Pure Intentions? Chapter 31
Adam stood outside his father's office for a few minutes composing himself. He could hear a raised female voice carrying through the wooden double panel door. He didn't need to be inside the room to know that the voice belonged to Teela. She was yelling at Lady Stephania, who was refusing to disclose where she had hidden the Rock People's children.
Knocking on the door, he waited until his father's personal secretary opened the door for him. Mr. Extenbli, had worked for his grandfather before becoming the current King's secretary. Therefore, he was very familiar with the Royal Family and treated Adam and Teela like his own grandchildren. Upon opening the door, he ushered the Prince in with a whispered shaky greeting, "Ohhhh, Teela is on a high horse." "You have to calm her down, Your Highness."
With a wry smile and a nod of his head, he replied "I will." Adam knew that in situations like this he was the only one that could calm Teela down. However, the problem right now was who was going to calm him down. Staring at Stephania he was having a hard time controlling his own anger. How dare she try to eliminate his childhood friend? What made her think that he would willingly entertain a relationship with her? Adam felt like throttling her; however, due to his secret he had to make believe he had no idea what was going on.
Lost in his thoughts, he didn't realize that Stephania had leapt up from her chair and ran across the room to throw her arms around him. He didn't register her nearness until he heard Teela's shrill voice, "Unhand His Highness this instance Stephania or I will freeze you where you stand." Looking towards her, Adam saw that her wrist laser was aimed, ready, and cocked. In her other hand, Teela clutched her extended staff holding it so tight her fingers were going white at the knuckles. 'That's my girl, always ready to protect me', Adam thought. He loved when she 'did her job' and acted like his bodyguard. Secretly, he thought it was super sexy that she was such an impassioned bodyguard. 'Who are you kidding, Adam?' 'You always think she is super sexy!', he thought.
At this point, Adam didn't know exactly just how passionate Teela was feeling about her job. Her near death experience and then the revelation that another woman had wanted to harm her, to get to the Prince, had further solidified her feelings for him. She didn't know how she would handle this; however, she knew that she would have to speak to Adam about these feelings. Teela's vision had clouded the minute Stephania put her arms around the Prince. Taking a deep breath, she tried calming her racing heart not wanting to show how much Stephania touching him was affecting her. Teela couldn't afford to show any unprofessional reactions toward Adam in front of Lady Stephania, her father, and the King. Thankfully, Adam's words directed towards Stephania, provided a much needed calming effect.
In a cold steely voice, Adam stated "Please release me, my lady, before I do request for Captain Teela to use her freeze ray."
When his words didn't have the desired effect, he nodded to Teela who instantaneously depressed the lever on her wrist activating her freeze ray. As the beam traveled towards her ladyship, Adam easily maneuvered out of her embrace ensuring that he wasn't frozen with her. When Teela dropped her arm, Adam addressed those in the room.
"Can someone please tell me what's going in here?"
"She's the one who was trying to kill me", uttered Teela her chest rising and falling rapidly.
Playing dumb, Adam asked "Why?"
Teela harrumphed and turned away from the Prince to control her feelings as she stated, "Apparently, she thinks I'm her competition."
Walking deeper into the room, Adam came to stand directly behind his bodyguard. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he squeezed her there before asking, "For what?"
His question left her speechless. How should she answer? She was worried how Adam would react if she told him the truth, that Stephania wanted to eliminate her in order to have himfor herself. Teela was also worrying about the King's reaction to these news. She knew her father was aware of the reason that Stephania had abducted her. However, they didn't yet give a debriefing to the King as they had arrived to the Palace only a short while ago. Then they had to wait until King Randor finished a meeting with another noble, prior to being granted an audience with His Majesty. Luckily, it was the King himself who saved her.
In a tone that beheld annoyance he stated, "I'm afraid your abduction was partly my fault, Captain."
Teela raised her head to look at her Sovereign, "What do you mean, Sire?", she asked quizzically.
