Chapter 0

"Hey Izo," Link called out after having just stepped out of his new room in the Knights commons. The caption of the royal guard turned around at the sound of his voice, him dressed in his civilian cloths just as Link was on their day off. "Do you know where Zelda is?"

"She's approving new merchants to start selling in town today," Izo said, reaching for his door a few rooms down. "They're in the court yard."

"Thanks," Link called out, giving him a wave before turning to go down the stairs just outside his room. It was weird to have moved to the knight's commons, having only just finished moving all his belongings into the new room from the squire's commons yesterday. His knighting ceremony had been only just last week, his life finally deciding to slow down a bit as today was a day of rest before traveling to Arcadia for their Festival of Lammas. At least for us going to the festival it's supposed to be a day of rest, Link thought, referring to his working friend. I guess the Queen of Hyrule's not supposed to have that. Link shook his head at the thought.

Link pushed open the door to take him out of the knight's commons only for his eyes to fall on the remnants of a memorial still posted in the practice yard. Link of Skyloft, Link's great-grandfather, and the last of an era had passed away two weeks ago now. Last week had been his memorial.

Link turned sharply away from the memorial and the remaining flowers, pushing down any sadness that remained from his loss. He ran out of the practice yard and quickly found the crowd of merchants, all hoping to be approved to sell in Hyrule, gathered in the field. Link pushed his way through, looking for a blonde haired girl with brown eyes amongst a mix of Gerudo and Arcadians as Zelda was working on getting more merchants from the neighboring kingdoms. His eyes finally fell across a familiar blonde braid as Zelda was talking to a Gerudo woman with Lady Trea and Sir Gondo beside her for protection and Rupin the scribe taking notes on a parchment he held in his hand.

Link stepped over to be in her sight but out of her conversation and looked at the arrows combined with magic the tall dark woman was selling. Link placed his hands behind his back, afraid to touch any of them without knowing what could blow up in his face as he listened in.

"-and the ice arrows make fighting wolfos and like-likes easy as cake," the woman pitched.

"I'm just not sure how many Hylians will be willing to try with magical arrows," Zelda offered, looking over at Rupin. She turned back to the Gerudo and nodded her head. "I'll allow you a month to see how well they sell. If your reports show people are interested, I'll renew you for the year."

"Thank you, Queen Zelda," the woman said, giving the seventeen year old a bow.

Zelda caught Link's eye, he afraid she could hear his heart pounding, and gave him a smile. She turned back to the three with her and said, "Take a break for a few minutes. We'll continue with Peater of Arcadia." The three gave her a bow before walking down the row of venders to leave them alone.

Link felt himself desperate to give her a kiss, glad she finally had admitted to having the same feelings for him as he had for her, but he found himself unsure if he should while she was still preforming her royal duty. Instead Link held out his arms in the opposite direction as the three and offered, "Want to walk with me a bit?"

Zelda smiled at him, a smile he hoped he never got used to the feeling it gave him, and took hold of his arm to lace hers through. Link held her at the elbow and the two walked through the crowd.

"I thought everyone that was coming to Arcadia tomorrow was supposed to rest today," Link said, glancing at those they passed. A part of him wanted them to notice him with the Queen, to notice he was the one Zelda loved, while the other half of him hoped they didn't.

"You are," Zelda said, nodding her head. "But I don't get to follow my own rules."

"It's not like a day off is any fun," Link retorted, kicking at a pebble in the grass to send it ahead of them.

Zelda stopped, forcing Link to halt and look at her. "Are you really complaining about being bored after everything we've gone through this month?"

Link looked back at the month, his knight test, dealing with hunting down the Light Sword, traveling to Arcadia and back in a day to look for the Light Sword again, fighting the Black Shuck, Grandfather's death and funeral, Oto and Pepper's wedding, his knighting ceremony, and now the Festival of Lammas. Link gave her a shrug and admitted, "Yeah, a bit."

Zelda looked at the merchant's cart they had stopped next to and motioned her free hand to it. "Here. Pick an instrument."

Link looked at the Arcadian's selection, only half of the musical instruments even looking recognizable as something he was familiar with. He looked back at Zelda, not sure if she was serious, only to see her waiting for him to choose. Looking back at the cart, he quickly picked out a red and blue harp with iron feathers decorating the top and pointed towards it.

Zelda pulled her arm free and picked up the harp he had randomly chosen. She pulled out a red rupee from her pouch and handed it to the Arcadia before turning around and handing Link the harp.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Link asked, holding it in both hands.

"Learn how to play it," Zelda said, a ghost of a laugh hidden in her voice. "If you're so bored, teach yourself how to play it. I expect you to bring it on the trip tomorrow."

"In only one day?" Link asked, confused.

"Well, half a day now, I guess," Zelda said, glancing at their shadows at her feet. "It's almost lunch time so you better get to it."

"This is just to get me out of your way, isn't it?" Link asked, worry building up in the pit of his stomach.

Instead of answering, Zelda leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She turned to leave, glancing over her shoulder to give him a small wave.

Link let out a sigh, smiling at her retreating form before he lost her in the crowd once more. Glancing down at the harp still in both hands, he put it under his arm and made it back to his room.

Closing the door behind himself, he sat down on the edge of the bed and held the harp as he had seen professional players do. Holding it by the red side in his right hand, he strummed across the strings to at least hear what it might sound like. He started plucking at the strings, realizing he could hear what sounded right in a succession of notes verses what sounded sour quickly as he started putting notes together. He found a succession of four notes he liked, playing them back to back, only for a strange wind to sound. He stopped playing and looked towards the single window in the back of the room only to stare in a panic as the window and room started to disappear before his eyes. He jumped to his feet, confused as to what was going on, and looked down to see a forest floor below his bedchamber's floor. The wood floor beneath his boots disappeared completely, leaving him falling into the forest. A scream escaped him only long enough for a branch to take out his chest. He struggled to keep hold of the harp as the forest ground came at him fast. He never felt the impact.