The man awoke with a sweat on his brow. Groggily, he rolled out of bed with a thud. He forced himself up, and felt a warm feeling on his arm. He reopened a cut from last week. He looked at his bed and saw blood stained it in various spots.

"Damn," he thought. "Must have reopened it in my sleep".

He went to the water basin to clean the wound, after which, he tore off part of his tunic and used it to dress the wound. He then dressed in his guards uniform, grabbed his pike and shield, and made his way to the castle mess hell where he could get a good breakfast. Upon arriving at the hall, he heard a buzz about his fellow guardsmen that was atypical of the morning shift and the just finishing graveyard shift. Curious as to what was going on, he used the back of his shield as a makeshift tray, and loaded it with food quickly. Searching the crowded mess hall, his friend sitting at a side table, and went over to sit with him.

"You do know that you've got your food on your shield, right?" asked his friend.

"Oh. Haha, yea, I guess I am not that awake yet," he replied.

"Well, look alive on duty, the head guard is coming by our post during our guard duty today."

"Crap, that's TODAY?"

"No, I just wanted to see the look on your face."

"Haha, very funny."

"Except for the fact I was serious. Man, you're out of it. It's kind of funny. What happened?"

"Rough night. But I've been meaning to ask you, what happened last night?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, everyone is talking more than normal. Kind of figured something happened to cause it"

"Oh! Yea, you obviously didn't hear, did you? Some girl in the near by village was found with her throat slit. No one saw anything, and there was no knife near by, so it was not a suicide"

"That's terrible"

"Yep. Castle is going to send a few guards there for a night shift, see if they can see anything, or catch someone".

"I hope they do. Anyone who kills a poor innocent little girl deserves to die."

The two finished eating together, and took their post at the castle gate. The man made no mention of the eerie similarity between his dream and what had happened to his friend, only making a brief mental note. Their day went by as usual, and the head guard's passing by went well. The man managed to keep his mind occupied, not thinking of the similarity at all. Towards the end of their shift, the princess approached the two.

"Hey, you" came a teasing female voice.

"Hiya, princess," replied the man, hiding his reluctance to speak. "What's up?"

"Not much really, just came by to see you"

"Gee...I..I..uh..." stammered the man, thinking of how he could politely reply to royalty. "I feel kinda special, I mean me, a guardsman, seen by you, heir to the throne".

"Teehee, thanks Link" giggled the princess. "So..." she began, overly seductive. "Would you do me the honor of being my escort to dinner this evening?"

"Are you sure I can Zelda?" asked Link, searching in vain for an excuse not to go. "I mean, I am not exactly royalty.

"Oh, don't be silly, everyone there knows you, and trusts you."

"I guess I could go," Link sighed.

"Thanks so much." replied Zelda excitedly. "You should probably go to your house and get changed first".

"I wish I could, but I'm on duty till sunset."

"Well, it's not long till then, so as princess of Hyrule, I, Zelda, allow you to leave early".

"Thanks".

"Anything for you, Link".

Link left his post and sprinted to his house. Now that he had to attend dinner, he had even less time to see the woman for whom he yearned, Malon. He quickly entered his house, and took of his guards uniform in one motion by throwing it into the corner where it hit with a loud clank. He pulled his tunic off, and frantically searched for his white dress tunic. He found it, and threw it on with haste. He checked his reflection in the water basin, and then sprinted for Lon Lon Ranch to see Malon. He arrived, and found Malon watching the sunset. Link knew that he had to make this quick, and it hurt him greatly inside knowing it.

"Hey Malon"

"Hey Link. How are you on this evening?"

"In a bit of a rush, but enough time to see you" Link said as he walked closer towards Malon to sit by her.

"Gee, thanks"

"Isn't the sunset beautiful?" Link asked as he put his hand on Malon's. Malon unconsciously withdrew her hand on the touch.

"Yes, it is. Especially over the castle. Oh I love the castle. You're so lucky to work there Link. It's such a great place, and plus, you can see Princess Zelda every day."

"Meh, it's nothing special."

Malon sighed. Link didn't know, and he probably never would. Link looked at the sun once more and realized that his time was up.

"Crap, I gotta go to a dinner with Princess Zelda. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Say hi to princess Zelda for me"

"Okay".

Link ran out of Lon Lon Ranch and made a mad dash for the castle. Despite not wanting to be there, he knew if he didn't show up, he'd be in trouble, something he wanted to avoid. Link arrived at the Castle and found Princess Zelda waiting for him. The two locked arms, and walked down the court towards the head table for dinner.