***DISCLAIMER IN CHAPTER 1.
CHAPTER 19
The wind raider wasn't moving fast enough for Adora as it cut through the wind at top speed. The princess pushed her air transportation to full throttle through the chilly morning air.
Nestled beside her in the passenger seat lay her jeweled sword and its not so identical twin. The Sorceress had insisted that when Adora find Adam, it was she who was to give the Sword of Power to its rightful owner.
Adora smiled and reached over to touch the blue steel softly.
The rising Eternian suns cast light over the lush and beautiful land as below, her subjects began their morning work. Little did the anxious woman know that both she, and her subjects, would share the same fate that next day.
But Adora's mind was trapped in what she knew at that moment. She had a brother. A long lost, twin brother. And he was somewhere on Eternia.
Somewhere close.
The fact she couldn't lock down on him frustrated her but she vowed to overturn every rock and investigate every shadow until she found him.
The young woman couldn't help but get ahead of herself as thoughts of the unending possibilities raced through her mind.
"What's he like?" "Is he kind?" "Does he know he was kidnapped?" "Is he a peasant?" "Is he married with a family?" "Is he a great warrior?" "Has he felt that he was missing a part of him his entire life as I have?"
The last question was the one that weighed the heaviest on Adora's mind. She was angry and frustrated to learn of her brother's existence, but only because she felt she had been lied to.
But her new found knowledge made her heart soar and brought a great sense of hope to her burdened soul at its deepest root. The missing piece had been discovered and she would stop at nothing until she had her brother back.
She bit her lip and pressed the wind raider ahead more, so that it began to shake at being put to such an extreme test. Another thought struck her with a heavy blow to the chest.
"What if he doesn't want to be part of my life?"
She frowned at the little voice inside her head that sounded remarkably like Teela's.
"What if he has a life and doesn't want this one? What if he rejects our family? Would he reject me?" "Would he reject his destiny?"
Adora's face began to burn again with anger, not directed toward her brother but at the situation they were in. She cursed the Horde silently for creating this mess for it was they who had deprived her of her twin and it was they who deprived him of his true life.
And as the Sorceress said, it was they who had deprived Eternia of a great warrior.
The image of the man she saw back at Grayskull flashed into her memory. What she hadn't told the Sorceress was that when she saw him, she was awed by the feeling of power that over took her. And for mere mental image, that was strange.
But strange in a positive, "things are about to change," way. Why, if her brother did take on his destiny as the Sorceress had predicted, surely the two of them together could defeat Skeletor and his minions once and for all. Then peace could come back to her homeland.
She smiled to herself at what that meant.
"Calen would love that," she thought to herself. "For I would finally have real time to make for him...for us."
A warm rush raced up her spine. The prospect of everything settling into place was a happy notion that she would embrace whole-heartedly and her heart pounded in her chest.
On the ground below, the palace airfield began to emerge and soon Adora was able to make out the figure of her teacher waiting on the ground below. She smiled and waved to him with one arm while using the other to start landing operations.
So enthralled by the idea of complete and total happiness, she had no idea just how chaotic her world was about to become.
******
Inside the palace, Queen Marlena stared silently out the window of her private quarters.
She knew she could be wrong. She knew that what she believed in her heart could merely be a figment of imagination from her head. Created from a memory of one she yearned to hold again since that fateful day so many years ago.
Part of her hoped she was wrong. Albeit a very small part, for her body was filled with anxious tension.
She was sure it was him. His eyes, while cold and angry, were the same she had memorized when he was an infant. And while the rest of his appearance was strikingly like those she imagined would be, she knew in her heart when she saw his distant blue eyes that her son had finally come home.
Unfortunately she had fainted before she could alert the guards and with her time of rest also came some clarity and suspicion. For, even if it was her missing son, the man that had stood before her wore the Horde crest and had been there to murder her husband. These facts sat uneasily on her mind for she believed that no child of her's would ever be capable of killing. And no doubt, if this man was in fact a member of the Horde, than murder would, of course, be a favorite past-time for him.
But soon she would question him in hopes of learning the truth. For, if he was indeed Adam, then he had been robbed of his true family and his real life. In exchange, he had been given one of evil and despair. And the thought of her precious child being raised to inflict harm and destroy good, tore at Marlena's heart like a Congragorian blade.
She took a deep breath as she heard footsteps approach her doors and braced herself as she felt the wind from the doors open.
"Marlena! What in the name of all Eternia do you think you're doing?!?"
The queen relaxed her body and turned to meet the wide-eyed stare of her king. Randor's face was quite pale and his hands, outstretched to her, were shaking very badly.
