Chapter Five: Lost for A Pancake Breakfast!
Everyone said his or her good byes as the five left late in the afternoon to Hyrule Castle where it was arranged that they stayed. Lolita wanted to stop and look at everything in the shops, but Loraefin and Megeara sped her along, reassuring her that they would come back later to check everything out. Malon offered to show Megeara, Lola, and Loraefin around the market and town if they wished, but Link told her that he and Loraefin had previous engagements but Lola and Megeara were happy to go. Loraefin was nearly jumping out of her skin with nervousness about meeting with the Sages and all of the blood seemed to rush to her head whenever it was mentioned. The three girls shared one, large room, and Link was down the hall in his for the night. Megeara twice hit Loraefin with a pillow to stop her tossing and turning.
Loraefin awoke alone in the room, finding a note by the bedside from Lola, informing her that they were out for the day with Malon and they wished her good luck with the Sages. Loraefin laughed inwardly at how much more easily her friends could cope with her being a 'chosen' one than she could. She groped to put the letter back on the nightstand and stretched out to her full length in the bed. She laughed again when even that only reached with another good three feet of space at the end of mattress. She took a deep breath to relax and was content on staying under those warm covers all day. A knock at the door snapped her alert again as she half pranced over the cold stones to the door in her bare feet. Loraefin opened it to find Link standing there smiling at her with some clothes in the crook of his arm. Loraefin eyed them curiously as she stood there leaning up against the door in her nightclothes. Link was not dressed in his usual tunic, she noticed, but instead wore a handsome brown one with a leather breastplate over the front of his chest. On it was an embroidered red bird and Triforce emblem, which she recognized from his shield. His hair wasn't hidden by a hat like usual, but was clean and brushed nicely with the normal part in the middle. If she could have, Loraefin would have taken a picture right then and there.
"These are for you," Link said after they had stared at one another for a few moments and handed her the clothes he was holding. "King Harkinian thought it would be nice if you had something fitting to wear when you meet with the Sages." He stood in the doorway rather awkwardly as she took the clothes from him and laid them out on the bed for her to see. It was a light brown dress, almost the same color as Link's tunic, which buttoned down the back with a sash that wrapped around the waist in the front. Loraefin ran her fingers along the seams and admired it.
"Tell King Harkinian thank you," she smiled and lifted the dress up to her, mentally judging if it would fit in the right places. "How late am I?"
"Not very," Link laughed, "but we should be at the Temple of Time in a little less than three hours, can you make it?"
"If I don't topple over and break my ankle out of nervousness first," Loraefin grinned tensely. Link took a few steps into the room and rubbed his hands together from the chilliness of an un-maintained fire.
"You'll be fine, they're people just like you and me," Link reassured her. "And you've already met Ruto so…"
"What should I do with my hair?" Loraefin asked abruptly with what was her early stage of panic. Link thought for a moment.
"Low pony tail, at the base of your head," he said and grabbed her brown hair to show her, "like this."
With his hand fisted in Loraefin's hair, Link took a moment to finger the beautiful, thick brown strands. In the morning light they glinted with a gold and red sheen that he had never noticed before. It smelled divine too, like fresh wind and good earth. It was hard not to bend down and take a good, long draught of it. When Link raised his eyes, he met Loraefin's own peculiar blue gray stare back at him through the mirror and he blushed slightly.
"Um, sorry," Link laughed weakly, releasing her hair and walking over to tend the fire.
Loraefin reached around and took what Link had held in his hand and clipped it with the leather hair clasp that had come with the dress. When his fingers had skimmed along the nape of her neck, it had left a thrill up and down her spine. That same thrill had now settled in her stomach as she turned about for Link's approval. The Hero smiled as he beheld her, the sun streaming through the open window behind her, giving her an almost otherworldly appearance.
"You look very becoming, my Lady," Link smiled, still kneeling at the hearth. Loraefin's face twitched in amusement as she went back over to the bed to gather the dress.
"This is so fine, nothing like what I own," she began. "And if you'll excuse me, kind Sir, I shall be able to put it on."
"Then I'll leave you, and shall be waiting outside." Link bowed formally with a grin as Loraefin finished shooing him out the door.
When she was done dressing, Loraefin came out of her chamber door to find that Link was not there waiting for her. She thought it odd, but did not worry though the thought of trying to find her way around the castle by herself intimidating. She smoothed the fabric of her new dress out and tucked a stray piece of hair back into her clasp and walked briskly down the hall. The castle corridors were massive and confusing, twice she had taken a wrong turn and found herself in an empty room. Most of the halls were empty she thought to herself and guessed a palace as big as this, people must not run into each other very often. After ten minutes of wandering around on her own though, Loraefin started to get a little anxious and wondered if Link was curious where she was. Surely he couldn't think it took this long to get dressed. She was no princess who had layers of clothes to get into, what she had to wear was simple and he knew that.
As Loraefin turned a corner she was almost knocked backward by a tall figure that had seemed to appear out of nowhere. She stumbled backwards and caught herself as the man quickly came to apologize for startling her. He had kind brown eyes and beautiful rich voice that was a comforting sight after thinking that she was perhaps the only one left in the castle. He smiled at her.
"Aye, I'm sorrae' lass, I didna' see ya there. Are ye alright?" He said holding out his hand to her. "Bhy Gharra, I'm a clumsy fool aren't I?" Loraefin looked up at him and smiled in return.
