My name is Akeila. I'm not your normal ten year old girl. Since I was young, I have served as Princess Zelda's handmaid. It may seem odd, given the fact that we were about the same age, but this is precisely the reason why they gave me to Zelda. I was to be a sort of 'playmate' to the princess, as she had no siblings, and was often left alone in the adult-filled castle. Yet, she treated me more like a servant, ordering me around and blaming me whenever something went wrong during our 'games'. Zelda also enjoyed teasing me, especially about my parentage. Nine years ago, I was discovered, hidden in a bush in the palace garden, by Zelda's attendant, Impa, a Sheikah. Impa brought me before the king, explaining the circumstances of which she found me. The king permitted me to stay, but barely; apparently, he feared that turning away an innocent child (who was barely a year old) would anger the three golden goddesses: Din, Nayru, and Farore. The king, not wanting to bring ill fortune to the prosperous land of Hyrule, assigned Impa to be my caretaker. Once I was old enough, he designated me as Zelda's handmaid. As earlier stated, I was expected to play with Zelda, or, at the very least, keep her company. However, Zelda's definition of "playing" meant "bully the orphaned handmaid". My parents had been presumed dead; after all, why else would someone leave behind a healthy, happy child, if they were not fatally ill or else unable to care for said child? Thus I was left alone, my only friend being Impa. Even then, Zelda made a point of hogging the Sheikah's attention, just to spite me. Whenever the princess succeeded in stealing Impa's attention, I myself was left alone. No one else in the castle dared speak to me. I assumed it was due, in part, to my peculiar, almost startling appearance. My hair was stranger than most; it was neither pure blonde nor pure red, but rather a light mix of the two. Apparently such a shade was extremely rare, as no one else (as far as I had seen) possessed the tint that my hair had. Then, there were my eyes. My eyes were a pure black color, as black as a moonless night, and were speckled with slight yellow/orange flecks. Because of my appearance, others in the castle often regarded me coldly, or simply ignored me all together. I often caught myself envying Zelda's angelic golden curls and innocent blue eyes, pining for these cute features rather than my own, as others called it, "devil's looks". Oh, the irony of it. Things haven't changed much in the past few years, either. Zelda has now taken to ignoring me, at least when others are around. When we are alone, she enjoys making snide comments and mean jokes at my expense. I was never allowed to leave the castle, and therefore hadn't met any other children besides Zelda; this meant I was either alone, or being tormented by the princess. Oh, how I prayed for someone, anyone, to come and save me… or, at the very least, just be my friend. Yet the goddesses never answered my desperate pleas. For the longest time, I was alone.

That is, until I met the boy from the forest.