Zelda took a sip of her tea, then bit into the white biscuit. "Ilia," she said, then took another sip. "I invited you here for a reason."

"What?" Ilia asked, hoping the princess wasn't disgusted by the hay covering Ilia's clothing. She hadn't had time to wipe it off because she'd been told to hurry to the princess, who wanted to see her. Her voice was slightly nervous, and she hoped that it didn't show.

"You are one of the best workers I have," Zelda stated, "and that says a lot because the people who work here do quite fine jobs. You were so much better than the last person who helped with the horses, no disrespect to her though, and she died a few months ago due to illness. It was a shame to lose her." The princess looked genuinely sad, and Ilia understood why so many people respected her. She didn't simply say that she was sad her workers died, she was sad about their death. "Since then people have on and off been helping with the horses, but many have little experience. I'm raising your earnings."

"Thank you!" Ilia said.

Zelda smiled. "And I was wondering if you'd join me to dinner tomorrow. You seem like a remarkable young woman, and I'd like to get to know you better."

Ilia was amazed, and a huge smile burst out across her face. "I'd love to, Zelda!"

Zelda smiled, then cocked her head to the side. "Tomorrow at seven then."

"A real princess would invite you to dinner tonight and not tomorrow." Princess Agitha said, taking a bite of her yellow cake. "I keep telling you, Ilia, you should work for me instead."

Ilia rolled her eyes, then bit into her roll. "I like you, but I do enjoy the lovely Zelda very much."

"I am quite lovely myself!" Agitha pouted and crossed her arms. "Worthless peasant." She stamped her foot on the hard floor, the sound echoing throughout the room.

Ilia laughed. "I thought I was your favorite subject."

Agitha's face turned red. "Keep this up and you'll be the lowest subject in Hyrule."

"Fine, I am sorry your Highness."

Agitha stood up straighter. "Of course you should be!" Her voice softened. "I heard about what happened, and I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you sad, Ilia. I wouldn't ever do that to you on purpose."

"I know you wouldn't. Agitha, I know you're not that kind of person, and I know that you knew him too."

Maybe Ilia was just seeing things, but she thought she saw Agitha frown, and a sort of sadness appear in her eyes.

Zelda and Ilia raised their wineglasses together, clinked them, and then both took long sips. The bitter liquid flowed down Ilia's throat, and she quickly stopped. It just wasn't her thing.

"We're having traditional Labrynna meals tonight," Zelda said. "I've always loved Labrynnian food, and I hope to travel there someday if I ever get the chance."

Ilia took a bite of the dark brown meat. "This is delicious!" She took another bite. "Princess, I understand exactly why you'd like to go if all of their food is like this."

"Eat as much as you'd like," Zelda said. She bit into an orange vegetable that Ilia didn't know the name of. "We have quite a lot to go around. So, tell me a bit about yourself if you don't mind."

"I'm Ilia," Ilia said. "You didn't know that, did you?"

The princess laughed. "No, I never did."

"I grew up in Ordon with my father and my horse Epona; my mother died before I was old enough to remember her, but I know that my father dearly loved her and that I remind him of her. Link and I were close friends for most of our lives, and we got along well with others, but we were best together. He was a hero, but he was also a funny guy with a great personality, one who said he'd get a record for fastest time to herd goats." Memories ran through Ilia's mind, many of which she hadn't remembered until now. Link was Link, her Link, not the boy who saved Hyrule. It seemed almost hard to imagine that they were the same person; Link would have never been considered a hero before.

"Were you two ever romantically involved with each other?"

Ilia shook her head. "I wanted to ask him about how he saw me, but I never had the time to. The Twilight War came, I lost my memory, got it back, and then he continued his journey to save Hyrule. I saw him a little after that, but soon after he vanished." She didn't mention that she wished that they had been together. It would have been nice, and it would've made Ilia's personal dreams come true. It was probably too late now.

"Can you tell me more about yourself?"

"I just did."

"No, you talked about Link. Does your life revolve around him."

Ilia knew she should cry, but she was numb. She hung her head in shame, staring down at her meat, then wished she could just stuff it in her mouth and never speak to the princess again. "Sometimes I think so, and I think it might be true. It just proves how pathetic I am."

Zelda sat reading in her room when she heard a knock on her door. She called for them to come in, then put in her bookmark, closed the book, and turned to face the person who had just come inside. The man who came in was tall, thin, with high cheekbones, and pale-skinned. Her red hair hung freely behind her back, and her brown eyes looked red. "Princess, I was just out walking in Hyrule Castle town when-when-" She couldn't finish her own sentence.

"What happened?"

It took the woman a few minutes to recover, but when she did, she said, "I found his body in Hyrule Field, covered in blood, his clothes torn. I had no doubt in my mind that he was dead."

"Who?"

"The hero!" She woman began to cry again. "I don't know what happened to him, but the hero was lying dead in Hyrule field, his items coming out of his pouch and littering the ground. The sight was horrific, and it was like I was looking at a whole different person. How could the hero of Hyrule, even after being missing for so long, just be dead in Hyrule Field?"

Zelda felt sick and had no idea what to say. She had a few royal attendants take care of the woman, then sat down on the edge of her bed. The dread and sadness inside her never left her, and it became worse the next day when she saw Ilia working with the horses. She seemed so happy, and Zelda knew that this news would devastate her.

Ilia ran up to her, a large smile covering her face. She grabbed Zelda's hands, and Zelda quickly plastered on a smile. "Hello, Ilia. How are you doing today?"

"Absolutely amazing! I took your advice and decided that I really should try to stop making my life revolve around Link. I'd try to before but could hardly do it, but you really encouraged me." She squeezed Zelda's hands gently. "Thank for helping me! You're a great friend."

Friend, Ilia considered her a friend. Zelda's face turned red, and she felt happier than she'd been in a long time. Oh Naryu, she couldn't possibly tell Ilia now, not well she was so happy. She couldn't send her friend into a depression. No, this would be a secret among top officials of Hyrule, nothing to concern the common people, let alone Ilia, about.

Vaati hadn't realized how impatient he actually was when he killed the hero. The boy had been older, but he bore a sickening resemblance to the past hero in green. Vaati had grabbed him and cut his throat and arms without a second thought, then left him to die in Hyrule Field. The hero hadn't expected it, going in the direction of Hyrule Castle Town. It was pure coincidence that he was out walking when Vaati had decided to leave his castle to further investigate Hyrule, but it was one that had sent the hero to his untimely death, but one Vaati was sure that the bastard deserved.

"I want to invade Hyrule," he said. "But I can't do it like this." He smiled. "Why take Hyrule when I could have it easily handed over to me?" He laughed. "I don't need to threaten Zelda when I can make her beg me to take it!"

He went back to Hyrule Field, seeing that the body was gone. "Shame," he said. "I wanted to keep it as a prize, but I'll manage. Still, it would've been a nice decoration to my palace, much different from the regular expensive oil painting. How I'd love to hang the damned hero on my wall as a sign to his ancestors that they never should've done what they did to me; they'd be forced to watch me hang his body and they'd never be able to do anything about it. In the end, I am superior, and they are simply dead."