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Zora May prompt! When the time comes for Dorephan’s coronation, things go unexpectedly awry, and the Hylian delegation comes in handy, all the way down to its littlest member.

Protect

Abel checked his armor for what felt like the hundredth time. His nerves had already been frayed at the funeral for the late Zora Queen, given the circumstances and the fact that it had been his first major formal event, but this was far worse.

Not only was Prince Dorephan getting ready to be crowned king, but Hyrule’s very own royal family were here to attend the ceremony.

Abel supposed he should take some comfort in the matter. The royal family’s arrival yesterday had also brought major reinforcements. The rumor was that the team would switch out after the coronation, allowing Abel and Link to go home for a respite. After nearly six months of being on assignment (he was still surprised at how long Zora customs dictated they mourned, how long they waited before their next monarch was officially crowned), Abel would welcome the break.

But they had to survive this coronation to get to that break. The fact that the King and Queen of Hyrule were here, alongside their daughter, was terrifying. Abel wanted to disappear into oblivion, he wanted to step up and protect them, he didn’t know what he wanted.

He wanted to do his duty to the best of his ability, and he wanted Link to be safe.

Abel and Link’s roommate, Norri, was also looking himself over in the mirror. He glanced at Abel a moment, a strange curiosity in his brown eyes, anxiety obvious in the way he swallowed and shifted his weight from foot to foot.

Norri hadn’t been present during the funeral. His job had been to guard the Hylian quarters alongside Min, while Abel and Evan had the pleasure of protecting their diplomat alongside Captain Tomall. So Abel supposed this was his first formal event.

Quite the start, he mused. Then again, it was only his second.

Captain Tomall had already briefed them on the arrangements and security presence, on everyone’s post and how the ceremony would go. Since there were more Hylian forces present here, Captain Tomall had deferred to the royal knights for the distribution of his men. The royal knights would be with the royal family and Lady Tressa, the diplomat who had been working here, so Captain Tomall’s team was spread across entrances to the throne room instead. They were told they would be paired up with Zora guards, a joint effort to keep everyone inside safe. Abel was more than a little anxious about it.

But most of all, he was anxious about the fact that the Hylian quarters, for the first time since their arrival here, would be unguarded.

He’d already given Link his own little briefing for the situation. The boy had listened about as well as he could expect a five-year-old to process information, but he wanted to check with him one more time before they left.

Link was sitting on the bed, watching his father and roommate prepare, hugging Mrs. Moo anxiously.

Abel ignored Norri’s scrutiny, despite the younger knight continuing to stare at him. If he had something to say, he’d say it. Norri was a bit too proud to admit he was nervous, though, and Abel wasn’t there to hold his hand when the young man faltered.

Turning towards the bed, Abel watched Link. “Do you remember your duty tonight, son?”

Link nodded, hugging Mrs. Moo. When he said nothing, Abel gently prompted, “Well? What is your duty tonight?”

“Stay in here,” he answered quietly. He was always quiet when he was scared; it was a trait he got from his mother.

Abel nodded, and then softened a bit at the little one’s trepidation. He leaned over and kissed his forehead, smiling a little. “Don’t worry, Link. I’ll be back soon. And Mrs. Moo will help keep you company, right?”

The little one nodded again, small smile reflected back at his father.

With that, the two knights left the room, and Norri finally spoke up. “How do you think tonight will go?”

“Uneventful, assuming everything goes to plan,” Abel answered honestly. There really wasn’t a reason for things to go wrong, he supposed - he’d heard there was some unhappiness about the Hylian-Zora treaty that was slowly being put together, but nearly the entire Domain loved Prince Dorephan. No one expected trouble during the briefing, and Abel was trusting his superiors.

The throne room was fairly large, housing roughly fifty people at once if need be, not including the Zora royals themselves. There were three main entrances to the place, though technically only one was accessible by the Hylians—the main entrance was a set of stairs leading up from the rest of the Domain, while two other entrances were waterways that the Zora could access. Guards were stationed along the path of all three entrances, and Abel found himself at the top of the stairs, by the entrance itself. He was posted there alongside Min, who was their other most skilled swordfighter. He tried not to overthink the issue, knowing that, despite Min’s less than favorable history, he would take such a duty seriously. He had to.

Abel and Min flanked the entrance alongside two Zora guards, and the pairs eyed each other warily. Abel glanced at the Zora who was directly beside him, and gave a small nod. The Zora did nothing for a moment before finally sighing a little and reciprocating the move, a sign of good faith that both of them wanted what was best for the people inside and would work together for it.

