She didn't want to return to her castle. Just not yet. She didn't necessarily want to stay much longer with her knight following her every step either but, for the moment, it felt like a better option than having to stay within the castle walls with all the eyes on her. With her father's never ending hopes. With the tiring talk in her court of things which seemed so meaningless in comparison to their upcoming doom. Outside her home, in the open fields or the high mountains or the dry desert, she could be somewhat free. Free to do almost whatever she wished to do. Of course she was focused on her duties first and foremost, her anxiety and sense of duty wouldn't let her neglect them, but if she wanted to ride to see a glimpse of a nearby lake or river, she was free to do so. If she wanted to stop and pick wildberries or take a picture with the Sheikah Slate, she could do it. Her freedom was limited with her knight constantly nearby, but it was enough to let her mind forget about her duties for a few moments. It was enough for her anxiety to let go of its grip on her shoulders for a while.
Her blonde hair whipped in the wind and sand threatened to enter her eyes as she struggled to steer a sand seal through the desert. She had seen them when she had been in Gerudo Town and curiously asked Urbosa about them the previous day. She was told that the sand seals were convenient for crossing the desert, just like horses were excellent in Hyrule's fields, and sometimes used for entertainment. It had made the Princess interested in them and she wanted to try riding one. It looked so easy for the Gerudo and she thought it would be simple for her as well, but it wasn't exactly. She got the hang of it but she wasn't a master yet. However, it was fun and she didn't want to give up. If she did, she would have to go back to her knight who was waiting for her somewhere in between Gerudo Town and Kara Kara Bazaar. The fun would definitely be over then. But, she thought, she had already been away for a long while so perhaps it was time to return.
With a mental sigh, she steered the seal to swim in a large circle in the sand so she could go back. The sun blocked her vision and she raised an arm to shade her eyes from the rays, keeping a tight grip on the straps to the sand seal with her other hand. Unfortunately, the shade from her hand wasn't enough for her to see the rock she was riding straight into. She hit it, and the surprise of such a sudden and unexpected stop made her loose the grip of the sand seal's straps. She landed on her knees and hands and saw her seal waiting for her a little bit farther away. Groaning, she rubbed her knees and stood up, intending to get the seal back but it only fled away from her.
Oh, right. She forgot that sand seals were perhaps even more cautious of sudden sounds than a frightened hare.
She tried again, but with the same result. The sand seal fled away and she fought back the impulse of running after it to catch it. She would never get to catch it if she did, considering how alert the creatures were.
The shadow from a palm tree moved. Or did it? Maybe it was just the desert heat playing tricks with her mind, the air could look hazy after all. She shook her head and carefully took a step closer to the seal. It was most likely just the heat.
She stepped as quietly she could, determined that she would catch the seal this time, return it to the renter in Gerudo Town and then go back to Link. She dragged her foot slowly. Then the other one. And she almost crouched when she took the next step. She was so concentrated that she hardly noticed a long shadow from behind getting closer as well. But after several more steps, she did. She looked behind her and over her shoulder. There hadn't been any other people in the desert nearby from what she had seen earlier. But there was now a slim person standing behind her. The Princess' eyes went wide. And she gasped.
In a desperate attempt, she leaped towards the sand seal but was only met with hot sand when she landed on the ground and quickly stumbled to her feet. If there was one thing she had been warned about ever since she was a little girl, it was the bloodthirsty, cruel members of the Yiga clan whose goal is to assassinate members of the Hylian royal family. Assassinate her. And not far away from her stood one of them, dressed in a red and black body suit and a mask with the inverted symbol of the Sheikah's eye covering their face. There was no mistake of it. She knew with every bone, with every cell of her body that they had found her and her only option left now that she had failed to catch the seal was to run. As fast as she could, faster than she had ever run before.
The sand underneath her boots wouldn't give her enough grip and she felt as if she was slipping and sinking with every step she ran, but she wouldn't stop. She couldn't stop. Her heart drummed hard against her chest, filled with nothing but panic and a desire to live, telling every part of her body to keep going even when it felt like she would pass out. Her fingertips went cold yet her forehead formed sweat from the heat. Her throat became dry with every gasp of desert air she filled her lungs with.
She took a quick glance behind her as she ran. She dared to hope for merely a split second that she was going to make it – the Yiga member wasn't close enough to hurt her – but when she faced forward again, she saw two other Yiga cled persons suddenly jump before her. The fear in her mind elevated and she yelped. Those objects in their hands looked sharp enough to cut through a piece of thin tissue paper. She didn't even want to think what one could do to her.
