Aeris followed the directions the guard had given her, but found the extensive library empty. She turned to try to find her way back to the room that she and Ganondorf were staying in and was met by the princess. "Oh hello, Princess,"

The young girl stared up at Aeris her eyes seemed to bore into her, "You're Hylian,"

Aeris nodded, "Yes," The way the Princess was staring at her made Aeris uncomfortable. "I am,"

"Do you know?" Zelda never broke eye contact.

"Do I know what?" The princess was making Aeris very uncomfortable.

"That your husband is evil," The bluntness of the statement and the oddly calm face of the princess caused Aeris to reel back.

"Evil?" Aeris tried to laugh, "I know he's kind of intimidating, but I assure you he's not evil,"

"He killed the Great Deku Tree," Ice crept through Aeris' veins as the princess continued, "A boy from the forest told me so,"

A boy from the forest? The young boy in green flashed through Aeris' mind, he'd had a fairy with him. "That's silly," Aeris licked her lips, "He's been with me,"

Zelda only blinked at Aeris, the older girl was trying her best to stay smiling. "Aeris!" At the sound of her name Aeris spun and saw Imeone rounding the corner.

Aeris let out a sigh of relief, "Imeone,"

"Ganondorf has been looking for you," Imeone came to a stop beside Aeris and looked down at the Princess, "Hello your highness,"

"Hello!" The coldness from before was gone, replaced by a cheerful childlike demeanor.

"I need to speak with my husband," Aeris' mind was still reeling, first Koume and Kotake try to kill her, probably, and now Ganondorf is supposedly evil as well. Her mouth was dry, "Take me to him, now,"

Imeone looked at Aeris confused, "Right away,"

Aeris followed Imeone through the halls, trying to wrap her head around everything. The princess was only a child, and children were naive at the best of times, and two children together could come up with outrageous ideas.

Imeone lead Aeris through the castle back to the room Cailim had lead Ganondorf and Aeris to earlier. The mess Aeris left in her hurry to leave the room was gone, Ganondorf stood looking out of the window. "Leave us, Imeone," His voice was deep and raspy. Imeone saluted and left the room, closing the door behind her. "Where were you?" He didn't turn to face her as he spoke.

"The gardens," Aeris swallowed thickly, "I needed air,"

"I came back and the room was a mess," He turned toward her suddenly, "I thought something happened to you," He crossed the room to her and cupped her face, "What happened?"

Aeris searched his face trying to figure out how to tell him that she thought his mothers were trying to kill her. "I found something in our bags," Confusion crossed Ganondorf's face. "Something that shouldn't have been there,"

"What?" Ganondorf rubbed his thumb across Aeris' cheek.

Aeris removed his hands and moved to their bags, digging through the one she had knocked over. She pulled out the necklace by the chain, careful not to touch the green gem. "I hid this in the bottom of a chest in our room,"

"The necklace my mothers gave you?" Ganondorf approached Aeris, "Why would you hide this?"

"I'm not sure," Aeris stared at the gem. "It feels wrong,"

"Wrong?" Ganondorf reached for the necklace but Aeris pulled it from his reach.

"It burned me, when I found it," Aeris looked at her fingers. "The gem was no longer green. Black swirled from it's center,"

"What are you saying?" Ganondorf's eyes narrowed.

"I don't know," Aeris was shaking.

"Let me see it," Ganondorf extended his hand and Aeris slowly placed the necklace in his open palm.

Ganondorf closed the gem between both of his hands, a light purple glow shone through his closed fingers. His brows furrowed as the light grew brighter, Aeris rarely got to see Ganondorf use his magic, and watching him made her skin crawl.

After several tense moments Ganondorf grunted lightly. "Cunning old bats," He handed the necklace back to Aeris, "The charm that was on this was meant to scare you, not to harm you. I assume that they hoped to scare you enough to make you run." Relief flooded through Aeris, "I removed the charm, it should be safe to wear again,"

"How did it end up in our bags?" Aeris touched the green gem gingerly.

