Zelda sat up in bed the next morning, on her breakfast tray she received a letter from the chief healer who was living near the war plain so he could take charge of important matters without delay. The note contained a small message, simply explaining how many had been found that night; Zelda expected to get one of these every day.
"Mother!" Aryen squealed and jumped on to her mother's bed. "I had the most amazing dream, there were dragons and lilies and princes and kings!"
Zelda forced a smile for her little girl, "Really now? And what did they do in your dream?"
"The sky prince looked just like daddy! And he rode a massive green dragon that spoke in a strange tounge, then there was a dark prince and other boys...the kings were all surrounding a large table and an evil man was trying to get rid of them..."
"Sounds like a nightmare to me." Zelda commented.
"But it wasn't cause, the prince that looked liked daddy made a team with the dark prince and they stopped the bad man."
Zelda wondered how her little daughter always had such intense and descriptive dreams. She set aside her breakfast and swung out of bed. She opened her large closet pulling out a blue gown that she hadn't worn in a while. Next she led Aryen back to her room and unbuttoned a green play dress and slipped it over the little girl's head.
Once the last button was done up, Aryen hopped away to find Impa who had to be somewhere close. Zelda immediately made preparations for her trip to the battle field. She did not want to stay put in the castle where she couldn't be of any use to anyone.
The last carriage was just about to leave when she got outside. The driver eyed her curiously as she climbed up next to an apprenticed healer studying charts.
"Yes?" She questioned to the driver when he didn't move.
"I just expected her majesty to take the royal carriage not an old run down wagon for the soldiers and healers." The driver replied giving a respectful smile.
"I do not wish to be showy to the soldiers, I am going as a healer not as royalty, kind sir. Please begin on our way so we do not delay more than is necessary."
The driver nodded and clucked his tounge, telling the horse to move forward. When they arrived at the battle field, there were several healers already at work. Some must have come from over the mountain, since some carried the insignia of a neutral kingdom many miles away. Zelda relaxed now that help had come.
She walked through the field until it was about noon when something grabbed on to her dress, she looked down to find something she would never expect to find. A zora. She called out for some help realizing it was a messenger from the zora tribe.
"What are you doing here? You're dried out."
The zora coughed, but could only mouth his words. Zelda had a hard time figuring out what he was trying to say. Two healers came rushing over, carrying a basin of water, they began soaking the sensitive flesh of the zora with cool water that seeped into his skin like a sponge.
After several minutes they were able to move him to a sick bay tent so he would be much more comfortable; and it would be easier to watch over him. Zelda stayed with him through the day and into the night until he finally woke up from his third sleep that day.
"Princess Zelda..." The zora said softly. His voice was back now and he didn't look or sound like a crusty fish out of water.
"What were you doing out there?" Zelda asked, relieved to finally get some anwers.
"He was spotted." The Zora said as if he didn't hear her, "Link. His green tunic was unmistakable in the Gerudo Desert."
"What was he doing there, why did you come, you don't live anywhere near there?"
"The gerudo sage brought news, passing it along to every tribe leader. The Zoras were the last to warn you since it would be too long to get to the gorons. Something happened during the battle, he disappeared didn't he?"
"Yes, out of no where and he hasn't been found among the wounded or the dead."
"No. He's fine, at least from what the sage said. He's heading towards the Spirit Temple."
Zelda's heart sank. He was going to the dungeons, why else would he head there? She bid the zora farewell and wandered out of the tent through a group of healers. She called for one of the horseman to untie a horse from the make-shift stables. She climbed on to its bare back and kicked it quickly shouted a foward command.
Without the wagon attached to the horse's back, it was able to move much quicker across the land. Zelda arrived quickly at the castle and hopped off already knowing the horse would find its way to the stables where fresh food would be set out.
"Zelda, what are you doing back so soon?" Impa asked, having already heard of the queen's arrival.
