In the chaos of exclamations that followed Teela's blunt announcement, Keldor again offered to try to heal the child, but Adam shook his head, despair lining his face. "If the Chamber of Life at Grayskull couldn't heal him, then no magic can," he said thickly.
"The legend of that chamber is true?" Lyn asked in surprise. "But I thought no magician could control its magic."
"Yes and no," Adam said, his voice choked even as he spoke over Josiah's screams. "He-Man can control it, but it didn't help Josiah." He jerked his head towards the hall. "Let's take him to the healers, Teela. Now that we suspect it may be something genetic, perhaps there are some different tests Ramos can run."
Duncan fell into step just behind them, Lana at his side. "There are a few I'd like to run as well."
"Thank you, Father," Teela said, the emotion in her voice touching Duncan's heart.
Teela's hand reached up, and Adam shifted Josiah into one arm so he could take her offered hand in his. He swallowed hard; his brow furrowed and his jaw tightened in determination. 'We're not giving up without a fight.'
The rest of the family watched the small group leave, then turned their attention back to Keldor and Lyn, who still stood in the middle of the room, half-defiantly.
Randor met Keldor's eyes. For a moment there was only silence.
"I'll call the guard to release you," Randor finally said woodenly.
"No need," answered Lyn with a smirk. With a glow of her power that leapt from her restraints to Keldor's, the shackles lost power and fell from the mages' wrists with a clatter.
"Those bonds were supposed to cancel out any magic used on them," gasped Adora.
"Let's just say that Lyn and I happen to know more tricks than your average magician," answered Keldor, a smirk on his face as well.
"You could have gotten out of those bonds the entire time?" asked Randor, leaning back. His fingers drummed on the arm of the throne.
"Yet he didn't," interjected Miro sternly. "I don't expect you to welcome Keldor with open arms, Randor. And I don't expect you to forget any actions you have deemed necessary in regard to his crimes. But Keldor is under Adam's custody according to King Edward's law, and I do not want to see him in bonds again until he has been tried and sentenced." Miro glared at Randor and then added, "Whether or not he can get out of them."
"Father, I-" began Randor.
"Furthermore," roared Miro, "this palace is as much my home as it is yours, Randor and it was always meant to be Keldor's as well. Since you now know for certain that Keldor and Lyn aren't scheming to harm you or your people I demand that my son be allowed to move freely in this place with no spies following them."
Randor rose to his feet, irritated. "Father, please listen," he tried again.
"I won't," retorted Miro. "I won't stand here and listen to you disparage all Keldor has become by calling him a liar again and making excuses for your actions."
"Stop it!" shouted Keldor. Everyone's gazes whipped around to where Keldor was standing with his fists on his hips.
"Father," asserted Keldor, "I did not return to your life to set you against your family. I beg you to spend no more time fighting in my defense. There is nothing that can defend me after all I have done. I will do as I have promised and that is to seek to do good the rest of my life in any way I can, so I ask you, Father, please don't drive a wedge of bitterness between yourself and Randor with pointless arguments about my treatment. It takes away from the good I seek to do."
Those still in the room looked around at each other in absolute shock. Miro raised his chin proudly.
Keldor paused to take a breath, seemingly unaware of the stunned sensation he had created in the family members around him. "You told me before that Randor is a good man. Now that I am no longer blinded with my hatred, pain, and foolish need for revenge, I know that you are right. He will do the right thing with regard to my treatment. If I were in his place, I would have done the same thing after that explosion. The fact that he does not subject me to slow agonizing torture after all I have done to him and his kingdom shows that he is a man of justice. Please have the faith in Randor you have extended to me. He is a thousand times more worthy of it than I." His eyes pleaded with Miro.
Before anyone had time to fully process Keldor's words he continued, his gaze shifting to the king.
