Only after putting some distance between themselves and Kamah did Link and Zelda slow down, eventually stopping altogether. They were, by all appearances, lost in the woods in the middle of nowhere.
"The horses…" Zelda said in a whisper. "Do you think…?"
"I hear them, Princess," Link said. "Please be ready to jump on Poe, it's possible that they were followed."
Zelda nodded, and when Butter and Poe emerged from the trees, their riders hurriedly mounted them and urged them deeper still into the woods, heading north. The observation that he was slipping away as if sliding on butter and that the princess was vanishing like a poe was carefully prevented by Link from passing his lips.
They rode almost all the way back to within view of the Ghost Village of Tobio before they dared to stop.
Zelda dismounted and turned to Link, who'd just gotten his feet back on the ground himself.
"I'm so, so sorry," she said. "I… I panicked, I think. I didn't know what to do, I was just… so shocked."
Link's hands moved and he just barely stopped them before they touched the Princess' shoulders. He hurriedly snapped them back to his sides. The Princess wasn't meeting his eyes, and she was wringing her hands. She clearly felt terrible for what had been a very normal reaction to having weapons drawn towards her by people she should have been able to trust. It was horrible that she'd been put through that, and it was heartbreaking that it was causing her to blame herself.
"Zelda…" his eyes widened as the name escaped him: the reflex of saying their name when trying to comfort people should never have happened while addressing royalty. He let it go for now: being shocked at his own lapses could wait. "You have nothing at all to apologize for, Princess," he said.
She was looking at him wide eyed. "I. Was. A. Burden," she spat. "You LITERALLY had to carry me! And it's not like I'm a featherweight!"
"If I may be honest, you are actually much lighter than a baby Goron," Link said with a smirk. "And not nearly as squirmy, either. Am I forgiven then, for manhandling you in that manner?"
Her eyebrows shot up, and then she snorted and chuckled.
"I will graciously forgive you for saving my life, yes," she said. "On one condition."
Link cocked his head. Her tone was not at all demanding, but he couldn't think of what 'condition' she meant to set, only suspected that it was nothing serious.
"Please call me by my name again," Zelda said.
Link's eyes widened. "I… Princess, that was…" he stammered.
"Link. Please. We are equals in the eyes of the Goddess."
Link swallowed. It was far from the first time she was pointing this out, and he'd been taught the same since he'd put on Farore's Medal, but it had never once felt right. She was the PRINCESS.
And she was looking at him very insistently right now. And she'd made a request he could easily grant. It was unconscionable to refuse.
"I don't think it will ever come naturally," he warned. He took a deep breath. "Please do not let your reaction in Kamah trouble you, P… Zelda. The situation deteriorated so quickly, and so radically… being shocked was only natural."
She smiled, and he relaxed.
"Thank you," she said. Her expression then became serious again. "How do you feel about the information we've just received?" she asked.
Link rubbed the back of his head. "It was certainly unexpected," he replied, "but I can't think of any more straightforward way fate could have sent us here to meet this man, especially with the caveat that we needed to meet him only once the damage on the Master Sword was visible on its hilt. Would you expect the Queen of Fairy to be of assistance to us in breaking the curse on the Master Sword?"
Zelda nodded. "I would, yes," she said. "I'm not at all sure, I'm afraid, because the Queen of Fairy has not been seen in centuries and nothing we believe about her qualifies as knowledge. It's all just beliefs and theories, passed down for generations. However… a lot of those stories imply that she can undo any curse, unweave any spell. I can't offer any fact, but I do believe that there is hope if we can find her."
Link nodded slowly. "I'm also concerned about the possibility that since the location of the Queen of Fairy was kept secret for many generations, it may not be accurate anymore."
The Princesses' eyebrows shot up before coming back down furrowed. "That's... certainly a worrying thought," she said.
Link hesitated: he wasn't sure how to explain the rest of his thoughts and didn't want to ramble at the Princess. "I still believe the attacks on the seven and the three were the work of the Enemy, as well as the curse on the Master Sword, of course," he said. "I also feel the Enemy is the cause of the monster outbreak. We haven't been able to locate them, to stem the outbreak, or to cure the sword." He paused.
"Do you still feel that you are failing?" Zelda asked.
"Yes, but I do have hope that our current lack of success will prove temporary," Link replied. "More importantly, I'm concerned about what the Enemy's next move will be, and when it might happen. I think we may need to prepare for the possibility that we will need to face the Enemy without the Master Sword, and... I was wondering whether we had access to the other power that is sometimes used to seal the Incarnation of the Curse. I saw a flash of light in Frontier Town, when you stabbed the monster with an arrow. Was that in fact a light arrow, similar to the ones that can seal Ganon?"
