The baby didn't look Altean.

It didn't look anything like her husband, either, but that was going to be a given in the situation she'd put herself in. But she'd allowed herself to hope that, perhaps, the child would look like her, at least. And he did, in a way. Soft features on his little face – the same scrunch to his nose when he was upset. The same dark gray eyes peeked back at her when he opened them.

But his Altean markings – light pink – looked more like blush on the tops of his cheekbones, instead of the clear-cut markings that most Alteans had. His ears were wider, his skin tone was the same shade as her own copper, but it was... off, somehow. Almost purple-tinted, in a way.

Oh, and the little, lion-like tail. That was a dead giveaway.

Queen Callae had singlehandedly, willingly, and knowingly shamed her people. There was no possibility of the proud race of Alteans accepting this half-bred child as their crown prince. King Halon would quite possibly leave her for her extramarital affairs, and she'd be outcast.

This was necessary, she told herself.

Even if she didn't want to do it.

She'd given birth only hours before, and she was beyond fortunate that Halon had been several planetary systems away on a diplomatic mission. The man was excited for his child to be born, but being the king of Altea came with an overwhelming amount of responsibilities. Callae hadn't wanted him there, anyway.

Very few people knew of her folly. Her midwife, her advisor, and a lower-class Altean couple that her advisor had found a few states away that had recently had a set of twins – a girl and a boy. They were unable to care for both of them, and had been willing to give the boy to the Queen to raise, under strict orders to never speak to anyone about it.

Callae was safe in her lies.

Now came the difficult part. As much as she had hardened herself, the Queen was a mother, and she found that in spite of the child's appearance, she had a maternal pull toward the boy she'd given birth to. She couldn't simply give him off to an orphanage and never see him again.

They had to come up with a new plan for the boy.

{[ Ruins ]}

Many decaphoebs later...

His name was Kappa. It held no significance to the Queen - it was chosen by the servant woman who nursed the boy when he was a baby. Callae didn't even know what it meant.

Kappa had grown up in the castle, per Callae's request. A servant, of all things, but a good one nonetheless. The Queen spent her days watching from afar, disconnected but still interested in her son's life. He was much older now - a teenager, nearly a grown man, but not quite there yet. He was unassuming as a servant, since many of them were half-blooded, and got along fairly well with the others.

The boy was a failure at gardening, she'd observed, but excelled greatly in mechanics and repairs around the castle. He was smart, which sparked a bit of pride in the woman's chest that she certainly didn't deserve. After all, she'd never really even spoken to her biological child - he hadn't gotten anything significant from her.

Except, perhaps, her love of amorous escapades. She'd seen him sneak in and out of servant's rooms at odd hours of the nights, and make out with other young Alteans outside of the castle when he'd thought no one was watching. Callae could not fault him for it, since she'd been the same at his age, and he was doing nothing wrong by enjoying the company of a woman, or a man.

The boy kept his hair pink, which was a mystery to the Queen. Bright, vibrant pink curls adorned the top of his head in contrast to his light brownish-purple skin. He was a weird one, she had to admit, but still part of her wished to be involved in his life, all these decaphoebs later. It was hard, with her heart so torn toward Kappa, when she should've channeled that love toward the boy that she'd pulled in to take the prince's place. It wasn't fair to him.

The Queen sighed as she leaned on her balcony, surreptitiously watching her biological child as he attempted to plant flowers in the garden outside.

Perhaps she would take the boy she was supposed to be mothering out tomorrow. She always told herself that she would make more of an effort for him, but she had never quite accomplished that. Halon was far better at parenting, so she usually just left it to him.

But maybe tomorrow would be different.

{[ Ruins ]}

An ~ Wow, guys. It's been almost two years since I updated Lionhearted. I was in a bad place back then, and while I adored the story and the characters I was writing, it didn't feel right to go back to now, when I'm in a better state of mind and ready to start new things.

This story takes place about 100 years after Voltron ends. The characters in the Voltron series will play nearly no part in this story at all. Alteans are back on their supremacist BS and there are bad things happening that they don't even know about. Earth and Altea are directly linked, and humans and Alteans are allies. Galra are still rebuilding Daibazaal, but they are doing far better than they were. The Garrison is still a thing, so if you want to send in a human character from there, you can.

And now for the steps!

STEP ONE – the form can be found on my profile

STEP TWO – fill out the form and send it in a PM titled Ruins – Character Name – Species. I will need characters that are not Paladins, as well, so your character may be used for different spots. You can send in two characters, but I do have to ask that you do not send in two males or two females – I wanna try and keep the genders pretty well-balanced. NB and trans characters are fine as well. No characters related to canonical Voltron characters.

STEP THREE – enjoy, review when you can, pm me with any questions you have, make sure to fill out the thoughts section when asked, and have fun!

Regarding the adopted Prince – I will need a more specific, detailed character for him. Pm me if you want to send in the Prince, and we'll discuss it. He's important~!

Thank you all for reading. Please PM me with any questions you have, and review to let me know what you thought of it!

A note: this chapter is shorter than the rest will be. It's just a prologue.

Thank you for reading! I'm looking forward to forming Voltron with you guys.

Love,

Anim8or.