Chapter two
Link laid himself in his bed for the evening. Bruce had learned quickly on spell casting, so well the two had a little practice match. He was dead beat tired. He had no idea his son would have that much power hidden within his finger tips. Realizing this fact, a grin came over Link's face.
"What are you grinning about?" Came the warm and soft voice of his queen, Zelda.
"Oh just how grown up our son has become," Link closed his eyes, lying on their bed as his wife walked to their dresser. She removed the jeweled earrings from her ears. "He'd make a fine warrior one day." He added.
Zelda grinned softly herself as she pushed her long, golden hair over her shoulders. She looked young almost, not as young looking as Link was however. She got up from the stool once all her jewelry was on the surface of the finely polished wood; and walked over to the bed.
Once she crawled in and got comfortable, Link pulled her close to him in his arms. A deep sigh came from him.
"What's wrong my king? You seem… worried." Zelda noticed his sigh.
"Bruce learned of the brewing troubles today. JR told him." Link replied softly.
Zelda simply nodded.
"I didn't want my son to have to go through the hardships I did at his age. I don't want any of my children to go through it; even the future generations outside of the royal bloodline." Link paused as he placed his chin on her shoulder. "But, I guess there will never be peace that long."
"I know my king. But you mustn't worry else it'll get worse. As long as you are in rule and as long as the Sages still have strength no evil will prevail for very long." Zelda said to him in a comforting tone.
Link sighed deeply and laid his head down on the pillow as Zelda rolled over to face him.
"Everything will be fine." She reassured him.
Link nodded and closed his eyes. Slowly, he started to fall into a deep slumber. Zelda watched him.
Bruce yawned again for the tenth time that morning. JR and Léon had dragged him out of bed before the sun was even ready to rise. He leaned on a soldier next to him, who was also very tired, and started to zone off. Léon hit him over the head, causing the young prince to fall over, face first into the dirt.
"Se réveiller." Léon said in his foreign tongue.
Bruce grumbled and stood up. He wiped his face of the dirt and rubbed the back of his head. The young prince looked ahead of him at JR. He watched as the strange scientist brought his hands up, chanting in ancient Hylian. Soon, bright green and blue spark popped into the air above them all. The magic rained down on them and made the ground glow brightly.
JR turned back to the three behind him; a wide smirk over his face.
"Now, we teach young master Bruce the properties of dark magic." JR told them.
The guard with them was an experience soldier in dark magic. His skills was impressive; so impressive, Link had him promoted to be apart of Bruce's body guard squad.
"Get in position, Hightower." JR told the solider.
He did so, moving away fro Bruce with a lance in his hands. Around them was the glowing circle of the grass.
"Don't worry. Any magic cast won't go very far. I set up a boundary around us."
Bruce took a deep breath. He was going over the elemental skills he learned yesterday. Thanks to his father's help, Bruce was able to conjure up a small ice spell in his fist.
The brute on his left noticed this and grinned some. Léon had his broad sword drawn from the sheath on his back. He glanced at JR for a second, seeing the wizard was conjuring his own magic spell.
"On y va?"
No sooner had he said those words did JR cast a black spell at Bruce. The prince countered with an ice shield that made the energy splatter. He quickly turned to Hightower as the guard sent a black jolt from his lance and leaped out of the way. Léon frowned at the on coming jolt that had missed Bruce. The muscular brute simply brought his sword to the bolt, swinging swiftly and canceling the spell.
Bruce rolled back to his feet and with much haste, fired a small black wave at the ground. The wave grew through the glowing grass towards JR. With his staff, JR disabled the spell and conjured his one black wave, in the air this time. Bruce ducked again.
Léon, once again, brought his sword up for his defenses. He waited till the magical energy was close enough for the edge of his blade to cut right through it. The edge of his sword indeed sliced perfectly through the energy, disabling it as well. Again, he waited for his chance to strike at the prince.
