"Princess, Princess Zelda?"
A voice sounding so familiar to her ears woke her from her sleep. She rubbed her tired eyes with her fists being blinded by the sunlight to see it was one of her post guards.
"Ah, what is the problem?"
"Sorry to disturb your slumber, Princess, but you're expecting a guest later, you asked me to wake you up early, Your Highness."
Zelda looked over at the time on her nightstand to see it was still quite early. "Yes, thank you…I appreciate it." she smiled at him, "please, now leave me with my duties, post guard."
"A-absolutely, it was my pleasure, princess Zelda." the guard stuttered, and hopped out of the room.
The princess lifted her body out of bed once again as she stretched, and headed for her dresser. Upon further inspection, she noticed her reflection in the mirror. She put on her crown and brushed her long brown hair to part.
"I don't feel like cooking…" the princess whined to her reflection, "I think I will ask one of the guards to do it, and I'll just tell him I did it, again." she laughed. "He really is my pride and joy…"
Zelda stopped brushing her hair. She heard many steps being ran up to her bedroom, she stopped and stared at the door until it busted open, seeing it was another guard panting at a rush.
"Princess Zelda!" the guard huffed, "Terrible news has just been reached to the castles gate from the Gorons! Master Link has been killed in a tragic avalanche of rocks within Death Mountain's core!"
"What?!" The princess had no face expression, and no words could come out after that. She dropped her brush on the floor between her and ran up to the guard, "What do you speak of, post guard?! I demand answers right this very minute!" she yelled in his face. "Is this a joke! I will relieve you of your duties if you think this is a cute little prank!"
"Princess, It hasn't been confirmed but villagers saw him head up there early at dawn…" he clinked his teeth together in fright, "we are all praying these are false assumptions, and Link is okay." he squinted his eyes as his lips trembled. "Please…don't fire me, I was told to tell you by Impa!"
She pushed the guard aside and ran downstairs. She could hear the guard yell her name as she left, and guards coming up the stairs to her room, but she passed them all to get to the front of the castle. Her heart pounded, hearing it though her ears as she almost lost balance from being in this position.
"He cannot be dead!" she yells as she plants her feet, "Somebody, get answers for me this minute!"
"Zelda."
She turned drastically as tears escaped from her eyes to see Impa. "Princess, for now, we do not know if he is dead, but Goron's confirmed that the explosion collapsed the cave, and he did not come out."
"Oh my goodness." more tears left, "I'm going to go myself! I do not see any of you contributing to the part!"
Turning to leave out the castle door, Impa stopped her. "Do not, Princess. If he is truly alive, we need to give him time. What could you do if you went up there? Be logical."
Zelda kept looking up at her, then turned away to wipe her tears, "I cannot sit here…and do nothing. As the princess, I must go. Move aside, Impa."
"Fool!" Impa furiously yelled, "You will not do anything, stay here, other men are taking care of it. You have your duties as a princess, so fulfill them, and let others do their job. The Goron's should be coming by soon for the confirmation, so stay put."
She remained quiet as her tears slid down her face into the corner of her mouth, tasting the saltiness as she bit her lip. She ran back up stairs, questions still lingered, faith was questionable. She slammed her room door and saw the ocarina she gave link when they were children. It calmed her down a bit, Zelda slowly picked it up, and closed her eyes, hugging it close to her chest.
"Hearing this makes me skeptical…I know you are not dead, Link." she grippes it tighter, "Hearing this makes me question if I said all I needed to say to you if you really are dead." a glittering tear hit the blue ocarina.
She put it down and looked out of her window, seeing the market from below her. The volume from the town was louder than usual, this made her curious. Zelda put on her princess dress and made her way for the window. She knew Impa wouldn't let her out the front door, so she got on the roof and slid down the hard panels to hop down, ending up a few feet from the market.
She looked back at the castle, "they don't seem to understand." she whispered to herself.
The market was packed, and conversations were related to the death of Hyrule's only hero, and tears from many people. Not only did Link's death upset Zelda, but all of Hyrule. It didn't take the market people long to notice princess Zelda was in the market. Suddenly, just like that, the focus became on her as they rushed in all at once surrounding her, asking questions about Link and his death. The princess became overwhelmed, yelling for help, trying to move her fragile body to safety. She was vacuum packed by people, and could not get a word out her mouth but groans.
"STOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!" A deep voice yelled approaching all the crowd, It was a pack of Goron's and the Goron head, Gor Coron. "Princess, may we have a word."
The towns people moved aside out of respect, and remained quiet. "Preferably somewhere quiet…"
"I'm glad you are here, please, come in, all of you." Zelda dusted off her dress as she lead them inside.
Once they got into the home of the elegant castle, she sees Impa, and she doesn't look too hot. She has pulsating red eyes, she looked angrier than before. "Zelda, where were you?" she looked up to see the Goron's shortly after walking in. "Ah, welcome, fellow Gorons. I presume you have answers for us."
"They've come about the confirmation about Link's death." Zelda turned to face the Goron's, "Is he okay? That's all I need to know. Please, Gor Coron."
Gor Coron, the Goron elder, bows his head down in respect, and sighs. "This is all our fault."
"So he-"
"The mines must have weakened, or something had been released in there. I must say, I'm very shocked myself. That man is strong…maybe stronger than me…If he is alive, the mines are blocked by fallen rocks. Not even ordinary bombs would get in there. We just need to pray…but it's very unlikely he survived that fatal accident."
"Do not say such foolishness." Impa interrupted, "This is not your fault, and no time for regret."
Zelda collapses to the floor and starts bawling, the people around her gasp to try to catch her. "NO!" she screamed and cried, "This cannot be true! It simply cannot be!"
Tears of the princess formed under her as she drowned in pain. The Goron elder rushed to her, consoling her, along with a couple post guards. She continued to cry.
"No, Princess." the elder rubbed her back with his rough hands, "do not cry. We are arranging a funeral for the Hero tomorrow as we speak… I wish it wasn't like this."
She tries speaking, but the words cannot be understood from her distress from her constant sniffling. The guards held her from under her arms and take her upstairs to her castle bedroom as she could barely hold herself up.
"Do any others know of his death?" Impa asked the head Goron.
"No. Everybody is aware of the explosion, fore it was quite massive and loud, but we had to notify the princess right away. After we leave here, we are going to notify all the people with a letter about the tragedy. The funeral should be for tomorrow."
"Very well. Thank you for your gratitude and respect, coming here personally to tell us. And don't worry about the princess, she will be all right. Will you and your other Gorons need a ride up to Death Mountain?"
"Thank you, but no thank you. We plan to stay near by for the funeral. Until then, take care, and bid the princess our farewell, from all of us."
"I understand. Very well."
As the Goron's left the castle, Impa stood against the marble wall with no emotion, with her hand placed on her chin. "I cannot be convinced. Not yet, at least." she said to herself. "That man…cannot go down that easily." she looked up to the ceiling at the golden chandelier, "what is happening to Hyrule… what will become of our nation. With the hero dead, how will we defeat the evil forces if we manage to be caught up with them again?….I'm sorry, Princess. I will do my best."