Chapter 5 : The King's Wish

Several days had passed since the morning when Teela had left Adam's room at dawn. Fortunately, no one seemed to have noticed that she hadn't slept in her bed that night. Even if the maid had known, she, strangely, had kept her mouth shut. And Teela was to afraid to question her. So Teela had let things settle down, and acted as though nothing important had happened. For his part, Adam had become more open with her. It was the only bright side to their current situation.

The day after Miro's strange introduction to the queen and the prince, the king had introduced his son to the masters. Contrary to what Teela had expected, the masters had greeted the new prince as though he had been one of them for a long time, a little like they would if he had been raised in the palace all his life. This fact had stunned her, and she had told this to her father. He had tried to hide his concern, but she had read between the lines, and had understood that her father was no longer in the king's favor, and so he couldn't do anything to stop Miro or help Adam.

All of this led Teela to wonder about the future. If what had happened so far was all, it was bad enough, but there was also the way Miro acted around her. The more time that passed, the more she despised him. The false honor he showed made her sick. Outwardly, he played the part of the perfect prince: a real warrior, compassionate and wise. But all of this was false. Teela knew that fact more than anyone, and she couldn't say a word. Her choice to let her power remain a secret was hard to stick to. More than once she had wanted to come to her father and tell him the truth. The only thing that had stopped her was the pseudo-depression her father had fallen into. She didn't want to add an additional burden to the load he was already carrying. Another thing that had stopped her was the fact that she had read in her father's mind that he knew Adam had a secret and he couldn't help Adam with the secret. Teela had not dared to read what Adam's secret was in her father's mind. She knew that when Adam was ready, he would talk to her about all of his secrets. Until then, she just needed to be his best friend again.

Again, Skeletor had launched a battle that was lost before it had begun. Teela wondered if the evil lord had lost his mind. She couldn't understand why he wanted to attack without a plan. Once He-Man had come, Skeletor had called a retreat. It seemed as though Skeletor had wanted to test Miro's mastery of the fighting arts. That idea didn't make any sense, but Teela couldn't find another reason for the attack, and it worried her a lot. She was not blind. She had seen the way Miro looked at her. She could see the lust in his eyes whenever he laid eyes on her. She didn't want him to like her! All her life she had only loved two men in a romantic way: Adam and He-Man, and Miro was nothing like them. She could never fall in love with such a dark man. She needed someone with a pure heart, not someone with shadow inside him. The thought of loving Adam made her cheeks go very hot, but she cut off this thought quickly. Adam didn't need it at the current moment. And she had unresolved feelings for He-Man. She couldn't come to Adam when she wasn't sure of her own feelings.

'Maybe later, but not right now.'

The king was more than pleased with his first son. It had taken him a lot of time and work to find where his son had been sent after his mother's death. If only Keldor had not attacked the hall of wisdom that day, he could have saved his wife and left with them as the king. But no, his wife was killed by an earthquake and his son was sent with all of the orphans to another country. For a long time, Randor had believed that both his wife and son were killed on that day. He had married Marlena for the sake of having an heir, and when Adam was born, he had loved his wife a little more. He thought that Marlena had a happy life with him, and he had a happy life with his family, until Adam had reached his fourteenth birthday and started to rebel against his father in little ways.

But things had gone smoothly until Adam had reached his sixteenth birthday. Then the king had started to despise his son. How could his arrogant Adam have become a coward? It was beyond Randor's understanding. That was why he had started to search for his first son's grave, and after two years, he had finally found his son alive. It had taken him time to convince his son to come to the palace. But finally his son had agreed. And now, Randor was the most happy man in the world. If only Marlena could be as happy as he was.

However, she had take Adam's side in every aspect. And that was expected, as she always was a loving mother to their son, but things would be better between them if she would give Miro a chance.

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The day dawned to find that Miro had come to his father's study. He wanted to ask his father for a big favor, confident that his father would agree with the first day his eyes had fallen upon the lovely captain of the guard, he had only wanted to have her for himself. He needed to possess her in more than one way. He lusted after her body, and he wanted to tame her spirit. He knew that there was something special between his "little brother" and Adam's bodyguard. And Miro didn't like it.

Teela had to be his, and Miro would settle for no other! That was why he had come to his father that morning.

He had a plan, and he was sure it would work, only if he could spend more time with her.

The king was studying a report when his son came to him. He was happy to see that Miro had seemed to take some interest in the kingdom. But after a very short period of discussion, he became worried for his son. What Miro told him was a little frightening for a father. There was no proof, yet, but it looked like someone was plotting to end the prince's life. Of course, the king agreed with his son that he needed someone to protect him. And who would be better suited to this task than Adam's bodyguard?

