Prelude of a Dream
They were alone. Lorule castle had become increasingly devoid of life in recent years, and as a result they were the sole occupants of the castle. Princess Hilda and her adviser spent countless hours researching and planning for what the Princess hoped would be the key to saving her dying land. These long nights had left her stressed and exhausted. She tried her best to conceal the range of emotions
she felt – everything from hopefulness to crippling doubt. But here they were, the night before her adviser, Yuga would carry out their plan. She could sense her mind unraveling just as her kingdom was also unraveling.
She was seated at her vanity and he was brushing out her long purple hair as they did on many nights. Tonight, however, there were moments of lingering silence knowing what tomorrow would bring.
Hilda squeezed her eyes shut. "Is everything in order for our plan to proceed?"
"Certainly, Your Grace. I made sure everything is prepared as you ordered." The foppish sorcerer admired her reflection in the mirror.
"What about... you, Yuga. Are you prepared for what will come?"
"Yes, my dear. The only things I need are my staff and the awareness of your future happiness. A great dawn will welcome our gorgeous world."
"You'll be a beast... You know that, right? Ganon... Legends say he's a horrifying, evil creature. You said you will be able to control him." Hilda opened her eyes and met his through the mirror, "but what if he controls you?"
"There is no reason for such misplaced concern, my dear... It will only be for a little while..." Yuga trailed off, placing the hairbrush on the vanity. "And my will is strong and so are my skills compared to his in his current state. Don't underestimate me, Your Grace."
Yuga began to stroke her shoulders in a delicate, but possessive manner. "Let's talk about something more relaxing, shall we? Like, for example... How smooth and soft your skin is... I daresay it could rival a goddess's."
"Always changing the subject of the discussion, Yuga?" The princess gave a resigned sigh, smiling sadly. "It's not that I underestimate you, but you have to understand the gravity of your task. I just want more prudence from you."
Yuga leaned forward. His prominent nose almost brushed against her ear. "So delicate, beautiful in appearance and so strong and sharp in personality. My dear Hilda, you are a portrait of perfection, like a diamond reflecting the light from many facets. In every way you are bright and iridescent in your being. I find myself in awe, crushed by your beauty. Even one of my paintings could not capture it completely. It is so frustrating, and yet so fascinating. You ask prudence of me? How can I be more prudent than I have always been?"
"Yuga, this is not what I mean..." She held her breath feeling his painted lips brush the delicate skin of her clavicle. Hilda tensed up, feeling as though her chamber was spinning around her.
"Y-Yuga, what are you doing?" She asked, alarmed.
"You lacked a seal of my approval." Yuga said with a wicked smirk, referring to the red mark his lips left on her skin.
"T-this is out of line, Yuga." She said, failing to steady her faltering voice. She thought her face must have been the same shade of red as her eyes.
She realized... Two people sharing a common destiny since childhood, living in the same place with no one else, they were close – even more so now with their plan. She hadn't realized how much their relationship had changed, she didn't even have the time to think about it until that moment. She always knew him for being spiteful and shameless, so focused on beauty, especially her beauty. He was her attendant, her confidant, an important person in her life. And now why... Why did she feel so... awakened...
He moved up from her clavicle and gave her neck a gentle bite, provoking a shudder from Hilda.
All the years she'd focused on Lorule's fate, she couldn't say she knew herself completely, but now the attraction she felt for him became clearer, pulsing through her body.
She turned her head to him, and he kissed her. She shut her eyes and parted her lips, for want of a deeper kiss. Her left hand stroked his face, running along his cheek and chin, admiring the alabaster color of his skin. She recalled a perhaps unconscious desire to know how it would be if they kissed once – one of those desires she'd often restrained and then forgotten before falling asleep.
He pulled away with a half smirk. "My dear Princess, I thought this was out of line."
His arms wrapped around her, pulling her close, and she let him take her. He started kissing her again, deeper, hungrier. Her hands moved under his tunic, touching his chest, wanting to feel the accelerated beats of his heart. Yuga moved to pull off her cape, which hit the floor with a dull thud, due to her metal epaulets. His hands trailed down her back, beginning to unlace her royal gown with his long, tapering fingers.
She knew what he wanted. She sensed a tension within herself that she also sensed within him. "Y-Yuga, please. This is wrong... We can't..." She whispered between kisses.
He stopped, only to tug off her white silk gloves. He brought her hand to his mouth, his lips on her knuckles – a chaste gesture given the circumstances.
