Following their lunchtime sparring, Link was all but dragged back to the castle by Captain Reinhartd, who was silently fuming the entire walk back to his office. By the time he closed the door behind him, Link was being forcibly sat in a chair.
"Link, explain this now," Barnabus was watching him like a hawk, well he was watching his neck like a hawk. Link didn't bother trying to hide it, he'd seen it. What was the point in attempting to lie about the forming scar on his neck when the person in front of him had two similar ones on his own collarbone.
"Can I have my shirt back first?"
"No." Link sighed and slumped back with his arms crossed.
It was the slight hesitation in the older captain's spear when he was swinging it down on him when he'd fallen thad told him as captain never hesitated with his motions, and he had clearly seen the mark, otherwise, Link knew he wouldn't have spotted the opening in time otherwise.
Link had somehow won the spar with a well directed kick to the chest and the flash of something in his friend's eyes told him it wasn't the end of that conversation.
And it was such a good morning too…
"In the hands of a master, the spear can be the most versatile weapon one can have in their arsenal. It's heavily favoured by the Royal Guard, yet it's the least chosen among the knights. It's known to be able to beat even the most masterful swordsmen in the land."
Link watched from the shade of a tree as his comrade, Captain Barnabus Reinhartd, was teaching the guards about spearmanship. Among his guards, only two of his eight specialised in spears, something he wanted to increase the numbers of.
"Isn't that right, Captain Link?" Reinhartd shouted out to him with a wave of the hand.
"That's right." Link muttered loud enough for them all to hear. He shared a glance with the two other captains beside him.
Randy and Arn had been on their lunch breaks when they spotted them in the courtyard. Link wasn't sure which of the two was the one to decide to stick around and watch, but both came to sit next to him in the shade of his personal tree, sandwiches in hand, as they watched Reinhartd move between forms.
"It's also your captain's least favoured weapon and one of his weaknesses-"
Link glared at his colleague from the shade of the tree. It's as if his friend constantly forgot he had grown up in Zora's Domain with a spear. He remembered training and helping train the Zoras guards when his father had been stationed there when he was a child.
Mipha had taught him most of his techniques, and the spear was something he found ease to work with. Link was short and one of his first weapons he learned to use was something that would give him more reach.
In other words, the spear.
"Hey, stop lying to them," Link left the shade of the tree and took a seat on the nearby bench. "Spears are not my weakness."
"Oh? Are you willing to spar to prove it? Let's settle it like men?"
That was going to be one hell of a challenge, Link knew that. It was no secret to anyone in the castle that Captain Barnabus Reinhartd was considered the best spearman on the grounds. He always came in first or second in their tournaments depending on the weapon he chose to use.
If Barnabus used a sword, he usually came second to Link. No one was surprised at those results; every year since Link had joined the Guard, he'd come first in that category, but with a spear? Link came second more often than he came first with that, no matter how good he claimed to be with it. He thought they were pretty evenly matched, it usually came down to the environment and circumstances of the day.
If either of them were distracted? The other would win. Open, clear sparring circle? Could have been anyone's win. Were there physical obstacles like trees or barrels? It was Reinhartd's win on most occasions.
Link caught a glance at the guards watching them and could see the excitement budding in their eyes. It wasn't everyday people were excited about training.
"Let's settle it," Link couldn't help the smile that crept up on him. Sparring was always fun.
He took a step forward to the rack and glanced at the spears and halberds. There was a Royal Halberd; golden, blue and red, incredibly ornamental and efficient. Beside it was the stronger of the pair, but lower in durability, the Royal Guard's Spear. Its durability was lower, and its darker hues pulled Link's interest much more, but the strength and attack power was much higher.
This was always different from training with Mipha who was of a smaller stature and much more agile than hylians. She could leverage her entire body using the spear, being light on her feet was one of her numerous advantages over Link. He couldn't spin his body and manoeuvre himself around a spear like the Zora could.
'More prone to breaking…' If he was sparring with Captain Reinhartd, one of the most skillful spearmen on the continent, he couldn't have a spear that would shatter in his hands in so few hits. He grabbed the Royal Halberd and stepped into the circle.
