Chapter 2

"Ewan, sweetheart, I'm so sorry for leaving you," Zelda murmured, reaching over to

stroke her son's head. He regarded her with a hurt expression.

"But mother, you promised not to," he replied. Zelda sighed, and cast her eyes down to

the floor.

"Listen, sweetie, I had to go help your dad," she tried.

"You said you wouldn't go," he persisted.

"I know, and I'm sorry. Please, everything will be okay, the bad people are finally

gone," Zelda said, taking his small hand into hers. He smiled a little.

"I'm glad," he replied simply. The door opened slowly, and there was Link. Ewan let

out a small cry of joy, and jumped off the bed and ran towards his father, hugging his

leg. Link bent down to hoist him up into a hug.

"Hey there," he said, grinning.

"I've really missed you, dad," Ewan exclaimed.

"I missed ya too, believe me," Link replied. Zelda got up, and walked over. She

wrapped her arms around both her son and husband, and there they stood together, in

a happy, comfortable silence.

"You won't leave me again, will you?" Ewan, finally questioned.

"Of course not," Link assured him. He glanced at Zelda, and she smiled back, a little

uneasy. She looked down at Ewan.

"Come on, I think you need some rest, before dinner," she suggested. Ewan nodded

amicably, then scampered off back to his bed. Link tucked him in, then he and Zelda

went off together to get changed into some clean clothes.

"Okay, let's celebrate, folks!" Drake said, popping open a bottle of champagne.

Everyone crowded round, to get their glasses filled.

"I'll say one thing for you Hyrulians, you sure love to party!" Leigh grinned.

"Well, we do have a lot to be happy for," Selina answered, smiling over at Nick.

"Almost," Zelda said, taking a glass from Drake.

"Excuse me?" Leigh said.

"Oh, nothing," Zelda replied, walking off over to where Fayette was.

"She's still mad at me, isn't she?" Leigh said, a little forlornly.

"Aww, don't worry about her. She has a hard time showing appreciation, but I'm sure

she'll come round eventually," Drake said, giving Leigh a small hug. Selina nodded.

"Anyway, we couldn't have done it without your help," she said graciously.

"Yes, it was a wonderful idea to trap Ganondorf in that mirror," Damon said.

"Ingenious," Dion added, grinning widely. Leigh felt herself blushing at all the

admiration.

"Oh… it was nothing, really, it wasn't. I hardly did a thing," she protested.

"Speaking of which, where exactly is the sword?" Charles questioned.

"The King put it down in the vault, but when I've got my manna back, I might attempt

to destroy the damn thing," Leigh answered.

"Are you sure that's safe?" Nick questioned. Leigh nodded.

"I wouldn't be doing it otherwise," she smiled, twirling a strand of golden hair.

"Really, I can't understand why old British is being so hard on you," Nick said. Leigh's

face fell a little.

"Well… perhaps in time, I'll be accepted back there," she said slowly.

"If you don't mind me asking, what exactly did you do that was so bad?" Selina

questioned gently. Leigh set her glass down on a nearby table and sighed.

"I didn't think it was bad… well, it was… I sort of revealed a… scandal," she

explained.

"Scandal? What sort of scandal?" Drake pressed. He always enjoyed hearing gossip,

like most other people. Leigh smiled wryly.

"Well, I guess it can't hurt to tell you all," she said.

"Go on, we're dying to know," Charles grinned. Leigh's eyes suddenly sparkled a little.

"I shouldn't tell an old friend's secrets, but here goes. Uh… British… he was having an

affair with his chambermaid," she finished. A look passed around the group.

"He's not married, so what's the problem?" Nick questioned. Leigh shrugged.

"'Tis not virtuous, I guess," she replied.

"Too right. If it'd had been our King, no doubt we'd have reacted the same," Damon

said. Leigh sighed, and slumped down onto a bench.

"It isn't fair. I was only telling the truth," she murmured, looking sad again. Dion sat

down next to her, and squeezed her shoulder

. "Don't worry, we at least, appreciate you," he told her. The avatar managed a weak

smile. "Thanks guys," she replied, suddenly wishing that her own friends were also

there.

"I can't believe how all those guys flock around her," Fayette remarked, sounding

almost jealous. Zelda frowned, looking over to where Leigh was.

"I know. Thank goodness Link isn't over there," she said. Then she sighed. "Well, I

guess she has been pretty helpful, on the other hand," she added reluctantly.