"My love, if you'll just let me explain.."
But how could she explain? She hadn't told him because she wanted to be absolutely sure first. She could not in good conscious, give her son back to her husband without first having her son to give. She could not, nor would she do that to the man she loved more than anything else.
Randor put his hands up in a flustered movement.
"I wish someone would explain! I was just informed that you have requested an audience with that..that..FIEND!"
Marlena flinched. She hadn't stopped to think that there was a possibility her love considered this stranger to be a fiend when he could, in fact, be his own flesh and blood. She began to question how Randor would react if indeed, it did turn out to be true.
Would he even believe it?
She took a deep breath and smiled as much as she could.
"My dear," she coaxed. "I merely wish to question him. I can assure you there will be multiple guards nearby and he will be bound in chains."
That thought alone sent pangs of guilt into her stomach, the thought of her son who had been missing for so long, bound up in the steel of his own father's dungeons.
"I wish to question him of the Horde and of his reason for being here," she continued. She wasn't really lying to Randor, but she couldn't tell him of her real suspicions just yet. "It would make more sense for me to conduct the inquiry rather than you, since it appears he doesn't like you very much."
Randor huffed and crossed his arms. An inquiry did need to be conducted and it was procedure for it to be conducted by a member of the Royal Court. But that included Capt. Calen and Duncan and even Adora if need be. He could not fathom why Marlena would be so insistent.
"Beloved," he stammered. "This man is, no doubt, a murderer. If he was willing to kill me, I feel with some certainty that he would most likely try to kill you as well. Don't you think it's in our best interest to allow Man-At-Arms or the Captain to question him?"
Marlena sighed and took her husband's hands. Her eyes met his and she smiled nervously at him.
"Darling, I have conducted inquiries before," she said slowly. "As the queen, it is part of my responsibility. I feel quite certain that, if this stranger had really wanted to harm us, he would not have let Teela stop him. I believe, with my heart and soul, that he is of no threat to us."
Randor's mouth hung agape as if to protest but seeing the look in his wife's eyes, he knew further protest would be useless. Frustrated, he cleared his throat and squeezed his wife's hands.
"Your instincts are never wrong, my love," he conceded. "But I fear for your safety, nonetheless. You will therefore instruct Lt. Teela to keep him under armed surveillance during your inquiry. Of that, I must command you."
Marlena nodded hesitantly. She had wished to conduct the interview privately but she trusted Teela with her life.
Randor smiled lopsidedly and kissed his wife on the forehead. As he left, he paused.
"Report to me with your findings immediately," he said flatly and exited the room.
Marlena sighed and sat in a nearby, velvet plush chair. She rubbed her eyes and looked out the window again. As she got caught up in her thoughts, she started to hum softly. Softly, but loud enough that it could be heard over the approaching footsteps and sounds of chains rustling on the floor.
*****
Damas paused for a moment outside the chamber door and frowned. He cocked his head to get a better listen to the song coming from the next room.
There was something about the melody that captured his attention and a strange feeling tugged at his chest.
"Why should I know that song?" he thought to himself.
As he tried desperately to search his mind, he listened to more of it. The song puzzled him but not as much as the notion that the very same voice creating the melody was familiar to him.
His pulse raced as he tried to come up with an answer. His thoughts, however, were quickly interrupted and the cold steel tip of a sword pressed up against the back of his neck.
"Keep moving stranger," Teela growled. "Or I'll run you through."
Damas chuckled.
"Do you treat all your guests so well?" he retorted. "Honestly, the hospitality of this place is quite questionable."
Teela pushed him forward and soon he was walking through the open door. Damas looked around the room and saw a middle-aged woman sitting in a chair. He recognized her from the altercation in the throne room. She looked pale and weary.
And for some reason, she stared at him as if in serious concentration.
"Your highness," Damas spat sarcastically as he mockingly bowed. Teela, quickly knocked him to the ground so that he was on his knees. As she did that, the queen stood quickly and approached them.
Teela hovered protectively near. "Don't get too close your highness," she instructed. "This one has a bit of an attitude."
Damas looked at the queen with furious eyes, expecting the same in return. Instead, she approached him silently and knelt in front of him. Teela began to protest but the queen did not hear her as she reached toward the man and softly touched his face.
Damas' expression changed from anger to confusion at the touch of the regal woman. She seemed to be searching for something in his face as her hands moved across his cheeks down to his shoulders.
After what felt like several minutes, her faced flushed and her chest began to jerk quietly.
Teela looked on in confusion and Damas frowned as Marlena's eyes started to fill with tears.
"Oh my Adam," she gasped between sobs as she pulled him into a firm embrace. "Oh my son, what have they done to you?"
