Royal Rebel 5 ~ Worlds Apart

Chapter 6-1: Breaking

"Good morning, Maeve!" I smiled and kneeled down as my granddaughter ran towards me, opening my arms for her to fall into. "Where's your brother, darling?"

"He's with daddy and sissy!" She beamed as I lifted her from the ground and into my arms, and I chuckled and brushed her hazel hair away from her face.

"Well, then we should go find them, shouldn't we?" I asked, and she clapped as I began walking down the hall towards the dining room.

Once I reached the doors, I peaked my head inside and saw my husband standing by the table, speaking with Robbie and Purah as they looked over some documents. I managed to sneak up behind him without them hearing me, and I held Maeve up and let her climb onto his shoulders.

"Pawpaw!" The little princess beamed, and Rhoam gasped a bit as he felt the toddlers arms around his neck. I still held her to support her, until he turned around and took her from me, raising her into the air. "We got you!"

"You got me very good, Maeve." He laughed softly, and she giggled as he settled her in his arms. "Good morning, my love." He leaned over and kissed my cheek, and I placed my hand on his cheek for a moment before he pulled away. "How are you feeling today?"

"I feel much better than I felt last night." I told him, and he smiled and reached for my hand. "Have you had breakfast yet?" Before Rhoam could answer, the doors on the other side of the room burst open, and my daughter rushed in with papers in her arms.

"Mother!" She hurried to where we were standing, and she quickly set the pile of papers down behind her father. "We received letters back from the champions!" She took the four letters on the top of the stack, and she fanned them out for me to see. Each one was sealed with a stamp from one of the four capitals of Hyrule, and I gasped and hurried to her side. "Read them, read them!"

She handed me Urbosa's letter first, and I broke the seal and pulled the letter out of the envelope.

"My dearest Amirah, I would be honored to attend the celebration of Zelda's twenty-seventh birthday. Just make sure she has room for all of the gifts I intend on bringing." I giggled softly as I read through the rest of the letter, and I could see the smile on my daughter's face. "Love, Urbosa."

"Here's Daruk's!" She handed me the letter from Goron City, and I opened it and began reading through the Goron champion's response.

"Daruk also says he'll be overjoyed to attend the celebration," I smiled, handing it to her so she could read over it as well. "Now for Mipha and Link..." I picked the zora letter up and began reading it once I took it out of the envelope, and I laughed a bit at a few parts. "They said they'll be happy to come as long as they can bring the children."

"Of course." Zelda chuckled, and we both smiled at each other for a moment before we looked down at the letter from Rito Village. "I'm not getting my hopes up. For all I know, he could have written to insult us for even reaching out."

"We'll see about that." I lifted the envelope off of the table, and I peeled the seal off and opened it to reveal the letter. I slipped the paper out of its pocket, and I unfolded it and read over the words. I could see the small bit of hope fade from Zelda's eyes when I lost my smile, and she sighed and looked away.

"So? What did he say?"

"It's from Kanyen." Her eyes widened for a moment before she looked way, folding her arms tight against her chest. "He wrote to schedule a meeting regarding our tax and trading arrangements."

"I'll let Lucien know right away," Rhoam offered, but he noticed Zelda's disappointment, and he placed his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, girls."

"I'm not losing hope yet. There's still time for him to write me back with his answer." I grabbed the three champion letters and handed the one from Kanyen to Rhoam, and I headed for the dining room doors.