A/N: Little Llama Girl (LLG) and I thought we'd give y'all a Christmas present, so to speak, in appreciation of your support--your reviews, your private messages, and just the fact that you're still reading these stories. :-) Contrary to taking a "break," we are both actually on break from our real jobs right now, so we're hoping to post a few chapters before the end of the year!
Carina
Keldor opened the door to his chambers atop the massive structure known among his newly adopted people as a furlough house.
"About time you got home," Lyn snapped, passing a still-dripping Neara to him.
Keldor grimaced. Lyn's short fuse had disappeared completely in the past few weeks. Seven months pregnant now, she was holding her lower back as she sat down in Keldor's favorite chair and put her swollen ankles up on the ottoman.
"Neara's had her second bath of the day, after having pulled an entire container of flour off the counter and smashing it into a hundred pieces." Lyn grumped. "I've used what magic I could to clean it up, but between that, and chasing her around the house all morning long, and having to relieve myself every five seconds because your spawn is dancing on my bladder I am NOT moving till I get a decent nap," she finished with a snarl.
Neara had renewed her favorite activity when in her father's arms–pulling strands of his hair forward in her tiny hands. "My life is cursed with annoying women," Keldor moaned as he shook his hair loose from Neara's grip.
"I love you, too," snapped Lyn, conjuring a sleepmask over her eyes and leaning back, her hand on her swollen stomach.
Keldor walked in with Neara into her sleeping chamber and finished toweling her off. He slipped a blue bodysuit on the squirming girl and tied back her shoulder-length curls.
"Okay Neara let's go," he said, swinging her onto his shoulder.
The three-year-old giggled as he ducked down to take her into the main living chamber. His tunic was soaked through in front so they made a side trip to his bedchamber. He set his daughter down on the floor as he turned toward his closet, pulling a dry sleeveless white tunic from his closet.
Keldor passed his wet top to Neara. "Go put this in the hamper child," he instructed.
Neara tried to follow his direction but accidently threw the shirt in the trash bin instead. Keldor groaned then chuckled. "You follow directions as well as your ma does," he observed, and with a wave of his hand, moved the shirt to the hamper.
"You don't have to follow me! I'm fine!" Micah bellowed from the main living area.
"Micah, what do you think you're doing?" asked Lyn, her voice laced with frustration.
Sarah Newson followed, Micah in the main room. "I was coming this way anyway," she explained in an exasperated tone. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay." She stormed off into the rooms that she now used as her own.
Keldor rushed into the main living chamber, wishing with all of his mind that someone in his household would be a little less infuriating.
"What is the meaning of this shouting, Micah?" Keldor demanded, stomping into the room, Neara running in behind.
"I don't want to talk about it!" yelled Micah as he raced into his room.
Neara was confused at all the shouting and began to whimper. The girl clung to Keldor's leg.
"I'll take her," Lyn said reaching for Neara. "You go see what's happened to Micah."
Keldor turned on his heel to Micah's room. He tried to open it when the door caught on something.
"Drat it, boy," barked Keldor, "Get that chair out from in front of your door, and let me in."
"I don't want to talk about it, Da." Micah said, his voice breaking slightly.
"You'll let me in, or I'll remove the door entirely with my magic, and you won't get it back," Keldor threatened, his patience completely gone.
Micah threw the chair back from his door. It landed on the wood floors with a bang and the boy flopped down on his bed. Micah covered his head with his pillow.
Keldor righted the chair with his magic and dragged it over beside his sulking son.
"What happened?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Well too bad. Because I do."
"I'm not Truth Sworn yet, Da, so I don't have to answer you," Micah protested. His voice was muffled by the pillow, but Keldor was sure he heard his voice breaking.
"You were at training today. Did something happen?" Keldor asked more gently.
"I'm awful, Da," Micah blurted, looking out from under his pillow. "One of the other trainees dared me to look into the Waters and I saw….I saw….." Micah's voice broke and he covered his head with his pillow again, but that could not hide the sobs that were wracking his body.
Keldor's expression softened. If Micah looked too deeply into those Waters at the source there was no telling what the boy saw in himself. Keldor pulled away the pillow Micah had over his head. He gathered the boy into his arms and held the child as he wept. "Micah I'm sure whatever you saw was very uncomfortable, but—"
Micah cut him off, "But it's true. I really did think about leaving Neara to die after we were stuck on the streets of the city. I did think about putting her where the troopers could find her. Da, I was even thinking about giving us both some pest poison I found once when things got really bad."
