Their romance blossomed by the light of the candle. Quills scrawled sweet nothings that were carried by hawk from castle to desert and back again.
By the light of the candle, they unfurled them, read them, and cherished each word that said all but one precious, dangerous thing.
Until one day, Zelda dared. Three forbidden words: "I love you."
Three days passed by, and the hawk never returned. For every minute she could spare, she waited by her window for the harbinger of affection who had not once been tardy, and yet...
Zelda was wrong to assume. Those words should not have been inked. He would never echo them back to her as she pined for so deeply.
On the third morning, the king summoned Zelda to his study. He did not glance up at her as she entered, for he was very preoccupied. His right hand signed document after document marked in urgent red. His left stroked the taxidermied hawk on his desk.
"Zelda, dear," he said. "Please know that all the love you'll ever need can be found within these castle walls. Understand?"
The silence ticked by. One beat for each day of loneliness, and then…
"Yes, father."
