The Silence Between Them | ✔

9) Accident

⚔ In which Link is offered a job ⚔

Link

I miss them.

So, so much.

But I realize quickly that I can't honor them if I stay in my barrack room and cry.

For the first week, it was hard. It was tough to start eating and training again. Losing them, on top of suddenly being in the palace, was a lot. I woke up late and went to be early, mentally and physically exhausted, even though all I really did were drills.

But I started to make friends. I saw the knights I used to train with. Most of them are taller than me now, but they're still the same kids I used to know before I left for Hateno. They help me start to train regularly again, if only by using my competitive streak against me and making dumb bests to get me out of bed before breakfast.

But it works, and I start to feel somewhat normal again, even though in the back of my mind, I remember there will never be normal again. At least, not in the way I was used to. But who says there can't be a new normal?

I learned from the king that my parents were murdered by members of the Yiga Clan. From what his people have gathered, they were most likely trying to kill me, too. If they are truly trying to resurrect Calamity Ganon, I would be standing in the way. It made me angry, knowing that they could have been saved if I had been there with them. A lot of problems would have been solved if I had been there, but there's no use thinking about it. I just filed the description of the Yiga member's uniforms in the back of my mind and went along with the day, trying not to think about it too much.

Almost a month after my parent's deaths, I started to take jobs when they were available. Guarding this door during this party or following this noble around while they wander the palace. I like observing people the best. It's much more interesting than guarding gates all afternoon.

The one thing that seems slightly off. The princess has made herself scarce. I doubt she's mourning my father still. It would be odd if she were mourning him more than I was. But I don't mind her absence. It's less time for me to try and be nice to her, to no avail.

On one particular day, it's hard to move on, however. I clear my calendar of everything.

It's my 17th birthday. I'm officially an adult.

Instead of bothering the chefs, I go to the kitchens and make a small cake myself. Strawberry, my favorite. Like how mother used to make for me. It doesn't taste quite the same, but I didn't expect it to. I don't really know what she did differently.

I take a slice of the cake and leave the rest for whoever gets to snag a piece. I carry my plate out to the palace gravesite. It's a small plot of land, well kept. There's a section for royals and a section for friends of the royals. I realize not a lot of captains are buried here. Father was a close friend to the king, and he made special arrangements for both father and mother to be buried together.

I sit down and lean against my mother's gravestone. I don't say anything. There's nobody here, so it's quiet, sunny, and peaceful. The cake is good, but not the same as my mother's. I wonder what they would have done today if things had played out differently. I wonder if father would have surprised us by coming to Hateno. I wonder if we would have taken a trip, all three of us, even though mother never liked leaving Hateno. I wonder if they would have let me have my first drink with Linebeck, who's a few months older than me. I wonder if they would have danced and sang in the tavern.

But there's not much use in wondering, especially as I sit at their graves.

I finish my cake and pull two stones out of my pocket. One for each of them. There is already one stone each on their headstones. We don't use flowers in Hyrule; we use stones because they last forever. Flowers fade eventually and go with the seasons. I've heard only a few other kingdoms use it as a way to mark graves. I wonder who came up with it first: Hyrule, a far-off kingdom across lands, oceans, or even realms.