152 AG, Hyrule Castle

The carriages rolled smoothly over the cobblestones towards the castle. Crowds packed tightly around the fluttering eagle banners, desperate to see the strangers inside. Soaring, intricate fountains bubbled with water. The highest peaks of the greatest castle in the world glimmered in the sun.

Ralph Ambi sat pressed against one side of the carriage. His hands quivered, but kept his blue hat firmly pressed over one eye. His other eye stared, transfixed, out of the open window. Hyrule was so big, noisy and... different. He hated the crowds. He hated their staring eyes, their bulging faces and their endless cheering. He hated how early it was, how the trip had been so sudden, and how his clothes hadn't been laid out for him in the morning. He hated how his father sat as if he didn't have a care in the world.

The man next to him sighed. "Please, sit up son."

Ralph made a rude noise with his lips. "I don't want to sit up."

"It doesn't matter today, you have to do it." Ranulf Ambi lowered his voice, and leant inwards, nudging his cane aside with his knees. "Remember what we talked about. You have to be on your best behaviour today, for me and your grandmother."

Ralph kept staring out of the window. Wasn't he always on his best behaviour?

"You know that you'll meet some very important people today," his father went on. "People that will be even more important to you when you grow up. You do want to impress them, don't you?"

Ralph nodded faintly, but kept looking out of the window.

"Good." His father lifted Ralph's hat an inch to ruffle his son's crimson hair. Ralph squirmed, kicking out with his legs and trying to force the navy cap even further over his head. His father just laughed. "It's not going to be that bad. You might even get to see some knights."

Ralph turned his head to him at once. His eyes sparkled with sudden enthusiasm. "Knights? Are there knights here? What sort of knights?"

"Well..." Ralph's father stroked his beard. "If you had been paying attention to what's going on, you might have noticed them already."

Ralph pressed his face up against the window. His eyes swished back and forth, almost robotically, as he scanned the crowds. Ralph's father pressed his face up to the window too. "You can't see the knights?"

Ralph was silent for a moment. "There aren't any knights," he said, slowly.

Ralph's father stretched out a hand. At intervals along the boulevard huge banners waved in the breeze, and around the banners clustered men in plate armour, and bearing heavy shields and long spears. "Then who are those men?"

Ralph sniffed. "They aren't knights, they're just castle guards," he said. "They're spearmen, not heavy infantry. King Daphnes created the castle guards to defend the towns when the knights were away. General Arathon was the first man to lead them to war."

Ralph's father cleared his throat. "I stand corrected. Well, we have castle guards too, don't we? Labrynna has castle guards," he corrected, as Ralph made a confused face.

"Not real castle guards." Ralph folded his arms. "Labrynnian castle guards do not have the same quality of armour as their Hyrulean counterparts. Bronze armour isn't as strong as iron. Why do the Labrynnian castle guards wear bronze armour, father? Why don't the Labrynnians have real knights?"

"I don't know, son." Ralph's father glanced around as the carriage drew to a halt in a courtyard. There were other carriages around them, decked out in the colours and ensign of other countries. A group of pipers had already begun to play the Hyrulean national anthem. Suddenly, a loud cheer sounded from outside. Ralph gave a moan, and dived back to the side of the carriage. His father caught his son's hands before he could bury himself in the hat entirely. "Remember what we practiced," he whispered quickly. "We won't be here for a long time, I promise."

"That's what you always say!"

"I mean it." Ralph's father smiled as best he could. "I really do."

The bolt that held the door of the carriage closed slid back, from the outside. The door swung open, and two footmen stepped aside. Ralph's father sat bolt upright as the shapes of men in Hyrulean iron armour filed past. One man stopped in the light of the open door. He stepped backwards, then slowly bowed his head. "Highness Ranulf, it is an honour to meet you. My name is Sir Moshan of the Royal Guard. I will escort you to the Queen."

Ranulf gulped, barely a fraction. He raised his chin, and stepped forwards off the bench, and towards the open door. His cane was already in his hand. "Of course captain. I shall allow you to escort me."

The captain stepped backwards even further, spreading an arm wide in invitation. Ralph's father stepped out, tugging his cape around himself as he did. "Ralph, come on." He paused for a moment, then leaned back inside the carriage. "It's time to get out now."

