Chapter Two
As he lay in the darkness of the dingy awful smelling dungeon floor reflecting with guilt on how Teela discovered his He-Man identity, Adam wished he could have been more vigilant with himself and more stringent with her when it came to using the position he had as Prince to be able to back her down and get her out of his chambers.
For what followed after with Man At Arms in his lab was a lesson in learning about how easy it is to lose the respect of an elder in a moment of temper loss from them telling the truth he should have taken heed of.
Instead of going straight to bed like he usually did after he put the Sword of Power in its safe spot behind his bedroom back wall, Adam walked out of his chambers closing the doors behind him making a beeline for Man At Arm's lab knowing he'd still be up tinkering with one of his inventions.
He was stopped by Man At Arm's guard robot when he reached the door leading into it in the adjacent building on the palace grounds next to the main circular round dome building itself.
"Please hold out hand for identification" the guard robot said with its beady looking eyes watching him place his right hand on the built in scanner in the middle of its body.
He felt a warm light scan across the bottom of his hand followed by a confirmation update by the robot who looked up at him confirming the handprint it was scanning was indeed the print belonging to Prince Adam who it acknowledged in a respectful tone.
"Your Royal Majesty, Prince Adam is okay to pass and have a pleasant day with Man At Arms" the guard robot said bowing to the blond haired man standing before it moving out of his way with a gesture to proceed.
"Wow, Duncan has really put some personality into that robot since he rebuilt it after Orko broke it with his magic" Adam thought to himself as the doors to Man At Arms lab opened in front of him.
Man At Arms had been working on his latest invention he planned to test with Teela and Adam the next afternoon when he heard the doors to his lab come open followed by footsteps belonging to Adam who he smiled at as he got up from the stool he was sitting on taking off his lab coat.
"Adam, what brings you into my lab at this hour of the evening" Man At Arms said extending his hand out to shake the prince's hand in a welcoming gesture.
"Do you have a few minutes, Duncan?" Adam asked using Man At Arms real name of Duncan Knott or Duncan as everyone who was closest to him called him around the palace.
"Yes Adam, I was just finishing up that new defense ray enhancing laser I told your parents about before we walked into the dining room that we'd be testing in the main courtyard tomorrow afternoon" Duncan said hanging up his lab coat in the closet at the back of his lab.
Adam nodded taking a moment while his back was turned away from him to close his eyes trying to get in the right frame of mind knowing the older man was not going to like hearing about his daughter finding out he was He-Man.
He heard his voice from across the lab which made him open his eyes and crack his neck as he walked toward him with a couple of stools in each of his hands for them to sit on.
"What seems to be the problem?" Duncan asked as he placed the stools on the tiled floor and both men sat down facing each other.
"Teela knows I'm He-Man" Adam said bluntly startling the older man into clutching his hand on the end of the table to keep from falling out of the stool he was sitting on from the sudden runaway train of shock which hit him full speed swirling its unpleasant wreck of stormy darkness all around him.
"How did it happen, Adam?" Duncan said with clear shock in his voice as he stood up looking down at the sitting young Prince sulking up at him.
"She followed me and Battlecat to the back of the palace and spied on us transforming back to Adam and Cringer" Adam said blankly sighing in misery.
Duncan paced side to side threatening to bore a hole in the tiled floor of the lab if he kept up his fervent pace as he stopped and looked straight in the younger man's eyes sternly telling him what he should have done.
"You should have reprimanded her and reported it to me so I could discipline her for intruding in on your privacy" Duncan said in a stern lecturing tone plopping back down on the stool looking eye to eye with the dejected Prince.
"She snuck into my chambers when I wasn't looking and trapped me by putting her hand against the back of my hand I was gripping my sword with" Adam explained as Duncan grunted in anger furiously tapping his right fingers on the end of the lab table he was sitting by.
"Adam, you have a responsibility to never tell anyone you are He-man" Duncan said as Adam looked down at the ground in silence listening to the older man's words of father like lesson teaching.
"Only me, Orko, and the Sorceress are to know you are He-Man since we all made the pact in Castle Grayskull when you were of age to become him" Duncan reminded him in a stern tone as he stopped tapping his fingers on the lab table end beside him.
"I was trapped and I tried to get her to leave my chambers" Adam stated lamely looking up at the older man with a defeatist look on his face which irritated him to see this strapping young man in front of him be turned into a pussy whipped shell of a Prince who forgot he came from a father who would punish him if he saw him acting like this.
"There's no excuse, Adam, you are Prince and she is your subordinate and she must comply with your orders or she will have to face demotion for her actions" Duncan said in a shouting tone forcing Adam to come up with another lame explanation.
"And what was I supposed to do when I know she has the reputation to blab everything to her friends who would spread word across the kingdom?" Adam said in a weak voice as Duncan got up and held him up by the chin like his daughter had done with clear fire in his brown eyes.
"Listen to me Son, we cannot afford to have anyone knowing you are He-Man and I don't care what the circumstances are" Duncan said sternly as Adam swapped his hand away in disgust.
