Thank you I.K., mysterygal3189, Links Ocarina Babe, Xioarose, and Booklover13 for reviewing, as always, I appreciate your comments! 'Tis a miracle I've actually updated in less than a month! I hope you enjoy this chapter, it was fun to write but I'm still not sure if it's that good. Oh well…I'll let you guys be the judges of that!
Chapter Thirty – Persuasion
"Things would be so much easier for you, sweetheart, if you just told me what I wanted to know."
Nabooru leaned provocatively over Link's prone body and grinned at him. He stared up at her, completely unimpressed. Given that he was currently stretched out over a rack, with various welts and bruises over his bare torso, with zero chance of escape, she was a little annoyed that as yet her people had not broken him. On Ganondorf's orders her officers had been keeping him at a state of near-death, with daily sessions of what could only be described as torture but he wasn't apparently intimidated by this. Up to this point she had stayed away. She did not agree with torture as a method of extracting information in any circumstance.
She had not voiced these concerns of hers to her King, for fear he would view her reluctance as a weakness but had managed to be excused from the affair on the basis of her history with Link. Even Ganondorf, who knew little of their past interactions, could understand her reasons for not wanting to be the one to interrogate a past friend. However, today, he had changed his mind. Whether or not she agreed with his methodology, Nabooru was his most formidable soldier. She had been used by him over the years as both diplomat and spy and knew that nobody was better than her at extracting information. So he had commanded her to 'work her magic' on the prisoner, and she could not disobey.
They had to find out the whereabouts of the final Dream Snatcher and the only person who would know was Link. For a whole hour, Nabooru had been trying to pry the information from him without using excessive force, but to no avail. Link had remained courteous but aloof, and was refusing to co-operate. She had never met anyone so frustrating.
"You are only making things worse by remaining silent. You know I'd hate to put some more scars on that pretty body of yours, Link, but you are leaving me with no other option. You can't protect the Chameleon Stone from Ganondorf, and even if you could, you know as well as I do that something must have to be done about it. So why not just co-operate and tell me where Xeial might be. That's all we want to know. So why not just tell me?"
"I would tell you, providing of course that I knew the answer, if I was a coward who was afraid of a pathetic little girl who thinks she can scare me into submission. Do you really think I'm scared of you, Nabooru?" Replied Link, in his cheeriest manner.
"Not at all, Link." She replied, smiling. "I know you very well. That is why I am having such fun now. You have no idea how much I like seeing you suffer."
"Can't see why you would, given that you've barely even scratched my skin this last hour." He retorted, "Not unless you're still sore after I paid you in pebbles for that horse years ago, but I thought we were well past that. In fact, the thing I remember most about you is what the last thing you said to me was before you left to serve your precious king. Something about how you 'wished you'd known I'd grow to be such a handsome man, you'd have got your claws into me when you had the…'"
"Shut up." She snapped. For a moment her eyes rested on his face and a flash of regret passed across her face. "We were fun whilst we lasted." She admitted. "But you are just a boy."
"And let me guess, Ganondorf is a real man, huh?" Link grinned at her and shook his head. "You know he's insane, don't you? You do realise he is the man who bought 'the holey bucket' from me."
"No." Nabooru remembered the occasion clearly. Link had come in one day from the desert carrying a rusty bucket, proclaiming it to be his new best friend. On Nabooru's recommendation that the thing should be tossed back on to the rubbish heap where he'd found it, he'd taken instant offence. He boasted that the bucket would become the most valuable item in his tent, and she betted it wouldn't. The loser of the wager promised to make dinner for a week. Link had grabbed the bucket and trotted off into the desert, grinning and Nabooru had began creating a list of the most extravagant foods she could think of for him to cook for her. She was only halfway through this when he'd returned minus the bucket and twenty gold pieces richer. There had been no doubt he had sold the bucket for he had witnesses to prove it. He said he had sold it to some fool who believed it had magical properties.
She glared at him, "You were also the one that sold him those magic beans aren't you?"
"Maybe." He smiled disarmingly at her, "Come on, Nabs, we had such fun together. Why don't you just let me go?"
