Chapter Two

"Nooooooo!" screamed Zelda, as she watched Link collapse. "You killed Link! You killed him!" Tears streamed down her face.

"Oh, shut up and get over it," said the Gerudo riding the horse with her.

"No! Let me go. Take me back to him! Link!"

They rode into the nearby Gerudo Valley. From her awkward position flung over the horse, Zelda could see down into the massive drop to the river below as they went over the narrow bridge across the ravine. This ravine created a natural barrier around the Gerudo Fortress for a tribe that fiercely valued and guarded its isolation. The horses stopped in front of a doorway, and Zelda was dragged down from the horse, screaming the whole time. Around them, spear-carrying guards dressed in purple watched the goings on curiously. Zelda was carried down a corridor and into a large room. Along one wall of this room a series of cells had been built. Zelda was placed in the corner of one of these cells. One of her captors used a dagger – the same dagger that had stabbed Link – to cut through her binding ropes. As soon as her arms and legs were free, Zelda tried to push past her and run, but the Gerudo was expecting her to do just that. She shoved Zelda to the floor and pointed the dagger at her throat. The princess landed hard and had the wind knocked out of her. The Gerudo woman noticed that Zelda was wearing a gold Triforce necklace and ripped it from around her neck. She then exited the cell, locking it behind her. Without a word, the Gerudo women turned and left Zelda by herself, although guards were positioned at the doorway leading down into the room.

When she had caught her breath, Zelda looked around her cell. It was tiny and completely bare, without even stool to sit on. Zelda pushed against the door and walls, but they were all solid.

"Help!" she screamed, beginning to panic as her pushing proved fruitless, "Get me out of here! Someone!"

"Shut up!" a call from outside carried down into the cell.

"Help me!" Zelda continued, "Help, help!"

One of the guards marched down and stood in front of the cell. She was carrying a large spear, and she thrust it in between the cell bars, pointing it at Zelda.

"Nobody outside of here can hear you. If you don't stop this whining at once I will skewer you up on this," the guard waved her spear around, "And leave you in the Haunted Wasteland for the vultures."

Zelda was silenced.

"Good girl."

When the guard went back outside, Zelda finally realized that she was a prisoner and there was nothing she could do. She fell down on the floor and started to cry. This whole thing had been a mistake. It was meant to be a night of fun, but it was a mistake. Link was the only one who would know where she was, but how could he save her if he was dead?

The following morning at noon, King Harkinian of Hyrule was pacing around his sitting room. He cut an imposing figure, his large frame dressed in his best purple robes, and an exquisitely bejewelled gold crown atop his curly white hair. Impa, attendant to Princess Zelda and trusted friend of Harkinian, sat nearby in one of the cushioned chairs. She was also dressed in her best. In fact, Impa was wearing a dress, which was an extreme rarity for her. However it was not every day in Hyrule that a soldier was knighted, and today would be the first time in three years.

"She should be here by now," Harkinian said, for the fifteenth time in ten minutes.

"She's probably been having too much fun with Link and they lost track of the time," Impa calmly replied. "You know what they're like together."

"I made it absolutely clear that she was required to attend this ceremony," Harkinian said angrily. "I have been reminding her all week. If she isn't here in the next ten minutes, she is grounded for a month. Especially from seeing Link."

"She will be here," Impa said, although inside she had some doubts. She knew all too well that Zelda hated attending official functions, and had often tried to get out of them many times in the past. Now that she was a little older, Impa hoped that she had outgrown this.

"She won't have time to get changed! I saw what she was wearing when she left last night. She certainly cannot attend dressed as a commoner."

"I have already left a change of clothes on her bed," Impa said. "The ceremony is not for another half hour. She'll have time."

The minutes ticked on. As each minute passed, Impa watched Harkinian's face turn a deeper shade of red. After a little while, he began tapping his fingers on the table at an increasingly rapid rate. The way he was going, Impa feared that the king might have a heart attack. Finally, there were only five minutes left before the ceremony began.

"Well, I have to go down now," Harkinian said slowly, drawing in a deep breath and trying to calm himself down for the sake of his imminent public appearance. "Impa, I want you go to the Kokiri Forest and fetch my daughter immediately. She is in serious trouble. I will deal with her after the ceremony."

"Very well, your Highness."

Impa sighed upon leaving the room. She returned to her own quarters and changed out of the fine dress she was wearing. When she had her regular attire on, she headed to the stables and left in a carriage driven by one of the Royal Family's official drivers. Impa sat back in the carriage as they travelled across Hyrule Field and hoped that Zelda's punishment wouldn't be too harsh. She knew that the king had a terrible temper, and Zelda would bear the brunt of it when she returned home. Impa wished that Zelda wouldn't be so silly sometimes about attending royal functions.

