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Chapter 53
Dinner was somber, only the sounds of clanking dishes and silverware echoing against the gilded walls.
"So…Prince Adam is on some dangerous life or death mission, eh?"
All eyes instantly shot to Gada, she offering an apologetic smile and a shrug in reply. "I mean, the concern is pretty obvious, Your Majesties. Usually the Prince is the one who never smiles."
Duncan gave a regrettable smile as Orko turned to the woman.
"I miss Adam. Cringer too. I just want them to come home," he languished drooping over his chair.
Teela's sad gaze studied the table.
Quiet for a few beats.
"Now that you are our long-term guest, I suppose there is no use concealing it, Sergeant," the King replied. With a sigh, he palmed the table.
"My son is off-world. His assignment is to retrieve the Princess and return her safely here, to Eternia."
Gada's mouth fell open with the Queen and the Captain exchanging worried glances. "Off-world, Your Majesty? Princess?"
He nodded.
"The Princess…Adora?"
"Yes," Marlena softly replied, her arm still in a sling.
Gada knit her brow. "What aspect of this mission is considered dangerous, Your Majesty?"
Randor looked to Duncan.
"Sergeant Duriziman, the planet he is currently on has been seized by The Horde," Teela's father explained. "Hordak himself rules as vassal king."
Gada's eyes went wide. "How did she end up there? And what's more, how did the Prince get there? Matter of fact where is there—?" she rambled, her voice getting more shrill at each desperate question.
Silence as Duncan cleared his throat quirking a brow, Gada's cheeks warming.
"I mean…umm…Sir."
"The Princess was abducted off-world while the Prince was abducted to Eternos Hills. The rest…well, that is classified, Sergeant," he answered, "Right now we await their safe return."
Pressing her lips together she nodded. "Yes, Sir."
They resumed dinner in silence.
"It's only been a few weeks and I miss him terribly. I miss him lying next to me."
The forlorn statement sounding more like an unintended spoken thought, everyone glanced at Teela as she sadly pushed the food around on her plate, their eyes going back to their own plates.
The serving doors opened as an attendant carried in a large covered dessert platter followed by another pushing a draped cart featuring various dessert wines and Sherries. Two banquet attendants exchanged a look of confusion as the Queen furrowed her brow at the deviation in protocol. Blinking it off, she turned her attention to the Redhead.
"I have no doubt he desperately misses you too, dear," she reassured. "With you on his mind, he'll make it a point to be back much sooner than later," she added with a hopeful smile.
Teela cautiously returned it. "I hope you're right, Mum. I guess I just need to—" stiffening she cut herself off, her emerald gaze narrowing at one of the attendants who stood eyes locked on hers while sensing something, Orko gasped and whirled around.
"Farrell! Immediate danger! They're after—!"
"Everybody down!" Teela suddenly shouted jumping to her feet.
Just then, the attendant quickly raised a palm blasting the unsuspecting dinner party with a violet ball of sorcery, Randor tackling his wife to the floor as everyone scattered, the shot blowing the table into bits, dinnerware shattering to pieces.
Another shot came directly at a charging Teela, she evading it with an aerial somersault, the blast narrowly missing Orko and slamming into the far wall setting it ablaze, attendants hitting the floor.
Drawing her laser Gada jumped in front of the King and Queen who scrambled to their feet, Duncan dropping a knee and squeezing off two double-barrel cannon shots as the Guard came pouring into the Dining Hall.
In the melee, the attendant's innocent form melted away to reveal a cackling Evil-Lyn dressed in her usual purple bone-trimmed attire and thigh-high boots as members of the Guard let loose a hail of fire, the tray-table attendant morphing into Trap-Jaw returning heavy fire hitting many as they went down.
In the chaotic exchange of laser fire, angry, Teela lunged forward stretching a palm shooting a powerful ribbon of emerald-sapphire energy straight at the witch who blocked it barely in time, she answering with a double-palmed blast, the Captain dropping and rolling, her hand going to the staff on her hip. Rolling to her feet she extended it and charged, the witch's violet gaze going wide; Teela swinging as Evil-Lyn's staff quickly materialized in her hand blocking the strike, the two furiously crossing staffs.