They had all taken their positions long before the ceremony was to begin, so Abel watched everyone walk by with careful eyes. Zora he’d seen plenty of times in his six months here passed by with smiles or wary glances. The Hylians had been here long enough that they were less of a disturbing sight to the majority of the Zora, but the tension had remained in a good number of them. Abel tried to find a happy medium between making his presence known to deter problems and being as unobtrusive as possible so as not to be perceived as a problem.

This mission certainly was tiresome sometimes. He wished he didn’t have to worry about the public’s opinion, that everyone could just be on the same side. Lady Tressa had been working hard to ensure that was the case, from what he could tell.

He saw familiar small faces as well, that of Link’s friends, Bazz, Rivan, and Gaddison. A new girl had joined the adventurous group lately, Kodah, and she was bouncing around excitedly while her parents tried to settle her down. The sun was starting to rise, indicating that the ceremony would happen very shortly. The glow of the luminous crystals began to fade, traditionally indicating to the Zora the passage of the previous monarch and the start of a new rule.

Finally, fanfare announced the more important guests. The Hyrule royal family came, led in by Lady Tressa and royal knights aplenty, alongside Abel’s captain. King Rhoam and Queen Zelda walked together, a sign of Hyrule’s strength in their stoic gazes, and little Princess Zelda was clearly trying to follow suit as she moved behind them. Abel tried to avoid eye contact with the royals, but he couldn’t help but smile at the little princess. He hoped someday Link would learn that level of control as well, and he was impressed the young girl had managed to do so as quickly as she had.

There was a small pang of sadness at it too, though, at how such a young child had to endure such scrutiny. But that was her station, he supposed. Everyone had their duties to fulfill.

Once the Hyrule delegates had found their seats, the Zora nobility finally arrived. It was timed along with the sunrise, which was a little later in Zora’s Domain as it had to peak over the Ruta Mountains. Prince Dorephan and Princess Ruliana were decked in all the jewelry a Zora could possibly wear, covering their ankles, wrists, fins, necks, chests, and waists. Their little girl, Mipha, was similarly dressed as she waddled behind her parents. Everyone cheered at their approach, and Abel looked ahead, keeping an eye out for any kind of activity as the remainder of the Zora gathered at the bottom of the stairs. Norri was at the bottom helping with crowd control alongside others, and Abel was grateful his own skills had earned him a spot higher up to protect those within the throne room.

The sun finally peaked over the mountains to the east, and the architecture of the Domain glowed amber, reflecting so brightly the place may as well have been ablaze. Abel heard words of the ceremony begin, and the crowds hushed so they could listen as well as possible.

He heard Prince Dorephan’s booming voice next, words echoed from the priest as he spoke vows of protecting the Domain and its people.

The trickling waters of the Domain provided a buzzing background ambience as Prince Dorephan continued, and then he grew silent, supposedly for the actual crowning itself.

Splashing. Abel heard splashing.

Turning his head slightly to the right, he saw his Zora partner doing the same as both glanced around, trying to figure out what that noise was. It was small, quiet—

And then it got loud, and Abel heard gasping and screaming.

Whirling around, he looked into the throne room itself and saw a large group of Zora who were not there before, armed and already fighting royal knights. Abel looked around wildly, and some of the water from the pathway around the throne room was already stained red.

The side entrances, they came in through there and killed the guards!

“For a free Zora!” One of them shouted as he charged towards the newly crowned king.

Sergeant Seggin, one of the Zora’s finest warriors, stepped in to defend his king, and Abel burst into motion, heading for both royal families. He took one of the insurgents by surprise, slashing his sword across the Zora’s back, and he heard the captain of the royal knights barking orders to his men to escort the Hyrule royal family out of there.

Where would they go? There was no safe place for them here, the Hylian quarters were unprotected!

It diidn’t matter right now. The royal knights would take care of the royal family. Abel had to protect Lady Tressa, as well as defending the new Zora king and queen as best he could.

Abel was almost to Captain Tomall and his other comrades, ready to receive new orders, when he saw Sergeant Segging getting overwhelmed. The man was a force to reckon with, but the insurgents were too many in number, overwhelming him with attacks.

He waited a moment. Just a moment, and then he turned and rushed to the sergeant’s aid. Coming in from behind, he bashed one Zora away with his shield, attracting the others’ attention and giving both him and the sergeant an opening. Sergeant Seggin pushed the wall of enemies back as Abel entered the circle, sword already blocking an attack from one of them.

“We have to get the king and queen out of here!” Sergeant Seggin yelled. Abel wasn’t sure if it was directed at him or the sergeant’s own men, but there weren’t many loyalist Zora around.

Honestly, Abel wasn’t sure how anyone was going to get out of here. The crowds below the throne room had to be in chaos.

