Three days came and went like an owl on the breeze, and before Zelda
knew it, the night of the banquet had arrived. She was excited enough;
banquets were always fun, though she knew most everyone attending this one.
And Link, she remembered. Link would be there too. She hadn't seen him
since….well, now that she thought about it, not since Ganon had been
defeated. He'd had to miss the christening of the new castle for reasons
that she couldn't quite remember….oh yes, goblin wars over the border.
Actually, they were more like goblin skirmishes, the princess thought,
rather irritated. Then she smiled. Perhaps it would be a nice reunion.
There was a knock at the door. "Come in!" Zelda said, and the door opened, admitting Harlan, prince of Calatia, and Zelda's betrothed. The two had known each other since—well—forever. The royal families of Hyrule and Calatia were very close friends, and even their queen was like an aunt to Zelda. The Calatians were the ones who had given Hyrule's royal family shelter during the Imprisoning War (as it was now known—the just-about- seven year period of Ganon's reign), and Harlan, after Impa, was the one most helpful in Zelda's escape from the Calatian castle to return to Hyrule as Sheik. But that was another episode entirely. The princess considered herself lucky to be marrying Harlan. She wasn't in love with him (even though she knew—and chose to ignore—that he was in love with her), but the usual fate of princesses like her (getting married off to some horrible prince who would become a tyrant or someone they didn't even know) left her with the impression that there were most definitely worse people to be married to.
"Hey, Zelda," he said casually.
"Good evening, Harlan, and how have you been?" she asked.
"All right." He sat down on a chair. "You excited for the banquet?"
"I guess so," Zelda said. "Did you...want anything in particular?"
"Not really, I'm just bored," the prince answered sheepishly.
"I'm so flattered," Zelda laughed. "Well then, you can tell me what you think of my dress." She stood, letting her skirts settle to their full length. Her dress was sky blue bridal satin, with an off-the-shoulder bodice and full skirts. Her golden hair was swept up into an elegant knot, with a few curls escaping here and there, and around her neck was a golden chain with a Triforce pendant on the end. She looked simply stunning, and Harlan told her so.
"Thank you," Zelda said. At that moment, a bell rang, summoning them to dinner. "Shall we go?" Harlan asked, offering an elbow. The princess took it, and they walked down to the banquet hall.
The entrance was at the top of the Grand Staircase in the Great Hall. The golden, red-carpeted Staircase dominated the compass-north end of the Great Hall, and at its top were twin golden doors which Zelda and Harlan were now standing behind. The doors were thrown open on formal occasions for the royalty to descend elegantly into the banquet hall, in order of importance. It was here that the two separated. Harlan was to enter with his mother, since the king of Calatia had died when Harlan was young. Zelda had already been informed of who she would enter with. He was a bit late, but she did not have to wait long. Within a matter of minutes, Link appeared around the corner in the hall.
He looked well, Zelda decided. He was dressed in his usual green tunic, though he carried none of his weapons, except the Master Sword, which seemed to fit the occasion. The hero looked totally lost among royalty in the big castle. Zelda took a bit of pity and smiled.
"Your highness," Link said formally, but Zelda could detect a hint of sarcasm.
"Your grace," she said as she curtsied.
"Oh, is that what I'm called? Because no one told me."
"I don't actually know, that's what you call a duke, but it'll do for tonight," the princess said.
"I'd like to be a duke," Link said thoughtfully.
Zelda was about to reply, but before she could, the golden doors were thrown open and a loud voice boomed, "Princess Zelda the Second and Link, the Hero of Time!"
"That's us," Zelda said. She slipped a graceful hand under his arm and they began to descend the staircase.
It was nothing new to Zelda, but Link was simply astounded at the banquet hall. He found himself wishing he had more eyes in order to see everything. The room was huge. Link supposed that everyone in Hyrule would have fit in that room, if you really tried.
They reached the bottom of the staircase. Zelda seemed to know where she was going, so Link followed her, and very fortunately his seat was just across the table from her. He was at the king's left hand side, and she on the king's right beside Prince Harlan. On Link's other side was Queen Larina of Calatia. Queen Jaspela of Hyrule was at the other head of the table, far down across from the king.
The food was delicious. It was very entertaining to watch Link eat, since he knew little or nothing of table manners. Harlan commented on this once in an undertone, and Zelda smiled in spite of herself.
