***ALL STANDARD DISCLAIMERS APPLY**
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In Sotto Voce
By The Wolfess
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Chapter 3
At breakfast the next morning, Princess Zelda was more talkative than she had been in a while. It did not go unnoticed by either Princess Ruto or King Daphnes, who was looking gray-faced and worn at the end of the table. After a little while, the king dabbed his mouth clean with his napkin and finally asked the question that was on both of their minds. "We missed you at dinner last night," he started. "How did your lunch with the trainee go? What was her name again…."
"Impa, father, and it was wonderful," Zelda answered, her voice filled with excitement. "I already knew that she was strong, but she also reads and enjoys riding horses and all sorts of things. We were having such a good time talking that we completely forgot dinner until the sunset reminded us of the time."
"Well, let's hope you don't forget another dinner!" Ruto said, glaring at Zelda. The Zora princess felt uncomfortable when left alone to talk to the king. Zelda didn't know what her problem was.
"I will try," Zelda said. Turning back to her father, she returned to the subject of Impa. "I really do like her, father."
The king smiled. "That is good to hear, my dear," he said. "I will tell you what. Spend this week with her. If at the end of the week you still enjoy her company, then I will talk to Captain Raltz about the promotion."
Zelda was so happy that she jumped out of her chair, walked over to King Daphnes, and gave him a big hug. He looked surprised and slightly awkward as he patted her back. "Thank you, father!" she said, grinning from ear to ear and stepping back. "Speaking of Impa, she is waiting outside the door for me to finish breakfast. May I have your leave to go?"
The king waved her away, laughing a little. "Go, go! Off with you! Have fun, my sweet princess, and be safe."
"I will father," Zelda called over her shoulder. She was already halfway to the door.
Ruto looked from the retreating princess to the king and back. "Hey, Zelly! Wait for me!" she called out. Saying a quick pardon to the king, she left her food half eaten and rushed out of the breakfast hall after her blond-haired friend.
Sure enough, the Sheikah was waiting for her even though Zelda had left breakfast early. The princess found Impa leaning against a nearby wall, her Great Sword strapped to her back. She was wearing her trainee tunic and white tabard today and appeared slightly sweaty.
Impa smiled and pushed herself off the wall when she saw Zelda exit the breakfast hall. "Good morning, Zelda," she said as the blond princess walked over to her.
As she was coming to expect, Zelda's heart fluttered a little as she stood near Impa and the Sheikah flashed that brilliant smile at her. "Good morning, yourself," she said, unable to stop herself from grinning like an idiot. She had been up half the night thinking about the day they shared yesterday and what they would do next. "Did you sleep well?" she asked.
"Briefly, but yes," Impa replied. Ruto approached the pair as Impa continued. "I apologize for my appearance. I woke up early to get my training in before I met you. It went late."
Zelda shook her head. "I do not mind," she said. Truth be told, she liked seeing Impa without her armor and decoration. It was dressed as a trainee when the two princesses had first noticed her across the yard. "By the way, Impa, this is Princess Ruto of the Zora people. She is my father's ward for the next few years. I mentioned her to you yesterday."
Impa bowed. "Well met, my Lady," she said.
Ruto put a hand on her hip. "Oh, don't do that," she said. "I'm not a 'my Lady' at all. Just call me Ruto and I won't have to slap you."
"Ruto!" Zelda snapped, glaring at the fish-girl.
Impa laughed. "It's okay," she said. She bowed a little at the Zora princess. "I'll be sure to call you just Ruto from now on, unless otherwise instructed."
Ruto crossed her arms. "I think I like her already," she said to Zelda. "I can see why you were so thrilled to tell you your father all about her this morning." The blond princess blushed and shot daggers at the Zora with her eyes. Ruto ignored the look, but she didn't miss the way that Impa smiled when the color crept into Zelda's cheeks, nor the way that they unconsciously stood closer together.
"You told the king about me?" Impa asked Zelda, still smiling at the princess's blush.
Zelda only turned redder than before. Ruto resisted the urge to roll her eyes. These two are as bad as young lovers with a first crush, she thought, but she kept her observations to herself for once.
