Author's Note

I miss when people read my stories a lot.

Several days had passed since my excursion with Vaati in the greenhouse, but not much had changed. I still spent my days escorted about by Vaati, Valenn and the guards. Dashti still took a ridiculously long time to wake up, and had begun to automatically go to Valenn when we walked. It might just be me, but I think she finally figured out why I would stop her from walking with Vaati and I. We both feared for innocent little Sahar, and I knew Valenn, and refused to trust him with a girl like her.

"Ah, food!" I cried excitedly as a servant brought a platter of food for Dashti, Sahar and I in one afternoon. It looked like bird of a sort, some fruit and vegetables. She set it on the low table we shared, and left without a word. Ignoring the funny feeling I had when I saw her downcast face, I fell upon the food with abandon and took one of the fruits, and bit into it.

"You are simply too much, Namira," Sahar said as she settled onto a cushion beside me. She took a pale white carrot-like vegetable, and ate it daintily.

"No Sahar, she's just an animal!" Dashti cried as she rose from her bed, where she'd been lounging. "Like a wolf!" Dashti howled dramatically, and I laughed as if there were not a double meaning in that word for me. "Truly, this girl is like a beast when it comes to her food," Dashti continued as she took the last cushion, and went to take a piece of the bird. Jokingly, I snarled and pretending to snatch at the food. Dashti and Sahar broke into fits of laughter, and I smiled smugly as I ate my morsel. I was proud of myself for how well I was assimilating myself into life there.

"Well, when I spoke to Vaati yesterday, he said that he had something to attend to today, and wouldn't be able to take us out on another walk," Dashti said as if that statement did not make us sound like the pets that we were. Sahar frowned at that. "But," Dashti continued before her sister interrupted her, "he said that we are free to go look around the castle and enjoy ourselves. He recommended the lounge off of the foyer if we just wanted to sit about. I have to admit, I would like to go stretch my legs!" Dashti stuck out her long, graceful legs as if to tease Sahar and I about our shorter statures.

"And I would very much like to curl up on a couch and take a nap!" Sahar countered, using her older sister's deep wish to be less sleek and voluptuous and more small and cute. Dashti frowned, and finished eating silently.

Sahar smiled smugly, and she and I finished our meals with companionable banter. The food was great, and the bird was especially delicious, though I still did not know what it was. I even tried the white carrot, and found that I liked it. So much of the desert was growing on me, and I found that I would be sad to leave it. Not that that would be any time soon. Though I'd gotten here safely, I still had nothing to tell Tila or Zelda, as I had told the two of them through the gossip stones the second night I spent in the palace. They weren't happy about it, but implored me to hurry. I'd snorted, and thought, how very easy for you to say that, in your big safe palace guarded by the most powerful spells and enchantments in Hyrule, along with some of the bravest guardsmen in the country.

Dashti eventually got antsy, and we left to go down to the lounge she'd mentioned. In sharp contrast that first day, we now saw far more women wandering about, most in the same garb as us, but others in a slightly different outfit. That wasn't the point though. It was strange, thinking that all of these women had been bedmates of Vaati's, and stayed, hoping they'd share his bed again. It made me nauseated just thinking about it.

"Oh! This is interesting," Sahar said quietly when we reached the lounge. The doorway was covered by a deep emerald drape, and when moved, revealed a peculiar room. It was furbished in rich browns and reds, and dimly lit, and couches and chaise lounges filled most of the space. That wasn't the strange part though. There were other men here, men that we had seen before. It seemed like the women liked to entertain the men employed by Vaati occasionally.

Quite embarrassed, the three of us quickly moved to a couch and lounge in the corner, isolated from the rest of the rest. I let the sisters take the couch, and put my back to the rest of the room, and did my best to keep their eyes from straying to the concubines in the rest of the room.

"So. You asked about the grasslands before, didn't you?" I mentioned quietly, feigning an interest in the tacky fringe on the chaise.