"Well, she is the avatar, you know," Fayette said, rather haughtily. Zelda rolled her

eyes.

"Sure, whatever." Fayette folded her arms.

"It's no use in being jealous," she remarked, a tad snidely.

"I'm not jealous. Why would I be?" Zelda questioned.

"Because, she's perfect," Fayette replied. They stared across the room in silence for a

few moments. Zelda turned back to her step sister.

"So, do you know yet?" she questioned, in reference to Fayette's supposed pregnancy.

"I'm pretty damn sure. If I have a boy, I'm going to name him after Ray," Fayette

replied, a little wistfully. Zelda bit her lip, feeling a little sad for her step sibling.

"That would be a nice idea," she said softly. Fayette nodded. Without warning, Zelda

suddenly leaned over, and gave Fayette a hug. "I'm really sorry," she whispered.

"Don't be. It wasn't your fault. Just terribly bad luck on my part," Fayette replied.

"How's Ewan?" she added.

"A bit shaken up, but otherwise, okay. Well, I hope," Zelda said.

"I was so terrified when Ganondorf turned up. I really tried to help Ewan, but he was

just too strong," Fayette admitted.

"It's okay. Everything's turned out okay, we don't have to even speak of this again. But

thanks for trying, anyhow," Zelda answered. Suddenly, Fenella swept over, a large

smile upon her face. "Finally, you two are actually getting on!" she remarked brightly.

"Oh yes," Zelda said sarkily. She smiled politely, then walked away.

"Really, she can be so rude!" Fenella said, staring after the princess.

"Mother, you shouldn't interrupt," Fayette replied in an annoyed tone. Fenella raised

her eyebrows.

"Not you too!" Fayette smiled languidly.

"Well, I'm off to mingle, mother," she said airily, before walking off into the crowd.

Fenella stared after her daughter for a while, looking a little angry. Then she went to

seek out her husband.

"Come on," Zelda said, whispering to Link impatiently.

"Alright, alright," Link replied. He turned to the remainders of the group; Charles,

Drake, Dion and Aaron. "Well, uh, goodnight, guys," he grinned.

"Lightweight," Drake laughed. Link shrugged.

"Whatever," he said amicably. "Besides, I'm sure I can have lots of fun with Zel, too,"

he laughed. Zelda scowled a little.

"Oh please," she said huffily. She let go of his hand, and flounced off towards the stairs.

"Oops, now you did it amigo," Dion grinned.

"I think you'd be best off keeping playing cards with us," Charles added.

"Nah, she'll be okay," Link replied.

"Well, you might as well stay and finish this game," Drake suggested, smiling widely. He

slammed his cards down on the table. "Alright, Royal Flush!" he grinned, reaching over

to take his winnings.

"Hey, not so fast," Link said, placing his cards down onto the table. "What do you

know, I got five of a kind," he grinned. Drake stopped smiling.

"Damn it!" he growled.

"I'm a generous guy, you lot keep playing with those rupees," Link smiled. He grinned

over at Drake. "Now who's the official poker champion?"

"Stop gloating," Drake groaned.

"He's utterly devastated, poor guy," Aaron laughed. Link nodded.

"We'll have a rematch tomorrow night, mark my words," Drake said darkly.

"Sure, no problem. Now I'm off to make up with Zel, so I'll see ya all tomorrow," Link

answered, making his way towards the stairs.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Drake called after him rudely.

Link sneaked into the bedroom. Zelda was stood, with her back to him, staring into

a full length mirror. He stepped out of his boots, and padded silently over. She whirled

around before he reached her though. "Don't even try it," she warned. "I saw you in the

mirror," she added, smiling a little. She walked over towards the bed, then got in.

"Oh… how nice it is to be home," she sighed, pulling the covers up around her.

"That's true," Link said, getting undressed for bed. "Over a month sleeping it rough…

I'm glad to be back, where it's nice and comfortable." He got in beside her, then pulled

her close to share a long, fervent kiss.

"Oh… I missed you so much," Zelda sighed. She sat up in bed, drawing the covers up

over her knees. "Do you think it's really over for real? That Ganon… Ganondorf, is

totally finished?" Link nodded.

"He'll never bother us again, Zel, ever. From now on, it's just you, me and peace," he

grinned. Zelda smiled prettily.

