A note from the Hime no Argh—

Hello all, Hime here with another chapter. Lots of thanks to those who read and reviewed the first one. The first three chapters will be going up rather quickly, as they were already posted before; once I get to the fourth chapter the upload rate will slow down a bit, but hopefully not too much. I'm hoping for a rate of a chapter per week, perhaps more if I write faster than expected.

To answer a question, these first three chapters aren't much different; I just edited them a bit for style and clarity and changed a few small details that would affect continuity later.

Still looking for a beta, please apply if interested.

Chapter 2

Ambassadors

When she arrived back at the palace it was nearly sundown, and Zelda had to hurry to change and meet her family in the Great Foyer. Luckily the day had cooled, so she chose a satin lavender gown with a brocaded surcoat, a new fashion at court.

She went and joined her family at the foot of the two great mahogany staircases, their wood polished to gleaming, in the main foyer of the palace. The fact that the king and queen had chosen to meet their guests here told Zelda how much her parents wanted the peace talks to succeed. Normally ambassadors would have been greeted by foot servants and escorted into the monarchs' presence in the Hall of Kings.

As they waited, still and silent, Zelda found her thoughts returning to the strange woman in the temple, who had called herself Fallen. After that astonishing declaration she'd turned and left; they'd followed her out of the temple, only to find that she had disappeared from the grounds as mysteriously as she'd come. She left a lingering chill down Zelda's spine, but she tried to ignore it. She would find out what the woman meant, or not. For now she had more important things to worry about.

She glanced about the foyer to keep herself occupied while waiting; its beauty never tired her. Visitors to the palace generally started here. They might admire the keep's great double doors, carved with an image of the goddesses crowning Harkinian I, the greatly honored first king of Hylia. Perhaps they would view the portraits spaced about the walls of past kings and their royal families. Undoubtedly they would view the Trinity of the Goddesses, a very famous sculpture that stood between the double staircases. It depicted Nayru, carved of plain granite, clothed in the robes of a magistrate and holding a scale on which she balanced diamonds against the hearts of men. Farore knelt beside her, carved of white marble, tenderly bearing an infant in her arms. On her other side was Din, carved of black obsidian, holding a sword in one hand and a human head in the other.

As a little girl, Zelda had been terribly afraid of the image of Din, until her mother explained why the artist had chosen to portray her in such a frightening manner.

"Din is our warrior-goddess, the great defender," Leona had explained as she and her daughter gazed at the sculpture. "Soldiers call upon her on the battlefield for victory against their enemies. But Din gives us greater gifts than victory in war. In her savagery, she reminds us of the price of violence—human lives. Thus we must be steadfast in our duty and strive always for peace, lest our mortal time upon this earth be marked with swords and corpses."

Zelda had taken her mother's words to heart, but she also had come to recognize that Din was, indeed, a goddess of war. In this imperfect world there was a goddess-sanctioned time and place for violence.

At last, after what felt like hours of waiting, the great double doors swung open, admitting a herald and two strangers clothed in dusty burnooses. "Your Majesties, Your Highness, I present Headsister Nebakh and Farim Sandeyes of the Venom Snake Tribe of the Gerudo Nation. Honored Ambassadors, Their Royal Majesties King Harkinian III and Queen Leona, and Her Royal Highness, Princess Zelda."

Zelda sighed inwardly as the Gerudo shed their burnooses—they had indeed brought weapons. Both wore the shoulder-baring midriff and full, billowy leggings favored by their people, theirs made of pale yellow silk. The woman named as Headsister had dark brown eyes and wore her vividly red hair tied away from her face and secured with a jeweled clip. Farim's hair was twisted into several braids and her eyes were pale amber. Tribal tattoos wound up her arms, the meaning of which Zelda could not decipher, but she knew they marked her as a witchsister. Nebakh wore leather bracers at her forearms and a leather collar around her neck, a rough guard against a knife to the throat. The witch, Farim, wore no protective clothing; she was probably powerful enough to go without it. These two were the head of their tribe. It was a good sign that the Gerudo had sent such important people.

"Your welcome honors us," Nebakh told the king, a hint of the desert accent in her proud voice.

