Gem of the Desert

Chapter 3: Big Brother Link

Under normal circumstances, the Chief of the Gerudo would have no place at the birth of the first child of the Hylian Royal family. But Urbosa had been friends with Yevette since they were children, themselves, and the Hylian Queen all but demanded that the Gerudo Chief attend. Though they couldn't be certain about when the child would be born, they had a feeling it would be any day, now.

It was Link's first time outside Gerudo City. He'd been with her on trips to the market and near daily walks around town, but he'd never left the safety of the city walls before. Urbosa would be a liar to say she wasn't nervous, traveling with such a young child, but the seven and a half month old handled the trip like a champ. Though he got a little fussy in the cooler temperatures beyond the desert, he adjusted quickly enough. Din knew that the nightly temperature drops of their homeland had prepared him for such a minor fluctuation.

The young boy tuckered himself out on the trip to the castle, too enthralled with the new sights and smells and sounds around them to pace himself, and had ended up falling asleep before they'd even reached the castle gates. Upon arrival, she'd been led to a chair and informed that Yevette was already in labor. Link had been awoken by the voices, and stared up at her with wide blue eyes.

"Mama?" He questioned softly as they took their seats outside the room to wait. Urbosa was entertaining them both with a few stuffed toys she'd brought along. Rhoam sat a few seats away, waiting for news. Every now and then, he'd eye the two of them.

"Auntie Yevette is going to have a little one of her own." She explained. "You're going to meet her."

"Fifter?" He slurred, unable to pronounce his s sounds just yet. Either way, he was far brighter than other children his age, which made her all the more proud of him.

"Yes." She smiled, tussling his hair.

"I wasn't aware you had a son." Rhoam spoke up.

"Yes, I adopted him when his mother passed. He was two weeks at the time. He's nearly eight months, now." There was a low steel to her voice. She'd never liked Rhoam, not even when he was courting Yevette. She'd always thought that the Queen could do better than some twobit half Thybrig knight, but Yevette had seen something in the man. What it was, Urbosa had no clue, but she hoped that her friend was right.

And if he ever hurt her, Urbosa would feed him to an alpha modulga, whether Yevette liked it or not.

"Ah, I see." Rhoam nodded, eyes lighting up in understanding. Urbosa belatedly realized that he had probably been confused by Link's Hylian features. The blue eyes and fair skin tone were common traits of a Hylian, and it was well known that Gerudo genes tended to override almost every Hylian genetic code. It was also why almost every Gerudo birth was female. They had a few males here and there, but they were exceedingly rare. To the best of her knowledge, out of the nearly five hundred thousand Gerudo that lived in Hyrule, only about twenty individuals were male.

Before any further awkward conversation could be entertained, the midwife stuck her head out the door. "My King, you may now enter. I'm pleased to inform you that your new daughter has arrived with both herself and the Queen in good health."

Rhoam let out a breath as he stood and followed the midwife inside. Urbosa felt a bit of relief in that as well. Births weren't easy, and she was exceedingly grateful that her friend was okay. She honestly didn't know what she'd do if Yevette died.

A moment later, the midwife came and retrieved her, too. She scooped up Link into her arms and followed her inside.

Yevette held a small bundle—tinier even than Link had been when she found him. She was swathed in the softest pink blanket that the castle had, and the Queen smiled when she saw Urbosa walk in.