Chapter Text
He showed a letter to the guards at the Castle doors, and a guard led him through the castle hallways. This way was a different way than he had gone, the night of the ball. The hallway was made of stone, and there were some tapestries on the walls, but it was less decorated than the previous entrance he had taken. They were long and winding hallways, with dozens of rooms, he couldn’t guess for what. Most of the doors to the rooms were shut closed, but occasionally there was one or two that were open, and the doorway revealed a beautifully decorated room, with a long black walnut table, adorned with an embroidered table cloth. The embroidery was stunning, even better than Uli’s, he thought. There were little blue lily flowers patterned on, along with the tri-force pattern. Link wanted to look at the room a bit more, but the guard insisted they press on.
On the right side, near the end of a hallway, the guard stopped. He gave Link a small key, told him not to lose it, else the blacksmith would have his head, and bid him good-bye. Link opened the door to find his room. It was a small room, but it was outfitted finely. The walls were a light blue, and there was a large window in the farthest side of the room, overlooking the castle’s grounds. He could see the apple trees from the window, and farther off he could vaguely make out the stables. He smiled, thinking of Epona in a nice stable, being fed apples and sugar cubes. There was a bed in the middle of the room. He sat down on it to see how it felt. It was slightly rigid, but no more than he was used to sleeping on. In the corner of a room was a wardrobe. He walked over to it and opened it up, revealing several sets of clothing hanging. A new cloak hung too. He took the cloak off the hanger. It was black, and velvet, and it certainly didn’t have any patches in it, or holes of any sort. There was gold trim on the edges. At the bottom of the wardrobe there was a package wrapped in cloth with some sort of note attached to it.
Hero Link,
The palace extends a warm welcome to her future knight and protector, and looks forward to meeting him for a supper, at five in the evening, in the minor hall. Her Majesty will be present at the supper, as will several lords of importance. In this package is the clothing you are to wear to the supper.
Room Services
Inside the package was a dark green suit, matching the color of his own green tunic. The suit was made of silk, and had gold trimming on it, with the Triforce symbol on the gold buttons. There were new leather boots in the package, as well as black gloves. He put on the outfit, and felt a noble air when he wore it. It was an extremely elegant outfit, well planned, and finely crafted. He stared at his dusty boots which were now on the floor. He had trekked mud into the room. He wondered if he had trekked mud through the castle, too. Some of the grounds outside were still muddy from the rain, though most of it was dry. He found the Master Sword from his luggage while he was putting everything either under the bed or in the wardrobe. He put the sword in his scabbard, though he knew it wouldn’t serve much purpose, as its point was dull. Memories of his adventures during the Twilight swept through his mind. Memories of him slaying monsters, of wrestling Gorons, of Midna. He missed Midna. He sighed, grabbing his new black cloak and putting it on. He was incredibly nervous for supper. During the ball, he had been far down at the table, and no one there really knew how to use any of the twenty forks put out, but there he knew he would be near the head of the table. Lords would be watching him, scrutinizing his every move, not to mention the Queen herself. I need to find some book on etiquette soon, for occasions like these. Then maybe I wouldn’t be half as anxious as I am now. Maybe it would even teach me how to dance, so I could have some courage to ask some ladies to dance next time. He opened the door, and set off for the hall. He still had about an hour before supper, but he resolved that he would get familiar with some areas of the palace that had interested him during his brief time he had been here.
He strolled outside the palace, in its grounds, through a garden. Hedges lined the outskirts, and rose bushes filled the flower beds. The roses were red, white, and pink, and the fragrance they produced was beautiful. Walking down the stone pathway, he saw a sculpted black marble fountain. A Zora statue stood, holding a vase of water which water flowed out of. Engraved at the base of the fountain was a Zora phrase that essentially established the quality of their alliance with Hyrule. Link remembered reading somewhere that the Zoras had formed an alliance with Hyrule during the Hero of Time’s era. Down a corner of the garden, he saw a woman admiring a pink rose bush. Walking closer, he realized the woman was the stable girl he had seen previously.
“Hello, miss,” he said.
“I am sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude into the Royal Gardens,” she said, turning her gaze towards Link.
Link asked her what she meant, and the stable girl said she was not to be in the Royal Garden, as ordered by guards. Apparently, it was a garden designed specifically for the Royal Family, and it was only for them to enjoy.
“Forgive me, but are you the Prince of Termina? I know that he is courting Her Majesty, last time I heard,” she said.
“No, miss, I am but a knight. I was not aware that these were grounds only for the Royal Family. If I had known, I would have stayed far from the place. And as far as I am aware, the Prince of Termina no longer courts the Queen. The trade route with Termina, however, will stay,” he said.
“Ah, Link! It is your name, is it not? Forgive me, I did not recognize you, clothed how you are, in those radiant garments.”