Yuga gave her an expression she'd never saw on him. Devotion? Adoration? Love?
"I love you, Hilda – unlike the wretched fools who walk this broken land. For you I will overcome every limit. I want only to see a smile painted upon your graceful countenance. I will accept any fate to please you and then... We will reside together in a land worthy of our magnificence.
"And you? Is this your greatest desire in the world? What is it that you want?" She wasn't unaccustomed to his compliments, but there was something different about this moment -something more, and it was taking it's toll on her. She was crumbling before him. And that wasn't all. His gaze was burning into her.
"You, Your Grace. I want you to be mine and mine only, because a world without you is a world lacking in beauty. I have desired you always. I desire you now, and for the rest of my life."
Every part of her coincided with every part of him. She rested in his arms as he feverishly kissed her – her ears, her neck. His hands continued to work at the back of her dress. Once again, she moved her hands under his tunic, and then his lips enveloped hers.
~O~
It felt strange to be so bare, even in her own bed. As he slid under the sheets next to her, she turned onto her side to face him. She'd imagined his body being flawless, but never imaged how toned it was. He seemed almost a deity, the likes she'd only seen in paintings. Lying beside her, he ran a hand through her hair, cupped her chin and kissed her. His other hand slid under the sheets sliding over her curves. Her heart was racing much faster now.
His eyes were moving over her form, just as her eyes moved over his.
"Am I as beautiful as you pictured?" The words fell from lavender lips.
"Even more so, Your Grace."
He dipped his head to her bosom, his tongue and lips giving her chills even as her body was becoming warm. She placed a hand to his stomach and slid it further down, stoking his length. All was almost silent as the moments ticked by, segmented by their broken breaths and their soft hums of approval as their hands moved over each others bodies. He moved himself over her, meeting her eyes. She knew the moment had come. She parted her legs, and he positioned himself between them. She wasn't hesitating, but she dug her fingers into the sheets bracing herself. With his thumb, he stroked her face, reassuring her implicitly. He began to grind his hips against hers. The friction between them was already beginning to drive her over the edge, eliciting a moan from Hilda. She never wanted him to stop. Then he slid himself into her wet heat. She stiffed a cry, biting his ear.
She looked into his eyes again. He seemed barely phased by the bite. She could see that he wanted more, his desire ravenous and almost aggressive. The look stirred something in her and she began to buck her hips in time with his thrusts, the pain beginning to fade.
They were intoxicated by each other. Every breath of the princess gave the sorcerer more and more euphoria. His hands ran all over her body, touching every inch of her skin. He breathed in the scent of her hair. She trailed her hands down his back wanting to feel the sensation of his muscles tensing. It all felt so wrong, but also so right at the same time. She could see it in the look he gave her. Even in that dying kingdom, life was taking place between them.
His thrusts became faster, more forceful.
"Hilda... Your Grace..." Yuga slurred, his breath becoming ragged.
Their thoughts were in unison, they only wanted more from that moment – to please each other. It came the moment she forgot her kingdom, her problems, her role; worn out by love.
She arched her back driving him deeper. She whispered his name when he stopped breathless.
~O~
Later as she was beginning to fall asleep in his arms she began to murmur to him softly as her head rested on his pale chest. "I am praying... Praying for power, wisdom, and courage... Praying our plan succeeds... For the sake of my people... For us..."
For Princess Hilda, it was perhaps the first night she didn't have nightmares. Yuga wished he could stay and admire the sleeping princess and take in every detail - the way the sheets clung to her petite but curvy figure, her dark purple hair cascading over her satin pillowcase. The night had passed too quickly for him, but he needed to attend to last minute preparations and then rest for himself. Hilda was asleep when Yuga slipped from her bed, searching for his robes. For the first time in his entire life he was in disarray. His painted face was smeared from perspiration and his meticulously styled curls were all askew. He noted that he wasn't bothered by this, and chuckled softly.
"When you've touched real beauty, everything else is irrelevant."
Before leaving her chambers, the sorcerer gave his princess a one last melancholy gaze. "Let's consider it only a beautiful dream, the prelude of a glorious day incoming. Queen and crown jewel of my world, await my rise and we'll be together forever."
I really want to thank my friend and beta-reader GerudoSpirit for her help to the realization of this one-shot and for the authorization of using one of her images as cover. I dedicate this to her, in particular, and to everyone who supports the Yugilda pairing.