The Waters of Nayru
Chapter 29: The Contract
By, Frank Hunter
The Warden, as it turned out, was a very unlucky man. He was on his way home from a night of drinking in an old town pub called "Telma's" when he was accosted in an alleyway, robbed of all his belongings, and left behind a line of potted plants with his throat slit from ear to ear. He was found the next morning by Janna, the young woman who owned her grandmother's bar. It was the spark of a very traumatic day for Janna.
News reached the Stockade about the murder almost instantly, and although Rigo could not rightfully find the news surprising, he still found it disappointing. The Warden was the only other man who could have pointed a finger at Tydus and named him the reason for Rigo's illegal arrest and imprisonment. Sure, there were other guards, nurses, and staff in this place. All of them knew there was a Gerudo there. But, none of them knew the circumstances of his incarceration, and all they would ever be able to tell a royal inquisitor was just that: yes he was there, no they didn't know why.
Which, of course, would have been the reason for the murder in the first place. Tydus was covering his tracks, and doing it quickly and thoroughly. Rigo was now beyond his grasp, any aggression toward him in prison would be far too suspect and traceable. But, the murder of the Warden on the outside by an unknown assailant more or less put the Colonel in the clear as long as he kept his head down. And Rigo guessed that was exactly what he would do.
Rigo wasn't summoned again for several days, which was still several days earlier than he'd expected. It only served to increase his respect for the Queen, Zelda. She obviously understood how delicate the situation in the desert could be, and was interested in ending it quickly, regardless of whether or not their best lead in Rigo's investigation had been carted away in a body bag.
This time, Rigo was to meet the Queen in the courtyard of Hyrule Castle proper. It was a more fitting meeting place, and Rigo was surprised to find that when the guards removed him from his cell, he was not to be cuffed.
"Rigo," Gor Gurdy said, as the cell door was unlocked. "Rigo go?" He was in his usual corner, but sitting, not sleeping. His big eyes just locked on to Rigo and he stared. He looked almost sad, certainly more emotional than Rigo was used to seeing from.
"It looks that way, pal," Rigo answered.
"Rigo make promise Gor Gurdy?"
"What promise, pal?"
The big Goron seemed to think hard on it before answering. "Rigo ever go, Death Mountain. Big mountain. Volcano. Rigo know?"
"I've seen it," Rigo said, thinking of that day, the first day he came to Hyrule, the sight he'd seen in the distance. The mountain with the halo.
"Rigo ever go. Rigo find Goron Elders. One elder, find. Name, Gor Daria. Remember."
"Gor Daria," Rigo repeated for him, and Gurdy nodded.
"Find Gor Daria. Give Gor Daria present. Rock sirloin. Big one. She like. Give Gor Daria big Goron hug. She like, too. Tell Gor Daria, Gor Gurdy still remember. Gor Gurdy still care. Tell, Gor Gurdy still try."
"Uhh," Rigo replied. "Yeah. Yeah, pal. If I ever make it up there, I'll do just what you said. I promise."
It was an odd request, one that brought up more questions about the Goron than he'd ever had reason to ask about before. Still trying? What could he still be trying to do? He'd been locked up in this cell for Heaven knew how long, and all he ever really seemed to want to do was sleep. But before Rigo could ask or try to learn any more, the guards were in the cell with polearms in hand, shouting for Gor Gurdy to stay in his corner, and escorting Rigo out the door and on his way.
The Goron just continued staring after him as he left, and spoke not another word. Rigo wondered if he'd ever have the opportunity to make good on his promise. He somewhat doubted it. The whole emotional ordeal had caught him somewhat off guard. Gurdy hadn't seemed to make much of Rigo's revelation on the day of the prison riot, when he'd stood up before an entire room of guards and prisoners and revealed to everyone that he was the King of Gerudo. Rigo had come to think that he hadn't been able to understand the meaning behind it, though it was possible Gurdy just didn't care. Little Sid, on the other hand, had looked like Rigo'd hit him with a brick when he said it.
