The response to this fic have been amazing! Thank you so, so, so, so, much!

BKNBU: I'm sorry that I am killing you. I promise that hopefully you will get your wish for Liam. I'm glad you liked Elika. She's pretty special. ;). Dorma and Hazar are characters, I tell you. I just love Hazar, he has a way about turning the wheels inside my brain!

Bluebaby1219: Second chapter is worse? OMG! I wish I could post faster. See, I have this gig called work and unfortunately, my boss doesn't let me do the fun stuff. It's really a horrible thing. The slave driver!

Smithy: You are welcome! I get a kick every single time you review. Makes me giddy. I know Secretary of State is not really "royalty", but it's a pretty important position and Coran, I think, would treat it as such…. (my two cents).

Mertz: This is all your fault! I blame you for this chapter. Ladies, it was supposed to be longer, but Mertz had other ideas….

KathDMD: Lance and Keith have this special bond that I think just travels throughout each and every FFN writer. It's universal. Thank you so much for your feedback. I think you are very talented. I love your series so much! You make writing seem so easy. I admire how you can write so many story lines within one story. You're a freaking Master!

FroobyB: Green eyed monster…Allura or Liam…LOL, I know what you meant. Daily chapters…well, as I mentioned to bluebaby…this gig is killing me…darn it. Can you do something about that?

Feli3: Thank you so much for reading. A long triangle…well, that just might happen ;)

Drowningblonde: Don't point fingers at me woman! I need to point my finger at you! Where's your fic? I'm dying with anticipation. I mean really dying! I can't get that "quickie" KA scene out of my mind…hello, next chapter! Thank you so much for reading. It means so much that you are reading.

Imhooked: I'm so excited that you're excited! I hope you continue liking it.

Cubbieberry: I'm so honored that you like my writing so much. Thank you, thank you. I admire so much that you've ignited the passion in all of us again. I think we needed that! So, I thank you for bringing my passion back in our favorite Voltron couple!

Ok, you guys really don't like Liam….we will have to do something about that…..

Well, here is this week's episode. Happy reading!

Chapter 3

"Excuse me."

Keith heard the voice of a woman and turned to see her smiling at him. She had long, auburn hair that reached her waist and beautiful grey eyes. "I'm sorry Captain; I didn't mean to startle you. My name is Elika Jenner. My father is Councilman Jenner. We've never met and I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself to you."

Keith extended his hand and with a warm smile answered, "Please to meet you, Ms. Jenner. I didn't know the councilman had a daughter."

"Well, I'm not around much these days. I lead a life just as busy as Dad's. I just came back from Irmiria, I'm currently residing there," she replied. Irmiria was an area located on the western hemisphere of the planet. It consisted of almost thirty villages that were slowly growing despite Drule attacks. "I've been there for over a year helping with the reconstruction of the villages. I'm hoping that once we're done, we can call Irmiria Arus' first city. I'm also hoping to run for office there as well."

"You're interested in government?" Keith asked curiously.

Elika nodded excitedly, "Oh yes! Very much so. That's kind of my ulterior motive for wanting to meet you," she smiled shyly, "I need help with the construction of some of the villages at Irmiria and I was wondering if the lions would be able to help us. There's a lot of construction and well…our pockets are not that deep. Having the lions do the digging and most of the harder work load we require, could save on some of the expenses."

"We'd be glad to help," Keith replied without giving it a second thought. "How long will you be here for?"

"I'm here until the end of the week, but I'm scheduled to return in a few months," Elika answered. "My mom passed away about a year ago and well, I know dad misses me, despite his busy schedule. I come and visit every few months."

"That's very nice of you," Keith answered, "Let me speak to the group and, of course, the princess. Would it be alright to call you and let you know before you leave?"

"That would be great, Captain!" she smiled excitedly. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Keith smiled back, noticing her beauty, elegance and class. She wore a yellow wrap around dress with mid-length sleeves that curved around her body and an embroider silver pendant that decorated her neck. For a moment, he thought of what Lance had said earlier that morning when his thoughts were interrupted upon hearing Liam's loud voice coming from outside the house. The pair suddenly looked out the window.

