Link forgot just how early things started at home.
At the crack of dawn, he stupidly expected to be the only one awake as per his habit of the Guard, but he was wrong.
He knew his dad would be awake, he never left his own habit of early rising from his time on the Queen's guard. From his bedroom window, Link could see his dad swinging an old knight's sword in the backyard, shifting through the forms smoothly and gracefully with a terrifying accuracy.
But to see his mom awake as well and ready to tackle the day's chores was something he had to force back into his brain.
He didn't realise being away for a full year might make him forget about such things.
But one thing was definitely new, no matter how much he'd forgotten about.
Being woken up constantly throughout the night.
By the third time he'd been woken up by ear-shattering crying, he'd gone in search of a pair of earplugs, improvising with two tissues shoved into his ears and a cloth wrapped around his head to keep them there. It had somewhat worked.
It wasn't until later that afternoon when Link had kicked back and relaxed on the couch when his sister approached him.
Peeking an eye open, he noticed she was wearing her shoes and a jacket, Ari settled in her arms and looked at everything.
Where's Aryll going? He wondered briefly why she was standing in front of him, as if expecting him to do something.
"Can I help you with something?"
She smiled maliciously. "So glad you asked." She placed Ari in her hands, extending her out to him.
"Aryll, I don't know what to do with a baby."
"It's only for two hours," she argued back.
"I'm a swordsman, not a babysitter. Please, maybe Mom-"
"Mom's not here, she's helping Miss Nikki with something."
"What about Dad-"
"Not after I caught him dipping her pacifier in whiskey the other day." She held out Ari, motioning for him to grab her. "Go on, she won't bite."
"That's because she doesn't have teeth yet." Link was going to choose to ignore what she said about their father for the time being.
Seeing his sister roll her eyes but still holding the baby out for him, he knew it was essentially going to be a waiting game on who would be more stubborn: Him or Aryll? Typically it was him, but he had a feeling she had urgent business to get to and probably couldn't take the baby with her. He did notice the crate next to the door this morning but hadn't put much thought to it.
"Babies only need 3 things. Sleep, cuddles and food. That's it." She stated.
"I'm not a baby person, I really don't know what to do!" It was a losing battle, he knew that, but nevertheless, he pushed back.
"You'll be fine, I just fed her so she won't be hungry for a bit, and she's been cleaned."
With a long sigh, he got up from the couch and stood before his sister, arms crossed.
His little niece was bobbing her head left to right, the thinnest white-blond hair moving with the motion. Big red eyes peered back at him wide open, a clear sign of Sheikah ancestry in the child. Little hands extended out to him, opening and closing the little fists cutely.
"Please Aryll, I really don't know-" He tried, very unsure of himself.
"Here." She picked up the infant and extended her out to Link. "Hold your hands out."
He was sure he looked amusing with the way he held the child at arms length away from him. He didn't know how to care for it, he barely knew how to even hold it properly. Aryll could probably see him sweating, there was probably fear there too by the way she laughed at him.
"I think Mr. Hero can handle a baby for two hours." She laughed as she slowly let go of Ari. Link could see the amusement in her eyes as she took a cautious step away from the child.
"Take it back please," he whimpered quietly.
Before she could respond, Ari let out a loud giggle at the sight of Link's discomfort.
"She likes you."
"Uh huh." Link swallowed thickly as he looked at Ari. Yes she was cute, but was she ever covered in her own drool.
"Hold her closer." Link slowly brought the child to him, holding her in his arms. "Link, her head. Support her head." She nudged his elbow up to stop the lolling of the infant's head.
"L-Like this?"
"Fix your other arm, she'll slip out at the slightest wiggle." She moved his bottom arm to better support Ari's lower half, cradling her properly. "Congratulations, that's how you hold a baby."
"Please take her back."
Aryll bounded away right as the words left his mouth, picking up the crate of what he assumed was glass vials from the clinking noises inside.
"No can do, brother. I must be off!"
Right as she opened the door and stepped out. "When will you be back?"
"Two hours! If you need anything, check the drawer under the sink, it's all there!" She waved goodbye and ran around the bend and off to the bridge.
Two hours?! Before he could protest further, she was already gone. He didn't think he'd ever seen her run that fast in his life.
Never had the deafening sound of an empty household struck so much fear into his body. The house that had six people living under the roof, suddenly just him and the infant. An infant in his arms. A baby.
He had to take care of a baby .
But nothing pulled him back to reality like the gentle pulling of one of his bangs along with the adorably quiet babbling in his arms. He sighed and shifted the delicate child in his arm and nudged her hand away with his finger before tucking away the hair behind his ear and out of reach.
Then she grabbed his pinky. The touch was featherlight and surprisingly warm, with the tiny fist barely wrapping around his smallest finger.
Her fingers were so small, so delicate, fragile even, and she was just trying to grasp his finger.
It was almost enough to make him forget about the drool that covered his niece's face.
"How's our favourite prisoner doing?"
