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Despite what her subjects thought of her, Princess Zelda was not a pushover.
She was not a naive, silly noble who had no ideas about running a country and what it entailed. She was not tripping over herself to forgive everyone who wronged her or apologize to everyone she may or may not have hurt. She was not an idiot who thought only of pretty dresses and pleasing castle decor.
Princess Zelda had been raised to be a queen, and she knew exactly what a good queen needed to be. It was a part of her lessons even when she was still learning to read and write as a young child.
A queen needed to be brave, able to defend those who could not defend themselves. She needed to be selfless and willing to protect her people. She needed to be caring, seeing good in people. She needed to be wise, not mistaking outward goodness as a sign of inner goodness and making choices that would lead to prosperity.
With these teachings in mind, she knew that she was in charge while her father was incapacitated from Vaati’s impersonation. A queen needed to be timely, after all. Even if she had just been trapped while Vaati attempted to steal the light force and almost killed her.
Making decisions and taking action was her forte. Unfortunately, she was helpless as Link fought against Vaati. Learning combat was not something a “proper lady” was meant to do (though she did often sneak in on the knight’s training to learn the basics, but “the basics” weren’t going to assist her much in a fight against an incredibly powerful villain like Vaati). Anything she did to help would probably interrupt the fight, loathe as she was to admit it, so she instead worked on a plan. A proper queen knew how to strategize.
When Link struck the finishing blow on Vaati’s third terrifying form, she put her plan into action.
Link was breathing hard, taking a moment of respite after the long fought battle. Zelda wished she could hug him, call out to him, anything to tell her friend that she was okay and so, so happy to see him. But that would be weakness she couldn’t afford, especially in front of Vaati.
Instead, she moved to grab the wishing cap off of Vaati’s prone form and stepped out of punching distance.
“Ah, dear girl. That is the wishing cap. Anything you wish for can be granted with its power.”
Zelda blinked, looking around to discover the origin of the mysterious voice. Her gaze stopped at the hat Link was wearing, except that it had turned into a… bird?
If there were any proper queens that knew how to deal with this situation, Zelda would love to hear it.
“Uh, thank you, sir,” she responded, hoping it didn’t sound too much like a question. The hat she held did seem to course with power; she’d believe it could grant wishes. Plus, what reason did a hat have to lie?
(Again, any proper queens that wanted to critique her were welcome to try.)
“You can even use it to seal away that monster forever.”
The venom in the hat’s voice was startling, and sudden movement from the previously motionless Vaati had Zelda turn to face him.
He was a few inches further away than he had been before. It was clear he had been trying to get up, probably to escape, maybe to attack again. But his movement had stilled. He was almost completely still, like the garden statues at the palace. His expression had shifted from one of contempt to one of shock and hurt.
The former “all-powerful” wind mage had flinched back at the harsh words.
A good queen had to be rational, but she also had to be fair. Looking at Vaati in that moment, she made her choice.
Zelda had no way of knowing how long she was trapped for. It was like she had been asleep and only just woken. It was time she could never get back, and the time she was gone was time that Hyrule would need to recover from. The land was filled with monsters completely out of the blue. She hated to even think about the damage that was occurring even as they remained in the castle. But all things had their time and place and thinking about it would do her no good.
(She wished more than anything for a moment to let everything process, but that wasn’t possible. No amount of telling herself what a good queen would do would fix the strain she was working through.)
Moving her gaze away from the wounded sorcerer, she turned back to Link and his… hat.
“While I appreciate the offer, I will not be sealing away any sentient beings today.”
The hat squawked in disbelief, sputtering an angry response. His words meant nothing to her, however. While she should be able to make choices without the input of others, she took a moment to check Link’s expression. He made eye contact with her and smiled.
“I trust you.”
Link had never been one for using unnecessary language, and that statement was all Zelda needed to hear.
“Vaati has brought great evil to our land, but I do not know enough of his deeds to justly choose his fate. I refuse to have my first act as a ruler be made because of anger and resentment. Actions made as the result of such feelings will only harm us and our futures, as well as our children’s futures.” She locked eyes with the hat. Link would make sure Vaati didn’t try anything. “Instead, I will use the cap to remove Vaati’s magic. He will not be able to bring ruin to Hyrule without it, especially when the guards are back at full power. Until then, he will remain in one of the dungeon cells. When life has returned enough to normal to make reasonable decisions, we will do so.”
She heard someone gasp, but it didn’t matter. A good queen needed to be confident, and she was already making her wish.
Line Break
Life in Hyrule had somewhat returned to normal in the month after Vaati’s defeat. People gladly worked together to rebuild and restore anything that was damaged, and the monsters were sealed away with the magic of the Wishing Cap. Normalcy meant that people wanted something to be done about the man who tried to conquer the kingdom, so a sort of trial was held with members of the royal court and select members of the citizenry.
It came to light quickly that, despite the damage caused, no one had been harmed in a permanent way.
Places were destroyed, but they were repaired again. People were injured by the monsters, but they were typically surface level. One month had been enough to repair almost all of the damage. No one had died.
For a ruthless and heartless tyrant, it almost seemed like the damage was for show.
Link mentioned Vaati’s attempt to “kill” him by trapping him with two moblins, but they were fought off easily. (Link confided that he thought Vaati went easy on him on purpose, not just because he was overconfident.)
To finish off her understanding of the story, Zelda talked to Ezlo.
He talked of a lazy apprentice who wanted to learn magic without the training. When she asked about the training in question, Ezlo muttered about the importance of chores to the process.
“He hated taking the proper routes to learning. My style may be unconventional but I was his teacher and he ought to listen to me. You must understand, not all teenagers are as responsible as you. I wish he had even half of your maturity.”
Zelda’s father had been wonderful to her. She knew his love and care had made her who she was, and she couldn’t be more grateful. Things were never perfect, but that's how every relationship was. At the end of the day, she knew that her father was proud of her, and she loved him so much.
It seemed that Vaati had never gotten that kind of attention. Thinking about how he was the same age as her made her feel… sick.
Ezlo left that conversation satisfied, but Zelda knew what she was going to fight for. She knew what needed to be done.
After a great number of negotiations and discussions amongst the court and the peoples’ representatives, a decision was reached.
Vaati was required to help out in the land. He needed to repair what he had damaged and build ties with the people. Though his actions did not have any long lasting harm and he was no longer able to use magic, he was accompanied by Link or another guard everywhere he went to ensure nothing went wrong.
Despite her concerns over making the right choice, things went… well.
Vaati loved the spotlight of helping people and being known in the community for his work ethic. He thrived when sparring with Link and the other guards. In particular, he seemed at his happiest when he was being praised by her father, who had taken up teaching him healthier emotional outlets than trying to conquer Hyrule.
The positive attention seemed to be more than enough for him, since he continued his volunteer work long after most citizens finished making requests. He had found something to make him happy, something that brought him fulfillment. Something that would never have occurred if Zelda had blindly followed Ezlo’s advice and sealed him away for some future person to deal with.
Overall, she knew she’d done what a good queen should.