Ganondorf anxiously awaited his queen's return. There was no doubting the success of her mission, as long as they did not arrive too late. The family might have fled or chose to forfeit the baby to the Sheikah. If that were the case, he would initiate a frantic search. If the Yiga were unable to locate the child, he may reach the age to wield the blade of evil's bane. Ganondorf proved he was capable of defeating heroes that wielded the Master Sword, but preventing an unnecessary fight to the death was preferable.

The King of Evil became alert to clacking from the hard soul of leather boots slowly approaching the master chamber. He anticipated continuing what he and his wife began earlier, until she walked through the door with an object in her arms. Waves of disbelief and anger collided in his mind when he sensed the essence of the hero residing in the bundle of blankets she carried. The boy whined, and Dora hummed the way she always had when Din was unhappy as a baby. She treated the child in such a nurturing way, and gazed upon him with affection, that Ganondorf abandoned the thought that she brought the boy home to be murdered. "Explain yourself," he demanded venomously.

"I'm adopting him," Dora proclaimed plainly, and laid the baby on the bed.

His thoughts raced out of control in an attempt to comprehend her logic behind her impulsive decision. "You have never failed a mission, Dora, and never disobeyed my order," he scolded, raising his voice.

"I know," she regrettably agreed, and folded her hands with fingers interlocked. "The mother and father are dead," she added, as if it made a difference.

"It was the child that needed to be executed. The one with the potential to destroy all I have worked to gain!"

Dora peered at her husband and said, "He also has the potential to be a great warrior. The hero was always influenced by an outside source of good, whether it was Kokiri, the Deku Tree, Zelda, or Hylia herself," she explained persuasively, and closed the distance between them. "Never have we been presented an opportunity to manipulate him from the beginning, for our own purposes."

Ganondorf glared down at her, his jaw tense with rage. "His only destiny is to slay me, the evil that threatens Hyrule. Bringing him into my castle is an act of treason," he shouted. The faint gasp that escaped when her breath caught in her chest satisfied him.

Her fingers trembled as she reached out to touch his chest. He snatched her arm and shoved her away in rejection. "Ganondorf, I would never betray you," she argued boldly. "I know this is what was meant to happen, as if the Desert Goddess herself told me directly."

"You are deluded if you believe I might accept this insane idea of yours to raise the hero as my own son," he bellowed.

A terrible cry escaped the infant on the bed. Dora hurried to lift him and comfort him by rocking him back and forth in her arms. "I knew you would be furious, but I prayed I might make you understand. He was just lying there, scared and defenseless," she pleaded. Quietly, she admitted, "I just could not bring myself to kill him."

Ganondorf never felt such fury at his wife. Never was she less than loyal to him, and he struggled to cope with the hate swelling inside his soul. "Are you so utterly attached to your emotions that you dare bring my enemy into this family because he is only an infant?"

"I would have regretted killing him," she confessed.

"You are a pitiful evil queen!"

Dora glared at him with eyes of ice, but did not gratify him with a response.

"Have you considered that you are being used by Hylia to keep the boy alive?" he countered, his hands clenched into massive fists. His entire body was consumed in a faint purple aura as he restrained his malice.

"I am not being controlled by some idiotic divine being," she hissed. Dora turned her head back to the boy and sang softly to ease his worries.

Ganondorf watched the way she cared for the babe, and in spite of the hate consuming him, there was a sliver of compassion. It was many years since she nurtured a child, and she must have missed the splendor of being a mother. He wondered if this desire influenced her decision. His menacing aura diminished. "I am giving you one chance at redemption," he said, grasping at attempts to remain calm. "Hand the child over to me. I will take his life."

Dora glanced up to Ganondorf, while she slowed the way she rocked since the boy was calm. She gazed with adoration at his button nose and round cheeks. His innocence stole her heart. She tucked the infant in her arm against her bosom, and firmly answered, "No."

"TRAITOR!" Ganondorf's savage roar was deafening even in their large chamber. Dora instinctively coated herself and the infant in a defensive barrier. The betrayal and hate he experienced overwhelmed his senses. He thrust out his hand with his palm facing Dora, and knocked her clear back to the wall with a powerful wave of energy.

She pressed the child to her chest protectively. Her impact with the wall was minimal because of her magic, and she nimbly landed on her feet. "Please, Ganondorf, I'm begging for your blessing to keep him. He will be raised with my loyalty. We can train him in the old ways of a Gerudo warrior, to fight in your name. We can change his destiny."

"I refuse to accept that filthy Hylian with the blood of the hero into my family. You defied a direct order! I will claim both of your lives!" Ganondorf rushed to her, knowing magic attacks were pointless, but he could easily over power her with brute strength alone. Dora clutched the child to her body when Ganondorf suddenly snatched her throat in his fingers, and then lifted her from the floor with ease. He felt her pulse quicken with panic, and the shift of her muscles when she swallowed, on the palm of his hand. He squeezed her neck until she gagged and her luscious lips faded to a shade of blue, while she shielded the infant with her arms. The King of Evil sought the fear he provoked from his victims in her golden speckled eyes, but it did not fuel his hate as expected. Seeing her afraid of him, of death at his hand, only weakened his resolve to punish her. Dora threw her legs to kick him and break free of his rigid grasp. His anger mounted out of frustration over hesitating to hurt her, and that he was distraught to see her terrified and tormented. "Now you will live with the regret of betraying me," he snarled, and then tossed her across the room. Before she collided with the floor, Ganondorf conjured an image of another room in the castle and sent her away immediately.

Ganondorf stepped back until he collapsed on the bed with his hands draped over his knees. He struggled to cling to his rage, to remember that she willingly defied his command and brought an enemy into his castle. Seeing her frightened, suffering, and close to tears, he only hated himself. That Dora possessed such sorcery over him was an outrage. For the time, she could stew in the dungeon to consider her misbehavior, and he would give the idea some consideration while he slept.