Unintended
Spring
The first few weeks living in Hyrule's castle were overwhelming. In return for saving the kingdom, Link received an estate, a title, and an appointment as General of Hyrule's armies. The latter was a bit much, as Hyrule didn't really have an army, but Link expected to rectify this situation in due time. Meanwhile, his first order of business was whipping the palace guards into shape.
That was the easy part. Running drills and teaching new techniques came naturally to him, but going through the motions of the court was not so simple. Though he was now a noble, the etiquette and traditions that Hyrule's nobility took for granted were confusing for a newcomer. Queen Zelda did her best to take time to help him transition, but most of her attention was occupied by bureaucratic affairs, and Link really only saw her during his daily military report.
It was a situation that could have led to frustration and more than a little anger. Out in the country proper, Link had friends and connections. Here at the castle, he was welcomed with kindness — He was the Chosen Hero after all — but friendship was lacking. Though Link felt a distinct connection with Queen Zelda, due to battle and losses gone though together, he barely knew her. He felt awkward in her presence, perhaps due to that connection. It was strange to feel so intimate with someone still so much a stranger.
With so little to tie him to the castle, he found himself wondering why he stayed.
Summer
Summer in Hyrule was sweltering everywhere, but even more so in the castle, far away from the cool breezes of Ordon's trees. Sweat trickled down the back of Link's neck as he ascended the stairs on his way to Zelda's rooms. Though his reports were usually delivered in one of the castle's many offices, the lack of windows in said offices had led Zelda to relocate her daily meetings to one of her drawing rooms, where occasional gusts of wind through her large windows kept her staff from melting in the heat.
Link approached the door, rapped on it, and opened it to enter. Inside, he stopped short, blinking.
Ordinarily, Link's reports were delivered after Lord Girard, Queen Zelda's Chief Advisor concluded his own meetings with the queen. Rather then entering on the tail end of the advisor's report, Link found Zelda reclining on the drawing room's sofa, her feet kicked up on a decorative pillow. She was reading a book.
Her head jerked up when he entered, and then with a sudden gasp she dropped the book on the sofa, where it promptly slid with a thud to the floor. She grabbed it and placed it more securely on the sofa and stood, straightening out her skirts. One hand crept up to touch her forehead, which drew Link's attention to her flushed cheeks. "Oh my goodness, Link," she said, moving across the room to her desk. "I'm so sorry. Lord Girard is ill and so I had some extra time, and I stayed up far too late last night reading that book and just couldn't resist picking it up today. I lost track of the time. Just a moment."
Link moved forward to his customary seat, smiling slightly as she cursed under her breath, hands shuffling the many papers on the desk. She was so rarely flustered. After the third curse, the smile threatened to become a grin. "It's okay," he said, hoping to calm her. "I'm in no hurry."
Zelda sent him a brilliant smile, one that made her eyes sparkle, which took him aback. Her smiles were also rare, and this situation was hardly deserving of one. He heard her murmur, "Aha," as she grabbed a sheath of papers, and then she was sitting properly at her desk. She let out a deep breath and nodded at him. "Okay. Let's get to business."
Their meeting was conducted quickly, and Link bowed formally when he took his leave. But as he shut the door, he considered that quick flash of a smile that had completely changed the look of her usually calm face.
He wanted to see it again.
Fall
Fall brought welcome coolness to the city, just in time for the solstice festivals and annual court tournaments. Link participated and won, receiving multiple favors from his Queen. She smiled at him, but it wasn't the smile he wanted to see.
The calm after the festival events was welcome, and most of the exhausted servants retreated to their beds early for a few weeks to get some deserved rest. On one such evening, Link stole down to the empty kitchens for an evening snack. He pilfered an apple and settled at one of the room's many tables, enjoying the peace of the dark room.
A noise near the kitchen doors startled him, and he turned to find the Queen with her hand in front of her, magic forming a small flickering ball of light. Her eyes widened at the sight of Link. "What are you doing down here?" she asked, surprised.
He gestured with his half eaten apple. "I could ask you the same question. Wouldn't a maid just bring you something if you were hungry?"
Zelda took a few more steps into the kitchen, still a bit wary. "Yes, but most of my servants are sleeping, and I didn't want to have them woken up." She bit her lip. "You don't mind, do you?"
Link shrugged. "It's your castle, Majesty."
She stared at him, her eyes narrowing slightly, and then she shook her head. The ball of light disappeared, but as it faded the walls sconces sputtered to life. "It is my castle," she told him, walking over to the pantry doors, "but I won't bother you with my company if you don't want it." She stopped by the door and twisted to look at him. "Are you still hungry?"
"I could eat."
