TWELVE YEARS LATER...

"Mairan, slow down!" Malon yelled to her daughter. The young girl was riding one of the horses through the obstacle course, and the high speed she was going at made Malon frightfully nervous.

Mairan was ten years old, and she was thin, but tall. Her hair was a very pale red, and her eyes were light green -- the color of Malon's mother's eyes. She was adventurous and was not afraid of much of anything. Reluctantly, she abided by her mother's wishes. "When will you stop worrying so much?" she asked, dismounting gracefully.

"When you stop going so fast," Malon responded, and she kissed her daughter on the top of her head and smiled down at her. But before she could stop her, Mairan was off running again. "Mama, Conner and Daddy are home!" she said, running toward the ranch entrance.

Sure enough, Link and their son, Conner, were returning from the market atop one of Epona's now fully grown foals. Epona had passed away a few years ago, but not before having two offspring. This made the horse's death easier on Malon, who loved her horse so much.

Malon didn't rush to greet her husband. The two rarely had conversations of substance anymore. Ever since Malon had become pregnant with Mairan, and then gave birth to her, Link grew detached and withdrawn. Then, two years later, Conner was born. Conner was the spitting image of his father -- bright blue eyes and golden hair, but he was a quiet child and rarely spoke unless he absolutely needed to. Mairan, on the other hand, was just the opposite.

Malon knew Link had not wanted children. He had made this clear years ago. Still, by some small chance , Malon had gotten pregnant twice. This still struck her as surprising, since Link made love to her so rarely. She loved her children more than anything. They were her pride and joy -- Mairan for her energy and eagerness to learn, and Conner for being cooperative and stable. Malon leaned on them when she felt hurt by her husband's obvious unhappiness. The children didn't understand their parents' obvious lack of love toward one another, and for that Malon was glad. She didn't know what they would think if they picked up on their father's sadness.

She had given up years ago, when while Princess Zelda was gone, he had refused to leave the house. It broke Malon's heart to see him so depressed, and that was when she knew how he had settled for her. She was hurt at first, but in time, she moved on and accepted her circumstances. It still hurt, but she'd grown used to it. He didn't start leaving the house again until Zelda returned, and he went to see her almost immediately and returned home very distressed. Then, two years after Zelda returned, Mairan was born, then followed by Conner in another two years. They made her forget about Link, despite his presence.

Malon watched her daugher hug Link, obviously thrilled to see him. Link was not close with his daughter, nor so much with his son, and when he did pay them attention, they relished it. Link gave Mairan a brief hug, and disappeared into the house with the few goods he had brought at Hyrule Castle Town.

Malon sighed despite herself as she led her children to the stables to care for the horses. Link was dutiful, and he always helped her with chores around the ranch. But when it came to showing her or his children love, that, he failed at.

Princess Zelda was thirty-one years old. She was now Queen of Hyrule. She lived in Hyrule Castle with her father, her serving men and women, Impa, and her husband. He was a few years older than she, and their marriage had been arranged shortly after Zelda had returned from Termina.

It hurt to give up Ayrin, but she knew it had been for the best. Ayrin would be happy with Anju and Kafei, and they could give her a good, uncomplicated life that neither Zelda nor Link could provide. When she'd returned to Hyrule, Link had shown up at the castle doors almost immediately upon hearing about her arrival in Hyrule, asking questions and demanding answers.

"What am I supposed to do?" he'd shouted. "Pretend I don't know I have an illegitimate child in another country? Keep this from my wife? Tell me what to do!"

"I don't know!" Zelda snapped. "I am at a loss as well! I gave up my baby, and why? Because you married another woman! If you had given me time and let me come to my senses, we would be married right now! Instead, you had to try and get back at me by marrying another woman, a woman you don't even love!"

Since that encounter, the two only spoke formally, when they had to out of politeness. Zelda held her head high. She wanted to keep her daughter from Link as well as she could. He didn't deserve to see her, and it would only complicate things more if he did. When Zelda received letters from Anju about how Ayrin was doing, she never shared them with Link, and never told him Ayrin's name or the names of her foster parents.

She missed his friendship. She missed when things were easy. When they were young, when they were just friends. When they could laugh together and speak freely. Now everything was forced. Everything was wrong.

From Zelda's father's perspective, everything was right. He'd married his beautiful daughter off to a man from a neighboring country, and therefore created an alliance. Zelda didn't complain too much. She saw her husband as little as possible. He was often away travelling or in battle, for he was a talented warrior. Impa had been right about her never having another child, so she had no children to take care of. She was not lonely, and she lived the nearly independent lifestyle she liked. She could come and go as she pleased, but she rarely left Hyrule. She felt her duty was there, though she often though of Ayrin and Anju and going to see them and to meet her daughter.

Anju wrote often. She told Zelda that Ayrin was small like her mother, and had Zelda's blue eyes, but had dark, almost black hair. Zelda often closed her eyes and pictured her daughter. She would be about twelve years old now; her birthday had been several days ago.

Zelda had seen Link's two children, though she didn't know them by name. The girl was the perfect mix of Malon and Link, making her stunning and graceful. The little boy, however, was the spitting image of Link. She admitted that she was envious of Link. If he could not know his first born daughter, at least had two other children to love, though word was he wasn't overly fond of his children. Zelda knew that had something to do with Ayrin's birth. It had had some effect on him she didn't know.

She tried not to let it effect her, though. She thought of Ayrin often, but kept herself busy

Except today. Ayrin was entering into adolescence, and soon she would come of age. If she was living in Hyrule as Zelda's daughter, she would be becoming educated about her first duties as princess and future queen of Hyrule. She wondered what exactly Ayrin was learning in Termina instead.

"Ayrin, hurry!" Anju called to her daughter. "The guests are arriving!"

"Coming!" the young girl called, hurrying downstairs carrying a large pot of soup. Her dark hair fell into long waves down her shoulders, and it was mussed and frizzy from working over the hot stove. Her eyes were bright, and her skin was very fair. Many had wondered where Anju's foster daughter got her stunning looks from, but Anju could only smile and say she didn't know. She told everyone when the first saw her holding the tiny bundle that was Ayrin that Ayrin's mother was ill and couldn't care for her, leaving her to Anju. Anju also pretended that she didn't know Ayrin's mother well. It was necessary, she thought, to protect Zelda.

Ayrin was eager to help Anju with the inn, and she was a good child. She did as she was asked and didn't question why. Anju often wished Zelda could meet her daughter, but she understood that the queen's circumstances didn't allow it.

So Anju had raised young Ayrin as her own, as Zelda had asked when she had first handed Ayrin to Anju. And though Anju loved Ayrin dearly, she saw something in the girl that frightened her. Ayrin's exterior was sweet and approachable, but Anju sensed that inwardly, Ayrin had all sorts of conflicts. Sorts of dark powers that Anju could not see nor understand. And now there was this strange marking on the back of Ayrin's hand that had only appeared recently, but was permanent and could not be washed off, no matter how Anju scrubbed it. It was three triangles arranged in a formation.

"Mama, stop it," Ayrin said when Anju had tried. Anju glanced up at her daughter in surprise, and she swore she saw Ayrin's eyes grow darker and flash red. But then she blinked and it was gone. She shook her head to clear her mind of the vision. The vision of pretty little Ayrin looking so...evil.

She wasn't sure what to do. She thought of telling Queen Zelda about Ayrin's strange behavior, but she never did. It only occurred once in awhile, and other than that, she was fine. There wasn't any reason to worry, she told herself.

Still, as Anju watched her from across the room, she swore she saw it again -- a flash of menace in the innocent girl's eyes. What was it? And what did it have to do with the marking on her hand?