"Link is headed towards the Spirit Temple in the desert, I need to stay with the triforce if there is any reason he is heading back to a dungeon." Zelda's shoes clattered behind her on the stairs as she gathered the folds of her dress and rushed up a set of stairs in a secret passage behind the two thrones.
Zelda watched the young boy clad in green practice every evening in the field with the first commander. Three years had already passed and nothing had happened within Hyrule. Peace was still overflowing across the tribes of the land. Link was a man now, and he was certainly well prepared for a war. However, Zelda feared he wasn't yet ready for the evil king that had once brought chaos to Hyrule hundreds of years before.
The sun was just behind the mountain when Link put down his sword; as always he looked up and waved to Zelda with a wide smile. It was interesting how so many nobles, servants, and even Impa and Zelda's father knew that the two of them 'secretly' liked one another. Impa sometimes played dumb just so they could have a private conversation in the gardens when Link wasn't practicing in the field.
Zelda left her spot on the hillside and waded through the tall grasses to wear Impa waited for her and the royal carriage. She climbed in placing her hands neatly on her lap and stared out the window to watch the rest of the sunset.
"Impa, the triforce never lies, but there has been no sign of evil for hundreds of years..."
"Perhaps the time has not yet come, princess." Impa simply stated.
Back at the castle Link came to greet Zelda in the gardens. She smiled taking his hand and leading him to a marble bench and sat down, again placing her hands neatly in her lap. Her 'princess lessons' were starting to wear off on her after all these years and her responsibility was finally weighing on her.
"You don't need to act like that around me you know." Link said quietly.
"I know, it's simply habit." She answered just as quietly.
Link shifted, then stood and faced her, but didn't look her in the eyes. He had changed out of his green training gear and now wore simple nobleman's clothes made of the fabric from the kokiri forest.
"Zelda, your father and the first commander have made the decision to send me across hyrule to the different tribes. I am to take the challenges of the dungeons in their domains."
"There have been sightings haven't there?" she question. "Otherwise the tribes wouldn't even agree to your entry into their temples."
He gave a small smile and knelt at her feet, "Would it help if I gave you something as a promise for my return?"
"Depends on what it is, if it's a flower, I can reassure you I have plenty of those." She teased since Link had already sent her many roses and seeds for her garden.
"It's not a flower, this gift can't die, and it can't be lost."
"Then I accept."
Link leaned forward and kissed her taking her hands in his. He leaned back and smiled as he watched her face blush bright red, then left the garden without another word.
Zelda finally reached the sealed door at the top of the spiral staircase and placed her hand on the handle which immediately recognized the power of the triforce of wisdom that she carried with her. The door swung open and on a white stone shelf sat three spirit gems and in front of them was a spot for the three pieces of the triforce.
She found to her relief that the triforce of power was still sitting silently in its place. Link had the triforce of courage and she had the triforce of wisdom. If no evil had tried to get in then Hyrule had truly won the war against ganon. That meant Link had no reason to go to the Spirit Temple...peace had been restored even though sorrow still filled the air from the after math.
"Zelda," Impa said at the door. "Forgive my intrusion, but I too am a guardian and I must assure you that Link's disappearance has anything to do with the fate of Hyrule. This journey is of his own choosing; the reason why he does this, I do not know."
"I can't stay here any longer," Zelda said. "I've been waiting for so long, and he hasn't sent word. Aryen will want to hear something other than an unexpected trip soon."
"Take the black stallion," Impa said. "I will take care of Aryen."
What if it's the wrong choice? Zelda thought to herself, if she left the castle and she was attacked by an animal along the way, Aryen would be left as queen and the castle would be unprotected...
Zelda and Impa stepped out of the room, resealing the door so that only the touch of Link, Zelda, or Impa could open it. Then Zelda went to her rooms and began packing a change of clothes, and receiving a bundle of food from Impa plus several other provisions. She decided she would go to the zoras domain with the young messenger and make her way from there. Something was wrong to keep Link from returning home, and she wanted to figure it out.
