***
Chapter 11
City of Rogues
"Saria," Link said grimly. "That was the girl Impa was speaking to," he added when Zelda looked at him. "The same one who told me to find you. She called herself the spirit of the forest."
They remained within the canopy of trees near Hylia River, both reluctant to return to the camp after the scene they'd just witnessed.
"I don't understand," Zelda said softly. She raised her eyes, searching his as if he had the answer she sought. "Why are Impa and that girl Saria...why are the consorting about us? How do they know about the Gerudo twins and Ganondorf? And that Feather Man–"
"You mean Ronin?" Link said dryly. "I knew that guy wasn't normal."
Zelda shook her head. "Just who is this Saria person? And..."
"Who is Impa?" Link said darkly.
"Yes." Zelda smiled bitterly. "Just who is she, anyway?"
Link looked at her for a moment in silence. He couldn't even comprehend the sense of betrayal Zelda must feel at discovering Impa–the woman she'd known since birth–was keeping secrets from her.
"I'm sorry," he said gently.
Zelda rubbed a hand over her eyes. "Do you think she's working for Ganondorf?"
Link hesitated. "It didn't...sound quite that bad," he said haltingly. "But maybe we'd be wiser not to rule out that possibility."
Zelda stared blankly into space for a few moments. "You know what this means, don't you?" she said quietly. "There's something going on and we're at the center of it. There's a reason Ganondorf wants our lives, and I'm willing to bet Impa knows it. We can't trust her anymore." She laughed bitterly. "Goddesses! I can't trust the one person I've trusted my entire life. Why is this happening to us?"
Link shook his head. "I don't know," he said just as bitterly. "Maybe it's fate."
Zelda bolted to her feet with a suddenness that startled him. "Link, you're brilliant!"
"I am?"
"Yes–yes, of course. Wait here." With that she was gone, dashing back toward the camp.
She appeared mere moments later, carrying a small lamp and a book in her arms. As she threw it on the ground and placed the lamp beside it, Link saw its title: The Chronicles of Fate.
"You think that book holds the answer?" he said in amazement.
"It's our only lead," Zelda reminded him, flipping through the pages. "We did find your sword in this book, didn't we? Maybe it has more information."
Zelda found the page with the picture of the Master Sword, and they both bent over the book, foreheads nearly touching. Zelda read aloud the caption beneath the picture.
"'The Master Sword. Many tales have been told about this mysterious and elusive sword, but most scholars agree that it is the weapon of the fabled Hero of Time, who appears in every generation born under tyranny. This sword is said to be the only weapon in the world that can destroy the Ultimate Evil. In times of peace it mysteriously vanishes, reappearing only when there is need for it.'"
Zelda immediately went to the index at the end of the volume. "Now we've got something," she announced. "We'll just put the pieces of the puzzle together. Ahah–'Hero of Time, page three-hundred-and-ten.'"
She sifted through the pages again, and abruptly let out a sharp gasp. "It's gone!"
Zelda was right. The page had clearly been torn from the book. "Okay, this is definitely getting weird," Link said grimly. "Someone got to this book before we did."
Zelda raised her eyes to meet his. "Impa," she said softly.
Link slammed the book shut. "Take this back to the camp and hide it," he ordered Zelda in a low voice. "Don't let Impa see you reading it. Go back to bed and pretend all of this never happened."
"You think we're in danger," Zelda said grimly.
"Ganondorf's after our lives! Of course we're in danger! And now Impa and Saria–"
"Okay, okay." Zelda took the book back into her arms and climbed to her feet. "It's strange," she said in a flat, defeated voice, staring off into the distance. "Yesterday the only worry I had was getting caught by the blue-shirts. Now the King of Hyrule is after us, and no one can be trusted."
Link gripped her wrist tightly. "You can trust me."
Zelda glanced up at him and smiled. "Funny–I think I do."
* * *
The next afternoon, the Best Damn Thieves Around halted near the outskirts of Hylia City, on the shores of the great Lake Hylia. Rune and Dagger retreated into the wagon and refused to come out as the thieves went about their business. No one could blame them.
"Hylia City lives on the black market," Zelda informed Link. "Rune and Dagger both worked here for a long time. You'd better watch your step–this city's full of bad characters."
"Why are we stopping, then?" Link wanted to know.
"Because everyone's filthy rich," Zelda said densely.
"Rich on information, she means," Ronin interjected, appearing out of nowhere behind them.
"You have a funny habit of showing up where you're not wanted," Link told him crossly.
"Really? I've heard that before." Ronin smiled at Zelda. "Searching for answers, my lady?"
"Something like that," Zelda replied, her face perfectly bland.
"Happy hunting, then." The man waved a gauntleted hand and headed down the road toward the city gates.
Zelda checked around to see that Impa was out of sight. "Searching for your own answers, Feather Man?" she challenged.
Ronin didn't even twitch. "Something like that," he called back, disappearing amidst the crowd.
"Feather Man?" Oberon, Marek, and Bolo had joined them. Oberon dug an elbow into Zelda's ribs, grinning infuriatingly. "Is that your pet name for him, Miss Zelda?"
"Don't be ridiculous," Zelda muttered, shoving him away.
