#oot zelink secret marriage is 100% canon

[telemna-hyelle]

I was told to ask you about your, quote, "100% canon secret oot marriage", as it apparently bears some similarity to my au

Okay! So, the "100% canon secret oot zelink marriage", which is not an au because there's no proof to say it isn't canon, is basically after Majora's Mask, when Link and Zelda grow up, they end up getting married secretly because the councilmen and nobles are causing problems. Their plan is to gain as much renown for Link as possible and stall for time until the council legally can't do anything to stop the marriage and if they try, they'll have the entire populace against them. It works handily, and Link and Zelda have several children. Link eventually dies of old age and is buried in his ceremonial armor, however, upon his death he is plagued with regrets because he didn't kill Ganondorf in this timeline, and he knows it's only a matter of time until Ganondorf returns. Therefore Link, in his mind, has left his burden and his mess upon the shoulders of another hero to come later down the line, and it is these regrets that cause the Hero's Shade.

On of Link's descendants (son, grandson, great-grandson who knows, not important) eventually marries a descendant of Malon, and it's from that line that TP Link is born.

for more info, fics, and art, you can look up the 100% canon oot zelink secret marriage tag on my blog!

[adrift-in-thyme]

Congrats on 200 followers!! That's a lot!!

For my request, can I ask for some 100% cannon oot zelink secret marriage where Link is doing something absolutely ridiculous just to get to give Zelda a kiss?

Tysm Lou!! 💚💚 And YES you absolutely may! 100% canon oot Zelink marriage, my beloved

Cuccos | OoT Zelink | G-rated

Zelda is halfway into reading the first of many boring documents when she hears a scream.

She jolts upright, dropping her pen on the desk. Multiple more terrified cries follow the first, and she rises, snatching her rapier from where it hangs on the wall.

Heart pounding in her throat, she rushes to the door, prepares herself for the worst, and throws it open. Then, she stops short, feeling somewhere between befuddled and immensely annoyed.

The castle isn’t under attack at all, at least not in the sense she supposed it was. There are no armed soldiers, no monsters. No, the only combatants present here are hordes of cuccos.

The birds are everywhere. They flap up and down the hallway, pecking at the feet and heads of anyone and everyone, squawking angrily the entire time. Clouds of feathers float through the air after them, and Zelda waves them away as she steps out into the chaos.

“Your Majesty, watch out!” a maid shouts just in time for Zelda to hop out of the path of destruction of a particularly furious cucco. It speeds off, screaming its grievances loud enough to be heard in Goron City.

A councilman runs by, waving his arms wildly to keep away the two birds flying around his head. Five others ran along the ground after him, aiming for his ankles. Zelda watches him go, a laugh bubbling up within her.

“Oh, this is terrible!” Someone shouts in between cries of pain. “Who could’ve done such a thing?”

“Someone with evil intentions, no doubt.”

A familiar voice carries over the ruckus and Zelda turns to see Link rushing down the hallway.

He skids to a halt before her, a deadly serious expression on his face. If she didn’t know him quite so well, Zelda would have missed the twinkle in his eyes. She lifts an inquisitive eyebrow, but his facade doesn’t budge one bit.

“We must get you somewhere safe immediately, my Queen,” he says, laying a gentle hand on her shoulder and nudging her back toward her study.

No sooner have they entered the room than he turns and quickly shuts the door behind them. When he looks back at her, all pretenses of business are gone, replaced by a massive, mischievous grin.

Zelda crosses her arms, a knowing smirk on her face. “Please tell me you’re not the one behind this invasion.”

“Why, Your Majesty, I’m a loyal knight of the crown!” he scoffs, in mock offense. “Why would I choose to flood the castle with those cursed birds?”

She plucks a stray feather off his tunic. “Hmm, I don’t know. Perhaps to get a moment alone with your wife?”

“Perhaps.” Link draws her into his arms, and Zelda smiles, reaching up to cup his face. “Perhaps, I grew tired of us being interrupted every time we’re together. After all, falling out of windows and hiding in closets gets a bit old after a while.”

Zelda chuckles. “Well,” she murmurs, running a gentle thumb along his cheek, “I don’t think anyone will bother us for a while.”

“Good,” he replies and kisses her.

[zeldaelmo]

Congrats on the follower milestone!!!

For the prompts maybe some fluffy OoT Zelink? Thanks!

