Klance Aladdin

8. Golden Rule

"Oh, uh, prince."

"Awk! Lotor, I'm stuck!"

"How may I be of service to you?" Lotor spreads out his cape, hiding the door.

"The guards just took a boy from the market, on your orders," Keith said pissed.

"Your brother's charged me with keeping peace in Daibazaal. The boy was a criminal."

"What was the crime?"

"I can't breathe, Lotor!" Kova said, grabbing his cape.

"Why, kidnapping the prince, of course."

"If you could just--" Lotor kicks her back inside the door and it slams shut, "--wow, that hurt!"

"He didn't kidnap me! I ran away!" Lotor walked away acting shocked. 

"Oh, dear! Oh, why frightfully upsetting. Had I but known."

"What do you mean?" Keith said worried now.

"Sadly, the boy's sentence has already been carried out."

"What sentence?" With a sinister tone, Lotor looked at Keith. "Death." Keith gasps. "By be heading."

"No!" Keith sits down on the nearest object. Why did this happen to him.

"I am exceedingly sorry, prince," Lotor says as he places his hand on Keith's shoulders, but Keith looked at him disgusted. "How could you?" He runs from the room crying. Kova finally makes it out through the door. She flies up and lands on Lotor's shoulder, coughing.

"So, how did it go?"

"I think he took it rather well." They both get a sinister smile on their faces. Keith runs all the way outside to the fountain. Not knowing he passed Matt and Katie. Kosmo comes over to comfort him. He pets him. "You're back so early." Keith looks up to see the siblings.

"I had to." 

"What for? You were planning to leave foreverrr."

"When did this happen?!"

"Shut up Matt."

"The guards took a man from the market."

"And?"

"I was hanging out with him. And he got captured and now... They think they kidnapped me and are sentencing him to death," Keith cried again. He won't see that boy ever again. "It's all my fault, Pidge...  I didn't even know his name!"

"Bummer." Katie went to sit next to Keith trying to comfort the prince. Keith stuffed his face into the wolf's fur.

"Cheer up Keith. Maybe he's fine," Matt said trying to help. "I have to go. Katie will escort you back to your room. I need to bring the documents to Shiro. He just wanted to be sure you're okay and is going to check up on you later." Matt helped him and watched him leave. 

-

Lance is the dungeon, chained to the wall. "He was the prince. I don't believe it. I must have sounded so stupid to him."

"Yoo-hoo! Lance? Hello!" Lance was joyed to hear that voice. Kalt appears at the window at the top of the dungeon. "Kalt! Down here! Hey, c'mon--help me outta these." Kalt stops, then begins chattering wildly, dropping to the ground. She wraps a cloth around her head and makes her eyes big in an imitation of the prince. "Hey, he was in trouble. Ah, he was worth it." Kalt jumps up on Lance's shoulders and pulls a small set of tools out of her pocket, then frees Lance. "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

"Don't worry, Kalt. I'll never see him again. I'm a street rat, remember, and there's a law. He's gotta marry a princess or prince, he deserves it." Kalt finally frees Lance's hands.

"Ta da!" Lance rubs his wrists. "I'm a--I'm a fool"

"You're only a fool if you give up, boy." That startled Lance thinking he was the only one in the dungeon. He never heard this old man once.

"Who are you?"

"A lowly prisoner, like yourself. But together, perhaps we can be more."

"I'm listening." The old man comes closer.

"There is a cave, boy. A cave of wonders." The man reveals red rubies in his hand. "Filled with treasures beyond your wildest dreams." He hides the rubies again as he turns. "Treasure enough to impress even your prince, I'd wager." Kova sticks her head out of Lotors "old man" disguise. "Lotor, can ya hurry it up? I'm dyin' in here!"

"But the law says that only a prince can marry--"

"You've heard of the golden rule, haven't you boy? Whoever has the gold makes the rules." He grins, showing a hideously bad mouth. "So why would you share all of this wonderful treasure with me?" Lance asks suspiciously. 

"I need a young man with strong legs and a strong back to go in after it." 

"Ah, one problem. It's out there, we're in here?" The old man walks to a wall and pushes open a hidden exit. "Mmm, mmm, mmm., Things aren't always what they seem. So, do we have a deal?" Lotor responds. Lance looks at Kalt, who shrugs her shoulders. "Oh, hmm."