"It wasn't like I had much choice" Adam snapped standing up to face him.
"Wrong Adam, you ALWAYS HAVE A CHOICE!" Duncan yelled as something snapped within the Prince as the willingness to put his subordinate in his place in his pecking order overtook his common sense towards absorbing the truth the older man was trying to get into his head.
"That's enough Duncan!" Adam yelled as Duncan immediately froze and stood at attention to his superior.
I'm sorry Your Majesty, I didn't mean to get out of line" Duncan apologized knowing he could just as easily be replaced by another Man At Arms if Prince Adam chose to tell his father to relieve him of his post for his outburst toward him.
"I'm going to show my father and mother I am He-Man" Adam said in an arrogant tone in which Duncan tried one more time to talk sense into him which was harshly ignored.
"You can't do that.." Duncan began but was viciously cut off by the younger Prince whose immature arrogance went from distasteful to downright childish as he puffed his chest out in defiance.
"I can do whatever I want and I expect you Duncan and Orko in my parent's throne room immediately after breakfast at nine am sharp!" Adam commanded in a snotty tone pointing his finger at him like an axe getting ready to chop into a defenseless tree.
"Yes Your Majesty, it will be done" Duncan said in an annoyed tone as he glared at the young Prince with his respect for him going with it.
"Good, and I expect you to punish Teela and do whatever you have to do to make her learn her lesson to never intrude in my chambers unannounced, is that understood?" Adam ordered in a tone of malice which made Duncan lash out in defense of his daughter.
"Don't tell me how I should discipline my own daughter you disrespectful wretch!" Duncan shouted pointing his finger in anger at the shocked younger man who toned down his disrespectful attitude towards him very little.
"Those are my orders and that will be all Man At Arms" Adam snapped wiggling his hand in an arrogant motion as he stormed out of the lab back to his chambers.
Duncan sat back down on the stool slamming his helmet on the lab table with a level of anger he had not felt before soon being replaced with a new feeling of deep rooted disgust for his superior which boiled deepest within his heart as any respect he felt for the young Prince dissolved like an antacid being taken with water.
He clutched the temples of his forehead seething at the reality facing him of Castle Grayskull being in mortal danger and there being nothing he could do in his heart to stop his superior's knee jerk ignorance from putting everyone around him in grave danger of Skeletor discovering the identity of He-Man being that of him who he wished he could have slapped right across his face for being so disrespectful toward his warning.
Orko floated into the lab after he had been awoken by the intense fighting he heard coming from it which made him fly as fast as he could to see what all the commotion was.
He saw Man At Arms sitting on a stool without his helmet on clutching the temples of his head in a clear frustrated posture as he floated in front of the older man to ask him what all the commotion was about.
"Man At Arms, what's going on? I could hear you and Adam fighting and I came as quick as I could after I saw him storm by me in a huff" Orko said in his usual concerned child like tone which made the older man stare at him in a way which made him back away from him just in case he had to get out of there to give him space.
"Teela knows Adam is He-Man, Orko" Man At Arms said with disgust in his voice as he got up to face the Trollan.
Orko's eyes went wide with disbelief at what his ears had just heard come out of the red headed older man's mouth as he stood there clutching his helmet in his right hand.
"This is terrible; did you try to talk some sense into him?" Orko asked in concern as Man At Arms stated what their orders were instead of explaining his exchange with the disrespectful Prince who he had lost all respect for because of his immature behavior towards him.
"We're expected in the king and queen's throne room tomorrow morning at nine am sharp and you'd better not be late" Man At Arms snapped in disgust as Orko looked confused.
"I still don't understand what the big deal is?" Orko said in a confused tone as Man At Arms had no choice but to explain the part of the orders which made his blood boil as he tried his best to keep calm towards the Trollan in front of him.
"He's going to reveal the He-Man secret to the King and Queen and we all have to be present to witness it" Man At Arms quipped setting his helmet back on his head.
"Can't we stop him and try to talk some sense into him in the morning before we go to breakfast with the King and Queen?" Orko asked as Man At Arms stormed up to him with anger boiling over in his eyes as he gripped the stunned Trollan forcefully by the shoulders.
"The answer is NO and get out of my lab before I throw you out for being a damn pest!" Man At Arms shouted throwing Orko across the lab as he sat back down and feverishly got back to work on his invention.
Tears started to stream out of Orko's eyes as he took the older man's harsh hint and floated back to his bedroom in the palace with a trail of tear drop stains being left on the floor lin his wake.
He understood the reality of what all of them faced and it broke his heart to see Man At Arms so upset to the point where he would use physical force on him to show him a very troubling reality of a longtime friendship being compromised over a loss of temper between both of them.
He got to his bedroom with tears still flowing down his eyes as he cried himself to sleep wishing he had never gotten in the middle of the nightmare which was going to be the fall of The Masters of The Universe come the sunrise of the morning.