This is loosely inspired by the 100% canon secret OoT marriage by @telemna-hyelle and @tired-twili. The idea, however, is from @samrezi who posted a super cute hc in a zelink server that deserves more than these three sentences. Sorry for all the tags, but credit where credit is due!

When Zelda slipped into Link's room, closing the door behind her with great care to keep the thud from alarming the guards — or worse even: Impa — she hadn't expected to see Link half-dressed already, fighting his way through a button tab that just wouldn't cooperate with his shaky hands.

"Hey," she breathed, taking over from him with ginger fingers until everything was neatly buttoned up, stroking a reassuring palm over the ruffles of his shirt that felt so different from the roughness of his usual guard uniform, "Remember that this official invitation is what we wanted; the first step to making them accept you as my husband."

"But what if I mess up, I'm nothing but a boy from the forest, I can't even dance, I—" he murmured, wrapping his arms around her waist and burying his face in her hair that wasn't prepared for the ball yet, but Zelda wasn't having any of it and hugged him back until he sighed in relaxation, whispering in his ear, "You'll do great, I just know it… and you'll see, in no time at all, the court will see you as worthy as I, just — trust me, please, love."

[justapixelthing]

O M G So I had to reblog this with added text because nocturne created written art here and you all HAVE to see it.

First of all, sorry that it was out of your comfort zone! You did so well though.

And second: I love that this is written in a way where it could be either within canon or an alt timeline. I'm someone who believes oot Zelink could have gotten together in the child timeline (even if I'm one of few... thank the goddess people like @linktheacehero and others exist so I'm not alone in that :D Also to anyone like me, please check out the 100% canon oot zelink secret marriage thing on tumblr and you will be happy forever) but also have my 4th timeline in which oot Zelink is canon to a story set after oot (Remnants of the Past). So it's like, it hits twice as good for me. I have different baby names for their children, but I absolutely love what you came up with <3 It is so fitting and lovely.

And the last paragraph within this, I have almost the exact thing happening in the lead up to ROTP (but won't spoil, for those who still wanna read this.) So it's like retrospective telepathy!

I had no idea what you would make. The reason I sent this prompt is because I wanted some wholesome family content for them and there is too little of it online, but while you did that, you also added a bittersweet, but beautiful component that made this an emotional read, that still left me happy in the end.

Thank you so very much. To anyone reading this who hasn't yet, please go follow nocturne! Such an amazing and creative person who deserves all the love and support!

Henlo. I've never done this before so I apologize if I mess up the ask.

But my prompt idea: Oot Zelink discussing baby names

A Name to Navigate

Notes

Thank you for the prompt!! I've never actually written something like this before (although I have admittedly drawn kid designs I will never ever share), but it's too sweet to pass up! The Hero's Spirit deserves to have a peaceful life with moments like this, somewhere in time...

Sneak Peek

《 “Zelda would be the more… traditional route— but that would not provide them with much individuality, would it?” The Queen of Hyrule reclines on her throne, leaning against the shoulder of a towering knight who rests his upper body on top of the chair’s arm. One of her gloved hands is intertwined with his golden gauntlet. With her husband, she has been listing name after name of her ancestors… They anticipate the arrival of Hyrule’s next princess, after all. But with how the queen goes on and on, they may be at this forever.

Link tilts his head. Perhaps his wife is overthinking this, just a little bit? He lowers his head beside hers. “Don’t you have any names you just like, love?” 》

Ao3 Link

Word Count: 550

Prompt Post

This is for a little ask game I'm doing for short fics! You just send me three words and I'll write from them! See the full post here.

[srahviola]

GUYS I FINALLY MADE ART OF THE 100% CANON OOT SECRET MARRIAGE! (@tired-twili @telemna-hyelle)

It's sloppy because music majoring saps up all my time, but I FINALLY MADE SOMETHING 😆 It's based on my headcanon from this post that Link will play Sun's Song in the mornings so he and Zelda can get more time together before they have to go out and pretend to not be married because that SUCKS 🥲 Anyways, I hope y'all enjoy 😁

[srah-the-violist]

OOT ZELINK HEADCANNONS 👀👀

If you wouldn't mind sharing <3

Thanks so much for the ask, @tired-twili! (Sorry it took me so long to get around to it, school's been keeping me busy oof... 😖😅)

Anyways, I've spent the last month or so making myself cry with OoT ZeLink headcannons, so here are a few of them! (They are very much based off of MajorLink's Hero's Purpose because crying is good I guess 🥲) Most of these headcannons detail the development of their relationship.

