Disclaimer: I do not own Voltron or any of its characters. There will be a few in this story arc that I do own, but you'll have to wait a few chapters to meet one of them. ;-D
Beta: Poor Dawn, I've made her read that whole Mistletoe story arc, and now I've thrust this one upon her!
Rating/Setting: Rating is T for some mild violence in later chapters. Setting is... what else for me? DotU - Touches of others incarnations.
Author's Notes: Generally I respond to reviews via PM. In general, if you want responses, please sign in to leave messages. Others can tell you, I respond to every one that I can PM. ;-) Sometime the questions you ask will be answered in later chapters. If you have questions/comments that could be seen as flames - either keep them to yourself or send them in PM. I'll try to respond.
Chapter Three
Keith held her gaze. Nanny would say all of it. "And…" he prompted.
"And, you will fight to the death. If Lotor wins, he claims Allura. If you kill him, then Allura does not ever have to entertain another challenge."
She said it all so matter-of-factly, as if it was cut and dry, no doubt that he would be Allura's Champion. As Keith looked at her, he knew she was right. It was why she had come to him and not to the others.
Nanny broke the uneasy silence between them. "This will be the first solstice where Lotor has known of Princess Allura's existence. I am sure that he will have found out about the law and will issue the challenge."
He decided to push things with Nanny a bit. "I'm sure as well. Tell me Nanny… why did you come to me and not to one of those princes you parade in front of her every few months?"
The muscle next to her right eye began to twitch. She knew what Keith wanted, and as much as she didn't want to say it, she would. "You need me to say it, Commander?" Her irritation was evident.
He leaned forward in the stiff chair, and with heat in his voice, he spoke. "Need? No, I don't need it Nanny, it won't change what I'll do, but don't you think I deserve it?" The chair creaked as he leaned back and waited.
She nodded. "I suppose you do, Commander." And after a slight pause, she continued, "I came to you, Commander, because you are the only one who has ever been able to defeat Lotor in hand to hand combat." She saw him arch a brow, so she added, "And I know you'd die for her." Pausing here, she sarcastically added, "Is that sufficient?"
Keith stood abruptly, chair legs scraping loudly against the floor as he pushed it back. He turned to leave the room.
"Wait a moment." Nanny stood quickly and came around her large imposing desk. Stopping in front of him, she looked into his eyes and said, "Meet me at midnight tonight in the library. We have research to do." She saw the surprise in his eyes that she was going to help him. "I have no problem in telling you that you are NOT for Allura, but I DO want you to defeat Lotor. We will work together to make sure that you are in the best position to win the challenge."
Giving her a polite, brief nod, he said, "I'll see you at midnight."
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Dinner was a quiet affair for him that night. He spent the time mainly pushing his food around on his plate and not eating much. When he saw the concern in Allura's eyes, he made an effort to eat something. Saying that he wasn't feeling quite well, he excused himself from spending time in the rec room in order to sit in his office, contemplating everything that he had learned.
At the appointed time, he arrived at the library to find that Nanny had beaten him there and had already placed a number of volumes on the large oak table in the center of the room. Keith walked over to start scanning the titles.
"Ah, Commander, I'm glad to see you are punctual."
Without looking up from his perusal of the tomes, he dryly said, "I'm glad that you can appreciate that about me, at least." He heard her snort but she didn't say anything. Perhaps that was progress.
"I have pulled some books that I believe may have information about past challenges. From what I can remember, there have been at least three-" Nanny stopped speaking as Keith walked away from the table to a bookshelf. After only a moment of scanning the shelf, he pulled out a volume and brought it back to the table. Tossing it onto a stack, he said, "I believe there is information about a challenge in there. I didn't have knowledge about the challenge when I read that historical work, but even though it didn't use the formal words of the challenge, I'm sure that's what it was." Seeing a surprised look on the royal governess' face, he asked with irritation, "What, surprised that I read history, Nanny? Or just surprised that I can read?"
Bristling with indignation, she retorted heatedly, "Do be foolish, Commander! Of course I know you can read!" Then her tone softened just a little, "I was just surprised that you were interested in our history."
Keith picked up one of the books that Nanny had left on the table and softy replied without looking at her, "When you care about someone, you want to know more about them and about their life." He tensed as he waited for the reprimand he was sure to receive for indicating that he had feelings for the princess.
Nanny's eyes narrowed as she pondered his statement; a sharp and biting retort was on the tip of her tongue. Somehow she managed to hold it in. She watched him flip through the book he was holding, his long fingers gently turning the pages until he found the page he wanted. Did she really want to berate him now? No, that could wait until after the solstice. He had come here to study and learn with her so that he would have all the knowledge he could to help keep the princess from the clutches of that wicked prince. The commander could very well die at the challenge. With those thoughts at the front of her mind, Nanny's hardened heart began to soften.
Slightly surprised when the verbal reprimand didn't happen, Keith found the chapter he was looking for and turned the book toward Nanny. "Is this one of the challenges you were talking about?"
Looking to where his long tapered finger pointed on the page, she nodded vigorously. "Yes it is! You found it very quickly."
Keith handed her the book and turned to another shelf while saying, "That challenge involved Queen Margareta and the challenger Lord Kern. From what I remember, there is a book over here… Aha! Here it is!" Thumbing through the pages, he quickly turned to the chapter devoted to the marriage of Queen Margareta. Showing it to Nanny he said, "Perhaps something in the writing of the marriage will mention the challenge." Looking a little sheepish, he said, "When I read this book, I kinda skimmed through the whole marriage part. It had a lot of pomp, circumstance, and," here his nose wrinkled, "talk of beading and fabric." What happened next shocked both Keith and Nanny. She laughed.
Patting him on the arm, she said, "Commander, menfolk aren't supposed to be all interested in fabric and beading as you say. It is okay." Genuinely smiling, she added, "I will read this chapter while you read the information in the other text and then we will discuss what we have learned."
With a common purpose they sat down to their joint task, for once unified in purpose and in heart.