Just then, Clawful and Merman materialized behind a gaping King and Queen while Duncan squeezed off another shot at Trap-Jaw.
"Sire, behind you!"
Randor whirled around delivering a roundhouse kick to the sea urchin's jaw, him spinning and hitting the floor. Quickly recovering the two traded blows as Clawful lunged at the Queen.
Pissed and her arm still in a sling, Marlena executed a front scissor kick snapping the crustacean's head violently back. With a spinning hook kick knocking him off balance she followed up with a swoop kick scooping his legs out from under him, his back hitting the floor hard.
Randor threw a right cross left uppercut at Merman's chin sending the villain baubling backwards as Gada shot the urchin's leg, he screaming in pain and hitting the floor.
Their weapons banging to the floor, grinning, Evil-Lyn shot another deadly blast at Teela, she evading it with snappy back-flips before whirling around and blocking the last shot with an atmospheric disruption shield, the ball of energy ricocheting, the witch barely dodging it snapping her shoulder back as her own sorcery sailed past her head and into the wall behind.
The blue cyborg continued to exchange fire with Duncan and his troops as Teela and Evil-Lyn battled one another, emerald-blue and violet-purple sorcery flying back and forth, the floor quaking underneath them as the sorcerous powers of Greyskull and Snake Mountain met head to head. A gaping Gada turned to the King and Queen.
"Let's get you the hell outta here!" she shouted over the fray, Clawful dazed and lying on the floor as an injured Merman pounced. Randor turned and threw a hammer punch at the villain's jaw, he twisting and hitting the floor.
"Like hell we're going anywhere," the King replied breathlessly.
Gada grinned.
Orko rolled his blue fists chanting something in Trollan before shooting a blast of sparkly magic at the cyborg, Trap-Jaw turning just before it smacked him in the face knocking him over, the Guard firing lasers at his legs immobilizing him.
The two women closed in on one another throwing punches and kicks, Evil-Lyn hard pressed to gain the upper hand due to Teela's strength and speed. But suddenly, an opening—
"We want you, bitch!" the witch screeched palming Teela's thigh, a paralyzing electric current shooting through her body as she cried out in pain dropping to a knee.
"Daughter!" Duncan sprinted towards her as the witch shot a blast, Man-At-Arms dodging it before answering with a cannon missing them completely: the two women had vanished.
"No!" he screamed horrified.
Skeletor getting what he wanted, Clawful, Merman, and Trap-Jaw dematerialized before them.
"Fire! Get the hoses in here now! Call the medics!" Randor shouted, the three of them running to Man-At-Arms who simply dropped to his knees in shock, Orko quickly floating to him. His chestnut gaze found the King's.
"They took her," he stated wistfully, his eyes wide.
In the silence, the crackling flames the only sound, the women clapped a hand over their mouths staring in shock at one another, the King worriedly biting his lip.
-Castle Greyskull -
In tears, the Sorceress on her knees, bending over she clapped a hand to her mouth, the other palming her abdomen.
My Teela…
The young woman bounded forward throwing her arms around him in a near tackle. Off balance and baubling backward, shocked, He-Man simply stood there as Frosta cradled and nuzzled his neck, Bow with a smirk folding his arms.
Casta quirked an inquisitive brow. "Princess, how exactly do you know this man and why did he call you Cylvia?"
With a wide smile, Frosta reluctantly released him, her hungry gaze raking over him head to toe, the Warrior blushing slightly at her bold scrutiny.
"He saved my life…on Eternia," she replied, her sultry ambrosia gaze locked with He-Man's.
The Queen's and Bow's mouths fell open as the Snow Princess turned to them. "It's a bit of a story. I'll share it with everyone at say…dinner tonight?"
"No, Princess," Glimmer approached having left her mother at the infirmary, all eyes shooting to her. "Let's do it at the debriefing in an hour. We need the whole story and we need it now," she insisted, her violet gaze suspicious.
