Hyrule Castle…

Almost two months had passed since Zelda's training had concluded. Since that day, the Princess could barely contain her happiness in having started a romantic relationship with Link. But obviously, they had to refrain themselves from showing affection in public. The only other two people who knew of their relationship were, of course, Queen Selena and Impa, who advised them it was best to keep their relationship for the time being.

Thus, he would accompany her everywhere as her bodyguard, since it was his duty, but he kept his distance so no one would suspect of what was going on between them. Only when they were alone, they were free to show their love for each other. Sometimes, the Queen even allowed them to "sneak out" to the Castle Town incognitos just so they could have some time for themselves without any risk, but even so, it wasn't easy to keep hiding; they both wished they could act more as a normal couple and shout to the world their great love. Nevertheless, that wouldn't last for too long.

At the moment, Zelda was training at the courtyard, although now she was doing it by herself. Since Link had nothing else to teach her, all she had left was finding ways to implement her magical powers on her rapier to perform special attacks with it. She had managed to do the most basic, by imbuing the blade with magical energy to increase its cutting power, but she was trying to go even further, using elemental spells. She was testing them on Link's training dummies, he had kindly lent them to her for this.

"Here we go," she said, as she placed herself in front of the first one at middle range.

She closed her eyes to concentrate and focus her magical power. She pulled back her sword arm as she charged up a green energy on her rapier, and stepping forward, she delivered a powerful forward thrust, fully extending her arm. While at this distance the blade wouldn't reach it, the thrust created a horizontal tornado towards the dummy, pushing it backwards and taking it down. Zelda smiled with satisfaction, that attack would be really useful to push back the enemy if she was in a pinch. She performed it again a few more times, so as to gauge its maximum range and the distance for greater efficiency. The tornado dissipated at about ten meters of distance, and the pushing force was at its maximum on the middle point of said distance. She made a mental note not to forget that.

Having finished this, she walked towards another dummy. This one was outside of the grass and away from the others. She stood before it, this time at point-blank range. She held her rapier with both hands and focused again. This time, the blade glowed with a bright red energy, and a second later it turned into flames. The Princess raised her flaming rapier, and brought it down with great force, creating a fiery explosion that reduced the dummy to ash. She had to immediately jump backwards to avoid taking damage from her own attack. Zelda knew she could have created an even stronger explosion, but doing so was a double-edged sword, since she risked herself to get caught blast radius. She had to be careful with that attack, and make a point on never using it in proximities of something flammable.

She waited for the dummy to finally stop burning and walked back towards the rest. She still had a couple more of attacks she could practice with them. Once again, she held her rapier with both hands, this time on a "diagonal guard" stance while she focused. The blade now took on a white-blue sparkle, and many small spikes of what seemed to be ice or crystal floated around it. She held this position for a while, until she finally delivered a diagonal, upwards slash. The rapier left a blue trail after the movement, and a second later, the icy spikes had nailed like darts on the dummy. Another long-ranged attack, although it required more accuracy than the tornado thrust. However, the true purpose of this move was more defensive, since this spell coated the rapier's blade with a protective barrier which, while active, returned the impact by repelling the attacker. Of course, without an opponent she was unable to practice that.

She turned towards the last dummy still standing. This final move would be the hardest, as it would require a perfect timing. She readied the rapier and ran towards the dummy, as the blade acquired a golden glow. She gauged the striking distance and using the additional boost from the run she directed her weapon straight towards the dummy's eyes. She channeled the magical energy the tip and upon making contact, there was a small light burst that knocked off its head.

"Marvelous," she heard Link's voice. Turned around to see him, she didn't seem surprised at all to find her bodyguard-now-fiancé watching her. "Sorry I didn't announce myself, I was enjoying the show."

"Don't worry," she replied with a smile, approaching to greet him in the proper fashion, with a kiss. "I miss a bit training with you, but it's been worth it."

"Yeah, I can see that." Link nodded. "I have good news. I talked to your mother, and she told me that this year she will ensure by all means that I won't miss out your birthday."

"I'm glad to hear that."

The Princess' eighteenth birthday was coming up very soon, and they both knew it would be a very important day, for several reasons. Aside from the obvious ones, the Queen was planning on making their engagement official on that date. Since on that same day it would take place her coming of age ceremony, she'd be officially recognized as an adult and would have the right to freely choose who was to be her future husband. The Queen deliberately wanted to make it that way, since once her daughter became of age, no matter if anyone protested (and no doubt that someone would) they wouldn't be able to do anything about it. The only person who could legally place a veto on Zelda getting married to Link was Queen Selena herself, but that wasn't going to happen. She knew better than anyone of her daughter's feelings, and her trust in Link was beyond any question. He might be of humble origins, but the young man had worked hard to earn his place. She could rest easy in leaving her daughter in his hands, he would take good care of her and love her with all his heart.

In a way, Link was like the son she and her husband would have loved to have, but unfortunately that was not possible due to his untimely death before he could sire another child after Zelda. Even though she loved her daughter dearly, the Queen felt sad for not being able to give birth to a noble son, but she was grateful to the Goddesses for bringing to her life a noble potential son-in-law.

However, there was something else Zelda felt uneasy about. The previous year, on her seventeenth birthday, she received a marriage proposal from Prince Zephiel of Bern. Since she had just met him, it was obvious that the idea of getting married to him was not to her liking. The Prince didn't seem to be ready to give up that easily, so he offered to take a year so they could get to know each other, but except for a few minor meetings during the first two months, they didn't have much of an interaction. And because of his own royal duties, Zephiel had to spend that time traveling with his father across the entire continent, which prevented him, for better or for worse, having more encounters for the rest of the year. Occasionally she would receive one or two letters from him, but she didn't have much time to read them, not that she actually wanted to. Fortunately, they were few and short, so her replies, which she only wrote out of courtesy, were the same.

Even though they hadn't seen each other since then, she had the feeling that, no later than her birthday, Zephiel would appear to hear her answer. Well, the answer itself, she already knew it. But how could she say it without offending him? A part of Zelda wished that he didn't show up until after her birthday, but Queen Selena just couldn't not send King Desmond and his family the invitations for the party for something like this. She'd have to face him sooner or later.

"Since we're talking about your birthday," Link continued, "would you like something in particular?"

"Link, being with you is the only gift I need," Zelda said tenderly. "Really, you don't have to give me anything."

"You know I'm going to feel guilty if I don't give you anything," Link replied.

"Since you put it that way," Zelda said. "I'm leaving it as a personal challenge, surprise me."

"Alright." Link resigned himself to accept that. "In the meantime, do you want to go for a horseback ride at the meadows?"

"I'd love to. Just let me get my horse riding clothes," Zelda asked. "I'll see you at the stables."

Zelda went back to her room to get her horse riding clothes, while Link went towards the stables to get their horses ready. Horse riding was another of the activities they started to do together once they had begun their relationship. It was great for whenever they needed some fresh air, and since he came along too, they could get away from everything and everyone with nobody suspecting a thing, since everyone thought he was just performing his duties as the Princess' bodyguard.

Once at the stables, Link passed over all of the horses in the place, until he reached the corral holding the horses belonging to him and the Princess. Zelda's mount was a big and strong, snow-white male steed, who had been named Cloud. Next to him, there was a sorrel mare, with a white mane and matching legs, belonging to Link, and her name was Epona. This mare had been practically a gift, since the soldiers had captured her in the wild, yet she wouldn't let anyone to ride her, always snorting and kicking around whenever somebody tried to put the saddle on her. When Link approached, however, she became completely tame, and she let him ride her without complain. In light of that, the Queen decided to allow the boy to keep her as his personal mount, as a reward for his services. It had been a couple of years since then, more or less. And curious as it was, not very long after Link and Zelda began their relationship, their horses started to become extremely friendly and affectionate with each other too.

"Alright, Epona, you ready for a ride?" Link asked.

The mare answered with a neigh, as if she was saying yes. He placed the ropes and the saddles, giving her some friendly pats on her head for being such a good girl. To save Zelda some work, he decided to prepare Cloud himself too. Fortunately, the white steed was more docile than Epona, and while he didn't trust strangers, it was clear he trusted Link as much as Zelda. The mare, on the other hand, still wouldn't allow the Princess to ride her, at least not by herself. The few times she had relented were only with Link coming along as well. It was for this reason they later gave the Princess a mount of her own.

"Sorry for the wait," he heard Zelda's voice. She was already wearing her riding clothes: instead of a skirt like her usual gowns she wore white pants, high-heeled boots, and a dark purple jacket, it made her easier to ride on a horse like that. To avoid recognition, she also brought a matching hooded cloak.

"Let's get going." Link said, as he got the mare out of her corral. Zelda followed suit with her steed and put on her cloak. Once they were outside, they hopped on their mounts and went towards the external door on the castle's West side wall. That way they could get out directly towards the meadow without having to pass through the Castle Town, and have their ride without any inconveniences.

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Meanwhile, at the Castle…

At one of the highest towers, Queen Selena was talking to Impa. They both were discussing a rather serious matter.

"Your Majesty, are you sure about this?" Impa asked.

"Of course," the Queen answered. "Desmond has been a great friend to me for years, it would be a grave insult not to invite him."

"But if it's true what the Princess said… isn't it a bit risky?" Impa continued. "If he's still keeping that proposal…"

"My daughter has already made her decision, and so have I," the Queen said firmly. "Desmond and his family will have to accept it."

"My Queen, with all due respect, I have served you for years, and believe me when I say, I'd never question your judgment," Impa said. "However, I don't know enough of Bern's Royal Family to be sure on how they will react to this."

The Queen admitted she had a point on that. The previous year, when King Desmond and his son arrived with the proposal of uniting their kingdoms, the Queen made it clear that it was her daughter who had the final word on the matter. Zelda at the time was unable to give a definitive answer, all she did was to postpone it for a year. But, with the events that happened in that time, the answer was clear to them. Impa's concern was not fully unfounded. King Desmond was, in general, a just and honorable man, but sometimes he could be quite prideful, and he wasn't the type who would give up as easily with something, even if it took him a lifetime. Plus, diplomacy wasn't exactly his strong point, so it wasn't easy to negotiate with him either.

