[AN: Trigger warning here for sexual assault.]

I woke the next morning to see Armondorf at the foot of my bed. He was smiling smugly at me. I gasped when I saw him.

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty." He laughed. "Today's the day, ain't it?"

I had not expected him to use this form of slang. "Ain't." Humph. Such vulgarity!

"Yes, today, today, today! Today your full power will be reached! A great birthday present if ever there was one! And speaking of presents . . ." Armondorf pulled a package from inside his cape somewhere. "Happy Birthday."

I took the package and opened it up. "It's . . . a . . . er, what is it?"

Armondorf picked up the little sapphire in the box. "It's a Wisdom Gem. Your Medallion is not complete. There were originally nine sockets for nine Wisdom Gems. Then . . . the Medallion broke. The six sages used their combined power to fix it, but they could not reinstall the gems. The gems were scattered throughout Hyrule. Someday . . . someone should find them all." Armondorf handed the Wisdom Gem back to me. I looked down at it, but Armondorf put his hand under my chin. "I plan to."

For a fleeting moment, I forgot about the fact that we were enemies. I forgot about the fact that he had ruined my life. I forgot that he and Link were sworn enemies! I just gazed deep into Armondorf's eyes, and he gazed back.

When the moment passed, I said, "I hope you die as you do so."

Armondorf pulled back in surprise, then turned on his heel and left.

That afternoon, I was roaming the "house" part of the castle. I walked around, looking at statues and art of the royalty. Most of it was of Ganondorf, some was of Mother, and some was of Armondorf. One room had a painting of Mother holding baby me. There was also an unfinished statue of me, riding a horse.

As I went down the staircase to explore more, I tripped. I went down the stairs rolling: THUD-BUMP-BUMP!

At the end of the staircase, I crashed into something soft, warm and . . . bony. I heard a vague grunt, then "Oof!" I fell further, rolled a bit, then flopped on top of the person I had crashed into.

"Armondorf!" I exclaimed.

He looked mildly amused. "Look who decided to drop in!" He laughed.

"Har har," I said. "What a stupid pun. Let me go." He had his hand on my waist and his other hand on my back. "No," he said.

"Armondorf—"

"Kiss me."

I gulped. Another incident like yesterday's would probably land Link in the dog kennel. I decided to struggle a little, to see what he would do.

"No," I said, struggling.

Armondorf held tighter. "You WILL kiss me."

"No, I won't."

Armondorf pressed me closer to him. "Ooh . . ."

That disturbed me greatly. The way he said it . . . I shuddered to think what he meant.

He craned his neck towards me. "You will kiss me now."

It was almost as if time slowed down. I had that marionette feeling again as my head bent down towards his. I was completely helpless. I shuddered as our lips touched, and I tried desperately to move, but I was paralyzed. I whimpered.

Armondorf let go, after a while. I slapped him. "Conniving little wretched snake! You little demon! I oughta kill you!" I got up and deliberately stomped on his face as I stormed off.

Later, Rose took me to a pool near Ganondorf's castle, so that I could wash up for the ceremony. With Rose watching for Armondorf or anyone (or anything) else like that, I undressed, washed, and dried. Then I heard Rose say casually, though with a slightly louder voice, "Hello, Armondorf."

I panicked. I wasn't dressed. I dashed to the nearest bush and hid in it.

"Rose!" Armondorf replied. "What brings YOU out here? Maybe you, too, wanted to see Rebecca?"

I gasped. How did he know I was there?

"PERVERT!" Rose said angrily. Then I heard a yelp—cut short. I saw a black line shoot into the air, then shoot at the castle. I heard Armondorf laugh, and then I heard footsteps.

"Rebecca, who is in the lone bush next to the stone shaped like a mango, come out!"

Shoot. How did he know what a mango looked like?

"No," I said.

Armondorf saw my clothes. "Ahh . . ."

I shuddered. "Absolutely not! Um . . . could you hand me my robe?" Then, though I thought I was only thinking it, I said, "I'd do a favor for you."

Armondorf paused. "You would do a favor for me."

I winced.

"You . . . I . . ." He seemed as if he had just found a housefull of gold. "Opprotunity . . . Wow. I . . ." He also seemed like he had no idea how to spend it.

"I didn't mean it!" I cried.

"Too late, you've made your choice." Armondorf laughed. "Let's see . . . hmm . . . well . . . Maybe if you renewed your vow to kiss me whenever I ask—and I mean WHENEVER—be it day or night, rain or shine—I would give you the robe."