"Who's that?" Elika asked curiously. Liam was arguing with one of the guards outside.

"That's...Princess Allura's guest," Keith withheld his frustration. "They are going to tour the town after the meeting." Heading to the door, he continued, "I better see what happened."

Elika stayed by the window observing Keith and Liam as the prince spoke in an angry tone.

"How long am I to stay in this carriage waiting like a fool?" Liam asked, looking annoyed as Keith walked up to him.

"Your Highness," the captain tried to contain his anger, "These talks are confidential…"

"Then why are you and McClain in there?" Liam interrupted, "This is preposterous that a man in my position would be left to wait out here like some child!"

Maybe because you act like one, Keith thought, but instead answered, "Princess Allura will finish shortly. If you like, I can have the guards take you around town…"

"That won't be necessary," he interrupted again. "Just tell Allura that I'm waiting for her."

Nodding, Keith answered, "Yes, sir."

Turning around and walking back, he was greeted by Elika who opened the door for him, "I take it he's not happy?" she asked looking rather sympathetic.

"He could be better," Keith shrugged.

"I'm sure they are almost done," Elika answered, "I think the princess is finishing signing some paperwork."

"Good," Keith sighed, "Then, I guess I better let his highness know he won't have to wait any longer." About to turn around, Keith heard her call out.

"Captain?"

He turned around, "Yes Ms. Jenner?"

"Thank you, again. I hope to hear from you soon," she told him with a tender smile.

Nodding his reply, Keith returned the smile. He took note of how beautiful her smile made her before walking over to the carriage once again.

XXXXXXXXXX

At control, Coran and Hunk concentrated on keeping surveillance of the planet. Hunk, deep in concentration as he viewed the screen in front of him, didn't hear Coran speak until the older man raised his tone, "Hunk!"

Turning to the older man, Hunk apologized, "I'm sorry Coran. I'm picking up a very weak signal, but can't place where it is located."

Walking over to him, the older man suddenly forgot what he wanted and turned his concentration to what the Yellow Lion pilot was studying, "You can't pinpoint it?"

Hunk shook his head, "No. I've tried, but I'm not picking up any particular area. Maybe we should deploy the lions?"

"Let's just study the signal a bit more. Besides, I'd like to have something concrete before alerting the captain and the princess," Coran told him. "Keep searching…it could be just satellite interference."

Nodding a bit easier, Hunk sighed, "Ok. I'll keep searching."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Allura, are you alright?" Liam asked as they left Eden Park. Sitting inside the carriage as the driver guided the horses along the trail, Liam wouldn't stop talking about Eden Park, its beauty and how it developed despite the attacks on the planet. They had walked about the town for almost an hour before heading back to the castle.

Unfortunately, Allura had not heard a word of it as her mind continued to go back to what she witnessed at Councilman Jenner's home. After the meeting was over, she was introduced to Elika, the councilman's daughter. The woman seemed nice and very smart. Allura was impressed and she noticed that so was Keith. This suddenly worried her. She couldn't help but see how he looked at Elika with keen interest. He seemed enchanted with her; that was something she had never seen in Keith. In all the time that she had known him, he was never attracted to anyone. Somehow, she took comfort in that, until today. Allura also couldn't stop noticing how Elika regarded Keith. The princess could tell she liked him right away. She should have been happy for him, but all she felt was sadness and a tinge of uneasiness...

"Allura?" Liam's voice startled her back to reality.

"Yes?" she looked back at to him with a bit of confusion.

"I've asked you two times if you're alright. You seem worried," he gently told her. "Did the meeting go as planned?"

Shaking the cobwebs away, Allura tried to focus on the man sitting in front her, "I'm sorry Liam. Just had some things on my mind."

"Yes, I gathered," he answered, running his hand through his thick blonde hair. "Even while we walked around town, I could see you weren't…you. I do hope everything is alright, you don't need any assistance…"

"Oh, no!" she shook her head. "Everything went fine. I'm sorry. I guess my mind went into hyper drive," she laughed a bit trying to distract him.

