Chapter Four
It was torture for something to feel this good.
But wrong on so many different levels.
Immediately, Impa reacted at Zelda's friendly gesture. The expression on her face was filled with shock, wide-eyed, as she hurriedly grabbed the free-spirited princess by her shoulders, lifting her up as gently as she could muster, and away from Link.
She could have sworn Impa purposely seeped her long nails into her skin, just the slightest.
"Forgive us, young man," spoke the Sheikan sternly, her face barely moving, let alone her mouth. Zelda frowned as Impa gave the girl a firm shake. "The princess seems to have acquired some of the Gerudo's barbaric traits."
Zelda, however, could only fold her arms, pouting slightly. "It was just a kiss."
"But highly inappropriate."
Nabooru laughed at Impa's severity. The woman extended her hand for Link to grasp, and nervously he clutched her palm. He stood with a hunch now, his cheeks red, face flustered. Placing his fingertips upon his mouth, he blinked repeatedly.
"I'm sure the boy didn't mind," she teased.
Now he looked at the king, who never seemed more amused in his life. With a smirk, the man gestured for his servants to follow him, carefully moving forward.
"Come. The princess has had a long day. Let us go to the dining hall."
Zelda looked at her father hastily, freeing herself from Impa's grip as she approached him before he could take another step.
"Father!" she cooed, her voice suddenly much more feminine and hopeful. There was a pout to her dark lip, her small palms clasped together in a desperate manner. With her eyes glittering and ample, the princess cleared her throat delicately.
"I would like to request a moment, that we may stay out here." She paused, blinking quickly. "Please."
The king raised a brow at his daughters gesture, glancing at the guards around him before returning his attention to her. The older man huffed, his arms resting by his sides.
"And what would that be?"
A cleverly crafted smirk curved at her mouth, as she inhaled a large breath, her eyes now shifting to the nervous young man in green.
"I must fulfill my promise to Link," she explained coyly. "We must duel."
The guards and servants dared not gasp, but it was apparent that her plea was very surprising to the armored men and maidens surrounding her. Impa's head shook ferociously, however, at the princess's command, as she placed she gripped at her shoulder once more.
"What?" was all Link could muster, pulling nervously at the collar of his white shirt, a sudden sweat moistening his forehead. His mouth was still throbbing from the girl's bold greeting.
"I promised you that we would duel once I returned," Zelda reminded him gravely, attempting to walk closer towards him once more, but held back by her groveling watcher. "I have become quite good, Link." There was a cleverness to her grin.
Harkinian, however, was rather reluctant towards the concept.
His palms rested gently on her shoulders, looking down at her with a tender, soft expression, neither frowning nor smiling. He could only breathe deeply, staring directly into her eyes.
"My love, that is a rather dangerous, haughty request for a young lady who has just returned home. Where is the polite, delicate flower that I have always known?"
"She is still here, Father. And she will never leave. But I have been looking forward to this since the moment I left."
The pout returned to her lip, and the king could not refuse. His gaze focused on the grasses, his neck tilted away from the princess. Yet, he could feel her intent gaze, and when he returned his attention to her, the pout on her lip grew to the point where she showed the flesh of the inside of her mouth.
Before he could reply, yet, Impa took hold of the princess's dramatic ponytail, giving it a good, light tug. Zelda grimaced at the sour woman, rubbing at her roots with squinted eyes. Impa, however, wrinkled her nose towards her.
"Princess, you have been back for less than ten minutes, and already you want to ruffle up-"
"Perhaps, your majesty, you may take this opportunity to witness the success of the young lady's training. Your grace."
The king now focused his gawk towards Nabooru, who stood before him respectably. At the deep sound of the woman's voice, Impa scowled harshly.
"There will be plenty of time-"
"Alright."
The Sheikan stopped abruptly, standing behind the princess and making a subtle gesture as if to strangle her. "What?"
To her surprise, as well as to many others, the king's lips had curved to a smile, unexpectedly placing a firm hand upon Link's shoulder. The young man flinched at the touch, unsure of the old man's intentions. Carefully, he looked at Link, nodding in approval, seeming as if he were concealing an intrigued chuckle.
"If the boy agrees, and a promise was made, then it is my duty as king to allow the princess's duel."
Zelda giggled gleefully, hopping to her father and embracing him compactly. She quavered as she held him, laughing into her shoulder, her eyes squeezed shut in excitement.
"Thank you, Daddy! Thank you!"
And with a proud smile, he pattered her back.
Link gulped, however, shaking his hands in disagreement, smiling sheepishly. "No, it's alright. Really. The sky is red now, so it's rather late-"
But Zelda had pulled away from her father, standing proudly with a seductive curl to her back, her nose pointed as she snapped her fingers accordingly. "Nabooru! Get me my blades!"
What had he gotten himself into?
The Gerudo lovely swiftly went to the carriage, returning with two sword from her native land, handing them to the princess with a smirk of satisfaction. Humbly and gracefully, she bowed before her.
"Best of luck to you, your majesty."
The blades were not foreign to Link, yet when Zelda forcefully handed him one, the object felt unsteady in his left hand. It was shorter than the swords he was accustomed to, and sharper with a deadly curve. Nervously, he fumbled with it for a moment, his heart beat beginning to accelerate.
"Princess, your grace, I am not sure that this is...a great idea."
She grinned however, a very sneaky, intrigued grin, walking up to him now, slowly, steadily. Her feet tapped lightly against the grasses, her hips swaying in an entrancing rhythm. He seemed to melt at her presence once more, as she stood dangerously close to him. Lifting her blade, Zelda poked at his cloak, sliding down the fabric tauntingly, heightening his nerves.
"Nonsense, Link. I cannot break a promise I made."
With one swoop of her blade, the cloak was off of him, now hanging at the edge of her sword.
