~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Zelda lay miserably in her bed hours later. It was very late at night, and she highly doubted that anyone else in the castle was awake. That didn't matter, though. She was barely up to getting out of bed and finding out for herself.

Suddenly, she saw a dim light shine through the cracks in her door. Zelda thought someone mustv'e been passing by with a lantern, but she knew that no lantern could hold such a bright glow.

The invalid squinted her eyes. "W-who's there?" she called out in a hoarse voice, as the light grew brighter and whiter. Slowly, the door opened.

'Oh no, not again,' Zelda thought to herself, closing her eyes tightly. 'Why do I keep hallucinating?"

"It's not a hallucination," came a small girl's voice. "I'm really here."

Zelda opened her eyes and stared. "Dylan? How did you--"

"--get here? Read your mind? Become an environmentalist? They're all long stories, I must say, Zelda. But I've been sent here to deliver a message: STOP WASTING YOUR TIME WITH THIS LINK GUY!!"

"Yeah!"

Zelda turned to look at the window, and saw Kathryn sitting comfortably on a chair by it. Her mouth dropped slowly open. "How is this.....how're you....please tell me I'm dreaming!!"

"You've still got the bell, haven't you?" Kathryn asked.

"Yes, I--" Forgetting that her back was in immense pain, Zelda had turned sharply to face her sister. Her back started throbbing in soreness again, and she moaned softly.

"What is it?" Dylan asked, rushing towards the bed. She saw the bloody cuts and scars all over Zelda's back and the ones that had seeped through her dress. "HOLY DIN, NAYRU AND FARORE PUT TOGETHER!!!" the little sister screamed dramatically.

Out of no where, a woman with long blue hair appeared next to Dylan, clamping a hand over her mouth. "Hush, child! I knew we shouldn't have sent you! You're too loud--and you always use our names in vain, curse you!"

"Sorry," Dylan squeaked.

"What's the big deal, anyway?" asked the woman.

"It's Zelda," Kathryn answered. "It looks as though she's been flogged."

"That's right," Zelda whispered, turning slowly for the first time. She gasped softly and her eyes widened. "Nayru!"

"In the flesh," Nayru said proudly. "Well. . .kind of. Turn over on your stomach, child. I want to see these so-called injuries."

Knowing that she was dealing with a Goddess (who appeared to be in a bad mood), Zelda obeyed. There came no cry of anguish or gasp of shock, but Nayru put a long fingernail to her chin and thought.

"Hmmm......HMMMMMMMmmmmmmm....."

"IS THAT ALL YOU CAN SAY?!?!" Dylan shouted, waving her arms in the air. "JUST 'HMMMMMMMM?!?!'"

"Dylan!" Kathryn whispered loudly, hitting her sister in the face with a pillow. "Shut up, and give her time to think! Down on your knees!"

Frowning, Dylan got to her knees and mumbled an apology.

Nayru was unmoved. "Din! Farore! Get on down here!"

Seconds later, Nayru's sisters materialized in Zelda's room. "What's up, Nay?" Farore asked.

"It's Zelda," Nayru answered. "Apparently, she's been whipped. As of now, I am without the essential healing abilities to patch up the scars. Howevere, I do believe that the combination of your powers may work."

"Wouldn't hurt to try," Din said, rolling up her colorless sleeves and pulling back her scarlet hair. "C'mon, Farore. Is Zelda asleep?"

"It seems that she's fainted," Farore observed.

"Poor Zel!" Dylan sighed.

"Hey, you two kids get out of here!" Nayru ordered. "This is no time for squeamish children!"

"We aren't squeamish," Kathryn sniffed, raising her head nobly. "And I for one am not a child."

"Please just do as she says," Farore sighed.

"But we've got to tell Zelda something!" Dylan cried.

"We'll tell her for you," Din said patiently.

"Oh, all right," Kathryn agreed. She and her sister slowly dissapated until they finally faded away.