"Yes, I did tell him about you," Zelda said, tucking a lock of blond hair behind her ear. "He asked how our day went since I was absent at supper. I had only good things to say."
"Well, thank you," Impa said, crossing her arms in front of her. "I hope that I am as interesting today as I apparently was yesterday."
"Okay, okay, enough you two. Third person in the room, remember?" Ruto interrupted. "What are we going to do today, huh?"
Zelda folded her hands in front of her. "Well, I thought we could go riding around Hyrule field. With Impa around, we will be more than protected."
Ruto threw up her hands. "FINALLY!" she exclaimed. "Something different! Thank you IMPA! I thought I was going to die of boredom in these stone walls."
Impa chuckled, clearly amused by the Zora princess. "I would be honored to be the escort of two princesses for a day." She grinned at them both.
Zelda had the attendants ready the horses while she and Ruto retired to their rooms to change into riding gear. Impa waited in the hall. Changed and ready to go, the three women hurried out to the stables and mounted their horses. It was a sunny day, perfect for a ride. Impa trailed behind to keep an eye out while the two princesses led the way. They rode around the field for a while, and then down to the shores of Lake Hylia and up to Faron Woods. As they wandered through the large trees and around the huge form of the Deku Tree, Zelda's brow furrowed.
"Do you see that?" she said, pulling up on the reins of her white mare. Ruto and Impa also stopped. They looked around, but neither of them saw what the princess was seeing. Zelda pointed upward at the canopy of the Deku Tree. "His leaves," she explained. "They are dying."
Sure enough, when Impa and Ruto looked closer they could see that Zelda was right. His leaves were turning red and brown, and a few had already fallen. Ruto's fins flickered in a kind of shiver. "What could cause that?" she asked, her voice a whisper.
Impa frowned. "An evil wind," she said. "The leaves of the Deku Tree only fall when evil has come into the world."
Zelda nodded. "The turning of the next Divine Cycle. The servants have been gossiping about 'signs' of it. I suppose this is one of them." Her eyes met Impa's with a gaze that was heavy with implied meaning. Ruto may not know what that meant on a larger scale, but Zelda had a feeling that Impa would understand.
"If that is true," started the Sheikah, spinning her mount around to look in different directions, "then we should leave this forest immediately."
Ruto shivered again. "Fine by me. This place is giving me the creeps anyway."
They turned their mounts toward the nearest exit, and Impa kept a careful watch as they left. She noted the sickly brown moss growing on the tree trunks and the gray appearance to the once well-lit forest. She also noted a lack of living activity. No birds sang, no small creatures moved, no bugs floated through the air, nothing. Faron Forest was lifeless, sickly, and dying. This was not a good sign.
When they were out of the forest, they turned their mounts back toward Hyrule Castle. The desire to ride had left them all. They skirted around the edge of the volcanic Eldin fields on their way back, where Zelda paused just long enough to look for similar signs of sickness there. Unable to see anything from the distance they were at and unwilling to traverse such dangerous lands, they moved on. While Ruto and Impa went on to talk about other things, the Hylian princess rode in silence and mulled over the implications of what they had seen.
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They reached the castle late and soon parted. Impa went to have supper with the trainees in the barracks, and the princesses had a quiet supper with the king. None of them were particularly talkative, and they passed most of it in silence. Afterward, the two princesses sat in their nightgowns in Zelda's room. There was a chill in the air, so a servant crouched by the hearth working on a fire. "So, Impa," Ruto said, cutting to the chase after the servant had left.
Zelda snapped out of her thoughts and blinked. "What about her?" she asked.
Ruto rolled her eyes. "Come on, Zel. I don't think you two need a week. You're practically smitten with each other."
Zelda furrowed her brow for the second time that day. "I do not know what you mean," she said. She liked being around Impa, but she didn't know if 'smitten' was quite the word.
"Sure you don't," Ruto rolled her eyes. "All those sparks flying, I'm surprised you two don't start fires when you come within two feet of each other."
Zelda started at her with a blank expression.
"Wait…" Ruto blinked. "Wait, you really don't know, do you?"
Zelda shook her head. "What sparks? She only knows fire and water magic, not electric. And she seems to be well in control of her power."
