Chapter Text

Part One

Chapter One

August 19th

One last glance in the mirror. Zelda wore a matching plaid skirt and jacket. Should she wear the hat? 

No. This is serious. Must be taken seriously . 

She tossed it from her head to the floor and ran her fingers through her hair.

Zelda's heart was beating faster by the second. She was quickly approaching her favorite time of day.

Over the summer, she had become a master of sneaking out.

She rushed across her room and dropped to a crouch in front of the dresser drawers by her bed. The bottom drawer was the only one with a lock. She reached in her shirt and dug around for the key that was hidden safely in her bra.

Within the drawer was a rolled up rope ladder. She'd bought it alongside a ton of clothes and snuck it in the house with the rest of the shopping bags many months ago. Now, she stood and began unfurling the rough material next to her open window.

Then a booming sound like thunder rattled her walls.

She dropped to her knees as if the sound carried the promise of gunfire.

Her heart leapt to her throat and her eyes squinted shut.

There was nothing scarier on this earth than the sound of her name being yelled by her father.

His voice, loud as a freight train, rang in her ears a second time.

"Zelda Hyrule!"

Zelda Hyrule? Hyrule ?

Her eyes shot open and she jumped to her feet. She couldn't recall ever hearing her full name from him. Him shouting "Zelda" had always been plenty to put the fear of God in her.

She looked down at her shoes. Mechanically, she kicked them off.

She rolled back up the rope ladder and locked it up, then stripped from her posh school clothes back into a t-shirt and pajama pants.

Zelda was a pro. All of this took less time than microwaving a pop-tart.

She checked her face again in the mirror. Was her makeup a dead giveaway she'd been going out? Maybe not. Hopefully not.

"Coming, Father!" she called, opening her door as she licked off her lipstick.

"My office!" he replied.

That's a given.

She ran down the stairs, sweat tickling her temples as the blood left her extremities.

"Zelda Hyrule?" was her final fragmented thought before pushing open the large wooden door to her father's office.

Senator Rhoam Hyrule was an imposing figure, nothing like his jolly-looking campaign posters. He was six-foot-two, with broad shoulders and a big round figure, always dressed in a three piece suit. His thick, prematurely white hair was always slicked back and his mustache and beard were groomed with precision. Zelda hadn't seen him look disheveled once in her life and ever since she was little she held the notion that he slept in a suit if he even required sleep.

Right now, there was a fire in his dark eyes like she'd never seen before.

He stood, arms crossed, leaning back against his desk as he stared bullets in her.

Zelda lowered her gaze and scuffled across the ornate maroon rug that lay between them.

"I didn't realize you were home, Father.”

A stack of papers was tossed to the floor in front of her. "What…?" She knelt down and picked up the top page. For a moment, she was so shaky and terrified she forgot how to read. When the letters blurred back into meaning she couldn't even find it within her body to react.

Her blood ran cold as her gaze drifted over bits and pieces of the page. Just enough to understand.

Full name: Zelda Sage

…

Age: 21

…

Course length: 6 months

Her college papers. A scanned copy of her fake ID. Curriculum. Course work. Schedule. The P.O. Box where she'd had all of these papers sent…

"How did this get here?" she asked distantly, letting the thin sheet of paper drift back to the floor as she sat back on her legs.

"I heard you sneaking out last week. Since I know you don't have friends, I found it deeply suspicious so I looked into it."

Her throat tightened when she met his eyes. There was nothing she could say. There was no excuse, nor could she sincerely apologize.

To have her night classes at the community college taken away was her worst nightmare. Of course, credits didn't transfer between identities, but she was learning so much. She felt well on her way to being able to pass the bar before she even officially started college. And high school was so boring. She'd been forced to sit still for so long; her mind, her longing to work, her driving, ever driving towards her goal. She couldn’t just stop. How could anyone stop? Life was about moving forward. Her talent was wasted on high school and summer vacations and shopping sprees. Without a higher pursuit of knowledge, life was meaningless to her. But that was nothing that could be explained to her father.

"You disobeyed a clear order, Zelda. We discussed whether or not higher education would be of use to you. Did you forget my answer? You asked and I said "no"!"

She flinched as his voice raised for the whole mansion to hear.

"Was I unclear?"

She stared into his eyes, trying to go numb. 

"Answer me! Was I unclear? Did you forget what I'd said?"

"No." 

He snapped his fingers. "Get up."

She stood, swaying on her feet, a few paces away from him.

"Come here."

Bile rose to her throat. She trudged forward until his sharp, bitter cologne burned her nose and she had to look up at him. She'd been through this before, but it had never been paired with something so precious being snatched from her hands. Her shoes rustled against the papers on the floor.

"Do you have any justification for disobeying me?"

She closed her eyes and her lungs begged for air. She tried so hard to breathe, but it felt impossible. 

"Father," her voice shook, but she forced herself to continue, "I disagreed with your decision."

