Notes:
So I continue with the work of translating some of my stories (improving, learning and enjoying a lot!). This time I have chosen "A Knight's Tale", published in 2019 . It has a different tone than the one I used in "The things we lost in the war". This one is intended for a younger audience and is a less dark story.
Apart from that, this story is entirely based in the Breath of the Wild universe, it's not an AU this time, but is set in the post-Calamity era.
I hope you enjoy it as much as my Spanish-speaking readers did.
-Juliet.
Chapter 1. "No"
"Do you remember me?"
She was the princess, but he couldn't remember her.
Princess Zelda's body weighed truly little. When he raised her to climb her to the horse's rump, Link felt as if he was touching a fragile, wounded bird. Or rather, as if he were rubbing the surface of a butterfly's wings, which can break at the slightest contact. He was rough, sometimes too gross. He remembered the accident with the ancestral vase at Impa's house. He was just looking at it, but he had to put his clumsy claws on it and suddenly there were a thousand shatters on the floor. Nor a whole week of work managed to completely soothe the wrath of the old sheikah matriarch. And it was just a ceramic vase that had nothing ancestral except the dust of the years, so hauling the princess undoubtedly became the most complicated part of the Mission. Even more so than liquidating an army of guardians or taking down that disgusting slug of Ganon. To complete the Mission successfully, he would have to take care of that light and delicate body until he delivered it safely to the sheikah.
He sat on the saddle, after her. At first the princess struggled to have a kind of conversation. It was a vague and incoherent talk about the weather, about the state of the roads, about anything that crossed before her eyes, an endless row of observations to which he could barely respond with a monosyllable. Link knew what she was trying to do. He understood the feeling. The feeling of forcing himself not to fall asleep, he had put it into practice on some of his long journeys across the plains of Hyrule. Think of anything, anything. Count the trees you find, recite aloud what the plan is, change your position... She tried somewhat stubbornly not to give in to exhaustion. That could justify her incessant conversation, or maybe it was that the princess of Hyrule had the strange need to fill the silence with an ongoing talk. He'd never dealt with hylian nobles, except with the spirit of the Old King, and that damn old man didn't really count, so he'd never thought about what he would say if he managed to get Zelda out of that hole of darkness. A princess, with the same blood of the goddess Hylia, trapped for a hundred years without seeing anyone, without touching anyone, and suddenly he appears, forcing her to straddle in that shabby dress, with little explanation. He didn't know what conversation he could have with someone like her to avoid looking like a complete jerk. Luckily, she had enough talk for him to avoid almost guaranteed ridicule.
As soon as the sun sank behind them, the princess fell sleep for exhaustion. She relaxed the posture and her head fell back to rest on his shoulder. He varied his position a little so that she could sleep against him safely, without the horse's half trot causing them to lose their balance.
While riding in the waning moonlight, Link thought he didn't feel as euphoric as he should be. He had kept his promise, had embarked on the most suicidal of missions to emerge victorious. The goddesses had been on their side. It was almost impossible that he and the princess had managed to make that monstrosity disappear... it was a miracle and he should be euphoric, but there was something in his stomach that prevented him from feeling carefree.
He still couldn't understand what had driven him so blindly to complete the Mission. He didn't understand why he had made promises to people and spirits he couldn't remember. Impa said that even if he couldn't remember anything, he still had his instinct inside him, his commitment and desire to protect and save the land of Hyrule. She said that the spirit of a hero beat under his skin, and that's why he would accept the challenge and any other challenge that might raise in his way. Then… why did he feel so out of place?
"It's okay, Link, really," said the princess just when it was all over, "not remembering me is the least important thing of all. What matters the most to me is that you're here, you are breathing, you're alive. What matters is all you've accomplished, you're the true Hero of Hyrule."
He thought that when he saw her in person some emptiness would fill up, as when he met the spirits of the champions. But none of that happened, the emptiness in his memory was still as black as ever. He couldn't remember her face, her eyes, or any physical features of her.
He had imagined her.
It was easier to complete the Mission if he tried to imagine the princess, that fictional image in his mind made the goal more achievable. In fact, he had often fantasized that Zelda was just like Paya, Impa's granddaughter. He had sympathy for the young sheikah and she was cute and nice. It's not that the princess had to be nice like Paya, he would have faced the evil with the same intensity anyway. It was just that to imagine a face behind the voice made Zelda more real. And sometimes he needed to be attached to the reality to find the strength to go on.
