Listening for the sounds of guards in the hallway, Princess Zelda carefully navigated the halls of the castle, peeking around every corner and dashing to the next pillars, the only sound being her bare feet tapping against the floor quietly.

She had been feeling quite peckish and had gone to the kitchen for a late snack, barren of all staff due to the very early hours of the morning. With the moon reflecting light into the castle through its enormous windows above, it was the only light reflecting her shadows as she dashed around in her long nightgown.

Was her state of dress improper? Definitely. But did she care? Not at all.

Reaching the final hallway, she peeked around the corner, her heart racing against her chest. She could see the night-guard changing its rotation at the moment. She cursed inwardly; realising she wouldn't be able to sneak back in through her door. She had to find a new way in or wait until this guard decided to take their inevitable nap.

She looked down the hall she had previously just run through, glancing at the doors when her eyes landed on one particular room.

Link's room.

"If you need anything, just come into my room ok?"

Oh how she missed him so much, despite only being gone for a few days. Even though she had his cloak in her room, she felt it wasn't nearly enough to even give a semblance of his presence, but she did admit that it was quite comforting to have it with her.

She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but when she sat in her room, or curled up in the library by herself, it was with her in some form or way. Late night reading, it was wrapped around her shoulders like a blanket. Whenever she stepped outside or went to her tower when escaping Dame Mara and Sir Marian, it was the thing hiding her identity.

Half of the castle probably knew if their noses paid any attention to the Princess, but she found that she quite liked the thought of the staff knowing she smelled of her knight at any given time.

If it kept the flirty maids away from Link then it was perfect, Zelda happily thought.

Pulling the key to his room from the necklace that hung under her nightgown, she hastily unlocked the door and slipped in, clicking the door shut carefully and sliding the lock back in place.

Feeling around for the nearby dresser, she blindly grabbed for a match and a candle, quickly illuminating the pitch dark room. Once the candle was secured on its holding plate, Zelda took the time to look around her knight's room.

Everything remained in place, not a single piece moved since the last time she came in earlier that day. She took a deep breath, basking in the warm smells of wood and wildlife that lingered heavily in the absence of her lover.

She wondered how long it would take before she could safely return to her room, waiting for the guard to take his nap. She shrugged and eventually made her way to his bed, opening the sheets and sliding in and bringing the fabric closer to her face.

I miss you… She couldn't help but think as she sunk deeper in his bed. Pulling the sheet lightly, she bundled a bunch to her chest, attempting to wrap her legs around what she could without ruining his perfectly made bed. Screw this. She ripped the sheets from their crisp folding and brought its entirety against herself, wrapping her body around the white blanket as if it was a body pillow.

His presence here felt stronger than the cloak had, but she found that she still missed the heat that came from his physical touch. She sighed and hugged it impossibly closer to her chest, her legs tighter around the bundled sheet. Shifting lightly against the sheet, she let out an involuntary gasp at the sudden jolt from the cloth rubbing against her nipples through her nightgown.

Link… He wouldn't mind…right? She bit her lip before bunching up her night-gown around her hips, sliding a hand underneath to her breast where she found her nipples achy to the touch. Carefully pinching and rolling between her thumb and index, she let out a breath. She quickly noticed the throbbing between her legs where the blanket had been curled up, now directly against her skin.

Zelda closed her eyes, pinching harder and rubbing her thighs together, causing the blanket to rub nicely against her core. I'm really doing this here of all places… She chastised herself as her other hand travelled lower, touching her soaked folds. Of course… She grazed her index along her folds, spreading around the slick liquid as she explored every inch and crevice, igniting the flames of desire within her belly.

"Link…" She gasped out, imagining her fingers to be his rougher, calloused ones stroking her as he did during her heat. She slowly slipped in a digit, stroking her inner walls softly as her palms rubbed against her clit.

"You want me to fuck you against my own sheets? My filthy omega." Zelda shuttered at the commanding words, shoving an extra digit into herself, bringing the count to three. She turned her face into his pillow and deeply inhaled, strengthening his presence within her body.

She could already imagine what his face would look like, commanding her to do as he pleased; his eyes would be dark with hunger, staring her down like she was prey, hunting for every opportunity to claim her. He'd touch her roughly, not missing a single inch of her. He'd lick and bite her skin as he fucked her roughly.

Warmth rapidly spread through her body as her fingers began pumping roughly. It's not enough… she began adding friction to her palms, sending sparks up her spine. His cock had been large, much larger than her slim fingers.

