"And after years of back and forth and a stroke of luck, Hylia forcibly sealed away the demon of trickery into the statue, where it now sits in Hateno Village, silent to this day."
"Are you really trying to tell me that there is a demonically possessed rock in your hometown?"
"Meh, who knows." He shrugged, leaning back and stretching. "It's a cute statue and it's been in the village for as long as anyone can remember."
"Demons living inside of statues don't exist, and your ghost story didn't scare me one bit."
"You know, I used to play around it a lot as a kid, it just looks like a cool rock but it smells so…" Unable to find the proper words to communicate his distaste, he gags so dramatically, she thinks he might actually vomit if he does it again.
Her eyes drift to the flames, gazing into the redhot colours of embers.
What if the stories of time long forgotten were true? The demons that the Goddess supposedly fought? A Demon Lord? Hordes of demons?
Well hordes of demons weren't too hard for her to imagine a goddess defeating. She got to regularly watch her own Knight Attendant face off against beasts that would have a squadron cowering together. She's seen him take on Lynels, Hinoxes and Taluses together on his own, as if possessed by a higher power that blessed him with the stamina and strength of a god.
No regular man could slice through those beasts with a single slice, even if their preferred weapon bore divine origins.
If a man such as him could exist… If a man who sliced through hordes of monsters as if it were his daily morning exercise could exist, then the force to oppose such a thing would be terrifying. She assumed that would naturally be the Calamity.
For every positive reaction, there had to be a negative to maintain the balance.
If such things were truly real, then to balance a Light Goddess on this earth, here was to be an equal evil.
Maybe a Demon Lord wasn't such a far fetch if the Goddess Hylia truly existed.
"They say that, on full moons, the elders hear whispers on the hills, and they swear to every spirit that it's the statue whispering. But the old coots can barely remember where they put their axes every night so no one ever believes them."
To Zelda, it sounds like he might believe them, even just a bit. "Do you?"
"Do I what?"
"Believe the old coots of your village?" She asks back, feeling the words stick in her mouth as she vulgarises the elderly of his village.
"I don't know. Part of me wants to, but we've never heard the thing or sensed anything odd about it." It looks as if he's trying to figure out how to explain something, but it's clear that it's stuck on the tip of his tongue. "It's just a fun ghost story really, nothing more to it."
"You know… There's a cursed statue with glowing eyes near Kakariko village. Its eyes glow on certain nights and no one seems to know why. Maybe your statue is linked to it?" she suggests, wanting to see his reaction.
"Nah, no way. Our statue doesn't glow." He shuts it down fast. "Have you seen it?" He reaches down for the pot of hot tea that sits next to their fire and fills her one of their travelling cups. She gratefully takes one of the cups and shakes her head.
"Only rumours, but Impa swears up and down that she's seen it." She sips the hot liquid, feeling it warm her from the inside through the chilly night.
"Has Miss Purah seen it?"
"Why would it matter?"
"Lady Impa is pretty superstitious." She sees a grin slowly appear on his lips and now she's leaning forward, wanting to know why. "Purah believes in evidence based results so if she said it, I think I'd believe it."
"So why not Impa?"
"Well…" He stops to chuckle to himself. "I may or may not have scared her to bits a few weeks ago."
"You'll have to elaborate."
"She thinks the western guardhouse is haunted."
What? Zelda can't believe what she's hearing. Impa, her highly trained Sheikah warrior, thinks one of the guardhouses is haunted? Because of Link?
"Now you'll really need to elaborate."
So he starts into a long winded tale, beginning with the batch of new recruits that were assigned to him for training. She starts snickering when he starts describing an age-old tradition involving the Royal Guard captains that began many generations ago. He'd instruct the recruits to go grab spears from the guardhouse to practise sparring and meet him back on the training grounds.
She barely holds it together when he starts describing having to climb into the ceiling, entirely in the royal garb. His face quickly forms disgust at the mention of spiders and cobwebs and she has to remind him that it's a ceiling so there won't be much traffic up there.
