Chapter 28: The Forging of Loyalty
"Your Majesty," Zelda said to her father as she curtsied before him.
"Your Royal Highness," Liotidos nodded in return, but beyond that his face was stone. No warmth, no love, no joy, no sorrow. Just the face of a king looking upon one of his many subjects. The same expression she had seen on him many times these last few weeks. It didn't hurt her anymore, she told herself as she reached her place by his side.
Behind her, the rest of the king's war council entered. Each of them bowing their respect to both king and princess before they found their own positions around the table. It was quite the menagerie. Some of them familiar from the first war council Zelda took part in, Coroto the Goron ambassador with his wide friendly grin and Selvas of the Zora elegantly flowed like water as she made her greetings. Duke Arlan and Ganondorf had both left to lead their armies on the field. In their place Arlan sent his nephew, a round-faced boy perhaps a year or two older than Zelda herself named Durrel.
"A pleasure," he said to the king as he bowed three times in a row, "to be in your august presence. Though I am young, and I know I am only here to receive and send reports to my uncle. And I will do my duties well. And I think that I can-"
"We get it voe," snapped a sharp voice from behind him. "You're a glorified messenger, now out of my way. You're holding all of us up."
Durrel's ears turned a bright red, and his eyes went wide. But he bowed once more before he fled to his own chair.
After him came three women, and it was an effort for Zelda to keep her slight but regal smile on her face. The first was the largest woman that Zelda had ever seen, not just because she was tall, but wide as well. Every momentous step seemed to threaten to topple the woman over, but she waddled to a chair designed for Gorons and plopped onto it. Behind her came two women that looked completely opposite of her, but in different ways.
They were each old women, as old as her father or older. The first was a woman that looked like one of spears of the Royal Knights, skinny as a stick, with her nose pointing forward as sharp as any spearhead Zelda had seen. The one behind her was just as thin, not a powerful warrior, but withered and wrapped in a shawl.
That one was the one Zelda trusted least. One would be forgiven for thinking her a little old washer woman who had stumbled into a war council on accident. That was the woman that Ganondorf had ran to embrace, the one he called the wisest woman that he had ever known.
But in the days since, Zelda had not heard any great wisdom from her. In fact she had not heard much of anything. The one called Bulira sat at her end of the table at dinners, or disappeared off by herself to the gardens or walking around the city. She seemed embarrassed to even be there.
The last to enter and give his bows of respect was Sir Jora, he carried a pile of papers with him which he spread out in front of him on his side of the table.
Once everyone was seated, the boy, Durrel coughed, then looked worried over to the king to see if he had somehow offended him. King Liotidos gave him the smallest smile then said. "This meeting of my council has begun, our war has three fronts. I expect reports from my oath-brother Darunia, the wise King Zora, and the honorable Duke Arlan."
"Yes, your majesty," Durrel said. Then he looked over to Corroto. "I'm sorry, he mentioned your chief first would you like to go?"
"No, no," the Goron said and smiled wide. "You start, gives me time to think."
"Thank you," Durrel put a scroll down on the table. Then seemed to realize he made a mistake, lifted the scroll and made the point to show his uncle's seal was still in tact on it. "This comes from my uncle," he said, as if that were not completely obvious.
Zelda could not hold back a sigh as he broke the seal and unfurled the scroll. He was going to read it for the first time before them? Wouldn't it be much faster and more efficient if he read it earlier, so he could just tell them what it said? Instead she had to watch as the boy smoothed out the scroll, only for his grip to loosen and part of it to curl back on itself so he needed to hold it down as he read.
"His highness, my uncle Duke Harlow Arlan of Kolomo, Warden of Southron Fields sends his regards and the following message," Durrell stopped speaking and read a bit ahead. "He says he has arrived at Hateno, and has found the castle in good repair and the garrison in high spirits. He sent Lord Lurelin to Kobitan to organize the supply shipments." He read a bit further. "He does make note that a small band of Moblins attacked his supply train while on route, they have already traveled further south than we- I mean than he and your Majesty anticipated. He may not have as much time as to set up his defenses as hoped."
