Hi all,

Just a quick note.  I was reading through this story and I noticed that somehow chapter 8 was replaced with chapter 16.  I have no idea what happened.  Well, I righted everything.  Chapter 8 is Chapter 8.  I hope this didn't confuse anyone.

Thanks for the wonderful reviews.  I really appreciate them.

All relative disclaimers apply.  Um, I own the plot and Darcy, Becca, Paton, all the little kids, and anyone else you don't recognize from the series.

Thanks!
Failte

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Keith lay in darkness and tried to figure out what was going on.  His entire body felt numb and tired, his mind was hazy, and his senses were dulled.  The only sound he heard was beeping.  That was when everything flooded back.  A sound, he sent Allura into the castle and then Lotor.


The beeping quickened.

A door opened and feet rushed in.

"Captain?  Can you hear me?"

Mustering up his strength, Keith forced his eyes open.  It took a moment, but he was able to focus on Dr. Gorma who was leaning over him.

"Captain, can you hear me?"

"Yeah," his voice was dry and hoarse.

"How are you feeling?"

"Dry, can I have a drink?"

Dr. Gorma stepped away and returned with a moistened towel.  He wet Keith's lips, "You can't drink just yet.  How are you feeling?  Are you in pain?"

"I-I'm numb."

"You're heavily medicated, Captain, the numbness will wear off.  We had to operate, you're a very lucky young man."

"What happened?"

"You were stabbed in the side, the blade went in at an angle hitting muscle and missing any major organs.  You're going to feel some pain for a while, but you'll be fine."

Keith furrowed his brow, trying to remember all that had happened.  "Allura?"

"The Princess is fine, although she is wearing a groove in the floor of the waiting room with all her pacing."

"No one else was hurt?"

"No, Captain, everyone else is fine."

"How…how long will I be laid up?"

Dr. Gorma chuckled, "You will be in bed for at least a week and after that you need to take it easy.  You won't be back to full strength for about a month."

"But I have to…"

"But nothing, you are to rest, that is an order."

Keith shifted his eyes around the hospital room.  The beeping he had heard was the heart monitor attached to his chest, the window looked out over the dark sky.  "How long have I been here?"

"You came in about six hours ago."

"Can I speak to Lance?"

"You need rest and if I had my way you wouldn't have any visitors at all tonight.  But as it is, I don't think I can keep them out."

Dr. Gorma crossed to the door, opening it.  Keith stared at the pattern on the ceiling, listening to quick steps of his approaching friends.

"Oh, Keith," Allura gasped, racing to his bedside.  She leaned over him, inadvertently tickling his face with her hair.

"How are you?"  He whispered weakly.

"I'm fine," she assured him, caressing his cheek.  "How do you feel?"

"I'm not feeling much of anything right now.  I want to talk to Lance."

A look of hurt crossed Allura's face before she stepped away to let Lance take his place at Keith's side.

"Hey, man, what's up?"

"Did you get Lotor?"

"He got away."

"This is the second time he has gotten through our security, we have to find out how and fix it."

Lance nodded, "Don't worry about it right now, Keith, we'll take care of it, you just need to get better."

"He got in and injured me and we know he's after Allura, of course I'm going to worry about it.  I want a complete overhaul of our radar system and alarms.  Find the hole and seal it."

"Yes, sir."

"I want daily updates."

Lance looked at Allura.  She nodded her head toward the door, an irritated expression on her face.

"Yeah, sure, whatever you want.  Uh, Keith, I have to go tell the others how you're doing.  Let me know if you need anything."  Lance awkwardly patted Keith's shoulder and left the room.

Allura sat carefully on the edge of the bed and took his limp hand in her own, "You need to rest Keith, we will take care of all this."

"I want to know what's going on."

"I know you do, but you are on medical leave, which means no work.  You need to spend your time and strength recuperating, we need you."

"I'll be fine."

"I know that, but that will come with time.  Don't argue with me on this, as the ruling monarch, I outrank you and you cannot disobey me."

Keith clenched his teeth.  He did not like being ordered around like this.  Yeah, he was injured, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. 

