The Reformed Gerudo King (Legend of Zelda)

Chapter Eight-A Hidden Room

Nadia walked through the castle hallways with Ganondorf, showing off paintings of different Kings that had ruled before the current, giving a brief history of each of them. He looked at all of the leaders with interest. "Wow, there are so many..."

Nadia nodded. "Luckily some of the paintings were salvaged after the castle burned a hundred years ago." She looked at the painting of Princess Zelda. "I wish I could have met her though." She touched the ornate frame. "She became the Queen after Ganon was defeated, and she held the Triforce of Wisdom."

Ganondorf looked at her. "She was beautiful." He complimented. "I heard she was a wonderful leader."

Nadia nodded. "One of the finest." She pulled away from the painting. "Anyway, on with the tour!" She led him through the halls, explaining different artifacts and showing the main rooms, keeping things brief.

Ganondorf looked around as he talked and stopped, staring at a door that blended in with the rest of the architecture. "Where does that door lead?"

Nadia stopped and looked over at the door, then to him. "I don't know." She admitted. "The King said to never go in there." She watched Ganondorf reach for the camouflaged door. "No, don't, we're going to get in trouble!"

"Only if we get caught." He said, opening the door. Webs clung to the door as he opened it and it let out a small squeak, seeming to not have been opened for some time. Ganondorf and Nadia peaked in and he took a step inside. "Whoa..." The place seemed to be an old study, filled with maps, scrolls, books, atlases, and a large golden orb with two axises on it, one holding the moon and one holding the sun. He walked in completely and looked around. "What is all this stuff?"

"This must have been one of the Royal's studies." Nadia said, walking inside. She looked around at all of the objects that were strewn about, just collecting dust and skulltula webs. "I wonder why it hasn't been touched..." She said quietly. She picked up one of the scrolls and unfurled it, giving it a look. It was a letter addressed to the previous king regarding affairs with the Zoras and their alliance. She rolled it up quickly and put it back. "We shouldn't touch this stuff, it's all things that only the King should read."

Ganondorf looked at the bookcase against the wall and frowned. "Hey, there's something behind here..." He started pushing the case out of the way, revealing another door with an ornate handle, the crest of Hyrule carved into it.

"Ganondorf, that's enough snooping!" Nadia said, getting nervous. "We've seen too much as it is!"

"Don't you want to know what's so important that they hid the door to it behind a bookcase in another hidden room?" He looked at her.

She bit her lip. "No...I don't." She said softly. "Because I know when I find out, I wish I hadn't."

He frowned and twisted the doorknob. "Shit, it's locked..."

"All the more reason to leave it alone!" She said, starting to push the bookcase back.

He stopped the bookcase from covering the door again. "Oh please, I can open it." He pulled the hairpin out of the cuff holding his hair up and pushed it into the keyhole, jiggling it masterfully until there was a click. "There we go."

"Ganondorf, stop!" Nadia begged. "We're going to get in so much trouble! Not just us, but Rilen too for letting us explore without him!"

He looked at her. "Only if we're caught, so stop shouting!"

She swallowed nervously as he opened the door. "We shouldn't be doing this..."

Ganondorf ignored her and slid the pin back into the hairpiece and looked in. There was a long, stone staircase that led down into darkness. He looked at her. "Are you coming or not?"

Nadia was shaking. "We've seen enough, let's just go look at the rest of the castle already..."

"Suit yourself." He walked down the steps.

"No, don't!" She followed after him as he made his way down the steps into complete darkness. He squinted and saw a torch hung up on the wall. He pulled the pin out of his hair again and grabbed the torch, pushing it against the stone of the walls and struck the pin against it, making sparks fly and lighting up the torch. He put it back on the wall and looked around, his heart starting to sink. The walls were almost entirely covered with tapestries of the events from one hundred years ago. The reign of the Thief King, the rise of Ganon, the Hero of Time, the Triforce, and much more. However, all of the tapestries ended the same, and it was the destruction and extinction of all the Gerudo.

"What...What the hell is this..?" He looked at all of the tapestries. He backed up and bumped into a table in the middle of the small, circular room. He looked at it and saw a book with the bird crest on it. He picked it up and leafed through the pages, starting to shake and pale.

"What is it?" Nadia grew more and more worried.

He looked up at her. "....This book is a diary full of entries on how Hyrule is going to destroy the Gerudo forever to keep Ganon away." His voice was dripping with fear and anger. "Is...Is this what the Hylians really think of us?"

"What?" Nadia looked shock. "No, not at all! We're allies with you, that's insane! We would never do such a thing!"

He pocketed the book. "My mother needs to know about this right away."

"Ganondorf, please!" She grabbed his arm. "You can't take that, they'll know we've been here!"

He shoved her away. "This book is filled with the psychotic scribbles of your king!" He shouted. "He wants to kill my mother, my home, and all of the people inside! For something we didn't do!"

Nadia knocked into the table and fell, tears welling in her eyes. "We would never let that happen! Please, put the book back!"

"No, my mother is going to know about this!" He shouted. "Expect a declaration of war in the morning!" He stomped up the stairs.

Nadia quickly put out the torch and followed after him. "Ganondorf, please don't do this!" She bumped into him, realizing he had stopped. "Huh?" She looked over his shoulder and her blood froze. Rilen was standing at the entrance of the hidden door, staring down at the two of them, his face unreadable and his hand resting on his sword. "R-Rilen..."

He continued to stare at them silently for a moment before backing up. "Get out of there. Now."

Nadia whimpered as they made their way out of the staircase and Rilen slammed the door behind them and locked it. "I-I told him not to, he wouldn't listen!"

Rilen held his metal clad hand out to Ganondorf. "Give me the book, Ganondorf."

Ganondorf held it tighter. "No, my mother needs to see this!"

"Unless you want all three of us to be beheaded, I suggest you listen." He said. He watched the young prince freeze up, then begrudgingly hand him the book. "Thank you." He placed the book in his armor. "What you saw you will never speak of, do you understand? These were the ramblings of a mad man who ruled Hyrule before our current king. The things you read in this book will not happen."

Ganondorf looked up at him shaking. "You're lying to me, aren't you?"

Rilen stared down at him. "If you want to live, listen to me." He looked at Nadia. "I trusted you to handle him on your own, Nadia. I'm very disappointed in you."

"It was my fault, not hers!" Ganondorf said protectively. "She begged me to stop from the very beginning, I didn't listen."

Rilen looked at him again. "Then listen next time. This could be seen easily as treason." He pointed to the hallway. "Now both of you. Get out."

Ganondorf stormed out and Nadia looked up at Rilen. "I'm sorry..."

Rilen refused to look at her. "You shouldn't have let him come in here. We could all be sentenced to death over something like this. I'm so disappointed in you." He pushed the bookcase back in place.

Nadia teared up. "I'm sorry..." She walked out of the room and brought Ganondorf back to the ballroom, not speaking to him for the rest of the night.