Note from the Author: A short fic I wrote a while back, touched this up to take a short break from my Undertale fic "Mephibosheth." I had always wondered what life was like for the servants at Hyrule Castle. Jilo and Toba aren't really OCs (I created them both in approximately three minutes), I just wanted to give the BotW world an extra hint of realism and teenage angst. Why not?
Anyways, enjoy! All reviews are read, responded to, and cherished.
"Can I play with the horses today?" Toba asked.
"No."
"Please, Jilo?"
"No."
"Okay, then can I watch the Princess train with Impa?"
"No."
"Alright. Can we buy carrots for the new pony during lunch break?"
"You can hold my hand and stop talking until we get to the stable." Toba's grunt of disappointment was amplified in the predawn silence, but he obeyed nonetheless. His older brother clearly wasn't in the mood for friendly banter. Now that he thought about it, there was never a time the lanky teenager was.
The sting of wet grass against his thighs derailed Toba's train of thought. The path from Castle Town to Hyrule Castle had grown thick with tall spring weeds, which were presently laden with morning dew. Not the main road, of course. The back path, the one that wound from East Castle Town up to the Royal Stable, was as dirty and unkempt as it's most frequent sojourners. This was the trail that the poorest civil servants and royal staffers used to get to work, a group that included Jilo and Toba.
The chattering of old carpenters and disgruntled kitchen staff could be heard up ahead as the pair neared their destination. The massive wicket gate that separated Castle Town from the royal property came into view. Barrack cleaners, castle janitors, seamstresses, and other working-class Hylians swarmed around it. In a few minutes, the gates would open and the grueling work week would start. But for now, laughter, gossip-filled mumbles, and the chiding of anxious mothers made the week's advent less discouraging.
Jilo dug through his pockets for his ID card, a square of cloth with his picture and occupation embossed on it. He, like everyone else milling around the gate, would have to show it to the guards before he was allowed inside. His heart froze when his hands came back with nothing.
"Toba, have you seen my ID card?"
"No. I see Jason, though. Can I go play with him?"
"We're not even going to get through the gates if I don't find my ID card!" Jilo's voice grew shrill, causing some heads to turn. They looked away when all they saw was a dark-haired stableboy anxiously slapping his pockets and cursing intermittently. Toba was already gone. He had joined a game of Catch-the-Poe with Jason and a handful of other kids.
Jilo's mind was racing at a hundred miles an hour, wondering where he might have left his card. He only owned two pairs of pants, both exactly the same style and drab grey color, and he always left the card in the left pocket. Right? Half-recalled memories were put on mental fast-forward. Over the weekend, he and Toba had slept under a milk bar's overhanging roof. They were chased out Sunday night. Maybe he'd left it there? They had been in a hurry, the bartender's threats of violence were believable enough to send the brothers scampering off into the streets. He was so deep in thought that he didn't notice the little Rito girl tugging his sleeve.
"Jilo?" Her voice was thin and raspy. She had to call his name again and pull harder in order to get a half-mumbled response.
"Shut up, Toba," Jilo mumbled, his eyes trained on the floor, "I'm thinking."
"Hey! I'm not Toba!" Stammering out an apology, Jilo turned around and looked the Rito girl in the face. He grew even redder when he recognized her.
"Sorry, Mimi! I thought you were my brother. Did you want to tell me something?"
The girl's dirty face twisted in indignation, insisting that she was much too cute to be confused for his brother. Jilo laughed grudgingly, the stress of his lost card still at the forefront of his mind. Mimi tugged his sleeve before he got lost in thought again.
"Here is your laundry," she said as she handed him a woven Deku-stick basket with said laundry folded inside, "Momma wanted to give it to you early because she'll be working late. Your card is in there, by the way, you left it in your overall pocket."
Jilo's face illuminated with relief. He held the basket to his chest and thanked the little Rito. She nodded and ran off to rejoin the Catch-the-Poe game, which had blossomed to encompass nearly all the kids in front of the gate.
