"Put him against the wall," growled the voice of the soldier who had bested him. "Strip him and check for concealed weapons. Then you can chain him up. He’s desperate, as you can probably all tell. Don’t underestimate him."

Link grunted and struggled mightily, but it was as if he were trying to fight off twenty wild boars all at once. The soldiers had him up against the cool, damp wall in just moments. Their hands toiled in the attempts to remove him of his clothing; he screamed in frustration when he could not stop their actions. The cold pressed in on his broad shoulders. Behind him, he could hear the sound of someone going through his clothes.

"Oi!" one soldier exclaimed. "Captain Edan, look at this! What are they? Do you reckon they’re food of some kind? They look mighty tasty!"

"Don’t eat it, you fool!" snarled Edan. "You have no idea what they could be! They might be poisoned, regardless of how… tasty… they look. Give them to me. I’ll ask the boy what they are."

There was a moment’s silence. Link started to squirm against his captors’ hold on him, feeling rather vulnerable and embarrassed over his lack of clothes. Never before had he been so exposed to anyone, male or female. Despite his situation, he wondered how Zelda could have done such a thing to him, if even she had at all. Could it be that he had been misguided by her fair skin and hair, and had somehow overlooked the venomous serpent within? Could everything have been a lie? The thought of betrayal made his head spin. What was the use of thinking about it?

He flinched when cold steel tapped his shoulder.

"Turn, boy. Keep your hands up where I can see them. If you try anything, I will bedeck these walls with your entrails faster than the blink of an eye. This is not a mere threat. Know that I mean what I say."

He put his hands up and slowly turned around. His cheeks blazed with the blood of shame. The captain’s eyes on him made his skin crawl and his veins broil, but he could do nothing. Already his slender wrists were being adorned with heavy iron shackles that threatened to drag him down to the dirt of despair.

"You do not have the build to be a knight," Edan said critically, eyeing the captured Hero. "Tell me, boy, do they feed you in Hyrule? Your waist is thinner than that of a starved waif. Although what you lack in size, you make up for in strength."

"Take your filthy eyes off of me," Link growled.

"Silence, puppy!" barked Edan. "Whatever strange desires or fantasies you hold, I most certainly do not want to be the one to fulfill them. However, I’m sure one of my men would be more than willing to share with you your first… er… intimate experience, should I say?"

The soldiers howled with laughter. Link stood motionless, head bowed to hide his utter humiliation from their eyes. Fear and pain were churning in his heart like the ominous clouds before a storm. If only he could be washed away in that storm, he would not have to admit to himself, or any others, how he truly felt inside.

He was brought back to reality when his head was jerked roughly to the side. He looked up, fierce and proud, into Edan’s fervent black eyes. The thought of that man’s hand in his hair made him squirm like a worm in the beak of death.

"I am the captain of the guard, boy," he growled. "When I speak, you listen. Should you fail to do so, I will beat you within an inch of your life." He released the prisoner’s hair and produced the Deku Nuts. "Now, then… What are these? One of my men thought they were edible, the fool. But I know better. How do they work? What are they made of? They are very peculiar indeed."

Link frowned. "I am sorry to tell you this, but you must be gifted with intelligence to utilize them. I am afraid they will be of no use to you."

Edan’s face darkened. The point of his sword moved slightly and pierced Link’s shoulder. He writhed in discomfort, the pain spreading through him like fire in a bush, but he did not cry out. The soldiers took his shoulders and held him still as the captain continued to torment him.

"Do not be foolish, boy," Edan growled. "Do not insult me; tell me the truth, and I will spare you further torment and suffering for the time being. Your eyes have a brazen look in them. You have not known discipline. All of that will change in due time. Now, answer my question, please."

He was promptly spat upon by his prisoner. Growling, he withdrew his sword and nodded at the soldiers holding Link. They turned him to face the wall and, before he could question what was going on, rammed his head into the bricks. He was too stunned to cry out. He knelt down, feeling quite dizzy and nauseated, wanting nothing more than to lie down and die, but Edan grabbed him by his blood-soaked hair and hauled him to his feet.

