Clack! Clack! Clack! The click of her heels stepping on the marble echoed busily within the hallways and informally announced her return. Soon, Zelda could hear the sound of hurried soldiers and their noisy armor rattling back to answer the calls of her heels. They anxiously accompanied the Princess as she approached them, who looked like scared dogs who had just gotten a beating from their master. "Princess! This way!" Without changing her pace she marched onward past the guards and right into the banquet hall.
Her entrance drew the eyes of everyone who had attended the dinner. There were her uncles' families, their personal courtiers, stylists, bodyguards, every important person in Hyrule save the Queen herself, and whose stare was worst of all, even worse than the twins from Din's Hearth, was her bastard, half-brother's eyes accompanied with his smug smile. A rush of confused emotions ran through her mind vivaciously. Was she angry? Or was she nervous to suddenly have a lot of attention on her?
Zelda hated attention even more than she hated her brother. Without the attention, she was free to act and hate on people as she pleased. With the attention, she was bound to only certain actions, ones that always conflicted with her turmoiled emotions. But this many eyes on her? At once? She was almost starting to feel sick...
"Where on Hyrule were you?" Suddenly, Father's voice snapped Zelda out of her stage fright. Without waiting for his daughter to even answer, he threw his arms around her.
Excuses flew through her head as she scrambled to answer Father's question, "I went to pass water," somehow she had to explain her dirtied feet, "and then I went outside to the chapel, to see Mother. I didn't know if I was going to get another chance today, on my birthday."
Her father sighed with forgiveness and extended his hands onto her shoulders, "Listen, I know you are more than capable of handling yourself, but even my heart is lifted when my daughter goes missing. Come. It is time for your speech. I have prepared a special celebration for you, just as I promised, afterwards."
"Oh, Father!" the Princess threw her arms around her father, "You didn't forget!"
"Of course I did not forget!" retorted her Father, surprised she even asked, "Tonight, you are going to demonstrate to the Lords and Ladies what the new heir of to the Throne of Hyrule can do."
The Princess suddenly beamed with brightness, "You don't mean it…" Impa's training was conducted within the secrecy of the dungeon below for many reasons, but the most obvious reason being that a woman's place was in a household in the eyes of everybody in the three duchies. But Impa had illuminated for Zelda another path for a woman, and the Princess had ever since been infatuated by Impa's stories of her warrior people.
"Yes, Zelda, this is my gift to you for your birthday…" Zelda's eyes brimmed with so much excitement that her eyes began to water. She truly had been waiting her whole life for this. Hours upon days upon tendos upon seasons were spent preparing for a showcase for her talents. "Put on a good show."
"Ladies and Lords, Hyrule has been weakened. Not by our doing, heavens no. We have always stayed true to the path of the Goddesses. But our own Throne has put our realm through dangerous times through repeating failed policies and through weak administration. Hyrule's enemies push in toward the capitol city daily, but our Queen is too cowardly to send her forces to defend the people. She has made it abundantly clear where she stands in relation to the Others, conspiring with our neighbors to install criminals within our own lands! Ha! The divine has made it abundantly clear the Tories chose wrong the Queen and the wrong heir!" the King of Red Lions made a thumbs down to punch his point across and to draw jeers and boos. "Now is the time for a stronger, newer heir to succeed the Queen, one who can lead our armies to crush the barbarians that lay north, east, south, and west, once and for all. The Nohansen's candidate for the heir will not only possess the wisdom of Nayru, but also the power of Din and the courage of Farore as well!"
The Princess looked in awe at the way her father could command the crowd. She had seen the way his hands and his gestures could sway their opinions at countless dinners before. But no matter whether the occasion lay in the foresty castles of Faron, the open plains of Lanayru, or even within the Red Lions' walls, his fingers extended, clenched, waved, and conducted his audience like his own personal instrument, and it never got old. "Not only is she the light of my life, she is the future to the Nohansen dynasty, and the beginning of a new Golden era! With strong leadership finally at the throne."
