Hi everybody, hope you like this Sunday's update :)

Dramatic Changes

Over the next two weeks there was no robeast attack. The team used the time to train and get used to the lions, next to setting up their gym and a workshop that mainly Hunk commanded as his territory. Then Doom's forces were back for a new attack. This attack though, changed the way things were on Arus immensely. Both for the good and the bad. It had started fairly normal. The robeast had arrived in a space coffin, was enlarged to be a giant menace, and attacked the castle. Keith led the Voltron Force out and countered the attack, but this robeast was a lot stronger than the previous one. It seemed that the lull in attacks was caused by Zarkon wanting to make sure that this time around Voltron would fall.

Keith suspected that he had held a competition among his available robeasts to find the strongest one, which the witch Haggar had then powered up even more. Voltron had to fight hard against this new robeast. Next to the robeast though, Commander Yurak had come with a large fleet of skull ships, which didn't wait in shooting apart the already damaged castle. From a tactical point of view this was good thinking, as much as Keith hated that their enemy had played such a move. The castle was their base. Losing it would worsen their position immensely, even if they managed to defeat the robeast.

And Voltron couldn't help the two that were left at the castle. Keith had to concentrate on the robeast, otherwise it would kill them all, even if his heart screamed to save the woman he thought he was falling in love with. He certainly liked her immensely and felt it wouldn't take much to be in love with her. She was wonderful and the type of woman he had always dreamed of. He could only pray that she would get to safety before the castle crumbled around her and Coran.

Just when the robeast had Voltron pinned down and Keith was frantically thinking of how to turn the tides, all participants on the battlefield were surprised by the development at the spot of the now nearly destroyed Castle of Lions. Like a phoenix from the ashes, a new, metal castle rose from the ground.

"A fortress," exclaimed Pidge in awe.

Keith used the distraction of the robeast to separate Voltron from it and gain some distance. Then some laser cannons fired at the robeast. He zoomed into the spot at the castle from where the laser fire originated and spotted Allura, which relieved him. He felt his heart unclench from the fear it had been gripped by before.

"The princess has joined our fight, let's not waste the chance she bought us," ordered Keith.

The other four confirmed that and a bit later, they had destroyed the robeast, which they caught unaware with the blazing sword, as the robeast was too busy dodging the shots from the cannon.

"Split up into the lions and hunt down as many skull ships as you can. I want you to shoot to damage, not destroy. I want the metal and things stored on the ships," ordered Keith.

"Good plan, Keith," approved Lance, "I bet I can shoot down the most ships in salvageable condition."

"You wish," replied Sven.

"Winner gets the next three days off of kitchen duty," offered Keith as a reward, to cheers of the others.

They split up and then went hunting for ships to use their raw materials for their own purposes.

The team was in good spirits when they returned to the castle. They had shot down many ships and to the disgruntlement of Sven and Lance, Hunk had won the competition, as Keith had declared that he as the commander of the team would not compete, even if he had technically shot down the highest number of ships. They had made sure that none of the robots or officers on the ships were a threat anymore after they were shot down. It had even been easy after Keith discovered that his lion could fire a lightning bolt attack that fried all the electric systems of the ships. The discharge killed the Doom officers and short-circuited the robots. They would salvage the parts the next day.

When they exited the lifts into the new control room, they found Allura waiting for them. Her facial expression was grave. Keith immediately turned serious.

"What happened?" he asked.

"It's Coran. He was gravely injured during the attack," replied Allura, shaking, trying to stay composed.

Keith walked towards her and pulled her into his arms, letting her break down, being her support while she let go of her feelings.

"I don't know if he will survive," she cried, while Keith held her, with her holding onto his suit, "I have already lost my father, and even if Coran and I didn't always agree about things, he stepped up and raised me when my father couldn't do it anymore."

"We will see if we can help him," promised Keith, gently rubbing her back, trying to give her comfort, "We will do all we can. Sven."

