Link waited at the foot of the King's dais for ages. He was following all the procedures. He waited to be announced, he walked up without looking at His Majesty, he knelt at his feet, he's stayed kneeling while he waited for acknowledgment by the monarch.
It wouldn't be so bad if the King was doing something, but he was silent. Presumably looking at him. It was probably the traditional voe armor that Link had chosen to wear for the occasion that had caught his attention. It was golden and polished to a shine. The trousers were freshly laundered and the odd palace staff had ironed a seam into the fronts like they were Hylian. Even his headband was shined to perfection.
"Maybe you should have polished something else instead!"
Link couldn't help it, he let out a smothered snort of laughter at the sword's comment. It rang out in the silent hall and suppressed gasps echoed behind him. Heavy footfalls marched up and a gauntleted hand reached out to cuff him sharply over the head. Link let the momentum knock him to the side and rolled while pulling out a shined and glimmering dagger. He pointed the tip at the gauntlet and glared ferociously at the accompanying face. The man stood with a hand at his sword and crouched knees. His chest clattered with the sound of his multitude of medals knocking together.
Pandemonium erupted around the hall. The King stood from his throne and fled from the room. The soldiers remaining surrounded Link. They hesitated to approach, but pulled their weapons and focused on him. The Gerudo contingent all pulled their weapons and jumped into what quickly turned into a fray. They surrounded Link and began moving as a unit towards the door. These soldiers were all familiar to Link, they had worked together in the desert and fought Yiga together. This formation was taught to all warriors in the event of an injury. Link himself fought in a similar circle to evacuate a warrior that eventually died of their wounds. It was shameful to be protected when he was unhurt. He shouted his war cry and leapt from the protection to parry a clash from a Hylian soldier with his dagger. The soldier wasn't expecting resistance and let the weapon slip from his hands and drop to the floor. He looked up at Link and the color drained from his face. He bowed his head and shuffled back until his rear hit the door to the throne room. It had been thrust open and a feminine gasp rose above the commotion.
Every soldier froze as one unit. Combatants lowered their weapons and moved to stand side-by-side. The Princess Zelda walked into the room with the grace of the Goddess. She looked at the faces of her soldiers and stopped at the angry face of the gauntleted man.
"General Zain, do you require assistance with your introduction to the Chosen Hero?"
The gauntleted man's face turned a sickly violet, "I believe I have become sufficiently familiar with him." He gave a short bow and stormed out of the room.
The Princess let him leave and watched for a moment as his back disappeared from view. She turned slowly to survey the remaining soldiers. One by one, they dropped to their knees. Even Link couldn't stay on his feet when the eyes of the Goddess looked out at him.
"Which of you is my Champion?" She asked. "Anyone who is not should find something else to be doing."
