A sharp knocking at his door jolted Link from his sleep, and for a moment he feared it was men from the castle. He quickly got dressed and cautiously made his way to the door, until he heard Bo call to him from outside.
"Link, lad, you awake in there?"
He swung open the door, seeing Ordon's stout, but rather peculiar-looking mayor on his doorstep. Bo was also Ilia's father, and Link and he were always on friendly terms with one another.
"You don't like you slept very well, lad! But I know something that'll freshen you up. Come."
More preoccupied with his unplanned engagement to the princess, he followed Bo in a daze, still thinking of all the places in Hyrule he might hide.
In the middle of the village there was a rather rickety-looking cart, filled to the top with crates. "I've packed it with the finest goods of our village," Bo explained. "I need you to help me haul it to the town."
Link fidgeted uncomfortably at the thought of going to the town. "Are...are you selling it in the market?"
Bo laughed. "Oh no, I'd never have the rabble buying this stuff! No, I'm taking it to the castle to offer it as a gift to Princess Zelda."
He froze, his mind going blank. "Do...do I really need to come along for this, Bo?"
"I'm not carrying all these crates into the castle all by myself, am I?"
"But...can't someone else do it?"
Bo just stared at him. "I'm asking you, Link. Besides, you owe it to me after spending so much time in town doing who knows what!"
Link reluctantly got aboard the cart as the horses began drawing it away. As it drew near to the town all Link could think of was how he was going to get out of it this time. There was no way he was going into the castle, but what could do? Feign sickness? Hurt himself? No, none of that would work; not without Bo becoming suspicious.
"You're awfully quiet today, lad. Ilia was quite upset about something last night; have the two of you been fighting again? I don't know why you two don't get along better!"
They passed into the town, and Link saw guards milling about near the gate, and so he shrunk back, trying to hide himself.
"Link, what are you doing?" Bo said.
"Oh, it's just...that..." He thought furiously, trying to come up with a plausible answer. "Well, there's this lady in the town, and she...she's very much taken with me, and I don't want her to see me."
Bo laughed. "I'm sure you have that effect on many a lass! But you know, you should start giving some thought to finding yourself a wife. You can't spend your whole life alone."
"And why can't I?"
He laughed again. "That wouldn't be much fun now, would it lad? You'd get lonely and who knows what else."
"Well I've made my decision!" he said angrily. "I'm not marrying anyone, ever!"
They came to the castle gates, and Link's anxiety was only getting worse. "Look, Bo, I'm...I'm not feeling well. Maybe you should go on without me."
"Nonsense. Honestly, Link, if I didn't know you better I'd say you were being lazy! Now, let's carry these crates inside.
By the time he grabbed on the heavy crates Link was in a panic. He couldn't go into the castle, as that would be like surrendering himself to the princess, but there was no excuse he could use to get out of things.
Maybe I should just give myself in. Marrying the princess can't be that bad, can it?
"You there! Stop!" came a shout from behind.
Link spun around to see one of the castle guards coming towards him. Without thinking he dropped the crate he was holding, letting it smash on the ground, and then fled as fast as his feet could carry him. Not looking back, he ran all along the streets, pushing and knocking people aside. He had no idea where he was going; he only knew that he had to get away somehow, but when he glanced back he saw that there were more men after him, their clanking armor making a great racket.
He rounded a corner and ran down it, but to his horror it came to a dead end, and he swore loudly. From the street ahead he could hear the men coming towards him, and there seemed no escape for him now.
That's it, I'm done for sure.
But just then something grabbed him and pull him into a doorway, and when Link came to his senses he saw that he was inside someone's house and that a woman was standing before him. She was tall and slender of frame, plainly clad, but quite beautiful in appearance.
"Quick, stay get away from the windows," she hissed, locking the door behind him.
"What...who are you?" he said, gasping for breath. Outside he could see the guards looking through the alleyway, after a few tense minutes they gave up and returned to the street.
"The castle guards?" the woman said, ignoring him. "You must be in a lot of trouble."