Ralph was still huddled up in the corner, his hat back on his head. He looked up slowly. His trembling gaze moved from his father, to the ironclad giant next to him. The giant carried a Hylian shield in his left hand. Ralph's mouth fell open.

In half a bound he was out of the door, crouching next to his father in the morning light and surrounded by the din of the crowd. "Let's go father!"

Ranulf kept his eyes forwards. Moshan's procession involved other men and boys. Some he knew. Prince Richard of Custardin gave him a passing nod when their eyes met; his own son was just a little older than Ralph. Ranulf turned aside.

Effete fools. The boy's short cape was richer and grander than even his own, and definitely in extravagant Hyrulean style. The little princeling even walked with the same smug satisfaction Ranulf had seen in the Hyruleans. He also carried a small rapier at his side, unlike the cane that was more fashionable in Labrynna.

A rapier. Ranulf frowned to himself. A cripple would be a more likely warrior than his own son. For all his fascination with knights, Ralph preferred reading about them than imitating them. He devoured books by the hundreds, scouring every page for references to arms and amour, and he wasn't yet old enough to know that he'd never be able to wield one effectively. He imagined the conversation he'd have to have.

"When can I have a sword father?"

"When you're old enough son."

"But Prince Richard has a sword father! Why can't I have a sword?"

Then Ralph would get a sword. Then he would hurt himself. Or worse, wonder just what a sword could do to others, and why. The answer to that question could be found in the lines of marching pikemen that surrounded the procession, forcing it into a tight rectangle shape, as it marched up to the castle. Each soldier marched in unison with the men on the other side.

"Are those Gerudo statues father?"

Ranulf shook himself back to life. He stared up ugly statue that stood in the centre of a plaza they were walking through. The statue's outstretched arms reached up the heavens. Thick chains bound them together. What little could be seen of the face under the heavy Hylian cowl was misshapen, or perhaps just broken with age. A pair of breasts must of once hung scandalously from the chest: chisels had scoured two vast impression marks in the centre of it. "They must be."

"Why did the Gerudo race have to be destroyed father?"

"Do you see that statue son?" Ranulf pointed quickly to a huge figure flanking the approach to Hyrule castle itself. It worked; Ralph's head spun upwards. "Who is it?"

Ralph squinted at it, for a moment. Then he smiled. "King Gustaf!"

"And what is King Gustaf famous for?"

Ralph scratched at the end of his nose. "Gustaf beat the Gohmas and killed the false sage Sulkaris, who wanted to destroy all of Hyrule."

"Was Gustaf a good king?"

"King Gustaf is the greatest king in Hyrulean history."

"That's what other people think, but what do you think, Ralph?"

The little boy paused. His mouth opened, then formed a perfect circle. He seemed to be deep in thought. "I... don't know." He looked at his father, his eyes wide, and his hands clutching his hat again."I d-don't know father! I don't know!"

He began to stamp his feet. Curious eyes turned towards them. Ranulf quickly laid a hand on his son's shoulder. He had seen panic attacks, and tantrums, before. "Maybe we can find someone who does know? Who do you think could know?"

Ralph's face split into a smile of sudden realisation. "Wind Queen Siroc!"

Ranulf smiled. A lesser man would have laughed at the naivety of it, or called the boy childish for thinking such a thing. But to Ralph, it made perfect sense. The stories said Siroc (assuming she had ever existed) had taken her Wind Tribe to the clouds. It didn't matter that it had happened thousands of years ago. Nobody had seen her die. Nobody knew if she could die. Therefore, she could still be alive. Therefore, someone could still ask her. "Maybe. You could ask Sir Moshan, couldn't you?"

"Oh..." Ralph slowly nodded. He turned his head, and stared at the front of the procession, as it began to move towards the heavy front doors of the castle. Moshan stood with the other Hylian knights. Then, before Ranulf could stop him, Ralph hurried forwards. He half-heartedly tried to call him back, then he chuckled faintly. He should have known. At least his son was in good hands. Under the hubbub of cheering and the band's music Ranulf couldn't hear their conversation but, to the man's credit, Moshan was glancing down at Ralph, nodding his head in agreement to whatever he was saying, whilst the soldier on Ralph's right marched on regardless. It must have made an amusing spectacle for the crowds: two huge men in plate armour, flanking a small boy, who walked between them with not a care in the world.

