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“Princess?”
Barely registering the sound of a knock at her door, Zelda traced her fingers across the pages of her textbook. “The silent princess,” she read aloud. “A rare, endangered flower species, thriving only in the wild. All attempts at raising the plant domestically have been futile due to its delicate nature and–”
“Princess?” The knocks only grew louder, still persisting despite how engrossed she was in her reading. “Princess?”
Frustrated, Zelda snapped her book shut and looked up from where she was sitting at her desk. “Yes?”
The door to her lab slowly creaked open, and her handmaiden bowed her head sheepishly. “Princess, the sun is nearly at its peak now…”
With a sigh, Zelda pushed her book away, more than capable of reading in between the lines. “Is Master Link ready for our departure?” Perhaps she could delay just a bit longer. Perhaps she could stay and read a few more pages of her books.
Not a moment passed before her knight stepped around her handmaiden and into the doorway. His expression blank, he just gestured her forward.
Crestfallen, Zelda stood and pushed her chair in, following her knight as he led her to the royal stables. “I mean, really,” she mumbled to herself, “could my father have chosen a worse time for us to go on these voyages? We’re on the verge of all these incredible breakthroughs with flora, fauna, and Sheikah technology, yet I’m forbidden from taking any significant part in it. Purah and Robbie are so lucky, blessed by the goddesses, even, to be able to be at the forefronts of these fields.”
Though she’d much prefer to have her nose buried in her textbooks, she knew better than to test the limits of her father’s temper. In order to fulfill her duties as Hyrule’s princess and stave off the Great Calamity, she needed to go to the three sacred springs of Hyrule in order to pray, begging for help from above, and her father had made it quite clear that her desires to study and tinker were not at all welcome or permitted by the Crown.
Link paid no mind to her ramblings as he helped her mount her horse. Then, he made sure their supplies were stored safely in their saddlebags before climbing onto his own.
“There’s this one flower that I’ve fallen in love with,” Zelda continued on. “It’s absolutely breathtaking, and I’m sure all the pictures in my textbooks don’t quite capture its beauty at all. Unfortunately, it’s quite rare to find in the wild and seemingly impossible to keep alive once plucked from the ground, but I’d certainly love to try.” She sighed, patting her horse gently. “If my time was my own, perhaps I’d even develop a new technique that could allow them to be cultivated domestically. It would be a scientific breakthrough.”
As Link urged his horse forward a bit quicker, he soothed it with a few gentle pets. He glanced at her for a moment, which she took as a sign to continue speaking.
“Perhaps, though, silent princesses are best meant to be left to thrive in the wild, far away from civilization,” she mused. “Perhaps they’re safer that way.”
The sound of Link’s voice startled her from her ramblings. “What do they look like?” He kept his eyes trained on the path ahead of them, reins in one hand. They were slowly heading northeast, to the Akkala region.
Her knight spoke so infrequently that it took Zelda a few moments to recover from her surprise. “They have petals that are white and blue,” she began, trying her best to picture the flower’s image in her mind, based on what she could remember from her textbooks, “with yellow pistils and stamens, and their petals are rather intricate, colored blue at the center and white towards the edges. They have soft green leaves, and more than one blossom can grow from a single plant. They seem to be very delicate. I’ve never seen one in person.”
Link simply nodded in response, a curious look crossing his features.
Two days went by, and Zelda’s body ached from their travel. “Traveling on horseback is so bothersome,” she sighed to herself, brushing knots from her tangled hair. “As is sleeping in stables.” Quickly, her body went rigid at the thought of her father. Traveling across the entire country of Hyrule wasn’t without its merits.
After she’d made sure she looked presentable enough, she gathered her belongings and hurried outside, past all the curious travelers. “Good morning, Link.” Though she wasn’t particularly fond of her knight, she needed to be cordial, especially when there were people around.
He simply nodded in response before handing her a few meat riceballs and a vegetable omelet. Her knight’s bed had been empty since sunrise, and he’d taken the extra time to gather fresh ingredients for their breakfast.
