"What is it?" Allura asked as she and Romelle hurried into Castle Control.
Keith, Sven and Lance were already there with Koran when the two women arrived with Hunk and Pidge at their heels.
"It appears to be a single, Doom transport ship," Keith told her.
"No fighters? No coffin?" She asked coming to stand beside him.
Lance studied the radars, "No, just the transport."
"We're trying to make contact with them," Koran explained as he worked on tuning in a signal.
Sven crossed to Romelle and took her hand in his, squeezing it reassuringly. Even though she knew she was safe within the castle walls, the thought of Lotor sent a shiver through her. "It's alright," he whispered.
Allura stepped up to the main console. "You have entered Arusian airspace," she announced into the microphone. "State your name and business."
There was no response.
"You have entered Arusian airspace," she repeated as Keith turned to his men and they began working on a plan. "State your name and business or we will be forced to fire upon you."
The screen flicked and was then filled by the smiling visage of Lotor. "Greetings Princess!"
"Lotor."
Keith stepped up to stand beside her.
"I don't think so," Keith said.
"What do you want?"
"May I land?"
"What do you want?" Allura repeated Keith's question.
"I just wish to speak with you. I come unarmed and with only my pilot."
Allura looked up at Keith. His eyes were narrowed as he stood possessively over her. With a sigh she turned back to the screen. "You may land on the tarmac furthest from the castle. We will meet you out there."
"Are you sure about this?" Keith asked as she closed the connection.
"Yes I am." She turned to the others, "Lance, you and Hunk come with us. Koran, stay here with Pidge, Sven, and Romelle. Keep an eye on the radar and let us know the second you see anything out of the ordinary."
"Yes, your highness," Koran bowed slightly.
"Do you know what's going on?" Keith asked as they crossed the room.
"I want you to stay back," Keith lowered his voice. "Stay behind us."
"He wants to talk to me."
Keith exchanged a glance with Lance who shrugged in response.
Lotor's ship came in for smooth landing at the furthest LZ from the castle. The four of them watched as the ramp lowered and the door opened. Lotor did not sweep out as he normally did, full of arrogance. Instead, he walked quickly, with his head bowed down, almost in reverence.
Keith stood so close to Allura she could feel the heat rising off his body. Lance stood on her other side while Hunk stood about two steps behind her. They all flipped the safety off on their blasters and she knew it would take less than one second for them to pull out their weapons and have them trained on Lotor.
"Your Highness," Lotor bowed deeply in front of her.
Allura nodded her head, "What do you want, Lotor?"
"Right to the point, always liked that about you," he flashed her a smile.
Keith took a protective step closer to Allura, his arm pressed against hers. "Just get to it," he said menacingly.
Lotor flicked his gaze from Allura to Keith and back again. "I have come to offer you…" he stopped when he noticed Lance had taken his blaster out and was twirling it around his finger. "I, uh, I have come to offer you a truce."
Lance snorted. Keith sent him a withering look.
"Explain," Allura commanded.
"We have been fighting for too long, Princess, I feel it is time to end."
"I agree."
"I come here freely to offer you a truce. It is time we learned to live in peace. I have plans to rebuild Doom and I was hoping we would one day be able to work together."
"The only way there can be a actual truce," Keith interjected, "is when you turn yourself in to the Garrison and serve time for your crimes."
Lotor looked up at Keith and curled his lip in a snarl, "I wasn't speaking to you, Commander."
"No, but you were speaking to Allura, which is pretty much the same."
"Ah, how cute, you're putting up a united front. So important for a strong marriage."
"How do you plan to pursue this truce," Allura asked.
"Right here and now, I promise to never again stage an unprovoked attack on Arus."
"Define 'unprovoked attack'," she demanded.
"Excuse me?"
"We have never provoked you. You have attacked before just because I wouldn't marry you and when you were angry Keith and I became engaged."
The muscle in Lotor's jaw jumped as he clenched his teeth, "We have never really seen eye to eye on things, Princess, but that will change."
"How do I know I can trust you?"
"You have my word."
Allura shook her head, "That's not enough."
Lotor took a step closer. In a flash of movement, Keith and Lance moved so they were blocking Allura. Keith had one hand on the butt of his weapon and the other on Lotor's chest, preventing him from coming any closer.
