A pile of papers towered in front of the Queen, staring her down with invisible eyes. The Queen, in turn, stared down the papers with an irritated, and very visible, set of eyes. She sighed in defeat, realizing that glaring at the papers wouldn't make them go away. Rock beats scissors, scissors beats paper, and paper beats Queen.
Zelda wiggled in her seat and took the piece of paper from the very top of the pile. Her eyes drifted across it, quickly reading the lines before she signed her name at the bottom. She started a new pile of paper for the ones she had already signed. Reaching for the next one, the Queen felt an uncomfortable itch in her throat and an episode of coughing followed. She brushed it aside, took a sip of her tea, and continued. Most of the papers were taken care of with a careful eye and a quick signature. Zelda sped through them, but no matter how many times she wrote: "Signed, Queen Zelda," the stack hardly seemed to shrink at all. The Queen developed a pattern during her weary hours of paperwork in the Royal Office: Take paper, read paper, sign paper, have small coughing fit, take a sip of tea, repeat. Using this pattern, Zelda worked until her eyes glazed over and her hand cramped from so many signatures.
The Queen took a moment to watch the door with tired, blurry eyes. She waited, expecting it to open any second. Usually, about this time Link would barge in, sometimes bringing tea or sweets, and gossip from around the Royal Court. It had become almost a tradition recently, since the kitchen thievery a few weeks before. For obvious reasons, the event had become the highlight of her days.
She rubbed her eyes and turned her attention back to the stack of papers looming before her.
"Come on, Zelda," she told herself. "These papers aren't gonna file themselves." She set back to work, continuing her routine. Take paper, read paper, sign paper, cough...
After a few more rounds of the pattern, Zelda's coughs became increasingly violent and the tea failed to soothe her screaming throat. Her eyes watered and Zelda's hand gripped her throat as the cough racked through her body. She felt as though she had swallowed a knife; a burning sensation stretched from the back of her mouth down to her stomach. Zelda laid her head down on the Mahogany desk, groaning as her skull began to pound in the same beat as her heart. Her gloved hands gripped at her head, pulling at the strands of hair. The beating grew louder, and the coughing grew more violent. With each passing second, the pain become more distinct, more powerful, until it suddenly subsided. Just as quickly as the pain had appeared, it vanished, leaving the Queen both confused and relieved. She reached a trembling hand to her tea cup and found that her fingers were too weak to wrap around the handle.
"I should lie down," Zelda told herself, but looking at the tall stack of papers, the Queen only gave a resigned sigh and closed her eyes. "I have too much to do. I can wait until the paperwork is done." With her final judgment, the Queen set back to work, falling into the monotonous routine once more.
"Zelda..."
The Queen heard a soft voice call to her from beyond the darkness.
"Zelda?"
The voice continued. Zelda mumbled quietly, grimacing at the ache in her neck. The voice called again, steadily growing louder. A hand rested on her shoulder, lightly shaking the Queen from her sleep.
"Eh?" Zelda sluggishly raised her head from its uncomfortable position on her desk. "What?" She groaned, wiping away the sleep in her eyes. "Link?"
His laugh reached her before her eyes could even focus. "You fell asleep."
"No I didn't." The Queen denied, even though she had been caught in the act.
"Really?" Link's eyebrows shot up and he pulled a piece of paper from her desk for her to examine. "Then explain to me why this paper is wet."
Zelda paled at the sight of the document that she had fell asleep reading. Her cheeks jumped from pasty white to bright scarlet when she recognized the wet substance coating the paper as her drool.
"I, um, spilled my tea." She stuttered, staring at her lap.
"And decided to take a nap instead of clean it up?" Link asked, his teasing smile telling the Queen that she had already lost. "Sorry, Zel, but I believe this is what you call 'drool.'" Link wiggled the paper in front of her face. Her face colored at the mention of the drool as well as the nickname he had given her recently.
"Oh, and you're one to talk! Who fell asleep in the Council Meeting last week?" Zelda challenged, tilting her head to the side questioningly and smiling with fake innocence. Now it was Link's turn to blush.
"They were talking politics again! That's your area, Your Highness." The King huffed.
