Disclaimer: CW/DC own these characters. I'm only borrowing them for a while. I own the original ideas found in this.

AN: I am totally, totally sorry about the length of time to get another chapter out. Real life, Elseworlds, COIE, Covid, and the worst of all - Arrow itself ending - interfered with writing for a while.

I thank you for returning.

Previously:

"Open your eyes, Mr. Queen, I can tell you are awake. My daughter has been awake for thirty minutes already. I thought you were in shape."

Resigned, Oliver opened his eyes and fixed upon Ra's a stare not betraying any feelings. "Maybe you overestimated the correct dose."

"Abu, no. That is all right. I am certain Mr. Queen is understandably boorish due to the drug." Oliver looked to his left and observed the large man standing over him, his sword aimed at Oliver's neck. Abu lowered the sword with his employer's words, a snarl directed at Oliver. A small smile tugged at Ra's' lips. "Correct, Mr. Queen? You did not mean any disrespect?"

Preventing the eye roll that almost slipped out, Oliver reluctantly agreed. "You are correct, sir. I…my mind is scrambled because of the unexpected drugging."

"You must understand my caution, Mr. Queen. I would rather not use such crude methods such as blackmail to help you see reason, but you gave me every indication of not accepting my offer without duress."

Ra's abruptly turned and sat down without another word. Oliver glanced at Nyssa who met his gaze and gave a small, solemn nod. Oliver rolled his eyes and settled into his seat as comfortably as he could, despite being restrained. He decided he might as well review their options, since it appeared Ra's was no longer interested in conversation. Hopefully he'd come up with at least two possibilities of how to escape.

It was curious Ra's felt it necessary to restrain his prisoners during the flight. Perhaps he thought it was possible they might foolishly try to overtake the plane or him and their soldiers. Or else it was simply a means to chip away their morale. As if. But Oliver wouldn't let anything surprise him about Ra's.

His wrists were bound together and then chained to his waist. Trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, Oliver tested his restraints by flexing his muscles. The chains still clanged together, making a sound made much louder in the silence. Ra's merely smiled to himself but didn't speak as he continued reviewing the papers in his hand.

When they landed, Ra's stood up. He paused while his long robe swung slightly behind him. Without sparing his prisoners a single glance, he slowly and grandly walked down the plane's stairs. Nyssa was led off the plane next. With a soldier on either side of her, she was rudely brought to a standing position without a sound from the guards. One gave her a small push towards the door while the other guard smiled.

Oliver fidgeted in his seat while he waited to be 'escorted' off the plane next. He looked at the remaining two men standing at attention by the door. As he watched Nyssa disappear from his view, Oliver wondered about the delay. Why wasn't he disembarking at the same time?

By the time Oliver was led off, Nyssa and her contingent were no longer in sight. The slender hope that he would know where Nyssa was kept disappeared. There were at least three separate entrances the group could've used. What appeared to Oliver was something out of an Arabian Nights adventure story - a huge building apparently built into the rock of the mountain.

As they walked the distance between the airstrip and the fortress, Oliver noted the building to be at least four floors high, and possibly containing at least a hundred rooms. From what he could see it had at least three wings coming from a center section, with at least one entrance seen at the end of each wing.

They entered the fortress through the door at the end of the center wing. Oliver looked down a long hallway and noticed it was only lit with torches held in holders every twenty feet or so. Doors were scattered along the walls on both sides, about ten total. One of the soldiers beside him noticed Oliver looking around and yanked him by the arm. "Hurry up, Ra's is waiting for you in the throne room."

The throne room? This place really is stuck in the Middle Ages, isn't it? Oliver thought as they hurried down the hallway.

After reaching the door at the end of the hallway, the guard not holding onto Oliver's arm opened the door with a key off a ring which appeared to be right out of a Western movie. Unable to restrain his disbelief about the crazy things he was seeing, Oliver let out a breath quietly.

The group turned right and walked along another hallway with the only difference being the stones making it up were smaller, almost like modern bricks. Oliver wondered about the fact he didn't hear any noise coming from the rooms as they passed and no one was in the hallways. No house staff, no soldiers, no one.

