Zelda wasted no time finding Impa and dragging her away from her work. She didn't really need to say dragged, Impa came quite willingly.

She wanted to go find Purah as well, but remembered quite quickly upon arriving in her workroom that she was at the lab.

A shame… Impa confirmed that she was over at the lab working on some things involving the guardians' safety parameters.

It was a welcome thing to hear. She remembered the storm Purah had thrown up when she initially brought up the idea of the guardians being dangerous.

Zelda still vividly remembered that day in the Temple where she was nearly killed by the guardian blast. What scared her the most was how ready Link was to take a shot for her and Impa.

And he had taken it head-on.

No, she knew if that happened again, they might not be so lucky.

Stop thinking about that Zelda, she tried to snap herself out of it. Today was meant to be a good day for her, she couldn't just bring down her own mood like that.

"Do you have everything?" Impa asked, fastening her small waist bag tightly and securely.

Zelda smiled. "I do, just let me get my cloak-" she realised she wasn't holding her cloak—rather the one Link gave her. "I seem to have forgotten it in my room, it won't take more than a few minutes."

Her guard stayed with Impa as she dashed out of the hall and to her room as quickly as she could.

Wten she did reach her room, she found it to be missing from the spot on the chair where she had left it. She frowned and stepped up to her bed, practically ripping the sheets off to see if she'd placed it there instead.

Where did I put it? She walked to her bathroom and took a quick look around. Not on the door, the hook or the counter.

As she started looking through her dressers and under her bed, she wondered if perhaps the maid had taken it for cleaning.

That thought alone was enough to somewhat ruin her mood and fuel her search.

It has to be here. She went back to her head, separating the sheets one by one to look, moving her pillows aside and moving chairs as if those could be hiding the garment. She even crouched back down to the floor to look under her bed a second time despite knowing there wasn't anything down there

"Princess?"

"Hmm?" She lifted her head above the bed and spotted Impa holding the cloak she'd just spent the last five minutes tearing her room apart for.

"I realised I was holding it for you when you left…" Impa's voice trailed off as she eyed the mess curiously.

"Oh! That's a relief, I thought for a moment I had misplaced it." She mumbled, trying not to jumble her words too badly as she lifted herself off the floor and remade her bed.

"You-you thought you misplaced it in your bed?"

"Uh- you know, it could have been anywhere! I have to look everywhere." She took the cloak out of her hands and brought it around her shoulders, doing up the clasp. "Let's be off."

Link had to go and grab two fishing rods and a net out of the old shed behind the house, as per his father's orders.

A sudden fishing trip after essentially being called a dumbass sixteen different ways? Link was smelling a watery grave from his aggravated father.

He'd begrudgingly told his mom that he and his father were going fishing down at the beach and she had looked at him like he had two heads. He had muttered an "I don't know anymore" before closing the door and running to catch up with his dad, who'd somehow ended up halfway to the beach.

"Dad? Why are we-"

"Shh."

Link rolled his eyes so far behind his head, they physically couldn't go further.

It was a long walk to the beach, entirely in silence with the only thing keeping them company was the birds chirping, insects buzzing in the grass and the sound of gravel against the ground and their boots.

It took almost an hour and a half of pure silence before they finally reached the shore of the beach where his dad went into a bush and dragged a large wooden raft out from behind the bushes.

Why they were going fishing at sunset, Link had no idea, but he could safely assume this likely had to do with the conversation that got cut short.

Link dropped the rods onto the boat and helped push the raft into the open water, hopping on and letting his dad push the boat away from shore with the back end of the oar he carried.

"Dad?"

"Shh."

Link sighed loudly. His father simply sat cross-legged and watched the raft get further and further away from shore until it eventually drifted to a stop.

"Alright, now you can tell me how you fucked up."

"How I fucked up? Dad, really?"

"If you want to make it home for dinner before midnight, you should start now."

"Before midnight?!"

"I imagine this is not a five minute story?"

Link mumbled something beneath his breath. His father was right, it would likely take a solid hour to explain the basics of the situation.

"Why'd you take us all the way out here?"

"Link, what do you see?"

