Prologue

"Dead before her time," he murmured. His voice resonated in the hollow chambers of the temple. There, he would lay her to rest; his dearest sister.

Devrim couldn't fathom how she her life had been taken from him so suddenly. The physicians were cryptic in their explanations as to how they thought she died. He was told that she had an underlying health condition no one, not even she, knew anything about. At one moment, she had been a strong, capable, young leader of a country. The next, she was lying on the floor of her bedroom in the dead of night, with no one to witness what had happened to her. She had told the handmaidens to rest for the evening, and that she wouldn't need them in her chambers at night. The physicians found no trace of poisoning or foul play, however, Devrim didn't believe it.

He didn't want to believe it.

Queen Zelda was only twenty-six years old. Young. Beautiful. He stared down at her body resting in the open coffin next to him. Her face was pale and lifeless, yet it seemed as if she was merely sleeping. Her gloved hands rested tenderly on her chest, over the purple and golden dress she had always only worn for special diplomatic occasions. She would wear it forever, even in the Sacred Realm. On her head rested a golden crown decorated with fine jewels, each worth enough to buy out the land of every lord in the kingdom. Her brunette hair was loosely draped beside her, brushed, and wavy, with flowers decorating either side of her.

He remembered her bright blue eyes. They were full of life and ambition, just as her personality was. She was stubborn, hardheaded, and somehow always knew the right answer. She was also brave, loyal, kind, and most of all, the wisest person in all of Hyrule. She had single handedly led a kingdom to victory after years of battle, false heroes, and revolt. The queen was the most capable leader of her time, loved by all. Ever since she was a young girl of sixteen, she showed promise of a great ruler. After their father's death only five years before, she had been bestowed the Triforce of Wisdom by the gods. Devrim didn't know where it was, at this point. He assumed it would rest with her body unless someone took it. He didn't want it, anyway. He never would feel worthy enough to possess such a gift. He didn't think anyone would be more worthy than his sister.

He didn't want to believe she was dead. She was the only family he had left. His mother had been killed by an illness during his childhood, and his father had been assassinated by Gerudo rebels when he was eighteen. He loved his father, however, his rule had been a difficult one. He often would project his ever growing stress through excessive drinking and frequent visits to brothels. Many mistook his substance abuse for negligence and apathy, which didn't soothe situations regarding the frequent revolts and instability throughout Hyrule. However, he was a kind man who loved his two children very much, when he was sober. Devrim wondered if Hyrule would have seen that, too, if not for the political problems he had to deal with constantly. He promised himself he would not let his feelings get the better of him, as his father did. He promised himself that he would not bring shame to his family, as the only heir to the assume the throne after Zelda's passing.

And most of all, he promised himself he would not let the kingdom fall into evil hands ever again. A Chosen Hero had not been seen for over a century, and now it was the Royal Family's sole duty to be Hyrule's protectors. Many had claimed the title of Hero, however, none were proven worthy. Fake hero after fake hero would be killed or flee from battle, with little to no effect on the progress of the kingdom as a whole. It seemed as if the Hero's spirit had finally come to rest in the Sacred Realm, with the whereabouts of the Triforce of Courage unknown since the Hero of Twilight had defeated the Evil King Ganondorf. The rebirth of a true hero had never come after that era had passed, and it seemed as if Hyrule had only been left with the Royal Family to maintain order within the kingdom, and nothing more. However, in recent years, that order was breaking. Now that the queen had passed, it seemed as if the chaos and turmoil would return to Hyrule after the loss of their beloved queen.

She never married or had any heirs. Occasionally, she would take a lover or two, but she never committed in a relationship for long. Devrim never understood why. Her only heir was her younger brother, Devrim, though he did not want to ever have to assume the throne. Zelda could do it all on her own, without the assistance of a council or an advisor, although she gladly welcomed it because of her humble spirit.

Now, though, the responsibility of running a kingdom had to fall on Devrim alone. He didn't feel ready or comfortable with being in a position of power. He had always had that done for him. He was perfectly fine with having someone else making important decisions, as long as he trusted them.