Allura noticed his expression and she smiled softly, "Don't be so difficult, Keith, you're too important."

He shifted his gaze to meet hers, "Will you stay in the castle?"

"Will you rest?"

He sighed, "Fine."

"Then I will stay in the castle," she reached up and brushed the hair off his forehead before bringing her hand down to cup his cheek.  "I love you."  She leaned down and gently kissed him.

"I love you too," he whispered.

"I was so scared when they brought you in," her voice shook.  "There was so much blood."

"I'll be fine, Angel."  Gathering his waning strength, Keith brought his hand up to stroke her cheek and cup the back of her head, bringing her closer. 

"I know, I'm just so happy to see that.  Please, promise me you'll take it easy, I don't know what I would do without you."

He winked at her, "You'll never have to find out."

She gave him a quick kiss and straightened up, "Get some rest, sweetie, I'll check on you later."

Keith grasped her hand, "Allura, I want to know what's going on."

"Fine," she sighed.  "I'll let you know what we find."

"Thank you."

************************************************************

"How's it going?"  Allura asked, walking into Castle Control a few hours later.

"We're running a scan, trying to figure out how he got in," Lance explained.


The rest of the Force, along with Sven and Koran, were hard at work.  Hunk and Pidge were seated at different consoles, running scans to find any misreads in the radar readings.  Koran and Lance were going over the logs, trying to figure out what happened when the ships had approached and then left while Sven interviewed the guards who had been on duty.

"I take it you haven't found anything?"  She asked, crossing the room to look over Lance's shoulder.

"There were three ships that approached Arus' atmosphere, they hovered for six minutes before taking off.  They took off roughly two minutes before Lotor attacked Keith."

"So whatever he did to get on Arus, he did in roughly eight minutes."

"Yeah," Lance looked up at her.  "How's Keith?"

"He needs to rest, but he should be fine.  He's very weak, but he's also very determined, we have to keep him updated."

Lance smirked, "Yeah, he won't give up on that."

"Do you think we should call Kadmus back?"  Hunk asked.  "This could be magical again."

Alura shook her head, "Kadmus put wards up around the castle so Haggar couldn't transport to the grounds."

Sven walked over, "He put wards around de castle?"

Allura nodded.

"How far out do de wards cover?  I mean, if de wards only cover de grounds den Haggar could have transported Lotor just outside the castle grounds."

Koran shook his head, "Kadmus said the wards stretched at least past Alforia, about 10 miles in all directions, the largest area he could cover.  It would have taken him longer than eight minutes."

"Unless he had some sort of transportation," Lance pointed out.  "You found no sign of him, Hunk?"

The big man shook his head, "No, no sign at all."

"This doesn't make sense," Allura murmured.

"Are ve positive dat de ships vere Doom?"

Koran shook his head, "We're assuming."

Lance scratched his head while he thought.  When Keith had been in surgery, he, Sven, Hunk, and Pidge had combed the area where Lotor had attacked.  They could find nothing, just the blood where Keith had been stabbed.  Lotor was gone, along with the knife he had used.

"We're going to double up on guards," Lance finally said.  "Get some rest guys, we'll do rotations and see what we can find."  He turned to Allura, "Why don't you turn in, it's been a long day. We'll let you know everything we find out."

She nodded.  It wasn't that she wanted to go to bed, but she could use this as an excuse to see Keith.

Lance noticed how easily Allura agreed to his suggestion.  "You're going to fill Keith in on what we found out, aren't you?"

"I'm sure he's still sleeping, but I'll go check on him.  If you find anything, I want you to contact me right away."

He nodded, "No problem, Princess."

*******************************

The only sounds in Keith's room were the beeping of the heart monitor and his shallow breathing.  Allura crept to his bedside and sat on the edge of the chair.  She watched as his chest rose and fell.  The blanket had been pulled up to cover his naked torso and the bandages wrapped around his stomach.  He was dreadfully pale and that worried Allura.  She took his hand in both of hers and watched him sleep.