Abel dodged another attack, trying to create space between the insurgents and King Dorephan. He recalled all the tips he’d received from Captain Tomall, who had fought Zora before. Namely, that the size difference could be used to their advantage; Zora were tall and graceful, and they were absolutely deadly in water, but on the ground Hylians were faster, and Abel in particular could maneuver around them quite well.

Gritting his teeth, Abel pressed forward, jabbing quickly at a Zora’s thigh, making him yell and fall down to be at eye level with Abel, allowing him to finish the job with a swipe across his neck.

They really did need to wear more armor, he mused darkly as the enemy fell.

Meanwhile, in the Hylian quarters, guards flooded the area, escorting strangers. It got really loud, and Link peeked out, Mrs. Moo close to his chest.

Who were these people? Their clothes were all kinds of colors, they looked funny. And none of them were Papa or his other knights.

Papa had told him to stay in his room, and he knew he should. But Papa hadn’t mentioned these people! Link moved back into the shadows a little, wondering what he should do. He wanted Papa.

Finally, Link saw someone he did know. It was Captain! He hurried out, looking frantically for his Papa but unable to see him. Many of the funny looking guards turned to Link at once and pointed swords at him before pausing.

Link didn’t dare speak, but he looked at Captain, tears in his eyes.

”Link,” Captain said, surprised. “Hylia, you’re—it’s okay, he’s Sir Abel’s child.”

Link took a few breaths before he felt brave enough to speak, and he asked, “Where’s Papa?”

Captain looked around, face very worried, and he said, “I don’t know right now, son. He isn’t here. There’s a lot going on out there, it isn’t safe.”

Safe? It wasn’t safe? What was going on? What if Papa needed help?

Link moved forward instead of into his room, but Captain didn’t notice as he tried to help all the other people. It was so crowded in here all of a sudden, Link felt scared and heavy. The funny dressed people looked at him again, some dressed in brighter colors and more jewelry than others. He even thought he saw a girl his age at one point, held by a woman he didn’t know.

But he looked outside their home and saw people running and screaming. And it was scary. It was so scary.

But Papa was out there. What if he was scared and hurt?

Link had to help!

Captain said something. But Link didn’t care anymore. He ran ahead, calling for his Papa, ready to help him.

Abel didn’t hear his son’s cries as he was shoved brutally, temple smacked by the end of his enemy’s spear. He tried to blink the dizziness away, ignoring the warm feeling of blood trickling down his face. A dark blur moved in front of him, and he automatically brought his shield to defend himself, just in time for it to get slammed by a spear, making him buckle and fall on his back, getting soaked in chilly water. He gasped a little at the temperature shift, but instincts told him to roll so he wouldn’t be vulnerable. He got on his feet quickly, trying to ascertain his surroundings once more, counting a dozen Zora and trying to figure out who was an ally and who was an enemy.

Sergeant Segging was immediately apparent, pushing off three insurgents at once. King Dorephan was trying to escort his family to safety. Abel saw a Zora aim to throw a spear directly at the king, and he looked around quickly to see if anyone was nearby. He shouted, too far to reach the man, and instead threw his sword, hoping it would hit its target. The blade managed to cut the insurgent, making him yelp, and between the noise Abel had made and the enemy, King Dorephan noticed and smacked the man with such force that he slammed into the pillar, slumping on the ground.

There was a beat where Abel and the king locked eyes for a moment, and then something moved. Abel glanced to his right and saw a Zora bringing a spear down on him, and he tried to block with his shield just in time to realize he’d lost it in the roll, and his sword was now gone.

His arm managed to at least direct the spear so it didn’t get his throat, but it sank into his stomach instead.

The chainmail took the majority of the damage, but he still felt fire erupting in his gut from the blunt force itself. He shouted, gripping the handle of the spear and jutting it backwards so it slammed its owner in the chest. Then he go ton his feet, barely able to take a breath, and swung the spear so the end of the hilt smacked the Zora against the jaw. He tried for another swing but it clanged against the metal piece that served as a partial helmet for the Zora.

The world was spinning, Abel was in pain, and he was quickly losing track of where everyone was. It seemed like the combatants were thinning out, but he couldn’t—

Two Zora moved in front of him, eyes fierce and weapons ready, and he tried to ready himself as best he could.

One Zora gasped as a trident tore through his middle, and, while it was still piercing through him, it moved towards the other, flinging one insurgent into the other and tossing them both aside.

Abel stared, processing, and saw the Queen of the Zora standing front of him, weapon bloodied, face dark. They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity as the young knight tried to piece together what had just happened, as he screamed at himself to get up, and then the queen said, “Go back to your people, soldier.”

