(A/N: I'll try to be brief. This is it, this is absolutely it. This is the epilogue; it's meant to be a short thing to tie it all together. No spin-offs, no sequels, no prequels, nothing else. I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading this damn thing. What started as a little, pointless project for me to practice some different techniques for English class, turned into something that gained quite the following, much to my surprise. Though there are things I would love to change about this story, I'm simply satisfied with the knowledge that there were people that enjoyed it. I always knew how this story would end, and I'm thrilled to finally share it with you. After this I wish to take a break to let ideas flow. And when I return I will work on... "Gods Among Men", which was the winning idea for that poll I had set up. It has been renamed "The Hero and the Heavenly Handmaiden", so stay tuned for that. There is also a manga adaptation in the works for "Outlawed Love" by the fabulous, ShannyofHyrule. See more info on my profile. So thank you so much. It's been a pleasure. THANK YOU! Much love! –Infamous 7/29/13)
Epilogue
"Majesty." The footmen bowed their heads respectfully as their white-gloved hands grabbed onto the golden door handles to the great hall.
"Gentlemen." Zelda curtsied in her purple gown and then stood tall as the two men cranked the handles downward and swung open the doors for the monarch, giving her a double door entry. They then stood tall at attention with their hands behind their back as the young queen flowed by them.
The footmen couldn't help but watch the attractive young lady walk by in adoration, perhaps wishing she would turn around and ask one of them for a dance. But that would never happen, as there was a rumour that she had found herself a date.
All eyes looked up and room fell silent. The musicians stopped playing their selections, and at the moment everyone knew something important had happened. Even the most drunken of diplomats stopped making love to their gin bottles long enough to catch a glimpse at the beautiful hostess of the whole gala.
Emperors, empresses, princes, princesses, ambassadors, chancellors, dukes, duchesses, generals, barons, diplomats and other people of wealth all respectfully bowed their heads, and Zelda nodded back before walking herself down the staircase that was cloaked with a long, regal red carpet.
Zelda looked at the golden embroidery on the edges of the carpet as she hurried down to reach the ground floor. Please be here... you said you'd be here.
"Majesty." An older man's voice that was laced with a thick foreign accent, sounded from beside the young queen, catching her by surprise.
Zelda glanced over and then curtsied at a middle aged man wearing a long, blue, formal military coat that was decorated with many different medals, sashes and scarves. "Ah, your lordship, Emperor Claude, so glad you could make it."
The older man bowed graciously before brushing out his well groomed beard with his white gloved hands. "I 'ould not miss it."
The Emperor of Vidla, the man that was supposed to be an enemy greeted, the young queen with a kiss on the back of her hand before waving his hand to the people standing next to him. "Majesty, zis is my wife and empresses, Louisa, my son, Archduke Gérard, and his new bride, Archduchess Andréa, and my daughter, Princess Phillipa."
Zelda shook the hands of the royal family of her rival nation and respectfully curtsied to each one. They were a good looking group of people. Louisa and her children were all skinny brunettes with skeletal cheekbones, and they were all about the same height. But it was the archduke's wife, Andréa that was the odd one of the group. She was a voluptuous woman with bombshell blonde hair and full lips. Zelda assumed she was probably a former model of sorts, there was no way she was an aristocrat, as no one in the aristocracy was allowed to look like that. It only proved that royalty could have whomever they pleased as their lifetime partner. Seeing another royal with someone who was not of noble blood, was reassuring to Zelda and her situation with her former kitchen boy.
"It is a pleasure to finally meet you all." Zelda cleared her throat as Gérard kissed the back of her hand.
"I mus' say, majesty, I was surprised at your invitation." The emperor explained. "But I was also most excited to make your acquaintance. Our families 'ave not had zee pleasure of meeting in person for over a century."
Zelda smiled before giving the emperor a friendly pat on the shoulder. "I simply wished to extend the olive branch and to also thank you for once again supplying the wine for another Hylian gathering."
"Oh, it was an honour." The emperor nodded. "We are thrilled to be 'ere in your beautiful country, and I cannot wait to begin peace talks with you."
"Neither can I." Zelda smiled before curtsying again. "I hope you will make yourselves comfortable in the northern wing of the castle while you are visiting. Please, enjoy the rest of your evening."
"We will!" the emperor nodded with a smile crossing his aging face as Zelda began to back away and walk amongst the crowd.
After conversing and mingling with the chancellors of Hyrule's colonies, and ambassadors from the other neighbouring lands, Zelda began to search the crowds for the one that she had originally been looking for.
He promised he would come... the young queen furrowed her brow before walking herself to the head table where she had sat on the night of her coronation dinner. She took her seat in the centre of it all, at the biggest, most flamboyant chair.