She wanted to run away from the new Yiga supporters and to the bazaar. It was far away, oh, it was so far away and she wouldn't make it! And never before had she wished so much with all of her heart that her knight had been with her. All she had wanted was some time alone, some freedom from everything that reminded her of her duties and failures and now, when she needed Link the most, he wasn't there. She had never wanted to have him close to her but she deeply wished that he was here now. How ironic.
Her legs felt so heavy. Her arms weighed like large rocks. Terrified of the new Yiga's, she spun around as a last attempt to escape but immediately stopped when she saw the first Yiga member suddenly being much closer to her than before. And then she realized why this Yiga hadn't tried to get closer to her until now – they had let her run herself tired, like a deer fleeing from a predator until its legs would give out. And that was exactly what her legs did. She stumbled backwards and landed on her bum, eyes focused on the red and white mask before her and her mind slowly registering the mocking flip of the sickle in their hand as she was getting cornered. Like a frightened animal, her eyes rapidly searched for an escape, but there was none. The three members of the notorious Yiga clan slowly approached, forcing the Princess to crawl backwards and closer to a cliff behind her. She was sure she would hear them snickering mockingly behind their masks if the blood wasn't rushing through her pointy ears.
Her heart drummed like a thunderstorm against her ribs but she was certain that it would stop out of fear in any second.
Her muscles trembled as much as her lower lip did.
And her emerald eyes only stared in terror when the Yiga member raised its sickle.
And then quickly lowered it.
And the Princess knew that this would be the end as she tightly shut her eyes, ready for the painful blow.
But she never felt any pain.
All she heard through the pulsating blood in her ears was a metallic sound and a thud.
She dared to open her eyes.
With a loud gasp, she found her own appointed knight miraculously standing before her. With knees slightly bent, the legendary sword in his right hand and a gaze that could murder, he had knocked down one of the three Yiga's with just one move. Her knight moved the sword slightly to show, to threaten them, that he was ready for anyone who would try to harm the Princess. The two remaining Yiga members backed away by instinct although they kept their sickles up as if they were still ready to fight. But they didn't try to fight back. They could tell that the boy dressed in a blue tunic before them was a bigger threat than they were prepared to encounter. They chose to retreat.
Princess Zelda looked at her knight who made sure her unsuccessful assassinators were away far away enough before he sheathed his sword. The Yiga member next to her was still passed out. Link turned around and kicked the sickle away from reach before he offered his hand to the Princess. She took it. Her fingers were cold against his. She thought that her legs would shake like chuchu jelly but they didn't. With a strong tug, he helped his Princess to her feet and she focused on calming down her heart. Her father's words rung in her ears – she had to stay strong. The danger was over. The danger was over so there was no need for her heart to beat so fast anymore. Act like a Princess, Zelda.
She pulled her hand back from him. Their eyes met and she felt a rush of guilt suddenly overflowing her, as if someone had poured a bucket of water over her.
She had scolded him. Tried to avoid him. Wished that he would be replaced with someone else. Sometimes, she had even been jealous of him. Letting her frustration of not being able to find her power, her frustration of her non-existent freedom in the castle, letting it all go out on him. She had even run away without telling him beforehand, she shamefully admitted to herself. She had done all of this and her knight hadn't even for a second doubted to protect her from the Yiga's blades. Was she deserving of his protection? She couldn't tell. But he had put her life over his. Did that mean that he wasn't loathing her after all? And how do you even repay someone when one had acted as childish as the Princess had?
"Thank you" was all she managed to say with a voice not much louder than a whisper. She looked away, a blush coloring her cheeks in embarrassment of the flashbacks of how she has behaved towards him. There was so much she could've said but that was all she had been able to come up with. A meek thank-you. Not even close to express how thankful she was.
They walked back to Kara Kara Bazaar, being closer to each other for the first time since the ceremony she had held for him those months ago. And she promised herself that she would apologize to him the next day and really, really, try to talk to him. She knew that merely talking to someone as thanks for saving someone else's life wasn't enough, but it was a start. And if he chose to not respond back, she wouldn't blame him.
Gerudo Desert no longer felt safe and Princess Zelda wished for them to return to the castle as soon as possible. It didn't take long until they left the desert behind them and fetched their horses from the stable in Gerudo Canyon. Anxious on getting home as quickly as possible, they continued to cross Hyrule during the night. They did it slowly, careful to not tire out their horses and so Link could be prepared for any dangers in the dark. He successfully defeated any stalkobins and stalizalfos that dared to encounter them. Princess Zelda surprised herself when she didn't even flinch when she saw them.
