"Are you alright?" Keith asked, helping his new wife to her feet.

Her ankle hurt, but she wasn't about to give him anything else to worry about. "Yeah, I'm fine."

They hurried to Castle Control where they met up with Captain O'Hurley and the guards on duty.

"What have you found?" Keith asked.

"Two explosions," O'Hurley explained. "Outside the castle, shook the foundation, but there was no sign of major damage."

"Alright, Lance, you and I are going to go down and check it out…"

"No!" Allura interrupted him.

Keith looked down at her, "What?"

"Don't go down there."

"Why not?"

She clutched his hands in hers. "I have a really bad feeling about this, Keith. We finally got married, I can't lose you now."

He smiled softly, "You're not going to lose me, Allura, I'm just going to check out the damage and come right back. If we find the explosive device, we can piece it back together and figure out where it came from."

"We know where it came from."

"Allura..."

"Keith, get Kadmus."

"What? Why?"

"I just have a really bad feeling about this, please," she pleaded, squeezing his hands so tightly her nails were cutting into his skin.

"Okay, fine," he turned to his men. "Uh, Hunk, go find Kadmus, tell him I need to speak with him. He should be with the others in the safe rooms."

Hunk saluted and rushed from the room.

"Pidge, get online, make sure the shields are all fully operational. Lance, help O'Hurley with the damage report." Keith turned to Allura and lowered his voice, "I'm sorry about this."

"It's not your fault, Keith."

"But with all the precautions we took, this should not have happened."

"He's very determined and very pissed off."

"I should have just shot him when I had the chance."

Smiling, she slipped her arms around him, "But if you didn't follow everything by the books, you wouldn't be the Keith we all know and love."

He hugged her, "It was silly to think our wedding would go off without a hitch."

"Ahem."

Keith turned his head to see Hunk standing beside them with Kadmus. Releasing her from his grasp, Keith turned to the older man, his arm still wrapped tightly around Allura's shoulders, "You guys got here fast."

"Kadmus was on his way up here," Hunk explained. "I met him in the hall."

"Captain," the wizard's high pitched voice had taken on an unusual urgency. "There is dangerous magic here."

"What do you mean?"

"I can feel it, Captain, dangerous magic has been released nearby."

"Where? How?"

"We need to find where those explosions took place."

Keith nodded, "We believe they were outside the castle."

The old man nodded, "Come with me, Captain."

"Allura, stay here," her husband instructed before turning to his men. "Lance, O'Hurley you're coming with me. I want at least six other men as well. Hunk, you stay here, but be ready to come if we need you."

Hunk saluted, "Aye, Captain."

"The shields were shaken, Keith," Pidge called from his station. "It'll take me a few minutes to get them back up to full power."

"Just do it," Keith shouted as he led the way out of the room.

Allura pulled the veil from her head and angrily threw it on the counter.

"Your highness," Koran walked over to her. "Everything will be fine."

"Why today? Why our wedding?"

"You know why."

"I hope they find him and shoot him."

"Princess!"

"I'm so sick of this Koran! I just want him out of our lives!"

………………...............................................

Keith jogged down to a side entrance where they suspected the first explosion to have come from. He was slowed by Kadmus, who insisted on coming along. Lance was at his side and they were followed by O'Hurley, the guards, and Kadmus.

"Over here, Captain," Kadmus pointed out toward the side of the castle by the West Tower.

"What is it?" Keith asked.

"A disturbance. They have broken through my wards," Kadmus explained.

"But how?"

"If she can get on the grounds to plant specially made explosives, they can break through the wards, but only for short periods of time."

Keith looked at him, confused, "What?"

"Over there, see," he raised a wrinkled brown hand and pointed to a spot just beside the castle. "Notice the air."

The air was unnaturally wavy, like watching heat rise off hot pavement. Keith moved forward to examine it, but Kadmus stopped him.

"No, Captain, it is a portal. Haggar opened a portal, probably two by the sound of the explosions."

"Which means Lotor is here."

"But he has a very short time before he is trapped here and once the portal closes, he will have to travel outside the wards for Haggar to help him out."

Keith unholstered his weapon and began to visually sweep the area, "But how did…"

"Captain! Over here!"

He whirled around to see Lance and O'Hurley, weapons drawn, pointing them at Lotor. The Doom ruler stood, his head held high, and his arms crossed over his chest, looking rather annoyed.

With a resigned sigh, Keith walked over, "What do you think you're doing, Lotor? I don't think you got an invitation to the wedding."

"I cannot allow this marriage to happen."

Laughter erupted from within Keith as Lance and O'Hurley lowered their weapons.