" What ?"

"I saw no good reason for me to stunt my own growth. Knowledge is always a good thing. I was able to fit the classes around other responsibilities, even last semester at the high school. Besides," she bit her lip, gearing up for her strongest argument and the only one that might reach him, "I used my own money."

The sound of knuckle against cheekbone cracked in Zelda's ears before any other sense registered. She blinked. She was on the floor, on her hands and knees. Her vision spun and her ears rang as a powerful ache sparkled through the right side of her face.

"You have your own money, do you?" he barked.

Zelda dropped from her hands to her elbows on the floor, her limbs betraying her. The movement caused the pain radiating to her jaw to sharpen.

"Everything you have is given to you! What belongs to a little girl who has never worked a day in her life? I've handed you luxury after luxury, and yet you are so ungrateful you would claim you have the right to spend your own money as you please?"

"Father—." 

"From now on you will contribute to the welfare of the family in whatever way I see fit. You will not leave this house unless I say so. I refuse to spoil a daughter who is conniving and disobedient. Do you hear me?"

She barely nodded, still resting her spinning head on her forearm as the pain and heat in her face intensified.

"Go to your room and stay in it."

She felt like she was being held underwater as she picked herself up and stumbled blindly from his office. Tremors wracked her body as she climbed the stairs.

The window was still open and her school clothes were littered across the floor.

Her room wasn't safe enough. She shut herself in her walk-in closet, tripping on a high-heeled shoe as she dropped to the floor.

Her heart and lungs ached from exertion. Her face and head were pounding to the point it could not be isolated to one place; although the swelling was in her cheek, her teeth to the back of her neck screamed in pain.

She curled up in a ball and rested her head on the carpeted floor of her closet, closing her eyes and steadying her breathing to the point she thought it might just stop. Could she die here?

What was left? She hated High School. It was dull on the best day and on the worst she was being pinned to her locker by jocks who didn't care what she thought or felt.

No one cared.

Her maid came the closest to having affection for her, but was paid to serve Zelda, and was sent away at her father's bidding.

She had no defender.

She was completely friendless.

Less than an hour ago, she'd wanted for nothing.

Incredible, one aspect of her life was taken away, and everything crumbled to dust. If she couldn't escape this place, all was lost.

August 20th

There was no sense wallowing in misery. She'd faced an enormous blow to her career plan, but all she could do was fight; stand back up and start moving towards the goal, no matter how bloody and beaten she was when she reached it. Her cheek was still bruised purple at this point, and it hurt to move a single face muscle, but Zelda was well past being upset over that minor blow when compared with her bleeding heart.

By her calculations, there was nothing to live for if she wasn’t practicing for the bar. Zelda had been put on this earth as a defender of justice. She would be the light. She would uphold the sacredness of truth. She was born to argue. 

So yes, she would carry out her ambition or let the harsh cold of winter wipe her out with all the trees and flowers. 

No one would care.

Summer had abandoned her with the rest of her comforts, replaced with the chilly promise of brown and gray landscapes. Zelda had thoughtlessly ran outside without checking the weather. Yesterday had been warm and sunny. So she’d left the house without grabbing a jacket or even shoes, she was in such a hurry to get out without a chance encounter with her father.

The acre of pristine green grass spread in all directions around the house and up to the gated entry to the property. A road of flat, gray brick led from the gate to the big circle driveway and the side door to her house.

Now, standing in the plush grass at 8:30 in the morning, her feet getting wet with frosty dew and the wind sending goosebumps across her arms, she probably looked like she'd escaped an asylum. She laughed to herself, only affirming that image, and looked down at her white cotton dress. It was the quickest and first thing she'd found to throw on that morning only 15 minutes ago. As soon as her coffee had been brought to her door she'd changed and gone outside.

Her teeth chattered as she brought the straw to her lips and took a sip of iced coffee. She wasn't going to die. She couldn't feel her hands or feet, except for sparkling pain. Her cheeks felt wind-burned and her lips were blue. Still, it was her fault for not dressing for the weather and it was too late to do anything about it. She didn't plan to go back into her house-turned-prison until she had thought of a way to continue her work without losing any more ground. 

Could anyone help her? Zelda was surprised at herself for even considering the possibility. She’d never thought to enlist a confidant. Perhaps someone in a position of power. Someone to believe in her the way that she believed in herself. Surely there was someone out there- someone who could recognize her genius and help her out of this god-forsaken fenced in yard.

___

There was a beeping on the security pad of the gate that startled Zelda from her scheming.

Unusual.

She shaded her eyes in the bright morning sun as the gate mechanically slid open and a stranger walked through.

Their eyes locked the moment that he came into view.

A small guy in street clothes confidently strolled towards her, his features gradually becoming clearer. His messy, layered hair hung all the way past his shoulders and earrings glinted through small gaps in the honey-blond strands.

Zelda's eyebrows quirked.

