After a few days, Link was assigned an official position within the Royal Guard. To his relief, Princess Zelda already had an appointed knight as her escort, as well as a nightshift guard, which was Kodah. Which meant he couldn't be assigned either of the two jobs that were closest to the Princess. No, Link's new job within the Royal Guard was as a training instructor; which had him sparring all day with knights that were aiming to join the Royal Guard. To join the Royal Guard, they had to face the Captain in a spar and, based on their performance, either be promoted or turned away.

Link didn't mind the work; it wasn't too different from what he'd been doing as a soldier, but at a higher level. Most of the knights that Link was training were much older than him, which didn't seem to bother anyone until they lost almost immediately. Then, they got angry. No one tried to genuinely fight him, but they were certainly rude when he suggested they continue to practice before taking the test with the Captain.

One recent incident stuck with him,

Link was sparring with a knight, watching his opponent closely. He needed to take note of any flaws in his form so he could tell him about it after the battle. The knight so far had been decent, but hadn't been utilizing his shield quite like he should, which left him open when he should've been guarding.

Taking advantage of this, Link ended the battle swiftly by dodging his attack, a horizontal slice, and diving forward, sword aimed at his throat. The knight jumped backwards but, as expected, did not guard himself so Link was able to knock him flat on his back using the flat of his blade.

Standing over him, Link offered a hand to help him up. "You need practice," he stated simply, "your offense is good, but your defense needs work."

The knight sneered at him, swatting his hand away and climbing to his feet indignantly.

"What would you know?" The knight asked sarcastically, "You never even took the test yourself! You only got promoted because you pulled the Master Sword. What makes you so special?"

What was it that made him special? Link genuinely didn't know. The more he thought about it, the more unfair it seemed. Why didn't he have to pass the test to be promoted to the Royal Guard? He'd had this job for nearly a month, and the thought hadn't occurred to him until that knight brought it up. He decided he would speak to the captain about it when he got the chance.

As far as Zelda was concerned, Link found that silencing himself when in the presence of the princess was surprisingly easy; she rarely spoke to him, but when she did, she almost never demanded a verbal response. Instead, much like her father, she gave orders and asked simple yes or no questions with which Link could respond with a shake of his head or a nod. This method seemed to work well, much to his relief. Princess Zelda had not snapped at him since the day they'd been introduced in the sanctum; the first and last time he'd tried speaking to her. This alleviated some of his anxiety regarding the Princess and reassured him that yes, this was what she wanted from him.

On a couple occasions, he was invited to dine with King Rhoam and the princess. Had it been a true invitation, he would have declined, given that he was rather uncomfortable with the whole scenario. But he'd quickly caught on that "invite," when pertaining to royals, was simply a politer synonym for "order".

The first time he was invited, he told Kodah about it, only to be met with sympathy.

Though Link did not see Kodah every day, the other young man had become the closest thing Link knew to a friendly face since he'd been promoted to the Royal Guard. As such, when they ran into one another off duty, they would chat.

Kodah told him that there were a lot of social rules to be followed, and mannerisms expected of one when dining with the King. He mentioned several different types of the same silverware, each with a different but specific purpose, as well as numerous other rules that Link knew he had no hope of remembering all of.

Dinner conversations with the King and Princess were awkward; it seemed to Link that King Rhoam wanted him and Zelda to talk, but could not subtly urge his daughter into initiating a conversation (naturally, Link couldn't start a conversation with the Princess, or at least he believed he couldn't.) Zelda stubbornly kept her gaze pointed away from Link and did not acknowledge his presence unless she deemed it absolutely necessary.

The first occasion went as such;

Link sat across from the Princess of Hyrule, with King Rhoam seated at the head of the table. Link wore his royal guard's uniform, as it was the nicest outfit he owned. An elaborate banquet—an absurd amount of food; ridiculously more than three people could ever hope to eat—was presented on the table in front of them. Porgy meunière, seafood paella, salmon risotto, creamy seafood soup and crab stir-fry made up the seafood themed feast.

While everything smelled amazing, and Link was certainly hungry, he hesitated to put anything on his plate, even after King Rhoam and Princess Zelda had taken their picks. He watched as both royals slowly and deliberately took small, careful bites of their meal.

Keeping Kodah's warnings in mind, Link's gaze switched between the fork Zelda was holding and the three at his place, trying to determine which one he was supposed to be using. Zelda noticed him staring and paused, a forkful of salmon halfway to her mouth. She glared daggers at him, and Link immediately averted his gaze; deciding then that risotto looked pretty good and he'd serve himself some of that. Once his plate was full, he once looked at the forks again; two situated vertically on the left of his plate and one horizontally above it. Never in his sixteen years of life did Link expect to be confused by cutlery, of all things. Having found no discernable difference between them, he took a gamble and picked up a fork, hoping it was the right one.

Of course, it wasn't. And Princess Zelda did not hesitate to inform him of this.

She cleared her throat to get his attention, and Link looked up at her, hoping the vague sense of dread he felt wasn't evident on his face.

If it was, she didn't care. "For entrées, you use the rightmost fork," she corrected, "not the salad fork."

A smug sense of superiority accompanied her condescending smile.

Link accepted the criticism with as much good grace as he could muster. His face flushed with embarrassment and he nodded stiffly, setting the salad fork down and picking up the one on the right.

