"It's quite a pleasant day, isn't it?" Prince Eldren said, a smile on his face as he looked up into the cloudless morning sky above him.

They sat on a marble bench in the castle's inner ward, a vast yard filled with meticulously-trimmed hedges and ridiculously straight trees. There was a little fountain in the center of the yard, a single small geyser spewing forth from the center and feeding water into its basin, the bubbling sound of the water creating a soothing sound and a peaceful atmosphere. A thin elegant path surrounded it, trimmed with bright, cheery flowers, and benches like the ones she and the prince sat on were lined along the walls and near the fountain.

"Why, yes, it is," Midna replied with a little fake giggle. She hated acting so fake, so easily pleased, but what else could she do? She had to make the prince believe that she was the ideal woman. After all, if she disappointed him, he could complain to his father about her, and the king might cancel the marriage arrangement.

And if they were not married, the Hyrulians would forever distrust the Twili. If either one of them made the slightest mistake, a war could start. No, it was much safer to marry the prince and form a treaty between the two peoples.

So she wore a mask, no matter how ugly that mask was.

"...and so that's where my sister is, I'm sorry she couldn't be here to meet you," Eldren was saying.

Whoops, Midna thought as she stared at him with blank eyes. Obviously she hadn't been listening, and debated on whether or not she should pretend to have heard him. She decided that pretending wouldn't be a good thing - after all, what if what he had said was important?

"Ah, I apologize deeply, Prince Eldren!" she said, looking at him with feigned regret. "I'm afraid I was so caught up in the beauty of the day that I got a little distracted. What were you saying? Something about your sister?"

The prince only stared at her, and for a moment there was silence between them, broken only by the birds chirping in the trees and the cool breeze tousling her hair.

Midna reluctantly allowed the awkward silence to stretch on, simply waiting for him to say something. If she spoke first, she might upset him more than she already probably had. She watched him, lips pressed together in worry, and realized that he actually didn't seem angry at all. He was merely studying her expression, brow slightly furrowed as if curious, but there was no harshness in his face.

She cleared her throat.

"Right, sorry, how impolite of me," the prince sighed. "I suppose we're both a little distracted today. Anyway, as I was saying, my sister left the castle a few days ago to attend to... a situation in a nearby village. She should be back soon, I hope. I'd love for her to meet you."

Midna smiled at him, a sweet smile that contradicted everything she was thinking and feeling. All she wanted to do was get up, leave the prince, and attend to her own matters. All this stuffy formality was almost more than she could take.

At least he wasn't all bad - he hadn't been rude to her yet, but she wondered if that would change the more she got to know him. Perhaps he, like she, was wearing a mask. And perhaps he would take it off and reveal his true face; a cruel face. And perhaps she was just misjudging him.

"I look forward to meeting her as well," she said, inwardly yawning in boredom, outwardly keeping that fake smile pasted on her face.

Prince Eldren hesitated for a moment, looking at her in something of an awkward silence, as if trying to make his next words count and failing miserably. Instead he settled on repeating, "Yes, I'd love for her to meet you," and then he looked away and sighed.

Awkward silences seemed to be a theme that morning, Midna thought with an inward roll of her eyes. The prince stared down at his hands, clasped in his lap, and absentmindedly laced and unlaced his fingers. She only fidgeted with a lock of her long fiery hair, staring blankly at it and resisting the urge to give a sigh of boredom and irritation.

So awful. So stuffy. So... so boring. Wasn't there anything else she could do?

"I," Midna started, but didn't know what else to say, because her mind was devoid of any kind words. Her only thoughts were sarcastic ones - No matter how fun this little visit is, I'm going to go find something more entertaining to occupy my time, or As much as I love awkward silences I'd rather be doing something else, or even Heck, I'd rather talk to Ludin right now, which is saying a lot, so I'm going to go do just that.

But of course she couldn't say any of those things. The prince would hate her if she did. And though she didn't care much for his affections, she needed them, for her people's sake.

She opened her mouth again, and allowed the words to spill out of her mouth without even thinking about them - "I'm going to go eat breakfast." Even though she had already eaten breakfast, and the prince knew that. Biting her lip in embarrassment, she quickly glanced away and mentally cursed herself for being such an idiot.

Yet to her surprise, Eldren simply replied with, "Yes, of course. I hope you enjoy your breakfast. I'm going to, er, check on my father. I'd like to see if he's doing any better."

As she turned her red eyes to his golden ones, she resisted the strong urge to smirk, and it took all her willpower to fight back the expression. The poor prince seemed just as bored as she was.

"Yes, of course." She placed a dainty hand over her mouth in an attempt to hide that aforementioned smirk that she couldn't resist any longer. "I do hope he's doing well."

Prince Eldren stared at her for a moment - again, as if studying her, and she noted that this was the third time since she had met him that he'd done that - and she feared he had seen through her ruse and noticed her amused expression. But then he just nodded and stood. "Thank you, Princess Midna, for your time. I enjoy our visits." His tone sounded just a little less than genuine to her ears.

Then he left. She didn't offer her hand for him to kiss. And he didn't ask for it either, even though it was technically protocol.

For a moment Midna only sat on the marble bench, allowing her shoulders to droop and her back to slouch into a more comfortable position than the stiff one she'd been maintaining earlier. A small smile lingered on her lilac lips as she enjoyed the sound of birdsong carried on the breeze. Her eyes closed and, for a moment, she thought she might fall asleep right then and there.

But she decided against it, getting to her feet with great effort - she was suddenly quite tired. She yawned widely, not bothering to cover her mouth, and stretched her arms high above her head.