The prince didn't find the term amusing. Questioning her, he asked, "Hyper what?"

Smiling, she answered, "It's a term Lance taught me."

The prince rolled his green eyes, "Allura, I don't mean to be forward, but you really should use more formal language, I mean…you're not a commoner like those people outside. Give yourself some merit. Just because you work with them, doesn't mean you should speak at their level."

Shocked by the sudden change in his demeanor, Allura was about answer when suddenly the carriage shook to the point that it almost fell sideways before it settled back to its original position with a hard thump. The princess screamed before she saw Keith gallop by the window, "What's going on?" she cried out to him.

"Drule attack!" Keith answered as he quickly dismounted and opened the door, dragging Allura out, "I need to get you out of here, now. Lance will take you back to the castle. I'll hold them off with the guards."

The princess quickly shook her head as she got out of the carriage, "I won't leave you."

"This isn't up for discussion, Allura," Keith answered as Lance rode up. Shots quickly began raining on down around them. The horses hooked to the carriage fell as multiple shots hit them. The guard guiding it was also shot dead. Grimacing at the scene, Keith looked at Lance as he finally reached them, "Go now!"

"Help her up!" Lance answered, the strain of the situation showing in his tone.

"Keith no!" she screamed as Lance quickly took her hand and Keith helped her mount behind him.

"Get her out of here Lance!" Keith yelled as he began shooting at some Drules that were heading their way.

Without answering, Lance and Allura galloped away from the dangerous scene. Noting the only way of protecting himself from the shots being fired, Keith let Lightning go and climbed into the carriage, "What the hell are you doing?" Liam shouted, "We need to get out of here!"

"We can't at the moment," Keith explained, "Lance and Allura barely got away and the Drules managed to shoot the horses that drove the carriage. It's too dangerous now to leave!"

"Then, what do we do?" Liam's voice shook in panic.

"I've contacted Hunk and Pidge. They should be here soon. For now, all we can do is try to hold them off," Keith stated. Earlier, when he had suspected their presence, he had sent out the message to castle control. For the moment, he had to find a way to protect Liam and hopefully save himself in the process.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Commander Hazar," the Drule guard called the commander from the bridge, "Kogane tried to contact his people."

"Did you run interference?" Hazar asked.

Nodding the guard answered, "Yes, sir. We've blocked all communication, sir."

"Good. We should be able to capture both of them easier without interruptions," Hazar replied. "What's their positions?"

"The captain is at attack point. The princess was taken by the other Voltron Force member. They are heading to the castle. We have our soldiers after them."

"Good. We could use both of them for our plan," Hazar nodded.

"No!" Dorma suddenly walked in the bridge, "We need the captain and the princess."

"Does it really matter Dorma?" Hazar turned to look at his sister in frustration. "Who cares which man we take?"

"It matters greatly Hazar!" Dorma responded wildly, "Don't you see? Who does Lotor hate more than anyone one else in the galaxy? Keith Kogane. Using him is the pivotal part of the plan. He'll not only hate Allura, but this will guarantee that he'll want to destroy her even more after we finish with them. We need him!"

Sighing, Hazar turned around and face the soldier at control, "Make sure you take Kogane alive."

"Yes sir!"

XXXXXXXXXX

As they galloped away from the scene, Allura held tightly onto Lance, who drove the horse as fast as the poor animal could carry them back to the castle, "Pidge, Hunk…come in!" he continued calling but received no response.

"Lance, we can't leave Keith behind!" Allura yelled out.

"As soon as I get you safe, I'm going back for him," he told her without looking back.

"But..."

"Sorry Princess," Lance cut her off, "I've been given strict orders that my first priority is to keep you safe and then…" he stopped suddenly as he horse lifted itself on two legs and both of them fell to the ground. The horse, with all the commotion, nervously ran away from them. Quickly getting up, Lance helped Allura, who had fallen hard as well, "Princess!"

"Lance!" she yelled looking up at a Drule coming after them in motorcycle-like crafts.

"Run! Now!" he yelled as a rain of shots began descending on them. One hit his shoulder and he cried out. Allura did as told and began running away only to be suddenly whisked away by the Drule soldier driving a craft. When Lance saw it, he tried running after her, "Allura!"

