Hello readers, Chapter 148 is here! This week Link's outing with Zelda has ended with the two in a very awkward situation. Can Link get out of this without making a huge mistake? Read and find out!
Link sat silently on a bed in the Hyrule Market Town inn he was staying at for the night. He dared not move a muscle, or even speak a word, as he sat there waiting.
At that moment, he was hearing some splashing of water, accompanied by the melodic voice of a woman singing to herself from the washroom. In there the lovely Princess Zelda was taking a bath to prepare for bed.
Due to the infamous serial killer known as the Widowmaker having claimed a new victim that night, Link and Zelda were forced to hide out so as not to give away that they had been out to town in the guise of noblepeople.
But to Link, this may have been an even more dangerous situation.
'Stay calm Link..." the young king thought to himself, 'Nothing's going to happen tonight, we're just going to sleep, and get back to Hyrule Castle first thing tomorrow morning, before anyone realizes we were gone. Nothing's going to happen...'
Thankfully he had his ocarina on him, and had used it to contact Saria to let Impa know their situation. The Sheikah understood and she said she'd cover for them overnight so King Reinald and Prince Darius didn't find out.
"Whew, felt so good to take a bath after being out all day!" he heard Zelda speak from the bathroom, he heard the water splash one more time, and about five minutes later he heard Zelda call out, "King Link, are you decent right now?"
"Yeah! I'm fine!" Link said, trying to hide the panic in his voice, "Totally fine!"
"Can you do me a favor and grab the white shopping bag with my new pajamas? I forgot to bring it in with me." she called out.
"Uh, s-sure!" Link gulped nervously as he looked down at the bag, he brought it over to the washroom door, which was opened barely a crack, just enough for Zelda to extend out one of her slim dainty arms and reach for the bag. As she did, Link tried to ignore the fact she was most likely nude at the time.
"Thanks, you're such a sweetie!" Zelda said innocently, pulling the bag inside.
"You're welcome..." Link sighed under his breath, sitting back down on the bed, "This is getting more exhausting than that first duel I had with Prince Darius..."
A few minutes later Zelda came out and Link turned to see her.
She was humming a little tune while drying off her hair with a towel. She was wearing her new light blue silk pajama shirt and pants. They looked loose enough to be comfortable yet Link noted how they were just snug enough to show off her slender frame with slight curves.
He had been hoping the pajamas would cover her enough that he could rest easily that night, but instead the modest clothing managed to somehow make her look both cute and alluring.
Link remained silent as Zelda fell backwards onto the bed with her arms spread out, and she sighed out blissfully.
"It's been a long time since I've had to sleep at an inn, but this bed's really comfy!" Zelda said, bouncing her body on it to test the firmness, she looked over at Link who was just sitting on the side facing away from her, "Are you going to take a bath while you're here?"
"N-Nah, I think I'm just going to get to bed." Link said, he got oup and started setting down some spare sheets he got from the innkeeper.
"You're going to sleep on the floor?" Zelda asked, rolling over to where she was looking down at Link from over the side of the bed, laying on her stomach and propping her head up with her arms.
"I have no choice. We weren't able to get a room with two beds after all." Link said, fluffing up his pillow as he tried to avoid making eye contact with her.
"That's not right, especially after all you did for me today." Zelda said with a frown, she patted the bed with her palm, "Come on, why don't you sleep on this bed? It's big enough for two."
Link practically faulted over, "P-Princess, you know why I can't do that! You're a married woman!"
"It's not that big a deal, nobody's going to find out." Zelda said with a small smile, "Besides, we did this all the time back when we were kids, remember?"
"It was one thing when we were kids," Link gulped, as he spread out his sheets, "But we're both grown adults now. You're not worried a man like me might try doing something during the night?"
"Not at all." Zelda said without a hint of hesitation, "You may have changed in a lot of ways, but from the time you've been staying at the castle, I can tell you're still the same person who spent his time training in the courtyard garden with Impa... and who helped me learn to strengthen myself."
