Author Note: I apologize for having put details to the file above. I used it as a means to organize the story in my "Archives", and was suggested by you guys to remove it as it is just taking up space and is distracting from the story. Without further ado, enjoy.

Chapter One

After the Warehouse battle (S03E21)

The turbulence from the C–130 cargo plane lifting off of the runaway was more than enough to stir the Daughter of the Demon out of her unconscious state. Her ears rang before finally clearing out and became home to the sound of metal clinging and the grinding roar of the turbines outside.

Her eyes flickered open, easily adjusting to the dim lighting of the interior of the aircraft. Peering down to her lap, she found her hands bound with steel hinged handcuffs, clearly modified to compensate for the extra special detainees, like herself.

Not only was she restrained, but stripped of her armour and weaponry as well. She sat in the cargo plane in her only combat undergarments, the same she'd been wearing when she had her final conversation with Laurel in her hideaway. She was amused by the lengths in which the League of Assassins took to ensure that she had no advantage over them.

Another wave of turbulence struck the aircraft and shook Nyssa from her thoughts. Her hands fell to grip the edge of her seat in an effort to keep herself seated and balanced. Clearly the assassins seated across her had the effort to restrain her, but not to strap her in.

She surveyed the gloomy aircraft, spotting each assassin, seated. None sat beside her, given there were only two seats on her side of the cargo plane, and that second seat was beside her. The League of Assassins have grown accustomed to Nyssa's "lone wolf" persona, as well as her aggressive and threatening personality of course. They've learnt to keep their distance, restrained or not.

Nyssa turned her head to look towards the loading ramp of the cargo plane. There was a silhouette of a person standing by the hull, gripping onto a strap attached to the wall. The figure must've been wearing League armour as it blended in well with the darkness.

The figure had to be a male according to build and height, and the silhouette of the bow in his hand and the quiver on his back gave her a slight indication as to who it may be. It was just as likely that it might have been another archer for the League of Assassins, but there was something about this man's stance that says otherwise. The figure turned to face her direction and walked across the cargo hold, emerging from the darkness.

It was then that it all came back to her. Oliver Queen was Wareeth Al Ghul, heir to the demon. The battle at the rooftop. The brawl at the warehouse. Being targeted by her father as she appeared as a rival for the title of Ra's Al Ghul and tasked Oliver Queen, now Al Sah-Him, with bringing her back to Nanda Parbat by any means necessary.

Her assumption was correct of the man. It was Oliver. He had the same stern look plastered upon his face that he had in both the warehouse and on the rooftop. Nyssa pondered if Oliver had actually been erased from his memory. She recalled asking him to his face if he'd even remembered Sara whilst she laid upon the spot where she'd been murdered. There was no response other than that stern look as he glared at her with his blade poised between her eyes.

There was something in his eyes that she hadn't realised on the rooftop and the warehouse, probably due to the fact she was rightfully paying more attention to battle rather than to his eyes. Though she couldn't quite put her finger on it what it was about his eyes that caught hers.

Her thoughts were interrupted as his dark green eyes locked onto hers. The brief eye-contact was broken as he halted his pacing right in front of her. To her surprise, he got down onto his knee and leaned towards her.

Nyssa was dumbfounded by the sudden motion and just stared as his arms as they rose and reached behind her shoulders. There was a soft click before a strap covering both of her shoulders was pulled over her head. With his other arm, he lifted the buckle hanging off the edge of her seat and buckled both pieces together.

"Thank you." she said firmly, her grip on the edge of her seat loosening. All she received was a nod in response. He then rose back to his feet and made his way to the cockpit.

She barely heard him ask the pilots for an ETA, though she couldn't hear the answer through all the ambience the plane was emitting. Oliver returned from the cockpit, and to Nyssa's surprise, he took the seat beside her and strapped himself in.

Nyssa's looked around the cargo area and spotted at least six vacant seats on the other side of the plane, so why take the only other seat on her side, which was next to her. Nor could she understand why she was overthinking the whole action, he was just taking a seat.

They sat in silence for several minutes, Oliver didn't even glance at Nyssa whereas she'd stolen a few towards him. He was staring aimlessly into the walls of the plane, until finally he closed his eyes, likely resting until their arrival.

It was at least a couple more hours until they reached Pakistan she assumed. So she joined Oliver in shutting her eyes and proceeded to rest. There wasn't anything she could do here. All she knew was that she'd lost, and her fate was finally sealed…

They arrived at the airstrip a couple miles out of Nanda Parbat in the dead of the night. The lights from the cargo plane and runaway were the only thing illuminating the night other than the dimly glowing moonlight that shimmered across the mountain range of Hindu Kush. Flying across the ocean to Pakistan from Starling City in the middle of the night was like chasing the sun. The night only grew longer for Nyssa, Oliver and the few other assassins.