All eyes were drawn to the Princess. The sudden weight of every eye piercing her face startled her. All her preparation had fled before her uncontrollable nerves. She quickly glanced to her father, who was mouthing the words, "My Ladies and Lords," she stopped to gulp, "I-I…" and then paused to take another deep breath. Okay, you got this, "I, Princess Zelda Viskard Nohansen, fifth of her name, daughter of the Duke of Red Lions, Beholder of the Triforce of Wisdom, reincarnation of Hylia, righteous heiress to Hyrule, have been tasked by the Goddesses to lead our righteous cause to the Throne, where Hylians can restore Hyrule back to its former glory from whence the first Queen ruled."
Though her nerves were forcing copious fluids through her system, she nevertheless recited the opening line of her speech without flaws. She was afraid all those hours spent practicing diligently for the past fortnight was all for naught, that her reward would be washed away by her ineptitude in front of a crowd. But she somehow found her secret talent for public speaking within the Nohansen side of her family mid-delivery. How did she know? Her beginning line drew the crowd into an uproarious cheer. Perhaps it was the words themselves, but mid-delivery, she could feel the confidence bubbling like she knew the crowd's reaction once the last word was delivered with force like one of Impa's kill shots.
Zelda cleared her throat and read the crowd, awaiting for their applause to soften, awaiting the perfect moment to pick up her speech like awaiting her opponent to leave an opening, "Ever since the days after the rule of Queen Zelda the First, our royal government has grown weaker, refusing to aid our people from the threats all around. Everyday, our allies in Faron face the onslaught of the expanding Moblins, while the Zolas threaten the peaceful Lords of Lanayru, and the Confederation continues to attack our own hard fought lands. And what does our Queen do? She invites the blood suckers, the marauders, and the thieves right into our own homes!"
She drew boos just as she wanted. As she spoke each word, she was beginning to understand why Father organized the words where they were. During rehearsal, the words sounded like nothing more than syllables with filling in silence one after another. As the Princess gauged the reactions of the crowd, she was able to the roles each word played. Now that the enemy had been established, it was time to establish who was going to save the good people of Hyrule.
Ungloving her right hand and revealing her triangular mark left by the goddesses, the Princess proudly and boldly declared her divine mission to the audience, "I will personally eradicate the Confederation. I will crush the wicked Blins of the forest, the Zolas of the swamp," she felt her heart spike and almost choked out the next line, "and drive out the Gerudo who dwell within the realm. In the name of all that is blessed, I, Princess Zelda, shall ride forth with the royal army and lead the Goddesses' chosen people to dawn a new age!" Lords and ladies began applauding before Zelda had even punched her final line…
"In name of Hylia's chosen people, I shall create a new Hyrule for Hylians!"
Her words resonated within the hearts of her audience. Though Father had prepared the speech for her tendos in advance, the Princess had gift wrapped each word and delivered them straight to each Hyborn's ears. The crowd fell to the ground in silence and bowed before her feet. For the first time, Princess Zelda witnessed how much power she possessed in her right hand.
Father beckoned his loyal subjects to rise. With a pat on her back, he leaned in and whispered a compliment, "Nice delivery. We'll work on it later, but I'm proud of you." Then he stood up and began his part.
"Many of you have asked me why you do not see much of my daughter, and that is because I have preparing the Princess for her role as Queen. Tonight, I would like to display to you what she has worked so hard for."
The twenty year old Princess smiled like a child. Ever since she first began her tutelage under Impa seven years ago, Father only allowed her to be public during family events several times a year. Otherwise, her everyday life was practically kept in the dark.
"Please make space for the center of the room." As the crowd of familiar and unfamiliar faces spread towards the walls, Father guided them to the room's perimeter, leaving his daughter at the center of the empty circle. "Now, my love, choose any one of our house knights to challenge you in combat." He motioned for ten of his knights, armed fully with shiny yet skinny, well formed plates and a fearsome halberd long enough to kill a man from three meters away, to kneel in a line before the Princess. They had foolishly volunteered for this thinking this would be a farce, but they had no idea Father had fully permitted the Princess to kill any one that she chose.
