Restart

What a mistake to think we were in winter, weeks ago. No. In the Nest, there was a winter inside another even worse.

That's why I packed extra warm clothes for the trip.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Frea grumbled. She reminded me of those days when my maid Amy scolded me for any stupid thing.

"I have to go, I've already told you, Frea."

"Why don't you wait for Link to come back?"

I sighed. Link said it would take two days. Three days later a message came saying it would be two more, and then two more. He was trapped in a border war and I was at the Nest doing nothing. There was no danger as he had implied and the rito village was not that far away. The only thing that hadn't made me lose my mind was the fact that he always wrote me messages, on a regular basis.

"I'm going to prepare more food for the road, it's not enough." Frea said, leaving me alone.

I dropped on the edge of the bed. I opened the drawer of my desk, where I kept the messages I received from Link. I'd read them a thousand times, they didn't bring anything relevant, he used few words there, but reading his letters was like hearing him around.

We've plugged the tunnel. They're still going through on the other side. It will take us a day to get back.

-Link

There's another tunnel to the north, we haven't covered it yet. That'll slow me down.

-Link

To which, I sent him a much more extensive and livelier message.

To Link,

It's very cold in the Nest, I don't even dare climb to the top anymore. Anyway, everything's still beautiful, icy but beautiful. Mabet and I are training in the inner yard for your peace of mind, no more outings to the woods. Oh! Frea is making some great roasts... I hope you don't take long to come and try them, your mouth would be watering if you were around. Why don't you come back and rest with us for a few days? I'm worried you'll go so many hours without sleep, you know how much that affects you. I'm fine, are you okay? I hope you'll tell me more in your next letter. Come back soon.

-Zelda

And when his answer arrived, I ran to receive it with my heart leaping in my chest.

I'm fine. I'll still be delayed. Am glad about the roast.

-Link

Am glad about the roast? I still couldn't believe he wrote that. Maybe I had the silly hope that he would reciprocate my feelings somehow, and I always expected more and more from him. "Zelda, I miss you, I want to be back..." That's how he sounded in my fantasies. I'm very melodramatic sometimes, I admit it.

I gave my imagination a second chance writing him another extensive letter in which I told him of my advances translating the canvas we found in the cave. I also told him I was preparing some special potions which would help him to be healed or to recover in case he suffered any mishap. Dammit, I even told him that... I missed seeing him around here. His next letter just said that everything was fine and I shouldn't worry about him, but he would be delayed more days.

A week has passed since then, and there were no more letters, neither from me nor from him.

Then, a message with the seal of the castle arrived. A sheikah got in contact with Manroy, and he went to the inn Link had agreed with Impa. There he received a Hyrule's message from one of Impa's Eyes.

Dear daughter,

I haven't contacted you in a long time, I'm so sorry for this unforgivable delay. I can't extend myself any more for security reasons, there are some important messages I want to give you, but in order to do so, I've given them to your brother. Please meet him in the boundary town. In less than a week he'll be there, waiting for you.

Affectionately

-R.

Father's message was cryptic, but it was undoubtedly his. There were no names, and implicitly I knew where he wanted me to go... but he was very careful not to name the place. Father feared that the information would leak to some enemy. I also knew the sheikah would escort me. The message said nothing more, but on the reverse page it was drawn the Sheikah Eye emblem with two swords crossed underneath. I knew the codes of the tribe, and that one in particular meant "escort".

So, I arranged everything to leave, and waited patiently for a new sheikah signal to arrive. It did it that same morning, at dawn. I didn't have time to warn Link, but I'd do it from the rito village. Anyway, I didn't plan on extending my stay too much, if Gae wanted to spend some time with me again my idea was to tell him to come back with me to the Nest a few more weeks, while Link was fighting in that stupid war. It was great that Father had sent him back to the west again.

My trip started right away, with Manroy waving his head when he opened the gates, and Frea praying to Or. I'd forgotten how awkward it was to travel with the sheikah. At full speed, away from roads and paths and without exchanging any words. I only recognised one of my escorts, Shiro, who had accompanied me countless times in the past. He just bowed his head when I recognised him, and then he shyly excused himself and told me it was much better that we didn't talk at all, we shouldn't grab any attention.