Frosta shrugged a slender shoulder. "Okay. Whatever," she replied flipping her hair, her flirty gaze going back to He-Man who simply pursed his lips. "I'll see you after dinner. Where is your tent?"
"I don't have one," his deep voice replied.
Confused, she frowned. "What do you mean 'you don't have one'?"
"He doesn't stay with us," Bow explained. "He's pretty much a loner; him and his tiger."
Tiger? Why does that sound familiar? her mind wondered. Then just as quickly as the thought entered her mind it vanished just as Hawk emerged from his rounds at the infirmary.
"He arrived a few weeks ago with the Prince of Eternia—"
Frosta held up a palm. "Hold it! With whom?" she replied sharply.
Princess Glimmer stopped, her gaze amusingly curious. "The Crown Prince…Prince Adam—"
"Oh, that asshole?" she shouted angrily.
Hawk smirked. "Yeah. That one."
He-Man silently rolled his eyes.
Castaspella frowned. "Why the hostility toward the man of my dreams, darling?" she probed.
Frosta turned sharply to her. "I was engaged to the son of a bitch for four months," she explained, her features twisted in anger. "The entire time he was cold and distant. He barely showed me any affection and when he did, it wasn't sincere," she rambled furious. Her features suddenly leveling in realization she waved a hand. "I don't know – perhaps he's gay because he didn't seem to show any interest in me whatsoever," she spat.
Hawk's and Glimmer's mouths fell open with Bow and Casta confused.
"Or he might have been thinking about that bitch the entire time he was with me so one can obviously conclude he was emotionally cheating on me with her," she added.
"What bitch?" Hawk asked, curious.
"The Redhead…his bodyguard…Captain something or other. I don't remember," she dismissed with another wave.
"Captain Duncan," He-Man corrected, his gaze angrily narrowing.
All heads snapped to him.
"You know her?" Princess Glimmer asked.
His eyes shifted to hers. "Yes," he replied. "She fought alongside me protecting Eternia from falling into the clutches of–," his irritated blue gaze cut back to Frosta, "–one Skeletor of Snake Mountain. And if I'm not mistaken, she protected you the day we met."
Angry, the Snow Princess folded her arms. "She had no choice after Adam abandoned me in the middle of an attack—"
Someone gasped.
"He's an amazing fighter and very brave," Bow countered with a frown. "What you described sounds nothing like His Grace."
Her eyebrows flying up, Frosta's head whipped to his. "His Grace? Really?" she scoffed before pressing her lips together. "Well give him time, Sweet Cheeks. Believe when I say there is nothing 'amazing' about His Grace," she huffed. "He's a coward and he'll run when it gets too hot."
"That's not the man I know, Princess," Glimmer interjected, her gaze troubled.
Hawk's eyes cut to her, curious at her passionate defense of him.
"Well…it's true. I knew him when we were children and was betrothed to him upon reaching adulthood," she explained, her voice now soft. "He was a fighter and a protector in his adolescence but after he became an adult…," she shook her head letting the seeds of doubt settle in everyone's minds.
Queen Castaspella's gaze narrowed. "Did you have brown hair and eyes when you were young?"
Frosta's gaze snapped to hers, her eyes widening. "Yes. How did you…?"
"I saw you…in the vision."
Frosta glanced at a brooding He-Man before going back to the Queen. "What—"
"Enough talk," Glimmer cut her off. "We'll talk more about this at the debriefing. Everyone, be sure to eat and get some rest. We meet in an hour. He-Man, come with me, please."
Everyone began to disperse as Frosta, her smile returning reached for an embrace, she again cradling his neck, her cheek against the Warrior's hard bronze chest. She lifted her head to look up into his eyes.
"Meet me later, okay?" she purred.
He-Man opened his mouth to reply when Castaspella interrupted.
"Kindly unhand the Warrior, Princess Frosta," she stated amused. "The Princess of Bright Moon needs him."
Frosta's head snapped to Casta before returning to the Blond. "I'm sure she does," she winked flirtatiously.
Staring down at her, He-Man simply gave a deep frustrated sigh.
