Chapter 8: Zelda

But she touched my heart with a sudden delight,
Like a cowslip-blossom…and the sweetest flowers of spring.

~R.D. Blackmore, Lorna Doone

To the west, the evening sun glimmered over Hyrule Castle, bathing it in a fierce orange light. Link and Navi followed closely in the steps of the woman from the square as she led them on a zigzagging path across the grounds. Knights had been stationed at every strategic point, but she seemed to know exactly where their blind spots would be, leading both boy and fairy to believe she had been here many times before.

"Do you think we can trust her?" Link tried to keep his voice low, but he was almost sure the woman could hear him.

"I don't like it, but if she was with the Gerudos, I think she would've betrayed us by now," said Navi.

"She did stop me from walking right past the Gerudos. They probably saw me with the stone anyway, but it would have been easier for them to follow me if those boys hadn't taken me away to see her. I think she knows what she's doing."

"I think she knows more than she says about the Spiritual Stone."

"I think she's taking us to see the princess."

"Why don't you ask her?"

Before one of them could address her, the woman suddenly appeared behind them, at Link's shoulder. "Keep silent. You will not be out of danger for some time."

Link flinched. "Are there always this many guards?"

"There are many, yes, but the King has been more cautious than usual in his plans for the Gerudo delegation. There are some who believe that peace with that race is not only impossible, but dangerous. They would stop at little to see talks disrupted."

"How are we getting in?" At the glare she gave him, Link clamped his mouth shut. I know, I know. How we're getting in is of as little matter as your name, he thought.

Around him, he heard flocks of crows cackling as they descended to their nests. The sound reminded him of his nightmares. He shuddered and bit off the end of a hunk of bread.

"You want me to hide in there?"

Link eyed the crate with a shiver. The woman had led him to the north end of the castle, to a door used mainly by merchants and servants. Just outside the door, three wooden crates sat waiting to be delivered to the keeper of the cellar. Beside them, a man—probably the same man who had delivered them—lay snoring.

"What's inside it?" said Navi.

The woman pried off the topmost panel of the crate she had indicated. This proved to be a simple task, since the panel had been only lightly secured for the sake of convenience. Inside, half-melted ice and soggy clumps of hay separated rows of glass bottles like the ones Link had pined for at the market.

"Milk." He licked his lips, then frowned. "Why can't we sneak in now? If it was so easy for you to get us past the guards outside, the guards inside shouldn't be—"

The woman quickly shook her head. "I did not participate in the security arrangements for the Gerudo delegation; it is likely there will be additional patrols that I am not familiar with, as there were on the grounds outside."

"You sure looked like you knew where you were going," said Navi.

"The dangers outside are easier to anticipate. Even I cannot see around corners or through walls inside the castle. One surprise could destroy everything. The best chance of seeing you safely inside is in front of you."

Link held the frown for a moment longer before a grin broke out on his face. "You'll have to move some of the milk out of there to make room, right? I promise not to complain if you let me have some of it."

The woman reached into the crate, pulled the stopper out of a bottle of milk, and handed it to Link, who promptly guzzled it down with a sigh of contentment. Meanwhile, she turned her attention to the snoring lump on the ground.

"That's okay, hon. Let Ingo take care of that," the man muttered in between snores. "You just worry about the horses…"

Fingering the shell of a small nut between thumb and forefinger, the woman gazed at the man for a minute or two, allowing the babble to continue. Suddenly, she hurled the nut down at the man's feet, where it exploded in a flash of light, a puff of smoke, and a crack loud enough to break the spell of slumber.

"What in tarnation? Can't a person get a little shut-eye around here?" The man grunted and sat up with his back against the closest crate. Rubbing his eyes, he peered around until he found Link. "And who might you be?"

"I'm Link. This is Navi."

"Don't you have anything better to do than disturb a fellow's rest?"

"Well…" Link glanced around for any sight of guards. "Yes, I do, actually."

The man didn't seem to hear him, but he had taken a peculiar interest in the sky. "Oh boy. Evening already?"

The woman from the square folded her arms. "You are Talon, the owner of Lon Lon Ranch."

"That's me."

"You have a daughter. One who manages your affairs in the market while you make your deliveries to the castle."

"Malon!" The man's eyes widened as he wiped nervous sweat from his forehead. "I messed up bad, leaving her behind for so long. I'm gonna catch it from her now!" With the cry of a man being chased by rabid dogs, he jerked to his feet and scurried off across the grounds without further ado, drawing a string of guards after him.

"Now." The woman began to empty the crate of bottles, leaving most of the hay at the bottom for comfort. "You will spend the night here. If you value your life and your destiny, do not make a sound. In the morning, you will be sent for."

In the highest room of the tallest tower in Hyrule Castle, she stirred as her curse came upon her again and her mind began to lose the distinction between reality and the dream-world. It had been worse than usual of late, and she thought that might be because of their visitors from the west. Their presence had made her uneasy, more so than she cared to admit.

Something rustled in the dark. Was it part of a dream, or was it really happening? She held her breath and lay as still as possible before opening one eye to look on her bedchamber.

She stifled a cry of surprise and fear. Someone was in her room, rifling through her belongings. Man or woman? She couldn't tell. Whoever it was moved cautiously, but not so carefully that they never made noise.

