Blooming Gossip 

Right at the foot of her tower stood, to Zelda's dismay, a bench half-overgrown with a rose bush. The simple stone bench wasn't annoying per se, but the ladies who loved to sit there and force Zelda to overhear gossip she didn't care about were. Admittedly, Zelda had caught one or two interesting facts about things her tutors didn't want her to know, but most of the time, the chit-chat kept her from her studies.

Today, it was extra annoying. She had meant to look into some side effects of a couple of elixirs, analyzing the data Link had so willingly offered her to take. He had a day off, too, so it was a perfect opportunity to study, but no, the ladies down in the courtyard were so excited about… yes what exactly?

“Now stop being so whiny, will you? You never stood a chance anyway.”

“You don't know that! But now all is lost because he's going to ma-marry someone else!”

Oh, so a love triangle. Or something like that. Sighing, Zelda searched for the line where she had left off with the tip of her pen as a guide.

“Don’t be silly. He's the Champion. The Hero of Hyrule. He doesn't even know your name.”

Zelda froze with her pen in her hand. Wait a moment. Were they talking about Link?!? That wasn't too unusual, he was the center of a lot of rumors as the Hero. But what, exactly, had they been talking about? Marriage?

One of the ladies sniffled. “Maybe. But I know someone who'll be devastated by the news.”

“Princess Zelda,” the other one breathed barely audibly, up in the tower.

Zelda’s pen snapped in two and she shrieked, slapping her free hand over her mouth.

Link was going to marry? And his fiance was not her? No. That must be a misunderstanding. Either the ladies had confused something and it wasn't actually a marriage that had been talked about or—or he was planning to marry her, Zelda. 

She blushed furiously at the thought, but ever since the victory over Ganon, they had spent nearly every day together. Nobody had ever confirmed that they were courting but it was what they were doing, just not in so many words. He accompanied her to her duties if he didn't have his own tasks and they enjoyed walks in the garden as well as tinkering with Zelda’s experiments in her study. He had been her partner for every single ball they had attended. She didn't even have suitors because everyone thought she and Link were courting! 

Zelda tossed the remnants of the pen into the trash bin next to her desk and set to work again. This was just some ridiculous gossip. She wouldn't be bothered by it. She just had to concentrate on her studies!

The ladies had left, leaving a heavy silence behind and suddenly, it was Zelda’s mind filling it by coming up with “what if” questions. Groaning, she pushed from the desk. She'd ask her father if Link had by any chance asked for her hand. That would be a perfect explanation, although it was probably a topic she shouldn't pry into. But there was no way she would be able to study with this nonsense ghosting through her head and she wouldn't have that!

“Zelda! What a pleasure to see you, my daughter.” Rhoam looked up from his paperwork when Zelda rushed in without bothering to wait to be announced.

“Father! I apologize for the inconvenience. Could you spare a moment for me? I have a very urgent matter I need your help with.”

“Of course, my dear. What is it?”

Zelda bashfully glanced at the guards. “Uh, a private matter.”

Rhoam's face lit up. “Oh! I've already anticipated that the day would come soon. Sit, please.” He gestured to the chair in front of the desk and ushered the guards out of the study.

“You anticipated me coming to you?” Zelda asked cautiously. That sounded promising.

“Of course! You're here because you want to make your courtship to Link official, are you not?” He looked excited. Giddy even, if that was possible for a man of his age and standing. 

Zelda folded her hands in her lap. “Something like that, yes.”

“Something like that—” His gaze flew to her stomach. “Zelda, are you—” He gasped. “Oh, I'm so glad you came to me instead of doing something stupid. I know we had some issues in the past so this means a lot and—”

Her eyes bulged. “Father! I'm not pregnant if that's what you were implying,” Zelda interrupted him. “We haven’t even kissed.” (Much to her disappointment.)

“Oh.” Rhoam cleared his throat. “I see. I apologize. Well, I trust you and Link, and I know young people can get carried away sometimes, so even if something like that would have happened, we could have handled that with a timed wedding.” He gestured vaguely. “Not to give permission but, you know, just in case. I learned from my mistakes, I hope you know that. Uhm…where were we…”

Zelda’s face burned and she pressed herself into the chair. Nobody liked their parents giving them the talk or something related to that and when your father was the King of Hyrule, it was tenfold embarrassing.

“I just told you we haven’t kissed.” Zelda swallowed. That her father thought that she was here to make the courtship official didn't really sound like Link had just talked to him, but she had to be sure. “That's not why I'm here, though. Did Link, uh, ask for my hand recently or anything?”

Rhoam stilled, then tilted his head. “No, not recently. But…”

“But what?” Skies, this was important!

“I may have given him permission to marry you at the ball after the Calamity. You know, the one where you two danced together and were inseparable for the whole evening. Well.” He chuckled. “That's true for them all, I guess.”

