TWENTY
Five days later, Ketura found herself sitting alongside the Zora River in Lanayru Field, doing the best she could to splash ice-cold water from the river on her face with only her left hand. A grimy-feeling film of dirt and sweat had accumulated on her skin, and a bath sounded nice – if she could find time to herself to make that happen. Her hair felt greasy, patches of the burn wound on her hand were turning black and green and oozing pus, and a large zit had formed on her forehead, just above her eyebrow, and it hurt anytime she stretched or scrunched the skin around her eye. On top of that, she wished she had a better-fitting jacket or at least a scarf and gloves to help keep her warm as temperatures dropped.
When she went to her bag to grab something to eat, she found nothing. She then located Ganondorf, who leaned against a nearby tree, eating a chunk of goat cheese.
"Did you get that out of my bag?" she asked him. Although now accustomed to him just getting things from her bag as he wanted them, the combination of seeing him carelessly chowing down while her stomach growled irked her.
"Yes," he said casually in between bites.
"That's the last of the food," Ketura informed him.
"Well," Ganondorf said, glancing down at the goat cheese, "we can always get some more. Do you know how to hunt?"
"No. I- I'm not hunting! I only have thirty Rupees, so- Castle Town's not too far away." Ketura pointed towards the Tower of the Gods. "I can get some more food, and maybe more money, and some better medicine because I think my hand's infected with something-"
"I don't think going to Castle Town is a good idea," said Ganondorf.
"You don't have to come," retorted Ketura. "Go find your other monster friends. Things might go smoother without me around," she added, thinking about what had happened with Grath.
Ganondorf opened his mouth to speak, but then paused briefly before continuing. "Perhaps you are right about that. I was planning to scout for a clan of Moblins. They usually respond well to having young women presented to them as gifts, so they might get the wrong impression from your being there."
"Are you going to find some other girl, then?"
"Gods no! I don't know how so many races think it's acceptable to treat women as property … they also enjoy gold and other precious trinkets as tribute, if memory serves me correctly."
Ketura nodded thoughtfully. "Well, have fun with your Moblins and your gold mining. And you know where to find me." She slung her bag over her shoulder and turned south to face the Tower looming over Hyrule Castle.
"I would like you to meet me outside of the city at midnight, the day after tomorrow," said Ganondorf.
"For what?" asked Ketura.
"To continue training, of course … and to check in."
Ketura raised her eyebrows.
"Zant likely has eyes all over the city, so watch yourself."
"And I guess you want me indoors once the sun goes down?" she joked.
"Well, I certainly would not object to that self-imposed curfew," said Ganondorf.
Ketura chuckled. "If you keep that up, you'll start sounding like my dad."
Four guards stood outside the eastern gate into the city. Ketura approached them, holding her head high to appear confident while trying to ignore the furious little butterflies in her stomach. Just as expected, the guards stopped her, grabbed her bag, and searched through it while asking her questions.
"What is your business in the city?"
"I'm looking for work," she said automatically.
"What kind of work?"
"Anything I can find. I'm not too picky."
"Hmm, cute girl like you won't have any problems getting hired in a shop. One look at them blue eyes, and ... do you have any family here?"
"No. They're all back home, and I'll be sending them the money I earn."
"Your jacket?"
Ketura removed her jacket and handed it to the guard, who turned out all the pockets and stuck his hands through the sleeves. "And where is 'home?'" he asked.
"Lake Hylia."
The guard scrutinized her face, and she hoped she didn't somehow express that she was lying about everything. She tried to keep her expression neutral yet firm, while mentally inventing a backstory about how her uncle's gambling addiction led them to losing the family farm, when the guard handed her jacket and bag back to her.
"All right then, miss. The contents of your bag check out. Welcome to Castle Town! Keep in mind that the curfew is midnight for civilians, unless you have a special permit, you have an escort of soldiers, or you are going to and from services at a temple. If you are caught out after curfew you are subject to a fine and other disciplinary actions for subsequent violations, including but not limited to spending the night in prison. There is also a moral code you must abide by while inside the city limits and it is posted publicly in many venues for your convenience – again, you can be fined or imprisoned for breaking any part of the code. And … I think that about covers it. Enjoy your time in Castle Town, and I pray the Goddesses grant you good fortune."
Just like the last time Ketura had briefly visited, Castle Town bustled with activity. People filled the streets, walking at varying paces, yelling greetings to each other or pleas to examine the wares they were selling. Someone bumped into her and nudged her out of their way as they sped on down the street, evidently in a hurry to be somewhere important. A group of women in front of her moved at a leisurely pace – too leisurely for her liking, so she turned onto the East Road the first opportunity she got.