A member of the kitchen staff that had been chosen specially to wait on the queen, hand and foot hurried to her side with a bottle of fine wine and a towel hanging over his arm. "A bottle of Vidish Vintage, compliments of the honourable Empress Louisa of Vidla. Would you care for any, majesty?"
Zelda glanced up to see a servant dressed in what were probably his finest clothes. She had been served by this man before. He was a veteran when it came to serving royalty, which was probably why he was so calm. "Um, yes, please. Leave the bottle as well, I may need it."
The servant raised his eyebrows for a moment as the queen was not known to be one to drink so heavily or at all for that matter. But nonetheless, he opened the bottle and filled her crystal wine glass before setting the bottle down in front of her. "Is there anything else, her majesty desires?"
"Yes, find my date..." Zelda murmured as her eyes scanned the crowd. She then took a sip of wine and sighed a bit.
"Majesty has a date?" the servant retorted. "Perhaps in love?"
"Watch your tongue, as you speak." A familiar voice sounded from in front of Zelda's table.
Zelda raised her head and looked at the young man who uttered those words.
His head was down in respect. His blonde hair was tidily combed with care. He wore a formal uniform with a white, long sleeved tunic that had bronze buttons down the centre and on the breast pockets and gold embroidery in the cuffs. There was a dark green belt that wrapped over his midsection and came together at a bronze buckle in the middle. A green military style lanyard was attached to his left shoulder and seemed to lead into his left breast pocket as well. Two medals hung on the left side of his chest, along with a Triforce patch sewn into his right arm. His pants were a perfect shade of black and they covered the black boots on his feet that seemed to shimmer in the light. It was the uniform of those who represented the monarch.
Zelda bit her lip and then smiled like a school girl. "Nice clothes, Link."
The young man looked up and met her eye with an embarrassed smile. "I wasn't allowed to wear my field clothes. My superior wouldn't let me, and she went to the trouble of having these set out for me."
Zelda stood up and walked around the table. She then stood in front of the young hero and sized him up for a moment. Even she had to admit, he cleaned up quite nicely. "Well, the queen's favourite ambassador and Hyrule's saviour must always be dressed for success no matter where he is."
Link chuckled a bit before placing his green cap back onto his head. "Well, I appreciate you somehow elevating me to the status of ambassador. I get to see plenty of things, and represent the crown."
Zelda smiled. He had accepted her offer for the job, after she persuaded him. He made it clear that he didn't want to be knighted, and she didn't want to send him back to the servant slums, but she didn't want him to leave her side for too long. She looked at his strengths and then at her staff list and decided it was high time for a change and time to get younger faces under her jurisdiction, as eccentric old men were more likely to challenge her word.
When Zelda explained the entire situation to her council; how Mihari was Gengo's murderer and had framed Link in an attempt to keep him away from the young queen, how Mihari and the Ghirahim in Zelda VI's diary were one the same, how Link was the reason Hyrule still stood tall, and how... how she enjoyed Link's company, the council raised their brows in surprise.
"As your undoubted queen, I demand reason as to why, this man, Link, should be given the death sentence!" Zelda barked at the old men in the stuffy conference room. "He has done much for my country and he must be thanked in a way other than death, don't you agree?"
The men chatted with each other and exchanged glances until Jervis spoke up. "Majesty, you may do what you wish. We realize that we were wrong to doubt you in the first place, and when we heard of not only your efforts, but the efforts of this servant to save this great country, we were truly touched."
Zelda nodded. "So, I wish to have his status elevated to Ambassador of the Crown. He will make a great asset to my list of staffers. When choosing an ambassador one must look at an individual's ability to protect citizens from any kind of threat, promote peace and prosperity not only within their own kingdom, but in neighbouring nations as well."
The councilmen stared at the monarch, and she stared back.
"As you wish, your majesty. The council will not argue with your decision. He has proven himself in our eyes, not only in his service with the kitchen staff but also in his service to this country." Jervis nodded, keying into the thoughts of his fellow council members.
"I do believe it is due time to send someone to Holodrum, no?" another councilman stroked his beard and nodded.
"Labrynna has also requested a visit of some sort. Lynna City wishes to trade Gasha Seeds with Hyrule's Magic Beans. They wish to see a demonstration as well." Added another councilman.
"Magic Beans? The hell do they need those for? Zelda the Fourth deemed them too troublesome after all those reports of peeping tom cases. That was when perverted men were planting those seeds willy-nilly and would later use the grown plant to elevate themselves up to balconies so they could look in at women. Zelda the Fourth had them banned and had the rest of the seeds locked away or destroyed." The other councilman informed. "Gasha Seeds are useless anyway. The crown does not need them."
