Chapter 1
The sun was shining bright over Hyrule Castle. It was a nice, warm day in those late days of the fourth month of the year, the second month of Farore. The Magnolia trees in the Castle Garden were at their height of blooming, complimenting the festive scene of banners and flags. A red carpet led from the elegantly decorated chair in which the Queen was seated, towards an old tree stump which once had been a mighty oaktree. Now it looked like straight out of a picture book, surrounded by spring flowers and mushrooms, moss glittering in the morning sun, the dew dripping from a blade of grass.
To the Queen´s left stood her personal guard, a young Sheikah woman. She let her maple red eyes circle over the yard, the rooftops, the side entrances and the attending people in a calm way, yet her instincts were sharpened. Members of the Royal Guard stood straight, their uniforms in best shape, they too had everything under their watchful eyes.
To the sides there stood members of the Royal Council and high members of the Royal Court, all mumbling and wondering about what was about to happen soon.
At Zelda´s right stood her personal advisor, dressed in blue and white robes, that made his sky blue eyes shine even brighter in the sunlight. The blond man was nervously clenching his hands together. He had eagerly waited for this moment! This day had been in the planning for a year now and today would be the day, where a long lost connection would come to a new awakening. So many opportunitys would open themselfs to them, so many questions answered, mysteries about to be solved! It was so exciting! Especially for someone like him,who found greate adventure in gathering knowledge.
Absentmindedly, his fingers rubbed over the bandages on his left hand, which was noticed by Zelda with a gentle smile. But as the other gasped out "They´re here!", she turned her head back up front and smiled even wider as she saw what barely anyone beside her and Link could see. She gave a small, greeting nod. This had Impa twitch her head between Zelda and the tree stump and as their Queen stood up from her seat, she and all the guards stood straight.
People turned their attention to her and immediately their murmurs silenced, all of them listening to her instead.
„I welcome everyone to this truly remarkable day! The time is here were we welcome back our friends, who we have lost sight of, far too many years ago. Their whole existance had almost been completely reduced to legends and tales. Storys we tell our children, who - ironicly enough, are one of very few people able to still see them in their true form. But a year ago, there was brought word to us, that they have found a way back to this side. A way to come visit us again, able to be seen by everyone, as they had done before many of times, before the magic was lost due to tragic circumstances.", Zelda spoke and looked around with a beaming look on her face. She too had been excited by the letter that had been found one morning in this very garden, awaiting this day just as much as Link. The two of them had worked very hard for this day to be worthy of going down into the history books.
Of course there had been skepticism, there still was - the Queen and her young advisor spoke of tiny people living in mushrooms and tree holes, under stones, but also here and there in corners around in- and outside of houses! Tiny People, who apparently only those with pure hearts could see. Of course there were people looking at them funny. Some of them not fond of the idea that they could be listened to at any moment, being watched at anything they did. But today was the day where all their doubt would fade away and every uncomfortable feeling nullified.
As she spoke, the old wood started glowing, like it was surrounded by golden fairy dust, people gasped as they looked at it, some taking a cautious step back.
„Now it is to my utmost pleasure, after months of preperations, to welcome two of their most trusted members as representatives of their people." A light, almost blinding shone from a large crack in the middle, from deep within the wood. And from that light two figures emerged, their cloaks and hair were flowing from the magic around them. People awed and stared with wide eyes, a murmur went trough the ranks.
The glow mirrored in Link´s eyes, as he felt a tremble go through his body as those two people seemed to grow out of the roots, the golden glow slowly fading. Zelda took a step forward, smiling still, her hands folded gracefully in front of her stomach.
There now stood an old man, dressed in a long green garb, his hair and beard both almost reaching the floor. Link had met him a few times before during the preperations. He held himself on a long, wooden staff that looked like a birds head at the top. It kind of resembled the tall rock of Rito Village, Link had noted already the first time he had seen it and it had peaked his interest ever since. How peculiar... and so interesting!