We reached the rito village at night, through the northern gate. Some rito soldiers told me to put on my hood, and they escorted me in the darkness, without torches or any lights through the village. As I was led along the wooden and rock walkways I saw the rito stables, on the other side of the suspension bridges connecting the village with the rest of Hyrule, and it was strange because there were countless lights over there. It looked like there was a huge camp settled there, far beyond the extension of the stables, and I wondered if Gae would have brought a contingency army with him.

The rito left me at the top of the village. Hell, it was as cold up there as it was in the Nest tower, but a slightly warmer feeling surrounded me as soon as I was taken to the personal hall of Lord Tyto, patriarch of the village. The rito rooms were outdoors, they were like huge birdhouses, but, although cold, they were designed to keep some warmth inside, enough for a rito, not for a hylian.

"Welcome to the village, Princess Zelda," he greeted me. There were a pair of tall rito soldiers next to him.

"Thank you, Lord Tyto, I-

Then I was mute. I hadn't thought about it, I didn't know what to tell him to justify my visit there, because Father's message was so enigmatic... I should have thought of that detail long before I stood before him with an idiot's face, of course.

"Your brother is here," he forced a smile, "along with other allies. They arrived yesterday. We can go to the hylian cabin, there you can stay and meet your brother in a comfortable atmosphere."

I nodded, and I saved myself that I was very tired, that I was looking forward to throwing myself to the bed as soon as possible. Diplomacy required swallowing tiredness very often.

A was led to the hylian cabin, accompanied by Lord Tyto. The rito named "hylian cabins" to buildings with walls and glass windows, but it had nothing different to any other cabin. I opened the door and I ran into my brother. But he wasn't the brother I'd expected to see.

"Little sister!" He exclaimed, opening his arms.

"Kahen," I got frozen, I couldn't react.

"What enthusiasm...," he joked. He ran a stride and surrounded me tightly, "please, come in and serve yourself something hot, you're freezing."

"Your Highness, if you don't mind, I'll leave you alone," Lord Tyto intervened, without crossing the threshold of the door. "Tomorrow I'll have lunch with you. All my soldiers and services are at your disposal."

"I thank you very much, Lord Tyto," I smiled.

He withdrew and Kahen dragged me inside, where a cheerful fire creaked. I went ahead to warm my hands.

"Kahen, I have to send a message to the Eagle's Nest to warn them I've arrived here."

"Sure, I'll let the sheikah know. They'll manage it."

Then I heard a cough and saw that we weren't alone in the room. In one corner and with a drink in his hand was Ganondorf, the gerudo prince.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. My voice came out sharper than I would have intended, but I just didn't like anything I was seeing around me.

"It's a pleasure to see you, Your Highness. You look very changed," he stood up and kissed the back of my hand, bowing.

"I… I don't even know what to say now." I babbled.

"It's understandable," the prince smiled with that creepy smile of his, "you must be very tired. I was just holding your brother company while you were arriving, my army is camped on the rito stables and they expect me to come back to them tonight."

"Army...," I murmured.

"Ganondorf has come to help me in this mission," Kahen said, lifting his chin slightly, a gesture he often made to make himself stand out when he felt insecure.

"Mission… I see."

"Excuse me, but I'm retiring," the prince left his glass on the table, "it's been a great pleasure to see you again, Your Highness. You're very changed, but as good as ever. I wish you a good rest."

And with these words and a look of complicity with my brother, he withdrew from there and at last Kahen and I were left alone.

"Kahen, what is all this?" I dropped into a chair and accepted a bowl with hot broth from his hands.

"Nothing, it's security. The gerudo prince is helping us to resolve this conflict and that's very important, because it grants us his loyalty. It's better to have him around than far away."

Associating the words Ganondorf and security seemed as surreal to me as sitting there with Kahen.

"I thought Father would send Gae," I admitted.

"This mission required another type of intervention. You think we don't know everything in Hyrule, but we know everything that's going on at the border."

I bit my lip. Of course they knew, Impa would have been cautious for a while, but the western war with Ikana was something that made too much noise and Father had to know.

"We haven't known it through you, I have to say," he rebuked me.