"On it," confirmed Sven, "Where is Coran?"

"Down in the corridor that leads to the crypt of my family. We fled there when the castle broke down. We had nearly got there when the lift lost power. The door had just opened and I had stepped out when it fell down with Coran still inside. He shouted at me to … to run to the crypt to be safe," reported Allura, "the energy returned after I pressed the button on my father's sarcophagus. He had installed a secret mechanism to let the new castle rise. It was his last secret project, as he wanted a better defendable castle if the war got worse. I managed to get Coran out of the lift and did what I knew about first aid. But then I ran up here to see if I could turn the tides of the battle, even if I wanted to stay with him."

Tears ran down Allura's cheeks, and into Keith's suit jacket, as he was still holding her.

Sven and Lance ran off to see what they could do for Coran. They had medical training from their time at the academy. They could only hope that Coran's injuries weren't too problematic, as Arus didn't have any modern medical equipment, except if King Alfor had installed that in the new castle as well.

"Pidge, could you please see if you can brew some tea? I believe it would help Allura to get some. And add honey or sugar please," asked Keith.

"Of course, I will take care of it," promised Pidge and went into the direction of the kitchen, hoping it was still in the same place as before.

"I will head to the medical bay and prepare things for treatment. It should be where the old one was located. That way, we can start treating Coran as soon as Lance and Sven bring him up. I will also look if there are any hover stretchers to transport him there," proposed Hunk.

"Thank you, Hunk," accepted Keith gratefully, "I will join you once Allura has calmed down a bit."

Hunk nodded and left them.

Keith led Allura over to a seat. As she still clung to him and wouldn't let go, he simply sat down himself and let her sit on his lap. She right now needed the comfort. This was really bad. Coran had been an important part of their group, manning their base and being the one best-informed about the situation of Arus and how the technology worked. Allura knew a lot, but Coran had a lot more experience, simply because he was decades older than her.

Three hours after returning to the castle they had stabilised Coran's condition. While the medical bay wasn't as well equipped as a modern hospital, it had enough medical machines to save Coran's life. He had suffered several broken bones, including both legs, one arm, three rips, and his skull. The last one probably from a heavy hit against his head when the lift impacted on the ground. They were just grateful that his spine hadn't been damaged. Next to that he had countless bruises all over his body and Sven had given him sedatives, which he would keep up for the next week at least, to spare Coran the worst pain from the injuries. It also let the bones stay in one position, making growing back together the right way easier.

Thanks to the medical bay being stocked with IVs to artificially feed a patient, they could keep Coran supplied with the necessary nutrients and water his body needed. Depending on how long they needed to keep him unconscious and then how long the healing would take, this would be his most essential line to life. It was lucky that these kinds of medical supplies were stocked up aplenty inside the new medical bay of the castle. Otherwise, things would have been direr than they already were and Coran's chances to survive would be terribly low.

Allura was devastated and relieved at the same time. Coran had a chance to pull through, even if without a real doctor it would be a long path to recovery, should he make it. As she was too distraught to stay alone, Keith told the team he would stay with her during the night. None of them commented on it. In this situation everyone knew that Keith was only doing it because Allura needed comfort and support, not because Keith planned anything inappropriate. Sven, Hunk, Pidge and Lance set up shifts for the night to watch both Coran and the control room.

Keith escorted Allura to her new bedroom, where he allowed her to break down again, just holding her, trying to assure her that they would pull through somehow. Telling her that Coran still had a chance and that they had to believe he would pull through. In the end, Allura cried herself to sleep, while begging Keith to not leave her alone. As he himself needed assurance that Allura was still safe and healthy, he didn't complain at all and they simply shared her bed for the night, both fully clothed, just holding the other close.

