The Holy Trial, Ordon's favorite pastime, was about to begin. So exciting was the spectacle of execution that the fires and the heretic would be the talk of the village for a whole year, or unless another trial was held. For tonight's entertainment, a wooden stage was set up just outside the grounds of the Abbey of the Goddesses, the only building in the village made of stone, a hand carved podium was erected to project the Goddesses' judgement, and as a finishing touch, the Temple's keepers had laid out the groundwork for the execution with one wooden stake surrounded by the driest of grasses. Each of Ordon's two hundred or so villagers were either discussing who was going to be tried for what sin, or they were placing bets, but the outcome was always the same. Thankfully, Rowark did not hear his name floating amongst the whispers, but bad feelings continued brewing inside the boy.
Because of Father's role as sheriff, the Foresters and their enormous extended family, constituting nearly half the population of Ordon, enjoyed the front row to the trial. Alexa stood behind Rowark and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Situated closely behind the Foresters were the Millers, the Hunters, the Tanners, and the Yeomans; further behind them were the Shepherds, the Carvers, the Tailors, and the Bakers. Every family prided themselves in their trade, and all were equals in each villager's mind, and the sheriff was only regarded as the first among equals. Except for one family. One family, the keepers of the Temple, was held upon a pedestal.
Emerging from the doors of the abbey and wearing a dark blue cassock covering everything from his neck to his ostentatious sandals, a white cape with red hems flowing down to his heels, the emblematic white collar around his neck, and his ceremonial golden crown was Leedath Bishop, the divine avatar of the Goddesses in charge of the village's salvation. Accompanying behind his heels were his senior acolytes, wearing a similar cossack but lacked the cape, and the keepers, wearing naught more than the poor brown robe; both wore their hoods up to conceal their identities. When the wind gently lifted his cape, the bishop appeared larger than life as he climbed onto his theater from upstage. There was no doubt that while Father was the appointed leader of the people, the bishop was the true authority of the village.
For when he raised his arms, the laety gave every bit of their soul to hear what he was saying, "Villagers of Ordon." His high register voice drowned the morbid, black atmosphere, "I thankee for convening on such short notice. I would have waited until tendo's end to hold this trial." Murmurs and whispers erupted at the sound of the word trial. "Who" and "for what" were the most asked questions.
"But a sinner has reared his ugly head in our very own community. The Book of Legend warns us in the second chapter, 'The enduring spirit of the Demon King lives on through the hearts of the sinner.' A small sin committed against the Goddesses may seem like a small cut against our village, sinners spread their influence amongst their neighbors, until the entire kingdom is infected with their blasphemy! Just as the Hero of Time wielded the blade forged by the Goddesses themselves to vanquish the sins of the King of Thieves at their source, so too must we remove a corrupted member so as to preserve the sanctity of our great village, our beacon of light unto the darkness of Faron woods, so too must we purge the sinner as commanded by Din, 'Break apart the evil of the land and burn all who dare go against the Goddesses." Book of Redemption, chapter twenty four, verse seventy eight.'
"Blessed is Nayru, Epitome of Wisdom, who has illuminated the path to peace and prosperity through her Laws. Queen Zelda the First warns us, 'Only by following the commandments of the Goddesses will we prevent the next calamity.' As an individual, we are time and time again forced to choose, either follow the path to the Goddess Hylia, or follow the path to the demon king, Demise. The Book of Legend also reminds us that the choice of one affects the choice of others. We are gathered here today because one amongst us chose to stray from the Goddesses' path and put our entire village, nay, our entire realm, at risk of damnation."
The Bishop was interjected, "When do we get to see the sinner burn?"
"Before I announce the accused, I would like to announce the crime." Rowark gulped heavily. "The Goddess Nayru blessed our land with her laws, so that peace and order would reign over conflict and chaos. All around, the creatures placed on Hyrule by the Goddesses all share a common attribute: male mates with female to create life." The bishop leaned forth and spew out his next lines with absolute disgust, "Like mating with like would lead to the extinction of all life." His punctuation of each word stirred up boos from the crowd. Uh oh… Is this about… what happened… with Leggy? Tears welled up in his eyes, so he turned away so that Father wouldn't see him. Ganondorf's fury had nothing on Father when he saw any one of his children cry at a public execution.