"I'm sorry. Gae told me that communications were not safe, that it was better not to send messages to Hyrule."

"We are alone now, you can tell me the truth," he grabbed my hand.

"The truth?"

"What has he done to you? How did he threaten you?"

"What?"

"The barbarian, Zelda," he growled, "has he hit you?"

"What? No!" I got out of his hand right away, "Link hasn't put a finger on me, where do you get that stupidity? Didn't you talk to Gae?"

"Gae is nothing more than a child, Zelda," he snorted, standing up to approach the chimney, "you've suffered an assassination attempt, and the barbarians threatened and expelled you during a steppe competition. You're a prisoner of our enemy."

"Kahen," I left the broth on the table and stood up to grab his hand and look him in the eye, "no one threatened me. Well, I've been threatened, but it wasn't Link. Link has only taken care of me all this time."

"Some prisoners end up fraternizing with their captors," he said, avoiding my eyes.

Kahen was still the same stubborn boy who thought he knew more than anyone else, but it was clumsy of him to think like that.

"Link is not my captor, he is my husband, Kahen. And he hasn't kidnapped me. What has Gae or Impa told you?"

"We have been told that the barbarians have enabled passageways that let our enemies get into Hyrule. Are you going to deny it?"

"No, I don't deny it."

"Then stop defending the barbarians."

"Link is not guilty of that. Neither he nor his family, in fact, right now they are fighting those enemies, trying to cut them off. He's risking his life for us."

"Alright," he sat in the chair, "this whole operation has been to try to rescue you."

"I don't need anyone to rescue me."

"Understood," he waved his head, only the goddesses could know what he was thinking, "but what if you had the option to decide?"

"Decide what?"

"What to do with your life, little sister. We marry you to avoid war, but war is inevitable again. Once we contain Ikana, we will hold the barbarians accountable for their betrayal. Your marriage turned out to be completely useless."

"We shouldn't fight the barbarians, maybe we can investigate together, find the culprits."

It had been Kruu and Ufal, I was almost certain, but I shouldn't tell Kahen about them before time, he was too impulsive and had brought in a powerful ally that could attack happily at any time.

"Father has asked me to give you this letter. You just... Read it and think about it."

Kahen left a thick parchment on the table, bearing Father's personal seal.

"I'm going to sleep, I'm tired of traveling too much," he smiled, "it's very cold in these lands. We'll talk tomorrow."

I decided to finish dinner and warm up before opening Father's letter. I did it once I got into bed, the hylian cabin had two large quarters, one room was occupied by Kahen, the other was prepared for me.

Dear daughter,

I'm so sorry I didn't contact you before, but I had to make my inquiries before acting in a perhaps hasty way.

From the beginning the sheikah have been protecting you in your new home, under Impa's command. She informed me that everything was going on normally, that you lived quietly and peacefully in the company of Captain Link, but I also noticed some reluctance in her words that was accentuating over time, reluctance to share details with me.

That's how I knew she was hiding information from me, and that there are things that even your brother Gaepora resisted telling me, I had to rebuke him firmly, for it is his princely duty to tell me how you were. If I gave him permission to visit you, it was on the condition that he would look after you and inform me of any potential danger.

I interrupted the reading for a moment. Ok. Link, Impa, Gae and I agreed that we would say nothing about the poisoning, it was not appropriate to do so because things were already too difficult... but I suppose Father would end up taking Gae's words out. I didn't blame him, Father was sometimes relentless.

I practically had to harass your brother to tell me everything. I have also been aware of the humiliation suffered during the Or Games, and that you were expelled from the event as if you were a vulgar criminal. I felt hurt to imagine you running away, helpless.

For Goddesses sake! It wasn't that bad! Now I realised how harmful it was to live without any communication, there was the problem, things could get misunderstood easily.

And then I knew about the Wraith and the betrayal. I'm very worried, especially about you and your safety. When Impa proposed to your husband that you come to Hyrule with Gaepora for a while, he refused. Why does he refuse to take you away from the war? Or does he intend to use you as a hostage for other purposes? The latter I would understand, after all you have always been a hostage in a pact, something I will never forgive myself for. But come to think of it, Roham Bosphoramus can right wrongs in time. I would have told Kahen to bring you home, just like that, but I don't forget that you are my daughter, Zelda, a bright and vivacious girl, the smartest of my three children. Perhaps there are things I ignore, Impa and Gaepora insisted that your husband is trustworthy and that you are of great importance to him, which is why he has pursued your welfare at all times. Perhaps Captain Link is also a hostage in this dispute.

