Hi All!

Okay, first off, thanks for the great reviews, and I may have been incorrect. There will probably be three more chapters, counting this one, so probably two more. I don't know…I just can't seem to stop :-)

Any way, I really appreciate the reviews and support!

Craze- Thanks for sticking by this story, I am so glad you are enjoying it.

Anony -It is frustrating to think that, but then they all did stick together and who won out in the end? What can I say, a good villain is necessary for a good story.

RedLion2- Thank you for your unending support and the great stories you share with us. The paint war was just fun to write. Above all else, they are a young couple in love and that does involve some goofing off :-) I will admit that I do have a few little idea floating around, but you'll just have to wait and see.

Ytak -Thanks for the review! And the great description of Lotor!

Enjoy!
Failte

"This is such bullshit," Keith muttered as they flew as fast as the Lions could go. He found that he wasn't worried or even nervous, he was pissed off. How did Lotor get to her? Well, they knew how, he got into the castle, with help, knocked out two guards, put on a uniform, broke into Hilla's room, knocked her out, and got Allura. But how did he get into the castle? What did he use to knock them out?

A beeping indicated an incoming message. "What is it?"

"I have word from the Zettle outpost," Koran told him. "They have no reason to attack, but they will do their best to cause a distraction and buy you time."

"That's all we can ask for. Any word from the hospital wing?"

"One of the guards, Filiopin, woke. He said they never heard anything, someone sneaked up behind him, grabbed him by the throat and placed a cloth over his mouth and nose. The next thing he knew, he was waking up in the hospital."

Keith sighed, "Alright, keep me posted. We're still over an hour out."

"Will do, Captain."

"Did everyone hear that?" Keith asked his men.

"Yeah, Cap," Hunk replied.

"We'll get her back, man," Lance added.

Pidge nodded, "Lotor is really going to pay this time."

"What's the plan?" Lance asked.

"We fly in there, we get Allura, we get out," Keith explained. "Do what we need to do to get her out of there."

"If you'll just hold still, I'll finish with your hair," Nadia said quietly.

Allura shook her head hard, "No! You cannot finish my hair! I will not marry Lotor!" She lowered her voice. "Nadia, if you help me get out of here, I will take you with me."

The young girl looked at her, shocked, "Why would I want to go?"

"To be free."

"But…but His Excellency takes care of me."

"Don't you want to be free?"

"I am happy here. His Excellency is a good man. He takes care of me."

"I can offer you freedom, a whole new life."

"No," Nadia shook her head. "When my family was gone and I had no where else to go, His Excellency gave me a home. He is a good man and he will make a good husband."

Allura flinched as Nadia pulled the brush roughly through her hair, "Ow, that hurts!"

"Sit still and it won't," the girl promised, pulling the Princess's hair back tightly.

"What are you doing to me?"

"Making you beautiful for His Excellency."

Allura started struggling again.

"No!" Nadia smacked her hand with the brush. "Stop moving!"

"You hit me!"

"And I will do it again if you don't stop moving! I have to make you beautiful for your wedding!"

"I am not getting married today!" Allura gasped in shock and pain when the girl's hand came in contact with her face.

Nadia leaned in close, wrapping a hand in her hair and pulling it roughly back, "You are the luckiest woman alive! You are about to marry His Excellency and yet you fight me! Do I need to go get the witch?"

Allura stared back into the wild eyes of the girl, "Go ahead and get her. I will not be marrying Lotor today or ever."

"Stupid…stupid…" Nadia punctuated the words by slapping her face and yanking on her hair.

Allura struggled against her restraints.

"What are you doing?" Lotor roared.

Nadia dropped her hands and turned to him, her head down.

He stormed over and gripped her arm tightly, "I told you to do her hair and I find you hitting her? Explain yourself!"

"She was being insolent, Your Excellency," Nadia whispered.

Lotor whirled her around and gripped her chin, forcing her to look at Allura, "That is your Queen. I don't care what she says or what she does, you will respect her and you will never again lay a hand on her." With that, he threw her to the ground and pinned her down by the back of her neck, "You should just be glad I don't kill you."

"Yes, Your Excellency. Thank you, Your Excellency." Nadia mumbled against the floor.

Yanking her up by the arm, he shoved her toward the door, "Go. Leave my sight." Giving her a kick in the back to send her sprawling, Lotor turned back to Allura. "I am so sorry she hurt you, my love."

"Don't touch me!" Allura tried to pull away, but was restrained to the chair.

Pulling a knife from his belt, Lotor sliced through the ropes, nicking her left wrist and ankle in the process. "It is time."

"I will not marry you," she yelled, kicking him in the shin. Since she was barefoot, it really had no effect on him, but it felt as though she had broken three toes.

