Keith hurried his way through the underground tunnels that wound their way beneath the Castle of Lions, and he moved along without much heed of his surroundings. He remembered that the underground caverns were only guarded when there was immediate threat of attack. Easily, he found his way to the cavern which would take him up to the air duct leading directly to the Princess’ room.

The air shaft was just large enough that he could fit into it, and the small size would make shimmying up the vent easier. It was only fifty meters up to her chamber floor from this point. Quickly, he unscrewed the metal plate that covered the entrance to the shaft and started his climb.

At the academy, covert operations had been one of his favorites. He enjoyed sneaking around and crawling through air ducts, but this was not fun at all. No doubt, Lotor was near. Keith only hoped that he had gained access to the castle before Lotor had.

Dirtied and strained, Keith finally reached the top. He peered through the vent cover that looked up from the floor of the room, hoping that she would be there. She wasn’t. And then he saw something that terrified him. Her balcony door was wide open. Had Lotor already taken her? No; if he had broken in, the alarms would be going off, and she definitely wouldn’t have let him in. Would she have?

With a furious thrust, he burst through the vent cover and pulled himself out.

Her favorite haunts were her room, Castle Control, the rec room, Nanny’s quarters, the ballroom…the possibilities were endless of where she could be. She might not even be in the castle. Maybe she was out training with the rest of the team.

Keith took note of the time of day. It was just after dinner. Most likely she was somewhere with Nanny, helping to plan for the next day’s functions and meals. That still meant she could be just about anywhere, but there was a good chance that they would be in the kitchen. Carefully, Keith stealthily made his way around the maze of hallway that led to the dining area.

Just as he crept around the main corridor leading to the kitchen, Keith suddenly stopped in his tracks and strained his ears. Echoing through the drafty halls, he could hear the faint, familiar sounds of trumpet and violin. He held his breath to hear the notes more clearly.

Then it hit him – Grieg. Allura was in the ballroom.

Forgetting that he was in fact an intruder, he took off at full speed in the direction of the royal ballroom, flying around corners and almost knocking a castle guard on his rear. Without consideration to whether or not she would be alone, Keith flew through the door.

He saw her almost immediately.

“Let her go!”

Allura had a hold on the staircase railing, and Lotor was violently attempting to pull her from it, his hands enwrapped around her body in an effort to do so. In an instant, Keith felt himself fill with a rage he’d never known.

“Keith!” Her call rang out like a beacon.

Their eyes met from across the room, and in that moment, he was the Keith of old. She needed him, and he would do all he could to help her. Through the thick fog that clouded his brain, he could see her hand reaching out for his.

Lotor was now whispering something in her ear. One hand was around her waist, the other was stroking her bare neck.

“I told you to let her go, Lotor! I won’t ask again.” Keith drew his blaster and began slowly making his way to the foot of the staircase.

And then, in only a fraction of an instant, he saw his world come to an end.

In trying to pull her from the banister, Lotor lost his grip. She reached out to catch herself, but she missed and began a violent tumble down the winding staircase.

Keith tried to cry out, but the sound got caught by a sudden lump in his throat, and he began bounding up the stairs after her. He saw Lotor coming down after her as well, but by the time Lotor reached her, she already lie in her captain’s arms, motionless.

And then the confusion came to an end.

Keith barely heard the voices and bounding footsteps on approach. All he heard was the silence surrounding them. He brushed aside a lock of hair that had fallen across her pale face and waited.

Lotor must have heard them as well, but he also made no attempt to move. “Did I… Is she…dead?”

Keith looked up to his arch enemy with vacant eyes.

That’s when they rushed through the door in droves. Lotor immediately surfaced from his reverie, pulled his blaster, and backing away, he eventually made a successful escape out through the upper exit. No one dared to fire. The future queen lie fallen directly in the line of possible disaster.

He sensed them closing in around where they sat at the base of the staircase, but he refused to run. Why run? He’d only be running from himself, and there was no escaping that now. At the last moment, before they took her from him and dragged him away, he whispered softly in her ear, “I’m so sorry, my love.”

