My Midnight Angel
Previously… He took a large step towards me and put his hand on my shoulder, I guessed that he was trying to make me feel more comfortable before he killed me. "Please son, call me Bob." He chuckled slightly and I laughed uneasily under his stare as he removed his hand. "Listen Link, I know we've had our differences, but…I have somewhat of a…proposition for you…"Chapter Three
I cocked an eyebrow in curiosity and disbelief. "Really?"
"More of a deal actually." He looked me in the eye now. "Look, Link… I know about…you and my daughter."
All I could think of at that moment was, 'Oh Goddesses I'm going to die now for sure!' I was positive that he was going to have me eaten alive by some huge rabid beast or burned alive or something equally horrible. I attempted to blurt out an excuse, but the only thing that came out of my mouth was, "Y-you…d-do…?"
He gave me a firm nod. "Indeed I do. I've known that you and Zelda had feelings for each other ever since you were children." I let out a huge sigh of relief. He was clearly unaware of the events that took place last night or he would have strangled me by now.
"I know that I banished you from my kingdom, but I know that Zelda really wants you here, so I have found a way in which you can stay here with her. You do a little favor for me…and you can come and go as you please throughout the land of Hyrule and see Zelda any time you wish."
My mind was laughing hysterically. Did he really think that something as stupid as a law and a silly little death threat was going to keep me from the woman I loved? Well, it would be nice to not have to sneak around anymore. Wait just a darn minute! If I was banished from Hyrule, and I was here now, why the hell wasn't he sending his guards to kill me for breaking the law that he made? He had to be up to something, but I had no idea what.
If truth be told, I really did want to be able to be with Zelda without sneaking around, and I eventually wanted to ask her to marry me, and there's no way we could get away with doing that in secret, so I decided to play along with whatever it was that he was doing.
"So…what do I have to do…?
As soon as 'His Majesty' was finished informing me of his 'deal', he allowed me to go up to Zelda's room and tell her the somewhat good news, although I knew she would be upset when she heard about what it was that I was obligated to do.
One of the palace's many guards led me up through the hundreds of stone steps and long, richly decorated hallways up to her room. Impa, from whom I got a curious glance and a subliminal 'hello', guarded the entrance of her room. The large wooden double doors that led into her room were at least two or three feet taller than I was and had shinning gold handles on them which Impa reached for and then called out, "Princess Zelda. There is a Mr. Link here to see you."
Zelda stammered in surprise that I was here to see her, "Y-yes…um… Please come in."
The door swung open and before me stood a huge brightly sun-lit room with enormous open windows and a smooth wooden floor that was almost completely covered by huge colorful rugs. Zelda's two small birds chirped quietly in their wire cage that sat in one corner of the room. A huge four-post wooden-framed bed was in the middle of the area. Red silk sheets were draped over her bed and dozens of different sized white pillows that were most likely were filled with some exotic birds' feathers were positioned at the headboard and the entire bed was surrounded by white, see-through curtain.
I stood in awe for a few moments before Impa jerked me back into reality when she shut the huge doors behind me and left the two of us alone to talk. Zelda, who sat on a ledge by her open window, greeted me happily but a confused smile rested on her lips. "Link, not that I'm complaining, but what are you doing here?"
"We need to talk." I guess my voice sounded a bit stern because her smile instantly vanished and her sapphire eyes were filled with worry.
"That…doesn't sound…very good." She stayed sitting where she was, so I strode over to the window, whose view was almost all of Hyrule Field, and I sat next to her.
My hand automatically went to the back of my head in pure nervousness at what her reaction would be to the offer that her father had presented me with. "Actually…it is kind of good, I guess it just depends on how you look at it."
"And what exactly does that mean?" Luckily her voice was more inquisitive that irritated.
"Your father… he…made me an offer. He told me that there are some small villages throughout Hyrule that are being attacked and occasionally burned to the ground by some leftover minions from Ganondorf's army. He said that if I go out and defend the villages for him, so that he won't have to send his army to do the job, then he'll let me stay here in Hyrule…with you…" I removed my eyes from hers and turned my gaze towards the floor.
"Link that's amazing!" She smiled from ear to ear and placed her hand on my arm in excitement, but I wasn't able to smile because I knew the rest of what I had to say. She looked into my eyes and sighed in concern. "W-what's wrong? This is great news…isn't it…?"
