Chapter Three
A Reluctant Encounter
Zelda breathed in the fresh spring air, glad to be out of the musty humid castle. She loved her afternoons spent in the gardens after her lessons of the day.
"It's strange but I only feel I'm just a child when I'm here in the gardens," she said outloud without realizing it.
Impa glanced at the girl and sighed. "The weight of being a royalty hangs heavy over your shoulders. And to think that in just three years you'll be a woman in age of marriage, yet you never had the oppertunity to be the happy child children ussually are...When I was your age I was still playing outside all day with the other children of my village, not learning how to be a good wife and how to support a futur king in his tasks!"
"So when did you begin your training as a sheikah warrior?"
"When I turned thirteen of age. I knew a bit but the real training only started then."
"Oh. Do all children start that late to learn thir futur trade?"
Impa chuckled ironically, "You're the one who started early."
Zelda shrugged. "That's the business of politics."
They walked in silence until they reached a bench and sat down.
"I had that dream again," softly said the girl.
The silvered haired woman looked down at her. "Was it exactly the same or did some elements change?"
"It was the same but I could see the people more clearly. The man with the fairy as wearing a green tunic with a white undrshirt and matching lrggings. He wore a strange hat...I've never seen anything like it before...He had the most overwhelming blue eyes...and his hair was the color of wheat at harvest time."
Impa raised an eyebrow. "You sound quite taken in by this young man."
"The oddest thing was the way he was looking at me. He seemed to care for me, as if he knew me...Not in the way that everyone knows me because I'm a princess, but in a close personal way."
"Perhaps he'll be someone you'll meet later on in life," said Impa.
The Sheikak woman mentally began placing the pieces of the puzzle together. Perhaps this man would end up being a lover, and the man with the horse Zelda's future husband. The husband would find out about the affaire and kill her out of anger or as punishment. However it did not explain the fleeing people.
"What did the man on the horse looked like?"
The girl's daydreaming expression clouded over and became a somber one. "...He definately wasn't a Hylian...He's like no other man I've seen before, his ears were so small...almost like the shape of a mouse...I was afraid of him, I on't know why...But to answer your question, he was tall...even taller than Father. His eyes were a strange hue of amber. His hair was a mix of red and orange...is skin was darker than ours. Like one who lives in a hot climate."
"It's still early to jump to a conclusion. It's only been twice now in the space of a week, but I'm beginning to have an idea of what it all mans," Impa said.
"What does it mean?" Zelda asked intrigued.
Impa smiled at her. "It is for you to find out. Beside I'm not a hundred percent sure yet, I could be wrong."
The two watched a maid that was running towards them.
"Your highness," the maid adressed Zelda as she curtisied. "Your father wishes to see thee in his office, and asked that your highness wear her formal attire."
"Very well. Tell my royal father that I shall be there within the hour."
The maid took her leave and Impa followed Zelda back inside.
**************
"Why do you think my father wishes to see me? He has never really summoned me before, especially not to his office."
"I do not know...It does seem strange now that I think of it," Impa said as she fixed the girl's headdress.
"Well whatever the reason is, I've got a bad feeling that something will happen," said Zelda. She looked at herself in the mirror. Her white robe was spotless. The thick purple tunic in place, and the headdress well adjusted. "Did you have to pull the strings of the corset so tightly?"she asked. "I can hardly breath!"
"I'm sure you would appreciate it having the strings pulled tighter than ussual instead of hearing a long speech from your father," Impa answered.
"You're right. I've already heard his ten minute speech that a lady must be careful of her weight...
"...or else it makes the father's job harder of finding a suitor," finished Impa.
Zelda smiled sheepishly. "I guess I've been overdoing it with the sweets huh?"
Impa rolled her eyes. "Don't you start acting like them. Don't fall into their game Zelda. Right now is fine because it will avoid you from getting in trouble, but I don't want you to think like that once you are an adult. You are different from them. Unlike the rest of the nobility, your heart is pure as gold and you think of others instead of yourself. When others are thinking of how they look for a banquet or a ball, you are always thinking of how much the ruppies spent on those things could have helped a village. Don't let anyone change that....Beside your weight is perfectly fine for a growing child...Seriously I'll never understand why the hylian nobility is so obssesed with their weight and appearances....What you need is to be around average children of your own age."
