The next two nights were spent in Link's room, cuddled into his side under the soft blankets.
He didn't question this new habit, but Zelda was quick to notice that he was holding back his questions regarding this new sleeping arrangement.
That damn word kept repeating in her head.
Broodmare.
No, she couldn't keep remembering those foul words so much. She couldn't sour her mornings with Link with such an infuriating problem.
Think of good things. Good things. Link is here, be happy. She drilled into her mind. Link wasn't yet awake but he had such a keen sense of smell, he could tell when she was slightly less than happy, even if he didn't ask directly. It was always evident in his eyes that he suspected something.
She felt Link shift in his sleep, his arm tightening around her waist and pulling her closer to his body and his face nuzzling the back of her head.
Definitely good.
She felt the arm beneath him shift around her head. She lifted her head and let his arm slide under her hair and wrap her in a loose hug across her collarbone. She felt warmth and her heart rate relaxed in her chest. It was hard to feel sad when she was held so lovingly.
She drifted her eyes closed once more despite knowing there was no way to properly fall back asleep. Her habits and the gas in her stomach made it especially difficult these days.
Occasionally she felt Link's head shift behind her, sometimes it was his hand or arm twitching. It was a sign that he was about to wake up, something she picked up on the first time she came to sleep in his bed after her father had spoken such heartbreaking words to her.
As her prediction came true, while she pretended to sleep and stay still, she felt Link covertly pull his arm out from under her head. The arm that had found its home around her waist held her hair out of the way to slide the one under her head without pulling any of it.
At least he wasn't pulling it and waking her up with it.
The mattress dipped a bit before it bounced back in its usual way. The silent steps made it around the bed in the dark, then they were next to her. One of the soft blankets was being pulled up to her shoulders and smoothed out without touching her directly. A hair she hadn't yet realised was in her face was brushed to the side. A brief kiss to the side of her head.
It was these little actions that unknowingly helped work away the sadness that had lingered from the memories of the talk with her father.
She could hear his footsteps get further away, then the dresser drawers sliding open slowly to limit the creaking noise. Clothes shifting, something being dropped on the edge of the bed, Link's very quiet humming, then the sound of one belt buckle, then another, and then a third until the dresser was closed once again, still slow, and then his bedroom door creaked open quietly and shut with the handle turned to limit the clicking sound of a closed door.
She waited until his voice and steps got further away before sitting up in his bed and drawing open the curtain to let the moonlight in.
She didn't want to light a candle at the risk of forgetting about it when she inevitably fell back asleep, but tonight was nearly a full moon and a cloudless night, so the moon was more than sufficient.
When Link rose prior to sunrise to go get his daily morning training in, Zelda got to work the moment the door closed quietly.
The best part about Link?
He didn't destroy her little nest the moment she left the room.
She rearranged his three pillows into a sort of throne for herself—one behind her head and the two others on either side of her head. His blankets would get pulled out from beneath the mattress and she'd wrap her legs comfortably around it and would hug the rest to her chest, though recently, she'd started tucking part of the comforter on the underside of her belly to give herself support. The thinner bed sheet would go over her and the small decorative blanket went to cover the three pillows to create a makeshift throne.
In the end, when Link would return, Zelda would have just been covered in anything scented heavily by Link.
And Link? Well when he came back, he'd try to scoot in under the one sheet and lay against her back. No use prying the thicker blanket out of her arms when she was so deep asleep in all of his things.
He called these 'lazy mornings' due to the fact she would get woken up when the sun is halfway up the sky. It was obvious that she'd woken up sometime during his early morning training to rearrange the bed, but he never showed any dislike. If anything, she could hear his little chuckle when re-entering the room and seeing the curtain open for the light of dawn, and he would change back into his sleeping pants, re-close the curtains to avoid the sun's blinding rays and hop back in with her without wrecking the place.
But this morning, the moment he returned and got into bed, Zelda turned, blanket forgotten, and cuddled right up to his side, happily opening his arm and scooting closer to his body heat.
Link was more than an eager participant in all of it.
With so few private moments, he'd almost scoop her in a way to have her cradled against him in his lap.
And when he did this, it was especially obvious that he was obsessed with her belly.
When they regularly spooned in his bed, sure his hand would rest over her bump, but that was also its natural resting place, but when she was cradled close like this, his hands were always there.
Even now, both of his hands were there. "It's not a crystal ball," she giggled. His hands rested over her nightgown and gently rubbed against her stomach.
"Our future is in there, in a way it is a crystal ball." he poked it briefly then brought his ear down to it. "You'd think it'd be more squishy." he said, applying more pressure with the pads of his fingers.
She happily let herself be held and touched. "Well it's not just water in there, you big dummy." she reminded him. There was a physical being in there, alive and well, after all.
"When is it gonna kick?" He asked, his ear still pressed to her stomach.
In truth, it should have already. So far into her fifth month of pregnancy, everyone was telling her that she should be able to feel the kicks and they'd feel like the sweetest of butterflies, but Zelda had yet to feel such a thing
Instead, she just had a whole lot of gas. It was mortifying .
"Dr. Finri said any day now." Zelda shrugged.
"He said that two weeks ago."
"Maybe it's only active at night?"
He kept his ear there, but occasionally moved it around.
"You won't hear anything."
"Shh, I need to focus." He kept his ear pressed firmly to her stomach. His neck didn't look comfortable with the way it craned in such an awkward position, but if he wished to stay like that, she wouldn't complain. His hands continued to roam her belly in different areas. "Are you sure you don't feel it kick? Isn't that a bad sign this far in?"
"I have my weekly check ups. I can still feel it move a bit and I haven't been told it's bad." Zelda answered. "Why do you ask?"
"Mhm, I'm only asking because you mentioned gas but I don't hear anything like that." His hands felt around closer to the underside.
She was flabbergasted by his statement. "Are you listening to my bowel movements right now?!"
"I'm just saying," he took his ear off, "I feel it a bit but I don't hear anything like it and I usually do when I lay my head on your lap."
So many books and passages about butterflies and the morning being a baby's most active time, Zelda wondered if her baby was ignoring these on purpose to take her for a ride. Link seemed pretty excited as well, his hand was still roaming around looking for any sign of a bump. "Do you think it'll feel like butterflies? Fluttering like everyone says it does?"
Link shrugged. "I'll be honest, I can't tell you what butterflies even feel like." he admitted with an air of confusion. "Wouldn't it feel more solid?"
"I really have no clue."
Link's hand froze on her belly and he seemed to stop all of his thinking.
"Link?"
"You said gas right?"
Zelda, red-faced as the bubbles in question flopped around in her stomach, was about to pull herself off of Link if he didn't stop bringing that up. "Yes."
"If you have gas, wouldn't it be, I don't know… here?" He moved his hand up to her navel. "You know… Where your organs are located?"
That…That's a good point. Zelda sat up slowly and moved his hand away and pressed down on her belly harder than Link had. And then she felt it. That gas she'd been complaining about for days on end.
He was right. It didn't feel like it at all. And if it was, he was also right that it'd be borderline violent for gas to compress so hard it did that .
