Consequences

There was no way we were going to get away with this little prank...

I can't say I never heard Ganondorf's voice fill the entire valley and fortress, but never before as a direct result of something I did. I thought my legs were going to fail from my nerves shaking so badly.

Rayne and I made ourselves scarce to loop around like we were coming from the other end of the fortress. On our way to join the others, she said to me, "I can't believe you like him."

"What?" I shouted.

"You heard me. I saw the way you gawked. You finished undressing him with your eyes," she teased.

I blushed so bad my face was on fire. "That's not true. He is our king. I would never..."

She just laughed at me. "Tell yourself that all you want. I know what I saw."

I was quiet as we rushed to catch up with the other Gerudo. I couldn't admit she was right. "Well, if it were true, why can't you believe it? It's not like he isn't attractive."

"Really? No thanks," was all she said. "From what you've told me about your conversations with him, you seem to like-like him, a lot."

I wanted to keep arguing with her, but we ended up being the last to arrive for persecution.

All of the guards, warriors, anyone who used the fortress on a daily basis, formed a single file line outside of his room at his command. Rayne and I made sure we stood beside each other.

"Who was it?" he growled.

Not a soul answered.

"Snakes. Spiders! Insects are crawling all over my room, because one of you thought it would be funny. I am not laughing!"

Rayne and I glanced at each other, but tried to look innocent. I watched Ganondorf glare at each Gerudo as he passed by, including me. I thought my heart was going to quit beating altogether. As soon as he paced away from us, Rayne would stick out her tongue or cross her eyes at his back, which made anyone who saw her snicker. He snapped back around, but we all kept stiff expressions when he looked. I was still blushing from her previous talk with me, and now this. My face must have been as red as my hair. I glanced at Ganondorf to see if he noticed, and I could tell by the way his eyes lingered on me he knew something was amiss.

"Ganondora," he said, calling me out.

My knees. They just turned to water. My face could not be more on fire.

"You don't look well," he mocked. "Do you have something to say?"

I shook my head, afraid to speak, afraid my voice would betray me. I was an embarrassed mess.

"Your friend, Rayne, enjoys games and tricks. I know what you two have done to Nabooru. Was this your scheme?" he questioned in a dark, interrogative tone. He towered over me and stared me directly in the eyes as a challenge.

"No, your majesty," I said timidly, my voice cracking. My eyes never wavered from his stare. He was so close, I thought he would hear the little wings fluttering in my stomach, or the thumping of my heart against my chest. I have no idea how I prevented my dinner from coming back out the way it went in. I watched those evil eyes judge me, and saw that monster everyone else saw. I knew there was more to him than that though, because I had the privilege of knowing the boy behind the monster and all the hate. Although I wasn't excited to know what punishment awaited us, I did not feel true fear. If anything, I felt connected in that moment, as if I was seeing a part of him I had never seen before. He glared at me for a few seconds longer, so I thought he might have been analyzing my emotions. The way he grunted suddenly, with a cocky grin, I think he saw my hidden desire for him in that moment.

Ganondorf turned from me and walked down the line of Gerudo. With his arms over his chest, and his tone slightly more amused, he said, "You all seem to think it's wise to keep secrets from me, so it is time to teach you all a lesson. Unless the culprit comes forward, or one of you tells me who is responsible, you will all be cleaning my room until it is free of every speck of sand."

Not a single one of us moved or spoke up. We were all awake for hours scrubbing his room from top to bottom until it shined. I spent the time pondering those ten seconds that I shared with Ganondorf, and wondered what it all meant. Rayne was rather irritated by the experience, mostly because she lost the bet and didn't have fifty rupees to pay me.