She had completely given up on keeping quite, letting out short, breathy moans as she fucked herself on her fingers. "Is that all you have? Show me you want this cock." She could almost feel his hot breath on her ears, his tongue lapping at her neck, imbedding his scent into her being. "You're my dirty princess, got that?" His hand at her throat, restricting her breathing as his dick entered her harshly. He wouldn't be rough, but he'd give her the headrush she so desperately wanted.

She muffled her mouth into the pillow, making it harder to breath as her palm built up pressure deep within her core. "Linnnk~" She moaned out, her words caught in the pillow.

"Prove to me you're worthy of this cum, Princess." Her sweet, kind trustworthy knight whispers into her ear, commanding her to continue. With her palms increasing the friction on her nerves, her breathing became erratic as the coil tightened.

"Knot me, Link. " She moaned out, stifled by the pillow once more as she felt herself tightening around her fingers.

"If you want more, you'll have to beg, Omega." She began curling her fingers, massaging her soaked, desperate walls. Breed me Link, I need everything, I need Alpha, I need your knot.

As the coil tensed as firmly as it could, she rolled her nipples harder than her soft ministrations while her fingers rubbed furiously at her insides. Her moans increased in volume as she began writhing and shuddering beneath her own hands.

Sending her body into a spiral, the coil snapped, her inner walls milking what would have been Link's cock, desperate to lock him into her. As her eyes squeezed shut with a flurry of stars cluttering her vision, her voice left her throat instantly, the pillow barely working to muffled the cries.

When the stars finally faded, Zelda found her hand soaked in her own slick, her juices glistening in the candle. He found her entire body numb, but her pussy felt empty. It still twitched for what it was missing, and Zelda found that she was missing two things; a cock locked inside of her, and a pair of warm arms hugging her.

She slowly sat up, trying to regain her breath and her surroundings. His bed was the messiest she'd ever seen it now, and she was sure he would know what had transpired in his room in his absence immediately by opening the door. Shifting an arm to support herself, she found the fitted sheet damp, some parts soaked to the touch. I've made a mess of his room… She was both proud and felt a semblance of shame flutter in her belly.

He hadn't given her access to his room to mess it up like this, that was for sure. But she also found that it would be an interesting surprise for him when he returned. Her scent heavy in his room, she was sure he'd love it.

She released her arm from beneath her, allowing her back to flop back against the mattress against the sheets. I just want to sleep… She wanted to close her eyes, drift to sleep surrounded by his smell that still somehow lingered in the bed. She still had his pillow, one of the only things that seemed to be permanently scented by him by hours of sleeping and rubbing against his skin and infrequent washes.

That pillow… Zelda squished the pillow in her hand, smiling at the softest. She felt tingles in her senses at the thought of taking the pillow for her room. It's mine now. She proceeded to roll out of bed, first fixing her crumpled nightgown and hair before grabbing the pillow into her arms.

Leaving the room, she blew out the candle and locked the door using the key, slowly sneaking back to her room where, as she had previously guessed, was her guard, Sir Ren, sleeping, completely unaware of the Princess sneaking back into her room right in front of him.

"Ok I'm here, what was so important?" Purah locked the door behind her and looked expectantly at Impa and Zelda.

Impa wore a serious expression and Zelda was still in her nightgown with a robe thrown over.

"We have a problem."

"Clearly or you wouldn't have sent Robbie through my guidance stone."

"I'm pregnant," Zelda simply blurted out, panicked.

"Oh…" Purah mumbled. She remembered the look on Link's face when he saw his niece arrive and she couldn't help but laugh a bit.

"What's so funny?!" Impa exclaimed indignantly.

Purah attempted to stifle the giggling as much as she could, but she couldn't help it. Zelda's pregnant, Link's going through the hardest bout of baby fever she's ever witnessed, and she's never seen better timing for both to coincide.

"It's uh… nothing," she tried to quiet herself down.

"Is it that hard to believe?"

"Oh no, I believe you," the eldest Sheikah took a deep breath and sat down. "Alright, how do you know you're pregnant? Let's start there."

"None of my cycles returned."

"That…that's it? Have you gone to a doctor? A physician? Even a nurse?"

Zelda and Impa shared a solemn look briefly. "We thought of seeing the doctor here, but there's a high probability he'll go tell His Majesty."

"So that's a no-go, and you can't go to a clinic without Link with you, so you can't do that either "

Zelda frowned. "What? Why not? Why can't I go alone? Why does he have to be there with me?"

Nobody told her. Purah felt a headache coming to her.

