Legend of Zelda: Deluge November Part 5

     Snow was beginning to fall lightly as Link waited with the knights in the large courtyard just inside the castle walls. The walls surrounded them at a distance, reaching down a wide lane on both sides. Lines of about fifteen well-spaced, old oak trees lined each path. Ahead of them was a much shorter wall connected to the castle itself. It seemed much larger, as big as a small mountain, now that Link was at its very foot. All around in the courtyard were knights, simply dressed servants or very well-dressed aristocrats, most hurrying inside from the snow or cleaning up some leaves hastily. The ground was rough, white cobblestones, on which the snow stuck, hardly melting.

     The old knight, Quin, had left them inside the castle, going back out to find Auru and Bolek. Link still had the teal fairy silent and hiding in his shirt. Every now and then she would flutter around, ticklish, and he forced himself not to react. He could still feel the furious gazes of the Georg and Werin, the two knights who had tried to capture the fairy.

     To distract himself, he looked around. The large, open, cold courtyard of stone seemed incredibly bleak compared to the trees, earth and nature to which he was accustomed. A cold wind dove down in the yard and blew around, nipping at them ruthlessly. Sucking in his lips, Link tried not to shiver, focusing on the warmth of the fairy’s hidden light.

      Hurrying into the courtyard came the Quin, followed by Auru and Bolek. Auru’s forehead was creased deeply and his gaze darted between Link and all the other knights uneasily. Bolek was only slightly smirking, his posture very relaxed, though he kept rubbing his hands to keep them warm.

     “So, what did you…” Auru distractedly ran his fingers through his hair, looking at Quin. “What did Link do? What happened?”

     “He assaulted and tried to rob me,” said Georg severely. He nailed Link with an accusing glare, probably remembering how Link had wrestled away from him the bottle in which the fairy had been trapped.

      Bolek openly smirked. “Finally snapped, eh Link?”

     “Shut up, you know Link wouldn’t do this,” Auru said hurriedly, shooting a quick glare at his brother. “What will happen?”

      Quin folded his arms. “Well, considering he’s Bolek’s relative—”

     “Not yet he isn’t,” Bolek interrupted.

     “I’m engaged to his sister, that’s close enough,” Auru said, giving Bolek another dirty look.

     Quin nodded slowly. Engagements were not permanent as marriage, but they were very rarely broken. “Therefore, as a relative of a knight, he has the right to some proper proceedings.”

     “He tried to rob me!” shouted Georg furiously, pointing accusingly at Link. “What proceedings does he need?!”

     “Well, the whole situation was extremely strange, wasn’t it?!” Quin was almost shouting, and he looked quizzically at all around him. “This boy attacks Georg and Werin, two armed and armored knights, in some futile robbery attempt, even though all good sense would direct him to not make such a foolish attempt. After all, he’s definitely seen how many knights there are on just the castle grounds. Furthermore, once we capture him he proceeded to…to yelp and flail about like he got a rat in his shirt that was biting him—” Link felt his cheeks grow warm, remembering his wild reactions when the fairy had bit him. He could feel Auru and Bolek looking at him as Quin carried on: “—and yet he didn’t struggle once, and his lifelong friend,” he gestured at Auru, “insists that he’s the last person in the world who would ever dream or robbery or unprovoked assault.”

    “He did punch me, you know,” Bolek said, pointing at his nose, which still had some traces of blood.

     Quin looked at him, saying dryly, “Bolek, there’s no doubt in my mind that this any harm this boy did to you was absolutely provoked and probably justified.” Before Bolek could say any more, he turned to everyone else, saying, “We need someone else to judge this case properly.”

      Link shuddered, not from the cold, but from the fairy fluttering around in his shirt, back up to his collar on his back, near his ear. He could hear her whispering, “Hey, don’t say anything about me right now. I’ll do any talking if you get Princess Zelda. Then I can get you out of this.”

     “Princess Zelda?” Link spoke aloud without thinking about it, but then he realized all eyes were on him.

     “You want to ask the princess to judge this?!” Bolek asked incredulously, shaking his head earnestly surprised. “You’re crazy!”

     “There’s no one who would hear this case, much less the princess,” sniffed Werin, exchanging a smug glance with Georg. “This is absurd. The boy is just stalling.”

     “Now wait a moment, this isn’t quite out of her Highness’s area.” Quin staring past them all, lost in his thoughts. “In fact, she has been expressing desire to be involved in the knight’s business a little more. This would be good for that.”

     “Are you serious?” Bolek stepped back, now staring at Quin. “The princess?! There’s no way this would work!”

