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Click — The door closed behind Zelda. She pressed herself against the wood, taking up as little space in the room as possible.
"Hi," she muttered, sweaty palms sliding over the panels.
"Your Highness!" Link jumped from his bed, tossing something away, and kneeled so deep that his forehead touched his thigh.
She flinched. Screw these stupid manners! "At ease. And keep your voice down!"
Piercing blue eyes flashed up to her and reluctantly, he rose.
"I was worried." She peeled herself from the door, approaching him.
A thumb pointed to his chest. "A-about me? Really?"
"You weren't on duty."
"Ohhh." He laughed so strainedly that her scalp tingled. "It's nothing." A step backward.
"You've never missed a day before."
"Huh? I skip duty all the time."
She rolled her eyes. "Tell me what's up."
Two steps backward.
"I, uh, just didn't feel like it. I-I swapped with the gate guards."
"The gate guards?" Zelda deflated, gaze dropping and hands lacing at her stomach. "It's about me, right? The frog, it was too much. Or-or my ramblings…" Quietly she added, "Please don't quit, Link."
His hand ruffled hair. "That's not it. I had— I had a day off to visit my family."
"... Link, your father replaced you yesterday."
His mouth hung agape, then he breathed, "Shit."
Zelda drew nearer to him, Link mirroring the motion backward until he hit the bed. Then, he sidestepped.
Oh, he thought he was sneaky. Or he thought she was dumb. Both alternatives were very wrong.
Zelda narrowed her eyes and darted forward, snatching the item he was hiding. A spool rolled from the bed, stopping right between their feet. The green thread went up to the fabric in her hand.
"What's this?" she asked.
His ears reddened and his gaze dropped. "The Champion's Tunic."
"Obviously. I mean, what happened?"
"Noth—"
She gave him the look. "Try again."
"There was a tiny cut and…"
"Tiny cut???" Zelda twisted the tunic. There, green thread poorly holding blue fabric together. "That's a slash!"
She lifted the tunic, shaking her head. "I can mend that for you. I have everything in my room."
His tight smile made her stomach plummet. Why was he lying? Now? After everything? She ran her fingers over the seam and kept her gaze down. He didn't need to see her tears.
His feet shifted again and the pieces clicked together.
"The slash... It's on the backside of the tunic!"
Grabbing him by the shoulders, she twisted him around. "You're hiding an injury!"
She really shouldn't be relieved, but she sighed anyway.
He sighed, too. With ginger fingers, he pulled his shirt up, revealing a terrible bruise on his side. A sword's blow, dampened by chainmail. "Lynel," he breathed. "Came too close to the castle and your father called me."
"Oh, Link. You should've told me!" She ushered him to the bed, inspecting the bruise. "I have an elixir for this."
He turned his head, lips twitching. "That," he said half-grinning, "is what I feared."