Eight: history lessons
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Hordak.
Teela knew that name. It took a moment for her to figure out why, and then it all came flooding back.
"Hordak was on Eternia," she told Glimmer. "A very long time ago. He created a spell that almost split the planet in half – it's a long story. I thought he was dead."
He-Man had never mentioned the part about Hordak being trapped in another dimension. Maybe he didn't know.
But more importantly, this was starting to make sense, finally. She hadn't been whisked away to Etheria at random. Her abduction was all part of a plot. A plot to… what?
Teela had a feeling she knew exactly what.
It was a bad feeling.
"Could Weaver rescue Hordak from this other dimension? If she was working with another sorcerer, like Evil-Lyn?" Teela asked.
Glimmer stared at her for a long moment, face going pale, then abruptly jumped to her feet and banged the door open. "Bow!" she called.
Bow had obviously been lurking outside, because he was in the doorway before Glimmer finished saying his name. "Your Highness?"
"You need to hear this," she said. "And Kowl. And – is Madame here?"
One of Bow's eyebrows quirked up, and he gestured over his shoulder. "You didn't hear her crash-landing a few minutes ago? She took out three tents."
"Go get her," Glimmer ordered, then added, wrinkling her nose, "Make sure she leaves that broom outside. It's creepy."
Bow saluted and was off in a billow of brown cloak. Glimmer didn't return to her chair, but paced up and down the small hut. After a few seconds she seemed to realize she was still half-dressed, because she shucked the robe and retrieved a hairbrush from the trunk.
"I need to get back to Eternia right now," Teela said.
"Um, yeah," Glimmer said, undoing what was left of her plaits before pulling the brush through her hair with quick, hard strokes. "Absolutely. Obviously. You have to warn everyone. But I don't – maybe Madame knows a way to get you there?"
Doubtful.
Glimmer hadn't quite finished with her hair before the door flew open again, this time bearing a whirlwind of daffy old witch, who of course had to greet both the princess and Teela with a great deal of affection and effusion.
Bow returned with Kowl around the same time Madame finished hugging and kissing everyone. Kowl was rubbing his large yellow eyes, his fur sticking up in all sorts of undignified ways, and his expression was decidedly grumpy – but he was awake. He fluttered over to the map table and plumped himself down next to Glimmer's abandoned tea, then began preening.
"All right," Bow said, shutting the rickety door behind him. "What's going on?"
Teela glanced at Glimmer, who nodded at her. Instead of answering Bow's question directly, she turned to Madame. "Is it possible that I switched places with Weaver? She went to Eternia, and I came here?"
"Oh deary my, yes," the witch said. She hopped up on the stool by the map table and perched there, feet swinging jauntily in their curlicue boots. Kowl edged out of her reach. "A translocation spell is much easier than opening a real portal. The tricky part would be finding someone with equal magic – it has to balance, you see."
"But… I don't have any magic," Teela said, frowning. It seemed like a pretty obvious point, and one that people, bafflingly, kept getting wrong.
Madame gave a merry cackle. "That's just what Broom thought you'd say!"
"Madame," Glimmer cut in, "is there a way to get Teela home?"
Madame Razz blinked at her. "Eh? Doesn't she live here? No, no, wait, that's the other one. Silly me!"
Glimmer and Bow exchanged a look, and then Bow said, "The queen would probably know, Your Highness."
"Oh!" Madame exclaimed, clapping her hands together like a happy child. "Queen Angella! I haven't seen her in ages. How is she?"
Glimmer looked away, her face pained.
"The queen was captured," Bow said, not unkindly.
"Oh," Madame said. Her expression became chagrined. "Ohhh, dear. Yes, that's right."
"By the Horde?" Teela asked, remembering what Glimmer had said about learning magic. Everyone nodded. "Is she… have they imprisoned her?"
Glimmer and Bow exchanged a glance, and then he said, "It's a long story."
"Especially when you tell it," Kowl added.
Bow cut him a dark look, which Kowl pretended to miss, being too preoccupied with preening his fur.
"Etheria isn't like your Eternia, milady," Bow said to Teela, though still glaring at Kowl. "There was never a grand alliance of kingdoms and people here."
Teela folded her arms over her chest, thinking about the rickety walls of the hut. "You were eavesdropping." It wasn't a question.
"Only so that I might better protect my princess," he said, too smooth to be serious - something further proved when he grinned at Teela. "And to hear the sweet music of your voice, of course."
Kowl made a loud, wet retching noise. "Do pardon me," he said when all eyes swiveled towards him. He cleared his throat ostentatiously. "Something was stuck in my throat."
"Gosh, are you all right?" Teela asked, reaching over to pat the creature on the back. Her concern was every bit as fake as Kowl's choking episode, but she had to show her gratitude somehow. She'd been about to make the same noise.
"As I was saying," Bow said, a bit more loudly than necessary, "we were always a patchwork of small kingdoms. Everyone kept to themselves. Oh, there was trading, and sometimes a skirmish over borders, or a pirate raid on the coasts, but…" He shrugged. "Nothing that required a standing army. So when the Horde appeared – about sixteen, seventeen years ago – no one was equipped to fight them. No one was even interested in fighting them. They were in Mystacor, and what did Brightmoon care about Mystacor?"
"We should have," Glimmer said. She looked at Teela, guilt drawing down the lines of her mouth, fingers twisting in a long coil of her hair. "The Horde went to the Crimson Wastes next, and the insect tribes… they aren't… they aren't there anymore."
Brightmoon had done nothing while the kingdoms around them were swallowed up. Because they didn't care about their neighbors. Because they didn't have a Council of Elders or a He-Man or a Sorceress or even a King Randor to look out for the whole planet.
"So by the time the Horde got to your doorstep," Teela said, drawing the obvious conclusion, "it was already too late."
Everyone nodded.
"King Micah disappeared in battle four years ago, Castle Brightmoon fell two years ago, and Queen Angella was captured six months ago," Bow went on, ticking points off on his fingers. "At first we thought the Horde would brainwash her, or lock her in the Fright Zone, but they had… other plans."
"They gave her to the harpy queen," Kowl said, subdued. "Hunga."
"That horrible creature!" Madame cried indignantly.
"The harpy queen," Teela repeated, earning more nods. Well, that promised loads of fun.
"The harpies are the traditional enemies of Queen Angella's people," Bow said.
"They're just jealous that their stupid wings are so ugly, and Mother's are so beautiful," Glimmer said, with all the righteous indignance of a proud daughter.
Bow gave the princess an encouraging grin, then returned to Teela. "Our sources in the Horde say the harpies agreed to ally with Shadow Weaver in exchange for Her Majesty."
Harpies with Horde backup. Even more fun. "Is Queen Angella still there?"
"As far as we know," Glimmer said. She continued twisting her hair, but her chin came up and she said defiantly, "Mother is strong. She's all right. I know she is."
When you were drowning, you grabbed for anything within reach. Teela took this dubious intelligence and clung to it with her whole being. "And you know where the harpies are holding her?"
"Oh, yes, of course," Madame said, adjusting her position on the stool. She made it sound like they were discussing a friend's new house. "In the caves of Talon Mountain. That's where all the harpies live."
The first strokes of a plan began to paint themselves across Teela's mind. "And Queen Angella can get me home?"
Glimmer hesitated for a moment, then nodded firmly. "If anyone on Etheria can help you, it's Mother."
Teela took a deep breath. "Okay," she said, crossing to the map table. "Then let's go get her."