"I'd say such a concept was long overdue."

"I know something else that's long overdue," Link replied, pulling her towards him for

another kiss. She responded willingly, but as he kissed her, Link, for some reason,

suddenly thought of Kylara. She'd… saved him. From what would have been death. It

had been amazing, a miracle, almost. Suddenly, Zelda pulled away.

"Link, what's the matter?" she asked.

"Oh, uh… nothing," he said quickly, glad that the room was fairly dark. Zelda stared at

him for a moment, looking a little confused. He reached over, and ran a finger along her

chin, and up onto her cheek. "Zel, you know that I love you, don't you?" he said,

watching as she smiled at his touch. Moving closer, she replied,

"of course I do. If you didn't, you wouldn't have married me, right?" He kissed her

again.

"Just telling you, so you don't ever forget," he said quickly.

"I love you too, you know," the princess laughed. She wrapped her arms around him

again. "Don't talk, just kiss me," she whispered. Link was only too happy to oblige.

***

"Ohh, I feel just… terrible," Zelda moaned, as she woke up the next morning. She

sat up, and ran a hand through her long blonde hair.

"Mmm, what?" Link said, a little sleepily.

"I think I had too much to drink," the Princess admitted. She eased herself out of the

warm bed, and sat on the edge.

"Come back to bed. No-one's going to be expecting us, I'm sure," Link replied. He

reached over towards her.

"But…" Zelda began. She stood up, and smoothed down her night dress.

"Oh fine. I'm lying in," Link replied, pulling the covers up over himself again.

"There are so many things to sort out! Damages to account for, deaths of our men, and

of our allies…" Zelda counted upon her fingers.

"You don't have to sort those things out, do you?" Link questioned in surprise.

"Well, who else is going to do them?" Zelda answered, bending to pick up the piles of

clothes they'd both discarded the day previously. She held up the night dress she'd

been wearing from that time. It was dirty, and covered in blood. "No point in keeping

this," she remarked, throwing it over towards the door.

"You can toss my stuff too, not what I had on last night of course, but the rest of it,"

Link said.

"Okay," Zelda replied, sorting through the clothing. As she did, she came upon a small,

leather bound book. She held it up, curious. "Link, is this yours?" she asked.

"What?"

"This," Zelda replied. She flicked it open. Link sat up, and rubbed his eyes. He then

turned to see what Zelda was talking about. She was stood there, looking at a small

book, a surprised expression upon her face. She closed it a few seconds later. "It's

yours," she said, throwing it over to him. He caught it, realising it was the book that

Kylara had given to him.

"Uh, yeah," he said, watching her closely. She silently walked over to her wardrobe,

back turned to him. When she yanked a dress from its hanger, he figured she was a bit

upset. "Uh… Zel…" he started, a little nervously. She turned to face him, then walked

slowly back over to the bed.

"I didn't know that you'd been hiding such keepsakes," she remarked.

"I wasn't… I've never even read it!" Link said truthfully.

"You took that with you, didn't you, you've been thinking of her all this time! How

could you?!" Zelda said angrily. She sat down on the edge of bed, and folded her arms.

"I suppose you never even looked at the poetry I wrote for you, and the letter, the ones

I gave you before you left," she added.

"Well, no. But I was keeping it…" Link admitted.

"I didn't know she was dead!" Zelda snapped.

"Uhh… yeah. She killed herself. I didn't tell you, because I didn't ever want to ever

bring the subject of her up again. And I don't want to now either," Link answered,

sighing.

"Well, that book puts a whole new light on things!" Zelda remarked sulkily.

"Zel, she saved my life! I could have been dead," Link argued back. Zelda appeared to

think about this for a moment.

"I guess you're right," she finally said, in a quiet voice. Link edged over towards her.

"Hey, how about we take a look at what you wrote, instead?" he whispered. Zelda

smiled a little.

"Uh, no. It was lousy anyway… well, compared to what Kylara wrote," she whispered

back.

"I still want to see. Besides, I think you're underestimating yourself," Link insisted.

Zelda dropped the dress she had hold of, and crawled back under the covers.

"No, you look at those alone, please. And you're right. No-one's expecting us down

there, not today." She sighed, and lay back, staring up at the top of the four-poster

bed.

"Perhaps father will sort it all out," she murmured hopefully. Link leaned over her, and

gave her a small kiss.

