Link sat at a long wooden table with the other soldiers, eating oatmeal with them. They eyed him suspiciously- he looked healthy and sane for a homeless straggler. They were used to random men staying around for a few days until Zelda could find them a place outside of the castle. She didn't like keeping unfamiliar men around, which was also why she usually put them in the soldier's quarters. If they exhibited suspicious behaviors, the soldiers were there to keep them under control. Corinth marched up and put a heavy hand on Link's shoulder. "I would like a word with you in private."
Link stood up and followed Corinth out of the mess hall into the corridor. Corinth wheeled and folded his arms. "Where were you last night?"
Link stepped back. "I'm sorry?"
Corinth sighed. "We noted you had gone missing in the night, Link. Where did you go?" Link folded his arms in return. "The queen requested a private audience with me."
"Oh really."
"Yes."
Corinth stepped forward, practically nose to nose with the shorter male. "If I find you're creepin' around, aimin' to make off with anything that belongs to her royal majesty, I'll throw you out in the snow so fast yer nose'll bleed. And I mean anythin'." Corinth did not usually speak with an accent- it seemed the sort of thing that only occurred while he was agitated. Angrily, he turned and walked down the corridor. "Go back to your breakfast." Link growled and turned the opposite way. He'd lost his appetite.
-
"So, Link, is it?" asked a young soldier, sleeping on the bunk next to Link's.
"Hm."
"You an' the queen are good friends."
"Well, I don't know if I would say that. I know her though."
"Yeah? How well do you know her?" The soldier rolled his tongue out at Link, laughing. His laughter kicked up a storm of braying from the rest of the soldiers in the room.
"It's not like that. She and I are just friends!" Link tried to explain. He clenched his hands into fists and got up from the bed, walking out.
"Go an' see her, eh?"
"Give 'er a kiss for us!" The laughter stopped as the door slammed shut. Link's face burned with anger. He closed his eyes and counted to ten, his heart pounding in his ears. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, walking through the castle. He headed outside and stood in the cold, letting it soothe his anger down. If they knew what he'd done for Hyrule, they would be treating him with respect. They would be bowing to him in the corridors. But as it was, they ignored him, which was better than being mocked, but not much. Already, he felt the urge to wander building. But Zelda remembered him, had missed him. Link cursed and spat into the snow and whirled back around, going in.
He busied himself in the library, flipping idly through books that he had no interest in reading. He knew how. A woman in a distant land where the sun shined all the time and the water was always cool and salty showed him how to read. She wanted to show him more, but he politely declined and kept the reading lessons. Oh, the women he'd encountered (and how he'd spared telling Zelda about any of them)! Tall, pale women that spoke only a strange language that was both musical and rough, short women with fiery hair and tempers, women that were trying to marry him to either themselves or their daughters. Princesses to peasants, they'd tried to get hold of him.
Link yawned, staring at the book he held, reading a line six or so times. He wondered if he could get away with sleeping in the library, though if Corinth caught him he might think Link was waiting for the princess. The situation bothered him deeply. Why did it matter if he was friends with Zelda or not? He set the book down and stood up, leaving the library.
-
Zelda hummed, brushing her hair in her bedroom mirror. She paused when someone knocked at her bedroom door and opened it, staring at her visitor.
"My lady, it seems that you are the only one who finds my presence welcoming here." Link was wearing his heavy cloak, and looked tired and frustrated.
"Link, what is going on?" She touched his shoulder, looking into his face.
Link sighed and folded his arms. "I don't get along very well with the soldiers, or their leader."
Zelda invited him in and sat down in one chair, Link joining her in another. "I'm sorry, Link, I just find it surprising that you're not getting along with them."
"It's because they treat me insultingly. And Corinth suspects that I am a… thief." He didn't want to tell her the real reason Corinth was suspicious.
Zelda narrowed her eyes. "This is most troubling. Corinth has been faithful to me since I was a child."
