Even after venting her spleen on the courtyard shrubbery, Chusai couldn't sleep. She walked up to Zelda's chamber, even though she knew the Princess must be asleep by now. So she blinked in surprise when she heard "come in" after her soft, polite knock.
Chusai stepped inside and kneeled. "Forgive me, Your Highness. The extent of the usurper king's deeds has distressed me so badly that I cannot rest."
She thought she heard a hint of resignation in Zelda's voice. "What has he done now?"
Chusai explained to her what she had witnessed at the Shadow Temple, and Ganondorf's devastatingly effective punishment for her entry. Silent for several moments, Zelda finally said, "Well, at least you were able to help some of them to escape. There is so little we can do nowadays…"
An unaskable question buzzed in Chusai's mind, the same question that needled at her brain ever since Zelda had shut herself inside the tower. She decided to tone it down a little, and perhaps get a clue. "Your Highness…when will the Hero come?"
"I can't say, Chusai…he is still building strength…"
Chusai's heart sank. She raised her head and noticed with deep shock the dark circles under the Princess' eyes. "Forgive me, Your Highness, for troubling you with these matters. You look unwell."
"Do not apologize, Chusai. You are my eyes, ears, and shield. I need to know what is going on outside these walls, but I must keep as far as possible from the foul influence of the usurper king…" She touched her hand to her temple in a rare sign of pathos and sat upon the bed. "Every night, Chusai…every night he comes to my door, asking politely to come in, when I know his intention is anything but chivalrous. He wants to remind me that he is still here, he will always be here, trying to convince me that the change of dynasties is irreversible and our Hyrule is gone forever. He asks to enter with such confidence that he believes it is only a matter of time before I give in…"
"I will not let him touch you," Chusai declared fiercely, instinctively grasping the hilt of her sword.
A long, uncomfortable silence followed. Finally, Zelda's soft, apologetic voice reached her ears. "We both know that if he were to try…there would be nothing you could do. You have already been overpowered several times…"
Chusai's face burned in shame, and she bowed her head. "Forgive me, Your Highness…I am not worthy to be called your servant…"
Zelda laid a hand on her shoulder. "All we can do is endure, Chusai. Endure until the bearer of the Triforce of Courage arrives."
Her face impassive, Chusai scowled internally. "Your Highness…I am not lacking in…I mean, I do not have the Triforce, but…I can still fight the darkness. I am not afraid of that man." She raised her head and looked directly into Zelda's eyes, fire burning deep within her own. "There must be something we can do, some poison that can be put in his water, a way to cut his throat when he is asleep…Princess, I willingly give my own life to eradicate this foul beast from our castle…"
"Chusai…we must wait…the time is not right."
"Why must we wait, Your Highness?" Chusai's voice grew sharper, more edgy. "Why must we wait when we can think of a way to dispose of him now? Lend me your wisdom, rather than waiting for the Hero, and I will put it into action!"
"I tell you we cannot."
Not listening, Chusai continued. "Why must we wait for this man, like helpless damsels in distress?" Her voice strained, her body trembling from all the atrocities she had witnessed, all the burdens she had to bear since Ganondorf entered the castle, Chusai kneeled and bent her head almost to the ground. "Your Highness, I am yours to command! Please, before I come undone from failing Hyrule day after day, unleash my vengeful spirit and I will tear him down like the gods from on high! Speak the words that will release me from the darkness and save me from the shadow I have become!" Her voice broke as tears of pain and rage formed in her eyes. "I will never serve any ruler but you. For the love of Hyrule, bring me back to life so that I may deliver sweet death to the one who has taken such sadistic joy in our suffering!"
Finally, all restraint broke and she pleaded, "I beg of you, let me do the deed instead of a Hero who does not exist and will never come!"
"Chusai," Zelda snapped, her voice cold and hard. "Remember your duty."
Chusai closed her eyes, and wrapped the raging spirit back within her heart. She stood slowly and regarded Zelda with dry, dead eyes. "Forgive me, Your Highness. I trust in you to show me my duty."
"Go to sleep, Chusai," Zelda told her, her voice markedly softer. "Doubtless you will feel better in the morning," she added, unconvincing.
Chusai gave her an abbreviated bow, then turned and left the room.
It was three in the morning, yet the canteen was not empty. A small knot of Gerudos stood and chatted with wooden flagons of ale in their hands, whiling away the time.
The door flew open with a bang. "All right, everybody out!" Chusai ordered.