The other man, seemingly way younger, he had never seen. Dressed in purple and orange, long, lavender hair, fair skin and eyes as red as a droplet of blood against the sun. Until now they had only spoken with the elder ones and their real form looked far different from their Hylian form but this man looked even more different than that!
And he was...
Link couldn´t help but stare at him, as he bowed down in greeting towards Queen Zelda. "Welcome, Master Ezlo, Grand Wizard of the Picori, accompanied by his student, Vaati, Lord of Winds who will become the official ambassador of his tribe." Zelda greeted and introduced them at the same time.
Master Ezlo, took Zelda´s outstreched hand in his, bowing his head once again, placing his weight on his bird headed, wooden staff. "Queen Zelda! It is a pleasure to be here! The Picori are thankful for this opportunity and we hope to further be of help to the people of Hyrule, as we always have been in the past!"
Zelda regaly nodded her head. "The pleasure and honor is ours, Grand Wizard."
Meanwhile, Vaati stood behind him, looking around with a polite smile. It perfectly hid how annoyed he was right now. So this was what this world looked like from ´their´ perspective? No wonder they overlooked half the things, even if right in front of them. And the people he looked at seemed... ordinary. Not worth his time, not useful to why he was here. Why he had been so enthusiastic about this role. And he would play his part as long as it was necessarry.
Luckily the Queen looked rather pretty, dashing even.
He bowed to her, now as she was greeting him personally. He placed a butterfly kiss on her hand. "I too, thank you for your heartful welcome. It truly is a pleasure to stand in front of such a remarkable leader such as you.", he said with a charming little smirk. his red eyes catched her green ones and she had to chuckle.
But as he stood back up, another presence pushed itself to his attention. It belonged to the young man, smaller than him, blond hair and blue eyes sparkling in the sun. He had a soft blush on his cheeks and his expression was... like from a puppy waiting for someone to throw a toy. A joyous little smile and ears perked up.
Vaati barely kept from raising an eyebrow. ´What´s up with that guy? He looks like he´s about to vibrate away from excitement any moment...´
Said guy twitched into motion again as Zelda introduced him to be the Royal Advisor, bowing slightly. ´What? This... child? Is this a joke? He looks like a total pushover!´ Nonetheless, he nodded his head, the friendly smile still plastered on his face.
They were introduced to a few more poeple and the long haired managed to keep himself calm, even if he was less and less interested in all those Lords and Ladys. After it was all done for now, he even got praised by his master afterwards, a pat on the back and some reasuring words before they parted, each into seperate rooms that were assigned to them. Not that praise from the old man meant much to him. Those times were long behind him.
As he stood there alone he sighed and pulled his purple cap from his head. He held it so he could look at the red stone in the front, gently rubbing over it with his tumb. „Once I gain access to it´s full potential all this farce will have an end... And everything will be as it should be.“, he mumbled to himself, as if to chant himself up for the upcomming time. He would stay at the castle for some time, officially to learn and interact with the people and intermediate between their people. But in truth, Vaati had far higher abitions. And this evening would be the first step to comming closer to his goal. All he needed to do was to get close to the Queen, get all the information he could and then it would all be but a nice little game until he had found what he searched for. What he needed to get all these worms into the dust, where they belonged!
Until that, why not have a little fun? He looked around the room with a smile on his lips and a hand tossing back his hair, making his way to the bathroom. There he stood in front of the big mirror, smirking to himself.
...
The large ballroom was full of music, soft lights that painted everything in a warm gold. People were chattering all over the place, Ezlo had soon found himself deep in discussions and talks about everything and nothing with some of the scholars from the Royal Court. Luckily Vaati, was able to get away after a while and instead managed to start a nice conversation with Queen Zelda, enwrapping her in questions both generally or specific. He even sneaked in a few personal ones, nothing too deep for the start. She loved the violin, and boar-meat in any form was her favorite food. Her favourite colour was purple. The wind mage mustered his most endearing laugh and made sure to make it prominent that this was such a nice coincident, since it- obviously, was his favourite colour as well.
A coincident indeed, but surely not an unwelcomed one. Some truth was always a good foundation for a greater sceme.