"Ah," Zelda said, finally understanding where Link had been going with this. "It was, yes. It may be wise to stock up on green potion if we think we may need to rely on them, however. I can at most summon two or three before I need to restore my magic."
Link smiled. "It is still very fortunate that you can produce them," he said.
She smiled back. "I'm still confident that we will restore the Master Sword," she said, "but I'm glad to be able to confirm a contingency plan for you."
She was a bit surprised by how much she meant it. She still regretted not making sure that Link knew that the attacks on the other settlements hadn't been as bad as in Given, and she had been delighted to be able to reassure him about the Master Sword by telling her of her visions where it was restored.
But then, wasn't the Hero being less preoccupied a good thing?
Yes. Of course it was. And that was why she was so determined to ease his worries when she could.
She cleared her throat. "What do you think Cora's Beak might refer to?" she asked.
Link smiled. "I'm reasonably certain I know exactly what it refers to," he said. "On a map, Cora Lake looks a bit like the head of a bird, with the Menoat River as a long neck. Cora's beak has to be the part of the lake that would be the beak on a bird's head."
Zelda's eyes had widened. "Cora lake! Yes, yes, that is a very good guess. We will try there first. Oh! I know where to go for the night! Rain is nearby, maybe an hour or two away, and I have a song that can take use there!"
Link's eyebrows shot up and he felt a weight lift from his shoulders: the closest he would have been able to travel with his own songs would have been Hope, which was quite further west and quite high uphill with the path back down to sea level winding and tortuously long.
"That is excellent news, Princess," he said with a smile. "Might I request you teach me the song?"
"Of course!" she fished the Ocarina of Time out of her pack. "The song is called Beautiful Sky, it was actually written about the stained glass ceiling above the main road in Rain. Have you ever heard of it?"
Link shook his head. "I haven't, Princess. I'm afraid I'm not very familiar with Rain, beyond knowing of it. It is a rather exclusive retreat, is it not?"
Zelda tilted her head slightly to the left, then to the right. "I suppose it is," she admitted. "Technically, it's not exclusive at all, there is no rule keeping anyone away. But in practice, the cost... yes. It's fair to say that it's rather exclusive."
She paused, her brow slightly furrowed as she looked at her ocarina.
"As a matter of fact," she said, "Prince Naydri has been meaning to investigate whether the main families there were weeding potential newcomers and arranging for only people they approve of to be able to stay for anything more than a short vacation. I don't think he sees it as a high priority, and until now, I've never given it much thought, but... this is exactly what the early days of the attempted coup against my grandmother looked like. One town, filtering out all non sympathizers and transforming itself into a stronghold."
Link bit his lips. He knew of that attempted coup, which had been partly caused by some nobles disapproving of the Former Queen giving the Sea Folks refugees some crown land, as unused and unwanted as that land otherwise was. He could certainly understand why Prince Naydri wanted to know more, and he just hoped the answer would never turn out to be something the Royal Guards would in fact need to act upon.
"Would you like to try and gauge the intent of those families, Princess?" Link asked.
He wasn't sure which answer he'd prefer. The situation could be a problem, but they couldn't afford to make it their concern, not if it delayed them in restoring the Master Sword, or in curbing the monster outbreak, or in finding the Enemy.
Her frown deepened. "I would," she said, "but our own objectives are far more urgent. That being said, I honestly need to rest. It's been… a very long day. Walking about in a beautiful town, and listening to people talking, is among what few things I could handle doing for the evening."
Link couldn't argue any of that. He needed to rest too: between Frontier Town and Kamah, the day had been grueling. Riding two hours to Cora Lake, and then hunting for a fairy fountain, would be far more manageable in the morning, especially considering the sun would start setting in a bit less than those two hours, leaving them to search the lake in the dark if they were to press on right away. And if, Hylia forbid, the Queen of Fairy was no longer to be found at Cora's beak, Link didn't want to find out before he'd had a chance to sleep.
He wasn't sure, however, what the Princess hoped to overhear: she was highly recognizable, nobody would say anything compromising within earshot of her. His toes started tapping in his right boot: they didn't have time to be debating a course of action that wasn't feasible anyway. Unless... his toes stopped tapping as the answer to why the Princess was even thinking of this came to him.
"Princess... how are you planning on disguising yourself?" he asked.
She looked back at him and a smile lit up her face. "You guessed!" she exclaimed. "I was rather expecting you to point out nobody would talk freely with me around!" She cleared her throat. "To answer your question, I can cast an illusion spell. I can't manage anything extraordinary, but I can change the color of my hair and eyes, and I believe there is a decent chance that it will be enough. If anyone asks about the scarf, we can pretend that they're in fashion once again. I will wear it in a different way than I usually do, as well."
