I put off selecting an ambassador as long as I humanly could, scrambling desperately for any other qualified men to come forward, but none did. This was impossible. How could it be that when I needed assistance out of a royal formality, I was swamped with offers, but when I needed a key member of my ruling court, the well of generosity and duty to the royal family dried up?
The rains continued on in a torrent, until I found myself stupidly wishing that the sun would come back and we could return to the sweltering heat. Farms were losing crops to being washed away, and the homes around Lake Hylia were having the ground washed out from under them. There was little we could do to help beyond filling bags with sand from the desert and trying to pile them between the houses and the rising lake. The farms were getting paid a bounty for what crop they could salvage, but it was still a lower sum they were gaining than what they could have gotten before. So again, they were suffering.
Even though I rarely saw him, I knew it was hurting Link for him to worry about his family. Finally, one day, I sent him to go see his home and to ensure that his family was thriving. He actually seemed offended at my suggestion. "My lady, my family will manage. I send them a portion of my wages every month for necessities. It is not them I am worried about, but the other farming families of this region." I knew what he meant- I shared the same fears. This was no way to begin my dynasty. "What would you suggest we do?" When we did meet, we talked like this. He was my connection to the less fortunate of Hyrule, the people that were actually this country's backbone and best economic support. "I…" he frowned. "My lady, if you insist on giving them some sort of payment for their suffering, you can't make it actually look like a handout. You have to make it seem like this was something they were getting regardless of the rains. Like a tariff break or something."
So, I lowered the taxes on the farming families, and increased them on the safer of the well-to-do, specifically the ones that lived farther inland and weren't at risk of losing their homes to the torrents of water, citing emergency taxes to provide for those less fortunate. To the farming families, the excess return in funds was quoted as compensation for the lost crops, due to an 'act of the goddesses' clause written in our land's charter.
One morning, I woke up feeling particularly surly. It was my cycles, I knew. There was a pain like a bruise in my stomach, and every minor thing irritated me. I abstained from sending any correspondence that morning, lest my mood swings stain the words I was trying to pen down. The rains were worse than ever. Older windows in some of the higher towers had started to leak, and were shuttered closed. Nervous scouts were reporting that the Gerudo were refusing to share any more of their sand for holding the rising waters at bay, the Zora were not returning from their distant home, and the Gorons had completely retreated inside of Death Mountain to avoid the constant mudslides.
The people of Kakariko had lost most of their homes, and moved into the castle grounds, staying at the many taverns, crowding them, with many families cramped into large rooms. I covered my face with my hands and started to cry bitterly when a scout informed me that a fire had broken out in one of the inns late at night, killing several dozen families and injuring a few more. I wanted out, to get away from dealing with all these troubles for a while.
I retreated to my rooms, kicking harmless items, stamping my feet, throwing the pillows from my bed around and screaming with frustration, screaming at my father, for daring to leave me at such an inopportune time. I even dared to curse the goddesses for taking him from me so soon, and leaving me with such a heavy burden.
A knock on the door interrupted my tantrum, and savagely I commanded the knocker to enter. It was that snake of a man, Ganondorf. He smiled at me kindly, and I invited him to sit down, taking a seat myself. "What can I do for you?" Ganondorf cleared his throat and leaned back. When I wasn't on the throne, and with him so close, I realized how huge and imposing his figure was. "Your majesty, I understand you have been placed with a heavy burden since your father's death. I know he would not want to see you suffer, and I beseech you to allow me to help take some of that heavy burden away."
I put my hand on my forehead; there was an angry throb starting in the very center, a headache that would soon put me down with its rage. "Please, my lady Zelda. Appoint me ambassador, and I will help to ease your troubles." I stared at my desk. It could really be that easy- I would have assistance ruling this land until I found a suitable husband, not that I'd been looking. "I…" he was pleading with me with those eyes like fire, something greedy in them. I wish I'd took better notice of that fact before I made the worst decision I would ever make. "Very well."
The rains had finally slowed and trickled to a stop, and for the first time in a few months, the sun came out. The air remained cold, however; we were well into fall. But Hyrule was not going to cease any celebrations of the ended rains; oh no. Balls cropped up like wildflowers, and my own maidservants gently prodded me to hold some of my own, to 'get some use out of your handsome regent', as they put it so tactlessly. I let them 'convince' me this way. After all, I was a young woman who still needed a husband, and the only way to find that was by holding grand balls with which to locate him out of the throngs.
Ganondorf stayed mostly quiet and out of sight. He was constantly off on 'business', either at Death Mountain, Lake Hylia, or Gerudo. I never minded this- he did frequently send reports on his progress of building levees around the lake or testing the structural safety of the mountain trails, and I hated the way the room seemed to get colder when he was around. And when he did come into the room, Link always had some excuse to abruptly leave, which bothered me. His eyes would take on a cold, hateful look when Ganondorf walked in, and any animals that had gathered around his ankles would run off. Not back to their tasks, but as if they were fleeing from danger.