I immediately had their attention. "Oh yes, yes you did! Please, tell us all about them! What do people wear there? How do they go from place? What sort of tents do they live in? Where do they get their water from? I heard they have no oases!" Sahar was all bubbly speech, and I laughed at her, loving her spunk.

"Alright, you've definitely given me a lot to work with," I said, still keeping my voice low. They leaned in, just as I'd hoped they would. "We wore all sorts of clothes. When it got cold, we would wear very thick shirts called jackets to stay warm, and when it snowed- snow is frozen water that falls from the sky during the winter. It's very pretty, and white. It makes everything quiet," I said before Sahar could interrupt me with another question. "When it snows, we wear boots to keep our feet dry. We ride horses and sometimes horse-drawn wagons to get to where we want to go. If it's not too far we can walk; it's never that hot there. We don't live in tents; we live in houses, made of stone or wood. They stay in one place because the ground in the greenlands doesn't move like the sand, and we don't have sandstorms. Water comes from lakes and streams, and we just take it. Everyone lives near water, just like you do in the desert. That's where people come together," I murmured as I finished, suddenly finding myself homesick.

"Oh my…" Dashti said suddenly, straightening with a shocked and frightened look upon her face.

"What is it?" I said, pushing myself upright.

"It's one of Vaati's men. No, don't look!" Dashti snapped when I began to turn my head. "Everyone I've spoken to said that he's horribly mean. He used to be here all the time and left for awhile. No one knows why, only that when he came back he was even crueler to the others than before," Dashti finished in hushed tones. She looked down quickly, and pulled Sahar, who looked like a deer caught in the headlights, a bit behind her.

"What?" I said, uneasy about their strange behavior. "Dashti, what's wrong?"

"Hello there," came a male's voice from over my shoulder. I stiffened, and did not reply. I heard the man snort, and shift. "I said, hello. What, have you no manners?" he said, implying that he didn't expect manners from us, nor did he know what manners truly were.

I rolled my eyes, and threw back my shoulders, raising my chin as I spoke. "Hello then." I grimaced with contempt. "Did you need something, or did you only come over here to harass me and my friends?" I demanded.

Dashti began to shake, and I pitied her for having to face him. He was apparently unhappy about what I said. I heard the sharp inhale that came before a strike, and I raised a hand to ward off the blow that was coming.

The slap stung my wrist for hours after.

"Maybe you will mind your impudent mouth from here on out," the man spat as he walked away. I did not dignify his presence with a response, instead lowering my hand into my lap and cradling it gingerly.

As soon as he was truly gone, Sahar leapt over to me and gathered up my hand in both of hers. "Oh, poor thing! Are you alright?" Just as if I were her sister, Sahar fawned over me, and I relished in the feeling. I didn't have any siblings, and the camaraderie was refreshing.

Dashti, who was very uncomfortable sitting in the lounge after what had happened, shepherded my new nursemaid and I back up to our room as quickly as she could, with wary glances all around. Sahar either did not notice her sister's unease, or chose to ignore it. She was too busy asking servants to bring bandages and a healer up to our room to make sure my wrist was alright.

When we got back, Sahar made me sit in my bed, and opened the windows, keeping the drapes shut. She made me lay down, refusing to listen to my resistance.

"Sahar, I was slapped, I did not contract the influenza! So please calm down and let me be! The only thing hurt right now is my pride," I murmured. Sahar sighed, and settled with her skirts in a heap around her on my bed. Dashti joined us quickly, pulling her little sister close to her.

"That man is a menace… No. He is no man, he is a beast." Dashti's words brought my mind back to that morning's conversation. "How a man as charming as Vaati allows a devil like that to wander about is beyond me."

"Dashti, Sahar," I said suddenly, turning to them, "Vaati hasn't asked anything of you recently, has he?"

Sahar looked at me curious, and placed her hands on Dashti's which were wrapped around her shoulders. "Like what, exactly?"

I struggled to word it gently. "Has he… you know, asked you to engage in any kind of activity? While you were alone with him I mean." My face was red from embarrassment.