That's why I leave the choice in your hands.

Choice? What choice? My heart was racing and the paper was shaking as my eyes jumped from one line to the next at full speed.

If you wish, from the very moment you answer me, your marriage of convenience to Captain Link will be annulled. We have arguments that are more than enough and more than proven to justify your breakup. Kahen will bring you back home and I will send you to the East or to the Great Plateau, next to Gaepora, somewhere away from evil and wars to come. There will be more noble men willing to marry you even if you have already consummated your marriage. And if your wish is never to marry, you will be within your rights, it is a way to repair this damage that I did to you and that has no turning back.

Just communicate your wishes, and this time I'll make them come true.

Affectionately

Rhoam Bosphoramus IV, King of Hyrule

That night I barely slept, and that I was tired enough to sleep for a whole week. Father's words were repeated over and over in my head. "Communicate your wishes and I will make them come true." If that letter had come to me during the first week of my new life in the Nest, the answer would have been immediate. I had an absent husband I was afraid of, in case he wanted to abuse me or use me as a currency for some barbarian purpose. But now I had feelings for him like I've never felt for anyone before.

I closed my eyes and visualised myself working in the sheikah digs, as I had always dreamed. Surely I would enjoy myself, without the worry of having to be betrothed again, doing what I was most interested in. And Link would be thousands of miles away. He could marry that girl from Nightfall, he could live his love to the full, not as a hidden second choice, as I had offered him, long ago. He would be happy in his Nest, with Manroy and his family, and he too would soon have a family. There would be no quarrels with the barbarians because for all intents and purposes she would be very welcome, and they would forgive Link, and he would once again be the archery champion at the Or Games. And in time it would be as if I had never existed. I would have been just an anecdote in his life, a curious thing in troubled times. And I would sink into my maps, into my discoveries... and even then I would not be able to forget him.

I woke up when I had barely slept a couple of hours, and spent the morning engrossed, I had an early meeting with Lord Tyto (pure formality). I must have sounded like a disaster to him, because there was no way I could make any sense out of it. My head was too far gone to focus on politics or diplomacy.

Then I wandered around the Rito Village's flight decks for a while. The rito used them to take off and land as they moved through the air, it was very practical architecture in that sense. That's where I bumped into the gerudo prince. I tried to act distracted, as if I hadn't seen him, but he saw me more than enough and approached me with his sinister smile, so I had no choice but to show courtesy.

"Good and cold morning," he greeted, "would you mind if I accompany you? Your brother asked me to meet you at lunch."

"Yes, it's okay," I whispered. Goddesses, my despondency must have been palpable, but it seemed to be invisible to him.

"How is the life in the West?" He asked, as we walked to the hylian cabin.

"It's nice."

"I'm glad to hear that. For a long time I was worried that the princess of Hyrule was living trapped in a rough and hostile world. Those barbarians can be a little... Well. You know, they're not known for their refinement."

"I didn't know you were worried about that, since you don't know me at all, but thank you."

"Oh, well. I wish I knew you more."

Dammit, why couldn't we walk faster?

"So," he continued, seeing that I was not very communicative, "the barbarian doesn't treat you badly at all."

"Not at all."

"I know what the letter your brother gave you yesterday contains."

"How do you know?" That made me feel angry. Kahen was a big mouth.

"I'm part of the mission, so I know the details," he grinned, "so will you go back to Hyrule?"

"Lord Ganondorf, even my brother has told me to take time to give an answer. You think I'm going to answer you here and now? You must be dreaming or the cold clouds your brain."

He let go of one of his sincere laughter, which suddenly takes him away from his cold, calculating smiles.

"You're absolutely right, as usual. I'm curious, you must excuse me. I'm curious about the barbarian, about that marriage of yours, but if you admit that you're not treated badly, I'll be calmer."