Now what to do? she wondered, eyes scanning her surroundings, watching the gentle breeze rustle the flowers all around her. Obviously she had been lying when she'd told Eldren that she was going to eat breakfast. She was full, after all.

Then the hint of a thought -

No, she immediately told herself, spinning on her heel and heading off toward the small wooden door that led back to the halls of Castle Hyrule. Again she stretched, even though she didn't really need to. She was just trying to distract herself from that thought.

It nagged at her, refusing to go away, and the harder she tried to get rid of it, the stronger it became.

And, just maybe...

"No," she muttered, aloud this time, striding quickly toward the door as if entering the castle would destroy that accursed thought.

One of the guards standing watch stopped her, saying, "Your highness, you'll need an escort back to your quarters -"

"I don't," she snapped, then immediately regretted it, blinking at the poor, stunned guard who had notably shrunk back at her sharp tone. "I mean," she quickly said, pasting a smile on her face and trying to act apologetic, "I'm so sorry. I'm just a little tired... but I'm not returning to my quarters; I have business to attend to."

Curses. She had admitted that awful thought aloud, even if it was only a vague hint and not the whole idea. What a terrible slip of the tongue - "I'm not returning to my quarters" would be enough to make the guard worry for her well-being. And either he'd insist on accompanying her or he'd fetch Salaas and Ludin to do it. Either option was a terrible one.

"At least let me accompany you wherever you're going," said the guard.

Just as Midna had predicted. It took all her strength of will not to roll her eyes and groan. Instead she kept a horribly fake smile plastered on her face - so obviously fake that even the most brainless of people could understand it wasn't genuine at all. "No, thank you. I'll fetch my bodyguards to accompany me."

"Then I'll help you find them -"

"I can find them on my own, thanks," she interrupted him, her tone growing just slightly more impatient with each word. She was on the verge of snapping again, and instead of risking that possibility, she swept through the door without waiting for any kind of response from the guard.

She didn't pay much attention to the elaborately-decorated halls as she went. All she cared about was escaping this boring castle, with its monotonous marble floors, marble walls, marble ceilings, marble everything.

She realized she had simply given in to that ridiculous thought of hers without trying to resist it, and she felt pathetic for it.

In an attempt to detract attention from herself, she turned down a separate hallway that led away from the entry hall, and instead slipped silently into the kitchens. The servants and cooks had already started making lunch despite the early hour, but they paused their labors and looked up at the Twili princess. Some of them merely seemed curious; most seemed afraid. Some even visibly shrank back.

The air was uncomfortably warm from the dozen fires blazing in their ovens, and Midna felt sweat beginning to roll down her neck and back as she cast nervous glances at all the people surrounding her. Most stood as far away from her as they could, watching her go with wary expressions, as if expecting her to attack them at any given moment.

Perhaps this hadn't been the best way to leave the castle, after all.

Nonetheless, she slipped out through the small door that led outside into the outer ward, and from there she found her way to the two sets of gates that eventually took her to Castle Town itself.

It was as busy as ever, swarms of people pushing past each other, vendors shouting to be heard above the noise. Taking a deep breath to prepare herself for the uncomfortable feeling of being swept away by the roaring crowd, she straightened her back and squared her shoulders, then took a step forward.

Immediately the mass of bodies crashed into her like an ocean wave, carrying her away, and she could hardly keep herself from tripping over her own two feet and the feet of a hundred other people too. But eventually she steadied herself and, huffing in annoyance, turned in the opposite direction that the crowd was shoving her in and pushed her way between them. She didn't offer any apologies as she roughly shouldered her way through the thick wall of people.

Progress was slow, but eventually she emerged into a smaller side street that wasn't quite as busy - comparatively, anyway. It was still busy enough that she had to shove people out of the way if she wanted to make any progress at all.

It felt like an age before she finally reached her destination, panting with exertion and irritation when she did. Turning her eyes just a little to the left revealed a stall. Not just any normal stall, but a gaudy one with a bright green awning, decorated with patterns of fruit.

Someone crashed into Midna, nearly knocking her to the ground, and he didn't offer an apology as he sped past. Even though she shouted curses after him, she couldn't resist a tiny smile when she glanced to that particular stall again. Her feet started to move almost without her knowledge, and before she could even think properly, she was standing nearby that stall. Behind its counter stood a golden-haired young Hylian man, listening to a Zora woman babble on as she gestured wildly with her hands, long white fins on her elbows flapping with each word she spoke.

"...and that was when the wagon just appeared out of nowhere! The two horses in the front of it were just - just huge, I'm telling you, and they almost trampled me!"

The young Hylian only nodded his head, resting a little on the counter. "But you're fine, aren't you? Or do you need to see a healer?"

The Zora woman shook her head, making the long blue fish-like tail on the back of it swing side to side. "No, I'm fine, but it's been such a pain to get here all the way from the ocean. I would have taken one of the rivers, but, I didn't want to run into any strangers, you know? Sometimes river Zoras can be quite territorial, and, well... You get the point."

He only nodded again, the corners of his lips tilting slightly upward. "I do. I'm glad you managed to get here safely, though. Anyway, will you be buying any -"

"Yes, I'm so glad I'm still in one piece!" she interrupted him, heaving an exasperated sigh and folding her light blue arms across her scaly chest. "Really, you Hyrulians are just so careless. I don't have a very wonderful impression of this place so far. After all, I still don't know what the Week of Faron is, because everyone I ask just ignores me!"

The smile slowly dropped from the young man's lips as she spoke, obviously displeased with her insult to his kingdom and its people, and the fact that she had so rudely interrupted him. "I'm sorry, miss, but," he started, but before he could get any further the woman interrupted him yet again.

