Hey everyone, you guys as bored thanks to the damned coronavirus as I am?
Well, rejoice, I'm giving you something nice to read; my latest chapter. Now THIS one is the third to the last for sure! (Not counting the epilogue and my afterwords.) I honestly think you'll like this chapter… it's got smiles… it's got unshed tears… it's got suspense… it's got hope… it's got family… it's got love…
"Lady Impa, wait! I must speak to you! I need your help!" called out the fair Zelda once more.
"What is it you need, young maid?" asked the stern Lady Impa as she turned around.
"I need your help as a Sheikah…" began the fair Zelda to explain, "I need your help as a master of poisons-"
"Curb your tongue!" called out the stern Lady Impa at once! Her hand now lay upon her sword's hilt, "How dare you call me a poisoner?! My clan has produced nothing but noble knights of Hyrule! How dare you imply the Sheikah being an assassin's clan?!"
"I called you a master of poisons, not a poisoner…" replied the prudent, fair Zelda coolly, though on the inside she was very much frightened, for she had come to know very well indeed why the bravest man in the land, the young king of Hyrule, was downright scared of her! "And I never called your clan an assassin's clan… though seeing that little knife's hilt sticking out of your bosom it must be so indeed…"
The stern Lady Impa blushed and her hand flew to her chest at once.
"Hold hard! You truly keep a knife hidden in your bosom?!" called out the fair Zelda… only half in surprise.
The stern Lady Impa froze. Then she slumped in defeat…
But then she drew herself up and glowering at the fair Zelda dangerously, the stern Lady Impa asked growlingly,
"Who… or what… gave you the idea that I… as a Sheikah… might be well-versed in the knowledge and usage of poisons…?" From her tone it was clear; she would tolerate nothing other than the truth… and she demanded the whole of it!
The now truly frightened, fair Zelda swallowed hard and took a quick step or two to the back. In her mind she now truly wished she had just quietly and obediently gone back to her sleeping quarters and left the castle next morn without getting into or causing any more trouble.
But then she remembered that this course she could not do, else she would forever lose that which has come to be the most precious to her.
Still, she could not help feel like a Minish before a Lynel!
"It is… half-rumor… half-legend among the commonfolk…" explained the cautious, fair Zelda carefully, "It is said that no one has ever seen a castleowl strike down an enemy in broad daylight… it is said they only strike at night… or from the shadows… and that when a castleowl strikes… it is always fatal… it is also said that there are countless adders and vipers among the castleowls… and…"
The fearful, fair Zelda swallowed hard again, and retreated a few steps more.
"…and…?" pressed the terrifying Lady Impa.
"A-and…" stuttered the fearful, fair Zelda and swallowed hard once more, "t-the k-king's owl… is said to be…"
Once more the fearful, fair Zelda had to swallow hard once more.
"Said to be…?" pressed on the dangerously curious terrifying Lady Impa.
"…the worst… and deadliest… and most venomous amongst them all!" finished the downright terrified, fair Zelda.
The stern Lady Impa said naught…
…but her eyes glowed like dim, red fire in a moonless night!
"And why would you seek out such a deadly, venomous viper…?" asked the terrifying Lady Impa in a cold, dangerous tone.
"Because, Lady Impa… I need her to do this…"
And with that the fair Zelda explained to the stern Lady Impa her plan, all the while making sure that no one else would hear it…
…but she had ended the affronted Lady Impa said,
"Have you lost your mind?! Do you honestly think this mad scheme of yours will win you back our king's favor?!"
"It might," said the fair Zelda, "Madness often enough triumphs! Our young king himself has carried out quite a few bold, mad plans… and he succeeded."
"And that I cannot argue…" was the stern Impa forced to agree, "But it is still a madman's idea! …or rather madwoman's… and I see no reason why I should aid you in your madness!"
"Lady Impa…" began the wise, fair Zelda, "Wish you not for our young king's happiness? Do you not wish him to be happy?"
"It is not my place to decide my king's fate!" replied the stern Lady Impa at once, "I serve our king… I do not command him… and whoever our king now will choose to be his wife… whether he will find happiness with her… that will all be his decision to make… not mine…"
"And neither now will it be yours!" added the stern Lady Impa with finality.
