Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda

Hi everyone! I was so happy with the reception of the first chapter! Thank you very much to MakerofGames03 for your review, and thank you also to all those who favourited and followed. I hope that I can continue to entertain you with the following chapters.

Enjoy!

094. Alcohol

The bar was busy tonight. Chatter bounced around the wooden, crowded room like an excited Chuchu, and the warm candles lit the room with a fiery glow. Link sat amongst a table of soldiers, all out of uniform for once, and all talking loudly, beer already warming them from the inside against the frigid winter air.

"Didn't you knock over all the armour in the armoury last week, ey Hans?" One of the soldiers laughed, and the others joined in, drinking deeply from their beer mugs. Link laughed along with them, drinking the bitter ale. He felt the alcohol flow through his veins, warming his bones, and gave his mind a nice, free, hazy feeling. He felt light and carefree. So different the daily life they experienced under the heavy weight of metallic armour, never dulled by the fury of battle. He sighed as the men chattered about other stupid things they'd all done, settling into his newfound feeling of bold freedom.

"Alright there Link?" One asked Link; Mark, his friend. Link looked over at the man sitting across from him. A generic face with generic colouring, the only outstanding thing about Mark was his kindness. He'd shared food with Link on his first, lonely night at the Barracks, and they'd been friends since.

Link nodded. "Just fine." He replied, a small smile pulled across his face by the beer's hazy glow.

"Oh, I know what's on his mind." Marcus grinned from further down the bench, his leering smile exaggerated in the candlelight. "It's the lovely Princess."

The soldiers all laughed, and the tips of Link's pointed ears turned pink.

"Of course, that pretty face would get him anywhere!" Another sniggered, and Link drank deeply from his mug to try and ignore them. "Look at those big baby-blues and handsome looks."

"Careful Simon - sounds like you want to be the princess! Fancy wearing a dress, too? I bet you'd look lovely in pink."

"Oh shut it, Marcus!"

Link watched the two bicker across from each other and looked over at Mark. They laughed, as did many others who watched the pair like a tennis match, whilst they had one of their infamous arguments like that of an old, married couple

"Link," the young boy next to him, Colin, began shyly, "what is the princess really like?

The two fighting went quiet, and Link was suddenly aware of all 15 other soldiers staring him down intently.

"Well…"

It was true that Link had been at the castle for a decade now. And it was true that he had been quickly promoted. And had now been the personal guard to Princess Zelda for 5, going on 6, years. And that the two were very close. And that when Link had been made a knight, there had been talks of more being possible between the Princess and her knight. And that there were many more things that the others didn't need to know about.

Link looked up and down the row of eager faces. He took a deep gulp of beer from his mug and placed it down carefully on the bench.

The silence was deafening. He was also suddenly aware of how they had been making almost all of the noise in the bar.

"She's nice."

"Oh, come on!"

"That's not even an answer!"

The soldiers complained wildly at him, and many scowling faces looked back at him.

Link drank deeply again. He didn't actually have a very high tolerance, contrary to popular belief, and he'd had a couple pints at this point.

"All right, all right!" He shouted, and they all fell silent again. "She's prettier than you'd believe, cleverer than the rest of us-"

"We know that already!"

"-is funnier than you'd think and can drink more than all of you put together!" Link drained the bottom of his mug and stood, holding up a rude sign to the men as he left, ignoring their insults and protestations. He knew that if he said anything more, he might lose his head, and if he stayed there, then he was bound to let something slip. He wasn't stupid. He liked having his head on his shoulders.

He walked jovially out of the bar, and round the corner back to the barracks. There, he left his cloak in the room he and Mark shared, and then wove through the corridors of the barracks until he was in the servants quarters of the castle. Sneaking around in the dark, he hid around the corners and crept into the servent's corridors. He knew this route like the back of his hand. Even though he had a room in the castle to keep his weaponry in during the day, he wasn't allowed there at night. 'It wouldn't be proper', they'd said. It would cause a scandal, bring shame to the princess' name. Link smirked at the thought as he pushed the secret door open to the Princess' room. Better the scandal they didn't know.

"Zelda."

He was almost barrelled over by the Princess as soon as he entered, dressed only in a thin night-dress.

"Link!" She held him at an arm's length, like a grandmother inspecting her grandson. She looked so beautiful, he thought, cheeks slightly pink and honey blonde hair splayed all down her back, eyes shining bright with happiness. She narrowed those bright blue eyes at him. "Are you drunk…?"

Link snorted. A little. "Me, drunk? Not at all! The other soldiers were, though." He grinned, in what he hoped was a roguish way, and Zelda only rolled her eyes, then took his head in her hands and kissed him - in a way that his friends would never, ever know.

I guess this one isn't really set in a specific time period, but I suppose it's more fun if you just leave it to your imagination!

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