It took them four tries to get Keith out of the mud – not because they had difficulty pulling him free but because, every time they got him partially out, he would attempt to pry the knife from Lance's grip or attack Pidge or lunge at Hunk. Eventually, they backed off and waited until Keith bregrudgingly asked for their help. Lance kept out of the way as Hunk hauled him out, Keith's knife stuck through the back of his belt. With Keith underground and his knife taken from him, Lance figured his fighting ability had been decreased by half.
Eventually, Keith began to lead them deeper into the underground tunnels. They took twists and turns and it wasn't long before Lance was lost. He tamped down on his own fears of being lost forever under the earth but Hunk's anxiousness began to increase exponentially and Lance could feel it. There were several times when Lance found himself clutching at his chest in response to Hunk's emotions.
In contrast, Pidge was quite calm. Lance couldn't figure out why. At least, not until she suddenly spoke up. "You're taking us in circles," she told Keith, pressing her knife firmly against his back.
"What are you talking about?" Keith asked, his tone even. Lance couldn't tell if he was lying or not: it was still as frustrating as before.
"I've been marking each junction," she explained, taking her knife away to strike at the wall. A mark did, indeed, appear there – underneath a similar one which was already there. "You're trying to get us lost. Don't."
"Yeah, Keith," said Lance, leering at him. "You won't be getting away from us so just do what we asked. Can't be that bad, can it?"
Lance could practically hear Keith grinding his teeth. His fists were clenched and his entire body was tense. There was silence for a while until Keith suddenly relaxed, took a deep breath, slowly let it out – and nodded. "Fine," he murmured. "Come on." And he turned on his heel to lead them back up the path they'd been taken.
Startled, Lance glanced at the others before they quickly followed. What, exactly, had just happened, Lance wondered. Had Keith given in? Or was there something horrible waiting for them around the next corner? Was he leading them into a trap? Would they be killed by an earthcrafter or a more powerful metalcrafter? Was the ceiling going to cave in and crush them all? Then again, Hunk would be able to save them. Everything would be fine, Lance told himself.
Hunk, however, was evidently thinking much the same things as his worry grew. Even Pidge was wary, clutching her knife tightly. Lance thought he should probably get ready for whatever was going to happen so he called for Blue and sent her to find whatever water she could. Despite Blue finding some not too far away, the silence which weighed heavy on them did not dispel his worries. It didn't help that the silence wasn't complete: the skittering of what he hoped were rats reached them as well as what sounded like whispering but was likely the wind.
Eventually, Keith stopped before a door built into the rock and turned back to them. Lance looked beyond them, noticing that the door looked similar to the classroom doors above. He didn't have long to wonder what was beyond for Keith stepped up to him, glaring at him. "I've done what you wanted: give me my knife."
"All right, all right," said Lance, reaching behind him. "Calm down, man. I'm not planning on keeping the thing." He dutifully handed it over but tightened his grip on the blade as Keith took hold of the knife. "You're not planning on doing something stupid, are you?"
Keith gave him a look before wresting the blade from his grasp. Lance was quick to let go of it when he felt a flicker of pain. Blue was, thankfully, quick to heal it and he merely scowled at Keith. The other student blinked at him for a moment before he turned and opened the door, shoving the heavy thing aside.
Lance glanced at his friends. Pidge shrugged at him while Hunk glanced over his shoulder, still nervous and probably wanting to go back to barracks. But, still curious, Lance shrugged at Hunk, patted him on the arm and followed Keith into a huge room.
There was nothing really in it, save for a large space where reed mats had been laid down. Large furylamps flickered on each pillar, casting light on the multitude of staffs and other close-range weapons laid out beside a strip of straw-covered ground. On the opposite side from this strip was various rope and wooden structures which Lance surmised was an obstacle course of some kind. The only other things in the room were the small gathering of academs and a maestro who were all staring at them as they entered.
At first glance, it looked like it was an actual classroom. Perhaps the Remedial Furycrafting classroom, in fact. However, Lance couldn't understand why Keith had been so opposed to them coming here. Was this really a front for some sort of illegal operation? Was he embarrassed about actually needing these classes?
"Keith?" said the maestro, drawing Lance's attention to him. The man was tall and broad, his black clothing not hiding his muscles whatsoever. His dark hair had been parted neatly at some point but two unruly tufts stuck up on either side of his head; they looked like horns or extensions of his ears, depending on the angle. A beard had been clipped close to his chin, making him look older but Lance could tell he was a watercrafter and would likely never look any older than he did now. He had a hand on the hilt of a large knife, frowning at the newcomers. "What is this?" he asked Keith, completely focussed on him.