"No, they don't treat me badly."

"How is your husband? I just want to talk a little, don't be offended."

I sighed. Was it an interrogation? Maybe a ploy by Kahen to get information from me in other ways?

"He's a good man, I've already told you. He is noble and responsible and cares a lot about others."

"And about you?"

"I don't want to go through with this conversation, I'm sorry."

"Do you love him?"

"Now you're being rude. I have no intention of telling you anything so personal. Excuse me."

I started walking and left him behind, although I could hear his attempts at apologies behind my back, he too knew that he had crossed the line too far and that his inquisitive attitude had gone beyond the limits of courtesy.

I was so confused that I was walking with my eyes on the ground and I didn't see them. I almost bumped into them and when I saw them appear I had to rub my eyes, I thought I was seeing a mirage.

"Link! Impa!"

He wore his barbarian war suit and his blue eyes were barely sensed under the shade of the helmet with the skull representing Or. Link strode past me and headed straight for Ganondorf, who was as stunned as I was.

"This belongs to you," he growled.

And he thrust a dagger violently into the wooden floorboards. Ganondorf jumped backwards, and so did I.

"They are the daggers of my tribe, yes. And you are..."

"I am Captain Link of the Eagle's Nest, as I have repeated all the time to your guardians. Luckily, Impa of the Sheikah arrived in time to have this dagger removed from my throat," he roared.

I've rarely seen him so angry. Maybe never. But it made me happy to see him there, I hadn't heard from him for too many days, and when I saw him again I felt... At home. That's right, I'd felt strange all that time in the rito village.

"My women have orders to protect the perimeter and stop the enemies, so yes, I accept the mistake as mine. You will understand that safety is paramount in times of war. Don't you think so, Lady Impa?"

Impa stood with her arms folded, her gaze icy. And she didn't move an inch at Prince Ganondorf's question. Link, for his part, bit his tongue. His eyes flamed under the shadow of the helmet, and his face was marked as he clenched his jaws.

"I hope you'll be more careful next time when distinguishing friend from enemy," Link said, turning his back on Ganondorf.

"I will. This was an unfortunate misunderstanding that could have been clarified without so much violence. Now I must retire, you have much to talk to your wife." Ganondorf started to walk away, but as he passed me he whispered "barbarian courtesy"

Once we were alone, I felt a huge weight lift off my shoulders. I wanted to hug Link, he had saved me with his presence far more than he could have imagined, but his gesture was still tense and stiff.

"I'm glad to see you're okay, princess" Impa intervened.

"Thank you, Impa. There's nothing to worry about."

"I must report to the prince, I'll see you at lunch." She bowed her head and left Link and me alone.

"Link, what are you doing here? What happened?"

Information, information, please. That's what I needed. But he was locked in his barbarian mutism.

"Why did you stop sending letters?" He asked, avoiding my gaze.

"What?"

"You sent letters and then you stopped doing it, I thought something wrong had happened to you."

"No, it's just... I thought you didn't have time for those things or that I was bothering you, your messages were so brief..."

I felt terrible right away. What I wanted were letters full of drama and romance, when all he was trying to do was communicate and try to warn me that everything was fine. I had been an idiot.

"Impa told me an army from Hyrule had approached the southern border. She told me it would be wise to go to meet them in case they brought news or help. And what do I find? That on my return you were not at home, that you had disappeared overnight and that you were in Hyrule, with your brother." He complained, frowning.

"It hasn't been like that at all. The sheikah gave me an encrypted message from Father and I had to come here. I was thinking of coming back before you did. And now you talk about Hyrule like I'm on the other side of the world, I've only moved a few miles south of the fortress."

"What if it had been a trap? Zelda, you don't know how many dangers are around us right now."

"It wasn't a trap, it was a sheikah message. I knew it was a secure conduit."

"Sure, a sheikah message...," he clenched his fists and rolled his eyes.

"Link, don't be angry, I really thought I'd be home before your return, I didn't think it was going to be a problem."

"Alright," he snorted, in a vague attempt to soothe his mood, "why does your father want you here? What's your brother doing with that weird guy?"

"I have to explain everything to you. But it's a long conversation, let's go eat first."

"I'm not hungry."

