Chapter 18

"Asking her to dinner. It's a good idea considering what we've all been through. Just don't mess it up."

"You could be more supportive and positive as a soon to be father-in-law, dad." Keith commented as he tied his hair back, which had gotten long again. He'd approached her nanny with the request to set up a quiet dinner for the both of them, only to have endured a lecture on propriety and proper protocol in 'matters such as these'. Too exhausted to argue with the lady as he saw no end to it, he bowed and made his request again. After a gasp and a series of stuttering remarks, she'd confirmed that she would see to it that they would have a table reserved in the mess hall for them after everyone had dined. Now he had showered and had attempted to dress up, which for him, was a sad affair. A long sleeved grey v necked t-shirt, black combat pants and black boots was as fancy as he'd ever get. He dreaded to think of what he'd be forced to wear by that nanny in the near future.

"Make sure to impress her. Don't scare her off with your sullen attitude. You have to make a good impression, since it shows that I at least brought you up half decent. " a comment came from the older man, who had taken out his prized bottle of whiskey and cigars.

"And where are you off to? I thought you were tired." Keith asked. He'd heard complaints about how rowdy it was since they came back home and how a certain someone was tired of the attention people were throwing him

"I am going to have a drink with some friends from the Royal bunker. The wiser, older, more mature ones like myself. Don't wait up. In fact, don't look for me. I'm celebrating my freedom at last. Bless the princess' sweet heart. And don't you dare come back before me. Understood? Good. Enjoy your date."

Keith didn't have the energy or the time to banter with Graham at the moment, Looking himself over one more time, he steeled his nerves as he went to meet his 'beloved'. In the corridors he didn't notice how people snuck a look and commented about how he looked, worse still how some whispered about his going to the princess' quarters. The maids knew everything after all, and news had spread like wildfire about their impending dinner alone. Some women swooned at the romantic gesture, others were upset because they didn't think it was right considering the disaster they were older, wiser ones hushed the critics with tales of their own rendezvous when they saw that the men they loved had managed to come back from battle. They considered it wise to spend time together, because tomorrow was not guaranteed . At that point, everyone could relate.

Reaching the princess' door, Keith took a deep breath and knocked twice. The face of a grumpy Nanny was the one that greeted him. Annoyed now, Keith came to the realisation that this woman was going to be a constant feature in his life. Or constant pain. " A moment, she's coming." It didn't go unnoticed by him that she didn't like calling him by his job title or his royal one. Annoyance turned to anger at that moment .

"Keith is fine, my lady."

"What?" a confused reply came from nanny.

"I know you don't approve or appreciate my presence here, but the least we can do is be civil to each other. Call me Keith instead of treating me like a non entity."

Nanny gasped, then stuttered, her face turning a bright red. Keith didn't think it was from embarrassment though. Before the lady could explode, the princess' sweet voice added:

" He's right Nanny. He's my husband to be. Disrespecting him is disrespecting me and my decisions. You can't do that. Please." Keith's mind went blank as the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen came into view. She was wearing a thin strapped, red dress that hugged her just under her generous cleavage, which Keith lingered on a bit too long, before it fell gently to her knees. Just off her shoulders she had a white light knit open cardigan. Her shoes were simple , thong saddles that highlighted her dainty feet. She was fresh faced and what pleased Keith the most, was her luscious hair. Gleaming curls cascaded over her shoulders and back gracefully in gold waves, accentuated only by a flower hairpin that pushed some of them out of her face.

"Well, young man. Don't just stand there. Say something."

" You're exquisite, Allura." He said breathlessly. Those were the only words that his short circuited mind could create. Allura, who'd prepared herself for the indifferent captain she'd come to know, was pleasantly surprised. A gentle blush graced her cheeks as she quickly averted her eyes from his fathomless ones and her eyes took their time to admire her soon to be husband. She felt herself grow warm the longer her eyes travelled in appreciation from the top of his head, to his well defined chest and abs that she could make out behind the grey material, to the black pants and boots. Keith was just a man. He was a man who exuded strength from the depth of his being without even trying. He was different from the men she knew who pretended to be strong and brave. He really was the epitome of strength. The slow burn she'd felt the first day she'd met him was back, and from the slight intake of breath she saw him take, she knew he felt it too.

