Chapter 4: Different Families, Different Lives, Different People

The next day, Rosemarie awoke to the sound of an object hitting her window. Surprised, she opened her curtains. To her dismay, it was only a couple of boys playing a prank.

"The nerve of them to awaken a princess in her sleep. I ought to teach them a lesson." But, with a yawn, she plopped back on her pillow. "Next time." Her eyelids barely closed when a loud knock sounded on her door. With a huge moan of laziness she opened the door. A broom immediately made contact with her right shoulder.

"It's seven in the morning, you aren't up? The laundry still has to be done, the dishes washed, the floor swept, and you haven't even made your bed?" yelled her mother, as was her usual routine. "What kind of example do you make for Wildflower?" Rosemarie winced. She suddenly remembered that her mother had adopted a girl named Wildflower not too long ago. She mainly lived with her father, on the other side of the kingdom. But this week, she was staying with Rosemarie.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm getting to work," Rosemarie mumbled. She rubbed the shoulder where she had been hit.

"Yeah? It is 'yes ma'am' or you're kicked out of the house!" Her mother usually threw a fit in the morning ever since she had divorced. But usually by evening, she had calmed down. Rosemarie had to go through this every day. Sometimes, she got up a few hours early so she could impress her mother, but she always messed up and her mother complained. Nothing impressed her in the morning.

Rosemarie slammed the door closed and threw herself on the bed. In a few hours, she could get out of her house and go to the fields where she loved to run and play. A few hours...

After finishing her breakfast, Zelda calmly helped her mother wash the dishes. Her family was the quiet type. A mother, a father, and a daughter. No surprises anywhere. She didn't even have a pet. Since she was the only child, her parents weren't very strict. She had three rooms with their own bathrooms, two closets, and a library all to herself. In other words, she had the whole house. Her parents had the basement story and the kitchen. They almost never went into her territory. Yet, Zelda wasn't a spoiled type. She liked to share whenever she had a chance and give money to all the street children.

After washing the dishes, Zelda took a short shower. After a quick dress-up, she went to do her chores. That was the one bad thing about being a lonely-only. She had all the chores. All of them.

Link finished his breakfast. The table in the morning was quiet. It was long...and empty. His father wouldn't wake for a couple of hours, and it took his mom a few hours to dress up. He was always the first to be there. And to finish.

He set down his fork and almost immediately a servant picked up his plate. His seat was pulled back to allow him to exit and a few other servants cleaned his place. He left the room, trying not to notice that two guards standing next to him kneeled in his presence. He hated his life. Everything had to be monitored and carefully made sure to be perfect. He had to be protected beyond imagination. His parents had no time to spend with him. The only time he saw them was when he wished them good night. His sister, Aryll, had to be taught "princess matters". She was to be married in a month. She was only thirteen.

Link liked to call his life boring. He liked adventure...and romance. But he was stuck in the castle most of the time, and his future bride was a girl from a kingdom on the other side of the planet. Life sucked. He had better enjoy the last two years of his freedom. When he turned twenty, he'd have a wife to take care of. Link grimaced at the idea.

"Maybe I can talk my mom out of it," he thought aloud. He ran up the steps to his room, shook his head, and raced down again. He raced out the door to his stable. Sometimes, he just had to ride a horse before he could go into his room after heavy thoughts.

He reached the stable and ran over to his horse, Epona. She was sleeping peacefully. Not wanting to disturb her, Link kneeled down and thought about things to pass his time. His mind wavered over several things. Family...Aryll...marriage...kingdom...responsibility.