"King!?" he'd exclaimed, before they were all pulled away. "When the hell were you gonna tell me!?"
Rigo had ignored him at the time. He'd had a lot on his mind and the scrawny man was far down on his list of concerns.
"Yo, if you get out, you remember to put in a good word for Sid, too. Get me outta here, will ya?" Sid had asked.
Again, Rigo had written the question off, and had not seen Sid since. After his conversation with Princess Zelda, Rigo had been kept separate of the other prisoners, under extremely close supervision. They didn't want anything unexpected to happen to him now. But, in the wake of Gurdy's surprising request and goodbye, he thought it over. He could maybe request some royal pardons as part of his release. He might have enough sway in this situation to at least get Gurdy out and send him on his way. And Sid too, he guessed.
But no. It wouldn't be worth going through the motions to allow it. Sid, the little pervert, was definitely guilty of the crime he'd been arrested for, and deserved his punishment. Plus, he'd be out in a few short years anyway, likely ready to stalk again. And Gurdy's crimes were even worse. If released into the world, it was possible, even likely, that the Goron might actually kill somebody again, even if only accidentally. Rigo couldn't take responsibility for something like that.
He'd have to just hope that Zelda made good on her initial intentions, to improve the conditions in the prison. At least that way, they could all live a little more comfortably.
Rigo was led from his cell back upstairs, to the ground floor. He could tell again by the bright windows. He was escorted to a room, and when the door was opened, he saw clothing laid out on a table inside. The clothing was vaguely familiar: hard, brown leather gear from boots to pauldrons, and a long, heavy-looking black cloak with a thick, fur trim.
"What's all this?" he asked the guard escorting him.
"Clothes," the man answered. "The things you had when you came in won't fit you now, and the Queen wanted you to be comfortable. So she asked that we replace them."
Rigo stepped in and gave a cursory look over the gear. "There's a pair of gauntlets missing," he said.
"That's all that was in the locker," the guard answered simply. Rigo didn't push the issue. He knew where his Silver Gauntlets were.
"When you're ready, just give a knock. We'll get moving," he said, and shut the door, giving Rigo some privacy.
Rigo stripped down out of his raggedy prison jumpsuit, and began to step into each piece of his new gear slowly, with care. From the undergarments to the armor, every bit fit him perfectly, and he thought it felt even cozier than his original outfit had in his youth. Someone had gone to great lengths to tailor this, probably from measurements taken from him during prison physical examinations. It was more than he'd expected.
"Still," he mumbled. "A weapon wouldn't have gone unappreciated."
When he was finished, he gave a knock and the guard retrieved him. He was led through another series of hallways and brought to a small stable, a room that reeked of hay and horses, and found a carriage waiting for him.
"Travelling in style, huh?" he asked the guards.
"The Queen thought it wise for you not to be exposed and visible in the marketplace," the guard said.
That was reasonable. If his appearance had been so disturbing to the inmates in the Stockade, he could only imagine what kind of fuss the ordinary citizenry of Castle Town would put up. He was getting fairly tired of the endless comparisons to Ganondorf, particularly in the context the Hylians intended for them, but there was no real way to ask them to stop nor to stop them himself. He took solice in the fact that he would be leaving soon, and it would likely be the end of it.
The ride from the Stockade in the carriage was lonely. No one sat inside with him, and there were no windows, he assumed for the sake of the citizenry again. Just once, out of curiosity, he gave the door a try and found it bolted up tight. No illusions, then. He still was not free. Not that he had expected any more, but the option to leave would have been nice.
The whole ordeal had Rigo feeling curious, if not particularly enthused, but that changed when he finally reached his destination. When the carriage came to a stop and the door was opened for him, he stepped out on a scene that was the complete opposite of what his life had been the last several years.
The brightness of the day accosted him at first, and he had to shield his eyes. Blue skies and green grass painted themselves across his sight in watercolors, an unfamiliar canvas that soothed away the pain of his grown life. He could smell the grass. He could hear birds in the trees, chirping away with carefree ease. As he stood admiring this, a large wooden gate slammed shut behind him, and he thought that if he could just ignore that, he would be in heaven.