The dessert was better than the food. It consisted of a chocolate fudge brownie slice in hot fudge sauce with random dollops of whipped cream and vanilla ice cream on top of it all. After that was finished, King Harkinian stood to make an announcement.
"We are gathered here today," he began, "to witness the dawn of a new era. We have said farewell to the age of Ganondorf, and the Imprisoning War, and now, we can greet a new beginning.
"As you may or may not know, I have upon me a curse, of sorts." A few people gasped. "Yes, I will pass away soon. But do not grieve for me; you must all give your wholehearted support to my new heir. Link, please stand." The hero rose, looking confused. Harkinian turned to him. "If you would choose to accept it, Link, and only if you would choose to accept it, I would that you became the heir to the throne of Hyrule. What do you say?"
Link was flabbergasted. Heir? Him? His mind was racing. He looked uncertainly around the room, looking for something, some sign of a friendly face to tell him what to do. There were eighty or so party guests that he didn't know (he wondered briefly where they found all these people), and none of them were any help. Down at his end of the table, Prince Harlan was watching him expectantly, along with Queen Larina. Zelda's face was nothing but a blank mask, devoid of emotion. Link could tell her mind was elsewhere. His own eyes then turned to the king, whom Link presently realized was still awaiting an answer. "I….uh….well, I….uh," he mumbled. "Well, um, what I, uh, guess I mean is—"
Just then, one of the palace pages burst through the door. His face was pale and he looked as though he had been in quite a hurry. "My liege!" he yelped. "There are—"
"What is it? We're in the midst of a very important decision!" Harkinian scolded. Then he looked at the boy again and a kind of compassion came into the king's eyes. "What's the matter, my boy? You look positively stricken."
"There are—" the page looked quickly over his shoulder— "There are MOBLINS attacking the castle!" He burst out. Now it was the king who looked stricken. The whole room was suddenly alive with chatter. "Calm down!" The king yelled, though he looked as frightened as any of them, and no one was listening anyway. All of a sudden, guests were running everywhere! There was the sound of silverware clinking and hurried goodbyes as everyone tried to leave. Harkinian had given up on the guests' state of panic and was busy dispatching troops to try to fight the moblins off. In the midst of it all was Zelda, who was as shocked as any of them. Suddenly, Harlan grabbed her wrist. "Come on!" He shouted, and they fled down a hallway. She went to her room first to change into her usual around- the-castle dress, and then they headed towards the dungeon, where it would be safe. "Wait!" She cried, bringing them both to a dead stop before they even got there.
"What is it?" Harlan asked breathlessly.
"It's Link! He's still in the banquet hall! And he doesn't know his way around the palace—"
"But Zelda! You could be killed!"
"It doesn't matter—look, he saved my life—it's the least I can do!" She said. "We'll meet you in the dungeon!" With that she turned and sped back down the hallway.
"Be careful!" Harlan called helplessly after her.
When Zelda reached the Great Hall, however, Link was not there! She dove down another hallway, and after a bit of searching, ran (literally) into him. He helped her up. "Princess! What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Looking for you!" she said. "We're not safe here!"
Link paused. "I'll be fine," he said. "I've got to go after those moblins!" Link set off down the hall.
"Wait!" Zelda yelled. Link didn't seem to hear, so she pursued him. "Link! You can't just— Do you even—? This is NOT a way out! LINK!" She caught up to him and grabbed his wrist. "WHY aren't you listening to me?!"
He turned angrily to her, about to say something, but all of the sudden, they heard very loud footsteps in the hall behind them. Both heads snapped back to look. Around the bend they could see the point of a long spear. "It's a moblin!" Link said, and they ran off down the hallway. Zelda gave up and let Link lead. After a bit, though, instead of open hallway in front of them were a wall and a tall window. A dead end. Suddenly there seemed to be nothing left between the two of them and certain death.
Link turned and looked back down the hallway, trying to think of a way to get out of this doomed situation. Zelda, meanwhile, was examining the window. It wasn't that long a drop, really….and there were bags of peddler's flour at the bottom that would break their fall. This particular wing of the castle, she knew, looked out over a back alley. Perfect. She found the latch and threw open the window.
