Chapter 5: Where Legends Begin
…
The carriage pulled to a stop, and both occupants stepped out. Link's nose was assailed with the smell of far too many perfumes and an open meat market somewhere nearby.
Then he turned and found himself staring at the towering wall of the castle. Somehow, it has seemed so smaller from a distance, but now that he was looking at it, he saw that it was much higher. The wooden doors near them must have been at least as tall and wide as the Island Sonata. Its composition was white brick which looked to have taken decades to put together, each individual brick larger than even the captain beside him. At this angle, he could not even see the tallest tower of the castle. The cannons at the top protruded like the loading arms of a dock, but with a thickness rivaling an airship's width. He imagined that firing one would entail removing half of the town around it. Hyrule Castle bore no history of ever being attacked, this he knew, and it was easy to understand why at such a close distance. Any ship crazy enough to put itself on hostile terms with the royal family would certainly deserve being blown out of the clouds.
A hand touched his chin and pushed his jaw shut. "Come on, Link," Captain Alfonzo told him, a slight chuckle in his voice in response to the boy's shock. He used a hand to urge Link forward with a gentle smack between the shoulder blades. Gentle, but Link still had to catch himself.
Link's eyes finally fell to the doors before them. At first, the sight of smaller doors within the larger doors confused Link until he realized that opening a whole door must have entailed the use of either a steam engine or an airship's worth of workers. He watched Captain Alfonzo knock on the smaller door with the force of a battering ram.
A metal plate in the door slid up. "Who goes there?" a male voice from the other side asked.
Alfonzo put his face to the slot. "Hey there, Gil," the captain replied. "Piss off your captain again?"
"Al?" the voice asked. "Is that really you?"
"Bet your left eye," Alfonzo replied.
"Not without more cards of a kind," the other man chuckled. "What the hell're you doin' here?"
"Taking care of a bit of business. I should be on the list."
"Hang on." The plate slid shut. For a moment, Link wondered if they were going to be allowed inside. Then a metal clank sounded from the other side, and the door pulled back with a heavy groan.
Link found himself looking at a man standing as tall as Alfonzo, although not with the same amount of meat. This person had a slender structure underneath a green tunic. It took Link a moment to realize that, other than the spiral belt buckle and the helmet bearing a triangle-within-triangle crest on the forehead, both men were dressed in the same clothing.
"What brings ya here?" the guard asked.
In response, Captain Alfonzo slapped a hand on Link's back. "This is Link," he explained. "The company just decided to make him a skipper."
The other man gave Link a nod. "Nice ta meet ya, Link," he said. "The name's Gilliam."
"Nice to meet you, too," Link replied.
Gilliam looked down at a sheet of parchment in his hand. "Says here ya got an audience with the princess," he remarked. He gave Link a somewhat questionable grin. "Lucky guy. She should be in the throne room right now."
"Can we go in?" Captain Alfonzo asked.
Gilliam tugged on the front of his tunic. "You're fine as long as you're wearin' this."
Alfonzo looked himself over. "I used to get escorted otherwise."
Gilliam nodded. "Saves us the trouble," he replied as he stepped to the other side of the dark alcove and pushed open another door.
Link was blinded by sunlight for a moment, forcing him to put up one hand to protect his eyes while they adjusted. When everything came into view again, he saw the great figure of Hyrule Castle standing in the brilliant glow in front of them. A small, brick walkway lead in between a pair of branching wings of the lower part of the building, the area around that covered with grass and bushes trimmed to look like the guards that appeared to explore the area. Like Gilliam, these men wore green tunics, white trousers, and helmets with the triangular crest, but they bore swords hanging from their belts and spears immediately in-hand. He saw stained glass in some of the windows on this level and in the air above, although he still could not tell the image that they bore. The area between the wall and the castle was large, and Link noticed as Alfonzo ushered him on that there were small junks settled on wooden platforms here and there in the massive yard, although he was not sure of their purpose.
"Have fun, kid!" Gilliam cackled. Link looked over his shoulder as Gilliam pulled the door shut.
Link looked forward, taking notice of the guards again. "Captain," he spoke up. "How come you have a tunic like everyone here?"