“You—you promised him my hand as a reward for the victory over Ganon?”

“No, no, I know you'd hate that. I understand that now. No, I told him that I would approve of your union if that's something you both wanted.”

“Oh.” Zelda didn't know what to say to that. She had known that her father approved or otherwise he had long intervened at their obvious closeness. Which was great. But unfortunately not helpful in this situation. “So you haven't talked about the topic of courting and marriage with him recently?”

“No. I mean, he took the day off because he wanted to attend a wedding, but I highly doubt it was his own if you don't know about it.” He chuckled at his own joke but Zelda’s laugh got stuck in her throat.

“I have to go,” she murmured. That couldn't be true, could it? Link wouldn't get married without telling her. Or had he avoided the topic because he didn't want to hurt her feelings? Oh how that had backfired! 

She pushed through the doors, ignoring her father's concerned calls. What she had deemed as a minor inconvenience earlier was spiraling in a direction she didn't like at all.

At her tower, she finally halted her hurried steps. “Have you seen Sir Link by any chance?” she breathlessly asked the guard at her doors.

The guard shook his head, eyeing her with a look of concern that she immediately hated. Oh goddess, if the rumor was true, the whole castle would look at her like that.

The guard leaned slightly closer. “He has a day off because one of his friends got married.”

“Oh…” Zelda laughed in relief. “Now that explains it. I heard he's going to marry, but that seems to be an unfounded rumor, then.”

She was just through the door, when the guard coughed. “I fear not, Your Highness.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I heard the other guards overheard him saying he's going to marry his girl.”

“His—his girl?”  

Who on earth was that? His girl was decidedly not his princess. Right? He would say ‘his princess’ if it was her, it was some kind of pet name by now.

“I—I don't know more, Your Highness. He's very tight-lipped about his private life.”

“I see.” Zelda pursed her lips and took a heavy step backward. “I—I do not wish to see anyone for the rest of the day.”

The guard bowed his head. “I'm sorry, Your Highness. I know you were probably hoping you'd be the one.”

Zelda forced a smile and pushed the door closed, leaning her head against the wood from inside. Maybe she should work on her abilities to keep her love life private, too, because now the whole castle would know within hours that she'd been ditched. 

Zelda had just opened the window to inhale some fresh air, when she heard commotion on the other side of her door. Her eyes slipped close. Couldn't she even be upset in peace? The man she thought was courting her had somehow misread every single action from her and was going to marry someone else. She refused to believe he did it despite knowing they had been courting. Link could be a bit oblivious, but he wasn't mean.

“She doesn't want to see anyone,” Zelda heard muffled through the door. Oh, great, a visitor.

“She always wants to see me,” another voice said. Was—was that Link?

“You're drunk, Sir Link. Go home. She said she doesn't want to see anyone.”

“I'm not drunk. Just a little tipsy.” A fist banged repeatedly against the door and Zelda shrieked.

“Zelda? Can I come in?” The hammering abruptly stopped and sounds of a brawl erupted. “Leave me alone, you dirty peasant!”

Zelda’s mouth fell open. Did Link just call his fellow guard ‘dirty peasant’? Because he was, what, exactly? An equally dirty peasant but with a cool sword?

“Zelda, please! I'm worried. The ladies say you're crying your eyes out because someone hurt you.”

“Are you stupid or just drunk?” the other soldier asked, slightly out of breath. “You hurt her, you moron!”

Well, that was true, but she couldn't hear a reaction from Link. Zelda had enough; she ran to the door and pulled it open. 

Link stumbled right in, he must have leaned against the door leaf for support. He was dressed in his Royal Guard uniform, but it was buttoned up incorrectly and his undershirt peaked out of his trousers. On top of that, his ponytail had mostly come loose. Zelda blinked at him. He looked as if he was just coming out of a brawl, or—she hardly dared to think it—out of bed with someone. His girl, probably.

“Oh, hi, beautiful,” Link beamed at her once he had found his footing again, not caring about a couple of leaves he had lost from the formerly delicate bouquet he was holding. It was still a pretty bunch of flowers, even if they clearly had been through a couple of inconveniences already.

Did he just say ‘hi, beautiful’ although he was planning to marry his girlfriend? If she wasn't so shocked at the ridiculous pet name, she would have slapped him so that he came to his senses. 

“Ehm,” the guard made himself known behind Link. “Should I remove him?”

“Oh, you!” Link whirled around and swung at the guard as if the flowers were the Master Sword. 

Zelda waved a petal from her eyes and cleared her throat. “Ah, I think I'll be able to handle him. But thank you.”

The guard stepped back, shielding himself against the rampaging Flower Blight, and raised an eyebrow at Link. “If you say so. You know where to find me. If something in here sounds like trouble, I'm back before you can blink.”

Zelda forced a smile and nodded.

