Zelda could feel Link's arms tighten around her, fearing for his life as she accidently nudged Epona with her foot, sending them flying forward in the wrong direction.
"Watch it!" Link hissed into her ear, reaching out to grab the reins.
But Zelda elbowed him, "I've got it!" She slowed Epona and let out a breath. It would have been embarrassing if she couldn't slow the horse.
"I thought I'd die for you on a battlefield, but never with you on a horse," Link laughed.
"Shut up, Link. It wasn't that bad."
"No, when one's life flashes before their eyes, it's usually a good thing."
She turned to glare at him, but the harsh motion signaled Epona to move again, and Zelda groaned, leaning further away from Link as he chuckled.
"When I was learning to ride back home," Zelda started once she'd regained control, "I would practice for an hour or two at a time. We have been riding for far longer than that. Forgive me," she emphasized, "for being a little sloppy."
Despite Zelda's desperation to sleep in a bed, they'd spent one more night in the forest, not spotting a town at all. But Zelda felt good that there'd be one, and that today they could finally get their bearings, and some information about her cousin.
"I can't forgive you, not after all I've learned about you today."
Zelda rolled her eyes, glad that Link couldn't see the smile on her face. "I could say the same about you, Link."
"Snakes? Snakes, Princess?" he asked, as if she hadn't spoken.
She scoffed. "They're a perfectly reasonable fear. And it's my mother's fault. I didn't want to pet it and she ran right up to me."
Link laughed into her ear before scooting further back to preserve her eardrum, and his own sanity. "I just pictured you with some sort of fear of deep, grassy trenches, not something so… normal."
This time, Zelda snorted. "I don't know what's worse, that you think me to be so inhuman, or how predictable your favorite food was."
"How was that predictable?" he asked, feigning indignance.
She bit her lip, trying to ignore the flutter in her chest. His joking tone was one of the things she liked most about Link, and she loved how easy it was to bring that humorous side of him. "I don't know. Just... it fits you."
"Why? Because I'm a soldier? Or is there something inherently about me that just screams pulled pork is my favorite food?"
"Maybe! I don't know!"
Link laughed, his whole body rocking. "Well I'll bet yours is something posh and expensive. Flan, cakes, biscuits, white truffles… something like that."
Zelda turned just enough so she could see him but not affect Epona "It's quite common actually. Roast duck with potatoes."
Link made a face. "Well that's it then, we can't be friends anymore."
"Why?" Zelda laughed with her mouth dropping open.
"For one, you're a duck murderer—"
"—you're talking about eating a pig!"
"—and two, you're making me far too hungry for me to still like you. I'm now afraid to see an adorable duck for fear I'll only see it roasted on a plate."
Zelda had to keep her eyes off of him as her face reddened. Goddess, when he made her laugh, it was like she could feel the world righting itself. There was no war, no lost family, just a single moment of unbridled joy. And he knew how to make her feel that.
But in the longer moments of silence, she always remembered.
"Zelda," Link said, scooting forward, pressing his hand into her side with an excited tap as he pointed. "A town."
Without realizing, she threw her head back a little forcefully against Link, not realizing how close he'd moved. They both winced, but Zelda didn't move away. "Thank the Goddess. I need to get out of these woods!"
"Wait, hop off for a second."
Link watched Zelda dismount far more gracefully than she had before without a saddle before hopping off behind her, and pulling off the bag that held their few things. He took out the rolled up, hooded cloak they'd been given, and he held it out to Zelda. He also grabbed a small piece of twine, like he kept in his hair.
"Tie your hair back as well, but don't make it neat."
"Why?" Zelda asked as she pulled on the cloak.
Link went to run his hand through his hair but stopped and sighed. "Are you really going to make me say it?"
With a bland look, Zelda nodded. "Yes, of course I am. I'm not a mind reader."
She was surprised that her simple statement had made his ears tinge red, but she waited as he searched for the words before visibly giving up and just blurting it out.
"Because, you're beautiful. People will notice you, and there's very little else you can do to hide it besides looking a bit messy. You're someone that people stop to stare at regardless of your title, and that's not good for us right now. You could herd pigs, and people would still stop dead in their tracks to look at you. People will stare and figure out who you are."
This time, Zelda felt the heat rise into her own face this time. "Oh… you think I'm…?"
"Please, don't finish that question." His smug grin was masking something, and she desperately wanted to know what it was he was hiding from her in that moment. But he didn't lax, "You're a royal. You're a liar if you try to tell me you have never been told that. I'd be willing to bet that every single day of your life, there was some man or woman who told you how gorgeous you are."
Zelda took the twine from his hands, feeling a spark where their skins brushed against the other. "Yes. People often told me. But half of them wanted something from me, and the other half were trying to get me to marry them and have their children to create a powerful royal lineage. My sister and I used to hear that we were blessed with fine appearances to help us find a better match someday. It was not limited to us. My parents were subjected to the same objectification. It was rarely genuine flattery."
"Well," Link said, his grin faltering at her harsh words. "I don't want anything from you, and I'm not… trying to carry on some secret royal lineage of mine, so believe that my flattery is sincere and genuine when I say that you, Zelda, are equally beautiful on the inside as you are on the outside… and that's saying something."
Sucking in a deep breath, Zelda bit her lip, lost for words for once.
It had Link more than grinning. "For once, I think I have you on the ropes, Zelda. You've gone red on me." His fingers trailed lightly up the side of her neck, following the red as it deepened. Zelda gasped and closed her eyes, feeling thousands of sensations all at once before opening her eyes to see his staring intently back at her. "Have I gone too far, Princess?"
"No," Zelda managed to croak out.
His thumb brushed the skin of her throat before he pulled his hand away. "Your heart is racing."
"Well, what do you expect?" Zelda half laughed, finally finding her voice again. "You do this thing with your eyes and you say that."
His eyes narrowed, sparkling. "What do I do with my eyes?"
Zelda scoffed, pushing him away so she could breathe. "That."
"I'll be more careful then," he laughed, allowing himself one final desperate glance over her before turning back to Epona, his playful, easy, and decidedly un-serious flirting tone that he'd maintained up until now returning as he took the front to give Zelda a slight break from steering Epona. "I mean, once we get into town, you are my wife again and I can absolutely compliment you if I want."
"Same goes for me then," she said, pulling herself behind him. "I'll find a way to make you blush."
"Oh, you just declared war, Princess," he said, turning to wink at her. She chuckled and brushed some of the stray hairs from her face to keep her eyes off him. Link watched her with an amused grin. "That easy now? I just have to wink?"
She cleared her throat and wrapped her arms around his waist, shaking her head one more time. "I think I liked you better when we were still in the cells."
Link let out an easy laugh and sighed, leaning back against her just to tease her, and he closed his eyes, realizing just how drunk her laughter in his ear made him.
Goddess, he realized, he might just be falling for the Princess of Hyrule.