Chapter 2 – Arrivals.

Zelda held her breath as ducked behind one of the large statues that lined the corridor, her eyes dutifully following the royal guards that marched by.

Technically she was supposed to be in her rooms, studying needle point or some such nonsense, but she had promptly escaped at the first chance she git.

Her mother had always insisted on hobbies like embroidery as part of her education, but Zelda was frequently restless during those particular lessons. Especially when there was something far more exciting going on.

She watched as the guards turned to corner, their heavy footfalls absorbed by the castle's labyrinthian design. She knew their patrol routes well, having memorised their timings since she was a child. It was for this exact reason that she knew this particular hallway, and many of the surrounding ones, would remain clear for at least half an hour, if not longer.

Ducking out from her hiding place she lifted her skirts and half-jogged along the blue runner carpet, her satin shoes making her footsteps silent and swift.

Toady was the third day of the Festival of the Eclipse, the day noble families from all across Hyrule and its surrounding lands would arrive for the celebration of the golden goddesses. And she would be damned if she was going to stay cooped up in her room whilst they all arrived.

She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't bother to check for people before she turned the next corner, causing to run straight into another person.

"Oh! By the goddess! I'm so sorry". She wheezed as she stumbled back. For a moment Zelda bit her lip, worried she'd been discovered and she would be sent back to her rooms, barred from seeing the arrival of the nobles. Then she looked down.

A wide smile spread across the princesses' face as she gazed upon the woman she had knocked to the floor. It was her lady-in-waiting, Jovinia.

"Princess" She said, surprise colouring her words. "Aren't you Supposed to be in your lessons?."

"I am. I snuck out" Zelda confessed as she helped her friend to her feet. "The noble families are arriving soon, and I wanted to see them all arrive". The princess had to admit that at the age of 21 it was difficult not to feel childish when she was playing hooky, but she was glad to see she wasn't the only one.

"I thought you might" Jovinia, brushed he dress free of wrinkles before leaning forwards, her hand coming to her mouth as she whispered. "I knew you'd want to watch all the handsome young men come to woo you!" She giggled furiously and Zelda couldn't help but join in. Lady Jovinia had been a long-time companion, and she had always held a playful and flirtatious nature. Zelda's mother might have hoped for a demurer companion for her daughter, but the princess wouldn't have it any other way. Suppressing her giggling Zelda gently swatted her friends arm.

"Don't tease me! And it's not as if you are wholly innocent. I bet you're sneaking around for the exact same reasons!"

Jovinia's eyes positively sparkled as she smiled. "You know me too well!" She paused to look around the empty corridor before turning back to Zelda. "So where are we going then? Down to the main hall?"

Zelda shook her head. "No, we'd be too easily spotted. Even with the crowds I hardly blend in." Zelda motioned to herself, a single eyebrow arched. Even dressed in her casual summer gowns Zelda cut a royal figure; a fact made only more obvious by the elaborate diadem she wore daily.

Jovinia nodded, conceding to the princesses words. "Then where can we go? We can't exactly sneak down to castle town. We'd never get there in time, even if we took all the short cuts!". She stomped to punctuate her her last sentence. Jovinia was partial to the occasional bout of petulance.

"We don't need to go down." Zelda tittered, waving off her friend's display with a gentle wrist flick. "We just need to get to the right balcony.". Without waiting for an answer the princess grabbed her friends hand and resumed her light jog down the hallways. Jovinna laughed, her voice a glittering girlish delight as the pair ran down hallways.

Zelda slowed as she approached a fork in the corridor. She knew the left continued up towards the music room and the main guest chambers. The right was a short corridor hosting small collection of about 6 guest rooms ending in an ornate stained-glass window that overlooked the edge of the town. She headed right, Jovinia still in tow.

They crept to the third door along, and Zelda slowly turned the handle and cracked the door open to peer inside. Ordinarily she wouldn't be so paranoid, but with the rooms being cleaned up for the noble families to stay in, she didn't want to risk running into a group of servants; or worse her governess, who would be no doubt looking for her by now

Thankfully the room was empty, its plush interior was arranged with a mixture of Hylian and foreign looking furniture. She slid in the room, Jovinia hot on her tail. They both glanced over the furnishings. The low tables had ornate carvings embossed into the legs and along the edges. The cushions had been upholstered in luscious purples and reds, and gauzy fabric hung like curtains around the beg.