Open water, the shore getting further away, seagulls, a couple fish in the water, clouds, that made up the gist of it. "Absolutely nothing really."

"Exactly." His father shot him a pointed glare then tapped his ear twice. "No one's eavesdropping. Say your piece. I want to go home for dinner, your mother made meat pie."

Great, I want meat pie now. Thanks. He chose to ignore his grumbling stomach. Now wasn't the time.

For the ten thousandth time, Link let out a sigh and finally plopped himself down on the raft, letting his legs dangle into the water up to his knees.

Where to start with that story? Where even was the beginning of that story? Did he start with the King's pressures on Zelda's powers and presentation? Did he start before that or after that? Did he start with when Zelda got sick in the cave, though he would leave out most of the details leading up to it. Should he start with their trip to Lurelin?

"I don't know where to start…"

His father glanced his way momentarily and saw the frustration. "You said… You bonded with the Princess, correct?"

Link nodded.

"Why don't you start with what led you to that point? Without the explicit details please."

He decided to start from their trip coming back from the Spring of Courage. "On our way back from Faron, we had to stop due to a storm, it was pretty bad. Couldn't see more than a few metres ahead of us, so we stopped in a cave on the Plateau to wait out the thunder."

Link remembered reading the report from that night, there'd been a flood on Deya Village, straight east from where they'd camped out. The heavy winds had ripped trees out of the ground, and homes with weak foundations had been heavily damaged.

"Zelda got sick with a fever, I still don't know how long she had it, but I only noticed after a while-"

"Do I want to know how you found out that information?"

Link turned red. "No," He opted to ignore the silent snort that came from his dad. "Anyway, I brought her back to the castle. I still don't know if it was because she was starting to show or not, nothing smelled different and she wasn't acting different."

He was sure his dad had to be wondering why he had even mentioned that specific thing, but he decided not to address it, knowing that it was likely pretty obvious what was going down that night.

"Her fever broke less than a day after, and I thought it was just a regular cold-"

"Your first mistake was assuming it was a normal cold."

"No, it really did seem like a normal sickness-"

"Like I said, your first mistake was assuming it was a normal cold." Fredrick reiterated, this time more harshly.

"We were riding in the rain for hours-"

"Do I have to repeat myself a third time?"

He sighed. "No…"

"You usually miss it the first time, but you never miss it a second time. It'll save you a whole lot of trouble if you remember that." He shook his head in disappointment and placed his rod next to him, crossing his arms. "Let me hazard a guess as to what happened after." His father thought for a bit before speaking again, not even glancing his way. "You and Her Highness were out of the castle the next day, you were blissfully unaware of anything until it hit you in the face, full force."

Apart from missing the details about the Sir Jiran and Sir Thompson incident, his father was on point.

Should I tell him about that?

"You probably caught yourself and used your injections on the Princess and yourself and brought her back to the castle where she went into isolation and you did as well, correct?

Less on point now. He missed a lot of things. Link knew he was going to have to tell his father about the incident.

"That is what you did, yes?"

"Not exactly…"

"Dumbass." His father whispered quietly. "Tell me you didn't claim the Princess of Hyrule in a fucking field of all places."

"What?! No! I would never!" Link rushed out. He could never embarrass Zelda like that, especially for a first time.

"What happened to your injectors then?"

"There… may have been a scuffle…"

"A scuffle? With whom may I ask?"

"Sir Jiran and Sir Thompson…"

His father simply stared ahead, eyes on the waves. "I thought you were the sole attendant to the Princess when you're on duty."

"And I am."

"So pray tell, how did two knights come to be with you both in a field?"

And so Link was forced to tell him about the supposed assassination on his own life, about how he used all of his stock of shots on the two knights, leaving himself and the Princess with none.

He told his father about the incident beneath the castle, leaving out the specifics and keeping it vague, but clarifying he didn't take the Princess there either after his father had shot him one of the sternest glares Link had ever received.

By the end of the story, Link just wanted to tie a boulder to his ankle and jump into the Necluda Sea and never come back up.

He could almost hear the teeth grinding and the shouting begin.

