Good evening everyone. Thank you once again for your reviews, comments and PM's. You guys have no idea how much I appreciate them. They inspire and motivate me to keep going. They also motivate me to edit and post every week. Ha ha!

BKNBU: Keep watching out for Dorma. She's a mean one!

Keithfanatic: Here's the next chapter dear! Hope you enjoy it.

Bluebaby1219: Oh, I feel bad for Allura in this fic. She suffers a lot without even knowing it. Our favorite couple goes through so much in this fic. But, isn't that what a soap opera is all about?

Imhooked: Yes, my dear, a hot steamy mess! LOL.

Smithy: Girl, this gets stranger and stranger each chapter. Watch and read.

FroobyB: You are? Speechless? Thank you! I hope I keep you interested.

Feli3: You think this was evil?...hee hee hee.

KathDMD: Dorma is great. Poor Lotor….anyways, what do you mean hiatus? You can't do this to me! I've been waiting for this wedding for three books and three short fics….what the heck woman?

This chapter is a little more dialogue than action, but I hope you guys like it. Let me know your thoughts. Until next week!

Chapter 6

Entering Allura's room, Coran found the princess peacefully sleeping. He stood by the foot of the bed studying her. She seemed eerily at peace. It bothered him. If she was truly raped, he doubted that she would sleep so easily. Nanny sat on a chair located on one side of the room with her eyes closed; the advisor was sure the woman was just resting her eyes. Not wanting to bother them, he began to turn around and head out when the princess' eyes snapped open, "Have you found out what happened?"

Surprised by the sudden outburst, he replied, "We're still running tests…"

"Tests?" Allura suddenly shouted interrupting him, "Tests for what? Coran, Keith raped me. What other proof do you need from me other than my word?"

From the side of the room, the governess stood up from the chair she sat on and walked over to Allura's bed, ready to defend her adopted daughter.

"Princess, Doctor Gorma is running some tests, but one thing we are sure of is that Keith was drugged and we believe that you may have been too," the advisor tried to reason. "Please, Princess..."

"What is wrong with you, Coran?" the princess sat up. "You're making him the damn victim in all this."

"Allura, don't think of it that way. You are as much a victim as he is. I'd never…"

"I want him out!" the princess shouted again. "Out of Arus and out of my life!"

"Allura!" Coran raised his voice in disbelief. "How can you say that? You're not thinking clearly…"

"Stop it Coran!" Nanny' voice enveloped the room. The portly woman walked to the advisor, her hands closing into fists, her eyes blazing with anger as she shortened the space between them, "That horrible man deserves more than being thrown off of Arus."

"Nanny," Coran began to argue with the older woman, "How dare do you speak about something you have absolutely no knowledge of?"

But Nanny would hear no reason, "When are you going to understand he raped our Allura? He raped the Princess of Arus!"

The two continued arguing until they heard Allura's voice blast in the room, "Both of you just shut up!"

"Princess…" he started until Nanny interrupted him again.

"Leave the poor girl alone!" she shouted, "Hasn't she been through enough?"

"You don't seem to be making it any easier! Do not make me put you in your place," Coran warned, finally losing his patience with the woman. She looked at him, still angry, but shocked at his statement. Sighing roughly in defeat, the woman sat down again and remained silent.

Turning to Allura, Coran tried to gently reason with her, "Princess, what you've gone through…I am so sorry, sweetheart. But, I know some part of you must realize Keith would never intentionally do this to you."

"Is that what you believe?" Allura asked as she looked at Coran, her eyes blazing with anger.

"Allura…"

Her eyes hardened as she interrupted him, "Coran, he raped me. Whether he was drugged or not doesn't change anything. I want him off my planet!"

"Please listen to me, Allura. We still need Keith…"

"Will you just listen to her?" Nanny finally shouted, standing up and losing the ability to maintain silent.

"Allura," Coran addressed the princess, ignoring the older woman in the room, "If you don't want Keith to be a part of the Voltron Force, I will not override your decision, but I will tell you that it is the worst one you'll ever make."

"I will do as I please," she answered him without any emotion in her tone.

Shocked, Coran stared at the princess for a moment, trying to understand why she was so angry. The Allura that he knew was more reasonable, able to view things more openly. Seeing that the princess wouldn't stand down, the advisor sighed and walked out of the room.

VVVVVVVVV

As they entered Doom's atmosphere, Dorma could not stop herself from smiling. Soon, she would show Lotor the slut Allura was and his fantasies of the blonde beauty would soon fade away, giving her the perfect opportunity to enter his life.

"You still haven't told me how you plan on telling him," Hazar walked up from behind her as she stood at the observation window.