"Honestly!" Nayru huffed. "The way those kids act, you'd think that they forgot we're Goddesses!"

"Hush!" Din hushed her. "They're almost like family, Nay. We've known them all for so long. Besides, people aren't supposed to cower in fear from us all the time. They're supposed to feel comfortable."

"Well you'd still think we'd get a little respect!"

"Give it a rest, will you Nay?" Farore asked, who had been healing Zelda with Din throughout this whole argument. "There we go, I think that ought to have done it."

"Really? Well, glad that's over with," Nayru said. "C'mon, let's go."

Din winked at Farore, and she and Nayru quickly departed. Farore sat down next to Zelda on her bed. She closed her eyes tightly and grasped the servant's hand.

'This wasn't a dream. . .' Farore thought inwardly. 'You're pains are gone, and you have regained your strength, Zelda! Tomorrow morning, you are to find Darryl. . . it is his decided fate that he is to know, and you are the one to tell him!'

Farore opened her eyes and looked down at Zelda. Mental contact was always best, for now Zelda was instinctively find Darryl and hopefully find a way to explain their relationship.

"Good luck," Farore whispered, before she too departed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The next morning, Zelda flew down the stairs into the kitchen. "Good morning everyone!" she greeted them.

"Zelda?" Sophie asked, turning around. "How's your back?"

Grinning, Zelda skipped around the room and sat down at the table. "It's feeling just fine! I don't know how it happened, but I woke up this morning and then I suddenly felt completely better!"

Cody broke into a smile. "Won't Princess Malon be disappointed to know that her plot failed?" He failed.

"Well, it can't have failed entirely," Scarlett wheezed, who was standing shakily by the counter. "My back still feels like it's been bitten by Wolfos. I'm just glad you're feelin' better, Zel. Sophie told me everything earlier this morning."

"I'm so sorry that you're still in so much pain," Zelda sympathized.

Scarlett shrugged. "Oh, it's nothing."

"Ginseng's been looking for you," Sophie said, smiling. He comes in here all the time, just like Squeaks used to!" The cook suddenly broke into tears.

"Oh, for Nayru's sakes!" Scarlett sighed. "Are you STILL upset about that stupid cat, Sophie?"

"Y-yes!" Sophie stuttered. "Even if he did steal the pickles and the butter, I miss his sneakin' around here!"

Scarlett's exclamation had reminded Zelda of last night. "Y'know, I had the weirdest dream last night," she said slowly.

"What about?" Cody asked.

"The Goddesses," she answered. "The three of them were all in my bedroom, and so were my two late sisters. . .I just can't remember what happened."

"Hey!" Sophie cried. "Maybe that's why your back is feeling better! Maybe the Goddesses really DID go to your room last night and you were healed by them!! It's a possibility, isn't it?"

"Highly unlikely," Scarlett said. "Goddesses ain't got no time to come down to earth and heal any soul that's weak. Holy Din, couldn't I have gotten any help."

"Why don't you make yourself useful and beat these eggs for me," Sophie growled, roughly pushing a bowl towards Scarlett.

Zelda suddenly shivered, and she steadily got to her feet. Numbly, she headed towards the stairs and started to scale them, as if in a trance.

Sophie half expected Zelda's arms to stretch out in front of her and start walking like a zombie.

Crossing the courtyard, Zelda found herself in front of a very long and winding staircase by the North Tower.

'Go up. . .' she heard a voice say in her head. 'Climb the steps!'

'Am I hearing things?' Zelda wondered to herself as she subconciously started to ascend the stairway. 'Goddesses, now I'm climbing them. I don't even know where these stairs lead!'

But she'd soon find out. Heaving deep breaths (the steps seemed to go on endlessly), Zelda almost slipped on something that had been carelessly left on the stairs. Bending down to pick it up, she realized it was a blanket. A very small one.

Not sure what she should do, Zelda stood there and then heard a door open. She looked up and realized that Darryl was only a few steps away from her.

"What're you doing?" he asked from surprise.