His eyes were alight with recognition as they remained on her but his face was stoic, no hint of a smile on his full lips. His eyes subtly darted to her purple cheek before returning to her eyes.

"Aren't you cold?" His hands were tucked in his jean jacket pockets. His steps turned crooked, meandering, as he got to the edge of the stone drive, a few feet in front of her where she stood in the grass.

"Who are you?"

Finally, an easy smile spread across his face and Zelda was struck by a strange breathlessness. 

He’s really cute.

A man walking into her gated yard while she was alone might have startled her a week ago. Now, Zelda didn't have an ounce of self-preservation in her frost-bitten body.

He held out his hand, fingers decorated with pale blue nail-polish.

Zelda shook his hand, frowning down at it as the warmth of his skin nearly dissipated the numbness of her fingers. 

He whistled as she slipped her hand from his grasp. 

"You are ice. Are you sure everything’s okay, Miss?” 

She didn’t reply, instead, shrugging and giving him a listless smile. 

“I'm Link. I have a job interview here with Mr. Hyrule."

"Ah." She was satisfied with that explanation. Her father had been complaining about the need for a window-washer and a new on-site gardener for ages. This Link fit the bill for either position. You could look as counter-culture as you pleased so long as you worked outside of the house.

She almost laughed at this prospect as she met Link's eyes again. House arrest might be the tiniest bit less bleak with a handsome ruffian hanging around. At least her day might be spared a minute of boredom here and there. 

"I suppose you're the lady of the house?" he asked.

She hadn't realized she'd created an awkward silence. "My name is Zelda."

That wasn't exactly an answer to his question, but he nodded as though it was. 

Link brushed a hand through his hair and she noticed a bit of it was tied back in a knot.

She tilted her head, fascinated.

His hand landed on the back of his neck. "So, any particular reason you're out here freezing to death with an iced coffee? Some religious rite?"

She exhaled a laugh. "No. I…Well, I don't have a good answer. I just planned my morning walk poorly."

Link's eyes sparkled amusement and his pretty white teeth flashed visible as his smile broadened. "Hm. Seems painful. You know we can see our breaths out here?"

She hadn’t. But she realized this guy would be distracting her father for the next few minutes so she'd have time to sneak breakfast, get another coffee, and run back upstairs to hide until lunch.

"I was about to go back inside."

He tried to mask it, turning to walk towards the house, fist to his mouth, but she heard the squeaky giggle under his fake cough.

Zelda stepped lightly onto the driveway and shuddered at the frigid stone beneath her already frozen feet.

She walked on tip-toe a step behind Link, momentarily dropping to her heels just to confirm her suspicion that she was taller than him.

She studied his little half-ponytail, tied in a blue hair-band. It was kinda messy, but it suited him. 

He checked over his shoulder, slowing in step with her.

She averted her gaze and raised the straw of her cup of coffee. It was nearly a frappe now. It made her shiver.

She heard him exhale through his nose and her heart sped up in embarrassment.

He was different from anyone she'd ever met, she knew right away. He was nothing like the High School boys who pestered her constantly and wore five layers of body spray to mask their sweat. Her college night classes were filled with middle-aged full-timers trying to climb out of some rut or another.

She'd never met a guy who could affect the pace of her heartbeat; not in any way that was pleasant. He was older, clearly. She could tell he was more mature and storied just by the way he walked, eyes fixed ahead, carefully matching her pace. Plus, plus , she went to a stuffy, strict private school. She wasn't familiar with pretty guys with long hair and such strange, bold fashion.

She was so very fascinated by Link, she didn't notice they'd reached the door to her house.

A moment's pause and he opened the door for her.

"Thank you," she said, walking past him onto the rug. It burned her numb skin to return to a normally tempered room.

"It's good practice, huh?"

Whatever that means.

She shrugged.

"Could you show me to Mr. Hyrule's office?"

Absolutely not. 

She pointed down the hall that veered to the right past the large staircase. "Third door that way. Just knock. I'm sure he's there. He's always there." She thought she was a bit better at hiding her emotions, but after the week she'd had, she was too tired to hide. Her face pinched into a frown. She felt her already tingling cheeks heat-up. 

Link was standing in front of her now, about to follow her directions. He seemed to look right through her, as if unfurling a film roll of memories from her whirring mind.

"I hope all goes well for you!" she chirped so he’d quit looking at her like that.

He dipped his head. "Thanks, Miss Zelda. Hopefully I'll be seeing more of you." He locked his fingers and made a pleading motion.

That tugged a smile back to her lips. For once, a handsome older boy was flirting with her, and in an entirely respectful way. Flirting? She remembered the ugly bruise on her face and gravity pulled her heavily back to earth.

"Mhm," she mimicked the prayerful gesture, they exchanged a lingering smile, and parted ways. What was she thinking? Even with a bruise she was gorgeous. And that dress was figure-flattering. Ha. 

He’d flirted.