"I'm sorry, I really am, sweetheart." The words brought not comfort to the distraught girl but more anguish because she knew that there was truly nothing to be done. Long, calloused fingers stroked golden locks of hair once the girl had been wrapped in a motherly embrace. "... I-I've heard he's nice."
The Princess continued to weep because thats all she knew to do. "I'm scared, Impa." She whispers to her caretaker and the only thing Impa can even think to say is how sorry she is that the Princess is to be married... at twelve years old she would be expected to marry and be with child by her first anniversary.
The flaming chariot of the godess Din raced to the end of the horizon and passed her sister, Nayru, and revealed the grave news to her luminescent counterpart.
Princess Zelda fell asleep with tears still trickling down her face and woke up to many maids and tailors ready to help her with the preperations for her Autumn wedding. The twelve year old danced through the next few weeks planning things she didn't understand and she rarely had time to think and react to everything she learned about managing Hyrule and being a good Queen to her people. No one, however, thought to tell the girl about what was expected of her as a wife.
"Princess, are you alright?" The sweet, tender voice of the red-headed woman making Zelda's wedding gown rang clear above everything Zelda had been trying to commit to memory.
Zelda shook her head and smiled, weakly. "Oh, um, I... May I sit?"
The woman nodded, surprised. "Of course, millady, although I highly doubt you need my permission... should I call a nurse?"
"No, no." A exhausted sigh escaped the girl's lips and she took a deep breath. "I would like a moment of silence."A few moments passed in which nothing but the clear and etheral sound of a breeze echoed through the room accompanied by the occasional deep breaths issued from the Princess. "What's your name?"
"My name is Malon, Princess." A brillant smile followed after the reply.
Zelda smiled, wearily, back and nodded, committing Malon's name into memory. "We've spent many an hour together... and you have been a great help. May I ask you something?"
Malon smiled at the younger girl. She was twenty-eight and already married to a man whom she loved immensely. Malon had heard about the Princess' engagment and her heart went out to the girl because she knew that marriage was scary... and that was when she wanted to be married. "Of course, Princess... what can I help you with?" The older woman normally worked on Lon Lon Ranch, her Ranch, but had wanted to come and assist the girl while Impa was away for the two women were close.
This was when the girl faltered and bit her lip. Zelda waited a few more moments before asking her most anxiety riddled question. "I've heard.... older girls... talk about..." A blush crept over the Princess' dainty features and she stopped, adruptly.
"You mean... no one has.... explained--" Malon's face grew red with anger as she clenched her fists. "No one has told you about sex?" Her voice remained calm and she made a point to remember to yell at Impa.
Zelda nodded, bashfully. The red-head than began to give the Princess of Hyrule the very same speech she had been given at the same age but under less stressful cirsumstances.
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The day came after many weeks for when the Engaged would met and Zelda found herself growing increasingly nervous with each minute.
"Calm down, Zelda, everything will be fine." Impa smiled at the girl and looked out through the stained glass windows. The woman's eyes grew wide when she saw the carriages appear in the distance. "They're here!"
The next half hour was extreme toture for Zelda had to be thrown into a different dress because Impa changed her mind about the one they had previously fitted her in. Once that was done, she was rushed done to the Courtyard to await the arrival of her fiance.
Two hours passed while the girl waited and she grew impatient. She slipped into the garden that had once been area where her family had chase each other through the labyrinth but that was before her Father grew sick and her mother died.
Zelda heard voices shouting deep within the halls of the castle above her head and tucked herself deeper into the confines of the Hedge Maze. She turned corner after corner and suddenly burst into a run... she took delight in being free, for a moment, and let her hair fall from the tight braid it had been in. The Princess kicked off her heels and smiled, truly smiled, as her feet pressed into the dirt beneath.
The simple dress that the girl wore was dark blue with a black underskirt. She had slipped the dress underneath the fancier one Impa assigned for her to put on.... that was folded up and hidden in the bushes within the Courtyard.
Zelda laughed and ran faster and faster and faster until she felt her lungs would burst. Her bright purple eyes grew large when she turned another corner and ran straight into a boy.
