Zelda hurried to grab Reese by the arm and hurry him outside of the tent into a more secluded area, away from any eavesdropping ears.

"Don't call me that," she said hurriedly before grabbing his hand in a warm greeting. "You escaped!"

Reese looked from her to Link, who was following close behind. "Forrester? What are you doing?"

Zelda saw a look pass between both men, and she felt there was a need to stand between the two. Both of them had their hands ready on the sword at their belt, faces unmoving as they watched the other.

"No, Reese, Link is with me. You can trust him."

"You? And you know who she is?"

Link's lip tipped up ever so slightly, without humor or amusement. "Yes."

Reese looked back at Zelda. "I saw him fight. He's exceptional. But Princess—"

"Don't call me that."

"—how do you know you can trust him? He wasn't one of ours."

Reese was a soldier if ever there was one. He could have been the poster-child for any recruitment campaigns that advertised in the villages. Zelda imagined that he would be the kind of person they'd have sent in with useless, sleeveless chainmail just to show how sculpted his arms were, and to have him holding something heavy so they were constantly taut. He'd cut his hair so close to his scalp that it was only barely noticeable that it had been black and curly when it was longer. He was young too, perhaps Link's age, and possibly an indication of what Link had once looked like before being starved in the cells below the castle.

If Link had been worried about her appearance drawing attention to them, she feared that Reese would turn far more heads than Link would. Though, if she was being honest with herself, she knew which of the two of them she'd choose to stare at.

Zelda had known him for about two years, but never to the degree which she'd come to know Link. Still, he'd been vetted by her own father before he'd become a Royal Guard, and she knew he could be trusted. And yet… something about trusting too many people had Zelda on edge.

"He helped me escape from the cells below Hyrule Castle before Ganondorf could inflict a far worse torture on me than he already had. Link has selflessly been assisting me in getting to safety. I trust him."

She glanced to Link and shook her head ever so slightly, cautioning him not to add to her story. He got the hint and let her take the lead.

"Where are you headed, then? I can escort you the remainder of the way. To Prince Daltus?"

"No," Zelda said quickly.

Link watched her closely, finding it difficult to spot any trace of a lie in her voice or nervousness in her body. He realized that there had been a slight change in the way she spoke. He was watching the Princess of Hyrule for the first time since he'd met her.

Zelda continued, looking around to see that no one had come up on them. "Link is escorting me east to Zora's Domain. I am hoping to ask for King Zora's aid in reclaiming the castle. My cousin can continue his campaign and attack from a separate front. If we can keep Ganondorf's forces divided, we will have a far easier time retaking Hyrule.

"But Reese, you can't let anyone know. Link and I are travelling masquerading as husband and wife by the surname Green. Today, we changed it so as not to connect our time at the local inn to our offer to stay and assist with this battle. Look for the name 'Green' if you seek us to the east."

"I will, Your—"

"Stop," she hissed. "Tell me: how did you escape? Were there any others?"

Reese glanced uneasily at Link, who hadn't relaxed. "How did he?"

Zelda was losing her patience, and she took an authoritative step forward. Her title alone was enough for one to show her deference, and Link knew this well as he watched; he'd been weak under the power of her royal demeanor in the past, and he watched Reese succumb to it with a dry smirk.

"Are you questioning my judgement?" Zelda asked when Reese's head had bowed ever so slightly.

"No. Only your safety."

She took another step towards him. "I am responsible for my safety as well. So, Sir Reese, tell me how you escaped."

"I… ran. I'd been left injured when Ganondorf stormed the throne room, and when I found myself able, I ran for my life. Forgive my cowardice, Princess. I have not seen any others."

"I won't forgive you if you keep calling me that," she grumbled, before turning to Link. "How did you meet Reese? He called you 'Forrester.'"

"We both went after the dinofols."

"Reese," Zelda started again. "I'm not even remotely joking when I say that you cannot tell a soul who I am. Link and I are going to continue in the morning."

"Let me come with you," Reese said, all but throwing himself at her feet.

But Zelda stepped back almost like a reflex, closer toward Link. At her movement, Link's hand was back on his sword.

"No. I'm afraid that too many people would attract attention. But I do have a task you could do for me, one I can entrust only to you, to someone I trust. Will you ride ahead to King Zora and tell him that I have 'two hearts too many?' It's code to covertly know that I am coming."

Reese bowed. "Yes, I can do that."

"Go now."

"Yes," he said with another bow, glancing at Link with something burning behind his eyes before taking off.

When several minutes had passed, Link glanced back at Zelda. She was breathing heavily, and he lightly touched her arm, enough to snap her out of her daze.

"What's it really mean?" he asked carefully.

Zelda glanced in the direction that Reese had gone. "If he delivers it? It means I'm in danger."

"You don't think he will?"

Zelda grabbed Link's arms tightly, her hands shaking slightly as she did. "Link, he was on our floor of the castle. He was one of our family guards. It was a massacre, but he escaped by playing dead and running? I saw Ganondorf's men. They stabbed the corpses to be sure. Something isn't right."

