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Sometimes, all a princess has left is her pride. She swallowed hers today. Link was right and she's not above admitting it. He convinced her to take a break from everything and just relax, working on her journals instead of people.
Zelda had spent the past many weeks running to and fro with Link, helping people down on their luck and struggling. Link may have saved Hyrule, but people still needed assistance, and as their princess, she wouldn't deny them. He was the one to suggest she take it easy for a bit. Having learned of her century long caging of the calamity, he wanted her to take a break the second she returned but she refused, her need to help over powering her exhaustion.
They frequently helped the other royal families and their people before stopping by in the scattered villages to offer as well. They all needed it. They just left Zora's domain, Dorephan having asked for help with clearing the surrounding land of a century's worth of monsters and malice. They made some good progress.
Link had spent all his time there with the prince and Zelda was left to her own devices. She only ever caught glimpses of them here and there while helping in the city and she was the only one to use the room they were given to share at night. She wasn't bothered or really surprised. She saw for herself how close Link and the prince were. She was happy Link had a best friend, so she let them be. She wasn't so selfish.
The second they got back to Link’s home in Hateno village, Zelda was already making plans to head to Lurelin for restoration. She would be there right now with Link if he hadn't put his foot down, signing at her one night about finally taking it easy. They argued but she caved when he genuinely started to crash out, working himself up to signing nonsense.
So that's where they're at right now. Zelda on a village wide house arrest for relaxation and Link out and about running his errands around the town.
She had waved him off in the morning, promising to stay in the village while he was out. He merely gave her a look, cautiously choosing to believe her and then walked off, leaving her alone.
She took a few hours to wander around aimlessly, enjoying the breeze running its fingers through her hair and the sun rays kissing her cheeks, something she dearly missed for all those years. She decided it was a nice day to get some work done, but not the usual. Her own research and documentation. It was just something she liked to do, journaling her experiences and taking notes on the land. She'd been away for a century, tucked away in the destroyed castle. A lot can happen in a century.
During their time helping others, she noticed some strange traits and behaviors in multiple species once common to her. Rapid evolution must've taken hold while she was gone. It made the scholar in her shiver, drawing her towards the surrounding nature with a pencil and rolled up parchment that very well may have materialized in her hands for all she knows.
She immediately found a specimen, lucky her. It was a small bird, one she knew well from the past but had considerably changed. It tweeted and tilted its head at her from a tree. She smiled as she set to drawing it with all its differences, whistling along to its song to keep it close.
After a while of sketching, the bird started to look restless, like it was ready to leave. Zelda startled as the bird flitted to another branch. She gasped quietly, scared any sudden movements could send it away before she was done. The fickleness of creatures always made this part of her research difficult and she began to frantically scribble, hoping the songbird wouldn't completely lose interest in her so fast.
Suddenly she paused, a lightbulb going off in her head as she remembered: The slate. It was able to take pictures. She knew this from using it herself in the past and Link’s obsession with the feature after waking up. It was high, the number of times he would snap or whistle to get her attention, asking her and anyone else around to smile and pose; he would squint at the screen with his tongue poking out in concentration as he tried to get the perfect shot and then he'd excitedly run over and show everyone who was in the picture how it came out. She could use the slate.
Link usually left it in his home unless he was actively using it for travel, storage, or documentation. He was just running errands today, he would've left it on the table.
She smiled and glanced up at the bird before rising calmly and jogging towards the house. Entering, she ran over and swiped the slate off the table excitedly. She couldn't wait to take advantage of this feature like she used to. Link all but directly claimed the slate as his own considering he used it for…well…everything. He used it for far more than she ever did and she didn't really see the need to take it from him as they spent most of their time together. If she needed the slate for something, he'd do it for her. She kinda missed the weight of it in her hands though. He used the slate the most but he wouldn't mind sharing…probably.
She slowed down as she approached the tree again, looking up at the bird again before powering up the slate and raising it. With the camera enabled, she took shots of it, moving to different angles before it got fed up trying to follow her with its eyes and flew off without warning.
“Good bye!!” She yelled out to it as the bird flew away. She raised a hand with a beaming smile and waved as it disappeared in the distance.
‘It probably has a family to return to.’ she thought to herself, waltzing back towards the house. She pulled up the album on the slate to look over the pictures while she walked, examining the dazzling colours and the elegant slope of the bird's body.
