Nintendo owns the Legend of Zelda and not me. This story is something of a two parter I suspect. And this is the final part. I hope the ending is satisfactory. As always please review, all comments and criticisms are welcome.

A Princess at Heart.

Chapter 2:

I must apologize for my hasty retreat. How long has it been? Three days? I had no idea time had flown by so quickly. We must continue. There is much yet to say.

I was lonely most of the time. It sounds odd to hear that out loud but it was the truth. In reality I had no equal. And what is an equal? A husband? A child? A fellow royal? No. Not for me. An equal is someone who you can trust not just with matters of a personal nature but someone you can confide in. That's the greatest gift of having someone in your life. And that's the reason why I could never have that. I can't be unguarded.

There are too many things that I must bare the weight of. To attempt to share that load would be at one extreme, cataclysmic, the other, damaging emotionally.

A wife and husband, over the course of their marriage will share everything. The most intimate moments will come when they lay together in bed, the sun rising. They will say things then that they will never say in any other situation. What hidden grief's and secret confessions will pass through their lips in those rare and wonderful moments when all that matters is that you are with someone who is an equal in body and soul? What does that say about us? We how strive to build great things and work wonders in the world? That the most humbling moment comes when you are at your most unguarded.

I often wondered if that was the weakness of all tyrants. A tyrant can't love. I know that to be true. They can only lust, but their lust ultimately destroys the object of their desire. They can do no other thing. They lust for power and wealth and in the process destroy all those that stand in their way. They are fueled by a ravenous greed, an all consuming need to possess and control.

They only understand people like themselves, and since they hate themselves they hate everyone. Therefore they must be protected from everyone. There can be no equals because equality puts them on the level field with those they seek to dominate. How do you justify ruling someone if they are your equal. If you admit that difference between you and them are you based solely on birth, random chance…what does that say about your control? Tenuous at best.

If I was incapable of love, did that make me a tyrant? My consolation was that if I was lonely, if I desired an equal it meant I wasn't a tyrant. A tyrant would never be lonely. So therefore my loneliness was my measure of my morality.

I had to be lonely to be sure I was a just ruler.

But being alone is so…empty.

There were times I would sit alone at my dinning table. It could seat over a hundred people, in a hall that could accommodate hundreds more. I would eat alone and stare at the dim light provided by a few scant candles. I would watch the dust flit in the flickering light and let my eyes wander over the vacant chairs and listen to the only sounds…my breathing and the steady ticks of the clock.

These moments were necessary. I had to remind myself constantly that I was alone in this world. Yes I told myself as I ate alone. This is where I belong.

When not alone, I was a workaholic. I personally over saw the various levels of government that I created to administer my Kingdom. I drafted legislation and signed bills and commissioned public works. I authorized laws and overviewed the judicial system.

I monitored the wars and paid careful attention to our strategies and plans.

At night, sometimes I would lay away and be afraid to close my eyes. Sometimes I was afraid of my dreams. Other times I was afraid of waking up to bad news. And sometimes I was just afraid of the dark.

I had not seen Link in nearly three years. He was still leading our armies in what seemed a never ending war. There was always another city we needed. Another trade route we had to control. Always another vassal to capture, another county to claim. Sometimes I thought about him and what he was doing. I wondered what he was thinking about and why.

My day would start when I opened my eyes and left my chambers into my servant's quarters. They would prepare me for the day, dresses, cloths, washing. I never really got used to being waited upon. I would thank them, being sure to address them by name. Sometimes when all was done and I was ready to face the world I'd ask them to leave me for a moment. I would sit and stare at my reflection.

Oh it was true, I was still beautiful. I could admit that. Thirty-six and my skin was still soft and smooth. My eyes, blue as the day I was born. My hair, still long and golden. My figure was still well kept. I would just stare into the eyes of the woman in my mirror. I would plunge deep into her soul and see what lies there. What did she think? What did she want? Who was she?

Our lives are so fragile, simple even. I am blessed by the Gods, my beauty, my wisdom, magical energy flows through my veins. I know that. But what does it mean? We build our cities and Kingdoms and then they crumble and fall, is it worth it? The lives lost? The constant struggle to build up and up, are we not ants to this wide vast world? Are we not deluding ourselves?