Suddenly Link gasped. The point of the spear was visible again, and growing! He had drawn his sword when Zelda breathlessly asked, "Link, how much do you trust me?"
"What does that have to do with anything? I trust you enough, I guess—"
"THEN JUMP!" She yelled, taking his hand and leaping out the window. It was a strange and somehow nostalgic experience, jumping out the window, hand in hand, the princess's skirts blowing back majestically and the hero, having to hold his sword upwards to keep from slashing himself. Zelda had estimated the fall just correctly, and they landed in a cloud of white.
The princess picked herself up from the pile of bags and sat down on an overturned crate to rest. "What just happened?" she asked to no one in particular.
"Evil monsters were attacking the castle, and YOU kept me from fighting them," Link answered bitterly, standing up and re-sheathing his sword.
"Oh, this is MY fault?" She said. "Link, you're not on your own anymore! We have GUARDS to handle enemies! What did you think they were for, decoration?!"
Link realized she was right. "Well—well, I could have helped!" He said, and sat down on another crate.
"So," Zelda said. "What are we going to do now?"
"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going back to the forest to find my weapons, and then I'm getting to the bottom of this."
"Wait a minute—you're going to go after a whole army of moblins, and probably more, by yourself?"
"Yeah, it kinda looks that way," Link said, getting up.
"No," Zelda said flatly.
"What?" Link chuckled.
"I said, no. Look. If it was me, I'd be happy to let you go—"
"Then why don't you?"
"Because you're the heir to the throne! I can't let you put yourself in danger. Maybe if you could get a royal escort, but until then, well, I'm sorry."
"Okay. You've got five minutes to decide," Link said.
"Excuse me?"
"You're royal, aren't you? I'm leaving in five minutes whether you decide to come with me or not. If you're so bent on doing this properly, then you can be my 'royal escort.' But I'll understand if you don't want to."
"I'm not afraid," she said, guessing his thoughts.
"Then you're coming?"
"Yes, I suppose I am," Zelda sighed, against her better judgment.
"Good. You'll be needing a horse," Link said. He took out his ocarina and played Epona's Song, summoning his palomino mare to his side. Show-off, Zelda thought. She put two fingers in her mouth and whistled the old-fashioned way, and soon, her own white mare appeared.
"Fine horse," Link commented as he mounted. "What's her name?"
"Abora," the princess answered. "It's Gerudo, for 'wind.'"
Link nodded once before turning Epona toward the drawbridge that would lead them to the field.
There was a knock at the door. "Come in!" Zelda said, and the door opened, admitting Harlan, prince of Calatia, and Zelda's betrothed. The two had known each other since—well—forever. The royal families of Hyrule and Calatia were very close friends, and even their queen was like an aunt to Zelda. The Calatians were the ones who had given Hyrule's royal family shelter during the Imprisoning War (as it was now known—the just-about- seven year period of Ganon's reign), and Harlan, after Impa, was the one most helpful in Zelda's escape from the Calatian castle to return to Hyrule as Sheik. But that was another episode entirely. The princess considered herself lucky to be marrying Harlan. She wasn't in love with him (even though she knew—and chose to ignore—that he was in love with her), but the usual fate of princesses like her (getting married off to some horrible prince who would become a tyrant or someone they didn't even know) left her with the impression that there were most definitely worse people to be married to.
"Hey, Zelda," he said casually.
"Good evening, Harlan, and how have you been?" she asked.
"All right." He sat down on a chair. "You excited for the banquet?"
"I guess so," Zelda said. "Did you...want anything in particular?"
"Not really, I'm just bored," the prince answered sheepishly.
"I'm so flattered," Zelda laughed. "Well then, you can tell me what you think of my dress." She stood, letting her skirts settle to their full length. Her dress was sky blue bridal satin, with an off-the-shoulder bodice and full skirts. Her golden hair was swept up into an elegant knot, with a few curls escaping here and there, and around her neck was a golden chain with a Triforce pendant on the end. She looked simply stunning, and Harlan told her so.
"Thank you," Zelda said. At that moment, a bell rang, summoning them to dinner. "Shall we go?" Harlan asked, offering an elbow. The princess took it, and they walked down to the banquet hall.
