Laughter entered the dark starry night. The gardens outside of Hyrule Castle spread across and only two entered it.

One of them was a girl. Her blonde hair flowed as her violet eyes looked upon a man. Her dress flowed in the warm breeze.

The man, simple brown hair and caring eyes, looked around and removed a paintbrush from behind his ear. He took out a drawing pad and a set of paints.

“This will be perfect Zelda,” said the man. “Just stand by that tree.”

Zelda made a nice pose near the tree that the man pointed out and covered her heart, looking dreamy towards the man.

“Winchel, don’t make me look ugly,” she said. Winchel chuckled.

“That’s totally impossible! Even a simple child’s scribbles of you would be beautiful.”

She giggled. She smiled and reformed her pose. Winchel dipped his paintbrush in paints and started to paint a picture of Zelda.

“This night is perfect for you,” Winchel smiled. “Now if only I could make that sparkle of your hair and eyes.”

Zelda became impatient; getting excited to see his painting.

“You don’t have to work that hard on making it all perfect,” Zelda replied. “Even though I can’t wait to see it!”

Winchel chuckled. “It wouldn’t look like you if it weren’t perfect. I’m almost done.”

Zelda smiled at the comment. Winchel was such an artistic person. He knew all the poetry that ever came out. He was a wonderful artist. He taught Zelda how to play the harp, the ocarina, the violin, and many other instruments available in the castle.

Winchel always made Zelda happy, whether it was he just being there with her, or giving her wise advice, or just telling her to be confident in herself. He was the perfect prince for her, his mind always on the artistic ways of his life and hers, not the power he could have if he married her.

“Done,” Winchel said, breaking Zelda out of her thoughts about Winchel. She rushed over excitedly like a dog getting a treat.

Zelda gazed at the beautiful picture. It was a perfect and realistic drawing of herself. The moon could be seen and she was standing by a tree, her almost alive eyes full of love and lust. Her hair and eyes sparkled like stars in the sky, and white doves were seen flying over her.

“Do I really look that fat?” Zelda said jokingly. Winchel laughed.

“Zelda I don’t care if you wore a tight dress after you ate five pancakes this morning.”

Zelda laughed at this. She did eat five pancakes because she never had dinner last night, and went out with Winchel instead.

Winchel came closer to Zelda and she went forward with a kiss. They shared this wonderful bond, feelings of love being pushed to the other.

After what seemed like an hour, Winchel and Zelda pushed back. Winchel smiled.

“I love you,” Winchel said. Zelda almost cried with joy.

“I love you, too,” Zelda replied sweetly. Winchel was about to lean forwards again, but a sudden grunt stopped him. He looked down and spat blood. Zelda watched in horror and confusion.

He looked up again with the most horrified eyes, full of total pain. Zelda became confused and froze in horror.

Winchel sank down to the ground as the sound of metal being pushed out from flesh entered the air. Blood flowed down his back.

As Winchel fell, he revealed the presence of a man dressed in black. He grinned a half toothless grin.

“Hullo Princess,” he chuckled insanely. Zelda took a step back in terror.

Two others joined him showing themselves. Zelda figured what they wanted and dashed away, her high-heeled shoes being left behind.

They chased after her. Zelda rushed out of the gates, finding that the guards were suddenly dead. She knew she couldn’t run into the castle, for the madmen blocked her.

Zelda rushed into the dark city, hoping that someone would help her.

“Help!” she screamed and repeated over and over again, in panic, knowing that the men were not too far behind her.

She reached a turn in the alleyway, only to find one of the men blocking her way as the other could be heard behind her.

Zelda turned to a corner to regret it. She was immediately met with three walls around her. She was trapped.

Two men blocked her way with sadistic smiles as one of them walked towards her. Zelda, horrified, stepped back to meet the wall that blocked her escape.

She knew the only way to stop this from happening was to fight back. She lifted her foot and tried to kick him, only to find his hands around her ankle.

He suddenly twisted it in an odd way, making a crack in her bone. Zelda screamed in pain and sank to the ground, unable to move any part of her body. Tears leaked down her face as the man kneeled down with a glint of evil in his eyes.

Zelda soon notice that he was ripping her dress, revealing only a bra and underwear to protect her. The useless dress was thrown away into a puddle of mud, unable to be used again.

This was it. Zelda wished she could just take the knife from his belt and kill herself, or protect herself from this man, yet she couldn’t move. It was too painful to move, and she forced herself not to faint, for some reason.

But before the man could reach his face towards hers, he turned around to see someone fighting off his other men.

“What’re you doing? He’s just a kid!” he growled.

Zelda could smell the scent of blood once again. She weakly turned her head to see someone fighting off the men. A dagger with emeralds encrusted in glowed in his hand, as he stabbed the men in the heart, leaving it there in the last dead person who tried to rape her.

He walked up to Zelda, his eyes full of worry and pity. She kneeled down and examined her leg, not caring or surprised that she was half-naked.

Zelda couldn’t get anymore thankful that whoever this man was, saved her and her dignity. She didn’t know how she would repay him. He looked suddenly into her eyes. She almost became lost in those eyes of the ocean.

“I’m going to have to set the bone back in place,” the man said. Zelda nodded weakly.

“This is going to hurt,” he warned. Zelda bit her lip, ready for the pain to come. He gently grabbed her leg and made a pop with the bone. Zelda screamed. He was right. It did hurt. So much that she fainted right there…

Link looked at the girl before him and took out a bundle of bandages. He started to wrap it around the girl’s leg and went into deep thought. If he had not come a minute longer, this girl would’ve lost her virginity, and maybe even her life.

But he frowned when she fainted from the pain. He wouldn’t try to wake her up, but he didn’t know where she lived either.

“I guess she’s coming to my place,” Link sighed. He went to pick her up, only to realize that she had hardly anything on. His cheeks flushed as he did not want anyone to see him walking around with a half-naked girl at night, even when no one was around.

He removed his belt and took off his tunic and dressed it on her, very uncomfortable of dressing someone else. He then picked her up in his arms and carried her to an inn not to far away.

He opened the door, making sure he wouldn’t drop the girl and avoided the others around the bar. Knowing how perverted some men could be, especially drunk men around this inn’s tavern, he sneaked upstairs to his room.

Once he opened the door, he looked at his bed, hoping that she would be comfortable. He frowned. It was either the bed or the floor. He laid the girl down underneath the sheets and gathered as many blankets to keep her warm.

Link sighed and took his cap off. He remembered that Saria, a good friend of his, made tea whenever someone was stressed or not relaxed. He looked into a small cabinet in his room and frowned. All he had was milk…

He decided maybe that might help. He lit the fireplace and poured milk into the kettle. He then started to heat up the milk, making sure that it did not burn.

Zelda saw black and nothing else. At first she thought she had died, but then again, she felt a type of heat over her like sheets of a bed.

Then, if this was a bed, all of that night was a dream… A terrible dream… She would be in the castle, and go to Winchel’s room so he could calm her.

But her heart dropped like a stone in water as she opened her eyes. Instead of the castle, she was in a small room with a small bed. A fireplace could be seen not too far away from the bed. And a nightstand seemed to be the only piece of furniture in the room, besides the bed.

A man walked up to her. Zelda flinched, having the thought that this was the one who tried to rape her. But then again, she looked into his ocean crystal blue eyes and remembered the last time she saw them.

“Hey,” said the man. “You’re awake.”

Zelda frowned. “Where am I?”

“An inn,” he replied. “I would’ve taken you back to your home, but you didn’t tell me where it was.”

Zelda didn’t want to tell this man anything. She wanted to go back home.

“I can go back home myself,” Zelda said and removed the blankets to reveal her wearing a green tunic. She ignored this and went to stand up, but a large pain shot through her leg and she sat back down immediately.

“It’s only been an hour,” the man said. “I think your leg needs more time to heal.”

He grabbed a mug and walked up to her. “Here,” he handed it to her. “I would’ve made you tea but I don’t have any.”

Zelda hesitated to see warm milk in the mug. She looked up at the man.

“Thank you,” she said. She took the mug from his hands and took a sip.

“My name’s Link,” he said.

“Zelda…”

Link almost tripped and fell on his face at the sound of that name. Zelda wanted to punch herself in the face.

“You mean the princess?” Link said hotly.

“Yes, I would hope you wouldn’t make it such a big deal,” Zelda replied more icily.

Link recoiled at the sound of her voice. “Sorry Princess Zelda.”

“Its just Zelda. No need for formalities.”

Link became extremely curious and suspicious. “Why were you out being chased by those men? You should’ve been in the castle.”

Zelda sighed. “It’s a long story.”

Link nodded, sensing that it was much more than that. Zelda lowered her head recalling the events that happened. Winchel, the man she loved, was now gone. She couldn’t believe that he was gone… Never to be seen again for the rest of her life… This saddened her, for he seemed to be the only one who made her happy.

It made her eyes water and she bit down the urge to cry. Link noticed this and sat on the bed.

“Hey,” he said. “It’s okay. Don’t…”

But he was quickly interrupted as Zelda almost leaped on him and cried in his white undershirt. Hot tears could be felt on his chest as Zelda sobbed. Link hesitated, recovering over the mental shock, but then wrapped his arms around her.

After what seemed like a half an hour, Zelda broke free from her tears and wiped her red face.

“I’m sorry,” she said embarrassed. “I didn’t mean to break down like…”

“No! No!” Link interrupted. “I understand. It’s okay…”

Zelda had the desire to smile at Link’s natural kindness, even when she revealed that she was the princess of Hyrule. But she seemed to have no muscle in her jaw to do so. An empty depression filled within her as the realization of Winchel’s death hit her like an anvil.

Link looked up out of the window and at the moon. “It’s almost morning… Maybe you should get back. Everyone at the castle will be worried.”

Zelda nodded, wiping the last drop of tears on her face. Link helped her out of bed and out of the inn. Zelda didn’t try and question why Link tried to avoid everyone’s gaze at the inn, but understood that she was a woman and a bar was included at the inn.

Zelda couldn’t help but feel disgust at the place. She couldn’t believe her father ignored this. Her father seemed to ignore everything these days. He only focused on bringing some type of world peace to Hyrule. It obviously didn’t help at all, for he ignored his own capital to get nations to back him up.

Link and Zelda walked up to a powerful looking blood red mare. It’s white mane rippled in the moonlight, much like Zelda’s did, as Link noticed. Only Zelda’s had more of a beautiful glowing shine to it.

Wait! Snap that out of your head!

He couldn’t believe he was thinking about that. Zelda was the princess of Hyrule. She would never love a peasant traveler like him. He couldn’t ever get acquainted with her. It was just a simple rescue mission, like the day he saved a girl named Malon from nearly being trampled by her own horses, which had been attacked by a raccoon looking for food.

He helped Zelda on the mare named Epona. That’s where he received that majestic horse. Malon said that Epona was the fastest horse on the ranch, and she gave her to him as a gift of gratefulness and she hoped they could become good friends, nothing more.

Link pressed on Epona’s flanks and they rode slowly and carefully towards the castle, due to Zelda’s injured leg.

Since the madmen had killed the guards who posted the outside of the castle. Link had no trouble bringing Zelda to the bridge.

Zelda thanked Link simply and limped off, saying she could handle it from there. He offered his help to the inside of the castle, but she refused to have his help, since people would be suspicious if a commoner brought the princess in with a broken leg, and having to explain that her prince had been murdered.

Link saluted Zelda and rode off back towards the inn. Once he got there, he opened a pouch on Epona’s saddle and took out a blue tunic and slipped it on over his white shirt. He then put his belt over the tunic and went back into his room in the inn.

He plopped on the bed, exhausted, but couldn’t sleep since so many events happened that night. Events that he sensed would change his life forever. Good or bad, he did not know…

Not too soon after Link tried fruitlessly to go to sleep, a faint clang entered the inn. This caught his attention and he crept downstairs.

“Yes we’re looking for a someone,” said a man. His voice was slightly muffled by the steel armor over his head. Link knew a guard was looking for someone, but whom? He quietly went down a step to peer through and see them.

The innkeeper shrugged. “What does he look like?”

The guard frowned. “Umm we don’t know, but he committed a crime of killing three men.”

The guard took out a small dagger with emerald embedded in the hilt. Link suppressed a gasp. That was his dagger. These guards were looking for him.

Link made a quiet sigh. “I’m a wanted man now,” Link mouthed to himself.

He quietly but quickly dashed upstairs to pack. He could hear the guards clanking armor going up the stairs as Link realized there was only one way out.

He took out an ocarina he got from his friend Saria, and played a tune. Epona answered the song by running up to the inn. Link looked out the window to see her.

As soon as Link opened the window, two guards burst in.

“Sir! You are under arrest for…” but he was quickly interrupted as a kettle impacted against his helmet, due to Link’s good aiming skills.

The other charged at Link, but he jumped out of window and landed on Epona’s back. Link kicked off and rode towards the exit.

Epona dashed out of the gates of Castleton as it began to lower from sunrise. He looked at his chances of shelter.

Gerudo Desert was an obvious no. The ranch was too far away. Zora’s River had no shelter and the only town left was Kakariko Village, which led up to Goron City.

So that was the plan. He would stay at Kakariko Village, and if guards began to look for him, he would simply hide up in Goron City.

He turned Epona towards Kakariko and headed for the village. As he rode, he began to think about last night’s events.

~Was it really worth it? If he hadn’t saved Zelda, then he wouldn’t be running away. He would be in his nice room sleeping comfortably.~

~No! There is no what ifs! You saved the Princess of Hyrule! Without her, Hyrule would be in political turmoil and an innocent life would be lost tonight.~

Link smiled. It was worth it. The Princess was all right and that’s what matters. He then began to wonder if he’d ever see the princess again.

~If I do, then this is an extremely small world.~

He smirked to himself. He was lucky enough to meet the Princess that night. It would take a miracle to see her again, especially when he was now known as a murderer.

The sun had risen in the east as leaves flew in the warm breezy day. The wind danced across the whole plains of Hyrule and sneaking up traveler’s shirts and chilling them.

All the while, Zelda walked in a small cemetery. The wind seemed to howl at her sad presence. Tears freely streamed down her face as she stopped and kneeled down in front of a tombstone.

“It’s been a week,” Zelda sighed. “Since you have gone. Father is worried about me more than ever… of course…”

Zelda’s eyes rained down as she sniffed and cried. “You never deserved to die! I loved you and we where going to get married, have kids, and enjoy all of life like we always did. I just,” Zelda shook her head in sadness. “…Hope… Wish, that maybe a miracle could happen. And that could bring you back, and make me happy again.”

Her finger outlined the name of Prince Winchel, beloved son carved on the tombstone… Zelda wrapped herself in her black cloak, wishing he would be there to warm her up, instead of a simple piece of cloth.

Zelda looked back and took a bundle of flowers that a guard held for her. She then placed it by the grave and walked away, escorted by the guards that followed her.

“Your majesty, are you okay? Is there something you would like to request from us?” asked one of the soldiers. Zelda sighed with a shake of her head.

“No thanks I require none of your assistance, now,” she replied. The air became silent once more.



“Please sir!” said a small child. She was clad in small rags with a smaller girl with her, who seemed to be unable to talk, or too afraid to talk in front of the gristly man with much girt.

“I’m sorry! I cannot sell these without the right amount of money! You have too little! This is not a charity here! I’m a salesman!” he roared, his face getting red with frustration and anger.

The loud sound of his booming voice scared the feeble yet starving children away. The man then relaxed at this and went to another customer.

Link watched this sight with disgust. Was there no generosity anymore? Were there no friendly people around the village? Sure it was quite peaceful, but this man had totally scared everyone who didn’t have money.

But even though Link had no money, he couldn’t let those children run away like that with no food to live with. He watched as the man became distracted with a customer and wrapped his fingers around two delicious and fresh red apples.
Link then casually hid them in his pouch and walked away, pretending that nothing came to his liking.

“Hold on there boy!”

Link froze as the man bellowed at him. The man sneered.

“Don’t think you’re getting away with that! I have eyes in the back of my head you know! For I saw you steal two of my apples! Hand them over!”

Link, feeling rather rebellious, dashed off instead, heading for Death Mountain Trail, so guards wouldn’t find him.

Sure, he thought. He was a wanted man anyway, mistaken for committing a crime, when he was actually saving one of the most important people in Hyrule. It wouldn't hurt to steal something for two desperate children.

One he ran up the stairs he dropped the two apples by the two children and shot them a thumbs up before leaving. The children smiled gratefully as they took the two apples and enjoyed their deliciousness.

“He’s heading for the gate! Close it!” shouted someone. From Link’s guess it was obviously a guard. He frowned as the gate closed and a guard came charging up at him.

Instead of fighting, Link leaped up and grabbed the edge of a house roof. Pulling himself up there, and he stood up and looked at his surroundings.

The salesman had caught almost every guards attention and Link frowned of his possible ways of getting out of this mess.

“I’ll just have to jump down and climb the gates,” Link said to himself.

He looked down to see a clear spot to land. He immediately jumped down, catching attention of the guards. They charged forwards, making Link unable to climb the gate without losing his legs.

~I’m trapped! Just great!~

Link went to take out his sword in a defensive position, but rethought.

~I can run forever. Maybe I should just go to jail.~

Link sighed and dropped his sword on the ground. The guards hesitated in shock, never having to deal with a criminal without a fight, but they soon came back to reality and took him away.

Zelda finished that last bit of turkey on her plate with a frown, and forced herself to fight back tears of remembering the same thing.

It had been a year. One long year of torture and pain… One long year of remembering her prince being killed right before her eyes by a madman who wanted to rape her.

It was a torture that kept on haunting her for all these years… Every day when she closed her eyes for a second, she recalled that very night. She refused to cry though.

Her father had obviously seen her struggle not to cry. For he sensed her despair for the whole year and it had bothered him long enough.

“Zelda, why don’t you smile anymore?” he asked her simply. She looked at him like he had gone insane.

“I smile,” she lied, to her father and herself.

“I never see you smile anymore,” he replied. “Why is that?”

“May I please be excused,” Zelda said, wanting to get out of the conversation.

“No Zelda, why don’t I ever see you smile,” he said, annoyed.

“I do smile, you just never notice okay?” Zelda replied, irritated. “Now may I please leave?”

“No, lets talk about this,” he said with a frown. Zelda sighed in impatience.

“What is there to talk about?” Zelda said. Her father stood up.

“I’ve waited to see you smile for a year and never once has it happened. You’re never happy anymore. You appear exhausted, crying at night. Is this about Winchel?”

“No! It has nothing to do with Winchel,” Zelda replied, raising her voice. “It has nothing to do with anything, now may I leave?”

