32. Guardian
The sun started coming out on the horizon and a cuckoo is heard on the distance. The King was getting everything ready with the help of Sebastian in the throne room, the Queen was scowling not at all convinced about was the King wanted to do, but she agreed to not interfere.
Meanwhile on the east tower, Link was about to choose the suit he intended to wear when he hears knocking on his door. He slowly walks towards the door to open it, he was expecting Chacha to start cleaning the room or something, but it was NOT Chacha.
LINK POV
"What are you doing here so fucking early, have you got no compassion?" Link extends a hand
"Compassion? For you? Please" Pepe reaches to take Link's hand and shakes it
"Really why are you here?"
"I promised mom to check on you, she saw the butler carrying a wine bottle to your room yesterday, I don't have time for soapy stories so shoot?" Pepe says curtly
"I stole it, we have not gotten caught so far, and we made it part of our creed not mention your name under any circumstance" Link summarizes
The door opens slowly and in comes Chacha with a broom and a mop
"What are you doing here?" she asks a little angry
"I am a free man; I can be wherever I want to be missy" Jose states crossing his arms
"it's getting late I know, wait… how do you know about my meeting?"asks Link
"I was asking the fuck he- whatever, I got my answer anyway, YOU" pointing at Link "I have no clue about your meeting and YOU" pointing at Jose "get out of here, I need to clean this room and your presence disturbs my peace"
Jose raises both his hands and walks to the door, when he does a 180 turn and asks
"Should I be worried about your meeting?"
"No… should I use charcoal or black? I want to look formal and a little older" Link openly asks and points a finger at Chacha "If you say anything you are going to regret it" Link warns
"hahaha… I don't need to, you already know. And answering your question, both of them will make you look formal but I am not sure if older, they fit you TOO well" Chacha answers honestly
"Black, I have not seen the suits you are talking about, but black tones add an intimidating factor, it may not make you look older but if you need to look like you have fangs, wear black" Pepe says as he leaves glaring at Chacha.
That was a good advice, do I need to show fangs? Yes I do, I need to be perceived as competent and even dangerous. Claire already knows I won't harm any of them, but I need her and the King to realize that I am more than capable of protecting my princess if it comes to it, so Black it is
Link strides to his changing room and does not take long to reappear in front of Chacha all changed. He points at himself raising an eyebrow. Chacha smiles and raises her thumb. Link exhales and leaves his room in a hurry.
ZELDA POV
"That was all we did at the market yesterday, I swear, there are witnesses that can confirm it Ivanna" Zelda says almost pleading
"All right, let's say I believe you. Still doesn't explain why Link requested alcohol yesterday" Nana says raising an eyebrow at the Princess
Did he? When? And why? Are we in trouble?
"You lost me, I have no idea why he did that, maybe stress because something happened, did we got caught? I don't know… For the love of Nayru, where is Link right now? it feels like he was ambushed, I shouldn't have left him alone like that yesterday, Cormac was there wasn't he? Maybe he knows something" Zelda rushes out of Nana's kitchen and collides with Pepe falling back on her butt.
"Well, that hurt, but hello Princess" Pepe looks at Nana "he is fine, no signs of hangover, even though he DID finish the bottle" Pepe says raising his eyebrows in amazement
"You just saw Link? is he still at his room?" Zelda asks with obvious desperation.
"No, wow… I wonder if I will ever have a beautiful lady search for me with this level of desperation" Jose jokes a little.
"FOCUS JOSE, this is important, where is he?" Zelda asks exasperated
"He was supposed to attend a meeting… I am guessing he is at the throne room"
Zelda runs out of the kitchen and head to the throne room, she almost falls in the middle of her run, but quickly recovers her balance and continues.
I should have been paying attention, he has been found out, that has to be the reason why my parents cited him and ONLY him. I can't let Link take the fall for me; I asked him… pleaded him to steal my royal seal. Why didn't he tell me about this?
Zelda reaches the double doors of the throne room and starts to push them open when she hears laughter inside. Curiosity gets the best of her so she opens the doors wide, only to witness Link standing from being on one knee, and the King putting away a sword he only uses for investiture ceremonies. The Queen was witnessing everything in silence, but the moment Claire notices Zelda's presence her face changes from being stoic to shock. This only scared Zelda further.
"What just happened?" Zelda asks puzzled
Daphnes froze at the sound of the Princess's voice, Link turns to her and produces a smirk opening his arms wide for a hug.
"You are staring at your legal guardian, and he deserves a hug for his effort don't you think?" Link says
HE BETRAYED ME… HOW COULD HE?
LINK POV
Sebastian stops what he is doing once he notices the deathly silence that fell on them. Zelda's eyes show a fire that could burn anyone in front of her, they are also glistening in tears of betrayal. She turns and starts walking away raising her middle finger.
"I told you she was NOT going to be ok with this" says the Queen raising from her throne
"She just needs to understand what all this means for her" The King states and signals for the Queen to sit back on her throne.
"I WILL make her understand all right" Link says in a somber tone, he looks at a soldier standing at the corner of the room and approaches him asking to handover the bolases.
