"Father you can't be serious?!" Zelda whined.

Her father grunted unimpressed "I'm sorry Zelda but it is for your own protection. If you plan to travel out of the castle, then you shall be accompanied by your knight."

Zelda rolled her eyes and flopped onto her bed "Does this 'knight' have a name per chance?"

"His name is Link." The old man provided.

Zelda nodded "Good. Now I will know what to call him by when I relieve him of his duties!"

Her father smirked "I'm afraid my dear that that will be impossible. I have already warned him of this. He has strict orders from me to never leave your side. No matter what you say to him he will continue to follow my orders."

She huffed "I'm sure I can persuade him..."

The king chuckled "Not likely! His parents were both high ranking knights. They thought him from a young age to never disobey an order from the king. He won't budge."

"We'll see about that..." Zelda mumbled.

The king put a hand on her shoulder "Do be nice to him Zelda. He's had a hard life..."

Zelda rolled her eyes. It couldn't be harder than her's.

~time skip~

Well her father had been right about one thing. This guy wasn't budging! On day one Zelda had tried to convince Link that he didn't have to follow her around. But he refused! But the worst thing?! He didn't even have the nerve to speak! He just shook his head! How rude?!

It had been a month since Link joined her on her journeys but he had still never spoken a word to her. Zelda had wondered if this was some kind of protocol that he wasn't supposed to speak in case he said something that upset her. But she doubted that. Given that he upset her plenty without saying a word!

The two were currently on their way to visit a shrine right outside of Castle Town. When around Link Zelda had decided the best thing to do was just talk out loud. She knew she wouldn't get a conversation out of him, so she'd just have to voice her ideas to herself.

"I believe that inside some of these shrines are something of great importance. Why else would they be sealed?" she turned and Link just nodded at her. She huffed "You are so annoying sometimes! First I tell you that I don't need you to come with me. Then when you do come you don't say a word!" she turned and again he said nothing.

She turned to face him fully "You know... I've never heard you say a word. Why is that?" again no answer "Are you trying to keep from offending me? Because if that's the case it isn't working." Once again no answer. She was angry now "Fine! You want to be like that? Okay. I Princess Zelda of the Kingdom of Hyrule command you to speak. As your superior you are required to do as I say. If you fail to do so you shall be dismissed. Even my father can't deny that."

She waited in longing as Link seemed to struggle with something. Finally he sighed sadly and removed the his Royal Guard's shield, bow, and the Master Sword. He then took the Champion's Tunic out of his pack and laid all of the items at her feet. He seemed sad as he gave her a final salute and walked away.

"What..." Zelda looked at the items before her. "Wait!" she called "I wasn't actually trying to discharge you!" but he kept walking. "Fine!" she yelled after him "I didn't want you anyway!" Because his back was turned, Zelda had no way of noticing the tears dripping down his eyes.

~time skip~

Zelda's father was less than amused when he saw her return by herself. "Where is Link?" he asked gruffly.

She smiled and sat in a chair across from him. "He left."

"What?!" the king was shocked.

Zelda nodded "I discharged him."

"What?!" he was even angrier "How?! He knew to only follow that order if it came from me!"

"But he could still be discharged if he outright refused a command by me that was completely unrelated to him leaving. Correct?" He hated to admit it but so far she was correct. What had she tried to make the poor boy do?

"Well," she continued proudly "I had realized that he'd never said anything to me. So I told him he had to speak or else he would be discharged. When he refused to speak he took off his weapons and gave them to me. Then he just left! Can you believe it?!"

The king was shocked "You did what?!" she was confused "You seriously tried to make him speak?!" she nodded "And then you made him leave?!"

"He disobeyed me!" She defended "I had to!"

"He didn't disobey you!" her father slammed his fist onto the table "You discharged an innocent boy for not doing something that he is incapable of!" Zelda was confused. He sighed in frustration "Link is mute Zelda. When he was a child a hoard of Bokoblins attacked his home. He watched them murder his parents and he hasn't spoken a word since. The doctors say that it's a form of Post Traumatic Stress. He is physically capable of speaking, but because of this traumatic event it is very unlikely that he will ever be able to speak again." Zelda was horrified but he continued "His parents were both knights. That's all he has ever known and all he has ever wanted to be since he was a child. And you just took away the last connection he had to his parents. How does that make you feel Zelda?"

She was in tears "I-I didn't know... I'm sorry..."

"That's right. You didn't know." He continued to glare at her "Now, don't apologize to me! Go find Link and tell him you are sorry. Then reinstate him." Zelda nodded quickly and ran out of the room.

~time skip~

The sun was starting to set as Zelda ran through Castle Town. She asked some of the soldiers wandering around if they knew where Link's house was. Once she was pointed in the right direction Zelda ran towards a set of small cottages.

She found the one with Link's name on it and she started pounding on the door. When he opened the door she instantly noticed that his eyes were red and puffy. When he saw it was her though he quickly bowed in respect. Normally he would salute her. But in his eyes he was no longer a knight.

Zelda looked around and saw that people were staring at them. "May I come inside?" he stood up and nodded, showing her in. Once the door was closed she instantly wrapped him in a hug and started crying. "I'm so sorry! I had no idea! You're reinstated and I promise that I'll never try anything like that again!"

Link just stood there in confusion as she rambled. Why was she crying? He was reinstated? But he had disobeyed a direct order...

She looked up at him with teary eyes "My father told me that you were mute. I'm sorry. I had no idea..." he shook his head and patted her shoulder. "Do you forgive me?" He smiled and nodded at her. She hugged him again. "Thank you!"

From that day on Zelda never tried to make Link stay at the castle when she traveled. They grew a lot closer once Zelda had devised a way for them to communicate. Zelda called it 'Sign Language'. Through this she was able to find out all sorts of things about Link. Apparently he loved to cook, his favorite color was green, and he had a horse named Epona!

But all of this changed when Calamity Ganon struck. Link was injured and sealed away for a hundred years. All while Zelda held Ganon back. When Link finally returned and defeated the beast she was so overwhelmed.

She wrapped him in a huge hug "Oh Link you're back! I can't tell you how much I've missed you!"

She had expected him to just nod into her shoulder like he normally did. But instead "I missed you too Zelda..."

It was a voice Zelda had never heard before so at first she had no idea where it came from. Then she looked up at Link shocked. "You... You spoke?!"

He wrinkled his eye brows "Yes?"

"B-but your parents?!" She asked confused.

"What about them?" he asked. He could see she was confused "I have lost most of my memories. I'm sorry. Is there something you want me to remember?"

She smiled and wrapped him in another hug "No. No there isn't. I'm just glad to have you back..." 

(A/N - Thanks for reading guys! :) And thanks for 2,000 followers!!! Y'all are the best!)