Nyssa was guided by a single assassin to the stable just off the landing strip and reintroduced to her ever familiar steed.

The horse in question was a midnight black Arabian horse, not an uncommon horse amongst the League of Assassins, though this stallion was different as it presented a very similar personality to Nyssa. She didn't play well with others and often resorted to her own side of the stable. Nyssa immediately admired the horse for this reason and has been her steed ever since. She had named her-

"Al-Layla…" she said softly, striding across the stable to the dark stallion. Al-Layla was Arabic for "The Night", which was a perfect fit given her midnight black hair. She groomed the soft hair of the steed, the horse responding kindly by pushing against her strokes. She hopped onto the dark, and rather worn, saddle easily despite the binds around her wrists. Though an assassin stood in her way before she could ride out.

"Ra's Al Ghul demands that someone is to ride you to Nanda Parbat rather than you on your own." he said deeply, his face masked under his dark League of Assassins garments. Nyssa wasn't at all surprised by the multitude of precautions her father had taken.

"So with whom shall I ride with?" she asked emphatically.

"With me." replied a deep voice from across the stable. It belonged to none other than Oliver. As if she could take a break from all the tension between them. They'd just had a duel earlier that night, and now she was going to ride with him to Nanda Parbat. Not only that, but riding to her death with the one who would probably slay her before her father.

The ride to Nanda Parbat was indefinitely more silent than the flight, attributable to the lack of a pair of twin propellers. Furthermore, there was a certain peace of riding a horse, the sound of the horse walking on the sand in soft thumps, the steady rocking when riding. She unconsciously placed the underside of her chin on Oliver's shoulder as the absence of her hands prevented her from balancing her well enough as they rode across the side of the imbalanced mountain range.

Nyssa took a deep breath as they finally arrived at the hidden city within the mountain range, a place that she called home, Nanda Parbat, headquarters of the League of Assassins.

As they entered the stables right outside the entrance, Nyssa was grateful that Oliver was gentle with Al-Layla, either that or Al-Layla was gentle towards him. Either way, the ride was more peaceful with it, and with that, where was she to complain?

Oliver descended off of the dark horse and stood by her side, his arms extended in a position to obviously catch her. She knew mounting the horse was easy, but getting off wasn't without it getting hectic. And so she leaned towards him and fell into his arms. He was gentle in catch and lifted her back onto her feet all in one fluid motion, then he gestured her to follow him. It was time to face her father.

Nothing had changed about Nanda Parbat since she'd left a month ago. But it was no Starling City. There was something about living in Starling City that changed her overall. She didn't have to worry about her father, she hadn't even cared about the League of Assassins, she was embracing the freedom from the League itself. She could see why Sara wanted to return to this lifestyle.

From the beautiful, bright city lights, to it's rather ridiculous, yet delicious foods, which are amusingly always fried for some reason native to Americans.

But here she was, back in the somber night of Nanda Parbat, walking to what she expected to be her demise at the hands of someone whom she believed was an acquaintance.

She continued down the hallway, following Oliver throughout the hidden city with two assassins following suit. She recognised the path she was being taken on. He was leading her to the ceremonial room of Nanda Parbat, the same room that housed the Lazarus Pit.

Oliver stopped outside the doorway, hands behind his back, clearly waiting for her entry before his own. Nyssa turned to enter through the large double doors to be greeted by the sight of her father with his back to her.

She was forced into a position before her father whom had his hands on the edge of the pit, his fingers tapping in impatience. Upon hearing their entrance, he turned on his heel, bringing his long overcoat all around with him. When she was forced to stand before him, their eyes locked. Disappointment was all that was evident in his eyes, a disappointment she had never encountered before.

Oliver, or Al Sah-Him, brought himself to stand beside her, his right hand resting on the hilt of his sheathed blade and his figure upright in the usual respecting manner given towards the Demon's Head.

"There are no more threats to my reign." Al Sah-Him stated, glancing at the Daughter of the Demon before returning to her father.

"Your fealty continues to impress me, Al Sah-Him." Ra's Al Ghul replied. "You truly are Wareeth Al Ghul."

He turned to look upon his daughter once more.

"And yet my daughter still does not approve of my choice." Nyssa's chin rose at this statement. "Fortunately, what I require from you is not your approval." the Demon's head continued bluntly.

Turning to Sarab, "Did you search her?"

"It does not appear to be on her person." He responded plainly. Seconds passed in silence as Ra's Al Ghul glared at his daughter, as if scanning her.

