There was a routine to the way the guards would come in with their meals.
It was more than what Midna had dared to hope for, the fact that they had seemingly not realised just how desperate not being able to predict when they would enter the dungeon would make them, so over the course of the next couple of days, she tried her best to cling onto the fact that it made her able to more efficiently tell the time. Three times a day, Midna having been careful to count the seconds on the second day, having had nothing better to do, a guard would throw them the same measly meal consisting of only a single piece of bread. It was as close to nothing as it could come, clearly only meant to keep them alive and nothing more than that, but as the days passed, Midna came to appreciate what those meals represented, showing her the passage of time. If the guards had been smart enough to realise that they might be able to break them completely by not making it obvious that they came back at the same time each day, Midna was sure that she would have lost the last bit of hope already, but now, each time she moved over to pick up the chunk of bread, she was able to tell herself that she had made it through another five hours.
The guards were rotating. That was yet another sign that they had not decided to let them simply waste away in their cells. It had taken a couple of days for Midna to figure it out, having at first been unable to tell the guards from each other, but already by noon the second day, she had been able to ask Ashei, receiving confirmation that the guards did indeed come back at regular intervals. However, that meant that Raven continued to come back as well.
She wanted to hate him, Midna really did. He had dragged Zelda away, he had obeyed when Zant had told him to get her out of the dungeon, taking her back to her room, he had done it all without protests. But he was also the only guard who did not appear to find great joy in throwing the piece of bread as far away from Midna as possible, instead seeming to almost take great care to actually hand her the metallic plate, careful to tilt it to get it through the metal bars without letting the bread fall off. Once, Midna even thought she had heard him turn to Ashei, whisperingly asking her if she was all right, but given how the shadows had also begun to move around her, reaching out towards her with long, thin arms, at that point, Midna was not sure that it had not been a dream.
Still, somehow, the fact that he was kinder only made her even more determined to hate him. This was not how it was supposed to be; she was supposed to have been brought out of the dungeon a long time ago, that was what she had thought would happen. Zant had to know that she was not just a pirate, that she had come there specifically to kill him. He would not leave her to die, not yet, not without making sure that he got all the information he could possibly get from her, at least. And yet, time continued to pass, one day bleeding into the next one, without Midna ever being dragged out of her cell, brought to the king so that they could try to get information about the rebellion from her. By what Midna was almost entirely certain was Friday, five days after she had first been pushed into the cell, she knew that, no matter how much time it might have taken for Zant to send a message to his father to let him know that the princesses had returned, Ganondorf should have been back at the castle already.
That was when it happened.
At first, the only sign that something was different, that the sound of footsteps on the stairs was more than just a sign that they would soon get their meal, was that it made too much noise. The guards were not exactly discreet, but even then, Midna could not imagine that a single person would ever be able to produce that much noise. A mere minute later, it turned out that she had been right, as what looked like it had to be a group of at least ten guards entered the room, spreading out to make it so that Midna was not able to look over at Ashei, searching for strength in the knowledge that at least she was not alone.
"Come." already before he stepped forward, Midna recognised Byrne's voice, the way he had smiled when telling Zelda about the reason for why their plan had failed being all too clear in her memory.
The smart thing to do would have been to try not to anger him, but in that moment, as she could see the way Zelda had panicked, their plan falling away in that moment, Midna was not able to keep herself from saying the words she knew would only make everything worse. "How? The door is locked."
A scattered laugh coming from the row of guards behind him made Byrne turn around, looking at the people who had laughed. Even from where she was sitting, unable to see more than the back of his head, Midna would easily imagine the murderous expression on his face.
When he turned back around to face her the next moment, that suspicion was confirmed, Byrne's face a mask of pure anger. "You think that you have won, but just you wait. Very soon, you are going to realise that the only way to survive here is to seize the power for yourself. And, luckily, Ganondorf rewards those who are able to serve him. So if you think that I am going to leave you here just because I want to let you waste away in the darkness, you will find that I am more loyal to my orders than to your lack of respect for authority."
