Not a big update, just something for readers to chew on until I can continue the story in my head.

Wet, icy, and cold. That is the only justice that could be given to the weather at the time. Link sat on his horse, which he believed was moments away from freezing to death. It had been raining for several hours now, but once the rain had landed, it would freeze to whatever it touched. Icicles were hanging from the trees near the pathway. It seemed as if a thin white sheet was spread over the grass that went on forever. The sky was filled with clouds, thick and grey. It was a wonder it wasn't snowing that the time. With the temperature, one would figure that ice should've been coming down somehow.

They hadn't yet quite arrived at Lake Hylia. The caravan was moving particularly slow, as Link figured it would. A large group of people can't move quickly to one place, and the extended amount of time was made even longer due to the rain... and it seemed worse due to the cold. Link was both freezing and warm. Cold in his extremities and hot in his head due to his hanger with the slow moving group.

This is taking too long, he thought to himself. When he had finally gotten used to the cold, the wetness, and the bore, excitement was stirred once more. Link heard quick-paced hooves hitting the ground. A horse was coming up, and it was galloping. Hopefully some news on how much longer this is going to take.

It was Davius, who had apparently put on some kind of garment under his armor before leaving, because a hood was drawn over him from under his protection.

"Sir," said Davius. "It's something urgent. We need to hurry you to the desert-camps as soon as possible."

"What's the rush?" asked Link, becoming intrigued.

"I wasn't told what the situation was," said Davius. "However, a royal messenger hurried to our lines and told us it was urgent, and that you would have to hurry."

"Alright," said Link, hardly bothered by the fact that they had to hasten their way to their destination. "The sooner I can get to that desert, the sooner I get out of this cold."

"Hardly sir."

"I'm sorry?"

"The desert gets colder as well in the winter," said Davius. "It just doesn't rain... except all in one burst. Then it'll rain, and hard. Much of the desert will be flooded."

"So its as cold in the desert as it is here," said Link unenthusiastically.

"Colder."

Link gave a grunt of dissatisfaction. Ordon didn't frequently get cold. It got a bit nippy at the deepest end of winter, but the forests somehow usually kept them warm. Six months, Link said to himself, thinking of Ilia.

"Sir," said Davius, interrupting Link from his thoughts. "We need to go."

"Right," said Link.

---

"My messenger has arrived sooner than expected," said Zelda dissatisfied. "My political power is still weakening, and I have to throw a luncheon for people I dislike... greatly." Zelda had been complaining to her maiden the entire morning. Of course, she could do nothing but listen and to continue readying Zelda for the party that thei had planned. "It's for your image, your highness."

"I know that," said Zelda, eyeing her hair in a mirror dissatisfied. "It was my idea. But I figure its useless, and no matter how much money I throw at these parties, my public image won't change."

"You're throwing these parties for the money-holders, the nobles, and the politicians," said a voice from the back of the room. "Of course you're not going to gain any support from the common public."

Zelda turned to look at her door, where the voice at come from. "Senator Lucas," she said through clenched teeth. "How utterly unexpected of you. Adria."

"Yes ma'am?"

"Leave us, please."

"Of course."

Adria, who had been brushing Zelda's hair, quickly set the brush down and stepped out of the room, not before giving Lucas a stare of dissatisfaction. She shut the door behind her.

"Senator Gaius thinks that he can delay our mandate of requisitum interventus, and keep our conscriptions here, for at least a few additional days."

"I hope he succeeds," said Zelda.

"You must understand, your highness, that the senate only put forward this motion for the benefit of this nation."

"This kingdom you mean," said Zelda.

"Kingdom sounds like such a... powerful word," said Lucas. "It implies power and greed, which we of course can't have, if this nation - I'm sorry, kingdom is to succeed at all."

"This nation is a kingdom, senator, as long as I still hold the greatest amount of power for a single person, which I believe I still do," said Zelda, not holding back on the sas. "And that exact same power is what you're trying to rob me of." She turned back to her mirror and continued to brush her hair herself.

"We aren't robbing you of anything," said Lucas in a cold tone. "We're making this nation safer in this time of hate, of greed, of war. A war - which mind you - you in fact did start."

"I have declared no such state," said Zelda apalled, she turned, raised up out of her seat, walked up to the senator and stared him in the eye. "You keep calling it a war as if you're planning something," she said with a smile.

"We are senators," said Lucas, pulling away from Zelda's stare. "We don't 'plan,' as you are so fond of accusing us of. We are elected for the benefit of this nation, and carry out actions we seem to be most fit for it. As are you, my queen. But it seems democracy is lost with young queens. You send our troops out to the front lines to gain land, for what you call, your kingdom," spat Lucas.

"You know my policy perfectly well," said Zelda. "One of an extended defensive. The amount of soldiers I had originally intended to be sent over there couldn't have started a fire if they worked together, much less conquer a nation. Of course, you and your friends take control through old political loopholes and send much more soldiers than were originally needed to those nations, and state it was our idea to try to declare war, so that you can gain support from the mob. Now that I come to think of it, it seems that you're planning something with that many people." Zelda laughed to herself. "I guess you've already tried speaking with my appointed general?"

Lucas grimaced at Zelda's ability to interpret what he was doing. "My queen," he said with anger, "your horrible, traiterous accusations disgust me."

Zelda closed her eyes and let out a sigh. "Then please leave, senator."

Lucas gave no response, he simply turned around and walked out of the door, which Zelda closed behind him. She rested her head on the door and sobbed.

---

Link and Davius had ridden ahead of the rest of the soldiers and had arrived at the bridge of Lake Hylia. Link would no longer be riding a canon to the desert. Apparently, construction workers had arrived long before and worked on a bridge which extended across the gap from the island in the middle of Lake Hylia, to the edge of the desert canyon. The rain, fortunately, had not reached as far as Lake Hylia, and so everything was dry... but still cold, which Link was still not fond of.

They walked along the bridge, which had iced over and was slippery, and took their first steps on the sand. There was a significant difference in temperature between Hyrule and the desert... it was much colder. Maybe it was intensified because of the dryness of the air, or maybe mountain wind came down from Snowpeak. Either way, it felt much worse, and Link longed for shelter. 

"Only a few more miles," said Davius. "Then we'll be in the warmth."

Link remained unenthusiastic. "I won't be happy until we've arrived," he said.

"Of course, sir," said Davius with a smile, and they continued to ride on.