"And we attach these invisible strings to our fingers."
"Like puppet strings?"
"Exactly like that." He finishes his tea and leans forward to the fire. "So after we put the panel back, there's no way to find us up there, and it's dark so we can't see too much either. I didn't know Impa was coming in and I pulled the strings." Zelda starts giggling when he describes the many rows of weapons falling and clattering to the ground and she understands why Impa must have been terrified.
"I didn't know she could scream that loudly. I really had no idea." He barely contains his own laughter. "I don't think the ocarina helped either."
"Ocarina?"
"Oh yeah! We had Captain Arn up there with me! He's playing the thing on the lowest notes and he almost broke our cover when she screamed."
"I imagine the recruits never showed up."
"They did not." Zelda has to actively stop her mind from conjuring the image of Link and the Captain of her father's King's Guard cramped into the tiniest space in stuffy uniforms. She shouldn't be laughing at the thought of a middle aged man stuck in the ceiling with her knight but it's a bizarre image to think about.
"Impa has since refused to enter said building, citing many bad experiences." She admits that her shadow is superstitious and she definitely wonders if she should tell the poor woman it was Link's doing and not a ghost or vengeful spirit.
She looks up at the quarter moon and yawns, knowing it's probably close to midnight. It's high above their heads, breaking through the leaves and shining down on them in the faintest light. Maybe it's time for her to head to sleep soon; they have lots of riding to do in the morning when they wake up.
She sighs quietly when she looks at her personal tent and his; she had been unable to convince him not to put up the second tent, even after she had claimed that she was cold alone. She was sure that would have worked but alas, she didn't push further in hopes of keeping plausible deniability in her intentions to get closer to him.
"You should head to sleep." She hears him pipe up beside her, followed by his own loud yawn. The flames reflect the lightest eyebags, she knows he's getting a bit tired and the awareness in his eyes is fading bit by bit.
How hadn't she noticed he was starting to get tired? He had likely spent almost an hour recounting the story of the guardhouse incident and Impa's fears of ghosts that didn't exist.
She looks down and sees that the flames have mostly died down but she knows it'll likely keep burning for another hour or so, or until he decides the embers aren't going to set the forest on fire if left unattended.
"Are you sure you won't join me?" She jokes, hoping he catches it isn't entirely a joke.
"Mhm." There goes that effort. She sighs and stands up, slowly walking to her tent when she hears another yawn leave him, followed by a third almost immediately after.
"Hey! Um…" She starts, catching his attention pretty quickly. "Were you going to sleep in the tent or out here?"
He looks up at the sky for a moment, clearly contemplating the idea. It's a clear night, she doesn't think it's going to rain and there's no breeze. The bugs aren't out to prick their skin and it's just cool enough to relax comfortably. "Not sure yet. Might outside." He mumbles almost incoherently. " 's a nice night."
It was a gorgeous night, Zelda knew that much.
"May I join you?" It's less of a question the way it comes out and more of a statement. He looks at her with wide eyes and nods slowly.
"You should sleep. It's getting late."
"And so should you." The look he sends back to her says 'touché' and that she made a fair point.
He gets up and goes to his tent before returning, his bedroll in hand. "Well?" He looks between her and her tent.
The moment she understands, she's quick to stand up and head over to her tent where she drags out her prepared bedroll and lays it next to his and the warm fire pit.
It didn't take too long before he heard Zelda's light snoring to tell him she was fast asleep.
He slowly sat up from his bedroll and faced the small fire, only the glowing burnt logs illuminating their camp now.
"You don't need to put up that second tent, you know."
Zelda had asked him hours ago when they'd initially set up camp. He hadn't missed the way her lip had curled when she'd proposed the idea of sharing one tent.
He sighed and looked around their campsite, inhaling slowly. Trees, dirt, rain, bugs, nothing really stood out to him apart from one thing.
The lingering smell of Incense.
