It was quiet within Zelda's tower. A tower kept and manicured. That was unusual.
For the past several months, the noise about her chambers was a clamor of papers being moved, statues being presented, preparations for prayers, and meetings with councilors regarding advice and favors. The few quiet moments she may have had were dedicated to work on the Guardians and Divine Beasts, looking to help the Shiekah Scientists with their work.
Purah would be one of the louder members in her room, preferring to talk to her there where she could use the excuse of 'Princess's room' for absolute privacy and conversation. Urbosa would frequent her as well, with advice and kind words to help her through the more tumultuous days. Even her father, on the days when he felt the weight of his crown, would speak to her about her duties and the love of her mother. Her room was constant noise. That made for constant disarray.
Tools and papers would be strewn about for her research, clothes laid out for quick changing in any times she'd be permitted to leave and research the Guardians. They'd dot the walls with nails and earn huffs from the maids who had to work around them. Her fireplace would be strewn with ashes from many late knights, and even her upper chambers holding many intricate parts for her safe keeping. All enough that her caretaker would note her room more like a storage hall than the quarters of a Princess.
It was all the more reason why she loathed Link. His presence being silence. His figure neat.
Now, she quieted her breathing to let the silence rule. Not even chirping birds broke her reverie.
Zelda sat by the window to the outside gates, letting the cool air from the high position tickle her skin. The lightest of breezes played with her hair, hardly enough to flutter her gown. She watched the far off woods play with the wind kept from her, as if it were dancing to a song she couldn't hear. Just as well as the clouds high above, gently moving as if pulled on string.
Strings, she would have sworn long ago, she was bound to. Now they were cut. By her own words, by her wishes.
Through the damnation of the silent soul she'd ravaged.
'I've never heard it.'
Her own sigh broke the reverie. She turned to the door to her chamber, knowing what it lacked. It was no different a sight then if she was in this same position just a week prior, but it remained sorely lacking.
No silent knight stood beyond it. No hero was watching over her. She was finally what she asked to be for months before.
Alone.
She hated it.
"Link, where are you now?"
It was a question she had never even entertained before. The few moments in her day when her knight was gone from her, she would celebrate his absence. Her care for his position thrown for a desire to see the technology growing under the watchful eyes of the Shiekah and conversations with those who knew her. His silence a blade as sharp as the one he carried.
The Princess let out a dejected huff as the metaphor slipped through her mind. Her knight was silent. The Blade was silent.
She had used both to damn the Hero.
"I pray you are safe. I pray I have not... ruined more than your name."
Silence was the response to Zelda's words. She could almost believe he was listening to her, in the far off lands he may be waiting in now. Gone from the duty she had taken from him and abandoned by the people he had trained with.
"Don't let my foolishness take more from you."
More silence, as if he were here now. Zelda basked in it.
A strong gust of wind from her window took it away.
A gust didn't do the motion justice. It was a force that had earned a quick cry from the Princess, holding hands up to her face to shield here from debris that may have followed. Tools and sheets within her room were thrown flapping into the air. Even the sheets of her bed were made unkempt, pillows falling over onto carpet and stone.
Such a sudden breeze and both the silence and neatness of her room was utterly destroyed. Emerald eyes glared out the window, no curiosity or wonder at what had caused the shock of wind. It was only too obvious.
"Revali." She'd spoken the name of murderers with more grace.
"Good morning, your highness!" The cheer of the Rito Champion countered her voice. "Enjoying the view from above?" He smiled as wings flapped, holding him before her window.
"I was," she admitted. "You have done an excellent job at taking that from me." She meant for her words to bite. The blue-feathered champion only laughed.
"My apologies then. Silence is hardly a sound I'm used to. The wind hums too loud for me to care for stillness." He flapped a few more times before finding perch on the balcony. Zelda had the urge to correct his entry without welcome. She bit it back. "Though it appears a sense of stillness has overcome the great Hyrule Castle. The bustle I became used to with this place suddenly gone. I'd think there was a predator on the loose, but we both know that isn't the case."