"Not going to happen, unless you share some information with me." She snapped, returning to guard-mode, the wistful smile vanishing from her face. "I know just what you're playing at, you're coercion won't work against me now. I love my King."
"What's that got to do with anything? I love Zelda, big deal." He replied, grinning still. "I'm just saying, for old-times sake, you should let me go."
"And I'm saying for New-Times sake, there's not a hope in hell I'm letting you loose. Do you really think I'd betray Ganondorf like that?"
"Probably not. You always were stupidly loyal to your dimly-perceived principles. Ganon's Lackey I think you were called."
"At least I was not called 'The Silver-Tongued-Moron', as I remember you were called." Nabooru glared at him, "You know when we were together, people called me the Fool's Fool. They were not happy times."
"Weren't they? I quite liked them." Answered Link, cheekily. He flashed his disarming smile at her again. "Tell me, Nabs, does dear old Ganny know that you and I once had a bit of a fling?"
"No. And he is not going to. What's more, if you breathe a word of it to him, I will tell Zelda EVERYTHING I know about you. Then see how soon she tumbles out of love with you again."
"She's never actually said she loves me, you know. But never mind that, is she all right?" Asked Link, suddenly.
Despite her best intentions, Nabooru couldn't help herself feeling a slight tug when she heard that. It seemed that the wild youth that had entranced her had grown into a wholly admirable man, though his deplorable idiocy was still very evident in those blue eyes of his.
It was his eyes that had first struck her. She had been on guard duty at the Desert Fortress when they had met. He had wandered in at the tail end of a band of merchants, his clothes torn and armour battered. Calatians were always welcome in the Gerudo Desert, as they were enemies of Hyrule at the time, and he was easily identified as a Knight. She didn't realise until he was close just how malnourished he was. Despite this, he held his head high, and smiled cheerfully at her as he passed. There was just something impossibly attractive about the sparkle in his dark blue eyes.
She had invited him to her mother's home and there he had remained until he had recovered his strength. She had been far too proud to admit she was heartbroken when he left to live in the nomadic colonies deep in the desert, but had often gone to visit him. To this day she was still not sure if what she grew to feel for him was love or just infatuation. She told herself so often it was the latter, but on many silent nights, she would gaze at the stars in solitude and she would think of him.
She had been called to serve Ganondorf a year after he had arrived later and had not seen him since. Their goodbye had been as flippant as it was final and they had disagreed about her choice of career. She had told Ganondorf she had a grudge against him. This was only partly true – her only grudge, apart from bring annoyed at the many times he'd tricked her, was that he had never taken her seriously, yet they parted on amicable terms. Many years had passed since then, and she had long since convinced herself that she really did love her powerful King, but she always acknowledged a begrudging soft-spot for the idiotic Calatian.
It was irrelevant, of course. They were enemies now – he was working for the Hylians, looking for a way to dispossess her people from their seat of power, and she was working to help Ganondorf attain – well she didn't know what he was after, but she knew it was bad. By his own admission, Link was in love with Zelda. Having witnessed some of their exploits (via the Seeing Stone) and having observed his behaviour now, she could see that this wasn't just a fling, like the one they had shared. For Link, his affection for Zelda was a forever kind of bond. There would be no picking up the pieces of their past and starting again, like she had sometimes imagined they would so being nice to him now was all a bit pointless.
"Link?" She asked suddenly, her voice hushed. "What will happen if Ganondorf does get the power of the Chameleon Stone?"
"Don't you know?"
"If I knew I wouldn't have to bother asking you, would I?" She snapped back.
"I doubt you'd be helping him either if you really knew." He replied. "Nabs, there is a reason the Chameleon Stone was so closely guarded in Calatia, you know. There is a reason why I am so determined to get it back too. Saeru, the Goddess whose power is trapped in the stone, isn't altogether a good creature. Sure she can make dreams a reality, and her magic can change the very nature of a person or object, but she uses or used that power only for bad."
"And what do you mean by that?"
