Recovered Lost Memory- Silent Princess part 3

We made our way around the castle, and miraculously nobody of importance saw us. Not that it mattered, Link did have a clever disguise after all if need be. I was more than willing to play along if we were questioned along the road anyways. We were heading to the courtyards on the far side of the castle. There lay an entrance road that led to the Sacred Goddess Pool.

The Sacred Pool was a place that was forbidden for commoners. Even those of noble birth needed exclusive rights granted by the Royal family to access there. Not that many would want to visit anyways, except in name, it was just like any other ordinary spring. Though to me, it was a special place. And being of the Royal family, I used the pool as my safe haven where I can be alone. A place where I can get away from it all. Adeline knew this about me, and I knew she would be there waiting for us.

As we passed the northern end of the castle perimeter, we rode through the courtyard grounds. In the distance not too far off, Purah and Robbie were engaging in what seemed to be a field study out on the pavilion nearby. And without me! It looked from my vantage point that they were testing out some sort of small machine on the hillside. However, I couldn't be too sure just as of yet.

We were just about to pass by them unnoticed as they were preoccupied fussing with each other, and that was when they saw us. Then all of a sudden, in mid-argument with each-other, both their faces caught a glimpse of our carriage. Purah then shoved Robbie so he would lose his footing so she can get an unfair head-start as she sprinted towards us. By that time, we were already casually rolling along the small castle roads trying to not draw any unwanted attention. But, their attention found us nonetheless.

Purah was already heading straight for us. "Hey! Princess! What brings you back to the castle? We thought you were offering sacraments to the Goddesses today at the Holy Sanctuary? If I had known you would be at liberty to wander about today, I would have invited you out with us?!" Purah called out.

Link took notice of them on the move towards us, slid the carriage to a halt on the dusty road. He quickly adorned his priestly hooded robe, just in case. He wasn't too sure of what their reaction would be if they found out he stole me away for the day. Robbie caught up just behind Purah, ready and poised to interrupt her. Both were acting more eager than the other to give me a status update of their research for the day.

Link now disguised, again turned his hood to face the other direction while I leaned over to greet the two sheikah Scholars.

"Shhh! Purah, are trying to let the whole castle know I am here!?" I said back to her while cautiously looking around in all directions.

"Why would it matter? You're with High Priest, are you not?" Purah said inquisitively. She then took a long hard stare at the not so elegant carriage I was in and at Link, who I know was just about to burst from his robe from all the suspense. "Wait a minute...that's Link! Hey Linky! How is it going!? Oh my, what have you done? Why are you wearing the priest's clothes!?" she said with a flabbergasted stare on her face.

"Purah! Shh!" I said.

"Ohhh, I see... Linky here snuck you out against your father's orders, huh? Atta' boy Linky, I never liked that priest anyways….now who are trying to fool with that disguise Link? It's not that convincing now that I have had a look at you...besides, why would you ever want to cover up that pretty handsome face of yours?" she leaned, hands at her waist, with a single brow lifted in suspicion.

"Purah!" I snapped.

"I know, I know, I'm just fooling about...Linky knows. Don't worry, princess, your secret is safe with us...good of you to sneak the princess out too Link. Next time though, let us know so we could have prepared a better field study...we are already done for today, sadly enough."

Robbie took a step forward to interrupt. "Hey Princess, Sorry we didn't inform you of our study today; it wasn't too successful. This little friend of ours still has a whole lot of kinks to work out. I'm afraid," he said, pointing over to the machine he had on the bluff.

Purah lifted her eyebrows in dissatisfaction. "Yeah, he's been messing with his toy all morning…wasting my time!…using broken Guardian parts, bugging me to supervise and assist him... the nerve! Me?…assist him!? He should be assisting me!" She exclaimed.

"What exactly is that?" I asked, leaning over the rail of the carriage perplexed by his machine.

"He's trying to perfect what he calls an autonomous carriage," Purah said as she rolled her eyes. "He calls it an... 'Automobile' of all things and says it will replace all our standard carriages someday, wouldn't you believe that?…we have a real big dreamer here," Purah scoffed.