Everyone watched Keith shrug and fold his arms. "They followed me," he said, simply. "I don't know how they saw me entering: I was as careful as usual."
"Oh, is that the way you take a look around before you enter the only building never used?" asked Lance, smirking. "Or the way you completely suppress all emotions till you're as cold as an Iceman?"
That, at least, made Keith react physically. Though his emotions were blocked from Lance, he cast a glower in Lance's direction. Then he returned his attention to the man. "I'm sorry, Maestro. I realised I was being followed and was worried someone... had discovered us. By trying to silence them, I only brought myself to defeat."
"You fought them... and they survived?"
"'Survived'?" Lance repeated, incredulously. "Woah now, wait a minute. I mean, if this is some sort of secret club, you can just ask us to keep a secret. Besides, not as if we're gonna tell someone Keith has some sort of... secret fighting lessons?"
Pidge suddenly gasped and a wave of shock and concern pierced Lance. He managed to keep himself from falling but still staggered a little. Glancing at her, she stared back with eyes wide. When she caught sight of Lance looking, she raised her eyebrows and tilted her head slightly. Lance frowned, trying to work out what she meant. The last thing he had said... 'secret fighting'... secret fighters... spies-
Oh. Lance held his breath as he realised just how much trouble they had just walked in on. Would the maestro tell Keith to kill them? Would the other academs – no, Cursors-in-training – help him? Should they try to make a run for it right now?
A wave of anxiousness suddenly rolled over him from Hunk and Lance knew that all three of them were on the same page. They had to work out a way to get out of there. Of course, he had a trump card he could play, a statement which would, hopefully, give them pause. It wasn't exactly a secret but this maestro and the academs might not know about it.
"That is not the point," said the maestro. He suddenly frowned a little deeper before looking at them curiously. Lance felt frozen in place, fingers twitching as he tried to find the calm of nearby water. "What I'm interested in," said the maestro, "is how you managed to notice Keith when he's gotten here without trouble before. Often on his own," he added a little pointedly with a glance in the academ's direction.
Swallowing, Lance dug his nails into the palms of his hands. The tiny pinpricks of pain stopped him from panicking too much and forced him to concentrate. "I... I can't sense Keith's emotions," he said, making sure not to look at him.
"You're not supposed to," Keith retorted.
"But I can sense others', even if they're hiding it. I mean, my younger siblings can lie to my mother without getting caught but I can tell they're fibbing about doing a chore or whatever. So it's kinda odd that I don't feel Keith's..."
"What about us?" asked the maestro, suddenly. "Can you sense our emotions?"
Lance blinked and concentrated, realising that he hadn't felt anything from the people gathered since he'd stepped into the room. Now, though, he could barely feel surprise and worry and... interest from the maestro. It was exactly like finding his younger siblings lying to his mum about secreting away a cake or two from a freshly-made batch. "Yeah," he told the maestro. "You're worried that we found your hideout so easily but you're curious as to how."
"Interesting," murmured the maestro. "Well then, you were saying that you can't sense Keith's emotions. And so...?"
"It... It feels different. I can still sense him. Sort of. It's hard to explain. I noticed him and saw him going into that old building. I wanted to know what he was up to so I-"
"We," said Pidge, firmly. "We decided to follow him. Only he attacked us instead."
"I thought they may have been enemy spies," Keith explained offhandedly, gesturing with a hand.
"It was really scary," Hunk interjected. "He just came at us like a raging gargant and we had to fend him off! Like, Pidge was using her metalcrafting, I used my earthcrafting to put him off balance and box him in and Lance used water to create mud."
"Then we talked him into taking us where he was going," Lance added. "We didn't know we were going to walk in on... this."
The maestro raised a hand to his chin and stroked at his beard while he thought. "Interesting," he repeated. "Well, I can't hold this class now."
"What?!" exclaimed one of the students, a plain-looking young woman. "But, Maestro Thace...! Can't you just send Keith away with this lot and teach the rest of us? It's not as if he gave a thought to any of us."
"I'm afraid I'll have to deal with this," Thace replied with a shrug of a shoulder. "We'll hold the class tomorrow. Now, off you go." Thace turned back to Lance and the others and strode over to them. "You three will have to come with me. And you, Keith. You'll accompany us and make sure we don't... lose any of them."
