Calista sat on the bed, swinging her feet and looking at the ground. Malon was outside riding one of the horses. Calista was trying to keep her distance from Malon, fearful that she might pull something. Malon had always made Calista miserable. She treated Calista better when she was young.

But when Calista turned 5 and she had come back from her once a week visit with her mom, she was busy telling Malon about it when Malon had slapped her. Calista looked up at Malon with tear filled eyes and Malon glared at her with a look that was alien to Calista. Hatred.

After that, Calista tried to help Malon, as to get on her good side, but whenever she tried to help, Malon would whip her with whatever that was nearby or was in her hand. Not very good if you lived on the farm. Calista always had some sort of bruise, either from her hand or a chain or something.

Malon would also hit her if she spoke or talked back to her. One day, Malon found Calista talking to one of the horses. Malon had been cranky all day because Talon had reprimanded her for forgetting to shut the stall doors. When Talon went to check on them, the horses and cows had caused a ruckus and had eaten most of the hay.

Malon had been washing the dishes and Link had asked her to go check on Calista since the house had been strangely still since she wasn't underfoot like always. She was angry and seeing Calista talking to the horses like she owned them was the last straw for Malon.

She grabbed the child by the shoulder and whirled her around. When Calista looked up to her stepmother, Malon slashed at Calista with the knife that he had been washing. Calista screamed and cried when Malon did that. Malon wiped the blood off the knife, then grabbed Calista and looked her in the face.

If you tell your father that I did that…

You won't live to see the end of dawn.

Calista only nodded and allowed Malon to pick her up. Malon set her on the counter and cleaned off the wound and sent Calista upstairs to the bedroom where Calista had cried. She had longed to tell her father what Malon did so that she wouldn't have to endure the abuse that Malon was releasing on her, but she didn't want to die either.

After that, Link had noticed the change in Calista and he decided that Malon was doing something hurtful to his daughter. He took Calista and took her back to the castle with Zelda, where he had fallen in love with her again and remarried her. Calista started regaining her confidence again and Malon was not to see Calista alone.

But today was different. Link and Zelda were traveling to Termina to talk to Mayor Dotour about Hyrule and Termina having a common road between the two countries. They had no one else to watch Calista; many of the attendants would be too busy with other things to watch the young princess.

They decided that maybe Malon had changed, so they left her with Malon. Now Calista was up in the bedroom, recalling those painful memories. She had nothing else to do but just sit there and stare at the floor. She didn't want to go practice, in case Malon might say something to her about it.

The door opened and Calista looked up quickly and slid off the bed and stood beside it as Malon entered the room. "Come on Calista, I'm going to teach you how to ride a horse." Malon said. Before Calista could reply, Malon picked her up and carried her downstairs and out the door.

She walked into the corral and shut the gates. She set Calista down and called over one of the horses. Calista had no idea as to why Malon wanted to teach her how to ride a horse. Maybe her father wanted her to learn how to ride and told Malon to teach her how.

She pondered this while Malon went to go saddle up one of the horses.

She was suddenly lifted off the ground and placed on the horse. "Now, I'm going to walk the horse and you just hold on to the reins. Don't let go of the reins, even when you're climbing off the horse. You always mount and dismount from the left, never the right." Malon said as she helped Calista settle into the saddle.

Malon trotted the horse around and taught Calista what to do when she was on the horse. Calista only nodded her head and did as she was told, but she also had fun while riding the horse. Son the night settled on the ranch and their rumbling stomach's told them they had best go eat, then get ready for bed.

Calista sat at the table across from Malon, eating a sandwich. "Mom, When is dad coming to get me?" Calista asked carefully as she picked up her glass of Lon Lon milk. Malon picked up her plate, then Calista's. "Tomorrow before lunch. Go to the bathroom and take a bath." She said as she headed downstairs.

Calista headed into the tub and filled it with water from the pails that were nearby. She sat in the tub and started bathing herself. She was always careful when she washed her face, the scar on her face was sensitive and it still stung. She stood up and wrapped a towel around herself and walked into the bedroom.

She opened up her little overnight bag and she pulled out her clothes. She slipped her clothes on and draped the towel over the chair for it to dry and slipped into the small bed that was on the other side of the room. Calista stared at the ceiling as she lay in bed. She had hoped that her father would come for her early, but it would be a while.