"Not too good to be honest. Our friend seems almost… restless,"
The Sheikah woman raised a brow and followed her friend to the cell where the Yiga assassin was kept. She peeked through the eyehole and looked in.
There, sat on the stone floor of the lockup was a brown haired Yiga they'd come to refer as fake-Thompson. Following the medical examination, they decided to keep him in the cell specially made to ward the escapist magic of the Yiga Clan.
And for some ungodly reason, they took his clothes too.
She assumed it was to make sure he couldn't hide weapons on him, but she felt a bit guilty about making him sit on the cold floor in a pair of thin briefs.
The inside of the cell was dark, the only light penetrating was from the torch behind her, peeking into the high window above her head.
Daily, she came down to check on the prisoner to make sure nothing bad had happened, and every day, it was the same. He sat there, his foot tapping incessantly, echoing lightly.
"He doesn't do much in there." The guard mumbled under his breath. "Does this all day; glares at the door, eats quietly, not a goddess-damned word." He sighed and leaned against the wall, short sword on the ground.
He was very relaxed, she found. His attitude gave her the vibes of sitting on a chair on her front lawn in the summer.
Not a care in the world.
"You're guarding an assassin, please remember this." She stated, hoping he would take her words seriously. "I know he is locked up but we never know their tricks."
"Relax, love,"
She frowned, and turned to face him directly, her eyes showing no amusement.
"Listen, he's not going anywhere. That's a fact. You know who they give this job to?" She honestly wondered who he was going to say. "Rookies. Because you wanna know why? These bastards never get out. Ever."
He pushed himself up from the wall and gave a sturdy kick to the iron door.
"Isn't that right, buddy? You're sitting there for a long time."
"Why do you aggravate him so?" Even she knew, if he got out, there'd be hell to pay if they made them angry on purpose. She knew the guards weren't supposed to interact with the prisoners in any way, safe for giving food.
How much had this guard been doing this exact thing? How long has this guard been taunting the assassin?
"Please remember your job. You are not to interact with him, am I understood?"
"Stop being such a stick in the mud, will you?" the guard retorted nonchalantly. "He doesn't answer back, what's the harm?"
"It is protocol. I do not wish to report back to your commander about this."
"Sweetheart, nothing bad is going to happen, chill." She could practically hear the ego and confidence radiate from this idiot. "Even if he did get out, don't worry, I'll be sure to protect you from the big bad guy."
He laughed as if he was talking about facing a rabbit in combat. The Sheikah woman didn't enjoy hearing the soldier laugh as if the assassin was useless.
It was rumoured that the assassin in question had gone after the Hero's life, rather than the Princess and that didn't spell anything positive to her. If the rumours were true, someone was confident enough to want to face him in combat, even if it was a stupid idea.
A stupid assassin was still an assassin.
"Look, his dinner's here," the guard motioned to the hall where she had just arrived. "He'll eat and he'll go back to his little routine.
"I didn't realise they started sending the Royal Guards for this kind of thing." The Sheikah took the small tray of food and slid the bottom hatch of the door open.
The boisterous soldier at the door snatched a small biscuit from the tray before sliding it through the door. "Yeah, I guess there's so many, they're dividing them up these days. This one comes mostly, but sometimes it's a girl too."
The Sheikah watched the Yiga take the tray, eyeing her heavily. She found it odd the way he didn't blink, he just… glared at her.
"What's the deal with this guy?" She muttered before slowly closing the hatch, cutting him off from looking at her. "Are all of the Yiga like this?"
When no answer came, she turned around curiously, only to see the soldier struggle silently before falling to the floor, lifeless, with his neck sliced. The royal guard behind her held a shining knife, dripping crimson from the blade.
I have to ring the alarm. She stood up hastily, ready to defend herself, but the guard was faster, pouncing with the knife. Her head hit the iron door with a loud clang that dizzied her, knocking her flat on the floor as the guard retreated back to his feet, pulling out a key from his pocket and unlocking the cell door and sliding it open in haste.
"Took you long enough." In her confused haze, the Sheikah struggled to regain her focus, unable to stand as the fake kight stepped out of the cell, stretching as he did so.
"Report back to Master Kohga, Jeff. He's less than pleased you were captured."
"Understood. Dispose of this one, don't let her talk."
The most she could do was weakly bring up her own knife to defend herself, but it proved to be futile in the end.
Zelda always dreaded dinners with her father, even those on the rare occasion where it was simply just them with no guards around.
She tried to ignore the thrumming on her heart in her ears as the echoes of knives and forks against plates rang through the dining hall.
It was a painful situation, that was for sure.
Her father barely looked at her, his eyes focused on the generous cut of prime meat and potatoes on his plate. He barely looked her way when he lifted his head to pick up his goblet of fine wine, instead it seemed as if he looked through her rather than at her.
"Have you picked among your suitors yet?" he finally asked, still not looking at her though.
She swallowed her bite of poultry. "I have not."
She knew this conversation was coming, it was only a matter of time.