Link couldn't help but feel better after taking a bite of salmon and rice; it was so good! He'd always liked food—he wasn't picky about what he ate, but he could certainly appreciate a genuinely good meal. He forced himself to focus on the flavor of the fresh fish and, after eating in silence for a bit, recovered from his earlier blunder.

The quiet was broken by King Rhoam, who commented;

"You are left-handed."

Link blinked, confused by the King's words, but nodded. He was indeed; evidenced by how he held the fork in his left hand as he ate. It was a random comment, and a strange one at that. Admittedly, being left-handed was far less common than being right-handed, but he couldn't think of a reason it would be worth mentioning at the moment.

"Ancient carvings depict the hero of ten thousand years ago wielding the Master Sword with his left hand." The King smiled, a rare emotion shown on his face, "I hadn't noticed until now, but it appears you share that trait."

Link relaxed, and gave a small smile in return. So, the King had confidence in him because he shared a trait with the hero of old; that was reassuring.

King Rhoam turned his attention to his daughter, who had stopped eating and was eyeing her plate like it had personally offended her.

He then continued talking as though she wasn't there, "Zelda is neither left nor right hand dominant; she can write with either hand." He explained. "Her scholar had a word for it, what was it?" he pondered.

Despite herself, Zelda answered past clenched teeth, "Ambidextrous."

That was pretty interesting, Link thought. He imagined himself being able to wield a sword in both hands with equal dexterity; that would be very useful in battle, not to mention cool-looking.

"In legends, the princess of destiny is said to be the holder of a piece of the Triforce," King Rhoam said.

Link nodded, signifying that he understood. Those same legends said the hero held a piece as well; the Triforce of Courage. Link knew, under the white glove of his uniform, he had no such mark on his hand.

"The Triforce of Wisdom; the mark of which is told to be prominent on the Princess's right hand."

Before he could stop himself, Link looked at Zelda's right hand.

She didn't have the mark, either.

Princess Zelda dropped her fork and folded her hands on her lap under the table, hiding them from scrutiny.

King Rhoam sighed and leaned back in his chair. Full attention on his daughter, he spoke,

"Use your right hand as you eat, Zelda. We've been over this." He reprimanded.

It was then that Link realized Zelda had been eating dinner with her left hand, just like him. Link looked between the King and Princess, puzzled. If she was ambidextrous, then why did it matter what hand she used?

Zelda's head came up and she fixed her father with a defiant glare, "Do you honestly believe the Goddess would be so shallow as to withhold my birthright on account of what hand I use when I eat?" she snapped. "If all the time I've wasted praying to her has had no effect, then I don't see how being right-handed would make her suddenly decide I am worthy of her blessing."

King Rhoam returned her glare with his own, "Your words are shrouded in blasphemy; you cannot hope to hear the Goddess's voice when you blame her for your inadequacies." He said darkly.

Zelda looked like she wanted to argue, but then her eyes landed on Link sitting across from her awkwardly, and instead closed her mouth, standing up calmly.

Evenly, she said, "I believe I will retire for the evening. Please give my compliments to the chef."

With that, Princess Zelda left the table, leaving her father and Link alone. As the door to the dining hall closed behind her, Link stared at his half-eaten dinner discontentedly; his appetite gone.

King Rhoam took a long drink from his wine glass, then spoke.

He had a distant look in his eyes, and he asked without looking directly at Link, "Tell me, boy, are you able to hear the voice of the Goddess?"

Link's mind drew a blank, and he mentally scrambled to find an answer. That wasn't an easy question.

Link thought back to all the times he'd prayed; like most Hylians, he worshiped the Goddess Hylia and he prayed to her statues. But Link also believed in and prayed to the three Golden Goddesses; Din, Farore, and Nayru. They were the Goddesses of Power, Courage and Wisdom, respectively. There weren't as many people who worshipped the Golden Goddesses in this day and age; the exception being those from Hateno Village. Those who did typically prayed to the one whose virtue was most important to them. Link mainly prayed to Farore, asking her to lend him courage when his own failed.

He'd heard Farore's voice many times, always telling him the same thing, "Find it within yourself."

As unhelpful as he'd often thought, it was admittedly better than utter silence.

But the King was referring to the Goddess Hylia—and Link had never "heard" her voice so much as he had felt her presence and simply known what she conveyed.

Realizing a non-verbal response would be inappropriate, Link spoke,

"I hear Farore, your majesty."

King Rhoam did not immediately reply, and for a second Link began to fear he'd said the wrong thing. Instead, after a moment, the King smiled, like it was the best news he'd heard all day.

"Of course," he said, "That makes perfect sense."

Link wasn't sure if he was talking to him or himself. The King suddenly stood up and announced,

"Zelda will visit the three Sacred Springs. If anything, The Spring of Wisdom should awaken her power."

King Rhoam turned to Link, who hastily got to his feet.

"Thank you, Link," it was odd hearing the King of Hyrule speak his name, "you've been most helpful."

Link bowed his head respectfully—he felt he didn't deserve the praise; it wasn't like his presence magically awakened Princess Zelda's dormant sealing powers; all he did was answer a question. True credit surely lay with the King, for it was his idea.

"You are dismissed."

Link didn't need to be told twice; he gratefully took his leave.