Chapter 5

A Tough Pill To Swallow

"Did you do this to her?"

"Of course not, she fell, I told you!" Duncan raked his hands through his hair, disheveling his ponytail, and continued his pacing.

"Duncan, I know …I know I have a past that I'm not proud of but—," he hesitated then hurried on when he saw the incredulous look Duncan shot him, " I thought you had gotten past this. Why else would you have found me for this mission? I would never do this!" He stressed, moving to block Duncan's path so that he could stand still long enough to absorb the sincerity of his words.

"Orad, just tell me what happened." Man-at-Arms sighed heavily and they both turned toward the bed where a very bruised and unconscious Evilyn lay.

"Well he's going to have to tell you outside." A shrill voice interrupted rudely, the owner of which, moved her stout body quicker than one would expect, from the door she had just entered through, over to Evilyn's bed. She examined her patient, making pained noises every time she identified another injury. After several moments of this she realized that the men were still present. Arching her thick brows in annoyance she addressed them again: "Why are you two still here?"

"And just who are you?" Duncan asked more than a little stunned at the woman's audacity.

"I am the person who is going to save this woman's life as soon as I can get some peace and quiet"

"Now wait just a min—"

"It's alright Man-At-Arms," Randor stood at the door. At the sight of the King, Orad stiffened instinctively and saluted. Randor regarded him coldly but said nothing. "Let's take this outside." The men followed obediently though obviously irritated.

"Hey!" Orad exclaimed as the door he had just passed hit him sharply in the hind quarters.

"Ramona is a bit surly, but she's the best Healer in Eternia and from the looks of her patient there, we definitely need the best." He glanced from Duncan to Orad, "Now, which one of you is going to tell me what is going on?"

"She's here!" Teela's incredulous voice echoed off the stone walls of the palace corridor. Prince Adam was finding it hard to keep up with her long, determined strides and was already regretting filling her in on the news of Evilyn's arrival before her father did. At least her respect for Man-at-Arms would protect him from her wrath, but then again, maybe not. They found him in deep conference with a hairy guy they had never seen before.

"Father, how could you allow that woman in the palace? For all we know this could be some sort of trick to weasel her way in here. How do you know she's really hurt? Who's guarding her? Does King Randor know about this?" Her tirade paused only because she had to inhale.

"Orad, this is Teela, Captain of the Guard, and my daughter." Teela nodded politely at him, her eyes betraying her curiosity. "Orad served with me a long time ago in the Palace Guard. He is the one who brought Evilyn here. I sent him to Snake Mountain to infiltrate Skeletor's little army. Apparently he and Evilyn had a spat and he threw her out of a window."

"He threw her out of a window!" Adam gasped unbelieving.

"Yes," Duncan assured him," and according to our resident Healer, she's pregnant."

"She's pregnant!" it was Teela's turn.

"Someone should really do something about the acoustics in here." Orad chimed in, his grin buffering the glares the others cast him. He then repeated the story he had told the King and Man-at-Arms earlier: "…when I came to, Skeletor was gone and I found Evilyn half way down the mountain, draped over a piece of protruding rock. I tell you, it was hell trying to get to her."

"My goodness, what the hell is going on in Snake Mountain these days?" Adam asked and plopped down into the nearest chair.

"No wonder they haven't attacked us in so long, there're too busy staring in their own bloody soap opera." There was a long pause then Teela continued hesitantly, "Do you suppose Skeletor is the father?"

"Ugg, let's not discuss this now," Adam pleaded. "Look, Skeletor tried to kill her right, she must hate the guy; maybe we can use this to our advantage."

"We'll just have to make her see that an alliance with us would be the best way for her to settle the score," Orad added; while the others considered this Duncan just looked worried.

"I heard the patient was up?"

"She just regained consciousness," Ramona confirmed. "You can be here for five minutes, not a second more," she finally stepped out from the doorway to let him through. "Five minutes," she snapped again before shutting the door behind her.

"Yes ma'am," Duncan said softly and took the seat near Evilyn's bed. Her eyes were closed so he decided to wait till she was ready to face him. He took the opportunity to study her. When Orad had first brought her through the palace gates two days ago, slung over his shoulder like a sack of vegetables, they had had trouble figuring out the extent of her injuries since she was covered with dirt and blood. Now her head was heavily bandaged and Teela would be pleased to know that she was not going to be roaming about the palace, not with a broken leg and ankle. More bandages covered the skin on both wrists, and he could only guess at the other injuries that the blanket kept hidden. Her face held the tense expression of someone in pain, this was no surprise considering, and suddenly Duncan felt the stirrings of pity for her—no one deserved this.

"Evilyn," he said her name and waited for her to acknowledge him.

Her eyes opened after an instant and Duncan was rendered speechless by the depth of pain he saw in them. He started again: "Why did Skeletor do this to you?" She did not answer and after several moments Duncan moved to leave, accepting that perhaps it was too soon for a round of twenty questions.

"My baby," her voice rasped almost inaudibly and she repeated herself, "Is my baby alright."

"I don't know," he said slowly, "I'll have to ask—"

Ramona bustled into the room "Alright, five minutes are up. Leave."

"She wants to know—" Man-at-arms began loudly, more than a little irritated by the woman's abrasiveness. After taking two calming breaths he continued, "Is her baby healthy, Ramona?" She moved past him and looked down at her patient, almost kindly, and spoke to her.

"You baby is fine. It's a miracle, especially with you looking as if someone used your body to skate down the side of a mountain."