Link swirled back around to Zelda and muttered something that sounded like, “Stickinthemud.”

The door clicked shut and Zelda took the deepest breath she had ever drawn. The air around Link already smelled like the alcohol he had obviously drunk. Well, and like the stupid flowers, but she couldn't concentrate on that. Zelda couldn't remember having ever seen him drink something, now that she thought about it. Not even at the various balls they had attended together, had he had more than a sip of his wine. The balls… her stomach dropped at the memory of the last few years together. Pressing her lips together, she reached for the flowers. “For me, I guess? As an apology?”

Link tilted his head in slow motion, then abruptly pulled the bouquet to his chest. “No. Those are mine. Get your own if you want flowers so badly.”

Zelda gaped at him. Wow, was he rude when he was drunk. Maybe she should ask the guard to come back in. But he'd never physically hurt her, would he? No, of course not. This was Link.

“So, you're going to marry or what?” she asked without further ado. 

“Yes,” he beamed. “I've been meaning to do so for a while.”

“Okay? Uh, congratulations, I guess?”

“Oops.” He made a face, covering his mouth with the flowers. If she told him tomorrow that he had burped in her presence, he would die of embarrassment. “I haven't asked her yet, actually. But I know she'll say yes.”

“Well, good luck with that,” Zelda snapped, covering her mouth immediately. She hadn't meant to be so snarky but he wasn't making it easy.

He didn't even seem to have noticed. “Flowers?” he asked and wiggled the bouquet in her face. “Uh, look at that, Baby's Breath. Someone's feeling bold today.”

“Link, what—you just told me the flowers aren't for me.” Zelda huffed exaggeratedly. What was she going to do with him? He was so confused in his drunken state, it was difficult to be mad with him.

“Oh, right. My flowers.” He stuck his nose into the blossoms, far deeper than anyone sober would do, and inhaled soundly. “Hm…”

Zelda gave him a weary look. “Why do you insist those are your flowers? Anything special about them?” Maybe she could at least get out of him who his girl was. Not that a name would make her feel any better, but maybe it would be easier to be mad at the unknown girl than at him.

“Oh, yes, very special.” He frowned at nobody in particular. “Wait…yes! My friends, you know the guy and the…the girl.” He squinted his eyes in thought.

“The guy and the girl? Well, of course I know exactly who you mean with that description,” Zelda deadpanned, but the irony went right over Link's head.

“Yes! Well, they married and I caught the flowers. Can you imagine? And now I'm going to marry next.” He tossed the bouquet into the air and caught it again. A not unimpressive stunt in his state. “Because I have the flowers.”

Zelda laughed despite everything. He was still her best friend after all. “You caught the bridal bouquet?”

“Yeah! Incredible, right? And now I'm going to marry.”

“Uh, you do know that it's just a joke, right? You don't have to if you don't want to.”

“But I want to! I have wanted to for a while now. But I can't ask her yet.”

Zelda paused, watching him fiddle with the flowers. Then she quietly asked, “And why?”

“Silly Zelda. Because I'm drunk, of course. I had to drink with everyone to celebrate that I'm next and now I'm a little tipsy. And I can't ask the Princess of Hyrule to marry me if I'm drunk.”

The Princess of what now? Zelda stared at him. The Princess of Hyrule, he had said, loud and clear. And that was she. Maybe it really was a misunderstanding, after all? She chuckled hysterically, but eventually caught herself again. “What—what did you just say? I'm your girl?”

“Zelda.” He slurred her name as if it had several ‘l’ instead of only one. “You're the smart one of us two. We've been courting for three years, who should be my girl if not you?” He narrowed his eyes as if he had to concentrate really hard. “But I can't ask you to marry me when I'm drunk. That's just not the way to do this. But I brought flowers!” He lifted the bouquet again. “No wait. Something was important about the flowers.”

Zelda laughed and laughed, pulling him into a hug that he was too confused to reciprocate. “Oh, you wonderful, drunk idiot. Keep your flowers, you need them more than me if you want to remember anything of your plans tomorrow.”

“Idiot, heh? Wait.” He pulled back, tilting his head. “Your eyes are red. Someone hurt you, that's why I came here.”

“Oh, I'm fine. It was just a misunderstanding, after all.” She hooked her arm under his. “I'm going to accompany you to your rooms. You need a good fit of sleep.”

He flashed her a wolfish grin. “And a good night kiss.”

“I'll think about it.”

Zelda one-handedly fumbled the door open and they sidestepped through. Well, she sidestepped, Link…staggered. 

“Oh, hello,” the guard greeted them. “Do you need help, Your Highness?”

Zelda winked at him over her shoulder. “I’ll put him to bed. And don't worry about the rumors, I am the one. He's just a bit confused.”

“Oh, that's a relief to hear. Congratulations,” the guard answered and bowed his head with a smile. “Uh, make him drink some water, if possible.”