"I would if there was any, anyway I better get to my father's office...You don't have to come if you don't want to. It will probably be one of his long speeches...or a punishement from when he caught me watching the soldiers practicing swordplay."
Impa chuckled. "You know for a princess, you sure act like a tomboy."
"I am not!" exclaimed Zelda.
"Yes you are, now go before you get a speech for being late."
"Okay see you later!" the girl said as she ran as best she could out of the room and to her father's office.
*************
The child knocked at her father's office door. From within she could hear his voice and one that she did not recognize.
"Come in," said her father from within.
Zelda opened the door and froze in place. Her father sat at his desk, and a man was seated in front of him. The man turned to look at her and stood up, observing her. Zelda tried to hide her shock upon recognizing the tall midle-aged man. It was the man with the horse from her dream!
"I suppose it is the first time you see a Gerudo, my lady" he said mistaking her shocked look. "We tend to be quite tall but we are harmless I assure you."
"My daughterI'd like you to meet Ganondorf, th leader of the Gerudo tribe," said the king of Hyrule as he got up. "This is my daughter that I've been telling you about," he spoke adressing the gerudo. his is Princess Zelda."
"And a pleasure it is to finally meet you, my lady." The Gerudo bowed and kissed her hand as it was custom to do.
Zelda smiled nervously and nodded in acknowledgement. She then turned to her father. "You summoned me father?"
"Yes. I have summoned you so we can begin your diplomatic training since you are my only heir. Lord Ganondorf is here for diplomatic reasons and you shall sit and observe how to interact with people of high ranking."
Zelda sat stiffley on her chair, listening to the two men talk. The discussion mainly revolved around the Gerudos trade of healing potions in exchange for wheat, but the little girl noticed that there was something else going on. She focused her attention on the gerudo man wondering why her father was acting so friendly towards this stranger. She felt like if there was somthing in the air that brought her guards up. She wasn't very good in the art of magic, since Impa had only began to teach her, but she could feel the tingling of magic accumulating. Zelda searched her memories of the teachings of Impa and tried to remember what it meant. So focused was she, that she failed to notice that the men had stopped talking politics and were now having a friendly conversation and enjoying a bottle of brandy.
Suddenly it came to her. The accumulation of magic to the point that you can feel it meant someone nearby was casting a spell. No chants had been made so that meant a mental spell was being created. The girl couldn't remember the classifications of the mental spells, but she was ready to bet on her short little life that it had something to do with her father's unusual behaviour. With the excitement of discovering what was wrong Zelda had stood up and now realized that both men were starring at her.
"May I take my leave now?" she asked a little too eager to leave the room.
The king glared at her for being rude and was about to speak when Ganondorf interupted him and stood up.
"You are still a young child, I understand that it can be boring listening to adults talk of business," he said patting her on the head. "I don't mind if she goes back to play. Why don't you give her permission, remember how impatient we were as children."
The king looked at his daughter before finally nodding. lright you may, but we request your presence at the banquet tonight."
Zelda looked up, this request had taken her by surprise. She had never been allowed before to attend to political banquets before. Was this what her mother had meant when she had said that as a woman she will have to learn how to give support to a future husband? She dismissed the idea and thought back to what Impa had said earlier. I'll show them what this princess can do, she thought.
Glad to be allowed to leave she curtisied to both men and closed the door behind her. Trembling, she took a hold of herself and suddenly felt a pang of fear as she heard the gerudo speak of her.
"What a charming child. You never mention you had a lovely daughter, my friend. Tell me, have you found a suitor for her yet?"
Not wanting to hear more Zelda began to run as best she could and headed straight for her chambers. Once there she fell onto her bed with tears in her eyes.
"Growing up is hard enough as it is, why does fate have to make it even more complicating?" she asked herself.
She got up and went to her window. Outside some servants were busy with their afternoon chores and getting ready for the evening's banquet.
"Light! Who is that gerudo man and what does this all have to do with me. What is going on!" the girl shouted in frustration as angry tears rolled down her cheecks.
