Central Hyrule could be looked at as the "capital" province of Hyrule. It is located in the center of the kingdom. Castle Town, and Hyrule Castle can be found here. Central Hyrule has the highest amount of traffic for traveling merchants and traders, and hosts the largest displays of most forms of entertainment.

Chapter 17

Into the Light

Thomas brought two fingers to his mouth and whistled.

"What's he doing?" Franklin whispered to himself as he and several others watched from inside the stadium.

"What do you mean 'what's he doing'?" Williamson asked him, "He hasn't told you?"

"No. I never really asked him to be fair - I was too worried about what I was going to say to open the event. I thought Thomas was just gonna beat him up some more."

The pair of doors opposite the one Thomas and Link entered the field from opened, and in walked a single man holding the leashes of four dogs. The man approached the center of the field and stopped next to Thomas, who smirked as Link watched the animals.

"Let 'em go." Thomas ordered.

The man released the leashes, pointed to Link, and gave the order.

"Sick 'em."

The four dogs charged at the boy. To no one's surprise, Link bolted away as fast as his legs could carry him.

Malon dropped her basket of milk bottles as she moved to grip the guardrail, her eyes wide as she watched what was taking place before her.

"Get that piece of shit!" she heard a man in the audience cheer.

"Look at him run!" a child laughed, "He looks so stupid!"

Link was, of course, unable to outrun the dogs. One tackled him onto the ground from behind. Link struck the animal with his elbow as he forced his way onto his back. Suddenly, another dog bit down on his left forearm. Since he was using his left arm to prop himself, Link dropped to his side as the dog tugged. As Link reached for the animal, another dog clamped down onto his right ankle. Link kicked at it, landing a blow on the nose area before a third dog caught his extended leg by the calf and shin area. Link began to shout in pain as the dog on his arm, and the one on his leg both tugged away at him, pulling him in opposite directions. He pushed himself off the ground using his right arm, only for another dog to bite down on his forearm, and pull away in its direction as well. Not even a second later, the fourth dog grabbed his free leg and pulled. Link was now being stretched in all four directions. Not willing to give in, Link tugged his limbs to to try to lessen the pain, only for the dogs to bite down harder as they pulled back, ripping the flesh on his limbs all the while.

Malon's view of the boy began to blur from tears as she watched and listened to his screams. Why was this happening? Hadn't she earned the boy some respite after her visits to Thomas? Even if he was angry at the two of them, how could he ignore her contributions to their arrangement?

"No..." she uttered between sobs, "No..."

"What does he think he's doing?" Williamson pondered from inside the stadium, "He's gotta know that boy's his top money-maker - if he gives in now, our top draw's gone!"

"Maybe he's mad at him for hitting him last week." Franklin suggested, "Maybe he took it personally. Could have fooled me though - he was going on about how much money that kid's gonna make him. Whatever this is, it looks like Thomas's got a score to settle."

Thomas walked over to the boy as he continued his uphill battle against the canines. "What's the matter, boy?" he taunted past an abhorrent snigger, "Where's that spirit you used to show? Where's all that fight you used to have?!" He kneeled down beside the boy's head, "You're not a fighter. Not with all that crying you're doing." He leaned toward Link's ear, "Is that what you want?! To cry like a little bitch in front of her?!"

Link turned, and spat a wad of phlegm onto Thomas's face.

The man flinched as the mucous landed on him. He rose to his feet, his eyes locked onto the almost animalistic expression of raw rage Link was giving him.

"Call them off." Thomas directed the man who had brought the dogs onto the field. He tore his gaze of the subject of his anger, and directed it towards the black chest that was brought to him earlier.

Malon wiped at her eyes as the dogs were led away from Link. She watched the boy rise to his hands and knees as his arms and legs bled profusely.

From the chest emerged a violet-colored whip. All across the thong was what appeared to be hooked thorns. The red color of the protrusions intentionally contrasted with that of the whip in order draw attention.

"Crawl over to me and kiss my feet." Thomas ordered.

Link ignored the man. Instead, his focus was on dueling with the debilitating pain that held him in place.

Wasting no more time, Thomas walked over to the boy and lashed him. The whip seemed to latch onto Link's back, piercing the cloth of his tunic, before Thomas yanked the horrid device to the side, ripping skin and flesh off the boy's back all the while.

Link screamed louder than he was sure he ever had before.

"DO IT, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"

Thomas gave Link no chance to respond before he repeated the motion. The boy rose to stand on his knees as he writhed in agony. The next lash was across his shoulders.

"Woah..." a man in the crowd spoke up, "He's not gonna kill him, is he?"

"Who gives a shit?" another responded, "He's an Elf. Fuck 'em."

