Chapter Text
The princess of Altea was bored.
Nearly bored to tears, in fact. She knew she ought not to complain. She lived a more than comfortable life in a big castle, had a family who loved her, performed her duties and responsibilities each day without fail, and was adored by all of her people. Her planet was one of peaceful and technological prosperity where the citizens were good, the lands were lush, and the wildlife ran free. She could spend her days strolling through the majestic palace gardens and her nights gazing up at the stars from the balcony outside her room. It was practically paradise.
But by the gods, was it so monotonous.
She sighed, reaching down to pluck a flower and twirl the stem between her fingers. When would it end?
“Your Highness? Princess Allura? Is everything alright?”
“Hm?” Allura lifted her head. Standing a few feet away from her was a young man studying her with concern. She looked around her. That was right. She was in the aforementioned gardens, walking along the worn, stone pathway with yet another potential beau her parents had thrown her way. What was his name again? Bandor?
She could picture very clearly in her mind his profile which her parents had insisted on looking over with her only this morning. Young Bandor came from a well-to-do family, received the best education money could buy, his father ran a weapons manufacturing business called Pollux Incorporated, and he was the youngest of three children. He was also the first Altean Allura had ever met who was not from Altea, but was actually born and raised on Dunamis, the city-wide planet that served as home for many different species from across the universe.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t listening,” she confessed, smiling apologetically.
“Oh, that’s fine!” Bandor insisted much too enthusiastically. “We can discuss any matter of subject that most interests you.”
Allura bit back a snide remark, sticking her tongue in her cheek as she glanced him over. It wasn’t as if she was trying to hate him. He seemed nice and had a sweet, boyish face, auburn hair and light blue eyes, but he was barely nineteen years old. Normally Allura had nothing against age gaps, but as someone who was twenty-three, to her the difference in maturity was far too staggering. And not only that, but he was like all the others: doing everything he could to please and impress her, intimidated by her royal status, and so…so…
Bland.
She sighed again and looked away, her hand automatically reaching up for the golden chain that hung around her neck.
“That is a beautiful necklace,” Bandor offered.
“Oh.” Allura glanced down at it, not realizing that she’d started pulling on the piece of jewelry. It’d become a habit of hers whenever she was anxious, deep in contemplation, or in this case, trying to make it through a very dull date. “Yes, I have had this since I was a child.”
“How lovely. What kind of flower is it?” he asked, referring to the charm which was carved from white crystal.
Her head snapped up, gawking at him in disbelief. Trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, thinking that perhaps he could not see it since he was standing a respectable distance away, she simply gestured around her. They were surrounded by the same type of flower, bright magenta poppies that swayed gently in the wind, the sweet scent filling the air.
“Ah.” Bandor nodded. “And these are called…?”
He couldn’t be serious. How could an Altean not recognize the juniberry flower? Along with the white lion, the juniberry was an important cultural symbol to Altea, and had been for thousands of years. Allura was about to tell him right off, but she was interrupted by the rush of loud engines overhead. She looked up and saw a ship slowly descending into the planet’s atmosphere, making its way towards the city. It was not of Altean origin, but appeared to be from Olkarion. Her heart leapt for joy. Praise the Mother of the Universe, finally she had an excuse to leave!
“That reminds me, I really ought to get going,” she said to Bandor cheerfully. “Feel free to see yourself out.”
“W-what?” he spluttered. “Princess, where are you going?”
“Duty calls!” she exclaimed over her shoulder, already running down the path. “Nice meeting you!”
Without waiting for a reply, she left the poor chap standing alone and raced back to the Castle of Lions. The back doors into the palace hissed open upon her arrival, and through the grand, white corridors she ran, past the grand hall, and nearly bumped into several patrolling sentries on the way before skidding to a halt when she saw a group of four little rodents scampering across the shiny, white floors to meet her.
“My dear friends!” Allura exclaimed cheerfully upon seeing the mice. “Am I glad to see you. Is Mother still here?”
Platt, Chulatt, Plachu, and Chuchule all squeaked at her simultaneously with contradicting answers. The princess grinned.
“Never mind that. Come on, then!” She crouched to the floor to pick them up into her hands, then continued through the labyrinthian halls. “We haven’t a moment to waste.”
At last she came upon the front entrance and saw her mother just as she was getting ready to leave.
“Oh good, you are still here,” Allura cried out in relief.
“Back so soon, dear?” Melenor asked, blinking in surprise as she took in her daughter’s windswept appearance. “I thought you were spending time with that young man from Dunamis.”
“Believe me, he is not worth anyone’s time,” Allura scoffed. She set the mice down and walked up to a mirror hanging on a wall and attempted to smooth back her hair, then reported airily to her mother, “Suitor number fifty-six was a bust, I am afraid.”
“Is that right?” Melenor asked, a hint of amusement in her voice as she put a hand on her hip. “And what was it this time?”
“The usual: he did not ask me a single question about myself or try to get to know me, he prattled on about how wealthy he and his family are, and whenever I did manage to get a word in, he agreed with everything I said.”
“That should be perfect for you, then, shouldn’t it?” her mother teased her.
“It was positively stultifying. I am surprised I can still form a coherent sentence after the fact, he was so dull.”
“Allura,” Melenor chastised her in a loving tone.
“Mother, I know you and Father want me to get married, but couldn’t you find someone who at least knows what a juniberry is?” Allura paused in raking her fingers through her hair and frowned at her mother. “Or better yet, let me do the looking from now on.”
“You know your father and I have been doing everything we can to find a good match for you.”
“Yes, but it has been three years since we began the hunt and nothing has come of it. Surely the list of eligible Altean bachelors has drastically decreased since then.”
“You sound like your grandmother,” Melenor commented with a chuckle. She walked over to Allura, gently batting her hands away to fix her hair for her. “My dear, this is not merely a hunt for a spouse. This is for your future. When you become queen someday, you will need a suitable partner to rule by your side, to serve as a good example to your people and maintain the ways and culture of your planet. You know this.”
“Of course,” Allura said matter-of-factly. She knew it very well. Ever since she took her first steps she had learned every tradition and etiquette, had trained in every philosophical, political, and tactical custom of her home world until she knew it all by heart. She knew how important it was to her family and to her people.
As the two of them stood in front of the mirror, Allura inhaled the comforting fragrance of her mother, the sweet, floral smell she’d known for as long as she could remember. She was then reminded of how similar yet so different they looked from one another. People always said that they could be twins, with the same warm brown skin, hair as white as starlight, pink triangular markings on their cheekbones, and eyes that glittered like gemstones. But the similarities ended there. Allura’s hair was more difficult to manage, and in her own eyes she had always been tall and gangly for her age, nearly as tall as her father, which gave her a few more inches in height in contrast to many of the Altean men who came to attempt to woo her.
“And it is not only looking for someone to spend the rest of your life with,” Melenor went on. “When you are married, you will take on the most important responsibility of your adult life, the one expected of every woman and future queen.”
Allura stilled. She pursed her lips and swallowed, glancing down at the ground. Any remaining liveliness she felt within her quickly faded away, and a heavy, sinking feeling formed in her chest at her mother’s words, for she knew exactly what she was referring to.
“Yes,” she acknowledged quietly. “I will perform my Yul’mai , my sacred duty.”
“Exactly. It is a holy gift and blessing for all of the women of the royal family. Your grandmother did it, I did it, your aunt did it, and someday it will be your turn.” Melenor stroked her daughter’s hair soothingly. “It is a beautiful thing, Allura. Nothing to be afraid of.”
Allura was silent, for she did not know how to tell her mother how she truly felt about the matter. A princess’s Yul’mai was another custom she’d become very familiar with since she was a child, and it was one that brought unease to her heart whenever she thought of it.
She took in a quiet breath and exhaled through her nose. “I do want to become queen someday. I have trained for it my entire life; I want it more than anything, but… if I am to have a husband, if I am to marry, I want it to be for true love.” She caught her mother’s eye in the mirror, the beginnings of hope flickering through her. “Regardless of the inevitability of my sacred duty, I want someone who sees me for who I am, not as the princess. Someone who understands me, who challenges me, yet still sees me as their equal. None of the men I have met so far have made me feel that way.”
“Well,” Melenor said, now finished with her daughter’s hair, smoothing it out as best as she could and adjusting the folds of her dress. “There must be someone out there who will meet your expectations. Fifty-seventh time’s the charm, as they say.” She smiled.
Allura tried to smile back, but her reflection grimaced instead. It was, in fact, not what they said.
Melenor sensed her frustration, but misinterpreted the source of it. “Do not worry, Allura. We will try again and find you a proper suitor, and when we do, he will be a true, loyal Altean who will rule by your side, and the day of your Yul’mai will be a wonderful thing, I promise.”
“Yes, I am sure you are right,” Allura said quietly, but saying the words out loud did little to make her believe them.
“You look beautiful, dearest,” her mother told her warmly, stroking her hair once more. “Shall we?”
Forcing herself not to dwell on her future troubles any further, Allura lifted her chin, put on a smile, and nodded. She stood up straight with her shoulders back and hands clasped in front of her, just as she’d been taught all her life, and followed her mother outside the enormous front doors of the castle where a sentry was waiting to escort them.
The sleek vehicle sped out of the castle grounds, over the tall and white mile-long bridge, and into the bustling metropolis. Through the busy streets they rode, past skyscrapers that glowed with cyan lights and signs written in the language of the Alteans, past citizens making their commute to work or heading towards City Hall, either on foot or in vehicles that hovered several feet off of the ground. The royal transport turned heads, and the people waved and called out to them, greeting the queen and crown princess in earnest. Allura did not hesitate to wave back, for she enjoyed the opportunities to be among her people.
As they neared Altea’s City Hall, Allura watched the sky eagerly, grinning as more and more foreign ships flew by, looking for a place to land. She could name every single ship’s origin by design: Puig, Krell, Earth, Atlantea…
Her smile faded as one gargantuan ship in particular passed by, all sharp angles and harsh purple lights―
A ship from Daibazaal.
She bit her lip and reached up for her necklace without thinking. She had known that ship would be coming, everyone did, but seeing it in person formed knots in her stomach. Quickly she regained her composure, however, and continued to greet her people joyfully, though the feelings of apprehension did not fade.
The transport soon came to a smooth stop, finally having arrived at their destination. Allura and Melenor hopped out, practically running up the steps to City Hall where King Alfor, as well as Coran, the royal family’s most trusted advisor, were waiting.
“Are we late?” Allura asked, out of breath.
“Just in time,” Coran assured her.
“Allura,” Alfor called out in surprise as his daughter joined them. “What are you doing here? I thought you were with that boy from Dunamis.”
“Sadly it was another bust, my love,” Melenor said, patting his arm.
“You did not end the day with him early so you could be here, did you, Daughter?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at her in suspicion, though there was no real malice in his manner.
Before Allura could come up with an excuse, Coran came to her rescue. “I believe Princess Allura was wise to attend, Your Majesty,” he said cheerfully, stroking his mustache. “It would be most advantageous if all members of the royal family were present for the coming guests to see.”
Alfor thought for a moment. “Hm, I suppose you are right, Coran,” he agreed easily.
Coran caught Allura’s eye and gave her an encouraging wink, to which she returned with a grin. He’d always had her back for as long as she could remember, and for that she was eternally grateful to him. She eagerly took her place next to him. Her parents stood on one side of the entrance to the large building, while she and Coran stood on the other. Altean sentries guarded them from the sides. The people of Altea were slowly gathering in the streets, anticipating the arrival of the upcoming guests.
“Another potential beau to cross off the list, then,” Alfor mused as the family waited together. “Was he too agreeable?”
“Very much so,” Allura confirmed stubbornly.
“And what of his character?”
“Father, I can assure you the sentries who walk about the castle have far more personality than most of the men who have come to see me.” Then Allura added with a wide smile, stroking her chin and pretending to consider, “Now that I think about it, perhaps I am onto something here.”
Her parents and Coran laughed. “You have higher standards than I initially thought, Daughter,” Alfor remarked jokingly. “But surely there is no rush to get you married off so soon, is there? You are still young, you have plenty of time.”
“I was barely nineteen when you and I were betrothed,” Melenor reminded him, then added teasingly, “And I recall you were rather impatient to get married. Don’t you remember, my love?”
Her husband protested in a rather flustered manner, and Allura and Coran disguised their snickers as the couple bickered lovingly with one another.
Coran nudged the princess and smiled. “His Majesty is not yet so keen on the idea of giving you away,” he commented quietly so only she could hear.
“In contrast, Her Majesty certainly is.”
“They only want what’s best for you, Allura.”
“Yes, I know.” She returned his smile. “Though perhaps Father is right. Maybe my expectations are too high.”
“Better to have high expectations instead of settling for less than what you deserve. And I know that if the Queen Dowager were here now she would agree with me.”
Allura laughed. “She certainly would. I have always thought you, Grandmother, and I must have been made from the same stardust.”
“Such companionship is a very special thing,” Coran agreed. “But I know there is someone else like that out there for you, Allura, someone who is made of that same stardust who will sweep you off your feet―or vice versa!”
Her smile widened. “Thank you, Coran,” she told him sincerely, and the two of them turned their attention back to the street.
At last, hundreds of delegates from all over the universe began making their way up the steps. Allura held still, but her heart was jumping with excitement, the atmosphere around her alive and electric. As Altea’s princess, she was so busy fulfilling her roles and responsibilities that rare was the chance to travel to other planets besides her own. When she did she was always accompanied by her family, but for a day or two she would be free to take in all the sights to her heart’s content―the different cultures, the architecture, the smells, the people ―everything about it satiated her hunger for excitement and adventure, at least until it was time to return home.
On this day, however, the rest of the universe was coming to her planet, and she couldn’t be happier to witness it in person.
The first to reach the top of the stairs was a Grekagar male―a bipedal alien with emerald-colored feathers all over his body, a golden beak, and large purple eyes. He was adorned in bright expensive clothing, and upon instantly recognizing the man, Allura resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
“Count Do-Tarn of Grekagan,” Coran announced.
The count stopped in front of the royal family and bowed deeply. “Your Majesty!” he exclaimed in greeting. “A pleasure to see you again!”
“Likewise, Count Do-Tarn,” Alfor returned cordially. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
“A year to be exact since the last Universal Coalition meeting on Olkarion,” Do-Tarn confirmed. “I was wondering when it would be Altea’s turn to host. Truly, I am humbled to receive such a warm welcome to your planet.”
“Of course,” Alfor said with a nod. “And please accept my sincere congratulations on recently being appointed to the High Council.”
“Why, thank you! Can you believe it’s only been a few weeks since I was called? I feel so at home already!” Do-Tarn laughed, which may have sounded joyful to some ears, but it was obnoxious to Allura’s.
“I am glad to hear it. You know my wife, Melenor,” Alfor introduced.
“Of course,” Do-Tarn said humbly, bowing deeply again. “I never forget a pretty face.”
Melenor laughed. “Oh, you are much too kind, sir.”
“And I believe you are well acquainted with my daughter Allura?”
Well acquainted is putting it far too nicely, Allura grumbled internally.
Do-Tarn turned to her. “Why, yes! We danced together at last year’s meeting, didn’t we, Princess?”
“At King Lubos’s ball, yes,” she replied, giving him a pained smile, though it probably looked more like a sneer.
“That’s the one. You have since become much prettier, Your Highness.” He grinned before addressing her father once more. “Thank you again, Your Majesty, for graciously receiving me into your home.” He bowed once more, which the family returned, and went inside the building.
“He is always so polite and pleasant to talk to,” Allura heard her mother say to her father. “It is a shame he is not Altean, otherwise I would gladly support him and our daughter to become more than ‘well acquainted’ with one another.”
Coran exchanged glances with Allura, raising a skeptical eyebrow. She simply let out a slow breath and looked up at the sky, trying to hold back from making a rude comment. She did not blame her mother for saying such a thing, for neither did she nor Alfor knew the count’s true nature.
Altean or not, Allura did not like Do-Tarn, and she did not like him because of what she knew about him. She made it her business to know everything about everyone who was a member of the Universal Coalition. When she wasn’t performing her duties as princess, training with the Gladiator back in the castle, or enduring another courtship with an Altean man that made her want to pull her hair out, she was using every opportunity to search for and study anything she could get her hands on, learning about all political affairs and relations between planets that were part of the Universal Coalition. Because of this, she was already aware of Count Do-Tarn’s reputation long before getting pressured into dancing with him at the ball on Olkarion.
Thirty years old, the count was chosen to represent his home planet Grekagan, and only recently was he offered a position on the Coalition’s High Council after Elder Blate of Krell retired, receiving the most amount of votes in his favor ever seen on record. Do-Tarn was flamboyant, intrusive, an unapologetic flirt, and he only ever made decisions based on whether or not he would be entertained. How he managed to get a seat on the council was beyond Allura; no doubt some form of bribery was involved. The idea of the council being corrupt, however, she never said out loud to anyone, not even to Coran.
The next group to walk up the steps were five Earthlings in uniform. Leading in the front was another man that Allura recognized from her research, though this was her first time seeing him in person. He was the same age as her, had black hair with a white forelock and a scar across his nose. He and the others all bowed. Allura was eager to learn more about the humans, as their planet had joined the Coalition not long ago and they were a relatively young species―among the youngest known in the universe, in fact.
“Lieutenant Takashi Shirogane of Earth,” Coran introduced.
“King Alfor, at your service,” Allura’s father greeted, returning the bow, and then gestured towards his family. “I present to you Queen Melenor and Princess Allura.”
“You have quite the party with you, Lieutenant,” Melenor commented with interest.
“Yes, ma’am. We’re here on behalf of Galaxy Garrison. I brought my cadets along with me for training purposes,” the man explained. “I hope that won’t be a problem.”
“Of course not, Lieutenant,” Allura spoke up good-naturedly. “It is a pleasure to meet you all.”
“Likewise, Princess,” he returned kindly. “And please, call me Shiro. Allow me to introduce―” But he was interrupted when a teenage boy pushed past him and approached Allura.
“Hey there, Princess,” he said flirtatiously. “The name’s Lance. How do you do, m’lady―Hey, what the―!”
One of the Altean sentries stepped forward and blocked him before he could get too close, slamming the butt of its spear to the ground aggressively.
“Stand back,” it commanded in its robotic voice.
“Come on, what’s the big idea?!”
“Lance, get back here,” Shiro ordered exasperatedly. The other cadets all sighed and shook their heads. Apparently this was something he did on a regular basis.
“But I wanted to―” Lance began, but a young girl with glasses grabbed his arm and pulled him back and out of the way.
“Dude, just shut up,” another boy with shoulder-length hair hissed at him.
“Sorry, Your Majesties,” the last cadet, who was big and burly and taller than the rest of them, apologized with a sheepish grin. “We’ll make sure he stays out of trouble.”
The Earthlings bowed once more and went in through the doors. Allura and her parents continued to greet guests as they came in: Viscountess Trigel of the Dalterion Belt, Lord Blaytz of Planet Nalquod, Baron Gyrgan of Planet Rygnirath, and many more, all of whom bowed respectfully to their hosts… until at last, there was a group of people who began making their way up the steps after all of the others. The chatter amongst the Alteans in the street hushed to a deafening silence, vehicles passing by slowed down to take a closer look and watch the newcomers with contempt, and even the clouds in the hot sky seemed to come to a stand still as all eyes fell on one person who walked in the front, the one person that everyone was dreading to meet the most―
“Emperor Lotor,” Coran began uneasily, “of Planet Daibazaal.”
Allura could feel the tension and the beginnings of hostility thick in the air, both from the crowd down below and from her parents. She glanced at the king and queen to see that their faces betrayed neither fear nor anxiety, only grim expectation. She swallowed and clasped her hands in front of her, attempting to look as calm as they did, though her heart pounded and her palms began to sweat. Amidst the apprehensive stillness, heavy footsteps ascended the stairs, ringing in her ears and louder than any sound she’d ever heard before.
She’d done plenty of research on the Galra Emperor, of course. She knew that Lotor was five years her senior, twenty-eight years old―quite the young age for an emperor. He had no family, neither predecessors nor legacy, at least for now, but everyone knew that the Galra preferred solitude unless absolutely necessary, unlike Alteans who highly valued familial relationships. Reading about him, Allura had wondered what it must have felt like, still being so young while shouldering all of that responsibility, that of an entire planet. She also already knew what he looked like, however perusing photographs of him was one thing; seeing him in person was another.
Lotor was very tall, as were all four of the female generals who accompanied him. Standing up straight at over seven feet, he looked very intimidating. Alfor was not a short man by any means, but he was completely towered over by Lotor as the two of them stood face-to-face. The emperor’s manner was controlled, but his eyes narrowed, looking over the king with scrutiny. Alfor glared right back. No one was bowing.
Coran cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Would His Majesty like to introduce himself and his family?” He was staring at Alfor with a warning look in his eyes. Remember that people are watching, he seemed to say.
Alfor nodded stiffly. “King Alfor of Altea. My wife Queen Melenor… and my daughter Princess Allura.”
Lotor glanced at Allura, and that was when she got a good look at him. His pearl white hair was long and thick, growing nearly to his waist, his skin was a lilac color, and his sharp features and handsome face were unlike anything she had ever seen before. He was far enough away from her that she could not properly see the color of his sharp eyes, but like all Galra his scleras were yellow, glowing and luminescent even during the day. His blue and gray armor accentuated his lean and muscular body, covering everything except his face and part of his neck. A sword hung strapped to his side, barely visible from underneath the cape around his waist. Allura’s gaze drifted down to his gloved hands, which were large and very much the hands of a man.
She looked back to his face, and the moment their eyes met, her lips parted and she sucked in a quiet breath. She blinked. In this moment, seeing him for the first time, only a few feet away from her, it was as if she was receiving the answer to a question she didn’t know she’d been asking, but had been waiting for all her life.
Allura swallowed. Putting that strange existential crisis aside, she realized that she found Lotor very attractive, and immediately felt guilty for it. Finding a Galra―the Galra emperor no less―to be as alluring and captivating as she did was against every Altean bone in her body, but she could not look away from him.
It was difficult to decipher Lotor’s expression as his gaze traveled over her, but the connection between them was soon broken when he turned back to her father and finally spoke. “I see you continue to take great pains in keeping up appearances, King Alfor. How admirable.” His voice was deep and smooth. He did not bother disguising his sarcasm, and he spoke softly so that only those immediately surrounding him could hear.
“And what do you think you are doing here?” Alfor asked with sudden harshness, which surprised Allura.
Lotor cocked an eyebrow, unfazed by the king’s rude manner. “I thought it fairly obvious,” he answered dryly. “I am here to attend my first annual Coalition meeting in order to represent my people and honor my newly appointed membership. A membership, might I add, that was granted to me freely by the High Council.”
“I find it hard to believe that you would be on the side of promoting peace and harmony throughout the universe like the rest of us,” Alfor retorted with narrowed eyes.
The emperor inhaled and exhaled slowly, nodding as if he’d expected this sort of speech, and he already looked bored by the conversation. “You can believe what you like,” he said. “But I do not have to explain myself to you, and I will not pretend that this visit is an amicable one. I am here to fulfill my responsibilities to the Coalition, that is all.”
“That is something we can both agree on,” the king responded, though his tone suggested that he hated the idea of agreeing on anything with the man. “But do not be so mistaken as to think that you are welcome here. This is my planet, and I expect you to leave as soon as the meeting is over.” He paused. “Your father knew very well that the feud between our people goes back many centuries. Surely, he taught you that?”
Even though it was a warm and sunny day, it was as if the temperature dropped to an alarming degree and suddenly everyone was on even more edge than before. Lotor’s eyes flashed dangerously at the mention of Zarkon, who passed away last year, therefore making his only son the new emperor. Allura was stunned to hear her own father speak this way. Was he trying to start a fight? Here in front of a crowd of people? She watched nervously as Lotor visibly tensed, and her eyes widened when she saw his hands flex, sharp claws extracting. She knew Galra had claws, but she didn’t know they could do that. Could they?
“He did teach me that, yes,” Lotor said, his voice a low growl. “He also taught me that Alteans have no honor, and that their king is an old fool stuck in his ways.” Then, throwing Alfor’s own words back at him, he added, “Surely, you taught your daughter that?” The corner of his mouth lifted. “She is your only daughter, correct?”
Alfor clenched his jaw, and Allura would not have doubted that she saw violent intent in his eyes. His right hand twitched, as if instinctively about to reach for his sword. The Altean sentries near him tensed, their mechanical joints whirring as they adjusted their footing. Lotor remained still, but his generals were wary, as if ready to pull out their own weapons.
“Father,” Allura quickly called out, keeping her voice steady. Her voice rang clear, snapping both men’s attention to her. “Shall we head inside? We had best not keep our guests waiting.” Please do not take the bait, she pleaded silently, even though she knew very well that her father was the one who instigated it. Her fingers itched to reach up and tug on the chain of her necklace, but she kept her hands at her sides, clenching her fists instead.
Much to her great relief, her father finally sighed and conceded. He turned back to Lotor, his face hardening. “I suggest you stay on your side, and I will stay on mine,” he told him icily.
“Very well,” Lotor replied coolly, the anger passing from his face as he became calm and collected again. He nodded to his generals, then made his way towards the entrance. As he passed Allura, his piercing eyes flickered over her once more, and then he disappeared inside.
The moment he was out of view, Allura released a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. Now that all of the guests were present, it was time for the family to follow, but as she was about to head in after her mother and Coran, her father stopped her, putting a hand on her shoulder. He waited until it was only the two of them alone outside.
“Be careful, Allura,” Alfor said, his voice quiet and strained. “I do not want you going anywhere near that man.”
Allura furrowed her brow. “There is no need to tell me that, Father. I was not planning on it.” She grew concerned when she saw how upset he was. “Is everything alright?”
“I got ahead of myself when I spoke with him, and because of that he mentioned you in order to get a rise out of me. Do you understand me, Daughter? That man… he is very dangerous―a monster. Do not let Emperor Lotor get close to you.”
“What makes you think I would let him?”
He opened his mouth, hesitating, then shook his head. “Nothing, my dear. Not a single thing.”
Guests were still in the midst of taking their seats when the royal family walked in. At the very front of the room, members of the High Council were making their way towards seven upholstered chairs arranged behind one long, crescent-shaped desk. The remaining space of the room was taken up by a gargantuan, oval-shaped table which was dozens of meters in both length and width, surrounded by chairs of the same design. With nearly hundreds of occupants present, it was a full house, filled with chatter and the scraping of chairs against heavy, reflective stone flooring.
Allura stood next to Coran a few feet behind Alfor and Melenor’s seats. There were still a few empty chairs available, but she preferred to observe and remain in the background for now, as she was fascinated seeing so many different alien species gathered in one place. She saw her father’s old friends, Trigel, Blitz, and Gyrgan chatting companionably together. Shiro caught her eye and gave her a kind nod and smile while his cadets marveled at the Altean architecture all around them: high ceilings, crystal chandeliers that emitted a bright, cyan glow, and walls the color of pearls that had lions, trees, juniberries, and historical figures and events carved into them. Allura saw High Council members Princess Malocoti of Krell and King Maato of Arus discussing while the rest of the council took their seats at the desk, all ready to begin, except for one.
“There are only six council members when there should be seven,” Allura noticed with a frown. She turned to Coran. “Who are we missing?”
Coran quickly scanned the room, then he tensed and nodded. “Over there, right across from us.” Allura followed his gaze. Clear on the other side of the vast room was―
“Count Do-Tarn,” she said, turning sour, then her brow furrowed. The count was talking to none other than Emperor Lotor, who had not yet taken his seat, standing tall with his arms cross as he conversed with the count. She noticed that passersby trying to get to their chairs skirted anxiously around him or avoided the area altogether, as did the Altean servers who were handing out refreshments to the guests. Allura didn’t have time to observe the two men for very long, however, for they soon caught her staring, prompting Do-Tarn to wink at her. Allura scowled and turned away, not caring if they thought her behavior unlady-like.
“Everyone, please take your seats and we shall begin shortly,” council member Queen Luxia of Atlantea announced, and at last the guests began to quiet and settle down. Allura peeked over to see Do-Tarn and Lotor exchange a few more words before the count bowed deeply and left to take his seat at the front. She tore her gaze away to whisper to Coran.
“Why would the count be going out of his way to speak with the Galra emperor?” she asked him.
“Hard to say,” Coran whispered back, and he too looked troubled. “But you know Do-Tarn has a reputation for sweet-talking his way into making powerful friends.”
“And getting favors from those friends,” Allura agreed. “Only moments ago he was trying to do that with Mother and Father.”
“Do you think that is what he was doing just now with the emperor?”
Allura bit her lip as her eyes landed once again on the Galra, who had since sat down and was turning in his chair, beckoning one of his generals to come to his side so he could speak to her. “I do not know what the count hopes to gain by trying to cozy up to Emperor Lotor, but it cannot be good. And I would not put it past the Galra to get involved with―Oh!”
She was startled when someone bumped into her, and at first she assumed it was another server, but upon second glance she realized it was a Puigian man who was skulking about, headed back towards the front entrance of the room.
“Apologies, Your Highness,” the man said quickly. “I wasn’t paying attention.”
“I’m alright,” she assured him politely. “Are you?” She was glad that the horns on the edge of his hairline hadn’t skewered through her during the collision. She noted that his left horn was broken off at the tip.
“Yes,” he said with a small bow. “Apologies, again.” She nodded and he hurried off.
At last, High Council member President Desto of Planet Pinto Sentos began the meeting. She stood from her seat, flapped her large ears and lifted her gray trunk, amplifying her deep voice. “Welcome, esteemed guests. Before we begin, we the High Council wish to express our sincere pleasure in seeing you all again after last year’s meeting on Olkarion, and we would like to thank King Alfor and Queen Melenor for hosting us on their home planet this year. It is an honor to visit Altea, Your Majesties.”
Alfor and Melenor nodded in acknowledgement, and as thunderous applause erupted from around the room, the queen reached for her husband's hand under the table, giving him an affectionate squeeze, and they regarded each other lovingly.
President Desto waited for the noise to die down before continuing. “The Universal Coalition, as you all know, is an organization established fifty years ago, dedicated to spreading peace and diplomacy throughout the universe. As High Council members, we each serve a term of seven years, and we put our hearts and souls into those short years to ensure that the thousands of species part of the Coalition feel safe and secure with us.
“We want to welcome our newest council member, Count Do-Tarn of Grekagar”―she paused as more enthusiastic clapping came from the audience, many of whom were cheering zealously, and the count waved and grinned in response―”as well as the newest planets to join the Coalition, Earth and…” She trailed off, and there was an air of uneasiness in her serious demeanor. “… Daibazaal.” She cleared her throat, then turned to the man next to her, Admiral Kythylian Mu of the Karthulian System. “Admiral?” she prompted.
The lumbering Karthulian nodded and got to his four large feet. “Yes, to start off business…”
Allura began to relax as the meeting proceeded, and at first everything seemed to be going normally. She listened with interest as delegates were invited to speak and express any concerns over current events occurring across the cosmos or issues on their home planets. There was a lot of discussion about Planet Dunamis, which not only served as home to thousands of different species, but also as the base of operations for the Coalition. Most people were eagerly trying to decide what to do to celebrate the planet’s upcoming fifty-year anniversary.
The princess noticed that Lotor did not take part in any discussion throughout the meeting but rather remained silent and observed. Had he spoken out, it would have given her a greater excuse to watch and study him without getting caught. It was unclear to her if he noticed or even cared about the wary and nervous looks thrown his way. In fact, he did not seem bothered to be on the planet of his enemies at all, did not seem to care that he was among Alteans. If he was bothered, he did an impressive job at not showing it.
On one occasion while council member King Lubos of Olkarion was speaking, Allura found herself zoning out, and once again her gaze drifted towards Lotor. Like her, he no longer appeared to be paying much attention. One arm was propped up on the armrest of his chair, a closed fist supporting his head, while his other hand rested on the table, absentmindedly tapping his index finger.
Before Allura knew it, his gaze snapped to hers, but she didn’t look away. He tilted his head very subtly, as if asking her why she was staring at him. It became some sort of strange staring contest that neither of them had planned, but suddenly both were determined to win. Lotor sat up a little straighter in his seat, his elbow still on the armrest as his hand went to his face, his fingers running along his mouth in consideration, and Allura’s hands, which were joined in front of her, clenched until her fingers hurt. He was, she realized, studying her just as much as she was studying him.
Who would have won, they never got to find out. There was an abrupt shift in the air, and simultaneously they turned away from each other. It was only for a split second, and looking back on this day, Allura would wonder if she’d simply imagined it, but all of the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Her blood ran cold. She looked at the backs of her parents’ heads, and then―
The first explosion was thunderous, deafening, as it went off. In the blink of an eye, there was a white hot glow that appeared underneath the High Council’s table, splitting it apart and sending the chairs and members flying. It was quickly followed by smoke, dust, and debris that spread in every direction, blinding Allura. Next came the fire, searing flames that spread with the fuel from the detonation and engulfed everything in sight.
The second explosion came from underneath the oval table and was more felt than heard, for Allura’s ears were ringing. She couldn’t see anything through the fire, but she could feel the terror, the panic gripping her and everyone else in that room. She inhaled smoke and her eyes watered, and she completely froze as shock seized her body.
A hand reached out to grab Allura’s arm and she jumped. Spinning around, she saw Coran’s face which was covered in dust. He looked as scared as she felt, but he was also determined, his hold on her firm and secure.
“Allura!” he shouted above the chaos. “We have to go now!”
Gorgeous artwork of Lotor and Allura's first meeting, by captainicequeen555 on Tumblr 😍
Notes:
I sincerely hope you were able to enjoy the first chapter!! Fun fact, 90% of the names of people and places you will see in this story are from Voltron canon! Mostly from the 80's cartoon because that old show holds a special place in my heart, though many come from the VLD comics as well, such as characters like Do-Tarn, Desto, and Malocoti!
I hope you can look forward to future chapters as well as more illustrations! I am uncertain whether it would be best to put the artwork in the middle of the scenes or wait until the end of each chapter, so any feedback regarding that would be greatly appreciated! ^^
Thank you so much for reading! <3
Theme song: New Beginnings by DavZ
Chapter Text
The first thought that popped into Allura’s head was: “Perhaps that date with Bandor was not so bad after all.” Which was an absolutely ridiculous thing to be considering, but when she looked above her head and saw the ceiling begin to crumble and the walls collapse around her, it was all she could think about.
Coran gripped her arm more tightly, trying to pull her away, and then the second thought came, which she cried out loud: “Where are my parents?!” She scanned the room around her, panicking, looking for the chairs in which they’d been sitting, but they were gone, as if they were never there in the first place. The entire room in fact was unrecognizable, and she couldn’t see her mother and father anywhere.
Allura tried to pull free from Coran. “Let me go!” she screamed. “I need to find them!”
“You can’t!” he protested.
“I have to, Coran! They’re my parents!”
He turned her around and gripped her shoulders, shaking her and forcing her to look at him. “I know, Allura, I know!” She could see the sweat and tears on his face, making streaks through the chalky-white dust and golden blood, and she figured she looked the same. “I want to find them, too, and I will! I promise! But your life matters too much to be put at risk!”
“Stop it, Coran!” she cursed at him, and her voice cracked, on the verge of desperate tears. “Let me go at once―” She wrenched free from him, but then was immediately seized by an Altean sentry, its vice-like grip impossible to escape from.
“Get her out of here!” Coran ordered the sentry. “Now!”
“Command confirmed,” it acknowledged, and without waiting it dragged Allura along, its metal arm wrapped firmly around her waist.
“I order you to release me!” she told it, but it did not obey.
“Protecting the princess is priority number one,” was all it said, and it did not speak again.
Over heaps of debris and past screaming people the sentry navigated. Allura wanted to stop and help them somehow, but instead she was getting tossed around like a rag doll and she felt so guilty and sorry for being completely useless. At one point she felt something hit her on the head, but she didn’t even register it because she was in so much shock. The fires were still raging, and the doors to City Hall, now destroyed, allowed in oxygen and only added more fuel to the fire.
Desperately, Allura craned her neck to look back and see any sign of her parents, but all she saw were people pushing past to escape, more smoke and falling debris, and to her horror… bodies that lay on the ground or across the destroyed oval table, unmoving and lifeless.
The sentry continued to haul her away, past the doors, down the steps, and towards the streets where rubble from the building had fallen and terrified onlookers gasped and screamed at the destruction happening around them. Altean authorities were arriving at the scene, keeping citizens back and working to get people out and extinguish the fires.
Surrounding Allura were other terrified survivors, wreckage from the explosion, and the smoke and dust that continued to spread. Out of the corner of her eye Allura thought she might have seen familiar blue and gray armor close by, but her mind abruptly flashed back to what she saw inside, on the floor… the dead bodies―
Oh gods, she was going to be sick―
“Let me go,” she said hoarsely, feeling a violent force in her stomach making its way up. Saliva gathered in her mouth, and the way the sentry still had its arm tightly coiled around her midriff certainly wasn’t helping. When it did not budge, she yelled, “Unhand me, you infernal machine, I’m not going anywhere!” At last the robot released her and she stumbled away from it, bending over and nearly falling forward as she vomited. She braced herself against a large hunk of rubble, gasping and wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.
“Princess, are you alright?”
She turned and saw a paramedic. Like the dozen other emergency workers who were continuously arriving at the scene, she wore a white and light blue uniform.
“Let’s get you to safety, Your Highness. There’s a vehicle ready to take you straight to the hospital.”
Allura’s anger faded and all she felt was fatigued at that point. It would be useless to yell at this woman who was only doing her job. She released a shuddering breath and swallowed, recoiling at the bitter taste in her mouth. Still leaning against the rubble, she looked the woman in the eye and said as calmly as she could, “Madam, I would prefer to stay here until it is confirmed that my parents are alive. Don’t―” She held up her hand when the woman tried to protest. “Don’t you dare try to stop me. You have no right.” She marched past her, still keeping a fair distance away from the building lest the sentry try to manhandle her again. To her frustration the paramedic followed her.
“Then may I at least tend to your wounds, Princess?” the woman asked meekly.
Before Allura could register what she said, her attention was drawn to the destroyed entrance of City Hall, where three familiar faces emerged.
“Oh, thank the gods!” she cried out, running to her parents and Coran. Fortunately the sentry didn’t chase after her.
As she approached them her eyes widened when she saw that her father was severely wounded. There was a large piece of sharp metal lodged into the left side of his abdomen, his regal clothing was caked in gold blood, and he appeared to be in so much pain that Melenor and Coran had to take each of his arms to help him walk.
“Here, let me,” Allura said, offering to take the burden from her mother. She glanced at her. “Are you hurt?”
“I am fine, dear,” Melenor assured her in a shaky voice. There were tear streaks on her face. “But Allura, your head―”
“Your Majesty!” Paramedics rushed forward as they made their way towards the street. The citizens cried out in relief to see that their king had survived. They were led towards an emergency vehicle.
“Your Majesty, Your Highness, sir,” one of the paramedics said, addressing Melenor, Allura, and Coran. “We will take him to the hospital right away if you would like to ride in the back with us.”
They agreed, and climbed into the rear entrance of the vehicle. Alfor was slowly losing consciousness from the blood loss. The vehicle came to life, rocking slightly as it rose off of the ground, and sped through the city. As one paramedic drove, the other tended to Alfor. Melenor was at his side, holding his hand and crying. Allura and Coran sat next to each other in silence. Allura was beginning to feel a little woozy and her right eye stung from the blood that occasionally dripped into it, but she didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was that her father lived. If he didn’t―
She swallowed a lump in her throat and blinked several times. She could not break down at a moment like this. She had to be strong for her parents, just as they needed her to be. Reaching up, she tugged on her necklace, trying to look anywhere but at the sickening wound in her father’s stomach.
The ride to the hospital seemed to take an eternity, but at last they arrived. The paramedics quickly removed Alfor and escorted him on a hovering gurney with Melenor following closely behind. A surgeon rushed out to meet them, telling her staff to prepare for surgery.
“Surgery?” Melenor repeated, eyes widening. “Will he survive? You must know.”
The surgeon hesitated. “I will do everything I can, Your Majesty. Please, visit the relief center and the doctors will tend to your injuries.”
But Melenor didn’t go to the relief center, so neither did Allura. There was no doubt that they, as the royal family, would be given highest priority, but despite the throbbing pain in Allura’s head and the occasional bouts of nausea, she didn’t feel that it was too serious, so she was more than willing to wait while others who had suffered more during the explosion were taken care of first.
It was hours until they heard anything. Meanwhile the queen, the princess, and the royal advisor sat out in the white hall as they waited. Sentries guarded them, standing in every doorway that led to other parts of the hospital. Melenor and Coran sat in provided chairs, but Allura couldn’t relax. She paced back and forth, pulling on her necklace, her eyes stuck to the ground. Her legs ached and her head felt like it was about to explode, but she worried that if she didn’t stop walking, if she sat down for even a second, her body would cease to work and she wouldn’t be able to get back up. A part of her wanted to comfort her mother, a part of her wanted to be comforted, but she couldn’t handle any more feelings of vulnerability; it was already too much.
The doors to the operating room finally hissed open and the surgeon walked out. Allura and Coran approached her while Melenor remained seated, looking at her anxiously. The woman nodded and smiled.
“The surgery went well,” she assured them. “His Majesty will need several days of rest, but he is going to be fine.”
Melenor let out a sob and buried her face in her hands. Allura sighed in relief, looked at Coran and placed a hand on his shoulder for support. She felt incredibly dizzy, but perhaps it was because of all the stress from the day.
“Go get yourself patched up, Allura,” he urged her gently. “Then take some time to sleep, you need it.”
“I think we all need it,” she returned.
He smiled sadly, then hesitated. “And Allura, about what happened with the sentry―”
She shook her head. “It is alright, Coran. I am glad we all made it back safely. We need not speak of it any further.”
He nodded uneasily, then walked over to Melenor and offered to escort her to the royal hospital suite with the sentries. Allura gave them one last glance before making her way towards the relief center, putting a hand up to her pounding head as another sentry trailed behind her.
The place was in pandemonium. Medical staff rushed by, sprinting to get to patients in critical need. One nurse led Allura to one of the many white beds which were laid out in rows throughout the large area, and most of which were occupied by the wounded. Allura knew she could have gone with her mother to the royal suite, but she wanted to be among the people, to see for herself how serious the results of the bombings were. Many, both Altean and others, had received terrible blows from falling debris, or second and third-degree burns from the fire. She swallowed. It was awful. How could this have happened? Who could have done this?
“Your Highness, can you hear me?”
“Huh?” she slowly blinked up at a doctor who was standing in front of her as she sat on the side of the bed.
The doctor frowned and gently touched the sides of her head, turning it from side to side. “Please look forward,” he directed, and briefly shone a light in her eyes. She blinked rapidly when he put it away, seeing sunspots. “Have you been experiencing headaches, grogginess, nausea?”
“Yes.”
He nodded in confirmation. “You must have been hit on the head during the explosion, Princess, hence the wound and the heavy bleeding, and as result you have a concussion. A nurse will be by shortly to clean the wound, and then I would like you to remain at the hospital overnight to make sure your symptoms do not worsen.”
Allura nodded slowly and the doctor left. A nurse, as promised, came over and began applying an antiseptic to the wound on the edge of her hairline. She hissed from the sting, but kept silent and didn’t complain. After the nurse applied a bandage and left her alone, Allura finally looked down at herself. Her hands were scraped and the knuckles bleeding, her dress had a few tears and she was covered in grime and dust. Her nose stung and her vision blurred, and it didn’t have anything to do with the concussion.
At last in this moment of peace and quiet, the princess was left alone with her thoughts, and the reality of everything that had happened hit her in full force. The day had started out so well for the most part. She had been so excited to attend the Universal Coalition meeting, and then it all changed in an instant. There was no way to reverse the damage that had been done. Her father was hurt, all of these people in the hospital were hurt, her planet and her city had been attacked, and she wondered how far along the authorities were in clearing out the wreckage, if they had removed all of the dead bodies…
She swallowed thickly. The white sheets, walls and floors, and cyan lights around her were grating on her senses. She felt sick again, the nausea building up in her stomach once more as her face twisted and her eyes burned. A piercing pain shot through her head in an effort not to cry. No, she couldn’t break down, not here, not now―
“Come any closer and I’ll break your arm!” a woman’s deep voice roared.
Allura’s thoughts came to a halt. She lifted her head and looked over her shoulder, rapidly wiping her eyes. Only three beds away from her own were the Galra. One of the generals, the largest of them all, sat on the bed with her back turned to Allura. The armor around her right arm had been removed, revealing a nasty burn, and she was vehemently resisting medical help from one of the nurses, who looked absolutely terrified out of his wits. Lotor and the other three women were standing around the bed, watching over her, while passing Altean staff shot them dirty looks.
“Zethrid, stop resisting and let him treat you,” Lotor said with a tired sigh, his voice sounding gravelly with exhaustion. His eyes were closed and he was pinching the bridge of his nose in irritation.
“No way,” Zethrid, the woman who sat on the bed, protested bluntly. “I won’t have any more Alteans coming near me!”
“Should we knock her out?” another general suggested. She had colorful, red skin and a long, tail-like appendage that sprouted from the top of her head.
“Ezor…” a woman, who had pale turquoise skin and small horns growing from her midnight hair, scolded her half-heartedly.
“What?” Ezor said with a shrug. “Look, Narti’s willing to help me.” She gestured to the last general, whose face was mostly shrouded by a hood, but even from a distance Allura could see that she had no eyes. A slender, dark gray cat sat on her right shoulder, its tail swishing back and forth, clearly feeling the tension in the room. Narti rubbed her knuckles together and nodded.
“Don’t you dare,” Zethrid warned.
“Zethrid, if you do not sit still and let him help you, the burn on your arm will become infected,” Lotor finally snapped, his patience clearly wearing thin. “And not only that, but I swear I will leave you on this planet if you do not comply.”
That convinced her. “Fine,” she said. “But only because getting stranded on Altea is a fate worse than death.” She turned to the nurse. “Watch yourself, Altean,” she growled. The poor man swallowed, nodded, and proceeded to treat the burn.
Allura forgot all about her woes and watched the scene with interest. Despite the bickering between the five Galra, they clearly cared for one another, and their serious expressions showed that they were concerned for the wellbeing of their comrade. That wasn’t possible; the Galra were violent barbarians. They couldn’t possibly be capable of or have the desire to form meaningful relationships with others.
Or at least… that was what Allura had always been taught.
Her eyes drifted towards Lotor. There were a few cuts, a sheen of sweat, and a serious expression on his face, a concentrated crease in the middle of his brow as his sharp eyes observed the nurse with wary scrutiny. Allura’s gaze traveled over the rest of him. His strong arms were crossed in front of his broad chest, and a layer of grime and soot dusted his body like everyone else who had endured the attack only hours before. He appeared to be favoring his left leg, but otherwise seemed alright, and his powerful, dominating stance did not go unnoticed by the nurse, who continued his nervous work under the emperor’s watchful eye. The Galra looked so stern, intimidating, and…
He really was beautiful.
Lotor noticed Allura watching him, and his eyes flickered over her form. She had no idea what she looked like to him, but likely it wasn’t anything good. She imagined her hair was messy, that there was dust and blood on her face and that she looked like death. Probably not a very pretty sight―not that she should care what he thought of her.
Without thinking, her grip on the bed sheets of the cot beneath her tightened, her fists clenching around the white linen as the two of them were caught in another intense moment of regard. Allura wasn’t sure if it was the palpable magnetism between them or something else, but she found that she had to force her gaze away from him and break the tension.
Turning back around, she slid off of the bed and left to go find a place to wash up and rest, and as always the sentry was right behind her. She lifted her chin loftily, regaining her proud composure, for perhaps it was only her imagination, but she could have sworn she still felt the emperor’s eyes on her as she walked away.
Allura was escorted to a private, high-security suite. On the bed was a set of hospital clothes for her to wear, sitting on the nightstand were glutinous caplets to help with the headaches, and on the other side was a bathroom for her own personal use. She sighed, both out of relief and exhaustion. Her head still hurt and she felt dizzy and nauseous whenever she moved around, but more than anything she wanted to get out of these dirty clothes, take a hot shower, and go to sleep.
She turned on the water and began stripping as she waited for the temperature to warm. She carefully removed her earrings and tiara, placing them next to the sink, but when she reached behind her back to unzip her dress, she felt an agonizing pain around her midriff and let out a soft cry. Wincing, she managed to step out of her dress, now in her undergarments, then walked up to the mirror to look at her reflection. Her face was indeed covered in dust and blood, and her eyes were puffy and swollen, but what caught her attention were the bruises. She stood up as straight as she could, eyes widening as she saw yellow and dark purple welts forming a line around her torso. They were extremely tender to the touch and at first she couldn’t figure out how she’d gotten them. Then she remembered.
“Blast, that sentry nearly squeezed the living daylight out of me,” she muttered, cursing under her breath. No doubt she was going to be sore for a few days.
After a steaming shower she felt refreshed and a bit like herself again. She pulled on the hospital gown, which consisted of a loose shirt and pants, stumbled towards the bed and huddled underneath the covers. As she lay in bed, her cheek pressed to the pillow, the events of the day all started rushing back, but she was so worn out and fatigued that she didn’t even have a second to cry. Rather, she instantly fell asleep, and thanked the Mother of the Universe that she didn’t dream.
The excitement slowly began to die down over the next few days, though the fear and apprehensions of what had occurred remained, hanging in the air like a bad smell. Everywhere Allura went she saw constant reminders of the attack: the wreckage of City Hall which was steadily getting cleaned up by city workers, the grim expressions of those who mourned the loss of their loved ones or the devastation on their planet, the exhausted faces of medical staff as they raced from room to room in the hospital performing their duties, and the scared and worn down patients who waited restlessly in their beds while they healed from their injuries.
Despite objections from both Coran and the doctors that she shouldn’t move about or engage in any strenuous activity, Allura almost spitefully ignored their disapproval and did everything she could during that time to make herself useful. She could not wait around for her concussion or the bruises on her body to fully heal, could not sit in impatient silence for news of her father’s awakening from surgery. Instead, she made it a priority to visit with each and every patient, checking in on them personally and offering to keep them company and comfort them during their stay. She also oversaw the activity of the Altean relief team and tasked them with delivering food and supplies to the delegates and their adjutants, whose ships were stationed on the outskirts of the city.
No news of the consequences of the attack nor a body count was yet reported by the police, but Allura did know for certain that three of members of the High Council were killed: Queen Luxia of Atlantea, Admiral Kythylian Mu of the Karthulian System, and King Lubos of Olkarion.
This came as a shock to Allura. Besides her grandfather, all throughout her life she had never known anyone who had died, had very little experience with death, and it was difficult to come to terms with. Only days ago she’d seen the council members walking up the steps to City Hall and speaking in front of people from all over the universe. Now they were gone forever, along with many other guests and Altean citizens present during the tragic event.
“Have you heard the rumors about the bombings?” Coran asked Allura.
The two of them walked side by side in between rows of giant ships from all throughout space as the princess checked off an inventory on a holographic tablet which she held in her hands. Allura had changed into her white flight suit, her thick hair pulled back into a bun.
“People are saying it was a terrorist attack,” her friend went on. “Either that or a gas leak,” he added doubtfully.
“Rumors travel fast, apparently,” Allura acknowledged with a sigh, her eyes glued to the tablet. “I do not want to jump to conclusions, Coran, nor rely on mere whispers, at least not until the police have found something.” She glanced at him with an optimistic smile. “I am hopeful we will hear from them soon.”
Coran returned her smile, then was about to answer when his attention was drawn elsewhere. Up ahead, three Alteans from the relief team were gathered around a hovercraft loaded with provisions, arguing with one another.
“Someone has to do it.”
“Well, I’m not going.”
“And disobey orders? You’ll get sacked for that.”
“I would rather lose my job than be in the presence of―Princess Allura!”
The group noticed and immediately bowed to Allura, who was frowning as she approached them. “What is going on here? To whom is this cart to be delivered?” she asked.
A young man cleared his throat uncomfortably. “To… the Galra, Your Highness.”
Allura pursed her lips, then scanned through her tablet once more. “According to this roster, they are the only ones who have not yet received supplies.” She looked up sharply. “Care to explain?” When the man exchanged looks with his colleagues again, she added in a clipped voice, “Well?”
“Er, well you see, Your Highness, the Galra are our enemy.”
“Yes, I am aware.”
“So why must we help them?” another worker, a woman, spoke up. “Surely they can take care of themselves; they chose to come here, after all. Besides, if by some misfortune we were the ones staying on Daibazaal, they would never offer us the same courtesy. Your Highness,” she added quickly.
Allura wasn’t sure if it was because it’d been a long day, if she was tired, or if it was her sore body still giving her pain, but she suddenly found her patience waning and her frustration growing, and this group was doing very little to help. She looked over at Coran, who stroked his mustache thoughtfully, then turned back to the Alteans, exhaling through her nose.
“Enemy or not, they are our guests,” she replied grimly. “They require the same fair treatment as everyone else. If lack of reciprocation from the Galra is what you fear, then I suggest you be the bigger person and not stoop to their level.”
They fell silent as her words sank in, yet they did not move the transport. A pang of irritation ran through Allura. She sighed once more and then, holding her head high, she walked past the group and towards the vehicle.
“Your Highness! What are you doing?” one of them protested.
“If you will not take these supplies to the Galra, then I will do it myself.” She pressed a few buttons on a hologram to start up the engine. A gentle whirring noise sounded as it came to life, and the craft lifted off of the ground, filled to the brim with white and cyan crates.
“Princess, I must also object,” Coran spoke uneasily. “It is not safe for you to go alone. This is the Galra we are talking about.”
“Please, let us go in your stead,” another worker pleaded with her.
Allura raised a brow. “Can I trust you three to do your job properly?”
“Y-yes, of course.”
She nodded curtly. “Alright, then I shall accompany you. Coran, you may return to the hospital. I will take it from here.” And she began walking alongside the hovering cart.
Coran and the others knew better than to disobey their princess, though the royal advisor still looked apprehensive as he left. Out of the corner of her eye, Allura saw the Alteans exchange looks of guilt and shame as they followed her.
Allura’s heart was pounding, her stomach churning as she continued marching down the rows where the Galra ship waited at the very end, far away from everyone else. This would be her first time seeing the ship up close, and it would also be her first time coming face-to-face with the Galra since the day of the attack.
She had not seen Emperor Lotor since their silent encounter in the hospital, either, though she presumed he was with his people as all of the other representatives were with their people. She had difficulty wrapping her head around it, but whether he was in her presence or out of sight, she couldn’t seem to calm down. Thinking about him elicited feelings of both curiosity and unrest from deep within her, and she couldn’t figure out why. Needless to say, she was troubled by these new ideas.
The oblong ship from Daibazaal was not a fighter class but rather a smaller transport, probably harboring a crew of less than a hundred, yet it was massive up close. Sentries and soldiers were stationed outside, keeping watch, and upon seeing the princess draw nearer, one soldier, whose gray armor and helmet covered everything except the bottom half of his purple face, tensed and held his rifle tightly in his hands.
“What do you want?” he demanded harshly. Next to him, a sentry stood rigidly at attention.
Allura, refusing to be intimidated, kept her cool. She cleared her throat and clasped her hands in front of her, lifting her chin. “Food and supplies from Altea’s relief effort.” She glanced around the area. There was no sign of the Galra leader anywhere.
The soldier glanced past Allura and peered at the cart before addressing her again. “We don’t need it.”
She was finally starting to reach her limit. She could feel the tension from the other three Alteans behind her. Folding her arms, she said, “Your company planned to be here for no more than a day, yes? It has now been three. No doubt your crew is lacking in provisions”―she narrowed her eyes―”that and evidently manners as well.”
“We don’t accept charity from Alteans,” he barked. “The Galra would never stoop so low. Besides, the food is probably poisoned.”
“You accuse us of trying to poison you?” one of the Alteans snapped. “Of course the Galra would think―”
Allura held up her hand to silence them, though she continued to glare at the soldier. “This is not mere charity, nor is it an attempt at a futile reconciliation. I am extending the same courtesy to everyone else, so you may view this as no more than a disinterested benefaction. Take it or leave it.”
“I will not accept this,” the soldier insisted gruffly. “Not without approval from my emperor.”
“Your emperor? And where is he now, pray tell?”
The man was about to respond, then his mouth fell open in surprise when he noticed something over her shoulder. He quickly inclined his head and saluted, placing his right fist over his chest.
“Sire,” he greeted.
Arms still tightly crossed, Allura turned slightly to look over her shoulder and saw Emperor Lotor himself approaching from a few paces away. He stood far enough to keep a more than respectable distance from her, but close enough to have heard the conversation. Next to him was one of his generals, the woman with the dark blue hair and horns. They must have come from inside the ship’s bridge, having taken notice of the commotion. His expression was neutral, his arms behind his back, but hers displayed undisguised mistrust, one hand on her hip as she gave the princess a cold once-over.
Lotor briefly glanced at Allura before addressing the soldier. “What appears to be the problem here, Private?” he inquired smoothly.
Allura turned back to the other man, who cleared his throat and stood up straight. “The Alteans claim to bring provisions for the Galra, Your Imperial Majesty. I suspect an ulterior motive.”
Clenching her fists, Allura braced herself for the inevitable coldness from the emperor, the same cruel and mocking behavior she witnessed on the steps of City Hall. If he was going to pick a fight with her, so be it. She would do the same.
She was astonished, then, when she heard him say the exact opposite of what she expected.
“Take it,” Lotor ordered. “If Her Highness has come all this way to bestow upon us her gracious offer, then we would do well to accept with humility and gratitude.”
Allura’s eyes widened a fraction, but she maintained her composure and stood stiffly with her back to him.
The soldier’s mouth set in a grim line. “Yes, Sire,” he obeyed. “Vrepit Sa.” He saluted again and along with the sentry, he stepped forward and navigated the cart towards the ship’s hangar.
“Shall we depart, Your Highness?” one of the Alteans asked meekly.
Allura turned around to look at the team and noticed how nervous and even fearful they appeared in the presence of the emperor. Without thinking her eyes met his once more. She couldn’t think of anything to say to him. What could she say in a situation such as this? Standing only a few feet away from the enemy of her people, a man she hadn’t spoken a word to, and yet couldn’t understand why he plagued her thoughts so… it was surreal.
As if sensing the quandary from her countenance, Lotor too did not speak to her, but instead nodded to her calmly in acknowledgement. His manner compared to a few days ago was vastly different, she realized. In this moment he was courteous―agreeable, even. It was a surprise, to be sure, but not an unwelcome one. Perhaps he was not as cold and cruel as she initially thought, though his sharp eyes were the same as they were when he first saw her. They were piercing, as if he was staring straight into her soul with his luminescent gaze.
She did not trust the man by any means, of course she didn’t. However, the way he was looking at her… she found that it concerned her in a different way, and she wasn’t sure what to make of it.
Allura returned his nod civilly, then motioned for the team to follow her. She did not miss the icy look from the general as she passed.
“He is an unpleasant fellow, that emperor,” one of the Alteans muttered during the short trek back. “There is something about him that is extremely off-putting.”
“Agreed,” another said. “I shudder to think of his kind as part of the Coalition now.”
“You’re telling me. I almost gagged, his Galra stench was so strong. I heard they bathe in the blood of their enemies.”
“I heard they sleep in their own filth. They’re disgusting.”
“Not to mention horrendously ugly.”
They all laughed, but Allura did not.
“I have heard enough,” she interjected, looking over her shoulder and staring at them, unimpressed. They straightened and looked sheepish.
“Yes, of course. Apologies, Your Highness.”
Afterwards Allura dismissed them, then took a personal transport to return to the hospital and look for Coran. She tugged off her helmet as she entered the lobby, tiredly rubbing the back of her neck and barely suppressing a yawn. She could feel the beginnings of a headache coming on. She did not have much time to dwell on the pain, however, for one of the human cadets from Galaxy Garrison marched right up to her without warning.
“Do you guys know who did it?” he demanded. He had shaggy black hair and violet eyes that regarded her fiercely. Allura blinked at him, caught off guard.
“Keith,” Shiro chastised lightly, walking away from the reception desk and towards them. He nodded to Allura. “Princess, we were just in the middle of checking out of the hospital. I’m glad to see you’re well.”
“Likewise, Shiro,” she said with a smile, tucking her helment underneath her arm. The rest of the kids were sitting in sleek white chairs, waiting alongside a dozen other patients getting ready to leave the hospital. All five humans had changed out of their uniforms and into casual Earth clothes.
“What I meant was,” Keith began again, rephrasing. “Everyone is talking about how this was a terrorist attack on Altea. Do you know who’s responsible?”
“It is too soon to tell, but the police are currently investigating the incident,” Allura assured him.
“Um, Princess?” another cadet spoke, waving nervously. “Hi, Hunk here, nice to see you again―uh, when would you say we’ll be allowed to leave this planet?”
“I am also curious,” the cadet with glasses added. “After the meeting we were supposed to head straight for Dunamis, and I was really looking forward to that.”
“I agree with Pidge,” Lance said definitively, sighing and resting his arms on the backs of Pidge’s and Hunk’s chairs. “As much as I’ve enjoyed being in the presence of Your Beautifulness”―he grinned at Allura―“I am kinda ready to leave Altea. What’s keeping us here?”
“Yeah, it’s been three days,” Keith added, folding his arms. “What gives?”
“Please, try to be a little more patient,” Allura told them gently. “Thankfully the commotion has died down since the attack, but these things take time. Anyone who attended the meeting, helped plan it, or even looked at City Hall that day must be questioned by the authorities. I understand it has not been easy for all of you.” She smiled sympathetically. “I have been visiting with many guests and the poor things are more homesick than ever. It is not easy to stay in a foreign place surrounded by foreign people.”
“No kidding,” Keith muttered. “Though if anyone’s having the hardest time being stuck here, it’s the Galra.”
“Oh, you’re talking about that Lotor guy?” Hunk asked. “He doesn’t seem so bad.”
Lance raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? He’s a giant purple alien who walks around with his posse scowling at everybody. They’re like the space version of a motorcycle gang. Hey, now that I think about it, you'd fit right in with them, Keith!”
“Shuddup.”
“Say what you will, but every single time I get a feeling in my gut, I always turn out to be right,” Hunk said with a shrug. “Pidge, remember when that shady guy at the mall tried to sell you fake copies of Killbot Phantasm One?”
“They looked so authentic,” Pidge said wistfully.
“And Lance, when I told you about Jenny Shaybon when you tried to ask her out? Or was it that other Jenny…”
Lance flushed, clearly embarrassed and heated. “For the last time, it wasn’t my fault we spent the night in holding! She was the one who took a swing at the security guard when we went to that K-Pop concert, not me!”
“Or Keith, what about the last time we all went with you to the dentist?”
“Those three deaths had nothing to do with me,” Keith answered nonchalantly.
“And what about―”
“Okay, Hunk, we get it,” Lance cut him off, rolling his eyes in annoyance.
“Hey man, don’t knock the feeling in your gut,” Hunk concluded, raising his hands. “My point is: maybe this Lotor guy isn’t so bad.”
“Good or bad, I’m just saying,” Keith interjected, taking a seat next to Pidge, his arms still crossed, “ever since we first got here, I’ve noticed that everyone, especially the Alteans, avoid the emperor and his generals like the plague. What’s the deal between you guys?” he asked Allura.
“Actually, that is something I’ve also been curious about, Princess,” Shiro said as he sat down, then added with a sheepish smile, “We haven’t been part of the Universal Coalition for very long, so we’ve got a lot of history to catch up on.”
Allura bit her lip at the mention of Lotor. No matter where she went she couldn’t seem to be rid of him, could she? She nodded and forced a smile. “Very well, I will tell you.” She took a seat next to Shiro, facing the cadets. “You must understand, this is a feud that goes back many centuries, so grudges are not so easily forgotten. As you may already know, Altea and Daibazaal are part of the same system, about one point five billion kilometers away from each other, and for thousands of years our planets coexisted peacefully.
“One day a Galra murdered an Altean in cold blood. The Galra believe it is the other way around, but they are wrong. Our planets went to war with each other, and it lasted for decades. The Galra and Alteans were quite evenly matched, even so today,” Allura admitted begrudgingly. “So neither side ever came close to winning, and instead the planets ended up suffering. The death count was nearly a billion from both Altea and Daibazaal during those years, it was that bloody.
“Eventually the leaders of both planets agreed to a cease-fire to avoid further loss. However…” She shrugged and shook her head. “There was never an official peace treaty established. Since then we’ve successfully avoided each other and any further conflict, and a few days ago it was the first time both Alteans and Galra were in the same place willingly, but there is still a lot of hatred between our people. Whenever we are in a room together, it gets very tense very quickly.”
“And now that Emperor Lotor has joined the Coalition,” Shiro began thoughtfully. “You guys will be running into each other a lot more often now.”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“Why do you think he wanted to join in the first place?” Pidge asked curiously.
“I do not know,” Allura admitted, and the very question had troubled her since the confrontation between the emperor and her father, and now even more so after seeing Lotor again a short while ago. “The primary objective of the Universal Coalition is to preserve the peace, but given the Galra’s history―not only with my people, but with that of the entire universe as well―I can neither determine his reasoning nor his motive. I…”
Her brow furrowed, and she was disturbed at the seed of confliction sprouting within her. She then had the horrible thought that this would not be the last time she would feel this way.
“I have no idea what Emperor Lotor’s endgame is,” she murmured.
The humans were silent as this information sank in, then Hunk spoke up. “Can’t you guys, I dunno, work things out? Like you said, this happened hundreds of years ago, right? Now that Emperor Lotor is here on Altea, maybe you can talk to him and make a peace treaty.”
“Yeah, and maybe we’ll all hold hands and sing ‘Kumbaya’ together,” Lance told him sarcastically. “Come on, Hunk, there’s no way that guy wants to work things out with anybody.”
“Even if he did,” Allura began, smiling wanly. “It is not up to me. As king, my father must listen to his people, but they respect him greatly. If he has no interest in reconciling, what do you suppose they will think? Besides, with everything going on right now, a peace treaty with the Galra will be the furthest thing from anyone’s minds.”
“But you’re the princess,” Keith pointed out. “You must have some kind of influence. What’s your opinion on all of this?”
Allura hesitated. “Well, I―”
“Princess Allura?”
She turned in her seat to see a nurse walking up to her.
“Your father has awoken, Your Highness,” the nurse told her with a smile. “He is asking for you.”
Sprinting all the way to the king’s personal suite, Allura briefly stopped to catch her breath before pushing a button on a console attached to the wall, and the doors hissed open. She burst in and released a huge sigh of relief, her shoulders sagging. The white room was bathed in subtle hues of blue and cyan, and she saw Alfor sitting upright in a hospital bed, speaking with Melenor who sat at his bedside. Coran, who stood next to the other side of the bed, beamed at Allura and moved aside to make room for her.
“Allura,” Alfor called out in surprise. He smiled. “Come here, Daughter.” Allura went to him and took his hand in hers when he reached out for her. “I am so glad to see you are safe. How is your concussion?”
“It’s fine,” she assured him. Tears of relief and joy threatened to spill over, but she blinked rapidly. “Are you in a lot of pain, Father?”
“A bit sore, but I’ll live,” he told her lightly. “What is important is that we are all here together.” He glanced around them. “Right?”
“Of course, my love,” Melenor said. Allura briefly watched her parents as they spoke quietly together. They both looked exhausted, but they were safe. Allura turned to Coran and they exchanged reassured smiles with one another.
Unfortunately the family didn’t get much alone time together, however, before the doors slid open again and in walked an Altean policewoman.
“Chief,” Alfor greeted with a nod. “What news do you bring?”
Chief-of-police Hira bowed and smoothed back her short, magenta hair before speaking. “Glad to see you’re in good health, Your Majesty. We are still in the midst of clearing away all of the wreckage at City Hall, but”―her tone of voice was grim―”we have an official body count of one hundred and thirty-three lives lost, both Altean and others, including the High Council members.”
The atmosphere turned quiet and sober. “Very well,” Alfor agreed. “I shall make plans for a memorial service very soon. What else?”
“Over the past three days we have been interrogating all of the guests and witnesses that were present during the attack. It is slow going, and unfortunately we have no leads. Except for one thing.” Her expression turned grave as she produced something from her person. It was a translucent, sealed bag, inside of which was a small object. “We found this among the ruins this morning.”
Allura stepped forward to accept the bag and she examined the item. Realizing what it was, her mouth went dry. Anyone would recognize the design anywhere―the sharp and sleek shape, the heaviness of it, the purple and black coloring, and the unmistakable symbol stamped onto the surface.
Her heart pounded in her chest, steadily climbing up her throat. To her own shock she felt betrayed, and then immediately felt foolish for feeling betrayed. The person to whom this object belonged to… she hadn’t even exchanged a single word with. They were neither friends nor acquaintances. Far from it, in fact; they were enemies. How could someone feel betrayed by an enemy?
With trembling fingers she returned the bag to the chief.
“That is a Galra explosive,” Allura said slowly.
Shock, disbelief, and most of all―anger―ignited her blood, lighting a fire and burning her very insides. She turned to her father with a stony expression.
“Emperor Lotor is the one who attacked us.”
The rage on Alfor’s face was plain to see. Were he not currently incapacitated, Allura was certain he would’ve sprung from the bed to track down and kill the Galra himself. Instead, he had no choice but to remain where he was, the wrath emanating from him like the solar flares of a sun. He addressed Chief Hira.
“Find him,” he said, his voice low and barely controlled. “You tell him I want to see him.”
Notes:
It's about to go down!!! >:)
Thank you so much for reading and happy Friday!! <3
Chapter Text
If Allura had thought the meeting on the steps of City Hall was tense, it was nothing compared to the emotionally charged and fretful atmosphere in the hospital suite. She was restless. She had no idea what to do with her hands except to tug on her necklace as she paced the length of the room. No one spoke a word, as everyone was so on edge that it didn’t feel appropriate to say anything. Melenor sat stiffly in her seat at her husband’s bedside while he sat up against the pillows with his fists clenched around the sheets. Coran stood rigidly on the other side, his hands behind his back and his knees tightly locked to the point that Allura thought they might be in danger of buckling, and as always two sentries stood dutifully in the far corners of the room, keeping watch with their spears in hand.
