The Princess heard what Urbosa had just said. About how she only sees her own failures and complex when she's with her knight. She stopped talking and lowered her hand. Was she that easy to read? Or was it just that Urbosa knew her better than the other Champions?
She glanced back at Link. He was still kneeling before her and kept his head low. He looked so calm. Ready. Not at all how she was feeling, even though they shared the same destiny. She envied him for that. He had already found what he had to look for, he already had the sword, and what she thought was his hardest task was already over. He only needed to get used to the new sword while she… still had to find what she was looking for to fulfill her part of the prophecy. But still… even though she envied him, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him as well. He was still so young and… She shook the thought away in her mind. He was a knight. He knew what was waiting for him. Wasn't he? That's the life of a knight anyway.
As for herself… Urbosa was right. Seeing her knight only reminded her of what task she had yet to accomplish. She had tried so many years now and her prayers to the Goddesses to grant her the power had only escalated for the past year or so.

Princess Zelda glanced to the ground momentarily before she spoke to her knight. "You may rise." He did as he was told. A moment's silence passed as the Champions watched them and Zelda began to feel uneasy. She was used to people talking around her all the time in the castle and she wasn't sure how to continue. The ceremony was done. The whole purpose of them all standing here was over. What next?

She heard Revali clear his voice before he spoke and she turned her head to give him her attention, relieved that someone broke the silence. "Princess, I hope you won't think of me as rude if I say that I should get back to Rito Village? The ceremony is over and the quicker I get to master the Divine Beast Vah Medoh, the better, wouldn't you agree? Although I doubt it would take me long" he snickered, self-confident as always.

"No, I understand." She looked at the other Champions as well. "Thank you for staying here the past days, I doubt that it will be long until we meet again. I will…" She glanced at Link for a second. "Link and I will soon visit you and make the adjustments on the Divine Beasts we talked about earlier. I will let you know when we'll come."

The Champions exchanged a few last greetings before Revali and Daruk took off, and Urbosa too after she exchanged a few words with the Princess. Zelda was ready to head back to the castle and was about to mount her horse when she noticed that the Zora Princess was still there. And she was speaking softly to… her knight. Zelda watched them, wondering why Mipha would speak to him. She had been so quiet the whole day up till now. Zelda figured that she might just be wishing him good luck on his new task, her kindness was well known after all. But it seemed to be something else because the red Princess gave him a friendly pat on his arm before she turned around. That peaked Zelda's curiosity even more. What on earth…?

The Zora Princess spoke to Zelda. "I suppose that I should get going too. Thank you once again for letting us stay in the castle for a few days." Zelda nodded to say it was her pleasure. "I think you two will get along well until we meet again. … Take care, Zelda." Mipha smiled before she motioned for a few of her Zora soldiers to accompany her to the nearest river to take them to their domain.

And then it was only Zelda and Link left. And it was quiet again. It seemed that Zelda would have to speak up first to end the silence. "So." She gripped the reins to her horse. "We better go back to the castle, don't you think?" She shot him a shy smile but didn't get a reply from him. She mounted her white steed anyway and urged it take a few steps after trying twice. Link followed, not far behind her but still kept a distance between them. She peeked over her shoulder. Their horses weren't even keeping a quick pace but she considered if she should make hers wait for him. Link kept looking at the horizon, ready for anything and everything until he noticed her looking at him. Their eyes met and she immediately faced forward again.
It was only his first day as her appointed knight but he hadn't spoken a word yet. She understood quickly that he didn't seem to be the talkative guy, not like she was at all. Zelda was so used to talking to people and people always conversed with her in the castle but this… was different. She wasn't used to situations like this at all. And she didn't even know him. She only knew of the rumors about him.

… And all this silence made her uneasy.

She turned her horse and waited for him to catch up. It didn't take long. He still had the same calm, expressionless look on his face. Princess Zelda calmed down her nerves. She had only waited for him so she could speak.

"I couldn't help but notice you and Princess Mipha…" No response. "Do you happen to know each other?"

Zelda looked at him as their horses kept walking again. He nodded after a minute, still keeping his eyes forward, and she wished he would go on and give her an explanation. But she realized that she wouldn't get one and rapidly searched in her mind for another topic to discuss. She opened her mouth again.

"And your new clothes, do they please you? I hope they aren't too uncomfortable?"

He shook his head.

She looked away and bit her lip. He sure wasn't easy to talk to.

Maybe he was just too focused to look out for anything dangerous and she shouldn't disturb him.

Or maybe he just didn't like her. Who knows what he seen her do in the castle? Or heard her say?

… And if she had heard rumors of him, who knows what rumors have reached his ears about her?

She dared to peek over her shoulder again and saw him looking at her this time. They kept eye contact for a moment which felt much longer than what it probably was. She felt her anxiety grow and involuntarily held her breath. And her eyes darted away. She had absolutely no idea what was going on in his mind. But she was aware of what was going on in her own and took a deep breath in. Reminded herself to stay calm. Just like how she was always keeping up a calm façade in the castle. It wasn't like she wasn't used to have eyes on her every day.