"This truce won't succeed if you can't trust me," Lotor said through clenched teeth.
Allura laid her hand on Keith's arm, pulling it away from Lotor. "You have to admit that your past behavior makes my hesitance necessary."
"Granted," he straightened his cloak and shot Keith an annoyed glance. "But it was my past behavior. That has all change."
"I cannot just take your word, Lotor, you will have to prove it to me through actions. And it will take a long time to earn my trust."
Indignation filled Lotor with angry heat. It was his automatic reaction to want to strike out and make her apologize for her insolence, but he fought to keep his calm. He knew that if he so much as took another step closer, the three men would not hesitate to shoot him.
Keith watched as the lavender face of the ruler of Doom darkened. A chill raced down his spine and Keith was filled with an overwhelming need to have Lotor off of Arus, away from Allura. "Tell you what, Lotor. Why don't you get back on your ship, go back to Doom and we will give your proposal some thought. The Princess will contact you when she makes a decision."
Lotor's eyes narrowed, "I believe I made my proposal to the Princess, not you."
"I will give it some thought," Allura told him.
This wasn't how it was supposed to go, Lotor thought. She was supposed to agree, they would forge a friendship. He would have Voltron and Allura. She was just a woman, she was too stupid to see through him.
"I don't want to wait long," he said quietly.
Keith instinctively took another step to the right, blocking Allura even more, "You have her answer, Lotor."
"When did you become the ruler of Arus?" He asked sarcastically.
"I'm not," the Commander told him. "I will be the Prince Consort, but above all else, I am concerned for Allura's safety. And as far as I know, she will never be safe with you around."
Lotor laughed bitterly, "Prince Consort? That's pathetic. You can never be King. I, however, am already a King."
"Yeah, a king to a fallen empire and broken planet," Keith shot back.
Lotor took another step closer.
Keith pushed Allura back into the safety of Hunk's arms while Lance fixed his blaster on Lotor.
"Keith, don't!" Allura struggled against Hunk's grasp.
"You would shoot an unarmed man?" Lotor asked Lance, never taking his eyes off Keith.
"Normally I wouldn't, but since it's you, I'll make an exception."
"Lance," Keith warned. "Step back."
Lance knew his Captain and best friend well enough to know he had just been given the order to act as backup. He lowered his weapon and took a step back to allow Keith to fight his battle.
"Keith, don't. I am ordering you to walk away from this fight." Allura said as sternly as she could.
"Aren't you going to listen to your woman?" Lotor sneered.
Keith clenched and unclenched his fists at his sides, he wanted nothing more than to beat Lotor to a bloody pulp, but his military training had him pausing at the sound of an order. "Get off our planet and don't ever, ever, come back."
"Arus is not your planet," Lotor murmured.
"You need to accept the fact that Allura will never be yours."
"I came here to pursue a truce."
"I find that hard to believe."
"Well maybe that tiny brain inside your thick head makes it hard for you to understand."
"Jealousy is not an attractive trait, Lotor."
"What am I jealous of? Your lack of intelligence or your lack of proper breeding?"
"No, the fact that I have what can never be yours."
"Keith," Allura interrupted this little game they were playing. "Enough of this. Lotor, leave, now."
"You heard her," Keith said, never taking his eyes off the man before him. "If you do not leave now, as requested by the ruling monarch, we will make you leave, by force."
"Don't threaten me, Captain."
"Then leave."
Lotor pulled himself up to his full height and took a deep breath, "I shall leave, but on my terms. I will be in touch, Princess, I want to hear from you by the end of the week."
An angry red haze edged its way into Keith's mind. "If you hear from her, it will be when she's ready, not a second sooner."
"Once again, Captain, I was speaking to the Princess, not you."
"Why are you stalling, Lotor? Turn around, get back on your ship and get the fuck off our planet," Keith suggested in a calm voice as he took a step closer to his enemy.
"I am not one of your men, Captain, I don't take orders from you."