"How could you put yourself in such a dangerous situation?! Have you forgotten yourself?"

Put myself into that? Link clenched his fists and swallowed down any words he was about to throw back.

"Do you have any idea what this knight would have done had he not decided to stall and inflate his own ego? You'd be dead. And Princess Zelda? Would you like to know what would have happened to her?"

That day still haunted him, but it was still a slap to the face to hear his dad say all of it. Link knew that the Yiga wouldn't have killed her immediately like they would have done to him. He'd gotten in the way of too many of their attempts at the last moment, there was no way they wouldn't have killed him on the spot. 'Sir Thompson' had been stupid, he boasted and taunted him, thinking he wouldn't have been able to get up. If he'd been any smarter, he would have done away with his life when the opportunity had shown itself.

At least he's locked away. The Yiga impersonator wasn't getting out of his cell. He wouldn't ever hurt Zelda. He'd never have the chance again.

But the other spies they could send?

Link was too dangerous to leave alive, but Princess Zelda, with little to no fighting knowledge, was about as bad of a threat as a baby deer.

Always keep yourself sane, no matter the cost. It was one of the primary rules he'd been taught when he first entered the academy to train as a knight.

If you were hormone addled, you couldn't focus on the right thing. If you couldn't focus on the right thing, you were left wide open. Wide open meant near certain death in a fight, be it hand-to-hand or melee.

"But I'm glad you're alright. Both of you."

Link didn't respond. He simply turned away from his dad and shuffled a bit further away from him. Wow, a silver lining.

"A word of advice? You shoulds separate heart from duty. It's a bad idea to let them mix."

What? That took a turn-

"I think you should break things off with the Princess."

Princess Zelda and Lady Impa strolled through blistering Castle Town, looking through numerous windows at the bakeries, cafes, dress shops and other small stores. They quickly noticed the bustling streets filled with people, many Rito, many Gerudo, and Zoras, but primarily Hylians.

Their first stop was a small cafe that Link had mentioned as an off-comment one day. The small hand treats they served with the tea and coffee were high quality, and Zelda savoured every bite of the biscuit. "You know, I'm kind of surprised you've been running around as much as you have the last few weeks."

"Oh? Why so?" Zelda pulled some rupees from her small waist purse and dropped a few on the table as Impa finished her tea. Zelda had long finished hers, but Impa took her sweet time.

"With so much going on the last few days, it seems you don't call on me as much to help with your birthday preparations." Impa said, sullen.

Zelda looked outside to the people walking by. "I haven't exactly been told too many details about my own birthday, I suppose."

"Really?"

"I mean it." The two ladies stood up from the table and motioned to the waitress that they would be taking their leave. "It seems the Council and my father have opted to keep me out of the loop."

"That's terrible! You're the Crown Princess for crying out loud." She lowered her tone. "Whatever for?"

Zelda shrugged. She didn't know, but she wanted to. She desperately wanted to know. At least in the past, they would give her some inkling of a a schedule. This year, they simply told her to show up, which dances and which songs were planned to be played.

"Hell if I know, I'm sure even Link knows more than I do at this point, and he's not even in the castle."

They left the cafe and motioned for the guard on standby to follow. They passed a few more shops and stalls and soon arrived at the city square where a beautiful fountain sat in the middle of the plaza.

"Speaking of Link, is he attending your ball?"

"Goddesses, I hope so." The princess looked up to the clouds, watching one stray cloud slowly move across. "My father stupidly sent him on a 'vacation'," she air-quoted with her fingers. "And neither of us are sure when he'll return."

"That's unfair. He should be here." Zelda agreed without another thought.

Zelda and Impa soon found a seat near a stone bench overlooking one of the fountain's many outpouring water pockets. "As much as I want him to hurry back, and don't get me wrong, I do miss him, I also want him to make the most of this time."

"What do you mean?"

"I've noticed a few things recently, you know, since this whole… bond thing happened." Zelda sighed and rubbed the side of her bare neck. "His schedules are extending into late evenings and he isn't getting nearly enough sleep."

