By late afternoon, Link could see the castle. It was still a little ways away, but he would make it in no more than fifteen minutes, he was sure. He had stopped at the edge of the river to eat lunch and to let Fury rest and drink water. Like his uncle had said, the road to Hyrule Castle was mostly empty. He had encountered a few villagers along the way but mostly they ignored him or politely said hi. A carriage had zoomed by him once, making him almost topple over his horse and Link wondered what the hurry could be, but a strange looking... thing... (Link had no other word for it, he had never encountered such an ugly, foul-smelling, short, green creature in his life)... had been following the carriage by bullbo and had told him off for being nosey. Link hadn't wanted to get in any sort of trouble, so had continued on his way without a second thought. Other than that interesting bit of action, the trip was rather boring. Now that he was so close to the Castle, he hoped he would get to meet a Goron... or a Zora. Deciding he wanted to take full advantage of his free day, he stayed at his resting spot longer than he had planned, taking a small nap. He awoke with a start and noticed that the sun had traveled quite a bit to the west, so he dusted himself off and took off on Fury at a run.

Thankfully he made it to the castle just before the sun set. He climbed off his horse and, almost shaking with excitement, walked into the castle's town. Even though it was evening, the town was still full of life. Link was blasted with music, laughter, chatter and so many other noises he was almost scared. People bustled around, hurriedly going their own way, minding their own business. No one paid him any attention, so he walked around, marveling at everything and everyone. The streets were lined with stands full of goodies for people to buy. The air smelled of delicious food that made his mouth water. People played music outside and children played near the fountain that adorned the center of town. Even though they were peasants like him, Link noticed that Hyruleans were dressed neater than he was. And it made sense to him; he wasn't a townsfolk. He was from the country. He was a farmer's son.

"Well aren't you geared up for war" someone said behind him. Link wheeled around and saw a young, blond girl looking at him. Dressed in a dirty brown cloak, she appeared to be about his age, if not younger. Link didn't like her attitude.

"Yeah, so?" he snapped. The girl giggled.

"Who's gonna attack you? A teddy bear?" she scoffed.

"None of your business" Link snapped again, and turned away.

"You're not from around here, are you?" she asked. Link rolled his eyes, wishing she would go away.

"Well? Are you?" she asked again.

"No" Link replied through clenched teeth.

"So where are you from?" she inquired.

"Leave me alone" Link said. The girl laughed again.

"I can help you find whatever you're looking for, you know" she said.

"If you don't know what I'm looking for, how do you know you can help me?" Link asked, walking away.

"I spend a lot of time here. I know where everything is" she said simply. Link turned around, sighing.

"I'm looking for this" he said, showing her the list Uncle Mac had given him.

"Ooooh," she cooed, "fancy! Well Madam Mink sells a lot of pretty fabric... she could help you"

"And where is she?" he asked her. The little brat laughed again.

"I don't know... ask around... find her" she giggled.

"I thought you said you would help me!" Link snapped.

"I did! I told you to find Madam Mink" the blond girl said, looking at him with innocent blue eyes. Link rolled his and turned away.

"Get out of here and leave me alone if you aren't gonna help me" he snapped, walking away again.

"Lighten up! I'll take you to her if you give me a ride on your pretty pony" the girl said, petting Fury's neck.

"Fury is not a pony!" Link huffed. He was seriously annoyed by the brat and he wanted to get on with his errand. But Fury didn't seem to mind being called a pony; he nuzzled her cheek and snorted in contentment. Traitor, Link thought, narrowing his eyes at the horse.

"Come on! Do it!" she begged, kissing Fury's nose. Link shook his head.

"No, now go away" he said.

"You're no fun" she pouted. Link heard hooves coming their way and looked around. Guards were coming toward them.

"Oh no! Hide me!" the little girl said, pulling on her dirty hood.

"Why? Are you a thief? Is that why you're hiding?!" Link hissed. He did not want to be associated with no criminals, especially on his first day at the castle.

"No!" she said, hiding behind Fury, "I'm no thief... I'm—"

"Princess Zelda" one of the guards said as he reached them. Link assumed he was the captain of the guards; he looked so official.

"There's no Zelda here" the little girl said, muffling her voice with her cloak. The guard sighed.

"Princess, if you hadn't done this a hundred times before, maybe I would believe you. As it is, you should think about changing your disguise once in a while" he said, but Link was almost positive the captain was smiling. He heard the little girl sigh. She removed her hood and walked towards the guard, who helped her up onto his horse. He turned to Link and smiled.

"Thank you, lad, for keeping our Princess safe. I see you are well prepared" he said. Link grinned, feeling proud.

"Hey... aren't you Gaelin's kid?" one of the guards asked, surprising Link. He nodded and the guard laughed. "I knew it! You're little Link, right? I'm a friend of Gaelin and Maco... I used to live in Gaeboran before I came out here; you're dad came by to help two weeks ago. I'm Corander" the young guard said cheerfully. The captain looked at Link.

"So your father helped out? Well, we are very grateful for that. Tell you what, kid, if you don't have a place to stay, why don't you come with us and you can stay at the castle as a token of our gratitude" he said. Link's eyes grew round and he readily agreed. To think that he had not only met the Princess... but he would be staying at the Castle! He couldn't wait to tell his father.

Of course, "staying at the Castle" didn't mean staying in one of the grand chambers Link had imagined, but instead, in a small room in the west wing, where servants and other help stayed. Link didn't care though. He could now say he had stayed at Hyrule Castle, and that was all that mattered. Dinner had been delicious as well. He had never had roasted moink or mulled apple cider before in his life, and he was amazed that this was the food the servants had for dinner. He could only imagine what the food the Royal Family ate each day was like. After he finished his food, a kind, old lady helped him find Madam Mink, who happened to be the Royal Family's very own tailor, and she gave him the fabric free of charge because "he was such a sweet, good looking boy." He didn't see Princess Zelda again, but the workers had only nice things to say about her. But Link knew better; she was an annoying brat. Not that he told anyone that, of course, he didn't want to sound ungrateful. All in all, Link thought as he lay on the soft bed, it had been a good day.