The boy broke down completely now that he admitted the shame the Waters had reminded him of.
"Of course you did, Micah." Keldor said, still hugging his boy. "You are a child, and you were in an impossible situation. You were grieving for your parents and in fear for your life. You may have thought about all kind of things in your despair and terror, Son, but you did not act on them."
"But it was wrong, Da. It was evil."
"Yes, and you were scared and hurt. We all think wrong and bad things sometimes. Especially when we're scared or hurt. If you don't want to continue with your training Micah, you don't have to…" Keldor began, stopping at the expression on his son's face.
"Da, tell me. If I go through the waters like you and Ma, do they really get rid of the wrongs you've done?"
Keldor still marveled at how clean and pure he felt in spite of the guilt that sometimes plagued him. "They somehow remove the taint of that evil from your spirit. I'm not exactly sure how to describe it. But you can still remember the wrong things you've done."
"But they keep you from doing evil again?" Micah asked, pulling back to look in his Father's eyes.
"Yes, you will never feel comfortable in the presence of evil again and you will not be able to commit any great deeds of evil because if you do, the Truth within you will bring about your death."
"Then I want to continue my training, Da. I never want to do anything as evil as this again." Micah once again broke down in tears.
Keldor shook his head as he once again embraced his son. This boy was willing to go through the demanding training required of a Truth Sworn Initiate, and the worst thing he had ever done was have some desperate thoughts when in a desperate situation.
Keldor lay staring at the ceiling. He was thinking about his conversation with Micah that day. That the boy felt so guilty over his mere thoughts borne of desperation and pain. He was once again impressed with this young man who some how ended up as his son. Groaning inwardly, Keldor was besieged with memories of his past evils. Those thoughts plagued him at times like these when the remainder of his little household was at rest and he was relaxing in his comfortable bed midst his wonderful new life. A life he did not deserve. He was ashamed beyond all measure when he thought of all he had done.
Only the fact that he knew that good was strong enough to see that good happened even from the ashes of grievous wrongs allowed him to sleep at nights. Now he was awake for another reason though. Micah was racked with guilt for even thinking about harming his sister when he was in a hopeless situation. He was so convinced that he would never want to even be tempted with the thought of doing such things again that he wanted to Take the Waters: something Keldor was sure was among the most painful experiences in existence.
Yet Keldor had hurt his brother. He had almost destroyed him over and over again without even one moment's guilt or concern. He laughed as he caused his brother to hurt beyond what any person should suffer—when he had taken his daughter and nearly killed his son in front of his very eyes. 'How could I have done that?' Keldor knew the answer. Making a his brother into a symbol of everything he was denied, Keldor transformed Randor within his mind from human to target; Randor had been a target for all his rage and hatred from the moment Keldor laid eyes on the him as a screaming babe—the babe that took his place. Keldor knew the answer, but that didn't make it easier to accept.
Deep guilt battered him whenever he thought of any of the wrongs he committed, but the remorse he felt toward Randor, especially after he saw the way things were meant to be with him as his brother within the Waters of Truth….it was almost more than he could bear. 'If I could just undo the pain and heartache I've caused Randor, I would gladly now walk into Blazes for good,' he thought, steeped in misery.
Keldor rolled away from Lyn as he looked out into the darkness of his room. He did not deserve the honor bestowed on him. And he didn't deserve the happiness that had come to him. He deserved disdain and hatred.
'Blast! What good is any of this doing?' he chided himself. 'I must train troops tomorrow and then go arrange some more senseless raids. I can do nothing for Randor. Nothing but stay as far away from him as possible.'
"I intend to make sure you never leave my sight again you foul demon!" bellowed Randor, King of Eternia. Keldor was bound in heavy chains in the seat of the accused at he assumed must be his formal hearing. "You will be bound in the deepest dungeon and given only enough sustenance to survive."
Randor stood from behind the judge's bench. "You are the worst kind of traitor, a traitor to your own family. And now my father is dead. Learning the truth about you sent him into a shock he never recovered from. You killed him just like you always planned and now you are going to pay."
Keldor hung his head. He deserved this. He deserved all of this. He worried for the people of Carina, but he would not fight this.
"You will never be able to see your family again. I will take them as my own grandchildren and teach them to hate you just like I hate you. I will send that witch Evil-Lyn and your foul spawn to the Valley of Echoes."