Jervis rolled his eyes. "And this is why, her majesty will send an ambassador to not only inform the people in Labrynna of these problems, but to also provide proof that the beans will work. I'm sure this young fellow would be up to the challenge."
"Well, if he beat Mihari like majesty has implied... I don't see why he wouldn't be able to carry out the duties of an ambassador." Another councilman shrugged.
Zelda simply smiled at Jervis' approval, as well as the silent approval of the other men on her council. "Thank you, gentlemen, your support means the world to me."
"Now... how will we inform the public of all of this?" Jervis sighed, trying to come up with a plan. "They think that boy is dead... and then suddenly he is representing the queen. I think your people will be confused and upset."
Zelda rubbed her temple. "I don't want them to worry about their safety, so I do not want to tell them about Ghirahim and everything else that has happened. I suppose we could say we were not able to execute him, and we instead held him in prison until we realized that he had been framed?"
Jervis furrowed his brow. "It's a start. And if you say you love this man as much as you lead us to believe, I do not see a problem with any sort of future union."
Zelda's face went red, knowing exactly what a 'future union' meant in the council's terms, especially since they were so eager to rush their queen to the altar. "Now, let's not get ahead of ourselves here!"
The council had concocted a tale about how the king's magician was the culprit and from the bowels of his prison cell, Link had been able to prove that he was no guilty and he was able to bring the true murderer to justice. They didn't want to tell the people that he had not been executed because they believed he was indeed onto something. Yes, it was a terrible lie, but it was one of the special talents that the queen's council possessed. The population of Hyrule actually believed it and supported the idea of Link becoming a representative of the queen. And it was through this lie, that the council justified Link's promotion to the people of Hyrule.
Link was of course reluctant to accept such a role, but after he realized his feelings for the young queen, he knew that he would do anything for Zelda, and she would do anything for him. He wholeheartedly accepted the role as an ambassador, since it meant he wouldn't have to go to war (even though he would probably want to), and it meant he would not have to sit in the stuffy castle all day or worry about where his next meal was coming from.
What could the young man say? He was in love with the monarch of Hyrule, and he would go to just about length to please his lady love.
"You leave for Labrynna in two days, no?" Zelda inquired as she fixed a wrinkle in Link's tunic. "You will be missed."
"Yes. My boss is real hard ass about these things, so I kind of have to do what she says. As soon as I get home from Labrynna, I have to pack my bags again and go to Holodrum. She has this weird obsession with sending me to the most outrageous locations." Link teased. "But I'll be back before you know it. I'll get you a postcard if you like."
Zelda shook her head with a grin. "No need. If you come home in one piece, I'll be happy."
"You make it sound like I'll get chopped into tiny pieces and have to be mailed home in an envelope." Link joked as he pushed a loose strand of hair behind the young queen's ear.
Zelda exhaled. "Just be careful, okay?"
"I'm always careful. If I wasn't careful, I would never have found my way back here." Link smiled before extending a gentlemanly arm as the musicians changed their song selection. "Care to dance?"
Zelda blushed as she pecked her former kitchen boy on the lips. "I'd love to."
And so they danced in front of all the high status individuals in attendance. At first there was silence, soon there was a form of approval as some nobles began to clap, as if giving the hero and the queen a pat on the back.
All in all, Zelda was eventually able to reach peace with her colonies and neighbouring countries, and was hailed a hero for her peacekeeping work. Not only this, but she revived the unofficial noble status of the Hero of Twilight's family and was able to rebuild Hyrule in a very short amount of type. Of course she had her own loving hero by her side every step of the way to reassure her and assist her when need be.
Link would continue to be by Zelda's side wherever she needed him. Though his travels took him away from his lady love for varying amounts of time, he would always return with his most humble servant smile and more admiration for the young woman he had fallen for so long ago.
Did they live happily ever after? Well, I suppose eventually they did. They had their happy days, their sad days, their good days and bad days. There were great victories and grand losses, but that is just how life is for most people.
Did they marry? Well, I suppose that comes with the 'happily ever after', doesn't it? After many battles with the more conservative advisors, courtiers and councilmen, the monarch earned to right to marry whomever he or she wishes. This was mostly done out of fear of another Zelda VI fiasco. And several years later when the sound of little feet echoed the once quite halls of the castle, the whole idea of not being able to be with the one you love the most was a forgotten thing of the past.
Despite the odds that had been stacked against them and the things that may have made them unhappy in their lives, they had each other as a constant reminder of what real happiness was. And that, my friends, was definitely something that was well worth fighting for.
THE END