Releasing him, she winked again. "My tent. Eight o'clock. And wear as little attire as possible," her silvery gaze dropped down to his shorts. "You're wearing way too much clothing even now in my opinion," she quipped before flipping her long blue hair and turning.
"She's got it bad for you, Sir," Bow joked shaking his head before turning to leave.
"As long as she keeps her hands off of the Prince I'm okay with it," Casta remarked before leaving.
God help me, He-Man's mind remarked exasperated.
xxx
She rounded the wooden table before taking a seat.
"So tell me about Lady Cylvia a.k.a. Princess Frosta," she asked interlacing her fingers and setting them on the table before her.
"I've only met her once."
"But you're friends with the Prince," she countered. "I'm sure he's told you about her?"
He-Man shrugged. "Perhaps."
"And?"
"I don't gossip, Commander," came the curt reply.
With a deep sigh she rose and came to a stop before him. "But this isn't gossip, He-Man," she stated. "This is important information needed so as to determine the Snow Princess' motives. The people of the Kingdom of the Snows aren't always reliable. If she's going to be a part of the Rebellion I need to know all I can about her."
He stared down at her. "Ask Prince Adam."
Irritated, Glimmer roughly folded her arms before understanding dawning. She unfolded her arms. "Wait…where is he?"
He-Man remained silent.
"He wasn't with the pilots when they landed," worried, she walked to the tent's opening. "Soldier!"
A man came rushing to the tent. "Yes, Commander?"
"Find the Eternian. He didn't return with the others and I'm concerned."
He bowed. "Right away, Commander."
She turned to find the Warrior staring oddly at her, she tilting her head, her violet gaze narrowing.
"What do you know?"
"Enough."
She pursed her lips. This is like interrogating a brick wall, her mind remarked. "Can't you give me any—"
Greyskull's Warrior suddenly winced, a hand going to his temple. Squeezing his eyes shut he lowered his chin as if in pain. She furrowed her brow.
"What is it?"
"Something…something's happened back home," he grunted low.
"Hera…what?" she asked worriedly.
"Captain…," he trailed off before suddenly striding out of the tent.
Glimmer's gaze stayed glued to his back as he disappeared.
"Captain?"
xxx
-One Hour Later -
Glimmer, Hawk, Bow, Castaspella, and Frosta sat waiting in the Leaders' tent on the grounds of Mystacore.
Prince Adam ducked into the tent, his sapphire gaze immediately locking with Frosta's silver snowy ones. Her gaze narrowed angrily.
"Please, join us," Glimmer gestured as he approached and took a seat at the counsel table opposite his ex-fiancée.
The Commander began. "We are here—"
"You son of a bitch."
Adam silently glared at her.
"Stop it!" Bright Moon's princess demanded. "We won't get anywhere with all of this animosity. Now whatever happened between you two is over," she stated. "We need to know Princess Frosta's story and no one cares about the salacious details surrounding your doomed engagement—"
"I definitely do," Castaspella smirked as Hawk and Bow traded amused glances.
"Casta," Glimmer irritated drew out.
"What?" she replied innocently.
"Fine," Frosta huffed, folding her arms and glancing away.
"Fine," Glimmer echoed. "Princess, tell us how you ended up on Eternia only to return here."
Silence as the room regained its composure. Shifting in her chair, with a chilly glance at the Crown Prince, Frosta began.
"Three years after The Horde attacked Etheria, I was born to King Rime and Queen Illa Chylvia of Castle Chyll of the Kingdom of the Snows, their only child and undisputed heir to the throne. Hordak's troops threatened to end the royal line by marching on our castle in an attempt to subjugate the kingdom so out of desperation, my parents decided to smuggle me off-world.
"Before they did so, they appealed to some Entity whose name escapes me now," she continued with a dismissive wave. "Knowing that I would be considered an orphan, to improve my prospects of getting adopted the wizard changed my hair and my eyes to plain old brown. Who on Eternia would adopt a strange blue haired white-eyed child?"
"Okay," Hawk replied, "So what happened next?"
Adam simply stared.
