The Queen and the King (Continuing the story of "The Princess And The Wolf")

Chapter Two: Reflections

Zelda ran a brush through her long, brunette hair. She looked at her reflection in her vanity mirror. A woman with tired eyes and a fair face stared back at her. Zelda sighed, set down the brush and started to weave her hair into a lose braid.

Yawning, she got up from her chair and flopped onto her bed. It had been fun spending time with Link that night at Telma's, Zelda smiled warmly and closed her eyes.

It had been five wonderful years since the end of the Twilight Invasion, four years of being more than a friend to Link. It had been a wonderful time. Everything was back to normal, Hyrule was prosperous, and there were no threats to the peace which Zelda, Link, and Midna had fought so hard for.

Zelda opened her eyes and frowned. At least, not at the moment no one was threatening Hyrule and it's people. For all Zelda knew, Ganondorf had been banished from the Light Realm. Using two pieces of the Triforce, Link and Zelda were able to do so. What scared Zelda the most is the fact Ganondorf was still out there, but doing what?

Hopefully, he had become a peace loving hermit, who skips through the woods and sings songs to little birds and chipmunks. Zelda groaned and put her hands over eyes in frustration. Not likely. Ganondorf was probably plotting a way to conquer Hyrule a third time in Zelda's lifetime.

Zelda still had nightmares from the last time Ganondorf had took over. The fact that the tyrant tried to ask for her hand in marrige made her sick, and putting her people and her friends in peril made her lament. But, most importantly, losing Link had caused her so much pain in the short time he was gone. Gone from her, and what seemed for good. Dead as a door nail. What if the Light Spirits couldn't help him if he got fatally hurt like that again?

"Why do I have to think this late", Zelda sighed and turned on her side. Moonlight poured through a crack in the lavender curtains. A lot of the time, Zelda would lose sleep over random thoughts that would float through her mind. Sometimes they kept her company, but sometimes they would annoy her like crazy. Especially right now.

Zelda sat up and leaned over to her nightstand and blew out the candle lighting the room. She closed her eyes, hoping that she would somehow fall asleep.
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Link felt his shoulders relax as he splashed cool water on his face. He looked at his reflection in the mirror before him. Could a Queen really love someone with such a mess of hair? Link smiled and ran a hand through his dirty-blond hair.

The Hero of Twilight walked over to the other side of his room and started to search through his small bookcase. For what seemed the first time ever, Link sat down and read a book. He had been having trouble sleeping lately, and Zelda had told him that reading helps her sleep. Link was starting to have nightmares about the past, but also a new nightmare about a dark shadow that claimed himself to be Link.

Link rubbed his temples and sighed. So much stress was weighing on his shoulders already. He got up and dropped the book to the ground. Link walked over to his door and swung open the door. Five minutes later, he found himself in the training grounds; one of the places that Link felt relaxed.

With a wooden practice sword in his hand, Link started to attack a wooden practice dummy. Link breathed deeply as he took out his frustrations on the innocent dummy. He was stopped after his tiredness got the best of him. Stretching his arms, Link left the training grounds. The Hero of Twilight felt more at peace after his little "practice session".

Link kicked off his boots once he got back to his room. He took one last look in his mirror that stood on the wall adjacent to his bed. Link's sweaty face was red, his hair was even messier than it was before. Link looked down at his red hands, sore from gripping the practice sword so tightly.

Once again, Link glanced at his reflection again. His eyes widened when his reflection changed to the appearance of the shadow in his nightmares. He was unnaturally pale, had charcoal black hair, and deep red eyes. Link closed his eyes and shook his head. Once he had opened them again, Link looked upon his own reflection. His blue eyes stared back at him and his skin had returned to it's natural tone.

The Hero of Twilight hurried to where he had dropped the book he was reading earlier and snatched it up in his hands. Link hoped onto his bed and hastily opened the book. Maybe he was so sleep deprived that he had started hallucinations, or perhaps Link's overactive imagination was acting up again. Link kept his eyes glued to his book. If reading calmed Zelda, maybe Link should start reading. For now, Link thought, I should keep an eye out. This is probably all just my imagination, anyways.

Author's Note

I'm so happy school is out😀. I think I might have more time to write, hopefully😊.