For this evening, he wore his long hair in a high ponytail, his fringe a little more out of his face and without his cap. People should recognise his face, once he´d become their master, he found. It wasn´t out of his attention though, the blushing faces and the many shy looks a lot of the womenfolk threw at him, when they saw him. What an interesting and to be honest, refreshing change of circumstances, compared to how the Picori often looked at him. Maybe it was due to the many Sheikah around, that his appearance didn´t come of as strange around this people. Ah, it truely seemed like this would be a walz in the park, once everything was set aline. And then, surely even his people would see it´s worth.
He adjusted his cloak which he now wore straigt, the golden clasp sitting proudly in the middle of his collarbone. He wore a dark purple tunic made from fine fabric with golden embroidery here and there. Instead of his casual pants and sandals he had magiced himself into elegant darkblue, almost black trousers and dark boots, silvery pieces of armour on his shins. He fit right in with all the high reigns around him.
„Oh, they are here!“, Zelda said at some point, looking at people behind him. He turned into the direction she pointed, to see some members of the other races arriving to the festivities. „Lord Vaati, please let me introduce you to some of the finest people in all of Hyrule!“, Zelda then said with a bright smile and signed him to follow her towards a group of people, all wearing the same sort of fabric over their elegant attire. It was blue with white embroidered insignia on them.
A Goron, tall and strong looking who´s face lit up as he saw another Goron wave towards him, pointing at the Rockroast at the buffet. A Gerudo, with a stern face, but motherly smiling as she noted Zelda aproaching. A young Zora woman, talking to another, way taller man who looked a lot like her, but before he could get a better look, the man left to mingle in with other people. And a Rito, dark feathers that only made his emerald eyes even more piercing as he looked rather upset around the place. As if he was to good to be here. Oh, it must be fun, seeing that one on his knees, cowering in despair.
Vaati had to take a deep breath, so he wouldn´t start grinning like a maniac as he bowed in greeting to those people. „Lord Daruk, Leader of the Gorons and Pilot of Divine Beast Vah Rudania.“ Zelda introduced, and the big guy gave him a clap on his back, that almost pressed all the air out of his body. He refrained from coughing to loudly and insted plastered a wide smile on his lips, internaly cursing this man. „Lady Urbosa, Chief of the Gerudo and a personal friend to my familiy for a long time!“, the Queen went on with glee in her eyes. „She pilotes Divine Beast Vah Naboris, keeping the desert frontier save!“
So all of these were Pilots to those Divine Beasts, he had heared about a lot. They had interested him for a long time, so maybe a chat with those people wouldn´t be on the boring side. He bowed his head at Urbosa, feeling respect meant a lot to her and she smiled friendly and bowed her head as well. „And of course Lady Mipha, Princess of Zora´s Domain. She skillfully piloting Divine Beast Vah Ruto as if she never did anything else before!“
Mipha gave a shy chuckle and gave a small curtsy, smiling gently at him. He bowed respectfully with a hand on his chest. The last one was „Revali, Bowmaster of the Rito. Pilot of Divine Beast Vah Medoh and one – if not the best, archer in all of Hyrule!“ Hearing this, the Rito stuck up his beak a little prider, smirking towards him as the mage politely took a little bow with his head once more. All leaders and high figures of their respective race, it seemed. They would soon realise, that there was one more to the table as of today.
„I am pleased to meet such a distinguished lot of people. I hope relations between our people will be fruitful.“, he said with a buttery smooth voice and a soft smile. It seemed to have mostly the effect he had hoped for. But before he could dive in some conversation, Zelda asked Urbosa to her side. „If you have the time right now? I would like to discuss some things regarding the upcomming days.“ - „Of course! Please execuse me everyone. Enjoy your time!“, she said with a smile and especially gave a pat on the shoulder to Rivali, who only let out a ´Pha!´ and looked away.