The time before Lotor arrived seemed to stretch on for hours, but at last the doors to the royal suite hissed open and in walked Chief Hira, followed by the emperor and his generals. As they filed in, Allura backed away to stand next to where her mother was sitting, her necklace closed in one fist, the pointed edges of the crystal flower biting into her palm.
Lotor looked about the room, no doubt feeling the apprehension in the air. “What an honor to be summoned by the king while he recovers from surgery,” he said, his voice callous and unfeeling. “Apologies for not bringing a get-well present.”
“Do not mock me,” Alfor barked.
The other man sighed, already impatient to leave. “What is it that you want? As much as I have appreciated your overwhelmingly generous hospitality,” he began, voice dripping with sarcasm, “it is time my generals and I return to Daibazaal. Have we not overstayed our welcome yet, Your Majesty?”
“Yes, I can imagine you are eager to return home,” Alfor retorted as he lifted the blankets off of himself. With difficulty, he climbed out of the bed, followed by the sentries, and made his way towards the Galra.
“Father,” Allura protested. “You should not―”
“I am fine.”
The princess sighed and lifted her hands in exasperation. Apparently the king’s male ego far outweighed the importance of his health. Alfor stood up straight, a few paces away from Lotor, and was clearly trying to withstand the pain.
“Careful now,” Lotor warned with a cold smile. “You would not want to reopen your wounds so soon. They appear to be quite serious.”
“You have some nerve, speaking that way to me,” Alfor grunted out. “Well, you got what you wanted, didn’t you? Are the murders of one hundred and thirty-three people and the destruction of my city enough to satisfy you?”
Lotor furrowed his brow and opened his mouth to respond, but the older man continued.
“Or is it a war that you really want? Yes, that must be it. You come to my planet, strut around without a care in the world, then attempt to murder my family and my people. You claim to stand by the Coalition’s ideals, when all along your plan was to nab the first chance you got to be invited to Altea and start a war. Is this your idea of fun?” Alfor scoffed. “You are no emperor. You are still a boy―a vain, cruel boy who delights in the suffering of others.”
The general with the horns stepped forward to Lotor’s side. “You dare insult Emperor Lotor?” she told Alfor menacingly. Her hand hovered over the holster of her gun. The sentries took a defensive stance, Chief Hira reached for her pistol, and the other generals tensed.
Lotor held out an arm, motioning for his general to stop. “Stand down, Acxa,” he ordered. His voice was calm but his eyes were dark. “Let us give the Altean king a chance to rescind his statement, shall we?”
“You attacked my people,” Alfor told him. “You planted bombs underneath City Hall. All of this is your doing.”
Lotor’s face hardened and his claws extracted, though he kept his arms at his sides. “You have the audacity to accuse me?” he growled. “On what grounds?”
The corner of Alfor’s mouth lifted humorlessly. He held out his hand to the side. Chief Hira stepped forward to give him the sealed bag, then he thrust it out for Lotor to take. Confused, Lotor accepted the bag and peered at it, a crease forming between his brow.
“The next time you try to set off an explosion, try not to leave any evidence behind,” Alfor added.
The emperor’s head snapped up and he stared at the king with his piercing eyes. “This,” he said, pushing it back into Alfor’s hands, his temper rising. “You attempt to blame me for something I did not do, and all you have is this to show for it?”
“Is it not proof enough?”
“It was clearly planted!” Lotor roared.
“Do not deny what you have done!” Alfor bellowed. “You have declared an act of war against me!”
“I have done no such thing! I see what you are trying to do.” Lotor let out a short laugh. “You are trying to frame me― you did this!”
The men continued to argue, and the surrounding generals, police and sentries all stood on the defense. Meanwhile, Allura and Melenor watched with apprehension.
“This is very bad,” Melenor whispered.
“Someone is going to get killed if we do not do something,” Allura muttered.
“Allura, please. You cannot get involved in this dispute,” her mother implored her. Her usual calm manner was on the brink of losing control out of agitation and fear of the situation before them. “I forbid it. You could get hurt, or worse.”
“Then we shall stand here and watch blood be spilt?” Allura shook her head. “I cannot allow that to happen.”
“That is not up to you, Daughter.”
“Enough of this,” Lotor snarled. “If it is a war you want, then it is a war you shall get, old man. Victory or death!” As he shouted the Galra mantra he drew his sword. Acxa and Hira quickly raised their weapons, and Alfor grabbed one of the sentry’s spears, ready to fight.
“No…!” Allura could not watch any more. She knew that if her grandmother were here, she would have done everything in her power to stop anyone from getting hurt, whether Altean or Galra. What would she say if she were here now?
Trust your gut, Lulu. Above all else, trust in yourself.
Allura could be about to lose her own life, but at that very moment, she was not thinking of herself. She stepped forward.
“Allura, don’t―!” Melenor cried out.
Just as Lotor raised his sword to strike, Allura ran and stepped in between him and her father. “Wait!” she shouted, raising her hands, her heart pounding like a drum. Lotor paused, staring down at her with murderous intent in his eyes.
“Allura, get out of the way!” Alfor tried to pull her back, but she wouldn’t budge. “This does not concern you!”
“Yes, Father, it does.” Allura turned to Hira. “Chief, stand down.”
“But Your Highness―” Hira began to protest.
“Will you not obey your princess? Stand down,” she commanded. “Sentries, weapons away.” Reluctantly, the chief lowered her gun and the sentries at last backed off. Allura turned to Lotor.
“Allura, what are you―” Alfor started, but she looked over her shoulder at him with a sharp expression.
“Father, you must stop,” she said.
She then faced Lotor, whose sword hung at his side, and tried to remain calm despite the thundering in her heart and the ice in her veins. Keeping her hands raised in front of her, she spoke to him for the first time:
“Emperor,” she said slowly yet firmly. “It does not have to end like this. We can find a solution without resulting in further bloodshed.”
“Tell that to your father,” Lotor growled, gesturing with his sword towards the man in question. “Surely you can understand my reaction to him accusing me of a crime I did not commit.”
“And surely you can understand his reaction to finding a Galra bomb underneath City Hall,” Allura returned. “Please, sir, I implore you to listen to reason.” She looked up at him intently, and realized that he was a lot taller up close; the top of her head barely reached his chin. “I know you are angry, but as emperor of the Galra, I have no doubt that your love for them far exceeds your hatred for us.”
Lotor’s eyes narrowed at her. Then he glanced at Alfor, still looking like he wanted to rip him limb from limb. Cautiously, Allura lowered her hands and took a step forward so that they were less than a foot apart, catching his eye once more.
“It is something you and I have in common,” she said. “We both care for our people. Think of them. Think of what would happen to you were you to kill my father, who is the king. Do not forget whose planet you stand on.”
Lotor’s anger did not fade, but he did not make any moves to attack, either. Finally, with a stiff nod, his shoulders relaxed and he sheathed his sword. Allura exhaled, then stepped away from him so that she could face both him and her father. Alfor was watching her in silence, stunned at what she had just done. Somehow she had managed to confront Lotor and diffuse the situation, but now with the men whose attention was on her, expecting her to continue speaking, she was nervous and maybe even a little frightened. She glanced over at Coran, who gave her an encouraging nod.
“Alright,” she began, attempting to calm herself as her heart continued to pound in her chest. “I propose a peaceful alternative. The Altean police are currently collecting evidence from the scene, yes?”
Hira nodded. “Yes, Your Highness.”
“Then it is only fair that the accused be allowed to do the same and form a strong case in order to defend themselves.”
“Allura, what are you saying?” Alfor asked incredulously. “You cannot possibly consider allowing the Galra to perform their own investigation! They will do anything to tip the scales in their favor! They already have!”
“Were this to happen on Daibazaal, and we were the ones accused of starting a war, you would want the same fair treatment,” Allura pointed out. “I know the resentment between our people runs deep, but we cannot allow personal prejudice to corrupt the purity of justice. Otherwise, everyone loses.”
Lotor folded his arms, watching her. “And what do you suggest we do after we finish the investigation?” he inquired icily. His manner was once more carefully controlled, Allura observed.
“Altea has a courthouse,” she told him. “When both sides have prepared an argument, we go to trial, and―if the Galra are truly innocent―we will find the real culprit behind the attack. If you are being framed as you so claim, then we can resolve this without going to war.”
“Absolutely not,” the emperor interjected darkly. “I refuse to go to trial on enemy turf, surrounded by Alteans who will inevitably decide that I am responsible. I am at a clear disadvantage.”
Allura thought for a moment, and without thinking she began pulling on her necklace. She would never admit it out loud, but Lotor had a good point. Every Altean cell in her body was screaming at her, insisting that the Galra were the enemy and responsible for the destruction of City Hall and one hundred and thirty-three lives lost, but… If there was a possibility, even the tiniest suggestion that Lotor was not at fault for the attack, and Allura did not do everything in her power to make things right, she would never forgive herself.
“Then we have a third party act as judge,” she suggested. She turned to Coran. “Are the surviving High Council members still on Altea?” she asked him.
“Yes, Princess,” he confirmed.
“Good, then I will call a meeting with them and ask if we can hold the investigation on Dunamis. It is neutral ground for the both of us,” she said, addressing Lotor again. “I am sure I can convince them.”
Lotor considered, then nodded. “Very well. But I warn you”―his eyes flashed―“should your plan fail, I shall be forced to take measures for the sake of my people.”
Allura swallowed and nodded back. Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that. She looked at Alfor. “Father?”
Her father was staring at her, both shock and amazement on his face. He quickly recovered. “Y-yes, go and call on the High Council, Daughter. Inform them of your proposal.”
With a small sigh of relief and feeling energized for the first time in days, Allura nodded to him determinedly. She then moved to walk past Lotor to exit the suite, but he abruptly blocked her path and stepped into her space. She nearly gasped at their sudden close proximity.
“Yes?” she asked sharply. She had to lift her chin in order to look him in the eye.
“When you arrange a time to meet with the council, you will inform me as soon as possible,” Lotor told her, his voice low and domineering. It was not a request. “I cannot let you visit with them alone and have you scheming behind my back, now can I, Princess?”
“Fair enough,” Allura said with a curt nod. “Then you will wait until I send word for you.”
She clenched her fists as they continued to stare at each other. Everyone called her “Princess.” It was a title she’d grown up hearing all her life; it was nothing new, yet hearing it come out of his mouth was… It was―
“Wonderful,” Lotor said smoothly, lifting his chin and looking down at her with his piercing gaze. “Best of luck, then.” He stepped aside to let her pass, and their eyes remained on each other until Allura walked by him and left the hospital room.
The remaining four High Council members, like all of the other guests, were getting restless and wanting to return to their homes and families as soon as possible, and at first were resistant to the idea of attending a meeting arranged out of the blue. However, Allura managed to convince them, telling them that she had figured out a way for them to find out who was behind the attack, and they all agreed to meet the next day. Soon after, Allura sent a sentry to find Lotor to deliver him a message concerning the time and meeting place.
“Allura, I was very impressed by what you did yesterday at the hospital,” Coran told her as the two of them walked swiftly through the white halls of the courthouse the following morning. The high ceilings formed arches far above their heads and cast a soft, cyan glow throughout the building. “But why are you going to such great lengths in order to give the Galra fair treatment? Especially Lotor, of all people?”
“As I said yesterday, if we were in his position, we would demand the same thing,” she answered. “What goes around comes around, Coran. If we corrupt the system in order to ensure our own success, then we will end up paying for it in one way or another, and that payment will come in the form of war.”
“The threat of war is already upon us, Allura.”
“Then it is a good thing we are giving Lotor a chance to prove himself innocent and avoid said war, isn’t it?” Allura stopped in front of the doors leading to the room where the meeting was to be held. “Which is why I am doing all of this in the first place.” She reached out for the console to grant them entry, but stopped when Coran put a hand on her shoulder.
“I understand, Allura. Really I do, and your cause is noble. But this is Lotor we’re talking about,” he insisted. He glanced around the corridor to make sure they were alone before turning back to her. “You know his father had a reputation back in the day when he was still emperor. He conquered planets. He took people ―innocent people, Allura―from their homes, separated families so he could use them in gladiator matches for his own enjoyment, and people were too afraid to do anything about it. He was a tyrant who did what he liked and he cut down anyone who dared cross him.”
“I am well aware of Zarkon’s history as emperor, Coran. What is your point?”
“As Zarkon’s son, Lotor can’t be any different. You’ve heard the rumors about him, haven’t you?”
“That while he was still prince he disappeared off of the face of the universe for several years and no one knows what happened to him?” Allura raised her eyebrows skeptically. “Yes, I know all about that.”
“And there is speculation that Lotor is responsible for the annihilation of an entire planet he once conquered, that that is why he disappeared. Then a year ago when Zarkon’s health began to deteriorate, Lotor suddenly returned to Daibazaal to take the throne.”
“I know about that, too, Coran.”
“So what I’m saying is―” Her friend’s expression turned grim. “Lotor might be like his father―a monster. I just want to warn you before we go inside and attend this meeting… Please be careful. By fighting for Lotor’s right to have a fair chance in this case, you are only involving yourself further with him.”
Allura frowned. “That is not my intention, and you know that. Coran, you know me.”
“Yes, of course, but I am afraid that if you keep on this path, eventually you will pass the point of no return.” He then paused, apprehension and concern on his face. “Allura, did something happen when you delivered the supplies to the Galra yesterday? Did Lotor say something to you?”
She pursed her lips. “No,” she answered, though that wasn’t entirely true.
Lotor had thanked Allura for her help by proxy, and she was reminded of how surprisingly cordial he was with her, a stark contrast to his near-violent nature during the other times she’d encountered him. She shook her head and came back to the present. What did any of that matter? Exhaling through her nose, she looked Coran in the eye.
“Coran, I will never― ever ―involve myself with Emperor Lotor. That is a promise.” And with that, fidgeting as she adjusted her tiara and the cuffs of her flight suit, she finally opened the doors and walked in.
The courtroom was spacious. Three seats for judges were normally at the back of the room up against the wall above the stand, but one more had been added in order to accommodate the surviving four council members―Princess Malocoti of Krell, King Maato of Arus, President Desto of Pinto Sentos, and Count Do-Tarn of Grekagan.
In front of them was an empty space for the accused and prosecutor to make their case to the judges, and at the front of the room were several rows of pews which Allura and Coran walked past as they entered.
“Just in time, Your Highness,” King Maato greeted. Allura nodded, and saw Lotor off to the right, standing up straight with his hands behind his back. Once again, Acxa was at his side, and she narrowed her eyes at Allura with the same look of mistrust and loathing.
“Now that everyone is here, let us begin,” Princess Malocoti announced brightly, tossing a lock of her fiery red hair behind her shoulder. “Please…” She gestured towards the empty space in front of them. Coran, Allura, Lotor, and Acxa came to stand in the center. Allura glanced at Lotor, who was an arm’s length to her right. With the cold atmosphere and tense looks on the council members’ faces, it almost felt as if she and him were the ones on trial.
“It appears we have two additional participants,” Count Do-Tarn noticed with interest. “You are…?”
“Coran Hieronymus Wimbleton Smythe,” Coran answered, inclining his head. “I serve as royal advisor to Princess Allura and her family.”
“General Acxa,” Acxa introduced with a curt nod. “I serve alongside Emperor Lotor. Wherever he goes, I go.” She sounded proud of the fact, Allura noticed.
“You have the floor, Princess Allura,” President Desto said, her serious eyes fixed on her.
Allura cleared her throat and joined her hands in front of her. “Firstly, I want to say once again how sorry I am for the loss of the other three council members. My family plans to hold a ceremony soon in order to honor them and the other victims.”
“Thank you, Princess. Now, what is it you wanted to tell us?”
“Yesterday my father, King Alfor, accused Emperor Lotor of orchestrating the attack on City Hall.”
“Is this true, Emperor?” Princess Malocoti asked, eyes widening. Her four, baby blue, pointed ears twitched in surprise. “The king suspects you?”
“Yes,” Lotor answered, his voice rough.
“And what evidence does King Alfor have?”
“The police found a Galra explosive among the wreckage,” Allura began to explain.
“How convenient for the police to have found only the one,” Lotor added with a hint of resentment. “I believe it was planted, or someone had access to Galra weaponry, in order to frame me.”
“It is true,” Allura admitted reluctantly, “that besides the single explosive Chief Hira presented to us, there is no additional proof to support my father’s claims.” She and Lotor glanced at each other. She tried to decipher the expression on his face to no avail, and eventually she tore her gaze away from him to address the council. “As you know, Altea and Daibazaal have an ongoing dispute that goes back several centuries. In order to avoid further conflict, as well as offer the emperor a fair chance to defend himself, I propose we resume the investigation on Dunamis instead of Altea. It is also crucial that we keep the discovery of the bomb a secret. I do not wish for my people to panic over something that is uncertain.”
“Nor mine,” Lotor said.
“Hm…” Count Do-Tarn leaned forward, resting his arms on the table in front of him. “What does the council have to gain from allowing you to hold the investigation on Dunamis? This is your conflict and your conflict alone, isn’t it?”
“Well,” Allura began, frowning. “Technically yes, but―”
“Then the two of you should solve this on your own, shouldn’t you?”
Allura grit her teeth and maintained her composure, but on the inside she was fuming, for she did not appreciate the count belittling their situation. Truth be told, however, she didn’t have a solid reason as to why the council should accommodate them, other than to help her and Lotor’s predicament. As she wracked her brain for an answer, Lotor, whether intentionally or not, came to her rescue.
“Daibazaal and Altea are part of the Universal Coalition,” he reminded the council. “The Coalition’s objective has always been to spread peace and diplomacy; you declared so yourself the day of the attack. Why else would I have reason to join? And yet you find an excuse to exclude yourself from our plight. By disregarding us, you are disregarding your own mission statement.” He narrowed his eyes. “I would rather leave the Coalition than be affiliated with a council made up of hypocrites―unless you can prove me wrong.”
There was some murmuring amongst the four members.
“Will you lead the investigation on behalf of your people, Emperor Lotor?” King Maato asked. The small Arusian eyed the Galra with undisguised fear.
“Yes.”
“And Princess Allura, how soon until your father can come to Dunamis?”
Allura bit her lip, hesitating to answer. Prior to her arrival at the courthouse, she’d visited the hospital once more to speak with the surgeon, who told her that her father needed more time to recover. It could be months before he was fit for travel. They didn’t have months. Altea was clearly the target of the bombings, and many citizens died, but so did dozens of representatives from other planets―not to mention there were yet more wounded in the hospital. Their loved ones would want the person responsible for the attack to answer for their crimes. If that person was not Lotor, if the whole reason for this investigation was to avoid a war between Altea and Daibazaal, then the sooner they found the truth the better.
She took in a deep breath and straightened her back, and before she could think twice about it, she spoke. “My father will not, in fact, be going to Dunamis, Your Majesty,” she answered King Maato. “He has appointed me to go in his stead.”
Coran turned to Allura, flabbergasted, and stared at her as if she’d just grown a second head. “Prin―” he began to protest, but she elbowed him hard in the ribs, all the while keeping her eyes on the council.
President Desto raised an eyebrow. “From my knowledge, Princess, you have never led any sort of investigation or royal dealings on your own before.”
“Not outside of my own planet, perhaps,” Allura admitted. “But I am no stranger to responsibility. I know what it means to dedicate one’s entire life to serving and protecting one’s people. This will not be any different.”
“You are certain your father approved of this?”
“Absolutely,” Allura lied, forcing a smile. “Right, Coran?” She looked at him, trying with all her might to communicate with him through her apologetic eyes. I’m sorry, but just go with it for now!
Coran released a small sigh, gave in, then turned to the council and nodded. “That is correct, Madam President. His Majesty gave the princess his blessing to go in his place while she was visiting him in the hospital yesterday.”
“I see. Then we will require a moment to decide on how to go about this. You may vacate the room while we discuss.”
Allura nodded and turned on her heel to exit. She couldn’t look at Lotor, not when she knew that he knew that she’d just told a lie. After all, he’d been present in the hospital suite yesterday, and Alfor hadn’t given her a blessing of any kind.
The doors opened to the hallway and Coran was right on her heels.
“Allura!” he protested. “You lied to―”
“Shh!” she hissed, spinning around and putting a finger up to her lips. Her face burned from embarrassment when she saw Lotor and Acxa walking out after them, the doors sliding closed behind them. Lotor glanced at her, though whether it was with a look of amusement, annoyance, or something else she couldn’t be certain, for he turned and walked some distance away with his general. “I need―” Allura sighed and pulled on Coran’s arm, leading him to the opposite end of the hallway. “I need you to keep your voice down. Please.”
“Were you not listening to a thing I said before we walked in?” he asked her exasperatedly, albeit more quietly. “You are getting more and more involved in this, Allura, and it isn’t safe.”
“I know, Coran, but―” Allura looked over his shoulder. Lotor and Acxa were now out of earshot. “You know Father would not survive traveling across the galaxy to Dunamis, let alone lead an entire investigation on behalf of Altea. He needs time to heal, and that time is running out for us. I want to solve this before it is too late. Coran…” She paused, looking at him desperately. “This is the only way, don’t you understand? I need your support on this.”
Coran’s shoulders sagged as he let out a long sigh. He looked at her sadly. “Allura, you will always have my support, no matter what. I have known you since the day you were born, and, well… I’m only trying to look out for you, that’s all.”
Allura smiled, and her heart swelled with affection. “I know. You have been there for me more than most, and I will always be grateful to you. I am doing this for all of us―for Father, for our people, and for me.”
He nodded. “Alright. I will help you convince the king. I know you can do this, Allura. You are more capable than you realize.”
“Thank you,” she told him sincerely, smiling at him, but then her attention was quickly drawn elsewhere when something over Coran’s shoulder caught her eye.
Lotor had been discussing with Acxa at the other end of the hallway, but now he was looking straight at Allura. In stubborn defiance she stared right back at him, lifting her chin and challenging him, though for what she didn’t quite know.
Not long after, they were summoned back into the courtroom, and she, Coran, Lotor, and Acxa stood in their places the same as before.
“We have good news, and we have great news,” Princess Malocoti announced cheerfully. “Which would you like to hear first?”
“Er… the good news, I suppose?” Allura suggested. Lotor did not object, folding his arms and waiting for what said good news could be.
“After some deliberation, the council has decided to grant your request to hold the investigation on Dunamis,” President Desto said. “You will be accommodated with every hospitality the Coalition has to offer: lodgings, alimentation, the highest form of security, access to our communications and intelligence network, et cetera, in order to help your case.”
A wave of relief washed over Allura. “And the great news?” she asked curiously.
“We offer all of this on one condition,” the president continued. “And that is…”
I have a bad feeling about this, Allura thought. She reached for her necklace as dread formed in the pit of her stomach.
“Emperor Lotor and Princess Allura are to work together on the investigation.”
“What?!” Allura blurted out.
“Absolutely not,” Lotor growled at the same time. They glanced at each other. Coran and Acxa also looked uneasy.
“Any findings the two of you make, you will immediately report back to us,” Desto continued. “This is non-negotiable.”
“No, Madam President, this is―I cannot―” Allura spluttered, unable to believe what she was hearing. “You cannot possibly be suggesting the idea of us actually working alongside each other. It is against our very nature!”
“I concur,” Lotor said through gritted teeth. “Galra and Alteans have remained separated for hundreds of years for a reason. This cannot happen, not ever.”
“Nonsense!” King Maato exclaimed, grinning nervously at the two royals. “See, you two are already agreeing on something!”
Allura and Lotor looked at each other again, both in disbelief at the ridiculousness of this situation. The relief Allura had felt only seconds ago quickly evaporated and was replaced by shock and incredulity.
“Whose idea was this?” Lotor demanded, tearing his gaze away from her.
“Mine,” Count Do-Tarn answered, standing from his seat. Allura clenched her fists. She did not condone violence, but oh help her Mother of the Universe, she was doing everything in her power to resist marching up to the count and punching that smug smile off his shiny, golden beak. “It was my idea, Emperor Lotor, and I think it is a very good one. My fellow council members seem to agree with me.”
“Yes,” Princess Malocoti agreed eagerly. “Who knows, perhaps something good will come out of all of this.”
“Unlikely,” Allura retorted. She knew exactly what Do-Tarn was trying to do. He didn’t care about the plight of the Alteans or the Galra. He just wanted to watch them squirm so he could sit back and watch the chaos unfold. He was doing all of this for his own entertainment. She really hated that man.
“I refuse to accept this, Count Do-Tarn,” Lotor said, taking the words right out of her mouth. “Are you deliberately choosing to ignore the severity of the dispute between our people, or are you really so dull-witted that you cannot even comprehend it?”
Do-Tarn blinked at him, unimpressed. He sighed as he left his seat and walked down from the stand to approach them. “I understand that all of this may be very shocking to you. But as someone who is older―”
“Not that much older,” Allura muttered under her breath. At least not that much older than Lotor, anyway.
“―and with more life experience, allow me to explain this in a way that the two of you can understand.” He walked towards them, stopping a few feet in front of them, his hands behind his back. “I am well aware of the feud between your people, and you may not have noticed, but it has been a thorn in everyone else’s side since the moment Emperor Lotor set foot on this planet.
“Daibazaal was accepted into the Coalition, Your Imperial Majesty, because your and the princess’s people agreed to a cease-fire many years ago. You assured the High Council of your peaceful intentions, that we had no reason to worry about another war breaking out. As of a few days ago, however, that has all changed. Not only are you being accused of taking the lives of one hundred and thirty-three people, but King Alfor seems quite adamant on going to war with you to settle this centuries-old dispute once and for all. How do you think that makes the rest of us feel? Why, with even the two of you here in the same room together, we all feel like we’re walking on eggshells.”
Do-Tarn began pacing back and forth from one side of the room to the other authoritatively, his hands behind his back.
“If you do not agree to work together, there will be no investigation,” he went on. “If there is no investigation, your planets will go to war. If you go to war, then the council will have no choice but to revoke both Altea and Daibazaal’s memberships from the Coalition.”
“How dare you make such a threat?” Allura spoke up heatedly, her blood boiling. “Altea has no fault in any of this! How can you kick us out?”
The count stopped in his tracks, tilting his head as he regarded her. “Oh, but Emperor Lotor seems to have no problem with it. In fact, he is the one who put the idea in my head when he threatened to leave the Coalition earlier. Why don’t you blame him?” Allura rolled her eyes. “Besides, how can we support you two going to war? Peace and diplomacy, that is our mission statement, as His Imperial Majesty so graciously reminded us. We would have no choice but to remove you. Surely, you don’t want that for your people, do you?”
“So you are blackmailing us in order to force us to work together,” Lotor concluded, looking just as angry as Allura felt.
“If you want to put it that way,” Do-Tarn said with a smile as he shrugged. “Then, yes. I’m blackmailing you.”
Allura turned to the other three members of the council. “And the rest of you? You cannot agree to this, can you?”
Princess Malocoti lifted one shoulder, but her smile was sympathetic. “We already have. Do not worry, I have faith in you both. Not only will you be able to find the real perpetrator behind the attack, but you might even be able to reconcile your people!”
“It would be one for the history books,” Do-Tarn added with a very self-satisfied smirk. “Besides, given your… reputation,” he added pointedly to Lotor. “A collaboration with the Altean princess would help your public image, would it not? Trust me, you’ll be thanking me when this is all over. So, what do you say? The fate of your planets are now in your hands. Choose wisely.”
Allura closed her eyes and let out a slow exhale, trying to calm herself. This couldn’t be happening. She thought she had it all figured out, that she finally had a clear path before her and that she would know that she was doing the right thing. But this… this was something completely out of her control. Just when she’d begun to think that things couldn’t get any more complicated, Do-Tarn forced his way into their lives, turned the tables and seized all of the power―and he knew it.
She turned to her left to look at Coran. He was worried for her, but he nodded reassuringly. I believe in you, he seemed to say. She nodded back, and knew what she had to do.
Lotor spoke up first. Whether or not he was in as much turmoil as she was, it was hard to tell, but he looked resolute and spoke decisively. “I agree to your terms. I will do anything it takes to save my people.”
“As will I,” Allura said.
“No,” Alfor fumed. The king was sitting in his hospital bed, too weak to move but apparently not weak enough to keep him from scolding his daughter. “You are not going to Dunamis. I forbid it.”
Allura had expected resistance. “The High Council will not allow it otherwise,” she explained to him calmly. “I am not saying I believe Emperor Lotor is innocent, but if I do not work with him on this case, then not only will the Council remove us from the Coalition, but the Galra will go to war with us. If we want to prevent that from happening, this is the way to do it.”
Even as she said those words out loud, however, she almost couldn’t believe the reality of it all. The council had involved themselves more than Allura could have predicted, and were further entangling hers and Lotor’s lives together. Yesterday she was someone who had her agency. Even when putting herself between Lotor and her father, that had still been her choice. Today, she was completely stripped of any of that, and it was all thanks to Do-Tarn.
“Going off-planet to perform an investigation by yourself is one thing, but to do so alongside him is another entirely!” Alfor protested stubbornly.
“Whether I do this with or without him does not matter to me,” Allura insisted. “I can do this.”
“She can, Your Majesty,” Coran, who stood next to her, added with a confident nod. “She is more than capable, I am sure of it.”
“You should have not made this decision without me, both of you,” Alfor said, still angry.
“But Your Majesty―”
“Enough, Coran. Allura, I want you to go back to the council this instant and tell them that you are not going.”
“Then who else will go?” Allura argued. “Did you not hear what the surgeon said? You are not fit for travel, Father. It has to be me.”
“Then your mother―”
“I am not leaving your side,” Melenor interjected, her voice calm yet firm.
“I will not have my daughter running around Dunamis knowing that that man―that monster― is going to be there, too!”
“That man almost killed you yesterday because you accused him,” Allura reminded him exasperatedly. “You wanted to confront him, and had I not stepped in, you would have been unable to fight back, and he would have taken your life. Despite your best efforts to appear otherwise, Father―” she added quickly when he tried to protest. “―you are still very unwell, you need time to heal. Please, I need you to trust me.” She offered a reassuring smile. “I promise I am not doing this to get out of meeting with any more suitors,” she joked light-heartedly.
Her mother returned her smile, though her father was still not convinced. Melenor then reached out to take hold of her husband’s hand. “Have faith in our daughter, my love,” she told him gently. “I believe she made the right decision in taking your place. As future queen, this is exactly the kind of situation she’s been preparing for, and it will not be the last.”
Allura was surprised to hear these words from her mother, but her heart soared with gratitude nonetheless. She took a step forward. “I know you are concerned for my safety,” she said, “and I love you both for it, but this is bigger than me. I would do anything for our family―for our people. Everything I have ever done has been for them. No matter what happens, no matter if the Galra are responsible or not, I will always put my people first. That will never change.”
Alfor pursed his lips, the hesitation clear on his face. But with another squeeze from his wife’s hand and a look which passed between the married couple, he sighed, his shoulders sagged, and he nodded.
“Alright,” he said at last. “You may go.”
“Really?” Allura asked eagerly, brightening. Truth be told, even if her father had disapproved, she would have gone anyway, but having officially gained his blessing would make things a lot easier on her conscience. She barely resisted the urge to leap into the air with joy.
“But only if you take Coran with you,” he added.
She nodded, trying not to look too happy. “Yes, of course,” she agreed.
“You must call us every single day.”
Allura cringed. “I may be a bit busy for that…”
“Then at least twice a week,” Alfor insisted. “And do not go anywhere on your own.”
“My love, she is a grown woman,” Melenor chastised him, amusement in her voice. “She is old enough to be unchaperoned, is she not?”
“Yes. Yes, I am,” Allura added.
“The two of you sound like the Queen Dowager,” the king grumbled as he mentioned his mother-in-law.
“I will take that as a compliment,” Allura said with a grin.
It was not long after that the princess heard of Emperor Lotor’s departure back to his home planet once his people collected the needed evidence from the crime scene. The memorial service was held some days later on the very spot City Hall used to be, now cleared of all debris and wreckage. It was hot and humid, as it was any other day on Altea, and it was strange, seeing the empty lot among the towering buildings in the city. It truly felt as though a piece of Allura’s home world had been taken away, and the loss of the one hundred and thirty-three lives was felt among the large crowd in attendance.
Allura wore her dress and stood off to the side next to Coran, watching her mother help her father stand from his wheelchair and approach the podium to speak. They, along with the audience, wore pink sashes across their chests, the color worn to honor those whose lives were lost in the attack. King Alfor gave a moving speech, or at least Allura assumed he did. Truth be told, she wasn’t really listening. All throughout the service she couldn’t focus, her mind racing elsewhere. She was distracted, and continued to be distracted when her family returned to the Castle of Lions.
The large, white doors hissed shut behind Allura as she entered her bedroom. Carefully she removed the pink sash and placed it upon her vanity. She was emotionally drained and tired, but knew it was time to prepare for her trip to Dunamis. Changing into her flight suit and tying her hair back into a bun, she marched to her closet to dig inside for a rucksack.
As she walked back and forth across the length of her room, searching for the items in which to pack for her journey, she heard curious chittering from the mice who sat atop her bed.
“Yes, I am leaving this evening,” she confirmed to them. She folded up her nightgown and robe and placed it neatly into her bag. “The authorities have collected the evidence from the attack, and now it is up to me to find out who is behind it all―if we do not already know who it is,” she added, a queasy feeling forming in her stomach.
She went to her vanity to collect a few more essentials, and when she returned to sit on the mattress she released a heavy sigh. Her shoulders sagged, as if this new burden which she’d taken upon herself had physically manifested and weighed down her entire body.
“I know I must portray strength,” she said in a low voice. “So no one can tell how concerned I am about my mission. Everyone is depending on me. My family, my people, the High Council― they are all depending on me, and the truth is…” She paused. She looked at the mice as the inner corners of her eyebrows lifted. “Even though I want to save my people more than anything, to show them that I am worthy to be their princess and their future queen, I am afraid I may fail them. This was my idea, and if I do not succeed, if what I did results in Altea going to war…” She bit her lip, eyes downcast to the floor.
A concoction of emotions hadn’t stopped churning within her since the day of the attack, and had only amplified when she’d stepped in between Lotor and her father. She felt determined to save her people, for she loved them and would choose them above all else, but at the same she felt dread, anxiety, and fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of what was to come, fear of the worst that could happen while she was on Dunamis.
“I want to believe that I did the right thing by defending the Galra emperor that day,” she went on, her voice barely a whisper. “But part of me is worried that I did the exact opposite.” Her eyes widened, realizing what she’d said out loud. She turned back to the mice with a sheepish smile. “Let’s… keep that a secret, shall we?”
Regaining her composure, Allura took a deep breath and straightened her back, standing from the bed and ready to leave. As she was about to head for the door, however, Chulatt, the smallest of the mice, squeaked inquisitively, blinking up at her with his bright blue eyes.
“Oh no, my little friend,” Allura answered. “I need you four to stay here and look after things for me. Besides,” she added with a chastising smile. “I know all the kinds of mischief you would get up to on Dunamis, were you left to your own devices.” Her smile grew affectionately. “Try not to burn the place down while I am gone?”
The mice chirped determinedly, taking their new duties incredibly seriously. Allura laughed.
“Thank you,” she told them sincerely, then reached for her rucksack and hung it over one shoulder. “Goodbye, my friends. Until we meet again.”
She patted them on the heads in farewell, and glanced around her room one last time before walking out. She took one of the many lifts in the castle all the way down to the hangar bay, and was surprised to see that Coran had already prepared her ship for departure. Fala, as was its name, was surrounded by several others owned by the royal family, and sat waiting for her, ready for takeoff.
“Are you ready, Allura?” Coran asked her as she came to stand next to him.
“Yes,” she answered. She gazed up at her ship. The vehicle was white, sleek, and shiny with glowing cyan lights, as was everything else made by Alteans, except hers also had pink accents running along the sides. “Thank you, Coran, for supporting me through all of this.” She looked at him and smiled. “I cannot tell you much it means to me.”
“The High Council may have forced you into working with Emperor Lotor, but you still have me,” he assured her, smiling and putting a hand on her shoulder. “You don’t have to do this alone, Allura. You never will.”
Allura managed to keep her smile intact, but at the mention of Lotor the doubt once again began to creep in, coiling around her heart like a snake and constricting her. What was he up to at this very moment? What if he really was the one responsible for the attack, and was currently plotting his next move against Altea? Was she right to step in and convince her father and the council to give him a fair chance in this case, or was she signing her and her people’s death warrant? Because of what she did, not only was she getting pushed by the council to work with Lotor, but now the weight of her world was on her shoulders, and she was about to take on the responsibility of preventing a war from breaking out, all because of a man who might or might not have been blameless in all of this.
Had Allura just made the best decision of her life, or the worst?
Before she could further descend into her destructive spiral of self-doubt, her thoughts were interrupted when she heard doors to the hangar bay hiss open behind her and Coran. They both turned around, and Allura’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“Mother? Father, should you not be resting?” she called out with a frown.
“He was insistent on seeing you off before you left,” Melenor answered as she and her husband, who still sat in a hovering wheelchair in order to get himself around while his wound healed, made their way towards the ship.
“You did not think I would let you leave without saying goodbye, did you?” Alfor asked with a raised eyebrow, but his eyes softened as he held out his hand.
Allura went to him and took it. His grumpy mood since the news of the High Council’s plan had since faded, though the apprehension was evident on his face.
“Please do not think that I question your ability as princess, nor your loyalty to your people, Daughter,” he told her, tenderly holding her hand in both of his own. “But can you blame a parent for being worried for their child?”
“Of course not,” she assured him, squeezing his hand. “I will do you and Mother proud, I promise.” She hugged him, and then her mother.
“You already have, my dear,” Melenor told her, holding her tight in her arms. “Never forget that we love you.”
Allura closed her eyes and smiled, inhaling her mother’s comforting, floral fragrance. “I love you, too,” she said.
“There is one more thing I must tell you,” Alfor spoke up, his expression then growing serious. “This is no vacation, Daughter.”
“I know that.”
“Real life outside of Altea is filled with political deception and corruption, and it is nothing to consider lightly. You must be careful.” His eyes then grew fierce. “And it does not matter if the High Council has forced you to work with him or not. He is still a Galra, Allura― the enemy. Never forget that. Do you understand?”
Allura pursed her lips and nodded. “Yes, Father.”
She said her final goodbyes to her parents, then headed for her ship, taking her place in the pilot’s seat with Coran sitting next to her as co-pilot.
“Activating interlocks,” she said, flipping switches and watching the ship come to life as the cabin lit up.
“Dyna-therms connected,” Coran reported back, punching buttons on the screen in front of him.
“Mega-thrusters are go.” Allura heard the engines roar to life, and in front of her the bay doors slowly slid open from the sides, revealing the outside world of Altea before her. She looked back to her parents, both of whom were waving to her. Tears pricked her eyes, but she rapidly blinked to keep them at bay. She looked at Coran, who nodded encouragingly, and she took hold of the controls. Fala lifted from the ground, hovering smoothly, and zoomed its way out of the castle and up into the air.
“I never get used to this view,” Coran said quietly.
Allura turned to see what he was referring to. Their home planet steadily grew smaller and smaller beneath them. For a while she could still see the castle grounds, the endless fields of juniberry flowers, the turquoise mountains, the bustling cities and sparkling oceans… until they at last exited the atmosphere, flying past the massive ring-shaped structures and satellites that circled Altea, spinning and passing each other like clockwork.
“It is beautiful,” she whispered, and without any prompting, she had the sudden thought that she might not be seeing this view for a while, as if it would be quite some time before she next laid eyes on her wonderful, blue planet.
Activating the ship’s warp drive, Allura and Coran jumped across their planetary system within a matter of hours. Past Altea’s seven moons they flew, past the sun, past Daibazaal…
Nearly an entire standard day had gone by by the time they exited warp drive, having crossed one hundred thousand light years, clear on the other side of their galaxy, and arrived at the city-covered planet of Dunamis. Allura’s breath caught, marveling at the sight in front of her. The planet’s color was a dull gray from the industrial buildings and other infrastructures that were constructed over the last several decades, but it was lit up by millions and millions of golden lights, forming patterns and indicating civilization―life.
“It’s been a while since you last visited, hasn’t it?” Coran asked as they entered the atmosphere and made their way through Phylos, the capital of Dunamis. The sky was heavy with pollution as well hundreds of other ships and speeders that littered the air, crawling like insects among the smoky clouds. The skyscrapers were even taller than those on Altea, stretching up to five miles with thousands of floors, which served as offices and homes for the residents of the planet.
“It has,” Allura agreed, staring in awe at the architecture around her. Despite the impurities caused by the factories of Dunamis and the complete lack of any wildlife, she couldn’t deny that it was amazing to behold. “I came here once with Father, but I was only six years old and I cannot remember a thing about it, unfortunately.” She did remember not being allowed to go anywhere by herself without a sentry, however. She knew as a child it wasn’t safe to go wandering off alone, though the suffocating presence of a sentry was never something she got used to. But now that was all about to change.
“There is Phylos Council Hall, Allura,” Coran pointed out. “The hangar bay for all the ships is underground, right over there.”
Phylos Council Hall, which was a combination of a hotel and assembly hall, was easy to spot. One thousand floors high, the inside construction was a tall, cylindrical shape, with two tendril-like structures wrapped around it, twisting all the way to the top. This served as the hotel and residency for many important delegates who were visiting from off-planet or who lived there permanently. At the base was a semi-flat dome shape, a gargantuan auditorium in which the High Council and Universal Coalition held all of their meetings. As they got closer, Allura saw a large panel open on the ground level, inviting her to land the ship inside. She directed Fala towards it and flew into the seemingly endless basement which housed thousands of different ships.
I wonder where the Galra ship is, Allura thought, though such a vehicle couldn’t possibly fit inside this hangar bay. As vast as this room was, it was not built to accommodate battle cruisers, Galra or Altean. Perhaps the emperor had arrived in a smaller ship like she did.
“Greetings, Princess Allura, Sir Coran,” a Krellian guard greeted with a bow as they hopped out of the cockpit. “And welcome to Dunamis. We’ve been anxious for your arrival. Count Do-Tarn has sent me to inform you that he would like to offer you a tour of the―”
“That won’t be necessary,” Allura cut him off quickly, then smiled politely. “If you can lead us to the hotel lobby, I am sure we can take it from there.”
“Of course, Your Highness. Please follow me.”
There were many elevators in Phylos Council Hall, nearly a dozen of them, and even more people walking about that Allura had to be careful not to bump into anyone. There were species from all over the universe, even ones she didn’t recognize, but she absolutely loved it. The building had a gold and red color scheme, from the lights to the columns that expanded to support ceilings nearly a hundred feet above her head―all of the furnishings had an extravagant yet warm and inviting feel to it. The guard bowed his farewell and left Allura and Coran alone so they could check in.
“I’m going to get some rest,” Coran told her after they received their individual room keys and took one of the elevators up to the four hundred and eighty-seventh floor. The hallway leading to the suites were lined with plush, maroon carpet and merigold walls with intricate designs painted on them. “What about you?”
“I think I will drop off my things and take a look around,” Allura replied cheerfully. Despite after an entire day of having sat still in a ship, therefore giving her a bit of post-travel fatigue, nevertheless she was eager to explore her new environment.
“Be sure to take some time to relax before you meet with the High Council in a few days.” Coran waved, which Allura returned happily, and they went their separate ways.
After dumping her rucksack in her suite, Allura took off on her little adventure. She didn’t have time to explore all one thousand levels, of course, but they probably all looked similar to each other, anyway. Many of them, she noticed, were not only for living quarters, but also held a variety of chambers such as lecture halls and conference rooms. Several levels housed recreational activities for guests, such as swimming pools, sport venues, theaters, and an observatory. Ten floors alone were dedicated to serving the most diverse cuisine: cafes, restaurants, and casual dining from all over the universe. Any type of food one could think of, the hotel had it.
There was one in particular that caught Allura’s eye because the doors were closed, a contrast to every other establishment which boldly advertised that they were open to the public. She pressed a button on a console and walked inside when the doors hissed open for her.
It took a moment for her eyes to adjust as the room was very dark, but she soon realized that it was a luxurious saloon. There was a bar on the left side which provided the only source of light, and before her were several round tables spread throughout the room for guests to sit. As she walked in, looking around with interest, she thought she might invite Coran later to share a drink when a voice made her stop in her tracks.
“Relishing in your newfound freedom, Princess?”
Allura froze. She turned to her left, and leaning against the bar with one arm resting on the counter was none other than Emperor Lotor.
His luminescent eyes glowed in the dim lighting as he watched her. In his right hand he held a short cylinder glass, swirling around dark, amber-colored liquid inside of it. Allura glanced around. The bar was completely unoccupied, even absent of a bartender, and she wondered if his presence unintentionally had something to do with it. There was no General Acxa glued to his side, she noticed, and she also realized that this was the first time the two of them were alone in a room together. Every other moment they were in each other’s presence, there had always been other people around, but not anymore.
She refused to be intimidated by him, however, and folded her arms, lifting her chin at him. “So what if I am?”
“I can understand that all of this must be very exciting for you,” he said, his voice full of sarcasm. “First time on Dunamis, taking on such big responsibility all by yourself―your parents must be very proud.”
“This is not my first time,” she returned, keeping her voice calm and even. “I have been here many times.” That was a lie, as again she had only been here once, but he didn’t need to know that.
“Oh, have you?” Lotor’s eyes flickered over her. “Then why do you seem so out of place?” His left eyebrow twitched upward as he took a sip from his drink.
“What is it that you want, sir?” she finally snapped.
He lowered the glass and tilted his head. “Why don’t you drop the act and speak the truth for once? Tell me the real reason your father sent you here.”
“What are you talking about?”
“This is clearly all a ruse to fool the council into thinking that the Galra are responsible for the attack,” he explained, “when it was clearly orchestrated by the Alteans.”
“This is no ruse,” Allura defended, unfolding her arms and clenching her fists. “And my father did not send me here. I came here on my own volition.”
“Ah, I remember now. You lied to the council when you told them he wanted you to represent him during the investigation. And how did he react upon hearing of your deception, I wonder? I take it he was displeased?” The corner of his mouth lifted inimically. “It appears King Alfor’s only daughter is not so morally upright after all. How intriguing.”
“You speak to me of deceit?” Allura demanded, offended. “You are the one who lied to the council about wanting to promote peace and prosperity alongside the rest of the Coalition.”
“The masses are easily manipulated,” he said smoothly. “But I do not lie.”
“Then what about when you pretended to be grateful to me when I brought your people supplies?”
“I do not pretend, either.”
“But you told me what I wanted to hear,” she pointed out. “I did not realize the Galra emperor was the type to grovel.”
Lotor cocked an eyebrow. “You are confusing careful excogitation with cowardly obsequiousness. Surely you did not believe I got to where I am by kowtowing like Count Do-Tarn.”
“Given your habit of changing personalities whenever I see you, I could believe just about anything at this point.”
“I am flattered you made such a keen observation of me, Princess,” he remarked coolly. “But you are mistaken, and I am not about to give you my whole life story in order to explain myself to you.”
“I never said I wanted to get to know you,” she retorted. “We do not know a single thing about each other, and I prefer to keep it that way.”
“Yet you seem to believe we are more alike than you let on,” he observed as he raised his glass to his lips. “Was it not you who said our dedication to our people is something we have in common?”
“I would do anything for my people,” Allura said proudly. “I will not let them take the blame for something they did not do. I leveled the playing field because I wanted to find the truth without resulting in further violence, but do not think for a second that it means I have any form of high regard for you, nor that you are innocent in all of this. The Galra still very well may be responsible.” She paused. “From what I heard about your father, he was not opposed to using violence in order to get what he wanted. Perhaps neither are you.”
Lotor’s smile faded and he clenched his jaw, eyes hardening. He downed the rest of his drink, slammed the glass onto the bar, then advanced towards her. Before she knew it he was standing right in front of her, shoulders tense and fury on his face that was controlled but barely simmering beneath the surface. Mentioning his father clearly hit a nerve, just as it did back on Altea. Allura felt the beginnings of shame for deliberately provoking him, but he was no better for constantly insulting her own father.
Seeing him standing so close to her, she was once again reminded of how tall he was, and not only that, but there was something about his presence that suddenly overcame all of her senses and made it difficult to focus. This had happened back in the hospital as well, and still she couldn’t put her finger on it. Nevertheless she stood her ground, standing up straight and glaring defiantly up at him.
“What does Alfor want, exactly?” Lotor growled. “Power? Status? Has he not enough of that already? Does he seek to start a war with my people so he can end this centuries-old blood feud once and for all?”
“My father would never start a war,” Allura fumed. “How dare you accuse him so. He wants nothing to do with the Galra, and neither do I.”
“Too late for that, Princess. You got involved the moment you stepped in between us.” He nodded towards her. “You quickly took control of the situation, I will give you that. But if you think you can win, I suggest you reconsider and take caution. The Alteans have always had an insufferable pride, and it will prove to be their downfall.”
“The same can be said for the Galra,” Allura shot back. “I do not think you are capable of recognizing humility, even if it slapped you across the face.”
Lotor’s eyes darkened. “Quick to threaten violence, I see. Must be a family trait. Mark my words, I will find the truth behind all of this, and once I have evidence that your people are responsible, I will break them. I will tear them down just as they have tried to tear down my people for centuries. But most of all…” He slowly leaned down towards her and bared his fangs. “I will break you, Princess.”
Allura inhaled sharply. She clenched her fists so tightly that her palms stung from the bite of her nails, but she relied on that pain. It kept her focused through this sudden hazy and tense atmosphere between her and Lotor. She was beginning to realize what it was about him that affected her so―his large stature, his piercing eyes which appeared to be trying to burn a hole straight into her skull, his smell that was musky and spicy and masculine… and the heat of him, radiating off of him and intruding every single cell of her body until it threatened to consume her entire being, her very soul.
Her head felt heavy as she looked up at him, her heart rate quickened, and she knew this was all caused by her anger and hatred towards him. What else could it be? This would not do. She needed to leave, to be rid of these suffocating feelings he was causing in her, sensations she’d never experienced before, but he was like a magnet, drawing her ever closer to him, whether he was aware of it or not. She stepped forward so that her legs nearly brushed against his, then lifted her chin so that they were almost nose to nose.
“I’d like to see you try,” she hissed.
Lotor’s eyes widened a fraction before they narrowed, glowering down at her as he clenched his jaw. Out of the corner of her eye Allura thought she might have seen his hands flex. Then, stiffening his posture, he stood up straight, breaking the spell and putting some distance between the two of them. Allura quickly moved past him, intentionally avoiding touching him.
She had no idea if he stayed put to watch her go as she walked back out the doors, but if he did, it was probably in the manner of glaring at the back of her head with every intent of planning and carrying out her murder himself.
She hadn’t noticed her own heavy breathing until she rounded a corner and leaned against the wall, finally having a chance to catch her breath. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure he hadn’t followed her. Placing a hand over her racing heart, she felt the dreadful reminder that she had given her word to the council that she would be working with him during the remainder of this investigation, a spark of fear that made her chest ache and her stomach do somersaults. What if she was unable to trust her own judgment when she was around him? What was all of this? And why did she feel so hot all over?
What was he doing to her?
Stunning artwork of Lotor and Allura in the hotel bar, by the talented captainicequeen555 on Tumblr!!! 😍
Notes:
A few fun facts about this chapter: the name Dunamis is not from any Voltron canon, but one I found myself, and is a Greek word which means power, potential, or ability. As a huge Star Wars fan I was heavily inspired by the city planet Coruscant from the prequels ;) The capital city of Phylos is from 80's Voltron and is the name of one of the planets from season two. And last but not least, Allura's ship Fala is the name of her original Japanese anime counterpart! ^^
Thank you so much for reading and I hope you have a fantastic weekend!!! <3
Chapter Text
Allura found that there were a lot of things about Dunamis she liked. For one, the planet was incredibly diverse, with countless numbers of species living in harmony together. Coming from a planet occupied one hundred percent by Alteans, it was a very eye-opening experience for her. And it was not only the people, but also all of the unique architecture she enjoyed viewing. Each building was clearly influenced by a different planet’s culture, and it was a pleasure to wake up to the distinctive city skyline outside her window every morning, a view she could never get anywhere else.
She was very happy to see that Lieutenant Shiro and his cadets had arrived a few days after her, and she gladly joined them for lunch when they invited her. She liked watching how they all interacted with each other. The four younger Earthlings, all in their adolescence, looked up to Shiro and respected him, and even though Allura had only spoken to the man a few times, she found that he was really easy to get along with and she enjoyed his company.
Hunk was undoubtedly the friendliest and most approachable of the cadets. He and Lance had known each other the longest, as they informed Allura, but they never excluded Pidge and Keith from anything they did. Keith appeared more resigned to their hijinks, and he and Lance would occasionally snap at each other, but Allura could tell that the former was secretly happy to be a part of the group. Pidge was similar in that respect, more interested in the alien technology around her and marveling at the artificially intelligent robots that passed by. Lance teased her for it from time to time, but it was more out of fondness than condescension.
Lance was most assuredly the common denominator among their little group, and as he explained to Allura, was the one who encouraged bonding time after the four of them were assigned together at Galaxy Garrison. All in all, she really liked the Earthlings, and she was glad she’d made the decision to come to Dunamis.
There were a few downsides to the planet, however. The sky was heavily polluted due to nearly fifty years of the operation of industrial and manufacturing companies. On its worst days, the two binary suns were completely blocked out by smoky, charcoal clouds, and on its best the denizens were lucky to get even a glimpse of blue-gray sky. Factories littered almost every square inch of Dunamis, producing every kind of capital good imaginable, such as machinery, vehicles, chemicals, and weapons. The constant rumbling of the facilities running nonstop could be unbearable at times. Inside the hotel it was of no consequence, as most buildings were designed to be completely soundproof, but if one were to go outside, one would have to brace themselves for the metronomic whirring and clanking found in every facet of the planet.
“So how are things going with you and Emperor Lotor?” Shiro asked as their group finished their meal of Krellian cuisine.
Speaking of downsides…
“We are supposed to meet with the High Council this afternoon, and it is going as anyone would expect,” Allura replied, her mood instantly souring, “which is poorly.”
“From what I’ve seen on the news, Count Do-Tarn seems to think otherwise.”
“Oh yes, the Count was so excited about his genius plan that he decided to blab to the press about it.” The princess scowled. “Now the whole universe knows that the Alteans and Galra have been forced to work together. It is humiliating.”
“He’s setting you up to fail,” Keith realized.
“Indeed, he is,” Allura agreed. Her blood boiled and she clenched her spork in her hand. “That conniving snake.”
“Snake? I’d say he looks more like a bird than a snake,” Lance commented. “By the way, does anyone else think that the hotel kinda looks like a Twizzler?” He sighed dejectedly, slouching in his seat and hanging his head. “Now I’m even more homesick.” Hunk and Pidge patted him on the back comfortingly.
“You can’t let Count Do-Tarn get away with this,” Keith insisted, getting fired up. “You have to prove him wrong.”
“I know. If all fails, it means Altea and Daibazaal go to war. But working with Lotor”―Allura shook her head―”it is impossible.”
“If you need any assistance, my cadets and I would be happy to help,” Shiro offered. The others nodded.
Allura was touched. “Thank you, but…” She smiled wanly. “You would probably regret it. Lotor is not exactly the most pleasant company, and I am certain he feels the same way about me.”
She hadn’t forgotten their conversation in the bar last week; far from it, in fact. A simple, passing thought of the Galra emperor was enough to drive her crazy, as if the mere act of mentioning his name sent a spark throughout her veins and a flame ignite in her heart―
―because of how much she hated him, obviously.
“Well, I hope you two can find some common ground eventually,” Shiro added optimistically. “Who knows, Princess, something amazing could happen.”
Allura grimaced, unconvinced. “You really think this is going to work?”
“This is not going to work,” Lotor said.
Later that afternoon, Allura and Lotor stood side-by-side, albeit with some intentionally placed distance between them on both parts, in front of the High Council in the enormous assembly chamber on the ground level of Phylos Council Hall.
The platform on which the two of them stood hovered several hundred feet above the ground and had walls that came up to Allura’s waist, placed to prevent anyone from falling off. Looking down at them, floating in their own vehicle, sat the council members in high-backed chairs.
Around them, the large dome that was the assembly chamber was lined from top to bottom with hundreds and hundreds of protruding boxes in which representatives from all over the universe would occupy. Those boxes were currently empty, leaving the atmosphere cold and sinister. Allura had to admit that the room’s acoustics were well-engineered, however, as Lotor’s deep voice echoed quite nicely as he spoke.
Do-Tarn furrowed his brow. “Is that so? And what about you, Princess Allura? Do you feel the same way?”
Allura fidgeted with the cuffs of her flight suit, clasped her hands together and nodded firmly. “Yes,” she answered stubbornly. “I cannot work with him. He is impossible.”
“And she is intolerable,” Lotor retorted. The two of them refused to look at one another.
Uncomfortable and apprehensive murmurs could be heard among the four council members. President Desto regarded them seriously yet anxiously, flapping her large ears and raising her trunk as she addressed them. “We made an agreement back on Altea,” she reminded them in a stern voice.
“Then let us renegotiate,” Lotor said sharply, making the council flinch. “My generals and I will do fine on our own. I do not need her help.”
“And I never needed his,” Allura insisted. She clenched her fists and stepped forward. “Members of the council, can you not see that an alliance between us could never work? Everything about us―our planets, our cultures, our people―we are too different. I beg you to reconsider.”
Princess Malocoti shook her head, though her expression was sympathetic. “A promise is a promise. Should you go back on your end of the bargain, we will be forced to do the same.”
“And here I was looking forward to seeing you two get along for once,” Do-Tarn said with a sigh.
Lotor let out a growl. “Of course you were, you asinine piece of―”
“Emperor Lotor, please,” President Desto cut in.
He exhaled slowly, clearly trying not to lose his temper. “The entire universe knows about the plan because the count could not resist shouting it from the rooftops. That was not part of the agreement.”
“I fulfilled the agreement of keeping the discovery of the Galra bomb a secret,” Do-Tarn returned, shrugging with a nervous smile. “If you wanted more than that, you should have said so. It’s not my fault.”
“I have accepted that there is nothing I can do about that,” Lotor went on, gritting his teeth. “But what I cannot accept is any sort of collaboration with the princess. The Alteans are a selfish race of people who refuse to look beyond their prejudices. Furthermore, I have not yet ruled out the possibility that this entire operation is a sham, designed to frame me for the attack in order to start a war. I will not work with one of their kind. Not now, not ever.”
“Need I remind you whose weapon we found among the wreckage of City Hall?” Allura snapped at him, finally turning towards him. “It is perfectly justified to consider you as a suspect, not to mention your people are notorious for their violence and barbarism. Exactly whose ancestor was it that started this fight several hundred years ago? That’s right―yours, obviously.”
“That is not true,” Lotor argued, then he regarded her coolly. “Yet I should thank you for proving my point, that Alteans are indeed as discriminatory and narrow-minded as I thought.”
“Oh, as if the Galra are such a delight to be around,” Allura scoffed. “Did you think I was jumping at the opportunity of having to collaborate with their emperor? I would rather face a pack of hungry Yalmors than be involved with the likes of you.”
He cocked a brow. “Shall I have the honor of arranging that for you, Princess?”
“Why, you―!”
“Princess Allura, Emperor Lotor, please!” Desto shouted desperately, regaining their attention. The Pinto Sentian looked somewhere in between exasperated and anxious, as did the others. “As Princess Malocoti said, a promise is a promise. Despite your apparent many differences, you will simply have to swallow your pride and be professional about this―both of you. And do not forget that you also agreed to report back on any headway you make in the case. Do you require a deadline or can I trust that you will have something to give us soon?”
Allura was close to losing her temper as well, but she knew it would not do to start yelling at the High Council. Her pride wounded, she swallowed and looked up at them. “We will have something,” she answered.
“Very good. You are dismissed.”
Allura turned on her heel and marched out onto the long walkway that appeared, extending from the platform towards the edge of the dome. She picked up the pace when she heard Lotor’s heavy footsteps behind her. The doors hissed open, letting them out in the hallway.
“I refuse to conform to the council’s demands any longer,” she fumed, glancing over her shoulder at him before the doors even had a chance to close. “Do what you will. I do not care, but leave me alone.”
“Once again you are making all of this about you,” she heard him say irritably. “Why am I not surprised?”
She turned around to face him, still keeping some distance between them. “Are you implying that you actually want to work together? You and I?” She let out a short laugh. “I had no idea you were so funny!”
“Absolutely not,” Lotor said furiously. “Even if your people had nothing to do with the attack, as I said earlier, my generals and I are perfectly capable of solving this ourselves. We do not need you.” He folded his arms, lifting his chin at her. “If anything, you will need our help.”
“What makes you think I would ever ask for your help?”
“Your police thought I was responsible based on one piece of conveniently placed evidence,” he reminded her, embittered. “It is the most negligent and chauvinistic workmanship I have ever witnessed. Alteans are clearly incompetent. The Galra would never do such a thing.”
“Oh, you are the most insufferable, conceited, pompous―” Allura let out a groan of frustration as she turned away, putting more distance between them.
“Please, by all means, finish that sentence,” Lotor challenged, raising an eyebrow. “Or shall I tell you what I think of you while you catch your breath?”
“Did I mention your incessant need to mock others at every turn?” she snapped at him.
He rolled his eyes. “Let us not pretend that you yourself are flawless, Princess,” he began, unfolding his arms and stalking towards her. “Your vexing self-righteousness, the way you insist on taking control of every situation―your very presence infuriates me.”
“And you think that when I am around you I do not feel the same way?” Allura stepped in close to him so that they were toe-to-toe. “By the gods, Emperor, being around you is so maddening that I cannot properly function.”
“Well then, that makes two of us,” he said, his voice dangerously low and rough. “Whenever I am forced to look upon your face, I cannot decide whether I want to kill you, or―” He stopped himself, clenching his jaw.
“Or what? Enlighten me.” She leaned in, goading him. “What is it that you wish to do to me? Please, Your Imperial Majesty, do not leave out a single detail, I beg of you,” she told him dramatically.
Lotor’s eyes darkened and his entire body tensed, as if he was physically trying to hold himself back from her. “Do not―” He grit his teeth. “―tempt me.”
Allura stilled, her gaze flickering over his face. There were lines around his sharp eyes, she noticed, perhaps from lack of sleep. His irises were two different shades―indigo and lavender-blue, and his pupils were dilated. Those eyes alone were devouring her, traveling over her face and her body. Unconsciously his tongue peeked out to wet his lips. She caught a glimpse of his fangs, and his mouth looked so overwhelmingly inviting that it took every bone in her body to resist leaning forward and pressing her lips to his.
Her blood froze at the intrusive thought, then she felt her cheeks flush. No, this was all wrong. She wasn’t supposed to feel this way. Her hands twitched and her eyes sought the sword at his hip, nearly hidden by the cape around his waist. It did not go unnoticed by him.
“Do it,” Lotor told her, his voice quieting. “I know you want to.” His hand came to rest on the hilt of the sword, but his manner was calm. “Go on, show me what you are made of, Princess.” He glanced at her mouth before their eyes met again. “I have been dying to find out.”
Allura breathed in sharply, clenching her fists. “I do not condone violence,” she returned, keeping her voice steady, yet her heart was going at a hundred miles a minute. She moistened her lips.
They were both breathing heavily, and she wondered if her thoughts were written all over her face, because Lotor’s eyebrows twitched upward, appearing to have found something he was looking for. He opened his mouth, to whisper or shout or do something else Allura did not know, but she waited with baited breath―
“―absolutely famished, so I propose we all go out, yes? My treat!” The doors hissed open and out walked the council members, led by Count Do-Tarn. Allura and Lotor quickly backed away from each other before anyone looked their way. Do-Tarn stopped in his tracks when he saw them. “Ah, you two are still here? We’re about to grab dinner if you’d like to join us.”
“No, thank you,” Allura declined hotly. Her face was on fire. She glanced at Lotor, but he was not looking at her. His expression was instantaneously neutral, as if he’d slipped on a mask of indifference without a second thought, and already she could feel the absence of his warmth.
“Such a shame. Emperor Lotor?”
The Galra cleared his throat. “I must go,” he said simply, his voice strained, then he turned on his heel and walked away.
Without another word to the council, Allura walked off in the opposite direction, using every ounce of willpower she had to resist looking back. She had no idea where she was going, but she knew she could not be anywhere near Lotor, and she wondered if he was thinking the same thing about her.
With every additional encounter she had with him, she became more and more irritated, conflicted, and confused about what she was feeling. Perhaps she’d finally been caught and Lotor knew about her attraction to him, but there was no doubt in her mind now that he was attracted to her, too. From the very first moment they met, how his eyes sought hers, his attention completely undivided, the way he looked at her and the way his body reacted… it all made sense now, and it was so…
It was so…
It was all so wrong. He was the Galra Emperor, she was the Altean princess. Their people were mortal enemies, they weren’t even supposed to get along. If Coran, or gods forbid, her parents found out that she viewed Lotor in that way, they would certainly disown her. The guilt was eating away at her.
What was so great about him, anyway? Her attraction to him was entirely on a physical level, there was nothing beyond that. She certainly wasn’t impressed by the way he commanded attention from those around him, the way the council members feared and respected him even when he was too stubborn to go along with their schemes, the way his generals followed and obeyed him without question, the way he stood firmly by his beliefs, or the way he had a fierce loyalty and love for his people, something that Allura could very much relate to. There wasn’t a single thing that she liked about him― obviously.
She did not like him. She would never like him.
“Allura? Allura, are you alright?”
“Hm?” She looked to her right to see Coran staring at her with concern.
“Did you hear what Chief Hira said?” her friend asked.
The two of them were in one of Phylos Council Hall’s many conference rooms, standing in front of a large holographic screen which displayed a video call with Chief Hira. A couple of days had passed since Allura’s argument with Lotor and she’d been deep in thought―distracted, really―unknowingly tugging on her necklace.
Allura cleared her throat. “Can you repeat that?” she asked sheepishly.
Coran didn’t complain. “The chief has some unfortunate news regarding the police records from Altea.”
Allura frowned, turning to the chief. “We were expecting you to send us the files since our arrival. Is there a problem?”
“That’s just it, Your Highness,” Chief Hira said with a look of unease. “I would have, but the files, well… they’re missing.”
“Missing?” Allura repeated, her eyebrows shooting up. “Explain this to me, Chief.”
“Not long after we acquired all of the information we needed, someone broke into our archives in the middle of the night and stole it.”
“How much did they take?” Coran asked.
“Everything to do with the attack, I’m afraid,” Hira answered. “Photographs, evidence, witness interviews―even the Galra bomb. They took it all.”
“Surely you must have a backup,” Allura suggested hopefully, but the grim expression on the chief’s face made her heart sink.
“I am sorry to report that even our backups are gone, Your Highness. It’s difficult to say whether they wanted to make copies to keep for themselves or not, but either way, every single file on the incident has been completely erased. They even disabled all of our security systems during the break in, so we have no way of determining who it was. They were extremely thorough.”
“This is troubling news,” Coran muttered, stroking his mustache. He glanced at Allura.
The princess slowly turned away from the screen and walked away, one arm across her stomach as her other hand reached for her necklace once more. Her mind was racing, thinking of possibilities as to who could have done this, and why. Immediately a suspect came to mind.
“Do you think it was the Galra?” she inquired, her back still to the screen.
“That was my first thought as well,” Hira said, the resentment in her tone undisguised. “Everything else in our archives remains untouched, so it’s obvious that they were only after the evidence from the attack.”
“Then Emperor Lotor must be behind it,” Coran said darkly.
“I saw the news, Your Highness,” Hira went on, “about the High Council having you work with him on this case. And what good has come of it? That monster… Princess, I beg of you to go to the council and inform them of the stolen evidence. Report Emperor Lotor as the culprit, and they will have to accept that he is the one who attacked our planet.”
Allura looked down at the juniberry crystal in her palm. She bit her lip, then grasping the crystal tightly in her fist, she looked over her shoulder at the screen and spoke calmly and authoritatively. “Thank you, Chief, for informing me of the situation. I will figure out where to go from here.”
“Of course, Your Highness, but…” Hira furrowed her brow. “What about the emperor?”
“Let us keep this incident between the three of us for now. Do not make any moves until I say.”
“Yes, Princess.” The chief bowed and the call was terminated.
“What now, Allura?” Coran asked her apprehensively as she started pacing across the length of the conference room. “Shall I arrange a meeting with the High Council with just the two of us?”
“No.” Allura frowned. “Unfortunately we cannot know for certain that Lotor stole the evidence.”
Coran furrowed his brow. “Whether he broke into the archives himself or had one of his generals do it, it is all the same.”
“That is not what I am saying, Coran. Turning Lotor in is too big of a decision to make so quickly, not only considering the massive repercussions that would follow, but also the fact that we have no evidence of his theft, nor that he started the attack in the first place. And on top of that”―Allura glowered―”the High Council still expects Lotor and I to collaborate on this investigation and give them something substantial very soon. And just when I think our situation could not get more complicated, something like this happens.” She gestured towards the screen.
“How is that going, by the way?” Coran asked skeptically. “Until now, you hadn’t spoken two words about him since your meeting with the High Council.”
“Oh, do not get me started on Lotor,” Allura said, raising her hand in protest, still pacing. “Please, Coran, I refuse to talk about him. By the Mother of the Universe, that man is such a―I do not even know where to begin. He really thinks us Alteans are incapable of solving this ourselves, and even went so far as to suggest that I would be the one asking him for help! Can you believe him?”
“I thought you said you didn’t want to talk about him,” Coran remarked, raising an eyebrow.
“I don’t!” she insisted.
Despite her short rant, she had to admit that she was no longer cross with Lotor, as her anger with him had faded since their little spat. If anything she was overcompensating for all of the complicated and downright frightening emotions she was feeling for him. She sighed and stopped in her tracks, glancing at the screen again, and decided to get back on topic.
