Against Nature Chapter 6

King Stefen smiled as he watched the scene unfold before him. His brother had basically stated rather than asked if it were now okay to see Adam. The glare that Man-at-Arms flashed the Dyperian king's way before he answered affirmatively told him that the soldier was not pleased with him at the moment. The feeling was mutual.

He continued to watch in silence as Queen Marlena went to the bed to sit beside Adam. She immediately reached out to press the back of her hand against his cheek and then on his forehead under his bangs. In the corner of his eye, he saw Man-at-Arms sigh with almost a look of relief: his posture had relaxed almost immediately and a slight upturn of his lips told him that the soldier was happy or at least glad of something. He wondered what Duncan was thinking to have caused such a response.

After everyone watched the queen for a moment, King Randor asked, "Is he okay, my dear?"

"I think so," she muttered. "I'll feel better when he's awake and telling me how he feels, but I don't want to wake him up. It's better for him to sleep while he's sick so he won't be so miserable."

"That's what I thought," interjected Duncan.

Everyone in the room—aside from the prince—turned their attention to Man-at-Arms, and King Stefen lifted his brow slightly in surprise. The man was drawing the attention of everyone when he should have wanted to avoid it. This was very interesting, and he couldn't help but grin as Duncan met Randor's gaze without hesitation or worry.

King Randor looked at his man-at-arms curiously for a moment before stating, "I'm glad to see that Adam is okay and not in the infirmary, but I'm a little confused, Duncan. I thought you said he might be contagious."

Calmly, Man-at-Arms nodded and replied, "I had thought so at the time, but as King Stefen and I was helping Adam to the infirmary, I remembered that Queen Marlena told me in the past that when Earthlings are contagious, they usually have a fever. Adam doesn't, so I figured I'd let him sleep whatever this is off."

King Stefen widened his grin even more. So, that's why he calmed when he saw Marlena feeling Adam's skin—it had given him his current excuse. Yes, the man was a fast thinker and without a doubt, a great asset to Prince Adam. Of that, he had no doubt now.

Finally speaking for the first time, Stefen stepped forward and said, "I'm glad that Adam is okay. Since he is, I think I'll go back to the dining room to eat breakfast. I'll be back later in the day to check on him, if that is okay, brother?"

King Randor nodded as he answered, "Yes, and I think I will join you, but Marlena and I will stay a little while longer to ensure that Adam is okay." He then turned to Man-at-Arms and said, "And, you can go, as well. I don't want you to skip breakfast. You've done enough for my son this morning."

"It was no trouble at all," replied Duncan, honestly.

King Randor clasped his shoulder and said gratefully, "I know it isn't, but I want to relieve you of the job and thank you, anyway."

Man-at-Arms nodded and responded, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Without further word, King Stefen and Man-at-Arms left the room. As soon as the door shut behind them, Stefen started clapping enthusiastically.

=)=)=)

Once again, Duncan found himself glaring at Stefen as the king clapped continuously with a huge smile covering his face. "What are you clapping for?" he asked snippily.

The king immediately stopped his actions but continued to grin. "Why, I'm showing appreciation for your grand performance in there!" he exclaimed.

"What are you talking about?"

The king shrugged merrily with a smirk and answered, "Twice, in a short period of time, you have gotten Adam and yourself out of a very tight situation without telling my brother the truth. I think that deserves applause. And, I must admit your actions tell me a great many things."

Duncan no longer looked at the king with distaste—now he looked worried. "Like what?" he almost whispered.

Stefen motioned with his head to walk down the hall together. Outside Adam's bedchambers where Randor and Marlena could hear was no place to have this conversation. As the two men walked through the corridors toward the dining room, Stefen inferred, "You are very skilled, and therefore very practiced, at lying to my brother."

"What?" gasped Man-at-Arms.