The next morning, Link got an early start. Having finished his errands, and knowing his father anxiously awaited his return, Link had no reason to linger anymore. The sun had yet to rise, but Link was ready to go. Being as quiet as he could so as not to wake anyone, he left the west wing and stepped into the west courtyard. How grand, he thought, to live in luxury. He grew up poor, and chances were he would die poor. But he wished he could become a Knight of Hyrule. Heck, even a lowly guard, just to be close to the castle, and maybe make enough money to bring his family here too.

"Leaving already, country boy?" a familiar voice said. He turned to see the Princess, and indeed she looked like a princess this time, with the fancy dress and shoes she now wore.

"Yup" he answered. Maybe, he thought, being rich wasn't all that great if it made you into a spoiled brat.

"Why so soon?" she asked, falling into step beside him.

"Got things to do" he said, trying to sound manly.

"Wish you could stay" she said softly, making Link look at her.

"Why?" he asked.

Zelda shrugged. "It gets... boring... around here. There's no one my age and I'm not allowed to play with the town's children... I can't leave the castle for my own safety" she said bitterly. Link felt sorry for her for the first time.

"Maybe one day you can visit my home" he said. "There are lots of children there. After our chores, we like to play in the open fields... they go on and on... playing hide and seek there can take hours"

Zelda sighed and smiled. "It sounds lovely. Certainly a lot better than spending all day learning about Hyrule's history and royal duties. Maybe I'll ask Captain Dargus to take me... where do you live?" she asked.

"Gaeboran… It's a small place past Ordon Village" he replied.

"Gaeboran… Ok... I'll ask Dargus to take me. If he refuses, I'll make it an order" she said, more to herself than to him. They reached the Castle's south gate that led to the town.

"Well... I better go now" Link said, shielding his eyes against the rising sun.

"Ok... see you later Link" the Princess said, and she turned to run back to the castle. Link made his way out of town. In the early hours of the morning, it was mostly empty, save a few shopkeepers cleaning their shops before opening time. As he pulled Fury along, Link thought about the Princess. How sad that she had no one to play with, no one her own age to interact with. He wished he could bring her along, but he knew that was impossible; it would never happen. Mounting his horse, he made sure he had all his things with him and set off home at a run.

As soon as Link reached the road that lead from Ordon to Gaeboran, he knew something was not right. There was the acrid smell of smoke, for one thing... and he passed by a few loose cows and goats. Why would the cattle be out? Heart thumping in his chest, afraid of what he might find, he slowly urged Fury onward, but even the stallion was apprehensive.

"It's ok boy... it's gonna be fine. Maybe a barn caught fire and they are trying to put it out and haven't caught all the animals yet" Link spoke softly to the horse, petting his neck. But even to him, his voice sounded thin and scared. Gathering his courage, Link forced Fury into a gallop.

What he found left him breathless.

His tiny town was gone; engulfed in flames. Houses were on fire and the horses were gone. The cattle, pigs and the cuccos were running wild in panic. He could smell something burning... something almost sweet but musky and nauseating; his heart hammered in his chest. He didn't know what that smell was, but he hated it already. He jumped off his horse. There was blood on the ground; lots of it. Knees shaking, Link made his way to his home… his broken house. It hadn't caught fire... yet. By the looks of it, however, the fire would soon engulf all of the houses eventually. He ran inside, hoping to find evidence that his father and his uncle had escaped. His Uncle's room was empty. He ran to his father's room and there... he found him. He felt his stomach drop to his feet.

His father was a bloody heap on the bed. Link's knees wobbled as he slowly made his way to the bed. He was too stunned for tears, too shocked for words. He looked down at the once strong man who now lay bloodied and broken on the bed. An arrow pierced his throat, and Link gently removed it, wiping the blood away with the sheets. The caking, dry blood was mixed with fresh blood, so Link guessed the attack had happened only a few hours ago. While he had been at Hyrule Castle, someone had attacked his town. Had they killed the others too? Suddenly his father's eyes flew open and he let out a nasty, rasping sound.

"Dad!" Link exclaimed, scared out of his wits. Gaelin took ahold of Link's arm. He was trying to say something, but Link only heard rasping. Struggling against his father's iron grip, he propped him up against the pillows as best he could. Blood dribbled down Gaelin's chin and neck, making Link's stomach turn.

"Link..." Gaelin breathed, "you... must... go now"

"What happened? Who did this?" Link asked, biting back the tears that were now threatening to spill.

"Get... out... and warn... the royal... family" Gaelin gurgled. "They... are coming... for her... Go Link... warn them"

"Dad, who is? Who did this?" Link asked again, but his father's eyes took on a dazed, far off look.

"They... came back... mirror... of..." but Gaelin's eyes were beginning to droop.

"Dad! I'm gonna help you! Hang on!" Link cried out desperately, but already his father's grip was slackening.

"Link... only you... can save us" Gaelin said. To Link, he sounded delirious. Save them? From what? Gaelin turned his eyes to Link and he tried to smile. "I... love you... son" he rasped, and just like that, Link's father was gone.

Link stepped back from the bed, sickened to his stomach. It couldn't be true... his father wasn't dead. It wasn't real. It couldn't be real. What was he supposed to do now?

A/N: Things are going to start to get serious now. I hope everybody is enjoying the fic so far. Again, please comment and review! Onward to the next chappy! xoxo