“This new information the chief gave us is a lot to take in,” she said. “Now that we have no evidence, we are right back to where we started.”
“What do you want to do?”
“It appears we are at an impasse, at least for now.” Allura hesitated. “Best we do not tell any of this to the High Council.”
“Of course, Allura. I understand.”
She nodded, though the insides of her stomach churned uncomfortably. The obedient, law-abiding person that she was knew that it was her duty to report everything to do with the investigation to the council, that she should stay true to the agreement she made with them. Ultimately, however, she could not do it for two reasons: one, because there was a risk of Lotor catching a whiff of her predicament and gaining the upper hand, whether he was indeed responsible for all of this or not; and two, because Allura did not want the High Council to doubt her success. After all, the plan to hold the investigation on Dunamis was hers and hers alone, and she absolutely abhorred the idea of the four members thinking of her as incompetent― especially Count Do-Tarn.
Allura rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming on, and sighed again. “Do not worry, Coran. I will come up with a solution,” she assured him. “I am going out for a walk. I need some fresh air.”
“Fresh air on Dunamis is an oxymoron,” Coran commented with a smile in an effort to cheer her up. She returned his smile, waved goodbye, and left.
The pollution on this day was at one of its worst, with a rust-colored sunset barely visible behind clouds that resembled blankets of ash covering the capital city of Phylos. The continuous tumbling sounds of the factories grated on Allura’s ears, almost to the point where she couldn’t hear herself think, and her headache gradually worsened. She decided to venture into the heart of the city towards a plaza which stretched on for miles, where people were running errands, heading towards the markets, going shopping, et cetera. From her point of view on the ground, the skyscrapers were so tall that she couldn’t see how high they stretched, eventually obscured by the smokey clouds. But despite the loud environment around her, much different than the one on her home planet, at least she had a moment to take in the sights and enjoy some much-needed alone time.
“Princess Allura? It is you!”
Scratch that. No alone time for her today.
Allura forced a smile and turned around. “Yes…?” she began, then her eyebrows rose in surprise. Running up to her was none other than the young man whom she had ditched in the castle gardens back on Altea a few weeks ago. “Oh, hello… Bandor,” she greeted awkwardly.
“Ah, you remember me!” Bandor said, clearly pleased. He bowed to her, and when he stood up straight, a full head shorter than her, he smiled eagerly. “A pleasure to see you again, Your Highness. Truth be told, when I heard you’d arrived on Dunamis, I was hoping for a chance to run into you.”
“That is very kind of you to say,” Allura returned politely. She was beginning to recall that Bandor was from Dunamis, and that his father was the owner of one of the many manufacturing companies on this planet. What did they make again? “How are you?”
“Very well, thank you for asking. I was just visiting my sister, Romelle. She is very busy these days doing gods knows what.” He shrugged. “And how are you, Princess? I was sorry to hear about what happened on Altea. It must have been awful.”
“Yes, well…”
“I also saw on the news that you and the Galra Emperor are working together to find the person behind the attack. I was born and raised on Dunamis, and most Alteans who live here are not as sensitive to the dispute with the Galra. However, I can imagine working with their leader is”―he shrugged―“it must be something.”
Allura laughed humorlessly, not sure how to respond to that. “Yes, ‘something’ is one way of putting it.”
“I would love to give you a tour of my home planet sometime, Your Highness, if you are not busy. I am sure my father would be delighted to show you around his company, and you could also meet Romelle and my older brother Avok…”
She tried to listen, she really did, and Bandor seemed like a sweet boy, but something appeared out of the corner of her eye and soon she was no longer paying attention to a word he was saying. There was a man, a Puigian, walking about the market. He was browsing the goods sold by vendors, but he wasn’t purchasing anything, constantly looking over his shoulder as if afraid of being followed.
It was not only his manner that stood out to Allura, however, but also the horns that grew from the edge of his hairline. The left horn was broken off at the tip, a characteristic she distinctly remembered from a few weeks ago. Now that she thought about it, the orange markings on his nose and cheeks were familiar as well.
Her eyes widened. He was the man who bumped into her at City Hall. He was on Altea the day of the attack.
Allura’s mouth went dry as she continued to watch him. His shifty eyes and nervous skulking were even more suspicious to her now. Perhaps she was being irrational about this, but she couldn’t help but think that his behavior had something to do with the assault on her planet. What if he was involved? What if he was the culprit? She craned her neck, trying to keep her eye on him as he began to disappear into the crowd. If she waited any longer she would lose him for good. She needed to follow him.
“…says I am too young, but what can be so hard about learning to make weapons?” Bandor went on. “It seems easy enough. Besides, they are all made on commission, anyway. I would never have to do any of the designing myself. Don’t you agree, Prin―”
“Bandor, I hate to cut you off so soon,” she said quickly, turning back to him. “But I just remembered I have a very important appointment to get to. Perhaps we can meet up at another time?”
“Oh, of course!” he returned brightly. “Shall I give you a call, or―”
“I will call you,” she assured him, giving him a small smile. “Take care.” Then she walked swiftly past him and fell into the traffic of people milling about, careful not to bump into anyone and draw attention to herself. Thank the Mother of the Universe she hadn’t lost him. Eyes glued to the back of his head, Allura followed the Puigian as he made his way out of the plaza and towards Yadle District, an area where factories were packed in tightly together, only allowing access through cramped and narrow streets.
Allura made sure to keep her distance, thankful for once that everything around her was so smokey and grimy so she could hide in the shadows to avoid detection, though she regretted wearing her flight suit which stuck out like a sore thumb in the gloomy alleyways.
The man walked on for some time, venturing farther and farther into the district. It was getting harder to see in the dark as the hour grew late, and Allura worried for a moment that he’d caught onto her following him, but eventually his footsteps began to slow and he finally reached his destination. She barely ducked in time behind a pile of old, filthy crates when he looked over his shoulder. Confident that he was alone, he rounded a corner, then began speaking rapidly in hushed tones.
Cautiously, Allura left her hiding place and pressed her back against the wall, scooting as closely as possible to the edge of the corner. The man was talking to someone―a woman. With the constant thrum of the machines and factories around her, she could barely make out what they were saying.
“―sure you were not followed?” the woman asked. It sounded like a young woman’s voice.
“Yes,” the man answered agitatedly. “Let’s make this quick. I’ve got to get back to my shift at the Caspia Plant and I’m already late.”
“You have no right to make demands of me. Do not forget who is paying you.”
“Alright, alright. Now what do you want?”
“I want to make sure everything is running smoothly. Have you heard anything from our source?”
“They said there’s nothing to worry about. Everything is going according to plan.”
Allura’s heart pounded in her chest. Their conversation wasn’t specific enough, but they had to be referring to what happened on Altea. This Puigian man must have been involved, but he wasn’t the mastermind. This woman, however, had to be. Allura clenched her fists. The person who attacked her planet, who destroyed City Hall and took one hundred and thirty-three lives, was only a few feet away from her. Adrenaline was coursing through her veins, the hatred for this woman fueling the fire. Allura wasn’t an idiot; she wasn’t going to turn the corner and confront her, even though a small part of her wanted to. No, for now all she could do was keep quiet and absorb as much information as she could.
“I saw the news the other day. I had not predicted this.” The woman sounded displeased. “I will have to speak with our source directly and decide if we need to accelerate our plans.”
“I’m sure it’s fine. There’s no way it would work out between those two. Look, are we done here? I did what you wanted, and…” The Puigian paused, hesitating. “I don’t want to do this anymore. I want out.”
The woman let out a laugh, the sound cruel and unfeeling. “You really think you can walk away as simple as that? What would you do if you stopped working for me? You would have nothing, nothing except a miserable life crawling around in the factories of this pathetic district.” Allura heard a shudder. “Disgusting place… No, Puigian. You are dismissed when I say you are dismissed. If you try to leave without permission, I will have no choice but to call in my acquaintance to track you down and take care of you.”
The Puigian inhaled sharply. Whoever this acquaintance was, clearly they were not someone to be trifled with.
“Do we understand each other?” the woman asked, her tone complacent.
“…Yes.”
“Good. Now take your payment and get out of my sight.”
Allura heard something heavy containing items that jingled together land on the ground, presumably a bag of currency. Shortly after, one pair of footsteps started walking away, while another headed in the opposite direction, right towards Allura. As quickly and discreetly as she could, she squeezed herself inside a space between two buildings, then held her breath and waited as the Puigian walked right by her. Thank the gods he didn’t see her.
Just in case, Allura stayed in the dark for several more minutes, counting to a thousand, and then a thousand more. Her heart was still racing and she reached up for her necklace. She had nearly come face-to-face with the person who had attacked her planet, the one who hired the Puigian to plant the Galra bomb, she was sure of it.
Who was the woman’s source, what were the plans she was referring to, and who was her acquaintance? Were the Galra not responsible after all? If not them, then who? Allura did not know the woman except by her voice, and it would be next to impossible to identify her. Not only were there nearly ten billion people who lived on Dunamis, but there was also the chance that the woman wasn’t even a citizen.
All was not lost, however. Allura carefully emerged from her hiding place, then made back for the hotel, weaving in and out of streets along the way. The Puigian had mentioned that he worked at the Caspia Plant, so the next step was to find him and interrogate him, but there were a few problems. Allura had never interrogated anyone before, the Altean police had more important priorities than traveling all the way to this planet to help her, and she didn’t know if she could trust the Dunamian police with the information she knew. After all, it was decided that no one was to know about the Galra bomb.
Allura stopped in front of the entrance of the hotel, staring up at the dome and twisting tower above her, both of which were brightly lit against the smog-filled evening. The only people on Dunamis who knew about the existence of the bomb besides her and Coran were the High Council and…
She bit her lip. The Altean in jer wanted to do the right thing, to make the choices she'd been taught all her life that were good and virtuous. Her father, her mother, Coran, and the chief were the only Alteans in the hospital that day, the only ones who knew about the Galra bomb and witnessed when Emperor Lotor was accused of attacking City Hall, and they all seemed thoroughly convinced that he was responsible.
How would the rest of Altea have felt if they witnessed it too, or if they knew that someone had stolen the evidence? Surely they would blame the Galra then. Chief Hira had urged her to go to the High Council and report the Galra as a suspect for the burglary at the police archives, to accuse Lotor herself. Hira was one of her people, and as the princess and future queen of her people, it was Allura’s responsibility to listen to and grant their wishes and desires.
Turning Lotor in ―turning against him― would be the right thing to do.
Trust your gut, her grandmother’s voice echoed in her ears.
Allura clenched her fists. Going with her gut would be going against everything she was taught since she was a young child, but if she wanted to find the truth behind all of this, if she wanted to save her people, then she needed to do the one thing she promised herself she would never do.
Determined, she entered the building and walked swiftly through the halls circling the assembly chamber. Fortunately she ran into King Maato and not Count Do-Tarn.
“Princess Allura, how are you?” the small Arusian greeted her kindly.
“Fine, thank you,” Allura said quickly. She joined her hands in front of her to keep from wringing them together. “Er, I was wondering if I could ask you something?”
“Of course, ask away.”
“Do you know where I can find Emperor Lotor?”
“W-what?” King Maato went concerningly pale at the mention of the Galra, and he immediately began perspiring. “Did you say Emperor L-L-Lotor?” he stuttered.
Allura nodded, and he frantically glanced around the empty hallway, as though saying the man’s name was not only a terrible feat in and of itself, but could also conjure him and make him appear at its mere utterance. He looked up at her in fear.
“Your Highness, I have been doing everything I can to avoid him and his generals. They frighten me, and they frighten my colleagues as well.” He shuddered, then added with a nervous laugh, “You understand, don’t you, Princess? They are Galra, after all.”
“I see,” Allura said, disappointment creeping into her voice. She cleared her throat and lifted her chin. “Yes, of course, I understand. I suppose I will have to look for him myself, then. Have a good night, Your Majesty.”
She then turned to walk away, considering going to the front desk and possibly asking a receptionist for Lotor’s room number (though she doubted she’d get it) when something caught her eye. Outside the window which stretched the entire length of the hallway was a cruiser making its way towards the hotel’s underground hangar bay, presumably after an evening flight through the city. Allura’s eyes widened in recognition. The ship was charcoal gray with blue and orange accents, and matched the colors which Lotor and his generals wore on their armor.
Could it be…?
The hangar bay beneath Phylos Council Hall was a stark contrast to what was on the surface. Whereas the assembly chamber and hotel was brightly lit and contained lots of open space, the hangar was dark and cramped. Allura walked by hundreds of different kinds of cruisers, ships, and fighters, including her own ship Fala. Everything was practically sandwiched together.
By the time Allura arrived, Lotor’s cruiser had already landed, parked some distance away in between a Rygnirathi and a Nalquodian ship. Unlike most Galra ships which were black and purple, the emperor’s private transport was blue and gray and had a completely different silhouette.
As she got closer, Allura saw one of the generals, Ezor, lying on her back on the nose of the ship. One leg dangled off the edge, swinging absentmindedly, and she looked bored. Narti sat next to her, with the little gray cat stretching its legs and dozing off on the surface of the cruiser. There were people conversing, hidden from view by the cerulean Nalquodian ship, and Allura hated that her heart skipped a beat when she heard Lotor speak.
“Flight deck,” his smooth voice called.
“Flight deck, check,” Zethrid answered.
“Left wing.”
“Check.”
“Right wing.”
“Yep.”
“Main engines.”
A loud BOOM echoed throughout the hangar as twin blue flames exploded from the rear of the ship, then instantly sputtered out.
“Watch the fuel,” came his warning voice. “Forward thrusters.”
This time the blue fire burst from the front, underneath the nose of the ship, making Ezor and Narti jump and the cat scamper away with a startled yowl.
“Hey, you could’ve burned us to a crisp!” Ezor exclaimed, springing to her feet and raising a fist.
“Zethrid, what did I just say?”
There was a loud cackle from Zethrid. “Sorry, Boss. Couldn’t help myself.”
Acxa emerged, walking over to the front where Ezor and Narti were, shaking her head and smiling. Her smile quickly faded, however, when she saw Allura walking towards them. Her hand immediately went to the holster at her hip.
“State your business,” she demanded.
Ezor’s mouth formed an “o” before she grinned, baring her fangs, then announced in a sing-song voice, “Hey Boss, we’ve got company!” She hopped down from the ship, resting her elbow on Acxa’s shoulder. Zethrid too walked over and put a hand on her hip.
“Lost your way?” she asked bluntly.
“Who is it?” Lotor asked, his tone indifferent, finally emerging from behind the Nalquodian ship. He was in the midst of tugging his helmet off, and as he did so his thick, pearl white tresses fell down his back, all the way to his waist. Then he stopped in his tracks when he noticed Allura, who stood several feet away from them all.
She cleared her throat, clasped her hands together, and looked him in the eye. “I would like a word with you,” she said, keeping her voice calm, then as a second thought added, “please.”
Lotor was silent. Like Allura, it seemed that his anger too had faded since their argument, but he was staring at her quizzically, as if puzzling in his head why she would come all this way to find him. Acxa opened her mouth, probably to tell Allura to leave, but was interrupted by a soft meow at the princess’s feet. Allura looked down and saw the cat, which had returned after its fright caused by the propulsions from the ship. It rubbed against her legs and stared up at her with its sharp, red and yellow eyes.
“Hello,” she greeted the cat meekly. She picked it up and began petting it. The Galra all stared in stunned silence.
“Is she allowed to do that?” Zethrid muttered.
“Iunno,” Ezor said, shrugging.
“What lovely colors,” Allura commented, marveling at the bright orange and blue on the cat’s head, and she smiled when it leaned into her touch, insisting on getting its ears scratched. She lifted her head to look at the group. Lotor was watching her with an astonished expression on his face, his helmet tucked beneath his arm.
“Want me to get rid of her?” Zethrid asked him.
“I’ll do it,” Acxa said before he could answer, once more reaching for her gun. “She can’t be trusted.”
Allura raised an eyebrow. “Do not tell me petting a cat is a crime in the eyes of the Galra.”
“Kova does seem to like her,” Ezor observed.
“Kova likes everyone,” Acxa snapped.
“He does not, and you know it.”
“I mean none of you any harm,” Allura assured them as she came closer, cradling Kova in her arms. “I need to speak with your emperor. Alone.”
Lotor considered for a moment, then nodded.
“Lotor,” Acxa protested.
“Leave us,” he said, his gaze never leaving Allura’s.
Narti hopped down from the ship, and seeing Kova trying to get to her, Allura loosened her hold and let the cat go, watching him bound towards Narti and leap onto her shoulder. Acxa scowled at the princess, her hand still resting on the holster at her hip before she left with the other women. The emotion in her eyes was more than mistrust or protective loyalty towards her superior. She almost looked… jealous. Allura did not dwell on it, however, and instead turned her attention back to the Galra emperor.
Lotor stood in place, warily eyeing Allura as she cautiously walked up to him, stopping when they were a few paces away from each other. Once again she cleared her throat, as she found it difficult to decide where to begin, and looked up at the ship.
“Routine checkup?” she asked, keeping her tone disinterested as possible as she nodded towards the cruiser. “I saw you outside earlier.”
Lotor set his helmet on the ship’s nose, crossing his arms and following her gaze with a curt nod. “I sensed the rudders were out of alignment during my flight,” he said, a slight crease in his brow as he considered what the source of the problem might be. “I do not expect to stay on this planet for very long, and when it is time for my generals and I to return home, I want to make sure everything is in order.”
“Hm. What is your ship called?” Suddenly she was genuinely curious. “I named mine Fala.”
“It is called Sincline.” Lotor then turned back to her, narrowing his eyes. “Might I ask what are you doing here, Princess? If you are here to pick another fight with me, I am afraid you will have to come back tomorrow. I am far too worn out to argue with you at the moment.”
“I am not here to pick a fight,” she insisted, trying not to get defensive. She was a little peeved, but when she remembered the very reason she’d come to speak with him in the first place, she absentmindedly reached up to tug on her necklace.
Lotor’s sharp eyes flickered from the necklace back to her face, and his suspicious expression faded into something akin to concern. “What is wrong?” he asked, a slight edge to his voice. “Did something happen?”
Allura blinked in surprise. How could he tell? She mentally shook herself, refocusing on the task at hand, then glanced around at their surroundings. “There is something I need to―” She stopped herself. There didn’t appear to be anyone else in the hangar besides the two of them, but being out in the open was far too risky.
She marched towards the rear of the cruiser where it was nearly touching the Nalquodian ship next to it, then looked at Lotor expectantly. Keeping his arms folded, he walked over and stood in front of her, giving her a once-over. Their backs were almost up against the ships, leaving very little space between them so that they were nearly chest-to-chest. With Lotor so close to her, the ships closing in on them, and the poor lighting of the hangar bay shining weakly down upon them, the situation suddenly felt far too intimate, but Allura knew it was better than having someone eavesdrop on their conversation.
She folded her arms as well and lifted her chin haughtily. “There is something I need to ask you,” she said.
“I am all ears,” he replied, eyebrows twitching upward in skeptical expectation.
Allura hesitated. It was now or never. “If―and I mean if― there was a chance that I believed you were innocent…” She bit her lip. “What would you do?”
His eyes widened a fraction in surprise, then his brow furrowed. “And why would you take that chance?”
“Because despite everything that has happened between us,” she replied, “what I said that day in the hospital, I meant it. I want to find the person who is responsible for attacking my planet, and I want to do it the right way, without hurting anyone.” She paused, taking a deep breath. “What I am about to tell you I have not told anyone else, not even my advisor. But before I do, I need to know that you too are willing to take the chance in believing that my people are innocent, that my father did not frame you. I need―” She looked up at him intently. “I need you to understand that I am taking a risk by putting my trust in you. Can you do the same for me?”
The silence between them couldn’t have lasted for more than a few seconds, but to Allura it felt like an eternity as she waited for Lotor’s answer. Once they did this, things were going to change forever for the both of them. Perhaps things already had from the moment they first met. His eyes were fixed on hers with an intensity which had since become familiar to her. She could expect nothing less from him at this point, and she could never be looked upon the same way by anyone else except him.
Slowly, he nodded. “Yes,” he answered. It was only one word, but the way he said it sounded like he was trying to convey every feeling on the emotional spectrum, as if he was trying to tell her something, to make her understand something about himself. What that something was, however, Allura did not know, at least not yet.
She let out a long, relieved sigh, and nodded, ready to tell him. “There was a man in the marketplace this afternoon―a Puigian,” she began. “I recognized him because he was there the day City Hall was destroyed. I followed him into Yadle District where he spoke with a woman.”
Lotor’s weight shifted, and Allura noticed the way his shoulders slightly hunched over as he paid close attention to her. “Did you see this woman?” he asked, keeping his voice low. “Describe her to me.”
Allura shook her head. “I did not see her face. But her voice…” She furrowed her brow as she tried to remember. “It was young―articulate. She sounded like she came from an educated background. I am convinced she is the one responsible for the attack.” She fell silent, watching him take all of this in.
He lifted his chin and gazed down at her. “And she explicitly mentioned Altea and the bombings? You heard her say it?”
“Well, no,” she admitted reluctantly. “But regardless, their conversation was very suspicious, and it cannot be a coincidence that the Puigian I saw on Altea is here on Dunamis, clearly involved in some shady business. I heard that he works at a place called the Caspia Plant. He must be found and interrogated, but… I cannot do it alone. I―” She grit her teeth. “I need your help.” It took every ounce of her willpower to set her pride aside and confess the truth to him, and her cheeks warmed as the embarrassment set in.
Lotor appeared genuinely surprised. “You… are asking for my help?” He tilted his head slightly. “After you and I both consentiently and―rather uninhibitedly, might I add―decided we wanted nothing further to do with each other,” he clarified.
“Yes,” Allura snapped. She folded her arms more tightly, her shoulders tensing as she waited for his inevitable mockery.
It did not come, however. Lotor leaned back against his cruiser, still watching her closely. “Must be perfect timing, Princess,” he said, his cool manner a stark contrast to her heated one. “As it stands, my generals and I have made no progress on our side of the investigation.”
“How surprisingly modest of you, Your Imperial Majesty,” Allura remarked cynically.
“Contrary to popular belief, Your Highness, I am no stranger to humility,” Lotor returned, and Allura had a feeling he was referring to their conversation in the bar.
“Popular belief?” She lifted her chin at him. “And whose opinion of yourself do you value so highly, I wonder?”
The corner of his mouth quirked up very subtly. “Just yours, apparently,” he said.
Allura bit back a smile. She couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic with her, whether his comment was genuine or not, but it was affecting her in ways that her pride would not allow her to display.
Lotor’s eyes flickered over her, then he nodded towards her. “But what’s in it for me? What do I get in return for helping you?”
Hope ignited in Allura’s chest. He was willing to make a deal with her after all. This was going much better than she could have anticipated. She stood up straighter. “Tell me what you want and I will give it to you.”
“Yes, but what can you give me?”
“As Princess of Altea, I am sure I can get you anything.”
“Anything?” His voice was low and husky. It sent a shiver up her spine.
“Depends on what it is,” she answered, and at last she couldn’t help the smile that grew on her face. It was almost strange to be doing so, as this was the first time in her memory that she ever smiled at him, but she couldn’t help it.
Lotor considered, running a hand over his mouth as his eyes traveled over her once more. Eventually he nodded. “I will help you,” he said. “On one condition.”
“What is it?”
“You will allow me to handle it―bringing him in, the interrogation, what happens to him afterwards―everything.”
“And why would I do that?” Allura asked, furrowing her brow.
He shrugged. “My actions, my responsibility. Should things go awry―”
Allura didn’t like the way he said that.
“―you will not have to answer for any of it.”
She reached up for her necklace. “What do you plan to do with him afterwards?” she asked, dreading what his answer might be.
“That is entirely up to him,” he replied. She resisted rolling her eyes at his cryptic answer. Probably sensing her annoyance, he then asked, “Do you want my help or not?”
“I do,” she said firmly. She exhaled, keeping her eyes on him. “Then I get to be there when you interrogate him.”
They both fell silent, watching each other, as if both were trying to decide how they felt about this strange new alliance they were forming―an alliance formed not because the council wanted it, but because they wanted it themselves. To her surprise, Allura found that her headache was no longer present. When had it disappeared? Regardless, she was beginning to think that perhaps her father, Coran ―everyone― was wrong about Lotor. Maybe he was innocent after all, and he was not the horrible, violent emperor her people made him out to be. Maybe if the two of them could actually get along, could work together and be a real team, they’d be able to solve this.
And maybe… maybe it would be alright if Allura liked him―just a little bit.
Lotor nodded again. “As you wish, Princess,” he said softly. “Now tell me, what does this man look like?”
The next day, Allura met up with Lotor at noon on the three hundred and ninth floor of the hotel at his request. The generals were going to bring the Puigian, and the two of them were to simply wait for their arrival.
Noon came and went, and Allura paced about the empty corridor, folding her arms and tugging on the chain of her necklace. How much longer until the generals returned? With every passing minute of their absence, the princess grew more and more anxious.
Out of the corner of her eye she could see Lotor leaning against the sill of a large window that looked out into the city. He too had his arms folded, but he looked nowhere near as agitated as she. The back of his head rested against the glass, and his eyes were closed. It was as if this was like any other day for him. Now that Allura thought about it, perhaps it was.
“Where are they?” she asked, more to herself than to him. “Shouldn’t they be back by now?”
“They will return when they return,” came Lotor’s smooth reply. She turned to look at him. His eyes were still closed and he almost sounded bored.
“Are you not concerned?” She hadn’t meant to sound so irritable, but she couldn’t help it; she was nervous.
“Concern is ineffectual. I trust my generals not to disappoint me. Relax, Princess,” he added with a tired sigh. “I will handle it when the time comes.”
“That is precisely why I cannot relax,” she muttered.
“Doing laps around the hallway will not make them come any faster, but if it helps you, then by all means, do not stop on my account. Although…” He slowly opened his eyes and lifted his head from the window, his gaze meeting hers. “You more resemble a lioness than a princess, the way you are pacing about.”
Allura stopped and narrowed her eyes. “Is that supposed to be some kind of insult?”
He blinked at her. She was not afraid of the way he looked at her, with his glowing eyes so sharp and intense. She knew why he was always staring at her like that, and she also knew why it made her stomach do a flip and her pulse quicken. Between that and fear, however, she couldn’t decide which one was worse.
“That necklace there,” he began softly, changing the subject. “You tend to pull on it when you are nervous.”
Allura stared at him, taken aback. “You noticed that?” she asked.
“I notice a lot of things about you, Princess. Besides, anyone who cannot see you is blind.”
Trying to ignore how his remark made her heart skip a beat, she cleared her throat and lifted her chin at him. “And? What is your point?”
“That crystal is a juniberry flower, correct?” Lotor asked, nodding towards it. When Allura continued to stare at him, he added, shrugging a shoulder, “I… know a thing or two about Altean culture.”
“Cryptic,” she commented, raising an eyebrow. His mouth twitched, as if holding back a smile, and she gazed at him a second longer before looking down at the charm, holding it up for him to see. “This necklace used to belong to my grandmother. She passed it down to me when I was a girl. I was probably around twelve years old.”
“I do not recall meeting your grandmother on Altea. Is she…?”
“Oh no, she is very much alive and well. After my grandfather died, she has spent the last decade traveling around the universe. The Queen Dowager Rhiella is notoriously adventurous,” she added with a fond smile. “The last I heard from her, she and my aunt Princess Orla and her family were on their way to Naxzela.”
Allura blinked, wondering why she was telling Lotor all of this, or why he was asking her about it in the first place. It was only a conversation, but nevertheless it was a conversation with the enemy of her people. Not to mention he was still a stranger to her, though that gap between them had slowly started to close.
So perhaps it was strange to ask, but since he’d inquired after her grandmother, Allura figured it would be alright if she asked a thing or two about his home life. Besides, she was genuinely curious. “And you? Do you… have any grandparents?”
“No. I never knew them,” he answered, speaking in a way that sounded as if he too was as uncertain about sharing parts of his own life as she was about sharing hers. “There is Dayak, my once-governess, though I―” He stopped himself, his jaw tensing as he swallowed thickly. “I have not seen her in many years, and I prefer to keep it that way.”
Allura frowned. It appeared Lotor’s relationship with this Dayak was one he did not wish to discuss, and as he’d told her over a week ago, he was not going to give her his whole life story, so she decided not to pry. Out of courtesy she turned away from him and resumed her reluctant waiting for the generals’ arrival.
“Are you and your grandmother close?”
Lotor’s voice was quiet when he asked, surprising Allura once more and prompting her to turn around and look at him again.
She nodded slowly, and her smile returned. “Yes,” she answered. “I did not have many friends growing up, and she was one of my dearest.” When she saw him frown, she elaborated with a shrug, “I have always been too busy with my responsibilities as princess. There was never time for relationships of any kind.”
Not until now, at least, she thought, anxiety forming in the pit of her stomach when she was reminded of what was waiting for her back home when all of this was over: more pointless courtships with bland Altean men, an eventual arranged marriage, and the coming of what she dreaded the most, her Yul’mai―
Allura pushed the thought out of her head, still smiling, though it now felt forced. “My family and my people always come first. I accepted that long ago.”
Lotor’s mouth set in a grim line, watching her. “Putting the needs of others above your own. That is…” he glanced away, nodding slightly before meeting her gaze again. “That is something I can relate to.”
Allura nodded back, and she found that, against her better judgment, she wanted to know more about him. What was it like, having Emperor Zarkon for a father? There was next to nothing known of Lotor’s childhood, including the identity of his mother, and he had neither spouse nor children of his own. She wondered how it must have been for him, someone still so young, yet suddenly had taken on the responsibility of an entire planet with no one to support him.
As he had said just now, that responsibility was something she could relate to, and though she was surrounded by family who loved and cared for her, there were some things about their ways of life that she could not succumb to. She wondered if Lotor felt that way, too, if the two of them indeed had more in common than she ever dared to admit before, and…
She wondered if, like her, he ever felt lonely at times.
They remained silent as they regarded one another, and for a moment Lotor looked like he wanted to say something to her, but before he could they both heard footsteps approaching from one end of the hallway and their conversation was over. Allura backed away towards the window, next to Lotor, as the generals appeared. Acxa led the way, her hand resting securely on the gun holster strapped to her hip. Right behind her followed Zethrid and Ezor, walking on either side of the Puigian male. Narti took up the rear, Kova sitting on her shoulder as usual.
“Found him, Boss,” Ezor announced proudly.
Lotor stood up straight and left his spot, then motioned for the man to be brought to him. Acxa stepped aside and Zethrid gave the man a nudge, but with how strong she was, the push caused him to stumble to the ground and land on his knees. Allura bit her lip, watching the scene uneasily, but she gave Lotor her word that she would let him handle it. As anxious as that part of the agreement still made her, she had already decided to put her trust in him.
“What is the meaning of this?” the Puigian protested angrily. “Your generals show up at my place of work and drag me all the way over here―it’s just like you Galra to push people around. I haven’t done anything!” The fury on his face however soon turned into fear as the emperor came closer.
The corner of Lotor’s mouth lifted in a humorless smile. He glanced over his shoulder at Allura, who remained by the window, and tilted his head towards the man. “Is this the one?” he asked her.
Allura was silent as she studied the man’s face. There was no mistaking the distinguishable orange markings, as well as the broken horn. She reached for her necklace again, looked at Lotor, and nodded. “Yes,” she confirmed quietly.
Lotor nodded back slowly, his eyes flickering over her, before addressing the Puigian. “What is your name?” he asked. His voice and stature as he stood over the man was commanding― dominating. When the other didn’t answer, he added, “Come now, you have nothing to fear.” He offered his hand.
The Puigian hesitated, then took Lotor’s arm and stood. A little miffed, he muttered, “Qal.”
“Very well, Qal. You want to know why you are here? I am offering you a chance to come clean.”
“W-what? Come clean about what?”
“We know you were on Altea the day City Hall was destroyed. If you can be honest with me, Qal, and confess your involvement in the attack, as well as give me the name of the person you work for, I will not be forced to take drastic measures,” Lotor continued, and his eyes flashed dangerously. “I would choose wisely if I were you.”
A look of fear passed over Qal’s face, then he recovered. “Or what, you’ll kill me?” he scoffed with false bravado.
Allura inhaled sharply. Surely, Lotor wouldn’t… would he?
“It does not have to come to that,” the emperor replied.
“I already told the Altean police everything I know,” Qal insisted, then added to Allura harshly, “You’re the Altean princess. If you want my testimony so much, why don’t you access their records?”
Lotor glanced at her again, but she subtly shook her head. Now was not the time to tell everyone that she unfortunately could not access said police records because they were currently missing.
“Ugh, boring,” Ezor drawled, inspecting her claws. “Can we get rid of this guy already?”
“I can take care of it,” Zethrid offered, baring her fangs and rubbing her knuckles eagerly. Qal jumped, flinching away from her and staring at her in alarm.
“Stand down, Zethrid,” Lotor commanded her strictly. “You will only move when I say.”
Allura stared at all of them in horror. “There are other ways to go about this,” she protested, and Lotor turned to look at her. “You are not seriously considering killing this man, are you?”
“I told you before, Princess, that is entirely up to him,” he returned calmly.
“You’re crazy!” Qal exclaimed. “You’re all crazy! You think some scare tactic is going to get me to talk? All of you, both the Galra and the Alteans, you’re all insane!”
Lotor faced Qal and smiled again, but in his eyes there was a hint of something darker, something vicious, and the air was tense.
“Wrong answer,” he said.
He then nodded to Narti. She stepped forward, and in a flash extended her tail, wrapping it around Qal’s neck and lifting him a foot off of the ground. The man’s cry was cut off as he choked, gasping for air and pulling at her tail, but it only coiled more tightly around him. Allura clenched her fists to keep them from covering her mouth. Lotor stepped in closer towards him.
“It is because of you that my planet is on the brink of war,” Lotor told him. His voice was quiet yet seething with anger, radiating off of his tense stature. “If it ends up coming to that and the blood of the Galra is spilt, where does that leave you, Qal? As emperor, I will do everything in my power to protect my people, so what do you think I am capable of doing to my enemies? What do you think I am capable of doing to you?”
When Qal’s face flushed a shade of green and he was about to pass out, Lotor raised his hand and Narti released the man. Qal fell to the ground, coughing and putting a hand to his throat as he struggled to catch his breath.
“Shall we try this again?” Lotor asked, his voice flat and devoid of any sympathy.
Qal struggled to his feet and glared up at Lotor. “I’m not telling you anything, you monster.”
Lotor clenched his jaw and his body stiffened, the last of his patience now run out. Allura stared at him, eyes wide. The Lotor before her now was completely different from the one she’d spoken to last night in the hangar, even different from the one from mere minutes ago. She was shocked by this change, this mask he’d slipped on, as if he’d suddenly become someone else, and she feared for the Puigian’s life.
Promise or no promise, she could not stand by and watch any longer. Finally she stepped forward, coming to Lotor’s side and looking at Qal desperately.
“Do not resist anymore,” she told him frantically. “I heard you speaking with a woman yesterday. I know you are working for her.” Next to her she felt the movement of Lotor’s arm as he rested a hand on his hip where his sword was strapped around his waist. She took another step forward. “Please, I know you are trying to find a way out. If you give us the truth and tell us what you know, I will personally ensure that the High Council offers you protection. Work with us, we can make a deal.”
For a second, Allura actually believed that she’d gotten through to him. She thought she saw a look of hesitation pass over his face, and a feeling of hope that he would agree to help grew in her chest.
How very wrong she was.
Before she knew it, Qal was pulling out a gun from the inside of his jacket and pointing it at her. She was so shocked, so frightened that she couldn’t even gasp or react. She froze in place, staring at the weapon which was zeroed in on her head.
Acxa quickly unholstered her own gun and aimed it at Qal. “Drop it!” she ordered.
Lotor raised a hand, gesturing for her to stand down. Calmly, he stepped in between Qal and Allura.
“Get back!” Qal screamed, now aiming it at him. “Or I’ll shoot!”
Amazingly, Lotor didn’t seem to be in fear for his life at all. “Calm yourself, Qal,” he said in a low voice. “You do not want to do something you will regret.”
Qal let out a hysterical laugh. “I’m in too deep in all of this already. You guys have no idea what you’re getting into. You’re all doomed!”
“Last chance,” Lotor warned him. Allura watched, terrified, as he slowly reached for the hilt of his sword.
Qal’s entire body tensed, his finger curling around the trigger. Then everything happened in the blink of an eye. He was about to fire the weapon, but Lotor was faster than him. Before the Puigian had a chance to pull the trigger, Lotor quickly drew his sword and sliced it clean through him. Allura scarcely registered the sound of a strangled cry, a dull thud as a body hit the ground, and her face was splashed with something warm and wet.
She didn’t realize she had shut her eyes until she slowly opened them, coming back to reality. In front of her stood Lotor with his back to her, his sword hanging at his side, and at his feet lay the body of the dead Puigian, though Lotor blocked most of her view of it.
The emperor panted. He ran his free hand through his hair, leaving it slightly tousled, then turned to Ezor, Zethrid and Narti. “Take care of the body,” he told them, his voice deep and rough. “Speak of this to no one. I will inform the council of what has happened myself.”
“Fine,” Ezor sighed, as if she’d been assigned to run an annoying errand. “But I am not mopping that up.”
Zethrid stepped forward and heaved the body over her shoulder without pause, and the three women left. Allura’s heart pounded as she watched them go. With difficulty she tore her gaze away, then reached up to touch her face, still feeling the warm and sticky liquid on her skin. When she pulled her hand away, she saw something dark green― blood. Puigian blood.
“What now?” Acxa asked Lotor as she returned her gun to her holster. “We weren’t able to get anything out of him. We’re back to square one.”
“He was merely a cog in the machine,” he answered, and his voice still sounded gravelly. His breathing slowly evened out as the adrenaline faded. “The person responsible is still out there, so we keep looking.”
At last he turned to Allura, who was still staring at the blood on her fingers. She looked down and saw that it had gotten on her suit as well as on the carpet―a large, wet puddle―the sickening evidence of a brutal execution.
“Princess,” Lotor began, cautiously taking a step towards her. “Are you… alright?” She looked up when she saw him approach, and immediately recoiled. Seeing this, his brow furrowed. “I am not going to hurt you.” He tried again to come close to her, but stopped when Allura took another step back and raised her stained hand, staring at his chest―unable to look at his face. He too was covered in blood.
“Get away from me,” she whispered.
Lotor froze in place, as if he didn’t know how to respond at first. Once he recovered he looked over his shoulder at Acxa. “Leave us,” he ordered, and then referring to the blood seeping into the carpet, added sharply, “Find someone to clean that up.”
“But, Lotor―”
“Do what I tell you and do not argue with me,” he snapped. “You forgot to check him for a weapon before bringing him, Acxa. You have failed me. Now leave.”
“…Alright,” Acxa answered reluctantly, though the tone of her voice revealed that she didn’t want to go. She did not disobey her emperor, however, and promptly exited, leaving him and Allura alone in the hallway.
Lotor turned back to Allura and was silent, watching her for a moment. “Are you afraid of me now?” he asked, his voice quiet yet intense and thick with some emotion that she couldn’t place.
She looked up at his face. A spot of green blood had gotten on him and was streaming down his right cheek. Seeing it made her angry, sparking a fire within her that renewed her energy as she came back to her senses. “You killed him,” she said, outraged. “You… I was wrong about you. You are exactly the kind of man they said you are.”
He stilled. His eyes roamed over her, over the blood on her face and her clothes. “And what am I, Princess?” he asked, his voice low and dangerous. When she didn’t answer, he came in close, so close that they were nearly chest-to-chest, but she stood her ground this time. “What am I?” he snarled, baring his fangs as he emphasized each word.
Allura still did not speak, staring up at him with hatred, and to her utmost terror… confliction.
“Say it,” he goaded her. “You think I am a monster.”
She didn’t want to hear anymore. She tried to move past him, but he blocked her path. Shifting his weight and towering over her, he stared her down, shaking his head slowly in disapprobation.
“You… You sanctimonious woman. Do not forget that you came to me. You wanted my help, and I gave it to you. I did what you asked. You have no right to encroach on me, make demands of me, then turn around and judge me.”
“You took that man’s life,” Allura told him in quiet fury, jutting out her chin and getting into his face. “You didn’t have to.”
“Did you not see that he tried to attack first?” Lotor raised his voice, motioning behind him with his sword. She stared down at the weapon, watching the dark green blood trailing to the tip of the shining metal and dripping onto the floor.
“Do not try to justify your actions to me, sir,” she retorted. “You were already threatening to kill him long before he tried to shoot. You humiliated him, you were cruel, and I…”
Allura trailed off, the inner corners of her eyebrows lifting. Like that day in the hospital when she first laid eyes upon the bomb, she never could have expected to feel hurt or betrayed by the Galra emperor, but she did, and she hated herself for it. She hated that she was feeling all of these things about him. Every positive and negative emotion associated with him during these past few weeks, she couldn’t stand it. Lotor said nothing, waiting in silence for her to continue, his expression stony.
“I wanted to trust you, Emperor.” The misery in her voice was so painfully obvious that it was humiliating. “And for a moment I really believed I could. I really believed that―” She fell silent, biting her lip. She couldn’t bring herself to admit such a vulnerable truth to him from deep within her heart.
Lotor searched her eyes intently before he spoke. “You really believed that there was hope for us,” he realized.
Allura was mortified that he knew her feelings, that he understood her, and worse…that he felt the same way.
The revelation didn’t seem to surprise Lotor. If anything, it only made him more frustrated. “Do you…” He stared at her in disbelief. “Do you not understand why I did what I did? When he threatened your life, why I―” He closed his eyes and shook his head slightly, apparently deciding against finishing that sentence. When he opened his eyes to look at her, they were full of resentment. “Answer me this, Princess: when someone threatens your people―the ones you love―will you stand by and watch? Or will you do what is necessary when the time comes?”
The mention of Allura’s people boiled her blood, and there was a fire in her eyes as she glared up at him. “I will do anything for my people,” she told him fiercely. “Everything I have ever done has been for them.”
“Am I so different?”
She opened her mouth to speak, inhaling sharply. Lotor did not move, waiting for her answer, but she turned her head, refusing to look at him; she couldn’t. If she looked at him, she feared the last of her self-discipline would crumble and she would begin to question everything she’d ever known. She feared she’d already begun.
In her silence, Lotor’s eyes hardened. From the corner of her eye she could see the disappointment and fury on his face. He brushed past her, sheathing his sword, then stopped next to her and looked down his shoulder at her.
“The next time you need help,” he told her in a low growl, “don’t come running to me.”
Allura balled her fists, still not acknowledging him. Then he left her side and was gone and it hurt. She released a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. Trying hard not to stare at the pool of blood, she held her head high, straightened her back, and walked in the opposite direction from him.
Made a little comic of their argument at the beginning of the chapter! You can read the whole thing here! 😁
Notes:
First and foremost I want to say that I do not hate Acxa!! I actually really like her, as well as all of the generals, and I promise her purpose in this story is neither to be an Allura-hater nor one third of a love triangle lol.
A few fun facts about this chapter: the title "Lotor - My Hero?" is the name of S2E17 of DotU. Also from DotU, Allura actually does have an Aunt Orla who shows up for one episode! And in VLD canon we know Allura had a grandmother, though we never got her name, so I came up with the name Rhiella myself. Hopefully it sounds Altean enough! 😁
Thank you so much for reading and have a lovely weekend!! 💖💜
Chapter Text
It was a miracle that there was no one around to stop Allura to point and scream in horror at the green blood which had splattered over her face and the front of her flight suit, but even if there was, she probably wouldn’t have noticed. She was on autopilot; everything was a blur as she marched onto the elevator, stepped off onto the four hundred and eighty-seventh floor, and made her way to her hotel suite. She barely recollected shutting the door as the only thing on her mind was to get into the bathroom and turn on the sink.
Quickly she splashed her face with water, then scrubbed at her hands to get rid of the blood on her skin, not caring that her suit was getting soaked. Snatching a bottle of soap sitting next to the faucet, she tried to squeeze the liquid out, but it slipped from her hands when she continued to try and stubbornly grasp at it. Finally she let out a groan of frustration and flung it across the length of the large, luxurious bathroom. It landed with a bang in the sparkling white, porcelain bathtub. Allura rested her elbows on the counter and buried her face in her hands, taking a moment to catch her breath and focus on the sound of the running water instead of the screaming thoughts in her head.
“You… you sanctimonious woman,” Lotor’s voice rang in her mind.
Allura squeezed her eyes shut tighter. She couldn’t stop picturing the rage in his eyes.
“You really believed that there was hope for us…”
The hurt and frustration in his voice―she hadn’t expected that at all. She slowly opened her eyes. Reaching for the faucet to turn off the water, she looked at her reflection in the well-lit mirror, bracing her hands on the countertop. Droplets of water combined with the remaining smudges of blood on her skin, mixing together and trailing down her cheeks.
Allura swallowed. She didn’t recognize herself anymore. What had he done to her? She was no longer the same person she was several weeks ago on Altea before that fateful day, and it was all because of him, wasn’t it?
No… She knew she was only fooling herself, looking for somewhere to place the blame. Count Do-Tarn may have forced them into working together, but everything else that Allura had done, she was the one to make those choices. That was what she’d wanted, after all, to make decisions for herself. She’d done it, and those decisions had brought her closer and closer to Lotor.
Wearily she stepped away to change out of her clothes and wash up for bed, but as she lay under the covers she could not fall asleep. She was in so much agony. There was turmoil brewing within her heart, and her relationship with Lotor, whatever it was, had finally reached its lowest point. As the hours went by and she remained wide awake, she could not stop thinking of him. She couldn’t decide if it was because she felt betrayed and she hated him… or if it was because of something else.
The pain in her heart was torturous. She felt as if she was facing the biggest conflict in her entire life. Her father had cautioned her that she would face the realities of what life was really like outside of Altea, that she would see the truth behind the politics and corruption. Her feelings, however, didn’t align with his warnings. They had nothing to do with what her father had told her. What was confusing her, what was driving her insane was her desire ―her desire to do the right thing, but it was constantly being tested, pulling her this way and that, and she didn’t know what to do about it.
Allura loved her planet and her people with all her might; there was no doubt there. But now, after everything she’d been through with Lotor, she wasn’t sure what she wanted anymore. The hardest thing for her to admit wasn’t even that he was right. She did go to him for help. He didn’t have to help her, even if the council expected them to work together, but he did it anyway. Not only did he honor their agreement, but she knew that he was a man who cared for his people―unconditionally and completely―as much as she cared for hers.
What was hard to admit was that she felt she couldn’t rely on her teachings in a moment like this. All of this went against everything she’d been taught to believe since she was a child. How could someone like him be intruding on the thoughts of someone like her? The Galra were the enemy. Their ancestor had murdered an Altean in cold blood, and a billion lives were lost during the decades of war that followed. Allura did not condone violence or killing. It was wrong. However, she was beginning to realize that there was no way to clearly define what was right and what was wrong. It wasn’t possible anymore, and perhaps it never was.
Had Allura confronted the woman and the Puigian in the alleyway, what would have happened? It would have been incredibly foolish to do so, and considering it after the fact was pointless, but a flurry of scenarios and what if’s were storming through her mind unprompted. Would the man have been spared from his gruesome death, or would he have eventually met his inevitable demise, if not at the hands of Lotor, but the woman herself? She would never know.
Why was all of this so confusing? Why wasn’t there an easy answer? Why was she feeling this way? These clashing emotions were consuming her, eating away at her insides. What kind of princess was she, questioning her own beliefs? She was no princess, at least not the princess that the Alteans needed her to be. The guilt was unbearable. This had to stop.
“The next time you need help, don’t come running to me.”
Allura pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes, trying to ignore the itch of exhaustion. The Galra Emperor needn’t worry about her running to him anymore. She gloomily sat up, watching the light of dawn as it began to spill through the burgundy curtains which covered the ceiling-high windows in her hotel suite. Her fears had come true; because she’d let herself be around him so much, she was no longer able to trust her own judgment.
From now on, she realized miserably, she could not see Emperor Lotor anymore.
Fate had other plans for Allura, however. Three days passed by agonizingly slowly, and the torment which dominated her body and soul did not cease even when she occupied her time training in the hotel’s vast arena on the twenty-seventh floor to blow off some steam.
“Again,” she called, taking a defensive stance and beckoning towards Keith.
The boy had since abandoned his red and white jacket, the collar of his T-shirt damp with sweat, and he wiped the moisture from underneath his chin before resuming his stance as well. Brow furrowed in concentration, he grit his teeth and advanced, bouncing lightly on his feet before kicking out with his right leg and aiming for her head. Allura raised her fists and knocked his foot aside. The two of them were about the same height, so she didn’t need to duck very far in order to give him a light jab in the ribs.
Keith jumped backwards to avoid a second blow, and then clenching his teeth again, he barely missed Allura’s chin with a left hook. Taking advantage of his extended arm, Allura grasped it, spun in place, then pressed her hip into his stomach and tugged downwards.
“Woah―!” Eyes wide with astonishment, Keith was sent flying over her and landed onto the soft mat in front of her with a heavy thud.
“Nice, Princess!” called out Hunk, who was lifting weights with Lance not far from them.
“Is it weird to say that I’d pay a lot of money to watch Allura kick Keith’s butt again?” Lance added with a grin.
“Yes,” Pidge and Shiro said simultaneously. The former was doing sit-ups while the latter was spotting for her.
“Shuddup, Lance,” Keith grumbled as he sat up, turning red when the princess came to stand in front of him.
“You should not grimace before you lunge,” Allura informed him, and she smiled, extending a hand towards him. “It gives away the game.”
“I didn’t realize I was doing it,” he admitted sheepishly.
“Do not be embarrassed. You are doing very well, Keith, and you are able to defend yourself considerably, which is more than I can say for many of the Altean suitors I have met with over the years. I had to save one of my dates from a feral kitten once.”
“How’d you even get into that situation?” Keith muttered, accepting her hand and getting to his feet.
“Did someone say a date?” Lance asked as Allura and Keith took a water break near the rest of the group. “Allura, picture this: you me, dinner and a movie. Whaddya say?”
“No,” she answered flatly.
“Lance,” Shiro scolded him.
“What, what did I say?” The teenager’s attention was then drawn elsewhere when two young Atlantean women passed by. “Ladies,” he greeted them with a suave grin. The girls giggled to themselves, and Allura had a feeling they were laughing at him as they walked away.
“Speaking of dates, what ended up happening with Lotor?” Pidge asked, huffing and puffing after finishing her exercise.
At the mention of the emperor’s name, Alllura accidentally gripped her bioplastic flask too tightly, and water splurted out the top, spilling over her clenched fist. “What?” She stared at Pidge in alarm.
Keith raised an eyebrow and folded his arms. “You guys are still working on the case together, right? Any progress lately?”
Allura pursed her lips and was considering how to respond when the doors to the arena opened and in walked Coran.
“Good afternoon, Earthlings, Princess!” he greeted cheerfully. “What are we talking about?”
“Lotor,” Hunk replied.
“Ah.” Coran did not sound so cheerful anymore. “What news?”
“There is no news,” Allura insisted.
“Did you get into another fight?”
“No.”
“Another?” Hunk repeated, curious. “Do these happen often?”
“Ooh, do you guys have a”―Lance waggled his eyebrows― ”thing going on?” Pidge and Hunk let out simultaneous “ooh”s at this comment.
“Obviously not!” Coran exclaimed incredulously before Allura could answer. “The princess would never consider such a thing! Although,” he added thoughtfully, stroking his mustache. “You may be able to use this dysfunction between the two of you to your advantage, Allura. Like the old proverb says, a man can be driven to do anything if a beautiful woman is just really, really mean to him.”
“Coran,” Allura admonished him, unamused. “Did you come here to offer me advice on how to outwit Lotor, or was there something else?”
“Right, of course.” Coran got back on topic, clearing his throat and standing up straight. “Allura, you have received a summons from the High Council. They are gathering together in the assembly chamber.”
“Right now?” Allura was taken aback.
“It appears so. I can only assume Lotor will be there, too.”
She squeezed her flask tighter until no more water remained. “A heads-up would have been nice,” she said, annoyed.
“Are you going to abstain?” Shiro asked, coming to her side and handing her a towel.
Allura murmured her thanks and wiped her hands and face with the cloth. “No, I should attend.”
She grimaced. No doubt the council would be expecting an update on the investigation by now, and would certainly be displeased to hear that she had nothing to offer.
“If they are calling a meeting so suddenly then it must be important,” she went on, still irritated. “But if the High Council thinks they can continue to order me around like this, then they have got another think coming.”
“Would you like me to accompany you?” Coran offered.
“That will not be necessary.”
“Are you sure? You don’t look like you’ve been sleeping well, Allura. I’m worried about you.”
Allura glanced around at her friends, all of whom were watching her with concern. She hadn’t told Coran or any of the Earthlings the details about the incident with the Puigian, for she herself had yet to reconcile with what had happened. Plus, this contention between her and Lotor, it felt too private and personal to share with anyone else, at least for now. She’d told herself she was going to put her duties first and not worry about him, but the task was easier said than done.
She forced a smile. “Thank you, Coran. But really, I am fine. I am a little tired, that is all. Nothing to worry about.”
Coran looked unconvinced, but didn’t push her, and for that she was grateful. She dabbed at her face and neck to clean herself up as best as she could, tossed the soiled towel into a bin, and waved goodbye to her friends before heading out of the arena.
Indeed, since the unfortunate affair three days ago, Allura hadn’t been sleeping well, and as she rode one of the elevators down to the ground floor, she struggled not to doze off, dazedly watching the numbers rapidly count down on a holographic screen in the corner of the compartment. Her stomach lurched when the three hundred and ninth floor passed by―the place where Lotor killed the Puigian. She figured if she were to step out and walk through that same hallway, she would be unable to find the blood stain in the carpet. It was very likely that it’d been cleaned up, every trace removed, as if it hadn’t happened at all.
She was the first to arrive, giving the council a terse “hello” before falling silent, clasping her hands together and standing stock still on the platform. When the doors hissed open behind her and a familiar pair of heavy footsteps walked along the pathway towards the platform, she tensed, clenching her fingers until they hurt and using all the willpower she had to look straight ahead.
“Emperor Lotor,” Princess Malocoti greeted kindly. “Thank you for coming.”
Lotor said nothing. Allura had no idea what expression he was making, but she could see in her peripheral vision that his arms were crossed, and he too seemed tense. His presence was overwhelming, overpowering all of her senses and running through her like an electric current. They were standing several feet away from each other, but the air felt so pressured with the strain between them that it would have been no different if they were touching.
“You two are awfully quiet today,” Count Do-Tarn noticed in amusement. “Lover’s quarrel?” In spite of her uneasiness, Allura found it in herself to be offended and rolled her eyes.
“Am I here to listen to you spout nonsense or do you actually have something of value to tell me?” Lotor asked wearily. He didn’t sound as angry as Allura thought he would. More than anything, he sounded tired, and she barely resisted turning her head to look at him.
“It has been some time since your arrival on Dunamis,” President Desto began, “and we have received no news on the progress of your investigation. Care to explain?” She paused. “You have made progress, haven’t you?”
Allura bit her lip, debating on how to answer when Lotor stepped forward.
“Three days ago there was an incident,” he reported. “A Puigian whom I suspected was involved in the attack.” He cleared his throat and continued grimly, “I attempted to interrogate him, but to no avail.”
“Where is this Puigian now?” President Desto asked, furrowing her brow.
“Dead. I killed him.”
A short and simple answer, straight to the point. There were silent gasps and murmurs among the council members as his words sank in. Princess Malocoti covered her mouth with one hand in shock, and King Maato looked like he was about to faint with fright.
“Before you interrogated this man, did you inform the princess that you suspected him?” Count Do-Tarn asked.
“No. I acted alone.”
Another short answer. Allura’s eyes widened a fraction, yet she kept still, keeping her eyes glued to the hovercraft in which the members sat.
“And what reason did you have to kill him?” President Desto inquired, the disapproval clear in her tone.
“He pulled out a weapon and tried to shoot. I acted in self defense,” Lotor said, then added, “I take full responsibility.”
Do-Tarn sighed and shook his head. “The agreement was that you and the princess were to handle the investigation together, and yet you still insist on doing things alone. What happened with the Puigian is… unfortunate, to be sure, but we have given you all the time and resources you needed. We’ve been more than patient with you both. Can’t you put aside your pride for once and do your duty? Or perhaps we ought to call off the investigation and send you back to your home planets, and as a consequence remove you from the Coalition.”
At the count’s words, Allura felt her blood boil. How dare he threaten them? Dangling the fates of their planets over their heads, it was cold and heartless. She clenched her fists, trying to contain herself.
Lotor too was furious. “I would choose your next words very carefully, Count Do-Tarn,” he warned him in a low voice. “I do not care if we are under Dunamis’s jurisdiction; I will not hesitate to silence you myself if I have to.”
The count’s eyes widened for a moment before he recovered himself and scoffed. “Is this how you spoke to the Puigian? Some interrogator you are, Emperor Lotor. Perhaps you are more like your father than I…” He trailed off when Lotor visibly tensed, and though Allura did not look at his face, she was willing to bet that it expressed nothing short of murderous intent.
“Count Do-Tarn, let’s stay on topic,” President Desto cut in, also uneasy.
Do-Tarn cleared his throat. “As I was saying, if the two of you can’t give us anything substantial, then there is no choice but to―”
“Enough!” Allura shouted. She couldn’t stand to hear this anymore. “One more word out of you, Count, and I swear by the gods I’ll… well, I don’t know what I’ll do, but it’ll be something!”
King Maato looked scandalized. “Princess Allura, I am shocked to hear you say such a thing,” he exclaimed.
Allura exhaled slowly, trying to keep her temper at bay. She was constantly reminding herself that she did not approve of violence, but over and over again Do-Tarn had been testing her limits. At this point he’d far exceeded them, and if she was going to take anyone’s side in this very moment, it was Lotor’s, not Do-Tarn’s. It was against every Altean bone in her body to do so, but once she started talking she couldn’t stop.
“Since day one you have berated us, belittled us, and treated us as if we were beneath you,” she went on passionately. “Have you forgotten who we are? I am Princess Allura of Altea, and he―” She gestured towards the man next to her, though she still couldn’t look at him. “―is Emperor Lotor of Daibazaal. We are not your friends, we are not your playthings, and we certainly are not people you can throw away merely because you have the audacity to feel bored when we are no longer entertaining you. Don’t deny it,” she told Do-Tarn sharply when he tried to interject. “You do not care about the Alteans or the Galra. All you want is to use us for your own amusement. That is why you insisted on pairing us together, then practically jumped at the opportunity to blab to the press about it.
“The emperor did everything he could in his situation. It was not his fault. You want to remove us from the Coalition? Fine! Do it! But what do you think will happen afterwards? I know you fear this man. All of you do,” she said, lifting her chin. “And perhaps you have forgotten, but Altea and Daibazaal are two of the oldest known planets in the universe. Our people are highly respected by anyone who knows about us, and I promise you, by the Mother of the Universe, I will do everything in my power to bring you down.” She grit her teeth. “I told you I would do anything for my people. If you do not believe me, then do it. Follow through on your threat, Count Do-Tarn, and you will see how far I am willing to go.”
She paused to catch her breath, and waited for Do-Tarn to react. For once he had nothing to say, and neither did any of the other council members. Even President Desto’s usual stern expression was replaced with shock.
After a moment, Do-Tarn recovered. “My, my, Princess Allura,” he said, laughing nervously. “You’re sounding more like a Galra everyday. Perhaps Emperor Lotor is rubbing off on you.”
“Shut up,” Allura snapped. “No one is rubbing off on me. Well?” She glared at the rest of them, and they straightened in their seats. “Do you have anything else to say, or are we done?”
“Our most sincere apologies, Princess Allura,” King Maato spoke up quickly. “We did not mean to anger you. You must understand. From our point of view, we only want what’s best for―”
“Please, no more excuses,” she cut him off, raising a hand. “You want progress on this case, you will have it, but I will no longer tolerate you hovering over our shoulders and treating us like children. Give us the respect we deserve.”
“We hear you, Princess,” President Desto said reluctantly. “Emperor Lotor?”
“…I have nothing to add.”
“Alright,” the president cleared her throat uncomfortably. “Council members?”
“Yes, there is something I would like to say,” Princess Malocoti spoke up cheerfully in an effort to ease the tension in the room. “As you may know, the 50th anniversary of Dunamis is coming up, and the High Council has organized an event at the Senak Opera House to celebrate. You are both invited, of course, but please,” she added with a hint of desperation in her voice, “behave yourselves, for the sake of the other guests.”
Allura nodded curtly. “Am I free to go?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
With that, Allura turned around and walked away, stomping down the pathway that led to the doors. They hissed open and she immediately headed for the elevators.
“Princess.”
She stopped in the hallway. Truth be told, she’d hoped to hear Lotor call after her. She didn’t want to ignore him anymore, even though she knew she should. She turned on her heel and stood still, watching him approach her. There was caution but also a hint of astonishment in his sharp eyes as he regarded her. The air was still tense between them, and he knew it, as he cleared his throat and glanced around them.
“If you will allow it,” he said carefully. “I would like to speak with you.”
Allura looked at their surroundings as well. She nodded, and he stepped in front of her. Despite her plan to avoid him at all costs―which she was failing horribly, by the way―having Lotor so close to her didn’t cease to make her mouth dry and her pulse quicken. She doubted she would ever get used to the way he elicited these reactions from her.
With him standing before her, she also noticed that he looked as tired as she felt. She wondered how tired he must be all of the time, as the lines underneath his sharp eyes never seemed to go away, but today they appeared more prominently than usual, and the thought occurred to her that perhaps he wasn’t sleeping well since the incident, either. Allura was so distraught over witnessing a killing and her inner conflict and turmoil over Lotor that she hadn’t even considered how he felt. Certainly, he had gotten covered in blood like her, but he was the one to take the Puigian’s life. What had he been doing for the past three days? Was he losing sleep, too? Was he thinking about her as much as she was thinking about him?
Focusing on the matter at hand, she folded her arms and lifted her chin. “What do you want? I thought that after what happened you and I were done.”
“We are,” Lotor replied. “What you did back there… to say that it was impressive would not do it justice.”
She shook her head, keeping her eyes in front of her, locked on his chest, and smiled humorlessly. “If the members of the High Council disliked me before, they surely hate me now. But I do not care. I do not regret anything I said.”
“And that is what I am curious about,” he remarked, prompting her to look up at him. “Why did you say all of those things to the council?”
“Why did you take responsibility for the Puigian?”
Lotor shook his head as well, the corner of his mouth lifting. “Answering my question with another, that will not do. Why would you defend me in front of the council, when you and I both know that you… you hate me.” His expression turned grim. “Isn’t that right, Princess?”
“Yes,” Allura said firmly, her heart pounding. She looked him over. “I do. I hate you.” But even as she said those words, she didn’t believe them. She thought saying them out loud would make them true, but instead it had the exact opposite effect. She nodded towards him. “And you hate me. It was always meant to be this way. So why did you leave me out of it when you told them what happened?”
“Forgive me if I am misunderstanding our conversation from that day,” he said sardonically, putting his hands on his hips as he shifted his weight. “But I was under the impression that you wanted nothing to do with it.”
“While that may be true, you have no obligation towards me,” she reasoned.
Lotor opened his mouth, taking in a breath, then closed it again, as if debating on how to answer. He licked his lips, and Allura watched the movement of his tongue, noticing the way his fangs peeked out. She shook herself mentally and looked back to his eyes.
“I told you that night in the hangar that I would take responsibility for my actions. I was… honoring our agreement,” he said with some reluctance, and when she set her jaw, he tilted his head, studying her closely. “You do not believe me. What else can I do to appease you, Princess?” He paused and lowered his voice. “Did you have something in mind?”
“Did you?”
He smiled again when she gave him another counter-question, but it almost looked genuine this time. Did Allura want an honest answer from him? Was she afraid of him telling her the truth? What exactly did she want the truth to be?
Before either of them could say anything else, Allura noticed a group of hotel guests walking from the opposite end of the hallway, and once again their conversation was cut short by interruption.
She turned back to Lotor and nodded. “Well then, if you have nothing further to say, I take my leave.” She turned away from him and walked towards the elevators, and feeling his eyes on her, she tightly clenched her fists.
Allura had to stay away from him, she knew that, but she didn’t realize how difficult it would be. What she was supposed to do and what she wanted were two very different things, and she feared it was only a matter of time before one outweighed the other and there would be no going back.
The 50th anniversary of Dunamis soon came around, and Allura was sent an invitation to attend the opera. She put on her dress, wore her hair down, and as she was adjusting her tiara and earrings she spoke with her parents through the holographic screen projected from the console in her hotel suite.
“An opera,” Melenor said thoughtfully. “That sounds lovely.”
“Hm,” Alfor remarked, folding his arms. “Who else is going to be there?”
“There are a few special guests, including myself and Coran, who have been given the best seats in the house,” his daughter explained as she looked into the mirror above her vanity, smoothing back her hair. “I am assuming they are members of the Coalition.”
“And… what of him?”
Allura turned away from the mirror and stared at the video call with a raised eyebrow. “To whom are you referring?” she asked, though she had an inkling.
“I believe he is talking about Emperor Lotor,” Melenor answered for her husband, and her lips quirked upwards very subtly in amusement.
“You can say his name, Father.” Allura glanced around her room and said jokingly, “He is not here with me, do not worry.”
“Now, do not jest, Daughter,” Alfor scolded her. “It has been over two months since this whole debacle began, and yet I am still not comfortable with you being so far away from us, especially with that man around. When will you return home?”
Allura pursed her lips as she considered how to answer, remembering all that had occurred since said debacle, and the very little progress she’d accomplished on the case. She forced a smile. “I will return home as soon as I can. I told you I would not let you down, and I never will.”
“We know, dear,” Melenor told her gently. “But we worry about you. You always work so hard, most of the time to your own detriment, so I want you to enjoy yourself tonight.”
“But not too much,” Alfor added sternly.
Holding back a laugh, Allura nodded. “I promise to enjoy myself the right amount,” she assured them. She walked up to the screen and, holding out her arms, spun around for them. “How do I look?” she asked with a crooked grin.
“Beautiful as always,” her mother answered lovingly, then she nudged the man next to her. “Don’t you agree, my love?”
“Of course. But do not attract unwanted attention, Daughter,” the king said gruffly. “Particularly from any Galra men.”
Allura resisted rolling her eyes. “There is only one Galra man here on Dunamis, Father.”
“That we know of.”
“Have a wonderful time at the opera, dear,” Melenor cut in, putting a hand on her husband’s arm to shush him. “In the meantime I think your father ought to take his health seriously and get some rest until he is properly healed.”
“I feel fine,” Alfor insisted stubbornly.
Indeed, the king looked in much better spirits since his surgery. He no longer required a wheelchair and was able to get around by himself and resume performing his royal duties. However, the doctors had warned him to be careful and to not do anything too strenuous, as Allura’s mother had informed her secretly.
“You are not as young as you once were, my love,” Melenor teased him.
“Are you calling me old, darling?” he asked her, though there was no real malice behind his words, and the married couple regarded each other with mirth and love in their eyes.
“I should be going, then,” Allura spoke up with a smile. “I shall tell you all about it the moment I return. Love you!”
“We love you, too, Allura.”
When the dusty, blue dusk settled over the planet, Allura left her suite and headed for the hotel lobby to meet up with Coran, who had cleaned up nicely for the occasion. Together they walked out onto the bustling street where a driver waited to escort them in a fancy, open-top vehicle which hovered about a foot off the ground. It was shiny, black and lined with glowing, fluorescent red lights. Coran helped Allura step into their transport and in no time they were off and cruising through the streets.
The night life of the capital city Phylos was electric and more alive than it was during the day, even more so than what Allura was used to on Altea. Perhaps a lot of it had to do with the anniversary, but it was exciting nonetheless. There were parades, festivals, concerts, and civilians walking along the roads and impeding traffic, much to the driver’s annoyance. He grumbled all the while, but Allura was fascinated by all of it. Despite the heavy pollution that was a constant on Dunamis, she had to admit that it was still beautiful and breathtaking.
She gasped in amazement when they arrived at their destination: Senak Opera House. The architecture was meant to resemble that of a supernova star. The building was one enormous glass sphere, illuminated and filled with every color on the spectrum, pulsing and moving endlessly, and it felt so alive. It was built in the center of Phylos Central Park, a vibrant splash of color that was a rarity among the rest of the dull gray of the planet.
Allura was so entranced by the beauty before her that she almost didn’t notice the thousands upon thousands of other attendees making their way towards the opera house, walking along bright blue carpet laid out before them. Her and Coran’s vehicle came to a stop on the street, and he exited first, extending his hand to Allura as she stepped out.
The press, a group which contained about a dozen people, were in the midst of taking pictures of and interviewing Princess Corral of Planet Demos, but once they saw Allura they quickly abandoned her and practically sprinted towards her, trying to outrun each other so they could get to her first. It quickly became very overwhelming, as Allura had never been exposed to this much publicity before, but Coran had her back as always, walking with her arm-in-arm across the carpet and towards the building. Meanwhile the press were calling her name, trying to get her attention and take her picture.
“Princess Allura, look over here!” one reporter, a bright orange Unilu, shouted at her, aiming his transmitter at her.
“Princess Allura, can you pose for a few pictures?” a large Rygnirathi asked.
“Who are you wearing?”
“How do you maintain your physique? What’s your diet?”
Allura resisted the urge to roll her eyes and kept walking calmly. They were already halfway to the large doors leading into the opera house, but she nearly faltered in her footsteps when she saw who was standing a little off to the side, talking to even more press.
She wasn’t sure if Lotor had noticed her yet, as his attention was on the reporters, answering questions that were probably just as irritating as the ones she was getting.
“They are not going to let me walk by without getting an interview with him,” she muttered to Coran. “They’ll probably ask about the investigation.”