Malon crawled into the big bed on the other side of the room and looked over at Calista. She had her back turned and was asleep. Malon stared at the little girl, wishing that it had been hers and Link's child, Not Zelda's. Malon seethed with anger at the young girl, mostly because she was of Zelda's blood.

Malon had tried to take care of the child and tried to raise her as her own, but all of Hyrule knew that Calista was the Princess of Hyrule and she visited her mother once a week. Her father was still as distant as ever towards Malon, and when he left her, he said he left her for Calista's safety and that his feelings for her were misguided.

Malon buried her face in the pillow and screamed in it. She had decided that she would get back at Link and Zelda. She would turn Calista against them. She would just have a bit of a hard time of getting Calista to like her though, since the abuse she had put her through when she was younger, but she would pull it off.

In the morning, Calista awoke to her Malon setting her breakfast on the table. "Calista, come eat." Malon said as she pulled out her clothes and laid them down on the bed. Calista crawled out of the bed and started to get dressed. Malon smiled and sat down across from Calista's seat and watched as Calista sat down and ate.

Calista spent the rest of the morning helping Malon around the ranch and carrying the pails of milk to the house where they bottled it and loaded it in the crates. Malon told Calista stories and riddles to keep her laughing while she helped her. Calista smiled and jumped up and down. She even said yes when Malon asked her if she wanted to go deliver the milk with her tomorrow morning.

They soon heard a horses whine and they soon saw Epona and Link ride up to the entrance of Lon Lon ranch. He smiled at Malon as he dismounted and grinned when he saw Calista. "My, your mother is going to throw a fit when she sees you all dusty like that." Link said as he picked up his daughter and her bag and settled her on the saddle.

"Well, we'll be going home now, the mother wants to see her again." He said with a grin and he mounted Epona and turned her around. Calista twisted around and waved bye to Malon. "Bye mommy, I'll see you tomorrow!" Calista said happily. Link turned around and threw Malon a confused look.

"Oh, I hope you don't mind if I take Calista with me tomorrow to deliver milk around Hyrule." Malon said as she walked up to Epona and kissed Calista on the cheek. Calista kissed her back and patted Malon on the head. "No, I don't mind… just as long as she's home

before nightfall." Link said as he turned around and rode out.

Calista chattered to her dad about how she and Malon had fun while they were away. Link listened and smiled at his daughter, especially since she was now learning how to ride a horse. "When I grow up, I want to be just like you dad, learning to fire arrows and sword fighting!" Calista exclaimed while pretending to shoot arrows off of Epona.

Link grinned and held his daughter closer so that she wouldn't fall off the saddle. "Well, don't you want to practice your magic like your mom?" Link asked his daughter. She made a face and Link laughed. "She's such a tomboy." He thought. "Well, you'll learn anyways." He said as he hugged her.

Zelda smiled when she heard heavy footfalls and watched the door open revealing a dusty father and daughter. "Whoa! What happened to you two?" She said as she picked up Calista and hugged her. "We were practicing." Link said simply as he laughed at Zelda's face when she glanced over Calista. "Your taking a bath now young lady." Zelda said as she carried her to the bath.

Calista made a face, but allowed her mom to give her a bath. They resumed with her learning magic and lessons. But that night, when Calista laid in bed, she heard her parents bickering again. What really caught her attention, what that they were bickering about her.

"Why are you allowing her to go with Malon tomorrow?!" Zelda's voice pierced through the silence.

"Because she seemed to have treated Calista just fine while she took care of her over the weekend." Link said calmly.

"Look, we cant allow her to go with Malon! She has lessons and she needs to practice her magic, even though she is doing well." Zelda argued.

"Look, Malon is coming by to pick her up early, so just let her go." Link said.

The sound of footsteps were heard when her mother's voice pierced through the steps.

"She's a damn princess! She still has to learn! And I don't trust that wench with my daughter! How can you ignore that scar that she gave her!?" Zelda shrieked.

The footsteps stopped, and Link's voice came back with a deadly fire.

"Maybe your just afraid that Calista will like Malon better than you, Zelda."

Calista turned on her side and tried to ignore the angry voices of her parents. So what if she liked Malon better? At least she was nicer than her mother, other than that painful scar she had on her face, which was now throbbing.

Krista Aya: And once again, they bicker infront of that poor kid…

Rika: Ya think they would've learned by now?

Nicki: Parents never learn until it's too late.

Sauru: …

Krista Aya: Again, he is speechless… Chapter 4 soon.