"Whether skyward bound, adrift in time, or steeped in the glowing embers of twilight..."
-o0o-
Her lungs burned, and her muscles screamed in protest. With feline-agility, she twisted to catch the gleaming blade falling toward her, and heaved it away with her own sword. The worn warrior wavered for only a moment before her, then quickly regained his bearings to deliver another ruthless strike that she narrowly avoided.
With a note of exasperation, she realized she missed the days when she had been younger. The days when her training had been fresh in her mind and her limbs used to the exertion of battle. But now every cell in her body seemed to be quavering, threatening to fail her in the most dire time.
The disguised queen cried out in pain as her opponent's blade cut a clean line on the fair skin of her cheek, severing the scarf that had been wrapped around her mouth and nose. As the cloth fell away, the warrior before her sneered.
"Ah," his voice was ragged and choked by the smoky haze surrounding them, "Queen Zelda. I see you've left the comfort of your throne to pity your poor army."
The young queen offered no response to satisfy him, instead channeling a flurry of magic into her blade as he stalked around her like a lion eyeing its prey. Her sharp eyes trained onto his every move, and she allowed her limbs to tense and coil in preparation for an attack.
"It's been an honor to fight the Queen of Hyrule."
He took a single step forward, and she allowed him. Bolstered by her absent reaction, he lent too much strength into his attack. The queen twirled out of his reach, allowing his momentum to send him straight into the point of her awaiting blade.
With no hint of victory or cheer, she wrenched her sword free from the soldier's ribs. With a final groan, he collapsed to the burning soil beneath them. A new weight settled in her eyes, and she muttered a word of prayer over his body, then wiped at the blood dribbling down her face.
The queen wasted no more time staring at the felled enemy before her, instead returning her attentions to the task before her. Her perceptive eyes rose to her surroundings as her feet carried her around the debris and clutter of the battlefield.
The sky burned a raging red, muffle with plumes of smoke. The sickening scent of blood and burning skin hung in the air like fog, and the queen's stomach turned unpleasantly. Flames flickered across the battlefield, the only movement among the litter of rubble and bodies.
As Queen Zelda stared at the gruesome sight, a weight of isolation and hopelessness weighed upon her shoulders.
Brushing her darker thoughts aside, she continued to maneuver through the blazing field in search of a face that belonged to a man she would never forget. Her wise eyes sought through the dusty rubble for the gleam of golden hair and bronze armor, all while her heart pounded painfully against her ribs.
A single, fearful tear escaped from her stone eyes and rolled smoothly down her cheek. The drop mingled with the blood on her skin, and dropped with a soft plink onto her sword.
"Link," she whispered to the silent landscape. The wind carried her voice away, and yet she felt as though it echoed through the canyon like a trumpet. Was there even another soul alive?
Regret, fury, and shame swirled like a chaotic storm in her stomach as she hopped down from a ridge to observe the faces of fallen men closer. She was their queen, after all. How could she have ever allowed such a terrible fate to fall upon them? Silently, she allowed the pain and sorrows of the soldiers' families to eat away at her heart. It's what she deserved, after all.
And if he had fallen—
She couldn't even allow that thought to fully manifest itself.
"Link," she called to the desolation around her, louder this time.
Only the wind answered.
Perhaps she was the only survivor.
Maybe her country had burned to ashes, all of its inhabitants either fleeing or caught in the rage of war. How fitting that the only survivor might be the queen.
But then there was a familiar heat on the back of her hand, and she lifted it with a hopeful gasp. Three golden triangles began to glow over her wrapped hand, and an otherworldly hum resonated in the musky air like a lullaby.
Her eyes, now hopefully, danced around the debris once more as she sought the bearer of the other piece.
There.
There was a gentle glow beside a bare tree, and she allowed her sure feet to carry her toward the beacon.
The queen's heartbeat began to drown out all other sounds, until it was like a drumbeat in her ears, counting the steps toward a figure leaned against the trunk of the scorched wood.
But the beat gave one last pound, then stopped cold in its tracks as she rounded the corner.
"Link."
He lied in a worn heap against the trunk of the tree, his armor beaten and dull. His golden hair was a mess around his face, concealing his features even as ragged breaths made the strands flutter. The Triforce shone dimly on the back of his hand, which rested upon a bloodied sword.
With a shuddering breath, the queen's eyes dropped to the blossom of blood seeping from the seams of his chain-mail below his chest. Feeling distinctly numb, she lowered to her knees before him to sweep the hair from his face.