"We do?" She pushed along, standing to match him. She would not allow herself to sit before the man. Her crossed feathers with a proud smile, standing high above her.
"We do, for it was by your wisdom that we were able to chase off that sickly beast."
Her teeth clenched with a furrowed gaze.
"A wise ploy on your part, earning the admission from him. I'll admit even I wouldn't have thought of such a way to prove deception. Perhaps that is my fault, as I'm far more used to striking my foes before they even realize I am there. You, on the other wing, made a predator your prey. It is wonderful to witness."
Revali had no teeth to his beak, only one long keratin bill. Yet he smiled at her as if his gaze was filled with fangs. Zelda stared up at him breathless. Her chest was tight, her fists clenched, a swarm of memories poking her mind.
"Do you have something to speak of, Revali?" She hoped the ire in her voice was sharp. He was as ignorant of it as he was Link's skill. "I have other matters on my mind."
"Those matters are why I am here." She blinked at his grin. "I'm sorry to say, your highness, that the piteous position your in hasn't escaped us, least of all myself. The thief's words and actions have put you in an impossible situation. Leaving cooped up without a wind to lift you, it'd be a poor show of a comrade to leave you alone."
"You are here to offer my sympathy?" She almost laughed. If it weren't for the heat in her throat, she just might have. His shut eyes kept him from seeing her scrunched brow.
"Sympathy implies a weakness on your part. You are not weak, Princess." She was. He just refused to see she damned a strong man with her weakness. "You were trapped by a foolish man, just short of being taken advantage of. Such a situation cannot be kind to your mind. As I'm sure that fool would even be forced to agree, its easy to hear damning words when your surrounded by silence."
'I've never heard it.'
He only heard silence. HE only heard the blade ring against stone, bone, and air. It didn't call to him, speak to him, or even consul him. It was silent to his pleas as he screamed.
And she had mocked him for it.
"Feeling well, your highness?" She saw his blue feathers raise to her face.
She saw a blade bidding her to take it.
FWIP! Her hand beat them away with more force than she knew she had.
Zelda was frozen for a moment, looking at her own raised hand, held up beside her face. She stared at it as if foreign. It took longer than a proper moment for her to look at Revali. The Rito looked less gob smacked than she felt, but she had at least taken the pleasure from his gaze. His wing held back from where she hit it bowed as if in pain.
That alone did her actions justice.
"I apologize, your majesty," he took a long step back and bowed towards her. "I have overstepped my bounds towards you. As a hunter, I should have been more aware of your position." Even catching up to her own mind, Zelda was unsure how his position as a hunter mattered. "Just overcoming a threat like Link, encroaching on your space was inappropriate."
Now she knew, and she was less than thankful.
"I believe I need some air," Zelda spoke, to him and the silence her impact had brought. "At a lower altitude."
"Do you have a destination in mind? The garden, perhaps?" Her eyes narrowed at the thought. She knew what was there.
A holy relic embedded in the ground, standing in monument to the sins of her words. Shining despite rain, mud, and weather, glaring with silver metal against all who approached. Harming any who laid hands upon it. Biting without words.
For the Blade was silent.
"The training grounds," Zelda spoke quickly. It was opposite the garden to the castle. "I could do with some noise."
"Allow me to join you," the champion followed. "I have some fond memories there I may be able to share with you. It will give your mind ease."
She could peck him with words, dismiss him without thought, even reprimand him for assuming his presence was necessary. But all of those would require reason. She was beginning to sorely lack in them.
"Follow if you must." She gave him no more quarter than that.
It was more than Zelda wished to offer.
The guards were training. Swords clashing as positions were yelled out. Stances taken as metal swung in the air. Dirt was upended as blows missed or bodies fell. No one was hurt. Zelda was almost disappointed by that.
They looked too happy for her, even as she looked at all of them. Eyes swimming towards her through their strokes, grinning at they were in her presence. Just that aloe. It was all they needed. The sun could bear on them with a cloudless blue sky. The wind could still so their breath the only current. It looked as if they could handle it all.