„I just wanna make sure everything is best as possible!“, Zelda said as she and Urbosa headed to a more secluded area to talk. „Oh, Little Bird, everything will be just fine, believe me! He never was piky about anything in particular and don´t forget, he is also a soldier who trained just as the rest of us. Once you slept on nothing but a thin carpet over the sand, rolled up in your blanket like a caterpiller in a cocoon, you start to enjoy the heavens out of a cussion on a stool.“, the older woman said with a little chuckle. „Maybe, but still! We were never this close to a real unification that went above a simple alliance. I don´t wanna make any mistakes, this brings us all into the future!“, the Queen stated, making a fist with her right hand. Urbosa snorted and gave off a barking laughter, starteling the blonde woman a bit.
„Yes of course, because that is the reason. You probably ordered your staff to polish even the underside of the wardrobe from the room where he is going to stay in.“, the Gerudo said, giving her young friend a cheeky look. It was simply too cute watching all this. Especially as her cheeks grew bright red. „That is not-“ - „Oh come on. You impressed him quite enough already. If I weren´t sworn to confidence I could tell you how often exactly he had his seamstress come in to perfectionate his wardrobe.“, she placed a hand on her shoulder. „Everything will be fine, trust me. Just smile at him and it makes him happy.“
Zelda sighed, still a little flustered. „You think so?“, she asked and earned a nod from the Chief. But then she straigtened up, looking around the large room for a moment until she found who she was looking for. „Speaking of happy... how´s the wolf cub doing?“, she asked in a low tone and Zelda followed her gaze. The man in question stood on the other side of the ballroom, a glass of white wine in his hand but it looked more like the glass was what anchored him to this room in the first place. He currently talked to Elder Sahasrala, member of the Elder Council.
Or more like the old man talked to him with Link just smiling politely, nodding every once in a while. The blonde sighed. „I bet he´s wishing to go back to his room. He hates events like this, even though he is fire and flame for everything that´s going on right now.“ - „He is much too quiet for his own good.“
Zelda smiled a little lopsided, pitiying her friend. „Yes. But also, he has his reasons. And he has yet to overcome them.“ She looked back at Urbosa. „I hope having Lord Ganondorf here will make him feel a little more... part of something.“ The other gave a little smile. „We can only hope. Otherwise it could end in desaster, whenever fate desides to go against us.“
Meanwhile, Vaati had managed a conversation with the so called Champions, that was entertaining enough.
Princess Mipha had a little blush on her face, her fingers loosly intertwining in front of her chest. „It is quite embarassing to admit, but I never saw a Picori before. Please don´t misunderstand it if I say, you look quite different from what I´d imagined.“ - „Me neither!“, Daruk tuned in, looking at him rather interested. Vaati tried to ignore it. Instead he kept his polite smile and his calm voice. „No worries, that does say nothing about your personalities. Due to our nature and small physic, extreme temperatures are not our forte. Also, dispite us being able to, we aren´t the best swimmers, so we avoid living close to large bodys of water like rivers and lakes.“ He gave a glance towards Rivali.
„We also tend to stay away from the cold.“, he added and the way the Rito threw his head away with yet another dismissive sound, he couldn't help but grin internally. ´Look at all those critters, thinking themselfs as sinners with tainted hearts. Do not worry little bugs... you will soon see everything that is necessarry!´, he thought, his eyes tightening ever so slightly, like a pleased cat.
Daruks´s voice got him back to the here and now. The big man scratched his head. „So, there aren´t any Picori in Eldin, Hebra or even near Zora´s Domain?“, he asked. „I always thought you guys live everywhere all over the place.“ This left a bad aftertaste in Vaati´s mouth. A lot of the ´tall folk´ seemed to think of them as something akin to rats. He kept his composure. „Oh there are, just not close to danger and not in high numbers. Most of our population resides in Central Hyrule and near mild-temperatured settlements.“ - „Ah, I see... Well you are welcome to visit Zora´s Domain whenever you want, Lord Vaati!“, Mipha offered with a happy smile and Daruk nodded eagerly, as if to say ´same here!´
Then Mipha raised her pointer finger to her hace. „Oh, you should meet my little brother Sidon, he is always eager to meet new people and learn. He- Ah, over there he is-“ Vaati turned to see the same, tall, red Zora from before and frowned a bit. This guy was her little brother? Well on the other hand he had heard that male Zoras hit their growth spurt a lot sooner than the females. Then he noticed the Princess had gone quiet as she saw who her brother was talking too. „Link...“, she mumbled but the others had heared her anyway. „What? The little one? There he is, I was wondering about him!“, Daruk cheered in a little. Revali klicked his beak. „What for? It´s not like you´re gonna talk to him a lot or anything. Honestly it´s fascinating how your brother can keep up a conversation with him for that long. Guess he is just a real talent as a diplomat.“
It was rather surprising to hear so many words coming from the feathered man all of a sudden. Not only that but they seemed to hit some spot for the other two, their faces drooping quite a bit, taking the mood with them. Vaati raised an eyebrow. Interesting?