"I meant, that my announcement that Adam must marry before his next birthday may have started a 'civil war' among the eligible women of the ton for his hand in marriage." "You my dear, with your close proximity and friendship to my son may have, at no fault of your own, attracted the jealousy of all of these women."
"Sir, surely they know that my relationship with His Highness is purely platonic and professional", Teela reasoned. Mentally she thought, 'Or at least I think it has only been a platonic and professional one.'
Adam heard what Teela stated and had his own inward conversation as he thought, 'Not for long, my love, not for long.'
Answering the red-head, King Randor stated "We in this room know the specifics of your relationship with my son, Captain Teela." "Those on the outskirts have always speculated if your relationship ran deeper than what you portrayed." "This is one of the reasons why I made my decree during Adam's birthday ball."
"Did you know this Adam?", Teela asked him directly.
"I had heard rumors that you and I were having an affair, Tee, but that was a very long time ago", Adam answered her honestly.
With a look directed at her father, Teela asked "So why was I allowed to go on this Tour with Adam?"
The King was the one to answer with pride coloring his voice, "Because we all thought you can handle it." "Despite the rumors, Captain, you are still my son's bodyguard and I know that you would stop at nothing to protect him."
"Thank you, Your Majesty", Teela replied with a bow. "It is my honor to serve and protect your family, Sir."
"Thank you, Captain." "Now, please inform me why Lady Stephania is standing there frozen in place", the King commanded.
Teela quickly informed the King and those present, that indeed Stephania thought she was competition for Adam's hand in marriage. She filled in the details of how the Rock People saved her from sure doom and of her fight within the cave leading to when she woke up in Grayskull. With a quick glance at her father, who warned her with his eyes, Teela realized that she would have to start keeping secrets from the King. Before leaving Grayskull, her mother had warned her of the necessity of keeping their relationship a secret from everyone. As Teela related her story, she kept her eyes focused on either her father or the King. She refused to look at the Prince.
When she was finished the King asked, "So He-Man will go on the hunt for the Rock People's children?" As he asked this question, he pointedly stared at his son who suddenly found a speck on the wall very interesting. Randor was amused at his son's antics. He purposefully asked who will be retrieving the Rock People's children to gauge whether or not Teela was now aware of the fact that his son is He-Man. It was clear from Adam's behavior that Teela was still unaware of that fact.
"Yes, Your Majesty", replied Duncan. "He remained behind at Grayskull to help the Sorceress pinpoint their location." "I'll assign a small regiment of men along with Teela to assist him, Sire."
The King cocked his head sideways at Duncan's words stating "No, Duncan." "I have another assignment for your daughter."
Turning to look at his son the King directed, "Adam, you must continue on with the Tour and Teela will continue to accompany you."
All occupants in the room directed bewildered gazes upon the King. Since Adam was using this time away from the Palace to woo Teela without her direct knowledge of it, the King knew how much this meant to his son. It didn't matter that Adam had asked to terminate the Tour in order for Teela to be safer back inside the palace walls. Having Adam marry the woman he loved was of paramount importance to the King. He didn't want his son to go through an arranged marriage. He also wanted to show a united front to the rest of the nobles and their daughters, who thought that they could intimidate the Royal Family into picking a bride for the Prince. The King informed the room's occupants of his reasoning. Furthermore, he reasoned that he would help his son's cause by mandating Teela to spend more time with him in his natural form, rather than giving her any more reasons to have her feelings grow for the 'hero'. Off course, he kept this last piece of information only to himself. Hesitatingly, they all agreed that Adam's Tour would continue.
"Since this is settled, what should we do with Lady Stephania?", asked the King.
No longer needing to hide his true persona from his father, in a calm, steady, and assured voice Adam requested, "Duncan, please have the guards escort Lady Stephania to my office, I will deal with her privately."
Then with a click of his heels, he about faced to march behind the Royal Guards who were already carrying the frozen Lady Stephania into his office, just down the hallway from his father's. Before leaving the room, he saw his father's face registering awe and respect at his new found authoritarian command. Teela and Duncan remained in the King's office to quickly catch up with him about other security measures that were recently taken by the Royal Guards.
