Alright, I'm going back to Zelgius now. I also introduce an OC. Probably the only one in this story. His name was originally Selth, but that looked odd to me, so I added an a. But it is still pronounced the same way.
Chapter 5: Uneasy Alliance
Sealth paced uneasily across the throne room of Hyrule castle. She should have been back by now. He ran his fingers through his dark green hair, trying to vent his nervousness. Nearly an hour had passed since the queen left to see her husband off. Sealth walked over to a nearby window and looked out, his weary navy eyes surveying the town below him. The torches of Castle town had been lit, and the late night shoppers wandered listlessly in their orange glow. Sealth sighed and turned away from the window. He had a horrible feeling in his gut; something had happened. But he could just be overreacting. She's been gone for an hour. He could look for Zelda, but he it was best if he did not leave the castle. He could order guards to search for her, but the soldiers haven't listened to him in years. Sealth cried out in frustration and one of the guards turned to him.
"Something wrong sir?" the guard called out
Sealth stopped his pacing to eye the man carefully. "The queen has yet to return."
"Do you think something has happened?" the sentry asked.
Sealth nodded, annoyed. The guard lowered his lance and motioned for the other guard to follow him over to Sealth.
"I've felt the same way, sir." the first guard said.
"Would you like us to search for her?" the second inquired.
"Would you dare follow an order given by me?" Sealth asked impatiently.
The guards looked at each other briefly before the first one answered, "Yes, sir."
Sealth looked at them skeptically. He had not been able to get a soldier to follow his orders since... "Gather your men and find search the castle grounds." Sealth said.
The two soldiers nodded and ran out of the throne room. Sealth sighed and resumed his pacing, praying that he would not betray the men's trust like he had last time.
Sealth was the former general of the Hylian army. He had resigned after a terrible tragedy more than fifteen years ago. Sealth had been the most respected generals of all the known kingdoms, renowned for his fighting prowess and clever battle plans. Sealth's decline began when the army had been sent to the neighboring country of Termina, which had just suffered from a civil war. The Hylian army was to help the citizens rebuild from the destruction they had suffered.
Sealth's unit was stationed in the capital of the area, Clock Town and had just arrived to help rebuild the great clock in the center of town when the village was assaulted by a group of survivors from the attacking party during the civil war. Sealth ordered the villagers to hide inside the half-built clock while he and his soldiers fought the uprising outside. However, the small group of rebels was much stronger than Sealth had expected, and he soon had his men pull back into the clock. Sealth did not realize, however, that there was only one entry to the clock, and the rebels were blocking it. The rebels planted bombs outside the great tower. Sealth noticed this too late—the bombs detonated, and the great tower collapsed, killing all but a few residents and soldiers. Even the rebels—underestimating the power of their explosives—lost their lives to the blast. Sealth managed to escape from the building unscathed and the surviving soldiers took this as Sealth leaving his men to die in the forsaken tower.
The news that Sealth had killed the best of the Hylian army quickly reached Hyrule where the tale was twisted and warped far beyond recognition. It was said that Sealth had sided with the rebels, and purposely locked his men and the townspeople inside the doomed tower to die. Everyone seemed to believe it, his new unit refused to obey his orders in fear that Sealth would send them to their deaths. Sealth felt great remorse for leaving his men behind to die, and the fact that soldiers feared that he would kill them if under his command made things worse. He quietly stepped down from his position as general and went to live a life of seclusion. On his exit of the castle, one of the men who had survived the explosion attacked an unarmed Sealth, nearly killing him. This event took place soon after Zelda's coronation, and she ordered Sealth to live in the safety of the castle as second to her and the king. The soldiers there feared Sealth too much to be a threat.
Recalling these events added to Sealth's unease. He decided to see how the search was going. He had just exited the throne room when he was met by a guard who avoided Sealth's gaze.
"Did you find her?" Sealth asked quickly.
The guard nodded slowly, still keeping his head down.
"Where is she?" Sealth yelled impatiently.
The guard turned his head away and Sealth took a step forward.
"What happened? Where is the queen? Where is Zelda?" Deep down, Sealth knew the answer. He had known it the entire time, but he still couldn't believe it. "Where is she?" Sealth asked, defeated.
The guard raised an arm and pointed, still looking away. Sealth heart dropped like a rock when he saw two guards carrying the still body of the queen. He took a step towards them, stopped, fell to his knees and lowered his head to the ground. She couldn't be dead; Zelda couldn't be gone, Link never would have let it happen. Sealth looked up when he remembered the king. If the two had been attacked, then Link would not have left.
"He wasn't with her." The soldier said, as if reading Sealth's mind. "But we found this near the edge overlooking the river."
Sealth looked up and saw the guard holding a naked sword. Sealth stood and examined the blade slowly. No doubt it was Link's; the handle was carved with intricate patterns and the long, thick sword was light as a feather. Link never went anywhere without his blade, he never would have dropped it. Unless...Sealth took the sword and plunged in angrily into the ground. Both of them, gone. It couldn't be possible. Both the king and queen had been the closest thing to family he had had since he left his hometown of Kakariko. To lose them was like losing his children. Sealth's eyes began to burn. He couldn't cry. Not here. The soldiers must never see their commander weep—even if their commander was a failure.
"Sir?" another guard had stepped up to Sealth. "We found another man with her" the guard looked away as the other soldiers walked by; carrying Zelda's corpse "He tells us he witnessed the assassination. He suffered injuries during the fight, but they say he is fit enough to speak to."
