The Knight

"Pidge! Something has happened to Allura!"

The pilot of the Green Lion jumped in her seat. Coms were off to prevent being intercepted; she realized the voice came from inside the cockpit. Her head swung around to see Keith standing right behind her, his eyes panicked and his voice breathless. Based on his stance it was apparent he'd been confined to a small space for quite some time. Now it was obvious why no one could find him after his stormy exit. It was also assured that Allura was going to be furious at him for stowing away like that.

"How do you know something happened? She hasn't alerted us to anything."

"Because she was there a minute ago, now I can't sense her at all."

Pidge didn't argue. He knew she understood that this was like the experience she'd had with the Olkari and Green. Quickly she plotted Allura's location. The Princess was in the dungeon, and she was not moving. At all. The security bot seemed to be offline as well. The team genius- who was never one to give up easily- set about reconnecting to Rover's camera. It didn't look good from where they were sitting. Keith was about to leave the lion when he realized that it was taking off toward the castle. Pidge threw him an understanding nod before ejecting him onto the ground just feet from the entryway.

The door was still sparsely guarded and Keith overpowered the sentries with a few swipes of his blade. He grabbed their weapons but the uniforms were of little use to him if he couldn't transform. He'd just have to improvise.

The dungeon was large so he paused to figure out which way to go. She was close but in a more heavily guarded area. He'd have to assess the situation once he got there. The team was always hounding him to be more cautious but time was not on his side today. If anything happened to her…

Keith, I don't know where you are but please find me!

That voice, that was Allura's voice. It didn't echo through the corridor, however, and it didn't buzz through the coms. Her voice was in his head. She was reaching out to him and she was terrified.

I'll be there soon, Princess. Hold on a bit longer. I love you!

With that he felt a bit more at ease, not just for himself but also for her. She would be comforted that she'd be rescued soon. He'd promised a long time ago that he'd always be there for her and he meant it. Every. Single. Time.

Once he reached the floor where her cell was he took a quick count of the guards from the darkened stairway he'd just ascended. Eight robots, two Galra. He'd had worse odds than that. Just as he was about to leap into action one of the security bots began firing on the soldiers. Ever reliable, Pidge had come through once again. Getting to the Princess just got a lot easier.

Allura, now in prison rags, sat slumped on the dirty floor. Keith blasted the lock and rushed in to her. Her countenance was duller than usual, and in the dark she looked at him as if he were a stranger. Something wasn't right. Upon reaching her, it was clear that this wasn't his Princess. From the shadows stepped another figure, somewhat smaller than Keith and limping.

"If you're here for your friend she's gone. They just took her to Lotor's chambers."

At this point the plan was pretty much a bust. Nothing had gone right and now the Princess was in even bigger danger. He radioed Pidge to bring Green back to extract the two prisoners in the cell. Intuition told him that they would be important to the rebellion. The younger paladin would also send an S.O.S. to the castle ship to alert the other team members to be on standby. If he wasn't out in fifteen dobashes they would need to fly in with lasers blasting.

Now, where had they taken Allura? Her signal had disappeared from his screen and the blueprints he had didn't notate which room belonged to Lotor. He hazarded a guess that a spoiled prince would choose the largest one so that's where he was going to look first. Luckily there were plenty of minimally guarded back hallways leading to the suite. His sword was all he needed to cut through any obstacles which allowed him to approach the chamber unnoticed.

He reached a small doorway to the room, likely a servant entrance, and pushed it open just enough to see inside. Shadows could be seen and voices heard. One of them was Allura's, of that he was certain. He'd been on the receiving end of that angry tone one too many times, but now it had a tinge of fear that unnerved him. Keith tried to make out the words but only got bits and pieces. Prize. Marriage. Go to hell. That last one was his Princess; he loves it when she gets fierce.

The Captain pushed the door open a bit more to allow space for Rover II to get inside the room. If he went in shooting there was a chance of hitting Allura so he had to be careful. Pidge was busy with the prisoners so he couldn't hope for cover fire but at least it would give him better intel. The screen that popped up from his gauntlet showed Lotor hovering over the bed, his prisoner pinned at the wrists and struggling to break free. Thankfully no one else was in the room.

Allura, I'm right outside. I'm going to get you out of there. Don't move.

With that he burst into the bedchamber, firing furiously at the demon hovering over the Princess. Lotor leapt backwards in surprise before drawing his sword to swing at his attacker. Keith dropped the gun and pulled his ceremonial blade, stepping away from the bed to allow Allura an escape route.

Run! I'll be right behind you!

He lunged towards her captor, their weapons ringing out loudly as they engaged. She jumped off the bed, sweeping up the gun as she ran out of the room. Now the Black Paladin felt more comfortable knowing she was safe and could concentrate on the fight at hand. He'd reached the highest level on the training deck so defeating this soft, lazy oaf should be a cinch. But the words that would soon fly from the villain's lips caused him to freeze.

"Kill me and you will never find your friend, Shiro. I know where he is."

This announcement gave Lotor the opening he needed. He threw the smaller human backwards while swinging violently with his sword. The blow managed to pierce Keith's armor just under his shoulder. Mercifully the fact that he was falling prevented the sword's point from going too deep but it was enough to weaken the already exhausted young man. Looking up he saw the evil Galra Prince standing over him, blade hovering just above his neck.

Allura, I'm sorry. I tried.

Just then he heard gunfire. Lotor took a hit to his shoulder and the sword flew from his hand. He stumbled through the larger door only to be met by a melee in the hallway. There was a firefight and- based on the voices he could hear yelling- he was sure the cavalry had arrived. Lance and Hunk were taking out as many guards as they could and the rest of the troops were fleeing the castle. Looking to the other side of the room he could make out the fuzzy figure of his beloved. She must have been the one who landed the hit on Lotor.

"I told you to run. You never listen to me, do you?"

"You don't listen to me, either, so we're even."

"He could have killed you."

"I couldn't leave my handsome knight in his clutches. He was determined to marry Altean royalty. If it wasn't me, it could've been you!"

"Like he'd get an heir from me." It hurt him to laugh.

"I have dibs on that anyway, my love."

Keith blushed almost as much as she did when they both realized the implication of her statement.

"Are you proposing to me?" He smiled, then closed his eyes as the severity of his injuries began to overtake him.