It hit her hand again one more time.
Had she been misinterpreting her own baby's kicks for gas this whole time? I've had this for days, she inwardly groaned at the idea that she'd ignored it so well.
"It's the baby isn't it." Link's statement had a whisper of wonder and joy in it.
Zelda hadn't needed to look at him to know his eyes were likely lit up, but she looked nevertheless.
There was a tender affection there, his eyes gazing so softly at her belly, it was a sight she had never seen before from her lover.
It was as though he was admiring the greatest thing ever to exist.
"May I?" he asked quietly. His voice jumped with eagerness.
Zelda moved her hands away and allowed lee-way to her belly. Link wasted no time in putting his hand where she'd felt the small beat and he placed his ear where he had marked for himself. His face remained with its gentle smile until his eyes lit up, and the smile grew more to wonder.
He'd felt it.
And with every beat that Zelda felt against her stomach, Link's expression grew ever more happy, excited, and only wanting to feel more.
"So this is what you've been doing in the library this whole time?" Barnabus asked, peeking over Link's shoulder at the notes and the numerous books. He had to bend at the waist to do so, something that didn't escape Link's notice if the slight narrowing of the Prince-Consort-To-Be's eyes were any indication. The older knight was a good head-and-a-half taller than he was.
Early that morning, Link passed him one half of a list of books and told him to gather them for him while he looked. The books had been an intriguing subject but he's learned that sometimes, it's better not to ask questions. Something had motivated Link to dive into research with uncharacteristic zeal.
Plausible deniability was a fantastic thing when your charge was looking into dangerous topics. Still, if Barnabus was asked to choose between Link and Rhoam, he would choose Link in a heartbeat. The kid might not have always used his head, but his heart was always in the right place, especially where people's well-being was concerned.
Where Power stagnates, Courage arises to restore Wisdom to her throne.
It was an old adage, but one Barnabus found eerily applicable to their current political mire.
Link seemed to go through his book methodically, opening directly at certain pages in some books, then others flipping close to the end. He did this process with eight separate books: opening at just the right page or a few pages from his intended number.
It was obvious that Link had done this many times with these exact sources, but when he might've had the time to do so was still a mystery to Barmabus.
He tried peering over his charge's shoulder to read the notes, but found that Link's chicken scratch was barely legible and comparable to a twelve-year-old's handwriting.
"I'm going to summarise everything I've found and you're going to give me your honest opinion, got that?" Link gave him a pointed look before picking up a page.
"I can try." He shrugged. Just how much help could he really be in this?
"I've tried making sense of the timeline using what my dad told me regarding this but he's been awfully vague about everything." Link pointed out first.
"Alright, how long is this timeline then?"
"Roughly fifteen years." His charge cleared his throat and started reading off the sheet. "Dad meets Crown Princess Zelda Cassandra of Hyrule when she is 21 years old and becomes the Captain of her guard. Rumours have the Princess bonding to an unknown individual around the age of 22 only to be discovered an entire year later, noted by the colour of the bond scar."
"Right, I remember my brother telling me of the scandal."
"The Sheikah spends the next 5 years looking for this individual until she turns 27 when she becomes betrothed to Duke Rhoam."
He stops Link with a wave of his hands, baffled. "Wait, wait, wait. How did that even happen? She was an omega wasn't she? She should've been set up with an alpha."
Link smiled, his blue eyes gleaming. "That's been itching my brain too so I looked into that yesterday night." He riffled through his papers and pulled out two sheets. "Private records show Duke Rhoam to be a beta. Public records do not." As the two papers were nearly identical, there was indeed a change in the designation category. The change of B to A was marked clearly. "No one questions Duke Rhoam's ascension from Prince Consort to King because it's natural in the eyes of the public."
"But if private records show that, the council would have thrown a fit."
"Quite frankly, I've learned that if you stand your ground long enough, they give up pretty fast." Link chuckled to himself. "But back on that point, the council mainly relies on public records for the nobility, not private. The only people with access to these records are doctors, military commanders, and members of the royal family."
"Link. How did you get this?" The young man might've been functionally the spouse of the Princess, but he wasn't yet formally a member of the royal family.
He stayed quiet and averted his eyes. "I may or may not have snuck in there last night while everyone was sleeping. But that's not the point here, the Council sees this," he pointed to the public record. "And they can't question it even if he doesn't smell like it: you either assume he's lying, covers himself in scent blockers ten times daily, or he has an underlying medical disorder, but who's going to step up to the monarch of a country and accuse them of lying? No one." Link snatched the paper back and slid it deep into the middle of the pile.
"You're really using all your brainpower on this, aren't you?" Despite the quip, Barnabus was impressed.
"It's been bothering me for weeks, and now that there's a power struggle, it's constantly on my mind." He groaned and scratched his head roughly. "I just wish my dad would keep his nose out of my business. I don't know what to think anymore now that he's involving himself. Ma is pissed as always, he's at Rhoam's throat at every opportunity, and my sister is trying to play detective despite having a baby to focus on."
"Yikes. And now the council's on your ass any moment your eyes are open."
"Exactly." Link shrugged with the heaviest sigh.
"Back to your stuff now."
"Thanks for reminding me." Link read through the lines of his page briefly. "Duke Rhoam and the Princess marry roughly one year after they are betrothed, and it takes almost a full year after that before she becomes with child and has Zelda, barring the miscarriages in-between the marriage and birth."
"Sounds right."
"During these eight years, the princess—now Queen—deals with symptoms relating to SBN, and Dad takes care of getting that resolved in secret because he seems to know exactly who it is, but they aren't residing in the castle, it seems."
"If they did, she wouldn't deal with those symptoms. Too close in proximity at all times would negate that."
"That's the part that stumps me." Link let the paper drop on the table. "He's managed to keep that secret hidden for fifteen long years without anyone managing to suspect the right person, and he continuously deflects questions from everyone until she somehow dies of her symptoms at age 37. The symptoms apparently got so bad and mismanaged that she died. Died. "
"Are you saying her official cause of death is bond neglect? " Barnabus almost wants to laugh.
While he knew nothing of medical procedures, he did know that the condition wasn't severe in any way to the general public, but who knows if it was the same case for a royal, but he couldn't even remember off the top of his head if anyone had ever died as a direct cause of it.
"You don't sound like you believe me when I say that." Link turns to him directly, eyeing him.
"Because I don't." Barnabus stated. "I've never heard of someone dying of that."
"So what's the general consensus of Queen Zelda's death then? What were you told about it?"
He tried to wrack his brain for any details regarding the late Queen's passing but he didn't seem to recall anything specific. "I-I don't think I've ever inquired about it. I've always assumed it was an illness, it was rather sudden. "
Every few years, there was always a pandemic or outbreak of sorts that affected those in populated areas, it didn't seem a stretch to believe she may have fallen victim to it.
"And I've never put much thought into it because it's a sensitive topic at home and Ma says not to upset Dad with it."
"So why don't you ask any ex-Queen's Guard members?"