"I dunno, man. Isn't the whole point of this to show those of us who have slaves how to handle them? How am I gonna get 'em to work if they're dead and bleeding all over the place?"

The crowd began to quiet as Thomas's attacks continued. By now they could hear Thomas shouting words half of them wouldn't repeat.

Link's back was dyed red with blood; his voice was unrestrained as he breathed heavy, now back on his hands and knees. Thomas rushed at him, and kicked him as hard as he could in the midsection. Inadvertently, the boy rolled onto his back, intensifying the preexisting pain there. Thomas looked to whip the boy across the chest, but his attack was stopped when Link reached up and caught the whip. Immediately, he shout out in pain as the thorns hooked into his palm. Thomas yanked the whip away, ripping a piece of skin off the face of Link's hand. The man circled around him, and whipped him again. Link tried to rise to his feet and run, but pain seemed to work against him as it gripped his legs by the bite wounds, and tripped him onto his front. Thomas continued to throw lashes at the boy, pulling back reddened chunks of flesh with him each time. He shouted with each swing, not even caring if Link gave into him anymore. His mission at this point was the same as it had been throughout the entire event: to punish and torture.

"STOP!"

The foreign voice cut cleanly through the sounds of lashing and screaming.

Malon ran out into the field through the opened doors Franklin, Williamson, and others had been watching from. With no hesitation, she put herself between Link and Thomas, her arms stretched out to act as a shield.

"Get out of the way!" Thomas shouted after a moment's pause.

"NO!" Malon shouted, shaking her head.

Having had enough, Thomas approached the girl, and shoved her out of the way before continuing over to Link.

The second Malon landed on the ground, she was back up, and wasted no time in putting herself between Link and Thomas once again.

Link watched on, his pain almost nullified in the midst of a flashback he was experiencing. Malon's actions nearly replicated those of his mother's from years past.

"Get out of the way!"

Thomas pulled back and punched Malon across the face. He continued toward Link as she hit the ground.

"NO!" she screamed as she rushed past him. Thomas looked on as Malon covered Link's bloodied back with her body.

"I won't let you hurt him anymore!" she cried.

Thomas turned toward the opened doors, where Franklin and Williamson were. "Someone come and get her!" he shouted at them.

"TIME!"

Thomas turned to the timekeeper. "WHAT?"

"I said time. You're done."

Thomas looked back over at Link as the four men who had brought him out moved to retrieve the boy.

"DAMN IT!" he cursed as he threw his whip to the ground.

Malon followed the men inside, where Talon waited, having rushed to make his way there after seeing his daughter emerge onto the field. Her eyes were fixated on Link as blood poured down his back to stain his pants.

"Malon!" Talon called as he rushed over to her.

"What in the world happened out there?" Williamson asked the two of them. "Why did your daughter run out there like that?" He turned to Franklin, "That wasn't part of the show, was it?"

"Not as far as I know." the man answered, "I'm gonna go out there and see if I can make something of this mess. Hopefully Thomas'll tell me what's been eating him later."

Malon moved to walk past the men to follow Link, but was halted as her father grabbed her by her shoulders.

"We're going to have a talk as soon as we get home, young lady. Am I clear?"

It wasn't until just then when Malon fully grasped what she had just done by rushing to protect Link. What a situation this was turning out to be.

"I'm real sorry, Williamson." Talon told the man, "I'll be sure to straighten 'er out once we get home."

"That's well good and all, but I'll worry about you two later." He went over to the doors leading outside and watched as Franklin gave the audience an ill-prepared farewell.

"Daddy..." Malon spoke up, "I'm sor-"

"I don't wanna hear it. Save it for when we get home."

With nothing more to say, the two made their way through the stadium, where the chaos began to filter in from outside, and to Catria, who was still at their booth tending to a growing line of customers. Her eyes widened in shock and panic upon seeing the copious amounts of blood on her daughter's shirt.

"What happened out there?!" she asked.

"We'll talk about it later." Talon answered.

"Hey!" a customer called to another, pointing at Malon, "That's the girl who ran out there crying over that Elf!" He turned to her, "What's the deal with you, anyway? What, did you like that Elf or something?"

"You shouldn't be too surprised." the other man said, "They're all Elves, remember? They stick together like a bunch of roaches."

"Heh - lotta good that did 'er, though. You see how Thomas knocked the shit out of 'er?

"Hey, now," Talon cut in, "knock that off."

"Or what?" the man challenged, "You're not gonna do shit. Stupid Elf. Shut up and gimme my drink."

Malon was walked back to the tarped wagon where she waited while Talon helped Catria finish her work at the booth. What was usually a talkative ride home was marred by a grim silence, as Talon put all discussion of the morning's happenings on hold until the family arrived home.

