Chapter 3

1

Bright children's laughter rang out as Impa turned around the corner. Instinctively, she turned her eyes down and saw a small, round face with huge, blue eyes, and surrounded by golden curls. Small arms stretched towards her from a cute, grass green tunic.

"Pa!" said the little mouth smiling, and four tiny teeth flashed within it.

"Eric, where are you?" she heard more children's voices. Three older children appeared laughing in the hallway. Their laughter died down, however, when they saw Impa, and their faces became serious.

"Good evening, Mistress Impa," said the oldest girl and gave an awkward curtsy.

"Good evening, Miss Elissa," Impa said. "Are you looking for this little runaway here?"

She reached down to pick up little Prince Eric. Instinctively he crouched his legs so that Impa could sit him on her hip.

Elissa nodded. "Will you eat with us?" she asked politely.

"Yes, I believe so," Impa smiled. "Who else is here?"

"Oh, many have come," Elissa told her excitedly. "Mama and Papa, and Sir Link and Lady Zelda... and Captain Pierce with Lady Roslyn.

"Well, then it will indeed be a large company, will it not?" Impa said in the conversational tone of the court. "Shall we go to the dinner party, my dear?"

Elissa immediately joined into the game, raised her chin into the air and gingerly lifted her imaginary skirts.

"Of course, my dear, let us hope that the soup will soon be served. For I am very hungry." Then she burst into bright laughter, and Impa smiled amused. Elissa's little siblings observed the two of them suspiciously, then trotted behind them as Impa went ahead with Prince Eric and their big sister.

It was the last day of the week, and King Link and Queen Zelda met their friends to a joint supper in the chambers of the royal family.

Impa walked with the children the last steps to the doors of the royal living quarters. Two guards stood in front of them and saluted dutifully as Impa approached.

"Madam..." they both said at the same time.

"Mister Thomas, Mister Daren," Impa greeted them with a slight nod.

"You are already expected, Madam," said the soldier named Thomas and knocked on the door. A young maid came out.

"Good evening, Claire," Impa said friendly.

"Good evening, Mistress Impa," Claire said smiling. "Please come in, the others are already here. Dinner is ready." She stepped aside to let Impa pass. Then she also shooed the giggling children inside.

In the living room a large table for all had been set. As Impa entered, Zelda immediately came to her. Eric held out his little arms to her from Impa's arm and shouted, "Ma! Ma!" Zelda took him in her arms and kissed his cheeks. Then Impa pulled mother and child into a warm embrace.

"I'm glad you're here," Zelda said softly.

Link, who was already sitting at the table, stood up and also came to Impa. He wanted to shake her hand, but Impa hugged him laughing.

"Don't think that now you can have me fobbed off with a handshake, Your Majesty," she said. "I'm not satisfied with that." Then she pulled back and lovingly looked at her protégé.

Thanks to his sharp mind and his friendly, modest but courageous nature Link had grown over the years into a self-confident and responsible person. He had earned the sympathy of the king and the whole court, and shortly before his marriage to Princess Zelda King Nohansen himself had adopted Link, and he had become Prince Link Wilrid Nohansen.

One year had elapsed since King Nohansen had passed the throne to his daughter and his son-in-law, and with a twinge of melancholy Impa thought back to the day fifteen years ago, when Link had appeared in the Castle gardens as an unknown boy from the woods.

"Being a king does you good," she said to him smiling.

Link pulled a face jokingly and tilted his head. "Hmm, I think it's more being a dad, that does me good. Being a king is the added icing it came with."

Impa waved him aside amusedly. "You braggart! Come, let me greet the honourable guests."

Jayrid Elinor came to Impa and shook her hand respectfully. He served in the Hylian Army and was one of the best swordsmen of Hyrule. Link had met him during his military training and Jayrid had become his friend. He was also the father of Miss Elissa and her two younger siblings.

"Good evening, Madam Impa," Jayrid greeted her and met her gaze with his soft, dark eyes. He had lovingly put his arm around his wife Helena, who also smiled friendly at Impa.

Last Impa greeted the Royal Instructor in Swordplay, Captain Daniel Pierce, a tall man in his late forties with dark hair and shining blue eyes, and his wife Roslyn. Impa shook both their hands, but when she amicably touched Captain Pierce's shoulder, he winced and grimaced in pain.

Impa frowned.

