Chapter Fourteen
One Gold Coin

Rael rolled back his sleeves and plunged his hands into the basin of cool water, drawing it up in cupped hands and splashing it up onto his face. The excess creamy lather dripped off his face as he wiped back his shaving soap. He looked up into the glass mirror and stroked his cheek, admiring his handiwork. He ran his hands through his dark red hair, it was cut neatly at his shoulders and felt soft and silky. Rael could not help but smile back at his reflection; he looked handsome. He had been weeks in the hot desert and bound up in prison, he had been reduced to a ragged ruin: filthy, smelly, with dirty sandy hair and a short but thick beard. Now he was clean, fragrant smelling and refreshed in his spirit. Lana's servants certainly knew how to make a man look and feel beautiful.

Rael walked across his circular-walled bedroom, past the windows that looked out west onto the vast desert, to a chest of draws. Lana's servants had provided him with clothing, which he had been pleasantly surprised to find was in the fashion of the Hylian nobility, He picked up the pair of finely cut black trousers, and stepped into them, pulling them up over his smallclothes. A brown leather belt with a heavy silver buckle was also laid out for him. He wrapped it around his waist and fastened it tightly.

Now Rael opened the top drawer, and took out a simple white shirt. He put it on, grateful not to be returning to his old shirt, which had been torn up by battle. Once he had tightened his shirt down the middle, he sat down on the grand bed in the middle of the room and pulled on his own boots. These heavy boots were in fine condition and he worn them since leaving home. They were made with fine Taran Kaey craftsmanship and had served him well. He would feel unsure of his feet in any other garment.

He stood up tall and walked back across the length of the room. Next to the basin was a redwood wardrobe. He opened its doors, and examined the contents. There were ten beautiful coats within, waist-length and tight fitting with high collars that fastened under the chin. He chose an emerald green coat with red and gold embroidery on the cuffs and collar, and shining silver buttons running up the front. It fit him perfectly. It looked as though it should be tight in the shoulders and around the chest, but it allowed him unrestricted movement.

"You polish up well," said a voice behind him. Rael spun around to find Elane standing in the open doorway. "Prince Rael," she said, smiling, "I am beginning to see it."

Rael was surprised by her sudden arrival, and took a moment to shake off his startled expression. "How long have you been standing there?" he said.

"Not long," she answered. Elane too looked remarkably more well now that she had experienced the luxury of bathing in the hot springs, not to mention the devoted attention of the queen's personal dress attendants.

The garb she had chosen to wear now was different to the clothes she had elected to wear in Hylia. Then she had worn dresses following her liberation from travelling clothes, gifts from Zelda herself, who had taken a keen interest in grooming her to take on noble airs. Now, after disposing of her desert clothes, which had been torn and worn out by fighting and harsh terrain, she had opted for more practical clothing.

She wore a coat that Rael thought not too dissimilar to his own. Her coat was of soft fabric, close fitting, with high collar tight cuffs. The coat was dyed a deep shape blue with silver thread patterns on the sleeves and breast. She was also wearing black breeches, with surprisingly similar footwear to his. The main difference between them was that she had chosen to wear a matching knee-length skirt over her breeches. Rael mused that she actually looked like a military officer in a way.

Her long dark hair was gathered behind her head, held in place by a multitude of silver fastenings. He had never before appreciated how beautiful her pale blue eyes were, innocent seeming yet also so full of knowledge, understanding and her hidden spark for wisdom. "Rael?" she said.

Rael blinked, and realised he had been staring at her silently for longer than he thought. "Yes?" he said, snapping out of his daydreaming. She frowned curiously at him, perhaps wondering what he had been thinking about. "You look lovely too, by the way," he said.

Elane smiled slightly, yet she looked embarrassed. Embarrassed for his sake rather than her own, too. "Thank you," she said politely. She adjusted her coat by reflex, and then said, "Queen Lana has requested the presence of 'His Highness the Prince Rael'," she grinned, "will His Highness oblige Her Majesty?"