Maybe it was too light for Zelda to sense, but he'd picked up on it and the trail stayed with them until they reached the Bridge of Hylia where it faded significantly. Many times, he found himself looking back and around them to see who was the source, but not once did he see anything out of the ordinary.
Even now, despite the overwhelming presence of smoke in his nose, he could still smell the fading presence of incense, sandalwood to be exact.
He'd confirmed it didn't come from Zelda early on and it certainly wasn't him, and he recognised the scent quickly from its general presence within castle walls.
They were being followed by Sheikah. Or at the very least, they were.
He couldn't tell why, but they'd been here, they definitely had been following them even if he couldn't physically see them.
They're not called shadow people for nothing, he reminded himself.
He sat up against the fallen tree next to the princess and stretched. Why had the King sent Sheikah to follow them? It was the first time he'd ever seen this happen, atleast to his knowledge. Did the King not trust him anymore? Did he not trust them? Was he trying to make sure she actually got to the Spring of Courage? He just couldn't think of the right reason.
I shouldn't have accepted that trip to Lurelin… He chewed his lip nervously, thinking to the Sheikah who were likely following them.
He didn't want them to report back to the King that they were doing other things on their trip, he didn't want Zelda to have more problems with her father. He hated seeing her come out of his study with tears in her eyes as she told him everything was fine. He didn't want the King to send him away if he thought he was distracting the Princess from her duty.
Fuck duty. It only caused her suffering. For what exactly? She couldn't enjoy a hobby, nor could she live her life the way she wanted. She was allowed to do that, no?
He looked around them, into the pure darkness of the woods. So many things could be hiding there, shadows so dark he couldn't differentiate them from the night
His eyes drifted back to Zelda, who shifted in her sleep. As if she was a magnet looking for heat, he watched her subconsciously move closer to him until her head touched his leg.
As much as he wanted to take her offer and sleep next to her in a single tent, he couldn't risk it if they were being followed by her father's spies. He hated to see her eyes deflate the excitement she'd been brimming with when he rejected the offer, but what was he supposed to do? Accept and let the spies report back that he was sleeping with her? Even if it was innocent, the King wouldn't take it the same way.
He slowly threaded his fingers into her hair.
It's warm… He smiled, gazing at her as she peacefully slept against him. In the faint glow of the burnt out fire, the ever-so-present stress lines in her face had vanished, leaving behind something he so rarely got to see; Zelda in a relaxed state.
He cursed their duty and the Goddess Hylia. Why did it have to be so rare? Why could they just allow her to be truly happy more often…
Upon waking the next morning, Link had to expertly shift Zelda off his lap, having fallen asleep sitting against the tree. There was a stiffness in his neck from the terrible sleeping posture that he knew would haunt him the rest of the day, and he knew he'd be spending the day trying to get the crack out of his bones.
Once free, he was happy to note that the lingering scent of sandalwood had faded mostly, indicating the Sheikah were no longer in the general vicinity. Maybe he wouldn't have to give up the Lurelin trip after all.
Waking up the Princess was an easy feat, he'd barely had to say her name loudly and her eyes were cracking open. The fire wasn't difficult to relight, he quickly found hot embers buried deep within the dusty grey ashes and had the fire going within five minutes.
"Can I cook the egg?" He hears her ask as he's throwing a small cooking pot over the fire.
"If you want."
The next ten minutes consists of Link resisting the urge to take the large wooden utensil out of Zelda's hands as she attempts to flip an egg without the sizzling coming back at her from the butter thrown into the pan. He tells her to be more confident with the spatula and to flip it, but she's incredibly slow and he watches in somewhat pained agony as the egg finally gets flipped and its brown beneath.
She'll get it eventually. He reminds himself that everyone starts somewhere.
When the egg is finally cooked, he volunteers to eat first and cook the next one while Zelda watches the whistling kettle beside them. The egg comes out perfectly seasoned from the salt he threw in and he passes her the perfect egg.