Evilyn's chest heaved in a failed attempt to choke back a sob of relief and Man-at-Arms abruptly turned away from the sight of her streaming tears. He had not thought his enemies capable of anything more than greed and anarchy, seeing Evilyn like this made her seem almost …human. "I'll come back later. Take care of her Ramona," he said as he left.

"Have you been to see her yet?" Adam asked his best friend and watched her at the corner of his eye while he scratched behind Cringer's ear. They were sitting and talking in the shade of his favorite tree—a ritual they performed almost every day since they were children. Now, both were approaching adulthood and this tree had helped to maintain their friendship in spite of differences in opinion, characters, hormones and …secrets.

"Me? Why should I."

"She's pretty banged up. No one deserved what happened to her'" Adam insisted gently and smiled in response to Cringer's appreciative purrs.

"Maybe you're right," she agreed unwillingly and picked up another dried leaf to shred. "I just can't shake the feeling that her presence here is going to cause a lot of trouble."

"We're not going to give her free reign of the castle, she's under strict guard 24/7, but she's going to be someone's mother—responsibility like that can alter anyone's priorities."

"You think people can change just like that?"

Adam thought for a moment, rubbing his chin in time with the motion of his hand on Cringer's head. "I think that once you realize what's really important you tend to direct your energies to that instead."

"When did you get so wise Prince" Teela quipped and flung a leaf stem in his direction.

"Oh, right about the time I became soo sexy" Adam smirked; his blue eyes alight with mirth.

"Yeah right!" Teela retorted and flung a handful of leaves at his laughing face. He ducked and missed the deep blush that reddened her neck.

Duncan walked briskly towards Evilyn's room. It had only been a few hours since he had seen her and though he was anxious to get to the bottom of this mystery between her and Skeletor, the fact that she had sent for him, quite urgently, had him feeling inexplicably uneasy. He nodded to the guard on duty and entered without knocking.

Ramona was nowhere in sight and he relaxed a little. Evilyn watched him as he advanced toward the bed. "Evilyn," he started when he reached the foot of her bed. "I understand that you have—you are—going through an ordeal and I am sure our questions can wait if you desire."

"This cannot," she cut him off suddenly. "Please, sit down." He eased himself slowly into the chair and resigned himself to listen. When he had settled she began haltingly, her voice soft:

"I knew this man.

I.... It was a hot day, like so many days are now on Eternia, and I was looking for–well it doesn't matter what I was searching for–he ...he scolded me for tearing down a two hundred year old tree 'just to get some useless weed at the top'–he was furious.

He plucked the weed up before I could get to it and insisted that if I did not plant at least ten more trees in its place he would eat my plant. There I was, declaring my identity and brandishing my staff menacingly in his face and he was countering my threats with the promise of a sound whipping, if I didn't get started before sunset." She smiled a little at the memory and Duncan squelched the urge to ask where she was headed with this story. "Well, after that brazen display of arrogance I had no choice...no choice whatsoever but to plant the blasted trees."

"I found that we had little in common but there was something—" she trailed off. "I cared for him, you must believe that, I did; and he said that he…" her eyes closed, no doubt, memories of her lover replayed behind their lids.

Now Duncan was confused. He had expected some explanation of Skeletor's violence; her curses, her wrath at what he had done to her, desperate negotiation for aid in carrying out her vengeance in exchange for crippling information against him, but this—what was this? Why tell him this?

"He gave me more than I deserve" she absently touched her stomach through the sheet, "and I will always love him for that. Your brother was a good man."

"What the hell are you talking about?!" the chair crashed to the floor in the wake of its former occupant's abrupt departure.

"Leave!" Duncan ordered the startled guard who had burst into the room. He leaned over her and grabbed her roughly at the shoulders, not caring that he was hurting her.

"My brother! You do not know my brother!" Even as he said the words he realized that Carr was the lover she had been speaking of—fearless, arrogant, former palace guard and thorn in Duncan's side. He'd acquired an elder brother when he was thirteen. His father came back after a three month long battle with a wife and her fifteen year old son. He and his father had just buried his mother that past winter—it had taken a teenaged Duncan years to forgive him.

He and Carr never had the ideal fraternal relationship; their parents were married and that was that. Both joined the palace guard when they were of age, but Carr retired soon after father had died, realizing for sometime, that the conformity and team play necessary for military life were not part of his character. Duncan understood and appreciated the fact that Carr had respected his father enough to put up with it for so long. When his stepmother died Duncan tried to maintain ties with his stepbrother, since he was the only family he had left—then Teela came into his life. The last time he had seen Carr was for Teela's tenth birthday. He had crafted a wooden rocking horse for her, admitting that she was probably too big for such a toy but insisting that every child should have one.

Suddenly it dawned on him what she had said.

"What do you mean 'he was a good man'?" He listened in horror as Evilyn related what Skeletor had told her, his eyes searched hers, hoping for some sign that this was some sadistic trick. Skeletor had killed his brother.

Duncan released her and bolted for the door. He passed the bewildered guard and almost collided with Adam and Teela in the hallway, her concerned questions went unheard. He saw nothing, heard nothing; all he felt was the pounding of his heart in his head. He had to find out if it was true. The thought of his brother dying alone at the hands of that madman, his body rotting after all this time, the dishonor—Skeletor would pay dearly.

A/N I feel that I must apologize for my tardy update. The last thing I want is for you guys to lose interest in my story because of my delinquency. I don't know how to explain it though, its not writer's block…it's more like an inexplicable constriction. I got half way through this ch. in one night and then could not put down another satisfactory sentence for weeks after. There must be some sort of creative exlax or something one can take, anyway … I really hope you like what I've managed so far.

Thanks to optimus610, mariayah, Incubus91 and Doppleganger for reviewing—it meant a lot.