Zelda felt her way down the hidden corridor, pressing her fingers into the cracks as she maneuvered in total darkness. At one point her foot slipped and she wavered slightly, digging her fingers into the crumbling grout between the stones. She heard the sound of pebbles near her feet rattle and click, smacking against things as they fell into the deep void below.

A secret passage, built for she knew not what purpose; but it had lain forgotten for so long that even Impa did not know about it. The strange mark on her hand had drawn her toward it, a little over a year ago, and she had explored it bit by bit when the boredom ate at her mind too deeply for her to bear. But she had never gone this far, and at this point it was only great care, instinct, and luck that kept her from losing her footing.

Finally a dull glow reached her eyes, and she stared as if blind at the mark on her hand. As she inched her way downward, it glowed ever so slightly brighter. Perhaps the people she was looking for were nearby. She had no idea what 'Power' and "Courage' would look like, and felt grateful to have the Triforce to help recognize them, whoever they might be.

She heard the clank of armor to her left, and knew a guard had to be nearby. Zelda eased herself down to the bottom step, then cautiously reached out with her foot to make sure there were no more holes or drops. She listened hard at the far wall, where her mark glowed the brightest, and when she heard the guard clank away she pressed her hand against a similar mark on the wall.

-&-

Ganondorf smiled cordially toward the young guard who stood across the small room from him, tipping his head slightly as he met the man's eyes through the iron bars. He could distinctly see the man shiver, and heard the rattle of armor.

I wish I knew why my mark has gotten all these people in such a fuss he thought to himself. Imagine how they would react if they knew what I could do. In fact, although they seem suspicious of my name and my race – and they should be, as I understand I was named for someone a bit unstable – it's the mark that scares them. Even though it's of their making, and is spoken of in high regard.

Ganondorf had a feeling that the current King was using misinformation to rule his people, though he had no idea what he could have said in order to make a sacred symbol scare them so deeply. Maybe the Hylians' fears that he would attempt to take over the country were not misplaced; but even so, he felt he could do better than a cowardly man who kept control of others using lies and deceit.

Suddenly he heard a ruckus on the far left side of the dungeon, and two guards dragged a struggling young man in between them. The boy wore peasants' clothes, but one of the guards held a simple yet well-made sword, which he must have confiscated.

The guards threw the boy into the cell next to Ganondorf. The Gerudo King watched as the boy immediately stood up and nearly climbed the walls in defiance, sticking his fingers in the lock in order to determine its mechansim.

Both amused and intrigued, Ganondorf asked, "What are you in for, boy? Those are farmer's clothes you're wearing…you can't be a simple street thief."

The boy pushed back the shock of blonde hair from his face and turned to Ganondorf with huge blue eyes, which grew even wider. "You have a mark like mine!" he exclaimed, and showed Ganondorf the back of his hand.

Ganondorf nearly fell over. What was this puny kid doing with the mark of a great power? He had to admit, though, there was something unusual about the kid. "Yeah, I do. And that's the reason we're both locked in here."

"Whatever for?"

"I've no idea," Ganondorf said simply. "All I've been able to determine is that there was a shift of power on the throne, and the current ruler has demonized anything that has to do with the previous King." He frowned at the boy's blank expression. "That means that what was good is now bad, including this mark. And there is at least one other person who has one, the Princess of this kingdom, who is hidden captive somewhere in this castle."

The youth's eyes lit up. "A hidden princess? Just like in a fairy tale!"

Ganondorf rolled his eyes. "Yes, well, unless you have a magic fairy or something, that fact isn't going to help us much."

Leaning forward, the boy whispered, "I can get us out of here, if you're willing to fight with me."

Stunned, Ganondorf bent down and whispered back, "That's a brave thing to suggest, boy, but foolish. I'm with you, but I want you to follow my lead…and get of here using theives' tricks."

The boy nodded, extending his hand. "My name's Link. What's yours?"

Strange…the name seems familiar, though I know I've never heard it before. "It's Ganondorf, kid. Ganondorf Dragmire of the Gerudo."

"Oy!" The guard across the room yelled. "No more talking, you two."

Ganondorf gave him his best oily smile. "Just trying to reassure the boy, here," he said with no hint of sarcasm. "I'm sure it must be a frightening experience for a young lad."

In the few seconds it took for Ganondorf to speak, Link had popped open the lock. As the guard leaped forward, he suddenly disappeared in a wreath of fire. Link turned, wide-eyed, as Ganondorf calmly unlocked his own door. "Did you do that?"

"I did. You have a problem with that, boy?"

"No," Link said as he retrieved his sword from the box just behind where the guard had been standing. "But let's not evaporate any more people if we can, okay?"

"Hey you!" Three more guards appeared from the entry door to the room, and launched themselves upon the two freed prisoners. Ganondorf watched in stunned surprise as Link easily disarmed his opponents, then ran them both through.

Ganondorf dispatched the last one with another burst of magic. "I wouldn't expect such a pacifist to be so handy with a sword."

Link sheathed his sword. "The key words were 'if we can'. If someone's gonna attack me, I'm not just gonna stand here." He turned to his new companion. "Where should we start looking for this princess? Think your theiving skills are good enough to steal one from a castle?"