What thief would be foolish enough to try robbing the castle with the Knights of Hyrule and the delegation from the Gerudos present?

Unless it was a Gerudo.

That thought was even more terrifying, because it suggested that the clouds from her dream were gathering more quickly than she had anticipated.

Impa. Where was Impa? Impa!

She wanted to call out but dared not speak for fear of alerting the thief. Could they be searching for it? For the Ocarina?

Because of the nature of her dreams, she had taken the extra precaution of sleeping with the instrument at her bosom each night that past week, certain that someone out there in Hyrule would be after it sooner or later.

Now she was glad of the precaution. Unless they were prepared to assault her directly, the thief would get nothing tonight.

She breathed a sigh of relief. Silence remained for nearly five minutes, until she began to think the thief had vanished.

Then torchlight from the hallway outside revealed the outline of an almost-bald skull and a red cape hanging from broad shoulders.

He was here. He was watching her. Could he tell she was awake?

"Now is not the time," he whispered, so that she wondered if he was only talking to himself or to her or both. "But soon. You'll not frustrate my plans forever."

Dawn's rays had been streaming over the castle for more than an hour when Link heard voices and felt someone lifting the crate he had slept in. Beside him, Navi stirred but remained silent.

They heard a grunt, near enough to make them jump. "What's in this? I thought Impa said it was milk."

"Yes," another voice replied.

"Heavier than I expected. The princess must be thirsty this morning, or she plans on entertaining some of the Gerudos."

"Yes."

"Why would she entertain them in the courtyard and not in her private chambers?"

"You would do better not to inquire into matters that concern the Royal Family only."

With that, both men fell silent, and the only sound Link heard was the sound of their footsteps and the rattling of the crate as they carried him to some other part of the castle. Immediately after he had crawled his way into the crate the night before, the woman from the square had brought him to the castle cellar deep underground, having removed all of the ice and the majority of the milk to keep him comfortable and balance the weight and mass of the crate as much as possible.

I wonder if the Great Deku Tree had any idea how this would turn out, he thought. How much stranger will it get?

He had a feeling the answer to that question would be terrible and wonderful at once, though nothing concerned him just then as much as getting out of that crate and stretching his tired muscles—not to mention sneaking a few more draughts of milk.

Finally, after a journey of jolts and jerks that seemed interminable, the men lowered the crate to the ground, and Link said a prayer of thanks to Din, Nayru, and Farore.

"You may return to your duties."

This last voice he recognized as the voice of the woman from the square.

The men said nothing, but Link heard their footsteps receding in the distance. Someone tore the lid from the crate, and sunlight blazed into his eyes as it had when he first left the forest. Slowly, he stood up out of the crate, rubbing joints to get the blood flowing and brushing the hay from his grass-colored tunic.

The first thing he looked for was the woman from the square, but she had already disappeared, and—though he felt sure he had heard her voice only a moment ago—he found himself wondering if she had been there at all.

"It's her," said Navi.

The fairy's observation was so quiet that Link didn't let it register at first. Instead, he stared at their surroundings. The crate had been placed near the center of a small courtyard. In the background, he heard the trickling of a stream. In front of him, he saw a flowerbed inhabited by a dozen butterflies. Walls enclosed the courtyard on three sides; except for a window each, these walls were bare.

Beyond the flowerbed, a stairway with three steps led to a platform facing the centermost of the three windows. A girl stood looking in at that window with her back to him.

"It's her," he said.

Navi's quiet immediately gave way to excitement. "Hi!"

The greeting startled the girl's attention away from whatever she had been looking at through the window. She turned to face them, holding a delicate white hand beneath her chin. "Oh!"

The fairy landed on the steps in front of the girl, her wings slowing to a stop. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

As the girl found her breath, she glanced at her two visitors, her keen eyes belying her tender appearance. "No. It is I who should apologize for not receiving you properly. Had there been a safer way to bring you inside the castle, we would gladly have taken it."

Speechless, Link could think of nothing to do except bow, forgetting that he was still inside the crate. His cheeks burning red, he climbed out and repeated the gesture at the bottom of the three stairs.

"No. Please." Running down into the grass, the girl took him by both hands and led him to the window. "There is no need for formality."

"I'm sorry." Link stammered, his breath growing short. "It's just that—well, you're the princess, aren't you? That's what people do to them in the stories." He flushed. "I mean…"

The girl smiled at him. "You are from the forest, aren't you?"

He swallowed. "I'm Link."

"Yes. Link." The girl curtseyed. "I am Zelda, Princess of Hyrule."

And now we've come to one of my favorite moments in the story. I confess I've long had a soft spot for tales where the lead guy and the lead gal meet as children, forming a bond that reasserts itself later in life. Aside from the Zelda series, Braveheart is probably one of my favorite examples of this (that scene where she hands him the thistle at his father's graveside gets me every time). K-Drama fanatics like myself will also know this pattern from Time Between Dog and Wolf (which I highly recommend by the way). And eagle-eyed literature buffs will realize that the quote I took from Lorna Doone at the beginning of this chapter is a reference to another such tale, which happens to be one of my favorite novels. There is an excellent A&E TV adaptation of Lorna Doone out there starring Richard Coyle and Amelia Warner. Do yourself a favor and check it out!

That's it for now. Expect the next few chapters later this week or early next week!