No...
It had to be some kind of hoax, or a nightmare of her own fabrication...
Yet at the same time she remembered the misery that had plagued his face, the despair that had shrouded his vibrant blue eyes the last time she had seen him, and, in that moment, she knew her fears for what they were.
She felt herself move, quickly, towards the bathroom entrance, her mind numbed with horror all the while. Her hands balled and she struck the wood of the door, calling his name.
The terrible ache in her chest was soon partly forgotten, as pure adrenaline coursed through her veins, and ever aware of her pounding heart, she continued to slam her fists into the wood of the door, calling his name frantically as she felt faint moisture gather in the peripheral of her vision.
"Link!" she cried, the toe of her right foot adding to her violent efforts, "Open the door...!"
The endeavour to persuade him through force proved useless, even as she begged him to stop, to unlock the door and to listen to her words of reason for just a mere few moments.
Gradually, she slowed; a sinking feeling forming in the pit of her stomach, as she turned her back to the doorand slowly sunk to the ground, eyes closed.
A single tear found its way past her lashes and trailed down her cheek; she had failed him.
"Link...," She did not know what to say. Despite her loss for words, however, and knowing that he would not answer her pleas, she spoke her mind softly, hoping he would at least acknowledge her words.
"I...I know that life gets hard; and that it all seems like too much to cope with sometimes," She heard a slight sob, "Especially for you and I. We have the weight of the country resting upon our shoulders, our every hour is spent worrying that the decisions we make are wrong; that we have failed in our responsibilities as sovereigns of Hyrule."
Her voice came out as an almost-whisper, and she prayed to the three goddesses that he was listening,
"But...th-there is always a light in the dark. It may be so dim that you can't see it, but its there. You just have to find it."
She was beginning to fear that her feeble efforts to delay whatever self-harm her husband was planning had failed more royally that she had feared.
"Link, please..." She breathed, pearls of moisture forming on her brow, "you have too much to live for, too much life left to experience to give up now. You truly do not how many love you. There are people out there, your people, that would lay down their lives to save you. And despite there being those who do not, the amount that look up to you, that love you despite your flaws...they need you, Link. I need you."
There was a slight shuffling behind her, and, much to the queen's relief, the rough and shaky voice of her husband followed soon after.
"You haven't needed me in quite a while, Zelda."
"Link, you are a fool to ever believe that. It was the reason I married you, the reason we went through all that we did to be together. I am your wife, just as you are my husband, surely that means something to you?"
The fact that he believed he could end his life and it have such a minuscule effect on her stung. It really did.
"Of course it does," his voice, initially harsh, softened with his next statement "...and yet I have failed you too many times to be of much comfort to you now."
There was a pause.
"I-I love you, Zelda..." the slight sob in his voice caused her heart to give a painful lurch, "All I'd ever wish for was the best for you, and right now I truly do not think that I am that."
Zelda could hear that his voice, laced with emotion, was on the verge of breaking. By the gods, she wished he would just open the door...
Swallowing the knot in her own voice she spoke in a soft voice, "I know what it feels like, Link. Your own mind is a prison cell, and the darkness is everlasting... No matter how you try, you cannot escape. I've felt what you are feeling, Link, and I'm still here. There is a way out, there is always a way out."
"But there isn't, Zelda. I'm too far gone now, I'm not strong enough anymore."
"But-"
"I'm a failure! I have lost everything, Zelda! Why don't you understand?
"My title as monarch has become a joke; I am no king. As hard as I try, I can never live up to what people expect of me, what I expect of myself. The floods, the bankruptcy, the disease... I cannot even bring myself to attend court most days.
"And finally, I have lost the most valuable thing I could ever have...you." His final sentence had been spoken so softly, she had had to strain her pointed ears to hear him.
"Link..." she whispered. He...he thought he had lost her? "You'll never lose me, Link. Never. In life and in death, remember? Remember how I pledged my love to you? Don't you know that I never break my promises?"
She felt the tears come, and an ache form in her chest. Her hands trembled and her voice shook, but she took a deep, slow breath and carried on.
"I love you, Link. I love you in a way I previously didn't know existed. I love you for your gentle soul, your courage and your spirit."
There was no reply, but she could faintly hear his shallow breaths from behind the door, so she went on.
