Altean!Lance and BoM!Keith

Time is weird here, so just…shhh

Crown

He was the prince of Altea, duke of the Land of Juniberry. Standing beside King Alfor, Lance watched as his father touched the tip of his scepter upon his sister's head, her marks glowing, and successfully making her Queen Allura of Altea.

Former King Alfor stepped aside, letting Allura take the throne. The whole crowd cheered at the newly appointed monarch. Alfor gave a sideways glance at Lance and said with a wink, "Now we can finally go find some Kuzzkux beasts in high noon, eh?"

Lance grinned and pointed out, "Just because you gave Allura the throne, it does not indicate that the documents are up to date. There are still allies to be informed of the new change, after all."

"Ah, right." Former King Alfor pouted.

"But," Lance smiled cheekily, "I won't tell Coran if you'll let me borrow your spear."

"Deal."

Both of them snickered and then hastily put on a passive face when Allura gave them a questioning look.

Shield

"The House of Marmora had always been part of the royal House of Zarkon, albeit branching off from them."

A Galra named Kolivan looked quite comical with his uniform and stiff posture as he drank tea with Queen Allura. "We have trained the Blades to the pinnacle of highest combat and I can assure you we do very well in more than guarding royals."

"I see." Allura nodded, humming over her cakes. She may look nonchalant, but Lance knew well enough that she was thinking, strategizing, and planning two steps, three steps ahead. His sister was scary, that he knew for certain. "Well, I would love to talk more with you over – ah, other plans, but first, I'd like to put my brother Lance, the prince of Altea, in one of your member's hands?"

Lance's spork stopped in midair, as he gaped in disbelief. "Excuse me? I do not need a babysitter."

"Excuse my brother; he is quite hotheaded at times." Allura apologized, and then gave him a glare that promised unfathomable pain if he dared go against her. There was one time she trapped him inside the training room and set the gladiator to level 67 as revenge when he accidentally spilled ink on her favorite dress. Needless to say, he was naturally terrified of his sister.

"Well, if it is to guard a charge filled with unbridled energy," Was that a hint of amusement in his voice? "We have a young blade that appears to have the same amount of energy. I believe he will be able to handle Prince Lance well enough."

Just as he finished the last sentence, a masked Blade appeared at his side, startling Lance.

"This is Keith and he shall be your guard, your shield to protect you, your Blade to vanquish your enemies." Kolivan spoke the rites.

Keith knelt down and handed Lance his knife, a beautiful blade with exquisite craftsmanship that Lance had never seen before. With a gulp, Lance took it and ran the edge over his thumb, his blood oozing out and he let it drip over the symbol by the hilt. The blade glowed. It had accepted him.

Lance returned the knife. "Now what?"

For a second, an amused smile graced Kolivan's face. "Now I hope you both get along."

"Wait what?"

Offer

"So," Lance trotted down the arched walkways of the palace, his cape fluttering behind him. "Is your society secret? Is everything a secret?"

He knew his guard was there. Except that he kept to the shadows, which was quite an odd ordeal to Lance, since it made him look like he was talking to himself.

Lance stopped and leaned on the banister, the sun casting his shadow on the polished floor. He said with a frown. "Alright. Is there something that I'm not informed of that makes you unwilling to converse with me?"

The silent treatment. Well then.

"Come out." Lance ordered. Right away, Keith appeared right in front of him, hood shadowing his mask. Lance was unnerved by the single glowing circle in the middle of the mask. He drummed his fingers on his arm. "So you take orders, but you won't make conversation."

His bodyguard said nothing. Lance groaned. He knew it was unbecoming for a royal, but he didn't care. There was no one around at the moment. "You know, I could order you to actually talk to me."

It was slight, but Lance could see him bristling underneath. Lance sighed. "But I'm not going to do that, of course. I also won't ask you to take off your mask if you're uncomfortable. Of course, I cannot blame you if you decide to betray me. We are in conflict with the Galra Empire."

"The Blade doesn't side with Zarkon."

It took Lance a moment to realize that Keith had spoken. He gave himself a mental pat on the back.

"Well," Lance tugged at his earring, "That's good to know."

Keith said nothing more, only withdrawing back to his silence. It would take a while, but Lance was confident he could get his guard to start talking within seven Quintents. Lance said, "Just so you know, even if you are my guard, I hope you can regard me as your equal, and hopefully, your friend."

It was asking a lot. Lance knew that. It was blasphemous that a royal would lower themselves to extend a hand towards the lower class, much less a guard. As expected, Keith refused and disappeared back into the shadows.

With a sigh, he walked back to his stateroom. It was worth a shot.

Champion

Lance hated the games with a passion.

Alteans were well-known ambassadors. As a prince from a peaceful planet which advocated alliance over domination, violence was never an option.

Grimacing, he watched as two aliens fought to the death, with only one allowed to live another day. This was heresy. Just as he was ready to leave, ready to cast aside negotiations, he heard a slight gasp from Keith.

Attuned to his guard, Lance looked at him. He followed the Blade's gaze until it landed upon an alien in the middle of the arena. He leaned forward, studying it.