"Yes, you must be starving," I grabbed his hand and for the first time he softened a little bit, "you're dirty, tired and hungry. On a full stomach we can talk better. Please…"

I couldn't eat much either, the situation was not only tense but surreal. Kahen almost fell backwards when he saw Link appear, wrapped in wolf skins and with the sinister helmet on his head. He took it off to eat and I saw my brother breathe a little, though Link's blue eyes reflected so much rejection and distrust that even without the helmet he was intimidating. My brother covered himself in false politeness, empty flattery that I knew would displease Link. He was a man of few words, but sincere words. He did not like court games, nor was he ready or willing to play them. I envied the honesty with which he lived, would that those things too were so foreign to me that I could not pretend, as I was forced to do during the meal lest Link drive his knife into the table as he had driven the gerudo dagger into Ganondorf's feet.

So tense was the food, hunter and hunted sharing table, that Impa was the one who contributed the most to the conversation. She told us that she and a sheikah patrol had been fighting alongside Link on the border with Ikana, that there were terrible monsters trying to cross the West to get to Hyrule: hordes of moblin, bokoblins, Ikana wraith... and what Impa called "creatures of the night," which "hadn't appeared on the border for centuries." So, if Impa knew pretty well that Link wasn't a traitor, why had Father written me that letter? That made me think of Kahen and Ganondorf and their own selfish reasons.

After lunch, I excused myself and asked Link to join me for a walk in the surrounding area. Kahen hinted that Link had come all the way to the rito village to "kidnap me again", but I was so exhausted that I didn't give any credence to his nonsense, I simply told him that I needed to talk to my husband, and then I would have my answer to Father's letter.

It snowed quite a bit, it wasn't very nice to walk around, but I'd rather have that conversation outside, away from possible ears, so I dragged Link (it's amazing how cold he is despite being in a land as cold as his own) to the top of the village. We took refuge under a wooden roof, on one of the highest flight platforms. The snow fell like a curtain on the woods, Lake Totori, and beyond, it surely snowed a lot in our house.

"Are you sure you can't tell me this in the cabin, with our feet near a good fire?"

"Stop complaining, you're worse than a kid," I took out Father's letter, "I don't want to be near Kahen and Ganondorf's ears. I told Impa we'd come all the way up here and she's going to watch, just in case."

"What is that?"

"A letter from Father. I've been circling about... about how to tell you this. But I don't want to misunderstand anything, so here you go."

I handed him the letter and he didn't even open it, he looked at me with a dumb look on his face and blinked a couple of times.

"Read it and draw your conclusions. We'll talk later."

I saw his expression vary according to which fragment of the letter was reached by his eyes. He frowned, waved his head, I watched the tension growing in his hands, in his jaw. When he was done, and after he re-read some fragments, he returned the letter to me. Then he sighed and stared for a while into infinity, at the millions of white flakes that were falling incessantly.

" I don't refuse to take you away from the war, it was you who rejected the idea," he said. I thought he'd growl or complain. But his voice sounded serene, almost distant.

"I know."

"And you're not my hostage, you've never been. I've only tried to protect you from all that scum around us. From the ones who tried to kill you."

"I know more than enough, Link."

"I don't get it," he waved his head and clenched his fists.

"Neither do I."

"Impa can't have given such a wrong message. We've been fighting side by side for days."

"It hasn't been Gae either, he admires you. He likes you and speaks highly of you, I don't think he's sown doubt in Father, rather the opposite."

"And... And what are you going to do? Have you decided yet?"

He folded his arms and avoided looking at me at all costs, although I expected him to do it, really, so that I could sense what was going through his head.

"I haven't answered yet, first I wanted to see you and have you read this."

"What if I hadn't come all this way?" This time he looked at me and I started to feel distressed.

"I wouldn't have given any answers until I talked to you first, I swear, Link."

"All of this could be undone. It's as if our wedding never existed," he said. "You could be back in Hyrule, supposedly safer than in my fortress. You could go find that prince of the palace at sea. Away from war and barbarians."

"It's not only me. You would be free to marry the one you love, Link." I didn't imagine it would hurt me so much to formulate those words. "So that's why I didn't... I don't know if, whatever the origin of this proposal is, which choice is the best. I… it's not only me. What do you think?"