"Do you know what this girl's been hiding from us?" Talon asked Catria as the family situated in the living room.

Catria looked over at Malon, who was seated on the couch, her gaze on the floor. "No," she said, "what is it?"

"Show 'er."

Malon shut her eyes tight, looking to shield herself from her parents' reactions. She did as she was told, and moved her hair to the side, exposing her bruises to view.

Catria stared for a moment, stunned into a temporary silence. "Who did this?!" she asked, her voice hardened by adrenaline. "It was that boy, was it?!"

"No!" Malon blurted out, "He'd never do anything like that!"

"What boy?" Talon asked.

Malon froze. Her father was the one person she didn't want to know of her relationship with Link.

After a second of silence, Catria answered in her daughter's place. "Our daughter's been seeing a boy Thomas keeps in that building across the field. Apparently for a while now."

Dumbstruck for a moment, Talon turned to look at Malon, his eyes filled with a growing rage, "You mean to tell me you've been seeing some boy?! And he's been hitting you?!"

"NO!" Malon shouted, "I swear he didn't do it, Daddy! You have to believe me!"

"Then who did it?!"

Malon paused a second time. There were many things she would rather do than to tell her parents what she was about to tell them, but she absolutely refused to damage Link to keep a secret.

She took a deep breath, "It was Thomas."

Silence...

"What?" Talon said in disbelief, "Why would he hit you?"

Malon broke eye contact, her eyes retreating to her lap, "Because-... Be-... Because... *sob!*"

As tears rolled down her cheeks, Malon told her parents everything. She told them that she had been sleeping with Thomas, that she did it to keep Link safe, that he hit her because she used his name with the Human...

By the end of her confession, there were no more secrets to keep - her parents knew all there was to know about Link, her recent change in behaviour, and the things she did to keep her friend safe.

With nothing more to say, Malon wept silently into the palms of her hands as she awaited her parents' response. There was no doubt in her mind that they were as disgusted by her as she was herself for betraying their trust.

In truth though, her parents had no immediate response. Their search for a way to do so seemed to last an eternity.

"Boy, I tell ya..." Talon sighed, "You've become a strong young woman, haven't you?"

Malon looked up at her father, her weeps silenced by incredulity as he continued.

"Tell ya what: you really care about this boy?"

"M-hm." Malon nodded.

"And you like 'em, don't you?"

"...Er-..."

"Yes," Catria answered, "she does."

"Well...I do feel sorry for the poor fella... So here's what I'm gonna do: tomorrow, after I sort out our earnings from today, I'll buy 'im off ol' Thomas."

The statement was followed by yet another period of silence. Both Malon and Catria stared at Talon as if he grew an extra head.

"You can do that?" Catria asked.

"Sure! It's not like I'll be the only Hylian to own slaves! I'll bring 'im here, he can help out here at the ranch, and Malon'll be free to do whatever she wants with 'im!"

Malon sprung from the couch and nearly knocked her father over as she wrapped her arms around him.

"Thank you, Daddy!" she cried as she buried her head into his shoulder, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Hold on, now!" Talon eased her, "I'm not finished. I'll buy the boy, but first you gotta promise me two things: first, you will not keep secrets like this from us anymore! And second: it doesn't have to be right this second, but I know you like this boy, and you will marry him! Am I clear?"

Malon pulled away from her father, her face bright red, "O-Okay." she nodded, "I promise!"

"Good. Now let's all go ahead and start our chores for the day!"

Thomas shut the door behind him as he entered his home. He sat on his sofa and lowered his face into his hands, rubbing away as if to try to wash away his troubles.

The ten minutes he had with Link earlier flew by; he wished he could have punished the boy for longer. Of course, he could go and beat the boy now, but that would deny him the satisfaction of doing it in front of her...

Her... He still hadn't decided what he would say to her the next time she visited. He felt he had punished her enough - if it wasn't the beating he gave Link earlier, the pitiful scene she put on at his doorstep the previous night was.

He rose to his feet. If he was going to be expecting her that night, he should probably get started preparing for tomorrow's duties ahead of time.

Cia made her way out into the garden, her eyes scanning and searching.

Sure enough...there she was...

Zelda was crouched near the same bundle of flowers as before. As Cia drew close, she rose to stand, and turned to leave.

"Hold on a second, Princess."

Zelda paused, then took a deep breath.

"What do you want?"

"Your retainer's been asking around for you. Where've you been?"

"That's none of your concern."

"Fair enough. Anyway, I've got a piece of news I thought you'd be interested in. Do you know what tomorrow is?"

"What is it?"

"It's the Hero's birthday!"

Zelda's back was still turned to the witch, disallowing her the sight of the princess's reaction.

