. Not just one this time, but a whole group of them.
Ganon looked out to see the state of the city, and he did not like what he saw. The situation was becoming steadily worse. The former-Qin were now moving only in groups and were going so far as to keep a wide distance from any and all Majora. Where every Majora walked, the former-Qin would flee to the other side of the street, put their hands on their weapons, and watch them warily. It made Ganon desire to consficate their weapons.
The disappearances were always silent and hidden, the bodies were never found.
Until now. A body was found. Sort of…
"Surely it is not as bad as he said." The former-Qin governor argued. "For a Qin to have done this?! There is no proof! It is a ridicules claim!"
"If our man is right, we need to look into this. This may be the proof you want." Nabooru Majora argued. "Whether the murderer is a Majoran or Qin.
"I understand that, Lady Nabooru. But you must understand, I find it difficult to believe a claim of… what was it again?"
"Artistic murder." Ganondorf imputed.
"Yes, just who in their right mind would do such a thing?! Murder is motivated by greed or desperation! Not... whatever this is!"
"Then you are right to say 'who in their right mind' because this person may not be of the right mind." Nabooru said.
The governor sighed in frustration. He ran his hands through his hair.
Ganondorf said, "You don't have to go see for yourself if you find such things outside of your tastes, but it should be investigated. Speak nothing of this. I personally will go and see if the claim is true. If it is, then we have a problem and the last thing we need is the people knowing until we have the situation under control and we can spin it in a way that will keep a riot off everyone's hands. Because trust me when I say if there is a riot and if my people are hurt… I will be short on mercy."
The governor gulped fearfully and nodded. "I'll go with you." Nabooru stood from her seat.
"If you insist." Ganon replied. He didn't care one way or another. If she felt this was the best use for her time, then that was up to her. He looked to his twin-mothers. "Mothers, if you will join me. Your eyes could prove useful."
"Oh goody!" "Artistic murder!" The two cackled. They rubbed their old hands. The former-Qin governor eyed them.
Outside the Majoran guard to have reported the finding escorted them out of the mansion and to the place in question.
It was a run-down shack in the older, torn down parts of the city. Immediately Ganon sensed something was wrong.
"Where are all the people?" Nabooru wondered. Ganon hummed in agreement.
Kagami growled and flattened his ears as they neared a hut the guide pointed out. At a point the large wolf simply refused to take a step further. The house was barely a house. It would be more accurately described as a pile of wood on four sticks.
"This place looks like wolf crap." Ganon complained. "Are you sure this is the place?"
The guard confirmed it.
"No surprise there… Good place to hide a body. No one would look here." Nabooru whispered.
The twin mothers, being witches, flew over their heads high above. As they only had one large broom to share at the moment, they mostly bickered and argued over who was controlling it. Kagami barked from a distance.
Nabooru snuck up to the edge of the hut quietly and peered in the window. She whispered, "There is one person inside standing in the middle of the room. We should-"
Ganon kicked the door open and walked in.
"-be… careful." Nabooru finished. She mentally sighed. "Right…" She vaulted into the window and pulling out a scimitar pointed it at the man in the shadows. Not like they truly had the element of stealth anyway. Kagami was barking furiously at the door and the witches were bickering over where to land.
The person hadn't moved. He hadn't moved when Ganon barged in or drew his two blades, and he hadn't moved when Nabooru snuck in from behind.
The person was completely still… and there was something… off… about his frame. Frowning, Ganon flared fire along his blades and waved one forward. What they saw made Nabooru scream for half a beat and cause Ganon to drop his sword in shock.
The person before them was a conglomeration of body parts from different people. The face alone had five separate people's faces sown together. The eyes were large and bulging. The hair was part long, part curly, part bloody and all matted together messy fur. The nose had two different size nostrils. The ears were much too large for the face, even looking feminine.
Ganon didn't care to look at any other part of it below the face. The face was bad enough.
Nabooru turned around, leaned out the window, and threw up. He was tempted to vomit as well. The smell was ten realms past horrid and decayed. No wonder Kagami refused to come near.
"Ohhh! I like!" One of his mother's exclaimed from the door.
The two witches entered in and examined the corpse eagerly. Their hands twitched like kids tempted to touch, yet knowing better lest they be chastised. Ganondorf eyed them, worried for their sanity.
"Disgusting…" Ganondorf grunted.
"No, amazing!" One mother said.
"Such talent!" The other said.
"Notice how the metal rod pierces its ankle-"
"-all the way up to the waist-"
"just to keep it stable! And in place like a statue!"
