"Thank you, sir." The man smiled at him, a greedy smile, holding out a wrapped up package. "I hope you enjoy."
Link reluctantly passed a pouch of tiny, glittering rupees at the greasy-looking man. His greasy fingers closed around the pouch instantly, drawing it back beyond the counter before Link could say or do anything.
"Come back again," the man called out as Link walked out of the tent. Link saw the man counting the rupees gleefully out of the corner of his eye.
You can count I'll come again, Link said, smirking, vanishing into the darkness.
The Hyrule Market disgusted Link. The nobles' corruption, the poverty of the ignored citizens, the filthy streets in comparison to the towering spires of mansions and wealth.
Link had seen something four years ago that had never left his mind. He had some tolerance for Hyrule back then, but it had evaporated that fateful night in a back alley four years ago…
"It's the only way, grandfather."
"No! I will go to jail before I see you…like this."
"Father…I will not be able to live knowing that I could have saved you. It makes me happy to know you will survive."
"Emily! Do not talk like…this..."
The old man wept on the girl's petite frame. She patted him gently on the back, tears streaming down her face. The guard tapped his spear against the ground eagerly, a dirty grin spreading across his face. It was obvious he was drunk.
Link, who was walking back to his cabin, froze behind a crate and watched the scene. He wanted to flee; what was going to happen was horrible to fathom; but he could not move. He was glued to the spot, traumatized but mesmerized.
"I love you, grandfather." The girl called Emily said as she backed away from her grandfather. Her eyes cleared in strength, and she looked away towards the guard.
"You are to leave my grandfather alone now, if I give you what you want." She said, steel glinting in her eyes and her fingers curling into fists.
"Of course, honey." The guard said drunkenly. "Maybe."
Link heard a loud groan. He turned around and saw the girl's grandfather sink to the floor, a great bleeding gash in his head. A guard stood to the side, looking very satisfied with himself.
"We couldn't have any witnesses, honey." The guard explained in a slurred voice.
Emily looked completely horrified. "You…you bastard! How…how could you?"
She started to scream. "Help! Help! These men murdered my grandf-"
The guard clasped a hand over her mouth, smiling. "We can't have none o' that, honey. Now c'mon…let's go have some fun."
The two guards, laughing the whole way dragged the girl to the castle by her hair. Link has never seen such a defeated looking human being. Her eyes were lifeless as she was carried away, and they never left her grandfather. Link saw her grandfather on the floor, not moving. When the guards were out of sight, he rushed forwards and checked for a pulse.
The old man was gone.
Link suspected it was more of the shock of what was happening than the wound.
Getting up and feeling sick, Link backed off in a stupor and ran home, while feelings of anger and regret swelling up inside him. He could have saved the girl and the grandfather.
Coward, he said to himself. You're a traitor. You could've saved them, but you just stood there. Like a coward.
Link sighed softly. He was now eighteen, but he could remember the events that occurred that day four years ago crystal clear. And he regretted every minute.
He swung the door open to his cabin and dropped the wrapped up piece of meat on the table.
Epona neighed quietly from the stable. Link went outside and ran her fingers through her mane, gazing up at the pale, glowing moon.
"It's beautiful, isn't it, Epona?" Link said, blissfully aware of how it illuminated every thing in sight with a pale radiant light.
For an instant, Link reflected upon his life and he shook his head sadly. He had a pretty pathetic life. All he had for a companion was…a horse. And that was it.
"I'd rather have a horse for companion than one of those nobles," Link said out loud grimly. It did make him feel better.
Link left the stable and went back inside, lying down on his bed, looking up at his ceiling. He was so tired, but he felt there was one last thing he needed to do.
I already put the fire out, Link thought drowsily. And I locked the stable. And the windows. And the door.
With a sudden jolt of remembrance, Link sat up. The door! I forgot to lock the door!
Link ran to the door and slammed the lock over it, breathing in relief. Good thing I didn't fall asleep.
He heard rustling. "Who's there? Show yourself!"
A candle on the nearby table flickered into life. Link heard creaking from the chair. Edging cautiously to the wall, he felt the wall for a certain bump. He depressed the point and a dagger clattered to the floor. Snatching it up and then advancing towards the chair, his eyes widened in surprise.
It was the center of evil, the point of which all corruption blossomed. They called her a Princess, but she was no Princess.
"You!" Link said angrily, brandishing his dagger. "What on Hyrule are you doing here?"
Zelda eyed his dagger calmly and shifted in her chair. "I have come to ask you for your help. Don't even think of doing anything with that knife. Your life is as worthy as a bug in comparison to mine. The King will make you suffer a thousand pains should you harm one hair on my head."