Link's body was shaking. "You...you could say that."
"My name is Hildr, but I'm sure you've not heard of me. But I have heard of you, Link."
He froze. "Er...really?"
"Yes, I've heard a great deal, actually. So why are the castle guards after you?"
Link found a chair by the dining table and sat down. "Why are you helping me?" He wasn't sure if he could trust this person not to turn him into the guards.
"It's in my nature to help those in need," she said. "And knowing the sort of man you are, Link, I doubt you could have done anything too terrible."
"Well I did!"
"What? Did you steal something?"
He sighed dejectedly. "Worse than that."
"Worse? Did you murder someone?" she asked with a laugh.
"Even worse than that!"
"Well what did you do, then?"
"It was something...something very stupid and foolish. It's probably the most foolish thing you can think of!"
"Well what is it?" she said, annoyed.
"You know those fights the princess was having to find a husband?"
Hildr nodded. "Yes, I watched them myself."
"You see, I...I couldn't stand the fact that they were going on about how there was no greater swordsman in Hyrule than her, and I wanted to fight her, but I didn't want to marry her, so I...I disguised myself and then fought her, but she found who I was and..."
"...and now she's got her men after you?"
"Yes!"
"That's quite a situation, isn't it?" Hildr walked to the stove and lifted up a kettle, pouring herself a cup of tea. "But tell me, why don't you want to marry the princess? She's the most desirable woman in all of Hyrule."
Link couldn't believe she'd ask such a thing. "She's a princess! I herd goats in Ordon village, and people like me don't marry princesses!"
She thought for a second, and then said, "if she's got men after you, she obviously desires your hand in marriage."
"She's mad, then. Shouldn't she by marrying a prince or lord or something?"
Hildr shrugged. "She is the ruler of Hyrule, and she may marry whomever she pleases."
"That doesn't matter. I...I don't even know her! How can they expect me to marry someone I don't even know?"
"Link, this is a royal marriage; it is not expected that you will love or even know each other."
"But I'm not royalty! Oh gods...I've ruined everything!" He got up and paced about, silently cursing himself still. "I should have just left it all alone, but I was...I was too damn proud!" Somewhere in all this there was a parable about how pride led to one's downfall.
"Maybe you were, but you can't change what you did. Look, you can stay here until you come to a decision; I promise I won't let anyone know you're here."
"Thank you," he murmured. "I think I'll stay here and wait until the princess gives up looking for me."
"Give up? She's not going to "give up," Link. She's not that sort."
He turned around and looked straight at her. "How do you know so much about the princess?"
Hildr smiled. "I was her friend as a child, before we went our separate ways."
Link didn't recall Zelda ever having any friends, but there was much about her he didn't know. "Then tell me why she wants me as her husband!"
"There must be something she admires you for. I've heard that you and she fought together."
How did you know that? Perhaps his fame had spread further than he thought. "Yes, but we barely had an hour together. How much can you know a person in an hour?"
"I'd say you could learn a great deal about someone in an hour, Link, and there's no better way to truly know someone than in the heat of battle."
"Are you actually suggesting I marry that woman?" he said angrily.
"I'm just saying that doing so wouldn't be as bad you think. That is, unless there is another woman you desire..."
Link went back to the table and sat down again. "Well, there's a girl named Ilia back in Ordon, I always thought I might marry her someday..."
Hildr's expression didn't change. "You don't sound too enthusiastic about her."
It was strange, how easy it was to open up to this woman when she was a total stranger to him. "She's always been a friend to me and...well...that's what I see her as: a friend. I don't think I can love her like a husband should."
"I see...so you don't want her to be more than a friend?"
"No, I don't, and...I'm just not sure I want to spend my life with her, that's all. But, there aren't any other women I could have, either."
"So, as I see it then, you have a choice of this Ilia, or with the princess."
"But I don't want either of them! I just want things to go back to the way they were before I fought that stupid battle." How could he convince this woman that he was simply not going to marry Zelda, and that was that?