Sitting down beside him at the little cook pot, Zelda began wolfing down her food. “If only we had some fresh fruit cake,” she sighed. “We’ve been traveling from dawn to dusk for over two days now, Link. When will we finally reach the spring?” She wasn’t being particularly quiet, but thankfully, most who’d stayed the night at the stable were long gone, eager to continue their journeys before nightfall.
Link didn’t reply, simply stuffing his mouth with the last bite of his omelet.
Temper flaring, Zelda took another bite of her own food. “Won’t you give me an answer?”
Without a word, Link rose to his feet and began cleaning up the area around the cook pot. He was quite meticulous, leaving the place nearly spotless. Then, he gathered their belongings and stepped up to the counter, requesting that their horses be brought to them out front so that he could load their saddlebags.
Zelda rushed to eat the rest of her food before joining Link at the front of the stable. “Thank you very much for your hospitality,” she smiled at the stablehands, picking up her horse’s reins. “We’ve much enjoyed our stay.” No matter how angry she was at the world, she still needed to present herself properly.
And with that, she mounted her horse, ignoring any offer of assistance from Link, and urged it forward, eager to be as far away from her knight as possible. The faster her horse galloped, the freer she felt. As the trees shifted into brilliant reds, striking golds, and vibrant oranges, she allowed herself to laugh.
The weight of the world was on her shoulders, the destiny of her country was in her hands, her dreams were naught but distractions from her duty to her people, and all she could do was laugh.
Giddy from this fleeting moment of freedom, Zelda envisioned a life where she could choose to be who she wanted, to do what she wanted, and to be with who she wanted. Why must it be so out of reach? Why couldn’t she be good at the things her father wanted and her country needed her to be good at? Her mind was racing, and she barely registered that her horse was now slowing to a stop, utterly exhausted from their race across the field.
Disappointment spread across her face as she realized that Link was only a few paces behind as he allowed his horse to fall into step beside hers.
They continued on across the field in silence as the adrenaline that was coursing through Zelda’s veins began to dissipate.
Finally, Link broke the silence, pulling her from her jumbled thoughts. “This way,” he stated, heading in a direction that diverged from the path Zelda knew they were to follow in order to reach the spring.
“Wait, what?” She began to protest. “But the spring is up further north. I want to get this over with as quickly as possible so my father will be satisfied enough for the moment and allow me to get back to my research.”
But Link didn’t turn around. “This way,” he repeated. His eyes were gentle, but his tone was firm.
Zelda wasn’t usually one to follow others’ instructions, especially when they came from her father or her appointed knight. But she followed him anyways, intrigued as to what could provoke him into being so persistent. Moments later, she was so glad that she did.
Her eyes filled with wonder as she soaked everything in. They’d just rounded down the slope of a hill that was located across from Lake Akkala. Hidden there was a little grove of trees with a large flower bud at its center, and it took her breath away.
Quietly dismounting her horse, Zelda stood at the entrance to the grove, too awed to speak. It was now dusk, and fireflies began flitting about, only adding to the magic of the little grove. She took one tiny step forward, then another, catching sight of some armoranth and a few endura carrots hidden in the ground.
There were a few insects (or perhaps fairies?) flitting about the grove, glowing a soft pink. If she weren’t so enraptured by the beauty of the grove, she might have tried to catch one so she could study it further, perhaps even write up a research article or two about it.
But then, her eyes fell upon what she’d been longing for the past few months to see…a patch of silent princesses.
Her lips parted slightly, and she gasped softly. “Link, is that really what I think it is…?” As she stepped forward, the little pink insects disappeared in her wake as she knelt to cradle the delicate petals of the silent princess. Her riding pants became muddy, and her hair began slipping past her ears as she bowed her head and studied the flower.
“I know we have to visit the spring,” Link said softly, “but I thought that taking a little detour might not be so bad.”