After a couple of hours on horseback, Link began to feel pain. His legs ached, it was the strong posture of his thighs boxing the mount to hold himself and the princess. Then his arms began to tremble. In any case, he assumed that the battle had taken its toll on him. He hadn't really checked if he had any injuries of any nature. After the end of Ganon everything was confusing, somewhat surreal, like being in a dream, but he knew that his body was beginning to reach its limit.
He took out the sheikah slate. They were near the River Stables, less than a mile away. Goddesses, his side hurt so much... he then remembered receiving a heavy blow during the battle. Ganon was attacking his left flank, that bastard. The night had gotten colder. He felt the princess's bare arms, she seemed to be kept warm by the shelter he provided, however, he was frozen. He harassed the horse a little more to try to get to the stables as soon as possible.
"Wake up, come on, wake up," he insisted, shaking the princess a little.
"Hum... what? W-where...?
"We need to rest, Your Highness," he said, "I've ridden to the nearest stables. I'm sorry to wake you but the counter is closed, I have to get off the horse to call them."
She rubbed her eyes, still dazed, and then clung to the horse's mount, as if she were suddenly aware of where she was and feared falling to the ground.
"Keep calm, I'm Link, we are riding to Kakariko, it's all over, remember? But we are still far from there, it's better to stop to get some rest, a stop on the way will do us both good."
The princess nodded silently and allowed him to help her dismount. He felt her hesitation as she put her feet on the ground, but even he felt his legs trembling with fatigue.
"It's cold," she muttered, hugging herself to cover her arms.
"Take this," he took off his cloak to wrap her with it. If he was cold, it made sense that she was freezing wearing that rag.
They advanced into the darkness to the entrance of the stables. Everything was silent. Link knocked a couple of times, on the door and on the closed shutters at the counter where they used to attend the travellers. He was about to give up hope of resting under a warm roof when he heard noise inside. The innkeeper appeared dressed in a kind of long wool underpants and an inner shirt.
"For all the goddesses, who is it at this hour?"
"My lord, thank you for opening up to us. We are in the middle of a long journey and we need rest. So does our horse."
The innkeeper lit up Link with the lantern to examine him and relaxed the gesture. He had recognized him, Link had stayed there several times and the innkeeper seemed to remember it.
"Traveller, you arrived really late today," the man said.
Then he stretched out his arm to light the princess. She had covered her head with the hood of the cloak. Link noticed that the innkeeper examined her from top to bottom. Showing up with a young barefoot girl in the middle of the night was more typical of bandits or the Yiga, Link knew it well.
"I don't want any trouble, traveller."
"I don't bring any trouble," Link said, firmly.
"Are you sure? At this time... your companion doesn't look good... won't you be running away from something?"
"I can swear before our Goddess that I'm not running away from anything. We haven't done anything wrong."
The innkeeper took one last look at the princess and then motioned for them to follow him inside. If he had seen her in broad daylight, covered in dirt, her tunic tattered but with shiny gold bracelets on both wrists, the innkeeper would have asked many more questions. Also, the generous payments Link had left at the stables on his previous visits had something to do with the innkeeper's confidence. Link clung the horse's reins to a pole and entered the inn, closely followed by the princess.
"I only have one bed left. Last night's storm attracted many travellers to the inn and we're almost complete."
"We need no more, many thanks, my lord."
"No talking or noise is allowed at this time, and I cannot serve anything to eat," the man growled.
"I understand. We just want to get some sleep."
"Anyway, tomorrow I'll sign you up and you'll make the payment. I don't want to wake anyone else. Your bed is the one in the back."
Link accepted a small candle from the innkeeper's hand and guided the princess to bed. There was a metal brazier with embers, which Link brought up to warm up a little bit the space that had belonged to them, although in general, the temperature inside was very pleasant. Then he grabbed one of the pillows and a blanket and laid them on the floor by the bed.
"What are you doing, Link?"
"I'll sleep here, the bed is for you, so you can rest as much as you need, Your Highness. I know that a stable is not a suitable place for a princess, but-
"I haven't slept in a bed in over a hundred years, so this is the best bed I've seen in a long time." She remarked.
He looked at her in amazedness. Of course, how could he be so stupid?
"Link, you deserve this bed as much as I do," she continued, still frowning, "there's not a reason I deserve to sleep here and you on the floor. Not a single reason. Do you understand?"
He had a few reasons. She was the princess of Hyrule. She held such immense power that it almost frightened, someone with divine powers does not sleep on the floor of a stable. In addition, she herself admitted not to have slept in a bed in more than a hundred years... she looked thin, fragile. They were reasons enough for her to sleep as comfortably as possible. And he was used to sleep anywhere. The stones had been his mattress for more than one night.
