Scattering petals

Link & Zelda

Chapter 15: The princess' shadow

When the presence of the princess' escort becomes unbearable for her

Author's note: This is one of the moments of the story that escalate into an included memory in the game! Remember that for now Revali and Daruk are recruited and Urbosa and Mipha are yet to be visited by Hyrule's princess diplomatic committee.

I would like to hear your theories on who was the person who told King Rhoam about Zelda using the sheikah slate! Even if it has been a while since this story has been completed or updated, I still would be glad to hear your theories in the reviews!


The needle was shaking along with her slim fingers. Despite being a simple design, Link's champion clothing was the most difficult to craft. A tunic had never been complicated to measure and sew. Embroidering the planned pattern Zelda had designed herself with the triforce motive would also be doable with some patience. The blue cloth, in fact, wasn't the problem. Neither were her flickering hands. But Link…

"I need some air." The princess finally sentenced, letting the needle and measuring tape fall to the ground.

Zelda exited the room with haste, ignoring the presence of the witnesses. The maids' exclamations and the sudden stop of the poet's musical chants were ignored by her highness. The wind of her own body caressing her facial structure brought some temporary calm to her mind, erasing other worries. She had to urgently exit the castle in order to regain some sanity. Since she had been denounced by the king, the princess felt like she could trust nobody. Her mind wasn't at ease and it couldn't stop producing theories about people near betraying her. Sharing time with Link, her principal suspect, wasn't aiding either. She just could stand the situation no longer. Not without having a break.

Meanwhile, outside in the spiraling stairway, Impa suddenly stumbled upon another person. To her surprise, she found the princess herself running downstairs carelessly. A high-pitched yelp echoed temporarily as Zelda caught the royal counselor's hand to prevent her from falling. The essence of silent princess' petals struck her senses, and it was not necessary to seek the identity of who had collided with her to recognize the princess.

"Your Highness!" Impa exclaimed, taken by surprise. What was the hurry?

As if she had been caught doing something forbidden again, Zelda recovered her frigid composture. Nevertheless, she didn't stop her pace to discuss the weather or how nice the temperature in the west wing was. Superficial conversations and small talk had been the latest topic of the week in her quarters. She was done with it all.

"I require some time alone." The princess quickly justified herself before disappearing downstairs.

The swiftness of the events didn't allow the sheikah to think straight. It was not typical of her highness to avoid conversation to flee away. At least not with her. However, before Impa could recover the conscience of her own thoughts, another figure descended her way almost collisioning with her. Again. What was going on in the western tower?!

"Careful now!" She exclaimed, crossing her arms before her face and bracing herself for the impact.

Luckily, the second person going downstairs was far more agile than Princess Zelda. A firm arm aided in recovering her balance. When Impa opened her eyes, she found Link being the one chasing after her highness. Loud alarms rang inside the counselor's head.

The escort had its royal guard uniform creased from the recent movement. His hair was also all out of place, the beret was long forgotten in the princess' room. He was also disarmed, master sword nowhere to be seen. The sight itself was rare. Link, despite being a fierce fighter, was always presentable in her highness' presence. He carried the master sword with him everywhere he went to honor his oath as the hero of Hyrule. Something didn't fit together in the usual scenario in the princess' wing of the tower.

"What's the matter?" The sheikah counselor observed the worried expression on the knight's countenance. With his usual stoic image broken, there was no place for hesitation: something had happened between Zelda and Link. But she didn't know what was it yet.

"I shall go." Link quickly answered, motioning downstairs with his head. As always, he wasn't the talkative type.

However, Impa felt like it was her responsibility to tell everything to the appointed knight as she was the closest person her highness had among the court. Her well-being, physical or mental, was of utmost importance. And his priority too. It was true that the counselor didn't know what was the situation at the moment, but Link deserved to know what the princess thought about him. The opportunity to cross paths between them hadn't blossomed in the last week despite Impa being around the castle to continue with the investigation of the delator's identity.

"Wait." The escort obeyed and stopped his pace before continuing to follow the princess' trail. Impa continued: "Your Highness believes the responsibility of her sanction is yours. I disagree."

Link silently nodded to himself. His eyes moved from side to side as if he processed the information, fitting the pieces of the mental puzzle together. Surely, he had already heard about the rumors among the court or from Princess Zelda directly. It was obvious that conflict arose recently.

