Febuwhump Day 8 - "Why Won't it Stop?"
Back for more drama with the heroes who predate Hyrule Warriors! (also I edited the prompt words just a smidge, same sentiment, though)
The large chambers of Hyrule Castle used to house extravagant parties and religious ceremonies. Now it held the moans and cries of the dying, words of assurance and anguish, whispers and pleas and final gasps of life.
Princess Zelda walked among the soldiers, her people, and comforted who she could. She watched the light fade from a young Hylian's eyes as he finally succumbed to his injuries, watched how his ragged breaths stilled, how his stare now reached somewhere she could not see.
His hand felt cold in hers. She squeezed it all the more before letting go.
After meandering a little more, Zelda found that she couldn't bear to be in here any longer. When she left the room, though, she hadn't expected to run into the king.
"Father!" she gasped, taking a small step back and nearly tripping into her Sheikah protector, Orik.
"Why are you turning our halls into infirmaries?" the king demanded. "The stench alone is intolerable!"
"I--I had heard that the wounded were too many for what was already available," Zelda explained shakily. "I wanted to help."
"You don't know anything of the world," her father said in exasperation. "How could you possibly help? These people need healers, not our castle halls."
"Enough," he interrupted. "Go back to your chambers. I'll handle this."
With that, her father turned and walked away. Zelda watched him go, heart racing, heat rushing to her cheeks.
I just can't win with him!
She shook her head. That didn't matter. What mattered was helping these soldiers, and they did need extra space. What if her father threw them out? What could she do?
She heard Orik rise from where he'd been kneeling, and she felt helpless.
When will this end? Why can't it just end?!
She didn't bother asking Orik's opinion on who was right and who wasn't. It wasn't his place to make such a determination, and it absolutely wasn't fair to put him in such a position. She knew she was right - perhaps she'd been shut away from most of the world her entire life, but she'd still studied the world, and she had common sense.
...Or she hoped she did. She had the confidence to say she did, but she also knew she wasn't exactly experienced, as her father had pointed out.
I would've been more experienced by now if he hadn't kept me in the castle as his personal trophy, she thought bitterly, feeling tears sting in her eyes. How was it that she was simultaneously enough and never enough for him to even acknowledge her?!
Stop it! This isn't about you! Zelda shook her head, looking back in the direction of the soldiers, the dying young Hylian's face burned into her memory.
Startled, she looked hastily at her protector, who was watching her. "What?"
"You're right," Orik said. "The infirmaries are overflowing. They need to be here."
Although Zelda had not asked for the vindication, she desperately appreciated it. "You don't... think he'll kick them out, do you?"
Orik's solemn expression grew uncertain and worried. "I don't know, Your Highness."
Zelda bit her lip, hands clasped over her heart in anxiety. She had to do something. Her father had let all of this happen in the first place - he'd trusted Ganondorf, he was fumbling his way through this war, he wasn't taking the threat Ganondorf presented seriously, and he wasn't even taking care of the soldiers who were suffering for it.
The princess glanced at her protector out of the corner of her eye. Her fingers traced the new mark on the back of her hand, hidden by white skin paint.
The moans of the dying rang in her ears, and she looked away.
annaxmalina
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izzy806