Around the perimeter of this beautiful scene was a wall made of gray stone blocks, and just before him, in all its splendor, was a magnificent cathedral, adorned with windows of stained glass and pointed towers that spanned up into the sky. Hyrule Castle, he assumed, though he'd never actually seen it before.
"Go on," said that guardsman that had let him out of the carriage. The voice brought him back to reality. He shook his head, clearing it, and was about to ask the man where he was supposed to go, when he saw and he knew. Out in the pasture, the courtyard around the castle, he saw the woman he'd met days earlier. The Queen, Zelda, was sitting upon a small wooden bench, dressed as regally as she had been in the Stockade. Butterflies fluttered about her, seeming to accent her ease and sense of belonging in this beautiful place, and she wore a magnificent smile. Before her, digging up a long hole against a short, stone wall, was a young girl no older than seven or eight. She dug with a small, hand-held trowel, and was working tirelessly.
Rigo made his way over to the two of them, watching the girl with interest.
"No more than six inches deep, child. Don't overdo it," Zelda said, her voice bubbling with pride. Rigo stepped up beside her and watched the girl work. The little one had not even taken notice of the newcomer.
"What is she doing?" Rigo asked the Queen, who had not even looked up from the young girl.
"Gardening," Zelda answered.
"You…grow food here?" Rigo asked.
"No," Zelda said, sounding amused. "There are farms for the food. We grow flowers. This courtyard is a beautiful place. We need to ensure it stays beautiful for generations to come."
At that, the child spoke up. She spoke in that sure, knowledgeable way that only comes with the innocence of childhood. "That's why we're planting tulips and daisies and chrysanthemums," she said.
The Queen nodded approvingly. "That's right, Zelda."
Rigo's brow furrowed. "Zelda?"
"Yes," the Queen said. "It's tradition within the Hyrule Royal Family to name the first-born daughter of each generation Zelda. This striking young lady is my granddaughter."
Still without turning from her work, the young girl responded to her grandmother's introduction. "Pleased to meet you, my name is Princess Zelda Alexandria Hyrule the twenty-third," she said. It came out a little too quickly, as though it had been rehearsed.
"Nice to meet you, too," Rigo said, smiling.
The Queen rolled her eyes lightly. "Zelda," she said. "Why don't you run on inside for a few minutes. See if Impa will get you some of that lemonade you love so much."
"Okay," the child said. She put the trowel down in the dirt and stood up, brushing the dirt off her knees. She looked at Rigo once and cocked her head slightly as she did. He could see the resemblance between the young girl and her grandmother.
"You look funny," she said, before immediately scurrying off toward the castle door without waiting for an answer.
Queen Zelda and Rigo both chuckled lightly. It was nice, in the throws of all the darkness and impending horror, to be reminded of the lightness of childhood. Rigo missed the days when his biggest concern had been what to do with an afternoon. It was all farther behind him than it had any right to be.
"The garden is beautiful," he said to Zelda when the moment had passed.
"Yes," she said. "It always has been."
Rigo said no more. He didn't have much by the way of small talk at the moment, but as it turns out, he didn't have to wait long. With the little one out of earshot, she was ready to talk to him about business.
"I trust you've heard about the fate of your Warden," she said.
"Yeah," Rigo answered. "I don't guess you learned anything from him before it happened?"
"No," said Zelda. "I don't suppose you have anything else to share with me that had slipped your mind before?"
"No," said Rigo.
"A shame," Zelda said. "Of course, I do believe you. There is obviously something going on under the surface here. I just wish we had enough time to dredge it up."
"You're not the only one," Rigo said.
Zelda patted the bench beside her and Rigo sat down with the Queen. He pulled the black cloak he'd been given off and set it over the back of the bench. It was much cooler outside without it.
"Without a resolution, I'm sorry to say I cannot offer you an unconditional pardon," Zelda said. "That had been my intention, and I wish it were possible, but it is not. Unfortunately, we also cannot wait any longer to take action."
