"The prisoner has been chained up for at least eight hours, sir," Edan said. He was kneeling before Kearney. "Why will you not go see him, or allow Caoimhe to tend his wounds? Did you not want him alive?"

"He will not die, you fool," Kearney said harshly. "He’s a Hylian soldier. He’s stronger than you realize."

The king looked genuinely bored. He twirled one lock of black hair around his finger, staring absently out the stained-glass window at something that wasn’t there. Edan was confused by this; usually the king tortured someone when tedium set in. He already missed the woeful screams that normally resonated throughout the castle, and wished very much to whip their newest prisoner until his skin took on the texture of rubber.

"The Duke of Tenethan will be here in two weeks to make sure the boy is dead," the king said absently. "But I do not want to kill him yet. Leave him be for now, and I will go to see him after supper tonight."

Edan said nothing. He saluted and, dismissing himself, strode down the long, dark passageways that led to the castle gates. He stopped in the light and unsheathed his dagger. The blade was sharp, but reddened by the blood of its countless victims. It would likely cut through the Hylian’s throat like butter. But such a thing would not happen until the king ordered it to be done.

He turned to the sentry standing next to the wooden doors.

"You!" he barked. "Go check on the prisoner! Now!"

After a quick "Aye, sir!", the soldier scurried off into the castle. Edan took the soldier’s place by the gates and smiled. It was wonderful to be Captain; all the soldiers were like eager little puppies, prepared to do any job thrust upon them. He did not feel like tending to some miserable creature. For all he knew, the Hylian was better off dead. At least, the blond elf would wish himself dead by the time the Kegan soldiers were through with him.

Link growled in frustration and pulled for the thousandth time against his bonds. The throbbing in his forehead had gone away, but the blood from his wound had dried on his face. Thankfully his chains were long enough to allow him to reach up and scratch it off his skin. His shoulder still ached from where it had been stabbed twice, but it was beginning to feel rather numb.

Over the short time of his imprisonment, he had not been fed, nor had anybody been in to check on him. Ignoring the growl of his stomach, he had come up with various plans of escape. All seemed very far-fetched: his only escape routes were the window (entirely too small) and the door (large and locked). He had no option but to steal the keys somehow, and for that he needed a soldier. He also needed a pair of pants, for he did not want to run around the village naked, even if he did plan to stick to the shadows.

All he needed now was luck, and stupidity on the soldier’s part. The soldier and stupidity might not be hard to come by, but it would only be made easy if luck was on his side. Which wasn’t likely, considering his circumstances. He sighed and dropped back against the wall. He had long ago gotten used to the feeling of cold, damp brick on his skin. Would he ever be rid of that feeling?

He raised his head when he heard a key turn in the lock. The door swung open with the slow creak of rusting hinges. There stood one of the Kegan soldiers, dressed in full armor. Link smiled slightly, realizing that this was his chance. Now all he had to do was get the soldier within arm’s reach.

He let his body go limp, trying to feign illness. He was not known for his acting skills, but tried the best he could. It seemed to work.

"Is everything all right in here?" the soldier grunted.

Link shook his head weakly. "No… something bit me… I think it was… a snake…"

"A snake?" the soldier repeated. "Don’t be ridiculous. We don’t have snakes in this region."

Link’s heart leapt. He was going to lose his chance if he wasn’t careful. He forced himself to hang in his chains and let his eyes droop. If he didn’t look sick now, he wasn’t sure what he would do.

"Please… you have to believe me…" he groaned. "I think I’ve been poisoned. Come see the bite marks on my heel if you need proof…"

The soldier hesitated. Link crossed his toes, since crossing his fingers would be a bit too obvious. If all went well, he would be a free man, but he tried not to get his hopes up. If he failed, he would be let down horribly, and he did not think he could handle such a thing. He was so close he could almost taste it.

The soldier stepped forward. Link looked up at him. He made himself look weary, but his arm was tensed, prepared to launch his attack when the time was right. The soldier was standing so close, Link could have touched him if he had reached out. Just a bit closer, and he could throw his chain…

The Kegan’s next step sealed his fate. Link grunted and thrust himself off the wall, throwing the chain around the soldier’s neck as he moved. The Kegan barely had time to cry out before Link wrapped the slack of the chain around his wrists and pulled as tightly as he could. Pain shot through his wounded shoulder from his exertions, but he refused to let go. The soldier had started to make awful gurgling sounds. Link pulled harder on the chain, and the soldier started to slide toward the ground.

The Hylian grabbed the keyring from the Kegan before letting him go. He hastily jammed the key into the shackle, his hands shaking from excitement. The lock clicked, and the heavy iron bonds fell from him. He kicked the soldier onto his back and checked his pulse. He was dead.