The King upon witnessing the exchange yells "LINK"
Link with the bolases in hand starts jogging out of the throne room "I WONT HURT HER" much
Link exits the throne room giving chase to the princess, the Queen stands from her throne and begins running behind Link, but Daphnes grabs her by her shoulders and stops her.
WHO THE FUCK DOES SHE THINK SHE IS?
*The princess of Hyrule, DUH
Whose side are you on?
*NOBODY'S, come on… like you don't know me, I just exist to add fuel to an existing fire
Doesn't she realize I did this FOR HER? And even if she doesn't see it that way, she has a mouth, she could have asked… she could have stayed and talked
*She is female dude, emotional to the core, she is not seeing anything but her anger… you want her to see reason, YOU HAVE TO MAKE HER.
Link throws the bolases at Zelda's ankles, making her trip and fall face down. She turns and starts trying to disentangle herself, a difficult task since she is having a hard time seeing through her teary eyes.
Link reaches her and watches as she seems to be unable to free herself, Zelda screams in desperation and stands up with her ankles still tangled. She then swings at Link who deviates the blow with his right hand and rams her with his shoulder, the force of the impact makes her stumble back, and since she is not free from the bolases she ends up falling on her back.
Link quickly gets on top of her and uses a hand to grab both her wrists on top of her head, this to effectively stop her from punching. His other hand holds her neck and applies enough pressure to hold her still but allowing her to breathe.
"What are you doing bitch? I thought this was what you wanted?" Link asks her demanding an answer
"WHY WOULD I WANT THIS! I AM TIRED OF PEOPLE RULING OVER ME, telling me what to do, how to dress, how to speak, even how to think… I thought you were on my side, now you are just another person with power to command me, I HATE YOU, I HATE THIS"
"Yes, I have THAT kind of power now, SO WHAT? what have I asked of you so far? I will tell you what, I have asked YOU to be strong. Was I wrong demanding that from my future Queen? Or why are you afraid of me commanding you?"
Zelda stares at him, she wants to speak but fails to find something to respond. Link sights and releases his hold on her neck.
"You are failing see the whole picture, let me explain it to you. I became your legal guardian, meaning I am obligated to ensure your well-being, and NOW I have a say on anything and everything that has to do with you… are you following me princess? if I say that you are coming with me when I have to leave then YOU ARE FUCKING COMING, and not even the King can stop me now."
Zelda's eyes widen, Link releases her wrist and climbs off of Zelda sitting by her side, she also sits rubbing her wrists, with doubt she manages to start speaking
"Did you just said…" she does not end the sentence; her voice was breaking.
"Not always, depends on the level of danger the mission encompasses, but for now I can say WE are leaving in a few days" Link says with half a smile
Zelda starts weeping loudly, in the middle of her cries she reaches for him pulling on his jacket, and continues to cry loudly on his chest. Link slowly surrounds her with his arms and stands pulling her up with him.
Cormac approaches to check on them, he panics when he hears Zelda loudly crying and starts running towards them, Link holds a hand up to stop Cormac on his tracks, then looks at him and raises his thumb, Cormac sights and silently returns to the throne room to inform the King and Queen.
"Princess, do you need me to take you to your room?"
Zelda looks at him and nods wiping her tear away with her hands, Link searches in his jacket and hands her a handkerchief. She looks at it and smiles timidly
"That is the second one, should I think of replacing them?" Zelda asks, but she WILL replace them no matter what Link says.
"maybe" Link says offering his arm to escort her to her room
*COME ON, don't tell me you are a gentleman now
I am not, her stance doesn't feel sturdy, I just want to steady her, after all I threw the bolases at her feet, I could have hurt her ankles.
Zelda takes his arm and they both start walking to the stairs that lead to her room. She is leaning on him a lot, which causes Link to slow down for her.
"Did I damage your ankles with the bolases?"
Zelda opens her eyes a little and smiles "it hurt but no, it's my knees, they are shaky… it's just the emotion, I still can't believe what you told me" She looks at Link, eyes glistening and hoping for Link verify what he just said to her.
"Well… what can I say, it's happening and there is no stopping it" Link states looking ahead as they continued walking
"I… DID wanted this, I just had no idea what it involved, I am sorry for how I reacted, for not staying to talk about… I should not have doubted you" Zelda admits
"You shouldn't have" Link agrees with her
Zelda pulls on Link to stop right in front of the stairs "I need to tell you something would you listen?" he nods "the reason why I am so excited about this is my father, when he left us, he said he was leaving Hyrule, he encountered a woman named Mishel and she was not from Hyrule, she talked about her world and he fell in love with the new world"
Fuck, she is talking about Michelle, well… at least thes man did not leave them because he was chasing another woman, I hate him a little less.
"I did not understand what he talked about at the moment but now I do, there is a world out there and he is there, I want to search for him, would you help me find him?"
*You said it before, daddy issues
I will help her with this
*Why?
Why not? Maybe if she meets the man, she can come to terms with why he left, and move on… hopefully opening a small breach Daphnes could fit through. It's a win-win.
"I would need his complete name, and a picture. That will make it easier to search for him on SWORD's data registry"
Zelda beams at Link "I have all that, Link" she gets on her toes and kisses his cheek "thank you… and I am no bitch" she says squinting her eyes
"Don't behave like one then, and don't kiss me" Link warns her raising an eyebrow