“Zelda don’t lie to me,” her father said in a serious tone. “I know you. This has to be about Winchel.”

“Will you quit it? You’re being paranoid!” Zelda shouted. Her father growled in frustration.

“You know I am not being paranoid. You’re sad about Winchel’s death aren’t you?”

“No I’m not!”

“Don’t argue with me. I know you are. I really want to make you happy again Zelda. And I know I can’t be there for you all the time.”

He then snapped his fingers as an idea pooped into his head. “You need some company. A friend… A companion…”

“I don’t need anybody or anything or any help!” Zelda shouted. “Please can we leave it like it is? Nothing you do will help!”

“I’ll send in a couple princes…”

“No! Besides, they’re too stuck up and are only interested in my looks and the fact that I’m a princess.”

“A noble?”

“They’d never like me if I wasn’t a princess.”

“A soldier?”

“Interested only in my looks…”

“A peasant?”

“Not another one to kiss the floor beneath my feet.”

“I know! I’ll get you another servant!” the king replied. “He or she will attend to you’re every need and keep you company while I’m gone.”

“What!” Zelda shouted. “I don’t need a personal servant! I don’t need a slave to command!”

“I’ll send a couple in!”

“Father I don’t need an extra servant!”

“My mind is already made up! They’ll be here tomorrow!”

Zelda made a repressing sound of frustration. She didn’t even bother asking her father to leave and stomped out the door, making sure every heel on her feet slammed the ground and made the largest amount of noise.

When she went up to her room and slammed the door shut, she was so angry with her father that she couldn’t keep cool for an hour. She kept punching her pillow until she relaxed, even though she was still very mad at him.

(A.N.- Link's thoughts=~~ Zelda's thoughts=**)

Dark… Dank… Dingy…

Those were the words that described the place. Link watched on his small hard bed as a guard tiredly tapped his weapon on the bars of the other’s cells. Link didn’t flinch from the noise, but others did, as if they had gone insane.

And Link of course, minded his own business, and knew he was innocent, which was why he hadn’t gone crazy.

Another guard walked up to the one who was watching the cells and tapping his weapon on the bars.

“Its not for justice anymore, bud,” said the one guard. The other became confused.

“What are you talking about?”

Link’s ears perked of curiosity. He quietly listened to their conversation.

“The king is crashing the place down to rebuild the jail. He’s wanting some servants too, so we’re going to make use of these guys.”

~The king… Wants servants? But that can only mean…~

“He’s going to borrow one and sell the other guys as slaves.”

Link sighed. Could this get any worse, not only did he go to jail, but now he might even get sold to become a servant of some rich, spoiled noble.

“All right come on, lets get these guys out of here.”

A large group of guards entered and started to chain all the criminals up. Some fought back and some refused to go, but Link didn’t even bother wasting his energy.



Zelda watched, tired and bored, as her father suggested some servants.

“No! I don’t want a servant! I don’t need one!” she shouted for the four hundredth time. And her father replied with the same, “We are not leaving this room until you choose one. I am not giving up on you!”

Zelda crossed her arms and mustered the angriest look she could possibly have. She watched as her father sent in another servant.

“No,” Zelda simply said. Her father was frustrated, but he refused to give up.

“Send the next one in,” her father shouted to the guard.

Another slave walked in, and Zelda simply made the same reply.

“No.”

“Send the next one in.”

“No.”

“Send the next one in.”

At that sudden moment after her father’s words echoed out of his mouth, another person walked in, but it shocked and stunned Zelda that she had to force herself from fainting.

Link walked into the room, chained up like every other servant. His boots echoed through Zelda as events of him saving her that night flowed through her mind.

At first, it seemed like forever that he was walking into the room, but Zelda stood there, blown away at what happened to the man she owed more than just her life to.

Her father noticed this and grew a slight speck of hope in him.

“Well? Zelda? Will this servant do?”

“Why is this man a slave?” Zelda broke out. Her father looked towards the guard. He checked a piece of paper that he held of all the names.

“It says here that he murdered three men and stole from a shop in Kakariko.”

“Three men?” Zelda whispered. Memories flooded back as she remembered three men chasing after her that horrifying night.

Zelda then stood up. “Set him free,” she commanded, fiercely. She looked over to Link, who felt relief go through his mind. He smiled at her.

~Thank the goddesses. I might finally become a free man once more.~

Zelda knew and couldn’t bear to see Link suffer as a slave to some snotty noble, which it made her slightly happy to, bring him his freedom.

*This is it. This is payback for him for saving me.*

It was then like a balloon being poked slowly with a needle in her stomach. Her father put his hands on her shoulders.

“Zelda are you okay? You look a little pale?”

Zelda looked at her father with a burning desire. “Please set him free. He is an innocent man.”

Her father removed her hands. “Please Zelda, calm down. Why would you think this man is innocent? We have all the proof that he is guilty.”

“Because he stopped those men, from,” Zelda couldn’t say it. Her father put his hands on his hips.

“Look, I don’t have enough time to argue with you. Pick a servant, or we’ll finish this tomorrow.”

Zelda opened her mouth to reply, but looked at Link. Link gave her a look of hope. Zelda got the message.

If I can’t set free Link that way, then sending him back to jail or in a noble’s house will get him nowhere.

Zelda pointed at Link. “Him,” she simply said.

The king became confused. “Him?”

“Yes, I choose him,” Zelda said.

Zelda paced around the room, furious about the sudden events. Link watched and stood there, dressed in a servant’s attire, which looked terrible on him.

“I,” Zelda growled. “…Hate my father!”

Link didn’t bother trying to calm her down, and she was glad for that.

“I,” she furiously said. “…Hate the guards!”

She paced for a couple minutes before sitting on her bed.

“And I honestly hate myself for getting you into this,” Zelda sighed. “This is all my fault.”

“Princess, no its…”

“It’s Zelda unless were around some stupid royal or noble public,” Zelda interrupted.

“Zelda,” Link corrected himself. “Don’t punish yourself for this. I might’ve gone to jail anyway.”

Zelda popped out of her bed. “No you wouldn’t! You wouldn’t be charged for committing a crime! You would be like the world’s most famous hero or something else if everything worked out right! It’s all my fault!”

“Actually I was charged for stealing to, which I admit I did,” Link replied, trying to make her feel better. Zelda became curious.

“Why did you steal two apples from a small shop in Kakariko anyway?”

Link fidgeted. “This,” he stopped fidgeting and brought it out. “…Guy… He was scaring away two destitute children and it would kill me if I didn’t get them food and I didn’t have any money so I stole it.”

Zelda stood up again and made sigh from stress. A few moments later she realized something. She quickly turned around and gave Link an annoyed look.

“Do you enjoy being some sort of hero?”

“What?”

“Do you enjoy being a hero? Is that some sort of hobby of yours, because to me it seems like a bad habit?”

Link couldn’t believe the words he was hearing. “What! Did you want me not to stop those men?”

“No, I’m just asking. You had a choice,” Zelda stated, truthfully. Link shook his head.

“I wasn’t thinking really thinking about the consequences and neither was I for stealing the fruit for those children. I just get this feeling that I should help them, or something worse will happen to me.”

“Like what? You wouldn’t get tortured if you didn’t help those children, not that I discourage you to ignore the cries of help of the destitute.”

Link lowered his head and sighed. “Not physically.”

Those words had such an impact on the room, and silence echoed until after a few moments. Zelda broke it.

“What do you mean?”

He made another sigh. “Can we please talk about something else? Is there anything you want of me?”

Zelda frowned. “No, I don’t want anything of you, Link. Can you please answer my question?”

Link looked at her eyes and recalled those moments of regret. “I’ve always been used to saving people for so long. It’s scares me that if I don’t help someone, it will end up like last time.”

“Last time?” Zelda asked curiously.

Link looked up at the ceiling with a sigh and remembered his most horrifying events in his younger age.

~As it poured rain and blood, people screeched in pain, wanting nothing more than to end it. Female gerudos dashed around the place, quickly removing the innocent hylians one by one. All the while a little boy came running in the massacre.

“Mommy?” shouted the boy as people fled for safety.

“Mommy!” he shouted louder.

“Link!” replied another voice. Link looked towards the noise.

A woman stood there on the ground, blood draining out of her body and mouth as a gerudo smirked and kicked her down on the ground. Link froze in terror for a second as the gerudo finished the tortured woman off.

At first the little boy went for his little dagger he trained with all his life, but looking at the large gerudo woman made him scared. He was so scared that he forgot about his dagger and ran to the woods.~

Zelda listened in horror as Link recalled the events that happened in his childhood. Link lowered his head again.

“I came back a year later, hearing that a group of emergency doctors came by and I went to ask them about her and…”

Link forced himself not to cry. He would not cry, he kept telling himself. But his attempts were futile. Tears dripped down his face. Zelda was afraid to ask, but mustered up the courage.

“What happened?” Zelda asked. Link bit his lip.

“They,” Link cried. “They! They said…”

He started over again. “They said that if she had been taken to them ten minutes ago…”

Zelda held back tears as he uttered those words.

“They said if she had been taken to them ten minutes ago, she would’ve lived.”

Zelda watched in horror as Link broke down from those moments.

“I promised myself that I would never ever, ever make that same mistake again,” Link finished. Zelda ran up to him and hugged him in a tight embrace, both teary from these horrifying memories.

Soon after Link told her that story of his young life, Zelda went to making his time in the castle less tedious and full of confusion.

So she gave him a tour of the castle. It was quite long and sometimes-even Zelda didn’t even know which hallway was which.

“And were now walking towards my favorite place in the castle,” Zelda announced. Link became curious.

“Which is?” he asked. Zelda stopped and turned around.

“The gardens, of course,” she said with a dreamy look. He wondered how beautiful the gardens in the castle could possibly.

Zelda and Link entered the gardens. They were certainly a fantastic sight. A small moat circled around the place as they walked across a small bridge that led to the island.

It was a simple garden. In the middle was a large circle of dirt filled with the most colorful and beautiful flowers growing. Two cherry blossoms stood next to the small garden of wildflowers.

Zelda lowered her head. “Winchel and I used to come here all the time. But ever since…”

Link listened with compassion. “I understand.”

She turned around. “If you want, you can come here as much as you want, but I don’t think I should stay here.”

She walked away, and he followed. “What do you mean come there as much as I want? Aren’t I supposed to be working for you?”

She put her hands on her hips. “Are you really that slow? I can’t force you to do anything like you’re my slave when you saved my life. Not to mention that you’re a servant because of me.”

“Zelda that’s not…”

“Yes, it is,” she interrupted fiercely. “As much as you want to believe that you got yourself into this, it’s not true. Please Link; please accept that this is my fault. You had a choice to save me or not, and if you didn’t, you would still be a free man.”

He was about to make another comment, but Zelda shot a glare at him, and he sighed.

“Okay,” he said. “I accept the fact that I might’ve had a choice to save you.”

“And?”

“Zelda, I can’t lie to myself like this,” he replied. She gave a frustrated growl.

“You know what, never mind,” she said. “Can we please just get off this subject?”

“Yes,” he said quickly. She gave him a surprised look at how quickly he made that answer, but she turned around

“We should move on,” Zelda said hurtfully and walked through the halls, followed by the somber Link. He mentally kicked himself for being such an idiot around Zelda.


Zelda opened her door, followed by Link. “And that’s the end of the tour.”

He nodded, impressed by the size of the castle. He then remembered that fight that they just had.

“Look Zelda, I’m really sorry I,” he started. She put her hand up to silence him.

“You don’t have to explain yourself,” she said. “I should’ve never forced you to lie about anything. I’m sorry.”

He made a relieved sigh. “So everything’s okay again. Can we stop fighting and forget about the past?”

She nodded. “I quite agree. We shouldn’t dwell on the past when this is the present.”

She stopped again. “By the way… The castle is very busy, and everyone finds something to do, even me. So if I never ask for help on something when you’re busy just say the word and I’ll understand.”

Link gave her a confused look. “My only job is to serve you. That’s the only work I have to do.”

She shook her head. “Believe me, you’ll find something to do. Even I find some work to do in this castle when there are hundreds of servants all over the place. You can easily find something to do, especially at this time of year.”

“This time of year?” He asked. She gave him a surprised look.

“You mean you don’t know?” She said astonished. “In two months our Annual Festival will begin.”

“What’s going on at this Annual Festival?” He asked curiously.

“Why, my father invites every servant, peasant, and others, except for criminals over to a festival in the castle, dressed in their best clothes. The festival goes on for everyone. There will be games, food, and much more. And at night there will be a ball for everyone,” Zelda informed. He raised an eyebrow.

“Sounds fun,” he commented.

She walked away. “Not really.”

“Really?” he asked. She sighed.

“The party that day will be fun, but because I’m single again, every prince from around the world will visit Hyrule, for not only the party, but the selfish princes will come and try and impress me,” Zelda sighed. “And then I’ll have to dance with these stupid princes unless I find a partner.”

She then looked over at Link and an idea popped into her head. “Hey Link, do you know how to dance?”

Link, upon hearing that question, immediately went beet red. “Umm, well… No… Sorry…”

Zelda nodded. “Then I’ll have to teach you.”

“What!”

“I’ll teach you. Unless you want me to dance with selfish perverts.”

He sighed. The word ‘pervert’ struck a chord in him. He felt like he was becoming overprotective of her, but he had to do it, even though he didn’t really want to dance at all.

“All right,” he sighed. “I’ll try to dance, but where’s the party going to be? Surely not in the castle, is it?”

Zelda made a sigh of relief and gestured for him to follow her. They went to the back of the castle and outside.

Outside was a simple miniature field. There were stands with games prepared. A table could be seen with a batch of odd purple fruit. And at the back was a large tank and a chair over it. Beside it was a small bulls eye.

Link curiously walked up to it. Zelda noticed this and took a small orange ball. She handed it to Link.

“Go ahead, try to hit the bulls eye.”

He took the ball with a smile and threw it at the bulls eye. It hit the target perfectly, sending the chair attached to the wall against the tank down as a few bits of leaves and dust fell into the pool of water.

Link smirked at Zelda, and she walked over to the pool of water and put the chair back in its original place.

“That was simply dumb luck,” Zelda said stubbornly. Link grinned.

“Why, who is going to be sitting on that chair?”

She frowned. “All royalty.”

He quickly changed his laugh into a hacking cough. She blushed.

“Shut up,” she said, joking around. “Just because I’m sitting on there at the festival doesn’t mean that’s a bad thing. Are you ready to practice?”

Link stopped coughing and sighed. “Yes, I’ll start when you’re ready.”

“Which is now,” Zelda said and walked away. He quickly followed her, in not a very happy mood.

Slow moving music echoed throughout the room as Link concentrated on keeping the pace of the dance.

And actually, he was seemingly getting better. For now he was able to look into Zelda’s eyes without tripping over Zelda’s feet and becoming hot in the face.

And when the music stopped, a guard immediately entered the room.

“Princess Zelda!” He panted, out of breath, due to rushing into the room. “King Van and Queen Fallon from the island of Jorjanna have arrived.”

“Oh boy,” Zelda said in slight despair. Link became confused.

“What’s wrong?”

“Prince Vladimir and Prince Vlad,” Zelda said. “They are the two twins of the family, and they are really possessive over me. Always fighting, and there is a really bad part.”

“What’s that?” Link asked. Zelda pursed her lips.

“According to my calculations, they should be about the age of nine.”

Link struggled not to burst out laughing and managed to turn it into a snicker. Zelda glared at him.

“It’s not funny,” she snapped. Link immediately stopped. Zelda made a sigh and walked out of the room, escorted by Link.

They walked out behind the to be party room and to the back, which seemed totally different to Link.

He was astonished, for he had never gone this far back to the castle, or this far north… And the giant seaport in front of him and the ocean smell that was currently blocked out from the entrance to the castle amazed him.

“Wow,” Link could only reply as he followed Zelda. She walked in front of a large dock, which was where a giant ship stood in front of her. And at least twelve people got off. Four were obviously royalty, and the others were guards dressed in green colored armor.

Link had heard that the King and Queen were named Van and Fallon. They seemed like very kind people.

The Queen Fallon had her sleek brunette hair in a neat bun. She was dressed in a long green dress with canary yellow decorations all around it. Her brown eyes seemed just as warm as her bright sunny smile.

King Van was also the same. He had neatly combed black hair and hazel eyes that shown with care and kindness. He was dressed in green armor like the guards, except he wore a bright golden crown atop his head, showing that he was obviously royalty.

The two boys were twins, dressed in a miniature garb to what King Fallon dressed in, except their armor seemed to be slightly fake and lighter. They both had black hair like their father and brown joyful eyes like their mother. But these two seemed very amusing due to the small plastic toy swords in their hands.

“Back beast! I shall defeat thee and defend the great Princess Zelda!” he said playfully. The other made a growl, as if trying and failing terribly to copy the roar of a lion.

“Ha! Wrong I shall steal her for myself and rid you of thy life!” the other boy said, jabbing his sword jokingly.

Link couldn’t help but smile at their game. Zelda put on a weak smile.

“King Van and Queen Fallon, it is an honor to meet you as usual,” Zelda said with a curtsy. Link noticed this and made a bow as well. They both smiled warmly and bowed.

“It is an honor to meet you again, Princess Zelda, are you well?” Queen Fallon said.

“Why yes,” Zelda replied simply. King Van noticed Link first.

“Well it seems you have found a new companion. I’m truly sorry for the tragedy bestowed upon you,” King Van said in sadness. Zelda blushed at this comment. Link couldn’t help but turn red as the King said companion.

“Actually, he’s not my companion,” Zelda stated. “He’s my personal servant actually.”

King Van made a slight blush at this mistake. “Ah, my apologies… But I say, you do look nice together.”

Queen Fallon nodded in agreement and grabbed her husband’s hand and walked to the entrance to the castle, followed by half of the guards. The two children were about to follow when one tugged on Zelda’s dress.

“Princess Zelda, are we allowed to go to the ball yet?” said one of the twins. Zelda frowned.

“I’m sorry Vlad,” she said. “You still need to be bigger to get to the ball, but don’t worry. You’ll get there sometime soon! You are almost there!”

Vlad made a frown and lowered his head. Zelda gave him a look of compassion and pushed his chin up slightly to look into her eyes.

“Hey,” she said. “Chin up… We’re having the festival and it will have all these games to play!”

“Really?” Vlad said, excited. Zelda nodded. Vlad clapped his hands in joy and caught up with his family. Link couldn’t help but smile as Zelda stood up. She noticed his smile immediately.

“What?”

“Sorry,” Link said. “It’s just that you’d make a really good mother.”

