Chapter 17

Zelda woke up some time later. She was horrified to find that she'd been chained to a wall by her wrists, the chains just long enough for her to go from standing to sitting, but not quite long enough for her to lie down. She pulled at the chains, testing how strong they were; and as she suspected, there was no use trying to escape just by pulling them out at the wall. Zelda stopped pulling and gasped as the sharp edges of the cuffs cut into her delicate skin.

She sat back, taking in her surroundings, trying not to let herself panic. The room was on the small side, with a low ceiling and no windows. It was damp, cold, and the only light came from a candle, half burned down, that sat by the door. Zelda realized she was probably in the cave Grannie had told her the Hylians live.

She thought back to the Hylian who had taken her down. And Harley, she guessed too. Hoping he hadn't been hurt, she wondered how the Hylian had learnt the magic spell that had put her to sleep. She rested her head back up against the wall, thinking through all the books she had read, trying to recall anything in them.

Lost in thought, she jumped when the bolt slid back on the door. Heart beating, Zelda's will to keep calm began to flee as the door opened and a Hylian stepped in. She took one look at the person's shawled face, and opalescent eyes, shining red, gold and green in the light of the candle that they held, and blanched immediately.

"Who are you?" She demanded, her trembling voice bouncing off the wall. Not answering, the Hylian walked over to her silently. Zelda looked up, frozen, and the Hylian knelt down in front of her. Whilst Zelda considered if the chains were long enough for her to attack the person before her, the Hylian pulled something from their belt and held it up to her.

A water skin?

Zelda looked at the skin, and then back to the Hylian. She wasn't sure whether to take a drink or not. Of course, it could be water, but it could also be something a lot more sinister. She swallowed, realizing just how parched she was. She looked back into the eyes of the Hylian. The look there was almost… pleading? Zelda gave in, and leaned forwards, allowing the Hylian to assist her.

Then, abruptly, the Hylian jumped back, pulling the mouthpiece of the skin from Zelda's lips, which responded by letting out a surprised yelp. The Hylian left, shutting and bolting the door behind them.

Zelda was left wondering just what happened. This was the first time any of them had appeared to be friendly. She was grateful for the small mercy of water, and she felt a lot better for it.

Her relief however, was to be short lived.

Only a few minutes after the first Hylian had left, another one came in. This time, they did not cover their face. Zelda paled. This Hylian, a male, had a scar that ran down hi face, from an attack that had clearly taken his left eye. He smiled at her, a smile that made her blood run cold.

"Hello," he chucked, speaking her language, although heavily accented.

"Who are you?" Zelda demanded. She could hear her heart beat in her ears again. "Why am I here?"

"In good time." The man replied, reaching out and grabbing Zelda's chin, pulling her face up and to the sides to look at her. She spat at him, and he dragged his hand away. He held up a strip of leather. "But first, maybe you tell me a few things?"

Zelda, although scared, would not break.

She wasn't even sure what they wanted. The man just kept asking question after question, with none of them really making sense. But she didn't answer, which didn't favour well for her. Turning her head to the side, she spat out the blood that had gathered in her mouth. She ran her tongue over the gum, feeling where one of her teeth had knocked out. She shivered; a bucket of water had been dumped over her, leaving her tunic plastered to her skin. In the now pitch black, the only noises she could hear were the sounds of the last few droplets of water hitting the floor after falling from her hair, and her gentle sniffling.

She wished she'd never come.

Harley was right; she wasn't trained, she didn't know what she was doing, and she should've left it up to the knights to get Link back. What was she thinking? She'd abandoned Aria and Eric. She'd abandoned Karane. She could only hope that Groose had gone back, and that the poor girl had someone to look after her, as Zelda should have been doing. Instead, she'd dumped her with the twins and left. She hadn't even said goodbye to the children. She hadn't thought that it was actually a possibility she would die, and never see her babies again. Now? She wasn't so sure.

Drifting in and out of consciousness, finally, she gave in, and allowed her battered and bruised body to rest.

Zelda drifted back into consciousness to find someone in the room with her. She jumped back, flattening herself against the wall, her chest heaving. The person immediately dropped to their knees, holding out their hands in a show of submission. Zelda looked back at them, and saw it was the hooded character from before.

Zelda calmed down a little bit, but her nerves were still on edge. The Hylian let her drink from the water skin again, and then poured some out onto a cloth. They cleaned up her face, gently rubbing away the blood and soothing the bruises. Zelda must've been out for a long time, since her clothes and hair were now dry.

"I'm so cold," Zelda told the Hylian, and they looked sympathetic. They shook their head, and Zelda sunk down. She guessed nothing would change, but it was worth asking for something warming. It was certain though if she suddenly had more clothes that the cruel man from before would be angry. Zelda shuddered, and allowed the kinder Hylian to feed her. Even if it was a slice of slightly stale bread, her aching stomach was grateful.