"Desmond could be headstrong and proud at times, but I know he's a good man," the Queen said. "I'm sure he'll understand my decision."

"And… in the hypothetical (just hypothetical) scenario that he didn't?" Impa asked again. The Queen took her time before coming up with an answer.

"We'll take the due precautions. Like I said, I don't believe Desmond would come to such extremes, but it won't make any harm to get ready for the worst case scenario. You understand what I mean, don't you?"

"Of course, Your Majesty," Impa replied. "With your permission, I'll take my leave."

The Sheikah woman left the room, leaving the Queen alone as she gazed through the window. Far away, at the meadows, she spotted two figures on horseback. Even at that distance, the different colors of the horses gave them away, she knew perfectly who they were.

"I will not allow an incident between our kingdoms," she stated firmly. "Neither will I take my daughter's happiness from her."

It wasn't the first time she faced against something like this, and it wouldn't be the last. But there were always alternatives, even if they weren't as obvious at first glance. When the time came, she would find the way.

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At sunset time…

The sun was already sitting behind the mountains on the West side of Hyrule, and the sky was getting dark. The Princess and her bodyguard were hurrying to return to the castle, since they didn't want to push their luck by staying outside once the night had fallen.

Once they reached the gate, since nobody called them out to identify themselves or something, Link approached to take a look, and he burrowed his brow once he noticed the guard watching the gate had fallen asleep, while standing. When yelling at him didn't work (he was snoring loudly) Link grabbed a little stone, and threw it to his helmet. That was enough to wake him up, causing him to fall off on his rear due to the scare and the hit. Immediately, and very ashamed of himself, he opened up the gate so they could enter. Obviously, the couple gave him a disapproval look. They went towards the stables to leave Cloud and Epona to rest, and then they went into the castle.

"Ahhh, that feels so great," Zelda said, stretching herself a bit. "We need to have these rides more often, Link."

"Thrice a week is not enough for you?" Link smiled. Of course, he wouldn't complained if they increased the number, if he could spend more time with her.

The Princess only giggled at the comment. As they walked, she remembered something very important she had to talk about with her fiancé.

"Link, there's something we need to talk about," she said, stopping him for a bit.

"What's the matter?" Link asked. "Are you worried about something?"

"No, well… yes, truth be told," Zelda admitted. "My coming of age ceremony is near, and as you know, my mother is planning on announcing our engagement on that day."

"I know, and I can barely wait."

"Yes, so do I, but…" Zelda took a deep breath, she had to go straight to the point. "It's about the marriage proposal, from the Prince of Bern almost a year ago."

"How could I forget that?" Link frowned at the mention of that Prince. It wasn't right to judge people without knowing them, but he wasn't willing to let anyone to take his Princess away from him.

"You must remember that I also said I asked him for a year to give him an answer, right? Well, that year will clear exactly on my next birthday, as it turns out."

"But you also told me that two months later, he left to travel with his father, and you haven't seen him anymore since then," Link said. "If he wanted to get to know you better, it doesn't look like he could keep his end of the deal very much."

"That's right," Zelda admitted. "Yet, that doesn't mean he won't make an appearance now. My mother and his father have been friends for a long time, so it's obvious that she will send them invitations, and unless they have a pressing compromise, and I doubt it, I don't think they'll miss this out."

"You sound like you don't want them to come," Link commented.

"Is it that obvious?" Zelda didn't bother to deny it. Not like she was trying to hide it from him, of course.

"Zelda, tell me the truth," Link said, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Exactly, what are you worried about?"

"As you said, Zephiel and I didn't get to know each other very well," Zelda said. "As far as I've seen, he seems to be courteous and polite, but sometimes appearances can be deceiving. If he still has the intention to marry me… I'm worried on how he could react when he learns that I'm already engaged to someone else."

Link couldn't say anything to refute that. Maybe he didn't know the members of the Bern Royal Family personally, but even he knew of the military power their nation had, which they were very proud of. If the heir had a temper when he didn't get what he wanted, that could easily become the spark that would set aflame an incident between their kingdoms. Bern was not a nation they would like to have as an enemy.

"So… what do you plan to do?" he finally asked.

"I'm still not sure," Zelda answered. "All I know is that I'll have to confront him when he shows up. There is one thing I can assure you, though. I won't allow anything, or anyone, to take me away from you. You're the love of my life, and nobody will ever change that, not now, not even in a thousand years."

The young man smiled at her fiancée's words. Even though she didn't see it at times, she was a very strong young woman, and that, along with her great beauty and pureness of heart, was one of the things he loved the most about Zelda. She never doubted about defending what she believed in, or fighting for what was important to her. She'd do that to the very last consequences.

"Will you have dinner with us tonight?" she suddenly asked.

"I don't know, it's it alright that…?"

"No excuses." Zelda placed her finger on his lips to shut him up. "My mother requested your favorite for tonight's dinner. I don't think you'd like to miss that."

If there was another way towards Link's heart, that would be through his stomach. He preferred to make his own food (and he was actually very good at it), but he'd never refuse the invitation for a good meal, less when the cooks in the castle were the best at their work, and he knew it firsthand. Besides, if they would eventually be having dinner together every day, who cared if they started doing it a little earlier, just every now and then?

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Three weeks later…

Only ten days left for the celebration of Princess Zelda's eighteenth birthday. Everyone in the Castle Town was on the move, the residents ran around everywhere searching for the best outfits and whatnot so they'd look good when the day came. The inns were full of people, as many kings, princes and nobles from the neighboring kingdoms were arriving, many of them very early, expecting the grand event.

Even though Zelda and Link wanted to help too with the preparations, that day Queen Selena decided to give them a rest, and told them they could go to the Castle Town to relax for a bit. "Relax" was just a relative term, though, since the place was full of activity everywhere. While some of the castle's servants placed around the decorations, the citizens were shopping to get their getups together as soon as possible. Some of them even stopped by to ask the Princess for her opinion about their outfits. Finally, after a while, they decided to take a seat at the square's fountain, as it seemed the only relatively clear place.

"This wasn't exactly my idea to take a rest," Zelda said.

"Same here," Link added. "At least it's a little quieter here."

"Sometimes I wish I hadn't been born a princess. All this fuss everyone makes just for my birthday."

"Hey, try and look it on the bright side, you don't turn eighteen every day, do you? No matter if you're a princess or not, it is an important date."

"I know." Zelda let out a small smile. She felt a tad nervous, but also excited that she would soon be acknowledged as an adult. She would gain many new responsibilities with that, but also many new privileges. And the main one, of course, was right in front of her. "On the other hand, Link… think that, once our engagement is official, you too will earn many new duties."

"If it's for you, it's well worth it," Link answered.

Her little chat was interrupted when the drawbridge at the entrance was lowered, letting a carriage enter. It was being pulled by two horses, its external decorations made it clear it was carrying important people. For a while, neither Link nor Zelda paid any mind to it, until it got close enough for the Princess to notice the crest on the door: a winged dragon. She let out a small sigh, she knew perfectly who they were.

And certainly enough, the carriage parked very close to them, and as soon as the servant opened the door for them, out came Prince Zephiel, and his father, King Desmond. This time, though, they were accompanied by a woman and a little girl. The woman looked around Queen Selena's age, she had long, blond hair somewhat darker than that of Zephiel and Desmond, although she had a similar face to Zephiel's. The girl, who looked around six or seven years old, was her spitting image in miniature, except for her hair, which was wavier and shorter. Not long after they noticed where Zelda was, so they immediately approached her.

"Well, isn't this a great surprise," King Desmond said.

"Welcome, King Desmond," Zelda politely greeted him. "We weren't expecting you so soon."

"The negotiations ended a bit earlier than expected, so we could come here sooner," Zephiel said. "And I'm glad for it, I'm very happy to see you."

Since Zelda couldn't reply with the same sincerity, she just limited herself to smile, if somewhat forcibly. Meanwhile, Link was using up to the last bit of his willpower to fight the urge to jump over the Prince to avoid making a scene.

"Brother, is this the Princess you've been talking about?" the little girl suddenly spoke.

"Guinivere, be more respectful, please," the woman reprimanded her, with a calm yet strict tone. "First, we should properly introduce ourselves. My name is Hellene, it is an honor to meet you at last, Princess Zelda. My dear husband here speaks fondly of you and your mother. I was very anxious to meet you both."

"You honor me with your kind words, Queen Hellene," Zelda replied.

"And of course, our young daughter, Guinivere," the Queen continued, gesturing towards her daughter. "I hope you can forgive her little outburst. She has yet to get used to the protocols."

"Please don't worry," Zelda said, kneeling down to greet the little girl. "Hello, Guinivere, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." The little girl smiled. "My brother speaks of you all the time, he says you'll get married soon."

The innocent yet inappropriate comment from the little girl caused the most obvious reactions from each of them. Queen Hellene placed her hand on her mouth to try and hold back her laugh, Zephiel blushed slightly, and so did Zelda, King Desmond gave himself a face palm and shook his head in denial, and Link looked away so nobody would notice him clenching his teeth.

"That… is yet to be determined, Guinivere," Zephiel corrected. "She has yet to give me an answer."

Zelda felt a little more at ease with that. At the very least, Zephiel was honest enough to not take for granted that he had it secured, at least for now. That being the case, it might be a good idea to leave things clear here and now, it was a good chance. But in that very instant, Zephiel finally noticed the young man who accompanied Zelda, who had stayed completely out of the conversation. He also noticed the blue scarf he wore, with the Hyrulean Royal Family crest.

"Oh, excuse me, you are…"

"Oh yes, allow me to introduce you," Zelda saw her chance. "Prince Zephiel, this is Link, and he's my…"

"Bodyguard. Princess Zelda's personal bodyguard," Link completed, before Zelda had the chance to. "It's a pleasure to meet you all."

"Likewise," Zephiel said. "You must feel quite honored, having under your protection such an important person."

"That's right. I'd lay down my life for the Princess a thousand times, if I had to."

"Well, I'll say, we've had enough of courtesies and whatnot," King Desmond intervened. "It's been a long journey, and we need a well-earned rest. We're anxiously waiting for your ceremony, Princess Zelda."

