~ Chapter 2: Dawn of a new day ~

The sleep deprived princess was now sat poring hopelessly over what would become the most monumental moment of her life, condensed onto but a single piece of paper. It was hand delivered earlier that day by royal messenger. She could not bear to even open the door fully, simply reaching out awkwardly through a small gap to clutch the thick wax sealed scroll. It was stamped with the sacred symbol they call the Triforce. Months of preparation, delay, more preparation, followed by more delay. Now finally, she could delay no more. It was officially the day of Princess Zelda's coronation.

She felt neither ready nor worthy, her father's words reverberating in her ears from the nightmare before. It was only the summary of how she had been feeling, ever since she regained control of the war-torn kingdom of Hyrule. Yet, here she now sat having to follow other's wishes once more, like she always did when she was little. A pang struck Zelda's heart, her eyes continuously scanning over the title of the unfurled scroll: 'The Coronation of Queen Zelda of Hyrule – Order of ceremony'. What about what I want!? she mused bitterly. All her life she had been mandated to say this or go there. It had never been enough; her father had made it quite known. Now she was alone leading an entire kingdom she was sure did not believe in her. Tossing the scroll aside she stood abruptly, leaning over her dresser and drawing deep shaky breaths. Her heart doing somersaults as the daunting reality of the day lay before her. Glancing up ever so slightly to look at herself in her mirror… she gasped.

She was sure she saw it. One of the most grotesque looking things she had ever seen: a gnarled, leathery, severed hand resting on a shelf behind her with a single eye embedded in the palm and it was staring right at her. However, as quickly as she spun around it was gone. Her heart pounded in her chest as a shiver crept down her spine. She heard a faint scratching sound coming from her balcony and found herself carelessly hurrying over. She gazed up around the threshold and then peered cautiously over the balcony to the deep glistening moat below but saw nothing of concern. Raising her gaze to the vast planes beyond, she then let out an exasperated sigh. Exhaustion and the weight of the day quickly took over her thoughts again and she cradled her head in her arms. All the while, she was blissfully unaware of the gnarled hand which had crept up from under the balcony and was reaching…dangerously close to her throat. The door crashed open behind her and Zelda wheeled around and hurried back into her bedchamber.

"If only…if only it were that easy just to reach up and wring her neck" an ominous cold voice declared. Tucked away in a hidden cave within Hyrule Meadow, two dark hooded figures sat around a simmering fire. One clutching a mysterious crystal orb which bore the imagery seen by the grotesque hand. "You may soon have that chance" the voice's companion responded, "and it cannot come sooner it seems, I fear time is running out". "You'd be right my dear", Zelda's unknown spy uttered. "His Excellency is growing weaker by the day; I felt his life force much clearer before the Great Calamity and now his voice is but a frail whisper". The figure gazed on coldly. "The Shadowmaster may not be strong enough to choke the life out of this little usurper, but my own hands will be". Zelda's spy lowered their hood and raised a pale claw like hand, squeezing it shut on an imaginary neck. His pale face contorted with aggression. "Tonight…", his companion responded lowering their hood also. "Our pet rat within the castle can be trusted?" she asked. "Yes", he responded with a cold smile. "Tonight, we set the wheels in motion for the destruction of this retched kingdom and its false leader".

Oblivious to the coming danger on the horizon, Zelda was in more danger in that moment of being slobbered to death by her loyal Hylian Retriever affectionately known as 'Nayra'. Appearing without warning, the 'vicious beast' burst into her bedchamber just moments ago and had bowled Zelda clear onto the bed barking and licking her 'prey's' face excitedly. Zelda rolled around in hysterics with her furry companion, despite the panicked apologies of a young Shiekah woman who had now entered the room. "Your majesty, I am sorry, I am so so sorry! Nayra get off her this instant!". Her face was soft and deceptively reassuring. One could easily forget that she was lethally skilled in the ways of swordplay and Sheikah magic. Especially, since but a few weeks ago she had the body of a woman well over 100 years old.