While Allura wanted to help the people of Arus with food supplies, she didn't feel like holding a big celebration, which would have been something Coran would have advised her to do, to give a show of a strong position to her people. After seeing how fast things could turn sour, the six remaining active inhabitants of the castle wouldn't take any risks. They did set up supply runs with the lions to known settlements of the Arusian people. Having their most powerful weapons directly available was a much better show of power than a grand dinner could ever have been.

Keith worked out the details with Allura, while Hunk and Pidge sorted the available supplies into care packages. Lance and Sven were tasked with notifying the people when the deliveries would be made and where they could get the care packages. The team noticed how Allura leaned on Keith, used him as a pillar of strength, to continue even if she worried about Coran. His state had stabilised, but Sven, as the one with the second highest degree in medicine among the team as far as taught at the Space Academy, couldn't declare him out of the woods yet.

Keith had checked Sven's diagnosis, as he had the highest qualification in the field, but he had too much work to be delegated to medicinal officer full time. Keith didn't know anything that Sven hadn't done already to help Coran. They could only wait and pray.

While under normal circumstances Lance and Sven would have taken this behaviour as a chance to tease Keith, with the things being the way they were, they knew better. If Keith was the one that Allura trusted and felt she could lean on, then they wouldn't mock him for it. They knew how hard it had hit her to see Coran in the state he was. Still fighting for his life, even if he wasn't in immediate danger of dying anymore. And Keith would be merciless should they act like that. No matter if they were a few years older than him, with Lance being twenty-four and Sven being twenty-three, Keith could beat them down easily. Even Hunk's much higher physical strength was no match for Keith's fighting progress.

The group performed five deliveries each day, always sending two lions at the same time, to not leave any pilot without backup. They also didn't travel anywhere on the planet without having a lion available. It was simply too dangerous. Zarkon wanted to see all of them dead or enslaved. More probably was he just wanted to see them dead to not pose a threat to his plans anymore. The only one he might want as a slave was Allura.

Allura, which was now known to all members of the Voltron Force, was trained intensely by Keith in all types of fighting arts. She didn't want to be helpless. The guys understood and assisted her where they could with being sparring partners or giving her tips how to master a technique with the weapons she trained with. The normal schedule for the day was getting up at six, then one hour of morning exercises for all six of them, then breakfast, which was kept simple, mainly bread that one of them had baked before with some toppings they had available, and then after they had cleaned up, two of them, including Allura in the roster, shared kitchen duty per meal, they continued for two hours with training.

They were normally done at ten with that part. Then the two that had the day's delivery duty loaded their lions with the care packages for the surviving Arusians and took off. Mostly the others besides Keith were tasked with delivering the care packages, as he assisted Allura with the duties that came with her position, next to keeping watch at the control room, to warn the others in case of signs of an attack. Since the new castle had risen from the ground, there were representatives of the survivors that had contacted the castle, which she had to work with to start the rebuilding of their planet. The two not flying lions on delivery duty would prepare the next delivery to be loaded into the lions, to have a smooth flow to waste little time. Around three in the afternoon, Keith had set up practice times with the lions to be ready for any new attack and Allura manned the control room for them.

One time, two weeks after Coran's injury, Haggar had tried to infiltrate the planet with a robeast, planning to attack them while they were outside the lions. She had managed to find out about the time and place of a delivery, but thanks to one pilot always being on guard inside his lion while the other one unloaded his stored supplies, and they then switched positions, her plan failed. The robeast was kept busy by Hunk and Lance, the two that had been out with the lions that day, until Keith, Sven and Pidge could join them. It wasn't difficult for them to take out the robeast, perhaps Haggar had been too confident in her plan or had underestimated how serious they took their security precautions.

After the close call they had experienced, Keith wasn't willing to take any risks if it wasn't unavoidable.

Keith sat next to Allura on the couch in her room. It was nine in the evening. Pidge was on guard duty at the control room. The other three were in their bedrooms, which were now ones with windows to the outside, as the new castle had more means to defend itself than the old one. They also had overall ten guards patrolling the castle, people that had been put through two different assessment tests, one by Keith and one by Lance. That way, they could sniff out anybody that wasn't honest about his motivations. Thankfully, the Arusians wanted to bring their planet back into a position where survival wasn't as hard as it was right now.