"I wanted to say that part!"
"Sorry, but it's so-"
"I know!" The other squealed.
"So…" Nabooru interrupted. "Can we confirm this is a… the missing people stitched together... thing?" She kept her distance from the body and her feet were directed at the door.
"Most likely. Is there a way to track who did it?" Ganondorf asked openly.
"We will need a sample of blood." The twin mothers said.
Ganondorf stared at them a moment, aghast. He motioned to the body. "Then take some blood!"
"But we don't want-"
"-to ruin it!"
"If you can do it. Just do it!" Ganondorf insisted.
The witches muttered in disagreement, but did as they were told. They stood on either side of the body, drew knives, quickly pierced the body and pulled the knife out in one motion.
"The blood weeps for vengeance…" They chanted. "Bloods stains the killer." They pointed the knives downward so that the blood dripped down its sharp edge, then they started to draw on the ground with the blood. "The blood of innocence cries out." "The Divine demand sacrifice." "For they do not bleed."
With their design finished, they gently placed the four knives on the ground in the midst of the design. Twilight came from Koume's hands, touched the blood, and quickly infested it like a hungry worm. Once all of the blood was infested with Twilight, it started to shimmer. The design unraveled itself to form a snake. The snake turned to each one of them, hissed, and disappeared out the door.
"Follow it!" Koume exclaimed. She pointed at it as it slithered quickly into the street.
Ganondorf dashed after it. Their technique was surprisingly effective if this worked out. Kagami was immediately on Ganondorf's side and understood what it was they were following. Good thing too, as Ganondorf lost sight of the small creature many times but Kagami's sharp nose led him without fail.
The Twilight snake sped through the old town until at least it reached a hut and slithered beneath the door. Ganondorf, Kagami, and Rabooru stopped near to look around and listen. They heard men scuffle inside and one man exclaimed "Oh, not another one!"
"Think we found them." Ganondorf whispered. He drew his blades. Rabooru did the same. Kagami bared his fangs. "Rabooru go to the main street and call for the guards. I'll take him prisoner."
Rabooru nodded, jumped off a sack onto the edge of a roof, climbed up, and disappeared.
Ganondorf walked up to the front door and listened. There were men inside and a fowl stench lingered in the air. A smell he knew well.
He opened the door gently and entered in. The men inside did not notice him immediately, allowing him long enough to have a look, but when they did those in the immediate vicinity drew their weapons and stood against him. Kagami lowered himself, ready to lunge.
"Surrender your weapons." Ganondorf proposed. He imbued Divine Fire and Twilight across the surface of his blades and allowed the power of the mark to flow. His red eyes and fiery hair glowed in the shadow. "Or don't. Makes little difference to me." The men fell back in fear.
One man entered from a room further in. He wore armor as an elite and a fur cloak over his shoulders. He had a curved blade on his side and a beautiful countenance. With a single motion he beheaded one of his own men as they retreated.
"Cowards!" He barked. "He is not here as our enemy and yet you quiver as rabbits! Everyone who dared take a step back in fear, impale yourself! Do it now or I will do it myself!"
Looking between each other in fear, it dawned on Ganon that these men were more afraid of their leader than they were of him. The ones to flee drew their blades and pierced their own stomachs and fell to die in their own blood. Thankfully they were but a scant few, as most in the building further in had not fled from him. Now that Ganon's eyes were adjusting to the shadows, he could see there were many in the connected rooms.
Kei Ki the Beheader, new hundred-man commander of the army of Qin, stepped forward and extended a hand.
"Lord Dragmire. It is a pleasure to see you."
Ganondorf was stunned. Not to the extent of being speechless, but the last thing he had been expecting when he entered the room was a Qin army officer, least of all one he had fought beside only a little while ago. But at the same time he felt he shouldn't be surprised. From what he heard of Kei Ki… He was a man who's evil rivaled Ganon's own evil in the darkest moments of his past. Ganondorf lowered his blades slowly, and just as slowly pulled the power of his mark back to where it rested on his hand, and put the anger, bloodlust, and darkness to sleep. Not completely, as Ganon was wary of The Beheader.
Ganondorf demanded, "What are you doing here?"
"Why, building an army, of course." Kei Ki shrugged. "I promised my niece I would make her an army from the expansive, rebellious branches of the Ki family. So I am hunting them and forcing them to acknowledge me as the sole head of the Ki family. One of the heads of the Ki family is here."
"In my city?"
