This is only my second fanfic, so please be kind. A few readers requested a prequel with an explanation of how Teela had discovered Adam's secret identity immediately before the events of 'The Queen's Gambit.' I'm experimenting here with a different narrative style, third person, past tense. My story has violence and references to adult activities, so readers must be over age 18. I do not own MOTU or any of its characters, and I do not profit from this in any way - it's just for fun. My only original characters iare the groundskeeper at the royal palace and the queen's personal assistant. Please enjoy my story and leave a review when you're done. Thanks!

Prince Adam of Eternia was having yet another rough night. He had just finished dinner with his family and closest friends when his father, King Randor, took him aside to lecture him on duty, making it clear that the prince was widely regarded as an irresponsible, carefree duty-shirker. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. But the crown prince couldn't tell his father that.

Prince Adam's mother, the lovely Queen Marlena, famous for her ginger locks and hazel eyes that blazed with intelligence and understanding, never would have allowed her husband to speak to their son in this way. But she had to excuse herself for other royal duties immediately after supper, leaving father and son alone together. Had she been there, she surely would have placed herself between them, and distracted the king with a flutter of eyelashes, a spicy double entendre, a flash of her graceful leg, the licking of her lips and a wandering hand until the king relented. Nauseating to witness, but highly effective: King Randor would surely have dismissed his allegedly wayward son and locked the door for a completely private audience with the queen.

Adam had seen this play out more times than he could count. But not this time.

The royal lecture lasted a solid two hours before the king ran out of steam, and he ended it dramatically with a demand that Adam choose a wife at the king and queen's twentieth anniversary party the following evening. Fifty eligible debutantes, including the visiting dignitary Princess Janice, the renowned daughter of King Boreas of The North, would all be introduced at the royal ball. Surely one of them would be suitable!

Adam wandered out to the Royal Gardens with his green and gold tiger Cringer at ten o'clock to clear his head. Unfortunately, the gardens only reminded him of many happy years spent playing there with his best friend, his beloved Teela, who was now a successful career military officer at the tender age of nineteen. She didn't know that she was his beloved, and she didn't have any interest in him that way. Worst of all, there was nothing he could do about it. So he and Cringer went back inside to get through some of the paperwork that was piling up on his desk. He paused at the entrance to the military training ground, wondering if an evening workout would settle his nerves, when he spotted someone swiftly progressing through the obstacle course. A woman. Adam assumed it must be Teela, since she held the record for speed on the course, but it was his own mother who leaped deftly over the final section and checked her stopwatch.

"Ha!" she exclaimed to herself in triumph. "A personal best."

A groundskeeper emerged from the shadows. "Well done, milady," he said. And nodding toward Prince Adam, he added, "I believe your audience also appreciated your performance."

Queen Marlena looked at her son in surprise, then rushed up to plant a kiss on his cheek. "Walk me back to our suites, darling," she said as she wrapped both of her lithe arms around one of his thick, muscular biceps. "And do tell me why you are alone and so very serious. In fact, tell me everything." She pressed her lips together in a sly, knowing smile, glancing up at him through those irresistible eyelashes, touched with a hint of gold.

For a moment, Adam really was tempted to break down and tell her everything, But then he had the unsettling feeling that she already knew. So he turned the questions around on her while strolling through the palace halls. "Mother, why did you leave us after dinner? And why are you out here at this hour?"

"Well, you know, my darling," began Marlena in her sweetest, most innocent tone, with her eyes glittering, "I was thinking I'd just slip over to Snake Mountain, load it up with explosives, rappel down to safety and detonate the whole thing. Wouldn't that solve one or two of our problems? So this is just practice, darling."

Adam couldn't help it: his loving mother always knew exactly what to say to make him laugh. What started as a chuckle became a full belly laugh with the final "darling." He had to stop walking and wipe away a few tears.

"I'm crushed that you don't take me seriously, darling," the queen continued with a pout. "I meant every word, as I'm sure your father did when he spoke to you after dinner."

