Chapter 2

Holden marched ahead of his attendants, their fawning presence annoying him so much that his clenched jaw ached. When he reached his accommodations he took great pleasure in slamming the door in both their faces. He angrily shoved off his velvet, hunter green cloak, the one he always wore when he visited the court. Nothing was going as planned; he fumed and flung the cloak towards the chair in the corner. It missed and sank to the floor. He hissed a nasty curse and viciously kicked the expensive garment toward the middle of the room, wishing that it was the King's self righteous head.

"Something troubles you, Holden?"

He jumped, terrified at the unexpected voice, but breathed easier when the familiar tall, dark haired man walked out of the shadows. He picked up the cloak from the floor and folded it neatly before placing it on the desk next to him.

"Are you mad? I told you never to come to me when I am visiting the castle. Never!" The man merely chuckled at Holden's ire. Nobody, except one, told him what to do. Holden's scowl deepened at the man's arrogance. His desire to control everyone and everything around him made having to deal with this …miscreant, almost unbearable. But deal with him he must if he was going to achieve the control he craved.

"Never mind that for now. Have you done what we discussed?" He moved away from the doorway and went about lighting every lamp and candle in the room. Something about being sequestered with this man, in the dark, did not sit well with him at all. The man watched him flitter about for a while and smiled knowingly. The knowledge that Holden was afraid of him pleased him greatly.

Yes, Holden. Your plans will proceed unhindered. I am here merely to collect my fee."

"You did not have to risk everything by coming here. I would have seen to it that you received your wretched gold. I gave you my word, didn't I." The man laughed and walked up to him, his imposing height forcing Holden to look up into his hard eyes.

"You forget, Holden. I have seen inside of you. Your word is as useless as your craven heart."

Holden gasped in indignation but dared not say anything while the man stood so dangerously close. Instead he retreated, and moved around the man to get to his bed at the other side of the room. He seemed almost embarrassed and just stood there for a while before quickly bending down. When he straightened he was holding a small leather satchel. The man laughed again.

"Under the bed, Holden? You really have no imagination do you. No wonder you need someone like me." The man grabbed the bag when Holden approached and took his time counting the coins. He smiled when he was done. "Good, Holden. You did well."

Why did he have to say his name every time he addressed him? Holden thought irritably. It was all he could do not to smack his grinning face, instead he cringed at the sight of the man's overlong incisors. He really was an animal.

"Now, all you have to do is relax and soon, all your dreams will come true: one dead king; one dead prince; and an entire kingdom at your mercy."

The image was one he had honed so carefully in his brain, for so many years, that it sprang into his mind instantly and so vivid that he had to close his eyes for a moment.

Eternia. His to rule as he saw fit. And why shouldn't he? He was more qualified than that solider. Before, he dared not challenge the crown, not when the kingdom was constantly being threatened by Skeletor. Too much chaos. Now that Skeletor was gone, he could rule without having to worry about defending his crown every other month. His plan to get rid of Randor and his useless son using politics was taking too long; besides, he could not rely on the support of the other members of the council. Most, he decided, were too intimidated by the King to think for themselves, while the rest were themselves too treacherous to trust. However, an unfortunate accident, occurring while he was innocently away visiting his wife and daughter at home, was just the thing to get rid of all obstacles to the throne. Then, after an appropriate period of mourning, he would gently guide the council into accepting that his fine political record and noble bloodlines made him the obvious choice to rule the kingdom. Queen Marlena? She wasn't even an issue.

He smiled and opened his eyes then frowned and looked about the room. The man had vanished.

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Teela found him sparring with her father. They were on the terrace overlooking the west wall, their bobbing and weaving bodies silhouetted against the orange light of the setting sun.

Instead of making her presence known she stood and watched them for a while. She had to admit that Adam was more than holding his own against Man-at-Arms who appeared to be struggling to deflect Adam's blows with his sword. She blinked in surprise when her father called an abrupt halt to their match.

"I'm sorry, Man-at-Arms," he said, abashed.

Duncan flexed his arm and cast him a concerned look. "Is something on your mind, son."

"No. I guess I got kinda carried away."

"You sure?"

"Yes, sir."

"All right." Duncan said, deciding to take his word for it. "Although, I could just be getting too old to spar with you young bucks anymore," he said and smiled.

