Zelda's fingers shook as she urgently scraped and pulled weakly on the rope around her ankles. For a moment she regretted her earlier fits of defiance that had caused the punishment of food deprivation; perhaps with a little more energy she'd be able to undo the ropes. But quickly she shook the thought from her head, concentrating on the footsteps that neared and the fibers of rope that wouldn't break.
Ganon chuckled when he saw her, running his fingers through her limp blond hair and sending a shiver down her spine. "Princess darling. Are you not enjoying yourself in my wonderful castle?"
She looked up at him, trying to keep her sapphire eyes calm. "I'll help you." Her voice scratched against her dry throat but she shook off the urge to ask for water. She would not beg. "I could find Link. Just let me get out of the castle, and I'll find him and trick him and bring him back. I promise."
A bemused look crossed his eyes. "My dear girl, just because you are wise does not make the rest of us stupid. I don't like letting you out of my sight, much less out of my domain." His eyes lighted. "But have heart, soon all of this world will be my domain."
He moved gracefully behind her, running fingers lightly across her back. His hands moved to the neck of her dress, and she lunged away from his touch, shaking. "Not again." She whispered. "Please." Her pledge to forgo begging was quickly forgotten as she remembered the a previous time of torture.
He advanced on her, holding her frail waist roughly in his massive hands, reminding her it would take only a small fraction of his strength to crush her. "You know what information I want my sweet." He brushed a tear from her cheek, sending a chill through her.
"I won't give you the songs, and I hardly know anything about Link. I haven't had much time to sit and have tea, after all."
"Of course you haven't." She felt his heated breath against her face as his voice angered. "Not while your sages kept him in the cursed temple for an eternity. I could have crushed him so easily as a child. Now I may actually have to sweat." Suddenly his anger was lifted as he gazed at her with false affection. "But you, my sweet, you can make it easy for me again. And then perhaps I will be easy on you."
She shook her head, trying to block out his words. As his hands went back to the top of her dress, she screamed and shoved her small fist into his chest, earning a gasp from him but too weak to knock away his breath.
He laughed infuriatingly. "Temper, temper, my sweet."
Helpless, Zelda forced her mind to calmness, closing her eyes and separating her mind from body. She could still feel him, feel Ganon invading her, his hands running across her body and his lips cold against her skin , but it was distant and with enough concentration she could think of other things.
Zelda formed a picture of Link in her mind. His face smiled at her from her memories, his bright eyes filled with the bravery she knew his heart and soul reflected. She created a daydream in her mind of Link riding to her on Epona and rescuing her from Ganon, and played the images in her mind over and over, until suddenly the image started to change. Each time Link became more injured by Ganon before he was able to save her, until he died. But the dream didn't stop with his first death, it kept playing over and over, Link fighting and dying, fighting and dying, each death more painful, and all Zelda could do was watch.
A sharp pang of hunger woke her from her nightmare.
Ganon grinned. "I knew I could be exhausting, my sweets, but I hadn't intended to push your stamina that hard. You were crying again. Perhaps I pushed you right into a nightmare. I have that affect on little girls." His smile turned wicked and she shuddered.
Ganon ran his hand along her skin and sent icicles through her. "Perhaps a different approach." Suddenly Zelda gasped in pain. She felt his sorcery slide into her, burning with an unseen fire. She was too weak to scream, but her body convulsed with the pain burning throughout her.
"Now please let's talk. I won't ask for anything hard my dear. Just tell me what the little bugger is like." Ganon's voice hardly registered in her mind she was so wrapped up in her pain. Now it was changing rapidly, one second it burned throughout her being, then she would feel the stab of knives over her, then the crushing of hammers, the freezing of ice in her veins instead of blood. The knowledge that this pain was just sorcery flickered at the back of her mind, but she was in too much shock to hold onto that knowledge.
"I know you love Link." Ganon's words shocked her for a moment as much as the pain. "And I promise I won't kill him, my sweet. I'll take away his toys and put him in a nice cage where he can't hurt anyone, and you can be with him always. I just want to know how he thinks. How he works. What types of toys he favors and what type he'll forget to use. It's not much, and I can beat him without it."
Her voice was a barely audible rasp. "Then why do this to me to find out?"
His smile scared her. "Because, my sweet, I like playing with you." The pain lessened a fraction. "Release yourself from this pain and do speak up from now on. I want to be able to hear this."
The pain had lessened enough for a sob, and as tears stained her face the words poured from Zelda. The more she spoke the less pain she felt, until her body could take the pressure and shock no more and she collapsed unconscious on the floor.
She wanted it to stop. Only that thought processed through her mind, that she wanted the pain to stop. "The songs, my dear? You have been so kind before now."
"Why do you want them?" Her voice was stronger now, and it's strength filled her with shame, having only been so strong since being rewarded with water for her information. She wanted to throw herself from a balcony.
"When Link is sitting in his dungeon he wouldn't have much reason for that precious Orcarina, now would he? I, on the other hand, haven't had such a toy for ages."
Ganon touched her waist lightly, her skin immediately cramping so tightly she thought she'd be ripped in half by the convulsion it sent her in. Her voice came out quietly and softly, and Ganon laughed as she sang to him.