"Captain, you know the rules," One of the guards called from the sidelines as they cleared the area.
Link did know the rules. Sighing, he grabbed the hem of his tunic and pulled it over his head. It was always odd stripping in front of people, the desire to cover himself up was strong when he showed any kind of skin. He just silently hoped that Zelda hadn't left any surprises on his back for anyone to see, be it scratches, hickeys or anything else.
Covering the mark was easy enough, Link simply pulled his hair out of his signature ponytail, letting the long hair flow down and fall over his shoulders.
'Stupid rules, who even thought of this?' He tried his best to ignore the rather obvious giggling but it was hard when half of a squad was doing it in unison.
Barnabus took the opposite end of the circle, his usual Halberd in hand, at attention by his side.
His opponent was much taller, stockier in build and physically more muscular than he was.
"Ready yourselves!" One of Link's guards, Balar, stood up and brought his hand up to start the duel.
Link and Barnabus held each other's stares, ready for the faintest of muscle twitches that would give away the first to move.
Link won by sheer luck. He wasn't even sure if it could be called a win…
"Link," Reinhartd's tone dipped into dangerous territory and Link knew it. He kept himself from cringing at his name being used like that. He knew he was in deep shit.
"Fine," Link looked at his hands, guilt seeping into him. "I may or may not have been bonded to the Princess…"
The captain's dark eyes stared back at him. The man was unreadable, save for the clear frustration in his face. The crease between his eyebrow was the most defined Link had ever seen and he wasn't sure he wanted to continue to make him angrier.
"What do you mean " may have been bonded to the princess? " Are you saying it's only one way?"
Link nodded.
"Liiiiink," the captain rubbed his face roughly with one hand, drawing out his name. "You're going to give me early greys, you know that?"
"It was an accident, I swear-"
"No shit, it was an accident." He snapped. "I don't expect Her Highness to know anything about this! His Majesty did his best to hide this shit from her so she wouldn't get ideas."
Link narrowed his eyes at the captain. He didn't quite like how he insinuated she was dumb and uninformed. He wasn't wrong, but it came out terribly.
He did latch onto the last portion of the statement though. The King put effort into hiding anything concerning bonds, heats and information on designations from Zelda, and he'd done it consciously. What are you hiding… It was likely that the King knew more about the subject than he let on, there was probably something he wasn't telling everyone.
"It's not her fault, she legitimately doesn't have enough information sources-"
"What about you? You are an encyclopaedia! You're a living, breathing, walking, treasure trove of knowledge in this! She asks, you answer; it's easy.
"Easier said than done." He grumbled. "When would I have had the opportunity to tell her all of this? The middle of a cycle? When we're high on so many hormones we can't think straight? When we're in bed? When I'm fucking stuck to her!? Tell me when, go on. When would the perfect opportunity to teach the Princess about this come up?"
When his friend remained quiet, Link continued, feeling his own frustrations building up quickly. "Listen, one does not simply talk about sex and bonding and cycles with their charge, especially if she's the Crown Princess of Hyrule, do you understand that? If His Majesty even suspected I educated the Princess about any of that without prior authorisation, I doubt I'd even get the kindness of an axe to the throat, thank you very much."
It'd probably be a hammer to the face if I got caught talking to Zelda about that.
He scoffed and took a breather. Goddesses, why didn't people understand he could teach Zelda everything in such a short amount of time? He didn't study anything, everything he knew was from what others had told him and his own personal experiences.
"Besides, she only really started showing interest the week I got my rut. I couldn't have done much to begin with."
"Tell me you know how to break it, at least? For both your sake and Her Highness'?"
It pained him to hear those words again so soon. Breaking the bond. He was just glad it wasn't coming from Zelda this time.
"I do…" He trailed off.
"But?"
"We're talking about it, Zelda and I. We're going to find-."
"The Princess and I, you mean." He corrected. "You're getting too familiar, you're going to slip up in front of the wrong person."