The Bern Royal Family walked towards one of the most elegant inns in the Castle Town, one of the most popular and occupied by the kings, princes and nobles who had been invited. As they walked away, Link and Zelda managed to catch that little Guinivere said something like "I'll finally have a big sister". Once they left, Zelda finally realized what just had happened. She was about to make things clear with Zephiel and his family, but Link had deliberately interrupted her.

"Why didn't you let me tell them? We could have made everything clear just now."

"If you were to tell them I was your fiancé, this is not the right time," Link replied, in a low voice so nobody else could hear them.

"Why not?"

"Because, legally speaking, our engagement can't be official until you are officially of age," Link pointed out. "Your mother has given us her blessing, that's true, but outside of that, we have nothing to back it up."

"But…"

"Zelda, I know you're worried, and I understand, I'm worried myself too," Link said, placing his hands on her shoulders. "But we can't do anything reckless. If we stay within the law, we'll be fine, but a blunder like that could cost us everything we've fought for."

Zelda gazed down, ashamed of herself. Link was completely right, she almost made a fatal mistake, one that could have easily cost them both everything. Until Queen Selena didn't announce it, their engagement couldn't be official, so they had no way to legally back it up. On her bid to try and formalize their relationship, she almost went ahead of the facts. How could she be so stupid?

"I'm sorry… it's just that, this is so frustrating." Zelda's voice began to crack. "Why do we have to hide it, as if it was something immoral?"

"I hate this too, really," Link agreed. "But we've endured for almost three months. Who cares about ten more days?"

"I don't know if I really can put up with that time," Zelda said, burrowing her mouth.

"Of course you can." Link gave her his biggest smile. "I'm talking to the girl who cleared my sword training, who proved me to be a very strong and admirable young lady. A lady whom I'm sure is more than capable of dealing with this and more."

The Princess finally looked back up. He always knew what to say to make her feel better, and this time was no exception. She was right, she had been able to endure the pressure during the months following the conclusion of her training (as well as their first kiss), a few more days would be easier. She had to be patient, everything would come to place in its due time.

"We should be getting back," Link suggested. "I'd say we've rested more than enough."

"So do I," Zelda agreed. "Let's go."

Thus, the couple left the fountain and made their way back to the castle. Most likely, the servants would like them to help with the preparations, and since there was too much activity everywhere, no matter where they would be in that moment.

They couldn't do anything else, just wait.

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Ten days after…

The rising sun in the faraway horizon announced the beginning of the grand day. The young heiress, who would on that day reach her eighteen springs was still peacefully sleeping on her bed. It seemed like nothing could disturb the Princess' rest, who even in her sleep giggled and whispered her beloved's name. Only when a small ray of light peeked through the crystal of her window and caressed her face did Zelda open her eyes. She slowly got up, frowning slightly since the beautiful dream she was having had just been interrupted, but she quickly realized that, now that she was awake, she could talk to her fiancé about it and make it come true.

Both the Castle Town and the Castle were at the moment in a complete peace and quietness. That was because the celebration would begin at high noon. Since many people stayed up late preparing the last minute details, they were granted a few extra hours of sleep in the morning as a respite. Until then, the Castle's doors would remain closed. Zelda felt somewhat tempted to rest for a little more, but she didn't feel sleepy anymore. She was a little surprised upon hearing a little tapping on her window, but upon seeing the silhouette against the light, she knew who it was. She put on her longcoat, and went to open the window to greet him.

"Good morning, beautiful." Link said. He was wearing his usual soldier uniform, and carried a small box in his hand. "How was your night? Ready for your grand day?"

"I guess so." Zelda smiled and gave him a kiss on the lips. "Why are you here so early?"

"Isn't it obvious? I wanted to make sure I'd be the first one to wish a happy eighteenth birthday to the love of my life." Link replied.

"I'm surprised you can still climb up that wall without nobody noticing." Zelda giggled.

Link also chuckled himself. Ever since they were kids, he sometimes climbed up the wall towards the window of Zelda's room, which fortunately was still the same after so many years. He usually did it at night to avoid being spotted, on the few times when they both wanted to continue playing a little more past their bedtime. Nobody ever caught them, fortunately.

"Alright, since you put it as a personal challenge, here's your gift." Link said, as he handed her the box. "Happy birthday, Zelda."

Zelda then opened it with expectation. It was a ring, made of fine silver, adorned with a heart-shaped emerald, and around it there was an inscription written in ancient Hylian. The Princess, who had studied the language thoroughly, could tell it read: "My heart, forever yours."

"I couldn't ask for a better gift." She hugged him and passionately kissed him. "Thank you so much, Link. Not just for this, but for being by my side for all these years."

"And many more to come, trust me." Link said. "I'd love to stay a little longer, but I don't want to risk getting caught here, or they could get the wrong ideas. Can you wait until the party?"

"Of course, I could rest one or two more hours. I'll wait for you."

"Alright, I'll see you then."

One last quick kiss, and Link prepared to go down the wall. Zelda closed the window again and placed the ring on her finger. It fit her perfectly. She went back to her bed and admired it. That had just been the first step to turn her beautiful dream into a reality.

Meanwhile, Link carefully climbed down, trying not to make any noise, knock off any of the blocks or fall down. As a kid, it was relatively easier for him, but now he was bigger and heavier, he had to be extra careful. He just did it because it was a special day, and promised himself that this would be the last time he did that. After safely landing on the garden's grass, he let out a sigh of relief. It was a good thing he had chosen that hour, when everyone was still fast asleep. Not a soul had seen him. He was ready to go back to his room…

"It's been a while since you last did that."

That severe voice stopped him dry when he turned around a corner. Impa was in front of him, also wearing her uniform, and her arms akimbo. She had the expression of a mother who had just caught her son doing mischief, and about to deliver a lecture.

"Impa… good morning…" Was all that he managed to say, gulping down.

"Link, may I ask what were you doing up there?"

"I think you should know." Link said, already recovered from the surprise, he became a little defiant. "Last year I missed out Zelda's birthday. So to make up for it, I wanted to be the first one to see her."

"An admirable motive, but please understand you were placing your physical integrity at risk." Impa was completely right on that. "And before you say anything, I'm aware that this is not the first time you've done this, I spotted you a couple of times a few years ago. Please understand that you're not a child."

"It's the last time, I promise." Link said, raising his hand. "Besides, after today, I don't think I'll ever need to do it again, right?"

"No, I guess not." Impa admitted. "Which reminds me, I hope you have your evening clothes ready for the party. You have to look good when the Queen announces your engagement."

"Of course." Link replied. "I just don't want to get it dirty before the party, you understand."

"You better go fetch it now. I need to dress up myself. I beg your leave."

Impa walked her way, and so did Link, until he went back to his room. He went to his closet to get his evening suit ready. To be honest, it had a very similar pattern to his soldier uniform, the biggest difference being that instead of a tunic, it had an emerald green jacket, with black and golden accents on the wrists, and golden shoulder pads. Also a pair of white tight pants, in contrast to those slightly loose he usually wore, and the boots had golden anklets. Plus, inside the jacket's pocket there was a pair of white gloves. These were his least favorite part of the suit, since he preferred his usual fingerless gloves for better sword grip, but he had to put up with it. It was all for Zelda, after all.

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At noon…

The cheers of joy and excitement erupted as soon as the Castle's doors were open. The guests to the grand party began walking into the castle. That day, princes and nobles would celebrate along with the common citizens, just like the previous year. According to Queen Selena, this was a good way to strengthen the bonds between the Royal Family and the people, since her philosophy was that the nobles existed to serve the people, and not the other way around.

Amongst the first to arrive to the party were the members of the Bern Royal Family. Once they entered, the guards escorting them asked to take their leaves, since they weren't dressed for the occasion, and joined the Hyrulean soldiers to watch over the place. Queen Selena and Impa greeted them at the entrance.

"Desmond, I'm glad that you could all come." She said, courtly bowing.

"We wouldn't miss it for the world." King Desmond replied in the same way. "You have already met my son, Zephiel."

"Greetings, Your Majesty, I'm pleased to see you again." Zephiel said.

"My wife Hellene, and our younger daughter, Guinivere." He gestured towards each of them.

"We meet at last, Queen Selena, my husband has told me a lot of you." Queen Hellene greeted. "It is a pleasure to meet you, and I certainly hope we can become good friends."

"The pleasure is mine." Queen Selena replied. She then turned her attention to little Guinivere, who was trying to hide behind her mother's skirt. "And you little one, so your name is Guinivere?"

The little girl, shyly, just nodded. Queen Hellene decided to give her a gentle nudge to get her out of her hiding place.

"Guinivere, dear, don't be shy. Don't you see Queen Selena is an old friend of your father? Please greet her as you should."

"Pleased to meet you… Queen Selena." Guinivere said, trying to smile.

"Likewise." The Queen replied. "Tell me, Guinivere, how old are you?"

"I will turn seven on the next month. My mother said that, since you invited us to your daughter's birthday… would you like to come to mine?" The little girl asked, once she felt a bit more at ease.

"It would be my pleasure, dear." Queen Selena smiled. "Well, please don't stand there, the party is about to begin. Impa, if you were so kind to escort them to the main hall."

"Of course, my Queen." Impa said. "Please, this way."

Impa guided the Bern Royal Family into the inside of the castle. However, only Queen Hellene along with her son and daughter entered, King Desmond stayed at the entrance, since she still had some things to talk about with her old friend.

"Well, you and your daughter have had an entire year to think about our proposal." The King said.

"Yes, we have thought about it." Queen Selena answered. "But I already told you, my daughter has the final say on it."

"I still don't understand why you won't just accept it. I have told you nonstop about the benefits you would have with the unification of our kingdoms."

"Of course you have." The Queen replied. In fact, he had repeated it so many times she actually was a little bored with it. "But as a mother, I need to think of what is best for my daughter."

"Since you put it that way, I would imagine that she must have made up her mind about it."

"That's right. Like I said, it is her who has the final say, so I hope that you and Zephiel will accept it no matter what."

"You don't need to worry about that." The King said, very sure of himself. "Shall we go in?"