"It looks like something out of those tapestries by the queens parlour" Jovinia whispered, gently running her finger along the soft fabric of the chairs.

"I think my mother said they had come from the desert kingdoms" Zelda replied, keeping her voice low, just in case. "Perhaps these rooms are going to host members of the Gerudo Tribe? Either way, it seems as though the room has already been cleaned. We shouldn't be disturbed." Jovinia nodded and Zelda trotted over to the tall and heavy doors on the far side of the room, the ones that lead to the balcony.

The warm summer air kissed her cheeks as she pushed open the door and stepped out onto the large balcony. The smell of the summer blooms mixed with the heady scent of incense filled the air and far below, the streets of castle town were filling with people eagerly awaiting the arrival of the richest nobles. The festival had started a few days ago, food stalls and dancers had set up in the square, and the common people had travelled to the castle from miles around, filling up the ins and boarding houses throughout the city.

"Wow!" Jovinia marvelled as she leaned against the edge of the balcony. "The view here is amazing! We'll be able to see everything from here." She gave Zelda a sidelong glance, a sly smile on her lips. "You've kept this view secret. How long have you been sneaking off up here?"

Zelda giggled into her gloved hand. "Not that much, just when something interesting is happening in town and I'm not allowed to go"

"You're never allowed go." Jovinia shot back.

"Exactly" Zelda smiled at her friend, but it failed to fully reach her eyes. Sometimes her life as a princess felt more restrictive than she thought necessary. Honestly, what was so wrong about going into the town anyways? She wasn't a child anymore; she knew not to run off with strangers. She was always accompanied by guards and ladies in waiting wherever she went, it was not as if someone could easily snatch her.

And her father had absolutely insisted she received lessons in self-defence and military training, much to her mother's chagrin. Zelda's father had always insisted the fighting lessons were merely instructive tools to help her understand military matters of state, but she had always wondered if he'd had other reasons.

The princesses' thoughts were pushed aside by a sharp squeal of excitement from her companion. Jovinia was positively vibrating as she pointed across the square to where an eclectic mix of coaches and caravans paraded through, fine horses pulling each one. First to arrive were the Gorons. Most had walked, by the looks of it, but the elder had emerged from some sort of carry-chair held by his brothers. Zelda smiled affectionally at the sight.

"What are you grinning about?" Jovinia smirked. "Don't tell me you've got a thing for the Gorons?" The girl pulled a disgusted face. "Wouldn't be the first time someone has said that to me though, I overheard lady Ashworth saying tha-". She was quickly cut off by Zelda's small gasp and a slap to the arm.

"Jovinia really!" the princess stifled a giggle. "You are terrible!". The pair settled into a fit of giggles as more nobles emerged from carriages and off of horses. They marvelled at the splendour of the ladies' dresses and swooned at the handsome young men that accompanied them.

"Do you think some of them are here to find wives?" Jovinia asked, a propping her chin on her hand, her eyes half-lidded as she gazed at the men in question.

"Possibly" Zelda replied, trying not to laugh at her friend's behaviour. Jovinia was only 21, but she was more than keen to marry. As the eldest daughter in her family, she could hardly afford to be anything else. More than once Zelda had found her friend wrapped up in a romance novel, the same calf-eyed look on her face.

"I should like a handsome husband" Jovinia mused. "And it would not hurt if he were rich too." The corners of her mouth turned further upwards, her lips parting with a fiendish delight.

"Oh look! The Gerudo women are arriving!". Zelda leaned further over the balustrade to watch the silk covered carriages as they came to halt and numerous women poured out. Her mother had maintained a close friendship with a number of the noble women from the tribe and Zelda had always marvelled at their beautiful clothes and the matriarchal way of life when they visited. Now, stood in their exotic looking rooms, she was just as keen to see them all again.

"Whose that man with them? " Jovinia asked, her smile quickly losing its sparkle. "I thought the Gerudo were a society of women."

Zelda's eyebrows drew together as she watched a tall, hulking man, with long fiery hair, clad emerge from the largest carriage. He alone seemed to be housed inside, with no one else coming out before or after him. Zelda surmised this to be a wise decision as he was so large she highly doubted anyone else could fit in there without being crushed by him in some way.

"My god, he's enormous" she half-whispered the unbidden thought. Jovinia chuckled.

"That's an understatement. He must be seven foot tall!"