Hyrule had grown so much since those early years. The city around the castle had nearly tripled in size. Its streets were not the charming cobble stone roads they once where. Now small and narrow, darting here and there. Taverns and brothels, temples to every god imaginable. Buildings of single rooms where whole families lived crammed together. Venders set up shop and hawk their wares to passerby's who wander around in a daze.

Merchants and tradesmen, lawyers and doctors, painters and artisans crowd the streets in the day. At night, dogs can be heard and here and there the loud voice of some homeless man or lost child. The city has become a metropolis.

My Kingdom is an Empire.

But an Empire must fall. And I am old. Is the end near? I do not know. Let me continue.

I was thirty-eight. I had commissioned another army to set sail across the oceans to the land of Gurd. Link was leading our armies there. It was a mission of utmost importance. Conquering Gurd would ensure Hylian dominance across the world for ages to come. Yet things were not always to be.

Things were not good in Hyrule. The people were restless. War had been raging for so long, the cost so severe that the people began to wonder if I had not over stayed my welcome in the castle. And rumors flew like the birds that Link, the beloved hero of the people had decided to return to claim the crown for himself. Had he fallen in love with the young and lush princess of Gurd? Had he formed a secret alliance with the Liberated cities of the Southern Quorum? Was he now the Holy Sword of the Desert?

Rumors. That's what I claimed. Rumors. Yet why hadn't I heard from Link in years?

My army that I sent had three missions. Finally conquer the last free cities of Gurd, pacify the chaos of the occupied territories, and finally, determine the situation of Link and his army.

I know not what happened to Link in that huge sprawling desert. Did he witness such horrors of war that he changed his mind and chose to oppose me? Was he seduced by some wisp of a girl? Did he finally embrace the cult of worship that followed him across that desert like a cape of blood? Was it me?

I don't know.

All I know is that when my army landed Link's forces attacked us. The free cities were at war with themselves and everyone. There was no place left for them to go. They fought a long and bloody battle for 3 years. Chasing each other across the sand, claiming a city and then losing it. Battling the Kingdom of Gurd and then allying with it. Over and over again the war raged.

Link made his decision, he himself lead the charge that finally shattered my army in Gurd. Breaking my power there forever.

Why Link why?

Gurd was lost. The Kingdom fell to pieces, the free cities turned on each other like dogs. Link's army was caught in the middle. What would happen?

I for one was heart broken. I had sworn never to take a lover, to always be lonely. But the truth was, Link was the only one who I had. Now he had betrayed me. I would have chose death at that moment, rather then face the prospect of running my Kingdom truly alone.

But fate had other ideas. My ministers and generals were in an up roar. Link was too dangerous they said. He could raise popular support should he return. He could travel to the conquered realms and raise a rebel army! He could cause the peasants to rise up against us! Eventually anger took over and I gave into my desire for revenge.

I turned Link into a pariah. His statues were dragged to the ground. His home was burnt to ashes. His name became a curse. I did everything in my power to destroy his reputation and turn the people against him. I made him an outlaw. His army was a band of brigands and rapists. All my dominions were at war with him.

I sent out assassins to find him and put an end to his threat but I never knew what happened. Link vanished. His army would be spotted here and there but there was never a battle. My generals assure me that it simply disbanded.

But happened to Link? Was he dead? Did one of my shadow people finally get to him? I know not.

That was over thirty years ago.

I am old now. Dying actually.

I never did learn Link's true fate.

My Empire is weak. The realms I conquered are rising up and soon will break away. My banner will be taken down around this world. Soon Hyrule will be just a small Kingdom again, and not a vast empire of wealth and power.

I know not how I should be remembered. This, all that I have told you will not be told again. This history will be stored and forgotten. My "true" history has already been recorded. Link was a traitor. I was the one who defeated Zant. I was the beloved ruler of Hyrule.

Lies all of it.

It is my hope though, that I will be understood, yes. Understood.

I sometimes wonder…if out there somewhere is a man who thinks about me…does he love me still? His Princess? I do hope he thinks of me as his Princess. That's how I think of myself. Yes. That's what I am. Truly.

The End.