New chapter on a Wednesday?? What's going on??
*checks calendar*
Oooh~
Happy Valentine's Day!
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Zelda wasn't sure what had changed between them since deciding to go to the Spring of Wisdom. But a weird, almost formal distance was reinstated between the princess and her knight. They didn't speak. He hardly looked her in the eyes. In fact he often kept a considerate pace behind or ahead of her.
Had she said something that upset him? Heading this direction was his idea...
Zelda should be used to it. They'd walked in uncomfortable silence before—and Zelda had feared it uniquely every time.
The judgemental silence of criticism and disdain.
The lascivious silence of lust and appraisal.
The despairing silence of despondency and hurting.
And now, the taciturn silence of reticence and confusion.
All these times, Link was the one to break the silence and prove she'd projected her own dread on it. Surely he'd do the same for her now. What possible reason did he have to close off from her, anyway?
But as they ascended Mount Lanayru alongside the sun, the only conversation on the mountain was the passing of pleasantries between the rocks and the stones.
Zelda, always a tangle of emotions, grew defensive. Was this punishment for something? Did the white knight altruism finally wear off and now he actually was pissed that they'd left their horses and supplies at the stable? Why wouldn't he say anything? Why couldn't she say anything?
Over the course of the next hour or so, she dared sparing glances his way, trying to get a read on him. But his expression was a little different every time. Always subdued, always subtle, but the emotions were present nonetheless. At one point he looked bothered. At another point he looked disappointed. Most times he looked sort of... burnt out.
He didn't even suggest they stop for lunch. Not that they had anything to eat, if they did.
Finally, out of nowhere, Link blinked at her as if he'd only just realized she'd been walking beside him. "You've been awfully quiet," he noted.
Zelda bristled. "You've been awfully quiet," she countered.
Blue eyes aimed forward again. "Fair. I guess I've been lost in thought."
A pensive silence, then. Not taciturn. Of course she had mislabeled it again. Too bad it was so difficult for the princess to smooth her defensive hackles back down. Constant castle scrutiny did not equip her with that skill.
"About what?" she asked with lingering indignance she didn't intend to include at all.
To her surprise, Link's eyes widened to reveal the full ring of his cerulean irises. If his cheeks and ears weren't already red from the biting chill, she'd think he was blushing.
"Nothin'," he answered frustratingly easily for how he started at the question. Then, "Actually, lotsa things I guess."
When he didn't elaborate, Zelda quirked an eyebrow. "Such as...?"
"Well," he considered, eyes landing on her, "you."
She faltered. A quick turnaround from bold to embarrassed on her part. "M-me? W-what about me?" she asked, irked by the inadvertent stutter that accompanied it.
"The prophecy, the sealing power, the Spring of Wisdom," he rattled off. "And so on."
Oh. So he was thinking of her logistically. Zelda chastised her heart for daring to beat faster, and her brain for brazenly thinking it had been anything more than her purpose counter to the Calamity.
YOU ARE READING
Fortune Favors the Courageous
Fanfiction"Princess!" he yelled after her. "Where are you going?" "Back to the castle," she replied without stopping. "Not by yourself you're not!" "I'm sorry,"-she whipped around-"I didn't realize you were my father?" "Your father, the king, would execute me...
