Life in Zora's Domain

Chapter 126 - Recovery and Resolve

Summary: Mipha and Link attend Rudin's funeral. Zelda and her family try to move on from their loss. Link promises to play a more active role in Astra's life. Mipha reminds Link about Zora ages and her resolve to join in the eventual fight back.

It was three days after the attack that killed Prince Rudin and the Gerudo soldiers, and Link thought the time had gone painfully slow. He and Mipha had rushed to Hyrule Castle the day after Rudin's death, doing what they could to support Zelda and the family. They had expressed their sympathy, of course, though it was hard to know what to say at such times: words seemed so inadequate. But you said what you could, and hoped it helped in some small way.

Unjustified though it might be, Link had taken it as a personal failure that anyone in Hyrule had been killed. He still considered protecting Hyrule his duty, and he felt bitter they had failed to save everyone in the end. And so, his first instinct had been to begin thinking about how to seek out those responsible. But his better judgment told him this was not yet the right time for that.

As Zora ambassador, Link had conveyed formal condolences on behalf of the Zora people to the Gerudo Ambassador and the Hyrule Royal Family for the losses that each had sustained. But, of course, the latter was also personal, since Rudin was Link's cousin.

Today was the funeral service at the Royal Cemetery, and Link shivered slightly, pulling his collar up as Mipha glanced over at him and gently squeezed his hand. As befitting the occasion thought Link, it was a gray and dreary morning, cold and overcast. At least it wasn't raining, though.

A very few high ranking Hyrule officials and other dignitaries stood nearby, including the ambassadors from the North Hyrule, Gerudo, Rito, and Goron regions of Hyrule. Mipha and Link stood at the graveside itself, along with the rest of the family in attendance: Queen Zelda, her daughters Zelda and Astra, Princess Zelda's husband Randall, Rudin's sister Lara and Lara's husband, Lenard. Zelda had asked that the service be kept small, and so Link's and Lara's children were not present.

Link shuffled his feet slightly to keep warm as the service neared an end. The Hyrule priest who was officiating said he had some final words to say before they lay Prince Rudin to rest.

"Her Majesty found a note inside Prince Rudin's diary, and she asked that I close this service by reading it to you. The note contains two short poems. They are not Prince Rudin's original work, but he must have felt they were the words he wanted to leave with all of us who knew and loved him. I will read them to you now, and as I do so, I ask you to think of him."

Not, how did he die, but how did he live? Not, what did he gain, but what did he give? These are the ways to measure the worth Of a man as a man, regardless of birth.

Remember me in your heart: Your thoughts, and your memories, Of the times we loved, The times we cried, The times we fought, The times we laughed. For if you always think of me, I will never have gone.

After the service ended, Mipha and Link waited their turn to place a flower, a Blue Nightshade, in their case. They bowed and said a silent prayer, then followed the others as everyone quietly made their way back inside the castle for a light buffet lunch in the dining hall.

At the luncheon, Link had a chance to renew the acquaintance of his cousin, Lara, whom he rarely saw. He and Mipha briefly chatted with Lara and her husband about their families, then moved on.

"Ambassador Link, a word, please?" said a familiar voice. "I am very sorry for your loss."

"Gerudo Ambassador Raynia, thank you," said Link turning around. "And let me express my condolences in person for the loss of your brave soldiers. Oh, I believe you met my wife Mipha at Hyrule Castle, did you not?"