Lost in Time- A Zelink Story

Chapter Four

The rest of the ball- or feast, or dinner, or whatever you want to call it- is long and muted, and a cold silence rests between Link and I. Mineru tries to make conversation at first, but quickly realizes neither of us are in the mood, and settles for sipping wine and doting on her baby niece. King Rauru and Queen Sonia, having finally stopped their lovey-dovey dancing, have once again been cornered by members of the court, mostly men. They clamber to be noticed and heard by the King, and I see him growing more and more exhausted with the whole situation.

Finally, after what seems like hours, Sonia breaks from the crowd of lords and ladies, and announces the end of the ball. I start up, very ready to be out of the now-stuffy ballroom, candle wax dripping on the floor and discarded glasses and bottles scattered haphazardly around. Mineru raises her eyebrows at me, and I groan, but begrudgingly wait for a construct to come escort Link and I back to our rooms. Link remains stonily quiet the whole way.

When we make it back to our rooms, my first instinct is to take off this uncomfortable outfit and go straight to bed, but Link just flops down on the couch, not saying anything. I decide that I am too tired for this right now.

"What?" I ask, sounding harsher than I mean to, "what is up with you? You're not the one wearing high heels."

"Sorry," he says, "I am in a bad mood. Forgive me."

"No," I say, crossing my arms, "tell me why you're in a bad mood. What did I do to you?"

"You didn't do anything," he replies, sighing, the tense lines of his body relaxing, "I am sorry. I should've kept you company all night. I just- this is going to sound bad but... there was something about that guy, the one you danced with, that I just didn't like. He seemed off. And you just seemed to- I don't know. Buy into him. You danced with him for a while."

"Were you jealous?" I ask incredulously, "I would have danced with you, but you didn't exactly seem like you wanted to."

"No." he says assertively, but I see him flush a bit in the firelight, "no, I was not jealous. I was just worried that you liked him, because he seemed off. That's it."

"That I liked him? Liked him how?"

"I mean, come on, he's a tall, handsome boy around our age, and-"
"What do his looks have to do with any of this?"

"All I'm saying is that sometimes, when I'm around a girl who- well, sometimes people don't think straight when..." he trails off.

"Look, I can take care of myself," I say, avoiding his eyes, "I understand that it's your job to protect me, but I'm not blind. I know that I can't trust Lord Iraza, or most people here for that matter, and I don't intend to, okay?"

"You're right," he says after a while, not meeting my eyes, "goodnight, Princess Zelda."

He heads to his room without waiting for an answer, and I'm left questioning the whole night as I sink into my bed. Why does he care so much about who I like?

__________

The next morning, I wake up to thunder outside my bay windows, dark and heavy clouds hanging over the fields like a sign of something ominous. I glance to my right, where a tray with breakfast and another note has been set. I sleepily wonder how the constructs manage to get in here in the morning without waking me.

"Zelda," it reads, "please make your way to the library whenever you are ready. We have much research to do, and much to look into. Signed, Mineru."

I flop back into bed as rain begins to fall outside, quickly becoming a heavy downpour. I am not in the mood for research right now. After a few minutes of lying there though, I drag myself out of bed and put on my traveling clothes, which have been washed. If we're ever going to get home, this is just something I have to do.