The Dyperian king smiled at Duncan and shot out a hand to grab his arm lightly to stop his movements. They faced one another and Stefen explained, "I have seen many people lie to me over the years. I have practice as a king, and I'm sure my brother does, as well, but you are in a unique position. My brother trusts you without question. You have been his right-hand man for many years, and you've also been through so much together, so he turns a blind-eye to what is so glaringly obvious or he simply doesn't take notice because it is you. Either way, I pay attention where he does not."

Duncan immediately shook his head and opened his mouth to respond, but Stefen held a hand up to stop him.

He continued speaking, "Because my soldiers and citizens have taken oaths of allegiance, they always hesitate when lying to me. They always question in their minds if they should tell the truth or lie to save themselves or whomever they are protecting. I always catch them. But you? I know you had to make that very decision with Adam today, and yet, you showed no emotion. The only time you did—aside from contempt for me—was when you had thought of another lie to tell my brother, and that was one of relief not worry. That tells me without a doubt—so don't bother to deny it—that you are very accustomed to lying to my brother. I even daresay you lie to him for Prince Adam. It's obvious you are very comfortable doing so, which means it has become routine." The king watched the soldier and noticed with satisfaction that his words had surprised Duncan and even more importantly that Duncan hadn't adamantly denied them.

Stefen leaned forward and whispered, "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me, and likewise, my secret is now safe with you. You have your secrets concerning Adam and I have mine. Randor doesn't have to know any of them, wouldn't you agree?"

Duncan cleared his throat and stated calmly, "I don't know what you're talking about."

The king grinned and said, "Yes, you do, and to prove it, I will spend time with Adam and I will continue to do as I please, and you won't say anything because you are guilty of keeping situations from my brother, too. Fair is fair, soldier."

=)=)=)

After watching Adam for several more minutes and assuring Marlena continuously during that time that their son would be all right, Randor entered the dining room to join his brother and Duncan for breakfast. As soon as Marlena and he crossed the threshold, he stopped. Both Stefen and Man-at-Arms were eating quietly and they weren't looking at one another. He found that very odd considering both usually socialized a great deal with others while eating.

He stepped into the room and asked, "Is everything okay in here?"

Man-at-Arms moved his gaze, which was at his plate, to Randor and nodded.

Stefen, however, spoke jollily, "Of course it is! Why wouldn't it be?"

Randor and Marlena settled into their seats at the head of the table and the King of Eternia replied, "Well, you two were very quiet when I walked in. I felt tension."

Stefen laughed and shook his head with a smile. "There is no tension, brother. We were simply hungry and enjoying our meal. You walked in at a moment when we were eating." He paused and looked at Duncan. "Isn't that right, soldier?"

Man-at-Arms stared at Stefen with a blank stare for a moment before he turned to Randor and stated, "He's correct, Your Majesty."

Randor, who was not completely convinced, nodded briefly as he watched members of the kitchen staff suddenly appeared with fresh plates of food. Their plates from earlier had been removed and presumably thrown away or given to someone else. As his new plate was set before him, he turned to Man-at-Arms and asked, "So, what were you discussing?"

=)=)=)

He hated to admit it, but Duncan was getting a little tired of the Royal Family…and it wasn't Randor's or Adam's fault, but he felt that way nonetheless, thanks to Stefen and his blackmail, if he could call it that. Technically, Stefen was right in everything he had said. Fair was fair. He kept secrets from Randor regarding Adam, just like Stefen wanted to do. It would be hypocritical to call the King of Dyperia out on it. It was unfortunate for him that the king knew of the hypocrisy, because he knew Stefen would use it against him if he had to. And, because of this knowledge, he didn't want to answer any more questions. He only wanted to talk to Adam about his uncle but that had to wait until he was well, and his king had asked him a question so he had to tell him something. He decided he might as well be partially truthful about something that occurred even though Stefen and he hadn't discussed it: "We were talking about Teela. She was leaving as we arrived and worried since no one joined her for breakfast. I told her about Adam, so she might be stopping by his chambers sometime today."