"Of course he will - he is this country's ruler, after all," he said, kissing her again.

"I guess so," she concluded, wrapping her arms around him, and pulling him closer.

"You know so," Link replied, before meeting her in a more passionate kiss.

"Hey!" called out a high pitched voice.

"What?" Zelda said in surprise, sitting up.

"Didn't you do enough of that last night?!" the voice demanded. Zelda turned to look at

Link in surprise. He grinned sheepishly.

"Oh, you two haven't met, have you?" he said.

A faerie, surrounded by a bright white aura, flew down in front of them. "This is

Navi. She's supposed to be my guardian faerie now," Link said.

"What happened to Sprite?" Zelda asked in surprise.

"Nothing. Uh, it's just what Navi said," Link replied. Zelda turned to look at the faerie.

"It's an unspoken rule that Sprite doesn't intrude on our private moments," she said.

Navi shrugged.

"I must never leave Link alone," she answered.

"But…" Zelda began in protest.

"Uh, where exactly is Sprite?" Link questioned.

"Hopefully she's gone home," Navi said promptly. "I'm your guardian faerie now. She

was just a stand-in." Zelda stared at Navi in surprise.

"She was your stand-in?!" The little faerie laughed to herself.

"Why, of course!"

"Umm, well, uh... I'm kinda fond of Sprite. We've known each other for over ten

years," Link said uneasily.

"Yes, but I was destined to be your guardian faerie!" Navi exclaimed.

"Well, you took your time in coming, then," Zelda remarked, rather rudely.

"What?!" Navi shrieked angrily, glaring at Zelda. The Princess ignored her, and pulled

the blanket up to her chin. "Ooh, sometimes, I just hate you humans!" the faerie cried,

fluttering around irately.

"Hylians," Zelda corrected.

"Humph!" Navi retorted, before fluttering off somewhere.

"Jeez, she's even more annoying than Sprite!" Zelda said to Link.

"I heard that!" Navi screeched from somewhere about.

"I'm sure we'll all learn to get on eventually," Link said, not really too bothered about

the matter. He leaned forward to kiss his wife, but as he did, someone burst in through

the door. Zelda sat up, and turned to glare at whoever had come into their room

without asking. It was a young messenger boy, whose eyes happened to be rather

wide.

"Uh.. your Highnesses," he began.

"What's your name?" Zelda demanded to know.

"Uh... Alistar, Princess," he replied. Without waiting for her to speak again, he

continued. "The King wants you both downstairs at once! A visitor has arrived!"

"Who?" Link questioned.

"Sir Stobbart of Moldera, Your Highness," Alistar replied.

"Thank you for informing us," Zelda said, reluctantly climbing out of bed again, and

retrieving the dress she'd dropped earlier. "Next time, Alistar, be sure to knock," she

added. He nodded, then quickly dashed out again. "Really, some of those young pages

have absolutely no manners," Zelda complained, slipping into the velvet forest green

gown. Link managed to get out of bed.

"We were only kissing, Zel," he replied, walking over to his wardrobe, hoping there

were some suitable clean clothes at hand. Zelda didn't bother replying. Instead, she ran

a hand through her long hair, then flipped it. It fell back down in soft waves. She

grabbed a tiara and matching necklace and put both of them out, then disappeared into

the small adjoining bathroom. Link hastily took out a blue tunic, and went to join her.

Deep within the underground caverns of Hyrule, not far from Death Mountain, the

Nightmares stirred. The Nightmares, as they had creatively named themselves were a

group of evil and malicious spirits that had been trapped in the dark realm for longer

than any of them could remember. They did remember, however, their time before the

dark realm on an isolated island named Koholint. The group had taken over the island,

haunting the lives of its occupants and placing the island under a mysterious shroud so

that none could enter, or leave the island. Unfortunately, one young boy had penetrated

the shroud and landed on the island. No-one knew how, but he had foiled the

Nightmares plans and restored the island to is previous status. That boy was Link, and

they cursed him for it. It certainly was not the same Link who lived now, but he was a

direct descendant of the hero that had trapped them. They wished to wreak their

revenge upon the boy and his family, so that they would never again be foiled. This time

though, they had bigger eggs to fry. This time, the Nightmares were not going to

attempt to take over an insignificant island in the middle of nowhere, no, they were

going to attempt to take over Hyrule. As one Nightmare, named Vassaco, put it, "It's

what Ganondorf would have wanted…"

"Yes my lord? I came here as quickly as possible, is anything wrong?" asked the

petite, copper haired woman. Her lord, or rather King nodded gravely.