"I trust you King Link, and know that you won't do anything to hurt me."
"You trust me..." Link whispered looking downwards, as he found himself thinking about a time many years ago, when they were both children...
Flashback: Nine years ago
"Heeyah! Yah! Yaaaaaah!"
Link swung a wooden sword at a training dummy Impa had set up for him in the castle courtyard. Impa had been teaching the ten-year old Link techniques to help him prepare for his journey to find Navi. The young Princess Zelda was sitting by and watching them the whole time with curiosity in her eyes.
"You left an opening spot there Link, that could be dangerous!" Impa called out, "You need to always be prepared!"
"Ah, sorry!" Link said, quickly rolling to the side and striking at at the dummy from another angle.
"Link's really giving it his all, huh...?" Zelda spoke.
"I'll say, his technique was already impressive when we started, and he's getting even better now." Impa nodded proudly.
"Hmm..." Zelda pondered, leaning on her hands.
Link soon finished his training after that, and took a bottle of water from Impa to refresh himself.
"I'm going to check on the knight's patrol so they don't come by here. Take some time to rest and we'll get started on your evasive tactics next." Impa told him, before walking off.
"Nice work Link!" Zelda said.
"Thanks Zellie," Link grinned, having adapted a nickname for her as of recently, "I don't know what I'm going to be facing in the future when I go on my journey, so I gotta keep getting stronger!"
"The future, huh...?" Zelda spoke with a distant look in her young eyes, she looked down at the blade at Link's side and her lips perked up, "Tell me something Link... do you think you can do me a favor?"
"Favor like how?" Link asked taking a sip of water.
Zelda took a breath and spoke, "I was wondering if you could help me learn the way of the sword!"
Link was so shocked at her words that he spit out the water he had been drinking.
"Wait what? You learning to use a sword?!" Link exclaimed, "But isn't that dangerous?! What would your father think?"
"It won't be a big deal, as long as Lady Impa keeps an eye on us he won't find out!" Zelda said, "So how about it?" she gave him a big smile and bright eyes, "Pleeeease Link?"
"I dunno... why exactly do you want to learn the way of the sword anyway?" Link asked with a blush.
"The same reason as you, to strengthen myself and prepare for anything that may come in the future!" Zelda said, "I think you have what it takes to help me with that, Link!"
Link stared at Zelda, finding himself thinking about back when she had taken on the form of Shiek in the dark future.
"Well... I guess we could. Nothing wrong with you learning to self-defend yourself. As long as we don't get in trouble or nothin'," Link shrugged,. He turned to look at the training swords Impa had brought out for him. He picked a good smaller wooden one and handed it to Zelda,
"Here, how about we start you off with this one?"
"Hey, I don't want a wood sword, let me try one of those steel ones!" Zelda said anxiously.
"You're not strong enough to use one yet, you need to start with a lighter and safer one." Link said.
The princess pouted and stopped her foot, "How mean! I may be a princess, but I'm not that weak!"
Zelda went over to take another, bigger wooden sword. Before Link could stop her, she grabbed one that caught her eye, but due to it's weight she started to lost her balance. She gripped onto both sides of the blade trying to hold it up.
"W-Woah! Look out!"
"Zelda, why don't you just-" Link spoke, about to take it from her.
"Hold on, I got it!" Zelda said yanking the sword away, but staggering around from the weight of it as she hopped on one foot, "I can do this, I just need to-!"
But then Zelda lost her balance and fell over, with the sword hitting the ground, Link flinched at the sight.
Zelda sat up in a daze. She noticed something red and looked down at her finger, seeing she had a small cut on it. Her eyes started to tear up and she burst out crying.
"Waaaaaah! It huuurts!"
"Oh no!" Link exclaimed, "Don't cry, we need to get it treated before-!"