He looked at me and he was no longer bewildered or confused. Link was angry.

"I think the decision is yours alone, isn't it?" There was so much tension in his words that it was as if he had mumbled them out, " for, as I have told you before, you are not my hostage, nor have you ever been. From the moment I accepted this marriage I did so with all the consequences, which do not include kidnapping my wife, nor making decisions that could harm her safety. If you feel in danger with me or kidnapped, I don't want to be the cause of your discomfort. So, you decide what you want to do with this."

"I don't feel any discomfort. And I think the decision is as much yours as mine. It's very unfair that you want to leave that burden only to me."

I didn't know whether to cry or slap him, because it was more than clear that I didn't think the same as a Father, what did I have to do to prove it to him?

"Well, the King of Hyrule has made it clear that one word from you is more than enough to break everything, I don't know where I stand in all this."

"Stop talking rubbish, Link," I protested, "and tell me what you, you and you alone, think, and do it before I really start to look like that stupid child my father thinks I am."

He snorted and took a little time to appease his anger, though his attempt was not too successful because I noticed the tension in all his features.

"In that case, I see that my mother's ring is still on your finger. As far as I'm concerned it will always remain there unless you decide to take it off."

He folded his arms and frowned, looking away.

"Good. You're a thoughtless barbarian for not believing me when I tell you that I have nothing to do with what the stupid letter says. It was I who decided to stay in the Nest and not return to Hyrule. And... even though the messages you send me from the border are so ridiculously short, so much that I read them about three hundred times in a row to get the stupid feeling that you're around and not that you're actually out there sticking your neck out..." I took a moment to not break down right there and start crying out of sheer rage, "despite all that, you must know that I will not take the ring off my finger unless you are the one to do it. After all, it was you who put it there for me."

"Alright, because I have no intention of taking it off even if your father sends his entire gerudo army to intimidate me. I've grown up in the mountains and woods, I'm not intimidated by those things. If the King doesn't like this, he can come to my house in person and tell me to my face, and not send letters like a coward. I'll gladly tell him to go back to his golden castle because you don't belong to him anymore."

"That's clear to me. Very clear, understood. I'll write my answer right now."

I turned around and headed back to the cabin. I wasn't quite sure what had just happened, I had the feeling that I had quarrelled with him rather than come to an agreement, and I was angry. In fact, if he ever pulled any other barbarian impertinence on me again I wouldn't hesitate to slap him, slapping was liberating. He caught up with me in a couple of strides and made a point of walking at the same speed as me, an awkward speed, when I was angry I walked fast.

"I'm glad we agree on this," he growled.

"So am I."

"You're my wife."

"It seems so."

"And let it be clear to you that I would never want to marry anyone again."

I stopped dead in my tracks. He wasn't angry. Neither was I, was I? I don't know. I was so confused that my mood could swing from one extreme to the other in seconds.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" I tried to keep my previous tone, arms in a jug so as not to be intimidated by him.

" I mean I'm not in love with Eve anymore. I thought you were much smarter and I wouldn't have to give you so many stupid explanations," he folded his arms.

"Oh. Clear enough."

"Well, what? Don't make that face. You know I don't do well with weird conversations."

It made me laugh, it was liberating. He smiled too, though he tried to hide it as much as he could.

"I hope and pray that this is the last one I torture you with because, although I'm the biggest fan of weird conversations, because of you they are starting to seem weird to me too."

This time it was he who let out a huge laugh and I laughed with him. We looked at each other and laughed together, loudly. It was wonderful.

"Dear Or and Hyrule Goddesses…" he looked up at the sky and caught some snowflakes in his mouth, "how many complications the ladies of Hyrule bring."

"Far less than barbarians, I assure you."

"I'm starving."

"That's because you haven't eaten anything, don't think I haven't noticed."

"Shall we eat something and go home? It's too cold in this birdcage."

Notes:

We've just reached 50% of this story. The real name of this chapter should be: "The Second Wedding", because somehow Link and Zelda agree to marry each other, this time voluntarily. Thank you so much for following along every week, I really appreciate it! :)

Take care,

-Juliet