Disclaimer: I do not own anything. You know the drill.

Author's notes: Hi everybody, and thanks for the reviews! I was sitting in the computer room in my school when I checked my e-mails and saw the amount of very nice reviews I had got! Guess who was happy all day? I appreciate your support so much!

I guess I should write something about the poll in the last chapter. None of you thought I should end the story right now - which I was very happy for indeed. I'll keep this story going as long as I can – and I really hope that horrible writer's block stays away from me! I want to thank Selah Lahai Roi for making me realize a lot of important things about being an author. Go and read her reviews if you're feeling like it.

Be warned, this chapter is very sketchy and 'soap opera-ish' (is that an actual word?) *shrugs* I don't know if that's a bad thing. Tell me if you review! If you've read the OoT manga – which I suppose you have – you'll recognize some of the events from the manga in this chapter. This fic might contain lemony content later, but I haven't quite decided about it yet. I'm not too fond of that kind of writing, but I would like to try it sometime. But that's a problem I will deal with later. Now on with this.

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PART II

Chapter seventeen: Deception

Zelda's POV

"Who are you?"

"I am certain thou know, child."

"I don't know you. What do you want with me?"

"What did thy mother tell thee?"

"I never knew my mother!"

"Thou did. I am thy mother, as well as I am thee. Thy mother lives in me. I live in everyone."

"I don't know you!" I screamed, trying to escape from the strong, blue light that erupted from the being before me. What was happening to me? Only minutes ago, I had been riding over Hyrule Field with Link, Impa and Roy.

"Thou do know me, but thou have never met me before."

"Stop talking in riddles!" I spat angrily. "Let me out of here! I have something to do-"

"Yes. And I will help thou." The woman raised her right hand and I could see the Triforce mark on the back of it. One of the triangles was glowing stronger than the others… then she looked at me closely, her heavenly blue hair streaming around her shoulders, although there was no wind. I thought I drowned in those deep, blue eyes of hers. Then I knew.

"Nayru?" She nodded at me. I tried to hold back my tears. What had I said to her? "Where am I?"

"It does not matter, child. The important matter is not where thou are – but where thou art headed."

"I don't know. I barely know anything", I sighed, feeling so helpless. The Goddess smiled slightly at me.

"We all know what thou must do", she said softly. "And we will help thou. Thou art never alone, my daughter." The Goddess' glowing features began to disappear…

"Wait-" I said, but Nayru was already gone.

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The rough thing underneath me had to be the grass on Hyrule Field, and I could feel the soft breeze brush my hair. Someone was clutching my shoulders tightly, gently shaking my body.

"Let go of me", I said, slowly opening my eyes. The eyes that looked back at me were Link's.

"She's waking up, Impa", he called and released me. Impa appeared next to him, watching me in fear and confusion. I felt slightly irritated, but don't ask me why, perhaps it was just because they cared about me and were worried about me when it wasn't needed. I felt dizzy and I could barely stand. Link, Roy and Impa were all watching me anxiously. How was I supposed to tell them what I had just experienced? "I just had a vision. Nayru appeared and talked to me." That sounded stupid, and I knew none of them would believe me.

"What happened?" Roy asked. "You fell down from the horseback and passed out."

"You could have been hurt", Link said. I could hear the concern in his voice and smiled my best smile at him.
"I'm fine", I said. "Just fine…"

"Come on, then", Link said and reached out his hand at me. I grabbed it and he helped me to get up. He also helped me getting onto Epona's back again. I wrapped my arms around his waist and leaned my head against his back. He dug the heels of his boots into Epona's sides and she sped up, galloping over the field. Roy was riding next to us, and Impa had got a white horse in Kakariko. Surprisingly, Link didn't take the way to Hyrule Castle Town.

"Where are we going?" I asked him.