“Now I can take all the time I want drawing you, pretty bird-” She said with a gentle grin on her face. She scrolled a bit too far and went past the photos she took. She glanced at the last image Link took, only for half a second, before scrolling back to an image of the bird quickly but she froze. Her finger hovered over the screen as her eyes widened, her brain catching up with her as she processed what she saw before she had swiped back to the bird.
She could've been mistaken for a statue if not for the wind rustling her clothes. Her face went red as she clutched the slate against her chest in a swift motion, eyes darting around her quickly in case someone was nearby. Her fingers twitched over the edges of the slate and she shuffled in place a moment before making a mad dash to the house, praying Link hadn't returned yet. Zelda knows she's asked a lot of Hylia these recent weeks, but she swears she'll give it a rest if she just does this one thing for her.
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Minutes passed like hours as the house got closer. She rammed through the door with her shoulder, her hands preoccupied, and kicked the door shut. With her back pressed to the door, relief fluttered through her to see Link nowhere in sight.
The screen of the slate was dark, as she turned it off in her panic. She tossed in back onto the table and the clatter sounded through the empty house.
“There's no way…” A palm was pressed against her chest, the shock and subsequent run having left her breathless.
Lowering herself into a seat at the table, she placed her other hand over the slate, grounding herself. Staring at it in silence for a long while, she slowly started dragging it back towards her.
‘I have to be sure. That can't be right…’ She thought to herself as she pulled it into her lap. Powering it up again, she stalled by flipping and looking through the other settings. The sun was shining in through the window. It would be setting soon and Link would come back before dark. This spurred her into action and she opened the album, scrolling past all the bird images quickly to settle on the latest of Link's collection.
Apparently, that can be right. The evidence was looking her right in the face, golden eyes locking on hers from the screen. In the photo, Sidon was on his knees in what she assumed was his bed chambers in the domain, a sleeping cistern visible in the background. He had a wide smile on his face, flashing razor sharp teeth with a predatory, sultry look in his eyes. The threatening aura was undercut by the way he was licking up the underside of Link’s cock, cum dripping from his mouth and splattered across his face. She could practically hear their shared panting though the picture.
Zelda's face burned, red as a tomato, as she stared at the picture. She knew they were close but she didn't think they were THAT close. Best friend was an understatement, she realized. Curiosity took hold of her movements, as she began subconsciously swiping.
Bent over, pinned, laid back, tied up. Just how many positions was Link trying to get the Zora in? It was almost like he was testing what he could get away with. And clearly, he could get away with ANYTHING. The more she scrolled, the less she could look away. She was seeing things she'd never even imagined someone could convince a prince to do. Much less a proud Zora prince. Link must've banked on Zelda never touching the slate again if he so boldly left these on here.
She didn't think she'd be seeing either Link nor Sidon’s dicks today but she was proven wrong. So many photos of Link slammed inside Sidon's exposed sheath, a free hand wrapped around the twin cocks emerging from it. Sidon leaned over him, Hylian dick buried in his mouth, saliva escaping from the sides and a slight bulge against the white scales of his throat being the only indication where the cock was. A shot here and there of Link's face embedded between scaled thighs, worshipping shaft and slit with his tongue. His hand plunging into the sheath from behind while the other grips Sidon’s head tail. She can only imagine what he did to prop up the slate for that.
Everything was so wet in these pictures. One could argue, "duh, it's the domain," but this is no normal wetness. She knows water doesn't stick like that. Some photos shone a light on the source, between the Zora's legs, obviously. A natural lubrication that Link could clearly be seen taking full advantage of, every image of his dick shining, dripping with it.
The raunchy images were interspersed by blurry ones of Link's shiny, brightly smiling face; failed self taken photos if she had to guess. There was the occasional image of Sidon's face in the throes of pleasure. Despite her shock, even she could admit those were nice photos. Like Link actually tried to get nice angles with beautiful lighting. The Zora looked ethereal.
She was surprised Link took these photos. She was surprised Sidon ALLOWED him to take these photos. All those glimpses Zelda saw of them, how many of those were after a night of this? No wonder Link never came to sleep in the double bedded room they were given; he was busy bedding the prince every night. She blushed harder thinking about it. So many nights spent in peaceful solitude while Link was out getting laid and she suspected nothing.