Zelda turned away with blush. “Well, you never know when I might become one. I doubt it though.”

She, followed by Link, walked back out of the port and into the castle once more.

“Did you find her yet?”

“No,” Link said simply.

“Did you find her yet?”

“No…”

“Did you find her yet?”

Link made a sigh of both amusement and irritation as both Vlad and Vladimir kept asking the same question. They ran around the castle halls, opening and slamming all the doors as hard as they could. The questions were annoying, but it was quite amusing how many people screamed because the two little boys burst into every room like a bat out of hell.

“No,” he answered for the fourteenth time, or was it the fifteenth? Great, he thought. He lost count again…

Who they were looking for was actually Zelda. She had disappeared after the welcoming dinner for King Van, Queen Fallon, and their children, and seemingly said to have a lot on her mind when she left. She told him not to follow her, and he obeyed like any other servant.

But it had been an hour and he couldn’t find Zelda. And this was extremely bad. He didn’t want the king to think he tied her up and locked her in the dungeons until he could sell her for ransom.

“Did you find her yet?” Vladimir almost screamed across the hall to Link.

“No,” he half shouted back, hoping no one would hear him.

Vlad then ran up to Link, almost crashing into him from trying to halt his sprints.

“I checked her room. She’s not there…”

“Did you check the gardens?” Link asked. Vlad shook his head.

Link wondered if she would actually be at the gardens. She said that she wasn’t going to go around that place anymore for some odd reason. Link sighed. It was either going to the gardens or barging out of the castle to look for her.

He ran to the gardens, slowing down the pace to look casual in front of the guards and not suspicious.

And to his luck, Zelda had not left the castle. She was luckily sitting by the gardens, tracing the smooth lines of a painting as a small tear rolled down her cheek.

“Zelda,” Link said, making his presence known. She didn’t turn to look at him, but only close her eyes to hide the tears.

“I told you not to follow me,” Zelda said. Link frowned.

“Yes, well, when you’re gone for an hour, I’m afraid some people might get suspicious. I would…”

Zelda opened her eyes again and stood up, lowering her head. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to worry anyone. I just needed some privacy.”

Link suddenly noticed the drawing that she was looking at.

And my, it was a beautiful one.

It was a picture of Zelda, dressed in a simple white gown. She stood by a small tree that Link recognized as the tree out in the front yards of the castle. The full moon sparkled as if alive in the artwork, as did Zelda’s eyes and hair did in real life, which was shown clearly in the portrait as well.

“Who painted this?” Link asked, astonished by such a great piece of artwork.

Zelda sniffed. “His name… His name is Winchel… He died the night you rescued me from those men. Murdered… He painted that very same picture that night. Only minutes before he died…”

Link was silenced at this. No words came out as a look of pity for Zelda was plastered on his face.

“Winchel,” she said, giving a weak smile. “He was a poet, artist, and musician all in one. He did all these amazing things, but most of all; he was the nicest person I ever met. Sort of like you, Link…”

“What?” Link said, as if awakening from a trance. “Umm… I hate to admit, but I’m not exactly good with poetry and artistry.”

Zelda rolled her eyes. “I meant the kindness part.”

“Oh,” Link said, still almost seeming far away. Zelda walked away, and as he was supposed to, he followed her.

Vlad then came running in, almost knocking the both of them off their feet from the speedy boy.

“Zelda! We found you finally!” he half shouted. A guard walked up behind him as well.

“Your Highness, Queen Kyna has arrived.”

Zelda nodded brightly. “Ah good! Princess Caley is here!”

Link didn’t need to ask after the guard ran off again.

“Princess Caley is from the country of Kuniko, and is a very good friend of mine,” Zelda informed him. “She, unfortunately, has a brother Prince Manton, who has no respect for people that are supposedly under royalty. So try and stay as far away from him as you possibly can.”

Link nodded. He then followed the Princess to the throne room, where Zelda’s father sat on an ornamental chair.

Both Link and Zelda entered from the side of the throne room, and quickly rushed over to her father’s side. She put on a fake smile and waved.

Link looked over to her with a frown. The smile she had on was definitely fake, and he didn’t mention it to her, but he noticed that she was usually depressed or faking a terrible smile.

He then looked over to the family, which walked on the red plush carpet, as almost guided to it, which went all the way to the King’s chair. He greeted them with great joy.

“Queen Kyna, such an honor it is to see you once more,” He said politely with happiness.

Queen Kyna made a warm smile which was just as sweet as King Van and Queen Fallon’s. She was dressed in gold robes, as for her hair; it was blonde streaked light brown hair in a bun. Her hazel eyes looked up upon the King of Hyrule.

“For you the same your Majesty,” she said with a graceful curtsy.

Link noticed that the boy behind her looked just the same. They were the same hazel eyes and blonde streaked hair. He was dressed in flashy gold armor. He looked the same exact age as Zelda and Link. This was probably the man Zelda referred to as Prince Manton.

And then there was another girl who was also the same age as the boy. And she also wore golden robes like her mother, yet she seemed so out of place in the family. She instead, had bright fiery red hair and golden eyes that matched her robes.

And instead of most royals, whom wore a tight bun, especially when in public of other nobles, she wore her long red hair down, just like Zelda did. Her arms were crossed, unlike her family, showing a large stubborn side to her, and she edged away from her guards who were dressed in simple metal armor. Link could see why Zelda was friends with Princess Caley. She seemed free spirited, and didn’t seem to care what others thought about her.

And while the King got up from his chair and shook hands with Queen Kyna, Princess Caley almost burst into a run and embraced Zelda with a friendly hug.

“Hey Zelda!” Caley shouted almost like a child getting a cookie. “What’s up?”

“Nothing much Caley,” Zelda replied back in a ‘hip’ tone of voice. Link gave both girls an odd look at their strange language.

“And who is this?” said another voice. Link turned around to see Prince Manton looking at him suspiciously. He then turned to Zelda.

“Did you find a new boyfriend already?” Manton said with a kindness and curiosity directed fully to Zelda. Link sensed already to step away from him, for he didn’t seem to send any friendliness towards Link at all.

“No,” Zelda said with a frown. “He’s my personal servant,” she answered honestly, and wished she had lied that Link was a noble.

“Ah,” Manton smiled brightly, and even though Link tried to edge far away from the prince, he still amazingly managed to shove past him and put an arm around Zelda in a flirty way.

“So did you choose anyone to dance with at the ball yet?” Manton asked sickeningly and sweetly. Both Link and Zelda refused the urge to vomit in hatred.

“Yes,” Zelda said. “My apologies Manton, but I’m already taken.”

“By whom?” Manton asked raising an eyebrow. Zelda made a deeper frown. Link made a silent sigh, knowing he would possibly regret this.

“Me,” Link piped up. The prince turned around at him with shock. He gave a stunned look, and then broke into a laugh.

“Very funny, servant,” Manton said chuckling. “Zelda I’m so glad you had the servants trained to have a sense of humor.”

Zelda turned pink. “Actually I did ask him to the ball with me.”

Manton looked shocked again, and he turned to Link once more. He didn’t say anything, but give a glare of both jealousy and hatred.

But Link ignored this, since he was used to in his childhood.

For as a child, he used to visit his friend Saria in the forest, and pass by a boy named Mido, who obviously had a crush on his dear friend. He often mistook their friendship for love and tried to attack him in any way he could when she wasn’t around.

Once he broke out of his thoughts Manton had broke the glare and walked towards his mother Queen Kyna. Link could swear if it were possible, steam would be coming out of his ears.

And Caley noticed this as well. She walked up to him and cupped her hands around his pointy ears and whispered to him.

“I would stay away from Manton,” Caley warned.

Link sighed. He could sense this would turn out just like what happened in the forest whenever he was near Mido. He could sense that Manton was going to try and anger and torture him as much as he possibly could.

An itch formed behind Link’s neck. It started small, and then began to drive him crazy. But he dared not scratch, for a very annoying minister was watching them, and gave him a slap on the arm with a paper fan every time he moved.

And amazingly, he had no idea who this person was. This was surprising because before he was helping the cooks with the welcome dinner for the royals of Gautier, and since then, almost every servant met him. Now the royals he did know were The Kings Harkinian of Hyrule, King Van of Jorjanna, and the new visitor King Gautier of the foreign land of Vienna, who was dressed in a velvet purple cloak. This was impressive for a peasant like him.

All the other royals sat at the spacious dinner table. Chatting happily… Queen Kyna of Kuniko and Queen Fallon of Jorjanna were having a nice conversation about their economy.

Beside them was the famous couple of Vienna. Prince Amir and Princess Emlyn were laughing and sharing sweet kisses underneath the table.

And then there were the two best friends Princess Caley and Princess Zelda. They both found an interesting way to pass the time, which was hurl peas from their forks at the two young princes, Vlad and Vladimir, who were throwing carrots covered in mashed potatoes at the older princesses.

And there was both last and least, Manton, who was obviously both pouting and still not getting over the fact that Link and Zelda were dancing at the ball. The Princess and her servant… Hard to believe from his point of view…

“Servant, get the Prince’s plate,” said the one minister, pointing to Link.

He sighed and braced himself as he edged towards Manton.

And he remembered every move Manton made to torture servants. First was pretending to be surprised.

And he did pretend, for once Link took the empty plate off of the table; the prince gave a fake shocked look as his glass of wine flung into the air.

Sensing this immediately, Link put the plate down and grabbed the wine glass, only allowing a few drops of white wine to splash out of the delicate wart goblet. He could vaguely see Caley shoot a smile at him, congratulating him that he managed to avoid Manton’s first prank.

Link then made a silent sigh of relief and put the wine glass back onto the table, and then remembered Manton’s second torturing servant method.

And upon instant, Link lifted his left foot off the ground to avoid Manton’s foot that tried to kick him in the ankle.

Then there was his third method that Link forgot about, which he discovered when Manton’s elbow connected with his stomach, satisfying the prince. Link quickly took the empty plate and left.

Luckily, He felt worse pains in his stomach and other areas on his body, so Manton’s elbow only felt like a poke in his ribcage.

Link sighed in relief as he put the plate on a tray, which was then carried back into the kitchens by one of the assistant cooks.

It went on like this for an hour until another group of servants cleaned the table and everyone left as both Zelda and Link left to go back to a desolate room and practice dancing.

And like every time they practiced dancing, Link would become so nervous. Not that he’d trip or step on Zelda’s foot or do any other dumb mistake… Link was so uncomfortable being so close to her, and he forced himself not to blush.
And luckily Zelda didn’t notice it. She seemed to be thinking deeply, for she didn’t even look at Link.

He didn’t interrupt her, for no apparent reason. Link guessed that he liked the silence with only the soft music in the background. It was much more relaxing and pushed away the stress of Manton trying to kill him while making it look accidental.

He guessed Zelda liked silence too, for she didn’t look at all uncomfortable or awkward. She just seemed much farther away than usual.

The music then slowed down and Zelda looked up at Link finally.

“Well then,” she looked satisfied with this dance. “If you do that at the ball we’ll both be perfectly fine.”

“Yes, that was a nice dance,” said another voice. Link froze wondering if it was Manton, but this man’s voice sounded much different. Zelda turned around with an eyebrow raised.

“Prince Amir and Princess Emlyn,” she said with a cursty. “I didn’t see you there.”

Princess Emlyn waved it off with a cursty as well as Prince Amir made a bow. “No matter… We just wanted to see who was the lucky man who was going to dance with the Princess Zelda at the ball.”

Zelda nodded. “Oh yes, allow me to introduce you to Link, my personal servant and my dance partner.”

Prince Amir made a chuckle. “That’s quite different. You should be lucky Link. No royal has ever danced with a servant at the ball before. This will be a big experience for you.”

“Yes it will,” Link nodded with a bow. He made a slight smile as he looked at the two royals.

Both Amir and Emlyn seemed so happy. They both had bright shining smiles on their faces as they both leaned close to each other. He could tell why they were the most famous couple of Vienna. It was quite obvious how close they were…

The door suddenly opened and Link made a deep frown as Manton walked in.

“Ah! Zelda! I was just looking for you. How about we take a nice walk through the gardens. The weather is perfect for one.”

Zelda hesitated for a moment, trying to rack her brain for an excuse.

“I would love to Manton, but I have to go back and order some papers in my room right now.”

Manton smirked and walked up to her. “Oh come on,” he said casually while once again he shoved Link out of the way. “The servants can do that busy work. We need some fresh air.”

And with that Manton wrapped an arm around her shoulder and took her out of the room.

Amir and Emlyn watched this silently and once Manton and Zelda were both out of the room, they both looked at Link.

And Amir was the one to speak first. “Do not be so angry with Manton. He simply was taught to believe that servants weren’t actual people. He is truly nice when it comes to others like him.”

Link listened carefully and then sighed. “I’m not mad. I just wish he wouldn’t try and push me around like that.”

Emlyn giggled. “If you’re not mad then you have a very good way of acting like it.”

She pointed to Link’s now white knuckled fist that he didn’t notice before. He blushed and walked out of the room.

Zelda looked at her image in the mirror and made a smile. She looked great.

She had her hair up in a neat bun as she was dressed in a long pink dress. White pearls decorated the beautiful dress as she twirled around, making her dress flow around her, as did the pearls that hung from the thread sewed on the gown.

And Winchel walked up to her putting his hand on her shoulder intimately and gave a gentle kiss on her neck.
“Hair like the sun… Eyes like the most dazzling wildflowers,” he whispered in her ear. “You are beautiful.”

Zelda made a small frown. “On the outside…”

“What?”

“Winchel, do you love me because the way I look?”

He raised a surprised eyebrow. “This is different…”

“Please answer the question.”

“ Alright I wont ask, but no,” Winchel said, looking into her eyes. “You may be the most beautiful maiden in the world on the outside, but what I love your kindness, sincerity, and stubbornness,” he chuckled at that. “…In your heart, Zelda. You are both perfect on the inside and outside and I love the inside the most.”

And he finished by giving her a warm hug. Zelda made a bright smile as she inhaled his warmth that he gave to her.

And then she opened her eyes once more. She sighed and looked at the pink dress in the mirror once more, but no one was there to tell her now that she was beautiful on the inside, not just the outside.

And she panicked from that… Was she kind? Was she sincere? Was she the way she was even after Winchel’s death?

Zelda lowered her head. It didn’t seem that way anymore. She was the one person who ended up making someone just like her old self suffer.

“Zelda,” Link said, knocking on the door. She put the dress away, revealing her thick navy blue waterproof shirt and pants.

“Come in Link,” Zelda said. As she commanded, Link opened the door.

He, unlike her, had an excited look on his face.

“Hurry Zelda, the festival is starting!”

She made a slight smile and followed Link to the back of the castle and into the castle grounds.
It seemed like the market, except everything seemed much more crowded and brighter today. Everyone was rejoicing in games, gossip, and much more.

And in the back was King Gautier, laughing as he sat on the chair over a bucket of water.

“Who thinks they have the skill to get me into this water!” he bellowed joyfully, catching the interest in almost every onlooker. “Who thinks they have the arm to take me down!”

Princess Caley tiptoed up behind Zelda, and then made a large screech, causing her and Link to jump.

“Caley!” Zelda shouted, irritated. “Don’t do that!”

Caley laughed. “Come on! Don’t be such a party pooper! Let’s play some games!”

Zelda nodded and Caley grabbed her arm and literally dragged her to the on the games.

Link watched with a smile and then started to look around.

It was amazing because some many people arrived. Almost everyone from Castleton was at this festival, as were some others from Kakariko. What was also surprising was the gorons that came here… And what was even more surprising was both the Zoras and Gerudos that made it to the festival.

He never saw such a large party in his life. This was certainly a large event.

What he also noticed was a certain red haired girl standing in the crowd. Link made a large smile and ran over to her.

“Malon!” Link shouted to get her attention. Malon turned around with a look of shock on her face. Then it immediately turned to a frown as she walked up with him sternly and raised her hand.

SMACK!

Immediately, the side of Link’s face flushed red from the hard impact on his cheek.

“Malon!” Link shouted. “What was that for!” he said angrily.

Malon gave him a fierce and fiery glare under her bright red hair. She put on hand on her hip and shook a fist at him.

“You!” Malon shouted. “You! You idiot! You moron! You are such a bonehead!”

“What’d I do?” Link said back confused.

“Oh its nothing you did!” Malon said angrily. “I just happen to find Epona trotting back up to the ranch rider less when you promised that you would never leave her side!”

“Oh,” Link said back. If steam could come out of Malon’s ears, it would’ve been now.

“You made me think you were dead or something! How could you?”

Link made a sheepish smile. “I got caught stealing and had to go to jail.”

Upon hearing this, Malon relaxed. “Oh, why didn’t you just say so before?”

Link made a sigh and shook his head. Malon then changed from a fiery pit of anger to the normal happy person she usually was.

“Hey Link so how did you get out of prison?”

Link rubbed his cheek. “They’re rebuilding the prison and I’m working as Zelda’s personal servant.”

Malon made a giggle. “Serves you right for stealing Fairy Boy! You know that always ends people up in some big trouble.”

Link made another sigh. He then heard someone else walking towards him, despite the loud noises of other people talking.

“Hey Link,” said another redheaded girl. Her mischievous bronze eyes looked over at Link as her tanned skin shown out in the crowd.

Link turned around and frowned. He gave a glare at the girl who greeted him.

“Nabooru,” he spat back. Nabooru frowned as well.

“Oh come on Link! It’s been two years and you still didn’t forgive me?”

“Two years,” Link shouted angrily. “You forced me to do something that I’ll regret for the rest of my life!”

Nabooru grew angry as well. “You even lucky I took that death penalty off for you. Link for the hundredth time, I’m sorry. I was wrong and you were naïve. We both made a mistake.”

Before Link answered Zelda had overheard this and made a face of disgust.

“Am I supposed to be thinking perverted thoughts about you two?” she interrupted.

Link and Nabooru looked at her and took a large step away from each other. Malon failed at trying to turn her laughter into a hacking cough.

“No I would never ever do that!” Link said. Nabooru nodded.

“Although you’re good looking Link, I would rather get lost in the Haunted Wasteland than do that.”

“Oh I forgive you Nabooru,” Link said sarcastically. Nabooru made a yell in frustration.

“What do you want me to do Link! I can’t turn back time and never give you that letter.”

“Give the title Queen of Gerudos to a more deserving gerudo.”

Nabooru rolled her eyes. “Forget it.”

And she walked away. Zelda looked over to Malon.

“What was that about?”

But Malon wasn’t listening. “I told you not to listen to her!” she shouted in her fiery anger again. “And this is what happens.”