"To the ranch. I met Malon in town and she told me that Ingo had gone completely mad. He's kicked Talon out of the ranch, and he's abusing the animals, too. Apparently he thought Talon was way too lazy to take charge of the ranch. So he thinks hurting the animals is a better way to 'take care' of a ranch, huh?"

Link muttered angrily to himself, and my eyes widened with fear. Who knew what Ingo would possibly do? "What about Ophelia? Did she tell you anything about her?"

Link shook his head. "No, but we'll found out. I just hope Malon is okay…"

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Flashback, 17 years ago

Hyrule Castle

"How is she?" Rose Naltay asked anxiously. She was about 22 years old, tall and slim, with dark hazel eyes and light brown hair. If her father hadn't been a Hylian, her skin would have been dark and tanned. Her mother had been a Gerudo from the western Desert, but Rose had never known her. The Gerudo women just came to town to find Hylian men and have a little fun. Rose's mother had become pregnant after one of those visits, and had returned to the Desert after nine months, leaving Rose behind.

Rose's father came from one of the noble families in Hyrule Castle Town, but Rose barely met her father at all during her childhood. She had grown up with her aunt, her grandmother and her three siblings, and she had been educated and raised to be a rich and noble young lady, a lady who held a fierce detestation against the poor people. She thought everyone with less money than her family should be treated like dirt.

Rose Naltay had met Veilla Harkinian, the young Queen, at a ball at the Castle. Rose had pretended to like her, and soon she had ingratiated herself with Hyrule's Royal family as a close friend to Veilla. Rose was 16 and Veilla was 18 years old at the time, and Veilla had just given birth to a son, whom would be named Marth. Rose held a desire for power, and she dreamt of being the one who was sitting on the throne, instead of Veilla. When she found out that Veilla was one of the chosen people, and held the Triforce of Power, her desire for power became even stronger. An evil plan began taking form in the young woman's head, a plan to get rid of the Queen. She learned that if one killed a person who possessed the power of the Goddesses, he or she would conquer the power as well – and then Rose realized what she must do.

Rose's opportunity came six years later. Veilla had been pregnant for almost nine long months and the people in Hyrule were waiting anxiously for the arrival of another Royal child. Rose had been planning everything in detail ever since she found out about her friend's pregnancy. Now, she was standing outside the chamber in which Veilla was giving birth. Impa Shakin, a Sheikah woman who was Veilla's private servant and friend, had opened the door slightly.

"She's just fine", she answered to Rose's question. "It's finished soon."

"She will be very tired after the childbirth", Rose said quickly. "I'll get something for her." Impa nodded and closed the door again. Rose went to the kitchen in the Castle and prepared a golden goblet with a hot drink for her friend. Making sure to get the right temperature, she placed the goblet on a table and smiled to herself.

"I'm sure Veilla will be very tired", she mused. "So I'll be nice to her and prepare a drink that will help her getting some sleep." She pulled out a tiny bottle from her pocket. It was just a few inches long, and had a peculiar, white color. She uncorked the tiny bottle and put two drops of the pearly white liquid into the hot drink. The white color lingered on the surface for a second, then disappeared.

Veilla was lying in the bed, the covers wrapped tightly around her body. A baby girl was resting peacefully by her mother's chest. Though the Queen looked exhausted and cold sweat was covering her forehead, her face shone with happiness.

"Hi, Rose", she said. "I knew you would come. Look! Isn't she beautiful?"

Rose placed the golden goblet on the bedside table carefully, then kneeled down by the bed to take a look at the newborn. A pair of noticeable big eyes was watching her. The little girl had her mother's eye color; a deep, deep blue. Rose felt a pang of jealousy and guilt. She was jealous of Veilla, but that would come to an end soon. Rose tried to forget about the guilt and continued to look at the baby girl.

"She's just adorable, Veilla!" she exclaimed. "She's so pretty, a true Princess…"

Veilla smiled happily. "I love you", she whispered to the baby. "I love you."