~Impa~

Royal attendant and Sheikah warrior reinvigorated

"No lady Impa, it is quite alright" Zelda responded with a giggle. "Actually, I needed some of Nayra's love this morning". "Less of the 'Lady Impa' your majesty" Impa responded with a wry smile. "I can't help it, no one can!" Zelda said, laughing. "You went from ancient to young overnight, I am still surprised you agreed to finally use Purah's anti-ageing rune!". "Well, the arthritis finally got the better of me in the end and you know how persuasive she can be" she rolled her eyes. "You should see us both now with Paya, we make her feel old!" she attempted something of a Sheikah dance move, whilst retaining the awkwardness of an elderly woman. Zelda burst out laughing. "Well, it is a good change" she said with a warm smile. "I could say the same thing about you", Impa responded gesturing to Zelda's hair. "It suits Her Majesty perfectly". "Okay less of the 'Majesty' for me and less of the Lady Impa for you, deal?" Zelda said flatly. "No, not deal! One of those labels is soon to be true later today and it isn't my label!" she said grinning enthusiastically... "I know!".

That had sounded far sharper than I wanted it to. Impa's face flashed with slight concern. "I'm sorry Impa…I"-. Struggling to keep herself composed, tears began to well in Zelda's eyes and roll down her cheeks. Impa's face softened and she gave Zelda a smile that carried a soft reassuring wisdom, like that of a loving grandparent. "I am guessing this is perfectly okay to do then for a few more hours?" she said approaching Zelda and sitting on the bed next to her wrapping her in a warm embrace. "You are scared, huh?" she said soothingly, patting Zelda's back gently. "Scared, is a huge understatement" Zelda sobbed. "I am not fit to rule, father told me so". "Sweetheart, that is not true!" Impa said firmly furrowing her brows. "Your father…yes he was harsh on you, but he was thinking like a King. He loved you and he believed in you". "Well, he never said it, never showed it!" Zelda responded. "I never got to hear how proud he was of me, how much he believed in me!". Impa released her embrace beaming at Zelda. "Well, that changes now because I have something you might like to see".

Impa got up and made her way across to a satchel she had been carrying. There, she heaved out a large leather-bound tome and carried it over to Zelda dropping it gently in her lap. "What's this?" she said softly. "Open it" Impa replied, her eyes alight with enthusiasm. Zelda did so. "Why this! This is…". "Your father's journal" Impa concluded for her. "We found it in a hidden room in the library, presumably his study". "He was always so secretive" Zelda said sadly. "Read it" Impa said with a warm smile. Zelda began to read, and yet more tears began to flow. Finishing the final entry Zelda gazed up softly at Impa. "He…really did care about me". Impa nodded. "He would be so proud of you Zelda and would have desperately wanted you to take his place on the throne". "You are our light forwards in a world of shadow and despair, so burn bright for us Your Majesty!". Zelda rose to her feet more confidently. "Help me to get ready?" she said with a smile. "It would be a pleasure" Impa responded. "You know Impa…I'd much rather you as a grandma than royal advisor". "Watch it!" Impa cackled. "By the way Impa I had a horrible dream last night, it is troubling me to no end" Zelda said, determined to get last night off her chest. "Oh? do tell me about it".

Elsewhere in the cave, the mysterious spy was watching the conversation between Zelda and Impa unfold. His companion had just returned, carrying a basket of foraged items. "The girl sees him" he said coldly. "She is waking up to the Origin Prophecy" his companion responded. "We have to execute this plan swiftly tonight once she is crowned". "I concur" the male replied. "her powers are rapidly growing, and she is too close to His Excellency for this to be left a moment longer". His companion looked concerned "you are sure this will work?". The male turned to her, his pale face painted with a mocking expression. "Look, I don't see why we can't just kill her and break the bloodline! We get caught we are dead...for real this time and then that is it. Everything we are, lost to the sands!". The male grinned widely at her. "Which is precisely my dear why it is going to work. We already are scattered to the sands of time. Lost to the ages. A mere fairy-tale an ageing grandmother can barely recount correctly for young brats! That makes us more dangerous than they could possibly comprehend!". He continued on even more impassioned. "Tonight they will party and sup their wine and indulge their grotesque appetites, like the parasites they are on this land. We will then hit them with all our wrath and leave them dazed and panicked as quickly as we came having moved a significant step closer to our aims! The girl however, she is bound by destiny. She is fortunate to live for a little longer, just to play her role in helping us. Then when we achieve our aims, His Excellency grants us the pleasure of disposing of her as we see fit". He made his way to the entrance of the cave, the sunlight revealing him to be unnaturally skeletal looking. His eyes burned with hatred as he focused on the proud unsuspecting castle. "Send the signal now to begin preparations" he said with a wicked smile.

