My Midnight Angel

Chapter Four

The next morning was the fateful day of my departure. Fortunately, the weather was nice; the sun was shining brightly and it lit up all of Hyrule Field so I was able to watch the little birds fly around and small furry animals like rabbits and squirrels play in the tall, light green grass as I galloped past them on my way to Hyrule Castle.

As I tugged on Epona's reins to slow her to a stop in front the castle where numerous guards as well as the king...err…Bob and Zelda stood, awaiting my arrival. When I was close enough to make out the solemn expression on Zelda's face, I felt like my heart was being torn out of my chest. Although she wore a bright smile, I could tell that she was hurting on the inside, not unlike myself.

Her eyes were glossy from the tears that escaped them and they were rimmed with red and slightly puffy. Poor Zelda, she had probably been crying all night. I really hoped that she wouldn't worry about me, but I knew that nothing that I could say or do would ease her worry that something terrible was going to happen to me while I was away.

I dismounted Epona and strode over to the approaching figure of Zelda. She threw her arms around my neck and she held onto me like she was never going to let go. One of my arms was at her waist, holding her closer to me, and the other arm was rubbing her upper back and stroking the back of her head occasionally.

When I looked to the king's face, he was glaring daggers at me. Maybe it was my imagination, but I could have sworn that right at that very moment, he wanted to kill me with his own two hands. Well, I was his daughter's boyfriend, and we were getting awfully close right in front of him. That had to be the reason why he looked as though I wanted to kill me in cold blood right then and there. He was probably just an extremely overprotective father. Besides, if he wanted me dead, he wouldn't have given me this opportunity to be with her…Right?

A few warm tears drained down her cheeks and soaked into the sleeve of my tunic that covered my shoulder. I pulled her back from our embrace and before she realized what I was going to do, I moved forward and pressed my lips firmly against hers and kissed her passionately.

After staying in that position for a few moments, I pulled back to look her in the eyes and said, "I love you." I said this loud enough for her father and everyone else that was standing nearby to hear. I thought maybe if her father knew that I loved her, he wouldn't be so protective of her, but he still stood there glaring daggers at me.

I could tell that she was still stunned that I kissed her like that in front of her father, so her words were slightly delayed, "I- I love you too, Link."

Without another second of delay, I turned to mount Epona, and kicked her in the sides with the heels of my boots and we were off on our way to the first village and the beginning of my journey. The last sight that saw when I looked over my shoulder in the direction of the castle was Zelda gazing off in my direction, waving slowly to tell me 'goodbye'.

"Don't worry Zel." I thought as Epona galloped away with me. "I'll be back here with you soon enough."

Three Months and Two Weeks Later

Epona trotted across Hyrule Field and pulled to a stop in front of the castle. To my surprise, the guards let me walk right past them after stating that the princess was in the garden playing her harp. It was strange; even though the guards let me past them, it almost seemed like they were surprised to see me. I was a bit late, but it was like they thought that they were seeing a ghost or something, like they didn't expect me to return.

When I reached the entrance to the garden, I saw that it was filled with hundreds of different colored flowers, ponds and fountains, and dozens of birds and butterflies that were fluttering and floating about. A beautiful melody flowed from what I assumed was Zelda's harp somewhere inside the garden, so I used my sensitive hearing to follow the sound to its even more beautiful owner.

By the time that I had caught up with the enchanting tune, I laid my eyes on Zelda who was sitting on an elegantly carved stone stool wearing a lavender colored dress with a matching ribbon holding her blond hair up and out of her face as it swayed in the early afternoon breeze. Her eyes were closed peacefully and her delicate fingers glided across the harp's golden strings to produce the angelic melody that had reached my ears when I entered the garden.

I took a few moments to just stand there and look at how beautiful she was before I spoke up. "Good afternoon, Princess." I said in a formal tone while taking a little bow like I had observed the guards doing on many occasions.

Her eyes shot open immediately when she recognized the sound of my voice. She looked in my direction and then got up and ran over to me. As soon as she was close enough to me, I picked her up and spun her around a few times before placing her back on the ground. I wanted to kiss her, but before I could react, her arms were around me and she was squeezing me so tight that it was difficult for me to breathe, but I didn't mind; at least I knew she missed me, and she missed me a lot so it seemed.

When her grip around my torso finally loosened, I took the opportunity to press my lips up against hers. My tongue moved over her bottom lip before working its way inside of her mouth. I continued to ravish her mouth and tangle with her tongue for the next few minutes, and then pulled away from our fervent kiss to get a breath of much-needed air.

