The Silence Between Them | ✔

19) Wisdom

*A/N: Shit is about to hit the fan. This is your final warning.*

⚔ In which Link, Zelda, and the Champions go to the Spring of Wisdom ⚔

Link

The king summoned me as soon as we were off our horses. I don't know how he found out we were back so quickly. I had a knot in my stomach all night, and in the morning, Captain Westfall gave me off time beforehand, and the time I was to meet with the king.

Before that, after breakfast, I went to the healer's quarters. I knew many of them would be busy tending to Zelda, and I was willing to wait if it meant she would be alright. But a girl a little older than me brought me in, gave me a physical exam, asked a few questions, and determined I would be alright. She sent me away with an order to drink plenty of water. I probably don't do that enough anyway.

When I was done with that, I went to the sanctum. I knew well the copious rules I'd broken on the trip. I could argue that it was all to keep her safe, which is in the job description, but that same description does not entail holding her and keeping her out of the Spring. In fact, I was told to do the exact opposite. And her father hasn't exactly been in the best mood recently.

Honestly, to get fired now would be the worst possible thing to happen to me. I don't know what I would do with myself or live without seeing Zelda daily.

When I enter the sanctum, the king's expression reads nothing but anger, and it's all directed at me. Suddenly, my heart rate jumps. He stares at me as I kneel at his feet. When I rise after a few seconds, I spare a few deep breaths to collect my thoughts.

I try my best to explain what happened, that if I'd let her go back into the water, she might not have made it out again. I brought up the snow that had coated the ground by the time we were back at the stable and the shivers that racked her body so violently. I also leave out the parts where I held her, letting her cry into my shoulder, or that I refused to leave her be until I was sure she'd be alright, or that we rode the same horse to the stable. I don't know if he already knows these things, but he certainly won't hear them from me.

I hold firm in my explanations, and he returns with the same argument.

"You were not supposed to distract her from her prayers."

He was at his last straw when a healer burst into the room unannounced and explained Zelda's state in detail and that if she'd gone back into the freezing water, it could have been the breaking point.

She could have died.

I watch the king's face for a reply that takes what feels like years. When he finally speaks, it's still stern, but some anger is gone.

He said I was safe this time and made it clear that Zelda is free to skip the Spring trips if the weather fails to cooperate. I 5breathe a small sigh of relief, and as soon as I'm out of the king's line of sight, I run to Zelda's quarters.

I don't bother knocking. I open the door to find at least four maids staring at me, jaws agape. Chloe is the first to speak. But she's also the one to usher the others outside when Zelda requests it.

And I spend the afternoon and most of the night with her. She fell asleep on my shoulder (which, honestly, scared me half to death over getting caught), but when Chloe came in, she said nothing. Just told me to put the princess in her bed and to sleep well.

Bold of her to assume I'd sleep after everything that happened.

What is Hylia's name is wrong with me? What made me think that was a good idea? Keeping her from the water, sure. Making sure she was warm, that makes sense. But cuddling next to the fire in her room? Completely unprecedented. What possessed me to think that was a good idea? I just get away with keeping my job – barely – and go back and do something to lose it again.