Epilogue
"Get up!" Ravi slammed his heels into Aurora's sides, and she bolted through the Lookout Landing gate. They zipped past stunned guards, weapons fallen from their weak hands, who stared up at the empty blue sky. Ash floated down; the gray flakes could be dragon scales, or fragments of Ganon's robe.
Aurora's hooves pounded the grass as she raced across Hyrule Field, but Ravi couldn't hear them. His ears rang from the sound of the cataclysmic explosion—he would never forget that blast. He would carry it the rest of his life, tell it to his children, his grandchildren.
Link did it.
A wild grin split Ravi's face, and his teeth dried in the wind as he leaned over Aurora's back, holding his balance in the saddle. He was thirteen now. Horses were working into his blood.
Link actually did it.
He whooped and pumped his fist in the air. Aurora released a joyful whinny and clawed up the earth, galloping faster. Ravi guided her head to the right, aiming for a lake where he'd seen a giant splash. Please be alive. That must have been a hard impact. But Link would be alive. Today was too glorious, too extraordinary for Link to die.
With one last push, Aurora crested over a hill, and the lake spread out below.
"Whoa." Ravi snatched the reins and pulled up her head.
She skidded to a halt and glanced at Ravi with confusion.
Link waded from the lake, holding Princess Zelda in his arms.
Ravi's throat tightened. Warmth filled his chest. He slipped from Aurora's back and caught her reins, holding her at the summit of the hill. Aurora nipped his shoulder.
"Shh," he murmured, patting her nose. "Let's give them a moment."
Gently, like he was handling a doll, Link laid Zelda on the grass. Somehow, he'd lost his shirt. Ravi smiled softly at the sight of Link's new arm, free from scars. But Link didn't seem to have noticed. His eyes darted up and down, searching for injuries, and his hands hovered over her, unsure what to do. He reached for her shoulder, but her eyes fluttered open, and the princess sat up.
"Link? How are you—" Her voice was warm, curious. She gazed up at the hero, confused, like a child who had fallen out of bed. She touched the stone hanging at her neck. "But I was—"
Ravi nodded. He saw it, now. Her gentle beauty. The innocence in her eyes as she gazed up at Link. The wonder. He grinned. Link never had a chance.
Slowly, she rose to her feet. Link's hand hovered behind her back, ready to support her, but she stood tall, strong.
I told you she'd come back. Ravi crossed his arms. A smug smile crept across his face.
The princess turned toward Hyrule Castle, floating in the distance. Waterfalls streamed off the sides of the island, clean and free from malice. She clasped her hands to her heart and turned to Link. "I had been sleeping all this time. But when I felt something like a warm, loving embrace, I woke up."
The sun rose on Link's face. His smile stretched from ear to ear, and as Zelda turned back to the castle, he bit his knuckle. He leaned toward her, retreated. His shoulders trembled, like he was barely holding himself back.
"Link, I met such wonderful people." Zelda spun around. "I saw Hyrule as it was. I have so much to tell you."
"So do I." He smiled softly.
"So much happened. Link—"
He caught her in an embrace. Link clutched her, fierce, desperate. Engulfing her. Zelda's hands flew up, and she blinked, surprised. He held her for a long moment, like he was listening to her heartbeat. "I'm so glad you're not a dragon."
Zelda's face softened. "So am I." A warm smile spread across her face, and she sighed. "I'm home." Her arms wrapped around him.
The instant her fingers touched his skin, he flinched and pulled away. "I'm sorry." A flush tinged his cheeks, and he whipped a green tunic from his pouch. "They keep taking my shirt. I don't know why." He unbuckled the Master Sword, dropping it in the grass, and yanked the tunic on backwards.
Zelda bit her lip and pointed at his collar. She grinned as Link twisted it around, then she gently took his right hand. "Your arm."
A half-laugh, half-sob jumped from Link's throat. "Yes." He twisted his wrist and flexed his fingers. Then he grabbed her hands and held her eyes. "Zelda. There's something I need to say. I should have told you long ago."
"Link!" A flaming Goron tumbled past Ravi, blazing a trail of fire through the grass as he zipped towards Link. Yunobo popped out of his roll and crashed down on the earth. "Princess Zelda!" He caught the princess in a thick hug, and knocking Link to the side.
The ground trembled. A horde raced across the plains, heading for Link and Zelda. On horseback, foot, by wing, by Zonai device. Hylians, Zora, Rito, Gerudo, Gorons. They spilled from Lookout Landing and trampled the fields, cheering, waving flags and weapons.
Ravi jogged down the hill, leading Aurora. He worked through the crowd until he reached Link. The hero glared at Sidon as the Zora swept Zelda up in another hug, and the crowd pulled her away from him.
"Go after her." Ravi snatched the Master Sword from the grass and handed it back to Link.
The hero sighed as Zelda vanished into the crowd, but he winked at Ravi. "I will. Somewhere without distractions. I have a place in mind."
