Chapter 5

Twenty Years Previous

Alric paced nervously in the dirt road that was at the boundary of his front yard. He ran a shaky hand through his thick, white hair and chewed at his fingernails.

The screams that issued forth from the brick house he himself had built only increased his overwhelming anxiety.

Karihm, his friend and king of the Sheikah laughed good-naturedly, "Why do you worry so? This is her first child, and it is a natural thing for her pains to go on as such."

"I-I… I can't help it Karihm… I just want to go in there and be with her… To help her somehow."

At this, Karihm's expression grew grave, "It is not your place Alric… Just as our ancestress Leto was only permitted to have her mother Nayru, and her aunts Din and Farore present, so to must Savah only have her women relatives present." Most male Sheikah did not bother to learn the reasons behind women's traditions, but Karihm was different. Karihm was the King of the Sheikah, and it was his duty to know the Sheikah's origins.

"But her relatives aren't present." Alric replied bitterly. Savah's mother, a successful, foreign merchant, had objected vehemently to their marriage; even to the point of ceremonially disowning her and any children she would have.

"Don't worry Alric… All will eventually be well." A young voice said from the shadow of a nearby house.

Alric jumped at the sight of Karihm's adopted son. Dampe, as the boy was called, was crippled in nearly every was possible. He had, presumably, been born with only on eye, a hunched back and a leg that was shorter than the other, which gave him a distinct, slow shuffle instead of a normal gait.

Dampe had been found as a baby, four years previous, in the village cemetery by Karihm's wife, and since there were no Sheikah women due to give birth it was assumed that his mother was a Hylian. Tamar took pity on the boy, and since she had no children at the time, took him to her home. That was that, though Dampe could never become a true Sheikah, he was welcomed by all the village and grew up alongside the other Sheikah boys.

What Dampe lacked in appearance, he more than made up for in intelligence; many in the village held that he was specially gifted by Leto herself, and might even have the gift of "the sight", though it was extremely rare for a non-Sheikah to develop the talent of prophecy.

Though Karihm was completely at ease in Dampe's presence, Alric was a little more than shaken. There was just something… Not right about that boy.

"I wouldn't worry too much Alric. Things will all work out." The boy repeated before sitting down on the ground to build something or other out of sticks and mud.

Savah's labor continued for another hour, and just when Alric felt he could take her cries no longer, he heard one final, sharp scream, and then Alric's mother came running out,

"Hurry my son, come inside!" Her voice was tinged with worry, and Alric's first thought was for the child; he had not yet heard the babe's first screams.

Alric shot up from the stump he had been sitting on and rushed into the bedroom where his wife lay, exhausted, on the bed.

Alric retched when he saw his wife's condition; her beautiful, bronze skin was white as snow and the sheets below her waist were matted in blood. Without a thought to the fate of their child, Alric rushed and knelt at his wife's side.

At the sight of her husband, Savah tried to lift her head to speak, but was too weak to even do that. She knew she was fading fast, and that she would never see her son grow up; all the more reason to get her message through, "Don't… trust the twins of… Rova"

Alric was confused; he was sure his wife was suffering from the fantasies that the dying often had, yet he committed her words to memory, he knew they would be her last.

Savah's energy was spent on those few words, as she fell into the final sleep, she prayed her husband would understand… Or else their child would be doomed.

Savah was buried in the traditional Sheikah fashion; a rare thing for one born outside the close-knit tribe, but it was decided that since she had given her last energy for the life of a Sheikah, her son, she was to be given the full-honor within the Shadow Temple.

Though Alric took comfort in the fact that his beloved would now be personally guided to the afterlife by Leto, queen of the shadows, a heavy weight still lay upon his shoulders. His son would not accept goat's milk, rather than drink the liquid that would save his life, the baby would wail all night long and throughout the day. Alric despaired, and thought that the baby would soon join his mother in Leto's care.

All of that turned around three days after Savah's death and funeral, when Tamar, Karihm's wife showed up at his house.

She stood in his doorway with her own child crooked in her arm; a baby girl who had yet to reach her sixth-month and subsequent naming day. Without ceremony or pause, Tamar crossed the threshold and entered the nursery, where Alric weakly attempted to get his frail son to drink some milk.

"He'll not live to be named if you continue with that course." She said quietly as another spoon of goats milk was spat back out.

Alric, who in his grief and frustration, did not notice the queen's entrance, nearly dropped the boy in surprise. Though he was familiar with her husband, Alric could not help but look upon Tamar with reverence; for though Karihm was king of the Sheikah, Tamar was the Sage of Shadows. She alone was allowed into the innermost sanctums of the Shadow temple; where the rites of Leto, lady of the afterlife and progenitor of the Sheikah, were performed.

"I… Don't know what else to do… Lady Shadows."

Tamar smiled, and took the child in her arms, "Let me try."

Then, without shame or any loss of dignity, Tamar uncovered herself and began to nurse the baby. Alric stood awestruck, not of course at Queen Tamar's bareness, but rather at his son, who sucked greedily and seemed to already be growing and gaining color in his cheeks.

When she was finished, Tamar placed the baby in his crib and covered herself again, "I'll come five times a day to feed him… Leto has told me that your son will lead his people to greatness… If given the chance. After he is named you will betroth him to my daughter; and they will become King and Queen. Our people will prosper under them."

Alric wanted desperately to believe Tamar's words, but they just were simply too fantastic. Alric's father had been a stonemason, and his father before him, and his father before him. To think that a great king would arise from his line was nearly too much for the man. Nevertheless, he thanked Tamar and saw her to the door.

Weeks passed, and, true to her word, Tamar came several times a day to feed Alric's son. Sometimes she would bring her own daughter, who came to be called Impa.

Finally the naming day for Alric's own child arrived… It was Sheikah custom to refrain from naming a child until they were six months old; this gave the child time to develop a personality and a will of their own; something that the parents could base the child's name on.

All of Kakariko village gathered in a great circle in the antechamber of the Shadow Temple. Tamar led the people in a prayer for Leto to bless the child about to be named, and when she was finished, everyone turned to Alric for the crucial moment.

Alric held the squirming baby for a moment and studied his face in the flickering light of a dozen torches. The boy was definitely his mother's son; he had the golden eyes and red hair that had made men drop like flies around his mother, but he also had the stocky build and very dark skin of his father's line.

He will be a handsome king. Alric thought to himself. He had not truly believed Tamar's words until nearly two months later when he himself had a vision concerning his son. He saw his son as an old man astride a powerful mare and wearing the winged boots of Leto. Beside him was another old man with green clothes and gray-blonde hair. They spoke of battles won and lost, and of the pending union of their kingdoms through their children's marriage.

Then, and only then, had Alric believed Tamar's words. He had though for months of a name that would suit his son, the future king of many distant lands.

"Dragmire… My son will be named for the first son of Leto, the first king of the Sheikah."

A collective gasp rippled through the crowd. To name a child Dragmire was dangerous; not only was it an insult to the current King to borrow the name of his great ancestor, but it was also an insult to Leto for assuming the child would live up to sharing a name with her son. Everyone looked to the royal couple for direction on this matter; it was always their final decision if a name were unsuitable or not.

It was Karihm who spoke, "It is a strong name; the boy will need that strength if he is to be the protector of your future queen."

A few I-told-you-so's went through the crowd as the child was passed around for everyone to see; rumors of Impa's engagement to Alric's son had been circulating for weeks.

Alric watched as each member of the Sheikah tenderly held their future king in their hands. Perhaps Dampe' had been right… Everything had worked out for the greater good… The future was bright for the Sheikah, and the future royal couple.