Zelda woke up before her lady's maid got a chance to enter her chamber and wake her up. Her hair was spread in a mess across the soft pillows and she had stretched her legs outside of the blanket so that it only covered her upper body. She'd be too hot otherwise.
She stared at a wall, kept her gaze still on one point only and going out of focus from time to time. She didn't want to get up. Nothing had been going well lately, not her research, not her behavior towards Link and the goddesses still didn't answer her prayers. There was no point of getting up for just another day of failure. She just wanted to stay in her room all day, avoiding everyone and she wanted time to stop until her prayers had been heard. She had no one to talk with to share her burden. She didn't want to burden anyone with her problems, but just the fact that she had no one, not a single person, to talk with was… just sad. Her father wouldn't understand. Her lady's maid had always been sweet towards her, but she couldn't be sure what words might slip from her lips in the servant's quarters. And everyone in court were just too old, they were all adults, but if she had one friend among the nobles she still knew that she couldn't say anything or they'd think badly of their Princess. Zelda truly felt like the loneliest person in the whole kingdom this morning. The loneliest person and the biggest failure in all of Hyrule.
She heard a knock on her door after spending half an hour awake with her dark thoughts and waited before she gave a reply. She stared at the wall for one more minute before she lazily dragged herself up and drew a hand through her hair for an attempt to look somewhat presentable. She had to get herself together. For her people. For Hyrule.
She forced a smile on her lips. "You may enter."
"Good morning, your Highness!" her lady's maid cheerfully said as she entered and curtsied. "I hope you have slept well?"
"Yes, I have. Thank you." She slid off the bed and remembered her manners. "And I hope you did too?"
"Oh yes, your grace, I did. Now, should we get you dressed after taking care of your hair or do you think it'll become a mess again once you're in it?" Her lady's maid joked and shot her a shining smile and Zelda wished her own could be as true as hers.
"I'd say that it sounds wiser to get dressed first." The Princess smirked back.
"Would you like your white and blue dress as usual, your Highness?"
She hesitated for a split second. Then she figured that she might as well wear it today too, there was no need to pick a prettier dress. "Yes, please."
The Princess got dressed behind a screen with the assistance from her lady's maid and then sat down at her vanity and waited for her hair to be brushed. And she somewhat felt like her appointed knight because she was in no mood for talking this morning, but she had to be strong and go on as usual.
"So." She picked something that was a strand of hair the night before and gently tugged at it at the end, wanting to help her lady's maid. "Do you know anything of my father's schedule today?"
"Oh no, I'm afraid I don't, your grace. But I suppose that the King is doing what he usually does: attends meetings, signs important papers, approves a suggestion for the new tax and such. Nothing interesting for a pretty Princess like you." She gave the Princess a tight squeeze on her shoulders and looked at her with affection through the mirror's reflection. The Princess gave a warm smile back. A moment of silence passed before her lady's maid spoke up again. "It was terribly nice of the King to appoint that young man to be your knight, milady, don't you think so?"
The Princess stopped detangling her hair and resisted a frown. "What makes you think so?"
"Well, he just seems to take his job very seriously for being so young. And it makes it easier for you to do your tasks when he's with you, now that we can't spare guards to accompany your travels." She stroked the blonde hair a few more times with the brush until it was smooth and put it down. "And it doesn't hurt that he's handsome, too."
Zelda turned halfway around in surprise and looked over her shoulder at her lady's maid. "Don't tell me you consider him to be good looking too, along with the rest of the castle!"
Her lady's maid chuckled. "Well, I wouldn't say that he isn't."
The Princess sat straight again and let her lady's maid place the tiara on her head. "I just can't tell what everyone sees in him." A lie. She knew exactly why everyone idolized him. The knight had no flaws and would save everyone from the inevitable doom.
"Now, now, my dear, that don't sound very much like you." She secured the tiara and tugged a few hair strands behind the pointy ears. "But I won't judge you if you consider him to be cute, he seems to be around your age" she said in a hushed voice and leaned forward with a teasing grin. She knew how to cheer up the Princess.
"Oh, please, I can assure you that I don't." The Princess chuckled back. "Besides, his hair is too long."
"If you say so, your Highness."
"I do say so" Zelda replied, sounding a bit harsher than she had intended. "Thank you" she added in a friendlier tone.
"It was my pleasure, your Majesty. Would some breakfast suit well, milady? It will be served shortly."
The Princess thought for a few seconds. "Yes, but I need to write something first in my study. I'll be down as soon as I'm done."
"Excellent, your Majesty." The lady's maid curtsied as the Princess left her chamber and closed the door after them. "I'll inform the kitchen staff. Just don't take too long time with your research, my dear, or the breakfast will turn cold."
