Fortune Favors the Courageous

Chapter 10: Rescue Part 2

Time was up.

A silhouette filled the doorway. The Yiga, feral in his posture and already breathing heavily, wielded a large windcleaver in either hand as he stepped through the threshold.

But when he came out of the shadows, his ponytail was blond. Or were her eyes just prey to the deceptions of ambient light?

"L-Link?" the princess breathed, almost not daring to believe it.

The Yiga removed his mask and the rest of his sandy-blond hair spilled around his shoulders. Wide blue eyes greeted her with relief. "Your Highness."

Her voice trembled. "Y-you came back for me?"

"Of course I did." He sounded almost offended, but then his mouth quirked to one side. "I'm duplicitous, remember? I'm getting you back to the castle in one piece."

She laughed through the saltwater threatening to spill down her cheeks. "That's not what that means."

"Then you can teach me a better word when we're out of here."

With a loud clank, the lock broke and fell to the floor.

Immediately, she rushed for freedom, but a sudden wave of nausea brought her to her knees.

"Princess!" Link tucked one windcleaver away into his only sheath and tossed the other aside. Then he dropped low beside her, hand hovering just above her back. "What's wrong? Did they do something to you?"

"No," she grunted, shoving down the innate shame of tripping. At the castle, she would be balancing books on her head for the next two days straight.

Legs trembled as she pushed up on them, but fatigue hit harder than the nausea and the princess collapsed again.

Link didn't move. Nor did he inquire further.

One more time, Zelda tried to stand, and one more time, unsteady legs failed her. She thought she might retch on the floor.

Link's hand twitched a bit closer, then retracted to his side fully. Blue eyes darted towards the doorway. His tone was timid when he spoke. "We should hurry..."

Anger suddenly sparked. "Then why are you just standing there?"

Was he expecting her to grovel? Surely she looked as feeble and pathetic as she felt, and his inaction was infuriating.

He shifted awkwardly. "You... told me not to put a hand on you again."

One more unbid finger, she had said, and she'd threatened to send him to the gallows. Was he seriously hubristic enough to smart-ass her right now? Or was he just so dense he couldn't recognize a rescue mission was an obvious exception to the threat?

"So you're just going to watch me embarrass myself?" The solace that had struck her when she saw his blond hair just moments ago was suddenly unfathomable.

"I'm— You're not—" He stopped. Tried again. "Do I have your permission to carry you?"

"Hylia!" She couldn't believe he was making her say it aloud. "Yes, you are permitted to get me out of this prison cell!"

Link replaced the Yiga mask on his face. Then, gingerly, he threaded an arm under the princess's legs, the other beneath her back. He hoisted her up, bounced a little to readjust her in his grip, then took off out the door.

Aside from a slight limp, Zelda was mildly impressed that Link carried her with such little effort. He was smaller than her, after all. And there was something else she noticed. "Your shoulder's better."