So I had some character requests at the end of the last chapter, and I think you guys just may find yourselves somewhat obliged...


3

A Job for the Viziers. An Assassination and a Threat. The Market District.


"Princess. It is an honor- and a pleasure, I am sure." Zant bowed low and, beside him, Vaati did so as well. They were standing before her in the vaulting throne room, where white marble walls and lush carpeting was illuminated by ornate torches, and elaborate frescos decorated the high ceiling

"How may we serve you, Highness?" Vaati said, once he had straightened up.

Zelda reflected inwardly that it was almost impossible to speak to the two mages at once. Zant towered over her, grey-blue and skeletal, and the childlike Vaati looked positively diminutive next to him, garbed entirely in an odd-looking purple that matched the lavender shade of his skin. Not to mention that the two argued incessantly.

Still, there was an odd similarity between the them. She figured that it was likely the burning yellow eyes the two shared.

"I need you to find somebody for me," Zelda said.

Vaati frowned. "Easier said than done, I am afraid."

"I don't mean to offend," Zant shrugged his shoulders in a gesture of helplessness, "But we are just two mages, your Highness. Wouldn't such a task be better suited to your knights? Rusl, perhaps, would be much better at organizing a search of the city, or-"

"Ganondorf has found the Bearer of Courage," Zelda interrupted him.

Zant stopped, and then smiled. "Well, then, that certainly is a job for us."

"Are you sure?" Vaati asked. "It's been so long, why would he show up now?"

"That is what I'd like to know. I want you two to go and find him. Be sure that you aren't seen- especially by Ganondorf. When you are absolutely sure that you've found the Bearer of Courage, return to me. Do not kill anybody or do anything that would make Ganondorf think you have been watching him. Is that understood?"

Zant scowled. "If I may, princess, I think-"

"We know what you think," Vaati interrupted him. "You heard the princess. We are not to kill anybody. Your revenge can wait."

"It has waited long enough already!"

"And it can wait a while more."

Zelda saw the two out of the massive double doors that served as the entrance to the throne room. "You heard what I said. Go and find him-or her, do not let Ganondorf know you have been watching him, do not kill anybody."

The two mages nodded and bowed, Zant fuming silently, and then disappeared down the corridor. Zelda waited until they had gone, and then turned to the two guards stationed outside the throne room.

"Your Highness."

"At ease," The guards on either side of the polished wooden doors relaxed. "Can you please find Rusl for me? I need to speak with him."

"Certainly." One of the men hurried away, while the other stayed and shuffled about from foot to foot awkwardly, tapping his spear against the floor. Zelda noted with amusement that although his hair was white, he might have been a child in front of an adult he did not know.

Presently, the first guard returned, followed by Rusl, the Commandant of the Royal Knights. Despite the fact that it was early morning, he was already dressed in full uniform, looking every but the Commandant in gleaming armor and a luxurious purple cape. He bowed smartly, and then smiled.

"Zelda."

"Rusl." She smiled back at him. The list of people who she allowed to greet her by name only was very, very short.

"Well, then, what can I do for you?" He fell into step beside Zelda as they strolled through the marble halls.

"It's the magistrate, Doutor," she said. "He has some concerns about the safety of city officials when they leave the castle, and he'd wanted to speak with you about increasing the guard in the upper levels."

Rusl sighed, "We've been over this. I need to have men in the lower quarters, and there aren't enough as it is- do you know what things are like down there? It's madness. We're forced to make examples of lawbreakers just so that the rest of the population will stay in line. Just this week, in the Market District we had to-"

"I'm aware of that," she waved her hand to cut him off, "And I made sure that Dotour was aware of it as well. But you have to agree, almost nowhere in the city is safe for us anymore."

Rusl nodded grimly. "The Gerudo," he said.

"The murders last week have only got him panicking more. He's certain that he will be next, and the worst part is that he has good reason to worry."

"So what would you have me do? I can't possibly spare any more men."

Zelda stopped, and her eyes darted quickly in every direction to make sure nobody was eavesdropping. "Lie," she said.

Rusl raised an eyebrow.

"Just tell him that you'll be increasing the guard in the upper tiers. He won't notice, he hardly ever goes outside anyways and when he does I very much doubt he pays any attention to your soldiers. Oh, but make sure to act upset about it- I want him to think I'm ordering you to do it."

The Commandant chuckled. "Such reprehensible behaviour, and from a Princess! Very well, shall we go break the good news to him now?"

"I don't see why not."