The care packages helped immensely, but they weren't enough to last. The stored supplies would be used up in about six months, but by then they hoped to have got a decent harvest to restock. The guards had been given basic training and Keith had tasked Lance with bringing them to a level where they could take care of the basic defence positions at the castle. Sven was given the responsibility over the medical bay until they could get proper medical personnel in there. Two women and one man were in training to become nurses to assist him there. Hunk was working on producing basic farming tools in the workshop under the castle, to let the people have ways to set up farms again.

Even if they could only set up small gardens, it would help them already. They had used the spots that he and Allura had checked during their date to create larger fields for helpful food. They had three large potato fields and four large corn fields that they had ploughed with their lions instead of tractors. Sowing things had to be done by hand, but thankfully they had managed to get two dozen Arusians to assist them there. The fields would be kept under watch, but they would mostly grow on their own. Only if the weather didn't play along, they would step in, like creating artificial rain with water tanks carried by the lions for example, to ensure that they got enough food from these fields to keep the people fed.

Allura leaned against Keith.

"The representatives are getting pushy," she told him.

"I noticed. Why would they oppose you this much? I mean, I know they are used to a patriarchal monarchy, but you are the only remaining member of the royal family. And they knew for years that you would follow your father on the throne. They might have preferred something else, but it is ridiculous how they behave. We honestly have other worries," replied Keith.

"Nobody wants to accept that things need to change. Alone the ratio of males to females in the remaining population should make that clear. But no, the representatives are mostly old, stubborn men that cling to old patterns," grouched Allura.

Keith knew that about eighty percent of the remaining Arusians were female, with a strong imbalance especially among the group that was at an age where they could have children. Most remaining men were over fifty already. The younger ones had been preferred targets for the slave ships.

"Do you have an idea how to make them see reason? We can't afford inner confrontations. We have too much work to do," asked Keith.

"They will only stop once they have a King on the throne again," sighed Allura, "I will never be able to change the laws on my own until I am Queen, but that is still nearly three years away. And that is far too late."

"Can you become Queen any earlier due to special circumstances?" asked Keith.

"Only if I marry," she answered, "Then being of age, which on Arus is at the age of eighteen, suffices."

"That's a stupid rule. Where would we even find a priest to perform a marriage ceremony? It's not as if there are any useable churches left over," complained Keith.

"I know. But this has been law for over three hundred years. The old stubborn men won't accept a change to that law. Even if I might add that a prince would be able to become king in my situation. It's only a rule for a princess. More biased laws that disadvantage women in our society," she growled.

"As far as you told me, the King has a lot of authority here on Arus. Would it work to circumvent the quarrelling of the representatives if there was one?" asked Keith, a plan forming in his mind.

"Yes. The King of Arus is an absolute ruler. While for local matters the elected governments can set up decrees, laws can only be ratified by the king. If I were a prince and not a princess, I could simply claim the throne, set up the laws the way we need them to be right now, and simply brow beat the representatives into following," answered Allura.

"How about we marry then?" asked Keith hopefully.

"What?" she asked surprised, but also looking hopefully at him.

"If we are honest, we both know that what we feel for each other isn't just a passing fancy. This is serious. I know that I love you and you love me. While normally, I would have wanted to wait for a while longer to establish myself here on Arus to make people accept your decision to be with me easier, right now, there also isn't anybody to stop us. While I never wanted for Coran to be as seriously injured as he is, he would have been the only one that could have stopped us from marrying. From what we saw, the representatives won't suddenly change their ways. If they will only listen to a king, and we need them to cooperate to get things done for all Arusians, then we will give them a king," stated Keith.

"You would really want to marry me? No matter what the repercussions will be?" asked Allura.

