The Voltron Force burst into the Control Room, much to the relief of the Arussian Lieutenant on duty. The young man, one of the several that Lance had been training to take over the manning of Castle Control, stood up immediately, to allow a more experienced soldier — Hunk — to take his place.

Forgetting to offer the formal salute demanded by tradition, the young Arussian soldier began his report. "The villages at the foot of the Kistrani mountains have reported a strange mist descending from the mountains. Or at least, that's what they thought it was at first. On closer inspection, the mist turned out to a swarm of some sort of insect, no bigger than a locust."

A frissom of alarm crossed Hunk's face as he sunk into the Command Chair and began to type into the console. Within milliseconds, the vast network of satellites that dotted the Arussian sky responded to his commands and transmitted a crisp visual image to Castle Control.

The huge monitor flickered to life and displayed the square of a small village, a familiar sight to the Voltron Force — it was one of the many towns that they had helped rebuild.

Alarm leapt into Lance's eyes as he saw the swarm of insects darken the sky and assault the village like miniature attack ships. The square was filled with panic.

Men, women and children, horses, sheep, chickens and dogs ran around in every direction, all trying to escape the swarm of insects. Tearing at their hair and rending their clothes in terror, the confused, frightened crowd writhed in terror made even more poignant by its silence.

The horror of the grotesque sight reflected on the lenses of Pidge's glasses before the young man turned away, breathing heavily as he strove to keep his breakfast in his stomach.

"May the gods preserve us," Coran breathed, as he entered the control room, leaning heavily on his cane. "I've never seen anything like that before." he said, holding his hand to his chest and trying to catch his breath.

"It's got to be Haggar." Keith said bluntly as he entered the Control Room scant seconds after Coran. "She's finally come out of hiding. Coran. Activate the trans-sys. The rest of you, get to your Lions."

Lance watched Keith stride across the room and stumble over a slightly raised portion of the floor. He reached out and steadied his friend before Keith could hit the ground. "You okay?

"Just dandy," Keith replied.

"If you say so," Lance said dubiously, pulling his friend upright and releasing him. He studied Keith intently. Despite his spirited defense of Keith's ability, he didn't like the way that Keith's eyes didn't quite focus.

"WAIT!" Coran's voice rang out as he rapped his cane on the floor. "Keith... Your Highness, please. Do not be rash. You have a responsibility to your people. YOU are the Prince Regent, the ruler of Arus."

Keith blinked in confusion and turned to look at the Prime Minister. "Coran, what are you talking about? I'm the just the Consort, remember? I'm not the regent of anything. I'm not anything at all. I'm just a simple soldier who happened to marry a princess."

"No, Keith, you are not. Not any more," Coran said, shaking his head sadly. "Do you remember these words? Know that when he speaks, he speaks for me. I would that what you do for me, you do for him," the prime minister quoted softly.

"Yeah." Keith agreed distractedly, eying the way that Sven and Hunk pointedly blocked the path that led to the lion tunnels. "I remember Allura saying those words on the balcony after the wedding."

"Those are the Words of Investiture. The words spoken during the Ceremony of Choosing, during which the heir to the Lion throne is named," Coran explained.

"And although Allura skipped most of the ceremony, it was held before the people AND she spoke the Words of Investiture, the two most important requirements for the ceremony... YOU are Arus, now, Your Highness."

Clenching his fists, Keith cursed virulently, exhausting all the profanities he had learned in his travels and inventing some others. He whirled on the Prime Minister and confronted him.

"The people knew this, didn't they Coran? They knew but you didn't tell me, AGAIN. Don't you ever tell me anything, Coran? First the prophesy and now this. What other secrets are you keeping from me?"

The way Keith's voice trembled with the force of his fury caused eyebrows to rise across the room, as did the reaction of the Prime Minister.

Coran responded by raising his voice to Keith for the first time since the arrival of the Voltron Force on Arus. "Would you have listened?" He asked bluntly, impaling Keith with the force of his glare.

Keith froze, exactly as the Prime Minister had planned.

"Allura knew what was going to happen, and she made me promise not to talk to you about this until she was gone." Coran continued in a more reasonable voice, hoping that Keith would understand.

Closing his eyes, Keith sighed heavily, his broad shoulders slumping in frustration and defeat. "I don't understand, Coran. Why'd she do it? And why didn't she tell me?"

"I wish I could be certain," Coran said, laying a comforting hand on Keith's shoulder, "but I believe that Allura felt that she had to face her destiny alone."

Keith blanched. Everything was making strange, twisted sense now. "Of course," he breathed softly, in a voice almost too soft to be heard. "Those visions... We always used to tease her about daydreaming, remember? Well, she used to dream at night too. She'd wake up in the middle of the night, terrified."

"And knowing the Princess as I do, she probably did not tell us because we would worry," Coran mused. "She is more like her mother than I thought."

"We can't go through this now," Keith said, starting forward. "We can call a meeting to discuss everything later. Come on, team. It's time to head out and discover where that swarm came from."

He stopped in mid-stride and barely managed to avoid a painful collision with Lance. "What?!" Keith demanded, leveling a look of murderous fury at his best friend. "Didn't you hear me, Lance? Get a move on."

Lance shook his head with disgust and purposely blocked Keith's path. "Are you nuts? Haven't you been listening? You're the heir to Arus. You have to stay behind where it's safe."

Keith clasped Lance's arm with his own and lowered his head. Lance nodded in satisfaction and lowered his guard, glad that he had made his point.

Keith's dark eyes glinted with satisfaction. He had counted on Lance's reaction. It was the opportunity that he had been waiting for. In one fluid move, Keith tightened his hold on Lance's arm, twisted his shoulder and sent Lance flying to the floor.

"Get the fuck out of my way, Lance," he ordered, his voice rising with barely suppressed hope and excitement. "You can't stop me from going. This is the first sign of Haggar since Allura disappeared. We have to go check it out!"

"Look, Keith," Lance said quietly as he got back on his feet. He willed his friend to listen to reason. "I don't think you should go out there. I know you can handle it — your display convinced me of that — but you're the heir to Arus now. You're too important to risk. Please, let us check this one out without you."

"I'm going. And don't think about pulling rank, Lance. You can't order me to stay behind." Keith said, frost and steel seeping into his tone. "I am STILL Captain of the Voltron Force AND Prince Regent of Arus. If I'm not mistaken, that means I outrank you."

"Like you said," Lance argued in his most persuasive voice as he raked a hand through his hair, a mannerism he might have picked up from Keith himself. "You ARE the Prince Regent of Arus. That means that you're not expendable. You have to stay behind where it's safe."

"I can't stay behind, Lance." Keith said, resolutely dismissing Lance's suggestion. "I NEED to go. I can't explain it but I feel as though Allura's out there and she needs me. Don't you get it? She NEEDS me."

"But still—"

Keith lifted a dark eyebrow. "Look, I AM going to go find my wife and bring her back home and if any of you tell me otherwise, I will have you all thrown in prison for treason or insubordination. Whatever works best. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

Lance studied Keith intently for one long moment. The return of Keith's unique blend of intensity and determination did much to raise his spirits and reassure him about his friend's capability.

Taking a step backwards, Lance gave Keith a clear path to the Lion Portals and offered him an apologetic smile. "Sure, Captain Bligh, whatever you say," Lance said as he snapped a crisp salute. "As long as you promise me that you'll take care of yourself out there,"

"Of course I will, He-Who-Does-Not-Knock," Keith promised. A hint of a smile flickered over his face for a brief instant, relieving the hard line of his jaw. "I still have to get even with you for walking into my study unannounced."