CHAPTER 19
The wind raider wasn't moving fast enough for Adora as it cut through the wind at top speed. The princess pushed her air transportation to full throttle through the chilly morning air.
Nestled beside her in the passenger seat lay her jeweled sword and its not so identical twin. The Sorceress had insisted that when Adora find Adam, it was she who was to give the Sword of Power to its rightful owner.
Adora smiled and reached over to touch the blue steel softly.
The rising Eternian suns cast light over the lush and beautiful land as below, her subjects began their morning work. Little did the anxious woman know that both she, and her subjects, would share the same fate that next day.
But Adora's mind was trapped in what she knew at that moment. She had a brother. A long lost, twin brother. And he was somewhere on Eternia.
Somewhere close.
The fact she couldn't lock down on him frustrated her but she vowed to overturn every rock and investigate every shadow until she found him.
The young woman couldn't help but get ahead of herself as thoughts of the unending possibilities raced through her mind.
"What's he like?" "Is he kind?" "Does he know he was kidnapped?" "Is he a peasant?" "Is he married with a family?" "Is he a great warrior?" "Has he felt that he was missing a part of him his entire life as I have?"
The last question was the one that weighed the heaviest on Adora's mind. She was angry and frustrated to learn of her brother's existence, but only because she felt she had been lied to.
But her new found knowledge made her heart soar and brought a great sense of hope to her burdened soul at its deepest root. The missing piece had been discovered and she would stop at nothing until she had her brother back.
She bit her lip and pressed the wind raider ahead more, so that it began to shake at being put to such an extreme test. Another thought struck her with a heavy blow to the chest.
"What if he doesn't want to be part of my life?"
She frowned at the little voice inside her head that sounded remarkably like Teela's.
"What if he has a life and doesn't want this one? What if he rejects our family? Would he reject me?" "Would he reject his destiny?"
Adora's face began to burn again with anger, not directed toward her brother but at the situation they were in. She cursed the Horde silently for creating this mess for it was they who had deprived her of her twin and it was they who deprived him of his true life.
And as the Sorceress said, it was they who had deprived Eternia of a great warrior.
The image of the man she saw back at Grayskull flashed into her memory. What she hadn't told the Sorceress was that when she saw him, she was awed by the feeling of power that over took her. And for mere mental image, that was strange.
But strange in a positive, "things are about to change," way. Why, if her brother did take on his destiny as the Sorceress had predicted, surely the two of them together could defeat Skeletor and his minions once and for all. Then peace could come back to her homeland.
She smiled to herself at what that meant.
"Calen would love that," she thought to herself. "For I would finally have real time to make for him...for us."
A warm rush raced up her spine. The prospect of everything settling into place was a happy notion that she would embrace whole-heartedly and her heart pounded in her chest.
On the ground below, the palace airfield began to emerge and soon Adora was able to make out the figure of her teacher waiting on the ground below. She smiled and waved to him with one arm while using the other to start landing operations.
So enthralled by the idea of complete and total happiness, she had no idea just how chaotic her world was about to become.
******
Inside the palace, Queen Marlena stared silently out the window of her private quarters.
She knew she could be wrong. She knew that what she believed in her heart could merely be a figment of imagination from her head. Created from a memory of one she yearned to hold again since that fateful day so many years ago.
Part of her hoped she was wrong. Albeit a very small part, for her body was filled with anxious tension.
She was sure it was him. His eyes, while cold and angry, were the same she had memorized when he was an infant. And while the rest of his appearance was strikingly like those she imagined would be, she knew in her heart when she saw his distant blue eyes that her son had finally come home.
Unfortunately she had fainted before she could alert the guards and with her time of rest also came some clarity and suspicion. For, even if it was her missing son, the man that had stood before her wore the Horde crest and had been there to murder her husband. These facts sat uneasily on her mind for she believed that no child of her's would ever be capable of killing. And no doubt, if this man was in fact a member of the Horde, than murder would, of course, be a favorite past-time for him.
But soon she would question him in hopes of learning the truth. For, if he was indeed Adam, then he had been robbed of his true family and his real life. In exchange, he had been given one of evil and despair. And the thought of her precious child being raised to inflict harm and destroy good, tore at Marlena's heart like a Congragorian blade.
She took a deep breath as she heard footsteps approach her doors and braced herself as she felt the wind from the doors open.
"Marlena! What in the name of all Eternia do you think you're doing?!?"
The queen relaxed her body and turned to meet the wide-eyed stare of her king. Randor's face was quite pale and his hands, outstretched to her, were shaking very badly.
"My love, if you'll just let me explain.."
