Within the Caves beneath Planet Doom...
Keith and Kate were resting for they were tired. They had been walking and walking through these tunnels for what seemed like forever trying to reach Doom PortAuth where they could get a ship - somehow.
So far, no Doom patrols had appeared. Kate thought that perhaps these tunnels were still a secret to Doom personnel. Kate was really worried about how they would find their way out. Keith had said that there were markers along these tunnels that told him how far along they were in relation to PortAuth, which really wasn't too far from Castle Doom. But in the tunnels, it took longer than if they were traveling above ground.
Keith hoped that Coran got the message and warned Allura of Zarkon. Perhaps Lotor could get her out before Zarkon got there. Keith didn't know which was worse- Allura with Lotor or Allura with Zarkon. To his thinking, both were pretty bad. It made him sick to think Allura and - well, it just made him sick.
Just like it made him sick to think of Kate and that Jarius S'aaul creep. He still didn't know what went on in there, but he had an idea what.
Kate was leaning on him, dozing. He looked down on her still face and marveled at how pretty she really was. She looked so fragile and feminine. Her Drule features made her look exotic. Then when she was awake....different story! Keith smiled, thinking about how different she could be at times.
Right now, he liked her like this, soft and trusting, leaning against him. She made a soft noise and nestled against him, as if seeking his comfort. Keith wrapped his arms around her and she smiled. How could this girl get to him so? She was aggravating, exasperating, and yet when she was like this he couldn't resist her. He felt her wriggle a little bit, much to his discomfort.
She was getting to him in more ways than one, he thought ruefully.
Suddenly, she stirred. "Keith?" she murmured.
"Yes, Kate?" he said softly.
Still half-asleep, she said, "..you're so warm...." he held her tighter.
He said, "Glad you think so, Kate.." she smiled. Keith couldn't resist her soft expression and he kissed her. She kissed him back. Keith enjoyed that kiss a lot, but something bothered him.
"Kate..are you all right? Did Jarius...?"
Kate became instantly awake and asked, "If he did, Keith, would it make a difference?"
Keith wasn't sure. But then, he thought,if he did force Kate to be with him, then she didn't have much of a choice. Allura didn't either with Zarkon. I was wrong to judge her and Kate so. If anything happened, Kate and Allura did it to spare me.....
He answered truthfully."Kate, it would bother me because I care a lot about you, but I know that you wouldn't have done it willingly."
Kate smiled, "Good, because he didn't-he just ripped my shirt before I clonked him on the head.
Where do you think I got the uniform?"
Keith smiled,"I did kinda wonder about that."
Kate laughed, "Well, believe me, Chippendale, it wasn't easy. He was an octopus-let me tell you."
Keith frowned, "Kate, don't tell me-please..."
Kate reached up and touched his hair. "Ah, Chippendale, you're jealous, aren't you?"
Keith looked a little annoyed and said, "Kate, why do you keep calling me that?"
She smirked. "Why, it's because you've got the body to be a Chippendale dancer! You know- the male strippers?"
Keith actually blushed!He wasn't used to such a frank assesment of his body.
"Kate.."
Kate felt a little sorry for him and said, "Well, I've got eyes don't I? You are a handsome man, Keith and - and well, you're a sweet guy too.....when you're not on duty."
Keith rolled his eyes and said, "Thanks a lot Kate!"
She laughed again and said, "Don't mention it,Chippendale!" Then she became serious and asked, "Keith, did you really mean it when you said you cared for me?"
Keith looked at her face.She was serious!.
He said, "Ah, well, yeah....I do, Kate. I care a lot about you."
Kate asked, "How much?"
Keith gulped. ....why do women always have to know stuff like this?...
He said, "A lot, Kate, I-I well-" then he said straight out, thinking that he wasn't going to keep it to himself-he made that mistake once-not again. "I think-that I'm falling in love with you, Kate. I must be crazy-but I do." Keith nervously finished his sentence.
Kate's eyes widened. "You-you are? You really mean that, Keith?" Keith nodded.
To his surprise, Kate said, "How can you?" Then she started to weep.
Keith was worried and puzzled.
"Kate, Kate, what's wrong?" He held on to her tightly.
She looked up ar him with tears on her face and said, "You can't love me-how can you?"
