Chapter 10

"What the heck are we doing? We've been down this corridor three times, princess! I thought you said you knew this castle like the back of your hand!"

"Hush, Rinku! It be-en long time since me visit Calatia as child! Lot change over thou-sand years!"

After having snuck in, Link and Zelda were trying to find their way around the Castille de Calatia, the home of the country's royal family. They had been searching around for an hour, trying to find their way through the endless hallways and passages, following Zelda's old memories of the palace from diplomatic visits her father and her had made there. The ancient Princess never took into consideration that while this was the same castle she had visited as a child, it had been remodeled numerous times over the past twelve centuries. In places that she remembered their being a door, now stood a wall, and passageways that once led to throne room now led nowhere.

"It amazing that Calatia still has the same royal palace from your time!" Link said in wonder. "Hyrule's royal family seems to go through castles like they were water!"

"Calatia not have Ganon wreck it every cen-tur-y!" Zelda hissed back. "Now you quiet, or we heard by guards!"

It was then that the hero and the princess heard a voice exclaim. "Hey, you two, stop there!" A guard who had been patrolling the hallways had seen the two sneaking around, and came running up. "Put you're hands in the air where I can see them... NOW!" The guard barked harshly.

"Now Link done it." Zelda quipped sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

Growling, Link angily reached for his sword. He knew he could easily take this armor-clad pushover... but the Ancient princess stopped him. "No, Rinku." Zelda told him, shaking her head. "We need be on good terms with royal family... not like this."

Grumbling to himself, the Hero took his hands away from his sword, and put them in the air.

Back in Hyrule...

It was midday at the North Palace, and King Harkinain receiving reports of events throughout the countryside... though they were not exactly the reports he had been hoping to hear.

"And that's the third attack on Saria town this month, your majesty!" The royal adviser told king Harkinian, making his weekly report. "The monsters of Death Mountian have been getting bolder and bolder since the triforce of Wisdom was taken!"

"Ganon must be planning something big." the king agreed, nodding. "I want our army put on high alert, and divisions dispatched to every town in the Kingdom!"

"It shall be done, your majesty." The Royal adviser exclaimed. "And the Princess?"

"I have dispatched her to Catalia to bring our wayward hero back." The king replied grimly. "I only hope is that she is able to make it in time."

On the road to Catalia...

Present-Day Zelda kept looking back and forth from her map to the trail, trying to figure out if she was going the right direction. Urging her now-stationary horse to start trotting forward, she silently prayed she was going the right direction.

"Ohh! That stupid Link! This is all his fault!" She thought to herself. "He knows I never stay mad at him! Why did he take off with that old fossil of a relative of mine? She's older than the oldest temple in Hyrule!"

She was trying to tell herself that this wasn't her fault... that she didn't have Link hating her because she treated him like the commoner he was. The Princess told herself that he was just being a spoiled man-child that slacked off to get out of work, and hit on everything with a skirt. So what if she flirted with the visiting hero Prince Facade right in front of him? Didn't he kiss a pretty girl right in front of her- a kiss that got him turned into a frog, no less! He could be just as thoughtless as she could.

Besides, it not like they were anything more than friends, anyway. No Princess Zelda had ever gotten together with a hero of the house of Link... that's just how things were done. Didn't he realize that's why she had always pushed him away... why she had always refused to kiss him, or show him any affection? She was trying to save him the pain of a love she could never return, trying to prevent both of them from getting hurt. For the two of them to be together... for the two separate bloodlines of the bearers of Wisdom and courage to become one, that would be-

No, she tells herself, that can never be. If the balance is to be maintained, the two bloodlines must each keep their triforce piece separate until the day comes... the day that a being appears who can wield the unified Triforce because his heart is in balance. this chosen one will finally end the long and ceaseless war with Ganon, and lead the world of Hylia into a golden age without end.

Until that day comes, Link and Zelda would forever be nothing except friends.

Back in Catalia-

Link and Ancient-Zelda were taken to the throne room, to speak with the king and queen. The two of them walked into the massive chamber, where huge crystal chandeliers hung from a high, vaulted ceiling. All around the room stood the members of the royal court, some talking amongst themselves, while others stared at the newcomers in silence. As the two were brought before the thrones of the king and queen, Zelda immediately went into a curtsy, and Link bowed.

"Your majesties." The royal herald announced in old Calatian. "May I present Princess Zelda the elder, of Hyrule, and Sir Link of the House of Link, the hero of Hyrule."

Zelda flinched inwardly at the "Zelda the elder" Comment, but showed no outward signs of her displeasure. "Your majesties." Zelda greeted them, rising from her curtsy. "It is an honor to be in your presence."

King Diego look to his wife for a moment, and after she nodded, he looked back and began speaking. "We are more than honored to have two such distingished guests at our court, Princessa Zelda, but it would have pleased us and our Queen if you had taken the proper royal channels to do so."

At first, Zelda was taken aback by the 'us and our queen' comment, until she remembered the Catalian custom of the monarch referring to themselves in the third person (unlike Hyrule's kings and queens, who always use the singular). "I apologize for that, your majesty. But we hd no other choice given the circumstances."

"You mean you couldn't wait until the court decided it was the proper time for you to have an audience with the king and queen." A voice hissed from behind the throne. "You were so impatient to speak to the monarchs, that you had to disrupt the royal protocol?"

"Chancellor Gonzales" Link hissed under his breath. Link knew of this shady character, and he didn't like him. Gonzales had been an advisor to King Diego when he had been only a Don, and had followed him to court as Chancellor when Deigo married the then-princess Seline. He was well-known throughout Calatia for his corruption, and it was now obvious Chancellor Gonzales was going to make things difficult for him and Zelda here at court.

"We originally came to your kingdom to find place for ourselves after my royal relative, Princess Zelda the younger, basically exiled Link from her kingdom." Ancient Zelda replied eloquently. "But along the way here, we were attacked by monsters in the mountain passes, far closer to Clatatian territory than Ganon's forces have dared to venture in a few centuries."

"Bah! The attacks upon travelers on the Hylian side of the border is not our corncern!" Gonzales Scoffed "Ganon is the Kingdom of Hyrule's problem, Senor Link, let them deal with it!"

"But Hyrule's fate in inexorably tied to your own kingdom, can't you see that?" Link replied in a firm tome. "Look at the damage to the Calatian economy every time the evil king goes to war with Hyrule, and trade between the two kingdoms get cut off."

Ancient-Zelda looked at the Hero in shock. Had Link just given an intelligent, thoughtful response? Link only smiled back at her.

King Diego look at his Queen, unsure of how to respond. Queen Seline commented. "It is alarming that Ganon has been so bold as to send his hordes so near to our borders."

The King nodded, then looked back to the audience gathered in front of him. "Very well, we must weigh this matter carefully. Until then, Link and Zelda, it is our desire that you remain our guests and Don and Dona Garancia's Hacienda under our protection. We shall inform you of our decision as soon as possible. You are dismissed!"

"Si, and be glad your sneaking in here has been so easily forgiven by our illustrious monarchs!" The Chancellor sneered. "Now go!"

As they turned to go, Link and Zelda exchanged knowing glances. As they returned to the Garencia estate, hey both hoped the Royal Court muddled it's way though it's politics and came to a decision before it was to late...