"As your coming honors us," the king replied firmly. "We are proud to host such esteemed guests of the desert. We hope that during your stay here, you will think of our kingdom as your home. And now, please honor us once more by taking supper with us in the Great Hall."

Nebakh and Farim bowed shortly. "The honor is ours, Your Majesty," Nebakh replied, her gleaming eyes flicking between the king, queen, and princess.

If Zelda thought that the arrival of the Gerudo ambassadors would excuse her from the nightly game of suitors, she was wrong. Her dinner companion for the evening was Aldon from the Saman Highlands, her mother's homeland; the two were second cousins. But Leona had once been a mere duchess and distant from the court while Aldon was a second-rank prince; they hardly knew each other.

Aldon wasn't boring, Zelda had to admit that. He entertained her with tales of raids from mountain barbarians, but spoke too often and too highly of his father the king. Zelda pressed him to admit that his father wasn't perfect. "Oh, but he is," Aldon told her feverishly. "I could never be half the king my father is."

And there is the problem, Zelda thought. How could he make a good king when he himself didn't expect to be one? "The prince is obsessed with his father and thinks no man can do better," she complained to her mother later. "Why does Father insist on thrusting these lackluster men at me? He wants a man with no confidence to rule his kingdom?"

Leona smiled, amused. "And what about you, daughter? What kind of queen do you expect to be?"

"One as good or better than Father," Zelda replied with complete seriousness. "Father is a good king, but he is not without his faults. Having observed his errors, I can guard myself against making the same ones."

"You'll make plenty of errors of your own," Leona promised.

"I know. But I will learn from them."

These days the army and the Silver Knights shared the enormous soldiers' barracks on palace grounds, well away from the keep. Not everyone was happy with the arrangement, but Link certainly had no problem with it. He and Ganondorf were just sitting down to a nightly game of cards when the door at the far end of the barracks swung open. Soldiers and knights stopped what they were doing to stare, open-mouthed, at the line of Gerudo filing in.

"Well," Ganondorf whispered, "I think it's safe to say the ambassadors arrived from the desert."

The captain of Ganondorf's company, a grizzled old veteran with a bellow that could shake the rafters, introduced the group of twenty or so women as the Venom Snake tribe. "The Venom Snake Headsister, Nebakh, has given her permission to house her tribe in the barracks," the captain barked. "I expect you gentlemen to treat our guests with respect."

Link, eyeing the Gerudo, could see why the Headsister saw no problem in housing her tribeswomen in a barrack full of men. The ladies looked as though they'd be quick to cut the throats of anyone who bothered them.

About thirty beds were unoccupied. The men shifted to the far end of the barrack to give the women space, and helped erect a curtain between them. Done, Link and Ganondorf returned to their card game.

"I wonder how the talks are going," Ganondorf said without expression as he drew a card from the deck.

"Couldn't tell you. Hopefully they're going well." Link jerked his head toward the curtain. "Any of them recognize you, you think?" he asked his friend, who was somewhat famous among the Gerudo.

Ganondorf shrugged. "No idea. They're not my tribe."

The next morning brought a return to routine, and Link found himself up at sunrise in the main palace courtyard in mock sword combat with his fellow Silver Knights. He sometimes wondered if the purpose of practicing in the courtyard was merely to show the knights off to palace women. They certainly did seem to attract an audience day by day.

Today there were new faces among the crowd. Lin, their sergeant, was the first to take notice. She elbowed the captain, a man named Benek. He tipped his helmet to their guests, the Gerudo women. "Good morning, ladies," he said politely. "What may I do for you?"

"I want to hear those swords sing, boys!" Lin bellowed when she saw a few of the knights had their eye on the Gerudo and not on combat. She was a rare female knight, a short, stocky woman with brown hair chopped short and a lion's roar. "You've all seen women before, or at least I hope so!"

"Your training is very ordered," one of the Gerudo remarked, eyes glinting. "In the desert, we train our warriors by throwing them into combat with bandits and beasts."