Just a warning that these headcannons get ANGSTY, but there is a happy ending, and I tried to balance the angst out with some mischief and fluff lol 😁

While I'm not quite sure wether or not Zelda kept her original memories, she certainly relived them in dreams. The poor baby is plagued with nightmares about a war that could have been... So long story short, she has anxiety...

That being said, she and Impa decide that it's best to prepare for war since it is likely Ganondorf will strike again soon. So Zelda still trains as Shiek (although she isn't in any immediate danger), and the Castle Town is fortified.

Link stays out of Hyrule for the next 7 years following MM. The sad memories would be too much for him, and he's still trying to hold onto hope that Navi could be out there somewhere. Zelda guesses that this is why Link hasn't returned yet and blames herself.

When Link finally does return, he and Zelda both note (independently of one another) that they feel safe--a little more at home... Thus, (angsty) mutual pining ensues.

Link is gentle, kind, and optimistic. He's a dreamer and a fighter. But he's also very jaded. He's tired, grieving, angry (mostly at himself), lost, and so horribly alone. He's the type of guy that would give everything he has and then some for another (specifically Zelda), to the point of self-denial. (His return to Hyrule has to do with realizing that he's been completely numb this whole time, so he's decided to go home and face his past, hoping to "wake up" and start anew.) I forgot where I was going with this whole bullet point...

Anyways, Link and Zelda both blame themselves for what happened. Link believes that this whole timeline dilemma is because of his failure to protect Zelda the first time (as in before he even jumped forward in time). He couldn't protect her, so Ganondorf destroyed Hyrule, causing horrific trauma to both himself and Zelda. Because he failed the first time, he had to go back and do it all over again better. He succeeded in protecting Zelda the second time, but he regrets that there even had to be a second time, especially since he assumes he's the only one who remembers the other timeline. On Zelda's side, she feels like she failed to protect Hyrule because of her childish plan. She unwittingly played right into Ganondorf's hands, and Link went along with it. She feels like she should've known, even if there was no way she actually could've. (She also regrets even sending Link back in time. Even if they had to rebuild Hyrule, they could've been together, and they wouldn't be so alone.) So she sees all of Link's trauma (as well as her own) as being all her fault.

Link is happy to see that Zelda was able to grow up without the shadow of war, and is so thankful that she's safe. He would do anything to protect her, even if that means protecting her from himself. He doesn't know if she remembers the other timeline, and if she doesn't, he doesn't want to put that awful burden on her, especially when it was all his fault to begin with. A part of him secretly hopes she does remember so that he wouldn't feel so alone, but he hates himself even more for that. How could he wish such awful memories on her? And all the MM trauma is another awful burden that he wants to protect her from. She deserves better than someone like him, who couldn't protect her when it counted...

And Zelda knows he's sad. She can see it in his eyes. And she feels like it's her fault. He deserves to rest and live a happy, peaceful life, far from any war. She knows she'll need his help if Ganondorf comes back, (and she can't deny that she wants him) but how could she ask that from him after everything she's already put him through? He deserves better than her, the source of his pain.

Anyways, eventually after lots of awkward mutual pining, this all gets out in the open, along with love confessions. (I imagine it happens in kind of an argument. That would be interesting to see two characters who seem to be kinda quiet and conflict-averse in an argument...)

After that crazy conversation, there's lots of tears and lots of hugs and comforting. For a while after that, they rarely leave each other's side. (It's kinda in secret since the princess and some guy who just showed up out of nowhere doesn't fly in the royal court, although Zelda appoints Link, who's been a knight for a while now, to her personal guard or whatever she could get away with without looking sus so that they can still be close.) Lots of healing for the babies.

And now for some fluffy headcannons because that was some ANGST right there!

Link and Zelda spend lots of time jamming. Harp and ocarina duo for the win! Lots of singing and dancing happens too! (They are Jam Buds)

Lots of Shink shenanigans because that's how they can get away with being together in the open. They investigate local mysteries and break all the pots. They eventually reach cryptid status. The other knights have some questions.

