a tournament, of all things. she had attended many in her youth, standing dutifully by as young upstarts & old dogs clashed in the lists below, listening to the thunderous applause of hyrulean nobility as it drowned out the splintering of lances, the cries of pain from the maimed & wounded. they had been ostentatious things, a show of power & luxury, & dangerously archaic, the king refusing every offer the sheikah had made to provide the competitors with safer weapons, steadier mounts. in edric’s name, it would be beautiful, opulent, & entirely inappropriate. was not the kingdom still bleeding from the great battle ? it had been almost seven years since the day of the black sun, but still, her scouts relayed news to her of towns left to go to ruin, farmland overgrown & useless, & brought with them lost souls willing to pledge themselves to her cause, having been left in the cold by the man they had once called king. a tournament, even now ; what else could have been expected from such a vicious, selfish child of a man ?
beneath the mask, kohga’s lip curled in disgust, but she listened attentively to sooga’s report, considered carefully the implications of his words. the so – called king of her memory had always been a paranoid wreck, flanked by scores of soldiers, jumping at shadows, & conjuring endless enemies from the air, but his desire for the love & attention of his people, too, had been clear to all ; the stench of desperation had always rolled off him in waves during social engagements, as he struggled to make himself a figure worthy of adoration, & failed every time. perhaps it would be enough to make him relax his guard, just slightly, & give them an opening.
❛ the princess will be by his side, won’t she ? ❜ a rhetorical question ; edric had hidden behind the girl since the moment of her birth, his divine shield, his relation to her being the only thing to justify his position, & he clung to her as a drowning man would to driftwood, happy to push her under so long as he remained afloat. that poor girl, she still thought, even now. death would be kinder than enduring another moment in that tyrant’s household. ❛ collateral damage is unavoidable in situations such as this. a pity, ❜
her arms, crossed over her chest as she listened to sooga’s report, parted at last, & she touched a hand to his shoulder ; beneath the unblinking eye of the mask, she smiled down, grateful as ever to have been blessed with such a dedicated soldier.
❛ rise, sooga. you’ve done so well for me, as ever. we’ll make preparations. send ahead your most trusted footsoldiers. have them secure us lodgings, weapons, armour, put forward fake names for the mélee & the jousts. have you ever been to one of these tourneys before ? you would be surprised the damage a stray splinter or a thrown sword can do. i saw a lady in the stands lose an eye once, all in the name of merriment, ❜
❛ you & i will take the lead on this mission, ❜ she was no coward, as the king of hyrule was a coward ; she would not send a soldier, a child, to do her dirty work for her. she wanted to be there to savour the fear he would feel in his final moments, & watch the last of the light die in his eyes. ❛ the king is my target, & mine alone. no – one else is to make the attempt on him. make sure they understand that, ❜
it should have been the end of the conversation. instead, kohga hesitated.
❛ how was it, the castle, the atmosphere ? i can’t imagine they’re all as enthusiastic as that imbecile for such a celebration … do they feel our absence ? do they speak of us ? ❜