Before Link could reply, Zelda interrupted.

“You know, if I’m intruding, I’ll leave,” Zelda shouted to get their attention.

Malon sighed at this and crossed her arms. “Link and I used to be in a relationship, and during that relationship, Link got a letter from Nabooru saying that the King of Gerudos, named Ganondorf, was killing and punishing the women there brutally.” Malon explained.

“Why did Nabooru write a letter to Link?” Zelda asked curiously. Link blushed.

“I had a habit of exploring and I tried to explore Gerudo Fortress.”

Malon smirked. “He was caught many times, and the only person to ever escape the Gerudo jail cells.”

“Yeah, I think I was caught about three times,” Link blushed. Malon snickered.

“More like eight.”

Link blushed furiously.

“Anyway,” Malon said. “I told him millions of times not to trust gerudos…”

“Just because gerudos are known as thieves doesn’t mean all of them have to be bad,” Link stated. Malon glared at him.

“And look where that got you!” Malon said. “As I was saying, I told him millions of times not to go there and said that if he left, we were over, which he foolishly did!”

“I would’ve left anyway,” Link said crossing his arms. “You were being possessive.”

Malon shot a fierce deathly glare at him with bared teeth and clutched fists. “He went to the desert to help Nabooru. The plan was for Link to hold off the guards while she was supposed to reason with him, but instead she angered him and shoved Link into a fight to the death. In the end, Link was the winner,” Malon explained.

“But actually what Nabooru said was a lie, because Link then found out that Ganondorf was a good ruler and Nabooru only used Link so she could inherit the throne.”

“Oh,” Zelda said, now understanding Nabooru’s and Link’s fight.

Princess Caley then walked up to Princess Zelda.

“Hey Zelda! I’ve been looking for you everywhere, come on!” she said, dragging the Princess Zelda into another fun game.

Malon looked over at Link with a grin. “I’ve been working on archery for some time now.”

“Have you,” Link said with a grin. “I wonder how terrible you are at it.”

“In your dreams fairy boy,” Malon said with a smirk.

“Then lets play!” Link said. They ran off to the one stand where people were aiming bows and slingshots at moving rupees.

After about fifty games in the shooting gallery stand, in the end, Link was the winner.

“Ha!” Link preened. “In your face Malon! I bet you to a bloody pulp!”

Malon simply crossed her arms at his comment and sent him a fiery death glare, which immediately made him calm down and shut up. Satisfied, Malon made a smile again.

“So what Link… You’ve been practicing since you were born and I’ve only learned a couple years ago.”

“How long?”

Malon hesitated before answering. “Two years.”

Link gave her an odd look. “Were you,” he started awkwardly. “Were you trying to impress me?”

“Shut it Fairy Boy,” Malon said and walked away. She then saw a large crowd around the back of the castle walls.

Zelda sat on the small chair over the bucket of water, looking bored to death. She seemed to be playing with a piece of hair while a few people attempted and failed to hit the target.

“Come on people! Doesn’t anyone here have any miracle talent in hitting that stupid target?”

Some onlookers chuckled while others who had tried to hit the target blushed. Zelda made a loud yawn for everyone to hear.

Link couldn’t take it anymore. He couldn’t miss this chance to shut Zelda up.

With that he moved through the crowd, leaving a very frustrated Malon.

“Hey I can get her down,” Link smirked. Zelda raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah right Link!” Zelda shouted. “I bet not even one drop of water will hit my foot! You’ll probably throw the ball all the way to the front of the castle.”

Link smiled. “Want to bet?”

Zelda crossed her arms. “Yeah, if you can get me down from here, which would never happen in a million years, I’ll give you a kiss.”

Some people made a gasp while others giggled in delight.

Link made a wide smile. “You’ve got a deal,” he grinned sheepishly. The crowd followed with a loud and long ‘oooooo’, which both Zelda and Link ignored.

He took a one of the balls and Zelda interrupted mockingly.

“Don’t drop it now,” Zelda mocked. Link smiled.

“Pucker up Princess,” Link said. He raised his hand clutching the ball and released with a swing.

And instantly there were a few cheers and laughter as the ball hit perfectly in the center of the bulls eye, causing Zelda to drop into the watery pool below.

She broke up from the pool of water as Link walked forwards, expecting what she made a deal with for.

But instead of giving her kiss to him immediately, she created a large wave that hit his face and made his whole head become soaking wet.

Link made a frustrated sigh as he flicked off a couple water droplets.

“Zelda if a recall correctly, we made a deal,” Link said with a smirk. He then turned his face to the side for Zelda.

“Oh all right,” Zelda sighed. “You just got lucky like before that’s all.”

“Yeah,” Link said sarcastically. “Lucky…”

Zelda gave him a quick peck on the cheek and then a small punch in the arm. Unfortunately for Zelda, Link acted like he didn’t feel anything.

Feeling satisfied, though he walked back with even a bigger grin on his face while Malon rolled her eyes at him.

Getting out of the tub, Zelda walked away to get changed just like the other royals did, with what appeared to be a whole army of servants following her. Some giggled and some burst out laughing from the events…

Zelda had no idea why she made that bet. She knew he would actually get her soaked to the bone. It just somehow popped in her mind and seemed like a good idea at the time. Plus, it was also a good as a warning to Manton to keep away.

Unless she made him jealous… She hoped not.

But she could help but smile on the inside from the goofiness both she and Link shared. No matter how many terrible things happen before or after the festival, each one was so much fun, no matter who was there, and who was not.

She then changed out of her soaking wet blue clothes and changed into the pink dress covered in pearls. She made a sigh as she recalled the last time she wore this dress. It was a fantastic moment, and now she could never have one of those moments again.

What if you could with Link? she thought.

She shook her head vigorously. That could never happen. She owed him and didn’t deserve his love. He didn’t deserve any of these things to happen.

And then she remembered that she would promise herself not to go back to the past, by both telling Link this and herself.

Just don’t think of anything else! She screamed in her mind.

She sighed as she cleared her mind from all remorse and wrapped her hair into another neat and fancy bun. She then sighed as she opened her dresser and took out a small diamond tiara that she had to wear to every ball, no matter what the occasion.

Zelda looked at herself in the mirror. Satisfied with the way she looked, she looked outside.

It had become dark, and that always signaled for the ball. A knock resonated from her door, and the same voice she heard before came to her ears.

“Zelda we’re supposed to be introduced before we go to the ball, and we can’t be late,” Link informed her.

“All right,” Zelda said. She opened the door only to look in surprise.

Link no longer wore the servant’s attire. Instead, he was clad in a sleek purplish blue tunic, with gold pants and a matching undershirt. His long messy hair was now combed back away from his face into a ponytail, showing his entire caring gentle smile. He definitely looked like royalty or nobility.

Noticing Zelda’s surprised look, Link shuffled his black velvet boots.

“Who gave you that?” Zelda asked, knowing Link would never get something so fancy.

“Princess Emlyn and Princess Caley lent me these clothes, since I didn’t have anything else nice to wear.”

“You look nice Link,” Zelda said. “Even though it seems so unlike you.”

Link smiled. “You look fantastic Zelda.”

He then lent her his arm, which she wrapped hers around graciously.

“Introducing Princess Zelda and Sir Link!” said a voice as Link and Zelda entered the room.

“Sir Link?” Link muttered so only Zelda could hear him. “I’ve never been called by that before.”

“Well making it obvious that you’re my servant seems insulting to the others. I couldn’t disagree any further,” Zelda muttered back to him as they walked down the steps while people clapped and greeted them. “People act like servants are so low but actually everyone is equal. That’s what I hate Manton so much.”

“Yeah,” Link said as he saw Manton out of the corner of his eye giving them no applause and only a glare of pure jealousy and hatred.

“Nervous?” Zelda asked. Link nodded in panic.

“Don’t worry,” she comforted him. “You’ve done this before. There will just be other people around us this time.”

And they finished with the last step as a few violinist started to play a walt, and Link and Zelda started to dance.

Midnight entered the castle as couples stood on a giant balcony, looking at the full moon with a romantic evening. Tables were set astray seated for only two people, as a large fountain seemed to be the only noise in the air. It relaxed the people on the balcony, until…

Link and Zelda both barged into the balcony through the stained glass doors with a large and loud sigh of relief and weariness.

“That was long,” Link said. Zelda nodded.

“I don’t think I can walk anymore,” Zelda complained. “My feet hurt so much.”
“Well let’s go over to the table,” Link suggested. Zelda took a step and winced sharply from her aching feet.

Then out of the blue, Link sensed her pain and then picked her up instead.

“Link what are you…”

She stopped in mid sentence as Link walked over to a table and set her on it like a glass doll.

“Thank you,” Zelda said in relief. Link waved it off and sat on the table with her and put his feet on the one chair.

Zelda couldn’t help but make a small smile. She loved that Link was himself even in the most formal places.

“Link I am really glad you came with me tonight,” she said while lowering her head. Link smiled.

“Me too,” he replied. “Even though I met a couple of people who obviously have anger management problems,” he said referring to Malon. “…And people who lie, cheat, and steal,” referring to Nabooru. “I had a great time with you.”

Zelda nodded silently. Link looked up as an awkward silence broke through.

“The sky is beautiful tonight,” Link said, trying to rid the silence. Zelda nodded looking up at the sky.

Suddenly, she heard the stained glass doors open again and a man dressed in blue royal garments and a badge, which made it obvious that he was a noble.

And Zelda knew exactly who this person was.

“Oh no,” Zelda groaned quietly for only Link to hear.

“What is it?” he whispered curiously back.

“It’s Alphonse,” Zelda muttered in disgust. “No matter how many times I try, he always finds a way to end up dancing with me, no matter who my partner is.”

Zelda panicked as he started to walk towards her. And she knew only one way to get him away. She then moved her face up to Link’s ear.

“Work with me here,” Zelda whispered. “So I can get him away.”

And right after saying that she held Link’s face in her hands and pressed her lips against his.

Shock electrocuted Link for second as Zelda gave him a kiss on the lips, and he forced himself not to turn red, or purple for that matter.

Zelda made a sigh of relief in her mind as Alphonse stopped dead in his tracks as she gave him the kiss. Looking disappointed, he walked back out through the glass doors.

Once that had happened, Zelda moved a way. More surprised than relieved, for she only thought of getting Alphonse away for a second.

What she had her mind on was the kiss Link gave her back. Emptiness in her stomach had faded away that very moment and she actually felt so joyful inside.

Until she broke apart that feeling of being filled with joy had disappeared, and she wished that it stayed that way longer.

{What am I thinking? I can’t just go up and kiss him again? I only did it so I wouldn’t have to dance around with a snotty noble!}

As for Link, he felt as though he was in heaven as well. It was something so extraordinary he wished it lasted longer. He then mentally kicked himself for thinking that.

But what Link and Zelda didn’t know was that Manton was watching this and started to walk up to them. A fiery hatred burned him inside.

Once both Link and Zelda heard footsteps coming before them, upon instinct, Link ducked down low off the table before Manton’s fist could hit him the head.

Zelda immediately got off the table as well with a shriek as Manton growled with jealousy and hatred.

Link stood up ready for any other attack Manton would give him.

“Back off servant!” Manton said throwing another punch at Link, who immediately blocked it with his palm. “You don’t deserve the great princess Zelda.”

“Manton stop!” Zelda cried, but Manton ignored her. Link looked at Zelda for a second before turning to Manton again.

“Your Majesty,” Link said formally. “I think you should listen to Princess Zelda here. Please don’t do anything rash.”

But Manton was beyond talking to; instead he threw another punch to Link’s face, which he blocked with his arms.

“Manton stop this instant!” Zelda commanded more fiercely. Manton listened this time, but did not obey.

“Back off Zelda, let me handle this,” Manton growled as he sent a fury of fists, which were all blocked and dodged by Link.

Zelda couldn’t take it anymore, and she lunged forward and grabbed Manton’s arm to stop him from throwing another punch at Link.

“Manton stop!” she shouted. Manton made a growl in frustration and slipped his arm out of her grasp and then backhanded her across the face with such force that it knocked her to the ground.

And this was something that Manton would regret in a matter of seconds.

WHAM!

Link’s fist came up to his face so fast that he didn’t even see it coming. It connected with his nose and it immediately cracked and broke, sending a splatter of blood on the floor.

Manton was shocked by such an outburst from Link, but not only that Link had hit him, but the look in Link’s eyes as he tried to stop the bleeding.

No longer was there any warmth in Link’s icy blue eyes. Instead, there was a fierce chill that was sent to everyone who looked at him. His angry glare that he gave to Nabooru paled in comparison to this one, which he only used when he fought an enemy.

It struck fear in all of Manton’s body as he rushed away to get a medic.

Zelda stood up as well, afraid of this new Link. And she looked into his eyes and saw the power of a great warrior inside him.

Link watched Manton run through the doors and then his fierce eyes melted away as he became worried for Zelda. He kneeled down to her.

“Are you okay?” he said. Zelda nodded.

“Don’t worry I’m fine,” Zelda said. “I can’t say the same for Manton though.”

Link blushed. “Sorry I lost control like that,” he said. Zelda gave him a look of compassion.

“Don’t apologize,” Zelda said. “I think he got what he deserved back there. Why didn’t you do that sooner, when he was attacking you?”

Link frowned. “Because it mattered more to me when he hit you, than it did when he tried to hit me.”

Sunlight entered the room as morning struck through a large window as Zelda attempted to cover herself with her covers.

Wait how did she get back in bed? All she remembered was staring at the sky with Link last night at the courtyard so they could get away from the surprise of Manton’s temper tantrum.

She opened her eyes to realize that she was still in her dress.

And before she could do or think of anything else, a knock entered the door. She got out of her bed and opened the door to see Link.

He was back in his usual brown servant attire with his ponytail gone and his hair back to its old messy self.

“You get enough sleep Zelda?” Link asked. Zelda nodded.

“I don’t even remember getting into bed,” Zelda said. Link blushed.

“You fell asleep and I had to carry you back,” he said looking down and started playing with his fingers.

Zelda blushed as well. “Oh, thanks.”

“The families are leaving today,” Link informed. “I would go there and say goodbye if I were you.”

“Oh right!” Zelda said and hurried back inside. She quickly dashed across the room with a comb in one hand, almost ripping out her hair and a sleeve out of her dress, which had become extremely sweaty and a few of the pearls attached to it began to tangle.

And yet it was a miracle that she didn’t rip out her hair and tear her dress apart. As quickly as she could she combed her hair and changed into a simple blue dress, since it was the easiest thing to put on.

Forgetting shoes, stockings or even socks, she ran barefoot out of the castle and across the wooden planks, not caring at all if she got a couple hundred splinters.

“Your highness,” said some worried guards, but she quickly rushed past them, followed by Link who was amazingly having trouble to keep up with her.

“Caley!” Zelda shouted. Princess Caley turned around before getting aboard her large ship.

“Zelda!” Caley shouted back with a smile. “I thought I wouldn’t get to say goodbye. For one minute I thought Link persuaded you to get drunk and passed out last night.”

Zelda blushed. “No he didn’t, don’t worry. I just was really tired.

“But that’s not the point. You’re leaving early,” Zelda changed the subject.

Caley made a slight frown. “Yeah, well Kuniko is having some political trouble and we need to get back as soon as we can. But I’m sure I’ll see you next festival as well.”

“Where’s Prince Manton,” Link asked. Caley chuckled.

“Yes he’s on the ship. He got on board right away and started mumbling about how servants are really monsters in disguise,” She giggled. “I think he’s going insane. Oh well, he still got what he deserved. Awesome punch you gave him there.”

Link blushed. Caley smirked.

“Well chow,” she said before taking a step up to the ship. “I’ll see you next year.”

She walked up to the ship with a couple of guards and Queen Kyna, until the ship finally left into the sea and beyond.

Both Zelda and Link waved until the ship wasn’t in sight. Link then turned to Zelda.

“Umm, maybe you should get some shoes on,” Link suggested. Zelda blushed and nodded.

She then quickly rushed inside and got a pair of high heels and then came back outside to say goodbye to the next group of royals, which happened to be the people of Jorjanna.

After a few quick goodbyes from Zelda’s father and a polite goodbye from Zelda herself, as Queen Fallon and King Van walked up into their ship.

What was quite amusing was that the guards had to carry the two sobbing boys up to the ship so that they were not able to get away.

Link couldn’t help but laugh with the rest of the guards. Zelda couldn’t help but feel pity for them. They had a wonderful time in Hyrule and now they had to leave.

The last ship that was leaving was going to Vienna, while King Gautier walked up to the ship with a chuckle and a joyous goodbye to almost everyone around him.

But that was really what caught Link and Zelda’s attention, because both Prince Amir and Princess Emlyn strode over to them.

“The festival and ball was wonderful,” Princess Emlyn. “Of course, this was the most exciting and dramatic one,” she finished with a wide grin towards Link.

“I heard you ruthlessly gave Manton what he deserved, but I feel that we’re getting only half of the story,” Prince Amir stated.
“Manton slapped me because I was trying to stop him from fighting Link,” Zelda informed. Prince Amir chuckled.

“Why if you weren’t a servant, you would probably be known as a true hero,” he said.

Princess Emlyn raised an eyebrow and giggled. “That would bring you up two classes. Heroes are very famous and are treated just as fair as a noble.”

Link blushed once more. “Yeah,” he mumbled.

Zelda put her hands on her hips. “Well I couldn’t imagine Link as a hero really,” she said sarcastically. Only Link was the one who caught on to what she was trying to say.

The couple nodded before walking up onto the ship and leaving.

And it was amazingly a relaxed day, except for the cleaners who had to clear everything away from the back of the castle.

Link had pity for the cleaners for how much work they had to do, but he had even more pity for Zelda.

“Ow!” she winced, as one servant had a pair of tweezers and started to pick the wooden splinters out of her feet.

“Link,” Zelda said as the servant tried to pull out a splinter stuck in her foot. “You don’t… Ouch! Have to stay…”

Link nodded quietly and walked out of the room, prepared to help clean up the place.

It was tedious work for everyone today, but luckily managed to get mostly everything cleaned up.

As for Link, he discovered how hard it is to create a festival. It took everyone hours before the servants were given a break, and were very relieved.

Link sat in his room, wiping the sweat from his brow, when a knock appeared on his door.

He got up and opened it, only to find Zelda standing there.

“Zelda,” Link said raising an eyebrow.

“Can I come in?” she asked politely. Link nodded and opened the door.

Unlike Zelda’s flashy pink jewelry decorated room, Link’s room was quite simple, which he was glad for.