As long as the Princess of Light was watching over them.
"The men of your kingdom are lacking in efficiency, if I can be so bold as to say."
Her and the Rito Champion.
"They are among the finest in Hyrule." She said for the hundredth time to the hundredth soul.
"I am sure they are, in the field of practiced battle. But they would make poor hunters, poorer survivalist, and, if I dare to add, poor soldiers."
Zelda disagreed with none of what he said.
He saw them as being slow, unable to fly, limbs far shorter than his own, and worn down with the bulk of metal that only Daruk could lift. She saw men who smiled at the idea of inflicting pain on an outcast, working to lift something that wouldn't recognize them, chasing a light they didn't deserve to grasp.
She couldn't disagree with the Champion.
"As guards, however, I must give my compliments. Perhaps it is the shortcoming of us Rito, but I can attest that few of us enjoy holding a still pose for too long. Locking joints is a death sentence for those of us who fly." She loathed that she understood the meaning. "And yet I have seen these men hold their stances for hours, and then run given the order. It makes for a safe home."
"Or a guarded prison." She did not look up at his eyes. She didn't care if he quirked a brow towards her. Zelda stood in the shade. She hoped that hide the shadow over her eyes. "Both require you to follow strict orders."
"Perhaps, but I'll be thankful to say I've not seen a happy prison guard. These men, however, are at least enthralled to stand guard." His feathers fluttered as he walked around.
His talons scratched the ground as he walked, accompanied by the beating of blades and steel against flesh. The men still taking to positions and poses she was sure they'd never be able to make in the heart of actual combat.
She had never seen Link take the same position as them. He had always taken the pose of a guardian in wait.
One she had damned with poisonous words. Her hands clenched.
"Perhaps it is because more happens here in a castle then along the borders of Rito village. The sight of the long fields may install a wanderlust, but it hardly compares to the white peaks and dark valleys of the Tabantha Mountains." Revali spoke from her opposite side now. "Yet, we hardly have the events and guests that you entertain, Princess."
She did not look at him, no matter how deeply she knew he was gazing at her. She gave him the same attention as the guards. They were all seeking her eyes now. Each one grinning as they forced their eyes to cross.
Zelda looked past them all, loathing it almost as much as the pit her stomach.
"For example, hardly do we entertain impostors swinging sacred objects around."
Zelda looked up at him. Now, he was looking to the sky, beak pulled in a grin.
"Perhaps that is why you referred to this as a prison. No fear for criminals within the walls, for they are already trapped." Hot air slowly blew out her nose. Her blonde brow furrowed.
"You don't know of what you speak."
"I am pleased to say that I do, Princess. It is why I have such kind regard for your guards." His feathers waved out at the men. "They are high above the coward that traipsed around with the Master Sword, lording it to hold position. With only what is offered, they beat him down."
A quick gasp left her lips. It took the fury from her face. It left Revali to only look at the expression of surprise slapped over her.
"Oh, did you not know? Then I am doubly impressed, for I believed they were acting on your orders."
"What orders? What beating?" She asked quickly.
"Several beatings, actually. No good fighter is satisfied with only offering one." He laughed at his own words. "It's only a pity that thief was so persistent, or else they may have actually have been able to scare him off." Understanding dawns on her.
Her eyes return to the guards ahead of her. Practicing, yelling out stances, clashing steel. All of that can be seen. She eyes them, one by one, looking for something she can't tell. She saw the desire to be seen, now she sees something else.
Joy, happiness, peace. They were having fun. They were at peace with one another.
'I've never heard it.'
"Curious how it happened? I understand your inquisitive mind." She didn't so much as breathe in his direction. "He was standing about there, practicing his forms. Likely trying to ensure he looked the part of a noble swordsman. I'll pass some fault on myself in that it was convincing, due in part to his partial lineage. Perhaps forms were all he could do.'
Zelda saw Link screaming in the rain, bore down by the roar of the heavens as he went through forms and forms and mock battles against himself. How the dirt cowed beneath him and the lumbar of trees grown for decades were rendered to nothing beneath a single swift stroke. There was never anyone for him to practice with. No one approached him.
