The king's footsteps echoed down the hall as he stomped away from the throne room, and Prince Adam couldn't help but close his eyes as he imagined how his father was feeling at that very moment. He knew a degree of betrayal was floating around amongst the feelings of despair, anger, and disbelief. He had felt the same way earlier, and if he were honest with himself, he still felt that way, and he didn't know who to blame.

The Sorceress would be an easy target. She was the one who wouldn't allow them to tell his father the truth. But if what she said was true, the king wouldn't be able to handle it right now, and she had never lied to him before, so why would she start now? Of course, he could also blame his mother. He thought he had put her involvement in all of this chaos behind him, but as he struggled to make sense of everything and find where the root of the problem lay, he kept going back to the fact that his father would still be blissfully ignorant of the things taking place around him if she hadn't pointed it out to him. But he didn't want to be mad at her—he understood her actions, even if he didn't agree with them. And, that only left one person for him to be angry at: himself. He knew long ago when he had first received the Power Sword that keeping his identity a secret would not be an easy task. He knew long ago that he would have to separate himself from He-Man, but he couldn't help but wonder now if he had gone about it the wrong way. He knew he had made things harder on himself by choosing to be the laughing stock of the kingdom. He had known it would disappoint his father, but truthfully, he hadn't realized how long the façade would last. He had foolishly believed Skeletor would be defeated quickly and had not anticipated his ruse to last for years. Because of that error in judgment, they were here.

Adam sighed as he looked to his mother and whispered, "A fine mess I've made of things."

"You didn't do this, Adam," she whispered back.

"Didn't I?" he questioned, miserably. "Mother, I'm the cause of all of this. No matter how you spin it, it was my decisions—past and present—which have brought us here. You cannot deny that."

Before the queen could reply, Man-at-Arms stepped forward and replied, "But you didn't do this alone. We have all contributed to the situation. I should have made you come up with a better cover story. I saw the flaws in your plan, but I said nothing. I thought we could handle the problems has they arose, and now, I find that it's nearly impossible. I did that, my prince. Not you."

Adam started to dispute Duncan's claim when Marlena added, "And, you know my hand in all of this. If it wasn't for me, your father would still be oblivious to everything. I should have helped you maintain your secret instead of forcing your hand. I caused this."

Adam shook his head. "If I hadn't been so hot-tempered recently…"

Man-at-Arms interrupted, "If you hadn't been, I'm afraid we would be dealing with a worse situation. Keeping your emotions bottled up isn't good and it certainly wouldn't have helped."

Adam turned to face the door his father had left open while leaving and whispered, "But it didn't do us any good either." All Adam knew was that he needed to fix this and fix it now before his family was torn apart. No matter what the consequences were, he had to get things back to the way they were. It would be difficult, but it could be done. He refused to believe differently.

=)=)=)

King Randor stood in the RoyalMuseum and stared up at the Rainbow Explorer. The Ancients truly blessed the day the vessel had crashed onto Eternia. It gave him a wife strong enough to stand by his side through all the hard times and two wonderful children. He only wished he had recognized his less than stellar performance as a father before now. The Sorceress said he would know what was going on with his children when he deserved to know. He had been angry at the time, but now that he was alone, he realized that the Sorceress was right—he didn't deserve to know.

He thought about the last couple of days alone. He had been wretched to Adam. He called the boy a liar more than once, accused him of vile acts, had driven him from the planet to seek refuge with his sister, and had even restrained him from helping someone in need. At least Castle Grayskull hadn't fallen into the hands of Skeletor. If that had occurred, he knew Adam would never have forgiven him. That was one thing he could thank the Ancients for this day.

The king sighed as he then mulled over his treatment of Adam over the last several years. It was more of the same: he ridiculed his son in front of Man-at-Arms and Teela constantly, told everyone he wished Adam was more of a prince, and had once even told Adam not to "behave like a clown" when he had been entertaining a couple of ladies from court in his spare time…those were just a few incidents of hundreds.

Yes, it was obvious what the Sorceress meant. He didn't deserve to know what was going on in Adam's life, because all he had contributed to it as of late was ridicule, reprimands, and indifference. The latter had changed only over the course of the last few days. That surely wasn't enough to even begin to ask for forgiveness from his son.

Randor stared up at the Rainbow Explorer one more time and knew what he had to do. There wasn't anything he could do about the past, but he could affect the future, and he would, starting tonight.