"Yet you did, and still do, everything that you could and can, so that whenever he has to make a decision, he not only comes to right choice, but also to choose to follow it in the right manner…" pointed out the wise, fair Zelda,
"Few were the people who thought, just as our young king did, that not one among all the noble ladies and princesses presented to him was both deserving and suited to be his wife or the next queen of Hyrule… you were amongst them…"
"Fewer were the people who thought the young king be possibly right when he thought that since no worthy maiden could be found among the nobility a worthy maiden might be found among the commontry… you were amongst them…"
"Fewer still were the people still were the people who agreed to and aided our young king in his mad scheme… to invite a farmmaiden into the castle to test and see, whether or not, she was both suited and deserving to be both our young king's wife... and the next queen of Hyrule…"
"…you, Lady Impa, still were amongst them…"
Here the wise, fair Zelda paused and smiled at the stern Lady Impa warmly…
"You did everything you could to ensure your son's happiness…"
…but also teasingly!
"Whether he'd want it, liked it, or not! Just like every loving mother does!"
"What crazy nonsense are you jabbering now, you madmaid?!" cried out the scandalized Lady Impa, "Link is not my son! I-! …never… …married… I… never had a child of my own…"
This the Lady Impa said in a sad tone… remembering the only man she had ever loved… her fiancé, with whom she had been together her whole young life… the only Sheikah as brave and noble as herself…
…who had fallen soon after he had been named full warrior…
"I know…" said the knowing, fair Zelda, "But in my eyes… that does not make you any less his mother… nor does it make him any less your son…"
Here again the fair Zelda paused… and here again she could not help smile teasingly once more.
"No matter how I look at it… no matter how anyone looks at it… the two of you are a cruel, loving mother who has, with and after much trouble, thoroughly broken in her beloved rambunctious, young son and thus raised him into a wonderful man-"
Here the cautious, fair Zelda cut off her words and quickly leapt back three steps more.
For the eyes of the stern Lady Impa made it clear… the young, fair Zelda was standing on a very small, very thin piece of ice… afloat right in the middle of grand Lake Hylia!
"…what else do you see when you look upon me?" asked the stern Lady Impa at last.
'The spirit of hateful Demise!' thought the frightened, fair Zelda, but instead she answered, somewhat timidly, yet strangely enough at the same time firmly:
"A mother who wishes for her beloved son's happiness… the very same happiness she herself had been denied…"
The stern Lady Impa said nothing. Her eyes too told nothing.
At last she asked,
"And why should that selfsame mother choose to aid the selfsame maiden who chose to betray her son's trust and most likely broke his heart?"
"Because that selfsame foolish maiden has seen the errors of her ways and has come to deeply regret them…" answered the wise, fair Zelda, "And because that selfsame maiden is now willing to risk her freedom and even her life for the joint happiness between herself and the mother's son… which neither of the two will find if the mother now does not choose to act and give aid… neither the son nor the maiden will experience true happiness in life… for the maiden will never again meet one as wonderful as the mother's son… and will spend what remains of her life the very same way the mother herself has… forever without the one and only she ever loved… never again to find another… forever remembering, wondering and longing for what life they could have had together… the son however will for the remains of his life be enshackled… prisoner to a loveless, joyless marriage…"
The stern Lady Impa said nothing. Her eyes too told nothing.
At last she turned away,
"The mother will decide and the maiden shall wait… tomorrow morn the maiden will know the mother's decision."
I know it's bad manners to brag, but I feel awesome about what I just wrote here.
Sorry that this chapter is so short… I had planned on writing on… on to the breakfast between the young king and the fair Zelda the next morning…
…but…
It didn't feel right; it just didn't feel right. It felt better to make a cut here… and it still feels right.
So… while you guys are all stuck there in your homes waiting for me to post the next chapter and while I'm stuck here in my room writing it up…
Feel like having a little guessing game?
What is it again that out fair Zelda wants to take with her?
What is it that has come to be so precious to her that she cannot bear to part from it?
And why would she need the help of a poisoner?
Please review and comment. All forms of reviews, comments and criticisms are very welcomed and appreciated.
If you do not have the time to leave behind such, a numerical ratings from 0-10 will suffice just as well.
(Hey, I'm also bored and I also want something to read and cheer me up!)
10 = PERFECTION!
9 = Awesome!
8 = Very good!
7 = Good
6 = Nice
5 = Not too bad
4 = Not so good
3 = Bad
2 = Why did you post this?
1 = Why the hell did you even bother write this?!
0 = Delete this shit… NOW!