As she absentmindedly scrolled through the photos, now enraptured, she heard a twig snap outside. Her heart dropped into her ass and she was filled with dread as she could now hear steps coming closer. In her sudden overwhelming panic, she jumped up to her feet, switched the slate to the main menu as fast as she could and “quietly” slammed the slate onto the table sliding it across to where it was before she took it. She fidgeted, not sure what to do with her hands or even her face. She can't play it cool right now; she's too overcome with– she doesn't even know what. How do you act natural towards your friend who you shamefully stared at intimate images of for who knows how long? She can't-!
The knock on the door threw her off. It's Link's house. He wouldn't knock.
“Hello?! Blondie!!” A female voice called out. Whoever it was seemed to be carrying something heavy, her voice strained, the knocking switched to light kicking against the door. “Open up! It's getting late and you haven't come to see me.”
The voice sounded upset, almost shy and flirty in a way. Poor girl. It was never gonna happen. Zelda wasn't going to be the one to tell her and Link surely wouldn't. She took a deep breath and swung the door open. The girl on the other side of the door, Zelda recognized her as Koyin. The girl Link referred to as the cheese girl. She was a girl, and she was struggling to hold three wheels of cheese. Zelda stared, looking quite flustered, unbecoming of a princess.
After an admittedly extremely awkward exchange with Koyin, she sagged in relief, dropping the cheese onto the table.
‘I could have been caught if that was Link.’ She thought with a sigh, and blushed once more, ashamed. She shouldn't have done that. She could've just let it be and she wouldn't be here panicking over cheese girl. Despite the heart attack she almost gave her, she was grateful. It brought her back to reality and gave her a chance to collect herself.
She decided she was done with that for today. So she went to sit in the well and do literally anything else to take her mind off what she saw.
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A long while later, the sun was now fully in setting motion. Zelda could tell when the sunlight from the hole of the well began to die. As she began to stack papers and stretch her back, she heard a knock on stone, followed by a shadow peeking into the hole.
Stepping into the light, she looked up and saw Link's silhouette waving lazily at her before he disappeared over the edge. With one last look back at her work and one last push of those images to the back of her mind, she climbed up the ladder and went inside where Link was dropping a large assortment of random stuff onto the table and ground. He smiled at her and signed, ‘Cheese girl was here?’
“Uh…yeah! She, uh, said you had already traded for them in advance and it was late-ish so...she delivered them.”
‘Oh. Well that was nice of her. I'll be sure to thank her later.’ He signed absentmindedly before grabbing the slate.
Zelda’s stomach did a backflip and her heart promptly tipped over once more directly into her ass. She knows she clicked off to the main menu, but she still had to hold herself back from reaching out and ripping it from his hands just in case. Schooling her face back to neutrality as Link turned it on and started storing everything away was a feat even a sheikah monk couldn't achieve.
If he noticed her fake calm, which he did based on the confused look he shot her, he chose not to mention it and went about getting ready for bed. He probably just assumed she was upset about the forced break and was trying not to seem like it.
Zelda began getting ready to sleep as well, Link having bought an extra bed for her when she moved in. She kept stealing glances at him while he undressed. Being so comfortable with each other, he didn't feel shy changing in front of her. She used to be unaffected, but having seen those pictures, seeing Link's exposed skin made her face burn as she could see the phantom hands across his body. She grimaced and quickly turned around, hiding her face, to finish changing.
She's not upset that the two of them were…friendly. Just that she saw it and kept looking. Now she can't stop thinking about it. It doesn't help that they're not unattractive guys. Link has always been an attractive guy. Blonde hair, pretty blue eyes, strong lithe build, kind, courageous, charming in his own awkward way, refreshingly normal. Sidon was something else. Bigger, stronger, vibrant, golden-hearted, so true to the people he cares about, just like his sister. They were both perfect guys in her humble opinion. Both were examples of some of the best their respective species had to offer.
Seeing those pictures of them, intertwined as such, rewired her brain and made her rethink a lot of what she thought she knew. All she knew for sure is that she could never reveal that she saw. If Link ever questions those bird pictures, she would just have to gas light him. She's going to have to lie her ass off and convince him he had momentary amnesia and forgot about the bird. There's no other option for her. It's either that or death, simply passing away effective immediately. As a princess, she would never lie about invasions of her subject’s privacy in such a way, but as Link's friend, she is going to lie like her life depends on it.
In the coming days, Link eventually did ask Zelda about birds, looking very nervous, and Zelda did, in fact, lie her ass off with a smile. If Link would think in depth about birds for weeks on end, then that was his business and Zelda never commented on it; after all, she doesn't use the slate.