Link nodded. "How long does the illusion last?" he asked.
"About one full day and night unless I lift it before then," the Princess replied. "Let me try it now, you'll be able to tell me whether you think it is sufficient."
She raised her hands to her face, opening her palms and effectively hiding behind them. The air appeared to shimmer around her, and her hair turned to a dark brown that nearly matched the colour of Link's own if not the texture: the Princess's hair was still as smooth as it usually was.
She lowered her hands and looked at Link with eyes that now appeared a light brown.
Link squinted, crossed his arms and tilted his head. "It's difficult to judge, Princess," he said. "It is quite a significant change, and perhaps indeed enough for anyone who has not had the good fortune to spend enough time in your company to become acquainted with your features."
She hummed and brought a finger to her lips, thinking. After a mere moment, her eyes widened slightly and she walked to Poe, digging into one of the saddle bags and extracting a hair brush.
"Even when I braid my hair like I have been on the road, I still always wear it close to my face, and down," she said. "Hold this please."
She handed the band that had been at the bottom of her braid to Link. He took it and waited: he knew from experience people could look quite different when their hair in a different style than their usual, so he was inclined to think the Princess's idea was worth a try.
Zelda unbraided the thick side braid she was wearing right by her face and down her front, and gathered the hair back and up, smoothing the top with her brush. She wrapped one hand around the base of the resulting high ponytail and extended the other towards Link, who gave her back the hair band before she could even ask for it.
A moment later, she stood with a high cascading ponytail, all her hair pulled away from her face.
Link smiled. "I think this will work, Princess," he said.
She nodded. "Excellent. But you can't be calling me that, clearly."
Link's eyebrows shot up: he hadn't thought of that aspect of her plan.
"We need a cover that will explain how I come to be travelling alone with you. Without a chaperone, I mean." She locked eyes with him. "The most likely story would be if we were married."
Link scratched his head. There weren't many other scenarios where a woman would be travelling with a man of about the same age she was, and unlikely to be her brother due to widely different features, without drawing far too much scrutiny for their purpose. Therefore, her proposal that they pretend to be a couple made perfect sense. Except for one thing.
"Princess, I do have one concern... mixed couples are quite rare, are they not? I know of three, but it is possible they're quite common in Castle Town and I'm simply unaware of the fact."
"They are rare," the Princess confirmed, "and I don't think I would be able to pass for a commoner so I was going to be posing as a Lady Citra, the daughter of a baron because there are enough of them that making one up should be safe. But I'll need a story to explain my marrying down, and most people assume Sea Folks are still struggling, too..."
Link nodded, relieved that she was thinking along the same lines he was. He could not imagine she would ever pass for anything less than noble, not with her clothing and mannerism.
Zelda suddenly snapped her fingers, smiling. "You saved my life," she declared. "My father was able to get you a knighthood out of it thanks to some friends in higher places than himself, and I fell for you so completely that he gave his blessings to our union. My older brother is known to dote on me and my father is quite certain I will not be left wanting. Besides, your knighthood means you are a valuable guest anywhere."
Link smiled and nodded. "Lady Citra, daughter to Lord…?"
Zelda hummed a moment. "Lord Whair, Baron of Atun," she said. "My doting brother goes by Lord Whair, the Younger. We do need their first names, just in case..." she paused, thinking. "My father will be Rhoi, my brother will be Jovan. Now if you would, please pick a name for yourself."
"Sori," Link replied. "Sir Sori, since I am to be a knight. No surname."
"Do Sea Folks use surnames at all?" Zelda asked. "I have yet to hear any, but perhaps they are merely not usually shared?"
"We don't use them," Link replied. "If someone needed to make a distinction between myself and another Link, they would either use our hometown or, if we were both from the same town, the name of our parents. I would be Link of Given or Garm and Limsy's Link."
"Very well," Zelda said. "Now, the Master Sword. Is there a reason you do not keep it in your pouch?"
"Yes, Princess," Link said. "I simply can't: it will not go in. I do have a cover for it that hides the shape and color of the hilt. The sheath is a rather popular model, so it's not a problem."
Zelda let out a chuckle. "Popular is an understatement, I would say about half the ones I've ever seen in use were either straight up replicas or had a very similar design. It's a bit funny, isn't it, how replicating any part of the sword is frowned upon, but copying the sheath isn't at all?" She took a breath. "I need to turn around to rearrange my scarf. Could you disguise the Master Sword while I'm doing that?"
