Hi All!

Thank you all for the great reviews! I really appreciate them.

Sorry for the delays in getting these chapters out, life really seems to be getting in the way lately.

There are probably only two more chapters left, but the fact is, this story is already about 35 chapters longer than I meant it to be :-)

Enjoy!

Failte

SPLAT!

Keith stood stunned for a minute before looking down to see beige paint splattered across the chest of his t-shirt. He slowly raised his eyes to see his fiancée's, her hand over her mouth to hide her laughter, watching him, with a wet paintbrush in her other hand.

"Not funny, Allura."

"Oh, but honey, it's your color," she giggled.

He leaned down and dipped his brush in the bucket, "But is it yours?"

"No!" Allura shrieked, tripping over a can of paint to get away from him.

Keith grinned evilly as he stood over her, "You should have thought of that before you flicked paint on me."

"Okay, okay," she threw her hands up to shield her face, still laughing. "I'm sorry, Keith, I am so sorry."

"You know, I would take that apology more seriously if you weren't laughing." Using wide, sweeping strokes, looking quite a bit like Zorro brandishing a paintbrush, Keith marked the front of Allura's shirt.

"What did you do?" She gasped, lifting her head to look at her shirt.

"I marked you."

"Is that a K?"

"Yeah, see if I had a sword on me, I would have carved it in your shirt, but all I had handy was a paintbrush."

Giggling, Allura held her hand up so Keith could haul her to her feet. What he didn't notice was the brush in her other hand. With one swift movement, Allura swiped across his face, leaving a wide stroke of beige over his left cheek and nose.

Still holding her hand, Keith yanked her closer and brought his brush up to coat her forehead in paint. Allura hit his neck next only to have Keith retaliate by painting her left arm. Somehow they ended up on the floor landing on a tray full of paint, splashing it all over themselves, the ladder, and the drop cloths.

Laughing hysterically, Allura collapsed on the floor beside Keith, trying to catch her breath. "I have paint in my hair!"

"You started it," he responded, laughing.

Sitting up, the young Princess scanned the room. It was the master bedroom in the North Tower and would be their bedroom once they married. They, along with Nanny and the rest of the Force, had been cleaning and moving furniture for over a week and the painting had just begun.

"It's a dull color," she whined.

"No, it's a neutral color," he corrected, putting his hands behind his head. "Once we get the furniture in here and some things on the wall, you'll see it was the right choice."

"Do you have to be right about everything?" She teased.

"It's a curse sometimes, but yeah."

Allura laid down on her stomach, bracing herself on her elbows so she could look down on him, "What about when you thought I couldn't love you?"

"I knew you did."

"You did not!"

"Yes I did. I knew you didn't have a chance against my charm."

Allura looked disbelievingly at him before bursting out in laughter, "You are way too smug sometimes."

"No, I know you want me."

"The truth is, I'm just using you to get to Lance."

Keith grabbed her arm, "No, you want me."

She snorted, "Get over yourself."

Allura shrieked when she saw his hand reaching for the back of her neck, "No, Keith, no, don't!"

Ignoring her pleas, Keith grinned as he pulled her closer and gripped the back of her neck, "Admit you want me."

"No!" She giggled.

He moved his finger and watched as her eyes darkened and she tried to fight the desire that washed over her, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of surrendering herself to him.

"You want me," Keith whispered huskily.

"Yeah, I do," she admitted, defeated.

Smiling softly, he brought her head down and met her lips with his own. Allura ran her hands down his sides and tried to get under his shirt, but was stopped when he grasped her hands in his, stretching them above their heads as she fell on top of him.

"Ach Princess! What are you doing?" Nanny appeared in the doorway, hands on her hips.

"Looks like their christening their new bedroom," Lance quipped.

With as much dignity as she could muster, Allura sat up and pushed her paint splotched hair out of her face. "We're painting."

Lance moved past Nanny and looked around the room, "The walls or each other?"

Keith stood and offered Allura a hand to pull her to her feet, "All I'm saying is she started it."

"Oh really!" Nanny huffed, throwing her hands in the air. "You are getting married in a week, when are you going to start acting like adults?"

Keith shrugged, "Ask us in another ten years."

Throwing him an annoyed look, she turned to the Princess, "Go, your highness, you need to wash up and meet with Hilla."

Allura's face lit up, "My dress is done?"

"Not yet, Princess, this is just a fitting. She will need to make a few adjustments, I'm sure. They never fit quite right the first time."

With a huge grin on her face Allura twirled around to face Keith, "If you'll excuse me, I have to go try on my wedding dress."

"So you're going to leave me to clean up this mess?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yup. Lance can help you."

Keith crooked his finger at her, "Come here."

Taking a step closer, she asked, "What?"

"Have fun," he leaned forward and kissed her.

"You too," she smiled, turning to leave.

Before she got too far, Keith reached out and smacked her behind, leaving a beige handprint.