The entrance was at the top of the Grand Staircase in the Great Hall. The golden, red-carpeted Staircase dominated the compass-north end of the Great Hall, and at its top were twin golden doors which Zelda and Harlan were now standing behind. The doors were thrown open on formal occasions for the royalty to descend elegantly into the banquet hall, in order of importance. It was here that the two separated. Harlan was to enter with his mother, since the king of Calatia had died when Harlan was young. Zelda had already been informed of who she would enter with. He was a bit late, but she did not have to wait long. Within a matter of minutes, Link appeared around the corner in the hall.
He looked well, Zelda decided. He was dressed in his usual green tunic, though he carried none of his weapons, except the Master Sword, which seemed to fit the occasion. The hero looked totally lost among royalty in the big castle. Zelda took a bit of pity and smiled.
"Your highness," Link said formally, but Zelda could detect a hint of sarcasm.
"Your grace," she said as she curtsied.
"Oh, is that what I'm called? Because no one told me."
"I don't actually know, that's what you call a duke, but it'll do for tonight," the princess said.
"I'd like to be a duke," Link said thoughtfully.
Zelda was about to reply, but before she could, the golden doors were thrown open and a loud voice boomed, "Princess Zelda the Second and Link, the Hero of Time!"
"That's us," Zelda said. She slipped a graceful hand under his arm and they began to descend the staircase.
It was nothing new to Zelda, but Link was simply astounded at the banquet hall. He found himself wishing he had more eyes in order to see everything. The room was huge. Link supposed that everyone in Hyrule would have fit in that room, if you really tried.
They reached the bottom of the staircase. Zelda seemed to know where she was going, so Link followed her, and very fortunately his seat was just across the table from her. He was at the king's left hand side, and she on the king's right beside Prince Harlan. On Link's other side was Queen Larina of Calatia. Queen Jaspela of Hyrule was at the other head of the table, far down across from the king.
The food was delicious. It was very entertaining to watch Link eat, since he knew little or nothing of table manners. Harlan commented on this once in an undertone, and Zelda smiled in spite of herself.
The dessert was better than the food. It consisted of a chocolate fudge brownie slice in hot fudge sauce with random dollops of whipped cream and vanilla ice cream on top of it all. After that was finished, King Harkinian stood to make an announcement.
"We are gathered here today," he began, "to witness the dawn of a new era. We have said farewell to the age of Ganondorf, and the Imprisoning War, and now, we can greet a new beginning.
"As you may or may not know, I have upon me a curse, of sorts." A few people gasped. "Yes, I will pass away soon. But do not grieve for me; you must all give your wholehearted support to my new heir. Link, please stand." The hero rose, looking confused. Harkinian turned to him. "If you would choose to accept it, Link, and only if you would choose to accept it, I would that you became the heir to the throne of Hyrule. What do you say?"
Link was flabbergasted. Heir? Him? His mind was racing. He looked uncertainly around the room, looking for something, some sign of a friendly face to tell him what to do. There were eighty or so party guests that he didn't know (he wondered briefly where they found all these people), and none of them were any help. Down at his end of the table, Prince Harlan was watching him expectantly, along with Queen Larina. Zelda's face was nothing but a blank mask, devoid of emotion. Link could tell her mind was elsewhere. His own eyes then turned to the king, whom Link presently realized was still awaiting an answer. "I….uh….well, I….uh," he mumbled. "Well, um, what I, uh, guess I mean is—"
Just then, one of the palace pages burst through the door. His face was pale and he looked as though he had been in quite a hurry. "My liege!" he yelped. "There are—"
"What is it? We're in the midst of a very important decision!" Harkinian scolded. Then he looked at the boy again and a kind of compassion came into the king's eyes. "What's the matter, my boy? You look positively stricken."
"There are—" the page looked quickly over his shoulder— "There are MOBLINS attacking the castle!" He burst out. Now it was the king who looked stricken. The whole room was suddenly alive with chatter. "Calm down!" The king yelled, though he looked as frightened as any of them, and no one was listening anyway. All of a sudden, guests were running everywhere! There was the sound of silverware clinking and hurried goodbyes as everyone tried to leave. Harkinian had given up on the guests' state of panic and was busy dispatching troops to try to fight the moblins off. In the midst of it all was Zelda, who was as shocked as any of them. Suddenly, Harlan grabbed her wrist. "Come on!" He shouted, and they fled down a hallway. She went to her room first to change into her usual around- the-castle dress, and then they headed towards the dungeon, where it would be safe. "Wait!" She cried, bringing them both to a dead stop before they even got there.
