Enter King Gerudo

It was a normal day in the markets around Hyrule's Castle Town. Well, it had been normal until from the entrance at the South (which led to Hyrule Fields) came a man. Not a Hylian man. No, he was too large. His skin was dark brown which was a contrast against his blazing red hair. As soon as my eyes lay upon him I knew I wanted to know who he was and why he was there. He had a look of stature, great strength, and a fiery appearance.

The rest of my fellow Hylians all shied back into their stalls and behind various pillars or alleys. I wanted to pursue him. I knew that I would appear to be a little too obvious if I was caught running through the center of the streets. I hid behind a pillar at the church front. Priest Charlo was there hiding himself. I came around there often so he knew me fairly well. He could understand why I'd chosen to hide there and if I took off I would tell him I was trying to get to my mother.

The large being was nearing the west side of the town. I slipped from my post and ran to the small area across path, where the band normally played. Shaking, they were all watching me get ready to duck into the alley where the large man had gone. I walked slowly behind him. The man's horse was already further ahead than I had initially expected it to be. Hardly a soul was out in the alley so I took off a sprint only stopping to duck into the small area where Doc's place was. I heard a whisper from behind, "Sotiria!"

I turned to find myself staring at Rodalufus. He was Apprenticing for Doc. My mother often told me I'd be marrying him, but now, after seeing that man, I knew my eyes had found what I would call my destined love. Rodalufus' chance of being my future husband was shrinking by the second. "What?" I managed to whisper back.

"Are you mad? That is a Gerudo!"

A Gerudo? I thought. "I knew that," I lied.

Rodalufus narrowed his eyes. "He's bad, Sotiria."

I leaned out into the road; my head was poking out from behind the corner of a building. The Gerudo was turning down the next street. If I didn't chase him now then I would lose him. "Bye Rodalufus."

"Sotiria!" he called and his voice cracked. He tried to snatch my wrist, but I took off running. The town's roads made a large circle unless he took off out of the side gates.

I slowed down when I got near the eastern side. So, I knowingly went back to the Central Square and headed south. Everyone I saw was still hesitant with their movement, but slowly they were resuming work. The buyers whispered their orders to the sellers and the sellers whispered the price back. I strolled as casually as I possibly could manage down to the southern stretch. There he was! The horse was turning to leave through the gate. I almost managed to exit right behind him, but in my moment of enthusiasm a spear reached across in my path.

"It's too dangerous to be going out there. Especially for you, Young Lady," the guard stated.

I felt my jaw go slack in my sudden defeat. I stepped backwards and then turned away completely. The only place I could think to go now was home. I felt the tears slowly begin to form along the bottom of my eyes. Several streams went down my flushed cheeks and I probably looked like a fool. I almost had the mind to run back to the guard and tell him how bad a job he was doing in his profession by not keeping the danger out.

Once I was at my house, I rubbed the dried tears away and entered the door slowly. Mom was cooking. She was wearing her favourite apron and getting meals ready for the guards. She hardly ever had time to fix our food. My father had been a guard. That was what had gotten her into making the meals for the men in the first place. Ever since the day my father died out in the fields, I had felt a little bit bitter to the men in uniforms. I felt as though my mother should have stopped cooking for them long ago. The guards should have stopped asking her to continue as well. If she wasn't cooking food here then she was serving them at Telma's Bar.

When she finally looked back at me he eyes were large, but softened when she noticed it was me. "Sotiria, is everything alright?" She wiped her hands on her apron and then pulled it off. "It looked as if you'd been crying."

I shook my head in denial. "No, I was just running and it made my eyes get... watery."

She narrowed her eyes as if she did not believe me. "Oh, Ria, please be careful."

Changing the subject, I sat at the dining table. "What won't we be eating tonight?" I asked jokingly, but she gave me a stern look.

"I am getting paid tonight, so I thought you and I could go down to Telma's and eat." I wondered if she had ulterior motives, such as working while I sat at a table alone. "We can let the guards stay here and eat."

Mom and I never went out. She went out even less than I. Even if she had some reasoning behind it, I could cope with it. "Yeah, that's a great idea, Mom. I will go put on something nicer."

