Chapter 13

The next day, sparkles had seen to it that Adora got a new room in the castle, no longer a prison or a holding cell but a proper room. It was the most elaborate thing she had ever seen. It was a giant room painted in pinks and purples and blues.

The ceiling was painted with stars and moons, there was a mini waterfall with water lilies floating casually in the pool below. There was a white porcelain bathtub on golden feet near a giant floor to ceiling window overlooking the Whispering Woods. A built-in wardrobe which was big enough to fit the clothes of the entire Fright Zone. The bed was massive, it was big and round and puffy, hundreds of fluffy cushions strewn over the bed. The bed sheets a hot pink with the pillows a baby blue colour.

It was massively uncomfortable, it was too cushioned, too soft for Adora. She was raised to sleep on a thin mattress on the floor with nothing but a little blanket to keep out the cold. She was up all night, tossing and turning, both unable to rest in the unfamiliar gentleness of the bed but also running through everything Teela Na and Light Hope said in the Crystal Castle. Their words played on repeat, none stop and each time she thought of them, the more her heart hurt.

The whispers from the sword finally stopped, all was quiet. The visions also seemed to have ceased. Entrapta was right, healing the word stopped all that nonsense.

When the other princesses finally returned, they called a meeting in the war room. Adora was going to sit it out, she was in the midst of figuring out how a bath worked as they don't have those in the Fright Zone. They have showers but not a bath. Unfortunately, the geek princess had barged into her room, wrapped her hair around Adora's wrist and dragged her to the meeting.

The war room was like every other room. Pink and covered in murals showing depictions of the various princesses and the Queen. All of which were in attendance, sitting around a large circular table that had the map of the entirety of the land. Little holograms of the Horde symbol appeared over territory controlled by them, a crown above territory controlled by princesses, which really wasn't much. Also in the room was Bow, the only one without magic powers but he did have some technology and his arrows. Currently, he was more useful to the rebellion than sparkles.

Adora was given a seat next to Entrapta, the other princesses couldn't stop staring at her. It got to a point where she was convinced she had something on her face. It almost felt like they were waiting for her to do something.

"Princess Perfuma, please give a detailed report," Queen Angella asked. Perfuma told her of everything that had happened in Theymor. The town was destroyed but the Horde was pushed back thankfully, the survivors are being treated in Bright Moon for injuries. Perfuma detailed how some had perished, how some suffered and the pain the families are in. It disgusted Adora, mainly because Shadow Weaver had lied to her about the Horde work. She had manipulated her into thinking they were doing good, and she was naïve enough to believe it.

"We need to be ready for the next attack," Glimmer said, face contorted in sheer rage.

"Without knowing when they'll attack next and where, it's impossible to do so," Angella had said. "We should concentrate on protecting Bright Moon, if we fall then all of Etheria falls."

Adora looked between them all, then to the table where she studied the lands taken and the lands still held by the princesses. "Have all of your Kingdoms fallen except for Bright Moon?" she asked, grabbing their attention by the collar.

"Nearly," Frosta said, arms crossed over a dress of white fur and blue snowflakes stitching. "The Kingdom of Snows still stands, as well as Selineas. There are two major Kingdoms here in Etheria, Bright Moon and Selineas. If someone controls Selineas, they control the seas. If someone controls Bright Moon, they control the entire land. We're working on keeping those two protected at all costs but we're spread thin, so everything in between, islands and towns are being raided. The Horde attacks somewhere new every day."

Adora didn't know much about plans and strategies, but from studying Catra, she had somewhat of an idea. "Would it not be beneficial to take back the Kingdoms that have fallen? To reclaim old land and islands?"

"Possibly," Scorpia said. "Although we are already spread thin so we can't spare anymore troops. We're all that Etheria has." She gestured to the people in the room. "We can't leave to go take back anything, otherwise we have no backup to send when somewhere new is being attacked."

"We don't need to take back anything," Angella said. "We need to kill Hordak. When he dies, his empire will fall with him, so we won't need to waste the energy on raids."

Adora frowned. "Your majesty, if I may be so bold, you say that as if killing Hordak is an easy thing to do." Angella brow pinches, her lips pursed. She allowed her to continue. "The more land he takes the more powerful he becomes, the more land he has the harder he will be to get to. The more soldiers we have to fight to get to him. If we take back land, we'll weaken his forces, perhaps even lure him out from his sanctum or leave him unprotected. Trust me, I know the Fright Zone, you will not even be able to step through the front door with the amount of troops he has. The more land he takes, the more troops he recruits. Be it willing or forcibly." Bow raised an eyebrow, nodding slowly, lost in his own thoughts. "I mean, it's not even just soldiers you'll be fighting, you're up against three Force Captains plus his second in command, Shadow Weaver."

"Ohhh, Shadow Weaver," Glimmer said, mockingly pretending it's scary. "What do they do? Weave shadows?" she chuckled at her own joke, no one else was laughing.

"She's a powerful sorceress with command over shadows. She's a manipulative, judgemental and cruel woman, she likes to get into your head and play with your fears," Adora said. The princesses shared a glance.