That sobered up the prince. "You knew what he was planning to say? Why didn't you stop him, Mother?"

"Believe me, I tried, Adam," she answered. "I used almost every persuasive method at my disposal, but he still insisted. Don't worry, I'll fix everything tomorrow." She winked at him.

They had arrived at the royal apartments. Marlena stood on her tiptoes to kiss her son good night, whispering in his ear, "Rest well, my love. I know you haven't been sleeping." He pulled back and stared at her in surprise: how would she know that? She concluded, "Go. To. Bed. Now."

But there was that big stack of papers waiting for him in his chamber. On nights like this, it was actually a relief and a welcome distraction to comb through document after document, crossing his t's and dotting his i's.

Just before midnight, Adam was dozing at his desk, having an intense, realistic dream. In the dream, Teela was furious with him, screaming, throwing things, hitting and kicking. She said he was a coward and a liar, that he had betrayed their friendship. But then she was crying hysterically, hugging him and apologizing. That's when the kissing began. And then they started tearing away each other's clothes, petting each other in the most pleasurable way…

And then Adam woke up with a start. He'd been having a lot of dreams like that lately. Each one was more vivid than the previous one. He didn't know what it all meant.

Splashing some cold water on his face, Adam's thoughts were interrupted by a telepathic message. Inside his head, the voice of the Sorceress of Grayskull called out, "Prince Adam, Grayskull is being attacked! I need He-Man here! I can't hold them off much longer - come quickly!"

"On my way, Sorceress," Adam said aloud.

Turning off the lights in his suite, Adam allowed his eyes a few seconds to adjust to the darkness before checking that the coast was clear outside his window. Then he motioned to his tiger Cringer to exit, and followed directly behind - jumping first to a tree branch, then climbing down to ground level. Once outdoors, the pair quickly and silently slipped through the shadows across the palace grounds like thieves, into an old gardener's shack adjacent to the outer curtain of the fortress. There Prince Adam held aloft his sword, crying out, "By the power of Grayskull...I have the power!" Surrounded by dazzling fireworks, his already tall frame grew another six inches taller and two feet wider in solid muscle. He pointed his sword at Cringer, who then transformed into a monstrous, armored beast.

The champion of Grayskull, He-Man, the Master of the Universe, peeked out of the shack as if he were a little boy afraid of getting caught making mischief. But no one noticed. So he mounted his cat, bounded over the palace wall and raced toward Castle Grayskull at supernatural speed.

The scene at Grayskull seemed familiar at first glance: just Skeletor and a few henchmen harassing the Sorceress and the castle with various types of spells and weapons. He-Man threw some rocks at the enemies while his cat charged, roared and intimidated. Just as their back-up arrived - the Masters and the palace guard - the bad guys scattered and teleported away. It was too easy. Way too easy.

"Where'd they go, Sorceress?" He-Man called out into the open air.

The answer entered his mind in a woman's voice that no one else could hear, "I'm tracing them...I hear many voices crying out in pain in the town of Nalim...not far from the Mystic Wall...yes, I sense dark magic...that is where Skeletor has gone - ah! Quickly, He-Man, you must save them! Go!"

He-Man saddled up on Battle-Cat, motioning to the other Masters to follow his lead. As they were bounding forward, a portal appeared in front of them and they all passed through it, trusting in the magic of the Sorceress.

The town was alight with both fire and terror. He-Man's senses had barely adjusted to the scene when he became aware of the sound of cackling laughter - so he started picking up nearby rocks and throwing them in that direction. The Masters fanned out around him, some putting out the fires, others tearing villagers away from the clutches of Skeletor's troops. He-Man remained on the offensive, closing in on the sound of Skeletor's mirth and smashing the skulls of the enemies who stood in his way. In this way, he cut a path for the Masters and Guards to follow him right through to the center of the shrieking fray.