I needed to get out of my Gerudo chasing pants and into something for an evening out with my mother. My room was up a ladder that stood in front of my mother's bed. It was a small loft, so not much of a real room, but houses in Hyrule were usually built as large open rooms which acted as a living-room, kitchen, and bedroom all at once. I walked over to my chest where I put my dresses. I had one which I considered my favourite article of clothing. I had only worn it once and that was only to try it on. I had a fear of ruining it while I walked around town when the streets got really busy. A little old lady, named Neenee had hand sewn it for me. She had been like my grandmother before she passed away. I took off my outer layer of clothing and pulled the dress on. It was sky blue. Neenee had said it matched my eyes.

I went to the small piece of mirror I had on my chest of drawers and began to braid my hair. I made two small ones before my long ears and the made one big one down my neck and back. Once I finished I climbed down the ladder.

"Don't you look absolutely lovely?" Mom smiled. "Why don't you dress up like this more often?"

"I really have no reason to," I stated with a shrug. I found myself wondering if this is what the Gerudo would call lovely. I struggled to remember what it was that he had been wearing when I remembered he'd been completely covered in armor. Yes, there was a lot of armor. It had been black. It was probably impenetrable. He was some sort of warrior; more so than any of the guards in Castle Town. I had a feeling that if I didn't start watching my tongue better than I may definitely let slip something offensive. All of this anger because one guard had done his job and stopped me from following the Gerudo. I had to scold myself for this.

My mom shook her head. "I wrote a note for Creon. He knows where the food is and he can dispense it to his men. Let's get on our way to Telma's." She grabbed her favourite shawl and wrapped it over her shoulders. Then, she went to our quaint rupee container and grabbed it transferring its contents to a bag. We left and right outside the house was one of the guards. If it were not for the helmet then I would have known who it was. Sometimes I remembered guards by their heights and weights.

"Eren, I have the pay for the food service you've been providing." This guard was Creon. He was always the one to get the food. "Are you lovely ladies heading out?"

Mom bowed. "The food is in the kitchen on the stove. I hope you don't mind that we are heading to Telma's."

Creon removed his helmet and ran a gloved hand through his flattened hair. "Well, I hope that you two have fun. I will just grab the food and head out myself. The men always look forward to your cooking. There was quite a scare earlier when the King of Gerudo's just strolled in. Had everyone on edge for a moment there."

I watched my mom's face drain of all colour. "Ria, did you see him?"

I knew that I couldn't hide it from her. I'd say no and she would tell me to tell the truth. I nodded. "But it's alright. I hid!"

"Next time you should make sure you get home as fast as you can," Creon stated. How many times did he suspect the Gerudo would be coming by?

My mom's head bobbed vigorously. "Don't you ever stay out in the streets if you ever see anything like that again!"

Creon look as if he felt bad about bringing it up when we were on our way to have dinner. Now my mom was in a frenzy. "It's all okay though, Eren. He left and nothing happened. I'll make sure to keep an eye out for Sotiria."

"Thank you so much, Creon. Let us be on our way now. I hope your men enjoy supper." I followed after my mom as she led the way to the small establishment. Mom was obviously still bent out of shape about what had happened, even if I had made it home all in one piece. Inside Telma met my mom with a hug. "How's business?"

"Same as always," the larger woman stated. "Those guards are goofing off in the back. All of the drinkers are in the front. What brings you two here?"

"Nothing fancy, just some dinner."

The woman grinned, "That's good, cause I don't do fancy." They both shared a laugh.

I noticed the men in uniform sitting at a round table in the back. I couldn't stop myself from wandering over to them. Luckily, my mom wouldn't think too much of this since we often associated with these men. I glimpsed a map was covering the table. While most of the men were talking and snorting as they took drinks and told stories one of the shorter men was watching me. "Is that a map of Hyrule?" I asked.

The short guard answered. "Sure is."

"Where do the Gerudo's live?"

The short guard looked back to his fellow men and none of them were paying any attention. "Why do you need to know this?" he questioned suspiciously.

Quickly I answered, "Because I want to make sure I never accidently go there?"

He stared at me for a long time before his chubby finger traced around a large area to the south-east. "That's sorta smart I guess. This here is the Gerudo Desert."

I took a mental note about its general direction. "Thanks," I stated before returning to my mom sitting at a table.

