A largely Medilia centric chapter, more Link (And Dunma) next time!

SmokeyMirrors - I have plans for her. That's all I'm saying lol. Thank you for reading!

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It had been raining lightly all day, causing Link to skid on the polished floor as he raced in, stopping just short of crashing into his mother. Almost before he ground to a halt he started signing rapidly, his expression one of great displeasure.

Medilia blinked and tried to keep up, but the signs were a blur she couldn't decipher. Shaking her head, she reached out and gently stilled his hands for a moment. "You know I can't understand you when you talk that fast," she smiled. "Now, what's the matter?" She rarely saw such a look on his face.

Link huffed and brought his hands up again, finishing his question with a glare that could have melted glaciers.

"Ah, yes. I meant to tell you," she replied when she finally understood. "You are indeed starting lessons next week." She tried not to laugh at his look of indignation. "Don't worry, Dunma will be there too and the teachers know sign. I checked." It had been Rivan's idea and she had agreed readily, knowing his good it would be for him.

{I don't want lessons!} Link protested, stopping signing in order to cross his arms and pout. The thought of being made to sit and learn and be still was horrifying to the active young boy.

Medilia was aware that she should probably find the display of temper displeasing, but it had only been a few weeks and she was still caught up in the wonder of his communication. Besides, in her mind it was far too adorable to be annoying. "I know, most children don't. But it's important, Link. You need to learn and there are things I cannot teach you. You are nearly five, you are not a baby any more."

In truth, she felt his childhood had ended the day he'd first picked up a sword, but he seemed remarkably untroubled by it and it was never mentioned. Would it come back to haunt him later? Only time would tell.

"If you want to be a knight, you must learn as much as you can," she reminded him. "You will need every advantage." It wasn't only his lack of speech that threatened to hold him back, but his past too. If he told the truth about his father he'd be known as a bastard, if he didn't, he'd be an unknown without bloodline or connections. Either way, the odds were stacked against him. There was a chance of course that he'd choose a different path in life, but somehow she doubted it. He was a lot like his father already. "Unless that is no longer what you want."

{It is!} he insisted, glaring at her for daring to suggest otherwise.

"Well then, you will need to learn all that they can teach." She looked pointedly at him.

{Fine} he signed irritably, giving in for the sake of his dream, too young to understand how much would still stand in the way of it. {But it's not fair!}

Medilia laughed. "Oh my boy. Life rarely is."

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Despite his initial protests, Link settled well into the class of Zora children and soon needed no encouragement to leave each morning - provided he'd had a hearty breakfast. His devoted mother made sure to be up early to cook for him before sending him off with Dunma, who arrived every morning without fail. She found that it was difficult to let him go, but these lessons were an opportunity he never would have had in Kakariko Village, even if they had been accepted there. They had to take advantage of them.

Once he had left for the day she would cross the great bridge and head out to the hills surrounding the domain. Here she'd pick and scavenge whatever she could, mushrooms, radishes, apples and small insects if she could catch them. What she did not cook for them she sold to the store, the few rupees she got helping to buy the things she could not find.

It was becoming increasingly difficult to provide for him, but she tried not to complain. They had been asked for nothing for their rooms and she only had to make sure her son was fed and clothed. Sometimes, like today, she went without a meal to make sure Link didn't. It was a small sacrifice in her mind. And perhaps she'd find enough today to cook dinner for them both.

Opening the door, she nearly jumped out of her skin to find Rivan standing there, leaning easily against a nearby pillar. "Goddess! You scared me half to death!"

Rivan grinned. "Only half?" He patted a bag on his back. "I have the day off, I thought I'd come with you. Catch some fish while voltfin are in season."

"Well... That would be nice..." she smiled as her heart returned to normal. "I don't often have company now Link is out all day." Pulling the door closed behind her, she let him lead the way.

"I know, I miss taking Dunma fishing too. Though I am glad she is asking someone else her incessant questions!" He grinned and led the way over one of the smaller bridges leading to a steep but manageable path. "Link seems to be asking a good number himself!"

Medilia grinned. "That he is, making up for all the times he couldn't I think! I can't complain though. It wasn't so long ago I feared he'd never find a way to speak."

"That must have been hard on you both," Rivan replied. "I'm glad we were able to offer a solution. It's a shame such methods are not well known outside the Domain. Still, perhaps they will be one day. I feel sure that boy will make a mark on the world."

Pausing to pick a stamella shroom, Medilia nodded. "I still worry about that. He dreams of being a Hylian Knight like... like his father was. I still do not know if it is possible."