Halfway down the hallway, Adam heard the staccato tapping of Teela's high-heeled boots as she tried to catch up with him. "Adam", she called for him her voice quivering from nervousness.
Briefly stopping, he allowed her to reach him. Breathlessly she addressed him, "Where were you?"
Adam noticed that her voice lacked its usual accusatory undertone. Instead, it was colored by genuine concern. "Worried about me, Tee?", he asked teasingly, a crooked smile gracing his lips.
From the storm of emotions crossing her beautiful face, Adam could tell he had just pissed her off. Planting her hands on her rounded hips, Teela raised her head as she responded "Off course, I am." "Orko stated that you were part of the search party to find me, but once again you weren't where you were supposed to be", she stated indignantly. This part of the story was somehow left out of the information shared with the King.
Hating her indignation, Adam responded "Ask your father for my whereabouts, he should know." He then proceeded to walk toward his office but was stopped by the captain again.
"Adam, please", he heard her pleading. "I just want to make sure you are alright."
Seeing that Teela was not in attack mode, he nodded his head before closing the gap between them. Taking one of her warms hands into his larger one he stated, "I'm fine, Tee." "The real question is how are you?"
"Me?", she asked surprised that he turned the table on her and was now questioning about her welfare.
"Yes, you were the one who was abducted." "Are you alright?", he asked lovingly.
"Adam, I'm fine", she responded blushing at the note of concern she heard in his voice.
Her blush did not go unnoticed with the Prince. However, he wondered at its cause. This wasn't a typical Teela response. The only times she blushed in front of him was when he was He-Man. Adam wanted to explore this further; however, knew that this wasn't the time. The Royal Guards had just finished depositing Stephania in his office. From experience he knew that she would soon defrost and he wanted to be alone with her, with the door closed before she did so. Therefore, he found himself answering "Good." "I'll come check up on you later, but now I must deal with Lady Stephania."
"Alone?", she asked.
He couldn't help but tease her again, "Are you afraid that she might harm me?" "She won't!", he answered confidently. "The guards will remain directly outside my office."
"I thought I might help with the interrogation", she stated.
"Thank you, Teela." "However, I think it's best if I handle this, alone." "I'm afraid that with you in the room, I won't get anything out of her."
Accepting his reasoning as truth, Teela acquiesced. However, that didn't mean she would be leaving his side completely. "I'll stay right outside your door then."
"Teela, that's not necessary", Adam responded. He didn't want her anywhere near his door as he was sure she would be eavesdropping on his conversation with Stephania. He knew that if he got Stephania to talk, much of it would be negative towards Teela. Adam wanted to protect her from this. What Teela didn't know was that Adam planned on dismissing the Guard as soon as he closed the door. What he had to discuss with Stephania was for her ladyship's ears alone.
"Adam", she whined.
"I said no, Captain", he interrupted. "You're dismissed", the Prince stated acerbically to a dumbfounded Teela. His tone left no room for disobeying. Teela knew that when he used this tone, he meant business. He hardly used his 'Princely' tone with her, but when he did, she knew that she couldn't and wouldn't disobey him.
Angered that he dismissed her, she turned around and walked hurriedly in the opposite direction of the Royal offices, directly toward the Royal Family's private living areas, her high heeled boots beating furiously on the polished marble floor.
Adam breathed a sigh of relief at her retreating figure. Many times throughout tonight's conversation in his father's study, Adam thought that Teela would outright ask him if there was any truth, beyond what the King speculated, to give rise to Stephania's claim that Adam had chosen Teela as his bride.
Off course he would answer in the affirmative, there was no way he would lie to her any longer. However, this wasn't how he envisioned declaring his feelings to her. Adam was glad that Teela easily accepted his father's explanation.
