On we go…things always are darkest before they turn light. Enjoy.

I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.

Chapter 8:

The next day, Admiral Graham walks swiftly down a hallway at Galaxy Garrison's headquarters on Earth, toward the judicial chambers. Several men start to greet him only to quickly turn away when they see the look on his face. Upon reaching his destination, he furiously pulls the door open and walks in to find the court already in session.

Taking a seat off to one side, Admiral Graham looks at the man standing in the center of the room and his fury gives way to concern. While he appears to be in good health, despite appearing slightly pale, it is the look in his eyes, or rather, the apparent lack of emotion in his eyes that has the admiral concerned.

Admiral Graham motions to one of the men who had been standing guard over the commander to come to him. After gesturing to the man to sit beside him, Graham asks, "Has the commander been like this since Arus?"

The guard sighs quietly as his eyes drift over the commander briefly, "Since he awoke on the ship…yes…" the guard pauses for a moment before adding, "When he first woke up and realized where he was, he let out this God awful…scream…like a man being ripped apart at the seams." The guard grimaces at the memory, "Then the commander became very calm and didn't say another word."

Admiral Graham sits silently listening to the dialog before asking, "Did he eat or sleep?"

The guard shakes his head, "He only slept an hour or two and refused all food."

Letting out a deep sigh, Admiral Graham dismisses the guard to return to his station and fixes his eyes on Keith as the court martial begins. The admiral in charge of the court martial looks Keith over with disdain as he repeats the charges, "Commander Kogane, you have been charged with conduct unbecoming an officer of Galaxy Garrison. How do you plead?"

Keith stands in the middle of the room, silent, as AdmiralKahler becomes agitated and repeats in a much louder voice, "COMMANDER KOGANE, HOW DO YOU PLEAD?"

The loud voice penetrates the pain-filled fog within his mind and Keith finally looks up from his position in the middle of the room. He studies the men before him, sitting around the panel, as he tries to overcome his misery enough to answer the admiral's question. His voice fails him though and all Keith can do is shake his head slightly before looking back down to the floor.

As the admiral turns red with his rage, Admiral Graham stands up and walks across the room to stand in front of Keith. His sharp blue eyes take in Keith's pallor before he yells, "Name, rank!"

Keith looks up into the face of the man he has always respected. He opens his mouth to answer as he has been trained to do, but nothing comes out. He tries to open his mouth again to speak, but settles for taking a deep breath…the blistering pain closing his throat. He gives up and lowers his gaze once more.

Admiral Graham continues to stand in front of Keith rigidly, completely shocked by the level of despair he saw enter the man's eyes before he had looked away. Speaking quietly, Graham asks, "Commander, can you answer?"

He watches as Keith's body begins to tremble uncontrollably before the bowed head in front of him shakes in the negative. Letting out a deep sigh, Admiral Graham turns around and walks to the bench. As Kahler raises an eyebrow at him, Admiral Graham speaks slowly and calmly to him, "Continue as if he had answered you and sentence him as we discussed…as soon as you are finished here I want him sent to the medical bay."

After receiving a nod in answer, Admiral Graham returns to his seat. A moment of silence passes before Admiral Kahler continues, "We have received a complaint from the ruling council of Arus regarding your behavior there as well as the testimony from the castle diplomat, who found you and the Princess of Arus together. Do you have anything to say in your defense before sentencing?"

Kahler watches Keith stand stoically for a moment more, before continuing snidely, "By your lack of speech…I am guessing you don't."

Admiral Graham bristles in his seat while fury runs through his veins, 'That insolent ass…'

However, Admiral Graham remains silent as the court martial finishes, "Commander Kogane, given your history of service to the Garrison and the complaint filed by the Council of Arus, I hereby sentence you to one week in the brig. Your rank will be lowered to lieutenant and you will be transferred to a new post permanently." Kahler stops for a moment to see if Keith will react and when he doesn't, the admiral sourly grabs his gavel and hits the pedestal, "Case dismissed."

Graham waits until Keith is lead away then stands to speak to an aid, "Catch up with the guards, have them take the…lieutenant…to the medical bay and get him examined."

As the aid nods and quickly walks out of the room, he steps up to the bench and finally gains the attention of Kahler who turns, "Yes, Admiral Graham?"

The admiral studies the man for a moment before saying, "Did you enjoy torturing a man who obviously was in pain and unable to speak, or are you always such a blind ass?" As Kahler bristles and begins to stutter a reply, Admiral Graham turns around and walks out of the room.

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An hour later, Admiral Graham walks into the medical bay and stops before an observation window. Inside a doctor is going over a data-pad and looking at the monitors in front of him while writing down his observations.

Frustrated when the man doesn't notice him, Admiral Graham taps lightly on the window to gain his attention. As the doctor finally looks back at him, Graham motions him to come out of the room. The doctor nods and raises his finger to indicate one minute then turns back to his monitors.