=)=)=)

Adam's stomach growled as he walked to his sister's bedroom an hour later and knocked on the door softly. He and his sister would be attending dinner soon, and they had already decided they were going to try to get things back to the status quo. He was going to act like his usual irresponsible and happy-go-lucky self, and Adora was going to act like everything was perfectly fine. Hopefully, it would inspire the others to follow suit. It was as good a plan as any, and he realized he might as well start now to get his mask back into place.

"Come in," he heard Adora call.

Adam opened the door to see his sister step out of the lavatory in a red flowing dress which was similar to the green one their mother always wore, except Adora's had a thick golden belt fastened around her waist instead of her hips.

"What do you think?" she asked, twirling around in the dress in a childlike manner. Obviously, his sister wanted to practice before their big performance, as well.

Adam laughed as he reached out to grab onto his sister's shoulders, so she wouldn't crash into him. "Very nice," he answered. "What's the occasion?"

Adora shrugged. "I figured I'd dress nicely for dinner. I noticed Mother and Father have this room filled with clothes for me and I've never worn any of them, not even once."

"I wouldn't let that bother you. If you haven't noticed, we do have our customary garbs around here," said Adam with a smile; "Mother always wears her green dress, Father always wears his blue and red robes, and I always wear this. I'm sure they haven't given your wardrobe a second thought. My closet is filled with different ensembles too, but the only time I bother with them is when we're having a ball or some other frivolous social event."

"And, I bet the maids just love that everyone does that, washing the same clothes every single day!" she replied with a grin of her own.

Adam's smile grew mischievously. "Nope, we have more than one pair," he whispered conspiratorially.

Adora busted out laughing at the look her brother had given her. He wiggled his eyebrows at her and held his finger over his mouth like he had shared a secret that could not be uttered again.

"Well, I suppose I need to get more of my regular outfit custom made," she said. "I do happen to wash mine every night on Etheria."

Adam wrapped his arm around his sister's waist as he led her out of her bedchambers. "Ah, the plights of a poor princess living in the woods. No multitude of fashionable clothes to woo the common suitor."

Adora's jaw dropped and she screeched, "Adam!"

Her brother laughed and skipped ahead before she could slap him lightly. He turned around and walked backwards so he could make sure she wouldn't sneak up on him.

Immediately killing the mood, Adora dropped the act for a few moments and asked, "Adam, do you honestly think this is going to work?"

Her brother quickly came to a stop. He knew his sister was referring to their plan. No longer smiling, he replied, "I just want to make a special effort for everyone to get along tonight. I don't know if Father is going to show up after everything that's happened, but…I want the atmosphere light. I don't think I could bear a silent dinner because no one knew how to address one another."

"So, we're going to go in there like nothing's wrong and just lie about everything," stated Adora, stopping in front of her brother. She wasn't sure if this was a good plan or not. As Man-at-Arms had stated earlier, it wasn't good for her brother to keep his emotions buried like they were now attempting to do.

"No, that's not my plan," insisted Adam; "I am genuinely pleased that my sister is home and you know that I do love to give her a hard time. I have lots of time to make up for, so I choose to focus on that right now instead of everything else that has taken precedence around here lately."

Adora shrugged, deciding to give in to her brother's wishes. It wasn't too hard, anyway. She smiled and replied, "Well, if that's what you want, then I suppose you won't mind if I dish out a little payback!"

"Payback for what?" asked Adam, widening his eyes in mock fear.

"Oh, I don't know…that wise crack earlier about my wardrobe for starters!" Suddenly, Adora sprinted at her brother, and Adam immediately gasped and took off running down the hall.

He was almost to the dinner hall when he turned around to see how close Adora was to him when he heard his sister yell, "Adam!"

Before Adora could even finish yelling her brother's name, Adam and their father had collided and were falling to the floor. The king had obviously stepped out of the dinner hall into the corridor because he had heard the commotion they were causing and came to investigate.

=)=)=)

King Randor landed on his butt and grimaced as Adam fell on top of him. "Surely, son," he said as he tried to catch his breath, "we can stop making a habit out of greeting the floor every time we see one another! I don't think my body can take much more."

Adam immediately sprung to his feet and offered his father his hand to pull him back to his feet. Once this was done, Adam stammered, "Uh, ah, yeah, umm…"

Knowing this reaction from times past, Randor lifted his hands and replied calmly, "No need for explanations. I'm sure you and your sister were having a good time and I happened to get in the way. That's all."

To say that Adam was shocked was an understatement. All he could now mutter was a soft "yeah" as he watched his father smile at him as he walked back into the dinner hall.

