The Copper Promise; Part 1: Ghosts of the Citadel
By: Wydrin Williams 178
A/N: Alright, first things first. This almost has no correlation to the Zelda series what-so-ever other than the charcters name. SO this is basically a full on AU fanfic. Hope you enjoy it anyways.
1
All the other cells in the dungeon stank of fear, but not this one. Lord Frith's last surviving son was simply too proud to be afraid. Even now, as Dodongo laid out his instruments on the blood-stained bench, holding each wicked blade up to the torch-light, the young man kneeling on the stone floor had only anger in his eyes.
The blood of his father is on that bench. His brothers' too, though Nabooru. And soon his as well, but he'll defy us to the end. Stubborn bastard.
The dungeons of the Faron Keep were small and thick with shadows, which meant that Nabooru had to stand rather closer to Dodongo than she would have liked. He was a greasy wart of a man; shiny bulges of flesh poked through his leather tunic, and lank strands of grey hair stuck to his bulbous scalp. His rheumy eyes watered constantly, but not out of sympathy for his victims. Dodongo might be foul to look upon, but his ability to summon excruciating pain with a few carefully placed cuts was invaluable to Nabooru.
Despite the rough treatment they'd shown him so far, young Link Frith was another matter. With the strong jaw and Blue eyes of all the Friths, his pale skin and fashionable long blond hair, he was a comely young man. Nabooru had an appreciation for beautiful things; she had commanded that the finest paintings in the castle be taken down from the walls and packed into crates for her personal perusal later. It pained her greatly to spoil that warm skin, those pretty eyes. In the initial scuffle Link had taken a blow to the temple, and now the dried blood was making his hair stick up at strange angles on one side. And Dodongo would only make things worse, of course. Such a waste. Still, they needed him to talk, and soon. If they went another day without answers, then Ganon might come up to the Faron himself, and no one wanted that.
"Anything more to add, Link, before this gets bloody. Or should I call you Lord Frith now? Your father died in here yesterday."
Link Frith slumped a little where he knelt, glancing away from her. For a brief moment she felt sorry for him, but the sensation didn't last. The black velvet and silks he'd been wearing when they took the castle were stained and ragged now, but this was a man who'd been born into a privileged life. A silver brooch in the shape of a tree was still pinned to his breast, with tiny chips of sapphires in the branches that could have been leaves or could have been stars. It was fine work; Nabooru made a note to make sure that it ended up in her pocket at the close of this messy business.
He looked back up at her and his eyes were dry.
"I have nothing to say to Gerudo scum."
Nabooru sighed, and looked around the squalid cell. The torches only made the corners darker.
"You want to end your days here, Lord Frith? For the sake of what? Some jewels, some gold? Coin you'll probably never get around to spending?
Link said nothing, Nabooru felt a stab of impatience.
"We know the vault is hidden somewhere in the forest, Link. Everyone knows that. We'll find it eventually, but I'd much rather you told me. It's a lot quicker that way."
To her surprise, Link grinned.
"You think you'll find the location scribbled on a piece of parchment, a footnote in my father's will perhaps? I'm not sure you understand how secrets work."
"You tell me, then. You're the last. I may even keep you alive. The Gerudo people are fascinated by the aristocracy of their neighbours, and they'll pay good coin to come and gawp at you." she tried to inject a reasonable tone into her voice. "Tell me now, Link Frith, and I swear this will go better for you. You've got nothing to gain from adopting the stubbornness that killed the rest of your family."
"Colin was nine years old. He was not stubborn, he was terrified!"
Nabooru took a step towards the prisoner. She could feet her face growing flushed, much to her annoyance.
"You would end your life here, in the dungeon of your own castle? Hundreds of years of the proud Frith family, and you'll end up in unmarked grave in your own damn forest."
In answer, Link spat on her boot.
"Enough talk," said Dodongo through a throat full of phlegm. He picked up a vicious blade no longer than Nabooru's smallest finger. "Time to see the colour of the young lord's blood. I heard it's green, like their trees, but it's all been red so far. Very disappointing, that."
Nabooru shook the spittle of her boot.
"Get started."
Nabooru left Dodongo to his work - there was, in the end, only so much of it she could watch - and spent some time patrolling the castle, checking on her men and their search though old Lord Frith's private documents. The servants had been rounded up in the Great Hall, and Koume and Kotake, her second-in-commands, had made some attempt to beat the information out of then, but they clearly knew nothing of use.
The question of the vault had been a vexing one. The Frith family were famous not only for their wealth, but also for their paranoia. Several generations back the Lord at the time, one Daphnes Frith, had ordered a great vault built in the middle of the Faron. Each day, the men who worked on it were taken to the location blindfolded, with one member of the Frith family on hand at all times to supervise the plans. Hundreds of years later, and all anyone seemed certain of was that it was in the Faron somewhere, hidden in that huge and unknowable forest. The Frith family fortune, just waiting for someone to steal it.
A number of hours later Nabooru returned to the dungeon. As she approached the cell she listened for the noises men made when they'd reached the end of their endurance, but the stone halls were quite.
"Please tell me you have some answers, Dodongo."
The torturer wiped his hands on a bloody cloth, grimacing.
"The boy is just as big an idiot as the rest of them."
Link Frith was strapped to the bench, his arms held down by his sides with iron cuffs. Dodongo had long since removed the expensive velvets and silks, so that he lay shivering in his smallclothes. One side of his face was slick with blood, and one hand was red to the wrist. His chest was livid with burn marks, and Nabooru could smell the hot, sweet scent of scorched flesh.
"I've done all the usual. Hot pokers, burning needles under the fingernails - once that didn't work I just ripped 'em off - some cuts here and there. Took one of his ears, and I thought he might give in then, but it doesn't look like he's paying much attention now. You want me to put one of his eyes out?"
Nabooru watched the young lord carefully. His eyes were closed, his breathing rapid and shallow. He looked like someone caught in the midst of a deep fever, but she thought he could hear them, all the same.
"Hold off for a moment."
She went over to the bench and took hold of Link's jaw, turning him to face her. One of his eyes flickered open; the other was caked shut with blood from a deep cut on his cheek.
"Put away your pride, Lord Frith. Tell me where the vault is."
For a moment the look in his one open eyes was confused, as though he didn't know where he was. The he focused on her and she saw that look sharpen to hate.
"The Faron will have your blood, peasant."
Nabooru took her hand away.
"There is a grave out there in your precious forest, and it isn't for me." she turned to the torturer. "The mallet, I think. I want his legs broken."
A/N: Now, I know this is all very grim and bloody, but it gets less so, I promise... up to a point. Some of the characters situation will be a little weird but as before, this is a total AU fic. Thanks for reading everyone!