Gulping, Lance glanced between the worried Pidge and Hunk. It looked as though there was no way out of this. Whatever 'this' was going to be. His one consolation was that Keith didn't look too happy either.
They left the room and followed the maestro along the numerous underground pathways. Sometimes, they passed a mark that Pidge had made, barely seen in the light of the furylamps. Thace kept up a swift pace, however, and it wasn't long before Lance couldn't tell which way the exit was or where the room was or even if there was an end to the tunnels below the capital.
Silence weighed down on them and Lance began to fidget with the bottom of his shirt. He tried chewing on his lip to stop himself speaking but, eventually, he had to say something: Pidge and Hunk's increasing uneasiness was making his panic increase. "Where are we going?" he asked, trying to keep his voice down. It still echoed around them and made Lance jump when he thought someone else was speaking around the next corner.
"I'm taking you to speak with someone who'll know what to do with you," Thace replied, quieter than Lance.
"Oh," he whispered, wondering what that could mean.
He fell silent after that, listening to the stones being kicked beneath their feet. Eventually, they began to climb upwards and the silence was broken by their heavy breathing. When the path levelled out, they soon came to a set of stairs. Thace went up first and opened a heavy door at the top. Silently, he gestured for them all to step through and Lance was the first one to do so. He paused when he looked around and realised where he was.
Instead of the Academy, he was in a street, surrounded by tall walls. However, looking up the street to the top of a steep hill, Lance realised that he was in front of the First Lord's palace. The large building loomed over the street, its shadow almost at his feet. He could only just see the gate and a couple of men on guard. When he moved out of the doorway and looked back, he saw that a small section of the wall had swung out. He expected that, when it was closed, it would seamlessly blend with the sections beside it.
Once everyone was through and Thace had closed the door again, he turned and started to walk towards the palace. That made Lance frown, wondering who they could be going to see. Surely they weren't important enough to be taken to the First Lord? And the only other person who would have any contact with the Cursors would be... But, surely, he couldn't be that lucky?
As they got closer, Lance could make out more of the palace. It was made from perfectly crafted stone, a red kind which Lance couldn't name. Glass windows dotted the structure, large ones which would let in the light. It was elegant but defendable as could be seen from the battlements on the outer walls. Elegant turrets bordered the face of the palace, winding designs on the surface. Protective gargoyles squatted on the roof and on the wall surrounding the grounds.
The guards stopped them when they were a few paces from the gate. Thace gestured for the academs to stay where they were and moved forward to talk to them. Lance briefly considered making a run for it but he didn't know where to go and a glance at Keith's attentive face told him it was unwise. With the space between them, they couldn't hear the men speaking but Lance could sense what the guards were feeling: wariness, suspicion and then, when Thace showed them something, surprise and embarrassment. They seemed to converse quietly with each other and then hastily opened the gates far enough for one guard to pop in and, after a few moments, return to open the gate fully. Thace turned to the academs and waved them forward.
Passing the guards, Lance noticed them watching the group curiously. Impulsively, he winked at one of them and the guard, flustered, looked away. Lance grinned and hurried to catch up with Thace.
After crossing the grounds in the light of the setting sun, they entered the palace and Lance immediately felt better. There were large vases lining the corridor in regular intervals, each one filled with large ferns and tall-stemmed flowers. And, to keep them alive, water had been poured into each and every one. The presence of the water calmed Lance and he had to hold back a sigh of relief. With the calming balm of the water, Lance pushed away the emotions of his friends until they were in the back of his mind. He relaxed enough that the silence was no longer ominous and he sought to break it again.
"We're not going to see the First Lord, are we?" he asked. "I mean, he's busy, right?"
"Yes, he is," said Maestro Thace but he did not elaborate. "This way." And he turned into another corridor.
Finally, they came to a door and stopped. Thace raised a hand, knocked and opened the door, stepping in and gesturing for the others to follow. They did so and Lance's eyes were drawn immediately to the large, shallow pool of water set into the floor directly before him. He relished in the feeling and wished he could touch it directly.
Then he took a look around the rest of the room. It was richly furnished with a variety of couches and small tables. Drapes hung before the window and over a doorway on their left. Painted scenery and tapestries decorated the walls. A desk was in the corner, covered in rolls of parchment and a bookcase filled with books and other papers was tucked into the wall beside it. Two sets of armour and weaponry were piled upon one of the couches. And there was a man and woman, facing each other, arms seemingly reaching for each other.