Watching her in the kitchen was bizarre, as Link's imagination would have never placed her in this context. To his surprise, she knew her way around the kitchens, pulling out knives and plates without hesitation. She didn't bother to light the kitchen fire, instead using her magic in a more direct fashion, toasting the bread and cheese with a tiny spark of flame emitting from her fingertips. "Do you do this often?" he found himself asking.
"Not anymore," she said with a little sigh. "I used to be able to get away with this all the time, but now I can only manage it here and there, when I know no one will see. Except," she said, frowning at him, "for hungry Generals, apparently."
"What do you mean not anymore? You could before what?" he asked, accepting his plate of bread and cheese. He grabbed another few apples to share.
Zelda shrugged. "Before everything, I guess you could say." She followed Link to the table. "I didn't get very much attention when I was younger. Our mother died when we were so young, and my father kept his focus on Alexander. My nurse let me do most anything I wanted, including dabbling in cooking." She laughed, very softly. "It used to make Alexander so jealous."
This was new. Not the history of the deceased royal family, everyone at court knew all about that, but Zelda rarely mentioned them, especially her brother. "What was he like?" he asked.
Zelda shrugged again, looking down and not meeting his eyes. "Oh, stern and impatient. He knew he was going to be King, and he took that very seriously. He tried so hard to be exactly like Father, and I tried so hard to break him out of that. He could be very playful and funny, but he... forgot to be most of the time, I guess." She toyed with a bit of her bread. "I used to hate him for that."
Link's hands moved of their own accord, settling softly on top of her own. He felt her start at the contact, and her eyes darted up to meet his own. They stared at one another in the dim light of the kitchen, and then her expression softened. "Thank you," she whispered.
After seeing her safely to her rooms, Link walked through the quiet castle halls. He grabbed a candle to light his way and entered the galleries where Hyrule's history hung for all to see. The gallery was much diminished, he'd been told, the current paintings recovered from the Royal Family's outer estates after the old castle was destroyed. Still, the number of paintings remained impressive.
He knew exactly where he was going. He'd passed this painting before, but now he examined it. A younger Zelda sat primly in a richly decorated chair, her royal diadem resting on her head. Behind her stood her twin brother. Link examined to boy's stern mouth, and the eyes that were so similar to the Queen's. He looked for any sign of mischief, but if there had been any to be seen, the artists had missed it.
Link set his candle on a nearby table, and then slowly paced in front of the painting. His movements were slow, but his mind whirled with activity. Thoughts of Zelda's few words tangled with his own sudden thoughts of Midna, and Ilia, and Ordon, and loss, and how life could change so lightning fast.
He paced for almost an hour, but his thoughts never settled.
Winter
Hyrule's winters were relatively mild, but Link had never appreciated just how hard a castle was to heat. The fires offered bright and cheery warmth, but the stone remained cold and most rooms chilly.
Link enjoyed his meetings with Zelda in her office, which though so miserably hot in the summer, was an appreciated reprieve from the cold in the winter. Its multiple fireplaces kept the place toasty, so warm that it almost made him sleepy. It was also the only time he saw Zelda most days. Much of Hyrule's nobility wintered in the castle, and that kept Zelda busy. He noticed that her eyes were more drawn during the winter months, and even he couldn't draw a smile from her lips.
He blamed it on the stress of the political maneuvering inherent in the very full court, until one morning when, as he made his rounds to check on the on-duty guards, the small figure of his Queen darted around a corner and slammed right into him.
He grabbed her shoulders to steady her when she fell backwards from the force of the collision, but his hands tightened when he saw that there were tears leaking from the corners of her eyes. He had to stamp down on the sudden reflexive urge to draw his sword and take off after whoever had caused those tears. "What's wrong?" His voice was harsh even to his own ears.
Zelda turned her chin, looking away. "Nothing. It's nothing."
"It's obviously not —"
"It's stupid, and I'm being stupid," her voice warbled, and Link heard her breath catch as she tried to swallow more tears. "Please, all I want to do is get to my rooms."
Link let go of one of her shoulders, but only so he could latch his hand on to her chin and turn her face to look at him. Her eyes looked so blue. He made the effort to gentle his voice. "Tell me what happened."
She started speaking slowly, but then the words began to pour out. "It's my council. They just... Sometimes they just think I'm still a little girl! They treat me like a child, and hold me responsible for things that aren't my fault, and even though there are so many things that are my fault and that I should rightly be blamed for, there are some things that are just beyond my control! And then they just sit there and smirk at me and it makes me so angry and they know I'm angry and they pounce on it and act like I'm not fit for my position, and it just makes me so... so..."
