Chapter Four: Almost Perfect

From the vantage point of Hylia's Perch, you could see and hear everything.

The great hall was a riot of color, with women in fine silk and velvet gowns and men in ceremonial tunics or armor.

The aromas of roasted meats and just-baked pastries on the banquet tables mingled with the scents of greenhouse flowers and a hundred different kinds of perfume.

Link and Zelda settled themselves down on a couple of chairs to watch the ball, sharing the plate of cakes that Link had brought up with him.

The musicians had just started playing "The Kakariko Windmill:" a lively, fast-paced reel. The dancers on the floor began whirling around in a giant pinwheel pattern.

Just thinking about getting up to dance like that made Zelda's head ache some more. So she contented herself with just tapping her foot to the song's rhythm.

The song ended, and several of the dancers staggered off the floor, looking for a chair to collapse in.

Zelda spotted Celeste moving through the crowd. She was decked out in a giant bell-skirted mass of pink brocade, adorned with at least a ton of lace and ribbons.

"So that's the dress Celeste was bragging about," Zelda said dryly. "I feel really bad for the seamstresses who had to sew all those tiny bows on."

"And I see she's caught some new prey," Link said, referring to the overdressed prince that Celeste was now pulling out onto the dance floor. "Who's that?"

"Oh, that's Prince Cyril from Labrynna. And she can have him." Zelda rolled her eyes. "He kept sending me the most gag-inducing love letters back in the spring. I told him to go kiss a Hinox."

Dance after dance went on, and most of them were up-tempo, lively ones: "The King of Red Lions," "Tetra's Hornpipe," and "The Hateno Village Road."

There was an odd, syncopated dance that seemed to involve the couples running into the middle of the floor and then jumping up into the air. "What kind of dance is that?" Link frowned.

"It's some new dance from the Mushroom Kingdom." Zelda took another cake from the plate and bit into it. "I think they call it the Jumping Plumber."

"Okay, then." Link said in a skeptical sort of voice.

After a short pause - probably to let everyone recover from all the jumping - the musicians started to play another song. And at long last, it was a slow one: one of Zelda's favorite ballads.

The strains of lute and flute music, sweet and vaguely haunting, filled the hall. Couples took to the floor in a slow waltz.

Link and Zelda looked at each other. Then Link stood up and gave Zelda a sweeping bow. "May I have this dance, Your Highness?"

"You certainly may, hero."

Link helped Zelda stand up, making sure that she was completely steady on her feet. Then, they started to slow-dance in place.

Zelda rested her head on Link's shoulder, and he pressed his cheek against hers.

Gradually, Zelda forgot all about her cold: the dizziness, the sneezing, and the headaches. She'd made it to the ball, in her own way, and she'd gotten in a dance with Link.

The moment was almost perfect.

The music came to an end. The next two dances that followed were fast-paced ones, so Link and Zelda sat back down.

After that, there was another slow song, so Link and Zelda were able to get in one more slow dance. But when the dance ended, Zelda started feeling woozy and feverish again.

"Zelda, are you all right?" Link asked. "You're shivering."

"I think I've had enough for one night," Zelda said. She sniffled and rubbed the side of her head. "I'm getting all stuffed up again."

"Okay, let's get you back before the healers realize you're out of bed." Link took off his cape and draped it over Zelda's shoulders. "Did you have a good time?"

"I did. Thank you." Zelda smiled wanly. "In spite of my sneezes and sniffles. I think it's been the most a…ah…AH…"

Link looked terrified. "Oh, no…"

There was a sneeze coming on, and a big one. Zelda tried to hold it in, clutching her arm against her mouth.

Both of them waited. The sneeze seemed to die down, and Zelda cautiously lowered her arm.

"Better?" Link asked.

"I think I'm safe now," Zelda said.

The two of them started to turn back toward the tapestry-covered doorway.

And then the sneeze burst out of Zelda. "AH-CHOO!"

The sneeze was loud enough to echo all over the great hall. Several hundred pairs of eyes turned to look up at Hylia's Perch.

Among those looking up were the king, Impa, and Mistress Melia.

"Uh-oh," Link and Zelda said in unison.

xLoZx

One more to go! Reviews welcome!