Reward (Legend of Zelda, Link/Zelda, # 5)
Title: "Reward"
By: Jadealiya
Pairing: Link/Zelda
Fandom: Legend of Zelda
Theme: 30kisses #5 "Ano sa..." (Hey, you know...)
Timeline: Original/Unknown
Disclaimer: Nintendo's characters, written neither for profit nor gain
Thanks to Keiran
Link had a feeling Zelda wanted to talk to him long before she opened her mouth. There was something in the way she shifted her weight in the saddle behind him, something in the way her arms tightened around his waist…a comfortable tension, a sense of expectation, riding with them back to the castle town.
Zelda finally spoke when the town gates came into sight. "Hey, you know...my Father will want to reward you for rescuing me."
Link smiled slightly, wondering why it seemed so difficult for the Princess to bring up this particular topic. She knew perfectly well that he hadn't saved her for any reward. "That really won't be necessary. I'm just glad you're safe."
"He'll knight you, at the very least," Zelda continued, as if she hadn't heard Link's response, or she feared stopping to listen would stop her from getting to her point. "But...you know...I think I can convince him to grant you land and a more serious rank. Make you high nobility. You would just need to accept."
Shaking his head, Link pictured himself dressed in layers of velvet, ordering servants about, sword traded for an ever full goblet of wine or pages of tax reports and holding expenses...ridiculous.
"All due respect, Princess, that's not really my style. Besides, 'Lord Link' sounds funny."
The guards at the gate had caught sight of them. One vanished into the town, presumably to ride ahead to the castle and inform the king that his beloved daughter had been rescued, while others were riding forward, the beginning of a cheer on their lips. Zelda huddled closer to Link, suddenly overcome with shyness or perhaps seeking one more moment of quiet before the inevitable whirlwind of her return swept her, the horse, and the hero away.
"You know," she whispered, "if you were nobility, we could be married."
Her lips brushed against his ear when she spoke, a necessity of whispering in the face of the fast approaching guards. A simple, innocent contacting of skin...the chastest of kisses...but it monopolized Link's senses more than the worst blast of the dark wizard's magic or the deepest slice of an enemy blade.
Zelda sat up behind him, smiling serenely for the guards, every inch a Princess.
Link sat up a little straighter as well, inclining his head in what he hoped was a noble fashion.
Lord Link, after all, would have to look the part.