Life in Zora's Domain

Chapter 148 - Royal Anxiety

Summary: Queen Zelda fears their victory over Ganon may not have been all it seemed to be. Lapha finally returns home from her extended stay at the Royal Ancient Tech Lab. Link agrees he and Mipha will investigate Eventide Island.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, I appreciate you telling me, and I will keep you and Her Highness informed about our progress on the Goron City project," said the Minister of Transportation as he concluded his meeting with Queen Zelda, bowed, and left Zelda's office.

After their regularly scheduled meeting, which Princess Zelda usually attended with her, but could not this time, Queen Zelda had complimented the minister on the quality of the public transport to and from Rito Village.

That was Queen Zelda's last meeting of the day, and it was almost dinnertime. She was alone in her office, stood up, and paced up and down. It felt good to stand after sitting, and she liked to think on her feet. That was an old habit, probably dating back to when she was a teenager, puzzling over how the Sheikah Slate worked. This time, however, she wasn't thinking about ancient technology.

She was trying to decide if her unease over their victory was justified.

Aside from some soldiers who sadly lost their lives, their victory over Ganon had gone reasonably well. There was no apparent cause for concern, and everyone joined her in celebrating. She had even enjoyed carefree visits to both Zora's Domain and Rito Village afterward, opportunities to relax with family, and visit places she hadn't been to in some time.

But her anxiety returned after she returned home. It was something she just felt and impossible to explain or justify. She hadn't mentioned it to anyone, but she still had occasional nightmares. At first, she thought it was just the lingering effects of the old nightmares she had until her older daughter casually mentioned she had a nightmare as well. That troubled her. It got her to thinking that perhaps there was more to what happened than anyone suspected.

Had their victory come too easy? It was true that their triumph relied upon events occurring that nobody could have anticipated, help from entirely unexpected sources. So, they could hardly call their victory easy in that sense. But in some ways it almost seemed like luck! Was the war indeed won, she wondered? Or was this a dry run attack, Ganon's attempt to seize victory if he could, but remain outside the conflict and study why not if he couldn't? Or then again, was she just worrying needlessly?

Zelda glanced at her Tab, and it was time for dinner. She would talk to her daughters later and then speak to Link tomorrow on the call they had scheduled.

It was after dinner with Astra, Zelda, Randall, and Horwell that she decided she should speak up.

"Zelda and Astra, can I have a private word with you?" said Queen Zelda after they had all finished dinner.

"I'll take Horwell back to the room," said Randall. "He's getting a bit fussy anyway and needs to rest."

Princess Zelda kissed Horwell and Randall, then Randall left carrying Horwell.

"What is it, Mother?" said Princess Zelda.

"I don't know how to ask this exactly, but I wanted your impressions of the battle you waged with Ganon," said Queen Zelda. "Let me start with you, Astra. Was the combat as challenging as you expected?"

"I expected a difficult fight," said Astra. "I've been training for quite some time and felt good about myself at first. At the beginning of the battle, we seemed pretty evenly matched. I was pleased in one sense, but disappointed in another. If all I could do was hold even in combat, how could I ever win? In the second round of our battle, I got careless, and Ganon cut me on the arm. Then that Divine Beast blasted Ganon, and the rest was easy."