Rejoice folks, inspiration has at last come back to me! And had me writing this new chapter! Once I started, I practically couldn't stop! Maybe it's because it was National Arts Month over here…
Before I start, when someone says "Demise take this person!" it means "Demise take this person to hell!" NOT "Demise take this person to bed!"
And when someone in my story says "Demise take this person, keep that person and have his way with that person" it means "Demise take that person to hell, keep that person with him in hell, and inflict whatever torment he desires to inflict on that person" NOT "Demise take that person to bed, keep that person with him, and have the lead in having fun with that person," you sullied-minded fornicators! Scrub your brains!
This is still a folktale! Something for everybody, including CHILDREN!
This chapter got a little bit of humor in it as well. Though… there's also a bit of… for a lack of better word, horror. Throughout "the silver dagger", and up until here in "the queen's treasure", I have portrayed our young king (Link) as a good-hearted, kind, gently person. Here in this chapter however…
Well… do you guys remember why young Link was crowned king in "the silver dagger"? It wasn't necessarily a pretty reason…
Almost forgot: This is more or less just a filler, so don't expect too much.
When the young king had left the farm, the good Malon and the slim Anju immediately went to their dear friend, the fair Zelda.
"Dear Zelda, what ails you this time?" asked the slim Anju, for each and every one on the farm had noticed how miserable the fair Zelda had looked ever since she had brought the young king and the stern Impa back to the farm.
"Have you come to regret your decision?" asked the good Malon with a bit of sass and tease, "Have you realized, too late, what fine a man our young king is, and how hasty and foolish it was to dismiss him, there being no equal to him in all of the land?"
The fair Zelda sighed.
"Oh, how I wish I had done so, dear Malon…" said she in a miserly voice, "Alas, I fear I have done something very foolish and much worse…"
"Huh? Whatever do you mean, dear Zelda?" asked the confused Malon.
The fair Zelda sighed again.
"For now… let us go back and see to our farm duties again…" said the troubled maiden in a tired voice, "This eve, when all the others are abed, let us, and our fathers, meet again in the dining room… just like the night after the king visited us on his way to Calatia…"
With that, the fair Zelda went off to do some farmwork, and, after a moment of being completely mystified, her two dear friends hurried to follow.
.
When evening had come, and everyone else was abed, the two farmers and the three farmmaids were all seated around the kitchen table, once again, just as they were one halfmoon ago, when the young king had asked the fair Zelda, if she would be his fiancée, and the fair Zelda had been unable to give him an answer.
The fair Zelda's father, the good Daphnes, was the first to speak.
"well, my dear child…" began the old farmer, "What has our young king done to spook you this time around?"
The fair Zelda wore a face of misery.
"Our good king has done no such thing, father dear," answered the troubled maiden, "It is I who has done this to myself…"
The old Daphnes, just like the burly landlord Talon, the good Malon, and the slim Anju, wore a face of utter confusion.
"Whatever do you mean, my dear child?"
The fair Zelda sighed miserably.
"When I spoke to the king this noon, and he asked me for my answer… my wits deserted me. And in that moment of mindlessness, I spoke things I never meant to…"
A feeling not unlike dread brought up the two farmers and the two farmmaids.
"My dear child… please tell me you did not anger the king…" nearly pleaded the old Daphnes. He had not forgotten the weeks he had spent imprisoned in the castle dungeons just for his one careless lie against the king. And everybody knew by now that the young king had actually been most kind and merciful to the old farmer back then.
These past two years, back during the time of Hyrule's rebuild, there had been many who had gone against Nayru's laws and had been brought before the young king. Poor wretches who had lost everything in the war brought to Hyrule by the vile Ganondorf, and who had to resort to thievery to sustain their meager existence the young king had practically spared. Maybe a day or two in the castle dungeons, and then the young king would have given the poor unfortunate a place to sleep and some food in exchange for some labour, usually to help tend Hyrule's fields, and this would go on until the unlucky then-thief could stand on his own again, or until the young king found him a better place and better work elsewhere.
But there had also been many a swindler and raider, who had full intent to take advantage of the frail order left after the gruesome war against the vile Ganondorf and prey on the unprotected, helpless people, and to each and every one, the young king had delivered harsh justice.
Once a conceited, traitorous noble and later a boisterous bandit king had openly mocked the young king when they and their crimes had been brought before him, and they had even gone so far as to challenge him to a duel to the death, thinking him nothing more than a spoiled boy, sheltered and pampered all throughout his life.
In both cases the young king, with a face of furious calm, had responded by rising up from his throne, rising up to the challenge, taking off his crown and taking up his sword again… and not much later he had put down his sword, put on his crown, and sat down on his throne again… all while the death-found braggart was lying in the dirt, his unbloodied weapon clutched in his stiff fingers, and disbelief and terror frozen on his ashen face, while whatever little life was left him, slowly faded away.
Since then, a few stories, not often told, not often heard, have been related by some of the men who had followed and fought alongside the young king-then-prince. Stories of how he had ruthlessly slain this and that most hateful and brutal henchman of the vile Ganondorf's, not to mention of the savage battle between the young then-prince and the dark warlord himself.
To the old Daphnes' immense relief, the fair Zelda shook her head, though none too happily.
"No, Father, I did not anger our king. Nor did I displease him or offend him. No, I did quite the opposite."