"Good night, princess," he replied, taking off his boots and settling on his bed on the floor. Matter settled.
He heard a sight.
"Good night, Link."
Link woke up earlier than expected. He barely slept for three hours. His side still hurt, maybe he had a broken bone. The princess slept soundly. She looked like a little ball, a bundle of golden hair and sheets curled up in the corner of the mattress. He used his own blankets to tuck her in a little tighter. He put a new brazier nearby and went out, closing the curtains around the bed.
"An early bird," the innkeeper greeted. He was cleaning the tables and lighting the chimneys. The inn gates were open and Link watched a curtain of water fall at that greyish dawn.
"I haven't heard the rain." Link admitted.
"It started to rain as soon as you arrived with your companion."
He approached the wooden porch. The clouds were thick, seemed loaded with water. It was probably going to rain all day.
"We may have to sleep here again. Could you sign us up?"
The innkeeper nodded and went to the counter. His son, a bony young boy, was half-asleep there. Link pulled out his bag of rupees and paid for the night they had spent there, plus a full day including all the meals for him and the princess.
"I need clothes," he said, checking his bag. It was still very full, more than enough to get from one end of Hyrule to the other without issues, "clothes for my companion. Do you think you could arrange something?"
"Clothes? We don't sell clothes here, boy."
"I found her on the road...," he said, making up the story on the flight. It was necessary to create a credible excuse to shake the innkeeper's mistrust, "Some bandits were assaulting her, taking her clothes and everything else."
"Yiga?"
"It seemed so."
"For all the Goddesses, these ruffians have no mercy on anyone. I hope they didn't… I hope she wasn't... Anyway. I hope you were in time to help her."
"I was, they did nothing wrong to her if that's what you're implying. But they managed to escape with her dress, her horse, and her rupees. That's why I need clothes that can be used to travel, I'm helping her to get back home. She will need a pair of boots too."
"I could sell you something from my wife, but as far as I could see last night, the girl is much smaller. I'll get something from my son. Yes. That should work for her... but clothes are not easy to get, it's expensive to trade with wool and cotton. And the leather is almost a privilege these days."
"Is two hundred rupees okay? And I'll give you a hundred more for a pair of boots."
"Skies," murmured the innkeeper, excited at Link's offering.
He sat at a table, watching the rain, while the innkeeper procured everything he was asking for.
As the morning progressed, the rest of the guests in the stables got up. There were a couple of squires, who continued their journey despite the rain. A family from Hateno and at least five solo travellers. Only the family and Link decided to stay, the rest left, while new travellers appeared to take shelter from the bad weather.
He chose a secluded table, by the fire. They weren't in a hurry. Ganon had disappeared, they had fulfilled their mission and therefore there was no need to hurry anymore. It was better to return the princess rested and in the best condition to Impa. Besides, he had done nothing but hurry. He hastened to meet the sheikah, he hastened to seek out the Divine Beasts, he hastened from one corner of the wide world to another. If for once they stopped a bit there should be no problem. The sheikah didn't have to know that it was all over. Would they have any way of knowing? Would Impa have sent some of her soldiers to investigate?
"Hello, Link."
"Oh, Your Highness." He bowed his head.
He was so immersed in his thoughts that he didn't even hear her approaching. She wore the tunic and trousers of the innkeeper's son.
"Have you been awake for a long time?" She asked, sitting in the chair closest to the fire.
"That's right. I guess I'm used to sleeping a few hours," he smiled. She looked at him again with that disgruntled gesture, frowning a little.
"Thank you for the clothes."
"They belonged to the innkeeper's son. He's thin as a cricket but they still look big on you. I'm sorry, I couldn't get anything better," he observed. She had fastened her belt in the last hole and the sleeves were sticking out of her hands.
"It's perfect like this."
"Have you slept well, Your Highness?" He frowned too, still scrutinising her "you can sleep more hours if you wish, I paid to stay as long as you need. It's raining hard and it's not a good idea to go back to the roads right now."
She turned the head towards the porch and the drips of water trickling down the roof of the entrance, almost like a steady stream. In the grey light of the day, her eyes looked a darker green, like the streaks of emerald crystal he had seen sprouting on the Death Mountain. Not that he was looking into her eyes or anything, her eyes were big and they caught his attention, that's all.
"I think it's a good idea to wait for a better weather," she agreed, curving her lips in a kind of smile, "and I can't sleep anymore. I think I'm starving."
"Dammit, of course you are. Innkeeper!" He raised his hand, and the innkeeper's son approached them, wiping his hands in a rag.