Beast-Man was directly in front of him now, squatting with his back to He-Man. With horror, the hero realized that this monster was on top of someone, thrusting his hips. With both hands He-Man grabbed him and threw him with all his strength at the rocky face of a mountain several hundred yards away. The adolescent victim was in shock, but still breathing - Royal Guards rushed in and evacuated the teen. At that moment, He-Man saw that he was surrounded by Skeletor's goons raping and mutilating innocent villagers, and his rage knew no bounds. The champion of Eternia didn't even bother to unsheath his sword: he just grabbed one enemy after another, throwing them into the same crags where Beast-Man's broken body now lay.

Off to one side, Trap-Jaw stood guard as Jitsu and Stinkor loaded frightened villagers into a slave transporter, and Spikor had just managed to escape with another group of captives under his control. On the other side, Tri-Klops, Evil-Lyn and Skeletor himself targeted the Masters with bolts of raw energy.

"SKELETOR!" roared He-Man, charging forward, now with his sword in his hand to deflect shots away from the protectors. Evil-Lyn calmly put up a purple bubble of a force-field so that those ricochets wouldn't harm her master. But Tri-Klops had slipped away in the confusion, and soon reappeared near He-Man's elbow as he hacked his way forward. With a click of his visor, the evil inventor Tri-Klops activated a paralyzing taser. He-Man seized up, convulsing with the increasing electrical jolt, unable to fight him off. And Skeletor cackled louder than ever, "Burn that bumbling blond bimbo!"

Out of nowhere, a six-foot long cobra staff whacked Tri-Klops backwards, knocking the wind out of him and cutting off the taser line. Before he could react, the recently promoted Major Teela - formerly Captain of the Royal Guard - hit him again with her staff, which now came to life as a snake, twisting around him until he was bound and sinking its fangs into his cheek. "Gee, Tri-Klops, you seem a lot less confident all of a sudden," Teela taunted her whimpering, quivering quarry. Tri-Klops promptly passed out, so she called over her shoulder, "Take him away, boys. We'll question him back at headquarters."

"Where did you come from?" He-Man asked his red-headed savior.

"I could ask you the same," she answered. "But we need less talking and more ass-kicking." With that, she retrieved her cobra staff and whipped it in a semi-circle, taking down two more enemies, who were promptly trussed up and hauled off unconscious by royal guards. Side by side, Major Teela and He-Man fought their way right up to Evil-Lyn and Skeletor. Smirking, Teela glanced over at her partner and said, "Lucky for you, He-Man, force fields are my new specialty." With that, she smashed the purple bubble with her cobra staff.

Evil-Lyn responded by sending balls of lavender flame straight at Teela, which He-Man slashed away with his sword back at Skeletor's face. Before the witch could strike again, Eternia's champion quickly reached for her throat and lifted her off the ground, strangling her. When she had finally fainted, He-Man threw her body at her retreating master. The lord of dark magic knew his time was up, so with a snap he dissolved the flame balls mid-air and opened a portal - and as a final distraction to prevent He-Man from pursuing him, Skeletor levitated a pair of large boulders and sent them hurtling at Teela and He-Man.

The hero instantly dropped his sword, wrapped one arm around Teela's waist and pulled her out of the way, while punching the boulders with his other arm and falling into a football roll on the ground. He-Man was lying on top of her protectively, his face just an inch or two from hers. They were safe, but they had lost the chance to capture Skeletor - again. Still, it was always thrilling to do battle with this woman as his ally, and he had never before felt so aroused or alive.

"At your service, milady," He-Man said with a goofy lopsided grin. On impulse, he decided to kiss Major Teela on the cheek, but as he leaned in with puckered lips, his body shifted so that his prominent erection grazed across her inner thigh.

Like lightning, Teela kicked him off of her and delivered a sharp left hook to He-Man's chin. "You disgust me!" she hissed through clenched teeth. Then she was up and away with the troops.

Eternia's mighty champion lay stunned for a moment, but not really hurt.

