DISCLAIMER: First of all - Arrow belongs to DC and CW. No copyright infringement. No money is made from this work. Although the characters don't belong to me - the words are mostly mine. Quotes, bold, and italics denote words that are not mine. This is covered under Creative Commons under as derivative fiction.

AN: This is not beta-ed, so any errors are completely mine.

I always thought that there could have been an interesting story if Oliver had actually accepted the mantle of Ra's Al Ghul. This is my thoughts about how it could happen. There will be some overlap with the TV series - until there isn't. Like any multi-verse story, there will be differences and similarities.

There may also be some references to Oliver/Felicity and Nyssa/Sara - but the relationship explored will be Oliver/Nyssa.

"For what is a wedlock forced, but a hell?" 1 HENRY VI, Act 5, Scene 5 Line 62

Nyssa al Ghul watched numbly as her last-ditch effort to elude the fate her father had decreed failed. Oliver Queen, no, Al Sah-him, easily blocked the knife and disarmed her. The words of binding flowed over her. "Your souls are bound together. Forever joined. You will never be free. You will always be held captive …".Nyssa bowed her head in defeat. Even as the Priestess completed the ceremony with "The union is sealed," she could feel the subtle wash of magic thrum through her veins. The binding was true. She was soul bound to Al Sah-him. Her husband, Heir to the Demon, Wareeth al Ghul now Ibn al Ghul. Her father's treachery was complete. She accepted her fate and silently said goodbye to her true beloved.

The newly married couple walked in silence together as they were flanked by an honor guard and led to their new chambers. Rooms fitting for the heir apparent and his bride. Nyssa swallowed down bile as she anticipated what would happen next. Her father had made it plain. She was expected to consummate this marriage and conceive, willing or no. She was the deadliest woman on the planet, and he expected her to comply. She eyed the looming door with distaste and impotent anger. The guards stopped at the entryway.

"Leave us," Al Sah-him's order was firm and low. Two Shadows remained stationed outside, a testament to her husband's new station more than anything else. Al Sah-him turned slightly to his new bride and indicated that she should precede him into the room. Partially because he did not trust her at his back. He walked in after her and closed the door behind him. They needed privacy, even if he was unsure of how much privacy they could truly have in the heart of the Demon's Lair.

Nyssa stood stiffly in the middle of their new bedroom. She noted that her wardrobe had already been moved in. By the south wall, her weapons were neatly displayed next to her husband's sword and bow. Nanda Parbat thrived on efficiency. Ra's al Ghul spoke and all obeyed. Including his daughter; especially his daughter. Talia remained an object lesson.

"Nyssa," he said her name softly, almost sorrowfully, as if asking for absolution.

Despite years of training and her acknowledged defeat, she still startled at his voice, "Husband." She refused to give him anything more. He was owed her body and bound to her soul, but she would give him no tender reprieve. He would know the cost of her allegiance.

"We're alone. You can relax." Oliver tried to find some way to reassure Nyssa, although he had no idea what he could say. This plan required a level of ruthlessness that he had tried to escape. It never occurred to him that he would actually be married to Nyssa al Ghul, but here it was. He didn't understand why

she didn't try and take his head right now. She was so still and tightly wound. A bowstring on the verge of snapping, and he didn't know how to ease this tension.

He sighed and, wordlessly, sat down on the bed. He needed to regroup. He needed time. He needed to be focused. Instead, he was looking at one of the most dangerous people in the world and wondering if she shattered, would he or any of his loved ones survive? Oddly, he hoped she wouldn't break – she had been his enemy and his ally. She was the lover of his dead ex-lover, and the daughter of an insane man who could order the utter destruction of whole cities. This takes 'it's complicated' to a whole new level.

"What is your will, husband?" Nyssa dully questioned. "Do you wish to consummate this travesty clothed or unclothed? I will comply, but do not expect me to feign delight or affection."

"Jesus, fuck! No!" The shocked revulsion in Oliver's voice surprised her. "I'm not a rapist. I didn't want this marriage any more than you did." Nyssa cocked her head slightly toward him. He looked disgusted at the thought.

"And yet, here we are. Did you feel it, husband? That tingling warmth? The moment when our souls, our fates, were bound to each other? Did you not listen? 'Forever joined.' Those weren't empty words. We are truly bound to each other, Al Sah-him." Despair edged Nyssa's statement of fact.

"I am your wife even as you are my husband now. Ra's al Ghul has decreed that I carry on his lineage through you – his heir. We are bound to obedience. Did you think to escape consummation, to fool him?" She turned more fully to face her husband and raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

The man who had stood so implacably before her father seemed to shrink within himself as he sighed again and rubbed a hand wearily over his face.

"Honestly, I don't know what I thought. But I didn't think I'd be in a forced marriage with a lesbian asking me how I want to rape her." He shook his head and looked at her blearily. "It's bad enough that everyone I love thinks I've betrayed them. Initially, I thought that maybe, maybe I could save them, save my city, by giving myself to your father. But, it was Merlyn. Malcolm, fucking, Merlyn who disabused me of that idea. He told me there was no way out. Not unless I chose to be ruthless and find a way to take out your father. A wedding wasn't really discussed."

Nyssa laughed bitterly, "So, for once Al Sa-her told the truth. You were the traitor."

Oliver nodded and waited for her reaction.

A small, tight smile graced her face momentarily. "Good. How can I help you, Husband?"