Alistair was making his rounds as Guard captain, as he usually did at that time of night, when he heard footsteps behind him. The city had been all but quiet, so the guards barely unsheathed their swords, but walking up behind a guard was not a welcome thought. He swiftly unsheathed his sword, whirling around and placing it to someone's neck.
That someone was Ruana Rafferty.
"Ah, Alistair, that's an interesting way to greet someone," She said, nervously glancing at the blade.
"Oh, Ruana," Alistair blinked, removing his sword from her neck and sheathing it. "I apologize, you startled me." He told her.
"Oh no, I'm sorry, Alistair." Ruana chuckled sheepishly, "I shouldn't have walked up behind you unannounced, especially in the middle of the night." She motioned around her at the dark castle wall.
Alistair shrugged, "Nah, its… okay," He said.
"Anyways," Ruana put on a smile, "Alistair, I was wondering if you'd like to accompany me to a dinner party tomorrow evening." She told him happily.
Alistair blushed, but it couldn't be seen in the dark, "Uh... are you sure you should be asking me…?" He frowned, knowing that their families weren't exactly on good terms.
"Oh, please," Ruana frowned, "Who cares what anyone else thinks! Besides, wouldn't the citizens be happy, seeing that the heir to the Rafferty family and one from the Cousland clan getting along?" She asked curiously.
Alistair nodded, "It would bring up morale…" He said with a sigh.
Ruana clapped her hands happily, "Then it's settled!" She exclaimed, "Pick me up at Six O'clock tomorrow night, and be sure to be dressed in your nicest clothes!" She grinned at him before turning and running back off to her house.
Alistair grinned to himself, extremely excited to be taking Ruana on what he thought was sort of a date.
"Alistair, Alistair!" Vincent waved a hand in front of Alistair's face, scowling, "Hello, anyone home?"
Alistair blinked and looked up at him, "Oh, Vincent," He said, "When did you get here?"
"Mother sent me to wake you up," Vincent replied, standing over Alistair's bed, arms folded, "And I come in here to see you staring at the ceiling."
Alistair sighed and sat up, causing Vincent to back up or risk getting hit, and ran his hand through his sandy blonde hair. "What does mother want of me now?" He asked flatly.
"Oh, you know the usual." Vincent replied with a slight smirk, "She says that she's finally found you a suitable bride."
Alistair looked at Vincent, "Whats this ones name?" He asked with a frown, slowly getting out of bed.
Vincent took a few steps away from his bed and turned his back to him, "I believe its Gerlinde," He replied with a chuckle, "I was told that it means 'Wife of a spearmen', how interesting is that?"
Alistair rolled his eyes, moving to put a pair of dull brown trousers and a thin tan long sleeved shirt. "Yes, its like a match made in heaven," He said flatly.
Vincent turned around with a smirk, waving a book at Alistair, "I've heard she's extremely smart and can see through almost any lie," He told him, "You best be careful, Alistair."
Alistair sighed, slipping on a pair of leather boots, "Yes, yes, Vincent, I get it." He snapped back, glancing at the book, "Will you go off, now? Tell mother I'll be there in a moment."
Vincent saluted him, "If you wish, brother." He said happily, turning on his heels and walking out of his room.
Vincent's mother was a Hylian woman with strong features and black hair, much like Vincent's. She wasn't Alistair's real mother, as she had died giving birth to him, and wasn't quite fond of him either. She stood in a large dining room, two guards near each exit, and was speaking to a younger Hylian woman.
"I'm sure you'll love our dear Alistair," She told her with a smile.
The younger girl smiled as well, "I'm sure I will, Mrs. Cousland." She was a girl in her early twenties with short, straight blonde hair with bangs that stopped just above her green eyes. She wore a simple tan colored dress with a leather bodice; she wasn't fond of bright colors.
Mrs. Cousland grinned, "Please, Gerlinde, I told you to call me Marie." She told her, shaking her head.
Gerlinde nodded, "Well… if you insist, Marie." She said to her.
Vincent ran up behind his mother, tapping her on the shoulder; they were almost the same height, his mother being 5". "Mother, Alistair is coming," He told her quickly.
Marie looked back at Vincent, "Ahh, thank you, Vincent." She said, then ushered him to her side. "Gerlinde, I'd like you to meet Alistair's younger brother, Vincent."