They were both in trouble.

"Unbelievable!"

...

They made it to their destination amid many stares and secret glances from curious eyes. Keith wasn't the only one who appreciated the princess' beauty It seemed like every man he encountered wanted his woman.

'Now she's your woman?'

Of course she is. I'm marrying her aren't I. And why are you talking to me now. You've been ignoring me for days.

'Reconnecting with my family.'

You mean your mate.

'Semantics. You have a lot to learn about pleasing your own mate. You had better get to work.

Wait! What's this burn that I feel for her that comes and goes. I've never felt like this before.

'The Kondar. A gift that binds you together. It is a sign that you've found your mate and life partner. It is a type of spell that exists within the blood of anyone who has been chosen by the lions.'

Do we all have it?

'Yes.'

What'll happen to this spell if Allura and I don't act on it.

'That is the wrong question. The correct one is what will happen to the two of you once you start acting on it.'

What'll happen? Come on , tell me!

'You're a man now. Try it out.'

"Captain. Captain?"

"Keith!" Allura's voice breaks through his subconscious thoughts with the black, only to find a slightly worried maid waiting to serve him and a frown on the princess' beautiful face.

"Ah, sorry. I'm sorry. I was thinking of something important about the wedding." He lied smoothly, earning him a gasp of delight from the maid and a sceptical look from Allura's blue eyes. She looked like she was about to burst out laughing, but dignity was winning.

"Please, leave everything. I'll do it. I asked her to dinner, so it's fine. Go rest please." Keith gently took the bottle of wine from the maid who blushed furiously at the request. She quickly left the two to their meal, obviously besotted with the new Prince.

" Well played, captain. The entire compound will be filled with stories of your sincerity by dawn. How wonderful."

" There's no need be sarcastic, Allura. I asked you to dinner because I wanted to talk to you and this was the most comfortable situation I could think of. I don't do posturing. Its too undignified in my opinion."

" And you think I would believe you? You're the hero of this bunker whose grand plan saved the monarchy from absolute ruin. You've earned yourself a wife too and a coveted military position. That's the height of posturing according to me. And don't call me by my first name. Only people I'm close to can do that." Allura traced the edge if the wine glass with her finger, trying to distract herself from meeting his eyes. She could see from the reflection how his hand tensed into a fist, but she didn't care. She knew that it wasn't entirely his fault that they were in this, but she had to vent.

"I made the first move by asking you to come here. This is the only way I could think of to get you to talk to me freely, baby." Keith smirked as he saw her bristle at the nickname. Her eyes shot up and looked at him in disbelief. He lifted an eyebrow in challenge. Since she was trying to rile him up, he'd do the same. Times a hundred. He appreciated her feisty words versus absolute surrender. It would actually make their marriage more enjoyable.

"Don't call me that! How dare you..." Keith grasped the glass tracing hand gently in his, which silenced her comment. Without missing a beat, he kissed the inside of her palm gently. Allura was stunned by the intimacy of the action and the light feeling of bristle on his cheek. Pretend as she might, she couldn't suppress the slight tremor that went through her or ignore the increasing pace of her heart.

" Temper, temper, baby. I made sure that I stationed men I trust to guarantee us some alone time, but be careful what you say out loud." Keith whispered as he kissed the back of her hand lightly before placing it back on the table. Her wide eyes narrowed after he made that comment as she pulled her hand away and placed it in her lap under the table. 'This man is infuriating.' She thought to herself.