Honestly, my fluffy OoT ZeLink headcannons start getting into y'all's 100% canon secret marriage territory after this (which I still really need to draw but being a music major is very time consuming), so I'll also share a few of those ideas too 😁

Link definitely plays Sun's Song when he's not ready to wake up and part ways with Zelda so he can do his knightly duties and she her queenly duties. (He also uses the Inverted Song of Time for stuff like this.)

If they want some time alone together, they can literally warp wherever. They're favorite place for a date tends to be in the Sacred Forest Meadow, much to Saria's annoyance or amusement, depending on the day. (She and the other Kokiri have definitely pranked them before.)

Impa has to keep coming up with excuses as to why Zelda might be absent at certain times. One such cover story is that Zelda was trying to make a peace treaty with the Dekus. Zelda later shows up with Deku Link (who's acting all grumpy) to further prove this.

Zelda has a "ghost" bodyguard. (It's Link in the stone mask.) Any man who gives her a hard time may or may not be completely demolished by a "ghost."

Anyways, these have been my OoT ZeLink headcannons. I tried to balance the angst with some fluff, so hopefully the angst isn't too overwhelming lol 😁 Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

(Also I love mischievous ZeLink headcanons and I'd love to find a few to draw, so if you have any ideas, please let me know 😁)

[telemna-hyelle]

I'm legally obligated to ask about the 100% cannon secret OOT zelink marriage 😌

Ask and ye shall receive :3

Zelda wasn’t quite sure what woke her, but as she slowly drifted from sleep into wakefulness, she became more and more aware of the warm sensation of a body beside her; an arm curled about her waist and deep breaths puffing against her ear.

A heart beat it’s drum against her back, steady and firm and reassuring.

Tears began to well in her eyes, and she rolled around in his grip to see his face.

This woke him, and he blinked blearily, waking up himself.

“Hey,” he said, his smile slow and sleepy, curdling a coil of warmth deep in Zelda’s gut. “Good morning.”

Zelda found herself smiling back at him, blinking away the mingled tears of weariness and joy as she slid one hand up his arm to rest on his cheek. “You’re back.”

“Of course,” he said, and turned his head, pressing his lips against her palm. “I’ll always come back.”

[telemna-hyelle]

HAHAHA YES

OHMYGOSH I LOVE THIS 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Been on an oot Zelink kick so here's some doodles based off the 100% cannon secret marriage created by @telemna-hyelle~

Impa being dad. She is deadly with a shoe.

He just wants to love his wife lol

[telemna-hyelle]

Sorry it’s in my contract to ask about any headcanons you have for the 100% cannon secret OOT zelink marriage

hmm, my headcanons?

well...

If Link's not out traveling, he spends his nights with Zelda. He claims to have a house he stays in, but the only one he has is the one back in the Kokiri Village. But that's too far to go every night, so he makes misleading comments about where his house is so everyone knows he has a house but no one can agree where it is. This helps because that way no one can notice that Link is never at home at night.

Link spends a lot of time composing songs on the Ocarina for Zelda, as a way of expressing his love for her, and also as a way of paying her back for all the songs Sheik taught him. Zelda gets really flustered when he plays them for her. He'll sometimes tease her by whistling her favorites when they're in public and at events, and she'll usually respond by dragging him away at the first opportunity for her turn to fluster him.

One of the stupidest times he almost got caught, excepting that one time he got pushed out the window, was when he climbed into her room after a several day journey, and noticed Zelda seemed to be in her bathing chamber. Being very tired, hot, and missing his wife, he immediately went to ask if she'd mind some company. Zelda, who had been missing him rather terribly herself, immediately agreed, and Link bent down to give her a kiss or two to tide them both over until Link could put his stuff away and join her.

Unfortunately, the maid knocked on the door then, and Link, in a panic, jumped in th tumb and hid under the water. The maid came in, and Zelda did her best to hurry her along while piling bath foam over where Link was submerged, getting more and more worried as time dragged on.

Link almost ran out of breath before the girl left, his only comfort being "If I drown, at least I'll die with my pants on".

[telemna-hyelle]

👀👀👀 I must know more about the 100% canon oot zelink secret marriage baby

Oh do you know?

Well.

Then perhaps you would be interested in the fact that it is not the 100% canon oot zelink secret marriage baby, but rather the 100% canon oot zelink secret marriage babies

[telemna-hyelle]

Hello! I hope you're having a great day!

