Zelda reached for the little jar of salve again, carefully rubbing it into her hands and fingers. She had been at the range most of the morning, until her arms cramped up and her fingers callused and were starting to crack and bleed, and then she returned to the barracks to rub salve and bandage them.
The desert was still in its cooler days, but the weather was starting to warm up again, and she no longer needed her coat. Instead, she went around in her nightdresses, which were fairly lightweight and roomy enough for her growing belly, and over them she wore a gauzy black robe that she borrowed from the clothing stores of the barracks. So far, she'd been living with the Gerudo for around a week.
Link had let her know that all was quiet from Sila, for now; it could be a long time until Ganondorf went 'out hunting', but usually his maximum was a month from what she'd seen.
Zelda rubbed some of the cream on her feet as well, where her boots were rubbing uncomfortably on her feet. Swelling already, they were. She would have to send some money along the next time they went to town to pick up supplies; hopefully she could get shoes. She did not think her feet would ever be thick enough to handle the rough sand outside.
Brida had given her some terse advice on using a bow and sharpening arrows for a second use, and Zelda listened to her carefully, and practiced in the mornings until her hands were sore.
"The calluses will build up soon," Brida had assured her. "Then, you will be able to fire a bow without wincing."
Zelda thought of home, and their house. She thought now that she should have mentioned a pilgrimage or some sort of travels to take her mind off all the stress before leaving, but Milla or someone would have insisted on going with her, all fretting over the baby and her health. She appreciated their concern, but she didn't want their clingyness. She just wanted to be alone with her thoughts, and the Gerudo understood that.
Or maybe they just didn't trust her much.
/
He couldn't take it anymore. Everything irritated him. He tore up inquiries from dignitaries and refused to answer them, because their questions or requests were 'foolish and pointless'. He snapped at every maid who approached him with food or drink, even after having seen it sampled himself. He ignored Sila, whether she was knocking lightly on his door or sitting with him at their dinner. And the latest hunting trip, where he'd gotten more reckless and chased down a small, young deer, bashing its head open against a tree trunk, had done nothing to whet his appetite, his itch for blood and suffering.
Ganondorf called upon one of his own servants, one who earned his paycheck usually by doing nothing at all. He was a thin-fingered wide-eyed creep of a man named Karus, and his traditional position in Hyrule's kingdom had been the "Master of King's Chambers," as in, a pimp. For the kings that wanted strange, he was the one who would go out and seek the freshest of women. But since Ganondorf took the crown, he'd done almost nothing, and seemed to go forgotten, except for his continued pay. Ganondorf intended to make him earn that pay now.
Karus stood stiffly before the king's writing desk, his hands folded and his chin twitching under his sparse beard. Ganondorf looked sickly, there was sweat on his forehead and he was a little wild-eyed.
"I need… I need flesh. A body- a, a woman."
"Of course, sir," Karus intoned.
"But not… no one important. A beggar, if you have to. Someone that won't be… noticed. Maybe old. Yes, very old. An old beggar."
Karus nodded again, as placid as Lake Hylia. But inside he was a little disgusted; what sort of thing was Ganondorf into?
"Bring her here within the hour. Tell her nothing, and tell no one. Come by the whores' entrance," he directed in clipped tones, half-gesturing.
Karus bowed his head slightly. "Yes."
"I will dispose—dispatch her when I am done. You've no need to show her out."
"How much is she to be given, Sire?"
Ganondorf locked up. "Ah. I will take care of that."
"Of course." Karus bowed again, more deeply, and he left.
Ganondorf took slow, even breaths. Soon, very soon. He just needed one, someone no one noticed, that no one missed, and he would be done with this business for a few months. By the time he needed another kill, they would be lining the streets, in awe of his God status.
It took Karus about an hour, and Ganondorf looked around, bewildered, when the passage in his rooms opened unexpectedly. The old woman reeked, with matted grey and black hair, eyes dingy with yellow crud, and long grey nails, all wrapped up in a filthy and too-small blue smock. Karus bowed to Ganondorf. "Anything else you need, sir?" he asked with no inflection.
"No, leave me," he commanded, staring. Finally, a target. Someone of no meaning to take all of his rage, all of his anger.