They replied with jeers and catcalls, and one attempted to dump her ale on Chusai's head.
Chusai snatched the offending flagon, tossed it in the air, and sliced it in half with her sword in one deft movement. "I said OUT!"
They needed no further bidding, and left in a hurry.
Chusai locked the two entrances, stomped to the cabinet, and took out a clean flagon. She filled it with ale and pushed away the half-empty containers, then sat down and took a long drink, staring at nothing and waiting for the liquor to take effect.
She had drunk five flagons when a knock came at the door. "Piss off!" she shouted, and turned back to drowning her sorrows in ale. The doorknob creaked, then popped, and to her surprise the door opened. She leaped to her feet, jerked her sword out of its scabbard, and fell over her chair onto the floor.
Ganondorf stepped inside, and regarded the unsteady Lieutenant with mild amusement. "Having a drink? Mind if I join you?"
"Suit yourself," she snapped, and negotiated her way back onto her chair. She cleared a space on the opposite side of the table for him, but he filled his flagon and sat down next to her.
"Had a bit too much? I don't think your hair needs watering," he commented as she stared into space.
"Some fool thought it would be funny to wash it with ale." She pointed to the sliced flagon on the floor to demonstrate her retort, her words slurring into each other.
He chuckled. "I assume you did that before you got smashed. That's very unprofessional, Chusai."
She mumbled something and concentrated on the wall in front of her, trying to blot him out of her consciousness.
"Chusai." His voice became more businesslike. "I understand that you find it very difficult to adjust to everything that has happened in the past few months. But the next age is dawning, and in the coming months and years I will need your help to bring about this brave new world."
Chusai took a good pull at her ale.
"There will be a great many changes in the near future," he continued, ignoring the yawn that came after she wiped her mouth. "Some of them you may approve of, and some you may not. But I want to assure you that in the end, Hyrule will essentially remain the same, just with stronger leadership. In any case, I want you to know how important you are to the new empire." He raised his hand and placed his arm loosely around her shoulder.
Quicker than thinking, Chusai pulled a knife from her belt and held it to his throat. "So, that's your game, is it?" she snarled in a remarkably clear voice. "You can't have the Princess, so you came after the first vulnerable woman you saw?"
He backed carefully away and raised his hands in a gesture of non-aggression, then made a small bow. "I beg your pardon, Chusai, I had not meant to imply…"
"Don't you have enough women of your own?" her words slurred together again, and she waved the knife around. "Go and pursue one of them. I'm sure they'd be honored."
"Chusai, you're drunk. You wouldn't be speaking this way to me if…"
She thrust the knife into the table and drew her sword, weaving slightly to each side. "Hero be damned. I'm gonna slice you apart, right here, right now."
"All right, Chusai, that's enough. If you can't hold your liquor, you're not permitted to have any more." With a deft flick of his wrist, he knocked Chusai's sword out of her hand, then grabbed her wrist and shoulder and flipped her like a sack of flour over his shoulder.
Chusai's yells rang through the hallway. "PUT ME DOWN! TRY ANYTHING AND I'LL TEAR OUT YOUR ENTRAILS AND STRING THEM ACROSS THE BATTLEMENTS! I'LL POUR ACID DOWN YOUR THROAT WHILE YOU'RE SLEEPING!"
Several guards turned their heads as Ganondorf nonchalantly carried the raving, drooling Lieutenant down toward her chamber. I'LL COME BACK AS A GHOST AND HAUNT YOU FOR A THOUSAND YEARS! I'LL FILL YOUR SLEEP WITH NIGHTMARES BEYOND ALL LIVING COMPREHENSION!"
He pulled open the door to her chamber and unceremoniously dumped her just inside the door, where she sat flop on the floor looking rather surprised. "Good night, Chusai," he said, and shut the door.
Though she could not remember much of what had happened that night, Chusai knew she was in deep trouble, and approached the throne room the next day with profound trepidation and a massive hangover. Strangely, Ganondorf acted as if the entire episode had never happened. She went to sleep that night waiting for the inevitable.
Sure enough, the next day her heart sank when she found him waiting with a bow and arrows in his hands. He greeted her with a smile. "Since it will be slow today, I thought we might work on some more combat lessons. There's nothing like work for getting over disappointment."
