DISCLAIMER and AUTHOR NOTE STUFF
I don't own the characters, setting, or... actually, I don't really own anything. Except the writing, of course. And perhaps Keira.
This story is listed as a crossover between Quest for Camelot and Legend of Zelda, but a more appropriate description would probably be "Ocarina of Time cast set in an alternate universe that is incredibly similar to that of Quest for Camelot". But that's a wee bit long for a description.
A bit of background information for those of you who are familiar with the complexity of LoZ timelines; this story takes place in the child timeline of Ocarina of Time. This means that Link saved the Kokiri, Gorons, and Zoras, but not the Hylians or Gerudo. He informed Zelda immediately of Ganondorf's intentions, but as there was not enough solid evidence to convict him of anything, he was merely dismissed from the king's court. Link was recruited into the royal army, destined to become a knight of the kingsguard.
However, the king died due to a longterm illness, leaving his only daughter to take up the throne at a terribly young age. And so, our story begins...
There are tales of a war sealed away in time, a war that will never be recorded in Hyrule's history. There are few alive today who speak of this war - those that recall it are scarred by the memories of a time gone by, of bloodshed and mindless destruction. These privileged few refer to this event as the Imprisoning War.
CHAPTER ONE - The Queen's Guard
"Tell me the story again, mother," the little girl begged. She was currently perched on her father's shoulders - not unlike a bird - while her parents were currently packing for her mother's travels. "The one about the goddesses?"
Keira sighed. Her impetuous little girl was impossible to resist. At eight years old, Malon was filled with an inhuman amount of energy.
"Malon, darling," her husband Talon tried to protest, "you've heard it a thousand times. Let your mother keep packing. She's got a long journey ahead of her."
In truth, the journey to Hyrule Castle from the Normandys' ranch was not much more than a day's ride. However, deliberating the affairs of the state could take anywhere between three days and three weeks, depending on how much there was to deal with. Keira could only hope that, because it was the first meeting with their new queen, it would be a brief one.
The child queen Zelda had been crowned prematurely, in Keira's own opinion. Her father had died recently of a lifelong illness that had only taken hold of him completely this past year. While Keira did not doubt Zelda's ability to rule - the child had practically been born middle-aged, so wise beyond her years - she worried for a girl as young as her own daughter to be burdened with so much so early on in life.
A pang of guilt caused Keira to give in to her daughter, smiling as she helped Malon down from her father's shoulders. Shaking his head, Talon resumed packing Keira's bags as he chuckled softly to himself. Settling down on the ground, Keira began the story of the golden goddesses as she always did.
"Before time began, before spirits and life existed, three golden goddesses descended upon the chaos that was Hyrule," Keira explained, a dramatic tone to her voice. With each goddess she mentioned, she drew their corresponding triangle into the dirt at their feet. "Din, the goddess of Power. Nayru, the goddess of Wisdom. Farore, the goddess of Courage.
"Din, with her strong flaming arms, cultivated the land and created the red earth. Nayru poured her wisdom onto the earth and gave the spirit of law to the world. Farore, with her rich soul, produced all life forms who would uphold the law. The three great goddesses, their labours completed, departed for the heavens."
"And left pretty gold triangles behind!" Malon piped up excitedly.
Keira laughed, nodding. "Yes, Malon," she agreed. "Since then, the sacred triangles have become the basis of our world's providence, and the resting place of the triangles has become the Sacred Realm."
Malon's eyes widened in wonder as they always did at the mention of the Sacred Realm. "Can you tell me more about the Sacred Realm, mother?" she asked.
"Perhaps when I return," Keira replied.
"Can't I come with you?" Malon asked.
"This meeting is only for the knights of the queensguard, dear," was Keira's exasperated reply.
"Then I want to be a knight too, mother!" Malon exclaimed, stamping her foot in frustration. Keira laughed, much to her daughter's chagrin.
"Then a knight you shall be," she said softly. "I've delayed too long, dear. The queen will be waiting for me." She kissed her daughter's bright red hair - the only trait Malon had inherited from her mother. Otherwise, she was the image of her father with bright blue eyes, freckles, and pointed Hylian ears.