Karus bowed again and left.
The old woman spent those few minutes looking around idly, rubbing her hands together. "Sure am glad to be out of the cold," she said suddenly. "Gets so mighty cold out there on the street, lord. You wouldn't believe. I've seen pidgeons turned to ice just by flying too high up. They come crashing down to the ground and shatter like a glass pane."
"Shut up," he snapped, standing. He fumbled, but soon he had a little knife that he used for letter opening in his hand.
The beggar woman wrinkled her nose in irritation at him. "Well, you're not a very nice man, are you? I certainly won't be voting for you next year."
"What?" This stupid phrase caught him off guard. "You don't vote for kings."
"Well if we did, I'd vote for the other guy," she mumbled in return, half-pacing his rooms, reaching towards things as if to touch them and then stopping short.
He could feel the air turning still and condensing. His heart quickened and his blood pulsed in his ears. It was almost like a hot bath on a cold day, and he sank into it completely as he approached the woman.
"Shall I lie on the bed?" she asked as she half-turned.
"No."
He swung his arm upwards and stabbed her in the center of one eye. She let out an ungodly screech, and he panicked, shoving one hand into her mouth. The old woman's teeth clamped down hard on his fingers, and he shouted a curse, grabbing her by the lower jaw and ripping her face off the letter opener, hearing her jaw give a sharp crack. She moaned in pain, muffled around his hand, and the ruined ball leaked a clear fluid and blood down her face and into the old woman's mouth. She tried to thrash against him with her long, curled nails, but he swung again and again with his little knife, puncturing her cheek, her nose, and finally her temple, which killed her. But he wasn't done, and again and again he swung down upon her, panting, his eyes bright with bloodlust.
Finally, he let her drop onto the floor, his skin shiny with sweat. He stared down at the ruined, bleeding figure for a few minutes, until a dull panic set in. How was he to get rid of the body?
He unlocked the secret passage and drug her down into it, heaping her up in a corner. He would deal with that later; he couldn't burn it, but maybe he could hack it up and distribute the pieces around in the sewers or the woods or something. He turned to leave the rooms and felt more dismayed when he saw the thin trail of blood and excrement from where the body had fallen. He couldn't have maids cleaning this up, asking questions.
Fumbling, he looked around the chamber room and found a large, deep bowl. He filled it with water from the tub and, after a thought, he added a sliver of soap, but it didn't do much good in frothing up. Ganondorf grabbed a rag and started to clean, stripping down to his underbreeches to do so. The scent and texture of the mess on the floor made his skin recoil in disgust. But no one else could do this, no one else could know.
He cleaned frantically, but only got halfway across the room before he realized he had to change the water. Cursing, he lugged the pot to his bathroom window and, after checking below, he carefully poured the pot down the outside wall, so that it would trickle and hopefully blend in with the rains they were said to get later in the day.
Ganondorf cleaned halfway down the hall to his alchemy chamber, and finally he decided it was good enough; he was the only one who came in here, after all, so no need to worry about stains.
The rag he tossed on the body's face; he wouldn't be using that any more. The pot he would throw out as well. He wasn't about to have it washed with the other dishes, but he was not going to use it again. It'd been tainted.
When he felt comfortable enough, he locked everything back up and took a second to stand in the middle of his rooms, and let himself relax. Finally, that calming effect could wash over him, that elation. He laughed, a few short barks, and then he changed into some other clothes, and summoned a maid. With his careful examination of the ranks, he had not noticed any newcomers, but he knew to be careful and keep an eye on them all the same.
The maid knocked on his bedroom door, as it was easier to do than coming up through the entrance, what with her being on shift in the great hall anyway. He let her in, and she could smell something sickly in the air, but she resolved not to wrinkle her nose. Even kings were prone to a smelly bowel movement now and again.
"Bring me my wife. I want to see her."
/
Sila followed the maid down the hall. Ganondorf never summoned her, and she was on edge. What happened? What did he want? If he knew of the plot against him, he wouldn't ask her to come alone to his bedrooms. She twisted the loose sleeve of her dress nervously as she tried to summon up her responses to each probing question, to soothe his rages.