Dashti paled. "How did you know?" she asked, her voice frightened. Sahar frowned, and looked up at her sister.

"What're you two talking about?" she asked, clearly confused.

"Never you mind Sahar. I am glad you don't know," I said gently before turning my attention back to Dashti. "…Well?" I asked, afraid of what I would hear.

"Well," Dashti said nervously, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I… I said I did not think it was. We barely know him. He agreed, but he just… Hasn't acted quite the same towards me since." Dashti had grown quite, and was now brooding.

The sudden knock at our door startled all of us, but it was sweet little Sahar that recovered first. "Coming," she called as she crawled out of her sister's lap. Dashti took my uninjured hand in hers, and we shared a look of concern that pierced me deeper than she could have known.

"Oh, Namira, it's the healer," Sahar said as she opened the door. I was thoroughly shocked to see Valenn walk in, a small pack at his waist. He seemed less intimidating for some reason.

"Where are you hurt?" he asked quietly, standing awkwardly before me. I moved my hand from my lap and showed him the angry mark where the handprint starkly contrasted against my skin. He took my hand gingerly, and I struggled not to snatch my arm back. He gently examined my wrist and the bones around it. He hit one in particular, and pain shot up my arm. I gasped, and he apologized quickly.

"No, no, you're fine," I said quietly, trying to reign the aftershock in as best I could.

"Well, it looks like you've bruised the bone," Valenn said quietly, releasing my hand and reaching into his mystery pack.

"Bruised the bone? Can anything be done for that?" Sahar asked worriedly. I smiled softly at her, touched that she cared that deeply.

"Yes," Valenn said with a nod, pulling a bit of bandages from the pack. He set them beside me, and gestured for me to give him my hand, and I did so, if unwillingly.

He took it lightly, and closed his eyes in concentration. He started muttering in what I recognized as Ancient Hylian, and I slowly felt the air thicken, as if a static charge were coursing through the air. I recognized this sensation well, and knew that magic was being worked here. I'd known Valenn could do parlor trick magic to trick and beguile, but I wasn't aware that he could also heal. It shone an uncomfortably bright light on him as a person, and invited me to take a better look at who he was. I didn't though, and the feeling soon passed.

"…That should do it," Valenn said suddenly in a hoarse voice. He took the bandages and wrapped my wrist carefully for support. "Have a servant let me know if it doesn't start healing, or if it gets any worse," he said, looking at me shyly.

"Sure. I mean, of course, I'll do that," I stammered, shocked at Valenn's rather sudden change of attitude.

When he was gone, Sahar climbed back into bed, and yawned as Dashti gathered her up again. "I'm tired," she mumbled into her sister's hair, which hung free from any coiled arrangement. The two sisters shared the same petite bones structure and blonde ringlets, and their touching compassion.

Before we knew it, the three of us had fallen asleep on my bed in a big mess, each of us touching the others somehow.

When I woke up, Sahar and Dashti were still fast asleep. I didn't move right away, and Sahar had taken my unhurt hand in her sleep, and Dashti's legs were tangled up in mine. I felt the cool night air flow in through the windows, and it only woke me up further. Taking care, I pulled my legs and hand free, and moved slowly off the bed. I was awake, but unsure of what I wanted to do.

Suddenly, I remembered the greenhouse and wondered what it looked like at night. So I got a pale blue shawl from the wardrobe, and walked out of our room, without shoes and my hair hanging free. It felt nice to be able to walk around without worrying about my hair.

The halls and foyer were empty, as I thought they'd be. There weren't even guards or servants about to ask me why I was up or to tell me to go back to my room. The scrap of freedom felt nice. I took my time going to the greenhouse, and was rewarded with a rare sight when I reached it.

In hindsight, I bet Vaati had grown the plants to do magnificent and wonderful things, since he was a sorcerer. But when I saw the wide array of plants glowing in the night, I was only awed. Everything, even the vines glowed with a gentle light. The flowers, however, glowed brightly, like multi-colored lanterns. A cool breeze blew through the almost tropical forest.