Midna remained silent, but even then, she wanted to show him that it was not due to her being afraid, that the only reason she did not respond as Byrne sent another glare in the direction of the guard standing next to him before walking over to unlock the door was because she was busy trying to dissect his answer. In here, it would appear that kind of information was precious, or at least that was what the fact that Ashei was still alive would seem to imply, and so, Midna did not bother to distract herself by trying to think of a response. Ganondorf had ordered Byrne to come down here to get her. That much was obvious. But why? Was it that they had tried their best to break her, trying to make it so that she would be desperate enough to tell them everything they needed to know? If so, Midna would be glad to show them how wrong they had been, already looking forwards to the moment when she would reveal that she was never going to betray her friends. But there was something about that explanation that did not quite make sense, something that was missing, and no matter how much she tried to figure out what it could be, Midna found herself at a loss for answers.
In the end, it would appear that the only way to find out the truth was to go with Byrne, so, even though it felt a little too much like getting up to jump from the Shadow without a harness, Midna walked along willingly the moment the door to the cell was pushed open, swinging open to connect with the wall with a loud crash. That was, she tried to, for even as she did her best to show that she was still able to walk up stairs, it was not enough to keep one of the guards, someone she could not recognise, from almost carrying her.
Unlike the last time that had happened, Midna knew better than to try to fight it. Really, if she looked at it from the right angle, they were doing her a favour, making it so that she did not have to use as much energy as it would otherwise have required for her to be able to move. That was what she tried to tell herself to take away the satisfaction her embarrassment would surely have been for the guards as she was carried through the long corridors.
It did not take long until she found herself in front of a familiar set of double doors. The throne room. It was not what she had expected. Really, no matter how much Midna tried to imagine what might be their reasons for having brought her there, what Ganondorf might have thought—for she was already able to say that this was not something Zant would have done, not when he had seemed so determined to have her removed from the room the last time she had been there—she could not figure out the answer.
She did not get much time to try to come to terms with the fact that she was once more unable to predict what would happen next, as Byrne walked up, sending her a cold smile as he pushed open the doors.
Ganondorf was in there. He was not sitting on the throne, instead pacing around the room, with his hands behind his back, looking almost like he had not been waiting for them, though the way he immediately looked over at them the moment the guard carried Midna into the room made sure to remove any doubts about why he was there.
It was strange to find herself so close to the man who had cost her everything that, if she had simply tried, Midna would surely have been able to escape the guard's hold, allowing her to sprint over and hit him, kick him, yell at him, beg him for a reason for what had happened, trying to get an explanation. She would be caught a moment later, Midna knew that, but that did not change the fact that she was standing here, in the same room as the man who had taken everything from her, able to look directly over at him.
In her mind, he had grown to become a giant, looming over the horizon, someone who was an idea more than he was another person. Midna had not realised that before that very moment, but now, as she was able to look over at him and see how she was really a couple of centimetres taller than him, she could feel how the world began to change around her, her entire worldview struggling to make sense of the fact that he was responsible for everything, that, despite everything he had done, he really was nothing more than a person. All this time, his name had been connected to an idea, the way the Hyrulean airships looked against a cold sky, the sight of destroyed villages, but here Midna was, looking over at him and coming to the conclusion that he looked almost a little too anonymous. Had it not been for the fact that she knew better than to think that he was a person who had just so happened to make his way into the throne room, Midna might almost not have been able to tell who he was, for he truly looked like someone who was able to disappear in a crowd.
Ganondorf sent her a smile, a grin that looked almost fatherly, the sheer shock of seeing that he was capable of doing something like that making Midna's stomach turn, making her not catch what he said, only seeing how he frowned, sending a glance in the direction of the guard who still held her, saying something.
He must have ordered them to let her stand on her own, for the next moment, Midna found herself with solid ground beneath her feet once more. She had to take a couple of steps to the side, using all her strength to keep herself from falling over as she found herself standing up for what felt like the first time in ages.
And then Ganondorf moved, a look of almost fatherly concern making its way onto his face as he waved at the guards around her. "Leave us."
"But—" Byrne opened his mouth, already moving closer towards Midna, acting almost like he was honestly expecting for her to become a threat as she stood there, completely surrounded and with her head spinning with thoughts, trying her best not to fall over as the world continued to tilt dangerously around her.
