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After lunch King Randor had to return to meetings and Queen Marlena took Teela back to her solar. Man-At-Arms returned to his own duties, so that left Adam and Adora alone.
"Come on," Adam said, heading towards the South Wing. "We need to talk."
Adora followed him to the suite he and Teela now shared and she saw that the front sitting room was complete even though she could hear sounds of construction elsewhere in the suite. "This is very nice," she said.
Adam smiled at her. "Thanks. Come with me to my room; there're too many ears coming and going out here."
Adora followed him into the bedroom he and Teela shared and again she was impressed by how nice it was, though definitely not overdone. She took a seat in one of the chairs near the large stone fireplace that he indicated as he sat in the other. "What's going on?" she asked softly. "I got the feeling that while everyone is happy over the news of the baby, there was definitely some tension surrounding it as well."
Adam sighed and nodded. "That would be because of the circumstances surrounding the conception," he told her, his eyes showing his pain.
"What happened?" she asked in concern. She could feel the pain emanating from him.
Adam told her everything, starting with what happened in the cave in the Mystic Mountains. At times he had to pause to collect himself or just work through the emotions, but Adora remained silent, often just holding his hand in hers in silent support even as tears flowed down her cheeks as her heart broke for her brother and her new sister-in-law.
She, like everyone else who'd heard the story before her, had felt the dawning horror as she realized where the story was going and what it meant for her brother and Teela. She could also see and hear the anguish he was suffering because of the guilt he still felt. She wondered if she turned to She-Ra if she could help heal their emotional wounds as she continued to listen to him.
When he finished the story, he looked at his sister and sighed softly. "We're all thrilled about the baby, but this just complicates things so much," he said. "Father has decided that the nobles need to be made aware of the situation, so that no one can try to use it against us if it comes out accidentally. That means that I have to stand before all of them and apologize to Man-At-Arms and pay him a restitution price as well as the required dowry, and Teela has to tell them all she is refusing to press charges and that she has not been coerced in any way to marry me, and that she wants to remain my wife. I'll also have to face a formal board of inquiry made up of the Masters," he said with a deep sigh. "Fortunately, since Teela refuses to press charges and I've already married her, along with Duncan's and Ram Man's testimonies, I won't have to worry about an actual trial."
"Oh Adam," she said softly. "I'm so sorry. Is there anything I can do to help you?"
Adam shook his head. "Just having you here is helping. Teela and I have talked and cried it out over and over, but I haven't been able to really talk about it with anyone else. I'm not comfortable talking to either of our parents, Teela's father or the Sorceress about this. I'm sure she feels the same way, too; this isn't something you want to discuss with your parents."
"Well, you can both talk to me about anything you need to," she told him. "How are you and Teela doing? I can't imagine this is easy on your relationship."
"We're actually doing okay most days," he said. "We really do love each other and that helps to get us through some of the rougher days. It's a slow process, but we're moving past this and working through it. But I feel terrible that there are times when I just want things to go back to 'normal' again and to put this behind us for good."
Adora nodded in understanding. "You can't help how you feel, Adam, and you're entitled to your feelings. It's perfectly normal to want to put the whole thing behind you and move forward, but at least you realize that it's not a process that can be skipped, or even rushed."
"I know," Adam sighed.
"So Father is the only one not aware of your secret now?" Adora asked to clarify after a minute of silence between them. "Adam… if he finds out he's the last to know, he'll either be furious or extremely hurt; probably both."
Adam let out an explosive breath and nodded his agreement. "I know that," he said. "But the Sorceress says that I have to let him figure it out on his own and not tell him. It's so frustrating that I have to keep him in the dark."
"I know," she said empathetically. She hated that she couldn't tell anyone her secret, either.
"So what took you so long to get here?" Adam asked her. "The Sorceress told us over a week ago that it was only going to take you a day or two to prepare everyone for you to leave."
Adora sighed and shook her head. "Hordak mounted a huge attack on Mystacore the day I was supposed to leave. The battle lasted three days and then the cleanup was another thing altogether. They were still cleaning up the mess when I left, but the bulk of it was done. The good news is that Hordak probably won't attempt anything like that again for a while; he suffered a lot of loss in that battle and Catra and Mantenna were killed as well."