“Link, I was thinking,” she started. “About when Manton hit me.”

“Yeah,” Link said, wishing he didn’t ball his fist and ended up cracking his knuckles.

Zelda noticed this too, and blushed slightly before going on. “And I thought of the time…” she started over again, remembering the memory she abhorred more than anything else. “… The time you saved me from those men. And I don’t want this to happen anymore.”

Zelda lowered her head. “I was just suggesting. If it takes too much of your time or you don’t want to…”

“What?” Link asked, having no idea what she was talking about.

“I was just thinking,” Zelda said, getting red. “That you might be able to teach me how to fight.”

“Oh!” Link said chuckling for a moment before putting on a serious face. “I am willing to do it, but are you sure?”

Zelda raised an eyebrow. “You’ll do it?”

Link nodded. “The question is though, will you do it?”

“Yes,” Zelda replied strongly. “I want you to teach me everything you know. I want to learn the exact way you did.”

Link frowned. “Well, I sort of took lessons from this one trainer, but he only takes men. I could teach you, but you should know that it’ll be hard.”

“I’ll do it,” Zelda said with strong confidence.

“And tedious,” Link added.

“I’m doing it,” Zelda said, with slight irritation.

“And painful,” Link added. Zelda made a loud growl of frustration.

“You’re not going to change my mind Link,” Zelda said angrily.

Sensing the Zelda had definitely gotten pissed enough he smirked.

“Then lets get started,” he made a sheepish grin.

After that said and done, the next morning, Zelda was dressed in a pink shirt, tight blue pants, and a pair of black boots, unlike her usual dress.

And since she never worked out before in her life, Link started her out with the easiest and least painful exercise.

So now she had to carry two full buckets of water up a couple hundred stairs. Zelda would be having a fit if her hands weren’t tied to the buckets.

“Why the heck do I have to do this again?” Zelda asked angrily. Link smirked.

“It’s so you can build your strength,” Link replied. “The sword doesn’t do everything itself when you’re battling someone or something.”

Zelda growled and Link frowned.

“You know at least I’m sympathetic,” he said in an icy tone. “I had to do the same thing and every time I took a break from climbing these steps, I was hit with a deku stick. I gave you about five breaks already without any complaint or attack.”

“You were hit with a deku stick?” Zelda asked in horror. Link nodded.

“Yeah the trainer there was nice, but he made sure no one slacked off.”

“Who was the trainer?”

“His name’s Cheveyo.”

Zelda raised an eyebrow at that. “Oh! Him! He comes over every year to train some of the men in the royal guard. He’s coming in pretty soon. If you know him, maybe you should see him.”

Link nodded before making a sheepish grin. “I will…” he changed the subject. “So be happy because you’re suffering a lot less than the guards. And straighten your back…”

Zelda looked up. “But I can’t do that! These things weigh a ton!”

“It’s either that or being in agony at night…”

“What! Why?”

“Because Cheveyo only told me once to straighten my back when I did this. I ignored him and the night after my back felt like it was on fire. Use your legs and arms, not your back when you lift anything real heavy.”

Zelda straightened her back a little before making a groan of pain as she pulled the buckets up the stairs.

It was longer than two hours before Zelda got to the top of the steps and into what appeared to be a lookout tower with no guards.

Link looked up before handing the bucket of water to her. Zelda looked at Link.

“What?” she asked. Link pushed the bucket into her hands.

“Drink, and don’t worry, it’s clean. Do it, unless you want to become dehydrated…”

Zelda nodded and poured a mouthful of water into her dry mouth. It refreshed her and relaxed her just enough for her to realize how extremely tired she was already.


A man, tall and muscled carried his bags up to the gate. As he walked across the bridge, the guard looked up at him.

It was quite obvious he was a warrior. A staff with a long dagger that was tied to the end of the pole with some tattered cloth was in his left hand. A small knife was at his side. A giant jagged sword laid in a sheath on his bareback. The only thing that covered his chest was the bright orange bandanna around his neck.
His orange pants were tattered in many places, obviously showing that he fought many battles. His boots seemed to have a couple broken deku sticks in them that were still good for small torches.

His maroon hair was cut oddly, for it had a long large braid in the back. The rest was messy bangs covering the rest of his head and some blocked out the view of his fierce green eyes.

The guard looked up and down at him before pointing his sword at the mysterious man.

The warrior made a small chuckle. “Calm down naïve sir, I come in peace,” he smirked. The guard frowned when the warrior said ‘naïve’.

“Oh yeah? How am I supposed to believe that?”

“New huh?” the warrior sighed. He dug into his pockets before pulling out a small letter. He then handed it to the soldier.

“By order of the King, I’m allowed in the city and the castle,” he said before taking the message back. “Now if you don’t mind, I have a place to be, and it will be disappointing to your buddies if I’m late.”

He walked passed the dumbfounded guard and through the city, ignoring the looks on people’s faces at they saw such an armed man.

It was always this way whenever he visited, and he always got used to the fact that he was prepared for the worst. Of course, he taught the guards and some others how to do the best of fighting, so why wouldn’t he be armed?

He walked through the gates and into the castle, but what he saw wasn’t what he expected.

Link walked through the castle holding an empty jug of milk. He was heading for the kitchens, which he had to pass through the entrance to get there, but what he saw wasn’t what he expected.

Both stopped dead in their tracks. Shocked and surprised at first, but then both gave a smirk.

“That’s an interesting wardrobe, there little hero,” the warrior smiled. Link chuckled.

“Cheveyo,” Link grinned sheepishly before walking up to him and giving him a pat on the back, as did Cheveyo.

“I can’t believe how big you’ve grown since the last time we’ve met,” Cheveyo grinned. “How long was it? Seven years?”

Link nodded. “I was known as the green one, or as you still call me ‘little hero.’”

“You’ll always be a little hero to me though,” Cheveyo replied back. “So why the new look and job? I always thought you’d be like those lone riders that fight crime on your own terms day and night.”

“I did,” Link said. “Until that got me into a lot of trouble. I was caught, sent to jail, and then ended up here as the Princess’s personal servant.”

“Murder?” Cheveyo asked. Link nodded.

“And stealing… Some brute scared off a couple of homeless kids.”

Cheveyo made a sigh. “Always the hero… No matter what the consequences are. I don’t care if the law wants you to stop. You do what’s right.”

He said this and gave him another pat on the back. “Well I have a bunch of babies to change into men. I’ll see you when I’m surrounded by a pack of white wolfos,” he chuckled before walking off.

Link snickered at his joke before heading off to the kitchens again.

Sticks clashed and slammed against each other, making a large clanging sound in the gardens.

Zelda and Link fought with vigor and surprise in one another. It was surprising for Zelda, because he always seemed to amaze her with his extraordinary skill. It was surprising for Link, because Zelda had learned how to fight very well in two months of hard exercise and then nonstop fighting of training swords and hardened deku sticks.

Zelda, using all her might, speeded her attacks a bit, causing Link to gasp in surprise. He hadn’t expected that, and now was cursing under his breath in a failed attempt to change the situation.

She was too fast, and unfortunately, Link blinked.

A powerful blow came straight from Zelda, and surprisingly contacted with his cheek. She froze in shock as ripped a small bit of skin from his cheek.

“Oh Link!” she said while dropping her deku stick and running up to him to examine his cheek. “I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry!”

“Zelda,” Link chuckled, touching his cheek as if no wound was there at all. “Please calm down… It’s just a scratch. I’m perfectly fine.”

“No you’re not, you’re bleeding!”

Link shook his head with a sigh. “I’ve had worse, believe me… Besides that’s not the point…”

“What?”

“What? Who? Where? How?” Link mocked. “You bet me! I think my work is done here!”

“Oh,” Zelda said. She then became excited. “I bet you! Ha!”

Link grabbed his head and made another sigh and a chuckle, before making a sheepish grin. He then gave her a whack on the side with his deku stick. She winced in pain before making a glare at Link.

“Ouch! What was that for?” she said angrily. Link smiled.

“Last lesson, don’t let your guard down. Dropping your weapon and walking up to your enemy unarmed is one of the biggest rules in the book.”

Zelda sighed and rolled her eyes. “I still bet you.” She stuck her tongue out at him, as he replied back with the same.

“Well, I have to go,” Link said. “I told Cheveyo that I would meet with him today and watch the soldiers get their butts whacked.”

Zelda snorted. “Yeah they need a trainer. I’ll see you Link.”

“Bye,” Link replied before walking out of the gardens.

He went all the way to the back of the castle where the festival used to be. Now it was replaced with one big battlefield for soldiers to train.
“Widen your stance Quinto,” Cheveyo said as he watched in boredom while the soldiers fought. The soldiers’ attacks were all predictable and their only strength was the force of each blow.

Link walked up to him silently and caught a glimpse of the battle before rolling his eyes and muttering.

“Can we make this interesting?” Link asked. Cheveyo looked at him and grinned.

“I do have an idea,” he said. He looked over to the soldiers.

“That’s enough! Now, I’m going to show an example of a real battle with one of my best students,” he announced. Link’s eyes widened in horror as the expression on his face clearly showed him saying ‘No don’t!’

Cheveyo grinned mischievously. “What’s wrong little hero? Afraid to fight?”

Link sighed. “I’m going to get you for this one.”

“We’ll see about that,” Cheveyo replied. He took out a long training sword as a soldier lent Link one.

They both readied themselves for attack. Link was more than ready now. Before, he wasn’t expecting Zelda to go that quick on him, but he knew the talents Cheveyo had… And he had some doubts that he would win… Then again, the last time Cheveyo bet him in a match was when he was only ten years old.

“Go!” shouted a few soldiers.

Cheveyo started out with his trademark move with any weapon. He twirled his sword like a baton over his head and lowered it whenever Link went for an attack, which always any attacker off and they usually almost lose the grip on their sword. Link was glad that he gripped his sword with two hands.

Although it was frustrating that Cheveyo made a constant twirl with his sword in hope to bring a swordsman to look at his fingering than his sword. Link knew well enough not to make this mistake.

Once they began to fight, time seemed to be ignored right there. For while Link felt like only seconds were passing by, in reality, minutes were passing.

And after about twenty minutes of sword fighting, both failed to wound the other and end the battle. Link was beginning to grow tired. He already was fencing with Zelda about a minute ago it seemed and now he was facing the most skilled swordsman in the castle.

He then smirked inside as he got an idea. Perhaps he could finish this off… He made a large jump back to avoid a slash from Cheveyo.

Link stood in horse stance and pulled his sword out behind him. Cheveyo neared, wondering what Link was planning, but he regretted this immediately.

It a whirl of red and blue colors, everyone gasped as Link released a spinning slash, a gift he received from stumbling upon a Great Fairy’s Fountain.

Cheveyo was surprised as well as Link’s sword connected with his chest and made a small cut across his chest.

Everyone clapped in surprise as Link lowered his head to hide the creeping blush in his face. He made a slight smile. Cheveyo laughed.

“I’m telling you Link,” he barked. “You’re one of the greatest swordsman I’ve ever known! A true master!”

“Thank you,” Link said becoming deep red. Cheveyo smiled.

“Well I knew I could never bet a guy with so much experience. How many years have you’ve been practicing? Twelve?”

“Thirteen,” Link corrected, wanting to chop his own head off before it turned purple.

Cheveyo raised an eyebrow. “That’s surprising, at such a young age like yours. It didn’t start fencing until I was twenty. Ten years of training…”

Link nodded, wanting to leave right now. Cheveyo sighed.

“Well, that’s the end of our lesson. I’m going to have a talk with the King.”
And with that said, he walked away, as did Link.

Zelda walked into her father’s chambers. He sat at his desk, idly signing papers with a sigh.

She sat on a chair and moved up in front of his desk.

Her father finished signing a paper before moving his eyes up with a sigh.

“What is it?” he asked. Zelda gave him a serious look.

“I want to take a vacation.”

“A vacation?” her father asked raising an eyebrow.

“Yes,” she said. “I want to take a vacation… Away from the castle, without any guards.”

Her father went back to his papers. “You can go…”

Zelda became excited.

“But you have to bring some guards with you…”

“What!” Zelda said, in frustration. “I don’t need them.”

“Yes you do… I’m not letting you out on your own in Hyrule. You never know what could happen out there.”

“I’ll bring my personal servant, Link,” Zelda said.

“Him?” her father looked up again. “Your personal servant. Does he even know how to fight?”

“Yes of course he does!” Zelda shouted angrily.

“Calm down Zelda,” her father said. She made a sigh and allowed her father to continue. “He maybe a warrior in your eyes, but I don’t think he should be allowed with you alone. I mean you refused every other servant. We got this one from a prison.”

“Father,” Zelda argued. “It’s been almost six months, and I can’t even count how many times Link and I have been alone.” This gave her father a look of horror on his face. “I still have my integrity, don’t worry, and Link has never even looked at me in any way like that. I trust him.”

She put her hand on her father’s and looked into his eyes. He could tell that she was being totally honest with this. He sighed.

“I’m still not allowing you go with only one man to protect you.”

Zelda growled. “Why not! Do I get any freedom in anything?”

“I give you freedom and still make sure that you’re protected,” her father said becoming annoyed. “It’s better than roaming around on your own with no protection at all. Do you know how easily you could die out there?”

“Which is why I’m bringing Link!” Zelda said angrily.

“He isn’t a soldier, you never know that he might die out there and leave you alone! That’s the last thing I want to happen!”

“Father!” Zelda screamed. Suddenly the door opened.

Cheveyo walked in. He took a glance of the princess and king.

“Sorry to intrude your majesty,” Cheveyo said politely. The king waved it off.

“Cheveyo no need to apologize, just tell me,” he said. “Do you think a simple soldier would survive with the princess out in Hyrule?”

“Never,” Cheveyo said immediately. “The soldiers may be skilled with the sword, but he could never survive and have to protect the princess.”

“Then do you think a personal servant would have the shot of protecting Zelda out in Hyrule?” her father asked. Cheveyo shook his head.

“No chance,” Cheveyo replied. “Unless…”

“Unless what?” Zelda asked curiously.

“What’s the name of your personal servant?” Cheveyo asked.

“His name is Link,” Zelda answered.

Cheveyo listened closely and burst into laughter.

“Ha! Ha!” he laughed. “That is a totally different story!”

“What?” the king asked.

Cheveyo calmed down before smiling. “My king, I have all the confidence in the world to tell you that with Link, no monster or man would touch even a hair on Zelda. I just fought with him right now and he defeated me. I wouldn’t be surprised if Link received the title ‘Hero’ pretty soon.”

“Really?” the king said with a raised eyebrow. Cheveyo nodded.

“Send Link with the princess and she will be perfectly fine.”

The king sighed. Zelda put her hands on her hips.

“You know it’s either with him, or I find some way to sneak out and go on my own.”

“Fine, but take this,” he said and walked up to a small cage. A falcon stood on a perch and he lent his hand out. The bird reluctantly climbed onto his arm.

“If anything goes wrong,” the King said. “Send this falcon to my castle right away.” He motioned for the bird to climb on her shoulder, which it obeyed faithfully.

“And I better not find out that you’re lost in the forest, got it? If your servant dies, then there will be no one to save you, got it?”

Zelda nodded. “I won’t go into the forest,” she lied.

She rushed off with the falcon on her shoulder. The falcon was slightly startled by her, but still remained on her shoulder.

She searched every room and then went into his room slamming it open. He was quite surprised to see the princess barge into his room.

“Link!” she shouted. “I have good news!”

“Really?” Link asked raising an eyebrow. “What is it?”

“Well,” Zelda replied. “I can tell that the castle can sometimes become some sort of cage at different points of time.”

“Yes,” Link said.

“I received permission from my father to go out and explore Hyrule,” Zelda stated. Link nodded with a smile.

“That’s great,” Link smiled. “Where are you going to?”

“Wherever,” Zelda said. “Because I was hoping that you would take me.”

At that moment, Link could help but get a burst of excitement. He was allowed outside of the castle. And he could show Zelda how beautiful Hyrule was.

Link and Zelda gazed at the rolling hills of Hyrule Field as they walked across the Hyrule Market Bridge.

Zelda gazed in wonder at the sea of grass before her. The wind blew freely at her long blonde hair, only held up by a light blue headband. Her matching plain light blue dress rippled in the wind behind her, revealing pale skinned legs and small and simple light blue shoes.

Link watched Zelda with a smile. He was clad back in his own clothes, a green tunic of the forest over a white undershirt and pants. He tucked some of his blonde hair beneath his coned shaped cap, and shifted slightly, allowing his sword and shield make a small clank behind his back.

Link then crushed the silence. “So anywhere you wanted to go?”

Zelda thought for a moment before replying. “Well, I have been to the regions around Zora’s Domain and Goron City. Plus I’ve been to Kakariko and Lon Lon Ranch about a million times, so that leaves us with only three places. Lake Hylia, the Lost Woods, and Gerudo…”

“Zelda,” Link lowered his head. “I am willing to take you to any of the other places, but can we stay away from Gerudo Valley?”

Zelda nodded. “Oh right,” she simply said as she remembered that the last thing Link wanted was to see Nabooru.

“So then the Lost Woods and Lake Hylia,” she said. Link frowned.

“Didn’t your father tell you not to enter the Lost Woods?”

“Yeah,” Zelda said, making a slight mischievous grin. “But that doesn’t mean I have to listen.”

Link nodded with a chuckle. “Okay but first we have to visit Lon Lon Ranch and hopefully convince Malon to borrow Epona at least.”

Zelda nodded. They silently walked on towards the fortress that was known as Lon Lon Ranch.

Once they were there, they walked into the entrance, inhaling the putrid smell of the ranch in disgust.

But this didn’t distract them when a voice came out immediately.

“Well, well, well, it’s fairy boy,” Malon walked up to them with her hands on her hips.

“Malon,” Link said with a weak smile. “Umm… I know you…”

“Won’t be pleased to know that you want Epona back,” Malon finished for him. Link made a frustrated sigh.

“Must you do that?” Link asked angrily.

“Yes,” Malon said with a wide smile.

“May we borrow Epona?” Zelda interrupted. Malon frowned.

“Well, I could lend any of these horses to you milady,” Malon said to her sweetly and then shot a glare at Link. “But Link has a habit of having no responsibility for any of the horses.”

“That was just one time when I happened to be sent to jail! What was I supposed to do? Take the horse with me?”

“Another reason why you shouldn’t get another horse, you always get into some deep trouble,” Malon countered. “Besides it was not once! It was twice that you had no responsibility. You come back after Gerudo Fortress and got your horse stolen!”