"At least I fell asleep in private. You should have seen the Council Mens' faces when you passed out in the middle of their discussion." Zelda grinned at the memory. Regardless of how unprofessional it was, she couldn't deny that it was funny.
Link rolled his eyes like a teenaged girl arguing with her mom. "They didn't even notice." He sighed exasperatingly.
"You were snoring."
"I so was not."
"It was loud. It shook the table."
"You're exaggerating."
"I'm not e-" Zelda was suddenly cut off as her body was racked with another coughing fit. Her body was filled with the same burning sensation as before, and she collapsed back into the chair.
"Zelda?" Link skirted around the desk and knelt at her side. Despite her situation, Zelda felt a different kind of warmth spread through her at the concern in his voice. "What's wrong, Zel?" he brushed the hair back from her eyes. "Are you sick?"
The Queen managed to reign back the coughing and tried to tell him that she was fine, but when her mouth opened, Zelda was unable to form any words. Her throat felt stripped raw, and when she attempted to speak, a sharp pain crawled the length of her throat and stole the words from her mouth, dragging them back down. Only a strangled squeak escaped her ruby lips.
"Let's go," Link took one of her hands in his own and placed his other hand on her shoulder. "You need to get some rest." He began leading her from the desk, but the Queen shook her head stubbornly, firmly standing in place.
Confusion and concern etched Link's face with a furrowed brow and slightly narrowed eyes. "What?"
Zelda pointed to the stack of papers, which had depleted considerably, but still piled high on her desk. Again, she tried to speak, and again, her voice failed her.
"No," Link said, his frown deepening. "That can wait." He started for the door again. Zelda squeezed his hand.
"What?" the King asked again, his tone tinted with annoyance. Zelda pointed again to the papers, then stood on the top of her toes and pointed up. Link sighed and shook his head. "I don't care how tall that pile is, or how many there are. You can't think straight if you're sick anyway." He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Okay?"
Seeing the disbelief crowding her sapphire eyes, Link took her other hand, which was still pointing at the papers, and held it in between them. Zelda glanced down at their four hands conjoined together.
"A sick Queen is no good to her people," Zelda's eyes shot back up to him. "and the sooner you get some rest, the sooner you'll recover." Link smiled tenderly, watching the conflict rage behind her glimmering eyes. He felt his stomach churn-the motion not necessarily unpleasant. He had more or less gotten used to the feeling, considering it had been occurring more and more often.
"Okay?" He asked quietly, gently. The Queen bit her lip softly, drawing Link's attention to the pomegranate-colored feature. She disrupted his gaze by nodding, slowly at first, but the gesture grew more confident as it continued.
"Good." Link grinned, squeezing her soft hands and tugging the Queen along behind him.
Though the Royal Study, or the Queen's Office, was not far from her bedroom, Zelda found herself panting in exhaustion only halfway through the trek. Her eyelids felt as though they were weighed down by boulders, and her chest struggled with the burden of an invisible Goron sitting on top of her.
"Zelda," Link turned to her suddenly. "can you walk okay?" he frowned listening to the choppy breaths she exhaled. They sounded almost wet, like she had drank all of Lake Hylia and the water was struggling to escape through her lungs.
Zelda shook her head, and the action took more energy out of her than it should have. She gasped, hands resting on her knees as her heartbeat pounded throughout her whole body. The Queen squeezed her eyes shut as if she could block out the pain, the rapid pulse of her throbbing heart.
Abruptly, she felt arms wrap around her middle and the distinct feeling of weightlessness washed over her. Zelda's eyes flashed open to reveal Link's face above hers, bouncing in time with his steps. She relaxed into his arms. A thought passed through her mind that she should object to being carried Bridle Style in the halls of her own kingdom, but her voice was too weak to tell him that. There was also the fact of his strong arms, so tightly wrapped around her, and his warm chest that functioned so perfectly as a pillow. Just this once, the Queen let herself melt into his embrace and let the rhythmic bounce of his steps lull her to sleep.
Upon her awakening, Zelda was greeted by the smell of hot pumpkin soup and the smooth texture of silk sheets around her. She stretched and rubbed her eyelids, finding that her gloves had been removed. Wiggling her toes against the cool silk sheets of her bed, Zelda discovered that her shoes had also been taken off. She sniffed the air and smiled at the smell of soup waiting for her. The Queen sat up, but immediately recoiled onto the mattress as a fierce headache raged on with the movement.
