That was wonderful!" Keith said with a smile on his face. "I've never seen or read anything like it."
"Thank you, thank you. Yes, a good show wasn't it everyone," Kolivan said as the kitchenware started to all head back into the kitchen to be cleaned up. "Oh my, will you look at the time," Kolivan said as he glanced at the clock hands on his face. "Now, it's off to bed, off to bed!"
"Oh, I couldn't possibly go to bed now," Keith said with a shake of his head. "It's my first time in an enchanted castle."
"Enchanted?" Kolivan said with a slightly nervous chuckle. "Who said anything about the castle being enchanted?" both Kolivan and Lance glanced nervously at Keith as a fork ran by on its way to the kitchen. "It was you, wasn't it!" Kolivan snapped at Lance and bonked the candlestick on the head.
"I, um, figured it out for myself," Keith said which made both objects turned to him in confusion.
"How?" Lance asked in surprise.
"Well when you read as many books as I have, you learn a thing or two."
"Makes sense, I suppose," Kolivan said with a small smile.
"I'd like to look around, if that's all right," Keith asked as he stood up out of the chair.
"Oh! Would you like a tour?" Lance asked with an excited smile.
"Wait a second, wait a second. I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Kolivan said, stopping the two, their smiles fading from their faces.
"Why not?" Lance asked in disappointment.
"We can't let him go poking around in certain places if you know what I mean," Kolivan whispered quietly to Lance.
"Perhaps you could take me," Keith said leaning on his elbows. "I'm sure you know everything there is to know about the castle."
"Well, actually, ah yes, I do!" Kolivan said as he jumped off the table, leading Keith and Lance out of the room.
"Nice one mullet," Lance whispered to Keith with a smile. Keith groaned at the nickname once again but followed after Kolivan.
Shortly into their tour, a footstool ran up and ran around Keith's legs happily. Lance had introduced the footstool as Black. Kolivan continued to lead Keith down a hallway with statues of armour on either side of the hall.
"As you can see, the pseudo facade was stripped away to reveal a minimalist rococo design. Note the unusual inverted vaulted ceilings," as Keith walked by the statues, their heads turned to watch him. "This is yet another example of the neo-classic baroque period, and as I always say, if it's not baroque, don't fix it!"
"Yes, Kolivan funny joke," Lance said a roll of his eyes. Kolivan glared at the candlestick but continued on.
"Now then, where was I?" Kolivan turned as he felt eyes facing their direction. He turned and saw the statues heads turned. "As you were!" Kolivan snapped, the statues quickly turned their heads back the right way and Kolivan turned back to the group. "Now, if I may draw your attention to the flying buttresses above the-Keith?" Kolivan asked as he did not see the boy anywhere.
"Over there!" Lance exclaimed as he pointed to where Keith was beginning to climb a set of stairs. The pair quickly ran over and blocked his way, Black running up beside Keith.
"What's up there?" Keith asked.
"Where? Up there? Nothing. Absolutely nothing of interest at all in the West Wing," Kolivan said to which Lance shook his head in agreement. "Dusty, dull, very boring."
"Oh, so that's the West Wing," Keith said with a nod of his head, he remembered that Shiro had mentioned the West Wing to him.
"Nice going!" Lance said with a roll of his eyes. "Usually I'm the one who messes up."
"I wonder what he's hiding up there," Keith said as he wondered out loud.
"Hiding? The master is hiding nothing!" Lance said with a nervous chuckle.
"Then it wouldn't be forbidden," Keith said as he hopped over the two and climbed a few more stairs, before being stopped by the pair again.
"Perhaps you would like to see something else. We have exquisite tapestries dating all the way back to-"
"Maybe later," Keith said once again stepping over them. Lance and Kolivan stopping him once again. Keith huffed and rolled his eyes.
"The gardens, or the library perhaps?" Lance said as he recalled Keith mentioning that he read books.
"You have a library?" Keith asked in surprise.
"Oh yes! Indeed!" Kolivan replied, glad to see Keith was distracted by something other than what was up the stairs.
"With books!" Lance said keeping the key word in the sentence.
"Gads of books!"
"Mountains of books!"
"Forests of books!" Lance and Kolivan started leading Keith away from the stairs and to where the library was.
"Cascades…"
"...of books!" Kolivan exclaimed as he finished Lance's sentence.
"Swamps of books!" with Lance and Kolivan distracted, Keith stopped and turned back to the staircase.
"More books than you'll ever be able to read in a lifetime! Books on every subject ever studied, by every author who ever set pen to paper…" as Lance and Kolivan walking farther and farther away, Keith started to climb the stairs. Glancing back every once in a while to make sure the pair weren't following. Especially Black, who liked to run around him.