"Anyway, I'm sure you'll tell me what the Week of Faron is. You seem slightly more decent than any of your fellow folk."

Still clearly insulted, the Hylian impatiently drummed his fingers on the counter of his stall. For a moment he paused - probably to regain his composure, Midna thought as she watched the spectacle with amusement - then he rested his elbow on the counter and settled his chin in his palm. "Well - let me think of how to explain it," he responded, lightly pursing his lips in thought.

"I don't mean to pressure you, but could you explain it quickly? I need to be off. I want to purchase a few things before this ridiculous crowd takes them all away!" The Zora woman huffed and impatiently tapped her long, finned foot on the cobblestones below.

The Hylian remained staring at her, a tired look in his half-lidded eyes. "Of course," he mumbled, then straightened his posture. "Faron is another name for Farore. Sometimes her chosen guardians will even take that name on themselves. I think it literally means 'Guardian of Courage'. Anyway, the Week of Faron is when we believe Farore first created life, so we celebrate her for an entire week. As you can see, it's a very busy event and tends to attract a lot of visitors from all over the place, because they see a chance to take advantage of the crowds and make a lot of money."

The Zora woman cocked a brow at him - though she didn't have eyebrows, just a couple slightly protruding lines of skin where they were supposed to be. "And you're one of these people? Who wants to take advantage of the situation and make money, I mean." She motioned to his stall, filled with gigantic baskets of fruits and vegetables of all kinds.

He grinned in response. "Yes, I am."

She harrumphed loudly and vigorously shook her head. "You're just like the rest of your people!" And with that, she spun on her heel and strode away through the crowd, the tail-like appendage on the back of her head swinging wildly with every movement.

Midna watched her go, not even bothering to disguise her smirk, and as soon as the obnoxious Zora woman vanished into the seething mass of people, she approached the young man's stall.

"Hey," was her simple greeting as she stopped before the counter. She was tempted to give him a casual grin and lean forward on the counter, but realized how strange that would seem. She didn't even know his name yet; she couldn't treat him as if she'd known him all her life...

So she simply remained standing awkwardly in front of him, trying not to bite her lip in anxiety when he turned his blue eyes to her red ones. She was well aware of how afraid everyone seemed to be of the Twili, and even though he had treated her as a normal person just the day before, she couldn't be sure how long that would last. What if he was suddenly scared of her?

But her worries vanished like night in the face of the rising sun when he gave her an easy, laid-back grin that seemed to glow, just like his bright blue eyes. "You're the one who bought an entire basket of strawberries."

Midna's confidence returned, and she placed a hand to her heart and gave him a far-too-sweet smile. "You remembered! I'm so flattered."

"Hard to forget you, miss."

She blinked at him, unsure of what he meant. Was he, perhaps, referring to her strange Twili features? Was that an insult in disguise? Or something else?

Midna decided to take it as a compliment, and she smirked as she flipped her long fiery hair over her shoulder with a flourish. "I know."

His grin only widened. "So, back for more strawberries, I assume?"

"How did you know?" Her eyes widened in a very exaggerated manner.

"Well, it's kind of obvious, with how many strawberries you bought yesterday..." Then he narrowed his eyes at her. "You didn't eat them all already, did you?"

"I did."

"Unbelievable."

She only smirked.

"Unfortunately I'm all out of strawberries - thanks to you."

Her smirk dropped, and she tried to hide her disappointment. "...Oh," she mumbled after a long pause.

It was obvious that she had failed to disguise her disappointment, because the Hylian lowered his eyes as if he felt guilty, and awkwardly fidgeted with one of his earrings for a moment. "Sorry about that," he finally said.

"No, it's fine," Midna replied, trying to return to her normal cheery demeanor. What were a few strawberries, anyway? They didn't matter. And they weren't even the main reason she had come here, she had to admit to herself. But still - it would have been nice to have a few to stuff her face with, especially since the strawberries he sold were the best she'd ever tasted.

"But," he said quickly, something of a smile returning to his face, "we have plenty more... back at the farm, though. You'd have to wait a bit while I went to get them. Or..." He trailed off, and again averted his eyes, as if unsure of himself.

Midna raised a brow. "Or what?" she asked curiously, trying not to seem too interested in what he was about to say.

She was surprised when she swore she saw a tinge of pink on his cheeks. "Nothing," he said quickly, still staring down at his feet, refusing to meet her eyes. She blinked in confusion, wondering what in the world he was thinking. "If you don't mind staying here for a bit," he continued, "I could go get some for you."

"I... Well, I guess." She searched his face with eyes narrowed in thought, still curious as to what he had been about to say. Deciding to make a bold move, she leaned forward across the counter, resting her elbows on its surface and her chin in her palms. "But, you know, I'm still curious about that 'or'. Really, 'or' what? You can't just leave me hanging like that!"

Again he grinned, though this time it was a bit of an embarrassed expression. He finally lifted his eyes to hers again and ran a hand through his messy hair. "Just something idiotic, I was going to ask you if you wanted to come to our farm with me, I mean, lots of people do it, come directly to our farm - they even get a discounted price if they pick their own fruits and vegetables instead of making us do it and there's a ton more produce there so you could get as many strawberries as you wanted..." He spoke quickly, one word tripping over the next one, until his entire explanation was something of a chaotic mess that Midna had to pause and think about for a moment before she finally understood.

Then she smirked. "Inviting me over and you don't even know my name yet!" she teased, enjoying the way he quickly looked back down to his shoes, and his face flamed as red as her eyes.

"W-what?" he stuttered, shifting his weight and reaching up to fidget with an earring again. "No, you're not... I don't -"

"It's Midna, by the way."