"I am afraid Katrina, that all is not well in the land of Sosaria. We must locate the

Avatar at once," he murmured. Katrina looked at him in surprise.

"But my lord, didst thou not exile the Avatar yourself? What of that?" asked the

woman.

"That, as of now, is unimportant. There are greater concerns to be considered. I bid

you to go forth to the land of Hyrule and find Leigh, she is our only hope!" replied the

King.

"But she is a proud woman sire, what if she will not return?" questioned Katrina. "Tell

her that Sosaria's survival is vital. If she doth not return, innocent lives are at stake. Tell

her that this is not just for Sosaria's sake, but the entire world's!" answered the King.

"But sire, what is this threat? All seems well from where I stand," asked Katrina. The

King shook his head.

"You ask too many questions they, in time, will be answered. What is important now is

that you take my ship, The Golden Ankh, to the shores of Hyrule. Find Leigh and

convince her to return," instructed the King.

"Yes Lord British," Katrina replied with a nod. As she turned to leave, the King spoke,

"And tell her…tell her that I apologise." Katrina left. She wondered what this new

threat was, and hoped sincerely that she would reach Leigh and convince her in time,

for if the threat were anything as bad as Exodus or the Guardian, Sosaria was deeply in

trouble.

***

Sir George Stobbart sat happily at the table in the banquet hall. Leftovers from a

party from the night before had been placed upon the long wooden table, along with

fresh food. The King and Fenella were sat nearby, but the rest of the family were yet

due to appear. George had been informed by a mutual friend that two rather beautiful

princesses happened to reside here. He was always on the look-out for new girlfriends,

even though he happened to have several back home in Moldera. He leaned over

towards the King, and gave him a charming smile. "Pray, your Highness, do tell me the

name of your daughters." The King smiled.

"Well, I have but one daughter. However, the other, who is the child of my dearest

Fenella, I think of as being my own daughter also. She is called Fayette. My real

daughter is named Zelda."

"Any sons?" George questioned innocently. He didn't want too sound too keen, after

all. The King shook his head. At that moment, they heard voices. George turned to see

a rather pretty young woman, with long, golden tresses. She had delicate features and a

tall, slim build. Unfortunately, accompanying her was a handsome man, with dark hair.

They had their arms around each other's waists, signifying that they could only be

lovers. Upon seeing George, she made her way over, a charming smile upon her lips.

Gracefully extending a hand to him, she said,

"why, you must be Sir Stobbart of Moldera. Welcome to Hyrule!" George took her

hand and kissed it courteously.

"Thank you, Princess."

"Please, call me Zelda," she replied. He noticed she had deep green eyes, that he

couldn't help but stare into. She seemed to notice, and stepped back a little. "This is my

husband, Link," she introduced. The two men nodded at each other, and shook hands.

"Pleased to meet you," Link said amicably, while drawing Zelda a little closer to him.

"An honour to meet Hyrule's greatest hero," George said quickly, remembering this little

fact.

As the two took their places at the table together, someone else came into the room.

Another woman, who looked roughly the same age as the first. This one was perhaps

somewhat prettier than Zelda, well, perhaps more glamorous, anyway. He wondered if

it was Fayette. She was of average height, with quite a curvaceous figure. Her hair was

a stunning shade of red, long and curled into ringlets. Her features were more rounded,

and she had clear blue eyes. She smiled at George, and he kissed her hand. "Lady

Fayette, pleased to meet you," she introduced.

"Sir George Stobbart, at your service!" he replied. She smiled again, then took her

place at the dinner table. Only a few minutes later, Impa arrived with all the children,

who were chattering amongst themselves loudly. What noisy children, George thought

to himself. He believed that children should be seen, and not heard. He wondered

whose children they were. Must be Link and Zelda's, he thought. They sat at a small

table nearby with their nursemaid.

"Well, looks as though everyone's here. Let's begin lunch," Fenella suggested. Zelda

reached over for a sweet pastry, totally ignoring anything savoury. Fenella glared at her,

but the Princess simply glared back. Then she turned to George and smiled sweetly at

him.

"So, what brings you to Hyrule, good Sir?" she questioned.