"Of course."

Queen Selena followed King Desmond into the castle, as they walked towards the great hall. The party would begin at any time, as soon as Zelda came downstairs. Just as she had imagined, King Desmond and Zephiel's proposal was still there. Queen Selena could have refused it in that very moment, but she had decided to leave it in Zelda's hands. It would be a good way to test her daughter's maturity, a way to determine whether she was worthy of being acknowledged as an adult woman. She needed to have faith in her.

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Upstairs, at Zelda's room…

The Princess had finally finished getting ready for the grand party. She was wearing her favorite evening gown for that day, a lavender-colored dress, with long matching gloves, and keeping the golden shoulder pads. After she finished tying her long blonde hair in her usual braid, she put on her tiara. A little bit of eyeshade and lipstick, and she was ready. Before leaving, she placed on her finger the ring Link had given him early on the morning. A beautiful and appropriate gift, since her mother would announce her engagement with the man she loved. Her eighteen springs didn't seem as important right now, the real motive to celebrate was making her relationship with the love of her life official.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Princess, everyone is waiting. It's time." She heard a voice calling out behind her door. She already knew who it was. She would recognize Link's voice anywhere. Of course, if he was speaking in that formal tone and calling her by her title, it meant there were other people close by and he had to cover up appearances. For the time being at least.

"I'm ready." She said, and immediately walked towards the door.

Upon opening it, she saw Link, as she expected. And just like her, he was fully dressed for the occasion, wearing his own evening suit, although he still kept the scarf from his soldier uniform. Zelda decided to take her time to admire him, since she very rarely had the chance to see him like this. Also, and to top it all, Link had brushed his hair and tied it in a ponytail. That went well with the outfit, she couldn't deny that, although deep down, she actually liked it more when he had it all wild and messy, as it reflected more the young man's real personality, the one she had fallen for.

Meanwhile, Link took a little time to admire his princess. Zelda was the kind of woman who, no matter what kind of clothes she wore, she would always look beautiful, but the evening gowns accentuated that fact even more, as they added that air of elegance and nobility that identified her as a princess and heiress.

"Wow, you look really beautiful today." Link just needed to say that.

"Thank you." Zelda slightly blushed, but she still smiled at him. "You look very handsome yourself, Link. It's been a while since I last saw you with your evening clothes."

"Heh, this is actually a new one. I needed to change sizes, I had outgrown the older one." Link confessed. "But I know how much you liked it, so I ordered it custom-made with the same model. Well, shall we go?" He added, offering her his arm.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

"Please, guide me." Zelda gladly accepted it.

The young soldier accompanied the princess across the hallway, while the servants who were around gave them strange looks. They knew Link was the Princess' bodyguard, so escorting her was part of his usual duties, but holding arms that way perhaps was going a little too far, perhaps that was what they thought. But they didn't care about that. They walked downstairs through the castle until they arrived to the one leading to the great hall. Once there they let go of each other, so Zelda could go down to the party. They didn't want to surprise the guests ahead of schedule. When the Princess walked downstairs, closely followed by her bodyguard, the entire hall exploded in cheering and applause. She only smiled and greeted everyone. The party had officially begun.

For the next two hours, Zelda did nothing else but dancing with anybody who asked her. This time she was notably more cheerful than the year before, although nobody had idea why. In part it was due to the fact that Link was present this time, and he didn't take his eyes off of her. Somehow, what she was waiting for was the chance to dance with him, already as an engaged couple. Every now and then, she also glanced at her mother, as if she asked: "When are you going to announce it?" The Queen sent a non-verbal response: "Patience, when the time comes".

When the clock hit four in the afternoon, everyone had taken a seat on the table to have some appetizers, and the queen was ready to make the announcement, however, the unthinkable happened: King Desmond went ahead from her.

"Attention everyone, please!" He said in a thunderous voice, as he ringed his glass with a spoon. "I'd like to make an important announcement. Or rather, to give the opportunity to my son, Zephiel, to do it, since it concerns his future, and also that of our kingdoms. Zephiel, if you please."

"Thank you, Father." Zephiel said, standing up himself. "Perhaps many of you already know this, but for many years, my honorable father, King Desmond, has wished to unite our kingdom and Hyrule definitively, and lead our peoples in a new era of peace and prosperity together. Exactly one year ago, I had the honor of meeting the heiress of the kingdom of Hyrule, Princess Zelda, for whose eighteen springs we're celebrating today. Allow me to say that never in my life have I met before a woman of such beauty and grace. –

Zelda sighed inside. She already knew where this was going. She had her answer ready, but a part of herself had wished not having to give it when the ears and eyes of all of the guests were set on her. At the other side of the table, Link was using every bit of his strength to hold back the urge to jump over the Prince of Bern as he gave his speech. As soon as he made a pause, Zephiel walked towards the Princess, and Link was forced to leave on the table his glass, so as to not feel tempted to crush it in her hand.

"Princess Zelda, when I first gave you my proposal, you asked me, with valid reasons, to give you a year to think it over. Today I want to renew it, and offer you the Crown of Bern so we can rule together in the future. Would you accept becoming my wife?"

Everyone became expectant. The time for the truth had come. Still, only a few knew beforehand which would be the answer. Amongst the crowd's murmurs, Link managed to hear the younger daughter of the Bern monarchs, Guinivere, said something to her mother.

"Mother, if Princess Zelda accepts marrying my brother, does that mean she will become my big sister too?" The little girl said, she seemed very enthusiastic.

"I believe the right term would be 'sister-in-law', but yes, you are correct, my child." Queen Hellene kindly said.

"Yay! I'm going to have a big sister! I'm going to have a big sister!"

Link couldn't help but force a slight smirk, and deep down to feel a little sorry for little Guinivere. She seemed very excited at the prospect of having an older sister, and with that sister being Zelda, it was more than understandable. Since he could remember, she had always had a way with small children, so she could be a great sister to the young Princess of Bern. He felt somewhat selfish for thinking that way. But the thought left just as soon as it came, as soon as Zelda was ready to give her answer.

"Prince Zephiel, I will say it again, I feel honored by your proposal, and I'm immensely flattered that you have taken a shine to me." Zelda said. "I asked you for a year to consider it because at the moment, I was unable to give you a definitive answer. With all my heart, I beg you not to take this the wrong way… but my answer… is no."

Except for the very few who knew beforehand this would be her response, everyone in the room made no effort their astonishment. Especially, of course, the members of the Bern Royal Family, and Zephiel himself most specially.

"May I ask, at least, why your answer is no?" He asked, once he regained his voice, and trying to keep the unrest in it under control.

The Princess simply raised her hand, to show off her ring finger. Until that moment, no one in the party had paid attention to it, but at this, they all knew what it meant. The Prince of Bern even managed to read the inscription upon seeing it up close (he had studied Ancient Hylian himself), so he knew it sealed the deal.

"I see, so you're engaged to someone else." Zephiel said.

"That's correct." Zelda said firmly. "And before anybody else asks, my mother has given us her blessing in our relationship. In fact, we intended to announce it today to make it official."

Soon the crowd started murmuring again. Some were still surprised at her rejection of the proposal, while others wondered who could be the mysterious fiancé engaged to Princess Zelda. Meanwhile, King Desmond seemed to be struggling to not to make a scene, while Queen Hellene held his hand to calm him down, and Guinivere simply had no idea what was going on. Rather, she wondered why Zelda had rejected her brother, who back at their own kingdom was quite popular with the ladies, and many would die to get engaged to him.

"I understand." Zephiel said. "Certainly, I wasn't expecting this. But I don't want to give up that easily. I wish to know the name of the man you have chosen as your fiancé."

"If you had just given us a little more time, we could have announced it aloud." Zelda pointed, trying not to look in Link's direction, since she couldn't be sure what intentions Zephiel had.

"Of course, Queen Selena was who would make it official with the announcement. But until then… it's still in the air, isn't it?"

Zelda gulped down at those words. If only her mother had announced her compromised just a little earlier. Queen Selena's also made a gesture of regret, she shouldn't have waited for so long. The best decision would have been to announce it at the very start of the party.

"That being the case, I request the right to face him in an honor duel, for your hand in marriage." Zephiel declared. "Let out blades solve this."

The last words the Prince of Bern pronounced caused mixed reactions amongst all of the present people. On one hand, many were still surprised at the unexpected turn of events, first the Princess rejecting him, claiming to be engaged already, and then he asked to battle her fiancé in a duel. On the other hand, there was relief amongst those who wanted at any cost to cause an incident that could damage the relationships between the two kingdoms. Reducing the conflict to an honor duel would minimize the fighting parties to only one person each to solve it and do it quickly, but perhaps that wasn't completely a good thing. Everything would rest on the outcome of the duel.

Link was more than ready to stand up to Zephiel to tell him to his face "Here I am, draw your sword, and let's get this over with." But a hand on his shoulder stopped him. Upon turning around, he saw it was Impa. The Sheikah woman shook her head.

"Wait." She said. "Let the Princess solve this herself."

He didn't understand what she meant, until just a few instants later, when Zelda answered to Prince Zephiel's request.

"If you want to solve this in with swords, Prince Zephiel, then you will have the honor duel you requested." She said firmly. "But there is one condition. You'll have to face… against me."

If the guests had thought they couldn't get any more surprises, they just realized how wrong they were. Of course, most of them had no idea of Princess Zelda's activities during the last year. She wasn't taking that lightly. She knew perfectly what she was doing.

"Surely you jest?" Zephiel said. "You want to face me? By yourself?"

"The rules of honor duels dictate that any of the parties involved, directly or indirectly, has the right to choose to take part personally if they wish to. As the Princess of Hyrule, and since it's my hand in marriage at stake, I choose to fight to defend it myself." She declared with determination.

"I second my daughter's motion." Queen Selena added. "If she wants to fight to defend her hand, she is in full right to do so."

"Is this a joke, Selena? What is the meaning of this?" King Desmond intervened, finally standing up and ignoring his wife's warnings.

