So. I finished playing Breath of the Wild about three weeks ago. And I don't think any other Zelda game has ever made me think so much before, perhaps with the exception of Skyward Sword, and I couldn't help but wonder what Princess Zelda's life might have looked like before Link became her knight... and here I am. I first thought of this story to be a one-shot, but I think this will be longer than that. We'll see how much I'll write.
Hope you'll enjoy!
The evening sun was still shining brightly over Hyrule Castle, making the great building with its magnificent architecture cast a shadow over the busy town below it. The people in Castle Town were carrying on with their ordinary lives – selling and buying goods, gossiping with the neighbors, treating themselves with a drink after a day of hard labor – as metal clad soldiers kept them safe from monsters at the massive wall surrounding the town and patrolling the streets to clear up any disagreements between the citizens and potential fights. Everyone had their own personal problems and little was known of the growing issue within the castle walls.
In one of the castle's many rooms sat the fair Princess Zelda with books and papers laid before her on her desk. Books she had brought with her from the library about the Goddesses and beautifully handwritten stories of the victorious Heroes from centuries ago. She sighed. She wanted to please her father by doing her best but doing the best she could wasn't enough and nothing she did seemed to please him. She knew why. The King only wished for one thing and wouldn't be happy with anything other than for his daughter to finally find her inner celestial power. But she didn't know what to do, she had been trying to find it ever since she was a small child and still… she never felt different. She didn't even know how it would feel, perhaps she wouldn't feel different at all, perhaps she already had this desirable power? Perhaps she just couldn't find a way to summon it?
The princess slouched over her books, flipped a page she probably had already read once before and couldn't make herself read the words on it. She stared at it blankly for a few minutes before she blinked and glanced at the papers under the books instead. She slowly put the book away, sat up more straight and held the papers in her hands and began to read. Anything that wasn't about the holy power or ancient history, anything which wouldn't remind her of her duty, just seemed far more interesting to her. It could be about botanics, animals or… She knew that her father wasn't very approving of it, but reading about ancient Sheikah technology was… fascinating. And the papers she held in her hands were just about that and she was glad that the young Sheikah researcher Purah had secretly slipped her the papers when they had last met. She also knew that the King wasn't very approving of his daughter's interest but she still encouraged her to read more about it. Perhaps she was only glad to see someone else take so much interest in her work or maybe she simply felt sorry for the princess for not being allowed to have this hobby. Zelda couldn't tell but she never thought of asking Purah to find out.
She heard a knock on her door and hurriedly hid the papers under the books. She stood up by her desk. "Enter."
The door opened and her lady's maid stepped inside the Princess' study and curtsied. "I just wanted to inform Her Majesty that dinner will be served in ten minutes in the dining hall."
"Ah, already?" The Princess brushed her skirt twice to get rid of any wrinkles on the fabric. "I must have forgotten the time. … I suppose I should be going now then. Thank you." She smiled and took a few steps to the door and the lady's maid curtsied again before she and Zelda left the study. They walked together for a moment before they parted in different directions and Zelda continued alone. Any royal guard she passed halted when they saw her and stood with straight backs until she was out of their vision and continued to wherever they were going. They were all dressed in dark blue and tall white boots and gloves and their hats made them look very soldierlike, easy to tell apart from the members of the royal court with their colorful dresses and extravagant coats and vests. The closer the Princess got to the dining hall, the more of them she saw and she noticed some of them abruptly end their conversations when they saw her, just to start another one. The Princess could only imagine what they were talking about, it was no doubt that she had been the subject of their discussions, but she kept her head high and tried to ignore them the best she could as she entered the dining hall. The court shortly followed her behind her. Her father was already inside, waiting at the end of one the long tables for his daughter to stand at the opposite end. When everyone were standing next to their seats, the King sat down first when his elaborate chair was pulled out for him by a servant and servants did the same for the rest of the evening's company quickly after. Footmen served the first meal of the evening – honey roasted cuccoo and vegetables steamed with herbs, everything smelling heavenly – and the supper could finally begin.
Princess Zelda would much rather have her meal alone instead in the company of the court members since she could already guess that people were gossiping about her and her incompetence of fulfilling her most important duty at the moment. But she knew that she couldn't and that it was expected of her to attend the dinners. So she conversed with skill with her neighbors and put on her best mask to hide her true feelings and pretended to show interest in the topics.
The next plate was served and then a small dessert and Zelda counted the remaining minutes before she would be allowed to leave to her own chamber. The discussions had been unusually dull this evening, most of them had been gossip she could care less of.
"Oh, but have you heard, my dear," one of the older court women said to another woman across the table, sitting to Zelda's left, "about the news of the royal guard?"
"I don't think I have – please, tell me" the woman replied.
"I heard that they will… but I shouldn't tell anyone I suppose, because I'm not sure if it's confirmed…" The woman leaned in eagerly to let the first one know that she was still interested. "But I heard that they have orders to soon set out and try to pull out the legendary sword, since, well… you know, time is starting to run out" Zelda glanced down to the table in shame "if this prophecy is turning out to be true after all."
"Ooh, how exciting!" the second woman exclaimed. "I do hope one of them will pull it out, it would calm my nerves a bit to know that someone might be able to do something about what's to come." Zelda clenched her fists under the table. Hearing their words was humiliating but she couldn't do anything about it. They weren't exactly wrong. "I hope the young and cute one will get to carry it…!"
"My dear, are you hearing what words are coming out of your mouth?" the older woman giggled. "You have a husband, don't let him hear you!"
"Oh, please!" the other giggled back, "I know you consider him cute as well, don't you try denying it! I'm only saying that I can tell a handsome face when I see one, that is all." Zelda resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Both of these ladies were far much older than him and already married.
"He's so talented already at such a young age, I wouldn't be surprised if he would turn out to be the only one to pull it out." The older woman's giggle gradually faded into snickers. "He surely makes his father proud."
Dinner was finally over and Princess Zelda excused herself and left for her chamber as soon as she wished her father goodnight. She didn't want to stay more than necessary, tired of the endless gossiping and worried that her father would tell her once more to focus more on her prayers, and escaped as soon as possible. Her long blue dress softly touched the floor when she passed through the corridors, followed her every move, and the Princess asked one maid she noticed to let her lady's maid know that she would soon be ready for bed. The maid hurriedly went away to fetch her and Zelda carried on but stopped next to a window to admire the sunset. The clouds were orange and red, almost on fire, and the shadows stretched over the Castle Town and the field beyond it. It was really a pretty sight. She just wished she could push away her thoughts for a minute and just be at peace with her mind.
Her hand lingered on the window frame and she dragged it against the walls as she began to walk back to her chamber again. She spotted some of the royal guards when she was almost there. Of course he was there with them. He wasn't that hard to find anyway, his height slightly shorter than the other, older, guards standing next to him in a line. She usually admired his achievements, just like every other person did, but her mood was darker this night and seeing him only reminded her even more of her own failures. He was about the same age as her but he had already accompliced so much and was praised by everyone. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but there were moments when she felt jealousy. Everything seemed to come easily to him.
The Princess diverted her eyes and took the last steps to her chamber.
Couldn't the guy at least cut his hair?