"I know." The hero revealed. "Thank you."


The princess rode until Hryule's castle vanished from the horizon. To be honest, she was struggling with the control of her mount and had no clue where she was heading off to. All surrounding her was infinite land and nature in its prime. The birds chirped from the trees, piecing together nests for the eggs to be hatched soon. A soothing scent of moss and fruit filled the breeze passing by Zelda and Royal.

Nobody back at the castle had questioned her sudden departure though the urgency had astonished the staff at the stable. Somehow, she had managed to avoid Link's shadow following her outside of safety. Though to be honest, Royal had some credit to take. Its swift gallop had put some considerable distance between Hyrule's fields and her actual location. Luckily, the sheikah slate attached to the side of her belt was still functioning, so it would be possible to reorientate without asking for help from strangers on the mountain path. She thanked the castle staff that hid all sheikah technology with the horses' equipment. She guessed they thought that due to her prohibition to exit the castle, keeping the forbidden objects that distracted her so much in the stables would be wise. But of course, in a moment of adrenaline, nobody had dared to question her orders when she commanded them to ready her mount.

It had been inevitable. The latest events haunted her. Zelda had never felt so humiliated before. Foolishness is all she could recognize when she stared at her reflection in the mirror. She had trusted blindly and now the price had to be paid. She felt like a puppet locked up in a tower, literally. People in the court believed they had every right to opine about her sworn duty and interfere with her life just because she was the heir to the throne. It wasn't fair since nobody could really sympathize with her. Not even the king himself. The sealing magic was her birthright as a feminine descendant to Hyrule's crown. No man could ever visualize an inch of what being in her position meant to her, the royal family, and the kingdoms. Well, Link could have a similar position. But she no longer trusted him!

Because of the dime from a certain someone in the court, now she was destined to spend the rest of her days without researching activities. Even the letters from the royal lab had been restricted. It had been ages since she had last heard about Robbie and Purah. They surely had made some progress on deciphering the uses of the shrine of slumber located near Hylia's lake. There was nobody else supervising the experiments that would allow them, in an unfortunate hypothetical case, to resurrect a fallen fighter from their ranks. To be honest, she was highly tempted to go there and make a surprise visit to the sheikah scientists working on the camp at the entrance of the cave. But due to the recent events, she couldn't trust anybody of keeping as a secret her presence outside the castle. Her social battery was out of energy. Some time alone would do her good.

And so, Zelda rode in the opposite direction of the sun with no cares about her destination. From the distance, the rays of light reflected on her gold mane, creating a vision of pure shimmering spectacle. The blue shades of her clothing indicated her status, standing out like a sore thumb in the eyes of her fellow travelers on the road. The bright tones of Royal's icy fur were also noteworthy as it was extremely rare to find a fine horse with a coat as white as the snowfields of Tabantha. Her silhouette on the horizon eventually vanished to blur with the rest of the mountainside far from Hyrule castle.


Link had the help of some witnesses to point out the direction her majesty had followed. He rode the dusty path swiftly and tried to prevent all setbacks along the way. He knew the princess' skills in horse riding were limited as her mount still didn't possess enough confidence in her. Despite that being in his favor, the possibility of Princess Zelda losing control of the reins could gravely wound her if she fell. Those kinds of accidents happened all the time during the initial training of horsemen in service of the kingdom. Plus, the princess had fled from her own room in his presence. The blame was all his to take.

The hero of Hyrule just hadn't expected that Zelda would go fetch her mount and run away from Hyrule's immediate lands. Her outburst had been so sudden that he needed some seconds to process the reason behind her fit of rage. That valuable time had been crucial for her to escape his watch. Luckily for him, the trail of Royal's patter on the road was still recent. After needing the aid from a pair of travelers to give him directions, it had been all his doing to follow the princess' trail. Wind still hadn't erased the smell of her fragrance in the wilderness. He would recognize the scent anywhere, especially after what happened that morning in her quarters.

He had been summoned for the fitting of his champion tunic. Apparently, Princess Zelda's most recent assignment had been to craft the clothing of the chosen pilots of the divine beasts with Hyrule's royal blue themes. Tradition commanded her to make special gifts to the different regions on Hyrule with her own hands to show respect and admiration. It also would be the perfect excuse to celebrate a reunion with the remaining pilots recruited. He had heard a rumor about Princess Mipha being Vah Ruta's commander and also knew Urbosa, Chieftain of the Gerudo desert, would be in charge of Vah Naboris.