So why did it feel different this time?

She told herself to give him a chance. Perhaps he was just as nervous as her… even though he showed no signs of it at all.
Or maybe… he was a mute.
She silently giggled at the thought. No, that was silly of her. That couldn't be the reason why he wouldn't speak, could it? Knights needed to speak to communicate, right?

She thought about it and soon found out that she actually didn't know much about what it's like to be one of her soldiers or knights. She had never seen them practice yet she still knew they were doing it daily. She hadn't seen them in action in her life before. Not really. They had simply just… been there. Always nearby, never truly needed. Except when she had to travel through her kingdom on some rare occasions but there had rarely been a reason for the royal guards who accompanied her to fight. No one dared to when they saw them in the fields, knowing who they were and what skills they possessed. But they had always been communicating with words, that she knew. She hadn't noticed any knight or guard who wouldn't respond to his orders. They simply couldn't be mutes… right? He wasn't a mute, was he?

Zelda told herself to stop wondering about it or else she would start believing that he was.

Link sped up slightly when he noticed some travellers approaching far away, making sure that the Princess wouldn't be far away in case she needed protection. But just when he got close enough, she motioned for her horse to trot and the space between them grew again. Link urged his horse to speed up even more, catching up to the Princess once again as he kept glancing over to the travelers. They looked harmless but he could never be sure.

They got closer to the travelers and Link's suspicion faded away when he noticed them bowing for their Princess when they saw her, only daring to look up with big eyes when she had already passed them. Seeing the Princess was rare and they had been lucky to have seen her beauty even if the moment had only lasted for a second.
But somehow it felt like his Princess tried to shake him off as she once more urged her horse to hurry and he had to catch up to her again. But he was probably only imagining things and let the momentary frustration die.

Zelda wasn't exactly looking forward to be back in her castle but at the moment it felt better than trying to start conversations only to never get a proper reply back. His silence made her nervous. On the way to the Sacred Ground it hadn't been the same since she had talked with the Champions. Now she just wanted to go back home.

Luckily the ride from the ceremonial spot wasn't long. She was forced to slow down when she reached the wall surrounding the Castle Town and let her horse walk the rest of the way up to the castle's gate. Her knight was soon beside her again, closer than before, as they passed the streets of Castle Town. Some of her people greeted her happily, and she smiled back, and he was on pin and needles until the gates opened for them. He let a breath out. He made a mental note to remind himself that he couldn't stay as alert the next time they had to pass through the town. He didn't want to make any mistakes.

Princess Zelda dismounted when they reached the stables and handed over her horse to a stable boy. Link did the same and was ready to take care of his horse by himself, like he was used to, but soon remembered that it was no longer a part of his job. He felt silly for letting someone else take care of his mare and smiled apologetically as he passed on the reins to the stable boy before he quickly followed the Princess again.

She dragged an arm up to her nose and smelled her sleeve. She didn't smell too much of the horse on her and decided that she wasn't in need of a bath. She glanced behind her. Link was still following her. She guessed that she would have to get used to him always staying so close from now on, but at least it was easier in the castle where she could talk with anyone if she wished to.
She knew that she should go and pray but a voice deep inside told her that she also knew that it wouldn't improve her situation. So she walked up to her study once more to read more about the Guardians. She held the knob of the door and turned it, about to enter when she remembered the knight who had been following her. She turned to face him and said "I will stay in here and read, you don't have to follow me anymore." She waited for him to say that he understood her orders but, not very surprisingly, no words left his lips and not even a nod was made. She turned back hesitantly, hoping that he had understood, stepped inside the room and closed the door behind her. She walked over to her desk, grabbed a pen and began reading. A few minutes passed and she realized… that she hadn't heard him walk away. She stood up and took a few steps back to the door, peeked through the key hole. Yep. He was still there alright, guarding her door and standing straight like any other royal guard.

She couldn't point a finger on what emotions she was feeling. She shouldn't be so surprised to see him outside the door, it was it job after all. She just wished that she could be alone for a while without keeping anyone waiting for her.
She sighed at herself. If it was anything she needed to keep her mind occupied with it certainly wasn't her knight guarding her door. She went back to her desk, sat down once more and started to read again. An hour or so passed until she could no longer concentrate and started to feel guilty for not even trying to pray.

She opened the door with a quick motion, making Link flinch slightly, and walked by her knight who began following her again. He followed her until they reached a larger room with a goddess statue. He understood what she was about to do and slowed down his steps, letting the Princess walk up to the statue herself and kneel before it. He wasn't sure what to do – there were no doors to guard and he thought that she might want some privacy while praying. He backed away from her a bit, turned his back to her and faced the only entryway to the room, focused on the hallway outside.

Princess Zelda pressed her hands together and closed her eyes to concentrate. But her thoughts often diverted at first and she worried that Link thought of her as a failure, just like her own father seemed to think of her lately.

Hours passed and neither of them spoke and no one came to disturb the Princess. No one from the court entered to say a prayer either. The sun got lower and the shadows in the room shifted direction and got longer.

Link had never experienced anyone praying for so long before. He admired the Princess for her dedication.