Chapter Text

Duty-Bound

Chapter One: Betrayal

Ganondorf was getting too old for this formal nonsense. Why had he accepted Queen Zelda’s invitation to join her at Hyrule Castle? Why did she even want to speak to him? Most of their dealings were done through ambassadors. The Hyruleans mistrusted the Gerudo, and wanted nothing to do with them outside of trade. They had good reason to be so afraid. Ganondorf’s ancestors had repeatedly tried to take over the Goddesses’ chosen land. Drunk on the need for the power only the Triforce could grant, they had laid siege, committed regicide, and buried themselves in dark magic. But they had all failed in the face of a Hero.

Ganondorf had never been so foolish to repeat his ancestors’ mistakes. As soon as he was crowned king of the Gerudo, he had worked on strengthening diplomatic ties between his country and Hyrule. It was because of him the desert town around his palace was flourishing, and why no war had come to Hyrule in the thirty-plus years since his coronation.

What could Zelda want? Surely not marriage. She had wed one Prince Ralph only a year ago, and was currently heavy with their first child. Perhaps she wanted to promise her first son to one of Ganondorf’s daughters? Ridiculous. The idea alone of joining their kingdoms was out of the question, and mixing their races would make her people riot against her. But what else would require his presence when they both did their best to ignore each other?

Perhaps she was cutting all ties to the Gerudo? Alone in his carriage, Ganondorf allowed himself a moment of panic. His tribe had become too reliant on trade with Hyrule. They would never survive the loss unless they chose to leave their home forever. And the Gerudo, being a prideful tribe, would rather die than abandon their way of life. No, they would fight back. They would urge Ganondorf to declare war.

Because that’s worked so well in the past, Ganondorf thought darkly. He settled into his seat, folded his hands in his lap, and sighed. He could only wait and see what came of the meeting.

#

Zelda met Ganondorf in her private study. A pair of soldiers escorted him through the shining halls of Hyrule Castle. Servants quickened their pace at the sight of the Gerudo king, who was dressed in his best hakama and kimono. A haori helped to disguise the strong chest that many took for a fat gut. All of it was dyed black, with dragons stitched into the haori in golden thread. His obi proudly showed the Gerudo crest, in case there were any doubts about whom he represented.

One of the soldiers opened the door of the study and bowed Ganondorf into the room. The soldier then took up his spot to the left of the door while his fellow took up the other side. Queen Zelda sat within. Her pregnant stomach was hidden behind a grand desk that reeked of expensive taste. More of Zelda’s penchant for riches hung from her ears, wrists, and neck; the latter laid over a maternity dress of the highest quality. Everything about her spoke of perfection, and it made Ganondorf’s stomach churn. He much preferred the dusty, lively, and unpredictable women of his tribe.

Standing behind Zelda, to her right by a window, was a young man in knight’s armor. Ganondorf recognized the stoic face, accented by blonde hair and blue eyes. This was Zelda’s personal knight. Rumors about the two Hylians’ less-than professional relationship had made it to even Ganondorf’s ears over the past year. He didn’t know if they were true (people loved to gossip) and neither did he care. He gave the young man—Link, that was his name—a quick once-over, noting the hand resting on the pommel of the sword on his waist. Link continued to stare straight ahead at the coat of arms on the wall opposite him.

“King Ganondorf,” Zelda greeted in a stiff voice. The first hint of trouble trickled down Ganondorf’s back. “Forgive me for not rising, but my child is misbehaving today.” She dropped a hand to her stomach, and her face twisted in faint pain.

“Of course, Queen Zelda,” Ganondorf returned, and he bowed. “I hope the day finds you otherwise well.”

“Unfortunately, that is not the case,” Zelda said. Her eyes were hard when they fixed on Ganondorf. Something was wrong. Ganondorf didn’t need to wait long to find out what. “Yesterday morning one of my soldiers caught a spy in the market square with an unsettling letter in his possession.” Zelda opened a drawer in her desk; it barely made a sound. From the drawer she pulled out a letter that she unfolded and turned atop the desk to present it to Ganondorf. “The letter details plans for a hostile takeover of Hyrule, and your signature caps it off.”

Ganondorf was momentarily taken aback. He had written no such letter, and had no such desires. He said as much to Zelda before leaning over the desk to look closer at the letter. In the corner of his eye, he noticed Link step forward and half-draw his sword.

