Chapter Thirteen
Every few weeks...the Hylian soldiers would bid company with, with the Gerudo, in private. And, the women would have the leathers ready for them...
Over and over and over did that sentence replay itself in his mind, Zelda's voice plaguing him.
Link did not know how long he had been in the dungeon. It had felt like hours, but could have very well been merely minutes. It was, however, dark and riveting inside the the cold, black area. Only stone seemed to surrounded him, as well as the bars that blocked his only path to freedom.
And again, her voice repeated at the back of his head. The leathers.
With a maddening grunt, Link had thrown his back against the wall, allowing his body to slowly slide down until he was seated on the cold ground. How could he have been so naïve, so careless? The princess was with child now, his child. Their one night of passion had caused more trouble than he could ever even begin to imagine.
"Goddesses," he breathed. "I'm going to be...a father."
The bastard child of Hyrule, born from the child princess, conceived with the child hero. For, he was merely a child himself, they both were. The children were having a baby, and now nothing seemed like an agreeable solution for a matter such as this.
The dungeon was cold, that he had to clutch himself for some warmth, and the dark, bleakness seemed to depress him. He had gotten himself into a fine mess of things, and suddenly he did not feel like such a hero anymore, but a hopeless young man, yet to reach adulthood.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps, as well as the clattering of metal.
"Boy, you have a visitor."
Looking up from the ground gently, he saw the image of a tall, armored man through the thick, black bars, holding his spear triumphantly. Yet, after a still moment, the guard had stepped to the side, and Link parted his lips to gasp lightly.
The man's movement had revealed the shorter, more gentler image of a young, pretty lady with long red hair. A nervousness had captured her eyes, the blue in them shimmering timidly, her hands clasped together before her, her shoulder stiff and lips pressed together firmly.
Immediately, Link stood, running to the bars and gripping them helplessly. "Malon!"
The guard looked at the girl and boy vaguely, shifting his body to walk away. "You have ten minutes."
At his noisy departure, Malon gingerly came closer to the boy enclosed in the cell, delicately holding the bars as well, a saddened expression claiming her visage. There was a redness that had formed around her eyes, as if she had been crying, as every time she breathed, there was a delicate sniffle to her nose.
Sighing exasperatedly, Link soaked in the trembling features of her face, pressing his forehead against the bars, a sadness consuming him.
"Oh, Malon, I have dug a hole for myself, and I've at last fallen into it."
She chuckled at his comment, but not from amusement, but rather in sarcasm for his own realization of stupidity. Shaking her head gently towards him, the farm girl softly exhaled, her breath touching his face, but not seeming to ease him.
"I know that the princess has retracted her ruling. And I would like to thank you."
For a brief moment, hope filled his eyes. "Malon-"
"However," she interrupted briskly, walking backwards away from his cell now, until she was at a reasonable distance from him. She stood still, her arms at her sides, her posture firm, yet all the while delicate.
"However," she began again, a little more directly, "that is not the reason I have come to see you."
A pang of guilt piercing through his chest, Link bit down on his bottom lip harshly. "Malon, I must tell you-"
"That the princess is having your child?"
Immediately, he turned quiet, and Malon raised her brows at this, her arms crossed over her chest. "My father rushed back instantly. He told me everything which he witnessed."
Suddenly, the man was at a loss for words, unable to speak, almost losing his capability to breathe. He could only gaze at the young, brave woman before him, watching her try to build up the strength to continue.
"Link, now that the princess is with child, things will be different between us."
Laggardly, she began to pace around the small area, an obvious rise and fall to her chest. Observing her with his knees quavering, his grip on the bars tightened, his jaw clenching as she spoke.
"I want to forgive you, Link," she persisted, stopping now to look at him directly. "And maybe I can. I probably will. But, but I can't keep doing this with you, I can't live with this constant uncertainty."
Blinking repeatedly, Link watched as she now approached him once again, standing only a foot away from his cell. Though she did not cry, there was a glitter in her eyes, suggesting she was withholding her tears.
And weakly, she sighed. "I know you are in love with the princess."
He laughed immediately at her statement, scoffing at her words as if disgusted of what she implied to him. "Malon, believe me," he spoke, tilting his head in frustration, "I have borderline animosity for the dear, sweet princess at this point."