It was at a harvest ball, the celebration of Farore and her boundless fertility that gave birth to Hyrule, where I was finally able to corner Link and demand of him why he despised the ambassador so. Honestly, I just wanted to see if his reactions were similar to my own, and I suspected they were. I took two glasses of candy-sweet wine to the head of the table where we sat, Link brooding and stroking a molly cat that laid purring on his lap. I must confess that I had a bit of a fancy for him at this point as well- he was resplendent in autumn tones- tan breeches, brown deerskin boots, and a dark brown tunic embroidered with gold over an ivory chemise. I sighed and offered him a glass, sitting down next to him in my own chair, dressed to match in a dark brown dress of sumptuous damask, with gold stitching and my own antique underdress. Link stared into the pink liquid, sniffing it cautiously before taking a sip, the cat in his spell regarding me with gold eyes.
"Ah… what a nice soiree, don't you think?" I turned my head and smiled at him, but Link was frowning into his drink. "Yes my lady, it is very nice." I poked his shoulder with one finger, which made him jump, and the cat abruptly hopped from his lap. "Sorry," I waved one hand, already feeling good and warm from the drinks I'd had before this current glass.
"Link, there is something that has been bothering me about you. Every time ambassador Ganondorf enters the room, you turn tail and run!" He narrowed his eyes; evidently being called a coward was more of an insult than I intended. "My lady, you may not like what I have to say on the matter, so you must swear to me to keep it an utmost secret." I nodded, sobering up with the seriousness of his tone. "Of course, of course."
Link heaved a sigh. "My lady, he fills me with dread. When he enters the room, I can feel my blood go cold. And you have seen, I take it, how the animals react to his presence. If I try to comfort them while he is around, they hiss and scratch at me as if I am a stranger." I knew that the animals ran, but I did not know this other fact. I frowned and finished my glass, setting it down on the table with a harder thunk than I thought. "Do you think I did the right thing appointing him? It seems to have helped in some ways. The rains have stopped pouring, the people are recovering…" Link shook his head slowly. "To be honest, your majesty, I'd rather we were still in a drought, if it meant he would not have the power he has." I flinched at his words, watching Link stand up as if he planned to retire for the night. "Link…" I stopped him with a hand on his arm, my face pleading with desperation. "What else was I supposed to do?" Link sighed, putting a warm hand on my shoulder. He was warmer even than the alcohol swimming in my system. "Have more courage, my lady." And with that, he left me alone at the table.
How was I supposed to have courage? My kingdom needed me and I could not provide for them as I wished. It was insufferable; I almost felt as if I were forced into handing over power to Ganondorf, as if a woman could not handle running the country on her own. Link and I did not speak for some time after the autumn ball. I figured he was mad at me for not being courageous enough, and I wanted time to plan my next move for the country. Regretfully, I spent most of my time on my own, either out in the gardens or soaking in a warm bath, trying to clear my head. At least the farms were thriving now; fields were being prepared for the sleep of winter, as was my own castle. Ganondorf stayed mostly out of sight as usual, which started to concern me. Surely he had reports to turn in to me? Some sort of progressive plan to further unite the inhabitants of Hyrule and its coasts? I noticed from his budget that money was being used for something; contracts to construction crews of some sort. It was easy to tell myself at first that he was helping to rebuild Kakariko, install some sort of safety barricade against any potential avalanches later on, help to reconstruct ground under coastal homes and things of that nature. But I wasn't convinced, and I needed someone else to put a rest to my fears.
When I could no longer stand the silence that laid between us like a wall, I approached Link's room in the middle of the day, knocking firmly on the doors. There was silence, then a low voice bid me "Come in."
He sat at the window in a loose tunic and breeches, getting up and bowing when I entered, leaving the door wide open behind me. "Hello, your majesty," he murmured to the ground. "Don't do that," I replied, shaking my head. He straightened and fixed me with his feral eyes. I folded my arms and looked away. When I wanted to be angry, I couldn't look at him. His eyes unnerved me. "I have some concerns." "Yes?" "About… Ganondorf." I dared to look at him. Those wild eyes had hardened briefly, and he nodded in agreement, before offering me a chair at the small table where he was served breakfast and tea, sitting in the other chair and leaning forward to listen. "Go on." So, we talked.
I'm ashamed to say that I had reservations about talking to Link at first. He was from the country; didn't even know the difference between a salad fork and an entrée fork when he first arrived! So how could I imagine that he would be able to understand my fears? But as I spoke, he nodded in the right places, and asked questions that showed he was really hearing me. "He's spending lots of money…"
"Yes."
"But you don't know what on, and why."
"Precisely."
Link sighed and sat back. "I'll check it out." This disrupted my train of thought entirely. "Wha- what? No! Link, he's a very dangerous man, I can't have you snooping about and risking your life-" And damn it all, he fixed me with those eyes. "Zelda, I will be alright. I'm just going to poke around a little, check some things out. I'll be safe." I fidgeted in my chair with a frown. "How do I know for certain you'll come back?" He smiled easily. "You have my word."