"That's impossible, Father." Teela finally spoke up. She was smiling as she walked towards them. Duncan winked at his daughter and sheathed his sword before moving to the handrail where he had dropped his towel. He mopped his face and neck before turning back to them.

"So you're back. A father would think that after being away for a whole two weeks; his daughter would want to spend a little time with him."

"What are you talking about? I saw you this morning. We had breakfast together, even."

"Yes, but then you disappeared. Alas, I knew this day would come. I am no longer the center of my little girl's universe. I understand. Don't worry about me," he covered his face with one hand and faked a couple of sobs at her supposed betrayal. "I will survive it."

"Dad, stop!" Teela managed through her laughter at her father's absurdity. She hadn't seen know her father to act this silly in years. But then again, certain burdens had been lifted recently.

Adam wiped his streaming eyes and snickered, "Man-at-Arms, I can't believe you said, 'Alas'."

"What have you been doing?" her father asked when they had finally stopped laughing.

"Oh, nothing special." She spared a glance at Adam who was busy stripping off the limited armor they sometimes wore for sparring sessions. The truth was she had spent the better part of the day looking for Adam. Who knew the castle was so big? She found herself doing a lot of that lately—looking for Adam.

"Well, you're here just in time to see me concede defeat!" He said dramatically, "Good job, Adam."

"Thank you, Man-at-Arms. I have a good teacher."

He inclined his head as if considering what his pupil had said. "Well, that's true," he replied and grinned. "I believe I'm done for tonight. I have to finish some things in the lab and then I think I'll have an early night. I have to go visit Lyn early tomorrow morning anyway. I promised I would build her a crib for the baby."

Adam looked up just in time to see Teela's reflexive scowl anytime her father made reference to Evil-Lyn or "that woman" as she called her. He smiled and shook his head when she did not disappoint. He had to admit, it was strange, the fact that Duncan and their once staunch enemy had been forced to relate, all for the sake of her unborn son. A child fathered by Duncan's brother who was now dead because of Skeletor. It was about that time that Evil-Lyn thought that a spilt between herself and Skeletor would be best. She aided the Masters in the capture of Skeletor and his goons and was now their…well, Adam wasn't sure the term 'friend' applied to Evil-Lyn. He suspected she was too busy preparing to be a mother to give them even a passing thought. She seemed to get along with Man-at-Arms well enough, something they all were still trying to wrap their heads around.

"Thanks for the work out, Adam."

"Anytime."

"See you later, my dear," he kissed his daughter on the forehead before leaving them.

"So, what have you been doing all day?" She said after a few seconds of watching him pack up his gear.

""Oh, nothing special," he repeated her words to her.

"Oh." She waited again; unsure how to go on. "How was your trip?"

"Fine."

"Good. I'm sorry I wasn't here when you returned. There was a huge forest fire in the western province. Cyclone and I went to help out."

"I heard about that. It's good you stayed to help rebuild."

"Yeah." Wait. Did he just tell her he was happy she was away? She felt herself becoming undeniably, irrationally angry. Talking with Adam had never been this difficult. They had grown up together, had adventures together, stayed up till morning talking about nonsense together, they were friends. Now she was finding double meanings in almost everything he said. Why did she have to go and ruin everything? She stood there seething as he continued to put away his stuff. He didn't even have the decency to look at her. "I've been gone for nearly two weeks, Adam."

He gave her a slightly puzzled look. "Yes, I know."

"Before that, you've been playing ambassador with your mother for three months." He blinked at her and waited for her to make her point.

"It's not the first time I've been on a long trip, you know that."

Why didn't he see it? They hadn't seen each other for more almost four months! She didn't expect a hero's welcome, but some indication that he'd missed her would have been nice. The last time they had a private conversation that lasted more than five minutes was in his room, the night that Skeletor died. She realized that if she did not bring up that night, no one would. She took a deep breath and got ready to clear the air.

"Adam."

"Father."

Teela clamped her mouth shut and turned around to face the King.

"Teela, would you excuse us, I need to talk to my son."

"Of course, your Highness. I'll see you later, Adam?" He nodded distractedly and she reluctantly resigned herself that the talk would be postponed indefinitely.

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A/N: Alright. Tell what you think.