"He who chooses to lie with another man like he would a woman forsakes his natural duty to the Goddesses to spread their chosen people across all the land." The boos were turning into shouts. Rowark ran behind his sister when he felt a sudden, warm trickle of, water, down his leg. "We follow the Fifth Golden Law!" cried the Bishop, which was responded to with a powerful, change in public sentiment.
Then, the whole crowd roared in unison with the Bishop, "To 'Honor the sacred bond between a man and a woman'!" They cheered as they celebrated their time-held tradition since the Hero defeated Ganondorf. "To permit one to be Queer!" And quickly as a mouse's scurry, the public sentiment shifted back to boos and jeers, "is to permit all to be Queer! To defy the Goddesses is to invite evil back into our homes and our realm!"
A deep grunting, howling hatred shot from the Bishop's mouth, "Rowark Forester…" The air was so quiet that the only sound that could be heard was his angry grunts of breath. The child did not even have to open his eyes to know that the crowd had backed away from him. Drawing all eyes like a magnet did to iron, he was too scared to face the dreadful silence at first, but when the young boy lifted his head and looked around, he could feel the weight of every man, woman, and child's judgement sink into his racing heart. Even after looking downward, he could not unsee the hatred, nor could he unhear the boos that were shot directly at him.
Alexa sprawled out her arms to shield what little dignity Rowark had left and screamed bloody fire at the crowd, "STOP! You animals! He ain't never done anything wrong!"
But like a flea fighting an incoming wave, her words drowned underneath their jeers. "Boooo!" "Burn him!" "Kill him!"
"You stand accused of breaking the Fifth Golden Law," proclaimed the Bishop, inviting his acolytes to snatch the boy away.
"NOOO!" was the cry of Rowark's poor mother who had collapsed onto the ground. "No, no no no, please, Mickard. I beg thee!" she screamed and clung onto her husbands tunic, "Please, let him go, talk to Leedath! I beg thee, please, dearie, your wife's one wish, don't let them take me baby away!" But her tears were shed for a man whose heart had been so hardened by his war stories that he even he chanted along with the rest of the mob.
"Bring him to trial!" ordered the Bishop.
What was Rowark to do? Wishing he could just go back to bed and pretend none of this was happening, he let loose a torrent of tears. "What are you waiting for?" shouted a woman from behind him. "Someone drag the bastard up there!" screamed another. "Burn the sinner!" hollered many more.
"Come on, boy!" this time the cry came from Father, "Get this over with so our family doesn't have to deal with your shameful existence anymore!"
With all her might, she attempted to push back against the dozen or so men trying to reach past her while screaming with "No further!"
Eventually, Rowark's inaction drew intervention from Father himself, "For the Goddesses' sake!" He marched to his disobedient children and pried them apart with the strength of dozens of men. With his immense arms separating the two, Father hoisted Rowark by the back of his tunic with ease and began walking up to the stage to deliver his son to his fate.
Father's other arm was busy keeping Alexa away. "NOOO! STOOOP!" she screamed at the top of her lungs as she flailed and attempted to reach her brother with futility. Feeling the unbreakable iron grip upon the back of his collar, Rowark tearfully and compliantly resigned himself to his miserable fate.
"Are you trying to damn our village and bring Calamity again?" His eyes raged with unforgiveness. With one arm, Father held Rowark by his collar and delivered the boy to the acolytes.
"He didn't do anything wrong!" even though father held her by only the collar of her dress, she stubbornly held onto Rowark's wrist, "He wouldn't even hurt a bug!"
But with one good tug, Father separated the two finally and then roared into her face, "He will bring ruin to our village and our way of life if we don't get rid of him!"
"He's not guilty of anything!"
"He's guilty in my eyes!" with a swing of his arm, he threw his daughter onto the ground, "Say any more and we'll put you on trial for dishonoring your father!"
Conflict washed all over her face. Rowark shook his head as the three acolytes dragged across dirt. Don't die on my behalf, was the message he attempted to convey. Defeated, she let Father grip the back of her dress and drag her back to the crowd.
When Rowark felt the impact upon the wooden floor, a small cheer erupted. Two tall, imposing figures standing at either side of the gallows stepped up onto the platform. Wearing a black cossack and a black, hooded mask, they each held Rowark by his wrists. Though their identities were concealed, Ordon Village was not big enough for the villagers to not know that they were brothers of the Bishop, and executions by the Temple were a tradition passed down the family.