"Keith!" Allura gasped.

"Oh really!" Nanny sighed as the two guys laughed. "Come along, Princess." She took Allura's arm and dragged her from the room, lecturing her on what proper behavior is for a ruling monarch.

"Oh…oh…" Allura was at a complete loss as to what to say when she saw her dress. It still needed to be taken in about one and half inches, shortened by two, and the final touches added, but in her eyes it was absolutely beautiful.

Nanny wiped a tear away from her eye, "Princess, you look so lovely. I wish your parents could be here."

"They are," she whispered.

Twirling to the right, Allura held her arms out at the sides, examining herself in the mirror. It was a white, lace covered A-line gown. The fitted bodice and scalloped V-neck showed off her figure beautifully, but it was the sleeves that she liked the best. They were long bell sleeves of handmade lace. Tears welled up in her eyes as she imagined what Keith would think when she walked down the aisle.

"Alright, your highness," Hilla stood and took a step back. "You may take it off now. We'll have another fitting in a couple of days."

Allura took the hand Hilla offered her and stepped down from the stool she was on, "Thank you so much, Hilla. You have done an amazing job."

"It was a pleasure, your highness."

Gathering the skirt in her hands, Allura made her way into the bathroom to change.

"Princess," Nanny called through the door. "I am going to go downstairs and start dinner. If you need anything, Hilla will be here."

"Alright, Nanny, thank you!" Allura called back.

Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, the Princess of Arus studied her image. Her heart raced and her eyes blurred with tears as excitement, nerves, and just plain happiness flooded her. She just wasn't ready to take it off yet.

"What are you doing here?" Hilla's shrill voice floated through the door.

"Who is it?" Allura called back. "Is it Keith? He knows he can't see me in my dress. Tell him to wait."

But Hilla didn't answer.

A chill raced down her spine and she felt the hair on the back of her neck rise. "Who's out there?"

When there was no answer, Allura whirled around and dug into her pile of clothes, looking for her communicator. She heard the door open just as her hands closed around the device. A scream just barely escaped as a cloth was placed over her nose and mouth and unconsciousness overtook her.

"Alright man, I have to go take a shower before this completely dries," Keith said.

Lance smirked, "No problem, man, I'll put the ladder away and then we're done."

"Just put it in the room across the hall please, we're painting that one tomorrow."

"Are you going to need someone to act as referee?"

"No, smartass, but if you want to help, we'd really appreciate it."

Lance folded the ladder, "When are we moving the furniture in here?"

"I'd like to start as soon as the paint is dry. We're getting married in a week, Lance, and the North Tower isn't ready."

"Your family is coming the day after tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, I had been hoping to have it all together before my mother got here."

"As long as the bedroom is ready, what else do you need?"

Keith smacked him upside the head as he left the room.

On his way to his room, Keith was tempted to dial up Allura and see how she was doing. But she would get annoyed, tell him he was being over protective again. And if he bothered her when she was trying on her wedding dress, she would never forgive him.

Stripping out of his clothes and dropping them on an old towel, he turned on the water and proceeded to scrub the paint off his body. As he lathered up his hair, a chill ran down his spine and the scar on his chest began to tingle. It wasn't painful, just odd.

Keith stuck his head under the spray and rubbed his chest. Allura.

Twisting the knobs and shutting off the water, he pushed his hair out of his eyes and wrapped a towel around his waist. At this point, he didn't care if she got annoyed, he had to talk to her, make sure she was alright.

Picking his communicator up off the counter, he dialed her up. No answer.

Keith swore under his breath as he quickly grabbed some clothes and pulled them on.

"Lance," he called into his communicator as he left his room. "Gather the rest of the guys and meet me in Castle Control. Now."

"What is it, Keith?"

"Just do it, I'll explain there." Keith snapped his communicator shut and ran full force toward the center of the castle. He didn't know what was going on but he knew that if they met and regrouped in Castle Control, they could figure it all out.

Koran and Pidge were already in Castle Control when he arrived, Lance and Hunk appeared a moment later.

"Something is wrong," he told them. "Allura is not answering her communicator and I know something is wrong."

"How do you know?" Koran asked. "Nanny told me she was in Hilla's room for a fitting, she may just have taken it off to put the dress on."

"You need to trust me on this, Koran. Alright, Hunk, you go find Nanny. Lance, you check the Observation Deck and the Rec Room, Pidge I want you to go to Hilla's room, and I will check Allura's room. Koran you stay here. First person to find her contact the rest of us. If we…" He stopped and cleared his throat. "If we don't find her, meet back here within five minutes."

"Yes, Captain," his men replied.

Before anyone could leave, the door slid open and two young guards raced in, breathless. They halted in front of Keith and saluted before the one he recognized as Private Levin spoke.

"Sir, we found something you should see."

"What is it?" He asked, feeling the hair on the back of his neck rise.

"Two guards sir, they were knocked out and their uniforms taken."

