Keith had abandoned the training room. He alternated locking himself in his room, or stalking other paladin's like a sulking shadow to avoid their purple guest. Currently he was sitting next to Kaltenecker's stall, listening to Lance rant.

"Stupid Galra!- Not you Keith-"

The sound of his name pulled his attention away from the grass he had been knotting together. "Uh... it's ok?" He pulled his knees up, resting his arms on them as he stared at the chain. Wait... wasn't the grass just a hologram? Wasn't he wasting his time? He threw it away from himself and flung himself back against the stable wall, feeling his head crack against the metal. Ouch... at least that's real.

"Now he's got Allura eating cheese! CHEESE! She and Coran are all back on the Dairy Train! Just a few words about the health of our Kaltie here and the usefulness of the milk and they were all for trying it again. They are lucky our earth-beauty here doesn't hold grudges, aren't they Kaltie-girl?" he rubbed the cow's side as he returned to milking her. "At least all her milk isn't going to waste anymore, though at the rate they are eating it, we might not have the time to make more cheese." Keith slid his eyes over as Lance fell silent, wondering how long it would last.

"STUPID WHITE HAIRED QUIZNACKER!" Lance threw out his arms as he yelled at the 'sky'. "Where do you think he got those facts?! Hunk and I, that's who, but noooooo why listen to us when you have Snow-Violet the swanky there to whisper it to you." Lance finally looked over at the other paladin there. Shiro sat tugging at the white lock of his hair self-consciously.

"Shit. Shiro, not you, your hair was caused by space stress and it's pretty, and URGH! I can't even insult him without offending someone." Lance started pouting. "I just don't like how he fawns over Allura... You don't think he's made a move on her do you?" Keith shivered, pulling his hand closer to his chest as he tried to distract himself from the thought building in the back of his head. "You know she hates my cologne. Says it's too stinky. Like I could find a better one out in space! Bet Mr Perfect smells like those juniberry flowers Allura misses so much."

"He smells like Indigo and Ylang ylang flowers."

Keith looked up to all three earthlings, human and cow, staring at him. He blushed, he didn't even remember noticing that when he was fighting Lotor, but he was sure that's exactly what Lotor smelled like. Every time he allowed himself to think about the prince, those scents seemed to ghost over his senses, along with a tingly warmth that danced through his blood. "Shut up. I have a sensitive nose. Galra, remember?"

Kaltenecker Moo'd, and suddenly Shiro and Lance were busy looking elsewhere. "Uh... Where was I? Right! Stupid Lotor!"

Keith stood up, "Bye." He decided he'd rather not be there after all.

When he was gone Lance looked over to Shiro, "Is it just me, or do you think Keith is Gay for Lotor?" Shiro face palmed.

/-/-/-/-/-/

Keith wandered through the castle, barely pausing outside the kitchen where Hunk was putting on a cooking show for their 'Fans' though he did note the largest Screen on the webcam display seemed to belong to Shay. She waved, and he returned the gesture awkwardly before moving on. Somehow his feet lead him to the control room. He halted as he heard Allura's voice through the door. Then ducked out of the doorway when it was Lotor's voice that answered. He plastered himself against the wall, feeling stupid.

"Haggar and Zarkon... they are Abnormal for a Galran couple. Most Galra do not mate outside their species... they see the practice as beneath them, but the odd Khalief is formed occasionally outside the blood, resulting in mixed breeds. In most cases, the Galra genes are dominate. The galran parent keeps custody. In most cases... in all other cases the other parent doesn't... die naturally, and the blood is reclaimed."

"That's cruel." Allura's voice was colored by the pain of losing her own parents, much too young in her mother's case.

"That's Galra." Lotor spoke it softly, but he was firm. "Galra's can't fight the Mate-bond, Allura... they can't do harm to their mates... but there are always those who know the bond can only end in death, and seek to free their loved ones from what they see as 'Mistakes'." Keith heard a delecate snort, that sounded like Allura's.

"As you can see, Altean blood is dominate to Galran. Much to my parent's disappointment." Pause. "Yes, Patti, Haggar is my mother. You think she would allow Zarkon to form another bond while she still breathed?" Keith frowned, how dare Lotor call her 'kitten'.