Hildr pondered things for a moment, and then said, "Let me ask you this, Link. Are you happy in Ordon?"
"Yes," he answered without even thinking, but when he did start thinking he realized it wasn't the truth. "I mean...no...I guess I'm not."
"And why aren't you happy there?"
Immediately all the woes and annoyances of his life came to the surface. "I hate what I do there, herding goats. It's a dull, filthy job, and it just feels...wrong for me, like I should be doing something better but...there's nothing else for me to do! Some days I just want to run away from there, but then I think of Ilia and all the people there who need me and how there'd be nowhere else for me to go and...well...I just can't do it."
"So, if you had no other choices besides staying in Ordon and marrying Ilia or going to the castle and marrying the princess, which would you choose?"
Link thought it over for a while. "I...I suppose I'd choose the princess, but who knows if I'd be happier with her?"
She smiled. "If I know the princess, Link, if you were married to her the last thing she would want is for you to be unhappy."
Hildr let Link stay the night in a bedroom upstairs. It was sparsely appointed and barely large enough for one person, but Link could hardly care less about that. No doubt Ilia would be worried about how he did not return that day, and Bo would surely tell of his pursuit by the castle guards. Knowing what he'd told her, she'd piece things together and assume he'd been taken by the princess's men and made to marry her.
If only...if only... If only he hadn't fought her, if only he'd stayed in Ordon and worked that day instead of going to town... For allowing himself one moment of pride fate had swiftly punished him, and try as he might, Link could not think of a way out of his dilemma.
He glanced down at the Triforce mark on his hand. It was something he always ignored, finding it an unpleasant reminder of darker days, but this night it seemed the most important thing of all. Deep down Link knew he was the hero this kingdom and its people looked to, no matter how he tried to hide it. But reconciling all he'd heard about being some "great hero" with his humble life at present seemed all but impossible.
His thoughts turned to the princess. From what he knew of her she was hardly the disagreeable sort, and was a woman who valued the safety and welfare of her people above all else. Why, then, was he so disinclined to marry her, especially if Hildr were right and he had only her and Ilia to choose from? It was a choice between the familiar and commonplace, and the unfamiliar and extraordinary. No doubt a marriage to the princess would change his whole life, while a marriage to Ilia would change exactly nothing.
Isn't that what you wanted, a change? You said it yourself, you're unhappy in Ordon.
But who said marrying the princess is the change I want? What if I'm worse off with her?
Why am I even thinking about this? I don't have to marry either of them.
With a groan he lay down to sleep, wondering how long he'd have to hide here before the princess stopped looking for him. A week? A month? Maybe after all that time he'd be so tired of the chase he'd finally give in and marry Zelda.
Give up? No, I'd never do such a thing. But fate would soon force his hand, and much sooner than later.
"Wake up in there!"
Hildr's voice jarred him from his sleep, and when he glanced out the window he saw that it was already noon. Link immediately got dressed, thinking that his hiding place had been discovered and he would have to start running again.
"Come, there's something I want to show you," she said when he emerged from the bedroom.
Still in a daze, Link followed her downstairs. "What is it?"
"You'll see."
Already he was beginning to distrust this woman. It seemed a little too convenient the way she had hidden him from the guards at that exact moment and how she just happened to be the one who knew the most about Princess Zelda. His suspicions only grew when she led him out of the building and into the alleyway.
"Are you sure this is safe? There might still be guards about."
"Don't worry, Link. You'll be fine."
Hildr took him out into the street, and then stopped. "Well, what is it you want to show me?" he asked angrily.
"Link, I...I must apologize," she said, looking down.
"For what?"
As if on cue a great number of castle guards appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and they surrounded him in an instant, brandishing their spears.
His face went hot with anger. "You...you...lied!" Hildr had betrayed him, and there was no truly no way out of things now.
"I'm sorry, Link. It was the only way."
But his anger was replaced by surprise when Hildr put her hands together, and her body began to glow brightly. The glow grew brighter and brighter until it was almost blinding and Link was forced to look away.