"Where are they?"

"In the hall closet, sir."

The Force followed the two guards, all drawing out their weapons. A third guard was standing watch over the closed door to the closet. When he saw the Commander approaching, he stepped aside and slid the door open.

Two guards laid in a tangle on the floor of the closet, stripped to their underwear. Keith knelt down and checked for a pulse, they were both alive. He looked up at the three guards, "Take them to the hospital, I want to know the second they're awake."

"Yes, sir."

He stood and faced the rest of the Force, "Let's go to Hilla's room and see what we find there."

The four of them took off at a run, Keith calling up Castle Control to fill him in on what they had found and where they were headed. His heart was racing. He knew Allura wouldn't be there. She wasn't in the castle and if his instincts were right, he knew who had her.

The door to Hilla's room was open. The stool Allura had stood upon was knocked over, along with Hilla's basket of sewing supplies. The bathroom door was open and Keith entered, his weapon drawn, and saw Allura's clothes in a pile.

"Cap," Pidge's voice called to him from the bedroom.

He walked out to see the three men on the other side of the bed. With his heart in his throat, Keith joined them over the unconscious form of Hilla sprawled on the floor.

Allura groaned quietly. Her head throbbed and her mouth felt cottony. She tried to move her hand to try and rub the pain from her head only to find she couldn't.

"What the…"

"Princess."

She groaned again, this time out of frustration. "Dammit, Lotor, let me go before Keith gets here and beats the crap out of you."

"Tsk, tsk, Princess," he shook his head and stepped closer to where she was tied to a chair. "Such language. Those men of the Voltron Force have certainly had a negative effect on you."

"What do you want?"

"I've said it before," he said, running a finger down her cheek. "And I'll say it again: I cannot allow you to marry a worthless pilot."

Allura scowled at him, "And I've told you before that you have no say in who I marry. This is getting tiresome, Lotor. You know Keith will find me, you know he will rescue me and you will most likely get hurt. So let's just skip the middleman and you let me go."

He leaned in so his face was mere inches from hers, "I don't appreciate your insolence, Princess."

"I don't appreciate you holding me against my will."

"You will learn to appreciate me and all I can do for you."

"I don't think so."

"Koran!" Keith shouted into his communicator as he ran towards Castle Control. "We are on our way there, I want you to send out a call to Doom. I want to talk to Lotor."

Koran's eyes widened, but he nodded, "Will do, Captain."

"What are we going to do, Cap?" Lance asked as he ran alongside his commander.

"We're going to try and contact Lotor. If he does not respond or if he has Allura, we head over to Doom."

When the Force arrived in the control room, Koran was standing beside the main console looking grim.

"Were you able to contact Doom?" Keith asked.

"I didn't need to," Koran sighed, gesturing to the monitor where Lotor's face filled the screen.

Keith snarled at his image, "Where is she?"

"Oh, the Princess is fine, Captain."

"I want to see her."

Lotor stepped aside and Keith could see Allura tied to a chair, her head up straight as she stared determinedly ahead. "What do you want, Lotor?"

The ruler of Doom stepped back in front of the monitor and smiled, "I have what I want, Captain, I have the Princess."

"Not for long."

"Ah, but see I am going to marry her."

"Dream on."

"The ceremony will be in twenty minutes, I just thought you would like to know."

"She will never agree to marry you."

"She doesn't have to."

Keith furrowed his brow, "What are you talking about?"

"As the King, I can choose whomever I want to marry and she has no choice. Once we are married, the Princess will be accepted as the Queen of Doom and so she will be acknowledged by the Garrison and all other neighboring planets."

"That's not legal."

"It is on Doom."

"And when we come and get her…"

"Captain, there is no way you can be here within twenty minutes and once the ceremony is over, she is legally mine. If you try and take her off this planet, I will be forced to kill you. If, by chance, you find a way off the planet with her, you will both be hunted down and, when you're captured, you will be executed."

Keith shook his head, "That's not going to happen, Lotor."

"Yes, it is. After the ceremony I will officially be the ruler of Arus as well and Voltron will be mine." The screen dropped to black.

Keith turned to Koran, "That can't be legal."

"I believe it is," the older man sighed. "But if he does go through with this, you still have to get Princess Allura off of Doom. Once she's back here we can get the marriage annulled. No one will go along with this."

"Alright, here's what we're going to do," Keith waved his men over. "Koran, I want you to contact the Garrison post on Zettle, they're closer than we are. Explain to them what's going on. They can attack, create a diversion, whatever it takes to postpone this…this ceremony. Guys, we're leaving now. To your Lions!"

"I will not allow this to happen," Allura declared.

Lotor crossed to her, cupping her chin in his hand, "You have no choice. Remember Nadia?"

The pale young girl who had tended to Allura on one of her previous visits to Doom entered the room, her head bowed.

"She will help you get ready," Lotor continued. "Fifteen minutes, my bride."