Standing up and retrieving his sword, he realized that Skeletor had magically removed all of his henchmen, dead and alive. The village of Nalim was a recovery operation now. He-Man and Battle-Cat did what they could and made sure the village was in good hands before returning home - it was three hours before dawn. Just before they set off down the main road, Man-At-Arms called out to them and ushered them aside for a few private words.

"He-Man, are you well?" Man-At-Arms asked in a lowered voice. He cared for the prince like a son and knew his secrets. "My daughter -"

"Her power is growing, Duncan. The Sorceress needs to teach Teela how to control it. And Skeletor, he's becoming more and more destructive, I don't know how much longer we can…" He trailed off, unable to finish the sentence. The atrocities were more shocking with each attack.

"I know," answered General Duncan, the king's trusted Man-At-Arms and his best friend since childhood. "I'm told that Teela will be summoned to Grayskull on the morrow, and later today the royal military council will likely recommend a policy change with regard to Skeletor's threat. Be strong, my lad."

He-Man's mighty heart sank at the phrase "policy change." These crimes against the people of Eternia demanded immediate action, not another layer of bureaucracy. He had nothing else to say. So he simply turned away and said, "Good journey." Battle Cat bounded away with a roar, with a despondent He-Man riding on his back.

Racing across the Eternian landscape, He-Man replayed the night's events in his mind. He couldn't see how he could have done anything differently, how he could have prevented Teela's violent reaction to him. If she was being called to Grayskull the next day, she might never return to the palace: she would probably be trained as the next Sorceress of Grayskull. Their lifelong friendship would be over.

Teela's loss would be felt in other ways, too. She was one of the most gifted warriors Eternia had ever known. Around the same time that Prince Adam had been secretly called to become the magically enhanced champion of Grayskull, Teela had been awarded a royal medal of valor and had attained the rank of Captain of the Royal Guard - all before her seventeenth birthday. Now almost twenty, she had been showing evidence of growing supernatural gifts as well, ever since she briefly filled in the role of Sorceress at Grayskull during a one-day crisis in the previous year. Just last week, she had single-handedly held off Skeletor's robot army while protecting the royal troops behind her within a magic force shield. That heroism earned her another royal medal and a promotion to Major - unheard of for such a young officer!

Now Battle-Cat leaped over the outer curtain of the palace wall, and He-Man dismounted, shaking off his train of thought. Leaving the giant tiger behind the old garden shed, the hero said, "Wait here, old buddy, until I can get back inside, all right?" He knew that in his everyday form, Cringer could slip through the palace unnoticed - but first He-Man had to sneak in and return to being Prince Adam to prevent further gossip about the crown prince's late nights out. He scratched Battle-Cat's neck affectionately, and the resulting purr was a deep vibration. Then he carefully stepped out into the shadows of the Royal Gardens, moving unseen toward his bedroom window.

In silence he scaled the wall, having memorized long ago all of the hand-holds. He reached up to the window sill with one arm to pull himself up, and with his other arm, he carefully inched the window open. Lightly, he swung himself inside and locked the window behind him. Through the shadows, he found his way straight to his bathroom linen closet, where he shut himself in and murmured, "Let the power return." He-Man was gone. Now he was just Adam, crown prince of Eternia, the sneak, the liar, the coward. He knew from experience that the fierce Battle-Cat would return to being the timid Cringer at the same moment.

Adam collapsed on his bed in his underwear, already half-asleep.

But peace would prove to be elusive. He must have made some type of noise coming in, because he could hear his parents now stirring on the other side of his bedroom wall. Yes, stirring, moaning, grinding, even laughing. Suddenly he heard his mother's voice clearly, "Bad boy! I told you to be quiet!" Then a crack, his father's yelp and more of his mother's laughter. That was definitely a whip, thought Adam, pressing pillows on both of his ears and burying himself under his covers.

