Perhaps if Zelda had been another person, she would have let this matter rest. For two days she is troubled with thoughts of the Gerudo and who they might have been. She scours maps and texts and finds only the barest hints that there'd been people in the desert at all. A tribe of women, warriors, who lived deep within the desert's heart; she would not have even known what they were called had Ganondorf not told her. Their relationship with Hyrule had been tenuous at best. Outright hostile at its worse. And yet there was no mention of a leader, a traitor waiting for his chance to pounce upon an unsuspecting King of Hyrule. That, she thought, would've at least survived whatever culling had fallen upon the historical texts in the library. But, there was nothing. This Gerudo people were there one moment and simply gone in the next, as if they had been quite literally erased from existence.
Zelda did not blame her father; whatever happened back then, had been for the good of Hyrule. That much she would always be able to understand. Yet, what happened to these people, because of one person, it seems so unfair to her. Perhaps there could've been another way. Despite whatever Ganondorf might've believed, peace could always be reached, so long as they had been willing to try.
She stretches in her seat, reaching her arms above her head and stands. Too much time in the library again, she thinks and gathers up her dusty tomes. She thinks about returning them to the shelves, but opts instead to carry them with her and investigate this matter further. She did not know what she would do with her findings – should she have them – but it is an innate need to know and understand. She wanted to see all sides of an issue and know them as intimately as she might know her own. Zelda could not let a mystery go unsolved.
It is a bright and beautiful afternoon when Zelda crosses the courtyard. Ahead of her, she can see Casus and smiles at him when he comes closer. "Do you mean to carry off every book in the library, Princess?" he teases and takes the bundle from under her arms.
"No. I mean to have you do it for me." They laugh together and Casus falls in step with her as she continues under the high afternoon sun. They chatter endlessly and must stop to laugh under the archway of the castle's entrance. It is. Unexpected how well she gets along with Casus. She would've preferred the chance to choose her own suitor. But Casus is not wholly disagreeable. At least she could stand his company. Perhaps even learn to love it.
They pass the armory courtyard on their way to her room and she stops mid-step, forgets Casus is even with her at all.
The soldier – a recruit, young and inexperienced – is sprawled across the grass, the shield he'd been wielding a few feet from his arm. His opponent, another recruit Zelda assumes, fairs no better. He picks himself up, but keeps his gaze low. Ganondorf stands between them, solid like a tower. And naked from the waist up. She can see the thick raised flesh of a scar, glowing faintly under the folds of his arms. "I will keep you all night, if I must. Do it again. Correctly, if you would," he says.
Zelda swallows when he leaves them and makes his way to her. Casus has barely registered to either of them. He smiles and bows politely to greet her. "Princess," he says and when he straightens he casts a cursory and utterly uninterested glance in Casus' direction. "You always manage to catch me at inopportune moments."
"We apologize for interrupting you," Casus says before she can reply, and puts a hand against her back, "We were just leaving."
"What did they do wrong?" Zelda asks, and nods toward the field. She does not budge when Casus tries to nudge her on. Instead she shakes him off.
"He hides behind his shield, instead of holding. See how weak his arm is? I'm of a mind to break it. Perhaps then he'll learn."
She clears her throat and glances at him, but looks away again just as quickly. "I doubt something so drastic would be necessary. He stands fine, but he must reposition his shield to accommodate."
"You know shields?"
"I know everything."
They share a laugh as if a secret is passing between them. Casus nudges Zelda again, and smiles, forced but polite. "We were going to take our lunch, Princess. I would escort you."
Zelda returns his smile, fondness in her eyes as she puts a hand on his arm. "Forgive me, Casus. Would you take the books to my chamber? I will join you after."
He looks from Zelda to Ganondorf and back again. Ganondorf does not spare him even a passing thought. With a resolute nod, he turns on his heels and leaves them.
"You've upset him," Ganondorf says quietly. He folds his arms across his chest.
Zelda does not respond, and looks after Casus' retreating form. Perhaps she had been inconsiderate and the thought set guilt coiling in her belly. She would apologize as soon as she joined him for lunch. Ganondorf leaves her while she watches her suitor's retreat and she turns in time to see him catch a recruit by the arm. He stops the boy dead in his tracks, a cloud of dust kicking up behind him. "It seems I must show you how to do this correctly once again," he says and drops the recruit on the ground, "Clear the field!"
They scramble from his path, eager and wary all at once. Ganondorf finds his swords – great black blades – and when he spins to demonstrate on the training dummy, he finds he is not alone. Zelda smirks, a longsword in her hand and she raises it, feet firm against the ground. "Shall we dance a second time, my lord?"
He grins and tosses his second blade aside. "As you wish."
"Three strikes and I win. A night's rest for the recruits will be my prize."
"And my prize, should I win?" He counters and glances at her left hand.
"Well, I suggest you win."
They clash in the middle, a shrill metallic clang. Zelda holds but begins to buckle under Ganondorf's tremendous weight. Still, she is small and would have the advantage if she knew how to use it. And, she does. She parries him and dances away. Their audience watches, some leaning on their tall and heavy shields, breathless with anticipation.
Zelda waits and watches, hoping to coax Ganondorf into charging, her longsword pointing at him. Mocking him with that smirk across her lips. When had he assumed that she was a novice? It was a mistake he would not soon repeat. When they meet again, Zelda parries and strikes him with the blunt side of her blade. "I believe that's strike one, my lord."
They take their stances and Ganondorf watches her, learns her tells. She is easy enough to read. He counters when the clatter in the middle and taps her under her chin with the flat of his blade and a bark of laughter. "Now we are even."