"Oh, just travelling around really, learning new skills, and meeting new people," he

smiled.

"Oh, how wonderful!" Fayette gushed. Zelda turned to Link, and rolled her eyes. He

grinned at her. Fayette noticed, and pouted. "I do wish you two wouldn't have your

little jokes, it's really most rude," she whined.

"What are you talking about, Faye? Little jokes? You really must be imagining it,"

Zelda said in a silky tone. Fayette decided to ignore her step sister, and instead turned

back to Sir Stobbart. He really is so handsome, she thought dreamily to herself. A

giggle from Zelda brought her out of her private reverie. Scowling, she turned back to

her lunch.

Link and Zelda decided to take a walk in the grounds after lunch. Although it was a

little rude to go off whilst a guest was there, Zelda had pointed out that Fayette would

keep him busy enough. "Besides Link, there's something I want to talk to you about,"

she'd said. So, they'd come outside, into the bright golden sunshine. Hand in hand, the

Princess led the hero into the hedge maze. "It's got to be someplace private, too," she

murmured.

"What's wrong with our room?" Link questioned.

"I don't want anyone barging in on us. Besides, it's nicer out here," she replied. Link

had to agree. The sun was shining brightly, the birds were singing, the scent of spring

flowers drifted to them upon the gentle breeze. They followed the twists and turns of

the living passageways, until they came to the centre. Zelda sat down upon the grass,

near the small pond. Link sat next to her.

"So..." he began.

"Mmmm?" Zelda asked, a little dreamily.

"You wanted to discuss something?" Link pressed.

"Oh... yeah, I guess," the princess replied. She shifted her position slightly, so that she

was facing him. They laced their fingers together. "I just wanted to say that I was sorry

for the way I acted, during the last few weeks. About Leigh, the war, and everything

else. I should be ashamed of myself," she admitted.

"Hey, it's okay," Link replied. He wasn't one to hold things against anyone, especially

not Zelda. She might be somewhat flighty at times, but despite that, she was always

regretful of any wrong actions.

"Yeah, well..." Flopping down onto the ground, she began to trail her fingers through

the water thoughtfully. "Do you reckon we're finally safe?" she asked. Link shrugged.

"We can't take any chances, I guess. But hopefully, that's the end of Ganon," he

replied.

"Don't count your chickens before they're hatched!" cried a shrill voice.

"Oh great," Zelda sighed, as Navi came into view. She alighted on a nearby bush.

"You didn't have to say that," Link scolded lightly.

"I'm only being realistic," the faerie replied.

"Yeah, well you're spoiling the mood!" the princess interjected.

"Doesn't she always?" came another high voice.

"I never thought I'd be so pleased to see you," Zelda said, seeing Sprite.

"Hiya, Sprite," Link greeted. She flew up to him and kissed him.

"Oh, please. That's so unprofessional," Navi said, staring at the other faerie in distaste.

Sprite merely just grinned, and fluttered down onto Link's shoulder. He swatted her off

good-naturedly, and lay down beside Zelda.

While the two talked quietly to each other, Sprite found herself left with her

arch-rival. She flew over to the bush where Navi was set, watching diligently over Link.

The faerie was smaller than Sprite, and had short, curly black hair and violet eyes. She

was surrounded by a light, glowing aura. Landing lightly upon branch, Sprite's usually

cheerful smile had been replaced by a frown. Hands upon her hips, she stared at Navi

rather hatefully. "Why don't you just go get lost to wherever you came from?" she

asked.

"Because, I'm Link's guardian faerie," Navi answered calmly.

"Look, you can just butt out, Miss Navi, because I've been helping Link for over ten

years!" Sprite retorted. She folded her arms, still glaring.

"Hmmm, you sound as spoilt as that Princess," Navi sighed. Sprite raised her

eyebrows. In the past, she might have agreed that Zelda was spoilt, but now she just

wanted to defend her. She didn't like, however, being compared to who had once been

her rival.

"I'm spoilt?! And don't you go insulting Zelda either! Link won't like that, you know,"

she remarked.

"I'll say as I please. Quite frankly, I'm doing you a favour. You can go and spend more

time with your husband and children," Navi replied, still in a calm tone.

"But..." Sprite began. Navi's unusual violet eyes narrowed.

"You know, it's very unprofessional to be in love with the person you protect," she

remarked snidely. "And so unrealistic, too," she added.