His eyes traveled from his now colder body, to the brown cloth dangling off the princess's rapier. Looking up at the taller man, her smirk only grew more mischievous. "Ready, hero?"
"Princess, I don't want to hurt you."
She scoffed a laugh at his remark, tossing the cloak aside, raising her blade to barely touch the peak of his nose. Breathing heavily through his mouth, he could see his breath fog the blade.
"I hope you are not backing out. That would be a shame. I'd be greatly disappointed."
Link glared at her for a moment, a bit cross-eyed, not knowing whether to focus on her beautiful, yet menacing face, or the sword nearly piercing his face. Gulping in an exaggerated manner, he raised the finger tips of his right hand, carefully pinching the point of the blade, and lowering it down. At this, their eyes locked, the blue of their irises intertwining.
His arm muscles tensing, there was an apparent contraction to his biceps, now firmly raising the odd sword as well, clinging it against hers.
Her gaze towards him, which had been stiff and confident, transitioned just then, softening. There was a peculiar glisten in her eyes, and a subtle, gentle smile tugging at her lips. But, her grip on the handle tightened, allowing her to hold it up more profoundly.
Link chuckled, only barely. "At your service, your majesty."
She took in his smile, now clutching the sword with both hands. "Call me Zelda."
As he had suspected, he had no idea of what he was getting himself into.
The king had made sure that the guards had cleared for them, giving the young Hylians a capacious, rounded space of grass in the courtyard. They they stood before each other now, several feet away, and the princess's glare was rather intimidating.
Her smile only appeared innocent.
And he didn't know what he had coming as she came charging towards him.
There was an appearance of perfection of how she held her sword, her positioning, the sprint of her short, thick legs. It rather stunned him simply looking at her, and if it wasn't for the blade nearly slicing his face, he would had mindlessly gawked at her for ages.
Before she could hit him, he lifted the rather light weapon, blocking her attack. Zelda had seemed stunned that he had responded quite late to her gesture, a gleam in her pupil at the realization that she could have hurt him. However, that gleam soon faded the moment he, in turn, pushed his blade harshly against hers.
Her grunt was loud, filled with frustration. Fiercely, she lunged at him once more, as a Gerudo would, and again their weapons clashed. This action continued between them, yet more movement evolved, as the young man found himself running backwards, ducking from her swings, using every inch of their space in the courtyard to avoid her. To his astonishment, Zelda was rather good.
And so dreadfully distracting.
The movement of her legs, the extension of her derriere, was she doing this purposely? Was this level of seduction in the fighting style a natural, coy element? Goodness, what had the Gerudo done to this girl?
He wanted to give her the satisfaction of winning, but utterly knew that the ferocious lady would sense his hidden potential. Yet, as they continued to move, sprint, dodge, lunge, it seemed that he wouldn't have to give her the victory.
And that was apparent when she snatched the sword from his very own hand.
Yes, Link was a skilled swordsman. And yes, it was a little difficult to fight a right-handed individual, but his talents and stamina overpowered that minor weakness. So how had the princess put him in such a predicament, a bizarre position?
Through her series of wild charges, which Link found to be a bit nonstrategic, their duel had grown more intense, as he suddenly needed to use more strength to pend her off of him. What was her motive? He couldn't help but wonder at her barbaric fighting methods, yet the controlled movement of her thighs, the sway of hair, the subtle quaver of her breasts.
He had lost focus.
Several times he had undergone this cycle within the ten minutes they fought. He had been able to bring himself out of it, before Zelda had gotten the best of him. Yet, the agile girl took control of his brief moment of weakness, when his eyes were not on her blade, but tracing her body.
She had knocked the sword from his hand and caught it before it hit the ground- by its handle, as she held it proudly in her left hand. There was a cleverness to her smirk now, her face beaming with a simultaneous twang of glee, excitement, and a newly discovered victory. And with a sudden madness taking over her, she lunged herself at the defenseless boy.
Swinging two swords.
Now Zelda reminded him vividly of encounters with Gerudo thieves. She was almost an exact duplicate. She seemed to be a master of knives now, crossing them with talent, flinging them as if it were an art. It was a beautiful, intricate sight. And distracting, again.
He tried to dodge her, avoid her attacks. The muscles of his calves began to burn from the briskness of his run, his stomach panging painfully, while he was losing his breath.
However, the quick-footed princess had caught the boy with her foot, kicking her heel against the pit of his abdomen, sending him down harshly onto the cold grasses. Though his flesh was burning, Link shivered as he lied there relentlessly, his arms extended, while Zelda's dainty foot remained planted on his chest. He didn't even attempt to rise.
Crossing her wrists before his face, the two swords angled with each other, their points meeting gracefully, creating an oval, hollow center. And she remained in this position for a moment, her body still, her focus on him severe, yet full of amusement.
"Odd how this didn't take as long as I thought," she mused, sinking her heel deeper into his chest, yet in a more gentle, tender manner than it appeared. There wasn't a smile to her lips, but a glint of glee in her eyes.
Link could only moan from her pressure, not sure on when he was enjoying it, or experiencing pain. Or both.
"That is because...I was rather distracted by you, Princess."
"Zelda," she corrected. Resting her arms by her sides, her swords dropped, landing quietly on the ground. At his reply, she rose a blonde eyebrow, persistent on keeping him pinned down.
"What part of me distracted you?"
He eyed her now, lifting his head slightly and carefully, from the tip of her platinum blonde head, to the curve of her waist and protrusion of her derriere, to the smallness of her feet. Sighing, he dropped his head back down on the more comfortable grass.
"Everything."
She smirked in a way that showed distinct pride, yet also blushed in a manner that showed otherwise.
And he could not hear her gentle reply as the sound of proper clapping surrounding them consumed the area, at the princess's victory.