"Everything my daughter said is true." Queen Selena replied. "It's been a few months, or should I say even longer than that, since she had chosen her future husband, and if you allow me to say so, he's the best prospect she could have found. However, since I couldn't make it official before your son had made his marriage proposal, everything comes down to this. My daughter is turning of legal age today, so she is on the right to accept your son's challenge to defend her hand if she wishes to."

Zelda looked at her mother. She was giving her a vote of confidence with those words. She couldn't let her down, so she immediately turned back to Zephiel.

"Your choice, Prince Zephiel. If it's my hand in marriage what you want, you'll have to win it on a duel." Zelda said.

The Prince decided to think it over. Surely enough, this had been an unexpected turn of events, especially for him. And on the history records, he had never seen a princess choosing to fight on a duel with a would-be suitor to defend her hand herself; normally, she would have someone else to do it for her. In this case, Zelda could have easily sent Link to do it for her, but she wouldn't force the love of her life to fight a battle that she could confront by herself.

"Even within legal bounds, it would be unfair to duel someone who lacks experience on swordplay." Zephiel said.

"That's not something you should be concerned about." Zelda assured him. "This past year, I went through a rigorous training to learn how to wield a sword. Plus, allow me to remind you that it was you who put forward the challenge, so if you back down now, that would make you look bad."

Those few words struck a few nerves inside Zephiel. Zelda sounded quite sure of herself upon accepting to take the challenge personally. The Bern Royal Family still had somewhat ingrained that traditionalist belief that women were weaker than men, at least in a few senses, and maybe that was why he didn't like the idea of fighting against her. But if he had to beat her to earn her hand in marriage, what other choices he had?

"Place and time?" He finally said, to let her know he had accepted.

"We need a place with a lot of space. Let's do it at the Castle Town Square." Zelda replied. "As for me, I'll need at least one hour to prepare. Is that enough time for you?"

"I see you want to solve this shortly, don't you?" Zephiel said in resignation. "Alright, I just need to go to the inn, to get my sword and combat armor."

"Fair enough." Zelda agreed. "The party is on hold until the honor duel is over. Anyone who wants to watch it, meet us at the square."

"You've heard my daughter." Queen Selena added, and then looked at a group of guards. "I want you to delimit the perimeter around the square, and make sure nobody disturbs the duel while it takes place."

"Yes, Your Majesty." The head guard replied, and they immediately rushed towards the square.

As the people exited the hall, Link tad to make his way through everyone to reach Zelda. Fortunately, Zephiel, his parents and sister were amongst the first who left the hall, so they couldn't see him approach her, or escorting her by her arm back to her room.

----------------------------------------

At Zelda's room…

The Princess had gone into her room to take off her party dress and get her combat gear ready, while Link awaited her outside, leaning against the door.

"Zelda, are you sure about this?" He asked.

"It was for things like this I asked you to train me." Zelda replied from inside, while she adjusted her boots.

"Hey, I don't mind facing against him myself." Link said. "It's my duty to protect you, after all."

"This is something I have to do myself." Zelda said, as she fitted her chest plate and shoulder pads in front of her mirror. "It's the best way to solve this."

"I'm not arguing, but…"

"You've heard Zephiel." Zelda interrupted him again, this time while fitting her armlets. "To be honest, I'm a little surprised on how well she took it. And in any case, there's no turning back now, I have to win this duel, and that's all that matters."

Link couldn't say anything else. He didn't like very much the idea of letting Zelda to face against Zephiel herself, especially when he was supposed to be the one to protect her. After a few minutes, Zelda exited the room, fully equipped and with her rapier in hand.

"I can fight him instead, there's no need for you to do this." Link said.

"But I want to." Zelda said. "I'm no longer a child. If I want to be acknowledged as an adult, I must be able to protect to what is important to me. This duel is to defend our future together, our happiness. And that's why I want to fight this battle."

"Zelda, you don't have to prove anything." Link said. "You're a very strong woman, and you proved that to me during our training."

"Link, tell me, and be sincere, do you believe in me?" She asked, holding his shoulders.

Link remained silent for a moment. He couldn't say yes or no so lightly. A part of him still told him that he should be who put his life on the line for her, not the other way around. But that meant he was underestimating her. The other told him Zelda was a strong young woman and was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, and he should have more faith in her, but that could imply that he wasn't taking seriously his responsibility to protect her, not just as her bodyguard, but also as her fiancé.

"Link, you told me once during our training to never pick on a fight unless I'm sure I can win." Zelda said. "I don't mean to sound arrogant, but I'm feeling confident, after all, I trained under the best. Besides, if it's necessary, I still have a few aces up my sleeve, just in case."

"What are you…?" And then Link finally understood. Zelda was talking about the training she had been making by herself during the past few months. To channel her magical powers through the rapier to use special attacks. Plus, her own natural sword swills were still improving. If she combined those two abilities, perhaps, no, there was no doubt that she would win. And they were not at a tournament, so nobody could call her out on cheating for doing that.

Somehow, the two conflicted parts of Link's brain managed to reconcile with each other. He looked back at his princess. If the party dresses highlighted her beauty and elegance as a princess, her combat costume somehow reflected what he would call "the real Zelda". A woman who wanted to be strong enough to defend what was important for her, and even so, she was still beautiful and noble-hearted. Weren't those the reasons he had fallen in love with her in the first place?

"Alright." Link finally said. "This is a battle to defend our love, so losing is not an option. But I believe in you. You're the strongest, most beautiful and most wonderful woman I've ever met. I know you can take him."

"I won't let you down." Zelda assured. Looking on both sides of the hallway to ensure that there was nobody watching, she held Link by his chin to approach him. "Won't you give me a kiss for good luck?"

"I thought you wouldn't ask." Link smiled, gladly granting her request with his most tender kiss. Once he was done, he took her hand. "We better hurry, we shouldn't leave them waiting."

"That's right. Let's go."

The Princess and her bodyguard walked with firm steps as they exited the castle. As they passed through the path leading towards the Castle Town, everyone stared at them, in part due to the fact they were holding hands, and in part due to the serious and full of determination expression the young woman had in her face, in stark contrast to her usual relaxed and peaceful demeanor. Upon reaching the entrance, Zelda had to continue towards the square, while Link decided to go find Queen Selena and Impa, who would with no doubt be taking front row seats for the duel. They both exchanged glances, nodding to each other as a sign of trust on one another. When Link went his own way, Zelda turned around and glanced at the square. The guards had cleared the way for her. She took a deep breath, now was the time to face her destiny.

----------------------------------------

Hyrule Castle Town square, minutes later…

The Hyrule Castle Town residents had gathered all around the square for this unprecedented event. All of the center of the square had been cleared, and people awaited in expectation from the outside, leaving room for the two opponents.

On the first corner was the Princess of Hyrule. She had always been considered one of the most beautiful young women inside and outside the kingdom, but that day, everyone admired her beauty in a… different way, as she had replaced her gown for the outfit she had worn during their training with Link, something they never ever thought they would see. People was surprised to see the Princess dressed in that fashion and with a sword in hand, although nobody could deny that, despite everything, she still kept her beauty and elegance.

On the other corner, Prince Zephiel had also properly equipped himself for the combat. He had put on a middle-weight armor, purple with golden accents, also bearing on his chest the Bern Royal Family crest. He had a very large and heavy longsword that clearly required both hands for proper wielding.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Zelda?" The Prince spoke up.

"I'm sure, Prince Zephiel." The Princess replied, ignoring that first-name remark.

"We could save all of this, if you just accepted my proposal."

"With all due respect, you speak as if the result has already been decided." Zelda said, keeping calm and trying to sound as polite as possible.

"I apologize, but please think it over." Zephiel said. "From what you told me, you have just trained for little less than one year. I, on the other hand, have over ten years of experience under my belt as a swordsman."

"Don't dismiss me so soon." Zelda said, taking on a defensive stance, placing her body sideways and pointing her rapier forward. "You could be surprised on how much I've learned in that time."

"It's a shame. But if that's what I need to do to earn your hand, so be it." Zephiel, taking on his own stance.

On an honored site, reserved for the most important people who were to witness the encounter, were the respective families of the combatants. Queen Selena was sitting on a lone throne, with Impa and Link both standing beside her, with their arms crossed and anxiously waiting for the beginning of the combat. King Desmond and his wife were occupying a double throne, with little Guinivere sitting on her mother's lap.

"Your daughter is a headstrong one." King Desmond commented. "To think she managed to convince us to do this."

"I suppose it runs in the family." Queen Selena replied, smiling. "I used to be the same when I was her age, don't you remember?"

"How could I forget it?" Desmond said. "I have to agree with my son with this, this is a waste of time. Zephiel is the greatest swordsman in the kingdom of Bern, not even our Royal Guard commanders are a match for him."

"Don't underestimate my daughter." Selena replied. "You would be surprised on how capable she is when she puts her mind to achieve something. And as you know, she has many… hidden talents."

Desmond glared at Selena, who didn't stop smiling. There was a bit of truth on that, Princess Zelda had proved to be a child prodigy on many fields. But, could she really be capable of mastering the art of the sword in such a short amount of time?

"You seem quite sure of yourself." Desmond continued.

"I believe in her." Selena smiled. "Besides, during that time she had a very good teacher. That's another point on her favor."

"As you say. I just hope this ends soon, so we can officially seal our alliance with the engagement of our heirs." Desmond said.

Queen Selena wasn't quite as sure about that as him. And evidently, neither was her daughter. After all, with the events that had led to this in the first place, there were many things at stake.

"Come on, Brother, you can do this!" Little Guinivere voiced.

"Guinivere, please show a little more of respect." Queen Hellene said.

"But Mother, I want my brother to win." Guinivere said. "If he wins, he can marry Princess Zelda, and then I can finally have a big sister."

Queen Hellene let out a small sigh of resignation. She couldn't blame her daughter for being so excited, after all, the little girl had seen several of her female peers with a big sister, and even though she loved her brother Zephiel, being of different genders they had also very different general interests, and she wanted a big sister to share in the same way herself. From what she had seen of Zelda, if she had given birth to another daughter before Guinivere, she would have loved if she had been like her.

Everyone turned their attention towards the center of the square. The combat was about to begin. The rules were simple: taking down the opponent, forcing a surrender or disarming. The first of the two who managed any of these three conditions would be the winner. Zephiel at first thought of letting Zelda make the first movement, but then decided that she might not like such niceties. So he pointed his sword forward and charged.