Zelda rolled her eyes at the hyperbole. "He looks awfully grumpy for a man surrounded by so much merriment". A few of the Gerudo women gathered around the man, waving at the crowds and giggling jovially as they did so. If the women were aware of their companion's sullen attitude they seemed not to mind it.

The women were positively dripping in golden jewellery, their colourful clothes a mix of expensive silks and the same gauzy fabric that had decorated the rooms Zelda and Jovinia had snuck in. Some of them wore the traditional garb of trousers and short tops, whilst others wore airy dresses made from an iridescent looking material that gathered at their shoulders and waistlines, elegantly layered to prevent their clothes appearing completely see-through.

The man however wore a more imposing getup. Clad head to toe in black armour he was dark blemish on the pale marble steps of the pale entrance. Only the gold details of his breastplate and the shining jewels that adorned his headpiece broke up the dark colours he'd draped himself in. The whole ensamble rather reminded her of the evil kings that filled many of Jovinia's novels.

Two elderly Gerudo appeared by the mans side, those two she recognised. Their conversation seemed to hold his attention as he slowly walked towards the main gate. Zelda couldn't shake the feeling that she recognised him from somewhere, but she knew for certain that she'd remember speaking to a man as imposing as he seemed to be. Her gloved fingers tightly gripped the stone balustrade as she leaned closer trying to make out his face. Her face and arms tingled in the warm breeze and a fuzzy recollection began to form in the back of her mind. She could almost make out a memory when suddenly his head swivelled around, his gaze firmly locked in' Zelda's direction, as though he could tell they were watching him.

The triforce on the back of her hand hummed gently and she balled her fist against it, ignoring the peculiar warmth it shot through her arm. She let out her breath and fought the urge to step awaay from her perch and hide back in the room. They were too far away; she knew he couldn't possibly see them. There was no way he could see her.

"Well he's certainly intimidating" Jovinia spoke calmly, but there was a slight tension to her shoulders that hadn't been there before. "I wonder who he is"

"That must be Kome and Koutake's son.' Zelda said, regaining a some of her courage as the man turned away and began the slow climb up the steps and across the drawbridge. "I had heard they had one, but I confess I have never met him before. I can't say I'm terribly upset by that"

Jovinia wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Well that's unfortunate"

"What do you mean?"

"Well he's in line for the throne right? At least for the Gerudo? Doesn't that make him a possible suitor for you? Even if you don't like him your father will insist you consider him."

Zelda's eyes bulged out of her head and she spluttered slightly, two red spots appearing on her cheeks.

"Well I think that's rather pushing the boat out!" She fanned herself with one gloved hand and swatted her friend with the other. "And I doubt such a man would have any interest in me. From the looks of it he barely wishes to be here! Just look at that scowl!"

Jovinia only hummed in agreement as they silently watched the scowling Gerudo man walk inside the castle walls, disappearing past the large gates of the portcullis.

The pair spent the next hour in a similar manner, teasing one another on all the possible suitors they might entertain, but a heavy discomfort remained around the princesses mind. Her triforce hummed, like had back in winter, when shed gone into the forest alone. That only served to increase her worry. She had a bad feeling this festival was not going to be at all what she expected.

Her thoughts however were interrupted as someone crashed through main door of the bedroom behind them, making both girls jump about four feet in the air before scrabbling to hide behind the large flowerpots on the balcony.

"Do you think that's the Gerudo come to their rooms already?" Jovinia asked, excitement and trepidation mixing on her tongue.

"I doubt it." Zelda spun, instinctively diving behind the large flowerpots that scattered most of the balconies of the castle, dragging Jovinia with her. Her eyes scanned for a way off the balcony that didn't include going back into the bedroom. "The entrance ceremony is long. The Gerudo will all still be downstairs in the great hall".

"So who's in the room?" Her friend whispered. Zelda bit her lip, realising the short list of alternatives were not necessarily good ones. At best it would be the Gerudo's servants delivering their personal effects to their rooms or at worst it could be-

"Princess Zelda! I know you're hiding out on the balcony. I am not blind" The foreboding voice of Zelda's governess, Impa, rattled through the glass doors and deep into the girls bones. "Unless you think you are suddenly far enough in your training to attempt to scale the castle walls to try and escape me, you had better stop wasting my time and get in here!".

