The Bodyguard's Tale

Chapter 1

Keith stared up at the tall, white towers of the Altean palace and tried not to wince. It was so different from what he was used to on Daibazaal! The colors, the shapes, the sounds! Back home, there had been noise and chaos, yes, but it seemed so much… more organized than this! There, it was orders being shouted and the ring of blade on blade. Here, people were calling out to each other eagerly, children laughing everywhere—he swore he even heard music coming from somewhere! (You never heard music on Daibazaal unless it was a feast day!)

"Well, this'll be an adventure, huh?" Shiro said cheerfully, coming up beside him.

Keith rolled his eyes at the Champion. Shiro had been a prisoner in the arena before his fighting prowess had been recognized and he'd been granted his freedom as a prize. Above all, the Galra valued strength, and Takashi Shirogane had it in spades. Since then, he'd become an "ambassador" for his home planet, Earth, which Sendak had conquered on a whim a few years back. Shiro didn't really have much to do as an ambassador, Earth was still conquered, but the title allowed him to sit in on meetings and not be forced back into the fighting pits.

He was probably elated to get away from Daibazaal for the foreseeable future.

Sure enough, he laughed at Keith's droll expression and slapped the young prince on the back. "It could be worse," he pointed out.

"Yes, my great choice," Keith drawled, looking around this new world with poorly-disguised contempt. "Either become the servant to some jumped-up peacock with royal Altean blood, or become Sendak's new chewtoy until he decides I need to have an 'accident.' Yay, me."

"Hey, I've heard this Altean prince is pretty nice," Shiro said, showing a bit more sympathy as they entered the palace. "At least he's your age." Keith shrugged. "And you won't be his servant, you'll be part of his personal guard."

"Same difference," Keith muttered.

"We both know he can't possibly treat you worse than Sendak would've," Shiro added.

That was for damn sure. Keith wasn't sure why Emperor Zarkon hadn't just signed his execution warrant. Instead, he'd offered his younger son a choice: become Commander Sendak's new lieutenant or go to Altea with his half-brother Lotor, where he would become a young Altean prince's new bodyguard while Lotor attempted to solidfy their alliance by marrying the Crown Princess Allura. And since Commander Sendak had gone through eight lieutenants in the past two years, it had been an easy decision to make. At least on Altea, Keith would live. Shiro's appointment to the same planet had been a great relief, though. Keith had no idea how to relate to these people. Lotor was half-Altean, and he and Keith couldn't stand each other.

Hopefully his half-brother would be busy paying court to the Altean princess. With any luck, their meetings would be few and far between.

"Game-faces time," Shiro whispered as they entered the court. It was a huge room with lofty high ceilings and an overall feeling of light and magic. Big difference from anything he was used to on Daibazaal. Still, one thing was the same; people everywhere were looking at him expectantly. Keith carefully schooled his expression into the blank mask he'd been taught from childhood.

"Announcing Prince Keithyr of the Galra Empire and Champion Takashi Shirogane, Ambassador of Earth!"

Keith resisted the urge to roll his eyes at his formal title. Prince? Sure. Unwanted prince. At least they weren't trying to call him Yorak anymore.

He was a bit surprised at the murmurs and side-long glances people gave to Shiro when his prosthesis came into view. Apparently, the Alteans didn't value strength and fighting nearly as much as the Galra did. Shiro might not fit in here as much as he thought he would.

"Beloved baby brother!" Lotor greeted, coming down from the dais to embrace Keith. They both remained stiff, but avoided snarling or growling at each other in public. Keith gave him a fake smile and a nod as they pulled apart.

"Allow me to introduce my intended, Princess Allura." Lotor said gaily, indicating the Altean royal family. A young woman with long, flowing, curly white hair descended, smiling at them. Keith and Shiro quickly bowed.

"It's so good to finally meet you, Keithyr," she said, holding out her hand for Keith to kiss. "Lotor's told me so much about you!"

Yeah, I can very well imagine what Lotor has told you…. Keith performed a perfunctory salute on her hand and gave her a smile.

"I've heard many good things about you too, princess," he said politely.

She beamed at him. "And this, of course, is my brother Lanceon," she said, waving him forward.