Rowark lifted his eyes to look upon his home one last time, and when he did, the hateful judgement of his neighbors instantly made him regret that decision. His uncles, aunts, and cousins were huddled around Father, his older brothers returned Rowark's gaze with contempt, and Alexa was nowhere to be found. He searched through the angry crowd for his sister, but it was better, he concluded, for her not to see him die this way. There was never a trial which let the accused live.
The Bishop pointed to a short man standing in the front row, "I call upon my first witness to begin testimony. Willem Forester, please step up here." Father's distant cousin ran up to the podium swiftly and then placed his left hand over his heart before the Bishop even prompted him by holding out the Book of Legend. Once the man placed his right hand on the cover, the Bishop asked him, "Do you swear before the Goddesses to tell the whole truth on pain of death?"
In all of Rowark's seven years of existence, he had only ever seen three trials, but he was never able to piece together what was being said during all those times before. He would pay special attention to his fourth, his last.
"Yes, yes," The stocky woodcutter dismissed the threat of death nonchalantly, "That kid, he don't like being a man. He likes to wear tunics too big for 'im and prance around the village like it's a dress!" Rowark burst into tears. Was that so wrong that death was warranted? "Oy Mickey! Toldja we'd be rid of the kid! AHHAAA!" the cousins pointed at each other and began guffawing.
"Thankee for your, insight. Next, I will call upon Urel Hunter for testimony…" The tall hunter swore before the Goddesses and then prattled on about Rowark's weakness upon seeing blood and his distaste for manly activities, such as skinning, fishing, cutting wood, and practically everything Rowark hated doing. Then the process was repeated: calling a name, swearing before the Goddesses, and then another nasty story.
This time it was about Rowark's obsession with the Princess of Legend. The boy looked to the night sky, praying there indeed someone out there waiting for him, Please. Goddesses, I swore I didn't know what I felt was sinful. I vow to uphold your Laws better in the next lifetime.
Whatever Rowark was expecting to get out of his prayer, it certainly was not an unfamiliar call of a woman, "Confess…"
Confess? Who said that? When Rowark picked his head up, he could only hear the cheers for his death. Was that, Alexa? "Confess," she repeated again.
Next to stand witness was one of the Tailors, then a Baker, and then another Forester, each testimony as damning as the last. For as long as Rowark could remember, his fellow villagers had never once made a fuss at Rowark for dressing and dancing how he did, except for the hunter who scolded the child at every chance he had. But it was today that he found out that everything he liked, from flowers to dolls, was blasphemy. The sinner returned his eyes to the ground, doing his best to tune out his neighbors, and Father especially.
The Bishop called upon his final witness, "My own son, Laegrethorne." Hearing his best friend's name called picked up Rowark's attention. Leggy's hair was brushed back neatly and his doublet was the only one in the whole village that had a blue rupee embroidered in the center.
The young Bishop marched forth from his family and climbed onto his father's theater from stage left. Shooting a spiteful glance to Rowark, Leggy had never looked so resentful before. In fact, he wore a meaner face than when he did pretending to be the Hero fighting his arch nemesis. His eyes beheld a rage hotter than the lava of Din's Hearth. The Bishop extended the Book of Legend toward his son, "Do you swear before the Goddesses to tell the whole truth on pain of death?"
To which the brown haired boy responded by looking his father dead in the eye and placing his left hand upon his heart and his right hand upon the cover, "I do swear."
"Go on."
A pointed, accusing finger shot straight at Rowark, "He's, he's Queer all right! He's the worst kind of sinner across the three duchies!" It took a seven year old Rowark an eternity to digest those very words coming from the only friend he knew outside of his family.
"Yesterday when we were playing, he tried to force himself upon me, like a pervert!" But I didn't try to do anything, Rowark wanted to tell everyone. But he was afraid, and he knew his responses would be silenced by angry mob mentalities. "He tried to take off me clothes," Leggy's venomous words drew more anger from the mob, "and then he tried to touch my, my…!" Leggy buried his face into his hands, "I can't, go on. I don't want to, Papa!"
The entire village roared in fury. Every villager except for Mother seemed ready to set the boy ablaze. The sympathy for Leggy suddenly became a revelation for Rowark. Was this what justice was all about? Were the Goddesses' punishments truly predicated on lies? Were her very laws predicated on lies, then? Or was it the Bishop? And the Temple too? Or was the Book of Legend predicated on lies? Were the Golden Laws of Hyrule a lie as well?