"Because most of them are dead, retired on the other side of the country, and I assume it's also a sensitive topic for them."
Barnabus blinked in shock. "They're mostly dead? How old was your dad when he was appointed captain?"
"He was just short of 27. He was the oldest on her guard for his entire tenure."
From his memory, if someone aimed for the position of a royal guard captain and they were past 25, the chances decreased exponentially with every year. 27 wasn't common, but it wasn't rare either. Holding the position past the age of 40 wasn't unheard of but it generally meant they worked on keeping in their prime. 'Fear the active aged soldiers more than the new ones' they were always told in training.
Younger soldiers commonly dropped out or passed due to naivety on the battlefield, egos too inflated to properly care for injuries and unseen dangers, but soldiers exceeding the age of 40 were known to be experienced, incredibly well-rounded and wise in the ways of combat. That or their ability to evade death and their self-preservation was unmatched and should always be accounted for.
"He retires very shortly after the queen passes away and takes the whole family to a secluded area in Necluda where he'll complain about the snow and rain constantly and actively freezes his ass off," Link rolled his eyes.
Barnabus grunted in assent. That wasn't uncommon as a statement to him. Military history fascinated him, and monarch assassinations weren't uncommon, given how strong the Goddess' lineage was in their country. The Yiga were a constant threat over hundreds of years and occasionally they succeeded in their goal of eliminating some members of the family. A guard retiring after the death of their charge wasn't uncommon, often it was explained away as Survivor's Guilt when the person failed to do their job properly.
Survivor's Guilt was usually considered much rougher on the commander of that particular guard due to their agreed opinion that the close proximity to the charge typically resulted in the advantageous use of protective instincts—one of the biggest reasons the requirements for Guard Captain was reserved for Alphas and only them.
It wasn't something stated out loud, but it was by no means a secret to the older core members. As soldiers passed with age, the attachment would become more and more obvious to those who would do the charges harm.
A young guard wouldn't be as attached, their charge was but a stranger to them.
"The oldest guards at the moment are Arn, who's currently 55 years old and still maintaining a steady position and generally uncontested, and three others but they're all originally from the King's Guard and all are between the ages of 43 and 49, but none of the Queen's Guard remains to this day except him and Sir Matthews, but he's retired in some dinky cabin in Hebra and I think it's best I leave him alone."
All but two of the Queen's guards having already passed away? It was… odd. That stuck out like a sore thumb. Link and the last captain in his guard had been properly credited with rebuilding a strong and efficient system, but it reminded him of something Randall had told him years ago.
"It was almost easy to join when I did. I knew eight people who joined the ranks at the time. It was almost a miracle with how competitive it already is."
That had struck him as odd at the time, but a recent pandemic had swept Castletown shortly before. They generally only added one or two people per year to the Royal Guard's ranks, the need to maintain the standard was incredibly high and occasionally, they raised the requirements to keep up with the unprecedented Yiga strikes.
"When did they pass? Do you have the dates?"
Randall had joined the guard 14 years before, only gaining the rank of captain six years before. Nine people in one year was unprecedented and incredibly odd, but no one wished to question the decision at the time, they hoped it was simply a whim of the general at the time and a mistake that no one would notice.
Link looked back at him slowly. "I don't."
"Shall we go look?"
Despite how short Link was, he was hard to keep up with the moment he ran off, the fast lil fucker. Barnabus had to almost start running after him until he made a sharp right into a bookshelf, and disappeared.
When he finally rounded the same aisle, he spotted Link climbing into the lower row and trying to reach a specific book, quietly grunting as he reached up and held himself with the other hand.
"Need help?" Barnabus started laughing.
"Shut up and grab that one and that one for me." he pointed to two books, close together.
Barnabus couldn't stop laughing as he walked up to the section. He stood behind Link and simply reached to the top shelf without the need to extend onto the tips of his toes and simply pulled out the books Link had pointed at while he was still perched up on the lower shelf.
"Here you go, pipsqueak."
"I'll break your knees."
"You're at the perfect height for it, at least."
Link hopped off the shelf, a glare in his eyes before grabbing his sword and whacking the bottom end against his shin, causing a sharp pain to erupt in the front of his calf. He winced in pain and held his shin painfully.
"That'll bruise, you know."
"Good." Link snatched the books out of his hands and returned to the table, focused on his mission once more.
He marched back to his table and threw open the first book, flicking through the pages until he came to roughly 30 years ago.
"What are these?"
Link pointed to the first book. "The last two princesses' guard records. This one records basic information about any guard that has ever served the princesses no matter how long their tenure. Date of birth, date of death, spouses, children, weapons specialty, weakness, special notes made by their captain, then recorded down by the council's scribe and updated when needed." He told him. He showed him the first page where it was annotated that the notes came from Captain Hors, Captain Fredrick, and Captain Arn.
"When did Arn serve?"
"Temporarily. Only seems to be about six months but he'd still be here regardless." Link stated plainly.
He flipped back through the pages to where he had been before. "Alright, thirty years ago." He started and began jotting notes along with names. "The Princess' Guard began with ten members and occasionally dropped to seven but replenished the numbers through the years." He muttered to himself. "Then as Queen's Guard, it had a permanent number of ten for… eight years."
Link stopped jotting down the notes and flicked between the next ten pages. With every page he turned, he became more frantic until he barely spent more than one second on each, then he stopped on Sir Matthews' page.
"What happened?"
Link kept quiet and turned back the same seven pages with the speed he had before.
"Seven guards lost in a single day." He muttered and pushed the book forward. "Seven."
"You're reading the numbers wrong, give it over." Barnabus picked up the book and flicked through the pages. Surely Link had misread the numbers when he moved through the book so quickly. Who reads that fast with accuracy?
But no. Link was right.
Seven guards had passed on the same day. Seven out of a total of ten.
Sir Evans had passed two years before their current time, leaving only Sir Matthews and the squad's captain.
The date stuck out of him though. The 17th of Farore's season. Why did that number stick out to him? He knew the queen passed not long after that date, but why was it sticking out to him so much?
"Wait here." Barnabus put the book down and moved to the history aisles, scouring for recent dates. That number stuck out to him and so did the year, but he had to be sure.
He scanned the books until he finally came across the last harvest season before the Queen's passing.
He picked it up and flicked to the index before stopping on a mildly familiar title.
Yiga Tactics and Warfare: A Modern History
The records of the last hundred years of Yiga activity. His drill instructor had all but tattooed the contents of the damn book onto his forehead.
"We must understand our enemies in order to defend against them! One day your charges' lives may depend on what you learn here!" Barnabus had hated it at the time, but now… He flipped to the table of contents and found what he was looking for.
Chapter Thirteen: Hyrule Field Massacre.
He tentatively flicked to the noted page and he wanted to scream.
Close to the spine, he could see the remains of ripped pages.
Barnabus was seething; not only had they torn up such an important piece of history, but they hadn't even done a good job of it. The book was in chronological order, the page before dictated the end of a Yiga attack from the end of Nayru's season and the pages after were regarding the royal funeral of the Queen.