They strode through the gleaming corridors, guards at their posts unsure whether to salute Rusl or bow to Zelda as they passed. The metal clack of his greaves against the tiles contrasted sharply with the silent whisper of her ornate dress.

She knocked delicately at the Magistrate's door. "Magistrate Dotour? It's the Princess. I've come to speak with you about increasing the guard as you requested."

A few moments passed. There was no answer. She knocked again. "Magistrate? Are you in?" She turned to the two guards stationed outside his door- another insistence of his. "Is he in?"

The guards both nodded.

Rusl thumped on the door with a fist gloved in metal. "Magistrate, the Princess is waiting! Open this door!"

There was a moment of interminable silence. Rusl and Zelda looked at each other.

"Hellfire," Rusl swore. He raised one foot and kicked, sharply, right at the door's lock. It splintered after on blow, and the second kick flung the door wide open. Zelda, Rusl, and the two guards rushed inside.

"It would seem," said Rusl after a while, "That the Magistrate's concerns for his safety were entirely justified."

"Dear Gods," Zelda said softly.

The curtains on all the windows were drawn, so that the rooms were swathed in darkness. In the centre of the magistrate's apartment there was a pool of blood on the floor, slowly dripping down from what was hanging above it.

Magistrate Doutor was hanging from the ceiling, spinning slowly on the rope that suspended him. His shirt had been stripped off him and used to gag his mouth so that he could not make a sound. The rope was tied in a complicated series of knots and traced tight patterns all over the exposed parts of his body- up and down his torso, along his arms and hands, and around his neck and face.

The entire length of the rope was covered in jagged pieces of broken metal and glass. Dotour had been stabbed a thousand times over and had died, slowly, and in agony. Zelda could see the deep gashes along his body where he had struggled in futility against his bonds.

Rusl swore again sharply. "Damn. Damn! Search the castle! Every inch of it. We could all be in danger. Princess, you have to-"

Zelda raised her hand, and Doutor was cut down in a flash of golden light. Instead of hitting the ground, however, he floated gently in midair. Zelda closed his eyes. "I will attend to our late Magistrate, Commandant."

"But- it isn't safe- they could still be nearby-"

"I will ensure that proper respects are paid. Please, conduct your search. I will be perfectly safe."

"Zelda-"

"That is an order, Commandant."

Rusl hesitated, and for a moment she was sure he would protest further. But relented. "You two. With me. Gods have mercy on this monster if we catch him."

Zelda worked her magic on what was left of Doutor. His wounds stitched closed, and the jagged rope dissolved into thin air. When she heard the door shut closed behind her, she said aloud, "You did not have to kill him."

Ganondorf stepped out of the shadows. "Two days ago, three men were executed by your soldiers in the Market District, in the exact same way. They had stolen food to feed their families. You did not have to kill them."

"Dotour had a family as well," she began. "A wife, a son. You think that the starving children will be pleased to know that another family is without a father? That another-"

"A rich wife! A rich son!" Ganondorf shouted. He was enraged. "If they suffer- even one iota- because their father and husband is dead, then good! So much the better, if they even understand a fraction of the pain that thousands must endure because of them-"

"It is not their fault!" Zelda shouted back, advancing on Ganondorf.

"But it is," he responded coldly. "They have done nothing. Nothing. Inaction and ignorance are no excuse."

In an instant, a glittering silver sword was in Zelda's hands, the tip resting gently in the hollow of Ganondorf's throat.

"Guards will come running," he was nonplussed. "How many of them will die?"

Zelda glared at him for a moment more, and then withdrew the blade and concealed it in nothingness once more. "Blame me if you like," she said. "But leave the innocent out of this, Ganondorf. You are destroying your own cause."

He was silent for a long moment. "I have a message."

"Choose a better means of delivery next time."

"I've found him." When Zelda said nothing in response, he continued. "Courage. He will be a member of Gerudo before the day is out."

"If you're the only one speaking to him, I don't doubt it," she said dryly. "Will you be telling him about this little escapade of yours? Somehow, I don't think you will."

"Listen," he said. "The two of us will destroy you. You are powerful, yes, but against two Bearers-" he sighed. "Zelda. Stop this."

"I am far from finished, Ganondorf," she smiled coldly. "And it's much too early to be discussing the terms of my surrender."

"Listen to me, this is futile! How much longer do you think you have to live? A year? Half a year? We will be coming for you, but you can change that if you just-"

"I will be alive long after you lie forgotten in a nameless grave."

He started backing into the shadows again. "When you are dead," he began melting into the darkness, "I will raise your broken body up on the highest tower, and the people will know that the darkness has passed at last."

