Twelve
It was early afternoon by the time Link and Ganon splashed down in Lake Hylia, and swam for Lanaryu's shrine. Most of the morning had been spent with Ganon adjusting to the new weight of his armor choices, and—to his chagrin—being taught how to swim. The water pool had certainly been more than deep enough to facilitate those lessons, though it was going to take more than one lesson for him to be anything other than a clumsy swimmer.
She was waiting for them at the entrance to the shrine, her air of calm confidence restored, though after only a glance at him, she turned her attention to Link.
"You family is fine. Kakariko is fine. You did well to keep the troubles of the rest of Hyrule to yourself. The Gorons are fine too, Eldin ablated enough of the dark magic that the mountain only spit a few angry stones instead of many."
Link let out a relieved sigh, and flopped down on the stairs so he could change his tunic. Ganon hesitated, but before he could get a word out, she gave him her full attention.
"Your ass is lucky I don't have the time to nurse a grudge, otherwise I'd ignore you for the next century," she told him, ice coating her voice. "If you ever do something like that again, I will stab you."
He winced a little.
"So I suppose attempting an apology won't help?" he asked cautiously.
Raiha blinked, then gave him a suspicious stare. Ganon dug into the pouch where he'd stuffed the headpiece and offered it to her. She barely glanced at it before eyeing him with renewed suspicion.
"I screwed up."
"Yes. You did."
"I can't fix it immediately."
"No. You can't."
He was at a loss for words; she hadn't been this angry since their first meeting. He wasn't any more sure now than he had been then about how to handle it. He pushed the headpiece at her again, wishing she would just hit him, or yell, or something that wasn't this icy cold calm.
"I found this and thought you might like it," he muttered, looking away from her to the path that would take them up to the plains. "It's... if you won't accept it as an apology, maybe a peace offering?"
Raiha's frown grew more pronounced, and Link winced a little. Maybe he'd been wrong when he'd said Raiha would forgive Ganon...he'd never know the lady to hold a grudge before, but then, there was always a first time for everything. He hoped that Raiha would accept the gift; he didn't like seeing Ganon looking subdued any more than he liked Raiha in a temper. It just seemed... wrong.
After a long, wary moment, she looked down at the stone, and drew in a sharp breath.
"Where did you find this?"she asked, hostility leaking from her voice.
"It was on a stand of armor, covered in dust. Looked like something you'd wear... the armor, I mean. And this."
Raiah's face was carefully neutral; after a long moment she took the headpiece from him and put it on,shivering a little at the damp touch of metal to her sun-warmed skin. Energy whispered through her, and the sense of the familiar; so, her Sages Stone and no doubt the armor too, had been up in the Oocca city this whole time. No wonder she'd never been able to find it.
She was almost tempted to make him go and get the rest of it, but the Sages Stone was really the important part; it had the power of the six sages of old, and would be a welcome boost in the fight to come.
"...and here I was prepared to stay annoyed," she sighed a little, aggravated. "You had to ruin that by being genuinely apologetic."
Ganon glanced at her carefully, then let himself smile faintly. Maybe not friends, but back on non-hostile territory. He'd take that.
"Well, it seemed the fastest way to avoid getting thrown in the lake," he retorted, perhaps a little cheekily.
"...the thought has crossed my mind." After a moment she just shook her head, and the stone flickered as it caught the light. "All right. Enough. We're armed. Armored. And as prepared as we're going to get. Now..."
She turned, and looked up in the direction of the decimated Castle Town market. Humor and mirth fled, and a grim anticipation took their place.
"Now we have something else to do."
Link got to his feet with a quick nod, and Ganon felt some small anticipation of his own. The shade would not be able to retake him. It wouldn't be able to touch any of them.
"You have a plan?" he asked.
Raiha nodded.
"Gonna share?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because in order for it to work, it has to stay with me."
Ganon grumbled slightly, but dropped the matter, and the three of them made their way up from the lake. Overhead, the sky began to darken, gray clouds covering the sun as they drew closer to what was left of the town.
The monsters had mostly scattered out to the plains, and the few encountered within the bound of the town were weak, and quick to scamper. Ganon assumed they were going back to the sewer entrance, but when Raiha led them to the central square, he paused.
"Are we just going to knock on the front door, then?" he asked a little sardonically.
"Yes, actually," Raiha replied, not slowing.
"What?!"
Now she stopped, turning to face him rather impatiently.