I saw the 100% canon OoT secret marriage ask about the babies, and I wanted to ask a follow up question:

You said that it's the arrival of babies that get them to start plotting how to make their marriage public, right? Do you have any specific ideas for how they might go about doing that, or any shenanigans that might ensue? 😆😆😆

WELL

So the original plan to make the make the marriage public was twofold: first, Link would go about hero-ing and increasing his status amongst the people, and also give Zelda reasons to legally raise his status. Thus, when the marriage is revealed, any in opposition would be faced with both Link's increased status and his popularity amongst the people.

Secondly, stall for time. There are provisions in Hylian law for annulment of Royal marriages, not only because of the usual reasons (infidelity, abuse, etc) but especially in case the royal spouse was a traitor, wanna-be usurper, or spy. Amongst these provisions were allowances for annulments to go through without requiring the approval of the ruling King or Queen. These are in case of situations where the ruling King or Queen is absent or indisposed somehow and the evil spouse is attempting to take advantage of their absence. However, the longer the marriage has gone on, the harder it is to push an annulment through without the King or Queen's approval--this was put in place to protect good marriages from petty advisors with grudges, or power hungry, wanna-be homewreckers. So, the longer Link and Zelda can keep the marriage secret, the harder it will be for the advisors to cause problems.

All this, of course, goes out the window when Zelda winds up pregnant. A pregnancy isn't exactly the sort of thing one can easily hide.

So, Zelda hatches a plot. She pretends to go along with the council the next time they mention marriage--but has a few conditions of her own. She's a very busy woman, after all, and doesn't want to be bothered weeding through subpar suitors. No, if suitors want to apply for her consideration, they have to first go through a series of tests.

[telemna-hyelle]

oh my goodness absolutely YES aaaaaaaahhhhhaklfajfljsd

something something something I don't remember who does the 100% cannon OoT secret marriage zelink but I thought that they would totally put a misteltoe above Zelda's window for kisses every time Link sneaks in or out

[telemna-hyelle]

Does 100% canon oot zelink secret marriage have secret (or not so secret) zelink babies? 👀 -A anonymous fellow oot zelink lover

They do!!!! The imminent arrival of said zelink babies is what makes Link and Zelda begin to plot on how to make their marriage not-quite-so-secret anymore

[telemna-hyelle]

~On the fifth day of Christmas, your insane lurker of a tumblr friend gave to you~ SECRET OOT ZELINK

“You’re one of her most trusted guards, are you not?”

Link eyed the nobleman with as little irritation as he could muster. It was clear the man was here to try and woo his wife. He hated playing along like this. Keeping their marriage secret saved them from many troubles and headaches, but this was one of the biggest pitfalls of the situation.

Biting his tongue, the Hero of Time nodded.

“Perhaps you can help me, then,” the nobleman continued. Link almost felt bad, as the man did seem genuinely sincere.

But he was still trying to court his wife. So he could only have so much sympathy for him.

“I heard the queen has quite particular tastes in chocolates,” the nobleman explained. “There’s one that she loves more than any other delicacy, but there are also a few she despises, and no one seems to know which falls into either category. Perhaps you have the secret?”

The nobleman gave him a friendly smile and elbowed him amicably as he spoke. He certainly was trying hard to ingratiate himself.

But Link was a gremlin, and he embraced that fully.

Smiling a little, he said softly, “She has a strong preference for chocolate and caramel, my lord.”

The nobleman brightened. “Say no more, friend.”

Link covered a laugh for a cough and watched the nobleman practically scurry away as if he had been told a national secret.

He almost felt bad for him. Almost.

Either way, he had the pleasure of watching Zelda’s face when she tried the procured chocolate and caramel that evening - Link was relieved that she accepted the gift and did not eat it in front of the nobleman himself, as he at least felt bad enough that he wanted to spare the man some embarrassment.

Watching Zelda look like she’d just ate a lemon, though, was worth it.

“Do you like it, dearest?” he asked, leaning against the entranceway with a smile.

“It has caramel, why would I like—wait a second.” His wife narrowed her eyes at him. “Was this because of you?”

Link shrugged innocently. “He asked me what you liked.”

“So you told him what I hated.”

“That’s what you get for shoving me into a closet a week ago.”

“Somebody was coming and you were kissing me!”

“You shoved me into a closet.”