"Until that day comes, Ganondorf," she laughed humourlessly, "Go on and continue using that darkness to hide your own evil. And fear the day when at last people realize just how black your heart really is."

He was gone.

Zelda clenched her fist. The insignia on the back of her hand glowed. A lamp shattered.

She sighed. "How did this happen?" she said quietly.


"Name a thing. Any thing. You can buy it or sell it here."

Midna floated along a few feet in front of Link, cheerfully pointing out the key features of the Market District to him. "Just about everything you could ever want is somewhere here in the Market District- and it's also just about the only place in the entire city where the upper classes willingly mingle with the lower classes."

"It's pretty impressive," he agreed. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a pickpocket earn a day's wages.

"Right," she snapped her fingers, and a shining spear appeared out of nowhere. "I gotta go hock these pointed sticks real quick, you stay out of trouble. Go look around or something. Be back in five."

She had barely floated away before someone shouted, "Hey there! You! In the green!"

Link turned when he realized that whoever was yelling meant him. At first he thought that Navi had followed him, but as the fairy floated closer, he could see that she was somebody else.

"What the hell are you wearing?" she jabbed at his hat.

"A hat."

"No, no, no. A hat is created with the explicit intention of being a piece of clothing." She flicked the floppy green end of his cap over his eyes. "This is like a burlap sack that's had green paint spilled on it."

"I like this hat."

"Well I don't. And speaking for the females in general, they won't like it either. Now what you need is something with a little more style." She punctuated the word 'style' with a sort of fancy pirouette around his head.

"Style?" Link repeated.

"Style," she affirmed, buzzing around his head again. "Tell you what, come with me. I just got these very dressy shirts in, absolutely beautiful, fairy-made. For a handsome guy like you… hundred rupees each."

"One hundred rupees? That sounds like a lot." The fairy was leading him through the crowd of people and over to a makeshift stall, piled high with colourful clothing and manned by a very worried-looking fairy that glowed a deep purple.

"Hey sis," he said when he saw them, "Don't leave me alone manning this stall, that's like asking for-"

"How about this." She fluttered over to a smart-looking something with pinstripes. "All the rage in the upper levels these days. And did I mention fairy-made? A hundred rupees is a small price to pay for the love and respect of your peers."

Link picked up the article of clothing, and rustled through a few more. "But it is a lot to pay for a shirt."

"A lot? Let me tell you, this is a bargain. You will never get better than fairy-made, there is magic sewn into every stitch, it is so comfortable you'll feel like you're naked, the ladies will just go- hurk!"

This last enunciation was not the fairy explaining just what the ladies would do, but rather was the direct result of Midna snatching the fairy out of the air.

"You! Do! Not! Con! Gerudo!" Midna punctuated each word with a shake of her fist, waving the fairy around in the air sharply and sending magical sparks flying everywhere.

The fairy shouted back in between shakes. "Whoah! Hey Midna, I- Whoohah! Didn't know the kid- Hoowowch! Was with you! Eergwha! Stop shaking me! Owjeez!" Midna released her grip and the fairy took to the air again, fluttering about rather shakily before getting her bearings. "I mean, look at his face. That is a connable face. A pigeon. Can you blame me?"

Midna rolled her eyes (eye). "Link, take note. There are a hundred million ways to separate a man and his money, and Tatl knows every single one of them."

"Thank you," said Tatl, bowing.

"Tael, shouldn't you be keeping her under control?" Midna asked.

The purple fairy chuckled nervously. Link realized that it was a male. "Ehe. Well, I tried to make sure she didn't charge too much…"

"Where'd you get the shirts?" Midna asked. "Seeing as how all of us with one notable exception know that 'fairy-made' is a steaming pile."

Tatl sat down on the top of Midna's hat. "Jacked 'em, of course."

Midna frowned. "Not from anyone I know, I hope."

"Relax, relax, I know how you are. We got them from those warehouses further up the river. I paid Linebeck to run that boat of his up there last night, we shifted them right out off the loading dock. I got crates of 'fairy-made' shirts coming outta my ass."

"You did this at night?" Midna marvelled. "How much did you have to pay that idiot?"

Tatle sighed. "More than I care to recall. Linebeck won't risk his neck for anything less than a king's ransom- but for the right price, he'll do anything."

"You didn't run into any trouble."

Tatle laughed. "The Nameless? No, it was quiet all night, thank the Gods. Didn't stop Linebeck nearly bailing on us, though. But I figured, maybe it was something to do with the water?"