She smiled, though. A subtle, sad smile, her eyes seeming to get more wet, causing her to rub her palm against them. "As much as I would have liked to, I cannot have anger towards her. A woman's heart is nothing to tamper with, and if I had the power she possessed, I do not know what I would have done if I were in her place. Perhaps, I would have acted the same."
"Malon, you are not like her," Link argued back fiercely, disbelieving of what she had just said to him. "The Gerudo have changed her. She has become-"
"The Gerudo haven't changed her, you have!"
He silenced himself at that point, staring at the girl with wide, trembling eyes. She seemed angered now, more feverish, slamming her hands against the bars harshly, and suddenly pulling away.
"You broke her heart, Link! You put a child in her belly! The Gerudo have nothing to do with what you did to her." Narrowing her eyes, she pressed her face against the bars, her forehead brushing the skin of his.
"You should be ashamed of yourself."
He flinched at the coarse whisper of her discord, a chill running down his spine.
"And even though you think you cannot be convinced at this point," she continued, "I know that you love her. I can feel it everyday. I can tell when you kiss me, that you think of her, wishing it were her. Maybe you had loved me once, but I know your heart belongs to her. Shame on you for choosing me, betraying me with your heart. Shame on you for playing the both of us, instead of being a man and ending this before it had gotten too far."
Malon knew she had captured him with her testimony, his silence proving her theory. With composure, she moved away from his area of confinement, staring at the ground, her back towards him.
"You may convince yourself that you hate her now, but in the depth of that naïve heart of yours, you do love her. And I will not stay by the side of a man who loves another woman. I am worth more than that."
Though he could not see her face, he knew very well that she was sobbing, as her fists clenched and her body quivered rather violently. He witnessed her raise her arm to wipe her concealed face, still failing to turn around and face him.
"This may be one of the hardest things I have ever done, but I know I am doing the right thing for me. I wish you well, Link. I truly do. I hope the princess has mercy on you. But I want you to know that I pray for your mercy, not your justice. Because you deserve this fate."
Almost too swiftly, she spun around to face him, revealing her moist cheeks. Yet, now there existed a strange sense of confidence in her eyes, daring to gaze at him intently, as if she stared right into his soul, burning him. He felt his body turn weak, finding it necessary to hold onto the bars now, as he felt he would collapse.
"Malon, I..." Trailing off, he could not find the words to speak. He had never felt so defeated before.
"You know, you had always been my hero," she mused, chuckling weakly to herself. Running her fingers through her hair, she moved several strands away from her face, wiping at her eyes once more. "I believed you were one, and I still do. Though I feel like doubting it, I know that one day you will grow up, and live up to my expectations."
"Alright. Your time is finished."
And as the guard had returned to take the girl away, the last thing she did was give Link one, intense, but rather short glance, filled with more emotion than he could process. She left him that day, and he knew there was no running back to her, begging for her forgiveness, feeding her countless apologizes that would not change his actions.
She had not said to goodbye to him, and it probably would have hurt more if she had. The girl he was betrothed to was gone from his life now, and yet her last words seemed to startle him. She had called him a hero, despite how he had acted, what he had done. She still had some sort of faith in him, as she would not allow her heart to dismiss that only piece of him she had left.
Another revelation she revealed to him also plagued the young man. Malon said that he was in love with Zelda, something he had thought he proved false. Was he, in fact, in love with the princess? Or, were his feelings still attached to Malon? Was his selfishness ruling over him now, that he could not decipher the needs of his heart, to the needs of others?
Love was corrupting him, at least, the selfish aspect of love was. He had wanted to be with the one he loved most, yet then he wanted to be with the one who it would seem more practical to be with the most. And, he then picked the girl whom he deemed would be the wisest to be with the most. But he knew there was no absolute answer to that.
He had been unfaithful to Malon with Zelda.
He had slept with Zelda with a confession of love, then returned to Malon.
Both girls he had hurt equally.
There was no practical, right choice. There was no girl who deserved him more. Because, frankly, neither of them deserved him. And now, it seemed as if neither girl wanted him as well. Malon had just ended the engagement, and Zelda had him seized. She was also having his child, and her reputation would be tarnished once the royal princess gave birth to a bastard.
He had tried not to be selfish, but in the end, selfishness was what destroyed him.
The Gerudo have nothing to do with what you did to her.
Malon was right, as she had said a woman's heart was nothing to tamper with. Zelda's rage had not extended from hatred, plain anger, or thirst for revenge. It was the result of her love, her torturous love, and the hurt and deception she had received in return.