Where Keira came from, almost all the children born were women. Only once every century did a Gerudo woman conceive a male child, and tradition dictated that son would be crowned king. Naturally each king was expected to sire as many children as he could in his lifetime, but until there came a king it was up to the Gerudo to find a Hylian mate to carry the bloodline with. The traits of the desert women were not easily watered down, and so even biracial offspring appeared fully Gerudo.
At least, they almost always did.
If a woman could not bring forth a child that looked undeniably Gerudo, it was considered ill will. Her genetics must be weak if they were so easily squashed by a Hylians. Keira could not ever bring her daughter to the Gerudo desert, not as her child. Malon would be marked as a symbol of bad luck, proof of the dire situation they faced until Ganondorf decided to take up his responsibilities as king.
That in itself was a matter that likely needed to be discussed at some point during this month's meeting.
Seeing that her belongings were stowed in the wagon that Talon had strapped to Keira's mare, Eponine's saddle, she moved to bid her husband farewell. "Be safe, my dear," he whispered softly, and Keira felt his arms tighten around her as they always did when he was reluctant to say goodbye.
The horizon beckoned, and Eponine took Keira far away from the ranch until Malon and Talon's gestures of farewell were only specks in the distance.
Hyrule Castle was a grand sight from the Castle Town marketplace, and Keira admired it as she led Eponine through the crowded streets. At the sight of her royal blue uniform - the garb of Zelda's sworn queensguard - most of the townspeople moved respectfully out of her way, but others were convinced their business was too important to let someone past. Irritated, Keira glared at them from her position atop her horse.
"Giving an old man the evil eye never got anyone to the castle any faster," said a familiar voice. Turning, Keira saw her cousin Nabooru atop her own horse, smirking at her friend's situation.
"I suppose you have a better suggestion?" Keira politely responded. The exalted Nabooru was something of a second-in-command to Ganondorf, but in truth she took better care of the Gerudo nation than their absent king.
"I do, as a matter of fact," Nabooru said. She pulled a large bull horn from her pack, and before Keira could prepare herself and cover her ears they were assaulted with the loud rumble of the horn. Immediately, the crowd seemed to part in wonder and shock, and Keira was free to lead Eponine through towards the castle.
"I'm sure that's illegal," she muttered, though even Keira had to admit she was grateful for the over-the-top tactics that Nabooru was sometimes prone to using.
"Oh, likely," Nabooru agreed, dismissing it with a wave of her hand. "But I doubt Zelda will complain."
The rest of the journey was quiet. The rest of the queensguard assembled in the entry hall of the castle, and Keira had the chance to look at her comrades. She had met Nabooru before of course, but the others were strangers to her.
At that moment, a tall, stern-looking woman entered. Keira immediately recognized her as Impa, the attendant to the queen.
"Greetings, my comrades," she began. "If you will follow me, our queen is hosting the meeting in the council hall."
Keira followed as Nabooru and the other knights were lead into a large, circular room surrounded with bookshelves. It was likely an extension of the library, chosen for the quiet atmosphere and wealth of information. A round table set with nine places stood in the centre of the room, and Keira found herself standing awkwardly as she wondered where she was to sit.
At that moment, the queen entered the room. Zelda was a petite young girl, but her eyes shone with a rather peculiar sort of wisdom one would not expect in a child her age. Her blonde hair was braided back from her face, with a strand pulled out and curled from either temple. The dress she wore was cut from elegant blue cloth embroidered with silver, very becoming of a young queen. She smiled as she addressed her queensguard.
"Welcome," said Zelda. "I do hope I find you all in good health this morning. Please, take a seat wherever you wish."
Keira turned to Nabooru, who raised an eyebrow. The informal nature of the seating arrangements concerned Keira, who had been hoping Zelda would redeem her age by presenting an ideal image of royalty. Nevertheless, she took a seat next to Nabooru and an elderly male in brown and maroon robes. Zelda sat with her back towards the large window overlooking Hyrule Field, with Impa at her right.