"Your Majesty," He heard a quiet voice behind him at the entrance of the temple doors, "I don't mean to pry, but-" The man paused as Devrim turned to face him. It was one of the soldiers of the Royal Guard, now his to command. "The midwives tell me that your wife has gone into labor…"

That can't be, Devrim thought, it's not time. It's too early. His face immediately grew pale with fear. He knew the devastating consequences of premature births and didn't want for his first and only child to be born unhealthy… or stillborn.

He rushed to his wife's chambers and slammed the door open, sweat pouring down his face as he shook with dread of what he might find inside. He saw at least a dozen handmaidens crowd the bed where he assumed his wife was. Some of them had blood stained all over the fronts of their clothes, which threw him into an even greater panic. Dreadfully pained sobbing could be heard from across the room, which he could recognize as his wife's voice.

"Ambi," He called out to her, pushing his way past the midwives as they braced her for the birth, "Ambi, I'm here. Can you hear me? I'm right here." He reached out for her hand and she grabbed it tight, struggling to keep awake while sobbing from the pain at the same time.

"Just breathe… You're going to be okay," Said one of the midwives dabbing Ambi's face with a damp cloth, "You and the baby both,"

Devrim prayed to the Goddesses with all his heart that she was right. He internally beat himself up for being absent as much as he was after his sister's death the night before. I should have been with Ambi, he thought. Din, please grant us strength...

The midwives scrambled around her as they prepared for the delivery. "I think this is it," One of them said, "Now, Ambi, I need you to push with all of your might," She told another handmaiden to fetch water.

Ambi did so, and let out a terrible scream as she squeezed Devrim's hand so hard that he lost all feeling, cutting off blood circulation to his fingers. He didn't care. All he wanted was the survival of his wife and child. Ambi was losing even more blood and was in grave danger of losing consciousness, or worse.

After what felt like an eternity, Devrim could hear the smallest high-pitched cry pierce his ears like a dagger. He had never felt more relief in his life as he watched the tiny pink body covered with blood being lifted and handed over to his wife, who was barely conscious. With what little strength she had left, she cradled the child in her arms and cried with happiness. "Devrim…" She said breathlessly, "Devrim look… our little princess…"

He couldn't contain the widest, most relieved smile he had ever smiled when his eyes fell on the infant. What little hair she had was dark, almost black, and her skin was dark as well, like her mother's. In the past, Devrim had never been fond of newborns. He always felt that they were loud, needy, and ugly little bags of flesh. Now, however, he felt different. While this child screamed like most other babies, his heart melted at the sight of his little one. He loved her from the moment she was born. He kissed Ambi on the forehead as he wrapped his arms around her, wanting this moment to last forever.

After a moment, Ambi snapped her husband out of his bliss with a question she had been contemplating since the first knowledge of her pregnancy, "What will her name be?"

Devrim looked at her, surprised that she hadn't come up with a name of her own to suggest already. They hadn't talked about it much before, for that matter. He looked at his child and stroked her tiny hand, "She has already shown herself to be strong and resilient," He said with a smile, "...and stubborn, so much so that she couldn't wait another few weeks."

Ambi knew what he was thinking and smiled, with tears welling up in her eyes.

"Her name is Zelda," He said, finally. "Princess Zelda of Hyrule."

Author's Notes

Hello readers! I hope I'm formatting this correctly... has changed so much since I last used it.

Anyways, here is the first installment of what will be my main, ongoing project on this site. I've actually been working on this AU for a long, long time. I first thought it up while I was doodling character designs on my trip to Kauai four years ago. It's changed a LOT since then. Heck, you can even find the first draft of the first few chapters on my old account... I'm kind of embarrassed to tell you all what it is though. Maybe later. But, like I said, so much has changed that it's almost a completely different story from what it started out as... and I think that's a good thing.

As for where this falls on the Zelda timeline, it's been a little over a century since the events Twilight Princess, so it's on the tail end of the child timeline. Obviously, none of this is canon.

Anyways, I hope you're ready to get started on an amazing journey with me. Updates will try to stay regular, depending on my work load with school. I am a college student, after all. Writing this is simply a hobby.