"It will be difficult," Rivan admitted. "Here he would be easily accepted, but there I do not know." He glanced at Medilia, his face furrowing. "You never speak of his father, why is that? I don't mean to pry but I have noticed. Did you part badly?"

Stopping in her tracks, she felt the familiar panic rising as her heart began to race so fast she feared it would stop. Butterflies went mad in her stomach and she found she couldn't focus on the words she needed to say. It was the same reaction she had every time someone mentioned Arn and the truth threatened to come out. Her fear of people turning their backs on them again was almost paralysing.

"Are you okay?" Confused by her reaction, Rivan reached out, his hand resting on her shoulder. "Medilia?"

She breathed and tried to hear past the rushing in her ears. "Yes, I'm fine..." was that what he was asking? Was he going to demand more than she could say?

"Perhaps we should stop for a while... there's a knoll just up there." He took her arm so gently that she wanted to cry. When they reached the knoll he sat her down and unpacked some bread and cheese from his bag. "Here, you must be hungry."

Taking it, she realised it was more than she'd eaten in days. Her stomach rumbled and she bit into it hungrily, despite her nerves that usually killed her appetite stone dead. As she ate she was aware that Rivan was watching her intently. He said nothing though, not until she had finished.

Then, he reached back into the bag, producing a flask of apple juice and pouring them each a cup. Handing it to her, his eyes met hers. "Will you not talk to me? We have known each other for months now, yet I do not feel I know much about you. There is so much you do not say about where you came from and what caused you to be out in the wilds with a child."

She took a drink, trying to force the bread down, the pleasant taste vanishing at Rivan's question. Any hopes that he'd drop the subject faded away as she saw the look on his face. He was watching her every move, his own lunch discarded. Oh, why had she ever mentioned Arn?

"It's not that I don't want to..." she set the cup down to twist her hands nervously. "It's just... I'm afraid. We've lost everything once. And maybe the Zora don't even see things the same way as Hylians, but if you do... we'll have to leave just when Link is finally happy. I'm scared of losing that."

"Well, I find it very hard to believe you've done anything that terrible," Rivan smiled, trying to make sense of what she was saying. "Look... as long as you aren't secretly planning to kill us all, I think whatever it is can be worked around."

Medilia couldn't help the short, breathless laugh that escaped her. "No, of course not!" She took in Rivan, his calm interest and concern and let out a long breath. "I never thought it was that bad really. I thought plenty of people did it. They probably do. But for us, it ended badly."

Closing her eyes, she remembered the night Arn had left, promising fabric for her wedding dress. "We were so in love. Young, but devoted to each other. He didn't get much time off though, so when he did, well, we tended to get carried away." Blushing, she couldn't meet Rivan's eyes. "We lay with each other before we so much as talked about marriage. If only we'd had more restraint, none of this would have happened. But we didn't and I soon found I was... expecting our first child."

Rivan listened, letting her tell her story in her own time.

"Arn was so happy. He didn't mind it meant marrying me. I think he'd been planning on it anyway, it just meant doing it sooner. As long as we were married before I started to show, no one would say anything." She'd met a number of children who were born 'early'. Blinking back tears, she continued. It had been nearly six years, yet the grief remained. "He'd taken leave to go to Hateno and the dye shop there. He wanted the best fabric for my dress. But on the way... he could never walk past anyone in need. There was a moblin attack on a travelling party." The tears fell now, the memory of that day still an open wound. "They brought him back to me but... it was too late. His injuries were too severe and he died in their wagon." Even now she had nightmares about the day the wagon arrived, her betrothed's broken and bloody body covered in a rough sheet.

Reaching out, Rivan placed a gentle hand over hers. "I'm sorry. I can only imagine how hard that must have been."

"Thank you," she whispered, still not looking up. "But you see, it got worse. I began to show and people knew. They knew I'd been with him before I was wed. And that our child, that Link, would be born out of wedlock. They shunned me. I had to beg for help just to birth him." She recalled the cruel names that had been shouted at her each time she ventured into town, words that she couldn't bring herself to repeat even now. "When he fell sick, no healer would even look at him. It it wasn't for one passing through he wouldn't have survived. He was just a... a bastard, unworthy of their care." Her body trembled, waiting for Rivan's response, his judgement. The truth was out now and there was no going back.

"We were nothing to the people of Kakariko, so when I was advised a warmer climate would help Link, we just left. I never expected to end up here and now I wonder - are we nothing to the Zora too? Slowly, fearfully, she forced her head up to meet Rivan's piercing gaze, wishing she'd never said anything at all.

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