Swinging my good arm at my side, I let the shroud I had shrug down a bit as I wandered about, taking in the beauty of it all. Eventually, when I felt like stopping, I settled on the ground at the base of a tree covering in flowers. They glowed a vibrant purple, and I felt magical as I looked at the pale violet glow on my skin.

"You couldn't sleep either?"

A male's voice came out of the darkness, and I stiffened. "Who's there?" I asked warily.

"Just me," came the quiet response as Valenn stepped into the glow of the flowers.

"Oh," I said awkwardly. "Hello."

Silence.

"How's your wrist feeling?"

"Oh, just fine, thank you."

More silence.

"The flowers are nice at night, don't you think?"

I turned to look closer at the flower I was now standing by. They were even more beautiful upon closer inspection. "Yes, they are…" I answered, tracing the curve of a petal.

"Do you want one?" Valenn asked suddenly.

"They are nice, but wouldn't they be missed?" I thought of Vaati and the hard work he probably put into that place.

"Not right now. Vaati's far too pre-occupied to notice much of anything these days," Valenn said with a small smile.

"I noticed," I said with a secret smile of my own. It had meant that I was left alone mostly, which I found to my liking.

"Really? That's not good," Valenn muttered, furrowing his brows.

"So. What about these flowers?" I said, changing the subject before he could suspect me.

And so went the brief time I spent with the nice Valenn, a person I did not know. I spent the whole half hour in absolute awkward absurdity, and was glad to leave it. By the time I got back to my room, I was quite tired. Dashti and Sahar had not moved much, and I settled right back into the spot that had grown cold in my absence.

We woke the following morning and fell into the same pattern we'd been following, full of our joking and fun, but I suddenly found it all boring and somehow transparent. My new friends sensed my preoccupation, and in an attempt to clear my foul mood, convinced me to go with them to one of the sitting rooms the opened out into the main courtyard.

We spent the whole day, just the three of us, relaxing and reading, or running barefoot in the lush grass that grew under the watchful eyes of the gardeners.

I appreciated that they tried so hard to expel the thick cloud that seemed to hang about me. It took awhile, but I finally realized that I was just homesick. I truly missed all the little things I'd taken for granted, like breathing in the clear air in the middle of the day, instead of hiding in dark rooms when it got too hot.

When we had finished our day in the sun, and went back to the foyer to get dinner before bed, I was still in a bad mood. Even the food didn't make me feel better.

Right in the middle of our meal, Dashti stiffened, and moved to protect Sahar. I already knew what that meant, and started to get up to tell the man to shove off. We didn't need any more grief from him.

"Perfect. You needed to get up anyway. My lord wishes to see you."

At those last six words, I paled, and Dashti and I shared a very frightened look. Before Vaati's servant noticed anything was amiss with my reaction, I adjusted my skirts, and swept away, determined to not look at him. He didn't deserve it.

Knowing from experience that Vaati's quarters were in the central tower, that's where I headed. The man, however, steered me in the opposite direction, away from the servant's quarters, the women's quarters, away from everything.

After a bit of walking, I finally asked. "Just where in the hell are you taking me?"

I didn't get an answer, which immediately worried me. As I turned to look at the man, I suddenly found myself being trapped against the wall, my hands pinned above me by my assailant. I cursed myself, for the hallway was dark and deserted. I struggled, but it was more of a principle thing than actually any kind of success.

"Calm down, damn it! You keep making that much noise and someone will hear you!" he whispered harshly, moving away from my legs, which I was kicking out at him as much as I could.

"That's the idea!" I hissed venomously, and I started to shout. The moment I did, I found my hands trapped together and a hand over my mouth. I tried to bite it, but that didn't work well at all. I just bit my own tongue.

"Goddesses, you are a handful sometimes, y'know that!" the man said in a rough voice that suddenly sounded vaguely familiar. "Just stay quiet and follow me, will you?"