But it wasn't so easy to pull a princess from her people. Especially a princess who had returned from the past, and draconification, and defeated Ganon. It was even harder for the hero to break away. A month flew past, a whirlwind of celebrations, councils, introductions: Link, you have a squire? He's adorable! How proud he is—he holds himself just like you! Let's keep him. Link and Zelda spent long nights sitting beside the fire, knees touching, sharing stories over pictures on the Purah Pad. All the while, a quiet fire burned in Link's eyes. Waiting.
Until finally on a cool night, Link lured Zelda away from their campsite. He drew her, blindfolded, up the road below Satori Mountain.
Ravi crept along the bluff, crouching low. The night air crawled through his short sleeves and into his tunic, coming from the highlands above the mountain. The breeze whispered of the approaching fall, but he didn't shiver. A steel lizal bow hung across his back, and a quiver swung behind his hips, full, out of habit. Since the fall of Ganon, the worst of the monsters had vanished from Hyrule, but Link had taught him to be prepared.
"How much farther is it?"
"Almost there."
Link led Zelda by the hand, guiding her up the grassy road below the bluff. The princess touched the scarf covering her eyes and began peeling up the edge.
"If you peek," Link said, "it won't be a surprise."
Zelda sighed and dropped her hand. "I can close my eyes—I don't need to wear a blindfold."
"But I don't think I can trust you."
The princess gasped.
Link grinned. "You're too curious. I wanted a little insurance. It's at the top of this hill."
Ravi's bluff ended, sloping down to meet the road. He grasped the strings of light and twisted them around himself, bending light away from his body. His body vanished, but his moon-shadow remained. He was working on eliminating his shadow, but tonight, it didn't matter. Hopefully.
Stay at camp, Link had ordered him. Guard the horses.
From what? Since Karta's defeat, Ravi hadn't seen a single Yiga. Link said they were remnants out there, sulking in the shadows. Perhaps a new leader would unite them. If they rose again, Ravi would be there.
He crept down the slope and sprinted silently through the grass, then ducked behind the closest tree. Maintaining his invisibility, he peeked around the trunk as Link led Zelda over the rim.
The hero's expression didn't know what it wanted to be: he bit his lip against a grin, then a second later, fear stole turned his face pale as the moon. But with his restored arm, he grasped Zelda's hand gently, firmly, and led her into the shade of the trees. He wore a pristine royal broadsword on his back, but he'd tucked his shield and bow away to keep things simple. Give the princess, and himself, fewer reminders of the war. At least tonight.
A rustle sounded in the grass across the road. Something hissed. There was a watery sucking intake of breath. Link spun toward the sound. An octorock popped up from behind a tree root. Its head bulged as it rolled a rock into its lips.
Irritation flashed across Link's face. He dropped Zelda's hand and reached for his sword.
An arrow flew from Ravi's bow. It pierced the octorock in the eye, flipping the beast out of the ground. It squealed and writhed in the grass, then turned limp.
"What was that?" Zelda's hand flew to the blindfold.
"Nothing." Link caught her hand. "A hawk caught a rabbit." He tugged her forward, but the princess resisted.
"Are you sure?"
"You're safe. I promise."
She drew in a breath, then exhaled and followed Link.
Ravi sighed with her, lowering his bow. He glared at the octorock. He thought he'd found all of them that afternoon, when Link brought him up here to scout the area. Link's eyes darted around the road, but the hillside remained quiet. Ravi shadowed them, darting from tree to bush to tree, as Link led Zelda to the end of the road, toward the ripple of a small lake.
The princess wore her traveling outfit and her short cape fluttered in the wind as Link guided her up a short knoll and brought her to a stop in a patch of glowing flowers.
Link released her hand. He combed his fingers through his hair, tugged down his Champion's tunic, and drew in a nervous breath. He untied Zelda's blindfold and stepped back. "Open your eyes."
Zelda rubbed her eyes, blinked, and gasped.
She stood in a patch of blue nightshades and Silent Princess lilies, waving gently against her knees in the soft wind. The lake spread out below her, shimmering with the reflection of the moon. Golden fireflies hovered over the water and luminous mushrooms dotted the stumps of decaying trees, half-submerged in the clear water.
"What is this place?" she whispered. She brushed her fingers over a Silent Princess.
"Rutile Lake." Watching her, Link seemed to radiate his own glow. "It's the most beautiful place in Hyrule. I wanted you to see it."
An owl hooted. Ducks paddled silently across the water and frogs croaked in lily pads. A deer stepped out of the trees on the opposite side of the water. Zelda held her breath while the deer bent to drink.
"This is what you saved," Link said quietly.
"What we saved. Together." Her eyes shone as she turned to him.
"Zelda," Link began, then his expression turned to stone. He stared at her, frozen.
The smile faded from the princess's face.
Crouched behind the tree, Ravi's heart pounded. He reached for his pouch, summoning the image of a fire fruit into his mind. Don't you dare lock up. After making me chop down that tree to open her view of the pond, and catching the fireflies, and luring her two days out of the way to Hyrule Ridge. Don't you dare.
