Sorry it took so long to get this out! I hope you're still interested and will enjoy this chapter!

The Sacrifice Chapter 5

Dread overwhelmed Adora as she followed Hordak to the Plunder Room. It was obvious that the button Hordak had hit on his chair earlier had somehow affected Adam. It had probably activated the Magmabeam and it had drained some of his willpower. The question was "How much?"

She soon got her answer. When they walked into the room, Adora sprinted ahead of Hordak and turned the corner where she knew the booth to be. As soon as she saw her brother, she cried out, "BROTHER!" She ran to the glass and pounded on it. When she saw that it was too thick to break and she didn't see any other way to open it, she looked at Hordak and yelled, "Let him out, please! Oh, Adam!"

She turned back to her brother and knelt down on the floor beside him even though the glass still separated them. "Oh, Adam," she whispered, "please look at me. Tell me you're okay."

The prince didn't move. He was curled into a ball and seemed dead to the world. Before she could turn to Hordak and yell at him once more, she heard a few beeps from buttons being hit. Suddenly, the door opened and she gasped. She almost crawled into the booth with her brother but stopped herself. If Hordak shut the door with her in there, he could do to her what he had done to Adam. So, instead, she grabbed her brother's arm and pulled him out with all of her might. It took a lot of her strength to do this task, but she didn't care. All she cared about was Adam at that moment.

When he was finally out of the booth, she propped his head on her lap and ran her fingers through his hair. "Please speak to me, brother. Tell me that you're all right."

It took several moments but eventually Adam responded. He opened his eyes. "Adora?" he questioned softly; "Is that really you?" His stare didn't focus on her at all. He seemed really dazed.

Tears rushed to her eyes as she grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "Yes," she replied hurriedly. "Do you think you can get up?"

Adam moved his head upward as if he wanted to get up, but the rest of his body wouldn't follow. He rested his head back against her and gasped, "No, I'm too weak." Then, his head became limp and rolled to the side. He had fallen asleep once more.

Immediately, Adora twisted her head to glare at Hordak. He stood ten feet away and simply observed them. "Help him!" she cried. "Give him back his willpower! We made a deal and in order to let him go, you must give him the ability to leave!"

Hordak smiled ruthlessly and said, "I only agreed that I would let Adam out of his confinement in the Plunder Room. I never said I'd let him go altogether."

She frowned and cried, "Please, Hordak, you agreed not to hurt my brother."

"And, he's not hurt. He's merely weak."

Tears slipped down her cheeks as Hordak walked closer. He stood before them and stated matter-of-factly, "I will give Adam his energy back, but only if you continue to keep your promise and do what I ask of you. I haven't decided what I want, yet, but you will find out soon enough. In the meantime, your brother can stay here. I'm sure you would make a better nurse than anyone else in the Whispering Woods."

She nodded, knowing it to be the truth. She wanted her brother to be set free, but she didn't want him to leave the Fright Zone in this condition. She was glad she would be able to watch over him as he regained his strength. "Agreed," she replied simply. She knew Hordak wasn't really questioning if that was okay. It was more of a command, but she wanted to send that message that she was allowing it. After all, everything they were doing now was a power-play. She knew that, and Hordak knew she knew that.

Without saying anything else, Hordak glanced to the Horde Troopers just outside the room and said, "Take Prince Adam to one of the guest rooms beside Adora's room." The robots came inside, grabbed him under his arms, and started dragging him out of the room.

"Hey, that could hurt him!" Adora cried as she tried to follow, but Hordak stood in front of her.

"He'll be fine," he replied. He then grinned and laughed at her sadistically. "I just wanted to take this opportunity to remind you that you agreed to do anything I asked if I let your brother go. I expect you to keep your promise."

"You haven't let him go, yet," she countered. "You knew when we made that agreement that I expected him to actually leave the Fright Zone."