Lotor smiled indulgingly, "I love you."

"No!" Allura pulled with all her might, scratching at him with her free hand, breaking free of his grasp and running toward the door.

Lotor took off after her, startled when alarms sounded.

"We're thirty minutes out," Pidge announced.

Keith nodded and dialed in Castle Control. "Any word, Koran?"

"Zettle has sent in a brigade with the plan to try and get in to see Lotor, to stall him as long as they can. They will approach him with the plan to interrogate him about the Princess disappearing." He replied.

"Keep me posted," Keith closed the connection.

"How're you holding up, Keith?" Lance asked.

"I'm fine."

"She's going to be fine."

"I know she will be, I am just really pissed off that this has happened again."

"Yeah, we all are."

Allura cursed as she tripped over the hem of her gown. Gathering it up in her hands, she tried to move faster over the cold stone floors, trying to find her way out. The halls turned and twisted in different directions and she didn't know if she was heading out or going in deeper. She had only ever been in the dungeons before, this was unknown territory.

Lotor burst into the throne room at high speed, barking out orders. "I want the entire palace in lock down! The Princess has escaped and I want her found! What is that damn alarm for!"

Guards scattered, going in search of the renegade Princess while Lotor approached the head of the Guards, Oloron.

"Explain."

Oloron bowed, "It's the Garrison, sire, they are demanding they speak to you right away."

"Why?"

"They said they would only speak with you."

Lotor snarled, "This is nothing more than a diversionary tactic. Send them away. We need to find the Princess."

"They won't go away, sir."

"Then shoot them!" He shouted. "I don't care."

"We can't just shoot Garrison officials, sire."

Lotor struck him across the face, "I don't care what you do, just get rid of them."

Allura ran around a corner and hit a dead end with boxes piled against the wall. Groaning exasperatedly, she whirled around and peeked back down the hall she had just come from. The sound of boots hitting the stone floor echoed as the guards spread out looking for her. If she could just keep Lotor at bay a while longer, that would give Keith enough time to get here.

Two guards ran past her hiding place. She noticed the alarms had been shut off, did that mean the guys were here already? No, it was too soon. What was going on? Looking around, Allura noticed a grate about seven feet off the ground. After quickly checking the hallway again, she stacked a couple of boxes and clambered up, moving quickly when she felt them shake beneath her. Pulling on the grate, it pushed up and she climbed in, wincing when she heard her dress tear.

"What do you mean you can't find her?" Lotor roared. This wasn't supposed to happen. He and Allura should have been married by now! They should be in their marriage bed! But no, his incompetent men had lost her!

The guard in front of him knelt down on one knee, "I am sorry, Your Excellence."

"I don't want your apologies, I want the Princess!"

"We are still looking, sir."

"But you aren't finding! Go!"

Lotor whirled around and came face to face with Oloron, "What is it?"

Oloron bowed, "The Garrison officials will not leave, Your Excellency, they continue to insist to speak with you."

"Fine, take them into the parlor and make them wait. I will tend to them when I can."

"Yes, sire."

Allura was moving slowly through the dust and grime inside the vent. It was frighteningly dark, but she was too far along to turn back now. The vent was so narrow she had to shimmy along, feeling both creepy and sharp objects rub against and jab at her arms and legs. Her heart raced and she silently prayed for a sign of light. A sign that she was getting out. She knew Keith was coming for her, but she had to get to him.

She gasped as she felt something small and furry race past her and rub against her arm. Her sleeve caught on something and the beautiful lace tore right off the dress.

Frustration, anger, and fear welled up inside her and Allura stopped, closed her eyes, and bit her lip to keep from bursting into tears. Just this afternoon she was so happy, preparing the bedroom she and Keith would share, trying on her wedding dress. Tonight they were supposed to finish packing up anything she didn't need over the next week and get them ready to move up to the North Tower. Then she and Keith had plans to sneak off and watch a movie, to cuddle and steal a little time alone.

Now she was dirty and scratched up, crawling through the vent of Doom's castle, and afraid that she was actually claustrophobic. And, to top it all off, her beautiful dream wedding dress was destroyed.

Using her arms to pull herself forward, Allura pushed all that aside and concentrated on putting as much space between herself and Lotor as she could.

Sweat dripped off Lotor's face as he paced the throne room. It had been over half an hour since the Princess had disappeared. The Garrison officials were waiting to speak to him and he knew the damn Voltron Lions would be arriving at any moment. What had happened? Where had it all gone wrong?

"Sire." Oloron looked nervous.

Lotor knew what he was going to say, "What is it?"