"What's wrong?" asked Adora once they were alone.

"Usually when things like this happen, Father gets onto me for being so clumsy or behaving like a court jester. He surely doesn't offer excuses for me like he just did," he explained.

Adora stood beside her brother and replied, "So this was a good thing? You did something 'wrong' and he didn't blow up."

Adam shrugged and said, "I guess. Well, let's get in there and see how the rest of the night goes."

=)=)=)

A cackling laugh resounded through SnakeMountain as Skeletor stared at his warriors around the council table.

"We've done it, Skeletor!" exclaimed Evil-Lyn enthusiastically. "Our plan worked! He-Man didn't show up for battle today—we have beaten him!"

Skeletor immediately stood up from his seat and took his Havoc Staff in hand. "You mean, *my* plan worked," he corrected hostilely.

Beastman smiled and said, "Argh, so what are we waiting for? Let's go back to Castle Grayskull and actually try to take it over this time!"

Beastman immediately yelled out in pain as Skeletor popped him with a small energy blast.

"Not yet, fur-face! We still have that muscle-headed She-Man to deal with," replied Skeletor.

"Uh, so what's the plan?" asked Beastman as he rubbed his arm gingerly. After all these years of getting stunned by Skeletor, he still hadn't gotten used to the sensation.

Skeletor rubbed his chin with his fingers lightly as he thought about the possibilities. Several had been forming in his mind for months, but he knew he needed to choose wisely. It had to be something that would bring She-Ra out into the open and big enough to entice He-Man to come out, as well. He wasn't going to leave He-Man out of the equation until he knew for certain that the muscle-bound buffoon was out of the picture for good.

"What would bring out both He-Man and She-Ra?" he asked himself softly.

Beastman looked over at Trap Jaw who shrugged as they watched their master contemplate their current dilemma.

"That's it!" Skeletor suddenly cried. "The answer is so obvious!" He started laughing menacingly.

"What is it, Skeletor? Don't leave us guessing!" snapped Evil-Lyn.

Skeletor continued to laugh as he sat back down and eventually replied, "Instead of another attack on Castle Grayskull, let's try a new tactic with say…Prince Adam."

Beastman and Trap Jaw snapped their heads up in shock. "Uh, why would Prince Adam help us?" asked Beastman. Again, he was hit with another energy bolt that made him cry out in pain.

"What I mean, dolt, is that we capture Prince Adam! Taking a member of the Royal Family has never failed to catch He-Man's attention. I'm sure She-Ra will be no different since she is now helping him."

"Okay, so we capture Prince Adam," repeated Evil-Lyn. "But then what?"

"A stupid question," answered Skeletor; "In a combined effort, we will all attack He-Man and She-Ra when they come to rescue to the prince." Skeletor rose from his seat excitedly. Sometimes his evil genius amazed even him. "Quickly, gather everyone you can find: Mer-Man, Tri-Klops, Whiplash, Clawful, Kobra Khan, Jitsu, Webstor, Two-Bad, Stinkor, Spikor, and Ninjor at the very least. He-Man and She-Ra will not expect to see all of us guarding the prince!"

As everyone else stood from the table, Beastman couldn't resist one last question: "Uh, but how are we going to get the prince?"

Skeletor refrained from shooting him this time. After all, he had to hurry to prepare the accommodations for their guest, so he merely replied while walking away, "Why, we're going to walk right into the palace and take him!"

Skeletor's laugh was heard throughout SnakeMountain again, but soon laughter from the others joined in, as well.

=)=)=)

Adam sat at the dinner table and smiled as his Father relayed to Adora one of his more embarrassing childhood moments:

"So, there was Adam, dashing around the courtyard naked!" exclaimed Randor with a laugh. "Your mother was mortified!"

Adora laughed heartily and said cheerfully, "Oh, Adam! It sounds like you were such a handful!"

Adam rolled his eyes playfully and reminded everyone, "Well, you do realize I was five! I barely remember the incident, and I bet the only reason I do is because Father eventually caught me and turned me upside down while he gave his final speech to the banquet!"

Adora gasped, "You did?"

Randor grinned and nodded fondly as he thought back to the past, "Yes, I did."

Marlena glared at her husband and added, "And, to this day, I think your father did it more to rattle me than to play with Adam! He knew I was still uncomfortable around all those diplomats and he had made a habit out of teasing me."

When both twins looked at Randor, he shook his head and replied with a smile, "I don't know what she's talking about!"