Hordak raised a brow and asked, "Oh, so you want me to toss him out of the Fright Zone? With pleasure!" He walked over to a control panel in the nearby wall and pushed a button. "Guards," he said happily, "never mind the previous order. Take Prince Adam outside and throw him into the nearest ditch. Let him find his own way to the Whispering Woods, hahaha!"

"NO!" Adora cried. "No, Hordak, please you can't do that!"

Hordak smiled and questioned, "So, you want him to stay?"

She nodded reluctantly. "Yes, I want him to stay."

He grinned. "Good, good." He turned back to the wall and said, "Disregard the last order, men. Take him to the guestroom."

He walked back to Adora and said, "You made a promise to me. Do not betray that trust by contacting She-Ra and getting her to break you out."

Hordak turned around and started to walk away. He tossed over his shoulder, "I would hate for Adam to stay this way for the rest of his life." After a pause, he added, "I believe you still remember the way to your room. Adam will be next door. Good night."

Adora left and quickly made her way to Adam's room. She had an idea that would hopefully make Adam feel better right away. She would simply turn into She-Ra and try to heal him with the Sword of Protection. Then, her brother could leave, but she knew what the hard part would be: Adam wouldn't want to leave without her, but she made a promise to do something for Hordak, anything that he asked. She was a woman of her word and Adam would have to accept that. Hopefully, he would understand…

=)=)=)

Teela walked the corridors of the palace angrily. Last night, she had waited for Adam in the gymnasium for nearly thirty minutes. She had been looking forward to sparring with him and teaching him that she could still rough house with any man, but unfortunately, she was never given the opportunity. He had never shown up. And, worse, when she went to his bedchambers to chastise him again, he wasn't there. After waiting in his room for nearly an hour, she left and decided to go to bed. She knew he was probably hiding somewhere until morning. "The nerve of him," she muttered to herself angrily.

At that moment, she turned onto the next corridor and made her way to the kitchen. She had skipped breakfast that morning and went for a walk in the Evergreen Forest, because she was so angry with Adam that she hadn't wanted to face him, but now she was hungry. Just as she reached the kitchen door, she noticed several of her guards running toward her.

"Captain Teela!" they yelled simultaneously. They were nearly out of breath, so she knew they had probably been searching for her for a long time. She then remembered that she had turned off her comlink that morning so Adam wouldn't be able to reach her. Unfortunately, she now realized she had cut everyone else off from her, as well.

When they reached her, she asked worriedly, "What's wrong?"

The cadet in the group caught his breath quicker since he was the youngest and answered, "The king is looking for you. We were all worried that you were missing, too."

"Missing, too? What in the world are you talking about?"

"Prince Adam," the cadet clarified. "He's missing. The entire palace has been searching for the both of you all morning!"

A large knot had tied itself in her throat, but she calmed herself down. She knew Adam ran off all the time, so there was nothing to worry about. He would show up at some point claiming that he was off having fun with Cringer. She had almost cemented that thought into her mind when she saw a flash of green and yellow farther down the hall.

Cringer saw them and ran to her side. "Did you find Adam?"

That's when she finally gasped. If Cringer didn't know where Adam was, this really could be bad. She turned back to her soldiers and asked, "Where is the king?"

"In your father's workshop," they stated together once more.

Without waiting, she immediately ran down the hall. When she walked into Man-at-Arms' workshop, she was greeted by a sight that made her cry out in alarm. Her father had sprinkled a few cameras throughout the palace recently to improve their security. Several cameras had been placed on the Royal Hall, so obviously, her father felt the need to look at the footage to see what had happened to Adam, if anything at all. On the screen, they got their answer:

Adam had opened his bedchamber door to several men she didn't recognize and one of them had shot the prince with a freeze ray. "Oh, Ancients," she said disbelievingly, and once again, she found herself crying out in alarm when the men suddenly turned and they saw the emblem of the Horde on their chests as they dragged Adam out of his chambers.

=)=)=)

I know once again this isn't too long, but I hope you enjoyed anyway. Since it's Christmas Break, I'm hoping to be able to write a lot more. We'll see!