A Reluctant Encounter
Zelda breathed in the fresh spring air, glad to be out of the musty humid castle. She loved her afternoons spent in the gardens after her lessons of the day.
"It's strange but I only feel I'm just a child when I'm here in the gardens," she said outloud without realizing it.
Impa glanced at the girl and sighed. "The weight of being a royalty hangs heavy over your shoulders. And to think that in just three years you'll be a woman in age of marriage, yet you never had the oppertunity to be the happy child children ussually are...When I was your age I was still playing outside all day with the other children of my village, not learning how to be a good wife and how to support a futur king in his tasks!"
"So when did you begin your training as a sheikah warrior?"
"When I turned thirteen of age. I knew a bit but the real training only started then."
"Oh. Do all children start that late to learn thir futur trade?"
Impa chuckled ironically, "You're the one who started early."
Zelda shrugged. "That's the business of politics."
They walked in silence until they reached a bench and sat down.
"I had that dream again," softly said the girl.
The silvered haired woman looked down at her. "Was it exactly the same or did some elements change?"
"It was the same but I could see the people more clearly. The man with the fairy as wearing a green tunic with a white undrshirt and matching lrggings. He wore a strange hat...I've never seen anything like it before...He had the most overwhelming blue eyes...and his hair was the color of wheat at harvest time."
Impa raised an eyebrow. "You sound quite taken in by this young man."
"The oddest thing was the way he was looking at me. He seemed to care for me, as if he knew me...Not in the way that everyone knows me because I'm a princess, but in a close personal way."
"Perhaps he'll be someone you'll meet later on in life," said Impa.
The Sheikak woman mentally began placing the pieces of the puzzle together. Perhaps this man would end up being a lover, and the man with the horse Zelda's future husband. The husband would find out about the affaire and kill her out of anger or as punishment. However it did not explain the fleeing people.
"What did the man on the horse looked like?"
The girl's daydreaming expression clouded over and became a somber one. "...He definately wasn't a Hylian...He's like no other man I've seen before, his ears were so small...almost like the shape of a mouse...I was afraid of him, I on't know why...But to answer your question, he was tall...even taller than Father. His eyes were a strange hue of amber. His hair was a mix of red and orange...is skin was darker than ours. Like one who lives in a hot climate."
"It's still early to jump to a conclusion. It's only been twice now in the space of a week, but I'm beginning to have an idea of what it all mans," Impa said.
"What does it mean?" Zelda asked intrigued.
Impa smiled at her. "It is for you to find out. Beside I'm not a hundred percent sure yet, I could be wrong."
The two watched a maid that was running towards them.
"Your highness," the maid adressed Zelda as she curtisied. "Your father wishes to see thee in his office, and asked that your highness wear her formal attire."
"Very well. Tell my royal father that I shall be there within the hour."
The maid took her leave and Impa followed Zelda back inside.
**************
"Why do you think my father wishes to see me? He has never really summoned me before, especially not to his office."
"I do not know...It does seem strange now that I think of it," Impa said as she fixed the girl's headdress.
"Well whatever the reason is, I've got a bad feeling that something will happen," said Zelda. She looked at herself in the mirror. Her white robe was spotless. The thick purple tunic in place, and the headdress well adjusted. "Did you have to pull the strings of the corset so tightly?"she asked. "I can hardly breath!"
"I'm sure you would appreciate it having the strings pulled tighter than ussual instead of hearing a long speech from your father," Impa answered.
"You're right. I've already heard his ten minute speech that a lady must be careful of her weight...
"...or else it makes the father's job harder of finding a suitor," finished Impa.
Zelda smiled sheepishly. "I guess I've been overdoing it with the sweets huh?"
Impa rolled her eyes. "Don't you start acting like them. Don't fall into their game Zelda. Right now is fine because it will avoid you from getting in trouble, but I don't want you to think like that once you are an adult. You are different from them. Unlike the rest of the nobility, your heart is pure as gold and you think of others instead of yourself. When others are thinking of how they look for a banquet or a ball, you are always thinking of how much the ruppies spent on those things could have helped a village. Don't let anyone change that....Beside your weight is perfectly fine for a growing child...Seriously I'll never understand why the hylian nobility is so obssesed with their weight and appearances....What you need is to be around average children of your own age."