Robbie took a few steps forward to defend himself. "It's just a side project; my first and foremost priority is learning the Guardians and their architecture. This side project of mine has given me a lot of information for my research, allowing me to reverse engineer their intricate design. Which, of course, will aid the Army for and if Calamity Ganon strikes. Though I admit progress has been pretty slow, I am going in for the day, it is far too hot to be out here in this swell, and I have all these notes to pour over and classify...tomorrow we should be ready to test the guardians with what I learned today, I hope," he said as he wiped the sweat of his brow with a handkerchief.

Robbie then bowed and turned to walk back over to the broken autonomous carriage, which was not too far off from us. It looked like an overturned miniature guardian but stretched out like a carriage. It had four mechanical arms that it used to move around, similar to the guardians. Since it was just an early prototype, it was quite small and probably only had enough room for one person to be able to sit inside of it.

As it stood at attention awaiting instructions, it was still fuming and spewing out charcoal smoke out of what appeared to be its joints. Its husk, which made up its body, also had the same candle-like flicker of blue light that the Guardians had when activated.

Purah then gazed over to the mechanical contraption and continued. "Yes, the machine hopped around for only a few moments before it started to dance erratically in all directions. We quickly had to shut it down before it got out of hand…luckily, nobody saw or, more importantly, was around to get hurt..." Purah confessed. She was about to continue her speech when she was interrupted by an untimely sight in the distance.

Suddenly, a small entourage of people was exiting from the side portcullis of the castle. It was not too far from where our carriage was on the road. We must have been in a clear view of them. It was the castle court of my father! Surely they would see us, and all our plans for that day would be forfeit. They must have just adjourned free of a meeting with my Father. Perhaps it was too hot to continue within the castle walls, and they wanted to move their session to the breeze of the courtyard square. Whatever the reason was, we needed to escape and quickly.

Purah saw them coming from just behind us, getting closer as they marched along the path. She then sprung into action and took this as her cue; without a moment lost, she waved farewell to us and bolted over to them.

"Good luck, Princess!…hurry Link, I'll hold them off!" she said, throwing back a wink over to us both as she sprinted back towards the small crowd.

Robbie, too saw the court that was heading our way and decided he also wanted to help in Purah's diversion. Perhaps, it wasn't because he was so interested in helping us escape per se. Instead, he wanted to outshine Purah in distracting the attention away. Anything he can do to get a win over her. Those two were quite the rivals. Though, if truth be told, Purah was the one who set Robbie on the path of science that he was on now.

Robbie smiled up at Link and me. "Don't worry, princess, I have just the idea of what to do... hurry Link, get her out of here!" he said as he ran over to his small machine, his autonomous carriage. Link slapped the reigns, and we continued moving along the path. We couldn't move too fast and gallop ahead because it would draw too much attention if we were to storm off in a hurry.

I leaned over the back of the carriage to catch one last glimpse of Robbie as we were trailing off. He seemed flustered while fidgeting with his pocket. Suddenly, his face lit up, and he revealed some sort of makeshift controller in his hand. With a firm press of the switch, the machined fired up and vibrated loudly. The spinning of gears could be heard from where we were.

And just as Purah mentioned happening before, it bounced high in the air; in doing so, it knocked him over and pushed him aside as it leaped uncontrollably. It then hopped and clawed towards the honorable host of the court, who was Impa. Impa was who was leading the court outside, was already being delayed by Purah, who caught up to them.

Link winced over his shoulder, too, and saw that we needed to make haste. So he tugged on the reigns even harder, and Storm obeyed. Storm cantered leading us over the grassy pavilion and out of view. The machine Robbie had with him was charging straight towards the caravan of the Castle court.

The noise of it popped as it smoked from its joints. As it got closer to them, it paused suddenly, as if it lost track of what it was doing. It then spun around towards the crowd and suddenly made a huge and final calculated lunge over to them. Landing in the middle of the group, Impa and the others were all caught by surprise, with some of the advisers jumping out of the way in fear for their lives. Oh, the last sight of their terrified once dignified faces was enough to make this whole day of escape worth all the trouble I would be in. Robbie's face turned pale and, in a panicked rush, chased after his mechanical wonder to try and calm my father's cabinet before things got too carried away.

I smiled and thanked the gods as I returned to lay back in my seat. Certainly, they wouldn't be able to catch up to us now. The danger of being caught was over. My body relaxed, sitting alongside Links as the comforting thought of being free from the worry from before flowed over me. He, too, seemed calmer as he lifted his lips to throw a pleased smirk at me. We got away.

