Hero by Heart

Chapter 71

Zelda sat hunched over a stack of paperwork, miserably reading the long lists with half a mind, the other half always focused on the bed in the corner.
     The time right after such a battle was busiest of all, and there was a lot for her to do.
     With Link gone, it fell on her shoulders alone to get the mess cleaned up, and the enemy taken care of.
     It was a heavy burden, but there was no one else to do it. She couldn't sit at Link's bedside all day long anyway.
     She did try to spend as much time with him as possible, and had arranged to have him with her in her tent.
     This way she could keep an eye on him at night, and when she was working, even though he hardly moved anymore.
     The first hours he had been completely motionless, burning with fever and looking as if there was barely any life left in him.
     When that finally changed she had been relieved, but it hadn't gotten better. Not at all.
     He first started moving, trampling around and clawing at his blanket, his clothes, his skin even.
     Then he had begun to scream.
     Those screams still haunted her memories, and would probably stick with her forever.
     They had been horrible, as if he had been trying to tear out his throat, full of unbearable pain.
     It had been too much for Zelda to take, and she had eventually fled the tent, tears streaming down her face as she was ripped apart by her own sobs.
     There was nothing she could do to stop his suffering, and to see him like this made her heart bleed.
     In the end Riju had found her, and consoled her. She had been a true friend, and eventually coaxed Zelda back into the tent.
     There she had found Link tied to the bed, his body violently trashing against the mattress, angry red bruises across his neck and on his arms.
     Teba, who had been keeping watch over him, had looked alarmingly pale and very out of sorts when he explained that Link had tried to strangle himself. That he had clawed at his neck, before beating at his arms and tearing at his skin.
     Teba had seen no other option than to tie him down.
     Zelda agreed, but her heart was heavy, and it was like she would never feel joy again.
It hurt to see Link like this. It hurt so much.
When he had finally gone quiet again she had sat beside his bed, until she fell asleep with her head on his arm.

Riju had come the next morning, apologizing before telling her she was needed.
Zelda had been numb, going through the day as if it was the life of someone else.
She had arranged for the dead bodies to be removed and properly burned, the prisoners to be taken to a shelter for the time being, the last of the monsters to be chased away, or if they would not go, to be killed.
She had taken stock of the supplies, made sure to get a list of every fallen warrior, made a list of the wounded ones, and tried to provide what she could to help them.
She had arranged a camp to be set up, just across the moat around the castle, and sent people out with messages across the kingdom, and to get more supplies.
She ordered people to clean up the fields, to prepare food, to get water.
It felt like all she did was ordering people and writing down lists.
But it had to be done.
She was still the princess of Hyrule, and now more than ever they needed someone to rule them.
Even through the fear and worries, even with a heavy heart, she still had to stand tall and remain strong.

She had not seen the body of the self-proclaimed General Shihin again, and felt relieved about that.
The fact that she killed a human being weighed heavy on her, even with everything going on.
She had never expected herself to get in a situation where she would really do it, but now there was no turning back.
What made matters worse was that the story about her victory that night had spread like a wildfire. Everyone seemed to know what she had done, and everyone worshipped her for it.
     She hated it.
     She felt ashamed and appalled, and did not want the praise, but she forced a smile anyway, and accepted it.
     She needed the support of these people, and if they wanted to make her a hero for killing a man, then so be it.
     Captain Ramella was the only one of their leaders to survive, and just barely.
     She had taken a heavy beating, and it would take a while for her to recover, which meant more time for Zelda to figure out what to do with her.
     So far she had kept her in a secluded tent, guarded around the clock, and that would do until they had everything settled.