“Can we please just take a horse?” Zelda shouted. She calmed down as both Link and Malon grew quiet. “Malon, I’ll make sure Link brings back Epona as soon as we leave Lake Hylia.”

Malon sighed. “Alright…”

Link shot a smirk at her. Malon rolled her eyes.

“I’ll give you the horse your majesty,” Malon said while shooting another glare at Link. “Not Link…”

“It’s Zelda,” Zelda said. “I’m on vacation. I’m not the princess anymore.”

Malon made a bright smile as both Link and Zelda climbed up upon Epona’s back. “Have a good time!”

Wind rushed past both Zelda and Link as Epona galloped off. Zelda held on gently yet strongly around Link’s chest, blushing as she felt his six-pack.

In what seemed to be a few minutes, Link tugged at the reins for Epona to slow down, and in minutes they embraced the shade of the trees.

“That fast?” Zelda said, surprised. “I thought it would take longer to get to the forest.”

“Epona is one of the fastest horses on Lon Lon Ranch,” Link replied. “She was specially cared and trained by Malon. She may be quite annoying sometimes, but she cares a lot for the animals on the Ranch, and makes sure every single one of them are as healthy as they can get.”

Zelda nodded silently and slipped off Epona as did Link.

With the reins still in his hands, Link walked forwards, guiding Epona along. “Stay close Zelda. If you make one wrong turn, then you’re lost forever.”

Zelda nodded with a gulp and moved as close as she could to Zelda. Link shot a glance at her and decided the best way to make sure she didn’t wander off.

He grabbed her hand, feeling her relax at his touch. Zelda shot a glance at Link before looking in the direction they headed in.

Link walked in one part of the forest, meeting up with a large cave. He looked over to Zelda.

“Want to visit Darunia?” Link asked. Zelda became confused.

“This cave leads to Goron City,” Link answered for her.

“Oh!” Zelda said and shook her head. “No I want to explore the Lost Woods more. There must be a lot to see!”

“Well…” Link said while walking on. “There’s the entrance to Zora’s River,” he indicated by pointing to a small pool of water. “And, maybe I should show you this one place…”

“What place?” Zelda asked excitedly. “What place?”

Link grinned. “It’s secret. Only me and a good friend of mine know about it.”

Zelda watched as Link guided both Epona and her through a maze of trees with no certain direction except the strange pattern of zigzags to Zelda.

Link then suddenly came upon a large fortress like place. Zelda looked at the entrance. She looked at Link.

“A maze?” she asked. Link nodded.

“It’s easily navigated,” he said. “And the monsters inside are just deku scrubs.”

And with that, he pulled her through the maze, stopping with his shield up every time a scrub popped out of the ground and shot out a bullet.

Zelda couldn’t help but feel sad when the bullets reflected upon Link’s shield and attacked the poor deku… since after reading a couple books; she discovered that not all deku scrubs were evil. At least, in some parts farther away from Hyrule…

“Almost there,” Link said, breaking through Zelda’s thoughts. After treading through some water and getting partially soaked, they reached a group of stairs, both climbed up defeating two deku scrubs along the way and reaching a giant room in the forest.

Zelda gazed around. It was a simple, yet more peaceful-like place. A tall tree was at the back of the room, holding up some sort of broken stairway and on the side was a small tree stump. A small girl sat upon it.

The girl didn’t seem to notice who came, but instead kept playing the small pink ocarina in her hands. Her eyes were closed and her short emerald green hair covered most of her facial features as she lowered her head.

Link walked up to the stump with a big grin on his face, and Zelda followed right behind.

“Well, look who it is,” Link said to catch the girl’s attention. “Saria didn’t I tell you something very important about this place?”

Saria looked up, opening her forest green eyes and making a big grin.

“I know, I know, you told me not to come here because of how close to the Forest Temple I was.”

Link nodded. “Then what are you doing here?”

“Waiting for you…” Saria said with a frown. “And speaking of waiting for you…”

Link made a groan before Saria went on.

“I can understand that you can be busy with some other things when you didn’t visit me when those six months came, but when a year passed and even longer!” she said fiercely.

“I was sent to jail,” Link explained. Saria put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes.

“This hero thing is getting annoying,” she sighed. “Can’t you follow the law in Hyrule and still save people?”

“Unfortunately not,” Link replied. Zelda looked at the two.

At first, Saria seemed a lot like Malon, yet instead of Malon who would lose her cool right away and scream everything out; Saria was much calmer and spoke quietly and calmly with every word, showing pure wisdom in her voice.

Saria smiled. “That’s become your sort of curse hasn’t it?”

Link nodded. “Then again, as you say, sometimes, things that seem terribly wrong are much better than if not influenced in.”

Saria nodded. “Even with just the power of observation…”

Zelda made a cough to announce that she was here. Link just realized that she was here and went beet red.

“Erm… This is Princess Zelda of Hyrule,” Link explained. Saria raised an eyebrow.

“Well I never expected Link to meet the Princess of Hyrule,” Saria said with a smile, and with that she stood up and bowed. “It is an honor to meet the next heir to the throne and hope you have a peaceful one.”

“Thank you,” Zelda said, blushing as well. “There’s no need for formalities though. I’m on a vacation from being a princess.”

“Hope you have a good one,” Saria said. Zelda nodded as Link smiled with a wave.

“See you Saria,” Link said, but stopped before leaving. “I might not be able to visit you for a long time, because well…”

“Well what?” Saria asked.

“I’m Zelda’s full time personal servant,” Link explained. Saria couldn’t help but giggle.

“I thought she was some sort of replacement for Malon,” she giggled.

“What!” Link said hotly. He became beet red. “No she isn’t!”

Saria finished giggling before going into her pockets and pulling out an orange ocarina. Link’s eyes widened in recognition...

“My practice ocarina,” Link said. Saria nodded.
“Play my song when you want to talk,” she said with a smile.

“Really?” Link asked with a smile. Saria smiled.

“But that doesn’t mean that you now have an excuse to never visit me in person again, got it?”

“Got it,” Link replied. They both waved before heading back through the cleared out maze. Zelda smiled at the entrance to the maze. Saria was much nicer than the two other girls that Link knew.

And yet although she seemed much older than what she looked, which only appeared to be ten.

“How old is Saria?” Zelda asked Link. He shrugged.

“Dunno, somewhere in her five hundreds,” Link replied. Zelda gave him a suspicious look.

“I’m being serious Link, how old is she?”

“Like I said, she’s at least over her five hundreds. She’s a Kokiri. They have the power of immortality because of the magic their guardian the Great Deku Tree creates.”

“That was a Kokiri?” Zelda said shocked. “You mean the children from legend?”

Link nodded. “Try to keep it a secret. The last thing they want is publicity and more people roaming around and trying to find them.”

“Okay, I promise,” Zelda said. She then became curious.

“How do you know Saria?” Zelda asked.

Link looked at her for a minute before looking up to the sky. “After my parents died, I ran into the woods where Saria found me. She took me in and raised me like her own child.”

Zelda nodded, trying to picture Saria trying to feed a baby Link a few berries that were too sour for him. But Link broke her thoughts by picking her up and putting her on Epona and getting up himself.

They galloped through the forest a bit more before Link looked up with a gasp.

“What is it?” Zelda asked. Link had a look of horror on his face.

“We have to go! These woods aren’t as safe as they used to be,” Link replied.

“What are you talking…?” Zelda said, but stopped in mid sentence as a howl entered the night.

“Wolfos,” Link growled under his breath.

Link picked up speed on Epona as Zelda could see a few gray figures behind him. Link noticed this and looked behind as well.

“You know how to ride a horse?” Link asked. Zelda nodded.

And immediately, Link jumped off Epona. Zelda gasped while pulling on the reins for Epona to stop. She turned around as a few wolfos came up to Link to face him, growling with hunger.

“Link! Are you crazy? Get back here!” Zelda commanded.

Link ignored her and instead replied back. “Go! I’ll catch up! If we rode together, then Epona slows down and this isn’t the greatest time to take our time.”

“I can fight!” Zelda said while taking one leg off Epona. Link grabbed her foot roughly while still looking at the beast moving towards him.

“No! Hyrule needs you! I’ve fought these things before and you haven’t! Just go!”

“Link I’m not leaving without you!”

“Yes you are!”

“I’d rather die than leave!”

“And I’d rather be ripped apart by monsters, face Ganondorf again, and get stabbed by a thousand knives than drag you into danger.”

Zelda grew quiet. “Please be okay,” she said quietly, and then rode off.

Link watched as the pack of wolfos surrounded him. He knew the tactics of every wolfos. If there was more than one, wait till the other is killed and attack. Link smiled. This was really an idiot plan for all monsters.

Link stood his ground with his eyes closed; listening for the sixth sense inside him to tell him which beast would attack first. It would be no point to look around and try and guess since they were actually smart enough to attack from behind most of the time.

But there were five wolfos circling around him, and sneaking behind his back.

A swipe came from one of them.

Link turned around with his shield out and slammed it against the monster’s claws. The others backed away for a battlefield for Link and the monster before him.

And one by one, each made the mistake of lunging at him, sometimes tearing his tunic, making gashes on his arms and chest. This was a big mistake on their part though, since this gave Link the perfect chance to duck down and stab them right in the chest.

Until one of the wolfos came up and attacked him from the right… Link raised his sword to avoid the slash coming to his face.

But it never came…

Instead, this monster was smart enough to make a feint attack and slash his lower side. Link gasped as the beast’s claw connected with an old wound.

A cry of pain came from his part as he started to pant. Tears watered his eyes and his legs felt like rubber. Every wound in his body began to hurt as the pain in his right side felt like an agonized pain that seemed to come from the pit of hell itself. Link winced as he held his sword out strongly again, trying hard to ignore the pain.

He couldn’t… He couldn’t…

Yes you can! Said a voice inside him. Toughen up! You’re going to give up just because of an old wound! You’re not a hero at all!

Anger welled inside him and he got up. He held his sword out behind him and released with another whirl of red and blue, releasing a spin attack. All the monsters around him were instantly killed as his battle cry echoed throughout the night.

He caught his breath before half running- half limping through the forest.

“Zelda! It’s okay I got rid of them!” Link shouted as loud as he could.

Luckily Zelda heard this and urged Epona towards Link’s voice.

“Link!” Zelda shouted. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah I’m fine!” Link feeling the pain of his right side fade away as Zelda rode forth.

“Maybe we should leave the forest,” Zelda sighed. Link nodded.

“My thoughts exactly,” he replied and got on Epona.

“Come on once we get out of this forest, we can take a break.”

And with Link’s good navigating skills and Epona’s speed, they escaped the forest in fifteen minutes.

“You’re bleeding everywhere, Link,” Zelda said in horror.

“Yeah well, wolfos aren’t exactly happy and friendly little puppies.”

“That doesn’t mean you should be so reckless. Many care for your life Link.”

“Do you?” Link said looking behind him to Zelda. She nodded immediately.

“Of course I do!” she said. “You’re my greatest friend.”

Link nodded and turned around in disappointment hidden from Zelda.

A friend? I was hoping for more, he thought with a frown. He quickly dismissed that thought and paid attention to where they were going.

“All right, we’re out and in a safe spot,” Link replied upon stopping near a small bolder in the dirt road.

They set up camp, taking some stored food out to eat quietly, after that, Zelda couldn’t take it anymore.

She took a couple bandages from her pack and some gauze, and then crawled up to Link and grabbed his arms.

“Zelda what are…?” Link said in shock. She rolled up Link’s sleeves.

“Link I’m not going to allow you to get infections on my vacation,” Zelda said stubbornly. “I’m just going to bandage your arms. Okay?”

Link sighed and nodded. He watched as Zelda gently rubbed the medicine over his cuts, giving him a stinging sensation and wrapping the bandages tightly around his arms.

As soon as she was done, she just noticed how close she was to Link. She went pink and regretted it.

Link noticed as well how close she was. Maybe if he could just…

“Umm, maybe we should get some sleep,” Zelda interrupted and laying down by the campfire. Link nodded while rolling down his sleeves.

Link made a silent sigh before he laid down on the other side of the campfire.

He then looked over the fire towards Zelda and smiled.

She was already asleep, and he knew why. She had a big adventure today for a sheltered princess. There would be no doubt that she was tired.

Link watched and noticed her twitch and start to shiver as she lay there. Remembering the first time he met her, he unhooked his belt, took off his tunic and walked around the fire.

He then kneeled down and laid his green tunic on her like covers to keep her warm. Zelda made a slight smile in her sleep as she crouched into a ball to relax in Link’s warm tunic.

Link watched Zelda throughout the night and neared the campfire to rid himself of the cold night chilly air.

As the sun appeared over the horizon and seeped through Zelda’s eyelids, she shut them tightly, feeling extreme warmth on her part.

She opened her eyes to see green fabric laid on her like a bed sheet. She looked again to see that it was Link’s tunic.

Zelda turned over to see Link putting out the fire. He looked over to her with a smile.

“Ready?” Link asked. Zelda looked down at Link’s tunic.

“That wasn’t necessary,” Zelda said. “You didn’t have to give me your tunic.”

“I wanted to,” Link said. “Besides you’re wearing a dress with hardly any sleeves and I’m wearing things that can keep you warm through an ice cavern.”

He put on his tunic and belt once more and saddled up Epona.

They both got on for what seemed to be the hundredth time to Zelda and rode south where the Lake Hylia slumbered.

Zelda made a gasp as she caught sight of the amazing lake before her. She looked at it in awe.

“The pictures of Lake Hylia are beautiful but they don’t even do this wonder justice,” Zelda said. Link nodded.

“Yeah, Lake Hylia and all of the Zoran land are all beautiful wonders of Hyrule.”

Zelda began to feel famished. “How about we eat breakfast here?”

Link nodded. So they sat by the lake, watching its glory and eating a few bits of bread.

“I’m so glad we got out of the castle,” Zelda said after getting rid of a bit of bread in her teeth.

“Yeah, me too,” Link replied back. “That place was getting suffocating after a while.”

“Yeah well you’re going to have to get used to it when we get back,” Zelda sighed.

“I don’t have to get used to it if I don’t want to,” Link said mockingly.

“Oh really,” Zelda said, poking his chest. “Well then I order you to!”

“You don’t order me around!”

“Yeah, you’re definitely not my personal servant, that’s Manton’s job!” Zelda said sarcastically. “If you’re not my servant then why do you do everything I tell you to?”

“I don’t do everything you tell me!” Link countered.

“Yes you do!”

“No I don’t!”

“Oh really? Prove it!”

“Okay,” Link said with a devilish grin. Ignoring her squeal, he grabbed her waist and picked her up over his back like a sack.

“Link, put me down!” Zelda ordered strongly. Link snickered.

“Sorry princess, but I’m not your servant,” Link replied.

“Link I’m not ordering you as your master, I’m ordering you as the leader of your country! Now put me down right now!” Zelda shouted angrily. “Or else I’ll send you to jail for disobeying me!”

“It’ll be worth it,” Link laughed as he neared the edge of a cliff that led down into the lake. Zelda noticed this too with a gasp.

“Don’t you dare,” Zelda screamed. “I will have you hanged! I will have you stoned! I will make sure you’re burned alive if you do drop me in the lake!”

Link only laughed. “Aw Zellie, you need a hug,” he said as if he was only four.

“Zel…?” Zelda started to say, but she was interrupted as Link pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. She gasped for breath as Link whispered in her ear.

“Hold your breath,” he whispered seductively, and loosened her grip on Zelda.

But before she could do anything to get away, he jumped off the cliff and into the lake with her in his arms.

She opened her eyes in the water to see Link giving her a big grin. She reached her hand out and pushed him down father into the water.

Breaking out of the water, she looked around.

“Link?” she asked, slightly panicking.

Someone burst out of the water behind her. She turned around to see a figure covered in mud, looking almost like a redead.

The mysterious person made a loud moan, scaring Zelda and making her scream her lungs out.

The figure burst into laughter and wiped the mud off his face to reveal a dirty Link. He was laughing so hard that he felt like he was going to suffocate.

Zelda sent a wave of water at him.

“Link! That wasn’t funny!” Zelda shouted angrily. The wave sent Link’s hat off his head, revealing a big clump of mud in his hair and on his face.

Zelda went red. She didn’t want to do it, but it was so funny. She made a quick smile before bursting into laughter.

She giggled so hard it was very hard to breathe. After a few minutes of trying to calm down, she looked over to see a surprised Link.

“What?” she asked. Link had a look of shock on his face.

“It’s just, that I never,” He said. “I never saw you smile before or even laugh.”

“Okay, whatever,” Zelda said. Link smiled.

“You should do that more often though…”

“Do what?”

“Laugh… Smile… Be happy… Stuff like that,” he replied. Zelda smiled.

“There are you happy now?” she asked mockingly.

“Ecstatic,” Link replied. “Now where were we? Oh yes I believe we were…”

But he didn’t say anything else, instead he grabbed the clump of mud on his head and threw it in her face, bursting into laughter.

“Oh you are so dead!” Zelda said, getting a clump of mud from the sea floor.

That went on for almost half the day. After cleaning all the mud off their bodies, especially their faces, they swam out to one of the small islands on Lake Hylia.

Zelda sat on what appeared to be a tall wide pole sticking out of the ground, while Link sat, his legs dangling in the water with his ocarina up to his mouth. Zelda listened to Link play a song he called Saria’s Song.

“It’s a great dancing melody,” Zelda said with a smile, which was something Link had loved about Zelda right away. Her big bright smile and perfect laugh…

“Yeah, I played that song to Darunia once, and he loved it,” Link replied.

Zelda laughed. “Well he does love to dance.” Suddenly, she became curious. “Can you play any other songs?”

“Not really, unless you want to teach me one,” Link replied. Zelda smirked.

“Maybe I do,” she grinned. Link became curious as well.

“What is it?”

“It’s a song my mother used to play to me as a baby. It’s passed down from the royal family for generations. Only the royal family and their messengers know this song,” Zelda explained with a smile. “But I think we can make an exception.”

Link nodded and listened closely as Zelda sang the notes. Her voice was pure and never wavered.

Link smiled and tried to play the song on his ocarina. After a few corrections, he played it perfectly.

“Wow, it is a beautiful song,” Link said. “What’s it called?”

“It’s my lullaby,” Zelda said. “Zelda’s Lullaby people call it. It was named after my ancestors.”

Link nodded and played it again. Zelda smiled as she listened to the song, loving every minute of it.



~”Is that how it goes Zelda,” Winchel said as he started to play Zelda’s Lullaby on his violin.

“Yes you’re doing it!” Zelda cried happily. Winchel smiled.

“Such a beautiful song, a perfect one for you, I believe,” he quoted poetically. Zelda blushed.