"An interesting method," Benek replied blandly, without a single hint that he'd taken notice of the slight insult to the knights. Lin was not so practiced at hiding her feelings. She scowled as she ordered the knights to pair off and begin the fifth routine.

Link smiled to himself as he and his partner went through the routine with the ease of practice. The Gerudo woman had apparently forgotten the knight squads riding all over Hyrule at this moment, apprehending known criminals, helping small villages defend against raids, and hunting bandits in the mountains, field, and of course, the desert. He himself had been part of one such squad just last month. He would be assigned to one again soon. Benek and his sergeants, Lin included, believed that experience made a warrior; it was all part of the training.

"It is a mixed blessing that we live in troubled times," a new voice remarked. Lin gave the order to halt, and the knights bowed to King Harkinian. Princess Zelda was with him; she winked discreetly at Link.

The king nodded to the knights and continued to address the Gerudo who'd spoken. "We are perhaps fortunate that there are enough people who would break the law to give our knights and soldiers real experience in the field. We are doubly unfortunate, however, that knights and armies are a necessity at all."

"Such is the curse of humanity, Your Majesty," Nebakh replied. She and her tribe's witchsister accompanied the king and princess; they were probably touring the palace. "We Gerudo take pride, however, in the strength and valor of our sisters. Our warriors are greatly valued."

"Honored Ambassador, why not test your warriors' skills in combat with ours?" The suggestion came from Zelda. Link saw Lin smile slowly, a wicked gleam in her black eyes.

"Why not, indeed?" the sergeant asked in her politest, most meaningless voice. "We would welcome the chance to test our warriors against the famed warrior women of the desert."

Nebakh exchanged glances with her witchsister. The witchsister glanced around at the assembled knights, then smiled mockingly and whispered into Nebakh's ear.

"We accept," the Headsister said at last. "Corunna is one of our best warriors." She beckoned to a Gerudo who wore her red hair chopped short and handled a pair of scimitars as though they were an extension of her body. "Bring your best; she will gladly fight him."

Lin glanced quickly about the courtyard; her eyes found Link's. She smiled and crooked a finger at him.

Obediently he went to her side and began to strip away the leather practice armor at his chest, arms, and throat; the Gerudo wore no armor, so it wouldn't be fair of him to wear any either. When Lin exchanged his practice sword for a real longsword, he bent slightly to whisper in her ear, "Why me?" He wasn't the best warrior here; he knew that as well as Lin. It seemed to him that a champion of the Silver Knights ought to battle a champion of the Gerudo.

"Use your brain, dolt," Lin chided as she helped him unlace his leather armguards. "Your fight here accomplishes two things. One, we get to show our guests that any of our warriors can take on their best. That ought to make them think more seriously about making peace with the king. Two, you get to show your skill before the king. You do want this chance, don't you?"

He did. Lin and Captain Benek were among the very few who knew Link's greatest ambition—to join the ranks of the White Knights. The company boasted only twenty or so men, but they were a force to be reckoned with. They were the best of the best, and only those personally chosen by the king could ascend to their ranks.

There was only one problem with Lin's plan. "What if I lose?"

She rolled her eyes. "Don't."

He eyed his opponent as he settled a shield over his right arm. Speed, he thought. That was probably her greatest asset. That was what to watch out for.

"Are you ready?" the king inquired as Link and Corunna faced one another. They bowed to each other, then to the king and headsister. "Do honor by your realms, your goddesses, and yourselves," Harkinian said firmly. "Begin!"

For a breath, neither of them moved. Link saw Corunna's dark eyes sizing him up. She smirked at him; he couldn't tell if she liked what she saw or thought that he would be easier to beat than a child with a wooden sword.

The Gerudo lunged at him with a high-pitched war cry, scimitars ready. Link blocked the downward arch of one and caught the side-sweep of another with his shield; he shoved all his weight to the right side. Corunna stumbled, off-balance, blocked his sword thrust and leapt back. She circled him slowly, eyeing him with more respect. Link shifted in place to remain facing her, smiling inwardly. She was fast, but not terribly strong.