First for fear of not being good enough. Then for fear of being associated at all.
"I had to show him that his skill was not suitable to justify theft, even as he tried to care for a blade that obviously didn't recognize him." Revali's feather was shown through her periphery. "A set of nine targets, lined up without much care. A few well placed shots of my bow, and each of them suffering a central blow. A skill developed hours of training and listening to the call of my talents. Something a thief cannot hope to mimic."
Nights without rest, watching her then watching himself. A blade that sang as if it truly was calling out to be heard, but never speaking to him. Everyone admired his dedication... until she took it away.
Until she made him a liar. Then his efforts became mockery.
"It is good that he has left. Because at least now we can focus on finding the true hero, rather than entertaining a thief who carries a sword like a shield." His scoff is abrasive as the mountain side. "It goes without saying that whoever properly lifts the blade next will be better suited for it, perhaps asking others to assist him rather than maintaining that facade of a stoic nature."
No one approached Link so long as she watched him, dismissing him to train when she was home and forbidding him from entering the research labs. She always found him alone, swinging the blade without ending, stopping only as she approached. Bereft of others, so far placed apart that only a fool could think he was close knit to others. He never asked for their aid. They never offered it.
He offered it to her.
'I've never heard it.'
She threw it like a toy.
"Am I to understand that every man here has taken it upon themselves to beat the Hero?" Her voice brokered no kindness. She would not bring to the table that she didn't have to offer. If Revali heard or was insulted by it, he hid it well. The men clearly didn't above ringing steel.
"I can hardly answer that. Hylian faces tend to blend together, especially when you have no names to go with them." His talons approached her feet. "It is so much easier to remember a face you care about, rather than those who you have only mutual understanding with."
"Then remember. On that day you spoke. Are those men here?" She did not look away. The men clearly noticed now. Several of them were stopping, the rest slowing, eyes turning from training partners and captains to her, the Princess. The Princess who gazed at them with emerald eyes, and a heart that felt as hard to match.
"A few of them, of course. Though I must correct that none of these men threw bony fists at the Hero." His smile was self-serving. "That errant fool Link would have to be a hero. These men assaulted, properly, a thief."
Her fists balled.
The men began to take stances, blades to the ground. The one position they took she had seen Link adopt so many times before. Outside her tent, her door, the research lab, all about her, never towards her. Away from her to guard her. These men... they were presenting themselves to her. Smiles and all.
Zelda's feet dug into the dirt as she walked forwards. Her brow furrowed as the men straightened. The rest of the men, the dogs, looked up to her, almost pleading for thanks of some form.
They beat a man she had damned and they wished for praise. Her stomach rolled.
"Are we going somewhere, Princess?" Revali took to walking beside her, pace easily matched with his long talons. "A meeting you need to attend." She wished desperately that there was.
"No, I just don't wish to stand in the shade for much longer." She needed to see who hurt Link, by her silent unspoken command.
The men smiled at her with joy. Their faces beamed as she passed. Sweat fell from them but they were quick to wipe away the proof of their meager efforts, hoping to look pristine before her. Her eyes fell to their fists, seeing them clenching blades to support themselves. Their hands must have been calloused, but their knuckles were lightly bruised. She watched their training, knowing there was no reason for the guards to practice throwing fists.
No practice, and yet she had not seen an unmarred hand yet.
'I've never heard it.'
Her eyes rose in a huff, walking through the training ground.
"You know, Princess, I believe we may be able to find another man worthy of the blade among your soldiers. Perhaps another close to you as well." She couldn't help but see a few of the men glance at the Rito, then swivel back to her. Surprise and hope, the same look she had whenever a promise was given about the blessings being finally given to her.
The same look she had when Link had spoken honestly to her. It sickened her.
"Haven't you attempted to grasp the blade then?" There was bite to her question. Revali laughed with his answer. "Surely the great Rito Champion has tried."