He returned to Link, the book in hand and laid it before him.
"I think it's time you ask that father of yours about this."
Link cautiously looked down at the pages where his fingers were pointing at. His eyes widened and he let out a nervous chuckle and audibly swallowed. "No way he's going to tell me anything about that."
"Well you never know, maybe just ask him ."
"Are you braindead or just trying to annoy me?" Link asked him with a clear deadpan. He sighed and extended his arms back in a tired stretch. "What time is it?" he asked.
Barnabus took out his small pocket watch from the inside of his tabard. "11:30." he answered.
Link immediately shot out of his chair and started to pack up his papers and the books as neatly as he could. "Could you maybe get these brought up to my room?" Link requested politely.
"Uh-sure that's not a problem." He moved around the table to start picking up the books. "What's your rush?"
Link smiled through his rush. "Afternoon stroll with Zelda in Castletown."
"Stroll?" He asked. "Didn't Finri say she should be in confinement until she has the baby?"
"Listen, the Princess wants to pull her hair out if she spends more than five days stuck in the castle. Besides, she's got me and three other guards as well. You think I'd let anything happen to her?"
"That's fair."
"And you get the afternoon off as well; I got Dame Caya to be acting Captain for the afternoon."
"Is she your next candidate for your position? I saw she came with us to the desert."
Link nodded. "It's between her, Sir Balar, and Sir Ren right now, but I'm not quite sure it's the right time for Balar to take up the position."
"I can't wait to see her take the exam." He let his grin show.
Link stopped picking his stuff up and looked him dead in the eye. "Don't you dare do to her what you did to me when I took mine."
"Oh please, you were the exception."
"You threw two silver lynels at me out of nowhere when you told me I'd be fighting Arn." He harshly whispered at him. "I could have died. I had one broadsword."
"But you didn't!" Link glared at him and Barnabus laughed at him. "And you have my promise, no more lynels." They were far too big of a pain in the ass to drag to the Colosseum to begin with, there was no way he'd be able to rope Randall into the lynel business a second time.
"Alright, I'm off. you go spend some time with Rana and Eli, tell them I said hi." Link picked up his papers and speed-walked out of the library with his hands holding the pages tightly.
Yet another gorgeous afternoon allowed for Zelda to leisurely stroll through Castletown with Link.
One thing she definitely noted these days was how Dame Caya was acting as her primary guard, then accompanied by one or two others not too far off. Of the three days they'd been back from the desert, she'd been there all three days, but today she was accompanied by the male omega guard, Sir Balar.
Link met her at the castle's main gate in his cleaner, albeit more casual, clothes and without a guard in tow.
He must've dismissed Sir Reinhartd early then.
She happily took longer strides to meet him where he lifted her hand and laid a small brief kiss to the back of it. "Shall we go enjoy the town, Princess?" he asked with a quiet teasing air to him. He offered his arm for her to take.
A smile crept to her lips as she slipped a hand into his elbow. "It would be an honour to accompany you."
The walk down the bridge was short as usual, but this time, they got to listen to the muttering of the three guards behind them. "Ever the close friends," Link had mentioned to her weeks before. These three were always together. Dame Caya, Sir Balar, and Sir Ren stood within inches of each other, huddled so closely, it almost mirrored noblewomen in the midst of a new secret being revealed.
Though she often remembered the three as taking temporary residence in the higher branches of one particular apple tree in the courtyard where Link could often be found shouting at some sunny afternoons.
"I hope Castletown isn't too loud today," Link wondered out loud as they approached the town.
Zelda continued down the bridge with her hand in the crook of Link's elbow. It was one of their first outings together as a couple since they'd come out, and the first since her pregnancy began to show almost a month ago.
Time seemed to fly by so quickly, how fast her belly grew in just four weeks from the faintest of bumps to something she could no longer hide without baggy clothes—something she never had access to.
It also meant she hadn't been to Castletown since Nayru's day and her own birthday; times the city would have been at its busiest.
"I'm sure it will be fine."
The city bustled as much as it had the last time she'd gone strolling. She was thankful for the guards standing two paces behind her at all times, but even more so for Link. It was busier with adults than it was with children running around.
Some parted when they caught sight of her, but many seemed distracted or trying to keep track of their things, so Zelda leaned closer to Link to the point where she was almost hugging his arm.
He took her to the side of the busy street where there were less people and slowed his pace to a casual stroll. "Where would you like to go first?" He asked her, looking and pointing between the shops. "There are librairies, small shops, cafes, stalls, your pick."
The way he smiled so casually and let his hand rest over top hers made her heart swell. "The cafe would be a wonderful start, it's still early after midday."
"Cafe it is."
The path was familiar to her, having gone many times before. Link weaved through the crowd with ease and Zelda happily let him lead her around the bends and small groups without rushing her. The cafe sat on an uncrowded, more spacious cobblestone road with a few tables outside. She only spotted a lower ranked noblewoman enjoying her tea with another woman she didn't immediately recognise.
But the cafe's owners and employees seemed to recognise her instantly. Their faces lit up at the sight of their arrival.
"Well well, it's been a while, Link." The waitress smiled as they arrived. She spotted Zelda and took a polite curtsy. "Princess, lovely to see you again."
"The pleasure is mine," the princess smiled.
The older woman threw her towel over her shoulder. "Right, indoors or out today? 'S a lovely day, we've got space for both for ya," She motioned to the guards behind them, "for them as well." Zelda missed the unique southern twang the woman had.
Link shot her a brief glance and she shrugged. "Indoors then." He smiled politely. He held the door open for her and followed the waitress to a table nearest to the window where a lovely tree provided some shade. Then he pulled her chair out for her.
Zelda pulled her fan out and hid her face as though she was a blushing maiden. "My, aren't you gentlemanly today," she teased him.
"Just for you." He lay a stealthy kiss on her cheek before taking his own chair.
She blushed behind her fan and tried not to smile too obviously, "Sir, you've broken so many courting rules with that kiss."
He leaned forward and motioned her a bit closer. "I think I've broken far more than that just this morning, but I suppose that's for others to judge."
Zelda gasped quietly. "You dog. I can't believe you said that in public." She looked around her for anyone listening and happily found none.
The three guards had found themselves a small table and had discarded their weapons stealthily behind Dame Caya's chair and a small decorative bush. The trio seemed to be deep in chatter—likely gossip by the way Sir Balar's eyes bulged—and Zelda was sure it had to be quite interesting, but likely about someone she hadn't yet made the acquaintance of.
"I've said worse." Link snorted quietly.
Zelda stared at him. "Can I know?"
It was Link's turn to feign a gasp. "In public? Princess, I could never." he pretended to be aghast at the mere suggestion.
"You will tell me later then, won't you?"
"Of course," he smiled.
The cafe worker approached their table with a small silver trolley holding a pot of steaming tea, two small ceramic tea cups, and a tray of sweet treats. The woman curtsied briefly—what were commoners' obsessions with constantly curtising every time they came face to face even if it had only been a minute?