"Fuck this," Keith muttered a split second before slamming his fist into Lotor's stomach. As the Doomian doubled over, wrapping his arms around his stomach, Keith brought his fist up into Lotor's chin, knocking his head back and causing him to fall to his knees. Keith kneeled beside him, "I don't know why you won't leave, it makes me wonder what you're up to. You have ten seconds to get back on your ship
Taking a ragged breath, Lotor got slowly to his feet. With one last glance at Allura, Lotor hobbled back to his ship.
Hunk released Allura from his grasp as Keith flexed his hand.
As his ship rose, Lotor watched as the Princess hurried over to the Captain. She took his bruised hand in her own spoke to him before smiling softly and kissing his hand.
"This is far from over," the ruler of Doom muttered under his breath.
Allura wiped a tear away as she watched her cousin promise her love and loyalty to Sven. It was a small, beautiful ceremony. Unfortunately, due to the constant threat of Doom over the past couple of months, Keith and Allura were the only ones free to attend. The other members were able to watch from a closed circuit system Pidge and Bandor had set up.
Keith met Allura's eye from where he stood beside Sven and winked at her. She knew what he was thinking. In about seven months, that was going to be them. Allura smiled at the thought and returned his wink.
When they were pronounced husband and wife, Sven cupped Romelle's face in his hands and gently sealed their future with a kiss.
Keith, Allura, Bandor, and the few members of the household who had gathered all clapped. Romelle turned to Allura with wet eyes and a huge smile. With a quiet laugh, Allura hugged her cousin tightly and whispered her congratulations.
"This is amazing," Romelle said as they pulled apart. "I am married to Sven. It has actually happened. I am married to Sven."
"Yup, you can't back out now." Sven appeared at her side with Keith.
"Tank you, Allura," he smiled, squeezing her back.
"Alright, alright you've got your own woman, now," Keith mumbled, pulling Allura out of his friend's grasp.
Sven wound his arms around Romelle's waist and rested his chin on her head, "Yes I do, de most amazing voman in de vorld."
She tilted her head back and looked up at her husband, "I love you, my wonderful husband."
"I love you, my beautiful vife," he whispered, capturing her lips in a gentle kiss.
"Keith, Allura," Bandor appeared at their side. "You'll stay and have dinner with us before you head back, won't you?"
"Of course they will," Romelle answered for them when she removed her lips from her new husband.
Allura looked at Keith and nodded. He checked his watch and shrugged.
"We will," she told her young cousin.
"At least the ceremony went off without a hitch," Keith said as they made their way into the castle.
"Yeah, we were really lucky," Bandor replied watching as his sister and her husband tried to walk into the castle while Sven still had his arms around her waist, her back pressed against his chest. She giggled as he caught her when their legs tangled and she almost fell. "Sven's a good man."
"Yes, he is," Keith agreed, grinning at the antics of his old friend. "He'll treat her well and you are lucky to have one of the greatest military minds the Garrison has ever had on your side."
"How bad has the threat from Doom been?" The young king asked as they entered the main dining room.
"Well, I guess punching him wasn't the smartest thing I ever did," Keith admitted as he pulled a chair out for Allura.
"No," she agreed. "It wasn't. We knew he was up to something when he attempted to call a truce, but you beating him up didn't exactly change his feelings toward us. We have been attacked over a dozen times the past couple of months."
"And we continue to defeat him, but he won't give up."
"Do you think Pollux is in danger?" Bandor asked.
"He has yet to turn on us," Sven spoke up.
"But will we be ready if he does?"
"I believe so, but de more time ve have de better."
"And you know we will help in any way you need," Allura promised.
Bandor smiled, "Thank you, Allura, we greatly appreciate that. We are working on building up our fleet and with the Garrison helping, we should be able to fully defend ourselves before long."
"Hopefully, Lotor won't be a threat for much longer," Keith said. "I've heard through the grapevine that the Garrison might actually have enough evidence to go in and arrest him."
"I don't understand why he hasn't been arrested already," Bandor admitted as he accepted a full plate from a maid.
Keith nodded, "Well, it's tricky…"
"A lot of bureaucratic nonsense," Sven mumbled.
"Yeah, that about sums it up. It seems like every time they gathered enough evidence, something happens. Reports disappeared, witnesses died or recanted their admissions. Zarkon was able to bully and threaten enough people to back him but we had hoped that Lotor would be unable to do the same. Since he is still getting away with so much, we can only assume that Haggar has something to do with it." The Voltron Commander explained.