"Tried, of course! But that blasted thief's magic did a number on it. I can't lay a feather on it without it stinging me." He scuffed, through his wings up. "How damnable a creature he had to be to make such a thing, ripping the blade from its pedestal and now leaving it here like this."
"It's waiting for him to return." She knew it was true. Everyone knew it was true.
"Of course it is. It's like a bird with clipped wings, depending on its Master to come take care of it, but pecking at any hand trying to lift it up."
A few of the guards in the back stopped as she came closer, finally noticing her presence. Their attire was less kept than the others, wearing the efforts of longer hours and less maintenance. More than sweat, their breath was labored as well. When they did see her, the pair almost fell.
They stopped, sweat staining their brows, bowing. Zelda followed, glaring at them. They kept their heads low, shame on their faces. She wished it was for her sight. She truly wished they knew why she was ashamed of them. But she knew better.
"You pair," she addressed. They shook as if struck. "What are your names?"
"I-I am... Sir Groose of Mabel, your grace."
"And I am Mesa of Lurelin Village."
One knight, one squire, both training diligently. Zelda watched them as silence pervade around her. She let it hang, wishing once more for her knight's presence.
"Have either of you attempted to draw the Master Sword?"
The question came with both stiffening as if slapped. The men behind her, Revali included, muttering something. She didn't care to listen to it. It wasn't what she wanted to hear.
"My lady... I have not."
"Neither have I, your highness."
"Why not? Was it not the request of the king that all able men would hold it?" Link had grasped it when he was but a guard.
"Did you believe you needed strength to be able to hold it?" Link practiced long before he knew of the weapon.
"Did you think it was appropriate to encourage yourselves beforehand?" Link had gone to it in a dream and without fear.
"P-Princess... we have... we had no intention of attempting to grasp the blade?"
"You go against my father's wishes?"
"No!" Sir Groose looked up. She held the look of her father, emerald eyes boring on him. He looked down in a cold sweat. "No, your highness. I just... I do not believe I am capable."
"Me either. We are too low in birth and have never heard promise or fortune for our futures. To be worthy of the Master Sword is beyond a dream for us."
'I've never heard it.'
Zelda stared at them both, heads to the ground while all other eyes are on her. She breathed deep, knowing that true silence was not here. The expectation of noise kept the peace of silence at bay.
"Link held the blade. An orphan son of a knight, gifted only with the talent for the sword." The few words behind her were silenced. "Do you believe you are better than him?" They did not answer. "I would hope for your answer, as you all felt needed to lay fists to him."
Silence again. More of it. The noise she loathed so much before, and now only wished she could entertain with the only one who understood her. Her eyes shut for the day dream, opening her eyes to push it away.
Link wasn't here. She'd have to show the men they are not as capable as the hero.
Thankfully, there was on fool proof way.
"All men here are to try to hold the blade," Zelda spoke as she turned, letting her eyes stare like sharpened daggers at them. Gleaming with the gem colored gaze. "No one is permitted to turn away from it. To do so will be seen as treason." Treasonous as beating the Hero. Her punishment.
"That blade has been cursed, your highness," Revali spoke a lie he thought given by the Goddess. "If not pain, it may kill whoever holds it."
"Then we had best hope that the Hero returns to grasp the sword and banish its curse." She did not offer him ground for his words. "No matter how delayed you or any other believes the Calamity is, it is still coming, and now we are without a hero to raise the Blade that Seals the Darkness." She threw her hand down. "And you were the one who said there may be a soldier among the men here who can hold it."
The Champion's beak fell, unsure of how to respond. Eyes were on her. She didn't care. Let them talk poorly of her.
She deserved it.
"Until we acknowledge the hero, there isn't time to waste on idealism or besmirching names. Everyone who is capable of holding a blade will try the sword. Fear of it is not reason to not grasp it." They looked shocked by her words. All the better. "Fear is what the Hero overcomes. If you cannot face your fears, then you are not fit to walk the halls of Hyrule Castle, let alone be named the Hero." None of them were Link.