"Confess!" Who would be willing to hear his confession? And whom in this entire realm was even worthy of his confession? What was that, damned voice, trying to tell him?
Unable to lift his lying eyes to the public, Leggy sobbed through the rest of the testimony, "And then I told him he was Queer, and shoved him off easily, and then I came home to pray for my sins."
Rowark blocked out all senses of his body as best as he could. He wanted to spend the last precious minutes of his time contemplating what his short life meant. In short, nothing. He had awoken to a harsh reality of a law that was made to eliminate his cursed kind. Life had been difficult for Rowark from the start with his unusual habits and hobbies, but when the two people that cared about Rowark were gone, life no longer seemed worth living.
The boy's virgin ears didn't need to hear the hatred poured in from the audience. Angry cries urged the Bishop to commence the execution, the loudest one coming from Father, "Burn the sinner already!" Despite the hatred aimed towards him, Rowark could not bring himself to hate anyone. Up until then, they all seemed like decent people, and that was an image that Rowark never wanted to let go. There was only one person to blame for putting him in this predicament, himself. In his great time of need, he needed to place his faith in something.
He chose the Goddesses, I pray to you, if you redeem me, I will forever be in your service!
The Bishop raised his hands, simmering the restless crowd quickly, and he did not lower them or speak until everyone had settled down, "Thankee Leggy, return to your mother. I have enough witnesses to pass a verdict." He waited for the crowd's energy to die down before uttering his challenge, "Does the defendant have anything to say for himself?"
Nothing but silence came out Rowark's restrained lips. He could hear Mother crying out to him, "Tell them it's not true!" but it was no use. This was not a defense. The Bishop was asking for Rowark's last words…
"Confess!" Rowark used his every willpower to fight the incessant suggestion. What would confessing to the Bishop accomplish? It certainly was not going to change his fate.
"Well if you'll say nothing, then you are thereby," he took a deep breath to belch out the verdict as dramatically as he could, "guilty as charged!" The crowd feverishly cheered as one. "Rowark Forester, in the name of Hylia, I sentence you to death by fire." Though the convicted boy had already accepted his early demise, the death sentence was delivered as if the Golden Law, "Honor all life as if it were your own," held no meaning.
But it didn't change the fact that he was a sinner. So it is right that I should die, he concluded to himself, No one else should be doomed to live through another evil era of Ganon because of me. He looked around for Alexa, but could not find her. It was better that she was not here to see this.
"Prepare the execution!" the order shrieked into the air and inspired the very hellish fires of Din's judgement upon the final torch that would end his life once and for all.
Dragged onto the pyre of dried sticks and tied to the stake behind him, Rowark was left with no mobility in his body as the ropes restraining him were tied into a knot. There was no escaping his fate now. The only people who could save him, and he still believed they would, were the Goddesses. The boy pointed his eyes up with every prayer behind his thoughts, helping him also to avoid eye contact with the Bishop and his two torch wielding acolytes.
"Confess!"
Tears streamed down his face as he was about to count the last few seconds before his death. The sudden, splitting sound of an arrow burying into the stake just behind his right ear awoke him from his last thoughts. As the crowd turned to see where the arrow had come from, he felt the rope around him loosen and fall limp to the ground. Was this part of the act? Rowark had no idea what to do.
"Run, Rowark! Hurry to me!" All eyes shot to the thirteen year old holding the nocked bow and aiming the flaming arrow right at the crowd. Father's twin daughters were Ordon's prodigies and the pride of Father. No one across all of Faron woods could match their technique and skill with the bow. Rowark used this chance to make a run for his sister. Everyone's eyes followed the boy as he scrambled across the gap between the mob and the stage, but no one was daring enough to face the wrath of a fire arrow nocked into the bow of Alexa Forester, who had emerged from the north side of town unseen and did not make her presence known until she had a true shot prepared.
He ran to the answer to his prayers. Wearing a leather sack overstuffed with supplies, the apprentice huntress had packed up everything she needed to last them a week in the woods. Her quiver was completely stuffed, but the arrows fletched with red feathers at the end instantly caught his eye. Those were the magic arrows that set ablaze anything the arrow struck, and they were only available from the general store. Then it had dawned on him that Alexa had broken the Second Golden Law, and she was about to break the Sixth.
