Chapter Five
Auralii sat on her bed reading the book that Kalunera bought for her in Hyrule. It was called The Legends of the Temples. Apparently, there were six temples in Hyrule, and a sage guarded each. The book went into great detail about each temple and some of the rooms found within them. Auralii thought it was all very boring, but she was reading it because Kalunera really thought she’d like it. Yeah right, thought Auralii. She knows that I hate reading nonfiction like this. She did feel very proud of herself for reading almost half of it in a day. She was now reading about the Water Temple. It was almost interesting. The history of it was all theories. The author would begin by saying something like, “No one knows for sure who built the Water Temple…” and then it would go on to list several theories on how it might have come to be. “The torture never ends,” she muttered to herself as she rolled over onto her stomach to see better. “I won’t show up for dinner, so Kalunera will come up here to find me and all that will be left of me as the vultures fly away will be a skeleton holding this book. It would have been too vile for them to eat.”
Finally, she reached the end of the theories. The next section described several rooms of interest. Auralii scanned the page wondering if there could be anything less interesting when a section caught her eye. “The Lake of Shadows.” The other room descriptions were titled boringly, such as “The Main Room” and “Room with Water Spouts.” The change in tone was very subtle, but noticeable enough. It seemed as if this was what made the Water Temple so interesting. The section read like this:
“Deep in the maze of the Water Temple lies a room that is but a legend. Some sources swear by the Goddesses that it does indeed exist, but others scorn the theories. If actually in existence, this lake is truly terrifying. The legends say that an eternal mist has always surrounded this room to make it appear endless. The only structures that are visible are three: the entrance, the exit, and the island. Once a person enters, the door is locked behind them, and the far door is already locked. Other than the island, the room is an enormous, shallow lake. When one walks across it, they are said to have been more aware of their reflection. However, only the oldest legends document this. Once a person crosses the central island, this reflection disappears. It awaits them under the tree as their shadow.
“The shadow, their ‘dark’ self, must be defeated by them if they wish to ever leave the room alive. If they die, their shadow will die with them. Their shadow has many advantages. It knows every single move the person can and will make. Even if the person can think of a new strategy on the spot, the shadow will know it. It has every asset the person has including spells and weapons. The person must in every sense, conquer themselves.
“Let all who read this note that the legends of the Lake of Shadows are very old. No one today is sure that the Lake and its room in the Water Temple actually exist. No one, other than the guardian sage, has ever left the Water Temple alive to tell the tale.”
Auralii read that section with interest. Surely someone has, she thought. What year is this? She checked the year. To her surprise, it had been published that year. So that means that no one’s gotten through recently either. It’s so weird…
She was startled by a knock at the door. “Come in,” she called. It was Kalunera.
“Hey, Lii, how’s the book?”
“Um, it’s very interesting. Thanks for getting it for me.”
“Hey, no problem. I was wondering if you could do me a favor.”
“What is it?”
“Dinner’s almost ready, and I don’t know what dress to wear.”
Auralii shook her head. Everyone in the Palace knew that Kalunera hated making decisions. She wasn’t bad at it, but she hated doing it. So, she would always ask someone else and hope it worked out. In fact, she developed a simple system to help her.
Auralii thought for a moment. “Six,” she said after a while.
“Okay, thanks.”
“Which one was it?”
“The light green one with the yellow trim.”
“Oh, okay. I’ll be down in a minute as well.” Kalunera nodded and closed the door. Auralii shut the book and sat up to stretch. Kalunera’s system was very simple. She would assign numbers (usually one through ten) to each choice, and then she would ask someone else to pick a number. Sometimes, she made it more complicated, but Auralii always assumed it was one through ten. Someday, she’s going to have a decision come her way that she will have to make entirely herself. She is going to be the Queen after all.
She hopped off her bed and dusted herself off. The dress she was wearing wasn’t exactly formal, but it was more or less presentable for dinner with just her family. Her hair was a mess, though. She went to her vanity and pulled out her hairpins until her hair was completely down so she could brush it. She and her two siblings all had red hair, but they all had different shades. Kalunera had coppery hair with a slight curl to it. No one would look at her hair and see a trace of brown at all. Auralii had been jealous as a little girl, and she still felt that Kalunera was the luckiest of them all. Kenrith, in Auralii’s opinion, had the worst deal. His hair was bright orange. Unlike all the other boys his age in Racona, he had a very short haircut to prevent it from poofing up because it was so curly.
Auralii felt as if she got the middle deal. Her hair wasn’t curly at all, which was nice. She was glad that she didn’t have to deal with curls. They looked very cumbersome at times. Yet, if she felt like having curls, she could just stick the curling iron in the fire for a few minutes. Her red hair was also different from her siblings’. It was still red, but it was more of a brick color than a copper color. It looked like auburn with too much red. The color wouldn’t have bothered her so much, but people would always comment on the hair of the Princesses and Prince like this:
“Princess Kalunera, your hair is as brilliant as copper, and as precious as it, too.
“Prince Kenrith, your hair reminds me of the sun setting in its bed of flames.
“Princess Auralii, your hair…it is like the bricks that have built this great country.”
Copper, sunset, and a pile of old bricks. Yeah, I feel really loved here. In time, though, she had learned to accept her hair as part of her being. And as she grew older, she began to think that maybe she had gotten the best deal. Copper was precious, but it was used as money. So Kalunera’s hair was like money. What sort of compliment was that? Kenrith’s hair was like the sunset. Sure, the sunset was beautiful, but it did the people no real good. But, bricks, that meant something. Bricks could shelter people from a storm, and they did not burn like wood. They had been used to build Racona, and that was something to be proud of.
Wow, thought Auralii, I’m having deep thoughts while brushing my hair. Quickly, she braided her hair and pinned it up neatly. Then, she left her room.
She began to walk towards the hall where dinner was being served, but she wanted to check to see if Kalunera was coming. She turned around just in time to see a figure at the far end of the hallway. At first, Auralii couldn’t tell who it was, but then she realized that it was two people. What are two people doing so close together? Hey, one of them is Kalunera. She’s wearing the green dress. But then who is that…Eeeew!
Liam and Kalunera were kissing. “Public display!” called Auralii. “Get a room!” Kalunera and Liam turned to the sound of her voice.
“Auralii!” cried Kalunera. “Go to dinner. And whatever you do, do not tell anyone. Or else.”
“Or else what?”
Liam smiled. “Or else, we’ll send a love note signed by you to Jakob.”
“Fine, I won’t tell.”
“Good girl.”
Auralii shook her head and walked to dinner. She wouldn’t have told anyone anyways. Well, maybe Link and Sapphira. They might find it interesting. Oh well, I won’t risk it. Jakob is annoying without encouragement.