"I can try yours again, I know it's bad." He takes another bite of his burnt breakfast.
"No! I like it!" Really, he does like it, he's not lying. It tastes a bit smokey, yes, but it adds a special touch.
"Liar." He tries to ignore her pout as she drinks from her small cup.
He takes another bite, despite her protests. "And what if I'm not?" She rolls her eyes in response but doesn't add anything as she finishes her small breakfast.
"I'm cooking lunch later."
"As you wish." He knows that he'll likely make lunch and claim he forgot she ever said such a thing.
By the time it reaches midday, they've already made significant progress to Lurelin, having encountered no monsters on the way. Long gone are the thick jungles of Lurelin, now they travelled through the long fields hidden between mountains and hills, basking in the bright sun and intense humidity.
Link knows they aren't far from the small quaint fishing village, they're likely another hour or two away, so he decides to finally ask what's been on his mind all week.
"Are you going to tell me why you were messing with aphrodisiacs the other day?"
The question catches the princess off guard as Link led them past a fork in the road. Of course, he was referring to the incident from four days ago when he had caught the Princess escaping the castle. His brief side-glance offered her no comfort whatsoever.
"So?" He inquired once more, bringing his mare to a stop. "Why blue nightshade?" He turned his body to the Princess, a brow raised, but worry etched itself into a wrinkle on his forehead.
"How do you even know if that's an aphrodisiac? It could be for anything."
Link laughed. Laughed. Zelda had half a mind to scoff at Link. Where was he getting off that he could just laugh at her like that?
"Blue nightshade belongs to the nightshade branch of aphrodisiacs and sex-related plants. Both the blue and the white variants are pretty common for that sort of thing." Zelda rolled her eyes in frustration. Why was he spitting out information like a plant encyclopaedia? Though he didn't use the scientific names used to address the flowers properly, he apparently knew enough to distinguish the branches of nightshade. She found herself mildly impressed.
She remained quiet as she urged her horse on, leaving Link a few paces behind. Why would she tell him what her use for the flowers were? It was none of his business as long as she did it in the castle and nowhere he could use his position to confiscate the concoctions, not that she would use them around him. She could only imagine what might happen if she let him know that she was in that sort of state.
She wondered just how long it would take for him to notice if she was in such a mood.
She forced any lingering thoughts of him away from her brain while he urged his horse to catch back up to her as they wandered through the small patch of stray trees. She had yet to ask him if he could assist her in finding bloodshade, the flower that Purah had mentioned she would need for the proper concoction, but she couldn't just outright tell him why she was gathering the ingredients.
"So do I have to guess then? Since you're giving me the silent treatment, Your Highness." His tone teased her, shifting the mare closer to hers where he could almost touch her if he extended his arm far enough.
"Please don't." She mumbled, turning away from her knight so he couldn't see the fiery blush that overtook her cheeks once more. His light chuckling did nothing but turn her pinker, though he couldn't see it.
"So spill. Blue nightshade and chillies? Sounds like you're looking for… er…" He paused, unsure of what to say. "something." He cursed to himself. Sure, something was vague enough. His tone gave his thoughts away as Zelda's eyes carefully peeked from around her shoulder. "That's quite the potent mix…" He whispered under his breath. An aphrodisiac and an intensifier, he couldn't even imagine what Zelda was doing with such a thing apart from its rather obvious use.
He'd brewed enough things for himself to know the use of such ingredients, and he'd assisted his younger sister with her own brews, so such things were not new to him.
"It's for a friend."
"Sure it is." He laughed louder than he should have. Of course she'd use everyone's default excuse when it came to hiding personal stuff.
They rode in silence, both in their own thoughts. While Zelda's thoughts were purely on how to change the subject, Link's were somewhere they probably shouldn't have been, filthily conjuring up ideas on what Zelda was doing to herself under the likely very potent sexual mixture she was probably using on herself.
