The room imploded into silence. Not merely quiet, but fully silent. Most stopped breathing, their jaws slack and eyes wide in shock. The creaking of wood as the Fae constructs moved ceased as they stilled. The soldiers around the room faltered. Link gaped openly and felt his limbs go numb. Not even Ganon nor Impa were unaffected, as they openly stared.

The only ones unaffected by this admission was Ryo's faction, Ryo himself, and Zelda.

He... he had just openly admitted to sending the assassin her way. In front of so many witnesses.

Link heard something echo in his ears, something sharp and high enough to pierce the chains holding his stunned state of mind down. Link felt the numbness give away to sharp pain, and his vision narrowed in on Ryo. He felt his blood boil in molten fury. Without thinking about it, he grabbed his sword and started to rise, but Ganon grabbed his head and slammed him to the ground.

"Don't!" Ganon hissed quietly.

"But he admitted to it!" Link argued. He resisted against Ganon as the sound came again and Zelda laughed and-

Zelda was laughing.

The sound swept over him like cold water. He shivered and his skin crawled with goosebumps.

He had heard Zelda chuckle, and at most have a very quiet laugh that lasts little more than a single breath. Both were the rarest accomplishments he could imagine against her ever present scowl or cold stare. Just receiving an eye roll or smirk were considered impossible by anyone else's standards.

And she was laughing.

The laugh was real. It was wrong. It was loud, jolly, and clear. It was horrifying and filled Link with dread. Most of all Link understood and perceived why she laughed. The laugh was as real as it was fake, because it was not funny, but Zelda was pulling off the act well.

Because she was afraid.

"Wha..." Link whispered. "I-Is there really that big of a gap between them?"

Ganon clenched his fists tightly, "Endure it."

"Don't screw with me!"

"Endure it. That is all we can do. We follow her lead."

"But you're a king like her!"

"And this is her court." Ganon replied. "This is her palace, her home, and her court. I will not tarnish it by being a rude guest. If she cannot stand here and now on her own two feet, then my intervention will only be a slap in the face and take her power from her."

Ryo joined her in her laughter. His faction laughed. Link, Ganon, and Impa did not laugh, but a few of Zelda's ministers forced themselves to laugh, at most nervously.

Zelda smiled cheerily, and said, "Chancellor, enough of this jest. Such a thing is unthinkable!"

"Truly! Truly!" Ryo laughed. "Perhaps my jest is in bad taste, it did after all occur only last night. So I humbly apologize if it is rude."

"A little humor is good for the soul and extends your days. Abhdan knows most of all!"

Abhdan laughed.

"At his rate, he may very well outlive both of us." Ryo smirked.

"Oh-ho! Ho! Ho!" Abhdan laughed. "I swear I will! I've outlived three kings, and am still active since my days as Chancellor. You are both a hundred years too young to think you can know my secret! My secret dies with me!"

The three of them laughed, and Link stopped resisting. He felt more defeated then he ever recalled being. If Zelda said for him to pick up his sword and fight, he would. But when the leader he placed himself under did not have the resolve to fight... how could he?

Ryo bowed in a solute, "Levity aside, princess. With your permission, I shall have my vassals personally investigate the matter of the assassins. Please feel at ease. I will find the one behind this plot."

Zelda nodded. "I leave it to you."

With that single declaration, Impa, and the rest of Zelda's faction, knew they had lost the ability to use the assassination attempt against Ryo. That was one card they could no longer play.

Ryo gazed on Zelda a bit longer, before bowing once more. "I apologize for taking your time, princess. Your humble servant merely wished to see for himself how you fared. I am sure you must be tired, so what there is to be discussed is perhaps left to another day. If there is no protest, I shall take my leave for today."

Before Zelda could say yes or no, Ryo stood. At once his men stood, turned, and they marched out as one.

For him to call an end to the meeting of his own volition was yet another purposeful insult on her status as heir. Yet Zelda could do nothing but sit quietly and watch as he left. Her smile did not begin to crack until the door closed.

Impa and all assembled watched Zelda, afraid and curious of what she would do. Ryo had stepped all over Zelda and taken control of her palace out from under her in only a few sentences. It was as if all she had accomplished in the last months were for nothing. She could do nothing but sit quietly and let Ryo do as he wished.

Zelda sighed. "Ryo is correct. It has been a taxing day. Court is adjourned. Everyone, return to your home and prepare for the coming days. Ryo has been journeying through Qin, and will no doubt have much to discuss. We had best be rested for it. I am tired. So if you will all excuse me."

Zelda stood, and her court bowed. She departed the room. Ganon and Link glanced at each other in surprise, and rushed to follow after her. Impa and Sarah also departed to go after Zelda, as the rest of the court dispersed.

"Princess!" Sarah called.

Zelda walked calmly towards her room, her calm façade not cracking at all. Somehow she had gained much ground, despite her relaxed, measured pace. Impa and the others did not catch up with her until she had reached her room.

"Princess! What he did-" Impa stopped. Zelda's composure was still scarily calm, so much so it nearly fooles Impa had she not known her better. It made her gut squirm. 'Had the girl become this good at hiding?'