Link woke up and felt as if a Lynel had run him over. Twice. Groaning, he lifted his head and dropped back to the bed immediately. A sweet smell heightened his headache. Wearily, he stared at the culprit. 

Why did he have a fancy bouquet on his nightstand? And who on Hylia's green earth had put it in a vase? Where did that thing even come from? The barracks surely weren't equipped with fine porcelain ware.

He tried to get up once more, slower, this time. With shaking legs, he made it over to the washing bassinet and dunked his head under water. Better. Not much, but at least yesterday's events came slowly back to him. The wedding. He had been at the wedding and then, after he had caught the bouquet, everyone wanted to drink with him. The flowers were the bridal bouquet!

Urgh. Did Zelda have an elixir against headaches? She usually had an elixir for just everything.

He snatched some clothes from his wardrobe and sat down on the bed again to dress. Not five but ten minutes later, he had managed to put them on and dropped onto the mattress again because everything spun when he looked down.

No. The elixir. He dragged himself up, tied his hair up, and trotted to the door. He hadn't even closed it behind him, when he heard his fellow soldiers from the mess hall. 

“That's going to be one big party, I just know it!” 

“Do you think the King will sponsor some ale for the guards? She's his only daughter after all!”

Link staggered down the stairs and grabbed the first soldier he spotted by the collar. “What are they gossiping about? You know I don't tolerate anyone talking bad about the Princess.”

The soldier snorted. “Relax, man. It's about the wedding, it's the talk of the castle, as you can imagine.”

Link blinked. “The what, now?”

“Princess Zelda’s wedding. The King approved it and all. You of all people should—” The soldier slapped his hand over his mouth, taking a step backward. “I'm so sorry. I somehow assumed it's you she's marrying, oh Goddess. Please forgive me, that was extremely insensitive. I fully understand that you drank yourself silly.”

Either Link’s brain was still too foggy to understand this man's words or he had just told him that Zelda was marrying someone else. But that was stupid. They'd been courting for three years now. She wouldn't do that. And King Rhoam wouldn't approve that either. Probably. Hm. Hopefully?

“Eh,” he said as a summary of the jumbled thoughts in his head and left the man standing there. He needed an elixir, he still felt as if his head housed a Goron mine.

The whispers continued on his way through the castle. Only the guard at Zelda’s door beamed at him and gave him a playful fist bump to his shoulder. Link glared at him and knocked in rhythm with his hammering head. 

“Zelda? Can I come in?” 

“Sure!”

Hm, that didn't sound like she had changed her mind. He entered. 

Zelda beamed at him, too, and greeted him with a kiss on his cheek. Okay, that was definitely new.

He managed a grin. “Does one of the elixirs we tested happen to help against a headache? I, uh, may have had a drink or two too much yesterday.”

She chuckled and pointed to a tray with a slice of bread, an elixir, and a glass of water on her coffee table. 

Oh.

“How did you know?” he asked, sending a prayer to Hylia for gifting him such a smart and foreseeing girl.

“Just a feeling,” she said, chuckling. 

He slumped on her plush chair, downed the elixir, and took a bite of the bread to cover the nasty taste of smashed bugs. It took a while until the elixir kicked in and he leaned back, his eyes closed. But then, he heard voices from outside and the odd behavior of the soldiers came back to his mind.

“You don't happen to know why there's that rumor going around that you're getting married, do you?” he asked and opened one eye.

“No.” She shook her head and grinned broadly. “No idea. It's just gossip.”

He hummed, taking another bite of bread. “Thank Hylia for your persistence of working on these elixirs. That helped quicker than I ever hoped for.”

Standing up again, he ruffled his hair. “Sorry to leave right away, but I have some things I need to take care of. Do you, uh, maybe have time for dinner later?”

“With you? Always,” she answered, giving him a look from under her lashes that sent his heart racing.

“Okay, great. Ah, I was thinking about something a little fancier, maybe outside in the gardens?” He chuckled nervously. “Oh, and do you know if your father is around today?”

Something about his questions greatly amused her. He frowned but when he couldn't figure out what, he brushed it off. He had things to organize.

“My father should be in his study.”

“Perfect.” Link weighed his options but since she had started, he deemed it safe enough to grab her face and press a kiss on her forehead as a goodbye. She really liked that, if her blush was any indication. 

He had just closed the door behind him, when a squeal rang through the wood, as if she was muffling a sound of excitement with a pillow. The guard outside shrugged at his questioning look and grinned. Then, he cleared his throat, and said, “You might want to switch your shirt before you meet up with the King, Sir Link. You're currently wearing it inside out.”

Link looked down at himself. Oh. 

“And congratulations.”

Link tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at his fellow guard. “On what?”

Another grin twitched on the guard’s face. “On catching the bridal bouquet, of course. What else?”