Swallowing, Abel nodded timidly, finally getting the strength to stand as the queen moved away quickly, as he heard the king worriedly calling for Princess Mipha as if she weren’t there. His addled brain didn’t register that he should try to recover his sword, but he at least managed to grab his shield before stumbling down the stairs.

The world was pure chaos. People were running and screaming in every direction, Zora guards were trying to figure out who was a threat, though it seemed the majority of the fighting had been up in the throne room. Abel got knocked aside multiple times by panicked Zora, though he managed to avoid falling entirely and getting trampled underfoot. His stomach screamed, head pounding, vision blurring on and off as nausea hit him in dizzying waves, but he finally made it to the Hylian quarters.

Captain Tomall was at his side in an instant, alongside a few of his fellow knights. “Abel, what happened?”

He didn’t care about giving a report. He only had energy to say one thing. “Link.”

Captain Tomall’s mouth became a thin line as he dragged Abel inside. “He’s… Abel, I don’t know where he is. He ran out into the crowd—”

He what?!

Abel jerked away in an instant, panic freezing his blood.

“Abel, I—Abel, wait, no!!”

His head was too clouded to hear orders being shouted at him, he was too dead set on finding his child, no one would hurt his child.

As Captain Tomall tried to run after the young knight, a hand stopped him, and he turned to see King Rhoam himself watching him. “Let him go, Captain. You can’t stop a man from trying to help his child. Send some soldiers to help him.”

Stiffening, the captain nodded, looking at Ekan and Min. The pair immediately set out to follow their comrade.

Unfortunately, the mob was still far too thick for such a small plaza. Though there were fewer people running around, there were still enough to separate everyone. Abel had moved ahead quickly, getting bounced between people as if he were a ball tossed into a room.

Up ahead, a Zora caught the attention of several different people. Sergeant Seggin shouted and pointed from a watch post on the bridge where they were moving the king and queen to safety, and little Link gasped.

That Zora was carrying Mipha, who was crying and thrashing.

The princess, who had gone missing in the throne room, was doing everything she could to wiggle out of the insurgent’s arms, but to no avail. Link watched the man a moment before glaring and rushing ahead. He threw Mrs. Moo at the big man to get his attention and then leapt forward, latching on to the Zora’s leg and biting it as hard as he could.

Wait, why was the Zora man’s skin so hard?!

The insurgent stopped a moment, a little thrown off balance by the extra weight, and looked down.

“Link!” Mipha gasped. “Link, no—”

The insurgent kicked, sending Link flying, and Mipha screamed before glaring at the man, taking after her friend and biting him on one of the side fins that framed his face. Unlike her Hylian friend, though, her teeth were sharp enough to sting.

The insurgent yelped, dropping the princess, and Link ran back to her, dragging her away from him. The children didn’t get far, their little legs unable to outrun the man’s, but just as he reached down to grab them, Abel barreled into him, taking him down with a tackle.

The insurgent’s sword went flying, and Abel tried to reach for it quickly, but a panicking citizen stepped on his wrist, and he swore he could feel something snap. He yelled and was pushed aside as the insurgent once again moved for the princess, trying to at least salvage their attack by kidnapping the little girl. Mipha screamed again, and Link tried to stand between her and the Zora.

Abel turned and leapt to his feet, arm extending out to grab the Zora by the tail fin, and he yanked back. The man fell against Abel, knocking both of them to the ground, allowing Abel to wrap his arms around his neck and his legs around his chest, squeezing so hard Abel felt his own breath still as he focused. He gritted his teeth, throwing all his remaining energy into the move as the Zora thrashed, clawed fingers digging into Abel’s face to get him to let go. Link and Mipha both shouted and rushed forward, pulling the Zora’s hands away as Abel continued to choke him out.

And then the Zora grew still.

Gasping in relief, Abel rolled a little to get the heavier Zora off him, and he immediately snatched Link into a hug. Mipha watched uncertainly, tears falling down her face, and he reached out to her too. The invitation was immediately received as the little princess barreled into his chest, and he picked up both children to try and move them to safety, flattening himself against a wall to avoid the crowds.

Abel tried to hush the children a little as he moved, but he was far more focused on not passing out as his body screamed at him. He heard some shouting in the distance, loud and booming and commanding, but he couldn’t decipher it as he moved. He just knew he had to get them to safety.

Eventually he found an alcove that had an exit they could use if needed, but was fairly empty. People were busy rushing by it rather than into it, and that was good enough for him for now. He stumbled in and then slid to the watery ground, shivering from adrenaline and the cold, holding the children close as they both cried.