He managed to doze for a while until his parents' bed started whacking the wall in a rhythmic pattern, louder and louder, faster and faster. He suddenly remembered that today was his parents' twentieth anniversary - they'd be going at it all day. Two years ago, Adam had been left alone to entertain a hall full of guests while his parents skipped their own anniversary party. Then he recalled his mother reassuring him about his father the king, "Don't worry, I'll fix everything tomorrow." Was that really only seven hours earlier when she said that? Well, then, this was the sound of her fixing things. So the prince got up to take a shower.

He couldn't help but to think of Teela in his arms on the battlefield, how her eyes seemed to glow with a blue-green light. His parents had found each other against all probability - was it really so far-fetched that he could find love with his friend? He imagined what that would be like as he soaped up his body. His feelings became more intense, and he touched himself while thinking of Teela's voice, her long red hair, her curves...it didn't take much to bring him to climax. He stepped out of the shower feeling a little more relaxed. Teela was always in his thoughts somehow - he smiled to himself. Prince Adam finished drying off his body and was wiping his face and hair when he opened the door, walking blindly into his room with the towel still around his face. Someone in his bedroom gasped.

Alarmed, Adam reacted by whipping the towel down to cover his private parts with one hand while reaching for something to use as a weapon with the other hand.

Sitting there on the edge of his bed, gaping - literally gaping with her jaw wide open - was none other than Major Teela.

On the other side of the bedroom wall, Adam's dear, sweet little mother shouted clearly and distinctly, "Oh, Randy, harder, fuck me harder!"

Prince Adam had never been so mortified in his whole life.

But Teela seemed to get a grip on herself, because she stood up, walked over to Adam and said in an even, neutral tone, "Here is what we're going to do: you will get dressed and we'll train early today since no one is going to get any more sleep. While we're training, you're going to explain to me how you got into better shape than all of my guards and how you got these battle scars." With one finger, she traced a series of scars down his sword arm.

And then she didn't move. Adam had nothing to say, but inside his head he was calling out to the Sorceress, asking for help in forming a response: no answer.

"Well, go put on some clothes. Or, I guess it's fine if you want to spar in the nude, but I'll keep my own uniform on." She taunted him with a smirk.

Teela continued watching the prince while he pulled on a training uniform - he imagined that he could feel her eyes skimming each of his muscles, questioning how his body had been conditioned to such perfection without her notice. The banging, groaning and occasional "YES!" coming from his parents' suite only added to the awkwardness of the moment.

Silently, he followed Teela through the halls down toward the training area. She chose a smaller, private gym with a selection of weapons for sparring - and she shut the door behind them for privacy.

"All right," she began, "With whom have you been training, and how have you been disguising yourself in battles? I'm still your official bodyguard and trainer, so I need to know these things." She picked up a sword and shield.

"I - I haven't -" Adam started to answer. He tried to look busy by examining all the weapons very closely.

"Don't lie to me, Adam. I know what I just saw."

"I'm just - you know how clumsy I am…"

"You know, there's another way to get the answers I want," said Teela with her face grimly set. "Pick your weapons and take your stand. Don't hold back. You've been holding back all along, and I won't allow it anymore."

Adam hesitated. But he picked up a sword and shield, and began to circle the major.

Teela knew that she'd have to push him hard, force him to react and counter her. So she went in first on the offensive, striking hard with the sword while simultaneously kicking out with the opposite foot, coming at him from several angles in rapid succession. Adam was more than happy to retreat.

Furious, she demanded, "Hit me back!"

Adam stopped. "Why? Why should I?" he asked gently. "You're my friend, Teela."

Teela was absolutely exasperated, but his simple statement gave her pause. With a deep cleansing breath, she decided to try a different tactic. "Let's make a wager: we'll have a duel, and if I win, you'll answer my questions. If you win, I'll...what would you want - a nap?"

Adam arched his eyebrows - he knew exactly what prize he wanted today. "A kiss. A real kiss. Just one. I won't tell anyone. Do you agree?"

That wasn't what Teela expected. "Well, I suppose...all right then…"

Wham! Adam re-started the duel with ten times the energy he had ever demonstrated at previous lessons with his trainer. He danced all around Teela, sometimes exhibiting a textbook, predictable move, then doing something improvised and unpredictable, striking, low, high, center, right and left. Teela could barely keep up!