Link cast his eyes around the hall. Though no one was in sight, there was no telling when a maid or guard might amble around the corner, but there was also no way he was going to let her run to her rooms and weep on her own. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her waist and hauled her up and into one of the many private alcoves lining the palace hallways. She gasped at the movement, but when Link put her down, he didn't relinquish his hold. Instead he pulled her even tighter against him. She struggled for a moment, but stopped when he whispered in her ear. "It's okay. It's okay. You're just with me. Just let it out."
He didn't know how long they stood deep in that alcove, Zelda quiet sobs muffled by the cloth of his tunic. Instead of marking time, he marked the shaking of her shoulders. As the tears continued to fall, he gathered his courage and lifted his hand to run through her hair, trying to soothe her. Gradually, her body stilled in his arms, but he didn't let go. If anything, he held her even more tightly, trying to convey his silent support.
When Zelda finally pulled away and looked up at him, her cheeks were still stained with her tears, and her eyes still red, but Link had never seen anything more beautiful. He brought both hands to her face, using his thumbs to brush away the vestiges of her sorrow, and then cupped her face in his hands and brought his lips down her hers.
It was a long and sweet kiss. When he released her, and her eyes opened to look up at him, her lips curled into that dazzling smile that Link had so badly wished to see.
He pulled her close again, and as she nestled into his arms, he considered that he needed to become much more acquainted with the members of her council. Never again would they make her cry, he vowed. Never.
Spring
With spring came suitors.
It was really only one suitor, a prince from a neighboring kingdom, but the heralding of his arrival was enough to make Link's blood boil. Zelda welcomed him to her kingdom with all due ceremony, and announced the feast and festivals to be held in his honor. She was perfectly cordial without being overly inviting, and it was obvious to all that she held little interest in securing anything more than a political alliance from him.
This didn't keep Link from clenching his teeth in rage at the sight of the Queen's hand resting lightly on the prince's arm as they walked on a tour of the palace gardens.
Link tried his best not to abuse the skills earned during his long adventures saving the kingdom, but certain situations called for certain measures, and he brought out his clawshot to help him circumvent his own guards to get to Zelda's rooms. Like a shadow, he avoided the patrols and worked his way up to her balcony.
She was brushing her hair when he burst into the room. She bumped her vanity and sent her small stool tumbling to the floor as she jumped to her feet, surprised by his unexpected arrival. She opened her mouth, but Link didn't allow her a word.
Sweeping down on her, he wrapped his arms around her, pulled her up to him, and kissed her. Hard.
He could feel her trying to break away, to speak, but he grasped the back of her head to hold her in place and deepened the kiss, exploring her mouth more than he'd ever allowed himself to before. After a moment, Zelda stilled in his arms and returned his ardent attentions, matching his ferocity with her own fire.
When they broke apart, both gasped for breath. "You don't love him," Link growled, once he had enough air to speak. "Tell me you don't love him."
Zelda pulled back in his arms, looking up at him with a mixture of indignation and incredulity on her face. "Oh course I don't love him! I just met him today! Don't tell me you're actually thinking of him as a threat? Oh, of all the—" Rather than let her continue, Link captured her lips with his own again.
Zelda allowed it for a moment, but then she pushed him away harshly. "I can't believe you," she said, glaring at him. "He's here to discuss trade agreements, not barter for my hand."
"He's a suitor, Zelda," Link snapped. "Everyone knows why he's really here, and it's not just for simple trade!"
"Do you really have so little faith in me?" Her voice was ice. "There was nothing in my conduct today that warrants this... This display. You know that I will not encourage any kind of affection from—" He cut her off again, this time by crushing her to him, holding her as close as possible.
"I hated it," he whispered in her ear. "I hated seeing you with him, and I know you were just being polite, but I still hated it. I know you won't do anything wrong, but you are so damn beautiful that anyone who sees you will want you, and I don't want to even give him a chance to look."
She sighed in his arms, and he felt her relax as she wrapped her own arms around him. "So protective."
"Only because I love you."
She froze. And so did he.
She was the first to move, gently increasing the distance between them so she could look up at his face. Link's mind was reeling. Though he'd privately admitted to himself the feelings he felt for the woman currently in his arms, he'd never thought to voice them, at least not yet. But as he looked down at her wide eyes and parted lips, that's all he felt, love, so deep that it hurt.
"Do you... Are you... I don't..."
He'd flustered her, and it was still as adorable as the first time he'd seen her making a mess of her desk. He offered her another kiss, and then looked down at her. "Zelda, I love you," he said. As simple as that.
In return, she threw her arms around his neck and laughed, and then she pulled Link down for another deep kiss before whispering the return words on his lips.
They planned for a summer wedding.
Hey look! I wrote something! Go me!
This little plot bunny refused to stay in my head and clawed its way onto paper. I hope you enjoyed, and please remember that reviews make me smile!
SJ