As he looked down, he saw that Link was a little scuffed up, and he felt his heart freeze. Guilt and fear and anger mixed sickeningly in his gut, and he wanted to tear every single Zora insurgent apart and then curse himself for eternity for ever bringing his precious child into this mess.

The booming voice grew ever louder and closer, but all Abel could hear was his heart pounding his ears, his little one’s cries as the boy clung to the torn fabric over his soldier uniform.

Clinking armor, water splashing. Abel turned and saw one of his fellow soldiers, Ekan, kneeling between him and someone else, someone too large to see in the entrance.

“—forgive my boldness, Your Majesty, but my comrade is not a threat—”

”I am aware,” a familiar voice said calmingly. “Step aside, soldier. My men will not hurt him.”

Abel shivered, watching Ekan move, and he realized who he had been talking to. Princess Mipha wiggled out of his grip, crying, “Daddy!”

He let the little one go, watched her rush to her father, and then held Link with both his arms, wishing he could disappear.

All that mattered was that Link was safe now. That was all that mattered.

“Sir Abel.”

Abel tried to look up, but his head screamed in protest. He winced, paused, and tried again.

“Take him to the healers.”

Abel heard movement around him. When something touched him, he flinched away, holding Link more tightly as his son’s cries settled into hiccups.

Zora. He was surrounded by Zora. Guards. They weren’t enemies. And the king—

Abel swallowed back bile. Goddess his head hurt.

“It’s all right, Sir Abel,” King Dorephan said gently, crouching down to be closer to eye level with him. “We are regaining control of the Domain. The fight is over.”

The words brought far more relief than he expected to feel. Abel physically wilted, sagging against the wall behind him.

“Thank you,” King Dorephan said, slowly, genuinely. “Thank you for your help today, good knight.” Then he turned his gaze to Link. “I saw the fight from a distance. You fought bravely, little one. And I believe you dropped this.”

Slowly, the king held out his hand, an item carefully clasped in his large fingers, and Link gasped. “Mrs. Moo!”

Abel’s son slipped out of his weakening grip, and the knight tensed, reaching out to him as Link rushed back with his plush toy.

He didn’t fight this time as the Zora guards helped him stand. But he did finally give in to the nausea burning through him, and he nearly dropped Link as he got ill.

He hardly remembered much else, except that he felt like passing out. Maybe he had. But Link…

Link was safe. Link was safe.

His legs moved on their own accord, it seemed. Maybe he hadn’t passed out. Where was he? Everything had changed, but then Link’s weight disappeared.

Abel snapped into clarity, pushing the Zora away, eyes wide.

“He’s fine, Hylian,” a Zora he didn’t know (he’d seen her at the market a few times?) said gently. “Lay down.”

Lay down? On what?

Hands gently guided him to sit on something soft, and then helped him lay down. Exhaustion pulled at him.

“Link,” he croaked out, feeling his skin crawl.

“We could just let—“

“This is not a place for a child to be wandering unsupervised.”

Abel didn’t really remember what came after, or if anything really did. But a few days later, after he’d rested enough that the healers were comfortable sending him back to his own people alongside his son, Abel found himself being visited by Captain Tomall.

“You did excellent work during the insurgency,” the captain noted. “So much so that you’ve altered Zora-Hylian relations. King Dorephan was already sympathetic to our side, but it seems his wife, Queen Ruliana, is far more amenable to our presence now because she witnessed you save both the king and the princess. Zora’s Domain is talking about it.”

Abel stared, head still a bit stuffy, definitely not caring about any of this. He was proud of being able to protect others, but what was the purpose of this speech? He just wanted to curl into a ball in bed and hold his child, not having been able to while he was in the healer’s area.

Captain Tomall sighed, his cheer diminishing slightly. “They want you to stay. Rather than switch out with us. You’re to stay at Zora’s Domain for the foreseeable future.”

Abel blinked as the words sank in. They… he…

He swallowed. Pushed the grief and frustration down. And he nodded. “Yes, sir.”

After the captain left, Link tapped his father on the shoulder. Abel looked down, too conflicted for words.

His little boy smiled. “Papa, guess what?”

Abel stared, swallowing again, and remained silent.

Link took a little breath, a little uncertain at his father’s silence but still eager. “Mipha and I are going to have a cere—cermony.”

Abel blinked. “Ceremony?”

“Yeah! Knighting ceremony!”

Completely baffled, he asked, “For who?”

“For Mrs. Moo!” Link answered proudly.

Abel stared. And then the stress of the last few days, the realization that he and Link were truly stuck here with no chance of leaving anytime soon, and the sheer ridiculousness of the statement hit him all at once, and he started laughing until he cried.

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