Chapter XXIII – Bride Side of Life

Ganondorf leaned against the wall as he gazed at the backs of several books, some of them older than the others, stored in shelves which reached up to the ceiling of a room dimly lit by candles. Though the linen he kept in the castle's archive made it decently comfortable, he would have preferred another location with no questions asked. Unfortunately, meeting Zelda in her personal chambers would put him at great risk; if anyone ever find out how close the two were, he would be a very dead man.

Over the time, he had grown accustomed to this, just as the cramped and sticky circumstances were none of his concerns because now, Zelda was by his side, laying against his chest with the duvet covering both of them.

After a while, Zelda freed herself of his arms and looked at him hopefully. "Ganon, is it true you are going to speak to him as of today?"

He responded to her with a boastful grin. "Of course. It's time to show them what they're missing without me."

Once Zelda got into a sitting position, enveloping herself in the duvet, she sighed, "Despite all the circumstances, you have not lost even a single bit of your confidence. Still, I do hope on the day you return, I will meet you as a virtuous knight, famous for the heroic deeds he accomplished."

Hearing her imagination, Ganondorf's expression darkened and he stared menacingly at her. "Say, do you have a death wish?" The thought alone of him being a heroic knight admired by the masses because of his gentleness rubbed him the wrong way. His foremost interest was still to strengthen himself and fight for a reason he had chosen. And that reason was neither for the entertainment nor the welfare of the people.

"I can assure you, I do not carry a death wish as I value my life deeply. However, I am not certain about you, hearing how you venture to speak out such a menace to your sovereign." Zelda's voice did not carry a touch of fright and even though her intonation remained friendly, it had a forceful undertone.

Ganondorf eyed her fiercely, but she remained strong, not giving in a single bit. As always. She certainly was a person who did not back down, no matter whom she faced, staying her ground and not allowing anybody to deflate her. A trait he held dear as on the other side she also cared deeply for her people and rarely put her own desires above those of others. No denying, she was a strong woman, powerful on her very own. And he liked that. A lot.

After some time, her once stern look changed to a desperate one. "Probably for the best if you are not forced into a role that does not fit your nature. Although I still carry doubts to wish for it, I guess it suits you more if I hope for you to return as a mercenary with an armor stained in blood."

Ganondorf grinned confidently when he nodded in agreement and stood up to put his intentions into action. Before he even got near the door, Zelda mentioned teasingly, "However, has your lieutenant not told you to not rush headless into the next battle, no matter its kind? Although I do not know how the men at the arena handled it, I carry doubts my own soldiers wish to see your manhood in the same way as I do."

Annoyed, Ganondorf hit the shelf next to him and whirled up the dust. "Are you truly thinking I'm going outside like this?"

"I doubt as well you wish to know for which actions I am willing to give you credit for without hesitation."

He only grumbled in response and picked up his clothing from the floor. This woman certainly did not mince matters and he was no exception despite their close relationship. Then again, exactly this might be the reason why she did not spare him, at all.

As Ganondorf meant to pull on his shirt, he heard Zelda nearing from behind. He felt her arms softly encompassing him and she braced her head against his back before she said calmly, "Ganon, now that you intend to visit him, please, do not mind his aversion that might show through his speaking. You must understand, despite everything, Aldar is a soldier at heart, desiring to protect this kingdom from harm by any means necessary. If he develops doubts about its safety he might come across as a rough and cold man. Do not feel offended because of his words and especially, do not begin to act recklessly."

"Don't worry about that," responded Ganondorf when he turned around to look Zelda into her eyes. "As long as Aldar doesn't come up with some pretentious ice magic like that money-hungry office sitter when I talk to him, I'll be fine."

Though she looked mistrusting at him, she answered, "Take care of yourself," before their lips met for the last time. He felt how it spurred him even more to convince Aldar he was meant to fight as a knight again. For his own sake but also to not disappoint Zelda.

The morning sun shining through the windows turned the corridors into a warm color as Ganondorf walked across them. After he and Zelda had spent that one night together at the cathedral, he entirely scrapped his plan of leaving Hyrule. In no way would he leave such a woman behind, even though they had to keep their relationship a secret as long as he wished to keep his head on his shoulders.

On the other hand, there was no chance he would pass the time by just staying around in the castle and waiting for her. No matter how much Zelda meant to him, he could not imagine a life without fighting and bathing in the blood of his enemies. The heart of a warrior still beat inside him and if he could use his strength to protect Zelda, it might indeed give him a true reason to fight for.