The road we were on winded back and forth through a meadow of grassy hills. The perfume of flowers in full bloom wafted in the breeze, almost as if it was leading us precisely to where we needed to go. As the castle road continued on, it slowly faded into a wild trail. We were coming upon the edge of the woodland, which was home to the Forbidden Pool.

As Storm brought us closer, we saw someone standing near the end of the official road. It was Adeline, my handmaid, and she had her pony and my horse alongside her waiting for us. So she did know to come here and wait for us after all. That Adeline was always so intuitive; perhaps that's why I enjoyed her company so much. She was willing to risk anything for me as I was for her. Though I must admit, it was usually her risking herself more often than not for my sake. We were the closest friends. We shortly made our way to her, and Link commanded Storm to heel and wait.

After leaving her pony and my horse tied to a dead-end post, Adeline walked her way up to the brim of our carriage. "Hey, Princess! You made it after all. I wasn't sure if Link was going to be successful or not. For a moment there, I was worried...but seeing you now, he sure has squashed any doubts that I may have ever had about him. He is quite the Knight that I have heard so much about….very resourceful in a sticky spot this one…and cute too!" she said.

"Adeline!" I blushed at her compliment. "What did you bring for us-I mean, me?" I said quickly, correcting myself.

"Well, first things first Princess, let's get you out of that ceremonial blanket the priest has you all wrapped up in, that he calls a dress. It is far too hot a day to be covered up wearing that fancy thing," She said back to me as she cocked her head to the side, looking me twice over from head to toe in an evaluation. "Thanks again, Link, for bringing her here. You are quite the young man and brave too…Not many Knights are willing to go against their king's orders…but we won't tell if you won't tell," she said as she shot a wink at Link atop the carriage.

"Adeline!" I scorned with a grin.

She then reached out her hand to help me off my seat."Come along with me, princess, so we can get you all fixed up for the rest of the day. I brought everything that you will need…EVERYTHING…stay here Link while I take the princess just around the corner here to those nest of trees and bushes not too far off…no peeking!" She gleamed at Link with a flirtatious smile while leading me away.

"Adeline!" I looked at her incredulously.

"What?" She questioned, defending her position. "Can't be too careful, at least not with young men such as his sort..."

"And what sort is that?" I asked, poking at her insinuations. I leapt towards her, and we both walked away, out of earshot of Link. He was left with a confused, blank stare still sitting in the carriage.

"Well, the undeniable handsome sort, of course! Or have you not noticed?... Link is far too fetching of a prize for a sweet and pretty princess, such as yourself. I wouldn't want there to be any unwanted temptations caused here today on behalf of me." She said, wearing a mischievous smile.

I rolled my eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. "Link is quite the Knight, and he is very honorable," I said, reaffirming to her as I gazed to the heavens to forgive her for her sacrilege.

"Indeed, I have no doubts that he is all those great things and more, and that is the very reason why I am so careful with you today, my dear princess," She said back with a smile. "Come, let's get you changed out of those choking garments that you hate so much."

It wasn't long, but I was finally out of those ceremonial clothes that I was bundled up in and now in a far more relaxing state of dress. She had a makeshift dressing station set up in the middle of the woods. That Adeline was always so intuitive and never ceased to amaze me. It was my favorite outdoor gear that I was wearing now. Much easier to move around and breathed a whole lot better. The sun was very unforgiving that day, and this allowed me to counter the heat well enough.

Adeline and I made our way back over to Link, who already had untied storm from the carriage.

"You will both have to trail on horseback now; I'm afraid. The trail gets a little rough here on out, and a carriage won't do," Adeline said while she saddled her pony for the ride back. "It is not too far off into the distance. I'll head back to the castle and try to see how I can keep them all preoccupied looking for you in all the wrong places," Adeline said to us both. She gave us both a wink and kicked her pony onward as she made her way back down the road to the Castle. Link and I were finally alone.

Link turned to face me. "You do know how to ride horseback, right princess?" he questioned.

"Well, of course, I do!" I said back to him unequivocally.

"Oh, alright, I was going to say if you didn't know, you can always ride alongside me on top of Storm," He said, gesturing me politely, eager to see my methods of taming.

