Hey everyone, my crappy job... strike that, my crappy LIFE is finally giving me a break... so I posted the next chapter.
I'd also like to propose another challenge; check out my profile if you're curious.
The two farmer's and the two farmmaids were astonished to hear this.
"...our king offers you the chance to become his wife, to live with him in a splendid castle, and you want nothing of it?!" asked the satonished Malon.
"My dear child!" exclaimed now the old Daphnes, "I cannot believe you. If you will not have a king as your husband, then who will you have?"
The fair Zelda took a moment to think.
"To be honest..." said the lost, fair Zelda, "I do not know..."
"Well then, why not see if our young king is the right man for you?" asked the burly landlord Talon.
"Because I do not wish to leave you all..." said the lost, fair Zelda.
Again, the two farmers and the two young farmmaids were astonished to hear her words.
"If I go with our king, I would have to leave you all and this farm.
If I go with our king, I'd stay at his castle until he deems me fit or unfit to be his wife and Hyrule's next queen, and the goddesses know when he would do so.
If I go with our king, I may never return to this farm, to you all, and I think not that my heart could bear that..."
Still, the two farmers and the two young farmmaids knew not what to say.
At last the burly landlord Talon asked incredulously, "You do not wish to leave my farm...?"
The lost, fair Zelda shook her head, "No, how could I? This farm here is my home! And everyone here is a dear friend to me-"
But then she stopped herself.
"...except, perhaps, for the ill-tempered Ingo..."
After this, for a good while, no one spoke.
But then the fair Zelda decided to speak again, "I love this farm, and everyone on it..."
She turned to look at the burly landlord Talon.
"Good Master Talon, you took me and my dear old father in during that harsh time, after that dreadful war brought about by the vile Ganondorf. You gave us food to eat, and a place to sleep, even though you had very little to give beyond what you needed for yourself, your good daughter, our dear Malon, and your farm...and for that I will always be grateful to you..."
The fair Zelda then turned to face her dear friend, the good Malon.
"You too, dear Malon, have been most good to me and my dear old father. You welcomed us with open arms, you befriended us on the first day we came to your farm, and you helped us and looked after us whenever you could...
"Why, that sad day the young king tore my poor old father from me after I found that accursed, jeweled silver dagger you comforted me right away. And soon as I had told you of the dilemma that had befallen my poor old father, you offered to help me.
"When my poor old father had been imprisoned, you two looked after me.
"When I had to find the sheath to that accursed silver dagger, you two dug alongside me for many a long days in the hot sun, though there was countless that needed to be done before winter came.
"And when I had to unravel the king's riddle to prove my wits to the young king, you, dearest Malon, came with me and helped me all the way. I could have never freed my dear old father had it not been for your help, dearest Malon.
"So how could I possibly leave this farm? How could I possibly leave you, good Master Talon and my dear Malon, after all that you have done for me and my dear old father? How could I possibly leave after all that kindness, generosity and hospitality you have given us? I love you, dearest Malon, as though you were my own sister, and I love you, good Master Talon, as though you were my uncle."
Hearing her dear friend speak like this brought tears to the eyes of the good Malon...
But it brought many more to the eyes of the burly landlord Talon.
"Oh my dear, sweet child... I knew not how much our friendship meant to you..." he sniffled, "But you need not feel indebted to us... whatever kindness we have given you , you have repaid, over a times over..."
"My father speaks true, dearest Zelda," said now the good Malon, "My father and I may have given you food to eat and a place to live, but it was only with the help of you and your good old father that we could keep our farm and fields... and our lives...
"That dreadful war that was brought about by the dark warlord, the vile Ganondorf, has not left us and our farm untouched. His raiders set many of our fields ablaze and have carried off many of our cattle as they were out grazing in our meadows. Many of our friends and farmhelpers had fled, fearing the dark warlord would come for them next, but we, my father and I, we chose to stay, for this is our only home.
"Had our good king not send you to us, an old but knowledgeable and vigorous farmer and a dutiful, clever farmmaid, we may not have managed to make ends meet before the coming of winter. We may have had to sell our livestock or our fields, just so that we could have lived through that harsh winter that came after that dreadful war that left many without a home and the means to stay alive.
"So fear not, dearest Zelda, you have helped us, just as much as we have helped you, and many times more.
"It is thanks to you, dearest Zelda, that we have plenty to eat and plenty to sell...
"It is thanks to you, dearest Zelda, that our poultry and livestock are all well and healthy...
"It is thanks to you, dearest Zelda, that all our orchards and vegetable gardens are all lush and bountiful...