He had black hair with a tuft of white at the front, tall and muscular. A scar crossed his nose. His clothes were plain and loose, as if he was ready for bed. The woman also had a loose, white dress on and matching slippers. Her hair was almost silver and fell in a sheet of beautiful locks. With dark skin and keen eyes, she looked as beautiful as ever, bemused smile on her lips.
Lance was relieved to recognise both of them.
"What-?" the woman exclaimed, lowering her arms. "Tha-" she began before spotting Lance. Her eyes widen and she brightened. "Lance!" she cried.
"Hello, princeps," Lance replied. "It's nice to see such a beautiful face after so long."
The princeps shook her head with a fond smile. "How are you getting on at the Academy?"
"I'm doing well."
"When you turn up to lessons," muttered Pidge.
Turning to her, Lance stuck out his tongue. As he did, the man stepped forward; at first glance he looked calm, collected and alert. Lance, however, could sense his confusion. "Um, as much as it's nice to see you again Lance – and you, Keith – what, exactly, is going on? Shouldn't these three academs be in their barracks?" He gestured at Lance and his friends before looking expectantly at Thace.
Bowing, the maestro nodded. "They should," he agreed. "I am sorry to interrupt, Sir Shiro, Princeps Allura. However... There is a bit of a situation and I think it would be best if we sat to discuss our options."
"That sounds like it would be a good idea," Allura agreed. "It seems as if it might be a long story. Please, sit, and I will send for wine."
There was slow movement as Shiro strode towards the door to call for one of the guards or servants they had passed on the way. Thace stepped forward but declined a seat, standing close to where he insisted Keith sit. As Lance, Hunk and Pidge took a couch to themselves, Hunk leaned down to murmur in Lance's ear.
"Are we okay? Or in real trouble?" he asked.
"Calm down, Hunk," Lance responded. "Allura's really cool. Nothing bad will happen to us. I reckon whatever good option they've thought of will happen."
"But what would that be?" asked Pidge. "Their good option could be that we get sent home."
"Nah," said Lance, dismissively, waving a hand. However, a twinge of doubt made him glance at the water, longing to touch it and regain his confidence. He took a breath instead and leaned back to lounge, arms resting on the back of the couch. Pidge huffed and sat on one side of him while Hunk hunched up beside him and clutched the armrest.
Finally, they had refreshments and settled down, Allura seated on her own couch with Shiro standing behind her, hand resting on the hilt of his sword. They both seemed calm but Lance could still sense their emotions under the surface, as if he was looking at them sitting under a murky pool of water. Curious, he concentrated and noted that they were both worried, both curious, and both still had the remnants of... arousal?
Ducking his head a little to hide his blush, Lance almost missed Thace beginning to explain why they were there. He quickly looked up and only then realised that he was seated directly opposite Keith who was staring straight at him. Lance's eyes widened, knowing full well his cheeks were a little red. Keith blinked and then glanced away and at Shiro, frowning slightly. Scowling at him, Lance was surprised to see Allura turn to him out of the corner of his eye.
He was then quizzed – as were Pidge and Hunk – about the events leading up to entering the Cursor classroom. Then Keith reluctantly answered questions, being rather taciturn in his answers. Despite that, he got his main points across and they lapsed into silence once the story had been examined from every angle.
By that point, the refreshments had been polished off and the silence was heavy as Allura considered what had been said. "Well," she finally said, "I think there's really only one thing to do. But we must ask my father's opinion first."
"Does this really warrant disturbing him?" Thace asked with a grimace.
"Yes," the princeps replied. "This will need his approval."
Lance suppressed a groan at the thought of moving or repeating the story again. He glanced at his friends who were both still nervous, though now noticeably less so. Hunk was far more content than earlier since he had had some food (dainty cakes and small finger foods). Pidge, though... was attempting to clamp down on her emotions and failing somewhat. He frowned at the irritation she was feeling and glanced at Shiro which was where it seemed to be directed, since she kept looking at him. Why would Pidge be annoyed at Shiro? What had he done to anger her?
Returning his attention to the conversation, he heard Shiro say, "Are you sure? You know he usually approves of what you think is right."
"Sometimes he doesn't," Allura replied with a small frown. "Besides, it shouldn't take too long." And she stood, took a few steps and knelt in front of the pool. Lance straightened up, realising that he was about to watch a powerful crafter work a water sending, something he had rarely done before.