Zelda raised a hand to stall her knight, and he took back his step. His gaze, however, was now solely for Ganondorf. “I want to believe you, King Ganondorf. You have been a good ally to my kingdom, and have never shown any inclination towards war. But the fact is, this letter exists. How do you explain that?”

“I… I don’t know,” Ganondorf said. He was reading the letter as fast as he could while his mind raced. The letter’s contents were clearly of violent nature. There was no mistaking the intention behind the letter writer. “Who was the spy you found? My warriors don’t associate with men outside of the occasional tryst.”

Zelda shrugged. “He put up a fight, and was killed by my men in the struggle. No one recognized him.”

“And the receiver of the letter? Do we know who that is?”

“We’re working on finding that out. While there is no name in plain sight, my scribes have noticed some oddities in the words chosen in the letter. They believe there’s a hidden message within the letter. Perhaps it’s a clue to the identity of the person meant to receive it. But back to the matter at hand, King Ganondorf. Can you prove to me you had nothing to do with this letter. Because if not...” Zelda let the threat hang, unspoken.

Ganondorf scanned the letter again, looking for clues. He found one at once, and in his signature no less. “There are two different hands in this letter,” he pointed out. The body of the letter—the work of the transcriber, no doubt—and the signature. But neither one is mine.”

Zelda’s eyes narrowed. “And you can prove that?”

Ganondorf allowed himself a small chuckle. “How many treaties do you have in your records room that bear my signature? It’s a simple matter to compare them.”

“You could have purposefully signed this in a different hand,” Zelda pointed out with an angry tap of a finger on the letter.

“Why?” Ganondorf questioned. “What would be the point, given the details for war in plain sight? You have only one ally with a history of war against Hyrule, Queen Zelda. Even without my signature, the natural assumption would have been to blame me. Perhaps that’s what the letter’s writer intended.”

Zelda snorted. “You’re suggesting someone is setting you up?” Her amusement dried up in the face of Ganondorf’s unfaltering glare. “I will admit it’s a possibility. Someone with low opinions of the Gerudo may want to find a means of driving a wedge between your kingdom and mine.” A delicate finger tapped at her chin. “Very well. I will first have my scribes compare this letter to our treaties to establish if the signature is yours. If not, we will move our investigation to the letter’s origin. With luck, we’ll have an answer by tomorrow.”

Ganondorf was impressed. “Your people work fast.”

Zelda smirked. “We’ve grown quite skilled at rousing rats from their nests. This isn’t the first time the Royal Family has received threats.” Zelda picked up the letter and turned to her knight. “Link, take this downstairs to the records room and inform the scribes of their task.”

Ganondorf arched an eyebrow. Not “Sir” Link? There was no respect in Zelda’s voice for her knight; the man who guarded her very life. Her tone was like that of a sullen master addressing their lame hound.

However, Link was unperturbed. He accepted the letter with a respectful, “Yes, my Queen,” bowed to her, and left the room. He glanced at Ganondorf on his way out. The look was one of cautious curiosity this time. It was the first hint of emotion Link had shown in front of him.

“King Ganondorf, I will have a room arranged for your stay tonight,” Zelda announced. She made to push herself up. Ganondorf hurried around the desk and offered a hand, which she took with a grateful smile.

“When is the child due?” Ganondorf asked as he walked the queen out of the study.

“A little more than a month from now,” Zelda answered. She sucked in a heavy breath. “My apologies for my current state, and for my short temper with you. The pregnancy is weighing on me.”

“There are no apologies needed,” Ganondorf assured her. “I have spent all of my life in a tribe of women, and have fathered many daughters. I understand the heavy task you are going through.”

“You are very kind,” Zelda said. “It is a pity such an unfortunate turn of events has necessitated your visit this time.”

“We will find the person behind this, Queen Zelda, and you will rest easy knowing I am still your grateful ally. Perhaps the next time I visit, it will be to bestow a gift upon your newly-born heir.”

“I am planning a grand celebration. Ralph doesn’t understand all of the fuss, but he is not the one bearing this weight. It will be as much a celebration of my freedom from the shackles of pregnancy as it will be for the birth of my child.”

Ganondorf laughed, turning the heads of the soldiers who guarded the end of the hall he and Zelda had just exited. He and the queen talked more as they made their way to Zelda’s chambers. There she left him with a word of gratitude before vanishing into her bedroom.

