Chapter 1 - Fairy Tales

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



TO LOVE ANOTHER



Chapter 1: Fairy Tales



Princess Zelda sat in the library of her father's great and noble castle. The library was enormous, one of the largest rooms in the castle. There she was, in a large room where in every direction there were shelves reaching to the ceiling, filled with books with yellowed pages and of every topic. Yet there was Zelda, doing such a small thing... just merely sitting on a velvet, plush armchair reading a tiny pocket-book. Though she had carried this book with her all the time, she always read it in the library because the other fairy tales were there.



Zelda was only the typical fifteen year-old at that time, but her thoughts were shifted toward the future of her life. How was she going to spend the rest of her life? How would she run her kingdom when she was put in charge? But most of all, her main concern was who she would wed. She had read the fairy tales about princesses of beauty beyond compare being rescued by a noble prince. After defeating an evil villain he would rescue the princess from her captivity and sweep her off her feet and bring her to his horse where he would ride to his kingdom and stand before her. Stand before her in shining armor, staring at her with blue sparkling eyes and holding her delicate hand in his and accepting her first kiss.



Impa, her attendant, would worry about a young girl such as her thinking about young men all the time and was afraid she would go off chasing boys and dishonor her father. Oddly enough, though surrounded with such strong desires, she would hold back her emotions and only daze... She knew her father would most likely marry her off soon, but for some reason she was not excited... for some reason she wasn't ready; that she hasn't found her "prince" yet.



This particular pocket-book she held all the time was a book she kept secret to herself. Zelda was the only one who knew of its plot. The only other person who knew was her deceased mother who had given her the small yellow-paged book. She told herself once she meets someone she sincerely trusted, she would tell only them the story so dear to her.



Zelda's eyes scanned the words once again before closing it and holding it to her chest and looked up at the ceiling above her, seeing paintings of angels drifting and holding out their pale and gentle hands. She smiled, her mind completely clouded in daydreams. Her privacy was interrupted when she heard the doors to the library creek and open slowly. Zelda jumped and scrambled to put the book in the pocket of her dress. Her eyes darted toward the entryway to see a boy her age carrying a whole stack of books that piled so high, they went passed his head. He stumbled and stumbled, letting out stutters as he went side to side. Zelda continued to watch him as the pile collapsed in his hands and fell to the floor books flying in the air and landing on him.



Zelda chuckled as she placed her hand over her mouth, "Very nice entrance, Link! Would you care to do it again?" She said before her chuckles turned into laughs.



The boy, Link, had raised his head from the pile of books and his face as red as a rose with embarrassment while his face tingled with a warm sensation. His blue eyes were wide for a moment, before he saw Zelda there sitting on the armchair. He rose to his feet and brushed on his clothes to straiten them. Link had been at the castle his whole life and became a servant as soon as he was old enough to work. His widow mother was Zelda's mother's faithful servant, and they had become close friends. When Zelda's mother died, Link's parent could not bare the loss and became ill to the point where she passed away as well only weeks after. The only person he had now was his little sister, who had become very ill.



She could tell that he was hurt from this, a deep sadness buried within his somber eyes. He would smile, but it was not the smile she wanted from him, knowing that it wasn't from the bottom of his heart, for the only thing that was at the bottom of his heart, she believed, was his deep sadness knowing that he was to be alone in this world. Zelda longed to cry for him, but could not for she cried for her own sadness of the loss of her mother. Sadness was the only thing that joined them together.



"More books have come in, Princess!" Link suddenly said excitedly as if nothing had happened, "They were recently brought into the public and the king requested copies to be brought here. He knows you love fairy tales."



Zelda's face lit with excitement and she clasped her hands together, "Oh, good!" She squeaked, "I do love fairy tales!"



Every time Link came in with new fairy tales she would reply the same, and they would talk with each other as Link placed them on the tables where Zelda could easily access them. This occasion was no different then the others.



"So, Princess..." Link said while holding a stack of books in his hand and placing them individually on the table before its space was filled, "By now your father would have sent you off married with some prince and by now you would be sent to some other foreign land."



Zelda darted her head toward Link as he gathered more books and placed them on another table, "Are you saying you want me to leave?!"



Link stuttered as his gaze darted toward Zelda herself and dropped the books and turning red, he began to wave his hands around frantically, "Why no, no! You're a friend to me, Princess! Well... I mean that... well, I don't mean to force you to do anything... I-"



Zelda chuckled, "Oh, I was just teasing..." She said before stroking her hand over her pocket where the book lay, "It also seems that father doesn't want to send me off so soon. I know, because the age is usually fourteen... but here I am!"



Link smiled at her, finishing his little task before they were interrupted by the doors opening once again. Both of them jolted their heads toward the door where they saw a rather tall young man wearing rather fine attire and neatly combed brown hair. His skin was solid and lightly tan, not a scratch on it, and while his eyes were an emerald green. He smiled once he saw the princess and bowed before her.



"Good-morning, Princess." He said, "I knew I'd find you in the library."



"Good-morning, Patrick." Zelda said in a polite way.



Link shrunk and lowered his head between his shoulders and grumbled. Patrick was a sixteen year-old son of a lord who had sent him to Hyrule Castle where he would learn some skill to fight with the sword. Link could tell that he had an eye out for Zelda and he was rather protective of her, but not openly... As Patrick came in and closed the doors behind him he approached Zelda as she stood and bowed her head in respect. In return he lifted her hand and kissed it. Afterward, he turned his head to see Link peeking from behind one of the tables.



"Oh, the little twerp is here..." Patrick said in an exaggerating tone.



Link grumbled and straitened his knees before staring strait at Patrick. In return he turned toward him and stared right back at him and the contention between the two began. Zelda had noticed the sudden glare in Link's eyes and went in between the two to disperse the conflict.



"You two..." Zelda said, "Please stop, I'd rather not have bruises and black eyes... well, if you were intending that time, I mean."



Patrick looked at Zelda and flashed his pearly-whites at her, giving his charming smile that made her blush before he headed back out of the library. However, before hand he had crossed Link's path and mumbled to him in a low tone.



"Watch your actions, twerp... Zelda isn't yours."



He resumed walking, cape flowing behind him making him look even more dashing. Zelda still was blushing at his smile as his green eyes twinkled. She was interrupted by Link's voice and she briskly shook her head, attempting to bring back her senses.



"Princess..."



"Link, why don't you trust him? He's rather nice."



"I just don't..." Link said stubbornly, folding his arms.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You are not authorized to comment here. Your must be registered and logged in to comment