~Chapter Two~
Sheik and I ride across Hyrule Field, exchanging stories about our lives for the past three months since I've seen him. He's had lone absences before, but this one was unusually long. He says that he was busy, and I believe that, but he refuses to tell me what he was doing. That's a Sheikah for you. I hate how secretive he is.
Castle Town is about twenty minutes away from Ordon, so we have plenty of time to talk, and I'm determined to get him to tell me what he was doing.
"Did you take some kind of trip?" I ask.
"No, I told you, I was just busy."
"With what?"
"With stuff. Nothing really important." He shrugs.
Even though Sheik's the master of lying, him being a Sheikah and all, I know he's keeping something from me. "You know I'm just going to pester you until you tell me, so you might as well tell me now."
Sheik sighs and shakes his head. "You're so persistent."
"That's what they tell me." An idea comes to me. "Hey, any chance there's a girl involved with this?"
He tenses. "No," He says a little too quick and a little too awkwardly. I can make out the bright red of his face through his scarf. He always acts this way when I mention girls. "No no no. No girl. No girl whatsoever."
I smile triumphantly and lean forward in the saddle. "There is a girl isn't there?" I practically yell.
Sheik shakes his head furiously in response, his sandy blond hair whipping his face.
"What's her name? Where does she live? What does she look like? How old is she? Is she a Sheikah? Do I know her?" I say rapid-fire. "Well, I guess odds are I don't know her since I don't exactly get out that much–"
"I told you, there is no girl!" He prompts his horse, Shade, to go faster. But Epona and I catch up.
"Is it the girl from last time?" I ask, a mischievous glint in my eye. "Is she the reason you want to go to Castle Town tonight?"
On our last excursion to Castle Town there was this one girl, maybe a few years younger than us, who took an instant liking to Sheik. She followed us around and insisted Sheik taste all her pastries. She wouldn't leave him alone. He hated her the minute he saw her. I know for a fact that she's the reason we haven't gone back for two years.
His crimson eyes heat with annoyance. "No, I hate her and I hope she dies a painful death." He states simply. "Link, I promise I'm not seeing anyone."
"Then why were you gone for so long?"
He sighs. "I wish I could tell you, but I can't."
"You can't? Who says?"
"I just... can't. Trust me on this one Link, it's not important. Just forget it."
"It probably is important if it's such a secret," I mutter under my breath.
"There's Castle Town," Sheik says. He nudges Shade into a fast gallop and Epona and I follow.
I forget all about Sheik dodging my questions when we enter the capital city of Hyrule. It glows brightly in the night, and hundreds of sights and smells assault me, almost knocking me off Epona. I'm always shocked by how different it is from Ordon. This city is bursting with energy, people of all ages run around the streets in a rush. Totally different from Ordan's sleepy and peaceful atmosphere. Compared to Ordon, Castle Town is an exploding bomb. Somewhere in the crowd a band plays upbeat music. You can feel the anticipation in the air for the Princess's celebration. The water in the fountain in the middle of the square sparkles in the light. I smell apples, warm bread and the perfume of roses. As an undertone I can also smell the spice of pumpkin soup.
And the grand centerpiece of it all is Hyrule's Golden Palace.
The castle is lit up and shines like polished silver. Light shines from every window and the grounds are perfectly kept. The roses in the gardens are probably what I'm smelling. They're really beautiful.
"My favorite are the red ones." Sheik says, noticing me looking at the flowers.
"Mine too," I answer.
We hand over our horses to the stables for the night, paying ten rupees each. Then we stop by one of the many stands set up around the town and each get a bottle of pumpkin soup, then make our way to the Observation Deck to get ready for the fireworks.
"What time do they start?" I ask, taking a drink. We sit on the edge of the deck, sipping our soups.
"Eleven o'clock. About five minutes." Sheik replies, unraveling his scarf just enough to take a drink but not enough for me to see the rest of his face. Darn it, so close.
"Hey," I say. "I've been 18 for the last five minutes."
Sheik raises his bottle. "Huzzah. You're all grown up."
I laugh, clinking my bottle against his and take another long drink of the warm, sweet soup.
Well, we have five minutes. Might as well take another shot at probing Sheik's defenses. "You know, you have yet to tell me, your best friend, when your birthday is."
"I don't really care about birthdays, particularly my own." He stares at the people down below us. "It just means your another year closer to dying."
"Yikes. That was a good way to ruin my birthday." I sigh inwardly at his secretiveness.
He glances at me with amused eyes. "My apologies birthday boy."
"I swear if one more person calls me that today, I'm going to pour my soup down their backs."
Sheik laughs as the fireworks finally burst through the night.
The colors are so bright that at first they burn my retinas. Vibrant blues and greens and reds dance across the sky. This is only my second time ever seeing fireworks, the first being during the Mayor of Ordon's birthday celebration last year. I love them. The whole show lasts for about a half-hour, and I enjoy every minute of it. Sheik and I yell nonsense as loud as we can every time a firework bangs, seeing if anyone will notice.
When the last firework fades in the sky, Sheik and I are laughing our heads off at some woman who looked up in alarm when we yelled that we murdered the Mayor during the last firework. She's looking all over the crowd for the source of the voices, but doesn't have the common sense to look up. Suddenly Sheik looks up in alarm.
"What time is it?" He asks.
I glance at the clock tower. "Almost eleven-thirty. Why?"
He scrambles to his feet. "I've got to go. I'll be right back, promise."