The sky was cloudy and not much light was reflected from the bright moon for them to see properly. Setting a branch on fire had been an idea brought up by the Princess but they both knew that light would bring attention. Luckily they eventually saw lit up torches in the distance and reached a smaller town. The Hylian soldiers guarding the entrance let them in after making sure that their Princess was alright, silently wondering why she had been out in the wild so late in the night but were comforted by the thought that she hadn't been alone.
It wouldn't be long until the sun would be up but they took a room at the inn (Princess Zelda apologized to the inn keeper for disturbing them in the middle of the night but they assured her that it was absolutely fine) and it wasn't until the Princess sat down on the bed when the aftershock came. She was tired, truly exhausted from first running away from people who wished her dead and then riding on horseback for hours through the night. Tears began to roll down her cheeks when she thought how near death she had been. How easy it would have been fr them to let her blood spill into the desert sand. She permitted herself to shed tears for now, to process everything that had happened and then convinced herself to never think of it again. Her kingdom needed a strong Princess. Not a wreck, not someone who was afraid of death.
What if Ganon would end her life? She had nothing to stop him with as she was right now.
The thought passed her mind and made her tears become rivers. She wiped them off her cheeks, sat with her knees pressed tightly against her chest as she wrapped her arms around them. She vaguely wondered if her knight was keeping her door guarded just like he had done before, in the castle. She hadn't been able to relax when he had. Now she just hoped that he was staying on the other side of the door because that would make her feel safer. A part of her even wished he could keep her company inside her room, just so she wouldn't be alone. Maybe he could even hear her sniffle through the walls. If he did, wouldn't he knock on the door, ask if she was ok and then she could tell him that she wasn't and ask him to stay?
But she knew very well that that would never happen. It wouldn't even be appropriate.
She picked up her diary that she had brought with her. She flipped to a new page and was about to write down what had happened… but she couldn't find the words. There was so much she could scribble down to express her thoughts, but she was so tired. She only wrote down a few sentences, wiped her tears away and put the diary away. She wouldn't think about the incident anymore.
She didn't stay asleep for long and woke up in the late morning. She was still tired but could at the same time not go back to sleep. She got dressed and hoped that her hair wasn't a mess. She hadn't bothered to undo the braids last night.
She was about to open the door but stopped herself. If her knight was guarding her door, she would have to say something. She lowered her hand from the doorknob and thought through what she would say and all possible scenarios she could imagine happening. After standing still for several minutes and coming to a conclusion in what she wished to tell him, she braced herself and opened the door. She saw her knight's back with broad but slouching shoulders and it warmed her heart more than she expected to see him standing so loyally outside her room.
"Good morning" she greeted and Link immediately jerked his head up and stood up straighter like a proper soldier. She closed the door behind her and softly protested when he bowed, feeling as if it should be her paying him respect instead of the other way around. She could see his tired eyes even if the rest of his body didn't show any signs of lack of sleep and she understood that he had stayed awake all night and morning. Just in case anything would happen. She felt like she truly didn't deserve him.
Her heartbeat quickened slightly as she prepared herself for what she wanted to tell him. She felt somehow nervous. Should they sit down? But there was nothing to sit on than the floor. She wouldn't mind but perhaps it wasn't suitable for a Princess to sit on the floor, next to her knight, in an inn. She decided that she would stay up.
"Link." His name felt odd in her mouth, as if her tongue had never formed the sounds before. She couldn't remember the last time she had spoken his name. "I want to thank you for yesterday. I haven't been fair to you and I have acted in a manner which you didn't deserve. I understand now how unkind I have been towards you and… I apologize for that." He looked the same as usual as she spoke. She told herself to keep going. "I hope you can forgive me and won't think badly of me. But I understand if you do. … I probably would." she quietly admitted. "Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for saving me. I don't think these words will ever justify how grateful I am, but, truly – thank you. I hope we can put everything behind us from now on and start over." She paused. "I…" She wasn't sure how to end this. But she didn't have to think much longer for her knight kneeled before her. She didn't want him to. It didn't feel right.
She crouched down to his level and reached out her hands to touch his arms. She didn't think what she was doing, instinct told her that it was the right thing to do. Link looked back at her, surprised. Zelda heard her heart drum. Maybe this was a mistake. But she didn't feel like it was.
"Please." she almost whispered and told him to stand up with the touch of her palms on his arms. They stood up. She let go of him.
She felt a little better now when she had apologized and thanked him. She wasn't sure if he would ever speak to her but perhaps it wouldn't matter as much anymore. She reminded herself of her promise to start trying talking with him again. Hopefully he would join her monologues someday. But she hardly dared to hope for that.