Chapter 9- The Nobles
Link POV
"We brought him a gift, but…" the Conde stares at Link "I don't think he is old enough to use it, he can keep it still, he could use it latter or maybe the king himself could give it proper use" the Conde of Akkla says with a malicious glint in his eyes
The Duke places the gift on the table in front of Link, not minding that this could be regarded as bad manners since the royal family was dinning… it was a shaving knife, the King stands up looking at them like he wants to kill them.
[want to know why there is no stylist in the castle? The King fears treason, he won't allow anything sharp near the face or neck of his family and himself. When they need a trim or a shave, they travel to visit a person of trust that does it for them, this always happens late at night to avoid curious eyes. Yet people have noticed the castle has never hired a stylist or barber, nobles criticize this and regard my king as weak and fearful, but I think he is smart and cautious, as he should be… I mean he is the king; treason is something he should be wary of. PLEASE DON'T TELL ANYONE I CUT YOUR HAIR; I could get in trouble]
"Well, look at that, a shaving knife" Link picks it up and stares at the blade and its details "and it's not of bad quality, you have to teach me how to use it my king" Link tells the King who is shooting daggers with his eyes at Link, the Queen begins to say something trying to deflect the hit, but stops when she stares at Link's eyes… eyes that seem to be pleading for something
"Hehe, I don't think he can teach you boy"
"And why is that your grace?"
"He does not know how to use it, we nobility don't bother with trivial things, we ALWAYS visit the barbers in town and pay for them to take care of it" says the Duke giggling, thinking he managed to belittle the boy, and to corroborate that the King was a fearful leader… given his reaction to the shaving knife.
Got you son of a bitch Link smiles evilly
"HAHAHAHAHAHA, I had no idea nobles had such a good sense of humor… I mean, come on, EVERYBODY knows a noble would not allow a third party to come close to his neck with a sharp blade, THAT WOULD BE VERY STUPID" Link says as he represents how easily someone could slit a throat by pressing the shaving knife to his neck and dragging it slowly from side to side, all this while holding their gaze and grinning, suddenly blood was sprouting through his grin, he had bitten the inside of his cheek. The duke and conde are just staring at him wide eyed, fear evident in their faces.
Suddenly a tap on his right shoulder, Link widens his eyes and quickly cleans his mouth with his glove before turning, the King is standing there, glancing with curiosity, then he slowly takes the shaving knife from Link's hand.
"You are correct on that my boy; I will buy you a better one when you start to grow a beard" the King opens the shaving knife slowly and makes eye contact with the Duke and Conde of Akkla "In the meant time I would be the one giving this one a proper use" he says stroking the razor's edge with a finger without losing the guests eye contact.
DAMN! I was aiming at showing my King was cautious and cunning, and also make them feel stupid and scared by showing a graphic image of what could easily happen, but he took it to another level, he just managed to be perceived as dangerous, he has officially earned my loyalty and respect.
"You… were about to eat your dinner, right? we won't disturb you any longer, enjoy this pleasant night" said the Conde and both of them left the dining room in a hurry. Silence reigned for a few seconds.
"I hope we managed to give them something to talk about" Link says to the King
The dining room erupted in laughter from the King and the Queen
"They left pissing their pants, they are not talking about this visit with ANYONE" says the Queen
FUCK, I wanted them to spread the news that the King of Hyrule was to be feared, oh well…
"Daphness, you have homework now, you need to learn how to use that shaving knife, we don't want them saying that you lied…" she looks directly at Link "teach him son"
Son? Just flow with it Link, she of course didn't throw you off with that
He glances at Zelda from the corner of his eye, she looks like she is about to rip him apart
She is pissed, GOOD, she deserves it… this will complicate the relation I need to forge with her to accomplish the king's goal though… why do I love to make things harder for myself?
"I am truly sorry mother; I would love to comply to your demand but… I myself don't know how to use it, give me a few days to learn, then I can teach my King"
"Argh, well, better than nothing… eat your dinner before it gets even colder and go to sleep, BOTH OF YOU" she stares directly at Zelda
Link finishes his plate in 3 mouthfuls and stands, Zelda just pushed her plate not having even touched her food and also stands. They stare at each other furious
"Can I take the Princess's food to my room Sr.?" asks Link still glancing at Zelda
Returning to his seat "No, you may drop it, I will send it later, are you still hungry?" asks the King as the princess starts leaving the dining room
"No, I just hate the idea of wasting food because of a tantrum"
Zelda stops right at the door, was about to turn and answer but choose to continue walking to her room, if she spoke, she was surely going to break in tears, and she was NOT going to let any of them see her like that.