The sight of him, being this close to him, made her heart race.  He was so strong and smart, kind and handsome, and he was hers.  The corners of her mouth turned up as she studied him.  He looked so young, so innocent and it only endeared him to her more.  He would go to the ends of the universe for her and she would do the same for him. They had to find out what had happened, how Lotor had gained entrance onto the castle grounds.

Allura brushed his hair aside and leaned forward to press a kiss to his forehead.   His eyes fluttered open and he looked up at her.

"Sorry," she whispered.  "I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's alright," he murmured.  "What did you find out?"

"Nothing yet, we're looking into it."

"Have they searched the grounds?"

"Yes they did.  Don't worry, Lance is taking care of it," she told him, gently caressing his cheek.

"He just disappeared?"

"Well, we know that's not possible within the castle grounds, but that's what it seems."

Keith closed his eyes and Allura was sure he had gone back to sleep.  She stood to leave but stopped when she felt him tighten his grip on her hand.

"Keith?"

"Invisible," he mumbled.

"What?"

"What if he was invisible?"

"The wards around the castle wouldn't allow that."

"No, the wards keep Haggar from magically transporting Lotor to the castle grounds, but would they keep her from performing magic once they were in the castle grounds?"

Allura furrowed her brow, trying to remember back on what Kadmus had told her.  "I am going to try and contact Kadmus tomorrow, see what he thinks."

"That's a good idea."

*****************************************

"Allura," Lance hurried into her study the next morning.  "We just got a transmission from the Garrison.  The three ships were Garrison ships out on patrol, they had thought there was a distress call coming from Arus, but soon realized they were mistaken.  The Captain in charge didn't think to contact us until today."

"They weren't Doom ships."

Lance shook his head, "No, they weren't."

"So we're back to square one as to how Lotor got on Arus," Allura leaned forward on her desk.  "Has Koran been able to get in touch with Kadmus yet?"

"No, he's still working on it.  I was going to go fill Keith in, but I thought you would like to know first."

"I appreciate that, Lance, I'll come with you," she told him, pushing back from her desk and standing.  "You know, Keith said something to me last night that seems to make more sense now."

"What was it?"  He asked, stepping aside to let Allura out of the room first.

"He said something about Lotor being invisible, now just think about it before you interrupt me.  We know that the wards Kadmus put around the castle keep Haggar from transporting Lotor directly into the castle, but if he was put on the planet somewhere else and entered the grounds, maybe Haggar could perform some kind of spell.  That's why I want to talk to Kadmus, to see if the wards deflect all magic or just the transportations."

Lance nodded, "Keep in mind, Allura, that Keith was also heavily medicated."

She stopped and looked up at him, "I'm aware of that, Lance, but what other ideas do we have right now?"

He shrugged and opened the door to the hospital.

"Hi, Jewelia," Allura greeted the nurse at the desk.  "We'd like to speak with the Captain if he's awake."

"Dr. Gorma is in with him now, he should be done momentarily," the young nurse explained.

"Is everything alright?"

"The, uh, the Captain developed a bit of a fever, but Dr. Gorma doesn't think it's anything serious."

Lance and Allura exchanged worried glances.  With a shrug, Lance settled his muscular frame into one of the chairs set out for visitors while Allura returned to the task she had started the day before of wearing a groove into the floor with her pacing.

It was five minutes before Dr. Gorma left the room, surprised to see the visitors waiting.  "Ah, Princess, how are you?"

"How's Keith?"

"The Captain has developed a low grade fever, but he'll be fine.  He's coherent and alert."

"Can we see him?"

"For a few minutes, don't keep him up too long."

Allura nodded and opened the door to his room.  Keith was still laid back, looking much the same as he had the evening before.

"Hey there, how're you feeling?"  Allura asked, trying to keep her voice light.

He smiled, "Hey there yourself.  I feel…meh."

"Meh?"

"Meh."

"You always did have a way with words, Captain," Lance teased.

"Hey Lance!  What up, bro?"

"Keith, honey," Allura sat on the edge of his bed.  "How much medication are you on?"