"That won't be necessary. I am fine, thank you very much. And besides, I have my own horse. And please, no need to call me princess when we are alone...please, just call me Zelda." I said.

Though outwardly, I appeared confident in my horsemanship. Inwardly, I was terrified at the prospect of trying to mount my horse by myself. He was quite temperamental and not once has he ever let me ride him before. He would always either shoo away from me or try to knock me off of his back, to the point I no longer made it a priority to learn to ride him. Oh dear, I hoped that this day was the day he finally would decide to cooperate with me. Not that the prospect of riding alongside Link was a bad idea, but on the contrary, a very nice one. But I don't know if I'd be able to contain my feelings being so close to him on top of Storm. I had to get my horse to obey, just this once.

"Are you ready...Zelda?" He said already mounted on top of Storm, staring at me questionably as I hesitantly approach my white stallion.

"Uh..yes.. just a moment..." I called back to him. I inched myself nervously closer towards my horse, apprehensively reaching for his reigns. The leaves crunched under my feet as I made my approach, and my horse jerked back at the sound of my steps. Link dismounted again and must have noticed the tension between me and my stallion. But I didn't want to be proven wrong. I had a reputation. So before Link could make his way towards me, I moved in closer near my horse. Link stopped mid-step, watching me as I tried to calm my mount.

The steed stared long and hard at me as he shuffled his hooves standing in place. But, I decided to go for it anyways. So I hoped for the best and made a great leap on top of him. But before I had the chance to saddle him properly, I was already being flung high through the air.

"Eyahh!" I cursed as I was thrown skyward. Terrified, I waited to feel the inevitable crash to the hard ground. Instead, I felt my self being caught and lifted up. Link caught me as I fell, but in doing so, he took a tumble as well. Link must of bore most of the fall. As I dared to peek one eye open, I found myself safely held in Links' arms; both of us were laid out on the grass. He, too, was caught by surprise of what happened.

As we both came to on the ground, our faces met each-others just inches away from touching. My heart raced at our accidental gaze into each other's eyes. By pure reflex, we both laughed it off, and I took that as my chance to quickly turn away from him. So I stood up out from on top of him, and he too also sprang to his feet, putting some respectful distance between us. If I didn't know better, I'd say he was blushing too.

"You alright?" he said, gently leading me by the hand back up to my feet.

"Yes, thank you, Link...I'm sorry for you to have witnessed that poor display of horsemanship," I said bashfully.

"Here, let me show you….like this," he said as he grabbed my hand and pulled me to face my mount again. During the excitement, my horse made off a short way away from us. But, like a magician's trick, Link did a sudden roll of his arms and shoulders and out appeared a freshly plucked red apple. There he held it in his palm. The stunning use of sleight of hand had me surprised indeed.

"Where did you-" I asked but was shortly cut off by Link.

"Shh..." he said, smiling, placing a single finger over his lips trying to quiet me down as we both made our approach. He led forward with me tiptoeing right behind him as he led me by the hand. As we got closer, he then stretched out his other hand as if he was making a divine offering up to the disobedient stallion. I could see that the apple gleamed in the horse's eye. It was most certainly an irresistible treat that he could not refuse.

Link with the use of his tongue had made a few calling gestures to the horse. "Here ya go big fella…that's it..." He said as he displayed the succulent apple right before the beast's nose. Its fresh aroma couldn't be resisted. The steed took a few short sniffs of the sweet morsel and then quickly obliged Link. In one fell swoop, he snatched the apple in his mouth and made short work of it by gobbling it down. Link used this as his opportune moment to reach over with his other hand to the horse. There he glided it over his mane and ran soothing fingers through his long platinum hair. Link continued to calm the horse and whispered in a warm, gentle voice. In that same sweet voice, he turned and faced me.

"Here, give me your hand, Like this..." Link said to me with his eyes wide, placing my hand cozily under his over the horse's soft fur coat. A minute passed as he held my hand in his; he was softly leading me with caressing strokes through the horse's thick mane. Again, my whole body tingled and went warm by being touched by Link in that way. I bit my lip at the way he held me. Surely he did not notice, did he? I thought. Now it was I who was soothing and talking sweet to a horse in Link's place.

As I moved in closer in-between Link and the horse, Link carefully took a few steps back from me, releasing his hand over mine. Now I was the only one petting the horse and calming his nerves. I continued Link's gestures of comfort for a few more moments longer.