The craft was too fast for him and he found the distance between him and the craft growing longer. Once out of view, Lance looked around. Everything was quiet. Grimacing, he fought hard to ignore the pain on his shoulder. He gathered enough energy and began to run as fast as he could realizing that he had to find Keith. It would be the only way to get Allura back.

XXXXXXXXXX

Inside the carriage, Keith was able to put down three soldiers that tried to break into his and Liam's only sanctuary, "We need to get out of here fast, I don't know how much longer I can hold them off." Something was wrong. Neither Pidge nor Hunk would take this long to arrive.

"What do we do?" Liam's voice was laced with panic.

"My horse is over by those trees. We need to make a run for it," the captain answered. "We have to do this right now. It's our only chance."

"But…"

"There's no other choice, Your Highness!" Keith's eyes widened with disbelief. For a second he thought of all the stories Liam had told about himself the night before. Where was that man now? "You'll need to go first. I'll stay behind and cover you." Seeing no other way out, Keith didn't wait for a response. He opened the door and ordered Liam into action, "Go now!"

Liam wasted no time and ran toward the horse, he didn't turn around to see if Keith was behind, but he did notice he arrived to his destination unharmed. As soon as he got to his horse he heard a shout.

"Liam!" Keith shouted for help.

Quickly mounting the horse, he turned it around to find Keith being taken by three Drules. The commander tried to fight them, but Liam watched one of them stun him from behind. Keith dropped to the ground. Liam had his gun strapped to his waist; he could have used it and helped him. Instead, he galloped away as fast as he could to safety.

XXXXXXXXXX

Allura tried desperately to fight her way free from the Drules that were taking her to the ship. At first, she couldn't understand where they were taking her. She didn't see anything but the forest and suddenly within a blink of an eye, a ship appeared in front of her.

"What the…" she breathed out. Suddenly aware that they were probably leaving the planet with her, she fought even harder to get away, "Let me go!" she screamed. The Drule kept his hold on her and despite her efforts it was useless, she could not break his grip as he dragged her aboard the ship, followed by several waiting soldiers.

Taking her to a room that held two beds, the soldiers placed a screaming Allura on one, locking her arms and feet with metal restraints. Once done, they left her the room without a word as she wildly looked around and fought to break free.

Moments later two people walked in; a Drule woman and a man. "Welcome Princess Allura," the woman began as she walked closer to her.

"I demand you let me go right now!" the princess seethed, shouting at the woman who calmly looked at her.

"I really don't know what he sees in you," Dorma shook her head in disbelief. "You are so…white. It's like looking at pus."

"Who are you?" Allura asked with anger radiating through her tone. "What do you want with me?"

"Nothing," Hazar simply interjected, "It's not you we want."

"My brother is right." Dorma nodded. "You are only a means to an end, my dear. Seems that Prince Lotor has succumbed to your charms and I just cannot have my betrothed hoping that someone like you could be his ultimate conquest."

"What?" Allura was so confused and scared, she had no idea what they were talking about.

"Lotor is in love with you. He called off his promise of marriage to my sister, Dorma, because of you!" Hazar answered her questions. "Dorma is pregnant with his child and he refuses to marry her because of you!"

"But…I don't…I don't want Lotor!" The princess tried to reason. "I don't want anything to do with him, you have to believe me!"

"We do," Dorma replied with a nod. "Unfortunately, Lotor's not agreeing with you either. So, we are going to make it easier on him. After today my dear, we promise he won't even so much as look at you."

"What are you going to do?" Allura panicked.

"We are going to make your dreams come true, Princess," Dorma said with a smile. "Tell me Allura, what are your dreams?"…who do you dream of…

She spoke to her at first and then, Allura's surroundings became blurry and she felt herself whisked away somewhere she never permitted herself to contemplate. She was in a safe haven, her mind's illusion of the perfect place with the perfect person. A dream deeply hidden in her subconscious that slowly began to surface.

She was with the man she dreamed of but never allowed herself to love.