Of course he doesn't, Ganondorf knew he was coming and likely already told his minions about the plans at Hateno already. They will be harassed the entire time they thought they had to set up their defenses.
Zelda closed her eyes for a second as Durrell continued talking about some unnecessary details about lumber supplies. She did not know much of gory details of the last war, but everyone spoke of Duke Arlan as a man who knew his business. Second in military genius only to her mother. Was he competent enough to hold on while she deals with Ganondorf?
Exactly what she needed, one more situation she would need to solve from the shadows.
"The attack of the Moblins does cause me some distress," her father said.
"If such attacks continue, and I don't see why they wouldn't, it may require that we send them additional troops," Zelda said. "Assuming the Moblin commander is competent, they have already figured out what the Duke is attempting at Hateno."
Selvas made a chiding noise, "My dear Princess, these are vicious brutes, nothing more. I'd be surprised if they have the wit to make sense of anything the raiders saw."
"Thank you for correcting me. I was unaware that Lady Selvas had any experience dealing with Moblins."
"Well," the Zora said. "Well, I - I don't mean that I have ever faced them. Personally."
"And of course," Zelda continued over the ambassador, "these attacks are completely normal for Moblins and don't at all indicate that the monsters at our borders are better organized than they ever have been before. How silly of me to take precautions."
The Zora ambassador did not respond further. Good. Get out of my way while I try to save all of us.
Zelda looked to her father. "It is likely that they will need to be reinforced with additional forces."
"Armies do not simply sprout out of nowhere," he said as he lightly scratched at his beard. "Sir Jora?"
The knight scratched at one of the papers, running calculations no doubt. She knew that her father used the Knight of Foxes as a go between with the banking guilds. It was said that his grandfather was a merchant, before his father won himself a knighthood. Impa once said that by the grace of Hylia Jora was blessed with his father's skill and his grandfather's brains.
"If your Majesty wishes to pay for another entire army, you will need to wait until our next tax collection in seven months. Or we will need to take up another loan." He looked up from his numbers to the king. "I have a few favors to call in that might get us our loan at a low interest."
"Use what rupees we have to spare to start collecting weapons and officers. As of now Duke Arlan seems to have things well in hand, but write up the papers for the loan." Her father turned from Jora to the boy, Durrell. "Tell your uncle that I expect biweekly reports from him on the maintenance of the castle and any Moblin activity. At even a whiff of a true threat to his position, we call up the reinforcing army."
Sir Jora looked back down to his papers, picked up an ink pen and started making his scratch marks on it. Zelda found herself looking at the top of his head. Her father trusted him, and until this moment so had she. But he had been spending a great deal of time with the Gerudo hadn't he? There was power in finances, even a cursory study of history should teach someone that.
She would need to verify what this one was writing as well. Zelda made certain that there was no change in expression on her face, but still she felt a pang of… something. Guilt? Anger? She had known Jora for years and had always liked the man, she still remembered him asking if she had been hurt when Ganonodorf dragged her before her father. He had been kind.
But kindness was no guarantee of loyalty. By the Goddesses, how many by her father's side could she trust?
"That front done, what news do we have among the Zora and Gorons?" her father said.
"By the might of King Zora and the grace of Lord Jabbu-Jabbu the Octorok threat has been kept at bay."
The large woman gave a snorting chuckle, which made Ambassador Selvas lose her train of thought and look back at her. The Zora gave a polite little cough but did not say anything more.
"That front is going well, and what news of Death Mountain?"
"The last message that Chief Darunia sent me has bad tidings," Coroto stood up, causing the floors to creak from the shifting of his weight. "The Lizalfos have been raiding the roads leading to our home. And the news is worse still. The are gathering, and it seems they are preparing to assault the Crown of Death Mountain." The big Goron looked down, then at his massive stony fingers. "All my life, I hear that is impossible. And yet, the monsters are there. And Ganondorf is not. He should have arrived many days ago."
"I'll admit our king seems to have moved slower than we initially planned," Ashdin, the large woman they called the Most-Feared said.
