I got the sleep I needed onboard. I felt safer inside the Black than I did on Pollux in its steel castle. I took one of the sedatives the doctor gave me and was out in a second. I wasn't in a deep sleep because I needed to hear the alarm in case I was intercepted, but it was the first peaceful sleep I've had in a long time. When I woke up, Keithy's face looked at me from its place on the control panel. I had another picture up as well. One of Allura and me on our wedding day. I didn't feel the weight of the memories. Instead, they fueled me to succeed on my mission.

Planet Doom loomed like an ominous black hole in the vastness of space. I turned on the cloaking mechanism that Sven had installed and entered its atmosphere undetected. Zarkon's palace hadn't changed since the last time I'd been there all those years ago. But from Allura's map, the inside had changed significantly. Though the exterior looked old and rotten, the interior was upgraded with dark metals and new technology.

I landed the Black inside the pit of skulls. I felt against the walls and found the small latch that Allura had described in her plans. A door slid open and I found myself looking into a long corridor. Suited in a black uniform, my face covered by a ninja-style mask, I was very hard to see when I slid against the wall. I kept one hand on the blaster holstered on my thigh and made my way into the heart of the castle. My heart did not quicken, I felt no nervousnes. No sweat beaded my brow. I was completely focused on what I had to do with no thought to what would happen to me if I was caught.

I had the map stored in my head and so I knew exactly where I was headed. A guard passed in front of me as I head in one corner, but he didn't see me. I had him down in a second. Taking his clothes, covering my face with blue paint and adding a pair of prosthetic ears, I was able to walk through the castle freely. I found Allura's door easily. It had the royal seal of Arus embossed on it. I gritted my teeth.

The door slid open just as I raised a hand to knock. Allura stood before me, scantily clad in a bikini type outfit, her hair bound in a tight bun. She took one look at me and her hand flew to her mouth. Taking a quick glance out into the empty corridor, she pulled me into her chambers and threw her arms around me.

"Oh, Keith...Keith...," she sobbed into my uniform front. "He knows. He knows..."

I grabbed her shoulders and held her an arm's length away. "What?!?"

She choked back her sobs and took a deep breath. She couldn't look me in the eye. "Zarkon knows that I found you. I don't know how, but he knows. I'm on my way to see him now."

I tilted her chin up and a shaft of light hit her. In the dimness of the corridor and with the amount of makeup she had on, I hadn't noticed, but the bruises on her face were clear now. I gritted my teeth and fought down the anger I felt at the sight of her wounds. Instead of running out of her room and hunting Zarkon down, I kissed her. I could feel her lips trembling against mine. I held her tightly in my arms.

"I have to go," she whispered. "He might come here and look for me."

She pulled away and led me to the large closet on one side of the room. She shoved me inside and positioned me in a dark corner.

"Stay here," she said. "I'll be back. Don't come after me." She pinned me with a ferocious glare. "No heroics if you want to save Keithy."

She slammed the doors shut and I heard the main door shut soon after. Her closet was the size of my old room in the Castle of Lions and I hid myself among the bigger dresses, in the darkest corner. I waited for a long time before the doors opened again. I took a stimulant at the three hour point and was wide awake. I pressed an ear to the door and heard a woman's voice, but it wasn't Allura's.

"Your mommy will be here soon, Royon," she was saying.

My heart stilled.

"Ok, Nanny," a small voice said.

"You stay here and play. If you leave the room..."

"Tha guards will shoot me down," the little voice replied in a sing-song way.

I waited until the door shut before turning the knob. I didn't even think of what might happen if I was caught, but I just wanted to see my son. Our son. I removed my prosthetics and stepped into the room. The little boy looked up at me with the blue eyes that I loved. My hands began to shake.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I am...I'm..."

He cocked his head to one side and waited for my answer. Suddenly, he frowned. He toddled to where I stood. I knelt so that I would be face to face with him. He touched my cheek and saw the blue paint come off on his hand. I wiped the rest of it off with my sleeve. His eyes widened.

"Daddy," he breathed.

My jaw dropped. I took him in my arms. He was a little two year old version of me with Allura's eyes. To me, he was perfection. He rested his head on my shoulder with all the trust that a child could give. Zarkon hadn't gotten to my son, I could see that in the innocence in his eyes. Allura had made sure that he never got to our boy. I don't know what she had sacrificed to save him, but I was grateful.