Zelda thanked the woman when she placed the cups before her, then on Link's end and poured a small amount in their cups, leaving room for any sugar and cream.
"I hope you enjoy, Your Highness." The woman smiled and curtsied again and retreated away with the cart.
She watched Link tentatively sip the dark tea in his cup. He put it down and added a bit of sugar to it before trying a second sip. "I know during your tea the other day, you were talking about the notes and all, but I know nothing about it all."
Zelda smiled. "Do you know what you're drinking?" she asked curiously. She knew they were drinking a simple, black tea from the southern areas of the Faron Grasslands but this was far from the ones they drank at the castle. The maids would gasp at the thought of serving such plain tea to a princess, but Zelda liked the simplicity of it.
"I don't. My thing is weaponry, remember? I don't think my tastes are delicate enough to figure it out." he chuckled lightly as he let the liquid swirl in his cup.
Zelda settled herself comfortably in her chair with a smile. She picked up the pot and placed it in the middle of the table. "This is a common Faronese black tea, commonly referred to as 'Araneicka' by the upper class." Zelda lifted the porcelain cap from the pot to allow her partner to lean forward to look. The liquid was steamed and of a dark ember colour common in black teas. "We bring the water to a boil then turn the heat off and add the leaves to settle for a few minutes." she explained as she recapped the pot.
"From Faron? Which plants do they use?"
"The high grasses in the grasslands sometimes bloom flowers. They're dehydrated for a few hours in the sun and grinded down to a chunky powder then steeped."
"Why did you explain the boil? I thought that's how all teas are prepared."
"Heavens no." Zelda laughed a bit before taking a sip of her own cup. "Some teas are far too delicate for such a temperature. Some white teas must be prepared just shy of a boil, some need the heat to release their strength. Some white and herbal teas would burn at that temperature and turn awfully bitter."
"It's bad if it's bitter?"
"Unless that's your intention of course," Zelda poured herself another cup and offered to do so for Link again. "There are a few that have bitter notes to them, but most people like robust or spiced notes to compliment it. Bitter teas are a bit harder to pair for snacks."
Link's eyes shone with a newfound curiosity—likely because she mentioned snacks. Zelda happily picked off a small frosted cookie from the train between them.
"Which kind of snacks?" he asked, trying to pick one.
"For this tea or a different one?"
Link hummed for a moment. "How about a bitter one?"
Zelda thought back to the assortment of teas she drank that were bitter. She didn't often drink them, she preferred the more spiced and the robust ones, but it was typically the Faronese and Tabanthan teas that struck her as more bitter. "You can never go wrong with a lightly sweetened cookie, citrusy baked goods are always a nice combination, you know I enjoy my lemon tarts."
"And so do I." Link smiled. She could see the clear desire for a lemon tart in his eyes. It was a shame that they didn't have any here, they had sweeter and more savoury goods at their table at the moment. "Maybe I'll make some tomorrow." He mumbled to himself.
"Or you can go for a nutty cookie too, it balances it so well." Zelda picked up an almond flavoured treat and bit into the soft cooked cookie.
He heard the faintest of laughter behind the counter.
The woman behind the counter was watching them with interest. "Link, I thought you knew our—oh my apologies, I'm sure I've mixed you up with a lord or two." She had a brief flash of something pass across her face before she turned back to the teas behind the counter.
Zelda looked back at Link who was smiling behind his cup as though the woman hadn't just stopped mid-sentence. "Have you just let me go on about tea for the last five minutes?"
"No, I don't know anything about tea." He said, taking a suspiciously long sip of his tea.
"But you know food."
Amusement flashes in his eyes briefly.
"I can't believe you let me just go on explaining brewing methods when you've known all along."
"Correction, I really don't know about brewing methods, but I do know what teas they serve here." he told her. "I come here with Barns at least once every few weeks up until what happened at the last ball."
"And how long have you been doing that?"
"At least five years now."
He must've known the entire menu inside and out, the prices, and probably the ingredients, and quality of the tools used as well.
"I know what they taste like, but not why or how," he continued. "It seems similar to potion-making, with how precise it all is, but I do not have that delicate touch." He gave her that sweet, shining-eyed smile again, so full of light and warmth that Zelda sighed at the sight of it. He was willing—no, he wanted to listen to her. He wouldn't have asked if he didn't. The thought made Zelda want to wriggle with delight, a childish urge she suppressed with difficulty.
"Oh yes," Zelda agreed, unable to keep a smile off her face. Link indulged her to no end, but right now she needed that. "There is likely some overlap in practices. Have you ever asked Aryll about it?"
"About tea? No. She's not much of a tea-person," Link said thoughtfully, scratching at his chin. "She doesn't generally drink it herself unless it's medicinal. She tends to prefer coffee, but Ma thinks it's gross. Says her heart does funny things." He frowned.
"I meant about brewing methods," Zelda giggled. "But I'd love to try coffee sometime."
"I would have gotten some, but they haven't gotten any shipments from Labrynna recently," Link motioned to the counter with a brief head nod.
"Oh that's what you drink in your office?" Zelda remembered that bitter drink Link used to drink down in gallons every morning as a 'necessary wake up' as he called it.
Link sighed in exaggerated nostalgia. "If only Labrynna would send more to the castle."
The remainder of the hour was spent with Link explaining, in his painfully simple way, one of the trade agreements the council had started discussing three days before regarding the importing and exporting of goods. Not once did she hear the terms 'deficit', 'surplus', 'tariffs', 'quota' or anything similar to the sort in the twenty minute explanation.
Maybe she could slip a word to Captain Reinhartd regarding teaching Link how to use the terms properly.
...
After tea, Link paid the worker the bill and he happily escorted Zelda to their second destination: the local book store, situated a five minute casual walk down the same street.
The scent of books was always a welcome to Zelda, a timeless favourite.
The shop was small with only two separate shelves, but books lined every wall from the floor all the way to the ceiling. Each section had been separated by subject in alphabetical order, then the books in the same way with their titles. There was a small section at the back titled Miscellaneous where it had been sorted by authors, but she paid brief attention to it, instead occasionally between basic biology subjects and body mechanics.
One stuck out to her.
Soldier's Code: A Guide to Tactics, Training, and Leadership.
She placed a small bookmark in its place and pulled the book out, examining the thick leather cover where the words had been inscribed expertly in a rough typography. It was a fine piece, written only six years prior by the name of a knight she didn't recognise.
This would be down Link's array of knowledge. The amounts that Link knew off the top of his head regarding anything relating to the body and the way it could be trained was astounding, but then again, it was his job to know. He'd been trained for almost a decade and he had trained others in the way of the sword, shield, bow, and hand-to-hand.
"Link, can you come here for a moment?" Zelda called out to him without taking her eyes off the book. She could hear his steps approaching from behind the other shelf until he was finally next to her.
He looked over her shoulder curiously. "What'd you find?"
She closed the cover and showed it to him. "It's for physical training," she passed him the book.
"Is this my sign that I'm getting out of shape?"
"Wouldn't dream of it," Zelda replied back with a giggle.