At that moment, the kitchen staff came out with a cart of desserts which was rolled to the king. "I thought you might like a selection this afternoon, Your Excellency," said Chef Alan as his help cleared the table to make room for the next course.

"It looks wonderful," replied Marlena. "Which do you want, Adora?"

As the kitchen staff cleared out of the room and everyone claimed their dessert, Randor cleared his throat to gather everyone's attention and stood. Everyone grew quiet, because they knew the king was about to say something he considered important.

=)=)=)

King Randor smiled reassuringly at his family. He knew his actions had put them a little on edge, but he knew he had to say this or it would drive him crazy otherwise. "I know we have had a wonderful dinner, and I don't doubt that plenty of effort went into that from everyone present."

Adam frowned as he heard his father's words. He had hoped they could avoid mentioning everything that had happened since the evening was going so well. Leave it to his father to make that impossible.

"I just want everyone to know—especially you, Adam—that I won't pressure you into telling me what was on your mind earlier. I have come to realize that the Sorceress is right. I have to deserve the right to hear what you have to say. My only hope is that I can amend all the wrongs I have done sooner rather than later."

Despite Adam's misgivings about having this discussion, he couldn't allow his father to continue this line of talk. "I don't think she's right," he whispered loudly enough for everyone to hear. "You do deserve to know, but I can't say anything, because…" He trailed off. Should he even rehash why he couldn't again? They knew why.

Instead of replying, Randor walked away from his seat, went to Adam's side of the table, and sat beside him in an empty seat. "Truthfully, I'm glad the Sorceress stopped you," he admitted.

"What?" gasped Adora, Adam, and Marlena.

Randor nodded with a small smile. "I know. Who would have thought I would say that?"

As Adora and Adam stared at each other disbelievingly, Randor continued, "I realize now that it would have had a harsher effect on our relationship than we realized earlier."

Adam looked back at his father questioningly. "How so?"

Randor shrugged. "It's simple, really. You were telling me this secret, because you thought it would solve our recent problems, correct?"

Adam nodded.

Randor smiled and continued, "You see, that's the problem. If you had told me your secret, I fear you would have come to resent me."

Adam wrinkled his face as he tried to understand his father's logic, but he wasn't following.

"Adam, knowing your secret might have temporarily solved our problems, but I think eventually you would have come to realize that my treatment of you for the last several years was still inexcusable regardless of whatever your secret might be. The fact is that I've treated you poorly for multiple reasons. Not all are related to your secret, I'm sure. You know this to be true." Randor turned his chair to face Adam completely. "I know saying 'I'm sorry' is not enough to fix everything that has gone wrong between you and me, but I want you to know that I am going to be more reasonable. I'm going to listen and be more objective. I want to be the father that I used to be when you were a boy, and I'm sorry that I somehow let that part of myself slip away. I will get him back…I will get you back."

Adam felt tears rush to his eyes at his father's words. He could tell the king sincerely meant them, even though Adam didn't agree with his father's assessment of himself being a horrible father. Regardless, for the first time in a long time, he finally felt like everything just might turn out all right.

=)=)=)

Teela patrolled the halls as she thought about the day's revelations. Adam had a secret, a secret that required him to hide who he truly was. Even without knowing the secret, just knowing that he had one that made him act the way he did answered almost every question she ever had.

For several years, Teela wondered what had happened to Adam. When he was younger and well into his teenage years, Adam had been the ideal prince: his nose had been stuck in numerous books about law and legislation, he had taken an interest in all the kingdom affairs, and he had even taken the time to train with her and the guard when he had a spare moment. It was only after he turned eighteen that all of that changed, and she never knew why or saw a reason for it.

Now, she knew, even though she couldn't see it, there was a reason, and if all of this chaos was any indication, it was a big one.

Teela thought about all the negative words she had said about and to Adam over the years. She felt horrible, and she knew the king had to be feeling the same way! She had been just as cruel as his father, sometimes crueler! "Oh, Adam, I'm so sorry!" she thought to herself as she made the last turn on her assigned patrol area.

Seeing that nothing was amiss, Teela yawned and said aloud, "Everything is fine. I'm going to bed."

As Teela turned around to head to her bedchambers, she heard a slithery voice say, "Too bad you didn't go earlier, ssssss!" Before Teela knew what was happening, the room was filled with tawny gases that made her fall to the ground in a deep sleep.

=)=)=)

Adam stretched as he stepped out of his closet into the main part of his bedroom and smiled as he saw Cringer curled up on his bed. "You know better than that," he said as he crossed the room to pick up the Power Sword which was resting beside the great tiger.

