Chapter 1

Link stoked the fire in his bedchamber's fireplace as the cold threatened to overtake his room. Long gone were the nights of sleeping only in his undertunic as the winter months grew harsher the closer to the New Year they got. He pulled the blanket closer around himself as he tried to get the fire to at least last half the night. Placing the poker in the holder beside the fireplace, Link turned around and sat on his bed. His limbs were tired, the day being his first patrol on his own, and he felt exhausted but he still had something he had to finish before he could call it a night.

He reached for his belt hanging onto the bed post and pulled it closer. Reaching into the pouch attached, he pulled out a small knife, removing it from its leather sheath. He picked up the small block of wood he had already pulled out that was half whittled away, letting out a sigh at what he saw. The initial hope had been for it to be a small fat bird. Instead Link thought it looked more like an octorok.

Determined to learn, Link took the knife and leaned over the edge of his bed to start and chip away at more of the wood to try and make something, even if it was an octorok.

"Link, you still awake?" Zelda's voice asked as the door to his room was pushed open.

Link let out a sound of surprise, pulling close the blanket around himself as he looked at the girl stepping in.

"Sorry," Zelda said with a laugh as she shut the door behind herself. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"You've gotta stop just barging in like that," Link said, making sure he was covered in the blanket. "What if I had been changing?"

Zelda sat down on the foot of Link's bed and pulled her boots off, letting out a pleasant laugh. "That would've been an interesting sight, now wouldn't it've?" she said.

"Oh, come on," Link let out, turning his attention back to the octorok in his hand. "As it is, Lady Impa would have a fit to find us here alone."

"She went to bed hours ago," Zelda threw off, pulling her feet under herself. She turned to look at what Link was working on and asked, "What is it?"

"It started off as a bird and is now an octorok," Link admitted, leaning over the floor to work away at the wood. "Did you just get done?"

"I haven't even had dinner," Zelda admitted. "Though tomorrow will be the grand opening of the castle library."

"Have you settled on a name for it?"

"I still like Link's Library but Croo won with The Library of Skyloft since most of the books came from the old Great Hylian Library," Zelda offered, leaning back so she rested against the wall. "That wasn't even the hardest thing I had to deal with today. It's been five months since Grandfather passed away and I've found a historian but trying to find an advisor is hard work. Add going through villager problems- you'd think they wouldn't need me to tell them that once a work horse is too old it'll stop being a good work horse."

Link glanced behind himself and saw she had laid a hand over her eyes. He let his eyes trail over her, noticing her blue ribbon around her collar was hanging half tied and her braid was falling out. A longing nagged at him, making him want to put away his whittling. Instead he turned back to focus on the octorok.

"What's your day been like?" Zelda asked. "Wasn't today your first patrol on your own?"

"Nothing too crazy," Link offered. "Just had to deal with a fight between two customers in town. I can't wait till spring, this winter seems to be making them crazier than normal."

"Where is your patrol?"

"From the west wall to the street the Milk Café's on," Link offered. "I had Sir Pacci and Squire Uchly with me for a bit of the day. Oh and I stopped in at the café for lunch. You need to go there and ask for Pepper's newest concoction. It's some type of wrap but it tastes kinda sweet. It's really good."

Zelda let out a sound as she moved behind him.

Link paused in his work and twisted around to look at her only to see she had laid down with her head right behind him. "You know, you can't fall asleep here," Link pointed out.

Zelda echoed the sound she had already made, not moving.

Link turned the other way to look at her head behind him only to see her eyes closed. He let out a sigh and stood up, placing the knife and wood octorok on the table with his lamp. Repositioning his blanket, he leaned down and picked up Zelda's boots before carefully picking the sleeping girl herself up. Hoping it was late enough he wouldn't pass anyone, he carried her out of his room and down the stairs, heading to the main part of the castle. As he passed a window, he noticed a new layer of snow falling, reminding him of how cold this winter was being. Hopefully only one more month lasted before spring would be here, bringing with it the New Year. Link's mind went towards the New Year where things were already in motion for the royal wedding. He knew Zelda didn't want a big wedding but she was queen. He looked down at her sleeping features, just wanting her to be happy. Maybe he could get Kuro to help convince Lady Impa.