"Randor, I often called you a fool, but it was I, all along, wrapped up in my need for vengeance for a wrong that never even existed, who was the fool. I lived most of my life in the midst of bitterness and rage, and my life became a flame consuming everyone else around me and myself as well. My hatred caused me to lose myself and chained me to the pain that caused it in the first place. I know you hate me. You have every reason. But your hatred will lead you down a hard and bitter path. Do what you must for the sake of justice. I will not fight it, but let go of your hate before it twists you into something you do not wish to be." Keldor took a deep breath, and added, "Hatred is a poison that fools willingly drink. Do not become the fool I accused you of being."
Randor and Miro looked at Keldor with matching expressions of astonishment. Keldor shifted a bit on his feet but didn't lower his gaze.
"You have given me much to think about," Randor began...and then he deliberately added, "Keldor." There was a long pause as he regarded the two former villains. "You and Lyn are free to go where you wish," he finally said. "I would request that you would carry communicators so you can be summoned if needed."
Keldor and Lyn nodded their assent.
"I'll take them to the communications hub, Father," offered Adora.
Randor nodded, and Hawk and Adora led Keldor and Lyn out of the throne room.
"He's right," Miro said weakly. "I do need to have more faith in you. I'm sorry, Randor. I suppose I feel I must defend him now since I failed him so greatly in the past."
"Father, don't," protested Mira as she rushed to her father's side. "How can you blame yourself?"
"How can I not?" Miro countered in a saddened voice. "There are a great many things that would have prevented his fall into his evil ways, had I only made different decisions, if I had only stood up for my family."
"You can't allow yourself to get caught up in thoughts of 'what if,' Father," Stephen said quietly. "There is no point in looking to the past with regret. It only harms the future."
Randor remained silent, mulling over everything, including his brother's words. 'But I cannot forget the past, either,' he thought.
"Looking at all of those scenes, I actually felt sorry for Keldor," Mira said by way of agreeing with her brother. "I have done things in my life that I regretted, but never to the extent that his crimes seem to torture him."
Unbidden, the image of Adam's lifeless body falling to the cell floor came to Randor's mind. "He deserves every second of that agonizing regret," he said aloud before he could temper his words.
"What are we going to do with him?" Hannah asked softly.
"He must still serve his punishment for his crimes," Randor said stubbornly. Pierce nodded in angry agreement.
"No one's arguing that," Stephen said, although Miro looked fit to be tied. "But what do we tell the rest of the kingdom?"
"With the turmoil the kingdom is in right now, a public trial should be avoided," interjected Hannah. "It would come out that Adam called Keldor back, and no matter how Keldor has changed, or how willing he is to pay the price he owes, it would create more distrust in Adam's ability to rule."
"You might be right, Hannah. If the kingdom were aware that the man who was once Skeletor is walking free in the palace, it would create a dangerous backlash among the people," agreed Marlena.
"And what of the guards and servants? The masters he fought with?" Stephen asked reasonably. "Surely they have some idea already?"
"We say nothing for now," Miro said firmly. "We need time to figure out exactly how to handle this, what will be best for all involved."
Marlena nodded and squeezed Randor's hand gently. "I know this will be hard on you, Randor, but you will have to acknowledge him as your brother when asked. It's too dangerous for Adam's reign for the truth to be known. At least for now."
Randor grimaced. "I will introduce him as Father's oldest son. Not my brother." The last word came out coated with disgust. "If I am less than civil with him it is only to be expected. Most nobles are aware of how difficult it can be when dealing with illegitimate siblings."
"Keldor is NOT illegitimate!" roared Miro.
"I know, Father, I did not mean that he was."
"Yet you were going to refer to him as such?" Miro asked, venom in his voice.
"No, I meant that this situation was similar to that sort of thing with regard to tension within the family," Randor hastened to explain.
Miro looked as though he were swallowing bitter root tea. Keldor's pleas to avoid arguing over him echoed in his mind. "I will not argue with you. But I will not listen to this sort of talk any longer." Without another word, he turned and strode out of the throne room.
Randor groaned and dropped his head into his hand. His grandchild was seriously ill, his kingdom in crisis, his family divided and his own spirit stewing in misery with all that was surrounding him.
"We can decide things later, Randor. Let's go check with Adam and Teela. Maybe Ramos will find something this time." Marlena tugged on his hand and rose from the throne.