"Yes. I love you. I want nothing more than to have you as my wife. Galaxy Garrison might grouch about it for a while, but we don't have many means to contact them regularly anyway, and I can explain the reason for the fast decision," confirmed Keith.

Allura pulled his head towards herself and kissed him fiercely on the lips. She was incredibly happy to her his declaration.

"I want to marry you too," she stated after they separated to breathe again.

Keith smiled happily and pulled her towards him again. They kissed several minutes more until they stopped.

"Okay, there is still the problem of getting a priest. Otherwise, the marriage won't be official," pondered Keith.

"Well, we do have the trip to the large cave community in the southern mountain range planned for the day after tomorrow. Perhaps somebody there can tell us about a priest, there might even be one that took shelter there," suggested Allura.

"It's at least worth a try," agreed Keith, "Would a priest refuse to marry us? I mean, I'm not a prince."

"I think he would accept to do it, just because Arus in the mind of most men needs a king to lead the planet again. While most nobles would protest loudly, well, there aren't any that I know about so far," she grinned.

"And once the marriage is performed, nobody can stop us anymore," Keith returned the grin.

"No, divorce isn't permitted on Arus, with the exception of either spouse having been blackmailed to agree to the marriage. Here the part of until 'death does you part' is absolute," added Allura.

Keith nodded. He was sure that this was what he wanted to do. He couldn't explain why he had fallen for Allura so fast, but he certainly didn't regret it at all. And he couldn't imagine anything more worthwhile than spending his life with her, helping to bring Arus back to the top. Even if he liked his job as a space explorer, he was in the job to help people. If he became King of Arus, he would be able to do much more than as a mere space explorer. And it didn't mean he had to give up flying his lion. In the future there would be a day when he would pass Black Lion on to a successor, but that was years away. They needed Voltron to have a chance to bring Arus back into a position of strength.

Keith and Allura were accompanied by Hunk in Yellow Lion when they flew to the meeting. They hadn't told the other guys about their decision and engagement yet. They didn't know who was listening in and they wanted to have things ready to take place before they revealed it to the others. And until they had found a priest, they wouldn't be able to go through with it anyway. Once they had reached the entrance to the cave system, they found a group of five people already waiting for them.

"Hunk, Allura and I will probably be busy for about an hour or two. Keep your eyes open for anything out of the norm," instructed Keith.

"Of course, Keith," confirmed Hunk.

They landed the lions and Keith and Allura exited the lion through the hatch at the side of the head, lowering themselves down to the ground. Allura was in a pink and white suit, only her circlet showing her position. A stately gown would have been impractical for the journey. Keith was wearing his Voltron uniform.

"Welcome Princess Allura," greeted an older woman, "and welcome Commander Keith. We have awaited you."

"Thank you. I'm happy we could arrange for this meeting," replied Allura smiling.

She was fully in politician mode right now.

"Please follow us inside. It is safer to not talk where others can spot us," said the woman and the group walked into the entrance. Keith and Allura followed them.

They were shown the way past a small farm of chicken and into a simple hut that was built against the stone of the cave. In there a table that sat ten was placed, and six spots were already filled. Keith, Allura and the woman that had greeted them took spots, the other four that had accompanied them left to stand guard outside. The group that had waited for their arrival consisted of two old men, one old woman and three younger women. They did a quick introduction round and then began.

"Your highness, even if the delivery of care packages that you have set up with the Voltron Force improves the situation of the inhabitants in the caves greatly, we will need more to allow us to return to less protected places. At least from air strikes. We are aware that should we be found here, Doom's troops could easily overwhelm us," started Juno, the oldest among the women.

"We have started setting up fields for corn and potatoes, but they need time to grow," replied Allura, "I have also begun to expand the rabbit and chicken breeding that Coran and I had set up at the castle. This will work a bit faster than the crops. Sven, the pilot of Blue Lion, has also suggested to use his lion for fishing, as we don't have any remaining boats and ships that we could use for that. Again, the goal is keeping some of the fishes for breeding purposes to have a steady supply of protein.

