Lotor's eyebrow arched surprised. He looked up at her for reassurance.

She dropped to her knees carefully as she inspected the flowing script engraved on the tarnished silver. "Yes," she finally answered. "This is a verse of some sort." Her brow knit together as she attempted to decipher the old dialect.

Lotor watched patiently waiting for her to translate the letters. He had not recognised the script and wondered how she knew them. He filed the information away for further questioning. He was hesitant to disturb her.

"Dark then light, North then West

Ocean, river, stream or lake

Not our path to take

Under frosted face

Enter with the sun's first kiss."

She spoke the words slowly, wondering what meaning the riddle pointed to. She felt him staring and glanced back to meet Lotor's amber gaze. "It sounds like a riddle," she pointed the obvious out.

A musing expression passed over Lotor's face and he absently brought a hand to brush his chin. Options and reasoning ran through his calculating mind. His eyes looked over the box. It has directions… presumably to a key," he offered. The lock was not heavy and Lotor wagered he could force the item open without such an instrument.

Briefly, his thoughts wandered to why such an artefact would be buried in these mountains. His curiosity longed to know the history of the region, indeed, of the entire planet. Some of his wild ideas held momentous repercussions, and some could be explained by something as mundane as a simple act of personal tribute to the future by some ancient Altean…. But Allura had been drawn here and he could not belittle that fact.

The princess cocked her head, looking down to inspect the metal case once again. She slid her fingers along the edges still half caked into the tough earth. "What do you think is inside?" She asked rhetorically. Her own interest was rising quickly with the thought of what this ancient gift could be.

Lotor could sense the princess' rising excitement. It was frighteningly contagious. A stinging urge to cater to her inquisitiveness caught his focus and he had to fight to keep himself focused on what had brought them here. This could be more than just a simple piece of the past for Allura to treasure... The impulse and his own need to satisfy the mystery won in the end. He found himself digging out the rest of the buried box. "Let us find out," h said determinedly.

Allura helped him pull the lodged piece of metal out from the dark soil. It was lighter than she had thought it would be and much thinner than she had initially thought. It almost resembled a dirty, metal ration box, except much wider. A small lock held the thing closed.

Lotor first attempted to take his blade and wiggle the frail looking lock open. However, he quickly gave up when the stubborn metal suffered not even a scratch. "We may need to take it to the castle," he finally confessed trying not to sound frustrated. "There we can open it."

Allura hid her disappointment. "You may be right," she agreed. She looked around. "I wonder if there is anything else like this on this mountain… Like a key?"

Lotor raised his eyebrows, liking what line of thought the princess was going down. His memory was drawn back to inscription the princess had spoken. "Perhaps your riddle shows us a way," he offered.

"Yes." A radiant eagerness passed over her face as The princess turned her attention back to the words. Her sparkling eyes took on a distant expression as she ran the syllables through her mind.

He watched her intently as she worked through the verse. A familiar want was blossoming in his chest and despite his reluctance to open himself up again… It was exceptionally tempting to just stare. A flutter tickled his stomach watching the intensity of her concentration. She was gorgeous, and as the mystery unravelled itself under her intellect he was more drawn to the woman. You need to focus. The bluntness of his sensible side rivalled with his animal cravings.

Stop it. This is stupid. Wasn't it not three hours ago when he had been completely unable to look at her? His desires confused and irritated him, tearing his soul in half. A taboo thought occurred to him. Why could he not take her? Could he not have it both ways? The suggestion held a luring merit. It promised him relief from carnal desires and also refuge from any sort of real connexion – Stop.

He clamped down on the ideas, turning his head away from her to hide the heat rising to his cheeks, utterly against his will. It was the first time any notion of sexual tension had ever even entered his mind. Part of him was shocked; the other half completely unimpressed. Of course, she was a beautiful and how could he not notice…

"Right?" Allura's slightly concerned voice broke into his thoughts.

Lotor's head snapped back towards the princess. Heat compounded in his cheeks. It was vain to deny that he had not been listening to her. Instead, he strained to keep his voice level as he replied. "I'm sorry, what?"

Her nose scrunched, and she hardly supressed a smile. Thankfully, she did not take advantage of his embarrassment.

"We should head North for a day. Dark to light is a day, right?" She explained.

Lotor ran the verses through his head. It made good sense. "I agree."

A grin blossomed on her face. "Good! Let's go!"

Still feeling shaken, but glad the princess was making headway in her endeavour, Lotor offered a small smile of his own. He couldn't rid himself from the feeling that it looked shameful. She didn't notice or show any signs of noticing, that is…

"Lead the way, princess," he said politely. "I will carry this for now." He hoisted the cumbersome box and tucked it under his arm.