Forbidden flame: A Zelink story

Chapter 4

I couldn't stop thinking about him.

I tried, all right. But something in the back of my mind had latched onto him. In fact, all day I had forgotten about my opposition to the idea of an appointed knight, and had even felt excited, fascinated to meet him for real.

His name had been revealed yesterday as Link.

"Link", I thought. "It's a fitting name."

Arabelle scurried in just then, catching me sat on my floor, thinking hard and fingering my necklace in my hands. 

"You look calmer than this morning, princess." Her light voice murmured.

"Yes, I am. Well, not calmer, persay, but more...curious, I suppose."

"How did the ceremony go?" Arabelle asked as she began fluffing my pillows and straightening my bedsheets.

"Oh, very well. Very well indeed." I uttered as my mind began to drift again, my face pointed towards the moon.

"Oh. I see. Well, that's good news." She remarked, gaining no response. "Is he any good?"

I absent-mindedly turned my head towards her.

"Your appointed knight, I mean."

I nodded. "Yes. Very talented. I'd quite like to know how he does it. How he fights so effortlessly. I thought skill of that level was quite unacquirable."

"Well, I suppose one has to know what theyre doing if they are to protect the princess."   

"I still don't need protecting, but..." I looked back towards the airy night sky. "I suppose it's not as bad as I thought."

I heard Arabelle whisper. "Ahh. Okay."

Mu head jerked to the side. "What? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing, my princess."  

"Sounded like you knew something I didn't."

"No, no. Don't worry. I'll leave you to it."

"Alright. Thank you, Arabelle." 

The door clicked closed as I returned to my daydreaming. However, before long, I heard a sound coming from outside.

I entered my balcony and looked down to see somebody training; and when I looked a little closer, I realised that someone was Link.

I thought it a little late to be training, but watched him nonetheless.

His movements seemed more wary, almost as if he was scared. He was restless and whenever he stepped back, I could tell his breathing was anything but steady. His face remained expressionless and intimidating, however I could tell something was off.

I realised that he must've been very nervous. Tomorrow was a big day, after all; if anything were to happen to me, from tomorrow onwards, it'd be his fault and his responsability. That's a lot of pressure for a boy so young.

Yet, I recieved similar pressure from my father and I was the same age as Link. It seemed a little ironic.

I watched Link For what seemed like hours. I had sat down after a while, watching him through the stone railings of my balcony. He was relentless; he didn't stop. And soon enough, his movements became familiar to me.

I was surprised that he still hadn't noticed me.

Somebody burst through the doors of the area just then, but Link did not deter from his training.

"Still training, are you Link? What, the title not enough for you?" He sneered as he began gathering his things and putting them into a bag.

Link did not deter.

"I guess we'll all have to refer to you as Master. that's ironic, don't ya think, considering how hopeless you are?"

"Shut up, I'm not hopeless." Link murmured.

"Yes you are. Don't let this position make you forget that. You only got this title because of your father, and you know it."

"You weren't at the competition. You don't know what you're talking about."

"Didn't need to be. I knew they'd let you have it."

"You don't even know me. Why do you care?" Link's eyebrows furrowed as he tried to focus.

"Because you've always gotten everything you wanted, and its not fair. Not on the rest of us, at least."

"I've not gotten everything I wanted. I didn't even want to be a knight, not at first. It was just handed to me."

"Exactly. But we all tried hard to get this job as a knight, Link. It was all we ever wanted to do. It's not fair that you win all the titles when you don't even care about it."

"That's not fair, I do care. That's not fair at all. I don't even talk to any of you. I don't know why you decide to come for me."

"Well, anyway. The rest of us are betting on how long it takes for you to get fired. You won't know how to handle yourself in such a setting." The boy picked up his bad and hung it on his shoulder. "Don't forget how worthless you are, okay?"

Just as the boy was leaving, I heard link mutter, "Son of a bitch." Under his breath.

"What was that?" The boy turned around. "What did you just call me?"

"Nothing." Link protested, taking a break from training to face the boy. But, before I could even grasp it, the boy punched Link in his face, sending him straight to the ground. His skin got hooked on a blade, slicing his arm open. He winced in pain before sputtering, clasping his arm. I gasped and sprinted straight out of my room.

"Motherfucker." I heard the boy say as I was exiting the door.

When I got down to the training grounds, the boy was nowhere to be seen. It had taken me about fifteen seconds to get here, and many guards were following me and shouting things like, "Princess!" or, "Where are you going?" 

When I burst the doors open, Link was still clutching his arm, his eyes squeezed shut and his breaths heavy. I hadn't noticed that his nose was bleeding until now, but that wasn't my main concern.

I ran over to him and once his eyes opened, they widened in terror. "Princess?! What- How, why are you-"

I took his arm in my hand. "My god, this needs to be treated immediately." I scanned the place for any fabric.

"No, no please don't worry, your highness, I'm fine!" Link stuttered in fear, no doubt terrified of coming into contact with the princess in an unprofessional manner.

I looked down at my nightgown skirt and began ripping the fabric off.

"NO! No, please don't, please, stop!" He began shouting as I managed to get a decent piece of fabric off, tying it around his arm. He was shivering and backing away from me, petrified of the thought that the king may found out his daughter ruined her clothes to help him, when it should be the other way around.

Just then, all the guards who had been following me ran through the entrance, pulling me away from Link, but I refused, helping him up and ordering them to take him to the medical grounds.

As for me, I followed along as maids stopped me in the hallway every now and then to wrap me in a robe or offer to take me to my room. I denied any help, staying by Link's side the whole time as his eyes remained terrified and his voice silent. He didn't even dare to look at me. He was so scared of me, of what I could do.

I hated it.