"Just enough.  Have you guys found anything?"

Lance filled him in on the information they had received earlier.

"Well that was just irresponsible of them," Keith muttered.

"Yeah, it was, they should have contacted us immediately."

"So we still have no idea how Lotor got here?"

Lance shrugged, "We're assuming he was transported to another part of the planet, outside the wards, and sneaked in."

"I'm waiting to hear from Kadmus," Allura added.

"Let me know as soon as you find something," Keith ordered.

"No problem, Cap, I'm going to head back to Castle Control and see what's going on."

Keith nodded, "Thanks, Lance."

A moment later, he was alone with Allura.  She reached up and touched his cheek, his forehead, feeling the warmth from the fever.  Keith sighed when her small, cool hand came in contact with his skin.  It felt good to receive such a loving touch.

"Dr. Gorma said you have a fever," she stated unnecessarily.

He nodded, "Yeah, he thinks it may have been a dirty knife.  He had cleaned the wound as best he could, but he's afraid there might be some bacteria that will cause an infection."

"That sounds serious."

"I've been on antibiotics to fight infection, so it shouldn't be too bad."

"We've doubled up on guards and Lance is having the rest of the Force and Sven and Koran on rotation.  I offered to step in, but he wouldn't let me."

"You have other things to attend to," Keith told her.  "We just don't want to add guard duty to everything else you have to do to run a planet."

"I understand, I just feel so useless."

"You're not useless, Angel, you're the most important person here."

She smiled and leaned over to kiss him, "I love you."

"I know," he winked at her.  "I love you, too."

"I was thinking about what you said last night, and I'm beginning to think you might not be that far off."

"What did I say?"

"About Lotor being invisible, well, maybe not invisible, but I'm sure Haggar had a part in getting him here."

"I think we can all agree on that."

"This is so frustrating.  Kadmus did all that he could, but there is only so much we can do as precautionary measures."  She sighed.

"With everything we've done recently, it is virtually impossible for anyone to break into the castle undetected, you're safe."

"But nothing is completely foolproof."

"No," he took her hand.  "But if you're careful and vigilant, you'll be fine.  Keep your communicator and blaster on you at all times."

"It's not me I'm worried about," she whispered, looking down at their joined hands.  "I'm going to have guards posted with you until you're up to fighting again."

"I'm fine, Allura, I don't need a guard, we need them elsewhere."

"No, you're not fine and Lotor has shown us that it is now you he's after."

She watched his jaw twitch.  "Fine."

"Thank you," she kissed his cheek and stood.  "I want to go see if they've had any luck contacting Kadmus."

He nodded.

"I'll be back later.  I hope you feel better."

"Thank you."

She squeezed his hand before letting go and heading from the room.

**************************************************************

A conversation with Kadmus that evening did nothing to assuage their worries.  It was possible for Lotor to be transported to the planet outside the wards and then enter the castle grounds.  There was just no magic strong enough to completely prevent an invasion from Lotor.  He was determined enough to find a way in.

Kadmus offered to come back, but there was very little else he could do.

Allura sat in her study after speaking to the wizard and stared out her window.  'Why?' was the question that kept popping up in her mind.  Why was Lotor after them?  He had lost time and again, why wouldn't he just give up?  Why couldn't he accept the fact that she would never marry him and leave her alone?

A knock on her door interrupted her thoughts.


"Come in."

The door slid open to reveal Lance with a paper in his hand, "Hey, Princess, how you doing?"

"I've been better.  What's up Lance?"

He held the paper up, "We just spoke with a man from the village.  He said he was in the woods yesterday hunting when he saw a hooded man going in the direction of the castle.  At first he didn't think anything of it since the man was wearing a cloak similar to ones worn by other villagers.  When he heard what happened to Keith, he thought he should come forward just in case it might help."

"Where was he?"

"The far northwest edge of the forest, about 3 miles out."

Allura sat back and thought for a moment.  "So, it is possible for Lotor to have been transported out near the ruins of Alum, that's about twelve miles north of here, and hike."

"That would have been quite a hike."