Suddenly Oliver was pulled out of his musings by a sharp tug on his arm. He was forced to turn sharply to the left. A double door entry was in front of them, with thick red velvet drapes held back by gold braided ropes. As they entered the room, Oliver observed a red carpet leading to a throne similar to the one Oliver had seen on Game of Thrones. Ra's was sitting on the gold throne with a particularly patronizing grin on his face watching their approach.

Upon reaching the end of the red carpet, feet from the throne, Oliver felt pressure on his shoulders forcing him to kneel. Oliver wasn't sure whether he was supposed to meet the ruler's eyes or keep them downcast. Instead, he made a show of looking downwards but peeking up at Ra's. He wasn't surprised to see the patronizing grin widen.

Oliver tightened his jaw in order to prevent the three possible wisecracks from bursting out of his mouth. He knew Ra's was smugly waiting for Oliver to speak in order to "discipline" him, as before. Oliver would be damned before he'd give the villain the satisfaction this time. Oliver swallowed the temptation to look up and meet Ra's' gaze directly and instead kept his gaze averted.

"Mr. Queen, I thought you would have asked one of your impertinent questions before now. I am surprised. Perhaps you indeed have learned your lesson."

Oliver refused to take the bait and kept quiet. The silence in the room stretched into an uncomfortable one, at least for Oliver. However, he intended on remaining silent until he was given the permission to speak. He also kept his face passive when he heard an exasperated sigh from above him.

"Mr. Queen, you have indeed done well. You may look up and ask me any questions you might have."

Oliver then met the ruler's eyes, his face remaining passive, as he debated his choices. He shook his head slightly. "No, liege, I do not have any questions at this time."

Ra's gave a little smile. "I will then dismiss you to your room for now. You will have a light supper in your room tonight. Feel free to retire after that."

Oliver gave a small nod in acknowledgement before he was led away by his two guards. He noticed they walked out the opposite door they had walked in, and continued down that hallway which was identical to the one before. Except the carpet was light burgundy in color instead of lavender.

He was led into a room half the size of his bedroom in the mansion. It had a four poster bed with a matching dresser. His knapsack laid upon the top of the dresser.

Oliver sighed and decided to unpack until he was interrupted by a knock on the door. A woman dressed in a simpler version of Nyssa's fighting outfit entered, pushing a cart with a tray of food with a covered plate. After he was settled in a chair with the cart ahead of him, Oliver dismissed the servant.

Oliver lifted the tray cover off his plate to discover a welcoming meal of roast beef, roasted potatoes and corn. He debated for a moment whether he should avoid the meal, for fear of it being drugged. But why would Ra's do that, for Oliver was here of his own free will, after all, right? At least, as much free will as a threat to loved ones allowed, that is.

As he was relaxing while drinking coffee at the end of the meal, Oliver suddenly felt unbelievably sleepy. The empty cup slipped out of his hands and rolled on the floor. Without much conscious thought he stumbled to the bed, fell into it without awareness on top of the covers and was asleep within minutes.

The next thing he knew, a bucket of cold water was flung in his face. As he struggled awake, Oliver felt himself swaying back and forth, his arms extended above his head. Eyes fluttering awake due to the bright light shining in his eyes, he wasn't surprised to hear Ra's again insulting him.

"Really, Ra's, why must you wake me up with cold water?"

Oliver hadn't been aware of Abu next to him but became conscious of it when the large man delivered two quick but painful punches to his kidneys. Oliver was barely able to restrain a cry of pain.

"You continue to forget you must wait for me to address you before speaking and let us not forget you must also call me 'Master' or 'Liege'."

Oliver looked down at Ra's. He barreled down on the temptation to spit down on the old man's head or to kick out at him. The feeling of satisfaction he'd receive from such actions wasn't worth the punishment which would surely follow, however. Instead he waited for the man to speak once again. Ra's continued to look at him with his usual smug expression. Oliver was beginning to get sick of that expression and couldn't wait for the day he could knock it off Ra's' face. For all their sakes, Oliver could only hope that day would arrive soon.