"But we are doing everything in our power to put an end to his tyranny," Allura added.
"I am so glad you could make it," Romelle whispered as she embraced Allura.
"So am I," Allura pulled back to look at her glowing cousin. "I am so happy for you."
"Thank you," Romelle slid her gaze to Sven where he stood talking to Keith. "I just know things can only get better from here on out."
"I meant what I told Bandor, if you guys need anything at all, please ask."
"Thank you, Allura, the same goes for you. And we'll be on Arus soon to plan your wedding."
"Yup, I can't wait. Well, enjoy your wedding night," Allura embraced her cousin one more time as Keith and Sven crossed the tarmac to join them.
"Oh, I think I will."
"Vhat is so funny?" Sven asked as they approached the giggling women.
"I'm just so happy for the two of you," Allura told him, squeezing his hand.
"And I'm just happy," Romelle threw her arms around his neck.
"Alright, I hate to do this, but we have to hit the skies," Keith said, slinging his arm around Allura's shoulders.
"Tank you for coming," Sven extended his hand to Keith while still holding Romelle with his other arm.
"I'm glad we could make it," he replied, shaking the groom's hand. "Congratulations, man."
Handshakes and hugs were once again shared as final goodbyes and regrets about the lack of time were said. Keith and Allura boarded Black and watched as Sven and Romelle waved from the tarmac as they took off.
As soon as they were in the air, Keith dialed up Castle Control.
"Castle Control," Lance answered. "What's up, Keith?"
"We're on our way back, Lance. How did today go?"
"Pretty uneventful."
"No attacks or signs of Doom?"
"Nope. All clear."
"Nothing to report at all?"
Lance shook his head.
"Great. We should be there in about five hours or so. If anything happens, contact us immediately."
"No problem, Captain."
Keith closed the connection and turned to see Allura strapped into the fold down seat and watching space hurtle past through the windshield. After flipping on autopilot, he reached over and took her hand, "Penny for your thoughts."
She turned her gaze to him, a bewildered look on her face, "What?"
"An old Terran expression. What's on your mind, beautiful?"
"Just thinking."
"About what?"
"We're next Keith, we're getting married in just over half a year."
"Are you having second thoughts?"
"Of course not," she squeezed his hand. "It just seems unreal."
"Oh, it's real," he winked at her.
"I'm worried, Keith. Lotor is acting erratically. He shows up and tries to get us to agree to a truce that we knew he had no intention of keeping. Then he attacks almost like clockwork for two months and now we haven't heard from him for a couple of weeks."
"Maybe he's finally grasping the fact that he can't defeat us."
"Do you really believe that?"
"No."
"I'm scared about our wedding."
"We're taking every precaution we can, Allura. The Garrison is going to send soldiers to help out the week before and they're going to stay until the day after. We have scaled down the ceremony to only a hundred guests and security will be tight. I won't let him ruin the day for us."
"It seems like he always finds a way to ruin things for us."
"Not this time," he said bringing her hand to his lips. "You know, we are completely alone." He turned her hand over and kissed the pulse point on her wrist. "No Nanny." His lips moved up to the inside of her forearm. "No Koran." The inside of her elbow was next. "No Lotor."
"What are you getting at?" She asked coyly.
Keith dropped her hand when he realized he could go no further with them both strapped into their seats, "Wanna fool around?"
A quick laugh bubbled up inside her, "How romantic."
Smiling, he quickly unlatched her belts and his own, closing the gap between them and pulling her onto his lap, "You want romance?"
"I'll never turn it down," she mumbled, tilting her head back to accept his kiss.
He brought his hands up to cup her face and deepen the kiss. Allura slipped her hands between them and started undoing the buttons of his jacket and then the buttons of his shirt. Keith slid his hands down to her shoulders and around her back, but the zipper he had expected to find was in fact a column of tiny pearl buttons. Pulling her close, he rested his chin on her shoulder and brushed her hair aside to look down the back of the dress. A groan escaped from deep within his throat, partially due to the fact that about a thousand tiny buttons impeded his path and partially due to what Allura's mouth was doing to his throat as her hands raced over his exposed abdomen.