Zelda looked up at the balconies and windowsills above her, seriously contemplating if she should attempt the manoeuvre. She was convinced she'd be able to manage it if she weren't in a dress, which she could always dispense with if needed to. But there was Jovinia to consider, and she wasn't the type of princess to leave her friend behind to face punishment alone.

With a resigned sigh Zelda stepped out from behind the flowerpot and straightened out her dress. Clasping her hands demurely in front of her, she made sure to keep her spine rigid as she glided into the room to face Impa. After a brief moment of hesitation, Jovinia trailed behind, mirroring the princesses' pose, saving for her head, which was bowed in shame.

"Care to explain yourself princess?" Impa made no attempt to hide her contempt or irritation, not that Zelda had expected her to. Impa was a painfully straightforward woman. A trait that made her as formidable as she was intimidating.

Governess was hardly the most appropriate term for Impa. With her proficiency in weapons, self-defence and all manner of morbid topics, the woman more closely resembled a bodyguard or mercenary than a governess. But Zelda's mother had insisted the term be used, to maintain her daughters genteel upbringing, or some such thing. Apparently real ladies didn't associate with heavily armed women who could kill you in seconds.

"I wanted to see the arrivals of the nobles. And I didn't want to do embroidery." Zelda's reply was perhaps a little too tart to be polite but Impa was never one to stand on ceremony.

"That may well be, princess, but what you want to do and what you are required to do are entirely different things."

"But Impa!" she moaned dragging put her words as Jovinia cowered behind her. "Embroidery is so useless! When will I ever need needle point? How on earth will that affect by ability to rule a kingdom?"

"Oh and you think staring at boys and fancy gowns will serve you better princess?". Zelda couldn't find a smart answer to that, so she snapped her mouth shut. Jovinia didn't say anything either.

When it was clear that neither girl would be saying anything else Impa turned to walk out of the room, motioning for them both to follow. Once they were back in the corridor Impa spoke again.

"Jovinia, your absence from your own lessons has been noted. Your mother wishes to speak to you. She is in the library with your father. Go to them. Now". Jovinia rolled her eyes and Zelda could have sworn that her friend muttered some obscenities under her breath before giving a light curtsy and bobbing away down a separate hallway. She shot Zelda an apologetic look before she disappeared around the corner.

Silence spread between the princess and her governess. Multiple guards walked by, all seeming to feel the icy atmosphere between the two, and promptly sped up in their retreat. Zelda knew she would be punished for this, but it had been worth it. She hardly ever got to sneak off with Jovinia anymore.

Eventually she was back in her rooms where Impa promptly threatened her with a long list of banal chores in way of punishment. Fortunately for Zelda, however, such punishments would have to wait. Her dress had arrived, carried by two separate maids, and it was time for her to get ready.

Her mother had insisted she attend the welcoming ball tonight, as part of her debut to the nobles who were visiting. Impa seemed frustrated by the interuption, but nodded when the maids asked to start preparing the princess for the event. The sheikah woman sat silently in a longe chair in the far corner, watching as numerous maids drifted in and out of the princesses' chambers, preparing the dress, the makeup, the perfumes. It all seemed so frivolous to the governess. It always had.

Zelda counted five separate maids in her chambers at this moment. Two seemed occupied with her dress, one with her hair, another with her makeup and the last one flittering between all these tasks. The princess thoroughly enjoyed being dressed up, but it was always peculiar to do so in front of so many people.

When they were finally finished they let her see her reflection and Zelda marvelled at what they had managed to create. Her dress was a beautiful lilac silk. The skirt was cut so that it skimmed over her hips tightly but flared out at her knees, whilst the top was layered with lace interwoven with amethysts and diamonds. The lace came up to her neck, but the silk underneath had a much lower neckline. Zelda briefly wondered how her mother even approved of such a revealing outfit. Perhaps she was trying to marry her off after all.

A small pit of dread hit the princess stomach at that thought. Whilst Jovinia might have been keen to marry, she was less certain. The images of Crissinda's engagement party still held strong in her memories years later. She remembered her friends resolve to marry a man she didn't love, to please her family, to protect herself. Zelda fond herself wondering if she could do such a thing. If it was selfish to hope that she could find someone she actually liked.

The image of the scowling Gerudo flashed like a warning in her mind and Zelda's triforce hummed lightly. She glared down at he glowing symbol on her hand, hoping to the gods she wouldn't have to speak to him tonight.