She clasped her pounding head in between her hands and groaned. The sound triggered an onslaught of coughing. She waited a long while before attempting to sit up again, the pleasant aroma of soup tantalizing her as she stared blankly at the ceiling.
After Zelda felt strong enough, she sat up, much slower than the previous time, and cupped the bowl of soup in her hands. The steam wafted off the orange mixture, heating her face and perking up her droopy eyes. She dipped the spoon in and drank the soup leisurely, savoring each spoonful of the pumpkin delight. Every few sips would be interrupted by coughs that seared her throat, and she would soothe the burning with a drink of cold water that waited beside the soup.
She soon found that even the task of bringing the spoon to her mouth proved to be taxing on Zelda, and by the time the bowl was empty, her eyes had returned to the state of familiar heaviness that came with exhaustion. The Queen returned the bowl to the bed-side table and once again fell to the welcoming embrace of her mattress. She vaguely remembered wondering where the delicious soup came from before surrendering into a deep slumber.
Zelda was aroused from her sleep with the squeak of her bedroom door opening. She tried to pry her eyes open, but they remained closed as if they were sealed shut with glue.
"Link.." she muttered softly. Unfortunately, her voice was too weak and the name came out unrecognizable. As quiet as it was, Link's ears picked up the noise and he came up to her bedside.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, taking the empty soup bowl off the table.
"I'm mhm meh.." The Queen answered, her voice muffled into the pillow and restricted from the weakened state the sickness had left her in.
"Okay then." Link chuckled softly, not understanding a word of what she had uttered. "At least you're awake." He commented. Just after he said the words, Zelda's breathing slowed and her mouth parted slightly. She had already drifted off to sleep.
"Somewhat." Link muttered. He placed the bowl in the crook of his arm and started towards the door. Zelda mumbled in her sleep and flopped onto her back. Link paused, smiling at the sleeping beauty. Hesitantly, he turned back to her and placed a soft kiss on her forehead before walking out the door.
"Goodnight." He whispered to her sleeping form as he closed the door behind him.
Two days later, Link sat in a chair parallel to Zelda's bed, carefully watching the doctor check the Queen's pulse and scribble on his notes.
"..weak heartbeat..." Dr. Borville muttered, adjusting his overly large glasses as he wrote. "sweating and chills..." more scribbling. "How's her appetite?" The doctor turned his scrutinizing gaze to Link.
"She eats the soup." He frowned. "When she's awake." Dr. Borville's eyebrows rose questioningly, arching over the shiny frame of his glasses. "She's been sleeping a lot," Link explained, "the first day she woke up quite a few times, and the next day was less, and she's only stirred once or twice today."
Dr. Borville nodded, writing and muttering a few more things before bringing his attention back to the bedridden Queen.
"Is the soup helping?" Dr. Borville's crotchety voice rose over the scratch of his pen sliding across paper.
"I guess. It's the only thing she'll eat." Link answered sullenly. The Doctor nodded, poked at Zelda's pale cheeks, and continued to write. Link watched him quietly, his eyes darting between Zelda and the grouchy doctor that stood above her. He grimaced at Zelda's still form; the rise and fall of her chest had grown slower since the first day of her sickness, and the rosy color had vanished from her cheeks. Staring at the ivory skin of his Queen, Link wished he could kiss her cheeks and bring the life back into them, revive the soft pink glow he had come to adore.
"Are you listening, Your Highness?" Dr. Borville's sharp tone dragged Link's attention away from Zelda.
"Uh, what? Sorry." Link stammered. The rosy color he had wished to return to Zelda's cheeks swarmed over his. "Can you repeat that?"
"It looks like she caught the common cold," Dr. Borville studied his notes, "but it might have triggered something much more serious." The blush disappeared from Link's face and was replaced by the same clammy paleness that clung to his wife. "That soup that you've been giving her-what is it again?"
"Pumpkin soup." Link answered.
"From?"