Allura reached out to touch the water with the tip of a finger. They all watched as the water stirred slightly, rippling in a widening circle. Lance felt the disturbance in his very being as Blue, who had let rest in the pool to comfort himself, rushed back to him away from Allura's fury: he shuddered, garnering concerned glances from his friends and a disinterested glance from Keith. As he recovered, the water at Allura's fingertips bubbled upwards till it was a few inches tall, swirling around until the edges fell away and moulded into the exact form of Allura in the clothes she was wearing. Without warning, it suddenly fell back into the pool, drops of water splashing into the air before Allura flicked her hand and they returned to the pool.
The silence wrapped around them, pressing down on Lance as they waited. He tried to distract himself by sending Blue back to the pool, searching for the way Allura's sending had gone. He had sent his own sendings before but only by using rivers or wells so he was eager to find out how to do it from an enclosed pool. Just as he thought he may have found a sophisticated drainage system, he felt the water shift and knew that a sending was coming through. Quickly, he pulled Blue back to himself and watched as the water rippled and burst upwards.
An image of a man appeared there, in full colour. Despite only a few inches high in the pool, it was clear to Lance that he was both tall and broad. He wore shining armour which only made him look stronger and more intimidating – if it wasn't for the fond smile gracing his lips. Allura had his eyes and hair, though, where she wore hers long, the man had his cropped short, his beard neatly clipped. A helmet was tucked under one arm. Behind him, a blue cloak flowed from the back of the armour, shifting slightly as if from a breeze. Upon his breastplate was the crest of the First Lord's family: a rearing, white lion upon an azure background, surrounded by pink juniberries.
First Lord Alfor looked like a kind man, Lance thought as he watched him raise a hand in greeting, clearly happy to see his daughter. He hoped he would feel merciful to the three of them.
"My dearest daughter," Alfor said. "It is good to see you."
"It is good to see you, too," Allura replied, seeming as giddy as Lance's younger siblings when they were told they were getting a treat. "How goes it?"
"I believe we will be able to halt the hostilities for a while – at least for long enough for me to return and consult the Senate."
Allura pulled a face. "Are you sure? That could take a while..."
"It will be fine, Allura. I'll make sure it is." Then Alfor looked past his daughter to smile at Shiro. "Ah, there you are. And how are you, Sir Shiro?"
"Sire," said Shiro, bowing. "It is good to see you again."
"Evading the question, I see," Alfor teased, grinning at Shiro. Then he took a look around the rest of the room. His eyebrows raised in surprise and he blinked at all of them. "Maestro Thace? What is going on?"
"I shall explain," Allura said and concisely conveyed what had been told to her. "We just want your permission to... well, I want to induct them into the Cursor programme. I mean, Lance already saved my life and, if he is a powerful enough watercrafter and properly trained, he could be a great asset. His friends are no doubt just as good."
Beside Lance, Pidge and Hunk were too shocked to do anything but stare. Lance looked at Allura's mischievous grin and Thace's amused smile: clearly, they had realised that they thought they were in trouble and deliberately drawn out their judgement. Movement across from him had Lance looking over at Keith to find him frowning deeply; he still couldn't sense his emotions and he forced himself not to scowl in case the First Lord thought he was angry at the suggestion.
"Dear Allura," said the First Lord with a sigh. "You know that I trust you with these decisions. It was, after all, you who picked Sir Shiro from the multitude of Cursors to be my bodyguard. And he has done a fine job."
"Until you disappeared in the night, sire," said Shiro, pointedly.
Alfor chuckled. "Ah, yes. I do apologise. Again. But you have served my daughter well."
Shiro gave him an exasperated look but seemed to acknowledge the compliment. He glanced around the room before saying, "So these three will become Cursors? As will Keith?"
"Of course," said Allura. "If he can hide his emotions so well, he will not be discovered by a less powerful watercrafter. As for these three..." She turned to look at them. "Would you like to become a Cursor?"
Hunk was the first to regain the power of speech. "Uh... Isn't that kinda dangerous?"
"It can be," Shiro admitted. "But we will teach you how to not get caught."
"I mean, um..."
Pidge interrupted him. "I want to ask a question first." Allura nodded to show that was acceptable but Pidge turned to Shiro instead. "You were friends with my brother," she said. "His name was Matt."
"Ah, Pidge!" Shiro exclaimed. "You've grown since I last saw you!"
She flashed him a quick smile but she quickly turned serious, anger bubbling under the surface. "I came to the Academy to be with my brother – I haven't seen him since I got here. Is he a Cursor, too?"