Link bit his lip. "Your majesty, I wanted to leave last night. I was ready to pack up and take off without saying good bye. But I didn't want you to think I had forgotten you, because it was so refreshing that you remembered me. I owe you more than slinking off in the middle of the night."
Zelda laughed and ran her fingers through her hair. "And you don't even know; I would have sent the guards after you to drag you back here."
Link tilted his head. "What?"
Zelda blushed. "It's just- it's refreshing because you know me. I can talk to you without you bowing and scraping. I can finally talk to someone without feeling like I have to censor myself." She sighed and reached forward, taking his hand in hers. "Link. Please. What can I do to get you to stay? I'll give you your own room, I'll give you a guard position, I'll give you—
Link grabbed her shoulders. "Stop, stop, stop, stop."
She was trembling, and clung to Link tightly. "Don't leave me, please. I've been trapped alone here for so long, I couldn't bear it. I was nearly ready to get a horse and take off after you." She burst into laughter and tears, Link hugging her, feeling a little confused.
"You could always come with me," he said with a faint grin.
She shook her head. "I'd give anything to do just that." She sighed and straightened, one hand to her chest. "I will give you your own room and servants. Anything you need, just let them know and they will get it for you." Zelda stood and pulled a long red cord.
"My lady, I told you that you don't need to do that."
"I want to, okay? I want to do it. I owe you this much." Zelda stood up as the servant she called for showed up, as did Link. "We are to give Master Link here a room. What ones do we have available?"
The servant nodded. "What about one of the guest rooms? We have so many that aren't used often."
Zelda nodded. "Take us to the one in the north tower."
-
The north tower was across the castle from the tower Zelda resided in. "It has a bit of a draft," Zelda warned, "but a lovely view of the mountains, and it gets warm breezes in the spring and stays cool in the summer." Link didn't bother to mention he wasn't thinking that far ahead yet. The room was large, with a hardwood floor, a writing desk and chair positioned at a window, and a bed already made up.
Zelda nodded. "If you ever need to summon your servants, you need merely pull this red cord near the door. They will bring you breakfast, tea, and dinner every day. You will have full use of the royal baths, the royal stables for your horse as opposed to the soldiers' stables, and…" she paused and looked to the servant. "What am I forgetting?" The servant, new and shy of the queen, shrugged.
Zelda sighed and turned back. "Well, anything you need, just ask. They'll be sure to help you." She turned and left the room quickly, and Link and the servant stared at each other for a few minutes. Link looked around, and smiled at the servant, trying to be friendly. She blushed and avoided his eyes instead. "You can go, if you wish." She nodded and bowed, rushing out the door quickly.
-
Corinth looked up at the door, hearing a knock upon it. Before he could say, 'come in', however, it was opened, and Zelda was staring at him with fury he'd not seen in her before. He stepped back, staring at her in surprise. "My lady, what is-"
"How dare you treat a friend of the queen like a common thief?! How dare you fail to keep your men in line around a royal guest?! We are NOT amused by this, Corinth! Not amused at all!" She pointed a finger at him, her back straight, making her seem taller than she usually was. "We demand a personal apology written to him in one hour, or it will be your job." Zelda wheeled on one foot and left the room, her heart pounding. Her steps were quick and hard, and everyone in the halls immediately stepped to the side, out of her way. She snapped her fingers, two servants immediately rushing to her with a long cloak in their hands, dancing alongside her in an effort to fasten it around her neck and keep up with her fast pace.
She was heading west towards the royal stables, preparing to blow off the pent-up anger that continued mounting higher and higher. As she headed towards them, she could see the stable boys trying to gently maneuver Link's horse towards the royal stables from the soldiers'. They stopped and bowed to her, and to their shock(and Zelda's), so did the horse, standing with its hooves together and its nose brushing over the snow. She finally entered the warm stables and went to her horse, a powerful silvery beast that snorted gently against her forehead in greeting. Zelda opened the stable and led her out, putting on the reins and saddle before getting her outside, mounting, and taking off towards the woods.