There was surprise in Link's eyes as he opened to the index and read through the lines and introduction. "This is thorough." was all he noted.
"Now you have to explain it to me." Zelda placed herself closer to Link and leaned her head closer to look. In the index, she could see the words as Body Mechanics, Common injuries, Callisthenics, and Leadership throughout the page.
"What's callisthenics?" she asked curiously.
"It's strength and endurance training." He answered plainly, as though it was obvious.
"Like running perhaps?"
He looked up, unsure of what to answer. "Yes and no."
"Yes and no?"
He nodded. "Running can be considered part of it, but the main goal of callisthenics is to pinpoint specific muscle groups to improve them, make them stronger, increase flexibility, and energy output. Running can increase endurance and muscle, but it's not quite on the same level as the exercises we do in the training grounds." He explained in terms she understood.
"What about stretches?" She inquired further, her interest properly peeked now. It was so rare that Link openly spoke in so much information at once, she didn't want to let it pass. It was rare to find topics that Link was so knowledgeable in that she wasn't.
"I wouldn't say so, but it's still essential to the process," he continued.
"Can you teach me?"
Link turned to face her slowly. There was much uncertainty in his face, Zelda didn't even think he was trying to hide it. "I don't think that's a good idea."
Zelda pouted and crossed her arms. "Why not?"
"Would you like to do chin ups? Push ups? Sit-ups? Crunches?"
With every example he gave, more dread settled. No, that sounded needlessly tiring and difficult. "I see." Zelda laughed nervously.
"I appreciate the interest." he smiled and took a hold of her hand and laid a brief kiss atop it.
"Alright, when I'm not pregnant then."
"We'll see." He said curtly. He seemed to be thinking about it, his eyes facing the book, but seemed to be looking through it rather than at the information.
"What are you thinking about?"
"You doing sit-ups." he answered immediately, a smile creeping onto his lips.
Zelda thought back to that morning when she'd dropped her bracelet on the ground and, in an attempt to pick it up, she'd bent and been stopped by her belly half way down, even if it hadn't yet swelled that much. There were definitely restrictions in her movements now. She had to bend on her knee to pick up the chain from the floor, and her back ached horribly for an hour or so afterwards. It was still stiff.
She could imagine laying on the floor, knees bent and having to do a full sit up with her stomach blocking her even a bit. She imagined her legs might be a bit funnily spread a bit for comfort if Link had to hold her ankles on the ground.
Maybe it wasn't the best idea to be doing strength exercises while pregnant.
"May I watch you train the soldiers one day?" she asked, brushing away the idea of her doing strength training.
He smiled. "Of course, any time." He closed the book and took the one from her hands. She hadn't been looking too closely at it since she found the book he was holding now. "Are you planning on buying it?" He asked her, peering at the cover, the spine, then the back.
Zelda shrugged. "I'm not sure, I already have so many and-"
"Nonsense, it's fine. We'll find you more space." He placed it in the small pile in his hands. "And if you don't have space, you can use my bookshelf and I can always claim I'm into uh-" he looked at the cover, "satin stitches."
Zelda laughed. "Oh yes. The great Hero of Legend, Link, master of embroidery."
"I might just borrow it to try it out in my freetime!"
"Are you going to embroider our baby's blanket too?" She asked, a bit surprised.
"If you want me to, I can start practising now." He answered back. He started flicking through the pages with a newfound curiosity. "I might just ask if I can do a thing or two as a personal touch," he joked to her quietly.
...
It was late in the afternoon when he finally escorted her back to the castle's main gate, just in time for dinner.
Rather than escorting her past the checkpoint, he held back.
"You aren't coming for dinner?" Zelda asked curiously. It was dinner time. One of his favourite times of the day.
Link released a long, almost reluctant sigh. "I want to, but I've got to go do a few things while it's still light out." he pointed back to Castletown.
"You didn't do them while we were out?"
He shook his head. "It involved alcohol and visiting Arn's favourite pub." he told her. "It's not the sort of thing I want to do when I'm taking you out for a good time."
"Goodness," Zelda laughed. "Are you planning on getting someone drunk?"
Arn was quite the drinker and quite the companion for an evening out. She'd heard enough from her father about how the captain had one of the best tolerances in the castle up to date, but she wasn't quite sure that was a good thing.
"Someone, yes. Me? No."
Zelda felt relief. Every time Link drank to such an inebriated state, he was always a mess the next day.
The princess glanced between the guards and Link before taking a step closer to her partner. "Will I see you tonight?" she asked, bringing her voice down to a whisper.
"Probably not." he guessed. "But if you want to stay in my room, just tell the guard on duty and they won't say a thing to anyone." He winked her way.
Zelda blushed hard and couldn't help but smile a tad. Link had truly outdid himself in training his guards to be secretive but still holding her best interests at heart. "Be careful tonight,"
"I will," He took her hand into both of his and put a small kiss on them. "I hope you enjoyed today, it was nice to have a day to ourselves."
"Oh it was a wonderful day!" her voice and smile came back full force. "I'm glad we got to spend it together doing what we wanted."
Link had been uncharacteristically quite the gentleman, and his manners had improved greatly from before, maybe the councilmen and the castle's nobles were rubbing off on him in the ways of social etiquette.
Link leaned to the side and glanced at the three guards, one of which was holding the things they purchased earlier at the market. "I trust you three can get her back in one piece?" He called out to them.
"Yes Sir!" The three answered back in unison with a salute except the one holding the two boxes full of newly purchased trinkets.
"I leave you in their capable hands. I'll see you in the morning for breakfast." He wished her a good evening and parted ways with her. He descended the hill in a quick march, like he had a personal time sensitive mission to accomplish.
Alco hol huh… Zelda wondered what this errand was but if it was so important it couldn't be delayed, then she was content knowing she'd see Link in time to have breakfast together, maybe even morning tea if she could fend off the nosy councilmen long enough to keep him for herself.
Later that evening, Link was holding one of Arn's prized whiskey bottles—one he'd made for the kick rather than taste—and walked through Castletown towards his old house. He hoped his plan went well but he didn't have that much faith in it.
His father was drinking buddies with the resident perpetually-drunk-all-the-time Arn. His tolerance for the beverage was much higher than the average person's and definitely more than Link's by many, many cup-fulls.
Link looked at the bottle in the lamplights with uncertainty. He'd probably need at least half of it to get his dad past the buzzed state. On the other hand, Link knew he'd just need three to get past the point of tipsy with how strong Arn had made this batch.
He just hoped his mother wasn't home for this or his plan would entirely fall apart.
Link shook off the tension in his shoulders, cracking his head to one side then the other before knocking on the front door of his old childhood home.
"Come in!" He heard his father's voice ring through the wooden door.
Link opened the door and stepped into the foyer.
It was warm with the nostalgic scent of pine, florals and old musk enveloping him immediately. So many memories in the house that he'd spend a decade growing up in… It was still a shame they'd moved out all the way to Necluda.
"Don't you have things to do tonight?" His father asked from a dining area, just one room over.
