Chapter 7
A/N: Thanks for the amazing reviews, you guys. I'll keep on it for your sakes. You're all awesome. Sorry for the late update. By the way, I don't own voltron.
Keith slowly sat back in the driver's seat of the small shuttle as it glided smoothly through the long, dark earthen passages of the underground network. He allowed his head to loll back into the headrest as he allowed the pent-up tension he'd felt to slowly release as he slowly let go of it from his muscles, mind and heart. As he watched the tunnel walls pass by, he thought about the place he'd called home for the last 18 years. A place he needed to leave in order to protect.
Growing up amongst strangers hadn't been easy, considering what he'd experienced. Trusting the people of Clarion came after years of fighting internally against the belief that everyone was out to get him. For years after his father's death he'd questioned why the people around Aries hadn't come to his rescue or his father's. For years he'd despised their laughter, joy, and the happiness that crushed his heart day in and out. His adoptive father had said it before one snowy afternoon as Graham had walked up to him as he was watching a group of kids play.
Keith watched the balls of white packed snow fly between the two groups as boys as they tried to outmatch each other. Laughter, silly taunts and jeers filled the air as they continued to have their fun, undeterred by the freezing cold. He heard quiet footsteps shuffling the snow behind, getting closer and closer before they stopped behind him, but he didn't turn around from where he sat to know it was Edward Graham. Together they watched quietly as the boys continued to shout out cries and declarations of war at each other.
"Why?" Keith asked quietly. "Why are they like this?"
He knew he didn't have to explain as Graham understood for some reason what he meant to say without having to ask too many questions.
"Do you mean why are they playing around in the snow? Or do you mean why are they so happy when you're not? Or why are they so happy when there is a war?"
Keith remained quiet as his little seven year old brain tried to work through the ache in his chest. He was so sad it hurt to even breathe. But they…they laughed so much.
"Well, it's simple really. They're playing in snow because it's fun. They don't know you're unhappy. And, they don't know what war is or means. But you do. Maybe you want them to know it like you did…"
"I don't! I don't, I don't…" Keith cried out, the suggestion impossible for him to think about.
"You don't want them to be happy, or you don't want them to know war? Well, which is it? You're a smart enough kid to know by now that having them both is impossible." Graham said before he walked away.
Keith sat there for a hours as he comprehended what Graham had said. He sat there alone for so long, battling out his heart on that cold ice ridge that he didn't notice that most of the kids had left except two, Jeff and Sven, the two guys he didn't like since he'd started school. They hounded him, pestered him, and always said 'Hey stranger' to him, making it clear he wasn't one of them. As he watched, he saw Jeff run from solid ground and onto the frozen lake. He saw Sven hesitate until Jeff called him a wimp. As Keith watched he saw Sven run out some distance on the frozen ice and do a cartwheel. As he landed, Keith saw them both freeze as did he when the distinct sound of a loud crack echoed in the air around them before Sven started calling out to Jeff for help. Keith stood up from the narrow ridge where he sat and watched as Jeff turned around quickly and started running across the lake back to shore. As he did, more cracks appeared behind him, all converging at the weakest point. As Jeff made it onto solid ground and kept running back to town, Sven disappeared.
As Keith made his way toward the hole where Sven once stood, he heard Graham's question again.
"Well, which is it?"
He jumped into the frigid water without a second thought.
Keith sighed quietly as he thought of that day. He'd nearly died. Again, If it hadn't been for his adoptive father. But he'd made up his mind. No one deserved to feel the pain he'd felt. It was inexcusable for anyone to inflict it. After that, he knew he had to protect their happiness in any way he could. He didn't have power, or strength or wisdom. As the Captain of the Crimson Guard he'd faced the drules again on the battlefield and pushed them back with his men. Small victories that kept on mounting up until before he knew it, people depended on him for their safety. He didn't miss the irony that one of his childhood bullies was now his second in command whilst the other was his rival.