"Oh, I want you to be as shocked as he will," she replied calmly, "Is he here?"

"No," Hazar shook his head, "He returns from a mission at the Azurant Quadrant tomorrow evening."

"Good," she nodded, "I'll need a little more time to plan this perfectly." She smiled again. There were still a few things to do, but for the evening she'd rest. Tonight, Dorma would look around Castle Doom. After all, a future queen had to know her way around the castle.

VVVVVVVVV

Walking into Keith's room, Coran found him softly thrashing around. He could tell the captain was in pain. Softly, he called out his name, "Keith…"

Keith cringed in pain, but the sound of the older man's voice reached him. "Coran?" he asked quietly, opening his eyes.

The advisor cringed when he took a look at the captain. Keith's eyes were gray in color, as if he had acquired cataracts. "Are you there?" he whispered again.

"I'm here, son. Dr. Gorma told me you're going to be alright," Coran began telling him in a gentle voice as he pulled a chair to the side of the bed. "He also reassured me that you'll get your sight back soon."

"Allura?" Keith asked, ignoring what the advisor had told him, "How is she?"

"I haven't seen her yet." Coran lied, not wanting him to ask more about her. He paused for a moment watching as Keith closed his eyes in pain again. Finally, when he couldn't wait any longer, he asked, "Keith, what happened?"

He shook his head as he opened his eyes again and sat up a bit, "I don't know…I don't remember anything, just her telling me that I…raped her." He sighed before speaking, "Please…tell me I didn't…tell me…it didn't happen."

Withholding a sigh, Coran shook his head without answering him, "Just rest Keith. The important thing now is for you to get better."

The advisor knew that the answer was not the one Keith wanted to hear. The younger man closed his eyes and laid his head back on the pillow. Coran didn't have to tell him anything, his silence answered it all.

xxxxxxxxxx

After finishing the day's duties, Lance made his way to Keith's room. Reading over a magazine while his friend slept, he suddenly turned his head when he heard the door of the room slide open. Coran gestured him to walk out. Quietly, he did as told and met with the older man outside in the hallway, "Good evening Lieutenant."

Lance looked at the older man, "Hey, Coran is everything alright? How's Allura? Nanny is not letting anyone see her."

"She's very angry," Coran sighed, "I can't blame her for feeling this way. I'm just not sure why she's directing her anger at the one person who seems innocent of all this."

"Coran, he is innocent," Lance replied with a hardened tone.

"I know Lance, please don't misinterpret me," the older man gently replied. "This entire situation is so strange."

"No kidding. By the way, Liam came in earlier. I saw him in the hallway as I went to get some coffee. He wants to know when he can see Allura."

"That's another person I wish not to cross paths with," Coran sighed. "I'll send out word that Allura will see him tomorrow morning. Maybe she'll feel better by then."

Wanting to know more about his friend's condition, Lance looked at the older man and asked, "Have you heard anything from Doctor Gorma? A nurse came in about an hour ago and finally gave Keith a sedative that knocked him right out. But she couldn't tell me anything about his condition."

"No, not yet," he answered. "But he had asked me to call him around this time to see if the test results had come in."

"Why don't we do that," Lance told him as he pulled out his comm. unit to call him. Moments later, the doctor walked up to them. "Hey, doc, you got some news for us?" he asked in a serious tone even though the words seemed playful.

"As a matter of fact, I do," the man a few years younger than Coran replied as he pulled out a small tablet from his pocket jacket. "Keith was in fact drugged. We found slight traces of Niprozine in his blood."

"Slight?" Lance suddenly asked.

"The drug was designed to dissolve in the bloodstream thereby disappearing from his system within hours. I'm glad I drew up the blood work before it happened. If not, it would have appeared that Keith did things willingly."

"Then the drug made him do it?" Coran asked.

Shaking his head, the doctor answered, "No, not necessarily. Nieprozine is a hypnotic-sedative that limits consciousness. Subjects are given a suggestion, which they act upon. But, usually, it is something that they willingly want to do."

"I don't understand, so Keith was willing to do this to the princess?" Coran continued his inquiry.

"Not to the point of rape, Coran. What's strange is that rape would be a violent act. Neither the captain nor the princess show any consistencies that relate to an act of rape. Neither have bruising, scratches, tears…nothing points to that. I tested Allura as well and she had no signs of the drug. As a matter of fact, I tested her prior to Keith. There was nothing in the bloodstream, which means that…"

"What?" Coran asked surprised.

"She could have done it willingly."

"Then…I don't understand," the advisor shook his head, "Why is she so adamant she was accosted?"