Keith gripped the back of her collar tightly in both hands and whispered, "Would you be terribly upset if I ripped this dress off of you?"
He felt her lips curve into a smile against his throat. She sat back and locked her hands behind his neck. "Yeah, I would be. It's a lovely dress, my maid of honor dress. And if we were to get off this ship with my dress torn apart, Nanny would most likely lock me away until the wedding, if she allowed me to actually go through with the wedding."
"Alright," he muttered.
"Besides," she laid her head on his shoulder. "I thought we weren't going to sleep together again until our wedding night."
"I just wanted to touch you," he whispered. "We don't get a lot of free time alone."
"I know, sweetie, just seven more months and everything will get better," Allura promised, tracing the scar on his chest with her finger.
Heat suddenly filled Keith as lust shot straight through him. Something had happened to make him want to throw all caution to the wind and rip that dress off her. "Stop that," he muttered through clenched teeth.
She pulled her hand back quickly, "What is it, does it hurt?"
"Not…quite."
Allura raised her head and saw his dark eyes and noticed his heavy breathing. "What is it?"
"I don't know. Your touching my scar…had an effect on me."
"What do you mean?"
Without saying a word, he swept her hair over her shoulder and massaged her neck. When she relaxed against him, Keith moved his fingers to gently tickle her birthmark. She instantly stiffened. With a gasp, Allura locked her gaze with him, her eyes wide and darkened to a deep cobalt.
He dropped his hand, "See what I mean?"
"Oh wow," she breathed, wrapping her arms around his middle under his shirt and hugging him tightly. Laying her head on his shoulder, she closed her eyes and tried to calm her breathing and slow her heartbeat.
Keith wrapped his arms around her and tilted his head to rest against the top of hers, "This is an interesting discovery."
"I don't get it," Allura whispered. "What just happened?"
"I think having you touch my scar and me touching your birthmark somehow, for lack of a better description, deepens our bond."
"You mean when we touch the Love Knot, it makes us…" she trailed off blushing.
Keith ran his one hand over the scar, nothing happened. "I think you have to be the one to touch me." He grabbed her hand as she reached to caress him again. "Uh, no, let's not do this now."
She smiled mischievously, "I thought you wanted to fool around."
"Yeah, but we can't take it that far and if you keep touching my scar I might just explode."
"How come I never noticed it before? I mean, you massage my neck all the time."
Keith laid his hand on her neck like he normally did and noticed his fingers came in contact with the sides of her neck, but his hand was curved and didn't actually touch her birthmark. "I think your mark is in an odd enough spot that I never touched it without meaning to."
"Well, this is certainly interesting," she said, buttoning up his shirt. "We should look into it and see what kind of magic this is."
"I think it's our bond, babe."
"Hm, I guess this could either be a lot of fun or a lot of trouble."
Keith took her hand and laid it over his chest. "I guess it has to be skin on skin contact because it doesn't seem to be working through my shirt."
"I'll keep that in mind," she laid her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him.
Sliding his arms around her, Keith couldn't help but think about the depths of his feelings for her. It didn't take the magic of the scar to make him want her, that had happened long before the lion had knocked him down. He was becoming more and more confident in the fact that they really did belong together, no matter what their titles or upbringings were.
{{ "Does it still work?" Becca asked, enthralled.
"Oh yes," Keith grinned. "Whenever she is really mad or I need her to forgive me for something, I just touch her birthmark."
Allura scowled, "I knew it was going to cause as much trouble as it does fun. I've learned to argue with him from across the room or over the communicators."
"This is all part of some supernatural bond?" Paton asked.
Keith nodded, "Yeah, we actually talked to Kadmus about it. There is magic in Allura's bloodline that explains her birthmark and there was magic in the lion that hit me. We were meant to be together."
"What did Lotor do next?" Darcy inquired.
"Well, he laid low for a while. We had Intel saying that things were quiet on Doom, but we were still worried." Keith explained. "We went about our lives, we couldn't just sit and wait. We planned our wedding and prepped the North Tower. The rooms needed to be cleaned out and painted. But all the while, Lotor was always at the back of our minds…}}