"I would if there was any, anyway I better get to my father's office...You don't have to come if you don't want to. It will probably be one of his long speeches...or a punishement from when he caught me watching the soldiers practicing swordplay."
Impa chuckled. "You know for a princess, you sure act like a tomboy."
"I am not!" exclaimed Zelda.
"Yes you are, now go before you get a speech for being late."
"Okay see you later!" the girl said as she ran as best she could out of the room and to her father's office.
*************
The child knocked at her father's office door. From within she could hear his voice and one that she did not recognize.
"Come in," said her father from within.
Zelda opened the door and froze in place. Her father sat at his desk, and a man was seated in front of him. The man turned to look at her and stood up, observing her. Zelda tried to hide her shock upon recognizing the tall midle-aged man. It was the man with the horse from her dream!
"I suppose it is the first time you see a Gerudo, my lady" he said mistaking her shocked look. "We tend to be quite tall but we are harmless I assure you."
"My daughterI'd like you to meet Ganondorf, th leader of the Gerudo tribe," said the king of Hyrule as he got up. "This is my daughter that I've been telling you about," he spoke adressing the gerudo. his is Princess Zelda."
"And a pleasure it is to finally meet you, my lady." The Gerudo bowed and kissed her hand as it was custom to do.
Zelda smiled nervously and nodded in acknowledgement. She then turned to her father. "You summoned me father?"
"Yes. I have summoned you so we can begin your diplomatic training since you are my only heir. Lord Ganondorf is here for diplomatic reasons and you shall sit and observe how to interact with people of high ranking."
Zelda sat stiffley on her chair, listening to the two men talk. The discussion mainly revolved around the Gerudos trade of healing potions in exchange for wheat, but the little girl noticed that there was something else going on. She focused her attention on the gerudo man wondering why her father was acting so friendly towards this stranger. She felt like if there was somthing in the air that brought her guards up. She wasn't very good in the art of magic, since Impa had only began to teach her, but she could feel the tingling of magic accumulating. Zelda searched her memories of the teachings of Impa and tried to remember what it meant. So focused was she, that she failed to notice that the men had stopped talking politics and were now having a friendly conversation and enjoying a bottle of brandy.
Suddenly it came to her. The accumulation of magic to the point that you can feel it meant someone nearby was casting a spell. No chants had been made so that meant a mental spell was being created. The girl couldn't remember the classifications of the mental spells, but she was ready to bet on her short little life that it had something to do with her father's unusual behaviour. With the excitement of discovering what was wrong Zelda had stood up and now realized that both men were starring at her.
"May I take my leave now?" she asked a little too eager to leave the room.
The king glared at her for being rude and was about to speak when Ganondorf interupted him and stood up.
"You are still a young child, I understand that it can be boring listening to adults talk of business," he said patting her on the head. "I don't mind if she goes back to play. Why don't you give her permission, remember how impatient we were as children."
The king looked at his daughter before finally nodding. lright you may, but we request your presence at the banquet tonight."
Zelda looked up, this request had taken her by surprise. She had never been allowed before to attend to political banquets before. Was this what her mother had meant when she had said that as a woman she will have to learn how to give support to a future husband? She dismissed the idea and thought back to what Impa had said earlier. I'll show them what this princess can do, she thought.
Glad to be allowed to leave she curtisied to both men and closed the door behind her. Trembling, she took a hold of herself and suddenly felt a pang of fear as she heard the gerudo speak of her.
"What a charming child. You never mention you had a lovely daughter, my friend. Tell me, have you found a suitor for her yet?"
Not wanting to hear more Zelda began to run as best she could and headed straight for her chambers. Once there she fell onto her bed with tears in her eyes.
"Growing up is hard enough as it is, why does fate have to make it even more complicating?" she asked herself.
She got up and went to her window. Outside some servants were busy with their afternoon chores and getting ready for the evening's banquet.
"Light! Who is that gerudo man and what does this all have to do with me. What is going on!" the girl shouted in frustration as angry tears rolled down her cheecks.