"Right, we were talking about it, she wants to do more research about it before she does anything." He wished he could say she wanted to keep it, but even now, he was still confused if she wanted to keep it or reject it and let it break.
"Make it quick then, do not let anyone see it or hear about it, am I clear? Just get rid of it."
"You could be a bit nicer about it," it pained him to hear his friend talk about it as if it was garbage.
"At the very least, you can cover it up," Before Link could respond back, the rest of his uniform was thrown at him. He looked curiously at his friend whose tone had taken a drastic shift from heavy in frustration to one of defeat? "I don't want to see you jeopardise your position."
He wasn't sure if he wanted to ask why Barnabus had gotten so insistent on the mark. "Reinhartd? Is there something you aren't telling me?"
"Just… tell no one of this, hm? Especially the Council. Leave it at that." Link wasn't quite sure what to make of this conversation. It was a given, he wasn't about to go flaunting his bond to Zelda around the castle, but now he spoke as if Link had seen something he was never supposed to see or know about.
First was "break the bond", second was "hide the bond", and now third, strangely enough, was to tell no one at all about it? What was so special about this one in particular that had the captain so on edge?
It was a bond… right ? Sky had told him it was a one-sided bond, why would it be anything else?
"Why?" Link slipped on his guard uniform, piece by piece, while waiting for Barnabus to answer. He's taking his sweet time. What are you hiding?
"Link. This-" his finger hovered above the bond mark, but he did not dare touch it for a reason Link didn't know. "It's just better you don't dive into this for the time being."
"Either you tell me now or I grab the princess and we scour the library for the answer."
"Fine!" Link heard the exasperated exhale of air before Barnabus spoke again. "It's a... jump in social standing, one you're not ready to deal with." He emphasized heavily.
"What?!"
He wasn't expecting that. That was likely the furthest thing from his mind.
"The council cannot hear of this under any circumstances, am I clear?"
"Crystal clear."
Link was now determined to figure out just how big of a jump this really was. He knew he wasn't going to get any more information from the captain, so he dropped the subject, but he made himself a mental note to go ask Zelda about it later.
"Your Highness, you've yet to eat since our tea began, are you feeling alright?" Lady Litha asked her, puzzled. "A Lady must be well fed, you know." The twinkle in her eye reminded Zelda that Lady Litha was only looking out for her health for marriage sake.
Zlda smiled daintely. "I simply had a late breakfast this morning. My religious duties have been holding me longer as of these days, the Goddess should be devoted properly, don't you think, Lady Litha?"
"Praise be to the Goddess," the older woman looked up to the sky, silent thanks on her lips. "So your prayers are being heard after all? This is most wonderful news, it seems like we hear nothing of your divinity the last few weeks."
Zelda pursed her lips and refrained from meeting the eyes of the Countess. "I have been busy the last few weeks, little time for gossip and meeting with the ladies of court."
"I can only imagine, you'll only get busier and busier when you take a husband. The Earl is always thinking of new projects to occupy his time, and I'm always having to remind him of his duties," she politely complained. "Any duties of your future husband will be yours eventually, men are like this, you see, Princess."
She did enjoy hearing about the complaints of the nobility's personal lives. Anything to get the spotlight off of her.
"Projects you say? What kind?"
"So many things. He's recently taken up writing; he wishes to be like his recent favourite novelist. There was the pergola he wished to design for our garden, you should see it, it is quite the marvel." Lady Litha picked up a small biscuit and nibbled on it. "I simply wished he would remember his duty to the villagers, I'm always having to remind him that he needs to tend to them." She snickered quietly. "Alphas, they don't listen."
Zelda gave her a short laugh to fill the silence that threatened to fill the air if she did nothing. "If you want a job well done, it is better to do it yourself."
"Precisely, Your Highness, I don't think I could have said it better myself."
Goddesses, she hated this session of afternoon tea. Yesterday, she had met with the future Earl, Lord Arthur, and now she was meeting with his mother. Lady Litha was well-behaved, not much of a gossip, thank the heavens, and incredibly well spoken. A bit prone to speaking ill of her husband, the current Earl, but pleasant company nevertheless.