"We're as ready as we'll ever be, and it's waiting for us. Or didn't you notice the color of the sky?" She made a quick gesture upwards with her hand, and Ganon grimaced a little at the threatening clouds. "The shade knows we're coming. It's being ever so helpful at setting the scene. And if it's still got a thing for theatrics, it'll take place in the throne room, same as last time, so even if we snuck into the palace, we'd still have to find our way up there, and we'd end up losing the element of surprise anyways."
"But coming at it from the front..."
"If there's still guards living in there, I will be surprised," and her voice was faintly sad. "It's more likely we'll be fighting whatever the shade turned the people into, and we're armed. We have magic. You two have Triforce pieces. I think we'll be fine."
Ganon wanted to continue protesting, but had to admit that she did have a point. He had remembered enough spells to be more than lethal, and he had the Sages sword if he didn't want to cast. Link had the Master Sword, and Raiha had a thousand tricks and traps up her sleeve. She had that look about her, as though she was calculating every possible outcome.
Link flashed him a very brief, rueful smile as the continued on through the silent city. He'd wanted to ask, but it was easier for him to simply trust Raiha to know what she was doing than it was to wonder aloud and bother her with questions. And right now he didn't doubt that they would be a bother instead of welcome as they usually were.
The shield over the castle dissipated as they approached, thunder growling low in the distance.
"Welcoming us in. How polite," Ganon growled slightly.
"Well, let's not be slow to the party then," Raiha replied, unsheathing her blade. "Coming boys?"
In reply, Link and Ganon both pulled their swords out as well, and they crossed the bridge ready for anything to jump out at them. It was almost disappointing that the only thing that happened was the return of the barrier, sealing them within. No creatures climbed the bridge, no monsters burst forth from the courtyard to intercept them. But there was also no signs of any guardsmen to stymie their progress. When tested, the entrance into the palace was even unlocked.
Raiha pushed the door open carefully, Link and Ganon on her heels as they entered into the receiving hall of the palace. It was silent and dark, cold and unwelcoming. The air was teeming with dark magics; Raiha could feel the echoes of agony, and bit her lower lip to keep silent.
A door creaked nearby, just once, very slowly. Raiha nodded lightly in the direction of the door, and the pair followed after her, occasionally stumbling over some overturned obstacle hidden by the shadows.
The darkness and silence had an oppressive weight to them, one that Ganon couldn't help but be uncomfortable with; he could all too easily imagine the fire-hot voice of the shade as it whispered through his bones, retaking its place in his mind and body where it had lived for so long. Ice trailed down his spine at the thought; gods, he would rather die than allow himself to be possessed again.
Link absently bumped him with his elbow, abruptly reminding Ganon that Raiha had ensured there would be no repossession. No possession of Link either. No doubt she had herself protected too... but how would they fight Zelda? Killing the princess and condemning her to the cycle of rebrith as evil didn't seem like something Raiha would do. And he knew of no way to actually kill the shade anyways.
The corridor was silent and dark, and ended in a set of carpeted stairs. Raiha studied the stairs for a moment, then sheathed her sword.
"One at a time,"she murmured. "I'll whistle when I reach the top."
Ganon wanted to protest, but kept silent; of the three of them, her reflexes were indeed the fastest, and she had already proven to know the palace the best. So he watched with unfeigned reluctance as she slowly made her way up the stairs, practically on her hands and knees until she rounded the curve and was out of sight.
It didn't take long for the fighting to start and the clash was evident even all the way at the bottom of the steps. Link and Ganon didn't bother with stealth, or who would be first, they just skipped stairs as fast as they could to get to the top, where there were enough animated suits of armor for all of them to fight.
Link was the first to figure out how to beat the armor, and he did so entirely by accident. A lucky strike with the Master Sword clipped a dark gem at the apex of the helmet, and the thing staggered backwards. Following through his training, he kept attacking, and his next strike shattered the stone into dust, which caused the armor to collapse into pieces. Ganon and Raiha were quick to emulate, and soon enough three suits of armor lay in pieces along the second story hallway.
Raiha gave him a fierce grin in lieu of wordy congratulations, and Link blushed a bit. Ganon seemed rather pleased himself, and lightly twirled his sword in one hand before looking farther down the hall. The darkness there was broken intermittently by torchlight, highlighting paintings of what looked to be former leaders of Hyrule. A few kings, but mostly various Queen Zeldas from time long past.
From behind them came a faint click, and the sound of metal sliding against metal. Raiha turned, blade raised in preparation for another fight, then muttered a curse at seeing the woven chain portcullis that had dropped to block their retreat.