"Wow, you know her pretty well, huh?" Bow asked.

"She raised me."

Entrapta looked down at her scars, the ones over her hand. "Did she do this to you?" she asked, her hair pointing to the scars.

"She's right," Scorpia interrupted thankfully, Adora didn't want to answer Entrapta's question. "I knew Shadow Weaver for a time, she's bad news."

"And what would you have me do, then?" Angella asked, bringing the topic back on track as they had deviated greatly. "We have no troops, just the princesses. I can't risk their lives."

"So we're taking advice from this Horde Soldier now?" Mermista asked, having been silent for most of the meeting. "She was a prisoner not twenty four hours ago."

"I already told you, Mermista, she's She-Ra and she's on our side," Glimmer said. "I told everyone this morning about what happened the other night."

Mermista scoffed. "Yes, you told us she had a destiny forced upon her, but that doesn't mean she's willing to help us. For all we know, she could pull us into a trap set by the Horde. Horde soldiers can't be trusted, they never change, they'll always be evil, heartless monsters." She glared so hard at Adora she could feel the burn of her searing rage.

Silence befell the room, Scorpia's face was crestfallen. "I'm from the Horde," she had said sadly. "I've changed. Why can't she? You've not even given her a chance to change."

"You were with the Horde?" Adora asked, intrigued by her.

Scorpia nodded. "The Fright Zone is where my Kingdom used to be, it was once called Skaleria. Hordak had shown up and my grandfather gave him the kingdom, as well as the runestone." She looked away. "He told me to the Horde, I was dragged away from my home and forced to be a soldier. They made me Force Captain but I left. I couldn't stand being there anymore, under the malicious Shadow Weaver, and serving a guy who killed my family, my kingdom and was using me to do the same thing to other kingdoms. I wasn't going to stand for it, so I joined the rebellion."

Adora released a breath. "I am sorry for what the Horde has done thus far."

"Don't be." She looked Scorpia in her blackened eyes. "Don't apologise for someone else's actions, or for things they forced you to do. I was forced to hurt so many people, I won't be used like that again."

"The first battle I had ever been in was Elberon," Adora said. "And, I had no control over my own body. With the virus, I was at the mercy of the Force Captains. All of my actions were not my own. If I had hurt someone, then I'm sorry. Truly." She turned to Mermista, to look into her sea blue eyes. "As of last night, my life has been pledged to the rebellion. As She-Ra, it is my sacred duty to defend Etheria and that is what I will do. I ask that you give me a chance to prove I can be of use to you. I've seen the horrors the Horde caused, I wish to stop it."

"Are you fighting with your heart because you want to help the innocent or are you fighting because you were told to? Because it's your destiny?" Mermista asked.

Adora held her gaze when she said, "both." She turned back to the table and stood up, examining the map for the millionth time. "I suggest we start taking land back, but what land would deal a heavy blow to the Horde? What land would help us?"

"Good question," Entrapta said, her hair scratching her chin. "If I had my land back, Dryl, I could use my lab to forge weapons for us. All of my tools and equipment are there. We'd also get the high ground advantage because my kingdom is basically the entire mountain scape. The only problem is, the Horde currently have that advantage." Adora looked at Dryl, and at the Horde symbol above it.

"Not for long they won't," Adora said.

"Are you mad, Adora? We don't have the spare people to do that!" Glimmer said, brow pinched in just like her mother.

"We don't need large numbers," Adora said. "I've studied the murals on your walls, She-Ra is said to have immense power. Allow me to take Dryl back." The princesses stared at her.

"Do you know how to use She-Ra's power?" Angella asked me. Although her face held all seriousness, her eyes were hopeful.

"No," she replied. "But I'm a fast learner."

"You can't go alone, it's risky. Take a small team with you and at the first sign it's failing, you'll get out of there immediately," the Queen said. "Here's your chance to prove yourself, Adora."

"I'll go with her!" Glimmer said, hand shooting up as if to say 'pick me'. "Bow comes with me everywhere so he's coming too."

"An archer would be good to have, especially if they've got the high ground. We can shoot them down," Adora said. She looked around the table. "Does anyone else want to come?"

The princesses looked at each other again, as if silently having a conversation that excluded Adora. "I'm needed here, if Bright Moon is under attack, I'm needed to shield the runestone and the castle," Frosta said. She was one of the more powerful princesses, it didn't make sense to pull all the powerful ones away. Scorpia was also quite the princess so she'll be staying. Mermista hated Adora's guts and wanted nothing to do with her.

"I'm not much use on a battlefield, I can make the weapons but I can't use any of them," Entrapta said. "However, I will tell you that the palace is a maze, I use the air vents to get around."

"Noted," Adora said. "It's your kingdom, Entrapta, do you not want to fight for it? You're stronger than you think you are, no magic needed." The geek princess smiled at her.

"Well... I suppose I could. I would like to go back home. Actually, I have a project in my old lab. If you help me get into there then I can activate it and it should help us win!" she said excitedly. "Assuming it doesn't blow us all off the face of the mountain."

Adora said, "Then we fight for the Kingdom of Dryl. We'll take it back, I promise."