Noble by Nature

Chapter 4

It was at the crack of dawn when Link led Epona out of the stable and onto the road. It was chilly outside, but the skies were clear and it promised to be a beautiful day today.
He smiled at his horse, gently petting her mane before he would tighten the straps of his saddle around her belly.
The dinner with Dorian and a few other villagers last night had been quite pleasant, and very informal. They had talked for most of the night, until he had realized how early they would have to get up again, and excused both himself and the princess.
Zelda had been sad to go, which he felt was a good sign. She already seemed so much more cheerful, much more at peace, than she had done in the last months.
Fresh air was enough to raise everyone's spirits.
Except for that of Endai and Glendo apparently.
The two knights came slouching out of the stable after him, their eyes still half-closed and looking as if they would much rather be in their beds. Which they would.
Link chuckled to himself, not in the least sorry for them, and feeling exceptionally cheerful himself.
Zelda seemed to be doing better than the knights as well, as she stood softly muttering to her horse Thunder, stroking his nose. She was dressed in her old traveling garb again, stained and worn. Her hair was tied in a braid along the front to keep it out of her face, and he could clearly see the old excitement glittering in her eyes.
There was nothing princess-like about her anymore, and yet Link always thought she looked most beautiful like this.
She turned her head and caught his eye, and he quickly busied himself with tightening the saddle straps. They shouldn't get distracted.
Even though they had been together for over a year now, he still couldn't keep his eyes off her. He would catch himself thinking about her way too often, and in moments like these, when they were out of the castle and in the wild, when he felt freedom and the endless possibilities of nature, then he would almost forget that she was a princess, and that he was supposed to be her knight. He would forget their responsibilities and the countless eyes watching their every move. In these moments he would just be himself, and apparently he was someone who couldn't stop looking at her.
He had finished with the straps, and mounted Epona while carefully avoiding Zelda's eyes. Somehow, without the constrictions of the castle, he also forgot to restrict his behavior and he acted much freer than he normally would. But he had to remind himself that they were still on official business. He had to stay on guard and keep a professional distance.
Instead of being distracted again by looking at the princess, he turned to see what the knights were doing.
Endai had mounted his horse and sat slouched in the saddle, staring blankly ahead as he awaited the signal to move.
Glendo, however, seemed to be struggling to get his armoured boot over the saddle, while also balancing his spear in his hand. He accidentally kicked the poor horse, and then almost dropped his spear.
'Let's go,' Link called out, deciding that the knight would either learn to keep up, or be left behind. He nudged Epona to a trot and led the way out of town, hearing Thunder's hoofbeats close behind.
A loud grunt followed by a dull thud told him Glendo had in fact fallen off his horse, but he did not look back, thinking it would be a good lesson for him.
He heard Zelda chuckle softly behind him, and instantly felt a grin creep onto his face. Annoyed with himself he tried to wipe it off, and focused instead on his surroundings. He had to control his emotions better. He had always been so good at it, until she came back into his life. Suddenly everybody could see what he was thinking, and it annoyed him endlessly.
As they rounded the bend in the road, he was brought back to the last time they had traveled this way, and how awkward that had been.
Even though he was having trouble containing his feelings and acting normal, he would choose this over how it had been back then any day. He hated how much he had hurt her in the beginning, by not remembering her and then flat out rejecting her in Hateno.
If he could turn back time, he would definitely do that differently. Or maybe he should stop the Great Calamity from happening in the first place. Their blossoming relationship would never have been disturbed, and maybe he would have married her, become king.
But then again, times were different back then. Her father would never have allowed them to be together. He was no more than a simple knight. She was a princess. It might be okay now, with the world in the state it was in, and everything he had done to save it, but he would never have been enough before.
He sighed, trying to get those thoughts out of his head. They were no good now. He just had to let the memories in and appreciate what he had. They had come a long way since then, and at least most of the things that had changed were positive. But not everything.