„Don´t say that, Revali... Link is realy nice and courteous. There are a lot of things you don´t know about him!“, Mipha tried to step in but the other only made a disdainful sound. „Because you know so much more about him! As if there was anything to know in the first place! With all due respect – Princess, you only say that because you still have a crush on him even after he turned you down!“
Vaati could see her eyes widen and her cheeks turning a deep red. „T-That is not-“ - „Hey everyone, calm down, okay?“, Daruk leaned down to them, his hands hovering at their backs. „This is not the place or time to have a fight. Revali I don´t think you have the right to say stuff like this. Link realy is a good guy, just because he is a little more quiet, doesn´t mean he-“ - „Quiet? He is plain boring, is what he is! Just say it as it is! All he ever does in meetups is stay glued to Queen Zelda, writing stuff like a total weirdo and talk about stuff he ´once read about in a book´. Realy all he knows comes from old paper, the guy has no experience in the real world. Just let´s himself be pampered in the castle all day. I bet he shrivels up if he has to camp outside for even one night“ - „Revali!“, Daruk tried again, a little more stern this time. „He just got to be the Royal Advisor, because for some reason he is Zelda´s best friend! However that came to be!“ - „What is your problem with him?“, Mipha asked in an upset tone and Daruk could only shake his head at him. „Tze! Guys like that get under my plumage! And if you´ll execuse me now, I´ll get myself away from all this now!“, he stated and with his head held high and a straight back he turned and made way towards the buffet. „Re- … Please execuse this, Lord Vaati!“, the Princess bowed to him, quite embarressed and flustered from all this, before she made her way after the Bowmaster.
Daruk scratched his head, feeling uncomfortable. „Well... Sorry you had to wittness this. Revali always has strong opinions about everything and he always makes sure people know about them. He´s not a bad guy though. Always there if one needs him and very eager to teach the children how to stand up for themselves. I think that is why he... collides a bit with Link, who tries to be as diplomatic and peaceful as possible.“, the tall said, a little smile on his lips. „Probably a bit too much for his own good... but... that is neither here nor there so.. uhm... I better get going too. Please enjoy your time here!“, he said and went to finally join his fellow Gorons at the Rockroast buffet.
Vaati looked after them, unfaced by what just happened. If anything it was entertaining to wittness as they marked themselves as potential playdolls. But more importantly – He turned around and saw how the Zora prince just left the blond with a little wave and a wide smile. ´Best friend of the Queen, huh? Aren´t those some useful news?´ His expression became that of a hunting animal fixating on his pray as he walked over to the man who looked after the Zora. Vaati noted how his smile shrunk and his eyes got a sad touch to them.
