Raeden caught up to Zariah just before she managed to escape Castle Town. She groaned as his dark horse sidled next to Sappho. At least he had changed, he now wore the same dark colored pants as the Royal Guard's Uniform, now with black boots, leather armor covering his entire torso, save for a dark blue scarf and cloak, his hair stuck out crazily without a hat keeping it down.
"You weren't going to leave without me, right?"
She glanced over at him, and then back at the road, "Actually I was. Congratulations," she sneered at him, "You have foiled my plans,"
As soon as she got out of range of castle town, she squeezed her legs against Sappho and the horse broke out into a full run. Wind rushed through past her, pressing her down against Sappho's mane, she embraced it. A giddy smile began to spread wide across her face. The exhilaration that rushed through her in that moment, racing past the trees and the fields of Hyrule, was one of the greatest feelings she knew. She turned back behind her, to see Raeden staring at her, shocked, before pushing his horse to a full sprint as well.
At that moment, she didn't care about how irritating this boy was to be, she didn't care about the tasks her mother set out for her to do, she didn't care about a single thing at all, only the joy that horseback riding gave her, and the feeling that she could do anything in the world.
Gradually, Sappho slowed down again, tired of racing by at a full sprint. Raeden and his horse came galloping next to her again.
"When did you learn to ride like that?" he asked, almost in awe.
"It came to me naturally,"
They rode on.
"So do you know where the springs are?" he asked
She turned to him, "How did you know we were going to the springs?"
His face flushed, "I— uh—"
"My mother told you, didn't she?"
He nodded.
Zariah tilted her head back and groaned again, "The Spring of Courage is in Faron, the Spring of Power is in Akkala," she recalled the books she'd found on the springs all buried in her backpack along with her clothes and other belongings.
She could see Raeden's mind racing in her periphery.
"Those are both to the East," he said, confused, "Why are we heading west?"
She scoffed internally as he said 'we'.
"Because, I'm not going to the springs, at least not yet," she said, fixing her eyes on the canyons before her, "I'm going to the Gerudo Desert to check up on an old friend,"
"The Gerudo Man you were talking to in the library the other day?"
"Yeah," she said, not tearing her eyes away from the road for a second, "His name's Aadil, Chief of the Gerudo and Champion of Hyrule,"
She could see his eyes widen beside her, realization hitting.
"You're also a Champion, right?" Raeden asked, "What was it like, then? Fighting against Bahum—"
"Right, so this is how it's gonna go," she said instantly, stopping Sappho right in his path, her eyes locked on to his in her anger, "From this point on, you do not try any small talk, you do not ask any stupid questions, you do exactly as I say, and most important of all: you do not mention his name," her eye twitched just at the thought, "You understand me?"
Raeden was struck back, he bowed his head, "Yes,"
"Good,"
She steered Sappho back onto the road and they rode the rest of the day in silence.
By the time the sun set, they had traveled through the Canyons and stopped at a stable, and now stood on the edge of the desert. Raeden hadn't said a word for several hours now, just as she liked it. She preferred to be left alone to her thoughts and instead spent most of the time imagining what had happened to the other Champions, Jira, Darmar, and Miko. She hadn't heard a single word about them in too many years.
And now she stood on the edge of the desert, preparing to reunite herself properly with Aadil. Hopefully he wouldn't be too busy. As soon as she stepped foot in the sands, Raeden held her back.
"Aren't you freezing?" he asked, looking absolutely cold himself, "Don't you want to wait for morning?"
Zariah hadn't actually noticed the cold at all. Still, now she didn't feel a single chill. She remembered being at the top of Mount Lanayru, she hadn't felt cold then.
Instead she turned the conversation to crossing the desert, "It's either we go now when it's freezing, or in the day, when the sun will scorch our very bones. I vote go now, that way we can make it to the city and relax, find a place to stay, and recover for the night,"
Raeden opened his mouth to argue, but closed it again as he held back a shiver, "Alright,"
Zariah nodded, and then stepped out into the desert.
Crossing it took much longer than she thought it would. She knew the city wasn't too far in, hell she could see it, but the trip still took several more hours. By the time they would reach the city, the moon would be high in the sky and most people would be asleep. She didn't actually feel a hint of exhaustion, but she could tell Raeden did, she dragged him along her, shivering and yawning. Slowly, she almost began to pity him. It wasn't his fault, afterall, that he'd been assigned to follow a grouchy princess around.
She paused, unwrapped her cloak from her shoulders, and handed it over to him.
"Here,"
"What?" he asked, keeping back another chill.
"You're obviously freezing out here," she said, "Take it, I feel fine,"
Just before he turned it away, he shivered violently again, and grabbed the cloak, wrapping it around his own shoulders.