Princess Zelda only smiled as a reply and watched her lady's maid leave down the spiral staircase before she entered her personal study. She wouldn't study so early in the morning. But since she had been unable to find the columns with guardians that the ancient Sheikah papers had mentioned, she figured that she no longer had a reason to delay her visits to the two remaining Champions, the Gerudo chief Urbosa and Zora Princess Mipha.
She decided to visit Urbosa first. She needed the feeling that someone cared about her, not as a Princess but as a person, and Urbosa had always been there ever since she was a small baby. The tall Gerudo woman had always been fond of the Hylian Princess since she had been close friends with the late Queen, and Zelda could always feel safe around her.
She grabbed a pen and a paper with the Hylian royal emblem printed on and quckly wrote a message to the Gerudo chief, informing her that she could soon expect the Princess' visit to make adjustments on Vah Naboris. She folded the paper in half and sealed it in an envelope before she began to write again, on a smaller piece of paper which looked less formal. It was for her knight, preparing him that they would soon set out for Gerudo Highlands and Desert. She folded the small note twice, stepped outside the study… and realized that she wasn't sure how to get it to him. She had never had use of the royal guards when she was in the castle before. And especially not any person in special from the guards. She didn't even know their names. So would it be best to hand the note over to one of the guards who were already in the hallways this morning or would she give it to a maid who could deliver it for her? Oh, if only her lady's maid had stayed! She could have taken it for her, surely.
After a few minutes of internal debate, the Princess considered it best to hand the note to a maid since the royal guards might be keeping guard in the hallways for many more hours before they were left off charge. A maid might deliver the note to her knight faster.
The Princess began to walk towards the morning hall where the breakfast was served every morning, which lied nearby the dining hall and was smaller in size, with the letter to Urbosa and the note in her hand. She asked a maid when she was almost there to take care of them for her.
Link hadn't slept well that night. He had found a piece of paper with a scribbled note on his bunk bed and he had opened it even though he could already guess what it was going to say. And he had been right. It was another, this time anonymous, note from someone in the royal guard who wrote that they "believed in him", "prayed to the goddesses for his success" and that their whole family depended on him. It was silly, in a way, to receive anonymous messages like this, but he figured that these notes might come from guards from other units than his own (or, well, the one he had been a part of) and who had never spoken to him but had heard of him, or guards who thought it to be too difficult to face him. But these tiny notes which contained such huge wishes somehow only weighed him down. And the thoughts, the doubts and images of what he would have to face kept him awake longer than he'd like to. He wasn't afraid of this Ganon, even though the name Calamity alone would make any man want to flee, he just wasn't sure what it was that he would fight. And that feeling of being uncertain could make his imagination run wild with endless theories.
But morning had eventually come and Link approached some familiar faces, sitting at one of the long tables in the guard's dining hall, with a slice of bread and a bowl of porridge in his hands. The thought of breakfast cheered him up a little, even though it was the same every morning. At least he got to have it now unlike some nights before when he had to take the night watch on the order from his superiors.
And freshly baked bread was simply one of the best things in the world.
The royal guards, already dressed in their navy blue uniforms, immediately recognized him in his turquoise tunic and scooted over to make space for him to sit down. "Ah, our hero is gracing us with his presence! Good morning, Link!" Their faces lit up. Link's remained the same and sat down. He nodded as a silent greeting and then began to eat together with the guards.
"Isn't it great knowing that our Link will take care of the Calamity, huh? You would never have guessed that when he turned up here… here… How long have you been here now, Link, about a year?"
Luckily did another guard, bearded, sitting next to them comment back before Link had to answer. He preferred to stay silent anyway.
"Yeah, it makes it easier for us to concentrate on our jobs, knowing that he'll beat that beast so things can go back to normal again."
"You're the best of us all, I barely knew how to shoot an arrow when I was in your age" a third, and slightly younger, guard added, laughing. "Can you imagine that, if I had to fight the Calamity? I'd waste all my arrows and I'd probably hit myself with the sword!"
The men around the table laughed at the thought but Link could only hear a mumble coming from the end of it. "Fool, the Calamity isn't something you fight with simple weapons, you need magic to deal with it…!"
"Oh, yeah? How come Link here will smash it then? I think you're the fool here." Another round of laughter. Link continued to eat in silence. It seemed that the men in the royal guard didn't know what the Calamity is either.
"The Master Sword truly is a beauty, just look at the scabbard" the bearded guard commented and Link felt all eyes focus on the sword on his back in an instant. His breakfast suddenly felt harder to swallow. "I can't even imagine what it must feel to wield it, I bet that it's something else compared to ours." The guards hummed in agreement.
An older man suddenly approached their table. He was tall, broad and had a face which showed the amount of battles he had faced during his lifetime. It was their commander. The royal guards quieted down and became as silent as Link and everyone at the table curiously watched him getting closer.