Link took his shoes off and placed them in the small closet next to the door, then hung his jacket neatly among the other four already there. "I had the evening off." He answered back.
"I see." His father replied plainly.
Link heard the chair scrape against the floor, then the sound of a ceramic plate being placed on the counter with a utensil. "Is Mom home?" Link walked into the dining hall where it was currently only his father. Was Aryll and Sota also out that night?
"No, her sister invited her out to browse."
Link gulped. He hoped his mother hadn't spotted him and Zelda in the market all afternoon.
If she had, I'd have noticed her pretty fast. The woman had a hard time covering up her ire.
"Aryll? Sota? Ari?"
"Arina is sleeping upstairs. Your sister went out for the night with Sota."
"Did you get saddled with babysitting duties?"
His father hadn't yet turned to him. "I enjoy babysitting my granddaughter, don't speak of it like it's a burden." he scoffed.
Link took a seat at the table and placed the bottle of strong whiskey on the table. "I will gladly take that duty off your hands," he offered. He was genuinely happy to know he'd get to spend the evening taking care of his niece if he did successfully get his dad plastered.
His father's ear twitched and he turned, immediately eyeing the bottle.
"Here you go." Link placed the bottle before his father with a glass.
"Where'd you get that?" he asked, coming back to the table.
"Arn."
His father picked up the bottle with renewed interest and cracked the seal and untwisted the cap, taking a small whiff of it before wincing. "That's Arn's alright." He moved to the cabinet and fetched himself a glass, returning to the table and pouring himself a bit to look at the colour.
"This one's for the kick." Link informed him.
"What's the occasion?" His father sipped the ember beverage and winced once more from the taste. "He definitely doesn't drink this shit for the taste and it shows." He shook his head and drank more of it.
Link topped off his father's glass. "Drink up, it's just for you."
His father frowned and put the glass down. "Why are you trying to get me drunk?"
"I'm not."
"Yes you are, you shit liar." He pushed the glass away. "Tell me why or I'm not touching it anymore."
Link drummed his fingers impatiently against the table. "Fine." He muttered, frustrated. "I wanted to ask you something and I thought the alcohol would help." He confessed. There was no use hiding it, his father could always see right through him and if he was too suspicious, he wouldn't cooperate at all.
"I see." His father eyed the bottle before pouring himself a generous amount. He took a brief pause as he lifted the cup and took most of it in a single swig.
Link gawked at him. There were multiple ounces in the glass and it was gone in a moment. He wondered if he should be just a bit concerned about the way he hadn't winced when taking it.
"You want me drunk, fine." His father put the glass down on the table. "What did you want to ask that's such a heavy topic I shouldn't be sober for?"
"I'd like you to tell me about the Hyrule Field Massacre."
"The… You want me to…" His father looked at him surprised. He blinked and looked around before his eyes landed on the bottle. He grabbed the bottle by the neck and his glass and let it pour freely until it was high to the rim. He took a generous gulp again and cradled the glass in his hands, resigning himself to his fate. "Valid reason, I suppose."
I should have done this ages ago. Link poured himself an ounce and drank up only to cough harshly. He looked back at the bottle and winced. It really did taste like shit. I will never understand drunks.
...
Link ate his words no less than a half hour later.
Maybe I shouldn't have given him this much… Link eyed the empty bottle wearily as his father muttered incoherent sentences, head down against the table.
"You alright?" Link asked him with an awkward pat on the back.
"I haven't been okay in fifteen years, " His father's words slurred. "Fucking dumbass."
Are you crying?! Link pulled his hand away with many regrets. He sipped on his small shot glass of the liquid. Even a small amount proved to burn intensely down his oesophagus.
His father wasn't crying, but the sight was unlike anything he ever expected to see.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"I'd rather fucking die." His father swore out, muffled through the table. "I want my happiness back."
Well, with the amount you've had, you might just be dead by morning. Link thought grimly. Maybe grabbing some water right about now was a good idea before the inevitable happened. It'd be better if his mother didn't question just why his father was one foot in the grave by morning.
Link could swear he could hear the quietest of whining. I may have overdone it.
Never in his wildest dreams did he ever think he'd see this side of his stoic father. He was depressively slumped over the table, muttering reminiscent crap Link had no knowledge of, and part of it didn't even sound like it was in the same language, but it had slurred together so well, Link couldn't tell the difference.
"My wife has the personality of a dead fish."
Link almost wanted to start crying. "Does she?" Don't talk about mom, don't talk about mom, don't talk about mom .
He put the glass down and readied himself to block his ears when the next thing he heard was "Arn, she sucks, all she does is tell me to get on top and-"
Link plugged his ears and immediately pushed away all sounds from the outside until he could see that his father had stopped talking. Link watched his father ramble on and on, paired with the questionable and semi-crude hand motions that Link wished he could wipe from his memory permanently but he watched on in agony until finally, his father stopped and got distracted by the vase in the corner of the dining room.
It went on for almost an entire minute before Link could safely unplug his ears. He'd regretted looking at his father while he spoke, for it was only then Link remembered he could lipread.
I guess the dead fish comment wasn't just her personality then. I could have gone my whole life not knowing this information.
"Would you like to talk about something else?" Link tried to divert the topic. He wondered if it was smart to just ask about a massacre immediately after accidentally finding out his mother was… plain. Yes, that was the only word he'd use for… that.
If I drink enough, could I forget what I've heard just now? Link contemplated the idea of taking a long swig from one of the older drinks in the cabinet. No, if it doesn't work, then I'm hungover and I know too much.
"I miss Cassie," His father lamented quietly. He stared off at nowhere in particular, a dull focus in his eyes. Was he reminiscing about the past?
Now's my chance! Link suppressed his smile. He could smother the unnecessary info with the new, more interesting one. "Can I know more about her? She sounded so nice when you told me about her." He tried with a smile, leaning forward.
"You know, Zelda was so cute when she was little?"
No, go back to her mother dammit. If reaching into his father's dumb brain and forcefully pulling out what he needed was an option, Link would have done so by now.
"She used to anger the gardener by picking flowers but he never got the guts to tell her to stop but he'd complain about it alot." He mumbled through small drunken hiccups. "By the afternoon shift change, half the guards could be seen with a flower tucked in their belt."
Alright, that's kind of cute. "Did she ever give some to her mother perchance?" Link tried to redirect the conversation once again.
"Sometimes she'd have a flower crown instead of her tiara. They couldn't take her seriously on those days."
"Who did?"
"The Princess."
"Zelda or Cassandra?" The name felt so odd coming out of his mouth, but he was thankful for the distinction between the two Zeldas.
"Cassie's name is Zelda."
I'm going to murder your ass when we're done.
Link sighed with heavy frustration. This was frustrating, but he only had himself to blame. He'd wanted his father drunk enough to divulge information, but not so much so as to simply get distracted by every 2nd word that came out.
"I wish she smiled more; Zelda's little green eyes were so pretty when she did. That's the only thing she inherited from that bastard."