"What a pushy host," she said after a moment. "There had better be guest rooms for resting in."
"And food," Ganon added. "Wine wouldn't go amiss either."
"I'd prefer water," Link said a little sheepishly.
Raiha smiled wryly; her boys certainly knew how to take a joke and run with it. It was heartening. Also comforting; she hadn't thought either of them would follow along with her cynical sense of humor that well.
After a moment the three of them continued on down the hall, Raiha in the lead. She kept her ears pricked for any sounds in the tunnels, which were close by. She remembered full well which painting would open up to let them in, but she was denying her usual theatrics herself; this was the time for stealth of a different sort, and her plan lay ready and workable in her mind. It hinged now on the two trailing her, though she had to admit it wouldn't matter much if they agreed or not. Still, she hoped they would; it would be easier.
The door at the end of the hallway was locked shut, and blocked by another chain portcullis. It was tempting, so very tempting, to let Ganon fireball it into ashes, or to do it herself. She was fairly sure that once Zelda was free again she'd agree that a few doors were a fair price to pay for her life. But still. No point in wanton destruction.
"Watch the corridor," she said, crouching down to get a better look at the lock. "If anything comes down it, I don't care who or what it looks like, you kill it."
Link and Ganon both blinked at the finality in her tone, then nodded, and moved a little ways down the hall to better prevent an ambush. Perhaps naturally, nothing happened until the lock gave way with a loud click, at which point the ceiling on either side of the door exploded, dropping tile and wood, as well as a dozen Stalkin and one Stalfos. From the other end of the hall, beyond one of the paintings, a half dozen lizalfos jumped in as well.
Link immediately headed back towards Raiha, concern flaring through him when he realized he couldn't see her moving around through the dust. And then there was no more time to look as they spotted him and converged.
Ganon stayed where he was, using his longer reach to easily spear the lizalfos who sprang too close, and his weight to bear down on them as necessary. He was concerned about Raiha as well, but if she was hurt, they would have known it by now; he couldn't imagine her being quiet about getting injured so close to the end goal, after all.
He was not wrong either; Raiha joined the fight with the stalkin once the worst of the dust had cleared, and was quick to mow them down while Link struggled with the stalfos, barely managing to block a blow that would have cut across his ribs and probably broken a few at the least. Raiha glanced towards him as she distracted the stalkin, frowned, and then cursed.
"You center," she snapped. "Get into it!"
The barked command he'd heard so many times helped bring about the wave of calm from which everything, including time itself, seemed to slow. He ducked, and used his shield to knock away the stalfos' shield, stabbing into the center mass of the skeletal creature. Skill and luck combined to have him sever the spine, and the thing crumbled into ash and dust. He turned to offer help to Raiha, but she shook her head and gestured with her free hand in the direction of Ganon, who still had three of the six lizalfos trying their best to kill him.
Link nodded, and went to help his friend. Instinct warned Ganon of the approach of the sword that had killed him more than once in the past, and he jumped to the right as Link lunged in to attack the lizalfos on his left. As Link took that one on, easing the pressure against the former king, he managed to force the two remaining on the defensive, before quickly dodging left as Raiha came in on his other side. She wasn't laughing, but he had the sense of fierce joy, and spent a moment neglecting his own defense to watch her fight.
Only a moment because the remaining lizalfos came after him in his distraction, and he was forced to concoct a hasty defense. Now he heard Raiha laugh, and grunted in annoyance because she was laughing at him. The Sages sword in his hand glowed brightly as he locked blades with his oponent, then drew on the Triforce of Power to fling the creature into the opposite wall with a loud crack.
Raiha killed hers in the same moment, and Link's fell ten seconds after that. Silence settled around them again, cut by their own harsh breathing, and after a moment Raiha pulled water skins from one of her pouches, and passed them around. She used half of hers cleaning the dust from her face, then carefully swallowed the rest, and set the skin aside; there was no chance of refilling it here, and it was a little less weight to carry.
Link and Ganon both emulated her, washing away sweat and lizalfos blood before they drank the water down.
"Well, at least we don't have to say this was easy," Ganon said after a moment.
"No one in their right mind will ever say doing this is easy," Raiha replied, unpinning, then repinning her hair more securely. "Nayru knows it's not."