"Did I upset you baby?" Keith smirked as he took a sip from his wine glass, enjoying the princess' discomfort. She appeared quite strong willed and definitely was knowledgeable about a lot of things. But this game was his. He watched as Allura's posture changed and she relaxed, placing her elbow on the table and her head in one hand. Thinking that she was going to surrender, he took another sip from his glass. Smiling beautifully, she responded softly.

"Of course not, my Lord. You would never."

Keith choked as his wine went the wrong way. The culprit was a foot that was caressing his inner right thigh, slow but firm. Allura's smile widened at his reaction, pleased with herself. "You aren't the only one who loves games, my love. It's a side of me I never get the chance to explore and actually love." Moving her foot higher along his thigh, Allura watched him tense and breath sharply when he felt her getting close, before she pulled back and went to her original position mid thigh. "You play dirty, baby."

"I know. What's a helpless damsel like myself expected to do when facing a challenge like yourself? Negotiate? Surrender?" Allura responded smugly as she drank her wine and continued to torture Keith, who had his fists clenched on the table as he tried to not react to the princess' tantalising movements.

"Negotiating is a start. Every game has rules, right? We can come up with those as we discuss our future. Please." His voice was tense and he didn't care if she heard it. He'd lost this round, but getting up without embarrassing himself later took precedence.

"So I win, yes."

"Yes. Now stop."

"Alright my lord." With that, Allura returned her leg into the shoe and started eating dinner happily. She smiled more brightly when Keith glared at her as she moaned in delight at the steak she'd just bitten into. With a huff, Keith started eating his dinner, wondering how this princess seemed so angelic and devilish at the same time. He paused when she winked at him, head tilted slightly, golden hair framing that stunning face. 'Devil.' He thought.

"I won't give my lion to anyone after we marry. She's a part of me as the black is a part of you." Allura broke their comfortable silence after a while. She knew this dinner was to decide on the nature of their marriage, and that he was giving her the option to discuss it with him before the brass tried to force him to make her give it up. As her commanding officer, he could. As her husband, he could. That's why they wanted this marriage urgently so as to strip her of power. Keith only paused for a moment to contemplate her request before he responded. He had to agree.

" As long as your decision,depending on the situation, to keep the lion protects the people , then I have no problem with you flying. "

"What situation would make me surrender blue?"

"From the top of my head: Injury, Ransom or pregnancy." Keith counted them off as he met her eyes, all business.

" For injury, we have doctor Gorma whose the best I'll try and be careful. We're all at risk, by the way, so being injured can't be an exception to only me."

"True. But you do understand that you are most likely to be the target most of the time and that cost will eventually will be too high?. And we're human too?"

"I do. And if my life is at the highest risk, you can give the lion to another. And I'm not mad enough to Ransom it." She didn't hesitate when she said it and didn't drop her gaze either.

"Pregnancy?"

"That won't happen because we won't consummate this Union." Allura stated as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Calling their partnership a marriage was too much of a stretch for her. She'd finished her dinner and was dabbing her mouth elegantly. From the corner of her eye she saw the young maid coming back with a tray she believed was most likely dessert. She couldn't wait because she honestly had a wicked sweet tooth.

"That won't work. I want sex."

Keith didn't even care that the dishes crashed to the ground suddenly, he didn't even hear the frantic apologies of the red faced maid as she tried to pick up the bowls frantically and decide against it as she ran desperately out of the room. His focus was on Allura only. Her horrified, red faced expression didn't bother him in the least. This was the most serious topic, according to him.

"Keith!"Allura yelled, blushing furiously.

"What? I'm dead serious. I want you. You're mine." He emphasised each word of the last sentence as he put his fork down, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms across his broad chest. His eyes devoured the parts of her he could see, her berry red lips, her gorgeous eyes, that slender neck and again, her hinted cleavage. He was no pervert. Just a lucky man. Allura's blush deepened as she felt his eyes peruse her, not at all disgusted as she would be if it was another man.

" You can't be serious."

"Dead serious. Its either real between us or not. Choose now." Ultimatum.