"Wars," said the skinny Matron named Rijya who never smiled and rarely blinked, "refuse to keep to a schedule."
The third said nothing, as she was wont to do. She only played with the corner of her shawl and watched, her brow furrowed either in confusion or deep concentration. Never seeming to lose focus or let her attention wander, but she never offered any input either.
"Easy to say," Coroto said. "But as your king delays, my people still face the monsters. We are dying." He shook his head, and clenched his jaw. Hie eyes wandered down to the map on the table. His massive hand pointed from the Gerudo Desert then passed over the map, stopping a moment at Satori Pass to Castle Town, to Faron, to a dozen more points beside all the way to Kokiri Forest. "All my life, I have been told that your king moves faster than possible. That he strikes like lightning. My people are dying." He looked up and his eyes found the Gerudo. "Why does your king delay?"
Finally a reaction from the one named Bulira, but all she did was avert her eyes and frown. Sorrow, perhaps? Guilt?
"Raiders do not let one ride past with a kiss and a wave," Rijya said in a far away dead voice.
"That was weeks ago!" the Goron smashed his heavy hand on the arm of his chair. Even reinforced with steel as the seat was, the wood cracked under the force.
"Perhaps," Zelda said, "your king offered some reason for his delay? I do admit simply raiders does not seem satisfactory. I've been studying the last war, and several times Ganondorf fought skirmishes and even battles against trained knight and continued the march either that day or the next."
"Do something amazing once," Rijya said again, "and it is expected from you always."
"Your master has always hated us Gorons! He is trying to drag his feet. He wants as many of us to die as he can."
"You want to say that again?" the Most-Feared managed to push herself to her feet. She puffed out her already quite dramatically sized chest and looked over the table to the Goron Ambassador. Zelda leaned forward in her chair. Was that a threat or simply posturing? Neither of them had weapons, but Zelda found her heart racing faster all the same. One does not get a name like Most-Feared for backing down from a fight. But her fighting years were behind her, certainly?
Coroto stood up as well. "I say you Gerudo always hate us. And your king is letting us die. Because he is without honor!"
"That's it!" Ashdin smashed her fist against the table. It broke. The wood splintered beneath the force of her barehanded strike. "Let's see how difficult it is to crack stone!" Zelda looked between the Goron and the Gerudo, they were about to come to blows right there in front of her. She looked over her shoulder to tell Impa to stop them, but her guardian wasn't invited to the war council. Then her eyes found the only other person she trusted.
"Silence!" Zelda's father's voice forced itself through the entire room. Full of power and authority that demanded it be obeyed. The two stopped, and Zelda let out a breath of relief. "I will not have my own war council turn into a battle among ourselves."
"No battles in the war room," Rijya said, the only one in the entire council, guards included, who did not seem at all perturbed by the events.
"If I may?" Bulira said, her voice so quiet that Zelda strained to hear it. The king looked to her a moment, then gave a wave of his hand to let her continue. "Ambassador Coroto I understand that you are upset. Do you have family at the Crown?"
"I do," he said, still frowning.
"This must be very distressing for you. Have you ever had a family member living in danger before?"
"I do not see how this is relevant," Coroto said.
"It is a deep worry, when your children are in danger. I know better than most. Every day without word from them your mind starts thinking of everything that could go wrong. Then there is no word for weeks or months even and your fear consumes you completely. Like every breath could be the last one sharing the same world with your children." Bulira shook her head. "We all know your worry, but you need to understand we are trying to help. As best as we all can in this war. And Matron Ashdin how many daughters have you lost in battles or to the winds?"
"Three," she said, frowning deeply.
"I am very sorry for your losses. But you must remember that you are used to war. All of us among the Gerudo have seen family, friends, and lovers join the ancestors. So many times we forget the sorrow of those new to this dread. We must be patient."
"Sorrows or no, he insulted our king," Ashdin said. "You of all people must hate that."
"Ganondorf is a good, strong leader. He has earned the loyalty of everyone dwelling in the desert a hundred times over. But you must remember that we are seated with those who have seen us as enemies all their lives. Ganondorf's honor will survive a few words. But our alliance might not should you start a fight."