Kei Ki's eyes flashed knowingly. He smirked. "Does this trouble you?"
"The fact that a mafia leader is here or your murder? Yes. Your actions are causing great unrest, and I would rather not have a riot on my hands."
"Ah." Kei Ki nodded. "If it helps to appease you, then know that I have only threatened the innocents. I have only killed informants and trusted men to the Ki family head and those of them who have stood with them."
Ganondorf motioned back to where he came. "You mean that conflagration of corpses is them?"
Kei Ki's eyes widened ever so slightly. He smiled proudly and asked, "You saw?"
"I did. Wish I had not."
Kei Ki did not hide his disappointment. He lowered his shoulders and sighed. He mumbled something in a language Ganon did not understand and then said, "Alas, you do not understand!"
The sound of boots outside cut them off. Kei Ki's casual demeaner darkened dangerously. He tightened the grip on his sword.
"What did you do?" Kei Ki asked.
"On behalf of the Majora, I must insist that you leave. Your actions threaten not only my city, but the relations between our nations." Ganondorf said.
"And walk away with the job half-finished? I think not." Kei Ki hissed. His narrowed his eyes at
The door opened and the guards entered lead by Nabooru. Ganon put his hand up to stop them from going further.
Ganon did not like the look in Kei Ki's eyes. It reminded him greatly of Zelda when she declared her intent to conquer Hyrule, it bore the same resolve, same intent to win. Resolve seemed to run in the family. With Zelda it was something he found fascinated him, but with her uncle it could prove dangerous.
"I wouldn't do this if I were you." Kei smiled like a predator. "We wouldn't want anything to happen to that pretty little red-head of yours, would we? You know the one at the inn? I hear she has quite a past."
Kagami took a paw step forward and picked up pitch in growling. Ganon's blood flooded with burning ice. He grit his teeth and glared at him. He had only been to the inn twice, the second time just yesterday.
Kei Ki continued, eyeing Kagami, "That pup there has proven an annoyance. He has been at the inn since the day I laid eyes on her."
So that was why they said he was always there.
"So how fortunate that you are here..." Kei Ki bared his teeth. "And not there."
"No!" Ganon exclaimed instinctively.
Kei Ki was truly dangerous. He had a far reach, many eyes and ears, and if the corpse proved anything... intent and ability. For a brief moment Ganon saw the young girl's head on the abomination. The image sent bile into his throat.
Kei Ki paused, seeing the chink in the powerful man's armor. "No?"
"Don't touch them." Ganon could not let them be hurt, he could not let his hope die. He had promised. He was not an innocent man nor intended to be but they...
Kei Ki said, "Then may I propose an accord? I will spare them and leave your lands peacefully... if you help me cut the head off the head of the local snake."
Ganon took a breath. "And just who would that be?"
"Why, the gov'ner, of course! Who do you think it was orchestrating the whispering against you? Who do you think was in Chancellor Ketsu's pocket? Who else has so much to lose, and yet the power to stir up strife? I fully admit to making his lieutenants disappear, but are a dozen rebels, bandits, and the like enough to incur this much response without someone pushing it?"
Ganon considered this. He felt he was at an impasse between a number of very bad situations. If he trusted Kei Ki at his word and handed over the Qin governor, then the situation between Majora and Qin in this city would reach its final stages. Either he would be feared, or he would not be feared. Either way he would be hated, and whether the fear won out over the hate would decide whether he would have an active rebellion on his hands.
But then who was to say Kei Ki was speaking truth? And what if Ganon refused him? Kei Ki clearly knew of his fondness for his clan... and would not be above sending his clan into extinction. And while Kei Ki had made no threat to the Majora themselves, Ganon could not afford to underestimate the lengths this man would sink to. The Beheader had already proven himself more sick than anything Ganon had imagined.
Ganon had used corpses for his own end before. Placing heads on spears were effective warning signs. But that was with a higher purpose, a purpose of security, of warning punishment... this man surpassed him and all for his amusement. There was no higher purpose than his 'art'.
"Allow me a moment and I will have your answer." Ganon asked. "I want to be sure my clan is safe."
Kei Ki nodded. He sheathed his blade. "Best you do not tarry... my time to act is soon."
-Ryo-
Ryo's attention to the scroll was interrupted by a sound as quiet as a whisper. It was faint, but the sound continued on a few times in repetition, in a pattern.
Ryo looked briefly at the door. He heard no one, save the Royal Guard, so he quietly placed his scroll down and, without a sound made his way to the window. With another glance to be sure no one was entering, Ryo tapped in the window frame in response to the before mentioned pattern. He then stuck a rupee in. The rupee disappeared.