He stopped and slowly lifted his gaze once again, staring at her for a moment but with faraway eyes, as if he was trying to imprint the name in his memory. "Nice to meet you, Midna." Eventually the bright red color began to fade from his cheeks, and he was able to give her a much less awkward smile that time.

"But you never told me your name," she said with a frown.

"Right. Sorry." His smile turned sheepish. "It's Link."

Link. Midna's eyes widened, remembering that word - no, that name, the one that had come to her and she hadn't understood what it meant or why she'd been thinking of it.

But now it all made sense.

No... no, of course it didn't. None of it made sense. Why would she know his name before he had even told it to her? Why did he seem so familiar, and why was it that she felt she could tease him as if she'd known him for a lifetime? What was wrong with her? Why was she acting this way when it was all just a pathetic coincidence?

She pulled her lips into a smile and straightened, smoothing out a few wrinkles in her dress as she did so. "Nice to meet you too, Link."

He hesitated for a moment, as if unsure of what to say, then shifted his weight and said, "So," drawing out the word for a while.

"I'd love to come to your farm and steal all of your strawberries, if that's what you're wondering about," Midna told him with a teasing grin.

"Great, then I won't have to pick them myself."

"Wow, what a gentleman you are."

He only laughed. A pleasant, genuine laugh, bright as the sun. And she realized that most things about him could be compared to the sun - his golden hair, the brightness in his eyes, that smile of his. But instead of lingering on such idiotic thoughts, she spun on her heel and strode away through the crowd without even waiting for him to follow, calling over her shoulder, "Where's this farm of yours?"

"Hey, wait!" she heard him shouting behind her, and she hadn't realized how far she had already gone, completely leaving poor Link in the dust.

With an excited grin, she spun on her heel, hair flying about her face like fire. "Hurry up, the day isn't getting any younger here!" she called in return.

Link shoved his way through a few people to reach her, and stopped before her with a sigh. "You really couldn't have waited for me to put some things away and catch up?"

"Nope."

"Wonderful."

It was only now that they were standing in front of each other like this, unimpeded by the counter of the stall, that she realized how short he was - or maybe she was just tall, she wasn't quite sure. Either way, he was almost a head shorter than her, and at the realization she had the strangest urge to teasingly pat his head. It felt like a familiar motion, and she almost did it without thinking. Her hand even lifted a few inches from her side, hovered awkwardly there, and then quickly dropped to its proper place once she realized what was happening. She swallowed heavily, mortified over what she had almost done.

Something about this young Hylian man made her feel like an idiot, and she couldn't quite pinpoint why. But whatever it was, she cursed it.

Noticing her silence, Link slowly pointed to the right. "It's... it's this way, if you're wondering."

Midna pushed her thoughts away and sighed. "How far away?"

"Not too far, especially if you have a horse."

A frown crossed her lips for a moment. "Which I don't."

"No need to worry, then, I've got two."

Her brow furrowed. "Two? Why two?"

Link grinned. "Well, my brother came with me and was supposed to help me tend to the stall, but instead he wandered off to take in all the sights... so I'm sure he won't mind if we borrow his horse for a while."

"Oh, yes, I'm sure he won't mind at all."

He motioned for her to follow him as he made his way through the bustling crowd. Unlike her, he didn't try to forcefully push his way past people, merely took advantage of the few small openings he saw and occasionally muttered a polite "Excuse me" before continuing on.

Of course, Midna was the exact opposite, shoving anyone who got too close and forcefully clearing a path for herself. Multiple times someone would glare at her or curse her under their breath, but she merrily ignored them all, focusing intently on following Link as she tried to wipe the pathetic smile off her face.

Maybe, she thought as they finally escaped the crowds and came to stand at the borders of Castle Town, maybe she felt so comfortable around him just because he was the only Hyrulian she had met so far that was not only unafraid of her, but kind to her as well.

Open fields were what surrounded Castle Town, green and vast and beautiful, with no end in sight, simply fading off into the distance and becoming one with the sky above. The gentle morning breeze made the purple and white wildflowers dance, and Midna couldn't help shutting her eyes and smiling at the cool feeling of it against her skin. It felt wonderful to be away from that horrible crowd.

Nearby there was a small wooden fence surrounding a squat building, white paint peeling, and two horses were tethered to the fencepost. One horse was small, white, speckled with gray. It looked a little old and tired, the way it simply stared down at the grass as Link untied it, and the way it plodded over to Midna at Link's urging with a slow and thoughtful gait.

"Here." He presented the horse's reins to her. "Do you know how to ride?"

"I'm not sure," she responded honestly, hesitantly accepting the reins and absently running a thumb across their surface. "We Twili don't actually ride horses. We ride... other things. I don't think the two creatures are very similar, so... no, I probably don't know how to ride."

"Hmm." Link paused, as if unsure of how to explain riding to her. He shifted from one foot to the other for a moment. "I guess, first off -"

But before he could get any further, Midna decided to see if she could swing up into the saddle. She treated the horse like she would a creature from her own kingdom, placing a foot in its stirrup and swinging up. Her fingers curled tight around the reins, expecting the beast beneath her to screech and shake its back in protest for a while.

Then she remembered that this was a horse, and one that seemed very gentle at that. It hardly even moved beneath her, only stood there staring at the ground, sides slowly expanding and shrinking with each breath it took.

The shape of a horse's back was much different from what she was used to. Much more comfortable, Midna realized. She easily settled into the saddle and gave a little smile of contentment.

Link chuckled softly and stroked the white horse's nose. It gave a quiet whinny in response, but nothing other than that. "This is Snow," he explained, fingers still lightly tracing the horse's nose. "She's my brother's horse. A bit old, but you'll find none gentler."