"I—I know better than what?" repeated Cringer tiredly.

Adam shook a finger at the feline and replied, "You know perfectly well what." He paused in his lecture to place his sword in the compartment behind the bookshelf. When he turned back to his pet, he continued, "I get the bed; you get the floor."

"Oh, c-come on, Adam! The floor is cold tonight and it's scary outside!" complained Cringer.

Adam sighed, and Cringer snuggled into the covers. He knew Adam would give in. He always did when he gave that argument.

Cringer purred contentedly as Adam settled into the bed beside him. "Good night, Cringer," said Adam softly.

"Good night, Adam."

Just as the prince turned off his lamp and he had settled down for the night, the palace's alarms went off. "What on Eternia?" cried Adam as he turned back on the lights and ran to open the door. Numerous guards were running down the corridor towards the main hall. "What's going on?" he called out.

One of the guards replied, "Someone has broken into the palace and triggered the throne room alarm!"

Adam quickly slipped back into his room, looked at the bed, and said, "Come on, Cringer, we have work to do."

"C-can't I keep your bed warm?" grumbled Cringer as Adam went back into his closet to change his clothes.

=)=)=)

Skeletor and Kobra Khan walked quickly down the corridor which led to Prince Adam's bedchamber. Beastman and Trap Jaw were currently in the throne room causing a distraction, so they could make an easy getaway with the prince.

They stood outside the door and Skeletor whispered, "The coward will undoubtedly be trembling under the bedsheets. Go in there and use your sleep gas on the fool. I will stand watch here."

"Yessssss, Sssskeletor."

Kobra Khan walked cautiously into the bedroom and saw the outline of a trembling figure on the bed. Just as Skeletor had suspected, he was hiding under a pile of blankets. He crept over to the bed and quickly snatched the covers away from the figure. Before Kobra Khan could use his sleep gas, the tiger sprang out of bed and landed across the room. "ADAM!" yelled Cringer.

Dressed and alarmed to hear Cringer's scream, Adam raced back into the room. "Hey, why don't you pick on someone your own size!" called Adam when he saw that Kobra Khan was in his room and had Cringer cornered.

The snakeman immediately turned to Adam and replied, "Withhhhhh a-pleassssurrrre." He ran towards Adam, but the prince was ready for him and used the reptile's momentum to his advantage. He flipped the villain and threw him across the room just as Teela had shown him many times.

"Adam!" cried Cringer. "Let's get outta here!"

"Not without my sword!" said Adam as he ran to the bookcase, but before he could even touch the book which would reveal the Power Sword to him, Skeletor walked into the room and blasted the prince with an energy bolt from his Havoc Staff.

Cringer immediately ran under Skeletor's feet screaming, "Help! Somebody help!"

"Blast that cat!" cried Skeletor. He quickly ran to the prince, picked him up, and tossed him over his shoulder. "Whiplash, bring the Collector. We're ready to go!" he said into his communicator.

Just as Skeletor was crossing the room, Kobra Khan got up and followed Skeletor into the hall.

"STOP!" they suddenly heard to their right. Man-at-Arms was shooting a freeze-ray at them and they noticed in the distance that She-Ra and that troublesome cat were running toward them.

Skeletor laughed and yelled, "Too late, Man-at-Arms, but you can tell He-Man and She-Ra that if they want to see the prince again, they will hand over Castle Grayskull to me. And as for King Randor, tell him he'll be hearing from me soon!"

An unexpected boom was heard throughout the palace and Skeletor laughed again as he ran towards the sound. The Collector was there, having blasted a sizeable hole into the palace wall and waiting for Skeletor and Kobra Khan to board. As soon as the two entered the craft, Skeletor handed the unconscious Prince Adam to Trap Jaw and Beastman who had already managed to get inside ahead of them. When the doors closed and blocked any further actions from Man-at-Arm's eyes, the craft flew away at a high rate of speed.

"Adam! If only I had Swiftwind," cried She-Ra in dismay as she reached Man-at-Arms and watched the Collector fly off with her brother.

As She-Ra turned around to race to one of the palace's aircrafts on the ground floor, she was stopped by the sight of her father rushing down the hall.

"She-Ra! Man-at-Arms! What happened? Did they get away?" asked Randor.

She-Ra and Man-at-Arms looked at each other before Duncan replied, "Yes, your Majesty, they got away." The soldier placed his hand on the king's shoulder and sorrowfully added, "With Prince Adam."