So it was doubly unnerving when he was laying in bed and smiling, sleepy and relaxed. She smiled back, trying to see the whole room without moving her eyes. He'd snapped at her this morning, and now he was calm. What had he done.
"Yes, sire?" she asked in a low voice, as if completely oblivious.
"Come and sit."
She did so, curling up on the foot of the bed.
"Closer," he urged.
Sila crawled up, until he took her by the waist (just a little bigger every day) and gently pulled her onto his lap, and she could feel him under the covers bumping against her thigh.
He killed again, another person murdered who did nothing wrong, she knew it. Instead, she giggled and ran her nails lightly down his bare chest, though inside it made her want to scream.
/
Cris looked carefully over the list of places he had made, with Linna's help. Several of the villagers he'd asked to come around had done so, and were waiting for him to say what was wrong.
"Zelda Fulson is missing," he said suddenly. "Has anyone seen her?"
They mumbled together, but came up with nothing but 'no'.
"She hasn't been found at home, and her horse is missing. Linna is very worried for her, especially with the fact that she is pregnant. I've made a list of places she could be that we have checked, and haven't checked."
He read down the list, which included the gravesite, her father's house, and near the horse paddock and the cow fields, among others. He made no mention to them about what Linna had told him in a hushed whisper.
"Zelda is our neighbor, and her father was a respected veteran. We should do whatever we can to find her, because that is what good neighbors do. Is anyone willing to help donate to have flyers drawn?"
There was some shuffling as people added money to a small clay jar for that purpose.
"We should probably search in shifts; women can look during the day while the men finish the fields for summer, and men can take up the searches at night while they have some strength."
"What about the Gerudo king?" someone asked.
"What about him?"
"If she's missing, what if she's with him?"
"What if he kidnapped her to be his bride?"
"Uh, fine, then uh, I guess we can have a flyer sent to him personally." He frowned. "Though don't think he'll take time out of his busy day to help us find her."
The people grumbled amongst themselves as Linna tried to get them organized in groups.
"That's a good point," one of the older women whispered to her compatriot.
"What is?" she replied.
"The desert king, kidnapping Zelda? After all, he was at the wedding and some say he bought the dress for her."
"What's he want with a country bumpkin when he has a thousand wives anyway?"
"Oh come on, those big-nosed slags?"
"Maybe she wasn't even kidnapped. I'm sure he has a lot of money all wrapped up."
"Yeah, in a nice wad in his trousers." They giggled as Linna talked to the rest of the group, trying to coordinate times and places to search.
"You don't suppose…" one said, trailing off.
"What?"
"What if she wasn't kidnapped? What if she was in love with him?"
"Why do you think that?"
"Well after all, Alejandro and Yoro were found in the woods by the king. He said it looked like a boar got them, but…"
"There aren't any boars in the woods," the other woman exclaimed in surprise.
"Yeah, not in the South."
"Is that where they were found?"
"Yeah."
"That's kinda near Gerudo…"
"It is, isn't it."
The women stared at each other in horror, and they felt a faint chill in their bones.
/
Sila was exhausted and sore. She lay on Ganondorf's chest, her heart pounding. Her shoulders and neck hurt where he'd bitten her until she yelped, her breasts ached from how he gripped them, and the rest of her was generally battered and raw. But he was content and lay half asleep under her, his hand lightly stroking along her back. She thought of Link's more gentle approach, and found she missed it. There was no in between with her husband. It was either the animalistic lust that left her in pain, or the boring and clinical approach. She thought of trying to teach him to be more gentle, but he didn't seem the type to appreciate direction.
"What do you think of a nice bath?" he asked her quietly.
"That sounds very good," she replied, looking up at him.
"Here, I'll call someone up."
She rolled carefully off of him and onto the other side of the bed, and he climbed out to go pull the bell cord. When he turned back, his smile quickly turned to a wide-opened stare.
"What?" Sila asked, looking down at herself. She gasped in horror—there was more than just his essence staining the sheets. Now there was blood.
/
"I love you," she whispered.
"I love you," he murmured back.
Zelda was curled up in bed with Alejandro, her cheek on his chest, listening to his heart pound. Their room was lit by the moon, and they wore only the bed covers. It shone across their faces as they embraced each other. He put one hand to her stomach.
