The next morning dawned bright and clear. The rolling green fields glistened with dew and the lake around the castle sparkled in the luminous light of the golden sun. It was an idyllic scene that filled Keith with an inner peace as he rode across the beautiful land — until he came across the scorched areas burnt by Zarkon's weaponry.
He muttered a virulent curse and urged his horse to a gallop, turning his back on the blackened areas that seemed obscene next to the brilliant patches of color from the wildflowers that grew profusely in the area. "I will never let this happen again," Keith swore to himself, angry beyond words at Zarkon, Lotor and the wanton destruction they had brought to the planet that had become his home.
He rode through the winding country roads until he reached the foot of a small hill overlooking the castle. He slung the reins of his horse onto a low-hanging tree branch and started up the grassy mound towards the solitary grave that lay there.
He had always been intrigued by the way that the Arussians accepted death — as though it were part of the natural circle of life — and not something to fight against — as he would have expected. To be perfectly honest, their attitude disturbed him. He was a man who was intimately familiar with death and he preferred not to let his thoughts linger on his own mortality.
The grave of Allura's mother was blanketed with a wide range of flowers, a quiet but stirring display of devotion. An arrangement of exotic blooms caught his eye and he recognized it as having come the Royal Gardens.
Allura's mother had died many years before their arrival on Arus but he felt a special kinship with her. People loved and respected her, he had been able to garner that, but not many people were willing to talk about how she died. Even the information in the Royal Archives was sparse. From what little he had been able to find out, he knew that she had died protecting her daughter from Zarkon. It was something he knew that he would gladly do.
He crouched down and ran a hand over the carefully tended marble monument that marked the queen's final resting place. And he wished that he had brought flowers to add to the blossoms that decorated her grave.
"Your Highness," he murmured, "we've never met, but I wanted you to know something. I'm marrying your daughter and I promise that I will care for her and protect her until I breathe my last breath."
Nanny dabbed at the corner of her eye with her apron as she watched Keith quietly, touched by his solemn words to her late mistress. Her heart lifted at this private display of devotion.
She cleared her throat hesitantly.
Keith spun around to face her. "Nanny." He bowed slightly in greeting and waited as the old governess shuffled towards him and curtseyed before the grave.
Her next action shocked him. She greeted him with a small curtsey. Allura's beloved governess was more family than servant and she had never deigned to curtsey to anyone other than Coran and Allura.
"I would have a word with you."
Keith inclined his head slightly, encouraging her to go on.
"There are things that I must tell you. My princess is special, more special than you know. By agreeing to marry her, you are taking upon yourself a great responsibility."
Keith nodded, "I know that, Nanny. Please believe me when I tell you that I will protect her with my life."
Nanny shook her head wisely, "I appreciate that but you... you give your loyalty too easily. You have given your loyalty to many — your friends, your family, the Alliance — but Allura needs something that you have never given anyone."
Keith stared at her in confusion, "Nanny, what the blazes are you talking about?"
"Allura is the one. You must protect her so that she can live to fulfill her destiny, but when she does, without something to hold her to us, we may lose her forever," Nanny said bleakly.
"What?!"
A cool voice suddenly filled the morning air. "Do not bother to explain further, Betta. The captain will discover what you mean in time."
"Your Majesty!" Nanny gasped, and dropped into a deep throne-room curtsey.
Keith stared at the newcomer with some trepidation. Your Majesty? He looked down into a pair of familiar blue eyes and swallowed hard, glancing down at the small plaque that marked the grave. "Juliana of Arus?" he offered, weakly.
Delighted feminine laughter was his only response.
"Please forgive me," the newcomer breathed, "No one has mistaken me for my sister in almost a decade."
Keith flushed as he realized whom he was speaking to. He bowed deeply, "Queen Orla. I'm glad to finally meet you."
Orla's eyes sparkled with amusement. "It's alright, Captain. We were never formally introduced when I last visited Arus, during the funeral you orchestrated for my niece. Neither of us was in the mood to exchange pleasantries at that time."
"But still, I apologize for my rudeness. It was just that your appearance was so... sudden... and I didn't hear of any spacecraft entering Arussian airspace."
Orla shook her head and chuckled, "Captain, someday, you will discover that you do not need to know everything. There are times when you must simply go with the flow, as you Terrans say."
Keith shrugged sheepishly. She was right. He did have the tendency to obsess over minute details. It was something that Allura and the rest of the Voltron Force often complained about.
Orla's eyes danced with amusement again at his disgruntled expression. "I cannot keep the portal open for long. I sensed your presence and I wanted to offer you my congratulations on your impending wedding to my niece."
"Thank you." Keith replied.
He turned his head and saw a small eagle appear in the sky, soaring majestically in an exultant celebration of freedom before landing gently on the queen's unprotected arm.
A pair of husky men-at-arms climbed the hill carrying a small chest between them. The men lowered the chest to the ground before the queen, bowed before her and returned the way that they came.
Keith watched their progress curiously. Silhouetted against the bright sunlight as they were, the men were almost impossible to see. Using his hand, he shaded his eyes against the light that was soft and yet intense. Finally, he managed to clear his vision.
The men had disappeared. There was nothing around the hill but his horse, the tree to which he had tied his reins to, and the small carriage Nanny had brought with her.
He stared at the queen bemusedly, waiting impatiently as she gave instructions to Nanny. When she finished, he burst out with the question that refused to be contained. "Where did they go?"
"My men-at-arms? They returned to Cador."
"But I don't understand... They were just here and now... There's nothing there!"
Orla laughed lightly and looked at him with wise eyes, "Just because something cannot be seen or touched, Keith, doesn't mean that it isn't real. That is the first lesson you must learn when you are married to a daughter of Cador."
Keith murmured a polite response, but Orla could see that he didn't understand what she was saying.
Her mouth drew up in another amused smile, "Before I return to Cador, I leave you to ponder on this... You think of yourself as an explorer, but you still do not understand that your journey has just begun... and it is not like any that you have ever undertaken. Your journey will not be one of exploration, it will be one of introspection."