“Yes, miss, I am Link. I do not blame you, I do not entirely recognize myself. I was garbed so simply before, and now I wear all this velvet and gold trim. I do not know how to feel about it. The garments make me rather uncomfortable, because they are so expensive and I am not quite used to that yet. And for the life of me, miss, I cannot remember your name. I am sorry, I have been terribly busy today.”
“My name is Marin; I work as a stable hand at the Royal Stables. Sometimes I wander this way and stray into the Royal Gardens. I cannot help it, they are decorated so beautifully, really. I wish I could complement the gardeners, but I would be penalized for being found caught in here. I do wonder, if the Queen really enjoys these gardens, or if she is the type that never uses them at all. When I saw you, I did not recognize you, and thought you were the Prince of Termina, for he was courting Her Majesty. I am not particularly enlightened on the matter of royal courtships. How I was brought up, courting is simple, but in a palace, I am sure it is complicated. I have a friend in the guard, Mercutio, who tells me all the buzz of the castle, and I must say, I am quite fond of hearing the latest rumors,” she said.
“Mercutio, he is a friend of mine. He’s a nice fellow, really. I am glad I met him, he’s quite affable, and welcomed me when I first came to the castle. I am not enlightened on much of the proper etiquette at the palace, either, which I suppose I should know, since I am to have supper with the Queen and various lords, just this evening. I do not even know which fork I should use to eat. I shall plan on following the lead of some lord who sits next to me, who knows much more than I do. I was invited to the ball, a couple weeks ago, and I could not figure out which fork to use, at all. This palace life, I am not fond of it at all,” he said.
“Mercutio told me about the man to be knighted, but he did not tell me he was friends with him. He also did not tell me; how humble the man is. When I first heard of the knight, I thought he would be a rich noble, but then Mercutio began to explain to me, that he is a hero. And now, meeting him, I feel that he is very much for the common people,” she said.
“Thank you, miss. I have come to understand that my knighting carries a great deal of weight for Hyrule’s politics,” he said shaking his head and turning away towards the palace.
“I shall see you again soon, Hero Link?” she asked as he spun around to face her once again.
“Yes, I believe you shall. At least when I take Epona back from the stables. You shall see me then,” he said, walking off.
It was nearly five thirty in the afternoon. Link tore through the hallways, trying to make his running look like a brisk walk, as to not interrupt others. He had lost track of time talking to Marin and admiring the beautiful garden. The hallways seemed to go on and on, turn left that way, and part in the middle, and endlessly lead him on with no ‘minor hall’ in sight. He asked twice for directions to the minor hall, and only one of the men had actually helped. The other just pointed in a general direction, which smirking and telling him how he would never get to the hall before supper was over. Following the directions he hurried—brisk walking, through the hallways, left and then straight, and then right, and then turning by the stained-glass window depicting the Hero of Time, and then abruptly turning right again, until he got to a medium sized hall busy with conversation.
The room was spacious, with a relatively large table with twelve seats in the center of it. The queen was seated at the head of the table, and ten other delegates sat around the table. An empty seat remained to the right of the queen. The nobles were dressed in velvet, as custom for fall and winter, and decorated with silver and gold rings and necklaces, with ruby and sapphire emblems on the men’s cloaks, and intricate lacework on the women’s neckline. Each was holding a fork and enjoying the plate in front of them, consisting of a large helping of turkey with gravy, and broccoli. Some were sipping glasses of red wine, accompanying their meals. They all conversed with each other, but the main attention was towards the young queen.
“I simply cannot see why you think that commoner deserves the knighthood. It seems a disgrace to give it to such an incompetent boy. Why, how old is he again?” said an older noble with a white beard.
“Eighteen I believe. I do not think, personally, that he is quite suited for the knighthood either, there is the reason that he supposedly ‘saved’ the kingdom, but I think that in turn, the knights and soldiers of Hyrule would have risen up and fought the usurper themselves. Putting the fate of the kingdom into the hands of some teenage boy seems like poor judgement,” said an advisor.
“All of you know the reasons why I have chosen to knight him. I am not in the habit of knighting commoners, but Hyrule, as a nation, is forever in the debt of this man. Another reason why I have made my decision is that he can improve Hyrule’s military by leaps and bounds. All of you know that it was partially the cause for Hyrule’s surrender,” said the queen.
“We could have fought! We did not need some hero to save us. In fact, I firmly believe that Hyrule would still be in her golden age of wealth and development, had you not surrendered. But, that is beside the point now. Might I ask where this ‘hero’ of yours is? I was informed he would be at supper with us, and it is already half past five,” said Lord Tralis.
“This is precisely why the boy should not be knighted. Imagine the boy coming into court, over thirty minutes late. It is a disgrace,” said the older noble again.