"The pumpkins are from Ordon, but it's made in the Snowpeak Mountains." Link told the Doctor, struggling to keep his eyes from flying back to Zelda.
"Well, keep giving her that. It sounds like it will be good for her."
Link nodded, and the doctor continued. "I'll be back tomorrow to check up on her. Once I see where she's headed, I can fix up an antidote for her." Dr. Borville waddled towards the door. "Until then, make sure she doesn't run out of Pumpkin Soup."
The doctor closed the door behind him, leaving Link alone with his thoughts and his sleeping beauty.
"You'll be okay, Zelda." He whispered. He knew the Queen couldn't hear him, but the sentence was more to comfort himself than anyone else.
"King Link!" A servant pounded on the door to the Royal Study, dragging Link's focus away from the papers piled before him. While Zelda was sick, the King picked up her work, which meant he had to do paperwork and attend council meeting on top of his usually royal duties.
"What?" He snapped, dropping the pen and document he had been reading. The door opened to reveal a young servant, breathing heavily.
"Your...Highness.." he said in between gasping breaths. Link sat patiently, waiting for the servant to compose himself. "The escort to Snowpeak...has been...delayed..." the servant's arms flailed as he pointed in no particular direction.
"What?" Link growled, rising from his seat behind the desk. "Why?"
"A storm...Your Highness.." the young servant finished, finally starting to get his breath back.
"When will it let up?" Link asked, gripping the desk tightly.
"We...don't know, my King. A blizzard hit and disbanded the royal brigade. It's too unpredictable to guess."
Link dropped his eyes to the dark wood of the desk. Zelda's desk. The rich chocolate color reminded him of the soft tresses of her hair. The dark strands had blended into the wood so well last week, when Link had found her asleep at her desk. He remembered thinking how cute she looked, her hair all ruffled and lips lightly parted in sleep. Now, the adorable expression only brought him a sinking feeling of dread. The Queen had only gotten worse, and he feared that expression would be the last one she would ever wear.
"How much soup is left in the kitchen?" Link asked quietly, his gaze still locked on the chocolate swirls in the desk.
"Enough to last a few more days," the servant shifted uncomfortably, knowing the news he brought was a curse to the King.
"Be more specific." Link ordered.
"Three."
A dead silence filled the Royal Study. Link slid back into his chair, his eyes never leaving the cold surface of the Mahogany desk.
"Thank you," Link told the servant, waving him off. "Tell me if there's any more news."
The servant boy nodded and bowed deeply before leaving the King to himself. Link sighed tiredly and held his head in his hands. "Three days.."
Link suddenly shot up from his chair, banging on the desk loudly with his fists. The stack of documents collapsed and papers flew everywhere, but Link ignored the mess. "I gotta find Ashei," Link shouted to no one in particular. He charged out the door, leaving the pile of papers wherever they sat.
"You need what?" Ashei's low pigtails of obsidian hair swung forward as she leaned closer to the King, trying to hear his voice over the loud clatter of the bar.
"I need a guide," he shouted over the yelling of a nearby drunkard. "Up Snowpeak."
"Ashei leaned back, taking a swig of her drink. "Yeah?"
"Yeah." Link nodded his head underneath the dark hood he wore.
The female soldier set down the mug with a clank and rested her caramel eyes on Link. "Well," she smirked, "I guess I can't say no to royalty." Ashei stood from the bar stool, stretching her arms above her head. "When do you want to do this, Mr. King, sir?"
"Just Link, please," his eyes darted around the bar, hoping no one heard the name. "I'm trying to stay out of attention, remember?" Ashei snorted in response. Ignoring her poor manners, Link continued. "I want to be there by tomorrow afternoon."
Ashei dropped her arms, the chain mail armor clinking as her hands fell to her hips.
"Tomorrow?" Her eyebrows shot into her bangs. "You know there's a blizzard right now, yeah?"
"I know." Link stated gravely. "That's why I need you. It's been a long time since I've been up there, and things are...different now."
He thought back to the last time he ventured over the Snowpeak mountains. Back then, he was fighting under very different circumstances, in a very different body, and for a very different Princess... He no longer had Midna's guidance, or the keenness of a wolf's nose to help him.