"What of it?" Zelda asked. "Really, I need to rest. It has been a vexing day."

"Vexing is right," Link said.

"But..." Impa pressed further, unsure what to say.

"Enough, Impa. I'm fine. Really." Zelda smiled brightly. The smile made Link shiver. Before anyone could argue, Zelda entered her room.

The door slammed shut, cracked, and a scream filled the halls that could only be compared to a howling banshee. The younger two jumped in surprise. Immediately afterwards was the clear sound of destruction as Zelda screamed profanities and threats and curses.

Impa reached for the door, but found she could not follow through. She did not know what to do. She had fought in wars, lead men to their deaths, infiltrated kingdoms, assassinated, been taken prisoner and beaten, but this was the most scared she could recall being. She had nothing to go on for this. She had no memory of her past before being a Sheikah. She had no memory of being comforted by family or how to extend it in turn. She was equipped in every way to be the Royal Family's sword and knife and Chancellor... yet it seemed she found she was wholly unprepared for how to heal Zelda's heart in what she had just endured.

"Really?" Ganon grunted. "You are scared of her like this?"

Link jumped as Zelda seemed to have found the strength to toss something large into the wall and dent it. "Who isn't?!" Link squealed.

Ganon ignored him. "Woman, have you never raised a child?"

"No." Impa replied. "Have you? Do you have a child?"

"No, but I have helped do so. The Majora are raised by the community, just as much as our parents."

More impacts could be heard in the room. Impa said, "She is going to hurt herself! She doesn't know how to hold back!"

Ganon sighed. "I'll fix this. But only if you will not intervene. She wants to act like a child, she will be treated like one."

"She is the heir!" Impa argued, aghast he would say such things.

Her brief outrage at him was stopped by the sound of metal sliding on a scabbard. It was a sound Impa had heard thousands upon thousands of times over, enough to recognize perfectly.

Ganon opened the door enough to peek an eye in. "She is armed. Make up your mind." Sarah squealed in fright.

Impa hesitated. Her inner Chancellor refused to allow this mongrel to lay a finger on the princess, and her inner Sheikah refused to trust him. But her relationship with the princess had always been more than that. Being a Sheikah and Chancellor were the ways in which she knew how to be there for Zelda. She didn't know how else to do it, and neither was prepared for this. Ever since she had laid eyes on the girl in the alley, another part had been planted, one that said to let Ganon go. Because Zelda was her princess, but she was also a child.

"G-go." Impa lowered her arms in surrender. Ganon nodded.

"Good luck!" Link gave him a thumbs up from the end of the hall. Ganon glared at him.

"Coward." Ganon took hold of the door and entered.

Zelda had upturned just about every piece of furniture she could get hold off, and crushed a vase against the wall, and what had impaled the wall was a corner of a chest. Her personal weapons lay on the floor, and she had a sword in her hands. She was using it to attack the wall. It clanged violently as the wood was Fae-hardened. The sword bounced off the wall and cut into her shoulder, but she seemed to not notice.

Ganon approached and took hold of the sword before she could hurt herself further. The sword cut into his palm and blood flowed down his wrist, but he held it tight before pulling it out of her grip and tossing it aside. With his other hand he took her under the arm, picked her up, and threw her on the bed.

"LET GO!" Zelda raged. "Let me go!"

Were Zelda in her right mind, she might have assumed he was going to rape her as he loomed over her. Be it was it was, the thought never struck her. Good thing to, as it wasn't his intention.

He took hold of the sheets and quickly wrapped her in them tightly. She squirmed, yelled, and resisted, but ultimately was imprisoned in sheets and blankets.

"Barbaric bastard! Unhand me! Let me go! I'll kill you! Impa!"

"Really not an incentive to let you go." Ganon replied. "Why are you biting the bed?... That's... beyond me. Look, if you want to rage, then rage. But do it in a way that won't hurt you."

"I don't know what else to do with it! I can't fight him! I can't speak! I can't say a Din damn word! I-I can only smile and take it like a whore being ordered to lay down, shut up, and take it!" Tears overflowed as her rage and anger also overflowed beyond her ability to control. She thrashed wildly, but Ganon's wrapping sealed her in. As much as it protected her, it also added endlessly to her frustration. It made her feel caged in more, unable to do anything with the energy filling her veins demanding she fight.

"True. You can't." Ganon agreed without mercy. "If you acknowledged his contribution in the assassination attempt, you would be facing civil war. You had a choice: Force his hand and face civil war; or buy time. Time to even the scales. I get he is powerful, far more than you."

"So what would you advise!?" Zelda panted. She stopped thrashing. "That I sit back and do nothing?!"

"No!" Ganon snapped. Zelda recoiled back at his outburst. "But do not force his hand! Bite back, but only enough to keep him wary! Hold yourself back at all times and smile when he is near, while you prepare to destroy him! This feeling of anger, this hate... it will push you to action before you are ready. Do not let the anger control you. You are the one to control it. It is useful, but you must know when and how to use it. For now endure it. Do not forget this feeling. Lock it in your heart. There will come a time to unleash it, but it is not this day."