His hand still on my mouth, I nodded, now that I was curious about who he actually was. He took his hand away from my mouth tentatively, and when I didn't do anything, released one of my hands, and started to tow me down the dark hallway. After a short time, he opened a door, moved me inside and shut it behind him.

The light was slightly better in the room, and I could see that the furniture had been removed a long time ago, because dust coated the floor and the filmy curtains thickly.

I found myself very suddenly being embraced from behind, and shrugged the arms off. They fell away, and with a bit of annoyance, I turned around, ready to see just who the hell had given me so much damn trouble. And was completely unprepared for what I saw.

His hair was the same dusky black, and he was as big as ever. There was so much of him that I could see though. All he wore was a toga-styled tunic, one half a gorgeous embroidered red hung loose and large and a pale, creamy white tucked neatly underneath it, and belted with woven gold. Most of his golden brown chest showed in the large gap between the fabric.

But his eyes were red again, the same red I knew to mistrust.

I felt so conflicted, I couldn't even move.

"Is that really you? I mean, really, really you?" I whispered, afraid to believe my eyes.

He reached up to his ear, and tapped a gold earring that hung there. It was a contact. "It's me. Really, really me."

I don't know who moved first, me or him. All I know is that suddenly, I was in Dark Link's arms, and I felt better than I had in weeks. "I missed you," I murmured into the red of his shirt, my arms looped around his neck. "Why didn't you tell me you were here sooner?"

Dark Link smiled, and kissed the top of my head. "I've been here since you went to the riders. Someone had to help smooth the way for you, or else you would've ruined everything by now," he teased, freeing a hand to flick my nose lightly.

Grimacing, I took a good look at him, and then looked at his body. Dark Link was looking good… I mean, really, really good. "You've been training, haven't you?"

Just like the boy he was, Dark Link puffed himself up a little bit, and smirked.

Just to keep his hubris levels low, I gave him a good smack to the chest, and backed out into the rest of the room. It did not escape my attention that as I walked away from him, his eyes followed me. And I don't mean my face.

Suddenly, I remembered a conversation we'd had in the palace about how jealous he should have been that he wouldn't get to see me in this outfit, and I furrowed my brow angrily.

"You knew the whole time you'd be coming back here with me, didn't you?" I popped my hip and stood akimbo, feeling foolish for not figuring out what he was doing sooner.

Dark Link only smirked, and ran a hand through his hair. I was about to start yelling at him when he held up a hand for me to stop. "I planned from the moment I knew you were going to come back, that's true. But I didn't want to tell you." He read my expression, and answered my question before I could ask it. "I did it because if I hadn't, you wouldn't have worked as hard to be prepared for this as you did. You wouldn't have been ready to be out here, with or without me, and you'd probably be dead right now." His expression darkened considerably.

Oh… Poor thing. He must've been quite worried about me if he thought he had to lie for me to be safe. Instead of staying away from him, like I'd meant to, I closed the distance between us, and gave him a hug. He needed one far more than I did at that moment.

We spent a few moments just being together. It was nice. It was definitely a shock to get to spend any time at all with him, and I tried to soak as much of it up as I could.

"I think I understand why you hit me," I mused quietly just as we were heading to the door to leave. My comment caused Dark Link to stop suddenly and stare at me. "Well," I said, "if you had let me see you in that room full of people, I probably wouldn't have been able to stop myself from saying something, and Dashti and Sahar know you're new. They would know more than I want them knowing if they had seen that." I looked at him sheepishly. "Besides, it would probably blow your cover too."

Dark Link grimaced, and went to open the door. "Honestly, I was just improvising."

I smacked him again on the chest, just to keep him in line, and slid past him into the hallway.

"Well," I said dryly, "don't improvise anymore. We have gossip stones. Use them if you need to reach me," I said as I started to walk back to the foyer.

I can do that, came Dark Link's reply. It was husky to an unneeded point.