"Kadmus had said the wards only prevented direct magical transportation to the castle grounds, not other kinds of magic, so he could have had some kind of magical transportation."

Lance nodded, "I was thinking about bringing more men in for a while, get people in the woods.  We need to make it as difficult as possible for Lotor to get near the castle."

She nodded, "Well, I was wondering if we should contact the Garrison and see if we can get more soldiers."

"It wouldn't hurt."

"Alright, I'll do that first thing in the morning."

"Sounds good, Allura, just let me know what you need me to do."

"Thanks Lance.  I think I'm going to say good night to Keith and then turn in."

"Have a good night."

She smiled at him, "Thanks, you too."

Allura had stopped in to check on Keith earlier that afternoon, but he was sound asleep.  The phone call to Kadmus had taken a couple of hours and that was followed by supper and some paperwork.  The day just seemed to slip away unnoticed.

The hallway to the hospital wing was deserted and strangely quiet.  Allura felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise as a chill sent a shiver through her body.  Something wasn't right.  She quickened her footsteps, one hand on her blaster the other clutching her communicator.

When she entered the hospital, the only person to be seen was the guard posted outside Keith's room.  He was leaning against the wall, but he jumped to attention when the door opened and Allura entered.

"Your Highness," he bowed.


"Flitch," she nodded her greeting.  "Where are Dr. Gorma and the nurses?"

"Dr. Gorma went to get some supper, Nurse Helene went to the supply closet, and Nurse Jewelia is in the other examining room straightening up."

"How has everything been?"

"Fine, Princess, no problems."

"Thank you," she smiled at him.  "We appreciate your help."

"It's an honor, Ma'am."  He stepped aside to let her enter the room.

Keith was laying still, his fingers tapping the bed beside him.  When he heard the door open, a smile crossed his face, "Thank goodness, I have been going out of my mind with boredom."

"How're you feeling?"

"Great, I'm ready to get out of here."

"Okay," Allura stood beside the bed, her hands on her hips.  "Sit up."

"What?"

"If you can sit up I'll get Dr. Gorma to release you tonight."

"Really?"

"Yup."

Keith took a deep breath, placed both hands on the bed and tried to push himself up.  His head was about six inches up when he gave a hiss of pain and fell back.  "Fine, point proven."

She smiled and sat on the side of the bed, "Don't be so stubborn."

Allura filled him in on everything that had happened, her call with Kadmus, the witness Lance had interviewed, and their idea to put guards in the woods.  She did, however, leave out the uneasiness she had felt moments earlier.

"Sounds like you guys have it all under control," he said proudly.

"Yup," she was holding his hand in both of hers, noticing how warm he still felt.

"Thanks for keeping me updated."

She let out a breath and leaned forward to rest her head on his shoulder, careful to not come in contact with his wound.  Keith brought his hand up and rubbed the back of her head.

"It'll be okay," he whispered.

"I know," she turned and kissed his cheek.  "Rest, we need you all better."

"You too, beautiful."

Allura lifted her head, feeling better just being close to him.  "Good night, Keith."

"Good night."

After sharing a few quiet kisses, Allura withdrew from the room, exhausted.  She was pleased to see Nurse Helene sitting at the desk in the waiting area.  They nodded to each other and the young princess entered the hall.  The uneasy feeling she had felt earlier was no longer there.  She passed two guards in the hallway and she could hear the normal noises of footsteps and voices.

Allura had just approached her room when the door to Romelle's room opened.  Sven walked out and turned to whisper something to Romelle.  She smiled and stood on her toes to kiss him good night.

Allura felt a twinge of jealousy.  She wanted that with Keith, but it seemed like every time they grew close something interrupted them.  What she wouldn't give for a normal life and a normal relationship.

Sven spotted her when he turned to leave.  His face turned a bright red.  He nodded to Allura and hurried away. 

Laughing quietly at his unnecessary embarrassment, Allura let herself into her room and couldn't help but notice how cold it felt.  She turned on the light and looked around.  The chill returned to her bones and the hair rose on her arms.  Someone was here.