Link made it to Zelda's bedchamber, pushing the door closed with his foot, and carefully laid her down on her bed. A shiver ran through him, getting him to look over at her fireplace only to see the fire extinguished. Sitting her boots at the foot of her bed, Link went over to the fireplace and struck a match. Crouching down, Link quickly created a fire and let the match fall in to the kindling already ablaze. He sat there a moment, making sure it was a healthy fire, before rising back to his feet. He turned around and saw Zelda laid as he had left her on top of her blankets. Soft snores came from her, showing she had fallen asleep. "Well I won't put you in your nightgown, but I can at least make you more comfortable," Link said in a whisper. He undid the tie holding the remains of her braid and ran his fingers through her blonde hair to comb it out as best he could. He finished untying the ribbon around her neck, pulling it off and sitting it beside her bed on her nightstand. He looked her over only for his eyes to notice her large belt buckle. He carefully undid it, removing the belt and sitting it on the nightstand as well. He pulled back as much of the blankets as he could, carefully putting her in her bed. Pulling the blankets up to her chin, he smiled at her sleeping self and brushed a bang out of her face. He placed a soft kiss on her forehead and checked the fire before leaving her room.

Carefully he pulled the door shut, hoping the latch wouldn't be too loud. He heard it click and let out a breath he had been holding.

"Sir Link."

Link jumped at the sound of his name being hissed Turning to the voice, he quicklytook in an elder woman in her nightgown and night cap. "Lady Impa!" Link gasped out, holding a hand to his chest to keep his beating heart in his chest. "Does everyone want to startle me to death tonight?" He looked at her only to notice her eyeing him. Glancing down at himself, wearing only his undershirt and winter breeches under the blanket, he pulled the blanket closer around himself and defended, "It's not what you think it is."

"Uh huh," she said with a nod of her head as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I was young once too, you know. I know about those urges."

"Nothing happened," Link quickly said, stopping her from continuing. "She came to me once she was done with work while I was about to lay down and wanted to talk but she fell asleep an-"

"AHHHH!"

Link quickly ripped open Zelda's bedchamber door and rushed to the girl's bedside. The girl sat up, staring straight ahead, panic evident on her face.

"Eyes. Eyes staring," Zelda said, herself staring at nothing. "Staring into a cold wet abyss."

"Zelda?" Link asked, grabbing hold of her shoulders. Worried, he gave her a quick shake as he called out her name louder.

Zelda turned to him, grabbing hold of his arms. "It's a sea dragon," she said, looking into his eyes. "The master of the sea dragon has the Tri-force of power."

"You saw it?" Link asked as dread made itself home in his stomach.

Zelda nodded her head, the corners of her mouth quivering in fear.

"Well, nothing you can do about it now," Lady Impa said, turning Zelda to the woman standing beside Link. "Best go back to sleep and work on it tomorrow."

"I don't know if I could go back to sleep," Zelda admitted, taking her hands off of Link's arms. He dropped his arms to her bed side only to find her closest hand on his. "The dragon's in this world. It doesn't belong here but it is. And it's looking for us."

Link looked down at the piece of Tri-force on the back of his left hand, seeing the piece of wisdom on her right. He looked back at Impa and said, "Let me and Lady Hugolin guard her tonight."

Lady Impa thought a moment before nodding her head. "Alright. I'll stay here with her until you return with the knight."

Link turned back to Zelda, giving the hand holding his a squeeze before releasing it.

-.-.-.-

Link caught himself as his head fell forward, sleep fighting to win against him. He sat up in the chair and held tight to the sword in his lap. He shook his head to fight sleep, his knight's blue hat hitting him in the cheek, before he took in the room as dawn's first light started to overtake the dwindling fire in the fireplace. He checked on Zelda, the girl in the bed just big enough to contain her wild sleep, before looking over at Lady Hugolin asleep in the second chair in the room. She had taken first watch, leaving Link the second. He just didn't realize how sleepy he was until he was now fighting it.

Link rose to his feet, swinging the baldric of his sword onto one shoulder, and walked over to the fireplace. He pulled out the poker, careful to be as quiet as possible, and stoked the fire. Trying to keep his mind active, he let himself go back over what Zelda had said in the brief moment she was awake.

He rested his arms on his knees, balancing on the balls of his feet. If it was a sea dragon that was after them, why was she so focused on its eyes? And why a sea dragon? If they were Zora, it might make sense, but what would an underwater creature do against them? He watched the dancing flames for a moment, the heat a wonderful feeling in this cold month.

Letting out a breath, he got to his feet and put the poker back in the holder. He stole a glance at the sleeping maiden in the bed, a smile pulling at his cheeks at the idea of calling Zelda a maiden as she slept with an arm above her head on her pillow and her blonde hair created a strange sort of aura around her.

Link threw the baldric strap over his head, letting the sword rest on his back, and turned to take in the girl's room. Given that she was the Queen of Hyrule, the bedchamber was rather small. When she was crowned she declined taking the old King's room and instead took this one that measured out to about the size of the seating area for the Milk Café. He stepped over to the window adjacent to her bed and looked out, seeing the castle from her room. A couple of people were already out and about, one of them being the still new head castle cook, Henya.

