Part X: "The Tapestry is Woven"

Queen Zelda sat on a wooden bench within Link's chamber. She had been waiting there for five hours. Five long hours since one of her servants had spotted her son and the vile Rauru appearing and disappearing in this very chamber. Her wait would last no longer. Link and Rauru materialized in front of her in a flash of light. The queen ran to her son and held him in her arms, drawing him away from Rauru.

"Get away from him, you DOG!" Zelda screamed at Rauru. The Sage of Light seemed unperturbed.

"You still do not understand the severity of the current situation, do you?" Rauru replied gravely.

"Severity?" Zelda asked, smiling. "They number barely a thousand. My armies are four times that, at least!"

Vladamir Dukov burst through the door.

"My queen!" Dukov exclaimed. "They've stopped! Just outside the castile walls! They won't move another inch!"

Another guard burst through the door way with an exasperated look upon his face.

"Another group has appeared on the horizon!" he bellowed. "Much larger this time! The lookouts estimate at least seven thousand!"

Queen Zelda's smile faded quickly.

"We will have to strike first," Zelda said. "Attack them immediately."

The second guard hurried out of the chamber. Vladamir remained by his queen's side.

"Go, Vladamir," Zelda commanded. "Go to your duty."

"My duty is to stay here," he said, "to protect you."

"No," Rauru suddenly interrupted. "It may be your duty, but it is not your destiny."

Zelda flew at Rauru so fast that even the sage himself was caught off guard. In no time at all, Queen Zelda had Rauru by the neck, pressing him against the wall."

"Destiny?!" she screamed. "This is what destiny forces upon us?!"

Zelda threw Rauru onto the cold floor.

"Poor child," he said, slightly dazed, "you understand completely. You are just unwilling to accept your preordained future."

Zelda turned seven different shades of red before giving up the arguement and sitting on a bench, her head in her hands.

"What is to become of me?" she asked, sobbing.

Rauru frowned.

"I cannot say. You are not ready."

In that moment, that one single dialouge, the realization of everything flooded into Queen Zelda's mind.

"I'm going to die, aren't I?" she blurted. "Just like my husband, I'm destined to die."

Rauru nodded, "You are ready."

Zelda's eyes widened.

"He knew didn't he? You told him. He knew the exact time and place of his own death. He knew he was powerless to stop it. He let it happen."

Rauru nodded again.

"He had known for eleven years. He became ready to know much faster than you did. He had greater time to prepare."

"What do you mean?" Zelda inquired.

Rauru ignored her and instead turned to Vladamir.

"Take Link," he said. "Take him to Kokiri Forest. There he must remain so that no harm befalls him."

"But the air there is toxic to us," Dukov said.

"To you, yes," said Rauru, "but not to Link. His immunity was passed down by his father."

Vladamir sighed.

"I understand," he said meekly.

Attention was once again turned to Zelda. The anger had faded from her face, replaced by sadness and despair.

"You must learn to forgive yourself, for if the woven tapestry that is your life is to become torn, you have only yourself to blame."

With those cryptic words, Queen Zelda stood up and walked to her son. Almost instinctively, she reached out to hug Link. The embrace lasted only a few seconds befor Link drew back.

"I have to go," he said.

"Yes," his mother replied, "you do. You must go with Vladamir." She hugged him again. "I love you, Link. Remember that, always."

She released him from her hold and turned him over to Vladamir Dukov, head of the royal guard.

Silently, Vladamir and Link walked out of the door. Queen Zelda had lost her final reason to live...