The young lad then suddenly heard a loud smashing noise, and he nervously looked over to see Impa was standing at the courtyard entrance, having smashed her fist into the stone wall, and leaving a dent in it. Link could have sworn he sensed a great aura of shadow malice surrounding the Sheikah as she looked intently at him, strands of hair darkening her face as her eyes were a chilling blood red.
She spoke slowly and coldly, "Link...? I think... we need to talk..."
Link waved his hands in a panic, "Wait Lady Impa, I can explain-!"
But his words went ignored, as he was swiftly consumed by the shadowy darkness.
"Ah, so Princess Zelda wished to learn to use a sword. That makes more sense."
Link was currently dangling from a tree branch, tied up by a rope. His head was covered in bumps, and his bare butt was exposed, swollen and red from Impa evoking her wrath of a disciplinary Sheikah spanking.
"Could you have waited until after I explained myself before you did all that?!" Link exclaimed.
"Ah yes, I think I may have gone too far." Impa sighed, "I apologize."
"I'm sorry too Link! This was all my fault!" Zelda sobbed in guilt as she bowed her head, her hand was now bandaged up.
"It's... okay..." Link sighed, rolling his eyes.
"Still, I'm surprised you desire to learn how to use a sword Zelda." Impa spoke as she walked up the side of the tree and started undoing the rope holding Link, "What brought this on?"
"Seeing Link working so hard to train, it made me wish to try it out for myself." Zelda said, "He's so brave and strong, and I want to be able to feel like he does!"
Link blushed a little red at Zelda's praise of him, and Impa nudged him slightly with a light smirk.
"If that's truly how you feel, then I'll allow it. Just don't over do it." Impa said, "You okay with this Link?"
"Sure, I'll give you another chance Zellie." Link nodded.
"Yay! Thanks Link!" Zelda said, running up and hugging him tightly. Link's face only turned an even brighter red from her embrace, "I'll trust you to help me!"
"You're lucky you have me around to keep an eye on you Link, if the king saw this you'd get a lot worse than a mere spanking." Impa pointed out with a chuckle.
"Ah heh heh..." Link chuckled nervously, as he tried to push Zelda away.
End Flashback
'She trusts me...' Link thought to himself. He looked back up at Zelda who was staring down at him from the bed curiously,
'But the real question is, can I trust myself...?' Link thought.
The reality for him was, they were no longer innocent little kids. They were adults now, and he had desires brought out from his time living with Nabooru and the Gerudo. He had gone from a naive virgin to what the girls would describe as a playboy, spending much of his new life in Gerudo Town having causal sex with not just his fiances, but his royal childbearers and even some others like friends or former rebels. It was one thing to be making love to all of them since they were single women who desired the love of a man...
But he recalled earlier that night when he danced with Darling, a woman that he had inadvertently taken from another man. At first he was trying to deny anything going on between him and Darling in the hopes she'd go back to Honey, but she was surprisingly persistent.
And as the two had danced at the tavern, he found himself actually enjoying her company, and the idea of going out with her. Even worse, as he held Darling in his arms and she got closer to him, he started having dark thoughts in the back of his mind; urging him to go even further in their relationship; kissing her, touching her in sensitive places, taking her into bed with him...
And then he thought about Zelda's husband Prince Darius Fargent, a man he had grown to respect since meeting him. And as odd as he could be, he was surprisingly clever and deductive, what would happen if he were to find out about his wife Zelda and himself being alone this night?
"Come on King Link." Zelda spoke up, leaning her head against her palm with a smile, "I can't bare the thought of you having to sleep on the floor like that. I have plenty of room up here, and if you're that worried, you can just sleep with your own sheets and I will mine."
Link wanted to decline the offer, but as he gazed up in her he saw nothing but sincerity in her sapphire blue eyes. She wanted nothing more than to just let him rest comfortably in the bed.
"O-Okay..." he nodded.
Link soon found himself laying back on the bed, covered in his own sheets while Zelda was curled in hers.