"If Ganondorf acquires the power of the Chameleon Stone he will be able to do anything he wants – be it good or bad – for a while, but sooner or later, she will get him. Even if by some miracle his intentions are good, Saeru's power is too strong, too much for a human to contain. It will corrupt him and make him the worst possible person he could be. Imagine him like that, with all his worst attributes magnified a hundred fold, and then tell me whether that is a good thing."
Nabooru considered this for a long moment; it didn't stretch her imagination greatly to picture the kind of man Ganondorf would be if this happened. "If what you say is true, then I understand why you want to stop him."
"I would wish to stop anybody who got their hands on Saeru's unholy power." Said Link. "She would corrupt even the best of people. That is why I want you to release me, Nabooru, whilst there is still time. If I can get the stone back to Calatia before her power is unlocked, I might have a chance of unstopping this whole thing. With Xeial's signet ring, Saeru could be sealed away once more and the Stone could be hidden away. That way, nobody will get killed."
"Killed? I take it you intend to kill Ganondorf?"
"I don't intend to kill anybody." Retorted Link, a flash of anger in his eyes. "Believe it or not, I don't actually like killing things, but if Ganondorf does take on Saeru's mantle, I will have no choice but to destroy him before she can corrupt his soul. It is what's best for everybody."
"It's surprisingly convenient for Hyrule too." Nabooru sighed and smiled at him, "You know you're problem, Link? You're a good liar – too good. I just don't know when to believe you. I've been fooled by you so many times before…"
"In this matter I am deadly serious." Interrupted Link, "Even if Zelda got corrupted, I would stop her…somehow…I have to. That is why you must let me go, Nabooru, please?"
"Even Zelda, eh? Well, like I say, it's impossible to know when you are telling the truth. I'll let you escape, Link, IF you tell me who Xeial is. You do know, don't you?" She smiled as she saw a flash of guilt in his eyes. "Well…?"
"If I knew I wouldn't tell you." He retorted. "We've been through this before."
"But you know, don't you? Or at least you think you know." She sighed again, and played with the diamond ring on her finger. "You know Ganondorf holds all the cards. I am a Gerudo first, Nabooru second. I will always remain loyal to my king. As stupid as it sounds, I made a vow to him to serve him and whether I agree with him or not, I will fulfil my oath. If you choose not to tell me the location of the final Dream Snatcher I cannot say what Ganondorf will do to you but he will get the truth from you eventually, even if it means ripping through your very thoughts. He has powerful magic at his disposal…when he's finished extracting everything he wants from you, you will be just a shell. I – I don't want to see that happen to you, but believe me, it will if you continue to be stubborn."
"It will take more than a few idle threats to break my resolve, Nabooru. Don't forget, I was raised to be a Knight of Calatia. I fear nothing."
"You fear nothing for yourself, but what of Zelda? How much could you stand to see her suffer before you would break? I'll bet you'd soon come around to our way of thinking if anything…bad…were to happen to her." Nabooru studied his face for a long moment, watching the emotions flicker in his eyes. She knew she had hit a sore point with him. No matter how he protested, his instinct was to protect Zelda. The easiest way for them to break through his defence would therefore be to use her as a tool against him. Nabooru wondered why nobody had thought of the strategy earlier. Much as she hated what she was doing, as she had stated, her loyalty was to her King. She was honour-bound to do all she could to help him achieve his aims.
"How typically underhand of you, Nabooru." Sneered Link, his eyes dark with rage. "That's just the sort of Gerudo trick I should have expected of you. Guess you're just as rotten as the rest of your people. You can't win by conventional methods, so you prey on those weaker than you."
"It's called tactics, Link. All's fair in love and war. Now then, before I order my troops to bring Zelda here for a little…mental stimulation…shall we say, are you going to tell me what I want to know? Where is Xeial?" She saw Link hesitate and knew she had won. He knew her well enough to know that she was as good as her word. Ganondorf would be delighted with her. She just wished she didn't feel so terrible for what she was doing.
"Like I said I don't know who she is or where she is." Replied Link, though it was through gritted teeth. She knew that every word was torture to him but he had little choice but to talk. He didn't want Zelda to suffer. "If I tell you what I know will you promise not to harm Zelda?"