Gerlinde smiled down at him, being quite taller, "Hello, Vincent," She said happily, "I'm very much looking forward to meeting your brother."
Vincent smiled, "Well, I'm sure he's looking forward to meeting you, Gerlinde." He told her, feeling a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Alistair and his smile widened, "Well, Al-"
Gerlinde quickly interrupted him, curtsying to Alistair with a smile, "You must be the Alistair I've heard so much about!" She exclaimed happily before becoming quite embarrassed, "I apologize for my outburst."
Alistair was speechless at first, then began to rub the back of his head nervously and smiled, "Uh, no, no, it's all right…" He trailed off, forgetting her name.
Marie sent Alistair a glare, "Gerlinde," She said quickly, "I think I should leave you and Alistair alone for a while." She said with a smile.
Gerlinde looked at her and nodded, "Yes, of course." She said with a smile.
Marie grabbed Vincent's wrist and sent Alistair a warning smile, "Have fun, you two!" She said before hauling Vincent off towards the library.
Alistair watched the two leave before looking back at Gerlinde, "Um… So, what do you want to do?" He asked curiously.
Gerlinde shrugged, "Well, I'm not quite sure." She replied, "But, if you permit me, might I take a look at your room?"
Alistair looked at her curiously, "Well…" He trailed off.
"Oh, I mean nothing inappropriate, it's just that…" Gerlinde blushed and moved her gaze to the ground, "Well, I always find that I can always find out more about a person by looking at their room."
Alistair nodded, "Ahh, well," He folded his arms and smiled, "If that's the case, then I suppose I can show you my room." He said, though he was still a little uncomfortable.
"Oh, thank you." Gerlinde said happily.
Alistair smiled at her and linked his arm in hers before leading her down the corridor towards his room. His room was on the second floor of the house, causing it to be much more of a walk then it should've. He led her up the staircase, then down a long hallway until they reached his room, which was at the end. "Well, welcome to my room, Gerlinde." He said, removing his arm from hers to open the door.
Gerlinde walked inside and smiled, "Well, this is a simple room." She said, admiring the brown colored walls, wooden floor and dark wooden furniture.
Alistair stood in the doorway and nodded, "Just like I like it," he told her.
Gerlinde nodded her head slowly, "Can we talk in here? There really isn't much we can do…" She turned and looked at him.
Alistair shrugged, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him, "Sure,"
"Hmm…" The old woman was now making her way towards the Couslands library, wearing a simple long grey dress with a short black cloak over it and leather boots. "Those two seemed to have gone this way," She mumbled, her blue and red eyes scanning the area for her target; she had told Radwan that she wouldn't take the boy until Ruana got Alistair, but she wasn't going to wait that long for something that didn't even matter. She walked up the steps of the library, nearing tripping on the hem of her dress, before walking between the marble pillars and into the large building.
Inside the library was a wide array of books, stretching as far as the eye could see; there were a few people working there, helping people, but they usually spend their day cleaning up books people left behind. The woman glanced around the parts of the library she could see, stopping just beyond the door. She scowled, "Where could that brat have gone?" She muttered angrily.
Vincent and his mother had found themselves lost in the maze of the library. At least, his mother had; Vincent knew his way around very well, though he did not let his mother know, and decided to play along with her.
"Oh dear…" Marie looked up at the book shelves, "Will we ever get out?" She sighed.
Vincent frowned, "I'm sure we'll be found, mother dearest," He told her comfortingly, "Besides, the library can't be that hard to navigate!"
Marie frowned, "Well… if you say so, Vincent." She mumbled, folding her arms.
Vincent rolled his eyes and looked ahead, spying a bookshelf filled with Legends and Myths of Hyrule. "Look, mother!" He yelled, bolting towards the bookshelf.
Marie jumped, quickly walking after him, "Vincent, don't be so loud." She scolded him, "This is a library!"
Vincent ignored her and stopped near the bookshelf, scanning the various names of the books; Myths and Legends were by far his favorite reading material. "Mother, look at all these…" He said in awe, "I didn't know they had this many!"
Marie frowned, glancing around to see a few chairs in an opening near the bookshelf. "Well, read to your heart's content," She told him, turning towards the chairs, "I shall be sitting over there."
Vincent nodded as she walked off and pulled out various books about the period of Hyrule being in Twilight; unlike the history books he read in school, these told of other various characters that helped or tried to destroy the hero on his adventure. He sat down in front of the book shelf and began to read a few.