Midna only stared at the creature beneath her, unsure of what to make of its docile behavior.

"Try petting her neck," Link suggested. "She seems to like you already; I'm sure she won't mind."

Midna hesitated, staring at the young man before her with something of a suspicious look. Then, slowly, she reached down and warily patted the horse's neck. Though she had been expecting it to rear up as high as it could and throw her off, it didn't. It remained standing just as calmly as ever.

Hyrulian creatures are so strange, she thought to herself.

Link left her sitting on Snow's back as he went to retrieve the second horse, and untied that one from the fencepost as well. Midna looked up and her eyes widened in surprise. This horse might well have been a beast - it was gigantic and muscular, its coat a shimmering brown, mane white, as well as the tip of its nose and the fur near its thick hooves. Those hooves looked suspiciously sharp, Midna thought, and watched as the creature whinnied and rammed its head so hard into Link's shoulder that he very nearly fell over.

But instead of chiding the horse, he only laughed and affectionately stroked its muzzle. "This is Epona," he said, voice laced with obvious pride, and he never took his eyes from the large, warm brown ones of his horse. "She's mine."

"She's huge."

"Isn't she?" Epona neighed loudly and tossed her head, then shoved her nose into her master's shoulder and snorted. Link only chuckled again and patted her neck, then walked to her side and swung up into her saddle with the ease of one who had been riding horses his entire life. Hands loosely clasping her reins, he gave a simple twist of his wrists and Epona walked up beside Snow. Sitting astride his horse, he was suddenly much taller than Midna, and she had to crane her neck to look up at him. "Should we go, then?" he said.

Midna furrowed her brow and stared down at the reins, clutched tightly in her hands, and she wasn't quite sure how to use them. She gave them a small flick and, to her pleasant surprise, Snow set off at a very manageable trot. Link followed behind on his monster of a horse, smiling at the woman before him. "You're a natural."

"Apparently so," she responded, shooting a grin in his direction.

He looked away, eyes scanning the blue horizon. For a moment there was silence, broken only by the sounds of their horses' hooves beneath them. "What kind of creatures do you ride where you come from?" Link eventually asked.

"We call them Kargaroks," Midna began excitedly, happy that he wanted to know more about her and her culture. He didn't want to shy away from it like the rest of his people. Truly, she admired him for it. "They're big black creatures, almost like birds but... not even close, at the same time. They have long talons and big leathery wings, and they don't have heads."

At this, Link turned to her with wide eyes, and only stared at her for a moment before narrowing his eyes in disbelief. "What? That isn't possible."

She smirked at him. "It is. They just have a neck and no head. Even though they're blind - you know, lack of eyes - they have ears, and hear really well. The way they 'see' is by making a loud trumpeting noise, which echoes off of nearby objects and tells them where things are, thus helping them avoid crashing into obstacles."

"But -" Link stared off into the distance again with his brow furrowed, lips slightly pursed as they usually were when he was thinking. "But how do they eat if they have no mouth?"

She couldn't help giggling. "I tell you about giant headless winged beasts and all you can think about is how they eat?"

"It's a legitimate concern," he protested.

Still grinning, Midna explained, "It's simple. They don't worry about biting and chewing. They cut straight to the chase by closing their gigantic necks around their prey and swallowing it whole."

"... I have no idea how that works, but all right." He looked at her with a raised brow, to which she responded with a light shrug. "So then, how have I never heard of these creatures before?"

"Well, as I'm sure you know, it was only fifty years ago that the Twili were allowed to leave their prison and step into Hyrule again. But we couldn't just leave our homes and everything behind, so we took some of the things necessary to survive. We needed mounts, so we brought the Kargaroks. We needed food so we brought some from the Twilight Realm. And of course we brought our magic with us - peaceful magic, obviously," she hurried to say, afraid that he might change his mind about tolerating her presence if he thought she was a threat. "Anyway - the rest of the world hasn't really seen Kargaroks because there are no wild ones. They're all kept as trained mounts that we use to get around."

There was a thoughtful expression on Link's face as he absently curled and uncurled his fingers around Epona's reins. Then after a pause he turned to look at her with a smile. "So did you come flying into Hyrule on a Kargarok's back?"

"Hah! I wish!" Midna laughed, a genuine laugh, one where she threw her head back and released, for a moment, all her amusement. "Wouldn't that be a sight! I can just imagine the terror on the faces of the Hyrulians when they see a headless, winged black monster flying toward them with a Twili woman on its back. It would be priceless!"

Link couldn't help chuckling a little, too. "You're right, it's quite the mental image."

Still grinning widely, Midna craned her neck to look up at him. "You'd be running in fear, I bet."

"Probably," he agreed with a sigh, shaking his head to himself at the terrifying thought of the Kargaroks.

A companionable silence passed between them then. They rode on for a minute or two before, suddenly, Epona burst into a gallop. Link released an excited whoop! and didn't even try to stop her. And Snow, despite being such a placid creature thus far, suddenly decided that she wanted to race. So she surged forth without warning, hooves churning up grass and dirt as she sprinted toward Epona. Midna gave a shout of surprise and held tight to the reins, but almost immediately calmed down. Riding a Kargarok was much more difficult, and this was peaceful in comparison. With a smile she allowed her eyes to drift shut, heart singing a song of freedom as the wind whipped her hair behind her and whistled in her ears.

It was amazing, she thought, and never wanted the moment to end.

But end it did, for it had to, and she was disappointed when she heard Link saying "whoa, girl, whoa" and felt Snow slowing down beneath her. Her eyes reluctantly fluttered open, and there was a slight frown on her lips when she saw Epona slowing and Snow just following along like the obedient mare she was.