Rael smiled with her, appreciating the strangeness of the sudden sense of importance that had been thrust upon him. "Let's go," he said, gathering up his sheath containing his sword and fastening it onto his belt.

Rael's chambers were located in one of the high towers of the palace, and consequently they had a long flight of spiralling stairs to descend. They walked slowly, not wanting to trip on the narrow steps, and talked as they made the steep journey downwards. "So you have finally decided to get rid of those old clothes of yours?" Elane asked. "You wore them from Taran Kaey and in Hylia and then to here. What changed."

"I changed," said Rael, "I'm a prince. I need to act like one, so that these people will take my authority seriously." He felt the gold ring on his finger, twisting it irritably. It felt hotter than it should, as though its royal power was bearing its weight upon him.

"Lana seems to be taking us very seriously," Elane said in agreement, "I thought Zelda treated me well, but Lana's generosity has been far greater." Elane's collar was as high as his own, buttoned up at the top of her neck, and consequently he could not see if she was wearing the snake necklace. He could only presume she was for it was clearly of great worth here.

"Has she spoken to you about it any more?" Rael said, meaning Lana, then added, "Your necklace."

Elane confirmed his suspicions by unconsciously raising a hand to her chest and feeling where it usually hung. "No," she said, "but perhaps now is the time. It is not she who wishes to speak to you, so I can only presume she intends to take me aside for her own interrogation." Rael laughed dryly at her description of Lana's confrontational conversation style.

"Lana wishes to talk to you," Rael muttered, "then who is calling after me?"

"Can you not guess?" Elane asked.

Rael smiled and said, "Jaendral." Elane nodded. After this she took to lightly shaking her head and gazing out of the windows passing them by as they made small circles around the tower's central pillar.

At the base of the staircase there was a short corridor, leading out into a wide open hall. They were now deep inside the mountain, but many shafts of light illuminated the room as well as dozens of lanterns hanging from the ceilings and the walls. The brown rock was hewn straight and angular into doorways, pillars and staircases. The hall they were in now was somewhat a central meeting point of passageways and stairs in the deep tunnels of the mountain which led to the great mountain chambers of the upper city.

Rael could not navigate these halls alone and so relied on Gerudo soldiers to be his guides. They were intimately familiar with the structure that housed the community of the elite. Rael had come to suppose that this place was akin to the palace in Hylia.

Fortunately they did not have to pursue Lana through this place for she had come to meet them, a patrol of royal guards in tow, all Shaylin women. "Your Highness," she said, sweeping towards them across the carpeted floor. She was wearing a black dress today, striped with deep blue upon the long skirts, and showing a generous amount of cleavage. She was wearing a deep blue headscarf on her head that reminded Rael of the red headscarves worn by Jaendral's fighting men. She curtsied to Rael very briefly and he gave her an equally short bow.

"Your Majesty," said Rael with due respect. He was unsure how he was expected to address her. She was not the queen of his own Hylian race, but had he been a simple Hylian citizen he would have called her 'Majesty' as surely as her own people. Yet he was the First Prince of Hylia and all Hyrule, including the Gerudo lands. He had supposed that their stations to be somewhat equal. Nonetheless, with Zelda's ring he could decree any law with her direct authority. This, he had decided, was the most obvious explanation for the Gerudo Queen's desire to please him.

"Good morning, Your Majesty," said Elane, with a deep bow.

"Good morning, Miss Elane," said Lana almost dismissively, who had evidently decided that Elane had no actual title and so no longer called her 'Lady'.

Rael ignored the potential insult to Elane only because it not seem to have registered with her. "You invited us to an audience?" said Rael, expectantly, indicating he was not in the mood for idle small talk.

Lana turned to face him and raised her eyebrows for a moment. "Yes of course," she said. "It is Lord Jaendral who wishes to see you my Prince," she said, confirming what Elane had told him. "I want to talk to Miss Elane alone, if that is well with her." She looked at Elane and said, "I do hope you have… your necklace with you. There is much for us to speak of."