Oh? He raised his eyebrows for a moment, then he changed back into his polite mask. „Are you all right?“, he asked as he stood next to him, seeing the other flinch a bit before swiftly turning to him. „Lord Vaati! Ah- yes I am fine. A little tired, that is all.“, he answered and immediatly the mage could see the nervousness rising in the shorter man. „Oh? It almost looked like you´re sad that the Prince left you.“
It was almost funny how those blue eyes widened, nearly paniced and the deep red hue his cheeks got. „No! No, no we just... it´s nice talking to him.“, he quickly said but his voice got quieter towards the end. ´Dear Golden Three, realy? Don´t tell me he turned the Princess down because he´s secretly in love with her brother? What a joke!´ Now he barely could keep from laughing. Who would have thought that beeing here would prove so amusing afterall? He looked elsewere and instead inspected said Prince, who now talked to his sister again. To be fair he was rather handsome and charismatic. And from what he could see, he had quite the fanclub. A servant with a tray full of wineglasses appeared next to them and Vaati took a glass, looking over to the young man. „One for you as well, Master Link?“ - „Ah, no mine´s still rather full. Thank you.“ Link made a waving gesture and gave a little smile. The other looked at his glass, seeing how it was dripping with condensation. He had this glass for a while. The magician shrugged and the servant left them again. „So. I heared you and the Queen are good friends? May I ask how the two of you met?“
Link blinked at him, a bit baffled by the sudden change of topic. „Oh uhm... we met shortly after I arrived here. We were both still children and played together whenever there was time. We had some classes together and well.. over time we became friends.“ Vaati saw how Link rubbed his fingers against his bandages at his left hand, which he tried to hide a bit in his long sleeves. This nervous behavior was enough to tell him, that there was probably more behind it all but it was to no interest to him. And while he was starting to wonder about those bandages, he tried to stay as focused as possible. Instead he smiled cheerfully.
„Ah, childhood friends, how nice! It must be greate to be friends with Queen Zelda. She is known to be a strong but fair leader. She has a lot of fans among the Picori as well. It would be fantastic to know more about her, since her engangement was key to let our people open up to the idea of showing themselfes again. And about time I say! We owe her a lot.“
Link slightly tilted his head, it made his bangs fall into his face a little more fluffy and render his smile even more gentle. „Well, since you will stay here for a while as the Picori ambassador, that would actually be a good idea. Zelda- I mean her majesty likes tea a lot. She´d surely say yes to some afternoon tea.“ - „Tea, hm? A nice idea but... We barely talked until now, I´m still a stranger to her and I won´t want to come off as intrusive. Would you mind being the one asking in my name?“
A smooth voice and his moste charming smile sure did wonders as he saw another little blush appear on the blonde´s face. „Uhm, sure. She has a lot to do over the next few days so... I can´t promise anything on her behalf.“, Link said, tucking his hair back but quickly putting his hand back down again. Alright, now it got realy on his mind. He shook his head softly. „Of course, but you asking in the first place would be very nice of you.“, he said, then nodded to his hand. „Have you hurt yourself?“, he finally asked, feiging concern but Link´s answer wasn´t satisfying at all. „Ah, no it´s... it´s an old wound that hurts sometimes... And it´s not quite pretty so I cover it up.“, he said with a lopsided smile but the way his posture slouched a little, meant that wasn´t all there was to it.
But Vaati couldn´t think much about that as suddenly the younger perched up again. „Did you know, that the first tea was probably made about 5000 years ago by a group of people, assosiated with today´s Sheikah tribe as a means to nurture and heal? There are currently over 3000 different kinds of tea with different bases and flavour combinations!“
Bewildered by this sudden burst of words comming from the other, the red eyed stared at him for a moment. „Aha? How... peculiar...“, he stated and took a sip of wine, trying to cover his irritation. ´If this is how he talks to new people, at events like this, I see where the others are coming from.´
„The Zora have refined a lot of medicinical teas since then, for the water coming from their springs holds a lot of healing properties and many medical herbs and plants grow especially strong around Zora´s Domain. Also-“
´Mother Hylia, make it stop! This is not what I had planned...´ He eyed up some other court members he needed to leave a good first impression on. And the night would be long enough, regardless of all this talk about tea or not...
