Tears of a Broken Kingdom

Chapter Four ~ Desert's Reqiuem

Zelda was still on edge, waiting for the Gerudo to pursue them.

So far there had been no sign of them, but she still couldn't shake the paranoia she felt.

They had ridden for the rest of the night, Zelda had forced herself to stay alert, but she let Ashton sleep, holding onto him so he wouldn't fall off the saddle.

They'd only stolen one horse, Zelda figured it would be more noticeable to have stolen two for each of them.

They had stopped when it became morning, both were sore from being on the saddle for hours, they fell onto the sand as the sun rose. They were right next to one of the flags used to help guide travelers in the Wasteland, the red flag moving on an invisible breeze.

The sand went from warm to scorching rather quickly, and they sat against the horse, silent. They had no water, their throats becoming parched in the dry heat under the blazing sun.

She tried to ignore her scratchy throat, she tried to be like Link, to compensate for how he was gone. She had to be the strong one now.

They rested, Zelda staring out at the blank horizon, lost in thought.

The grief returned over the course of the day, and now that they had nowhere to go until the night fell, she had too much time to think.

Her eyes filled with tears, all of which she willed to go away. Zelda didn't want to dehydrate herself any more than she already was, she scrunched her face up in concentration, her eyes watery.

It was almost too much to think about, the way he had been so hurt and then killed like that... so fast. She never got to say goodbye... how could she have?

She slipped the ocarina out of her pocket, brushing her fingers across its smooth surface. As she traced absentminded shapes onto the ocarina her eyes drifted over to Ashton, he was asleep, his cheek rested on his knees.

He wasn't in the proper clothes to handle the arid heat, his tunic's sleeves only went down to about his elbows, the rest of his arms left to burn.

Zelda undid the tie on the pale colored cloak she was wearing, which she put around his shoulders. If anyone was going to get a sunburn, it would be her.

As she settled back into place she looked at her son, a pang in her heart as she saw his resemblance to Link.

If she tried to forget everything she could almost imagine he was there too, but she didn't want to get pulled into delusions. He was gone, but she couldn't believe it.

As the sun slipped down in the sky, the temperature dropped steadily as the sunset flared out against the desert, the world alight in a twilight of oranges and purples.

Zelda hadn't bothered to try and sleep along with Ashton. She was staying up to watch over her son, just in case any trouble arose, and besides, she wouldn't have been able to fall asleep anyway. Her brain was still too overwhelmed to sleep, despite how exhausted she was.

As the temperature dropped even more she shivered in her lightweight tunic and pants. She glanced down at her cloak while she clenched her teeth to fend against shivering.

She just hoped Ashton was comfortable.

He was still asleep, he hadn't stirred for a few hours and in her paranoid state she kept checking to make sure he was still breathing. He must've been so exhausted, so she let him sleep although herself was ready to get closer to home.

As the cold air crept into her skin she went over to her son's side and lifted the cloak off his head and pulled it over her shoulders. She lifted him up onto her lap, wrapping the cloak around them both.

>*<

She shook his shoulders, urgent but gentle at the same time.

She watched as his eyes began to open, he blinked as his gaze focused.

His eyes went up to hers, he looked confused. A loose bit of hair fell over his eyes.

"I'm sorry I had to wake you, but we have to go now." She said.

He nodded silently and began to stand up. She helped him, his body still half-asleep. He managed on his on to get onto the horse, the horse's ears flicked and it shuffled it's hooves in the sand as it took note of him.

Zelda clambered on next, the Gerudo stallions were much taller than horses she was used to riding, but this horse was their ticket to escape, so she didn't mind. This horse was stronger than the ones in castle town anyway, even more so than the knight's horses. They were bred to be large, strong, reliable horses, able to withstand the desert climate and go without water for a prolonged time. They were so well bred they were like weapons.

Zelda picked up the reins, settling onto the saddle behind her son. She led the horse into a quick canter and then a gallop, the speed sending her cloak out behind her and her hair onto the breeze.

The desert slipped away, a small stone building rose on the horizon, surrounded by more of the customary wooden flag poles, their red flags looked more dark blue than anything in the night.

The sight of the building renewed Zelda's spirit some, they were at least almost out of the desert, most to the trek to the Desert Colossus lying after this point.

As she steered the horse around the building and towards the edge of the desert, she began thinking of how she would tell the people at home what had happened to Link. She wanted to tell Impa first, and then her father. Impa was like a mother to her, and had practically raised her, since hers had died when she was young. She then thought she'd deliver the news to the other Sages, since they deserved to know too, especially Saria.

It pained her to think about, she was still in denial over what had happened, but she knew she had to come to terms with his death, at least to know he was gone, then she could begin to properly grieve him.

As the night continued Zelda began to hum for Ashton, who was deep in thought like his mother.

"I'm so sorry," she said after some more time had passed, letting her hums lull away into the night.

Her voice faded off as she spoke her apology, deciding now of all times would be a good time to get out her words.

"But why?" Ashton asked with a small voice.

Zelda sighed, she didn't know where to begin to try and explain all she felt, so she tried to simplify her thoughts down as much as she could, "... I-i let your Dad get taken, sweetheart, and I did nothing to try and stop it from happening."

Silence.

"... Dad wouldn't see it as your fault, if he was still... here." He responded, he didn't know if he should've said 'alive' instead.

Zelda's eyes began to tear up again but she blinked until they were gone, a sad smile on her face.

I'm sorry Link.

>*<

Hey guys!! What did y'all think? Ahh yikes sorry if it sucks 'XD.

Ahh I'm super ahead in this story rn... I made it to chapter eleven. This story is shaping up to be a lot longer than anticipated 'XDD. Hopefully it's good tho rip.

Ahh well whatevs I don't think anybody cares or reads this lol but have a good weekend! See y'all next week!