Queen of Light, Queen of Dark

Chapter 4: I Told You I'd See You Later

Link and Epona pull off after they get to the gorge. Link just stays there, watching Zenobia carry his family into their new home. As soon as he saw Renaldo unlock the gates and lets the rest of the Ordonians in, Link turns Epona around and rides toward the castle.

                Getting there doesn’t take long, but he had to take out another assassin, which was quickly eaten by Twilit birds. Link thinks this is strange—they do not have mouths. Instead of questioning it, Link rides into castle town. Before going to the castle he visits Telma.

                “Darling!” she shouts as soon as she sees him. She wraps him up in her arms, and he hugs back.

                “Hey, Telma. How have you been?”

                Telma’s face hardens. “How do you think? You haven’t put your heart into these letters. You never visit.” Her features soften into a concerned, motherly gaze, something Link has never known. “What’s on your mind?”

                “It’s not important. I promise I’ll visit more often.”

                Telma smiles, and her eyes wrinkle up just as they always have. “Good. Why don’t you stay for some whiskey?”

                “Sorry, Telma. This is urgent business. I’ve got to talk to the Queen.”

                Telma’s expression changes from a look of disbelief to a look of concern. “Come by soon.”

                “I will,” says Link as he walks out of the bar, mounts his horse, and trots to the castle.

                He is stopped by the guards as he approaches, and they ask him to hand over his weapons. He explains his predicament and that the Queen could be in danger, but they refuse to care. He reluctantly hands them over, excluding a knife hidden in his boot, and proceeds to the garden door. There, the guards treat him like an old friend, and after some Great to see ya’s, Link enters the gardens. There, a guard acts as a valet and ties Epona down by some good grazing ground where the horse happily feeds on high-quality grass.

                “I s’pose you want to speak to the Queen?” asks a particularly fat guard accompanied by a particularly tall guard.

                “Yes, please.”

                They lead Link through the castle, and no matter how many times he visits, he still marvels at the beautiful work. The chandeliers were crafted by an excellent glass-blower. Hylian painters must have adorned the walls with such amazing portraits. The statues still make Link nervous, but he is shocked by their detail.

                Eventually, he is lead to a section outside, and the sun shines on his face. It lightens his spirit, which has dropped too far to be recovered. The tall guard says, “You know your way from here, kid,” and the pair walks away.

                Link climbs the stairs and walks into the grandest room that exists in Hyrule: the throne room. Link has bad memories from this place, fighting a disturbed, possessed Zelda and a wolf-boar battle between good and evil. Midna utilizing the Fused Shadows to defeat Ganondorf, but failing, and she finally leaves him forever.

                The room is cluttered with guards brandishing their spears. Although the majority know Link is a friend, they watch him, wary of his every move. They must have orders to trust no one in these unnerving times. Link approaches the throne Zelda stands before, the guards parting for him, but still cautious, until he is close enough to Queen Zelda to speak.

                “Link,” she says in a commanding tone. “Where are you from?”

                Link does not understand why she asks him this, but he replies anyway. “The village of Ordon, to the south.”

                “Who was your companion on your adventures just over five years ago?”

                Link shudders and looks down. “Midna, Princess of the Twilight Realm.”

                “Queen, actually.” It takes Link a moment to place the voice, but he knows it’s not Zelda’s.

                Now, Zelda clears her throat. She speaks. “Guards, I must speak to Link privately. Guard the door to this room. Do not let anyone in.”

                Zelda turns and walks behind her massive throne, and Link follows her. Without speaking, she leads him onto a roof. He’s walked this some times before, both times with Midna, but he still felt like he was losing his balance. Zelda was capable of walking without trouble. They squeeze through a crawlspace, and they jump down. Zelda lands on her feet, but Link falls awkwardly on his rear end—he hadn’t kept up with the heavy work he once did. He follows her up the staircase and enters the room where he first met Zelda.

                He looks around and sees the room is exactly the same. He nearly falls to his knees in nostalgia. The fireplace is still roaring, the window is still there, the drapes—even the rusty table in the corner.

                “Link,” says Zelda.

                “Queen,” Link replies, bowing.

                She holds his chin in her delicate hand. “You can just call me Zelda.” After a moment, she clears her throat and paces across the window. She says, “Take a look at my shadow,” and opens the drapes covering the window. The sudden sunlight almost stung Link’s eyes, but he looked at the Queen’s shadow regardless.

                Nothing is strange about it. It looks exactly like Zelda, except the crown is different…

                “You’re right,” said the voice from before. It has a thick accent, which makes it clear the voice doesn’t belong to a Hyrulian.

                Then, out of nowhere, the shadow begins to materialize, become thicker and more tangible. Zelda pulls the drapes shut, almost ripping them off the wooden post.

                “Be more careful!” she whispers. “No one can know.”

                The shadow stands up on two long, marked legs and looks at Link with a smirk on its face.

                “I told you I’d see you later,” whispers Queen Midna, smirking.