Ashdin the Most-Feared grimaced, then met Coroto's eyes. She stared for a long time, but Zelda could tell that she had already decided not to antagonize the Goron further. But of course a woman who took the name Most-Feared would want to hold everyone in terrified anticipation for her answer. When Ashdin apparently thought she had waited long enough, she sat back down and gesture for the others to continue talking.
"That was well spoken," King Liotidos said with the slightest nod of respect to Bulira. "Now, if we may continue." He spoke of the need for Ganondorf to march faster and how his heart felt heavy for the plight of the Gorons. But Zelda only half listened.
There was still so much to learn about her enemies and leadership in general. Her father commanded with his presence and voice. And that worked, he got the two to stop fighting with a single word. But Bulira found a way to ease the tensions between them. If she was going to become a great queen she would need to learn both.
And then there was the blind loyalty that Ganondorf seemed to effortlessly hold from his people. It annoyed her more than she'd like that she was drawing lessons from her enemies. But that quality would be useful. The Most-Feared may have had the skills of a warrior once, but now she was fat, slovenly, and had difficulty walking for long distances. And yet she was more than willing to challenge a Goron just for insulting her king. A fight she would most certainly lose. It was a Goron, even an untrained ambassador like Coroto could crush a person effortlessly. Couldn't he?
Her father had loyal knights, those that were willing to fight and die for the glory of Hyrule and the crown. But the Gerudo's loyalty felt deeper, they were willing to pointlessly throw their lives away for the man.
How could she gain that kind of loyalty for herself?
After several hours the king concluded the council. "I will be taking an hour to myself," he said. "Afterward, I wish to have the meeting with Matron Bulira and Sir Jora to discuss the progress made on the aqueduct. And ahh," he signaled to one of his attendants. "Wat, would you send for the representative from the stonemasons guild and the engineers?"
"Of course, my king," the servant said with a bow. Then the king stood up and all the ambassadors and advisors stood with him, Zelda included. He left the chamber and most of the councils filed out after him.
Durrell took the time to come to Zelda. He bowed again, "it is an honor to be on the council with you, your Royal Highness."
"The honor is mine, Sir Durrell," she graced him with her hand.
"Oh," he kissed her ring and stepped back. "Though, I'm not a knight yet. I'm still squiring for my uncle." He frowned. "Though, I don't think I'm particularly good at all this knightly stuff. The fighting and the maintaining of equipment. I think that's why my uncle sent me as his voice here."
It was just a formality. You don't need to explain your history to me. "Perhaps he respects your intelligence?"
"Hah, I doubt that."
I do too, I was just trying to be polite. Let's hurry this along.
He stiffened up, his eyes going wide. "Not that I meant to say you were wrong. I didn't mean-"
"No offense was taken, squire Durrell." She walked past him.
However, he somehow seemed to miss that this meant the conversation was over. "Of course, your Highness- your Royal Highness. Of course, of course. Some other time, perhaps?"
Impa waited for her a the door. She had been standing talking idly with one of the guards. But by the time Zelda walked past her, the shiekah had finished the conversation and found her place at Zelda's shoulder.
"Took you long enough," she said as they walked along the halls of the castle. "This is why I focused on spycraft instead of having to deal with these long policy debates."
"Did you find anything?" She only had an hour and if she knew her father he would be heading to his room, if she could get the information from Impa fast, perhaps she could take some time to make a quick study of the prophecies.
"More about some than others. The one called the Most-Feared deserves the title, I knew of her back in my more active days. She was never given a direct command of an entire army, to my knowledge. But she was considered the most brutal of the raiding chiefs. She killed several of the great knights of the last generation. Some in battle, at least two in duels. I will spare you the details, they are unpleasant."
"A queen will have to learn unpleasant details."
"You are not queen yet, my princess. And allow me to ease your mind in the little ways I still have."
"Any more?"
"Rijya I do not know as well. Thankfully I have some contacts among the Gerudo who were able to give me more details about her. Her tribe is a small but well respected one. She has the reputation of being far more clever than she lets on. It is said she gained the position of Matron by tricking her older sisters into killing each other."