Bruce barely had enough time to leap to the side as black bolts of magic hit the ground where he once stood. With easy foot work, he twirled around and bent backwards as a black spark flew above him. Once he was up again, he ducked as another flew above him again. With his hands filled with black magical energy, Bruce clapped them together and shouted. The energy sparked with explosive energy, causing the ground to shake and send many waves of black magic at the three surrounding him.
JR had just enough time to create a white shield with his staff as the waves hit against it. Hightower countered with his own black magic to canceling the spells sent at him. Léon, on the other hand, was stuck with taking a few before having his swing ready to disable the energy.
Bruce thought he had it won. When he opened his eyes, he was struck by many sparks of black magic, cast from both of the magic users. The young prince fell to the ground, panting.
"I thought this was just practice!" Bruce shouted at the two.
"How can it be practice if you don't watch for these things." JR stated more than asked.
Bruce looked at the scientist and sighed. He brought his arms back up, chanting for a spell.
Before he was able to cast the spell, a strong, electric flowing blast shot him in the back. Bruce fell forward, landing hard on his knees then on his face. It took him moments to be able to gain control through his body, it felt like all the nerves were cut off. When Bruce got to roll over limply on his back, he realized JR, Hightower, and Léon were standing over him; the three of them looked like dark fuzz balls.
"What kind of spell did you use, Master Léon!" Hightower shouted.
Léon shrugged lazily and taped Bruce's cheek roughly. "Se réveiller. " He spoke.
Bruce felt his numb body being pulled up to his legs.
"Very nice Léon! Very Impressive! I've never seen a Paralyze Spell used so well!" JR spoke rather enthusiastically.
"Master Bruce, are you alright?" Hightower asked as he helped Bruce stand.
"I'll be fine…" Bruce spoke slowly in a drunken man's tone.
"Well, I think that's all for today! Léon, you're coming with me to tell me how you cast that spell! Good day Master Bruce!" JR canceled his barrier spell and rushed his way back towards the castle. Léon shrugged and followed behind him.
Hightower held Bruce by the arm for a moment until the prince had regained his senses. The two walked back to the palace.
"How did it go, JR?" Link asked, not looking up form the table he was at. Many scrolls lied before him, waiting for his approval.
"It went well, sire. Master Bruce has learned well on his skills. He has that strategic mind of yours in battle as well." JR smirked as he sat near the king, going over the paper work with him.
Link couldn't help a grin.
"Have you tried training him yet, Léon?"
Léon grunted softly to him self. With his strange accent, he spoke aloud; "Not yet sire. Soon."
Link nodded. He placed his quill in the ink jar and leaned back in his chair; heaving deeply.
"Zelda has him right now, right?" Link asked after a moment of silence.
"Yes sire. She's going over manners and charms." JR answered, looking through some of the scrolls.
Both Leon's and Link's eye brow rose.
"Charm?"
"Yes. How to act when around a lady. He is a young man now sire."
"I could've taught him that," Link shrugged.
JR tried fighting back a snicker, earning a glare from his king.
Queen Zelda, pregnant, sat at a table with Prince Bruce on the other side. The table cloth was white and laced with fancy rose designs. On the table was fragile but fancy glass of tea cups and other royal-like dining ware.
"Now, to be a prince at your ages you need proper manners. We went over this before but now it is time for the real thing," Zelda started.
Bruce blinked, a look of confusion came over his face.
"You will meet a real lady, a princess your age. You will have afternoon tea with her and then invite her over for tonight's banquet." She told her son.
Bruce stared. He was speechless.
"You can have a talk with your father over girls later today. He's very busy going over the needs of the people and other duties." Zelda said, smiling ever so brilliantly.
She got up from the table. Zelda began walking out of the dinning hall, and then laughed loudly. Bruce's expression was so priceless to her. The queen slowly walked through the halls, feeling the baby within her giving small and soft kicks. It brought her great joy to feel that sensation. The feeling of motherhood was back; the feeling of having another soul, another heart, growing inside you to become something great was the greatest pleasure in the world for the queen of Hyrule.