Link nodded a little as he rolled his shoulders to resettle his chainmail. The adrenaline of the fight was wearing off now, and he could feel the hits he'd taken; bruises blossoming under his armor. Ganon was no different, his forearm hadn't appreciated that particular block, even with the vambrace to help take the hit.
"This door will lead us out to the terrace and the stairs third floor," Raiha said, motioning to the door she'd unlocked. "We'll have to climb interior stairs to get to the fourth floor, and after that it's another trip outside to make it to the throne room."
"So,we're halfway there?" Link asked.
"...pretty much."
"All right then," Ganon said, absently touching the jewel on his forehead for luck. "Let's get moving before the shade thinks we've decided to take a nap and sends something more challenging at us."
Raiha snorted a little and pushed the door open, leading them outside. It was starting to drizzle now, and every now and again thunder would rumble lowly overhead. Ganon glanced up cautiously, as did Link; while they had not faced too many threats during the visit to the Oocca city, they had certainly seen the over-large birds that had eyed them hungrily. Getting attacked by one or more of those birds here would just about be par for course, as far as they were concerned.
It wasn't birds, but winged lizards with blades and shields—aeralfos—that attacked them, swooping low and away before the trio could retaliate. Raiha muttered a few choice words that made Ganon snort, then tossed him and Link the clawshots again.
"Reel them in boys," she said, her sword clearing its sheathe. "I'll do the rest."
It didn't take long to figure out the attack pattern of the aeralfos; just before they attacked, they would bring up their shields as they built altitude for a swift dive. Ganon got the first one, Link the second. Raiha's face held no remorse, no pity, as she killed them.
The third one managed a stealth attack, knocking the red-headed woman forward. She turned the fall into a roll and managed to come up on her feet again in time to see both males taking exception at something attacking her; Ganon pinned the flying lizard, and Link killed it. She blinked at them as they both glanced up; first at her, and then at each other in surprise. Despite the seriousness of the moment, she couldn't help laughing at the chagrined expressions on their faces.
"Knights in shining armor at my age," she chuckled a little as they started back up the balcony stairs. "Who knew."
Link beamed, pleased by the compliment. Ganon couldn't help but feel slightly flattered, and a smidge hopeful; maybe he hadn't lost as much of her trust as he'd first thought.
As they approached the door to the third floor, the rain began in earnest, prompting hasty entry. This hallway was lit with torches at set intervals, a bit dusty, and clearly empty. Still the three proceeded with caution, weapons in hand at all times until they came to the foot of the stairs that would lead up to the fourth floor.
At the sight, Raiha muttered a vicious curse. A ledge of stone, less than a foot wide, was all that remained of most of the stairs, with the occasional platform that jutted out in a random manner. Looking down made her dizzy enough that she had to step back, and Link put a hand on her shoulder in concern. She took a few short, shuddering breaths, then looked up at the metal gratings spaced along the wall; that had gotten her up the last time...
"Link, do you think you can slide up that narrow path?"
He eyed it thoughtfully, then sheathed his sword and carefully started edging along the narrow ledge. Ganon watched with unease and dislike in equal measure; if Link got attacked while on the path, before he reached a ledge, he was bound to fall. He glanced sideways at Raiha and saw that her jaw was set in a way that suggested she was worried as well, but also resigned to the lack of choice.
"How are we getting across?" he asked after a long, tense moment.
In response, she produced the clawshots again, and handed them to him.
"Hope you don't mind a piggyback ride," she said, with some of her old asperity coming through her nerves. "With how much we'll weigh, it's entirely likely that staying too long will pop a grate out of the wall, so you'll have to be fast. You up for it?"
He looked from the clawshots, to Raiha, up to the grates. Then to Link, still carefully and slowly edging his way along the broken stairs. At the back of his mind was a touch of relief that she was trusting him to get them both across, and a small bit of avarice at the thought of her wrapped around him so tightly.
"Yeah. I can do it."
"You better," she grumbled. "It'll hurt if you fall."
"Just get on."
Raiha moved around to his back, hooking her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. He let her get settled, hiding the jolt of desire that rushed through him to the best of his ability, then carefully lined up the first shot. He felt her breath hitch as they were yanked to the grate, and felt a curl of sympathy as her face pressed against his neck, mouth moving slightly in prayer. To whom, he wasn't sure, though given the way she seemed to swear by Nayru more than the other three, he wouldn't have been at all surprised to learn it was by the Goddess of Wisdom. He made sure their stays on the gratings were as brief as possible, and had to admit to no small amount of relief himself when they reached the top and safety.
