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First Steps

Summary:

Arranged Marriage-AU

Sidon had reluctantly accepted the idea he would one day marry a woman for the good of the Domain. The Hylians have other ideas.

Chapter Text

Marriage was one of the stranger aspects of being a prince. Sidon knew he was privileged. He would never know hunger or thirst. He would never know poverty and would never worry about having a roof over his head. His life was very good in that regard, but as he sat in the throne room, listening to the discussion of his future marriage, he also knew there were times he was little better than a stud horse. He would marry not for love, but for the good of the Domain and he had to accept that fact.

The Hylian Ambassador sighed, “Unfortunately, Princess Zelda is engaged, all but in name. The announcement is coming on her birthday next month.”

King Dorephan nodded, “Who else is King Rhoam thinking about then? There are not many people available among the Hylians right now.”

The royal family was rather small. King Rhoam was an only child as well and Princess Zelda was his only child before Queen Celessa passed away. Sidon supposed someone on Queen Celessa’s side could be his future wife, but he could not think of any member who was not too old or too young and he doubted that his father would accept a distance cousin.

“Well,” the Hylian said, “obviously, Zoras and Hylians cannot have a child. Prince Sidon will need to take a Zora paramour to have future children, no matter what.”

“That is true.” King Dorephan said, sitting forward.

“Well, and we mean this as no insult if you are not interested, since he cannot have children with a Hylian, does his future spouse need to be a Hylian woman?”

Sidon perked at the suggestion. For the first time since he heard of the Hylian’s arrival, hope bloomed in his chest. He had no issue with the concept of marrying a Hylian man or any male.

“Interesting,” King Dorephan said, and Sidon looked at his father. Dorephan knew he preferred other men and knew this would be something that Sidon wanted. “I suppose we could consider an alternative, if he is appropriate, but who would he be?”

“Since we don’t have a member of the Royal Family available for marriage, we were hoping you might consider someone who is held in the highest regard by the Royal Family. The Hylian Champion is the greatest warrior in Hyrule. He led the army in the Battle for the Hebras and is one of the finest men in the Kingdom. If it cannot be a member of the Royal Family, we cannot think of someone finer.”

Sidon had heard about the Hylian Champion, Link. The Zora army had fought with the Hylians and Bazz had been thoroughly impressed by him. As Captain of the Guard, Bazz was one of the finest warriors Sidon knew and Bazz had admitted that he picked up a few tricks from watching Link fight. It was a very intriguing proposition, but he knew he had to talk to Bazz.

His father hummed, “Has the Champion agreed to this?”

The Hylian nodded, “Indeed, though he requested a month-long engagement. He wishes for the opportunity to get to know Prince Sidon, before the wedding.”

King Dorephan laughed, “That is a fair stipulation. We will discuss this option.”

The Hylian nodded and got up, “Thank you King Dorephan, Prince Sidon, Advisor Muzu.”

His father turned to him once the door was closed, “What do you think?”

“It is not a bad option. He is the Champion of Hyrule.”

“Who is neither Royal nor Noble.” Muzu said, “There are other possibilities, the Rito and the Goron are interested and we could assure a male suitor with them as well.”

He looked up at his father who was giving him a knowing look, “We should at least ask Bazz what he thought of him. I know they served together.”

King Dorephan nodded. “Send in Bazz.” He called to the servants at the door.

He turned back to Sidon and said, “I know the prospect of being married to a man is exciting for you, but all we know about him is that he is a good warrior.”

Sidon nodded, “I know father.”

He still could not help but to hope for the best. He wanted to marry for love, but if he could not do that, this was probably the next best thing. With another man, there was the possibility of romantic love and that was all that he could ask for.

Bazz walked in and knelt before the throne, “Your Highnesses.”

“Prince Sidon tells me you served with the Champion of Hyrule, Champion Link, during the Battle of Hebras. Is this correct?”

“Yes, your Highness.”

“Tell me about him.”

“Link?” Bazz asked and the frowned, “Well, he is the Champion of Hyrule and a great warrior, one of the best I ever seen.”

“Yes, we know that part.” King Dorephan said with amusement, “But what was he like? Besides being the Champion, who is Link?”

Bazz seemed to struggle for a moment and then said, “Link is a dear friend of mine. We fought together and bled together. He saved my life more than once and probably the lives of many Zora who are in the Domain. He is noble and courageous and I can’t think of a man who I trust more to have my back.”

That was high praise coming from Bazz and Sidon felt better about the whole thing. Bazz was a good man, who kept himself in good company. If Bazz thought so highly of him, Sidon was sure Link would not be a terrible choice.

