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“I don’t want word I was here getting to the King so I’ll have to sneak out before the first morning light.”
Link and Zelda were fresh out of her well appointed en suite bath and laying on her bed, fully undressed. Her chambers were lit solely from the glow of a grand fireplace that had been roaring when Link arrived through her balcony window this evening. Presently, he had one arm wrapped under Zelda’s waist, his other was lazily running up and down her side. He thought the princess smelled nice most of the time but taking in the floral smell of her now, combined with the relaxing roar of the fire, he felt dazed. It was more than just her soap - she seemed to naturally smell incredible. He idly wondered if this was somehow related to her divine lineage. “I didn’t take first shift tomorrow so I won’t have to leave for patrols too early, unless your father has morning appointments for you?”
“Oh you don’t need to sneak around. I’ve already told Father I intend to marry you.” Zelda offered this information as if it were the day’s weather. “It’s finally something we agree on. I thought he couldn’t possibly object to The Boy Who Wields The Sword That Seals The Darkness and surely, he just nodded and carried on with dinner. It does mirror very old tales about the first chosen hero and the goddess. He’ll take anything that might bring me closer to awakening my powers, propriety be damned in this case, thankfully.”
Link tried to respond but it came out choked. He cleared his throat and tried again. “D-don’t I get a chance to weigh in? I don’t remember us... discussing... anything like that...”
Zelda’s confident air deflated. “Well if you don’t want to I can’t force it but I just thought...” Her voice became very small. “I thought you felt the same...” She quickly covered her breasts with her arm and rolled on to her side, jerking away from Link’s touch. She started tugging at the throw blanket that had been tossed aside earlier and brought it over herself. She curled under it. Link could only hear a muffled version of her voice, shrinking even smaller. “You may leave now! You don’t have to wait until the morning.”
Guilt instantly washed over Link. Usually she’d frown and demand he see her way was clearly right but found this reaction had left him charting unknown waters. “Princess, ah, I know you wouldn’t force anything! I...” He gingerly put a hand on the blanket ball that was now Zelda. “Y-you can come back out. I only meant-“
Zelda poked her head out of the blanket and stared up at Link. Her eyes were watery. Oh, the guilt was staggering. Was this how she got her way from everyone else? Even Revali’s proud back would bend at such a sight. Link thought this must be how she recruited him as a champion. Seeing the gentle pleading in her features was far scarier than the fiery Princess who commanded him daily. His Royal Guard training didn’t prepare him for this. “Princess, I didn’t mean... I do feel the same... I actually” Link’s heart pounded almost painfully looking at her lip quiver. His eyes began to sting and he swallowed hard. “I meant it earlier when we were...maybe I didn’t make it clear but... I-I love you.”
“I know you do!” A few frustrated tears fell onto her cheeks despite the bite in her reply. She dove back under the throw. “I didn’t think I was signing you up for something you didn’t already know was part of this! Obviously we were going to talk about the details!” She’d curled back into herself, humiliation washing over her entire being.
Link winced. “I hadn’t thought we’d talk about something like that s-so soon is all. Can you please come back out?” His face started to flush and he muttered softly. “I want to go back to laying here together... Can’t I just hold you and we’ll go to sleep?”
The princess frowned and then whipped her head so it faced the opposite direction from Link. “Maybe I’ll just get up and put on all my long winter pajamas and sleep by myself.”
“Zelda,” Link sat up and, with all the effort of grabbing a spare pillow, scooped her still curled form and the blanket into his lap. He stared down at her and twisted his own frown. “I told you I loved you and you’re pouting.”
She sighed and wiggled her shoulders a bit out of the blanket and put her hands on Link’s chest. She tried not to get distracted by how much she relished being able to run her hands over him like this. He was still radiating warmth from their bath. She leaned into him a bit more and put her cheek against his heart. When she spoke again, her voice sounded steadier. “Did you really not think about what loving me means? I’m the princess. I don’t have any choice but to think about it. That’s why tonight was the first time I’ve let myself get carried away. I had to be sure. I’ve loved you for so long... but I had to know you’d say it first. It’s been agonizing.”
Link silently admitted he knew all of this, especially the depth of her feelings. She may have thought her combative front had worked to disguise them but Link was common born, not oblivious. “I have thought about it. That’s why I snuck up here and thought I had to sneak out later...” Link started to stroke her hair. “I figured this would never be allowed. I didn’t think I’d have to focus on the future. We have the Calamity to fight. I only wanted to be with you tonight...”
Zelda shifted again. The blanket slid down, pooling at her waist and she pressed her chest against Link. She lifted her head to kiss his jaw. He shivered. Despite their earlier activities, having her bare skin pressed on his was still novel. He wasn’t sure if hoped he’d gain some immunity to the effects of it because it was heavenly, but it was destroying his ability to think straight. The last thing he wanted was to burden the princess further with his own clumsy desires. This night alone her intoxicating effect on him was already to blame for the most awkward love confession, an unbearably desperate admission that implied he wanted her to stop talking, and he’d made her think he was distraught at the thought of marrying her. Truthfully, he'd never allowed himself to consider it until now. He could have her floral scent pressed against him every night... goddess above, this was all wrong. He just wanted to give her a night without the weight of her position strangling all the joy from her life.
The princess sighed. “I know... ‘do we even have a future’ has crossed my mind. I rarely allow myself such optimism but today...”
“You needed to hope.”
Zelda’s eyes flew wide and her breath caught.
He smiled and remained stroking her hair. “You do think you’re so mysterious don’t you? You forget how often we’re alone together. Zelda, you talk about agony. Watching your prayers go unanswered day after day in those temples. Seeing you cry yourself to sleep, calling yourself a failure... That’s agony.” He went quiet and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. After a few moments he sheepishly broke the silence between them. “I ruined this. I just wanted you to enjoy this. Being together, I mean.”
Zelda felt traitorous tears fall down her face again. “If you did, I did as well. I thought it’d be better to come in prepared, plan everything out.” She gave a watery chuckle. “You are maddening. You're already beautiful, The Chosen Hero, and now you're perceptive too? It’s sickening.” She wrapped her arms around Link’s neck and kissed him with a fervor she never allowed herself, not even earlier that night. It was rough, all pressure. She broke the kiss and nipped at his bottom lip, demanding entrance. Inhibitions truly gone, wrapped her body around him, almost pinning him against the headboard. “I can barely take how much I love you,” she sighed.
Link returned her passion and grabbed her backside. He pressed her hips into him, letting not even air come between them. The sensation of her body wrapped completely around his hit Link. He let out a strangled groan, “The feeling is mutual, I promise.”
His sound pleased Zelda so much she laughed and caused him to join in. “We’ll need to take a bath again if we keep going...” She felt him nod. “I’m exhausted anyway. Maybe we could come back to this in the morning?” She added playfully. “My planning was good for something at least - I cleared my schedule until midday.”
Link relaxed his crushing hold on her. He kissed her cheeks a few times before releasing her fully. “I’ll do whatever you want, princess. We can get married in the morning if you wish.”
She laughed at him, waving away his comment, as they moved under the bed covers. The fire was dying now but shed enough light for her to make out his face. She caressed his cheek. "You didn't ruin this. You couldn't. You clearly aren't capable of failure."
Link closed his eyes and smiled. "Hardly... but I'm glad you think that. I do love you."
"I love you too." Zelda watched Link slip quickly into a deep sleep for a while. She didn't want to give in to sleep just yet.