"Please," Zelda asked, "Why am I here? I haven't done anything. I want to go home, I have children, they need me!"

The Hylian didn't answer, dropping her head in shame. They placed a hand on Zelda's arm gently, a reassuring gesture, before getting up and turning to leave.

"Please don't go!" Zelda called, her voice hysteric. The Hylian paused but did not stop. They closed the door behind them, and slid the bolt back into place.

Groaning, Harley awoke in the clearing. He sat up, clutching at his sore head. Taking a few moments to shake off his confusion, he remembered why he was here, and what had happened.

Zelda.

He whipped his head around, searching for the girl.

No, no, no!

He had promised to keep her safe! And now she was gone! He had failed, not only Headmaster Gaepora, but also Link, the entire team of knights, and worse of all: himself.

He stood, and immediately began to walk back the way they had come. He was going to find where his men had gotten to, and go and get both Zelda and Link back, and bring them home.

It didn't take long for the rangers to meet up with Harley, and they went back to the group straight away. After he had explained what was going on, they grasped up their weapons and wares and started off.

Harley knew where Link, and now Zelda, were being held: Zelda had dropped her bag when they had been captured, and inside it was a map that showed how to get there. Surprisingly, it wasn't too far from where they had been camping, a half day's travel at most. They saddled up, and headed out.

The ride was simple, with not too many encounters with the mysterious monsters that had suddenly showed up. With no injuries, Harley thanked the Goddess that it was probably his most successful journey so far. Bad luck always seemed to follow them.

Now they stood outside of the cave.

"Time to end this." Harley spoke, and the advanced.

To put a word to the feelings flooding Karane at the moment she saw Groose would be a simple as trying to find a needle in a haystack: she wasn't sure if she wanted to cry, scream, laugh, kiss the man or wring his neck.

"Groose?" She asked, stupidly. He gave her a lopsided smile.

"Did you miss me?" He asked, and Karane felt tears prick at her eyes.

"Of course I missed you, stupid!" She scolded the man, "We all missed you."

Groose looked down to where Karane had placed her hand over her swollen belly.

"So it's true," he breathed.

"True?"

"Zelda, she… We… I stayed with an old woman, Grannie… She found Zelda in the forest one day, and brought her back to the hut, healed her up. She told me about you, said you were pregnant again. She was trying to get me to come home."

Karane faltered. "Were you not going to come back?"

Groose sighed. "You should let me in," he mumbled, "This isn't a conversation I want to have on the doorstep."

Karane stood back, letting him in. He sat down at the table.

"Do you need a drink?" She asked, fussing at the tea pot in the kitchen, "I guess you would be thirsty."

"No, I'm alright."

Karane nodded, and abandoned the flint she had been striking to light the fire. She sat down across from him.

"So?" She said, "Tell me what's been going on."

"I love you, Karane." He said, and her hand fell absent-mindedly to the ring on her finger, beginning to twist it. "I'm just… I want more from my life than working here. I love Lee as well, he's the light of my life. But at the same time," he took a deep breath, closing his eyes, "I never wanted to be a father like this."

Karane gasped, tears beginning to fall down her cheeks.

"I wouldn't trade him or you for the world," he carried on, avoiding looking at the woman across from him "But I want to travel. When Link was on the surface, before, and I followed him; I had a purpose. I was helping. I want to do something to help people."

"I don't understand." Karane breathed, "I thought you were happy."

"I thought so too."

Karane put her hand across the table, and Groose took her hand.

"Will you stay?" she asked him. "Will you stay for me? Even if it's just until the baby is born?"

Groose looked over at Karane, properly looking at her. She looked tired; the bags under her eyes were huge, and she slouched as if holding up her bones was too much effort.

"Of course I'll stay for you." Groose assured her, and he stood up and moved to her side of the table, pulling her into a hug. "I'll do whatever you want, Karane."

"Just don't go without saying so," Karane begged. Groose nodded.

"I promise, Karane." His words were sincere.

"Do you want to see Lee?" She asked. Groose smiled, his eyes lighting up.

"I would love to see my little man!" he laughed, and Karane stood up with a smile. She went to the bedroom, and brought back the sleepy boy. She gave him to Groose.

"Hey, little man!" Groose gently greeted the boy, who yawned before rubbing his eyes.

"Da-da?" He asked, and Karane smiled. Gaepora had been worried that the boy had forgotten Groose, and she was glad that that wasn't the case.

"Yeah, it's me," Groose hugged the boy close "How have you been?"

Thanks for reading! I'm sorry for the angsty chapter... I tried to make up for it at the end!

I'm getting close to the end now... Hopefully it will be done soon! I'm aiming for 20-25 chapters and 50k words.

See you next time!

Meiko x