Keith thought he knew what she was upset about and said, "Kate, if it's about you being a relative of Zarkon's- it's not a big deal. You can't help it-"
Kate cried harder, then looked up and said. "Keith, I'm not just a relative-I-I'm his daughter!"
Keith tried to soothe her, "Zarkon conquered many planets, Kate. It was bound-"
She interrupted him again. "You don't understand, Keith! My mother wasn't just some woman! She was his half-sister!"
Keith's mind whirled. ....Damn! Zarkon and his half-sister? Dear God!....what a bastard!..
Kate continued sobbing. Keith didn't know what else to do, so he kept holding her.
Finally, she calmed down a little and said, "Keith, Now you see why I want to bring him down. He did so many horrible things to our family - to my Aunt Shah, Lotor, Zimmie....he's a monster, Keith. I am ashamed, Keith. So ashamed."
Keith softly said, "It's not your fault, Kate. You're not responsible for his actions."
Kate sniffled, "I know, Keith...but my mother-he scarred her for life because of what he did. I have never told anyone of this. We've got time on our hands, do you want to hear it?"
Keith didn't really want to, but he knew somehow that Kate needed to tell someone, simply because it was eating at her, so he said yes. So Kate told him the story.
Kate: Zarkon's Family History
".....Zarkon's family of orgin came from the planet Aden-where your princess and Lotor now are. I told you that my great-grandmother Kathyrn Alexander was carried off by my great-grandfather, Z'aale D'zon Lessat. Well, they eventually had eight kids and one of these children by the name of Lot'orr became the father of Z'aale Zarkon Lessat - or as you know him, King Zarkon. His mother, Oney'aa, died in childbirth having him. When he was about two months old, his father, Lot'orr captured a Terran by the name of Selena Coleman. In the Drule, she became Se'lnaa Co'maan. She had several children by Lot'orr in rapid sucession, four in about five years-I think. Three boys and one girl. The girl was my mother- Aman'daa. She was about five years younger than her half-brother, Z'aale. By the time Aman'daa could remember Z'aale, he was off training in the military. So they grew up, and by this time, Z'aale had conquered serveral planets. He was very powerful. He decided to get married, so he abducted Princess Shahiyra, who happened to be Aman'daa's best friend, and claimed her in the Drule fashion...when Z'aale brought her back to her father's palace, her father tried to kill him, but Z'aale murdered him instead and claimed the planet for himself. He got Shahiyra pregnant quickly. She was pregnant with a girl, but when she was born, Z'aale either killed her or sold her-we don't know which. A few months later, Shahiyra was pregnant again-this time with Lotor. She asked Aman'daa to help her with this pregnancy since it was hard. Aman'daa was reluctant to come until Shahiyra said that Z'aale would be gone for a long time and that it would all right for her to come. Aman'daa didn't know Z'aale that well, but she didn't trust him. But she came and helped her friend. When Lotor was born, Aman'daa helped Shahiyra with the delivery. It went smoothly, but Shahiyra needed time to recover. Since Z'aale was gone, she spitefully gave her baby a name of her own choosing and the name of Lotor, after Z'aale's father-which was what he wanted. As Shahiyra was the princess, she could do this. It was entered in the royal logs-it's still there today.