"See? It's not a problem." Zelda said looking to him.
"I guess." Link said, though he was starting to wrap himself up in his sheets like a burrito in order to prevent the risk of him doing anything he'd regret later.
"This takes me back so long ago..." Zelda said snuggling into her sheets, "Back when I was just getting into our training together."
"Yeah..." Link spoke, thinking back to that time.
Flashback: Nine years ago
"Whew... I'm exhausted..." Zelda gasped one evening in the courtyard.
It had been a few weeks since the young princess started her sword training, and while she was nothing but clumsy and weak at first, she was showing some very slow but steady progress.
"You both did great, go ahead and take a rest for the day." Impa spoke proudly.
"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Zelda asked Link, "I hit you pretty bad on the back earlier."
"Yeah, no prob. Just gotta sleep it off." Link said, rubbing at his sore joint as he pulled out his sleeping tent from it's hiding place behind a back wall hedge.
"Come Princess, its approaching your bedtime as well." Impa spoke beginning to walk off.
"Um... actually..." Zelda spoke looking at the tent curiously, "Do you think I could sleep here tonight instead Lady Impa?"
"Huh?" both Impa and Link both exclaimed in shock at her words.
"I think it might be fun to sleep under the stars tonight!" Zelda said, "Pleeeease Lady Impa? Just this once?"
"Well..." Impa trailed off, "What do you think Link?"
"I guess there's no harm in it." Link shrugged, "It's not the same as sleeping in a bed though Zelda."
"Not to worry, I've been getting stronger through this training, I'll be fine!" Zelda said cheerfully.
That is to say, that's what she thought.
After making all the preparations to sleep, Impa speaking to the maids to cover for Zelda not being in her bedroom, the young princess settled herself into the tent with Link...
"Are you sure you're going to be okay in here?" Link asked.
"Of course, why?" Zelda asked.
"I was just wondering if we'll even be able to sleep." he said looking over at Zelda; who was surrounded by a number of cute animal plush dolls she had brought from her room, as well as a small magic light crystal illuminating the inside of the tent.
"Hey, I can't sleep without my night light or Captain Gyorg!" Zelda said, holding a stuffed fish plushie.
'It's name is Captian Gyorg...?' Link thought to himself. He sighed and laid on his side to avoid the night light's brightness, "Look princess, you can go back to your room to sleep if you want, I don't mind sleeping alone."
"Alone..." Zelda whispered, "But that doesn't seem right."
"Huh?" Link turned to her.
"I don't know how you can stand being without others around." Zelda spoke, "Don't you get sad?"
"Well, maybe it's just cause I'm used to it growing up." Link said, "Back when I was living in Kokiri Forest I was treated as an outcast since I didn't have a fairy. Saria was really the only one who was there for me, but I couldn't relay on her all the time."
"That's terrible..." Zelda pouted, hugging her Captain Gyorg tightly, "I don't think anyone should have to be alone..."
"..." Link glanced over at Zelda again, thinking about all the two of them had endured in the dark future and the loss they had suffered; all the people who had lost their lives to Ganondorf's power, his dear friends having to become sages, even Impa herself had to leave Zelda's side forever to become one...
...and then Link thought of one certain small individual, the only one who was allowed to be there for him throughout his quest...
"The Great Deku Tree asked me to be your partner from now on! Nice to meet you!"
...and how that one also had left him so suddenly in the end...
'This is why I'm going on this journey... to find her... right?'
"Link?"
Link sat up and turned with surprise to see Zelda was now kneeling next to him, looking down with sad eyes as she hugged her fish plush doll. Her blanket was draped over her shoulders.
"Hey, I said I'll be fine. Go ahead and go to your bedroom." Link said averting his gaze.
But instead Zelda hugged him from behind with her own bed sheets.
"P-Princess?"
"You're been through so much Link..." Zelda whispered, "I don't want you to ever feel alone again."