"You know the answer, Link." Beyond the cold front she presented to him, Nabooru was feeling a little deflated. Surely Link would not be won over so easily? Was his loyalty to the girl stronger than his loyalty to his country? She knew how much he had once loved his homeland, yet he was prepared to betray it all for the sake of a woman he wasn't even sure loved him in return. It seemed that in growing up, her old friend had learned to be unselfish.
He did know the answer. Nabooru had never broken a promise to him, good or bad, and her word was her bond. If he talked, Zelda would be safe for now. He sighed and averted his gaze from the Gerudo. "Fine, you win. I'll tell you what I know." He began, "Xeial switched her allegiance to Lefestra soon after they met and committed her life into his service. She was at his side when Saeru was finally captured and the Chameleon Stone was created. Though he never disclosed precisely what happened to his lover, Lefestra apparently kept close to him throughout his life. Legend said after his death she retreated to the shadows to watch over his interests from afar. I guess that she's therefore somebody close to either the Royal family of Calatia, or somebody who is going to do all she can to protect Lefestra's spiritual successor from harm. Given that, I think it's got to be either…"
"Link, stop. That's enough." Said Nabooru suddenly. Her conscience, which played very little part in much of her day to day life, had been acutely troubled during Link's speech. Much as she enjoyed victory, she could not bear the thought of how it had been attained. She despised herself for what she had done to him, and what he had said about Saeru's influence over people had scared her. If he was right then he was the only one who would be able to stop the goddess. "Please, don't say another word." She added, smiling a little ruefully. "I don't want to know. You've told me enough information to satisfy my king at any length."
"Nabooru?"
"This is for Old Time's sake," She murmured, turning away. Throughout her morning with Link, she had been struggling with two parts of herself. One part was fond enough of him to want to protect him from harm; the other half of her was fiercely loyal to her king. The fight within her had gone on for too long. It drained her too much and as faithful to Ganondorf as she was, she couldn't just forget everything she had liked about Link. "You were once somebody important to me and I cannot see you suffer like this. Though I cannot release you, I can do something for you. Though I can no longer be your friend I will always remember our past."
"What…?"
"GUARDS!"
"Nabooru, what are you…?"
Nabooru ignored him and turned to face the soldiers that had rushed in. "Ah, Captain Loki, lock this fiend up with that other pathetic Hylian."
"You mean…with the Girl, ma'am?"
Nabooru's golden eyes narrowed dangerously. "Do you to question my order, Loki?"
"Ah no, not at all, ma'am."
"Well, snap to it then, I must report to King Ganondorf immediately." With those words Nabooru stalked from the room, never once looking back.
"…and that's what's happened so far." Link smiled down at Zelda and added, with a touch of mischief in his voice, "You know, so far I've managed to escape having my ribs broken so I'd be obliged if you would refrain from inflicting that particular injury on me, sweetheart. Don't hug me so tightly!"
"Sorry. I'm just so pleased to see you. I thought you had died and I was so…alone and…hey, don't read anything into that." Replied Zelda, as she hastily released him. "Are you sure they didn't hurt you too much? You look...bad."
Link's mind flicked over images of his ordeal over the last two weeks: the things he had suffered, the battering his body had taken and the mental anguish he had faced, and cringed inwardly. "I am fine, Zel." He replied, a little quietly. "It's nothing I won't live through."
"What about here?" Zelda gently rested a hand over his midriff, where Nabooru had stabbed him. She felt him jump slightly and heard his sharp intake of breath. "Still sore, huh?" She whispered.
"It hurts like hell. Heck, my whole body does but I'll survive. I'm alive and I'm with you, I feel better already."
Zelda blushed in the darkness and took a slight step away from him. It wouldn't do to encourage him, she decided, not at least until she had sorted out in her own head what exactly she felt about him. She had been shocked when the guards had flung him into her cell. She had almost given up all hope of seeing him again. She was so used to denying that she felt anything other than a hint of attraction towards him, nothing deeper, she could hardly credit the overwhelming joy she felt when she realised he was alive. Yet, she could not deny the feeling either.
"The question is, why did Nabooru throw you in with me?" She managed to ask.