After forty minutes or so, Teela was exhausted, and she realized he was just toying with her to wear her down. Adam was cool and collected - not a drop of sweat on his brow. Then he pulled out his real battle moves, displaying a strength she had only seen in one other man before today...she fought back with everything she had, but it wasn't enough: he forcefully knocked the sword out her hand. She held up her shield and ripped all of the weapons off the walls, throwing them at him, then the shields, too. Teela managed to duck under his raised sword arm and re-gain the center of the room, but she knew she didn't have the stamina to hold her ground.

Adam spun around right in front of her, holding his sword near her throat, waiting for Teela to surrender - but she wouldn't make it easy. She decided to use her shield as a weapon, turning it horizontal and ramming it straight into his gut.

But Adam was ready for that - the shield didn't seem to injure him at all. He swept one foot behind Teela's knees, knocking her off balance - but as she fell backwards, she grabbed the crown prince so that he fell forwards on top of her.

He won their bet.

Panting heavily, they gazed into each other's eyes. Teela started to reach for something, but Adam swiftly grabbed each of her hands in his and forcefully pinned them above her head. He would not concede victory this time.

"Aren't you going to kiss me?" Teela asked: she was still taunting him, like a cat playing with a mouse before eating it.

Without thinking, he blurted out, "At your service, milady." He had used the same words - and the same position lying on the ground - that He-Man had used with Teela just a few hours earlier. And as he feasted on her luscious mouth, he became aware that his oldest, dearest friend was somehow pushing into his mind telepathically and reliving their lifetime of shared memories. At that moment, Adam knew that those crazy, impassioned, recurring dreams about Teela weren't dreams at all. Those were actual conversations between their subconscious minds.

Teela returned his ardor a hundred times, and little moans and squeaks of pleasure escaped from her involuntarily as she began to grind her pelvis upwards against his body. It hardly seemed possible, this pleasure in arousing each other. She dived deeper into his mind, absorbing the feelings of connection and platonic intimacy they had shared through the years. A warm, tingling sensation spread through their bodies as their minds were joined.

And then suddenly Teela found what she was looking for: the moment she and Adam had become estranged, the moment he took on a new identity and chose to hide it from her. She knew his secret. Everything now made sense and she was LIVID.

But she was still pinned beneath him, so she bit down on his tongue while he licked inside her mouth. With a strangled cry, he rolled off of her, and the enraged major jumped up, yelling, "You fucking liar! How long were you going to hide that from me, huh? You're full of shit, you bastard!"

Each comment was punctuated by a calculated kick to the prince's kidneys, groin and diaphragm, respectively. She stormed away, leaving him in a fetal position on the training floor - with a bleeding mouth.

The physical pain was only a fraction of the emotional pain of being separated from Teela's mind - the feeling of psychological bonding between them just now had been the purest bliss that Adam had ever known. How could he go on without her?

Eventually, Prince Adam picked himself up and started walking - aimlessly, dazed, trying to process what had happened: his best friend had used her emerging magic powers to read his mind and discover his big secret. And now she hated him!

Teela, the only person whose opinion mattered to him. Teela, the woman he loved.

Well, he had certainly ruined whatever they had between them. Adam would just have to get over it.

The prince turned a corner in the hallway and realized he was near the administrative halls: from the direction of the royal library, he could hear his father's voice singing a bawdy love song. Adam did a u-turn and headed toward the palace's residential wing. There, his mother's personal assistant, Sasha, approached him with a dainty curtsy. She always wore a veneer of cheerfulness, but underneath that layer, Adam knew she protected the deepest, darkest secrets of the palace. "Good morning, Your Majesty! Your royal mother requests an immediate audience with you in her bedchamber. Will you obey?"

Poor Prince Adam groaned: he just couldn't get a break. It was going to be another rough day.

*END*

Author's note: Now go read 'The Queen's Gambit!'