Ganondorf did not even give him the chance to finish the sentence. There was a dangerous gleam in his eyes as he looked over at Byrne, just enough to once more remind Midna of how she might be in even greater danger now than she had ever been before. "Byrne, I told you to leave. Don't you think that I am able to decide for myself when I am in a situation where I might have to call for you to come help me? Do you doubt my ability to rule?"
"No!" Byrne took a step backwards, moving away from Midna like even being within a metre of her was enough to burn him. "No, of course not, I was merely—"
"You were trying to protect your king, a noble goal, but also something I will not need right now. Midna and I have things we need to discuss, subjects that will need to remain private. So, please, I ask all of you to, for just a moment, put aside your dedication to ensuring my survival. Although a noble thought, it is not needed, not now."
Midna could see how the guards around her tried their best to decide what to do, attempting to not make it obvious how they were gauging whether or not it would be wisest to obey the order to leave, should Midna turn out to have somehow managed to hide the fact that she was still very much able to fight back, or if they should stay. At last, with the guard who had held her brushing against her hand as he left, they turned around and left, leaving Midna and Ganondorf alone in the throne room.
The moment he redirected his attention towards her, Midna knew that, even though the guards would only have been there to protect the king should she be foolish enough to think herself capable of bringing an end to his reign right then and there, killing him in front of his guards, she would have preferred to have them stay there. At least she knew what to expect from them, that, despite the sharp edge of their spears and the gun hanging by their hips, she knew both the intent of them and the ways their weapons could harm her. Here, standing in front of the king as he let out a sigh, making him sound almost like he was just an old man who was tired of fighting, Midna had no idea about what to expect, how she should prepare herself for what would happen next.
She had not yet found a tactic that would be enough to allow her to relax for even a moment when Ganondorf looked back up at her. A smile tucked at his lips as he tilted his head to the side, sending her a look of someone who did not even have to listen to her to know everything she might ever try to say to escape from the castle.
Finally, just as Midna found her courage failing her, feeling how she would not be able to feign nonchalance for much longer, he spoke. "I hope that my guards have treated you well. It would be quite the problem should I find out that that is not the case."
Of all the things she had thought she would hear, all the threats she had expected to be forced to try to deflect, the attempts at getting her to tell about the location of the rebel base, this was not among the scenarios she had made up.
Stuttering, Midna tried her best to try to recall anything that had existed before that very moment, something that should have been easy, but was anything but that as she stood there, trying her best not to let Ganondorf see how he had managed to render her speechless after only a few minutes, using only a couple of words to achieve that effect. "I—I would not say that they have been kind, no," she said, pausing for a second to try to collect her thoughts. She had to be careful, Midna could feel it. Although Ganondorf looked almost like he was honestly regretting everything that had brought them to this moment, looking at her like he was trying to make her feel better, she could sense the danger around her, the way she was balancing on a thin line above the abyss as she recalled the way Ashei had looked when she had first seen her, the way she still looked, all courage in the world not being able to erase the effect the months in the dungeon had had on her, "I also don't think that Ashei is doing that great either."
"Ashei?" for a moment, Ganondorf looked almost like he was not aware of the fact that Midna was not the only one in the dungeons, but then he let out a little sound, recognising the name, before shaking his head. "Oh, yes. Goddesses, the captain who was convinced by my daughter to…" he made a little, displeased sound. "I had almost forgot about her—I thought that I had already ordered them to free her. I suppose I will have to order someone to do that again later. But I was actually not planning to talk about Ashei. I wanted to talk about you, Midna."
In the silence that followed, there was no doubt about how he was waiting for her to respond, showing a weakness, drawing his attention towards it.
As Midna remained quiet, carefully erasing all traces of emotions from her face, Ganondorf adopted a more concerned look, taking a step towards her. "It really is quite the scandal, don't you think? Here you are, the princess of the Twilight Realm, having just been forced to spend almost an entire week in the dungeon of Hyrule Castle. Really, once we have restored order, figured out a way to handle this, I will have to talk with my son about how he should be more careful about acting as a servant to his emotions. Ordering his guards to seize the Twili princess… if I had not received news of his stupidity so quickly, I would not dare to think about what could have happened."
