Chapter 8 - One Heart Unfolded, Envy Rises

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Chapter 8: One Heart Unfolded, Envy Rises



"Milady, you must eat..." Zelda's servant said as she walked in the door to find the princess still lying in her bed.



The servant turned toward Zelda and looked at her in sympathy. She knew that Zelda was grieved of Link, but she dare not say a word about it in fear of making the princess feel worse. The servant only gave a brief smile in an attempt to comfort her and spoke again.



"Milady..."



"I don't want to eat." Zelda said flatly.



"Princess, this is not healthy. You must eat if you're going to maintain your strength."



"I have already lost all my strength." Zelda quickly replied, remaining still in her bed.



Zelda's servant sighed and walked out of the room, leaving the princess still lying in her bed. Zelda's lips were dull and colorless while her skin was pale even though the sunlight did not shine on it, for she was in the shadows behind her opened bed curtains. Her servant had come in with breakfast on a tray, which was a rather light meal, and placed it on the night stand next to her. However, Zelda did not move her hand to eat it.



Meanwhile Link walked through the halls of the castle, slowly traipsing with his head hanging down. He traced his hand along the wall, feeling the course texture of the brick and every now and then, his hand would run along a crimson banner, feeling a far more smooth thexture. However, Link's heart was more of being course than of softness, and it seemed his hand was almost unworthy to stroke the cloth of the hanging banner.



He stopped when he saw a pair of feet in his way, and he looked up to find Patrick there standing in front of him. For a while they stared, an uncomfortable silence in between exchanging glares.



"What did you say to her?"



"I'd rather not talk about it." Link said rather coldly.



Patrick observed the look in Link's eyes and grew suspicious of him once more. Eventually, Patrick had lost control and clung to the colar of Link's tunic.



"This is your last chance, twerp... You had better leave now before you break Zelda's heart even further. Or something bad might just happen..." Patrick started, "Now what did you say to her?!"



Link shifted his blue eyes toward Patrick. Once he saw that those eyes were staring directly into his, he jumped a little in shock to find how piercing and cold they were. The frown on his face and pale skin made him look imtimidating, but deep inside his heart he cried, but no tears would come to his dry eyes and and emotionless gaze veiled his soul.



"Why don't you ask her." Link said removing Patrick's hand from his tunic and departing from him.



Patrick darted his head back to expect Link to be doing the same, but it seemed that he wasn't even there to Link. He gritted his teeth and started down the hallway.



Was this the pain of love? Zelda knew not her thoughts as they twisted through her mind. She heard the door to her room creak open and she darted her eyes toward it, unconsciously hoping it was Link, but instead it was Patrick. Zelda sighed and laid her head back down. She could see that Patrick shook his head in shame, and without a word he walked to her side.



"You haven't been outside." He said flatly.



"There is no reason for me to..." Zelda murmured.



Patrick sighed and turned his back to her and approached the window. The sunlight bathed his fair face before he had turned his face back toward Zelda, "Is it Link?"



Zelda nodded. When Patrick said that name, a pain and ache struck Zelda's heart, and she felt as if it was to tear apart. As if to hold back that from happening, two tears fell from each of Zelda's eyes as she squinted them shut. The princess inhaled deeply before she gathered the strength to speak... not only speak... but talk of Link.



"He asked me if I loved him."



"And...?" Patrick urged her.



"I didn't know..." Zelda started, recalling Link's face and his voice... how he clung to her shoulder, "He told me he was in pain... and I'm the only medicine for that, and that... is why he desires me. He does not say that is true love... and therefore he cannot love me." Zelda touched her hand to her face and sobbed, "Why does it have to be so painful...?"



Zelda looked away and spoke softly, "I was afraid of what he was going to say next... that he might brush me away from him, and the thought of not being with him is unbearable."



Patrick twitched his eye in irritation, and he growled with annoyance. He turned completely and found Zelda had at least sat up and he walked to her and briskly placed his hands on her shoulders and projected his voice loudly.



"Stop living in a fairy tale!" Patrick said to Zelda's surprise, for her eyes were wide and she had gasped in shock, "The fairy tales you live with are merely a dream... an ideal! We can't go through life expecting to have smooth skin still... we receive cuts and bruises, and maybe broken bones." Patrick lowered his voice slightly, "Even if you are a princess... you cannot find your true love easily." He continued to say, "Link is not your true love."



Patrick looked into Zelda's eyes for a while, and with that, he turned and left her in the room. A dead silence followed as Zelda turned toward the door.



Do I love Link...?



Zelda turned her head toward the window and observed the light pouring from the window and onto her wooden floor. Her locks fell to the sides of her face as her hand was weakly draped over her lap, palm facing up. Zelda's legs feebly hung off her bed, nearly reaching the cold floor, leaving the warmth of her bed.



I... want to help him... I... want to see him smile...



Zelda lifted her head, her locks now falling back to her shoulders and revealing her deep sea-blue eyes.



There is some hope, Patrick... I have found him... after so long, now it's clear to me...



Zelda imagined Link lifting his strong arms to her side and pulling her in. His hands stroked her back and became lost in her hair. The warmth of his embrace brushed the cold of her body away and then... then she felt his lips touch hers once more, the edge of his hair falling on her brow.



I love him... and I can't deny that I want to see him again... and lead him with my smile.



Tears fled from her eyes and spotted her white nightgown, "I love him..." She finally said to herself, "I do, I love Link so much."



She stood to her feet and quickly walked out of her room and headed toward the balcony that looked down to the gardens. A breeze of wind wafted her nightgown slightly to the side along with her shimmering gold hair. Zelda, as she had expected, saw Link sitting under the tree near his sister's tomb. He did not look at her, be she gazed at him and found that Zelda could not lift her endless staring from him.



"Princess?" Zelda heard a voice behind her say.



Once again there was Patrick and Zelda ran to him and fell to his chest. She cried out to him, her voice muffled by his rich clothing and said-



"I love him, Patrick... I love him."



Patrick widened his eyes in astonishment before he clung to the back of Zelda's head, and looked passed Zelda and down to the gardens where he saw Link. He twitched his eye once again and gritted his teeth, now clenching to Zelda's hair as she cried in his arms, the fire of envy boiling in his veins. He had a desire for Zelda that he could not deny.

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