Elane said nothing. Rael was about to speak again when he was interrupted by a loud male voice. "Your Majesty," said Jaendral striding across the hall towards the three of them, with eight of his own male soldiers around him. He dropped to one knee before the Queen, as did his armed escort.

"Rise, Lord Jaendral," she said, "but do not get comfortable on your feet." As Jaendral stood up she gestured to Rael. "May I present to you Prince Rael Nohansen, Second Seat of the Royal House of Nohansen, Prince of Hylia, Blessed by the gods the Prince… of Hyrule." Lana seemed to take pride in these words.

Jaendral smiled, and once again kneeled, "Your Highness," he said, "I swear my allegiance to you and Her Majesty Queen Zelda, on behalf of all followers of the true Gerudo king."

"You may stand," said Rael. Jaendral was slightly taller than himself, dressed in robes of black and bright purple. His red hair was waxed flat and shaped so that it came to neat points across his head. This was an ambitious man, who Rael would have to watch even more closely than Lana. Even as he thought this he felt he could sense a cold dagger tracing a line between his shoulder blades. "Lord Jaendral it would please me if you would join me for a private discussion about affairs of state," he said, projecting his voice as loudly as Jaendral himself, "will you oblige for your prince?"

It was Jaendral who had wished to speak to him, but by proposing a private meeting himself he felt he had taken some initiative and authority away from the other man. Zelda had taught him to seize every opportunity to make himself the superior man if ever he should come face to face with either Ramades or Jaendral, and he believed in her wisdom.

Jaendral could clearly see what he was thinking, but he had no choice but to accept. "Yes, Your Highness."

Rael soon found himself seated across a study desk from Jaendral in a small room. The walls were decorated plainly, the room lit by torchlight. Rael suspected the Gerudos put some extra lighting powder into their torches because they burned particularly brightly with a white radiance.

After exchanging a few simple pleasantries, Rael soon discovered that despite his grand airs he was a pleasant and charming man once he was alone with him.

Rael remembered that a short time ago he was the one facing someone in a position of power, thinking of his encounters with General Dragan and Queen Zelda herself: in dealing with them he was always the lesser in the direction of authority. Now however he had the power, and it was he that people around him were aiming to please in an attempt to curry favour. He was also noticing the mixed awe and resentment people held for his position. Yet they did not know the burden upon his shoulders and the troubles he had yet to face.

"You look like your father," said Jaendral softly, "forgive me for saying it, but you have a similar hardness to your manner and expression."

Rael did not like hearing this. Talk of similarity to his birth father made him think of Resh, which always pained his heart. "You have met father?" asked Rael, naturally suspicious of anyone supposing to know the secretive Marshal.

"Indeed," said Jaendral, "though not for many long years now. Hylians have nothing to do with the Gerudo 'rebels', though you know what I have to say for such a description." Rael smiled slightly, though Jaendral could blatantly see Rael was humouring him. "It is true then?" asked Jaendral.

Rael blinked, and realised his mistake. Jaendral had been merely guessing, playing upon the similarity. Rael said nothing, but that was enough for the other man. "He kept himself robed in black when I met him, but I recognise those that mouth, that nose, those eyes." Jaendral looked at Rael's scabbard, "He also wears his scabbard on the right; a left-handed swordsman."

"Enough," said Rael. "Jaendral Rashan, I am aware of the treaty you made with Her Majesty Queen Lana. The understanding between you is that you shall defeat Ramades together, and then she will abdicate the throne, naming you as her successor."

"Indeed," said Jaendral, "and I would ask my Prince's full support for this. I intend to uphold my part of the bargain, though I do not trust her intentions."

"Nor do I," said Rael. Jaendral smiled, as though predicting a brotherly bond forming. Rael had trouble believing in such bonds. "Nonetheless," he said, "my mother, Her Majesty Queen Zelda, has bestowed upon me the authority to choose the monarch who shall rule the Gerudos. I respect your treaty with Lana, but Zelda is high sovereign over these lands, and her authority is mine." He showed her ring on his finger by holding up his fist.