"It's Voltron, sire, they have arrived. And…"

"And what?"

"And the Garrison officials, sire, they have left."

"I knew it! They were just a diversionary tactic to try and stall the wedding."

An explosion rocked the castle.

"Sire?"

"They are shooting around the castle, trying to scare us," Lotor said, once again pacing. "They won't destroy the castle as long as the Princess is inside."

"We don't know if she is still inside, sire."

Lotor stopped and turned to face the leader of his guards so they stood nose to nose. "No we don't. But then, neither do they. As far as Commander Keith is concerned, we still have the Princess in our possession. Keep up the search."

"Yes, sire."

Keith flew Black around the castle, looking for any signs of Lotor or Allura. He had fired down on the courtyard, close enough to shake the foundation but not to cause any real damage.

"What's the plan, Cap?" Lance asked.

"We land over on the west side and go let Lotor know we're here."

"I hope he put out the welcome mat for us," Hunk muttered.

"Looks like we're going to be getting a proper welcome," Lance said as they landed the Lions and Lotor walked out the main entrance.

The Force leapt down from their Lions, but left the great metal creatures on standby, ready for attack. Keith led the way with the other three in formation behind him.

"Commander," Lotor greeted Keith.

"Where is she?"

"You mean my wife?"

"No, I mean Allura."

Lotor smirked, "She is waiting for me to finish my business with you so I can join her in our wedding bed."

Keith took an angry step forward, but was stopped when the guards accompanying Lotor stepped forward to meet him, their weapons drawn.

"I wouldn't do that, Commander. You need to admit you've lost and leave. The Princess is mine."

His men watched as Keith clenched his teeth together in anger. There had to be a way for them to get in, to get to the Princess.

Allura was finding it hard to breathe in the confined space. This had to end somewhere and at this point she didn't care where, as long as she could just get out. To squelch the rising panic, she mentally went over what was left to be done over the next week. Moving their belongings up to the North Tower, helping Nanny and Romelle arrange the flowers for the ceremony, spend time with Keith's family who were due to arrive in another day. There was so much to do and such little time in which to do it.

The sound of rushing water reached her ears. Allura stopped, unsure as to where to go. A second vent connected to the right, but the water was straight ahead. It sounded like a lake or the moat. It had to lead outside.

Keith took a small step back. He knew that this was not going to get him any closer to Allura. As it seemed, the best thing to do would be to retreat back, regroup, and then break in under the cover of darkness.

"I swear," Keith swore in a low voice. "If I find out you hurt her in any way, I will kill you with my bare hands."

"Oh, I promise to only hurt her in the most pleasurable of ways," Lotor taunted.

Keith made to move closer but stopped when he heard splashing. Lotor heard it as well and motioned to his two guards. They both raised their weapons and moved over to the water's edge. Keith told Hunk and Pidge to stay with Lotor while he and Lance went to investigate.

"It's probably one of the dogs or something fallen into the moat," Lotor called out. "Just shoot it."

Hunk pressed the muzzle of his weapon against Lotor's head and told him to shut up.

Both Doom guards aimed into the water. Around the side of the castle wall, they all caught sight of a blonde head. A guard fired off a shot. Keith knocked him down and kicked his weapon away as Lance took care of the other guard. Without another thought, Keith dove into the water and swam towards the struggling woman.

"Allura!" He called.

She heard his voice, but was too afraid to believe it.

Keith sliced through the water, somewhere in the distance he heard Lotor's angry voice and a blaster shot, but he was focused solely on the woman ahead of him. She was losing her strength, he could tell as she fought against the water.

Allura let out a scream as an arm wrapped around her waist.

"Allura, baby, it's me," Keith whispered into her ear as he swam toward shore. He was slowed when he felt her go limp in his arms.

"Keith!" Lance met him on the shore and helped pull her out.

Coughing up water, Keith hauled himself out of the water and crouched beside Allura. She was bruised and bleeding from small cuts on her arms and legs, he ran his hands over her limbs to make sure nothing was broken. Her hair was matted and covering her face, he pushed it aside and watched her eyes flutter open. "Hey there, beautiful."

He helped her sit as she coughed up water and clung to him. "It didn't happen, Keith," she wheezed. "We didn't get married."

"Shh," he pulled her close and pressed his lips to her temple. "It's alright, baby, don't worry about it."

"I want to go home," she whispered.

"Come on, man," Lance helped him to his feet. "Lotor's called in backup, let's get out of here."

Keith noticed, for the first time, the sound of gunfire as Hunk, Pidge, and Lance covered them. "Come on, Allura." He took her hands and pulled her to her feet, "Can you walk?"

"I can run," she said, jogging off with him towards the Lions.