"Link." The commander's voice had a deep tune which could gain respect from anybody within seconds. Link immediately stood up from the table, an old habit of being a soldier for so long, to properly pay attention. "A maid came with a note, asking me to give it to you."
Link received the note without a word and sat down again after the commander left. Curious eyes watched him unfold the tiny paper since it wasn't every day to receive any letters – especially not Link who no longer had any relatives alive.
He read it.
We'll travel to Gerudo Desert in two days to visit the Gerudo chief and Champion, Urbosa, and Divine Beast Vah Naboris. – Princess Zelda
"Well? Who's it from?" the slightly younger guard asked. Link handed over the tiny note, figuring that the message wasn't telling any personal details so it wouldn't hurt if someone else read it.
"The Princess!" gasped another guard next to the younger one as he read over his shoulder, and suddenly everyone wanted to take a look at the beautiful signature of their Princess. Link quickly finished his breakfast as the attention was now distributed on the note instead on him. He was about to leave the table and let the note stay with the men, but one of them caught his attention before he got too far and gave it back to him.
"If you're going to the Gerudo Highlands and the desert, you'll have to watch out for members of the Yiga clan, Link" a serious voice said. "They're rumored to have their hideout there… even though no one has ever found it. Just keep your eyes open." Link nodded and put the folded piece of paper in one of his pockets. Then he made his leave and could only faintly hear someone behind him mention how "cool and collected" he seemed, "like a true hero".
Good.
Sweat rolled down from his forehead and formed stains on his chest and back. He had swung the Master Sword for hours, practicing, to become one with it, more than what he already was. The length was perfect for him, the weight no longer unfamiliar. It reflected the light as he hit perfectly on imaginary enemies with arms becoming weary. But he was still not feeling that sensation. Had he only imagined it after all?
He struck down powerfully one last time before he took a break and sat down in the sparring hall. He put the sword back in its scabbard on his back and let his arms rest on his knees as he bent his head back. He let out a tired sigh and shut his eyes, feeling his heartbeat slow down before he opened them again. His mouth felt dry. He needed some water.
He stood up and went across the room to the well which had been installed for the royal guards to use whenever they practiced. He didn't have a glass bottle with him or a cup, so he used his hand to scoop up the water to his lips and then let the bucket fall down into the well again. He turned around, wiped his wet hand on the tunic, and began to return to his previous spot when he noticed that his old commander had observed him the whole time.
"What do you say about fighting me?" he asked Link. "You'll have a living opponent to strike and I'll get a chance to see what the legendary sword goes for."
Link was tired but not enough to turn down the offer. Having a real opponent instead of imaginary ones meant paying attention to every single movement and quickly seeing openings to take advantage of – a real battle was far better practice than wielding a sword on your own for hours.
Link pulled out the sword, accepting the challenge, and stood with his legs at shoulders width and slightly bent knees, ready for his ex-commander to make the first move. He held the Master Sword with both hands, focused on the others' body language as they began to move in a large circle. None of them initiated the first strike. Link realized that he would have to make the first one.
With a grunt, he swung his sword towards the older man and their swords met with a metallic sound as he had parried the strike. He tried again and was met with the same result and swiftly dodged any blows from the commander. This went on for a few minutes before the man spoke up.
"Don't go easy on me, boy. I can tell that you're holding back."
The commander had been right: Link had been holding back in an attempt to not embarrass the man in a quick defeat. Being a commander meant having years of experience and getting respect from the subordinates as a result. But Link decided to do as he was told. With strikes filled with more speed and more power, he slowly but surely made the commander step backwards, forcing other practicing royal guards to back away as they crossed their paths. Fighting the commander wasn't easy, Link often had to parry blows which got closer to him than he was comfortable with, but when their swords clashed against each other one more time, he used all his force to push the man back, making him stumble to his feet, and pointed with the tip of his sword at the man's hand which held a royal broadsword. He won. Their chests heaved and both caught their breaths before the man let out a low chuckle.
"Good. But aim for my throat next time." He grinned.
Link removed his sword, offered a hand to help his opponent stand up again (it was left ignored) and they shook hands. "That was a good fight." Link nodded.
His muscles were tired and cried for a break, so he left the hall to clean himself up and rest at the guard's yard before supper would be served.
He had still not felt anything. He heard no voice from the sword that the Princess had mentioned. Perhaps she had only meant an inner voice, his own gut telling him that they belonged together? That they were destined for each other?
He pulled up the small note from the Princess from his pocket and observed her handwriting. It looked nothing like his own.
He thought about her.
Maybe he should try and pray to the goddesses, too, to guide him and let him know if they had truly chosen him or if it was all a mistake.