"What happened?" she asked worriedly.

Pierce lowered his gaze embarrassedly, but Roslyn nudged her elbow gently at his side.

"Now, come on, tell Madam Impa how you got into mischief, little nursery children that you are!"

"It was Kendrice," Jayrid announced.

"Kendrice?" Impa asked incredulously. "Do you mean our Minister Kendrice?"

"Of course!" Roslyn exclaimed reproachfully. "One should forbid them!"

Now Impa was completely confused. Seeking help she looked around and waited for an explanation. As nobody said anything voluntarily, she turned to Link.

"Link, what happened? Why is Captain Pierce injured?"

"Shall we sit down?" Zelda said to everybody around. "Come on, we can discuss this while eating."

Gently she pushed Impa to her chair and pressed her down. Impa reluctantly obeyed but she had the feeling that something should be hidden from her. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously as she waited for all of them to sit down. When all were seated and had jointly thanked the Goddesses, she looked again demandingly at Link.

"Well?" she said, crossing her arms with a raised chin.

Link sighed. "All right! We needed a fourth man who could come regularly when we practice with the swords. Captain Pierce asked around a bit and Lord Kendrice has offered. We take turns. He is a good swordsman, and everything was going well so far, but lately something is wrong with him... we can't explain exactly."

Link broke off and looked to his friend embarrassedly, as if he wanted him to continue.

"Mister Elinor?" Impa asked sternly.

"You don't need to look at me this way," Jayrid said in a reproachful tone to Link. "He doesn't have that from me!"

Impa's confusion increased. "Will you talk already?" she growled angrily. "Don't let me pull every phrase out of your nose! I want to know now what's the matter here!"

Link sighed again. "About a month ago he came to the meeting and made the suggestion that we should fight with real swords. He claimed that he wanted to improve, and that only a fight with sharp swords would be challenging enough for him, otherwise he need not exert himself. We thought nothing of it, and let him have his way. He brought his own sword – the one with this huge ruby in the pommel, you know it, don't you – and then we took turns fighting against each other. And... what shall I say... he is really good. I don't know where he suddenly has gotten this, but we have to work very hard to keep up with him..."

Impa had listened carefully to Link, but the more he told, the more gloomy her gaze became, and finally she endured it no longer.

"You fought with sharp swords?" she snapped. "Do you realize..."

"Impa..." she heard Zelda's soothing voice.

"You mean you knew about this?" Impa shouted upset.

"Well..."

"It was kind of exciting," Jayrid said enthusiastically, "and we realized that our concentration was much better. So we went on and on. But then... when he came up with the two swords..."

"Two swords?" Impa breathed in disbelief, but Link resumed and continued.

"None of us can fight with two swords," he said, "except Captain Pierce. So he fought against Kendrice and was injured."

"Kendrice defeated you?" Impa breathed in amazement and looked at Pierce.

"He did not... defeat me!" Pierce replied with wounded pride. "He injured me, but I beat him!"

"But barely," said Link.

"Gods, what a fight that was!" Jayrid sighed shaking his head.

"I don't believe this!" Impa said firmly. "Nobody injures Captain Pierce just like that. Maybe it's time that someone take the Minister down a peg or two!"

Jayrid nodded eagerly.

"When do you have your next training session?" Impa asked addressing the three of them.

"Tonight," said Pierce, "just after nightfall."

"You fight in the darkness?! What next?!"

"Yes, he ..." Link stammered, sheepishly lowering his gaze to his plate.

"This Kendrice has instigated them," Helena said reproachfully. "I don't know what he's up to..."

"But he is good!" Jayrid exclaimed. "And we all improved. It's like a spell..."

"All right!" said Impa. "Captain, with your injured shoulder you are not able to compete against this miracle fighter, so I will fill in for you tonight. And woe betide, if the Minister disappoints me!"

2

Lord Richard Kendrice, member of the High Council of Hyrule, readied himself for the nightly swordplay meeting, which was scheduled for the late evening. To refresh his skills after a long pause, he had joined the king, Mister Elinor and Captain Pierce to their training sessions in swordplay. After Mistress Impa the three of them were the best swordsmen in the castle, but as Kendrice had gained back his old form after the long neglect, he had become a worthy opponent to them.