He fell to the ground with a large 'oof' and met her gaze for a split second before bursting out laughing. "Well, hello!" His laughter was contagious and Zelda felt herself drawn into it before she could apologieze.
When the two calmed down did the Princess realize that he was very close to her age. They smiled at each other and the lad stood on his feet then held out a, surprisingly, calloused hand to help her up.
"May I ask, what exactly you were running from?" Cobalt blue eyes stunned the Princess and she found herself, blushing at him.
Zelda stammered. "I, uh, I was..." She sighed and decided to be honest. "I was running from people who would wish to find me."
The lad smiled and nodded then held out his arm. "Then... shall we hid you?" Zelda smiled and took his arm. "So, invisible one, do you have a name?"
"Zelda." The girl giggled. "What's yours?"
"Link, beautiful name by the way." Link smiled a dazzling smile and winked. His smile widened when he saw her blush.
"Do you always compliment strangers?"
Link nodded and turned down another corner where a dead end greeted them. "Only the pretty ones." He smiled and allowed her to take the lead. "So... is it a coincidence that you and the Princess share the same name?"
Zelda bit her lip. "I'm the Princess, yes, but could just be coincidence?" Link nodded and changed the conversation, expertly, to the maze. They talked non-stop for two hours before they found the center of the maze.
"So you ended up setting the whole kitchen on fire?"
Link nodded, excitedly. "Yep. I was really hungry... and I don't think when I'm hungry." Zelda laughed and shook her head.
"Me and my friend, Ruto, used to go sledding down the huge hill at the front gate of the castle. We would push each other as harder as we could just to see if the other would tip over during the ride... one day, she succeeded and I rolled all the way down the hill."
Link grinned. "Oh, no!"
"So I decided to get her back."
"The People have already demanded a revenge story. It can be no other way."
Zelda smiled back. "I poured water over the trail we had been sliding on and it froze over night... Ruto always demanded to go first... let's just say... Ruto never came back over when it snowed." Link chuckled. They walked in circles for a long time after, sharing stories, and talking about their crazy relatives. That's when Zelda's situation dawned on her, again.... her Father... dying and her impending marriage.
Link noticed the sudden change in her mood and sat down on the stone bench located in the dead center of the labyrinth surrounded by thousands of roses. "What's wrong?"
The girl shrugged. "I can't say... private matters." The last few words brought another sting of a different kind. Link smiled.
"Do you want to talk about it?" The notion of someone actually wanting to hear what she had bottled up for the past several weeks had been vaguely assuaged by Malon's visits to the Castle but the young woman had plans of her own... she had found out she was pregnant and was celebrating it accordingly.
"I wouldn't want to bother you." Zelda whispered. Link took her hands in his and lifted her fallen chin so that her purple eyes met his cobalt ones and he smiled, knowingly.
"Let it out, Zelda." Then the tears came, again, and she voiced every fear she had and Link held onto her as she cried. He listened and he didn't whisper 'I'm sorry'... but he told her what her life could be like... if she and her husband fell in love.
The Princess regained her compsure and thanked the young man for listening.
Link then nodded. "No problem... and Zelda?" She looked at him. He pressed his lips against hers, sweetly, and then parted their lips slowly. "At least your husband can't have your fist kiss."
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Link and Zelda met everyday until the day of her wedding in the Maze where they talked for many long hours. He was her best friend during that time and she had decided against Impa's wishs to invite him to her wedding.... Zelda knew she liked Link more than she should but she wanted that freedom... but reality would tell her that her husband was a man she didn't know the name of and a man who had been deemed a great War Hero.
Zelda stared at the large double doors made of the sacred wood of the Korkiri's Forest and took a deep breath. Music flowed through the opening as the doors parted and Zelda began to walk the aisle by herself... her Father was to sick to leave his bed... the doctors said he had two weeks to live... if that. Zelda kept her head down until she reached the altar and heard the soothing voice of the young man from the Maze.
"Welcome, oh, Invisible One." Link smiled down from the atlar wearing the traditional white garments of a groom... Zelda's groom. He took her hand and winked at her. "I guess I lied about the kiss thing, huh?"