“That is good to know.” King Dorephan leaned forward, “What is his personality like?”

“He is pretty quiet and he can be stoic, but he is friendly and knows how to tell a joke once he is comfortable. I enjoyed spending time with him.”

King Dorephan nodded and then asked with a twinkle in his eye, “And what did he look like?”

Sidon fought down a blush, but listened to Bazz. “Ah, well, he was short, blond Hylian.”

“Handsome?”

“Well, yes your Highness, uncommonly so… Sire, may I ask about these questions?”

King Dorephan chuckled, “You may, we are considering Link as a possible marriage candidate for Sidon.”

“Link?” Bazz asked with clear shock on his face, “Really?”

“Yes. Is there something about Link that would make him a bad choice?”

Bazz rubbed the back of his head, “Well…alright…see here is the thing about Link. I think he is wonderful. He is the finest warrior I know, but…well…it seems his skill with weapons can at the price of his skill with words. I don’t know how good at court he would be.”

“We could always work on that.” Muzu said, surprising Sidon. He knew Muzu was not the biggest fan of Hylians. “I would not expect a man who never held a sword to be an expert without any training.”

“I mean physically.” Bazz said, “Sometimes, he physically can’t speak. Honestly, I didn’t even know he could speak until a month after I met him.”

King Dorephan sat back tapping his fingers on his throne, “That is good to know, but you say he can talk when he is comfortable?”

“Yes, your Highness.”

King Dorephan looked at Sidon, “Well, what do you think? He may be your future husband.”

Sidon was quiet as he took a moment to actually think about this. Link struggling with words could be an issue with court where words mattered a great deal, but this was something they could work on. The Zora court was small and, generally, a peaceful one as well. Plus, Sidon was probably not going to be King, so his future spouse did not need the same level of training as Mipha’s. He also just wanted to meet Link. This was the first time he ever considered the possibility of a man as his future spouse and he wanted to see if anything developed from this option. “I think it will be worth meeting him.”

King Dorephan smiled and sat back, “Muzu, let Ambassador Kobol know we are interested in moving forward.”

***

“How did it go with Ambassador Kobol?” Mipha asked when she returned that night.

The Lizalfos had been acting up near Oren bridge and Mipha had accompanied a group of guards to clear them out. He kissed her cheek and sat down next to her, “It was rather unexpected, actually. When you were with the Hylian healers, did you hear of a man named Link?”

His sister froze for a moment and then blushed, “It…has been a while since I heard that name. Yes, I knew him.”

“You did?”

She looked away from him, “He is a great warrior, as we all know, but he could be reckless. I healed him a few times.”

He squinted at his sister, “And you and him?”

“Did nothing.” She said giving her brother a look. “I have Nalor. I would never do anything, nor did I think he ever noticed, but he was very brave and kind and I enjoyed it when he came to the tent.”

“I also hear he is handsome.”

She smiled, “Very and that isn’t just me saying that, I know of more than one woman who wished to know him better.”

“Did he get to know any of them 'better'?”

“Not that I know of. He was very focused on the war. He did not allow many distractions. Why?”

“Well, he might be your future brother-in-law.”

“What?” Mipha said with a gasp, “No.”

“The Hylians have no member of the Royal family available for marriage and so they are offering their Champion.”

“Wow.” Mipha said, sitting back, “Wow, that is surprising.”

“He hasn’t agreed to the marriage yet. He is requesting a month-long engagement to see if we are compatible or not, but it seems likely.”

Mipha nodded, “It would be nice to see him again, but, what have you heard about him?”

“You mean about his talking.”

“Yes.” Mipha rubbed the back of her head, “Listen, I love you…”

“But?” Sidon asked giving her a look.

“But you can be…very enthusiastic. I don’t want you to be disappointed if Link doesn’t seem as excited about the wedding.”

Sidon smiled at her, “I’m not expecting him to fall in love at first sight.”

“Sidon, I know you’ve wanted a love match. That is a lot of pressure to put on someone, particularly someone you never met.”

Sidon folded his arms, “I know it is.” But there was still the possibility of love there, something like his parents had and he was going to focus on the positive side of things. He did not need to think about what if Link hated him immediately or what if in ten years the match failed and they hated each other. “I know it is a lot, but I just found out I am going to marry another man and I would like to enjoy that, at least for a little while.”

She gave him a hug, “Fair enough, sweetheart. One more piece of advice?”

“What?”

“Be yourself, but try not to overwhelm him either.” She said with a smile.

Sidon laughed, “I will do my best, I promise.”