𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐁𝐈𝐃𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒- a zelink fanfic

III

Zelda tossed and turned in her silk bed sheets. Since when had her pillow gotten so hot? But this was not the main question that rang in Zelda's head. Was she really in love with a knight she had just met? No. Not Zelda. She was much better, much more professional than that. She was not in love with anyone. Love destroys all happiness in the end, especially when it comes to her life. Huffing, she sat up and threw her pillow across the room. She groaned audibly, confused with herself. Her heart was telling her that he may be the only man in the kingdom that Zelda had a chance at truly loving- her mind told her to drop it, to forget about him. She would never escape the endless cycle of her antagonizing life. She ran her fingers through her tangled golden hair and slid her feet off her mattress. She shivered at the feel of the cold floor on her bare feet as she walked towards her balcony. She opened the large glass doors, and she instantly felt comforted by the cool night air. It tingled on her skin and the breeze smelled of warm, crackling fires from the knight training posts-

He crossed her mind again. She blocked him out of her train of thought, flinching.

Her silk nightgown rippled against her skin. She could hear faint laughing in the distance, horse hooves clomping on the dirt paths, leaves ruffling in the trees, and... her father's voice? Zelda realized that her father was standing on the balcony just above her. Her father had never been up this late before, especially out in the cold air. He must have had trouble sleeping. She would have greeted him, but she heard a conversation between him and someone else- and her name was mentioned.

"Do you know if Princess Zelda will select a husband soon?" A female voice said. She recognized it as a maid who had fit her for her dress. She must have come to help prepare Father's room for bed, and discovered he was out on the balcony. Her father sighed.

"I don't believe she will. She is too stubborn- so headstrong. She refuses to even show the slightest bit of kindness toward any of them. If it gets to the point... I may have to decide for her," He said. Zelda had anger coursing through her veins. She was so enraged that it ached her, and worst of all, she had to stay quiet. She refrained from screaming, from stomping her foot like a toddler. She felt tears silently streaming down her cheeks, leaving her eyes just as quickly as she felt her final sliver of independence leave her. "She would be most okay with marrying Prince Caspian. She seemed to like him the best."

"What about the one in the black mask? The knight boy?"

"Ahah! I would not allow it. He is a knight, no prince. He and his father are a bit too... bold for my taste. Willing to stand up for what they believe in." The king chuckled. Zelda now was on the verge of having a heart attack from stifling the overflowing amount of anger she felt. She couldn't take it anymore. She walked back into her room, slamming the door and collapsing onto her bed. She yanked a pillow over to her and placed it over her face, screaming into it and punching her fists against the mattress. She felt her screams turn into cries as tears seeped into the pillow. She heard her bedroom door open and she sat up, wiping the tears from her face. She could not be seen crying and screaming when she was to become queen soon.

"Princess?" Said a familiar voice. Zelda let out a large sigh of relief and allowed herself to continue crying. "I heard you crying from the gardens-"

"Revali! Everything has gone to hell!" She sobbed, standing up and running towards him, throwing her arms around his feathery body.

"Hey! It's alright, what happened?" He asked, looking both concerned and uncomfortable, as he was being hugged.

"Father says if I don't pick a suitor soon, he is going to pick one for me! I have no independence! I look like an object, a pawn!" She sniffed into his shoulder.

"Then you have to pick one! You can't let the king select some brute for you!"

"But why am I being forced?! I don't love any of them!" She said, crying even harder. "Why?! Why?!"

"I know, I know. It's okay... we're gonna figure it out."

"Are we, really?! When?! My life has been like this for the past 17 years, and it never changes! Never! My father will always win!"

-

Zelda's eyes were puffy from crying so much the previous night. She rubbed them, remembering how Revali promised he would arrange something for her before exiting her room. She sighed as she walked down the stairs, hoping to go on a stroll around the castle, and maybe pick some strawberries. Zelda's by far favorite place in the castle was the garden- it reminded her of Hyrule in a tiny room, lots of nature and beauty. She had gotten to explore very little of Hyrule, so she sometimes pretended the garden was Hyrule, and that she was exploring it. But as she had gotten older, her father had gotten stricter. By now, she hadn't been outside castle grounds for nearly a year.

Just as she was about to cross the ballroom towards the garden doors, she noticed her father out of the corner of her eye, on the riser on his throne.

"Good morning, daughter. Get dressed properly for a journey," He said, with not a tone of emotion in his voice.

"Why, Father?"

"This afternoon, you will be escorted to Riverside Stable. A suitor has requested to meet there." Zelda felt herself light up with excitement, despite half of her wanting to cry at the suitor part. She cleared her throat, holding back a smile. Zelda comprehended this for a moment- she felt embarrassed to smile in front of her own father. She missed the man who had taught her how to walk... the man who had read her stories at night. She no longer saw that kind glow in his eyes.

"But father... let's say I feel unsafe on this journey?" She asks. Her father scowls. He must've known Zelda had a plan forming in her head. "If I may, the Yiga are still out and about, many people must be out to harm me..." Zelda began to pace, a hand on her chin as though she were thinking. "So I have to ask," Zelda stopped pacing and gave her father a look, sticking out her bottom lip and lowering her head. "May I be escorted by the people I feel most comfortable with? For your dear Zelda's safety?" She said and tossed her hair over her shoulder, knowing she had won this subtle fight. Her father closed his eyes and sighed.

"You'll be plenty safe with Revali and Mipha-"

"Revali, forgive me Father, but he can be impatient sometimes! Let's say I trip and fall and Revali goes on without me?! And Mipha, so frail and tiny- how could she fight off the threats I endure after Revali has fled?!" She said, placing a dramatic hand over her chest. Her father was now stone-faced, even more frightening than any expression he could ever give her. Zelda smirked and cleared her throat, straightening up.

"If I were to meet this suitor at the stable, may I make one request?"

"No."

"Then I'm not going. For my safety, of course," said Zelda. There was a long pause of silence, but the eerie, noiseless room seemed to be more voluminous than ever.

"Very well. Get on with it then." He finally muttered.

"May I request that the knights escort me?" Her father didn't answer, emotionless, but clearly knowledgeable. "I request that I am escorted a variety of knights from the grounds." And she walked towards the garden. Now all she had to do was wait- and hope that one of the knights selected would be Link. Just as Zelda shut the door, her father stood up and eyed his royal cane, shining with gold and sapphire. Raging with anger, he picked it up and roared as he hurled it out the window, glass shattering and flying all over the riser, marking the velvet carpet. A piece of glass flew toward him and cut his cheek. Gently, he reached up and touched it, glaring at his blood-covered hand. Maids and servants instantly came to his aid from the kitchen and library.

"Sir, what in Hylia happened?!"

"She happened."

"Pardon?"

"My daughter!" He exclaimed angrily, and spun around to face them. "Who is this black mask boy?" He demanded, causing the maids and servants to jump.

"Uhm- a knight from the grounds, sir. Would you like us to retrieve him, sir?" One maid said. The king's eye twitched and insanity flickered on his face. He grinned.

"Yes, tell him to prepare for a long journey." He said softly, so softly it was intimidating. "And tell him he won't need any specific items..." The king walked away quickly, leaving the dumbfounded maids and servants alone.  "He won't be coming back for anything he leaves behind."