"The green tunic is a symbol of direct service to the royal family," Captain Alfonzo replied. "Anyone who acts in service to the royal family has to wear one."
"What about when you're not wearing it?"
Alfonzo chuckled. "Well, when I'm not wearing it, I'm not in service to the royal family. I only save my other outfits for when I'm working for the Skyriders' interests. But all of our skippers has a green tunic like this, all of them given to them by a member of the royal family. You'll be getting one, too."
Link grimaced and looked around, trying to imagine himself wearing the same tunics as these people. "I don't think I like the color green anymore," he replied in a hesitant tone.
"I hate the color myself," Alfonzo admitted. "But it's not like you have to wear the same tunic every day. And I hope you don't try it, either."
"Yes, sir," Link answered with a relieved tone.
Upon reaching the door, Captain Alfonzo opened it and stepped in, telling Link to close it behind him. From there, they followed a burgundy carpet past the foyer and up a short flight of stairs onto a dais overlooking the foyer and providing access to more rooms deeper into the castle. Captain Alfonzo selected the center door of three and opened it. He indicated that Link should go in first.
Link's eyes registered a large bird as he stepped in. At least, that was what he thought it was at first, before a double-take revealed that it appeared more as a large half-circle bearing spurs in a way that made it look like a pair of wings. These bore the same triangle-within-triangle crest that the guards were wearing on their helmets. The reason for his attention to it came from a beam of light cast over this gold symbol from a window somewhere above him. The reflection of this light in turn cast the spacious room in a brilliant glow. The room had a high ceiling of some kind of burgundy wood. The walls bore the same white material of the castle's outer walls, and full suits of armor (unarmed, however) stood at permanent attention to the center of the room. The floor sported rugs of different weaves, all of them a royal purple. The burgundy carpet which they had followed divided the room in half as it stepped up to another dais opposite the door.
Movement caught Link's eye, and he looked at the figure standing underneath the large emblem. He was surprised to see someone so richly clothed: she wore a dress mixing panels of a pastel pink over violet, the neckline decorated in a pale blue. Atop a river of blond sat a gold circlet sporting a few jewels of differing colors.
She held out a hand gloved in white as far as her elbow. "Welcome back, Captain Alfonzo," she spoke in a soft tone, her words carried well by the room.
Link heard a rustle from behind him and glanced over one shoulder at his captain. "Thank you," he responded.
"Princess Zelda."
Link was not sure which of the two actions had set his heart into a fit of panic, if indeed it had been just one that started it. The revelation of this girl, who, from this distance, could not be any older than him if height was any indication, as the Princess of Hyrule was quite startling. And equal to that was the salute that Captain Alfonzo gave this girl, one in which the captain, whom Link had never seen around superiors before, used his left hand. Surprised, Link quickly turned his head and launched the blade of his left hand into his forehead so hard that he reeled for a moment before his eyes refocused.
"At ease, sirs," Princess Zelda replied, a smile in her voice. Link took five heartbeats longer to lower his hand. She beamed for a moment, then said, "Is this the new captain you wish me to recognize?"
Captain Alfonzo took a step up and placed a fatherly hand on Link's shoulder. "His name is Link, Your Highness," he responded in a formal tone, the likes of which Link had never heard before. "We of the Skyriders Company would like him to join the ranks of an airship captain."
"Please," the princess said with the inviting wave of one hand, "step up to the dais."
A finger touched Link's chin and pushed his jaw shut. "Make sure it stays shut unless she asks you a question," Alfonzo told him before pushing him forward.
Link could feel his nerves shivering. Somehow, the realization of being in the presence of such authority as to make Captain Alfonzo salute to a superior had taken a long time to set in. His head buzzed, but he could not be sure what he was thinking. Before he knew it, he stood at the base of the dais and abruptly planted his boots into the carpet to keep him from advancing.
"Shall I replace the stool, Your Highness?" came a male's question from Link's right. His eyes wandered towards the direction of the voice. That was when he realized that one of the suits of armor was not actually a suit of armor. Instead, it was a tall, lanky man dressed in a white, uniform-like suit. He held a small stepping stool in his hands, made of wood painted red with a velvet cushion decorating the top. And his tone, to Link, felt like he meant the question as an insult to him.
