“Princess Ruto, I’m glad you can relate the poor people in the world, but I’d love to play a much more sophisticated game.” Zelda sighed, reaching a hand to one of the attendants around her. He placed a box into the princess’ hand, careful not to make it tip onto the floor. “Thank you, I’ll be sure to relay your loyalty to the king.” She smiled cutely, unintentionally making the attendant’s face redden.
The Zoran princess inspected the box curiously. “Is this a joke? This box couldn’t be played as a game, could it?”
“Heh. Ruto, the game is inside the box. It’s called chess. Everyone who’s part of the upper-class society has one.” Zelda turned the numbers on a three-digit number lock until they heard a click.
-*-
Zelda set up the game board on a small table at the edge of the foyer, where the voices of the castle residents wouldn’t bother them. The foyer was epic, almost spanning the size of the market district, so it was never completely full. Tables surrounded by loveseats and rocking chairs were sparsely placed throughout the entire room, and a few of them came with bookshelves.
After the Hyrulian princess instructed Ruto on the ways of chess, the game took a steady pace. Wooden pieces clacked with each turn, and by the end of the game they were locked in a battle between two kings. Zelda, being more experienced in chess, knew how to get Ruto trapped in a corner of the board with a single piece, then call stalemate to end the endless side-stepping accumulated by the kings.
“Endlessly running away. Wouldn’t you think a king would get tired of running and be forced to fight?” Ruto said, referring to the stalemate.
“That’s right… But the two kings were fighting the war on their own. The logical thing to do would be to call it a truce and rebuild their kingdoms together,” Zelda yawned, “But the only time I’ve heard of that happening is when a prince from the defending kingdom proposes to the princess in the opposing kingdom. Quoting my tutor, [i]Both kingdoms unite to form a single kingdom, possessing twice as much power as the originals.[/i]"
“Wow… Zelda, are you going to marry a handsome prince?” Ruto asked.
“A prince? Well—“ Zelda was cut off by someone. A man.
“Hello there, young ladies,” he began in an enamoring note, “Ah- yes, I couldn’t help but noticing you. After all, who could ignore two princesses with [b]angelic features[/b]?”
The young Hyrulian girl had heard flattering words before, but the man’s polite manner and beguiling charm made her blush. Ruto responded similarly but she thought it was odd that man of a different species found her attractive.
The stranger lowered his mouth to Zelda’s ear. “You don’t mind if I cut in on your game of chess, which I am sure is very important, do you?”
Zelda’s face reddened even more because his breath was tickling her ear. “N-n-not at all, sir! P-please sit down…” she managed to say, staring at the floor out of embarrassment.
He settled himself into the other side of Zelda’s loveseat. Something about this guy isn’t right… Ruto thought, carefully observing the man to the limit of her childish knowledge.
“Zelda,” the man spoke deeply, “Would you like to know why I am here?”
“O-of course…” she stuttered.
The man put his arm around Zelda’s tiny, petite body and dragged her closer to him, provoking her to blush twice as much. “You see, I’ve got a little bit of a crush on you…”
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