     Quin smiled thinly at him. “Since you’re so excited, you will certainly be coming with us, Bolek. Help me escort your brothers to find the princess.”

     He stared at him for a moment, dumb-founded, but then composed himself, stubbornly folding his arms. “Link is not my brother.”

     Ignoring any further protests, even the loudest ones from Georg and Werin, Quin led them into the castle. Auru followed, walking beside Link, with Bolek in the rear. Link found it very easy to ignore his grumbling as they walked inside the long corridors and staircases of the castle. They passed through narrow hallways, lined with hanging, ornate tapestries. Often they headed up broad staircases with windows shining in light upon each step. The ceiling in the halls was low, but in the open stretches of rooms and stairwells the ceiling was very high, vaulting above them in curved domes. They passed several other people, both the aristocrats and other knights, several of whom greeted Quin. Before heading inside, Link’s wrists had been loosely tied together with rope. Every person that passed them spotted this and would either hurry away or give him a condemning look. However he paid them little heed, turning his attention to the intricate details found in the tapestries, the carvings in the walls, the etchings on the handrails and the designs in the few stained glass windows they passed. Outside, he could see snow was now falling heavily.

     “Princess Zelda’s study is near,” Quin said as they turned a corner into a long, spacious hallway with large glass windows and vaulted ceilings laden with pale tiles of multiple hues. Standing in the hall, looking out one of the windows was Dolo and Golo. Golo looked away, noticing and grinning at them. The sight of his earnest, friendly face somehow made Link feel a little calmer, though he was not sure why. He let his shoulders relax, realizing just how tense he had been.

     Dolo also looked at them as they neared, spotting Link’s rope handcuffs. “Oh dear.” He smiled humorlessly. “Dare I ask what this is about?”

     “You don’t need to concern yourselves about it, sirs,” Quin said, nodding to them as he passed.

     “What did he do?” Golo asked, beginning to follow them.

     “It’s just a misunderstanding,” Auru said quickly.

     “Where are you head to? You gonna execute him or something?” Dolo asked, also following them. Link noticed that Bolek did not react to the Gorons behind him other than to move a few paces ahead of them to give them enough room.

     “His case is very strange and we’re going to see if we may bring it to the princess,” Quin answered. “Again, you don’t need to—”

     Dolo was elbowing Golo. “Hey, you want to meet this princess?”

     He nodded in reply as Quin shrugged. “You can come if you like, but we don’t know if she’ll bother to judge the case.”

     “Where’s Durmuni?” Auru asked, looking back at Dolo as they reached the end of the hallway and turned towards another flight of stairs.

    “He’s in audience with the king. He doesn’t need us there,” Dolo replied dismissively. He continued to talk on his own, about an unrelated subject in regards to his own prior experiences at Hyrule Castle. The others listened, but Link kept his attention and gaze ahead of him, clenching his fists and trying to keep his nerves calm. Yet, with each step they took, it seemed harder to do so. He bit down on his lip very hard and winced slightly, sucking it in.

     Just relax, the fairy said she would take care of it. He could still feel the fairy’s warm light where she was around the middle of his back. I’ve just got to trust she’ll get me out of this, as long as we can meet the princess…

     They reached the top of the stairs, arriving at another hall. It was wide, with a low ceiling and a long, dull red rug on the ground. Out the small windows lining the left side of the hall, Link could see the castle grounds laid out beneath them, looking distant and small. He supposed they were at the top of one of the castle towers, or near the top at least. For a moment, his legs felt uneven and wobbly beneath him, but he steadied himself.

    They walked down the hall. Ahead of them was a woman, standing silently outside of one of large double wooden doors. With very light hair pulled back tightly and skin that was tan as if aged by many years in the sunlight, Link was not sure what age she was. Quin walked ahead to her and she turned to face him. Her face had some faint signs of age, but also appeared very youthful. She wore a sleek, long, embroidered black tunic and multiple fine yet flexible leather and silver belts. On her legs were fitted black pants and high leather boots with light armor over the knees and shins. Around her shoulders was an orange and dark blue shawl, and underneath Link barely glimpsed a long knife.

     “What is it, Sir Quin?” she asked in a strong, throaty voice. Looking past the old knight, she inclined her head to the Gorons. Golo did the same eagerly, but Dolo barely managed a curt nod.

     “It’s this boy.” Quin indicated Link. “He is charged with assaulting and attempting to rob two knights. However, he had no motivation and would have only made the attempt if he was an complete fool, which doesn’t appear to be the case.”

     “Perhaps he was just desperate. What was he trying to steal?”
      “A corked bottle.”

