||  Part Thirty-Five  ||  Part Thirty-Seven  ||

Part Thirty-Six

The page’s hand shook as he filled the goblet before him.

“What’s the matter?” Daphnes grumbled, motioning with the cup.

“N-nothing, Your Majesty.”

The king took the bottle from the servant and sloshed it into the cup on his own.

“If yer scared, then begone! I’ll pour my own damn wine.”

As Daphnes greedily poured the chalice down his gullet, the other members in his court looked at him with unease.

“Your Majesty,” one general began.

He fell silent though when the king held up his finger.

The assembled group of military officials stirred uncomfortably as Daphnes swallowed down the fully goblet and then fell back against his chair. The cup fell to the floor and rolled away, but he pulled the half empty bottle close to his side.

“Well?”

“We’re still looking, Your Majesty. There have been… no leads though, at least not since last month.”

The doors to the chamber opened suddenly. Impa, Fado, and Osmond entered.

“My boy!” Daphnes rose from his chair, then tripped over the corner of the table and fell to the floor. A few servants rushed to his side but were pushed away by the king as he pulled himself to his feet.

“Your Majesty,” Impa dropped to her knee and bowed. “I come bearing good news.”

“How are you, lad?” Daphnes ignored Impa and threw his arm around Osmond’s neck.

Osmond recoiled at the odious stench that wafted out of the king’s mouth. His hair had turned quite gray and the wrinkles on his face had deepened. Dark circles enveloped his eyes and evidence of his breakfast or previous night’s dinner clung to the edges of his lapel.

“I apologize for not coming to see you last evening, sire. It was late when we arrived and we were weary,” Impa continued on.

“How is my daughter doing? She’s not come to see me in…” Daphnes pondered the time as he mumbled.

Osmond aided him back to his chair, then returned to Impa’s side.

“She’s well, Your Majesty.” Osmond motioned to Impa, “I think it would please you to hear the news that Lady Impa brings.”

Daphnes rolled his eyes over to the Sheikah woman. He weakly motioned with his hand as his head rolled back against the chair.

“Thank you, Sir Osmond. We have intel that says the traitor Laruto has moved north and may be seeking an escape by boat in Kingdom Bay. We don’t believe that our allies overseas would offer her sanctuary, but there is a possibility she could find rebels or enlist mercenaries to her cause.”

The king shifted his focus to the other military personnel at the table and huffed, “You should all be stripped of your rank. Finally, some quality news, and it comes from my highest-ranking officer. She shouldn’t have to be out there cleaning up your messes! You’re all worthless sacks.”

“That’s not all, Your Majesty,” continued Impa. “The whereabouts of Lord Liam are still in question. I would request a temporary leave so that I may go searching for him myself.”

“You go looking for Liam the Bloody? I know you have history, but I need your services here. The princess is need of guidance from somebody I feel more… trustworthy.”

“I thought Lord Kalia and Lady Laruto were seeing to her training-“ Impa started.

“Precisely! We’ve been betrayed by one sage, who’s to say another wouldn’t? And it’s not likely she’ll defy your commands.”

Impa read the context. It wasn’t just that he had lost his trust in the sages, but that he’d also lost his authority with his daughter. Impa was to be the muscle to keep her close.

“Might I suggest an alternative,” she said. “Perhaps she should accompany Sir Osmond to Kingdom Bay. Who better than your favored knight to protect her?”

Osmond felt his eyes widen in silent protest, though he didn’t not like the idea. It was more a conversation he’d approach when his status wasn’t being used as leverage. Despite this internal conflict, he remained poised and watched as Daphnes mulled the thought over.

“What say you, Sir Osmond?”

“I would be honored with the task, Your Majesty,” Osmond said while bowing and shooting eye daggers at Impa.

Daphnes finished off his goblet and panned his eyes over the assembled military members around the table. He swished the drink around in his mouth loudly, then grunted in approval.

“Then we shall have a feast tonight before your departure!”

Suddenly, his demeanor shifted to jovial and excited, while the generals sighed and groaned.