The Princess dodged the attack using the basic evasive maneuver Link had taught him. Using her left tiptoe as a pivot to rotate her body, she dodged Zephiel's blade in the very last second and circled him, taking a little bit of distance. The Princess turned around and attacked again, this time with a horizontal slash. She parried with a vertical blocking, although she needed to use both hands to be able to block Zephiel's large sword.

Zephiel continued on the offensive, pressing Zelda nonstop. She only dodged or parried the attacks without countering at all. Despite everything, he could notice the Princess' techniques were quite effective. And not just that, she also moved with grace and elegance, her movements were fluid and accurate. She didn't drop her guard for a single second.

"Well, well. This is turning out to be more interesting than I expected." Zephiel said.

"I told you I could surprise you." Zelda smiled.

"And you did, I admit it." Zephiel said. "But if I didn't know better, I'd say you were only testing me, am I wrong? I'm warning you, if you don't come to me with everything you have, you'll never beat me."

"If that's how you want it." Zelda replied, taking her stance again.

The combat then resumed. Now, the sword clashing became more intense. Both Queen Selena and King Desmond noticed that Zelda was no longer on the defensive as much as in the beginning, now she was taking the openings to counterattack occasionally. People watched in amazement, it didn't seem like the Princess was fighting, but rather performing a dance around her opponent.

On the other hand, while Zelda remained calm, Prince Zephiel was starting to lose his cool. She turned out to be an opponent much more formidable than he was expecting. And for some reason, he couldn't quite shake off that strange sensation that she was just toying with him, and actually having fun with it.

"No, that's not possible…" He told himself.

Even so, Zelda's counterattacks on several occasions had passed dangerously close to him. They were fighting with real and sharp swords, an attack to any zone not protected by armor would cause a wound. In a small fit of anger, not knowing why, Zephiel delivered a thrust towards Zelda's face, at the same time letting out a scream of anger. Zelda jumped backwards to dodge, and for the first time in the fight a glint of alarm crossed her eyes.

Zephiel, meanwhile, seemed as surprised as her at what he had almost done.

"I… I'm sorry." He said. "I think I got carried away, just a bit…"

"Don't worry." Zelda said. "I think it's best this way."

"Alright, that means I should stop playing around." Zephiel said. "Now it's time to get serious."

"I wouldn't like it any other way." Zelda replied, very confident in herself.

Said and done, there was no time to play anymore. Zephiel started increasing the strength of his attacks. Due to this, Zelda started dodging and trying to deliver thrusts whenever she had an opening. Having already trained against a similar weapon, although much heavier, she had the feeling that the Prince was trying to break her defense and her weapon along with it. And she wasn't wrong. She started getting a little worried, she didn't want her rapier, a special gift from her beloved, to get broken in this duel. Zephiel shortened the distance between them and tried to break through her guard, while she countered parrying the strikes as much as she could. When she slipped up a bit, he managed to force her into a vulnerable position, and he was about to deliver a powerful two-handed strike. Instinctively, Zelda placed her rapier on a diagonal guard, and focused.

"What the…?!"

The next thing Zephiel knew was that, just as soon his sword made contact with Zelda's rapier, a powerful force struck him, pushing him backwards and stunning him for a moment. And he could swear that, right before that instant, he saw that the blade of the Princess' weapons was irradiating a white-blue glow, as if it was made of ice or something. By some kind of miracle, he landed on his feet, but he clearly was in shock at what had just happened.

And the public felt the same way. The cheering screams, either for the Prince or the Princess, ceased by an instant. The Bern Royal Family had also been left dumbfounded. The only ones who didn't seem surprised were Queen Selena, Impa and Link. In fact, they had ample smiles in their faces. Finally everyone would see Zelda's real skills.

"What was that? What did Zelda do just a moment ago?" Queen Hellene asked.

"I'm no expert, but what I have just seen definitely was magic." King Desmond said." Zelda imbued her sword with some magical power, didn't she, Selena?"

"That is correct." Queen Selena replied, still smiling.

"But that's illegal!" The King protested. "Your daughter has an unfair advantage!"

"Desmond, with all due respect, we're not in a tournament." Queen Selena said with a calm voice. "When setting the rules for this honor duel, we never forbade any of the combatants from using magic as support. Which means that they're both in total liberty to use the resources they have at their disposal."

"But that's…"

King Desmond wanted to protest further, but his wife grabbed his hand to get her attention, and shook her head so as to stop him. The Queen of Hyrule was right, the rules set at the beginning of the duel didn't forbid the use of magic; they only specified the victory conditions, which left implied that anything else they used to achieve them was fair game. All of a sudden, it made sense that she felt so sure that her daughter was going to win. She was keeping some aces up her sleeve. The King frowned, but remained silent.

"Selena, could you explain me what was that, just a moment ago? What kind of attack did Zelda use?" Queen Hellene asked, clearly interested.

"My daughter has just used a variant of the ancient spell known as Nayru's Love." Queen Selena explained. "According to our legends, Nayru is the Goddess of Wisdom, and we associate her with the element of water and ice, time and protection. This spell creates a barrier made of ice crystals. If the opponent strikes the barrier, the energy they use against it, combined with the barrier's energy will return the attack with double force. Nayru was not a naturally aggressive goddess, so she mostly used her foes power against them when attacked."

Back on the duel, Prince Zephiel, already getting over the initial shock, admitted inside that he was impressed. The surprise Zelda had just given him made him realize that he got a bit too overconfident when he thought this would be an easy victory. For a very long time, he had been awaiting for an opponent who could motivate him to fight at his 100%, and he finally had found it. He had never seen anything like that, combining swordplay with magic.

"So you were saving your best tricks?" He asked.

"I didn't want to use them so soon." Zelda replied. "Sorry about that shove, the attack I just used returns the opponent's force in double against them."

"Don't apologize. I told you to give me everything you have, after all." Zephiel admitted. "And now that I've seen this, I'm interested in seeing more."

The Princess once again took her defensive stance. Zephiel understood he couldn't rush an attack that way anymore; if she had managed to put up her guard, her counterattack would be brutal. And it didn't take a genius to know that this wouldn't be the only trick she had in store.

"I'm waiting, Prince Zephiel." Zelda said, seeing he didn't make a move.

But Zephiel didn't know what to do, should he attack, or wait? Knowing opponent was half the battle, and the Prince thought he knew, until Zelda proved him wrong. On the other hand, she had already seen almost everything, if not everything, he had to offer.

"If you don't move… I will!"

With this, the Princess ran towards him, ready to deliver a thrust. Zephiel's survival instincts kicked in right on time to have him step back. While Zelda ran the distance, the rapier's blade became engulfed in a green energy. The Prince then knew something was coming, but he didn't know what was that something, so he couldn't do anything else but staying out of the reach of the rapier's blade. Tough luck, that wasn't going to be of any help.

WHOOOSH!

Just as soon as Zelda delivered the thrust, even though the blade didn't reach him, the magical energy generated a tornado that pushed him back. He was lucky enough to get foothold by placing one of his feet back, otherwise he could have fallen backwards. But in that time, the Princess managed to get to him and started assaulting him with multiple lightning-speed attacks. Zephiel managed to block them without too much difficulties, although he had the strangest sensation that they suddenly were growing faster by the minute.

"Another magical attack, and this time wind-based." Queen Hellene commented.

"Farore's Wind." Queen Selena said. "Farore is the Goddess of Courage, keeper of Hyrule's biggest secrets, and associated with the element of wind. It is said her currents can take you anywhere you want to go, so long as you're a kindhearted person. If you're not, they will hit you with hurricane force, and will make you get lost."

As soon as he saw his chance, Zephiel started his own lightning offensive, trying to keep a relatively short distance from Zelda to prevent her from preparing another special attack. But whenever he tried to circle her to get on her blind spot, she also changed positions, keeping always in parallel with him. On one occasion he looked at the Princess' feet to analyze her movements, he could almost swear he recognized the steps of a waltz.

His suspicions were confirmed shortly after, when he finally decided to attack, Zelda moved almost as if she was his dancing partner. The most humiliating was that, while he was made to be like a fool every time he tried to keep up, she maintained that air of grace and elegance in her movements. He took a deep breath, if he wanted to win, he had to cool down.

Keeping calm seemed to work, as he was able to better analyze Zelda's movements and see their rhythm. Soon, just for a moment he seemed to gain the upper hand, yet when he had the chance, he hesitated out of fear using that magical counterattack, so he decided to stick in keeping a distance.

Zelda once again fired her tornado thrust, and Zephiel rolled on the floor to dodge the air current. He tried to approach her to attack again. Upon realizing that, the Princess tried to raise her barrier once again, but Zephiel didn't fall for it. He spun out his body to try and surround her and tried to deliver a backhand strike with the blunt side of his sword towards her waist. Obviously he wasn't going for fatal strikes, but a hit from that sword would definitely hurt her. Zelda leapt forward to the floor and rolled before she stood up again.

For now, she had avoided spending more magic than necessary, only on those magical attacks she had used, and a little more occasionally to boost her speed. But Zephiel's natural endurance seemed much higher than she had expected, since during the entire encounter he hadn't broken a sweat just yet. She still had a lot of energy left and a couple more of magical attacks in reserve, but she couldn't rest on her laurels. She had to use them only when she really needed them.

Meanwhile, Zephiel was dealing with a huge inner conflict. Now he didn't know which could be the right approach to stand a chance of victory in this battle. They were more or less evenly matched, but he had no idea if Zelda had used all of her tricks against him. He didn't know on whether he should force her to get them out, or try and end the duel as fast as possible before she had the chance to pull them out. In any case, his victory chances didn't seem very well.

"Don't be a coward, Zephiel. You can still beat her, those magical attacks must have a limit." He thought.