She struck at him several times, snake-like, darting in and retreating just as fast out of the reach of his sword. He blocked her each time, but his follow-up strikes couldn't touch her. Corunna gritted her teeth, plainly impatient with the game of cat and mouse. She shook sweat out of her eyes, then lunged at him, both scimitars thrusting directly ahead. Link shifted his shield, blocking her attack, but her momentum carried her forward; one scimitar slid away from his shield to bite into his upper arm. Link cursed and struck; she leapt back out of the range of his sword, grinning.

About to lower his sword and shield, he saw the gleam in her eyes and thought better of it. In the north, contests like these ended when blood was drawn. The savagery in her eyes told him that wasn't the way things were done in the desert. If he put down his guard now, she would probably maim or kill him.

His arm was neatly sliced, but he didn't think the cut was too deep. He shook the pain out of his shield arm as Corunna circled again, and thought. He hated matches like this. Chivalry told him to be honorable, but how could he maintain honor against an opponent who wouldn't stop until she killed him?

When Corunna lunged at him again, he blocked with his sword rather than shield, locking the weapons together. Corunna put her full weight behind her scimitars, clearing expecting him to strain back. Instead he smiled politely at her, hooked his heel around her ankle and yanked. The Gerudo sprawled on her back in the grass; Link placed the tip of his sword against her throat.

"Yield, please," he said gently. "I don't like killing."

Corunna stared up at him, expressionless. Satisfied that she wasn't going to try anything, Link stepped back and allowed her to climb to her feet.

The sound of applauding reached his ears. The king and princess were clapping for him, the knights cheering, Lin whistling and grinning. Even Nebakh and the Gerudo witchsister applauded reluctantly. "Your champion is quick and unpredictable," Nebakh told the king.

"Oh, he's not our champion." Lin clapped Link on the shoulder and smiled pleasantly at the Gerudo. "He's on his way, but he's a bit more work to do."

Nebakh stared at the sergeant, wide-eyed, clearly caught off guard.

"We look upon all our knights and soldiers as champions," King Harkinian said, his blue eyes finding each knight in turn. He looked the longest at Link. "We place in their capable hands the fate of our kingdom, and we cherish them as the treasure of our realm. They will defend and serve us always, so we must always strive to serve them."

"Undoubtedly you cherish also the Gerudo king among your jewels," Corunna muttered.

Link looked up, startled, and met Zelda's eyes. She wore the same expression of surprise, and he knew she had caught the remark her father appeared to miss.

Gerudo king? That didn't make any sense. The Gerudo had no monarchs. They didn't even have any men of their kind.

Except Ganondorf.

"What of it?" Ganondorf said later when Link and Zelda shared Corunna's remark. Zelda had snuck out of the palace to join them for a game of rummy outside the barracks. "They're always saying odd things about me. My mother used to tell me I would lead the Gerudo to glory. That was before I went north to join the king's army. Then she disowned me." He rolled his eyes. "Guess I won't be leading anything after all."

"The Venom Snake tribe doesn't seem to think so," Link said, taking a card from the pile.

Ganondorf shrugged. "Maybe they were talking about someone else. I know, I know," he added as his friends opened their mouths, "she said king. But the ladies sometimes take male titles just to prove they're as good as men, did you know that? A headsister, for example, is addressed as 'sir.' Now, a witchsister—"

"But she said the Gerudo king was among the knights and soldiers," Zelda interrupted.

Ganondorf frowned at his cards. "Whatever. They can say what they want. I'm not going back to the desert, not ever." He threw a card away and changed the subject. "Where'd you get that thing around your neck, Zelda?"

He was referring to a new necklace that Zelda wore in addition to her Triforce pendant. It was a row of diamonds set in silver, each bigger than the last until the middle diamond, which was the biggest of all.

Zelda blushed faintly. "My father gave it to me. For my birthday. I know it's a bit heavy—"

"Don't go swimming in it," Link joked. "You'll sink straight to the bottom."

Zelda glared at him. "It would be churlish of me not to wear it," she snapped. "Besides, Father said it makes me look prettier."

"You don't need a necklace to look pretty," Ganondorf said brusquely, placing a card in his set and throwing his last one away. "Game, set, and match."

To be continued.