Link ran a hand through his sun-kissed hair, brushing off his memory at the same time.
"The blizzard is keeping my men from reaching Snowpeak, and I need to get there in less than three days." Link silently grit his teeth as Ashei's eyebrows rose even higher, disappearing into her hairline.
"What's up there that you need so bad?" She asked, chuckling slightly as she wrapped her fingers around her mug and lifted it to her lips.
"Yeto's soup."
Ashei paused, the mug suspended by her lips. "Yeto? The...the.."
"The yeti." Link finished. A lightly smug smile formed on his mouth; it was not often that one saw Ashei speechless. However, his next words ripped the grin from his face, evaporating his joy in seconds. "Zelda needs it. She's sick, and it's the only thing that's keeping her awake."
Immediately, Ashei's brow fell from her hairline like a bird falling from the sky, quickly settling low over her darkened eyes.
"The Queen..." Ashei's lips turned into a deep frown. Her eyes fell, deciding to study the contents of her mug rather than face the King's pained expression. For a few seconds, the obnoxious clatter of the bar faded away as she stared into the amber swirls of her drink. Link's world also fell into a quiet anticipation, desperate hope that Ashei would agree to guide him, despite the storm raging on the mountain peak. All other distractions vanished from his focus as Link watched the soldier's lips part. His heart pounded for an eternity before her words could reach his ears.
"Link, what will happen if she doesn't get that soup?" Ashei asked, her worried eyes darting back to his. Link faltered, Dr. Borville's analysis from the previous day ringing in his ears.
"...the aroma of the soup is acting as a Stimulus to her senses." Dr. Borville stared into the eyes of his King. "In cases like this," he gestured to the still Queen, "the individual's senses shut down one by one as their body goes into a defensive shock against the disease..." the doctor's thin lips were firmly pressed into a tight line. "Her consciousness is merely a response to the stimulus. If that were to be taken away..." he drifted off.
"What?" Link felt his heart beating against his ribcage, his mind reeling in horror. He had to ask, even if deep inside, he knew the answer.
"If the stimulus was removed, then Her Highness would lose all responses and she would fall into a state of constant sleep, a coma, you could say." Dr. Borville cleared his throat, his cloudy eyes falling on his notes. "And by that time, it would be much harder, if not impossible, to wake her up."
Link blinked, feeling the gravity of her situation crush against him like a thousand boulders. He felt the breath rush out of his lungs as the metaphorical boulders piled on top of him. Link hardly felt the doctor's gentle hand on his shoulder, or heard his soft-spoken words. The King felt a shadow of panic rise from his stomach, the onyx claw of grief seize him in its grasp.
"Zelda.." He gasped, the name only a hoarse whisper on his lips...
Link breathed shakily, mulling Ashei's question over in his mind. "What will happen?"
He paused, not wanting the soldier to hear the tremble in his voice. "She won't last long. We tried other soups, but she only reacts to Yeto's Pumpkin soup."
There was silence only between the King and the Soldier as the rest of the bar howled in drunken laughter and unfulfilled threats. Ashei closed her eyes, feeling the burning languish resonate through Link's whole being. Though she was never one for tears, Ashei had to fight away the emotion surging through her, tugging at her battle-hardened heart. She gulped, forcing down the lump in her throat.
"Well, you've got me, Link." She said, noting the desperation in his eyes as they snapped back to her. "However bad that blizzard is, it can't be worse than the storm that will come if Zelda isn't taken care of." She smirked at him, her sarcasm racing back. "Goddesses know you can't rule this kingdom all by yourself."
Link's eyes softened a little, and a small chuckle passed out of him. Ashei clapped her hand on his shoulder. "Pull yourself into shape, Your Highness. I'll be waiting here bright and early tomorrow morning." With that, the soldier left him, determination and hope brewing in both of their hearts.
Ending Note: I really love Ashei's character, even though her role in the game was pretty small. I think they could have done a lot more with her. I mean, a female soldier with a mysterious background...so much potential right there! When I first played TP, I liked her so much that I based the main character of my book off her. Have I told you guys that I'm writing a book? I've kinda been neglecting it lately, because I'm writing this, but whatever. I think this is really improving my writing skills anyway. Thanks for reading!