Zelda could scarcely breathe as she examined the flower’s soft petals, slim stem, and crisp leaves. “How did you know that they might be here?”
With a shrug, Link replied, “I didn’t know for sure, but my father used to talk of beautiful fountains, hidden within secret groves, where the fairies play and sacred flowers grow. I never knew what he meant until you began studying the species in your books. The flower you were describing sounded a lot like the ones my father used to talk about.”
Blinking once, then twice, Zelda couldn’t hold in an incredulous laugh. “Link, that must be the most I’ve ever heard you speak.” With a disappointed sigh, she pulled back from the flower, still crouching on the ground. “If only we didn’t have to go to the spring to pray, I’d take it back with us to the castle. Who knows if I’ll ever have the chance to study or cultivate one like this ever again.” She thought of her father, who would most certainly be counting the days until her safe return. “I suppose we should look for a stable soon,” she commented, noting the sun’s position as it sank lower in the sky. “Are there any nearby?”
“There should be,” Link nodded. “We can stay here as long as you’d like, though. We only have another day’s worth of riding before we reach the spring.”
Curiously, Zelda stood and rummaged around her horse’s saddlebags, searching for one of her field journals. After writing down her own brief description of the flower, she took some time to sketch it onto an empty page. “Thank you so much for taking me here, Link.” She hoped he could hear the sincerity in her voice, for once void of any sarcasm.
Link’s lips tilted upward slightly, erasing the blank expression that usually canvased his features and replacing it with a smile. “It was my pleasure, Princess.” He nodded back toward the rest of the magical grove, “I always wanted to make it out here with my father, but we never got the chance. He was killed before we could. I’m glad I was able to see it, though, and I’m glad you got to do some research, too.”
Silent for a moment, Zelda snapped her notebook shut, shattering the quiet peace of the fairy fountain. “Right,” she stated quickly. “We really should be on our way soon.” Her heart was thudding in her chest as she pulled herself up from the muddy ground.
Instantly, Link’s jaw steeled once more, and he nodded. For once, she didn’t resist his attempts at helping her mount her horse, her heart softening at his thoughtfulness. Then, he mounted his own horse, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. “We’ll be at the stable before night falls.”
With a snap of their horses’ reins, they were off, leaving the magic of the fairy fountain and the beauty of the silent princess behind them.
There was a chill in the air as Zelda made her way to the spring of power to pray. With her knight waiting nearby with his back turned, she peeled off her riding clothes and hurried into her prayer dress.
Zelda’s skin prickled as she adjusted to the cold. Her prayer dress did little to cover her arms or anything below her calves, and she kicked off her sandals as she approached the edge of the spring.
Her mind was racing.
The still surface of the water began to ripple as she stepped into the spring slowly. First, her ankles disappeared beneath the water, then her calves. Soon, she was up to her knees, the light fabric of her prayer dress slowly growing heavy and wet. “Please, dear Goddess,” she began carefully, willing her teeth not to chatter, “I beg you for your help, as my ancestors have done in times past for generations.”
She forced herself to go deeper, keeping her eyes on the statue of the goddess before her. “Please,” she whispered slowly, shivering as the water now reached her waist. “Please lend me your golden power.” A sob threatened to tear through her as she took another step forward, wincing in pain as she grew even colder. “I ask for it, not for myself, but for my people as the Calamity draws near.”
The statue of Hylia stood before her: cold, motionless, and silent.
“Please,” she choked, tears prickling at the corners of her eyes. “Please, I’m begging you.” Thoughts of her father filled her mind, then thoughts of Link and how he pulled the Master Sword from its resting place with ease. “You spoke to my mother,” she whimpered, the freezing water now reaching her chest. “You spoke to my grandmother. You speak to Link and allow him to wield your sacred sword.” Her voice cracked as the floodgates broke and tears began streaming freely down her ruddy cheeks, “Why do you not speak to me?”