As they continued walking he asked "How are you not freezing out here?"
Holding back a smirk, she said "No stupid questions," and kept walking.
They reached Gerudo Town at midnight, she nodded a greeting at the guards and walked inside the city walls. Maybe it was because of the fires that still lit the streets of the city, but it was warmer here and Raeden returned her cloak. She looked up at the palace. All of the lights were out. She assumed Aadil was asleep and headed for the inn instead.
"Can I get two beds for tonight?" She asked the Gerudo woman at the inn, paying her prematurely.
"Two singles or one couple?"
Zariah flushed red, turning to see Raeden behind her and spoke too quickly, "Two singles,"
The woman chuckled and showed them to their beds. It seemed that as soon as Raeden laid down, he fell asleep. Zariah, though, felt like she laid in bed for hours. Insomnia hit her hard that night. Finally, after laying awake for so long, her eyes fluttered closed and she fell into a deep sleep.
She had finally succeeded her mother. She was the Queen. She sat on the throne, her crowned head held up high. She wore a beautiful red gown, her hair put up gracefully, her hands and fingers bejeweled. She sat ever watchful over the entire Kingdom, recognizing landmarks from across the world. To her right, a servant arrived with a golden goblet. She took and drank, but as soon the liquid passed her lips, her very blood felt like it was burning. She shouted out and looked down into the goblet, seeing a black oozing substance. She dropped it, it clanged to the ground.
She was screaming in agony, pain rush through her blood, suffering filled her heart and soul. As she screeched, the servant returned, and as she looked upon them again, she saw nothing beyond the white mask, a red scarf wrapped over their shoulders. She shakingly pulled away the mask and saw Bahuma again. His face contorted, in his hands a jagged black blade appeared and he slit her throat.
She was shrieking, she felt like she could still feel the poison rushing through her skin, her hands seemed to dig deep into her flesh, trying to stop it, stop it.
"Zariah!!" there was a shout, bringing her back to reality, two hands gripped her wrists, tearing them away from herself. Her breathing slowly calmed as she came to her senses.
Her crazed wide opened eyes stared into Raeden's, his hands held hers, concern was spread so vividly over his face it was like a painting.
She breathed in another ragged breath, then ripped her hands away from him, wrapped them around herself, rubbing deep into her shoulder, trying to relieve some of the pressure.
"Are you okay?" Raeden asked.
Zariah sighed, "Yeah, yeah I'm okay,"
Around her she realized it was the break of dawn and she had personally woken up every single person in the inn. She felt embarrassed and immediately started getting her stuff together, stuffing her feet into her boots. Raeden seemed to take the hint that she wanted to get out of there as soon as possible and grabbed all of his own stuff.
They got out of the inn as quickly as they could. She headed straight for the city walls, seeking some place to decompress in private. She didn't know where Raeden was, whether or not he was still following her, and honestly she didn't care, she just needed to escape.
Finally she found a good spot, wrapped her arms around herself and slid to the ground, closing her eyes and resting her head back. She focused on her breathing.
She heard someone sit beside her.
"How long have you been having nightmares like that?" Raeden asked.
She breathed in and out, "For as long as I can remember," she muttered, "Or at least since... since him,"
"How old were you?"
Irritation started to rise up in her but she ignored it, "Eight,"
He didn't respond for a while after, "The way that you were screaming, I was certain you were in danger,"
Again, irritation tore away at her. She breathed deeply in, and then out, and then opened her eyes and got her feet. "It doesn't matter," she said, nodding her head trying to reassure herself that it didn't matter, "Come on,"
Raeden got up and together the two of them made their way to the spectacular palace. As Zariah got closer, memories began to flood through her head. She remembered climbing onto the statues there by the palace entrance, climbing the reliefs on the wall. She remembered standing in the throne room by Aadil's side, looking upon the other four champions. She remembered sitting around the dome with the others, talking, introducing themselves, sharing stories. She remembered learning to fight from Jira. She remembered laughing around with Miko and Darmar. She remembered watching Corvus shoot her bow. She remembered just how much she had looked up to Aadil.
For the longest time, Zariah had wondered what happened to Gerudo Town since she'd left. She wondered about Kesair and Resem, Aadil's advisors, and she wondered how the city itself had fared after the battles. She had traveled around all of Hyrule, but she hadn't returned to Gerudo Town in 15 years.
She walked up the steps as the sun rose behind her. As she entered the beautiful throne room, she didn't see a single person. The longer she stood around waiting, though, she was almost certain someone saw her.
"Zariah?" a voice called from the hallway to her left.
