Chapter Four: Kiss (Ilia)
I arrived in Hyrule Castle Town only two days after I had left my home in Ordon. It had now been five days since Link destroyed the evil that had taken over. The town was such a big place with all sorts of people hustling and bustling about. There was talk amongst all of the people, and even small dogs were scampering about. It was absolutely amazing. No wonder Link must have loved adventuring so much; he got to see such wonderful places and meet so many wonderful people.
There were three girls chatting incessantly about some boy over across the way from me and Lilly. "He's so handsome!" one of them squealed.
"He's amazing!" cried another.
I asked them who they were speaking of.
"He's the new head of the Hylian Guards! He's so young! And handsome! And brave! And…and he was also the former champion of the star game! And…!"
Then another girl interrupted her. "There's talk that he's the one who trashed the evil guy who was summoning up all of those nasty orcs and such up! You know, the guy who kicked Ganondorf's sorry butt! He's so strong!"
I sat there, wondering who this Ganondorf person was. I had never in all of my life heard of such a man.
The other girl started to speak again. "Yeah, but I heard from my uncle that Ganondorf isn't really dead. My uncle Shad is some kind of nerdy scholar or something like that, and he says that Ganondorf is never gone. In fact, he says that he's still alive right now, just waiting to get revenge on the children of destiny, whatever that means. Speaking of which, I don't even know who Ganondorf is. But if that really cute boy kicked his butt, he must have been evil!"
"Well, he's gone for now," retorted the other girl. "And even if he were to come back tomorrow, I'm sure that Link could thrash him again!" and then the group of girls smiled, pulled their hands up to their mouths, and squealed in delight.
Ganondorf was the name of the man that caused all of the trouble? He was the one who separated me from Link? If he ever came back, I would make sure that it was I who killed him this time around. All the more reason for me to train with the sword.
I wandered through the town until I found a stable. I dismounted Lilly and took the sword and shield with me. I asked for directions to get into the castle, and showed that I had a notice saying that I was allowed in to make a delivery. One of the guards pointed me in the right direction, and I quickly found myself in Hyrule Castle Courtyard.
I could hardly believe my eyes. Everything was so huge…and so beautiful. It looked like a battle had taken place up top because of the broken areas of the wall, but other than that, the magnificence was flawless.
I quickly made my way into the castle, and walked through the halls in order to get to the throne room. There were two flights of stairs that I had to climb, but they didn't tire me out one bit. I admired the beautiful tapestries that aligned the walls. I pushed open the doors to the throne room, and took in a deep breath as I stepped in and closed the door behind me.
When I entered the throne room, I found Link, holding the hand of the Princess and kissing it, and kneeling before her, his eyes full of joy. It looked like he had proposed to her. I didn't even stop to think for a moment.
My heart felt like it had been torn into a thousand pieces, and then those pieces were torn a thousand more times as my eyes filled to the brim with hot tears. My stomach lurched, and I felt as though I was about to throw up. I raised my hands to my mouth to muffle my moans of anguish.
"What did you see?" asked the princess in a commanding tone as soon as she heard my cries of pain.
Link turned his head and saw me as soon as he heard what the princess had said, stood up off of the ground, and opened his mouth as if to say something to me. But he never spoke. He had never spoken a word to me, what would make now any different from then? He reached out his arm to me as if to call me back. But I would have none of it. I dropped the sword and the shield to the ground, and I turned tail and ran right out the door.
How could I be so stupid? Of course he didn't love me! We were only friends! We've only ever been friends! The princess was more than enough competition for me, I could never be as beautiful, noble, rich, or graceful as her. My salty tears burned my eyes more than they ever had before. Why had I gotten my hopes up? Why couldn't I accept that he wasn't ever going to come back to me? Why, why, why?
I wound up in the southern expanse outside of Hyrule Castle Town. I knelt down by the fountain and wept, the cold air sending chills throughout my entire body, but I did not care. I didn't care about anything except for Link. Link, who probably wanted nothing to do with me now after the show that I had just put on. Who probably thought of me less now even than a mere friend.
Suddenly, I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. I jumped a little, because I was startled, but I didn't turn around. I just kept on crying. Then, whoever it was turned me around and embraced me with their warm, strong arms. I opened my eyes, only to discover that Link was the one who was holding me so close. I pulled back from him and wiped my tears. Of course he cared about me a little, we've been friends longer than either of us can remember, but what happened next, I never would have imagined.