Ruto's eyes widened and she nodded her head. "Wow," she said, drawing out the word. "Well, never mind I guess." She got up, obviously not interested in hanging out with the Hylian princess if there wasn't juicy gossip involved. "Someday when you do figure out what I'm talking about, Zel, come talk to me," she said before she left. "The Zora are a more…fluid people. It's not so uncommon there."
Zelda looked utterly confused. "Fluid people? What are you talking about? You are an aquatic race, of course your people are fluid."
Ruto grinned. "It's okay, Zelly. You read a lot of books, and I know some of those are more on the…romantic side. Or some clinical study of the similarities between Zora, Sheikah, and Gerudo cultures, perhaps. Either way, you'll come across it someday." With that, she left before Zelda could say anything in reply. The princess sat on her bed beneath her big comforter and hugged her knees into her chest, staring into the fire. She tried to puzzle out Ruto's cryptic words, but soon she found her mind drifting off to the topics it seemed to love best these days: the evil presence they had discovered in Faron Forest and Impa. Laden with worry and emotion as she was, it wasn't long before the Hylian girl lay back on her pillows and fell asleep.
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For the next three days, the princess and the trainee met in the same place at the same time. Zelda had tried to push her father into talking to her about what was going on in his meetings, knowing that they would be related to what she saw in Faron Forest and perhaps she could help, but he refused to budge and just encouraged her to focus on her schoolwork and finding a suitable bodyguard. As frustrated as she was by his silence, she was glad to have an excuse to get to know the Sheikah better without feeling guilty about ignoring the state of the world for the sake of her own pleasure.
The princess tried to have something planned for their amusement, but soon their respective duties started to get in the way of her plans. Impa had to accompany Zelda to her classes on the fifth day, which prevented them from talking much at all. Luckily the Sheikah seemed to be interested in what the Masters were teaching. She took notes and helped Zelda to study later in the evening. Then, on the sixth day, Impa had to prepare for her final test to take place the next morning. Zelda sat on the sidelines in the yard, no longer caring about whether they were seen together or not. If the whole of Hyrule didn't already know about this "trial period" then the servants weren't peddling their gossip well enough.
Halfway through her training routine, Impa stopped and sheathed her Great Sword. Sweaty and red-faced, she came over to Zelda with a young man at her side, the same blond that Ruto liked so much. "Thank you for staying," said the Sheikah as she stopped just short of the princess. "I really need to train. I'm nervous about tomorrow."
Zelda shook her head. "No thanks needed," she said, flashing Impa a smile. "You helped me yesterday and now you have a big test of your own. I do not think you should worry, though. You are much better than any other knight I have seen." She paused, and then added in a hushed voice, "I do enjoy watching you though."
Impa bit her lip, smiling a little, and then cleared her throat. "Actually, I'd like to introduce you to my sparring partner," she said. Link stepped up beside her, smiling politely. "His name is Link, and he's pretty exceptional himself. He is one of the few I call friend."
Zelda smiled and held out her hand. Link took it and bowed. "Hello Link," Zelda said. "It is nice to meet you."
"You as well, your Majesty," he said, smiling at her.
"We were just going to take a lunch break," Impa said, looking from one to the other. "Did you want to join us in the hall, princess? Unless you would prefer something more private. Being around a bunch of loud, rude soldiers probably isn't your idea of good afternoon."
Zelda stood and brushed her dress off. "No, I would be happy to join you. Thank you for the invitation."
The three went to the mess hall, where a buffet-style lunch was being served. Trainees went through the line with their plates and then sat down once they had their food. Princess Zelda went through the line like all the rest of them. With Link on her left and Impa on her right, she didn't feel as nervous as she normally would have. The commanding officer waved them over to his table when he saw her, and they passed the lunch hour listening to him talk about the successes—and needs—of the Knight Academy.
Impa and Link ate with their faces practically in their plates, feeling out of place at the high table in such a discussion. Zelda, however, was in her element. She listened attentively and carried on a conversation with the commanding officer, commenting on what he said and throwing in ideas of her own. By the time lunch ended, the princess promised to talk to her father about the Knight Academy's needs, and Impa was feeling awe-struck. For all her shyness, Zelda was a natural diplomat. It was a new side to the princess that left Impa feeling more intrigued by the blond woman than ever.