By now, he had reached her, and, placing an arm around her shoulders, Ganondorf began to lead Midna through the room, over towards the throne, not pausing for even a moment as he did so. "Imagine my joy when I heard about you, Midna. All those years, we had thought that the queen had been killed during the cowardly attempt at seizing power, that she had died alone, betrayed by those she trusted the most. And now, we suddenly received evidence that, not only had she escaped, she had also given birth to a daughter, an heir. I would say that the people of the Twilight Realm would be overjoyed to hear about your existence."
In that moment, Midna could feel her control slip, making her unable to obey her own plan of trying her best not to give away information. Turning to the side, just enough to allow her to look at Ganondorf, it felt almost like the words forced their way up her throat, echoing in the empty room. "Why…? Why are you doing this?"
Had Midna not already had time to learn that she could not trust him, that Ganondorf was better at manipulating those around him than she could ever hope to understand, she knew that she would have found herself unable to fight back the instinctive urge to trust him as he sent her a little smile, letting just the right amount of confusion make its way onto his face as he did so. "My dear, I am afraid that I am not sure what you are talking about. I am trying to help you, that is all. After my son's hasty decision to imprison you, it was the least I could do to show you my joy at seeing you alive."
"No." finally, Midna found the strength, fuelled by the surge of anger that flowed through her as he continued to lie, continued to try to convince her of the same lies he had once told the people of the Twilight Realm, and, with a harsh shove, she pushed his arm off her shoulder, taking a step away from him to make the meaning of the gesture even more clear. "No, you are not. You—you are the reason for why I was in that cell, you are the one who is to blame for what has happened—you killed my mother, or at least you were the one to give the order that she had to die for you to seize power."
There was nothing about the look Ganondorf sent her that made the lie obvious, nothing about the perfect mask of confusion and sympathy that should have strengthened her conviction that she was not about to lose her mind, that what she could remember from all the years she had lived in the fortress had really been the truth, and yet, as he spoke, Midna knew better than to trust a single word for even a moment.
Still, if Ganondorf was able to see the flames of anger in her eyes, he did not let it show, instead simply continuing just as he had done before, with a voice full of worry and compassion. "I am afraid that I truly don't have any idea about what you are referring to. While I understand that you have been through a lot, that you might not be aware of just what you are saying right now—something I accept the responsibility for, seeing as I was the one who made the mistake of leaving my son here to act in my stead, trusting his judgement when I clearly should not have done that—I will have to admit that those claims make no sense." he grabbed her hands, moving a little, bending in his knees slightly, just enough to let it show more clearly that he was not a threat to her. "Midna, I don't know who told you these lies, but I can assure you that they are nothing more than that, pure lies, designed specifically to make you view me as the villain. I am not. The two of us—you and I, we want the same thing. And now that I know about your existence, we can work together, helping each other to achieve exactly that."
"And what is it?" despite her best attempts at making her voice cold, Midna could hear how she did not succeed, not fully, at least, a little of the curiosity that filled her at his words dripping into her voice. "What is it that you think I might be interested in helping you with?"
"Achieving peace." Ganondorf said the word like it went without saying, something she would ever believe might really be his motivation. "Is that not what we all want to see: peace, a world without pain, violence, pestilence, and poverty—everything that is bad? If we just work alongside each other to achieve this goal, I know that we can reach it. Imagine it, Midna, you are the long-lost princess, surely, you must be one of the few who will be able to understand this, you who has had to live without the luxury of a castle and power for your entire life."
Midna did indeed understand it. The thought of creating the exact world Ganondorf was describing—it was alluring in a way she could hardly understand, dragging her forwards, tempting her with promises of being able to return to the base with the message that they would never have to fear anything bad happening to them ever again. And, at the same time, Midna knew that, no matter what he might try to claim, her idea of peace would never be able to exist alongside Ganondorf's. Their dreams were too different for that to happen.