"That is…unsettling" Impa said with a grimace trying to help prepare Zelda as she finished describing her nightmare. "As for your father, well you know now that is not true". "What of the Divine Beasts?" Zelda asked. "Well as far as we are aware, they decommissioned themselves. They stopped working and then disappeared suddenly. No one knows why or where they are, although Robbie and Purah are following clues", Impa replied. "That bothers me" Zelda said anxiously. "Well...if they have all vanished, they aren't a threat" Impa reassured, although she looked mildly uncomfortable. "If they come back?" Zelda shot back. Impa paused. "Then there's that body I saw!" Zelda pressed. Impa sighed. "Or it could just be a bad dream because you are under Hylia knows how much pressure right now. You have enough on your plate, try not to add more". A moment of silenced ensued between them both, as Impa prayed Zelda would just drop it and focus on the day at hand. A loud crack from outside broke the awkward silence and made them jump. Rushing to the balcony they both caught a glimpse of a brilliant bright coloured ball. "Someone is keen to celebrate early" Impa laughed.

Elsewhere in the castle, a scrawny unpleasant looking man grinned widely upon hearing the cue, showing a mouth full of rotten teeth. "Ere we go!" he said cheerily whilst doing a smug dance before lowering a stolen Hylian Soldier's helmet over his scraggly hair. He picked the lock of his cell with splinters of an old bone. They had been given to him through a hole in the wall, along with the stolen uniform and strict instructions just days ago by two mysterious individuals he had befriended over a few days. Picking yet another door, he snuck his way down to the bowels of the castle, following his crudely sketched map all the while. He cautiously passed by far fewer guards than during his previous practice runs. This is so easy!. He eventually encountered a group of guards on their break enjoying a Hylian card game. However as before, short of giving him odd looks no one done anything to stop him. Royal idiots! he thought gleefully. He finally reached an end door which led to the castle's hidden docks and sat in wait, ready to play his part in a very dark plan.

~Note - Chapter edit: Amended an error I made where I mistakenly referred to Purah's anti-ageing rune as an elixir. Thank you so much to my kind mystery reviewer for pointing this out and helping me to make my story more consistent! :). Also some moderate tweaks to character dialogue, as my story was in immediate danger of slamming into a wall. Hopefully I have dodged that bullet.

Link - where is he?: I have had a couple of people now wonder just where the heck Link is. So I will put this here so it is more visible. I get it of course, what is Legend of Zelda without our hero? This was a decision I made to start off with Zelda in the foreground. We had hundreds of hours as Link in BOTW in terms of gameplay and many more hours playing out his story arc as a revived hero. While I found Zelda's character traits absolutely fascinating, we only got to see these in snippets of dialogue and memories from Link's perspective and so she didn't feel as salient for me in the overall journey itself. I feel that there is a lot of storytelling and character development potential with Zelda. Therefore, I really want to establish her more (in my own way of course). She is now a more present force in Hyrule and I want her to now exist as a complex standalone character rather than just a plot device for Link. Also, bear in mind the first two chapters are more like 1 and 1.5 as they both take place very close together, which is why Link is currently not present. I'd have made them one big chapter if I didn't think it would have been harder to digest.

Do not fret though! Link has already been introduced in my upcoming chapter, which I am thoroughly enjoying working on right now. I have got a couple of tender moments and am working on some light-hearted fun moments before the coming storm ;). Thanks for sticking with me and watch this space!. ~