Impa and Link continued training for the second half of the day. Zelda talked and joked with them both when appropriate. At other times, she just watched. Ruto came down to join them for a little while, but she got pulled back to her studies when Master Horwell spotted her and scolded her about needing to be in the classroom doing her makeup work. At the end of the day, Impa finally sheathed her sword. She and Link were both sweating and breathing hard. He more so than her, but he had definitely held his own.
"Thanks Link," Impa said, patting the younger man on the back. "I think I'm ready."
He nodded. "Any time. You're definitely ready, if how sore my shoulders feel means anything. I need to go soak them or I won't be able to move tomorrow." He leaned backwards, stretching his back, and took a deep breath of air. Then he turned to the princess, as if just remembering that she was still there. "Hey," he said to Zelda, "it was really nice meeting you, Princess Zelda."
Zelda smiled and nodded. "It was nice to meet you as well, Link," she said. "Have a nice evening."
He waved as he walked toward the male barracks. She waved back. When she turned her eyes back to Impa, the Sheikah was watching her with a smile on her face. "What?" Zelda asked.
Impa shook her head. "You're just kind of amazing, that's all. You didn't have to stay the whole day, you know. I'm sure it must have been boring."
Zelda laughed a little and tilted her head like she did when she was figuring out a puzzle. "I was never bored, like I told you before. And what did I do that was so 'amazing'?"
Impa smiled and sat down on the bench beside the princess. "Nothing. It's just that I never expected the Princess of Hyrule would be quite like you."
Zelda shrugged. "Well, this is me. All the time, twenty-four seven." She looked around, as if scanning the grounds for unseen eyes, and then she reached over and laced her fingers through Impa's on the bench between them. For a moment, she just looked around at the grounds and held Impa's hand, as if chewing over her next words. Impa waited patiently. Her thumb absently stroked the back of Zelda's knuckles.
When Zelda finally, spoke, her words were soft and hesitant. "My father will ask for my verdict tomorrow night," she said, finally looking down at their joined hands. "Impa…if I tell him that I want you, then you will be bound to me. For the rest of your life. Waking and sleeping, day and night, in sickness and in health, in peace and in war…until sickness renders you unable to perform your duties or death parts us. I will be frank with you, Impa. If what we saw in the forest is a true indication of the state of the Cycle, as I believe it is, then there will be more sickness and war than health and peace."
The princess would not raise her eyes from where their fingers were laced together. Impa could hear the question in her statement. She could hear the young girl still alive in the woman, still unsure about herself and her decisions. Impa angled her body toward Zelda until their knees touched. She lifted her free hand and took Zelda's other hand in her own.
"It is a lot to ask," she started, "and before I met you, I would have said that it was a lot to give. I had other dreams, other aspirations, before I met you. They won't be able to happen now. I would be giving them up in order to serve you." Zelda raised her blue eyes to meet Impa's red ones. The Sheikah could see moisture shining in the princess's gaze, and her heart melted. "That was before I met you," she reiterated, holding the princess with her eyes. "Now that I know you better, I've been reevaluating my life. My dreams. My plans for the future. It all seems…hollow. All of it except for serving you. Somehow I feel…oh, like this is my destiny maybe? Like you are my destiny, or at least part of it. The elders would laugh at me. I've never been one for this 'destiny' stuff. But…I can think of no better way to spend my life than bound to you, Princess Zelda. You will be the sun, and I will be your shadow. You the moon and stars, and I the black space that holds you up." She leaned forward until their noses almost touched, but not quite that far. "Through sickness and war, and hopefully through peace as well, until death parts us."
A relieved smile spread on Zelda's face and she threw her arms around Impa's neck. The Sheikah's eyes widened as she felt the princess's body press into hers. Her heart started beating harder as she wrapped her arms around the princess's waist. "Thank you, Impa," Zelda murmured into the Sheikah's neck, and the red-eyed woman suppressed a shiver as she felt the princess's breath brush her skin. Zelda let go and dried her damp eyes with a lacy handkerchief. "Oh, look at me, I am such a mess," the girl laughed.
