Royal Rebel 4 ~ The Return

Chapter 18: "Free as a Little Bird"

"I'm here." Sauron stood off to the side of the door and bowed down as a tall, hylian looking woman walked in. She had dark hair with white streaks running through it, a light pink scar over her eye, and her ear looked cut and discolored. "It's been a long time, Idalia."

"Sammy?" I managed, and Elric, Sauron and Esther all looked at me with surprise. Sammy only walked towards me. "Sammy, what are you-?"

"Hush, sweetheart. I'm here to help you." I could see Esther smile a bit, and Sammy turned to her. "Esther the Tiger." She bowed her head to the woman, who did the same back.

"Sammy the Scareye." She bowed, but then she smiled and leaped over to hug her. "I've missed you so much." Sammy hugged back for a moment, but then pulled away and ran her eyes up and down my weak form.

"What did you do to the poor princess, Astor?" She asked, kneeling down to be eye level with me but turning her head to face Elric.

"It's Elric," He scowled, and she was unfazed by his clear frustration with her arrival. "And I didn't do anything to her, she was already in this pathetic state when I found her dying in the desert."

"Oh, Idalia," She reached out and tucked a strand of the hair in my face back behind my ear, and she placed her hand on my chin. "What ever happened to you?"

"Sammy, you have to let me go. I have to go protect my mom and dad." I pleaded, but her small smile faded and I could see genuine sorrow in her eyes. "Please."

"I care about you, princess. Which is why I can't let you go back to them." Sammy stood up, still looking down at me with sadness. I pulled harder on my restraints, feeling tears prick the corners of my eyes from how sore my arms had gotten. "You're safer here. And I'm going to make sure nothing can hurt you ever again."

"I... no, I-I wanna go home..." I stammered out before I felt the tears fall from my eyes, and as the metal clamps seemed to tighten around my hands, and the room began to feel smaller, I suddenly felt stuck. "I'm scared." I said as I felt the tears start to stream down my cheeks as my breathing became hitched.

"Darling, it's alright." Sammy said, gently placing her hand on my cheek so she could wipe some of the tears away. "I promise you're safe here."

"Y-You can't be on their side. You were comforting me during that battle, I remember it now." That's all I could remember from it. I was scared, and lost and alone. The battle was going on outdoors, and Sammy was consoling me, singing to me. Telling me I was going to be alright. "I thought you were with us, Sammy."

"I'm with you, Idalia." She whispered, leaning forward a bit. "I want the best for you. Your parents, well... I don't think they do."

"Of course they do, they're my parents. They love me. And I love them and I want to go protect them."

"Idalia, I know you don't understand a lot of this yet because you're still so young. But let me tell you that sometimes, our parents don't have our best interests in mind." She shrugged, and I swallowed and continued to pant and cry, not realizing how dry my throat had gotten. She reached out behind her, and Sauron handed her a glass of water.

"No, mine-" I stopped as soon as she had the cup at my lips and I drank as much as I could. I was that thirsty.

"My parents never had my best interests in mind. In fact, mine hardly cared about me at all." She said, setting the glass down on the floor beside her. "When I was born, I was the most beautiful baby in the Yiga Clan. Dark hair, blue eyes, perfect and adored. But one day, something happened that changed all that."

She slipped her hand away from me and sat down in front of me, legs crossed and hands placed on top of them.

"The day your grandmother killed Astor. That attack from the Triforce was enough to make me blind and deaf on my right side. And I was only ten." She pointed to her ear and eye. "My ear getting half cut off, well, that's a different story."