"Be sure to take the time to soothe your mount; that's the only way it will know how you truly feel, "he said. Now satisfied at my display of affection, he tilted his head and motioned me that it would be alright for me to mount. So he leaned over and gave me a boost onto the mount, and wouldn't you know it? I was finally riding my horse. At long last, I was finally able to ride my beautiful pale stallion. He was a magnificent beast, and I always wanted to be able to ride him on my own.

"I can't believe it! I'm actually doing it!... Link, thank you so much!" I called out to him, holding back the child in me. He then graced me with a sweet smile as he leaped back onto his right beside me.

I smiled again, happy at the thought. "Now that we got that out of the way, let us be off to the Goddess pool!" I declared. It wasn't too far off now. So we pressed onward down the trail towards the Spring.

We finally made it to the wonderful entrance of the sacred spring. Link and I have only been venturing on horseback for probably just shy of an hour now. After we crossed the last thick grove of trees, it seemed to have just magically opened up as if to reveal a lost hidden world. It was a beautiful serene and open meadow that was home to the Forbidden pool.

As we made our way over the final rolling hill through the meadow, we were greeted by an array of little rivers flowing into a small bank. There they all pooled under a large grove of tall willow trees. The trees and their ageless branches stretched out over the small gathering of natural pools, almost as if they were sheltering them from the outside world. It was a magnificent place. The noise of the castle and the city could no longer be heard, as it was replaced by the tranquil natural music of the woods. Birds were singing their songs in the thickets, and small critters could be heard wrestling nearby. The soft breeze shimmered over the cooling waters of the pools and brought a refreshing mist that cooled our faces from the hot of the sun. This was my favorite place to be when I wanted to be alone. It was my sacred place.

It was just after mid-day, Link and I made it to the bank of the sacred waters. We dismounted our horses, and he tied them both to a lone tree, not too far off from where we were.

"Well, this is it...Link." I said to him, facing the cool calming waters of the spring.

"So, this is where you go to be alone, hmm?"

"Yes..."

"Well, it sure is a beautiful place, fitting for a beautiful…" his voice cut off, and there was silence. He then turned away and proceeded to look towards the waters of the spring as well.

I then faced him and smiled but couldn't help myself but wonder what he was about to say. I leaned over to him to hear more from him, but he motioned me for a walk to find the right place to set up for the day.

We continued strolling along the bank of the pool. I decided to say something that might have piqued his interest. "How about we cool off a bit?" I chirped, and he didn't contest the notion at all. So we both kicked off our boots and decided to venture to our knees into the clear, refreshing waters of the pool. That would be okay as long as we didn't swim entirely, surely the Goddess won't mind, I thought.

"So, Link, do you like to fish?" I said, trying to get more information about the mysterious young handsome man that had taken me for the day. We had already spoken much on the road leading here, but at his last comment, he fell quiet again. Perhaps he thought he was getting too carried away earlier. No matter, I just had to get him to come back to me.

"Well, of course, I am actually quite good at catching fish," he said.

"Oh, really? Care to demonstrate?"

"Certainly..." he smiled. "Which fish should I try to catch?" he asked, tilting his head to the side facing towards me and the waters.

""How about, that one, the red salmon there!" I said, smirking. The water was so clear here that you could see the fish swim right up to you and down through its currents quite easily. I then turned away from him and faced the deep yonder of part of the pool, waiting for him to make his play. Perhaps he was going to ready some sort of trap for the fish. But before I knew what was happening as I waited to hear Link's response, suddenly, I heard him coming towards me at a full brisk run. He then leaped clean over me into the deep end of the spring. My eyes lit up as I was taken back by his method. He dove straight towards the slippery fish.

Link was swimming in the forbidden pool! Not only was it a revered holy place, but a commoner no less was now swashing around and splashing deep into its waters, clawing for fish as if it was just a mere ordinary pool. The idea of it excited me. I loved it. Link was so daring and free. I, too, wished to be free, and when Link was alongside me, I felt free, for once in my life. Pompous and overblown tradition didn't hold him back. He did what he felt was right, no matter the circumstances. Was Link serious and respectful when he needed to be? Yes, he had the proper balance.