Link's eyes quickly wandered back to the princess. She, however, put a half-smile, half-irritated look on her face as she looked over at the man and said, "Yes, I think it will not be needed today, Jordan."
"Of course, Your Highness," Jordan replied with a bow. He turned and took the stool with him through a door near to him.
Then, the princess stepped forward, giving Link a clear view of a pair of sky-blue eyes. Her smile returned as she said, "Do not pay him any attention. He has a rather surly side to his nature."
"Y-yes, Your Highness," Link replied with a nod, having taken the cue from Captain Alfonzo.
Princess Zelda looked to her left, holding up a hand to invite what Link had mistaken for another suit of armor. "Governor Lore, if you would please," she said.
"Yes, Your Highness," said another voice, this time that of a grown woman. Link caught a large movement of green out of the left corner of his eye and dared a glance in that direction. Like the guards and the captain, this tall, red-haired woman wore a green tunic. The belt she wore to keep it tight against her curvy frame, decorated with a buckle shaped like a book. She walked up to Princess Zelda's side and offered her a green bundle.
Zelda took this bundle and unfolded it into a green tunic. "This tunic is the symbol of a hero who has saved this kingdom time and time again," she explained to him as she bundled it up in her hands. "It is our hope that, with the advent of new danger to Hyrule, that hero, whoever he may be, will already be clad in his traditional garb for the fight he may have on his hands."
The woman, Governor Lore, stepped off the dais and offered a hand out. "If I may take that, captain," she said.
"Oh, yes," Link said, remembering that he still held his airman's tunic in his arms. He passed it into her arms. "Thank you."
"Hold your arms up," Princess Zelda told him as the governor stepped back onto the dais. Link did as he was told, and she stepped closer and held the tunic above her head. He could smell a sweet and subtle perfume on her person, and he felt his cheeks turn red as she took a step closer. She fit the sleeves of the tunic over his arms and pulled down until his head popped out through the neck. She tugged down until the tunic sat comfortably on his shoulders. As she turned back to Governor Lore, he reached down and flattened the tunic against his legs so he could examine it. Link had to admit that he was impressed; while his airman's tunics had to be trimmed to fit his short stature, this green tunic looked to have been made especially for him.
Lore handed Zelda a belt, which she passed to Link. He accepted it and looked at the buckle, a pewter anchor within a circular field just like Captain Alfonzo. He examined the tunic again and found that there were no loops for the belt. So he pulled the bare leather end around his back and fit it into the slot on the back of the buckle. Then he tightened it until he was sure it would not move and pushed the peg on the back of the buckle into a hole in the leather. The princess then stepped forward and straightened out the number of folds which had formed in this process.
Then, to his surprise, she leaned forward and whispered into his ear. "I don't remember the words, but I need you to say 'I will, Your Highness'."
For a moment, the proximity to her, the scent of her perfume, and the tickle of her breath on his ear left Link stunned as she took two steps back. He gulped and nearly started when he remembered what those whispered words had been. "I-I will, Your Highness," he said, unconsciously adding a nod to the statement.
"Thank you, Captain Link," she answered. Then she asked, "What is the name of your ship?"
"The…" For a moment, Link's mind blanked. He pressed his eyes shut and opened them again, renewing his thought processes. "The Island Sonata, Your Highness."
She nodded at him. "I shall look for your sails in the sky."
Governor Lore stepped back down off the dais and returned Link's airman's tunic. Then she hooked one hand on his far shoulder and carefully turned him. The same hand pressed into his back, and he started walking with this woman beside him. As they walked, he felt her press something between his belt and tunic. Just as he was about to look at it, she cleared her throat. He looked up into a pair of hazel eyes, and she gave her head a slight shake.
They reached the door, and it felt as if Link was being passed off to Captain Alfonzo, who opened the door and led him out.
As they crossed the foyer, Captain Alfonzo whispered to Link, "Keep your arms to your sides and walk normally."
"Yes, sir," Link replied in the same voice. He was not certain what Lore had just given him, but he began to grow worried from not knowing.