Chapter Twenty-Four
Link
He had never wanted to hurt anyone. True, he had wanted to learn to wield a sword, but it was for the purpose of defending those around him, not for, as he had heard some put it, the joy of legally harming others. No, he had never wanted to hurt anyone, until he had encountered Ganondorf Dragmire. The Gerudo warriors had given him a sword, though not his Master Sword, and he spent his days imagining himself driving it through the so-called King's heart, his skull... He would settle for anything.
They had stripped him of his identity. They had replaced his green Hero's Tunic with one of black, embroidered with the Gerudo symbol. His Hylian shield had been replaced with one of Gerudo origin. They refused to call him by name, if they addressed him at all, though that did not bother him in the slightest.
Still, he had learned things since being moved from the dungeons to a room in the castle, though he was not entirely sure how much of it he could believe. Allegedly there had been two attempts on Ganondorf's life, though Link was unsure where they came from or what they entailed. He knew not all of the Gerudo were loyal to their king. Some despised him. A rare few even missed their desert home and desired to return there.
The rumor that disturbed him the most though, was that the dark Twili beings had returned to Hyrule, something Link, at least in part, blamed himself for. He had re-constructed the Mirror of Twilight, allowing the portal between the two worlds to be opened once more. And, perhaps even worse than that, he had been able to do nothing while the Demon King slaughtered their ruler.
Midna had died. Hyrule had fallen. And it was all his fault, something everyone he encountered in the castle had made sure he knew. "They would have lived had you been stronger," Nisset said to him as she escorted him past the Wall of Traitors, where, as it seemed, new bodies were hanged each day. Even victory, it seemed, had not satiated Ganondorf's blood lust.
He was never alone, though he could not blame the Usurper for being paranoid. What would stop him from scaling the wall? From raiding the armory and leaving with as much as he could carry? He could not do that, though, not when Ralis's life was at stake, and especially not when the lives of the village children were on the line. He would do anything to protect them, even if it meant defending a man he utterly despised.
Zelda had not dared try to contact him, a fact that did not surprise Link much. He had no doubt she was being watched as closely, if not more closely, as himself. Her wedding was merely days away. He wished she would flee, that she would escape the castle and never look back, but he knew that she could never abandon her people. At least in the castle, however dangerous it was for her, she could keep some of Ganondorf's powers in check, talk him out of his more extreme ideas.
He stepped into his room, a cold, stone, windowless room furnished only with the necessities, and closed the door behind him. He wished, not for the first time, that he would be permitted to take his weapons with him. He was no fool, though. That would never happen. As long as Ganondorf was in power, he would never hold a weapon unsupervised again. The man was careful, and Link had to give him credit for that.
He sighed when he heard the door creak open, and turned to face the young Gerudo who had been tasked with bringing him his meal. "Thank you," he sighed, hoping that would be all that was required of him. Usually they entered, set the tray down, and left, no words escaping their mouths. He frowned when this one closed the door and approached him.
"The walls have ears," she spoke softly, and Link frowned in confusion. "So we must be careful."
"What are you-," he started to question, but she held up a hand to silence him. He could not help but think she seemed different from the others he had encountered, more careful, more... innocent, though he did not dare deceive himself that she was any less deadly than the other warriors.
"The Princess wishes to speak with you," she continued, and Link could not help but sense a trap. "Meet her in the gardens in the morning." She set his tray down and started to leave, but turned to face him one last time. "Some of us remain loyal to the rightful heir," she took a deep breath and left him alone once more.
He pushed his tray away, his appetite long gone. If she could be trusted, he could find Zelda, speak with her, and maybe the two of them could find a way out of this mess... But if it was a set-up, he could lose everything he had worked so hard to achieve. And, though he hated to admit it, Ganondorf had spoken truthfully. It had been Zelda's fault that Link found himself in that situation in the first place. No, he could not think like that. She had been trying to spare his life.
They could not afford to turn on themselves.