"Haha, oh my Link..." I said to him, still amazed and shocked at his methods. Link splashed out of the water and was slightly frustrated that he was left empty-handed. I must admit he looked cute with an agitated frown. I covered my mouth, trying to keep my composure from breaking into laughter.

"Darn, he got away…almost had him.." he said, looking back frustrated towards the runaway fish.

"Haha, here, Link, come...let me show you another way..." I said, chuckling a bit at how foolishly he looked while being drenched and upset. Luckily for him, he took off most of his outer layer of clothing before plunging into the spring. He was just wearing his trousers and undershirt. Not that he would be wet for long in this heat we were having. He would be dry in no time. As he came ashore, I found a long twig of a tree branch nearby and grabbed me a long strand of some reed grass. I quickly fashioned a makeshift fishing rod and tied to the end of the line a small sliver of fig cheese that Adeline had so graciously packed for us.

"Aha! Here we are...this ought to do it. " I said, shrugging a shoulder to him proud of my nifty self. He just stood behind me curiously, waiting for my next move. So I carefully lifted my line and gently plopped the end of it into a shallow part of the pool where some of the fish were gathered wading. Only a brief silence fell before us as I waited for a bite.

Just after a minute or so, I was greeted by surprise. "I got one!...you see!?" I said as I jumped up. The rascal of fish was putting up quite the fight; he pulled fiercely as I tugged, trying to pull him ashore. I grinned mischievously as my prize was well within my grasp at last. Link would soon see!

As I was just about to claim victory over this triumph of a catch, come flying just over my shoulder came an arrow! It struck hard and true right into the fish, a clean shot from Link's bow where he stood. He must have moved over by the horses while I was preoccupied with my tug of war with the fish. The arrow caused it to fall limp in the water immediately.

"Now that's how you catch a fish, Princess...er, Zelda!" He said, smugly letting out a tiny chuckle, standing away behind me, with his bow in his hands.

My face was surprised. I was nearly speechless. " haha, Link! That was my fish! I had him!..."

"Are you sure, he looked like he was about to get away...besides, wouldn't you agree that my method is the better one?" he said proudly of himself, walking back closer to me near the edge of the bank.

My mouth hung low at his jokes. "Do you always carry your bow everywhere with you?" I asked.

"Well, of course, I do, and besides...I have a princess to protect, you never know what sort of villain may appear, and a Knight should always be at the ready," he said with a slight smile.

"A villain? Here? Ha!…At the sacred spring of Hylia? My goodness, there couldn't be a villain five hundred leagues from here I'd imagine," I said back unconvinced. He then stepped closer towards me.

"Shall we try and catch another fish?…here you try!" he said to me, offering me his bow.

"But...I never used a bow before... Link..." I said sheepishly to him.

"They don't teach fair young maidens such as yourself that in Princess school?" He said, having a bit of sport with me.

"No!...haha," I said as I smiled with my eyes wide at his silly preposterous notion.

"Here, I'll show you then," he said as he daringly leaped over towards me. He then helped me back up to my feet from where I sat upon the log with my line cast.

"Link, I couldn't possibly...Link I..." I said to him as he gently placed the bow into my hands and stood me up in the proper posture. My heart fluttered in my chest. He was very close to me now. The closer he got, the more I craved him near me. He then sweetly placed one of his arms over my shoulder so he could adequately hold my backhand in his to pull the bowstring. Gliding his backhand over mine, he shaped my fingers into the correct form. It was if our hands were one. We were now standing side by side, nearly hugging in a strong bow stance facing the spring. He continued to coach me with his soft but firm voice of his.

"Just breathe …softly….let your eyes focus…imagine yourself as the arrow, you are your arrow and your target..." he softly whispered to me as he held me and led me to aim at a school of fish passing by in the water. "Forget everything around you, only you and your target exist now..." he continued, slowly maneuvering me to get a square aim at one of the rainbow skinned Voltfin trout. "Now... when you are ready..." he glanced quickly at me, waiting for my cue. "We will slowly release the arrow when ready...NOW!" he commanded, and I fired the arrow straight through the air, skewering the slippery fish dead on.

"I did it! Link! That was…amazing! Did you see it?.." I said, letting my firm grip loose of the bow ecstatically. In the excitement, I turned into him. He was still holding me in my bow position. Our faces nearly touched only a breath away from his lips. We both gazed into each other's eyes, both wearing smiles. There was a sweet silence that passed, both of us looking at each other and then looking away, then back to each other again. I felt the blood rush through my entire body, and I bit my lip again like before. Did he notice? I thought.