But how could she explain? She hadn't told him because she wanted to be absolutely sure first. She could not in good conscious, give her son back to her husband without first having her son to give. She could not, nor would she do that to the man she loved more than anything else.
Randor put his hands up in a flustered movement.
"I wish someone would explain! I was just informed that you have requested an audience with that..that..FIEND!"
Marlena flinched. She hadn't stopped to think that there was a possibility her love considered this stranger to be a fiend when he could, in fact, be his own flesh and blood. She began to question how Randor would react if indeed, it did turn out to be true.
Would he even believe it?
She took a deep breath and smiled as much as she could.
"My dear," she coaxed. "I merely wish to question him. I can assure you there will be multiple guards nearby and he will be bound in chains."
That thought alone sent pangs of guilt into her stomach, the thought of her son who had been missing for so long, bound up in the steel of his own father's dungeons.
"I wish to question him of the Horde and of his reason for being here," she continued. She wasn't really lying to Randor, but she couldn't tell him of her real suspicions just yet. "It would make more sense for me to conduct the inquiry rather than you, since it appears he doesn't like you very much."
Randor huffed and crossed his arms. An inquiry did need to be conducted and it was procedure for it to be conducted by a member of the Royal Court. But that included Capt. Calen and Duncan and even Adora if need be. He could not fathom why Marlena would be so insistent.
"Beloved," he stammered. "This man is, no doubt, a murderer. If he was willing to kill me, I feel with some certainty that he would most likely try to kill you as well. Don't you think it's in our best interest to allow Man-At-Arms or the Captain to question him?"
Marlena sighed and took her husband's hands. Her eyes met his and she smiled nervously at him.
"Darling, I have conducted inquiries before," she said slowly. "As the queen, it is part of my responsibility. I feel quite certain that, if this stranger had really wanted to harm us, he would not have let Teela stop him. I believe, with my heart and soul, that he is of no threat to us."
Randor's mouth hung agape as if to protest but seeing the look in his wife's eyes, he knew further protest would be useless. Frustrated, he cleared his throat and squeezed his wife's hands.
"Your instincts are never wrong, my love," he conceded. "But I fear for your safety, nonetheless. You will therefore instruct Lt. Teela to keep him under armed surveillance during your inquiry. Of that, I must command you."
Marlena nodded hesitantly. She had wished to conduct the interview privately but she trusted Teela with her life.
Randor smiled lopsidedly and kissed his wife on the forehead. As he left, he paused.
"Report to me with your findings immediately," he said flatly and exited the room.
Marlena sighed and sat in a nearby, velvet plush chair. She rubbed her eyes and looked out the window again. As she got caught up in her thoughts, she started to hum softly. Softly, but loud enough that it could be heard over the approaching footsteps and sounds of chains rustling on the floor.
*****
Damas paused for a moment outside the chamber door and frowned. He cocked his head to get a better listen to the song coming from the next room.
There was something about the melody that captured his attention and a strange feeling tugged at his chest.
"Why should I know that song?" he thought to himself.
As he tried desperately to search his mind, he listened to more of it. The song puzzled him but not as much as the notion that the very same voice creating the melody was familiar to him.
His pulse raced as he tried to come up with an answer. His thoughts, however, were quickly interrupted and the cold steel tip of a sword pressed up against the back of his neck.
"Keep moving stranger," Teela growled. "Or I'll run you through."
Damas chuckled.
"Do you treat all your guests so well?" he retorted. "Honestly, the hospitality of this place is quite questionable."
Teela pushed him forward and soon he was walking through the open door. Damas looked around the room and saw a middle-aged woman sitting in a chair. He recognized her from the altercation in the throne room. She looked pale and weary.
And for some reason, she stared at him as if in serious concentration.
"Your highness," Damas spat sarcastically as he mockingly bowed. Teela, quickly knocked him to the ground so that he was on his knees. As she did that, the queen stood quickly and approached them.
Teela hovered protectively near. "Don't get too close your highness," she instructed. "This one has a bit of an attitude."
Damas looked at the queen with furious eyes, expecting the same in return. Instead, she approached him silently and knelt in front of him. Teela began to protest but the queen did not hear her as she reached toward the man and softly touched his face.
Damas' expression changed from anger to confusion at the touch of the regal woman. She seemed to be searching for something in his face as her hands moved across his cheeks down to his shoulders.
After what felt like several minutes, her faced flushed and her chest began to jerk quietly.
Teela looked on in confusion and Damas frowned as Marlena's eyes started to fill with tears.
"Oh my Adam," she gasped between sobs as she pulled him into a firm embrace. "Oh my son, what have they done to you?"