Certainly, Princess Zelda had already sketched the design of the champion's clothing. Several drawings with charcoal had been hung on the walls of her room. He gawked at the other champions' clothing while he waited for her majesty's attention.

Revali would proudly wear a scarf with Vah Medoh embroidered with a beige thread. Obviously, the princess must have had inspiration from the actual scarf that the Rito warrior wore. A very thorn and snagged cloth from all of the training and constant combat, to be honest. Either way, it must have been easier to design since a piece of clothing like that didn't need the previous measurements. His case, instead…

"Sir Link." The princess called him with a cold tone that made him snap out of his thoughts. "Let's make haste, shall we?"

When their glances met, Link immediately confirmed the rumors that had been circulating among the court. She really thought he had been the one to tell King Rhoam about her disobedience with the sheikah technology. Despite everything they had been through the last weeks, he still hadn't earned her trust…

With some hesitation, Link stepped onto the wooden platform on the left side of the room. The use of his noble title was still a newness he wasn't used to.

"Arms." The princess ordered, not even bothering to look at him. Her lips were tightened shut, showing anger towards him. When she touched him, an unusual roughness was also present. The touch of a princess shouldn't be so bitter. He had no idea what to do with his arms, so she continued with monosyllabic commands. "Up."

Link slowly raised his arms at his shoulder's height and allowed the princess to use the measuring tape to know his exact size. From his place on the platform, she was smaller than him. The sight was odd as he wasn't used to it. In fact, with her heels, the princess was usually taller than him. From the new perspective, the escort could appreciate the jewel undertones of her big and sparkly green eyes. Whenever she looked down, the engraved headpiece she wore was also full of details that went unnoticed until then. The strands of her blonde hair were completely untangled and seemed soft at the touch, like silk. Link always had problems taming his voluminous hair and ended up tying it in a low ponytail. Zelda's, however, had a completely different texture, much more pleasant to the sight. And surely to the touch too.

When the princess leaned forward to measure the outline of his shoulders, the proximity allowed him to smell the sweet perfume she wore. He could notice the floral notes in the fragrance, embraced by a soft though noticeable fruity touch. Her eyelashes slowly waltzed up and down as thick light butterfly wings. The expression of concentration on her face was priceless, mainly because any traces of anger had disappeared then. For the princess, working had that soothing effect that helped her evade the problems of her daily life. Link admired it, his eyes not moving from her form.

Eventually, Zelda had to move up and their eyes met. She had been noticing his constant glance like a dagger on her. Her gaze sharpened and an explosive shine lit her pupils with anger. She stood stiffly to try and match his height on the platform, but the top of her head only reached his pointy nose. She could feel his breath brushing the baby hairs placed carefully under the royal headpiece. Their corporal contact made the princess' chest pound painfully, something very powerful inside her building up like a volcano about to reach eruption. Link scanned that sensation on her stare.

And just like that, the knight and princess started what before the eyes of the other maids seemed like a staring contest. On one hand, her highness was rigidly standing, not even blinking to prolong the eye contact. On the other hand, Link didn't dare to give his eyes a break since it was his nature as an escort and vigilante of the court. Both were great rivals for such a simple competition that unwillingly had started some minutes ago. However, the tension of the moment was broken by nobody.

Zelda felt several extensions of her body tightening. Her lips were thinly shut and her hands closed until fists formed at her side.

Unluckily for her, the princess had ignored the existence of a needle betraying her palm. Once she felt pain piercing her hand, Zelda let out a slight yell and had to look down in order to detect the sharp object. Some red-stained drops disclose between her fingers, running down her nails until the blood spilled on the floor.

"Your majesty!" One of the maids yelled, running to her side with an alarmed expression. Zelda however, didn't bother to stare at her concern.

"You are dismissed." The princess replied, hiding her bloody palm from the sight of the maiden.

"Are you sure, your highness?" Another of the handmaids insisted.

"Do I need to ask twice?" A hint of annoyance was now noticeable in the princess' flowy voice.