A servant found Ganondorf and led him to his guest quarters. The furniture was lush, and the view of the gardens was beautiful, but Ganondorf would have traded it all to know then and there who was trying to make war between his people and Hyrule.

Ganondorf spent the rest of the day in his room. A servant brought him first lunch, and then dinner. Between the meals Ganondorf occupied himself with the books in the room, or rested. No soldiers arrived to take him into custody, and he took that as a sign that things were going in his favor downstairs in the records room.

The last of the sun had vanished beneath the horizon when Ganondorf decided to turn in for the night. But he had barely pulled the blanket up to his chin when a dull thump turned his eyes upwards to the ceiling of the bedroom. It sparked his curiosity. He was so used to the quiet halls of his palace that any strange sounds at night caught his attention—even if he was a guest in an unfamiliar castle. For all he knew, someone had simply dropped a chamber pot. But when the thump repeated, followed by a commanding muted voice, he swung back out of bed and pulled his haori back on over his smallclothes.

There were guards posted in the hall outside Ganondorf’s room. He didn’t want to be bothered by their curiosity, or raise suspicions, so he used a bit of sorcery to cloak his appearance and silence his steps. With these tricks on his side, it was child’s play to slip past the guards and climb the stairs to the floor above. He didn’t need to wander in search of the sounds’ source, as a sharper sound guided him down a hall on his right. This was the way to Zelda’s chambers, but there were no guards in sight. Was that on the princess’s orders? And if so, why?

Ganondorf followed the hall to its end. By now he could recognize the unrestrained gasps and moans in his ears as indeed belonging to Zelda. The sounds led him to a closed door. A bit of sorcery made the top half of the door transparent to his eyes, and he looked in at the bed within the room. Zelda was mounted atop Link, her pregnant belly resting on his flatter one. She was stripped bare with her head thrown back in ecstasy as her hips moved. Her goldenrod hair shimmered in the moonlight that lit half of the room.

Link’s wrists were lashed to the headboard, and one of Zelda’s stockings was stuffed in his mouth. The strain in his arms and face told Ganondorf he wasn’t fond of being tied down. He was helpless, however, as Zelda rode him at her whim. When he dared to shift a leg, Zelda dropped her head forward, dug her nails in, and smiled at him. “What’s wrong?” she asked in a breathless voice. “I thought you were fond of me. Well?”

Link nodded, breathing hard around the gag.

“Then why are you so distracted tonight?” Zelda asked next. “Could it be the Gerudo king who is on your mind? I saw that look you gave him. It was the same one you once gave Ralph’s maid, and the stableman before her. The same one you gave me.”

Link shook his head from side to side in fierce denial, and Zelda laughed. “I’m only kidding,” she assured him. One of her fingers trailed down his left cheek, tauntingly close to removing the gag. “Now I want to see some real effort, Link. Prove your love to me.”

Ganondorf removed the spell from the bedroom door and turned around to return to his room. So the rumors were true. It mattered little to him that Zelda was fucking someone on the side, nor did it surprise him. It was common knowledge in the kingdom that royal marriages were often full of infidelity. No, what stuck in his mind was the strain in Link’s body, and the way Zelda had treated him in her study earlier that day. He put his life on the line to protect hers, and she had no respect for him. She simply used him.

Link’s circumstances were still on Ganondorf’s mind long after he had crawled back into bed. He didn’t remember falling asleep, but waking up was far more memorable. A flurry of knocks sounded on his bedroom door, and he had just enough time to rise out of bed before a soldier’s voice called, “Queen Zelda requires your presence in the throne room!”

“Give me a moment!” Ganondorf called back. He grumbled beneath his breath the whole while as he dressed and arranged his hair into an acceptable state. He supposed there wouldn’t be any breakfast for him this morning. Once he was ready, he exited the room to find a soldier waiting for him. Only one. That had to be a good sign. The soldier bowed and respectfully requested that Ganondorf follow him.

The throne room was in the heart of Hyrule Castle’s first floor. The ceiling was as tall as that of the Temple of Time’s, but instead of stained glass and effigies of the Goddesses there were royal pennants and portraits. A young Zelda smiled down at Ganondorf as he made his way down the center of the room. She looked innocent and full of light.