"Alexa!" Father yelled furiously, "What in Din's Hearth are you doing!?"
"Saving my innocent brother!" she screamed back at him.
"Alexa, think very carefully about what you're doing," warned the Bishop, "You are threatening a member of the Temple, and allowing a sinner to run free, both of which are unbecoming of your salvation and our village's freedom from Ganondorf's influence."
"I know damn well what I am doing!" Alexa fired back with every intent to make good on her word, "Anyone moves, you die!"
The mob gasped at her blunt audacity, but the Bishop stepped forward to challenge her threat, "You think I am afraid to die? My mission was delivered to me by the Goddesses, by Hylia. It is they who have given me my life's purpose, so I would gladly give my life back to the Goddesses, to save our village and our kingdom from another reign of evil."
"You think this is righteousness? I spit upon your divine justice!" She quickly re-aimed her personal bow at the stage and fired her arrow, releasing its pent up, fiery energy upon the wooden planks and spreading infernal rage across the structure. By the time anyone started panicking, Alexa had already prepared another fire arrow ready to launch into the crowd. Clearly evidenced with their silence, it was one thing to die by an arrow, it was an alternate matter to die by burning.
One man, towering above the villagers, dared to curse his children one last time in the face of a fire arrow, "Damn you! Damn you to Din's Hearth! Just when you think this is all over, know that our bloodhounds will hunt you until your bones decorate my house! You will never know safety so long as you walk in Faron Woods!"
Then, Ilia decided to have her final say, "Curse you Alexa for siding with a sinner! I will never forget your betrayal to the Goddesses, and I vow to kill you myself with my own bare hands!"
Backing up slowly, Alexa trained her sights onto her sister. "Not if I murder you here and now… Nobody move!" ordered Alexa, "I see one twitch, I'll empty my entire quiver into all of you godless monsters!"
Step by step, they walked backward slowly until Alexa was confident her arrows were out of effective range. She aimed her bow into the air and fired her arrow and then fired another arrow into the two nearest straw roofed hovels. "That should slow them down, now follow me!" said Alexa as she dashed past him while withdrawing a torch and another fire arrow and transferring the flame from one tip to the other. They turned and scrambled for safety, the older sister using the arrow to light the tip of a torch.
"Fetch the hounds! We're gonna put an end to this once and for all!" were the last words Rowark ever heard from Father.
"Come on, we just have to run, that's the rules of this game."
This was unlike any game he had unlike played in his life; he knew they lost, they would die. The weak boy ran faster than he had ever known, for longer than he had ever known. A fatal sense of urgency forced more blood through Rowark's body than his heart had ever done before. And when the first strains of fatigue began to weigh upon his body, the guiding hand of Alexa kept fueling Rowark's will to survive. Soon, fatigue gave way to fear, and by the time the rising sun was beginning to pierce the darkness of the forest, blood rush began caving in to his exhaustion.
His legs began to burn, and lungs felt like they were going to collapse at any moment. After all, he had just endured his longest night ever, "I'm tired, I can't keep running."
"Can't stop now," urged Alexa. Even though she could outrun her younger brother, Rowark was the pace setter, "We don't even have a half day's headstart on Father and the rest. We can slow the pace if you want, though. But we can't rest until we cross the river."
Agreeable to the plan, Rowark slowed his jog to a brisk walk but kept the threat of death alive in his head. The steps were still increasingly laboring, but the slowed pace allowed him a chance to catch his breath. By early morning, Rowark's legs were about ready to fall off, and the emptiness in his stomach began to make itself known, but the persistent Alexa would not quit, "Come on! The river's not much farther! We have to cross before the bloodhounds get here!"
"Woof! Woof woof!" Just as she had said that, the faint bark of the hounds stopped Rowark's heart. Their pursuers were getting close. He dumbly looked to his sister for guidance, but she yelled instead, "Go go go!" The two launched themselves into a full sprint again, but to no avail: the barking grew louder quickly.
Alexa, who had been leading Rowark, slowed down until she was side by side with him, and then she swept the boy off his feet and then picked up the pace for both of them.
"Confess!"
Again? When they were on the verge of death?
Something was moving off in the distance, and it was catching up fast. Soon, Rowark was able to see what was doing all the barking. This is it, he thought again as he counted down the last seconds of his life again.
"Confess!"