He finally understood what kind of opponent he was facing against. Perhaps in a "normal" duel, Zelda could have fought evenly matched against him, but she would have lost in the long run. He was stronger and more experienced, and Zelda countered that with more agility and flexibility, which also reflected on their weapons of choice. On a couple of occasions, he tried to disarm her delivering a strike towards her armlet to stun her arm and causing her to drop her rapier. It would have worked, if it wasn't because the Princess took a page out of her instructor's page and switched the rapier from one hand to the other. As it was expected, she wasn't as skilled with the left hand as with the right one, but it helped her stay in the game until she was able to switch back. Only once she used the barrier spell to repel her attacker.

"Your daughter is managing to endure a lot." King Desmond commented. "At this point anyone else would have fallen to Zephiel's blade."

"Your son has also impressed me." Queen Selena admitted. "It seems he knows how to change strategies and movements even halfway through the duel. Unfortunately for him, Zelda is perceptive and quick to adapt to her opponent."

Of course she was. Zephiel first started with quick moments to end the duel quickly, but Zelda was able to anticipate them with relative ease. Now it was an endurance race, praying to have greater stamina than Zelda and resist until she collapsed. Yet she didn't show any signs of being drained either. Even so, it seemed more viable than trying to risk with complicated moves. For now he would stay that way, until he thought about something.

Taking advantage of Zephiel's apparently defensive strategy, he decided to put in practice a few of the combination attacks Link had taught her, chaining some of the most basic ones. She opened up with two diagonal strikes in X as she advanced forward, followed by an almost vertical one from below. Zephiel thought he had seen an opening and couldn't resist the temptation to counter with a thrust. Zelda foresaw his intentions and turned her body, holding his extended arm to pull him using his own weight. Without nobody seeing it, the rapier's blade passed over dangerously close to the back of his neck. It was just for a split second, but Zephiel felt it, the metal of the blade. However, nobody else saw it since it was so fast, they could only see when he managed to get away. For the first time in the duel, a chill went down the Prince's spine, and a drop of cold sweat rolled down his temple. Even if it had just been for a split second, he realized that Zelda could have used that very moment to stab him on the back of the neck to fatally wound him, but she didn't. He had been careless, she had lured him into a trap, and he took the bait.

"No more games." He muttered to himself.

He held firmly her longsword with both hands and started attacking Zelda as fast as he could with a weapon that size. The sudden ferocity of his strikes caught Zelda off guard, to the point it took her a bit to mount well her defense again. She almost tripped over backwards, and instinctively raised the barrier spell to try and repel him.

"Oh, no you don't" Zephiel said, leaping backwards to get away from her. If his sword struck, the impact would be returned to him in double.

What Zephiel didn't know was that Nayru's Love was not an entirely defensive spell. While the barrier was active, it could do more than just protecting her, she could use it to attack. Zelda delivered an ample horizontal slash and fired at Zephiel a few icy spikes. Surprised, all he could do was shielding himself behind as much as his armor allowed him. He was lucky they didn't reach any unprotected part.

"Can she do that with Nayru's Love too?" Queen Hellene asked.

"Nayru is the least aggressive of the Goddesses, but that doesn't mean she's not capable of fighting when needed." Queen Selena answered.

"Was that too cold for you?" Zelda asked in a little mocking tone.

"Perhaps a little." Zephiel admitted, wiping off a few spike shards left on his shoulder pad.

"Then… it's time to heat things up." Zelda said, raising her rapier as she focused her magical power again. This time, the blade turned red-hot, literally. A second later, it burst out into flames.

BOOOOFF! The Princess delivered a vertical slash, which upon impacted generated a fire column. Not too big, but the fire was enough so as to startle Zephiel to make him lose his focus.

"Now it's fire." Queen Hellene noted.

"Not any kind of fire, it's Din's Fire." Queen Selena explained. "Din is the Goddess of Power, associated to the element of fire and protector of the essences of nature. By herself, she is probably the strongest of the Goddesses."

And even though she had relatively used a low-powered attack, Zelda knew that at its maximum power it could have been the most devastating out of her elemental spells, which made sense since it was fire-based. She had to be careful when using it, partly for the danger itself, and partly because it was the spell that consumed the most of her magical power. She didn't want to waste it by taking unnecessary risks. She would reserve some power only for one single more attack.

The Prince of Bern was officially way past the term "impressed" with the Hyrulean Princess' skills. Not just with the rapier itself, but also with the creative ways she imbued her magic power on it for those special attacks. She was in a very different level from any other swordfighter he had ever faced, no doubt about it. He had tried almost everything he knew, and at this point, the Princess would most likely know all of his movements. Either finishing quickly or trying to prolong the fight was already out of consideration. The last thing he had left was trying to corner her to limit her movement radius, if that could make any good. The fact they were fighting on an open square gave her a certain advantage, since even though Zephiel had realized that the spells needed one or two seconds to focus and unleash the magical power, Zelda always remained relatively out of reach during those time intervals. If he didn't give her a chance to prepare them, he could still have a chance to win the duel.

With that in mind, Zephiel tried to circle around Zelda to try and get her to move towards one of the square corners. For a moment, it seemed to have worked, but a couple of minutes later she realized his intentions. Amongst other things, she could lose by default if she walked out of the limits of the combat area, delimited by the soldiers. She allowed the prince to believe for a moment that he had her right where he wanted, but when he was about to deliver the decisive blow, the Princess focused magic on her feet to perform a flash step and get away from the danger. Frustrated upon seeing his plan had failed, the Prince of Bern went after her. Once at a safe distance, Zelda began focusing her magic once again, the red glow alerted that she once again would use Din's Fire. But this time, the flames became much bigger and brighter. The Princess raised high her rapier and held it with both hands, ready to deliver a devastating strike.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" The Princess' exclamation resounded across the whole square, as she struck down at full force against her opponents.

BOOOOOOOOMMMM! This time, it wasn't just a simple fire column, but a huge burst of flames, with a more or less considerable range. Zelda barely reached the point to avoid hurting herself, knowing the limit of the explosion, which left a huge mark on the floor. Zephiel became terrified at the thought of how that attack would have left him, he could clearly see that Zelda purposely missed as she didn't have any intent to kill, all she wanted was to force him to fall back. And she was making it. At this point, the Prince actually began regretting having told her to show him everything she had. He could have easily won in a duel against an ordinary swordsman (and Zelda was far from ordinary).

Meanwhile, Zelda decided it was time to end the duel, and fast. Just like in her training sessions with Link, she was starting to feel the physical and mental strain. She had to deliver the decisive blow, and she already had an idea on how to do it. She just needed to lead Zephiel into a trap. He chance suddenly came when Zephiel, in a desperate attack, tried to lunge at her with full force using her swords heavy weight. Zelda saw her opening and raised Nayru's Love to block the strike. As soon as both blades made contact, the barrier knocked Zephiel backwards and returned his attack stunning him for a moment. Immediately Zelda used the Farore's Wind thrust to push him back even further and began focusing her energy for the final strike.

"This ends now!" Zelda cried out, running towards Zephiel with the rapier ready for the final strike, glowing in a golden light.

Zephiel barely recovered from the stun effect to see the Princess charging at him at full speed. When the rapier's blade, glowing in gold, went straight towards him, he barely managed to place the blunt side of his sword to shield himself from the thrust. The blade tip made contact barely a couple of inches from where the sword's blade was held by the hilt.

CRACK! There was a small burst of light, and the blade of Zephiel's sword went flying and spinning through the air, landing just a few meters away from them. Zephiel took a few seconds to assimilate what just had happened. At the same time, everyone in the square had fallen in a dramatic and complete silence. The tip of Zelda's rapier, which had already lost its abnormal golden glow, was just a few millimeters from his face, his hand only holding a broken hilt. The result was clear. Zelda had defeated him by breaking his sword. He then dropped the hilt and relaxed his stance, and then respectfully kneeled before the woman who had bested him.

"I have lost…" He said.

The entire square exploded in cheers and applause. The duel itself had been spectacular, but the Princess' victory was even more. As for her, she was just happy that it was finally over.

"You may stand up now, it's over." Zelda said. Zephiel then stood up again. "I'm really sorry I broke your sword."

"Don't apologize. You beat me fair and square. The way I see it, I should be grateful I'm still breathing." Zephiel said. "Actually, even without using your magic, your abilities are exceptional."

"I had an excellent teacher." Zelda said, looking sideways towards Link, who was smiling triumphant.

"It's him, isn't it?" Zephiel deducted. "He taught you."

"That's right." Zelda confirmed.

The Prince and the Prince walked back to the honor seats. It goes without saying that the Bern Royal Family was very shocked to see their heir had been defeated.

"It cannot be, my brother never loses." Guinivere cried.

"There's always a first time for everything, dear." Queen Hellene. "But don't feel sad. They both did their best. It was an excellent duel."

"I agree." King Desmond acknowledged. "My son, I believe we need to rethink our training methods. We need to prepare better for something like this."

"Desmond, I hope you have not forgotten the agreement." Queen Selena intervened.

"No, I have not forgotten. I am a man of my word. Your daughter won this duel fair and square, so she is free from any engagement with any of us."

"It's a shame, though. You impressed me even more, I would have loved to have a wife as strong as you." Zephiel said. "But my father is right, a deal is a deal. In any case, I believe at least I have the right to know who the fortunate man who will have the joy of spending the rest of his days by your side is."

"Actually… you already know him." Zelda said, turning around and looking at Link.

They both were finally at ease because it was all over, and they could finally say it without any danger. Zelda gestured Link to come closer. The Bern Royal Family was a bit surprised.

"You… you are…"

"I couldn't properly introduce you before." Zelda interrupted. "This is Link. My personal bodyguard, my instructor in the art of the sword, my best friend since I was a child… and my fiancé." She made special emphasis on the final part.

The Bern monarchs and their children dropped their jaws. The boy was just a soldier, since they had seen him with the standard Hyrulean army uniform when they had arrived, a few days before the party. However, judging by the way Zelda talked about him, and Queen Selena not making any objections about it, it wasn't any kind of joke. Finally it was Zephiel who decided to break the silence.

"Well, any man capable of teaching his future wife that kind of sword skill in less than a year, is undoubtedly worthy of my respect." Zephiel said, extending his hand.

Link gazed at the hand, after a while, he decided to shake it.

"She was a prodigious disciple." Link said. "I only taught her how to wield the rapier, using the magic was all on her own."