Keith closed his eyes as he sighed again. Things had changed because of her. In his mind he saw her again, a blazing golden river of hair, beautiful clear azure eyes filled with life and that had drawn him in, a welcome light to the nightmare he'd had of them lifeless, a pert nose, beautiful full lips and incredibly rosy skin. Keith felt his blood start a slow, languid burn as he remembered how beautiful she was, slim and beautifully curved in all the right places, her scent intoxicating. He could feel his body heat up again as it had in that corridor, a warm heat rising slowly rising into a deliciously dangerous inferno. He gasped soundlessly as he felt another answering his own burning need, threatening to consume him in that inferno.
His eyes shot open as he realized that the soft gasp he'd just heard wasn't his own, but had come from the back.
Getting up with swift, quiet movements, he reached the back seat quickly before pulling down the rest and grabbing the person in the small space.
"Let me go, you bastard! Unhand me!"
Keith dragged her to him, tensing for a moment as a knee caught his abdomen and another missed his most sensitive area.
"Stop fighting me and I'll let you go!" he raised his voice, losing his when he realized who he was looking at. But the wildcat in his arms showed no intentions of stopping, only fighting even harder. With his free arm he grabbed her around the waist and fell across the back seat with her under him, effectively trapping her.
"I said let me go! I won't let you have your way with me." She said as she strained to move, but the weight of the man above her had her imprisoned. Every self-defense lesson she'd ever had came to mind in a rush, but it was no use. She was trapped. And her fear was starting to rise higher and higher. Allura paused as she felt his hot breathe near her ear.
"Princess," he whispered in her ear, "if I wanted to 'have my way with you', believe me you wouldn't be fighting right now. Beautiful as you are, I want my women willing and very compliant."
When he felt her body lose all of its tension did he lift himself off her and onto his hands and knees, still keeping her marginally trapped. As much as he loved looking at the vision of her all flushed from their fight, he knew he was in trouble.
"Where are you taking me? Do you know it's treason to kidnap a monarch, punishable by death?" The princess asked him when she'd gotten her breathing under control.
"I know."
"Then turn back before it's too late."
"No."
"I'll plead your innocence when we get back. There's nothing the drules can give a spy that's been discovered. They'll throw you into the slave pits if they don't take your head first. "
Keith contemplated on the princess's words. They had picked up on communications anomalies, strange encrypted signals coming through unregulated channels at certain times. At first they had concluded that they were random channels. But their use after important strategic meeting or counter offensives proved to be too much of a coincidence. He had only narrowed it down to the brass, his commanders, generals and admirals his prime suspects. Without proof he could accuse no one. The signal proved untraceable with their technology, but the princess obviously knew of the spy network.
"So the spy network penetrated even the castle bunker?" He asked her, eying her carefully. She tried to hide the looks of confusion, then surprise as she tried to understand the question. She was an open book to him. And he'd gotten his answer.
"I never said such a thing. The spies are in that bunker…"
"You're a bad liar princess, so don't even try. It doesn't become you." Keith said, getting off her and returning to the driver's seat. After a moment she saw her through the rearview mirror as she sat up in the back seat. He saw her look at the coordinates, the steering, his discarded jacket and the hooded robe and the gun that sat on them. He watched as she worked out that even if she tried, she wasn't getting it.
"You're smart enough to know when you've been outmatched, your highness. Let's be civilized until we get to where I'm going." He said, effectively ignoring her since he needed to concentrate on the area around them. It would take five more hours to reach the end of the line, and the closer they got to it, the more dangerous it would be as they be in drule infested territory.
"Are they holding your family? Is that why you're doing this?" she asked him blankly.
"My family is dead."
"Your lover then."
"Lovers. Plural, your highness. I've had more than one. And no. They are not the reason why I've left home for the outlands. Now you answer my questions. How long have you been tracking spies?"
Allura bristled with anger at the additional information and more at the commanding tone he used with her.