I gulped. There was another catch. If I said yes, he would ask . . . but . . .

"Agreed," I said.

"Kiss me now," Armondorf said, casually inspecting his cuticles.

"You haven't given me my robe yet, you moron!" I said, making a loophole out of Armondorf's loophole.

Armondorf examined my bush. "Kiss me now, as an act of good faith." He smirked.

"Give me the robe as an act of good faith," I replied calmly.

A pause. I knew Armondorf didn't trust me. I prepared a comeback for a lot of phrases (i.e. "I don't trust you"—"I don't trust you either") and actions (i.e., him charging—me screaming and swatting him) but not "Okay" and giving the robe to me.

That was what happened.

I hid my surprise as I awkwardly put on the robe. I slowly stood up. "See?" I clambered out of the bush. "Happy?"

"Not really."

"UGH!" I groaned. "What do you want me to do, marry you?" As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized that they were a poor choice of words.

Armondorf lunged and pinned my arms to my back. He leaned his head in close to my ear. "I will let you off with a warning. A simple one—and it is this: do not tempt me. For your . . . sanity's sake." He turned me around and held my hands firmly in one hand and my cheek firmly in the other. "Though a little temptation is good. It teaches you to resist."

I struggled hopelessly. "Then why don't you resist?"

Armondorf shrugged. "I'm a terrible student. What else can I say?" At this he brought my face to his. He kissed me over and over again, but he allowed me to struggle. At first I did not know why, but then I felt my robe slipping.

I closed my eyes and stopped struggling. I concentrated hard. Armondorf persisted in his reverie.

Suddenly, there was a burst of light, and I was in . . . that dungeon cell.

And Link was there!

"Link!" I exclaimed, and realized that I was now wearing that light, black armor.

Link was sitting on the cot, staring at the ground. When he looked up and saw me, he practically flew at me.

It felt good to be in Link's warm embrace again. I almost cried as his muscular arms wrapped around me.

"Oh, Rebecca!" Link breathed. "It looks like you discovered Nayru's Love."

"What's that?" I asked, my head cocked.

"It is special magic that imbues any Triforce of Wisdom holder with supreme protection. Just concentrate on being anywhere else, and presto!"

"You could've told me that sooner," I mumbled.

Link smiled. "Things not going so well with Armondorf?"

I told him about the day's experiences.

"Ouch." Link bit his lip. "I bet he'll find his way to you again today. Somehow."

I walked over to the cell door and put my hand on the lock. It clicked open. I opened the door. "We'd better leave."

Link sighed. "I can't."

I looked back at him. "Whyever not?"

Link sat back down on the cot. "I have been cursed, and so have you. If you leave the castle grounds, you WILL die. Instantly. Of course, Ganondorf and his men will find your body and ressurect it, probably using a Dark Fairy. Dark Fairies are terrible creatures. They will ressurect you, but by taking however many souls the person's life is worth. Your real worth is . . . well, over a hundred."

My eyes widened. "Over a hundred!" I walked over to him and sat down next to him.

Link put my hand in his. "But you are priceless to me."

I smiled. "Thanks." I kissed him.

Link looked over at me. "Random souls, too, maybe even the souls of Ganondorf and his men. That's why Dark Fairies are so terrible. But, if Ganondorf survives, you will be taken into his army. You will have no memory of hating him. You will serve him."

I shuddered.

"You shudder a lot, don't you?" Link smiled.

I nodded. "Yes. That's because I am disturbed a lot." I laughed.

I stayed with Link until I saw that the sun was setting. I heard footsteps, concentrated, and found myself at the beginning of a long hallway filled with mirrors. With adrenaline coursing through my body, I ran down the seemingly endless hallway.

After a while, I stopped. I was exhausted. I collapsed onto the ground, too tired to get up.

Five minutes later. I got up and looked around. Hallway, hallway, mirror, reflection, hallway—wait. Back to reflection.

My mind was playing tricks on me. That wasn't me in the mirror . . .

Ganondorf!

I broke into a run. Ganondorf did, too. He perfectly mimicked my every step. I ran faster and faster until I almost crashed into the wall at the end of the hallway.

I heard footsteps, and saw Ganondorf, out of the mirror.

Ganondorf smirked. "My race is opprotunistic, and this was one I couldn't resist." He snapped, and we were in the domed room. It was already dark, and I could see the faint glow of the moon at the very edge of the dometop hole. Link was bound and gagged on the floor.

Ganondorf chuckled. "It looks like everyone is present and called for." Armondorf stepped up next to his adopted father. "Let us begin."