Link shuddered as the pale sunlight streamed through the narrow window of his cell, stirring from his slumber as the roosters cry out. He brushed the sleep from his eyes and lifted his head, noting the unusual demeanor of the guards. Usually they were boisterous men, but that morning, they lingered with their jugs of ale at their sides, their heads slightly downcast, their eyes locked upon their faded hero. Link stood and moved to the gates, snaking his slender arms through the bars.
"Why are you all just staring at me like that for? Is it that amusing to you that we're locked in here?"
"Link," Impa called sourly.
"Amusin'? Charlie!" A fat guard called. "Charlie, he ain't know what's happening to him! Poor thing! Must be a horrible day for him, huh!"
"He don't know?" Charlie repeated before erupting into a callous, edgy laughter. "He don't know what be happening at sundown! A might bad day for him!"
"Link," Impa called faintly. Gritting his teeth, the hero moved to the edge of his cell to examine Impa's frail form.
"What are they talking about, Impa?"
"Tariesk has just given his latest orders; he has invited everyone to be beside Lake Hylia this night at sundown. The forest-dwellers will not come, but those from the lowest and hottest of valleys to the highest and tallest of mountains will be coming to witness it. They are going to hang those opposing Tariesk twice a week until every opposition has gone. And they have chosen you to be first. Everyone in this kingdom has turned against us, forgotten the good that we have done for it..."
"Hang?" Link whispered. It felt as if he had been socked in the gut, tears gleaming in his blue eyes. His lips trembled as he turned his head away. Impa edged as close to him as she could.
"Don't cry! The Goddesses will not let injustices such as this pass on without punishment! Surely you know that; Farore has smiled down upon you, child, and Nayru smiles upon Zelda. The Goddesses shall not suffer that its courageous hero shall die, not so soon after he has done so much for them."
"What shall we do, Impa? He can manipulate anyone from his gaze alone. He managed to turn everyone but me--and apparently, you. Everyone who could be a threat was locked up from him. And the others were manipulated. Had I known a powerful wizard would be coming to Hyrule rather than a simple Prince, I would have..."
"There's nothing that we might do now, Link. We will have to plan carefully for this evening, and shall the Goddesses will it, we will find a way to save you, Link. And we will send that wicked Navean Prince back to the recesses of Hell that he came up from! I'm sure that Zelda sees now what she has done wrong. The guards talked earlier of how she has been locked in her chambers upon order of her father. Even Zelda is a threat to Tariesk now. I suspect his desire all along was to woo and marry her, and then murder her to steal away the throne. If we had suspected from the start..."
"Zelda's locked up...I think she's our only ally, Impa. What are we going to do? When are you scheduled for?"
"Right after you," the old woman lamented. "But I am beyond the normal lifespan...I have been alive for quite a while. I should rather that I perish than a child who has just begun his life. If you died, there would be no one to care for Zelda. She would simply wither away. Therefore, the Goddesses must do something. They will not stand around.
"But we have little time, child. From what I have heard from the guards, Tariesk is fixated upon humiliating you before he kills you. They say he intends to throw you into the mud pit for the pigs; he intends to put you in shackles. And then he shall have you stand for hours with a noose about your neck to be yelled at by the people whom once loved you. But don't be fooled by them...they remember not what was before. All's they know is this possession they have undergone. If you are to go...all of Hyrule shall perish. I hope that your heart can overcome all, Link. Mine is simply too faint in my old age."
Link shuddered from the chill sweeping over his cell as Charlie came closer and peered in at the unfortunate prisoner, grinning with his gnarled, rotted teeth as he clumsily opened the cell and seized Link's wrist to drag him outside.
"Look, mates! It's the boy who didn't know what was 'bout to fall on him tonight! Foolish things get twelve hours to live and he just found out! Har, har...so, 'hero,' how do you challenge your fate! You going to do them swashbuckling moves everyone talks about? Pray tell, boy, pray tell! Will the wizard Prince release the people from his wicked spell so that you might fight back?"
"He is a wizard," Link countered. "And when this is done and over with, you will all beg like hounds for my forgiveness..."
"A smart mouth he has on him! Wonder if it will serve him all the way to the Kakariko Graveyard!"
The faint laughter among the rows of cells eventually died out, fear gleaming in the eyes of every prisoner. Link soon found his wrists shackled behind his back as he was led like an animal out into the sunlight of the courtyard. He was met by Tariesk, whose eyes glinted like cold steel.
"There has been a change of plans, gentlemen. No need to humiliate the pig just hours before his death. He is a wizard, and anyone who stares into his eyes will fall prey to his evil. Therefore, let us make haste to Lake Hylia. We'll take the prisoner in my carriage, let him release his last statements to the people. He will hang beside the water, and his body will rot there for days before I dare take it down. The people deserve the right to desecrate him...
"But make haste. Zelda does not take kindly to our orders, for she herself has been possessed by him. Take no time. He will not be hanged at nightfall, he will be hanged as quickly as possible. Go, swiftly! Bring the carriage! The rain is beginning to fall..."
Fall it did, blinding Link's eyes from anything around him. He was forced into the carriage like a dog, and only when he sat in that eerie silence did his blood run cold and his heart fail him.
The prospect of death was more frightening than he had ever imagined.