     A shadow of a smirk appeared on the woman’s face. “A bottle. Really?”

     “That appears to be the case. The knights are insisting he goes to the dungeon. The evidence and all witnesses are against him, certainly, but…” Quin shrugged.

     The woman glanced at the door, her irises clearly red as she looked back at them, looking Link in the eye. “Very well. The princess is not exactly otherwise occupied. She has wanted to work with the knights, and this would be fine. I’ll get her. Stay here.”

     The woman easily swung one of the heavy wooden doors open and disappeared inside, closing the door neatly behind her. They waited in silence, all noise from the other room blocked out by the thick wood and solid stone. Link remembered Purel telling them stories about Princess Zelda, how at even a young age she was considered the fairest in the land. His mind running through the small number of beauties that he had ever met, Link wondered exactly what Zelda would look like. Or, more importantly, how she would act and think. If the fairy suddenly decided to not vouch for him or made a poor case, for whatever reason, he was putting his fate solely into Zelda’s hands.

     But fairies are supposed to be wise, so this must be a good decision. But then again, if this fairy is so smart, how did she get captured so easily? Link gulped. This was such a bad idea.

     The door opened and the woman returned, followed by another, much younger woman: Zelda. Her hair was a light, reddish blonde and hung down around her shoulders. Her bangs were held back by a simple, delicate headband made of cloth and gold, with a golden triangle laced on her forehead. Against skin that was very fair without looking sickly her deep blue eyes stood out, alert, lively and definitely intelligent. She was just about as tall as Link, wearing a blue dress with a long, heavily embroidered purple shawl that trailed like a cape behind her. The ends of her  sleeves reached past her wrists and separated, flowing out like feathers.

     She looked past him to the Gorons, smiling graciously. “How are you? I heard you have just arrived. I apologize for not greeting you early, but things have been so busy.” Her voice was light but not silly or girly, and it was a fair, pleasant pitch. Gulping, Link felt his eyes drying out and began to blink furiously, hoping she had not noticed him staring.

     “Don’t worry about it, Princess,” Dolo said easily. “It’s not like we haven’t met before.”

     “But I do not believe I’ve met your countryman.” She looked directly at Golo, who looked just a little abashed. “And you are…?”

     “Golo,” he replied, his voice sounding just a little thick.

     Link surreptitiously rubbed his mouth, wondering if he could even speak if the princess addressed him.

     Thankfully, she did not, and instead kept talking to Golo, “I’m sure we’ll have plenty to time to get to know each other better. The weather looks like it’s taking a turn for the worse, doesn’t it?”

     Golo laughed, good-humoredly but just a little nervously. “Oh, the weather is no bother for us. We could certainly make it home no matter how the weather, if we wished.”

     “That’s true.” Zelda gave him one last, almost too-perfect smile before turning to Quin. “Now, what was the matter?”

     “It’s this boy, Princess, he is charged with assault and attempted theft upon two knight.”

     She turned her gaze upon Link, her voice firm as she asked, “What did you attempt to steal?”

     To his everlasting horror, the only response he managed was a jerky laugh as the fairy swooped down, tickling him as she crawled down along his side and then swooping up his chest. Thankfully the princess only looked like she thought he was insane for just a moment before the fairy flew out of his shirt and into the air, circling a few times as if stretching her wings.

     There was a collective gasp and Dolo barked, “A fairy?! They’re supposed to be extinct, or vanished!”

     “This boy rescued me,” the fairy was saying in her little, mellow voice, floating evenly between Zelda and Link.

     “He rescued you?!” Zelda was staring, her eyes wide and her mouth ajar, almost all of her poise and composure gone. “From whom? What happened?”

     “What do you think?!” snapped the fairy, the shimmering sound returning as she flapped her wings rapidly, bobbing up and down in a jerky, agitated manner. “Those two brutes you call knights, that’s who! They were trying to put me in a bottle and sell me to some black market in the city!”

     “I…” Zelda drew herself up, clasping her hands, her face awash with concern. “I had no idea our knights were engaged in such things!”

    Quin nodded his head in furtive agreement as the fairy made a strange, high-pitched noise that might have been a derisive snort.

     “But this is unprecedented either way,” the woman in black said in her calm voice. “Fairies haven’t been seen for over a hundred years.”

     “Amazing.” Auru walked over, looking from Link to the fairy, his expression lighting up, a grin creeping onto his face. “This is amazing, Link! You saw a fairy just about ten years ago, and now this!”

     “Hmph, perhaps they’re out in the country more or something,” cut in Dolo dismissively, but no one paid him much heed.