Z'aale came back unexpectedly about a week after Lotor was born. He was satisfied that she gave him a son, but enraged that she gave him a Terran birthname-and I'm not telling you what it is, Keith...anyway, he was really ticked. Now, Aman'daa was out the day he came back and didn't know he had returned. She came back to the palace only to find Shahiyra sleeping. As she left Shahiya's room, she ran into Z'aale unexpectedly. She said that he looked at her as one would look at a potential lover, not a sister, and this scared her. She tried to get past him, but he grabbed her arm and said that he wanted to propose a toast to his newborn son- he wanted her to join him. Aman'daa didn't want to but thought maybe if she humored him, he would leave her alone. So she went with him to a small salon where he kept liquor. He poured wine for them and gave her a glass. He proposed a toast and pretended to drink. Aman'daa drank hers before she realized he hadn't drank any. My mother said her head started to spin, and then a fog seemed to go into her head. Suddenly, she desired Z'aale with a passion. Z'aale had given her the Bride's Wine- It was a herb that could be made into a wine that the Ancient Ones used to calm a bride's nerves before being with her husband for her wedding night - an aprodisiac. In fact the herb and the wine are sometimes called aprosdisia. Unfortunately, on Drule hybrids like myself and Terran women, this herb alters body chemistry - makes them desire the person who gave them the wine basically forever - supposedly. They can love anyone else, desire them, but if the person who gave them the herb is around and wants to have sex with them, they will always desire that person-will do anything to please them. No matter what. Well, my mother drank that cursed wine and Z'aale had sex with her - several times in fact. My mother could remember everything they had done. She wanted to kill herself, but Z'aale would come around and she couldn't do it. Aman'daa decided to leave Aden, for she knew she couldn't resist Z'aale's presence. She left a note for Shahiyra and left. She went to a nearby planet called Timone which was occupied by the Garrison. She met my father, Jacob Cameron, who was an ensign then. They fell in love - a whirlwind romance. A month later, Aman'daa found out she was pregnant. She knew it was Z'aale's child. She told my father that she was pregnant (but not who by) who said that it didn't matter. He wanted to marry her and that when the child was born, he would adopt it. They married. Seven months later, I was born and my father adopted me. I am about a little over nine months younger than Lotor.....anyway, we stayed on Timone for about nine years. My mother and I would visit my Aunt Shah, Lotor and later, his little sister Zimereon when we were sure Z'aale would not be there-he was busy conquering this area of space, I believe. Anyhow, we would visit- I had a lot of fun with Lotor....he was a very adventureous kid. We would get into all sorts of mischief-playing harmless jokes on the servants, going swimming, running around the palace. Lotor was a good child, Keith, no worse than the rest of us. He loved his mother so, and she loved him. She made sure he walked the straight and narrow. Zimmie did too-she was about three years younger than us-a tagalong. We'd always try to ditch her, but Aunt Shah would make us take her wherever we went. Well, anyway, like I said, we did this for about nine years, then my father was stationed at the main Garrison headquarters on Terra-very far away from Aden. We never saw them again. We had heard that about a year later when Lotor was about ten years old, Z'aale came back to Aden and demanded Lotor go to the Drule Academy. Aunt Shah fought him on this in front of his court-he killed her, right in front of Lotor. When he cried over her dead body, Z'aale had him humiliated and beaten right there.
Then he was shipped over to the Drule Academy that evening. Keith, Lotor was the youngest person ever to survive the Drule Academy. We heard that he had led his first battle fleet at fourteen and conquered his first planet for his father at fifteen. And Zimereon? She lived here, ignored by her father until she was fifteen. An envoy from Zarkon forced her to leave and to marry some Drule lord for a planet or something. She died a year later in childbirth at sixteen. Lotor doesn't know I am his sister, Keith. My mother only told me all this when she knew I was coming to Arus. She was afraid that I would run into him, and he would recognize me somehow. I resemble my mother and I resemble Lotor too."
Kate continued, "I'm just so ashamed to be his daughter, Keith. That's why I can't see why you think you love me. I'm not loveable-not at all. Jake didn't even love me-all he wanted me for was to sleep with him. He saved me out of duty-I thought I loved him, but I guess I was wrong. I-I well, I kinda love you, Keith..." This she said almost shyly, and then rushed on. "I mean-you're strong and upright. You stand up for what you believe in and you really care about people even though you don't always show it. I though you were something when I ran into you that day on the paths--I did it deliberately, Keith. I wanted to meet you." she smiled.
Keith smiled back. He suspected as much. "Well, Kate, I still don't care that you're Zarkon's daughter.You're not Zarkon and you are loveable-very much so. And...I'm glad you ran into me that day."
Keith bent down and kissed her on the mouth. They both savored the moment and then Kate broke the spell by saying, "Chippendale, I know they say you can live on love, but to be honest, I'm hungry!"
Keith smiled and said. "Well, you still got the Garrison foodpaks in your belt?"
Kate made a face and felt around on her belt for the foodpaks. She grimaced. "Unfortunately, yes." She took off her belt.
"Well, Chippendale, what will it be? Liquid ravioli or -- mystery meat? Take your pick-they're both bad."
Keith laughed. More and more he was starting to love Kate...
Even on duty.