"No doubt, Zelda is a one-of-a-kind woman." Zephiel said. "Looking back now, it's a shame I couldn't meet her earlier."

"Brother, does that mean you're not going to marry Princess Zelda anymore?" Guinivere asked. "I'm not going to have a big sister?"

"*Sigh*, no, Guinivere, I'm afraid not." Zephiel said. "Zelda had made up her mind a long time ago."

"I'm truly sorry, Guinivere." Zelda kneeled, and stroke the little girl's hair. "To be sincere, I'm an only child, and sometimes I would have loved to have a cute little sister like you. But that doesn't mean we can't be friends, does it?"

"Hmm… no, I guess not." Guinivere tried to smile. "If I come to visit again, or you visit us, can we play together sometime?"

"I'd love to." Zelda said. "Besides, don't be sad, I'm certain that, someday, your brother will find a girl perfect for him. One that I'm sure would be happy to have you as a little sister."

"Do you really think so?"

"I know so." Zelda said. "Well, I'd say this has wrapped up all of the loose ends around here."

"Not yet, I still have one more." Zephiel spoke to Link. "Considering that the best of us two had already won long ago, from what I can gather, can I ask you to promise me something, as a man?"

"Depends on what it might be." Link said. Zelda could notice that, despite his words of choice, Link's voice didn't have a single shred of animosity.

"It's nothing you cannot do." Zephiel replied. "I just want you to promise me that you'll take good care of Zelda. You know, I just don't want to find out that the man who beat me for her heart failed to give her the life and happiness she deserves."

"You don't have to worry, Your Highness." Link said. "I've been by her side for all these years, and I'll never let anything bad happen to her."

"Since we're already done with the duel show, I'd say there's something more pressing right now." Queen Selena intervened. "Impa, please call for the musicians. This deserves a victory dance, for both of you."

Link and Zelda stared at each other. While Impa went to fetch the musicians, Queen Selena took her chance to announce out loud of her daughter's engagement. Since most of them already knew of Link, and they knew how much he had done for the kingdom and its people, the acceptation and victory cheers were unanimous. The Queen ordered the guards to keep the square clear for a little longer, and when the musicians entered, she asked them to play her daughter's favorite song. The Queen then escorted both of them to the center of the square.

"The stage is all yours." She said.

The couple looked around, somewhat confused. They laughed a bit since they probably looked silly in front of such a big crowd.

"This is ironic, I've been waiting the entire day to have my first dance with you." Zelda said. "At least they could have let me go get back my gown."

"What are you talking about?" Link asked. "You're just perfect for me the way you are. I have in front of my eyes the Zelda I fell in love with, the one and only. And if you allow me to say so, today you look more beautiful than ever."

Many other could see her the same every day, but Link could see beyond the evident when it came to her. And before his eyes, it was true; today, Zelda's beauty was more radiant than ever before, for two main reasons: first, she was immensely happy, and second, the sweet young girl had completed her metamorphose into an adult woman. So, when the orchestra began playing their song, they both completely disconnected from the world around them and focused on the other. There was nobody else, only him, her, and the song marking the beginning of a new life, for both of them.

----------------------------------------

That night…

The celebration continued on at the Castle Town, and it would make history as perhaps the noisiest birthday ever celebrated for a member of the Hyrulean Royal Family. Aside from that, it had been a rather atypical coming-of-age ceremony in itself, with everything that had happened that day. The servants had to bring along the tables with all the food outside just to please the guests, not to mention the chaos that followed when they brought the birthday cake, or rather, cakes. Originally, many of the Castle Town's residents had to leave their kids at home before attending the party at the castle, but when they brought the party outside, the kids didn't waste their time to ask for their slice.

Once the rampage calmed down, the servants took the tables back to the castle's great hall. They had a huge mess to clean up, but they decided everyone deserved a good night of rest. They'd handle that in the morning.

At the castle's great hall there were only two people left. They were Link and Zelda, the recently engaged couple, who were delighting themselves and each other with their slices of cake, and having a little fun while they were at it.

"Come on, aaaaahhh." Zelda said, holding a small slice of chocolate cake.

"Hehe, aaaaahhh." Link opened wide his mouth while the Princess placed the cake in it. She clearly enjoyed every bit of it, as if she had been waiting for a very long time to do that.

By the entrance, Impa and Queen Selena gazed at the happy couple. They were no longer a princess and her bodyguard, just a couple of teenagers in love having a good time together. They had to wipe a few tears of joy upon seeing them so happy together.

"Your Majesty, as happy I am for them right now, I think it's time for them to rest. It's been a long day, for both of them." Impa said.

"That's right. But I'm glad everything turned out well." The Queen replied. "If I may say it, it turned out even better than I expected. Zelda was able to take control of the situation by herself, without me needing to intervene. She has grown so much, I'm so proud of her."

"We both are." Impa agreed. "Bringing Link here was perhaps the best you could have done, he brought Zelda much more than I could have imagined. He's a great young man, we can leave her in his hands."

The Queen nodded in agreement, and asked Impa to tell Link and Zelda to go back to their rooms to rest. Zelda wanted to protest, but Link convinced her it was best this way, since he felt very tired due to all of that hustle they had for that day. They'd have much more time to spend together the next day… while they helped in cleaning up the mess of the party.

"Link, I can get to my room by myself, you don't have to escort me all the way." Zelda said, while they walked through the second floor hallway, towards the stairway leading to her chambers.

"Are you kidding me?" Link replied. "After using all that magic during the duel? You might have fooled everyone, but not me."

"I'm not as tired as you think." Zelda insisted.

But that was only on the outside. The strain of using her magic not always had an immediate effect, so Zelda still had plenty of energy to celebrate after finishing the duel, but the aftermath was catching up with her. In fact, her sight was turning somewhat blurry and her walk was slightly shaky. She managed to walk the rest of the hallway by herself, but she was starting to feel a little headache. Link could see it, she could collapse at any minute, and it happened, just when they reached the tower stairway, Zelda almost fell over right there, but fortunately Link caught her.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm alright." She replied. "It's true, I used up a lot of magic during the duel… I'm a little exhausted, but I still can..."

"No, of course you can't..." Link interrupted her. "I have no other choice."

"Hey, what are you…? Whoah!"

Without asking, Link placed an arm around Zelda's legs, lifted her up and carried her like a just-married couple. Even if she had wanted to struggle, she didn't have the energy to do so, but she still felt somewhat uncomfortable at the sudden daring action of her fiancé.

"Link, what do you think you're doing?" She asked while he walked with her in his arms.

"Isn't it obvious?" He said, without stopping his walk. "I'm taking you to your chambers."

"Hey, you don't have to carry me. I can go by myself."

"Yeah, sure." Link replied sarcastically.

"Link, I'm serious, don't treat me like a child."

"I know you're not a child; that fight against Zephiel is proof of that." Link said. "Only a strong woman would have the courage to stand up in front of everyone out there to defend her love. But you're exhausted now, so whether you like it or not, you'll have to let me help you."

"But Link…"

"No buts. You fought the battle out there to defend our love, so at least let me take care of you as I should. I don't want anything bad happens to you."

The Princess exhaled a sigh in resignation. It was really embarrassing, but Link had a valid point wherever she looked it from. She didn't want to collapse while she walked upstairs to fall over and break her neck. As they continued, Zelda couldn't help but notice on how strong Link was, he could easily walk upstairs with her in his arms without shaking even a little. She couldn't scold him for it, he just cared for her wellbeing and wanted to look after her. And it wasn't too bad, to be honest, she felt very comfortable and safe in the arms of her beloved. Any other girl in love would die to be in her position now. With nothing else to do, she wrapped her arms around her fiancé's neck and gave him a little peck on the cheek.

Once they arrived to her door, Link opened it up and entered the room still carrying her, until they reached the bed, gently placing her to sit on the edge.

"I could have walked the last few meters myself." Zelda said.

"I know, but I still wanted to do that." Link replied. "I've always wanted to carry you in my arms that way."

"You wouldn't miss out your chance, would you?"

"Nope, not in the least." Link sat next to Zelda and held her hands. "Zelda, you were really amazing out there. I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you." She said. "You gave me strength, I just knew I couldn't lose. It was our love, our happiness, what was at stake."

"I could never wish for a better wife. I'll say it again: I have the strongest, most beautiful and most wonderful woman in the world." He then kissed her tenderly on her lips. "I love you, Zelda, you have no idea how much."

"As much as I love you, I'm sure." She said, returning the kiss in the same manner.

After kissing, they both stared at each other, keeping silent for a few minutes, as if they were expecting something else. It was then that Link realized the situation they were in, and what it could lead to.

"I think… I should go now." He said. "We might be engaged, but… it wouldn't be right if… something happened between us tonight."

"I wouldn't mind at all… if something happened tonight…" Zelda said, in a completely shameless tone. Link gulped down upon hearing those words, but a second later it was clear she only said them to see his reaction. "But I agree with you. Not tonight. It can wait."

"Goodnight, my love." Link gave her one last kiss. "Sweet dreams."

"Goodnight."

Making a huge effort, Link finally left his beloved and went towards the door to leave the room, although he was unable to gaze one last time at her before closing it. Meanwhile, Zelda was so tired she didn't want to stand up and walk towards her closet to get her sleeping gown, so she just removed her protective gear, leaving them outside of her bed, and placed her tiara on her night table, just like her hairclip. As she rested on her bed, her thoughts drifted back to the last words she had exchanged with Link. Truth to be told, the place and moment's atmosphere seemed quite fitting for something to happen between them that night, and she wasn't lying when she said she wouldn't mind if it did. But it wasn't worth the risk. They'd have plenty of time later, they would be able to freely intimate to their hearts content, once they were husband and wife.

Her eighteenth birthday would be a day to remember for the rest of her life. Having won that duel meant many things. It meant her transition from child to adult; it meant having surpassed all the obstacles to consummate her relationship with the man she loved; it meant the key to her future life. She could feel very proud of herself. Love had made her strong, and while she didn't know what her future had in store for her, there was one thing she was certain of: with Link by her side, there was nothing she couldn't do.

FIN.