Stepping away from the window, Link carefully passed Lady Hugolin's sleeping form and the second window with a similar look of the castle to the bookshelves in the corner. Skimming through the book titles she had accumulated over the past few years, his eyes found books going over Hylian law and history, most newly printed. He passed his fingers over the books, wondering if there were any that showed her personality when a book with no name caught his attention. He pulled it from its spot and flipped it open only to quickly realize it was written in her handwriting.

'Well it's been three years now since I started these and I'm already on book four. What I'm supposed to do with these once I'm done, Grandfather still won't tell me. But I trust him, so if he says I should keep a diary, I'll keep a diary.

'Today was an average mid-summer day, Link passing another of his knight's tests. My own warrior assessment will be in a few weeks. It might be too much to ask if Grandfather could come to Kakariko Village. I fear for the man's health. Maybe Mr. Lynn might bring the assessment to Hyrule Castle.'

Link forced down his curiosity and shut the book. He put it back where he had found it between a book called Learning Human Relationships and Understanding Government. He recalled back to her warrior assessment that had ended up taking place in the first month of fall. She passed with flying colors, but Link knew the celebration had been tainted by the loss of Grandfather the month before.

He stepped away from the bookshelf and took a look at the paintings on the far wall from Zelda's bed. In the dark it was hard to make out the details but he knew the ones along this wall had a special signature on the bottom right corner. They weren't the best paintings in the castle, but to Link they were wonderful still lives of Lon Lon Ranch. The place he had called home for almost fifteen years painted by the queen herself on the few days off she gave herself.

Without realizing it, he had stepped behind her screen, her wardrobe hiding from sight in the corner. He stepped out from behind the screen as he felt his face heating up, glad no one was awake to see it. He looked back at the girl lying in bed, thoughts of the future playing in his mind. He blamed Lady Impa's talk about the wedding. Still, he wondered where he would sleep once they were married. She didn't give much space on the bed.

Link stepped back to his chair, leaning his arms across the headrest, and let the fire warm his back. He looked over at Zelda once more, knowing it was almost time she would be waking up. He let his mind wonder to what was probably going to happen in the day. Zelda might give him a few hours to nap before they go on a hunt for that sea dragon.

An involuntary shiver ran up Link's spine at the thought of going in water in this weather. He threw a look out the window, thankful the snow fall had stopped before Lady Hugolin had woke him. He stood straight and stepped over to the window, noticing the snow pushed off the walkway looked to come up to most people's knees as more people were out now. He looked up at the horizon to see the very top of the orange star, the sky taking on a line of pink as the sun lit the world. Remembering something Zelda had taught him, he wondered if pink counted as a red sky in morn. If so, what more should he be warned about the day coming.

Link turned away from the possible bad omen and looked down at the sleeping queen. The longing he now knew better as love filled him at the sight of her, wanting to do everything in his power to keep her safe. He knelt down, placing his hands on his knees as he was careful to not touch the bed, and watched her sleep. Studying her face, he smiled at the sight of a line of drool running from her slightly opened mouth to the pillow beneath her. Through the blankets he could see the small rise and fall of her breathing, that in itself giving him enough reassurance for the moment.

Without his consent his mind rushed back to just before his knighting ceremony. The four lines clawed into her face, the blood spattering, Link could still see it. And two springs ago when the Twinrova stabbed her in the chest.

Link gripped the pants at his knees as he gritted his teeth together. Silently he promised, 'Never again. I may not have taken the vows yet but I promise them now anyway. I will forever cherish and protect you.'

Zelda opened her eyes, blinking a couple of times as Link froze, his own eyes wide.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" Link asked in a whisper once he thought she had focused on him.

"No," Zelda said, pulling the arm that had slept above her head back into the blankets. A yawn over took her, getting her to try and hide it in the pillow. Once free to speak, she turned back to Link and asked, "Where you watching me sleep?"

"A bit," Link admitted, giving her a nod. He felt his face heat up, realizing it sounded a little creepy. Quickly he added, "Sorry."

"No, I think it's sweet," Zelda offered. She pulled a hand out of the blanket and rubbed at her eye as she asked, "What time is it?"

"Just dawn," Link offered. "I've already seen Henya out and about in the court yard."

"I should go ahead and get up then," Zelda said, dropping her hand so it rested on her forehead. She looked up at the ceiling of her four poster bed only to admit, "I don't want to get up."

"I kept the fire going so at least it's not freezing in here," Link said. Thinking back to his own room, the fire extinguished, he mumbled, "Unlike my own bed."

"I'd let you sleep in my bed if Impa allowed it," Zelda said. She let out another yawn before sitting up, running a hand through her bangs that half stood against gravity. "Go ahead and wake Lady Hugolin so you two can go catch up on your sleep," Zelda ordered. "I'll see what I can find out about that sea dragon before I wake you up."

Link pushed himself up to his feet, seriousness taking over his features at mention of the dragon.