As Adam closed the door behind him, he contemplated what his father said. He wondered if he would face any more obstacles in his pursuit of courting the brave captain. He knew that the members of his father's court would give him a hard time about a marriage between them. Those same court member's had done it to his own parents, when King Randor had made his engagement announcement to Lieutenant Marlena Glenn. At first, only a handful of courtiers were happy for the young King. The majority of his council were disappointed that his father had not chosen an Eternian for his bride. However, his mother's dedication to the Kingdom quickly proved that she was the right candidate for position of Queen.
Walking to sit behind his oak desk, Adam knew that he had to nip this disrespectful behavior in the butt. Sitting in his office chair, he locked gazes with the now thawing noblewoman. Always the gentleman, he ordered cups of warm tea to be brought into his study. He knew that Lady Stephania would appreciate the warmth. Adam's tactic to reveal the Rock People's children location would be different than Teela's. She spat venom, he would use his charm to milk the details from her. Standing up, he walked towards the wall where the room's temperature gauge rested, turning the heat up a few more degrees. He then returned to his chair behind his desk and waited patiently until she completely regained her normal body temperature.
Lady Stephania slowly felt herself return to normal. As feeling crept back into her frozen limbs, she blinked open her eyelids finding herself face to face with a very serious looking Prince Adam. In her limited interaction with the Prince, she had never seen this serious side of him before. A look of surprise settled on her face when she realized she was alone with him. Knowing him as a gentle mannered and even tempered individual, she was confused at the threatening anger emanating off him. This was not the usual easy going, goofy, aloof Prince Adam staring at her. Lady Stephania did not know who this was. A shiver of excitement ran up her spine. He truly was a magnificent creature.
When totally defrosted she couldn't control her muscle movements, thus she found herself collapsing to the floor. Adam quickly pushed out of his chair, came around his table, and ran to her side. Scooping low, he wrapped his strong arms around her limp form as he lifted her off the ground. Walking to a nearby settee, he deposited her there before grabbing a blanket to wrap her in.
Stephania was grateful for the extra warmth. The complete change in his demeanor did not go unnoticed with her. She wondered if he was aware of her transgression. His words clarified her suspicion, "I'm not interested."
Opening her mouth to make her plea, she immediately closed it with his next words "Teela and I have been very close friends since childhood." "Her father and she are the Royal Family's closest allies, what made you think to harm her?" Stephania noticed that his voice was calm lacking any trace of malice; however, the strength in his words did not hide the fact that he was extremely angry.
"My Prince", she began, "I was only trying to make sure that I protected the Crown."
Now this was bullshit. Adam bit the inside of his cheek to keep his mouth shut. Off course, as He-Man he had learned the real reason why Stephania had tried to harm Teela. As Adam, he needed her to state it directly to him, as he wasn't supposed to know the reason.
"Teela is not a threat to Eternia, Stephania." "You are", he clarified. "By attempting to murder my childhood friend and kidnapping the Rock People's children you have threatened several of my allies."
Flippantly she stated, "Those pesky speaking rocks are fine." "I didn't harm them, just hid them."
"Why involve the Rock People at all?", Adam asked as he leaned forward to pour them a cup of steaming tea. Handing her one, he waited until she answered his question before pouring himself a cup also.
"I knew that they'd do anything to retrieve their young ones." "I wanted to ensure Teela didn't escape", she replied. Then in a whisper she stated, "I still have no idea how she did."
"Teela has many skills", he smirked. He too wondered how Teela had escaped. Teela had not given anyone the specifics back at Grayskull. Curious, he decided he would ask her about it. Addressing the noblewoman, Adam stated "We'll talk about Captain Teela in a minute, but first I want to know where you hid those children."
"I can't tell you", she stated flippantly.
"Can't or won't?", he asked lowering his voice to almost a whisper.
"My Prince, you have my word that no harm will befall the Rock People's children; however, I can't…", Adam didn't let her finish her sentence as he interrupted her. The Prince could hear the blatant lie in her voice.
"Stephania I am not asking you to tell me where those children are, I am commanding you", he stated.