Stifling his impatience, Admiral Graham turns his attention to the man in the bed. His eyes run up the length of him, taking in his still pale appearance and pain filled eyes before turning to watch the doctor walk out of the room.

Dr. Smythe steps out of the room and presses the button to close the door before turning his attention to the admiral. Admiral Graham is silent for a moment but when the doctor doesn't speak, he almost growls out, "Well?"

Letting out a sigh, Dr. Smythe holds his data-pad against him before saying, "Commander…I mean, Lieutenant Kogane is in good health."

A snort leaves Admiral Graham as he steps back to the window to look at Keith, "He sure as hell doesn't look healthy!"

He turns back to the doctor as the man lets out another sigh before continuing, "I meant physically, he is healthy. I was told the circumstances of his presence here. If I had to guess…I would say what you are seeing is a man grieving the loss of his…loved one."

Admiral Graham takes a step back and looks through the window again, "And that explains his inability to speak?"

"Sometimes…immediately following a death or in this case, being taken away from a loved one in such a manner, can trigger the inability to speak." The doctor explains as he turns to look through the window at the man lying in the bed.

Watching him for a moment more, Admiral Graham turns back to the doctor, "How do you treat it?"

Dr. Smythe shakes his head, "Grief is a process…he needs to work his way through it the same as anyone else." He turns back to face the admiral, "When the shock wears off, I am sure Lieutenant Kogane will find his voice again."

Admiral Graham lets out a sigh of relief until the doctor continues, "However, I suggest you keep an eye on him, grief can give way to depression and depression left untreated, can be very dangerous."

Turning his gaze back to Keith's pale form, Admiral Graham nods, "I'll have him watched."

Dr. Smythe nods and turns to walk away as the admiral takes a deep breath and turns to walk back out of the medical bay.

Inside the room, Keith raises his eyes as he watches the doctor and the admiral speak before turning his gaze back to the wall on the other side. The pain that has been with him since he woke up on the ship engulfs him again and makes his entire chest ache to the point that breathing becomes painful. Closing his eyes, Keith's mind drifts back to Allura and the look on her face as she begged him not to leave her.

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Standing by the landing bay, Lance watches the ship from Pollux finish its landing procedures. The engines shut down before the bay door opens and a very solemn looking couple descends the platform. Raising his hand in greeting, Lance waits until they stand before him before saying to the man quietly, "Glad you could make it Sven…" He turns his eyes to the beautiful woman on his arm, "Romelle…"

Stepping forward, she grasps his arm, "How is Allura?"

Shaking his head, Lance lets out a sigh before answering, "I don't know…Hurricane Nanny won't let me or any of the other guys near her. I haven't seen Allura since I carried her back into her room yesterday, after they took Keith away."

Romelle looks between the two men and notices the anger building inside both of them. Shaking her head, she leans over to Sven, kissing his cheek, "I'm going to go check on her…Nanny will not keep me out." Sven gives her a tight nod before watching her hurry into the castle.

Turning his gaze back to Lance, he notes the angry expression in his friend's eyes and asks, "What the fuck happened?"

Lance lets out a disdainful snort, "You tell me and then we will both know." Signaling Sven to follow him, Lance leads him into the castle as he talks, "I have no idea when…but apparently Keith and Allura started a relationship and kept it well hidden for a quite a while." He pauses in his step as he turns to look back at Sven, "I mean…I always knew that Keith cared more for her than just friendship…but I didn't think he would ever act on it." He lets out a sarcastic laugh, "Shows how much I know."

Looking away, Lance starts walking again as he leads Sven toward castle control, "Somehow Coran found out about it and caught Keith and Allura in bed together…"fornicating"…as he called it." Just before the doors to castle control, he stops again to finish speaking, "What I didn't know is that apparently there is some law here on Arus regarding royalty and their relationships." Lance studies Sven's face closely as he growls out, "They arrested Keith for treason against Arus for sleeping with Allura. The council had him transferred off the planet."

He lets out another deep snort of contempt, "I mean…forget how many times that man has saved everyone's asses on this planet or how many times he has almost died protecting Allura, because he had sex with her...they've kicked him out."

Slamming his fist against the control panel on the wall, the doors to castle control slowly open and Lance turns away from Sven to walk into the room. Sven pauses a moment to get his anger under control then walks into the room.

Coran turns away from the monitors but doesn't smile as he says, "Welcome Commander Holgersson, I'm glad you could come cover the lions until the Garrison situation is figured out."

Letting out a snort, Sven crosses his arms, "You would be better off getting Keith back here."

Shaking his head, Coran turns around before speaking, "Impossible, the council would never allow it."

Sven stares at the advisor's back for several moments then turns to look at Lance, who had gone to stand beside Hunk and Pidge. Letting out a sigh, Sven steps closer and asks, "What is the situation with Lotor? Does he know Keith's gone?"