Link made his way slowly and steadily up to join them; by the time he made it, Raiha had regained her calm, and retrieved the clawshots once more. Ganon's face held a look of mild disappointment; they were quite fun little toys. Behind them once more a chain portcullis slid into place; as one, they ignored it, and headed down the short hallway to the double doors at the end.
"...great," Raiha muttered as a trio of darknuts blocked their path. "One for each of us."
Ganon gave her a fierce grin.
"I could make them explode," he offered.
Link snorted a little in amusement as Raiha genuinely considered the offer. After a moment, reluctantly, she shook her head.
"Too close; the shockwave would hurt us as well."
"Damn," Ganon muttered.
Link patted his arm sympathetically; he'd been hoping for an easy win too. Raiha smiled faintly.
"Come on boys. Let's show these things why we're not to be messed with."
Ganon grinned a little.
"Last one fighting has to give the other two a kiss," he teased.
Link and Raiha exchanged looks, then they both nodded, Raiha with a smirk of her own.
"You're on."
Thus motivated, the trio unsheathed their swords, and strode towards the darknuts. Link took on the one on the left, Ganon took the one on the right, and Raiha was left with the one in the middle. The darknuts were not slow to activate, and the two males were quick to realize that there wasn't enough room to fight all in a line. Swiftly, they led their opponents to other areas of the room, freeing Raiha to fight without worry.
Link had a fleeting moment to wish the chain portcullis was not in the way as he coaxed the darknut to charge at him, and took a solid swipe at it as he dodged aside. He could have tripped it and sent it flying down into the darkness, and that would have certainly been an easy win. Instead he was having to whittle away at the heavy armor, looking for a weak point to strike.
He was, at least, not alone in this manner; Raiha and Ganon were both doing the same thing, albeit in entirely different ways. Ganon's style of hard, heavy blows were putting dents in the darknut armor, while Raiha sought straps to cut. Consequentially, her darknut developed a hole in its defense first, and she was not slow in taking advantage of it. The armor shattered like clay once she'd pierced the heart of it, though it did manage to get one last buffet in, nearly dislocating her shoulder in the process.
Grimacing, she called up a trickle of magic to ease the pain and reset the bone properly, then turned to watch the other two fights critically. After a moment, she snorted a little; Link was putting in a good effort, but she suspected that Ganon was drawing things out, just so he could be the one to kiss the both of them.
Since she didn't really know how to feel about that—despite what she'd said, she was still upset with him about the Sky cannon trick—she put the thought out of her mind and simply watched.
Link was the first to find an exploitable weakness in the armor of the darknut, driving his sword hope with surprisingly ruthless efficiency; she certainly hadn't taught him that. She had, however, taught him the shield block he used to keep the sword that descended at the last second from breaking his collarbone, which made her smile in faint approval.
He panted for breath as he pulled his sword free, glancing around to see whether he was the last or not; while he had subconsciously registered the sounds of continuing battle, he hadn't known until looking whether it had been Ganon or Raiha.
Raiha walked calmly over to him, handing him another skin of water, which he drained gratefully as they waited for Ganon to finish playing with his opponent.
"He's having fun," she commented idly. "Maybe next time he needs a good spar, or you do, I'll conjure up one of these things."
Link winced at the thought, and glanced at her, not entirely sure if she was serious. The glint in her amber eyes made his heart sink a little; she was very serious. That generally meant pain for him.
"But... after we win, there won't be a need for it, will there?" he asked gingerly.
Raiha half-turned to him, then smiled in a way that suggested he had just asked something he shouldn't have. Link winced, and she lightly patted his shoulder.
"There's always a need to stay in practice. Just because we win doesn't necessarily mean the monsters will go away."
His shoulders slumped, making her chuckle as Ganon finally tired of toying with the darknut and performed a two-handed overswing that crumpled the armor across its chest. The armored being collapsed, then shattered as the other two had, and he nodded in satisfaction, then turned to see his companions watching.
Ganon would admit to himself that this was essentially how he'd hoped it would go; it was part of why he'd made the bet, even as a light joke.
"Who wants to get kissed first?" he asked, his tone light as he strode over to them.
Raiha rolled her eyes.
"Does such a bet even count when you plainly made it with the thought of stalling?" she asked, her tone dry. "Your strength and you triforce piece both mean that you could have won quite easily."
"That would have been cheating," Ganon retorted.
"Yes, and you're all about not cheating, aren't you?"
He grimaced a little at the knowing look in her eyes. Caught. Before he could admit to it however, Link cautiously stepped forward.