"My lord," greeted the boy.
"Do you have anything warm to eat?"
"We have finished heating up a mushroom and game stew in the cauldron. We also have some salted fish, cheese, raspberry jam and some apple pie left over from yesterday. We'll be baking more throughout the day. We could roast something on the fire, there is no fresh fish from the river because with the bad weather we haven't gone fishing. Would you settle for some sausages? My father bought them from a trader on the Hateno Wall."
"Yes, I want a little bit of everything," he said, his mouth watering.
"Huh-a little... everything?" The boy muttered, arching an eyebrow.
"Yes, bring everything you have, especially the sausages. And bread in abundance. We'll drink whatever you offer too."
"We have wheat beer and goat's milk."
"Perfect, both are fine." He said, trying to contain his appetite, "And for you prin- Your High-
"Zelda," she interjected, "if you don't mind, I'll eat a little of what you've asked for yourself, if you think you're capable of leaving me something."
This time he arched an eyebrow and saw the princess smile for the first time, openly.
Before long the table was filled with food, and the sausages were roasting in the embers of the fire, giving off a smell that made Link's stomach growl. For a few minutes he vented his anxiety and enormous appetite on what was on the table. He had lost track of when he had last put something in his mouth, it had to be before he had entered Hyrule Castle. And once he had plunged into that darkness, he was unable to tell how many hours and days passed, it was as if time had vanished once he was pulled into the blackness of the Calamity.
"I didn't remember how nice it is to eat," said the princess, as she spread a slice of bread with cheese and jam.
"While you were in the castle... You ate, didn't you?" he wondered. He'd seen the state of the castle, the only edible things there were the rats on the wharf and the keese nesting in the high domes of the towers.
"No, I didn't," she drew that kind of worn smile again.
"I've wondered what would you eat in there," he admitted. He began to get nervous, it was the longest conversation since they had met. Would his language be the right one? He knew she had to named as "highness" although she'd said "Zelda" making it clear that she didn't require any formal treatment. Anyway, he had no idea how to talk formally, so... "I've wondered how you have survived all this time, whether you would eat, sleep, and so on."
"I didn't eat and I didn't sleep. I was just waiting, holding him back. It wasn't easy, he was... You know. That's why I was just holding, and I was waiting."
"Waiting for what?"
"For you."
Link felt a jolt inside. He stared at his plate to try to disguise a little bit the strange effect those words had had on him and then took a piece of bread to his mouth.
"And... and how could you live a hundred years like this?" He went on. He was still curious, but he didn't dare look at those two emerald veins of the mountain in front of him.
"The power enveloped me, immersing me in a lethargy, like a dream. My body was asleep, but my spirit was still very awake. It's hard to explain."
"My lethargy was different. It's as if I'd disappeared," he mused, "No. I just disappeared from wherever I was. There was only darkness, that's all, that's all there was before I woke up, darkness and emptiness."
Until he heard her voice and felt life again. But he didn't confess that to her.
The princess left the bread on the plate and turned her head towards the burning fire beside her. He had questions, lots of them, all the time. Since he woke up he only wanted to ask to know, to remember something. She must know a lot about him, more than the sheikah, more than Impa, more than Purah and Robbie.
"Did you put me in that shrine?" He asked. He had also stopped eating.
"It wasn't me exactly..."
"Who was it then?"
"I suppose it was one of the sheikah," she said, looking back at him, "I asked them to do it."
"So somehow... it was you."
Both were silent for a few seconds, only the murmur of the inn, the muffled conversations of the rest of the travellers, could be heard.
"I... I knew the shrine existed, I knew it was the only way for you to... So yes, it was me." She admitted.
Link felt his heart racing as he dared to hold her gaze again. He forced himself to lose that sudden shyness that she had caused him, and she forced herself to... perhaps she too forced herself to look him in the eye.
"What happened to me? What made me fall defeated? Do you know?"
He knew it was a lot of questions, but no one had given him an answer, she was the only one who could do it. He saw the princess falter, as if shaking for an instant.
"I'd rather not talk about it. Forgive me, Link."
"Why? I want to know, I've forgotten everything," he insisted.
"It's not easy, maybe others can help you."
"Impa told me that there are no others who were with me when that happened."
"I'm not feeling well," she said, standing up," I'm going to go back to sleep a little more."
The princess grabbed her toast and went back to bed, locking herself behind the curtains.
Link sighed, somewhat resigned. He knew he'd been a bit of a nuisance with the questions, but it had all come to an end, there was nothing to be afraid of now, was there?