She turned towards him, making sure to keep her back straight, lifting her chin just a little, remembering everything Zelda had told her, trying her best to show the man in front of her that, no matter what he might think, she would never give in to him, she would never become someone he could manipulate, she would never betray all those who counted on her. "And just how are you planning to achieve this peace?" Midna spit out the word, not even trying to hide exactly what she thought of it, how she knew better than to trust Ganondorf's promises. "You, the person who attacked the Twilight Realm, you who killed the rightful queen and all those who tried to avenge her, all those who tried to free the kingdom, how are you planning to achieve peace? Is it the state the world will enter once you have killed the last of your enemies? Or will you still have work left to do once I am finally dead and you will be able to lie about my reasons for being here, claiming that I might not even have existed at all?"
"No!" Ganondorf stepped backwards, a look of pure horror meeting her eyes as she looked at him. "No, I would never—Midna, you have to trust me when I say that I never did any of those things. All I want is to create a world where no one will ever have to fear anything bad happening to them. Don't you see that it was what I was trying to do when I came to help the royal family of the Twilight Realm, creating order in a country that would otherwise have torn itself apart with the civil war that was brewing in the shadows? I know that you must think I should have done more, that I should have been able to save the queen as well, but, believe me, no one feels worse about how I arrived too late to do anything for her than me. All I want to do now is to declare you the rightful ruler of the Twilight Realm. Then, once the situation is stable, I would be able to spend the last years of my life right here, surrounded by my family, with the comfort of knowing that the world has become a little bit safer for those who just want to live a peaceful life. Midna." he said the word, making it sound more like a prayer than her name, almost like she was the last hope he had left, like he was counting on her. "I need you. I need to be able to give them a queen if I want to be able to leave again. I have thought about just declaring a person who seemed sufficiently wise the queen, but I knew that the moment someone figured out that she was not the true heir to the throne, the wars would begin anew, and that, this time, I might not be able to arrive in time to stop it from becoming a massacre. I need you, I need your past, I need you to step forwards, into the light, and claim your rightful place on the Twili throne. Only then will we be able to move closer to the ideal world I have worked so hard on creating."
"And then what?" Midna was satisfied to see how Ganondorf's mask slipped for a moment, allowing her to see past the façade and instead realise that he was surprised by her comment, the warm feeling of knowing that, even though he was able to twist the truth so elegantly that she might just have begun to doubt herself, it was still only a mirror, a reality he had constructed for himself, a world he was now trying to trap her in, allowing her to find the courage to continue. "Say that I accept this story. Let us pretend for a moment that I agree to your plan, that I tell people about who I am, who I should have been, and that you actually let me go, that you actually allow me to return home to the Twilight Realm. Then what? I know you. You might be better at making the lie look like reality than I had imagined, but you will still not be able to convince me that you would not simply return a few months later to seize the power once more, this time making sure that you do not repeat the mistake you made the last time. I know that if I was at the Palace of Twilight, I would only put myself in the exact place you want me to be, somewhere where I will be surrounded by guards sworn to follow your orders, unable to escape when they will inevitably turn their weapons against me, ready to finish what they were not able to do when they attacked my mother. So, tell me again, what will happen if I agree to become a glorified puppet for you?"
The change was instantaneous, both in atmosphere and in the way Ganondorf acted. Gone was the warm, almost kind look in his eyes, the way he was able to act like all he really wanted, all he had ever wanted, was something as noble as peace, instead being replaced with a look of cold calculations, all of them taking place far faster than Midna could comprehend, making him able to predict her moves, figure out how to play his cards to achieve his goals. Except, Midna realised, he had quite clearly not been able to tell that she would not be brought over to his side this easily.
It should not have been a comforting thought, not when she looked up at him and saw the anger in his eyes, the way he was clearly planning her demise, but, despite all logic, it still made her feel a little warmer in the cold air of the throne room.
"You will do exactly what you have just described yourself because it is the only choice you have." he moved closer to her, and although Midna was fairly sure that her height and youth would give her the upper hand instantly if it came to an actual fight, there was no doubt in her mind that any sudden movements right then would simply have resulted in the guards coming rushing back in, ready to defend their king. "You will do it because I am standing here, extending an offer that far outweighs anything you have deserved to be given. You will do it because, in the end, you are like me."
He was trying to make her angry, and for a moment, it did also work, the world becoming red around Midna as she stood there. However, almost like how she had known that she had made a mistake the moment after she had turned her anger towards Zelda back at the base, some hidden part of her came alive, giving her the strength to ignore the urge to yell, to scream that no matter what happened she would never be like him.