Her stomach growled again as she went down East Road and onto a side street lined with merchant stands and storefronts; all of the buildings were new and pristine-looking and the people wore expensive-looking clothes with elegant combinations of colors and patterns. She passed by several stands that sold food because they all sold intricate, fancy-sounding dishes with multiple ingredients and specialized cooking techniques, and they sold for two hundred Rupees a plate. At the end of the road stood a bakery, where a loaf of plain wheat bread sold for forty-five Rupees.
"How does anyone afford to eat in this city," she muttered under her breath as she watched a woman inspect colorful scarves being sold at one booth. Maybe there would be someplace where she could get cheaper food, and Malo Mart would only be a last resort.
She wandered on down that side road, and along the way the buildings became progressively less nice-looking, and there was no place in sight where she could buy food. Ketura began to wonder if she just needed to find a way to acquire some extra money. Signs posted on the fronts of buildings caught her attention: announcement for an upcoming concert, public invitation to a wedding, advertisement for a sale at a boutique, and the basics of the "moral code" the guard had warned her about. She skimmed over it to see prohibitions on several activities: public drunkenness, indecent and immodest dress, enticing others to lust, out-of-wedlock relations between a man and a woman, any kind of relations between two men or two women, adultery, uttering foul language, disrespecting the Princess or her escort Lord Daphnes, disrespecting the Apostles of the Goddesses, and desecration of the temples or the Accords of the Goddesses. All for the preservation of a just and righteous society fitting of the Goddesses' chosen people, according to the notice. Ketura was surprised that attending temple services wasn't mandatory.
A few blocks down, she saw large posters that made her stop dead in her tracks.
KETURA LYKOS
FUGITIVE WANTED BY THE CROWN
Physical descriptors: aged fifteen years, approximately five feet and two inches in height, brown hair, blue eyes, perhaps carrying a sword, may be accompanied by her father Link Lykos
Wanted for: unlawful use of sorcery, consorting with known enemies of the Realm, treason, conspiring against the Crown
Reward: 10,000 Rupees for live capture. Assume her to be armed and dangerous.
No wonder the guards asked her so many questions, she thought. Next to that one was one for her father:
LINK LYKOS
FUGITIVE WANTED BY THE CROWN
Physical descriptors: aged thirty-four years, approximately five feet and eleven inches in height, dark blonde hair, blue eyes, possesses a sword, known to be clad in green, also capable of transforming at will into a large brown wolf, may be accompanied by his daughter Ketura Lykos
Wanted for: dereliction of duty to the Crown, treason, conspiring against the Crown, consorting with known enemies of the Realm, escaping from prison, murder
Reward: 10,000 Rupees for live capture. He will be armed and very dangerous.
On down the line were similar posters for other criminals, including ones for Impa, Colin, and Ashei. Ketura began to question if would be wise to stay in Castle Town just as her stomach grumbled again.
She turned around and jumped when she saw someone standing across from her: a tall, muscled man with a well-trimmed black beard and a knife strapped to his thigh. Part of her suspected that he was going to try and bring her in and collect that bounty.
"You new to town?" he asked her gruffly.
"Yeah," said Ketura, eyeing him with caution.
"I'd watch myself if I were you. Ever since those posters went up, teenage girls with blue eyes have started vanishing right and left because some punk who really wants that reward money will take any random girl off the street hoping it's her," the man said as he pointed to the posters on the wall.
"Okay. Thanks for the tip … say, you know where I can get something to eat for less than thirty Rupees?"
"Try the South Road."
"Thanks, sir."
She found the East Road again, making sure as she walked to keep her head down just enough so she could see ahead of her but make it hard for anyone else to notice the color of her eyes. On occasion, she would look over her shoulder to make sure that the man she had encountered did not follow her; by the time she passed a large, brightly colored circus tent called the "Castle Town STAR Tent" she had seen no sign of him. Up ahead, she saw a woman accidentally bump into a man clad in white robes on her way out of the austere-looking stone temple. The robed man bowed to the woman, and the woman then went on her way in a huff after accepting his apology. On the ground in front of the robed man lay something gold and shiny. Nobody else had noticed it, much less the white-robed man who now returned to the inside of the temple, but Ketura rushed forward to take a look at it.
It was a necklace, golden and gleaming in the sunlight. Ketura picked it up, then scanned the people in the street for any sign of the woman who had dropped it. That woman was nowhere to be seen, and Ketura looked down at the necklace in her left hand, unsure of what to do next.
"Excuse me, miss, are you selling jewelry?" a twelve-year-old boy, wearing an embroidered silk tunic and clean-pressed trousers approached her. He held a bulging leather pouch in his hand.
"Uh … yeah. I'm selling this necklace. How much will you pay for it?"
"Well now I would rather pay for an instructor to improve your grammar, but I have three hundred Rupees so I will pay three hundred Rupees."
"Then I will gladly accept three hundred Rupees for it," said Ketura, thinking that soon her poster would also show that she had stolen a necklace and sold it … as well as for slapping a snobby little boy. Her grammar was just fine, she thought.