"How am I not surprised that these are our allies?" Zelda sighed. "A warrior and a trickster. But do you have anything on them that I can use?"
"Is this really the route you wish to take?" Impa said, she rested her hand on Zelda's shoulder, stopping her. Zelda turned and looked at her guardian eye to eye. "It is one thing to use my training to learn how to move about unseen, or to know how to effectively run from danger. But what you're asking of me, to help you find information to threaten or coerce them? That leaves a mark on your soul, my princess."
"So you won't do it for me?"
"I never said I wouldn't. I am only warning you. This is a dark path."
"Just find me the information I can use, please Impa," Zelda took a deep breath before she started walking again. "And what of the last?"
Impa sighed. "That one, I have been less fortunate about. She had no position in the last war. She seems to have appeared out of nowhere over the last few months. The stories I've been told sound like guesses and gossip to me. The one thing that is agreed upon is that she has some history with Ganondorf."
"Well that we can confirm, you saw how he ran to her. I would have thought her his mother."
"Oh no, she's not that. The Gerudo know well who his mothers are. I met one of them once, a long time ago. But that is another story I will spare you."
"So who is she?"
"Some say she is a powerful witch, but I think those made the same mistake you made. Others that she was an elite warrior that did not take part in the wars, instead hid away to train Ganondorf in the ways of sword, spear, and bow. Still more say she is no one, just a favored servant of their king when he was young."
"A servant?" Zelda frowned. Someone no one brought to speak before the king of Hyrule in his closest council of war? That did not seem particularly likely, but then, Zelda had spent much of her life around knights and she did not have the bearings of a warrior at all. And she did not seem like Rauru or his students either. "So rumors, that is all you've been able to find for me?"
"Yes, though there is a simple way to find out more," Impa said and stopped as they reached the arches that led to the courtyard.
"Just tell me, Impa. You know I hate when you beg for a question."
Impa pointed ahead. "Go ask her."
Sitting upon the bench at the center of the courtyard sat Bulira. She did not seem to notice Impa or Zelda, her focus upon the flowers of the garden, as intent as she had been at the council. As if the flowers would fly away or change if she glanced away.
"You can't be serious."
"Oh, I most certainly am. You need to extract information, this is how you do it. With conversation," the governess frowned and nodded to herself deep in memory. "This is far safer than my first attempts with a Gerudo. Even if you anger her, there's little chance she'll try and stab you in your own courtyard."
"But what if I something wrong? What if I reveal something?"
"Don't."
"Thank you, Impa, that's incredibly helpful." But instead of responding, her guardian gave her a gentle nudge forward before turning around and walking away. Zelda frowned at Impa's back before the sheikah rounded a corner and disappeared.
This was fine. She could do this. She was Princess Zelda, Chosen of the Goddesses. She had already outsmarted Ganondorf, she could face down one of his minions. Especially such an unimposing woman as this.
She walked to the bench. "Matron Bulira," she stepped in front of the woman. "What a pleasure to see you."
"Oh!" the little woman said. "I'm sorry, princess, do you want the bench?" she tried to stand up to leave the bench for Zelda.
"No, you don't have to-" but before Zelda could finish the Gerudo didn't only try to leave the bench for her she also bowed one of the deepest most subservient bows Zelda had ever seen. Her nose almost scraped the stones. By the Goddesses, was she a servant?
"Your Royal Highness, if it pleases you, you may have the seat."
"Not at all," Zelda said as she sat down. "There is more than enough room for two. Please do me the honor of joining me."
"Thank you, your Royal Highness," Bulira said. She seemed to think to herself a moment then appeared to decide that it would be rude to refuse and sat beside Zelda. The Matron gave Zelda a friendly smile and then went back to watching the flowers.
Zelda tried to think of something to say, which was infuriating in its own right. She always knew what she wanted to say. But she couldn't just order this woman to reveal all her machinations. "I was impressed with your words at the council." That sounded good. Flattery. Everyone liked to be flattered from time to time.
