Disclaimer: Legend of Zelda belongs to Nintendo. Drat.

Chapter 8: Unique Unicorns

A.N: No fighting in this chapter, gets a little angsty at the end, but other than that there's that surprising revelation that I warned you about and some scandal. Those of you who got it, pat yourselves on the back.

N.B: I've got a message for Koalakiller. This story is Link/Zelda because I want it to be and because it's MY story. It is none of your business whether I choose to focus on just a couple of the characters from the Zelda series and ignore the others, because that's the way I write. Like it or lump it buddy, cause I'm not changing for anyone. Oh yeah, and about the predictability thing: how can it be predictable when the story is not a Link/Zelda romance? It's an action/adventure – humour fic for goodness sake! I just inserted that coupling for a spin off from the fighting so that people didn't get bored.

Dedication: To the defenders of the fic: Animal Cracker, veemongal and Bebe Bubblez. Thanks very much guys, much appreciated.

"Sa-ri-a!!" Link yelled, as Saria tipped another bucket of warm water over his head. "As much as I... ow! ...appreciate having you help me get ready for the banquet but... hey, that's hot! ... do you really need to bath me?"

Luckily for Link, his steaming hot bath was full of bubbles and even if someone had wanted to see his anatomy, it would have been very difficult for them with the soap suds.

Saria giggled and began to lather soap into his hair.

"Well you can't go to the banquet smelling like Moblins and stale sweat can you? You'd have people running away and screaming!"

Link closed his eyes tightly as a mass of soapy water fell over his face.

"But I'm a guy, girls don't bath guys."

"Link, I bathed you more times than I can count when you were a baby, so don't get uppity with me." Saria scolded in a motherly tone. "I've seen it all before."

"Yes, but I was a baby then wasn't I? It didn't count."

Saria giggled again aand blew away some of the bubbles in the tub.

"Hey! What did you do that for?" Link complained, stuggling to replace some of the bubbles. "I think I can finish off fine by myself."

Saria put her hands on her hips.

"Oh really? You've still got soap on the back of your neck, by the way."

Link grappled with a sponge that had escaped his grasp a few moments earlier and squeezed the water in it down the back of his neck.

"OK, you can go now." He told his bathmaid. "I'll bring you back a slice of cake from the party."

Saria beamed.

"OK."

She skipped out of his house and Link suddenly realised his mistake.

"Come back here with my towel. SARIA!!!"

******

After finally managing to get Saria to come back with his towel, Link had finally gotten dressed for the banquet and was ready to go. He was wearing a clean Kokiri tunic, as always, but he had cleaned his boots and opted to leave his hat at home. His medal was proudly hung around his neck, but he wasn't ready to go yet.

He was currently rifling through his chest in search of something that he had found when he was playing in the Deku Tree's meadow when he was little. He hadn't payed much attention to it when he had found it, but he had seen something today that had suddenly brought it to his attention.

"What are you doing?" Saria asked, standing in the doorway and watching him with amusement. "You do realise that you're going to be late if you don't get going soo..."

"Got it!" Link's muffled voice replied, as he pulled his head out of the chest and clutching in his fingers something small and circular. "I knew it!"

"Look at what you've done to your hair, you look a mess." Saria tutted, grabbing a brush from the wash basin and brushing his hair for him. "What's worth all that hassle?"

"This." Link beamed, holding in his palm a grubby gold ring.

"What's so special about that old thing?" Saria asked, peering at the piece of jewellry.

"Look at the middle, can you see what's engraved there?"

Saria squinted and then picked up the ring to look closer.

"It's a unicorn's head."

Link nodded.

"Precisely."

Saria handed the ring back to Link, who looped a piece of string through it and hung it round his neck, tucking it inside his tunic.

"Why is that important? It's just a unicorn on a ring..."

"Yeah, but I'm sure I saw a ring today with that exact same unicorn in the middle. General Olaran was wearing it."

"Well maybe it was a very popular design."

Link shook his head.

"I dunno, but I'm gonna find out."

Saria chewed on her bottom lip for a moment.

"Link, that ring you have is too small for a man's ring and we don't wear any jewellery in the forest. Do you suppose it was..."

"My mother's?" Link finished for her. "I dunno, but I'm gonna find out."

******

When he arrived, Link was greeted eagerly by Zelda and Aidyn. Aidyn had changed from his brown pants and blue vest and was now in a pair of grey pants and a white long sleeved shirt. Zelda was looking, in Link's opinion, like an angel. Her blonde hair hung loose at her shoulders and served as a striking contrast to the very pale blue dress she was wearing. She had a gold circlet crowing her head and a smile on her face that seemed to light the room.

"You're late." She teased, giving him a hug. "Everybody's been talking about you all evening."

"Yeah." Aidyn agreed. "They all want to meet the boy who beat the Moblin."