"How did the Rebellion fare?" Adam asked in concern. A lot of the members of the Great Rebellion were friends of his and he was genuinely concerned for their well-being.
"We had a lot of casualties," she said as her eyes misted a bit. "We lost Flutterina, too. That was difficult on everyone; she was well-loved."
Adam took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I'm sorry," he said.
Adora gave him a sad smile and then shook off her melancholy mood. "How have things been here? Is old bone face still stirring up trouble regularly?"
"He disappeared for over a month, but he's back to his old tricks," he told her.
"Well, that's not really surprising," Adora said. "So, have you and Teela started thinking about names yet?" she asked, trying to lighten the mood.
Adam chuckled and shook his head. "She's just slightly less than six weeks along, so we have quite a while before we have to worry about that. We're not even going to worry about decorating the nursery until she is in her seventh month."
"I still can hardly believe that you are going to be a father," she said with a large smile. "All the girls on Etheria are going to be heartbroken that you're now a married man with a child on the way; especially Castaspella."
Adam groaned. "Oh, don't remind me!"
Adora giggled. "At least Frosta's feelings will be spared; she only loves He-Man."
"Adora," he said in warning, dragging her name out. He suddenly grinned at her mischievously. "How is Sea Hawk doing?"
Adora blushed and ducked her head. "He's all right," she said. "He gave me this locket and he has the other half… if I'm in trouble, his glows and he hurries to come and help me." She pulled the locket from her collar and showed it to him.
Adam raised his eyebrows at this and he pursed his lips. "Sounds like you two are pretty serious."
Adora shrugged and sighed. "I don't know. I guess as long as I am on Etheria it is, but I don't know if his interest extends beyond my coming home to Eternia someday. If I ever get to come home that is," she said sadly. "Some days I feel as if the war against the Horde will never be over and other days I wonder if I'd want to leave Etheria even if it were…"
Adam took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Cheer up Sis," he said. "It'll all work out in the end. Don't you know the good guys always win and live happily ever after?"
Adora giggled and stood up. "Come on; let's go see if Father is through with his meeting yet and maybe we can talk our parents into spending some family time together."
The king had finished his meeting and Adora talked him into clearing his schedule for the rest of the day so that they could all spend some time together. They sat in the sitting room of the king's and queen's suite and talked, Adora telling them about life on Etheria and the others telling her about how things were on Eternia.
Teela, wanting to give the immediate family some time alone, told Adam she wanted to go take a nap before supper, so she had excused herself from this gathering.
Adam glanced at his chronometer and realized that it was nearly supper time. "I should go see if Teela's awake from her nap yet so we can get ready for supper," he said as he stood. "I'll see you all in a little while."
Everyone said goodbye to him and he headed towards their suite in the South Wing. He paused when a couple of voices carried from the hall leading towards where the throne room was.
"So how do you suppose she did manage to con the prince into marrying her?" asked one voice in disdain. Adam recognized it as belonging to Darla, one of the courtiers.
"I'm betting she seduced him and deliberately got pregnant," said another with contempt~ this one he recognized as Remora. "I've heard the maids saying that she is ill in the mornings and has taken to drinking erimint tea before breakfast. Everyone knows that erimint tea is commonly used for women who are pregnant and have morning sickness."
"I wonder what suddenly made her change her mind about taking a husband," Darla mused. "She's always been so… manly… what with being a soldier and all. She's never showed any interest in men whatsoever. I find it difficult to believe that she suddenly decided to seduce the prince and get pregnant and turn all feminine."
"Maybe the baby's not his," Remora said. "I hear she's been in love with He-Man for years… maybe she got pregnant by him and Prince Adam, being the noble man he is, married her to keep her from being dishonored."
"Why wouldn't she just marry He-Man then?" asked Darla disdainfully.
"Come on," Remora scoffed. "Do you really think he can take a wife? His family would be in terrible danger all of the time and besides, who knows where he goes after a fight's over? No one ever sees him just out and about… he only shows up when there's trouble and then disappears again once everything's okay. Some say he's a magical being and only exists during battles; that he's created by Grayskull whenever he's needed."
"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," Darla sniffed.
Their voices faded as they suddenly started to move away. Adam shook his head and rolled his eyes as he went to find his wife for supper, chuckling softly to himself at the conversation he'd just overheard.