On the eve of the second day after their discussion, Link found himself walking out of the temple before the rise of the sun.
The ceremony of Confirmation —as she had named it on the note she had written for him— was to begin at the break of dawn. At least, that was what the paper said.
He hurried along the path to a small waterfall, where Zelda was probably already waiting for him, trying to cast the last fogs of sleep from his head.
Hylia sat cross-legged on a huge stone at the top of the same waterfall where they had decided to meet.
She had spent the previous day and two nights reminiscing all that has happened since Demise's defeat. Before and after her childhood best friend has begun to call her by two names.
When she processed it, it was almost surreal how he meant so many different things to her. This fact had been fueling her possessiveness for him, not only for his unbreakable sprit, but also for his mind, his heart, even his body. She loved him in more than one way, more than two in fact...and it was precisely why she was unable to stop fretting about what was about to happen.
She couldn't phantom losing him, but she also couldn't bear with the idea of violating his freedom. In all the ways she wanted him, she had no desire to shackle him.
... Metaphorically speaking.
On another hand, Link had shown a lively interest in the process of the Oath, and he might become angry with her if she kept thinking like this. He had never been one to follow orders blindly, neither when they disagreed with his heart, nor when they upset him. He was strong willed and much more level headed than he appeared.
Especially on mornings, she conceded, her smile frail.
She could understand. Probably. Partly. He had told of a need to appropriate his destiny...but she had been the one to define it for him. So repeating the process was going to make her conscience uneasy.
She hardened herself concentrating of the present.
...Had Link asked for this back then —when he had just returned and seen through her— she would have been incapable of going through with the request.
But time had passed since then... By sorting their wounds, apart and together, they had grown, changed; the grim days following Groose depart no longer weigthed between them...
He could have returned to Skyloft at any moment and exposed everything to her father. Yet, even while he had been upset, Link had stood with her. He had watched her back, kept her company...
He had given Zelda a part of her hope and life back after eons of memories and a cripple to her soul at the hands of the Abhorred and his sword-spirit. In a way, Link had brought that naive, precious part of her back to life, she mused, a slow smile growing obliviously on her lips.
p align="justify" Besides, now... She colored faintly, staring at the end of her sleeve.
Hylia's knight didn't seem intimidated nor distant when he groaned her name in her ear, taut frame pressed against her back as she shook on her forearms; the lover who smiled up at her under sheet and cover had nothing nervous or hesitant either. ...Not even the first time she had brought him to bed without a word and saddled him, devouring his lips without a second thought to have him to her heart contents. (To her defense, she might have waited longer if he had not kept flashing her shy smiles that flushed the loveliest shade of pink whenever caught. ... So much for taking things slow. Then he has locked his arm around her neck, crushing her to his frame in a vice—like grip. His tears had run, wet silver trails faintly glistening in the darkened temple and she remembered how hard she had fought in order to remain strong. For him.
Well... She could not just consider her feelings anyway: he had expressed his will. She had no right to doubt him...no reason to deny him the ritual.
She had accepted his decision. ... She did! ... In theory.
Because there was also the matter of how every fiber of her being had precisely wanted this from some turning point as she slept in the crystal...and the matter of how the intensity of her desire worried her... It blurred things, blinded her in some measure. And her inner voice kept prompting her: what if she was just projecting on him, and Link simply didn't realize it, or worse, didn't mind? Out of love perhaps.
Zelda stuffed one of her apple bun in her mouth and chew on her frustration, glaring at the skyline.
This had to be solely his will.
She closed her eyes, nodding inwardly. She would make sure of it.
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨Ʒ
For all of her efforts to steady her resolve, Hylia was well on her way to a headache when finally, to her relief, she found Link approaching the waterfall.
Her Chosen emerged from the canopy of trees and she watched him round up the water and start to climb.
By the time he reached the top and found his breath again, she put down her sweet buns and took a deep breath to still her heart.
She took a peek at his figure from the corner of her eyes as he stood behind her, pawing off moss from his bangs, exasperated at the offending debris. She didn't notice it when the corners of her lips rose a notch, alleviating her unconscious frown. Just like that, her headache was forgotten.
Hylia drew a deep breath and closed her eyes. Then she put her hands on her neck, hoping that her cold fingers would help clearing her mind.
