Nintendo owns the Legend of Zelda and not me. This story is something of a two parter I suspect. However I'm not sure where and how the rest should go…Anyway if anyone likes it I might write more. As always please review all comments and criticisms are welcome.
A Princess at Heart.
The great thing about being Queen, my grandmother once told me this, is that no matter how old you get, people will always say how beautiful you are. I am a woman in her sixties now. I think perhaps not much longer for this life. Alas.
When I was sixteen my father, the King of Hyrule died of old age. That was the official story, in actuality he died of syphilis. That was name of disease the doctors claimed he had. My father was a soft man, a victim of his own father's tyrannical household, instead of being the hard, virile man my grandfather hoped for; my father had been something of a…sissy.
His disease, I suspect was the result of his preference for young men rather than my mother. I was his only child. Fortunately, Hylians don't frown upon females inheriting the throne. My mother, while we're on the topic, died when I was very young. I never knew her. I understand she was beautiful.
I entered into a period of regency at the age of sixteen. The governors of my kingdom felt I was too young to take the throne. I didn't officially become head of state until I was eighteen. And that didn't last long either.
My kingdom was promptly conquered by a wizard named Zant.
I had been a gentle person in my youth. Naturally I intended to be a gentle ruler as well. I watched with a growing nausea as Zant's armies slowly but steadily ran over my forces on the battlefield. I watched the baffled expressions on my generals faces as they're troops were cut down like corn. Defeat it seemed was inevitable. I did the only thing I could do to save the lives of my people. I surrendered.
The price I paid for that still haunts me to this day. I've worked hard however to make up for that failure. Both in the eyes of my people and in the history books.
The kingdom I inherited after the war was completely different from the one my father left me.
Whole villages had been whipped out. A generation of young men had been lost to the sword and axe. Roads were destroyed, custom houses burnt down, in short; infrastructure was devastated. With the government restored, I had to decide how to rebuild. It wasn't easy. The war had bankrupted the kingdom. Fortunately, like all tyrants, Zant had built up a sizable hoard of wealth. We took most of it. Looters got the rest.
Reconstruction took about five years. The roads weren't as bad as I feared. Slowly the villages repopulated. There were plenty of refugees that needed homes anyway. I encouraged immigration. The influx of people helped get the economy back in shape. There were people to till the land and workers to run the mills.
Once the initial steps had been taken to ensure that the kingdom would survive, I ordered repairs to the castle. Much of it had been devastated. In reality, only three quarters of what it once was still stood. And a good deal of that was structurally unsound. I ordered large portions demolished. This was important to me. The people needed to see that the government wasn't taking itself lightly. Yes we had been conquered but we were still proud damn it. I took the opportunity to have some new architecture done. Some modernization. Some grandeur. I had a statue of my father built, the people liked that.
I gave my castle a new name, North Castle. Since I had moved the foundations and the north wing was the only part of the old castle to remain.
By the time I was twenty-five I had my castle and new kingdom that I could legitimately call mine. And the people were happy. In the years of rebuilding I had given them what they wanted. Homes to live in, food to eat. And a monarch to look up to.
My old failures were quietly pushed under the rug.
Centralization became my new motto. People liked it. Working for a lord on land you didn't own was depressing. I changed that. I allowed villages to grow. I allowed for lower taxes and encouraged private property. Within a year of the rebuilding phase, the economy was on track.
I had predicted a firestorm of anger when I introduced conscription but most of the people went along with it fine. Five years of service at the age of seventeen and if you served your time honorably you were rewarded with a sizable pension.
So Hyrule was on the right tract. What about me? I know what your really want to hear, no need to blush. But to disappoint you however my tale is hardly as romantic as you might suspect. This information of course never left me lips.