Murmurs erupted in response to Father's reasonable request. "Madness!" cried some, but they simply had no idea what they were in for. This was Father's great birthday gift to her; this was he meant by showcasing her abilities. As aloof as Father was from ruling his duchy, he knew deep down what his daughter wanted.
The Princess looked amongst her suitable challengers, then recognized the double chin of Princess Frogface's father hanging underneath his visor. His specific suit of armor was tailored specially by Father's many expert metalsmiths to fit his rather pudgy figure. Zelda extended her long pointing finger straight at Princess Crystal's father, "You. I challenge you to combat."
The knight removed his helmet and revealed the great mustache that connected to the side of his curly brown hair. "I, Sir Dornlon of House Jereme, sworn protector of Duke Nohansen, accept your challenge, Princess Zelda," he said with dramatic flair, unaware that those were going to be some of his last words. He handed his helmet to his fellow knight beside him and then handed his halberd to the knight on his other side. Without any intention to harm the Princess, he drew his sword and waved it for show.
Princess Zelda closed her eyes and recalled her mother's single word of power with her mother's voice, Temperance. Instantly, the muscles in her body instantly released all tension and relaxed as if she were as if she were laying awake. Shaking out the last bit of tension in her neck, she took a deep breath to control her racing her heart and opened her eyes to focus on her enemy. Thoughts raced through her head, such as the estimation of Sir Dornlon's longsword, the placement of his clumsy footwork, and his carefree, stupid happy-go-lucky smile, while she simultaneously focused on her own heart rate and footwork, for fighting surely was different, though not more difficult, on heels.
These thoughts were the reason why when Sir Dornlon took his first swing at Princess Zelda, she did not budge one bit because she already knew by the time he took his last step before playfully swung the sword at her, the tip of the sword would never reach her upright torso. Even so, the steel did indeed come close to nicking her beautiful skin, drawing gasps from the crowd except Father.
Sir Dornlon pretended to cut the air around the Princess two more times, and then looked at her confused, "Will my princess not move?"
"Will my good knight not strike me?"
"I, I-" he turned to Father for approval and received a firm nod, "On my honor, as a knight, I cannot harm a lady, especially of my liege's kin."
"Would that honor mean anything to you if I told you this was your execution," Father suddenly said furiously enough for everyone to feel the wrath underneath each word, "after betraying the secrets of my family to the pretender on the throne?"
"No!" pleaded Sir Dornlon, "I would never!"
"As say the other nine. It matters not what each of you say anymore. You are to be the example set to remind my court as well as my closest allies standing here in this room, what happens when one betrays not only my trust, but that of the Goddesses as well."
"Please!" the knight begged on his knees with both hands clasped, "I have loyally served House Nohansen, as have my forefathers for many generations! Please your grace! I beg mercy!"
Father looked at the pathetic man cry before him without the slightest bit of sympathy, "I gave you mercy." Sir Dornlon picked up his head. "You are given a chance to be legally pardoned, but only if you can manage to cut my daughter even once. Consider this your trial."
Protests erupted, but none dare speak a word of their thoughts directly to their ruler. Suddenly, Uncle Dorith barreled through the crowd with the help of his great figure and placed his great, hairy hand on Father's shoulder, "All right, that's enough of this silliness. There's no place for a lady in our armies, so what're ya trying to prove with this?"
Father grinned and gently removed his brother's hand, "Have faith, little brother. I know exactly what I am doing." He then nodded to his daughter, who returned the nod, "Commence the trial."
With snot and tears flowing down his face, Sir Dornlon turned to the Princess, "Please. I beg mercy. I have done no wrong to your family." His begging was met with only silence except for the sobbing from his family.