Swallowing her next words at his commanding demand, Stephania leaned back against the settee. Raising a delicate hand, she took hold of some of her long loose black hair, twirling it around her fingers. Reverting to coyness, she crossed her one leg over the other revealing a well shaped thigh. Pushing her back even further into the settee caused her chest to puff out, raising her full rounded breasts as she breathlessly cooed his name.
Shaking his head, Adam looked away from the noblewoman. He was so tired of courtesans blatantly putting their bodies on display for him. Rubbing a hand over his eyes, he stated "Stephania save your feminine wiles for someone who cares."
Peeved at his dismissal of her attempt at seduction, she sat upright voicing her displeasure, "What do you see in her anyway!"
Adam didn't need clarification to know she was talking about a very temperamental red-head. Taking a deep breath he opened his mouth to answer, but the words escaping his mouth were dwarfed from the noise of an explosion blasting the wall behind his desk. With quick reflexes, he threw himself over Stephania's form as he pulled them off the settee. When the dust settled, he lifted his head to look out of the hole that used to be his office wall. Floating in midair was none other than Skeletor and Count Marzo in the Collector. Adam swore beneath his breath. Isolated as he was with just Stephania, Adam wondered how he would be able to get away to transform without leaving her at their mercy. Even though she had threatened Teela, Adam's vow to protect all Eternians would not allow him to let get her hurt. Propping himself on all fours, he reached for the invincible Power Sword always sheathed on his back.
Sitting back on his hunches, he pushed Stephania in back of him with one hand as he unsheathed his sword with the other. As he did so, his mind also registered the fact that both Skeletor and Marzo seemed to have healed very quickly after their run in with his alter ego and Battle Cat. Skeletor hardly never mounted two attacks on one day. This puzzled the Prince. He was further puzzled by the fact that Skeletor seemed to be targeting him. That was different, because Skeletor typically left him alone. What reason did the owner of Snake Mountain have to blast into his office? As Adam shielded the noblewoman with his own body, he questioned Skeletor's motives.
Having been dismissed by the Prince, Teela walked dejectedly back to her rooms. She was in dire need of a warm shower and some quiet time to delve deeper into all these new revelations surrounding her life and position.
So the King wanted her to continue to protect Adam on his Royal Tour. She contemplated his words, 'Those on the outskirts have always speculated if your relationship ran deeper than what you portrayed.'
Teela wondered the same thing. He-Man's declaration that Adam was in love with her rang in her mind. Stopping short right outside her living courters, Teela stared at her keypad as she contemplated whether or not the King was aware of her five year long clandestine relationship with Eternia's Hero. She wondered what His Majesty's thoughts would be about it if Adam is He-Man. Snapping out of her reverie, she entered the codes necessary to open the electric sliding door. Walking into her private haven, Teela hoped that her Sovereigns weren't aware of her private love life.
As she walked into her restroom, Teela's thoughts turned to her newly found mother. Stripping out of the uniform her mother magically procured for her, she turned on the water jets, hot steam quickly filling up her bathroom. Teela still couldn't believe that the woman she helped protect all these years, was none other than her flesh and blood. Bringing images of their interactions to her mind, Teela realized they were a spit image of each other. She didn't need to see the Sorceress without her headdress to know that her mother's hair was just as red as her own. As she lowered herself into the warm water, Teela thought about her father. That man had to give up so much, in order to serve Eternia. She was beyond grateful to him for all he had given her. Teela admitted she owed both of her parents a lot, for all the measures they had taken to ensure her well-being.
As she shampooed her hair, she thought about Queen Marlena. To Teela it was obvious that her mother and Adam's were very much alike. Both had lost their daughters; despite it being for different reasons. She wondered if the Queen knew that Teela lived at the Palace as a 'fill-in' for Adora. Rinsing her locks, she leaned back to rest her head against the bathtub when she heard a loud explosion rock the Palace's walls.