"Ridiculous. I won't be forced into being intimate with you. Get a mistress." Allura whispered angrily as she leaned toward him. She stood up straight, flipped her hair over her shoulder , ready to leave. She had set her terms and if he didn't want them, then there would be no marriage. Reputation be damned. Her parents had a true marriage, not this theatre! As she started walking away Keith pulled her back, catching her in his arms. She tried to push away from him but he wasn't budging.

"You're a coward, Allura." Keith whispered softly, which caused a fire to ignite in her. Anger.

"How dare you! You know nothing about me to make such judgements." Allura spat back, absolutely fuming. She tried to wrestle out of his arms but she found that it was not happening. The guns weren't just for show.

"When you called me a traitor in the forest, I had to prove you wrong. I called you a coward and all you can do is throw a tantrum. Seriously though, is it the idea of having sex that scares you or it's sex with me?" taunted Keith as he still held her firmly, whispering in her ear. "I'm not scared of you or, or...consummating our union." She hissed back, eyes blazing a brilliant blue.

"Sex. Lovemaking. That's the best terminology for a couple, baby. You still need to prove it though."

He loosened his hold slightly to caress her back slowly, which caused Allura 's resistance to dwindle as a shiver went through her. Allura gasped at his words, the image of them together flashing in her mind for a second. She felt fire growing from the pit in her stomach, a fire she wanted quenched. Instead of resisting Keith, her hands fisted in his shirt as she inhaled his scent. Warm, spicy, woody. Under her hand she could feel his heartbeat, which was beating fast. She didn't know what was happening to her and she didn't remember how, but she captured Keith's lips in a hungry kiss, pulling him to her. And he obliged. In that dim mess hall, they were completely lost in each other.

"Jeff. I'm sorry to say this, but this marriage doesn't seem fake to me." Crik whispered from the shadows of the doorway to his friend as they observed the unaware couple.

"Crik's right ol' Bud. Those two aren't pretending at all. Especially the princess, there's no way she'd let a stranger kiss her and hold her like that." Cliff added, actually jealous that the kid they'd looked down upon had won the girl that every man wanted. Jeff was livid. Bewildered beyond reason. When he'd been approached by military personnel, detaining him and his men on charges of treason, he had nearly died. His father, his light, the man he could never please, was a downright traitor and had attempted to ruin the monarchy. What had saved them was that after hours of questioning and raids into his home and personal items, nothing could be found that was traced to Jeff or his mother. His own father didn't even trust him with his secret plans. After being released, he'd heard that princess and Keith had testified to his father being there as part of the coup. Unbelievably , his own men had confirmed that Keith was actually the chosen of the black lion, a lost Prince, and husband to be of the princess, which had rattled Jeff even more. Taking to the bottle, he had drunk for hours, trying to scorch the pain in his heart. Cliff and Crik had tried to talk him out of it, but he had decided to expose Keith and the Princess' fake love story as a way to destroy their testimony. Knocking out the men Keith had stationed near the mess hall with gas, they'd arrived at the steel doors and looked through the glass to see the two in each other's arms. Keith was kissing her neck and the Princess was in the throes of pleasure, running her hands in his hair.

"There's no way! Its a setup and I'm going to prove it." Jeff slurred, barging into the hall, disturbing the couple.

"Keith!" yelled Jeff. Allura was startled pulling away from Keith, who was looking extremely frustrated and displeased at that moment. She tried to step away from Keith's arms but he held her waist firm, only turning slightly to acknowledge the intruder. Jeff on his part didn't care what the consequences were, he was going to make them pay. From the cafeteria door, the cooks there had opened the door slightly when they heard the ruckus. They swa their flushed Princess try to straighten her dress and hair whilst her dishevelled fiance looked extremely upset at the presence of the intruder. It was easy to tell what the young monarch had been up to. ' Now what?' thought the head chef, scratching his beard.

"You and this...this bitch framed my father, didn't you?" accused Jeff as he was grabbed by his friends.