"I've noticed his coffee in the morning. He doesn't even ask for a single cup anymore, it's a cup and a full pot at this point," Impa joked light heatedly. "Sir Link can take care of himself, Princess. He's a grown man who's been taking care of himself just fine for as long as I've known him."

"I'm worried about what my father is doing, Impa. My father is the one who's filling every available slot of his day with duties, or well, he's ordering the Commander to do it."

Impa glanced at the guard who stood five paces away from them, but still in earshot. "Maybe he'll come back fresh as a daisy! You'll see, his mom will kick him right back into shape."

"I'm sure you're right."

From her seat, Zelda watched curiously as a group of men tugged up a large wooden pole, decorated in flowers and colourful ribbons. Looking around her, she noticed there were ribbons and lanterns hanging above their heads, some strung across the streets way above the roofs.

"What's going on?" Zelda motioned to the pole.

Impa looked to where she pointed and smiled. "Oh they're decorating for Nayru's Day."

"Oh Goddesses above, I forgot about that."

Not only did she have to worry about her birthday celebrations coming in a mere nine days, but the Nayru's Day celebrations were rapidly approaching, not even a week afterwards.

That, she couldn't skip out on due to its publicity around the city. Fantastic, I'll be paraded around once more and made to sing hymns.

"What do they do on Nayru's Day?"

Impa beamed at the question. "Oh so many things! They open these candy stalls and these games…" Zelda listened aptly as Impa continued to describe the many games they would set up along the buildings, the musicians that would be posted in the square until late evening, the drinking in the pubs, but she noticed her voice take on a dreamier tone when she mentioned the evening dances.

Maybe she could figure out how to let Impa off duty that day.

"And you can dance with all the strangers you want! Share some cocoa, there's even a food eating contest! Last year, it was apple pies" Zelda regretted hearing the apple pie story. She found herself growing queasier at the detailed description of a man stuffing his face into a pie and devouring nine one after the other. She couldn't imagine eating so much in one sitting.

I wonder if Link could… She assumed he had to have a limit to his hunger, no matter how much of a black hole everyone joked he was.

"-this woman came out of nowhere afterwards with a bucket of water and had to dump it on his head! There was sugar syrup everywhere!" Impa laughed loudly, holding her ribs as the story made her nearly keel off the bench.

Zelda found herself laughing as well, but not nearly as hard. Impa's laughter had always been contagious to her, even if she cracked the lamest of jokes.

What made Zelda's anxiety begin to return was the sighting of more and more noble men and women. They were obviously promenading, that much was clear, but Zelda was out here, accompanied only by Impa and her guard behind her.

There was an occasional glance her way, some people she recognised from court discreetly motioning her way. It was enough for Zelda.

"Impa? Can we go elsewhere?" Impa took one glance around them and nodded, taking her hand and leading her elsewhere, somewhere secluded away from the growing crowds.

They walked out of the plaza and towards the quieter streets, further away from the festivity set-ups.

Finding no place to properly be able to sit down and have a conversation, the three opted to return to the café where they found a quaint little table outside and ordered tea once again, with Zelda ordering a small piece of cake to go alongside.

This time, their guard got to sit down as well, though she remained quiet. Zelda struggled to remember her name, but she remembered her as the woman who Link was always reminding not to use vulgarities while on duty.

Regardless of the guard sitting directly across them, Impa decided to broach the subject.

"So how was it? Tell me everything!"

"Everything?"

"Yes, everything."

Zelda looked up hesitantly at the guard who was reading something, book in one hand and tea in the other, seemingly occupied.

Zelda turned red simply thinking about her time in bed with Link.

"Was he good?"

"Impa!"

"I want details. I need to know if I can make fun of him or not."

"Why is that your reason?" Zelda snorted, putting her tea down. "You can't just make fun of a man for his performance."

"Of course I can, it's Captain Shortstack."

Zelda sighed and took a long drink of her steaming hot tea.

She couldn't get her mind off the fact that one of his subordinates was sitting right there, likely listening to the conversation about her own captain's performance between the sheets.

"No comment, Impa." She tried to hide the fiery blush from her cheeks, hoping silently it would be replaced by a sunburn instead.