A piece of paper slipped through the cracks beneath the window. Quick as a snake he snatched it, stuck it in his robe sleeve, and returned to his seat. He inscrolled it by the candlelight.
With a turn of his hand the edge of the paper touched the fire. He watched, with a smile and gleam in his eye as bright as the candlelight, as the fire spread across its surface. The clay seal of Ouki Mitagi being all that was left of the message. He stuck the round seal into his purse along with his coins and rupees.
Ryo resumed his work as if nothing had happened. In truth, he did not have to pretend to have moved on. He had a great deal of work to do and he held his work in too high of a regard to slacken.
The next day, Ryo rose and gathered his things. The meeting with Zelda's ministers would not be for many hours and he wanted some perspective. He understood the animosity the court held for him, and from Zelda specifically, and believed him to be capable of dealing with it despite being the only one from his own court in attendance. Ryo would handle them all as smoothly as he always did.
Ryo would defeat Zelda. He held all the pieces, he held the Queen piece, the King piece, and all the other pieces as well. Even the checkmate piece, if there was one. It was unfortunate to lose his Bishop, but it was a worthy sacrifice to stay in the game. The game was moving on its way as both sides rethought how to move forward. Ryo would allow Zelda her reprieve, and in the meantime he would see his legacy, his Qin, prosper.
Ryo requested to know where Abhdan was, and after questioning several he finally tracked the slippery man down to the king's study.
Ryo entered and to his surprise, Zelda was there as well. He did not show his surprise but kept his composure genuine. Didn't this girl ever relax? It was before dawn and she was already deep in her studies. If the number of scrolls around her was any indication, she had not.
Abhdan stirred from where he was reclining in a chair as Ryo approached, and Zelda visibly stiffed. Under her gaze, the air around Ryo felt frigid. It would have made him fear for his life if he was a lesser man. His mere existence seemed to be an insult to her.
"Teacher." Ryo greeted. He brought his hands together and bowed to him slightly.
"Ah! Oh-ho! Ryo! It is good to see you this fine morning!"
"You as well, teacher. If I may impose, I wished for some perspective on a matter."
"Oh?" Abhdan asked, his curiosity piqued.
Ryo reached into his outer robes and handed him one of the scrolls he kept on his person. Zelda's eyes widened slightly at the sight of how many scrolls Ryo had hidden on him.
"See something curious, princess?" Ryo asked with a smirk. Zelda blushed in embarrassment at being caught. She looked away.
"I have never seen anyone with so many documents on them all the time." Zelda furrowed her brows. "Didn't one of them just now bear the mark of the king?" She accused lightly.
Abhdan looked up from his reading to watch them. Ryo continued to smirk.
"You have a good eye. Indeed, it is a scroll of the king. If you recall, you gave it to me when my men returned you from Zhao. You allowed me any wish, and I wished for this scroll."
Ryo patted his robe where the scroll was beneath. Zelda nodded. She remembered it. It was a scroll from her father's collection.
"And I have kept it on my person since. It is a good reminder of old times, and an old friend. As for the other scrolls... let's just say I believe in a merchant's luck."
Zelda scoffed, "Luck. There is no such thing. Fate is weaved by the Goddesses and moulded by the work of our hands. There is only design, not chaos."
"Agreed."
"Then there is no luck."
"Wrong." Ryo said simply, yet with a smile as if talking to an ignorant child. With Zelda's age, she more or less was compared to him.
"Are you mad?" Zelda asked. "You say there is luck yet no luck? Which is it."
"Then you are hearing what you wish to hear, and are putting words in my mouth I have not said. There is luck, but there is also design."
"Even though they directly contradict? Are you dumb?"
Ryo did not take to the brazen insult. At most he raised an eyebrow. "You disappoint me, princess. I thought you above petty childish insults."
"That's a laugh coming from you! You insult me with every breath! Your every thought is an attack on me! Your every action is a sin unto me! Your game of Qin is narcissistic!"
Ryo felt the veins in his forehead pulse. Now he was getting aggravated. But then what better to have expected from a girl just reaching puberty? He scoffed sarcastically, "Go ahead, princess. Why don't you tell me what you truly think."
"I hate you!" Zelda yelled.
"I was being sarcastic, brat!" Ryo exclaimed.
Abhdan's uproarious laughter interrupted their argument. The old man laughed until he cried, and then some. Ryo cast Zelda another annoyed glance before straightening him and composing himself.