"It will be a boy, I think," he said quietly.
"Why do you think that?"
Alejandro smiled. "I know it."
"Because he will be as handsome as you?" she laughed a little.
Alejandro shook his head. "Because it has to be."
"Why?" Zelda's smile faded. There was a weird tinge to the room, the air hot and pressing in on them.
"There should be a boy, not a girl. Sila is having the girl."
"Sila is pregnant?"
Alejandro looked away, his face gaunt. "For now."
"What do you mean, for now?" Zelda sat up. "Alej?"
"He's starting to lose his grip. He didn't mean to kill anyone, but he has to, now."
"What the hell are you talking about?" She started to panick. The sky overhead brightened in seconds, into a new day.
"He has to kill to feel anything. He has all he wanted, but he still wants more power. He craves their deaths. He needs to feel the power of killing them, of having control over whether they live or die."
A red welt opened across Alejandro's throat, and blood flowed out onto the sheets.
"Sila is having a girl. The princess. Things must be set right."
Zelda could feel herself being pulled away from him, out through the door. Strong hands were on her shoulders, dragging her from her husband.
"What are you talking about?" she screamed.
"He knows… he has to die," Alejandro said, looking at her. He sat up, and his head rolled off.
Zelda woke up screaming at the top of her lungs. The hands were still on her shoulders, but they were shaking her.
"Zelda! Zelda! Damn it—
Someone slapped her hard, and she sucked in another breath, her eyes wide. Veru was shaking her, her face stern and a little bewildered. No one knew how to act around this woman from the forest, and she got stranger all the time.
"You were having a nightmare."
"What?" Zelda rubbed her eyes, then her sore cheek. She tried to think back, but the dream was gone, and she was left feeling deeply unsettled.
"You were screaming loud enough to wake the dead. Goddesses above." Veru turned to one of the other soldiers. "Get her a drink, and something to chew on."
Zelda rubbed her eyes, but still she felt bothered, and she couldn't place why. The soldier Veru had sent off came back quickly with some fresh fruit. "There's no water yet today," she said as explanation.
Zelda resisted the fruit, putting one hand up, but Veru more or less shoved it into her mouth. "Chew and swallow," she snapped. Hesitantly, she did. It helped to wake her up a little, and Veru held the plate out until Zelda had finished.
"Good. Since you are up, you may as well go practice your archery," Veru said. It was only sort of an order.
Zelda rubbed at her stomach tentatively, but aside from a little nausea, she felt fine. She climbed out of bed and took a piece of ribbon to tie back her hair, then she picked up her bow and quiver to head to the range.
/
Link was sitting on one of the tall sand dunes nearest to the mines. He kept a rusty telescope in one hand, and he was waiting for the sun to come up to count the number of people in the mines. They'd been there all night, as well, hauling out the green chunks from the ground and carrying them off in massive carts. By his estimations, they had almost burned up their maximum time given by the peace treaty by working night and day. He wondered idly what would happen if they did reach that time; and he knew it had better be the people leaving.
The sand was a little harder to measure, by his eye. He had a mathematician come in and do some calculations, and map out square areas that would be roughly 100 pounds of sand, using sturdy metal poles and long strips of cord. So far, about forty or so had been cleared and dismantled. He made sure there was always a rotation of his own guards near the sand operation, so that the dimensions of the plots could not be messed with.
Some of the Hylian employees were younger than he expected. Much younger. Surely enough that Hyrule had lost some able-bodied men throughout the warring years, but some of the children looked too young to be away from their mothers.
He looked back towards their outpost, the last remnants of the Gerudo people. Soon enough, they would die out, then Hyrule could claim the desert as its own and ravage it as they wished. All he was doing was biding time. He thought of Sila, pregnant with that bastard's child, where his own had been only a few months earlier. That child was their key to preserving at least some small part of a positive Gerudo legacy.
The sun started to rise, and he shifted his weight carefully on the sand, as not to slide down. He went down onto his stomach and raised the telescope to his eye, looking out towards the mines. Not many kids at the moment, probably they were at home, asleep. He looked around, leaning in, and froze.