Link stared to the distance, watching the sunset paint the dark castle different colors as he patted Epona absently. "I hear her scream in my dreams Navi." He whispered, his tired voice almost cracking. "Her screaming and crying and-" He stopped himself, hoping Navi wouldn't think to pity him. "I need you to go there tonight. I'll be fine on my own for awhile, don't worry. Just tell her we're coming, and that she'll be free soon."
Zelda forced a smile in reply to Navi's question of concern over her health. "I assure you, I'm fine. But there isn't much time. Link should hurry. Ganon doesn't suspect him; he thinks Link isn't ready. I've heard Ganon talking to his companion, and Ganon believes Link won't come for at least another few months. You have the element of surprise until then. Ganon doesn't know about Link's bow or is sword or you, so use them against him the most."
Navi's light brightened in acknowledgment. "Thank you Zelda. This will reassure Link greatly. He's been feeling the pressure of his destiny at unprecedented rates recently. He rarely sleeps, but when he does they are crowded with nightmares. Mostly about you. Knowing you are okay will help him greatly. I should go now. He won't last long without me."
Zelda hesitated. "Tell Link I love him." She watched as the soft blue light faded from her vision. Ganon came out from a nearby shadow, though he seemed a shadow himself.
"That was excellent my dear. I didn't like the bit of improvisation in the last line, but for the rest you stayed pretty close to script." His hand on her shoulder made her want to scream at him.
Instead, she turned to face him. "You promised-" He handed her the loaf of bread and the jug of water, though she could barely lift them. He also removed the sorcery causing her body to sustain a dull ache. She gasped with the feeling of painlessness, almost even smiling.
"I would never break a promise." He sat down across from her, amused at how she feebly tore hunks of bread from the loaf. "But I'm not so sure you'll keep your promise to me."
"I will. Link couldn't win anyways. If I help you maybe he'll be hurt less in the process. I just want to be with him Ganon. I thought you'd have realized that by now. Just because I'm the triforce of wisdom doesn't mean you have to be stupid."
Ganon erupted with laughter, though it echoed against the walls to create an empty cackle. "You are a charming girl, my sweet. Just be sure as to not let me down. If you betray me, Link will die, Navi will die, you will die, and all the little Hylians with their cute little ears will die."
Zelda nodded, her mouth full of bread. "I won't let Link die." She didn't tell him the threat of her death was pointless; she had considered causing it quite often recently. Only Ganon wouldn't let her, and she knew it.
"Link will battle a few more of my minions. Then he'll come here. I'll place you in a crystal. We'll get you all dressed up pretty. You convinced Navi, don't worry, Link will never suspect you, my sweet."
Link jumped and rolled aside, the boulder crashing just behind him, and for a moment he lost sight of Zelda before glimpsing her again and running to catch up. She passed a few doors and then her eyes closed in concentration, the bars blocking access from the door lifting in a flash of bright light.
He smiled at her when she glanced back, and she smiled back, but her eyes looked afraid and close to tears. Before he could reach to brush a strand of hair from her face she grabbed his arm and pulled him just out of reach from a falling stone, reminding him of the urgency in their run. He almost didn't care; he had got Ganon, he was the Hero. But he followed her, ignoring his exhaustion. Soon it would be over, and he could finally tell her that he loved her too.
Zelda paused as she passed one of the many doors leading away from the course Ganon had planned for her. If she took him down this path, there was the smallest chance that Ganon wouldn't notice, and that they could just run away forever and never look back. But she knew that wouldn't work. Link would keep trying to kill Ganon even if they escaped. And she'd risk not getting away from Ganon, and he would surely kill Link then. And she'd receive the unbearable pain, and it would rack her body and tear her throat with screams - Zelda shook herself and concentrated on leading them through the castle quickly. She had to keep up the facade that this run was urgent.
They finally reached Ganon. Zelda watched mindlessly for a while as she was separated and as the two fought. Ganon managed to knock away the Master Sword, as he'd told her he would. She walked over to it, the heat of the fire raging around her nothing compared to the fire that had once raged within her. She picked it up despite it's heaviness, then turned to watch Link through the flames. But as she watched him, the outcome of the battle was quickly made clear. Link couldn't with without the Master Sword, but with the Biggoran sword, he would do nothing but die. He was so much stronger than she remembered, faster, better. Ganon's promise to be superior and able to simple capture the Hero quickly showed itself as a lie. Link was knocked to the side; a small pink glow ascended from his lifeless form before he rose again, and Zelda knew there was not much time left. He hit Ganon again, only to be retaliated against and thrown nearer to her. Link scrambled to his feet, his eyes asking her for his sword. He will die if I don't give it to him either way. She thought. The only difference is that I will die as well if he doesn't succeed. She knew she didn't care anymore, and used her power to send him the sword, preparing to die.
To her shock, light flashed and before she knew it Link was kneeling over the monstrous body that had enslaved her for so long. In the next moment she was in his arms, sobbing. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She whispered into his sweat soaked tunic.
"We did it Zelda, we saved Hyrule."
"Link, I almost got you killed, you don't understand, I-"
He put his finger to her lips, smiling. "Navi stuck around after he visited you. He heard you talking to Ganon." He beckoned to the Master sword. "But I knew you'd come through. You have more courage than you lead some to believe, and I love you."
Zelda's face lit with the first sincere smile in months, and she lost herself in his arms.