After all, Adam, with his way of life, didn't need a bodyguard anymore. After all, who would want to attack the cowardly prince when there was a bigger threat? That was why the king sent for Teela.

Teela was mock-sparring with Adam when a guard came and said to her that the king had summoned her. Adam cast a worried look Teela's way, but she smiled at him to ease his mind. She didn't want him to worry too much for her. After that, she followed the guard to the king's study.

But nothing could have prepared her for what the king wanted to say to her.

She had believed that the king wanted to speak with her about the journey that she and Adam were scheduled to make in a couple of weeks. She had been looking forward to that event: Her and Adam, far away from the palace for an extended period of time. Alone. At first it had looked like some kind of punishment to her, but now it looked like a taste of freedom. That was why the king had caught her totally off-guard when he had told her that after today she was officially Miro's bodyguard.

For a couple of minutes, Teela had found herself speechless.

'This can't be possible,' she thought. She didn't want to be Miro's bodyguard! After she had found her voice again, she made that point very clear for the king and his son. The king was so furious with the captain that he threatened to remove her from of her duty as captain of the royal guard. But even this didn't work. So the king ordered her to take on the duties of Miro's bodyguard, or she and her father would suffer for her decision.

Teela knew that her father loved living in the palace, so, for his sake, she acted as though she agreed. But deep down, she made the promise to protect Adam before Miro, no matter the cost.

After that disturbing discussion, Teela went to her father. She needed to talk with him about the king's threat. If Adam hadn't been a factor, Teela would have preferred resignation to being Miro's bodyguard. But she couldn't let her best friend down again; nor could she let down her beloved father and the queen. She could see clear through Miro's ploy. He was trying to sever all the ties the king had with his family and friends, concealing it under name of "work". Now, if something happened, the king could count only on the Masters' help. Perhaps the queen and Adam could build a new relationship with the king eventually, but only if Miro stopped what he had begun. She knew, too, that her father was not in favor with the king, anymore. She didn't regret telling him that he needed to take Adam's side, but it saddened her to see such a good friendship destroyed, all because of one young man.

Sighing, she came to her father's lab and entered.

Duncan didn't know what to do. On one hand, he had promised to observe Teela to see if she had showed some power, but on the other hand, his problem with his former friend and king had all but consumed his thoughts. He could understand that the king was happy to see his first son alive- who wouldn't be happy with such news?- and he had loved the boy's mother very much, but Duncan couldn't understand why the king had been less kind to his loved ones since he had found his son. It was not like his king to introduce his son to them like he had. The Randor Duncan knew would have talked about this with him beforehand, and he would have talked with Adam and the queen, as well. It was as though only Miro mattered to Randor, now. Even the decision of making Adam change his room didn't made any sense to Duncan. For so long, Adam had slept in that room that it had disturbed the palace workers to see their prince sent to another room, like a common guest. Duncan had heard Miro say that the palace's workers were not good at their jobs. This had made Duncan smile. Of course, they were good at doing their jobs- or at least they were when cleaning the heir's room was not involved.

From what he had seen, Duncan could say with certainty that Adam's new room was always clean.

Teela knocked at her father's door. She was happy to see him smiling. She didn't know how to start the conversation, so she talked about some unimportant matters until her father cut her off, asking what had happened. Then, she explained about both the king's order and and his threat.

Duncan didn't know what to say. He had expected that it might happen, but he hadn't anticipated the distress he could see in his daughter's face. For him, it was clear that his daughter didn't want to spend so much time with Miro, and Duncan wondered if she was so opposed to this because Adam was more than a friend to her. Teela didn't seem aware of it, but she had started to act more as a lover to the younger prince than as a friend. This was another worry to him. What would become of this love after Teela had taken up the mantle of the Sorceress of Grayskull? He needed to talk to the Sorceress about this, but his daughter needed an answer. He calmly explained to her, in no uncertain terms, that she had to make her own choice. He would support her. If she wanted to resign, then he would resign, too.

This answer made her gasp. She couldn't resign, or else who would be at Adam's side save for his mother? No! Teela and Duncan needed to stay at the palace to help Adam. That was why she would take up her duty as Miro's bodyguard, but at the same time she wouldn't resign her duty as Adam's bodyguard, either. With a smile, she decided that it was time for the two siblings to get to know each other a little better.

To be continued.

Thank for my beta who made from my plain story a better fic. Next week: Teela's decision. Please review.