"Oh no, it was my fault, I wasn't looking where I was going, no need to apologize," she took his outreached hand and shook it in a friendly manner, her gray-blue eyes sparkling. She noticed he wore rough clothing, much like she was used to wearing normally. He must work here she thought immediately. The boy looked about her age, but by that she really couldn't call him a boy at all, soon to be nineteen was hardly a boy anymore, but he was almost an entire two heads taller than her, which made her feel very short indeed. He grinned again as they parted hands.
"I havna' seen ya around here before," he said, noticing the clothes she wore also. Judging on that he surmised that she must be one of the women from the monastery in the north, but she didn't look like a nun really to him. Still, the plain brown tunic with the small-embroidered Triforce symbol suggested otherwise. Shame, he thought, what a waste to have such a charmin' lookin' creature locked away in'a monastery. "Are ye from around here?"
Loraefin froze for a moment trying to remember the story Link had given her should the problem arise.
"Oh," she stuttered, "I am a councilor from Inis Morgen. I've come to witness the Sages return on behalf of my Lord King Stephen who was unable to come himself." She paused until she realized she had forgotten to say her name. "Oh, how silly of me, I'm Loraefin, nice to meet you."
"Rook Campbell," he replied and grinned. Ah, not a waste after all… "Pleasures all mine. Now, what are ye doin' roamin the halls by yerself like this? It's not usual for such a beautiful lass to be wandering around by herself. Do ya need some help with direction? I know myself that this is a big place and easy ta' get lost in."
"Ah, you are just the person I needed to find then, do you know where Lin---the Hero of Time is? I believe it is arranged that he is to accompany me to the Temple of Time." She wondered how long she could improvise her character like this. Rook pointed back in the direction he came from.
"Aye, I saw him out in the courtyard a few minutes ago, I'll take ye to him if ye would like."
"That would be great---splendid, thank you."
Rook turned and led Loraefin back down the other hall. They walked in silence and Loraefin struggled with something to say. Rook could feel her eyes boring down into his back and felt slightly awkward with the silence between them. What do you say to a 'councilor' of another country? That was for the King's Council and other more important people to oversee, not he the 'stable buck'. It was unusual for any member of a visiting country to be left unattended anyway, and besides, she looked far to young to have such an important job. He had never been to Inis Morgen and he wondered if all the people from there had the strange rounded ears like she did. Rook could tell she had tried to cover them with her hair, but you would not be able to conceal ears like his the way she did.
"Have you been at the castle long?" Loraefin spoke up, desperate for some conversation. Rook perked his pointed ears and turned halfway about while he walked.
"Oh, about a year or two, not long," he replied as they entered and went through the kitchen. He was not well versed in the proper manner of which to treat a councilor from anywhere and did not stop to think that he should have taken her through the East hall instead of cutting through the kitchen before it was too late. She didn't seem to mind though. "Me brutha' and I fought in the resistance against Ganondorf back a few years ago. After ol' Link and the Sages banished him to the Sacred Realm, my mutha' and brothers and sister came to live here. We Campbell's come from a long line of workers who don't mind getting' their hans' dirty, so this seemed like the best spot to be in." Loraefin smiled as they left the kitchen and out to the kitchen gardens. She wasn't sure where this man was taking her, but at least he was good company.
"So…yer going ta' see the Sages then huh? 'Bout time, they've been in that realm for more than a year," Rook added.
"Yes," was all Loraefin could think to say.
"So yer from Inis Morgen eh? I've never been there," he found Loraefin walking next to him now tying to keep up with his wide gait. He chuckled under his breath and slowed a bit down for her. Loraefin was trying to think of something to say.
"Oh, it's a beautiful country, you should see it someday," she cut off shortly. They wove their way through the Kitchen Gardens and said hello to the servants who were tilling the soil there, trying to keep the ground aired and not frozen in the shadows. The winter sun luckily provided enough warmth on the skin so a coat was not necessary as they searched for Link. Loraefin wondered if he went back up to the room to look for her and now they just kept missing paths. At this rate she thought that they might never find each other in time for the Sages arrival. The Kitchen Gardens wound around to the stables where Rook stopped impatiently.
"Bhy gharra, where is Link? That daft fool has gone off and disappeared on me now---" Rook muttered as Loraefin turned around to see someone jogging down the path.
"There you are!" Link grinned, out of breath. "I've been looking for you, where did you go off to? I had to go see to see to something really quickly and I thought I'd be back before you were done but you had already left and---" Link noticed Rook's funny gaze as he trailed off speaking to Loraefin. He immediately composed himself. "Ah, I mean, sorry Councilwoman, I lost myself for a moment. Rook, I trust you've taken good care of the Lady?"
"Oh, he was a wonderful help Hero of Time, a perfect gentleman," she grinned at him in their playacting. "Now, should we not be off to the Market? I do believe you promised to show me around before we joined the others at the Temple of Time and I also believe that you promised to show me those wonderful Deeta berry pancakes I have heard so much about." With that she turned and nodded politely at Rook with an outreached hand. "Thank you Rook, you were most kind. I hope that we do meet again." Rook grinned and took her hand, and laying on the charm lifted it up to kiss lightly.
"M'Lady," he said and flashed a smile at Link, who just rolled his eyes at him. Rook did always have to be the charmer.