Impa rose and turned to Osmond, motioning for him to follow. Fado, who had been uncharacteristically quiet during the ordeal, followed as well. Once out of the meeting room, Impa turned to Osmond.

“I apologize if you were put on the spot, but I fear for the king’s mind at this point. I think it best to keep the princess at a distance until his self-destruction is either remedied or complete.”

“I understand. Do you think she’ll be okay with this decision?”

Fado laughed, drawing the eyes of the other two.

“You think she’ll mind being out on the road with you for the foreseeable future? Alone?”

“I didn’t say they’d be alone,” Impa grinned.

Fado pointed to himself.

“The king wouldn’t allow it, but I can give that order. You’re about the only sage I trust at this point, Fado. Will you accompany them?”

“Gladly!”

Fado rushed past the meeting room, dodging the generals who were leaving with downcast and embarrassed looks on their faces. Impa bid Osmond farewell, and approached the group of military leaders, offering to take them elsewhere for a discussion.

“I’m pulling my forces back,” one said.

“The king won’t protect us, my village must come first,” said another.

“Lords and Ladies, please, we must discuss our plans,” Impa pleaded as they continued past her.

“The only plan I have is to fortify my home and defend it.”

As the rest silently strode past her, Impa gritted her teeth, then turned and re-entered the chamber.

Daphnes was sprawled out on the table, sliding his goblet around on his chest and waving his hand in the air.

In a furious burst of emotion, Impa charged forward and grabbed Daphnes by the collar. She pulled him up off the table and threw him into his throne. She slammed her hands on the arm rests and leaned in close.

“Pull yourself together, Your Majesty. I am the sworn protector to this family, you tasked me with leading your military, and I cannot do both when you’re killing yourself and offending every ally we have to the point they pull their support back.”

Daphnes rolled his eyes up to her slowly. In a soft and gravelly voice, with a chilling calm to it he said two words that cut Impa deeper than any blade ever had.

“You failed.”

“Excuse me?” she recoiled.

“You failed,” he repeated, his voice growing in clarity. “You failed your duty. If your duty was to protect this family, my family, you failed. Or else my wife wouldn’t be entombed under the castle right now!”

Impa stepped back as the king stood.

“I allow you to continue in my service only because of the importance you and your people play in the history of this kingdom. Should I excise you from my service, I have no doubt it would further fracture this broken land.”

Impa felt her chest tighten.

“Consider this your only warning. Am I made clear?”

Nervously, Impa nodded.

“Am I interrupting something?” Kalia’s voice entered the scene from the doorway.

“Nothing, old bird!” his stern and dark face suddenly shifted to a light and cheerful grin. “Lady Impa was just on her way out.”

She bowed, then hurried out of the chamber.

Osmond caught sight of her as she left and was about to call out, but she moved with such swiftness in the other direction, he could not catch her.

The stoic, invulnerable, and powerful armor she wore had been shattered.

I must find Liam, she thought to herself.

As the hooves of her horse sped her away from the North Castle, she repeated her mission.

“I must find you.”

 

Bonus – Part 35 told the tale of Liam the Bloody. Here’s the full poem in its original form:

On a dark night with a full red moon, Liam the Bloody set out with no impugn.

One with an axe, one with the sword. There was so much death, they thought it caused by a horde.

The red in his eyes and the red in the sky, drown out every victim’s cry.

On nights when the moon is crimson, children beware, for Liam the Bloody is seeking to cut more than hair.

 

David Wayne Nystrom is a Staff Writer for Zelda Dungeon. This story is an imagining of the final days in Hyrule prior to the Great Flood talked about in the opening cinematic of The Wind Waker. The first seven chapters are available in audio podcast form and there’s a complete soundtrack for the first volume here. Head over to erawithoutahero.wordpress.com or follow the story account on Twitter @ZeldaTEWAH where you can keep up on information regarding the future of the podcast, soundtrack, and other TEWAH news that will be coming soon! David’s top three Zelda games are Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker, and Skyward Sword. He’s also an avid Smash Bros. fan. Every Era Has Heroes…

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