To hide the tears that burned in her eyes, Rose turned her back at her friend and tried to wipe them away. When she didn't succeed, however, she lifted the goblet and turned to face Veilla again.

"What is it, Rose?" Veilla asked, noticing the tears that trickled down the young woman's cheeks.

"I'm… I'm just so happy for you, that's all", Rose said, a little too quickly. "But you must be very tired."

"I am", Veilla said. "But I can't sleep now."

Rose smiled. "Veilla, I- I thought that you would want something to drink, so I brought you this. Be careful, it's warm."

"Thank you", Veilla said. "Would you like to hold her for a second?"

Rose held the girl carefully in her arms, admiring the beautiful blue eyes that looked curiously at her. The baby girl's hair was pretty thick and blonde, and it felt so smooth when she touched it. The baby was just as beautiful as her mother… Rose fought to keep strong when she saw Veilla bring the goblet to her lips.

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Of course no one ever found out the truth. If she would have told someone, Rose Naltay wouldn't have seen the light of another day. But now – Naltay had become Harkinian. When she had taken the place as the new Queen several years after Veilla's death, Rose had deceived the people, her husband and her family. And now, she was the one who was going to have a child.

But when she had got rid of both the Crown Prince and that annoying brat, Romani, another obstacle appeared, totally unforeseen. The obstacle was a teenage girl, the girl she had been holding carefully in her arms while she watched Veilla die. As the Queen's life force abandoned her, Rose had felt a new power in her own body. From that day, Rose possessed The Triforce of Power, and a couple of years later, as she learned how to handle her gift, the golden Triforce mark would appear on the back of her hand.

Rose didn't know much about the Hylian religion or the holy Goddesses, but adding two and two together, she realized that two other people had the remaining Triforce parts… and if there was a way to conquer them, she would do it. But it wasn't an easy task, however, since the Queen had no clue of who those two people would be. Of course she didn't suspect that the true Princess of Hyrule was one of the chosen ones – at that time Rose believed, like everyone else, that Zelda Harkinian was dead.

Rose had known about the fire in Kakariko before it happened. Making Romani and Marth going there with her, was her own way to get rid of them. She had never cared about them; the only things she cared about were her desire for power, and the life that was growing inside of her. But there was an obstacle…

A few days after the fire in Kakariko village, she had heard rumors that Princess Zelda had been seen there. She shrugged it all off, how could that be possible? But as ridiculous as the rumors were, they still awoke her fear. What if they were true? If they were, the Princess would most likely be coming to the Castle soon. And if the Queen wanted to save her own skin, she should get away before they could get her.

When the King got an urgent message from Lake Hylia - the evil being in the Temple there had caused more problems, and someone had to defeat it, somehow - the Queen took the opportunity. Headed for Gerudo Valley, she left the Castle in disguise, hiding her face and the golden crown beneath a thick, brown hood.

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Malon's POV

"This is what happens to those who don't listen to what I say!"

"Stop, Ingo! Don't abuse the horses!" I begged him with the tears burning behind my eyelids. My hands were tied up and I sat on the floor, watching as Ingo whipped the animals, but unable to do anything. Ingo stopped with what he was doing and glared at me scornfully.

"Malon, you're no longer the daughter of the ranch master – or anything for that matter", he sniggered. "Talon's gone, you know? There's no one to help you! So, by order, behave."

I couldn't understand how abruptly Ingo had changed. True, he had always complained when he worked here as the farmhand, but I never thought he would kick my father out of the ranch. Then, Ingo had forced me to stay. I hoped dad was all right… a tear trickled down my cheek, and though it annoyed me, I couldn't wipe it away.

Suddenly I heard neighing horses and anxious voices outside. One of the voices sounded very familiar…

"… they're not in the corral! Let's take a look in the stables…"

My heart began beating faster. I surely knew to whom that voice belonged. But then, a female voice answered.

"The door seems to be locked."

"No problem. Get out of the way, Zelda."