Coran shakes his head as he turns back around, "I'm assuming he doesn't know yet or he would have attacked already." Turning his gaze briefly to the other three men, who glare at him, Coran turns back to Sven, "Garrison just sent a message. The new commander should be here tomorrow…training should commence immediately."

After nodding in acknowledgement, Sven turns around to the others, "Let's go."

Hunk nods and turns to follow Sven and Pidge out of the room. Lance stares at Coran for a moment before turning to follow them. Coran watches the four men leave the room, letting out a deep sigh. He runs a hand over his tired face before turning back around to continue watching the monitors.

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Romelle reaches the hallway to Allura's room and is shocked by the guards near the door. She walks up to Allura's bedroom and knocks on the door. She taps her foot impatiently while waiting for the door to open and turns her head to find a guard watching her closely.

She glares at the man until he looks away when the door opens and Nanny starts to speak without waiting for the door to fully open, "I have told you boys…" she stops when she spies Romelle, "Princess Romelle…I am so sorry, I thought you were one of those boys again."

Pushing away a retort to that comment, Romelle walks past Nanny as she says, "I'm here to see Allura." The governess makes a sputtering sound as the Princess of Pollux moves over to the bed.

Sitting down next to the curled up body of Princess Allura, Romelle reaches out with her hand and gently brushes Allura's hair off her face as she whispers her name.

A pair of despondent, puffy, blue eyes open and tears slide down her nose as she whimpers, "They took him away…" Romelle wipes the tears away as she whispers, "I know…but you have to get up Allura."

Allura shakes her head and curls back into a ball on the bed. Romelle sighs as she lies down beside her and holds her crying cousin close to her. Nanny wipes the tears off her face as she watches the two young women before walking around to the chair beside the bed and sitting down in it.

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Later that night, Nanny walks in carrying a tray with enough dinner for the two women. Romelle walks away from the bed and lifts up a cover off the tray. As she examines the contents of the dish, Nanny nervously rubs her hands together then glances at the bed and the figure lying in it before whispering to Romelle, "How is she?"

Setting the lid aside, Romelle picks up a bowl with some pasta and sauce. Using a fork, she takes a bite from it and chews slowly while her eyes move back over to the sleeping figure on the bed. After she swallows, Romelle turns back to the governess to answer, "Horribly sad." She pauses a moment and sets the bowl back down before turning to Nanny again, "It is like he died Nanny, that is how she feels."

Nanny sighs as she goes to sit by the bed again, "My poor baby…she has lost so much."

Romelle's jaw tightens in anger as she stands in front of the older woman, "So why did you tell Coran about them then?"

A distraught look enters Nanny's eyes before she turns away from Romelle, "I didn't know…the only thing Coran had told me was if I noticed Princess not in her room that night I was to let him know." She shifts her gaze back to Romelle, "I didn't know about her relationship with the commander until Coran dragged me with him down the hall and we found them together."

Crossing her arms, Romelle taps her toes, "And if you had known?"

Nanny stares up into Romelle's face for a moment before looking away. She watches Allura sleeping in the bed for several moments before saying, "I didn't know she loved him…with all that she has lost…I don't know what I would have done."

Slowly standing up, Nanny starts walking toward the door; however, Romelle's voice stops her, "Can you please tell Sven I'm going to spend the night here?" Nanny nods to her and walks out of the room.

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Sitting in his office working late, Coran looks up from the document he is reading to rub at his tired eyes. Glancing at the clock, he grimaces at the lateness of the hour then looks back down at the document. He looks back up a moment later when the door to his office opens and Sven walks in uninvited.

Sven pauses near the desk then gestures to the chair in front, "May I?"

Nodding, Coran asks, "What can I do for you Commander Holgersson?"

Sitting down, the Norwegian crosses his arms as he demands, "Why did you have Keith sent away?"

The advisor glares at the younger man across from him as he states, "He broke the law…"

"A bullshit law…" Sven interrupts then leans forward to add, "You of all people know what Keith has done for this planet…what he has risked to stop Lotor and Doom. You had no right…"

"I had every right!" Coran's voice rises as he stands up, "Don't you dare patronize me by telling me how to perform my duties to the crown! Keith is not royalty, he had no right to touch…"

Sven rises slowly as well, his anger rising as he quietly states, "I'm not royalty, yet Romelle is my wife and still Princess of Pollux."

"This is not Pollux." Coran snarls back. His body shakes with his anger, "Do not think this is something I'm enjoying. The royal house of Arus must continue…"

"At what cost Coran?"

Taken aback, the older man falls silent as Sven sighs deeply, runs his hand through his hair then states, "Do you honestly think Allura will forget about Keith? What are you going to do if she chooses to never marry? What will happen to your royal house of Arus then?"

Turning away from the advisor, Sven walks over to the door. He glances back then walks out of the room. Coran falls back down into his chair, weariness coursing through him as the bleak picture Sven painted moves through his mind.