The grown queen who sat on her throne also carried a certain light. Alongside the warm glow of pregnancy a sense of righteousness beamed from her confident figure. She was at place in her role, and no one could say she didn’t hold her kingdom’s prosperity as the highest importance. Ganondorf saw the extent of this loyalty to her people in the scene before him. Soldiers were situated at regular intervals along the walls of the throne, and a knight had taken a protective stance to the throne’s right. But that knight wasn’t Link. He instead lay on the floor gagged, blindfolded, and stripped bare. Tight ropes bound his ankles, thighs, and arms. To his credit he lay in silence. Only the rise and fall of his chest gave away the panic running through him.

“My dear King Ganondorf,” Zelda greeted in a warm voice when Ganondorf stopped to kneel before her. Link lay not ten feet before him, but he knew better than to stare. “As you can see, this morning brings good news for both of us. The identity of one of the hands in the letter has been found. You can imagine my surprise and shock when I learned that your forged signature matched one of a witness who had signed many of the very treaties he had hoped to undo with his plans.”

Ganondorf looked to Link in search of any signs of denial. Zelda drew his attention back up when she continued, “Yes, it was my own Sir Link, a man who had sworn to protect me until the end of days. As soon as I was told the news this morning I ordered his immediate arrest. The evidence against him is clear, and to try him as the traitor he is would only stir up panic in the kingdom. Therefore, I have decided a swift punishment is in order—and I will leave it to you, King Ganondorf.”

Ganondorf frowned. “I don’t understand, my Queen.”

Zelda smiled and simplified, “It was your name and tribe he tried to sully, so I will leave the choice to you: exile or execution.”

Exile or execution. The words rang in Ganondorf’s head. He stared down at the bound man before him while he weighed the decision. Was this knight truly a traitor? He found it hard to believe, but he found it equally hard to see why Zelda would cast away someone she was so fond of manipulating; someone of such loyalty. There was no reason behind it.

What if he refused to make a decision? What sort of light would that paint him in? He might be seen as weak, or as one who was hiding a guilty conscience. He couldn’t afford either of those opinions. They could lead to takeover or war as easily as the letter could, and his people wouldn’t survive.

Link shifted the slightest bit, drawing Ganondorf’s eye. He saw the faint marks in the Hylian’s side where Zelda’s nails had dug in last night. It stirred a feeling of pity in Ganondorf’s heart, and he found himself saying, “Exile.”

“So be it,” Zelda said. A jerk of her head called forward two soldiers who grabbed Link and hauled him out of the throne room. “You have a sympathetic heart, King Ganondorf, and I admire that.”

Ganondorf raised his eyes from the spot where Link had once lay. “Thank you, Queen Zelda,” he returned. “You, too, were kind in your choice to hold back immediate retribution. I’m sure even Link’s traitorous heart appreciated that.”

“My last gift to him,” Zelda said with a laugh. “Oh, but I must extend a gift to you as well, King Ganondorf, for dragging you across the kingdom and making you suffer such an agonizing wait. I entreat you to join me for dinner this evening as an apology.”

It would have been foolish to refuse, so Ganondorf replied, “I would be honored, my Queen.” He doubted, however, he would be able to force much food down into his uneasy stomach.

#

Ganondorf was encouraged to stay another night to avoid traveling in the dark. He took the queen up on her offer, and stayed in the same room as the night before. Although it was quieter this time, he slept little. His hungry, uneasy stomach and the heavy decision he had made distracted him most of the night. He managed two hours of sleep before rising with the sun. He would sleep on the ride home.

Zelda met with him before he climbed into his carriage. After a string of formal goodbyes between the two of them, Ganondorf kissed the back of her hand and climbed into his carriage. He paused when Zelda said, “I’ve sent your gift ahead of you. Please accept it with my sincere apologies.”

“Of course,” Ganondorf said, nodding, and he closed the carriage door with a sigh. He wondered what had been bestowed on him this time. Zelda was fond of sending him everything from Hyrulean horses (which were inferior compared to Gerudian stock) to pleasure slaves. At least the latter gave him a few night’s enjoyment. Exploring a foreign man’s or woman’s body was a nice change now and again. Inevitably though, like the horses, the slaves were set free. The idea of keeping a prisoner when his own people had suffered at Hyrule’s hands in the past… It unsettled Ganondorf.

The rock of the carriage sent Ganondorf off into a much sounder sleep than the plush bed had provided. He arrived at his palace well-rested and was greeted by several of his daughters. They showered him with love and hounded his steps until he encouraged them to get back to their studies. The girls took their leave in a giggling group, and Ganondorf continued into the quiet sanctuary of his chambers.