Zelda? Have I heard that name before? I thought, and suddenly I remembered a day several years ago, when Link and a girl came here. Could that be her? She has the same name as the Princess had… I winced at the sound of a sword clashing against the wooden door. One, two, three, four… then the door fell down with a loud thud. Link entered, holding his sword in a firm grip. I noticed that a white fairy was fluttering next to him.

"Malon, are you okay?" he said, looking at me. I nodded. Then I watched him raise the sword, aiming…

"No, it's not-" I tried to stop him, but I heard the sound of the ropes being cut off and yelped. "… necessary."

He grinned and helped me to stand up. I noticed that three other people had entered the stable as well. There were a young man, about my age, with the same hair color as me, a girl with long, blonde hair and blue eyes, dressed in a beautiful gown, which looked terribly wrong in this environment. A middle-aged woman with pale blue eyes and grey hair was standing next to the girl. I realized that she had to be a Sheikah. But who were those people?

"It's Ingo", I managed to say. "He's abusing the horses." I'm not sure if Link heard me or not. He was pointing the sword at Ingo already. Ingo raised the whip, then lowered it slowly again.

"Who are you?" he snorted scornfully. "Never seen you around before, kid."
"I can recall meeting you before", Link said lowly. "But I don't think you remember me."

"What do you want here? This is my ranch."

"I think not. It belongs to Talon. You can't hijack the ranch and abuse the animals. Someone has to stop it."

"Who would that be? You?" Ingo snorted. "Don't think so."

"No, but I will", the blonde girl said, looking at Ingo, who had started to laugh. She sighed. "I don't think you know who I am. If you did, you certainly wouldn't laugh at me."

"Oh yeah?" Ingo was clutching his guts now, as though the girl had told him some kind of really funny joke.

"Yes." The girl pulled a white glove off her right hand, and showed Ingo the back of it. I couldn't see what she did, but Ingo turned deadly pale and stopped laughing at once.

"It was her", Ingo stammered, dropping the whip. The iron lash hit the floor and where it lay, it did not look like it could do any harm. "She did it. Not… me." Ingo was looking at the girl warily, afraid that she would hit him, kill him, even.

"I'm innocent", he said. "I assure you I didn't do it… she promised me…"

"What did she promise you?" the Sheikah asked.

"Fortune", Ingo said quietly. "But only if I did as she said…"

"That explains a lot", the girl said to Link. He nodded. "Yes", he said. "Yet another reason for us to stop her. Before it's too late, I mean. Let's get out of here, we have things to do! And you, too." Link took a firm grip on Ingo's collar, and since he was so much taller, Ingo's feet hung about ten inches above the ground. I watched as Link dragged Ingo outside, and the others followed. I snapped out of my thoughts as I heard a chuckling beside me. It was the girl in the beautiful gown.

"Did you see his face?" she said with a giggle. "I'm sure he won't bother you anymore."

"I hope so." After a minute of silence, I spoke again. "Excuse me, but who are you?" I regretted asking her right after I said it, but the girl didn't seem offended. On the contrary, she smiled.

"How rude of me. I am Princess Zelda. It's nice to meet you, Malon."

I couldn't even manage to say that the pleasure was wholly with me.

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A/N: Sorry people, it took me forever to finish that chapter. I hate the last part, it's way too cheesy, but I just wanted to get it over with. If you had hoped that they would confront the Queen in this chapter, you have to wait a while! I'm working on it. *mutters to herself* How come it's more difficult writing on a story the longer it continues? But I promise you I won't give up on this story. I want to know what it's like to finish a story, you know?

I'm sorry that it didn't happen so much in that chapter, but I do have my ideas for future chapters. Besides, I need some time to explain things, and it's not easy without boring the readers… Zelda's vision, for instance, will get more important later, maybe in the next chapter. That's it for now, I think. To get rid of the writer's block, I might need a few encouraging reviews. See you all in the next chapter!

..::Hylian Heroine::..