Keith studied his new charge carefully. He'd seen pictures, of course, but it was always best to get the measure of a man in person. He did a quick inventory. Short brown hair, glowing blue cheek markings (those might make it hard to hide in the dark if they had to make a quick getaway sometime) tall, lanky, a casual air about him that said he didn't really care to be here—

"He's shorter than I thought he'd be!" the prince's aloof air suddenly melted away as soon as he saw Keith, and he bounded forward to get a better look. Keith shied back instinctively as piercing blue eyes roamed all over him. "Aww, I thought he'd be blue! Or at least, ya know, purple," Lanceon whined. "He's not even fluffy!"

Keith felt his eye twitch. "Sorry I'm not fluffy enough for his highness," he growled under his breath. Beside him, Shiro covered up a laugh with a cough.

"My apologies, Prince Lance," Lotor also appeared to be hiding his mirth at Keith's discomfort. "Keithyr is only half Galra and doesn't share all of the traits—"

"Like you?" Lanceon interrupted, looking over at Lotor with a sweet smile. "You're only half Galra too."

"Indeed," Lotor said, his eye barely twitching. Keith noted it down. Aha! It seemed there was some tension between his brother and the resident prince. "But Keithyr is half human," Lotor said, recovering quickly, "the species of Ambassador Shirogane there." He indicated where Shiro stood. Lance latched onto him immediately.

"Hi! I'm Lance!" he said cheerfully, shaking Shiro's hand.

"Shiro," the man said, amused.

"Man, he wasn't kidding," Lance said looking between Shiro and Keith. "Are you sure you two aren't the real brothers instead of Lotor there?"

Don't I wish, Keith thought silently, as Shiro and Lance chatted amicably. I would gladly take Shiro for a brother over Lotor any day! He tried to stomp down his growing resentment of the prince. I didn't get a handshake, or an introduction….

"Lance, why don't we let Ambassador Shirogane introduce himself to the court," Princess Allura finally interjected. "You can go acquaint yourself with your new guard."

"Fine, fine," Lance said carelessly, leaving the court and obviously expecting to be followed.

Keith gave one last bow to the royal family (guess he wasn't important enough to be introduced to the king or queen, but that was just fine with him, he already knew his duties), exchanged an eye-roll with Shiro, and hurried after him.

He wasn't surprised to see Lance whirl on him as soon as they reached a bedroom that obviously belonged to him, and Keith carefully closed the door behind him before the other prince could explode.

"Let's get one thing straight," Lance snapped, "I don't need a babysitter!"

"No, you need a cleaning lady," Keith said, looking around. There were clothes and bottles of various liquids thrown haphazardly around the room. He even caught sight of a boot on a lamp. What a mess! He'd have been whipped if Dayak ever caught his quarters in this state!

"It's fine, you can walk through it!" Lance said, dismissing it as easily as everything else.

"It's a health hazard," Keith argued, noting all the places where ingenious spies or assassins could be hiding in plain sight. "And it's my job to keep you safe." Lance opened his mouth, but Keith beat him to it. "But it's NOT my job to clean up after you."

Lance scowled. "Fine, I'll clean it later. The point is," he said, launching into another rant, "I don't like Lotor or his heavy-handed ways, giving me a bodyguard who I've never even met!"

"What, you think I want to be here?!" Keith asked incredulously. "You think I like the idea of following you around for the foreseeable future?! It was either this or be stuck as Sendak's punching bag until enough people forgot about me for me to 'disappear.'" He stepped closer, daring to get in Lance's face. "Whether you like it or not, we're stuck with each other. So, let's just hope my stupid brother charms your sister enough so we can make this alliance official already, and maybe they'll let us go back to our regular lives!"

Lance blinked and took a step back, studying Keith in a new light.

"You don't like Lotor, do you?"

Keith stared at the young prince. "Are you actually this stupid, or are you just pretending?"

"I—I am not stupid!" Lance sputtered. "At least I don't have a stupid mullet!"

"Really?" Keith said dryly. "You're comparing intelligence to hairstyles?"

"It looks stupid! You're stupid!"

Keith felt the beginning of a headache come on. "Oh, this is gonna be a long mission…."