She looked over to him with passion in her eyes as he finished the song. He dropped his violin silently and caressed her cheek as she gave her first kiss away. ~



Zelda suddenly realized that she dazed off as she sat down next to Link to hear the song louder.

Once she awoken from her daydream, she found Link sitting there with a smile on his face. She reached over and touched his shoulder.

Link looked over to her with a smile. “Zelda…”

“Shh…” she hushed him. She made a smile and kissed his lips. They fell into a deep embrace.

Zelda awakened from her sleep, drifting in and out at every sigh of Link’s movement in his hands. She crawled closer to his muscled, yet very comfortable chest.

She looked up to see him asleep and smiled. Zelda was so happy. She hadn’t felt this way in a long time. Link seemed to heal her wounds and make her feel protected from all evil. He was her warrior… Her hero… Her new love…

Link’s hand sleepily brushed against her hip, causing her to get an itch on it. She went to go and rid herself of it, until her elbow connected with Link’s right side, waking him up with a loud cry of pain.

“Link!” Zelda said shocked. “Are you alright?”

Link sighed and made a sharp wince before relaxing again.

“I’m fine,” he replied. “It’s nothing…”

But Zelda knew something was wrong. She had never heard Link make a noise of pain in her life, let alone wince from something. She turned around and started to unbuckle Link’s belt.

“Zelda what are you doing?”

“Checking to see what is wrong.”

“Nothing is wrong!”

“Yes there is! Stop lying to me!”

She unbuckled Link’s tunic and grabbed it, along with his white shirt, embarrassing him by pulling it up to look at his right side.

She made a loud gasp in horror at the sight.

There along his right side was the largest gash she had even seen in her entire life. The cut was unnaturally wide and long, almost cutting into half of his stomach. The wound itself was a black ashy color, and slightly red, meaning that he was cut on that wound again. Zelda didn’t need to think twice to know that the monsters in the forest did the second wound. But what horrific monstrosity could do the first cut?

She looked around the cut as she thought of this and saw small burns around the wound, obviously, which was usually a desperate attempt to close a wound that wouldn’t stop bleeding.

“Holy Farore! What in Din’s name happened to you?” Zelda said in shock.

Link sighed. “Ganondorf… When I fought him, he had an axe that I tried to dodge, but he still clipped my right side with it.”

“He didn’t clip your right side, he nearly chopped you in half from what it looks like.”

“Yeah well, Ganondorf was a great fighter,” Link replied. “Can we not talk about this?”

“Right,” Zelda said, becoming extremely quiet.

“Link,” she murmured.

“Yes Zelda,” Link said as he pulled his shirt and tunic back down again and buckling his belt.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Zelda then began to feel tired and closed her eyes to drift off into sleep.

Link watched her with a smile, and then turned his attention to the scar on his right side.

-Goddesses, what did I do to deserve this, he thought. He closed his eyes.-



- Heat bathed down on the warm cot, drying everything out in the desert like place. The only liquid came from the small cotton cot itself. A liquid seeped through the bed and formed a red pool of blood on the floor.

All the while, Link stirred, feeling the signs of numbing pain and excruciating aches all over his body.

And yet there was a tingling sensation inside him. He slowly opened his eyes to see a group of fairies spreading their magic on his right side, repairing and patching all the organs and muscles that were sliced apart.

Link winced, feeling his head and chest throb horribly as the sound of liquid dripping to the floor seemed magnified over a thousand times.

And what were worse were the voices in the next room. A group of girls stood behind the door, their voices loud and clear even through the door.

“Shauna! We can’t use any more fairies! We’ve used about a dozen to heal his side, and it still won’t stop bleeding!”

“What? But Nabooru strictly ordered that this man lived, no matter what we had to do!”

“Our fairies have done enough. The only hope we have is to burn the wound, or else he’ll die from loss of blood.”

“We could rebel and kill this man. After all, just when we thought we had a great King to rule the fortress, this piece of dirt comes, humiliates him, and kills him.”

“We have to have hope. Maybe Nabooru is a better queen.”

A great king… Nabooru, a better queen… These words confused Link for a second.

He was supposed to help Nabooru get past the guards so she could sort things out with the king. Nabooru said he was corrupted by his power and was abusing the gerudos, but why would these girls speak so highly of him?

“I have to admit, I liked Ganondorf better. He was kind and caring, strong and handsome, and very charming.”

“But I’ve got to hand it to Nabooru. She tricked that kid to kill our King just so she could take the throne. That was very sly of her. A true gerudo she is…”

Anger welled up inside Link. He gritted his teeth and balled his fist.

How could I be so stupid? Link thought. Malon was right all along. Nabooru couldn’t be trusted, and he gave up his bond with her for this.

“She tricked me,” he whispered with a groan that the gerudos could hear. They opened the door with a couple gasps.

“Well! This is a surprise,” said one of the girls.

“I was sure he was going to be unconscious longer,” said another.

“I wish I was,” Link muttered too quietly for them to hear. “In fact I’d rather be dead now.”

“Poor kid,” said another girl. Link couldn’t exactly tell who was who, since his vision seemed quite blurry. “We have to close this wound by burning it. It’s either that or you die of loss of blood.”

Link would’ve given anything in world to have the energy to say, “I’ll die of loss of blood thank you.” But he was too weak, and moving in the slightest bit caused his head to pound even harder.

They pulled out a red-hot iron rod and pressed it on his wound, causing him to scream as loud as he could throughout the entire fortress.

As soon as the wound was closed up, Link drifted back into sleep, not wanting anyone else to bother him. -




-Link walked out of the fortress. A total look of depression was on his face.

“Link!” said a voice. Link turned around to see Nabooru. He glared at her.

“I want to say thank you for helping me,” she said. Link lowered his head, but not his glare upon her. His eyes ice cold with a look of unbending hatred on his face.

“I didn’t help you really, I did your dirty work, and killed an innocent and strong leader,” Link growled.

Nabooru’s plain look turned to a look of shock. “You heard?”

“Yes,” Link said, his voice fierce and piercing to the heart of Nabooru. “I heard that you used me like I was your assassin.”

“Link I’m really sorry,” Nabooru said. “I didn’t know what I was thinking, I swear. I didn’t mean for this to happen to you.”

“Happen to me?” Link shouted angrily, walking up to her. “You tricked me! I gave you the benefit of the doubt, thinking you were an honest person trying to help your people! But all you wanted was the power to rule and used me like an assassin to kill a man who could bring this land into peace!”

Link turned on his heel and walked away, leaving a stunned Nabooru standing still in remorse. -

Zelda opened her eyes to see the sun shine upon her face. She closed her eyes again to rid herself of the sun, and shifted a little as her back pressed against Link’s.

She looked up to see Link just lying there, his hand holding up his chin. He smirked at her as she smiled back.

“Sleep well?” Link asked. Zelda nodded.

“Haven’t slept this well in years,” she remarked. This cheered Link up.

“Well I guess that we should go back to the castle,” he suggested. Zelda nodded.

“Yes, I don’t want my father to worry that much,” she said.

“I agree,” Link said. “The last thing I want to do is get in some sort of trouble again.”

Zelda giggled and got up, brushing her dress off. “Ready to go for another swim?”

Link didn’t reply; he just dove into the water, sending a splash of water at Zelda’s feet, making her shiver slightly. She embraced before jumping into the cold water.

She made a gasp in surprise as well.

“It wasn’t this cold yesterday!” she made a shiver again. Link nodded, ignoring the fact that he was freezing as well.

“The water isn’t heated enough by the sun Zelda,” Link informed. Zelda rolled her eyes and they both swam over to shore. Zelda walked up to Epona as Link walked over to her and threw a blue tunic at her.

“Link!” Zelda said angrily. “What was that for?”

“It’s so you don’t freeze,” Link said making a cocky grin. She knew he threw it at her roughly on purpose, but was still making a point. She pulled it on, feeling warmer with both her light blue dress and Link’s thick warm tunic on.

“Thanks,” Zelda said.

“No problem Zel,” Link said.

“No, I really mean it,” Zelda said, walking up to Link. “Thank you for everything,” she said with a smile. She reached her hand up and touched his cheek. Upon instinct Link wrapped his arms perfectly around her waist.

“I love you Zelda,” he said, looking deep into her eyes. Zelda smiled brightly.

“I love you too,” she said, moving forwards. “My hero.”

She gave him another kiss before breaking apart. Both had a large sheepish grin on their faces before Link hugged her tightly.

“My princess,” he muttered. Zelda looked over to Epona before smirking at Link.

“Oh! My feet do so terribly hurt! After all that swimming!” she said dramatically, pretending to faint in his arms. Link sighed.

“Alright,” Link sighed before picking her up and carrying her towards Epona with her arms around his neck. Once she was on Epona, she neared as close as she could towards Link. They rode north towards Lon Lon Ranch and Castleton.



Cheveyo watched as Link and Zelda walked up to the gates of Hyrule Castle. His long braid billowed in the gentle breeze. He made a slight smile as he saw them share a kiss. He sighed.

“I can’t believe I’m going to do this,” Cheveyo muttered to himself, biting his lip and lowering his head.

He watched Zelda and Link get nearer, and he forced an emotionless expression in his eyes, promising himself not to show any weakness whatsoever.

“Zelda has returned?” said a voice. Cheveyo sighed.

“Yes Prince Xenon, Zelda has returned from her journey,” he said in a low voice.

Prince Xenon made a smirk. “Good.”

He made a slight frown as he saw a stranger so close to the princess. And what was worse was that he seemed like a simple warrior.

Zelda noticed Prince Xenon and Cheveyo standing there.

Prince Xenon walked up to her, a smile on his face.

“Welcome back milady,” he said. “I do hope you had a safe journey…”

Zelda looked at him in confusion. “I’m sorry, but do I know you?”

Xenon made a chuckle. “Oh I’m terribly sorry… Allow me to introduce myself… I am Prince Xenon of Menefer.”

Zelda recognized that country. “You must know Princess Cassara. Is she well?”

“Yes,” Xenon replied with a smile. “She is in wonderful health. But how about you?”

“Perfect, I must say,” Zelda brightly smiled, shooting a glance at Link. He smiled back.

“That’s good,” Xenon said, ignoring the glances the couple gave to each other.

Cheveyo walked up to them with a frown on his face. “Princess Zelda, I need to talk to you in private.”

“Wait,” Zelda said. “I just want to see my father first.”
Cheveyo hesitated before replying. “That’s what I need to talk to you about.”

Zelda made a look of concern. “What’s wrong?”

Cheveyo frowned. “You’ll have to see for yourself.”

“I’ll wait here for you Zelda,” Xenon said. “Then we can talk.”

Zelda nodded before following Cheveyo into the castle as Link followed in curiosity.

They walked up to the entrance to the lounge in the castle. Cheveyo looked over to Zelda.

“I must warn you. What you see will not be what you expect.”

Zelda hesitated before opening the door. The door slowly made a loud creak on its hinges, taking forever to allow Zelda to fit into the room.

She walked over to see a chair with it’s back towards the window. A person sat in the chair. A person that Zelda recognized as her father…

“Father?” Zelda said to get his attention. She failed. She slowly walked up to his chair and turned it around with a gasp.

There sat her father, deathly pale with his eyes closed. In panic she grabbed his wrist and searched for a pulse.

There was none…

“He’s…” Zelda said in shock. “…Dead?”

Link walked forwards to her side looking at him.

“No wounds… Was it of natural causes? Heart failure?” he said turning to Cheveyo.

“The physicians checked him. He was perfectly healthy. Except…”

“Except what?” Link said putting his hand on Zelda’s shoulder in hope to comfort her from her silent sobbing.

“They detected poison in his bloodstream,” Cheveyo replied. Link gasped.

“Murder?”

Cheveyo nodded. Zelda listened intently and wiped away her tears.

“But why would anyone try to kill my father?”

“He is a big target for assassins,” Cheveyo said. “We have to find that criminal.”

Zelda nodded as she neared towards Link. He had a habit of comforting her in the direst situations, and now was the perfect time. He wrapped his arms around her, almost protecting her from everything around her.

Cheveyo frowned. “I predict that Zelda’s father isn’t the only target though.”

Link lowered his head to her chin. “I know.”

He shut his eyes tightly as Zelda sobbed in his tunic. “Link, I’m afraid.”

Link held her even closer. “I know Zelda. I won’t let them hurt you.”

And surprisingly enough, that made Zelda much happier…

“Alright, forgive me for being blunt, but why are you here,” Zelda asked Xenon.

“No need to apologize,” Xenon said calmly. “I just came here once I heard of the great King of Hyrule’s death, and to meet the beautiful maiden who is soon to rule it.”

Cheveyo rolled his eyes as he leaned over on the wall next to Link.

“I get the second answer, but might I remind you that you came before the King’s death,” Cheveyo informed. Link sighed. At least Xenon had some respect for others… Zelda just seemed to be the center of his universe, and it was driving him crazy.

Xenon ignored Cheveyo. “I truly believe this is a time to morn for the loved ones, and I am here for you Zelda,” he said putting his hand on her shoulder. Link made a loud forced cough.

Zelda noticed Link’s signal and stood up.

“Well I’m sorry I don’t need you’re help right now. You are allowed to stay. I just need some peace and quiet while I finish some paperwork,” she lied.

She then left the room, followed by Link.

She walked over to the stables, along with Link behind her. She then made a sigh of relief.

“Finally, I couldn’t stand another minute without you by my side,” she said while sitting down next to Link, laying her head on his lap.

“I was by your side the whole time,” Link said raising an eyebrow while brushing a golden strand of hair out of her face. Zelda closed her eyes as she relaxed at his touch.

“Yes, well… You know what I mean,” she mumbled, before sitting up again to give him a kiss. They embraced once more.

Until Link’s ears perked in warning as the sound of an arrow whistled through the air, striking a pole and causing fright to the horses.

Zelda and Link both broke apart as they looked over to the arrow.

“What was that,” Zelda gasped. Link looked over to the direction the arrow pointed. There were no signs of anyone. Link looked over to the arrow.

“It’s a signal,” Link said observing the arrow. “Zelda I think we need to make sure you’re as safe as possible.”

“I can take care of myself Link,” Zelda said strongly. Link gave her a serious look.

“That doesn’t mean your life isn’t in danger, Zelda,” Link said. “Come on, let’s go inside,” he said.

She nodded before walking away. Link looked over to the arrow again to see a small drop of a strange purple liquid protruding from the arrow.

“Poison,” Link muttered before catching up with Zelda.


“My goddesses Zelda!” Prince Xenon gasped. “Are you okay?”

“Yes I am fine, Xenon, no need to worry about me,” Zelda replied. Link observed this and rolled his eyes.

“Because, I could lend all the help to make sure your protected,” he said, worryingly. Zelda sighed.

“Xenon I already have about ten guards watching me wherever I go,” Zelda said.

“It’s for your own good Zelda,” Link interrupted. Prince Xenon nodded.

“I agree,” he said. “I believe it is absolutely necessary that you are safe, and that’s what’s most important.”

“You both are honestly getting very annoying,” Zelda said angrily. Link blushed and Xenon made a sheepish grin.

“We’re only making sure that you’re safe,” they both said, and then shooting warning glares at each other.

“Will you two stop,” Zelda said started to walk towards the door.

It was then that an arrow shot out from the doorway, missing Zelda by an inch and hitting the chair in the middle of the room.

Zelda looked over to see ten men dressed all in black, holding their daggers in a menacing way.

Link rushed forwards with his sword out immediately and made a large swipe at the men, driving them away from Zelda. Xenon rushed towards her.

“Come on Zelda,” Xenon said, moving her to the back of the room. “You need to be safe.”

“But Xen…” Zelda said when Xenon interrupted her.

“I will not risk your life out there!”

Link looked over to the men, brandishing his sword threateningly. The men charged forwards as Link grinned.

Link made as many quick and powerful swipes as he could, knocking down at least five of the men with each swing. They tried to stop it, but their daggers were useless against Link’s large sword.

Once they were all at least knocked unconscious or stunned, Zelda walked forwards.

“Zelda be careful,” Xenon warned. Zelda had this feeling like he was acting like her father.

Link looked at each person. All of them wore black masks that covered their entire heads. Zelda picked up one of the men and removed his mask with a gasp.

“Jonathan!” Zelda gasped. “One of the guards!”

Link removed some of the other masks. “These are all the guards I asked to protect you…”

Zelda shot a glare at Link. Link made a sheepish grin.

“Well, Cheveyo helped…”

“Someone must have bribed the guards,” Zelda suggested, trying to change the subject.

“I know but who…” He stopped in mid sentence. Only one person knew the guards very well.

“No,” Link said in shock. “It can’t be… Cheveyo is my friend. He would never try and murder any royal.”

Xenon sighed. “Well it seems that you don’t know you’re friend that well.”

Link bit his lip to try and hold back a snarl that he longed to make at Xenon.

Zelda sighed. “I never expected him to do that… I mean, it all fits but…”

“Yeah well let’s get rid of these guys first,” Link said raising his sword. Zelda looked over to Link in horror.

“Link what are you doing!” Zelda shouted running up to him, and blocking him from slamming his sword down on the guard...

“I’m getting rid of these people,” Link said. “Now please Zelda, move…”

“So you’re going to kill them?”

“They’re going to die anyway! They probably killed your father after all!”

“That doesn’t mean you have to kill them!” Zelda argued angrily. “We’ll send them to jail.”

“Zelda, I’m not going to wait and give them the slightest chance to attack you again, now move,” Link commanded, surprised what he was saying. He never ordered Zelda around at all.

“No, Link,” Zelda shouted at him. “I’m not letting you become a murderer! I don’t know why you’re acting like one!”

“Zelda move,” Link said.

“No.”

“Zelda!” Link growled.

“I’m not letting you become a killer!”

“Well then maybe I should open you’re eyes for you!” Link shouting, losing absolute control of what he was trying to say out of impatience and rage. “I maybe a hero to you, but the reason I was sent to jail is because I am a killer!“

Zelda shot a hateful glare at Link before he realized what he just said.

“Wait Zelda no, I meant,” he said.

“I know what you meant!” Zelda said fiercely. “Maybe I was wrong to try and send you out of jail. Try and give you the freedom I thought you deserved…”

“But Zelda!”

“But nothing! Just leave me alone!” Zelda shouted, walking out of the room as tears began to build up in her eyes.

Link made a growl of frustration as Xenon walked out of the room. He knew where the prince was going.

Link punched the wall in anger.

“Great going Link,” he muttered angrily to himself. “You are a killer.”

He leaned forwards and banged his head off the wall in remorse.

