Aveil paced nervously back and forth in the drawing room, while Kona and Ruby surreptitiously blocked off the entrance to the gardens. "Where are they? This is something of great urgency and utmost importance to both the Gerudo and Hyrule! I think we better find them and alert them of the situation at once!"

"Oh, whatever it is, I'm sure it can wait until they make an appearance," Kona dismissed with a yawn. "Besides, what they're doing now is certainly an endeavor of importance for our national wellbeing... Don't you agree, my daughter?"

Ruby huffed, and bonked her mother on the shoulder. "Don't think such naughty thoughts, Mummy! The queen is a proper lady, and wouldn't do something so filthy before her wedding night."

"You're starting to talk like one of them..." Kona rolled her eyes and turned away, but in the midst, she caught a glimpse of Zelda and Ganondorf returning from the hedge maze. "OHHH! There they are, look, look! She's hanging on his arm!"

"Her hair is different..." Ruby's jaw just about dropped; all the work she put in this morning giving Zelda a lovely bun with ringlets, was now just loose hair flowing down her back.

"Not just hers," Kona added, noticing how wild Ganondorf looked compared to how she sent him out. Though the two Gerudo looked at each other and grinned, knowing that such disheveled end results meant they had succeeded in making their charges attractive to one another. Kona suspected Zelda's dress had been adjusted as well, since she knew Ganondorf's hands couldn't keep still, but she kept that bit to herself for the sake of preserving her daughter's naivety.

Aveil turned and caught sight of the royals, giving a sigh of relief. "Thank the Goddesses. Wait a minute, why are they embracing? Does Queen Zelda really return his feelings?"

"Shh, here they come!" Ruby motioned for silence, then opened the door and bowed. "Welcome back, Milady, Lord Ganondorf. I trust your stroll was pleasant?"

Ganondorf looked to Zelda with a grin. "You could say that..."

Zelda held back a giggle as he lightly pinched her hip, and attempted to return to her queenly duties. "Our time in the gardens was lovely, thank you, Ruby. Welcome back Aveil, how was Gerudo Valley?"

"Wonderful, Your Majesty, thank you." Aveil bowed, but immediately rose to speak her concerns. "If I may, Your Highnesses, there is some troubling news concerning the evil presence in the Spirit Temple."

Ganondorf straightened up, and reflexively flared his nostrils. Zelda noticed the tension that came over him, and rubbed his hand in assurance. "We will address it at once. Let us all move to the strategizing room, where there are maps and tools at our disposal." Zelda led the Gerudo to her strategy room, and once inside, pulled a ribbon from her desk to tie back her hair. "Aveil, if you would share your concerns...?"

"What happened?" Ganondorf demanded, worry on the edge of his voice. "Was anyone hurt? Are the children okay?"

"Everyone is fine," Aveil answered, drawing a relaxing sigh from both Ganondorf and Kona. "The problem is that the wise women can no longer sense the creature in the vicinity of the Spirit Temple."

Zelda raised an eyebrow. "It left?"

"We don't know. All they can say is that there was definitely a strong evil presence the one day, then suddenly it was gone the next. No one had been going to the temple, not even High Priestess Odessa." Aveil shook her head. "Odessa had been ill for quite some time. Her sickness began right around the same time that the wise women first sensed the evil presence. Now that the presence has disappeared, Odessa has started to recover. We don't know what to make of it."

"I do." Ganondorf growled, then slammed his fist down on the table. "It's no longer content to stay in the temple and drain the power Odessa is granted from the Goddess of the Sand. It's coming after the only other source of power left in Hyrule- the Triforce of Wisdom."

The Gerudo women gasped, and turned in Zelda's direction. The queen however, had her eyes fixed on the map of her kingdom. "...It is a logical assumption to make, however we have no proof for the moment that this 'presence' can even assume a corporeal form."

"What are you talking about?!" Ganondorf scoffed. "The logical thing to assume is that because it appeared and disappeared on its own, it must be mobile. Odessa's condition is proof enough that it feeds on divine gifts, we should accept that proof as reason enough to fortify our defenses. I suggest you start with the castle."

"No." Zelda looked up from the map, and addressed Ganondorf directly. "I simply must refrain from taking any action that could incite a panic without some kind of proof positive for my people. Hyrule is still recovering from Zant's incursion. A malicious force that is neither seen nor heard, and that sucks the energy out of its victims, is exactly the kind of thing that would drive the already uneasy populace into mass hysteria."

Ganondorf sighed, before nodding his head. "As you wish, you are a wise and insightful ruler. However, I want you to know that I insist on doing whatever necessary to keep you safe. You brought me back from death to be your guardian, and I will guard your life with every ounce of my own."