Zelda groaned, rolling her eyes. “At least you don’t have men falling over each other to marry you.”

Link smiled slyly. “Who’s to say I don’t have women falling over each other to get my attention?”

Rolling her eyes, his wife pulled him to her. His laughter bubbled through their kiss, and she had to giggle at the whole situation too.

LOFTTYYYYY THIS IS AMAZING I LOVE IT SO MUCHHHHHHHHH JFLKDJFLKSDJFLKDSFLKSDLJF

THEM

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

THIS IS AMAZING YOU ARE AMAZING HAVE AN AMAZING NEW YEAR

[telemna-hyelle]

So guess who’s finally getting her butt in gear and crossposting the rest of my Zelink Week 22 fics to Ao3?

It was a shame, Zelda thought, that such a lovely day had to be to wasted on an event like this. Unfortunately, the company wasn’t half so pleasant.

Zelink Week 2022 Day 3: Rainy Days

[telemna-hyelle]

Aaaaah I want to ask about all of them, but I shall refrain from overwhelming you :) How about Accidental HW baby AU, not just hylia's hero, and 100% canon oot secret marriage? -Sky Floor

Thank you for not overwhelming me XD

Accidental HW baby AU!

So this one starts out with Link being mortally wounded and they're out of potions, and it's just him and Sheik and Proxi, but they're in front of a goddess statue, and I have this little headcanon that legally all you need for a wedding is a statue of any of the goddesses and at least one witness. Anyway, Link is dying so he asks Sheik to marry him and she says yes, they get married, they think he's gonna die but Proxi pulls through at the last second and finds a fairy. Link survives and they're really ecstatic and high on emotions and... ahem.

Important to note that Zelda didn't reveal herself, she was going to but got interrupted by Proxi with the fairy.

Anyway, they get back to camp and Impa find out about the marriage and is not happy. She says that they're going to be distractions to each other and they're risking each other's lives, and that sort of thing can wait until after the war, where no body is in danger of dying from distraction. So she orders Sheik to keep her distance from Link until they can control themselves.

But Sheik eventually starts to notice that her body's been acting rather oddly lately...

The realization hit her like a Moblin’s spear. She was crouched behind a tent, vomiting into a bush, when the pieces clicked into place.

She’d lost track of certain things, what with the war and it’s stressors, and she’d chalked up her exhaustion and frayed grasp on her emotions to stress.

But all of these on top of the odd, random bouts of nausea that plagued her at haphazard times throughout the day?

I might be… I could be…

She spat back and took a sip of water from her canteen, feeling as if her head was floating with Skyloft among the clouds.

The first thought was an incredible sweeping wave of joy—a family again!

She hadn’t really had any family since her parents died. And Link—Link loved children, you could see it from the way he interacted with Wind and Mask.

Excited, fluttering fingers pressed against her stomach, a giddy smile spreading behind her mask.

He’ll be so happy! I can’t wait--

And the joy crashed down to earth, a swallow felled by arrow .

I can’t.

Her fingers fell limply to one side.

I can’t tell him.

Not Just Hylia's Hero is a short little oneshot musing about Din, Ganondorf, and the Triforce of Power

“Din!” Hylia shouted, bursting into Din’s corner of the sacred realm with a golden bloom of wrath. “Why do you keep letting this happen? Why do you support our enemy?”

Slowly, Din looked up from where her gaze was set, watching the doings of the mortal world below. Her usually vibrant and forceful aura was strangely subdued.

100% canon oot zelink secret marriage! My beloved <3

as you can see it is not an au, because it is, in fact, 100% canon 😌

It is, of course, a collection of oneshots and suchlike about Link and Zelda from OOT getting married in secret and plotting for ways to make sure the councellors can't annul their marriage. It's a happily-ever-after scenario for OOT and it is 100% canon no takesbacksies

here, haveth a snippet

Zelda giggled as she dressed hurriedly, letting her hair down and tying the mask securely to her face. She felt like she hadn’t been this excited since their wedding.

In all of their six months of marriage, they’d only been on one date—and that in a secluded glade in the Kokiri Forest. They’d never been able to act like husband and wife outside of her room before. But this—a chance to dance and walk on his arm and call him her husband… it was like a dream.

Her heart leapt at the knock at the door, and she smiled at the mirror.

Masks were a wonderful thing.