"Alexa," he squeaked out. The bloodhounds were entering striking range, and he did not have much more time to finally tell a soul about his affliction, for he could clearly see the bared fangs of the hounds. "I'm sorry…"
"Save the apology," she groaned through her heavy breathing, "Grab my torch!" Once the torch was firmly in Rowark's hands, she instructed him, "You're gonna have to hold off the dogs for me! Just until we make it past the river! Don't you worry, we're getting close!"
The torch felt unwieldy and heavy. There was no way swinging the piece of wood could do any meaningful damage, but he knew that any animal respected the heat of the deadly flame. The fastest of the dogs, a bloodhound named Rabbit Chaser, kept his brown snout at a safe distance from their target. The rest of the pack slowly caught up, but were wary to approach the flame. They could make it so long as Rowark pointed the torch at whichever dog was thinking about pouncing for the kill.
The river bend to the north was going to be their savior. As thoughts of safety, of finally being able to confess to the single person in Hyrule who would not judge him, and of being able to see another light of day, swirled his emotions into a strong gratitude for the Goddesses, who had given him a second chance to live with his curse.
"Confess!"
Then, he unexpectedly felt his body jerk forward. His elder sister could no longer sustain the weight of two and had tripped forth. She fought for every last grasp of air while the leader of the hounds quickly encircled his target, cutting off any means of escape. The boy tried to help his barely conscious sister back up to her feet, but her body refused to respond to any assistance. At best, he had lifted her onto his shoulders. Here was where the Forester siblings made their last stand.
Rowark took one last deep breath, now that he had fully accepted death once again, "Alexa. I'm sorry."
"For what?" she spoke with effort through heavy pants, "It's my fault I tripped. It's my fault we're both gonna die."
"No, it's all my fault…" with a finite number of heartbeats left in his life, and even then with great hesitation, Rowark finally confessed to the sibling who was going to share his fate, "It's all because I'm… I'm...
"I'm Queer."
A blinding light flashed and consumed everything. Even with his eyes shut, the intense light still bled into his mind. Rowark could not see nor feel anything, but he heard Alexa's voice spill into the white void, "I know…" She… knew? Suddenly, Rowark realized why the voice, whosever it belonged to, told him to confess. Though his physical senses were overwhelmed with blinding light, his emotions were finally calm like the Floria river. He felt acceptance for the first time in his life, and maybe the last.
Time stood still. Am I dead? he asked him.
The first thing he could sense was warmth of a familial embrace. The next thing he felt before opening his eyes was a sloppy wet lick on his face. Rabbit Chaser, who once was hunting after the two Foresters like a starving, ravaging beast, was sitting a happy, droopy face and recognition behind his eyes. All around Rowark and Alexa, the hounds that once chased after them sat obediently like they were waiting for their owner's next command or prancing about energetically. With a deep sense of familiarity and love, evidenced by their enthusiastic wag of the tail, they playfully ran around as the smaller fugitive carried his larger accomplice on his back towards the river.
What was going on defied all logic. Rowark looked around in disbelief but nonetheless did not squander the moment. The dogs were only the farthest reach of the hunting group behind them, and the game was far from over. Alexa's exhausted body was still difficult to pick up and move, but she cooperated as best as she could with her brother's guidance. The sound of the trickling stream could be heard now that the barking had ended. It wasn't much further. "Are, are you okay?"
Alexa nodded weakly as she attempted to pick herself back up to her feet. "Heh, that's my line." she said dusting herself off with her two feet planted onto the ground. With one quick inhale, she regained composure, but she could not fully hide her fatigue "Okay, I'm good. Are you good? Wait, what's with your hand?"
At first, there was no expression on his face when he lifted the back of his right hand. A golden glow emanated from the triangular mark of the Triforce on his hand, the mark of the Goddesses. But why? Why now of all times? Potential answers only brought about more questions. Was this because he… confessed? "I think, it's because… I'm… Queer…"
"No, don't be silly! All right, come on, let's get out of here. Father's still on our heels, and we still gotta swim across the river until we're safe!" More than anything, Rowark just wanted the end to the night, but if safety was but a stone's throw away, then to Ganon with it. He could put his faith in the Goddesses once more. For though he was born different, the Goddesses felt him worthy enough to save his life.
Still, as Rowark picked up his feet to set course for the river bend, the question about his hand was a question to be answered another time.