"I understand this arrangement may seem unusual," she began, gesturing towards the shape of the table. "I assure you that this is a permanent arrangement however, and I have chosen it with the best intentions. It is to be understood that we are all equal in this room. There is not a notion or recommendation we should ignore simply due to the speaker's status. I want to ensure that every voice in this room is heard, and that every idea is given consideration."
Keira smiled in spite of herself. She was already proud of the young queen.
"Perhaps we should introduce ourselves to one another," Impa suggested quietly. Zelda nodded at the suggestion.
"An excellent idea, Impa," she agreed. "I'm certain you all know who I am, so perhaps you should begin?"
Impa nodded, rising from her seat without a sound. "I am formally known as the Grey Lady of House Impa, the Queen's hand and knight of the queensguard. I would prefer that, unless addressing me in court, you refer to me by my family name." With that, she sat back down.
The old man to Keira's left stood up. "Rauru of House Aberash," he began. "Knight of the Queensguard, minister of the Temple of Time."
Keira stood up, struggling to keep the nervousness in her gut out of her tone as she spoke. "Lady Keira of House Sergius, knight of the queensguard." She sat back down quickly, perhaps too quickly. She heard Nabooru stifle a chuckle before standing up herself.
"Lady Nabooru the Exalted of House Sergius. Warden of the South, knight of the queensguard." Nabooru sat down with such exaggerated grace Keira had to restrain herself, else she whack her cousin.
A mere child of about Zelda's own age, with a shock of emerald hair to match a tunic of similar hue. "Lady Saria of the Kokiri," she spoke with a high, clear voice. "Warden of the East, knight of the queensguard."
A mountain of a man with beady black eyes stood up after Saria, and Keira recognized him to be a Goron. "Darunia, chief of the Goron!" he boomed proudly. "Warden of the North, knight of the queensguard."
Finally, a willowy Zora stood. "Princess Ruto of House Ripa, Second of her Name, knight of the queensguard." Despite her status, Ruto sounded genuinely pleased to serve the young queen, and each syllable she uttered was overflowing with sincere gratitude.
Zelda's smile faded momentarily as she glanced around. She glanced at Impa, who returned with a tense smile. "I had hoped..."
She was cut off by the doors being thrown open, revealing a face that Keira had hoped not to see after leaving the Gerudo Desert for good. Ganondorf stood in the threshold, an intimidating sight in his black armour.
Keira heard Impa mutter, "I was hoping he wouldn't show up."
Zelda murmured in reply, "It was the only way we could keep an eye on him. I didn't have much of a choice."
"So good of you to invite me, princess," Ganondorf mused, taking the only empty seat available. Keira and Nabooru winced simultaneously at the improper title - undoubtedly intentional.
"You are speaking with the queen of Hyrule, and you will address her as such," Impa said coolly.
"Is she incapable of speaking for herself?" asked Ganondorf, turning his intense gaze upon the queen. Keira saw Nabooru's grip on the arm of her chair tighten, the skin around her knuckles taught with frustration. The Gerudo were a proud race, but they did not make a habit of being blatantly disrespectful. Ganondorf was misrepresenting them often.
"As you can see, Ganondorf," the queen replied smoothly, "the meeting has already begun. Everyone seated has introduced themselves already, perhaps you'd be so kind as to introduce yourself as well." It was not a suggestion, but a subtly executed command.
"Very well," Ganondorf complied. "King Ganondorf of House Dragmire, Warden of the West. And I suppose, a knight of ... a round table."
"It is intended to represent the ideology that each of us sitting at this table is equal," Zelda explained warily.
Ganondorf snorted. "A pitiful ideology, at that," he said. "Princess, - "
"You will address the queen by her title," Impa warned him again, her vivid red eyes practically sending sparks flying as she glared at Ganondorf. Keira couldn't be sure, but it seemed as if there was some hidden feud between the Sheikah and the Gerudo king that she was not privy to.
"Impa, please," Zelda silenced her attendant with a fleeting gesture. "Ganondorf, I understand you - "
"Understand?" Ganondorf seemed incredulous. "No, my dear. You don't understand anything. How could you, a child of ten years, possibly understand? You are a child, not a queen."