Down boy, I whispered as we came back into the main hall. It was already late afternoon, and most of the girls had gone back to their rooms until dinner. I was thankful for that, as the less people who saw Dark Link and I, the better.

When we reached the middle of the room, I stopped, and half turned back to Dark Link. Let me know if you want to see me, I mouthed as I looked down at the floor, slightly embarrassed that I actually had to say this. I know how to come and go without drawing attention to myself.

"I know," came the both silent and aloud response. The sound made a tingle run up my spine, and I shivered. Without saying anything else, I left, and hurried off to my room before I couldn't stop myself from doing something that would ruin this mission for me.

When I got back to the room, I let out a quiet sigh. A quick glance on the periphery told me that Sahar and Dashti had fallen asleep yet again on my bed. Instead of settling down to sleep with them, I sat at the table, and lit the paper lanterns that hung from the ceiling.

Moments later, Dashti and Sahar were slowly pulling themselves out of sleep, mumbling about the light and rubbing their eyes. When they realized that I was back, they immediately forgot how tired they had been, and came rushing over.

Sahar threw her arms around my middle and buried her head into my stomach, her eyes firmly shut. Dashti only sat down beside and laid a hand on my shoulder. "I told her what Vaati had asked me to do. And now I don't know if I made the right choice…" Dashti murmured quietly.

Leaning forward slight, I whispered into her ear, "You did, Dashti. Lying to preserve ignorance never does good." I then turned back to Sahar, and ran my hand over her hair. "Shh, come on Sahar, I'm alright. It turns out that creep was only lying. He tried to get me on his own, but I ran away and hid. Everything is fine," I said gently, my hand moving in comforting passes down her back.

"B-but Namira, I-I don't like him like that! I don't want to do those kinds of things with him!" Sahar cried, shaking her head.

"It'll be okay. I-" I looked over at Dashti, whose eyes were hard with determination. "We," I corrected, "won't let that happen." Sahar was trembling by this time, and even my hand shook as I continued to console her.

Sahar sat up very suddenly, and stared at me, with an intensity something I hadn't known she was capable "How can you know, Namira?" she demanded harshly, her face twisted into a look halfway between fury and despair.

Right then, I almost broke cover, with that young girl demanding so much from me, so much that I couldn't tell her. It was the most temptation I'd ever faced in my life, trying to deny that face that cried out so fervently for confirmation that everything would be okay, and that life would not be as bad as she'd thought.

….But they were safer not knowing. They would always be safer if they didn't know.

"I just do, Sahar,": I said quietly. "Trust me when I say, I know." Clasping hands with Sahar and Dashti, and bowed my head, hoping that what I'd been through counted for something in the eyes and ears of the Goddesses.

"Please… Help us to be wise. Help us to grow, and to always walk in your light and on the path you have lain for us. Help us to not be swayed by evil and to stay true to ourselves. Help us to…" I paused, wanting to say something that would help myself and these girls through the trying times that were coming. "Help us to be strong, and to be forever vigilant in these uncertain times. We follow you in our hearts, and walk along the lighted way to who we shall become. To the three Goddesses," I said, finishing the prayer in typical Hyrulian fashion. There was a returning phrase, but I wasn't that sure either of them would know it.

"…And… And to the Four Lights, we give the way," Dashti added hesitantly, as if she weren't sure that was how to end it. But it was, and I was surprised. I looked at her, and she only shrugged.

Well. It was an interesting way to end the evening, for sure. And the rest of it passed in a sort of blur. Just after Dashti finished the prayer, I felt such an exhaustion come over me, as if the strength of the moment had been a wave rolling up, and now it pulled away, dragging debris and detritus away with it. I only remember bits and pieces of what happened next. Dashti, taking my hand and murmuring something. Sahar's tears on my bare shoulder as Dashti and I held her. The glowing lights over the desert. Dark Link's unwavering presence through the gossip stone.

I am not sure where or when or how I fell asleep, but I did so knowing I was safe, if only for a few brief and shining moments.