Chusai chose not to answer that, and followed him wordlessly to the courtyard. He touched her sleeve, drawing attention to the black fabric she wore, and she tried not to be too obvious in pulling away. "Regarding Hylian defense strategies, I've decided I should teach you a few things I'm sure you're lacking. The first is the secret use of this clothing. It is made out of silk, which is surprisingly strong." He pulled one of the arrows from the quiver and showed her the point, his eyes gleaming in pleasure at being able to teach the art of war. "An arrow spins as it turns, and the barbs bury themselves in the flesh, so they are very hard to pull out without doing a great deal of damage. But the silk is so strong that it catches the arrow, and though it enters the body, it can easily be withdrawn by twisting in the opposite direction."
Once in the courtyard, he handed her the bow, then walked up to the target wall.
"My Lord…what are you doing?" she asked.
He produced a black cloth and waved it in the air. "As a bodyguard, you must be able to see – or hear – a threat even before it presents itself. The whistle of an enemy's arrow can alert you if you are quick enough to hear it and determine its origin. It takes a great deal of practice, but it can be done." Ganondorf bound the cloth around his eyes and stood in front of the target. "Now…fire an arrow at me."
Chusai could not believe her ears. "My Lord…?"
"Don't worry, it won't hit me. Fire an arrow."
A giddy, wild feeling took over her as she picked up the bow and notched an arrow. In the back of her mind she knew he would not give her an easy target, but the mere possibility filled her brain with mad glee. She tried not to giggle as she pulled back the arrow. Where should I aim? For his neck? For his eyes?
She squinted, setting her sights on his throat, and loosed the arrow.
With a flash of his hand, he caught it. Chusai nearly fell over in shock.
He raised the blindfold over one eye. "See? I could tell where it was coming from just from hearing the sound of it flying through the air. Good thing, too, that probably would have hurt a little bit." He gave Chusai a knowing smile that sent shivers down her spine, and walked back to her. With a quick movement he pulled the blindfold over her eyes, gently slapping her hands away as she instinctively raised them to her head. "Don't worry, I'll have someone with better control than me shooting at you," he assured her as he took her hand and led her to the target wall.
"Should I have an apple on my head, too?" she snapped, trying not to betray her fear. He merely laughed. Pushing her up against the wall, he pressed his hand down on her shoulder.
"Now, you'll need to stand perfectly still, because if you flinch you might get hurt." He released her and walked maybe ten yards to her left. "All right, shoot one!" he called to the Gerudo guard on the other side.
Chusai jumped as she heard the whistle in the air and yelped as something stung her left ear. "I said don't move," Ganondorf chided her calmly as she touched the nicked ear. "All right, shoot another one!"
Chusai froze as she heard another sharp whistle, then a thud as the arrow buried itself in the wall just to the left of her head. "Are you paying attention to where they're coming from? Fire another!"
Another arrow struck the wall to her right. The guard fired several more arrows, until Chusai could tell if they were coming from the right or left. Then, Ganondorf gently pressed a small shield in each of her hands. "All right, let's see if you can block a little. The arrows will still be off to your sides, but I want to see if you can sense where they're coming from, and if you have the reaction time to block them."
Gritting her teeth, Chusai did as she was asked. It took all her concentration to use her ears instead of her eyes, but she was relieved to find that she could feel the arrows strike her shield more often than not.
After a few hours of this, she wiped her forehead and waited with bated breath for him to say she could stop. It didn't happen. He took the shields from her hands, but pushed her back when she stepped away from the wall. "You're doing so well, Chusai, I want to see if you can dodge now."
"What?"
"You know you can't speak to me that way, Chusai. Remember your manners, and at least say 'sir'. Now, just relax and do what you've been doing, and I'm sure you'll be fine."
Chusai strained her ears, panic rising. She heard one whistle after another, managing to dodge just in time, flinching as one nicked her wrist and another struck the wall next to her face. How long do I have to keep this up? Is he just going to have her keep shooting until-
"AUGH!" Chusai ripped off the blindfold and grasped the arrow that had buried itself in her front left shoulder.
"Chusai! Don't pull, twist it out!" Ganondorf ordered, running toward her as she yanked at the shaft. She pulled away from him, but he grabbed her and pressed her against the wall so she couldn't move, then gently untwisted the arrow from her shoulder. "See?" He held up the bloody point. "It comes right out. Now go clean up, and meet me back in the throne room. I think we passed through the lessons a little too quickly today."
Chusai walked swiftly to the doctor's chambers, pressing hard against the wound to staunch the flow of blood. Even though he had allowed her to shoot the first arrow, and even though she knew she had been taught a valuable skill, she could not shake the feeling that the entire lesson had been a demonstration of his power over her.