#dad link

For Link, I think I mentioned before that he has Sheikah ancestry in a timeline where their people are pretty scattered. The guy still feels a certain loyalty to the crown even though Sheikah looking after and working the for the royals isn't a thing so far down the timeline. Link's fighting style is less "heroic knight" with broadsword and more lightfooted assassin, prefers bow/arrow + knifes over any kind of heavy weaponry and armor. Before meeting his wife and having their daughter, pretty sure he was involved in- don't want to say "shady" work but uh- he has a certain skill set and has been in a few fights.

Had some of the best years of his life, but lost his wife to an illness too soon, making a promise to her that he would take care of their little one and she'd never have to be alone. At the point we'd meet him, its just he and his daughter, Adelyna. They're very close and mean the world to each other.

For Zelda, she's the kingdom's queen at this point in her life. She comes across somewhat cold and stoic, but she's a compassionate person under it all. When she was younger, Zelda loved to travel, seeing both her kingdom and places beyond it, but eventually her hand was forced and she had to step up and take the throne.

My thought was that at the point we meet our heroes, theres deep political unrest in the kingdom, rumors of the cycle recurring soon, and whispers of threats against the queen. After an assasination attempt, the castle is put on lockdown and leaves Zelda feeling like a caged bird. Link catches wind of what's happening and feels a deep obligation to offer his service to her because of his heritage, but with tension so high it's unlikely they'd knowingly let a kid stay in the castle (even though with it on lockdown it's arguably one of the safest places to be.) Guy is pretty torn, he can't bring himself to leave his daughter somewhere where she cant reach him if she needs, she's already lost her mama, but it's also hard to sleep at night knowing the kingdom is being held together by a thread and his skills could make a difference (especially if, debating on it, but if he already has the triforce on his hand and *knows* things won't end well without him.) Since Adelyna already has an affinity for the fairy spell (her name means small winged one on purpose ajdjfk) he makes the decision to ask her to use it so she can come with him without too many questions (hero with a fairy companion is a tale as old as time and woven into many of the legends.)

Link works quickly and quietly, it's not long before he's accepted into the castle and assigned as a sort of personal bodyguard to the queen (think triforce helps with that, although he keeps it quiet as possible and theres few people there who know who he really is.) In a room with the queen, he lacks the intimidation factor of an armored knight and classic hero, but its a bit unsettling how good he is at watching from and moving in the shadows. In his time shadowing the queen, he starts to notice tiny oddities in some interactions she has and begins to piece together an inside plot and like gosh it's scary how good he is at taking people out without anyone knowing.

Then on personal side of his story, Adelyna uses her fairy form anytime she leaves their room, only dropping the spell when she and her dad are alone. It works for a while, but the crisis lasted longer than Link ever planned on. Muffled conversations coming from his room can only be ignored for so long though, but tbh i think what finally gave him away was singing his daughter to sleep quietly. I kind of think that the queen herself was coming to request something of him but paused to listen, the guys voice sounded much different than she'd ever heard it. Whether it was her old spark of curiosity getting the better of her or suspicion, I'm not sure, but she was pretty taken aback walking in to find Link's girl there w him.

He had been pretty quiet about himself, its his nature to not say more that needed, but the lady truly had no idea he had a family at all, much less that he was a widower and single father. Think when she gave him the chance to explain himself, it was the first time he saw the softer side of her, like she had of him not long earlier, and to his surprise she allowed both to stay as long as needed. With the secret out and forced proximity queen and bodyguard have, eventually the two are able to really open up and become close friends.

(I mean, friends at the very least, I haven't decided yet, but they may be more someday- both still have a lot of healing to go through before that someday comes. And ofc, little Adelyna grows on Zelda too. The fact the little reminds the queen of her younger, spunkier self (before Life happened and she was forced to be the pretty closed off person she is now) isn't the only reason, but it definitely doesn't hurt.)

And if you made it this far, a few extra sketches as a treat and a thank you <333

RIP the guys been found out

My husband bathes our baby and yells from the bathroom:

"Katy, he's eating foam!"

Two minutes later:

~~

Link’s hand was warm on Zelda’s skin. Warmer than she’d imagined it would be. She could feel his steady breaths and the light touch of his fingers dancing across the small of her back.

Never in her life did she imagine that she’d wake up beside him pressed into his side, her lips tickling the fine hairs on his chest as she tried to keep her breathing steady. His hand had to be sore, wound around her to keep her close. She could get used to this far too easily.

The feeling of perfection was difficult to replicate, but she’d hold tight to this memory for as long as she lived.

There was a piece of her that was thoroughly embarrassed that he was seeing her unclothed in the morning light, the blanket closer to their hips than covering anything else. Everything looked different in the night, and she suddenly felt horrified that in the daylight, he’d look differently at her.

It was then that she noticed the patterns on her back were far too deliberate, and she’d begun to twitch at some of them, arching closer into him.

He was awake and watching her every move.

She reacted, and immediately, Link’s hand shifted patterns, a subtle awareness of her awakening. Humming contentedly, she could have easily been lulled back to sleep.  

“How are you this morning, love?” he whispered, his hand trailing a burning path up her spine so he could play at her ear instead.