Chapter 9
Adam stared at his father disbelievingly. King Randor had never been so adamant about not trying to end a conflict peacefully. He had always been a man of peace! How could he just stand there and insist on a war? Didn't he know what's what all of this conflict with Skeletor was building towards?
"We have a chance to end all of this," Adam insisted stubbornly. "All we have to do is show a little compassion and actually talk things through with him."
King Randor glared at him with something akin to disdain and snapped, "Show a little compassion? Adam, I showed that man quite a bit of compassion in my lifetime and what do I have to show for it? A guilty conscience; a stolen daughter; a continuous war; a bitter, life-long enemy; and now an obstinate son! I do not owe that man anything except contempt, and I order you as your king and father to stay away from him." The king frowned and suddenly took on the look of a saddened man who had no idea what to do. He tilted his head to the floor and mumbled, "I don't want him to use you to hurt me or my father. I know that's what he's trying to do, Adam, and it won't matter if he likes you or not. He will hurt you if he has to…just like he did with me, and the end result justifies his means to him, trust me."
The despair in his father's voice was obvious and Adam saw more in that one moment than he had in the rest of the conversation. His father was genuinely worried that something would happen to him. The king was scared that Keldor really was using Adam to seek retribution on what he deemed a crime committed by the Royal Family of Eternos.
Suddenly, Adam didn't know what to do. He sat down on Duncan's workbench again and stared up at his father. "What am I supposed to do, then? I doubt that he's going to stop visiting me."
The king stared at him for a few seconds before looking at Duncan. "We must contact the Sorceress," he announced.
"The Sorceress?" Adam questioned. "What on Eternia for?"
"Keldor is visiting you through magical means, so we must stop that intrusion. Perhaps the Sorceress knows how to block his magic somehow. Maybe she has some kind of protection spell that she could cast. It doesn't hurt to ask."
The king looked back at Man-At-Arms, so the soldier bowed and replied, "Yes, Your Majesty."
When Duncan left the room, Randor stood in front of Adam and said, "You're making the right choice, son. Keldor is a person we both need to forget. He is Skeletor now—in fact, I'd say he was him long before he changed his appearance and there's no turning back from that."
Adam merely watched at his father and he could tell that the king had grown a little awkward at their silence. "Well, I need to get back to the throne room," he said eventually. "I also want to check up on Duncan to see if he's contacted the Sorceress. Will you be joining us soon?"
When the prince nodded, the king left the room, but before Adam could even wrap his mind around what had just happened, the sounds of someone clapping filled the room. Adam stood abruptly and looked around. "Who's there?" he called out, already knowing the probable answer.
He saw Keldor appear in the corner of the room slowly. He was still clapping with a sinister smile on his face. "Ah, Randor is still a talented liar! Bravo!" he cheered.
Adam didn't move. He didn't move farther away nor closer. Instead, he stared at his uncle and remarked, "He claims the same thing about you."
Keldor bowed his head slightly in acquiescence. "That is certainly true."
When he didn't expand on his statement, Adam questioned, "What's true? That you're a talented liar or that he claims that you are?"
"Both! There's no point in denying that since I heard that you now know that I'm Skeletor. Tell me Prince Adam, how do you feel about that? How do feel knowing that one of your father's greatest enemies is his own brother and your uncle?"
Adam admitted, "It doesn't feel good. I'd like to think that there is a way you and my father could work things out. You're family, after all."
Keldor shuddered and insisted with sudden anger, "There is no chance of that happening with Randor! He is too pompous and unforgiving for that to even be on the table!" He then calmed. "But, perhaps, that won't be true between you and me. Maybe we can reach an accord and when it is your time to take the throne, peace will once again befall on Eternia. What do you think?"
Adam walked over to him and replied, "I think that whatever you can do with me, you can also do with my father. He might be unwilling to try right now, but maybe if you gave him some kind of sign that you are willing to heal this relationship, he would relent. I know my father. He truly wants peace on Eternia and if he really believed that is what you're offering now, he would accept."
Keldor looked down and mumbled, "No, he wouldn't. I have tried over the years."
Adam groaned in frustration and announced, "You both are stubborn!"
The elder laughed and commented, "Call it a family trait. I see that you are the same way. Luckily, this time you're more on my side than you are his."
The prince widened his eyes at that remark. He stared at him as he realized the truth of Keldor's words. He was giving Skeletor more leeway and trust than he ever had before. Granted, it wasn't a lot, but that small margin of difference spoke volumes. He-Man had never spoken this kindly to Skeletor. Never did he let the mask of righteous superiority of goodness slip in front of the supposed Lord of Destruction, but he was now as Adam.
He met Keldor's luminous eyes that seemed to be growing more inhuman each time he saw them and asked softly, "What do you want from me?"
His uncle responded by extending his hand. "I want exactly what you stated earlier: I want friendship, camaraderie, and trust." When Adam raised his brow skeptically, he continued, "I know you can't give all of that to me right away, especially trust. I realize it must be earned, but I think you and I could possibly put aside the pain of the past and be a family to one another. What do you say, Prince Adam? Would you like to try?"
Forgetting about his father's request and even his own hesitancy before his uncle had shown up, Adam shook his hand and whispered, "Yes."
Keldor grinned triumphantly and announced, "Then, perhaps you would like to join me. I'd like to show you around and talk to you about what's going on in my life right now."
Adam cocked an eyebrow in surprise and the man laughed in response. "Where to?" the prince asked unsurely.
"Where else?" Keldor announced with glee. "Snake Mountain and the Dark Hemisphere!"
Those words shocked Adam more than anything else up to that point, but that was nothing compared to what happened next! Keldor pulled his overcoat to the side and whipped out a sword. Surprisingly, it looked almost exactly like the Sword of Power! Adam stared at it flabbergasted and remembered the story that he had been told earlier: supposedly, Skeletor's mother had stolen a powerful weapon and given it to her son when she had been teaching him magic in his youth. He had thought at the time that the filched weapon had been his Havoc Staff, but staring at the sword in his uncle's hand now, he wondered if he had been mistaken. Was it possible that there were more than two Swords of Power? Did Skeletor have a third? Was that why he was deemed the third most powerful being on Eternia, after himself and the Sorceress? Was that the reason why his powers augmented when he was on Castle Greyskull's grounds, like they had when the three of them joined forces against Evilseed?
He had a feeling his perceptions of reality was about to change once more…and for the worst if the Sorceress and Man-At-Arms had really kept something of this import from him again.
END OF CHAPTER NINE