Over a month had passed by since that night before Ganondorf decided to speak with Aldar about his suspension. It would have been unbelievable if he had claimed to have solved his problems in just one night when he had been fed up for weeks. And he wanted to be sure it was not merely a kneejerk reaction of Zelda to make him stay and everything was forgotten on the next day. Or worse, he was delivered to the guards and thrown into prison, though he only realized on the following day how much of a brinkmanship it was to put blind trust into her words.

Ganondorf headed up the staircase leading him to the office of the highgeneral. In front of the door, he took a last deep breath. He intended to push the handle down, but hesitated when he recalled Zelda's and Link's words to knock at a door before entering and wait to be offered a seat before taking it. At least this time he wanted to leave a good impression as it would be wise to not antagonize Aldar right at the start.

Inside, Ganondorf looked at shelves full of books, yet this time he could read their titles. Written texts containing the history about Hylians and other tribes as well as manuscripts about combat and strategies. To his surprise, even works about sorcery were mixed in between. He had never seen Aldar use magic, though it must be necessary to know about those arts to defeat wizards. Something he wished to know one day as well to not lose against those pests ever again.

Unlike Link, Aldar had only his papers and maps on his desk. Despite some ornamented swords hanging on the wall behind him, he had no decorations stored in his room at all.

Aldar still tended over his works and had not reacted since Ganondorf had entered. Though he loathed it to stay around idly, he kept quiet and waited to be addressed. To avoid playing with anything he could get his hands on out of boredom, he stuffed them into his pockets.

After some time which felt like hours, Aldar wrote down his last note and put his sheets of paper aside. "I'm surprised." He looked up to Ganondorf with a fierce gaze, yet quite pleased when he put his elbows on the desk. "Almost impressed to see that you're indeed capable of learning. Maybe you're not the most hopeless case I assumed you to be."

Ganondorf could not say if he would have preferred to hear at least a touch of sarcasm in Aldar's voice, who just sounded deadly serious. It itched strong in his tongue to give him a haughty answer, but he swallowed it up. At last, Aldar made a gesture to allow him to take a seat, though his fierce view remained once he sat down.

"I was already forewarned about your reasons for coming, there's no need to waste time on any formalities." Even though Aldar kept a straight face, he did not hide his unwillingness. "So, since I am a busy man, make it short in telling me what makes you think that someone like you is fit to fight under the banner of the Kingdom of Hyrule."

The gaze frozen, the voice ice-cold, Aldar made no secret out of his displeasure, at all. A shiver ran down Ganondorf's back, caused by that man's presence alone. This moment reminded him far too well of the one when he met him for the first time, where Aldar asked him about his origin, yet something else awoke inside him when he looked into those dull eyes. A strange feeling. A very strange one as if he had encountered that man even before the tournament, even though he had no explanation why it came up, much less any clue when that should have been.

Ganondorf shoved away the thought. No time to think about it now, Aldar had made it clear he did not intend to spend much time with him. "Well, that's easy. I know my swordsmanship, I'm even able to best foes trice my size and I face every enemy that crosses my way without even thinking to succumb. That's what's make me fit to fight."

Aldar's fierce expression remained. "I've never doubted that you are a warrior. You've proved that well enough in your days as a gladiator, otherwise you would be long since dead. However, this doesn't make you a knight and it especially doesn't make you fit to fight as one." Aldar leaned back, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "You and I, Ganondorf, we both had a talk about that topic once. Can I assume you remember its importance?"

Ganondorf stared at him, trying to hide his confusion while figuring out to which matter he referred, yet the general seemed to get displeased, though he still waited a few seconds before grumbling, "If you can't remember, you can leave this room through the same door you've come in. There is no meaning to bother me any further then."

Great pressure rested on him while Aldar took his view off and wordlessly dedicated himself to his papers again. Being entirely ignored, Ganondorf felt the anger arising inside him. He really wished to just seize Aldar by his collar and force him to let him into the army again, yet the knowledge that this situation was not meant to be solved with brute force and the highgeneral must observe, maybe even test, his reactions carefully, kept him back from doing so.

Aldar began to write down notes again while Ganondorf tried to remember the talk. Nervously, he began to fiddle around on his underarm as he needed to get the answer soon. He even drilled his nails into his skin to not lose his control. A tantrum would not help him. Not at all.

"Loyalty," mumbled Ganondorf first to himself when all of a sudden, this thought hit him like a needle, before he answered determined, "Loyalty makes a knight."

"A mere word doesn't mean much. And a word of an archenemy means even less," responded Aldar, his gaze still on the papers. Though this statement irritated Ganondorf, Aldar just continued. "So, can you explain what loyalty means or is it just one of those words you yell around without knowing its meaning?"