"Bring me her weapons." He ordered. Another man dressed in the assassin garb from head to toe strode passed Nyssa, bearing her weapons in both hands. A quiver in his right, loaded with a couple of arrows, and her sheathed blade in his left. Though he knew exactly where he was searching as he grabbed the blade.

"You know as a young child…Nyssa displayed the panache of a thief." he said aloud as he weighed the blade in his hands, removing the sheath and letting it drop to the ground.

"Always stealing extra atayef at her meals and then stowing them way in her quarters." he continued as he turned around, putting his back to them as he inspected the blade.

"She would grow to learn that there is nothing she can hide from me…her exploits of late…" pausing momentarily as he grabbed the blade by the blade and hilt, twisting them in opposite directions until the hilt unlocked and slipped off with ease. Nyssa's head dropped at the sound of her blade unlocking, revealing the object that she'd tried so hard to hide.

"seem to have clouded that memory." he removed the vial from the hilt construct and held the blade, hilt, and vial in his hands. He turned back around and Sarab approached him, retrieving the items before proceeding out of the room.

"I will remember you as the warrior you once were, and not this shell that stands before me." He asserted in mild disgust. To Ra's Al Ghul's little surprise, her face rose and lit up with fearlessness.

"All my life, I've lived in fear of you." she said strongly. "But now, as I stand before you ready to leave this earthy, I want you to know…I am not afraid."

Ra's Al Ghul stood with a combination of mild annoyance and disgust as he accepted her words. He then turned to Al Sah-Him

"Do what needs to be done, my heir." Oliver took a step forward so that he stood before Nyssa. Assassin's emerged behind her, grabbing her by the shoulders and forced her to her knees.

"And take with it the satisfaction that your reign will be unchallenged" Oliver only nodded, with a somewhat resolute demeanour. He drew his sword from its scabbard, raising it in the air before switching his grip so that it was underhand. He looked as if planned to downwards stab her.

Nyssa did not fear dying at the hands of her father. Nor did she think she was afraid of meeting death. But this was a very different scenario. One that she considered only moments earlier outside the city, but not one that she analysed thoroughly enough to prepare herself.

This was Oliver Queen, the Arrow, the Hood, friend of her closest friends, the hero of Starling City. Now bent and twisted to become subservient to Ra's Al Ghul, the leader of the League of Assassins, the demon's head, her father. No matter how much of an enemy Oliver Queen was to her, he was also someone she could almost call a friend. She was genuinely scared as her eyes fixated on the tip of his sword.

It was then that their eyes met once more, and once more she noticed the glimmer in his eyes. It was then that she recognised that faint glimmer in his dark emerald eyes. The same glimmer she saw in her previous encounters with Oliver, when he was Oliver Queen, the Arrow, the vigilante.

He then did something that surprised her. He gave a small, nearly unnoticeable nod. Sending a message that communicated mostly through their eyes. He was gesturing towards his blade. If she was reading him correctly, he wasn't going to strike her, but rather the man that stood behind him.

This man was never controlled by her father. It was an act. A ploy. A charade. He was still Oliver Queen.

She took sharp breath and closed her eyes, expecting Oliver to make his move. But it never happened. The sound of his sleeve being slapped opened her eyes. Her father stopped his arm.

"I can see now, you do not require a culling to solidify your reign." Ra's Al Ghul declared, releasing his grip on Oliver's forearm.

"You have broken your rival, Al Sah-him. Something I was unable to do as an heir." he continued as Oliver returned his sword back to his scabbard, giving a quick glance to Nyssa. Her head dropped in confusion, why didn't he want her dead?

"Spilling her blood now would only serve as gluttony." Ra's said simply. Oliver nodded in response before returning to his position beside Nyssa.

"Now, perhaps…" he took a step forward in front of his daughter "-her blood could be of another purpose." he then motioned her to rise.

She complied, her eyes not tearing from her father's figure. The tension grew in the room as the Demon's head looked upon the two that stood before him.

"As a means to unite our families." Before either two could process what he meant by this, he continued…

"You as husband-" looking towards Oliver. His immediate reaction was to tear his eyes away from Ra's Al Ghul to hide his shocked reaction and maintain his resolute persona.

"and you as wife." Ra's ended. Nyssa's exterior reaction was entirely opposite to that of Oliver's. Her eyes flew open in shock and without hesitation exclaimed…

"I would rather die than become his betrothed." the words flew out of her mouth before she had a chance to think through them. But it didn't faze Ra's Al Ghul at all.

"Well, your wishes were no longer my concern from the moment you betrayed me." he retorted sharply, taking a half-step forward so that his glare of seriousness was more patent.

"So you will marry Al Sah-Him." she knew there was nothing she could do here to escape this. So she stood silently, shocked and vexed, contemplating. But there was nothing, nothing that could be done.

"And you will become bride of the Demon."