I was the prisoner of Zant for several months. That brought with it certain realities. I lost my virginity in his presence. Although it was not him that raped me. Zant had a particular hatred for nobility. Princesses especially. As his prisoner I was there to serve a purpose in his magical designs, but I was also there to serve his wishes. One of his wishes was to see me humiliated. It brought him a sort of pleasure I reserve for the most depraved and deplorable of creatures. Never once did he touch me himself, save once when he beat me. However he brought with him other men. Mostly Hylians that served him or others he kept as toys. Some knew who I was and they resisted, others found a way to enjoy themselves. Some had no idea who I was and that was common. I think Zant enjoyed watching former guards rape a common woman for his amusement. Often times he killed the men after anyway. I won't dwell on this because it is in the past and I don't relish the memories. Suffice it to say I was in no hurry to return to the wedding bed.
Few men caught my eye after that. I was aware of my beauty and used it to my advantage when I needed it. But I never shared my bed as a way of gaining leverage politically.
At twenty two, having abstained for nearly five years I felt a need inside of me and being unable to satisfy it myself I realized I was craving something else.
There was only one person I trusted enough, although I did not love him. My general. Link.
I learned that there was pleasure to be found, however I didn't indulge often. It's not a good habit to sleep with one's generals. Over the years I've become less formal and even employed my handmaidens when the need strikes me.
The question of marriage arose so frequently that I suspected I had come to be known as the land's most eligible lady. I however had other plans.
I wouldn't say I'm opposed to marriage; however as a woman, as a Queen, marriage is never just marriage. It was political. I simply couldn't marry anyone. Link, as much as the gossips would have loved, simply wouldn't have worked. To put it callously, he wasn't noble blood. However, I couldn't marry "up" either. If I chose another King or prince for a realm of greater importance than Hyrule I would be essentially handing my country to them. My blood line would be extinguished. My kingdom would become the holding place of bastard nobles and third born sons. The long linage of my kin would be supplanted by some new blood line without the magical connection to Hyrule. I couldn't allow that.
Historically the children of nobles married other royalty. Boys had their choice of princesses from any land they chose. They of course provided their father's with new territory. Girls married within the Kingdom for the most part. However over the course of my years as Queen I had systematically reduced the nobility in power and prestige.
It seemed as though marriage was simply not for me. And that was fine. Although at the time, a small part of me wondered, did I not desire a family? Children?
In terms of expansion, my family had a history of generally leaving well enough alone. We were after all a peaceful people. For me however, I saw a risk in waiting for your enemy to come to you. Over the years our relations with neighboring kingdoms went up and down.
Things reached a boiling point when I was twenty five. The King of the nearest Kingdom known as Okanina, had apparently, had enough of me. He gave me an ultimatum. Marry him and cease the "abomination" of my female rule or else. Guess what I chose.
The war broke out swiftly and Okanina sent in several legions and began to push towards the center of Hyrule. I had learned a few things about war however. I left much of the planning to my chief general; he rallied our forces and led our defense.
I wish I could say things went as planned. Okanina captured several of our outlying forts and sacked two towns. It took nearly eight months to push them from our lands. We received support from the Goron's and Zora's and together we were able to take the war to Okanina.
Link was more than capable of defeating anyone in battle, and he trained his men well. Our forces were now battle-hardened veterans when the invasion commenced. A small force of Zora's blockade Okanina's few ports, preventing a stream of supplies. It seemed like victory was achieved. We had defeated Okanina's armies and defended our land. Link was ready to return home. I remember it well.
We were communicating via a magical network our wizards had come up with. Link said our job was done. I replied "so Okanina has communicated their surrender?" Link didn't answer for several seconds. He was unprepared for my next statement. "Until I receive formal documents of Okanina's unconditional surrender, your campaign, General, is far from over."
The move surprised Link; in his mind the war was won. I feel badly for him thinking back. He was naïve in a loveable sense. However I was not. I was Queen. I ordered him to push the attack.
Within six months. Six bloody months. Link had surrounded the capital. The King refused to surrender. His people had fought bravely. To the bitter end in some cases. I regret that some circumstances resulted in villages and cities being burnt to the ground. Unfortunate, but necessary. However the King did not realize that it was over. His own ministers murdered him. They hoped I would look favorably on their proactive approach to ending the war. I did. Of course I left them little choice. I told them their options. Okanina would be annexed to Hyrule. The ministers, nobles and governors would be given responsibility for the cities and would report to me. As insurance they're first born sons would come stay with us in Hyrule castle as our honored guests.