"Well," Ganondorf began to gain time. Words certainly were not his strength as he always preferred to get things done without losing much of them beforehand. Then again, being a big talker never helped in the arena and ended with the babbler being slain first if he could not stay true to his words. Which most, if not all, could not.

"It means to be faithful to something… Or maybe to a person. Ah, well, even to the kingdom itself. Yeah, it means to devote oneself to the kingdom in order to protect it. Or something along those lines."

"Or something along those lines", repeated Aldar with a deep sigh, even letting his shoulders sink. He put his feather down. "But I probably should not expect too much of someone who has spent more time hammering a sword into his opponent's skull instead of speaking with him." Aldar looked at him again, still fierce, yet not as cold as before. "But this is not all to it, is it?" Ganondorf remained quiet. "I'll give you one hint. Can I assume you remember the reason for your suspension?"

Even more confused, he responded, "Because of the incident at the Shadow Temple."

"Be more specific!" demanded Aldar harshly.

Even though Ganondorf liked to get more aggressive himself, he balled his fist under the desk to stay calm. "Because I rushed ahead and got separated from the group."

"Ah, we're nearing the cause." A satisfied smile appeared on Aldar's lips when he leaned back in his chair, though it vanished as fast as it had come. "But that's still not the reason."

Ganondorf would have loved to state that he should either tell what he meant or keep his mouth shut, as it nagged terribly on his patience to just guess haphazardly. "Because I had a quarrel with that other one."

"No, not that!" Displeased, Aldar shook his head. "One last hint for you, otherwise you know the way out. So, what about your superior back then?"

Ganondorf tried to hide his confusion. He could not see what Link had to do with it. "He told us to stop," he answered after some time.

"And what did you do?"

"I rushed ahead."

"Ah, that's it. You've rushed ahead instead of listening to his warnings and especially following his orders. And why did you disobey?" Before Ganondorf had even a chance to answer, Aldar's hands rushed down on the desk and he yelled, "Because you are not loyal!"

Ganondorf recoiled. This harsh behavior from the otherwise reserved highgeneral was unexpected. Even Aldar's expression got twisted by displeasure, but before Ganondorf could justify himself, the highgeneral said coldly, "So, let us come back to my question at the beginning. Since you lack loyalty towards your superior, what makes you think that someone unfaithful as you fits into the rank of a knight?!"

Without thinking, Ganondorf responded, "Because that belongs to the past. I've solved my problems and I have found my place. I won't let myself get affected by them ever again. That is why I know I only wish to become a knight again and to prove myself to be worth to be called one. Which also means I'll follow and have trust into the order of my lieutenant regardless of the situation we're facing." He did not know if he could or even wanted to keep true to his words, but at least he had to show he was willing to improve his behavior.

Aldar eyed him suspiciously. "Such big words from your mouth? Today, you're indeed surprising." He leaned forward again, bracing himself on his elbows. "However, I've told you that words alone don't mean much and to be honest, I don't have trust in yours. At all!" Forlornly, Aldar stroked through his hair. "But then again, for reasons I don't understand and probably never will, you are a man quite favored by a mighty royal, leaving me to no other choice but to grant you yet another chance. I hope you are more than aware you had a lot of them by now, a lot more than many other men ever had in their entire lives and only can dream of. Chances that I believe you do not deserve, seeing how you waste them over and over again and absolutely nothing of worth comes out of it!"

The cold, even averse gaze Ganondorf earned from Aldar burned deep down inside his mind. "I'll let you know later through a man of mine which division you'll take part in for now to prove yourself. And you stay within the town's borders as long as I have not ordered anything else. Be certain that I absolutely do not allow any misdemeanor from you! Not even the most minor complaint of any of my men reaching my ears will be accepted if you truly want to be a knight, understood?!"

"Yes," answered Ganondorf, perplexed to that unexpected answer. He did not even believe his words would get him anywhere, seeing he just made them up on the fly. Once the first confusion had faded away, he felt great. He would get a chance to make up for his failure at the temple and get back into the army, hopefully even into Link's division again.

"Then you can go." Ganondorf only nodded with a joyful grin. He left the room while Aldar scratched himself on his forehead, releasing a desperate sigh.

Later in the day, Aldar assigned him to a group of raw recruits in order to see if he could keep up with his claims about keeping a calm head and fighting accordingly. Though Ganondorf felt just disgraceful to be treated as one, he agreed, regardless of how much he despised the mere thought of it.

In his training sessions ranging over a course of weeks, even though he controlled his temper, he did not withhold his power. Especially not once one of the recruits made a dismissively comment about his foreign appearance. It was also the last statement of this kind any of them dared to make about him as in a training fight, he made a great fool out of that one and would have continued if the trainer had not intervened.

