He must truly hate me now. Zelda thought as she peeked through a little crack in her door. Link stood right outside, waiting for her to let him know that she was ready. He gave a quiet yawn and a nod as he listened to Impa describe today's schedule. Link was still his usual self. Zelda had feared that he was angry about her sneaking out last night. Even worse, Link could've been so angry as to inform her father. Her father would chew her up and spit her out if he found out that she literally jumped off her balcony with unsupervised, with a sailcloth or not.
Link's eyes turned over to the princess's peeping hole and knocked on the door, his fist asking if he could come in. Zelda quickly pulled herself up and opened the door. As per usual, Link would escort her to see her father, and then to her harp lessons, and then a meeting with representatives of each nation in Hyrule, and the list went on and on until dusk.
"What is it?" He wove a hand in front of her before they went anywhere and pointed back into her room. Zelda noticed her abandoned harp on her bedside and quickly grabbed it.
"Thank you." Zelda muttered, still embarrassed by the events of yesterday. Link nodded for his only response and they proceeded to the throne room. The castle was silent in the early mornings. The sounds of her heels clicking against the stone floor and the sound of Link's sword slightly clanking against his armor were the only sounds bouncing around the halls. Each day was the same as the last but the distance between Zelda and Link grew ever so larger everyday.
The walk from Zelda's room to the throne room was curt and very awkward. The knights guarding the tall entrance opened the heavy doors as quickly as they could, allowing Zelda to go inside and Link to follow in pursuit. Her father sat on his throne in the far back of the room as the royal guard stood on both sides of him. Zelda grabbed both sides of her gown and curtsied. Soon after, Link kneeled before the king out of respect.
"Rise Link," the King addressed Link first rather his daughter. "Has Zelda been behaving well these past two weeks?" Zelda's hands congregated behind her back. She hide well her nervousness by scratching her index finger with her thumb, which was far from notice from the king. Zelda was worried about Link's evaluation of her but the fear was weakened by her curiosity in Link's response.
Link nodded two times released her hands from trepidation. Thank the goddesses.
"Very well then, I'm glad she hasn't caused too much trouble," the King smiled. He motioned everyone to leave the room, including the guard, to leave him and his daughter alone.
Zelda had waited for everyone to leave the room before she asked, "Father, excuse my rudeness but why did you assign him to be my knight?"
"I thought you were there when you saw him safe my life. With a pot lid I might add, the boy thought it was an actual shield until after he ended the guardian scout in one shot." The king laughed, "Why? Is there a problem?"
"No! It's just..."
"It's just?"
"Why am I in need an escort? The castle is patrolled by the guardians every single hour and there are guards scouting places of the castle that may be missed."
"While those are good reasons, the event that happened two weeks ago proved to us that those guardians we've been researching can turn against us one day. Our soldiers are well-trained against regular intruders and monsters, but these guardians and ancient machines are a new frontier that will take years for us to conquer. Do you understand?" Her father's words were more gentle than expected. "And again, despite his inexperience, I have true hope that Link will protect you if a day comes where those guardians will put your life in danger."
"I understand completely now father. I'm sorry that the conversations turned grim." Zelda sighed, her request for the removal of an appointed guard had been denied. "Anyways, you summoned me about my upcoming birthday?"
Her father toke a hard blink in realization, " I almost forgot! I've heard that you've shot down another suitor."
"Yes, Groose the duke of Skyloft," Zelda said with a hard breath. "How is he relevant?"
"I've decided to invited all of the eligible bachelors around the region and other countries to come." The king noticed her ever growing frown, "Calamity is prophesied to befall on your daughter one day in the future. To ensure Hyrule's safety, you have to pick a good leader to guide the people and the next Princess."
"But why now? I'm only seventeen."
"All of the good ones will be gone before you know it." Her father's last response lingered in her head as she left to go to her harp lessons. Any talk of marriage would put Zelda in a sour mood but it worsened knowing that her only purpose is to marry well.
After her meeting with her father, Zelda wouldn't stop mumbling dark mutters to herself for the entire day. Her ears blocked any sounds from entering her brain other then her own loudening thoughts. She was unbeknownst to the awful notes and chords she plucked out on her harp that damaged the ears of the castle bard and Link. She was barely in reality during a conversation with representatives from all of Hyrule's five nations, when she gave her approval to Gerudo Cheiftan Urbosa's request to bomb a suspected Yiga Clan hideout "mercilessly with no survivors." When the day was over, she curled herself into a ball under her bedsheets.
And normally the princess would do any task with ease and precision. She never played a wrong note on the harp nor zone out during an important meeting. She barely dozed off in the library and stopped every time a guardian had motioned past to watch in awe. Link noticed that she toke everything seriously and that she tried earnestly in everything she did. Yet, the princess lost all ambition to do anything.
Although he found her very entitled, Link did pity the princess. Even before he became her appointed knight, gossip was a disease within the castle staff. The guard chattered away with all of the information of her ten rejected suitors. Many of them shot their insults behind her back because of her "prudeness" but Link somehow understood her position. He wasn't royalty but as a teenager himself, it would be a weird thought to get married now.
"Link," Zelda called from under her bedsheets. He awoke from his thoughts. "Thank you for not telling my father about yesterday. I mean it was pretty insignificant but imagine how my father would react if I jumped out of the balcony." She didn't bother to look at him, yet burrowed further and further into her sheets. "Good night."
Link had waited for a while until her sheets rose and fell slowly. "You're welcome princess." Link said in a dark hush, thinking that the princess wouldn't hear him. But his soft, husky voice had infiltrated her gated ears before she fell asleep.