"Certainly," Link replied. He took the Master Sword's cover out of his pouch, secured it in place, and also stowed his hair rings into his pouch: he worried the designs would draw awkward questions. He then waited while the Princess undid the knot in her scarf and rearranged it by wrapping the length around her neck twice, allowing the ends to dangle down her front.
She turned back, looked at the Master Sword and nodded, satisfied.
"All right," she said. "Let me teach you the Beautiful Sky Song, it's what will get us to Rain."
She took out her ocarina.
"Princess, one more question?"
She stopped just as she was bringing the instrument to her lips and cocked her head with an interrogative sound.
"How did Sir Sori save Lady Citra's life?"
She transferred the Ocarina of Time to one hand and used the other one to slap her forehead. "You're right, that may very well come up. As well as what we're doing in Rain. Hmm…"
"Atun is in the Eldin Mountains, is it not?" Link asked. "There were some rock falls last year."
"Yes!" Zelda exclaimed. "I was out walking, on my own because I was distraught over something, I'll claim it's private if anyone asks, and a rock nearly fell on me, but you managed to tackle me out of the way."
Link nodded. "And we are in Rain…?"
"Honeymoon," Zelda said automatically. "The timing works."
"Very well, then I think we can proceed," Link said.
Zelda nodded and started teaching him the Beautiful Sky song. She was a patient teacher, and although Link was not as quick at learning the music as she was, he played the song as well as one could wish on his sixth attempt.
They got Butter and Poe in position, played, and were off.
Hyrule Caste, late afternoon of the sixth day after Hero's Day
Prince Hylrick stopped by the door to his younger brother's study. Naydri often neglected his correspondence, so chances were he had not yet read Zelda's latest letter. It felt to Hylrick as though the discussion could not wait, however, so he was left with little option but to see whether Naydri had read Zelda's report on the Hero's thoughts and their welcome in Frontier Town and to get him to do so if not.
He knocked. "Little brother? I would like to speak with you."
He heard something like hands hitting a desk, and then the sound of a chair moving on the floor.
A moment later, Naydri was opening the door, looking slightly winded.
"Elder Brother," Naydri said with a slight bow of his head. "I was deep in thoughts… deep enough I'm afraid I might have slipped into dream." He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "You were looking for me?"
"I was hoping to talk about our little sister's letter regarding Frontier Town," Hylrick said. "May I come in?"
Naydri stared at him blankly for a moment and Hylrick held back a sigh: clearly, his guess that Naydri hadn't read Zelda's letter yet had been accurate and his younger brother had had no idea their sister had been to Frontier Town at all.
"Peezee was in Frontier Town?" Naydri asked, stepping aside to let his brother inside the room and promptly closing the door behind him. "When? We're not supposed to know where the two of them are! Where they were is okay, but not where they still are!"
"She's well aware," Hylrick said with a slight frown. He was looking at Naydri's desk. "You have several sealed rolls on your desk. It's likely one of them is hers. Why don't you look?"
Naydri sighed heavily but obligingly went to his desk and started shuffling letters and rolls around until he recognized Zelda's seal on one of the rolls. He picked it up, pointedly held it up for Hylrick to see, and opened it.
Hylrick patiently waited while Naydri read the letter. The one he'd received had been fairly short, and he expected Naydri's was equally brief. Sure enough, Naydri looked up again after just a few moments.
"It certainly does sound like the Inn Keeper stowed the two of them away as quickly as he could," he said. "Which would mean Link is correct and Frontier Town is unfriendly, just like Midah." He huffed through his nose. "I've looked through my records on Midah, there is nothing there. No assault, no report of theft or merchant fraud, nothing. I expect I'm going to find the same lack of anything on Frontier Town, but I'll check, of course."
"Thank you," Hylrick said. "I'll be glad to find out this is indeed another concern for myself rather than for you and the guards."
Naydri nodded. "Pretty sure we're both still getting a lecture when Peezee's back," he said with a smirk. "Wouldn't count on Mother and Father to be left off the hook either, honestly."
"Hm," Hylrick said. "Any progress on the roaming monsters? Or on Pyr?"
Naydri looked aside and shook his head. "Nothing. I'm growing very tired of 'nothing'," he muttered.
"Have faith, little brother," Hylrick said gently. "The Goddesses will guide the Hero and the Princess, and us as well. Hyrule will be saved."
Naydri made a face. "I envy your tranquil faith," he grumbled. "Do excuse me, I think I feel some guidance to get back to work."
Hylrick snorted. "Shall I check on you in a few hours to make sure you don't sleep here all night?" he teased.
Naydri didn't dignify the comment with an answer, examining his shelves, Hylrick presumed in search of some history on Frontier Town. He left him to it and let himself out.