"Where were you at?" she asked, still looking as worried as before; like the Gerudo was in the Bar and ready to kidnap me.

"I just went to the guards to make sure that they were going to protect us." I noticed that this didn't make her smile. "I was just kidding. I was only just saying hello." She accepted this answer.

We sat there talking for a few minutes before Telma brought us some food. When it reached us we took as much time as we wanted to eat. For two hours I got to bond with my mom. It was nice since she always seemed so busy and I couldn't stand staying inside the house for longer than an hour after I woke up. I often ran around town asking for delivery jobs so that we had some extra rupees. We were in the middle of a good laugh when the door to the bar opened and Rodalufus walked in. Mom finally had a happy grin on. She stood up, but when I tried to do the same she told me to sit back down. Rodalufus came over and sat across from me where Mom had sat. "I'm going to head back home, Ria. Bring her back in one piece would you, Lufus?" With that she left me there with Rodalufus.

"I see that nothing tore you to bits," Rodalufus said. He raised an inquisitive brow, "How are you?"

"I'm just fine," I muttered and began to stir the remainder of my meal around the edge of my plate. "Yourself?"

He just shrugged. "Doc is on the verge of creating a new medicine. I'm very proud to say that I have helped with this." He got really quiet and I was ready to ask what was on his mind, but he started back up. "There is a reason we are both here." I was here so that I could have a nice dinner with my mom. I didn't know why he was here. "I had talked to your mom earlier this week. She thought that it was a good time as well." I knew mom had ulterior motives, I thought. I watched as Rodalufus stood up and from his pocket he pulled out a pendant. It was green like grass and a symbol for the Oracle Farore.

"An engagement Pendant?" I nearly choked.

"Well, we have known each other for so long and it just seemed inevitable that we would get married." His hazel eyes stared deeply into mine for a hint at my answer.

I was not feeling anything. I could not tell him what I had been feeling earlier. As a Hylian I would be forbidden to pursue the Gerudo. Even if I knew nothing about him, he had just looked so interesting. "Lufus, I don't know," I whispered

He got closer and put the pendant around my neck. "You keep this until tomorrow morning. Then you can give me your answer." Without another word he left me there staring at the back wall.

Telma came over eventually with a big grin on her face. "Looky there. That is great, Hun!"

"Yeah," I said. I stood up and she gave me a sad look. "Bye Telma. Thanks for dinner." I left and did not bother to go home immediately. Mom probably thought I was out celebrating the engagement with Rodalufus. If I gave in just because he had given me a piece of jewelry then I would never know if my crush on the Gerudo would be more than just that. I didn't want Rodalufus. I wanted the Gerudo. I have the town a few laps at a really slow pace. The sun was gone and all of the venders were putting up the wares. I went over to the church and saw that even Priest Charlo had retired for the night. This told me that it was late enough that I should return home. The door had been left unlocked for me and when I stepped inside I saw that mom was already sleeping. If I waited till morning she would see the pendant and expect to hear that I said yes. I could have taken it off and hidden it, but Rodalufus would most likely come over for his answer.

Sitting on the kitchen table was the rupee bag. I went toward it and opened it. I saw several blues and greens. I grabbed it. I hurried up the ladder to my loft. On my bed was a white dress. My mom had already gotten me a wedding dress? She'd most likely spent a lot of money on it and I was chickening out of what I really wanted to do the more I looked at it. Quickly I rolled it up as tightly as I could and pushed it down inside the rupee bag. I tied the bag shut and climbed back down onto the main floor. I had no mind to leave a note. Once I was gone I wouldn't be coming back. I said a silent good-bye to my mother before I slipped back out into the night. I stuck to the shadows of the buildings as I travelled to the eastern gate. Behind a pillar I peered out at the guard. He was tall and lanky and fully armored. I searched around my feet for a rock, but found nothing but pots. Good enough.

I did my best to pick it up without it making any noise. I tossed it across into a nearby alley where it shattered. I slid back behind the pillar as the guard ran toward the sound. While he held his spear out in a defensive stance watching the mouth of the alley, I took off running faster than I had ever been able to in Castle Town. Once I was at the gate I opened it slowly and as quietly as I could before squeezing through.