"No," Keldor pleaded, "don't do this. Don't harm them for my mistakes." Tears ran down his face. "I'll do anything Randor. Anything."
Randor grew angrier and his face grew redder and redder. Soon he was surrounded in a fire that was burning and charring him. Keldor broke free of his bonds to try to rescue Randor, but when his hand touched the flames they exploded, killing Randor in the process. Keldor fell to the ground and wailed. "No. I didn't mean it. I was trying to help Randor come back. No! I don't want to hurt you."
Weeping, Adam and Adora transformed into He-Man and She-Ra. They took turns pounding Keldor, screaming that he was murderer and a traitor. Finally Zodac appeared.
"It was a mistake for Adam to offer his life in exchange for yours. You and Lyn will be sent to the Valley of Echoes." Micah and Neara were weeping in He-Man and She-Ra's arms.
Keldor tried to crawl to see his little girl one last time, but she shrieked and clung even tighter to He-Man.
"Micah," he cried out weakly. "I'm sorry."
Micah wept into She-Ra's shoulder. "Make him go away!" he pleaded.
Suddenly the Sorceress of Grayskull appeared, her eyes white with a powerful spell. "You and Lyn and your child will dwell in the Valley of Echoes forever."
"No!" Keldor begged. He said nothing else as he found himself separated from Lyn. He heard her cries for help and tried to get to her but Randor's voice came back to him over and over again reminding him of all of his crimes. Miro's voice came as well reminding him of how he had broken his father's heart. "You killed me, son, just like you planned."
Then from nowhere his mother, Keely's voiced called out in the darkness. "You are no longer my son. I hate you….."
"No!" Keldor shouted, his breathing ragged.
Lyn shook him awake. "It's just a dream, Keldor," she said as he pulled her into his arms, hoping to stop his own trembling through the feel of her solid warmth. "It's just a dream."
Just as soon as the fog of sleep left him Keldor pushed Lyn away distractedly, stood up, and left the bed. He was almost out of the room when he felt Lyn's magic twist around him like sparkling purple ropes.
"Drat it, witch, let me go!" Keldor snarled. Lyn awkwardly pulled herself up out of the bed. She threw on her robe and walked to Keldor.
Keldor's eyes grew bright as he looked down at his wife. She had become even more beautiful to him since her pregnancy. He couldn't bear the thought of her being punished for being his accomplice in so many crimes. He forced himself to focus on his anger to send the tears away.
"Woman, free me from your malevolent magic now! I need to go take a walk."
"Fine!" Lyn roared, releasing the wizard with no warning. "I'm sick of this!" she snapped. Keldor stumbled forward and avoided falling only by grabbing the doorframe. "I've tried to be supportive of you even though between you and your child I've been up three and four times a night either going to the bathroom or trying to make you feel better about stupid nightmare you won't even share with me. I'm done. You want to take a walk? Fine! You can walk right down to the Waters of Truth itself, and bring me back some of those moonberries that grow there."
"That's an hour walk one way, woman, and you know I can't teleport back once I've got those cursed berries," Keldor yelled back. The moonberries were fed by the Waters of Truth, and like anything filled with those Waters, would explode during teleportation due to the ancient spells cast over those Waters to protect them. They could only be teleported in a specially crafted container. Lyn knew very well that Keldor didn't have one of those containers.
"Good! Then you will have plenty of time to work out that misery you are putting yourself through when you go to sleep. You need to do something so that when you go to sleep, you stop waking me up. And I wouldn't be craving those things in the first place if I weren't carrying your child!"
Lyn started to turn back to her husband, but she pivoted back to face him with amazing grace for a woman who was seven months pregnant and poked her finger at his bare chest. "And the next time you decide we need to have a child, you will carry it."
Keldor gaped at Lyn. She stomped back to their bed. Now he was completely convinced the woman had lost her mind.
"Fine!" he shouted. Grabbing his staff on the way out of his bed chamber, Keldor marched out of the house wearing only his purification vestment. It was little more than a knee length white wrap that Keldor jokingly called his bath towel, but it was his preferred sleepwear. He illuminated the lion's head that was atop his staff so he could make his way through the paths that led to the Waters of Truth in the center of the walled city civilization he now called home.
Keldor fumed a he walked down the path. He could have transported himself directly to the berries but he wasn't completely sure even an hour walk would be enough for him to work out the irritation he felt at the moment.