"Fine," Impa dragged on. "Did he at least treat you like a person after?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Zelda kind of didn't want to know what Impa meant by that statement.

Did men routinely treat their partners like crap after intercourse? Why was that even a question that had to be asked?

"I would assume so?"

"Oh… I keep forgetting Link was your only partner." Impa slumped back into her chair. "Hmm, did he go straight to sleep after the deed?"

"No…"

"Did he pay attention to you?"

"Yes." Was that not supposed to be a yes?

"Did he... take care of you first or was it like…one sided?"

Zelda didn't think she could turn anymore red. The questions were growing more and more ridiculous and Impa seemed to be growing progressively more frustrated.

What did she mean by 'take care of you first'? Did she mean having an orgasm? She couldn't think of anything else.

"Most of the time, me?"

"Dammit, I lost 50 rupees to Purah."

"I'm sorry, were you betting on Link being an asshole?"

Impa shrugged. "Purah claimed he'd be the nicest of gentlemen."

"And I am going to thank Purah for having faith in him!" She shot Impa with a stern glare that the other woman laughed off.

"I do have faith in him but you know us. I just can't bet on the same side as my sister!" Zelda's glare didn't shift whatsoever. "Only the Goddess knows why we were having that conversation, it was actually Purah who brought it up."

"I request that you do not discuss my bedroom activities anymore, that makes me incredibly uncomfortable, Impa."

She was relieved when Impa nodded and agreed never to bring it up again without her being present.

"While we're on the subject, how has your cycle been since your heat? You haven't called on me whatsoever since it last came. I just assumed it might have messed with its regularity."

"Why would I need to call on you again? I'm doing fine now, doing great actually."

"It's just, you've always been bedridden so now I'm just shocked you're not!"

Zelda shot Impa with a curious glance.

"My cycle came, weren't you the one who guarded the door that week?"

"What? When did I- Oh Princess, I mean your menstrual cycle, not your heat cycle."

Zelda froze at those words.

"W-what?"

"Your monthly cycle. You know, your menstrual cycle. You haven't called on me since your heat cy…cle.." impa's voice drifted off, her eyes widening slowly.

Zelda felt a heavy lead ball form in her throat. Swallowing suddenly became difficult and the air was suddenly crushing her.

She hadn't finished reading that damn book about the unique traits from each designation. Why had she assumed the 'cycles' were one and the same?

It doesn't help that everyone calls both just "cycles". Zelda felt cold flood her veins immediately. Her last menstrual cycle… that hadn't shown up since the few weeks before her heat.

Almost three full months before.

"Impa…" she managed out, feeling the ball break.

"Princess… Tell me you've had one since your time with Link."

Her silence spoke volumes. Impa's face turned to horror and panic.

"Tell me you, at the very least, bled after your heat."

"I was supposed to bleed?!" She whispered, horrified.

There was silence between the two women who stood in the middle of the street. Both were unsure of what to say further as the truth of what happened hung in the air.

"How can you say something like that?"

"You're not good for each other. That's final."

"Bullshit! You take that back!"

"And if I don't?"

Ignore him? Not when his father stated that crap.

Not good for each other… What does he even know about that? The thought of his father not approving of his relationship was starting to boil his blood.

Zelda made him happy. She was a constant in his life that he'd gladly do anything for. He couldn't bear to see her upset.

Did his father not see that? Was it not obvious enough that he loved Zelda?

Link was exasperated. "There's nothing you can say that'll talk me out of this. I love her and you can't do anything about it, end of story."

His father let out a loud exhale, followed by a faint shake of the head, but he remained quiet.

"Why can't you just be happy I've found someone?"

"Link, I'm happy you've found someone to be happy with." The loudest sigh Link ever heard escaped his father. "But what I'm mad about is that you've painted yet another target on your back and it's affecting her directly."

"How is it affecting her?"

"A target on her back means a small target on yours. A big target on yours, on the other hand, means dozens on hers. You don't seem to understand the gravity of your situation-"

"Okay, everyone keeps telling me this is serious, and I have to hide this mark, but why do I have to hide this shit-"

"Language."

