A few days had passed since Zelda and Link had returned from Kakariko Village. After staying the night at a nearby stable, the two headed home to the castle. Zelda still found herself truly unable to speak her feelings to Link, that of which she knew she had. Every time she caught him looking her way, her heart thumped faster in her chest, sounding like a herd of moblins running down a hill. Every time he cracked a joke, a smirk formed on his lips, most of the time accidental.

Zelda felt as if she was unable to keep her eyes off of him.

After they arrived at the castle, Zelda returned to her normal, every day duties. She had gone two days since their trek to Kakariko without seeing Link. His absence was a bit strange to her, however. She was a bit used to seeing him around.

Zelda wondered what Link was up to as a new knight. However, her short thoughts were stopped abruptly when Mipha came charging in through Zelda's bedroom door.

"Mipha!" Zelda cried, astonished at the Zora's speed whilst on land. "What's the matter? Is everything alright?"

Mipha huffed, bending over her knees to catch her breath. Soon after, Urbosa followed in as well. Her eyes were wide as she clutched her scimitar that rested against her hip.

"Lady Urbosa!" Zelda called as she entered the princess' room.

"He's back," Urbosa grumbled.

Zelda's stomach dropped to the floor. "Who?"

Mipha coughed, clearing her throat completely, before taking Zelda's two, shaky hands. "Philip. He's come to ask you for your hand yet again."

"I forbid him from entering my castle!" Zelda yelled angrily, slamming her fist against the frame of her bed.

"Technically..." Urbosa began, mumbling her sentence softly.

"Technically, what?" Zelda pressed on. Sweat began to form above her eyes. She clenched her fists.

Mipha frowned. "It isn't your castle, your highness."

Zelda's fists uncurled from her palms. She stared at Mipha silently, internally praying that her father wasn't about to force her to marry Philip.

There was a forceful knock on Zelda's balcony window. She faced it, gliding across the floor quickly to reach it. Pulling back the curtains, Revali was revealed, standing with his wings on his hips. He stared at Zelda, wide eyed, as she opened the balcony door.

Without asking to be let in, Revali strolled through, nodding a quick hello to Urbosa and Mipha. "I overheard your father," Revali began swiftly, pacing across Zelda's room. "Now, please don't throw me under the bridge when I tell you this, if you go to argue with your father about it—"

"Slow down!" Zelda panted. "I can barely understand you, Revali. Please, tell me what's the matter with my father."

"So, you see..." Revali sighed. "He invited Philip back to the castle."

"Old news," Urbosa smirked.

Revali groaned. "Let me finish!"

Mipha snickered.

"He didn't just invite him back here," Revali said in a quiet, dark tone, "he invited him back here to start fresh."

"Why would I need to start fresh with someone I hate?" Zelda rolled her eyes.

Urbosa's smile faded, as did Mipha's smirk.

Zelda looked at her friends. "What? What is it!"

"He's going to force you into marriage, Zelda," Revali finished. "He said he needs to step down from the throne soon, as he is coming to old age."

Zelda's heart skipped a beat.

"He also wants to ensure you have someone to rule alongside with, who is strong."

Zelda ignored Revali's words.

Didn't Mipha and Urbosa say Philip was going to ask for my hand? Not my father forcing me into marriage...

"Now, I totally think this is unfair, and maybe Daruk, Mipha, Urbosa and I can sway the King—"

"No," Zelda whispered breathlessly.

Mipha and Urbosa looked over at the princess, on the verge of tears.

"What do you mean?" Mipha asked softly, placing a scaly hand on Zelda's shoulder.

"If he won't even listen to his daughter, then..." Zelda's heart ached to finish her sentence, but her legs gave out. Slipping to the floor, Zelda erupted into a silent cry of flowing tears. She cursed herself within her head, hating how immature she was displaying herself in front of her friends. She cursed her father. She cursed Philip.

Urbosa quickly slid on her knees beside Zelda, stopping right in front of her small body. Her arms encased Zelda, comforting her.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute!" Mipha said sadly. "What if we could hide Zelda?"

"Hide her?" Revali showed a face of disgust. "That's almost like treason, hiding the princess away from her duties."

"That is considered treason," Urbosa growled. "All we can do is support Zelda along the way." She looked down at Zelda, pushing strands of hair from her tear-stained face. "Don't cry, little bird. No harm will come to you, I promise. We won't let Philip put a single hand on you."

Zelda didn't care. She didn't care about the words coming from anyone at the moment. Their words were lies. Utter, blatant lies. Philip would be allowed to do almost anything he wanted with Zelda. She was trapped within a rusted metal cage, slowly shrinking with each passing second. Confined for the rest of her life.

Zelda would never be able to escape.

"Philip is back!" Daruk bellowed as he ran into Zelda's bedroom. "Quick, we have to think of a way—"

Mipha spun on her heels and held a webbed finger to her mouth. "Hush!"

Daruk tripped backward a bit, awkwardly opening his eyes in fear. "Oh! Oh. I'm sorry." He realized Zelda already knew about this predicament as his eyes panned to the crying princess in Urbosa's arms.

Zelda shook her head. She wiped her tears. "I won't stand for this." Her eyes turned a different color. Her sky-blue eyes were now clouded and dark. She pushed her body to rise to her feet. Urbosa stood beside her, ready to catch her if she were to fall.

"What're you doing, little bird?" Urbosa began in an urgent tone. "Please, don't think of doing anything rash." She took hold of Zelda's forearms, holding her up.

"I'm sorry," Zelda sighed, "but I'm going to confront my father. Does he not see that Philip is only marrying me for Hyrule's throne and power? He's a blind man!"

She threw Urbosa's arms off of her, storming out of her room and into the hallway. The castle was large, and it would take Zelda a moment to find her father and where he was. She assumed Philip would be with him. She was definitely going to give the both of them a stern talking to.

"Princess Zelda!" Mipha called. "Wait! Please, wait!"

"Little one!" Daruk boomed, "Come back!"

"Zelda!" Urbosa yelled. "Get back here!"

Zelda closed her eyes and kept her head down as she kept running.

Her nightgown slipped under her feet every now and then, causing her to trip every so often. She raced by maids and butlers, watching their astonished expressions as she passed them by.

She ran into one, however, and she fell to the floor. Aggravated, Zelda grunted, clenching her teeth and wiping her gown. "Hey, you!" She yelled. "Watch where you're going next time, alright?"

"I'm so, so sorry," the man said.

However, when the two made eye contact, a sudden, bright yellow spark returned in both of their eyes.

"Zelda?"

"Link?"

Link picked himself up and off of the floor, reaching a hand out to his princess. "I'm so sorry, I was in a rush to get to you."

"To get to me?" Zelda wondered as Link hoisted her off of the carpeted hallway. "Why is that?"

"Philip is back," Link growled. "I know how you despise him, and I see the way he looks at you."

Zelda wanted to cry in Link's arms at that moment, but she knew she had to keep herself together.

"Yes, I am aware," she said softly.

"What are you going to do?"

Zelda buried her face into Link's shoulder suddenly, wrapping her arms around his back.

"I don't know, Link," she muttered. "I don't know."

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