"Pidge, the pilot of Green Lion, has been scouting the woods for all kinds of fruits, edible plants and nuts. We have worked out a basic concept for a few first settlements. All of the spots we thought would work well are close to the Castle of Lions, and thus quickly reached with the lions, should any attacks take place. Of course, the settlements would not be in the open for the beginning. We plan to use the cover of existing forests for it."

"That sounds like it could work," nodded Akaru, one of the old men.

"Hunk, the pilot of Yellow Lion has also already produced some basic tools to make farming easier, like shovels, rakes, small ploughs, hammers, saws and so on. Once we have people that have settled in the new settlements, we will hand those tools out. As we don't have too many of them, they will be communal property at the beginning. But it should still work to let those setting up small settlements out of immediate sight build gardens of their own to grow things like vegetables for their use. Simply because anything that the people can grow on their own will help," continued Keith.

"What about medical support?" asked Angela, the youngest among the women, "That is one of the biggest problems. We have a high mortality rate for old people and young children due to the living conditions around there. And most of the illnesses could be treated with basic medicine like it was available in the past."

"We have started teaching three nurses at the castle, whenever Sven has the time for it. Normally, he can teach them a few things for two hours a day, then he lets them study the database of the castle to further their theoretical knowledge. If there were people that are willing to travel to the castle and live there, we could include them into that program as well," offered Keith, "I estimate that within three months, any candidate would at least have the knowledge and skill of a basic field medic. That isn't what is needed in the end, but it is a valuable step to get there."

"We are also searching for doctors and nurses that might have survived the attacks, but so far, we didn't have any luck," Allura informed them.

"I heard that your advisor was gravely injured during an attack, Princess Allura, is that correct?" asked Gioro, the other man.

"Yes. The power was cut off when we just left the lift that had brought us down to the underground parts of the castle, where my father's crypt is located. I had just left the lift, but he was still inside when it fell down," Allura nodded, still dealing with it, "Coran is still alive, but due to his severe injuries, he is kept sedated to let him heal without pain. We aren't sure what will happen when Sven takes him off the sedation. It was a minor miracle that he survived the fall."

"I am sorry to hear that. But it leaves us with a problem. I don't doubt your competence, your Highness. You are clearly doing a good job in organising things in cooperation with the Voltron Force to start rebuilding our planet, even if things are still unsafe, due to regular attacks from Zarkon. But you know that as a princess you don't have the authority to pass laws yet. And the measures that normally apply in that situation aren't available either, as there isn't a noble's council left, contrary to how a situation like this would be bridged in the past. With Coran available, he could act as your proxy, but with him unconscious and injured, that leads to a vacuum of power," pointed Alionea, the woman that had shown them to the meeting room, out.

"Why does it even matter? I mean, the planet is in a situation that nobody could have foreseen when those laws were passed. I know from other planets that there are ways to give a remaining royal extensive emergency power to get the most important problems solved. It even included heirs to the throne that were underage, which Princess Allura isn't. She is eighteen, and thus should simply be given the authority to rule. She was prepared for this since she was a child after all, once it was clear that she wouldn't have a brother anytime soon that would take first place in the line of succession after her mother and infant brother sadly died during her brother's birth," asked Keith.

"It was decided to not do so. It is set in stone with the laws until a new King of Arus changes the law. But none of them ever saw the need to do so," replied Alionea, "I don't think it is smart, but as we don't have any other laws, we have to work with the ones that are there."

"And you know as well as I do, your highness, that should even one of the nobles that fled from Arus during the first attacks come back one day and find out about it, he could challenge everything we achieved. And it would be ruled in his favour, as the law is on his side. It isn't fair and doesn't help us at all, but that is what will happen. Most nobles that fled didn't care about Arus too much, they cared for their power. I worked at one of the bases in Helena when the news about Voltron being defeated came in," said Angela, "The nobles had their spaceships ready, as we had been at war with Zarkon for over a year already. It is also proven by the fact that the first ten ships were off Arus and on the way to other, further away planets within one hour of that."