With any luck, Ralph would burn himself out before he got to meet the Queen.

The procession stopped as the heavy castle doors swung open. The crowds outside gasped in amazement, then cheered again as the trumpets sounded. The long line began to funnel into the open darkness. Ranulf walked quickly forwards, pushing through the line. Ralph had stopped, and was staring around in wonder.

He didn't realise that he had paused in the middle of the doorway.

The princes behind him were funneling around him as they walked into the entrance hall beyond, staring with livid eyes at the boy causing the holdup. By the time Ranulf had reached him, the end of the line was already far ahead. The pikemen at the end of the procession hung awkwardly beside him. Ranulf tapped his son on the arm, and caught him when he looked around. "Follow me now," he whispered. "Remember, don't ask any questions, and let me talk to the Queen."

"Yes father."

"What did Moshan say to you about Gustaf?"

"He said that Gustaf was the best king Hyrule has ever had."

Ranulf smiled, again. "Well, that's your answer now, isn't it?"

The royal court was more impressive and astounding than Ranulf remembered. More statues flanked the long carpet that led to the throne than ever, adding to the numbers of moving, plate-armoured men that stood on either side of the line. Red and gold banners were everywhere. The triple triangle, so holy to the Hylian race, adored each once. Most majestic of all was a great painting, hung on a wall almost dripping with gold leaf, showed a woman kneeling on the ground. A flail lay useless on the floor beside her. A figure stood raised above and behind her, a black trident in his hand. The heavens were dark and bloodshot, but a single thread of light poured forth from them, illuminating the woman. The woman wore the crown of the Princesses-she was Zelda III, the Queen's own mother.

Even the sacrifice of the Hylians showed their superiority. Only a true Hylian woman could die bathed in holy light. Faintly amusing then, that they sought an alliance of blood with the Lesser Humans. The taking of Hyrule Castle by mongrel desert people had been the ultimate insult to Hylian prestige. Gone were the days of blessed isolationism and sole pureblooded supremacy.

For now, at least. Ranulf didn't believe that any of the princes around him understood what the new world would be like, but he thought that every one of them felt the same mixture of excitement and hope that he himself felt. And they all wanted a part of it.

Hence why the invitation had gone out for a suitable husband for the princess.

Ranulf's hand clutched Ralph more tightly by the shoulder as the line of nobles moved ever forwards. He tried to keep his own head up, and stare straight ahead at the space between the two chairs at the end of the room, but his eyes flitted to them even so. One was large, and richly gilded in Hylian gold. A serene, blonde-haired woman in a royal dress-and so like the woman in the painting that they might have been one and the same-sat upon it. She asked the majority of questions to the fathers and sons before her, turning now and then to a man at her side in Hylian armour, who sat on the wooden chair to her right.

The man's eyes were fierce, and swept the crowd searchingly. For a moment they fell on Ranulf in recognition. Ranulf felt his son's hand suddenly clasping his own. Ralph let out a little moan of fear.

"Don't be afraid of Prince Kazakk," Ranulf said in a lowered voice. "He looks harsh, but he's a good man at heart."

"He's scary."

"He can be, sometimes. Don't say anything to him, son."

Ralph nodded.

The noble in front of them walked proudly towards the throne. As he moved Ranulf noticed a third chair-more of a small stool-sat besides the others. A cushion sat upon it, but there was nobody to sit on top of that. He frowned in confusion. If the younger Zelda was missing, would the final decision really be made here and then?

The noble bowed to the queen, then to the general, and stood in resolute silence. His son followed as his father began talking. Ranulf listened to some words with vague interest. He knew the man, but only vaguely.

"The relationship between Hyrule and Sabure has always been a strong one, Great Majesty. Why not make the bond even stronger?"

Zelda nodded to herself. "I know that is so. However..." She cast a look at her husband, who seemed to reply to her thoughts without words. "Sabure is a rather distant kingdom." Zelda smiled. "We doubt that you would be able to support us, if a time came when war was thrust upon us again."

The noble's chest puffed. "Majesty, I assure you that our navy would be more than willing to support your own-to shoulder most of the burden of defending your blessed land, if need be."

"We understand that," Kazakk said, with a grunt. His eyes said even more, but less at the same time.

No.