"Here we are," Link announced, slipping off the back of his gigantic horse and landing, agile as a cat, on the ground. "Sorry about that, Epona knew we were close to home and got excited." He stepped up to Snow's side and held a hand out, which Midna accepted with a sigh and allowed him to help her out of the saddle.

"We should do that more often," she said with a grin.

He smiled in reply. "Sure. As long as you let me ride one of your weird headless birds sometime."

Midna laughed. "It's a promise." She looked around, noticing a simple but cute little white farmhouse situated in the center of vast fields of vegetables and fruits, stretching as far as the eye could see. There were little wooden sheds here and there of which she didn't know their purpose, but assumed they were tool sheds or something similar. There was also a stable, surrounded by a wooden fence that created a rather large, pleasant pen for plenty of horses to run around in. And there were definitely plenty of horses of all sizes and colors, most of them peacefully grazing at the emerald grass and some of them running free with the wind in their manes.

All in all, a very quiet, lovely place, Midna thought. If it weren't for the small crowd gathered there.

She hadn't been expecting to see people at the farm, but she remembered Link telling her something about letting people pick their own produce and giving them a reduced price for it. She assumed that was what was happening here, because there were women and men and children alike, all greedily plucking as many vegetables and fruits as they could and stuffing them into large wicker baskets.

"The strawberries are over here," Link told her, pointing to a particular section of the ripe farmlands, quite a few yards away. "And we have plenty of other things if you'd like them too."

"Thank you," she said, trying not to let the other people there dampen her mood. Why should she care about them, anyway?

A woman reaching for a head of lettuce stopped when she saw the Twili princess, letting her hand dangle mid-air as her eyes widened a little in surprise. Quickly she plucked the lettuce, stuffed it into her basket, then stood and scurried away as if her life depended on it.

And that was why she didn't like the idea of being surrounded by people, Midna realized.

Link disappeared into one of the nearby sheds and returned a second later holding a basket. Without saying anything, he began to pluck strawberries and place them gingerly inside. "How many do you want?" he asked, not looking up from his task.

She grinned with joy and hurried to stand beside him, watching him pick plenty of her favorite fruit. "The whole basket full."

"I should have known."

They were interrupted, unfortunately, when a large woman stepped out of the farmhouse and walked over to them, carrying a basket filled with assorted produce on each arm. Her short blonde hair was messy, and her simple pink dress rumpled. Her jaw was clenched and there was a distressed look in her blue-gray eyes.

"Link!" she shouted, even though she was right next to him, and he winced at the loud noise.

"Yes, mother?"

"Why aren't you tending to the stall? Where's your brother? And -" But the woman stopped immediately when she noticed Midna, and her already-wide eyes widened even further. "Who's this?" she demanded.

"Midna," was Link's casual response.

His mother narrowed her eyes in suspicion, and Midna only glared right back at her. Which was probably the wrong choice, because then the woman scoffed and turned away, grabbing Link's arm and dragging him, ignoring his protests, across the yard. "Don't you know what that thing is?" she hissed, probably thinking that she was far enough away that Midna wouldn't hear her.

And that was where she was wrong. Midna's lip curled at the insult.

"That thing? She is a Twili, mother, if that's what you're talking about," Link huffed in annoyance.

"Exactly! Don't you know what the Twili are? They aren't to be trusted. Why in the sweet name of the Sacred Realm would you bring her here? Now that she knows where we live, she could kill us all in our sleep! Burn down our farm!"

Even from where she stood, quite a few yards away from the conversation, Midna could see Link's eyes narrow. "She won't do that."

"How do you know?"

"She's here to buy some produce, just like any other normal person." He motioned to the people scattered here and there, kneeling down, plucking various fruits and vegetables and stuffing them into their baskets.

His mother pressed her lips into a disapproving line. "Just get her out of here. Now."

Link said nothing, only turned and walked away from the woman without another word. Midna couldn't help feeling a bit flattered that he'd stood up for her, even though she was still inwardly seething in rage.

Suddenly there was a basket hanging off her arm, and Midna glanced down to find that Link had put it there. To her surprise it was already completely filled with strawberries. "Sorry about her," Link sighed, nervously running a hand through his hair. "She's..."

"A narrow-minded fool?"

"To put it mildly."

Midna clenched her jaw. "Sorry."

"It's fine, really."

She looked down at the basket on her arm, and couldn't help smiling, just a little. "How much?" But as soon as the words left her mouth, she realized she'd forgotten her rupees back at the castle. They were lying in the drawer of the vanity, because she hadn't actually been planning to leave the castle and purchase anything... Curses, she thought with a grimace.

"Free," Link replied nonchalantly, and she snapped her head up to look at him in disbelief.

"Free? What?"

He scratched nervously at his ear and looked down at his feet with a sigh. "For making you come all the way out here. And the trouble with my mother."

"But -"

"Just take them."

She hesitated for a little while, staring uncomfortably at the dozens of little red fruits lying in the basket. She didn't know what to say to him, because "thank you" wouldn't suffice, and he had done so much for her already without any reason to.

It was nice to know that there were Hyrulians who did not fear her.

When she didn't respond, Link told her, "I should be returning to the stall now."

"Right. I should be... returning, too," she said hesitantly, looking up at him and studying his face. "You're sure this is fine?"

"Of course it is," he replied with a faint smile, leading her back to the horses.

Midna swallowed heavily, unsure of what to make of his kindness. She stopped beside Snow, staring at the old white horse for a moment before releasing a sigh. She adjusted the basket on her arm and, still not looking at Link, said, "Thank you."

"Sure." He swung onto Epona's saddle, and she neighed and danced on her hooves, excited to ride once more. "Should we go?"