"Zelda," Link said, lowering his voice, though there was no one around. "Do you need me… I can… if he's a threat, I'll…I can't word it kindly. I can take Epona and catch up to him before he tells anyone anything. I can…"

"No. I don't think he's going to leave the town until we do. And I don't have proof. I could condemn an innocent man."

Seeing her expression darken, Link took Zelda's hand and led her away from where they'd been standing, keeping hold of her in the darkness of the starlit sky.

"Well, after seeing him, I have to ask you something that's eating away at me."

"Go ahead," Zelda said, expecting something about the massacre.

"Did you ever have a relationship with any of them? Your guards? You looked at him like maybe there had been something."

His tone was genuine and curious, but Zelda couldn't help her face heating up. "No! I mean, he's very attractive, but no! I never did! I'll admit, I liked to look at some of my guards, but I never breached that protocol. My sister did, but I told you that story."

"So, as a…" he looked around, and though it was night and they were off to the side, there were still people mulling about. "… as a you-know-what, you were betrothed and never rebelled against that?"

"Why are you asking me this?" she asked, feeling her hand starting to sweat in his.

"I want to know some more about you. And you brought it on yourself by staring at him like he was that roast duck we were talking about the other day."

Zelda choked out a laugh. "I… rebelled. Just not with guards. Gods, this is awkward. Yes, I've rebelled against my betrothal, both intentionally and unintentionally."

"You are squirming," Link laughed. "Tell me more."

"No!" she laughed, unable to bring herself to talk anymore about it. "What about you? Your said you joined the soldiers so young. Did you ever rebel against that with a relationship?"

Link's eyes glistened as he looked at her mischievously. He couldn't help the self-satisfied grin on his face, and while Zelda thought it was due to their rather inappropriate conversation, Link ran his thumb along her knuckles, just glad he'd managed to get her thoughts off the potential dangers that Reese might pose.

"What do you think my answer will be?"

"That's not fair," Zelda said, feeling her heartrate speed up. She cursed to herself. Not too long ago, she'd been the expert at making him hesitant, or making him blush. But Link had unexpectedly grown bolder and more comfortable with her and her title, almost like it didn't exist. And that was what she always wanted from someone. She just didn't realize that she hadn't figured out how to be on the other side of it yet.

"Just tell me what you think."

"Yes. Yes, I think you might have found some relationships to distract yourself from the horrors of soldier-hood with. You certainly have the flirting and the thing with your eyes down, so I'll say yes."

Link laughed and let go of her hand, turning to her with a playful look on his face before shaking his head. "The word 'relationship' might be a bit too much. My fake marriage to you is the closest thing I've had to a relationship. Just some… fun… here and there when I was younger."

Zelda grabbed him again, this time to stop him. "You? You're so…" she felt herself stutter over several adjectives that she felt would have gone straight to his head. Instead, she opted for the more vague: "…interesting."

"Well, thank you," he chuckled. "But I've lived in four garrisons in the last three years alone. In times of peace, soldiers can spend their entire career in the same place. I didn't have time for anything serious. And if I died, it would be easier on everyone."

"That's horrible. You deprived yourself of things in case you died? You'd think it would be the other way around. Tell me then, where do you see yourself after the battle that we're expecting to retake Hyrule?"

"Honestly," he mused, despite his seriousness, "dead. I don't see a future for me."

"That's not even a little funny."

"It wasn't meant as a joke."

They stared at each other for a long moment before Zelda sighed. "You'll laugh at me, but I had two secret relationships with noble boys I'd grown up with. One's father was an advisor to my father, and the other was just the son of a nobleman."

"So," Link said, thankful for her generous topic shift, and grabbed her hand again, holding it up for her to see. "Where does 'fake marriage to a prisoner you escaped with' fall on your list?"

"It's…" she smiled, her own eyes sparkling with amusement. "Interesting."

She let out a breath, realizing they'd arrived back at the medical tent. She let go of his hand and realized that she was actually very tired, and Link's appearance had only distracted her from that fact, just as Link's conversation had taken her mind off Reese.

"Are you coming inside?" she asked.

"Do you want me to?"

"Yes," she said too quickly before making a dismissive face. "We're supposed to be married, remember? If you don't stay with me on my lovely little bedroll, people will be suspicious."

"I like your infallible logic," Link laughed as he followed her inside where it was immediately warmer, protected from the chilly night air.

And as Zelda laid down, feeling Link join behind her, she turned to face him. "Link. I'm glad you're alive."

"Yeah," he muttered, feeling her settled comfortably against him as she had for several nights now, as if it were the most normal thing they'd ever done. "Me too."

A/N: I just want to take a second to say thank you so much for the comments! I see them all and I appreciate them SO much! I just forget to respond 99% of the time because I have a few chapters sitting in my Doc Manager and I post when I think "omg I forgot to post Unbroken!" so I just hit post and then never respond. So this is just me saying thank you for the comments! 3