The vibe that sat in the air in the hall upstairs was very much different than the calmer one on the main floor. Keith glanced around at the semi-dark hallway. Statues lay on the ground, half destroyed by the force that knocked them down. Picture framed were nailed to the wall, some knocked down and the framed broken.
Keith continued to walk down the hall, though he felt fear and concern inside of him. He glanced to the wall beside him as he passed a broken mirror on the wall, the mirror shattered in a few places. Keith shivered slightly but continued to walk down the hall until he reached a door. The door handles taking the shape of a gargoyle. Keith glanced back and seeing no one, took a deep breath and opened the door.
Keith was shocked at what he saw. Broken furniture littered the room, strips of ripped fabric hung from where they were ripped, thrown furniture littering the room. Keith carefully stepped into the room, maneuvering his way through. Keith wasn't watching where he was going and almost knocked over a small round table, luckily, he caught it before it hit the ground and he stood it back up.
Keith turned and noticed a painting on the wall. It seemed to be of a man. The man had pale skin, grey eyes, and black hair. The painting was also shredded up, only part of the painting was visible. Keith studied the eyes, he remembered seeing those same eyes somewhere, he just couldn't remember.
Keith was brought out of his thought when a faint pink glow turned his attention to a silver table. Keith walked over and studied the floating pink rose that was protected by a glass bell case. Curiosity got the best of him and Keith gently removed the glass case and set it on the ground beside the table. Before Keith could even think about touching the rose, he gasped in shock as Shiro jumped through the open balcony doors.
"Why did you come here?" Shiro growled out as he placed the glass casing back over the rose and glared at Keith.
"I'm sorry," Keith said stepping back as Shiro advanced forward. Keith could feel himself shaking under Shiro's harsh glare.
"I warned you never to come here!" Shiro growled as Keith backed up once again.
"I didn't mean any harm," Keith said. Though, that seemed to make Shiro angrier.
"Do you realize what you could have done?" Shiro yelled as he tossed the table that separates him and Keith against the wall, the table shattering. Keith jumped and leaned up against the broken wardrobe. "Get out! GET OUT!"
Keith jumped at Shiro's yell and quickly ran out of the room as Shiro began destroying furniture in anger. Once Keith was out of the room did Shiro calm down. His eyes widened when he realized what he had done. Shiro sighed and slumped against the ground, beside the rose.
Keith ran down the stairs and grabbed a spare cloak from the coat hanger that was at the top of the stairs. He pulled it on the jumped over Lance, Kolivan, and Hunk who had heard Shiro yelling and came to investigate.
"Wh- Where are you going?" Lance asked as Keith ran to the door.
"Promise or no promise, I can't stay here another minute!" Keith said in a shaky tone of voice.
"Oh no, wait, please wait!" Hunk yelled as Keith opened the door and exited, the door closing behind him.
Despite the snowstorm, Keith grabbed Red from the stables and headed away from the castle. Red going as fast as she could through the snow. Red stopped and reared up suddenly, Keith struggling to hold on. Keith glanced around to see what had startled Red and his eyes widened when he saw a pack of wolves surrounding them from the trees.
Red turned and ran the other direction, through an opening. The wolves running after the pair. Once wolf managed to get beside Red and tried to knock her down. Red leaned Red to the left and knocked the wolf against the tree. Despite one wolf being taken out, the other continued the chase.
Keith glanced back and with him distracted, Red ended up running onto a frozen pond and crashing into the cold water. Keith gasped as him and Red were submerged halfway in the water. Some of the wolves ended up drowning, but Red and Keith managed to get out and continue on.
Keith shivered as the cold wind blew around. His cold clothes not helping the situation., The wolves appeared in front of them and Red reared up in shock. Keith ended up being thrown off and landed in the cold snow. Red's reins ended up being wrapped around a tree branch. Keith shook off the snow and watched as the wolves surrounding a panicking Red who started bucking to get the wolves away from her.
As one wolf jumped of Red's back, Keith grabbed a wide stick and hit the wolf away. Keith grabbed onto Red's reins and tried to pull them free. The wolves surrounding them once more. Keith swung as one wolf got too close, but the wolf ended up grabbing his stick and biting it in half, another grabbing the other half and tossing it away.
Keith's eyes widened as a wolf pounced and as he went to duck, the wolf's teeth grabbed onto his cloak and pulled him into the snow. Keith grabbed onto the remaining fabric and tried to pull it free, but as he did another wolf got ready to pounce. Keith closed his eyes and held up an arm as the wolf pounced.