“Do you want me to chase them away?” Coran asked. “I’ve been told I make a very good impression of a dying Balmera. That ought to scare them off.”
Allura laughed. “I appreciate the offer, Coran, but I can handle it. If there is one thing I have learned from my father during our royal business trips, it is how to give a neutral, diplomatic answer. I will be fine.” But even as she said that, she couldn’t stop her heart from racing and her palms from getting sweaty as they got closer.
“Alright, as long you’re sure, but if things go sideways, just say the word and I will give them the performance of a lifetime.”
As expected, the reporters surrounding Lotor and his generals picked up on the small crowd following Allura and they immediately motioned for her.
“Princess, over here!” A turquoise Nalquodian waved to her. “Let’s get some photos with you and the Emperor!”
She briefly caught Lotor’s eye before forcing her gaze away. She could not acknowledge him. Instead she lifted her chin haughtily and came to stand about a foot away from his right side.
“Come on, stand a little closer together,” the Nalquodian said coyly. “We need to get you two in frame.”
Allura bit back a rude remark, forced a smile and conceded, standing so closely to Lotor to the point where their arms nearly touched. She exhaled slowly. All she needed to do was to make it through this interview. Then she could go inside, attend the opera, and she wouldn’t have to think about the man next to her for the rest of the night.
“Can you tell us any details about your investigation? How much progress have you made?”
“That is a very good question,” Allura said, clasping her hands together and retaining her practiced smile. “We are hopeful to make some headway very soon.” Acknowledging the question while giving only a partial answer, check.
“There are rumors that the High Council is putting pressure on you both to find the culprit. Is this true?”
“I cannot speak for the High Council,” Lotor spoke up. “But as the princess has said, we are hopeful to make headway on the case soon.”
Allura’s eyebrows twitched upwards slightly. Refusing to speak for the other party while repeating the answer to a previous question, check. It appeared the Galra Emperor also knew how to play this game.
“This is your first time going solo in the political world, Princess Allura. Are you confident you have what it takes to step into your father’s shoes?”
“I suppose we will have to wait and see what I am capable of,” she replied. Refusing to answer by delaying it, check.
“And what do your people think about the two of you working together, seeing as how your planets went to war several hundred years ago?”
Lotor smiled wanly. “I am afraid I do not understand the point of your question. Should my people have cause to worry over this collaboration, I trust they would have told me by now.”
Attacking the question by basing it on a faulty premise, check. I suppose we are not so bad in an interview together after all, Allura thought begrudgingly.
“If you don’t mind me noticing, the two of you are both young and unmarried. To anyone it would come across as a match made in heaven,” one reporter, a Krellian, pointed out, and this was followed by a chuckle from the crowd. “Tell us, what is the nature of your relationship?”
Allura froze and her mouth went dry. She had no idea what to say to that. She was prepared to answer questions about the case, about herself, even about her own family, but about her and Lotor? She hadn’t planned for that. It was far too personal and extremely inappropriate.
“Come on,” the Krellian urged with a grin. “Everyone loves some hot, steamy drama. Is your relationship strictly professional, or have you two gotten physical?” More laughter.
Allura flushed and her entire body felt like it was on fire despite the chilly breeze which wafted through the park. Nearby guests who had not yet entered the building had taken notice of the commotion and were now watching with interest. She felt the emperor tense up beside her.
“That is uncalled for,” Lotor growled suddenly. “Do not forget to whom you are speaking, you lowly imbecile, or I shall remind you.”
The Krellian was taken aback by his threat, and the rest of the reporters began murmuring amongst themselves, instantly regarding Lotor with fear and mistrust. From the tone of his voice, Allura could tell that his temper was about to get the better of him. Instead of getting angry herself, however, she felt nothing but panic. Her eyes darted around at everything except him. She saw Shiro and his cadets who had just arrived and who were looking offended for her. She saw Coran waiting for her off to the side, a concerned frown on his face. His idea of showcasing a dying Balmera impersonation was starting to sound more appealing by the second.
Thankfully, they were rescued by an announcement that came from unseen speakers, its loud volume reaching every patron still outside the building.
“All guests, please proceed to your seats,” a smooth female voice said. “The musical performance will begin in five minutes.”
“Saved by the bell,” one of the reporters muttered before everyone left and shuffled into the opera house.
In no time at all it was only Allura, Lotor, his generals, Coran, and the Earthlings who remained. The princess stared blankly at the spot where the Krellian had previously stood. Her hand automatically went for her necklace.
What that man had asked in front of everyone, the implication that she and Lotor… in that way…
Tears of humiliation filled her eyes and her nose stung. She still could not look at Lotor, she was so embarrassed. She turned away from him and marched towards the entrance.
“Allura―” Coran began, but she brushed past him.
The bright and beautiful lights inside the opera house now felt grating on her senses, blinding her and making a kaleidoscope of irritating colors appear in her blurred vision. As she walked swiftly through the halls she could hear the sounds of the pit orchestra tuning and warming up before the program. Normally she enjoyed operas, but the noise was now nothing short of ear-splitting.
This was fine. She was fine. She just needed to find an empty room to be alone in and cry for a few minutes. Then she’d be back to normal and behave as a princess should. She was alright.
Everything was going to be alright.
The further she went, the taps of her shoes echoing against the shiny floors, the fewer people she saw, and the lights in the corridors became dimmer and dimmer. At last she found a random door, punched a button on a console to open it, then entered. It was a vacant office, and someone had forgotten to turn off a lamp sitting on one of the desks, providing the only source of soft, yellow light in the otherwise dark room.
Allura took a deep breath, feeling the tears threatening to spill over despite her efforts. She sighed in exasperation when she heard the door hiss open and shut behind her.
“Coran, I really do not want any company right―” she began, turning around, then stopped. “What are you doing here?” she asked. She had meant to sound harsher, but instead her voice revealed very clearly how upset she was.
“I can imagine I am the last person you want to see right now,” Lotor said quietly, keeping his distance from her. “But I wanted to check on you.”
“You are wasting your time,” she said shortly, turning away from him and folding her arms. She didn’t want him to see her cry. “We shouldn’t even be seen together right now, Emperor. It will only start more rumors, so why did you follow me?”
“Because I am involved in this as much as you are,” he told her firmly. “And you should not have to bear it alone.”
“Perhaps I want to bear it alone,” she retorted. “Now go away.”
“I will, but not before I am certain you are alright.”
“I do not need you to comfort me, I do not need you,” she started, turning around to face him. “I hate…” She trailed off as he got closer to her.
“You hate me, and that is fine,” Lotor said softly, undeterred as he stood toe to toe with her. He paused, searching her eyes before continuing. “But I have a feeling that the anger you are feeling right now is not entirely directed at me. Am I correct?”
Allura recognized that tone of voice. It was the same way he’d spoken to her when they were in the hangar bay, and later when they talked about each other’s families. It was the same voice he used after he killed the Puigian and asked her if she was alright. His shoulders were slightly hunched over again as if to make himself appear smaller and less intimidating, as if he was trying to be compassionate towards her―benign, even. Until now she hadn’t realized he was capable of such gentleness.
A tear finally slipped down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away. Her anger wasn’t directed at him at all, not even a little bit. “How could that man say those things?” she muttered. “He took one look and… and assumed he knew everything. I have never been spoken to that way in my entire life. It was humiliating.”
“Whether he had asked about that or something else, it would not have mattered to him. That sort of news always sells, and people like him look for every opportunity to make money off of people like us.”
“It’s pathetic.”
“Yes,” Lotor said intently. “Yes, it is, Princess. You are angry, I know, so what are you going to do about it?”
She furrowed her brow as she looked up at him. “What do you mean?”
“I saw the fire inside of you when you talked back to the council, I saw it the moment we first met. Let it fuel you. Use that fire, that anger within you, and take revenge. Show everyone how wrong they are for underestimating you. Show them who you really are by walking out that door, and be the infuriatingly proud woman I know you to be.” In the dim light his yellow eyes glowed as he regarded her intensely. “Show me.”
Allura inhaled sharply as they looked at each other. She did not understand; here Lotor was, acting differently in front of her once again. His hot and cold behavior with her these past two months only confused her further. He’d told her that he never lied or pretended, but still she could not decide whether to fully believe him or not.
But despite all of that, she wasn’t surprised to feel the spark and vigor return to her heart, to feel the fire ignite in her veins and return her strength. He’d always had that effect on her, whether it was when they argued or just now when he encouraged her. How could she force herself to ignore him when he made her feel this way? She was still conflicted over him, she could not pretend otherwise, but at that moment she felt grateful towards him. This was also the first time in a long while that she’d let herself cry in front of anyone, even if it was only a little, and somehow she found that she didn’t mind crying in front of him.
She sniffed, drying her eyes with the back of her hand, then stood up straight and nodded. “Alright,” she agreed determinedly. “I will show you.”
Lotor lifted his chin as he continued to gaze down at her, a hint of pride in his eyes. “There is the princess I know. Now, do not expect me to give you another pep talk the next time this happens. As of this moment, you and I are done.”
“I did not expect you to stick around,” she told him hotly. She walked past him towards the door, then added as she opened it, “Do not follow me. Wait a few minutes before coming out.”
Just as it was closing behind her, her heart raced when she heard him speak to her in his deep, soft voice:
“As you wish, Princess.”
To say that Senak Opera House was large was an understatement. In the very center of the red, sphere-shaped auditorium were the stage and pit orchestra. The seats were seemingly infinite, with at least 5,000 in all, and were placed around the stage and crawled up the interior of the sphere in a pattern that reminded Allura of a whirlpool and waterfalls of red flowing down towards the center. She and Coran, among many other esteemed guests, were seated in special boxes a few levels above the stage, a perfect distance away in order to give them the best view.
Because they were so close and the stage was so well-lit, she could make out the other guests around her. The two Alteans were joined by the Earthlings in their own private compartment, and on either side of them in their respective boxes were President Desto with her family, and King Maato with his. Allura had come in late, some minutes after the production had already started, and upon seeing her take her seat, the president offered her a courteous nod which she returned.
Allura had seen this opera before. It was called Bridge Over the River Chozzerai , a famous legend about two lovers from warring kingdoms―Kiere of Altair and Aldar of Heleena. Over the course of many wars all bridges connecting their lands across the vast ocean were destroyed. When all seemed hopeless and Kiere and Aldar would be separated forever, through trials, dedication, and the power of true love, the Mother of the Universe created a bridge for them from the water so they could finally be together. It was a classic “love conquers all” sort of fairytale, and Allura had absolutely adored it as a child.
As Kiere finished her sorrowful lament over missing the man she loved, the first act came to a close and the lights on the stage dimmed, signaling for an intermission. The house erupted in applause, and as lights above the audience brightened, Allura looked to her left to see President Desto leading her family out of their assigned box and exiting. She assumed her children were getting restless because of the late hour and that it was time for them to head home.
“It’s so sad,” she heard Hunk say with a sniff. “They just want to be together, but their people are a bunch of idiots.”
“I know,” Pidge agreed, sighing. “But maybe they’ll still get a happy ending.”
“Sounds like a classic Romeo and Juliet story to me,” Lance added, then grinned. “It looks like Keith is enjoying this more than anyone.”
“But where’s the murder?” Keith demanded, hands on the ledge of the box, glaring at the dark stage before them. “They said their kingdoms are at war, right? I wanna see some fighting.”
Allura smiled, figuring that this story was not common on Earth. “Have no fear, Keith. It’s coming.”
“I hope these performers will be able to pull it off,” Coran mused, stroking his mustache. “The musicians are adequate enough, but personally I am disappointed in the value of the stage production. The props look so cheap! Ah, I remember the best performance of Bridge Over the River Chozzerai I ever saw was on Olkarion when I was your kids’ age.” He sighed as he reminisced. “They don’t make operas like they used to.”
“Are you sure you’re not thinking that way because of the nostalgia?” Keith asked, looking over his shoulder at Coran and squinting at him. “I heard that when people get old they tend to look back at their past with rose-colored glasses.”
“Old?” Coran repeated, offended. “Now listen here, young man―” As he went off, Shiro and Allura laughed quietly to themselves.
“Ah, there you are, Princess,” a voice said behind her. Allura recognized the voice and her smile faded. She turned in her seat and saw Count Do-Tarn leaning against the doorway of their compartment, standing partially outside in the orange-lit hallway behind him. “May I have a word, please?”
Glowering, Allura stood and went up to him, smoothed the folds of her dress, and crossed her arms. “How can I help you, Count?” she asked in a low voice, forcing herself to be polite.
“I saw what happened outside,” he said. “I wanted to make sure you were alright.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I highly doubt that. What are you up to?”
He smiled and shrugged. “Nothing, Your Highness. The press can be brutal and downright intrusive at times, but you’ll get used to it. In the meantime, you’ll just have to grin and bear it.”
“I disagree. You should know by now, Count, that I will not tolerate people treating me like I am less than they are.”
“Oh, and you did a marvelous job of showing the press who’s boss,” he said with a smirk. “I saw everything. You completely froze in place. Women, so emotional.” He let out a chuckle. “But I assure you I would have come over and done something about it had the announcement not come on.”
Allura rolled her eyes. “I feel so assured,” she said sarcastically.
“Anyway, I have another reason for coming to see you. In a few weeks I am hosting a ball on my home planet Grekagan. You like balls, don’t you? Invite whomever you wish. You can even invite Emperor Lotor, since the two of you are so close, apparently. Shall I extend an invitation towards him on your behalf?”
“Don’t you dare.”
“Oh, lighten up, Your Highness, I only jest! You really are a snobbish and haughty princess, aren’t you? Is that why your nose is so pointy, because you keep turning it up at everyone?” He laughed at his own joke. “But I am serious, you can bring along anyone you like. Just remember to leave some space for me so we can have another dance.” He winked at her and she grimaced.
“Tempting,” she said flatly. “But I am afraid I must decline.”
“Well, if you ever change your mind, the offer still stands.” Music began to play behind Allura, and Do-Tarn’s large, purple eyes snapped over her shoulder towards the stage where the lights returned to their previous brightness. “Ah, that’s my queue. So long, Princess Allura. Hopefully this opera doesn’t bore you to death.” And with that he quickly departed.
Allura stuck out her tongue at him as she watched him leave, then she returned to her seat. The second act began with Aldar singing by a cliffside, tossing pebbles into the ocean. As she listened to the man’s tender voice, she looked up to the very top of the house. Four large holographic screens were displayed for the audience members who were seated on the upper levels of the sphere, providing a closer view of the stage.
As her eyes wandered along the red seats, each one occupied, she then had the thought to look for the box in which the Galra sat. Only a couple of compartments to her right, she saw Lotor, and her stomach did a flip when she realized that he was already looking at her.
It was like that day on Altea when their eyes met during the meeting. He was leaning on an armrest and resting his head on a closed fist, watching her watching him. Except for this time they weren’t studying each other with scrutiny or trying to figure out the mystery behind the other person. The tense atmosphere was still there, the curiosity still present, but it had nothing to do with caution or hostility, not anymore. Rather, there was a desire hidden in between the lines, a passion that Allura had tried to bury deep within herself, and to her surprise, the realization that she and Lotor always sought each other and would only ever seek each other. Her hands, which were clasped in her lap, clenched into fists, and she could have sworn she saw his hand do the same thing.
And then it happened. That familiar shift, the feeling that something was off. Allura looked around her as her body froze and she felt a sharp, dangerous charge in the air, making her hair stand on end.
Aldar never got to finish his song. There were several bursts of light, smoke and debris that blew apart the stage and the pit, completely tearing it to shreds. The building shook, screams amplified by the acoustics echoed throughout the opera house, and Allura sprang from her seat, watching in horror as a giant sinkhole formed in the center where the stage used to be. Her attention was ripped away when the building trembled again, and more explosions went off, not only on the ground level, but every level above, blowing apart seats from the very top of the sphere all the way down to the bottom. Allura covered her mouth when she saw people falling from high above, shrieking as they fell to their deaths and landed with a sickening thump onto red seats or on top of other people.
Guests were in a complete panic, pushing past each other, trying to get out of the way of falling debris and glass, but instead they ended up trampling one another. The more time it took for them to shove and make towards the exit, the more they trapped themselves inside a cage of wreckage as more rubble fell and crushed them.
Allura came back to her senses and turned away from the terrifying scene. She looked at Shiro, worried about the cadets, who were understandably very afraid. “You need to get them out of here!” she shouted above the screeching of voices and rumbling of explosions.
“Why does it sound like you’re not coming with us?” he shouted back.
“I’ll be right behind you, now hurry!”
“Okay, I’ll get the kids out, but don’t take too long!”
Allura nodded, then took hold of Keith and Pidge’s arms, leading them out of the now stifling compartment. Once she was sure the Earthlings were on their way, she turned to Coran.
“Are you alright?” she asked. Another BOOM sounded near them and they instinctively ducked.
“Yes, but we better get out of here!” Coran yelled.
Before Allura could open her mouth to respond, she heard familiar voices shouting frantically nearby. She turned her head to the right and saw the Galra, and at first she felt reassured that they were together and safe until she realized―
Her blood ran cold and her heart froze in fear.
―there were only four of them.
Lotor was gone.
“Did you see where he went? Ezor!” Acxa barked. “He was right next to you!”
“I don’t know, I don’t know!” Ezor cried. “I got distracted when everything started blowing up, and when I looked over he was gone! I’m sorry!”
“He must have fallen down below. Zethrid, help me move these rocks out of the way. We have to find him!”
Indeed, Allura could see that the generals were surrounded by rubble and debris from the collapsing building. Too many obstacles prevented them from getting down to the lower levels where the sinkhole had formed.
They won’t make it in time, Allura realized. The ground shook beneath her feet and she fought to keep her balance. This attack was far worse than the one on Altea. She glanced around and saw a path only a short distance away that led directly down below. Like everything else around her it was steep and covered with sharp and menacing-looking debris, but it was a path nonetheless.
The generals were stuck, but she wasn’t.
“Allura!” Coran called desperately. “There’s no time to waste!”
If Allura was the same person she was back on Altea, thinking only of the survival of her family and her people, if she only cared about the Alteans, she would have gone with Coran. But she wasn’t thinking about her people or even herself at that moment. She wasn’t the same person anymore. So much had changed since she’d left Altea, and so had she. Despite how tormented she was over this, there was no time to think about who she should or shouldn’t be. She could worry about that later, but right now there was only one thing on her mind, and she knew what she had to do.
Without another thought, she turned to Coran and spoke in a determined voice:
“You go on ahead. I’m going to find Lotor.”
“What?! Why?!” When she didn’t answer he tried to grab her arm but she slipped out of his reach, already headed for the ledge of the box. “Allura, you can’t!” he protested.
“Are there any Altean sentries around?” she retorted.
“No, but―”
“Then there’s nothing you can do to stop me, is there?” And with that she leapt down from the box. She landed on her feet, lifted the hem of her dress, then swiftly began making her way down the steep slope of wreckage before her, plunging into the darkness and leaving the explosions and screams far behind her.
The damage was catastrophic compared to the attack on her home planet. Allura nearly slipped several times and cut her hands painfully whenever she reached out to steady herself on the jagged, sharp edges of rubble. She could barely see anything. The light from the surface was fading fast, the plumbing from underground had burst and sprayed endlessly, showering her with cold water and forming puddles that were rapidly growing, and with each step Allura worried if she’d be able to find her way back, but she quickly pushed that thought from her mind. She came to this place to find Lotor, and she was not leaving without him.
“Emperor Lotor!” she called out, cupping her stinging hands around her mouth. “If you can hear me, answer me!” No response. It was because she hadn’t descended far enough that she couldn’t hear anything except the rushing of water and the constant, threatening rumbling of the building around her. Yes, that was it. He was still alive, he had to be.
After more stumbling and blindly making her way through the near-darkness, she at last came to what appeared to be the basement of the opera house, but even if by some small chance Allura had already been familiar with the building’s layout, it wouldn’t have helped. Without question the place was destroyed beyond recognition. At the very least she was able to walk across level ground, but the rising water was becoming more and more apparent, now coming up past her ankles. To her right she saw a large, black pipe protruding through the wreckage with water steadily pouring out of it. Allura committed it to memory before moving on.
As she ventured deeper into the cavernous sinkhole, she came across something on the ground lying in the middle of a body of water that more resembled a pond than a puddle. The object was small and shiny, and Allura’s mind was so preoccupied, the adrenaline rushing through her veins, that she didn’t fully register what it was. However, she had the feeling that she should take it, so without thinking she plucked it out of the water and hid it inside her bodice, then kept moving, calling out Lotor’s name all the while.
The minutes trickled by, the water now up to her knees, and tears of frustration and distress blurred her vision. She angrily wiped them away, but the hopelessness began eating away at her heart. What if she’d already passed by Lotor and completely missed him? Who knew how large this sinkhole was; what if he was in a completely different area than her? What if he was already―
Anxiety and fear built up in her chest. She didn’t know what she was going to do if she couldn’t find him. Perhaps she would get stuck down here as well, cowering in the dark all alone until the air finally ran out and she took her last breath, waiting for the search and rescue to discover her corpse in this horrid place.
“Lotor!” She yelled and yelled until her throat hurt. “Lotor, answer me!”
She continued to wade through the dark water, shivering as more of it sprinkled through the trembling, cracked ceiling above and soaked her hair and dress. The panic had fully taken over now. She was never one to feel claustrophobic in the past, but as she spent more and more time in this place, this dark prison which was beginning to increasingly feel like a tomb, and the constant terror that everything was going to collapse in on her, Allura began to hyperventilate and feel lightheaded.
Stopping to lean against what used to be a wall, she tried to calm herself. She put a hand on her chest, closed her eyes and took deep breaths. She was alright, everything was going to be alright. She was going to find Lotor, they were going to get out of here, and they’d put all of this behind them.
I am going to find you, she thought firmly.
Little by little Allura began to relax, and she was still afraid, but her panic slightly eased. When she opened her eyes and walked past the crumbling wall, that’s when she saw something out of the corner of her eye.
There was something white in the darkness, and when she peered at it her knees almost buckled out of relief. Praise the Mother of the Universe, she’d never been so happy to see that pearl white hair! There was Lotor, far to her left, lying on his side and unconscious amidst the wreckage.
“Lotor!” Allura ran to him, sloshing through the water. She kneeled by his right side and quickly brushed debris off of him. She tugged on his shoulder so that he lay on his back, and she felt a chill run through her body when she saw a wound on the side of his head. “Oh, dear gods…” she whispered.
With trembling fingers she touched him for the first time, feeling his thick hair which was wet and caked with dark blue blood― his blood. There was a deep gash in his scalp, probably received during his fall, which would explain why he was unconscious. She pulled back her hand to see his blood and her own on her palm, the dark blue and the gold mixing together. Leaning in, Allura gently yet urgently shook his shoulders.
“Lotor,” she called. When he didn’t respond she began to panic again. “Lotor, can you hear me? Lotor!”
Lotor’s brow furrowed and his eyes fluttered open, a warm yellow which glowed brightly in the dark. The only other source of light around them was that of the bright purple emanating from his gauntlets and the crystal in the center of Allura’s tiara which cast a gentle, cyan glow over his lilac face. When he saw her he looked dazed, as though he thought she wasn’t real at first. Either that or he was dizzy from the blood loss, but either way, he was awake and that was all that mattered.
There’s quite a bit of blood, but maybe it’s not too serious, Allura thought hopefully.
Lotor slowly blinked up at her. “Are you… an angel?” he asked, his voice raspy.
Oh gods, he’s delirious! It’s more serious than I thought!
“Lotor, it’s me,” she told him desperately. “It’s Allura.”
“Allura…” he whispered, then his eyes widened a fraction. “Allura, what are you…?”
“Here,” she said, tugging on his arm to help him sit up. She sat back on her heels, ignoring the cold water around her legs, and watched him closely. “Are you alright? Do you think you can stand?”
“I believe so. What happened?” His voice was clearer now that he was becoming more conscious and aware of his surroundings. He ran a hand through his hair and winced at the pain.
“You fell. The generals are alright, but they could not reach you, so…” She shrugged. “Here I am.”
“Why?”
Allura raised an eyebrow. “Would you rather I left you here?”
Despite the serious situation the two of them were in, Lotor still found it in himself to roll his eyes. “Funny,” he commented sarcastically. “But I am serious. Why did you come find me?”
She bit her lip, hesitating to answer at first. “Because,” she told him. “I don’t hate you.”
He stared at her, his luminescent eyes piercing through the dark and the astonishment undisguised on his face. For a moment they were silent, and the only thing they could hear was the running water around them and the rumbling above their heads. Then Lotor cleared his throat. “What an honor,” he replied dryly.
Allura shook her head, amazed that she could smile at a time like this. “We should hurry. The water is rising quickly and I would rather not wait to find out how good the integrity of this building is.”
She stood, needlessly dusted off her dress which was dripping wet, then extended a hand towards him. He stared at it, and she figured they must have been thinking the same thing. Until a moment ago, the two of them had never touched before. It was an unspoken rule between them, a line which they’d silently agreed to never cross, just as how they’d silently agreed to never call each other by their names.
But who was worrying about crossing lines at a time like this? Besides, Allura figured, they’d never been ones to go by the rules for very long, anyway. Lotor took her hand and got to his feet, then followed her out the way she came. The water had risen significantly since her arrival, now up to her knees. They were running out of time, but they couldn’t move too quickly or otherwise they would risk getting injured by anything sharp poking out of the murk.
They walked for several minutes in silence until Allura recognized the large pipe sticking out of the rock. She was relieved to see it at first, but quickly grew anxious when she realized that more water was gushing out of it than before. In the distance, still several meters away, she could barely make out a glimpse of light: a path to freedom.
“We’re almost there,” Allura called over her shoulder, and he nodded in reply. “It’s a little farther, then we can climb up―Oh!”
Without warning the building shook violently around them. Allura yelped as the ground suddenly gave out beneath her feet, but Lotor quickly pulled her to safety, wrapping an arm around her waist. She gasped and held onto him, squeezing her eyes shut and waiting, praying for the shaking to stop. Her heart pounded with fear as the thunderous rumbling vibrated her entire body and bits of debris and dust sprinkled over her and Lotor’s heads.
After a terrifying moment that stretched on for what felt like an eternity, the quaking finally ceased. Allura slowly opened her eyes, staring down at the water, then looked up at Lotor.
“It would appear the building’s integrity is not so strong after all,” Lotor remarked. He looked over her, furrowing his brow. “Are you alright?”
“Yes. Thank you…” Allura trailed off, her chest rising and falling as she caught her breath. She really was grateful to him, but she was also very aware of how close they were. Their bodies, from their shoulders all the way down to their legs, were tightly pressed together. In order to balance herself, Allura had grabbed onto his waist, one of her hands placed firmly on his stomach, while Lotor’s arms were coiled around her, holding her close to him. Clearing her throat, she let him go and backed away as he released her. Then she glowered up at him. “This stays between us,” she told him.
Lotor smiled. “But of course. We have a reputation to uphold, don’t we?”
Allura hoped it was dark enough that he couldn’t see her blush. She turned to look again towards their exit, then her blood ran cold when she realized she couldn’t see the light anymore. In fact, the pathway before them had completely disappeared, now replaced by a single, giant block of stone, twice as tall as Lotor, and heavier than anything Allura knew she was capable of moving.
“No…” she muttered as she approached it. She pushed on the rock, but it didn’t budge, not even a little.
“What is it?” Lotor asked, coming to stand next to her.
“That was our only exit,” she answered, turning to face him.
Behind him, she could see that the walls had collapsed in around them, enclosing them in a tight space barely big enough for two people, and the water was still rising. Allura swallowed, her mouth running dry and her heart pounding uncomfortably.
“We’re trapped here.”
10/13/2024: Another amazing artwork by captainicequeen555 on Tumblr! Loooove this mini comic 😍
Notes:
Aaaaand we end this week's chapter on a cliff hanger! I hope you can look forward to chapter 6 next week!!
Fun fact time! Princess Corral of Planet Demos, who makes a teeny cameo in this chapter, is a character from DotU, a potential bride that Haggar presents to Lotor. As expected, Lotor refuses her, only having eyes for one princess in particular hehe. The opera Bridge Over the River Chozzerai is taken from a DotU episode of the same name, and chapters 4 and 5 were HUGELY inspired by a couple of my favorite TV shows: The Cleaning Lady, as well as Bridgerton (specifically the second season 😉) That intense, passionate, slow burn, hate-to-love romance is where it's at babeyy
As always thank you for reading and happy Friday!! 💖💜
EDIT 5/8/23: Added a lil bonus doodle! Credit for the idea goes 100% to maiz-of-light on Tumblr!! 😊
Chapter Text
Pushing on the rock didn’t help. Lifting it was impossible. After several minutes of fruitless labor and trying everything they could think of, Allura and Lotor had to take a step back and catch their breaths.
“Alright, stay calm,” Allura muttered, her chest heaving. She braced her hands against her knees, feeling the cold water that had now risen half-way up her thighs. She swallowed, the knot of anxiety steadily growing in her stomach. “Stay calm…”
“I am calm,” Lotor said.
“I was talking to myself.” She lifted her head to glance at him.
He was panting heavily and leaning back against the rocky wall, facing the barrier that blocked their exit. His eyes were closed, there was a crease in his brow, and a fine sheen of sweat glistened on his forehead. The wound on the right side of his scalp didn’t appear to be bleeding as much as before, but due to all of the blood loss he was probably extremely light-headed and fatigued.
Allura bit her lip. She looked back at the wall. “Perhaps if we can find something to use as a lever, we can move it out of the way,” she suggested half-heartedly.
“We have used every resource to our disposal, which have been very few, to no avail. It is no use.”
“There must be something around here.”
“We already looked, remember?”
“Then we can―”
“Allura, stop.”
She stilled, staring at him fearfully. Slowly he opened his glowing eyes to regard her, his head resting against the rock.
“Face it,” he told her quietly. “We are not getting out of here.”
“So you want to give up?” she asked heatedly, the panic in her making her voice rise an octave.
“I am simply accepting the facts,” he said, his voice rough with exhaustion. “Look around you. We are underground in the dark, trapped among the rubble with no way to contact anyone on the surface. The air is running out and the water level is increasing with every passing minute.” He sighed heavily. “I can barely stay awake, Allura. I’m tired, I’m in pain, so if it’s all the same to you, I would rather wait for my death during what peaceful moments remain than use the last of my energy trying in vain to escape.”
He fell silent, and as the two of them stood across from each other and his words sank in, the reality of their situation finally hit Allura. She reached for her necklace, fighting back the fear within her with all her might.
“We are going to die here,” she murmured.
“Yes,” Lotor said. He paused, his eyes hardening. “I wish you had not come here.”
“If you are implying that this is my fault―”
“On the contrary. What I mean to say is… I wish you did not have to die down here with me. If it was only me it would be different, but you…” He shook his head. “You do not deserve this.”
Allura’s shoulders sagged, then she walked over to stand next to him on his right, the water splashing around her legs. She too leaned against the rock and stared at the black water around them.
“Neither do you,” she returned softly.
For a while the two of them didn’t say a word, taking in the scene around them and contemplating their final moments. The silence was deafening. Despite the occasional muffled thundering coming from up above, there were no more sounds of running water. Instead, their impending doom was torturously quiet, a cold and silent reminder as it rose higher and higher, chilling them to the bone.
A million thoughts were racing through Allura’s mind, most of them full of regret. She wished she had talked to her parents more than twice a week since she left home, or that her conversation before she left for the opera had lasted longer. She wished she had given Coran one last hug before she jumped down into the sinkhole, never to return. She wished she had spent more time with the Earthlings. They were good people, and she valued them highly as her friends. She was going to miss them.
But most of all, Allura wished she hadn’t wasted so much time trying to avoid Lotor. She thought it was better for the both of them, but in the process she took for granted the fact that he was always around. Even if she hadn’t seen him every single day, he was still there, somewhere nearby if she needed him, though they’d both stubbornly insisted on pretending that they wanted nothing to do with each other.
Now that it was only a matter of minutes before they suffocated from the lack of oxygen, drowned, or were crushed by debris that constantly threatened to fall on top of them, she realized that she’d lost all of her chances to see him, to talk to him, to be around him. She would never be able to get to know him, to learn to see past the prejudices her people had ingrained in her since the day she was born. He would never get to know her, either.
Their time together these past couple of months suddenly felt so fleeting, and now that the end was upon them, there was so much Allura wanted to say to him. But where to even begin?
“Some anniversary this has been,” she offered feebly.
“You did not like the performance?” Lotor asked.
“I’ve seen better. Whoever blew up the opera house, perhaps they were doing us all a favor and decided to put us out of our misery.”
She blinked, astonished to hear herself joke about something so morbid, when she heard Lotor laughing next to her. She turned to look at him in surprise. His laughter wasn’t forced or cruel. In fact, it sounded so genuine and infectious that she couldn’t help but start laughing as well. How absurd of them, especially given the situation they were in, but somehow that made it even funnier.
It soon faded however and Allura became concerned. “Are you delirious?” she asked, brow furrowing.
Still smiling, Lotor shrugged a shoulder. “I am as fine as can be. You?” He looked at her.
“My hands are a little cut up, but that is all.”
The water level was now at Allura’s waist and Lotor’s hips.
“Before we die, there is… something I must ask you,” Lotor began reluctantly after a while. “About what happened that day.”
Allura didn’t need to ask to know that he was referring to the incident with the Puigian. She nodded and waited for him to continue.
He hesitated, then made up his mind. “Do you know why I killed that man?” he asked her, his voice low.
She bit her lip uncertainly. “Because you wanted to protect your people,” she replied.
“Yes, but there is another reason why.”
“I…” Allura swallowed, afraid to hope. “I am not sure where you are going with this.”
“I need to know,” Lotor said gently yet firmly as he turned towards her. “Do you not understand why I did what I did, or are you intentionally ignoring the truth and pretending that this―whatever this thing is between us―is nothing?” His glowing eyes regarded her intensely. “When you think of me, Allura… what am I to you?”
His words from that day rang in her ears. You think I am a monster. He was afraid she saw him that way, she realized, but there was no reason to fear. She had been angry with him, yes, but the thought of him as a monster never once crossed her mind. To tell him the truth, however, was it wise?
She looked away. “What difference does it make, if we are both going to die here, anyway?”
“Then you can grant a dying man his last wish,” he told her half-jokingly.
A smile pulled at her lips despite herself. “Lotor, you really are…” She looked up at him and shook her head. “You really are diverting.”
“Careful, that sounded dangerously close to a compliment.”
They smiled at each other, then Allura grew serious again. “Why did you kill him?” she asked, and she saw his smile fade. “The Puigian. You didn’t hesitate, not even for a second.”
Lotor looked away from her, visibly closing himself off from her, but Allura wasn’t going to give up. The water silently splashed around her arms as she moved in closer, and she caught his eye again. She released a quiet breath as she looked up at him, her voice calm and even as she spoke.
“I do not understand,” she said softly. “One minute you are kind and the next you are cruel. Whenever I see you it is as if you become a completely different person.” She pursed her lips. “You are… unpredictable, Lotor… and that makes you dangerous.”
“So you are afraid of me,” he said, the disappointment unhidden in his eyes.
“That is not what I said,” she insisted gently, and she was surprised to hear the compassion in her own voice.
Lotor opened his mouth and let out a small sigh, shaking his head slightly as he looked at her. He turned to look forward again, but he did not push her away this time. “Despite Zarkon’s reputation,” he began in a low voice, “and any assumptions you may have made about me, I do not kill because I enjoy it.”
Allura frowned, noticing that he referred to his father by name, but she didn’t comment on it.
“I kill because I have to, because sometimes people are put in a situation where they have no choice but to kill,” Lotor continued, “in order to protect the ones they cannot bear to lose. So yes, Allura… I killed him without hesitation.”
He paused, gazing intently into her eyes.
“I killed him for you.”
Her breath caught as he said those words, and they looked at each other in silence.
“Victory or death,” she murmured.
Lotor’s eyes widened a fraction as she spoke the Galra mantra. He nodded slowly. “Victory or death,” he repeated. “I told you before,” he went on softly. “When the time comes, you are going to have to decide if you will do what is absolutely necessary, or if you will simply stand by and watch. Years ago, I―” He hesitated, and a shadow passed over his face, as if he was remembering something awful. “I made that mistake, and since that day I swore to myself that I would never let it happen again. Someday…” He nodded to her. “You will be faced with a decision of your own, Allura. And then you will see. Then you will know what it is like.”
Allura was silent as she searched his eyes, his words sinking in in the silence and iciness around them. She was not sure what to make of Lotor’s warning, but as she looked up at him, despite the darkness that surrounded them, she was beginning to see him in a new light. She was seeing that day in a new light. Lotor had stepped into the line of fire for her, had protected her, had killed for her. No one had ever killed for her before, but this man, this proud Galra emperor did, and he had taken responsibility for all of it. All for her.
And so as she looked into his eyes, seeing him as a man of honor, a man of power, and a man who would stop at nothing to save the ones he cared about, she knew she was in deep. He’d torn down her walls, this man did, and he probably didn’t even realize it. But now he had a hold on her so strong and unlike anything she’d ever felt before that it scared her just as much as it electrified her. Even if the two of them were going to die here tonight, even if it didn’t change anything, even if their people were still enemies and on the brink of another war…
Allura could no longer deny that Lotor had taken a place inside her heart, and that place was now permanent.
The water was now at her shoulders.
Slowly, she took a step towards him, and he watched her approach, his eyes traveling over her, until her shoulder brushed against his upper arm. “I understand now,” she told him sincerely. “I understand that you stepped in to save me. Thank you. And…” The inner corners of her eyebrows lifted. “I’m sorry for the way I spoke to you that day.”
Lotor’s glowing eyes softened. His shoulders relaxed, hunching over slightly as he leaned in towards her. “I’m sorry, too,” he returned, his voice a near whisper.
Her gaze was torn from him when she felt the water creep up to her neck, the frigid temperature making her shiver. Instinctively, she inched towards Lotor, balancing on the tips of her toes and watching the water fearfully.
“I am sorry, Allura,” Lotor told her quietly, and she looked up at him, “that it had to end this way.”
Despite how scared she was, she shook her head firmly. “No,” she told him determinedly. “You have nothing to apologize for. I came down here because I wanted to. And Lotor, what we have between us, it is not nothing―”
She jumped when a thundering boom echoed above them, and everything around them briefly shook before settling back down again. Allura’s eyes filled with tears, now fully realizing that this was it. Death by drowning or falling debris, she couldn’t decide which one was worse. And how was Lotor feeling? Was he terrified as well, waiting with sickening anticipation for their inevitable doom?
Desirous to comfort him somehow, Allura reached out with stiff and frozen fingers through the water and placed her hand on his arm. At the movement Lotor looked down, then at her, and for a moment she feared she’d made a mistake when she felt him pull away from her. To her surprise and relief, however, it was to take hold of her hand instead. His hand was large and warm, completely enveloping hers, a comforting fire in the numbing darkness.
Another loud rumbling shook their surroundings. Allura stared up at the cracked ceiling and swallowed, her heart in her throat.
“Lotor,” she said quietly. “Do you think in another life we could have been friends?” She looked at him, trying to focus on him instead of what was about to happen.
“No, Allura.”
Her heart sank in disappointment, but her breath caught when his grip on her hand tightened and she saw the way he was looking at her, his sharp, glowing eyes piercing through the dark with that intensity which had since become familiar to her. His voice was clear, decisive, and tender:
“I think we could have been much more than that.”
The thundering grew louder, getting closer and closer to them, yet the two of them were silent. There were no more words that needed to be spoken.
BOOM. The noise was deafening, right on top of them. Allura squeezed Lotor’s hand and shut her eyes.
The roar and shaking didn’t cease, the water threatened to climb up her throat, and Allura thought for sure that was it, but instead of the rock falling on top of them, it rose high above their heads and the cavern was instantly flooded with light.
“Princess Allura, Emperor Lotor! Are you alright?”
Crumbs of debris sprinkled on top of them, and when Allura was certain that she wasn’t dead, she peeked an eye open, then lifted her head. An Unilu wearing a red Dunamis search and rescue uniform was crouched over the mouth of a small opening a couple of feet above them. Allura and Lotor glanced at each other.
“Don’t worry, we’re gonna get you out of there!” The Unilu reached down with two of his four arms.
Allura couldn’t even speak. She was so relieved and grateful beyond words. Lotor released her hand and touched her back, urging her forward.
“Take the princess first,” he said to the other man.
“But you―” Allura tried to protest, worried about the gash on the side of his head.
“I will be right behind you,” he assured her, renewed vigor in his manner. “Hold onto me.” He placed his hands on her waist, prompting her to grab onto his shoulders, then he lifted her and enabled her to climb up the rubble and grasp the Unilu’s arms.
With shaking legs she at last stood on the surface, barely taking in the destroyed scene around her and the pale, smoky rose color of dawn creeping in through the clouds. Immediately she turned around to watch the Unilu pull up Lotor, and he got to his feet. A Dalterion paramedic rushed over to inspect his wound.
“He’s lost a lot of blood,” Allura told her, coming to Lotor’s side. “He needs a doctor.”
“Of course, Your Highness, we’ll get him there right away.”
Allura and Lotor looked at each other in silence. He looked like he wanted to say something to her, and she had plenty to say to him, too.
Her heart pounded as she took a step forward. “I―”
“Allura!”
The princess was completely caught off guard when Coran ran up to her and hugged her, nearly knocking the wind out of her.
“Thank the gods you’re alive! Are you alright? Are you hurt? What happened to your hands?” he asked rapidly as he pulled back and held her at arm’s length. There were tears in his eyes, then he furrowed his brow. “Why are you wet?”
“I am fine, Coran,” she told him with a weak smile. “My hands got a little scraped, that is all, and the place was flooded. We got out just in time.”
“We?” Coran repeated, looking over her shoulder and finally seeing Lotor. Before he could say anything, however, more voices were shouting as the generals made their way over.
“Lotor!” Acxa cried out.
“Praise the Mother of the Universe!” Ezor exclaimed with a grin. “Boss, you are a sight for sore eyes!”
Acxa stopped in front of Lotor and lightly touched his arm as she looked him over. She closed her eyes and let out a huge sigh of relief. “Don’t ever do that again,” she told him.
“It’s alright, Acxa,” he assured her. Kova hopped off of Narti and landed on his shoulder. He reached up to lightly stroke the cat’s head. “And you? Are all of you safe?”
“We’re fine, but we thought you were a goner,” Zethrid said, shaking her head.
“What happened to your head?” Acxa asked, then at last she noticed Allura. The relief on her face faded, and her eyes hardened. She quickly turned to the Dalterion paramedic. “We need to get him to the hospital.”
“We’ve got a transport on standby. Right this way.”
Kova jumped back onto Narti’s shoulder and she, Ezor, and Zethrid went first, but Lotor stayed put, hesitating as he looked at Allura. There was so much she wanted to say to him, but none of it felt right to say out loud when other people were present. Instead she gave him a nod.
We’ll talk later, she thought.
He nodded back, then followed Acxa and the paramedic towards one of the emergency vehicles. She watched him go, then at last took in her surroundings. She almost didn’t recognize where she was. What remained of the Senak Opera House was now a shattered husk of its former glory. The sphere from top to bottom was completely destroyed and lost its shape entirely. What remained of the auditorium, which was not much, no longer retained its vibrant red color, for it was now lost among the smoke, dust and debris.
The sinkhole, several meters to Allura’s right, was bigger than what she remembered, a giant puncture wound that pierced into the planet. Looking at it and the darkness that waited within made her skin crawl. Around her, paramedics and search and rescue were racing to save hundreds of people who desperately needed medical attention, and the streets were filled with bystanders, either taking pictures or simply staring at the horror before them while the police kept them back.
Allura forced herself to look away from it all and turned to Coran, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Coran, I am so glad you’re safe. Are the Earthlings…?”
“They’re alright. A little spooked to be sure, but otherwise they’re unharmed. But Allura, we should get you to the hospital, too,” he told her.
She nodded. “Alright.”
He blinked and stared at her, taken aback. “Really? You’re agreeing to go?”
“Yes, why?”
“Normally you would say you are fine and stubbornly insist that you don’t need any medical attention.” His brow furrowed in concern. “Did you get another concussion?”
Allura stared at him, unamused. “I assure you, I did not receive a blow to the head. But my hands are bleeding, are they not?” she asked, raising them and showing him the cuts which had reopened, staining her palms with golden blood. “So let us hurry.”
“Well alright, then. I am glad you are finally taking your health seriously. Let’s go!”
She followed him towards a vehicle which was waiting to escort them. Yes, perhaps a part of her was taking her health seriously, but the other part of her, a much larger part of her, wanted to go to the hospital because she knew Lotor would be there, too.
“A few scrapes and bruises, but nothing to worry about,” a Balmeran doctor told Allura. “Apply some antibiotic ointment everyday and they’ll heal up in no time.”
Allura sat on the edge of a hospital bed while the doctor stood in front of her and Coran watched over the tall woman’s shoulder anxiously. Everything around them was a calm, baby blue color: the bed sheets, the tiled floors, the ceilings―even the medical equipment was blue, all in an effort to ease the mind. For Allura, however, the hospital aesthetic did little to help. It was hard to relax when one had just come from a traumatic experience of having nearly drowned in an underground tomb of rock and rubble.
She knew she was fortunate to have gotten away with only a few cuts on her palms. Her situation was not nearly as serious as many of the survivors’, the ones who were punctured or had their limbs amputated by falling debris, and they were the lucky ones. The people who hadn’t made it out of the opera house, the ones who were crushed by the wreckage or stomped to death by the panicked crowds, ultimately they were the ones who had suffered the most, and there were still many suffering. She couldn’t imagine how many people were trapped beneath the remains while search and rescue dug through to get to them. She didn’t want to think about it.
What she was thinking about, however, was the man with whom she’d escaped from that awful place. She’d asked the paramedics, the nurses, any medical staff who walked by, inquiring after Lotor, but it was a fruitless effort. Either the people she asked didn’t know, or they didn’t have time to stop and listen to her, as they were already preoccupied themselves, racing to get to the seemingly endless line of patients who were still arriving hours after the event.
“Excuse me, doctor,” Allura spoke up as the Balmeran tapped some buttons on her holographic tablet. “I have not seen Emperor Lotor since last night, and it is already midday. Please, do you know anything about his condition?”
The doctor lifted her head and gave her an exasperated look, as if she’d heard all of this before. “Yes, Your Highness, he is fine. His Imperial Majesty has been asking about you all morning as well. My staff can’t catch a break with you two.” From a slot at the top of her tablet a small, black card popped out, glowing with bright green text printed onto it. “Here is a prescription for the ointment. The pharmacy is by the hospital entrance.”
“Thank you,” Allura said, accepting the card. She studied it for a moment, then quickly lifted her head as the woman was about to leave. “Do you know where―”
“He’s in room eighteen. If you go down this hallway and take a right, you’ll find him there.”
“Thank you,” she repeated quietly, this time with flushed cheeks. The doctor gave her a nod and exited, the door sliding closed with a hiss behind her.
“I talked with your parents earlier,” Coran began to say as the princess hopped off of the bed. “I let them know you are safe, though you probably ought to call them when you get the―Allura, where are you going?” he called out to her, watching with perplexity while she made for the door.
“To see Lotor,” she answered simply, for she thought that was obvious. Her hair was dirty and crimped, the skirts of her dress were still damp, and she probably looked like a mess, but she didn’t care.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” Coran said, and he truly looked confused. “Before you two seemed to hate each other. Then last night I watched him run after you after what happened with the press. And then you risked your life to save him from the underground. It surprised me.” He furrowed his brow. “Allura, what exactly is going on between you and Emperor Lotor?”
Allura hesitated. There was so much she needed to explain to Coran, so much she needed to catch him up on, but she really wasn’t in the mood to recount every little detail of every event that occurred over the past two months. So she said simply, “He saved my life, so I owed him.” It wasn’t entirely true, her reason for jumping into a sinkhole for him, but it would have to suffice for now.
“What? When did that happen?”
“I’m sorry, Coran. I promise I will explain later, but right now I must go.”
He sighed, putting his hands on his hips, looking like a stern parent. “Allura, what you did back there was very foolish―”
She shot him a sharp glare.
“―but also very brave. I’m proud of you, and I know that you have always had good intentions. Just… be careful, alright?” He tried to smile, though he still looked uneasy. “And good luck.”
Allura nodded her thanks, then marched all the way down the hall and took a right, quickly glancing at the room numbers before finding the one she was looking for. As she got closer to the room marked with the number eighteen written in standard Dunamian dialect, she saw that the door was already open and she heard Lotor’s voice. Her heart soared, and she was about to tap her knuckles on the doorframe to announce herself when she heard an additional person speaking.
“Lotor, wait. Don’t tell me you’re going to see her.”
The princess froze. That was Acxa’s voice. Allura didn’t want to automatically assume that the general was referring to her, but―
“Allura saved my life, Acxa. I want to make sure she’s alright.” Lotor sounded determined, as if he wasn’t going to take no for an answer, the domineering man that he was.
Allura’s heart pounded in her chest. She instantly felt guilty for taking an interest in what was obviously a conversation not meant for her ears. She knew she ought not eavesdrop on them, and she had every intention to leave and give them their privacy, she really did. But now that her name was mentioned, once she started listening she couldn’t stop. Scooting closer to the door but remaining out of sight, she stood still and kept as quiet as possible.
“So the two of you are on a first name basis now?” Acxa asked. “We would have gotten you out of there without her help.”
“On the off chance that someone else managed to reach me, the place would have flooded and I would be dead,” Lotor told her sharply. “It is because of her that I am still alive.”
“Did you forget who she is? She’s an Altean ―the enemy― and a princess at that. Don’t you get it, Lotor? She doesn’t care about you, she wants to use you. That’s all she’s ever done since you got here, is use you. What has she done for you, for any of us? First she makes you come to this godsforsaken planet, then she forces you to get your hands bloody for her, and now you’ve got the High Council breathing down your neck to solve this pointless investigation.”
“You do not know of what you speak,” he growled. “You only perceive what you want to perceive. She deserves much more credit than you give her.” He exhaled tiredly. “Acxa, this is not like you. What is wrong?”
Indeed, Allura was also surprised to hear Acxa speak in this way, or to say so much at all, though to be fair, she herself hadn’t spent that much time around her. Even so, Acxa had always presented herself as the calm one out of all the generals, the kind of person who was in control of her emotions and her actions at all times, but just now it sounded like she was beginning to lose that control.
“I can’t… I can’t stand to see you get hurt.” Acxa sounded as if she was in pain for him. “Not after everything you’ve been through. Whatever you think she may have done for you, she’s not going to stick around once all of this is over, I guarantee it. She can’t be there for you. Not like―” Her voice broke slightly. “Not like I could be there for you.”
She went quiet, and the silence that followed was deafening, stretching on for an uncomfortable amount of time. The logical side of Allura’s brain was holding up bright neon signs, screaming at her to leave, but the emotional side won over by a long shot.
“Acxa…” Lotor at last spoke. He sounded calmer, his tone more soothing. “You have stuck by my side during these past few years and I appreciate your loyalty, but―I did not know when was the right time to say this, and it certainly is not now…” He paused. “I am sorry. It is not that I do not value you. You, Ezor, Zethrid, and Narti―you are all very―” His voice turned strained, as if it was difficult for him to get the words out, to admit something so personal and vulnerable. “You are all very important to me, and out of all of them, I trust you the most. You have served your emperor exceptionally. I can be that for you, Acxa. I can be your emperor, your superior, and your leader, but I cannot be anything more to you. I cannot be the man you desire me to be.”
More silence followed his heavy words.
“…Was I that obvious?” Acxa asked quietly. “Is it because of her? If you hadn’t met her, if I’d said something sooner, would things be different between us?”
“No. I have felt this way for some time now. This is unrelated to Allura.”
“Do you have feelings for her?”
Lotor hesitated, but whether or not he was going to answer, Allura couldn’t listen anymore. She was afraid to hear what he might say, whether good or bad; she wasn’t even sure what would be good or bad. Slowly, she stepped away from the door and noiselessly walked back the way she came.
Acxa’s behavior towards her these last couple of months made perfect sense now. The way she looked at Lotor with pride and something deeper hidden beneath the surface, the way she was always at his side, far more often than the other women…
Acxa was in love with Lotor, and now that Allura was in the picture, showing up and spending all of this time with him, she probably thought Allura was trying to steal him away, maybe corrupt him with her Altean ideals. It was never Allura’s intention to come in between them or to even try to change Lotor―the thought had never crossed her mind. But apparently Acxa viewed it that way. It was no wonder she hated Allura.
However, Allura found that she couldn’t hate her back, nor could she consider her a rival for Lotor’s affections. Though Acxa consistently regarded her with hatred and mistrust, she looked upon her friends with warmth and kindness. She was not a bad person, and that was why Allura didn’t have it in her heart to feel negatively towards her. If anything she felt sorry for her. The hurt in her voice when she asked Lotor if she ever had a chance with him was subtle, but Allura could feel it, and it pained her. She had never experienced an unrequited love herself, but she had sympathy for Acxa. At first she thought Lotor could have been less blunt in the way he rejected her, but thinking about it now, he was honest and straightforward and didn’t get her hopes up. There was honor in that.
“Allura? Is everything alright?” Coran asked her when she returned. He frowned, looking concerned when she continued to stand still in the doorway with a blank expression on her face. “Were you able to find Lotor?”
Allura quickly recovered and waved a hand, acting nonchalant. “Oh, he must have left some time ago. It’s alright, I can always speak with him later.” She held up the prescription card the doctor gave her. “Shall we pick up the ointment and head back?”
“Yes, of course.”
Later that afternoon Allura entered her hotel suite and stared out the wide window that looked out over the city. Her stomach lurched when she saw a column of smoke in the far distance, less than five miles from the hotel. Even with the dozens of skyscrapers that stood between her and Phylos Central Park, and the pollution in the air from factories which never ceased to operate, she and all of the citizens of Dunamis were forced to remember the death and destruction that occurred last night.
She marched over to the window, and with a decisive tug, closed the scarlet, ceiling-high curtains so that they completely covered her view of the city. Then she went to the bathroom to take a much-needed shower, but after she turned on the hot water and began unzipping the back of her dress, she heard something clatter to the floor. She looked over her shoulder and furrowed her brow at the small object, then she remembered. During her search for Lotor she had picked up something lying in a puddle of water.
As she continued to stare at it her blood ran cold, her heart crept up to her mouth, and she leaned down to pick it up. Last night it was too dark to make out what it was, but now under the golden lights of the bathroom shining above her head, she could see the details very clearly. Shaped like a triangular pyramid, she was surprised she hadn’t felt it jabbing into her when it was tucked inside her bodice. It was white with glowing cyan accents lining the material. Like the day in her father’s hospital room which now felt like a lifetime ago, the weapon she held in her hands was unmistakably distinguishable by its design.
The object Allura had found among the ruins of Senak Opera House was another bomb.
And this time it was made by Alteans.
Allura didn’t know how she was able to fall asleep that night. Perhaps it was the lack of rest from the previous evening and her body finally gave in to exhaustion, because she slept in later than usual, and the moment she opened her eyes her heart pounded, remembering her discovery. With dreadful anticipation, she slowly sat up in bed and stared at the burgundy-colored dresser sitting opposite her against the wall. The dresser had four drawers, each with a golden handle, and in the top drawer was a small, pink pouch into which she’d shoved the Altean bomb.
She narrowed her eyes. It was almost as if the furniture was taunting her, berating her for keeping something so extremely detrimental in her possession. But what could she do? If she went to the High Council and told them that not only did she swipe evidence from a crime scene, but that said evidence was an Altean explosive, they would immediately point fingers at her home planet, and she would be no closer to figuring out who attacked her people than she was two months ago. And then what would happen? Altea would probably be kicked out of the Universal Coalition, but what about her family? What would the victims of the attack on Dunamis do to her people in retaliation? It was terrifying to think about.
Unable to sit still for any longer, Allura rose from her bed, pacing back and forth and tugging at her necklace, her nightgown and robe trailing along on the plush, ruby carpet. This couldn’t be the end. It was true that she didn’t want to suspect that her people were responsible, but it felt too… conclusive. It felt too easy.
She paused, stopping in her tracks as an idea popped into her head. This must have been exactly what Lotor felt that day in the hospital on Altea, when Chief Hira presented a single piece of evidence of Galra weaponry and nothing more. The situations were so similar. Both attacks took place during events inside significant buildings where many important guests were gathered in one place. It was the perfect setup to cause catastrophic damage while simultaneously taking out as many people as possible.
But what were the culprits from both attacks trying to accomplish? Were they trying to send a message? Were they targeting specifically Allura and Lotor? What if this really was all a plot to start a war between Altea and Daibazaal? What if…
What if the culprits from the attacks on Altea and Dunamis were one and the same?
“Oh, quiznack,” Allura exclaimed aloud, her hands coming to the top of her head, running through her disheveled hair. Without another thought she ran to her closet and tugged out her flight suit, then hurried to wash up and get dressed. She needed to find Lotor straight away and tell him.
She was still pulling her hair back into a bun as she stepped into the elevator. She realized at that moment that she had no way of contacting him, with only the small chance of running into him at the hotel or seeing him at a council meeting. There was no way under any circumstance she was going to tell the High Council about any of this, however. Not yet. The first person she wanted to tell was Lotor.
Tapping her foot impatiently, she watched the numbers on the screen count down to zero. She would try the hangar bay underneath the hotel first. If that didn’t work, then she’d talk to one of the dozens of receptionists who worked in the lobby. She bit her lip, her heart racing anxiously. She had no idea how she would tell him, as there was the possibility that he would be furious and immediately accuse her and her people of trying to trick him, but at that moment she wasn’t thinking; she didn’t even have a plan. All she knew was that she needed to tell him and tell him now.
At last the elevator doors hissed open and she ran out, sprinting through the hangar to the spot where she last saw Sincline. Around her, other small ships and cruisers were exiting and entering through the large panels that opened up to reveal the surface of the city. She ducked under the wing of an Olkari spacecraft just as it was backing out, prompting the pilot and several workers to yell at her to be careful.
A few feet ahead of her was the familiar cerulean Nalquodian ship. She finally slowed down and came to a stop, resting her hands on her knees.
“Lotor…?” she asked in between harsh puffs of breath. She stood up straight and walked past the ship, expecting to see the blue and gray cruiser next to it―
―only to find that it was gone.
Still panting, Allura swallowed and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, spinning in place, trying to see if she’d missed the cruiser somehow and it was merely in another part of the hangar.
“Are you looking for someone, Your Highness?” a nearby worker, a Karthulian with dark gray scales asked, staring at her panting and sweating state with a bewildered expression. Her gaze snapped towards him. “Or perhaps your ship?” he added. “It’s right over―”
“Do you know where his ship went?” she asked frantically, startling him. She pointed to the empty space behind her. “Emperor Lotor’s ship, have you seen it?”
“Um, I’m afraid not, Your Highness,” he replied, blinking. “I started my shift early this morning, and I haven’t seen it since yesterday.”
Slowly Allura’s breathing returned to normal, and her brow furrowed. She didn’t understand, why would Lotor leave all of a sudden?
“Is it possible that someone stole it?” she then asked.
“We keep a close record of everyone who comes in and out of here,” he assured her. “Here, I can show you.”
In the office where the hangar bay employees worked, he logged onto the system and a large hologram appeared above the console, displaying the exact times and names of the people who checked in and out of the basement.
“Let’s see… a Galra ship…” the Karthulian muttered, scanning through the entries. “Ah, here it is. Emperor Lotor’s Galra cruiser.” He pointed at the text on the screen. “He departed just after midnight, so about twelve hours ago.”
“Do you have any security footage? May I see it?”
“Um…” He glanced around nervously. “I’m really not supposed to show anyone…”
“Please. I need to make sure that it was him.”
“Listen, Your Highness, I’d love to help but,” he faltered, raising his two large paws. “I’m new here, and I really don’t want to lose my job. I don’t have the authorization to show you any kind of footage, I’m sorry.”
Her mind reeling, Allura quickly thanked the Karthulian before heading back towards the elevators and going to the lobby. To her great disappointment, the receptionist was not much help to her, either.
“I dunno where he is, but he’s still a guest at the hotel,” a young Unilu with mint-colored skin drawled, scanning her screen with a bored expression.
“Are you certain?” Allura asked, apprehensive. “He did not check out last night?”
“It says here he’s in the system.”
“Do you know if anyone saw him?”
“I wasn’t here last night. You could ask one of the guys who works the night shift, but…” The Unilu shrugged two of her four shoulders. “We’re not authorized to give out any personal information on the guests.”
“I see.” Allura turned to walk towards the elevators, racking her brain for ideas of where to search next when she suddenly ran into Coran.
“Oh, Allura, I was just about to come find you!” he exclaimed in surprise. “Have you seen the news?”
“I have not,” she admitted, then frowned when she saw how agitated he looked. “Coran, what’s wrong?”
His expression turned grim. “You’d better come with me.” He gestured for her to follow him into one of the lifts, pressing a button to take them upwards.
The way he was acting made a horrible feeling form in her chest, but Allura quickly followed him out onto one of the many restaurant levels, past diners and cafes and towards the open area of the food court, the anxiety building with each step.
“The others are over here,” he informed her as they walked in. Patrons filled the large area, but none of them were focusing on their meals. Instead their gazes were fixed on the screens displayed above their heads, televising the news. The Earthlings were among the many who watched with serious faces.
Shiro looked over his shoulder as Allura approached. “Princess,” he greeted, his mouth in a firm line.
Displayed on the screen was the Universal News, broadcasting live footage of Count Do-Tarn. He appeared to be at a press conference, standing in front of a podium with several microphones attached to it. Transmitters flashed everywhere, taking pictures of the count as he spoke.
“…confirmed early this morning,” he reported in a stately tone, “that due to his sudden disappearance, the police have reason to believe that not only is he responsible for the destruction of Senak Opera House, but that he also orchestrated the attack on Altea two months ago.”
“What?” Allura whispered, furrowing her brow. A chill ran down her spine. He wasn’t talking about…
Next to Do-Tarn on the screen, a picture of Lotor appeared, one taken during the 50th anniversary event. He wasn't smiling, his sharp eyes were looking forward, and the expression on his face was menacing and unfriendly. It was a photo intentionally chosen by the news to display, Allura knew. Do-Tarn gestured towards it.
“If anyone has any knowledge on the whereabouts of the Galra Emperor Lotor, please contact the Dunamis Police Department immediately. He is officially being accused of treason against the Universal Coalition, acts of terrorism, and plotting to start a war between Altea and Daibazaal. We have reason to believe he has fled in order to avoid punishment for his crimes, but rest assured, the High Council is doing everything in our power to find him and bring him to justice.” He nodded resolutely. “I will now be taking questions. Yes?”
As a reporter asked about the death count in the opera house, Coran whispered to Allura, clearly distressed. “He’s revealed everything, Allura: the Galra bomb found underneath City Hall, Lotor and your father threatening to go to war, that it was your idea to go to Dunamis― everything. The entire universe knows about it now.”
It took a moment for all of this new information to sink in, but when it finally did Allura’s blood was on fire. She clenched her fists as rage surged through her veins. “By what right,” she began, gritting her teeth as she tried to contain her anger. “By what right does Count Do-Tarn share all of this without our consent? We had a deal.”
Coran shook his head, clearly upset about this as well. “The High Council must have been driven into a corner after what happened at the opera house, and now in order to appease the public they’ve revealed the truth behind the investigation.”
“And the only person they have to offer as a suspect is Lotor,” Allura remarked bitterly. They turned their attention back to the screen as another reporter raised their hand.
“Is it possible Emperor Lotor has already returned to Daibazaal?” they asked.
“We have seen no sign of his ship leaving the planet’s atmosphere,” Do-Tarn replied, “but the police are on the lookout. If we’re lucky, he will be found and arrested by Dunamis authority and brought to trial under our jurisdiction.”
Allura reached up to tug on her necklace, tucking her other arm beneath her elbow as she considered. Of course. Anyone who was on Dunamis had to follow Dunamian law; it was the same case for every other planet. No matter where one was from, if they were on Altea they had to follow Altean law, if they were on Daibazaal they were to follow Galra regulations, and so on. It was one of the many exceptions the High Council had to make when the Universal Coalition was first established fifty years ago. It was so that representatives wouldn’t be up in arms about having to change the laws on their own planet, and it was why Lotor refused to go to trial on Altea in the first place.
During travel through neutral space, it was anybody’s game, but the moment Lotor entered Daibazaal’s domain, he would be free and would not have to answer to Dunamian authority. That still wouldn’t stop King Alfor from trying to go to war with him, unfortunately, but neither of them would face any consequences by Dunamis law―except for getting kicked out of the Coalition, naturally.
“I will take one more question,” Do-Tarn said through the screen. “Yes, you in the front.”
“What about Princess Allura?”
Allura flinched at the mention of her name.
“Seeing as it was her plan to come to Dunamis, as you claim, and the fact that she was seen with Emperor Lotor at the opera house two nights ago, do you think she is involved in the plot to incite a war between Altea and Daibazaal?”
“I cannot speak for the princess,” Do-Tarn answered vaguely. “However I will say this.”
He then looked right at the camera, and Allura knew he was talking directly to her. Even though she knew he couldn’t see her, she stared right back, uncrossing her arms and tightly clenching her fists, fire in her eyes.
“If she is truly loyal to her people and to the Universal Coalition,” he said slowly and very pointedly. “Then I am certain she will do what is right.”
And with that the press conference was over. Some of the hotel guests began speaking together in hushed tones, some looked over their shoulders at Allura and gave her suspicious glares, and some resumed their meals and went about their day as if nothing happened.
The Earthlings turned to her, watching her with concern.
“You okay, Princess?” Hunk asked.
Despite all of the shocking news, Allura felt oddly calm, staring at the screen above her, her mind racing with a hundred thoughts as the next program, a game show called Garfle Warfle Snick! hosted by Bob came on.
“I can understand that this must be a lot to process for you right now,” Shiro offered with sympathy in his voice. “To think that Lotor was responsible all along…”
“It’s not surprising to me at all,” Lance remarked, folding his arms. “He looks the type.”
“So because he’s Galra it automatically means he’s the bad guy?” Keith asked, raising an eyebrow.
“That’s not what I said.”
“That’s what it sounded like.”
“Guys,” Hunk interrupted. “Read the room, will ya?”
“Now is not the time,” Pidge added, tilting her head towards Allura.
“Allura, what do you want to do?” Coran asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.
The princess was still silent, thinking to herself. Finally she addressed the youngest cadet. “Pidge. You specialize in communications and technology, correct?”
“Communications, technology, security systems, robotics, et cetera,” Pidge confirmed, adjusting her glasses. “That’s me.”
“Can you do me a favor?”
A short while later, Allura, Coran, and the Earthlings all stood in the princess’s suite, observing a console on a desk which stood in between the bed and the wall. Pidge was in the middle, tapping away at a holographic keyboard while the others crowded around her.
“Okay, I’m logged into the hotel’s security system,” she announced.
“What are we looking for, exactly?” Keith asked, arms folded and brow furrowed as he scrutinized the large screen.
Allura considered for a moment. The first thing on her mind was the fact that Sincline had departed from the hotel last night. She needed to be sure that it really was Lotor leaving, and not someone else who had stolen his ship. She nodded resolutely and came to Pidge’s side, leaning forward and bracing one hand on the desk to study the screen.
“Please pull up footage from the hangar bay,” she requested.
“Got it,” Pidge said. “What time are you looking for?”
“Midnight, last night.”
A few more seconds of tapping and a video appeared in front of them. The camera in the underground was positioned to provide a wide angle of the entire hangar. When Allura was able to pinpoint Sincline, she saw four figures standing next to it.
“Those must be Lotor’s generals,” Shiro observed.
“There’s someone exiting the elevators,” Hunk pointed out.
“Pidge, rewind a bit,” Allura said. “Stop when he turns his face towards us. Perfect, right there. Now zoom in.”
Pidge isolated the image of the figure in the recording, then enlarged it for everyone to see.
“That’s Lotor, alright,” Keith remarked. “So he really did escape.”
Though the hangar’s dim lighting didn’t help much and the image wasn’t very clear, there was no mistaking that pearl white hair and lilac skin. However, there was no way to tell what kind of expression he was making, if he was angry, agitated, or even nervous.
“It looks so grainy,” Lance said skeptically. “Pidge, can’t you like, enhance the image or something?”
“I think that only happens in the movies, Lance,” Shiro told him with a smile.
“Yeah, that’s not how that works,” Hunk said.
“I could sharpen the image to some degree,” Pidge said with a shrug. “Even adjust the brightness, but there’s only so much I can do. If the camera’s no good, then neither is the footage.”
“I guess security cameras suck no matter what planet you’re on,” Keith mused.
“Can you play the rest of the recording, Pidge?” Allura asked.
“Sure thing.”
Pidge zoomed out and pressed play, and the group watched Lotor march quickly past dozens of cruisers and ships until he arrived at his own, meeting up with the generals. They conversed for a brief moment, proceeded to climb up the ramp, start the engines, and then they lifted off and flew out of the large panels that opened up into the night sky.
Allura took a step back, folding her arms and reaching for her necklace. “So no one stole his ship,” she thought aloud. “Lotor left last night.”
Without saying goodbye, she was about to add, but stopped herself. Not only did she not want to say too much in front of the others, but also because perhaps it was foolish to think that she and Lotor were in a place where it was normal to speak to each other in that way, for him to offer a farewell before his departure. Yesterday she hadn’t wanted to rub salt into the wound by barging into Lotor’s hospital room while Acxa was still there. Even so, she wished that the two of them had at least spoken to each other before he left, especially after what had occurred between them, when they were about to die together, holding hands…
“What is it, Allura?” Coran asked. He and the Earthlings turned away from the console to look at her. “I cannot tell if you are angry with that man or worried about him. Please, tell us what is going on.”
Allura looked around at her friends. She knew they were good people, and she appreciated that they agreed to help her when she offered no explanation. She decided she could trust them.