     “But a real fairy…” Auru looked back at her, his eyes shining. “How old are you? Are you from a fairy fountain? Well of course you are, but which one? Do you—”

     “A-anyways,” the fairy floated over towards Zelda, as if unsettled by Auru’s enraptured attention, “don’t bother this boy, Link or whatever his name is. He helped me out a little and he definitely wasn’t doing anything wrong, okay?”

     “That’s true, is it?” Zelda asked, glancing once at him but not taking her eyes off the fairy.

     When the fairy did not answer and Zelda looked at him again, he nodded. “They had put her in a bottle and—”

     “I could have gotten out on my own,” the fairy muttered.
     “And so I just—”

     “Yeah yeah, he jumped in and helped me some, but like I said, I could have gotten out on my own!”

     “Why didn’t you?” Auru asked innocently.

     “That doesn’t matter!” She flew back away from them, towards one of the nearby windows. “Just that he’s not the problem, it’s those knights, alright? You be sure to get them! Now I’m out of here!” She whammed herself against the window, which did not budge. Turning back towards Link, she snapped, “Open it for me, would you?!”

     He easily slipped his hands out of the rope handcuffs and walked over and, finding the latch, unlocked the window and pushed its heavy glass pane open. Immediately the fairy flew out. The others hurried to the windows; Zelda and Auru were calling after the fairy, but she had vanished from sight in the heavy, windy snows.

     After a moment, the woman in black addressed Quin, saying, “Go and fetch the two knights who were accusing this boy. Do a complete investigation with them if necessary.”

     “At once.” Quin turned and bowed to Zelda and then strode away quickly.

     Bolek made to follow, but Zelda called out, “Oh, you, the young knight!” He froze, slowly turning around as she said, “Thank you for your part in this. I don’t believe we’ve met before. Why are you tangled in this? Are you working with Quin on the guard?”

     “No.” Bolek was almost mumbling. Out of the corner of his eye, Link spotted Auru tensing. He was gritting his teeth, staring apprehensively at Bolek, who continued, “I just know him, he’s going to be by brother.”

     “Oh, you’re marrying his sister?” Zelda asked, smiling broadly.

     “No, no, my brother is.” He gestured carelessly at Auru, who nodded politely.

     “That’s wonderful! Well, you should be going to help Quin now.”

     Without a bow or even a nod or courteous word, Bolek turned and hurried away. Link could hear someone tittering softly, and realized it was coming from the woman in black. The moment he looked at her she stopped and met his eye unflinchingly. Immediately he looked away.

     “Now, young man, what was your name?”

     Link stood up straighter, realizing Zelda was addressing him. Hoping it was not obvious as he gulped again, he answered, “I’m Link.”

     “And you?” She turned her gaze on Auru.

     “I’m Auru, your majesty.”

     “And, I’m supposing you know our guests, Dolo and Golo?”

     “Sure they do,” Dolo answered before anyone else had a chance. “We traveled over here together, saved them and their caravan from being eaten by Stalchildren.”

     Zelda’s face fell. “I’ve heard about the monsters getting worse. It’s dreadful. Really, between the monsters and the trade for rare monsters and creatures on the rise in the city, along with everything else that shouldn’t be going on…well, it’s quite the age we live in. Even now, just look at the weather!” She gracefully gestured with one arm at the heavy snows, which were now coming down so hard that at moments all they could see was pure white. “It would certainly be best if you would stay the night, at the very least.”

     “Are you sure?” Auru’s tone was polite, but he was already smiling. “We don’t want to impose, your majesty.”

     “Oh, it’s no imposition!” She laughed lightly, in a way that struck Link as being a little forced. “Since you’re Bolek’s brothers, we’ll certainly be able to find a place for you down amongst the knight’s bunks. Don’t worry about a single thing. If you have any questions, just ask any knights you meet and tell them that I was the one who decided you’ll be staying there.”

     “I know my way around this place,” Dolo said, folding his arms. “And I’ve got time to kill. They won’t get lost.”

     “That’s perfect. I leave it in your hands, then!”

     Before Dolo could say anything, Auru hurriedly thanked the princess. She just waved it away, and then excused herself, slipping back inside her study. The woman in black closed the door behind the princess and then resumed her place in the hallway. As they walked away down the hall towards the stairs, listening to Dolo’s monologue about the castle’s layout, Link wondered if the woman in black was still watching them. Scratching the back of his neck nervously, he glanced back a few times, but she was just looking out the window. Link did the same, and all he could see was white. 

The Legend of Zelda and characters copyright Nintendo

"The Legend of Zelda: Deluge" writing and original concepts and characters copyright Mahira / Mahira-chan