"Her immature behaviour is hardly worth being amused by." Ryo chastised. Zelda gave him a withering look.
"It is not that!" Abhdan panted amidst lingering chuckles. "It is how karma has returned upon your head! Princess, he too was as mouthy at your age and said such things to me. I called him brat many times!" Zelda smiled in amusement.
"Hey now..." Ryo growled. "That is uncalled for."
"But all that aside, Ryo, I think it is good you are here. I have been teaching the high princess my 'Game of Nations'."
Ryo nodded. He knew the game well. Abhdan had invented it as a teaching practice tool. "Is she doing well?"
"She is!" Abhdan said proudly. Zelda smiled lightly at the praise.
"Good, good."
"But I was hoping you would join us for a game." Abhdan continued.
"Pardon?" Zelda's smile fell to a frown.
"Now now, princess. You can learn much from your fellow student."
"As if..." Zelda scoffed. She wanted nothing to do with Ryo. The man had already rudely interrupted her lesson. And this was after insulting her in open court. And he had tried to have her assassinated!
Now thoroughly annoyed, Ryo said, "Very well. I will play."
"What? No!" Zelda protested.
"Princess... you may be my liege, but I am your teacher and this room is my kingdom and my lessons are my laws. The only way you can overpower me here is to kill me." Abhdan smiled widely, with a deceivingly light tone.
"Don't try it." Ryo sighed. "I've been trying to kill him for thirty-five years... Bastard refuses to die."
Zelda looked at him in disbelief. She didn't want to think he had actually tried, but then again Ryo had tried to kill her... so did he really try for thirty-five years or not? She could not say. Abhdan merely laughed.
The game in question was a simulation of a nation. Every turn was a season, and you started with one-hundred people at a place on the map. Every person had needs and could be tasked to work single tasks. You had to survive winter, starvation, disease, overpopulation, feral animals, random accidents, and the occasional disaster or attack. You had to keep your people happy, lest they rebel; and you had to keep them weak enough, lest they take the kingdom out from under you. You had to keep the church happy, lest you be declared a heretic, and you had to keep the merchants guild happy, lest they rebel. In like manner to allow them to become too strong will allow them to decide they don't need you any longer. At some point the mafia arises, and you have to balance yourself between being too harsh, lest your people suffer under you, and too lenient, lest the mafia grow.
And you had to deal with every possible profession and resource known, from the resource gatherers, to the ones who moved them, to the ones who processed resources to make other products, to the builders, to the judges and guards who kept the peace, and finally the full military.
And that was one city.
Very quickly Zelda realized she was fighting someone who was far her superior at this. Ryo's decisions turn from turn confused her, but before long she realized he was thinking not merely one step ahead, or even ten steps ahead. Ryo's thoughts were entire generations ahead. To make her humiliation greater, Abhdan inflicted disasters upon Ryo many times, while inflicting none on her, and he calmly, methodically, worked his way through them all, balancing every facet of the game like an instrument.
Ryo had expanded to form a dozen cities ten times her population before finally buying her own city out from under her.
"You did well." Ryo complimented as he put away pieces. "Much better than I expected. Abhdan's words does not do your sharp mind justice."
"You just won because you already knew the game." Zelda complained. "I will improve."
"If you must know Abhdan invented rules he had never used on me before, all for the purpose of holding me back. You did not have to handle mafia. I did. You did not have to handle inner court corruption. I did." Ryo directed his words to his teacher. "And just how did you invent rules and events to simulate it so well?"
Abhdan merely smiled. This secret, like so many others, would die with him.
"Face the truth princess, you are good. Far better than your brother. He had potential but never applied himself. Your father was much the same, intelligent but never once stepped up or put effort into his role. However while you are not lacking in born talent, and not lacking in hard work, you will never... ever... beat me. For one reason: you refuse to see me as anything but an enemy. For that you fail at politics at the most base level."
"You...!" Zelda growled. "You do what you have done to me and think you are anything but?!"
"Princess. Recall the game." Ryo said patiently. "You had the option to trade with me and you refused. You let your people suffer over your own personal vices. You played, not to secure the prosperity of your people, but to defeat me. In the end I took your city out from under you not because you were my lesser, but because your obsession with turtling yourself within your grudge led to suffering. And now consider the governor I took over? I did not kill your pawn, Princess. The governor merely works for me now. I did not kill him, and he governs the same land as before. Destruction of resources is a waste. No one has suffered. No war. Only progress. Now look to yourself. I make no mistake in wondering why you hate me, but allow me to give you some advice: so long as you prove this easy to manipulate, influence, and stir up, you will always be my lesser."
