Chapter Nine: Overheard at the Castle
Link couldn't believe what he was about to do. In a million years, he wouldn't't have believed he'd be sneaking into Hyrule castle. And with the princess herself. He worried he'd be caught, but then what? He had the future queen dragging him around. Would he really get into that much trouble?
After asking Fado and Saria to cover for him if Gaebora came looking, he and Zelda made their way to her home. Link had a hard time keeping the shock from his face.
Zelda was laughing as she dragged him to the front of the castle. She peeked around a corner to look at the guard standing in front of the main gate. She pointed to a long vine. "I do this all the time. This was how I got in and out when I ran away. Just follow me."
She took hold of the vine and tested it. It was sturdy, and she began to carefully climb it until she sat safely on a hill, watching Link make his own way up. As he sat beside her, he stared at the massive castle in disbelief. "We're sneaking into your own house."
"Yep! My father would never let me bring a stranger in just for fun."
"What about your friends? Where do they live?"
Zelda shrugged and led him down a long hill and into a secret escape tunnel. "Impa lives in the castle with us."
Link closed the door quietly behind them as Zelda started down the main path before pulling Link into a small field, racing across a meadow of flowers. There was a wall in their way, but Zelda kept her feet carefully positioned on loose stones as she climbed.
Though Link followed, he was unsure if he would remember all the twists they'd taken. "So, Impa lives here. What about your friends our age?"
"Oh," she sighed, sitting to catch her breath. "I don't have any. None that are allowed over. I met with the Princess of a land called Termina. She was just like me and I really liked her, but my father said that they were too superstitious and didn't want me to associate with her. They think the moon is going to fall. I don't see why it can't, but my father won't allow her here."
As Link watched her face, he could see sadness, but mostly acceptance. He didn't know where he'd be without Fado and Saria. They were his closest friends, but he had others. It was too difficult for him to think of life without any of them. And worse, not to even think anything of it because you knew it wouldn't change a thing.
"Well, I know that I'm not really allowed here, but I'll be your friend, Princess. I'll even sneak in without you, if you ever need a friend."
Zelda's face lit up for a moment, before her royal composure took its place. "Then you're going to have to learn the rest of the way inside!"
She stood up, rested enough, and headed to the edge of the wall. She crouched down and threw her legs out from under her, landing with a thud on the ground. She shook her legs out and gestured for Link to follow. He jumped and rolled as he landed, something he'd learned after falling too hard while playing games with his friends.
They crept silently behind two guards until they reached a small waterway with a hole that looked barely large enough for them to fit through.
"Do you mind getting a little wet?"
Link shook his head and followed Zelda through the hole.
It was a long crawl, but Link finally emerged in the gardens in the center of the castle.
"We're almost there! We really don't want to get caught though; there are a lot of guards before the final courtyard."
Final courtyard? Link thought. He'd hoped it might end here.
The final courtyard was past at least five more guards who wandered through the gardens on patrol. When they did reach the courtyard, there were several windows that surrounded it, looking inside.
Zelda pointed to the one on the left. "That one leads the closest to my rooms. Straight ahead would be pretty close to the throne room, and on the right is the rest of the castle. This side is mostly ours, where we live every day. I still don't think I've seen every room in the castle." She began to climb a trellis near the window on the right. "Come on, I want to show you the castle and hear what you have to day, but there's something really interesting happening today! We can watch! I know the perfect place. We can talk there after, too."
They headed down several hallways, only stopping when Zelda saw a passing guard. Link ducked behind a statue when a patrol passed through, leaving Zelda staring out the window. No one gave her a second glance.
At last, they reached another large knight statue, but Zelda pulled at the sword scabbard, and the wall behind it began to turn. She hurried inside, followed closely by Link. She brushed past him, rushing outside again and returning with a torch before closing the fake wall.
"Nearly forgot this! Alright, we are close now. Come on!"
"How did you find this?" Link asked, unable to see his feet. He kept his hand along the wall to keep his footing.
"This one I found while playing with Impa. It was the perfect place to hide. Some of the other secret passages have been shown to me by my father and my mother before she died." She slid the torch into a small opening and ran up to the dead-end wall. "We're here! Link, we need to be very quiet, okay?"
Nodding, Link moved up beside her and she moved a small, circular object out of the way, allowing the two of them to see and hear into the next room.
Men and women dressed in the finest royal clothing they owned were scattered across one long table, filling up both sides until there was barely any breathing room beside them. At the end of the table, beneath an ornate and finely crafted symbol of the royal family, was the King: King Harkinian.
King Harkinian wore the traditional formal attire of a king in the public eye. He wore a long red robe that had been embroidered with golden threads over a blue tunic. Nothing about his ensemble was informal; it didn't look terribly comfortable, but he wore it all well. Finley perched atop his head was a tall, gold crown with gems inset at each point.