Link did not know exactly what he should do. He was standing in the doorway to the room, so that he could see the nobles, but they could not see him from their viewpoint. Part of him wanted to not show up at all, just forgo the whole knighting process and run back to Ordon. Ordon was peaceful and the people were kinder. But he knew his heart would not be satisfied with the peace, after being constantly thrown into battle for two years. The room came to a lull of silence and Link took advantage of that to awkwardly shuffle into the room. All eyes fixed their attention on him. He quietly took the open seat next to the queen, and folded his hands neatly in his lap. He could tell the nobles were staring him down. Their eyes moved up and down his outfit. Finding no particular flaw in the outfit the queen herself had ordered he be given, they shifted their attentions to his inner image.
“It is so nice of you to join us, Link. When I heard that Her Majesty had chosen a commoner to be knighted, I did not believe it at first, but now that he actually decides to show up to supper, I can see for myself that he is in fact, a commoner,” said Lord Tralis, eliciting laughter from the table.
He didn’t have to answer to the comment he was unable to answer, the Queen seemed totally and completely used to the sort, and answered for him. Her voice gave no sign of hesitation, and her face remained in its usual calm demeanor. She seemed to slowly ease the conversation away from fears of his and her own incompetence, and into talk of preparations for tomorrow. Her voice was clear and firm, but soothing at the same it. Her naturally flowing speech mesmerized him, and he couldn’t help but stare at her face as she talked. She looked so young, younger than he had previously remembered.
“Actually, it is my fault that Link entered late. I believe I gave him the wrong time.” She turned towards one of the servers. “Please will you get him his entrée?” The server nodded and disappeared into another room.
“Hero Link, may I ask what you plan to do with yourself after you have been knighted? I understand that Her Majesty has offered you a position in the guard,” said an advisor.
“It is true that Her Majesty has offered me a position in the guard. I intend to take it and serve Hyrule. I believe I would be too bored if I were to remain in Ordon. I have become accustomed to the fast-paced life of the battlefield and Ordon is all farm land. Before the Invasion I would help out with herding the goat, but when I returned it simply wasn’t the same,” Link replied.
“A goat-herder? How quaint,” murmured Lord Tralis, evoking more laughter.
“Please, Lord Tralis,” said the Queen, silencing the room.
A server entered with Link’s supper and sat it down at his place. Link looked down at his meal, and then at the utensils and again at his company. The Queen looked at Link and then at his meal, and for a moment he caught a glance of something, perhaps annoyance in her eyes, but she quickly masked it with a smile. Link looked around at the nobles for which particular utensil to use, but as they had already begun to eat their dessert, they were of no help. He settled on a fork in the middle of the arrangement. Not too large but not too big, he thought. A couple nobles exchanged glances.
The meal went on like that for the entirety. Silence, then someone would ask him a question. He would then attempt to answer, only to be ridiculed, and then the Queen herself would save him. He felt embarrassed. She kept on glancing at his meal which he had hardly finished. When everyone had finished their dessert, she dismissed them all. He continued to eat his meal, but then realized he should probably just go. He stood up and pushed his chair in.
“It really is alright, Hero Link, you may continue eating here, I am not in any hurry,” said the Queen. Link sat back down and the Queen sat down with him. “I realize you hadn’t gotten wine yet,” she said. She called a server and had him pour Link a glass of red wine. “I am sorry about supper tonight, truly I am.”
“Please, there is no need to apologize. I should apologize to you, Your Majesty. I realize I embarrassed you. I came late to supper. I lost track of time and when I went to find the minor hall I— it was my fault. And then I knew not how to use the utensils that were set before me. And I could not even answer for myself without getting ridiculed. I cannot properly thank you for lying for my sake.”
The Queen smiled slightly and took a sip from her glass. “I appreciate it, Hero Link. I understand it is quite difficult to master all the subtleties of the court, and the nobles can be rather ruthless at times. I understand that you will be joining the guard?”
Link flushed. He realized he should have informed the Queen before announcing it at supper. “Yes, if that is alright with you, Your Majesty.”
“It is quite alright. You may stay in your current room if you wish; the cost will be covered, courtesy of the Royal Guard. I must say, I look forward to working with you. The Royal Guard has suffered in discipline since the Twilight Invasion and it desperately needs committed soldiers.” Link nodded. When he finished his meal, she offered him dessert, but not wishing to keep her any longer, he declined. “I will see you tomorrow at the knighting ceremony tomorrow. May the Goddess Smile upon you, Hero Link.”
He bowed and departed, returning to his room. He sat on the edge of his bed in the dark and leaned over to light the lamp on the nightstand. The Queen was definitely irritated with him, to say the least. She hadn’t shown it. But she didn’t show many emotions at all. He had shown up to supper late, for Hylia’s sake—supper with the Queen of Hyrule. And then she had lied to the nobles to save his face. He stretched out his hands, examining his black silk gloves. He had never worn anything like this prior to the Invasion. Tomorrow at dawn he would be knighted.