"We'll see you soon, Brother," Stephen said as he wrapped his arm around Hannah's waist. Mira and Pierce followed behind them.
"What do you think, Duncan?" Adam asked as his mentor studied Josiah's test results the next morning.
Duncan shook his head. "It doesn't look good, Adam."
Adam's face fell, but he didn't ask any more. He knew Duncan would run whatever tests he needed to and not rest until he had an answer. Adam found himself wishing he could do something as tangible.
There was an uncomfortable silence as the two men pondered the test results and various avenues they could still explore. Duncan's thoughts also wandered to the Sword of Truth's revelations about Keldor. He finally broke the silence after a few minutes. "You were still wrong to call him back without telling us, you know," he said quietly.
Adam's jaw tightened. "I know," he said. Neither spoke for several long minutes. Adam rose to leave, then paused and caught Duncan's eye. "I'm sorry, Duncan."
"So am I," Duncan said sincerely. "I should have trusted your judgment."
A shadow crossed Adam's face, although he responded only with, "You had a right to question it."
Duncan studied Adam for a moment. 'First his sword, now this.' He had a sudden yearning for the easy, absolute camaraderie the two of them used to share. But it had been broken two years ago, Duncan realized, and although they had moved on, the shadows of that hurt still lingered. He gave Adam a sharp nod, not knowing what to say. Adam seemed to have the same problem; he merely nodded back and took his leave.
Duncan let out a heartfelt sigh and turned back to the test results.
Adam sighed quietly to himself as he and Teela dressed for bed. The distance between them seemed impossible to breach. Teela held a part of herself back. Though she and Adam silently supported each other throughout the last two days, they didn't talk about Josiah, or what Adam had done...in fact, they hardly talked at all. They were like two strangers who had joined together in a tragedy.
After two days of watching Josiah get poked and prodded and scanned until they couldn't stand it any longer, Adam and Teela had finally gotten him settled into bed, hoping he was tired enough to sleep a solid four hours.
"Never thought four hours of sleep would sound so good," Teela muttered to herself as she slipped into bed.
"What?" Adam queried, his gaze sharpening.
"Nothing," Teela huffed, turning her back to him.
"How long are you going to punish me for making a mistake?" Adam asked her sadly, still standing by the bed.
"Punish you?" Teela repeated incredulously, jerking upright. She glanced at Josiah and turned back to Adam. "I'm not punishing you," she hissed. "I'm just having trouble understanding why you can't seem to trust me." She got out of bed and marched around to his side.
"Trust you?" Adam repeated in surprise.
"Yes! You never let me in, Adam! You try to handle everything yourself!" Teela huffed at him in a furious whisper. She poked him sharply in the shoulder. "You don't talk to me about major issues in your life that affect your family! I'm your wife! How am I supposed to share your burdens if you won't talk to me?"
Adam stared at her, stunned by her proclamation. He knew instinctively she was right, but he'd always had to keep things to himself. Even now, years after she'd learned his secret, it was hard to remember things didn't have to be that way.
Adam shifted uncomfortably. "I guess I'm just used to carrying everything on my own, Teela." As he stood there for a moment, he realized there was something more to this as well. He had never intended to carry a grudge, but it was hard to forget how judgmental she had been before she knew the truth. Perhaps he had his own issues with trust as well. He sat down and patted the place beside him. Teela sat, but the angry glare on her face remained. Adam looked into her eyes. "You're right, Teela."
"You've admitted that before," accused Teela angrily. "What are you going to do about it?"
"Teela," Adam pleaded quietly, "I want to change this. I swear to you that I do." He looked away. "I'm not sure how, though."
"You start by telling me anything and everything about your day until you get the idea of openness through that thick skull of yours. That you become so used to telling me things that it's second nature." Teela's voice softened as she went on. "And I want everything, Adam. The irritation with the latest courtiers, the budget headaches, and the times you feel too tired to go on. Everything." Her hurt gaze tore at his heart. "I haven't pushed you for information in the past because I believed you when you promised no more secrets."