"You should be thanking me, not her. She didn't help at all with this week's laundry! Didn't even want to melt the soap for us." The good-humored voice to his right hardly startled Jilo. Where Mimi was, her mother was too. He turned to face the pale-feathered Rito woman and smiled in return.
"Thank you so much, Mrs. Meiklaka. I thank the goddesses every day for your little laundromat." Jilo pulled the cloth ID card out of the basket and coiled it around his fingers. "And thanks for keeping my card, I thought I'd lost it!" She laughed, asking him how many more "thank you's" he intended on cramming into one sentence. He was going to retort with a sarcastic quip of his own when the work trumpet blew.
Children scattered and ran back towards their parents and siblings as the trumpet sounded again. Men stood up and slung lunch bags across their chests, while the less fortunate of them tightened their belts another notch. Women tied up their hair and pulled up their skirts, already lining up in front of the gate. Jilo pulled Toba away from a group of other children and towards the gate. He pointed up the trumpeter standing on the gate, motioning for the jittery boy to stop talking so that they could hear the morning announcements.
The trumpeter, slim and backlighted by the rising sun behind him, made sure all eyes were on him before beginning the morning speech.
"Ladies and gentlemen of Hyrule, welcome to the first day of another workweek!" Toba clapped cheerfully with the others as Jilo rolled his eyes. The trumpeter grinned and continued. "As I read the announcements for this week, I will need the women and children to line up to the right and men to the left."
The crowd split as instructed, young workers sprinting their way to the front while older couples walked slowly to the gate. The trumpeter continued on, "Just a reminder that Princess Zelda's fifth birthday is this week. His Majesty King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule has a list of things we still need to finish up for the party. I'm not going to read it now, because I know everyone is eager to get inside and get warm," a titter of agreement rippled through the crowd, "but your respective labor captains have an itinerary laid out in order to make sure all the decorating and food and games are ready in time. Also, a few Zoran diplomats will be arriving on Friday for a week-long visit. In-castle staff will be most concerned about this, but we need the stablemen and orchestra aids to be prepared for any impromptu requests for their services." Jilo took a mental note of the last comment, as it wasn't uncommon for the royals to give guests a surprise tour of the stable or ask for a royal carriage to take diplomats here and there with.
"In other news, it's Mr. and Mrs. Colee's 45th anniversary today. A round of applause for them, please!" Hundreds of heads turned towards the shy Hylian couple beaming up at the trumpeter. A wave of congratulations and applause washed over the workers, and Mrs. Colee hid her face in her husband's chest. Jilo smiled at the sight as he led Toba over to the men's line, still holding the Deku-stick basket under his arm. Toba looked up curiously at the grin on his brother's face. His brother didn't smile often. Hard work and constant worry had a way of sapping a man's optimism.
Jilo looked nice, even handsome, when he was smiling. The two walked through the gate, stopping to show a guard their ID card, and made their way to the stables. The younger brother offered to carry the basket for the older one, a proposition that was quickly agreed to.
Toba grasped the handle of the basket a little tighter as his brother swung the stable doors open and pushed him inside. A few of the other stable hands that had made it in earlier greeted them with shouts of acclamation and the occasional slap on the back. Jilo responded with a wave; Toba responded with a hug and a smile. The younger of the two set down the basket next to the other men's miscellaneous lunch bags and bundles, trotting forward to catch up with his reticent brother. He was still smiling as he reminisced over the scene between Mr. and Mrs. Colee. Toba subconsciously smiled too.
"Why do you have that stupid grin on your face?" asked Jilo.
"I don't know," his brother responded cheerfully, "why do you?"
"You're such a brat, Toba," Jilo replied as he picked up a bucket of water and a handful of grooming tools.
"I love you too." The older stableboy rolled his eyes, but something about those words made the morning a little less cold and a little less dark.