Instead, Midna fixed Ganondorf with a cold glare. "Maybe I am." once more, the reaction to her words was evident, Ganondorf raising his brows as Midna shrugged. "I mean, given how we have both been born into a royal family, I suppose that we have that one thing in common. However, that is also the only thing we have in common, seeing as I would rather die than allow you to make me some kind of puppet for you to control. I will not grant you access to the Twilight Realm through me, so if that is the best you can do, I would suggest summoning your guards to tell them to take me back to the cell, for I have nothing left to discuss with you." feeling how the glee of seeing the anger that was painted onto Ganondorf's face was able to keep the fear back , Midna turned around, already taking a step away from him. If he wanted to attack her, if he wanted her dead, there was no reason for him to wait until she would not be able to see him, not with how the castle was swarming with his soldiers.
But he did not attack her, not the way Midna had expected for him to do, at least. Rather than yelling for the guards to come back, he simply reach out, catching her wrist before she was able to pull it closer to her, forcing her to stand still as he tightened his grip so much that Midna had to bite her tongue to not let out a pained scream. It had been naïve to think that he would allow her to simply walk away just yet, that was the thought she tried her best to use as a shield between herself and the pain. She should have expected it.
"What about your friends then?" he said.
Although Midna continued staring straight ahead, not wanting to give him the joy of knowing that he had managed to find exactly the right subject to make her stay, she could still hear him stepping closer to her. The next moment, Ganondorf had walked around her, coming over to stand in front of her, leaving her with no other choice than to either look at him or turn her head. Midna did the former. If she showed him that he had made her move, he would win. But, as Ganondorf continued, his voice dropping to a whisper, assuming a far more threatening sound than he would ever have been able to possess if he had yelled, she could not help but wonder if he had not already won.
Evidently, he shared that opinion with her, for the smirk he sent her could only be described as victorious. "Yes, what about your friends, Midna? I know that you are not unintelligent. You may have thought yourself cunning enough to believe that you would be able to sneak into the castle, believing that I would not know that there was something wrong the moment one of the guards from Clock Town reported having met the princess, that I would not be able to see the lies in your story, but you are not completely devoid of intelligence. You will never give up the location of your fellow conspirators, no matter what I may be able to offer you, no matter what I may do. They are out of my reach, and for that, I will have to congratulate you. You really did succeed in your quest to keep them safe. Be happy for that—although you will never be able to achieve you goals of taking the entire kingdom away from me, you may be able to keep them safe. However, you must remember that you did not come here alone."
"Zelda." she should have stayed silent, Midna could feel what little chance she might have had of denying everything die the moment the name fell from her lips, the sound of it almost seeming to be amplified by the silence around her, and yet, she could not keep it from happening.
"Yes, Zelda." Ganondorf smiled at her. All that was left of the earlier warmth was a flicker that seemed almost like the burning remains of Ordon Village. "I understand that the two of you thought that you would simply be able to go in here, tell me that you had saved my daughter, which would then allow her to demand that you should be able to stay here so that you would get the opportunity to place Zelda on the throne. Don't look so surprised—I can assure you that my daughter did not betray you, it simply was a far too obvious plan, nothing I was not able to figure out for myself the moment my son told me what had happened." letting out a sigh, Midna knowing better than to interpret it as a sign that he was tired, Ganondorf moved through the room, dragging Midna along after him until they were both facing the set of double doors, allowing them to look at the stairs outside, looking out over the town below. "No, I am afraid that my daughter is far too soft for her to ever have been able to see when she was in a situation where the only escape for her would have been by opting to save no one but herself. I suppose it has always been that way, I was just too blinded by love to see it. But," he turned towards her, "if you accept my offer, I believe that my daughter will finally gain a little value."
"She—" Midna had to force herself to continue breathing, the anger forcing all air out of her lungs, "you—Zelda is far better than any of us! How dare you talk about her like that, like she is just some—some…" she could not finish the sentence.
Maybe that was what hurt the most, the fact that even as she stood here, knowing that she had nothing left to lose, she could still not find the words to describe her. No matter how hard she tried, it felt almost like the words escaped from her, all of them not seeming quite able to properly describe Zelda and the way she was able to continue to believe in the best of those around her even when all evidence should have told her that it was better to just give up completely.