"I think they hoped that you would find it and choose to stay here," Ganondorf chuckled darkly, "Stubborn hags,"

"I wondered where you got it from," Aeris laughed as Ganondorf helped her clasp the necklace around her neck, grumbling something about women.

Ganondorf took Aeris into his arms, "I spoke with King Daphnes," Aeris looked up at him expectantly. "We discussed the trade agreements I drew up. He wants to further discuss them after the princess' birthday and the talks with the Zoras and Gorons,"

"That's fantastic!" Aeris smiled at her husband.

"It seems our stay here has been extended," Ganondorf sighed heavily.

"Have the others arrived?" Aeris felt comfortable in Ganondorf's arms, her worries from earlier melted away.

"The Goron Chief Darunia arrived just after we did and the Zora King and Princess arrived as I was speaking with the King," Aeris huffed, "Don't worry, you'll meet them at dinner," Ganondorf always seemed to be able to read her mind.

Aeris yawned unexpectedly causing Ganondorf to laugh lightly, "Are you tired Little Hylian?"

Aeris groaned at the nickname, "Will you stop calling me that," She crossed her arms and huffed, "And yes if you must know, I am very tired,"

Ganondorf swept Aeris up and moved toward the plush bed. He laid her down gently and positioned himself next to her, Aeris' hands instinctively moved to play with his hair. "I think a nap is well deserved,"

Aeris couldn't agree more and quickly found herself drifting away.

Aeris sat at the large and absurdly long dinner table in awkward silence. The tension in the room was suffocating and Aeris was hardly hungry. She had been so excited to meet the leaders of the other races, but the tension between the men had been immediately off putting.

The Zora princess, Ruto, had been the only one to greet Aeris. In a small voice Ruto had introduced herself and complemented Aeris' dress. The small zora had turned a deep purple when Aeris returned the compliment, by telling Ruto her fins where beautiful.

Aeris pushed her food around her plate and had to stifle a giggle when she saw both of the young princesses doing the same. Aeris turned her head slightly to glance at Ganondorf who was silently eating mashed potatoes, she squeezed his wrist lightly before turning to Zelda. "So, are you excited for your birthday Zelda?"

The princess perked up, but eyed Ganondorf warily, "Yes, Father is going to let me go to Castle Town to talk to the people," She looked at her father, "Isn't that right, Father?"

King Daphnes smiled, "The people need their Princess," A servant approached Daphnes and whispered something in his ear, the king frowned, "And it appears they need me as well," He rose from his seat, "Please stay and finish your meals,"

Aeris watched the King of Hyrule leave the room, and silence once again filled the air, only the sounds of clinking silverware broke the tense atmosphere. Aeris felt eyes on her and turned to find Zelda staring at her again, "Can I help you, Princess?"

"Your necklace," Zelda smiled sweetly, "It's very pretty,"

Aeris brought her hand up and touched the jewel, "Thank you,"

"Where did you get it?" Aeris didn't sense the same aura Zelda had given off earlier in the day.

"It was a wedding gift," Aeris smiled at the girl sweetly.

Zelda turned her attention to Ganondorf, or more so to his left hand which rested lightly on the table. "Ganondorf, your wedding ring doesn't look Gerudo in design," The aura was slowly creeping back and Aeris' heart sped up as Zelda turned to her, "Was it a family heirloom of yours?"

Aeris swallowed thickly, "Um, no. The gerudo that raised me, Urora, gave it to me. It was her husbands,"

Zelda tilted her head, "That's strange, it looks an awful lot like my uncle Rhoam's signet ring," Aeris felt stuck in her chair under the princess' gaze and she felt Ganondorf sitting rigidly beside her. "That's silly though, Uncle Rhoam's been dead for a really long time," The faked innocence poured off of Zelda in waves.

"Well that's a strange coincidence," Aeris tried her best to keep smiling and placed her hand on Ganondorf's covering the ring from view.

Aeris ran her fingers across the ring and wondered just who in the hell Urora had been married to.

A/N: I'm all about young Zelda being a little shit that is to smart for her own good.