"Impa," the younger woman's voice was sharp and strong, full of authoritative command and mindful control of emotion. Except, today it lacked something characteristic that no one could quite put their finger on.
The older Sheikah warrior turned to her royal charge and met the Queen's blue eye. "Your grace?" She asked in her customary tone.
Zelda wore an expression that anyone who didn't know any better would have interpreted it as self-loathing. She paused, looking at the Sheikah warrior for a moment, then gave a loud, hefty groan and flopped back onto the mattress. "I am not enjoying being pregnant."
For a second the room was completely silent. Impa's red eyes stared at her young Queen, unwavering and stoic. Then she sprouted a giant smile and gave a completely uncharacteristic laugh.
Zelda sat up on her elbows and narrowed her eyes at the woman. "I fail to see what's so amusing."
Impa didn't cease her laughter, however. She gathered her Queen's dress - a lot looser and lighter, and unrestrictive these days, designed to accommodate the Queen's growing frame - and approached her bed carefully. "Your Grace, if making babies was easy, men would do it too."
Zelda glared at her long time friend and caretaker. Nonetheless, she stood on her two feet, letting the Sheikah loop the gown over her head. The fabric draped over her growing middle and Zelda frowned, but didn't remark on her own appearance.
"You're going to be a wonderful mother, you know." Impa's voice had an uncharacteristic warmth to it, which caught Zelda by surprise. The young royal met her gaze with question and doubt.
"I don't even remember my own mother, and now I'm expected to be one myself. How can you be so sure?" It was ridiculous, really. This was the queen of Hyrule, the woman who won the war against evil, commanded one of the oldest regions in the world, and who'd served in war disguised as a Sheikah warrior. And of all those experiences, none terrified her nearly as much as the thought that in a few weeks she'd be a mother.
Before the Queen could voice her trepidation or Impa could comment, a loud knock sounded from the other side of the bedroom door.
"Zelda? Are you alright?"
She recognized the voice immediately, as did the smiled coyly, making her way towards the door. "Remember what I said about men?" She glanced to the still closed door where Hyrule's prince knocked once more. "I think yours would be the exception." With that she opened the door for the prince, gave him a customary nod and then vanished away leaving the pair alone.
Link's eyes immediately focused on his Queen, half dressed and looking very glum at the edge of their bed. He came up to her wordlessly, the sound of his fine leather boots muffled by the bedroom rug.
Link kneeled in front of Zelda, and when she still didn't look at him, he placed a hand over hers, still resting on her knee.
Zelda could feel Link's thumb drawing circles on the back of her fingers, and for a moment she forgot what she was bothered over and simply relished the tender touch.
Her stomach gave a lurch and she quickly remembered what she had been pondering over, and she felt the urge to puke from the violent shift deep in her womb.
"Zelda, what's wrong?" Link's voice was unusually frantic. Rather than replying, Zelda simply held up a finger of silence, pressed her eyes tightly together and tried to breathe through the uncomfortable situation.
Link watched her in silence but didn't make any move to shift. Zelda breathed slowly out of her nose, and began to feel better after a brief moment. Her stomach gave another shift, but she was much more prepared for it this time around, and rather than growing green and queasy, she scowled and loudly exclaimed:
"Goddess help me, if I had known his children would be so active I'd never had slept with him!"
Link starred, slightly dumbstruck and fighting the urge to laugh, which would surely only irritate the already irritable, pregnant royal further.
Nonetheless, Zelda caught the gleam in his eye and and practically growled, "And what's so funny about my situation?"
She swiped his hand away as if swatting at a bug. Her other hand massages wife rings into her swollen middle. "This is your child in here that's causing me so much grief." Zelda could feel the heat in her discomfort rising in her chest. "I was young, and thin, and beautiful once, now I'm the size of a goat and the rumor mill's favorite topic of discussion."
Link tried, he honestly did. He tried with all his will not to smile or snicker or show her any hint that he was holding back laughter. Sadly for the once knight, his skills had either greatly diminished over the years, or he was just so close to his wife now that she could see right through it.
"It's. Not. Funny!" she emphasized each word as if they burned, slipping between her teeth. Zelda rose and walked to the opposite end of the room in a heated rage. She had just made it to the window when her stomach gave another tumultuous turn and this time she gave in to any semblance of dignity and whined.
"Goddess, child. Please just let me rest for five minutes so I can at least pretend I know why I'm so angry!" Feeling overwhelmed now, Zelda did the only thing that felt appropriate at the moment - she flopped her off-center body into her window seat, buried her face into her hands and cried.
Link approached her carefully. but Zelda was past the point of holding any dignity and no longer fought him off. He sat silently beside her but didn't speak as she cried and whined and groaned into her hands like a child.
Like a child.
How ludicrous. She was weeks from having a child and now she was behaving like one?
An arm silently pulled around her shoulders and she let him drag her into his embrace until Link's strong arms held her so tightly to him, she could almost feel his heart through his tunic.
Zelda let out a loud and wavering sigh.
How pitiful.
"Are you feeling better now?"
Zelda didn't respond. Her fingers toyed with a dangling trim of his tunic. In all honesty, she was having a hard time even understanding why she was crying, mad, or upset at all in the first place.
Zelda's stomach gave another lurch, and this time she pouted even more loudly than before, shoving herself out of Link's arms before roughly grabbing his hand and pushing it against her swollen midsection.
"Your child won't give me five minutes of rest." She glared at him in the crystalline blue eyes.
And such lovely eyes they were.
"And I'm tired," she added. "And the rumor mill thinks I'm having twins — twins! Could you imagine? I'm so large they think it's two because it couldn't possibly only be one when I'm as average as I am and you're…" She trailed off but Link only cocked the corner of his mouth.
Short?
"...and we have this gala tonight and I had the dress I was supposed to wear and it doesn't fit, and...and…" she threw her hands up in exasperation, feeling the tears beginning to well up once more. It was at that moment that the very rambunctious unborn child within her decided to not only shift this time but apparently nearly break one of her ribs from within with what Zelda later would determine was likely the child's foot.
Zelda clutched her side and sat the end of her bed, a low long wail resounding through the room.
I surrender.
Link sat beside her and pulled her into his arms, and to both of their surprise, she didn't fight him off this time. Instead, she leaned into his touch and seemed to almost melt into his embrace.
The tiny child's foot cling to her side and she took in another sharp breath before grabbing Link's palm and pressing against the tender spot.
They both sat silently after that, Zelda's head pressed between Link's shoulder and neck, his arms around her growing form, one hand resting against their child.
She sighed heavily, but unlike prior breaths, there was something irrefutably calm to her exhale.
Link shifted to kiss the top of her forehead and reveled in the gentle movement under his hand.
"Finally."
Link smiled. "Better?"
Zelda nodded meekly before voicing her reply. There was a slowness and calm to her voice that reminded him of her much needed rest. "I've had that child's foot in my rib for days and a mere five minutes with you, she seems to have calmed down."
Link smiled. "She?"
Zelda curled into his embrace further until her lips could brush the side of his neck.
He smelled good.
"I always imagined it was a girl," she spoke softly. Her breath was warm and slow against his skin, but he didn't make any move to release his tired Queen. "I had a dream of our daughter with your eyes and a bright green dress. She looks so much like you, I can't imagine it not being our daughter."
Link felt a warmth spread in his chest. "So Hyrule will have a princess once more."
She smiled.
Impa was right. Her's was one-of-a-kind.
Author's Note:
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Happy Halloween!