"Answer me!" he roared. "You insolent cur! Do you wish this suffering upon yourself? Never in my days have I seen a man as foolish as you. You may die sooner than His Highness had hoped."

"You… you have to throw it…" Link coughed, leaning against Edan for support. "It’ll flash… and blind whoever doesn’t cover their eyes… That’s… that’s how it works…"

Edan grunted in disdain and threw his captive to the floor. He pocketed the Deku Nuts and stalked to the door. Once there, he turned to his soldiers.

"Do what you will with him," he ordered. "But do not kill him. His Majesty has other plans for him yet. If he talks back or steps out of line, you have permission to beat him. He deserves a bit of punishment."

"Yes, sir!"

Edan disappeared. Link was hauled to his feet by two soldiers and again slammed against the wall. The soldiers looked at him in disdain. One began to attach one chain to a ring in the wall. The other looked him up and down.

"Goddess, but you’re a sorry sight," he snarled. "It’s no wonder Her Highness Zelda sent you here to be destroyed."

He turned to leave, but Link grabbed his sleeve with the hand that had not yet been chained up. The soldier glared at him.

"Why… why did she send me here?" Link managed. "I don’t understand. Was your king lying to me when he said she wanted me to die? He was lying… wasn’t he?"

The soldier’s face twisted in anger. He lunged forward and planted his fist firmly in Link’s abdomen. The blond was crushed against the wall, his ribs cracking under the pressure from both sides. He cried out weakly and hung limp, swinging from his one chained arm. The soldier who had been attaching the chain sighed in exasperation.

"Oh, leave him be, already," he said. He began to chain up the other arm. "He has a right to know, I think. He really doesn’t understand why he was sent here, and I don’t blame him. If you ask me, this whole thing is foolishness. And he isn’t really pathetic, is he? Just look at those muscles. And his-"

"I don’t need to hear any more," growled the other soldier. "I’m going to report to the king that his prisoner is secure in his cell. When you’re done here, you might send for Caoimhe to tend his wounds. He might catch some infection and die. We wouldn’t want to deprive His Majesty of his fun, would we?"

He stalked out of the cell. The remaining soldier lifted Link’s chin to look into his face.

"I’ll tell you this much, lad," he whispered. "In one month, Queen Zelda will marry Javier, the Duke of Tenethan. They have been engaged for a year. Did you know this?"

Link shook his head.

"The thing is, the Queen was betrothed to him by her father while she was still a princess," the soldier told him. "I don’t think he’s the one she wants to marry. Were she and you involved in any way?"

"Well… I guess…" Link whispered. "There was always something there… but I must have been wrong. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have done this."

The soldier stepped back and peered around nervously. Link, almost in too much pain to even lift his head, took no notice of the soldier’s behaviour. He hung limply in his bonds, a pale, naked shape against the dark wall.

"Well, good-day to you," said the soldier, hastening for the door. "Caoimhe will likely be down to tend to you within the next few hours, so try to ignore the pain until then."

The door slammed, and Link was left to the pale afternoon light that flooded through the barred window above his head. Ignore the pain? Was such a thing possible? No, not when his insides twisted and burned, and his skull ached and thudded as though it was being struck repeatedly by a hammer. Not when the blood was draining from his head in what seemed like gallons.

Ignore the pain? How could he, when it would likely never end?

Author’s Notes: And yes, as much as I dislike original characters, this story is going to be chock full of them. In fact, Link and Zelda will be the only characters from the game. And no, this is NOT, I repeat NOT Link/Zelda. I absolutely HATE, HATE, HATE Zelda with every fiber of my being, and would die before placing her with my beloved Link.

Anyway, if you don’t agree with the above, then tough for you. And sorry to be mean, but this is my story. If you don’t like it, that’s not my problem. And thank you all for reviewing! And yes, I like to torture Link, though I love him. It’s fun! And the rating is probably going to take a hike to R pretty soon.