He looked back at her, and recoiled backwards in horror. "No..."
For it was not the women he'd seen the night before standing there now, but the princess herself. She stepped towards him, a mixture of sadness and determination on her face.
"Why are you doing to this me?" he growled.
Zelda looked down. "Link, I'm sorry for deceiving you like this, but know that I was doing it for the sake of my...our...kingdom."
Naturally her explanation did nothing to calm him. "How is making me marry you any good for Hyrule?"
"Those men I fought, Link, it was to show but one thing, and that is that you are the greatest warrior in all of Hyrule. There is no one else I'd rather have by my side. Don't you remember, how we fought together; how strong we were in that one moment?"
He remembered it clearly, but his mind was too full of anger to think clearly. As if things were not bad enough, the commotion of the guards attracted the attention of the townsfolk, and when they saw the princess standing there they gathered all around, making a grandiose spectacle of things.
"You told me how unhappy you were at home Link, and I know what it is that troubles your mind at night. That maddening sense of dissatisfaction, knowing of your wasted potential, but you feel there is nothing you can do; no other place to go. But there is, Link! Come with me, I only want you to be what you know yourself to be."
His anger subsided for a moment. Zelda was right, he was unhappy in Ordon, but why did that mean going with the princess? Hyrule Castle was a distant and unfamiliar place to him, and he could not say if he would fit in there any better than in Ordon.
But as he thought it over, fate conspired against him once again. Ilia had come to the town that day to look for him, and she was passing by the same street they were on now when she was attracted by all the commotion. When she saw Link standing there opposite the princess she immediately pushed her way through the crowd.
"Link, there you are!"
He spun to face her and his eyes went wide with horror. "Ilia, I-"
No, this can't be happening...It must all be some horrible nightmare...
Ilia looked at him, and then at the princess. "Link, please come back home! Everyone's been so worried about you!"
Link was about to walk towards her when his body froze. A part of him didn't want to go back to Ordon and his routine life, knowing how much he hated his old job. For the first time in his life there was another way for him to go, though it had appeared out of the most ridiculous of circumstances.
Ilia immediately noticed his hesitation. "Link! You...you can't be thinking of going with her, are you?"
"I...I don't know..."
A pained expression came over her. "You don't even know her! We...we grew up together, Link! We've had all our lives together, and I know you so well!"
But then Zelda spoke up. "Link, I know what you're capable of, and what great things you have done. And I don't believe you're meant to be a...goat herder...all your life."
"Link, what is she talking about?" Ilia's expression changed from anguished to confused. "I think she's confusing you with someone else!"
Suddenly, he realized that there was no way he could ever convince Ilia of all his heroic deeds, none of which he had ever spoken to her of. It was just too far out of her little world for her to understand.
In a flash his anger rose again. "Ilia, she's right. I mean, do you think that I...I like herding goats? Because I don't! I hate it!" He stepped back, and took one step towards the princess.
"Don't you dare take another step, Link! You fight her in some stupid battle, and now you think you can marry a princess? Please, Link...your place is with us, in Ordon."
He faced her once again. "Then, do you know how I was thinking of leaving, but I never did because there wasn't anywhere else to go? I didn't tell you because you'd be upset, but I...I don't want to stay in Ordon, Ilia!"
Ilia was now on the verge of tears. "But it's your home, Link! All these years I wanted us to get married and have a family, and now...now you're telling me you never wanted that?"
"Ilia, you're a good friend, and always have been. But, I...I don't think I can marry you."
Now her tears were flowing, and her voice turned angry. "Oh Link, I knew you'd do something like this! Run away when I need you most! You...you always wanted to go your own way instead of listening to me! I can't believe you'd choose some woman you don't even know over me after all we've been through!" Her voice then turned pleading once more. "Remember all those times we had when we were little, Link? When we'd spend all day playing in the woods, talking about what we'd do when we grew up and how much you wanted a family of your own? Don't...don't throw all that away, Link!"