"What is it?" Zelda murmured. "Are you leaving? You fought so many battles. You sacrificed so much. I understand."
"I would never leave you." Link caught her hands. "I'm sorry. I've never done this before." As he held her eyes, his face softened, and he started again. "Four years ago, you asked me if I remembered you. I didn't. I fought the Calamity to discover who I was, and to chase down the golden voice that kept ordering me around."
Zelda glanced aside bashfully.
"The first time I fought Ganon," Link said, "I did it for Hyrule: for a land and for people I didn't know, but who I was growing to love. The second time I fought Ganon, I did it for you."
Zelda raised her eyes. A flush crept into her cheeks.
"When I thought I lost you, it broke me." Pain tightened Link's face. "But my friends gathered around me. They gave me hope. If I kept going, I might bring you here, one night, and…" Blood rushed into his ears. He dropped her hand and touched his leather pouch, withdrawing a mixed bouquet of golden sundelions and Silent Princess lilies. "I brought you flowers. Because I thought you might like… flowers. Because girls… I mean… you…" His ears blazed red.
"Thank you." Zelda took the bouquet. She closed her eyes as she inhaled the mixed fragrance of sunlight and moonshine, then she grinned. "That's quite naughty, cutting an endangered species, just for me."
"Two species."
"Double naughty."
"I love you, Zelda." Link's eyes burned with quiet, steady fire. His voice faded to a whisper. "So much. You're so devoted and kind. And strong. And beautiful. You're golden, from the outside in."
A quick sob erupted from Zelda's mouth. She covered her lips and shook her head as Link reached for her. "I'm all right." A tear glistened in her eye; she rubbed it away. "I'm all right." She laid her hand on Link's cheek, touching his scar, and smiled. "Silly. I've been waiting for you to say that for a very long time."
Link stood frozen, face empty, like he'd reached the end of his plan and hadn't counted on this.
Move, Ravi urged him. Don't drop it, idiot.
"You have?" Link murmured.
Zelda nodded. "I thought I was dropping clues. But I couldn't make it easy. I'm a princess, after all. You have to earn me." She winked. "And you have, a hundred times over. I've loved you since you saved me from the Yiga Clan, but you were too locked on Ganon to see it. Then you died, and we had to start again."
The hero tucked a strand of Zelda's hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry."
"For dying?" The princess smiled. "It wasn't your fault."
"For not seeing."
"I forgive you."
Link stepped closer. His hand traveled behind her neck, and Zelda let him gently pull her in. Their noses bumped. They broke away, blushing. Link rubbed his cheek where she'd touched him, like it burned.
"Sorry," Zelda muttered. "I've never kissed anyone before."
"Neither have I."
"Try again?" Zelda cleared her throat.
Link nodded.
Behind the tree, Ravi drew a jar a fire flies from the black pouch on his belt. He twisted the lid off and tapped the glass, shooing them from the jar. The fireflies floated up to the knoll and drifted around the hero and the princess.
Ravi crept backwards. His boot heel splashed softly in the water, but they didn't break apart. For a first kiss, they catch on real fast. They'll be up there for a while. He smiled to himself. Holding the strings of light, he ran silently through the grass, dodging between bushes and trees, making for the cliff at the edge of the lake. So much trouble for a girl. Link always shoots for the top.
Ravi grinned. He released his invisibility and leaped from the edge of the cliff. Touching his pouch, he whipped out his red glider. The wind caught his body, sweeping him down the side of the cliff face, toward some ruins below he wanted to comb for treasure. Maybe I'll meet a princess one day.
A pirate princess. Someone he could bring home to shock his grandmother. Or a mermaid: one of those cross-breeds between Hylian and Zora. Yona said there were mermaids in her domain. I could be the first one to find them. He landed with a thump on the dry grass in the canyon and tucked the glider into his pouch. With the wind at his back, he took off at a jog toward the ruins. Or maybe not.
From the stars above the canyon, his mother looked down and smiled.
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this labor of love, send cookies to your author and leave a review.
If you haven't had a chance yet, check out the original artwork for this story posted on my author website. The link is in my profile.
This isn't the only fantasy novel I've been working on. If you enjoyed Ravi, you'll love Sagis. He's another hero-in-the-making who's too hot to handle. Literally. He has the gift of fire, but his magic is stolen when an empire invades his country. He'll have to rekindle his fire, or watch the dark consumes everyone he loves. Fireheart is an upcoming Young Adult fantasy novel about finding the courage to pursue your dreams, even when all hope is lost. I'm working on getting it published.
Finally, I'll end with a quote that laid the foundation for The Hero's Squire.
You who have made me see many troubles and calamities
will revive me again;
from the depths of the earth
you will bring me up again.
You will increase my greatness
and comfort me again.
-King David (Psalm 71:20-21, ESV)