Before I can protest or ask him where he's going, he's gone. I sigh in frustration and shake my head. Why does he always do this? I take another drink of the soup.
A fanfare rings out. "Announcing, the Crown Princess of Hyrule, Princess Zelda."
The crowd claps as a young girl my age walks out of the castle. She's breathing heavily, as though she's been running. But she recomposes herself quickly and flashes a brilliant smile at her people.
My jaw drops and I choke on my soup. She's beautiful, the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. Sure, I've seen pretty girls before, but they pale in comparison to the Princess of Hyrule.
Her long golden hair falls gently down her back, framing her lovely face. Her sapphire eyes sparkle in the light, and her pink lips are tilted up in an enchanting smile. Her graceful figure is framed by a light pink dress that emphasizes her eyes. A golden tiara embedded with jewels rests on her head.
...Holy Hyrule I think I'm in love.
I've heard stories about Zelda, but this is my first time seeing her in person. I hear she's a very kind and generous person and a strong supporter of the people. She's to be crowned Queen on her 20th birthday in three years (she's a year younger than me if I remember right), following in her parents footsteps. The people are looking forward to many years of peace under her rule. I can see why.
Behind her walks a tall Sheikah woman, who I'm told is her guardian. She never leaves her side. I think her name is Impa.
Zelda walks through the crowd, shaking hands and thanking everyone for the wonderful celebration, the smile never leaving her face. She's a good people person. I find myself leaning forward as she gets closer.
Then she looks up in my direction, almost as if she knows I'm up here. Our eyes make contact and I find it hard to breathe. Her face takes on an expression like she wasn't supposed to do that, then she quickly averts her eyes and continuing walking. I can breathe again.
She stays for a few more fireworks, mingling with her subjects and laughing happily. I can't pull my eyes away from her. She's so full of life, she almost seems to radiate more light then the fireworks.
As the fireworks end she whispers urgently to Impa. Impa then glances up in my direction, her face practically made of stone. Uh oh. What did I do now? She nods at the Princess and Zelda quickly makes her way back to the castle, smiling at people and thanking them once more. She's in a big hurry. To get away from me, it seems.
My body moves on its own accord, my legs pushing me up and my hands setting the bottle on the ground. Then my legs get this crazy idea that they want to follow the Princess. The sane part of my brain screams no but my legs don't listen, and suddenly I'm running down the steps and after Zelda. The insane part of my brain really wants to see the Princess one last time before I go back to Ordon. My hands push through the crowd and I get to the castle gates quickly. That's when the sane part of my brain laughs at the insane part for being stupid because there are guards at the gate. I can't get in.
But then I notice a crack in the wall. It's just barely big enough for me to get through. No one's looking. The insane part gets an evil grin.
Uh oh.
They should really fix this crack.
I'm slipping through it before I know what I'm doing, silently laughing at the guards' ignorance. I tiptoe through the gardens, narrowly avoiding the guards. I have no idea where I'm going, and just hope that I'll make it out of here alive. I want to go back to wait for Sheik, but Zelda's like a magnet. For some reason, I have to see her.
What am I doing.
What am I doing?
What am I doing?
Within seconds I'm hopelessly lost, winding through the gardens with no sense of direction. What would happen if I took the left path? Does that lead to the moat or the stables? I don't know. Serves me right for sneaking in here.
Just when I think I'm going to die here and my body will be lost forever, I run into the last person I would've expected to see here.
I run head first into Sheik.
"Link?" Sheik asks in shock.
"Sheik? What are you doing here?"
"What are you doing here?"
"Um," I rub the back of my neck guiltily. "Following the Princess."
Sheik raises his eyebrow. "Why?"
I shrug defensively. "Have you seen her? I couldn't help it. I just wanted to see her up close. Maybe wish her a happy birthday..."
Sheik's eyes twinkle with amusement. "And you accused me of having a crush."
"Let's just drop it okay? It never happened." I say. "Now your turn, what are you doing here?"
Sheik hesitates, but before he can answer two guards walk around the corner.
"Come on." He whispers and pulls me behind a bush.
We hold our breath until the guards leave. I motion for him to go on.
"It's not really that important–" He begins.
"Yes, it is." I interrupt. "Please Sheik. For once, just tell me the truth."
He sees the pleading look in my eyes and sighs. "Okay. I was talking to the Princess's guardian, Impa."
I raise my eyebrow. "Why?"
"She's a Sheikah, I was just asking how things were back home."
Oh, that makes sense. I nod. "Why were you in such a hurry?"
"I knew she was only going to be down there for a few minutes, I had to hurry."
"Okay. Thanks Sheik."
He smiles. "No problem, birthday boy."
"Ugh, don't call me that," I laugh. "So how are we going to get out of here."
Sheik walks out into the night. "We slip out a secret tunnel and we're back to Ordon in twenty minutes. Cody'll never know."
I grin and clap him on the back. "Thanks for tonight Sheik. It was really fun."
His eyes smile back. "Yeah, it was wasn't it?"
We slip back into the crowd and stop to buy a chocolate muffin (Sheik's idea, of course) and get our horses. As I mount Epona, I glance over at a desolate corner for some reason. And what's there disturbs me. A large man in a cloak stares right back at me, his huge muscles and orange-red eyes cutting me to the bone. He's staring directly at me. He looks like he hates me. The back of my right hand begins to burn.
"Link? You ready?" Sheik calls.
I blink. The man turns from me and walks the other way. The moment's gone. I shake my head and nudge Epona into the direction Sheik rides, and we gallop out of Castle Town.