Only when Keith didn't feel the wolf attack did he open his eyes. Keith was shocked when he felt his cloak become free, he turned and saw Shiro roar and toss the wolf away. Shiro crouched on all fours and stood protecting Keith as the other wolves bravely surrounded them. Shiro then pounced towards the pack and a full fight started.
Keith crawled back to Red and with shaky hands, freed her reins and held her steady. He watched as Shiro roared out in pain as a wolf tose a hole in his shoulder and was tossed off. The others, seeing a weak point, targeted that spot. Shiro once again roared and tossed a wolf into a tree, knocking the wolf unconscious. The other, seeing how outmatched they were, ran off.
Shiro turned to Keith who was staring at him with eyes full of fear and uncertainty. Keith saw a scratch on his furred arm, blood dripping down into the snow. Shiro then let out a whimper and collapsed unconscious into the snow. Keith turned to get on Red, but his better side made him turned back to the unconscious Shiro and go help him.
Keith motioned for Red to lower down and he took off his cloak and wrapped Shiro in it. With a lot of patience and help from Red, Keith managed to get Shiro to lay on the back of Red so he wouldn't fall off. Keith then grabbed red' reins and lead her back to the castle, checking every so often to make sure Shiro was breathing and was staying on.
Once they reached the castle, Keith dragged Shiro to the den where Lance lit a large fire to warm them both up. Hunk heated some water and poured it into a bowl. Kolivan handed Keith a towel as Shiro started to wake up from where he was sitting in the chair.
Shiro growled softly as Keith wrung out the cloth. Lance, Koliva, Keith, Matt, Pidge, and Romelle watching on from the sidelines. Keith turned to see Shiro licking at the wound on his arm.
"Here now. Oh, don't do that," Keith said as he held the damp rag out. Shiro growled and held his arm to his chest, growling softly at the boy. "Just...hold still," Keith said as he tried to clean Shiro's arm but Shiro kept pulling his arm away. Shiro roared as the cloth made contact with his wound, the servants hiding behind the other chair in the room.
"That hurts!" Shiro yelled in anger, causing Keith's hair to fly in the wind.
"If you'd hold still, it wouldn't hurt as much," Keith snapped as he tossed the towel back in the bowl of hot water.
"Well if you hadn't run away, this wouldn't have happened!" Shiro growled out as he motioned to the scratches on his arm.
"Well if you hadn't frightened me, I wouldn't have run away!" Keith snapped back with a glare. Shiro went to say something but realized he had nothing to say to that and actually had to think of something. Keith huffed and folded his arms as Shiro went quiet.
"Well you shouldn't have been in the West Wing!" Shiro snapped with a smirk. Keith's eyes widened and he turned back to Shiro with a harsh glare which made Shiro's smirk fade.
"Well you should learn to control your temper!" Keith said as he wrung out the cloth again. The servants coming out from behind the chair, seeing as the pair weren't fighting anymore. "Now, hold still," Keith said as Shiro pouted and allowed Keith to hold his wounded arm. "This may sting a little," Keith said softly pressing the cloth against the scratches. Shiro groaned and growled softly, but did not pull his arm away.
"It's fine," Shiro said upon seeing Keith's concerned face.
"By the way," Keith began to say as he cleaned Shiro's wounds. "Thank you, for saving my life."
"You're welcome," Shiro replied giving a small smile.
Meanwhile, back at the tavern, Lotor and Varkon were meeting with Lotor's father, Zarkon. Zarkon was a lightly tanned man with black hair and yellow eyes. He wore a red blouse, a dark grey blazer with long sleeves, a black coat, black pants, and brown boots.
"I don't usually leave the asylum in the middle of the night, but they said you'd make it worth my while," Lotor rolled his eyes at his father's' words and tossed a sac of gold coins in his direction. Zarkon's eyes widened and he grabbed a coin with a smile on his face. "I'm listening."
"It's like this. I've got my heart set on marrying Keith, but he needs a little persuasion," Lotor said as he outlined his plan to his father.
"Turned him down flat!" Varkon said with a chuckle, to which Lotor smacked him upside the head.
"Everyone knows his uncle's a lunatic. He was in here tonight raving about a beast in a castle," Lotor said with a roll of his eyes.
"Lotor, Coran is harmless," Zarkon said with a roll of his eyes.
"The point is, Keith would do anything to keep him from being locked up," Lotor said as he pointed out where he was going with this since his father didn't seem to understand.
"Yeah, even marry him!" Varkon said with a smile, to which Lotor sent a glare. Varkon gave a nervous chuckle and scooted away from Lotor.