Sealth looked down at Link's blade one more time before motioning for the soldier to lead him to the survivor. The guard brought Sealth to the nearby infirmary, a relatively small building on the outskirts of the castle grounds. It was a small fort sprawled on the edge of the cliff overlooking Lake Hylia. Inside, the infirmary was much larger than it appeared on the outside with a wide hallway lined with empty beds. A large man with blue hair and green eyes lay on the only occupied cot in the room. Sealth walked over to him quickly. Sealth walked over quickly and sat himself next to the bed as the man opened his eyes wearily.
"Who are you?" Sealth asked quickly, eager to learn how and why this man had survived an attack that killed the queen—and likely king—of Hyrule.
"My name," the man said softly, "is Zelgius."
"Where are you from Zelgius?"
"A land far to the west of here, beyond the desert." Zelgius answered.
"You lie." Sealth said quickly. "No one from the lands beyond has crossed the desert alive. If they have, they have made no effort to contact us" Sealth noticed a glimmer of surprise in Zelgius' eyes at this. "How did you survive the trip?"
"I came through a system of caves running through the desert."
Something about Zelgius seemed off to Sealth, but he couldn't tell what. Perhaps the way he spoke so softly or maybe the way his eyes were constantly flickering around the room. Sealth watched the man carefully as he continued.
"How did you come to witness our queen's death?" Sealth asked slowly, forcing the words past his tongue.
"I was riding through the woods when I saw a group of people heading this way. I recognized them, and knew of their intentions. I followed them in an attempt to stop your queen's assassination."
Sealth had the same bad feeling he had had before but still couldn't pinpoint what was so strange about the man.
"Was there another fighting against these people?" Sealth asked impatiently.
"There was another man. He was knocked unconscious and thrown off the nearby cliff."
Sealth's fears were confirmed. He had been clinging to a small hope that Link had somehow gotten away and survived. Sealth let his head droop.
"You said you knew these people. How?"
"They come from the same place as me." Zelgius said softly. "They were the ones who forced me from my land." Zelgius paused to look intently at Sealth. "I know the name of the one who killed your queen."
Sealth was standing now, watching Zelgius' every move, every breath, and every blink of his eyes.
"His name," Zelgius paused again. "is Ike."
Sealth mouthed the name silently, not taking his eyes off of his informant.
"It was Ike and his band of murderers who killed your queen." Zelgius said, his voice shivering slightly with anger. "They were sent by the leaders of the countries of Tellius to kill your queen and take your land." Zelgius said quickly.
"What?"
"The first part of their plan is complete; it won't be long before the combined forces of all of Tellius are at your doorstep."
All signs of Zelgius' weakness had disappeared. Sealth didn't notice—he had lost his concentration at the knowledge that the kingdom may be in danger. He wouldn't take a chance on not believing the man.
"How do you know this?"
"I was once the general of Begnion's central army. I was banished because I refused the idea of attacking another country for its resources." Zelgius was sitting up now, watching Sealth as intently as Sealth had watched him.
"Would they come through the caves, as you did?"
"It is very likely."
Sealth closed his eyes and ran his hands though his hair. He couldn't possibly command an army again. He had promised that to himself years ago. But the people who had killed the queen were after the kingdom; all of Hyrule was in danger!
"How large are these caves?" Sealth asked, keeping his eyes closed.
"Relatively small; perhaps wide enough for two horses to ride side-by-side." Zelgius answered.
A smile grew across Zelgius' face; everything was going just as he had planned and he would soon get his revenge.
"It would be best to attack them as they exited the caves. Only a few could come out at a time, and we would easily outnumber them." Sealth said, mostly to himself.
Zelgius' smile vanished. He had not planned on having the second in command to the queen to be a tactician. This would make things harder than he had expected.
"An excellent idea. If you don't mind me asking, have you had military experience?" Zelgius asked carefully.
Sealth opened his eyes slowly. "I was once the general of the Hylian army."
"Once?"
"I stepped down."
"May I ask why?"
"No, you may not." Sealth answered quickly. "Are you positive that this land—Tellius you called it? Are you sure that it means harm upon us?" he asked, trying to change the subject.
"I am positive. All of the inhabitants are bloodthirsty tyrants who want nothing more than to fill their pockets—no matter the price."
Sealth sighed and stood. "How long until they depart?"
"I am not sure. It would be best to deploy a unit to monitor the caves as soon as possible."
Sealth grimaced. He did not like following others plans, but he knew that it was the best course of action.
"I will begin preparations. Once you have completely healed, you will show us the location of these caves and we shall set out to wait for any intruder trying to make his way into our land." with this, Sealth left the infirmary. He still did not trust Zelgius completely, but he was the only one who knew the location of these caves that posed such a threat. Sealth motioned for the two guards inside to follow him out and ordered them to guard the door outside. It was strange to have men follow his orders again, but Sealth refused to get used to it. They are just in a state of shock. Sealth thought to himself. They are following me because they don't know what else to do.
Once the infirmary was empty, Zelgius released the laugh that had built itself up inside him. Despite several small setbacks, his plan was going far better than he had expected! Soon, all of the necessary pieces would fall into place, and Zelgius would have his revenge.
There you go! Nearly 5 ½ pages. Next chapter will be back with Link.
I might start making updates depending on the amount of reviews I receive.
Anyway, thank you Adriannu255! I don't know how to describe how you helped, but you know what you did!