The others nodded gravely.

"Then the only way would be to have a King installed that rules at Princess Allura's side to have things legal," Keith threw the bait out.

"Yes, but for that, she would have to marry. And I won't even suggest that she should simply do so for the good of our people," stated Alionea firmly, "It is her right to decide who she wants to marry."

The others nodded, even if the two men seemed a bit more reluctant.

"To even have that legal, we would need a priest, should she find a man she considers worthy of being her husband and the new king of Arus," pointed Keith out.

"That would actually be easy. One of the priests from Ruchin Town survived and lives here in the caves. While the wedding wouldn't be held in a church, as we simply don't have one that could be used, a wedding under the sky would have the same legality as long as he performed it. While he is already sixty-nine, he is an ordained priest and would be more than willing to perform the marriage for Princess Allura, should she ask for it," informed Gioro them.

"That's good to know," acknowledged Allura, not giving up that this would make her and Keith's plan possible, "Perhaps I could talk to him after the meeting is over. If I were to decide to take this step, I would need to know what was required. Having that information early on can only be beneficial."

The others nodded, Keith being proud how well she managed to hide what they were truly after. A wedding in the near future to give them the authority needed to get things done, next to living together as husband and wife. Because both felt how much they wanted to take their relationship further than they had gone so far.

Father Zeto looked at Allura and Keith. He had been called to meet with the Princess and the Voltron Commander for some information they wanted to ask him for. As this was a private matter, they had gone to a remote part of the cave system, where nobody could listen into their conversation. Father Zeto used this spot regularly to talk to the people about their faith and problems they faced.

"What can I help you with, Princess Allura?" he asked kindly.

"During the meeting, the situation of our planet was discussed. By our laws, as Coran is currently indisposed due to his injury, we are in a problematic position, as a princess like me would only be allowed to ascend the throne if she is twenty-one. I am currently eighteen though. And only as Queen I would have the authority to pass laws and free financial means to assist the rebuilding effort. I could do several things right now, but if any of the cowardly nobles that fled directly after Voltron fell returned once we have rebuilt the planet somewhat and went to court, my actions would be judged not being in accordance with Arusian laws, even if I am the only member of the royal family that survived.

"The only way around that would be for me to marry, should I find a man I deem worthy of my hand and leading our people as king by my side," explained Allura.

"I understand, Princess. If I had to guess, you want to know how this could be done and how fast," nodded Father Zeto.

"Yes."

Father Zeto looked at Keith and Allura, then he smiled.

"I haven't seen this kind of bond for over forty years," commented Father Zeto.

"Bond?" asked Keith.

"Oh, you two are good at hiding it, I will give you that," smiled Father Zeto, "But I have been a priest since I was ordained at the age of twenty-five. The bond you two have is rare but known to appear here on Arus. It isn't fully understood how the partners are chosen, but once the bond is initiated, mostly by some important and significant gesture that includes physical contact, the end result is always the same. The two will marry within a year at most. They won't accept any other partner and the pull towards their partner is much stronger than in any other relationship. And the relationships with this bond are always bonds among equals. Bonds that will have true love. It is known as God's Blessing among the priests."

Keith and Allura looked shocked at the old priest.

"Who did you know who had this type of bond, Father Zeto?" asked Keith, who got over the shock first.

"Princess Allura's grandparents on her mother's side had this kind of bond," answered Father Zeto, "I was the assistant priest during the wedding ceremony. It was common that royal weddings had three priests when possible, as it was said that this number of priests would bring luck to the couple and bless their marriage. Which is even more important for royals than normal couples. They carry much harder burdens."

