A/N: You wouldn't believe how happy it makes me to see people are even looking at my story. :D If you're enjoying it, than please leave a review, tell me what you like about it! If you're not enjoying it, and it's because of something I can fix, than let me know what you think needs changing! I'd love to hear if anyone's actually enjoying it so far. I'm at the point where I'm no longer ahead of what's ready to be published, so bare with me if I'm being a little inconsistent. Though showing that you're reading the story might inspire me to work faster! Nintendo owns LoZ, that's not about to change anytime soon. P.S. ZELDA WII U OMG!
IV
Midnight let out a frustrated sigh as he glared at the black and white pieces on the board. Well, there were certainly a lot more black pieces than white ones. Even though she taught him everything he knew about the game of chess, his mother certainly did not go easy on him. The boy drummed his slender fingers on the table, trying to think of some way he could salvage the game, well aware of his mother's smug yet somehow encouraging grin looming over him. She always tried to reassure the child, but she never hid how content she was with herself at times. Though it was a little frustrating to be on the receiving end, Midnight admired that about the Queen. She never let her expressions completely betray her, but she also did not put on a mask either. That is why the Twili loved her so much, they knew from one look they could trust their queen, and Midnight wanted to be just like her.
Just as he reached forward to move his only remaining rook on the board, he stopped as he heard the pattering sound of bounding footsteps. Midnight looked up just in time to see little Faron run into the room and clamber into her mother's lap, her usual wide smile spread across her face.
"Wha yu doin'?" the three-year-old asked, reaching for one of the black pawns. Midnight could not help but smile as she looked at the piece with an incredible amount of awe. In the three years since he first met the little girl, she never stopped being fascinated by just about everything she saw. Her whole world, despite being fairly restricted to the palace itself, was an adventure to her, and she loved every moment of it. The Queen wrapped one arm around the toddler and brushed her bright green bangs out her face as she kissed the girl's hair.
"It's a game, my darling, it's called chess." She explained.
"Cheth?" Faron repeated as best she could with the few tiny teeth she had. "Can I pway?"
"Maybe not, darling," Midna mused. "It might be too complicated."
Faron seemed not to hear her. "Whath's this? Whath's this? Whath's this?" she asked repeatedly, picking up each game piece and not waiting for an answer. Suddenly she gasped. "Horsey!" She giggled and picked up the piece resembling her favorite animal. Of course, Faron had never seen a real horse. She recognized it from the drawings her mother showed her, when she told her the bed times stories of her adventures in the world of light. Faron always admired the drawing of the large brown horse with its white mane and hooves. She was not even sure why it was she liked the creature, it just seemed friendly to her.
"Yes, my dear," Midna gently took the piece from the girl's chubby fingers and showed it to her. "This one is called a knight."
"Knight!" the girl repeated, taking back the piece. She cupped it in both her little hands, and jumped from the Queen's lap and made to run out of the room.
"Hey, Faron, we need that to play!" Midnight shouted at her. She looked at him with a scowl on her face, and then proceeded to smile once more and walked up to her big brother, the piece displayed in her hands. He took it from her, mumbling thanks.
"Yu's welcoom!" Faron giggled and ran off, the sound of her bare feet padding on the floor echoing down the hall.
"Let's play a game!" Midnight declared, surveying his small audience for their reactions to his decision. The prince far more enjoyed playing with a proper group of friends. He of course always enjoyed Xantha's company, even if she rarely said a word and always stared with her blank yellow eyes and slight smile on her lips. At least she never appeared to be bored, and that is all that mattered to Midnight. He looked at Misha, who furrowed his brows, dreading what antics the prince would suggest now. Last time he thought it would be a good idea to chase after Shadow Kargaroks, and considering how much trouble they were in after one of the beasts tried to take off with little Faron in its claws, he was wary of Midnight's ideas for fun. Faron on the other hand was already bouncing giddily. Midnight wondered by what part his short sentence did he have her undivided attention. He probably did not even need to open his mouth, the girl considered virtually everything to be fun. He could have suggested they all take a nap and she would have been all for it, at least until it came to the act of actually falling asleep. Midnight grinned to himself, as he looked at the bare footed girl in her short black dress and the smile she always had on her face, even when she was being carried away by a giant shadow bird. In fact, the frightening event was probably the time of her nearly-4-year-old life.
"Let's play royalty!" Midnight finally suggested, seeing the sigh of relief from Misha, the increase of excitement in Faron and the continued blank expression of Xantha. "I'll be the king of course!"
"I wanna be the queen!" Faron burst in. Midnight frowned.
"No, Faron, you can't be the queen. Xantha's gets to be the queen."
Faron scowled at him. "Whhhyyyy?! I wanna be the queen!"
"Faron, when we grow up, Xantha's gonna be the real queen, so she gets to be the queen when we play. You can be the princess." Faron stomped her bare feet in protest.
"No, I don wanna be the pwincess! There's no pwincess in the game!"
Midnight looked at her in confusion. "Of course there is, Faron, it's royalty..."
"No, the bwack and white game!" Midnight realized she was talking about chess, her recent obsession. The girl still didn't know how to actually play, but she loved her mother's explanation of how all the pieces were like a real army, and she liked to set them up like they were dolls and reenact scenes from her imagination. "I wanna be the queen! The queen pwotects the king!" Faron continued to shout.
"Faron, all the pieces protect the king," Midnight sighed. "You can't be the queen cause Xantha is the queen, so pick another piece, okay?" Faron thought to herself for a moment, then her eyes widened.
"I wanna be the horsey!"
"You mean the knight?" "Uh huh!" "What do you want to be the knight for?" "Cause I wanna!" Faron then began to run around in circles, making what she at least thought were neighing sounds. Midnight shrugged his shoulders. Faron had to be the only little girl in the world who dreamed of being a knight in shining armor rather than a princess.