Since his wife had died at a young age, Lord Kendrice had not remarried. They did not have any children, and although he had wanted them fervently, he had not dared to approach a new relationship. And now... he was not young any more. Although he was healthy and had a strong body, with his fifty-three years it was not easy for him to find a woman who could still have children. Not that he would have looked for a woman... He knew that there was none who could reach his heart.

As his heart did not belong to him any more.

Lord Kendrice took off his dark blue Councilor robe which he wore over his exercise clothes, took his sword out of the support on the wall and attached it to his belt. He drew it from its sheath and examined it carefully. Its steel shone light blue in the glow of the fire, and the huge, irregular ruby in its pommel also sparkled like red flames. Slowly Kendrice swung the sword through the air, and its weight in his hand felt like a living extension of his arm. He reached out and tentatively let the blade hiss through the air a few times. Pleased, he then pushed the sword into its sheath and took the second sword which had specially been made for the exercise meetings.

There were two people in the castle who could fight with two swords. The first was Captain Pierce, the Royal Instructor in Swordplay. The second was Mistress Impa. Kendrice had always admired both of them for this ability. Therefore he had begun to train his left hand by binding his right hand to his back when he was in his chambers. It had been a torture, but he had soon realized, that it worked out and that he improved. At the same time he had realized that his mind developed with the exercise, and his memory also improved.

In the library of the castle he had found books on swordplay – in the different tongues of the tribes of Hyrule, and even one in the language of the Sheikah. As minister, he had good knowledge of several languages, but Sheikan was thought to be extinct. One day however, he had found a Sheikan grammar in the library and started with its help to learn this language, in order to be able to read the last book on swordplay.

Lord Kendrice put the belt with the second sword over his shoulder. He was wearing a dark red tunic over a white shirt and black pants tucked in soft boots. His gray eyes shone in anticipation of the fight tonight as he stepped out of his room with upright posture. They would fight again with sharp swords. A scrimmage among trusted friends, but spiced with the slight touch of adrenaline, that rejuvenated him.

3

Lord Kendrice strode calmly through the castle gardens towards the training area. The sky was cloudy and dark, and bright moths were fluttering around the burning torches along the path. Kendrice was in no hurry as he knew that his practice opponents were still sitting at dinner with the royal family. They would all come with full bellies and move sluggishly. He almost regretted that he had been so merciless to Pierce last time, that he had wounded him on his shoulder. Pierce had defeated him anyway, and Kendrice had surrendered to his disgrace with a bow.

Dark silence hung over the gardens. Kendrice stopped at a corner in front of a torch as a large moth caught his attention. In frenzied whirls it danced in the bright firelight, flew up close to the fire and dodged again when the flames reached for it with their lambent fingers. Kendrice stood transfixed by the fascinating spectacle, and his eyes shone with admiration.

So fast it was, so agile, so brave, and so bold!

But suddenly the moth flew upwards sharply passing the flame, and then in an arc back down, straight into the fire. With a soft hiss it burned and fell as a small pile of ashes to the grass in the darkness.

Kendrice was stunned and looked away. His heart pounded in his chest as a heavy sense of foreboding seized him.

I will burn...

Reluctantly, he went on. The fine gravel crunched under his boots, and absently he laid his right hand on the pommel of his sword.

Andyr was its name. The Sheikan word for fire.

They had found a good place to practice. It was a circular area surrounded by a hedge and thus protected from prying eyes. In the center stood a large oak tree whose top was visible from almost any point of the castle gardens. Around the square they had set up several torches, so that they could fight outdoors even in their nightly exercises.

As Kendrice came to the last torch before the entrance to the hidden area, he took it out of its holder and walked with it to the narrow door in the hedge. He stepped through and turned around a corner piece of the hedge that protected the entrance from prying eyes as well. Six torches were standing there in the darkness, and an empty holder. Kendrice walked in a circle to light the other six torches, then put his torch into the empty slot.

Suddenly he heard a metallic hiss. He froze and held his breath to listen. Then came another hiss, behind him.

With his heart pounding, he turned and searched for the origin of the noise. Two swords had been drawn, and in the middle of the area, in the shade of the oak, but with white hair shining in the torchlight, stood... she.