Try as he might, there seemed no convincing her that he was not meant to stay in Ordon. Zelda was right about who he was; the Triforce mark on his hand was proof enough of it. As if his body were acting on its own, he took another step towards the princess.
"Link!" cried Ilia. "Please, come back with me! I...I love you!"
He cringed at her words. "It...it's not like we won't still be able to see each other."
"Oh, but it won't be the same! I need you, Link! If I can't marry you, then who can I marry?"
Damn it all for making me choose like this! Making it worse was the gathered throng of people watching it all unfold before them. As people are wont to do, they soon began discussing amongst themselves which woman Link should choose.
"He should go with the princess," said one. "He'd be an idiot not take to her!"
"Of course," said another. "She's richer, more powerful, and she has a bigger bosom! That's all that matters really."
"No, he should go to the girl with the large head! Where I come from, a large head means good luck!"
"Her head isn't large!"
"Yes it is! Just look at it! It's like a melon!"
Link closed his eyes, trying to put all the commotion out of his mind. He was going to have to make a choice this day, but it was the most agonizing decision he ever had to make.
Zelda held out her hand. "Link, Hyrule needs you...it needs us. I had to watch my kingdom fall because alone I could not stand against our enemies, and I swore I would never let that happen again."
All she spoke of was so much greater than the petty concerns of his life in Ordon, but still Link could not bring himself to go to her. It tore at his heart to see Ilia in such distress, but deep down he knew he would never be truly content staying where he was.
Another step towards Zelda. "Ilia, you can find someone who loves you, the way you deserve."
You have to make a choice. Take your chances with Zelda, or keep things the way they are with Ilia.
"No, Link...no..." She was now sobbing uncontrollably. "Then...then go be with your princess! I always loved you, but you'd rather go with someone you don't even know! How could you? Ever since that day my father sent you off to the castle it's...like...like something changed, and now you don't care about any of us! We...we raised you, Link, when they left you here, and this...this is what you give us in return?"
When he looked at Zelda, there was only a look of regret on her face. She went through all of this to get me to marry her? Why?
Because if she'd asked, you would have refused.
Link could feel the hand of fate closing in on him. He took another step towards Zelda, and when he looked into her eyes he saw something he hadn't noticed before. It was more than mere necessity that she had chosen him as her husband. But surely, he thought, she did not love him, as their time together had been so short. No matter where the truth lay, Link could sense a longing for companionship behind those blue eyes of hers.
I can't go back to Ordon. I've always known I wasn't meant for that place.
With a final step, he took Zelda's hand, and she closed hers tightly around his. "I'm sorry, Link. I'm sorry it had to be like this."
"Link!" Ilia cried. "Oh Link, how can you do this to me? After all we've been through!"
He looked back at her. "Ilia, I...I..." Link was at loss for words, and could only answer, "I will...see you later..."
"Link, no...no...you won't!" She then turned around ran off into the crowd, and Link shuddered to think how much he'd hurt her.
It would have hurt her just as much if you'd left on your own.
Zelda began leading him away from the street and towards the castle, and when Link looked up at the sky he imagined some great, immutable force had fixed his fate, and it had only now come to pass. In the end, however, he only had himself to blame...
And so it was that Link and Zelda were married, and while the first few weeks of their marriage were difficult, they soon came to love each other dearly. Everyone spoke of how well they were matched, and how his strength and courage were complimented by her wisdom and foresight.
Link went back to Ordon to visit afterwards, but there was never the same warmth between him and the villagers as there was before. By marrying the princess they no longer saw him as one of their own and treated him no better than any passing traveler. Ilia refused to speak with him, and it was a great burden on his heart that he had lost a friend. But in his heart Link knew he had made the right decision to serve Hyrule instead of Ordon, and he knew there was no greatness without sacrifice.
Maybe one day she'll understand, he thought. Yet it was more likely Ilia would settle down with another man, raise a family as she'd always wanted, and in the end forget all about him far away in Hyrule Castle.
Fate must find someone to speak through, was his last thought of the day. Whatever will happen will happen...