Chapter 3
"I can't believe you did that." Link said, helping Zelda up into the tree.
"I can. He was a pig." Zelda huffed, sitting on a branch.
Link climbed up and sat on a branch a bit higher than Zelda's.
"But he was a suitor." Link pointed out, picking a pink flower from the tree.
"Who cares? I am not marrying anyone else but you." Zelda gripped the trunk of the tree, and pressed her cheek to the bark.
Link bent down, and pushed the flower behind Zelda's ear.
"We can't be married Zelda. You know that." He murmured.
She nodded, and blinked back her tears.
"There must be a way Link." She said softly.
"I'm not royalty Zelda."
"I know, but…what if my father knighted you? Then we could marry, because you would be a knight." Zelda looked up at Link.
He took in a breath as the moonlight spilled through the leaves of the tree, and made her porcelain skin shine.
"But you can only be knighted if you do a service to the Royal Family."
"You saved Hyrule from Ganondorf."
"Yes," he sighed, "but the only ones who know about that are me, you, your father, and the Sages."
She nodded, and looked back down to the ground.
Then suddenly, someone leaped down from the top of the tree, and tackled Zelda to the ground.
"Zelda!" Link cried, jumping down from the tree.
The person had Zelda's arms behind her back, and a blade at her throat. Link recognized the blade – it was a Gerudo.
Link unsheathed his sword, a present from King Harkanian, and stood his ground.
"Put it away or the Princess gets it." The Gerudo threatened.
The blade poked Zelda's throat harder, and she whimpered.
Link's eyebrows furrowed in anger, and he slowly put his sword away.
"Now," the Gerudo stepped backwards, "stay where you are."
But Zelda suddenly fought back, kicking and scratching as the Gerudo backed away even more.
Before Link could act, the Gerudo hit Zelda over the head with the end of her blade, and Zelda toppled to the ground, unconscious.
Link ran at the Gerudo, unsheathing his sword once more.
But the Gerudo had already lifted Zelda, and was escaping.
"No!" Link roared, running faster as the Gerudo made a good leap, and was over the wall.
Link was about to do the same when something heavy hit him in the head, and he turned dizzily, and saw another Gerudo standing there.
Link's sword dropped to the ground, and the Gerudo jumped at Link, kicking him right underneath the chin.
As she ran off, Link's world went black.
Impa, who had seen Zelda push the suitor, rushed out to the courtyard.
"Princess? Link?" She asked, scanning the courtyard.
Her eyes came upon Link's body, lying in the moonlight near the wall. His sword was lying a few inches from him.
She raced to his side, and pressed her fingers gently to his neck.
Still alive. She thought.
"Guards! Guards! I need help!" Impa called, sitting Link up.
"Impa, what is it?" Two guards rushed into the courtyard, spears ready.
"Link has been knocked out and the Princess has disappeared. Carry Link to the Princess's room while I search the courtyard for any clues as to where the Princess could be."
The guards nodded, and dropped their spears to carry Link away.
Impa got to her feet, and looked around. She stepped on a pink flower, and bent down to pick it up.
"Princess where are you?" She whispered.
Meanwhile, the guards had carried Link to Zelda's room, and had called for another maid to tend to him.
"He has a gash on the back of his head, but other than that, he should be fine." The maid announced, cleaning the back of Link's head.
She washed the blood away, and combed through his hair.
"When he wakes, notify Impa." One of the guards ordered.
She maid nodded, and was left to tend to Link.
When Link opened his eyes, he remembered Zelda and sat up, startling the maid.
"Link, you're injured, lie down." She pushed him back, but he sat up again.
"Zelda! I have to find her!" He got to his feet, and looked around for his sword.
"Looking for this?" Impa asked, entering the room.
She handed him his sword.
"It was the Gerudos. I have to go and save her." Link muttered, heading for the door.
"Link, should you go alone?"
"If I take more people, we'll never get past the Gerudos. Their fortress is well guarded."
"Be careful Link, they have the Princess."
Link winced at her words, but nodded.
"I'll bring her back."
Impa nodded, and Link rushed out of the castle and across the draw bridge to Epona.
"Hiya!" He kicked Epona, and galloped in the direction of the Gerudos' fortress.
Once he reached the thin piece of wood that connected the two pieces of land together, he got off of Epona, seeing as how water frightened her, and slowly made his way across.
He prayed to the Goddesses that Zelda was safe.
Link then crossed the bridge, and made his way up the hill, and into the Gerudo fortress.
He got down on his hands and knees, and crawled up a set of steps carved into the earth, and kneeled on the plateau.
There were Gerudos everywhere, their red headdresses and purple clothing standing out in the night.
Link got out his bow, and fired an arrow at a Gerudo.
This got their attention, and the Gerudos scrambled about, looking for whoever had shot the arrow.
Link fired another arrow, and then another. This helped significantly.
Before anymore Gerudos could emerge from the fortress, Link made his way inside, and ducked behind a mountain of crates.
"The Princess, where did you put her?" A Gerudo asked.
"Don't worry, she's safe…for now." Another Gerudo answered.
Link leaped out from behind the crates, grabbing the Gerudo closest to him.
"Tell me where she is or I'll slit her throat." Link threatened, his sword at the Gerudo's neck.
"Don't tell him." She spat.
The other Gerudo fled the room, and with this distraction, the Gerudo he had been holding broke free, and pulled out her spear.
"You won't find her." She smiled, and lunged at Link.
Link rolled out of the way of her spear, and swung his sword at her legs, slicing into her skin.
She moaned in pain, but lunged out again, and stabbed Link in the shoulder.
He suppressed shouting out, and instead, took the chance and stabbed the Gerudo in the chest, twisting his sword to seal the deal.
Her face grew pale, and she fell to the ground, spitting up her own blood.
Link put his sword to her neck.
"Tell me where she is and I'll ease your suffering."
She only laughed, and died quickly.
Link looked to his shoulder, and thought about drinking the blue potion he had in his tunic, but decided to save it. He didn't know if Zelda would need it.