Link wondered what 'The Nameless,' was, but then realized she was talking about the beast that had attacked him.

"No trouble with Nameless, eh?" Midna elbowed Link in the ribs, only a little harder than was necessary. "Wonder why that was? Maaaaybe something to do with us?"

Tatl's eyes widened, she leapt a few feet in the air and produced an odd dinging noise. "Don't tell me- you saw it?"

The Twili chuckled self-servingly. "Well, old Link here was new in town- had a little run in. Ganondorf and us lot just so happened to be over at Telma's place, heard something was going on. Get this- Ganondorf hustles us all out there, we fought the goddamn thing to save this kid's ass."

Tatl was apoplectic with shock and even the sulking Tael had perked up and was listening. Unable to decide who to yell at, Tatl shot furiously back and forth between Midna and Link before eventually seizing Link's face and pulling on it. "Fall in a well and die!"

It took Link a little while to work out that Tatl had made up this expression to convey the enormity of her surprise.

"Is this for real? You guys fought the Nameless!"

"Hey, this is nice material." Link and Tatl turned to see Midna examining the piles of clothing stacked up on the stall.

The fairy immediately switched back into moneymaking mode. "You like? I've got stuff in all sizes, I'm sure I've got something nice in your size, you could do with a change, you're always wearing that black thingy-"

"Twenty."

Tatl blinked. "Okay, listen, we were saying a hundred for fairy-made, I know, but they're actually worth nearly that. At the boutiques in the upper levels these'll run you seventy, eighty rupees, even down here you won't find 'em for less than fifty. So let's be realistic, Midna. Fifty."

Midna made a big show of considering the offer, stroking her chin thoughtfully. "Thirty apiece, or I'll let slip exactly where you pulled 'fairy made' out of."

Tatl sagged in midair. "…Fine."

Midna smirked, revealing pointed teeth. "Come on then, pretty boy, pick something you like."

Link looked over at Tatl and mouthed the words 'Pretty boy?' Tatl nodded and shot him a wink. "You could be prettier, though, for only thirty rupees each."

Half an hour later, Midna and Link bade farewell to Tatl and Tael with several new clothing purchases. Link figured she must have made a tidy profit selling the weapons Ganondorf had given her, because Midna next hauled him over to an outdoor patio and bar near the edges of the enormous market.

"Drink this." She slammed what appeared to be a frosty mug of milk down on the bar in front of him.

"What is it?" he asked. "Just milk?"

The bartender slapped him. Several patrons gasped. Ruefully Link reflected that this was the second time in under a day he had been slapped by a woman he'd just met.

"Just milk!" The redheaded woman tending bar repeated his words incredulously. "Just milk!"

"Well, what is it?"

"Drink it."

Tentatively he took a sip. It was easily the most delicious thing he had ever tasted. "This is amazing."

"This," the bartender said theatrically, "Is Chateau Romani. The cows are raised in the most luxurious farm in the world since birth, free to roam the vast acres of lush grassland outside the city. They are milked only by the fairest virgin maidens, and the milk is tested and bottled personally by our dairy connoisseurs. The Kokiri people of the forest enchant those chosen bottles with magic, and it is then chilled to the perfect temperature and served."

"There's also rum in it!" Midna said approvingly.

"There is also rum in it," the bartender admitted with a shrug. "Nice to meet you. I'm Cremia. I own this place here as well as the ranch outside the city."

"Link," he said, shaking her callused hand. A thought occurred to him. "My horse ran away when I arrived last night- I think she was spooked by that monster. If you see her roaming around by your ranch, can you let me know?"

She nodded. "I'll keep my eye out. We see a lot of runaways out there- good luck getting a horse to go anywhere in the city at night."

"Good luck getting anybody to go anywhere at night," said Midna in between sips of her drink.

"It's true," Cremia agreed. "But the city is getting worse, even during the daytime. People can't make a living on their own, you see crime everywhere. I used to bring my little sister into Hyrule with me, but now I'm afraid to do that."

"You seem to be doing pretty well for yourself," Link noted. "Aren't you afraid?"

"What, with chivalrous types like you on these streets protecting me?" Cremia smiled. "I get an escort from the guards. It's true I have to slip them something under the table, but it's better than being robbed- or worse."

With a loud gulp, Midna finished her drink and slammed the glass on the bar, upside down. She rapped on the bar for another. "Feh. They're all useless. Only in it for the money."

"Which I happen to have," Cremia said with a nonchalant shrug, pouring Midna another Chateau Romani. "Look, I know how you are about all this, and I'm not disagreeing with you. It's just none of my business, that's all."

