Scriiii...thock!
The arrow hit the outer middle ring of the bulls-eye.
Scriiii...thock!
Close. Very close. Just the smallest bit to the left.
Where Princess Zelda got her talent for archery was no mystery. It was taught in the schools that her grandmother, the first Queen of New Hyrule, had quite the aim with a bow and saw to it that her successors would follow suit. Queen Tetra had established a rule for all royal family members to learn how to use a bow and learn at least some aspects of military combat by the age of fifteen because "There's no way that my daughters will ever be whiney, helpless princess-types!"
The second Queen of New Hyrule, Tetra's daughter, had found this rule distasteful. A far cry from the first queen, she was a pacifist at heart and had been reluctant and sulking to learn any form of combat. She had been a near antithesis of Tetra; she was polite, well-mannered, recognized the importance of paperwork, hated any form of violence, and perhaps most striking of all, she was willing to be submissive and allowing others to make decisions for her.
The second Queen did have her times of adamancy though, particularly when it came to her young daughter, the latest heiress to the throne. Seeing that New Hyrule had not been in a war in its entire history, she believed that it would be best that the princess focus on education rather than self-defense or military training, partly out of the belief that this was the best way for a ruler to advance the country, and partly out of her own ideals of pacifism.
This of course was deemed unsatisfactory by Tetra, who wished the princess to turn into a strong-willed, battle-capable leader. Things went ever worse when Tetra foresaw mortal peril for the young princess and for New Hyrule, courtesy of prophetic visions granted by the Triforce of Wisdom. She attempted to steer Zelda to train and prepare for war, but this was vehemently denied by the current Queen who, in another show of opposites, did not believe in such things as prophecies and premonition. Tension rose between Tetra and her daughter until it eventually led a sort of falling out between the two. Many who witnessed their bitter disputes believed that the emotional pain from their falling out caused both of their deaths shortly afterwards.
As the princess was too young to understand the depth and importance of her mother's and grandmother's differing methods at the time, the Royal Council elected to keep her on the path her mother had originally planned for her, hitting the books rather than the training dummies. Now a few days after her fourteenth birthday, she was allowed to choose whether she wanted to learn combat or not. As a lover of physical activity (not to mention being denied the thrilling and exotic experience of battle her whole life), Zelda chose to learn how to use a bow. To her own surprise, she had an immense natural gift for archery. Less than a week had passed since her first lesson and already she had surpassed all but the best archers in the army.
Scriiii...thock!
Meh. Close to the outermost ring.
Scriiii...thock!
Yes, yes, YES! Bulls-eye!
General murmur of approval from nearby guards. Maybe she could do it again...
Scriiii...
"PRINCESS!"
"Eep!"
Thak!
The arrow had flown into a stone wall in Zelda's private courtyard. Or, as the soldiers currently watching and the princess herself called it, the archery training ground.
"What are you still doing here? It is almost time for you to study!" crowed Chancellor Cole.
Chancellor Cole was not someone pleasant to look at. He was a midget, perhaps only four feet tall, with a carroty head of hair, carroty eyebrows and a pointy, carroty mustache. His attire was clearly someone of high class, gold-embroidered green silk robes and pants and a ruby brooch fastening his arrow collar. Curiously, he was able to somehow balance two top hats at near 45 degree angles on top of his head. His beady eyes narrowed to an angrily.
The surrounding soldiers snapped to attention, except for one standing next to his star pupil. He turned to Cole in an annoyed manner.
"Oy, Chancellor! We still have fifteen more minutes of archery training scheduled!" frowned Captain Russell.
Russell was the solidly-built Captain of the Royal Guard who also trained new recruits and the royal family in combat. Normally a jolly man, his demeanor was strained whenever he conversed with the Chancellor.
"The princess needs time to wash up and change her clothes so the castle will not smell like a barn! It is bad enough with these soldiers around." The guards shifted. "Besides, the princess should not frivolously waste her time in such a needless practice when she has studying to do!" Cole ranted in his high-pitched voice.
"It's okay Captain," Zelda said, wanting to diffuse the argument before it progressed to a shouting match. She handed her bow and quiver to a nearby soldier. "The Chancellor is right, there is a lot of studying I need to do if I want to be a good ruler of this country, and it won't get done with archery." But her reaction betrayed her words, eyes downcast and her voice a bit melancholy, unsuccessful at hiding her enjoyment of the activity.
Russell saw through her poor emotional guise and aimed a sour look at Cole, but followed her decision. He moved to allow her to pass.
"Come on! Come on!" Cole shooed the princess along, back to the stone corridors of the castle.
Author's Note: Hooray for exposition! Hopefully you all enjoyed the prologue of Heroes of New Hyrule. I'm still a rookie writer at this point, but will try my best to make a deep and entertaining story. My aim is to truly delve into the mental and emotional development of the characters, which I felt would transition well from the game to a novelization. Of course, a good writer wouldn't have to tell the reader such things, but oh well. Happy reading!