The Queen and the Hero

5

Ravio sat beside Hilda's bed in her chambers within Lorule Castle, his face in his hands as his Princess lay unconscious next to him, only a thin sheet laying upon her, while a cooling cloth lay on her forehead.

Ravio and the Lorulean Royal Guard had only just returned from the Dark Palace's Maze a few hours before, Ravio carrying Hilda in his arms as desperately called out for help.

A few servants had taken Hilda up to her chambers, while a few more appeared to show the now returned Royal Guard to where they could stay and get changed, leaving Ravio alone in the foyer, before he rushed upstairs after Hilda.

All that seemed so distant as Ravio looked at Hilda as she lay peacefully on her bed, though Ravio could see the sweat on her body, as her body heat from using her temporarily purified magic had spiked tremendously.

Her staff lay against the wall across the room, having gone back to its normal glowing color, but Ravio could still picture the sight of Hilda holding aloft her glowing white staff, her own eyes glowing white as tears flowed out of them, the glowing cracks that had surrounded her eyes before she collapsed into his arms.

The doors to Hilda's chambers opened, as Celestia walked in through the door, while two more servants wheeled in behind her with a tub full of ice and water.

"Wait, what's that for?" Ravio asked, jumping up from the chair he was sitting in beside Hilda's bed, while Celestia walked over and peeled off the thin sheet covered Hilda, revealing her in only thin white bandages wrapped around her breasts and the lower area of her body, just below her stomach.

"The Princess's body temperature has barely lowered in the past few hours, and the only reason she isn't dead is that her magic is keeping her alive, but only barely. We need to get her body temperature back down, and this is the only option we have." Celestia said, rolling up her sleeves as her and the other two servants lifted Hilda up from her bed and placed her into the tub of ice and water.

Celestia then took out another cloth and replaced the one already on her head with the new one, and making sure she was placed comfortably in the tub, before straightening back up, as the two servants left.

"Celestia, is Hilda going to survive this?" Ravio asked, and the woman sighed, rubbing her forehead before looking up at Ravio.

"I do not know. The use of pure untainted magic hasn't been used by anyone in the royal lineage in centuries, and even before our Triforce was shattered, only the strongest Queens of Lorule could handle that much raw magic at one time. If you hadn't brought her back from her mind, she would've been burned alive." She said, and Ravio looked worriedly at Hilda, as she still lay quietly in the tub.

"Is it my fault that she went to those extreme measures? She never would have been able to purify her magic if it hadn't been from the magic I had stored in my body, and she never would've tried it if I hadn't left her here alone." He asked, and Celestia smiled sadly, patting Ravio on the shoulder.

"You did the right thing leaving Lorule and seeking help from Hyrule. Hilda was too far in her own mind and that snake Yuga was manipulating her at every step of the way. She wouldn't have listened to reason even if you had tried to confront her, and Hyrule and Lorule would have been destroyed, and she along with many others would have been killed. You saved so many lives by leaving." She said, and Ravio smiled sadly.

"Then why do I feel so...empty? I left my Princess behind with a mad man, and for what? For her to almost die when I'm there with her? I'm a terrible servant." He said, and Celestia chuckled, as she pocketed the rag in her hand.

"Perhaps a servant isn't what you're meant to be for the rest of your life. Perhaps you are meant to be the next King of Lorule."

Ravio turned red, but before he could defend himself, Celestia had already left the chambers and closed the doors, leaving him alone with Hilda.