I attempted to sound more positive for her sake. "Yeah…but…"
"But…what?"
Her tone was more anxious now, probably because she wanted to know what was on my mind, and because she was more than likely expecting the worst. "If-when-I go to do this…it will take quite while…you know…time-wise."
"How long will you be gone?"
I looked back up into her eyes and smiled weakly. "At least three months, maybe more."
"A-are you positive it will take that long? I mean it's only a couple of little villages. How long could that possibly take for you? And why is my father making you do this?"
Her eyes were welling up with shinning, glassy tears and her rate of her speech was increasing rapidly; she always talked a lot when she was upset. I placed my hands on her shoulders and spoke firmly to try and calm her down. "Zelda, listen. I don't want to do this as much as you don't want me to do it, but I have to. It's the only way that we can ever be together…and that's what you want…right?"
She nodded halfheartedly and sniffed back a tear. "Yes…"
I brought one of my hands up to her cheek to use the pad of my thumb to brush away a stray tear that was rolling down her cheek. Her bottom lip quivered and more tears fell from her glossy azure eyes.
"W-when are you leaving…"
I sighed heavily. "Tomorrow morning." She began to cry more heavily now.
"Hey…Come on Zel… It's not that bad…"
"Yes it is. Three months is so long to be away from someone. And we've already spent so much time apart because of the whole Ganondorf trying to take over the world thing… I just don't want anything to happen to you."
"Zelda…I'll be fine…I promise…nothings going to happen to me. I won't let anything happen…I have to be here with you."
"B-but what if…"
I put my finger to her lips to stop her from further talking about all the bad things that could possibly happen to me. "Zelda… Nothing is going to happen to me. It can't. I'm going to come back to you. I promise. Three months will go by faster than you think…really"
She stopped sobbing and wiped her tears from her eyes. "Here." I said before taking out a gold locket with little roses and ivy etched into it and placing it in her hands.
"W-what's this for…?" Her eyes were wide with astonishment and happiness.
"It's a locket. My mother gave it to me when I was a baby, and when my parents left me with the Great Deku Tree, they asked him to make sure that I kept it. Apparently, my grandfather gave it to my grandmother, she gave it to my father, he gave it to my mother, my mother gave it to me, and now…I'm giving it to you."
"Oh Link…it's so beautiful."
"Open it." I urged her to look inside because was eager to see what her reaction would be.
When she carefully opened the tiny, golden locket she smiled at the inscription that was etched inside. In flowing cursive letters it read, 'I Love You Always' with another tiny rose etched in on the opposite side of the words. I brushed a stray strand of golden hair away from her face so I was able to see her smile better before taking the locket from her hands and slipping it around her neck.
She continued to smile as she looked up into my eyes again and I pulled her into an affectionate embrace while whispering, "I love you Zelda. I'm coming back to you. I promise."
Zelda hugged herself closer to me and she sobbed into my chest so her words were muffled, "I love you too Link. So much."
After a few more moments of taking in the sweet smell of her hair and enjoying the warmth of her body against mine I knew it was about the time that I should get going if I wanted to leave by dawn the next morning. Regretfully, I pulled myself away from our embrace and rose slowly. "I better get going so I'll have enough time to get all the supplies I need before I leave tomorrow…" She nodded solemnly but I could tell that she understood.
I gave her a quick kiss on her forehead before turning to walk over to the door and leaving her sitting by the open window. Just as my hand reached the door handle, I turned and said slyly, "Oh, and, just one more thing." With that I darted back across the room to where she was and I kissed her passionately. When I let go of her features were overcome with surprise. I smiled to myself as I turned to exit her room. I'm sure that she was thinking something along the lines of "Damn! What got into him?" But I knew she wasn't going to say anything about it. I had a lot of work ahead of me and figured that that kiss was just a small portion of my 'reward' to come when I got back in three months.
(A.N.) Yay! Another chappie completed! I really appreciate everyone's reviews. I especially loved the longer reviews that gave me some instructive criticism as well as praise. And if you reviewers have a story that you've authored and would like me to read, just ask. I love reading all of your stories almost as much as I love writing my own.
P.S. –The whole king's first name being 'Bob' was supposed to be remotely humorous so I'm glad some of you enjoyed my petty attempt at humor.
-PunkieMonkie-