"So do feel not that you are indebted to us, dearest Zelda. If you wish to leave this farm and pursue your own happiness, then you have all our blessings and best wishes, for none here on this farm deserves the best of happiness as much as you do."
The fair Zelda said nothing to this, if anything, she looked more lost than she did before.
"I still would not want to leave," she said at last, "Why, who would look after my dear old father when I have gone?"
"I would, dearest Zelda," said the good Malon at once.
"I would too, dear Zelda," said the slim Anju, "The good old Daphnes is loved by many here on this farm, as are you, dear Zelda. He is a kind, knowful grandfather to all of us. We would all look after him."
"And it is not as though I need looking after," spoke now the old Daphnes, "I may be old but I am not withered. I am still well and strong. My dear child," he said now to the lost, fair Zelda, "If you wish to go with the young king, then by all means do so."
"But father-"
"No child," cut her off the old Daphnes, "If you wish to go then go. All of your life you have been a good, dutiful daughter. Too dutiful. I feel in your constant worry about me you neglect your own happiness. It is high time that you start thinking for yourself. Time that you start thinking of finding yourself a husband and starting your own family."
"...Father dear..." said the lost, fair Zelda, "Do you wish me to go with our king...?"
"In a way I do," said the old Daphnes, "Of course I will miss you dearly... but your happiness is what is dearest to me. You are a wonderful maiden, and you deserve to have a wonderful husband at your side to spend your life with. More so, you deserve to have a joyful and carefree life. But much to my shame as your father, I cannot help you obtain all the happiness that you so rightly deserve.
"I have nothing to leave you. Our farm, our home built by our great-grandfathers has been burned to the ground by the vile Ganondorf's raiders. All I own now is a piece of land and a little bit of livestock. But you deserve so much more than that, my dearest child, and you deserve so much more than to be a simple farmmaid. I cannot give you all those things. I fear, I cannot even help obtain them.
"But the king, my dear child, I am sure is able to do so. Even if in the end the king does not deem you worthy, neither of his heart nor of the queen's crown, I still feel that this way you will find the happiness you so rightly deserve..."
"Your good father is right, my dear child," said the burly landlord Talon, "You indeed deserve more than to be a little farmmaid on someone else's farm, and you do deserve to have a grand husband. And there is none grander in our land than our king. Why, smart as you are, I imagine you would make a great queen," joked the burly landlord Talon at the end.
"Now that I think of it... it'd break my heart if you were to leave, dearest Zelda..." said the good Malon with a sad smile, "But your good father and mine are in the right. This chance our king is offering you is one that you must not let go. My good father and our dear Anju are right, our king is the best man there is here in Hyrule, you could not possibly find a better one. And the life you'd have, both as his wife and as our queen, too, is something that you should not just ignore... your dear father is right, you should indeed think more for yourself and for your own happiness... and father speaks true as well, you do deserve so much more than to be a humble farmmaid..."
"I do not want you to go either, dear Zelda..." said now the slim Anju, "But you really should not ignore the king's offer. Good fortune like this does not come along very often. Life, sadly, is not that kind. And more often then not must you cast aside things that are dear to you if you wish to know true happiness... And I'd much rather have you as my queen than some foreign princess or highborn noble lady who knows and cares little for Hyrule and her people," joked the slim Anju.
The fair Zelda said nothing. And for a good long while she would continue to say nothing.
But it was clear to see that the fair Zelda was in deep thought.
At last she spoke.
"I have decided..."
I suppose you are (once again) annoyed that I ended things like this?
Sorry, this is as far as I got. I really have nothing more to post. I gotta write more first. And I haven't even started with the next chapter. Sorry.
On another note... well I wasn't really happy with the last chapter, but this one, somehow, turned out better. When I was thinking this chapter up, I felt that I was projecting myself unto our fair Zelda... and I didn't like that. But when I put this chapter on paper, it somehow turned out different. Weird, but I'm glad it did; I don't want our fair Zelda to take after me; trust me; nobody wants that.
Over all though I feel I could have done better; I even toyed with the thought that Ishould delete this chapter and the last and start from scratch; what do you gals and guys think?
Please review and comment. All forms of reviews, comments and criticisms are very welcomed and appreciated. You are also welcome to send me private messages.
If you do not have the time to leave behind such, a numerical ratings from 0-10 will suffice just as well.
0 = Delete this shit. 10 = Perfect.
PS: And if you find any clerical and/or grammatical errors; LET ME KNOW! SERIOUSLY!