"To cheer me up, I guess." Joked Link, "She understands me pretty well, I guess. Nothing boosts the spirits than being able to ogle your favourite floozy in the pathetic light of one dim lantern, only visible through a tiny hole in your cell door. The way the light reflects of the filthy, wet walls and rests on your shadow is so pretty; it makes me want to weep. It touches my soul in so many ways I…"
"I don't wish to know in what ways you believe you've been touched, Link." Interrupted Zelda, smiling despite herself. "It will in no doubt be in a very unspeakably rude manner that you will find amusing and I will find offensive, so let's just stick to the facts. Why did Nabooru stop the inquisition just when she was winning and why did she insist on throwing you in here with me?"
"Dunno, perhaps she hoped that once I've been confined in such…um…compact quarters with you for a certain length of time might induce me to speak again on the subject of the final dream snatcher. Maybe she believes that I will find such existence beyond the limits of my endurance and that by the end of the week I'll be singing like a bird."
"Dare I ask what do you mean by that?"
"Exactly what I said, maybe she thinks by the end of the week I'll be begging for release, promising to do anything – just get me away from that Zelda-witch!"
"Zelda-witch?"
"Zelda-witch." Link repeated the insult firmly, chuckled and took a step towards her. Zelda backed again and bumped into the wall.
"Are you daring to suggest that being locked in here with me is some kind of psychotic Gerudo mind game designed to get you to talk?"
"Uh-huh." Linked stepped forward again.
"Even though the thought of them harming me was, according to you, the simple catalyst they needed to use to make you spill the beans?"
"Of course that's what I'm suggesting. Much as I can't bear the though of them hurting you, even worse is the thought of being confined in a room with you that is barely big enough for one person to lie in, in almost complete darkness with one single, probably inept guard, watching over us. That's true torture."
Zelda eyed him suspiciously. Though it was difficult to see his face in the dim light of the cell, she knew exactly what expression he had on his face. She could hear it in his voice. He was smiling that delightfully evil smile and his eyes would be filled with angelic innocence and he was standing far too close to her too. She could feel the heat from his body and she didn't like the way it make her feel so vulnerable. Given that she was convinced he knew her well enough to know when she was getting flustered, she tried to keep her head up and her tone cool and confident. "True torture? I find that difficult to believe. True torture to you would be to go three days without a mirror."
"Well, there isn't a mirror in here, is there? That's one box ticked but that's only mild torture to me. Shall I tell you what I mean?" Chuckled Link, he leaned forward slightly so that his cheek was almost touching hers. She could feel his breath on her neck and shoulders. She couldn't control the shiver that shot down the length of her spine. A tiny flash of light surrounded her body in response to her emotions. It lit the air around them and for the briefest moment she could see him clearly. She wasn't surprised to see an all-too-familiar smirk on his face though his eyes were closed. "This is true torture," he whispered, his voice barely above a breath. Zelda gulped and unsuccessfully attempted to repress another shiver.
"I-invading my personal space is torture? For w-whom?" She managed to retort. She would have been better pleased with herself if she had managed to control her voice a little better. Just because her heart was trembling didn't mean her voice had to follow suit, did it?
"From the sounds of it, probably you." Said Link, breathing the answer into her ears. The air around them was lit by tiny sparks again and he grinned to himself. He rested a hand against her cheek lightly and a familiar, if not slightly painful, jolt of lightning struck him. Compared to her usual attacks, it seemed a little half-hearted. She made no attempt to slap his hand away and her skin was warm. He let the hand slide down her face to her chin, his touch purposefully soft. He waited until he heard the soft tap-tap of the Guard's sandals as she began her rounds before allowing finger to run across her lips.
It was unusual for her to be so passive, he thought, relishing the moment. Normally any attempt at affection on his part led to him being injured in some way. The soft tapping grew louder but Zelda hadn't noticed. 'This will go one of two ways,' thought Link, closing his eyes. He could feel Zelda tremble at his touch. She was just a hair's breadth from him. "But seriously," He continued, very softly, "This is torture."
"Why?" She whispered.
"Because you'll never let me do this…" Slowly he moved his head and she stopped breathing and very gently kissed her. The air around them glowed even brighter as Zelda's magic reacted to her surprise.