Link thought about the things that just happen. Pain welled up inside him that seemed just as painful as the wound on his side. He was back in agony again. All the while, tears dripped from his eyes.

“I am a killer,” Link muttered.

Zelda stomped off, anger and pain swelling in her chest.

Link wasn’t a murderer. She knew he wasn’t. He was just… a different type of hero. But why goddesses why did he have to be stubborn like that. She hated and loved him for that. But she hated him more for that… Or did she love him more for that? She became very confused.

*Stop thinking about that now… You have to take action before the people of Hyrule lose their queen, or even worse, another loved one of yours…*

Zelda snapped her fingers and shouted impatiently.

“Guards!” she called out. A few guards walked up to her, along with, surprisingly, Xenon.

“Princess Zelda are you alright?” he asked. Zelda nodded.

“Yes, I am fine,” Zelda, said. “I want you two to come with me,” she said to the two guards. Prince Xenon followed.

“Milady I’d be glad to assist you in your current affairs,” he said with a quick bow.

“Good,” Zelda said. “Make sure there are no other assassins around me as we go arrest Cheveyo.”

Xenon nodded, and beyond Zelda’s view, the two guards nervously looked over to the prince. He made a quick gesture to them, and they were quickly silenced.

They speed walked over to the castle grounds where Cheveyo was training the men, watching them intently on their skills.

Zelda looked over to Cheveyo, who made a slight smile.

“Zelda,” he said calmly. “How are you feeling?”

“Slightly, shocked I suppose,” she answered. “I’ve just been ambushed by ten men disguised in black. Link took them down and revealed them to be one of the royal guards… Care to explain?”

Cheveyo thought about this and what she said for a second. He looked at her, seeing her cold expression.

“Milady, you wouldn’t think that I would ever,” Cheveyo started to say, but Zelda interrupted.

“I’m sorry Cheveyo,” Zelda said. “You are under arrest for assassination to the Royal King, and attempted murder to the heir,” Zelda said referring to herself.

“Milady please,” Cheveyo shouted, but Xenon interrupted.

“Sorry Cheveyo, but it all fits,” he said and gestured for the guards to come forwards. They did and reluctantly arrested them. All the other guards were in shock.

Link watched painfully as his great friend was sent to jail. He couldn’t believe that the man who Link always wanted to grow up to be, would end up in jail. He closed his eyes in remembrance.

~A small boy raised his sword with fire in his eyes, he slammed it down with power upon the grotesque monster. It was a pure white monster out of the ground, its jaws open wide as it made a screech in pain, causing pain to the little boy’s sensitive pointy ears. He covered them with a wince, only to regret doing so.

A long white hand rose out of the ground once more and snatched his arm, holding him tightly. Link struggled to break free from the grip, but he was unable to do so.

This caught the monster’s attention and he glided through the black ashy earth and up towards the little boy. He opened his mouth wide, ready to suck the life out of the child.

Until a small sword came out from the darkness, spinning towards the beast and chopping it’s head off.

A man stood there before the boy. His eyes just as fierce as the boy’s, but only with more wisdom and power…

As soon as the hand sunk back into the ground, the little boy, dressed in green walked up to the man.

“Thank you sir,” he said. The man smiled. He was clad in a black and orange bodysuit. He twirled his large pole… The red ripped cloth tying the small sharp sword to the wooden stick together made a wave of red.

“A little boy? Deep inside the depths of the well,” he said in surprise. “You’re lucky you survived kid…”

“I had some practice,” the boy said, making a slight blush at his compliment.

“Some practice, eh?” He grinned. “Say, what’s your name?”

“Link,” the boy said.

“Ah, call me Cheveyo,” he said.

“Cheveyo?”

“Yeah, so tell me,” he said casually. “Why are you down here?”

“I wanted to save the girl who fell into the well…”
Cheveyo smiled. “You’ve made quite an accomplishment already. Are you trying to be some sort of little hero?”

Link blushed again. “I guess,” he said, not knowing where the man was going. “Were you doing the same?”

Cheveyo nodded. He looked over to the monster and shot a glance at Link.

“I hope you’re not easily frightened or disgusted, are you?”

Link thought about that for a moment before going on. He never thought about being afraid or disgusted when going into a battle with a monster. He shook his head.

And with that, Cheveyo swung his weapon and chopped the monster before him to pieces, sending icy blue smoke into the room, until all was left but a small skeleton. He poked a human-like ribcage stuck in the monster.

“The girl is dead,” Cheveyo sighed. Link observed with a frown and a sigh.

“Did you know her?”

Link shook his head. Cheveyo smiled.

“I like you kid. You don’t know the girl, yet you still risked your life for her.”

“I’m just doing what I can,” Link replied. Cheveyo thought for a moment before continuing.

“Say? You happen to be good enough with the blade… I could offer you lessons if you want?”

Link raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yes really,” he replied. “If that’s what you want…”

“Sure,” Link said excitedly.

“Alright then,” Cheveyo said. “But lets get out of this well first.”

Link agreed. ~

Link looked over as Zelda shot a look at him. Both expressions were in total pain. Link looked away and left.

He marched out of the castle, wanting nothing more than fresh air. No wait, he did want something more. He wished Zelda would forgive him.

Link sighed at that as he passed the guards. He shot a glance at them before walking by.

Normally, the guards wouldn’t let him stray away from the castle, but Zelda, now as queen, took the charges off of Link and he was simply Zelda’s personal servant again.

Walking through the alleyways, he reminisced about how many times he ran into the freezing rain and found someone in danger of criminals. He remembered defeating a simple amateur of a thief from trying to steal a bit of food from a small child, to rescuing the innocent from being tortured by madmen.

He never thought of it as taking the guilty person’s life away. He knew now that he was truly just one of them.

And as much as he wanted to fight it, he knew he couldn’t. It was his curse that he lived by…

Were the people I killed bound to this curse, too?

Link shrugged, trying to push his thoughts away from the subject, but they always came back to him as he recalled the argument he and Zelda created.

And that same thought came to his head that he never even realized before.

What am I doing? I’ve become a monster. Taking away people’s lives without even the slightest thought of remorse…

He bit his lip and refused to melt into cries again. But it still didn’t numb the sharp stabbing pains in his heart.

Link walked forwards again with his head lowered.

His ears then perked at the sound of footsteps. He looked up and around the barren alleyway.

Until suddenly, he turned around to see one of the guards swing his sword with full force. Link quickly blocked, only to have his sword knocked out of his hand.

He took out a small dagger out of his boot before facing the guard.

“You’re leader is sent to jail. You will get no more money out of killing me.”

The guards grinned. “You know nothing…”

He attacked again as a couple more guards ran up to fight. It was very long hard and painful as Link tried to block each sword with his dagger, or avoid slashes at his right side, until he did a back flip and landed on his sword with a grin.

He picked it up and relaxingly took down the guards, leaving only one alive. He picked him up by the shirt with a growl.

“Who sent you?” Link angrily said.

The guard shook his head. Link became impatient. He had to know now! He grabbed the guard’s wrist and slowly started to bend it oddly, causing pain to the guard.

“Tell me or I break every bone your body!” Link growled.

The man made a cry of pain. “The prince bribed us with at least a thousand rupees each. He said just to ambush you while he deals with the princess.”

“Zelda,” Link said in shock.

“Its too late now,” the guard said with a grin before fainting.

Link released the guard in horror. He looked over to the castle and saw a single light in Zelda’s bedroom.

Zelda sorted out some papers in her bedroom. She frowned. Not even the papers that she had to sign could take her thoughts away from Link...
She sighed as she forced herself not to cry.

*Why does every person I care about have to leave me? Whether in death or emotionally, it seems everyone is leaving me alone…*

She sighed before getting back to her work. She made a sob internally until a knock appeared on her door. Zelda didn’t answer, praying to the goddesses that it wasn’t Link.

“Princess Zelda,” Prince Xenon said through the wooden door. “It’s me… Is this a bad time?”

Zelda sighed in relief. “No it isn’t, come in…”

Prince Xenon bent down and felt his boot with a smirk before entering. He walked up to Zelda.

“Are you okay Zelda?” he asked. Zelda nodded with a smile.

“Yes I am fine… You seem to keep asking me that constantly… Why is that?”

Xenon smiled. “I am simply making sure you are alright. It would be terrible if you were injured in anyway… Terrible for me that is…”

Zelda nodded. “I thank you for caring so much, but I can take care of myself.”

He nodded back and looked around the room, spotting a certain portrait of Zelda on the wall. He looked over to the beautiful painting.

“Well, well, well… I heard of this noble artist. His name is Prince Winchel, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Zelda said calmly, realizing that no extra pain came to her. Link had healed her wounds. She lowered her head. If only he didn’t say what he said before. Then she wouldn’t be in this pain.

“Drawn very well… Did he draw many pictures of you?”

Zelda nodded. “I was his model, I guess. He used to send in a few pictures of me in art competitions… Is that how you knew his work?”

Xenon nodded. “I happen to be an artist myself. He and I used to always join art competitions,” he then frowned. “He was always got first place.”

He then sat next her and looked into her eyes with a smile.

“But that doesn’t matter anymore… Anyway, I am very interested in creating a picture of you, myself. You don’t mind, do you?”

Zelda smiled. “Of course not… I’ll pose for you.”

Xenon smiled excitedly and grabbed an easel and paints. He then got back to Zelda’s room and whipped out his paintbrush.

“Okay just relax and… yes that’s good,” he commented. Zelda smiled as she leaned on a pole holding up the curtains of her bed.

Xenon began to work quickly and excitedly. He made a quick sketch, making sure everything was in detail.

“Finished,” Xenon then said. Zelda looked over at the picture.

“Well, it’s really good. You do have talent,” she commented.

“Am I better than Winchel?” Xenon asked. Zelda frowned.

“Well, I’m not sure… They do look very alike, but I’m not sure yours is better,” she looked up to Xenon with a smile. “I’m sure you’ll get better as you practice.”

That was they way she was. After seeing as many of Winchel’s portraits, she became some sort of art judge.

Zelda removed herself from those simple thoughts and looked over to Xenon. He had a stern frown on his face.

“You know, it always got me so jealous that Winchel was the better artist than I was…”

Zelda nodded, listening closely.

“I used to hate him for that,” Xenon said and then grinned, making Zelda very uncomfortable. “He had all the artistic, musician, and poetry talents. The loveliest princess’s heart… Everything seemed so perfect for him…”

“What are you trying to say?” Zelda asked. Xenon gave her a heated glare.

“I worked so hard for all those things, and that damn prince had to take it all away from me!” Xenon burst out in rage. Zelda backed away in fear.

“Xenon calm down,” Zelda said quietly, yet fiercely underneath. Xenon looked over at her with a glare.

“How did you do it?” Xenon asked. Zelda became confused.

“How did I do what?”

Xenon slowly took a long knife out of his boot and pulled a strand of golden blonde hair away from her face with it. Zelda backed up as he drew the weapon, watching it cautiously.

“How did you escape the men who killed Winchel?” Xenon asked.

Those words struck through her head like an arrow. Zelda made a silent gasp as her eyes widened.

*I never told anyone about how Winchel died! Only Link and I were supposed to know! *

“How do you…?” Zelda started, but Xenon interrupted her.

“How is it that I find three of my men dead in an alleyway,” Xenon said fiercely with a hateful glare. “You and Winchel were outside the castle. I sent my men to kill Winchel right away and do what they wanted with you. But you… I find you safe the next day and my men killed. Winchel was dead, so the plan was carried out. But how…”

His voice died as he raised his sword.

“Answer me or I’ll kill you just like your father!” Xenon growled. Zelda screamed.

“GUARDS!”

Xenon laughed evilly. “No one will come for you! I have the guards all bribed. You see I am a very good actor… You never thought the prince who visited the castle, who cares so much for your health… A prince who you think came here to offer you his love… Would be the one trying to assassinate the King of Hyrule, and it’s queen…”

“You’re mad,” Zelda said. It was her only defense. She was unarmed, and could only use the wit of her tongue to save herself now. Unless Link came to save her again…

Xenon grabbed her by the arm harshly and growled. “Answer me woman! How did you escape!”

Zelda winced in pain before glaring back. “I just happen to have connections.”

Xenon growled again and swung his knife at her. Luckily, with the reflexes Link trained her to do, she ducked low enough to dodge it.

Xenon made as many slashes and swipes at her as hard as he could, but Zelda was too quick. She dodged every single attack calmly. Xenon quickened the speed, causing Zelda to back away until she was trapped into a corner. Xenon grinned.

“I’m going to enjoy this,” he cackled mercilessly. Zelda moved as far as she could to the wall.

Zelda, deciding to take action, kicked Xenon in the stomach forcefully and knocked away his knife. She dove for it until something snatched at her hair.

Zelda struggled as much as she could as Xenon wrapped his hands around her neck, lifting her up off the ground. Xenon grinned madly.

“Finally every memory of that bastard prince will be gone,” he cackled. “So sorry sweet princess, but you’re time is up.”

Zelda gasped as her air was cut off and she began to drift away into unconsciousness.

Link burst the door open immediately, his dagger out as in one swift motion, he threw the blade at Xenon as it connected with his arm. Dropping the unconscious Zelda, he pulled out the knife as Link took out his sword.

“I don’t know how you escaped from the guards,” Xenon said in rage. “But I am not letting you ruin my plans!”

Link didn’t say anything. He was too caught up in a controlled rage that boiled his blood as his intense gaze of cold icy hatred looked upon the prince.

Xenon ran forwards with the blood stained blade in his hands as Link threw it awaywith his own sword with great force, he then made a swift stab at Xenon’s chest, immediately killing him.

Xenon fell to the ground. Link’s eyes softened and watered as he rushed towards Zelda.

“Zelda!” Link gasped. “Zelda! Zelda! Please be okay,” he said in tears as he gently lifted her. He hugged her close as he put his ear against her chest to hear the small thumping of her heart. Link made a sigh of relief as he held her close.

Cheveyo smiled as he walked up to Link’s bedroom door. He knocked on it with a smile.

“Come in,” Link said as his voice was muffled from the door. Cheveyo opened it with a grin.

“Hey! You’re out of prison!” Link said as he turned around in his chair. Cheveyo nodded.

“Yeah! Zelda released me immediately and appointed me to find out all the bribed guards. It seems that Xenon had at least half the guards bribed convincingly. Zelda fired them so the security is low,” Cheveyo said.

Link raised an eyebrow.

“But the guards get extra pay, so their excited and ready for anything,” Cheveyo finished. “But anyway, that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about. Zelda wanted to see you.”

Link stood up as Cheveyo leaded him to the throne room. There many people waited as they cleared to reveal Queen Zelda in her red royal robes. She walked up to Link, who was in total shock.

“Now this has really never been done before,” Zelda said. “Since there have been no heroes that aren’t already soldiers. So, I ask you Link stand on one knee.”

Link obeyed as Zelda took out a large sword decorated with many gems encrusted in the hilt. She tapped his shoulder with the blade.

“As Queen of Hyrule, I bestow upon you the title ‘Legendary Hero’ for your greatest acts of bravery to defend both the lowliest citizens,” Zelda made a look of disgust when saying ‘lowliest’. “And the highest of nobility and royalty,” she said.

Link looked up with a frown. “Your Majesty, I am not worthy of this title. As you have witnessed I have destroyed many lives in the process. I am truly sorry.”

“I’m going to have to correct you Link,” Zelda replied with a smile. “You’re actions were not of a murderer but of a hero and I know that. If you do refuse the title then I will enforce it by any means possible!” Zelda said with a smirk. Link sighed in surrender.

“Alright, I’m a hero,” Link said. Zelda smiled, satisfied.

People burst into cheering as Link went deep red when he rose up. Zelda handed him the sword. He buried his face into his arms before everyone scattered once more, revealing two red heads in the crowd.

Malon walked up to Link with a smile. “So you’re finally a hero now…”

Link nodded. “I guess.”

“Of course you are!” Malon said in rage. “Why in the goddesses name would you think that you were a murderer! You’re the total opposite!”

Zelda smiled. “I agree, Link. You rid the evilness of this world, that’s all. Man or monster.”

Link smiled. “Thanks,” he turned to Malon. “So does this mean the ‘Legendary Hero’ gets his horse back?”

Malon sighed in frustration. “Alright, you can have Epona…”

Link smiled. “Thanks…”

He then looked over to see a tanned skinned gerudo walking up to him with a frown.

“Link,” Nabooru said. “I’ve been thinking about what I did, and gave up the throne.”

Link smiled. “So who’s the new ruler?”

“We just got a new leader named Siyamak. He’s just as good a leader as Ganondorf, except he’s less easily angered.”

“That’s good,” Zelda said.

“So Link, I want to say I’m really sorry,” Nabooru said again. Link smiled.

“Well you’re lucky today, because I happen to be full of forgiveness,” Link said with a sigh. Nabooru brightened.

“Thanks Link, I won’t ask you for anything ever again,” she said. Link nodded in relief.

The two redheads waved and walked off before Link turned to Zelda.

“Zelda can I see you for a moment?”

Zelda nodded. He motioned for him to follow her until they reached the back of the castle courtyard. Cheveyo and the guards weren’t training at the moment, leaving Link and Zelda all alone.

“What did you want to bring me here for?” Zelda asked. Link grinned.

“Well, because this was the same place where we first kissed,” Link said. Zelda nodded in remembrance. That was the day she fell into a pool of water because of Link, and she made a deal with him that she would kiss him if he did.

“What about it?” Zelda said.

“Oh nothing, just a very good memory,” Link said with a large grin. Zelda nodded before Link did the strangest thing.

He looked up at the sky and bellowed out as loud as he could.

“I LOVE THIS WOMAN!” he shouted while Zelda jumped at his sudden outburst that seemed to echo throughout the entire castle.

“I LOVE THIS WOMAN! I LOVE HER SO MUCH IT’S DRIVING ME CRAZY!” Link screamed.

Zelda laughed before giving Link a punch in the stomach, which had no affect on him whatsoever.

“Link! That’s enough,” Zelda said, trying and failing not to laugh in both embarrassment and the hilarity of it all. “Look the whole world doesn’t need to know that you love me.”

Link sighed before looking back as Zelda with a serious look. His eyes met hers.

“I know, but I can’t help it Zelda,” he said. “I’m being honest. This has been driving me crazy from the moment we were together, so I am going to do it now.”

He went down on one knee once more, holding Zelda’s hands in his with a smile.

“Zelda,” he said.

“Yes Link?”

“Will you marry me?”

Zelda gasped in surprise as Link asked those four words. She couldn’t be happier and she smiled.

“I do.”