"Pick up your sword!" commanded the Princess, "I have waited twenty years of my life for this moment! You will try to cut me down!" As her nerves began to rise again, she unleashed a war cry to expel her blood rush, "AYEEESH!" Silencing the room, she could focus on relaxing better, "Think of this as a way for you to end your legacy as a warrior with a fight."
Even then, that did not help Sir Dornlon's trembling. "Okay," he breathed his last few breaths into his sword, "Goddesses guide my weapon!" He let out a pathetic wail as he charged at the Princess with his sword drawn high.
"Tch," scoffed the Princess as he drew close for his first serious attack containing the threat of death. Even then, she foresaw the precise moment that the incoming, vertical tip of the sword would cut into her left collar should she choose to stay still, so all she had to do was time the pivot off her front foot and backstep effortlessly out of the way.
This put Sir Dornlon in an awkward position within Zelda's striking distance. Therefore, it was an absolutely terrible move for the fat knight to attempt another swing at Zelda's belly, for as his sword hand committed to his intended swinging arc, the faster Princess simply reached out and grabbed Dornlon's right wrist with her left…
Before delivering a thorough straight, rear fist right into Sir Dornlon's metal breastplate, sending the poor, heavyweight man soaring into the air and sliding across the marble floors into the group of Father's guards. "Guh!" when he recovered enough to sit up, everybody gasped and saw the massive dent in the knight's thick, solid steel breastplate.
"Are you sure you don't want your Halberd and your helmet?" The Princess teased with her light feet, "I'm not done playing with you yet." Sir Dornlon followed her good advice and retrieved both from his comrades; however, after putting his helmet on and gripping his long polearm firmly, he was left gasping for every breath.
As he approached, Zelda sensed his intention to stab and twirled out of the way, and when she saw he was going to follow up his whiff with more stabs, she continued dancing out of the way using her well trained footwork to fundamentally form the basis of her maneuvers. Sir Dornlon then attempted a long horizontal swing by twirling the weapon around in one great circular arc, which was easily avoided with a jump backward.
Anticipating the halberd's axe head coming from above over Sir Dornlon's head, Zelda contemplated her options. She could step even further back or pivot to the side to avoid the powerful swing. Instead, she took one step inward as soon as the knight swung downward with every intention of plunging the axe's blade into Zelda's head. Lifting her left hand, the Princess caught a hold of the incoming halberd's wooden shaft.
Even with only one hand on the shaft, Zelda could overpower Sir Dornlon's masculine strength in his two hands. With one swift swing of her right hand, she drove the bottom of her fist through the sturdy, ash shaft and severed the axe head completely from the rest of the body. With a nasty, evil smile painted across her face, she flipped the halberd's head into the air and caught it by flat side of the blade before offering the broken wooden side to the knight to continue fighting.
The knight tearfully and reluctantly grabbed the wooden axe and readied himself one more time. Zelda raised her fist to begin her offensive, but the command of Father exploded throughout the room, "Enough!" Both the Princess and opponent turned towards Duke Eldin in disbelief, "I have changed my mind. You are pardoned." The Princess scowled and threw the broken weapon against the floor; meanwhile, Father's audience applauded softly.
"Your mercy," Sir Dornlon dropped his broken halberd and bowed before the Duke, "is graciously received, your grace!" He touched forehead against the floor as he groveled, "If I have offended my liege in any way, I will mend my ways immediately!"
"Hmph, Sir Merrylan, escort Sir Dornlon beneath the castle and see to it that he mends his ways without a pinky." Though Sir Dornlon was quiet as Father's head of the personal guard dragged the man out of the banquet hall, he was more than willing to his pinky for his life. "Tonight is not a night when a Hylian should die. To see what my daughter will do to our enemies," the King made his way toward the dungeon as well, "Follow me." Just as he passed by the Princess, he placed his hand on Zelda's shoulder, "Take the back route. Go get prepared with your mother. I'll meet you at the arena."
Zelda nodded and made her way opposite the way Father was going.