Finally, she told them everything about the investigation―the High Council blackmailing her and Lotor into working together by threatening expulsion from the Coalition, the mysterious woman and the Puigian in the streets, her going to Lotor to make a deal, and finally him killing the Puigian in order to save her life. She did not mention anything about the Altean bomb she found underneath the opera house. Somehow she felt she couldn’t tell them yet, at least not until Lotor knew about it first, wherever he was.
“So that is why you went to find him during the attack at the opera house,” Coran realized, astonished.
Allura nodded, then looked sheepish. “I know I should have told you sooner, Coran,” she apologized. “But this whole situation with Lotor, I…” She trailed off, shrugging helplessly. There really was no excuse, only that there were some things she needed to keep in between her and the Galra emperor, and that her personal feelings and her duties were still too complicated to reconcile with or even voice aloud.
“It’s alright, Allura. I know these past couple of months have been hard on you. You’ve done all you could in your situation.”
She nodded, grateful for his words. She would tell him the whole truth eventually, but she needed to figure out some things first. Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw a notification appear on the screen, an incoming request for a video call.
“That will be my parents,” she said with a sigh. “Thank you all for your help. If you hear anything concerning Lotor, please let me know.”
After her friends said their goodbyes and filed out of the room and left her alone, she accepted the call and was surprised to see her parents’ concerned, frantic expressions.
“Allura! Thank the gods,” Melenor sighed with relief. “Are you alright, dear? Are you safe?”
“Yes, Mother,” Allura assured her soothingly. “I am unharmed. I am sorry, I should have contacted you sooner, I know. I take it you heard what happened?”
“We saw the news,” Alfor confirmed, anger in his eyes, and Allura had a feeling her father was referring to the press conference. “I told you, didn’t I? I told you Emperor Lotor was behind it.”
“We do not know for certain that he did it,” Allura said, keeping her voice calm. “Besides the one bomb that Chief Hira found, there is no further evidence.”
“Allura, the High Council accused him and now he is missing. His guiltiness is more apparent than ever. What more evidence do we need?”
“I am so sorry, Daughter,” Melenor said. “You worked so hard to find the truth. But do not be disheartened. None of this is your fault, do you understand?”
“I knew it the entire time,” the king went on very matter-of-factly. “He was deceiving you, he was. That monster. It was a fool’s errand to try to prove his innocence.”
Allura pursed her lips. She didn’t appreciate hearing her father refer to Lotor in that way, especially now that she knew that if Lotor heard that, it would hurt him, even though he would try to hide it.
Melenor noticed the displeased look on her face and turned to Alfor. “My love, I do not think she wants to talk about him anymore.”
“Alright,” Alfor conceded. “Daughter, we called you because we want you to return home as soon as possible.”
Allura blinked. “What?”
“The case has been solved, has it not?” Melenor asked. “Now that we know who the real culprit is, there is no need for you to stay on Dunamis any longer.”
“That man,” Alfor said with distaste, “wherever he is, he will eventually come out of hiding. When that happens,” he added, his expression turning grim. “I will prepare my armies, and I will declare war against him.”
Allura’s blood turned to ice. “Father, you cannot,” she said quickly. “You know the High Council will immediately expel Altea from the Coalition if you do. If we go to war, they will not support us. We will be on our own.”
“Which is why I need you here, Daughter. You must help lead our people during wartime.”
She was taken aback. “I… I do not understand,” she said, her brow furrowing. “You would go to war with Daibazaal so quickly? We are not prepared for this.”
“We are. We were prepared the very second that Galra bomb appeared. You must come home, Allura, and be with your people. And should something happen to your mother or myself, you know what would come next.”
The princess’s gaze fell, staring blankly at nothing as she realized what he was implying. “I would become queen,” she murmured.
“Precisely.”
Allura was silent for a moment as all of this sank in. As the only child of King Alfor and Queen Melenor, she had always known that someday she would be next in line for the throne. Ever since she was a girl, she’d wanted to be queen. She’d dreamt of it, had spent her whole life training and working towards it. When she was younger, she used to get excited over the mere thought of her coronation day, but now…
Now all she felt was fear. She was afraid for her family, for her people, certainly, but she was also afraid for Lotor. The moment he showed his face to the public, Alfor would want to go to war with him, the Coalition would no longer want anything to do with them, and history would repeat itself. Alfor would do everything he could to bring justice to his planet, and in turn Lotor would do everything to protect his people. Allura found that she couldn’t blame either of them; they were only doing what they thought was right.
She knew there was a chance her father would perish in battle, and she’d always known her parents weren’t going to live forever. And yes, she wanted the throne, but… not like this. Never like this.
“We miss you, Allura,” Melenor said, breaking Allura out of her reverie. “Will you come home to us?”
This was all happening too quickly. Only hours ago Lotor became a fugitive, and now her parents were discussing going to war. There was still so much for Allura to do, so many questions that remained unanswered. She couldn’t return home, not yet.
She clenched her jaw, deciding carefully on how to answer. “Father,” she began slowly. “Are you sure you want to do this?” She paused. “What if we could resolve this another way?”
“We have already tried that. There is no other option.”
“There is always another option,” Allura told him firmly. “I can figure this out. Please… I need more time.”
“How much time?” he asked reluctantly.
“I cannot say,” she admitted, “but at least until I can solve this investigation and know for certain that Lotor is indeed the one behind all of this. If he really is guilty,” she added quickly when Alfor tried to protest. “Then finding evidence of his crimes should be easy, should it not?”
“Is that not what you were doing these past few months, dear?” Melenor asked with a frown.
“Back then the council had forced me to work with him,” Allura reminded her. “But now that he is out of the way”―she swallowed thickly―”there is nothing stopping me from finding the truth. I will continue my investigation here on Dunamis and report back to the High Council as planned.
“We are no longer the only victims in this, Father. The people of this planet will want answers, as do the many other non-Alteans from the attack two months ago. I can provide those answers.” She took a step forward. “I just need a little more time. And once I confirm that he really is responsible…”
She clenched her fists, her heart racing and her palms sweating, yet somehow she remained calm and collected.
“…I will turn in Emperor Lotor myself.”
Her heart pounded in her chest, steadily climbing up her throat as she watched her parents consider. She prayed to the Mother of the Universe they would believe her. Technically she was telling them the truth. Every part of her was still determined to solve this case, to find the culprit behind both attacks.
Technically… she wasn’t lying to them.
The uneasy looks on her parents’ faces at first made her heart sink, but when Alfor nodded it lifted and soared with hope.
“Alright,” he agreed. “I am putting my trust in you. We will wait for you, but remember that time is running out.”
“I know,” she said, nodding and trying not to look too eager. “Thank you.”
“Good luck, Daughter.”
They soon ended the call and Allura shut down the console. Slowly, she walked towards her bed and sat down, trying to process everything that had just happened. Even though she had told her parents she would, she hoped that she would not have to turn Lotor in. She did not want to give him up. They would cross that bridge when they got to it, but for now all Allura could do was wait and hope that he showed himself soon. She wanted to have faith that there was an explanation for all of this, that he’d disappeared for a reason.
She hoped he was alright.
Allura glanced at the dresser in the back of her room, at the top drawer which held the small Altean explosive. Then she released a huge sigh and fell back onto her mattress, staring up at the red canopy above the bed. Her thoughts willingly drifted back to the moment when she and Lotor were trapped together underground, how he hadn’t hesitated to wrap his arms around her and pull her to safety, how they were finally able to come to an understanding, how they held hands in the dark…
“Lotor, do you think in another life we could have been friends?”
“No, Allura…”
Allura closed her eyes and pictured him, remembering the way he looked at her as he spoke those next words so softly and tenderly:
“I think we could have been much more than that.”
“Where are you, Lotor?” she whispered.
“Dunamis’s 50th anniversary took a turn for the worse when the Senak Opera House was destroyed during a performance. With over 5,000 guests in attendance, the current count of victims killed in the attack is 2,072, including High Council member King Maato of Arus. Search and rescue teams are still sifting through the wreckage to locate possible survivors.
“Count Do-Tarn came forth representing the High Council and publicly accused the Galra Emperor Lotor of Daibazaal, son of the late Emperor Zarkon, of orchestrating the attack. It is also reported that he is suspected to have carried out the attack on Altea during the annual Universal Coalition meeting. Due to the bloody history between Altea and Daibazaal, as well as the notoriously violent nature of the Galra, it is no wonder that the emperor is the number one suspect, despite being an apparent victim personally affected during both incidents. Before he could be arrested and brought to justice, however, he was reported missing and according to the count, may be hiding away somewhere on Dunamis.
“‘We are confident we will find him soon,’ the count reports. ‘And we trust that anyone who has any valuable information as to his whereabouts will come forward and share it with the police. That being said, anyone who is caught harboring him and his generals will face punishment as seen fit by Dunamis law.’
“Though not officially stated by the High Council or the police, many suspect that an additional person was behind the attacks, one who was also a victim. Princess Allura of Altea, the only daughter of King Alfor and Queen Melenor and heir to the Altean throne, too was present during the incidents on both Altea and Dunamis. She and Emperor Lotor were assigned to investigate together to find the culprit, and on the night of the anniversary were seen together.
“‘I saw them together at the opera,’ an inside source confirms. ‘If I didn’t know any better, I’d say they had a closer relationship than that of colleagues, if you catch my drift.’
“Because of the princess and emperor’s apparent closeness, there are many rumors that the two royals, despite coming from two feuding planets, may be involved roman―”
“I have heard enough,” Allura snapped, rubbing her temples.
Lance lowered his tablet and stopped reading the article. “Sorry, Allura,” he apologized with a sheepish grin. “You gotta admit though, this stuff is pretty entertaining to read, even if it isn’t true. No wonder people live off of this stuff.”
“Only idiots would find it entertaining,” Keith retorted.
“What exactly are you implying?”
“It’s been two weeks since Emperor Lotor went missing,” Shiro spoke up with a frown. “Yet I keep seeing articles written about you two, Princess.”
“Same here,” Pidge said. “If journalists aren’t accusing you of terrorism, they’re making up stories about how you and Lotor are having some secret love affair.” She rolled her eyes.
The princess and the Earthlings were sitting at an Altean diner for breakfast. The establishment was designed to replicate an authentic Altean restaurant, with white walls, sleek and simplistic furniture, and cyan lighting. Allura’s desire to enjoy some comfort food from home was ruined, however, by the constant suspicious and mistrustful stares the other patrons were sending her way. It had been like this for the past two weeks, and she was beginning to reach her limit.
Hunk shook his head. “I can’t believe there are people who make up these kinds of stories for a living,” he commented.
“Well, maybe some of the stories are real,” Lance suggested.
Allura looked at him sharply. “Excuse me?”
“Lance,” Shiro warned.
“I’m just saying,” Lance said, raising his hands. “Lies are based on some truth, right? I read this one article the other day that said you’ve had, like, fifty boyfriends from your home planet,” he added, staring at her in amazement. “And that Lotor is your latest. Who knew you were such a player, Allura?”
“More importantly,” Allura interjected, unamused. “Does the article mention anything actually substantial, such as whether the police have found evidence proving Lotor’s guilt or otherwise?”
Pidge took the tablet from Lance and scanned through. “No,” she answered, brow furrowing. “This article is pretty set on making Lotor the bad guy. It paints the Galra in a really negative light. Sorry, Allura. It doesn’t look like the police have found anything yet.”
“I haven’t heard anything on the news, either,” Keith added.
Lance read intently over Pidge’s shoulder, then his eyebrows rose in surprise. “Lotor threatened someone?”
“Threaten?” Allura repeated sharply. “What are you talking about?”
“It says so right here: ‘Speculations of their relationship have further increased due to the emperor’s noticeably enraged response to inquiries about him and the princess from the night of the opera, going so far as to threaten one of the journalists.’ Yeesh, Lotor’s got no chill.”
“They conveniently left out the part where the journalist was extremely crass in his delivery of said inquiries,” Allura said with gritted teeth. “It was humiliating, and Lotor called him out on his inappropriate behavior. I cannot fault him for that. And how dare this writer say such a thing?” she added angrily, slamming a fist onto the table and clenching the flimsy spork in her hand so tightly that it broke. The Earthlings jumped at her sudden outburst. “They completely distorted what really happened and intentionally made Lotor the villain in this situation. Were I not a part of the rumors myself, I would track down the author of this pathetic excuse for an article and give them a piece of my mind!”
She took a moment to catch her breath, fuming. A server came by and nervously offered her a brand new spork, and Allura noticed nearby customers staring at her. She scowled at them, even though it wasn’t very ladylike, and resumed eating her meal furiously.
“I’d hate to get on your bad side, Princess,” Hunk offered, trying to lift the mood.
“I wouldn’t,” Lance spoke up with a grin.
“Dude, shut up,” Keith told him, rolling his eyes.
“What are you, a masochist?” added Pidge.
“Alright, guys, knock it off and finish your food,” Shiro scolded them. He then turned to Allura. “You going to be okay?” he asked her.
The princess swallowed her mouthful of food. “I will be fine,” she said reluctantly. “I suppose I am simply trying to process all that has transpired since that night. I have never had to deal with this much publicity in my past, and the absolute disregard for one’s privacy is ridiculous. I do not even know where the rumors are coming from, but after what happened with that reporter, these articles have been spreading like wildfire.”
“They’ll fade eventually,” Shiro assured her with a kind smile. “You and the emperor may be the talk of the universe right now, but people will get distracted by the next big news, don’t worry.”
Allura returned his smile, marveling at how Shiro was even more optimistic than she. Despite his encouragement, however, she was troubled during the rest of breakfast, and continued to be so afterwards. She decided to head to the hotel’s arena to train, one of the many activities she’d indulged in recently, including spending time with Coran and the Earthlings, talking with her parents, answering memos from political envoys back home, and even visiting the observatory on the very top floor at one point―anything in order to occupy her time and keep herself distracted. Needless to say, she’d been needing distractions quite frequently since Lotor disappeared.
The programmed robots provided in the arena were not as advanced as the ones Allura grew up with on her planet, but they were enough to get her mind off of things. Extending her staff, which was white with gold accents and fluorescent blue lights at the tips, she went through the motions and took down sentry after sentry, increasing the difficulty level after every fight until she could work up a sweat.
As she trained, unprompted her thoughts wandered back to the article. The revelation of reporters writing about some high romance between her and Lotor was not… unexpected, but the rumors were not the only thing that bothered her. What was also bothering her was the absence of any proof of who was behind the attack. She had a feeling that like the Galra bomb underneath City Hall, the Altean bomb underneath Senak Opera House was meant to be found by the police.
Except they didn’t find it; Allura did. And now she had a secret hiding in the top drawer of the dresser in her hotel suite. With every day that passed, Allura was realizing more and more how similar the situation was to the one on Altea. She was fairly confident that the two attacks were connected. They had to be; they couldn’t be a coincidence.
During the last two weeks the citizens of Dunamis had been taking time to grieve over the tragic events which had occurred at the opera house. As the article had mentioned, not only were thousands killed during the attack, but among them was King Maato, leaving Count Do-Tarn, Princess Malocoti, and President Desto as the three surviving members of the High Council. The news had stunned Allura just as it did when she heard of the losses of the members the first time back on Altea. She wondered if she would ever get used to witnessing death, for it seemed that the older she got, the more she noticed it. Either that or it was the sui generis circumstances in which she’d found herself over the last few months.
After returning to her room to wash up (she did not miss the wary looks passing guests threw her way), Allura was getting ready to head out once more when she heard a scratching noise coming from the doors of her suite. At first she thought she’d imagined it, but then the scratching grew louder and her heart skipped a beat when she heard a soft meow from the hallway. Without thinking twice she ran to the doors, punched the button to open them, and was delighted to see a familiar face.
“Kova,” she exclaimed, picking up the slender cat and holding him in her arms as the doors slid shut again. She laughed softly when Kova purred and leaned into her touch. Allura took a seat on her bed, looking down at the small animal in her lap. “What a pleasant surprise,” she said. “Are you here alone? Where are the others?” She drew in a quiet breath. “Did Lotor send you to me? Is he alright?”
Kova didn’t answer, staring up at her with his sharp, red eyes.
“What is that you’ve got there…?” Allura wondered, noticing a blue collar around the animal’s neck. She frowned. That was strange; she’d never seen Kova wearing one before. As she took a closer look, however, she noticed that at the front of the collar, right beneath Kova’s chin, was a small casket the size of Allura’s thumb. “May I?” she asked politely. Kova dipped his head obediently, allowing her to unclasp the collar. The feline then vacated her lap and stretched out on the thick, vermillion blankets covering the bed and dozed off.
Curious, Allura stood from the bed, turning the casket over in her fingers, and when she figured out the clasp, she opened it. To her astonishment, inside was a rolled up piece of paper. She unfurled it, and saw that on said paper was something written with black ink, a sharp, almost angry-looking lettering.
The Galra language, she realized. Excitedly, she went to the console on her desk, activated the large, holographic screen, and had it scan the piece of paper. She then searched for the Galra alphabet in the system’s database, and using the console’s programming, quickly matched each symbol written on the paper to the language. They were not letters, Allura soon learned, but numbers, and they read as the following:
37.478935, 126.8860654, 0000
“Coordinates,” she realized, and she felt the adrenaline rushing through her veins with delight. “Lotor sent me coordinates!” she exclaimed to Kova, who peeked open an eye before closing it again. Allura looked back at the screen, grinning. “The first two numbers are clearly latitude and longitude, and the third number…” She considered, then snapped her fingers. “Ah, that must be the time. Midnight. He wants me to meet him tonight at midnight at this location. Hang on―”
She tapped on the keys of the console, pulling up a map and entering the numbers. Somehow saying all of these thoughts out loud to Kova, even if he was unable to respond, was helping her to quell the nervous excitement within her, allowing her to focus.
“Here it is,” Allura said. “A place called Drule. It is a long way from the capital, but if I take my ship I should get there in no time. I will have to be careful…”
Drule, she quickly learned, was a small town nearly 300 miles away from Phylos. It had a very low population and even less foot traffic, making it a sensible place to stay if one needed to lie low.
“Speaking of which, how did you manage to find your way here?” Allura asked Kova, who again, did not answer. She then picked up the piece of paper off of the desk, gently running her fingers over the black ink. She wondered if it was Lotor’s handwriting. The first sign of him in two weeks, and it was a message for her to meet him. Her heart raced in anticipation.
The reporters would be frothing at the mouth for this kind of story, she thought with grim amusement, the idea of the Altean Princess and Galra Emperor meeting up for a late-night tryst. She shook her head, then all of her happiness faded as she remembered the article, the lack of evidence, the Altean bomb… and then she remembered the conversation with her parents from two weeks ago, how her father planned to go to war if Allura didn’t find Lotor soon and turn him in to the Dunamis police, how her parents had reminded her of her duties to her people, that someday she would become queen―
Allura set the paper back on the desk, careful not to tear it, then returned to sit on the bed next to Kova. Here it was again, that inner conflict she’d been feeling since the moment she first laid eyes on Lotor, doubting everything she was ever taught to believe about him, about the Galra, and about herself. Her duties, her responsibilities, her role as princess, and someday her role as queen―they were all so important to her. It was what she had wanted for as long as she could remember. And now, once again, she was having to choose.
Were she truly loyal to her people, she would stay silent and do nothing. She would let Lotor take the fall. She would look the other way and agree with everyone else when they said that he was the one responsible for all of this, that he was a monster. But how could she do any of that? After everything they’d been through together, especially now when he was risking his safety by reaching out to her, how could she turn her back on him?
If she couldn’t be completely honest with her parents, her friends, or even to Lotor, she at least needed to be honest with herself. She could admit that Lotor was in her heart; she had accepted it the night the two of them were trapped underground together, but it was more than that.
The truth of it all, the real truth, was that she was tired of constantly battling with herself. She was tired of forcing herself to choose between what her parents would want and what she would want―between her loyalty to her people and her loyalty to Lotor, which had slowly but surely built up over what was almost three months now.
She’d always wanted to do the right thing, to take the moral high ground, to be the better person, but what if doing the right thing was taking her further away from everything her parents taught her, and pushing her closer to Lotor? What if her people’s definition of what was right was actually wrong? What if―
Allura felt a splitting pain in her heart, as if she was being torn in two.
―what if going against everything she was taught was the right thing?
If Grandmother Rhiella were here next to her, what would she say? She would tell her to trust herself and that she ought not to worry about what others thought or did, because what Allura decided to do should always be her choice.
When she attended the meeting at City Hall on Altea, that had been her choice. When she stepped in front of Lotor that day in the hospital, when she proposed the plan to give him a fair chance to prove his innocence, when she decided to go to Dunamis in her father’s place, when she asked Lotor for help, when she went to find him and save him―all of that had been her choice. Looking back on them, she realized that she didn’t regret any of those decisions she made. They were all her own, and even if it had taken a while, she knew now that in her heart, she’d done the right thing.
“Trust your gut, Lulu,” her grandmother once told her. “Sometimes the brain overthinks and turns into a mushy, slimy bunch of nothingness. When that happens, the best thing you can do is to follow your gut, but most importantly, you must follow your heart. I know the kind of person you are, and your heart will never lead you astray.”
It was possible that Lotor might suspect Allura was lying if she told him about the Altean bomb. Either that or he would think her people were responsible all along and he would immediately declare war against her. He might want nothing to do with her ever again. She liked to think that after everything they’d been through, there was some small semblance of trust between them, but a part of her was still afraid that perhaps they were not there yet.
Allura wasn’t going to let that stop her, however. Though Lotor was emperor of the Galra and sworn to be loyal to his people until death, there had to be a part of him that cared enough to at least listen to her, to hear what she had to say. She would do everything she could in order to convince him, to earn his trust for real this time and solve this mystery once and for all.
Acxa was wrong about her. Allura wasn’t doing this only for herself and her people. She wanted to prove Lotor’s innocence as well, to prove that the Galra were not what the Alteans thought them to be, that they were good-hearted, just like their emperor. She wasn’t going to use Lotor, and she never would.
This time, Allura wanted to decide on something and stick to it. No more hesitating, no more second thoughts, no more guilt, and no more pretending. From now on, she wasn’t turning back. From now on, she was all in.
From now on, she and Lotor were in this together.
She stared at the piece of paper sitting on her desk, then turned to Kova. The cat had awoken from his brief nap, stretched, and sat up, his ears and tail perking up with interest.
Allura smiled. “I think it’s time we returned you to your family, don’t you?”
The small town of Drule was indeed far away, far from any ostentatious skyscrapers or thunderous factories. Though Allura could still hear the rhythmic churning in the distance, it was now less grating on her ears and allowed her to have something close to peace and quiet as she stood outside in the chilly night air.
Leaning against the exterior of a small restaurant which had closed its doors many hours ago, Allura drew her navy blue coat tighter around herself, careful not to disturb Kova who sat perched on her shoulder. She glanced around. It had to be close to midnight.. Because of the late hour, the streets were poorly lit and she was completely alone. There wasn’t a single soul in sight.
“I am sure he will be here soon,” she said out loud to Kova, though it was to reassure herself more than anything. What if she had misinterpreted his message? What if something had happened to him and he was unable to make it?
Her heart jumped when she saw a figure approaching from the far end of the street. They wore a cloak, the dim lights overhead casting a strong silhouette that made it hard to determine who this person was. Her fears were quickly eradicated, however, when Kova let out a soft chirp and hopped off of Allura’s shoulder, trotting towards the figure as they got closer.
Allura would recognize those heavy footsteps and towering posture anywhere. She stepped away from the building and waited for the man. He stopped a few feet away from her, his glowing, yellow eyes regarding her in silence.
“Lotor,” she said, sighing and smiling in relief.
He lowered the hood of his dark, mauve-colored cloak with both hands, and returned her smile.
“Allura.”
Notes:
Despite the original plan to make Acxa Keith's love interest in the show (which btw I am so glad they ended up dropping) I was always under the impression that Acxa had unrequited feelings for Lotor, so I wanted to make that more explicit here. There's something so enticing about one-sided love stories! I think it's the angst that really draws me in hehe.
Fun facts! The coordinates that Lotor gave Allura are real coordinates here on Earth! It is the location of Studio Mir in South Korea, the studio that animated Voltron. I got it from Google 😂 And I can't forget the obligatory reference to DotU lol! Zarkon and Lotor's race in the 80's show are called Drule, and the empire is referred to as the Drule Empire.
As always thank you for reading! 💖💜 I feel this way about every chapter, but I am super duper excited to share chapter 7 with you next week! I hope you can look forward to it!!
Chapter Text
The Altean Princess and Galra Emperor were silent as they walked side-by-side through the dark streets of Drule with Kova leading the way. After some time they arrived at a sleepy-looking motel. A neon green sign which said “Raimon Motel”, written in Dunamian dialect, flickered softly, as if ready to settle down for the night. Even the Rygnirathi man sitting in his office was dozing off, one arm tucked under his head while his snores fogged up the window in front of him.
Past narrow, dimly lit hallways they walked until Kova turned a corner and strolled down one of them. Allura was right behind Lotor, looking around anxiously. The only other time she’d been in a place like this was when she was following the Puigian through Yadle District. As a princess, she was not familiar with this kind of environment. It was new and a little unnerving, but knowing that Lotor was there with her helped her to feel a little more at ease.
Lotor stopped in front of a door, knocked twice, and after a few seconds it slid open with a hiss, revealing a familiar, red face. Kova raced past her into the room.
“Back so soon?” Ezor asked, raising an eyebrow. “Did she―hey, you actually showed up!” she exclaimed, seeing Allura. She looked over her shoulder and called behind her, “Hey guys, the princess is here!”
“Quiet,” Lotor barked. “Or you will wake the entire building. Discretion is the key to our survival, remember?”
“You’re so snappy today,” Ezor retorted, rolling her eyes. She stepped aside, making room for him and Allura to enter. They both lowered their hoods, and Allura took in the scene around her.
The place wasn’t as bad as she expected, given the spooky atmosphere of the rest of the establishment. It was small, but it was clean and had decent furniture. The front room had a sleek and simple loveseat and sofa on which sat Zethrid and Narti watching a soap opera.
“But daddy, I love him!” cried the young female protagonist to her father.
“You barely even know him!” Zethrid yelled at the large holographic screen projected onto the wall across from them. “Get it together, girl!”
To Allura’s left was a kitchenette where Kova was currently climbing onto the countertop, and in the far corner of the living room sat Acxa at a small table. Her gun was dismantled and she was cleaning the parts with great care. She and the other women lifted their heads at the sight of their new guest.
“Go easy on him, Ezor,” Acxa said, avoiding Allura altogether and turning her attention back to her weapon.
“Yeah, the boss hasn’t been sleeping well these days,” Zethrid added with a grin, but there was sympathy in her voice.
“What?” Allura turned to Lotor, her brow furrowing. “Is everything alright?”
“He’s been sleeping on the floor for the past two weeks,” Ezor explained.
The princess watched Lotor as he removed his cloak and laid it over the back of the loveseat, clearing his throat and avoiding eye contact all of a sudden.
“I may be the emperor, but I am not a cad,” he muttered. “I am not going to force four women to give up sleeping on a mattress for me.”
Allura continued to stare at him, and saw that a subtle shade of violet had colored his cheeks. Without warning her heart squeezed, though whether it was out of concern, endearment, or all of the above, she couldn’t be sure.
Lotor cleared his throat again. “We will be in the other room,” he told the generals. “Do not interrupt.” He then turned to Allura. “After you,” he said. She went first, walking into the one bedroom to the right.
Like everything else it was quite small, with a dresser, a console, and a bed, but the bed appeared large enough for two people. She guessed that two of the women were using this one while the other two used the sofa in the living room.
The door hissed shut behind them, and Allura removed her coat, setting it gingerly on the bed. She turned to look at Lotor, who was watching the door close.
He caught her eye, his shoulders relaxing, and without a word they met in the middle, standing so close that they were almost chest to chest. He reached out for her and placed his right hand on her waist. During their walk from the streets to the motel, he had not touched her, and for a while Allura was worried a line had been drawn between them again. But feeling his hand, warm even through the material of her suit, made her sigh in relief, and she lightly touched his left arm with her fingertips.
“Allura,” Lotor softly uttered her name as he looked her over. “It’s been a while.”
“Two weeks,” she confirmed, just as hushed.
Lotor nodded. “How are you?”
“I’m fine,” she assured him, returning his nod. “And you? How is your head?” She had the sudden urge to reach up and feel his hair, but she wondered if that was going too far, so she held back.
“I am fully healed. What about your hands?”
She nodded again and smiled. He drew in a quiet breath, his chest rising and falling while his eyes flickered over her face once more.
“The generals and I have been lying low here in Drule for the past two weeks,” he said. “It is good to see you. I tried to look for you at the hospital, but I must have missed you.”
Allura bit her lip as an uneasy feeling settled in her stomach. She felt that she needed to tell him the truth about listening in on his and Acxa’s conversation that day, but there was no guarantee the walls were sound proof. The others might hear, and she didn’t want to embarrass Acxa.
“Must be bad timing, I suppose,” she said instead.
He nodded, then looked at her intently. “I am glad you got my message and that you decided to come. I realize how dangerous it is for us to meet like this. Not only have I been publicly accused of orchestrating the attacks, but there are also articles written about us. I’m sure you’ve read them by now?”
“Yes.”
“If you are suspected as well, your life will be in more danger than it already is. I do not want that for you, but…”
His hand on her waist tightened a little as his claws extracted suddenly, and Allura wondered if that was something he did out of agitation or nervousness. In this case it seemed to be caused by a little bit of both. She could feel his claws lightly scraping against her body and she suppressed a shiver.
“I had to see you,” he told her, his voice gentle yet earnest.
“I am glad you reached out to me,” she told him, taking a firmer hold of his arm. “Lotor, there is something I have to show you.”
He searched her eyes, conflict on his face. “Before you do, there is something I must tell you first.”
“What is it?” Allura asked. She watched him with concern when his hand dropped from her waist and he backed away to lean against a dresser in front of the bed, tiredly running a hand through his hair. “Lotor, what is wrong?”
He let out a long sigh, gripping the edge of the dresser with both hands, then he looked at her, the lines under his eyes more prominent than usual from how exhausted he was.
“I must return to Daibazaal.”
A horrible weight formed in Allura’s chest and sunk all the way down to her stomach, tugging her heart along with it. “Why?” she asked in almost a whisper, though she knew asking the Galra Emperor such a thing was pointless.
Lotor gazed at her, and there was remorse in his eyes as he drew in a quiet breath. “We are no closer to finding the real culprit behind these attacks. I have been away for nearly three months, Allura. My people need me. If worse comes to worst…” A shadow passed over his face. “…then I need to be there to protect them.”
Allura slowly took a seat across from him on the bed, gripping the blankets, her mind racing as his words sank in.
“When you say ‘worst,’” she murmured. “You mean a war between our planets.” Her stomach lurched uncomfortably.
He nodded. “I can only assume King Alfor―your father―” he quickly corrected himself, “heard what Count Do-Tarn said on the news that day. No doubt he is making preparations.”
“He is,” Allura confirmed despairingly.
“I thought so. Should a war break out, it will put you and I on opposite sides of a major conflict, and there will be nothing we can do to stop it.”
She shook her head. “I hate the idea of our people fighting,” she said quietly. “I hate the idea of fighting you.”
“I do, too,” Lotor said gently. “But if I cannot prove my innocence, if my people are in danger, then I need to go home to make preparations.”
Allura bit her lip and resisted the urge to tug on her necklace, because Lotor knew what it meant when she did so, and she didn’t want him to know how much this news truly affected her. Not because she was afraid of him seeing her as weak, but because she didn’t want him to have to worry about her when he already had a lot on his plate.
“There is another problem,” she told him. “I spoke with my father two weeks ago, and I made a deal with him. He agreed to delay preparing his armies and give me more time to solve this case, but in return I am to turn you in the moment you attempt to leave Dunamis. The police will immediately arrest you and take you to trial. You’d be trapped under Dunamis jurisdiction.”
“All the more reason to try and escape.”
Allura fell silent as she considered. Even when she knew Lotor’s role as emperor came above all else, she still wanted him around. It was selfish of her, but she needed him.
“If what I had to show you helped prove your innocence,” she began carefully, “and we were closer to finding the real person responsible, would you stay?”
A sad, subtle smile formed on Lotor’s face. He looked at the ground, shook his head, then met her gaze again. “I cannot promise anything.”
She bit her lip. He wasn’t trying to get her hopes up, she knew that. However, she wasn’t sure if she would have preferred him to tell her sweet lies instead, so that she would finally be rid of the horrible pit that made itself home in her stomach.
“But…” he added.
A flicker of hope ignited in her chest.
“I will do all I can to help you, and I will listen to what you have to say,” he assured her with a nod, his voice low.
Allura nodded back, feeling all sorts of bothered by his tone and the way his eyes traveled over her. She too found herself gazing at him, at his body, at the way his hands held onto the edge of the dresser with a vice-like grip. Her fists tightened around the blankets. She hadn’t forgotten about how those same hands had held her, how those strong arms wrapped around her body, protecting her. Ever since that night underneath the opera house, she’d wanted to feel his hands on her again.
She’d really missed feeling him at her side. She’d missed him.
Shaking herself mentally, she cleared her throat and lifted her chin. “In that case I need something from you.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“The evidence regarding the attack on Altea,” she said. “I would like to see it.” She nodded her head firmly. “Can you give it to me?”
“Not so fast,” Lotor interjected. “You said you had something to show me. This is all rather sudden, so you can forgive me if I demand proof first.” Then he smiled, his eyes softening.
Allura shrugged. “It was worth a try,” she said casually, starting to feel a little lighter now that the atmosphere between them became less sorrowful. Reaching for her coat, she dug into one of the pockets and pulled out the small, pink pouch. “The attack two weeks ago,” she began, getting to her feet and coming to stand in front of him. “It is peculiar that the police were unable to find anything at the crime scene, would you agree?”
“Yes, and they concluded that I was responsible despite the lack of evidence.” Lotor scowled. “They are incompetent. They do not even care that thousands of people were killed that day.”
“Which is why I cannot let them know about this,” Allura told him. Praying that he wouldn’t think less of her when he saw what was inside, she emptied the contents of the pouch out onto her palm, then took a deep breath and held out the bomb for him to take. Their fingers brushed as he accepted it.
His brow furrowed while he studied it, then his eyes snapped back to hers. “This is of Altean design,” he said. His tone wasn’t accusatory, much to Allura’s relief. She straightened her back and nodded towards it.
“While I was looking for you that night, I found it among the ruins,” she said. “I think someone planted it, just like your theory that someone planted the Galra bomb on Altea.”
He blinked at her as he held up the small weapon. “You stole this from a crime scene?”
“You said the police are incompetent,” Allura defended. “I agree, which is why I decided to take matters into my own hands. And,” she paused, watching him carefully, “which is why I decided to tell you about it.”
Lotor’s lips parted in surprise as he stared at her, at a complete loss for words.
Growing flustered from the silence and the attention, Allura cleared her throat and folded her arms. “Now may I see the evidence?”
He slowly nodded, and he looked like he was trying not to smile. “Wait here,” he said. He stood from the dresser, setting the Altean bomb down on top of it, then walked out the bedroom door. Shortly after he returned, holding an external hard drive in his hand. He stopped in front of her and showed it to her, but then kept it out of reach when she tried to grab it.
“Do not think this favor will be forgotten, Princess,” he told her smoothly, a slight tease in his voice. “I expect something in return.”
Biting back a grin, Allura nodded seriously and took the drive from him. She turned and lifted her chin towards the console in the corner of the room.
“May I?” she asked.
He nodded. Allura walked towards it, plugged in the drive and the console came to life, displaying a large hologram that emitted a bright green glow.
Lotor came to stand next to her on her left side. “This is the report the generals and I produced when we investigated the attack on Altea,” he said. He folded his arms and nodded towards the images and statements which appeared on the hologram. “Whatever it is you are looking for, you should be able to find it here.” He paused, looking down at her. “Do the Alteans not have their own report on this incident?”
Allura mirrored his posture as she scanned through the file, and at first was reluctant to answer. She glanced at him, then cleared her throat as she turned her attention back to the display. “Someone stole all of the evidence from the police archives before I had a chance to look into it.”
“Is that so?” Lotor furrowed his brow, then there was a hint of mirth in his eyes. “Are you certain it was not you who stole it? Seeing as how you so willingly swipe evidence from a crime scene.”
Her cheeks burned from embarrassment. “Were I still on Altea, I would have.” Her humiliation increased when she heard quiet laughter coming from next to her. She glared at him. “Do you find this amusing?” she snapped.
“I am sorry, I do not mean to offend you,” Lotor said, trying to cease his laughter. “I am surprised, that is all.” He looked at her and smiled genuinely, his voice lowering. “You really are a… sedulous woman. I should have known better than to expect anything less from you.”
His tone was sincere and quiet, and Allura realized that this was the second time she had ever heard him laugh, the first being when they were about to die in the water. She did not even think he was capable of laughter; he seemed too serious and intimidating. It was gentle and soft and it sounded… nice. Really nice. So nice that it was doing things to her heart like every other thing Lotor did that affected her.
He noticed her still staring at him, and she did not miss the way his eyes roamed over her face. Without thinking she moistened her lips, and her stomach somersaulted when Lotor watched the movement, looking down at her mouth before meeting her gaze again.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a familiar image pop up, and she quickly turned her attention back to the console.
“There’s the explosive,” she said, then peered at the image of the Galra bomb, her brow furrowing. “What is that?” Marked on the side was a small insignia as well as a collection of numbers.
Lotor studied the image. “It is a stamp,” he answered. “An identifying marker, printed by the manufacturing company, no doubt.” Then he seemed to realize something. “Wait a tick…” He retrieved the Altean bomb from the dresser. “Allura, look at this.”
Allura leaned in close to him, her shoulder pressing into his arm as he turned the Altean bomb over in his hands. Printed onto one of the edges of the pyramid was another identifying marker.
“The insignia is exactly the same, even the amount of numbers,” she said, pointing to it.
“Whoever made the Galra bomb also made the Altean one,” Lotor added. His eyes lit up as they looked at each other.
“Yes,” Allura said, and then realizing, she smiled widely. “Do you know what this means?” she asked eagerly. “If we can find out who purchased them, we’ll know who orchestrated the attacks. The Galra and Alteans may both be innocent after all!”
Lotor continued to watch her, mesmerized, before he tore his gaze away from her to stare at the console. “And who else knows about this? I am assuming you have not shared any of this with the High Council.”
“I have not,” she confirmed. “Not even Coran knows about this. Only myself… and now you.”
“Good,” he said, and he clenched his jaw. “We should keep it that way. Not only will it be difficult to prove to them our theory since they are thoroughly convinced that I am to blame, but any information relayed to them could leak, and the real culprit will know that we are onto them. After all, it was only when they knew about the Puigian that the second attack happened.”
Allura’s lips parted in surprise. “You think there is a mole in the council?”
“I have mulled it over these last two weeks, and it is the only logical conclusion. I told no one but them about what happened that day, and now there are only three members left.” Lotor paused, contemplating. “The woman you heard the Puigian speaking to in Yadle District―someone must be relaying information to her, enabling her to carry out her plans. It has to be one of them.”
Immediately Allura’s thoughts went to one person. “Count Do-Tarn,” she said darkly.
He tilted his head slightly. “You suspect the count? On what grounds?”
“Think about it, Lotor. He is the one who came up with the idea of having us work together in the first place, confident that we would fail. He does whatever he likes for his own enjoyment, and only he would find starting a war between two feuding races entertaining.” She looked up into his sharp eyes intently. “Doesn’t it make sense?”
He considered. “Indeed, he has always been an ostentatious fellow. His ascent to a position on the High Council was very sudden, and when it was announced that he was to replace Elder Blate after his retirement, I had a feeling bribery was involved in the final vote.”
“I thought so, too,” Allura said earnestly, and she couldn’t help but feel pleased that she wasn’t the only one who thought that way, that she and Lotor were on the same page. “And the day of the meeting on Altea, he was doing everything he could to cozy up to my parents.”
“Yes, I know of his reputation,” Lotor agreed with a nod. “That same day he approached me and tried to befriend me as well. It did not work, as you probably noticed.”
Allura smiled, turning back to the hologram. “It is something he does quite often, apparently,” she murmured. Then her eyes widened in realization and she looked back up at him. “The night at the opera… Lotor, that night Do-Tarn came and spoke to me, then left as soon as the second act began, only moments before the attack.”
Lotor slowly nodded again as her words sank in. “He wouldn’t have left early if he did not know what was coming.”
“He must be the mole after all.”
“Indeed.” Then his brow furrowed. “What exactly did he want from you?”
“Oh, it was nothing,” Allura said nonchalantly with a shrug. “Only that he is hosting a ball on his home planet soon and he wanted to invite me.”
Once more she returned her attention to the image of the bomb, pinching her bottom lip with her thumb and forefinger as she contemplated, then noticed out of the corner of her eye that Lotor was still watching her.
“What is it?” She looked up at him with slight concern.
“Are you interested?” he asked quietly.
“In the ball?”
“In the count.”
“Why do you ask?”
“Why don’t you answer?”
“Are you jealous?”
“What makes you think I am jealous?”
“Then why do you care so much?”
“Is the rest of our conversation going to consist of only questions from now on, Allura?”
They fell silent, staring at each other. Lotor’s hardened gaze softened and his face split into a smile. Allura grinned bashfully at him and they both laughed awkwardly, ready to change the subject, though it did not go unnoticed that neither of them answered the other’s question.
Allura cleared her throat and studied the hologram, forcing herself to refocus. “Alright, so we don’t tell the High Council or the police,” she confirmed. “But if only the two of us know, and our information is limited, then we are right back to where we started.”
“Not necessarily.” Lotor approached the console. Tapping a few buttons on the holographic keyboard, he isolated the insignia stamped onto the Galra bomb, then pulled up an image search to find a match. It took less than a minute, and he smiled in satisfaction and stepped back.
“There it is,” he announced, folding his arms. “The manufacturing company that produced the explosives.”
Allura leaned forward, bracing one hand on the desk and using the other to point at the screen, following along the text as she read it. “Pollux Incorporated,” she murmured. Why did that name sound so familiar? “It says here it’s a business which mass produces weapons on commission…” She peered at the company logo. It matched up perfectly with the ones on the Galra and Altean bombs. “Their base of operations is right here on Dunamis,” she realized, standing up straight and turning to look at him. “On the lower levels near the core of the planet.”
Lotor nodded. “All it takes is a visit to the warehouse and a look through their records to find out who the buyer is.”
“Pollux Incorporated… I swear I have heard that name somewhere before.” Allura rubbed her forehead, thinking, then an inkling appeared in her mind, a suggestion that she hoped was nothing. “Please look up who the CEO of the company is.”
Lotor did so, and they both fell silent as the search results came up. A picture of a middle-aged man standing with his three grown children appeared. The man, whose name was Coba, along with his two sons, had auburn hair, while his daughter’s was a flaxen color. Allura’s eyes widened in shock. They were all―
“Alteans,” she realized. “I recognize one of them. That’s Bandor, and that must be his older sister Romelle whom he mentioned once.” She sighed and closed her eyes briefly before opening them again. “Of course. Bandor is the youngest son of a wealthy CEO who manufactures weapons. I had completely forgotten.”
“Friends of the family?” Lotor inquired curiously.
“No, Bandor was born and raised here on Dunamis. None of his family members have Altean citizenship. I know him because he was one of the many suitors my parents set me up with.”
“Many?” Lotor repeated, his eyebrows twitching upward slightly, and he set his jaw, glancing away briefly. “I see. You have been… looking for an Altean husband all this time?”
“My parents have,” Allura corrected him, trying not to look too much into his reaction to the idea of her marrying someone. “And unsuccessfully, might I add. Bandor is the fifty-sixth potential suitor I’ve turned down.”
She cringed inwardly, remembering that the last time she saw Bandor she’d promised to call him, but in the end she’d completely forgotten all about him.
“But―oh, gods…” Allura faltered, feeling cold all of a sudden. “If the company is run by Alteans, and they are the ones who produced the bombs, then that means…”
From the expression on her face, Lotor must have realized what she was thinking. He touched the back of her upper arm. “Perhaps the CEO, this Coba, was simply hired to make them,” he suggested gently. “He works on commission, correct? Then it does not necessarily signify that Alteans were behind the attacks.”
Allura nodded mutely, staring at the screen and unable to hide how upset she was at this reveal. Without thinking she reached up for her necklace.
“We do not know for certain that Alteans were involved, Allura,” Lotor went on soothingly. “And we can find out.”
She looked up at him, eased a little by his words, for he must have been saying all of this for her sake, whether he believed it or not, and she was grateful to him. “How?” she asked.
“You said you know the youngest son. Arrange a meeting with him,” he suggested. “Allow me to speak with him and I will get the information we need. Through him, I can get a hold of the company’s past transactions.”
At his words, Allura’s mind instantly flashed back to the memory of that corridor on the three hundred and ninth floor… Narti’s tail wrapped around the Puigian’s neck, Lotor standing over the dead body, his sword dripping with blood…
She swallowed and lowered her voice, keeping her gaze steady on him. “Lotor, I know what happens when you ‘speak’ with someone,” she said slowly.
The expression on Lotor’s face told her that he knew exactly what she was referring to, but he didn’t argue with her. He released her arm, standing up straight again and letting out a sigh. “Then only one other option remains if we want to find the buyer, Allura.”
“And what is that?” she asked, brow furrowing.
“I go to Pollux Incorporated, wait until after hours, then take the records of the purchase myself.”
“Wha― steal them?” Allura stared at him, flabbergasted. “Are you telling me that you want to break in?”
“Yes,” he answered, his unconcerned manner a stark contrast to how absolutely scandalized she felt.
“Lotor,” she protested. She shook her head. “No, I cannot ―will not― support this. I want to find the real person responsible and bring them to justice as much as you do, but I refuse to break any laws in the process.”
“You say that, and yet…” Lotor held up the Altean bomb for her to see. “And may I remind you that you already agreed we would not tell the council of any of our findings.” The corner of his mouth lifted. “It’s a little late to be taking the moral high ground now, Allura.”
Allura had nothing to respond to that; she knew he was right. She sighed. “Alright,” she conceded. “Then I’m coming with you.” Instantly she could see the hesitation on his face.
“With all due respect, it is best if my generals and I handle this ourselves. We have our own way of doing things.”
“I understand you have your own methods, and the last time we tried to work together it did not end… ideally, but… who knows, we might learn something from each other this time. Besides,” Allura added as she folded her arms, “if it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have known about the connection between the attacks in the first place. I am as much a part of this as you.” She lifted her chin at him. “There’s no getting rid of me.”
Lotor stopped and stared at her, running his long fingers over his mouth as he considered. He didn’t seem annoyed. In fact, he sounded slightly amused when he said, “We would have to be discreet. Can you avoid standing out for one night?”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Whenever you walk into a room, you never fail to capture everyone’s attention… with that lustrous hair and those big, glittering eyes of yours.” She blushed and he smiled. “Very well. I agree to your terms. Meet us here, same time tomorrow. We will all go together.”
Allura nodded, and she felt energized despite the late hour. For the first time in two weeks they finally had a lead, and at last she felt that she had a purpose, something to look forward to. She never would have imagined she would be spending her night plotting to break into a weapons company with the Galra Emperor, but life was always full of surprises.
“Then I shall see you in twenty-four hours,” she said. She removed the hard drive from the console to give back to him, and he returned the Altean bomb to her. She slipped it into the pouch, then pulled on her coat and proceeded to follow him out the door.
The moment it hissed open, however, they were met by three of the four generals who had been pressing their ears against the door, and realizing they were caught, quickly retreated at the sight of the emperor and the princess. Zethrid and Narti returned to the sofa, while Ezor sat on a stool in the kitchen, pretending to take interest in the motel’s provided cutlery. It was obvious that they’d been listening in on their conversation, and though Allura had not said anything she was ashamed of, she couldn’t help the heat rising to her cheeks in embarrassment. Acxa, meanwhile, remained in her seat at the table, noisily assembling her gun and looking sullen.
“How’d it go?” Zethrid asked, feigning indifference.
“Fine,” Lotor answered, apparently deciding against reprimanding them. “I am escorting the princess back to her ship. I will fill you in on our plans for tomorrow when I return.”
“So long, Princess,” Ezor said with a grin, baring her fangs. She, Zethrid, and Narti all waved goodbye to her.
Allura smiled and waved back, delighted that they were acknowledging her, even if one of them still wasn’t. “Good night. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.” She turned back to Lotor, who had donned his cloak once more, and they left together.
The night was peaceful and calm while they made their way through the slumbering town, side-by-side with Lotor on Allura’s left, both of their hoods up to avoid detection. The princess was in such a good mood that she didn’t even mind the clanging and rumbling coming from the factories in the distance.
“There is something I am curious about,” she remarked as they walked. “How did Kova manage to find me?”
“He is very intelligent,” Lotor answered, then hesitated. “He… used to belong to my mother.”
Allura looked up at him, astonished. This was the first time he had ever mentioned his mother to her, and he was clearly reluctant to do so for some reason. There was mystery surrounding this woman: what was her name, where she was from, why her identity was kept a secret in the first place. Allura didn’t want to automatically expect the worst of someone, especially of a Galra. Her upbringing had inculcated her with harmful preconceptions and assumptions that simply weren’t true, and she was trying to be better about her views of Lotor’s people. However, she did wonder if perhaps his mother was a criminal or if she was involved in something so unforgivable that she remained an enigma for nearly three decades.
“After she died, the responsibility of taking care of Kova fell to me,” Lotor went on. “Now he belongs to all of us in a way, and assists Narti in navigating.”
Allura smiled. “I like your generals,” she told him, and he looked at her in surprise. “They seem lovely. If we had enough time―” If you didn’t have to go back to Daibazaal… “―I would have loved to know them better.”
“They can be… a handful at times,” Lotor said, shrugging a shoulder. “Especially Ezor, who is the youngest. Out of the five of us, she and I quarrel the most, but we all manage to get along in our own way.”
“How long have you known them?”
“I met them at different times, but Acxa has been with me the longest, which is four years.”
“Hm,” Allura voiced, pursing her lips as the uneasiness once again sent a pang to her chest. “Lotor.”
“Yes, Allura.”
“I should tell you….” She hesitated, then exhaled heavily. “I didn’t want to say anything earlier, but I want to be honest with you. The truth is, that day at the hospital, I was on my way to find you. Then I heard you speaking with Acxa, and…” She cringed. “I am sorry for listening in. That was terribly inappropriate of me.” Glancing over at Lotor, she found it difficult to read his expression, though it looked serious.
“I see,” he replied slowly, keeping his eyes forward. “How much did you hear?”
“Not everything,” she said quickly. “After you…” She paused, trying to find a nice way to phrase it. “After you turned her down, I left. I swear it.”
“Ah.” Then suddenly he relaxed and nodded. “It is alright, Allura. I am not upset with you.” He lightly touched her elbow to let her know they were turning around a corner.
They walked on in silence for a while, and though Allura was thankful there was no negative tension between them, she couldn’t help but notice that Lotor seemed relieved she’d left during his and Acxa’s conversation when she did. Had he said something he didn’t want her to hear?
“A part of me does wish I had stayed at the hospital a little longer before returning to the hotel so soon,” Allura offered. “When you went missing, these past two weeks felt…” She shrugged and smiled wanly. “…endless.”
“They felt that way for me as well,” Lotor confessed. “I did not mean to disappear so suddenly. I caught wind that the police were looking for me, so I had to leave with the others as soon as possible, for their sakes, and for mine. Though… I wish I could have gotten in touch with you sooner.”
“It worked out, didn’t it?” she told him optimistically. “We found each other again, and we finally have a plan. I am glad you are here with me now.” She looked up at him and smiled. “I never would have gotten this far without you.”
He returned her smile, his gaze soft as he regarded her, then he nodded in front of them. “You said your ship is down here?”
“Yes, a bit further.”
They entered a dark alleyway which opened up into a loading bay for a marketplace. Inside of it waiting for Allura was Fala, its white and pink colors almost glowing in the dark, even without the fluorescent lights turned on. She and Lotor stood in front of it and lowered their hoods.
“Thank you for coming all this way,” he told her, gazing up at the ship for a moment before turning towards her.
“Thank you for inviting me,” she returned with a grin. “I feel so relieved that I was finally able to tell you everything. And to be honest, I am even more relieved that you believed me.”
He tilted his head slightly. “Why is that?”
“Well, since it was an Altean bomb, and considering how my father did not react well when we found the Galra bomb on Altea”―Allura winced, remembering the event―”I thought once I told you, you would hate me.”
Lotor looked at her, furrowing his brow. “Allura,” he murmured, and he kept his gaze on her as he shook his head slightly. “It is impossible for me to hate you. In fact, my regard for you… it is quite the opposite.”
Allura’s lips parted, drawing in a quiet breath as his words reached her. “Me, too,” she sighed.
His eyes traveled over her, and he was silent for a brief moment, as if contemplating on whether or not to speak. “Before you go, may I ask you something?” he inquired carefully.
“Yes, of course.”
“Why did you risk telling me about all of this? When you could have been done with this investigation once and for all and returned home to your family, what made you decide to stay and share this information with me?”
“I was reluctant at first,” Allura admitted. “I did not know what would happen between us once I told you, but I wanted to tell you, anyway. Then when Kova found me and I got your message, I finally made up my mind. After everything, I knew I owed it to you.”
“So you feel indebted to me.” Lotor didn’t sound exactly pleased at the idea.
Allura bit her lip, hesitating. Should she tell him? He may think her a fool afterwards, but he deserved an explanation. “It is not that. I decided to share it with you because… Well, because I am tired of feeling so conflicted all of the time, always trying and failing to decide between right and wrong. I know what I want to do now,” she told him firmly. “I am going to follow my heart, and my heart is telling me that I can trust you.” She paused, looking up at him intently. “I hope I am not wrong.”
Lotor searched her eyes, as if trying to detect a lie, or make sense of what she said, because to be fair, it didn’t make sense. Since the first blood was spilt between their people hundreds of years ago, the idea of an Altean and a Galra working together was unthinkable. Now with Lotor accused of treason against the Universal Coalition and forced into hiding, if word got out about their scheming, it would surely cause an outrageous scandal, and in the worst case scenario, kick-start a war that neither of them wanted. They were risking everything by simply being alone together. If they were found out now, Allura would be looked upon with shame by her people and her family. Everything she’d wished for and worked so hard to achieve since she was a young girl, it would all be for nothing.
But this was much bigger than caring about what people thought of her. It wasn’t even just about the Alteans. Whoever started this had gotten both her people and the Galra involved, further intertwining the two races together. If the Galra ended up taking the blame for something they didn’t do, it would lead to war, and they didn’t deserve that. Lotor didn’t deserve that.
Whatever Lotor was looking for as he searched Allura’s face, he seemed to find it. He relaxed slightly and nodded, having come to some sort of conclusion.
“I never got to thank you,” he said quietly. “For coming to find me that night. You saved my life.”
“You did the same for me once,” she returned. “Besides, I would do it all over again.”
That made him smile. “Let us hope it doesn’t come to that,” he joked half-heartedly, then he exhaled softly, taking her in. “I am glad you are safe, Allura. It was… it was not easy, resisting the urge to contact you, but seeing you tonight, it has given me a greater peace of mind.”
“I am glad you are safe, too,” she told him softly.
As she opened the large cockpit of the ship, prompting the latch to rise and allow entry, Lotor offered his hand to help her get in.
“Thank you,” she told him, accepting it, but after she climbed in, he kept hold of her hand.
His gaze was piercing and impassioned, making Allura’s heart race like always. It was the same intensity and longing with which he regarded her the very first day they met, and had regarded her since.
“I also want to thank you for your honesty,” Lotor told her, his voice low. “It is a rare thing these days.”
“Not if you know where to look,” she offered, and she smiled, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.
The corner of his mouth lifted, and he slowly returned her smile. She tried not to think too much about him having to return to Daibazaal after this, of what was going to happen when they inevitably had to go their separate ways. But in the meantime, she was going to put everything she had into this mission, this last opportunity to be by his side. She would not take it for granted.
She couldn’t help but notice that neither of them brought up what had happened between them when they were trapped underground together, when they held hands, and before they were rescued, had only begun to entertain the idea of them being something… something more.
Allura did not blame Lotor for not speaking of it, however, nor did she blame herself. There wasn’t enough time, there were more important things to worry about, and perhaps neither of them were ready to talk about it.
It was probably for the best.
And it felt so comfortable, this back and forth rapport between them, and it was only now that Allura finally realized she could not look upon Lotor as an adversary anymore. Allies or partners or whatever this electric relationship between them could be defined as, he was not her enemy. It was a dangerous line to cross, but it’d been some time since the two of them had crossed it, and perhaps they were always destined to.
Either way, Allura was in this now, and she wasn’t planning on turning back.
“I am meeting with Lotor at the Raimon Motel,” Allura said in hushed tones the next evening as she and Coran made their way through the hangar bay beneath Phylos Council Hall. “That is where he and his generals have been staying for the past two weeks.”
“I can’t believe you found him,” Coran said in astonishment, stroking his mustache in deep thought.
“Well, actually he found me―or rather, Kova did.”
“Kova?”
“His cat. He helps Narti get around.”
“I didn’t realize you were on a first name basis with all of them.”
They approached Fala, and while the latch to the cockpit opened, Allura double checked that she had her staff, which was collapsible, strapped to her side. There was no telling what they’d run into while they were at Pollux Incorporated, and she wanted to be prepared. Just as she was about to hop inside her ship, however, Coran spoke.
“Allura, wait a moment.”
She turned to look at Coran questioningly and noticed the serious and concerned expression on his face.
“Traveling with Lotor and the others… Are you sure this is such a good idea?”
Allura frowned. “Coran, they will not harm me, just as I will not harm them.”
“That isn’t what I mean. As your advisor and friend, of course I care for your safety, but also…” He looked uneasy. “I don’t know if it’s such a good idea to be as involved with them as you are now.”
As the princess listened to his words, she was reminded of their conversation in the courthouse back on Altea, how she’d promised him that she would never get involved with Lotor. In the end, she was unable to keep that promise, though she didn’t regret it.
“It is for the investigation,” she explained. “Who else can I trust with something as vital as this besides Lotor?”
Coran was still not convinced, however. “What happens after you obtain the records from the warehouse?”
“Then the Galra will return to Daibazaal and we will continue to do everything we can to prevent a war from happening.”
“And then?”
Allura raised an eyebrow. “Coran, what is it that you are really trying to say?”
He hesitated, contemplating how to answer. “I am worried you might be becoming too attached, Allura,” he said slowly.
“To the Galra,” she assumed.
He nodded. “More specifically… to Lotor.”
Allura pursed her lips. She should have known where this conversation was going. “My relationship with Lotor is nothing more than that between allies.”
As she spoke, she quickly turned away from him to climb into the ship so he wouldn’t see the forlorn expression on her face. It was the truth, but saying the words out loud for the first time sent a stab of disappointment to her heart.
“My loyalty to my people will always come above all else,” she went on authoritatively, “but right now I cannot think only of them. I want to get to the bottom of this, both for the Alteans and for the Galra. In order to do that”―she got into her seat and buckled herself in, then looked at Coran determinedly―“I need him.”
Coran nodded. “I understand, but Allura, you need to be sure that the reason you need him is for this case and this case alone. If you are not sure, if you continue down this path, I am afraid that you will eventually be met with an ultimatum.” His expression turned pained. “That in the end, someone is going to get hurt.”
Allura stared at him, her brow furrowed. Was he implying that she would get hurt, or that she would hurt Lotor? She couldn’t imagine a situation in which such a thing could occur. She didn’t want to hurt him. No… Coran was wrong. There would never be an ultimatum. She’d make sure of it.
“Wish me luck,” she said, deciding not to answer. She flipped a few switches and turned on the engine, bringing Fala to life. “If all goes well, I should be back before dawn.” As the hatch closed, she nodded to Coran, who backed up to give her space. Fala rose smoothly off of the ground, and within seconds she flew through the open panel leading out of the hangar and into the night sky.
An hour later she met up with the Galra, who climbed into her ship and took their seats. She invited Lotor to sit up front next to her, to which he graciously accepted. The others buckled in behind them, quietly marveling at the vehicle.
“I have always been curious about Altean ships,” Lotor said, looking around and taking in the white and cyan interior as they made their way through the foggy, charcoal-colored clouds. The screens on the dashboard of the ship displayed maps, engine levels, fuel, et cetera, all written in the Altean language. He observed the text. “The system mechanics you use are very similar to what we have,” he noticed.
“Do you read Altean?” Allura asked curiously.
“A little,” he answered mysteriously.
She glanced at him, surprised, then looked forwards again to concentrate on flying as a small smile formed on her face. “You read Altean, you know what a juniberry flower is… perhaps there is a part of you that secretly likes Alteans more than you let on?”
“How dare you accuse me of such blasphemy.”
Her smile grew, hearing the mirth in his voice.
It wasn’t long before they neared their destination. Allura lowered the ship’s altitude a few hundred feet, and though the pollution was as thick as always, she could make out the gray surface of the planet and the hundreds of thousands of vehicles that inched their way across the sky. A seemingly infinite multitude of lanes crisscrossed in front of them, jam packed with vehicles occupied by passengers going from one place to the next. Allura descended farther and entered one of the lanes.
“There it is,” she murmured. Less than a mile ahead was a large circle that looked like someone had taken a giant chunk out of the planet’s surface. Despite the late hour, ships were still coming in and out of the larger-than-life hole, either heading home or starting the graveyard shift.
“What is that?” Ezor asked, scrutinizing the hole.
“That is the entrance to our destination,” Lotor explained. “A place built entirely underneath the planet’s surface. Its official name is Nemon District, but the locals have dubbed it The Inferno.”
“Sounds delightful,” she responded dryly.
“These ships are so slow,” Zethrid grumbled. “What’s taking so long?”
“Traffic in the city is always slow, I’m afraid,” Allura said, turning to look over her shoulder at Zethrid and smiling sympathetically. Undoubtedly, at times it felt as if they weren’t moving much at all, but eventually they made it to the entrance to The Inferno, and when they came upon it, Allura’s eyes widened.
“Woah,” Ezor commented, and Allura couldn’t have said it better herself.
If one were to place two fighter-class Altean ships, the biggest ships known on Allura’s home planet, together end to end, they would fit snugly inside the hole’s diameter. In other words, the hole was big, bigger than what she thought was possible. A bright, orange glow emitted from deep within the hole, its source yet unseen, but it was so powerful that she could feel the heat of it even through the thick exterior of her ship.
Fala was not small by any means. It was the same size as Sincline and could hold several people inside without feeling too crowded, but Allura felt smaller than ever as they slowly descended into The Inferno. Countless other ships of all shapes and sizes passed by her and made their way through. Vehicles were not allowed to fly straight down into a nosedive; they were to remain upright and gradually lower in order to avoid accidents, what with the thick congestion of traffic and all.
“How many levels did you say there were?” Zethrid asked after a while.
“The Inferno is divided up into twelve zones,” Acxa answered, speaking up for the first time since they’d departed Drule. “Each zone specializes in a different area of manufacturing such as medicine, chemicals, weaponry, and so on. The higher the number of the zone, the closer it is to the planet’s core.”
“Wait, don’t tell me,” Ezor remarked, her voice filled with dread. “Boss, where exactly is Pollux Incorporated at?”
“Zone Twelve,” Lotor confirmed, and he had an amused look on his face when Ezor groaned and slumped in her seat.
“I am sure it will be fine,” Allura said, trying to be positive. “Surely there must be strict regulations to ensure the safety of the workers. We should be protected from the heat.” But even as she said that, she was a little doubtful herself. They barely passed by Zone Three, and she was already sweating. How hot was it going to be when they reached Zone Twelve?
Allura landed Fala in the shadows and away from the factories, making sure to keep out of the way of any curious eyes. She climbed out, the others following behind her, and took in her surroundings. They were in the right zone, but Pollux Incorporated was still about a quarter of a mile below them. Allura walked to the edge of a platform and looked down, staring at the planet’s outer core beneath her. It was pure, liquid mineral, orange and red and the brightest, most blinding yellow she’d ever seen. On the edge of the molten lake, far to the left, was solid ground, and that was where their target, the warehouse, waited for them.
“There it is,” she called over her shoulder to the others. She had to raise her voice in order to be heard over the company’s rumbling factory which was close by, as well as the bubbling and bursting from the lava below.
Additionally, it was hard to see the ground level clearly. Not only did the hellish climate caused by the lake send rippling waves that shimmered and made Allura’s vision hazy, but steam as thick as soup rose from the outer core and obscured everything around her. She could barely see the warehouse and factory below. Lotor came to stand next to her and she looked up at him.
“We need to find a way down,” she told him, wiping the sweat from underneath her chin with the back of her hand. She felt like she was in a sauna, except instead of using boiling water, someone had kicked the temperature into overdrive and used searing, hot lava.
“Hey, there’s an elevator!” Ezor called out, pointing to one some distance away to the group’s right. “We can take that to―Oh.”
“Out of commission,” Acxa noticed.
“You hate to see it.”
“We can still make it down,” Lotor said.
“How?” Zethrid asked with a frown as she and the others came over to stand by the edge of the platform. Lotor pointed below them. “No way,” she growled.
“It is our only option.”
“I won’t do it even if you kill me.”
Allura saw what Lotor was referring to, and her stomach dropped. Directly at their feet was a series of rungs attached to the side of the platform. Through the heavy steam she saw that they led straight down to the ground level, which was where their little group needed to be, but the handles looked very much worse for wear.
“There’s gotta be a million of those things,” Ezor said. She tested the first one with her foot. “Think they’ll hold up?”
Just as she forcefully kicked at it with her heel, the rung came loose and plunged over a thousand feet to the bottom and landed with a loud, echoing clang. She winced.
“Yeah, I’m not doing that,” she said.
“You will be fine,” Lotor said.
“Uh, hello? The first one I stepped on just broke!”
“You didn’t step on it, you stomped on it,” he retorted. “I will go first if it makes you feel better.”
“Y’know, it actually does! If you fall to your death, then we’ll know what a terrible idea you had.”
“Ezor,” Acxa said in a chastising tone, but she too looked concerned as Lotor approached the edge of the platform.
“Lotor, you don’t have to do that,” Allura interjected, briefly reaching out for his arm. “I will do it. I brought you all here and forced you to come out of hiding. I should be the one to go first.”
“You did not force anyone to do anything,” he said, his voice gentle.
“I can go first,” Acxa added.
“That is not necessary,” he assured her, then addressed all five women. “Once I make sure it is safe, I will call for you.”
“Be careful, Boss,” Zethrid said, a queasy expression on her face. It appeared she was afraid of heights.
Lotor nodded his thanks and began climbing down. Allura watched him anxiously and reached up to tug on her necklace. Eventually he disappeared inside the steam and they could no longer see him. Zethrid muttered that she couldn’t look anymore and stepped away. Ezor went to keep her company. Acxa stood stock still with an apprehensive look on her face, Narti folded her arms and tapped her clawed fingers restlessly, and Kova curled up on her shoulder, his ears flat and his thin tail wrapped around himself.
As she observed the women (and cat) and saw how deeply concerned they were for their emperor, Allura was reminded of the time when Zethrid was injured and her comrades were all worried about her as well, how they stood by her side, watching over her while she received medical care. No longer was there a doubt in Allura’s mind that the Galra sincerely cared for one another, and she was ashamed for ever having believed otherwise. Her people taught only what they perceived to be the truth, and it made her wonder what the Galra believed about Alteans.
After what felt like an eternity, Allura heard Lotor’s voice, announcing that it was safe, and she sighed in relief. She was about to go down after him, but Acxa beat her to it, still deliberately ignoring her. Allura followed, then Narti, Ezor, and Zethrid.
Allura was not afraid of heights; the depth was the least of her concerns at that moment. As she took each rung one at a time, she could feel the heat from the planet’s core and the sweat all over her body more than ever, and she worried about her hands slipping because of how slick her palms were. There were several moments as she climbed down when she thought she was about to lose her grip, and despite the overwhelming, fiery blaze around her, her blood felt like ice and she was unable to calm down, her muscles tensing and refusing to relax.
About halfway through, she looked down to see how much was left when she heard a loud rattle above her, like something getting ripped off of its hinges.
“Narti!” she heard Ezor scream.
Allura’s head whipped up. She gasped when she saw Narti who, at one point had been a few feet above her and climbing down without an issue, was now falling rapidly after one of the rungs she was holding onto broke off of the wall.
Kova yowled at the sudden movement. In her shock, Narti was unable to catch hold of anything, and had no choice but to fall directly on top of Allura. Her knee crashed into Allura’s cheek, the sharp armor nearly catching her in the eye, and for a terrifying moment the blow stunned her. She was dazed and barely managed to regain full awareness just in time to seize Narti’s arm before she fell from her reach.
Sweating profusely and her cheek throbbing, Allura groaned with the effort and the pain as her arm was forcefully tugged down from the momentum of Narti’s weight getting pulled down by gravity. For a brief second she feared that her other hand, which grasped tightly to the rung, would slip or that the handle would rip off as well and send them both plummeting. She hardly registered the panicked voices coming from Ezor, Zethrid, and Acxa as she held on with all of the strength she had.
“I’ve got you,” Allura grunted out, gritting her teeth. Kova had fortunately managed to hold on. His fur was poofed out in fear, his claws digging into Narti’s armor as he clung onto her back for dear life. Just as Allura’s sweaty fingers began to slip from around Narti’s arm, the Galra at last recovered and grasped onto the rungs again. Once she made sure she was secure, Allura let go and closed her eyes, taking a moment to catch her breath.
“Are you okay?!” Ezor called.
“She’s alright,” Allura assured her weakly, then resumed climbing down.
At last she touched solid ground with shaky legs, and once she put some distance between herself and the ladder to give Ezor and Zethrid some room, she leaned forward to rest her hands on her knees. Her heart was still racing from the scare and her left cheek ached. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Lotor running towards them and she slowly stood up straight.
“I heard yelling,” he said, looking around at them. “What happened? Is everyone alright?”