Without daring to make her highness repeat, the maidens grabbed their belongings and left the princess inside her room with Link. Only then, the princess walked to the door to make sure it was closed and no one could eavesdrop on the upcoming conversation. She took advantage of turning her back on her escort to glance at her palm. It had been just a puncture with the needle though the blood was making the wound look dramatic.

When Zelda turned, she found Link off the pedestal, three steps before her. He was carrying a piece of white cloth, his handkerchief.

"Allow me." The knight persevered, not asking but informing her highness.

Before she could react, Link approached and placed her hand in his. With it, he held the princess' palm open and the fingers of his left one wrapped the cloth around the puncture. Zelda was about to say something when suddenly the knight bent down and used his mouth to tighten the knot on her hand.

The royal heiress felt his breath brush against her sensitive skin. The sensation made her majesty grate on her nerves. Words evaded her sorrowful mind as she watched in slow motion how precise Link had been with his lips. It made Zelda wonder…

"You forget yourself!" She exclaimed, taking a few steps back as if his mere presence around her burned. "Don't you dare touch me like that!" Zelda threatened with her chest rapidly going up and down in hard-up breathing.

"P-padron me." It was the first time the princess had heard Link hesitate before one of her explosive reactions. "I forgot my boundaries." He continued, seeing how her expression hadn't changed despite the apology. But his touch had an effect on her that none of them expected. It had been like gunpowder coming into contact with flames.

"You seem to be forgetting your boundaries quite often." And his manners, Zelda wanted to add though she felt that if she changed the topic, she just couldn't stop bursting into anger. "I don't need you following me around. I don't want to even hear you training every morning in MY courtyard. Your mere presence is aggravating!"

The hero's expression dropped. The princess felt her heart pounding against her chest with a hint of an unknown feeling. As they stared at each other, Zelda observed Link's jaw half-open, detecting the tip of his white teeth between his lips. Another wave of dizziness overcome her and all of sudden, sharing her personal space was impossible.

Zelda took another step back, staggering with her dress in the process. Her wounded hand found the door handle in the process. It was her opportunity to escape.


Not too long ago, the princess had stopped near one of the ancient shrines on top of a mountain. Plus, there was also some sort of ruins in the area that contributed to making the place of her interest. It was, all in all, the perfect spot to initiate temporal research that hopefully would help her get rid of intrusive thoughts about the previous events. As much as she tried to make the memory along with her feelings fade away, it was extremely difficult. She failed to identify the nature of her current emotions. In some sort of way, she was outraged after so many burdens tormenting her stay in the castle. Despite that, she could also detect a hint of guilt consuming her insides for having disappeared without informing her father. Surely the consequences would just make her situation worse…

Royal was worn out from the ascent to the mountains and let out a neigh that reminded the princess of their situation. She hurried to feed it some raspberries she had found in one of the bushes. The sweet flavor apparently calmed her mount and allowed the Zelda to accompany it next to a tree to secure the reins. Not before retrieving the forgotten sheikah slate from the baggage attached to the ridding saddle.

As her feet moved to the shrine, Zelda stared at the handkerchief still tied around her hand. Discarding it hadn't been an option until then. She plucked up enough courage to free her hand from the grip of the cloth. The bleeding had stopped. Only a small red dot was the proof that she, indeed, had an accident with one of the needles of her sewing equipment. Nonetheless, the amount of blood staining the cloth seemed alarming. Though in reality, it had been just a few drops.

As the princess untied the handkerchief, the corner of her eye detected some embroidery. With a green olive shade of thread, two initials were captured on it. There was an 'L' and an 'A' stamped in one of its corners. Judging by the detailed work, the person who crafted it had been a talented artisan. And for a moment, Zelda wondered if the 'A' perhaps pertained to a possible fiancée. She had never imagined Link in another context before though after witnessing how he used his lips to tie the knot on her palm…

"Enough." The princess reminded herself with a louder volume than she intended.

With a simple movement, Zelda allowed the handkerchief to fly away with the wind.


Enemies to lovers, someone? I believe that Zelda is starting to discover Link's charms without even trying. Also, the handkerchief initials are for "Aryll and Link". We'll find out more about it in the next chapter with some background and development for Link. Also, it will take place just right before memory number 5: Zelda's Resentment. But surely you had already guessed that!

Stella.