"I do," Lance interjected nodding in thought.

Both men turned to the younger man as he spoke, "One of the things that Garrison trained us in was overcoming mind control. We knew that some Drule cultures had the capabilities to mess with our minds."

"What are you saying, Lance?" Coran asked.

"What if, whoever did this to Keith, somehow tried to use mind control techniques on him and when they couldn't, they used this drug to induce him and ultimately control his mind?"

"It's a possibility," Gorma reasoned.

"Allura could have been put under the suggestion to give herself willingly to him…when she woke up…"

"How do we get her to understand?" Coran asked out loud to no one in particular.

"One thing at a time Coran," the doctor sighed.

"What about the blindness?" Coran continued, going back to the captain's case.

"Niprozine is a soporific drug, hypnotic sedatives, in the opioid family. These types of drugs are known to have strong side effects, including major migraines, temporary change of color in eyes, and temporary blindness if administered in large dosages," Gorma answered.

"So what you are telling me is that Keith was given the drug and then hypnotized into sleeping with Allura. And Allura willingly allowed it, even though she wasn't aware of her actions. But, why?"

"Who knows Coran," Lance shook his head, "But I'm sure we'll find out at some point. This is part of someone's very evil plan."

Nodding in agreement, the old advisor sighed, "Lance said you sedated Keith earlier?"

"Well, after I found out what he'd be given, I finally sedated him so he could get some sleep. Nieprozine's side effects last for a day or two, I'm hopeful that with some rest he'll be a bit better tomorrow."

"Thank you for the update doctor," Coran finally said. "Have a good night. Let me know if there is any change to either of them."

"Will do," Gorma nodded before bidding them good night, turning around and walking away.

Silent for a moment, Lance spoke up first, "What's going on, Coran?"

Shaking his head, the advisor replied, "I have no idea Lance, no idea. One thing is for sure, though."

"What?"

"This isn't over. It has just begun."

VVVVVVVVVV

The next morning, Keith opened his eyes only to find that he still couldn't see anything. Although, he could see some light filtering though. Lance, who sat in a chair across from him, softly called to him, not wanting to startle him, "Hey, Keith, how do you feel?"

"My head is still pounding," he answered in a thick, morning voice.

"How are the eyes?"

Shaking his head, the commander answered, "I still can't see anything, but I can tell there's light in the room."

Smiling softly, Lance shook his head, "I opened up the windows. It's a quarter past ten."

Keith didn't answer at first, but Lance already knew what he thought, "Allura is fine. She was discharged this morning." When Keith didn't respond, he asked, "Are you hungry? Do you need anything?"

"No," Keith answered sitting up, "I'm not hungry. What have you found out?"

"You were drugged with Nieprozine. We think the Drules used mind control to make you do what you did."

"So I did it?" Keith asked in a way that sounded more like a statement.

"Yes," Lance whispered.

The commander closed his eyes and lay back down. After a long moment, he asked, "How is she?"

Shrugging, Lance answered, "I haven't seen her yet. But as soon as I do, I'll let you know."

Keith nodded without a word. Seeing that his friend wouldn't offer anything, he began his interrogation, "Keith, I need to ask you what happened. Was Zarkon somehow involved?"

Thinking for a long moment, he finally answered, "Things are still a bit vague. It was a Drule…but it wasn't Lotor."

Interested now, Lance sat up, "If it wasn't Lotor, then who captured you?"

Shaking his head, the commander replied as bits of memories flashed in his mind, "I don't know…right now, I can't remember him even telling me his name. I remember Allura on a table next to me…a Drule woman over her…I kept hearing a voice…It told me…"

"What?"

"Love her," Keith answered, "It told me to love her…kept telling me…to show her my love for her." Tears began to fall from his eyes, "Oh God, what have I done?"

"Keith" Seeing his friend in that state, Lance rose from his seat and quickly walked over to Keith's bed, "It will be alright."

Keith closed his eyes as the tears continued to roll down, "God Lance, what did I do to her?"

"You were drugged," Lance reminded him. Keith opened his eyes and looked at Lance even though his gaze didn't meet his eyes. "We have a theory." Lance began to tell him. "The Drule that captured you must have tried to control you. When he couldn't, he drugged you in order to get you to do what he wanted."

"Why would they want…"

"I don't know," Lance responded, "But, I promise you, we'll find out." Seeing his friend's heart-stricken face, Lance placed his hand on his shoulder. "Keith, we'll find out why they did this."

The captain shook his head and whispered, "Doesn't matter anymore, Lance. I've…I've failed her."

