A Welcome Home
Chapter Three: The end of Option
Link lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling.
"Link!"
There was a pounding on his front door.
"If you don't open this door I'll burn it down," Raya growled.
He crawled out of bed, stepping over discarded clothing and shoes while glaring at his useless training sword. When he finally reached the other side he opened the door.
Raya stormed inside leaving Link to shut the door behind her. She seemed momentarily distracted, blinking at her surroundings. Maybe at his state of undress or maybe the state of the house. He couldn't tell. Either way, she was quick to recover, her eyes focusing on him with furious precision.
"Where did they go? Where did they take him?!" she demanded. She had been crying from the look of it; her cheeks puffy and red.
"I'm so sorry," he muttered, too pitiful to look at her.
"What happened!?" she practically screamed as she stepped forwards, pushing her palms against his bare chest with all her strength. He didn't fight it, and stumbled backward before hitting the wall with a thud.
"Those men," Link tried to explain, "did something to the blacksmith. They said he told them about Harrow, and that we hadn't been paying taxes. Lars tried to explain to them that no one had come to collect any taxes, that it was all just a mix-up and we didn't know anything about what was happening; but the General, his name is Essa, he accused your father of blaming the king for our mistakes. He arrested him and said they were riding for Harvest at first light. The rest of the soldiers are staying here and taking over the mayor's house. They're going to take our food and cattle in retribution."
Raya's breathing had slowed throughout his explanation but she stood rigid as she spoke, "none of you did anything? No one stood up for him?"
He looked away, shaking his head.
"The mayor and Karl stood up," Link admitted, "maybe to fight back, I don't know, but General Essa threatened them. It was him and five soldiers, Raya. There was no way that four barely trained men would be able to fight off a General and his men. Karl told me to go home, so I did. I think maybe he and the mayor are trying to plan something. I-I don't really know…" Link trailed off as he finally managed to meet her gaze for a moment. He couldn't hold it.
"You should have fought," she whispered, her hands balling into fists. "I would have fought. I would have done something!" Her voice rose to a yell, and the sound of it reverberated around them.
Link nodded, staring down at his bare feet.
"How could you just stand there after everything he has done for you?" she pleaded.
Her words stung, and Link winced. "I don't know."
Raya slumped into the nearest chair, staring blankly ahead in a daze.
"Now what?" she enquired, looking to Link for answers. "What about my mother, Marco and the rest of the town? We need to get my father back. We need to do something."
Link picked up a discarded undershirt and pulled it over his head. "Let's go to your house. We need to tell your mother what's happened. The mayor and Karl are figuring something out. I'm sure of it. We'll just have to wait until they can come up with something."
She looked up, eyes sparkling with tears. "He can't wait. They did something to the blacksmith, and they're going to do something to him. Isn't there a trial? Won't there be some way for him to defend himself?"
Link shook his head and helped her to her feet, unable to give her any answers. "Let's go see your mother and talk to Karl. Maybe he will know. Maybe he's spoken to some of the soldiers and has more information?"
He led her from the house, pausing briefly to consider his training sword, but decided against taking it. At this point, fighting back would be useless. They belonged to the king now.
The fall came early, and most of the villagers were ordered to help harvest the crops. They worked for weeks, and three days before the first frost the last of the barley was brought in.
The soldiers watched it all. They stood in the fields, hands resting on the hilts of their long swords as the villagers worked. They followed the carts, tracking how many loads were brought in and out of the barns. They counted the cattle, horses, goats, chickens, and pigs. Every detail was meticulously tracked, and when the math wasn't right, someone would pay.
They built a platform and post outside the mayor's house and whenever something went missing, they'd haul someone up, whipping them until they got the information they needed. Sometimes, they'd send people off to the prison in Harvest. No one had yet returned.
There was no word about Lars or the blacksmith. The mayor had tried working with the soldiers. He'd tried to be compliant, show them he was willing to compromise. It seemed the king and his men were not so willing. There would be no trial for Lars as General Essa and his men were witness to his crimes. He would be held in the prison until the king felt he had served his time.
A few days after Lars was sent away, the soldiers came to each home. They tore them apart, checking in every closet and under each bed. They turned over couches and lifted rugs. They knocked on walls and flipped through books. They searched anywhere anything could hide, and took what they found as they went.