"The death of my father... It broke something within me. He was one of the few souls in this world that I felt understood me. It is all well for those out-with these castle walls to pledge their concern, their interest in our lives, to extend their everlasting empathy to coddle our ever-tainted souls; but we both know that such feats are impossible. And whilst I would never wish such adversity on our subjects as we are now used to, it brought peace of mind to me to feel, I suppose, as though I was not alone in this world.
"And of course, when such peace of mind was taken from me in such a... a sudden manor," the burning sensation behind her eyes was rapidly blinked back, "I felt...much like one does when falling, I suppose. But, as I said before, there is always a light in the darkness, and you were my light, Link! You spared me a life of subjugated misery! You saved me, and it would be an honour, my greatest honour, to do the same for you."
...
For many moments all that could be heard by both was the rapid beat of each other's heart and soft contractions of the lungs. The young queen's hands were clasped tightly in silent prayer, her eyes closed, and head resting against the door.
Slowly, very slowly, her eyes slid open, and a single tear slid from her bloodshot eyes. Her husband...her Link...
She rose to her feet. The panic-fuelled adrenaline had long subsided, and now she felt but a soothing numbness; an emptiness that she had felt only once before.
What was there to do now? What was her purpose? It was to rule; to watch her Kingdom prosper, and her citizens rejoice... as the dusk coats the land in its embers, and ignites the trees of the horizon and the water of the stream, to a time when light showers the earth, and the goddesses once more cast their blessing upon the people. As the young, widowed queen lies alone in her chambers, pristine and pale as a winter rose, and dreams of a time that never truly was.
...
But alas, as the queen soon found, such a reality would never truly exist.
...
The room was, yet again, silent; as the queen stood motionless, her eyes unseeing, in the centre of her chambers. Her mind was teetering, by the minute, on the verge of collapse.
However, when the soft click of a lock was heard behind her, her heart lurched. Too petrified to spin around, she stood motionless; her long, Hylian ears straining for a signal that would further ignite the spark of hope in her heart.
The prolonged creak of rusty hinges seemed to resonate around the room, the tension in the air practically tangible. The queen would swear, for years to come, that in the moments when she finally turned, her heart stilled.
The rays of dusk sunlight filtered through the window at his back, giving him a near ethereal glow; his sunkissed, golden locks casting a halo over his handsome face, chapped lips parted and bloodshot, yet vibrantly blue eyes boring into hers.
In a split second they were in each others' arms, the queen's fingers threading into the hair at the nape of her husband's neck, and his face pressed into her shoulder. She heard his soft, muffled sobs, and felt the warm wetness of his tears on her bare shoulder.
The queen felt as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders; as if the ever present storm cloud hovering above them had cleared, leaving the warmth of the sun in it's wake. A profound sense of security overwhelmed her in it's embrace, and, as her husband's arms tightened around her waist, a sudden wave of relief coursed through her body.
"Gods, Link..." The murmur escaped her as he pressed his lips to the queen's neck. Her eyes slid shut, a feeling of bliss washing over her being as his mouth made small nips in the delicate skin at her pulse point. Her name fell from his own lips in a whisper, and slowly his kisses trailed up, past her neck, and over her flushed cheek, until their tears mingled, as his lips finally found hers.
"Zelda."
Over the course of the next few months, both the queen's, and Link's advisors found themselves at a loss. The floods, falling economy, and perpetual ill-fortune that had exhausted their kingdom, had vanished seemingly overnight. And whilst this was gracious news to behold for all, it would seem, tensions abruptly rose within the Royal Court as a significant proportion of ministers began to closely scrutinise the cause of the recent series of unfortunate events; more so than they had before.
The conclusions formulated by the ministers and Members of Parliament took many forms, however one such theory was increasingly prominent; the theory that the queen's husband was at the centre of these happenings.
Of course, in time, these suspicions were dispelled. Zelda made it her duty to inform the court that an untreated illness had befallen her husband, in the stead of the distressing truth; and to give only vague information regarding the on goings within the castle walls to those both looking to create publicity, and who were merely curious.
However, every so often, when the king walks through the streets of Castletown below, someone notices the sun shining that bit brighter when the corners of his mouth tilt up into a smile.
Author's Note: I'm gonna be blunt, and tell you that the only thing I see when I read this FanFiction is Hyrule-coloured, Zelda-flavoured vomit.
To be honest I'm just glad my year-and-three-month-long quest to finish this story is complete. I'll admit, it really was worth it; and chances are I'll get some fabulous story inspiration sometime soon, and the whole fabulous process will repeat itself.
Hope y'all like it
*tyres screech*