Nobody had told the Princess about the crappy 'family' laws the Council had put in place fifteen years ago, not that she expected that topic to come into conversation. She doubted Link and Zelda had an in depth discussion of future plans concerning a future family, their relationship had begun barely two months before.

It certainly didn't help that the King had forbidden them from telling Zelda about the laws, he knew she would kick up a storm, and rightfully so, they would have gladly helped her do it.

With Zelda residing in the Palace, why would she ever venture out to a town clinic on her own? She would have never found out on her own unless she had a sudden inclination for researching law.

Purah felt the blood leave her face. She was the one that would have to tell Zelda that she now needed Link's explicit consent, both verbal and written, to see a doctor about anything relating to her new pregnancy.

Purah hoped that Link would go feral on the Council when he came back, he didn't seem like the kind of guy to put up with those kinds of regulations.

"Alright, first things first, go to the bath. And I'll need the key to Sir Linky's room."

Zelda froze at the words, stuttering out a response that she didn't own such an item, though it was quite obvious to both Impa and Purah that the princess was lying and was caught.

Though it was entertaining to watch the princess blush, stutter, and fidget, they had work to do.

"That pillow over there didn't come out of your closet. Come on, hand it over." Purah pointed to the white pillow that stuck out like a sore thumb among the colourful sheets and pillowcases of the Princess' bed. "Don't you worry, you'll get it back in a bit." She could see the telltale navy blue fabric of a not-so-well hidden cloak peeking out from beneath the comforter, but she decided to spare Zelda the embarrassment for now.

Zelda sighed in defeat and pulled out the key from beneath her nightgown and let the chain fall in the older woman's outstretched hand.

"Now go on, I'll be with you in a minute." Purah watched as the Princess got out of bed slowly, grabbing a clean robe and a towel and disappeared into her private bathroom.

Impa waited until the door closed before turning to Purah. "What are you up to? Why didn't you tell her?"

"Oh I will. I'm just getting away from any books that might get thrown my way." She smiled.

"So why'd you ask for the key to Link's room?"

"Well, I have a distinct feeling he didn't take something with him, so I'm passing it off to the Princess instead, so can you show me where to go please?"

It took less than two minutes to go from Zelda's room to Link's where the key clicked through the lock with ease. Upon entering the room, Purah had to forcibly control her facial reaction to the heavy scent of arousal pheromones in the air.

Goddesses, Zelda, what did you do in here? She glanced at Impa, who seemed none the wiser. Lucky fucker. She didn't feel like staying too long in the room, so she inconspicuously cracked open the window and got to looking.

Impa stood back and watched as Purah looked around the room, going from the small writing desk to the bookshelf, then to the nightstand where she gleefully pulled out a small container covered in a thick layer of dust.

"What is that?"

"Scent blockers," she responded, holding it up for a closer look.

"Is that still good? It looks awfully old…" Impa took the jar from her hands and passed a finger through the dust.

"That crap lasts up to six months untouched. That thing hasn't been opened once." Purah laughed before heading out of the room, locking the door behind her. The seal on the twist cap hadn't even been broken. "I gave him that two months ago, I'm pretty sure he doesn't remember even getting it."

More specifically, she gave him that following the Princess' heat since he'd run out after their trip to Vah Rudania.

So he hasn't been hiding it since then… interesting. She'd known Link for trying to hide his scent as best as he could to leave himself unidentifiable, designation wise, but he wasn't even trying to hide it now. If anything, he wasn't even attempting to hide the fact he was with Zelda. If she didn't know any better, she could have sworn he was doing it on purpose.

He was letting everyone know, those who could tell anyway, that he was off the market.

"I'm surprised neither of them have been caught, honestly. They're both pretty careless with this right now."

When she finally returned to Zelda, she was sunk low in her bath, mostly covered by a mountain high of bubbles around her and steam everywhere.

"Give me your wrists." Purah grabbed a nearby stool and plopped down next to the porcelain bath and took Zelda hand, pulling it closer to her. The first thing she did was scrub with a washcloth as ruggedly as she could without irritating her skin or causing her discomfort.

"What are you doing?" Zelda asked timidly. She could only really stare as Purah dipped the cloth in the bath and returned to scrubbing her forearm.

"Getting his scent off you," she said. She pointed to the other arm and Zelda moved without hesitation.

"But why?" She tried to ignore the bit of pained sadness in the princess' voice.

Purah sighed. "I'm pretty sure Linky got sent away because of this."

