A Study in Fate and Prophecy - {Zelda Series Fanfiction}

Prologue

in which a boy is bequeathed a crown.

Seven.

Seven was supposedly the number most symbolic of Hyrule's rich and varied history. Seven years the fabled Hero of Time had slept. Seven sages who had sealed away the spirit of Ganon, time and time again.

This occasion, while grand, was not about to define the future of Hyrule - at least, nobody would have expected as such. Here, at least, there were seven simply to keep to tradition. Two men to her left, one to her right, standing in line. Three in a parallel but asymmetrical formation, opposite her. They stood on either side, perfectly aligned with but not quite touching the dark red and gold carpet that lined the length of the Temple of Time, leading up to the base of the Goddess Statue.

They were seven, the High Order of Hyrule, the strongest, smartest, most elite knights of Hyrule's military.

Both gauntlets steadying the hilt and tip resting on the stone floor, Phena had been holding her longsword at perfect, ninety-degree angle to the ground for forty minutes now. Her gaze had been firmly trained on the space in between the two figures opposite her, impersonally avoiding eye contact with her comrades-in-arms. Dressed in ornate plate armour but helmetless like the others, her straight, pale blonde hair was twisted into a braided bun, an appropriate mix of formal and practical.

Were Phena younger and far more impatient, she would have wondered resentfully why the Order would be relegated to the equivalent of living statues. She now knew of it not only as a test of physical endurance - easy, given the physical state one had to achieve to stand among them - but also a symbol of their steadfastness in unerringly serving the royal family.

A traditional hymn of praise to the goddesses, sung in Ancient Hylian, echoed off the stone walls of the temple, signalling the arrival of the procession.

Phena did not look to her right, to the temple's entrance where the prince stood. She could feel him approaching her position, closer towards the Goddess Statue, and the moment he passed them, one by one the Order drew their weapons to their sides and knelt to one knee, heads inclined.

She could see his boots, polished black with a slight heel, the size of them small and bordering feminine. The flow of his cape followed, a deep royal purple on the inside and black on the outside, embroidered with intricate gold.

A murmured blessing in Ancient Hylian, one she joined in with under her breath, and then-

"Sir, is your Majesty willing to take the oath?"

"I am willing." His voice was grave, yet young and boyish in tone - the tremble in his body was evident.

"Will you solemnly promise and swear to justly govern the people of Hyrule: Hylians, Zora, Goron, Rito, Gerudo, and any other race deemed to be under Hyrulean jurisdiction, according to their respective laws and customs?"

"I solemnly promise to do so."

"Will you carry forth the blood of Hylia, as the descendant of her mortal incarnation, and do as Her Grace and the Golden Goddesses bid?"

"I will."

"Will you promise to rule with grace and mercy, to execute justice and law in all your judgements?"

"All this, I promise to do." He took a shaky breath. "The things I have promised here, I will perform and keep, under the watch of Her Grace, Lady Hylia."

"May you burn with the power of Din's flame, flow with the wisdom of Nayru's love, soar with the courage of Farore's wind - and may the goddess forever smile upon you." An extended pause from the minister. "People of Hyrule, I present to you: his Majesty, King Veridan Argos Hyrule!"