"Kokiri Forest," announced the driver when they reached their destination.

"Thank you," Impa stepped out of the carriage. "I won't be very long." She went through the first entrance into the woods, across the wooden suspension bridge, and entered the Kokiri Forest itself. When Zelda was younger, Impa would always escort her here whenever she visited Link. However, it had been almost two years since she had last visited. It was such a quaint little place, and she could see why Link and Zelda loved it so much.

"I am here to see Link," Impa said to the Kokiri boy on guard duty at the forest entrance. "Can you please tell him that Impa is here to see him, and ask him to bring Zelda with him."

The little boy nodded and sped off. Impa watched him climb up a ladder to the tree house she knew was Link's. A moment later, he climbed down, unaccompanied, and ran back to Impa.

"Link's not home," he said. "He might've gone into the woods. Ooh, hold on, there's Saria. She'll probably know where he is." He called out to Saria, whom he had spotted talking nearby with two of the Know-It-All brothers. She excused herself, and walked over to them.

Saria was surprised to see Impa. She knew that Impa used to always escort Link and Zelda between the forest and the castle, but that was before Link had been deemed old and strong enough to be Zelda's escort alone.

"Hello, Impa," Saria said. She looked around for Link. "Where's Link?"

"Actually," Impa replied, "I was about to ask you the same question. Zelda was meant to be back at the castle much earlier to attend a Knighting Ceremony. The king is not at all happy with her, and sent me to collect her. So do you know where she and Link are?"

"Uh," Saria stalled. Link had left last night, telling her that he was going to stay overnight at the castle. Saria knew that he hadn't returned yet. So why was Impa here at the forest asking for him? Now that Saria thought about it, Link had been carrying a lot more stuff than he usually did when he went to the castle. All of a sudden she realized that Link had not been to the castle last night. And obviously, Zelda had told Impa that she was staying here at the forest. Instead, they must have gone off somewhere by themselves. Saria didn't want Zelda to get into any more trouble than she already was, but she hated having to lie. "I don't know," she finally said, feeling uncomfortable.

"Did you see them go off anywhere this morning?" Impa asked.

"No." That was the truth.

"Then I suppose I'll just have to wait here for them to return," Impa said.

"Uh, what if they're not in the forest?"

"What do you mean?"

"For all I know they could have gone somewhere outside. If they have, I'm sure that Link will return Zelda to the castle before coming back here. I'd say that if Zelda didn't return when she was meant to, they probably lost track of the time."

"That's what I thought might have happened," said Impa, sighing again.

"Look, you should probably go back to the castle. If they do come back here, I'll tell them you came over and what you said, and I'll try and get Link to take Zelda home immediately," said Saria. "But I'm quite sure he will drop her there first."

"That's a good idea," replied Impa. "Thank you, Saria."

When Impa had gone, Saria felt angry. "I can't believe he lied to me!" she said out loud, "Don't they realize how dangerous it might be for them out on their own at night?" She tried to think of someone they might have stayed with. Malon? But she was sure they would tell her that. Why would Link lie about staying at the ranch? He'd been there many times before. Saria was certain that Link and Zelda had come up with some little scheme to camp away on their own, and she was not at all happy.

"You know what, I hope they do get in trouble at the castle!"

Zelda had spent several hours the night before crying for Link and full of regret for lying to Impa and her father, and for staying out by themselves. If only someone knew where she was, then they would be able to rescue her. Why had it seemed like such an exciting idea to spend the night out at the lake anyway? As Zelda pictured their little tent, the image of Link collapsing in front of it played over and over in her mind. Her vision blurred with fresh tears as she imagined him lying cold, stiff and alone out there. She finally regained her composure, and became angry when two Gerudo came to give her some bread and water late in the morning.

"Just you wait," she said to them through the bars of her cell. "Every soldier in Hyrule will be looking for me when they realize what you have done. Don't you know who I am?"

"Oh yes, we know exactly who you are, Princess," one of the Gerudo spoke.

"It won't be necessary to find us" the other woman added. "When he finds out that we have you, the king will have no choice but listen to our demands. I'm sure that he will do anything we want to get you back."

"He will have your heads when he sees what you have done," Zelda snarled. "Especially for killing Link."

"You see, that's the beauty of this whole plan. If the king doesn't do what we say, you'll join Link. He doesn't have a choice."