As Zelda walked, she past by Milika, who seemed to be heading Bruce's way. He bowed before her and smiled. She curtsied to him and they went about their separate ways.
Milika walked into the dinning room and grinned as he saw the prince sitting there with a ghostly face.
"Did a ghost come through here or something? You're as pale as this table cloth your prince-ness." Milika spoke in that tough teen tone.
Bruce snapped back to reality. "I'm… having… tea with a princess…" He spoke in a shocked voice.
Milika was silent for just a second's moment; then he started in a fit of laughter.
Bruce glared at his young friend before taking a deep breath.
Once Milika had regained his composure, he took several deep breathes and patted Bruce's shoulder. "Man oh man, fun being a prince, isn't it?"
"Smart ass…" Bruce glared. Milika had to snicker at his remark.
"That's a while away Bruce. We have most of the morning! So, let's go play some pranks with the guards and have some fun before you have to spend time with a girl." Sarcasm was in his voice.
Bruce grinned and got up from his chair. A little fun before seeing the princess and having tea with one seemed just fine to him. As to what his young friend had in his evil little mind; he had no clue.
Bruce looked under the bridge where his young friend had positioned him. In his left hand was a sac full of water. Below him, were two castle guards. He looked up ahead at the second bridge at Milika. Milika held up three fingers, grinning widely as he counted down. On one, Bruce and Milika dropped the sacs of water on the guards below them.
Surprised and shocked the guards shouted out angrily; armor being wet and dripping.
Bruce quickly ducked low and slowly crawled his way to the other entrance. He couldn't help but snicker hearing the swear words coming out of the mouths of the soaked soldiers. As soon as he had reached the door opening, he felt his head bump against a set of legs. The prince looked up the body of the person he bumped into; seeing his father standing there with a look of great disapproval.
The prince thought he was in big trouble. But, he slowly relaxed as a grin came over his father's face and he held up three of the water sacs.
"Shh…" said Link as he ducked low to just above the bewildered guards. "Watch the pro…" Link murmured.
Link brought the three sacs up. He dropped one. Then another. Then the last. All being timed differently. Groans of anger came from below as Bruce and his father ran away to meet with Milika.
The three met up in the castle courtyard. Bruce and Milika fell to the ground, laughing hard; holding their stomachs. Link smirked down at the two, laughing a bit him self. He waited for the two young boys to calm themselves before speaking.
"Now, your mother sent me to find you and talk to you about being charming to a young lady." Link told his son.
"Erm… I'll hightail on out of here!" Milika spoke up, getting to his feet and rushing away.
Bruce glared at his running friend and heaved deeply. He sat on the grass with his father. "What do you wish to teach me, father."
"Simply how to win a girl's heart with not only looks, but actions and gestures too," Link told him.
Bruce raised an eye brow.
"Your mother taught you how to be manner in a lady's presence, how to dance, how to look and dress before a lady, and how treat a young lady. I am going to teach you how to act and win a young lady."
"Win? You make it sound as though it's a game," Bruce spoke.
"In a sense it is a game; get the girl before the other guy does. You like a young lady, you have to charm her into your arms and 'capture' her love." Link grinned. "Now, to start off, we'll go over the basics."
"Basics?" Bruce groaned. "Is there a lesson with basic on everything in life?"
Link simply grinned. "Women have a way of watching you; testing you; knowing exactly who you are just by simply dancing," Link started. "Slow and easy dance steps could mean many things. Some of those meanings are, you've danced before with many girls; you are bored; you're a gentleman; and you are just trying to be thoughtful. Nervous and some what uneasy steps in a dance could mean you're cute and she likes you or she just doesn't like you at all."
"So, which way are you telling me to go for?" Bruce asked.
"Both. Slow and easy but not nervous and with gentle steps. While dancing, talk to her softly in her ear. Start a playful conversation, get her to laugh a little and smile." Link answered with a grin.
"Is there any chance you did that to mother?" Bruce questioned, getting a twisted feeing in his gut.