Reluctantly, Link put his dagger down, but he didn't loosen his grip. He struggled to control his voice, but he wasn't doing very well.
"What...are...you doing here?"
"I heard rumours of an exceptional hunter living on the outskirts of a forest. He hunts animals for meat and sells it at the market. Occasionally, he buys meat from greedy vendors to give to the poor, but if he so chooses to, he will steal back the rupees."
How would she know, Link thought, stunned.
"And what makes you think I am that man?" Link lied coolly. "There are over a dozen forests in Hyrule. And there are cabins scattered everywhere in the forests. You are a foolish girl, Princess ."
Zelda's gaze faltered for a minute, then smoldered again. "I went to the rich vendors in the market and...persuaded them to tell me of their troubles. All of them claimed a man in green clothing had bought meat from them, but the exact number of rupees that had paid were stolen the following day. They were too proud to share their troubles with the other vendors, so nobody knew what to be on the lookout for. Once the man stole from a vendor, he never paid another visit to that particular vendor again."
Link felt his heart plummet to his stomach.
"So what if I wear green clothing? It is not uncommon if you live in the forest. You must blend in."
Zelda's eyes narrowed. "Do not play games with me. If you truly believe in your innocence, I will bring you to every single vendor I questioned. We will see then who is lying."
Link's heart pounded with rage. He should've known they would have suspected him. They were not complete idiots.
"So," Zelda said, blinking calmly. "Do you wish to go to prison? I will pay you many rupees if you should so carry out my task."
Link knew there was no way out.
"What do you want?" he said, sighing. He could not even think of any possible plans Zelda had in store for him; was there some meat deprivation in the castle or something?
"I want you to kill the Lord Esgar."
He couldn't believe it. Zelda wanted him to kill a person? He was sure he heard wrong. Link stared in blank disbelief at Zelda.
Lord Esgar was a vile noble who had recently come to court Zelda. It was unknown where he was born or raised, but everyone knew that Lord Esgar had all he needed to marry her. He already had the approval of Zelda's father; he had high status in court, noble blood, and most of all, he was very, very rich.
"My father wishes for me to marry him, but I will not. Have you seen him? He is a fat foreigner of a pig, and I would rather marry a commoner. His manners are clearly lacking, and he has already tried to kiss me!"
"Zelda, I cannot do this." Link said, still reeling from the pure shock of what was happening.
"Princess Zelda," she said testily.
"Princess Zelda," he said, exasperated. "I cannot kill a man! If he so chooses to marry you, and you don't wish to marry him, I can't just kill him off!"
"Would you kill him under the threat of going to prison?" Zelda said angrily.
Link gaped speechlessly. "If you don't want to marry him, then why don't you just send him packing?"
Zelda looked at Link incredulously as if he had just asked her to jump off a cliff. "He is a persistent fellow, and he will not leave without me. My father threatens that if I do not marry him, I will be thrust out of the line for the crown and exiled from Hyrule."
Tough luck, Link thought bitterly.
"I can't help you. I can slay animals because I have to...but not a man. A fellow human being! And even if I did agree to this ludicrous idea of yours, I would surely be caught."
"Please," Zelda said desperately. "He tried to kiss me yesterday, and I am sure he will propose to me this week. He has already been here for a month, and he is getting impatient. I snuck out of the castle to find you as soon as possible."
"It's not my fault you can't take one little hardship in your perfect life," Link said, his heart hardening, thinking of that girl, Emily. She didn't have a choice.
Zelda doesn't either, a small voice in Link's mind said very quietly.
"I will pay you a great quantity of rupees," Zelda pleaded.
"Hire an assassin. Hire someone who is capable of killing Lord Esgar! Why did you even come here, to my cabin? I am but a simple hunter! You are insane!"
Zelda looked extremely frustrated. "Because! The peasants constantly talk of a green clad hero who visits them in the night, bringing them rupees and food! The hero that despises all the nobles with no known reason!"
"There is a reason!" Link bellowed.
"What?" Zelda demanded. "What makes you hate us with such fury?"
"Why," Link said quietly. "Should I tell you?"
Zelda looked flustered. "But I thought you hated nobles. Lord Esgar is clearly a man of status, and he has done nothing to help your views of him. He spits at peasants, burns their homes down, and even takes young women from the village into his bed!"
Link's head pounded with confusion and anger. "Say the last part again."
Zelda knew she had hooked him. "When he is drunk, he takes young girls from the village for the night and when they come back, they are always crying. They never say what happened."
Link was silent for a moment, quiet rage boiling inside him. Emily's face, lifeless and death-like was burning in his mind.
"How much will you pay?"
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