Link making the first respectful move, stepped back from me, and cleared his throat. "See!...there's nothing to it, and that will be one hundred rupees for today's lesson M'lady! And... I am no longer available for lessons; I'm afraid," He said with a slight smile stretched across his face.

I laughed. "One hundred rupees!? Why that's highway robbery!?…and why won't you be available, may I ask?" I said to him, standing there with hands perched at my waist gleaming at him.

"Because..." Link then leaned over to my ear and whispered. "I'll be too busy with a princess..."

My heart skipped a beat, and my cheeks glowed red. " Link..." but before I could continue, he interjected.

"Now, Shall I fetch your prize?" he said as he walked backward, heading towards the freshwater. He then performed a humble bow facing me, spun around, and then launched himself into the spring in magnificent dive yet again.

As he was in the water swimming towards the two skewered fish, I couldn't help but ponder just how much he has opened up to me recently. He was so quiet from before and mysterious, especially when we were in the audience of others or on official castle business. He was always so serious and rarely spoke. But since I made an effort after he saved my life, he's been showing me another side of him, a hidden side, one that he had saved just for me. I was really starting to cherish our alone time that we were having lately. It was my only comfort. That and my research. More so, his company. Almost selfishly, I wanted it more and more. Times like these where we can just be ourselves, away from the worries and nightmares of this world.

Link then splashed out from within the pool and carried along with him two fish. I must admit he looked even more handsome when he was soaking wet because I was afforded a slightly better view of his physique under his shirt. He then laid out a small blanket underneath a tall willow tree where our horses stood and gathered a few rogue branches with some brush to get a fire going.

The sun gleamed low in the western sky into a gorgeous fluorescent sunset. We laughed and talked about many things. The warm twilight shone through the woods and illuminated the willow branches and their blooms, which caste a burning glow to them. Arrays of pink, orange, and blue shimmered within the hanging tree tendrils.

We both sat next to the small fire on our blanket, and Link was roasting the two fishes over the hot embers as I talked. The mood of things mellowed, and I wanted to know more what lain beneath those calm waters that Link had hiding his emotions. I wanted to talk to him.

"So Link...I was wondering, …why are you so quiet when we are not alone and why were you so quiet from before? Before that terrible day….which I want to thank you again for by the way..." I said.

There was a silence with Link, and he just continued to poke at the two skewered fish seemingly hesitant to answer. And just about when I was going to speak again, he sat and faced me.

"No need to thank me...Zelda…as your knight, it is my honor to do anything for you," he said.

"Just only as my Knight—" I asked, but he quickly interrupted.

"It's just, ever since I had this sword on my back, I wasn't sure if I was truly capable of doing the great things that the old legends tell of. It has weighed heavily on me...I still have a hard time even believing them to be real, the legends I mean... It's just, everyone is looking to me to be this great hero, and I don't want to fail them...and now…ever since meeting you... things are different now...things have changed...my situation has changed...It's no longer a matter of winning for myself or the people... I would never be able to forgive myself if anything bad happened to you. I suppose that's why I have grown silent around the others, this burden is mine to bear and I think it's been my driving focus as of late...to show no weakness for what's to come...I can't fail, I mustn't," he said as he rose up from where he sat, there in dimming sun, slowly squeezed a fist in the air.

"Link…I…didn't know...I'm so sorry again for how I treated you before I got to know you... I never knew you shared the same demons that had haunted my dreams...we'll fight them together, okay?" I said, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. He turned and smiled.

"Yeah..." he said.

As the twilight glistened, we began to share a small meal of the two roasted fish, and luckily Adeline packed me some simple pleasantries from the castle to help with the flavor. I also wanted to lift his spirits.

"Just before you bite Link, try this!" I said, sprinkling some shaved rock salt and acorn pepper. Link was intrigued by my gesture of seasoning first; then again, it was food; he always was intrigued. I do believe that was his only weakness. I think Calamity Ganon, all he needed to win, was entrap Link with a slice of savory roasted pork, and he would be done for!