And just as the long haired thought this, three rather pretty, young women showed up, each of them in lushious dresses, eager for Link´s attention. „Master Link! Please would you dance with us?!“ - „Yes please! Just one dance!“
Said man was a bit taken aback by this sudden onstorm, but then he gave them a genuine smile that made the girls slightly squeal. „I´m very sorry but I am... currently talking to our guest of honor.“, he said and Vaati felt himself seize up a little. The three girls simultaniously swiped their heads towards him, their curls and ribbons bobbing from the motion. It was as if they had just seen him now, by how quickly they bowed and execused themselves. As they walked away he could hear them whisper about how good he was looking. To that he could only smirk and think, that at least those people had good taste. It was nice to have his ego strocked the right way for once. Yet as he heared a sigh from the side, he was reminded that now he needed an exit plan.
„I wouldn´t mind if you´d rather dance with those dashing young ladies. Surely they´re sad now. I have plenty more people to talk to this evening.“ Maybe an obvious hint would get him away.
But the other only smiled lopsided again, looking after them. „They would be more sad if I actually did dance with them. I can´t dance.“, he said and Vaati couldn´t hide making a bit of a face. ´Isn´t it mandatory to those castle folks to learn how to dance? I had to learn how to dance!´ He tried to not remember how those lessions with Ezlo went. He had enough of feeling that damned stick stricking his head once and for all. In fact, one of the first things he would do once his plans came to fruition, was to take that bloody, bird headed staff and bludgeon down that old geezer!
But before he could coment on it, a laugh cut him off, one that sounded mean and dirty despite the clear voice and the clean looking man it came from. He had shoulder long, slightly curly brown hair and from the way he was dressed it seemed like he was a member of the Royal Knights, with the ornamental pieces of armour on his shins and shoulders, along with the elegant decorative sword on his side. „Isn´t it less about your lack of dancing skill and more about the nature of your desired partner?“, the man stated, as he came close to them. A little too close it seemed as Vaati could see Link seizing up quite a bit, his posture straight but deffensive none the less. The smile he tried to muster was as forced as the eyecontact he made with the man. „Sir Rahem. How nice to see you here. Is your lovely wife also atending? I can imagine it to be rather exhausting, attending an event like this in her state. Which month is it by now?“
Vaati blinked as he was rather impressed with the tone, in which Link talked to this man. It looked like friendly banter yet... there was something else hidden deep behind those words, things only the receiver knew about. And it seemed to hit as the man narrowed his eyes, taking a welcomed step back. He started smiling again, but it was just as obligatory. „The 5th. And she just stepped out to get some fresh air. I was just about to join her, but I saw you and simply had to say hello. Normally you´d be fleeing back to your room this time around.“
Link pressed his lips together.
Vaati felt the tension in the air and he absolutely did not like it, when the guy turned towards him, a slimy smile on his face. „And of course to our guest of honor! Please, Lord Vaati, if you ever need anything don´t hesitate to ask for us knights. Be it to escort you or simply if you have a question. Every member of the staff is advised to absolute cooperation.“, he said and gave a little bow. ´Oh you will cooperate, don´t worry.´ Vaati thought, yet all he could muster was a slight smile and a nod. „If you´ll execuse me now... My wife is waiting.“ Sir Rahem then made way, yet as he was right next to Vaati he leaned a bit in to talk in a low tone, although surely he was aware Link could also still hear him. „Forgive my bluntness, my Lord, but a word of honesty... Find yourself a better company before things... rub off.“ And before Vaati could ask what that meant he was off, tending to a lovely looking woman who´s dress could only do so much in hiding the bump on her belly.
What in Hylias name had that been about? He turned back towards Link, wondering if the guy was realy just that unpopular.
Meanwhile for Link, everything had just become unbearably loud. The music was vibrating uncomfortably through his body, the chattering of people and all the other noises they made, ringing in his ears. Suddenly it was like he was aware of every single living thing in this room to a point where it became simply too much.
He downed his wine, which had become warm and sour at this point, the bad taste mirroring in his face, before he turned away from Vaati, barely turning his head over his shoulder as he spoke. „I am sorry, for wasting your time... please enjoy the rest of your evening.“, he said and almost stormed off, leaving his glass on the tray of a passing by servant.
Vaati looked after him pretty befuddled.
The affairs of these tall people were oh so exciting. At least he wouldn´t be bored, during his time here.