Purah had put thought into it and it wasn't hard to come to a conclusion after she heard what Link had told her about the King's behaviour. Add in Zelda reeking of Link so bad it was as if he was right there, well it was turning into a pretty big red flag.

The King sent him away to limit their contact as much as possible.

Link smelled of Zelda by a normal amount. It wasn't overwhelming, but she could tell that Zelda had claimed him, and he was barely hiding it. But she could barely distinguish the Princess' original scent from his when she looked at the girl.

If Zelda was to find a suitor, she couldn't be covered in what could be presumed to be the scent of another.

She deduced that the King or the Council had pushed for separation to try to diminish this, but she didn't know if the council had pieced together the timing of the Heat and the scent problem. The moment any of them would make that connection, it would be game over for them. Their secret would be out before he could even come back and find out about it.

"Purah?" She looked up to see the princess' big green eyes peering back at her with worry. "Is my father going to do this again? I mean, send Link away like this?"

She had no doubt the king would definitely attempt this, but the real question was if Link would even listen.

"You and I both know Link wouldn't stand for that. Try as he might, Link would definitely push back against that."

Zelda tried to smile, but it didn't seem to reach her eyes. "I'm a bit scared." she admitted. "Doctor Finri told me about my mother… He told me her bond partner essentially neglected her… He said it was a big reason she died…"

Bond Spouse Neglect did cause serious problems for both partners, but as far as Purah knew, it was incredibly rare for death to be one of those end results. The worst she had ever seen first hand was intense nausea from a prolonged separation, but she had never seen or heard of anyone dying from it.

"I don't think it's possible for anyone to keep Link from seeing you, he loves you too much. I think you'd have better luck killing him first, and I'm sure he'd still find some way to get back to you."

It seemed to do the trick, Zelda gave a light hearted laugh, but it didn't last. Her glum expression returned without a moment's notice.

"What am I supposed to do about this?" Her eyes drifted down to the bubbles that were slowly disappearing. Pura could see that she was looking down at her stomach. "What if Link doesn't want this? What if he leaves me?"

"Listen to me, Zelly." She took the princess' face in her hands and looked her straight in the eyes. "I saw this man interact with a baby for five minutes at most and I can confidently tell you I doubt he'd even think about leaving you for such a stupid reason."

"But how do you know, like really know?"

"Do you want to know a secret?" Zelda's ear twitched. "I think he actually really likes babies." she threw her a wink. "I don't care how anti-social he is sometimes or how shut off he is from others, that man was very excited to see his baby niece, and he's with them every day."

"You're just saying that."

"Am I? Have you ever heard Link baby talk at all?"

"Yes, to his horse."

"Besides the damn horse?"

Zelda remained quiet.

Purah laughed loudly as she moved her stool to sit behind Zelda. Settling comfortably, she took Zelda's long hair into her hands, twisting the water out of the ends that had soaked into the water and brought it outside of the bath. "Now, until you start showing, I need you to do something for me."

Zelda hummed.

"Wash your scent glands really well. So primarily your wrists and your neck. We need to try to hide this as best we can so the Council doesn't find out." Zelda nodded as Purah began softly washing the base of her neck. It lacked any mark, thankfully, so she had plausible deniability if anyone accused her of bonding outside of marriage. "I won't do it for you, but you also need to do it down there too." She hoped she didn't need to literally spell it out.

"Huh? I thought the only ones were neck and wrists."

"Oh Zelly, you sweet child. You have them everywhere. It's just the neck and wrists are the most obviously placed. They're the easiest to access."

"O-oh."

"Anywhere where your skin is really sensitive, you can be sure there's something there. Anywhere with a lot of nerve endings. Wash those places well, make your scent as faint as possible if you can. If you can help it, don't sweat too much either, that'll really make it obvious."

"How do you know so much about this?" Zelda asked quietly.

"Comes with the territory of being an older sister." Purah started. She rinsed the soap from Zelda's neck with her hands. "I had to know everything in case Impa presented like me."

"When did you first show?"

"I was twelve."

Zelda whipped around, eyes nearly bulging out of her head. "Twelve?!" She exclaimed. "You presented at twelve?!"

"Terrible luck." She laughed it off. "I didn't take a partner for the first time until I turned 19. My parents made sure to smack anyone who dared even mention it." Purah finished washing the other side of the princess' neck as she seemed to run what she said through her head. "So, if you'd like, you can think of me like your older sister."

"Know that I'll be picking your brain a lot."

"Wasn't expecting anything less from you, Princess." She smiled as she rinsed the other side.