He was thrown to the floor, his hands cuffed behind him.

“Move an inch, and I’ll blow your head off,” someone commanded. For a moment, Keith was tempted to take him up on the offer.

Keith had been waiting in one of the many castle detainment rooms for what must have been hours before he heard the metal sound of the bolt unlocking. His arms had been shackled behind his back earlier, but he had long since broken out of them. Nevertheless, he sat against the far wall in the corner, his hands resting limply at his sides. He had no aspirations of escape.

One man entered, his blaster drawn but pointed at the ground. He sat down across from his former captain and regarded him with a measure of both sadness and exasperation.

“I need to know what happened.”

Keith explained the incident as it happened and the events that led up to it. Silent tears came only after he had finished. “I killed her,” he whispered. “Lance, I killed her.”

The man sat back, a wearied expression cemented upon his features. “Keith, Allura is not dead.”

“But I…”

“She has a pretty good concussion and a few fractured ribs, but the doctor said she’ll recover in time.”

Keith sunk back into the corner. Finally, the gods had thrown him a little compassion.

“Dr. Gorma told us that she probably would have broken her neck except that…”

“Except what?”

Lance then took on an easier countenance, one that had him nearly grinning. “I guess Allura was drunk. She was so loose that the impact of the fall didn’t cause all the damage that it could have. We found an empty bottle of bourbon in the kitchen and a broken glass on the floor.”

“Bourbon?” Keith looked up to see that Lance was biting back a smile. An odd situation to find humorous, but for some reason, they both thought it was. Together, they started to laugh. Not a happy laughter, but rather an exasperation born of a recognition of the insane events that life presents. Their laughter soon died down into a thoughtful silence.

“She’s been asking for you.”

Keith sat up straight up. “Can I see her?”

“Coran said something like, ‘Over my dead, rotting corpse will that traitor be allowed anywhere near her,’ but maybe after I tell him what really happened…”

They both looked at one another and shook their heads.

“Well, probably not for a while.”

Keith found a piece of chipped paint to stare at on the ceiling. “So who’s pressing charges first? GG or Arus?”

Lance took the blaster he had been toying with and re-holstered it. “The Garrison was never told, Keith.”

“What?”

“Everyone thinks that you were captured. No one knows the truth…except for us and the Princess’ personal security detail.”

“And who’s doing was that?”

Lance sat back and grinned smartly. “You see? You take off for a while and leave Lancey in charge, and everything turns out pretty good.”

Keith could just shake his head. “A hell of a cover-up, my friend.”

“I thought so. At this point, I think if I ever did tell the Garrison the truth about anything, I might break out into a rash. It’s a good thing you’re back, though. I was starting to lie myself in circles.” Lance thought for a moment. “You do realize that you’re not going back.”

The two shared a silent exchange that told of heavy tension.

Lance sighed. “Even after what happened to Allura, you’re still lost in there, aren’t you?”

Keith shifted uncomfortably. “Things are different now, Lance. Turn me over to the GG if you have to, but you won’t keep me here.”

Lance began tapping his foot against the metal floor. “After you’ve gone through some serious de-tox, we’ll have this conversation again.”

“You have no idea what this is all about,” Keith replied, but he was silenced when the man across from him burst into a hearty laughter.

“Captain, you are simply way too funny right now. It’s like…you’re you, but you’re someone else. It’s hilarious. Scary, but hilarious. Once you’re done with de-tox, you’ll laugh about this too, I promise.”

“Zarkon will be coming for me once he’s found out what’s happened here.”

“We’ve already sent him a fruit basket and a thank you card for your safe return. What’s the worst he’ll do? Send a robeast? Some tin can, scotch-taped robeast?”

There was another minute of uncomfortable silence.

“Keith?”

He looked up to meet his friend’s tired stare.

“What’s it like in there? Inside your head, I mean.”

Keith closed his eyes. “Confusing. My head hurts.”

“I bet it does, buddy. I bet it does.”