"I..." Link was at a loss for words at what she said. As far as she knew, he had only gone out to retrieve the Spiritual Stones for her... right?
"Well, it's time for bed now." the young girl yawned out and laid down beside him, "Good night Link!"
Link was embarrassed beyond belief at the princess' actions. He found himself recalling the soft embrace the princess had given him back in the dark future after Ganon had been defeated and he had broken down in despair at the loss of his friends...
He snapped out of it, remembering that wasn't going to happen anymore now. He looked down at Zelda hugging her fish plush and sighed.
"...good night Zellie..." Link whispered as he nodded off as well.
The next morning, Impa had come to the tent to get Zelda up, only to see she was now sleeping beside Link... and hugging him from behind.
"..."
Unfortunately, her over-protectiveness of Zelda overcame her common sense.
"WHY YOU LITTLE-!"
End Flashback
"I hope Impa hears me out properly when we get back to the castle tomorrow." Link groaned, "The only thing worse than a Sheikah spanking is a Sheikah kunai barrage."
"I think things will go fine. She's become much closer to you now than ever." Zelda spoke, "After all, you're the father of her child."
"Y-Yeah..." Link spoke.
"So tell me something... Have you been thinking at all about the idea of marrying Impa along with your other brides?" Zelda asked with a small smile.
"That's a tough question..." Link spoke, looking up at the ceiling, "I gotta admit I'm really warming up to the idea... I but that's going to be something she has to decide on, and I don't know if she would want to considering her place with you and the Royal Family."
"Yes, she has a lot of responsibility she puts on herself as both my nanny and the last Sheikah." Zelda nodded.
"But if she was fine with it..." Link pondered, "I think I'd love to marry her. I want her to live her days peacefully," he thought about Shikki, "To give her all the children she desires... and for them to live happy lives as well."
"That's so kind of you." Zelda spoke with a gentle smile, "I'll fully support you in this. After all she's done for me, I hope you'll be able to make her truly happy."
Zelda then leaned forward and gave him a gentle chastise kiss on the cheek, startling him.
"P-Princess?" Link spoke, unable to do anything about it due to being wrapped in a blanket burrito.
"We have to get up early so the carriage can get us back home without being seen." Zelda yawned out, "Good night King Link..."
Link glanced over at Zelda sleeping soundly, and how cute her little face looked in her slumber. In many ways, she still reminded Link of that sweet young girl from their early years...
Except much more knowledgeable about the ways of the world,
With more ambition and drive to make Hyrule peaceful,
Not to mention so much more beautiful, with golden blonde wavy hair, those pink kissable lips,
And from what he saw in those pajamas, an amazing body like that of a goddess...one that from his recent experience with women, could potentially produce many heirs as intelligent and kind as she was...
But Link then realized the swelling sensation down in his loins, forcing himself to snap out his thoughts and quickly spin around in his sheets to bury his face in his pillow.
'You damn idiot!' he thought to himself, 'She's the princess of Hyrule, and a married woman on top of that! How can you even think of that after she was being so sincere?!'
"I trust you, and I know you won't do anything to hurt me."
He had enough, he needed to avoid taking any risk in this. He uncurled himself form his sheets and began to get up, thinking it'd be for the best if he just slept outside that night.
"Don't leave..."
He heard a voice whisper, as he turned and looked down to see Zelda gripping at her sheets. It was clear she was sleeping and having some sort of dream.
"I sense a great danger coming if you go... please stay here..."
Link paused, realizing what she was talking about, it was back when he had prepared himself to leave on his journey...
Flashback: Nine years ago
"I sense a great danger coming if you go... please stay here..."
"I'm sorry Princess." a nearly eleven year old Link said as he bowed to Princess Zelda, by his side was his young horse Epona, "But this is something I have to do. That's why I've been training this whole time to begin with."
"I'm sure he'll be fine, my princess." Impa comforted the young girl, "You know by now how strong he is after all."