Rising to her feet, she lowering her hands to her tights, permitting herself only the tiniest of smiles as she greeted him.
They stood, facing each other. Suddenly the distance between them felt immense, serious. It weighted with the very gravity she had striven to dispel these recent days.
Instinctively, she inched back to the bundle of sweets behind her to present him a bun. But she reminded herself with the purpose of their meeting.
She folded her hands together and taught herself to accept the tension. For a minute, she perused his body language, looking for something off-tune, anything that could give ground to her fears.
"Do you still want to follow in with the ritual?"
Link gave her a firm nod. "Yes. I have made up my mind."
The calm strength of his voice enveloped her, echoing into her bones. She nodded pensively.
"Have you brought the tools?"
He untied a strap from his chest and lowered a small bag that he jarred open. She saw an ornate dagger and a handful of stamina sprouts in there. Those were the items she had listed along with her indications she had given him on a paper the previous day. Technically, only the dagger was required, but the cliff on top of which they had decided to execute the ritual was a hard climb. And while her newfound magic allowed her to levitate on short distances but Link's didn't. She had to make sure that his mind was clear and his body serene when they did this.
She nodded for herself and her gaze shifted to her fellow mortal. Right where he crouched, a deep yawn shook his lean frame, almost tipping him off.
He put an open palm against his mouth, which only highlighted his surprise and he turned pink under his blond bangs.
Zelda's brows rose and then narrowed together. She hoisted her hands on her hips and leant toward him.
She knew it! She swallowed and bit her cheeks. Her hand closed, shaking with the pressure.
She fought an urge to untie the sailcloth at her waist and jump down the waterfall to run somewhere dark where she could just feel miserable about her selfishness.
Instead, she glared at him and raised her chin.
Her voice came out cold, emotionless.
"For such a ceremony, there can't be any error. I will not accept an oath that may not be made in a lucid state of mind."
She smiled sourly.
"Fortunately, I know of a temple that greatly improves concentration."
Has she gone a little far?
At the word temple, something flickered on his face. "Am focused now!" he claimed, his gaze more alert that he had been all morning.
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨Ʒ
He stared at her with shock.
The shadow of a smile crept over her hard face. Though he never suspected any form of sadism in his goddess (... any real form of sadism, he amended), and wondered if he had heard her well.
"Your Grace?" he stressed out with some measure of outrage.
He had rushed through most of the temples, bearing the prices for this on his body...and fortunately lacking time to dwell on the gores, or on his secret fears, or to despair because...because he knew she was running ahead. He thought about this for a moment but soon shook his head. Zelda's past motives didn't matter right now.
Still she joked.
Never would he have imagined even Hylia... Yet her tone, her... It made no sense. Why by the four winds would she do this now?
Hylia was silently watching him, and her eyes felt like those of a hawk peering at him. As he slowly began to suspect her to have a hidden purpose behind these words, she held her hands and nodded.
"I am glad to see you fully awake."
Link stared beyond her shoulder, unable to move for a while.
"Remember it's not too late to back out," Hylia reminded him gravely, a clear cut from her pretense at despondency. "I will always believe in you, Link. No matter what. So..." she held his gaze and thinned her lips, giving up.
Realization hit Link like lightening. He lowered his head and stared a hole into her feet to deal with the shock.
With a deep breath and a silent promise to make her pay for this last test tonight, he swallowed his doubts with a defiant sigh and drew himself high. Eyes narrowed, resolution filled his bones as he picked a sprout from the bag.
He bit the fruit, crunching both the sweet flesh and the nutritive nut; he swallowed. Now that any remnant of sleep had been cast off from his body as well, he faced Hylia again.
Still, he struggled not to stammer... He recalled the words of the Oath his predecessor had made, and the ones he had chosen for himself, this time.
"Long I have looked for you, Your Grace."
She fell silent, her face inscrutable again. "And why have you come to me?"
"I have come to offer my live to the divine guardian Hylia, Goddess of my people."
Hylia didn't answer.
Link knew her to be still hesitant. He proceeded following with the vows he had memorized and rehashed in his head since the previous day.