They were almost to Black when Allura gasped and stumbled.

Keith caught her before she hit the ground, "Are you okay?"

"I think…I think I was hit," she gasped.

Keith swept her up and ran the last few yards to Black. As soon as they were in the air, he called roll call.

"Yeah, I'm here, I'm fine," Lance replied.

"I was hit in the side, but it's just a graze, hardly bleeding," Pidge said.

"I believe I got away unscathed," Hunk said wonderingly.

"Good, get back to the castle, we'll regroup there. Lance, contact Castle Control and tell Koran we're on our way back with the Princess and to have Dr. Gorma waiting."

"Will do, Captain."

Keith closed the connection to the other Lions, flipped on autopilot, and turned to Allura. She was watching him with wide eyes, her teeth chattering, and her body shaking. He realized she was going into shock.

"Okay, baby," he unbuckled his belts and rubbed her arms. "Stay with me, babe, where were you hit?"

She stared at him blankly, "What?"

"You said you thought you were hit."

"I'm so cold."

Keith reached into a compartment above her head and pulled out a heavy, scratchy blanket, "I know, here, let me help you." He unbuckled her belts and pulled her forward so he could wrap the blanket around her. "Where were you hit, Allura?"

"I hurt all over, but…but my ankle really hurts."

Keith looked down and swore when he saw the blood covering her left foot and dripping onto the floor. He quickly pulled out the first aid kit under his seat and gently lifted her foot onto his lap. "It's just a graze, honey, it's not too bad, but it must sting like hell."

"Yeah, it does," she mumbled.

He gave her his left hand to grip as he cleaned the wound with an antiseptic wipe. She hissed and squeezed his hand painfully hard.

"I know it hurts, baby, but we have to keep it from getting infected." He taped clean gauze over it, "This should hold until we get you to Dr. Gorma. Were you hit anywhere else?"

Allura looked down to see her foot still resting on his lap while he reassuringly stroked the top of it. She was dirty, wet, cold, and…she looked down at what remained of her wedding dress and burst into tears.

"Allura, baby, what is it?" Keith asked worriedly. "Where are you hurt? What can I do?"

She shook her head, crying so hard she couldn't speak.

At a loss as to what else to do, Keith gently laid her foot down and lifted her onto his lap. He turned her so she could put her injured foot up on the seat she had just vacated and to keep it elevated. Gently stroking her hair, he tried to calm her with sweet words.

"You said you hurt all over, what happened? Do you want a pain killer?"

She shook her head and buried her face in his neck.

"What is it?" Keith asked, a million frightening scenarios racing through his mind.

"My dress," she whimpered.

Keith thought he misheard her, "What?"

"My beautiful wedding dress," She sobbed. "It's ruined."

"Your dress?" He asked incredulously.

"Look," Allura sat up and pushed the blanket away to reveal the torn and dirty remnant of her dress.

"Dammit, Allura," he whispered tightening his arms around her and swallowing hard. "It's just a damn dress."

"It's not just a dress. It's my wedding dress. The beautiful dress I've always wanted…" She was cut off in mid sentence when Keith covered her mouth with his own.

"You will get another wedding dress, Allura," he promised. "But after everything else that has happened today you will have to forgive me for not caring if your dress is ruined."

"She has numerous superficial cuts and bruises all over and a nasty blaster graze on her ankle," Dr. Gorma explained to the gathering of people in his waiting room. "The Princess also has a bad headache, as do all the others who had been drugged, but that will pass. Above all else she is just exhausted and sore. She'll be fine in a couple of days."

"Can I see her?" Keith asked.

Dr. Gorma nodded and stepped aside to let him into her room.

Keith crept into the room, closing the door behind him. Allura was laying back in the bed, her wounds had been cleaned and he could see a few small bandages on the back of her hands. Her hair was cleaned and brushed back from her face and she was changed into one of her warm, long nightgowns.

"Hey there," he said, approaching her bed.

"Hi," she answered miserably.

"How are you feeling?"

"Sore and angry and frustrated. Dr. Gorma said I needed a couple of days."

"Yes, you do."

"But I don't have time for that!" Her voice rose. "We're getting married in a week, I still have so much to do and your family is coming tomorrow. Romelle should be here in a couple of days and…"

"Allura," Keith covered her mouth with his hand. "Don't worry about all that, we can even push the wedding back a few days if you want." As soon as he saw her eyes widen and heard the quiet gasp behind his hand, Keith knew he had said the wrong thing. Lowering his hand, he added, "Or not. Don't worry, Angel, it will all work out. You relax. Nanny, my mother, Romelle, Sven, the guys and I will take care of everything. I promise. Everything will be just fine."