They accepted.
Among those back home, there were some complaints, some concerns. Hyrule had never conquered another Kingdom before…
For the most part however, people were pleased. I levied slightly heavier taxes on the new territories and brought the wealth back home. People lived better, richer lives. Thus, happiness. I couldn't give back the lives of those who died in that war, but I was able to make it clear that the people of Hyrule had shown the world what they were made of. More statues went up.
Annexing other kingdoms brought a certain amount of anger from the surrounding states. Relations generally went downhill. I was cautious. I increased the size of the military and did what I could to strengthen the economy.
Six days after my twenty seventh birthday, I remember well. I was in a miserable mood. It was right in the middle of my time of the month and as usual, headaches followed. Things came to a boil diplomatically and in a fit of anger over the outright rejection of a trade proposal I ordered our armies to forcibly take a nearby city to "convince" our neighbor to rethink our trade relations. This action led to what was known as the Trade Wars.
I gained a certain understanding however that war had a purpose. It allowed more freedom to get things done. Whether that was raising taxes, building bridges, increasing the army or strengthening my position, war made it easier. The conflict lasted longer than I expected and involved far too much politics to go into in detail. Suffice it to say when it was all over there were plenty who cursed my name. Even among Hylians.
The so called "trade wars" lasted on and off for the better part of ten years. Over that course however I saw my nation grow and rise above the petty smaller states. Link was my sword. He led our armies in to enemy territory with a perseverance and dedication that almost made me regret using him so.
Victories brought wealth and prestige and I can't deny it brought a certain sense of satisfaction to look upon a map and know that it was mine.
I was not a cruel Queen however. I outlawed slavery where ever I found it. I advanced the causes of women where I could; I did however impose religious authority on the conquered lands.
With any protracted war it's simply a matter of time before the military starts to feel the pinch of man power. In order to solve this problem I had to introduce conscription on a much wider scale than ever before. Following the advice of Link I also began a policy of maintaining a standing army. This caused no shortage of whines from the few remaining ministers I employed but we eventually made the shift. The cost was, much to my dismay, enormous.
I realized that with such a large kingdom I needed more to police it. Thus a controversial decision had to be made. After months of debating with myself, I re-founded the Sheikah. The secret organization that operated as a state police. Link was opposed but once my mind was made up he went along with it. I was not surprised to discover that there were small bands of the shadow folk hidden in the Hyrule woods. I had them brought back and provided them with weapons and rubies and allowed them to take their place as guardians of the Royal Family.
The Zora's had long been allies of my family and they proved to be allies in my rule as well. This meant, simply put, they did what I told them to do. Their new King, he was a boy when he took the throne, already insecure and finding the rule of a people difficult and far from glamorous. He was overly easy to control. In fact, I secretly believe he welcomed it. The Zora fleets proved the largest tactical advantage in all the wars we fought. No one could match the speed and efficiency of the Zora's on the sea. With them, we could transport troops across the water far quicker and much farther than anyone else. Soon we dominated the sea. We were able to control trade and thus had another weapon at our disposal.
By the time I was thirty five, the map of Hyrule was now six times larger than when my father was King. Nearly the entire landmass was under my control. Seven major ports flew my banner, six islands, and a peninsula marked the extent of my new Kingdom.
Everything magical in nature I had brought to me. The treasures were immense. Wands that could control the weather. Rings that bestowed great power. Masks that housed souls. Fairies and demons, sorcerers and wizards. Those that would not serve me I had put to death. I found however that many saw benefits to taking up my cause. Augmenting my armies with those blessed by the gods gave us more power on the battlefield than anyone we crossed swords with.
I am sorry, I grow tired. It happens more and more these days. I must rest a bit; perhaps I'll continue my story then. Yes there is more to tell. I have not mentioned the rebellion yet. Oh Link, what was it that turned you from me? Did I hurt you that badly?
Sigh. In the morning. In the morning we shall continue.