"You should know your place. I have no reason to answer you, let alone even speak to you. A traitor to his people and race. A man who knows no honor or loyalty or love as millions die. A man who does not know what sacrifice is." She spat, thoroughly disgusted that a human could be so casual about selling out his own.
"And what place should that be? As a little spoilt brat who sits in riches, silks and gourmet cuisines as people flock around because of a stupid title that one can't even sell for a piece of stale bread? Or is it as the poster child of a war that we're losing because everyone is waiting for the 'chosen' to finally get their shit together? I'll tell you right now princess. You know nothing of my place, two days ago before you met me nor in the future. Those titles you're so proud of, mean absolutely nothing to me. And don't you ever forget that."
The coldness in his voice chilled the small space they both occupied, causing Allura to fold her arms around her. The look in his eyes was ice itself. This man had meant every word he'd said just now. She'd touched on a sore subject when she became condescending with him. It wasn't in her nature to look down on people and she knew she gone too far, even if he was a traitor. As the small shuttle glided forward, all she could do was wait on her fate as decided by this man.
….
Zarkon watched the human that bowed before him with a completely blank stare. This said human he could not trust as far as he could stretch his own hand. He was a proud noble, completely unassuming on the surface except for his obvious flare in pomp. Under all the noble flare Zarkon knew was a vicious, cruel, sadistic human .For his people this trend was as common as kindness is to saints, but in a human, it was something extremely rare. He had watched as Aidan concerntrated, strategically skinning countless slave lords he'd considered rivals with surgical precision, all with a smile on his face. Aidan had wiped out Zarkon's enemies from within the citadel with such quick precision that even if the other lords of the empire suspected it, they had no proof. Zarkon had seen through the heart of this man when he'd first used forbidden magic, sacrificing a village of three hundred just to take a peak into the void sealed by the lions to see a drule. Fate had chosen Zarkon to be the man who would be the key to the freedom of their people. At 27, the young lord, under Zarkon's guidance, had set free the drule people from the void and onto the lands of their gatekeepers.
"Sire, I must apologize for the disturbance. But the matter is important." Aidan said, still bowing in front of Zarkon.
"It must be important since you've not sorted through the new group of slaves. Speak."
"Sire, I would request that you allow me to return to Altair. It is of grave importance that I must do." Aidan replied, raising his face to Zarkon.
"Altair is barred to everyone by order of the emperor. He intends to claim it as his trophy when he comes through the void with the rest of our people. What interest is it to you?" Zarkon asked suspiciously.
"My Lord. There is a matter of concern. The power to seal the void from where you came is from the magic of Arus, yes, but the key is in Altair. It may be wise to take control of the key until such a time as the emperor arrives. For security, of course."
"Is that treason I sense in that statement, you dog?" Zarkon hissed. "The lord of our empire is the Emperor, ruler of all. And you would have me betray him, you punk?"
"Forgive me, my King. That was not my intent at all. What I meant was the removing the knowledge from there so that it may not be used against us. The lords of Altair passed down knowledge to their successors and my conclusion is it is still there. Vulnerable for the taking."
"The knights of the Black lion were not so stupid. There must be certain requirements for such strong magic and they would not leave it around for anyone to take. No one is to go anywhere near Altair."
"Even the Prince, my King? For not more than 6 hours ago did he, the witch and a group of soldiers depart heading there. "
"What!" Zarkon roared, sending his servant scampering for cover.
"First Pollux, now Altair. Who does that ingrate think he is?!" Zarkon yelled, sending his wine table toppling. Rage filled him as he worked out what his son was trying to do.
"If that brat gets a hold of that seal, we bid the empire goodbye. He's a fool with power and it's time I put him in his place before he destroys me. Prepare my ship! We leave before the other kings figure out what the boy is up to. I won't allow an ingrate like Lotor to steal from me my kingship."
As Zarkon passed the still kneeling Aidan, he failed to see the smirk on the human's face.
…
