Link watched Zelda leave. He waited ten or so minutes, and climbed out of bed, pulling on his pants and checking out the window. Just her, riding away. They'd been over this a dozen times before though. He put some water on to heat.
By the third day of her absence, he realized she'd been saying goodbye.
So he went to the wedding.
Zelda never saw him crouched in the back of the church, dressed in his best. He studied Bertrand and frowned. Weakling. Link could kill him with one hand. But the worst part was that Zelda was smiling at him. From the distance, Link couldn't tell if it was her false smile.
He left the church before the kiss.
When Bertrand led Zelda away at the reception, he went to the balcony and brooded, leaning on the railing and glaring out at the moonlit ground. So that was it. She was truly over him. He drained his glass of wine and smashed it on the balcony ground, grabbing a shard of glass and squeezing until he felt it cut into his hand, and blood dripped off one point. He felt numb. He hadn't been sleeping. He was so used to a warm body sharing his bed that he tossed and turned without one. Link went to take his kerchief out, to wrap his palm in it. He stopped when he saw the dark little spots from Zelda's makeup and tears. A bride that cries on her wedding day? She couldn't be happy. He tucked the kerchief back in his pocket and dropped the glass shard, squeezing his hand tight to stem the bleeding.
In silence, he climbed down the castle wall, dropping off into some bushes and strolling casually away from the building. He whistled for his horse and climbed up, prodding her into a canter to escape the castle and Zelda's new life. He drifted back to when she first said those three little words to him.
Zelda'd been coming regularly to visit for a few months. She sort of rolled her eyes at the engagement and getting married, claiming that these things always took forever and by the end, neither the groom nor the bride were pure. Link supposed she was just trying to rebel against the idea of being a bargaining chip for a bigger kingdom, even as she pulled off her clothes and straddled his waist.
Sometimes they would eat a simple meal before, or sit and talk a bit about the castle marketplace. But most nights when she would come, she was a torrent of desire and indignance, leaving scratches on his back and bite marks on his neck. He held her by the hips and kissed her breasts, catching a nipple with his teeth and biting. Zelda liked it rough at first, as she always came in angry about something. Link was convinced she spent the entire time riding to his place working herself into a frenzy.
After a marathon session of clawing and biting each other, fighting through their pleasure, they would lay together on the bed and doze. It was this peaceful break in their passion that Link enjoyed the most. His tightly wired muscles relaxed, and Zelda no longer looked angry at her life, that she couldn't marry Link instead. It was during one of these breaks that she walked out on him. It was also during one of these breaks that she told him how she felt.
Zelda looked up at him with soft, sleepy eyes and a little smile. "You're amazing," she murmured softly, touching his face.
Link shaved just for her, liking the contact of her skin on his. "I'm just a farm boy," he replied quietly, moving closer and putting his arm around her side. He kissed her fingers, the palm of her hand.
Zelda smiled, watching him do this. "I love you," she said softly, moving her hand from his mouth to his hair.
Link looked at her, raising an eyebrow, smiling crookedly. He climbed over top of her, leaning down and getting right in her face. "Oh yeah?" he asked quietly, as Zelda shifted her hips and wrapped her legs up around his waist.
She nodded, cupping his face in her hands. "Always."
Link took her slowly, stretching out their pleasure to a fine point, groaning as she tightened around him, kissing the bruises he'd made on her breasts and throat. He slowly moved them both into different positions, trying to maneuver her so that she was in control, to worship her with all of himself. She came on top, riding him, his mouth at the spot where her heart pounded, smooth and steady. Link jerked once, twice, and shuddered as he came for her, his eyes shining with adoration. "Do you know how beautiful you are?" he asked against the curve of her neck. Zelda just laughed.
Now, Link stared at the bed where he held her. He let her go so easily. What a fool he was. He swallowed his bitterness and packed a small bag with a few items for survival, closing it up tight and locking up his house. He climbed up onto his horse. He couldn't stay with all the memories that pricked at his skin like needles. He couldn't even use the cup she always used for tea. So many memories, good and bad, packed tight into a little house. He was sick of them. They only made his heart hang heavy, and incited him into an anger so quiet and stealthy that he didn't know himself until he'd broken a chair or a window.
So it would be best to leave for a while, and maybe he would find someone else. In his heart, he doubted he'd find anyone; Zelda had bewitched him with her ways. He took a deep breath of the air, but it didn't hold a promise of a fresh wind for him; just the stale, cold sort where you wanted to stay inside instead. But everywhere he looked, Zelda haunted him with her eyes, her voice, and he couldn't stay in a house packed so full of her presence when she wasn't even there. It was killing him.