Zelda stared at the noble for a long moment, then turned her eyes to his son. She asked questions that were gentle, even innocent. His favourite colour. His favourite month. His favourite pastimes. If there was a point in the questions, Ranulf didn't see it-and that sent a shiver down his spine. Everything had a point in Hyrule.

What would people think, if she asked Ralph those questions?

"It was lovely to meet you, dear prince," Zelda said, finishing the questioning. She turned to his father. "We will let you know our decision soon. In the meantime, please help yourself to some food and refreshment in the Great Hall, and do join us for the feast this evening. Our knights will show you the way."

Our knights will prevent you getting ahead of yourself.

Zelda waved a hand towards the bannerman waiting at the front of the line. The man took a deep intake of breath. Ranulf straightened his back, and strode forwards as the man began to talk.

"May I present Prince Ranulf Ambi, and his son, Ralph Ambi, both of the Kingdom of Labrynna."

Cursed be all protocol. He looked back; Ralph was a full four steps behind him. Ranulf stepped back, put both hands on his son's shoulders, and steered him forwards towards the thrones. Then he stepped aside, and bowed.

Silence reigned in the room.

Ranulf looked sideways slightly, and tapped the floor with his left foot. Ralph jerked his head down at once. His whole body seemed to quiver as he did so.

The queen smiled but to Ranulf's surprise, it was Kazakk that spoke first. "It's been a long time," he said.

Ranulf paused. "I'm surprised that you remember me, sir."

"How could I not? You were a good page. Very dutiful, if I remember rightly. You would have made a fine knight in time, if you had been one of us."

Ranulf felt the beginnings of a flush on his face. He felt suddenly aware of staring eyes-and none more so than his son's. He cleared his throat. "A twist of fate that I am not Hylian, sir. Great Majesty, this is my son, Ralph. He is intelligent, kind and understanding, and has all the markings of a fine prince of my realm."

Ralph stared fixedly at the carpet.

Look up boy! Ranulf resisted the urge to growl. His heart beat faster. "He has the makings of greatness in him, I'm sure."

Ralph looked glum.

You know that's the cue to look up!

"So we've been told by everyone here, Ran." The old general shook his head, then looked at Ralph. "But what are you really like, son?"

Ralph still stared at the carpet.

Curse me if they think he's dumb, he just doesn't realise that they're speaking to him. And curse the general for being so frank and honest. Ranulf raised his voice. "What are you really like, son?"

Ralph still didn't look up.

Zelda raised herself forwards on her throne. "There's no need to be shy, Ralph. You can tell us about yourself."

"O-Oh..." Ralph's voice was barely above the whispers that had started in the packed room. Even the soldiers seemed to be staring at him.

"Well, I'm sure our younger daughter would love to meet you," Kazzak said. "It's such a shame that she had to fall ill today."

"M-Mhm..."

Ranulf gritted his teeth.

"What do you want to be when you grow up Ralph?" Zelda asked softly.

A one word answer. Some sort of catchphrase. That was what they wanted.

"I..." Ralph looked sideways at his father.

Say you want to be a knight, Ranulf thought desperately. His smile stretched across his face, pulling his muscles taught. He tried his best to shake his hands as a prompt. Say you want to be strong and dutiful. Say you want to protect people, because that's what Hyrule wants! They want to be protected!

"I d-don't know."

"You don't know?" Zelda raised her eyebrows, curiously.

"I don't know. I... I don't know. I don't know." Ralph let out a whimper. His knees began to shake.

Ranulf felt pity well up inside him. Poor little boy. He sighed. Of course, he shouldn't have expected much. "I'm sorry Majesty, it seems the excitement of the day has gotten to him. I beg your forgiveness."

"Oh..." Zelda sank back into her throne, shaking her head. "There's nothing to forgive, of course. Please, help yourself to some food and refreshment."

And like that... it was over. Two months of travel by ship and carriage. Four months of training in etiquette and behaviour. Six months of sleepless nights. Ruined. "I will, Majesty." Ranulf took his son by the shoulders again, and steered him from the hall. He felt the questions from the nobles behind pressing at him like a load of granite.

Why is he like that? What has he done? What a poor, sick child.

It was only a mercy that the younger Zelda wasn't there to see them.