They removed weapons, stating that farmers and townsfolk didn't need any. As citizens of Hyrule, they were under the protection of the king and the soldiers were the only ones permitted to hold swords and bows. They took books, especially those that made reference to the Nohansen line of rulers. Anything of value, like jewels or gold, were thrown into their carts and hauled to what used to be the mayor's home.
Overall, there wasn't much to take. Only a dozen or so people had swords and even fewer bows. Some women had jewelry, but most were small trinkets.
Link said nothing as the soldiers searched his home. He waited outside as everyone else had before him. The soldiers left carrying his training sword, a few books, and a bow.
One stopped in front of him, his eyes scanning over a piece of parchment in his hand with disinterest.
"What's your name?"
"Link."
The man scribbled it down. "Occupation?"
"Ranch hand at the stable."
"Age?" he asked, clearly bored by the task.
"Twenty-two."
More scratching.
"We have removed a sword, a bow and six books. Can you explain the presence of these items?" as he spoke the soldier looked up at him for the first time, his face impassive.
"This house belonged to my parents. They died ten years ago in the war. All of the books I inherited when they passed."
"The sword. Can you use it?"
Link swallowed. He didn't know how good of a liar he was and he wasn't sure which answer would lead to more consequences. He weighed the options carefully in his head.
"Can you use it?" the soldier spoke slower this time, narrowing his eyes.
"I've never had to fight with it." A sufficient half truth.
The soldier scribbled something in the book, glancing up at Link once more before turning on his heel and walking to the next house.
Link exhaled a breath he didn't know he'd been holding and raced inside. The floorboards in his bedroom remained undisturbed.
A cold sweat covered him as he knelt on the floor. He pressed his fingers into the wood and the left corner of the plank lifted. Slowly, as quietly as he could, Link removed the floorboard. The sword lay in the dark, its royal blue scabbard covered in nearly a decade of dust. Without a doubt, he knew he was the only villager to still hold a weapon.
The first winter under the king's watch had been the harshest they'd seen in years. Somehow, Link felt it wasn't a coincidence. He wondered if winter in the rest of Hyrule had been this harsh after Ganondorf marched on their homes. The fact that the man was from the desert (and most likely hated the cold) brought little solace to Link.
The soldiers rationed out food for the villagers once a week. Every seven days Link and Raya lined up with the rest of town, standing in the frigid snow as they awaited their turn.
"They give us just enough to keep us alive and functioning, but not enough to keep us strong. They know how to stop us from fighting back," Raya grumbled. She could not stop her teeth from chattering despite her father's heavy wool coat. She wrapped her arms wrapped around herself, pulling the material tighter.
Link didn't respond, opting to give her a sad smile instead. Somewhere further up the line, a child cried.
They returned to Raya's home an hour later. Inside, her mother had a fire roaring and Marco sat in front of it, hypnotized. They had taken the knife he'd used to carve and since then he'd been bored out of his mind. He had barely spoken since Lars had been taken away.
Raya placed the rations on the table, shrugging off the coat.
"That's hardly enough," her mother complained as she turned over a loaf of stale bread.
"I swear they give us less each week. They work us to the bone and expect more from less. Ganondorf isn't a king, he's a dictator, and he's going to kill us all," Raya hissed.
She made no secret of her hatred for the king and Link often feared a soldier would overhear her. People had been flogged in the main square for less.
"Do you think it's like this everywhere? Do you think that all of Hyrule is starving through the winter, devoid of freedom?" Raya asked hopelessly.
Marco's eyes drifted away from the fire to their conversation. Marielle rounded the table before wrapping Raya in a hug.
Link hadn't missed how loose the older woman's dress fit around her arms, the awkward way it draped off of her, or the hollow space in her cheeks. He looked away, meeting Marco's gaze from across the room. At 14, he was old enough to notice his mother's deteriorating state.
"Spring will come soon and the warm weather will make things better. Everything seems worse in the cold," her mother reassured her.
"I have a few extra turnips. I don't even like them really, so you can have these three," Link told them as he placed them on the table. "Maybe you can make a nice soup…they'd be better served by your cooking."
"Thank you," Raya's mother said before she kissed him on the cheek and gathered up the sparse spread of food.
"Mother, I'll be back shortly. I'm just going to walk Link home," Raya informed her.
Her mother waved a dismissive hand, "yes. I'm sure he could use the escort, Raya."
Raya only rolled her eyes in response, pulled the heavy coat on once more and walked out the door with Link following close behind.