“Narti fell, and…” Acxa trailed off, the astonishment undisguised in her voice. “The princess saved her.”
Lotor looked at Allura in amazement, but before she could respond she saw Narti approaching her.
“Are you hurt?” Allura asked, and the other shook her head. She then touched Allura’s arm, giving it a gentle and friendly squeeze. That was her way of saying thank you, Allura figured.
“I’m impressed, Princess,” Ezor remarked with a grin.
“You’ve got some quick reflexes,” Zethrid added, nodding in approval.
Allura smiled. “You are welcome,” she said to Narti, then turned to Lotor. “Shall we?”
He nodded and beckoned the women to follow him. They were mostly hidden by the steam as they crept along a line of red company transports which were stationed along the outskirts of the property. They stopped to peer over one transport and observe the building which was now only a few meters ahead.
“No guards outside,” Acxa observed with a frown.
“Too bad,” Zethrid muttered.
“You sound disappointed,” Allura noticed, turning to her and grinning.
“Kicking butt is why the boss recruited me. I was really looking forward to finally putting my skills to good use.”
“She enjoys it,” Ezor added.
“She enjoys it too much,” Lotor corrected.
“What can I say?” Zethrid shrugged. “Being cooped up in a motel for two weeks has made me antsy.”
“Are we going inside or what?” Ezor complained to Lotor. “It’s hot.”
“An astute observation, Ezor,” he remarked. “Perhaps you ought to consider changing career paths and become a detective.”
“Ha ha,” she laughed mockingly.
“Now we know why they call this place The Inferno,” Allura said.
“Indeed.” Lotor surveyed the area with narrowed eyes, then nodded towards the building. “Once we get inside we will need to disable the security system. We cannot let anything lead back to us.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Acxa volunteered.
“Very good. Ezor, go inside first and make sure the area is clear.”
“You got it, Boss.” Ezor saluted him, placing her fist on her chest, and then in the blink of an eye she was gone.
Allura stared at the empty space where Ezor used to be, and her jaw dropped. She could turn invisible?
“Yep, she can do that,” Zethrid told her as if reading her mind. She bared her fangs in a proud grin.
The princess smiled back, then turned to watch the entrance to the warehouse. She noticed the doors slide open and shut. The five of them fell silent as they awaited Ezor’s return.
After a while, Allura spoke up. “I must admit I find all of this very exciting,” she confessed, her heart racing in anticipation.
Lotor glanced at her, raising an eyebrow. “Which part, trudging through this hellish landscape or breaking and entering a weapons manufacturing company?” he asked.
“All of it. I have never done anything like this before. I spent my entire life following the rules and being the obedient child and princess everyone always needed me to be.”
“You never had the desire to rebel against authority?”
“Oh absolutely, but my role as future queen always came first. Now that I think about it…” Allura considered, then grinned cheekily at him. “I never started breaking the rules until I met you.”
He laughed quietly, turning his attention back to the warehouse and shaking his head. “Glad I could be such a good influence on you.” He paused. “It sounds like you were very…”
“Snobbish? Haughty?” she finished for him. “I have been called both before.”
Lotor looked at her again. “I was going to say ‘stifled.’ Up until now, you did not experience much freedom, did you?” he asked, his voice turning soft.
Allura shrugged. “I suppose not. I was never allowed to go anywhere by myself. In fact, the one time I came here to Dunamis, I was always escorted by a sentry.”
He gazed at her, then the corner of his mouth lifted. “If I am recalling correctly, was it not you who said you had traveled to this planet many times?”
She blinked at him, taken aback. “You remember?” That conversation happened the day she arrived on Dunamis. It was only a couple of months ago, but it felt longer than that, somehow. She couldn’t believe he actually remembered the little fib she told him.
“I have a good memory.”
“So do I, and I recall you telling me that I looked out of place.” She lifted her chin at him. “Do you think that way now?”
Lotor’s smile widened as he regarded her with a warm look in his eyes. “No,” he told her in a low voice. “I rather think you fit quite well here―with us.”
They fell silent for a moment, gazing at one another, and Allura found herself hypnotized by him, enchanted by that certain look in his sharp eyes. That look, she realized, was fondness. When did he start regarding her in that way? It was difficult to pinpoint the exact moment, but it was time she finally acknowledged it, at least to herself:
She loved the way he looked at her. It had captivated her since the first second they locked eyes on Altea, sizing each other up and getting drawn in by the other.
Three months ago Allura never would have imagined she’d be in this situation with Lotor, crouching behind vehicles in the heat near the planet’s core, waiting to break into a company warehouse and steal financial records, and him looking at her in the way he was at this moment, with fondness and affection. It felt as if they were completely different people from back then. How incredible it was to see how much the two of them had changed since they met.
Or perhaps they did not necessarily change, at least not completely. Rather, they were seeing each other in a different light, and what a wonderful, beautiful light it was. Allura returned his smile, and hoped the fondness and affection which she felt for him could be seen in her expression as well.
“If you two are done,” Acxa spoke up bluntly. “Ezor is giving us the all-clear.”
Allura and Lotor turned away from each other to see Ezor standing in the now open doors to the warehouse, waving in confirmation. The group entered together, and Acxa immediately went to a console attached to the wall on their right, hacking into the warehouse’s network to access the security system. As she did so, Allura took in her surroundings. The lobby of the warehouse was mostly bare, with gray floors and machinery attached to the walls, one of which was the console where Acxa was currently working. A few meters ahead, taking up the rest of the space were large, black electronic devices.
“Are those computers?” Zethrid asked.
“Data servers,” Lotor replied.
In front of them were three levels above the ground floor, each divided by walls of glass that enabled one to see directly into the server rooms. The machines glowed a warm red, a stark contrast to the harsh, white lighting in the rest of the building.
“I have some good news and bad news,” Acxa spoke up. They all turned to her. “The good news is that I’m able to shut off the cameras and sensors no problem. I can also erase any footage from outside the building so that nothing comes back to us.”
“Well done, Acxa,” Lotor said, and Allura couldn’t help but notice that Acxa looked a little pleased at the praise.
“And the bad news?” Zethrid raised an eyebrow, skeptical.
Acxa turned to the console and pressed a button, and suddenly the entire warehouse went pitch black save for the red lights coming from the second, third and fourth floors.
“I can’t shut off the security without shutting off the rest of the lights, too,” she explained.
“Spoke too soon,” Ezor muttered to Lotor, then shuddered. “This place isn’t creepy at all.”
As a matter of fact, the red lights of the server rooms now gave off a threatening, sinister ambience. Then something in the very back of the lobby caught Allura’s eye. Up against the wall were three pairs of glowing, red orbs, piercing through the darkness and sending a shiver up her spine.
“What is that?” she murmured.
“Oh yeah, I forgot to mention those,” Ezor said casually.
“Allura, wait,” Lotor called as Allura made her way towards them, her hand hovering over her staff strapped to her side. She glanced over her shoulder at him, then looked back and realized that the red orbs were eyes which belonged to―
“Ultra Droids,” she said in awe. The three of them stood side by side, white bodies with red armor on their heads, chests, shoulders, arms, calves and feet. At first Allura smiled, thinking of how much Pidge would love to see these large, seven-foot-tall towering robots, but it quickly faded. “I heard they possess the latest technology in artificial intelligence. They are supposed to be stronger, faster, smarter, and more durable than the average sentry.”
“Designed for war,” Lotor confirmed. “Best to leave them alone, Allura. I do not know what sets them off, and I would rather not find out.” Nodding, Allura backed away from the droids and returned to the others.
“So what are we looking for, exactly?” Ezor asked.
“Evidence,” Allura explained. “Someone purchased those Galra and Altean explosives from Pollux Incorporated. The record of the transaction has to be up there somewhere.” She turned to look up at the server rooms above them. “We find the transaction, we find the buyer, and most importantly, we find who’s really responsible for trying to start a war between our planets.”
“There’s gotta be thousands of records up there,” Zethrid remarked, putting a hand on her hip. “It could take us hours to sift through all of them.”
Allura considered. “We don’t have to look through all of them,” she said. “The purchase would have taken place before the Universal Coalition meeting, so at least three months ago. We can eliminate anything younger than three months, and…” She looked at Lotor for his opinion. “Older than the last Coalition meeting?”
“That is a good place to start,” he said, nodding in approval. “I propose we divide into pairs, one for each level.”
“Agreed.” Then Allura had an idea. “I will take the fourth floor with Acxa.”
Acxa gawked at her. “I’m sorry, what?” she asked in disbelief.
“Then Ezor and Zethrid, you two will go to the third floor,” Lotor said. “Narti and I will be on the second.”
“No, wait―I―” Acxa stammered. Her calm, cool and collected manner quickly evaporated. “That’s not necessary, I can go with―”
“There is no time to waste,” the emperor went on. “Keep your communications on and stick close together.” And with that the group split up.
Allura turned to Acxa. “After you,” she said, gesturing towards a set of stairs which led to the fourth floor.
Acxa narrowed her eyes at her suspiciously, but protested no further, and climbed up the stairs first. The fourth floor had a seemingly endless amount of data servers, forming long lines that resembled corridors. With the red glow from the machines as their only source of light, the place felt very ominous, almost as if someone or something might be watching them. Allura thought of the red eyes of the Ultra Droids, suppressed a shudder, and focused on the task at hand.
The two young women silently agreed to start on opposite sides of the room. Each data server took the shape of a rectangular prism and was lined with red fluorescent lights. They were bulky, black, and about a foot taller than Allura. She walked up to the first one on her side of the room and pressed a button on a small panel which prompted a holographic screen to appear. On the screen she was able to see every transaction that had been stored on that particular server.
Changing the settings on the screen, she filtered out any transactions from the list that she didn’t need, and instead showed the ones that took place three months ago at the latest and fifteen months at the earliest, which was when the last Universal Coalition meeting was, held on Olkarion.
The server showed no promising results, so Allura moved onto the next one, again opening a screen and tapping buttons in order to sort through purchases she didn’t need to see. Nothing there, either, but she was not disheartened. With five other people working on the same task as she, Allura was certain they would find the records of the transaction soon.
It was slow, tedious work, and it was a couple of hours later by the time she got to the center of the room, with Acxa arriving shortly after. Allura glanced over her shoulder at the general, who was a few servers down to her right and wordlessly going through the data.
Clearing her throat, Allura finally spoke. “Any luck?” she asked casually.
“No,” was Acxa’s terse response. They fell silent again, the only noise coming from the faint beeps of buttons being tapped on the servers.
A twinge of annoyance passed through Allura, but she tried not to be offended by the other’s standoffish behavior now that she knew the reasoning behind it. Not only was Acxa wary of her because she was the Altean princess and enemy to the Galra, but she also had romantic feelings for Lotor and believed Allura was taking advantage of him. It wounded Allura’s pride, for it couldn’t be further from the truth, but she did her best to understand why Axca refused to speak to her or even acknowledge her. That being said, she didn’t want it to go on like this. So far she was able to get along with the other women, and she wanted to make sure there were no hard feelings between her and Acxa.
Moving onto another server, Allura tried again. “So you are a marksman? I noticed you cleaning your weapon yesterday. You must take great pride in your work.”
No answer, but Allura, being the stubborn person that she was, refused to be discouraged by her lack of response.
“I can imagine these last few months have not been easy for you and the others. Being away from home for so long… I can relate to that.”
“Listen, Your Highness,” Acxa said suddenly, turning towards her. Allura lifted her head to look at her. “If you’re trying to get more information on Lotor, I suggest you ask him yourself.” Then she added bitterly, “You two seem to get along just fine without my help.”
“I did not mention Lotor once,” Allura snapped, her patience wearing thin. “You are the one who brought him up.”
“Isn’t that why you’re here?” Acxa retorted.
“We do not have to talk about him if you do not wish to. That was not my intention. I will not force you to speak to me, I will not expect you to trust me or even like me, but I would appreciate it if you stopped treating me as if I didn’t exist. If there is one thing I cannot stand”―Allura narrowed her eyes―”it is people treating others as if they are beneath them.”
Acxa stared at her, dumbfounded. Allura turned up her nose at her before resuming her task. She knew she could not pressure Acxa into acknowledging her, but she’d done what she could on her part. If relations between the two of them were to improve, it was now on Acxa to reciprocate.
Once more they fell silent, and Allura tried not to let her irritated mood get the better of her, but that didn’t stop her from punching the buttons on the server screens with more force than necessary.
“Thanks,” Acxa said after a while, her voice quiet. “…for saving Narti earlier. You didn’t have to do that.”
“Yes, I did,” Allura said haughtily, shutting off the hologram and moving on to the next one. “Contrary to the low opinion you clearly have of me, I will not let someone fall to their death because they are a different race than I am.” She sighed, then added in a calmer voice, “I can see the others mean a great deal to you.”
“They do,” Acxa responded, a hint of fondness in her voice. “They are like sisters to me, my family. I didn’t have that growing up, so… they matter the most to me, more than anything else in the universe.”
“I have to say I envy you.”
“Why? Is the perfect life of an Altean princess not enough for you?” Acxa’s tone was not as harsh as before, but still critical.
“If my life was so perfect, do you think I would be here right now?” Allura asked, looking at her and raising an eyebrow.
Acxa glanced at her and shrugged one shoulder. “I guess not. But you have a family, don’t you? They’re waiting for you back in that big, white, fancy castle of yours. What more could you want?”
“You really hate Alteans, don’t you?”
“I don’t see what there is about them to like.”
“Well, perhaps if you got to know us more, you’d change your mind. I changed my mind about the Galra.” Then she grumpily muttered under her breath, walking to the next server, “You speak as if you’ve never seen a castle before. Where do you think your emperor sleeps?”
“What was it?”
“What was what?”
“What was it that changed your mind about us?” Acxa looked skeptical. “Was it when we started becoming useful to you?”
“No,” Allura said, offended. “It was the day of the attack on Altea, when I saw you and the others at the hospital.”
As she spoke, an image flashed through her mind: her sitting on a cot alone, trying not to lose her composure and break down and cry, and then looking over her shoulder to see the Galra standing around a bed some distance away, watching over their comrade.
“I saw how you all cared about Zethrid when she was hurt,” Allura continued as she sifted through the list of transactions on the little screen. “All my life I was fed lies that the Galra were a cruel, unfeeling people, that they weren’t capable of caring about anyone, not even each other. But since that day, and everyday after that, ” she paused, looking at Acxa, “the prejudices of my people were proven wrong time and time again. I know now that you are not what we made you out to be. What I am trying to say is… maybe you were fed lies, too. Maybe Alteans are not as bad as you think.”
Acxa pursed her lips, falling silent again as she thought to herself. “I’m… sorry your planet was attacked,” she said. “I can’t imagine how I would feel if that happened to Daibazaal.”
“And that is why I am here,” Allura told her determinedly. “To make sure that what happened to my world doesn’t happen to yours.”
The general nodded once, and then turned back to the server in front of her. After another brief moment of silence, her eyes widened a fraction. “Hey, take a look at this.” She stepped to the side as Allura walked over to see.
“Access to this server is completely restricted,” Allura noticed, furrowing her brow. She glanced at Acxa. “What do you suppose it means?”
“The fact that out of all of the servers we’ve checked, this happens to be the one we can’t open?” Acxa nodded determinedly. “It means that the people who run this company have something to hide.” She paused. “Do you think it contains what we’re looking for?”
“I have not found a single piece of evidence in any of the other servers,” Allura said thoughtfully. “This has to be the one.”
Acxa pressed a button on her gauntlet and spoke into it. “Lotor, have you found anything yet?”
A second later Lotor’s voice came through the comm. “Unfortunately, no. What about on your end?”
“We found something, but it’s locked.”
“Can you open it?”
“Not here. Not until I know what we’re dealing with, but we think this is the one.”
“Excellent. Make a duplicate of the information on the entire server and meet us on the first level.”
“Copy that.” Acxa disconnected, then produced a small drive from her person, inserting it into the machine.
The two of them were silent again as the data transferred. Acxa stood stock still while Allura folded her arms and leaned back against one of the servers. Acxa cleared her throat and looked like she wanted to say something. Allura tilted her head, curious, and waited.
“I wanted to say,” Acxa began slowly. “I’m sorry for the way that reporter spoke to you the night at the opera house.” She frowned. “What he asked about you and Lotor, that was out of line. You didn’t deserve that.”
“Thank you,” Allura said quietly yet sincerely. “Lotor did not deserve it, either.”
Acxa’s eyes were glued to the progress bar on the screen as she appeared to contemplate what to say next. “You know, the two of you are really similar,” she remarked.
“Really?” The princess was taken aback. “How so?”
“Well, for one thing, you’re both quick-tempered, stubborn, and seem to take enjoyment in calling other people out―”
“And what is wrong with that?” Allura interjected, getting irritable again.
“―and you’re both really defensive,” Acxa added, raising an eyebrow. “Not to mention neither of you ever stray away from speaking your mind. Oh no, both of you talk plenty.”
The princess was unamused. “I hope there is a point to all of this,” she said flatly.
“But you’re also similar in the way that you have the weight of your worlds on your shoulders, yet you still keep going despite it all. You get passionate so easily, and neither of you have given up during these past few months. Even when Lotor told us we needed to return home, he was serious about seeing this through to the end. He’ll do whatever it takes to protect the ones he cares about. I can see the same thing in you, the way you’re willing to risk everything for your people,” she added begrudgingly. “It’s an admirable trait to have.”
Allura blinked at her. Only a short while ago Acxa was intent on ignoring her as much as possible, and now she was paying her a compliment, even if it was slightly back-handed. “Thank you,” she repeated, for there was nothing else she could think of to say. “I think.”
Acxa turned to face her then, looking at her with a serious expression. “I can’t say I trust you, Your Highness. I barely know you. But I do know Lotor. I trust him, I trust his judgment, and if he’s willing to trust you, then…” She nodded. “I am more than willing to see this through to the end with him.” When Allura nodded back, she went on. “And you should know, when we went to the hospital after the opera house was destroyed,” she hesitated, “he told me that he―”
She was cut off when a voice suddenly asked out of nowhere, “Whatcha doin’?”
Allura and Acxa both yelled and jumped, caught off guard and on the defensive. They heard laughter, then the air in front of them shimmered and a tall, slender figure appeared.
“Ezor.” Acxa immediately reprimanded the other girl, shoving her in the shoulder. “Don’t do that.”
Ezor stumbled a little and laughed, baring her fangs. “Couldn’t resist. Are you guys done here or what?”
“Yeah, we’re all finished.” Shaking her head in exasperation, Acxa removed the drive from the server.
“Is everyone waiting for us?” Allura asked.
“Uh-huh. So let’s hurry and get out of here! This place gives me the creeps.” Ezor shuddered, but just as the three young women were about to head for the stairs, a loud alarm sounded, loud and shrilling and piercing Allura’s eardrums. Red lights from the ceiling began flashing, flickering on and off rapidly like strobe lights.
“Ezor, what did you do?” Acxa shouted over the noise.
“That wasn’t me!”
Allura stared straight ahead, down the foreboding corridor of machines which led to the stairs. For a brief moment she thought she saw the shadow of a figure materialize in the darkness. The red lights which rapidly blinked in and out around them were now blinding and irritating her eyesight. She squinted her eyes, trying to see.
A pair of red eyes emerged at the end of the corridor, almost unseen amongst the intense strobing, then disappeared again.
“Oh no,” she murmured. She reached for her staff.
“Where’d it go?” Ezor spun in place, looking around them.
Allura turned towards Ezor, then her eyes widened as she saw something over her shoulder. “Get down!” she yelled.
Ezor ducked just in time as Allura took her staff in hand, extended to its full length, then with gritted teeth, swung it as hard as she could. Her staff collided with the Ultra Droid with a loud clang, knocking into its head. The impact sent its head shooting completely backwards over its shoulders and revealed its neck, the tubes and wiring underneath the armor, reminding her in a sickening way of tendons and exposed muscle.
“Whoa, what the―!” Ezor exclaimed, backing away towards Allura and Acxa, watching as the droid stumbled back.
At first Allura thought she had disabled its head entirely, but then with a loud, whirring noise, its head rose, tilting it from side to side as if relieving the soreness in its neck. She realized with a shock that the blow to the head hadn’t even made a dent in its thick, red cranium. The droid then looked straight at them and started advancing slowly towards them, backing them farther into the room and away from the exit.
Acxa unholstered her weapon and shot it three times in the chest. The bright purple projectiles glanced off of it. Roaring in frustration, she then shot it right between its lifeless, red eyes. It was stunned for a brief moment, stumbling backwards, then it shook its head excessively. It looked straight at her before suddenly sprinting towards her. It was so fast that she didn’t even have time to raise her gun as it knocked the weapon out of her hands and launched her towards Allura, sending them both tumbling to the ground.
“Ezor, go get help!” Acxa called as she and the princess struggled to get to their feet. Without a word Ezor turned invisible again.
The droid swiped at Allura, who ducked and slid in between its legs to get behind it. Before it could get to Acxa, who was still unarmed, Allura pressed a switch on her staff, a sharp spike appeared on the end of it, and she jabbed it behind the knee, directly beneath the armor. Orange fluid spurted from the cables, the strong stench of fuel filling the air. The droid’s knee buckled and it stumbled, struggling to catch its balance.
Its joints are its weak point, she realized.
The robot spun its head all the way around, its attention on her. The second she managed to yank the staff out, the droid backhanded her, hitting her square in the chest. The blow sent her flying into the servers behind her. Her staff slipped from her hand as she collided with the machines, hitting her head and her back.
Dazed, she shook her head and winced at the aches and pains in her body, and unfortunately couldn’t get up in time to stop the Ultra Droid from advancing towards Acxa. Limping and resting its weight on one leg, it reached down and grabbed her by the throat, lifting her high off of the ground. She gasped for air but to no avail, clutching the droid’s unyielding mechanical hand as she began to choke.
“Acxa!” a deep voice called.
Allura whipped her head around and saw Lotor in the doorway. He sprinted towards them, sword in hand.
“Lotor! Cut the joints!” Allura yelled, praying he heard her over the shrill screeching of the alarms.
The moment he was in range, Lotor raised his sword, and in a flash severed the droid’s arm from its shoulder, cleanly slicing through the cables as if they were made of flesh. More fuel sprayed from the tubing, and the arm fell to the floor, taking Acxa along with it. The droid turned to Lotor and aimed its other metal fist at him. He parried its arm with his sword, pushing hard until it stumbled back, and with his fangs bared, lopped off its head.
The robot fell backwards towards the ground with a loud clunk, its head rolling across the ground and towards Allura, who got to her feet and almost slipped on the fluids spurting out of the droid’s parts.
“Acxa,” she murmured, still staggering a bit as she stood and ran towards the other woman.
Acxa was suffocating, clawing at the hand that still squeezed her neck. Crouching by her side, Allura desperately tried to pry the fingers off of her, gritting her teeth in frustration. Lotor instantly dropped his sword and knelt next to Acxa’s other side to help, and together he and Allura finally managed to pull the hand away. Allura tossed it far away from them, then leaned back on her hands and panted, her chest rising and falling quickly. The general coughed and gasped, massaging her throat as she struggled to catch her breath.
“Are you alright?” Lotor asked Acxa. She nodded wordlessly.
Any sense of relief Allura felt quickly dissipated when she heard clanking and whirring behind them. She looked over her shoulder and her eyes widened. “Lotor,” she spoke.
He turned and they saw that the Ultra Droid was still somehow moving and trying to get to them, flipping itself onto its stomach and slowly but surely crawling towards them, pulling itself along with one hand.
“Let’s go,” Lotor said. He grabbed Acxa’s arm, hauling her to her feet, then picked up his sword and sheathed it. Allura quickly ran past the droid to retrieve her staff as well as Acxa’s gun, holding it out to her.
“Thanks,” Acxa said, her voice a little hoarse as she accepted it, to which Allura nodded in response.
“Quickly now,” Lotor said. He glanced over his shoulder at the robot, which was still worming its way towards them, then lightly nudged the women and urged them towards the exit.
When they ran down the stairs towards the first floor, they saw that the others were in no better shape than they were, red lights flashing and alerts sounding all around them.
“Took you long enough!” Zethrid shouted over the gunfire of her assault rifle, aiming it at another droid.
“Acxa, can you turn off the alarm?” Lotor asked.
“Yeah.” She hurried towards the console to reopen the security system.
The projectiles shooting out of Zethrid’s weapon glanced off of the droid’s armor but managed to nick the cables of its neck, making its head twitch unnaturally as it ran towards her. Once it got close enough, Zethrid bashed it in the head with her rifle. In turn the droid cuffed her right in the mouth and she staggered back. Narti came up behind it to pin its arms to its sides, using her arms and her tail, then Ezor grabbed hold of the back of its neck.
“Pull!” Ezor yelled.
Zethrid gripped the droid’s head, then with a roar tugged it right off, taking the fleshy cords along with it and making orange fuel spew all over the place. She then picked up the droid’s body and launched it clear to the other side of the room. It landed with a loud clatter.
Acxa pressed a few buttons on the screen in front of her and the flashing lights and ringing alarms ceased, though it was still dark, with the red servers providing the only source of light.
“Did you take care of the one upstairs?” Ezor asked as everyone regrouped.
“More or less,” Lotor said.
Zethrid narrowed her eyes. “Weren’t there three of those things?” She glanced around.
Allura spun in place. It was difficult to see amidst the darkness. Then she saw red eyes appear from the shadows over Lotor’s shoulder. She extended her staff without a second thought.
“Behind you!” she exclaimed, and then with all of her might she threw the spear end of the staff towards the droid. It whizzed past Lotor’s ear and pierced the droid’s neck with such a force that it was sent flying and smacked right into the wall. Its neck spasmed as liquid gushed from its interior.
“Guess we found the third one,” Ezor commented.
“That was dead on,” Acxa said, sounding impressed.
Allura walked past Lotor, who stared at her as she went to retrieve her staff.
“Good aim,” he remarked. “That was also very close to my head.” He smiled.
“I did give you a warning,” she said, tugging the weapon from out of the wall. Behind her the Ultra Droid landed with a crash as she turned towards him. “Back at the motel you said I would owe you a favor,” she reminded him coyly. “Now that I saved your life again, are we even?”
“For now,” he said, his eyes traveling over her. Then he added in a low voice that was almost a purr, “Unless I can think of another reason to keep you around.” They smiled at each other.
“Can we go now?” Ezor asked, interrupting them. “You guys can stare at each other later.”
“Those droids won’t stay down for long,” Acxa spoke up. She nodded to Lotor and Allura. “We’d better hurry.”
“Do we have everything we need?” the emperor asked. Acxa showed him the drive, and he nodded in satisfaction. “Good. Then let us depart.”
“We have to climb back up that wall again, don’t we?” Zethrid asked with apprehension as they exited the building.
“Yes,” he answered shortly.
The doors slid open and shut with a hiss behind them. An intense wave of heat hit Allura in the face with full force, practically sucking the moisture from her eyes. Somehow she’d forgotten that they were right next to a searing lake of magma.
“Don’t worry, if you fall then the princess will catch you,” Ezor told Zethrid, then grinned at Allura. “Won’t you, Princess?”
Allura returned her smile. “Absolutely.”
As the five of them walked through the steam and towards the wall a short distance away, Allura’s footsteps slowed, watching the Galra before her. A warm feeling bloomed in her chest, warmer and more powerful than even that of the planet’s outer core. It was a feeling of acceptance, of belonging, of having finally found something she’d been longing for her entire life:
Friendship.
She loved the Earthlings, there was no question there, but there was something different here with the generals. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that their people had been enemies for hundreds of years over a death that neither side could ever agree on, and now seeing the Galra in a different light brought out something hidden deep within herself. Perhaps it had something to do with her childhood and how she never had any friends her age.
Allura had always dreamed of knowing a group of girls she could spend time with, could dance together at balls until their feet hurt, have sleepovers in her room, and stay up late talking about boys or whatever it was young girls talked about. She’d wished for it with all her heart, and had tried on numerous occasions to approach the other Altean girls and introduce herself, but they were always too intimidated by her because of her royal status. They ignored her, eventually Allura gave up, and the only friends she ever had were her grandmother and Coran. The generals were different. They weren’t intimidated because she was a princess; they respected her, yet viewed her as an equal.
And perhaps all of this also had to do with what Lotor said to her earlier, about her not having much freedom throughout her life. She’d never really thought about it before, but maybe there was a secret place within her heart that longed for that―freedom, adventure, companionship―and it was very possible that she’d found it right here in front of her, with the Galra.
“I rather think you fit quite well here―with us.”
Lotor’s words echoed through her mind. What he said sounded like more than a mere observation. It sounded like he was hinting at something, trying to tell her to look in between the lines, as if he was promising that there was more to come, should she choose to reach for it.
And she very much wanted it, didn’t she?
As the women began climbing back up the wall, Lotor looked over his shoulder, noticing that the princess had fallen behind.
“Allura?” he called for her, and she looked at him. “Is everything alright?”
She gazed at him, silent for a moment as she took him in. He had one hand on his hip and the other on the hilt of his sword. His pearl white hair was tousled and there were orange stains on his face and armor. He looked in great need of rest, yet he had not left with the others and was waiting patiently for her. As he stood there, sweat on his brow and hair blowing gently in the hot air, watching her curiously, he looked…
He looked magnificent.
Allura wondered if Lotor had waited for her during these past three months, just as she’d waited for him without even realizing it. She wondered…
How much time the two of them had waited for each other, long before they ever met.
She smiled softly. “Yes,” she answered. “Everything is great. I’m right behind you.”
Though Lotor may not have understood exactly what she meant at that moment, he returned her smile nonetheless, and proceeded to climb up the wall with her following shortly after.
Notes:
This chapter was inspired by the movie The Terminator! Can you guess which part? 😂
Fun facts: the Raimon Motel is named after Alfor's original GoLion anime counterpart. And Ultra Droids are from DotU, robots that Haggar and Lotor attempt to use to defeat Voltron buuuut as always they fail in the end 😂
Coming up next: a member of the Altean royal family pays a surprise visit, and some shocking truths come to light when Lotor and Allura... go on a date??! 😱 I am sooo excited to share chapter 8 with you all and I hope you can look forward to it!! As always thank you so much for reading! 💖💜
Chapter Text
Allura was right behind Lotor and the generals as they filed into the motel room one by one, all of them covered in grime and gunk from their adventure down in The Inferno, and the princess found herself barely staying awake. She was sure it was the same for the others as well, and she commended them for not collapsing on the spot.
“We will go over the data later,” Lotor said, clearly seeing the tired expressions on everyone’s faces. “For now, get some rest.”
“You don’t gotta twist my arm,” Zethrid muttered. She yawned widely, baring her large canines.
“Dibs on the shower!” Ezor suddenly exclaimed, the only one who still somehow had some energy left in her.
“Uh-uh, that’s not how this works,” Acxa cut in. “I say the oldest goes first.”
“No fair. That means Lotor gets to go first and I go last.”
“Leave me out of this,” Lotor said, then he turned to the princess. “Have a seat, Allura,” he said, gesturing towards the sofa. “You should take a break before flying again.”
“Thank you,” she said, touching his arm as she took a seat. She smiled when he sat down next to her on her right, his left arm resting on the back of the sofa behind her shoulders. He released a heavy sigh and leaned his head back. “Don’t fall asleep on me,” she teased.
“I will do my best not to, Princess,” he murmured. “I am just going to close my eyes for a moment.” Then he shut his eyes and fell silent, and in no time his chest was rising and falling evenly. Allura’s smile faded as she watched him. He really did look exhausted, and she wondered when was the last time he’d gotten a good night’s sleep.
“How about the tallest goes first?” Zethrid suggested. Allura turned in her seat, her knee bumping into Lotor’s, watching the generals with interest.
“You’re the tallest, Zethrid,” Ezor pointed out.
“I know.”
“Then let’s decide through a game of vip tam zok,” Acxa announced.
“You’re on,” Ezor said. “And don’t cheat. Kova will be able to tell if you cheat.”
Allura held back a laugh as she observed the four Galra women gathering in a circle, all looking very serious.
“One, two, three―” Acxa called, and they made different gestures with their hands. Whatever the gestures meant, clearly it was to the detriment of her, Ezor, and Zethrid, as they all groaned in protest.
“Narti wins,” Ezor grumbled.
“I still think you should go last,” Acxa told her. “You always use up all the hot water.” She looked over at Allura. “Do you want to wash up, too, Your Highness?”
Allura shook her head and smiled. “I really ought to get going, but thank you.”
Lotor slowly opened his eyes. “I would offer to let you stay here and rest. However…” He lifted his chin, nodding towards the small space which was already crowded with five large Galra occupying it.
The princess grinned. “As tempting as it is to sleep on the floor next to you, Emperor Lotor, I do not believe you and I are quite there yet.”
He laughed. “Suit yourself.” Then he turned to her, looking at her intently. “Allura, before we―” But he was interrupted by a knock at the door, towards which all heads turned.
“Who could be here at this hour?” Ezor asked, raising an eyebrow.
Lotor grew tense. He and Allura exchanged glances before he stood from the sofa. “Wait here,” he said quietly. She nodded and watched anxiously as he approached the door. One hand on the hilt of his sword, he glanced through the peephole, and then relaxing, he pushed a button to open the door, revealing―
“Coran?” Allura called, careful to keep her voice down despite her surprise as she got to her feet. She came to stand next to Lotor, taken aback as she stared at her advisor. “What are you doing here?”
For a moment every worst possible scenario ran through her mind, that they were found out, that the police knew where Lotor was and were on their way to arrest him―but then she saw the expression on Coran’s face, and he was beaming from ear to ear.
“Allura, you have a visitor,” he whispered excitedly.
Allura furrowed her brow, and she and Lotor looked at each other again. “Coran, you know we cannot let anyone know about―”
“Don’t worry, you can trust her.” And with that Coran stepped aside, making room for an elderly woman. She had hair as white as starlight, smooth dark brown skin despite her age, small and pink triangles on her cheekbones, and bright eyes that matched with the other women in her family: cerulean and turquoise irises and pink pupils, sparkling like gemstones. Though her eyes were currently covered in some sort of accessory that the princess had never seen before, nevertheless she would recognize this woman anywhere.
“Grandmother,” Allura gasped, covering her mouth with both hands.
“There’s my Lulu,” Rhiella said warmly, then embraced her granddaughter.
Allura wrapped her arms around her tightly, her heart squeezing with love and happiness to see her grandmother after so long. Rhiella gave the best hugs and had that sweet, aromatic fragrance that Allura had found comforting ever since she was a young girl.
Rhiella pulled away and frowned at the orange stains on the princess’s white suit. “What happened to you? And what’s that smell?”
“It’s a long story,” Allura said, taking her grandmother’s hands in hers and leading her farther inside the room. Coran followed and the door hissed shut behind him. “What are you doing here?” she asked with a grin.
“I came here to see you, of course,” Rhiella replied, squeezing her hands affectionately. “Melenor insists I come home immediately to see how my son-in-law is doing, but I don’t see what the rush is.” She waved a hand dismissively. “He survived, didn’t he? I’m sure he’s fine. Besides, I couldn’t return to Altea just yet, not until I checked in on you, Lulu.”
Rhiella was among the shortest in the family, with the top of her head coming to Allura’s shoulders. Her thick hair, which had once reached all the way to her waist, was now cut short and went down to her chin. She wore a long and flowy, flower-patterned red dress, a large hat with a wide brim and white ribbon tied around it, chunky blue jewelry around her neck and wrists, and of course the black accessory which covered her eyes.
“Where did you come from?” Allura inquired with interest.
“Why, Earth, of course! I was curious about the humans ever since they joined the Coalition. Do you like these? They are called sunglasses. They protect your eyes from―well, it’s in the name, isn’t it? And this is a sundress and a straw hat… Very hot when I was over there. If you ever go to Earth, Lulu, you must visit a country called Italy. Your Aunt Orla and her family absolutely adored it.”
Allura smiled fondly at her, then glanced at Lotor, who had been watching the entire exchange with interest. “Grandmother, allow me to introduce you to Emperor Lotor of Daibazaal,” she said, gesturing towards the man next to her. “Lotor, this is the Queen Dowager Rhiella of Altea.”
Lotor looked at Rhiella, then at Allura, as if unsure about introducing himself, a Galra, to an Altean. However, he seemed a little more at ease when Allura smiled and nodded encouragingly. He turned to Rhiella, about to greet her, but the older woman beat him to it.
“Oh my,” Rhiella remarked, taking off her sunglasses in one swift movement and gawking up at him. “You are very handsome.”
He stared at her, speechless, and Allura held back a laugh. Her grandmother tended to have that effect on people, for better or worse.
“Well, I am only saying what everyone else is thinking.” Then with a kind smile she offered her hand.
Lotor recovered smoothly, accepting her hand and kissing the top of it as he bowed. “A pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty.”
Rhiella gave him a once-over as he stood up straight. “Tall, handsome, deep voice, well mannered―” She looked at Allura and nodded. “Lulu, you have my approval.”
“Pardon?” Allura blinked at her.
“Your father―stubborn man that he is―may be stuck in his old ways, but don’t worry. I’ll help you convince him to agree to your marriage.”
“Marriage?” Allura repeated, almost choking on the word. She and Lotor looked at each other before she quickly turned away, feeling absolutely mortified and blushing all the way to the tips of her ears.
From behind her, she heard Ezor burst into laughter. Lotor gave her a sharp look which prompted her to quiet down to hushed snickers. “Sorry, pretend I’m not here.”
“Er―no, Grandmother,” Allura began, raising her hands. “You’ve got it all wrong. Lotor is―he and I are―” She struggled to finish her own sentence, not only because of the embarrassment, but also because even she didn’t know how to define her relationship with Lotor. “We are… working together,” she finished lamely.
Rhiella frowned. “Is that so? Then what is this sexual tension I am sensing between the two of you?”
“Grandmother.” Allura flushed even more. How could she tell? And more importantly, how in the universe was she supposed to answer that question? Out of the corner of her eye she could see Ezor and Zethrid struggling to contain their laughter, and the humiliation increased tenfold. Thankfully, Lotor came to her rescue and spoke up for her.
“Clearly there has been a misunderstanding,” he told Rhiella in a soothing tone. “The princess and I are currently collaborating on a case. Outside of that, she has no other obligations towards me.”
The queen dowager clicked her tongue. “What a shame. Are you married, Emperor Lotor?”
Lotor smiled wanly. “I am not, Your Majesty.”
“Then would you consider marrying our Lulu? Together you would make such beautiful babies.”
“Oh dear gods, Grandmother, please stop talking,” Allura muttered, covering her face, which was now on fire, with one hand.
She chanced a peek at Lotor, expecting him to look offended at the older woman’s intrusiveness. Instead, she was surprised to see that a shadow had passed over his face during Rhiella’s last words and he didn’t respond. Allura felt a pang of concern in her chest, but for now she needed to get her grandmother out of here. She cleared her throat.
“I think we ought to leave Lotor and the others alone now,” she said. “They need their rest.” She then looked pointedly at her advisor. “Coran?”
“Yes, of course,” Coran said quickly, offering his arm to Rhiella. “You must be tired after your long journey, Your Majesty. Allow me to escort you to Phylos Council Hall. I think you will like it there.”
“I can’t say no to you, Coran, you gorgeous man,” Rhiella conceded with a grin. She placed her hand in the crook of his arm and they turned to leave, then she looked over her shoulder. “Coming, Lulu?”
Allura hesitated, glancing up at Lotor again. His strange expression from earlier had faded and he looked back at her calmly.
“You should go,” he said softly. “Get some sleep, Allura.”
She thought she might have seen a look of despondency in his eyes, barely visible from beneath the surface. She bit her lip, for she didn’t want to leave him so suddenly, especially since he and the others would be departing for Daibazaal soon, but she nodded.
“You need to sleep, too,” she told him, and then before she lost her nerve, reached out to gently grasp his hand. He looked down at it, then back up to meet her gaze, and returned her nod. With one last look at him, Allura finally turned and followed the other two Alteans out the door.
It was near dawn by the time Allura entered her hotel suite. She would spend time with her grandmother later, but for now she was in great need of rest. After washing up and changing into her nightgown, she curled up under the covers of her bed and instantly fell asleep.
By midday she awoke and felt refreshed, put on her blue and golden dress, and went to the mirror in the bathroom to fix her hair and smooth it back as best as she could. In the process, however, she noticed that a bruise had formed on her left cheek. She had forgotten about the blow to her face when Narti fell. Thankfully it didn’t hurt so much now, but it would take a day or two to fade.
After a quick lunch, she went out into the city with Rhiella, who had changed back into her usual white and lavender Altean dress, and the princess offered her grandmother a tour of the place in which she’d been living for the past three months.
It was an unexpectedly clearer day than most―that is to say, it was still fairly cloudy―with Dunamis’s two suns shining faintly through the light smog that blanketed the sky above their heads. They walked through the wide, sooty streets, passing transports that zipped by and citizens going about their day.
Not many people looked in their direction, as they were preoccupied with their own errands, but those who did instantly recognized Allura and shot her dirty looks. Allura’s response was to ignore them and turn her nose up at them, but Rhiella was different. She would snap at them, demanding to know what they were looking at and tell them right off. They would stare at her, startled by this old woman’s outburst, then proceed to quickly walk away. Allura couldn’t help but be amused by this, reminded of from whom she’d gotten her temper.
“The racket out here is unbearable,” Rhiella complained as the two of them walked arm-in-arm, referring to the constant rumbling and tumbling of the factories and warehouses which were hidden behind the skyscrapers that surrounded them. “Praise the Mother for soundproof buildings.”
Allura smiled. “I’m really so glad to see you, Grandmother,” she said fondly. “It’s been almost a year, hasn’t it?”
“I’m glad to see you, too, my dear Lulu,” Rhiella returned warmly, patting her hand. “And yes, ten months since your Aunt Orla and her family left Altea with me. We visited so many different places: Olkarion, Jarre’s Moon, Krell―absolutely delightful, that one―Atlantia, Earth, to name a few. After all of this is over and you return home, I will tell you about my adventures.”
“I would love that. Speaking of which, Grandmother, I do not yet know when I will be home. I need to tell you…” Allura hesitated, feeling a little apprehensive. Rhiella was one of the most trustworthy people she knew; she’d been Allura’s confidant since the moment she spoke her first words, sharing deep secrets with each other over the years that they swore to never tell another soul. Rhiella was one of her closest friends, of which she did not have many, and she knew she could tell her anything.
And not only that, but she was probably the most open-minded person in the whole universe. She never judged anyone based on how they looked or where they came from, and never said an unkind word to anyone unless she felt that they deserved it. She was also very honest, though perhaps a little too honest at times, and was never afraid to speak her mind. Allura looked up to her, and she knew she didn’t have to worry about what Rhiella thought of her granddaughter spending time with the Galra, the very people with whom the Alteans were sworn enemies.
That being said…
“About what you saw early this morning,” Allura went on, lowering her voice so only Rhiella could hear. “If anyone found out where he was, he would be in danger. He is going home soon, but until then, I―” She bit her lip. “I want to do everything I can to make sure he is safe.”
Rhiella smiled and nodded in understanding. “I promise I won’t tell anyone, Lulu. You can count on me.”
Allura sighed in relief. “Thank you, Grandmother.”
The queen dowager then gave her a sly look. “Are you sure there is nothing going on between the two of you?”
“Of course,” Allura answered automatically, but she wondered if there was something in the way she spoke or the expression she made that gave her away, because Rhiella didn’t seem convinced.
Perhaps the truth was written all over her face, because Allura hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Lotor since she left the motel. She couldn’t forget the look in his eyes when Rhiella spoke to him. He looked so… sad, though he’d hid it well in the moment. Never before had she seen him make such an expression, and she was worried about him. She was happy to spend time with her grandmother, of course, but a part of her wished she could be next to Lotor. She wished she could comfort him and, though it was probably naive of her to think this way, she wished she could make it so that he was never sad again.
Rhiella had a mysterious smile on her face. “If you say so, my dear, but this old woman has been around for a lot longer than she deserves. I’ve seen my fair share, and believe me, when I saw the way he looked at you, I―”
“Why, if it isn’t Princess Allura!”
Recognizing the voice, Allura’s good mood instantly soured. She and Rhiella looked over their shoulders to see Count Do-Tarn approaching them, wearing his typical, flamboyant and expensive magenta robes.
“Count Do-Tarn,” she greeted icily. Now that she and Lotor were confident that the count was involved in the attacks in one way or another, she hated the man more than ever before, a feat she thought not possible until now.
“What a pleasure to see you on this fine day,” the count greeted in his usual oily voice. “And this must be the Queen Dowager Rhiella.” He bowed deeply, then as he stood up straight said, “Welcome to Dunamis, Your Majesty. If there is anything I can do to make your stay more enjoyable, please do not hesitate to ask.”
“A bit of brown-noser, aren’t you?” Rhiella remarked bluntly. Allura held back a snort.
Do-Tarn laughed the comment away easily. “How delightful you are, Your Majesty.” He then cocked his head, staring at Allura. “Princess, what happened to your face?”
Allura knew he was referring to the bruise on her left cheek. “I was injured while training,” she responded smoothly.
“You ought to be more careful, you know. Wouldn’t want to damage that pretty face of yours.” He grinned, then addressed Rhiella once more. “I do hope you enjoy your visit here on Dunamis, though I wish it was under better circumstances. The police are currently on the lookout for Emperor Lotor, who has been publicly accused of acts of terrorism against Altea and the Universal Coalition. Perhaps Princess Allura has already informed you of this?”
“I heard about it on the news,” Rhiella answered.
“I can understand it must have come at quite a shock―especially to you, Princess. You are the one who worked alongside him, after all. Were the two of you close?”
Allura narrowed her eyes. “That is none of your business.”
“Isn’t it? I haven’t forgotten the way you so passionately defended him in front of the High Council some weeks ago. What was it you said?” He pretended to think. “Ah, I remember now. You threatened me, telling me you would do everything in your power to bring me down should I try to remove you and the emperor from the Coalition.”
His genial manner then faded, and he tsk-tsked at her as he shook his head reproachfully.
“Bad move on your part, Princess. Did you really think trying to intimidate me wouldn’t have its consequences? I strongly suggest that next time you choose your words more carefully. Otherwise,” he paused, the sharp teeth hidden beneath his beak showing as he sneered, “people will continue to mistake the nature of your relationship with Emperor Lotor, just as I did.”
As his words sank in, Allura’s eyes widened in realization. Shock, horror, then finally disgust and fury overtook her, making her blood boil. “It was you,” she fumed. “You are the one who started the rumors. You reached out to the press and made sure they asked those questions about us that night at the opera.”
“I can neither confirm nor deny such allegations,” Do-Tarn said, though he looked smug. “However I will say, Your Highness, that your taste in men is… unconventional, to say the least. I honestly don’t know what you see in him, I really don’t.”
“If you are so interested in my relationship with him, you can read the dozens of articles that now exist thanks to you,” Allura snapped.
The count smirked. “By the way, have you heard the rumors that your emperor is actually a bastard son of Zarkon? These rumors I have nothing to do with, I assure you. But can you imagine? Who knows how many more of that tyrant’s spawn are running around, desecrating every corner of space…” He shuddered. “For all his talk of desire for peace and camaraderie throughout the universe, Emperor Lotor has finally shown us his true colors. He is a traitor to the Coalition, a monster just like his father, and a coward for running away.”
Allura’s face flushed with anger, but she knew she had to stay silent. It would not do to cause a scene with so many people nearby. In the end her desire to protect Lotor outwon her anger towards Do-Tarn, so she said nothing, but it took every ounce of her willpower to prevent herself from stepping forward and punching the count right in his big, golden beak. Her fists clenched and her heart pounded, glaring at him with fire in her eyes.
Rhiella undoubtedly noticed the change in her granddaughter’s countenance, for she gently took her hand in hers. “Well, I certainly hope you find him soon,” she told the count.
“Of course, Your Majesty,” Do-Tarn said politely, inclining his head. “I give you my word that we will bring the man to justice, and he will answer for his crimes against your people. As a member of the High Council, I live to serve those who remain loyal members of the Coalition. To me, there is nothing more important than that of loyalty. Good day, Your Majesty, Your Highness.”
He bowed to them once more, then made to walk past them. When he got close to Allura, however, he stopped next to her, looking down his shoulder at her.
“By the way, Princess, my offer still stands,” he told her quietly. “You haven’t forgotten about my invitation, have you?”
“Thank you for the reminder,” Allura replied with gritted teeth. “But I believe I made myself very clear: I am not interested.”
Do-Tarn didn’t seem fazed at her refusal, however, shrugging one shoulder. “There’s still a week before the ball to change your mind. Personally, I believe in the power of persistence. It’s gotten me this far.” Allura scowled at him.
“Good day, Count,” Rhiella said deliberately with a nod, then tugged her granddaughter along by the hand, and they left.
Later that evening they met with Coran and the Earthlings to enjoy a dinner of Atlantian cuisine. Shiro and his cadets took a liking to Rhiella right away as she regaled them with her adventures throughout space, particularly her most recent visit to Earth. The party dined heartily on their meal of seafood and many other underwater delicacies from the Mer planet, but Allura could not enjoy herself. She moodily stabbed at the yellow rolls wrapped in kelp on her blate (half bowl and half plate) with a spork.
“Everything okay, Princess?” Hunk asked, letting out a nervous laugh. “I’m pretty sure the food’s already dead.”
“We had a run-in with Count Do-Tarn,” Rhiella explained, and murmurs of understanding sounded around the table.
“You know, if there’s anything you need to get off of your chest, we’re happy to listen,” Shiro offered, and the kids nodded in agreement.
Allura tried to smile, but it felt more like a grimace. “Are you sure?”
“Go for it,” Pidge encouraged.
The princess was grateful, and their group of eight had reserved a private room with no risk of anyone walking in and overhearing their conversation, but her friends truly didn’t know what they were getting into. Allura had been mulling over the conversation she’d had with Count Do-Tarn earlier, and her anger had not faded one bit.
She released a slow breath, then with her spork in hand, slammed her fist onto the table, shaking the cutlery and startling the others.
“How dare he,” she fumed, gritting her teeth. “How dare he speak of Lotor in that way. Calling him a monster and a coward… what does he know?”
“Nothing, that’s what,” Rhiella commented, resting her chin in her hand and watching her granddaughter with amusement.
“Exactly! The count never said anything to Lotor’s face before because he was afraid of him, but now he says whatever he likes about him the minute he disappears―the audacity that man has. He said other things, too, things that I do not even want to repeat.”
“Wait, now I’m curious,” Lance protested, but Allura went on.
“If anyone is a coward, it is the count, not Lotor. You agree with me, don’t you?” Allura glanced at her friends expectantly, and they nodded mutely, not wanting to upset her further. “I wish I could have told him off right then and there how wrong he is about him. I admit I was prejudiced against the Galra when I first met Lotor three months ago, but things are different now. He deserves so much more than what people give him credit for. He is honorable and selfless, he is fiercely loyal to his people, and he saved my life! Those are the traits of a good man, and Lotor is a good man, much more of a man than the count will ever be. Don’t you think so?”
Once again she looked at her friends furiously, and once again they nodded in agreement.
“Everything has changed since that day of the attack on Altea,” she went on, still heated. “He is not our enemy. I do not think he ever was. I have learned so much and experienced many things thanks to him, and it is why I cannot look upon him as the enemy, because I care about him and I cannot stand to listen to people speak of him so obstinately!”
Allura stopped, her eyes widening as she realized what she’d just said, and her cheeks warmed. She had never said her true feelings out loud before; they’d remained hidden deep within her heart, a precious secret she kept to herself, and it had come pouring out of her during her impassioned tirade.
Shiro, who sat across from her at the round table, smiled gently. “Honestly, Princess, I think it’s more than that,” he told her kindly. “To me, it sounds like you might be―”
He was cut off by a sudden beeping noise that came from the pocket of Allura’s dress. It was her small handheld holographic tablet. Her brow furrowed, she took it out to look at the notification, and her heart skipped a beat.
Pidge, who was sitting next to her, looked over her shoulder and grinned. “It’s a message from Lotor,” she announced cheekily. This was followed by “Oooh”s from both Lance and Hunk.
“It appears you’ve conjured him,” Rhiella remarked with a knowing smile.
“What’d he say?” Keith asked. Even he appeared interested.
Her heart racing, Allura opened the message. “He says he must return to Daibazaal tomorrow,” she read, her heart sinking. Then as she read further, her eyes widened and a feeling of hope and delight bloomed in her chest. “He wants to meet for a drink,” she said, lifting her head and looking at Rhiella, her mouth falling open. “Tonight.”
“Ooh,” Lance said again. “Is he asking you out on a date?” He wiggled his eyebrows up and down.
“A date?” Coran repeated, choking on the word.
“Either that or he’s making a booty call.”
“Ew, Lance, don’t be gross,” Pidge commented, scrunching her nose.
“I do not know what that means,” Allura said, though she blushed even further, having an inkling.
“It’s when someone―”
“Shut up, Lance,” Keith cut him off.
“You’re too young to know about that kind of stuff, anyway,” Shiro added with a look of disapproval.
“I’m just saying! What did he say exactly?” Lance asked, leaning over Pidge to peek at Allura’s tablet, and he managed to catch a glimpse before the princess swiftly angled it away from him. “Sheesh, this guy is so wordy. What a nerd.”
“I think it’s sweet,” Hunk said.
Lance shrugged. “I guess I was wrong about him. He doesn’t have any ulterior motives after all.”
“I should certainly hope that he doesn’t!” Coran exclaimed, getting worked up, then he turned to Allura. “Well then, as advisor to the royal family, it is my sworn duty to escort you to said date and enforce the proper Altean rules of courtship―”
“Oh, don’t be ridiculous, Coran,” Rhiella interrupted him. “Allura is a grown woman, she does not need a chaperone.”
“But―”
“She can make these decisions for herself. So, Lulu,” she turned to Allura eagerly. “Are you going to meet him?”
A smile formed on the princess’s face. “Yes,” she said. “Yes, I am.”
Night had fallen by the time Allura arrived at the place where Lotor had asked to meet her. With nervous excitement she smoothed the folds of her dress and fixed her hair as best as she could, and she hoped that the bruise on her cheek wasn’t too noticeable before she pressed a button on a console to open the doors, and walked in.
The tavern was old yet well kept, and she wondered if it was one of the first establishments constructed during Dunamis’s earlier days, which would have been fifty years ago. Warm, orange lights shone from lamps on the wall. Soft music was playing from unseen speakers―a smooth, soulful sound that contributed to the moody and comfortable atmosphere. The place was completely unoccupied, with empty booths and chairs, and an unfinished game of katzzar stood in the middle of the room, its hexagon-shaped table still filled with small crystalline orbs as well three-pronged sticks which were meant to hit the orbs into the corners of the hexagon.
Clear on the other side of the room, sitting at the bar, was Lotor. He was slowly swirling a glass filled with a liquid the color of burnt umber, and there was a dark red, nearly full bottle next to him. As soon as Allura walked in through the doors, his pointed ears twitched at the sound of her footsteps echoing against the creaky floor and he turned his head. Her heart raced when she noticed the way he was watching her silently, his glowing eyes traveling over her and taking in her appearance.
“Drinking alone?” Allura teased as she approached.
“Not anymore.” Lotor tore his gaze from her to reach for an empty glass on the counter, and he began pouring from the large bottle.
“I only drink alcohol on special occasions,” she told him, taking a seat on a stool at his left side. She didn’t know why she was being so flirtatious with him all of a sudden, but she couldn’t help it, she was happy to see him.
“I am sure we can think of something, don’t you?” Lotor held out the glass to her, the corner of his mouth lifting.
Allura smiled and accepted the drink, but before taking a sip she glanced around. “It’s surprisingly vacant here,” she noticed. “Where is the bartender?”
“He won’t be bothering us,” Lotor answered.
She stared at him, then was immediately suspicious. “Lotor, you didn’t…”
Instantly he could tell what she was thinking, and he gave her an expression as if to say, Seriously? “I did not kill him, Allura,” he assured her, rolling his eyes. “His wife is in labor so he had to leave and take her to the hospital.” He then added in a soft voice that made her heart beat a little faster, “Don’t worry. You and I have the place to ourselves tonight.”
He held up his own drink and they clinked their glasses together. Lotor was about to take a sip, but instead he watched Allura with amusement as she downed the whole thing. She coughed and her eyes watered when the liquid burned her throat. “Ugh, what is that?” she choked out, squinting her eyes at the bottle.
Lotor let out a gentle laugh and nodded towards the sharp Galra lettering on the label. “It is called rozoll, a liquor imported from Daibazaal. How fortunate am I that this tavern had it in stock.”
“It is very different from the kinds we have on Altea.”
“Oh, I am well aware. You have something called nunvil, yes? A bit too sweet for my taste.”
“And what is wrong with having something sweet?” Allura asked, leaning her elbow on the bar and glaring at him accusingly, though there was no real malice behind it.
He shook his head, smiling. “Not a thing. But I prefer something stronger.”
“You mean you prefer the taste of engine fuel. I am surprised your taste buds have not melted off already.”
He laughed again, and seeing the delight on his face made her chest squeeze with endearment. She bit her lip as she stared at him, then held out her glass. “Well, it is always good to try new things, is it not?”
“I believe so,” he said as he poured her a second round. “Thank you for coming. I would have preferred to meet somewhere more suitable for a princess,” he confessed, glancing at her and looking a little sheepish, “but unfortunately given the circumstances my options were limited.”
“I do not mind, this place is lovely,” Allura told him sincerely, then she grinned and added cheekily, “Besides, as long as you have the privilege of enjoying my company, the place should not matter, should it?”
“Fair point,” Lotor said, then his sharp eyes traveled to her left cheek. “Are you in pain?” he asked quietly, gesturing towards his own face.
She shook her head, touched by his concern. “I’ll survive.”
He nodded, and they fell silent for a brief moment, looking at one another. The two of them were turned slightly in their stools, almost facing each other and sitting so closely that their knees nearly brushed. Their physical contact with each other was mutual at this point, though there were still some lines that they didn’t cross. For one thing, Lotor intentionally did not touch her face when asking about the bruise, but nevertheless it didn’t stop Allura from wanting to reach out to him, to touch him, to feel the solidity of his body beneath her fingertips as she did that night underneath the opera house―
She cleared her throat, took a sip from her drink and turned in her seat to rest both of her elbows on the counter. “Speaking of company, where are your generals? Are they not fond of alcohol?”
“Quite the opposite,” Lotor answered, also turning to face the bar. “Zethrid and Ezor in particular are self-proclaimed connoisseurs. No doubt they are taking some time to wind down before we get ready to leave.” He drank from his glass.
“Right.” Allura’s heart sank as she was reminded for what felt like the billionth time that he was leaving.
She understood why he needed to return to Daibazaal, of course she did. As they’d discussed before, if the worst were to happen and their planets went to war, then Lotor would need to be there to protect his people. He was probably missing his home as well, just as much as Allura was missing Altea. Still, she had secretly wished that she could have come up with an excuse to get him to stay somehow, anything to prevent him from leaving her. Who knew when would be the next time they saw each other, if not on the battlefield? The next Universal Coalition was nine months away. That was a long time without seeing Lotor.
Going to Pollux Incorporated with him and the others, she’d really enjoyed it. She enjoyed spending time with them, getting to know the generals a bit more, and she reveled in the rush of adrenaline coursing through her veins as they fought the Ultra Droids together. No longer would she be able to go on little adventures like that with them.
Trying not to feel too down, she looked at Lotor, who was watching her silently over his drink, and finally said, “Lotor, I want you to know, I…” She smiled a little. “I am really glad we were able to work together one last time.”
“As am I,” he responded in a low voice.
“Even if our people would view it as sacrilegious,” she added, shrugging a shoulder. “A Galra and an Altean―who would’ve thought?”
“Life is full of surprises, isn’t it?” he asked before emptying the rest of his glass, and there was something mysterious about the way he spoke, as though there was a deeper, hidden meaning behind his words. “However, we must face the facts, Allura,” he went on as he poured himself another round. “Even if all goes according to plan and our people by some miracle manage to avoid killing each other, I suspect it will not change the relations between the Alteans and the Galra. Our planets will remain separated, and you and I…” He trailed off, as if accepting the truth of it all for the first time. “…will return to being enemies.”
“Things will go back to normal,” Allura agreed gloomily.
“Yes. Back to normal.” His eyes traveled over her once again before he turned away, shaking his head slightly as if to stop a train of thought, and took a sip of the rozoll.
She bit her lip as she watched him, a question popping into her head. “Lotor…”
“Yes, Allura.”
“What was ‘normal’ for you? Before you became emperor?”
He set down his glass, looking at her for a moment as he considered how to answer. “I always wanted to be an explorer,” he told her quietly. When she waited patiently for him to continue, he went on. “I daydreamed a lot as a child, always looking for something more out there in the unknown―much to the annoyance of my instructors.”
“Is that so?” Allura smiled.
Lotor nodded. “The instant I learned how to navigate a ship, I would steal one from the castle’s hangar and fly far away from Daibazaal, as far as I could go until I got scared or missed home.”
Allura’s smile grew as she pictured a small, young Lotor eagerly flying a Galra fighter through space, tiny fangs bared in a grin and sharp eyes bright with excitement. The thought of him as a rebellious child filled her with delight somehow.
“As you can imagine, Zarkon did not like this. I was… punished for it.” There was a hardness in his eyes, as if recalling a negative memory from his childhood, then it faded and his voice turned wistful. “But regardless I kept doing it anyway, and finally when I was strong enough to take care of myself and perform my duties adequately as prince of the Galra, I continued my travels.” Lotor smiled fondly. “I went to many different worlds, some inhabited, some containing the remnants of a lost and forgotten civilization, and some where life had not yet taken root and grown.”
He paused, his eyes downcast. “And then… when Zarkon died a year ago, I had to give up that part of my life. I live and breathe for the Galra,” he said, and his expression was fierce and determined as he looked into Allura’s eyes. “To light the flame of the Kral Zera and take the throne was my destiny. I wanted it, I fought for it, and I took it. I do not regret becoming emperor.”
“But?” she prompted.
“But…” He slowly nodded his head once in acknowledgement. “I must admit that I miss it: the excitement, the adventure, the mystery―the freedom― the universe has all of that to offer and more. I long for those times, though they are over now.”
There was that word again: freedom. Clearly it was something that Lotor highly valued, and when they were down in The Inferno he’d suggested that perhaps Allura did not have the opportunity to experience very much of it throughout her life. She was beginning to wonder if he was right. During these past few months she’d gotten a taste of that freedom, and it was all thanks to him. Because of Lotor, she’d been able to experience a lot of things she hadn’t before. She wondered if, after all of this was over, she would lose that freedom. To be certain, he thought he had lost his, and she didn’t want that for either of them.
“Those times may not yet be over,” Allura offered soothingly. “It has only been a year since you became emperor, you are still getting used to it. Once things settle down and you have adjusted to this new part of your life, you will be able to reconcile it with the old one.” She nodded encouragingly. “You will travel around the universe again, I am certain of it.”
He gazed at her silently, then tilted his head at her, the corner of his mouth lifting. “How are you able to do that?”
“Do what?” she asked, and she couldn't help but return his smile.
“Remain so optimistic.”
“Are you a pessimist?”
“I certainly hope not. Rather, I would say I am a realist.”
Allura shrugged. “I cannot help it, trying to look on the bright side all of the time.” She grinned at him. “I did not know you thought so highly of me, Emperor Lotor.”
His smile widened. “Perhaps I should add ‘egotistical’ to the list.”
“Takes one to know one,” she returned, and the sound of his laughter once again brought the most joyous feeling of delight to bloom within her chest. “My father is an explorer, too,” she then added.
Lotor’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Really?”
“Yes.” Allura nodded eagerly. “He used to go on all sorts of adventures―still does, actually. Nowadays he travels with my mother.”
A fond smile pulled at her lips, remembering the stories her father would regale her with as a child, how earnestly she would sit upon his lap and listen to him talk for hours on end about the places her parents visited. How carefree she was back then; so many things she did not yet know and had not yet experienced, how naive and innocent she was.
Allura then let out a small laugh, and Lotor’s smile returned. “What is it?” he asked.
“Suddenly I remembered something,” she said. “When I was a little girl, I used to think my mother’s name was ‘darling’ and my father’s name was ‘my love’, because that is what they have always called each other.” She turned to him as her smile grew. “It is one of my earliest memories.”
Lotor’s eyes warmed. “You know, your parents are very lucky, Allura,” he told her softly, “to have you as their daughter.” And when her smile turned bashful, her cheeks warming as he continued to regard her with that feverish gaze, he smiled and nodded towards her. “What about you?” he asked, his voice low.
“Hm?”
“What is ‘normal’ for you, Allura, back on Altea?”
Allura pursed her lips for a moment, then took another swig of the rozoll. She set it down and sighed, staring up at the rows of shelves stacked with bottles of all shapes, sizes, and colors behind the bar. “Normal for me is… serving my people as their dutiful princess, and until the day I become queen, wasting my time with more Altean suitors my parents toss my way.”
As she said those words, out of the corner of her eye she noticed Lotor’s jaw tense. He too turned in his seat to look forward and nodded stiffly, raising his glass to his lips. “I remember you mentioned that the other day,” he murmured before taking a sip. “How many did you say you turned down?”
“Fifty-six men over the course of three years,” she confirmed, grimacing at the memory as she emptied her glass.
“That is a lot of men,” Lotor remarked, pouring her some more of the liquor. “And not a single one of them was worthy?”
“None of them met my standards, so I turned them away. Is that so wrong?”
“Not at all. But surely the day will come when a true, patriotic, Altean-bred man will appear and sweep you off your feet. What then?”
“Hard to say,” Allura replied, lifting a shoulder, “because I do not think such a man as you have described exists, at least not for me. But whether I like it or not, sooner or later I will have to choose a husband who is fit to rule by my side.”
She fell silent for a moment and, taking another sip, felt a pit of nauseous anxiety overtake her. She stared down at the rozoll in her hands, and she could barely make out her reflection in the dark liquid, her expression tense and uneasy.
“And once I have chosen a husband, I will eventually perform what is called my Yul’mai,” she said quietly. “Have you heard of it?”
“I do not believe I have,” Lotor replied.
“It is known as one’s sacred duty, and is expected of all Altean princesses after they marry. To engage in the most sanctified of Altean traditions, in order to―” She gripped her glass tightly, unable to hide the fear and dread in her voice. “―to continue the royal bloodline just as my ancestors did… to provide an heir to be next in line for the throne after me.”
She was silent once more, and she could not look at Lotor. He did not speak either, and the only sound in the tavern was that of the smooth music which had since turned melancholy during their conversation.
“I always knew this, of course,” Allura went on, her voice still hushed. “I have known it my entire life. Family means a lot to me. I love my grandmother, my aunt, my cousins, and my parents, but I am not like them. I cannot simply decide to start a family because someone tells me to. The idea of having a child of my own is…” Her eyes widened. “It is terrifying. It’s such a big responsibility, and it’s not all I’m good for. Perhaps I will change my mind further down the road, but right now I do not know if I will ever be ready for it or if I even want it. At least, not for a long while.”
She finished speaking, feeling her shoulders sag as she released a long sigh. She wished her fears and anxieties could be expelled just like that. When Lotor still did not respond, she turned her head and saw that he was staring at her with a look on his face that was difficult to decipher. She realized what she had just said to him and her cheeks flushed, embarrassed for having revealed her thoughts so openly. He was the first person she ever said any of this out loud to, and now she worried that she’d said too much. She forced out a laugh, feeling abashed, then took a large gulp from her glass and patted her cheeks with the back of her fingers, wincing when she touched the bruise on the left side of her face.
“That was… that was all extremely inappropriate of me to say to you,” she told him, avoiding his gaze once more. “Please, disregard everything I just said.”
Lotor shook his head. “Do not be ashamed of speaking your true feelings, Allura,” he told her, and she stared at him in astonishment. “You are right, such a responsibility is indeed terrifying, and you are fully entitled to say as such.”
Allura nodded, grateful for his words. If there was anyone who could understand her situation, it was Lotor.
“And,” he continued, his voice growing soft. “I know that, given who you are and who I am, and how different our worlds are from each other, it seems impossible for us to be getting along like this, but I want you to know…” He looked at her intently. “You do not need to hide from me.”
Allura’s lips parted. His sincere words had touched her heart. She was reminded of what Acxa told her in the warehouse, of how similar she and Lotor were, and she looked back at him just as earnestly.
“We may come from different worlds,” she acknowledged. “But I am starting to realize more and more how alike we are. Perhaps it is not such a stretch to consider the idea of the two of us getting along. In fact, I…” She smiled. “I think we get along quite well, you and I.”
He returned her smile, and a sweet ache formed in Allura’s chest, squeezing her heart as they looked at each other. Talking to him like this, getting to know him and him getting to know her, it was something she’d never experienced before with anyone outside her family.
Every single one of the Altean men who tried and failed to seduce her with their so-called charm, whether they were the son of a wealthy merchant, a high-ranking officer in the military, or an educated scholar with the most impressive credentials, they all had one thing in common: they never tried to put in any effort. All they ever cared about was a chance to court the princess. Allura had always known that she needed and deserved so much more than what they could offer, and there was the thought that formed in the back of her mind, a suggestion that, perhaps after all this time, she had found that with Lotor.
Allura mentally shook herself, pushing the tempting idea aside. She then nodded towards him. “And you? Have you ever thought of getting married and having children?” she asked before taking a drink. As an emperor, there was no doubt that his people had the same expectations as hers, though their traditions might have their differences. However, the unwelcome thought of him getting married to someone and having a family with that someone brought a sickening unpleasantness to her stomach, even though she knew she had no business in critiquing whom he should and should not marry.
Lotor’s soft gaze faded and his eyes hardened. His jaw set, and at first Allura thought he would not answer. He looked down at the glass in his hand, swirling the drink around before speaking.
“Marriage to me is… inapplicable,” he began slowly. “I find no reason for it, given the fact that I cannot have biological children.” He glanced at her. “I am a half-breed. My mother was not Galra. Oftentimes when two genetically incompatible species crossbreed, it is not uncommon for the offspring to be infertile.”
