King Randor walked into the room slowly with Queen Marlena following closely behind. He proceeded to the bed cautiously expecting some kind of outburst from Adam for their latest run-in, but the boy stayed quiet. As a matter of fact, he was a little too interested in the sheets on his bed.

Randor sat on the bed facing Adam and asked, "Are you all right?"

Adam looked up and the king gasped. The prince looked completely and utterly miserable. His entire face was paler than the white walls of the infirmary and his eyes glistened with what he assumed to be unshed tears. Had he caused this? He opened his mouth to talk but only a squeak came out. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Adam, I'm…I'm sorry if I upset you. I never meant to."

"I know that," said Adam, as he averted his eyes and looked back down at the bedspread. He was calmer now after his talk with Adora and not as angry with his father for having doubts or questions about Teela. "I know you did your best to remain civil earlier. You sent Teela to her room without any reprimand and the only time you yelled at me was when I told you Teela and I were not in a relationship. If my son had told me he wasn't in a relationship with the woman I thought he was sleeping with, I might be a little upset, too." He paused, then looked up, and added, "But we're not sleeping together, Father. We aren't even together romantically in any sense."

Now, it was Randor's turn to look down at the bedspread. Neither of them was used to talking about this subject with the other, but they had to now if they were going to get through this. "Then, what did I walk in on?" whispered the king.

The prince shook his head and admitted, "I don't even know."

Randor looked up in shock, and Adam met his stare.

Seeing the question in his father's eyes, Adam continued, "Teela came here to talk—just talk—and you saw how we ended up. I'm not entirely sure how we got there or what it means, if anything."

Randor raised a brow as he heard the uncertainty in his son's voice. He grabbed the prince's hand and asked, "Do you want to it to mean something?"

Adam looked back down at the bed and shook his head.

Randor knew he wasn't answering his question. His son was merely expressing his desire not to discuss this topic. "Adam, I have to know," he insisted as he turned toward Adora briefly. She was looking at Adam with complete sympathy. That pretty much gave him his answer, but he wanted his son to tell him.

"Why?" Adam asked. "Why must you know?"

"Because you're the Prince of Eternia. I have to know so I can be prepared to answer questions from other Royalty and members of the court if they begin to suspect that something serious is going on between Teela and you. Whether you like it or not, Adam, your life—even your love life—is a matter of public record. And, not only that, you're my son. I would like to know what's going on in your life so that I can help you in any way I can." Randor breathed heavily and continued, "I know I haven't been the best of fathers as of late and I know we have a long way to go before our relationship heals, but I wish you would talk to me, son. I don't want you to be afraid to come to me about these things. I want to be there for you. I want to know what's happening in your life. If I can't know the big secret the Sorceress is making you keep, can I at least know about this?"

Tears slipped down Adam's cheeks as he heard his father's heartfelt plea. "I've told you the truth," he whispered as he wiped at his face.

Randor nodded. "Okay, I believe you," he replied honestly. "But I want to know more. You say Teela and you aren't in a relationship. Do you want to be? And, what were you two discussing that resulted in such a heated…moment?"

Adam's cheeks turned red as he looked up at the king. "Yes, I want to be with Teela. I…I've loved her since we were kids," he admitted.

Randor let out a shaky breath and nodded quickly, not saying a word.

Now that the dam had been broken and he had said those words to his father for the first time, Adam wanted to tell him everything: "I believed for so many years that she didn't even notice me. When He-Man showed up, I was so sure she was in love with him that I—I don't know—I didn't know what I was going to do. She's the only woman I have ever seriously imagined myself with, Father, and I hated the thought that she could love him and not me."

The king swallowed roughly. He didn't know why he had never seen Adam's feelings for Teela before. It was so very obvious. Watching him now as he talked about the captain, he noticed his son's eyes had brightened from joy and that he looked around almost as if in a state of bliss. Randor forced himself to smile and said, "And, now, you know there is a possibility that she might return your feelings. What brought that about?"

"Like I said, she wanted to talk to me and out of nowhere, she kissed me."

Marlena sat on the bed in front of Randor and rubbed her son's arm. She smiled happily at him and said, "I had a suspicion for quite some time now that you had feelings for her. And, to tell you the truth, I even suspected that she returned them. I must admit, though, that I never thought she'd sneak into your room at night and…"

Adam shook his head and interrupted his mother before she said anything embarrassing. "She came in here to talk, Mother. She didn't even bring up our relationship in any way. The kiss just happened."

"So, you keep saying," whispered Marlena with an even wider smile than before and a wink.

As for Randor, he sighed and questioned, "Well, I'm curious. What discussion led to kissing?"

Adam immediately looked back down at his bedspread and answered, "She…wanted to talk about recent events. She was...still upset about my fighting Beastman. She, uh, also wanted to make sure I was, um, okay." He shrugged.

Randor watched the prince speak, and while he might have believed Adam's words a week ago, now that he had been paying much more attention to his son recently, he had picked up on the signs which pointed to Adam either lying or leaving information out. "Okay," he said softly, deciding to call him out on it. "And, what are you not saying?"

Immediately, Adam glanced at his father, to his mother, and then back again. "What do you mean?"

Randor pressed his lips together slightly and tried to upturn his lips a little to show that he wasn't angry or upset. Then, he replied, "I can tell there is more that you're not saying. When speaking, you're always confident and eloquent with words, but I've noticed recently that when you're not telling me everything, you start to stutter or struggle to find the appropriate things to say. You just did that. So, again, what are you not saying?"

Adam squeezed his eyes shut momentarily. He was bracing himself for the result of his following words. He knew the king would not like them, but he also thought the king would eventually appreciate that he was being as truthful as he could be. It would be progress in their relationship and in what he chose to share. Taking a deep breath, he said, "I'm sorry, Father, but I can't tell you. That's…going into one of those subjects that I am obligated not to share with you."

