Sunlight shone brightly through a crack in the draped window. The bright beam of light snuck across the floor to creep up onto the bed, up the covers and into the face of Link.
He sneezed.
Rubbing his weary eyes, the hero woke, his eyes shut but his mind open. He listened.
Around him, there was silence. Mostly. The sunlight he felt upon his face almost made a sound so peaceful that he nearly fell back to sleep, but he searched on.
Outside the window across from him, he could hear a soft wind rustling tree branches, and birds chirping happily in their warm nests. Inside the small cottage, he heard the sounds of machinations. In the kitchen, a kettle whistled. In the living room, a fire crackled. Talking sounded from nearby. Link listened.
"Dear, oh dear," came a woman's voice, "It's almost noon and that boy is still not up. Lazy toad. Dear, would you go and wake him up, please?"
"Yes, granny," came another voice, this one a girl's. Feet approached the room.
The door opened quietly and Link heard small footsteps walk to the window. Suddenly his closed eyes were flooded by a blinding light. His hands went to his face, covering his wounded sense. He cried out in surprise.
"What the hell?!"
"Get up, lazy."
Opening his eyes slowly, Link looked at the girl. She was standing by the window, her hand resting on one of the drapes, which were now open.
"Why should I, with such a rude wake-up call?" he asked, a smile streaking across his face.
Zelda walked to the side of the bed and slapped the back of Link's head. "It's already almost noon. You have work to do, now UP!"
With that, she grabbed the sheets and yanked them away from the bed.
They both froze. The room was silent. Their mouths hung open in halted speech, and their eyes widened in shock.
Suddenly the moment was over and their brains came back on track.
Her hands to her mouth, Zelda cried, "Ohmygods, I'm so sorry!" at the same time that Link shouted, "What the hell to do you think your doing?!"
Zelda's face turned bright red and she ran from the room, slamming the door closed behind her. Link jumped out of bed and pulled on a tunic to cover his naked body and followed the girl from the room.
He found her in the kitchen. When she saw him walk in, she busied herself with the tea, her head bowed in mock concentration with the task.
Before either of them could speak, a loud and mostly feminine voice piped up from the table.
"There you are!" Link looked to see Hecuba, his hostess sitting at the table, knitting. "Where have you been? It's almost noon!"
"Am I not allowed to sleep?" asked Link defensively, still not quite himself after his rude and embarrassing awakening.
The old, plump woman pointed a needle at him. "Not when there's work to be done. Now get some tea and breakfast and get out to help Donalbain."
He sat down at the table and sliced some of the still-warm bread. Zelda quietly served him a cup of tea as he buttered it. The kitchen was silent but for the sound of Link's munching and the knitting needles clicking together. The awkwardness was pervasive.
As soon as Link finished his breakfast, he went back to his room to get dressed for work in the bitter outdoors with Donalbain.
For the past few days since he arrived at the home of Donalbain and Hecuba to find Zelda, Link had been recovering from hypothermia and exhaustion. He and his companion, Vincent, had travelled non-stop from Hyrule, through Calatia, and into Forhas just to find the princess Zelda and now that they had, it should have been time to rest.
But Link had not counted on Hecuba.
The small, round woman had a short temper with those who did not do their chores and she was determined that all under her roof would work. Of course, now that there were two able young men living in the small cottage, the old woman had designed some grand plans for the place. Most of it involved heavy labour.
Making sure to close the door firmly, Link walked across the bedroom to the closet and opened it. He pulled from the shelves some thick breeches, his tunic, and a thick cloak; He would need all the clothing he could between himself and the bitter winter weather beyond the cosiness of the cottage walls.
Without another look to the women in the kitchen, Link left the cottage and stepped out onto the ice covered steps. He looked around.
The small clearing surrounding the cottage was covered with white snow, as was everything else. The trees were contrasts of white and black, and the surrounding outbuildings were little more than mounds of snow with a little opening in one side. Leading down from the front steps, a path of footsteps –two pairs- led off into the dark forest. They could only have been the steps of Donalbain and Vincent. Link set off in pursuit, clasping his cloak closely about him against the chill winter air.
The young hero followed the footsteps through the forest until he heard the sound of an axe and a man talking. Following now both the sounds and the path, Link soon found himself looking at both his host and companion chopping down a large tree.
"… so that's why you should talk more, lad," said Donalbain to the ever-silent Calatian, Vincent. "All you need to do is find a reason to go on living. Find yourself a wife, or family, or anything, as long as you have a new mission in life. You mustn't go on being silent and dumb all your life. Not healthy." As the old man was talking, the giant tree fell with a deafening crash and the forest then returned to it's previous silence. Link walked up to the two.
"Still no luck with him?" asked the young man, picking up an axe lying beside the unmoving Vincent.
The old man nodded sadly. "Poor lad. I've seen some horrible sights in my time, but what he saw must have been absolutely terrible. And there are few ways for us to help him. Sad." With one last shake of his head, Donalbain hefted his axe and began chopping the felled tree into logs.
With one last look to his friend, Link set about helping the frail old man cut up the tree.