Zelda rose from her chair, restrained anger in her blue eyes. "I am Queen Zelda of House Harkinian, the last living Harkinian, and as long as I am the heir to the throne, I am your queen. I offered you this position as a means of making peace, I ask that you do not make me regret it."
There was a moment of silence, and Ganondorf seemed to stare at the floor between his feet for guidance. Then, a faint chuckling entered Keira's range of hearing. Ganondorf was laughing. He was cackling cruelly, and when he could not restrain it any longer he threw back his head and laughed loud enough to rattle the glass in the council room window.
"Ah, Zelda," the Gerudo king sighed. "Let's not fool ourselves. You don't trust me enough to offer me a position like this as a means of peace. You invited me here to keep an eye on me, to make sure I didn't plot against you. Such a foolish decision. If you can be so naive as this, thinking you can keep me on a leash like a common dog, how can you possibly be wise enough to rule?"
Zelda was stunned. There was a frightened look in her eye that implored Keira to act, to do something...
Nabooru beat her to the chase. "Ganondorf, enough," she commanded.
"Enough?" Ganondorf roared, rising to his full height. "You pathetic little ingrate, thinking you have any authority over me. You're nothing but a peasant, and you have as much say in this conversation as the child who calls herself queen."
"Ganondorf, watch your tongue," Zelda warned, her tone filled with ice. "I will banish you to the desert from whence you came, so help me. I invited you into my kingdom after my father's death in the hopes of allowing you the chance to redeem yourself. Granted, this was a foolish decision on my part - permit me to redeem myself also, that I might make the wise decision of casting you out from my kingdom forever."
Ganondorf's foul laugh filled the room once more, and Keira watched as a hand moved to his belt. "Unacceptable, princess," he bellowed. "You do not deserve this kingdom. I claim it by right of power!"
The sword was in his hand in an instant, and the room erupted in a cacophony of shouts and the sound of steel meeting steel. Every knight jumped to their feet as Ganondorf climbed atop the table, attempting to make his way towards Zelda. Something horrifying happened, however; Ganondorf was a strong man, but suddenly he seemed to possess the strength of ten. Keira and the other knights were knocked aside easily, and only Darunia with his massive girth could prevent the Gerudo from advancing further. Impa tried to lead the princess away, but she seemed reluctant to leave...
Fly, you fool, Keira thought as she stood up again, a trickle of blood moving down her chin from a backhand to the mouth. What was she doing? Her feet seemed propelling forward by a force she could not explain, and her grip on her two scimitars tightened as she leapt onto the table. Just as Darunia was knocked aside, Keira flew into the battle, prepared to strike...
Ganondorf's sword evaded her sight. With a single flick of his wrist, the blade swing across Keira's abdomen. Shock stoppered her throat, and no sound escaped her as she collapsed against the table.
From her downed position, Keira watched with weary eyes as Nabooru scooped her up into her arms and shielded her just as Zelda unleashed a fearsome blast of arcane fire. Ganondorf was sent flying until he collided with the doors to the council room. Zelda exhaled slowly, waiting for Ganondorf's reaction.
He stood slowly, as if every motion was an effort for him. "One day, that throne will be mine," Ganondorf said in a low voice, but his threat came across clearly enough. He left the room with a bang as he threw the doors open once more, disappearing as they creaked shut behind him.
"Your Grace, he cannot be allowed to escape," Rauru insisted. "I will fetch the - "
"Do what you feel is necessary, Rauru," the queen snapped impatiently as she lifted her skirt hem to climb atop the table. "Saria, fetch me the medic. Impa, come help me see to Lady Keira."
"Your Grace," someone said. Had that been Keira's voice? She sounded so weak and frail... "I'm sorry I could not protect you."
"Hush, my friend," Zelda whispered. She and Nabooru held Keira in their arms, and for a moment Keira found the energy to fret over the fate of the queen's undoubtedly blood-soaked dress. "You have fought bravely for me, and I would not have had the opportunity to defend myself with that spell without the time you gave me to cast it. The price was heavy, and I wish you had not sacrificed yourself for me, but I am grateful to you for saving my life."
"My daughter... my husband..."