One of the foremen had binoculars to his face, and was staring at Link.
They locked gazes with each other, though at a distance, and finally Link gave a slight nod of his head, starting to lower the telescope. The foreman slowly did the same after returning the nod. Of course they were watching. The mines had been a ploy to keep an eye on the little desert troupe. He should have known.
Link slid down the dune the other way, getting up and heading back to the fortress. Now he knew where they stood.
/
Sila was laying back on pillows in her bed. Ganondorf stood to one side, watching her closely. On the other side was the doctor, who was carefully wiping his hands clean.
"Well. The baby is fine. I believe you're far enough along to hold onto it comfortably. But riding a horse is ill-advised, especially this far along. If you need to get around and you are too tired to walk, hire a carriage."
He looked at the Gerudo, then his worried and exhausted king. Riding a horse, sure. These desert sluts would fuck to their own deaths, if they could. No wonder their own child almost died because of her appetite. Sila looked at the doctor, and he thought he saw hatred and mistrust in her eyes. Had she used her witch powers to read his mind?
He gestured for Ganondorf and the men left the room.
"I strongly suggest she rest for a few days, and walk and stand as little as possible for a week. And… I also suggest you try to calm some of her more voracious appetites. I know how men are with new wives, especially ones so wild as the Gerudo are purported to be. But it is either her or the child, Your Majesty."
If he had not had that fresh kill on his hands. Ganondorf might have sentenced the doctor to the dungeons for such insult. But for now he felt complacent, and relief that his future was still intact.
"Thank you for your assistance," he said softly. The doctor nodded, then bowed and left. Ganondorf went back into Sila's rooms, and took her hand. She smiled at him, and went to sit up a little more. She winced and he put his hands on her shoulders.
"You're to stay here in bed until you heal," he ordered sternly. "And I mean that. I won't have you losing our child."
"I don't plan on doing so, either." She touched the curve of her stomach carefully. "I want this child as badly as you do. Perhaps you should not have been so rough with me, sir." She snapped the last words, and Ganondorf was a little surprised at the fire in her.
"Your pain and fear has made you peevish," he muttered. "You would do well to keep yourself calm, before the baby is lost."
"I am calm!" she cried. Ganondorf looked at her for a while, and she stared back. She would not be bested.
He grunted and turned away. "I mean it about rest," he said. "Do so."
He left her rooms without a glance back, and immediately went to his own chambers.
Now to deal with that other woman.
/
Zelda stayed at the range too late, and she walked back over the hot sand, cursing. She'd left her boots aside, knowing the sand would be warm enough to be comfortable, and anyway they were getting too tight and small on her feet. Now the sun was up, and the heat of summer came early here in the desert. Her arms and face were pink from the exposure, and the muscles in her shoulders ached from the bow. But she was getting better with each session, and it would be worth it. Today she'd had at least two arrows land almost at center. Once she got used to the slight drift just from holding the bow and firing, she was able to learn how to compensate for it as well, and she was getting better at judging it.
As for now, her arms and stomach ached; she was hungry and had probably spent too long out in the sun. Most of the food eaten in the desert was fruit, whatever they had. Sometimes smoked rabbit or snake meat from the desert wildlife. She craved potatoes, roasted or baked, and maybe a nice little chunk of pot roast. She needed more than what she was getting.
She went to Link's rooms after dropping off the bow and quiver in her own. She would sharpen them later. Zelda knocked sharply at the door, but there was a bit of a wait before, finally, "come in."
She slowly opened the door and looked inside. Link was sitting at his desk, frowning over a ledger. He glanced up at her then back down, and she sat down and folded her hands together.
"So, what do you need?" He did not look at her for a few minutes, concentrating on his math.
"I brought a little money with me. If I give you some, next time someone goes to town, can they get me some supplies? The food… isn't enough."
He set his quill down carefully and waved a hand over the ink to let it dry. After a few minutes of hesitation, he spoke up.
"We went to town yesterday. We only go once a month."
Zelda muttered a curse and bit her lip, then "I will go, then."
"I don't want you going alone. Take Veru or Brida."
"Well, that makes sense. I want to go now, to get it done with. It's not that I'm not grateful, but… I need more to eat."