Zelda could not speak. His words had struck her silent. He spoke softly but so accurately into her heart she was left numb. Not the painful numbness that thinking of her mother gave her, but the humiliation of chastisement. She had been angry, increasingly angry each day; and who could blame her? But she now felt the anger whisk away as a mist and in its absence was... nothing.
Ryo turned to Abhdan and bowed. "Thank you, great teacher. The game proved enlightening."
Ryo left. As he departed Zelda stood and asked, "Why would you give me advice? What profit is it to you that I learn and grow?!"
Ryo stopped long enough to say, "Because you have always been an investment. I created your parents. I created you. I destroyed your parents in the end. I can destroy you without a second thought just as well, but you are proving to be worth the investment. Because despite it all, we have one thing in common: we both serve Qin."
Zelda was left speechless in the wake of Ryo's departure. Much as she wanted to argue against it, or refute him, she found she could not. He was right. Her emotions were getting the best of her, and so long as he could so easily influence her emotions, he effectively would control her. This was a lesson worth taking to heart.
But could she trust him to put Qin first and their rivalry second?
Abhdan watched her process what had happened, and chose to say nothing as he saw she was not merely brushing off the lesson.
"Teacher," Zelda said. "What does he mean by merchant's luck?"
Abhdan stroked his beard. "Ryo has always seen luck as an equation… he described to me as 'the culmination of man's preparation for divine opportunity'."
"In other words… always being prepared."
"Yes, but with the acknowledgement that it is the divine that test us. They provide us events of good and ill, and when man is not prepared we often call it bad luck, while a man that is prepared will call it good luck. Sometimes the preparation is merely being at the right place at the right time, while ill preparation is being at the wrong place. Man suffers, but how they choose to take the suffering is up to them. Same things for blessings. Some men reject blessings as evil, while others good."
Zelda tried to wrap such a concept around in her head, and what she found baffled her. "Who taught this to him?"
"No one. He came up with it on his own." Abhdan replied.
"Surely he does not think that all acts are provided by the divine? The divine do not orchestrate evil, but evil still happens because there is sin as the rejection of the divine. The Goddesses weave fate for good to protect us."
"And I think he would agree. But ultimately this world is both one of good and one of evil for a reason: To show this realm is not the heavens nor the hells, but to give us a taste so that we may know which life thereafter we wish to strive for."
Zelda nodded. She did not know whether to agree with that, but it was easy for her to understand. She would have to talk with the Fae and newly elected priests later to get their understanding. Abhdan ended the lesson there and departed for the day, and Zelda realized that in all of that, Abhdan had not laughed. This was the most serious he had ever taken anything. This evidence left her feeling it was more important that she come to understand something from this lesson than before, that she take it more seriously.
So she sat in meditation up until it was time for the meeting. She considered her relationship with Ryo, and how it would affect all of Qin. She considered the options before her, and while it was impossible to rationalize the idea that she would ever be anything less than his obstacle, she realized that she had made a fundamental error. He was a politician like any other. He was the most dangerous one of all, but she had come to see him as something far more than that. She had come to see him as inhuman, as a monster. He had his good traits and he had many flaws, and she had lost sight of that.
This was not a reality where anyone could be clearly defined as a hero or villain. This was not some fairy tale. He was a man. He most likely loved someone (his own narcissistic self being an option) and had been loved. He had been born to a mother and father, and perhaps even raised by them. He could even have had a pet and doted on it.
If it was, then what did that make her and her friends? She was intent on war. Ganondorf was by no means a righteous man. Even Link, the most innocent of them, was motivated by revenge at one point. By her own standards all of them would be villains. The only true hero was long dead.
She needed to grow up. Ryo was a man who commanded respect and gave it in turn, and were she to take a hard look at herself, she had been… quite obstinate with him.
It was her destiny to defeat him, and that was ever more assured by the calm acknowledgement she needed to return to that he was but a man. No man could stand in the way of destiny.
So when the time came Zelda rose, joined the meeting, and observed when needed and participated when needed. Despite her distaste for him, Ryo was still her Chancellor. So long as she treated him with respect due his station perhaps he would allow her to use him; and to her surprise he did. He did not make any verbal jabs. He did not play any twisted games (this time).
Qin would face war inside and out. These were the times they lived in; but it was up to them to ensure Qin not only survive, but prosper.
