Chapter Text
"It is a most generous offer," King Dorephan said carefully, avoiding to look at anyone but the young queen. "We will of course need time to reflect on it. You must understand my son has received other equally interesting offers, and I must do what is best for my kingdom."
Queen Zelda nodded, not a hint of emotion on her face. "Naturally. We are, of course, ready to make concessions on trade taxes should you agree, and it would be a unique chance to finally settle the question of the Marshlands."
All the zoras in the room perked up at the offer, making her councillors smirk, but she remained impassible. Sidon couldn't decide if he was impressed or unsettled by this young woman. Perhaps it didn't matter, so long as she kept her word as faithfully as she was rumoured to. The Marshlands... That area had was a contested territory that had nearly brought war between hylians and zoras over the centuries. If they could finally have their claim over it recognised, Sidon did not mind a small sacrifice.
"We will take this information into consideration as we make our decision," Dorephan said at last, more calmly than Sidon would have managed. "Now, my dear, it is getting late and you had a long journey to the Domain. I suggest we adjourn for the day, unless you have other urgent matters to share."
"This was my main order of business," the young Queen replied. "Anything else can wait."
Some more polite pleasantries were exchanged before the queen and her retinue left the throne room. Sidon's eyes lingered on the young man at the back of the group, a boy as cold looking as his queen.
"It wouldn't be be a bad match," Dorephan said when the hylians had gone. "She must be desperate for sea trade if she's willing to sacrifice the Marshlands."
"She didn't say we would have it," Muzu noted. "Just that the issue would be settled. And at what cost! Surely we can find a better match for our prince than this... this hylian boy ?"
The elders all nodded in agreement, but Sidon looked at his father and saw there an expression he recognised too well. Last time he had seen it was when the hylians had asked for a warrior to support their hero, a zora they claimed would have appeared to be marked by fate. Many zoras knew how to fight, but Dorephan had known too well that only one had powers out of the norm.
Mipha had insisted back then, for the good of their people, and Sidon too knew his duty.
"He is no ordinary hylian," Sidon reminded them. "He saved us all when ancient evil returned, at a great cost to himself. And if his heroism does not convince you of the value of the fiancé queen Zelda offers for me, I will remind you that his father is Duke of Hateno. Surely that makes him a worthy ally?"
"They say he went mad since awakening," Seggin protested. "Losing five years will do that to a man of course."
That was but one rumour that ran about the hero of Hyrule since he awoke some months earlier, and not the worst one Sidon had heard. Five years of magical sleep may have done many things to a man, but they did far more to his reputation.
“If he were mad, queen Zelda would not have taken the risk of bringing him here,” Dorephan said. “He has no reason to be at her side save to prove that the stories are wrong. Did he look like a demon to you?”
No, but he looked even less expressive than his queen, Sidon thought. With Zelda he knew that she had been trained for years to be this way until she became the perfect queen her father had wanted. She hadn’t cried when the old king had died, people said. But then again, neither did anyone else. The hero, on the other hand… after meeting him the first time, Mipha had proclaimed him a delightful boy with a terrific sense of humour, but ten years had passed since then, five of which he’d been barely kept alive by sheikah magic. There could be little left of that funny boy now, not after everything that had happened.
“Sidon, what do you think of this option?” Dorephan asked. “I will not force you into a match that you do not approve of.”
“If we really get the Marshland, it is the best offer we’ve received so far,” Sidon said after a moment of consideration. “Otherwise, I still believe the union with Labrynna would be more profitable. It all depends on what queen Zelda is really ready to give us. Of course there is the prestige of having a hero of Hyrule join our family, but that is a lesser consideration when no issue can be expected of it. It’s the Marshland or we choose Labrynna, father.”
Dorephan nodded and Sidon felt himself relax a little, relieved that he had reached the conclusion his father expected of him.
“Muzu, I want you to gather every treaty we have that prove our claim on the Marshlands,” Dorephan ordered. “We will see tomorrow what that little queen can give up, but it will not harm to be prepared. You may all go, I will see you later at the banquet. Not you, Sidon,” he added as his son turned to leave. “Stay a moment.”
Expecting to be given some further instructions on how to behave around the queen as negotiations were about to start, Sidon obeyed and waited until the Council of Elders had left. Once they were alone his father beckoned him closer and Sidon allowed himself a more relaxed posture.
“I am proud of the way you are handling this,” Dorephan said with a gentle touch to his son’s shoulder. “And yet I worry. As a king I would gladly have that match, but as a father I am unsure I should let my son be tied to a man with such a reputation.”
“We are royalty first and a family second,” Sidon recited, something his mother used to say when he was little and he didn’t want to appear at public functions. Mipha too had reminded them of that when Dorephan had expressed some last doubt about her helping the hero of Hyrule. “I don’t mind doing what is needed, father, and I’m sure most stories are pure fantasy. He doesn’t look like he feeds on bokoblins, and if he were half as violent as some say, queen Zelda would have disposed of him.”
It had been very odd, how old king Rhoam had died, people said. His daughter hadn’t cried, and she hadn’t looked surprised either. If really she had arranged the death of her own father, that woman would have no qualms doing the same of a hero who had become too troublesome.
“I do not like to listen to rumours,” Dorephan replied, “but I cannot ignore them either. I will have a word with Jhiato so you are seated next to that hero tonight. Try to talk to him and see if he is someone you can conceive having at your side for the next sixty or so years. It would be pleasant to have full control of the Marshlands once more, but not if the cost is too high.”
“Of course, father,” Sidon promised, hoping he wouldn’t have to lie to his father.
It would be unpleasant to be tied to a feral monster or to a soulless idiot, as some stories described the hero, but the Marshland were as vast as a third of their current territories and as his father had said, it would only be for sixty years, perhaps less. He would still have over half his life to contract a more pleasant union after, perhaps even have a chance for a love match since he would have already done his duty for the kingdom once.
With this out of the way, Dorephan changed the conversation to less heavy matters, reminding his son of some hylian customs they would need to mind and chatting about the dishes that were to be served to their guests that night. Sidon listened and answered as best as he could, but his mind was elsewhere, on this cold little hylian who might become his fiancé.