Bolo slid between Zelda and Link, making sure to direct a glare in Link's direction. "I don't like that Ronin guy," he snapped.
Zelda ruffled the boy's hair affectionately. "Jealous?"
"Of course not!"
"He is too," Marek said in his usual lazy tone. "He doesn't like any man who gives Zelda the eye."
"Bolo's right," Link snapped, surprising everyone. "He's nothing but a skirt-chasing lowlife. And a suspicious character besides."
Zelda rolled her eyes. "Down, boys. I'm not about to marry him."
"Good!" Oberon draped an arm around Zelda's slim shoulders. "Because you could do so much better, O Queen of Thieves."
Zelda laughed in spite of herself. "Go find some pretty girls to bother," she teased. "Me n' Link here, we've got some business to attend to."
"Business, she says," Marek jested, nudging Oberon in the ribs.
"I believe I'm the most honorable man in this whole group," Link said sternly. "The rest of you are just thieves and rogues."
Marek grinned. "Uh-huh. Well, we'll leave you to your business, then." With much winking and jabbing of the elbows, Marek and Oberon headed back toward the wagon, dragging Bolo with them. Zelda watched them go, smiling.
"They're just kidding about all that, y'know," she told Link after a moment, thinking their behavior might need an explanation.
"At that age?" Link said dryly. "What else is on their minds?"
"Like you're so old," Zelda teased as they headed down the road toward the city gates, joining the stream of travelers and criminals.
Link grinned boyishly. "I never claimed that." He added thoughtfully, "Bolo seems pretty serious about you."
Zelda waved a hand dismissively. "He's just a kid, and sentimental besides. He only thinks he's serious."
"What about Oberon?" Link asked swiftly.
"He chases every girl he lays eyes on."
"Okay, then...what about Ronin?"
"The Feather Man?" Zelda said incredulously. "Give me a break." She eyed Link for a moment, eyebrows raised. "What are you so interested in my love life for, anyway?"
"How can you doubt my perfectly honorable motives?" Link demanded in mock-outrage.
"Oh, so sorry." Zelda grinned at him. "Well, if you must know, I'm unattached and always have been. I guess I could go for–well goddesses, anyone, really."
"Anyone?" Link echoed, smiling at her.
Zelda smiled back. "Well, maybe not anyone..."
"HEY, MISS ZELDA!"
"Nayru defend me," Zelda muttered, glancing back up the road. "What is it, Bolo?"
"Impa wanted me to make sure you had a weapon on you!" the kid bellowed from the vicinity of the wagon.
Zelda made a face. "She did, did she? Like I'd forget to carry one more than twice!" She winked at Link. "I'm not that dense."
"Okay!" Bolo yelled. "Be careful!"
"I will, thanks!" Zelda sighed regretfully and looked at Link. "Back to business. We'd better get going."
"What are we looking for in this place, anyway?" Link inquired as they passed through the gates of Hylia City.
"A shady character, what else?"
* * *
Hylia City was a gloomy place of nondescript wooden housings and cross-streets through dirty alleys, filled with people who all seemed to have the same world-weary, cunning face. It was largely a hideout for criminals and those wanted, fairly or unfairly, by the law; a city run by murderers, bounty hunters, and thieves. You could buy anything on the black market, from slaves to information, and the richer you were the less chance you had of leaving alive. It was no wonder Hylia was nicknamed the City of Rogues.
Zelda appeared to know her way around the city. Link stuck to her like a burr, feeling stares everywhere they went.
"There are three men following us," he murmured to Zelda.
"It happens," she replied in a low voice, staring straight ahead. "Just ignore them."
When they turned down a dirty alleyway flooded with water–at least, Link hoped it was water–the men accosted them, planting two of them in front and one behind.
One of the men smiled, his eyes lingering over Zelda. "Mornin', miss. Why don't you come with my fellows n' me, we'll get you some good work."
Link tensed, but Zelda laid a hand on his arm to restrain him. "Not interested," she said flatly.
"We can make you rich," the second man offered.
"I told you, I'm not interested. Go away."
Link suddenly felt a touch on his shoulder, and the man behind him whispered, "Give us the woman an' we'll pay you real well."
Link grasped the handle of the Master Sword. "Say that again and I'll cut your throat," he snarled.
"Link, don't," Zelda whispered. To the men she said firmly, "I'm not going to sell myself, and neither is my companion. Go away."
Link didn't take his hand off the sword until the three men had left, casting stares over their shoulders at Zelda. "Bastards. I should've torn them apart."
Zelda sighed and shook her head, moving on through the alley. "If you'd started a fight with them we would have had a real problem on our hands."
"They're only going to accost another woman!" Link argued. "Someone without protection!"
"That's the way the world works," Zelda said softly.
"Would you say that if you knew it was Rune or Dagger they were going after next?" Link demanded.
Zelda whirled around, eyes flashing. "What the hell do you want me to do? I can't solve the world's problems and neither can you! Maybe you can throw your life away for an ideal, but I have an obligation to the people I've sworn to protect! I will never allow anyone to touch Rune and Dagger again!"
There was a long silence between them. At last Zelda drew in a ragged breath. "If you think I don't hate this world," she said quietly, "you're dead wrong. But I can't change it. No one can."
* * *
To be continued.