Jaendral was put back by this, but covered his irritation with a wider grin, saying, "Then surely you will put me upon the throne, Your Highness. I am the true heir under Gerudo law, and I have the support of a greater armed occupation. I will restore peace and justice to my people."

Rael folded his hands, and breathed in deeply, before exhaling equally as deliberately. "Presume nothing, Jaendral," he said.

Jaendral raised an eyebrow, and leaned forward towards him, taking hold of his right hand. "I would very much like it if we could remain friends, my Prince," he said, his arrogance and superiority returning to his voice.

The man had placed a gold coin in his hand.

……

Ralis raised his arms into the sky, embracing the wind that was rushing around the hilltop upon which he stood. Day by day it was easier to control his power without the need to draw upon his anger and sorrow. The force with which he could manipulate the elements was becoming more natural and more focussed with each passing day.

"Behold!" Ralis declared, with an outburst of dry laughter. "Now my Arella, you shall see the full extent of my power. Today is the day, and now is the hour. The messengers will have arrived at the great cities, and the counts of Kaira will be looking for my promised sign. I shall give it to them. They will know true power. They shall send their armies to war against Tadian and then this land will be mine!"

"I wait in awe, Master," said Arella reverently, beside him. The cold did not touch Ralis, but she was shivering. He could have shielded her from the chill too, but he elected to let her feel the force of his power with everyone else.

"Then, my dearest Captain," he said, "they shall call you General."

"Yes Master," said Arella dutifully.

"It is time!" he proclaimed. The burning energy inside him erupted from his heart, blazing through his veins to his fingertips. Blue-white lightning burst from his fingertips and stretched towards the cloud-filled sky. The sky was instantly ablaze with electricity, a crackling building as energy gathered on high. He could feel a deep reservoir of power inside him, fuelling his great work, but yet it seemed he was drawing up only a tiny fraction of it, as though he were trying to drink up water through thin reed straw. Yet even this small power was immense beyond expression. When he was certain he had done enough, he stopped, and paused a few seconds, "Are you watching, Kaira?" he said softly, and laughed quietly.

With a majestic swoop of his arms the clouds burst, and lightning forked down upon every inch of the horizon. He began casting his arms about, as though throwing the lightning, and the skies attacked the land wherever he willed them too. "Are you watching, people of the world?" he demanded of the earth, and even his voice seemed to carry upon the wind. Lightning continued to strike the earth furiously, streaking down upon every mountaintop. Thunder boomed like a thousand thousand drums. "Are you watching, Rael!"

Ralis finished. Channelling his power was tiring, and he was beginning to feel exhausted. He still had work to do though. He offered up the last of his energy to the skies and smiled as a small pellet of ice landed upon the ground before him. It was joined by another, and another, hailstones falling with rapidly increasingly frequency. The hail was soon raining down upon the entire hill, and then began to fan out in all directions across the land. "One hour," he said. "Then blue skies. This I promised to the counts."

……

Rael toyed with the coin, turning back and forth across the tops of his fingers. Neither he nor Jaendral had said anything for a minute. Eventually he flicked the coin up in the air so that it landed on the desk in front of Jaendral. The image of 'Ei Jestasa Celand Zelda Nohansen Hyrule' face-up on the wooden surface. It was a direct rebuke against an obvious attempt to bribe him. "What follows later, follows later," said Rael at last. "For now, Lana is the Amethyst Queen. You may leave."

Jaendral hesitated. He glanced at Rael, then glanced at the coin. When he stood up, he left the coin where it was, and hastily uttered the royal formalities. As soon as he was gone with the thick door sealed behind him, Rael breathed a tremendous exhausted sigh. How had his mother made diplomacy seem so easy? Even with her years of practise Rael did not think he would ever be able to achieve her cool temperament in dealing with others as a statesman.

Had Rael not been lost in these thoughts, he would have heard the distant echoes of thunder of a storm beyond the sea, and a voice calling to him from a distant land.