She stood up from her seat and started gathering her things on the counter. She picked up the jar she'd gotten out of Link's room and brought it over to Zelda, who was shifting herself into a different position in the tub. "This is a scent blocker. Apply it to your wrists and neck, anywhere else is entirely up to you, just not down there, ok? It'll hide it well, but not entirely."

"I'd rather it work a bit than not at all, I suppose." Zelda mumbled as she opened the jar and peeked at the white cream. She took a cautionary whiff before closing the jar and setting it on the floor next to her towel. "May I pick your brain about something?"

"Of course!"

"What was that you mentioned that I wouldn't be able to go to the doctor without Link? Mind explaining that to me?"

Purah had hoped Zelda had forgotten about that, but it seemed as though her luck ran out.

It wasn't often that Link saw his brother-in-law walking around the house. Usually, he was off somewhere doing work for someone or disappearing to Kakariko Village for the day for some clan business, but today was one of those days where he was home.

When Link finally found him, Sota was trying desperately to get Ari down for a nap, but it seemed quite futile with the loud screaming. How and why babies had lungs of steel, Link would never know. He swore she'd been crying for the last fifteen minutes.

"Uh, Sota? Are you good?" Link poked his head into his sister's bedroom where the man was trying to soothe the crying child. "Got a minute?"

"If you can put her to sleep within the next minute, you have my undivided attention for as long as you want." The man sounded desperate and Link had never seen such a crazed, impatient look in anyone's eyes before, but the dark circles were a clear indicator that he likely didn't get much sleep. Neither did his sister to be fair, she nearly fell asleep in her buttered toast at breakfast and she was now taking up the entire three person couch for a much needed nap.

Did he know how to put a fussy baby to sleep? No, but he wasn't going to heartlessly leave the guy to deal with the nightmare on his own. "Sure, I can try?"

Ari was all but shoved into his arms before the words could even finish coming out of his mouth.

"She's been crying for the last thirty minutes, I don't know what to do."

Sweet Hylia have mercy… The yelling was blasting his eardrum, he couldn't imagine what half an hour of this would do to him. What goddess thought it was a good idea to give such tiny fragile things such a high pitch and volume?

He attempted to tune out of crying with an awkward "shh" but he didn't think she could even hear him over that.

"Is she hungry?" Link attempted.

The question seemed to make Sota stop rubbing his temples as he shot Link the most murderous glare he's ever received. "If she's hungry again, I'm going to scream."

"H-how long ago did you feed her?"

"Less than an hour ago!" Link nearly jumped.

"Sorry for asking." Link wanted to tell Sota that maybe his yelling wasn't helping, but he knew better than to tell an angry person to calm down.

Link tried to continue shushing the baby, but due to the screaming, he flinched his head away from the crying. It didn't seem to do much for the overall situation.

It was like nails on a chalkboard, scratching inside his ear. His brain screamed at him to pass the baby back to his brother-in-law and run, but he reminded himself that he did accept to try to help, and he didn't think two minutes of helping was an adequate amount in order to give up.

It was a stroke of luck when his hair eventually fell out of the hair tie and in front of his shoulder. Ari latched onto the long strands and yanked as hard as babies could humanly pull, which was harder than Link thought because he bit away a yelp.

But she stopped crying, so he let her pull as much as she wanted.

Sota looked relieved immediately, clasping his hands together in a prayer to every spirit that she finally stopped. He didn't understand a thing he said because his brother spoke in his native Sheikah tongue, but he was sure he related to it nonetheless.

"I-I think she just wanted to—OWW—be entertained." His head jerked down as Ari pulled, her cries settling down to little whimpers. At least she isn't shrieking in my ear anymore… He'd take the whimpers over the banshee any day.

"Don't let her eat your hair," Sota pointed out.

"Huh—Ari no." Link struggled to pull his hair out of her hands and mouth until something hit him. "Doesn't she have a pacifier or something?" He could have sworn he'd seen her sucking on one earlier… She seemed hellbent on chewing on his hair, why did babies have to have such a strong grip on the things they wanted?

"We lost it this morning."

You didn't bother to look for it?!

Link cursed inwardly. Was he the only one with common sense in the house? "Go find it while she's quiet, you dumbass!" Sota nodded and ran out of the room in haste, new determination in his face.

He was incredibly thankful when she stopped whimpering. Keep playing with my hair if it keeps you quiet, please do. He just had to watch to make sure she wasn't trying to eat it again, which was simple enough.