4

Before he could say anything, she sprang at him. She flew through the air and her swords hissed like the wings of a shear past one another. Instinctively Kendrice dropped and rolled forward as she landed behind him. He drew both his swords simultaneously as he rose from the role. At the noise she spun around and slammed with her right hand horizontally whereupon her left sword vertically rushed down on him. Again he ducked below the horizontal blade and escaped the other by a hair. The sheath on his belt hindered his movements, so he ripped it from its hook and threw it away. Impa used his delay and chopped alternating with two swords at him. He stumbled backwards and parried her blows first with the left hand, then with both hands. Impa persisted, her eyes glittering fiercely in the light of the torches.

Kendrice was fascinated by her beauty and her closeness, and he felt his movements become slow.

Don't let her captivate you!

He pressed his lips together and continued parring her blows while he looked for an opportunity to attack.

She is very fast, but she doesn't like to bend down.

Impa began to perform oblique strokes alternating her two swords. Kendrice saw his chance because she had to take large swings so as not to impede herself with the two blades. He leapt forward, parried her blows with both hands and rolled behind her under her sweeping arms. With waving hair she whirled around and wanted to slash again. But Kendrice had used the moment and already attacked, so that now it was her turn to parry. Kendrice put all his strength into his chops and she gasped in surprise. Her red eyes narrowed and Kendrice noticed how she was looking for a gap.

Keep your eyes on her. You must foresee her moves.

Kendrice tried not to let himself become distracted by her glowing red eyes, by her full lips, and the supple body in the tight combat suit of the Sheikah... He tried to take in her entire form, so that he could watch the play of her muscles. He drove her back and recognized the moment she wanted to leap again...

Quickly he imitated her combination from the beginning and struck with two swords almost simultaneously horizontally and vertically. She could not leap, but she did not duck either. Instead she retreated, with her back to the tree, and parried his strokes. She wanted to go past the trunk of the oak and Kendrice suspected that she wanted to swirl around the trunk to get behind him, so he drove her back to the tree with merciless blows.

He had cornered her. Her eyes flickered wildly and searched for a way to escape, but Kendrice advanced.

I will burn...

Their blades crossed for the last time, then Kendrice swung out with both hands and let his two swords whizz down on her.

She did not resist. With her head high, she stood with her back to the trunk of the oak and awaited her fate.

Kendrice's blades hissed through the air and stopped an inch before her neck. Stunned, he stopped with his arms crossed when he felt the tips of her blades on his chest.

She was breathing heavily, and small, moist droplets sparkled on her lashes.

Time slowed, and Kendrice closed his eyes as a shiver ran through his body. He looked back at her face and her lips moved.

"You are good, Lord Kendrice," she said. "But you have not won yet."

Slowly Kendrice raised his swords from her neck, and with a determined motion he threw them to the ground.

"It's a stalemate, Madam Impa," he said.

With a deep breath, he stepped back and put his hands on Impa's blades, which were still pointing to his chest. Slowly he pressed them down. She let it happen and gazed with her red eyes into his.

"Agreed. But tell me, Lord Kendrice," she said with a voice that made his skin shiver, "who did you want to impress with this?"

He reached her trembling hands and opened them gently to take out the swords. With a soft hiss, they fell into the grass. Then Kendrice stood before her and took her face in his hands.

"You, my Lady," he said in her long-forgotten tongue, before he lay his lips on hers, and flew straight into the fire.

5

When she awoke, the moon looked through the window, bathing the room in its silver-blue light. Impa pulled her hand before her face and counted her fingers against the light. So much had happened in the last few days that she had the feeling to have constantly counted her fingers. She counted five, as was the number of extinguished candles in the stand on the little table by the window. Her gaze swept over the floor of the room, and she saw scattered clothes and boots, as well as books and other items that had fallen victim to their passion. In a corner of the room metal glittered as the rays of moonlight fell on it, and Impa recognized the four swords and sheaths, which lay there on a pile with entangled straps.

He had kissed her. This strange, strong, wonderful man, whom she had seen a thousand times already at the Council meetings, had kissed her.

She had wanted to surprise him, she had wanted to test him, and she had wanted to humiliate him. Therefore, she had only eaten some fruit at dinner with Link and Zelda, before she had hurried to her chambers and had pulled on her combat suit. She had taken her two swords and had waited for him at the practice site indicated by Link, Jayrid and Pierce, to teach him a lesson. But he had fought well. She had been impressed by his quick reactions, but also by his strong, agile figure that she had seen for the first time without the usual long robe of the Councilors. And these eyes... this grim determination, and the longing that burned in them like fire... She had tasted his lips and had felt his desire in his touch. As if with that kiss his fire had flashed over to her she had seized him and returned his kiss, had pressed herself to him and clung to his body, while his warmth flowed to her through her tight suit.