Jumping out of the bathtub, she grabbed her discarded uniform, quickly pulling it up over her wet body. With her long still semi-soapy locks dripping down her back, she made a beeline out of her room. As she ran through her bedroom, her gaze landed on her computer console on the wall. A red glowing dot indicated the location of the attack.
Teela instantly recognized the location.
Adam's study.
With no further thought, she ran straight for his office.
"My, my." "What do we have here?", crooned Eternia's fleshless tormentor over the ship's communicator. "If it isn't the cowardly, Prince Adam."
Hearing Skeletor's jibe, Adam hated the fact that he needed to keep a double identity. If it wasn't for the safety of his parents, the Prince would have transformed into his supernaturally powered self right then and there. Taking a deep breath to qualm his desire, Adam scooted backwards closer to the wall behind him to avoid being blasted by bonehead's magic, as he uttered "What do you want Skeletor?"
Skeletor answered, "Nothing with you whelp", before lowering the battleship's visor to blast him with a silver-colored magical beam.
Calling on years of training, Adam quickly dropped to the floor rolling away from the magical beam in the nick of time. As he rolled he clutched his Power Sword to his chest. Coming to a stop, he brought the sword in front of his chest. Adam knew that he didn't need to be transformed for him to use the Power Sword to ward off Skeletor's attack. Knowing his enemy so well, Adam also knew that even if he used the sword, Skeletor's super-inflated ego would cover the fact that Adam's sword had the same magic defecting power as the Power Sword. Adam would use the sword to protect himself and Stephania if need be.
"Your graced with speed, coward", Skeletor taunted. "Let's see if you can avoid a double attack!"
Stretching both of his hands in front of him, Skeletor let loose double beams of energy which traveled quickly toward Prince Adam.
As Adam raised the sword in front of him to ward off Skeletor's attack, the door flung violently inwards as Teela and a regiment of Royal Guards came storming through his office. Releasing a breath he didn't know he was holding, Adam's gaze darted left and right as he quickly formulated his escape plan. With the guards there and Skeletor's attention now directed on them, he could spare the few necessary minutes to find a place to hide and transform.
Sheathing his sword and without a backwards glance, Adam ran in front of Teela and barreled through the guards. Thankfully, no one tried to stop him as they were used to him running away from a fight. As soon as Teela noticed he was going to bolt, she ran further into the room leaving the guards behind. Raising both of her arms, she fired simultaneous lasers from her wrists. The beams didn't impact the aircrafts heavy metal; however, her intervention allowed Adam to get away.
Skeletor sat behind the wheel of the Collector laughing at the Guards' efforts. Inside the Collector, they were no match for him. However, very quickly his ship began being bombarded by heavier artillery coming from the Palace's many towers. Apparently, Man-At-Arms must have updated the Palace's air defense systems. Hundreds of guards sat mounted on top of energy blasters, their throttles all focused on the Collector. The bombardment caused a thick plume of smoke to rise from the Collector, irritated the Overlord of Evil, who up until this point was enjoying toying with his nemesis's cowardly offspring.
Turning to Count Marzo, Skeletor yelled "Get what we came for", before plopping into the control seat as he pushed the reverse throttle button.
Marzo didn't need any further encouragement. Cloaking himself in a protective invisible shield, he teleported himself into the Prince's office. Teela's lasers bounced harmlessly off of him as he walked past the irate Captain. Increasing her laser's power, she started running after the Count as he made his way toward Lady Stephania. His target now becoming evident, Teela commanded her regiment to guard the noblewoman at all costs.
The laser's fire did not affect Count Marzo at all. Coming to stand in front of the raven-haired beauty, he emanated a pulsing power of white light blinding all those in the room.
When Teela and her guards regained their sight, they noticed the room was now empty. Running to the crumbling wall's edge, Teela peered out over the ruble noticing a retreating Collector. Radioing in to her father, she informed him that Lady Stephania was gone and requested permission to board a Skysled to go after her.