After exchanging money for the necklace, Ketura asked "Who is this necklace for?"
"It's for my mother. Her birthday is near, and she loves jewelry … that is for whom I am buying this necklace." His tone oozed mockery and condescension.
"Have a nice day." Ketura headed south on the road until she could disappear into another side street, thinking she would suffocate if she had to spend another moment on the East Road.
In the middle of South Road, outside a library, more men in white robes congregated in the middle of the street, holding thick leather-bound books above their heads. Some people gathered around to hear what they had to say, while other passerby looked on while going around them and about their way. One of the men wore a blue sash around his shoulders, and he preached to anyone and everyone who lent him their ears. Ketura leaned against the side of a toy store, out of the way and out of sight, waiting for the hubbub to dissipate.
"Guard the hearts and minds of your children, and keep them pure! Instruct them using the divine words found in the Accords of the Goddesses, so that they will be righteous and not be tempted by evil!" He held the book in his hand higher above his head; Ketura looked harder to see the respective symbols of the Goddesses – Din, Nayru, and Farore – engraved in gold on the cover.
"The Judgment of the Goddesses is coming quickly! Be prepared, be holy, be righteous, or suffer the eternal consequences!"
Ketura rolled her eyes.
"Sin is all around us, my brethren. There are these wretches who violently protest the rule of Her Majesty, who was anointed by the Goddesses to reign over Hyrule. The freedom that these 'Liberators' promise is not worth the cost to your soul, brethren! Forget not how even our once mighty Hero has fallen, and is dragging his precious child down with him. Even here, close to where we are, is the den of licentiousness where men are led astray with intoxicating drink and immoral revelries. We Apostles are petitioning Her Majesty to close this establishment, imprison its proprietress, and aid our efforts to save the souls of Hyrule before it is too late!"
People in the crowd began shouting out in response.
"Amen! Praise the Goddesses!"
"Are you talking about Telma's bar?"
"Repent, sinners!"
"Proclaim the truth!"
"Not Telma's place? She serves the best cheesed taters in all of Hyrule!"
Ketura's ears perked up when she heard the mention of cheesed taters.
"You're full of it. How do you know the end is near, anyway?" One man got in the face of the Apostle who had been preaching.
"I had a vision, that is how I know. I saw a great fire, and shadows, and the Demon King himself waging war and destruction on our fair land. And then a great rainfall washed everything away –"
"Wow, sounds really riveting, and just like the last three visions you preached about in your sermons. When were those supposed to happen, by the way?"
For every skeptic like that man, Ketura estimated that there were maybe two or three others who honestly believed what the Apostles had to say. Her stomach growled again, accompanied with hunger pangs, so she carefully stepped out into the street, making sure to keep her head down, and she found the scrawny-looking teenage boy who had shouted out about the cheesed taters.
"Excuse me, how do I get to Telma's bar from here?" she asked him.
"That way a few blocks, take a right past the flower stand, it's tucked away with the old abandoned apartment building and the entrance to the sewers," he said as he pointed down the street.
"Thanks," said Ketura, and she scurried off.
Just in and out, she told herself as she made her way to the bar. Get some food, maybe see about a to-go option, and move on. Hopefully the place wouldn't be crawling with Hylian soldiers or bounty hunters.
She found the bar, and when she went inside found it to only be occupied by one person. This one person, a woman, stood behind the bar and wrote something down on a piece of paper as she used her free hand to twirl a strand of her red hair. It may have been the dim lighting of the bar, but her skin looked slightly darker than that of an average Hylian, but not by much. She wore three dots of colorful makeup under each eye, and multiple piercings in her ears.
The woman looked up from her paper when she heard the door open and close. "You seem awful young for this kind of place," she said bluntly.
"I, uh, heard you had the best cheesed taters in town. From just someone off the street … um … I'm new in town, and cheesed taters are my favorite food, so I'd like some. Please."
"Sure, hun. Come on up. I'll get that started for you."
Ketura sat down at the bar. "Thanks … Telma, right?"
"The one and only!" said Telma with a wink before she walked off through a door behind the bar.
While Telma was off in what had to be the kitchen, Ketura's eyes wandered to find the papers lying on the bar just a foot away from her. She leaned in some to read it, but found just a stringed-together mishmash of words that made no sense or had any logical flow. She did, however, recognized Impa's pseudonym "Truthful Eyes."
Telma returned, picked up the papers, folded them up, and stuck them in her apron pocket. "What happened to your hand?" she asked, pointing to Ketura's bandaged hand.
"I burned it, trying to make a campfire," said Ketura casually. "Guess I'm not cut out for the outdoors."
"Clearly not," said Telma with a chuckle. She then paused, looking at Ketura intently, before saying "You remind me of someone I know – must be the eyes –"
"Who?" Ketura asked, her stomach fluttering.
