Zelda detested attending meetings with her Father.
As Crown Princess, it was her duty to sit-in as her father King Daphnes attended to important matters of state.
At times she felt that he cared more about attending to his wine collection or hunting with his vassal lords.
Nevertheless, she smiled and gave every appearance of a perfect and polite princess. The ideal image of royalty and grace.
This morning, her and her father were meeting with representatives from the provinces of Hyrule. As she sat at the long table in her father's council chambers, she counted representatives from the provinces of Ordona, Faron, Eldin, Lanayru, Necluda, and Snowpeak. She noted an empty chair reserved for the representative from the Gerudo province.
She glanced over at her father who didn't appear to notice or care much about the empty chair, nor anything else going on around him.
Impa, her attendant and father's High Councillor attempted to shush the chattering representatives. Slowly the great hall quieted and she spoke, her voice deep and authoritative.
"The King will hear your concerns."
Zelda looked down across the table. The other representatives shifted their gaze to the representative from Faron province, a tall, slender man with closely cropped hair grey hair and pointed ears.
A Hylian? Zelda thought to herself. It was uncommon to see Hylians outside of the nobility, much less from a province as distant as Faron.
The Faron representative stood up. A cleared his throat and spoke nervously, with a slight stutter. "Three Blessings to you, Your Grace. Thank you for receiving us here in the Capital it is truly-"
Her Father grumbled and waved his hand at the representative in a gesture of 'hurry up'. The representative stumbled on his sentence before regaining his composure.
"-Apologies, Your Grace. The other representatives have invited me to speak on their behalf. Over the last several months our territories have been victim of raids by Blins. They appear to be specifically targeting scattered hamlets and enclaves in which citizens of Hylian lineage have settled."
Her father raised an eyebrow at this.
The representative continued, "We also have reason to believe that they are being led by the Gerudo."
Tamlin, an elderly Zora and one of her father's advisors piped in, "This would explain the absence of the Gerudo delegation at this meeting."
Her Father glanced over towards Tamlin, "You suggest these pogroms are a sign of rebellion from the Desert Folk? It seems a bit of a stretch." Her father looked back over at the Faron representative, "Do you have proof of this association between the Blins and the Gerudo?"
The Faron representative, clearly uncomfortable, spoke back up with his voice wavering at points, "Er, we have several accounts from villagers in the affected communities."
Her father chuckled, "Forgive me, ser; but I would not trust a commoner to identify a Gerudo warrior."
The Eldin representative, a towering and imposing Goron, clearly grew angry from that. He spoke, his voice calm yet booming, "And forgive us, Your Grace, but your subjects are not quite as stupid as you seem believe them. The Gerudo have been leading these attacks ever since their new king was crowned."
Her father was taken aback by that comment. He looked ready to shout at the Goron but Impa brushed past him to defuse the situation.
"Esteemed guests, we hear your concerns, but I'm sure you can appreciate the complicated political situation at the moment between the Kingdom and the Desert Folk. We cannot risk civil war with a territory based on these allegations. We would require a great deal more proof."
Her father, having calmed himself, continued off of what Impa had said, "Of course, and while I will not wage war against the Gerudo, I will send detachments of the Hyrulian Army to be placed under your command. Please use them to police your territories and protect my subjects."
The Faron representative nodded in appreciation and sat back down.
Impa looked around the room, "Was there anything else on the matter before we move on?"
The representatives were all quiet.
"Very well, moving on then, I believe the representative from Necluda wished to discuss the issue of piracy-"
Impa was interrupted by the Lanayru representative, an elderly Sheikah man, raising his hand.
Impa nodded her head towards him, "Yes, ser?"
The representative stood, leaning on a cane to do so. "Forgive me," he huffed, "I have a... troubling issue connected to the previous topic."
Impa crooked her head slightly, as did her father.
"The Hylians who have been kidnapped," the representative continued, "they are always young men with golden hair."
The room stood silent.
A blonde Hylian? Hylians were already rare, thought Zelda, a blonde Hylian would be rarer still.
Zelda and her father, who were Hylians themselves, as well as the rest of their family, were all Hylians, and all blonde of hair.
Zelda spoke up, "Could they be searching for individuals descended from our bloodline?"
Everyone looked towards Zelda, seemingly having forgotten she was there at all.
Her father patted her on the soldier condescendingly, "I'm quite sure that's not the case, my dear. It's likely a coincidence."
Zelda and the Lanaryu representative appeared affronted by this response.
Impa interjected in a placating tone, "We will certainly attempt to investigate this particular matter more thoroughly, representative. Thank you for bringing it to our attention."
The Lanaryu representative, clearly unhappy, nevertheless sat back down. Her father focused his attention back towards the meeting.
Zelda sat back in her chair, she forced a smile and gave every appearance of a perfect and polite princess. The ideal image of royalty and grace.
Zelda was standing in a wide valley.
She looked towards the west and saw a great shadow wrapped in black and crimson envelop the whole sky.
The shadow fell from the heavens in front of her and took the form of a man. The man had tanned skin and long flowing red hair.
He sneered at her, grabbing her and lifting her off the ground by the neck.
As Zelda was held aloft by the man she felt a raindrop on her head.
Then another.
Then another.
She felt that man's hold on her disappear.
When she regained awareness of her surroundings she was underwater.
She opened her mouth to scream but her lungs filled with water.
Her vision went blurry.
Before life left her she saw a bright golden glow a short distance away, and the shadow of a young man.
Zelda awoke with a start.
This was not the first time she had had that dream.
She glanced at her bedside table and noticed a small purple medallion with the symbol of the Sheikah on it. The medallion was given to her on her tenth birthday and she had seldom needed it in the several years since.
She grabbed the medallion and concentrated.
I need your help.
A few moments passed. Zelda had wondered if she had done it right.
It was late, she figured, perhaps they were asleep as well?
The candle at her bedside flickered as she heard a small puff.
"Are you in danger, Princess?" asked a figure from the shadows.
"Not in immediate danger, Sheik, but we will all be if you don't help me."
Sheik, her sworn sword and protector, stepped out of the shadows. Clothed in the tight fabrics and wrappings typical of a Sheikah warrior, with long flowing golden hair tied into a knot on their head. They bowed towards Zelda.
"What would you have me do?"
"Blins have been conducted raids throughout the Kingdom. They're searching for young Hylian men with golden hair." Zelda continued, "They're being led by the Gerudo."
Zelda paused, taking in the uncomfortable reality of what she was saying.
"The Gerudo stand united for the first time in centuries. The Blins follow them as they did in ancient times. And these dreams..." Zelda trailed off, "I think their new King is the shadow. The spirit of Ganon born again."
Sheik leaned forward at the mention of Ganon.
Zelda, remembering her dream appeared at the edge of tears.
"He's looking for him. He wants to kill him, and then nothing can stop him."
Sheik raised an eyebrow.
"He wants to kill who, Princess?"
"The Legendary Hero reborn. If Ganon is returned then so will the Hero. We need to find him."
A silence fell between Zelda and Sheik.
Sheik nodded at Zelda.
"If it's what you will, then I'll see it done."
Zelda forced a smile and Sheik disappeared with a small puff of smoke.
The Sheikah had eyes throughout the Kingdom. They were uniquely gifted in The Sight, and could track their quarry over vast expanses. They'd served under the royal family for thousands of years and had a connection with the very land of Hyrule itself. Sheik would have any resources Zelda could grant them, as well as their own vast set of skills and experiences to draw from.
And yet Zelda felt that fate was working against them.
She looked out her bedroom window.
Off on the horizon it began to storm.