"Oh, shut up," Sprite said, blushing a little.

"I wonder, does your husband know about this?" Navi continued spitefully.

"Witch..." Sprite muttered under her breath. She regarded the other faerie with

narrowed green eyes.

"Link is the kindest Hylian I've ever known. Zelda, too," she said. Then she flew off,

away from Navi, who stood watching her thoughtfully.

Later that evening, the group of friends were all sitting down in the Great Hall. The

men were playing cards, and the girls were looking at some poetry books. Fayette, of

course, had not latched onto them this evening, and had decided to entertain Sir

Stobbart in the Drawing Room, along with the King and Fenella. "So Princess, who's

the knight guy?" Drake suddenly questioned, looking up from his cards. Zelda gave him

a wry smile.

"Oh, some guy from Moldera," she replied.

"Isn't he important?" Damon questioned, also curious at the new arrival. The Princess

shrugged.

"I don't make it a habit to know every inhabitant of Demiari, you know."

"Alright, we were just asking," Drake muttered.

"I saw him. He was extremely handsome," Selina laughed.

"Hey," Nick said warningly. The healer smiled.

"Not as much as you, of course," she added. Nick smiled back good-naturedly.

"Oh, so we've got to be wary of this guy, have we?" Aaron grinned.

"He wasn't that handsome. A bit showy, really," Zelda verified.

"Dashing?" Leigh questioned.

"I guess so," she admitted.

"And Faye's in love with him," Link added, in an amused tone.

"She would be," Drake said.

"Hey, you shouldn't be so hard on her," Charles suddenly spoke up.

"Ohh, has the good King of Lemmink here got a soft spot for the Lady Faye?" Dion

teased. "Only as soft as you, I'm sure," Charles laughed, smiling.

"How anyone could have a soft spot for her is beyond me," Zelda remarked dryly.

Later that night, Katrina settled down to sleep in her cabin aboard Lord British's

ship, 'The Golden Ankh'. The bunk above her creaked, and a blonde haired head

peeped over at her. "Will we be there by the morning?" asked the young lad. Katrina

smiled and nodded.

"We should be Sparks, if the weather is good and the wind blows our way," Katrina

assured him. The face disappeared, and the bunk creaked again as he settled.

"It's lucky she only ended up in Hyrule, otherwise it would've taken ages to find her,"

mused Sparks up above.

"Mmm, but I don't know if it's lucky. There has been Tanolian war ships patrolling the

shores of Hyrule recently, they're caught up in the middle of some war. I hope she's

been able to find sanctuary," said Katrina.

"Where are we going to look first? I mean, Hyrule is as big as Sosaria, she could be

anywhere!" exclaimed Sparks.

"British told me to start at North Castle, apparently the Moongate opened not so far

away from the castle. You know Leigh, she's not daunted by much, let alone some

Hyrulian Royals. She'll have approached that castle with no problem, and it wouldn't

surprise me if she's staying there. I'm sure the Queen is a lady of Sosaria, so she'll be

known," explained Katrina.

"Why is British so keen to have Leigh back?" asked Sparks suddenly. Katrina paused.

She considered on telling the boy of the reason British had given her. A new evil is

approaching the land? It sounded too sinister. She didn't want to worry the young boy,

he'd been through enough in his young life.

"I guess he's decided he was a bit, hasty with his decision," murmured Katrina.

"Too damn right he was. If it weren't for her, there wouldn't be a Sosaria!" said Sparks

angrily.

"We all make mistakes, at least he's swallowed his pride," said Katrina quietly.

"I guess, but that was one pretty big mistake," sighed Sparks. Katrina nodded and

leaned over to blow out the candle.

"We'd better get some decent sleep, we've got a long hike in the morning," said

Katrina, closing her eyes.

"Yeah, I suppose," agreed Sparks reluctantly.

As Katrina began to drift off, a deep voice filled her mind. Deep and threatening, yet

soothing at the same time. "Yes my friend, rest and heal so that you will be strong

for the day ahead. Keep her away from the Isle of Sosaria, and you shall be richly

rewarded. Remember, she is Sosaria's enemy, she must be kept away, eliminated

so that the people of Sosaria will never need to worry again!" Katrina sighed and

rolled over, her head suddenly feeling very light, as all previous thoughts faded away.

She knew what she had to do, for the good of Sosaria. Kill the Avatar!