"So you want me to throw his uncle in the asylum unless he agrees to marry you?" Zarkon asked to which Lotor nodded in agreement, as did Varkon. "Oh, that is despicable. I love it!"
"If no one will help me, then I'll go back alone," Coran said as he packed up a satchel for what he would need. "I promised his parents I would look out for him. So I don't care what it takes, I'll find that castle and somehow I'll get him out of there," Coran grabbed a lantern and headed in the direction of the castle.
Minutes later, Lotor and Varkon walked up to the cottage. Lotor pulled on his fark indigo cloak and headed up to the front door with Varkon. Lotor knocked but opened the door and headed in anyway.
"Keith! Coran!" Lotor called out to the empty cottage.
"Oh, well, I guess it's not gonna work after all," Varkon said as he started to head back down the stairs. Lotor grabbed him and slammed the door shut, tossing Varkon into a pile of snow beside the stairs.
"They have to come back sometime, and when they do, we'll be ready for them," Lotor said as Varkon situated himself in the snow. "Varkon don't move from that spot until Keith and Coran come home," Lotor said as he jumped on the back of the carriage and signaled the driver to drive off.
"But, but... aww, nuts!" Varkon said as he punched the side of the house, only for a pile of snow to fall on him.
The next day, Keith was taking Red out for a walk. Black had ended up following along, happy to be outside for once. Allura had picked his clothes out, seeing as she hadn't had a chance to yet. Keith was dressed in a pair of black pants, a purple blouse with loose sleeves, grey boots, and a dark purple cloak.
Red and Keith watched in amusement as Black ran past and jumped into a pile of snow. Black the turned and jumped into Keith's open arms. He and the little footrest had gotten along pretty well. Shiro placed a paw on his wrapped up arm and frowned.
"I've never felt this way about anyone," Shiro said softly, grabbing the attention of Kolivan and Lance. "I want to do something for him," Shiro said with a smile. "But what?"
"Well, there's the usual things-flowers, chocolates, promises you don't intend to keep," Kolivan said with a roll of his eyes.
"Ahh, no no. It has to be something very special. Something that sparks his inter-wait a minute," Lance said as he remembered what had sparked Keith's interests.
Shiro led Keith down a hall and o a set of closed doors. With the castle newly cleaned, it was easier to see and walk around.
"Keith, there's something I want to show you," Shiro said with a smile. Shiro went to open the door but stopped and turned to Keith. "But first, you have to close your eyes," Shiro said, wanting to keep it a surprise.
"Really?" Keith questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"It's a surprise," Shiro responded. Keith gave a small smile before closing his eyes. Shiro waved his hand in front of his face to make sure he couldn't see. Shiro then opened the doors and lead Keith inside with a smile on his face.
"Can I open them?" Keith asked as Shiro continued to lead him inside.
"No, no. Not yet, "Shiro said as he stopped Keith in the center of the room. "Wait here," Shiro let go of Keith's hands and headed to the closed windows and pulled back the curtains. Keith flinched a little as the light hit his closed eyes.
"Now can I open them?" Keith asked eagerly.
"All right. Now," Shiro said, excitement in his voice. Keith opened his eyes and gasped in surprise. Shiro had led him to the library. The room was huge, with tall bookshelves that reached the ceiling. Each shelf filled with books. Chairs, tables, and couches littered the room. A grand fireplace sat in the room as well.
"I can't believe it. I've never seen so many books in all my life!" Keith exclaimed with a smile as he glanced around.
"You-you like it?" Shiro asked.
"It's wonderful," Keith said. Axca's store in the town didn't have this many books.
"Then it's yours," Shiro said with a smile.
"Thank you so much," Keith said as he grabbed Shiro's paws gently.
"Oh, would you look at that?" Hunk replied with a smile. Him, Colleen, Lance, Kolivan, Romelle, Allura, and Pidge were watching on with smiles on their faces.
"Ha ha! I knew it would work," Lance said with a proud smile.
"What? What works?" Matt asked as he bounced up, coming back from where he had been staring out the window.
"It's very encouraging," Kolivan said as the group turned away from the scene.
"Isn't this exciting!" Romelle exclaimed with a smile as she and Allura headed off.
"Very," Allura replied with a smile.
"I didn't see anything," Matt said with a pout.
"Come along, Matt. There's chores to be done in the kitchen," Colleen said with a smile as he started to lead Pidge and Hunk away.
"But what are they talking about? What's going on?" Matt asked as he followed alongside his sister.
"Nothing of importance Matt," Pidge replied with a teasing smile. Matt pouted but followed them to the kitchen.