The woman walked about the library after hearing a shout, not being able to locate it from the vast size of the place. She sighed, navigating towards the Myths and Legends part of the library. She happened to enjoy the stories, mostly because a few books had her in them. She smirked to herself, thinking about the old days as she got closer; if she hadn't met the Hero and saw that he would win that battle, she most likely wouldn't have been alive. She shook her head, pushing out the annoying thoughts.
None of that mattered now, for she had a way to bring back the Thief King and there was nothing the Hero could do to stop her. She found herself grinning wickedly and snickering to herself as she walked, eventually reaching the Myths and Legends section completely lost in her thoughts.
Vincent looked up when he spotted someone walking around towards the bookshelf. He scowled; it was some old woman. He rolled his eyes and went back to looking through his book.
The book was a story of the events of the Twilight Era, depicting the people who had been involved the most. He was flipping through a few pages, passing the Hero's Shadow and the self proclaimed King of Twilight when he came upon a picture of a young woman.
The older woman scanned the bookshelf, frowning when she saw the book she wanted was missing. She glanced down at the boy sitting on the ground next to her and saw he was reading it, and he was on her page. "Is that a fine read, boy?" She asked him, "Its one of my favorite books."
Vincent looked up at the woman, "Oh yeah, it's really good." He replied with a smile, "I really just like looking at the villains… I don't know why."
The woman smiled warmly, "Ah, yes, I really just like looking at the pictures, myself." She said to him.
Vincent nodded and looked back at the book, "Yeah, they are pretty good illustrations…" He agreed, "Especially since they're colored.
The woman was slightly thankful she had aged enough as to no be recognized from that picture, though she should have considering not many had blue and red eyes. She shook her head and sighed, pulling a book from the bookshelf and flipping through the pages.
"Were these people real?" Vincent asked suddenly, looking up at the woman, "I mean I know Zant and Ganon were but… the others?"
The woman looked down at him and slowly closed her book. "Yes," She said simply, "Of course they are."
"How can you be so sure?" Vincent looked back at the book, examining the picture of the woman in it.
The woman smirked, "Well, when you're as old as me, you learn things."
"You don't look that old, miss." Vincent said politely.
"Oh, such a nice young boy," The woman laughed, "I'm really 50," She told him with a smile.
Vincent stood up, closing the book, "Really? You don't look it." He told her with a grin.
The woman smirked, "Let me see that book, boy," She said to him, setting her book back on the bookshelf.
Vincent nodded and handed her his book, "You like Myths and Legends?" He asked.
The woman nodded, opening the book and flipping to the page the boy had been looking at. She chuckled, "My, my, my, I do wish I still looked like that." She said under her breath so the boy couldn't hear, and then turned the book so the picture was facing him.
"What? I already read that page," Vincent said flatly, glancing at the picture.
The woman raised an eyebrow and frowned, "Are you an idiot, boy?" She hissed quietly, glancing at his mother a few feet away, "You've looked at this picture a lot, have you not?"
Vincent blinked, "Uh… well, yeah," He replied.
The woman let out an annoyed sigh, "Well then, don't I look familiar?" She asked, "This is no fun if you don't get what I'm trying to convey."
Vincent looked from the picture to the woman, over and over again. "Well, uh…" He frowned, "You kinda look like her…" He said.
The woman growled and dropped the book, grabbing Vincent by the collar of his shirt and
pulling him up to her level, "You're lucky intelligence doesn't go to the other person when they get your soul." She hissed at him.
Vincent's eyes widened, and he heard his mother shout behind him, "What!" He exclaimed, confused.
"Radwan will be angry with me, but once Ganondorf is back, it won't matter!" The woman yelled loudly, her voice echoing in the library.
"Ganon-"
The woman spotted the boy's mother rushing towards her, and threw him into a bookshelf beside her, then unsheathed a sword hidden under her cloak and hit his mother with the hilt in the stomach.
Marie crumpled to the ground, clutching her stomach. She looked up only to see the woman grab Vincent and pull him through the maze of the library. She turned her gaze to the open book lying on the floor, catching her breath and crawling over to look at it; it was open on the page about a traitorous Gerudo girl named Breanne.
"No…" She whispered, tears leaking from the corner of her eyes, "She's going to…"