"Sorry, hide this thing, but no one will tell me why! Do you understand why that frustrates me?"

"Link, listen. By bonding with the Princess, you've placed yourself in a precarious position. Sit down for a second."

Link took a seat on the wooden planks, letting his legs dip into the crystalline waters of the bay.

"I took you all the way out here so we'd be alone. Do you see any opportunity to be overheard?"

They were surrounded by water for at least a mile. No chance of anyone overhearing apart from the fish in the bucket next to him.

"Do you know how many people would kill to be in your position right now? To carry that mark you carry?" He remained silent. "The court is going to eat you alive. Every action, word, glance, everything you do is going to be talked and gossiped about. Link, only one person can carry the bond mark of a Royal Princess of Hyrule, well after it's been reciprocated anyway. How many people have you told about this?"

"I guess it's just Barnabus, Impa and Zelda. I don't think anyone else really knows."

"Don't tell anyone else, do you hear me? As long as that bond is incomplete, you become public enemy number one. The Yiga won't be going after her, it's you they'll target. You need to know that most people out there will disagree with your relationship, and it'll be purely out of jealousy, classism and pure vindictive bloodthirst. I don't disagree with your relationship, but I need you to learn how to control your emotions better. If you're happy with the Princess, then I'm happy for you both. I'll personally welcome her with open arms, but you have to keep your guard up at all times. This bond cannot be public until you've mutually agreed on what you will do."

"What the hell is so important about this bond? Why the need for so much secrecy?"

"You're bonded to a Goddess. A Goddess, Link. Why do you think? Use your head for once, did you not look into this? Did the Princess not tell you?"

"No, she hasn't because His Majesty hasn't told her a single goddess-damned thing about her own designation or bonds. We can't look into it because we can't find anything pertaining to it, Dad. Libraries are wiped clean of it, and we can't ask around either."

"Of course the library was wiped clean." His father rubbed his temples in frustration. "You know of the magic the Royal Princesses wield, yes?" He nodded. Of course he knew, it was the subject the King relentlessly reminded them both of.

"If you bond to the Princess and she reciprocates, that reserve of magic becomes available to you if you know how to utilise it."

That is a valid reason for secrecy… that makes alot of sense.

He didn't imagine it could be anything like that. He assumed Barnabus knew most of the reasoning, considering how he emphasised secrecy the moment he spotted the mark. He hadn't even been subtle, he had just told Link to hide it and lie.

But Zelda? She couldn't have known about that. If she knew there was a different way to access that magic, she'd have jumped at the chance the moment she heard about it.

But that still didn't explain why his father knew about this.

"How is it that you know all of this?"

"I've read every book in that damn library, Link."

"I doubt any of them went that deep into it."

"Do you think I stood quietly three steps behind Her Majesty for all of those fifteen years? She told me enough." His father took the oar out of the water and set it next to him.

"Hey Dad?"

"What?"

"Do you know who Her Majesty's bonded was?"

"I am under orders not to discuss that topic."

"Come on," Link dragged on. "You think I'll go blurting it out to everyone?" When his father remained quiet, Link rolled his eyes and sighed. "Look around us, there's no one to eavesdrop, remember?"

"Ask me anymore about this and I'll feed you to the fish."

Link didn't doubt for a second that his dad would throw him overboard—he's done it at least three times in the past—but he wondered just why it was such a tight-lipped secret.

Then again, if he said the truth about the magical reserve stuff, it was reason enough to want to protect that person or both. He understood why that information wasn't readily available, he could only imagine the horror scenarios of someone wanting to take advantage of that particularly powerful thing.

"Um… Do I know the person?" Apparently, it wasn't a good way to talk about the subject indirectly because his dad wordlessly stood up, secured his fishing rod in its place, dusted his hands off on his pants before picking up Link as if he didn't weigh a thing.

Link screamed when he was thrown off the boat and into the cold water, fully clothed.

Surfacing, he heard his father shout out to him to get himself back in the boat with the reminder of a delicious homemade meat pie sitting on the table motivating him to swim faster.