Sota returned no less than five minutes later, the plastic sucker in hand.

But the best part was the deadpan look on Sota's face when he realised that Ari had fallen asleep in his arms. It was something Link was going to commit to memory forever.

She had eventually gotten tired of his hair and let him pull it away, but had eagerly grabbed his fingers, which he gladly let her suck on his pinkie finger until she eventually dozed off.

If it worked, it worked.

Once Zelda emerged from the bath and dried herself off, both Impa and Purah sat her down. It was no mystery as to what this conversation was going to be, when she asked Purah about the suspicious thing she had said, she had laughed and all but ran out of the room.

"What's the plan then?" Impa asked.

Zelda looked at her hands, not really knowing what to say. "The plan?"

Impa gave her a blank stare. "Yes, the plan. You're obviously not going into this with your eyes closed. So what are you going to do?"

Zelda had no idea. She didn't know a single thing about pregnancy and motherhood, even less about babies.

Purah interjected. "I think a better first question would be, are you planning on keeping it or not?"

The princess lifted her head and looked at the elder sister. "Elaborate? Keep it or not?"

"Well, we calculated when your heat was and it's been about nine and a half weeks." Purah explained. "You're about to reach the cut-off point for termination, if that's what you wanted. It'd be best if you chose if you wanted to keep it or not sooner rather than later."

She didn't even know that was an option, and if she was being honest with herself, it made her uncomfortable to think about the fact she didn't know what was and what wasn't an option.

"What's the cut-off?"

"Ten weeks…" Purah mumbled quietly.

"Is that even enough time?!" Zelda was starting to pace around her room. "Would it hurt?

Purah shared a glance with Impa. "Yes, it's enough time, and it'll probably hurt for a few hours at most, but we would still need Link to sign off on that decision."

Why does she keep saying that? Why did she keep saying he needed to be there, why did she say he needed to sign off on such a thing?

"And if I keep it?"

"Well, you first need to remember that you're not bonded. He may be to you, but you aren't bonded to him, so as much relief as a bond partner can provide, you're on the short end of the stick."

"And if we bonded later on?"

"I don't see why it wouldn't work as it usually would, but Princess, that's not the pressing matter at hand." Purah stopped her. "You're pregnant. You're carrying a growing baby. You don't exactly have forever to decide right now."

"How is it we'd have him sign off on it like you say? He's half-way across the country right now."

"Easy, I steal his stamp from his office." Purah smiled. "Nothing says official like the seal of a Royal Guard captain."

Zelda and Impa simply stared at Purah, who smiled back. She seemed to be strangely content going in and out of everyone's things with very little warning.

"I'm going to forget I heard that, but say I keep it, what happens?"

"Well, you would have roughly another six months of pregnancy if everything went well. You would have us, you'd have Link, and I'm sure there are many others you can rely on for support."

"You could potentially still hide this for another month before it starts to be noticeable. The castle physician might take notice if you aren't careful about hiding the symptoms, Link may or may not notice immediately, but considering how baby-brained he is at the moment, I suspect he's going to catch on very quickly, especially if you're still sleeping together." Purah commented. "You know men, they can't help but look at boobs, and yours haven't exactly been subtle with how much they've increased in so little time."

Zelda was pretty sure that wasn't what he really enjoyed looking at, but that wasn't important right now.

"Your father is pretty oblivious as far as we know, so he might think you're putting on weight, but not for that reason, but we need to remember the Council. They may already suspect you're pregnant."

"How would they know so soon?"

"First of all, most of the Council are married alpha men. At the very least, half of them have kids too. I'm sure one of them can recognise the signs in a heartbeat. Or you know, smell them." Impa nodded to Purah's statement.

Before she could let Zelda continue, Impa cut her off. "You wouldn't know about this, but when you first got your heat, your father caused some unsavoury rumours to go around when he ordered Link to stand guard at your door and the entire Council is very aware of that fact. Pair that with sending Link away to dull away his scent, they're likely not far from figuring out you're pregnant, so we have to tread carefully."

"So the moment you start physically showing, you can bet one of them will ask your father about it or they'll gossip amongst themselves."

"I'll be found out…"

"And so will Link, no doubt about it."

"Fantastic, just great." Zelda clenched her teeth and started playing with the ends of her hair. "Tell me more about these dumb legislations that forbid me from seeing a doctor on my own."

The conversation was far from easy, but it was a necessary one they could no longer put off.

Purah excused herself for a few minutes and soon returned with a book from the Royal Library, one of the ones Zelda herself scoured while looking for bonding laws regarding spouses.