Why was she using such a mixture on herself in the first place? He could still smell the residual nightshade lingering in her scent, meaning she had, at the least, handled it within the last 48 hours, that much he was sure. Handled or consumed, he couldn't decide, but he chose the first option, for if it was the second one, he'd have smelled it in a different way and he knew for a fact that there would be no way she would have been able to hide that fact from him, no matter how discreet she'd try to be.
It was these times where Link hated his nose. He'd love to stay in the dark about these things, but he cursed his genetics for gifting him the unnaturally amazing abilities of a bloodhound in scent identification.
"Before we head home, can we go exploring a bit?"
"Exploring?"
Zelda beamed at him, immediately turning to face him. "Yes! Exploring! I heard one of the handmaidens gossiping about a lake and I wish to go!"
"You mean by Lurelin? Is that why you wanted to go?" Link sighed, pushing his earlier thoughts away. There was no way he was going to be getting an answer to his question right now.
"Lurelin village is the generally agreed upon location."
"You're absolutely sure this lake is near Lurelin?" He asked her, wanting to be sure they didn't travel so far, only to leave disappointed when this fabled lake didn't exist. He watched her nod, wondering why she seemed certain about this.
"But!" She paused, lifting a hand into the air before he could say anything. "We find this lake first, then we'll journey to the Spring."
Surely enough, after riding through most of the day, they eventually arrived in Lurelin, now hiding in one of the visitor huts away from the rain. Both knight and princess had conveniently forgotten that this part of Faron was either rain or shine, there was never anything else.
There they both sat, with a fire burning inside their hut while they attempted to dry themselves off, their clothes sticking to their skin as if they were one and the same, and hair clinging to their faces and necks.
The hut they were staying in had a beautiful view of the ocean, additionally granting them an excellent view of the night sky, along with the peaceful crash of waves against the beach sands only steps away from their hut. With the seagulls in the distance finally quieting down somewhere, the only other sound was that of soft rain hitting their shelter and any wooden object nearby.
Once the rain calmed down, she watched in awe as Link dashed into the water, coming back after 15 minutes with two porgies in his hands, with the sudden determination to cook. Zelda barely uttered a single word as she watched the man expertly fillet the fish and throw mushrooms into the pot along with some rice and water. She had only seen him cook a handful of times, usually he was already done by the time she could come see due to the length of her prayers.
Of course, his methods were much sloppier than the chefs and cooks of the castle, but she found that his food was much tastier, even if it was cooked haphazardly in suspicious ways in a random pot he stumbled upon in the middle of a forest.
Once he threw in some salt and other spices, he grabbed a nearby pot lid and covered the large metal pan, smiling to himself and his apparent genius.
He's too cute like this… Zelda looked away from Link's innocent child-like joy and lifted the pot-lid, instead choosing to watch the water bubble and fill the hut with mouth-watering smell. "What are you making?" She asked, seeing the rice absorb the water slowly.
"A variation of seafood paella." He said, excitement tracing into his features with ease.
Five minutes passed as they watched the food come together in silence before Link plated it into bowls, passing Zelda a plate of seasoned rice and fish first.
His is always better, she withheld a moan as she took her first few bites, remembering her fumble with the eggs earlier. Unbeknownst to her, the knight was happily watching her eat, barely touching his food until Zelda had almost finished hers.
"So I talked to a local earlier," he started, taking a bite of the fish in his bowl. "It was about that lake you wanted to see." Zelda nodded along as she scooped herself more rice into her bowl. "It's apparently right up the mountain here. Short hike, but we'd have to do it when it isn't raining."
He had also heard the stories behind the locally named Lover's Pond where the locals believed that those who visited the small heart-shaped watering hole were destined to meet their soulmates there, but he chose to let Zelda find out that information for herself.
"First thing in the morning then!" She happily exclaimed, politely scoping some rice into her mouth.