"All of my people need more to eat. We can't afford it." His words were bitter and sharp, and she'd gotten the initial feeling he was annoyed with his books, but now she wasn't sure.
"But what about the peace deal…?"
"That was little more than a beg of mercy. A surrender. Gerudo is bleeding money every day; we have to cart in water, food, other necessities." He folded his hands before his face, sighing. "Gerudo is going to crumble within the year."
She watched him, unsure of what to say. What could she say?
"Is… is Sila going to help save you? As queen?"
"One can only hope. But that might be impossible. Probably we'll just get absorbed by Hyrule. We'll become an outpost for training new soldiers. That's the best I can hope for."
"Why don't you do that now? Join up under the king's title?"
"Because I'd rather my country burn to ashes than be his servant," Link snapped.
Zelda looked to her hands. "Maybe this is a case where you need to swallow your pride."
"How can you talk to me like that when that bastard killed your family? How can you say I should bow down before a murderous tyrant? Are you so ignorant of the state of Hyrule? Can I even still use you in the castle?" He glared at her across the desk.
She stared back, her jaw twitching in sudden fury. She found it prudent to not answer.
"Tell you this," he said, pointing at her. "When you go there, look around. I don't mean at the market or the fancy shops. Go to the back alleys, to the dingy bars, the whorehouses. Tell me what you see there is what you want for your country, and I'll drop the whole plot."
He looked down at his hated ledger again and slammed it shut. "Eat there. Go to a little restaurant and eat what you can pay for. Do not bring food to this place that you don't plan to eat right away. It will either be stolen or spoil."
Zelda stood and left, dropping the customary bow. Despite her apathy towards the goings-on in the castle town, she was still protective towards her home country.
She went to find Veru, but she was unsuccessful; Veru was on shift, watching the mines. She went to find Brida, but Brida told her to find Veru, as she had no interest in going to town, regardless of Link's orders.
So Zelda went to the stables, got her horse, and went alone.
On her way, she considered abandoning the Gerudo and heading back home. They could find someone else to do their work… though they would probably come after her. She felt more and more sure that she had screwed up by agreeing to anything the desert king (not really, she supposed) asked or said. But it was too late for any of that now. She would have to get herself out of this mess, any way possible.
/
Ganondorf was drenched in sweat, but the deed had finally been finished. There would always be a smear in the corner where the woman's body had been, but that was just for his eyes. He had cut the mass apart at each bend, each joint, and wrapped them in the sheets Sila had bled on before those were burned. Everything went tied up as best as he could.
Now what?
He stared at the huge white mound for a long time, agitated. It needed to be hauled from the castle unobtrusively. If only he'd thought this damn plan through! Maybe if he rolled it out through the whores' passage, hired someone to haul the body... yes… yes…
His nerves were still ringing, so he left the room for a little while, locking it up tight while he decided to think. Already there was an odor around the mass, the limbs were stiff and hard to move. He would have to have it moved tonight, if not sooner. For now, he went to sit back at his desk to do some mindless work; read over pleas and letters and things. He would let the problem circulate in the back of his mind, and hopefully he would come up with a handy solution.
/
Zelda arrived in town near the end of the day. The streets were thinning out with the closing of the market, the last of the vegetables and things being sold off. She wanted so much, everything smelled and looked good. She settled for a seedy vendor at the end of the stretch and slightly on one corner, who was making fast-cook dinners of thinly sliced meat and grilled vegetables, served in a thin sauce with a slice of bread. It took most of her money to get it (though she couldn't really be sure if it should have actually taken most of her money because the vendor grunted when she held out her hand for change) but she was so hungry that she ate like a wolf, and was done in minutes, and it was delicious.
When she finished and wiped her mouth clean, she stood to leave again, feeling better than she had in a few days. As she turned though, a slip of paper stuck to the wall past the vendor's stall caught her eye.
She stepped towards it and gasped in surprise. It was herself; or at least, it was supposed to be. By reading it, she could see that any information regarding her whereabouts was to be mailed to Linna. Zelda muttered a curse and tore the flyer off the wall, looking it over and then stuffing it into her bag. How many more of these were there?