He sighed as he rounded a corner. Lyn may have had a slight point midst her pregnancy induced rage. These dreams were getting worse and worse. Maybe if he just hurried to that dratted historian and told what he should have about his past, all of these former memories would disappear and he could go about this normal life. He could only hope that was the case anyway.
Whatever happened Keldor was beginning to dread the idea of coming back to Eternia more and more as each day passed. He was ashamed of what he had done. Yes, that was true but more than that, he realized from this last dream that he was more afraid of hurting his family further.
He was also terrified what this might mean to Lyn and his new family. Keldor knew that he did not deserve these people who were in his life. 'Although,' he thought with a grimace, 'with Lyn's mood swings of late, perhaps I'm doing some small sort of penance. Yet if they were to be hurt because of my past actions…I don't know what I would do. And my children deserve a free home world. How can I free Carina if I'm in some jail cell somewhere on Eternia?'
Keldor thought of his father. Miro would be in his eighties now. What if the shock of what he had done brought on a heart attack or stroke? How could he face everyone else when he truly killed his father with the very Truth he served? Keldor was becoming more and more wound up by the second.
"This is pointless!" he snarled to himself. With a pulse of blue light he teleported himself to the Waters of Truth.
Keldor stood by the smooth surface that rippled slightly in the late night breeze. The reflection of Carina's lesser moon could still be seen in the serene pool. Keldor knelt by them.
He placed his hands in the Waters that once burned through his very soul.
Lyn's word came back to him once again as he felt the comforting warmth of the pool flow between his fingers. "We trust the Truth, don't we?"
Keldor bowed his head, his shoulders slumped. "I trust the Truth,' he repeated to himself. "It remade me. And following its plan would have once given me a wonderful life. It will lead me to a worthy life now. I will follow it. Even if I go to Eternia."
Keldor rose slowly. He turned toward the bush that grew near the first recovery chamber and went to gather Lyn's berries.
Eternia
Marlena and Adora were seated at a small maple-colored table in Marlena's study. The soft peach-colored walls were very soothing, as was the bubbling of a small white marble fountain in the corner of the room. However, neither was helping Adora at the moment. Her eyes grew wide as she flipped through the pages and pages of names. She looked up at her mother with anxious blue eyes. "We have to invite all these people?" she asked weakly.
Marlena smiled sympathetically, recalling her own shock when she had first seen the guest list to her own wedding years ago, as Randor's intended. "I'm afraid so, dear," she said gently. "It's part of the difficulty of being royalty. We certainly can't slight anyone from the other kingdoms of Eternia, or of the other worlds we've made alliances with."
"But it's so many," Adora protested, turning page after page. "I don't even recognize any of these names."
"That's an exaggeration," her mother answered mildly. "You know all of the masters and most of the nobility within the kingdom." Marlena raised an inquiring eyebrow. "Surely you saw how many people were at Adam's wedding, my daughter."
"Well yes," Adora admitted, "but I assumed that Hawk and I would have a smaller wedding. After all, very few of those at Adam and Teela's wedding even know Hawk or me."
"But you are the princess of Eternia," Marlena reminded her with a slightly challenging note in her voice. "Unfortunately, that comes with duties."
"I know," Adora said in a small voice. Marlena reached out and took her daughter's hand.
"Adora, what kind of wedding did you want?" she asked, her eyes searching Adora's face.
"Wh-what?" Adora stammered, unsure why her mother was asking. It was clear to her that she and Hawk were going to have to have a very formal, very public ceremony.
"I missed so much of your life," Marlena said, her blue eyes becoming suspiciously bright. "I never got to see you play dress-up and pretend to get married. I want to know what I missed. What did you think your wedding would be like, before you learned you were a princess?"
Adora avoided her mother's eyes for a moment, the emotions swelling. It was a long moment before she answered. Marlena waited patiently.
"I didn't know what a wedding was when I was a little girl," Adora finally admitted, her voice tight. She looked over her mother's shoulder at the bubbling fountain as she spoke. Aghast at the notion, Marlena nevertheless managed to remain quiet as Adora struggled to continue. "Shakra managed to teach me about love and weddings eventually, but the whole concept of gowns and dancing and vows…" Adora shook her head slightly and met Marlena's eyes, remembered confusion reflected in her face. "All I knew was fighting and the Horde. It felt as if she were talking a foreign language to me. I dreamed of battles and strategies, of glory and honor won in wars. I never dreamed of weddings."