Today, there was no mystery as to why Litha was having tea with her.
Talk of marriage to her son, gauging her level of interest in her polite, quiet boy. The botany conversation was still irking her, how dare he tell me it's a pointless subject. Zelda could think of ten different ways she could inconvenience the man using botany alone and still get away with it.
Otherwise, he'd been a fine conversationalist.
"I do wish my husband would take the initiative sometimes, he's always in need of a reminder," the mother sighed. She gazed at the flowers in a strange sense of longing that had Zelda briefly wondering if perhaps the Earl had maybe forgotten a birthday or an anniversary of some sort. "Princess, you are a woman of knowledge, yes?"
Zelda nodded, wondering what direction this question was going to be headed.
"Why are they the way they are?"
"You mean men? " The woman nodded her head. "Oh Lady Litha, I don't know the inner workings of the minds of men, I'm afraid I do not converse with many of them on a daily basis." The woman's expression showed signs of disappointment.
It was true, Zelda really didn't converse with too many men on a daily basis. Her guards, Link, her father, a butler or two, she didn't need to talk to many. Anything her maids could do, was done at the snap of her fingers, and anything they could not do, Link did.
"Thank you, Your Highness. I'm not quite sure why I bothered to ask such a thing, I should have known such would be your answer, do accept my apologies if I have offended you."
"It is no problem, Lady Litha. It is a valid question to ask that I sadly do not have the information for, and it's a question that I ask myself quite often." Zelda placed her tea down to look at the flowers in the vase and the tray of small biscuits. "Perhaps your lady's maid may be a better source for information? She may have more experience interacting with men than I do."
"Will do, Your Highness, thank you. May I ask another question?"
That's a lot of questions, am I being interrogated or am I having tea?
"Ask away," she smiled.
"What are your thoughts on my son Arthur? Your honest feelings on the matter?"
You are brave. Zelda had to give it to the countess, she wasn't expecting it. But Zelda knew she wouldn't be telling the truth unless she wanted a displeased Countess telling her friends how ungrateful Zelda was towards her son.
"Lord Arthur is quite a knowledgeable individual." She had to think outside the box to think of more positive and neutral traits she could assign to the man without giving the woman too much hope. "He was very polite and quite the conversationalist. It was a pleasure having tea with him."
"Oh, I'm so happy to hear this, Your Highness." She was glowing at the praise she had given. "He's always been very shy so, to receive an invitation from His Majesty to come meet you, we were quite thrilled at the potential of a match!"
It's almost like my father told them we were getting married. She found the woman's excitement to be a little much, but she kept quiet on the matter.
"I'm still meeting candidates, but I will remember your son, he was very kind." She was starting to push the line a bit there, she could only see his 'kindness' if she squinted hard enough and plugged her ears.
A comfortable quiet fell between them after Lady Litha acquiesced to Zelda's words. The process of matchmaking was a long arduous task and every woman in the Society knew that. The men's jobs were mostly to try to please them as best they could, but none really knew the amount of work that went into the process. All of the letters, the networking, managing their children's images, their reputations, meeting future matches, fixing and managing unsavoury rumours from spreading; it was a process most Ladies knew like the back of their hand.
All the husbands and fathers had to do was sign a paper, nod and they were usually on their way. Even brothers had more roles than their parent did: act as chaperone if the need arose, and deter any terrible behaviours from the ones interested in their sisters.
Zelda wished she hadn't been an only child at that moment. Having a brother or a male cousin would have made these teas so much more bearable, they would have been permitted to talk to her matches and tell them to leave, calling them unworthy of her hand without the fear of societal backlash.
When I have children, they won't be alone … If I ever even get to one… She remembered how the whole ordeal had affected her mother. One had torn her mother's health apart like nothing she had ever seen and she had never physically recovered and no one seemed to know why. I hope I'm not like that…
"Princess?" She was broken from her train of thought by Lady Litha's sweet voice. "Are you alright? I can call someone if you wish?"