After that incident, the training became even more of a chore as the instructor commanded him to restrain his power as the trainees first needed to learn the basics. He also started, due to Ganondorf's experience, to use him as the only one with whom he presented maneuvers to reduce the injury risk of the newcomers. Though Ganondorf would have loved to refuse to serve as a mere puppet, he knew that even one misdemeanor would make Aldar decide to extend his suspension period without hesitation.

In the times when he ate together with the recruits in the mess hall, he felt how much he actually missed his old group. Even though he never cared about them, he saw now how much more preferable they were in comparison to those now in his presence. From the way the recruits talked and behaved they all must be wet behind their ears, not having fought one serious fight in their entire life. Something he could not imagine as he fought those battles of life and death since his youth to preserve his own.

Ganondorf met Link on several occasions, but while his former superior showed interest his progress, he could not spend too much time with him as he had his duty and men to deal with. To meet Zelda proved to be impossible because he was instructed to stay at the barracks together with his company. If he left it, he had to answer the questions of his superior about his whereabouts and since he could not tell the truth without being cut a head shorter, he would only raise suspicion about his motivation if he would come up with excuses.

About a month had passed by, which had driven Ganondorf almost to the edge of going on a rampage, when Aldar ordered him into his office and offered him the chance to participate under his command in a duty of diplomatic nature. Ganondorf, who would have agreed to anything if it only meant to get out of the recruit group, attended without hesitation.

Although he was finally outside the capital again, the lack of fights and the constant observation of his behavior proved to be unpleasant. Very unpleasant. And the presence of Aldar made it worse as he still made no secret out of his mistrust, asking him more than once if he truly intended to follow the path of a knight again. Ganondorf never showed a sign of doubt towards him, nor gave him evidence to doubt his loyalty.

After the mission, Ganondorf became a full member of Link's division again, fighting side by side against common foes. Even though they both had frictions due to their differing dispositions and ethics, he kept his rank as a knight and fought many battles with him while he spent the other times with Zelda.

Ganondorf enjoyed his current life deeply. He achieved many things he only dreamt about while he had been imprisoned in the arena. He had a man he trusted and a woman he loved. He could now finally fight for two people he held dear of his own free will as nobody forced him to do it. A pleasure he was never allowed to feel before.

This life, it was truly worth living every day and he hoped it would never end.

Almost a year had passed by since Ganondorf regained his knightly status when he, as he did often now, visited with Link a tavern in Hyrule's capital after their duty. Sitting at the bar, Ganondorf stared at the empty glass in front of him while Link took a deep gulp of his own. His fingers played around with it when he said thoughtfully, "You know, Ganon, when I think about our first mission, I honestly doubted we would ever get along. But now we're not only fighting side by side, we also sit here together even outside our duty."

"Say, why do you always get this sappy once you've drunken too much?" moaned Ganondorf without looking at him. "Not that you even need much before you get into this annoying state."

"Yet I'm even more surprised I got along with all your personality quirks," responded Link with a mischievous smile. "And trust me, you've collected many of them in your life."

"What's this supposed to mean?" Ganondorf pushed his hands on the table when he looked vigorously at Link, balling a fist. "And I don't like this expression. And you know what I do with things I don't like."

"Oh, I'm certain you're clever enough to figure out the answer yourself." Link did not show even a touch of intimidation. "Also, be aware that I'm neither sorry for my expression nor intend to change it."

"Are you searching for trouble?"

"That's why I've taken you along."

Ganondorf could not say what refrained him from punching Link, who had developed a passion to answer him with snippy and sometimes even subtle provocative statements in the times they had spent together. Then again, even though he would never admit it, he liked it that way as he knew that despite every comment, Link cared for him.

Before he could argue further with him, an outcry disrupted them, "Stop that thief!"

Ganondorf and the other guests, looked outside into the direction of the scream, while Link already leaped to his feet. "Well, Ganon, seems like our leisure is over."

"You're not intending to search for this thief, are you?" Suspiciously, he eyed Link. "It's a waste of time, he's miles away by now."

"Are you saying we shall just sit here and pretend as if we heard nothing? Even though we're knights?" Ganondorf just remained in his seat. "Guess you're only reliable when we're in a battle. I'll go alone then."

"Have fun," responded Ganondorf when he waved with one hand, whole-heartily overhearing Link's disappointment. He preferred to continue fiddling on his glass rather than following a long since gone thief while Link hurried outside.

Author's Note

I'm sorry it took me quite long to finally update again. Life happened and kept me away from writing, yet I hope the next chapter will be done sooner again. Also, no need to worry I might have forgotten what to do with the story in the meantime, I still have my plans. Hope you're looking forward to the next scene. :)