He stirred from her touch. His remaining, unscarred eye fluttered open to reveal blue numbed with pain. Recognition sparked among the agony upon seeing her face, and he uttered her name with a broken voice.
The two syllables in his dying voice were nearly enough to send her into a void of sorrow—one that she knew she could never claw her way out of.
She grasped for something to say, and could find nothing.
Instead, the queen drew the leader of her army, her hero into her shaking arms, holding him tightly to her breast. Her surroundings blurred into a muddle of gray and red as her vision became overwhelmed with tears. A silent sob wracked her body and she buried her nose into his hair.
His hand found her face, and she lifted her head as he weakly traced her lips. As she met his tender, one-eyed gaze, she tried to find some semblance of foolish hope of his survival within her.
But the wise queen was no fool.
"I still love you," he whispered through labored breaths. As he spoke, she ingrained the gentle sound of his voice into her mind. "Even now after all these years."
"I know," she managed between tears. He allowed a slight smile amidst his pain. "I love you. I always will," she finished.
Her hero closed his eye, as though satisfied with her answer. The queen placed a single, lingering kiss on his cold lips. His lips had once been so warm and inviting, so full of life. She could recall them curling into a gentle smile, or tugging sideways into an inquisitive look. She could recall them trailing carefully across her skin, each kiss setting her ablaze. She could recall them murmuring words for only her ears, words that she would write down and carry with her, hidden within the pages of her favorite books.
Those lips now allowed a single more breath to escape, and then they stilled.
The Queen of Hyrule did not cry.
She did not utter a single sound more.
She merely held the body of her love closely as the world burned to embers around her.
-o0o-
The young princess stared at the worn parchment a moment longer, though her mind registered the words no longer. Instead they traced the creases and smudges upon the paper, imagining the delicate fingers that had carried them through the generations, that had folded and unfolded those creases time and time again.
Slowly, her pale-blue eyes lifted from the faded ink to meet the face of her mother, who was observing the castle gardens below. But the princess knew better; her mother had been watching for her reaction out of the corner of her eye. The girl swallowed against the sadness settled in her throat, and waited expectantly for her mother to speak.
After several moments had passed, the young girl could wait no longer for the pregnant silence to cease.
"That's how the Golden Queen turned cold?" She asked, her voice small.
At last, her mother turned from the sunlight of the window to face her dark-haired daughter with a tiny smile that didn't warm her pale eyes.
"Or so they say."
"Who is 'they'?"
"Your ancestors," the queen replied, striding gracefully across the room to take the parchment delicately from her daughter's hands. "This legend has passed through our bloodline."
The princess observed her mother's cool face, noting the smallest hint of emotion carefully.
"It isn't a cheerful legend."
"It is not," the queen agreed.
"Why didn't the queen marry that man if she loved him so?"
"He was a peasant. He had no title nor land to his name. Though," her mother placed the parchment on the bookshelf, "I believe there was more to it. She may have been protecting him."
"Protecting him?"
"Life as a monarch is never an easy one."
The princess didn't miss the strange emotion that flickered briefly across her mother's face.
"She didn't want him to suffer the stress of being king?"
"That is what I believe."
The girl paused a moment, eyes trained on the books lining the wall. "Why did you name me after her, mother? Why if she had such a sad life?"
The queen offered a small, loving smile. "It is an honor, Zelda. It is also reminder." She knelt gracefully before the girl who was already wiser than even the king on Hyrule's throne.
"A reminder that though your heart and love belongs to Hyrule, you must still find your own happiness. A kingdom suffers under a broken monarch."
The princess nodded thoughtfully as she stared at their joined hands, chestnut hair sliding against her shoulders. She opened her mouth to speak, then paused.
"What happened to her, mother? After he died, I mean."
At this, the queen's smile turned bittersweet. "Only seven years after the death of her love, she fell ill and died as well. By then her heir was nearly your age and well on his way to becoming a prince fit for the throne when his father would die."
The princess's fingers tapped thoughtfully as she mulled over the information. There was a question in her eyes, and her mother gave her a knowing smile, still tinged with sadness.
"Legend goes that the souls of the Golden Queen and her lover still wander Hyrule even now, seeking to placate their regrets," her mother explained softly, turning to staring out the window at the vast land outside of the castle walls. The princess followed her gaze as she listened.
"And perhaps someday they alleviate their griefs and find one another...reunited after the centuries."
The young, wise princess's heart gave a strange ache.
"Only time will tell."