She kept her face down and started walking out again, quickly. She had a long trip back. But Link's urging had her slowing down and stopping, looking towards the ill-lit back alleys. And now she really let herself focus, looking beyond the market and towards the surrounding buildings.
It became clear, as she looked, that Hyrule had barely survived the war itself. There were still buildings with damage from battle, some of it appearing to cripple the structures. She made sure her dagger was with her, and she went down the first alley. The muck from the streets was swept down this way, it seemed, and left to pile in corners. She poked her head into one door. It turned out to be a bar, and she could see a few old battered men sitting around with their drinks in dirty glasses, the whole place reeking of stale, sour beer. They didn't even turn their heads. Some of them were missing an arm or leg. Veterans, she assumed.
She backed out. Sure, troubling, but war always had such casualties. She still wasn't sure what Link had been ranting about. Maybe she just didn't know the town well enough to see its changes. She stopped when she encountered two guards, who approached her, impeding her path.
"Excuse me," she said in a low tone, ducking her head and turning to go around. One of the guards grabbed her arm and wheeled her to face them.
"Where's your chaperone?" the guard asked sharply.
"Oh come on," Zelda muttered, trying to pull her arm free and glowering at him. "My chaperone? Do I look so young?"
"Women are to have a chaperone in town after dark. It's safer."
"Sounds wise enough, then. Can one of you escort me to the stables? I should be heading home."
"We cannot act as chaperone. You should have brought one with you. Without a chaperone, you're to be held in the jail overnight, until morning. It's for your own safety."
"What? Oh that's ridiculous. I can take care of myself."
"You might think that, but you'd be surprised at the craftiness of rapists and pickpockets. Come on."
They each grabbed one of her arms and started walking her towards the castle, presumably to the dungeons. She scrambled and tried to pull away, their grip tightening. Zelda gasped suddenly, as if in great pain, and she crumpled to her knees, the guards sagging in surprise with her.
"Oh! Oh, my—my baby. Please, I feel a cramp. I need a doctor."
"You can see one at the jail."
They tried to haul her up, and again she sagged, shouting in alarm. There were even tears in her eyes, from her skin getting pinched in their hands.
"Please! I can't even walk! Bring one to me!"
One of the guards hesitated, leaning in to his partner and talking in a mutter. "It might be serious, Firo. We should probably get a carriage for her."
The other guard snorted, looking down at Zelda. "Fine. I'll go get one. But so help me, if you don't keep an eye on her—
"I will! I will! She can't even move right now, I can keep an eye on her."
Slowly, the other guard started to back up to go track down a carriage. The other guard took Zelda carefully under the arms and hauled her up.
"Are you okay?" he asked. "Can you at least stand?"
Zelda kept her head down. Now what?
"I can't…" she whispered. The guard leaned in, and Zelda started to sink again with a cry.
The guard cursed as her weight pulled him off balance. Zelda gripped his arms in return, and with all the strength she could summon, she pulled him down and threw him to the ground. He cried out in surprise, and Zelda got to her feet, running despite the pinching in her toes. She didn't run long, just enough to get around the corner, and then she walked as quickly as she could to the stables, trying to keep on the edges of a crowd.
"Come on, come on," she whispered under her breath, grappling for her horse. The man watching the stables helped her up.
"Can I ask you something real quick?" she said, panting.
The stablehand looked at her curiously. "Sure, go on."
"Um. The rule about… about women needing chaperones."
"Yeah, what about it?"
"Is that one of the king's laws?"
"Of course. Brought into effect shortly after the end of the war. It was an attempt to cut down rapes and attacks on women."
"But… couldn't they be attacked sitting in the dungeon overnight?"
"Oh, you don't sit in the dungeon overnight. It's until someone of relation, like a husband, comes to bail you out."
"What? But what if… what if your husband is dead?"
"Or your father, or another parent."
"It can't just be anyone?"
"No. Did you… not know?"
"Well, I'm not from town."
"Lucky you don't get caught up by a guard, then."
She nodded. "Thank you for the information." Quickly, then, she left the stables and headed out of the castle market area, trying to act casual and calm. Zelda glanced back now and again, worried that they would start to run after her. She thought she could see guards approaching the ones that bordered the main entrance, but it was hard to tell. The guards were shouting and pointing at her, and when she glanced back she could now see more coming after her.