"Yeah, you're right..." Zelda sighed, turning away from Link for a moment, "You're already leaving this land... Even though it was only a short time, I feel like I've known you forever..." she sniffled a little, "I'll never forget the days we spent together here..."
"Zelda..." Link whispered.
"And I believe in my heart that a day will come when I shall meet you again. Until that day comes, please, take this."
Zelda turned to Link and handed him a familiar-looking blue, shiny ocarina. Link knew it all too well, it was the magical instrument known as the Ocarina of Time.
"I'll be praying that your journey's a safe one..." Zelda spoke, "And if something should happen to you, remember that song I taught you..."
"I promise, and don't worry, I'll be back to see you and Lady Impa soon enough!" Link nodded with a goofy grin as he jumped up onto his horse, "And keep up that sword training, okay?"
"Of course." Zelda said smiling sweetly, "Good luck, Link..."
End flashback
'Could she had somehow sensed what was going to happen with Majora's Mask and the Era of Warriors...?' Link thought, 'Saria mentioned before she had a premonition about me going berserk by the power of the Fierce Deity... I wonder if Zelda had felt the same thing.'
He glanced down at her as she slept, before burying his face in his palm.
'I wonder what she was going through all those years while I was gone...?'
Suddenly, he felt a pair of arms around his waist. He broke out into a cold sweat as he looked down to see Zelda was now hugging him.
"What th- Princess?" Link whispered.
It turned out she was still sleeping, and had hugged him unconsciously. He could hear her murmuring in her sleep, one thing in particular stood out to him,
"No father please... don't take him away..."
"Him?" the young king spoke in confusion, wondering if this had anything to do with...
"Please, I don't care if you think I've gotten too old for him, please don't take away Captain Gyorg!" she sniffled and sobbed.
"...oh..." Link realized sadly, it seemed her father was more cruel to her back then than he knew.
Link hesitated for a moment, before putting his hand down on her head to try and comfort her. It seemed to help to a point, and he was about to break her arms from his waist so he could go to the floor, but she squeezed them around him harder instead.
"Please... don't go..." she whispered softly.
Link took a deep breath, no matter how dangerous it was, she was right that he couldn't do anything to hurt her.
He laid back down on his side and allowed Zelda to hug him tightly. Hearing her sniffling and crying pained him.
Ultimately, he made a choice. He summoned up all his courage, and hugged her back.
Her body felt was so soft, and she had a lovely scent. Her blonde wavy hair tickled at his nose as he held her. It felt very much like those happy nights the two would sleep together in his tent as children, but as adults, it was much more different.
The embrace thankfully seemed to help calm her down, and he went to sleep shortly afterwards himself.
A bird flew past the inn window chirping loudly enough that it caused Link to stir and wake up.
"Morning..." Link groaned out.
He wasn't entirely sure of where he was at that moment, as he was exhausted from yesterday. He noted he had a pair of slender feminine arms draped around his waist. In his groggy state, he didn't quite remember what he had been doing last night, but given the fact he was being embraced in bed with warm, soft feeling against his back, he had a good feeling of what it was.
Link turned around to greet his lover that morning and gave her a sweet kiss on the forehead. But as his eyes started to come into focus, he saw golden blonde hair, which was odd since he didn't recall having any fiances who had blonde hair. Maybe he had slept with the former Gieoli again? But this woman's arms were too pale, and this girl's breasts weren't anywhere near Gieoli's size...
Then his mind started to recollect what had happened yesterday, and who this mystery woman in bed with him was, Princess Zelda.
"GAAAAHH!" Link exclaimed, leaping backwards out of bed, he stumbled backwards and crashed into a wall out of shock.
"Ugh... what was that, a cat...?" yawned Zelda, slowly pushing herself up by one arm and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
Once he got his bearings together, Link saw with relief the fact they were both fully clothed, which was a good sign that nothing happened last night.