Time seemed to stop as she continued to plead with a goddess who remained silent and wouldn’t answer her. Her desperation grew as she walked further, deeper and deeper into the water, eyes fixed solely on the goddess who was supposed to help her. She continued to pray as her voice grew hoarse and her vision became blurry. Her muscles were numb from the frigid water, and she paid no heed to the water’s depth as she continued stepping forward, wishing for it to swallow her whole.
Her world went dark, and she wondered if the goddess really did hear her prayers…
“Princess?” A voice broke through the haze of her mind. “Princess?” It asked again. “Zelda, open your eyes, please.” The voice was laced with nearly as much desperation as her prayers to the goddess had been.
Slowly, she opened her eyes, wincing as she adjusted to the light of a nearby campfire. “Link?”
Link’s eyes filled with relief. “Princess.” He was holding her in his arms, and he gingerly helped her to sit up straight.
Her limbs felt heavy, and her prayer dress was soaked. “Link…” Her voice trailed off as she took in her surroundings. “What happened?”
“You were praying with such fervor that you didn’t realize how deep the water had gotten all around you,” Link replied simply, draping a blanket over her quivering shoulders. Once he was certain she was alright sitting by the fire, he stood and headed toward the spring’s entrance, where their horses were waiting for them.
In an instant, Zelda knew exactly what had happened. Link’s clothes were soaked through as well, and he retrieved another blanket from their horse’s saddlebags, wrapping it around himself. “I was drowning?”
Link nodded, sitting back down beside her.
Suddenly gripped by the fear of what could have happened to her, Zelda tugged the blanket tighter around her shivering body. “Thank you,” she whispered. Bowing her head to avoid Link’s persistent gaze, she choked back a sob. The shame of not accessing her sacred power washed over her once more, almost as harshly as the cold waters of the spring of courage had.
Not even the joy of her scientific discoveries was enough to lighten Zelda’s mood as she and Link made the long journey back to Hyrule Castle. It seemed as though her mind was an echo chamber, determined to amplify the weight of her failures.
Upon their arrival back at the castle, several servants rushed to assist her with dismounting her horse. She was then led back to her quarters, to prepare to meet with her father.
After nearly seven days’ worth of travel, Zelda’s body was weak with exhaustion, and her limbs felt heavy as she changed out of her traveling clothes. Her heart was racing in her chest, and she felt as though she was heading toward her own inevitable demise, shaking with dread at the thought of her father’s disapproval.
Nearing the entrance to her father’s throne room, she fought to steel herself, clenching her jaw tightly. She bowed her head as she entered, not even daring to meet her father’s gaze. Hot tears threatened to pour down her cheeks as her father admonished her, doing little to hide his disappointment.
Though her father’s anger couldn’t have lasted for more than thirty minutes, it felt like an eternity to Zelda, and when he finally sent her away, she couldn’t have been more relieved.
Ignoring the curious looks of servants who were standing nearby, Zelda flew down the castle corridors to the safety of her study.
Without her father’s calculating stare, she could finally collapse onto the floor, surrounded by all the stacks of books she’d left on the ground. Dissolving into tears, she could hardly see straight, furiously wiping them away with her sleeves.
There was a knock on her door, so soft that she barely heard it amidst her tears.
Instantly, she stiffened and hastily wiped away the rest of her tears. She couldn’t be caught by a servant looking so…weak…fragile…scared. She had to remain strong. She was Hyrule’s princess. She would save them all. She had to.
“Come in,” she instructed, wincing at how shaky her voice sounded.
Link appeared in the doorway to her study, with a look that she couldn’t quite describe etched on his features. Without a word, he offered her a hand, pulling her to her feet moments later. Then, he reached into one of his tunic pockets, carefully withdrawing a crumpled handkerchief and placing it into her wavering hands.
Silently, Zelda unfolded the handkerchief, revealing a delicate silent princess.
“I know that they only really grow in the wild, but I also know that you’ve wanted to try your hand at domesticating them for some time now,” he began to explain. “I wanted you to have the chance to do that so I took one when you weren’t looking and kept it wrapped up.” Regretfully, he eyed its petals, already drooping in her hands, “Hopefully you can salvage some of its seeds.”