"Today I pay—I pledge," he corrected himself and drew a quiet breath, trying to still his shaking fingers— "my will...in the servitude of the Goddesses. To their blessed guardian, Hylia, I give free use of my body and my mind," he said, his voice resounding with a quiet, serene confidence. "From now on," he went on, "let them be a shield, a vessel and a weapon; let my blade never draw blood but to serve you; bless me and make me the instrument of your justice."
Her hand touched his lips and he sank to his knees, slowly as to not break contact with her fingers.
"You have spoken, loud and clear. Hylian, I heard your Oath," she paused searching his eyes, "and I accept it."
She lowered herself down the time to seize the dagger in the bag and stood again. With it, she drew a shallow cut in the palm of her left hand and brushed off the blood still of the blade. Then she presented him with her bloodied hand. Unsure of what to do — the paper didn't specify if he had to remove every trace of blood or just touch her cut with his lips. Well.
He just touched it at first but when she did nothing to take her hand back, he furrowed his brows. The more he waited, the more blood would poor from the cut anyway. And he felt uneasy seeing the rich carmine shade on Zelda's dainty hand. Link took her wrist in his two hands and carefully licked her palm clean, unconsciously adding pressure on the wound to slow the pouring.
When he let it go, faintly blushing, he didn't catch the itch in Zelda's breath. Hylia's voice beard no trace of it as she spoke again, resuming with the ceremony.
"Your body is now the vessel of my will. Your powers will be as one with mines. You will not only be my shield, but my weapon as well. By the rules of the Three Ladies, of all the beings that exist on this world, you will serve me and me alone."
Then she concentrated energy in her finger and drew on his forehead as she talked.
"To this world I bind your spirit, as long as my fate will tread within its confines...so shall it. Let our souls intertwine along the roads of this life. This is the path you have chosen for yourself."
Her finger left his skin hovering a few seconds before settling down against her thigh.
His forehead felt still buzzing under the freezing cold of her finger. Soon enough, the sensation seemed to sink and he didn't feel it anymore. The pull of his Bond felt completely silent now. Sated.
He blinked, still expecting something, anything magical to change in him. He felt both placated and disappointed when none did.
Then he smelt her hand. It was a combination of scents, both naturals and engineered, mixed with the taste of her blood; a unique blend that he would easily recognize her by as it could not belong to any other. He wondered where that had come from. How could he even identify a smell so precisely?
One second after the scent reached him, Zelda's hand rose to fondle his hair.
Link brows rose skeptically as he watched the grass with a newborn's eyes. There had never been so much detail to the textures around of him. He strained to listen to faraway sounds and chuckled in amazed delight. He was pretty sure his sense weren't that keen before. Not all of them, not with that much precision.
Before he could ask, he heard Hylia voice above.
"You were my Knight and my Chosen. But now you are my instrument," she murmured affectionately. She gazed at him amorously for a while until he shifted on his feet, brushing the nape of his neck. "My love?"
He looked up, unable to part with a tiny smile that shone with a newfound kind of satisfaction.
"There is something I want to ask of you as per rights of our new status." She smiled in her turn. "It's nothing dangerous! But I will tell you of it this evening... Okay?" she added, fidgeting discreetly.
Link fought not to wince and chided himself. Why did he react negatively? She had just said it would not be dangerous...yet, why would she hides it until this evening, then?
He drew a breath and closed his eyes, shaking his head at himself inwardly.
Zelda, Hylia hadn't done anything harsh since he had known her. For all of her defaults — and Hylia did have her lot, even more so than Zelda (but given that she was her as well, perhaps it had been a bit expected)— well.
For all of them, in the last days, she had been sorry, repentant, accepting, patient, supportive, both a bit more gentle and passionate than he had imagined her before all this, too...
All in all, not once since then she had given him reasons to be wary of her. (...Okay, he amended, none serious at least.)
He had not only trusted her with his all because of their Bond, or because his choice couldn't change what had already been done years ago. Had it been the case, he would have not felt completely content. No, he would have felt miserable for too many reasons...; if he could have decided to give himself to her, it was because he deemed her able to be trusted this much.
Then, he couldn't behave like he hadn't meant it. No.
There was no longer any place for doubt or fear of Hylia in his world. Besides, thinking otherwise would be rendering everything he had done meaningless.
For these reasons he would not worry.
(Or so he told himself.)