It was after dinner while cleaning the pot that Link realised the sky had cleared, and the rain vanished completely. He guessed it may have been around midnight, the moon hanging high above their heads. Not feeling tired, he went to sit on the veranda overlooking the Lurelin Sea, where he laid on his back, eyes closed and feet dangling off the edge, as the sound of waves crashing together filled his ears.
He quite enjoyed the soothing effect the smell of saltwater had on his mind, clearing it rather quickly. Something about it just seemed to make him forget about the worries of the world for a brief moment.
The light sound of footsteps made him crack an eye open, looking directly up at Zelda, who had changed into more comfortable clothing for the night. "May I join you?"
He smiled. "Of course." She quickly sat beside him, their bodies nearly touching as she copied his posture, swinging her legs off the smooth wood and laying her head next to his.
"It's a beautiful night," her light breathing filled his ears while the invisible presence of various safflinas drifted around him. "We don't see too many stars back home…" She continued, looking at the twinkling stars in the sky.
The light pollution of Castle Town made it frustrating to try stargazing, for only the brightest of the stars in the sky could ever be seen atop the castle. Here, out in the middle of Faron, no such thing seemed to exist. Zelda was free to gaze at the infinite amount of clustered stars in the darkness.
"Why can't it be this peaceful at the castle…" Zelda smiled gently, a new appreciation for the night sky. Link hummed, agreeing with the princess. The quiet atmosphere of Lurelin was a welcome contrast to the constantly bustling Castle, and he often wished it was quieter.
"Link?" He heard her head move against the wooden floor. Opening an eye and turning to face her, he smiled.
"What's up?"
He could see her eyes move away from his, nervously glancing around before settling back on the sky. "Do you…" She started before pausing, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. "Do you think I'll ever get my designation?"
"Is that what you've been worried about?" Zelda quietly nodded. "Of course you will. Everyone does."
"But what if it isn't what my father wants? Or what I want?"
"Well… What do you want it to be?" He asked her quietly, her eyes returning to him. He could see her think about his question.
He could see the moon and stars reflected in her green eyes, darkened by the night.
He knew full well that this was among one of the pressures that had been unfortunately growing on her shoulders along with the question of her divine birthright. As much as he wanted to help her with both, they were simply issues that lay beyond mortal hands. They were purely for Zelda to figure out, though he would try to support her as much as he could.
He watched her quietly nibble on her lower lip, her eyes moving around, avoiding him briefly. "I… I really don't have a preference…"
"Then why worry about what His Majesty thinks? He can't control it, no matter how badly he wants to."
"But what if-"
Link cut her off, his tone unmoving. "Doesn't matter what he thinks. He should be proud of you either way."
Zelda didn't say anything, but she, once again, turned away to look at the sky. "If you could choose for me, which would you pick?"
"If I could pick?" What kind of question was that supposed to be, he wondered. It wasn't something he cared about, if anything. It was all dumb nonsense in his brain to begin with, he didn't see any point to having designations apart from being a biological nightmare to deal with. "I don't care." He stated rather simply. "I just want you to be happy."
"So… You wouldn't mind if I was a beta or something?"
"You're hilarious if you think I care about that trivial stuff." He said incredulously. "Be a rock for all I care, I like you just the way you are."
"Just… The way I am?" She mumbled, though he wasn't sure if she was talking to herself. "Wait, a rock?" She tried not to smile at the eager averting of his eyes at the odd words that came out of his mouth.
Link was rather thankful for the cool breeze to cool his skin down. "Tell me something." He felt her eyes back on him. "Is that why you were messing with the nightshade?" She remained silent, but he sensed it was as close to the truth as she was going to reveal. He let out a breath and sat up, looking out to the water. "Don't force your body into that kind of stuff. Just… Relax. Let it happen by itself."
Though she couldn't see his face, Zelda sensed his words held some weight. Was he speaking from experience? Did he know someone who attempted to force their body to present?
As much as her attempts had been futile, she knew deep inside that he was right. You couldn't force a tree to grow.