Impa started with how these laws came into place, starting with the late Queen's rise to power.

Zelda had been very receptive to the news that her mother had worked diligently to attain equal rights for everyone in contrast to the grossly terrible regulations from before her time.

Times when omegas had to be escorted everywhere, regardless of their gender. Times when women, if they didn't present Alpha, had to be escorted everywhere.

Centuries of that had ended under the Queen, but it became quite clear to the princess that neither Sheikah enjoyed talking about what happened after the monarch had passed away, especially Purah.

Where the Queen had advanced their societal norms five steps forward, the Council brought it back ten. There were revolts, there were riots, one councilman got dragged through the streets one day, but they had managed to pass a few laws. Thankfully it had only been a few and not all, but the damage had been done.

The first they told her about was the one that applied most to the her at this very moment: How to go to the doctor without having to be brought there by either a family member or a partner?

She couldn't confirm her pregnancy with the castle physician, Doctor Finri, out of fear that he would report back to her father concerning the pregnancy. No, if she did that, Link would never be allowed back in the castle and she'd likely be forced to terminate the baby before anyone found out.

Additionally, she couldn't even attend a clinic in Castle Town due to the stupid law itself, Link wasn't with her. She didn't want to think about just how many there might be that now limited her movement, but in either case, she was beyond infuriated.

In the matters of family, children and reproductive health, an omega must be accompanied by an older family member of the same designation class or their respective partner.

The damn text had gone into detail about what did and didn't work, and it was painfully specific. If it was a family member, it couldn't be a sister or a brother, it had to be a parent. If the parent could not, the afflicted person's hands were tied.

If they chose to bring a partner, the partner had to either be their bonded partner or be the sire to the child if it concerned a current pregnancy or children.

The worst part was that the book even highlighted the ridiculously terrible consequences if one decided to break said-law. Failure to follow the legislation could mean a hefty fine, a ban from the premise of the business or practice in question, and even imprisonment if it became a repeated offence.

If the business or establishment was caught breaking the law, the Council could opt to close that practice entirely.

Zelda didn't want to think about how many had likely tried but resulted in the worst case scenario. The Council was being ridiculous, this entire thing was ridiculous to her, but here it was printed in the law books.

There were a small handful of ways she could technically go alone, and she didn't like any of the options. One option was to bring a death certificate, another was to bring tangible proof of the partner's consent but if there was any doubt, it'd be thrown away, and the last was unspeakable, she didn't deign to offer that 'option' any of her time or effort.

At the end of the lengthy explanation, Zelda was left as a fuming mess and Purah and Impa had scooted as far away as possible at the table.

"So you're telling me, because of the Council, I essentially have no more independence."

"Um… diminished, but yes."

"Are you fucking joking?!"

I think this is the first time I've ever heard the Princess swear… Purah thought as she clamped her hands over her ears to minimise the sound of Zelda's frustrated shrieking through a pillow.

"So if I had been born in either of the other two designations, I'd be fine."

Both Sheikah women sighed. "That's right."

She whipped the pillow onto her bed and clenched her fists painfully tight. "This is bullshit!"

During her rant about how unfair the system was, Zelda did not notice the bag of rupees being exchanged beneath the table.

"Alright… now that we're done there… what's the plan?" Purah could have sworn she'd seen the words 'try me right now' written on the Princess' forehead the moment the words left her lips.

Link's request had sent Sota all the way back to Kakariko to pick up a talisman. In exchange for the long arduous trip back and forth in the same day, Link had agreed to babysit for the afternoon until he got back.

And did he ever do it well, because when Sota came back that night, almost close to midnight, he was greeted by a magnificent sight.

Link was fast asleep on the couch with Ari cradled in his arms, also fast asleep. A blanket had been haphazardly thrown over his lower half and he was snoring softly. Beside the arm hanging off the couch, there was an empty bottle and a half-full one.

The best part of the scene was that Link was so deeply asleep, there was a stack of seven books balanced on the top of his head, and Aryll was trying to put an eighth.

Aryll caught sight of him in the doorway and smiled, waving him over. "He's dead asleep." She giggled as she tried to balance the eighth book on his forehead.

"What are you doing?" He whispered to her.

"I tried to make a house of cards, but his snoring makes them fall over." She carefully placed the small book and watched as the stack wobbled, then steadied.

"What if they fall over?" He pointed to the books that wobbled lightly with every rise and fall of Link's chest.