After a good minute Ra's stated, "Well done, Al-Sahim, well done." With a smile on his face he asked, "As reward, is there anything you would like to ask me?"

Willing his voice to be contrite, Oliver asked, "If I voluntarily came to you to be installed into your League, why are you carrying out this regimen of torture? I would think this torture would only be for those who are unwilling to commit."

Ra's nodded. "That is an excellent point. However, Al Sa-him, I am not convinced you are here totally of your own free will. So I apologize but we must carry out this regimen to promote the transformation into your new self. You must forget your old self in order to become a new creation, ready to carry out the League's mission of replacing evil with death in the world."

Oliver held his gaze steady on the other man's eyes, never wavering or showing doubt. He had no doubt he'd withstand whatever brainwashing Ra's intended to put him through and help Nyssa succeed in her mission. He had to - he had Felicity and a second date to return for, among other things.

Without another word, Ra's turned smartly, robes swirling at his feet, and walked out a doorway Oliver hadn't noticed before. The six soldiers with him filed behind him and marched out without a sound.

Oliver looked around the room. Not surprisingly, two men were left supposedly guarding him, one on each side of the apparatus which was holding him up in the air. A third man appeared with a lit torch and lit a fire pit, which he then rolled under Oliver's feet. Flames licked his feet, slowly adding to his discomfort. As if he needed anything else to add to it, considering his biceps were already crying out in pain. He didn't know how long he'd been strung up like this before he awoke. Or how long he'll be up here.

That Nyssa. Surely she could've warned him about her father's intentions of making Oliver his heir much sooner than she had. And damn that Merlyn and his self-preservation instincts. If Merlyn hadn't been a coward and resorted to such methods to involve Oliver in his problems, Oliver wouldn't be here in this situation. In a foreign land, slowly being roasted alive. And God knows what else he had to look forward to, in the coming days. And months.

But at least his friends and Thea were safe. If only he could count on Merlyn to come through and rescue him. Oliver would've given a laugh at the thought of being dependent on Merlyn if his pectorals weren't being stretched to their limits at the moment.

Despite his efforts, Oliver wasn't able to track the passage of time. He wasn't sure he was even aware of falling unconscious due to the heat and discomfort. Or being taken down from the chains. The next thing he knew he was feeling the cold cement of the floor below his fevered cheek. His entire body was aching, he was nauseated, and he was at first cold, then hot.

He rolled onto his side and thought about the situation. For only seconds. Then he fell back into an uneasy slumber.

Days rolled into each other; they were the same, one after the other. He woke up chained by his arms, fire licking his heels, and at night he woke in agony lying on the cement floor of his cell. Then without warning, the routine changed. One morning he woke up still in his cell. Before he could move his body into a sitting position, a bucket of cold water was dumped over his head.

Before he could grumble a protest, a voice from above him asked, "What is your name?"

"Oliver Queen," came his automatic reply. A rain of punches to his sore abdomen was his reward. He then was pulled up abruptly into a standing position without thought to the dizziness resulting from such an action.

When his vision cleared, he found himself staring into the eyes of Ra's al Ghul in all his royal finery.

"Bring him to the torture chamber."

After he was dragged down another hallway and into a nondescript room without windows, Oliver was led to a stake across the room. His aching arms were tied above his head to the stake. He then heard the sound of a whip whizzing through the air, ending in a snap. This was repeated several more times.

To keep his mind alert and off the pain, Oliver attempted to count the lashes once the beating began. After forty lashes, however, he lost count and his feet slid from under him. The discomfort of his wrists bearing the weight of his body jolted him aware, but only a short while. The interval he was able to stay standing became shorter and shorter until finally he gave into the darkness. Ra's smiled as Oliver's body slowly slid to the ground.

AN: Hope you found this entertaining. Please let me know what you think, it does indeed help the Muse. I'll see you soon when I post another chapter.