"My parents found themselves teleported by this wizard Entity to Eternia and a quiet country village named Eternos Hills. It was midnight, the villagers had all turned in for the evening. Wrapped in a blue blanket with white tundras—the zig zag pattern on my suit here which happens to be my coat of arms," she pointed out proudly, "–they placed me in a basket and left me on the stoop of an old orphanage, a note attached containing my surname.
"My last name is Chylvia," she explained, "But old Mrs. Stoley, the proprietor of the orphanage must have mistakenly interpreted that it was my misspelled first name. So she called me 'Cylvia'.
"My parents returned to Etheria with the intention of coming back for me after The Horde was defeated, however they both died during an attack on the castle led by the swine Commander Hordak," she stated bitterly, her gaze drifting to the table. "I then grew up in the orphanage not knowing any of my background or heritage.
"There is where I met Adam," she nodded to him as all eyes shifted. "He was sent to the orphanage at age nine. I was eight. We connected immediately even though he was a mute."
Someone took a sharp intake of air.
"You were a mute?" Glimmer asked empathetically.
"Yes," Adam replied.
"Why?" Hawk asked.
With a deep sigh he closed his eyes, loathe to confess his scandalous past to near strangers. After a few moments of silence, he made a decision.
Turning to him, he replied, "I was severely beaten, repeatedly tortured and raped by my captor's alcoholic husband—"
"Oh my Hera!" Glimmer shouted, the rest of the room in silent sadness, Casta throwing him a sad knowing glance having seen part of it in the vision reading.
"So, you didn't grow up with your birth parents?" Bow asked, sadly.
"Well…sort of. When my sister was abducted and taken here, my captor turned on the co-conspirator and kept me for herself. She kidnapped me to Eternos Hills where I spent the first nine years of my life in hell with those two."
Silence as Adam collected his thoughts, Frosta staring at him.
"Traumatized, I refused to talk for many years. I retreated within myself and delved into books, my foster mother supportive. After the last beating and rape, she knew he'd eventually kill me so she smuggled me away leaving me on the steps of Mrs. Stoley's orphanage.
"I spent a year in her care where I met Cylvia—pardon me, Princess Frosta. The orphanage was funded by the King's Man-At-Arms so it just so happened one day he arrived for a meeting with his daughter and caught my name."
"What's unusual about your name? Is it not Eternian?" Castaspella asked, riveted.
He turned to her. "No. It's Terran in nature. And no one knew my or my sister's name when we were born. According to protocol, our names would have been announced much later at the Presentation of Birth ceremony with the nobles present at court. Hours after birth, we were secretly abducted and presumed dead; two deceased newborns were switched in our places so no one yet outside of the inner circle knew our names. So I suppose Duncan put two-and-two together."
Glimmer leaned forward. "Duncan. That name…," she trailed off.
"Yes. Captain Duncan's father."
"And the plot thickens," Frosta scoffed.
Glimmer turned to her. "How did you make it back, Princess?"
She took a deep breath. With a glance at the Prince, she replied, "After our break up, I found myself engaged to Barron Agrano—"
Adam snorted a derisive laugh interrupting her story, all eyes shooting back to him.
"Do you mind?" she demanded, hot.
"Please. Continue," he stated with a nod, amused.
Squinting at him, she continued.
"This Skeletor fellow who attacked me in the Palace where Adam abandoned me," she stated hard, her eyes cutting to him as he rolled his in return, "Somehow found my fiancé's estate and in a surprise attack he murdered him," she stopped dramatically to swipe at an invisible tear, Bow offering a kerchief.
Adam's gaze narrowed.
With a sniffle, thanking him she continued. "I was afraid for my life. I wondered whether this wizard would return for me. Believing my fiancé was He-Man, I thought Skeletor had accomplished a great evil. Thinking my Hero was gone forever, I mourned him. That is, until I saw him today," she stated with a relieved smile.
The Prince squelched the urge to stand up and walk out.
"Anyway, I packed a few clothes and ran from my father's Lyvinian estate that night. While walking the dirt roads, I was approached by an Entity – quite possibly the same entity who helped me escape to Eternia. He told me he was sent by my dying grandmother to return to my homeland and take my rightful place as Heir Apparent," she explained. "For years, in the absence of an heir, in-fighting among the royal families was rampant.