Rigo had been expecting something like this. Though he was disappointed, he was also not surprised. "What's the sudden rush?"
"I dispatched scouts to the Arbiter's Grounds following our last conversation. What they found was unsettling."
"I bet," Rigo said. "The Gerudo are there, aren't they?"
Zelda nodded slowly. "We estimate about five hundred strong, the majority of which, if not the entirety, are soldiers."
Five hundred? Sooru wasn't pulling any punches here. That was a respectable force. It had to be just about every soldier and guard she could have pulled together in the whole pueblo.
"Hyrule does not maintain a standing army in times of peace. Through our own guards and volunteers, we would be lucky to pull together a force even that large. So, simply put, your Stewardess does pose a threat," Zelda said.
Rigo sighed. "Well, if you can't offer me freedom, what do you expect me to do about it?"
"I cannot release you unconditionally," Zelda clarified. "But, if you were to prove your intentions publicly, I think that would be sufficient for me to pull some strings. I might be able to allow for your release then."
Rigo squinted at her. "I'm not following."
Zelda folded her fingers in on each other. "I will be sending whatever militia I can pull together into the desert as soon as possible. Their orders will be to stand against the Gerudo, and prevent them from entering Hyrule by any means necessary." She looked up at Rigo. "I do not wish for bloodshed on either side, but I believe this is the only reasonable course of action. Do you understand?"
Rigo could picture it, the two armies standing off against one another, each too proud to stand down. He could envision the aftermath, but he swallowed his objections. "I understand," he said, and he did.
"However, I am offering to send you into the desert with them. You will accompany the Hylian militia to meet the Gerudo. You will get the opportunity to do as you've suggested, and to sway your people to your cause. And if you are able to do this, you will deliver the Chalice of Nayru safely into the hands of the Hylian commanding officer there, as you have offered."
"Yeah," Rigo said. "That's all old news."
"Listen, Rigo. This is the important part. If you fail to deliver the Chalice, I cannot promise your freedom. Not only is it likely that this could erupt into a full war, but I will be forced to return you to the Stockade. And, if Hyrule is in wartime, it could take years to resume the investigation into your imprisonment. By the time the war ends, there may no longer be anyone in place to investigate. Your failure in this could mean your life in prison."
Rigo felt the weight settle on his shoulder. He had been hoping for better treatment from the Queen in the course of this matter. He was more than just a prisoner, damn it. He was the King of another sovereign nation.
"What happens if I win the crown, but they don't have the Chalice?" he asked.
Zelda looked solemn. "I can't be sure in that circumstance. But, I expect, we will then have declared war on you. And you will be treated as a war criminal."
Rigo threw his hands in the air. "There's no way we can just be civil with one another, is there? Pretend that you're not holding me hostage for a silver cup?"
"This is the best I'm able to do, Rigo. There's more at stake here than just you or me.
"Agh!" Rigo groaned and stood up. He couldn't help himself from pacing in front of her. He made a few laps in silence before deciding what to say.
"Do you swear, on your throne, on your granddaughter, on everything you hold dear in this life, that you will grant me freedom if I can get you the Chalice?"
Zelda nodded. "I do so swear."
"And that the Gerudo will be left alone if I can keep them from entering Hyrule?"
"Yes. Presuming you have also delivered the Chalice."
Rigo sighed. "Fine. Fine. This is not fair. But you have yourself a deal."
He reached out his hand to the old woman, who took it in hers, and they shook on their agreement. Though it was frustrating, when Rigo reflected on it, he couldn't come away feeling as though he'd been mistreated. Zelda had accepted his terms, all of them. She had only added consequences if they couldn't be carried out. He wouldn't run into a problem as long as he delivered what he promised. He'd just have to make sure to do it.
And if anything, he was certain that the Chalice would be there. It would be the only reason for Sooru to bring an army back here, unless she had gone off the deep end entirely. And if that was the case…well, then the whole Gerudo army might deserve to be slaughtered by the Hylians after all.