The tears that Zelda had just quelled threatened to resurface so she turned away. “Thank you,” she choked out quickly. “Do you think there might be a pot from the gardens I could borrow?”
Understanding passed over Link’s face. “Let me go see if I can find one.”
After her knight had left the room and she was left alone again, one last shuddering sob tore through her body as she cradled the silent princess close. “Can you survive outside of the wild?” She whispered softly. “Or will the confines of the castle crush you, the same way it’s done to me?”
Zelda was a failure.
Everyone knew it.
All the plans they’d made to prevent Calamity Ganon’s arrival were for naught. Her Champions and their Divine Beasts were lost to Calamity Ganon’s Scourges. Her father, King Rhoam, had been killed upon Calamity Ganon’s arrival. On the verge of death, Link was taken by several of the Sheikah to a shrine, where he would remain in a hibernation state until his body was fully recovered. So many of her people had died, their lives needlessly stolen from them.
But those who were left living couldn’t remain in stasis forever.
Though she labored to keep Calamity Ganon sealed away until her knight could put an end to this once and for all, Hyrule hadn’t remained frozen in time like she’d expected.
Instead, life continued for those who remained. Her people picked themselves up from the ashes, remembered those they had lost, and rebuilt.
For Zelda, it was too painful to even attempt to peer beyond the thick malice that had taken Hyrule Castle captive. Though she was trapped here, she was also making sure that Calamity Ganon remained trapped here too. Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months, months to years. Where was her knight? Was she to remain trapped in stasis with this wretched beast for all of eternity?
Open your eyes, Link. Open your eyes.
She willed him to hear her, speaking the words into the malice as it threatened to choke her once more. Despite the ways the malice mocked her, she couldn’t stop herself from trying.
Open your eyes, Link. Open your eyes.
Then, on a day like any other, he did.
And as Link ran out onto the Great Plateau and surveyed the rest of Hyrule with eyes full of wonder, Zelda nearly cried with relief. She would keep her people safe for as long as she could, but her days of torment would soon be over too.
Watching Link through the thick malice that surrounded the castle as he wandered Hyrule and gathered his strength was encouraging to Zelda. After a century of holding Calamity Ganon back from wreaking havoc across her country, her own strength and stamina were waning. She could also tell that, though the beast had once mocked her for her hope, it now grew fearful of her hero’s courage and determination to save her.
After spending a century in a state of hibernation, Zelda knew that Link had lost most of his memories, but she also watched as he fought to regain them, with the help of her Sheikah Slate and the pictures that they’d taken throughout all their journeys.
When Link finally drew near to the castle for the first time, Zelda’s heart soared with excitement. As he scaled the castle walls and slayed the monsters that had taken up residence within them, he seemed to be searching for something.
He entered what was left of her quarters, happening upon her diary. Her cheeks flushed as he skimmed through the pages, seemingly lost in thought. She hoped that he hadn’t discovered anything too embarrassing in her personal writings. Never in a million years had she thought he’d have the gall to read her diary when scribbling down her frustrations about him as a teenager all those years ago.
Then, he found the ruins of her study, eyeing the room with a strange sort of familiarity. Curiously, he examined the dusty books throughout the room before thumbing through what was left of her research notes. He was about to turn to leave before his boot hit something somewhat solid on the floor…the remains of a garden pot.
Zelda gasped as Link crouched to cradle the fragile petals of a silent princess. Had the offspring of the flower Link had brought back for her all those years ago managed to survive, despite all the chaos brought on by the Calamity?
Though the pottery shards had scattered throughout her room, the flower had still chosen to take root in the dry dirt and rubble it was surrounded by. Its only source of water was the rainfall that managed to penetrate the broken rafters of her ceiling. and she marveled at the little flower’s resilience, despite its current circumstance. All her textbooks had spoken about was its inability to grow in domestic environments, yet here it flourished, in spite of the malice and the rubble that was its home.
