A Couple of Trials (ZeLink)

Chapter 67: Dealing with the Financial Elite

Darkness was all he could see, something to be expected when one's eyes were closed. Lying down, the long, soft grass beneath him, he stretched before placing his hands behind his head, enjoying the warm breeze brushing past his nose. He was rarely able to relax like this; beside a tree, surrounded by beautiful wildlife and a sky of large, puffy clouds above. Even the smell of the flowers in the field nearby created such a wonderful sense of harmony. He was seldom able to find times like this; moments where he could relax and just allow the tension of being the hero with the sword that seals the darkness to become secondary. Now, something else could become his primary focus–

"Link! Link, look over here!" a sweet voice called out to him. With a contented sigh, Link pushed himself up and opened his eyes to see his primary focus on her knees in the grass close by, inspecting the scented flowers and taking pictures of them with the ancient slate of technology in her hand. "Link, where are you? Come over here for a moment!"

"I'm coming, Your Highness," Link chuckled as he pushed himself to his feet. While he had intended to relax, maybe even take a light nap, he couldn't deny those pleading calls.

It was almost strange, seeing how eager the princess was to show him something. It had been a little over a month since the Yiga attack in the desert, and since then, their bond had actually greatly improved, especially after the heart-to-heart they shared. While Link appreciated the talk, and felt better with his true emotions out in the open with at least one person instead of remaining silent as usual, it seemed as though their conversation had left more of a mark on Princess Zelda than him.

With each passing day, their routine changed from him tracking her down to follow and guard her, to her actively searching him out. At first, Link thought it was simply her accepting his duty to guard her as her assigned knight, but every now and then, he couldn't help but feel Zelda might've been finding him early simply to spend time with him. Though he had no plans to confirm this with her, just the thought that it might be true was nice enough.

Suddenly, the knight shook his head. What was he doing entertaining such thoughts? Brushing his bangs out of his eyes, he sighed, looking out toward the elegant castle in the distance. He was allowing his thoughts to get far too comfortable. The only reason they were out here like this was because he invited her. It was a miracle he was able to convince the king to let her out for a bit under the pretense that maybe he could help her find a way to control her power. Of course, this was not what they were doing. It was he who went through all the trouble to get her some freedom outside the castle and a break from her responsibilities, even by lying to the king of Hyrule himself. Maybe it actually was him who was most affected by that bonding conversation they'd had, getting so comfortable he was going to take a nap around her—

"Sir Link, Second-in-Command of the Royal Guard and my appointed knight, where are you?" Zelda called again, now looking around for him.

"My apologies, Your Highness," Link said with a slight bow. "What is it you–? Huh?"

Thanks to his bow, he hadn't seen the princess rise from her spot in the grass, walk over to him, and take him by the sleeve before pulling him down into the dirt with her.

"I'm trying to show you something magnificent!" she said excitedly. "Take a look at these! Look!"

With the ancient relic in one of her hands, she gestured out to the field of flowers they were in. The appointed knight blinked.

"Your Highness, I believe these are flowers," he said, trying not to sound rude, but definitely allowing his confusion to show. "Is there something more I'm missing?"

"Yes, there is, actually," Princess Zelda said eagerly, as if hoping he wouldn't immediately know. Clearly, she just needed an ear to bend, something he was perfectly okay with. "These are special flowers. Do you see those? There, the group with the tiny blue petals? These are really useful for a number of reasons– Look! There's some more—oh!—and another bunch!"