Zelda smiled up into my eyes, Goddesses, how I had missed that smile when I was away. As her hand slid down from my shoulder, she managed to move her thumb over a fairly new gash on my upper arm. I pulled back a little as I winced in pain; normally I wouldn't let any physical pain like this bother me, but I had just gotten this wound a few days ago, so it was still a open.

She gently pulled up the sleeve of my tunic to reveal my injury and her eyes grew wider. "Link…you're hurt."

I tried to shake off her worry. "Really Zel. It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

"No it's not. Come on inside and-"

She was abruptly cut off when Impa stepped into the garden and said quite audibly, "Princess. Your father wishes to see you immediately…and I'm quite sure that if he was aware that Mr. Link was here, that he would expect you to bring him with you."

Zelda looked a bit confused and I was pretty confused myself. Why would the king want to see me?

Impa exited the garden and Zelda turned to face me. "W-we…uh…better go and see what he needs."

"Yeah, but, I'm sure that it's nothing." I said trying to reassure her.

Zelda sighed deeply and I took her hand and led her out of the garden and into the castle's main hall where another set of guards stood waiting to usher us into the throne room. This pair of guards looked even more surprised to see me than the ones at the main gate. What in the world was going on here? Everybody except Zelda seemed to believe that I was never going to return to Hyrule after I finished the King's little 'mission'.

As the two of us entered the doors that the guards swung open in front of us, my eyes caught sight of the vast room in which the King awaited our arrival and I suddenly felt extremely small and insignificant compared to the size of everything in this room. This throne room was enormous; the ceiling was extremely high and the stonewalls were lined with stained-glass windows and tapestries from all over the world. Every step that either Zelda or I took, made a sound on the marble floor tiles and it echoed back at us throughout the immense, open room.

Around thirty yards straight ahead of us were several flights of steps that led up to the throne. It was made of solid gold and had numerous designs of the Triforce engraved around its shimmering golden frame. The King sat upon his throne, staring down in our direction with a look of astonishment plastered across his aged features. I guessed that the reason he was so surprised to see me was because he, like everyone else here, for some reason unknown to me, didn't suppose that I was going to return to this place.

There was another man standing at the King's side that I didn't recognize. He obviously wasn't a guard because he wore somewhat of a mix between a knight and a king's clothing. His long auburn hair was tied back into a ponytail and a neatly shaven goatee snaked its way across his chin. He, not unlike the King, stared down at Zelda and I like he knew something that we were not yet aware of. Like there was some sort of inside joke going on between he and Zelda's father.

When the King finally spoke up, his words seemed to slice through the tension that filled the room. "I'm glad that you are here Zelda, but I am quite surprised to see you too, Link."

Before I could question his comment about me, Zelda cut in, in a slightly raised and irritable tone. "Who's he?" As she said this she turned her gaze to the man standing next to her father.

The King seemed to overlook the anger in her voice and he introduced the stranger to she and I. "Zelda, this is Arwin. He is the prince, and future ruler of the Kingdom of Faylenne."

As the King said this, Arwin approached Zelda and, after taking a polite bow in front of her, took her hand and attempted to kiss it, but she jerked it away and she took a small step back before he had a chance to touch his lips to her bare hand. She glanced up into my eyes and I could tell that she desperately wished that she had chosen to wear gloves today.

He stood once more and looked at me smugly and, once again, I felt as if everyone in this room was in on something, and Zelda and I were completely clueless. I glared at him until the King spoke once more. "Arwin is here because his father and I made an…'arrangement' so to speak, when you were both small children."

Zelda appeared even more irritated than the moment before when she crossed her arms across her chest and spoke again. "And just what in the Goddesses names is that is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that Arwin's father and I come to an agreement in which all of our land can be combined and be dictated under one common ruler."

I spoke up for the first time now. "But what exactly does that mean for Zelda?"

"Zelda and Arwin are to be married."

(A.N.) Hazah! I am FINALLY finished with another chappie! Soooooo sorry about the long wait peoples. My stupid computer crapped out on me. (kicks computer) Maybe my ninja bunny Hairy who lives behind my computer has been chewing on some of the wires. (Looks at bunny who is whistling like he has no idea what I'm talking about) Oh well. sigh At least I got this new chappie up. Take my advice people: NEVER trust a 10 foot tall, 250 pound, purple ninja bunny! (Hairy looks sad) Sorry hairy…but it just had to be said. Anyway PLEASE REVIEW and sorry again about the extremely long wait!

-punkiemonkie-