As she spoke into her communicator, He-Man ran into the room. Scanning left and right, he too noticed that Lady Stephania was gone. Looking out the window he saw the retreating aircraft. He couldn't let Skeletor and Count Marzo get away with abducting a noblewoman. Clenching his muscles, he ran a few steps back towards his office door, before propelling himself out of the jagged wall at blinding speed. His momentum flung him outwards over the wall. With a closed fist, he flew through the air, quickly closing the gap between himself and Skeletor's ship. Coming within a few yards from the Collector, He-Man brought back his mighty fist as he readied his body to make contact with the flying ship. Grabbing onto the tail of the ship with one hand, he slammed his other fist through the metal crating a gaping hole. As the ship veered off course, He-Man ripped off the entire back panel of the Collector. Now having a way in, he somersaulted inside. Running towards the front of the room, it took a minute for Eternia's Hero to register that there was no resistance from inside. Coming to stand at the control panel, he violently turned the pilot's seat around to find it empty.
Once again, Skeletor disappeared from within the hero's clutches. Angered at the revelation, He-Man slammed his fist through the control panel rendering the Collector unflyable. As the ship careened towards the ground, He-Man realized it was going to crash into the Royal Gardens. Thinking of his mother and the amount of time she dedicated to beautifying the gardens, the warrior did the only thing possible. He jumped out of the plummeting aircraft, landing on the ground in a crouched position. Lifting his head, he assessed the direction the craft was spiraling towards, before running after it. Positioning himself beneath the aircraft, he caught it in his mighty hands and with a grunt lowered it gingerly to the ground. Wiping his hands clean on his fury shorts, He-Man saw he had obtained the attention of both citizens and guards alike.
A loud thunder of applause arose from the crowd at his antics. Bowing low, he accepted their thanks. When he raised his head, his gaze traversed the Palace's wall toward his office. From his vantage point, he could see Teela leaning over the crumbled wall's edge. Hands on hips, a scowl marred her beautiful features. He knew that she would be asking him her famous question. Within seconds, Teela cupped her hands around her mouth. Over the continued applause from the crowd, she yelled "Where's Prince Adam."
Although He-Man couldn't physically hear her voice, he had no problem deciphering her words. Slowly, he began walking towards the Palace's door. As he approached his secret home, the King and Queen ran into the courtyard.
The Royal Couple had seen their son leap out of his demolished office. With mouths agape, they watched as he landed on the Collector and punched his way inside. When he re-emerged to jump to the ground, they quickly made their way downstairs. Now facing their transformed son, neither parent knew what to say.
Seeing their confusion, He-Man walked up to them and bowed before them. Straightening he stated, "Your Majesties, Skeletor is gone." "I'm afraid he and Count Marzo have kidnapped Lady Stephania."
Clearing his throat, King Randor addressed his disguised son "Thank you again for coming to Eternia's need, He-Man." "Your heroics have once again spared the lives of many Eternians." "We are forever grateful for your presence."
"No thanks is necessary, Sire", He-Man replied. Lifting one corner of his mouth into a grin, he continued "Just doing my duty", before inclining his head in front of his parents. As he raised his head, he saw that Duncan had also joined them in the courtyard.
"He-Man, thank the Ancients you are alright", Duncan stated always concerned for his charge.
"Thank you Duncan", He-Man replied. "I think I totally destroyed the Collector." "Skeletor won't be happy I messed up his toy", the warrior commented.
"It should teach him to stop destroying my walls", Randor stated with a chuckle. Chummily putting an arm around He-Man, the King shared a private smile with his son. "Come inside for a little while", Randor stated.
Taking a few steps toward the Palace within his father's embrace, He-Man looked up once again towards his office. He saw that Teela was still perched on its edge, staring at the Royal Family's antics a look of confusion now evident on her features.
King Randor also noticed his son's gaze. Landing on the beautiful hot-tempered redhead, the King decided to wait to speak to his son later. Whispering into the hero's ear he stated, "She'll want an explanation after this one, won't she?"