"Just an old friend. Only seen him once in the last sixteen years, though."
"Are you talking about Link Lykos?"
Telma jumped, then quickly scanned the rest of the bar before continuing. "Yes I am. Why do you – wait a minute … you're Ketura aren't you? No no no, don't get up! I'd cut both my hands off before I turned you in to the authorities, hun! Relax."
Ketura leaned to the side, ready to bolt if she needed to, but then shifted the entirety of her weight back onto the barstool.
"Remind me again what your mother's name is?" asked Telma.
"Ilia."
"And the color of her eyes?"
"Green." Ketura wasn't sure why Telma was asking about her mother.
"And the name of the horse she had back in Ordon Village?"
"My mom never had a horse, but my dad did, and she really liked that horse. Epona."
Telma smiled knowingly. "I know. I knew your mom too. I just wanted to make sure you really were who you said you were." She patted her apron pocket. "So, what brings you to Castle Town, then? I'd heard from Impa that you and your dad had gone your own way after the hideout got attacked."
"Just looking for food," replied Ketura. "And some medicine for my hand. Maybe a shower too."
"Well your taters will be ready in a bit, and you can take a shower upstairs in my flat. Hell, you can stay here as long as you like. A group of our people will be here later tonight, and Luda will be with them. She'll fix up your hand, I bet."
"Wow. Thank you," said Ketura.
About twenty minutes later, Telma brought out a bowl filled with a mix of gooey melted cheese, chunks of potatoes, and bits of bacon. Ketura dug in eagerly, holding her fork awkwardly in her left hand but still managing to scoop shovelfuls of the cheesed taters in her mouth. She didn't care how scalding hot it was, only that it was warm, and the savory comforting flavors delighted her tastebuds. It was like paradise in her mouth, after eating cold food for days. Figuring out how to rendezvous with Ganondorf later could wait.
"This is the best I've had in a long time," she said in between bites.
"Why thanks, hun. It's on the house."
Not only did eating lift Ketura's spirits considerably, but taking a shower did as well. Even though washing herself with only one hand was a bit of a challenge (as was making sure to keep her right hand dry the whole time) she enjoyed getting the smells of sweat and earth and Lizalfos off of her. The big red zit over her eyebrow may not have gone away immediately, but at least her hair was soft and clean again.
She braided her still-damp hair, got dressed, and headed back downstairs to see some familiar faces around the bar, in addition to some new ones. Luda and Colin were there, talking to a tall brunette man with impressive biceps and a protruding gut. Ashei conversed with a gruff-looking old man who carried a sword and looked quite fit for his age. Dangora stooped over a book with a middle-aged man with glasses and streaks of gray in his red hair. Impa and Telma spoke to each other over glasses of wine.
She approached the group cautiously, and slowly gained peoples' attention. Luda grabbed her first and pulled her into a brief hug. "How are you?" she asked, then immediately noticed Ketura's bandaged hand. "Let me look at that." Luda grabbed Ketura's hand, removed the bandage, and winced when she saw pus and other clear fluids oozing out of the wound. "How did this happen?"
"I burned myself," said Ketura, wondering how often she would need to repeat that.
"Drink this." Luda whipped out a small bottle filled with a viscous crimson liquid. Ketura obeyed, noting the potion's strong flavor, followed by a strange tingling sensation in her hand. She looked down, amazed to see her skin completely growing back over the burn and the pus sloughing off. "Wow" was all she could say.
"Nobody ever teach you how to make a campfire?" Colin asked in jest.
"Well Ilia wasn't ever much of a camper!" the tall brunette man standing next to Colin chimed in, then fixed his attention on Ketura. "You must be Link's kid. I'm Talo."
"Nice to meet you, Talo," said Ketura. She gazed down at her right hand, flexed it, applied light pressure to it with the tips of the fingers on her left hand, and was pleased that it didn't hurt.
The doors of the kitchen swung open, revealing Zahrain and his twin sisters. Telma turned around when she heard the door, paused, and then she grinned as she pulled Nabira and Levali into her arms. Zahrain joined in the hug, mostly because Telma yanked him into it.
"Did you know that they're all siblings?" Colin whispered to Ketura.
"No, I didn't," she said, thinking that with her lighter skin and fuller features Telma looked almost nothing like her brother and sisters. Perhaps she had a different father.
"I want to know about whatever secret entrance is in the kitchen," remarked Talo.
"Yeah me too," said Ketura. "Must make it easier to get in and out of the city without the guards noticing."
Almost as if it was on cue, the kitchen door swung open again. Link stepped through, Midna floating in the air alongside him, and the two scanned the room to see who was there. Immediately, Ketura pushed her way to the bar, jumped up and over it, and once she landed back on her feet she threw her arms around her father.