Tears of a Broken Kingdom

Chapter Five ~ The Definition of Courage

It was a relief when they entered Castle Town.

It was late afternoon, the golden hour where the sun begins to set, the world awash in the rays of the sun as it sunk down the sky.

Zelda and Ashton's appearance caused quite a commotion in the middle of town and they tried to make it through the crowded square as quick as they could, on the horse they towered above all the other Hylians.

In their disheveled clothes and exhausted expressions they already stood out, not to mention the fact they were practically royalty.

Zelda bit her lip to keep herself from letting out a sob as she heard their whispers about where Link was.

She didn't want to have to present the news in front of everyone, right now. She wanted to go home and try and come to terms with everything first. Everything had happened so fast, she hadn't even thought of Nabooru's death much yet.

She managed to lead the horse through the square and then onto the dirt road that led up to the castle. After a little bit of time, they reached the gate, a guard stood next to the gate, his eyes glazed over with boredom.

When he saw sight of the Princess and her son and the condition they were in his eyes widened with concern.

"Your Highness?"

She nodded, she felt too beaten to say anything.

He hit his spear to the ground, a sign to the guard on the other side to open the gate.

She led the horse through, her exhaustion catching up to her. Her eyelids were heavy and her arms felt like jelly as she fought sleep.

Almost there. She recited to herself, commanding herself to stay awake.

She heard voices of guards but it sounded like they were far away. She felt Ashton lifted off the horse, he struggled in their grip.

"Easy there kiddo," the guard said as he gave a nervous laugh, he didn't know what had happened.

Ashton calmed down, the fear in his eyes left him.

The guards got Zelda off next, her mind played tricks on her as she saw Link carrying her instead of whatever guard had her in his arms in reality. She looked up at the fabrication of her mind, teetering on the edge. He looked so real, more believable than reality. But it couldn't be true.

Her eyes became clouded with tears, although in her current state she couldn't figure out why, and she was vaguely aware of the background noise before it all faded away.

>*<

It came back slowly when she woke up a day or so later, all alone in the large bed.

She presumed she had been left alone to sleep, left to herself and her thoughts.

The room was dark, curtains were pulled over all the windows, a few slivers of sunlight had snuck into the room.

Zelda was bundled under blankets, and she noticed she was in her nightgown now instead of her lightweight tunic and pants, her feet bare.

She turned her eyes up to the ceiling, she didn't feel like moving. Everything had gone so fast and now she needed time to make sense of it all.

She repeated over and over again what had happened, maybe then she could push her denial away. It wasn't even that Zelda was in denial with all that happened, she just couldn't grasp that Link was gone.

Tears ran down her cheeks, and she let out a shuddering sob. Zelda had told herself she wouldn't cry, but she let herself anyway. She was alone, she could compose herself to others. There was an ache in her heart, and although she knew it wasn't a physical pain, it felt like one. She didn't know what she was going to do.

Zelda had to be a good mom for Ashton, she had to make sure he was alright and to help him through his grief. She had to put her own feelings aside and help him. Zelda didn't want to burden him with her own pain, she wanted to be strong for him... he deserved that.

If she put on a strong face perhaps she could learn to cope. She didn't even know where to begin healing.

All she knew was that she was going to put her needs aside and first help her son.

She sniffled, the tears on her face began to dry.

Zelda took deep breaths, she tried to stop the dull ache in her heart, but it was like it had become a part of her now.

And although Ashton had been right when he said Link couldn't have blamed her, Zelda still felt responsible.

He had come from such humble beginnings but yet had died a hero in the end, he had taken the unfair punishments from the Gerudo with courage, and she felt a part of her crumble as she felt utterly useless.

Zelda would have sacrificed herself for him, and she knew he would do the same- in fact he had, but she hadn't done anything.

Zelda sat up still with the blanket on top of her, her body was stiff from being asleep.

Her eyes were puffy from her tears, already tired of being up although she hadn't even gotten out of bed yet.

Zelda reached over to her nightstand, seeing her wedding band where she had left it. She picked it up, the ache became more painful, lumps in her throat. Zelda swallowed hard and slipped the ring onto her finger.

It was simple, yet still beautiful. It was a golden band with a single diamond.

The band was chilled to the touch, having been left unused for about a week, left where she had put it.

Zelda turned it around her finger, watching the diamond pick up and reflect the meager bits of sunlight in the room, sending prisms of light onto the comforter.

Zelda repeated her thoughts in her head, trying to be like Link, brave. He meant to much to her in so many different ways, aside from being her husband and the father of their child, he was a hero, and even more than that he had shown what it really means to be courageous, to keep at it in the face of adversity even when you're beat, to be afraid and still do what you must do.

That was what she was going to have to do for her family and for her country.

>*<

Hey!

I hope this isn't getting boring... 'XD
I just want to develop the setting and things like that ahhh.
I'm up to writing Chapter Twelve and I'm not even to the "midpoint" (wow does that count as a bad geometry pun?) and things are gonna get real... really fast like ahaah. I've drawn it out a bit for flow reasons.

Anyways... I know no one cares/reads this but I hope you enjoy!! Feedback is appreciated! :)

Have a good weekend everybody! See y'all next week! :)