"Sorry about that," Link said, shrugging. He started to pull the armor off the dead man. "But it’s necessary. Thank you for your clothes, though!"

He quickly dressed himself in the armor. The helmet was a bit too bit for his head, and he was forced to leave the mouthguard up, allowing his face to be exposed, in order to see. He chained the dead soldier up in the shackles and crept out of the cell, slamming the door behind him. The hallway was empty, lit only by torches resting in brackets on the cold stone walls.

Glancing around to make sure he wouldn’t be seen, he crept slowly and purposefully up the winding stone stairs.

Caoimhe sighed and closed the door to the garden behind her. She carried a large wicker laundry basket under one arm. It was currently empty, as the clothes she was to wash were drying by the well outside. The castle had been buzzing with rumours of the newest prisoner, supposedly a spy from Hyrule, for the past three hours. They had said that he was once very handsome, but that he had been beaten so badly that he was now unrecognizable. Caoimhe herself had heard from the king that these rumours were indeed true, but he had not mentioned anything of the prisoner’s looks.

She stepped into the entrance hall and was about to climb the stairs, but froze when the door to the dungeon swung shut. A man in armor that was quite obviously too big for him was standing there. One hand was holding up the mouthguard. He caught her eye and smiled, placing the index finger of his free hand on his lips, signalling for her to be silent. She nodded, frozen on the spot, wondering if he was the prisoner.

If he was the prisoner, he must have been very smart indeed, to be able to acquire Kegan armor and somehow make it out of the dungeons. He closed the mouthguard over his face, walked with a calm stride to the castle doors and opened them. She followed, curious of what was to happen next.

"How is he doing?" Edan demanded.

"Who?" said the prisoner.

"The Hylian!" Edan snapped. "Who did you think I was talking about? You did go check on him, did you not? Or did you forget my orders already?"

The prisoner nodded hastily. "I saw him. He doesn’t look so good. He seemed a bit pale and ill… He mentioned something about a snake. I think he’s a lunatic, personally."

"I don’t care what you think," hissed Edan. He glanced again at the prisoner, and his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Your voice sounds different. And your armor… it looks too small. You are the soldier I sent to check on the prisoner, aren’t you?"

"Ah…" the prisoner said. "Well… yes…"

Edan turned and grabbed the prisoner’s arm. Caoimhe’s eyes widened; she did not want this man to be captured again. He was handsome, as the other servants had said, and the way he had smiled at her made her tingle in strange ways. However, as soon as Edan’s hand had clamped down on the disguised prisoner, the Hylian’s other arm flew up, and his fist found its way into the Captain’s nose. She heard a nauseating crunching sound even from where she stood. Edan shrieked and let go of the prisoner.

He took off into the square, his armor clanking as his knees pumped. She gasped and hurried out past Edan, watching the Hylian run. Edan’s men had already started off after him. He stopped and turned, drawing a Kegan bastard sword out of its sheath. With a roar, he ran at one soldier and sliced him cleanly through the unprotected opening between the chestplate and chain leggings.

He really was rather graceful. She sighed again and sat on the steps next to Edan, who was screaming curses and holding his bloody, broken nose. The Hylian managed to take down several Kegan soldiers. Before long, more than five bodies were piled around him. But she knew he didn’t stand a chance. It was one man against a whole army. Edan finally managed to regain his composure, and jogged out to help his men.

"You are one of the foulest creatures I have ever met!" he shrieked at the Hylian. "You are the sneakiest, most untrustworthy thing that ever crawled the earth, and by the goddesses, I will take you down. The only thing I lament is the fact that there aren’t enough ways in this world to inflict upon you the pain you deserve."

The Hylian said nothing. He stood very still, his sword held in front of him. Edan walked forward weaponless, seemingly ignoring the blood gushing from the ruptured vessels in his nose. The Hylian prisoner watched him with a wary eye, but was unprepared for Edan’s speed. The Captain lunged forward and kicked him swiftly in the gap between chestplate and leggings, as the prisoner had done earlier to the soldiers. He grunted and dropped his sword so he could clutch his stomach, trying to catch his breath. Edan tore the helmet from his head and grabbed the disheveled blond locks, pulling the Hylian to his feet.

"I’m sure His Higness will have some pleasant punishment for your behaviour," Edan hissed. "Let’s go pay him a visit, shall we? Oh, and please don’t beg for mercy – it will only make him angrier. We wouldn’t want that, now, would we?"

Author’s Notes: That was a bad place to cut it off, but whatever. This chapter wasn’t so great. Anyway, this is going up to R rating in a week, so you’ll have to look for it in the future.