The two of them, with Vincent looking on, spent much of the day chopping the tree into firewood, the coldness of the forest being stayed by their seemingly never-ending work. They stopped occasionally for breaks and once for a quick lunch, but they worked tirelessly for hours and hours making sure that they and the women would stay comfy and warm in the coming nights for winter was in the middle of it's season and showed no signs of leaving early.
In the late afternoon, as the sun was beginning to sink over the far-off mountains, the three had collected more than enough wood for the next few weeks and headed back to the cottage for some well deserved rest and food and warmth.
The trio entered the little cottage and were immediately greeted with the smells of a wonderful dinner awaiting them.
"We're back!" called Donalbain, taking off his boots near the doorway and then heading for the kitchen.
"You're too early," came a cry from the kitchen angrily before the old man could make it halfway across the living room. "Go back out!"
As Link took off his boots and began to help Vincent with his, Hecuba appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, hands on her hips and a sour expression on her face. "Dinner will be ready in about an hour, so go away until then."
Donalbain stopped in his tracks before the large frame of his dear wife. "But we just came in, dear. We can wait for dinner in here. Now please move so I can get the brandy."
The old woman held up a finger and waved it at her husband. "Oh, no you won't! You can go back outside and work for the hour, not sit down and get drunk! Not while we are in here cooking our bottoms off to give you three a wonderful meal! Now get!"
Donalbain looked dismayed and Link could hardly stifle his amusement at the little argument. "Please, pet-" started the old man.
"Don't you 'please pet' me! OUT!"
Donalbain sighed and retraced his tracks to the door where Link was still standing. While his body language said defeat, his face was a large grin as his back was turned to his wife. Hecuba returned to the kitchen and the old man chuckled. He leaned close to Link and said in a low voice, "There's small bottle of dandelion wine waiting for us in the goat shed. Come on."
Again putting on their boots, the three men made their way back outside into the cold gathering dusk and to a nearby shed. Holding the small door for his companions, Donalbain closed it behind them and rummaged in the corner of the small shed, behind one of the two goats, who were happily sleeping away on the straw covered floor. Link and Vincent had found seats next to the goats just as their host cried out in delight and pulled from the darkness a small bottle of pale liquid.
The small lantern between them, Link and Donalbain shared the bottle, offering to Vincent but getting the usual response.
"More for us, then," Donalbain said with a wink.
After a few minutes of quiet drinking, Donalbain asked the question that Link knew was coming eventually.
"So you do love Zelda, right?" he asked.
Link took a swig of the bottle and handed it back before replying.
"I love her more than my own life," the boy said gloomily.
"You don't sound too happy about it."
Link shrugged. "I love her enough to search across half the land and nearly kill myself, leaving behind all that I have worked for in the past five years, and yet I know that I can never have her."
"And why is that?" asked the old man innocently, though Link thought there was a slight smile on the man's face. It could have been that the old man knew more than he let on about the world outside the forest, or it could have just been the wine.
"Our… Her family never approved of me," the boy said with a sigh.
"So don't tell her family. Her life is her own to decide for, not her father's. They might not be happy about it, but if her family finds out that you two are already married, they won't have many options."
"Except divorce," Link pointed out as he took another drink.
Donalbain waved his hand vaguely in the air. "Divorce can be messy, especially for a family like hers. They would probably disown her rather than divorce."
"Though now that her family have all died, it might not be such a large problem, but…"
Donalbain nodded. "Others would surely be looking on and they hold too much power for strangers, eh?"
Link nodded and sighed deeply.
The two were silent for a while, doing nothing but passing the steadily emptying bottle back and forth.
"Does she love you?" asked the old man suddenly.
Link nodded. "I think so, but she's never really said so. She was very loyal to her family. She would never do anything against either their wishes or what is for the best of the… family business." Link chose his words carefully, knowing that his hosts were ignorant of Zelda's royal past. The girl had chosen not to tell the old couple that she was the princess of Hyrule so that she might be treated just as another anonymous peasant and perhaps live out a simple, quiet life.
At this, Donalbain chuckled as if Link had said something funny. "Family business…that's one way to call it."
"What do you mean?" asked Link suspiciously as the old man took another long swig of the wine.
He shook his head and put the bottle back into the corner. "Nothing, nothing at all," said the man as he tightened his cloak around himself. "Just making talk is all. Nothing more. Now come on, dinner should be ready by now."
Without another word, the three exited the small shed and opened the front door of the cottage, closing it quickly once inside to keep the warm air in. Hecuba noticed them and barked, "What have you three been doing?"
"Feeding the goats," replied both Link and Donalbain automatically.
Hecuba waddled over to glare her husband in the face, or as near as she could, and said menacingly, "Your nose looks a bit red. Have you been drinking?"
Donalbain shook his head fiercely, avoiding the woman's gaze. "Of course not, pet. It is winter, after all, and for a nose not to get red in winter is just unnatural…"
He was stared at for several uneasy seconds before Hecuba huffed and walked back to the kitchen. "Dinner is about ready. You lot had better wash up first."