Ralph shivered. It was almost time for the feast, but he didn't feel like eating anything. He didn't feel like drinking. He felt like being sick.

His father wasn't looking properly at him. He didn't know why. Maybe it was because he hadn't said the right thing. Maybe he hadn't bowed at the right moment.

Nobles crowded around the waiting hall. Some of them looked unhappy. Some of them looked happy. Ralph noticed none of them. He stood beside a table, shaking. He balled his fists. His arms shook with frustration. Why did everyone else seem to know what was going on, and what to do?

"Let's head outside, Ralph." Ralph felt his father's hand on his shoulder again. Ralph's feet felt like wood, but he let himself be led out into the open air. The cool air from the northern mountains washed over his face, chilling his cheeks and pushing down his sobs. A few soldiers stood around on duty, but apart from them, there was nobody else outside but them.

"N-Not fair..." Ralph slid a foot over the wet grass.

Ranulf sighed. "Life isn't always fair, Ralph." He raised a hand absently to his mouth, and yawned. "Sometimes you can try, but sometimes you just have to know that you're beaten before you even begin."

"But... But t-that's not what's supposed to happen!" Ralph felt his voice turn shrill. "Good people always win in the end!" He waited for his father to confirm it, to tell him that it was always true, but he heard nothing in reply. He looked up at his father.

Ranulf shrugged. "Maybe they do, or maybe we just decide who the good people were afterwards." He yawned. "That's life... I suppose." He closed his eyes, his voice distant. "They'll be other times. I'm going to go inside for the feast. Are you coming?"

"I... I don't know..." Ralph hung his head. "I don't know."

"Well, I'm sure you won't wander far." Ranulf sighed deeply to himself. "I'll be waiting with the others."

Ralph stared down at the grass, shifting slowly in the wind. Stupid grass. He scuffed his boots into it, throwing up mounds of soggy green plants and dirt. He let out a yell. Nobody came. Not even the guards looked at him.

Stupid father! Stupid queen! Stupid castle! His anger boiled over as he shifted back and forth on the grass.

Suddenly he was off-scooting over the turf as if his lungs would burst out of his chest. He stumbled in his boots, caught himself as he fell forwards, and carried right on running. He ran without wondering where he was running to. Maybe to Ordonia. Maybe to Saburia. Maybe to the ends of the earth.

He heard the sounds of shouts of alarm behind him, but he didn't care. Tears streamed down his face. It wasn't fair! It wasn't fair!

He rounded a corner. He jumped a small ditch. He fell forwards into a bush. He cloak caught on it, causing him to stumble through it. Then he crashed headfirst onto paving slabs wet with water. He let out a groan as the cold water rushed up his nostrils, and jerked up at once, gasping for air.

He looked around, through eyes half blurred with water. He was inside a clearing, surrounded on three sides by the castle wall. Small pine trees clung to the edge of it. An owl hooted softly from their branches. Two flowerbeds were filled with roses.

"Who're you?"

Behind the bushes, someone was staring back at him. He started up.

It was a girl. She wore a faint pink dress, and small pink boots over white cotton leggings. She also wore a pink hat, with a golden triangle on it. Her expression was shocked, and incredulous. "How'd you get in here?"

Ralph stared dumbly at her.

"Don't you know how to talk?" she asked.

"I... I do."

"Oh, that's a relief. I thought that you were a moblin, and that I'd have to kill you."

Ralph yelped and started back.

"... I'm not actually going to kill you." The girl stared at Ralph's clothes, then at the vertically pointed ears pointing through his dripping hair. She wrinkled her nose. "You're not a Hylian."

Ralph stood staring at her.

The girl made a face. "Stop staring at me!"

Ralph looked away.

"... Did you lose the ability to speak again?"

"N-No." Ralph gulped. He wanted to say something. What would his father tell him to say? "I want to protect people."

The girl snorted with laughter. "Like that? You look like a jester!" She walked forwards. "Is that your name? Jester?"

"My n-name's Ralph."

"Oh." The girl's smile died on her face. "Mother told me there was someone with that name coming to see me today. You want to marry me, don't you?"

"W-Wha..." Marry? What was she talking about? "I don't want to marry you."

"Yes, you do." The girl folded her arms. "I'm not stupid. That's what mother and father are talking about. They want me to marry a savage man."

Ralph blinked. "What savage man?"

