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The air in the council room was stifling. The representative from Ordona had been droning on about his projections for the pumpkin harvest for close to an hour, and the meeting had long since run over its scheduled conclusion. Zelda desperately wished she had an excuse to interrupt him, but it had been her idea to incorporate the southern settlements into Hyrule, and she had more of a stake in the success of the newly established province than anyone. Having survived the siege of her castle and narrowly averted a terrible war, she knew the true value of peace, and she had dedicated herself body and soul to her kingdom. Still, she sometimes found herself wishing that the day-to-day maintenance of stability weren’t so tedious.
Zelda was so focused on not fidgeting that she almost didn’t notice when the Ordonian representative stopped speaking. She looked up from the pages of notes spread out in front of her to see that the man now stood with his back a bit straighter. His eyes were fixed on the door behind her chair. Zelda glanced around the table and saw that everyone else was looking in the same direction, so she turned to see who had entered the room.
It was Link. Of course it was Link. No one else could have moved so quietly or commanded so much attention with his presence. Although he wore a simple green tunic over a close-fitting coat of chain mail, he was regal in his bearing, and his calm demeanor radiated an inner strength. His emergence from the private stateroom adjoining the council chamber surprised no one, for he was widely respected as the youngest captain in recorded history.
It was Link’s destiny to serve as a knight of Hyrule. He had heard the voice of the sacred Master Sword and was connected to the legendary Hero of Time by blood, but these were secrets he shared with no one except Zelda, who had borne witness to his trials in her dreams. When he finally appeared before her at the top of her tower in Hyrule Castle, she felt as if she had already known him for years.
“My apologies to the esteemed members of the council,” Link said to the waiting assembly, “but there is an urgent matter that requires Her Highness’s attention.” He looked at Zelda expectantly.
She gave a slight nod to the men and women seated around the table and rose from her chair. As she followed Link into the stateroom, a flurry of thoughts raced through her mind. Had monsters been spotted? Was there trouble in the desert? Could Ganon have returned?
Link closed the door behind her, and the somber expression on his face vanished as he broke into a grin. In the long shadows cast by the setting sun, his smile was so bright that it seemed to shine.
“Princess, you’re never going to believe what I found in the castle garden,” he whispered with an air of intimate conspiracy, reaching into a leather pouch hanging from his belt. He withdrew a glass bottle filled with a thick mass of black specks. Zelda assumed they were insects, but she didn’t understand why they merited the interruption of her meeting. To her astonishment, Link removed the cork with a pop and shook the bottle, sending the bugs flying.
Zelda gasped as small points of luminescence flickered into the dimness of the encroaching twilight. “Oh, Link,” she sighed. “You brought me fireflies.”
“I thought it was of utmost importance that you knew they’ve come out,” he grinned. “This matter is crucial to interests of the kingdom, after all.”
Zelda laughed, and the heavy tension of the tiresome afternoon drained away from her heart. As long as Link was at her side, the burden of ruling Hyrule would never become too onerous. She took his hand, and he leaned in to kiss her forehead while gently glowing spots of light floated around them.