"You can't imagine how distressing my birth was for them, my mother who had betrayed her own people for love and power, and my father who vowed to kill them all. Yet there I was... Altean in all but color and markings. I could only disappoint them."

"Surely not. They must have loved you," her voice was questioning, as if she herself didn't believe it. "During your childhood?"

"No. That was a long time ago, sweetling, I've moved on." there was a rustling noise and Keith dared to peek around the corner. Lotor had sat down on the dias, Allura slid down to join him, arranging herself gracefully as Lotor seemed stare into his memories. "I didn't bring this up to earn your pity, pet." She dropped the hand hovering at his shoulder and earned a smile from him. "I feared that in destroying your people, My father had also destroyed my future." Allura's expression showed her confusion, and Lotor continued. "Galra are only attracted to species they share blood with, the vast majority of the time. Even those odd cases I mentioned only form when the Galra is mentally weaker than their spouse. And yes, Haggar's insanity has vastly overpowered my father's mental fortitude. But the way they raised me... I could never be an 'odd case'... but in the same turn, there seemed to be no Galra I would bond with."

"No, I felt sure that my mate came from the other side of my blood. Ironic really that my father had murdered them all before I was born. I fear, in my loneliness, I did a rather unkind thing." He stood up, putting distance between himself and Allura. Keith was surprised to note the small grinding noise coming from his throat stopped when the distance grew. When did he start growling?

"Acxa, My general, she was not mated either. But she was... Interested. Like I appeared to be, her blood was weak, too weak to attract a full Galran mate. I convinced her that I was her mate, but that my blood was too Altean to make the Khalief."

Allura stood, awkwardly, moving so that the console stood between them, she seemed uncomfortable with where the conversation was going. Keith nearly walked into the room to save her... but save her from what? Lotor's emo monolog? Considering how uncomfortable Lotor made him, he might make things worse.

"Then, in my banishment, I heard about you. Two Altean's Alive. I came to the conclusion that the only place I would find my true mate, was within this castle. Truth be told, I believe I have."

Allura gasped, but Keith felt as if the world dropped out from under him. No. He knew that Lotor had to have an angle... but marriage?! He stumbled back, then before he could think it through, he took off, Shiro... he had to find Shiro... Shiro would stop her... Surely she wasn't so stupid as to accept... was she?

(Patti: Kitten, or small child)

/-/-/-/-/-/

Lotor smiled as he heard the footsteps leaving the door way. If only the little spy had stuck around longer. He might have heard something good... Then again... It was about time he learned a few lessons.

"If this is your way of proposing, I'm not sure how to respond." Her voice was stilted, angry.

"Then it is fortunate, Princess, that I did not expect you too." He turned looking at her with the full force of his smile. "Meeting you has proven one thing without a doubt in my mind; My mate is Galran after all." She took a step back at the smile then halted.

"What?"

"As beautiful as you are, you are most definitely not my type." He felt Coran wasn't even worth mentioning. "But Alas, finding my mate seems to have created another problem. It is unnatural for a Galra to be an adult for this long without forming a Khalief, with the lie I have fed to Acxa, and the fact she was able to betray me, proves without a doubt that She is not my mate, and never will be. I had hoped to keep that a secret from my mother for a while longer. She and my father have been waiting patiently for a valid excuse to exterminate me. Rebellion is one thing... being 'outside the blood' as an heir to the throne? That can not be tolerated by the Galra. I killed to keep the secret... which seems to have been my worst mistake. Narti may have been blind to the truth about my relationship to Acxa... but her death removed the wool I had so carefully placed on Acxa's eyes. So I traded a spy with unknown intel, for a spy with intimate knowledge of every plan I've ever laid... and when she failed to kill me, surely Acxa knew her best chance was to report to Haggar immediately."

"So... you are disowned? By your Race?" She could not believe a species could be so barbaric.

"Yes... It should make my Father happy, with that knowledge he wont even have to fake guilt for my assassination."

"What is your plan? Surely you of all people have some idea of how to save yourself."

"Of course. I need to form my Khalief, assuming that my mate accepts me." the way he said it made it seem like he doubted he would fail.

"Then... if it's not me..." she looked around, lost. "Why? Why keep me in your confidence? It does not seem like a safe place to be." the faces of his generals floated in front of her eyes.

"It may have escaped your notice, Allura, but you are the closest thing I have to family."