"You find this funny, Captain?"

Keith held up his left hand, "You're a little late, Lotor."

Lotor's eyes narrowed and his face darkened, "No."

"Yup," he stepped closer. "And to make all this even better, you are here alone, surrounded."

"I need only to send one signal and I will have my men here within seconds."

"Then you will be attacking a castle full of guests, including a few high ranking Garrison officials. So this time, after we defeat you, the Garrison will have proof of your blatant disregard for the Intergalactic Rules of Warfare. Not to mention the fact that we can kill you in less than a second, well before any of your men could get here." Keith watched the anger play out on Lotor's face.

"You have no idea of what I am capable of," Lotor said, his voice higher than usual.

"Right now, you're capable of nothing."

"Haggar…"

"Is worthless right now," Kadmus interrupted.

"Who are you?" Lotor asked, his lip curled in disgust.

"Enough of this," Keith grabbed Lotor and whirled him around, shoving his face roughly against the trunk of a tree, his blaster pressed against the back of his skull. "O'Hurley, I want him secured and taken to the dungeons. He is to be off my planet before nightfall."

"Yes, sir," the Garrison Captain pulled out a pair of restraints and nodded to two of his men. Together the three of them restrained Lotor and dragged him toward the castle, followed by the rest of the guards.

Keith turned to Kadmus, "How sure are we that Haggar won't get to him?"

"I was able to close the portals. Haggar cannot work magic within the wards, she would have to arrive on the planet outside of the wards and make her way undetected into the castle."

"Which would be nearly impossible."

"Or there would have to be more of her portal opening devices on the grounds."

"And any ships that she might send would have to get through the scout ships and our radars," Lance pointed out.

Keith scratched his chin, "But how did they get those explosives on the castle grounds in the first place?"

Lance shrugged, "They could have come from outside the wards and snuck onto the grounds."

"Alright, I want a full sweep of the grounds, go at least three miles past the wards," Keith instructed. "Any Doom soldiers found are to be arrested on the spot, shoot only in self defense. Any more of those devices are to be handled only by Kadmus. I want a full report before supper."

Lance grinned and shook his head, "Nope, you're on your honeymoon, man. I'll take care of the sweep and you'll see the reports the day after tomorrow."

"Lance…"

"Nope."

"That was an order."

"Don't care."

"I can have you courtmartialed."

"Not while you're on vacation."

"If Allura's in danger…"

"You'll be the first to know."

Keith sighed and ran a hand through his hair as Kadmus chuckled.

"Come on, Keith," Lance slung his arm around his friend's shoulders. "Lotor is in custody, you have a ceremony to finish and a honeymoon to start. If there is anything you need to know, I will tell you. But leave the legwork and paperwork to me."

"Fine, just get the sweep started now. We need to know if Lotor has men in the woods."

"The sooner you quit arguing with me, the sooner I can get started."

Keith nodded and turned toward the castle, but stopped after a few steps, "I won't be able to relax until I know what you find."

Lance rolled his eyes, "Fine, I'll slip a copy of the report under your door."

"Thanks, Lance."

……...…………………………………..

An hour later, the guests were back in the ballroom so Koran could finish the crowning ceremony. Lance, Hunk, and Pidge were not in attendance as they were still overseeing the search of the castle grounds.

"Given the events of the day," Koran began. "The Princess and I believe that an abbreviated ceremony would be appropriate. So, your highness, if you would please."

Allura rose from her seat on the throne and stepped down to stand beside Koran, Keith just behind her.

"As the daughter of His Royal Highness King Alfor and Her Royal Highness Queen Arianna Arewyn, you, Her Royal Highness Princess Allura Arianna Aerwyn Whitaker, are legally, historically next in line to be crowned ruler of the Planet Arus. You have proven over the years to be a worthy leader, keeping your people and your planet together during war. You have shown through your work with the Voltron Force that you are capable of protecting Arus and its people. You have demonstrated strength, intelligence, and grace under the pressures of ruling a planet." Koran stopped and took a deep breath. The weight of what he was doing suddenly settled on him and he found himself feeling emotional.

Allura smiled softly and reached over to take Keith's hand in hers.

Koran continued, "Do you, Princess Allura Arianna Aerwyn Whitaker, agree to freely accept the responsibilities of ruling as Queen over the Planet of Arus?"

"I do," she replied loudly, clearly.

He turned to a large, jewel encrusted trunk on a table behind the altar. Unlatching three locks, Koran pushed open the lid, revealing a large, antique crown. It was an elaborate coronet of antiqued gold in three tiers with diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, and onyx intertwined with etchings of lions. Allura knelt before him as he gently laid the crown on her head.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Koran announced, turning to the assembled crowd. "May I now present to you, Her Royal Highness, Queen Allura Arianna Arewyn Whitaker, Queen of Arus, and her escort, Prince Consort Keith Patrick Whitaker."