"Let me go, you bastards. They destroyed my life and are celebrating their evil act. I said let me go!" yelled Jeff, headbutting Cliff and punching Crik. The two tumbled to the ground in pain, releasing Jeff who made his way to Keith and threw a sloppy punch. Keith caught it easily and pushed Jeff back, who stumbled uncontrollably.

" Stop it, Jeff. You're disgracing yourself. Don't do this in front of the Princess."Keith said had been in heaven and had been thrown violently back to the dust of the earth. He was pissed but in no mood to fight a drunk.

" Princess? You mean your cheap whore who helped you frame my father? Outside of your words, there's no proof that my father Is a traitor of the human race. I can't believe he wanted me to woo a tramp like you." Screamed Jeff, pointing an accusing finger at Allura.

" Well, good for me, because I never would have married a cry baby, out of control daddy's boy like yourself. Thankfully I lucked out." Allura responded gracefully after fixing her clothes. The idiot had saved her from Keith, otherwise, who knew how they would have stopped. Looking at her fiance, she smiled slightly as she realised that he was sexually frustrated. She kept the information safely in her vault for when she'd need it.

"Ha ha ha ha!" Jeff laughed drunkenly, swaying to and fro. " Bold words from a used drule bitch! You think I don't know what happened years ago when you and your oldest brother were taken. By Zarkon's son no less. How come you came back and the crown Prince didn't, huh? Answer me, you bitch!"

Keith felt Allura tense beside him. Somehow Jeff's words had affected her.

"Comeon Keith, I know you've been desperate to get out of the gutter for years. But Lotor's seconds? Knowing drules, he probably shared you with his guards after he was done with you, right? Keith, we'll never be friends, I get it, but you gotta know that my dad's research isn't wrong. He was head of intelligence after all. Heck, he even knew who you were all along. He just kept me out of it!" laughing pathetically, Jeff picked up the wine bottle on their table and examined it for a few seconds. He finished the bottle and examines it again. Everyone in the room was tense, the staff had long tumbled into the mess hall, watching the drama unfold.

"You know who Zarkon is Keith. He has a son who's more heartless than him, who tortures, rapes, kills and destroys indiscriminately. The second kingdom fell and he killed everyone except the princess and the youngest Prince who she hid." Jeff continues slowly, fascinated by the light that plays off the berry coloured surface.

"My cousin is alive? Where is he? Please, tell me!" Allura begs, walking toward Jeff but drawn back by Keith, who silently shakes his head.

"Please? Is that how you begged Lotor to stop when he fucked you, or how your cousin begged? Or how your brother begged before he died? Which one is it, your highness."

"Lotor didn't touch me, dammit! He's a monster and I would rather die than ever be touched by him! I hate him and I will never forgive him." screams a crying, shaking Allura. Keith wraps his arm around her and pulls her to him, which she accepts. She hides her face in his chest as she cries silently.

"Ah, that's what you would say since no man would marry used dirty goods. You'd better check before you commit, Keith. Better safe than sorry. My father's motto. Even against me, it seems."

"Your father has records that no one even knew about, not even the Royal family. If that isn't suspicious enough to make you believe that he was a traitor, what will Jeff?" questioned Keith quietly. The man in front of him was unhinged at the moment and the woman in his arms needed him . He had to protect her from Jeff the moment he got violent .

"Fuck you! He was thorough!"

" To what extent, Jeff. He knew which missions were the most dangerous and sent other teams there instead of yours. He knew which Drule general was on the ground, when and why and how to eliminate him. He even knew which day the bunker was going to be attacked before we even got down here."

" Shut up! Don't you dare preach to me. He only compiled that information and left it on that drive as backup records. He didn't plan all those attacks. Fuck this situation! And fuck you Kogane!" Slamming the bottle on the edge of the table left him with a deadly, jaggered weapon. One he rushed at Keith with. Throwing Allura to the side gave Keith the opportunity to protect her against Jeff's first slash. But not him.

"Keith!"