Adam opened his mouth to protest, but Teela held up her hand to stop his arguments.
"I don't think you meant to break your promise, Adam. But you did." Teela secretly thought it was simply a force of habit with him, and it was one she intended to help him break. "I'm going to do what I have to so you can learn to open up to me," she added firmly but lovingly.
Adam drew in a breath as he took her hand and traced a line down her palm, then circled it almost lazily.
"Adam, say something," Teela urged when he sat in silence for a few moments.
Adam looked up at her, the raw emotions in his eyes making her catch her breath. "I've missed you," he said huskily.
"Don't try to change the subject," Teela chided him, her brow furrowing.
"You wanted to know what's going on in my head," Adam challenged in a low voice. "I've missed you. I've missed my family. I've never felt so alone in my life, Teela."
At the pain in his face, Teela was torn between sympathizing with him and rolling her eyes at his naïveté. She bit her lip for a few seconds, then asked as gently as she could manage, "What did you expect would happen, Adam? Did you think we would be pleased that you kept such a secret or that you've chosen to give Skeletor the benefit of the doubt?"
"Of course not," Adam admitted readily. He raised his hands wearily. "I expected you all to be upset, but that doesn't mean I was ready for it."
Teela chewed on her lip, realizing he didn't know the reason she was so upset. "There's something you need to know, Adam," she said, swallowing hard. "I haven't exactly practiced what I've been preaching."
Adam stiffened slightly, his gaze worried. "What does that mean?"
"There's something I haven't told you about Skeletor," Teela said slowly, her green eyes stormy. "He killed my father."
"What?" Adam asked, stunned. His hand tightened on hers for a fraction of a second as he shook his head. Surely he'd heard her wrong.
But one look at her face said he hadn't. Teela's face was already darkening with renewed anger. "When? How? How do you know?" Adam asked.
Teela tried to shrug nonchalantly, but didn't quite pull it off; her voice was tight as she answered him. "My mother told me. It was during one of the battles with the Horde. My father was a soldier in the Royal Guard. Skeletor killed him during the battle."
Adam stood and looked toward the door. The door that was directly across from the man who had ended the life of Teela's father.
Rage swept through him as he remembered all of the children and families that he'd helped after attacks from Skeletor over the years. Suddenly he remembered with unexpected clarity a widow he had once helped.
Her house was a pile of rubble—destroyed after her husband and several other villagers had died defending their tiny settlement from one of Skeletor's raiding parties. That woman sobbed as she held her own daughter close to her while He-Man rebuilt her house.
Now in his mind Adam saw this woman anew, but this time it was Lana's face, and Teela as he remembered her at three years old, weeping as a home was rebuilt.
"By the grace of Eternia," Adam muttered. To think that Keldor had caused Lana and Teela even more pain than he could have imagined...it was easier to understand Lana's uncharacteristic animosity towards Keldor now. And Teela's and Lana's anger towards Adam himself.
Adam looked down at Teela, a mixture of guilt and frustration on his face. "How long have you known?" he demanded.
"Months," Teela admitted.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked almost desperately. Adam closed his eyes briefly against the guilt he felt over unknowingly inflicting pain on Lana and Teela, two women he would do anything to protect.
"I'm not sure," Teela said softly. "I guess because we had so much going on, and with Josiah coming…"
She and Adam exchanged small smiles at the familiar litany of excuses, but the smiles quickly faded. "We haven't been doing a very good job of making time for each other since we learned you were pregnant with Josiah," Adam observed solemnly, taking her hand and gently pulling her to her feet.
Teela shrugged, but at the mention of Josiah's name her voice became tremulous and her green eyes grew bright.
"Adam," she said in a broken voice. "I can't lose him."
Adam tugged Teela to her feet and wrapped his strong arms around her. "We won't lose him," he said passionately. Teela looked into his eyes and saw He-Man's determination there. "I won't let that happen."
"You can't promise that," she whispered back. "Even you can't save everyone, Adam."