"I suppose the fighting was putting what was left of our conquered kingdom in jeopardy and it was time for me to return home and reclaim my position. He teleported me back to the Kingdom of the Snows and I was presented as the Snow Princess, the rightful heir. After many weeks of in-fighting and presenting proof of my birthright, I was finally crowned Princess."
"What is the name of this…entity?" Casta asked intrigued.
"Light something," she waved off.
Glimmer and Castaspella's mouths fell open, their eyes locking.
"You mean, Light Hope?"
Frosta's eyes jumped in recognition of the name. "Yes! Yes, that's it."
"Who is Light Hope?" Adam asked, his brow knit.
"The bearer of goodness and hope in Etheria and the inhabitant of what was once called Crystal Castle. The castle was destroyed by The Horde and we thought, Light Hope with it. He is a disembodied spirit that, at one point in time, guarded Etheria. Horde Prime, Weaver, and his minions were too much for him. His strength apparently diminished, he disappeared a few years after the planet's seizure."
"I see," he replied. "Perhaps Greyskull can bond with him…together we can all put an end to The Horde's bullshit?"
Gazing at him, Castaspella smiled.
Bow leaned forward. "Who is Skeletor?"
Adam's gaze scanned the room.
"My uncle."
Immediately, the room burst into surprised and confused chatter.
"Hold it!" Glimmer held up her arms as the room quieted down. She put an elbow on the table. "This evil Skeletor fellow is…your uncle?"
He nodded.
Frosta's mouth had fallen open, she gaping at her ex. "Your uncle killed my fiancé?"
"Unfortunately, yes. I'm sorry."
"Were you that jealous? Did you send him?" she accused angrily.
"Listen—" Glimmer tried.
Adam's sapphire gaze ignited. "No, but you most certainly did."
The Snow Princess' jaw dropped as chatter filled the room again. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Malek, Teela's idiot ex-fiancé fucking ran and told Skeletor He-Man was an alter-ego of a nobleman," Adam explained hot. "He-Man then later debriefed my father informing us that as a result of your very public bragging about being engaged to Greyskull's Warrior, Skeletor killed him believing he was He-Man!"
"By The First Ones," Hawk whispered, shocked.
Frosta's silvery gaze welled up with tears. "You mean…I caused his death?"
Silence as all eyes volleyed between the two.
Sighing in resignation, Adam folded his arms and sat back. "No. Skeletor is responsible for the murder," he pressed his lips together. "You didn't know that what you were doing would wind up with Agrano dead," he said quietly.
"Ancients," she replied, wiping her tears with Bow's kerchief.
"Who's Teela?" Casta asked.
Adam turned to her. "She is Captain Duncan, daughter of the King's Man-At-Arms."
"And your bodyguard girlfriend," Frosta spat sniffling and dabbing at her eyes.
"You have a girlfriend?" the Queen asked disappointingly.
Adam cut his eyes to Frosta who simply glared back.
"Yes."
"So soon after our break up, huh?"
"You of all people shouldn't be talking to me about infidelity—"
"Guys, knock it off!" Princess Glimmer interjected.
Hawk and Bow sat there amused as the women regained their composure, Adam and Frosta staring daggers at each other.
"Did you say she was your bodyguard?" Hawk asked. "I mean, you really don't need one. You laid me out flat the other day."
More raised eyebrows.
"I didn't exactly need one for combat," Adam explained. "Women would regularly sneak into the Palace and into my rooms at night. Teela was chosen as a woman who could proportionately handle any female perpetrators. She can also kick any man's ass, actually," he added wistfully, his gaze saddened.
Glimmer's violet gaze narrowed, his aura flickering once again. "What happened to her?"
Adam's gaze snapped up to meet hers.
"He-Man said something happened at home before mentioning, 'Captain'," she added.
Silence.
Adam's features fell. "Teela's been captured."
More gasps.
"By whom?" Frosta asked, intrigued.
Adam's eyes met hers.
"By my uncle."
