Written in Blood

XV . Shut off

~ Zelda ~

Hours earlier

After my return from the consul, I had shut myself back up in the guest room.

The meeting had made one thing clear, I wasn't taken seriously, still treated as a pesky child rather than the heir in my late father's stead.

And I still had to prove myself as competent.

In the weeks after returning from Goron City, I've worked on trying to lay out the groundwork further to lead to regaining Castletown, but it's hard because while the end goal is clear, the rest is unknown. War is unpredictable and yet calculated at the same time. While we can plan ourselves and our moves, we can't know what our enemy will do. It can be predicted, but we can always be taken by surprise.

The world was turn upside-down in an instant, nothing can be set in stone. Ensuring a victory is a gamble within itself, it's an indefinite guarantee.

We did our best to secure more soldiers with our allies, and while the Zoras promised troops, they haven't come yet. They're trying to play it safe, which is understandable. The Zoras have their own people to protect, I didn't expect them to give us much of their troops, and they didn't. It was a conservative amount, but fraction of their troops they'll dispatch for us will be for the good of Hyrule.

The Gorons on the other hand... I still have no idea why Darunia wouldn't provide some of his forces. From that other time, Darunia was stubborn, yes, but also has always been loyal to the King, along with having an almost vehement hatred towards Ganondorf and the Gerudos who pledged allegiance to him.

His behavior at the consul was so odd and almost off character for him. Something about it felt amiss, but I might just be overly suspicious. There very well may be trouble at the Fire Temple, but he was sparse on the details, they were practically nonexistent. But I never pried and I wouldn't want to now. And yet... I'm still thinking about it.

The late morning light streams through a half-curtained window, shedding light on the floor.

I'm exhausted, but I won't let myself sleep. There's something I'm missing... something that I can do. Since the consul, the General has kept me at arm's length, even more than normal. I guess ol' Dohean's still miffed about my premature plans. Well too bad for him. Even though that isn't the next step, I still see the big picture. The end goal's been in sight for me since the initial attack.

Similar to how Link's final showdown with Ganondorf and sealing him in the Sacred Realm was the endgame, I knew that all along. I knew it was all my mistake for it too. I'd told him to gather the stones and to play that song at the altar... and that's what led to Ganondorf gaining access to the Sacred Realm and therefore the Triforce in the first place. I was the one responsible for that.

I clench my hands into fists on the table, feeling my fingers slide on the polished wood. My nails dig into my palms, although they aren't even that long. In the anxiety that has been my life as of late, the habit to my nails has developed. I bit them to the quick when we first returned and I've been trying to grown them back since. But it's hard, I'm tempted to bite them right now, but sinking into nervous habits is the last thing I need. I need to act like a queen, calm and calculated. Lives are on the line, and from what I've heard from soldiers who witnessed the attack, we're outnumbered too.

Take a break to cool your head, A voice in my head says, calmer than the rest of me. But it's right, I'm making myself go insane from this constant worry and stress. I have barely slept, and I'm running myself into the dirt with my unhealthy habits. I can't sleep at night, there's too much I have to think about.