She's struck him for a second time when the King joins the spectators, Casus at his side. Neither Zelda nor Ganondorf seem to notice, engrossed in defending themselves. Even the recruits seem uninterested in Harkinian's presence. They cover the field, swords meeting and sparking as the metal shrieks. Ganondorf gains the upper hand when Zelda attempts another parry. He catches her sword and knocks it from her hand. He steps on the sword and tilts her chin up with his own. "Tied again, Princess," he says with a smug smirk.
Harkinian pushes his way through the crowd and finally they notice him. "Enough," he says and Ganondorf stabs his sword into the ground. Zelda does not acknowledge her father, at least not until he calls her by name. "This is no place for you," he says as gently as he can and tucks her hand beneath his arm. Ganondorf watches as the king guides his daughter away and smiles when she turns back to look at him before she is gone completely.
His recruits wait behind him and he does not bother to turn around. "The Princess has won you reprieve for the night." He sheathes his swords and makes his way to the barracks. "Enjoy it. I will not be so kind again."
They meet again in a lonely hallway, Zelda distant and distracted. She nearly passes him by, before she realizes he's greeted her. Ganondorf is halfway down the hall when she stops and calls out to him. "Forgive me for earlier," she says and faces him, "I should not have challenged you."
Ganondorf grunts, "Hardly anyone in this castle is worthy enough to face me."
She hums quietly, "So it would seem. Your skill is unlike any I've seen."
"I have lived a long time, Princess."
She peers at him, quiet for a moment before she makes up her mind, "May I ask you something, my lord?"
"You may."
"The scar, on your chest, why does it glow?"
Ganondorf looks surprised, as if he'd forgotten then scar was there at all. He clasps his hands behind him and chuckles a little under his breath, "I was run through with a magical sword," he says simply, as if it were an everyday occurrence.
Zelda's eyes widen, her hand pressing against her mouth to hide her alarm. Ganondorf shakes his head and nods toward the opposite end of the hallway, "This is not a conversation to be had here. If you are not occupied why don't you join me?"
She follows him into the dark hallway, dainty steps keeping pace with his long and purposeful stride. When he stops, she stops behind him, twisting the fabric of her skirts between her fingers. He opens the heavy iron door and she follows him into the massive room. It is cold here, despite the fire burning brightly in the hearth. Swords of all shapes and sizes hang proudly on the walls with shields above them. There is a crest engraved on one that she does not recognize, but she does not have the courage to ask.
As she walks further into the room, she does not notice the door clicking close with a metallic finality. She stops at a display case, mouth agape in her reflection in the glass. "Is this... Is this the true Master Sword?" She asks and looks at her host, awed and incredulous at once.
Ganondorf chuckles and seats himself by the fire where the remains of his dinner wait for him. "A clever replica," he says, "I've used it once or twice but it is not to my liking. The balance is wrong."
Zelda continues exploring, touching gingerly the pieces on the wall. There were paintings. Not many, but enough. Many of them were of the desert, of places and people she did not recognize. She looks away when it becomes too much to look into their eyes. Wandering to Ganondorf, she sits near him and the fire and accepts the offered cup of tea gratefully.
"You never answered my question," she says after a stretch of silence, warming her fingers around the cup.
"What question?"
"How you know so much of the Gerudo, of their history."
He sets his cup aside and levels Zelda with an unreadable look, as if he were deciding how to answer her. When he does, his voice is softer than she expects, "I am Gerudo, Princess."
She had thought as much, during her investigation and she nods at his confirmation. "I tried to find them. I searched every map in the library. Every book on the peoples of Hyrule. I could not find 'Gerudo' in any text, recent or dated."
Ganondorf says nothing. He is not surprised by her revelation. The Hylians had been thorough, clearly more so than he'd thought possible. He watches her expectantly.
"I did, however, manage to cobble together scraps of information. A warrior tribe who lived in the desert. Noble thieves. I would not have known who they were had you not told me. Still, it was the strangest thing."
"How so?"
"The texts just. Stop."
This, Ganondorf finds surprising. He stops mid-sip of his tea and regards the princess over the lip of the cup.
"It does not say 'they were there one moment and gone in the next.' It does not mention them leaving or being driven out. It simply. Stops. As if there is more to say but no words to say it." As if they had simply vanished and there is nothing more to tell. Zelda cannot tell which. Ganondorf frowns and sets his cup on the side table again.
"What book is this?"
"Most of it is in A History of Hyrule."
"Bring it to me," he demands and amends it a minute later, "if you would."
She nods. "I will. When?"
He thinks. Harkinian had not been pleased earlier with their display in the armory courtyard. He would never approve of Zelda bringing him anything. But that is only if Harkinian knew. "Tomorrow night, if you would. I will be out of the castle most of the day. Armor fittings for the new recruits. But I will return by nightfall."
Zelda hesitates for only a moment before she agrees. Her father would not be happy, but she simply would not tell him. "Tomorrow night, then."
The hour was late enough and Zelda stands when Ganondorf takes her by the hand and leads her to the heavy iron door. "Good night, Princess," he says and opens the door so she could take her leave.
"Zelda."
He still holds her hand and for a moment, they linger by the threshold, waiting for the other to say something – anything at all. Instead, Ganondorf brings her hand to his lips, just as he did the night of the party and kissed her knuckles. Color spreads up her from her neck to her cheeks and by the time she steps into the hallway, she's a bright and unflattering shade of red.
"Good night, Zelda," he says and the door shuts quietly behind him.