"Don't worry. It'll all fall into place." Swinging his legs back onto the veranda, he stood up and offered a hand to the worried Princess. "Come on. Let's get to bed. We've got hiking to do in the morning."
Taking the proffered hand, she gave him a curt smile as she was helped onto her feet. "Thank you." She muttered under her breath.
"What for?"
She glanced at his eyes before looking to the ground, a light blush on her cheeks. "For everything–for being by my side even when I was horrible to you."
"Don't thank me for that. The world might not be great, but I'll always be here for you." She was thankful for the extinguished embers in the hut, for if Link could see her skin clearly, he'd only see red. "Now, we've got a long day ahead of us. Go sleep."
"After you."
They settled into their own cots, where between the sounds of rustling of blankets and bodies shifting, breathing was the only sound heard within the quiet hut.
And when Link finally thought Zelda was asleep, he sat up in his cot, unable to find sleep. The burning thought of Zelda worrying stayed in his mind. He couldn't help her and he hated it. There had to be something he could do, it was impossible that he couldn't do something to help. Was he stuck in a purely supportive role where he could only sit back and listen to her troubles grow and grow?
That frustrated him to no end. He didn't think such an inactive role suited him, but he would accept if it was truly all he could do.
You have to talk sometimes. Bottling things up is just as bad. His father had repeated to him so much. He was right, of course. Link had spent so many years without speaking a single word, and it felt like a different world when he finally spoke openly with Zelda or his colleagues.
If Zelda wanted an ear to listen then he would gladly take on the role.
"Link?" It was soft, almost inaudible but he heard her voice ring through the silence.
Why wasn't she sleeping? He thought she had fallen asleep.
"If I went into heat… Would you help me through it?"
He should have pretended to sleep, pretended not to to hear that question and she wouldn't have known. She wasn't looking in his direction, but something caught in his throat and he nearly choked on his own spit. I… I hope I heard that right… Who the hell just asks that out of thin air?
"Would you?"
He wondered if he should silently lay back down and pretend to sleep, but the sudden plan was interrupted when the princess turned in her cot and looked straight at him."Is.. Is that a hypothetical question? Or-"
"Forget I said anything!" He could see the regret in her face as she scrambled to find new words.
"No, no!" He stopped her. "Is it a serious request?"
His brain was still trying to wrap itself around the absurd sounding question.
Horror dawned in his mind. Did he somehow miss the signs of a presentation? No, they were just talking about it less than an hour ago. Why the very specific request then?
"Are you ok?" Were the first words flying out of his mouth. "No fever or anything? No cough?" Calm down or you're gonna seem desperate. The voice in his head scolded him. Don't scare away the Princess like that.
He saw Zelda's head turn back around to face him, her body still facing away. "Would you?" He didn't miss the way she dodged the question.
"Yes, of course." Way to sound desperate, Link. Good job.
"You're not just saying that right? Because I'm the princess or the goddess or whatever?" He could hear the uncertainty in her voice; wavering and hesitant in her tone.
"I would because it's you." Link clenched his sweaty heads beneath his blanket. His heart beat excessively in his chest and it was the only thing he could hear apart from her voice. "I wouldn't say yes to just anyone. Now answer my question."
"I'm feeling fine." The answer was blunt and lacked any of the embarrassment or warmth from the rest of their conversation.
She stayed quiet one more moment before turning her head away. Link immediately felt shame in his answer. Great job, you had one job and you scared her away. Why would you sound so desperate, throwing away your only chance? Link cursed himself as he turned back to face the wall to his side. Now you have to deal with the embarrassment every time you see her. How was he going to face her now? It had to be a purely hypothetical question, a test of some sorts.
That had to be the reason. It had to be. Was that why she had asked if they wanted to share a tent? Was that why she seemed to be trying to get closer to him? Was it all just a test to see if he would take the bait? Cooking with him, sleeping next to him, offering to share that tent? With the Sheikah who were following them, he could find no other logical reasoning behind everything that had happened in the last 24 hours.
"Thank you."
Huh?