Chapter 2- The Visitor
When he got back to his house, he saw the children all standing in a huddle. They broke apart and turned to Link.
"We've decided to tell you," Talo announced.
"Tell me what?" the young hero inquired.
"That this person with a dark cloak came here. She asked where you were," Beth replied.
"How do you know it was a girl?" Talo exclaimed.
"Women's intuition," Beth answered with a smug smile. Talo just rolled his eyes. "And," Beth added. "What kind of guy would be named Zelda?"
"Zelda?" Link repeated stunned. "Why would she be looking for me? Did I do something wrong?"
"OMG!" Beth shrieked with delight. "I just realized! That was Princess Zelda! I gotta find her! She's probably my sister!"
"What'd she do after she asked for me?" Link questioned.
"When we told her you'd be coming back soon, I think she went to the spring to give her horse a drink," Colin replied.
"Thanks," Link told the children and headed to the spring. "I hope I'm not in trouble," he thought to himself. Then he halted right outside the spring entrance. His heart skipped a beat. There, face uncovered, stood Princess Zelda, giving her charcoal black horse some water. She looked radiant in the dappled light of the spring. After Link caught his breath, he nervously walked a little bit closer.
"There you go, girl," Zelda said, her horse drinking water out of her cupped hands. Then she noticed Link. She patted the horse's head and went over to the young hero. "Hi, Link," she greeted with a friendly smile.
"H-hi," Link replied nervously. "Am I in trouble?"
"In trouble? No...why would you think that?" the princess replied.
"Um, I don't know," Link told her. "Ugh, why can't I act normally around her," he thought. "I used to. What's wrong with me?" Then he said out loud, "Then why are you here?"
"Oh, I thought maybe I could visit you..." Zelda replied quietly.
"Oh! Thanks. How come guards aren't with you?"
"They let me come here by myself," the princess answered.
Link took a deep breath. He didn't want her to think he was nervous. "How are you?"
"Fine, I guess." Just then her horse whinnied, wanting attention. "Oh, this is Midnight," Zelda introduced her horse, stroking its mane. When Link reached over to pet the horse though, his hand landed on top of the princess'.
Link blushed. Awkward moment. "What's wrong with you, Link?" he scolded himself silently. "How is she different from any other friend?" Zelda looked up at Link, whose face was as red as a ripe Ordon Tomato ("Picked Fresh!" TM). She was about to say something when suddenly....
"OMG! It's Princess Zelda!" Beth squealed, rushing in. "I wish I were you!" Link quickly removed his hand from Zelda's. "I met you before!" the little girl continued. "I'm Beth, remember?"
"Oh, yeah," Zelda recalled. "Nice to see you again. But, being royal isn't that great. You have to sit in a throne forever doing practically nothing and go to boring meetings and everyone depends upon you...."
Beth frowned. "Don't crush a little girl's dreams," Link whispered to Zelda.
"But a lot of things are great! Like all the um...clothes and being waited on hand and foot," the princess quickly added.
A smile reappeared on Beth's face. "I wish I were you!" she exclaimed again. Then suddenly she remembered something. "Oh, yeah, I meant to ask you this earlier, Link. You know the Ordon Festival tomorrow, well who are you taking?"
Link hadn't thought about it before. He definitely didn't want to take Ilia to the annual festival. "No one yet," he replied. Then he turned to Zelda. "Um, princess..." he began.
"Call me Zelda (stop calling me 'princess')," she told him.
"Um, Zelda...Well tomorrow is the annual Ordon Festival and I was wondering maybe if you were staying we could," he paused. "....go together," he finished quickly.
Zelda's heart leapt with excitement. A wide smile spread across her face. "I'd love to," she replied.
Beth gasped. "OMG! A princess! Here?" the little girl exclaimed. "But wait...Ilia said you were going to take her to the festival."
"Really? I never said that...." his voice trailed off.