"Huh? You mean to say you pleased our young king?" asked the confused Malon.
"I most certainly did, dear Malon…" said the miserly Zelda.
"Hold… You have told us all you desired not to go with our young king, desired instead to stay here with us… yet when our king left this day, he was in good spirits, not as though he had just been refused… dear Zelda…!" the good Malon asked in awe, "Did you change your mind?! Have you decided to go and be the king's fiancée after all?!"
"No, I did not and still do not, dear Malon…" answered her the miserly Zelda, "And had my wits not deserted me, I would have told the king so, alas, they did, and so, in a moment of what must have been madness, I told the king otherwise…"
"Hold," broke in the slim Anju, "Mean you to say… without meaning to, without wanting to, you agreed to the king proposal? You told him that you would go with him, live with him, and be his fiancée, even though you have neither intention nor desire to do so?"
The fair Zelda sighed, once more, miserly and nodded.
"So I did, dear Anju… so I did…"
"Oh, you fair maid…" sighed the old Daphnes, as he held his head as though it was plagued with pain, "Are you truly my child? This does not sound as something my smart daughter would do…"
"I am your child!" snapped the fair Zelda irritably, "And Demise take me, I am most aware of what a disastrous thing I have done, though only Nayru herself knows how this came to be!"
Again, the fair Zelda gave vent to her frustration, this time via a silent groan.
"…perhaps it is because I am your daughter and you are my father that my wits deserted me, and this foolish tongue spoke things not of my will and sound mind…"
"Zelda…" spoke the annoyed Daphnes her name in a tone the fair Zelda had not heard since the last time she had been a very naughty little girl.
Again, the troubled maiden sighed.
"Forgive me my good father… I had not meant to say those things… I simply know not what to do anymore now that I have gotten myself into this mess!"
Now it was the old farmer's turn to sigh.
"Well… how did you get yourself into this fine mess?" asked the old Daphnes, "Why, when we last discussed this, you wanted to stay here with us all more than anything else in the world. Nothing swayed your mind. The chance to wed a handsome, young king did not appeal to you… The chance to live in a splendid castle did not attract you… The chance to have maids and servants waiting on you meant nothing to you… So why this now?"
"I know not, father!" whimpered the distraught Zelda, "all I know is that when the young king stood before me and asked of me my decision… and looked at me with such expectation… whatever I had meant to tell him… whatever I had planned to tell him… I simply couldn't! It was all just gone from my mind… and before long, I found myself telling the young king that I would go with him and be his fiancée…"
Again, the troubled Zelda sighed.
"Oh, you goddesses… what am I to do…?"
"Why are you so distraught about this, dear Zelda?" wanted the good Malon to know, "It may not be what you had intended to do, and thus very unfortunate indeed, but be thankful it happened with the young king proposing to you, and not with the ill-tempered Ingo, back when he was drunk on the eve of last year's harvest festival."
"Demise take you and have his way with you, cursed Malon!" ground out the irate Zelda, "I lived life joyful and happy, having banished that moment from my mind and memory, and now here you are to bring it back!"
Seeing the affront on her dear friend's face, the troubled Zelda sighed once more.
"Forgive me, my dear, sweet Malon… you speak right and true of course, I am most fortunate that this mishap of mine made me the fiancée of such a fine, dashing man as our brave, young king… But fine man or no, I am still distressed it happened! I have no desire to be wedded! And to make things worse, I have no way out of this mess!"
"Why do you not simply go to the king tomorrow and tell him you had a change of mind?" asked the burly landlord Talon.
The fair Zelda shook her head.
"I think this not a wise course, good Master Talon… our young king gave me a full halfmoon to think and to decide. It would be imprudent to tell him that I will not stand by my decision… or rather by what I told him… More so now that I have agreed that I would go and live with him at the end of this month."
"Huh?" exclaimed the good Malon "At the end of this month? Where did this come from?"
The fair Zelda explained, "When I told our king that I agreed to be his fiancée, he had expected that I would go with him this day… thankfully, by then I had my wits with me again. Though only to tell him that I was still needed here and could not go with him just yet."
"And when did you tell our young king would you be ready to leave?" asked the old Daphnes his fair daughter.
"The last day of this month, father dear," answered the fair Zelda, "On that day, the king's carriage will arrive at noontime to pick me up and bring me to the castle…"
"Well…" said the good Malon, "That day is still a good number of days away, plenty of time for you to think and to prepare…"
The red-haired maid could not stop her yawn.
"What say you we retire for the night? There is much work to be done tomorrow. What say you we discuss this more, some other time?"
The fair Zelda felt not that she would sleep but still nodded.
"You are right, dear Malon, it is late and there is much work to be done tomorrow… It is indeed best that we retire for tonight…"
Well… what do you guys think will happen next? Will the fair Zelda "keep her word" and go to the castle and be the king's fiancée? Or will she figure something out in those two weeks to save herself?
I'm still using that folktale as my guide, so I already know what I will do; in fact, I already started writing the next chapter, but I'd still like to know what you guys think.
Speaking of the next chapter…
When I finally got to writing again, I just kept writing and writing; this chapter just grew and grew. Eventually it felt like it grew too much so I made a cut again, sorry. The next chapter will be somewhat sad; you might want to keep a box of tissues ready.
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!