Randor nodded, but Duncan could tell that the king was still sensing that something was wrong. Randor wasn't a dumb man, and despite King Stefen's earlier analysis, his brother did pay attention to all of his guard, especially him. He might not question Man-at-Arms' words in front of people, but he had no doubt that when they had an opportunity to be alone, Randor would question him not only about his silence with Stefen but also the incidents with Adam. At least he had time to figure out what he wanted to say. He wouldn't be caught off guard like he had been earlier. Thankfully, his explanations at those times had been good ones despite the spontaneity.

He looked at King Stefen and tried to control his response. He never felt this irritated toward anyone before...besides Skeletor and his minions. He knew without question that Stefen was to blame for Adam's current condition despite the boy's constant claims that he was at fault. The prince would have never been at the location if it wasn't for the Dyperian king. Being rambunctious and exploring Eternos would have never entered his mind if his uncle hadn't encouraged him and told him about his own father doing the same when he was younger.

But, of course, he sometimes forgot that Adam was just a boy. Yes, he was of age, but he was still maturing into the man he would one day be. Because of Adam's extreme intellect, good nature, and unshakable sense of responsibility, he had often treated him as a man who had been on the battlefield or leading for years. He had forgotten that Adam was young and could be like any other youth who actually wanted to cause a little mischief just for the sake of doing it and experiencing life. Aside from his adventures as He-Man, Adam hadn't really been exposed to everything Eternia had to offer, good or bad. Yes, He-Man's adventures provided him with a lot of experiences and opportunities, but those were extreme and dire opportunities. They weren't choices most would deal with in their lifetime, and despite his experiences beyond the common man, again he had to admit Adam did miss out on a lot, as well.

Adam experienced most things in his adult life as He-Man, and He-Man would never have had the opportunity to go out into Eternos and drink with his uncle. The hero couldn't afford such luxuries, so Adam probably did it because he had thought it would be his only opportunity. Randor and he wouldn't have offered. Teela had learned her lesson when she came home drunk. Besides, she already believed Adam misbehaved continuously, so she wouldn't offer. The truth was Adam didn't have anyone who he could honestly kid around and get into a little trouble with aside from Cringer. He realized now that this was a problem, because it was possible that one day all of the seriousness (despite that he pretended to be fun-loving) and responsibility would make him rebel and do these things on his own. And, even worse, he might do these things in secret, not under the protective shield of him or his uncle. He could run into a lot of trouble.

Duncan sighed. There were just too many things to think about thanks to what had happened. Who was in the wrong, really? Stefen for exposing him to the dirtier side of Eternos or Randor for sheltering him so much? He honestly didn't know.

=)=)=)

King Randor watched Duncan stare at Stefen and wondered what was wrong. He had been staring at the man without speaking, which again was very uncharacteristic of Man-at-Arms. "Are you sure everything is all right, Duncan?" he asked softly.

Duncan quickly realized he had been staring at Stefen and Randor had caught him. He quickly averted his eyes as the Dyperian king turned his attention to him and looked at Randor. "Yes," he answered, "I was just thinking about Adam. My mind was a million miles away."

"Yes, I saw," said Randor slowly. He stared at his Man-at-Arms for a couple of more seconds before asking softly, "Is there anything I should know, Duncan? You're not acting like yourself and I can't help but wonder if something's wrong. You can tell me anything…you know that, right?"

Man-at-Arm's sighed, closed his eyes briefly, and responded, "Yes, I know that, Your Majesty, but no, there's nothing to share. I'm just worried about Adam. I'm not used to him being in this state." Duncan looked down at his plate as he realized that was probably the only honest conversation he had that morning and even then, he didn't reveal all.

I know this chapter didn't include Adam, even though he was the main topic. I hope everyone enjoyed it nonetheless. I'm actually excited about what will be in store for the next couple of chapters, but I have to take it a moment at a time and not rush into it. I'm sure you understand. Let's just say "Game is afoot!" LOL