The sound of Link’s voice broke through the silence, interrupting her train of thought. “Zelda,” he breathed softly, taking care not to crush the flower as he stepped away from the rubble it’d taken root in. “Your presence lives on here.” For a moment, she almost forgot that she wasn’t there in the room with him, standing beside him whilst prattling on about her scientific musings. “Don’t worry,” he spoke into the silence, as though he knew she were listening. “I haven’t forgotten about you. I’m coming.”
His gaze lingered on the silent princess for a few moments more, and his jaw tightened with resolve. Allowing himself one last look at her study, he then continued to press onward, slaying any monsters that remained in his path.
As her hero headed for the sanctum, Zelda’s vision began to grow blurry. For a hundred years, she’d sustained and cultivated magic beyond what she’d ever thought possible before, and she could feel her power ever waning. All the exertion, without any reprieve, was finally taking its toll on her.
Her skin burned as malice attempted to wrap around her ankles and pull her into an eternal embrace of hatred personified. Smoke began to fill her lungs, and her eyes watered, and all she could feel was pain.
Desperately, she fought to stave off the malice’s attempts at drowning her, choking her. She remembered all those years ago, praying desperately in the springs to the Goddess, begging to be blessed with her golden power, being dragged beneath the water, her body going limp as she accepted that she would simply drown.
And here she was again, blessed with the Goddess’ golden power, and it still wasn’t enough. She was still drowning.
But this couldn’t be.
She couldn’t let this be the end.
There were so many things that she had yet to experience, so many places she had yet to be. She wanted to conduct more field research. She wanted to study Sheikah technology. She wanted to feel the wind whipping through her hair as she rode through Hyrule Field on horseback, excited for a new adventure. She wanted to enjoy a piece of fruit cake with good friends. She wanted to see if that silent princess that was growing in her study was still there at the end of it all, when Calamity Ganon and all his malice was banished from her kingdom once and for all.
She wanted to see Link again.
And, when her hero entered the sanctum, ready to face Calamity Ganon once and for all, Zelda was ready too, gifting him with the Bow of Light, arming herself with her own sacred power.
They would do this, together, and she would not drown.
Their final battle with Calamity Ganon had been a blur, but the Goddess and her hero would not fail. Zelda protected her people, and Link protected her, and Calamity Ganon was gone forever now.
Finally, for the first time in nearly a century, there was grass beneath her bare feet and a soft breeze to caress her bruised skin, and it felt magical to be in this grove, surrounded by trees and fairies and flowers. She was especially partial to the little patch of silent princesses that were growing nearby.
With a lopsided smile, Zelda glanced back at her hero. They had just beaten Calamity Ganon once and for all, and Hyrule was finally free of malice, yet the only words that were on the tip of her tongue were, “Link, do you really remember me?”
They were both broken, in different ways, for different reasons, and they had both had different burdens to bear. Even still, she found solace that the nightmare was finally over, and though they had lost so many, they had each other.
In his usual fashion, without so much as another word, Link briefly knelt down to pluck a silent princess and held it out to her. In his eyes, in his hands, and in his heart, there was an offer. His lips twisted into a soft, bittersweet smile.
As Zelda’s fingers curled around the stem of the silent princess, she could feel her breath catch at the back of her throat in relief.
Everything was a blur as his arms wrapped firmly around her, and she hid her face in his chest, and she took care not to crush the silent princess between them, their bodies sinking to the ground as he cradled her gently in his arms.
Though the world had almost come crashing down around her, though she’d almost drowned in the malice of Calamity Ganon, Zelda had finally done it. She’d unlocked the Goddess’ sacred power within her. She’d rescued her people from darkness, despite all who were prepared to see her fail. She’d found a silent princess out in the wild, by the gentle waters of a dormant fairy fountain, a reminder to not forsake her dreams for duty.
But most importantly, here, in the arms of her hero, she’d finally found home.