Link smirked proudly. Bruce didn't need an answer after that. He sighed heavily and fell backwards onto his back.
"This is going to be a LONG day…" he muttered.
Despite his blonde, argumentive, short hair, he was groomed neatly. Bruce wore a neatly ironed soft green tunic, lined with golden lining at the collar and bottom. His green eyes looked at the approaching carriage nervously. He felt his hands, even with the leather brown gauntlets his father let him barrow, become clammy. After taking a deep breath, Bruce put on a slight smile as the carriage stopped before the castle steps.
Zelda and Link stood before the palace doors, watching as their fifteen year old prince walk down as graceful as he could to greet the princess from a neighboring kingdom. Zelda smiled proudly at her son. Link, as usual, had a grin of strange child-like essence that seemed welcoming and heart-warming to those who looked at him.
The princess stepped out of her carriage with the help of her carriage driver. She appeared wearing a breath taking, elegant sky-blue dress. It was simple that fitted her figure of fifteen rather well. Her brown hair was pulled back into a neat bun on the back of her head. She had a smooth and peaceful face, matched with soft blue eyes that seemed to sparkle.
Bruce nearly choked on his own breath having seen the young beauty before him. He held out his arm, (remembering the lessons he and his father went over) for her to take. She smiled at him and took his arm. "Hello, fair princess. Care to tell me your name?" Bruce asked, almost stuttering.
The princess giggled at his voice. "Greetings young prince. My name is Princess Lunar."
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Princess Lunar. I am Prince Bruce." Bruce said, a little nervous.
Bruce led Princess Lunar through the halls of the palace to the same room he and his mother had been earlier that day. As politely as he could, without being too nervous, he sat the princess in a chair on the other side of the round table. Then the prince took a seat on the other side.
Soon, the maids came in with cups, tea pots, and other glass they could use. With mint tea steaming from their cups, Bruce sat there looking somewhat bored and almost in a daze. He didn't notice Princess Lunar staring at him with her elbows on the table, hands cupped under her chin. She stared at him with a small smile and sparkling blue eyes.
Without knowing it, Bruce suddenly sneezed, lunging forward . He sniffled.
Princess Lunar started giggling. Bruce looked up at her.
"What's so funny?" He asked.
"Nothing," The princess smiled at him, hands still under her chin.
"Why are you staring at me like that?" Bruce questioned, arms folding against his chest as he stared back at her.
"No reason." Princess Lunar stared back at him with her soft blue eyes.
Bruce groaned. He closed his eyes and tried not to look agitated. "Would you like to join me this evening at the banquet? I can't guarantee it'll be any fun but there will be some great food." Bruce asked her. 'Idiot! Talking about food to a girl! How stupid is that!'
Princess Lunar giggled again. "Yes, I would love to join you to tonight's banguet with the lovely food you have here." She said in a joking tone.
Bruce groaned again. 'This isn't going so well! Quick! Think of a different subject! Uh… uh… clothes! No… Food! GAH!' His mind yelled.
"You're a pretty good. Uh- I mean… pretty girl!" Bruce felt his voice weaken with embarrassment.
Princess Lunar stared at him blankly, but giggled anyways.
"Maids! Uh… get some… erm… more tea!" Bruce commanded, bringing his cup (that was already full) into the air. Steamy tea went every where. "Ah crap!" Bruce quickly got to his feet, accidentally banging his knees against the belly of the table. He gasped out in pain, stumbled backwards and tripped over his chair. His legs kicked up the table, knocking it over. Princess Lunar jumped up, having steamy tea spilt all over her dress. Hearing her yelp out, Bruce groaned again and wanted to be dead and hidden away. He crawled to his knees as maids rushed in to aid them and crawled out of the room.
Link watched his son crawl away.
'Gee Linky ol' boy… your son has just about as much bad luck with women as you did." Fierce Deity commented.
'Go to hell Fierce Deity…' Link grumbled back. He started making his way to follow Bruce.