He turned away from her, taking another drink and grimacing at the burn of the rozoll, briefly revealing his fangs. The silence stretched on as his words sank in, and at first Allura had no idea what to say. She was shocked at this news, and then a horrible realization overtook her, remembering what Rhiella had said to him early this morning.
“Oh, dear Mother of the Universe…” she muttered, rubbing her forehead and feeling great shame weigh upon her chest. “Lotor, I am so sorry. My grandmother, I love her dearly, but she is notorious for having no filter.”
“Yes, I noticed,” Lotor commented, his tone not unkind. He shook his head. “You have nothing to apologize for, Allura. You did not know. The truth of my lineage is purposefully not known to the public. Very few know the truth.”
But Allura was not at ease, despite his good efforts to console her. After all, he was the one who needed comfort, not her. She watched Lotor as he emptied the rest of his glass, and though he tried to hide it, she could see the misery and bitterness within him, the way his shoulders hunched over and his voice sounded low and gravelly. It pained her to see him this way.
Lotor reached for the dark red bottle again, but Allura picked it up before he did, and he stared in silence as she poured him another round.
“Was having children something you wanted?” she asked, feeling his eyes on her.
“I… cannot say for sure,” he answered as he accepted the drink. He stared down at the liquid, swirling it around again. “When I first found out, I was far too young to be―”he swallowed thickly―”considering such a thing, so growing up with that knowledge, I thought it unnecessary to dwell on it.”
He looked her in the eye, and whatever expression she had on her face, he must have misinterpreted it, for the corner of his mouth lifted humorlessly.
“Do not pity me, Allura,” he said in a rough voice. “That is among the most cruel of things you could ever do to me.”
“Lotor…” Allura murmured. No, he was wrong, for she didn’t pity him. In fact, she only felt the beginnings of anger and frustration stirring within her.
The memory of what Count Do-Tarn had told her earlier that afternoon―rumors of Lotor being a bastard son of Zarkon, that he was a monster, a traitor, and a coward―it all came rushing back to her, as did the boiling rage within her veins. Whether or not those rumors were true, it did not matter to Allura, but regardless of the truth, Lotor was not to blame. No one got to choose their parents, and even if Lotor did want a family, he would never have that choice.
Furious tears filled her eyes. The ache in her chest became more painful, more irritating, and it was as if her heart were being sliced into two.
Snatching the bottle of rozoll again, she poured herself a little too much of it, spilling a few drops onto the counter, then drank all of it in one large gulp. Slamming the now empty glass down, she relished the burn in her throat and the stinging in her eyes, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and looked at him determinedly, turning in her seat to face him. He watched her, taken aback.
“It isn’t fair,” she told him passionately. “The choice your parents made will affect you for the rest of your life, and it isn’t fair. I know I have no right to judge them. I will never know them, but I do know you. They have passed on, but you are still here.” The inner corners of her eyebrows lifted. “You have a long life ahead of you, Lotor, and the thought of you living it alone…”
She bit her lip, and at first she thought she wouldn’t be able to go through with it, but she didn’t want to hold back anymore. She’d done enough of that already.
Lotor’s eyes glowed in the warm and dim light of the tavern, enchanting her and drawing her in. Perhaps it was the rozoll giving her more courage than usual, but before Allura could think twice about it, she scooted towards the edge of her seat, leaned forward, and wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug. She felt him stiffen in surprise, and the faintest sound of his breath catching reached her ears.
“The thought of you being alone,” Allura told him, squeezing her eyes shut and holding onto him fiercely. “I cannot bear it.”
Like that night they were trapped underground and Allura took hold of his hand, Lotor gradually relaxed, and to her surprise and relief, he returned her embrace, placing his large hands over her hair which fell over her back. Through her thick waves she could feel his claws lightly pricking into her clothes as he held her.
They were both silent, and Allura wondered if he was not used to giving or receiving hugs, if physical affection was something he did not experience much as a child. The thought saddened her as well as sparked a violent protectiveness within her, prompting her to hold onto him tighter and press their chests together. Were she able, she would have done everything in her power to help him make up for lost time.
Eventually they loosened their hold on each other, Lotor’s hands trailing down to her waist, and as Allura pulled away, without thinking she kissed him tenderly on the cheek. She reveled in the feeling of the sharpness yet warmth of him beneath her lips.
Slowly she leaned back to look at him, holding his face in her hands which now seemed too small. Instantly Lotor’s eyes slid shut as he leaned into her palm, sighing softly and melting at her mere touch. She could only watch in amazement, marveling at the beautiful shade of violet coloring his cheeks, making him look younger and so innocent. He had no idea the effect he had on her, did he? The way his beauty―everything about him―bewitched her, enchanted her, and made her heart race.
When Lotor opened his eyes to look at her, the heat and intensity of his gaze with which he searched her own was more than enough to bring Allura back to her senses. Growing a little flustered, she quickly released him, sat back on her stool and let out a shaky laugh, and the spell was broken.
“I think the rozoll is getting to me,” she joked, forcing a smile, sniffing and wiping her eyes, then she waved a hand to fan her cheeks. “My face must be burning up. Is it obvious?” she asked him.
Allura’s smile faded when she saw the way Lotor was still looking at her, a deep and ardent emotion in his eyes that she’d never seen before. Or perhaps she had always seen it, but hadn’t been able to recognize it until now.
Still without saying a word, his eyes glanced down to the left, contemplating. Then something appeared to dawn on him. His eyes widened a fraction, his gaze traveled over her, and his chest rose and fell.
Lotor turned in his seat to face her completely, bumping their knees together. Allura’s breath hitched when he leaned in close, his armor creaking as he moved, and he reached out to touch her left cheek, the one that was bruised. Tenderly he caressed it with the backs of his long fingers and then his thumb, his claws still extracted. His touch was feather-light and soothing, and oh, how she had wished to feel him touch her this way, had wished for it for what felt like an eternity. She resisted the urge to close her eyes and melt into his arms.
“It feels warm,” he said quietly as he continued to stroke her overheated skin.
Then he came in even closer towards her, their legs brushing against each other. She couldn't helpt the quiet gasp when he took her face in both of his hands. He smoothed back her hair, gently running his thumbs along the pink marks on her cheekbones.
“Allura,” he uttered her name softly.
“Yes?” she breathed, placing her hand on his arm.
He looked into her eyes and shook his head subtly, the inner corners of his eyebrows lifting ever so slightly. “I am not alone,” he told her, referring to what she said earlier. “You are here… right in front of me.”
Allura finally closed her eyes, releasing a soft sigh and leaning into his touch as he had done. When she opened them, gazing up at him, she at last recognized the look in his eyes, something she didn’t realize was hidden beneath the surface, yet was there the entire time.
It was hunger… and it was desire.
“My gods, Allura,” Lotor said in a near whisper as his sharp, indigo and lavender eyes fervently took her in. “You are so… You make me want to―” He stopped himself, unable to finish the sentence.
“I make you want to ‘what’?” she breathed, watching the way his fangs peeked out and glistened in the warm, orange light around them. Suddenly she wanted nothing more than to feel those sharp teeth upon her skin.
Lotor drew in a quiet, almost nervous breath as his eyes traveled over her. His shoulders tensing, he slowly began dragging his fingers down her cheek, her jaw, and her neck. She felt his claws lightly scrape her throat and catch the chain of her necklace, ghosting over the material of her dress and her collarbone. She barely suppressed a shiver.
“Lotor,” she whispered, her heart pounding in her chest.
His eyes snapped back to hers. They looked at each other in silence, and Allura was astonished to find that this quiet, warm, and electric moment between the two of them in this old tavern felt so right. It was the feeling of finally seeing someone and being seen… the feeling that one had, at long last, found a place where they belonged. And Lotor…
Lotor was going to kiss her.
Allura’s tongue peeked out to moisten her lips, and Lotor’s sharp eyes followed the movement. Perhaps it was the alcohol that had impaired their judgment, and as a result they were acting this way. Or perhaps it had nothing to do with the alcohol, and they were finally doing what they’d wanted to for what felt like an eternity. She tightened her grip on his arm and smiled up at him, then closed her eyes. She could feel him getting closer, could feel the ghost of his breath over her lips as she waited, her heart racing with excitement and anticipation―
And then the doors to the tavern hissed open.
Startled, Allura immediately turned away from Lotor and looked over her shoulder to see Acxa walk in. Allura could feel her cheeks burning even more as she leaned away from Lotor, prompting him to release her.
“Oh,” Acxa said, stopping in her tracks and immediately averting her eyes, further increasing the princess’s embarrassment. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
In stark contrast to Allura’s clear distress, however, Lotor calmly acknowledged his general. “What is it?” he asked smoothly.
Acxa cleared her throat and walked the length of the room, keeping a respectable distance away. She didn’t look angry. If anything, she looked really uncomfortable. She quickly regained her composure, however, standing up straight and placing her hands behind her back. “I was coming to tell you that we are prepped for our journey back to Daibazaal. We’ll be ready to leave by morning.”
“Very well,” Lotor returned with a nod. “I will be there shortly.”
Acxa nodded back, and then to Allura, whose face was on fire, before walking out. When the two of them were alone again, Allura resisted the urge to tug on her necklace and instead rubbed the back of her neck. Gods, how embarrassing. She glanced at Lotor, who was watching her curiously.
“I suppose I ought to get back,” she said as she got up from her stool, needlessly patting her hair and adjusting her tiara. She opened her mouth, but couldn’t think of anything to say without feeling more foolish, so she instead nodded to him firmly, then turned on her heel to leave.
“Allura, wait.”
She stopped and turned back, watching him as he slowly rose from his seat. “Yes?” she asked quietly.
Lotor paused. He appeared to be contemplating, as if seriously debating something, trying to decide whether or not to speak. Finally, making up his mind, he looked at her intently.
“Come back to Daibazaal with me.”
Allura’s eyebrows shot up. “Come again?”
He smiled softly. “The information we acquired from Pollux Incorporated, in order to examine it, I require more advanced, as well as more secure, equipment than what Dunamis can offer,” he said. “Daibazaal is able to meet such demands. I am still intent on seeing this through to the end, and while it is possible for us to communicate technologically…” He shrugged one shoulder. “You must admit it would be a lot safer and more efficient if you and I continued to work together in person.”
“Yes,” Allura acknowledged slowly, her mind reeling as she processed his sudden proposal. “But I have never been to Daibazaal before, and with all due respect, I do not believe going there now of all times is such a good idea.”
“I had never been to Altea until three months ago, either. I know you are perfectly capable of handling yourself, and I will be there with you,” he assured her. “Allura…”
He closed the gap between them, looking down at her intently with his piercing gaze.
“Come home with me.”
Allura’s lips parted and she drew in a quiet breath. It was as if those words cast a spell on her, enchanting her and bewitching her, tempting her to say yes, for she did want to say yes. And she almost did, but as she opened her mouth to reply, she stopped herself. She drew away from him, pacing back and forth and reaching up to tug on her necklace.
“I…” she trailed off. She didn’t even know where to begin. The idea of going to Daibazaal was new, and it was frightening―exciting and full of potential for adventure, to be certain―but still frightening. “This is a big decision to make so quickly.”
“I know,” Lotor said, standing in the same spot as he watched her walk to and fro across the old, creaky floors of the tavern.
“If we did this, we’d be putting a lot at risk.”
“Yes.”
“There are a million things that could go wrong. We could get caught and arrested by the police the second we try to leave Dunamis, my father could find out and send his armies after us…”
“Yes.”
She glanced at him. “I could not stay for long, Lotor. I will have to return to Altea eventually.”
“I know, Allura,” he told her gently.
She stopped her pacing and looked over at him. “And this would be for the case and the case alone?” she asked, though there was a part of her that hoped he had an additional purpose for asking her to come back with him. After all, only moments ago the two of them had almost―
She wasn’t going to stop blushing for the rest of the night, was she?
“Indeed, it would help our cause,” Lotor said. “But I have another reason outside of the investigation.”
Allura stood still, her heart pounding as she watched him approach her once more.
“I want you,” he began slowly, “to do something for yourself for once. All your life you have strived to fulfill one purpose―to become queen, and it is a great purpose. But what if there was something else for you out there, outside of your world? Instead of looking at the bigger picture all of the time, sometimes you need to see the little details in front of you. Instead of only looking up at the sky, you also need to look at the ground.”
Lotor stood in front of her once more so that they were now chest to chest, his gaze softening as he looked down at her.
“I wonder if,” he went on, his voice turning soft, “like me, there is a part of you that craves excitement away from the monotony, that craves freedom. That is what I am offering you now, Allura.”
Then he reached out to touch her arm, lightly running his hand along it and leaving goosebumps across her skin before tenderly grasping her hand to envelope it in his own. She gazed up at him silently, completely mesmerized by him.
“I know you are scared,” he said gently. “So am I. I cannot remember the last time I made a spontaneous decision like this. For as long as I can remember I have had to carefully plan out my entire life, down to the most minute detail, in order to become the man and emperor my people deserve. I could not afford to be reckless, which is why I decided to give up my dreams of exploring the universe when I took the throne. But then I met you and I…” He shook his head, smiling. “I have been nothing but reckless since. I want to be reckless with you, Allura.”
“Lotor…” Allura murmured, her heart melting at his words.
His smile turned sad. “We do not know how much time we have left before all of this is over. We can avoid it as much as we like, but eventually the two of us will have to say goodbye. Before that happens, let’s take this once-in-a-lifetime chance and do something for ourselves. Forget about what your people or what your parents would want, and think about what it is that you want. Be selfish, be reckless, and when you have decided what it is that you truly desire…” His gaze was steady on hers. “Go after it and take it. Do not hold back.”
Allura’s lips parted in astonishment as she gazed up at him. Here was Lotor, having poured out his heart in front of her, had made himself willingly vulnerable in front of her, and now he waited for her answer. She was speechless.
“I…” she said. “I do not know what to say. Lotor―” She gasped softly when he tugged on her hand, bringing it up to his chest and pulling her closer as he leaned down towards her.
“Say yes, Allura,” he pleaded in a near whisper. “Say you’ll come home with me.”
Allura looked at his mouth, then back to his eyes. He was telling her to go after what she wanted, to take it and to no longer hold back. And she knew what she wanted, didn’t she? She’d known for some time now. She wanted…
She wanted him.
“Yes,” she said quietly, a smile forming on her face, and then repeated it firmly, nodding her head. “Yes.”
The relief and happiness in Lotor’s eyes made her heart squeeze with warmth and affection for him. She would repeat the word “yes” a million more times if it meant she could see him look as happy as he did in that moment. She watched him, captivated by him as he brought her hand to his lips and kissed it.
“Thank you,” he told her.
Allura’s smile widened. “Don’t thank me yet,” she teased him. “I still need to make sure everything is taken care of on my end before I leave. It will take a little time.”
The corner of Lotor’s mouth lifted and there was a glint in his eyes. “Very well,” he said in a low voice. His eyes traveled over her, then he reached out to touch her necklace again, his claws catching on its golden chain. “But do not take too long, Lulu.”
Allura blushed at the nickname, but that didn’t stop her from grinning ear to ear. She leaned in even closer to him and ran her fingers along the long lock of hair that hung over his face, her knuckles lightly brushing against his chin in the process.
“Be patient, Lotor,” she told him softly, “and wait for me.”
His eyes darkened. “If you come back with me,” he purred, “I promise to make it worth your while.”
“I am holding you to that promise,” she returned, and they smiled at each other.
Notes:
Pack your bags, we're going to Daibazaal, baby!!! I like to imagine this is playing at the end of the chapter, kind of like the closing song to an episode!
Inspiration for Rhiella's hairstyle came from here :)
Also I can't believe we're already halfway through the story omg!!! These weeks have gone by so fast, but not fast enough because I am already impatient to share chapter 9 with you! 😆
Coming up next: as Allura, Lotor and the generals plan a daring escape from Dunamis, Rhiella tells Allura a secret that will change the way she sees the divide between the Alteans and the Galra, as well as her relationship with Lotor, forever. Thank you for reading! 💖💜
Chapter Text
“You want to go where?” Coran exclaimed incredulously.
“Lotor has invited me to go back with him to Daibazaal,” Allura reiterated simply.
That night after she returned from Drule, Allura, Coran, and Rhiella gathered in her suite where she told them of her plans as she packed, going to and fro between her closet and bed and placing her things inside her rucksack.
“Allura, no offense, but this is insane!” her advisor went on. “An Altean among Galra is like… well, it’s like an Altean among Galra! It can’t get any worse than that!”
“Not one of your best similes, Coran, I must say,” Rhiella remarked. “I think it is a wonderful idea for Lulu to go. It will be good for her.”
“Thank you, Grandmother,” Allura said appreciatively.
“Your Majesty,” Coran protested, addressing Rhiella exasperatedly. “You know I hold you in the highest regard, but I am afraid you are trivializing the situation. This is not a vacation or a school trip that lasts the afternoon. We’re talking about sending Allura―who is the Altean princess, no less―to the homeworld of the Galra!”
“Yes,” Rhiella responded as if that were obvious.
“There’s not been an Altean who’s set foot on Daibazaal in hundreds of years!”
“Bah,” she said, waving a hand dismissively. “There’s no way you could know that for certain.”
“She has a point,” Allura added, smiling.
Coran was about to argue further, then paused as he considered. “Alright, you’ve got me there, but still! It is very dangerous. Whose idea was this, anyway?” he asked Allura suspiciously.
“Lotor’s.”
“I knew it!” Coran and Rhiella both declared simultaneously, though the former was more cross and the latter more excited.
“I am telling you about this not to acquire your permission, because I do not need it,” Allura said. “I have already decided I am going to Daibazaal, and it is to help Lotor with the investigation. It should not be for more than a few days, but in the meantime no one can know where I’ve gone. I need you two to cover for me, both here on Dunamis and Altea.” She paused, looking at them both intently. “Will you help me?”
“Always,” Rhiella said with an eager grin.
“Yes, of course,” Coran conceded reluctantly.
“Thank you,” Allura said sincerely. “I will need a good cover story. The moment we try to leave Dunamis, there is no doubt the police will spot Lotor’s ship and try to arrest him. Once that happens, Mother and Father expect me to work with the High Council to bring him to trial. If they ask after me, tell them I am busy with that.”
“We can do that,” Coran said, though he still did not look pleased about this.
“As for what to tell the High Council should they come looking for me…” She paused, thinking.
“Ah,” Rhiella spoke up, snapping her fingers. “Coran can tell them you were homesick and wanted to come home after hearing your dear grandmother returned to Altea.”
“Count Do-Tarn will believe that,” Allura agreed with grim satisfaction, remembering his comment about how women were so emotional. “It should not be a problem to leave my ship here on Dunamis, then, if they think I am going back with you, Grandmother.” She sighed, putting her hands on her hips as she regarded the two older Alteans. “Am I missing anything?”
Coran looked like there was much more he wanted to say, and he had that same uneasy expression on his face as he did two nights ago in the hangar bay, when he’d warned Allura about how she would eventually be met with an ultimatum should she continue on the path she was treading now. There was that intrusive thought again, that by doing this, she was only delaying the inevitable, that soon she would have no choice but to hurt Lotor when all of this was over.
Allura turned away to continue packing so she didn’t see the tense look in Coran’s eyes. She didn’t want to think about what was going to happen when she and Lotor reached the end. Right now, all she cared about was living in the moment. She wanted to do everything she could to solve this case and at last bring the real perpetrators to justice, to prevent a war from breaking out between Daibazaal and Altea, but also…
Time was running out for her and Lotor, and she wanted to use every second she had left with him. When they accomplished their mission inside The Inferno, she thought that was it; she thought that was the last she would ever see of Lotor before he became her enemy once more, and she’d dreaded their parting. She didn’t want to say goodbye, and clearly he didn’t, either, because now he wanted her to come back to his homeworld with him. Despite all of the dangerous risks, how could she refuse? She wanted to be with him, it was as plain and simple as that, and she was not going to take this last chance to be by his side for granted. She knew he wouldn’t, either.
She heard Coran sigh behind her, and she turned back around. He still didn’t look happy about her leaving to the planet of the people who had been the sworn enemies of Alteans for centuries, but he did not protest any further.
“I know I cannot tell you what to do,” he said. “I know I always put up a fuss, but I will always respect your wishes, Allura.” He gave her a small smile. “Do you have everything you need?”
“Yes,” she answered. “Thank you for understanding, Coran.” Then she walked up to him to give him a hug. He patted her on the back, then pulled away and suddenly his eyes looked misty. “Oh, Coran…” She said, her heart squeezing with fondness.
He cleared his throat, covering his fist with his mouth. “I think I’ve come down with something,” he said, forcing a cough. “I had better go get some sleep. Be safe, Allura, alright? Promise me?”
“I promise,” she said with a smile, and she and Rhiella waved goodbye as he left. When the doors hissed shut behind him, Allura resumed her packing as her grandmother took a seat on the bed. “I think Coran is upset because he is unable to come with me,” she mused.
“I can see why,” Rhiella said. “He has been next to you almost every single day since you were born, has he not? I think he has started to realize that the time has come where you don’t need him so much anymore.”
Coming to stand in front of the bed as she folded a few articles of clothing, Allura glanced at her, surprised. “Oh no, that is not true at all,” she insisted gently. “I will always need Coran. You too, Grandmother. You were my dearest friends when I was alone as a child, and I love you both for it.”
“It is alright, Lulu,” Rhiella told her soothingly. “You do not need to bear the burden of comforting us old fools. That is our responsibility, to comfort you, and we do it without question because we love you. You may still be young, but you are also a grown woman. You are perfectly capable of making your own decisions, and Coran will accept this eventually. But until then,” she added with a smile. “You will probably have to put up with his complaining for a little while longer.”
Allura smiled back. They fell silent while she placed her folded garments inside the rucksack. Finally, she went to the closet to retrieve her nightgown.
“When are you meeting Emperor Lotor?” she heard Rhiella ask.
“In a few hours,” Allura answered. “I told him I needed to take care of things on my end first, but he told me not to take too long. He seemed quite impatient, in fact.” She let out a small laugh, shaking her head. “He also told me he has never done anything so spontaneous like this before, asking me to come back with him, but he wants to be reckless.” She smiled, remembering when he told her so. “Everyday I learn something new about him, and he never ceases to surprise me. He really is unlike anyone I have ever met.”
She had just barely pulled her nightgown off of the hanger and began folding it when Rhiella spoke up once more:
“You’re in love.”
Allura stilled. She turned around and could only stare at her grandmother, stunned for a moment. When she opened her mouth to protest, Rhiella already knew what she was going to say.
“Don’t deny it, my dear,” Rhiella told her gently. “I have known you since the day you were born, and I have seen how passionate you get when it comes to the things or the people you care about. Yesterday I saw that same passion. You have always had it within you.”
Her words suddenly reminded Allura of something similar Lotor had said to her that night at the opera house:
“I saw the fire inside of you when you talked back to the council, I saw it the moment we first met.”
Unprompted, her thoughts always went back to him, didn’t they?
Allura swallowed. “Lotor and I,” she began softly. “We are―” She stopped herself. What were they, exactly? Friends? Certainly not that. She didn’t think that the two of them could ever be just friends. Somehow it didn’t seem to fit. Lotor thought that way, too; he told her so once.
“You do not have to explain, Lulu,” Rhiella assured her, a kind smile on her aged face. “And you do not have to worry about your feelings being unrequited, either. That young man is in love with you, too. Everyone can see it. I only had to be there for two seconds to see it.”
Allura slowly walked towards the bed and sat down on her grandmother’s right, staring down at her nightgown in her lap but not really looking at it. “You think so?” she asked.
“I know so. You can always tell when a man is in love, because it shows through his eyes, and when I saw the way he looked at you Lulu, I could tell. And don’t you ever feel guilty about it either,” she added sternly. “It is not as uncommon as you might think―a Galra and an Altean falling in love. In fact, when I was around your age, I once had a Galra lover.”
Allura’s head whipped up, gawking at her.
“His name was Mogor, and he was a soldier, rising through the ranks for the emperor’s royal army at the time,” Rhiella recalled with a smile. “I was a little younger than you are now, and I met him when I was on Planet Kuna Thif on royal business. His ship crash-landed after a run-in with some rebel pirates. It caught fire, and I pulled him out of the flames to safety before it exploded.
“As the ship blew apart, a piece of it lodged into my side, right here.” She pointed to the right side of her ribs. “He saw who I was, and I knew he’d been raised to hate Alteans, just as I was raised to hate the Galra. However, because I saved his life, he felt he owed me a debt, and he carried me to safety and treated my wound.”
“He saved your life in return?” Allura marveled.
Rhiella smiled at her and nodded. “We saved each other. He stayed by my side for the next few weeks while I healed, and those were some of the happiest weeks of my life.”
Allura smiled as well, but it soon faded. “What happened after that?”
“He needed to return home, as did I. The moment I stepped foot on Altea, my parents told me they had arranged for me to marry an admiral in the Altean navy.”
“Grandfather Haran,” Allura realized with a slow nod.
“Yes. I knew I had to tell Mogor about it, and I did. Eventually…” Rhiella’s eyes were downcast. “I decided to put my duties to my people first, and he and I parted ways forever. Your grandfather was a good man,” she said, turning to Allura. “We were very fond of each other. I am proud of the beautiful family we raised together, and I will always be grateful for all that he did for me. I have many very happy memories with him.”
Allura’s heart ached as she listened to her grandmother’s story. It was a brief recount, but there was undoubtedly a lot of pain and longing behind it. If what happened with Mogor was enough to bring sorrow to her, even after all these years, it must have really hurt her.
“Do you ever regret it?” she asked softly. “Ending things with him?”
Rhiella smiled and shook her head without hesitation. “Had I not married Haran, your mother and Aunt Orla would not exist, and neither would you.” She reached out to caress Allura’s cheek. “You are so precious to me, Lulu. I love you more than anything in this entire universe. I do not regret you.” She then took hold of her hand and gave it an affectionate squeeze.
Seeing the sincerity in the older woman’s eyes, Allura returned her smile and grasped her hand. This revelation changed a lot of things for her. Her grandmother must have always been a very open-minded person, ever since she was young, and not when it only came to the Galra. However, her history with Mogor would explain her reaction upon meeting Lotor and her immediate approval of him. Perhaps Allura took after her even more than she thought…
“I tell you all of this not because I wish to discourage you, my dear,” Rhiella went on. “Leaving Mogor was my choice. Yes, I felt the pressure from my people and my family, but in the end it was my decision. I want the same for you. Whatever happens, I want you to make that choice yourself. Do you understand what I am saying?” Allura nodded, and Rhiella smiled warmly. “Good,” she said, and with a sigh she reached to take hold of the crystal juniberry charm of Allura’s necklace. “You have taken great care of this, just as you have taken great care for all things. I wish you safe travels to Daibazaal, Lulu, and I sincerely hope that you and the emperor will be successful in your mission. You deserve every good thing in this universe.”
She drew her granddaughter into a hug, squeezing her tight and kissing her hair.
“I love you, Lulu,” she told her.
Allura closed her eyes and hugged her back. “I love you, too, Grandmother.”
The suns of Dunamis shone vaguely through the smoggy, pastel pink light of dawn. Allura quietly made her way through Drule, the small town which was still asleep in the early hour. She had changed back into her white flight suit and her rucksack hung over one shoulder as she grasped the strap tightly in one fist.
Sincline lay hidden in the outskirts of town, kept away in an abandoned warehouse. The garage to the building was wide open, and inside she saw the five Galra making last-minute preparations before their departure. Allura’s heart skipped when she saw Lotor, who was leaning against the side of the ship. Next to him was Acxa, showing him something on a holographic tablet she held in her hands. His arms were folded, one hand reaching up to thoughtfully stroke his chin. With a serious expression on his face, he nodded and muttered something quietly, then he and Acxa lifted their heads when they saw Allura.
“Good morning,” the princess greeted. She and Acxa nodded amicably to each other, then the general left Lotor’s side to speak with the other women.
Lotor smiled when he saw her, though it looked a little forced. “You made it,” he said, stepping away from Sincline.
The two of them met in the middle. “I said I would,” Allura reminded him, then she grew concerned. “Is everything alright?”
“News has broken out about a break-in at Pollux Incorporated,” he began to explain. “It was only a matter of time. However…”
Allura guessed what he was thinking. “None of it will lead back to you,” she promised him.
“I am not worried about myself, Allura,” he told her quietly.
A warmth bloomed in her chest as well as spread across her cheeks. “The generals and I will be fine,” she went on, her voice just as hushed. “We were careful, and we obtained the information we needed.” She nodded determinedly. “This is why we are doing all of this in the first place, is it not? To keep all of us safe.”
Lotor returned her nod, then hesitated. “Also, I… I feared for a moment that you would not come, that perhaps you had changed your mind.”
Hearing him say this saddened Allura. She had not meant to make him worry over her not keeping her word. Or perhaps the root of his anxiety came from the fact that the two of them were about to do something that went against everything they were raised to believe, that compared to everything they’d done previously, this would be their most dangerous feat yet―that they were running out of time, racing against the clock to prevent a war.
That in a few days’ time… they would have to say goodbye for real, as much as Allura wished they didn’t have to with all her heart.
“You’re in love.”
Her grandmother’s voice echoed in her ears, making her heart race and her stomach do a flip as she looked up at the man before her. Did she love Lotor? And did he love her? She had never experienced such feelings for anyone besides her family. It was hard to be certain, but…
Allura reached for Lotor’s hand and squeezed it gently before letting go. “I am here now,” she assured him softly, “and I am going to see this through to the end. Until then, I am not going anywhere. I am here, right in front of you,” she added with a smile, repeating his words from last night.
Lotor’s smile turned more genuine, and his sharp eyes traveled over her before he turned to address the generals who waited by the ship’s ramp. “Is everyone ready?” he asked.
“I was born ready,” Ezor said with a grin.
“Glad you could make it, Princess,” Zethrid added. Narti dipped her head in agreement, and Kova let out a soft chirp.
“I am, too,” Allura returned.
“Then let us depart,” Lotor said. The generals proceeded up the ramp and he and Allura followed.
The bridge of Lotor’s cruiser was arranged as such: compact and an efficient use of space, the emperor’s seat was in the back, overlooking all activity while in flight, while the generals’ seats were in the front, arranged in a narrow arch to fit around the shape of the ship and face towards the wide window. Beneath the window was the dashboard lined with controls, levers, and switches with which the generals used to operate the vehicle, and above that were several holographic screens displaying fuel levels, engine conditions, control of the ship’s thrusters, and all other logistics that enabled the complex operation of Sincline.
Allura peered at the sharp Galra writing on the screens. Though she could not read it, she noticed that just as Lotor had pointed out while they were in Fala, the interface was quite similar to the one in her own ship. Perhaps their technology had more in common with that which the Alteans used. She wondered what her people would think of the comparison. She marveled at the infrastructure around her. Whereas Altean machinery was always white and cyan, this one was blue and charcoal gray. She remembered, however, seeing a purple and black Galra ship the day Lotor first arrived on Altea.
During her research on the culture many months ago when Daibazaal first joined the Universal Coalition, Allura learned that purple was the primary representative color of the Galra. It symbolized the strength, power, and devotion of its people. Perhaps Sincline’s distinct design was a personal choice; perhaps there was a part of Lotor that desired to distance himself from any association with his father despite his fierce loyalty to his empire.
Lotor came to stand next to Allura, folding his arms and addressing the generals as they took their seats. “Start the engines,” he told them.
“You got it, Boss,” Zethrid said. “Activating interlocks.”
“Dyna-therms connected,” Acxa reported.
“Mega-thrusters are go,” Ezor added, and the ship roared to life, hovering off of the ground and slowly exiting the warehouse. “Finally, we’re getting out of here!”
“It won’t be long before the authorities are on our tail,” Allura said, turning to Lotor.
He nodded in agreement. “Which is why we will have to be quick.” He looked forwards. “Zethrid, punch it.”
Once Sincline was clear of the warehouse, Zethrid took hold of one of the two levers in front of her and with a grin, pulled hard on it with a great force. Before Allura could even react, the ship abruptly took off, ascending into the sky at a sharp angle and zipping through the clouds. Allura stumbled back and Lotor caught her arm.
“Are you alright?” he asked her, and he looked like he was trying not to laugh.
“Yes,” she said, then glared up at him and folded her arms. “A little warning next time, if you please.”
“I am sorry.” He grinned. “I could not resist.” She rolled her eyes at him, though she couldn’t help but smile, and bumped his arm with her shoulder.
For a while the skies were clear, and at first Allura had actually thought they might make it out without interruption. Then alarms began appearing on one of the screens, showing several blinking red dots that indicated enemy ships.
“We’ve got company,” Acxa announced.
“That didn’t take long,” Ezor muttered.
“We can outrun them,” Zethrid said stubbornly, and they kept going. More red dots appeared on the screen, then a few more, until around a dozen were surrounding them.
“Lotor, they’re hailing us,” Acxa warned as another alert appeared on the screen.
“Do not answer.”
The ships following them finally came into view, emerging from the gray clouds. They were small red and white fighter ships, one Dunamian policeman per transport, and their wailing sirens could be heard even through the interior of Lotor’s cruiser. Flashing red lights flickered at the top of each fighter, trying to get their attention. Some of them appeared in front of Sincline while others flanked the sides and the back, enclosing and trapping them in a circle that grew tighter and tighter around them.
“They are attempting to slow us down,” Lotor observed, narrowing his eyes. “Zethrid, keep out of their reach.”
Sincline increased in altitude and speed, but still the smaller ships were intent on keeping up with them. Then they heard an authoritative man’s voice coming from outside. “This is the Dunamis police,” he said, his voice booming through unseen speakers coming from several of the surrounding fighters. “Surrender now, Emperor Lotor, before we are forced to take action against you.”
“Send no reply,” Lotor ordered.
“This is your final warning.”
“Ezor, initiate the ship’s particle barrier.”
“Activating particle barrier,” Ezor confirmed, pressing a few buttons on her screen.
Sure enough, not even a minute later Sincline was jostled by a sudden impact. Allura barely managed to keep herself from stumbling. They were hit two more times, and though the projectiles from the smaller ships were able to glance off the Galra cruiser for the time being, it wouldn’t be long before its shields weakened and they would be completely vulnerable, and they were still only halfway to exiting the planet’s atmosphere.
“Particle barrier integrity is at eighty-seven percent,” Acxa reported.
“They’re not letting up,” Ezor noticed.
“I say we fight back!” Zethrid exclaimed angrily. “Give them a taste of their own medicine and bring them down!”
“That is precisely what I am trying to avoid,” Lotor said through gritted teeth, though it looked like he was clearly considering retaliating. He marched towards the back of the bridge. “Zethrid, let me take over for a moment.”
Just as Lotor was taking a seat in the captain’s chair, Zethrid flipped some switches on the dashboard, and a pair of controls appeared in front of him, emerging from a panel in the floor. He settled in his seat and grasped them, fierce determination in his eyes. Allura came to stand next to Ezor, looking out the window, her heart racing as she could see the fighters in front of them trying to get closer.
“Brace yourselves,” Lotor said, then Sincline tilted up at a steep angle, prompting Allura to hold onto the back of Ezor’s chair as they zoomed through the sky.
The police immediately gave chase, advancing upon them and continuing to shoot bright red projectiles at them. Lotor was quick to react, weaving in and out between the enemy ships, but there were so many of them that once in a while a blast would come through, rocking Sincline and sending its passengers stumbling back.
Allura’s grip on Ezor’s chair tightened. They wouldn’t be able to outrun them all…
“Lotor,” she called in a warning tone, looking over her shoulder at him.
Lotor let out a growl of frustration. “I know,” he said darkly. “Acxa, get below.”
“On it.” Acxa sprang to her feet and ran to vacate the bridge, grabbing one of the five helmets waiting on a glowing, blue panel by the door on her way out.
“Ezor, keep a close eye on the particle barrier levels,” the emperor quickly directed. “Zethrid, take over until I get back.”
“Sure thing, Boss.”
“Allura.” Lotor stood from his chair and made towards the door out of the bridge, beckoning towards the princess. “Come with me. I need your help.”
With a determined nod, Allura went up to him and he put a hand on her back, snatching his helmet off of the panel as they left together. He led her down a narrow corridor, and waiting at the end of it was a ladder which extended down towards a lower level as well as up towards a higher one.
He let her go first, and they quickly climbed up the ladder, arriving in a small room barely tall enough for Lotor to stand upright. The roof was concave and completely see-through, providing an unwelcome view of the smoggy clouds above them and the police fighters that were still on their tail. In the middle of the room was a chair, and in front of it a dashboard, a monitor, and two controls equipped with triggers.
“Sit right here,” Lotor told her, referring to the chair as he flipped a few switches on the dashboard to bring the monitor to life. “And when I say, take aim and shoot.”
Allura sat down and buckled herself in, but her eyes widened at the latter half of his sentence. “Lotor, I am not going to kill―”
“I am not asking you to kill them,” he promised. “You need only to cripple their engines enough so that they cannot follow us out into space.” He knelt next to her, securing the straps around her waist, then reached for his helmet and looked up at her. “I have seen how good your aim is. Acxa is down in the lower levels so you won’t be alone. You can do this.”
She stared at him. “You’re really trusting me with this, aren’t you?” Her breath caught when Lotor leaned in towards her and carefully lowered his helmet over her head. His hands gripped the sides of the helmet and their faces were close together.
“You said the two of us could learn something from each other,” he reminded her. “This is me learning.” He gave her a crooked grin, baring his fangs. “Don’t miss, Princess.”
Allura glanced at his mouth, then back to his eyes, and nodded confidently. He returned her nod, his gaze softening as he regarded her, then he stood and pressed a button on the dashboard.
A hydraulic lift from underneath the floor raised Allura’s seat and the equipment in front of her. Over her head, the transparent roof extended upwards, taking her above the ship and giving her a clear view of her surroundings. Before she could get her bearings, however, she felt her stomach lurch as Sincline suddenly veered to the left, narrowly missing a smattering of projectiles from a nearby fighter. Ice filled her veins and her heart raced at the scare, and her hands which clutched the controls in front of her began to sweat.
“Taking control of the ship now,” Lotor announced a short while later, his voice coming through a set of speakers from within the helmet. “Everyone strap yourselves in. Acxa, Allura. Check in, please.”
“Acxa here, checking in.”
“This is Allura. I hear you.”
“Copy that,” Lotor replied. “We are taking out the fighters’ engines only. Be ready for the moment just before we exit the planet’s atmosphere and wait for my signal.”
The two women agreed to the plan. Allura took a deep breath, adjusted her grip on the controls, and waited. The police fighters continued to attack and steadily catch up to them.
“Ezor, I need more power to the rear thrusters,” Lotor said.
“Roger that, Boss.”
Whatever Ezor did to the engines, it immediately gave them more juice and enabled the ship to whip past the fighters and leave them behind for the moment. More projectiles fired on them. Sincline ducked, and Allura watched a smattering of the lethal shots race right over the dome above her head.
A storm of red continued to aim for them, prompting Lotor to twist and turn in an effort to avoid them, rapidly rotating in the air as the ship flew straight up into the sky. Allura felt her stomach drop as she floated from her seat. She clenched her jaw and gripped the controls, trying to fight back the dizzying sensation.
“Oh great, spinning,” Ezor muttered sarcastically. Allura barely registered her voice amidst the whirling of the ship and chaotic gunfire. “What a neat trick.”
“Quiet, I need to concentrate,” Lotor said, sounding strained as he tried to focus.
Sincline then righted itself and narrowly missed another wave of projectiles, though a few of them glanced off of the particle barrier, which was a bright blue and flickered in and out of view whenever it was hit.
“Shield integrity at sixty-three percent,” Zethrid announced.
“Almost there,” Lotor said roughly, and indeed, Allura could see how close they were to the edge of Dunamis’s atmosphere. “Ezor, get ready to transfer engine power when I say.”
Another hit from the police in the back of the ship sent Allura lurching forward, fortunately held back by the safety belt securing her to the chair. She could feel the compartment shaking. She watched the sky with desperation. They were so close…
When the gray began to fade into the inky blackness of space, Lotor shouted, “Transfer all power to the front thrusters, now!”
Allura braced herself, and not a second later Sincline was put into full reverse, descending back into the planet’s atmosphere. She was pushed violently forwards by the momentum and had to brace herself on the controls in order to keep from falling face-first into the dashboard in front of her. She looked up and saw that they were now behind all of the police fighters, with clear shots to their rear engines.
“Allura, Acxa, fire!”
Gritting her teeth, Allura squeezed the triggers and aimed for the small ships, emitting blue projectiles from a set of guns outside of her little bubble. Coming from underneath the ship she could see another pair of blue shots, which was where Acxa must have been stationed.
Using the monitor, Allura was able to take aim and shoot only the fighters’ engines, grazing them just enough so that they would be forced to retreat. Sure enough, as she and Acxa took shots at the fighters one by one, they were instantly crippled and made to head back to the surface of the planet, smoke and debris trailing along behind them.
“That’s all of them!” Allura exclaimed triumphantly.
“Good work. Ezor, return engine power to the rear thrusters. We’re getting out of here.”
With the sky now clear of all other enemy ships, within seconds Sincline burst forward and exited Dunamis’s atmosphere. Allura watched in awe as the world around her faded and at last granted her the view of the space and stars in the heavens. They sped past Dunamis’s four moons, satellites, and space stations, until they were finally free from the planet’s domain.
Exhaling in relief, Allura punched one of the buttons on the dashboard to lower her chair, quickly unbuckled herself, then tugged off Lotor’s helmet, holding it tightly in her grasp as she descended the ladder. She saw Acxa heading onto the bridge right before her, her helmet tucked under her arm. They stopped in their tracks, acknowledging one another.
“Nice job,” Acxa said with a nod. “That was some good shooting back there.”
Allura smiled. “You, too.”
She couldn’t exactly call her and Acxa friends yet, but she hoped that before all of this was over that the two of them could reach that point, that she could reach that point with all of the generals. She motioned for Acxa to go first, and together they walked onto the bridge where the others were waiting for them, undoing the buckles of their safety belts and getting to their feet.
Allura looked out the wide window at the front of the ship. It’d been a while since she’d last seen outer space, and somehow it brought a comforting feeling to her, a reminder of what was yet to come, that there was more for her out there.
“We made it,” Zethrid said in disbelief. “We actually made it.”
“For a second I was sure we were gonna die back there,” Ezor added.
“Have you so little faith in me?” Lotor asked as he rose from his seat, though there was a small, satisfied smile on his face. “We did this together. Well done, everyone.”
“I mean, technically Narti didn’t do anything…” Ezor muttered.
Narti shrugged her shoulders but didn’t seem offended.
“Narti is our moral support,” Acxa said. “And Kova,” she added when the cat meowed, eager for recognition.
Lotor turned to Allura and Acxa. “We can now return to Daibazaal safely and without any loss of life. Thank you, both of you.”
“I guess we make a pretty good team after all, the six of us,” Acxa said nonchalantly before returning to her seat.
A few days ago Allura would have been offended by the general’s tone of voice, but now it was the opposite. In fact, she was beginning to wonder if Acxa had a softer heart than she let on. The princess shook her head and smiled, then remembered she was still holding something heavy in her hands. She walked up to Lotor.
“Your helmet,” she said, holding it out to him.
He stepped forward to accept it, and as he did so his hands covered hers. He lifted his chin towards her. “Galra attire suits you,” he remarked, the corner of his mouth lifting. “Perhaps we should find more of it for you to wear.”
Allura grinned. “Perhaps we should.”
Lotor’s smile grew. There was a look of pride and gratification in his eyes as he regarded her, and her stomach did a flip when his gaze flickered over her lips. Instantly she was reminded of the previous night when they’d almost kissed. Perhaps it was the victory and the adrenaline from the fight coursing through her veins, or perhaps she felt more emboldened than normal now that her feelings for him were slowly but surely coming out in the open. Whatever it was, seeing that passion within Lotor, and the hunger, the desire hidden just beneath the surface, all of it made Allura want to drop the helmet, grab him by the collar of his armor and―
“Ahem,” someone said very pointedly.
Allura and Lotor turned their heads to see the generals, who were all staring at them with raised eyebrows. Even Kova was watching them attentively, his sharp red eyes wide and his tail curled around his feet.
Ezor had her hands on her hips. “Um, we’re like, right here, you guys,” she reminded them.
“Gods, get a room already,” Zethrid said, shaking her head.
Allura barely resisted the urge to leap away from Lotor like she used to in the past, but she did slip her hands from underneath his larger ones, clasping them together behind her back and praying to the Mother of the Universe that her blush wasn’t too obvious.
“Waiting for your orders, Lotor,” Acxa spoke, thankfully changing the subject.
“Right.” Lotor cleared his throat, tucking his helmet under one arm. “What is our estimated travel time?”
“About eighteen hours,” Zethrid answered after checking her screen.
“Very well. To your stations, then.”
His shoulders relaxed and he gave them all a smile, a wistful smile that told of the longing to return to a place he hadn’t seen in three months.
“We’re going home.”
When they dropped out of warp drive, Allura was immediately taken aback by the view before her. She walked towards the window to stand behind where the generals were stationed.
“Daibazaal,” she murmured, her eyes widening as Sincline approached it. The shape of the planet reminded her of a shooting star, big and red and absolutely stunning. “Incredible. I had seen pictures before, of course, but this… this is beautiful.”
“I had the same thoughts when I first laid eyes on Altea,” Lotor said, coming to stand next to her. “Beautiful.”
Allura turned towards him to respond and was surprised to find that he was already looking at her. His gaze was warm and soft, making her heart melt at the sight of him. Whether he was talking about her home planet or something else, she couldn’t say for sure, but she had an inkling. She smiled up at him, then returned her attention to the front.
They came upon the planet’s atmosphere and submerged inside the cold, white clouds. They looked soft and caressed the ship, drawing over it like a soothing blanket. Allura held her breath in anticipation, and when the clouds parted, her jaw dropped in astonishment.
Compared to Altea’s cool blue colors, Daibazaal was a stark contrast. Its surface and its sky were a fiery red, and its cities and countries below Sincline as the ship flew by were dazzling, shining brightly amongst their intensely colored landscape, its cold deserts vastly different from Altea’s luscious green fields.
The palettes of the architecture were also unlike those on Allura’s home planet. On Altea everything was white, cyan, and gold; on Daibazaal it was black, purple, and red. One thing the two did share in common, however, was the shapes of the massive skyscrapers and buildings. As the ship neared Daibazaal’s royal castle, its heavy and intimidating structure, its menacing spires which stretched out into the sky, Allura saw that they were not unlike those of the Castle of Lions.
Zethrid further descended the ship towards the castle. It was built onto the edge of a cliffside which overlooked the valley and the cities below. The red, rocky mountains behind it were tall plateaus. Allura gazed at the cities once more, wondering if the citizens living inside of it were looking up to the sky, seeing Sincline and knowing that their emperor had at last returned.
“That is your home?” she asked Lotor quietly, referring to the castle.
“Yes,” he said with a nod, also lowering his voice so that only the two of them could hear their conversation. “Castle Doom, built by one of the very first blood emperors many centuries ago.”
“Castle Doom?” Allura repeated with a grin, looking up at him and nudging him lightly in the arm with her elbow.
He returned her smile. “Not my first choice of name, I will admit, but it is a sacred structure. We also have not used the term ‘blood emperor’ for many years.”
“A bit old fashioned, I suppose.”
“Yes, a bit.”
“It is amazing,” Allura told him sincerely. “Lotor…” She gazed up at him warmly. “I am glad to be here with you now.”
“I am glad as well,” he returned, his eyes softening.
It was a comfort to Allura, to be able to stand next to him, to enjoy a conversation with just the two of them in a way that felt intimate and familiar. It was a feeling she could have very well gotten used to, given the chance.
Lotor’s gaze flickered over her face, then he looked at her intently. “Allura, when we get inside, there is something I want to―”
“Entering the hangar bay now, Boss,” Zethrid announced.
Lotor and Allura’s attention was drawn away. At the rear of the castle, large bay doors slid open to let in Sincline, and the cruiser flying through the entrance was like an insect entering the mouth of a large, ferocious beast. As Zethrid landed the ship in one of the available spaces, Allura took in her surroundings. Similarly to the Castle of Lions, the hangar was packed with ships of all shapes in sizes, except for here everything was bathed in purple light rather than cyan.
“We’re home,” Ezor groaned when Sincline settled onto the ground in between two large transports. She stood from her seat and stretched her arms above her head, sighing in relief.
“It’s good to be back,” Acxa agreed with a small smile on her face.
“Anyone going to mention the white Yalmor in the room?” Zethrid asked, folding her arms. She glanced at Allura. “No offense, Princess.”
“None taken.”
“I’m guessing we don’t want to announce to all of Daibazaal that we’re keeping the Altean princess in the castle?” Acxa asked, raising a brow.
“Indeed,” Lotor said, putting a hand to his chin. “I have a few ideas. However…” He paused, looking at Allura. “What would you like to do?”
She considered, then a solution came to mind. “Can you bring me the armor that your soldiers wear?” she asked.
“I don’t know about this,” Ezor said skeptically moments later when Zethrid returned with a set of gray Galra armor. “How is the princess supposed to pass as a soldier?”
“Thank you,” Allura said to Zethrid when the other woman set it down on a panel for her. She picked up the helmet, scrutinizing it for a second, then put it back and studied the chest plate. “I need to make sure I get the sizing right.”
“The sizing right for what?” Acxa asked curiously. She and the other generals had gathered around, unsure of what the princess was going to do.
“Wait and see,” Lotor said, his voice hushed.
Allura could feel his gaze upon her, even with her back turned to him. She figured he must know enough about her race to deduce what she had in mind. She had never shown it to him before, and the thought of him watching her made her cheeks warm, though she didn’t feel that way in front of the generals. Clearing her throat and trying to refocus, she set down the chest plate. “Alright, I think I’ve got it.” She turned to the others. “Please, do not be alarmed.”
“Why, what is she going to do?” Ezor asked in a loud whisper as Allura closed her eyes.
“Shh,” Acxa hushed her.
Taking a deep breath and concentrating, Allura slowly began to feel the changes in her body, and gradually everything began to shift. Her legs and arms lengthened, her shoulders widened, her fingers elongated―even her head felt heavier, and when she opened her eyes, her view of the ground was a greater distance away than usual. She could feel almost all of the physical changes in her body: the longer limbs, the slight, hunched over stature, and the heavy bone structure. The only thing she couldn’t feel the difference was―
“Your skin,” Acxa commented, her mouth falling open. “It’s purple.”
Allura looked down at her hands and saw that they were indeed a dark, mauve color. She lifted her head and grinned. “That must mean it worked.”
“How are you able to do that?” Zethrid asked.
“Alteans are a chameleon race. They are able to change their shape and size,” Lotor explained. He hadn’t once taken his eyes off of Allura, his sharp gaze taking her in. “Truthfully, I had hoped for a chance to see a transformation in person. It is an incredible ability you have, Allura.”
The princess blushed. “It is what all Alteans can do,” she said, though she felt a little pleased by the praise.
Lotor smiled. “How do you feel?” he asked.
“A little disoriented,” Allura admitted. She couldn’t remember the last time she had shifted into something this large, and now that she was as big as Zethrid, a full head taller than Lotor, she felt a little unsteady with the greater depth, longer legs, and heavier weight. “It will take some getting used to, but I will be fine.”
After Allura slipped on the armor over her white suit and donned the helmet, she followed the others down the ramp and exited the ship, her rucksack hanging over one shoulder. They walked down the length of the hangar bay towards another set of doors where two guards waited.
“Welcome back, Sire,” one of them said. He and the other guard saluted Lotor, putting their right fists on their chest and bowing their heads. Lotor nodded in return and went through the doors. Allura held her breath as she walked past, squeezing the strap of her rucksack, then relaxed when neither of the guards batted an eye at her―or at least, she didn’t think they did. They were both wearing helmets like her, after all. Either way, no one said a word in regards to her, so she could breathe easy for a moment.
That moment quickly ended however when they continued to walk through the tall purple corridors of Castle Doom. Upon reaching the royal grand hall, a large room with a high ceiling and a luminescent fountain in the middle surrounded by glowing, purple spires, she saw a group of Galra turn their heads when Lotor entered the room.
“Emperor Lotor!” one of them greeted enthusiastically, bowing at the waist. He was much shorter than the five other men and women. “Praise the Mother of the Universe for returning you safely to us!”
“Commander Morvok,” Lotor returned, deadpan. “The theatrics are unnecessary.”
“Oh, but I mean every word!”
Allura held back a snort. She’d met plenty of people like Commander Morvok back on Altea, the kind of people who endlessly flattered and tried to butter up their superiors. There was usually some amount of genuine loyalty there, but more often than not the reason for their fierce dedication was out of fear of losing their position.
“Commanders Cossack, Gnov, Ladnok, Trugg,” Lotor addressed the others with a nod as they all saluted him. “Chief Commander Mogor, status report.”
Upon hearing the last Galra’s name, Allura’s eyes widened. She stared at him as he stepped forward. He was a large man, with a heavy, muscular stature, and looked to be in his late sixties. His hair, which was dark blue with white streaks in them, was completely shaved except for a thick line of hair that grew from his hairline to the back of his scalp. His ears were large, bat-like, and pointed like all Galra, and his skin was a dark indigo, with a long, jagged scar across his right eye, beginning at his brow and ending at his jaw.
So this is the man Grandmother fell for, Allura thought with interest. Thankfully her helmet hid her shocked expression, and the chief commander didn’t take notice of her staring.
“Your people are restless, Sire,” he told Lotor. “They believe a war is coming, but now that you have returned, perhaps they will feel more at ease.”
“I will see to it that they do,” Lotor said determinedly.
“We witnessed Your Imperial Majesty’s escape broadcasted on the Universal News,” Morvok spoke up. “Everyone is talking about it. Truly an incredible feat, Sire.”
“Should we expect a confrontation from the Dunamis authorities?” Gnov asked.
“No,” Lotor said. “Now that we have returned to Galra territory, we will not have to deal with Dunamis legislation of any kind.” He then addressed all of the commanders. “You have served your empire dutifully these past three months, and your accomplishments will not go unnoticed. Right now our main priority is resolving this conflict with Altea so we can stop this war before it has a chance to begin. However, I require a few more days. Do I have your support?”
“Of course, Emperor Lotor,” Ladnok answered, saluting to him. “Vrepit Sa.” The rest of them followed suit.
Once the commanders were dismissed and the group was alone again, Lotor turned to the women. “It appears we will have to wait until tomorrow to go over the data,” he told them, and he looked at Allura apologetically. “I would escort you to your guest room myself, but I have some business to attend to.”
Allura shook her head and smiled. “I understand.” She knew royal dealings always took a greater priority than most.
“I can show her,” Acxa volunteered, much to the princess’s surprise.
Lotor nodded his thanks. “One of the private suites in the west wing should do.”
“Is there anything you need from us, Boss?” Ezor asked.
“No. You have all done great work today, and I know the last few weeks have been harrowing. Get some rest, you have more than earned it.”
“Oh good,” she said with relief. “Quick, before he changes his mind!” She urged Zethrid and Narti out of the room.
“Then… I suppose I will not see you until tomorrow?” Allura asked, trying not to feel too disappointed.
Lotor smiled softly. “You must be tired, Allura. Get some rest. You are free to roam about the castle as you wish, but do be careful.”
Allura pursed her lips. “Alright, then,” she said reluctantly, and followed Acxa down another corridor, but not without giving him one last glance.
The two women were silent during their walk, and Allura figured it was for the best. Anything they said could be overheard by the guards who passed by, and regardless they didn’t have much to talk about. They took one of the many lifts in the castle and walked out into what Allura assumed was the west wing: a wide, purple corridor, covered with old yet well kept black carpet, with large windows which revealed a view of the red cliffs surrounding the castle. A series of doors leading to guest suites lined the walls, ready to provide hospitality for weary travelers.
“The west wing houses rooms for the most revered guests,” Acxa told her as they approached one set of doors. She pressed a button on the console which prompted them to hiss open. “It’s safe to take off your helmet now.”
“And not a moment too soon,” Allura grumbled, impatient to tug it off of her head while simultaneously returning her body to normal, with Acxa now standing a few inches above her.
Allura’s face and hair were all sweaty from the stuffiness inside the helmet, and when Alteans changed the state of their body it tended to take a lot out of them, which was why it wasn’t something they did often unless the occasion called for it. And not only that, but the armor was bulkier and more uncomfortable on her smaller frame, and she wasn’t sure how much longer she’d be able to wear it without hurting herself. In other words, Allura was ready to get out of this suit.
“This part of the castle has been made strictly off limits,” Acxa went on. “Only Lotor, the generals, myself, and now you have access to this place, so you won’t have to worry about unwelcome visitors.” Allura nodded, and when she turned to walk into the suite the general asked, “Do you need anything?”
“Not at the moment, no.”
“If you do, you can contact me or the girls anytime.”
Allura then narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “What is going on here?”
Acxa raised a brow. “What do you mean?”
“Why are you being kind to me all of a sudden?”
The other woman put a hand on her hip. “Down in The Inferno, you said that if I got to know Alteans more, I might change my mind about them. I don’t know about that yet, but… I have changed my mind about you. You’ve helped us get this far, and thanks to you we might actually be able to get through this.” She shrugged a shoulder. “Maybe you’re not so bad after all.”
Allura got the feeling Acxa was putting up a front, acting as if she didn’t care either way, but the princess was starting to know better. Despite the complicated situation with Lotor, Acxa was finally willing to look past all of that and see Allura for who she was. She really did have a soft heart, didn’t she?
“Thank you,” Allura said sincerely with a smile. “You are not so bad, either.” Then she held out her hand. “Friends?”
Acxa stared at her extended hand for a moment, then took it, shaking it firmly as she looked at Allura. “Friends,” she agreed with a nod, and there was a hint of a smile on her face.
Once Allura was left to her own devices, she washed up and changed into her nightgown and robe, ready for some much needed relaxation. The suite was very spacious, the bed with more surface area than she would ever need, with a canopy and curtains above it, and she found that she didn’t mind the purple. She unpacked her things, lounged about, browsed through her tablet, and just as the hour grew late and her eyes began to droop, she received a call notification. She sat up on the large bed, holding the tablet in her hands, and pressed on the screen to answer it.
“Hello, Coran.”
“Allura! I’m so glad you picked up,” Coran exclaimed, looking extremely relieved.
“Did you fear that I wouldn’t?” she asked with amusement.
“Can you blame me? The idea of you being there all alone…” He grimaced. “I am still struggling to accept it.”
“I am not alone. Lotor―”
“Lotor is there with you?! Right now?!” Coran’s eyes suddenly took up the entire width of the screen in a fruitless effort to see more of Allura’s surroundings. “And are you in your sleepwear?! Allura, it is not proper for a princess to―”
“No, Lotor is not here,” she assured him, rolling her eyes. “See?” She angled the tablet to show the entirety of the room which, as promised, was empty except for her. “What I was going to say before you interrupted me was that Lotor and his generals are here with me in the castle.”
“Oh,” he said, looking a little embarrassed from his outburst. He then sniffed and straightened his back. “Well then, have you locked your room? Do the Galra not use locks?”
“Dear Mother of the Universe, Coran, of course they do!” Allura snapped, for she was beginning to lose her temper. “Don’t you trust me?”
“Of course I trust you, but I don’t trust him!” He sighed. “I’m worried about you, I can’t help it.”
Allura sighed as well, reigning herself back in. She remembered her grandmother telling her that Coran was probably upset about her leaving, because to him it meant that she didn’t need him as much as when she was a child. The thought saddened her, for she loved Coran with all her heart and she would always want him in her life.
“I understand that you are trying to look out for me,” she began calmly, “and I am very grateful to you, but I do not appreciate you speaking about Lotor that way. You really ought to give him more credit. He and I have come this far together, haven’t we? I have already decided I am going to see this through to the end, and there is nothing you can say to change my mind.”
Coran looked a little guilty. “I know. I’m sorry, I won’t say those things about him anymore. But may I remind you…” He looked grumpy again. “That I haven’t had a single conversation with the man, not once since this whole mess started, so I don’t exactly have much to go off of if I want to make a proper judgment, do I?”
Allura pursed her lips, falling silent. That was true; during the entire time she was on Dunamis, Coran and Lotor had only come face-to-face once, and even then they didn’t exchange a word with the other. There was too much happening in the moment, never enough time, and once all of this was over, there would be no need for them to ever meet. Once all of this was over…
She and Lotor would no longer be― whatever it was they were.
Allura cleared her throat, pushing the thought aside. She didn’t want to think about it. “Anyway, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?” she asked.
“Your grandmother arrived on Altea safely a few hours ago,” Coran told her. “She managed to convince your parents that you are safely away on Dunamis.”
“And the High Council?”
“Do-Tarn didn’t even question it when I told him you were homesick,” he said, raising an eyebrow. “He wanted me to wish you well, and that you are still welcome to attend his ball in a few days’ time.”
Allura made a face. “Well, at least our plan worked.”
“Miraculously, yes. Ah, President Desto has also been asking after you.”
The princess blinked. “She has? Whatever for?”
A tense, uneasy expression passed over Coran’s face. “I’m sure you’ve heard about Lotor’s escape being all over the Universal News?”
“I have.”
“That’s not the only thing. Everyone is talking about the break-in at Pollux Incorporated. Apparently their security system was shut down and the police found the remains of barely functioning Ultra Droids.” He raised an eyebrow. “Courtesy of you and the emperor?”
“More or less,” Allura answered simply.
“Thankfully no one seems to have made the connection yet, except for President Desto of all people. She is convinced that Lotor had something to do with it, what with his leaving Dunamis shortly after.” Coran frowned. “She seemed anxious, it surprised me. She wanted me to ask you if you might know anything.”
Allura’s brow furrowed as she considered, and she resisted the urge to tug on her necklace. “She wants to know if Lotor let anything slip while the two of us were still assigned to work together,” she realized. “But why now? If what I know is so important to her, why wouldn’t she have come to me two weeks ago after he first disappeared?”
“I don’t know, but I can imagine that with the attack on the opera house, Lotor’s escape, and now the break-in, it’s got everyone spooked,” Coran guessed. “People want answers, want to feel some kind of reassurance after everything that’s happened.” He paused. “What do you want me to tell her?”
The princess shook her head. “If people are getting desperate, then it is all the more reason for Lotor and I to find the real culprit ourselves and prove his innocence. Don’t say anything for now, Coran. In fact, best to avoid her and the rest of the High Council if you can― especially Count Do-Tarn. The less he knows the better.”
“I can keep a low profile,” Coran told her confidently. “Why, you should have seen me back in my heyday! Your father sent me on all sorts of important missions before you were even born. I was Agent Coran” ―he posed dramatically―”royal advisor by day, secret spy by night!”
Allura laughed. “That sounds like a most exciting tale. Thank you for your help, Coran. Tomorrow we are going to look at the data we took from Pollux Incorporated. From there, I am hoping we can access the records and find the buyer, and solve this case once and for all.”
“You’re doing well, Allura. I’m proud of you.”
She smiled. “I will keep you updated on our findings. Is there anything else?”
Coran considered. “No, I think that’s everything.”
“Then I will talk to you later. Good night, Coran.”
“Wait, one more thing!” he added quickly. “Don’t forget to lock your door!”
“Good night.” Allura repeated through gritted teeth before she finally ended the call. She shook her head as she lay her tablet on the black nightstand next to her bed. Coran was one of her dearest friends, but gods, he could be so smothering at times.
She eyed the large bed on which she sat. The purple blankets and pillows looked inviting, but she didn’t feel tired anymore. She was considering trying to fall asleep anyway when she heard a knock at her door. Curious, she hopped off of the mattress and went to answer, and the doors hissed open to reveal―
“Lotor,” she called out in astonishment. The emperor stood in the hallway, his hands behind his back as he waited patiently.
“Allura,” he greeted softly.
They met halfway, both of them standing in the doorway, and even though she’d seen him only a few hours ago, it still didn’t feel like it was enough. With all of her willpower Allura barely restrained herself from falling into his chest and melting in his embrace, eager to feel his arms around her again.
“Am I disturbing you?” he asked.
“No.” Then putting a hand on her hip, Allura looked up at him with a teasing smile and asked, “What brings you here so late at night? Have you completed all of your royal duties, Your Imperial Majesty?”
“For now, Your Highness,” Lotor said, returning her smile. “I know it is late, but I came here tonight because there is something I want to show you.”
“Right now?” she asked, slightly taken aback.
“If you are not busy.”
Her smile widened. “I will need a minute to change, then.”
At those words Lotor seemed to at last register that Allura was in her nightgown, and for a brief moment she saw him stare at her exposed neck and collarbone before he purposefully turned his head away.
“Of course,” he said, stepping back and clearing his throat, now not looking at her at all. “Take all the time you need.”
She grinned and shut the doors, then quickly changed back into her flight suit, tying her hair back into a bun once more.
“Do I need to worry about running into guards on the way?” she asked him as they walked side-by-side down the hall and towards the lift.
“There won’t be any where we are going,” he promised. When the doors to the elevator opened, he motioned for her to go first. “After you.”
“Such a gentleman,” she remarked, shooting him a smile before she walked in. He followed after her, and together they descended dozens of floors down to the ground level.
Lotor then led her through a hidden hallway and a secret door that allowed them out of the castle. Once they were outside, a cold breeze ruffled their hair and sent a chill down Allura’s arms, covering them in goosebumps.
“Where are we going?” she asked with interest.
“You will see,” he assured her, glancing over his shoulder at her. “Over here.”
They strayed farther from the castle and towards the red plateaus that closely surrounded them. When they reached one of them Allura stopped, seeing a steep path which started from the ground and winded all the way up to the top of the mountain.
“How do you feel about hiking?” Lotor asked.
Allura tore her gaze away from the mountain to look at him. He stood at the base of the plateau, a few paces ahead of her, and she noticed that he was watching for her reaction carefully and with slight apprehension.
“Not a bad idea for a second date,” she said, walking up to him and grinning.
“Second?” he repeated, his eyebrows rising in surprise. “When was the first?”
“Last night at the tavern.” Allura shrugged. “Or if you want to go back further, our first date could have been underneath the opera house.”
“How often are you getting trapped underground with your Altean suitors?”
“It was certainly not the worst experience I have had,” she joked.
Lotor laughed. “If your previous outings with men have lowered your expectations so much that you consider having to rescue me from a collapsing building a date, then I have failed you.”
Allura laughed as well. “I told you I would do it again.” She beamed up at him. “If you would like, this can be our first,” she said softly.
His eyes warmed. “Yes, I would like that very much,” he said, his voice just as hushed.
The two of them started towards the path, with Lotor taking the first step onto a steep, rocky ledge. When he noticed Allura’s hesitation at the height, he leaned down and extended his hand.
“Come here,” he told her gently, his glowing eyes warm and encouraging.
A small smile pulled at Allura’s lips as she took hold of his hand. He helped her onto the ledge, and together they began their journey up the mountain. It was a reasonably easy hike, taking them less than half an hour to reach their destination. However, the higher they went the windier and colder it became, and the path was slippery in some places. Whenever either Allura or Lotor would slide on the rocks, they always made sure to check on the other and confirm they were safe.
Allura arrived at the top first, grasping Lotor’s hand to help him up as he followed, and after taking a moment to catch her breath, she took in her surroundings. Behind her, the plateaus which surrounded the castle stretched on for miles, forming the frigid desert of Daibazaal. It was barren and as far as she could tell, devoid of any life, but the crimson rocks and sand were vibrant even under the night sky.
“Allura,” Lotor called to her. She turned and saw him standing near the edge of the plateau, waiting for her. “This is what I wanted to show you.” He gestured in front of them, and when she came to stand next to him on his left side, she shivered from the cold wind that blew straight through her bones. But then she saw what he was referring to, and she forgot all about the temperature and gasped.
Below them was Castle Doom, its many spires stretching up towards them, and beyond the castle lay the red valley of Daibazaal’s capital city. More mountains surrounded the city in the distance, and the purple lights from the buildings gleamed vividly, even from this far away. At first glance one might have only seen intimidating, dangerous black structures built by the hands of merciless warriors, but upon looking more closely, Allura began to think differently.
All of those buildings, every road, every ship that came and went, were built by people―real people with real lives. Each one of them had a life so precious to them, people they cared about, dreams they wished to pursue. They all mattered, every single one of them, just like the Alteans.
Lotor’s people and Allura’s people… they were not so different after all.
“It is amazing,” Allura murmured, “how you can see the entire valley from up here.”
“Yes,” Lotor agreed with a nod, then his voice lowered, sounding hesitant. “You know, I have a lot of conflicting feelings about Daibazaal.”
Allura looked up at him with a concerned frown, but he seemed unable to look at her, as if remembering something painful and he didn’t want her to see.
“There are too many… memories,” he went on quietly. “To this day I struggle to reconcile with most of them. However, if there is one thing I am sure about, it is that I have sorely missed this view.” He looked upon the valley and nodded determinedly. “I used to come here all the time when I was growing up, sneaking out of the castle whenever I needed a moment alone. It gave me a lot of perspective, reminded me why I must always do everything I can, to show the people that I can be their emperor, and that I must always protect my home.”
Allura nodded, turning her gaze back towards the city. “There is a place like that for me, too,” she began softly. “Back on Altea. Behind the castle, when you walk past the palace gardens and across the juniberry fields, far away from everyone and everything, you can find an old tree. Next to that tree is a little creek.” She smiled, picturing it in her mind. “Over the years I found that I too needed to be alone sometimes, and when I did I would go to that creek. It was my place of sanctuary, and it always helped me to calm down. I would take in the world around me and remember what I was fighting for―my planet, my people, the ones I love―to protect them with everything I have until the day I die.”
She looked up at him, and her heart skipped a beat as it always did when he looked at her that way, his eyes flickering over her and taking her in. It was as if he was trying to remember her, to memorize her as much as possible before it was all over. Allura found that she was doing the same thing.