He was talking about Zelda now… An interesting turn. Maybe pursuing that was a better plan? It was strange that was what he remembered so well while drunk off his ass.
Link tried to think back to a time he'd really tried to notice Rhoam's eye colour, but realised he hadn't known that information until now.
"He didn't deserve her. Either of them." Link felt a shift in the air; it became thick, the tension thicker and his father's mood had visibly shifted to one of frustration and regret. "Suck the life out of his own daughter, who does that?"
Link felt bad. If Zelda was as happy as his father claimed her to have been, Rhoam had really sucked the happiness and joy out of Zelda. She smiled so rarely nowadays that he was ever-so-thankful when she did.
The image of Zelda wearing a flower crown popped into his mind and he couldn't help but feel a bit warm. Maybe one day, he'd ask around how to make one and surprise her with it.
"I'd like to throw his ass into the moat and watch him drown a painful death."
Sweet Hylia, calm down, I know you hate him.
"You'll get your chance, get in line."
"I am the start of the line."
Link wondered if he could use his father's long brewing anger as a way to get information regarding the queen? Is that too mean? Rhoam did deserve it… No, that's cruel. Is it though?i
"Did Rhoam ever do something…weird?" Was that too vague? Probably. "Sketchy?" He tried again. "Traitorous?" Maybe that's pushing it a bit far…
"Traitorous?" His father lifted his head from the table in confusion. "I wouldn't say him, traitorous is a strong word." He hiccuped through the word traitorous and skipped half the syllables.
"Not him ?" Link pushed.
"I think someone gave away our position that night." He revealed so vaguely.
Revealing a position? Were they coming back from a location. "Could you tell me what happened? Maybe I can help you figure it out." Link offered his help, but in reality, he just wanted his father to speak more. Anything about that was good, but he doubted he would know who would have had the motive at the time considering it had been nearly twenty years ago.
"We were riding for a long time and we stopped for food—do we have anything in the-"
"You rode for so long, what happened after?" Link cut him off, not wanting his father to get distracted again. So close, so many details he hadn't known were spilling, he could afford to let him get so distracted in case his father started to snooze off. It was nearly eleven by now and Link knew it was far past the time he usually stayed up.
"All my friends died."
Well that took a depressing turn.
Rather than his father falling into yet another depressive state, he unsteadily pushed his chair out and left the table to go to the cupboards. Link stood up and made his way around the table in case his father lost his balance, as so many drunks often did.
He pulled out a jar of salted nuts out of the cabinet.
I should have known your spacey dumbass wouldn't let that food thing go. Link sighed and joined his father in eating from the jar. Link just had to make sure to clean up the shells so his mother didn't know they'd been eating so late.
"Did you know nuts have a lot of protein?" His father threw a few into his mouth and crunched slowly. "I like the crunch."
You also just ate the shells… Link cracked the shell of the ones in his palms and slowly ate them one by one.
"I got these ones in Tabantha, but your mother likes the Akkalan ones more. They're tastier in the cold regions."
Link didn't have a particular interest in salted nuts, but they made for a convenient snack when he went trekking. "You don't say."
His father nodded and spat out the shell into his palm with surprising dexterity. "Arn has a game." He started a story. He put the shell back in his mouth. "Put the cup up." His father gave him a small wooden cup and pointed to the table.
Link hesitantly walked back to the table and set the cup up at the furthest end of the table.
From the other end of the room, Link watched astounded as the shell that had previously been in his father's mouth shot out and knocked the cup over.
What the actual fuck? The space from the dinner table to the sink where he was was at least eight chairs put side by side.
"Show me how to do that!"
His father motioned him back. "First, deshell the nut." his father threw another nut into his mouth and immediately spat out the two shells into his hand.
"How did you do that?" Link asked, pointing at the two shells.
"Use your tongue, it's easy."
"Easy, my ass. You just projectile shot a peanut shell fifteen feet across the room and accurately hit a target."
...
Link hoisted his father's arm over his shoulder with a grunt and helped him stand up. His father, much like him, was far heavier than he looked, especially when he was essentially dead weight.
The only difference right now was that he could somewhat stand on his own, but his 56 year old father was still…well, 56. An accidental tumble down the stairs would hurt and leave a lasting injury Link didn't want to be helping nurse for the next few months.
"I'm sorry," his father slurred his apology.
They approached the stairs and Link swore to himself quietly. He'd have to try his best not to drop his dad at any point, but the mere fact that Link came up just above his father's shoulders didn't make dragging him around much easier, but at least he could somewhat stand on his own.
That was a huge improvement where drunks were involved.
"Step up," Link took the first step and instructed his dad after each. He repeated the process for the ten set of stairs, almost dropping him on the tenth but recovering by grabbing the railing but managing to succeed with getting him to the upper level with minimal bruising.
The walk to his room wasn't too difficult, only a few steps away from the stairs. Link kicked the door open and dragged him the few more steps to the bed where he let his father flop onto the large bed.
"Thank you for the help."
"No problem, you drunk," Link answered back sarcastically. He was planning on staying the night at home to keep watch until his mother came home in the morning from his uncle's house, but he was surprised that Aryll hadn't shown up at any point in the last three hours.
What exactly was 'going out' supposed to mean if she wasn't coming back for the night? Ari had remained quiet for the evening, she was starting to reach the age where she could sleep a few more hours at a time, thankfully. Link had checked up on his sleeping niece three times in the evening and nothing had changed.
No matter, he just hoped his dad's drunk ramblings wouldn't wake up Ari. Maybe they could all get some sleep.
"Sometimes, I catch myself wondering if she's still alive."
Link nearly smacked himself with the door.
"Come again?"
He couldn't have heard that right. Did his father really just suggest that the queen who'd been dead for fifteen years, might be alive?
No, he said he wonders to himself. That doesn't mean anything. He's not implying anything. Link shook off the odd words and took a step out before stopping. Hold on, he wonders if she's still alive? That word. If.
If.
Someone who knew a person had definitively died wouldn't be wondering if they were alive. Reminiscing was one thing, but pondering on the possibility of survival was another.
He couldn't let that thought go without pushing for more.
"Repeat that?" Link stepped back into his parents' room and shut the door behind him. "Do you think she's alive? "
There was a long pause before he heard a quiet grumble. "No, I know she's gone, Urbosa said it herself."
Well, shit, that confirmed my suspicions. So Urbosa really was Queen Zelda's bonded then. The surprise wasn't all that surprising, Link had a heavy suspicion Zelda had been lied to with the way the Gerudo Chief's reaction had gone.
"So why if?"
"Arn…he… I don't know." He reached for water on the nightstand and took a drink from the cup. "The way he talks."
"Elaborate, that makes no sense."
"He switches between the past and present, it's weird, and it bothers me because his tell is everywhere."
That was interesting; Link knew Arn to be very peculiar with the way he spoke. He never said more or less than necessary, but Link had never been the literary one in his circle, he didn't have an eye for noticing such speech patterns so casually.
"His tell? As in, he's lying to you?"
"I keep thinking he is, but I know she's not here."
Oh boy. This is going to be a long night.