A Couple of Trials (ZeLink)

Chapter 41: The Royal Beating

**Viewer Discretion Advised: Intense Violence**

"You took it too far!"

It hadn't even been an hour since Link had left, and not even a minute since Zelda had gone flying out the inn's double doors. Celessa, who had been told to be quiet during the argument that had taken place, couldn't keep herself silenced anymore.

"This lifestyle, Link's experiences-" she said loudly, giving Jules (who was still staring at the doors Zelda had left through) a fierce look, "they're all new to her!"

"She needed a push, Celessa," the clerk said, keeping her voice tame, "and if Jules hadn't said anything, she might not have even realized what was going on."

"Y-yes, but... Hey!" Celessa called. Jules (who still hadn't given her any attention) turned and began heading back up the stairs from which she came. Unsure of what else to say, she turned back to the clerk. "Was there really nothing else we could have done? I... I don't... I don't know who's right or wrong here..."

"There isn't always a right or wrong," Prima said, adjusting the sheets she had been holding with one arm into both. "Sometimes there's only the best we can offer."

With that, she too made her way up the stairs, ready to change the sheets of the multiple beds that awaited her. As the innkeeper disappeared, Celessa stood alone in silence. She stared at the now vacant staircase before glancing over at the front doors. Unsure of what to do, she frowned and disappeared from the lobby and into the dining hall.

One hour. Two hours. Half a day passed. The snow that had paused had slowly started to return, falling from the clouds in a light flurry. Snowflakes stuck to the glass panes of the inn's windows, visible from the inside to those paying attention, though only one person was looking through them. As Prima continued her duties around the inn, Jules remained upstairs, sitting on her bed just as silent as she had been the moment Zelda had left. She kept to herself, dedicated to watching the snowfall from her bedside right up until someone called her name from behind.

"Jules."

For the first time in hours, Jules tore her blue eyes away from the window and looked back at the shorts-wearing traveler that now stood on the opposite side of her bed. The two silently looked at each other for a moment before Celessa awkwardly cleared her throat.

"Look, I... Uh..." she began, clearly still trying to collect her thoughts. "I get it. I get why you said what you did. I do, really."

Already, Jules had turned her attention back to the window panes, but Celessa kept talking.

"Maybe what Prima said is right," she said. "Maybe Zelda did need to be pushed in the right direction. But... But, I don't think that was the way to do it. You shouldn't have brought her father into it."

"Then why did you tell me about him?" Jules asked in a defeated tone. "Why bother bringing him up?"

"Because I wanted you to understand her," Celessa said, but Jules shook her head.

"Then I'm confused, because I think I understand pretty well," she said. "She's the way she is because of her past- because of her dad, right? So, what is it I'm missing?"

"You understand why Zelda is the way she is, but you aren't trying to understand her," Celessa answered.

"I'm friends with Link. Not her," Jules said. "You know we've never seen eye to eye. Heck, we've tried to, and we saw how that went. I don't need to understand her-"

"If Link's important to you, then you do need to understand her," Celessa said. "Because she's important to Link. She's doing her best, Jules, whether you approve of her methods or not. She was trying hard."