She looked over, and recognized a familiar face. It was Kesair, Aadil's servant and advisor, who acted more like a mother than anything. She looked like she'd barely aged a year over the past 15, she even wore the same clothes, minus the apron and adding a white shawl. The closer Zariah looked, the closer the saw tiny changes, specks of grey in her hair around her scalp, small wrinkles on her brow and around her eyes and cheeks, the dark spots that had appeared over her skin that were barely noticeable.
Kesair smiled upon seeing her face properly, instantly recognizing her. She came closer, and Zariah met her with a gentle hug.
"How have you been?" Kesair asked as she pulled away, "You've grown up so much since I last saw you, you almost look an entirely new person,"
Zariah grinned at her, "You still recognized me though,"
"I've never seen another Hylian Vai with as many freckles as you,"
She smiled, "Have you seen Aadil? I came to visit for a while,"
Kesair's face fell, "No, I haven't actually," she sighed, "You should follow me,"
"Why? What happened?"
Kesair said nothing, just turned and headed towards the hallway across the room, and then passed into another side hall. Zariah glanced at Raeden, and then followed her. She led her into a room at the end of that second hall. She was perplexed, back when she was younger she never got to explore this area. She knew at the end of that main hallway was the barracks, she assumed these were just empty bedrooms.
The room they entered was a small bedroom, a window facing the desert behind the city walls. Metal and gold weapons and shields lay scattered against the walls, and sitting on the bed was one of the strongest looking Gerudo women Zariah had ever seen in her life. Her skin was darker than most of the Gerudo, her red hair cut short like a man's, her guard's uniform looked more elaborated than the others and the cloth was dyed red.
"This is Nairem, Captain of the Guard," Kesair introduced, "Nairem, this is Princess Zariah, Champion of Hyrule and friend to Aadil,"
One of these days, Zariah was going to get sick and tired of her titles.
Nairem got her feet, absolutely towering above her.
"I assume you're here for Aadil, then," she said.
"Yeah, where is he? What happened?"
Nairem sighed, "He is an idiot," she said, "We came back from Hyrule Castle and he straight to work. He found the root of the Queen's illness and tracked it down to the old Yiga Clan Hideout. I told him I wouldn't let him go alone and he knocked me unconscious and went anyways,"
"And he hasn't come back?"
She shook her head, "I thought he would know better, he knew the risks of going and yet he said he couldn't afford to put anyone else's lives at risk," Nairem ran a hand through her short hair, "Damn, I should've stopped him, I should've done something. Especially knowing about Bahuma—"
Zariah felt herself go rigid, she could hear the blood pulsing through her ears, "I'm sorry, what did you say?"
"He told me Bahuma might be the one to blame here, or at least mentioned something about his power,"
Her blood went cold, "No... No, he's dead. I saw him die. There was no coming back from that," she stammered, "Besides Aadil would've mentioned it to me, last time we talked. He wouldn't have just left that out,"
Both the women looked at her, concerned, and she could feel Raeden staring at her.
"I'm sorry, but that's what he said,"
Zariah tried to calm her breathing, "Okay, so whether that's true or not, Aadil's missing? He hasn't come back?"
"Yeah,"
"Then let's go after him," she said, determination beginning to build in her voice, "We know where he went, we know why, let's go,"
Nairem seemed to agree with her, "I'll gather my best fighters,"
"Not too many, we'll want to keep this small, travel light,"
Nariem nodded in agreement and left.
"How bad has it been?" Kesair asked, catching her off guard.
"What?"
"The trauma from the battles?" she clarified, and when Zariah didn't answer she added, "It's clear you have it, I recognized it in you as soon as Nairem said his name. I assume you've been having nightmares? Can't sleep well?"
Immediately she started to deny it, but was cut off as Raeden spoke up behind her, "She has,"
She flashed a glare at him.
"It's okay to admit it," Kesair continued, "I pray that one day it starts to get better for you,"
"It's only been getting worse," she said quietly, "I don't know if I can do it again. I don't know if I can fight him,"
Kesair took her hands and held them together, "You can do it, it will be hard, but you can,"
Zariah nodded her gratitude, "So, I don't know about you Gerudo, but typically you don't stay in a person's bedroom after they've left,"
Kesair laughed, "You're right, you can wait for Nairem in the throne room,"
So they left the room, headed back towards the palace entrance. She and Kesair walked together, Raeden trailed behind.
"Do you need to prepare or anything?" Kesair asked.
"No, I'll be fine," she said, "I've won my fair share of battles armed with less,"
She could tell Kesair was close to asking for the story when Nairem and 3 other Gerudo guards approached from the barracks. All three of them hilariously failed to hide their armor, all of them wearing simple cloaks and the third woman Nairem brought had changed into simple boots.
"Shall we go, then?" Zariah asked.
"Lets not keep him waiting,"