It wasn't a long walk, but by the time they reached Link's house, Raya was dragging her feet. She fidgeted uncomfortably, searching for the words she wanted to say.
"What's wrong?" he asked, stopping at the door but not going inside.
He knew she was plagued by a myriad of worries. Her father's fate and her brother's lack of communication to name a few. Link had tried to be a good friend to her. He had listened when she ranted and held her when she cried. Somehow, she had forgiven him for his cowardice months prior.
"Mother is sick. I know you've noticed it. She's been getting worse the last few weeks. I think it's just the cold, and maybe not enough proper food, but she's not well. She's…" her words trailed off, her eyes darting to the snow somewhere near his feet.
"She's like my mother was, in the end," Link said grimly.
Raya looked up at him with huge brown eyes. The snow had started to settle in her hair, creating a halo of ice around her. At some point, her nose had turned red from cold and the freckles that dotted her cheeks had become more prominent.
"I don't know what to do," she admitted.
Link didn't either. He had watched his mother wither to nothing, but he had no advice to give his best-friend.
"Maybe there's some red potion we can find?" Link suggested, "If we just give her a little at a time it should last the remaining few weeks until spring comes."
Raya's eyes lit up and she nodded. "Yes! Karl used to have some, but the soldiers confiscated it."
Her eyes darted left and right, thinking up some sort of scheme. "I heard him telling his wife about it. The soldiers took it all and sent it to Harvest. Anything they take from us is supposed to go General Essa."
Link's stomach dropped. "There's no way one of us can go to Harvest," Link said in disappointment. "We've never been and they'll know if we steal a horse."
Raya shook her head, her icy curls bobbing. "The soldiers should be coming in a few days to count the horses. If I take one that night I can be back before they notice the horse is gone and I know Karl won't report me missing. He will come to you and you can just tell him I'll be back. The less he knows the better."
He didn't think it was possible, but somehow more trepidation managed to claw its way up his spine. "Raya, you can't leave your mother and Marco. If something happens to you…you're the strongest one in that household. Marco is too young to take your place."
She seemed deflated by the revelation.
Link closed his eyes, letting out a long sigh as he summoned up his courage, "I will go."
When he opened them again, Raya looked as if her whole soul had been crushed. "I know you don't want to. You don't want to leave Harrow. You never have," she said.
"You're right. I don't," he admitted as he reached out and took her hand. "but if I go, and something happens to me, odds are they will just think the horse hand stole an animal. They won't go after Karl or his family. If I get caught…" Link gave her a grim smile. "No one else relies on me, Raya. It's just me. You can go to someone else for help and keep trying until you get your mother what she needs."
Her eyes were filling with tears and she bit her lip. "I can't ask you to do this for me. You could look after my mother and Marco if I went."
Link shook his head, "no. I'll go after they count the horses. I won't even tell you in case they try to interrogate you. I'll just go, find some red potion and come back. Okay?"
He squeezed her fingers.
She looked at their hands, red and cold in the winter air. "Link, I…"
A few tears fell from her cheeks into the snow. In one swift movement, she stood on her toes, wrapping her arms around his neck to hug him tightly.
"Thank you," she murmured into his shoulder.
He was surprised, standing frozen in the snow for a moment. Eventually, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. They stood quietly for while, and Link found himself treasuring the heat that her body offered. He hadn't wanted to let go, but she pulled away, wiping the tears from her cheeks as she did.
"You've done a lot for our family," Raya told him, "I know my father would appreciate you looking out for us."
Link pulled the hood of her father's coat up over her head, "I didn't do enough."
She smiled sadly and stepped away. He watched her go, the sound of her footfalls the only noise in town. Only when they had faded completely did he head into the house.
He knew he wouldn't have much notice. The soldiers rarely gave any forewarning before showing up to count and inspect the livestock. He would need to pack the few things he had beforehand to be sure he was ready at a moment's notice. A few hundred rupees, a warm change of clothing and some of the food he'd picked up earlier that day were placed together.
He sat on the floor of his dining area and studied the few items. It hardly seemed sufficient. His gaze drifted to the floorboards of his bedroom. Light from the main room streamed in, creating a long silhouette on the floor. He couldn't help but wonder if it was a coincidence that the light touched those specific floorboards. Fate was out of their hands after all.
He decided in a moment that it didn't matter. It seemed there was no other option now anyway.