Zelda panicked and dug her heels into her horse's sides. The horse broke into a gallop as the guards ran after her, trying to catch up. Ahead, they were closing the main entrance, though shopping people that were also trying to leave were protesting and pushing at the gates.
"Oh come on!" she cried out. But she was trapped in the crowd, and guards were wading through the people to try to pull Zelda free.
"Come on, lady!" one of them snapped, pulling at the reins in her hands. Her horse snorted and stamped nervously at the men crowding around her, their armor stinking and their voices angry. Her hand went to touch at the dagger on her thigh, though she didn't think she could kill all of them. She didn't think she could have killed any of them. She kicked at their hands, and her horse bit at the guards' grabbing hands.
"Let us through!" the people were screaming at the gates, shaking them. The metal groaned at the hinges, loud enough to make her eyes water.
"We have to let them out!" shouted one of the guards at the doors.
"We've almost got her!" one near her shouted back, trying to pull Zelda off her horse. She reached up under her skirt and pulled the dagger free, threatening the guard with it. He jumped back in alarm from the sharp point.
"Don't you touch me!" she shouted, her eyes wild. Her horse reared and she clung to its back tightly, not about to fall off and suffer an injury.
"Just let her out, Del! Nayru's teeth!"
The guard turned his head, looking into Zelda's face with deep anger.
"If you come back, I will know. And you will not get out again."
She spit on him, and there were a few cheers from the people watching the drama unfold in their midst. The gates, badly warped by now, were slowly opened, and the leaving masses poured out, Zelda following along behind.
Soon they were back to the fields, and she put the dagger away, securing it in the sheath. Her heart was pounding and she felt trembly and sick, and even worse, she was a little hungry again. She cursed and turned her horse towards the desert, and they headed back.
Zelda slumped forward, muttering in anger. She heard a rustling in her purse, and when she looked inside, she found the flyer from Linna. She thought of heading there directly and explaining what had happened to Linna. But how could she explain what she was doing without being considered crazy? Instead, she would write a letter, so that Linna would know she was fine and safe. Once she got back and had some rest, she would do just that.
But when she got back to the fortress, she saw multiple guards waiting for her, and Link at the forefront.
"Zelda!" he shouted, when he knew for certain it was her. "What the hell was that?"
She pulled her horse to a stop. "What? I was hungry. I told you I was going."
"You were supposed to take someone with you!"
"No one would go! And why the hell are you lecturing me?" She glowered, gritting her teeth. "Don't you dare treat me like a child!"
He walked over to her, staring up at her. "I didn't want you getting trapped in the damn dungeons. How'd you pull that off?"
"I… left. I wanted to, so I did." He swore under his breath, and reached up to help her down. Instead, she carefully climbed down off her horse on her own. She turned, staring at him. "I'm fine. I made it there and back. Besides, wouldn't I need a man with me for it to count?"
"Do you seriously think any guard wants to argue with Brida?" He looked her over and sighed. "Well then. Did you get what you needed?"
"I think," she replied. "There's nothing you can do to bring more produce to this area?"
"It's a desert. What could we do?"
She looked around. "I guess… if you started a little farm a little farther north, on habitable land. Get some sheep. Things like that. Or if you went to a source closer than the castle market."
Link nodded half-heartedly. "I'll have to think about it, but we have more important things to deal with now." He looked at the bottom of her dress, where there was a slight rip, but he said nothing. "I mean it, though. Don't go there alone again."
"I won't, for a while." She hesitated. "Can I write a letter? I want to let my friends know I'm doing well."
"The one who sent me a flyer asking of your whereabouts?"
She stopped. "What?"
"I received a flyer and a letter asking if I knew where you were a day or so ago."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I haven't replied yet. I didn't know if you knew. I would've thought you'd told them what was going on."
"I felt they would have stopped me."
He sighed. "Write the letter. Let them know you're safe."
Feeling they were done with their conversation, she turned and headed towards the fortress, to go to her rooms. She was more exhausted than she'd been earlier, and now she wanted rest, deep and dreamless.