D'Alken is in his room, sleeping soundly alone in his bed. There are no soft girls in his arms tonight, and, he is dressed in a slick suit, rather than the rather insubstantial night clothes he normally favors. He moans softly in his dreams, a lost and unhappy sound. When he is asleep, he is close to the world that he doesn't remember or have the desire to return to, but when he is prevented from opening his eyes in his home dimension, prevented by fear and training and trauma.

As had happened one room over the previous night, a panel slides open, and a shadow steps from the secret passageway, a necessity in every palace built by paranoid men who have taken their dominion by force. This was meant for the Majestor to have an escape route in case of danger. Last night, its purpose was twisted to allow that danger in.

Tonight, it puts the Majestor's favorite, his toy, his pet, his trained servant, in danger. D'Ken had originally thought he would use the little boy yanked from the earth dimension only to control the father, but he had grown fond of the child. He adored his wife but Deathbird was an evolutionary throwback. He would never have a family with her. What sort of hatchlings would they have? Winged children? The disgrace.

He couldn't raise D'Alken to be Majestor, the Shi'ar would never allow an off-worlder to be their emperor. But the boy had proven to be amusing and remarkably pliable. He was a good servant and a good soldier, taking every order like he was born to it. There is something inside the boy that had shown in his father before he was so forcefully broken to D'Ken's will. D'Alken has some of Corsair's spirit, even if he never knew it.

Which is why when the shadowy figure slowly approaches the slave's bed, he suddenly finds D'Alken's sword at his throat, the human having feigned his slumber.

"Move and your head is mine." D'Alken says, quiet and malicious. He turns on the light and is startled at who stands poised to kill him. "Oh, my god..." he mutters.

Gladiator smirks, "You are quick, Slave."

D'Alken gets out of bed, the sword point never dipping from Gladiator's throat. "Why are you trying to kill me? Why did you try to kill the Majestor?"

"Your Majestor took the throne by force, he should expect treachery because of that." Gladiator spits.

"Who would you have raised in his place?" D'Alken frowns. "Who should be ruler? Lady Lilandra?"

The guardsman smirks, "Of course, it should be Lilandra. She is eldest, she was next in line to be Majestrix. But she is not the reason I am here...not entirely."

D'Alken presses with the sword, so that the tip dimples the guard's flesh, drawing a line of blood. "Quit talking in riddles, Gladiator. Tell me who sent you before I kill you or call the Majestor and allow him the privilege."

Gladiator straightens his shoulders and says, "Why should I answer to a slave? An off-world mono-dimensional toy chosen by the whim of a bored tyrant? He cares too much for you, 'Property' and it has given you the belief that you are superior to us. He neglects his true people in favor of you and his overwhelming obsession to own the reality of your birth. When he has drained every last bit of use from you and learned what secret it is you carry within you that protects your world from his machinations, you will be tossed aside like your pathetic coward of a father, creeping and crawling through the mines with his little odds and ends of information like we would not have learned about each and every impending rebellion without his help."

D'Alken takes a step backwards, "What the hell are you talking about?"

Gladiator laughs, "What? You thought he was fond of you? You thought he loved you? Maybe in a way, like a man might love an amusing pet. But you are still just a possession, just a toy. And, it makes my people angry that he would neglect us in favor of you. I am just one of many who will not miss you when the Majestor throws you to Alisbor."

"That is not true." D'Alken growls. He is growing angry. His hands tighten around the hilt of his sword, "I have never tried to take the place of the people of my Master. I just want to serve him as best I can."

"Noble, foolish D'Alken." The guard mocks, "Just like your father used to be before he was broken."

The sword has begun to tremble in the young man's hands, "I don't know my father. I have none."

"Your father is a coward, little hatchling, who begs for attention and is fed scraps of the Majestor's charity." Gladiator says, taking a step forward. "Maybe once he was worth something, but he is a skeleton now, just bones and despair. D'Ken tried to make him betray his world, to tell him what it was that destroyed the gate, but he didn't know. Perhaps you do, perhaps the good servant will know what his useless father didn't. Then you will lead the armies to earth and we will conquer it."

D'Alken shakes his head, his blond fur tied into a thin braid that cracks like a whip. "You are still talking nonsense." Pain in his head, pain in his arms and hands. What is going on here?

"And when earth is at last ours, there will be no more need for the precious little manservant or his broken down daddy..."

And, something, something he cannot control even had he wanted to forces his way out of D'Alken. He does not know where it has come from or what causes it to come out now, but this last taunt about the father he doesn't even remember is more than he can bear. With a cry of rage and fear and pain, the young man slams out his free hand and rings of golden power explode from his palm.

Gladiator is thrown across the room, with the strength of it, smashing through the wall that separates the rooms, and crashing into a heap in the middle of the Majestor's chambers. D'Ken and Deathbird are awake and on their feet in an instant.

"Gladiator!" Deathbird cries!

D'Alken steps through the hole in the wall, his eyes wide and horror filled, the power gone from him as quickly as it had come. "Oh, my god..." he murmurs, stunned. He looks at his hand as if it is a poisonous snake. "What have I done?"

D'Ken crouches over the fallen guard, "He is alive, but just barely. D'Alken, what did you do? How did you do that?"

The slave shakes his head, "I don't know. I don't know what happened."

"I know!" Deathbird snaps, kneeling beside Gladiator, "I set Gladiator to watch us, tonight. I don't trust guards commanded by someone not of my race! I was right to suspect! Obviously, D'Alken was trying to murder us and this is how he dealt with out good and loyal guard."

"That's a lie!" D'Alken snaps, boldly, "Gladiator tried to kill me. He came into my room spouting gibberish about my father and the earth dimension."

D'Ken stands up, "What did he say?"

"That my father was a fool and a coward and that you will use me like you used him up once I reveal the secret to conquering earth." D'Alken says, "he made me angry and I exploded...I didn't mean to."

"Exploded." D'Ken gasps, "It was you. You blew the gate."

"Master, what are you talking about?" D'Alken frowns.

"You don't remember. Of course, you don't." D'Ken says, his eyes unfocusing and seeing something that happened a long time ago and something that has not yet happened, merging into one glorious image of conquest. "You are the key to unlocking that world, boy."

D'Alken takes a frightened step away from his master, "What are you saying?"

"I am saying you will make me the most powerful man in all of the dimensions." The Majestor says, ravenous lust in his eyes. "At last this will all be finished."

Suddenly, the Majestor's shirt tents out peculiarly. A blade emerges from his chest, spilling his blood in a scarlet geyser. He falls to the ground, eyes sightless.

"It is finished now!" Deathbird growls, yanking the dagger out of her brother/husband's back and striking out again, this time driving the blade into her own stomach, much to D'Alken's horror. "Help!" she cries, "Murder! Treachery!" She sinks to her knees.

"No..." D'Alken gasps, as the guardsman begin to pound on the outer door, already alerted by the explosion. "No, no!"

He turns and runs, sliding into the secret passage that Gladiator had used to enter his room. He has no idea where he is going, but he knows he cannot stay here.