Ganondorf grinned in spite of himself. "Yes, actually. It's just a question of finding her. I doubt that she would be down here, even if disgraced, as she's still a person of nobility. It would not surprise me if she were in a special place, a tower or separate dungeon."

Suddenly both jumped, startled, as the marks on their hands lit up with a subtle but unmistakable glow. "What's that mean?" Link demanded. "It's never done that before."

"Hang on, kid, I don't have the answers to everything." Ganondorf scanned the room with both human and supernatural sense, a magic entity appearing in his second sight off to his left. "There's someone with significant magic power approaching from over there," he replied, pointing. "Friend or foe, I can't tell."

Link drew his sword and both approached the hallway carefully, Ganondorf lighting a ball of fire in his hand to push away the shadows that the torches did not reach. Suddenly they heard a shout, the clank of armor, and a young girl's yelp of fear and surprise.

Link leaped forward before Ganondorf could say anything. Cursing, the Gerudo King followed him as quickly as he could without jumping blindly into the dark. He rounded a corner to see the boy challenging three guards, who held two swords and a spear in his face.

As the boy attacked, the guard holding a spear – much bigger and well-built than the others – struck Link across the head with the butt of his weapon. The three guards checked at the sight of Ganondorf as Link picked himself up off the floor. "He's just a boy, but you're different," the largest guard growled in a surprisingly thick voice.

Ganondorf sneered. "Three or three hundred, you're no match for me." He concentrated his magic power into one hand – the marked one – and balling it into a fist, he punched the knight full into the chest. After a flash of un-light, the others in the room blinked and saw nothing but a pile of armor where the guard had stood. The other two guards turned and fled down the hall.

"Wait!" Ganondorf ordered, pulling Link back by his shirt. The boy turned and saw what the men had been guarding; a young woman in a purple dress of fine silks, her hair done up in braids and a simple gold crown on her head.

She stared back at Link just as incredulously as he stared at her. "Courage and Power," she said more to herself than to them. Then, with a slight incline of her head, she said, "Welcome and well met. I am Princess Zelda."

Ganondorf frowned at Link, who stared open-mouthed. "I am Ganondorf, King of the Gerudo. My companion here is Link. Now that we've got all the little niceties taken care of, perhaps you can tell us how to get out of here?"

Zelda absently touched the back of her hand as she thought, the mark clear and bright on her as well. "This way," she said as she pointed down the hallway opposite.

They swept through the hallways at a half-run, Ganondorf lighting the way forward and holding them back at every turn, listening for more guards. They could hear shouts behind them, but nothing in front of them, until they reached a fork in the passages. "They're coming from all sides," Ganondorf growled. "We'll have to fight one way or the other…what are you doing?"

Zelda stood at the right-side wall, running her hand along it as if feeling for something. Suddenly the mark on her hand lit up, and the outline of a door appeared. "Quick, follow me!" she ordered. The other two followed, nonplussed, as the door shut behind them with no trace of its existance.

Link walked forward in the light provided by the Gerudo sorcerer. "Well, only one way to go now." He turned to Zelda. "Do you know what this is all about? Why did we get thrown into prison for having this mark on our hand?"

"It's a curse mark, or so my uncle says," Zelda replied,her face grave. "So I've been told all my life…yet somehow I sense this isn't true."

"It's not," Ganondorf replied. "The old scrolls in our library back home speak of this mark – the Triforce – as a great and benevolent power, though there's hints in the histories of people misusing it."

"Yes, that's what Nayru said," Zelda remarked absently. Upon seeing the stares of the others, she continued with a blush, "I'm sorry…I usually don't have anyone to talk to, so I'm used to talking to myself. Nayru is…well, this may seem hard to believe, but Nayru is a goddess…and she spoke to me…"

They both stared at her. "Well, that is kind of weird," Link ventured. "But you've got the same mark as us, and you found us here…there's got to be something to that."

"The libraries mention a goddess named Nayru," Ganondorf said. "But our information is very fragmented. My people left Hyrule for a time, you see. What we have is all that's left after years of neglect."

"It's more than we have," Zelda said indignantly. "My uncle attempted to purge any sign of the Triforce from Hyrule…even defacing the castle where it was carved into the walls. You can be sure that he burned every book in the Royal Archives that mentioned it."

"What's so dangerous about this thing?" Link asked. "My relatives in Kando didn't know…they just said that it had something to do with Hyrule."

"King Ganondorf, could we look at what you have in your archives?" Zelda asked. "It sounds like a foolish request, from one who should be keeper of such information, but…"

"Not at all," Ganondorf replied genially. "I was going to suggest that you do so anyway. You three are coming with me."

Link eyed him distrustfully. "Is that supposed to be an order? You're not my King."

"No, but it's to your own advantage. I don't normally let Hylian kids tag along with me, but you two seem to have a very special difference." He laughed. "Besides, we have to go somewhere after we get out of this place, and the Gerudo Fortress is probably the safest place for an enemy of the Crown right now. And besides," he added with a noticeable glint in his eyes, "if this thing does possess some kind of power, you can bet I'm not going to let that fool King get his hands on it."