She turned from them, marching back to the castle grounds, away from the training barracks. Revali, thankfully, did not follow. Finally, she walked back into silence.
Zelda had little care for what they thought of her now. They had beaten Link for her words.
Ire would be her reward for her foolishness.
Revali watched the Princess leave, unsure of how to follow the little Blue Jay. He could only admire the call she gave like a song, and the stance to be that of a seasoned warrior. Before men who were meant to protect her, and she rose above them. Before him who was the greatest of the Rito, and she humbled him.
Truly a Princess. Truly a Ruler.
And now, truly, putting on her shoulders more than the average soul could bear.
"Does she mean to kill us?" One delusional guard spoke. "That blade has stung whoever has held it. Trying to pull it could rip your very spirit from you."
"That curse Link put on it can't be broken so easily. Can't be."
"No, but the true Hero might. You think she believes one of us is capable?"
"I believe she is desperate." Revali finally spoke. All eyes turned to him.
He bristled his feathers and stood to his tallest. The Princess was already gone. He had to speak in her place. That fool of a thief let her wallow in misery. He was thief or coward. He could speak sense.
"Desperate? For what?"
"A better portion of a year was spent preparing for the Calamity, because that fool drew the sword and put her on a path she wasn't ready for. Her knowledgeable mind found the truth and spread it, but that has left her with less than before. Calamity is still coming, if delayed, and now we are without a hero to hold the blade."
"Why does that make her desperate?"
"Because before she believed she was sharing the burden with a hero. Now, she is alone." His eyes were that of a Rito, sharp and able to spot the jugular of a Bokoblin from a mile in the air. He saw their stares widen.
"Alone..." One of the men whispered. "She thinks she has to unlock her powers and find the hero now. Oh Goddess, why does she think that?"
"Because we were pushing her before, all of us." He spread his wing out. "You Hylians, us Rito, and the Zora and Gorons and Gerudo alike. We all put wings to the air and lowered beaks until they scratched dirt, asking her to awaken for us." He scoffed into the air. "To simply say we understand is not enough. The pressure has increased on her, and she's looking even more desperate now."
"Princess Zelda... then... we haven't been doing enough for her." Mesa spoke with a wave of his head. "What good are our efforts if all we did was punish a fool she spotted for us? We're not carrying her weight, are we?" Good, they were beginning to understand.
"No, none of us have. I'll confess I am among your number now." Humility was necessary to hold pride. "But that makes us all fletching for the arrow that is her highness. She aims and strikes, and we are the ones who must best keep her efforts straight and true. If not, we only become her burdens. Another weight on her shoulders."
Revali huffed as he looked over the men. Courageous enough to strike at the man who had stolen a sacred blade. They were no Rito, but they were not utter fools. More could be done here.
He had to lead.
"So I ask you all, Hylian Guards to her majesty. Will you be a weight on her mind?"
"We won't." "We won't."
The call of one man turned into a chorus of others. A chant that filled the training yard. Revali had to nod his head towards them now. If there was one aspect of Hylians he could acquiescent to, it was their loyalty.
Loyal to their liege till death. Loyalty to Zelda was simple.
It was always simple, following the most beautiful object in all the world.
"Then do not worry, Princess Zelda! Let us aid her now!"
The cried like men ready for war.
Author's note:
You know I'll be honest. I feel like this is already one part comedy, which it can be, but I wanna keep it still two-three parts suspense and angst. Angst is usually a nono in writing, but a bit of it helps for characterization. I think I'm doing a decent job of it here. Zelda has that angst going, but I can only promise it's not going to be 24/7 'I suck' speeches. That's just boring.
Eventually it turns into pessimism towards others and, with her dedication, looking for solutions that others don't care to think of. That's not to mention what Link is going through.
So yeah, be honest with how you think the mood feels. Misunderstandings about motivation, but only because if people 100% knew what Zelda was thinking, this would just turn into one long misunderstanding fic that would be solved over long conversations.
I wanna show what happens when you seek relief by burning others. Zelda is learning it now.
Let her cook, we have a bit to go.