Everything is Sacred (Mekias' POV)
There were few places in Hyrule, except perhaps the ShadowTemple, as dark and shady as CastleTown's Back Alley after nightfall.
Accompanied only by the carefree yapping of the local stray dogs, a black-haired man paced tensely up and down the darkened alley. He was in his mid-thirties, and maintained an authoritative composure despite his unease. Every indefinite number of seconds, he cast an impatient glance at the corner leading to the drawbridge out of CastleTown.
It's almost funny, he thought. She was never late for our meetings before.
While he had dressed as inconspicuously as possible for this occasion, even his plainest tunic and simplest boots were enough to distinguish him as a man of higher social rank, if anyone cared to notice. At one point, he stopped pacing halfway through the alley and looked up at the hanging sign over a particular door. The sign featured a rather deplorable image of the goddess Nayru, naked and beckoning unabashedly. Underneath it read "Nayru's Love Bar and Tavern: Everything is Sacred Here."
He turned to resume his pacing…and in doing so he found himself abruptly face to face with the young Gerudo he'd been expecting.
"What kept you?" he asked her flatly. The sight of her ginger hair, bronze skin and yellow eyes which once aroused his senses with desire now only kindled a numbing shame.
The Gerudo was clad in dull, Hylian peasant clothing and holding an indiscernible bundle of cloth against her chest. "I left the Fortress as soon as I could, but once I got to Hyrule Field, she started to cry," she replied. "I had to stop and feed her so that…" her voice tapered off.
Her arms lowered to reveal, wrapped in the cloth, the sleeping face of a tiny baby girl. His eyes wilted, gazing upon his daughter for the first and last time.
"Come, let's hurry before she wakes up." Without sparing him or the child another look, she edged towards the door marked by the indecent sign-the door to Nayru's Love Bar and Tavern.
He placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "Wait. Let me hold her first."
A deep sigh was her response. "No, I know you, Mekias. You'll have second thoughts about this; it's best if we get it over with quickly."
He gripped her shoulder firmly and tugged her back towards him. "She's my child too, Sandira. She's my only child now," he insisted. "Give me my daughter, I want to hold her just for a moment."
His air of authority prevailed, and she stoically complied, extending the infant into his waiting arms.
He indulged his brief parental moment, swaying the baby girl gently and absorbing the precious image of her face. She was a perfect harmony of her mother's Gerudo heritage and his Hylian heritage. Her skin was a delicate few shades lighter than a Gerudo's, and her eyes and nose were just faintly less narrowed. Her soft wisp of hair, however, matched his ebony shade precisely, and her long slender ears were also that of a Hylian.
He found himself lifting her up, depositing a kiss on her eyelid, hoping she'd wake so he might see the color of her eyes just once. Alas, she kept on slumbering.
"There must be another way," he finally declared. "The orphanage opens first thing in the morning. I could wait here a few hours, and…"
The Gerudo shook her head despondently. "I know your feelings, but we've talked about this. The orphanage keeps records. Your name will come up again eventually, and then everyone will be talking. Someone will figure out what really happened, why your wife and boys…"
"I know, I know," he cut her off. "Don't speak of them again. If they were still alive today, you and I would not be here talking now."
"…" At this, she fell silent, her sober expression withering into one of shame.
A sigh, and while stroking the baby's cheek he continued in a softened tone. "But, why this brothel? I wouldn't wish a smut heap like Nayru's Love on any girl, much less my own."
"You know why. Their slogan is 'Everything is Sacred Here' for a reason," she responded. "The women who work here…they'll keep any secret, for the right price."
"And what is the right price for keeping a living child hidden from the public's eye?" His eyes remained fixed on his slumbering daughter.
"Listen, I'm no happier than you about how this worked out," she stated earnestly. "This is truly the only way. Our laws say that so long as the Great Ganondorf reigns, there is to be no other man's children tainting our population. And if your inner circle learns what really happened back then, the disgrace will ruin you. As long as she's kept in this tavern, no one finds out. Everything goes back to the way it was, before…"
"Don't say 'before us,'" he interrupted her. "It'll never go back to the way it was then."
"…I know." She nodded sullenly, gripped the doorknob of Nayru's Love and pushed open the door, releasing into the night air the carefree sound of drunken laughter and upbeat music from within. She turned back to him and lifted her arms for the child.
His heart doubled in weight as he removed the baby girl from her warm spot against his chest and gave her back to her mother. He ushered the young Gerudo inside, then after closing the door behind them he scanned the lewd festivities for the proprietress of the brothel.
The Madame of Nayru's Love stood near the back, next to the rustic fire place that overlooked the spacious bar room. She was a decrepit old woman with graying brown hair. Her expensive, almost antique dress had long become too tight for her, and she looked as though her doughy body was about to burst right out of her bodice.
"Why, do my poor old eyes deceive me, or is it our own Captain Mekias and his…friend?" the Madame greeted the pair in a raspy voice, decayed by years of smoking. "It's been well near nine months since we've had the pleasure of your patronage. Though by the looks of your other guest, I presume you're not here to rent a room as before." She eyed the infant.
He wasted no time with the old woman. "How much to keep her here and conceal her identity?" he asked directly.
"Ah. A secret birth, is it?" the hag croaked as casually as if this were the third one she'd seen today. "I believe for 500 rupees, we can easily ensure the child is not traced to you two. Surely one of my girls would be all too happy to raise her as her own. At Nayru's Love, everything is sacred…even our customer's darkest secrets."
"The only thing sacred here gleams purple and gold," he muttered dismally. From his wallet he produced two purple 50-rupee and two gold 200-rupee gems to exchange hands with the Madame.
Her frail eyes glinted for a brief moment at her newly acquired wealth, which she pocketed with an utterance of "A pleasure, Sir."
The Gerudo mother, silent from the moment they entered until now, presented the baby girl to the Madame. "Please, treat her kindly as you can."
"Of course, dear. I care for the well-being of my employees; this child will be no different." The Madame assured her while accepting the infant. "Does she have a name?"
"No-" she began.
"Yes," the father interrupted. "Ticheline."
He focused on his daughter, who had now awakened and opened her eyes. They were brown, just like his. His arms itched to reclaim her, but remained firmly at his sides. "…It's the name my wife picked out, for if we ever had a girl," he explained solemnly.
"I see. Fear not, Sir. No one shall ever know Ticheline is your daughter so long as she resides here," the Madame assured him. "You're free to resume your life as it was before she came into the world."
As trite and simple as a bank transaction, the shady deal was complete. The newborn stayed in the brothel to be raised in secret, and the star-crossed parents departed. The shadows of the Back Alley loomed over them both as they forced one last shameful glance at each other.
"So, this really is goodbye, isn't it?" the Gerudo asked, more to fill the melancholy silence with her voice than to garner a response.
"What do you think?" he asked bluntly.
A pause ensued. "I think you were right when you said it will never go back to the way it was," she said. "But, maybe someday it can be even better."
With that, they parted ways for the last time. Their secret was safe.