The alien seemed like a male. He was dressed as a Galra servant (prisoner, more like), with a glowing prosthetic arm that was clearly Galra engineering. Peach-colored skin, two arms, two legs, hideous stunted ears. If not for the ears and lack of markings, this alien could pass off as an Altean.

"He is the Champion." His escort, a Galra commander named Sendak, informed him, "A human from the planet, Earth. He claims to be the only one of his kind to reach this far out in the galaxy."

"How fascinating," Lance mumbled. He didn't know how, but he sensed his guard getting more irritable. Any second later and Lance knew he would do something drastically crazy. Sending calming waves that he hoped his guard could receive, he said, "mind if I could meet your Champion?"

Sendak gave him a suspicious look with which Lance returned with a lazy eye, eyes lowered in a slight seductive look. He didn't know if it worked, but Sendak begrudgingly brought him to the back of the arena. Lance followed behind, posture in a relaxed state as though he was on a stroll.

"What are you doing?" Keith hissed in his ear. Lance just sent a wink his way. With an inaudible growl, he stepped back.

They stopped in front of a heavily guarded cell. Sendak placed his hand on a sensor pad, opening it with a hiss. Lance peeked and made out a figure hunched over a bench. "I would like to inform you, Prince Lance, that this creature is highly dangerous."

Lance waved his hand, a clear sign of dismissal. "Worry not. I am highly capable of taking care of myself. Or are you saying I'm weak?"

"I-" Sendak hesitated, but then gave him a grimace. "It is none of my concern if you are injured as I have warned you and you have entered with your own accord. Vrepit za."

As the door closed, Lance could hear nasty laughter from the outside. No doubt they were going to have the time of their lives if the prince of Altea died in their base because of being idiotic enough to meet the Champion. Well, the joke's on them.

The cell glowed dim and Lance approached the figure.

"Who are you?" the Champion asked, voice laced with steel and wariness. His human hand wrapped around his other wrist.

"My name is Lance and I am a prince of Altea." Lance said formally. "May I ask for your name?"

The Champion hesitated, and then said, "Shiro. Takeshi Shirogane. But you can call me Shiro."

"Great!" Lance clapped. "Well then, Shiro, how would you like to get out of here?"

Suffice enough to say, Shiro had planned for his escape, only for the plans to advance when Lance had come in. While Lance distracted Sendak, Shiro was able to climb up on one of Altea's shuttle pods and a few Dobashes later, Lance stepped in and they were off to Altea.

The Champion was proclaimed missing and Sendak was wise enough not to pin the blame on Prince Lance, seeing as Zarkon would not send a fleet to a base as small as his.

Shiro was soon accepted within the palace staff, acting as a part-time guard to Lance and a trainer in the training room. And if he seemed close to Keith, well, Lance would never admit to jealousy. (His sister would say otherwise.)

Masks

"Are you hiding something from me?"

Lance was hanging upside down from a tree in the gardens, bored out of his mind. Allura was in one of her meetings, Coran was there to assist her, and father was out to visit one of his friends. Shiro was nowhere to be seen.

"No," was Keith's clipped reply. Lance frowned. After two months, Lance had finally squeezed out some information about his guard. One was that his guard was a hothead, but kept his tongue. Two, He never released his mask, and three, he was terrible at lying outright at Lance. Maybe it was a Blade of Marmora thing, but seeing how Keith easily lied to the staff, allowing him to pass through unrestricted areas, maybe it was more of a Keith thing.

Lance looked over his guard who was sitting underneath the tree, arms crossed. Keith leveled his stare, mask betraying no emotion. His hunched shoulders said otherwise. He was on guard.

"You know you'll be with me for life." Lance said. "Sooner or later, you're going to have to show me who you are beneath the mask."

"I am Keith, I'm from the Blade of Marmora, and I am your guard." He said stiffly. "That's all you need to know about me."

Flipping, Lance landed in front of him and crossed his legs. Leaning forward, he said stubbornly, "I'm not moving from here until you put down your mask."

"Then we'll be here for a very long time."

Neither of them moved, both stubborn to a fault. A Varga had gone by and Lance was already itching to do something else. Being from a line of most-likely assassins, he knew Keith could stay still for a Quintent at most.

"No, but really," Lance said, breaking the silence, "you know there's nothing to hide from me, right? You know everything about me, from my official records to how I like my soup. And yet I know nothing about you, even how you look! And even Shiro got to know before I did!"

Lance crawled forward and poked Keith on the chest, "And don't say it's a Blade thing because even Kolivan removes his mask in the presence of royalty. So what's up with you?"

He had dropped all formal speech by now. Spending most of his time at the villages did that to him. It was a way for him to take down the border between him and his people. And right now, he knew he had to have no boundaries between him and Keith if he was to know him better.

"Why do you want to know so badly?" Keith asked tightly. "What's there to gain from knowing me?"