"Oh," Bulira said, then looked down to her feet. Zelda had known peasants who did the same, turning their eyes away from royalty as if worried simply looking would somehow tarnish them. "It was nothing."
"I think it was far from nothing, the way you handled Coroto and Ashdin was masterful."
"Thank you, but I don't think I'll be of much use at a war council. I never had the mind to grasp all the intricacies of that sort of business. Nor the stomach for it."
Definitely not a warrior then. Or, perhaps she was lying? But she did not have any of the signs of it. Her body didn't shift, no fidgets or any of the common tells. Her eyes did avert from Zelda's own, but that happened before she even started talking. She was uncomfortable being around royalty. Or perhaps just around Zelda?
"On the contrary, you already provided more tangible benefit to the progress of the war effort than anyone else there, except perhaps for my father, and our commanders on the field Duke Arlan and your King Dragmire."
"You truly think so?" She said as she looked to Zelda, then quickly turned her head back down. There was something in her eyes, even in that brief glimpse. Another showing of that sadness perhaps? The guilt, Zelda saw in her at the council meeting. "I think you left out one more name of importance, you are quite an impressive young vai."
"Thank you, many have said, but it's always nice hearing it confirmed from another."
Thant got the slightest smile from the old woman. Good, that got some response. "Ahh, you remind me of Gan. He was so self confident as a child as well."
"Gan? Ganondorf?" Zelda had to focus not to change her expression. That was not a comparison she wished to draw. "Did you know Ganondorf when he was my age?"
"I knew him far earlier. Let's see, I was pregnant with Nabooru when I started working for his mothers, I think he was about two then. Yes, that's right. I met him when he was two."
Well that explained the familiarity. "What did you do for his mothers?"
"Everything they needed. They lived away from all the tribes of the desert in the ruins of an old stronghold. And both of them did not know a thing about cleaning, or cooking, or childcare." She shook her head. "But let's not spoil a beautiful day with such talk."
A servant. She was a servant. They had a servant sitting in their war council meetings. It was no wonder that Impa could not find anything about her. A servant directed and gave reprimands to an ambassador and a Matron of the Gerudo. It was ridiculous, unbelievable. The gall of these Gerudo, to send someone like her as a representative.
Was it intended as an insult? The one called Ashdin certainly felt like one as well. And Ashdin listened to her. That was most perplexing of all. If Bulira was meant as a joke why would her words sway any of her fellow Matrons?
But if there was an insult in Bulira's presence, Zelda could not help but feel that the cruelty of the joke fell more on other's shoulders than the little woman that sat beside her. She seemed more lost in thought and scared than vindictive.
But she was still Ganondorf's minion.
"Do you enjoy the garden?" Zelda said to try and continue some form of conversation.
"Certainly, but I have always loved a pretty flower. The desert has few, when they do bloom it's beautiful, but it's always brief. And if you aren't prepared you'll miss them. It's a sad year when you miss a desert bloom. But these plants you have, flowers that blossom for weeks and months at a time? How wonderful to live among such beauty."
"Would you like to walk through them?"
"Ahh, sadly no. When I first arrived and saw them, I went through them all smelling every one I could. And the next day I woke with rashes and a runny nose, and oh, sorry, your highness. I won't bore you with the details of the aches and pains of an old woman. But I'm content just getting to glimpse the beauty of Hyrule. I'll leave it for others to live and walk among it."
There was a profound melancholy around the woman, but a bit of pride too perhaps? It was hard for Zelda to put into words what she saw in her. It wasn't pride like she was used to. A knight may bow before a king, but they do not scrape and grovel.
"That's enough from the silly old vai," she said and smiled to Zelda. "I'm sure you didn't just come to listen to me."
"You'd be surprised, that's exactly why I came to sit with you." Of course you don't need to know it's to thwart whatever it is you and your master are planning. "You're something of an enigma."
"I'm sorry, I am not fully fluent in Hylian. What am I?"
"A mystery."
"Ahh,' Bulira just shook her head. "If you say so, your highness. I think you'll find there's not all that much mystery to me."