Feeling more than a little silly, Keith stepped up to stand beside Allura as applause greeted them. He saw his mother wipe a tear away and his brother whistled. Allura took his hand and squeezed it gently.

………………………………………………….

"I can't believe it's over!" Allura squealed, falling back on their bed.

The banquet had only lasted three hours, most of the guests anxious to return home after what had happened earlier. Deciding that the need to be alone overshadowed the need to party, the newlyweds retired to their room early. Allura's hope of being swept into the room and having Keith make slow passionate love to her was put on hold when he saw Lance's preliminary report lying on the floor outside their room.

"What does it say?" She asked, sitting up on the bed.

"They found two squadrons of Doom soldiers, some fire was exchanged, no major injuries, none on our side. All the Doom soldiers were taken into custody and will be transported to a Garrison prison." He read. "No sign from Haggar, no more explosive devices were found. Kadmus is going to go with them when the Garrison transports Lotor to the maximum security prison on Luna."

"When are they going to leave?"

Keith checked his watch, "They should be leaving within the hour."

"Good."

He snorted.

"What is it?"

"Lance. At the end of the report he tells me to not even bother asking for more information because he won't tell me until after our honeymoon."

Allura stood and crossed to stand beside him, reading over his shoulder, "I can't believe he put that in there. That goes to the Garrison, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, it does. He's nuts."

She shook her head, "Do you think everything is alright now?"

"Yeah," he closed the report and set it on the desk. "If anything comes up he knows to tell me."

Allura slid her arms around his neck, "Then we can let Lance take care of it and enjoy tonight."

"Yeah, I guess we can do that," he smiled softly, pulling her close to him.

"So, does it feel any different being married to a Queen?"

"Not really."

"No?"

He dipped his head to kiss her gently. "Does it feel any different being married to a Prince Consort?"

Smiling, she pushed his jacket off his shoulders, "Yes."

"How so?" Keith started pulling out her hairpins and watching the blonde curls fall past her shoulders.

"Well, it's not necessarily being married to a Prince Consort that feels different," she admitted as she pulled his shirt from the waist of his pants and started to slowly unbutton it. "But now that I'm married, I feel older, more mature. I feel safe in our relationship…"

"You feel safe in our relationship?" He interrupted, confused by her comment.

"Yeah," Allura shrugged, not meeting his eyes as she toyed with the buttons on his shirt. "It now feels like nothing can really come between us."

Keith brought his hand to her chin and tipped her head back so he could see her face, "Nothing was ever going to come between us."

"I don't just mean Lotor. What if Koran had found a reason for us to not be together? What if someone tried to claim the law we wrote wasn't legal and we couldn't marry? What if…"

Keith silenced her with a kiss, fisting his hand in her hair and holding her tightly against him. "Baby, nothing was going to come between us, ever," he whispered when they broke apart. "I didn't know you were worried about that."

She laid her head on his shoulder, "I could never be too sure."

Taking her hands in his, Keith stepped back and looked down at her, "I wish you would have told me about that."

"It was nothing, it was silly."

"If it worries you, it isn't silly. You know you can come to me about anything, right?"

She smiled up at him, "I know. I love you."

"I love you too and you are so beautiful," he said holding their arms out so he could look at her in all her bridal beauty.

"Why, thank you."

"But you're going to have to lose the dress."

Allura laughed, "I was hoping you'd be a little more romantic on our wedding night."

"Oh, I can show you romance," Keith swept her up into his arms and carried her over to their massive, four poster bed, carefully laying her down. "I love you, Mrs. Whitaker," he breathed, kissing her gently on the lips before moving down to her throat.

"I love you, Mr. Aerwyn."

He lifted his head and raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

Smiling mischievously, she slid her hand from behind his neck and down his chest.

Keith grabbed her hand before she brushed his scar, "No."

"Why?"

"Because I want tonight, our first night as husband and wife, to be us together, not because of…because of magic, but because we love each other."

Allura felt her heart race, overcome with intense feelings. Cupping his face in her hands, she brought his mouth down to hers in a tender kiss.

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AN: Just a little note to let you know that this is technically the last chapter. Don't worry, I'm not ending it here, there will be an epilogue coming soon. This was the last chapter in the flashback and the epilogue will be back in the present day on Keith and Allura's tenth anniversary.

Thanks for all your awesome reviews!! I really appreciate them all!!

Failte