There was a short silence between them as Marlena tried to absorb her daughter's words. Anger towards Hordak and Skeletor felt like a suppressed volcano within her, just waiting to burst forth. With an effort the queen pushed it down.
"What about after you met Hawk?" she asked calmly, her voice betraying nothing of her emotions.
Adora smiled dreamily, her face losing its pensiveness. "I dreamed of getting married in a beautiful glade near a waterfall in the Whispering Woods, with all of our family and friends around us. I thought it would be simple, with flowers in my hair and a simply white dress, and that Hawk would be wearing pretty much what he always wore." She smiled sheepishly. "Pretty plain dreams for a princess, huh?"
"I think it sounds lovely," Marlena countered, squeezing Adora's hand. "And this is your wedding, Adora. There are people we need to invite and traditions we need to uphold, but if you want to simplify your wedding, we can."
Adora hesitated uncertainly, and was relieved by Hawk's timely arrival. He dropped a quick kiss on her cheek and bowed slightly to the queen. "Good morning, ladies. I'm sorry I'm late."
"If you don't stop bowing to me I'm going to challenge you to a duel," Marlena teased him, her voice firm but a twinkle in her eye. "You're going to be part of the family, after all."
Hawk gave her a roguish grin. "Well, until after that happens, I intend to stay on your good side."
"You can't see my good side if you're always bowing," Marlena quipped.
Adora laughed. "All right you two, that's enough. We have some serious business to discuss."
"Mother?" Adora asked hesitantly as the three of them began wrapping up their session. It had really been Marlena's idea to sit down with Adora and Hawk and find out what they wanted as well as let them know what was expected of them as royalty. Her eyes traveled over the inch-think pile of papers. The plans on the least expensive one were enough to outfit an entire Horde battalion. She glanced at Hawk out of the corner of her eye. He wore that slight grimace he had when he was completely off-balance.
"Yes, dear?" Marlena asked in a slightly preoccupied tone as she gathered up the papers, ideas for the wedding running through her mind.
"Hawk and I are a little concerned about how much this is going to cost," Adora said, exchanging glances with her fiancé. "We don't want to cause unrest within the kingdom over a wedding."
Marlena stilled, her eyes going wide. "Didn't anyone explain the financial status of things to you?" A slight smile crossed her face as she realized that both Hawk and Adora were just about to find out, as she had as a middle-class Earth woman, that they were vastly wealthy.
Adora's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?" Hawk shook his head.
"Adora, the taxes the people pay go to the upkeep of the palace and put food on the royal table, and as the royal family, we are privileged to live here. The royal family itself is paid for its services through the taxes—one percent goes to the family. But the funds for a personal party such as the wedding does not come from the people of Eternia."
"It doesn't?" Adora asked faintly. 'By the First Ones, how can she plan for us to afford all this then? Surely we're not that rich?'
Marlena smirked slightly. "No dear. State functions are paid for, but not birthdays and weddings."
"But how can you possibly afford this wedding so soon after Adam and Teela's?" Hawk asked with a frown.
"As I said, one percent of the taxes go to the royal family to support them." Marlena named a sum that made Adora's face turn white. "In addition, your great-grandfather was a shrewd investor, and since your grandfather tripled your great-grandfather's fortune in a matter of ten years, we as a family have even more." She quoted another amount, and Hawk was glad he was already sitting down. He and Adora stared at each other, their mouths slack and their eyes wide with astonishment.
"A share of that money is yours, Adora." Marlena hid a smile as her pale daughter grew even paler and leaned heavily against the back of her chair. "Man-at-Arms can tell you exactly how much." She cocked an amused eyebrow at Hawk. "In fact, you might want to start getting an exact accounting from him, Hawk. I imagine that's one duty Adam will want you to assume after Duncan retires."
Hawk swallowed hard. 'Gold used to be all that mattered to me. I had to have enough to provide for my crew and maintain my ship so I could be free on the open sea—the only place that ever felt right. Before I met Adora', he amended silently. 'But now that all that matters to me is this woman next to me, I find I marry into more money than even I can imagine! I managed to keep track of the funds necessary to run my ship, but keeping an account of the fortune of the royal family of Eternos? Blazing barnacles what in the name of the Ten Seas of Mist have I gotten myself into?'