"I will not lose my son, no matter what I have to do," Adam said in a harsh voice, his eyes ice-blue with resolve.
Teela leaned into Adam, and allowed his words to comfort her. If anyone could save her son, if anyone deserved to have his son saved, it was Adam—true champion of Eternia.
Lyn placed the communicator that Adora had given her on her nightstand and lay down heavily. After that moment of tension with the Sword of Truth, Lyn knew that the royal family had no more reason to distrust Keldor and herself, but there was a deep feeling that there was another issue that had to be dealt with...something that flitted in the back of her mind like a shadow moth.
She kicked her boots off and pulled her pillow close to her. She would worry about it later. Keldor was safe outside talking to his father and she was...exhausted. 'I wish I knew what it is that's keeping me unsettled,' Lyn thought as she drifted off to sleep.
Lyn didn't remember entering her father's citadel. Yet here she was walking down those well-lit halls. The brilliant cloudless blue of the desert sky shining down from the skylight cast a warm glow on the creamy walls.
She stopped abruptly when a shadow lengthened on the floor before her. Looking up, Lyn saw someone she had never expected to see again.
"Father?"
"Lyn." The surprise in his voice was obvious, though his face was hidden as always. "What are you doing here?"
"I don't really know," she said, stepping back without realizing it.
He seemed to grow taller as he tensed. "You'll not have the Ram Stone, Daughter."
"I don't want it," Lyn explained quickly. "I promise-" she began, but stopped as she saw her father's stance change from surprise to defensive.
"That's what you took the last time you were here," he growled at her.
Lyn stepped back a few steps more. "I'm sorry, Father. I was a fool in service to evil. I serve evil no longer. Never again," she said. She could feel his gaze on her as she straightened up, trying to pull herself together. There was a short silence.
"I'm so sorry I disappointed you all of these years," Lyn said finally and held still to face her father. She braced herself, sure that his wrath would soon be poured upon her, praying for the strength to withstand what she deserved.
The Faceless One didn't move for a long moment. These were words he had longed to hear for so long. If Lyn hadn't brought the Ram Stone back to him after the last time she had stolen it, he would have given up on hearing the words years ago. But that simple act had given him reason to keep on hoping. A war waged within him. He was bound by his duty. But she was his daughter. Yet the day she had joined Skeletor she became a serious threat...
"What about Skeletor?" he asked abruptly. His tone was still suspicious, but the anger Lyn had expected was missing.
Lyn blanched. She supposed she should have expected this. But somehow in all of her worries and fears she had never fully thought through the fact that she would somehow have to explain that she was now married to the man she had been willing to take the Ram Stone for in the first place. "I am no longer in service to him," Lyn finally settled on saying. She hoped fervently that just this once, even though there had never before been a precedent for it, her father would not see through her attempt at diversion.
He regarded her steadily, noting the look she always got when she was trying to avoid telling him something. "And?" he prompted relentlessly.
Lyn grimaced. The Truth was compelling her to answer. Her mind raced as she tried to come up with an honest way to answer the question. "Father, Skeletor is no longer the man he once was either. He is a good man now. His name is Keldor."
Her father had his head tilted toward her in that all seeing way that let her know without a single word being said that he wasn't satisfied with her response. Nor was the Truth, she noticed, rubbing the spasming muscles in her stomach. She sighed as she looked away from her father and reluctantly added, "He is my husband now. We serve good—Truth—together."
"Your husband?" he repeated, aghast. He stepped away from her in a smooth, flowing motion. "So you are here for the Ram Stone again. For him."
"No!" Lyn shouted. "I am here to say I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Father,"
The Faceless One continued to back away, shaking his head. Lyn began sobbing as he did so. "I can't trust you," he whispered.
The Faceless One jerked awake, his breathing labored. In his chest lay the dead weight of having hurt someone close to him. Lyn's cries and sobs still echoed in his mind. He got up from his bed unsteadily, and went to splash some water on the place his face should have been. 'Oh Ancients, if my little girl ever does change, please tell me, somehow, before I see her again. I don't ever want to hurt her like that.'