Link pulled away and smiled at her, "Hmm, something's not right. I've not been slapped yet." He remarked.
"Um…that's…," Stammered Zelda feebly, before being rudely cut off as Link lowered his head and kissed her for a second time. A good few emotions ran through Zelda this time. This wasn't like the last few times he'd kissed her, when he'd done it to annoy her. This was something else, something more meaningful and it was making her feel things that she really wasn't prepared to feel. And just as she realised that she was enjoying him kissing her far more than she should, she realised that her arms had wrapped themselves around his neck and was kissing him back. This would not do at all, she realised. Her brain made an attempt to encourage her arms to push him away, but her arms responded by clinging to him even tighter.
In the back of his mind, Link heard the guard's footsteps even closer and realised that he needed to up the ante. Much as he was enjoying himself, he did have an ulterior motive for what he was doing. His mind ran through a few solutions in a mere instant. Suddenly he hit upon the perfect solution.
The room suddenly became filled with a miraculous glow of a million lightning bolts melted with searing flames that poured from Zelda's body. Link flew across the room in a beautiful arc, his clothes smouldering, and landed in a heap against the opposite wall.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Yelled Zelda. Link had 'squeeze-tested' her. Before she could vent her righteous anger on him for such vile molestation, the cell door was flung open and the guard sprinted in, sword drawn. A similar question was on her lips. For a brief second the two women stared at one another. The next moment, the guard screamed and dropped to the floor.
"I'm escaping, how 'bout you?" Link replied, grinning mischievously. He quickly bound the woman's arms and legs together and dragged her into the darkest corner of the cell. He had tangled her legs with his and had knocked to the floor. The scream would have alerted the other guards in the adjoining corridors that something was amiss. They only had a brief window of chance to escape. It was a shame, he thought, that his mind wasn't quite clear yet. He would dearly have loved to have a moment to reflect on that rather lovely moment when Zelda had kissed him back but he really didn't have the time. He glanced up at her. She seemed to be frozen to the spot, staring at him like he was some kind of bug that had just crawled out of her shoe. "Are you coming?"
Coming with you?" Zelda repeated his words faintly. "Why would I do that, Pervert?"
"I had to do that, sorry. I don't have time to explain but we've got to go now!" He acknowledged things hadn't gone quite the way he had hoped. He had wanted to kiss her. He had wanted a typical furious-Zelda-reaction-to-being-kissed to entice the guard into the cell. But Zelda's reaction hadn't been furious at all, the light that had surrounded them had been sweet and innocent and not at all remarkable. However, her reaction to the 'squeeze test' had been perfect. He just hoped his plan hadn't backfired too much. Right now she looked like she loathed him, it was written all over her face.
"Zelda, listen, Nabooru put me in your cell because she knew I could escape, but I'm not going anywhere without you. Please, just trust me…"
"After that?"
"I could have done something much worse!" Link grinned wickedly at her, and though she glared at him, the corners of her mouth twitched. "I'd hate to know what that was." She sighed.
"Maybe one day you will. Please, forgive me. Pretty please?" He replied, still grinning.
Zelda choked on a giggle and stretched her hand forward. "Fine, I forgive you though it is against all my better judgement. Alas, it must have become greatly impaired when I lived as you!"
"Probably true! I'll bet your mind's gone AWOL too. Anyways, we'd get escaping before the guards get here. Let's go bag ourselves a Xeial, shall we?"
"Sounds like a plan to me." Said Zelda. Not for the first time she wished that he hadn't got her wrapped around his finger quite so well. By rights she should still be furious with him, but here she was giggling. It was his eyes, she decided. He was just too cute to be mad at. He smiled at her and took her hand and she blushed. "Go on then, lead the way, Stinkypoo."
Sorry, you'll have to wait 'til next time to find out who Xeial is, promise I'll tell ya soon. Though this chapter was quite fun to write, it's not exactly how I'd hoped it would be and Link's relationship with Nabooru wasn't too confusing. Anyway, please review and let me know what you think. Hoped you liked the *ahem* fluff!