"You." The girl folded her arms. "To make our kingdom strong. Well, I don't want to and when I'm queen, I won't have to."

"Why?"

"Because I'll be queen, and I can make the rules. Hyrule's the best kingdom anyway. Better than your pokey kingdom."

"Why?"

"Would you stop saying that!" the girl barked. Then she sighed, and tapped her foot on the grass. "Because we're blessed by the Goddesses, that's why. We're just... better." She shrugged. "That's just the way it is."

Father... Mother... Queen. Something clicked in Ralph's brain. "You're Princess Zelda!"

Zelda winced. "Shut up, I don't want everyone knowing I'm here!"

"But your father said you were sick."

"I'm not sick." The princess scowled at him. "I just didn't want to sit on that stupid chair and listen to everyone talking about me."

"Oh." Ralph furrowed his brows. "That's bad."

"Bad?" Zelda stared. "Why's that bad?"

"Because you broke the rules. You're always supposed to do what the king tells you to do. That's why he's the king."

"He's not the king." The princess made an even more disgruntled face. "He's just my father. He was only a knight before my mother married him."

Ralph frowned even more. "Knights are some of the best people. They're heroes."

"What, are you a knight too? How'd you know that?"

"Because..." Ralph paused. He gulped air. "Because I want to be a hero."

Zelda sniggered. She raised her eyebrows. "You.. You want to be a hero?"

"Yes!"

"But you're too short to be a hero." Zelda staggered slightly on her feet. Laughter rolled down her face. "You don't even look like a hero!"

"That doesn't matter!" Ralph's voice began to tremble, but his anger forced it down. Oh, he hated Zelda. "I can be whatever I w-want to be!"

"Yeah, but you're not a Hylian!" Zelda stuck out her tongue. "Only Hylians can be real heroes. Why'd you think they're all coming here to see me, you dummy? They all know they can only be great if they marry me."

Was that true? Ralph looked down at the grass. No, his father was great too. He glared at her, and stamped his foot. "I don't ever want to marry you!"

"Good, because you're a stupid savage!"

"And you're a..." Ralph thought of the worst word he knew. "You're a bloody liar!"

Zelda hit him. The punch wasn't heavy, but it still knocked him back. Ralph's anger howled inside him. Yelling, he jumped up and pushed Zelda with all his strength. He didn't intend to hurt her, but he caught her by surprise. The Princess yelped, lost her footing, and fell back into the rosebushes. She cried out as the thorns stung her. Then she picked herself up. She growled once, then charged. Ralph fell backwards into the water pool, Zelda with him. Hissing and foaming at each other, the two children splashed around in the water. Ralph grabbed hold of Zelda's hat. Zelda tugged hard on the edge of Ralph's cloak. Both were oblivious to the sounds of iron boots. Two strong hands ceased both of them by the scruffs of their necks, and dragged them upwards.

Sir Moshan stared from one of them to the other.

Zelda glowered at him. "This boy attacked me!"

A figure clad in purple robes stepped up behind him. Even with her face shrouded, it was clear that she was furious. "From what I heard, it sounds like you started this."

"Impa!"

Sir Moshan deposited Zelda and Ralph down onto the grass. Besides Impa stood a frowning man with scarlet hair and a long blue Lynnian cape. Ralph averted his eyes from his father' fierce gaze at once. "I think all of us can agree that you both have some apologising to do," Ranulf said.

Zelda pouted. "I'm not going to apologise to a-"

Impa leaned forwards.

"I'm sorry." Zelda looked away. Impa coughed, and she added, "I'm sorry Ralph."

Ranulf coughed. "Ralph? What do you say? Ralph?" He gave his son a nudge.

"Sorry."

"Good." Ralph felt a much firmer grip from Ranulf pinch him on the shoulder. His father said his thanks and spent time bowing again to the knight, and to the strange woman in purple. Ralph kept his gaze firmly on them even as they rounded a corner in the gardens, and went out of sight. He caught Zelda's eyes as she glanced back over her shoulder at him. She was sticking her tongue out at him. What a strange thing to do.

His father huffed. "I hope you've learned something here." Ralph didn't see the tired lines in his face, or the way his eyes flitted towards the windows. "Have you learned anything today, Ralph?"

Ralph didn't know if he could reply.