Impa laughed with her, even as a warning light went off inside of her heart. She set it aside for later and kept her attention on Zelda. "We should both go wash up. I've been training all day and I'm disgusting, so I have no idea how you could possibly hug me," she said, trying her best to sound flippant about the embrace when the contact had felt anything but.
Zelda laughed. "You are right. I should go freshen up for supper with father. I think that I will tell him the good news tonight, and then we will not have to wait another day. We will have so much to celebrate tomorrow!"
Impa smiled, and Zelda didn't notice that it didn't quite reach her eyes. "That's great!" the Sheikah said. She stood up and held out a hand to help the princess to her feet. Impa swallowed the lump in her throat as she held the princess's hand a moment longer than she should. "Will you come to the test tomorrow?" she asked, letting hope leak into her voice.
Zelda nodded. "Of course," she answered. "I would not miss it for anything."
"Thank you," Impa smiled at the princess. Zelda gave her hand a little squeeze, and then they said their goodnights. Impa picked up her great sword and strapped it to her back again. As she watched the lithe form of the retreating princess, her feet stayed planted right where they were. She turned her thoughts inward, examining the internal warning she had ignored a moment before. A warrior had to be in control of all her faculties, and she had felt something for Zelda that was unidentified. To name a feeling gave one control over it. The embrace they shared came to mind, and their tender words, and the furtive touch of their hands. Dread curled in the pit of Impa's stomach. Her eyes widened as they found the last golden glimpse of Zelda's retreating form turn a corner of the yard out of sight.
Why hadn't she noticed it before? It was so obvious. Impa had been so engrossed in her warrior training for so long, with nothing to distract her, that she hadn't noticed the chemistry between them. Had she forgotten what feelings like love and attraction felt like? Like the fluid cultures of the Zora and the Gerudo, the Sheikah—a race of shadow people—were not as rigid in their definitions of sexuality as the Hylians were. Same sex relationships were common. Still, this was not acceptable. This could not be happening, especially with the threat of the war and the next Cycle hanging in the air. She must be mistaken about what she felt. There couldn't be a worse time or worse person to have romantic feelings about.
And yet, when Impa thought back on her interactions with the princess she could see now that it had been happening from the very start, and the feelings certainly didn't seem one-sided. The way that Zelda blushed or smiled at her. The way she was always trying to touch her in little ways. The way their touches lingered when no one was near. How could she have been so blind? What if it was all just a school-girl crush, and the princess woke up one day not feeling anything for her? Then they would be stuck in this awkward situation forever. Even worse, what if they did fall in love and stay together as Zelda became the Queen of Hyrule and had to get married and have kids? The throne must have an heir who carries the Blood of the Goddess Hylia. They could never actually be together.
Impa sunk down where she stood and stared, stunned, into the distance. She and Zelda would be together every waking moment of every day for the rest of their lives, through peace and, more likely now, through war. Only terrible things could come of this thing between them, these inconvenient emotions, but she was in too deep to stop it now. It was too late to run to Zelda's dinner table, right in front of the king, and take her response back. How would that look in front of the reigning sovereign of the Kingdom of Hyrule? More importantly, how much would it hurt the princess?
Nonetheless, a small voice inside of the Sheikah's soul insisted that Zelda was essential to her life from now on, a part of her destiny in the grand scheme of the universe. And Impa was attracted to the Princess of Hyrule. She said it to herself, praying that from this moment on, for the rest of her professional relationship with Princess Zelda, she could control these feelings. Years of training had prepared her for this. The Sheikah warrior had been taught to master any emotion, no matter how painful or beautiful, for the sake of honor and duty. She had just committed her whole life to Zelda's service, whatever the princess's needs might be, and there was no going back. Impa would just have to figure it out as they went along. Responsibility would have to come first, no matter the cost to her heart.
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Author's Notes: Revised chapter uploaded May 2022. Please see original author's note below.
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Hello everyone, and welcome to another chapter! I hope everyone continues to enjoy this little side quest!
Thank you for reading and, as always, please review.