"I'll take them down when I get to ten." Aryll giggled as she reached for the ninth—a small pocket dictionary. "Hey, how do we get him to stay longer?"

"Stay longer?"

"I haven't slept that well in ages, So." She smiled. "How do we keep Link as a permanent babysitter?"

"I mean, Aryll, he has a job… I don't think it's reasonable to ask him to forsake the safety of the country for our daughter."

"You think he'd do it though?"

He shrugged. Logic told him Link would pick the country, but he found it funny that he wasn't not expecting him to say Ari either. He watched Aryll slowly get the book number to 10 before she grabbed the stack and heaved it off his head and onto the floor, setting it beside the couch out of the way.

"Sota, do you know who Link's bonded to?" Aryll sat back beside him and looked at her brother with curiosity gleaming in her eyes. "I saw the mark but he hasn't mentioned anyone yet…"

Link might not have mentioned he was bonded with the Princess of Hyrule, but with the knowledge that he'd slept with her during the entirety of her heat, it was rough to solidify that knowledge for him. But was Link okay if he told Aryll about this business?

"You should probably ask him yourself. I haven't had too much of a chance to talk to him regarding that kind of stuff." It wasn't his business to tell, so he was going to let Link do the talking he wanted.

"Do you think Ma or Pa know?"

"Your father might, but I doubt your mother does. Remember, she was asking the other day?"

"You're right, but Pa will never tell. Once you tell him something, you never get it out of him."

Best secret keeper in the land. Everyone knew Fredrick knew some stuff, top secret stuff even the Sheikah advisors didn't know, but the way he spoke about his service was always vague and void of any description. Sota doubted even Madeleine knew about some of the crap he hid. He'd seen the scars to prove it, and he highly doubted those had come from learning a secret recipe to a holiday ham.

"You'll just have to wait until Link says something then."

"Ma and Pa got invited to the Nayru's Day ball at the palace. You think they'll meet them there?"

Absolutely. "Can't be sure they even reside in the castle." Sota stopped for a moment. Even their mother got invited to the Nayru's Day ball? Wasn't it common knowledge she wasn't the biggest fan of the Royal Family? "Even your mom?"

Aryll nodded. "Ma used to work in the palace. One of their only harpists. That's how she met Pa, actually. The Queen introduced them one year and they hit it off, I guess."

Learn something every day. He wasn't expecting that to be their origin story. He wondered why her mother didn't like that family, but he didn't dare ask.

"Why are we talking about this right in front of Link?"

Aryll shrugged again with a smile. "I don't know. I guess it's fun to watch Link sleep."

Huh?!

"It's funny when he wakes up and freaks out about being watched." She explained briefly. "He reacts the most when he's just waking up."

"Now that I think about it, Link's been pretty expressive recently, hasn't he?"

"I think little Ari is having that effect on him."

"Why do you think that?"

"I dont think I've ever seen him so excited to see anyone." Aryll shifted up to her knees to pick up Ari, but found that there was no way she was going to be able to pick her up without having to move his arm, which would definitely wake him up. "You think I'll ever be an auntie?"

"Like soon or ever?"

"Mhm… soon?"

"Maybe let your brother focus on the Calamity first? I hear he's got enough with the princess on his plate, maybe let's not add a whole family on top?"

"At this point, I'm thinking the Calamity is just some hoax. It was supposed to come five years ago, wasn't it? At this point, it sounds dumb to keep saying it's coming when it clearly isn't."

"Please don't turn into a conspiracy nut…"

"I'm just saying, you'd think a prophesied magical disaster would have shown up by now. It's not even fashionably late anymore, it's just plain rude, it might as well not bother."

"As much as I agree with you Aryll, can you shut the fuck up please? I'm trying to sleep here."

Sota laughed at Aryll, who was now sulking in her spot at having been overheard by a now-groggy Link.

"How long did you think you could hold a conversation about me, in front of me, without me noticing?" One of his eyes cracked open and glared at Aryll while she maintained her silence. "That's what I thought, go back to bed, Aryll."

Aryll scoffed and stood up, reaching to grab her baby, only to have his free hand smack her hand away. "Can I have Ari back?"

"No. I'm comfy here."

"I'm not carrying you. I just want my baby." She pointed to Ari. He cracked both eyes open this time and rolled them as obviously as he could.

"Okay, and I said I'm comfy here, now shoo." Link's free hand came to rest on his chest, protecting Ari from the grabby hands of his sister. "And shh, she's sleeping." He stuck his tongue out and closed his eyes once more.