Desert Maiden

A few days later, I ventured out of the castle grounds again. I strolled around the front area of town, being sure to keep out of close sight of the castle guard standing over near the bridge. All of a sudden, a figure jumped out of the shadows, startling me. I instinctively reached for my sword, and then remembered that Link had taken it away from me. I whirled around to face a girl, crouched on the ground. As she stood up, I noticed her dark, tanned skin and fiery red hair. A Gerudo, I realized as I took in her sharp, pointed nose and rather scanty attire.

"It is you," she declared, nodding and smiling to herself.

"What do you want?" I asked irritably, glaring at her.

"Just to look into the eyes of Dragmire's spawn," she said matter-of-factly.

I grunted and fingered the empty spot on my belt where my sword was to be. Damn you, Link, I thought to myself.

"Get away from me, Gerudo scum," I retorted, walking away.

"Ha!" she cried from behind me. "You call me scum, and yet you are the son of Ganondorf, the King of Scum!"

I turned to face her. "You are not a follower of Ganondorf?" I asked suspiciously.

"Hardly," she said sarcastically. "I despise the man. Ugh," she grunted. "You Hylians think that all Gerudo worship him. It's not true. My aunt Nabooru knew him, and she hated him so much, she-"

"Nabooru is your aunt?" I asked quickly.

She smiled, nodding her head. "Yep," she said proudly. "I see that you have heard of her."

"Yes," I replied. "My mother says that she is the Sage of Spirit."

I told her the story of when I was kidnapped by bounty hunters and delivered to the Gerudo gang when I was ten, and how Nabooru had rescued me and returned me safely to the castle. She listened with interest, never interrupting me.

"Wow," she remarked when I had finished. "Aunt Nabooru never told me about that." She smiled gently. "I'm sorry I made those rude comments. There are just so many rumors about you, most of them saying you are a lot like Ganondorf."

"Yes, I know," I said sadly. I swallowed my pride. "I'm sorry, too. I've honestly been taught that most Gerudo are not to be trusted."

"Apology accepted," she said eagerly, holding out her hand. "Truce?" How much harm could it do? I thought to myself. I shook her hand, smirking.

"Sure," I said, taking the time to get a closer look at her. She had striking golden-colored eyes, another of the Gerudo traits now familiar to me. Also, I noted, she was very pretty, in an exotic way. I tried not to blush, but I could feel my cheeks heating up.

She suddenly squinted her eyes, circling me as if she were a lab scientist studying a rare specimen. I shifted uncomfortably.

"What?" I asked irritably.

"You look like him," she said softly, continuing to stare. "Ganondorf, I mean. Except for your eyes." She leaned in closer. "They're so blue."

I backed away from her, rather irritated. "So what? What's wrong with that?" I asked angrily.

"Nothing," she stated, still with that maddening smile. My brash reaction didn't appear to faze her. "I've just never seen anything like them. They're like the sky. I bet even Nayru's eyes aren't as beautiful."

I stared at her for a moment in disbelief, then bashfully looked down at the ground. "They're from my mother," I said sheepishly. I could feel my cheeks burning, and I waited for Ganondorf to begin chastising me in my head.

"Ah, yes, the Queen," she said. "So how is she doing these days? And the Hero of Time?"

"Uh... they're fine," I replied uncertainly.

"I wish I could meet them. Aunt Nabooru has told me much about them and their adventures. She's also told me about you…" she said, smirking. I didn't know what exactly that was supposed to mean, but I decided not to question it.

"What's your name?" I asked instead.

"I'm Toril," she replied, grinning at me. "I'll be fourteen at the end of the summer," she replied. "And you?"

"Contrary to what most call me, my name isn't 'Ganon Junior' or anything like that. It's Kiran. I'm fourteen as well," I said.

She laughed heartily at my remark, and then proceeded to tell me about her life with the Gerudo. She told me that she was training to become an elite Gerudo warrior and that she hoped to become second in command to her aunt Nabooru someday.

"But I don't know if that will ever happen," she said. "That's an extremely difficult position to earn and it takes many, many years of vigorous training. I'm given no advantages as Nabooru's niece." She gazed off into the distance, thinking quietly for a moment. Turning to me, she smiled and said, "Oh! That's enough about me. What about you? You must lead an exciting life."

I laughed in response. "I wish," I said regretfully. "I would much rather have your life, or anyone else's for that matter."

She lifted an eyebrow. "Oh, that can't be true. I mean, you live in a gigantic castle and can do whatever you want, whenever you want! And you get to see the Queen and the Hero of Time on a daily basis."

"That's just the thing," I replied patiently. "I can't do anything I want. I'm not even supposed to be out here right now. If they found out I was outside of the castle by myself, they'd probably lock me up somewhere in there for the rest of my life. It's too dangerous; I'm far too young and impressionable, they say. Ever since the whole kidnapping incident, they think I'll turn evil if I have any contact with the outside world. They think I'll become another Ganondorf," I said bitterly, the words rolling rapidly off of my tongue. The truth was, I hadn't often had these sorts of thoughts before. They were just suddenly jumping to my mind and forcing themselves out.

As I glanced at Toril, I realized her expression had become concerned and a bit frightened. I lowered my head and hastily muttered an apology.

"Well, I… I better go. My mother might get worried about me," I told her, my eyes returning to the ground. "And Link will probably beat me to a pulp," I added subconsciously.

Toril furrowed her eyebrows. "He wouldn't do that, would he? Not the Hero…"

"Well, no," I admitted. "He wouldn't lay a hand on me. But he sure likes to yell at me… I guess it's just because… well, y'know, Ganondorf being my father and all."

She gave me a sympathetic look and nodded. "Oh, all right. Well, maybe I'll catch you again sometime."

"Really?" I asked incredulously, my eyebrows raising.

"Sure," she replied, flashing that smile again. "I come here to the market just about every week with the trading caravan, and we stay here pretty much all day."

"Oh… okay. Well, I guess I'll see you later then!" I said as she turned and made her way back to her group of Gerudos.

"Yeah, goodbye Kiran!" she threw over her shoulder as she rounded the corner of the building and disappeared from sight.

My heart suddenly filled with a new hope - hope that I had finally made a true friend after all these years. Of course, when I was younger my mother had let me play with the servants' children, but I had never become close to any of them. Their fear of me, of Ganondorf, had driven them to keep their distance. But Toril had seemed to overcome the fact that I was the evil man's son rather quickly.

I smiled to myself as I dashed home and silently slipped back into the castle.