"Keithy," I said to him. "Don't tell anyone that I'm here. If they find me here, I'm going to get in a lot of trouble and you're never going to see me again. Do you understand?"

"I didn't tell anybody about the picture of you that mommy had," he lisped, his life in the palace gave him a wiseness that was beyond his years. "I can keep a secret."

I kissed his forehead. "Thank you."

I let him go and moved back into the closet. I put a finger to my lips and he smiled and nodded his head. I closed the door and waited. Five minutes later, the doors opened again and I heard Keithy's feet rush towards however entered. His bright shout of, "Mommy!" told me that my wife was there, but I didn't move out of the closet. Something niggled at me. It was too easy. First our son was left behind by the nanny, something I knew Allura would never permit, and now we were all conveniently in one room. I grabbed my blaster and slowly opened the closet door. When no shots were fired, I stepped out. Allura and the child stared at me, their eyes wide.

"What's wrong?" she asked in a hushed voice.

"We have to get out of here," I said, grabbing her hand.

She stopped me from shooting out into the corridor. She stuck her head out and looked from side-to-side. I grew even more suspicious when she waved me through and it was completely empty. I took Keithy from her arms and took her hand. I rushed down the corridor as fast as safety dared. Allura held my extra blaster in her hand, a fierce look in her eyes. She was a woman protecting those she loved. She was prepared to die.

It was only when we entered the first corridor I walked through did we run into some trouble. Four guards stood in our way, their laser rifles at their sides. I ducked into a doorway before they could see me and Allura took the opposite one. We looked at each other. I could see her lips move as she counted. At three, we shot simultaneously at the guards, each taking two down. The doorway was clear. I hesitated to open it. Allura looked at me, urgency in her face.

"What is it, Keith?" she demanded. "We don't have all the time in the world here."

"Something is wrong. I don't like it. Did Zarkon act strange when you saw him?"

"No."

I handed Keithy over to her and made them crouch in a doorway. Blocking them with my body, I fired at the doorway to the pit. It sizzled and I covered them just as it blew up. As soon as the blast died, I hauled Allura to her feet and took Keithy again. I shot out of the doorway and towards the Black, Allura at my heels. The Lion was where I had left it...but ion chains held its feet in place. Seated on one of the paws was Zarkon. Alone.

I gave Keithy to his mother. He watched all that had happened with an eerie silence. Allura held him tightly, whispering in his ear. I stood before the King that had caused so much pain in my life. I pointed my blaster at him.

"Give me a reason why I shouldn't blow your head off right now," I said between clenched teeth.

"If you do, your son's head will blow off as well," he replied calmly.

"NO!" Allura yelled. "Zarkon, you promised you wouldn't if I cooperated."

"And you, my dear Allura, promised you wouldn't betray me."

She recoiled, a protective hand on Keithy's head. "Don't, Zarkon."

He looked at me. "Only if your valiant husband puts his weapon down."

I threw the blaster on the ground. "What do you want for their freedom?" I asked.

"You," he replied. "They are nothing to me. Your wife is no longer the pure Queen of Arus, and your son...your son is garbage. But you on the other hand, would be very useful."

"How?" Allura questioned harshly. "He has no power, he has no army. He's nothing but a pilot now."

"His mind. I want his mind," Zarkon replied.

I picked the blaster up and pointed it at my head. "Let them into the Lion and let them fly to safety. Then, I'm yours."

"KEITH!"

"DADDY!"

"I want you to contact me as soon as you get to Pollux," I said to Allura. I turned back to Zarkon. "Then, I will work with you."

"You can't do this," Allura begged. "Keith..."

I ignored her pleas. Zarkon waved a hand and two soldiers came out. Allura struggled at first when they tried to lead her to the Lion, but I looked at her, begging her to go. Pain flitted across her face before she wiped it clean and shrugged out of the soldier's grasp. She and Keithy boarded the Lion, but not before she gave me one last glance. Everything was in that one look and the hand that held the blaster shook. I nodded. She turned away and disappeared from my view. Zarkon had the ion chains removed and the Lion hovered above ground before shooting off into the sky.