"Oh, good morning King Link." Zelda spoke, she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and stretched out her body.
"Morning Princess." Link sighed, adjusting the chair he had knocked over, "Did you sleep well?"
"Better than I have a while, this bed is quite nice." Zelda nodded, "I should see who crafts these, and have some sent to the palace for the guest rooms."
"That sounds nice..." Link spoke, embarrassed that he had been holding her that whole night.
"Oh, I better hurry and get dressed." Zelda said gathering up her dress and running into the washroom, "We need to get abck to the castle before anyone realzies we're missing!"
"Ah, right!" Link realized, quickly starting to get his things together as well.
Link and Zelda had finally arrived back to the castle shortly after that via contacting Impa via Saria's song, and she sent over the carriage. Their knight and cabby allies all agreed not to tell a soul about where they had been that night so as to not alarm the king or prince.
"Good to have you back my princess, and you too Link." Impa spoke, "So were you able to deal with that man you asked about before?"
"Yes, I was able to expose his scam, and Link helped me greatly." Zelda nodded, referring to the shady merchant that tried to sell her faulty equipment, "I don't think he'll be coming back again."
"Ha ha, I didn't do that much, but..." Link chucked rubbing the back of his head.
"You did well Link, you have my thanks for watching out for the princess." Impa spoke with a smirk.
"Well I should get back to my room before my father and husband find out." Zelda said, "I'll see you later King Link," she began to walk off with Impa, but then stopped and looked over her shoulder at him, tipping her sun hat, "And, thank you again..."
Link nodded as she went out of sight. He took a deep breath and sighed out, feeling exhausted from all that had happened last night, and decided to take a quick catnap at his bedroom.
As he went down the empty hallway though, he suddenly felt a presence behind him.
"Tell me Gerudo King, are you doing well? You were gone for quite a while."
Link froze up, and recognized it as the voice of Prince Darius. He was standing with his arms folded and his head lowered, having been hiding beside a suit of armor display.
A cold sweat went down Link's head, could he have overheard what they were talking about...?
"D-Doing fine, just came back from town." Link explained, "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to my room to rest."
"Very well, rest away my dear friend." the prince nodded.
Link nodded back and went on his way, thinking perhaps he had been wrong about his assumption.
"Before you go though, could you assure me something...?"
"About what?" Link asked.
"My dear sweet wife, Princess Zelda, was she... harmed in anyway while you two were out last night?"
A jolt went up Link's spine, and his whole body felt paralyzed, it was even worse than he thought. What was the prince going to do? Report him to the king? Have him put to death? Abolish any hope of forming the peace treaty?
But then the rational part of Link's brain triggered, and he realized what exactly Darius was asking,
"No..." Link shook his head, "You have my word that she's completely unharmed." he recalled what he and Zelda had talked about last night in the inn, "I would never allow anyone to hurt her."
"...I'm glad for that." Darius genuinely smiled, "I'm still going to have to have a word with her about sneaking out without telling me, as it worried me greatly."
He reached out and put a gentle hand down on Link's shoulder, surprising the young king.
"But knowing that you were by her side the whole time keeping her safe, it gives me a great deal of relief. You have my thanks King Link."
"...of course, Darius." Link nodded.
With that, Prince Darius left, and Link let out a sigh of relief. It seemed despite all of Link's fears since yesterday morning, the prince's only true concern was that Zelda was okay after all.
And yet, there was a nagging part in the back of his mind about how tense things got back in the inn, the urges from deep within the young king as he recalled sharing that bed with Zelda.
He brought his hand up to stroke his cheek where Zelda had kissed him, thinking about all she had said that night...
"I trust you, and I know you won't do anything to hurt me."
The young king sighed out one more time and walked off down the hallway back to his room.
And that ends the chapter! Next time we take a brief visit back to Gerudo Town, where the large rift still exists between a certain two women, and a group of their friends who are going to try and mend it, even if just a little...
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