When it was apparent that she would not be able to think of a way to finish the sentence, Ganondorf shook his head at her. "I must admit that when I heard what Zant had to tell me about the princess' pathetic display of affection, the way she had completely given up her dignity, yelling and screaming at the guards, I was not certain about what to think. After all, how could I be sure that she was not simply yet another foolish girl who had had the first taste of freedom and was now reaching out for any chance she might have of escaping the marriage I had planned for her? But now…" he shook his head, "I can see that, if anything, my son was really understating what had happened." without giving Midna a moment to ask what he was talking about, Ganondorf clasped his hands together, the sound echoing through the room as he gestured towards the town that created a patchwork quilt of colours in front of them, the houses' varying shades of blue roofs meeting her gaze as she followed the movement. "Midna, you and I both know what will await her if she remains here. The moment I have had the opportunity to reach a new agreement with the king and queen of Labrynna, she will be placed on the first ship bound for the royal castle of Labrynna. Only, this time, I will make sure not to send anyone with her with so weak wills that she will be able to convince them to help her." it could barely have been more obvious how Ganondorf paused, looking over at her, waiting for her to turn around, to yell at him that Ashei was the last person who could ever have been described as weak-willed. When she refused to give him the satisfaction, he let out a little laugh. "I see. It pains you to know that you are unable to do anything to stop it, does it not? But, what if there was something you could do? Was if you were able to stop this from happening, what if you were able to free Zelda, to leave this place with her?"
Midna waited. In just a moment, he would be bound to lose his patience, telling her what he was talking about without her prompting him, she knew that. But as the seconds passed, the silence growing heavier around her, and Ganondorf still did not say anything, Midna could feel how the need to know what he was referring to chipped away at her determination to remain silent.
In the end, she was the first of them to break, sending him a look full of hate as she did so. "What do you mean?"
He did not waste any time telling her that she had just done exactly what her wanted her to do, but he did not even have to say anything for Midna to know that she had just brought him one step closer to victory by letting him know that he had her attention.
Rather, Ganondorf simply sent her a smile. "Well, let us imagine for a moment, that you apologised for how quick you were to turn down my generous offer of making you the queen of the Twilight Realm and agreed that, with how much we have in common, we would be able to help each other. That would make you the queen of the neighbouring kingdom. And, as I am sure you know already, every kingdom needs to make sure that its allies will remain close, something that can be done through such a thing as marriage. I have seen the way my daughter fought for you. Did you know that she refused to eat for the first two days after you were caught? It was not until I sent Raven to inform her that if she did not feel hungry, then I was sure that both you and Ashei would also able to make it without food that she finally began to eat again and even then, we were not able to let her leave her chambers, simply due to the fact that she has made it clear that her loyalty lies with you and not us. If given the chance, she would be willing to steal the keys to the cells from a guard and flee with you, I can tell you that much. But, if you just accept this offer, I will let you leave together; I will allow you to leave without having to fear that I will send one of my guards after you. All I needed to know to be able to make this offer was whether you would be interested, and, believe me, I have heard enough already to know that there is nothing you want more than to accept my offer. So why don't do it? Save yourself, save Zelda, and leave this place to instead live in the Palace of Twilight for the rest of your lives."
Lies. All lies. Midna tried to repeat that to herself. No matter how tempting it was to lose herself to the fantasies of how she would be able to find Zelda, the way she would smile when Midna would tell her about how she had saved her from having to marry the crown prince of Labrynna, Midna had to remember that Ganondorf was not making this offer because he wanted to make sure that his daughter would be happy. The only reason that she was still standing here, outside, and not still rotting away in her cell was that he needed her and the power she might be possess if the news of how the Twilight Princess was held in the dungeons beneath Hyrule Castle would reach the people of the kingdoms.