"I remember that many people envied my grandparents for the type of marriage they led. Grandfather, while he ruled over his kingdom, didn't just have a wife that gave him children to succeed him and further his influence, like it was with many other kings from other kingdoms of Arus, but he had a Queen that understood how politics work and could share his duties. I heard many stories about their reign over their kingdom when I grew up. My father always said that he wished for me to be as strong as a Queen as my grandmother," remembered Allura, "Because Arus would need a strong Queen to rule justly and wisely. Especially as my husband wouldn't have been raised for the position."

"Well, while that is true, from what I have heard, the young man whom fate has chosen as your future husband, my princess, is the kind of man who will do a good job. And my advice is to not wait for long. I can set things up to get the marriage performed within two weeks at most. It will happen anyway, and the sooner we have a Queen and King for all of Arus again, the sooner we will be safe from a political and legal point of view," advised Father Zeto, "And while I know that a pregnancy in the current situation would be dangerous, continuing the royal line is important for our planet. Ultimately it will be your decision when to have children, but it certainly would give our people hope."

Keith and Allura looked at each other, both blushing a bit at the thought of having a baby together. But they knew they wanted to marry and wouldn't mind doing so soon. They nodded and then turned to Father Zeto.

"If you can manage it, then we would like to accept your offer. You are right, we have been feeling this bond and how it grew stronger all the time. If it is going to happen anyway, we can as well marry soon," stated Allura.

"Wonderful. I believe that we can hold the ceremony in the old Altair style. I will ask a few girls to weave flower crowns to be used in the ceremony in place of rings, as I doubt that we could currently find any. The question is which place you would prefer for the ceremony. Normally, we would use a church, but we don't have any left. And security also needs to be taken into consideration," mentioned Father Zeto.

"The shore of the castle lake would work," suggested Keith, "It will have a nice background for the wedding, but we have the lions immediately ready in case Zarkon decides to attack because he wants to ruin our wedding day. We won't invite too many guests, mainly because we can't arrange for transport for them all."

"Understandable. Only those living in the closer parts of Arus could manage the travel there within that time frame," nodded Father Zeto, "And I can work with the shore of a lake."

"Great, then we will prepare things from our side. What do we need to keep in mind?" asked Allura.

"You need to decide on a witness for each of you. That witness has to sign the wedding licence after the respective spouse has done so. As this will allow you to ascend to the throne as well, if you wish, we can continue with the coronation after the wedding ceremony. I don't know if any crowns could be saved though during the attacks," stated Father Zeto.

"We have the royal crowns of Arus safely stored at the castle," confirmed Allura, "My father had them hidden in a special secure vault that only a few people could access. It prevented that the crown jewels of Arus were stolen by Zarkon."

"It's great to hear that we didn't lose them. They have played such a large part in our history," nodded Father Zeto smiling, "It is tradition for the bridal pair to cleanse themselves before their wedding day. In the past, there were ritual sites for this, but I don't think any of them have survived. The ritual involved bathing in a special solution of herbs and putting on a special oil after the bath. It symbolises that you wash away all possible ties of the past to be free for your new and only relationship," continued Father Zeto.

"As long as you know which herbs, we can arrange something like that," accepted Keith, "There are bathrooms inside the castle that we can prepare for that. How long do we need to bathe in the solution?"

"One hour. And the water needs to be kept at a temperature of at least forty centigrade all the time," answered Father Zeto.

"Hm, keeping the water at the exact temperature will be a challenge," commented Allura.

"That's why there were these ritual sites used for it in the past. They had the necessary equipment," explained Father Zeto.

"We will think how we can achieve that when we go back to the castle," decided Keith, "If you could give us the list with the herbs for the bath and the recipe for the special oil, we can get to work on that part."

"I will write it down for you before you leave."

The two nodded, being satisfied with that. They agreed to have Father Zeto collected five days before the planned wedding to have him safely at the castle to prepare himself and his helpers for the important ceremony.

And chapter three is done. Until next Sunday :)