A Couple of Trials (ZeLink)

Chapter 15: A Twisted Confrontation

Link watched as Epona slowly backed into her stall before closing the gate to lock her in. With a mumble of appreciation to her for waiting patiently while he cleaned her space, he gave her and then Storm (who was already in his stall) a pat on the muzzle before turning to enter the house. Taking a whiff of the clean house air to replace the smell of dung that lingered in his nostrils, he made his way upstairs and grabbed the Sheikah Slate from the writing desk.

He stared at the device in his hands before turning on the screen to swipe through its contents. Eventually, his eyes landed upon three icons: a set of blue, green, and purple silk clothes. He stared at the slate's screen, acknowledging the internal guilt swirling around in his heart. Despite this, he tapped on the screen, and in a flash, a multitude of blue light strings flew from out of the slate and into his palm before forming the clothes the icon had shown. Placing the slate back onto the table, he inspected the smooth and light texture of the silk before nodding.

"Epona said she wouldn't tell..." he mumbled as he began to pull off his shirt, choosing to go forward with his plan. "This shouldn't take long. I'll be in and out. I just need to confirm this..."

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The morning sun beamed over the desert village, enhancing the yellow tones in the sandstone that made up the buildings. Palm tree leaves swayed in a breeze that was filled with dust and sand. The sound of water running through the built-in canals under the roads echoed through stone-carved buildings, waking any of the tall, dark-skinned women that lived within the walls of homes. While many were rising from their beds to open their shops, ready to sell various fruits and gold trinkets, some remained asleep, not wishing to enter the heat just yet.

In the back of the village, sitting on full display at the top of a large staircase, was a magnificent palace of sandstone with three large, hourglass-shaped towers standing tall above it. Glistening water fell from the tower heads into the canals built into the palace interior. Water calmly flowed into the throne room, filling a spring that sat behind the elegant sand-carved, gold-plated royal seat, decorated with red fluffy pillows and a step stool that sat on the floor at its base.

On the opposite side of the large room, past the banner-decorated sandstone pillars and jewel-accented statues of strong, chiseled women, were two staircases that were connected to each corner of the opposing wall. Up the stairs and past the spear-wielding female guards, was a comparatively smaller room, though it was still large enough to be its own house. While the pillars and streams of water that lined the walls persisted, more decorations had been added to this part of the palace. Multiple bookshelves had been carved into the sandstone walls along with square holes to hold lanterns, red carpets were spread out across the hard floor, and in the center of the room was a massive bed that was decorated with curtains and large stuffed animals in the shape of seals with spiky hair. It was a wonderful room, and laying in the bed in the center of it all was a dark-skinned, red-haired young girl.

Gripping tightly onto the life-sized sand seal that lay in the bed next to her, the girl snuggled her face into its belly before the sunlight began to cover her body. She groaned and pressed herself into the sand seal even further, yet the heat of the desert morning rays was simply too much to ignore after only a few minutes. With a yawn, she sat up from her bed and rubbed her eye before properly opening both of them entirely, only for them to water at the rays of blinding light. She sat in silence for a few moments, using the light as an excuse to allow her eyes to remain closed for just a little while longer, before crawling to the edge of the bed.

With another yawn, she swung her legs over and placed her feet on the red carpet. She walked over to the end of the bed, where a desk stood pressed against the footboard. After gently reaching over to pat the head of another smaller sand seal plushie, she sat down at the desk chair and began braiding and styling her hair, preparing to wear the intricate gold crown that sat sparkling in the morning sunlight that beamed upon it. As her thin fingers moved, a knock echoed through the room. With a slow turn, trying not to mess up her hair, the child looked back at her visitor.