The Queen's Hand

Part 1: The Truth

It was past midday by the time Link finished his rounds. He'd not done security rounds himself in years, typically assigning it to the shift captains, but that particular afternoon Link had been more than happy to relieve them. Rounds were dull and tedious, but at least they got him out of the barracks and away from the chatter.

He walked slowly through the castle, keeping to the outside staircases and balcony crossings, avoiding the inside halls as much as he could while he tried to decide what to do next. The barracks would likely still be buzzing, but the castle itself wasn't any better. Word had spread quickly about the arrival of the royal messenger from Folstrom, and even though it had only been a few hours since he arrived, already the gossip mill was humming. There had been rumors a few weeks before about the possibility of King Tarek offering marriage to the Queen, but at the time they had not amounted to much more than a passing spark of hear-say. But the messenger's arrival had fanned that spark into a roaring fire, and suddenly it seemed to be the only thing anyone could talk about.

"A royal wedding, how exciting!"

"How soon to you think it will be?"

"Will the Queen stay in Hyrule do you think, or will she move to Folstrom with the King?"

"Where will the wedding be held? Oh, I hope it's here!"

Link wasn't normally bothered by gossip, as it was usually easy to either ignore or avoid. On this occasion however, even the knights and soldiers in the barracks were joining in on the marriage speculation. Typically they tended to exclude themselves from typical castle chatter, but were proving themselves to be – to Link's frustration – just as skilled at wielding idle gossip as they were at wielding their swords... if not slightly better.

"Folstrom's army is enormous, do you think we'll combine forces?"

"Will any of us be transferred?"

"Perhaps, but our ranks won't change, will they?"

"If the Queen leaves for Folstrom, surely Link will be made Steward of Hyrule, don't you think?"

"Folstrom has plenty of royal guards, she'll have no need of him there..."

Shaking off the sudden chill that ran through his veins, Link stepped out onto a small balcony on the north side of the castle, relaxing slightly when he found it was empty. He leaned against the railing with a sigh, bracing his hands against the cold stone.

All day he'd told himself that his frustration with the gossip was justified. After all, it was juvenile, and while it may have been acceptable from the servants and other castle staff, it had no place in the barracks of training soldiers. Their work was dangerous and required concentration and complete focus so as not to injure themselves of those around them. Gossip was distracting and should remain off of the training yard and out of the barracks.

Yes, that should have been the reason for his frustration... but deep down, he knew it was not. Much as he wished he could deny it, the tension in his shoulders was not from chattering in the sparring yard, nor was his irritability the fault of guards whispering behind their helmets. Link was frustrated because the questions they were all asking were same questions he was asking himself. And even though he knew the Queen better than any of them, and had more information on the subject than they could have realized, he still had no answers.

The soldiers, the castle staff, the townspeople... they didn't know what Link knew. The only thing they knew for certain was that a messenger had arrived from Folstrom. That was all. Any other assumptions as to the messenger's purpose were just that – assumptions.