The sweet charred aroma filled the air as the salt melted into the fillets of fish. And as another surprise that I had for Link was a real treat indeed. It was my favorite from the castle kitchens. Adeline knew me all too well; I'm sure Link never tasted such sweet delicacies before in his life. I loved seeing his face light up when he tried new flavors. It was a succulent fruit cake, the best in all the land. There was only one slice, so I decided to share it with him.

"Here Link, this is the finest cake you will ever have. I promise! " I said, waving the dish that carried the sweet morsel. His nose flared, and eyes glistened as he leaned over at the sight of it. But just as he was about to claw at it barehanded, I pulled away. "Just a second... here...I know you are used to that sort of manners, and I usually wouldn't mind, but cakes are meant to be eaten with forks," I said, smiling. We only had one fork, so we had to share piece by piece, bite by bite. I cut a sliver of it and handed the fork over to him to taste. His face was in love. I do believe he would have done anything for that slice of cake indeed.

We then both ate the cake and sat watching the sunset melt away into the darkness of the night. The early night brought us a stunning display. Fireflies surrounded us and danced as they twinkled like stars on the tranquil waters of the spring. With Link by my side, my soul felt truly at peace, even if it was just for a day. We sat next to each other quietly and watched the magnificence of the moonlit night and all its natural wonders that came from it, as if from a magical world.

Some time must have passed, and I found myself waking from resting alongside Link's shoulder. He awoke me gently.

"It's starting to get late... perhaps, It would be best to get you back to the castle...I don't want to cause them any panic at you being gone for so long," Link said as he stood up softly, lifting me by the hand.

"Oh, Link, the day was wonderful... I do wish it didn't have to end," I said.

"I know, but we should get going. You have a big day tomorrow, after all. Robbie said he finally has one of the guardians able to follow orders...it will be the first trial run."

"You're right...I'm so excited. Finally, we are getting somewhere with these mysterious machines. Hopefully, it isn't as hot tomorrow out on the research bluff."

"Well, if it is, perhaps after the test, we can come back here if you'd like and cool off again?" he said with a shine in his eye from the dim-lit embers. He then kicked out the fire, and we saddled up to head back to the castle.

By some Goddess blessing, Link managed to sneak me past every guard and gate-man, all the way back to steps leading up to my keep. He was quite stealthy, and I was learning his tricks, watching how he easily fooled the guards with either sound in the distance or other distractions he concocted. He would then cue me to follow when the coast was clear. It was such a rush. I loved the pounding in my chest of my heart and the excitement of getting away from them. As we made it to the last gate, which led up to my steps, it was locked and stood tall. However, that was no obstacle for Link. He made short work of it and jumped it with ease to let me in from the other side.

"I guess this is goodnight, Princ-Zelda," he said, correcting himself, softly leading me up the spiral staircase to my quarters.

"Goodnight, Link…thank you for today...I will never forget this night," I said as my heart was beating a mile a minute. We took a moment to look into each-others eyes one last time before he broke away from my presence and bid me farewell. As sure as he was there by my side just a moment ago, he was now gone, slipped away into the darkness of the night. With only the memory of his last smile still reminiscing in my mind, I walked over to my room. As I closed the door, Adeline was sitting on a creaking chair near my bedside, awaiting my arrival.

"So? How was it!? Details!?...judging by your face, it must have been all you have hoped for and more, my dear princess," she said to me eagerly rising up from her chair.

"Oh, it was Adeline...it truly was...Link is wonderful," I said to her while leaning back against the door, slowly sliding down, pondering on what has just taken place today."But I'm not sure he should know just yet...not yet...please mention this to no one."

"Well, on one condition, I won't tell. You will have to tell me all about your day with him then," Adeline continued as she walked over to me with a grin that stretched ear to ear.

"Okay, I will, but for tonight I just want to rest. I'll tell you tomorrow."

"Fair enough, princess; I'll leave you to your rest. And don't you fret about your Father, we will think of something to tell him tomorrow...I'll tell him you are safe and are home now...Sweet dreams and good night, princess," She said, slowly exiting my room. She had already prepared my bed for me.

As she left, I laid upon my bed, swirling with emotion. I let out a happy sigh, "A good night, indeed.." I whispered to myself as I fell asleep full of dreams.

Authors Notes: Please be sure to comment and let me know what you think of the story? Chemistry working? or needs more? Thanks so much! you motivate me.