Chapter Eleven: Death of the King

Lila turned to Impa with concern for Zale plain on her face. For a third time, she asked, "What's wrong?"

Impa gestured to sit and they did. "It's a long story since Prince Zale wants me to tell you about my tribe. If I tell you the ending first, will you promise not to run off?"

"What do you mean?"

"You'll want to comfort him right away." Impa couldn't speak without showing her own sorrow.

Lila thought about it. "I think I can do that."

Impa whispered in her ear, "The king is dead."

Lila gasped and reeled away. "The… you mean Zale's father?" Impa nodded. Lila looked at the door but kept her promise. "I'm listening."

"My tribe, the Shiekah, was formed by the princess of the Era of the Hero of Time. There have been rough patches, but for the most part, we've stayed by the royal family to protect them from the shadows. We knew Ganondra was going to attack, so we took King Gaepora to our secret village."

"Wait," Lila interrupted. "You knew Ganondra was going to attack? Why didn't you protect Zale? Zale got captured because you left him behind!"

Impa winced. "I didn't know he was captured… We were told to just protect the king. I'm sorry. We should have protected the entire royal family."

Lila softened, seeing Impa's discomfort. "I'm sorry for getting angry with you. Please, continue."

Impa nodded and did so. "At the village, the king became sick. We figured out that he had been poisoned, but we had no idea how. It took days of intense healing magic for him to get better. As soon as he was, we made our way back to Castle Town."

Impa paused, her eyes misty. Her voice was choked when she continued. "On the way back we were attacked by two witches. They had the powers of fire and ice."

"Kotake and Koume," Lila said in shock. "I defeated them!"

"Then at least justice has been served," Impa said with a small sob. "They were too strong for us to overcome. They killed everyone, including the king. I only managed to escape because the king sacrificed himself for me."

Lila took a moment to process everything Impa had told her. There was a secret tribe that lived to protect the royal family. They took the king to safety only for him to be killed by Kotake and Koume. Then a thought occurred to her.

"If you had taken Zale to your village, then he would be dead, too…"

Impa gasped, having never made the connection. "You're right! Thank Hylia things went the way they did!"

"Yes," Lila agreed. "Maybe it was a divine decree that ultimately kept him safe." She waited a few seconds and then said, "Well, I should go see him, now." She stood up, wavering, but Impa protested.

"It's late! Prince Zale needs his rest. By the looks of it, you need rest, too. You can talk to him in the morning."

Lila felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her. She grumbled, "Fine. I'll wait until tomorrow."

Impa turned to leave, but Lila held out a hand to stop her.

"Thank you," Lila said softly. "For telling me all of this. I'm sure it was hard for you."

Tears welled at the corners of Impa's eyes. "You're welcome. Thank you for listening."

With that, Impa left, and Lila was able to go to sleep.

∴

After Salvatore had found them a pair of rooms next to each other, Link and Zelda were talking in Link's room. Link was pacing in agitation.

"I should just get the sword while everyone is sleeping," Link said.

Zelda said, "You tried that already, remember? Did it work? No."

"Lila was already awake when I got there," Link protested, not sure if it was true. "This time I'll be ready. I know about the guards now."

"Don't tell me you plan to kill the guards."

Before Link could answer, there was a flash of light in the corner of the room. Link and Zelda looked to see their teacher, Rova.

"What are you doing in the castle?" Rova demanded.

"Relax," Link said. "We're trusted here."

Rova looked at him, one eye fiery and one eye icy. "Then why don't you have the Master Sword yet?"

Link's calm faltered. "Um, well…"

"We're working on it," Zelda supplied.

"Work faster!" Rova raged. "The sword belongs to you, Link, not that girl."

"But 'that girl' also had the Triforce of Courage," Zelda said cooly.

Before she could elaborate, Rova said, "I don't care about that! It doesn't matter. Get the sword, or we will have a problem."

Link and Zelda both blanched at the thought. With one last glare at each of them, Rova vanished the way she had appeared.

"I gotta get that sword."

"Yes, but how?"