"What does that have to do with me?" asked Zelda.

"It's about to have a lot to do with you. You see, there's a reason Ganondorf hasn't sent for one of the Regional Lords to offer a relative to continue your bloodline. It's because the Hero will be filling that role. Ganondorf left on his way to retrieve him earlier this morning. I'm sure you know what that means."

Cia approached the princess from behind, and leaned forward, speaking her next words into Zelda's ear.

"Just don't get too excited. Because once he's done playing with you, the Hero will be mine."

Zelda started on her way back inside, without a single word more.

Malon stood in front of the apple tree, facing the building that had kept Link prisoner for two years.

"...I'll buy 'im off of ol' Thomas."

A smile spread across the girl's face for the umpteenth time since her father made that announcement.

She just couldn't believe it; it was absolutely surreal. She wanted with all she had to protect Link, but she never imagined that she could free him from the life he didn't want to live. It was almost too good to be true...

"...and you will marry him!"

Malon could feel her cheeks warm as she remembered those words.

Marry him... she thought to herself. She wondered how she would present the topic to Link.

Zelda shut the door behind her, sighing at the calming sight of her bedchambers. She had come to loathe the usual silence of the room as well as that of the halls outside, but today it meant that she would be able to process all the information she gathered that day with relative ease.

"...the Hero will be filling that role."

Link...he was on his way there...

"Ganondorf left on his way to retrieve him earlier this morning."

Zelda approached a dresser on the far side of the room, near the window overlooking Castle Town. She pulled open the second drawer from the top, exposing its contents to view.

A green tunic...

*knock, knock, knock*

Zelda jumped, startled as the knocks on her bedroom door broke her concentration.

For five-hundred years, the rule stood that only members of the Royal Family were allowed in the east wing of the castle. This rule was proposed by Princess Zelda of Old Hyrule, and put into place by Ganondorf. For nearly five hundred years, this rule went completely unbroken, disregarding two exceptions. The first occured twenty-three years ago, an event that preceded the Royal Massacre; with the other taking place nine years ago, on the morning of the death of Zelda's mother - the Queen of Hyrule. The only ones occupying this side of the castle now was the sole survivor of the Royal Family - as far as Hyrule at large knew - Princess Zelda, and her retainer, who Zelda saw on the other side of the door as it opened, her head lowered as she knelt in respect.

"Your Grace," Impa greeted, "my apologies for being late."

To be Continued!

Bonus Chapter

Mother; Part 4

Onia sniffled as she hugged her shins, seated in the corner of the toolshed she was moved into.

Five years. Nima's selfless action that kept her with her mother bought her five more years with her. Earlier that day, a man named Philip appeared at the trading post she and her mother were brought to the once a month, and went on what he referred to as a "shopping spree". She happened to be one of the plethora of slaves the man had purchased. Philip avoided buying her mother, Shea, simply because she had asked him to buy her, looking to save herself from the pain of losing another daughter.

Now Onia was all alone...

"Hey."

Onia lifted her head from her forearms. A boy who looked to be around her age was looking down at her. The square-shaped object in his hands grabbed her attention.

"You're new here?" he asked her.

Onia felt naked. By simply approaching her, this stranger peeled away the last layers of comfort she hoped to cover herself with while hiding in her little corner, leaving her exposed to the elements. She nodded.

"Y-Yeah..."

"You're in my spot."

Onia's blood went cold. Already, she felt, she had made a bad impression. "S-Sorry!" she said, standing up.

"Calm down," the boy said with a laid-back sigh, "I'm not gonna make you move."

"Oh! Uh, heh, heh."

Onia sat back down on the floor, retreating further into the corner as the boy sat down next to her. After a small fight to resist, she peeked over at him through the corner of her eye. The object he had been holding was opened as he held it in his hands.

"What's that?" she asked.

"A book. Some Human threw it away, so it's mine now."

"Can't you get in trouble for that?"

"Not unless someone finds out. But they're not going to." The boy glanced at Onia, "Right?"

"Uh, right!"

The boy turned his attention back to his "book". Silence filled the space between he and Onia until the latter spared a second glance.

"So what do you do with a book?" she asked.

"You read it."

Onia's face lit up, "You know how to read?"

"Yeah. You had to at the last place I lived before coming here."

Onia watched on as the boy continued reading, her gaze full of curiosity and wonder.

"...I can show you how if you want," he said.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Gotta give you something to do other than stare." He offered a hand to Onia, "My name's Jamiah, by the way."

Onia stared down at the boy's hand. "What?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Shake my hand."

Onia grabbed Jamiah by the wrist, and literally shook the boy's hand, back and forth.

The boy watched on, his expression stilled by bewilderment. "What a fixer-upper." he grumbled with a sigh.