Just as the older woman was ready to motion for a nearby maid, Zelda took her hand and held it, reassuring her. "I'm quite alright, Lady Litha. I promise," She smiled, hoping the woman wouldn't take it offensively. "Simply a thought that had occupied my mind."
Think of an excuse, anything. Make something up.
"O-oh it's quite alright, Princess, no worries."
"I was simply thinking… I do not have many close ladies within the nobility and," She stumbled through the words, turning red. "I was thinking… could we be friends?" That would work, yes definitely. "You are wonderful company and this has been a lovely afternoon."
"F-friends, Your Highness?" The woman was taken aback, a smile appearing through her surprise. "If you wish us to be friends, it would be one of the highest honours!" Her head bowed respectfully.
She didn't have many friends within the ranks of the nobility. Now that she really put thought to it, it was quite dumb of her.
She had little to no political allies nor noble friends she could rely on. They were all friends with her father, but she and her father didn't quite align on the same page most of the time.
Zelda just hoped it didn't come off as a way to get closer to Lady Litha's son, heaven forbid the woman thought it was out of interest.
Lady Litha wasn't too much older than Zelda, five, maybe six, years her senior in age. She had married the Earl when he had suddenly been widowed three years back, taking in his son as if he were her own. She had elevated her standing from the daughter of a Baron to Countess with little effort, and Zelda could only respect her greatly for a clear opportunity seized.
A countess for a friend, that standing wasn't terrible, and Zelda could use that to drive her father's eyes away from her.
"Yes, friends, Lady Litha. I do hope you'll join me for tea again soon?"
"It would be an honour, Princess!"
The next morning was the only time Zelda really found that she could be alone with Link.
She asked one of her maids to serve her breakfast tea in the garden with Link seated at the small table. She was happy she got to admire the blue Champion's tunic on her knight, he didn't wear it too often due to his growing responsibilities with the Royal Guard.
She found it disappointing that his schedule was filling up quickly, leaving them less and less time together, but she shrugged away the worries as the maid finally arrived with a small tray of biscuits, teapot, and a cup of coffee for Link.
Both knight and princess thanked the maid as she left them with the tray, moving to stand away from eavesdropping, but close enough if she was still needed.
It didn't surprise her to see Link take a long gulp of the bitter drink that steamed from the small cup.
"Isn't that hot?" Her own cup was almost too hot to touch.
"Extremely," he took another sip and sighed happily.
She had completely forgotten that, while the drinks may have been hot, Link regularly ate molten rock roasts on Death Mountain when they visited Daruk, so boiling liquid shouldn't have surprised her one bit.
"Link?"
"Mhm?"
"Why did I have to hear from a maid that you ran through the halls shirtless with another captain yesterday?"
She heard a sharp inhale, followed by a coughing.
"When you put it that way, it sounds so… eh." He laughed nervously. "It was more, I was being dragged through the halls."
"There is no shame if you wish to frolic in the halls with another man, but please bear me in mind when doing so, it would be greatly appreciated if you wear clothing when doing so."
"It's not—I wasn't frolicking -"
"There's no shame in admiring you know, there are many half decent looking men in the castle." She teased, enjoying the look of panic on Link's face as he stumbled through his words constantly.
"I'm not—I mean I am—Wait no it's not like that—I'm not frolicking-"
"Wait, what did you say?"
"Nothing. I said nothing."
"Oh no, I heard you!" She took a dainty sip of her tea to conceal her smile. "You know, I do enjoy learning new things about you. This doesn't happen very often." She mentally noted that down: Teasing Link can cause him to slip secrets she didn't know he had.
You know, I've been waiting to drag in bisexual disaster Link for weeks now and somehow, the updates timed it very well with June, so Happy Pride month to everyone! I know I'm super excited for summer now that exams are done!
A big thank you to my hard working betas, Seren and Fifth, I love you both so much, you're both so wonderful you have no idea.
Also a heads up for those who actively wait for the updates, I update weekly on AO3, i tend to forget this site exists sometimes so updates tend to be a little bit less frequent here but if you're looking for scheduled updates, it's typically sundays or mondays, depends how my writing is going :)