So, although she yearned to simply agree, to give up the fight and accept that this was all she could hope to achieve, Midna made herself strong as she looked down at him. "You are lying. I know you are. The royal family of Labrynna would never accept the fact that you broke your promise and let a woman who had just become queen marry your daughter. It would create a war, and although I know that you do not think that your daughter is worth much, I can tell you that she has already told me more than I would ever have been able to learn on my own. I know that you are afraid of Labrynna, I know that you are scared that they will discover the truth about just how you came to rule the Twilight Realm." Midna was not sure how much of it was meant for Ganondorf, how much of it she said because she wanted to get him to stop lying to her, and how much of it was simply an attempt for her to kill the hope that fluttered in her chest, her attempting to silence the voice whispering to her that it would be so easy, so simple, to just give up and be as selfish as she could possibly be.
If Ganondorf had just been angry, if he had responded by snarling at her, Midna would have known that she had won the silent fight between them. But the truth was that he laughed, the sound sending shivers down her back. "Do you really believe that? Well, if you have really heard about it from my daughter, then I suppose that is the kind of naïveté I should have expected, though I must admit that I had thought you would be able to realise the truth. But, seeing as that is not the case, I will have to tell you that myself. Midna, do you really believe that Zelda is the only person in the entire world who does not want to marry a stranger? Are you really dumb enough to think that I will not be able to find an ally in the Labrynnan crown prince, even if his parents should view the cancelled marriage as an insult? He may have tried to not make it obvious, and I will give him that he did a far better job at that than my daughter did, but still, it is not exactly a secret that he is only marrying her because his parents want him to. Admit it, Midna; none of us want a war, not as long as we can prevent it by all agreeing to close our eyes to reality."
"You don't know that. The prince, you said it yourself—he is only marrying Zelda because he has to. He might be able to do what is right."
"Perhaps he will." Ganondorf smiled at her, the grimace looking more like he was about to grow tired of her than anything else. "But seeing as he is still just the crown prince, as insignificant as Zant, it does not matter and will not matter for several years. So, what do you say? Will you finally give up this hopeless battle and ensure that you will end up on the winning side, or would you prefer to meet an early death? Would you prefer to leave this castle in a month, returning home to your new home in the Palace of Twilight with my daughter at your side, or does the option of meeting your demise with the knowledge that you are leaving her behind to face the horror of being forced into an unwanted marriage on her own sound better? And don't try to fool yourself with fantasies about Zelda somehow being able to spread the truth of your past, somehow convincing the people to rise up along with her. You will die as just another pirate with my daughter being prevented from ever talking to anyone who might have believed her. No matter what you might be thinking right now, you will not be able to find a way out of this place that will allow you to win."
She should have been frightened, if not for herself, then for Zelda. But right then, as Midna looked over at the king and saw the lines of age on his face, she felt completely calm. "I know." the laugh that escaped her was greeted by a shocked look in his eyes, spurring Midna to continue. "I know that I will not be able to leave this castle in a way that will allow me to win. But I also don't have to. The only thing I will have to do to create a peace that will be better than anything you can offer is to kill you and your son, and, luckily, I will be able to do all of that without ever leaving the castle."
For a moment, Midna was sure that she had gone too far, that she had just stepped into territory she would not be able to leave alive. For that was what it seemed like as Ganondorf looked at her, blind rage flashing in his eyes, making it look almost like the only thing he wanted to do was to kill her himself.
But then he took a deep breath, calling for a guard.
With how the blood was pounding in her ears, the room spinning around her, Midna doubted she would even have been able to offer an actual struggle if she had wanted to when the guards came rushing into the room, one of them moving over to lift her up the moment Ganondorf pointed at her. All she was sure of as she was carried back to the dungeons, almost thrown into the cell, the guard only pausing to give her half a second to stand up on her own before shutting the door behind her, was that she had just made sure to make the only chance of her being able to leave the castle alive move out of her reach.
However, as she looked over, making eye contact with Ashei, and saw the little nod she sent her way the moment the guards had left the room, Midna knew that she had made the right choice. If Ashei thought that what she had done had been brave rather than foolish, then she knew that Zelda would think the same, a fact that was able to somewhat keep the guilt of knowing that she could have saved her by dooming everyone else at bay. But it was not enough to make the pictures disappear, and so, as Midna finally found herself too exhausted to even cry, her dreams were filled with the visions of how they could have returned to the Twilight Realm together, living in the palace that, in her dreams, continued to take the form of the fortress she had come to know as her home.