"No, no," Midna waved a dismissive hand, and then grabbed her second drink. "You're just trying to earn a living. I understand."

Link watched the crowds bustle by for a while and sipped. "Do you make a lot of money here?"

"You kidding?" Cremia laughed. "Do you know how much I go through in a day with a place right at the edge of the Market District? You guys'll probably hate me for this, but if I wanted to, I could live right up there, maybe only a little bit down from the royal complex itself."

"Then why don't you?" Link asked.

"Too cold," She gave a mock shiver. "Both the people and the temperature. Things are different up there. No, give me my ranch where I can see the stars at night, and my bar where I can talk to people who actually listen, and I'm happy."

"Good attitude," Midna said, "I like you Cremia. Have I ever told you that before?"

"Usually only after you've had a few more drinks," Cremia remarked dryly. "Speaking of which, what can I get you?"

Midna had already finished her second drink, and Link was almost done his. "Nothing, thanks," she said. "We were just heading out. I'm showing this kid the ropes, and we had to stop by this place, of course. Here." She flicked fifty rupees onto the bar.

"Come back again, you hear?"

When they were out of earshot, concealed safely in the crowds, Midna spoke. "You see? That's the problem. Here, follow me, there's one last thing we gotta do."

"What exactly was wrong with her? You're all ways going on and on about the upper classes; she seemed just fine."

"Apathy," Midna spat it as if it were a swearword. Or rather, as if it were a word that actually offended her, as she seemed to have no problem with swears. "She bribes the guards and doesn't have to worry about being assaulted in the street. Problem circumvented, right? Why should she care about anything else that goes on?"

"You can hardly blame her for minding her own business," Link said, a bit harshly. "Maybe you just need to-"

She interrupted him, and pointed up. "Can you honestly turn a blind eye to this?"

Link looked up. "Oh, Gods."

They had stopped near the center of the plaza. Set up along the river was a grisly display that people hurried past, averting their eyes. Swinging gently in the breeze were three partially decomposed human corpses, suspended in midair by a ramshackle wooden frame.

As Link and Midna got closer, he could see that the bodies were all male, and had been stripped completely naked. The ropes that held them up were the same ones that had killed them, thick cords wrapped tightly around their chests, neck, arms, legs, genitals. The ropes were covered in jagged bits of metal and glass that had gouged their subjects to death. The wounds were horrific.

"The man on the left was a career pickpocket." Midna was saying. "He lived alone, sick, dying. He used the money to buy medicine."

Beneath the wooden frame holding the dead men aloft were three fires burning, one for each corpse. Link could smell strong incense, and beneath that the smell of rotting flesh that could not be masked. The bodies had clearly been there for days, at the least.

"The man in the middle assaulted a guard. The guard had- he'd done-" Midna's breath hitched a bit, with rage or grief. "The man had an eleven year old son taken away from him."

The eyes of all three men had been pecked out by birds that even now circled above the crowded marketplace, landing sporadically and tearing strips of flesh from the grotesque displays. People seemed to be making a conscious effort to avoid looking at the birds, which were unnaturally fat.

"The man on the right stole food. His family was starving to death. They still are."

The faces of three men stared sightlessly at Link with empty eye sockets. He found that he could not bring himself to look away. "This… this is hideous."

"Can you ignore this, Link?" Midna asked him, as solemn as he had ever seen her. "Can you bring yourself to just look the other way, while this goes on?"

The buzz of the crowd seemed to dull in his ears. He could see them, wherever he looked- people trying their best to avoid acknowledging the atrocity which hung in their midst. Heads down, countless people hurried by.

"This will continue to happen," she was saying. "They will keep seeking out examples, and punish them. If they can't find criminals, they'll invent some. It's a way of keeping order."

In his mind's eye, Link saw endless numbers of condemned being led to their deaths, screaming in agony above the Market district while shoppers went about their daily business and avoided looking at you.

"Will you ignore this?"

"No." How could he? How could they?

"You can help us. You can change Hyrule. For the people."

"Let's go," he said. The two of them turned away from the gently swaying corpses and wound their way through the obstinate throngs. Before long, the sky was lost to them once more beneath the endless height of the city.


This little scene in the Market District was actually the first thing I thought of for this story. The image of Link in a crowded market, looking up at the hanging bodies was an image that I felt had a whole story behind it.

I wonder if I should tell you guys that there is a very important little hint in Zelda's scene...

As always, let me know what you think by reviewing, and if there's any characters you want to see, let me know and I'll see what I can do.