"What is it?" Harlan asked breathlessly.
"It's Link! He's still in the banquet hall! And he doesn't know his way around the palace—"
"But Zelda! You could be killed!"
"It doesn't matter—look, he saved my life—it's the least I can do!" She said. "We'll meet you in the dungeon!" With that she turned and sped back down the hallway.
"Be careful!" Harlan called helplessly after her.
When Zelda reached the Great Hall, however, Link was not there! She dove down another hallway, and after a bit of searching, ran (literally) into him. He helped her up. "Princess! What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Looking for you!" she said. "We're not safe here!"
Link paused. "I'll be fine," he said. "I've got to go after those moblins!" Link set off down the hall.
"Wait!" Zelda yelled. Link didn't seem to hear, so she pursued him. "Link! You can't just— Do you even—? This is NOT a way out! LINK!" She caught up to him and grabbed his wrist. "WHY aren't you listening to me?!"
He turned angrily to her, about to say something, but all of the sudden, they heard very loud footsteps in the hall behind them. Both heads snapped back to look. Around the bend they could see the point of a long spear. "It's a moblin!" Link said, and they ran off down the hallway. Zelda gave up and let Link lead. After a bit, though, instead of open hallway in front of them were a wall and a tall window. A dead end. Suddenly there seemed to be nothing left between the two of them and certain death.
Link turned and looked back down the hallway, trying to think of a way to get out of this doomed situation. Zelda, meanwhile, was examining the window. It wasn't that long a drop, really….and there were bags of peddler's flour at the bottom that would break their fall. This particular wing of the castle, she knew, looked out over a back alley. Perfect. She found the latch and threw open the window.
Suddenly Link gasped. The point of the spear was visible again, and growing! He had drawn his sword when Zelda breathlessly asked, "Link, how much do you trust me?"
"What does that have to do with anything? I trust you enough, I guess—"
"THEN JUMP!" She yelled, taking his hand and leaping out the window. It was a strange and somehow nostalgic experience, jumping out the window, hand in hand, the princess's skirts blowing back majestically and the hero, having to hold his sword upwards to keep from slashing himself. Zelda had estimated the fall just correctly, and they landed in a cloud of white.
The princess picked herself up from the pile of bags and sat down on an overturned crate to rest. "What just happened?" she asked to no one in particular.
"Evil monsters were attacking the castle, and YOU kept me from fighting them," Link answered bitterly, standing up and re-sheathing his sword.
"Oh, this is MY fault?" She said. "Link, you're not on your own anymore! We have GUARDS to handle enemies! What did you think they were for, decoration?!"
Link realized she was right. "Well—well, I could have helped!" He said, and sat down on another crate.
"So," Zelda said. "What are we going to do now?"
"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going back to the forest to find my weapons, and then I'm getting to the bottom of this."
"Wait a minute—you're going to go after a whole army of moblins, and probably more, by yourself?"
"Yeah, it kinda looks that way," Link said, getting up.
"No," Zelda said flatly.
"What?" Link chuckled.
"I said, no. Look. If it was me, I'd be happy to let you go—"
"Then why don't you?"
"Because you're the heir to the throne! I can't let you put yourself in danger. Maybe if you could get a royal escort, but until then, well, I'm sorry."
"Okay. You've got five minutes to decide," Link said.
"Excuse me?"
"You're royal, aren't you? I'm leaving in five minutes whether you decide to come with me or not. If you're so bent on doing this properly, then you can be my 'royal escort.' But I'll understand if you don't want to."
"I'm not afraid," she said, guessing his thoughts.
"Then you're coming?"
"Yes, I suppose I am," Zelda sighed, against her better judgment.
"Good. You'll be needing a horse," Link said. He took out his ocarina and played Epona's Song, summoning his palomino mare to his side. Show-off, Zelda thought. She put two fingers in her mouth and whistled the old-fashioned way, and soon, her own white mare appeared.
"Fine horse," Link commented as he mounted. "What's her name?"
"Abora," the princess answered. "It's Gerudo, for 'wind.'"
Link nodded once before turning Epona toward the drawbridge that would lead them to the field.