"You should pick soon before they all leave."
Of her numerous suitors, it seemed only three had the courage to stay. Anton the anti-botanist, otherwise known as Lord Bram's eldest son, was one of the few gutsy enough to stick around. The second was the Duke of Akkala, whom she presumed to be pretending to be interested in everything she was.
In their last conversation, she had mentioned being interested in the anatomy of bears to test him, and to no surprise, he had exclaimed the same with an odd disgust in his eyes. She applauded his will and desire to see it to the end, but she wasn't sure how much longer she could entertain the wealthy duke.
And then there was the Earl of Hebra, who didn't seem to be interested in very much apart from books. While that in and of itself would have been fantastic, when she asked about this interest, his only words were "It's entertaining." and that was just about the end of it. There were no mentions of a favourite genre or author, only a shrug when she asked.
Quite the collection she had accumulated. In the three, she likely would have picked the anti-botanist, but even then, she didn't think she could tolerate much of the misogyny that came out of his mouth in general conversation.
All three of them were terrible options in the long term. They were good enough for a once-a-year conversation, but nothing more than that.
"What if there was someone else?" she suggested, hesitating with her words. Was she about to screw up with her next few words? Likely, but she hazarded it as good a time as any.
Her father's knife and fork were still in the air before laying down the piece of food it held. "Go on."
I finally have his attention! His eyes were on her, listening closely for once.
"Well, his character is good, he's strong and he has a good lineage. Many generations of his family have served the crown directly-"
"Speak his name." He cut her off.
"What if you gave Sir Link a chance?"
King Rhoam laughed. Most of his body moved with the full-belly laughter.
"Absolutely not."
"Why?"
She had to wait for her father's laughing to stop before he answered seriously.
This was a mistake to ask… She regretted her decision. Why had she even bothered? Her father didn't care for her happiness.
"I've told you time and time again, Zelda. Your marriage must be advantageous for Hyrule's welfare. Good for alliances, to make connections with neighbouring lands-"
"And this could be! He's the Hero of Hyrule , for goodness sake. He takes the welfare of this country to heart, more so than any foreign dignitary ever could."
"Zelda. No common-born man will be your husband, nor will a commoner sit this throne, am I clear?"
"Not even if that common-born man is divinely blessed?" Her father only glared at her, face turning redder by the second with every word that passed through her lips.
"He is not suitable to be your husband, Zelda. That is the end of the story."
"Is that all there is to it then? It's only his blood?" she dared to speak against her father for once. She had to know. "By the Great Goddesses, he's spilled more of his own blood on this nation's soil than any soldier alive! That shouldn't matter, he meets all of your criteria otherwise."
Her father responded by raising a brow, challenging Zelda once again. The way his face returned to normal, the angered red fading away worried her. Why was he suddenly calm again?
"Perhaps you should have a word with your knight before you bring up his name in marriage," he started, picking up his knife and fork once more to return to his meal. "Have you perhaps that he may have his eyes set upon another? That he may be pining for another young woman? Plans for a future with a gentleman instead?"
She couldn't say the woman was her. He'd pushed her into the proverbial corner. Anything she could deny with certainty would be questioned. She should, by all technicalities, not know a single thing about his feelings or future plans in life. She shouldn't even be friends with him beyond the point of acquaintances. Her father had allowed them to be friends and nothing more.
"Your knight confided he had eyes for a passionate woman, one who's quite 'avid in her work' as per his own words, you see. Perhaps you should speak with him before you bring him up in conversations where his name should never appear in the first place."
She couldn't deny he had said that. Of course, he was drunk and hadn't said any names, but he had said it and her father had a clear memory of the conversation if he was able to quote it back to her.
She slumped in her chair, knowing the conversation was done unless she wished to out herself as his true lover.
Should she tell him that the identity of the woman was sitting at the table with him or should she let her father assume it was someone entirely different? Telling him about their relationship now would only spell trouble, she knew, and she didn't dare try to speak for Link when he wasn't here to speak for himself.
Unease settled in her stomach for the remainder of dinner. She poked around the poultry and vegetables in her plate glumly. She couldn't ignore the twist in her stomach that formed a ball in her throat. Not another word was shared at the table apart from a solemn goodnight and a speedy retreat back to her room post-dinner.
It was only in the confines of her own bedroom later that night that she allowed her tears to spill. Her father would only allow her to marry the suitors he chose. She had no choice in her own marriage.
She didn't bother changing from her evening dress, instead crawling on top of her sheet where she wished she had company in the form of a friend, or at the very least, an ear that would listen.
Beneath her pillow, the first thing she noted was the cloak Link had left her, neatly folded but poking out from under. She pulled it out harshly and brought it into her arms.
"Link… Come back soon…" Everything was better when he was by her side. He supported her decisions when it felt no one else would.
Her fingers played with the dark midnight-blue fabric and sighed quietly. While it did nothing to ease her worries, it lessened the stress and knot in her stomach until she was able to drift to sleep.