Immediately, the King of Eternia rose in disbelief.

"Father?" questioned Adam, astonished to see that the king's face had turned a dark shade of red and that he was shaking slightly.

Randor questioned softly but sharply, "You were discussing one of the subjects that you can't share with me?"

Adam suddenly realized his mistake.

The king continued in barely concealed anger, "Teela knows? Who else knows your secrets? Are Marlena and I the only people who are close to you that don't know?"

Both Adam and Adora looked at their mother instinctively. They couldn't help it when they realized that the answer to their father's question was "no." The truth was only Randor didn't know and they knew that knowledge would devastate him if and when he found out.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, Randor noticed the looks his children gave his wife. He turned to look at her and was surprised to see what he knew was guilt adorning her face. He looked back at his children and noticed the same look. "By the Ancients," he whispered. Tears immediately swelled Randor's eyes and he turned away abruptly.

"Father?" "Randor?" Everyone in the room questioned his actions. They were unaware that he had noticed and interpreted their looks accurately.

Randor's mind screamed at him continuously, "Marlena knows the secret, too! I'm the only one that doesn't know!"

Without looking back at his children or wife, he shook his head in what was a gesture of anger and melancholy all rolled up into one.

"Randor?" questioned Marlena as she laid a hand on his back to comfort him.

The king immediately reacted as if she had scalded him. He jumped away hurriedly and flashed a look of contempt her way before it turned into a look of deep depression—the glare he had turned on her withered away into a dark shadow around his now gloomy eyes, and his posture slumped immediately.

"Randor?" she questioned again and took a step towards him.

The response was instantaneous, and everyone gasped as it happened. Without a word, Randor walked out of the room and slammed the door forcefully.

"What just happened?" asked Marlena in befuddlement as she turned toward her children.

Adam swallowed roughly because he had an idea. "He might have figured it out, Mom."

"Figured what out? That you're He-Man?" she questioned.

He shook his head. "No, that you know my secret."

=)=)=)

The following morning, no one had seen or heard from the King of Eternia. He never returned to Adam's infirmary room and he never showed up in his own bedchambers either. Queen Marlena was very worried, because Randor never ran away from their problems. He never avoided her in all the years she had known him, but it was obvious he was doing so now.

As Marlena emerged from her chambers after getting ready for the day, she was greeted by the sight of Adam coming towards her with Adora and Cringer. He carried a cane in his hand, which was the only way the doctor had agreed to let him out of bed. As the doctor had explained, it was to ensure that the prince had something with him in which he could steady himself if he got too dizzy. So far, it had proven to be unnecessary.

"Have you seen him, yet?" asked Adam as he reached her.

Marlena frowned as she looked down at the floor and shook her head sadly.

Immediately, Adam pulled her into his arms and whispered, "It's okay, Mother. We'll work it out. Father will have to understand that you are under the same restrictions that we are. He can't hold this against you."

Marlena pulled back and said, "If it were only that simple, Adam. I know Randor sees this as a betrayal. We're husband and wife. We're supposed to share everything. And, imagine how he feels. His wife could know, but he couldn't."

"You weren't supposed to know!" cried Adam, almost getting angry at his father for disappearing without giving them a chance to explain. "This isn't anyone's fault! He has to accept that!"

Marlena stepped away from Adam and took a deep breath to compose herself. "Well, let's go the dining room to see if he's there. If not, after breakfast we'll go to the throne room. He'll have to show up eventually. He wouldn't abandon his obligations all day."

=)=)=)

Her life would be changing soon. Teela had no doubt of that as she stepped out of her bedchambers and headed confidently toward the dining room. After breakfast, she would have a meeting with King Randor, and she already knew in the very least that she would be losing her job as Adam's bodyguard. Her father had prepared her for that, but everything else was left to question.

She didn't want to lose her job as Captain of the Royal Guard. She had worked so hard to achieve her position, and it had not been given to her because she was Man-at-Arms' daughter, despite what some courtiers thought. But she knew as much as she loved it and wanted to keep it, she might lose it anyway. She made her decision, and she only hoped it was the right one:

She wanted Adam. She wanted to see where their relationship could go. Yes, it was a risk because she didn't know what he wanted and it might not work out, but the memory of their kisses told her he wanted her, too. At least she hoped it did.

Honestly, she wished she could talk to Adam before her meeting with the king. At least then, she'd know what he wanted to do without guessing.

She sighed as she finally reached the dining room. She was surprised to see that her father was waiting for her. "You waited for me?" she questioned.

"I wasn't about to allow you to walk in there alone," he answered.

Teela instantly wrapped her arms around her father's neck and whispered, "Thank you so much, Father! You always seem to know when I need support."

Man-at-Arms smiled and said, "Of course, I do. I'm your father…as well as your superior." He winked at her and Teela couldn't help but laugh.

"Well, maybe not for long," she replied at the reminder that she could lose her jobs.

Determined for his daughter to not fall into a funk, he smiled and stated, "You're right! You might end up being mine! You couldn't get a higher position than princess and queen if you tried."

Teela's jaw dropped and Man-at-Arms' smile evolved into a huge grin. "I look forward to the day," he whispered.

Teela shoved her father a little and said, "Don't marry me off already, Father! We're not even courting, yet. I don't even know if Adam wants to be with me. He might like someone else. He might regret our kiss. His father might even keep us apart…"

Duncan placed his entire hand over her mouth and said, "Don't worry so much. I have faith that everything will be okay. You just have to believe it."

Teela nodded, and with determined glances and a squeeze of each other's hands, father and daughter walked into the room, but their stride immediately stopped as they got a good look at the room's occupants.

The king was missing and the remaining members of the Royal Family looked miserable.