Grimacing, Shiro nodded. "Yes. He's in the middle of a mission right now and isn't in Alera Imperia, I'm afraid."
"Then where is he?"
"I can't tell you that."
"Who can?" Pidge demanded.
"You are not a Cursor," Thace pointed out. "And, even if you were, it would be detrimental to the mission if you were captured and the information forced out of you."
"I would never put my brother in danger," Pidge snapped.
"We still can't tell you," Shiro said, gently.
"If I become a Cursor, is there a chance I could be put on the same mission and see him?" she asked him, turning her head in such a way that her ponytail whipped around with an audible swish; it was clear she was dismissing Thace.
Shiro looked at Thace then at the princeps. Then he shrugged. "I don't see why not?" he said.
"Then I'll become a Cursor," Pidge declared, folding her arms across her chest with finality. "When do we start training? There was supposed to be a class of some sort, right?"
"What about you, Lance, Hunk?" asked Allura, smiling at them encouragingly.
Lance grinned at her. "Cursors get to travel the world, right? And save the day. And they get the girl, too, right?"
Allura looked to Shiro for an answer. "Sure," he said with another shrug. It didn't place any confidence in Lance but his grin widened anyway.
"Then I'll be one. I mean, I have experience, right?" He winked at Allura who rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"What about you, Hunk?" she asked, pointedly not looking at Lance who knew she was amused.
"Well, I mean, it doesn't sound like a very appealing career choice," said Hunk with a wince. His nervousness began to increase, making Lance grimace and shrink away from him as he began to rattle off the reasons why it was a bad idea. "You could completely fail the mission and the world as we know it would be destroyed. Or maybe you make a mistake in trusting someone and that gets you killed. Or captured. And then they'll torture you with, like, knives and furycrafting and psychological stuff. A-And then, when they're done with you, they'll put a collar on you and make you a slave. And then you'll die anyway! Or you might have to deal with the Icemen or the Marat or the Canim and then-"
"So you don't want to tag along?" Pidge interjected, halting his flow of words. "You'll have to put up with all our secrets..."
Hunk blinked at her. "Well, yeah, but..."
"Come on, man!" Lance said, slapping a hand on Hunk's hefty shoulder. "What are you worried about? You've got us to watch your back, right?"
"That's... not really all that reassuring."
"Aw, come on. It'll be fun!" Lance insisted. "Besides, you're not gonna get caught. It'll be fine."
With a pained expression, Hunk looked at all of them and deflated. "Okay. But, just so you know, this is going to end badly."
"There!" exclaimed Allura. "What do you think about the new batch of Cursors, Father?"
Alfor smiled. "They are certainly interesting. I will have to meet with them properly soon. Perhaps in a month or so once I have finished working on this. Now, I regret that I must go, daughter. There is someone calling for me."
"Yes, Father," Allura replied in a small voice and with a cute little pout. "Be careful."
"Of course, my daughter." And the image of Alfor collapsed, falling into the pool and disappearing completely.
They all waited in silence for a moment while Allura collected herself. When she was ready, she stood up, glanced at Shiro and turned to the others in the room. "In that case," she said, "we will start you on your Cursor training right away. Or, rather, tomorrow evening?" The question was directed at Thace who nodded.
"Yes. We will start them off with learning how to fight without furycrafting, as was meant to be the lesson today." Thace paused, placing a thumb and forefinger to his chin. "I think I shall have Dulcia pair with Pidge. Tacitus is around the same build as Hunk. And, as for Lance-"
"He should train with Keith," Allura declared, looking quite happy.
Lance froze. Slowly, he managed to say, "I'm sorry, with who?"
"Keith," Allura told him, gesturing to the couch opposite. "You're such a powerful watercrafter that you would be able to dodge anyone else's attacks. Since Keith is so good at hiding his emotions, it will be good training, for him as well. Don't you think?" she added, smiling wider.
Unable to think of a good counter-argument, Lance shifted his head in a half-nod, half-shake. Allura took it to mean his assent and excitedly turned to Shiro and Thace to discuss the logistics of having three new Cursors-in-Training beginning midway through the year. Lance ignored them and turned his head, searching for Keith and for Keith's emotions, wondering what he felt about the situation. But Keith was suppressing them so much that he was a blank void and Lance only had the glare Keith sent him to tell him that he wasn't any happier than Lance was.
Apparently princeps means both prince and princess in Latin (according to Google Translate). If I'm wrong, let me know and I'll change it to the correct one.
Juniberries exist in this Alera now.