Donalbain glanced to Link and winked. "Come on lad. Let's get your friend here washed all proper like." With that, Link and his host guided the brain-dead Vincent to the back room of the small cottage where a basin of warm water lay upon a table. There, the three of them washed themselves of the grime of a day's work, finishing just in time to hear Hecuba's voice calling them to the table.
Once seated and served, the new family began to talk.
"So, my little ones," Hecuba began, "Have you given any thought to the Midwinter Festival?"
Link and Zelda glanced at each other before answering.
"What is the Midwinter Festival, granny?" the girl asked.
The old woman looked appalled. "What is it?! Why it is only the most popular thing to do around these parts in winter! All the young people love it just as much as us older folk, isn't that right dear?"
"Of course, dear," came the expected answer from opposite the matron.
"Quite," she continued. "At the festival, held on the solstice, all of the families in the area gather for a few days and have a large party with plenty of food and games and stories and everything! Oh, it's so much fun! You two will be going with each other, of course?"
Zelda blushed deeply and Link chocked on his food. "Ah, Hecuba," he started, "Zelda and I are just friends."
The old woman smiled slightly and, to his horror, patted Link's hand in a tenderly way.
"Of course not, dear. Now stop chattering and finish your dinner."
The conversation had clearly been ended and, soon after, so had dinner.
Later that night, after dinner had been put away and the old couple had retired for the night, Link sat alone in the living room, slouched in the large chair by the diminishing light of the fireplace. He had sat staring off into the mesmerizing glow for what seemed like hours when he heard a floorboard creak beside him. Turning, hand reaching unconsciously for his absent sword, he relaxed at the sight of Zelda staring at him dressed in her nightdress and holding a small candle that cast dim yet eerie shadows around the room.
"Are you alright?" she asked quietly.
He nodded. "I'm fine, thank you. Why are you up so late? You should be asleep."
She shrugged and sat down on the rug near the fire, knees pulled to her chest and chin resting on them. "I couldn't sleep. What's your excuse?"
It was Link's turn to shrug. "The same, I suppose."
The two were quiet for a moment, both just staring into the red glow.
"So what have you been telling Hecuba?" Link asked suddenly.
Zelda shook her head, smiling. "Absolutely nothing. She just has it in for us, I suppose."
"She couldn't be more conspicuous," Link added, also smiling. "Though that Midwinter Festival sounds like it could be fun."
Zelda nodded excitedly. "I know! It's been ages since we've been to a party! The last one was in…" She trailed off as memories of their last moments of fun came back to her. She sniffled softly as she thought about just how close the two of them had been to death.
"Calatia," Link finished for her, his voice trembling as he too remembered.
"It seems so long ago," said Zelda wistfully. She thought for a moment. "It must be at least two months ago. Maybe more."
Link nodded. "That was the start of this mess, wasn't it?"
Suddenly, Zelda looked defiantly at her friend and spread her hands wide. "I wouldn't call this a mess!" She relaxed a bit. "I would call it happiness."
Link met the gaze of the girl. "I would call it temporary."
Zelda shook her head sadly. "What is it with you that you just can't let go? Living here has made me happier than I have ever known and I know that you love it here just as much as I do! And you still want to leave it as quickly as you can! Why can't we just be happy?"
A grunt came from behind them and the sleeping form of Vincent turned on his sofa bed. Link motioned to Zelda to keep her voice down. He then came down from his chair and sat beside his princess, arm around her shoulders.
"We've had this conversation dozens of times. I would love to stay but we both have a duty to Hyrule. We can't leave it in the hands of Trine. It belongs to you. Its people belong to you. Its spirit belong to you. And its protectors belong to you."
Zelda leaned her head against Link's shoulder. She knew what he was saying. Someday the two of them would have to return to Hyrule and retake the throne, but until they did, Link would always be alongside her, protecting her and comforting her just by being there. He was hers. They both knew it.
Idly, Zelda fingered the small necklace that hung around Link's neck; the ring necklace given to him by a Malon from an ancient age. It was much like the bond shared by the two Hylians- Sometimes there is a large divide in how the two thought and acted, but in the end they would always meet again to become one.
"You belong to me…" she said softly before lifting her head and looking Link in the eye. "So there would be no problem if we went to this festival together?"
Link leaned his head back and closed his eyes for a moment, a slight smile on his lips.
"I suppose not," he said finally.
"Of course not," the girl said haughtily, smiling madly. "Good night then. And get some sleep."
With that, Zelda rose quickly, pecked Link on the cheek and walked off to bed leaving Link sitting on the rug washed in the near-gone glow of the fire.
After the bedroom door had closed, Zelda quietly crept into the bed set up for her by the wall of her host's bedroom. Her candle quickly extinguished, she pulled the covers over herself and after some time was breathing the heavy, regular breaths of sleep. Not long after, the door to Link's room opened and then shut quietly. The house was asleep.
Almost.
Hecuba, lying in bed, her eyes wide open, smiled. Of course the two children would fall in love, after all, she had planted the seeds and with teenagers it didn't take long for results to sprout. The world often complied with how she wished it to behave.
She closed her eyes and was asleep in an instant.