And then he had taken her hand and picked up the swords with the other. Not for a moment had he let her go. In a desperate rush they had run back to the castle through the darkness in the gardens, past the perplexed guards, until they had reached his chambers. Gasping and whimpering they had ripped off each other's clothes, while their lips not once had parted. He had lifted her in his arms and carried her to his large bed, where their bodies and souls united in a savage blaze of raging desire.

Impa smiled as deep down in her innermost core she felt the small spark that had been conceived. Two cells had been prepared and had been waiting for their fulfillment. Both had found their meaning as their heritage had bonded in the most loving, passionate and tender way with the new cells.

Who would have thought...

Carefully, she turned around and saw him lying beside her. He lay so calm and relaxed, and although his eyes were closed, his face seemed to shine from within. She brought her palm to his cheek and he stirred. His hand came to her hip and pulled her closer to him. Immediately Impa felt certain muscles in her body tense, ready to start the wild dance anew.

But first...

"Are you awake, my Lord?" she asked in a low voice to his ear and kissed him. His strong hands moved down her back, and as he kissed her, he straightened up and pressed her into the pillows. Impa could barely endure the longing in her core, and she pressed him to her body until they had to part gasping for breath.

"Command me, my Lady," he said. "Do with me what you will, I am your servant." He came closer again and Impa met him greedily. "What... do... you... call... your... sword..." she managed to ask between kisses.

"Andyr..." he breathed.

Impa recognized the ancient word from her mother tongue, and with a desperate cry she wrapped her legs around his body, as the waiting emptiness inside her finally filled. "Fire..." she whispered, as the flames surrounded her.

6

For the second time that night she counted her fingers. Oh, how she wished that it would be seventeen, or twelve, but not ten, because it meant that the dream was over. Lord Richard Kendrice lay sleeping beside her, and his calm, regular breathing indicated that he was in deep sleep.

Impa rose and silently picked up her combat suit and her boots. When she was dressed, she picked up his clothes as well in the dim light of dawn, folded them neatly and put them on a chair. She went to the corner with the swords and assorted each in the right sheath. But when she looked around the room, she found no support for them. She assumed that they might be in the salon, and made a mental note to put Kendrice's swords away when she left his chambers. She would also have to visit the two guards at the castle doors again, in order to erase the memory of her and Kendrice from their minds.

When she picked up the books scattered on the floor, her gaze found the title on the back of one book. Arut ill Siverdis, she read in her mother tongue. The Art of the Sword. She laughed softly and felt her cheeks become warm. This rascal, she thought, as her fingers swept across the front page, where the name of the author could be read: Arut ill Siverdis, ill Impa ill Sheikah.

She put the books in a neat pile on the little table by the window and looked around. No trace of the devastation they had left behind could be seen.

So the moment had come.

When she approached the bed, for a fraction of a moment the question rose in her mind, whether she should take off her combat suit again and...

But then she smiled. Perhaps, if she gave him a key...

She went back to the table where she found a small inkwell and a quill. With her heart pounding, she took her book from the pile and opened the last page. Only a few lines were on that page. She opened the inkwell and dipped the quill into the ink. With a swinging motion she wrote on the last page of her book the one word that had shaped this way too short a night for both of them: Andyr. Then she closed the book and put it back onto the pile.

Silently she walked to the bed and sat on its edge. Lord Kendrice still lay in the blissful sleep that followed a night of fulfilling passion, and his bare chest was rising and falling smoothly and evenly. Impa brought her palms to his temples and softly kissed his lips, as she entered his mind. She found there so much strength, energy and passion that she was almost swept away by the vortex. Attracted by its bright light, she went to the place where the memory of last night shone like a beacon in all directions. She was reluctant to confine it, as she wanted him to remember. What would her mother say?

Do it.

Slowly she began to build the barrier. But in the barrier she wove the delicate tendrils of her love, her joy, and her gratitude. And also this time she left a small opening that could receive the key.

When she left his mind, she rose and put on her two swords. She picked up his swords and brought them in the salon, where she found a support for both of them on the wall. Then she silently stepped through the door, and left her heart behind.