Link had only ever seen the king from afar at parades, but to see him so close, he was stunned. Even from where they stood, the King was far, but he was clearly visible, as was the point of his fine, bright clothes.
"That's really your father?" Link asked, still stunned in disbelief.
Zelda nodded and they listened carefully to the meeting.
Several of the advisors were bickering amongst themselves.
"He is coming! We must take action!" said one as he banged the table.
A woman scoffed and sat back. "He's coming as much as the goddess is. He's been dormant inside his own castle for ages."
"Regardless," the first spat back, "It is become imperative that the princess goes through with the ceremony."
Another woman stood up. "I was with her mother when she underwent the ceremony herself. It was beyond painful, she said. She told me her life was never the same. Do we want to put a young child through that? Her mother was much older and still did not bear it well."
"With the threat of the dark lord returning," the king said gravely in his deep voice, "I am afraid my daughter has little choice in the matter. She must be prepared at any moment."
The first man spoke again: "Sire, it is true, the dark king returns. He is seeking the Triforce as we speak. As the royal family, you're the most susceptible to an attack. The princess is not safe! The ceremony should be performed immediately."
A new voice spoke up: "The princess should remain under guard at all times. She is the most likely recipient of the Triforce. Her attendant even claimed she's having visions. There is no coincidence. Ganondorf will come for her."
"Your Majesty, she is a child still. You cannot rob her of that. She will choose this path in her own time."
King Harkinian stood up, his very presence commanding in itself. As he stood, the anger he felt was like another person in the room. "Do not presume you have the right to tell me what I can and cannot do with my child! As the princess, she has a duty to her kingdom. She will fufil it." He turned to one of his advisors. "Prepare for the ceremony. She will begin preparing immedatley as well. I want this done before the week is over."
He turned and stormed from the room, leaving everyone bowed down.
Zelda backed away from the hole and let the cover fall, giving them privacy again.
"Link," Zelda began, her eyes teary. "I have to confess something. I ran away because of the ceremony, yes, but I ran because I was afraid of more than that. If I were a recipient of one of the Triforce pieces, I would become a target. I would live my entire life under everyone's watchful eye. I wanted to be free before then."
"Princess," Link said, cutting off any more she had to say. "I don't think it's you. I think you'll be safe. When we met, I was leaving the Great Deku Tree. He told me I was having my nightmares because I was seeing the events in my… past lives. I am the Hero of Legend's spiritual successor. If they want to take someone, let it be me."
"Nightmares?" she asked. Of all he'd just said, that was what stuck out to her. "What sort of nightmares?"
"All kinds, but mostly ones that end in my death. I didn't realize it until the last time we met, but you've been there as well. That's why you feel so… familiar. It feels like we've spent years together."
Zelda sat down and looked over at him. "I've had dreams like that, too, Link. I have been myself, but not me. I've died in the arms of the Hero, and I've died alone in my bed. When we were being attacked by that Lizalfos, and we reached for each other, I saw you, but you were different. You were older, a you from another life. That's when I knew our fates were bound together." She ran a hand through her hair and stood up. "I feel strongly connected to you as well. I've just met you, and I've shown you hidden rooms, meetings, and am about to reveal secrets that should never be spoken.
"The ceremony they're speaking of," she said, anxiously pacing in front of Link, "Is a ritual that is performed when a time of great darkness can be sensed. The first of the Shiekah tribe performed it on their princess, and since then, it has only been able to work on royal women. We pray to the goddesses, Din, Farore, and Nayru. We ask for their aid, and they give it to us. They gift us with powers that no average human can possess, and it is all done in the hopes that we will be able to one day seal the darkness away. The goddesses are too strong for a regular mortal, so it must be one of the royal blood. We have been the keepers of the Sacred Realm for eons. That is why it is so painful. No one is meant to have that power, and the burden is then yours for the remainder of your life. I don't think I'm ready for that."
"I know you," Link said simply. "It may not seem it, but I know I do. You'll be able to take on anything they make you do. You alone could hold up the kingdom. But I'm your friend, Princess. I can help. I'll train to be a knight! I'll do anything to help stop the darkness."
"Right now, I just need you to be my friend. Will you be here the day of the ceremony? Will you come here and lend me some courage?"
"I promise."
Zelda smiled and took his hand. "One more thing: call me Zelda, not Princess. We're friends now!"
Link smirked a bit and shrugged. "I can try, but I've been calling you 'Princess' long before we met. It may be a hard habit to break."
A/N: It's been a bit of a slow burn, but there is a plot, I swear! I might start making the chapters longer like this one or even longer so I don't have chapters that aren't doing much other than getting everyone from here to there. I'm used to longer things anyway, so the short chapters were a bit of an experiment. Hopefully this works out better. Let me know!