He looked deep into my eyes and wiped away the tears that remained underneath them. He wrapped one arm around my waist and tilted my head back with the other. I looked around to see that no one was watching. My mouth opened on impulse. I muttered, "But what about the princess?" Before I knew it, his soft lips descended upon my own, and we shared a tender kiss…our first kiss. And it was in this kiss that I knew Link was offering his full self to me. I held on to him as tight as I could, afraid that he would disappear if I loosened my grip even a little.
"I don't love her," he said after we broke away from each other. Although I swore that I must have been imagining things, because his voice was so soft, and he had never spoken to me before. Well, whatever the case, I smiled and hugged him, dipping in for another kiss.
When we finally released each other from the kiss, I whispered into his long, pointed ear, "I love you."
He smiled and nodded at me in return. He didn't need to say anything for me to understand that he loved me too. He knew that I could understand his speechless expressions, which was precisely why he never spoke.
We embraced each other once more, and then he handed me his cloak. After all, I was sleeveless and barefoot, and the Hylian nights were cold. He led me back into the castle so that I could finally make the delivery that had taken so long to be carried out. The princess thanked me personally, but then she motioned for everyone to leave the room except for me.
When everyone had cleared out, she said, "He's the head knight of Hyrule. You should be very proud of him, and feel lucky to have him in your life."
"What are you getting at, your highness?"
"I can tell by the way you reacted when you saw him with me earlier that you and him go way back. Friends I presume? Or perhaps even more than that?"
I couldn't help but to blush and shy my face away from her when she said this. I felt as though I had committed some kind of crime for being in love with Link.
"I'll also have you know that you were jumping to conclusions. I had just briefed him on current events. Important events. What was it you thought he was doing?"
"Nothing," I lied. My face turned an even deeper shade of red. I felt like such a fool right now.
"You're words ring of falsehood." Her eyes flared up, but then returned to their natural serene form. "It matters not to me. However, I have a request of you. You are training in the arts of the sword, am I wrong?" she smiled gently at me, in a gesture of friendliness. This was one princess who could control her emotions at will. I have to say I envied that little quality of hers.
"How did you know?" I asked, trying to find my voice, which was drowning in shame at the moment. I brought my head up and tried to look her in the face again. I couldn't show my weakness to her. She was my rival.
"I could tell by the way you held the sword as you handed it over. Do you know what that equipment was for?"
"No, your highness."
"I'll tell you after I tell you my offer. I would like you to be one of the royal guards."
"You want me to be a royal guard? But you've only just met me. You don't even know my name. I don't even like to fight."
"I do know your name, Ilia. You do want to stay close to Link, don't you?"
I jumped a little as she said my name. Had Link told her? But…he never spoke. I shook off the feeling of awkwardness. However, this time, her words got to me. I figured that he wouldn't be returning home any time soon, or perhaps at all for that matter, and the only way that I was possibly going to see him was if I were to stay here. And the only way I could stay here was if I was employed under the princess. I kneeled down on one knee and bowed my head to her. "I accept." I couldn't believe myself, bowing to my rival like that.
She took her sword and knighted me, saying the whole knight's oath as I repeated her. And then she told me to stand up. "The equipment was for a new member of the guards, but he died during the infiltration of the castle. And now, since you are the one taking his place, I give this gift to you." And she handed me the Ordon Sword and Shield. "Your first mission is to join Link in his quest to find a way into the Twilight Realm." This was an odd coincidence, I thought.
"Twilight Realm?" I asked. I had never even heard of such a thing.
"I'll brief you on your mission later. Right now, however, I believe you should get your rest. I've prepared a room for you on the upper levels."
"But how did you-"
"It doesn't matter. Please, rest up. Your briefing will be first thing in the morning. Report down here at six thirty sharp. Breakfast will be provided. Please, enjoy your sleep." And then she curtseyed to me and sent me on my way.
"She's got to be telepathic or something," I said to myself. "That…wouldn't be good though…Well; it looks like I'm off on an unknown adventure once again. I might as well enjoy it since I'm with Link." Just as I was about to open the door that one of the guards had instructed me to go to, Link opened it from the inside first. He was shirtless, revealing his strong chest and arms. I couldn't help but blush. He was more handsome than I had remembered.
He laughed and then let me in. Something inside of me told me that something wasn't right. Was this really Link's room? Or had he just gone in to straighten things out? I guess there were some things that I couldn't find out from his silent ways. He walked passed me and into the room next door.
I was so relieved that as soon as I flopped down on the plush bed the princess had provided me, I drifted into an uneasy sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a very big day.