Link smiled and then spotted Olaran talking to the King. He'd have to go and ask him about the ring a little later, when he was less busy.

"Link, you've got to meet Ramone, he's the one who won the senior tournament." Zelda whispered. "You could beat him next year."

She steered her way through the crowd with Link following and Aidyn behind.

"Hey Ramone!" Aidyn said cheerfully, greeting a well built young man.

Ramone spun around and beamed at the three youngsters, and Link found it hard to believe how much like Aidyn the man looked.

"Ramone, this is Link." Aidyn said cheerfully. "Link, this is my cousin Ramone."

"Nice to meet ya kid." Ramone said, and Link couldn't help but like the cheerful man.

Like Aidyn, he had a mass of black hair and the same mahogany eyes, but he had a rough stubbly beard around his chin.

"So, a smallfry like you beat up that Moblin? Good on ya, Hyrule needs people like you. It seems the age of heroes is long gone."

"I wouldn't say that." Zelda said, shooting Link a secret smile that made him blush.

"Little princess, you are so like your mother that it's frightening." Ramone said cheerfully, but Link detected a note of bitterness in his voice.

"Ramone, can I have a word with you?" Olaran asked, appearing from nowhere and tapping his nephew on the shoulder.

Ramone looked surprised and nodded, following Olaran to a quiet corner of the room. Link watched them go, and could see angry expressions crossing both of their faces.

"I'm going to get a drink, do you two want something?" Aidyn asked.

"Please." The two answered simultaneously.

He walked off to get them some punch while Zelda looked at her friend with a smile.

"OK, so what do you want to talk to me about?"

Link looked at her in surprise.

"How do you do that?"

Zelda smiled.

"Telepathic, remember?"

"Oh yeah." Link smiled sheepishly. "OK, I've got something to show you."

He produced the ring from around his neck and showed it to her. She looked at it in total surprise.

"Link, where did you get this?" She whispered.

"I found it in the forest."

Zelda stared at it long and hard.

"Do you know what this is?" She asked in disbelief.

"It's a ring." Link stated simply.

"It's not just any ring, stupid." She scolded. "This is a wedding ring, and it's a woman's."

"How can you tell?" Link asked.

"It's too big for a sygnet ring and too small for a man's ring and there is no way that it belongs to a Kokiri."

"So it does belong to my mother!" He laughed.

Zelda looked at it carefully and then touched the unicorn's head in the centre.

"Gods, I have a feeling that this ring is more than your mother's wedding ring. It's got her family crest on it, and it's exactly the same as Olaran's!"

"Are you saying that my mother was Olaran's sister or something?"

Zelda shook her head.

"No, I think she was his wife."

Link's eyes were as wide as saucers.

"Olaran might be my father?" He whispered. "Aidyn's my... brother?"

"It makes sense. Olaran's wife and son disappeared when I was nine months old. They found her body a week later, but the baby was never found."

Link took in the information like a sponge. He pocketed the ring and looked over in Olaran's direction.

"Link, what are you going to do?" Zelda asked, putting a hand on his arm.

"I have to know Zel. If he's my dad, then I need to know."

Zelda nodded and let go of his arm.

"All right, but you have to promise me something."

"What's that?" He asked.

"Don't rush in there saying that you're his son, OK? My father says that after Olaran's wife died, he was crushed and he's never been the same. If you're not his son after all, then I don't know what it will do to him."

"I won't." He assured her, kissing her cheek. "By the way, that wasn't my reward."

Zelda grinned and watched him cut through the crowds.

******

"I don't see why you're so annoyed, I thought I was doing the right thing!" Ramone told his uncle.

Link slowed down as he heard his voice and lurked in the shadows. Olaran's face was cool, calm, and slightly angry.

"You don't have to talk to the Princess with such disdain, she is not her mother."

Link was curious and edged closer.

"And that's a very good thing." Ramone scoffed. "Why are you defending that whore?"

"I'm not denying that she is what you say." Olaran said quietly. "But Princess Zelda is the most gentle, kind and thoughtful child I have ever met and she is nothing like her mother."

"What a relief for Hyrule."

"Stop that. Whatever it was that Cordelia did, I have forgiven her. Life's too short to bear grudges."

"Olaran, why are you making excuses for the woman who is responsible for Ariala and Ranlink's death?" Ramone said angrily.

Link felt his throat tighten and had to remind himself to breathe. Olaran looked at his nephew sadly.

"It wasn't just Cordelia and you know that."

"Yeah, but wasn't your fault that you fell in love with the manipulative bitch."

Link didn't want to hear any more and he ran as fast as he could out of the ballroom. He couldn't hear anything and briefly saw Zelda and Aidyn in the corner of his eye, looking puzzled. But none of that mattered.

His mother was dead because his father had been having an affair.

With Zelda's mother.