"It's probably not the time," he began hesitantly.
"It's definitely not the time or the place," Raiha interjected.
"B...but... Um..."
Link's cheeks started turning red in the torchlight, and Ganon blinked a little, then grinned; the boy was volnteering to go first, probably to make certain that Raiha didn't negate the whole thing. Well, if Link was going to be so obliging, how could he refuse?
Raiha rolled her eyes lightly, and shook her head in resignation; clearly she was being overruled, and that was that. Well, if they were going to muck about with kissing, she was going to go and make certain that the door out to the fourth floor balcony and stairs wasn't locked. And if some small part of her suggested she was looking away because she was jealous, well, she flattened that part quickly, and turned to go check the doors.
Link would be the first to say he'd never been kissed before. He'd flirted with the idea a few times—there were some very cute girls in the market and he had been a soldier in training—but had never quite felt the need to go through with it. Partially because he couldn't help imaging Raiha's reaction if she'd heard about it. Sometimes he imagined her being amused, and sometimes he pictured her being hurt. Not until recently, however had he considered the idea of kissing her.
And he would be the first to admit he'd never considered kissing another guy.
Ganon, on the other hand, was no stranger to kissing. He knew just how to kiss to leave the other person wanting for more, and he applied this knowledge now to the young man before him. Easily able to tell of Link's inexperience just from how he reacted to the subtle pressure of mouth against mouth, he made sure to keep it chaste, but still passionate enough to leave the blond panting for breath when he pulled away.
He couldn't help being entirely too pleased by the dazed look on Link's face. The flush reached all the way to the tips of those pointed ears, and getting ready to head into a large conflict or not, Ganon spared a moment to wonder if they would be sensitive to touch if he got the boy properly aroused.
After a moment he took another step back, then turned to find Raiha, allowing Link time to gather his thoughts and recover before joining them again. She was crouched by the door, fiddling with the lock as he approached, and made a faintly annoyed sound when his shadow blocked her sight. Obligingly he moved aside until he heard the click that meant success.
"Don't want a kiss?"he asked, genuinely curious.
She straightened, putting away the lock-picking tools, then looked up at him. After a moment, her mouth twisted a little wryly to one side.
"And if I say no?"she asked.
"You'll be missing out. I'm a great kisser."
That startled a laugh from her.
"Yes, and I wonder why that would be."
The cynical tone stung him, but underneath it he could hear a hint of wistfulness. So he carefully moved a little closer; not blocking her in, but maybe impinging on her personal space somewhat. Raiha took a half-step to the side, wanting a clear line of sight at the least; from what she could see of Link, he was still putting his brain back together after kissing Ganon, and a small part of her wondered timidly what it might be like.
"Raiha." She looked up at him, studied his expression. "Simple answer to the question. Can I kiss you?"
It was tempting to dodge the question entirely; this really wasn't the time or the place to entertain such things, such thoughts. On the other hand, if her plan worked, she might very well die for real, and if she did...
After a moment she sighed.
"All right. One kiss. Quickly."
Ganon's slow smile was a far cry from his cocky grin. Despite her still simmering ire, she felt her heart speed up, just a little; if he looked at every person he was trying to seduce like that, then it was no wonder he'd had so many women of his tribe following him blindly.
He leaned in slowly, giving her time to change her mind; a large part of him was pleased when she stood her ground, neither backing away nor advancing to meet him. Very few women had been like that... at least that he could recall.
His mouth brushed hers lightly, and for a moment he felt no response at all to the subtle pressure. It didn't surprise him, not really; Raiha had spent centuries living without making strong emotional connections. Naturally, her response would be control before anything else. So he pushed a little harder, trying to walk that thin line between coaxing a response and being overly pushy.
He felt her sigh slightly, and considered pulling away when she finally responded. Her pressure was delicate, cautious and uncertain, but not inexperienced. Very carefully he put one hand on her hip and coaxed her to move a little bit closer.
It was tempting to delve into the kiss further, make it far more passionate. He wanted her to want him, to need him. To feel the same desire for him as he was feeling for her. It was hard to make himself stop the kiss, but when she began to resist, he released her and stepped back. There was a hint of color on her face, and she took a few short breaths, but he was willing to bet that his were the eyes darkened with desire.
"That was terrible," he said after a minute, mock-pouting a little."After we win, I get a do-over so you can do it right."
Raiha blinked. Stared at Ganon. And then burst out laughing.