"Yeah."


"I can't believe it, your highness," Salaas groaned, rubbing his forehead in distress, eyes squeezed shut. "You ran off, without an escort. Again. And for what? To purchase strawberries?"

The Twili princess shrugged and apathetically inspected her nails. "Yeah, so?"

"So, your highness, I was given the task to protect you. And do you remember who gave me this task?"

"That's such an obvious question that I feel like you're just mocking me... so I'm not even going to answer."

Salaas ground his teeth together and dropped his hands to his sides, clenching and unclenching his fists in a desperate attempt to calm himself down. "Your father!" he hissed. "The king himself! If he discovers how much I've failed in the task he set to me, he might just throw me in the dungeons!"

Midna leaned back in her plush red chair, mindlessly chewing a strawberry as she watched the fire dance in the hearth. The evening was young and yet already quite cold, so she scooted her chair just a bit closer to the flames before settling back once more and picking another strawberry from her basket to gnaw on. "You're exaggerating, Salaas, calm down. Father's more rational than you're making him out to be."

Again her bodyguard ground his teeth together, and began to pace back and forth in front of the fireplace, mumbling something unintelligible but no doubt insulting under his breath.

"Anyway," Midna said around a mouthful of fruit, picking up the basket and handing it to Salaas, "take this down to the kitchen and tell the cooks to make me a pie from the remaining strawberries."

Salaas shot her a glare, and only stood there for a moment, staring at her with nostrils flaring as if he was resisting to urge to say a few choice words to the princess. Then he heaved a sigh and took the basket from her, shoving it in Ludin's face. "You heard her."

Ludin, who Midna had completely forgotten was sitting nearby her in a different chair, only stared up at Salaas with cold eyes, and a silence even colder.

Salaas nervously shifted his weight, then withdrew the basket of fruit and shook his head. "Fine, I'll take it to the kitchens myself. But only if you escort her highness to dinner."

Ludin stood wordlessly, and stared down at Midna with those pure orange eyes of his.

Dinner, Midna thought with a groan. She had forgotten all about her promise to attend dinner with Prince Eldren. With her lip curled in annoyance, she stood as Salaas left the room with her basket in his hand, and he shut the door behind him.

A silence fell between them for a while, of course, since Ludin rarely said anything in the first place. Beginning to feel uncomfortable, Midna swallowed heavily and fixed a few nonexistent wrinkles in her dress. "So... let's go, I guess?"

Still Ludin said nothing, only walked to the door and held it open for her, waiting for her to exit.

Midna hesitated, remembering that, the moment she had returned to her chambers, she had changed into a more comfortable gown - a simple black thing with almost no shape to it. But she didn't care much about the dress itself; she was more concerned about its sleeves, short things that only fell to her elbows and revealed the complicated maze of faintly-glowing cyan markings on her forearms. Since she thought they looked tacky, she usually tried to hide them with sleeves, but she didn't have time to change now. She was probably late for dinner already.

So she simply shrugged and strode out the door. Prince Eldren knew she was a Twili, so if he couldn't deal with a few markings native to her people, then they were going to have problems.

Ludin led her to the dining hall, which, shockingly, looked exactly like the rest of the castle - marble floors, marble walls, marble ceilings, a red rug on the floor and a crystal chandelier on the ceiling. All these ridiculous rooms looked exactly the same to her, and she didn't understand how anyone could live in such a dull place.

Despite her boredom, she forced herself to sit at the long wooden table, across from Eldren, who had already been sitting down for who knew how long. "I apologize deeply," Midna said with a fake smile. "It seems I lost track of the time! I do hope you weren't waiting too long?"

Eldren smiled in return, and she couldn't help thinking that it looked a little less than genuine. "Not at all. No need to concern yourself."

Just then a maid stepped up to the table, carrying two large platters piled with chicken, pork, vegetables and fruits of all kinds, and a fat roll on the side. She set down one of the platters before the prince, and the other one in front of Midna. "Your meal," she said, bowing low. Then she remained standing there, just in case she was needed.

Other than Midna, Eldren, Ludin, the maid, and a few guards, the dining hall was empty. She and the prince were the only ones seated at the large table, and it made her feel lonely, in a way. And even though she really didn't want to be there, she daintily lifted her fork anyway and took a small bite of chicken. She didn't stuff copious amounts of it into her mouth like she was usually inclined to do, because, of course, she had to impress the prince.

She had been wearing this mask for not even three days now, and already she was sick to death of it.

She chewed the meat slowly, making sure her mouth didn't move too much, and she certainly didn't chew it with her mouth open - even though she wanted to. When she had swallowed it, she moved on to take a tiny, delicate bite of the steaming mashed potatoes, and when she had swallowed that too, she went to taste the deliciously-seasoned carrots.

"A delicious meal, to be sure. You have wonderful cooks, Prince Eldren," Midna said, covering her mouth with a hand.

"I think so, too," he replied once he had swallowed his bite of pork.

And then silence reigned supreme. It was clear that neither of them knew what to say, so they simply focused on eating their meals without speaking a word to each other. Midna swore she could have heard a hat drop. And the sound would have echoed far and wide across the awkwardly silent dining hall.

Deciding that she couldn't stand the horrible silence, Midna said, "My gratitude to you for inviting me to this lovely meal."

Prince Eldren took a deep breath and gave her a faint smile. "Of course, Princess Midna. How could I not? It's... quite a pleasure to visit with you."

"Yes, I feel the same," she responded, and almost forgot to hide the listlessness in her voice. She barely managed to fix her mistake by giving a tiny, girly giggle that seemed so out of place with the awkward mood that had been building up.