Blushing, she quickly ran up the rest of the stairs and bowed in a not too graceful fashion. "Forgive me, highness, but I found this on your staircase and I wondered. . ."

"Oh, yes," Darryl said, turning a bit pink himself. "That's mine. At least, it used to be. I've been. . .erm. . .looking for it."

"This is a very fine material," Zelda commented after a silence. She turned it over. "What's it m--" Zelda almost dropped the coverlet from shock.

On the back of the blanket, she recognized not only herself, but her mother, Dylan, Kathryn, Quint and Matt. Zelda tried to say something, but her voice got caught somewhere in her throat. She probably looked as if she were going to throw up, but she was really just trying to say something.

"Are you feeling all right?" Darryl asked, slowly taking the blanket out of her hands and giving her a strange look. Normally he was never this kind towards the servants, but he felt different about this one.

"W-where did you get that?" Zelda asked in a hoarse voice. "Pray forgive my prying, majesty, but I must know."

"I've had for as long as I can remember," Darryl told her.

"Who are they?" Zelda asked, looking pointedly at the figures sewn into the cloth.

Darryl shrugged. "Oh, no one here is really sure. Just some random people I suppose; I don't know."

"I do," Zelda said in a whisper.

A little surprised, Darryl took a step closer. "You do?"

She forced herself to look into his questioning eyes. "Y-yes, I... I...."

But before she could finish her sentence, she heard loud footsteps come from behind her. Zelda turned around and saw Roy.

He bowed. "Your highness," he said. "Forgive me if I am interrupting, but your father has requested your presence at a meeting. I believe it is quite urgent."

Giving Zelda one last confused look, Darryl made his way quickly down the stairs. Roy stared at him until he was out of sight. Small tears made their way down Zelda's cheeks and she sat down on one of the steps.

"What is it?" Roy asked with concern, sitting down next to her.

"Darryl. . .Prince Darryl!" Zelda cried, wiping desperately at her eyes. "It's.....well, you see he......oh, it's so difficult to explain!! Roy, have you seen Link today?"

"Yes," Roy said stiffly, giving her a strange look. He hestitantly reached up and stroked her cheeks, wiping away her tears. "I just saw him in the court yard."

Zelda shuddered at her touch, feeling a little uncomfortable. He put an arm around her, but she quickly stood up and started running down the stairs.

"I'm sorry Roy," she apologized. "But I must go."

Roy got up and looked out the window. He could see Link in the snowy courtyard, sitting on a bench with his nose stuck in a book. About twenty minutes later (I told you it was a long staircase), Zelda came into view.

She sat down on the bench next to Link. Grinning, he put his book away in a large pocket and faced her. "Zel, you're back is feeling better, I presume?"

"Oh, yes, much better," she responded. "Thank you, it's very nice of you to inquire about it."

Link smiled and flushed slightly, remembering he had kissed Zelda last night.... He wondered how she would've taken to that had she been awake.

Well, there was only one way to find out. he took her hand and leaned towards her.

"Prince Link!" came a voice.

They jumped at the interruption, and turned to find the source of the voice. It was Cody, and he approached them quickly.

"Your presence is requested at a political meeting," he said, bowing. "I believe it's important, and best that you get there as quickly as possible."

"All right." Link got to his feet and ran off.

Zelda watched after him wistfully.

'I was so close!' she thought. 'SO CLOSE!!!!'

Then she realized that she had failed to tell Link that Darryl was her brother, which had been her intention at the start.

As Cody walked back to the castle, Zelda banged her head on a nearby tree. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid!!!'

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N:

Din: Weeeeeeel, SOMEONE was in a bad mood today.

Nayru: So I didn't get my coffee. Shoot me.

Sawyerzelda: Well, that about wraps it up for this chapter. Please review!!

Random Quote of the day....................

"He's like putty in my hands."

(coming from no where) "LUUUUUCY!!!"

"Speak of the putty."

--Lucy and Ricky Ricardo