Zelda leaves the dining room almost running away, Link rolls his eyes.
"She is not going to make it easy, and it may get worse once she realizes you are here is to educate and prepare her… but please do not despair, she will have to understand and accept this" the King declares
"I know that… changing the subject I would like to make a request your Highnesses, could you put Platonia as my personal maid?"
"Chacha? She is just a messenger, we have much more competent women, Lili is excellent washing clothes and ironing them" says the Queen with suspicion in her eyes
"Excuse me, but I'm not interested in a maid who is good at her job, what I need is for the people around me to be multifaceted" Link answered
"HAHA, and you decided she is all that by knowing her for an hour or so?" the Queen taunts "her being a beautiful girl has NOTHING to do with this" she rolls her eyes at Link
"Anyone who spends an hour with her would notice, but you be the judge of that mother" que opens his arms and turns around showing his attire
"She is the one who made me look presentable today… even when I refused to lose the gloves, she managed to make it work, she also gave me advise on what to expect from the guest we just had"
"SHE KNEW THEY WERE COMING? She is the one filtering information to Akkla then" says the Queen angrily
"No, my Queen, she told me about nobles she has been in contact with the last few months, she just suspected this was going to happen because it always happens, or so the butler tells them"
"Where did you got the hair cut?" asks the King
And there it is, the question [PLEASE DON'T TELL ANYONE I CUT YOUR HAIR; I could get in trouble] sorry Chacha, but I am not stupid enough to lie to his face.
"She cut it for me" Link says bravely knowing he just tapped the lion in the balls
The lion was about to roar but the Queen stood immediately, and grabbing the Kings hand she spoke "and you trusted her with this?" the Queen kept tabs on Link and the King, trying to avoid a fight between them.
"Yes… I did, how could I not? She practically told me she was going to castrate me if I made her King look bad, so she took care of that not happening today… she does not only have my trust, she has my gratitude… I believe a girl that know how to play this game, cuts hair, loves her King and has the memory of an elephant is a valuable asset"
"She is going to castrate you?" says the King half smiling
Well, she did not say THAT, but I am sure she will do it if offered the chance.
"Elephant memory?" asks the Queen
"She took my measures but did not wrote them down, since she had no paper and pen available at the moment, I am sure she has them written down by now, but I SURELY want to check if they are correct" Links says mischievously
The Queen grins at that "all right, she IS a valuable asset, we will consider your petition and we may inform of our decision in…"
"I will notify the head of the staff of Platonia's change of obligations and salary" interrupts the King
"a few seconds apparently" finishes the Queen glaring at the King
"UNDER ONE CONDITION, I get to cut one of your toes if you ever do that again" the King says
"Do wha-"
"Don't fuck with me boy, you wiped it away but I can still smell it, under no circumstance are you allowed to damage something of mine, do I make myself clear?"
I am his? Oh… I suppose I am HIS son now, wait… he can smell blood? I… need to keep that in mind for the future
"Crystal-clear my lord, it won't happen again" Link breaths in and out slowly "I will be forever grateful that my Highnesses listened to the demands of this poor and uneducated young man" Link says doing a curtsy to add a dramatic touch… hoping to earn a giggle or smile, just to clear the air of tension
"STOP WITH THE DRAMAS AND JUST GO TO SLEEP!" screams the Queen smiling
Link gives one final bow at them and walks to his room, the servants enter the dining room and start to pick up the used plates, the Queen asks one of them to take Zelda's food to Link's room, the King is staring at her smiling.
"You liked the boy, didn't you?"
"He is not perfect, but he is all right… more than all right, he managed to make you look GOOD, scary even, hehehe… kind of sexy if you ask me. I don't know why I doubted your choice… oh yeah, because you don't always make good choices. You chose me knowing I was not good for you"
"You keep telling yourself that, maybe one day you will believe it because I surely wont" the King says holding her hand and kissing it.