"I will inform them," Zelda assured her. It was only as those words left the queen's lips that Keira began to realize the severity of the situation; she was dying. The world seemed impossibly far away as Keira began to drift into the abyss, and before long she was grasping at last remaining threads of her existence until they too were beyond her reach. With a rattling sigh, she slipped into oblivion and sagged in her cousin's arms, the first to die amongst the queensguard.
Malon was rejoicing. The first snowflakes of the winter season had fallen last night, and when she had woken up this morning the world was blanketed in a thick layer of snow. It was beautiful - and Malon was determined to mark her territory in the only way a child can on a snow day.
Her father was adding the finishing touches to their snowman while Malon and Epona left trails of footprints across the closed racing track. Epona was Malon's best friend; the only foal to her mother's mare Eponine, Talon had promised Malon that when the two of them were old enough he would teach her how to ride Epona. The two had grown close through a lullaby that Malon's mother had composed; she called it Epona's song, but it comforted Malon just as much.
It was a mild day for winter, and already Malon could see that the snow would melt by tomorrow if the weather did not improve. Suddenly the sun seemed a villain to her, robbing her of wonderful snow days and snowmen and snowy footraces around the racetrack with Epona.
Her thoughts were interrupted as a knight's herald sounded from outside the ranch. Malon squealed with joy, "The knights are here, mother's home!" She failed to notice her father's expression of despair as she nearly tripped over the hem of her dress running for the gate.
The knights proceeded in slowly, one by one. Each of them wore a grim expression on their faces, but Malon was searching them too briefly to notice. Where was her mother?
It was then that she noticed the girl. She couldn't have been much older than Malon, three years at most. She was very pretty, but she looked very sad as well.
"Your Grace," Talon said immediately, dropping to one knee. Years of etiquette lessons from her parents suddenly kicked in, and Malon repeated her father's actions.
The girl dismounted her horse with the help of a tall lady with grey hair and red eyes. She nodded to Malon's father and he stood up, so Malon figured she should do the same. "Lord Talon," she greeted him solemnly.
"Please, I'm no lord, Your Grace," Talon insisted, but the despair in his voice caused him to trail off. Was this the queen? She was so young... Malon could have easily been the queen.
"I'm so terribly sorry, Talon," the queen began. "The meeting did not go according to plan, and there was an accident. I was attacked, and your lady wife risked her life to defend mine. She did not survive her injuries, I'm afraid."
The winter wind grew cold around Malon, and suddenly the air stung her cheeks. Or perhaps those were tears. "What?"
Suddenly there was a pair of arms around her, and Malon found herself huddled against the chest of her aunt Nabooru. The lady reminded her so much of her mother... They had the same red hair and golden eyes. "Naboo, where's mother? Where is she?"
It was not Nabooru who replied, sobbing much too hard to word a reply. Malon felt her father's hand on her shoulder. "Your mother is gone now, darling," he said softly. "She's in the heavens, now."
The heavens... all the stories her mother had told her growing up began to emerge in Malon's mind as clear as if she were reciting them now. The goddesses had vanished into the heavens, never to return to Hyrule.
Her mother was gone.
Malon broke free of Nabooru's embrace, running to wrap her arms around Epona's neck as she sobbed into the foal's white mane. In the distance, her father and the queen's conversation was drowned out by a new, harsh winter wind as it wailed across the landscape.
"It is as we feared, Zelda."
"How can he possibly possess the Triforce...? That was another time, another realm! It shouldn't be possible..."
"It was never impossible. Just as the Sages awakened across the dimensions of time and space... perhaps the bearers of the Triforce have as well."
"But the Ganondorf of this time was halted before he gained access to the Sacred Realm!"
"Yes. But just as you are inextricably linked to your alternate self, as is Ganondorf. Where you draw upon the wisdom that the other Zelda possesses, Ganondorf is also able to draw upon the power of the demonic creature he became."
"Then what are we to do, Impa? He led Hyrule to ruin, we can't let it happen again."
"No, we can't. Neither the Ocarina or the Master Sword can be compromised again. Even the Hero will have to do without them, or we risk falling to the same fate as our mirror world."