In anticipation of his arrival, someone had lit the lamps in his room and stoked the fire against the cold of the oncoming night. The firelight filled the space with a warm glow, and Ganondorf’s eyes dropped to the new addition to the room when it whimpered in fear. His eyes glided over the bare, shaking body and the ropes that bit into its pale skin. Why didn’t he see this coming?

“You’re Link,” Ganondorf said. In response, the bound ex-knight curled his body as tight as his bindings allowed. Ganondorf crossed the room to inspect him. He appeared to be in greater pain than he had shown the day before. The reason why was clear in the agitated skin around the bindings, and the fresh brand that marked him. It was the Triforce, only upside down and with a vertical line halving it. The mark of a traitor. It was always placed between the shoulder blades so that the accused would feel the weight of their crimes on their back for the rest of their lives.

Ganondorf dropped to his knees beside the quivering Hylian. Link stank of fear, sweat, and dried piss. Bruises pointed out where the soldiers had been roughest with him. “It was a long trip here, I see,” Ganondorf remarked. Link tried to retreat, but he couldn’t move any farther away. “If you promise you won’t attack me or scream, I’ll remove the ropes and get you cleaned up. Deal?”

Link nodded at once, having no other means of communicating at the moment. Zelda had obviously trained him to be obedient; almost to a fault.

Ganondorf began with the blindfold. Once it was removed and Link could see, the Hylian seemed to calm down some. The gag came next, and the first words out of Link’s hoarse throat were, “Thank you, my lord.”

Ganondorf frowned at that. There was no hint of bigotry in Link’s tone. He pushed the observation aside for a moment and pulled a small knife out of his sleeve. Link tensed, and Ganondorf said, “You need to relax or it will be harder to cut them off. I might hurt you by accident.”

“Yes, my lord,” Link said. He relaxed his muscles and closed his eyes against the sight of the blade. Bit by bit his limbs were freed until the remnants of the ropes lay around him like slain snakes. Their departure revealed lines of chafed skin and more bruising.

Ganondorf slipped the knife back up his sleeve and stood up with a grunt of effort. “Lay there for a while and get your blood moving again while I draw you a bath.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“And stop calling me my lord. Use my name or nothing else.”

Link gave a meek nod, and Ganondorf turned away to vanish into the bathroom. Like the fireplace, the tub had been prepared for him as well. He warmed the water with some magic and added in healing herbs to sooth away any pain. When the water was wafting medicinal steam, Ganondorf returned to the bedroom and helped Link to his feet. The Hylian limped the short distance, and he needed to be lifted into the tub. He sunk into the water with a gasp, tensing up again. He soon relaxed and dropped the back of his head against the wall of the tub.

Ganondorf left him like that while he set out on a mission to find clothes that would fit the Hylian. There were spare shirts and slacks in his warriors’ quarters. The shirt’s cut was a bit feminine, but Ganondorf felt it would fit Link’s small frame well enough. He returned to his chambers with two sets of clothes in-hand. Link was sitting up in the tub and running a soapy cloth over his body with care. His hair stuck up in stiff, sudsy spikes.

“Here are some clothes,” Ganondorf announced as he dropped the garments onto a table by a washbasin. “I’m afraid I don’t have smallclothes for you. I’ll have them made along with better-fitting shirts.”

“Thank you, my—” Link stopped himself just in time.

“I will have some food and drink brought up for you, and then you should rest. If you need anything, ask any of my tribe whom you see. They’ll know to treat you with kindness.”

Link nodded this time, and with that Ganondorf left him to his privacy. There was good Gerudian food calling to his hungry stomach in the kitchen downstairs, and he had to arrange Link’s meal regardless. He followed the halls and stairs down, feeling relaxed for the first time since his arrival to Hyrule Castle. He didn’t think about what he was going to do with Link, or what Zelda’s intentions were behind sending the exiled knight to him. Tonight was for collecting himself and making Link comfortable.

Returning to his chambers later that night, Ganondorf found Link’s dinner plates picked clean and the drink cup dry. The Hylian was curled up on the floor in front of the fireplace, eyes closed. Perhaps he had been too afraid to take the Gerudo king’s bed. Ganondorf picked him up—Link, deep in an exhausted sleep, never stirred—and carried him to the bed where he tucked him under the warm blankets. The bed was more than wide enough for both of them, and Ganondorf slipped in on the other side. A wave of his hand extinguished the lamps, and soothing darkness fell around him.