Every Shard of My Heart Belongs to You: Befit for a Crown
Silence—a sound that screamed from the edge of a knife. It was the thunderous palpitations of her heart. Silence was the sound of Zelda's blood freezing over with trepidation.
"Good morning, Princess."
The woman's voice was dark and soft, but not threatening. It did not mock her. Two eyes stared at her, but they did not glare. They were not condescending.
"Silvanna! Put down the damn knife!" another, deeper voice whispered harshly.
Silvanna dropped the knife. It fell to the floor with strange metallic thud. She would not need it. It was only meant to cut the rope when necessary.
His voice reverted to a more reserved tone. "I shall let you go if you would promise not to scream. You must stay quiet. Perfectly silent. Can you assure me of that?
The princess nodded, too terrified even to whimper. He looked expectantly at Silvanna, but she seemed preoccupied with her thoughts. She felt uncomfortable addressing Zelda, so she let her partner do the talking. He had always been an eloquent speaker with a silver tongue and honeysuckle lips. She deeply contemplated her lover's lips.
"Do you know who I am, Princess Zelda?"
She just shook her head, afraid to speak. But she knew she had seen those eyes before. They were brown like lacquer and stained with green like... Iain's eyes.
"My name is Iain Klave, and this—"
Her eyes widened at the mention of his name. "You're Iain's father? Everyone thinks you're dead!" He tightly clamped shut her delicate jaw.
"Shh! Aye, aye. I know that. But I'm here, see? I'm alive."
"But what do you want from me?"
"You see this woman?" Klave motioned toward Silvanna. "She is my wife. We have come to retrieve what was unlawfully taken from us. "
Silvanna was not pleased to look at Zelda. This was her daughter, a daughter that had been taken from her since birth, a child that she had never had the privilege to set her tired eyes upon. She was lovely, in near resemblance of herself in her youth. But it was painful to look upon her, the literal embodiment of her crime. It enraged her that her rightful heir should grow up in ignorance of her own blood. A motley fool, King Harkinian, disgraced her throne. Her silent indigination might have boiled into violence had she not comforted herself with the promise of rewriting her life.
"Do you have in your possession an ocarina?" Klave asked Zelda.
Zelda could not make sense of why Iain's father would want an ocarina, but felt it was practical knowledge not to question a man with a knife.
"Aye. There is one in the second drawer of that dressing table." Zelda nodded toward the vanity across the room where Impa brushed her hair every morning.
Klave opened the drawer and found the ocarina. It was Link's fairy ocarina. Zelda had never returned it, and he had never asked for it back, so she kept it.
"This isn't the one, Silvanna. This is not the Ocarina of Time. The boy must have it."
Silvanna saw that it was indeed, not the Ocarina of Time. "Was it stolen?" she demanded, glowering at Zelda.
"Nay, I entrusted it to a brave young man who—" but Zelda was not allowed to finish. She wanted to say that he had saved Hyrule and was worthy of the honor of keeping such a treasure as the Ocarina of Time, but Silvanna didn't care.
She interrupted, "You're right, Klave. The boy must still have it."
Klave turned from the dresser and asked Zelda, "Do you know where this young man is?"
Of course Zelda knew where Link was. She had seen him just the night before, but she was still unsure of how to answer Klave's question. If Zelda revealed where Link was, what would they do to him? Link would die before he let them take the Ocarina of Time, and surely they would not simply leave when he refused them. On the other hand, she also knew it was unwise to lie to a man with a knife. What a baffling conundrum. It was likewise inadvisable to trust those who have snuck into your bedroom, tied you to your own bed, and threatened your life. That was certain. There was only one way Zelda knew that would allow her to neither lie nor tell the truth at once, and in this she was quite resolved.
She did not answer.
In the southwest tower Link slept no more peacefully than Zelda. How could he sleep? His thoughts of her rebuked his fatigue. He reflected on all that had passed between them that evening. She knew that he loved her, and he knew that his sentiments were mutual. It flooded him with relief to be so open with her. He knew well, however, that because of his standing, it was unlikely for him to be selected as a suitor. Although he was officially nobility, as he had been knighted by the king, his diplomacy was sorrowfully inadequate compared to his military experience. He was not befitting of a crown.
Still, Link found himself content. It might be unlawful to marry her, to make love to her or otherwise engage in expressions of affection, but no law could bar him from feeling as he did for her. If he could have the privilege to serve her until the end of his life, he would be well satisfied. He loved her too much to dissuade her from her conscience.
He had laid awake for two and a half hours, competing in an undeclared staring contest with the ceiling beams. After much internal dispute, he decided to take a walk. It was a fierce tournament, but alas the ceiling was victorious.
Link found himself subconsciously wandering down the corridor to Zelda's room. He shook his head and continued on past the door. It would be discourteous to wake her and preposterous to enter a lady's chamber without her consent or invitation.
Instead he carried himself to the scarlet-carpeted foyer where the first traces of dawn were steadily creeping through low-hanging windows. Numerous guards lined the walls. You could scarcely tell whether there was a person inside such ridiculous armor, let alone whether they were conscious or not. Link chuckled to himself at the thought of tipping one over. Ah yes, today would be a good day. He would make sure of it.
He waved cheerily to the sentinels, though they were as lively as the stone pillars they resembled. He tugged open one of two oversized doors. He ran a lazy hand through his long blonde hair and pressed the other against a sharp pain in his ribs that seemed to appear whenever he breathed too heavily. No matter. He soon regained his composure, and even began to whistle a certain lullaby as he walked.
Then, as if the goddesses meant to mock his happiness, he stumbled and fell. The whistled tune abruptly halted.
A minor disturbance, Link rose again to his feet. Looking behind him, he found the offending object that had momentarily stolen his equilibrium, surprised that it was in fact a man's arm. Even more suprising was that upon further exploration of the surrounding shrubbery, there was yet a man attached to thus arm! It appeared that this man, clearly a castle guard, had been slain and his body hidden in the hedge—or that seemed to be the culprit's intent, though neither act had been done successfully, since the arm was protruding from its body's hiding place, and its mouth groaned weakly.
Link hastily recovered the man, dragging his ghastly form forth from its leafy grave. Thy dying guard gasped as if trying to speak.
"What is it, man? What happened here?" Link asked.
The guard choked, "There... were two." He wheezed, but continued, "We...st... tower..."
The west tower.
Zelda.
A/n: (1) "A motley fool disgraced her throne." - Because King Harkinian recieved his kingdom only by his marriage to Silvanna, she thinks of him as a fool who as stolen her throne.