If I'm to marry the prince, I have to wear this mask for the rest of my life, Midna thought to herself with horror, and only barely managed to hide the hateful curl of her lip behind her hand. She couldn't help it; the thought of wearing this awful, stuffy mask until the day she died was enough to drive her mad. Already she longed to take it off, just to breathe the fresh air again for a moment, but obviously she couldn't do that.

Couldn't do it for her people's sake.

Was it really worth it?

She lifted her eyes from her food to find the prince, studying her yet again, like he seemed so prone to do. The moment he noticed her looking at him, he quickly averted his gaze and stuffed a much-too-large chunk of pork into his mouth.

"Are you enjoying Hyrule so far?" he asked once he had swallowed.

"Oh yes," she responded immediately, not wanting to seem hesitant. After all, if she acted, for even a moment, like she hadn't been enjoying her stay, then she risked offending Eldren. And she couldn't do that. Couldn't do a lot of things, really, and she hated it. Hated it all. "It's a lovely kingdom," she continued with an overly-sweet smile in an attempt to disguise the frustration boiling up inside her. "Very quaint. Of course, I still don't know as much about it as I'd like to, and I am looking forward to staying here and learning more about such a wonderful kingdom."

"I'm so glad you feel that way," was Eldren's simple response, and this time she was sure that there was a note of apathy to his voice. No longer could she say she'd been imagining his mounting boredom. It was there, obvious as sunlight.

They finished their dinner in silence, and the maid took their dishes away. "I'll fetch dessert," she said as she left.

"Actually," Midna hurried to say before the girl vanished from the dining hall altogether, "I've asked the cooks to make me a strawberry pie, so I won't be needing dessert." After all, if she ate dessert, that would mean staying in this miserable place even longer, and she didn't know if she could take it. The mask was becoming more than boring. It was constricting.

"Oh." The maid looked to Prince Eldren. "Your highness?"

He dabbed at his lips with a napkin. "I think I'm quite full, but thank you."

"All right then," the maid said, seeming a bit confused at their lack of interest in dessert. She adjusted the platters on her hands and sighed. "Do you need anything else?"

Eldren looked to Midna, and she shook her head. "No thanks," he said, and with a nod the maid left.

"Then, if you'll excuse me?" Midna asked, voice almost desperate, because she needed a break, needed somewhere to rest away from this stuffy place before she snapped.

Eldren hesitated for a moment, and looked at her, and she wondered if he had seen through her ruse, if he knew how much she hated all of this. "Of course," he finally said, standing from his chair. "It's getting late, after all."

Midna heaved a sigh of relief and stood as well, then turned to the side - only to see a pair of blank orange eyes staring back at her. She jumped in surprise, having completely forgotten that Ludin never left. But to be so surprised at something so ridiculous? Truly she was on the verge of snapping. She needed a break, and she needed it now.

"Ludin," she sighed, resisting the urge to rub her temples in distress. "Why don't you... go to the kitchens and see how my pie is doing?"

The Twili man hesitated for only a moment before he turned and left without a word.

Midna very nearly followed him, but realized it would be impolite to leave the prince without saying anything. So she took a deep breath, and it trembled a little against her will. "Thank you so very much for the wonderful meal, Prince Eldren."

"Of course."

"Good night." Then without waiting for any kind of response from him, she turned on her heel and strode out of the dining hall with urgency, as if her life depended on it. And once she was free of the awful room, she felt like she could actually breathe -

"Princess Midna."

Her heart skipped a beat, and she stopped mid-step, glancing over her shoulder to discover that the source of the voice was, of course, Eldren. And the mask went straight back on, and she felt as if she couldn't breathe again. She forced a tremulous smile onto her lips. "Yes?"

He cast a glance around the hallway, as if checking to make sure they were alone. Which, of course they were. He took a step toward her, and she swallowed heavily, asking, "What is it?"

Eldren laced his hands behind his back and heaved a deep sigh. "Correct me if I'm wrong... but I feel like you're not being completely honest with me."

Midna's hand flew to her mouth in feigned hurt. In reality, she was just curious about what he had to say - if not, admittedly, a little worried. "Whatever makes you think such a thing?"

"It's obvious - the way you force yourself to smile, the way your eyes show clear irritation and boredom even when you pretend to be happy. Everything you do is just... fake." He studied her face again, the same way he had so many times before, and she finally realized just what he was doing - seeing beyond her mask.

Her heart leaped, and she slowly dropped her hand from her mouth, allowing it to hang loosely at her side. "...Oh?"

"Please, princess. I want to know who you really are. I don't want to talk to a facade. I want to talk to you."

This just got interesting, Midna thought, and she bit her lip, wondering what to do. She knew the prince wouldn't like it if she showed him what she really acted like. But at the same time... he had just issued her a very interesting challenge. And she wasn't the type to turn down such a challenge.

"You wouldn't like the real me," she warned him.

"Give me a chance, at least..."

A slow smirk spread across her lips. "Fine, then. I'll take off my mask." And she did. The mask fell, and she could finally breathe again, breathe the sweet air around her and breathe it freely.

Prince Eldren smiled. Genuinely, for once, and she realized his smile wasn't so bad. "Good. So will I."

"How interesting," Midna drawled, her smirk turning to a grin.

Eldren bowed his head to her. "Good night then, princess. I'll see you tomorrow."

"I look forward to it," she responded. And for once, she meant it.


A/N: This chapter was quite long, for my standards anyway. I usually write shorter things. But I felt that something dealing with Eldren needed to happen at the end there, so the chapter just kept getting longer and longer. xD Anyway, for better or for worse, this length might not be normal for future chapters.

Thanks so much for reading!