XXXXXXXXXX

Knowing that Allura had been discharged earlier that morning, Liam walked to her room and knocked gently. When the door opened, Nanny glared at him seriously for a second before noticing who it was then she smiled, "Prince Liam. Good morning, Your Highness."

"Good morning, Nanny," Liam smiled gently, "I was told Allura was released this morning from MedTech and I wanted to know if I could see her for a moment."

"Well…sire," Nanny answered, unsure until she heard the princess speak.

Allura walked from behind, "It's alright Nanny. Liam, please come in." He tried to hug her, but she retracted for a moment before sighing, 'I'm sorry Liam. I guess…I'm just a bit jumpy."

"As you should be, my dear, I can't blame you," he told her as he gently took her hand. "I'm sorry for what you've gone through."

"Thank you," she nodded.

Walking over to the living area of the room, Liam gestured for her to take a seat, "Allura, I've been very concerned. No one has told me what has happened except that you were brought in to MedTech after the attack. What happened when you and Captain Kogane were captured?"

Allura's eyes suddenly became cool at the mention of Keith, "I was attacked. You're right about that."

"Was it Lotor?" Liam asked looking at her, "Did he do something…inappropriate?"

Her blue eyes filled with fury, "Lotor? No, it wasn't Lotor."

"Zarkon?"

She shook her head as tears began to fall from her eyes, "No."

Liam looked at her questionably as he squeezed her hand, "Allura…who hurt you?"

Sudden flashes…images of her time with Keith entered her mind. For a moment she felt…longing, then anger. The princess' face hardened, her features turned cold, "Keith. He…he raped me."

"What?" Liam's eyes widened with surprise before anger appeared on his features, "He what?"

"I don't know what happened," Allura cried, "I don't know Liam…I woke up and…" she couldn't finish as she began to cry.

Letting go of her, he stood up and began to walk toward the door.

Nanny rushed to him as he abruptly walked away from the princess, "Your Highness, where are you going?"

"To see Coran," he answered in an angry tone, "This is ludicrous! I'm not letting that bastard get away with this treason!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Coran walked toward his office when he ran into Lance, who stopped him by the hallway, "Lieutenant?"

"I just came from seeing Keith," Lance answered with a frustrated sigh.

"Is he better?" Coran asked as they walked into his office. "How is he feeling this morning?"

Lance replied, "Physically, he's a bit better. Sight isn't back, but he says he can see a bit of light. What concerns me more is his state of mind."

Looking concerned, Coran asked, "I was thinking about that this morning. I think we should call the Garrison. They can call back Doctor Rabionet to speak to Keith…and maybe Allura for that matter."

About to answer, Lance was interrupted by Prince Liam, who stormed in glaring at both occupants with pure rage. Consumed with anger, he demanded, "Why isn't Kogane locked up instead of being pampered in MedTech? Coran, this is preposterous. He should be thrown in a cell!"

Lance made a move to launch at the prince but stopped when Coran yelled his name sharply. He glanced back at him then watched as Coran moved forward, "Prince Liam, I appreciate your regard for the princess, but I am handling the situation in accordance with the rules and protocol of Arus."

"He raped Allura!" Liam sneered, "And you don't seem to doing anything about it?" Liam's veins popped out of his neck as he screamed, "He has ruined her for me! Do you expect any one within their right mind to even touch her after this?"

"I've heard enough of this!" Lance moved forward, attempting to deck Liam when Coran grabbed the lieutenant by the arm.

"Lance!" Coran stopped him. The advisor's attention went back to the infuriated prince, "Your Highness, we are looking into the incident and we will make sure to treat it accordingly. And, as far as the princess' purity is concerned, she is very worthy. Do not concern yourself with such ideas. After all, if you really love her, would the lack of her virginity really concern you? " He glanced at Lance, who barely kept his place before looking back at Liam, "Perhaps if you go home and let things settle, you can return…"

"I'm not going anywhere. And Coran, I do love Allura…and I'm willing to do EVERYTHING in my power to make sure she is treated with the respect she deserves!" Prince Liam growled out at Coran before turning around and leaving the room.

"That arrogant bastard!" Lance stated as the door closed.

Coran agreed silently then looked at the lieutenant, "I want your word Lance…you will do nothing to Prince Liam." At the look in his eyes, Coran added, "I mean it…we cannot have you starting quarrels that will only make things worse for Keith and Allura!"

"Coran, this guy will make things worse for the both of them!"

"I realize that and I will speak to Princess Allura about making him leave," Coran finally stated, trying to calm Lance down.

Nodding his head shortly in agreement, Lance replied, "Fine…I'm going back to MedTech to visit Keith."

Releasing a sigh of relief, Coran watched him go. "God, help us."