"Well, I would know how you looked like if we were ever to be separated and you had to blend in the crowd." Lance said. Keith scoffed at that. Lance bit his lower lip and said in embarrassment, "and maybe, I just want to be your friend."

He crossed it. He had actually crossed it. Lance fiddled with his fingers, twisting his golden bracelets. If Keith refused his offer of friendship, then there was no way back from that.

"If – If I show you myself," Keith asked in a strained voice, "would you accept me?"

Lance looked up, eyes blown wide. His heart thudded quickly inside his ribcage. "Of course I would. You know that."

"Promise?" Keith asked hoarsely. Lance could feel anxiety thrumming through his skin.

Reaching out, Lance took one of his hands and said firmly, "I will accept you for whoever you may be. I swear upon my name."

His blue markings glowed, binding him to his vow. Taking a deep breath, Keith released his mask.

Hybrid

Stormy grey eyes bordering on purple looked up from thick black bangs, plush lips formed in a frown. His mane of black hair flared out from the lower nape of his neck. What was more prominent was the area around his irises which were white. His skin was the same tone as Shiro's, albeit a bit paler.

"You're a human." Lance said breathlessly.

Keith grimaced. "Part Galra."

"You're stunning." Lance blurted out before he could stop himself. He watched in fascination as the area around Keith's cheeks and the tips of his ears turned into a shade of red. Was this a human reaction?

Keith pulled his hand away and activated his mask, once more covering up his face. Lance complained. "Why do you have to hide that face of yours? I thought I was gorgeous, but it turns out my friend is absolutely stunning."

Keith growled in exasperation and Lance could tell what expression he was wearing underneath. Now that his mask was gone, Lance could finally read him better. He knew that the stone cold silence that Keith treated him with was quiet embarrassment. It was wonderful.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Keith grumbled. Lance nodded with glee. He sighed. "Just…don't tell anyone."

"I won't." Lance said firmly. "I promised, didn't I?"

Keith was silent. Lance waited. He said hesitantly, "You…called me a friend."

"Yes?" Lance tilted his head. "Is that a problem? Do you – do you not want to be friends?"

He had slipped back to formality. "No! I mean - it's fine. We can be friends."

Lance stared and then slowly smiled, warmth filling his inside. He tugged the ends of his hair, leaning backward and asked awkwardly, "If we're friends, then you don't have to be guarded against me."

"I am your guard though." Keith pointed out, but released his mask again, revealing a teasing grin. Lance snorted but grinned back.

Prelude

The whole population of Altea watched in horrified silence as Zarkon stood over Alfor's kneeling figure. In a cruel voice, Zarkon asked, "Any last words?"

Alfor looked straight at the camera and gave them a smile of gratefulness. "Thank you and I love you all."

Vrepit za.

There was a flash of white, the sickening crackled of burned skin, and the thud of a dead body.

This is war.

Siblings

"Allura, please!"

"No, Lance, I will not!" She slammed her palms on her desk, marks glowing. "This is war! I will not send you out there!"

"Oh, so I cannot but you can?" Lance sneered back. "Last time I have checked, you're only older by 20 years. If we had stuck to the old ways, I would have been king and already out in the front lines."

"But you're not." Allura snapped. "I am queen and you shall do as I say."

He clenched his fists. "And if I don't?"

Allura's eyes widened. Treason against the throne was heavily punished. The Alteans were peaceful, but it was due to the throne. If one disobeyed the orders, questions would take place. If deemed reasonable, the offender would be pardoned. If deemed guilty, it would be prison or exile.

Resolve crumbled as tears sprung into her eyes. She sobbed. "Lance, please. Father is already – I can't lose you too. Don't ask this of me. I beg of you."

Lance's anger melted away and he strode up to bring his sister in his arms. At that moment, they were just two siblings caught up in a war they never asked for. "But I want to fight."

"I know. I know you do." Allura tightened her grip around him. "But if something were to happen to me, the Alteans need someone to turn to."

"But they need you to guide them." Lance stroked his sister's hair. "You are the queen. You need to lead. And that means I will fight to protect you."

"But who will protect you?" Allura said in a small voice, terrified with the thought of losing her younger brother.

"Keith, of course."

"And it is not just because he is your guard, is he not?"

"Wha – sister, you look too much into it!" Lance grumbled, marks glowing. "I'm already a hundred and seventy-nine. By the next cycle, I will be a hundred and eighty."

She laughed. Cradling his face in her palms, she smiled at him. "When have you grown so old, already? Where has my baby brother gone?"

"War ages us, Allura." Lance said somberly. Her smile dropped and he pulled her hands down. "Please, my queen."

Closing her eyes, she took a deep and shuddering breath. When she opened them, her eyes were hardened into steel. "Prince Lance of Altea, I grant you permission to lead the third wave, 10 Vargas from now."

Lance bowed low. "As you command, Queen Allura."

"I only have one order." Lance looked up, eyebrow raised. She said softly, "Come home alive."

"I will." Lance promised.

But it is war. And war leaves nothing spared, not even promises.

And I'm ending it there because I have no idea how to end this. Thanks for reading! See y'all next time!