"You were a servant, and you just sat through a meeting of some of the most powerful people in the world. And then you chided two of them into submission. That's quite an accomplishment for someone."
"Ahh, but that is an accomplishment made on the backs of others. My daughter grew up to become a great woman," she smiled as her eyes wandered past the gardens to some distant memory. "She used to chase after Gan, always pushing herself to keep up. Two years younger and demanding he teach her to fight. That he never went easy on her. And when his mothers came they stood together against," her smile withered and she looked back to Zelda. "I'm proud of them both."
"You seem it, I did not know Lady Nabooru well, even when she stayed here for months."
"Little surprise that, I understand you were locked away for some time when Ganondorf visited."
"You… you heard of that?"
"Oh yes, the desert is not so far away that we don't hear the princess of our new allies hated and dishonored our king."
Now it was Zelda's turn to look away. She had been so foolish, it was hard to think that her mistakes were only a few months past and not several years. She had acted as a child. Accomplishing nothing and revealing everything she had to her enemy in a single conversation.
"I am sorry, it was… it was unbecoming of a princess how I acted. Believe me, I bare neither you nor your king any further ill-will. In fact I wish most sincerely to mend any rift between our peoples that I may have inadvertently caused."
"Hmm," Bulira smiled. "That's nice." She didn't believe Zelda, that was obvious just from the tone of her voice. "Well now, I think it's about time to head back to the King's council. I don't know any more about aqueducts than I do about war, but my king gave me a task."
"Don't we have more time?" Zelda looked across the courtyard to the decorative sundial, they still had a quarter hour until her father asked for their presence.
"One should always be a little early when asked by their host, especially when that host is a king." She truly was a peasant, wasn't she?
"I suppose, we can walk to the council chamber together."
"That would please me very much. You are an intelligent young vai."
Zelda slid off the bench, and Bulira pushed herself to her feet. Bulira walked slow. So incredibly slow. No, keep calm. I need to keep the woman happy, Zelda said to herself as they took what could only be called a leisurely stroll. Which may have been interesting to Bulira, but for Zelda she was surrounded by things she had seen a thousand times or more.
"Such beauty," Bulira said as they passed one of her father's frescos. A wall showing Hylia casting down the dreaded Demise while the Three Goddesses watched from over them all.
"Was their anything beautiful from your time raising Ganondorf? Other than the flowers I mean."
"Oh, many things," Bulira said. "Watching the children play after a hard day's work. And of all the gifts his mother's gave him, music was possibly his favorite. One of the few remaining rooms of the stronghold still in one piece was a chapel, and the Twinrova taught him how to play the organ."
"Really?"
"Oh yes," Bulira said. "They were quite adamant that he learns how to play music. And he took to it. Often I'd hear him trying to compose his own pieces, while my daughter sang alongside him."
She talked about her daughter and Ganondorf the entire time they traveled to the council room. Every story she had about beauty in the desert always went back to those two. And while they waited alone in the room until the others her father had called joined them, she told more stories about the two children. Only when the king arrived did she stop. "I'm sorry, your Royal Highness. I wasted all your time with my blathering."
"Oh, it was nothing."
The answer to the question Zelda had asked stared her straight in the face. How did Ganondorf inspire such loyalty? They loved him. It had always just been that simple. They loved him, and so Ashdin was willing to get herself killed for a slight against him. Because that's how that brute of a woman showed her love.
They all loved him, because they all must think that he loves them. Or, more terrifying still, did he love them? It was hard for her to think of him as such. He loved his people, and they returned that love so strong they would face certain death for him. They would follow him to the tomb of Demise itself.
Her father called the meeting to order, and immediately Sir Jora stood up and began recounting how many rupees were spent on simply finding the proper stone for the project. But Zelda only half listened, she kept glancing back to Matron Bulira.
Could she even gain that loyalty? Maybe with Impa? There were a few of her father's advisors she liked more than others. But did she love them? Did they love her, or just find her the difficult child they needed to listen to?
Zelda slumped down into her chair, the image of the perfect little princess lost.
Author's Note: Sorry for longest delay between chapters yet. Holidays and work are a pain.