A Murderer's Son: A Zelink Story

Chapter 3

The thick scent of freshly baked bread forced my weary eyes open. 

"Hey, girl, wake up," a newly familiar voice uttered. "You've slept the whole day through."

I turned my head to face him, absorbing his features properly for the first time. His face was sincere but still stern, and I realized then that protectiveness was definitely his preferred way of showing love. His roughed hand was stretched out towards me, holding bread for me. Reluctantly, I took it from his hand, still not allowing a smile to break out onto my lips. 

Once I had taken the bread, Link rested both arms on the bed, clearly anticipating conversation. 

"So?" He began, shrugging loosely. "What's your name?"

I half-glared at him for a moment, my lips remaining sealed. My face bore a plain expression, however it was twisted with a hint of anger, my eyebrows faintly screwing. 

Link raised his eyebrows, chuckling a little, shaking his head. "I don't know what you want from me, really," He confessed. "I'm trying to be nice, but you won't let me."

He rose to his feet and it looked as though he were about to exit the room again.

"I do talk, by the way." I mumbled, my sudden words planting his feet into the ground and pulling his head back towards me in a swift movement. "But only to the right people."

With that, I turned myself back onto my side, away from his view. The room hung in a tense silence for a moment before dropping back to the noise of words. "I could be the right person, you don't know." Link almost whispered.

I provided no reply, gently shutting my eyelids again.

"You're just gonna go to sleep again?"

"What else is there to do?" I groaned into his pillow. "Go back into that wretched hall? Help the others catch another innocent?"

"I could get you a fresh towel," Link suggested, kindness beginning to poke through his voice like a deep, smooth ribbon of sound. "You could take a bath, or something. I mean- not, like-"

I turned my head towards him, unimpressed. 

"I mean, not that you couldn't... like, you'd obviously be alone." Link's eyebrows furrowed as he fumbled for the right words.

Carefully choosing the right moment to speak again, I allowed for the silence to stretch a little longer before breaking it with, "So you think I smell?"

"No." Link sneered at my childishness. "But you do look half-dead lying there. Aren't you even gonna eat the food I gave you?"

"Could be drugged." I half-snapped, my shrug masking legitimate fear. "After yesterday, I wouldn't be surprised."

Link sat on the bed beside me, facing my back, looking down on my balled-up frame. "And why would I do that?" He posed, his voice suddenly monotone; perhaps he was foreshadowing my answer of me comparing him to his father. Before I could answer, though, he added, "You don't know me. And until you stop treating me like shit, you won't get the chance to. Understood?"

Link got off the bed, his muscular arms re-shaping his hair as he headed towards the door.

"Zelda," I said.

He turned his head to the side, his brows visibly crumpled, his jaw flexed. "I'm sorry?"

"Now do you realize why I was hesitant to give my name to you?"

He laughed in disbelief, cupping both his hands together and running them up his face and through his hair before turning to face me. "Ohh, fuck, fuck, fuck."