“That little creek sounds wonderful. Were it possible…” He sounded wistful. “I would have loved to see it.”
“I would have loved that, too,” she returned, and she felt a longing in her heart. “If I could have shown you the beauty of my world, just as you show me the beauty of yours now…”
If the two of us had more time…
Allura’s voice quieted, a sweet ache forming inside her chest. “I think I would have really loved that,” she said.
Lotor smiled softly at her, then turned his gaze upwards. “I also wanted to show you this.”
Allura looked up and her lips parted in wonder as she took in the ether above. The days on Daibazaal were a passionate, fiery red, but the nights were empyreal, with deep shades of turquoise, cerulean, pink, and countless stars that were scattered throughout the cosmos.
“The sky is beautiful as well,” she commented, smiling wide. “I have never seen a night sky with such vibrant colors.”
“It reminds me of your eyes.”
Allura turned her head, staring at Lotor in surprise. His head was still tilted back as he took in the view above him, exposing more of his neck, and the colors of the sky cast a strong silhouette of his profile, emphasizing his sharp features and luminescent eyes.
“I will never see the night sky the same way again. Allura…” He trailed off, his gaze dropping solemnly. “When all of this is over, when we must go our separate ways…”
Then he turned to look at her, and as he did so she heard her own breath catch.
“When you are far away from me,” he told her, his voice low and soft. “I will look up to the heavens, and I will always think of you.”
Lotor’s words sank deep into Allura’s very soul. They comforted and caressed her, wrapping around her entire body in a warm embrace, and simultaneously they sliced right through her heart. It was a happiness and a pain she’d never felt before, and while a part of her was afraid to confront it, to finally acknowledge the true meaning behind it and therefore make it real, the other part of her wanted it more than anything.
She never could have predicted what was going to happen the moment she first saw him on the steps of City Hall three months ago, could have never known that the answer to the question she’d been asking all her life had at last come to her on that day. Slowly but surely, over the months the answer grew inside of her until she couldn’t ignore it anymore.
Perhaps what Rhiella said to her back in her hotel room helped her to finally recognize what it was, but she knew now that it was there all along. It was always going to happen; it was only a matter of time before she realized it.
And so as Allura looked up at Lotor, seeing the wind whipping through his pearl white hair, his strong body radiating the comforting heat that she wanted to curl up in for eternity, his handsome face and beautiful lilac skin, and his warm, glowing eyes which regarded her with sorrow as well as serenity, in that moment she thought:
I might be falling in love with you.
The revelation electrified her, sending a spark throughout her veins and igniting her entire being. It set her heart aflame to the point where she felt that her whole body could burst from the increasing amount of love for him, this fierce and fiery love which she desperately wanted to share with him.
But it was the small sinking feeling in her heart that held her back, the reminder that their time together was soon coming to an end.
Allura couldn’t think about that right now, however. She didn’t want to. Perhaps it was wrong of her to push it aside, but in this moment she wanted nothing more than to revel in this sweet, tranquil moment with Lotor, to enjoy it while it lasted.
Besides the thrilling idea that she could be in love with this man, there were still many other things she couldn’t say to him, not yet―maybe not ever, but there was something she could say, something that would be enough to give her a peace of mind, at least for now.
Slowly she took a step towards him, close enough that they were chest to chest.
“Lotor,” she spoke softly.
“Yes, Allura,” he answered, his voice a near whisper.
She drew in a quiet breath, and with all of the joy and the misery building up in her heart, she smiled up at him calmly.
“Will you hold me?”
Lotor’s gaze traveled over her face, drinking her in. She would never tire of the way he looked at her. She saw warmth and fondness in his eyes, and she was hopeful that perhaps she might have seen love there, too.
He lifted a hand to touch her face, his thumb gently caressing the fading bruise on her left cheek, and then he took her into his arms and embraced her. He brought her to his chest, cradling the back of her head with one hand while his other arm wrapped securely around her shoulders, holding her close to him. Allura in turn coiled her arms around his waist, clinging to him with everything she had. How perfectly the two of them fit together, as if their very bodies were made for each other. The heat from Lotor’s body radiated off of him and thawed Allura’s icy bones, breathing life back into her.
The night was cold, but Lotor was warm.
His protective yet tender hold on her brought her comfort and made her feel safe. She could feel his lips brush against the top of her head and ghost over her hair. When her nose stung and the tears began to gather she squeezed her eyes shut and hugged him tighter. She hoped that he felt the same security and protectiveness coming from her.
This moment was so perfect and so bittersweet at the same time, but eventually the two of them began shivering from the strong draft that blew over the harsh desert, and they laughed quietly, reluctantly letting go of each other.
“We had best get you inside,” Lotor told her, rubbing her arm gently with his large hand. “What a dreadful host I would make if I allowed my guest to freeze to death on her first night.”
Allura let out another shaky laugh, simultaneously wiping under her eyes, and when she looked up at him to respond, she saw that his eyes were misty as well. It made her want to cry, seeing him in so much pain. She wanted to take it all away and bear it for the both of them.
She ran her hands down his arms soothingly. “Walk me back to my room?” she asked him, to which he smiled and nodded.
The trek back to the castle felt far too short and ended far too quickly for Allura to be satisfied. They were quiet for most of it, making their way down the mountain and sneaking back inside. She felt Lotor next to her, their arms brushing together occasionally as they stood together in the lift. The two of them exited the compartment and made towards her room, and she couldn’t help but notice that both of them had slowed in their footsteps.
“Are your lodgings acceptable?” Lotor asked politely when they came to her door.
“They are,” she said, then she tilted her head with interest. “Where do you sleep?”
“In the east wing, clear on the other side of the castle.”
“So far away,” she mumbled, and she couldn’t help but pout a little. “Did you do that on purpose, having my room be in the west wing?”
Lotor laughed. “You are more than welcome to stop by should you need me,” he assured her. “Though I cannot imagine what for. I am usually working in my office regardless. That is where we will meet tomorrow, to go over our findings from the warehouse.”
Allura hummed in thought, trying to imagine what Lotor’s bedroom looked like. There would be lots of purple, no doubt.
“Well then, I must leave you,” he went on softly. “Good night, Allura.”
He grasped her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze, then was about to let go and turn to leave, but she held on. He looked at her curiously, and when she got closer to him, his eyes widened a fraction as he sucked in a quiet breath.
Slowly Allura leaned in, balancing on the tips of her toes so she could reach out and touch his face, then closed her eyes and kissed him softly on the cheek. It was brief, and as she drew away and settled back on her heels, a warmth bloomed in her chest when she saw a subtle shade of violet color his cheeks and the tips of his ears. He gazed down at her in astonishment, speechless.
“Good night, Lotor,” she whispered, then released him and finally went inside her room.
The next day, Allura, Lotor, and Acxa all gathered in the emperor’s private office. On top of a desk, displayed on a wide, purple, holographic screen, were rows and rows of records of invoices.
“I was able to sort through all of the data we acquired at Pollux Incorporated,” Acxa reported, her hands behind her back. “They’re easily accessible, but unfortunately they’re of no use to us. None of them have anything to do with producing either Galra or Altean explosives.”
“Then that secret file must contain the information we are looking for,” Allura said determinedly.
She and Lotor stood side-by-side, mirroring each other’s posture, their arms folded and staring at the screen with serious expressions.
Acxa nodded. “That’s what I think, too. But there’s a problem.”
She touched the screen and selected the file in question which glowed a bright red. A small window popped up, and a long series of Dunamian letters and numbers began appearing. They flew by at a rapid speed, and none of it was comprehensible to Allura.
“It’s all encrypted,” Acxa explained, looking troubled. “There are multiple firewalls, too. I’ve spent the entire morning trying to get through but there’s no way to crack it. Whoever created the security measures for this file clearly doesn’t want anyone looking into it.”
Stepping forward, Lotor’s eyes narrowed as he regarded the jumbled text. “I am unfamiliar with this area of technology,” he said regretfully. He glanced at Allura. “Any ideas?”
Allura approached the screen as well, squinting at it. “No, this is completely out of my area of expertise.” She bit her lip, then turned to look at Lotor and Acxa. “What can we do?”
“If we cannot figure out what that file says, we cannot find the buyer,” Lotor reminded them.
“And if we cannot find the buyer, we cannot prove your innocence,” Allura added, tugging at her necklace, “and our planets go to war.”
“We need a way to get around that encryption,” Acxa said. “If only there was someone capable that we could trust…”
The three of them fell silent, trying to think of a solution. Then an idea popped into Allura’s head.
“I know someone who can help us,” she offered.
Acxa shook her head. “No offense, Your Highness, but it’s far too risky to bring in any more Alteans in on this case.”
“He is not Altean,” Allura assured her. “I can contact him and arrange for him and his party to come here. It shouldn’t be a problem.”
“There’s more than one?” The other woman looked uneasy, but not accusatory. “I thought the whole point of this was to be as discreet as possible.”
Lotor leaned against his desk, considering. “By involving more people, we risk the exposure of our operation,” he remarked, also looking hesitant.
“I know it is dangerous,” Allura said. “But what other choice do we have? If the six of us cannot figure it out, then perhaps it is time we bring in more support.”
He nodded in understanding, then asked, “These people you speak of, you are certain we can trust them?”
“Absolutely,” the princess confirmed with a nod. “They are my good friends.”
“What is their opinion of the Galra?”
“The same as mine: that they are innocent in all of this,” she answered, then smiled. “And that their emperor is more than trustworthy.”
Lotor returned her smile. “Very well, I agree to your plan.” He and Allura looked to Acxa for the final vote.
The general nodded. “If they’re friends with the princess, then I say let’s go for it.”
“Thank you,” Allura said sincerely, and she was feeling good. They could do this; they were going to succeed.
“Where are they from?” Acxa asked curiously.
Allura’s smile grew.
“Planet Earth.”
Notes:
I watched Wakanda Forever for the first time last week, and I really think Con La Brisa is so fitting for when Lotor shows Allura his world, just like when Namor shows Shuri his world 😍
Fun facts! Castle Doom is the name of Zarkon's castle in DotU, and Mogor is a character from DotU who serves more or less as Lotor's right hand man for a while. There are a lot of characters whose names end with "or", aren't there? Lotor, Mogor, Alfor, Melenor, Ezor... have I missed anyone? 😂
As always thank you so much for reading!!! 💖💜 Coming up next: there is a shift in the air in Allura and Lotor's relationship, and as the two of them work with the Earthlings to plan a very important operation, the princess can't help but feel that something is going to happen between her and the emperor very soon...
Chapter 10: The "It"
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
After Allura got into contact with Shiro and asked for his help, he and his cadets arrived at Castle Doom the following day, escorted from their Earth ship in the hangar bay by two sentries. Taking a lift to one of the higher levels of the castle, they were led to two doors which hissed open and granted them entrance into a large room.
On one side of the room, Ezor, Zethrid, and Narti lazily lounged on a curved, modular sofa and played with Kova. On the other, Allura, Lotor, and Acxa stood in front of an enormous purple holographic screen which was displayed across the entirety of one of the walls. The three of them were intently discussing together when they turned their heads at the sound of the doors opening.
“Shiro,” the princess greeted happily. She went to meet the Earthlings, who were all dressed in their casual wear, and regarded them warmly with Lotor at her side. “Thank you so much for coming, all of you. I cannot tell you how much it means to me that you are willing to help us.”
“Glad to see you’re safe, Princess,” Shiro returned with a smile. “And we’re happy to help.”
Allura glanced up at Lotor, hope in her eyes, and he smiled at her. The generals approached, sizing up the new arrivals.
Addressing the Galra, Allura then gestured towards the humans. “I am pleased to introduce to you the representatives of the Galaxy Garrison: Lieutenant Shiro and his cadets Keith, Pidge, Lance, and Hunk. This is Emperor Lotor,” she said, absentmindedly touching his arm, “and his generals Acxa, Ezor, Zethrid, and Narti. And Kova,” she added with a grin when the cat let out a soft chirp, desirous to be recognized.
“It’s an honor to meet you, Your Imperial Majesty,” Shiro said. “The princess has told us a lot about you.”
Lotor briefly glanced at Allura, who tried with all of her might not to blush, before turning to the Earthling. “The honor is all mine, Lieutenant,” he replied. “It is a privilege to meet friends of the princess. Consider this castle as your home during your stay.”
“Thank you.”
“Never thought I’d ever visit an alien castle,” Hunk commented, putting his hands on his hips and taking in his surroundings.
“I never thought I’d visit the home planet of the Galra,” Keith added.
“Everything here is very…” Lance thought, stroking his chin and narrowing his eyes. “…purple.”
“The technology is so much more advanced than both Earth and Dunamis.” Pidge adjusted her glasses, eyes gleaming. “I can’t wait to get my hands on it.”
Allura smiled fondly. “You will have plenty of opportunities for that, I promise.”
“Aww, you guys are all so little!” Ezor cooed, leaning forward to get into Pidge’s face. She bared her sharp fangs in a grin and patted the young girl affectionately on the head.
“Are all humans this tiny?” Zethrid asked.
“Don’t be condescending,” Acxa scolded them, folding her arms with a look of disapproval.
“Shall we?” Allura asked, glancing at Lotor, who nodded.
As the group gathered around the wide, holographic screen, Acxa stood up front with her hands behind her back and began to brief the Earthlings, starting with the stamps found on the Galra and Altean bombs from the attacks. Allura stood in the back with her arms folded, paying careful attention―or at least she was until Lotor came to stand on her right, mirroring her posture. She tried not to notice his usual distinguishable presence, but ultimately failed as the briefing went on and he leaned slightly to his left towards her to speak. She instantly gravitated towards him, tilting her head up to listen, her eyes still looking forward and her shoulder brushing against his arm.
“So you have told your friends about me,” Lotor remarked, keeping his voice down so the others wouldn’t hear.
“I do not recall doing such a thing,” Allura said, biting back a smile. “Alright, maybe I did. A little bit.”
“Funny, because I believe the lieutenant said a lot rather than a little.” There was mirth in his voice. “May I ask what you told them exactly?”
She turned her head to look up at him. Their faces were close together, and as Allura contemplated on how to answer, she found herself staring at his mouth. His fangs were showing slightly as he smiled softly at her. Her tongue peeked out to wet her lips, then she looked into his eyes.
“Only horrible things,” she finally said, and she couldn’t help but grin. “I am afraid I cannot repeat them to you; it would not be proper for a princess.”
Lotor’s smile widened. “You think that highly of me, do you?”
“Now who’s being egotistical?”
“Takes one to know one.”
The two of them started laughing quietly to themselves, then they both realized that the room had fallen silent and everyone was staring at them.
“Something you’d like to share with the class?” Lance asked with raised eyebrows.
“Apologies,” Allura said quickly, maintaining a straight face as she and Lotor stood at attention.
“So are you guys, like, a thing now?” Hunk asked.
“There’s no point in asking, trust me,” Ezor said. “I don’t think even they know.”
“I think the princess definitely knows,” Pidge teased, grinning. “A couple of days ago at the restaurant, she told us that she―”
“We don’t have to talk about that!” Allura exclaimed, raising her hands and forcing a laugh. Her cheeks warmed. “I promise we will be quiet. Please, continue,” she added to Acxa.
The general shook her head slightly in exasperation, but there was no malice behind it, and she resumed speaking, now moving onto the data they found down in The Inferno. Allura clasped her hands in front of her, now resolute on paying attention, but she glanced up at Lotor once more and found that he was looking at her as well. She’d noticed how well-rested he looked since his arrival back home, which pleased her.
A small smile pulled at Lotor’s lips, and there was a comfortable familiarity there, something she’d begun to recognize with the two of them lately. In his eyes she also found a look of fondness, affection, and something meaningful in his gaze, as if he was sharing a secret between the two of them and them alone. It made Allura’s chest warm and squeeze from how endearing this man was to her. She returned his smile, and their eyes lingered on one another before turning back to the front.
Her heart raced and she felt giddy inside, but it wasn’t only because of their interaction just now. The truth was, something had changed between her and Lotor since their shared moment two nights ago on the mountaintop; she could feel it. Since their almost-kiss in the tavern back on Dunamis, things had already been different, there was no doubt about that.
Perhaps a lot of it had to do with the personal revelation that she could be falling in love with Lotor, but after their little excursion out in the desert and their tender embrace, there was a shift in the air. The atmosphere was more tense, more electrified, and she couldn’t help but sense that things were going to change even more, as if something was going to happen between her and Lotor very soon.
Whatever it was, Allura was looking forward to it.
“We’ve used every resource at our disposal, but unfortunately we’ve hit a wall in accessing the records,” Acxa concluded. “The security measures placed on this file are more complicated than anything I’ve dealt with before.” She nodded to the Earthlings expectantly. “Her Highness told us you could help, so we’re counting on you.”
“What do you say, Pidge?” Shiro asked. “Are you up to the task?”
Pidge considered, adjusting her glasses. “Hm… even with the file locked, I should be able to access the application coding that was made for the encryption software surrounding the data.” She spoke more rapidly, getting excited. “From there, I can create my own program that will communicate with the language of the software, process it, and combat it in order to get into the records!”
“Uh―” Lance scratched his head. “Sorry, Pidge. You lost me there.”
“She can do it,” Keith explained simply.
“I can use my laptop to create the program, but…” Pidge frowned, looking at Allura. “If you got this data from Pollux Incorporated, then that means the technology is Dunamian, right?”
“Correct,” the princess confirmed. “Will that be a problem?”
“During our time on Dunamis, I spent a lot of time with the planet’s tech. It’s functional, but crude.” Pidge shrugged. “If we’re using Galra technology, which by the looks of it is a lot more complex, I’ll need to find a way to adapt one to the other.”
“I can help with that,” Hunk said. “All we need is to get a hold of some Galra motivators and power cells, then we can adapt the data to communicate with the tech.”
“Okay, so if I’m following correctly,” Lance began, “we’re using an Earth program on a Galra computer in order to look at a Dunamian file? That sounds way too complicated.”
“I’ll say,” Zethrid added. “You sure that’ll work?”
“If we can get the right equipment, interfacing Earth tech with Galra tech shouldn’t be a problem,” Pidge answered. “The tedious part will be sorting through the encryption guarding the data.”
“How long would this take?” Acxa asked.
“It might take until the end of the day. But we’ve got this.” Pidge grinned confidently. “Right, Hunk?”
“Absolutely,” Hunk answered proudly. Then he glanced at Lotor, grinning nervously. “You got any extra motivators and power cells lying around your castle?”
“Whatever you need, it will be provided,” Lotor said.
With the generals and the cadets’ assistance, the equipment was brought up to Pidge and Hunk’s workstation and the two got busy working. Once Pidge was able to create a program and Hunk interfaced her laptop with the Galra console, the two began sorting through the file’s security measures. As it would take some time for the program to sift through all of the data, the best anyone could do at this point was wait. Fortunately, Lance came up with an idea to pass the time.
“It’s called a video game,” he announced to the generals proudly, gesturing towards the screen and the handheld devices set up on the floor by Pidge. “You choose a character to play and beat up other people’s characters until you’re the last one standing.”
Zethrid grinned. “Sounds like my kind of game.”
“How does it work?” Ezor asked, tilting her head curiously.
It wasn’t long after that the cadets and generals were in a fierce competition, all crowded around the screen and trying to prevent each other from winning.
“Cheater,” Keith accused when Zethrid blocked his view of the screen. “You’re going down.”
“I say we form an alliance and get Keith knocked out,” Lance proposed.
“I agree to your plan, tiny Earthling.”
“Hey, I’m not tiny!”
Then to everyone’s outrage, Kova leapt off of Narti’s shoulder and in front of the screen so that no one could see what they were doing.
“Kova!” several voices exclaimed.
Allura and Lotor sat together in the back of the room on the sofa. Sitting on his left, her arm was pressed against his as she watched over his shoulder while he used his holographic tablet to answer memos and approve proposals, commenting occasionally her own suggestions which he listened to intently. Their heads lifted at the noise, and they both chuckled, instantly catching each other’s eye and smiling.
Her cheeks warmed as Lotor continued to gaze at her, the amusement fading from his eyes, replaced by something more intense and resolute as they traveled over her. It made her heart race and her hands, which were clasped together and resting on the table, clench until her fingers hurt. She was now more aware of how close their bodies were to each other, though she’d sat closely next to him without a second thought. It came so naturally to her now, leaning into him, invading his space, feeling his warmth, and her gaze lingering a second longer than necessary. He was doing the same exact thing with her, too. At this point neither of them were questioning it.
She couldn’t be the only one who was aware of the change between them, right?
The feverish moment soon ended when their attention was drawn to an approaching figure.
“Mind if I sit?” Shiro asked politely.
“Not at all,” Allura said with a smile.
He took a seat on the other side of the sofa and observed the group. “They’re getting along better than I expected.”
“Indeed,” Lotor remarked, setting down his tablet. “Your cadets are very young, but they appear to have a lot in common with my generals. Quite a bright bunch too, particularly the youngest.”
“I agree,” Allura said, nodding. “It is thanks to Pidge that we will finally be able to access the financial records from Pollux Incorporated. Thank you again for coming all this way to help,” she added to Shiro.
“I should be thanking you,” the lieutenant replied. “I could tell the kids were getting restless, and even though we’re headed back to Earth soon, I’m grateful for the opportunity to put their skills to use for a good cause.” He then leaned forward in his seat to speak to the Galra, nodding courteously. “And thank you again for letting us stay in your castle.”
“It is nothing,” Lotor replied humbly.
“No, it is not nothing,” Allura insisted, turning towards him, and without thinking she reached out and placed her hand on his knee, feeling the sharp armor beneath her palm. “You have been more than accommodating to all of us, and it has not gone unappreciated.”
Lotor looked down at her hand, then his eyes snapped to hers, and upon seeing her blush and retract her hand he smiled. “I am happy to do what I can for my new friends,” he said in a low voice.
His words were directed towards Shiro as well, but he was only looking at Allura, again with that fixed and heated gaze. Her mouth went dry and she glanced over him without thinking. Dear Mother of the Universe, if he kept looking at her like that… She didn’t care if there were other people in the room, she was going to―
A notification appeared on Lotor’s tablet and he tore his eyes away from her, clearing his throat and picking up the device. “I must go,” he said after reading through the message. “I have a meeting with my war council.”
“How long will you be gone?” Allura asked him, but even as she said that, she had a pretty good guess, considering the meetings she’d attended herself back on Altea.
“It could be a few hours,” he told her, and her heart sank, her suspicions confirmed. “Please, excuse me.” He seemed reluctant as he stood from his seat and nodded to Shiro, who returned the gesture, and then he gave Allura one last glance before exiting. She bit her lip as she watched him walk out the door.
She couldn’t have imagined it. Lotor must have felt it, too.
Something was definitely different between them.
“Hey, Shiro! Princess!” Hunk called, waving them over. “Why don’t you come play with us?”
Allura exchanged glances with Shiro, who shrugged and smiled.
“Alright,” she agreed with a grin. “How do you play?”
The day came and went. Pidge’s program was still processing and combating the encryptions in the file, and by evening Allura was feeling restless.
Walking through the corridors of the castle aimlessly, she let out a huge yawn and sighed, her shoulders sagging as she rubbed the back of her neck. The thought of heading to the training arena to pass the time had barely crossed her mind when she heard voices in the distance. Startled, she instantly jumped behind a wall and carefully peeked around the corner.
Approaching from the end of the hallway was Chief Commander Mogor and Commander Cossack, discussing with one another and marching straight towards her. Allura froze and stared. She hadn’t seen the chief commander since her arrival to Daibazaal, and it was surreal to put a face to the name of the man her grandmother had once fallen in love with. He still didn’t know who Allura was, however, and it would be a very strange first introduction if they were to meet like this. She had best turn back, before―
“Allura?” a familiar voice called.
She looked over her shoulder so fast that she nearly gave herself whiplash, and saw Lotor approaching from her end of the hallway.
The emperor had apparently finally finished with his meeting, and he appeared puzzled, as well as slightly amused at the princess’s strange behavior. “May I ask why you are hiding behind this wall?”
Allura opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off as she heard the footsteps of the commanders drawing nearer. She panicked. It would take too long for her to shift to imitate a Galra, not to mention the fact that she had no armor. If she and Lotor didn’t leave now, they would be caught and there would be far too many questions that she wasn’t ready to answer at the moment.
Desperately she glanced around their surroundings, and then seeing an open storage closet over Lotor’s shoulder, exhaled in relief. Without a single word she lunged for him as he got closer, placing her hands firmly on his chest and pushing him backwards into the closet. He didn’t have much space to navigate until his back hit the wall, and he let out a quiet oof in the process. Allura quickly elbowed the button on a console so that the door hissed shut behind them, plunging them into near darkness.
“Allura,” Lotor began as he recovered from the surprise. “What are you―”
“Wait,” she urged softly. She held up her hand so that her fingertips hovered just above his mouth, gently shushing him. “Please, wait a moment.”
Lotor stood still. Allura lowered her hand, placed it upon his chest once more and leaned against him, looking over her shoulder at the door. She strained her ears for any sound of someone walking by. Sure enough, two pairs of heavy footsteps marched down the corridor and stopped right outside the storage closet.
“Did you hear something?” That was Mogor’s voice.
“What do you mean?” a second, presumably belonging to Cossack, asked.
“I could have sworn I heard someone talking.”
Allura’s heart pounded. Her hands, which still rested upon Lotor’s chest, tightened their grip, clinging onto his armor. She bit her lip, waiting with dread for the sound of a button being pressed and the door opening, revealing who was hiding inside.
The moment didn’t come, however. Cossack let out a bark of laughter. “I think your ears are playing tricks on you, old man. Now let’s go get some food, I’m starving.”
There was no protest from Mogor, and the men continued on their way. The footsteps gradually receded, and Allura waited a few more seconds before releasing a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. She exhaled slowly, her shoulders relaxing, then looked up at Lotor.
And finally she registered the predicament she’d put them in.
Lotor was leaning back against the wall, his arms stiff at his sides, as if intentionally keeping his hands away from her as much as possible, and his claws were extracted. His and Allura’s bodies were tightly pressed together, from their chests all the way down to their legs. She had the sudden intrusive thought to feel his lean muscle beneath her fingertips, to let her hand drift lower and touch the firm, solid plane of his stomach―
Allura swallowed. “Sorry,” she muttered. “I could not let your commanders see me, so I decided to take matters into my own hands.”
“I can see that,” Lotor remarked. He pointedly looked down to where her hands were still firmly placed on his chest.
She blushed and immediately removed them. She tried to back away from him, but there was hardly any room, so they remained nearly chest to chest inside this tiny closet.
Clearing her throat, she quickly regained her composure and looked up at him. “I suppose you’d want an explanation for my actions right about now.”
“You pushed me,” Lotor reminded her, cocking an eyebrow. “So yes, an explanation would be much appreciated.”
She could hear the sarcasm in his voice, as well as a hint of irritation, and a spark of annoyance ran through her.
“I told you I was sorry,” she said, getting defensive, her hands clenching into fists at her sides. “What else could I have done?”
“Perhaps avoid getting into trouble in the first place?”
“I was not getting into trouble.”
“Yet you wander about my castle without a care in the world,” he returned sharply, “after I very specifically told you to be careful.”
“You are the one who invited me here in the first place!” Allura exclaimed, still managing to keep her voice down. “And you cannot tell me what to do.”
“And you cannot do whatever you please without facing the consequences,” Lotor growled.
“Oh, really?” She lifted her chin at him. “What kinds of consequences would you be referring to, Lotor? Hm? Go on, tell me.”
He clenched his jaw. “Do not try to provoke me. It will not work.”
“I’m not trying to provoke you,” she told him haughtily, but he saw right through that.
“Yes, you are.” He sighed in frustration. “My gods, Allura, you can be so aggravating sometimes.”
“Well, you can be really controlling.”
They fell silent, glaring at each other in the dimly lit closet, a place far too small for the two of them. They were practically squished together.
Allura took a moment to catch her breath, then furrowed her brow. “What are we arguing about, exactly?”
Lotor opened his mouth and considered. “Absolutely nothing,” he realized.
They continued to look at each other, searching the other’s eyes, and when Lotor’s face split into a crooked smile Allura found herself grinning back. They began laughing softly, the anger fading and the tension between them easing.
“This has to be the most foolish argument we have had yet,” Allura said, rubbing her forehead and feeling a little ridiculous.
“Yes, I agree.”
“It was about time, though, wasn’t it?” she quipped. “Perhaps we had gone far too long since our last fight.”
“Perhaps,” Lotor mused. His eyes softened. “I overreacted. I am sorry.”
“I am sorry, too,” Allura told him sincerely, and she grasped his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I overreacted as well. I suppose you and I are similar that way. We can add that to the list of the many things we have in common, right next to white hair and committing war crimes.” She smiled when he laughed at that.
“Sounds like a very diverse list,” he said, beaming down at her.
Again they were silent as they gazed at one another. Lotor’s glowing eyes traveled over her face, and automatically Allura glanced at his lips. She was reminded of how close they were to each other. Neither of them could move without touching the other, and they both knew it. She looked away from him in an effort to relieve the intense atmosphere she could sense forming between them once more. If she didn’t, she had a feeling the two of them would start doing more than holding hands in this tiny closet.
“I suppose I ought to let you go now,” she joked halfheartedly. “Apologies for imprisoning you.”
Lotor laughed again quietly. “You are forgiven.”
Smiling, Allura began to turn away to open the door, about to release his hand, but he tugged on hers lightly to get her attention again. She looked at him, curious.
“You know,” he began slowly. “We are in my castle, after all.”
“Yes,” she acknowledged with a nod.
“If you really needed to get away, we could have gone anywhere, yet you chose this closet of all places.” He smiled gently, his manner benign.
Allura smiled back. “It was a bit cliché, wasn’t it?”
“A bit, but if it is privacy you want, Allura, all you have to do is ask. I am happy to oblige you.”
Her smile grew. She knew Lotor wasn’t trying to be smooth or flirtatious with her; he was much too direct for that. He was simply being himself, but being himself was exactly what made her heart race and her knees weak whenever she was around him. It was one of the many things that made her fall for him. The way he made her feel, it was unlike anything she’d ever experienced before.
Everything felt hot around her. Why was she trying to leave, again? She couldn’t quite recall.
“I will keep that in mind from now on,” she told him coyly. Emboldened, she reached out to touch his chest again, smoothing her palms up his armor, then looked up at him with heat in her gaze. She wanted to feel him, to feel his hands on her so badly, nothing else mattered in that moment.
She wondered if her thoughts were written all over her face, for she saw the way he was looking at her. His glowing eyes traveled over her hungrily, his gaze dark and full of desire, illuminated in the dim lighting around them.
“Allura…”
Lotor came forward until Allura’s back was pressed against the door. He crowded her space, towering over her and intoxicating her with his smell and his warmth. His hands reached for her waist, and he watched her carefully to make sure she was alright with it. Allura smiled in response, balancing on the tips of her toes to wrap her arms around his neck and bring him down towards her, encouraging him.
Slowly his large hands skated over her sides, smoothing over her soft curves before settling on her back. His claws lightly scraped her through her suit and she barely suppressed a shiver. Lotor’s bright eyes were smoldering as he looked down at her.
“You drive me to the brink of madness, Princess,” he said in a near whisper. “What am I to do with you?”
She glanced at his mouth, and then at his eyes. “I might have an idea,” she replied softly.
He leaned down further to touch her cheek and smooth her hair out of her face. She felt his warm breath puff gently against her lips, so close to her that she could almost taste him.
This was it―it had to be―the moment where that something happened. She closed her eyes―
And then a loud alert pierced through the silence. Allura’s eyes shot open and she froze. She felt Lotor’s body tense as well. The alert continued, beeping obnoxiously until Allura realized it was coming from her wrist. She lifted one hand from Lotor’s hair to stare at the glowing cyan lights, then they glanced at each other.
“You should probably answer that,” he said, and he sounded as reluctant as she felt.
Allura sighed, conceding, and they released each other. Lotor backed up as much as he could to give her some space as she silenced the alert.
“It is a message from Shiro,” she said, reading through the text on a holographic screen which hovered above her wrist. “He says they got through the encryption.” She looked up at Lotor, eyes widening. “Pidge’s program worked.”
“Then we should head over immediately,” he said, nodding determinedly. When he saw the miffed expression on her face, he smiled softly. “Interruption is inevitable for us, I am afraid.”
“Yes,” she agreed, and she returned his smile.
Though she was initially put out that the moment was gone, the tension dissipated, she found that she didn’t mind it so much after all. Any moment with Lotor, no matter what it entailed, was always worth it. She turned to open the door, the cool air of the corridor an overwhelming contrast to the steamy, stuffy storage closet. They exited one after the other, and Allura thanked the Mother of the Universe that there was no one around to see them.
“Shall we?” Lotor asked, standing next to her and offering his arm to her.
“Absolutely,” she answered with a grin. She placed her hand in the crook of his arm and they walked off together.
“So we’ve got some good news and bad news,” Hunk said as the group all gathered in front of the screen again.
“Oh boy, here we go,” Lance bemoaned.
“The good news is we were able to get into the file,” Pidge began. Tapping a few buttons on the keyboard, a window appeared and revealed an invoice written in the basic alphabet system.
Allura approached the screen, brow furrowed in concentration as she read. “Two batches of explosives commissioned…” she muttered. “One Altean and one Galra―four months ago.” She looked over her shoulder at Lotor.
His arms were folded and he stroked his chin in thought. When she caught his eye he nodded slowly, coming to stand at her right side. “One month before the Universal Coalition meeting on Altea.”
“We got the correct file after all,” Acxa said.
“And now onto the bad news,” Hunk said sheepishly. “We can’t find the buyer’s name.”
Allura turned around and blinked at him. “Come again?”
“There’s no information on the buyer at all,” Keith realized, studying the invoice closely. “Whoever this person is, they really don’t want to be found.”
The princess tried to remain optimistic, she really did, but in a situation like this, she couldn’t help the sinking feeling forming in her chest.
“It’s always something, isn’t it?” Zethrid remarked.
“Hang on,” Ezor spoke up. “There’s a record of a delivery.”
And a flicker of hope ignited in Allura’s heart once more. Reading further, she saw what Ezor was referring to. Sure enough, in the invoice there was a planned delivery off planet on a cargo ship. The ship’s destination was―
“The Ulippa System,” Shiro noted. “Does that ring any bells?”
At first Allura was unsure, trying to remember the names of the planets that inhabited said system. Then her eyes widened in realization. She and Lotor exchanged glances.
“Grekagan,” he spoke. “Planet Grekagan is in the Ulippa System.”
She nodded eagerly. “Then that means―”
“Count Do-Tarn is the buyer,” he finished for her.
“Woah, woah, woah. Back up a sec,” Lance insisted, raising his hands. “Count Do-Tarn? Isn’t he the guy on the High Council?”
“Aren’t you jumping to conclusions a little?” Hunk asked, unsure.
“Lotor and I have suspected that he’s been involved for quite some time,” Allura explained. “We think he was the one leaking inside information in order to enable the attack on the opera house.” She looked up at Lotor. “He was the mole after all.”
“The woman you heard in the streets that day,” he added. “They must be working together.”
“Do you think she is from Grekagan as well?”
“Unfortunately there is no way to know for certain, for now at least.”
“As much as I’d like to support this theory,” Acxa spoke up. “All we have is the name of a system. Nothing more than that.”
“You’re going to need evidence to back up your theory,” Shiro agreed.
Lotor nodded in acknowledgement. “Yes, I am afraid what we have is not enough. However, now we know that Pollux Incorporated was indeed the company who accepted the commission and built the explosives.”
Allura stiffened. There was a thought in the back of her mind, an inkling that hadn’t disappeared since the night she and Lotor had first discovered the stamps on the bombs and made the connection to Pollux Incorporated. She’d tried not to think about it too much; perhaps she was in denial, but now there was an actual record, proving that the company, which was run by Alteans, made the bombs. And the fact that they’d tried to hide it…
Next to her, Lotor must have known what she was thinking, because his countenance changed. “Allura,” he said softly.
She looked up at him and forced a smile. “This is good news, Lotor,” she said. “We are one step closer to finding the truth and proving your innocence. That is what matters.”
Genuinely, what she wanted most was to prove that Lotor was not the perpetrator behind the attacks, that he was not the kind of man people made him out to be. Still, the idea that Alteans played a part in attacking her home world frightened her. What if Bandor and his family weren’t the only ones involved? What if there were other Alteans as well? What if her people were responsible all along? Without thinking she reached up to tug on her necklace.
Lotor seemed to have learned to read Allura’s expressions and body language quite well at this point, because the look in his eyes told her that he knew she was putting up a front. There was concern there, but now was not the time to discuss such things, so he dropped it.
“If Do-Tarn really is the one responsible, and the bombs were delivered to him, could he have some left?” Pidge asked. “We could use that as evidence.”
“If he had any left, he may have gotten rid of them by now,” Shiro said.
“True,” Acxa agreed. “But he also could’ve hidden them someplace to make sure no one found them. I’d say it’s a lead worth checking out.” She looked at Allura and Lotor. “How do you wish to proceed?”
Putting her concerns aside for the time being, Allura pondered, still pulling on the crystal hanging around her neck. Then she remembered something Do-Tarn had told her―had kept reminding her so much that she was surprised she’d forgotten about it. She’d refused him twice and had firmly decided she would never change her mind, but if she and her friends wanted to prove that he was the buyer, then perhaps she ought to reconsider.
She grimaced. It looked like she was going to accept his offer after all.
“There is an event coming up,” she began slowly, “on Grekagan―Count Do-Tarn’s ball.”
“Ah, yes,” Lotor acknowledged, a hint of displeasure in his voice. “He did invite you to that, didn’t he?”
Allura nodded, determined. “I say we infiltrate the ball, break into wherever he’s hiding those explosives, and gather the evidence.”
“You want to break into his house?” Shiro’s eyebrows rose in surprise.
“Let’s do it,” Keith said a little too enthusiastically.
“Are you allowed to do that?” Hunk asked anxiously. “As the princess, I mean―not trying to tell you what to do, of course.”
“I did it once before, down in The Inferno,” Allura said with a shrug.
Pidge grinned. “I guess you’ve picked up a thing or two from the Galra, Princess.”
“Yes,” she agreed, glancing up at Lotor, and the anxiety within her eased, the tension fading from her shoulders. “I suppose I have.” She smiled softly. He mirrored her expression, pride and satisfaction in his eyes.
“Don’t encourage them,” Ezor chastised Pidge.
Allura cleared her throat and addressed the rest of the group. “The ball is in two days, which means we have very little time to plan this operation.” She hesitated. “I know I am asking a lot from you. You have already helped me so much. But this could be our only chance to solve this mystery once and for all, and prevent a war between Daibazaal and Altea.” Her gaze was steady. “If I can get close to Do-Tarn, will you help me?”
Shiro nodded and smiled. “Of course, Princess.”
She smiled gratefully. “Thank you.”
“Are we one hundred percent sure it’s the count, though?” Hunk asked, an uncertain expression on his face.
Lance groaned. “Don’t tell me this is one of your ‘feeling in your gut’ moments,” he said, rolling his eyes.
“It’s never done me wrong before.”
As the group began to talk amongst themselves, Allura glanced up at Lotor and saw the apprehension on his face.
“Lotor, what is it?” she asked, frowning in concern.
“Allura,” he said softly. He lightly touched her arm, turning away from the others so that only the two of them could hear their conversation. “Are you sure about this?”
“I can do this,” she assured him.
“I know you can,” he told her, his voice soothing. “I do not doubt you. However…” He hesitated. “We know the kind of person the count is. He is greedy, corrupt, and takes enjoyment out of other people’s suffering. We do not know what else he is capable of. You could be walking right into the domain of a dangerous man, and if you were to get hurt, I…” His voice trailed off, rough with suppressed emotion.
A warmth of gratitude bloomed in Allura’s chest as she looked up at him. “I appreciate your concern, truly,” she said sincerely. “But if our people can be saved by doing this, then I am more than willing to take the risk. I believe in our cause. I believe in us.” She paused. “Do you trust me?”
Lotor searched her eyes intently, then slowly relaxed. “I do,” he said. Then he added resolutely, “I want to go with you.”
“Oh, Lotor…” Her heart squeezed. “I am touched that you want to help, but it has not been long since you returned home.”
“I know, but you should not have to bear this burden on your own.”
Allura bit her lip. She wanted him with her, of course she did, but she didn’t want to be selfish. “But your empire―”
“Will be fine. The ball only lasts for the evening, does it not? Then we should be back in no time.”
“How will you get inside without being seen? The second the count sees you, there is no doubt he will have you arrested.”
“We can be discreet,” Lotor reasoned. “And we will come up with a plan.” His gaze softened. “I want us to see this through to the end, and I want us to do it together.”
With his gentle voice and tender gaze, how could she say no to him? “Alright then, I suppose I can let you tag along,” she teased, then smiled genuinely at him. He returned her smile, and once more the two of them became lost in each other, the rest of the world fading away.
“Here they go again,” Ezor muttered. “By the Mother of the Universe, just kiss already.”
Allura blushed, but her eyes remained on Lotor a second longer before they turned back to the group.
“I will accompany the Princess and her companions to Grekagan,” Lotor informed his generals. “In the meantime, I need the four of you to make sure things are running smoothly until my return.”
“You can count on us,” Acxa said with a nod, then a crease formed between her brow. “But what will you do, Lotor, when you get the evidence? The moment you step foot on Dunamis, the police will arrest you.”
“I won’t let that happen,” Allura promised. She glanced up at Lotor again, briefly taking his hand in hers to give it a reassuring squeeze. He squeezed back, gratefulness in his eyes.
“Alright, secret mission!” Lance cheered. “I was hoping something like this would happen!”
Hunk looked a little nervous but excited as well. “I feel like I’m in a spy movie―a spy movie with lots of aliens and space travel, that is.”
“I think it’s the perfect way to end our trip before we head back home,” Pidge added with a grin.
The cadets looked eager, and it warmed Allura’s heart, filling her chest to the brim with fondness and gratitude towards them. She gazed about the room. What a unique bunch they made―human, Galra, and Altean. Who could have ever predicted something like this would happen? And this would be their final mission, one last adventure before she and Lotor would have to say goodbye. Every last second she had with him, she knew it would be worth it.
Despite their inevitable parting which weighed down her heart, she still had that feeling, that electrifying sensation, telling her that something good was coming soon. She only needed to be a little more patient.
“So we’re really doing this,” Keith spoke up. “We’re a team.”
“Yes,” Lotor replied.
He caught Allura’s eye and they smiled at each other.
“We are.”
The next two days until the ball passed by. Sometimes it felt as if the hours came and went far too soon, and other times not soon enough.
Allura, Lotor, and Shiro stayed up late that first night, poring over maps and blueprints as they discussed the mission and formulated the outline of the plan together. Tired from his travels, Shiro eventually needed rest and bid the other two good night while they stayed behind. Allura didn’t realize how much time had passed until she glanced out the window and was astonished to find that dawn was fast approaching. The exhaustion quickly caught up to her. She let out a loud yawn, stretched her arms over her head, and she could see that Lotor too was struggling to stay awake.
“Why don’t you get some sleep?” she suggested. “We can continue in a few hours.”
“You should go, Allura,” he returned, running a hand through his now tousled hair as he stared blearily at the screen in front of them. “I will stay here.”
“Don’t be silly, you’re on the brink of collapse.”
“I want to get this right,” he insisted. He was surprisingly stubborn; perhaps due to the lack of sleep he was getting grumpy. “This plan has to work perfectly.”
“And it will, but you’ll have a clearer mind after you rest.”
“I still―”
“No more excuses,” Allura told him. She shut off the screen and grabbed his hand. “You’re no good to me a sleep-deprived man.”
Offended but too tired to argue, Lotor let her tug him along and they walked out the doors together. She felt his hand grasp hers more firmly as they entered the lift and made their way down the many halls of Castle Doom, which was fast asleep in the wee hours of the morning. The only other personages walking about were the Galra sentries, which saluted Lotor as they passed by.
Eventually they came to the part of the castle that divided the east wing from the west wing, though Allura was reluctant to release his hand.
“I suppose this is where we part ways,” she said, offering him a tired smile.
“It appears that way,” he agreed quietly.
Another sentry walked by, greeting the empire automatically with a salute, and Allura watched it curiously.
“What does that mean?” she asked. She mimicked the action, placing her right hand over her chest.
Lotor smiled. “It is a traditional address that has been a part of the Galra culture since the very beginning, and often goes hand-in-hand with our mantra: Vrepit Sa.”
“Victory or death,” Allura guessed, putting two and two together.
He nodded. “We do not use it only to show respect to our superiors, however, nor is it simply the act of placing one’s fist over their chest.”
Lotor paused, gently reaching for Allura’s hand and placing it on top of his armor, right above his sternum as he spoke.
“Your hand goes over your heart,” he went on softly, “because you are dedicating your heart to your people and to what you believe in. You give everything you can to defend that belief, to protect the ones you love, even give your own life in the process.” He smiled, his eyes crinkling at the edges. “You may think the Galra ways a bit extreme.”
Allura shook her head. “No,” she told him genuinely. “I think it is admirable. In fact, I…” She stepped closer to him and took hold of his hand to then place it over her own heart, which raced unceasingly beneath his warm touch. “I too would give everything I have for the ones I love.” She returned his smile softly.
His eyes warmed as he regarded her, then his gaze drifted down to their joined hands. He took hold of her necklace, his claws absent as his fingers ran over the golden chain and the crystal juniberry.
“Perhaps that is another thing we can add to our list of commonalities,” he mused. “The additions are getting more and more unorthodox everyday, don’t you think?”
Allura laughed. “Yes, I think you are right.” She gazed up at him, stars in her eyes. “Good night, Lotor.”
“Good night, Allura,” he returned, giving her hand a kiss before they finally parted ways.
The day before their departure was dedicated to honing the plan down to the most minute details before briefing the Earthlings. They spent much time going over every little factor, running through it countless times until every single person knew the plan backwards and forwards.
When night fell the group adjourned. They were to meet in the castle’s hangar the next afternoon, but for now it was important that they all got plenty of rest before their flight to Grekagan.
Staring up at the purple canopy above her head, Allura found that though she could feel the exhaustion in her mind and body, she could not fall asleep. For what seemed like hours but was merely minutes she tossed and turned underneath the blankets. She tried relaxing her muscles, meditating, breathing exercises, counting―anything she could think of, but none of the methods worked.
This will not do, she thought. So she made up her mind, got out of bed, pulled on her robe, and walked out of her room and towards the lift. A walk ought to do me some good.
She left the west wing, passing once again the sentries that must have been programmed to pay the Altean no mind (courtesy of Lotor most likely), and made her way through the corridors that were dimly lit with a soft, glowing purple. At times it was hard to believe that she was actually staying as a guest on the home planet of the Galra, but she found that she enjoyed her time here―for a variety of reasons, naturally.
After some time she came upon a long hallway. To her right was a series of doors leading to probably offices or conference rooms, while to her left were large windows, each one extending all the way towards the ceiling and providing a view of the outside world. In the distance she could see the red valley, the night life of the city bustling during the late hour.
Allura decided to sit on one of the window sills which was plenty big enough for several people, taking a place on the right side and leaning her back against the inner wall of the window. She drew her knees up to her chest and sighed.
She thought perhaps that the reason she was unable to rest was because she was too distracted, still contemplating the plan for tomorrow. She had gone over it so many times that at this point she could recite it in her sleep, and she thought she might, as her mind was preoccupied with little else besides the mission.
Well, that and other things…
Allura thought about her family, her people, her planet and how much she missed them. She was homesick, having been away for three months, and she longed to see that beautiful blue planet with its white, ring-shaped, orbiting space stations and satellites again. She longed to see her parents, grandmother, aunt and cousins again, but before she could she needed to finish her mission first. She would not let them down.
Looking out the window at the sky, Allura took in the vibrant shades of blue and pink and the countless stars which twinkled pleasantly above. She probably could have fallen asleep right where she sat, watching the night sky until she drifted off. It really was beautiful.
“It reminds me of your eyes…”
Allura’s hands, which were clasped together around her knees, clenched a little tighter. She felt her cheeks warm and her heart squeeze with the pain and longing within her. The other thing that was on her mind was Lotor, but what else was new? Ever since the beginning, the mere thought of him never ceased to inflame her heart, just as it did in this very moment.
She smiled to herself, remembering how she would get so worked up and impassioned because of what she thought had to be dislike for him, and so she refused to accept any other explanation. And now, the pounding of her heart in her chest, so intense and powerful she thought it might burst, was because of something else entirely.
She wondered what he was up to at that moment; hopefully able to find rest where she could not. Though… it would have been nice to see him. She had spent the entire day with him, yet it was never enough.
As if the Mother of the Universe Herself had heard her thoughts, Allura’s wish was granted. She heard heavy footsteps approaching from up ahead, and there he was.
“Allura,” he called softly, eyebrows raised in surprise.
“Lotor,” she said, her voice coming out more breathless than she intended. She smiled at him.
He returned her smile, his gaze softening as he got closer. Her mouth went dry, taking him in as he stood a few paces away from her. His sleepwear was plain and a dark, almost black, shade of blue. He wore a robe which extended down to his knees, opened to reveal the loose shirt and long pants underneath. Now absent of his armor, his hands were bare, as was his neck and collarbone, exposing more of his lilac skin.
Allura swallowed thickly. She knew it was improper to stare and that she ought not to get so hot and bothered by his appearance. It wasn’t as if she’d never seen another person’s bare neck or hands before, and Lotor’s clothes weren’t revealing in the slightest. However, compared to what he usually wore, intentionally covering every inch of his body from the neck down, it almost gave off the impression that Allura was looking at something she wasn’t supposed to, and her face flushed.
If Lotor saw her blushing underneath the dim, purple lights of the corridor, he didn’t comment on it. He nodded towards the window. “May I sit?”
“Please.”
He sat on the left side of the sill and across from Allura so that they faced each other. His left leg was propped up, his arm resting on his knee, while his right foot rested on the ground. He leaned his head back and sighed tiredly. Once more Allura found herself eyeing him, taking in every little detail: his strong, long-fingered hands which were currently absent of any claws, his sharp collarbone and, from what the shirt permitted her to see (which unfortunately was very little), a lean and muscular chest. And his neck… she wanted to reach out and touch it, to touch him.
Lotor was rubbing the back of said neck, probably sore, when he caught her gawking at him.
Dear gods, Allura, stop staring already. She cleared her throat. “I could not sleep,” she said, figuring she ought to offer some sort of explanation as to why she was out wandering around so late at night.
“Nor I,” he said, regarding her with those luminescent eyes, and there was a teasing glint within them. “Though I believe I recall someone dragging me through the halls of the castle last night, vehemently insisting that I get some rest.”
“I have to make sure you take advantage of having a bed again,” she told him with a cheeky grin. “It is much better than sleeping on the floor, is it not?”
“Careful, Princess,” he warned, but it was lighthearted. “Keep making comments like that and I will have no choice but to remove you from my presence.”
“What will you do, throw me over your shoulder and carry me back to my room?”
“Do you want me to?”
“I’d like to see you try.”
“Don’t tempt me.”
Allura started laughing, as did Lotor, and they were caught in a beautiful moment that the princess had never experienced before until she met this man in front of her―the feeling of openness and closeness with someone other than one’s family.
When the laughter faded, she saw him looking at her with a thoughtful smile on his face, as if remembering something. “What is it?” she asked, tilting her head curiously.
“I was thinking,” he began, “how everything is so different compared to when we first met three months ago.” Then he added softly, “You and I have come a long way, haven’t we?”
Warmth bloomed in Allura’s chest. “We have,” she agreed. “It feels like a lifetime ago; so much has changed since then.”
“A good change, I hope.”
“I believe so. We are getting closer to finding the truth, to saving our people, to bringing closure to those who have suffered these last few months.”
And in the midst of it all, she thought to herself but couldn’t say aloud. I was falling for you every step of the way.
Lotor’s eyes flickered over her. “None of this,” he said in a low voice, “would be possible without you. It is thanks to you we made it this far.”
“We did this together,” Allura returned sincerely, though she was touched by his words. “We have been through so much, and to me, every moment was worth it.”
“Even when we fought?” he asked, the corner of his mouth lifting.
She smiled back. “Even when we fought.”
At the time, those arguments had left her so furious afterwards that she never wanted to see or speak to the Galra emperor ever again, but sooner or later they always ended up gravitating back towards each other. And each time they did, they came to a closer understanding of the other, finally seeing them for who they really were.
“I must say the storage closet was not such a bad location,” she added jokingly. “Perhaps we should meet there from now on whenever we need to argue.” Her smile grew when he laughed. The sound was like music to her ears.
“I have a feeling we would do very little arguing, Allura, were we to meet in that cramped little closet again,” he told her, amusement in his eyes.
They fell silent, and it was obvious that they were both thinking about the other day: Lotor backing her up against the door, their arms encircling one another as they leaned in, soft puffs of breath on each other’s lips… That was the second time they’d almost kissed, but both times they were interrupted, the moment would pass, and the two of them would come back to their senses.
Allura looked down at her hands, breaking the tension between them. “Actually, there is something I want to tell you,” she began, changing the subject. “The real reason I didn’t want your commanders to see me that day, besides getting caught.”
“I am listening.”
“And you have to promise you will not tell anyone,” she added, looking at him intently, though she already knew she could trust him.
He smiled. “I promise,” he assured her, and sat up a little straighter, his full attention on her.
Allura took a deep breath. She hadn’t repeated a word to anyone else about what her grandmother had told her, but she wanted to share it with Lotor. She wanted to be able to share these kinds of things with him. “The truth is, I had heard about Chief Commander Mogor before I came to Daibazaal. My grandmother told me about him. They were… together once.”
“Together as in…?”
“They were lovers,” she clarified, feeling her cheeks warm.
Lotor stilled, his smile faded, then all he said was, “Oh.”
He leaned his head back against the wall, looking out the window. He had a strange look on his face, nearly expressionless, except there was something in his eyes, something that Allura couldn’t quite place. Was it disappointment? Dejection?
“You do not seem as surprised about this as I was,” she noticed.
Lotor looked back to her. “Interspecies relationships are… not as uncommon as you might think,” he began slowly. “And though they do not always succeed, as was the case with Queen Rhiella and Commander Mogor, some manage to stay together and have families. I mean, look at me.” He shrugged one shoulder, then regarded Allura with some apprehension, though she wasn’t sure why.
“It made me sad,” she said quietly, “when I heard all of this from my grandmother. She told me she did not regret marrying my grandfather, but I think it still hurts her. To know that the person you lost all those years ago is still out there, living a completely separate life from yours. She was younger than I was, too. Actually, all Altean princesses throughout history at my age would be married by now.” She smiled. “It has not quite worked out in my favor, what with the fifty-six suitors and all.”
The uneasiness in Lotor’s eyes faded and he returned her smile. “Of course.”
“All my life I was taught to believe that the bloodline of my family must remain pure, that a marital union can only be between two Alteans, but after hearing my grandmother’s story, I have begun to think differently.
“Marrying someone, wanting to be with someone for the rest of your life, I do not think it has anything to do with who you are or where you are from―or even if the Mother Herself has decreed it―but rather it is up to you to choose that person, and that they choose you, too.” Her smile saddened and she turned her head to look out the window, gazing up at the stars. “But no matter what my grandmother may wish for now, in the end she still chose to marry my grandfather, because she wanted to follow her duties as future queen.”
As I must do as well someday, she thought, a dreadful pain slicing through her heart at the reminder.
She didn’t want to think about it, however. She forced a smile and looked at Lotor. “Perhaps your parents believed the same things as well,” she told him, “to do what they wanted rather than what others wanted for them, to choose each other.” She tried to be positive, but she couldn’t keep up the facade, not when he was looking at her with such warmth and compassion in his glowing eyes.
“Your grandmother made a very difficult decision,” he said quietly. “I think I can understand the situation she and Mogor were in, all those years ago. My parents must have gone through it as well, and―”
He hesitated, but then making up his mind, his expression resolute, he looked intently into her eyes.
“I think the same applies to… us.”
Allura’s heart pounded. They gazed at one another in silence as his words sank in. Lotor’s lips parted, his fangs peeking out in the dim, purple lights around them, before he turned away from her again, shaking his head slightly.
“And look where it got them,” he added darkly, his voice low and rough.
An ache formed in Allura’s chest as she continued to watch him, the thrill and the dread combining into one confusing concoction that boiled in her stomach. They had never really talked about it―their relationship. They would flirt, hold hands, hug, exchange casual touches with one another, certainly, but when it came to speaking about it out loud, they always skirted around the subject. If they spoke about it, if they acknowledged it, they would have to face the reality of their situation. They would have to accept the cold, hard truth―
―that they could not be together.
But gods, did Allura want to be with him in every sense of the word. She wanted to be able to reach for his hand, to embrace him without the constant reminder of their inevitable parting in the back of her mind. She wanted to tell him that she cared deeply for him, that she wanted him, that she wanted to melt into his arms and kiss him until they were both breathless and knew nothing else in the universe except each other.
Allura could tell that Lotor was holding back, however, that he was intentionally restraining himself from her. There was a lot of pain in his past that was clearly difficult for him to talk about, and because of that there would be moments when he would shut down, push away any painful emotions, and his mask would slip back into place. But she had seen the real him, and she wanted him to always be able to be the real him. She wanted to tear down his walls just as he had torn down hers. She wanted him so badly, and though she might not have known exactly to what extent, she knew that he wanted her, too.
“Lotor,” she began softly.
“Yes, Allura.”
“What if…” She bit her lip. “What if we went for it?”
It was still difficult to say exactly what “it” was, but Lotor understood what she meant. His eyes widened a fraction, and he drew in a quiet breath, his chest rising and falling. She remembered what he told her back in the tavern, that he wanted her to go after what she wanted, but she wanted the same for him, too. There were times when he would be bold and not hold back from her, and other times when he would pull away. She wished that he would give into his desires. She wished that they both would.
“We have come this far, you and I,” she went on. “So what if we gave in, just this once? Before we have to say goodbye.”
Lotor’s eyes softened, but he shook his head.
“Just this once,” he repeated slowly, his voice turning husky as he considered her proposal. “Do you believe we would be able to stop after that?”
Her heart continued to race in her chest at the idea, and her hands gripped the fabric of her nightgown. “Who knows, you might discover that you hate me after all,” she joked half-heartedly with a shrug.
Lotor smiled a little, but it soon faded. “Not possible,” he told her, and his tone was still low and rough. His eyes became hooded as they traveled over her. “You are an amazing woman, Allura,” he said quietly. “And you… you are so beautiful.”
Allura was certain he could hear her heartbeat at that point. Her body felt hot all over as they continued to gaze at each other.
“The first moment I saw you, that day on the steps of City Hall, I thought”―he kept his eyes on her, shaking his head slightly with a ghost of a smile on his lips―”this woman cannot be a princess. Surely she must be a goddess.” And when a smile formed on Allura’s face, he let out a sigh. “Allura…”
No one had ever said anything like that to her before. She leaned forward, hugging her knees tightly to her chest as she looked at him. “I love the way you say my name,” she said in a near whisper. “I love the way you look at me. I can always feel your eyes on me, even when I turn away. I will never forget the way you looked at me when we first met, just as you look at me now.” The inner corners of her eyebrows lifted. “Half-Galra or not, emperor or not, whatever you may be, it does not matter. You are amazing, Lotor. Everything about you. You are beautiful to me.”
Lotor looked astonished, as if he had never expected to hear such words come out of her mouth, as if he’d never heard such words before at all. The thought broke Allura’s heart, thinking about what he must have gone through over the years. She, a sheltered princess with a family who gave her love and affection, and he, a hardened emperor who would never get to choose to have a family―the two of them were so different from each other, yet they were also the same. They were both two lonely souls, weighed down by their responsibilities, desperate to love someone and be loved in return, and after all this time they’d found each other, two equals that could have the most beautiful, the most pure, the most passionate love of all time.
But despite all of that…
“Allura,” Lotor uttered her name once more. “We cannot. There is… still so much we do not know about each other, so much you do not know about me.” He sounded as if he was trying to convince himself more than her. “If we were anything more, it would be so much harder to say goodbye.” Then he said to her, his voice thick with barely restrained emotion, “I would miss you, more than I do already. I miss you now.”
The pain in Allura’s heart was unbearable. She wanted to cut it out so she would never feel this way again, and she wondered if he felt the same.
Her nose stung. “I miss you, too.” And they smiled at each other.
Allura wasn’t sure how much time had passed, and thankfully it wasn’t nearly as late as it was when they were working last night, but eventually she couldn’t help the itchiness in her eyes or the yawn that suddenly overtook her, and she instinctively covered her mouth with the back of her hand.
Lotor regarded her fondly. “I believe it is time you went to bed,” he told her in a soft voice.
She wanted to protest. She wanted to stay up with Lotor and keep talking to him, but even she could not deny that her body needed its rest. “I suppose,” she said reluctantly, stretching her arms above her head.
As she lowered them back down, her robe slipped off of her left shoulder, revealing her bare upper arm, and she did not miss the way Lotor’s sharp eyes snapped to her exposed skin before he glanced away. Her cheeks warmed as she pulled her robe back into place.
“Walk me back?” she asked, and he looked at her.
“Allura,” he told her in a warning voice, but she held up her hands.
“It is a simple request,” she insisted. “From a princess to an emperor.”
Lotor raised an eyebrow. “Going back to our royal titles now, are we?”
“Of course, Your Imperial Majesty. It shall be a strictly platonic stroll, I assure you.”
The corner of his mouth lifted. “Very well, Your Highness,” he agreed as he stood, willing to play along.
He offered Allura a hand, helping her to her feet, and the touch of his bare skin against hers sent a spark of heat throughout every facet of her body.
Then Lotor looked at her with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Or better yet…”
Without warning he picked her up, scooping her into his arms so that his right arm was around her shoulders and back, and his left underneath her legs.
“Lotor!” Allura yelped in surprise as she quickly took hold of his shoulders, though she was grinning all the while.
He returned her smile. “Please allow me to do at least one favor for my princess during her remaining stay on Daibazaal.”
Allura’s heart fluttered at the way he said “my princess.” How could she deny him when he spoke to her in that soft voice, or when his glowing eyes regarded her so warmly?
“If you insist,” she conceded dramatically. “Perhaps this once, then. It would be rude of me to refuse such an honor, wouldn’t it?”
“The honor is all mine.”
Lotor started down the hallway, holding her securely in his arms. This was alright; the two of them could play pretend for a little while, could enjoy each other’s company and forget all of the sorrows they felt within their hearts and the pain of their separation that was to come.
Allura didn’t realize how used she was to feeling him when he wore his armor. Now through the soft material of his clothes, she could feel the strong, firm muscles of his arms, shoulders, chest, as well as the warmth that radiated off of him even more intensely than before. Or perhaps that last part was due to her flushed skin in response to their intimate physical contact.
She leaned in closer towards him to wrap her arms around his neck, and as she did so she ran her fingers through his thick hair, something she’d wanted to do ever since she first felt his pearl white locks that night underneath the opera house. When she lightly brushed the pointed tip of his ear, she heard his breath catch.
“Is this bothering you?” Allura asked, feigning innocence.
“You certainly know how to distract a man, Princess.”
“Oh, I distract you, do I?” She grinned. “How so?”
“Do you want a list?”
“How long is it?”
“How much time do you have?” Lotor asked, and they both laughed quietly. “There is one.”
“What is?”
“Your laugh. And another, your smile.”
Allura’s heart warmed. “It is the same for me, about you,” she told him as they rounded a corner. “I love it when I can make you laugh.” She wished she could have been the reason for his laughter and happiness for the rest of forever.
Lotor glanced at her. “I have laughed a lot since I met you,” he said. “More than I have in a long time. I also received a lot of stress because of you, you vexatious, seductress of a woman.”
He adjusted his hold on her, and his long fingers skated over her ribs, tickling her. Allura couldn’t help the giggles from erupting as she squirmed in his arms.
“Lotor,” she chastised him teasingly in between laughs. “Is this any way to treat your guest?”
“Did you have something else in mind?” he asked, and despite the suggestive choice of words, his manner was wholesome, and they smiled at each other.
After taking the lift and more walking on Lotor’s part, they finally arrived in front of Allura’s suite. Lotor elbowed the button to open the doors and walked inside. Carefully he lowered her onto the left side of the bed, laying her head back against the pillows and pulling the blankets up to her shoulders.
Allura hummed in content. “You are lovely,” she told him in a soft voice.
Lotor’s crooked smile was bashful. “I shall see you tomorrow,” he said.
His large hand rested on the mattress next to her pillow, and as he looked down at her, leaning over her, Allura’s heart and stomach somersaulted. His sharp, piercing eyes glimmered in the dark, regarding her with that usual intensity, and the way he was bent over her made his loose shirt expose more of his body, providing a generous view of his defined chest. Allura had told herself she wasn’t going to stare, as it wasn’t proper, but the thoughts running through her head were so far removed from proper at that point that she let her eyes wander over him.
By now she ought to have accepted that everything she was thinking would always show on her face, because Lotor saw it, and his eyes widened a fraction, though he remained still.
“You could stay here,” Allura murmured. “We do not have to do anything more than sleep.”
His lips parted and his fangs peeked out, clearly tempted, but then he shook his head. “I understand your good intentions―though the way you are staring down my shirt tells me your intentions are anything but.” He smiled when she laughed at that. “I do not think it is wise for me to stay. And if I am being completely honest with you, Allura,” he added in a low voice, his eyes darkening. “I would not be able to fall asleep… not with you next to me.”
Allura heard those words with her entire body. “Neither would I,” she admitted in a near whisper.
“Which is why I must leave you,” he told her gently.
He lightly brushed his thumb along her cheek, and to feel his bare skin against her own was heavenly. He hesitated for a split second before he leaned down to kiss her forehead, then pulled away slightly to look over her.
“Good night,” he whispered.
“Good night,” she returned.
As promised, he left her room, and after the doors closed behind him, she turned on her side and clutched the blankets to her chest, her heart racing as a blissful sigh escaped her lips.
Allura was feeling antsy when morning came. She, Lotor, and the Earthlings would be leaving for Grekagan soon, but the hours that counted down to their departure seemed endless. As she sat on the sofa in the lounge where the cadets were lazing about, she decided to give Coran a call from her holographic tablet.
“Things are going well,” her advisor reported cheerfully. “The High Council didn’t bat an eye when I told them you were headed to Count Do-Tarn’s ball. In fact,” he added, raising an eyebrow, “the count seemed quite pleased before he left.”
Allura grimaced. “I am sure he did. And how are you, Coran?”
“I am well. I am missing you of course, but fortunately I ran into my old friend Bii-Boh-Bi! He and I go way back―don’t play cards with him, though. He cheats like there’s no tomorrow.”
She laughed. “I appreciate the warning.”
“Are you going to Grekagan soon, then?”
“Yes, it should not be long now before we leave. It takes a few hours to travel from here to the Ulippa System, so we should arrive in time for the ball.”
“Then I wish you safe travels. However, you should know,” Coran said, looking concerned. “I went to Grekagan once, and the storms there can be so awful that it is utterly impossible to navigate through them. It’s very dangerous. I pray to the Mother of the Universe that you’ll have clear skies while you’re there.”
“Thank you, Coran,” Allura said sincerely. “I will contact you after we succeed in our mission.”
“Your optimism never fails to amaze me, Allura. Good luck!”
After she ended the call, Allura decided she wanted to do something productive to pass the time, so she retrieved her staff from her suite and headed towards the training arena. It was large and circular, well lit with purple lights and had a raised platform in the middle, also in the shape of a circle, with tall pillars holding up the ceiling around the edges of the room. After tinkering around with the console for a bit (she’d picked up some of the Galra language during the last few days), Allura customized the program to bring in a sentry, increasing the difficulty level with each match.
She climbed up onto the tall platform, extended her staff, and spun it mindlessly in one hand, waiting for the robot to appear from the ceiling, armed with its own staff. It took her a while to get warmed up once the session started, and the sentry was able to get in a few hits before Allura managed to defeat it. She winced at the aches in her limbs; she was definitely going to have bruises later.
Galra tactics were different from Altean, she found, as she observed the sentry’s fighting style. It was rougher, harsher, and did not observe the same rules that she’d grown up learning on her own planet. However, after a couple more levels she was at last able to find her rhythm and successfully defeated the sentry, working up a sweat in the process, and at one point she was so concentrated in what she was doing that she didn’t hear the doors to the arena open and shut with a hiss.
At level eight, the sentry was finally out of commission. Battered and beaten, it at last powered down and collapsed onto the floor. Allura stopped to catch her breath, wiping the sweat from her forehead as a mechanical arm reached down from the ceiling to retrieve the destroyed machine.
“Impressive.”
Startled, the princess spun in place to see Lotor standing near the entrance. He was leaning his right shoulder against a pillar, and his arms were folded as he watched her, a small smile on his face.
“How long have you been standing there?” she asked.
“Long enough. Please, do not stop on my account. Or would you prefer a more worthy opponent?” He began walking towards the platform, one hand resting on the hilt of his sword.
Allura’s gaze was fixed on him as he approached. The idea of sparring with Lotor was intriguing to her, exciting and tempting, she could not deny that. However, she was skeptical. “I am not sure how your weapon and mine would work in a fight,” she said, doubt creeping into her voice. “The rules of engagement do not align.”
“I thought you did not mind breaking the rules”―his smile widened―”ever since you met me.”
She bit back a smile. “It would not be a proper duel,” she reminded him, walking to the edge of the platform. “It would be… unconventional. Nontraditional.”
Lotor stopped in his tracks, standing in front of the platform and looking up at her. They gazed at each other, the air electric and tense as it always was between them.
“That’s alright,” he told her softly, gentle understanding and encouragement in his eyes. “I think tradition is overrated, anyway.”
Allura’s heart melted. Those eyes of his would be the death of her. She smiled wide and nodded. “Alright, then. Let’s do it.”
He returned her smile, and after resetting the console so that no more sentries would arrive, he leapt up onto the platform, accepting her offered hand, and unsheathed his sword. “I have been looking forward to this for quite some time now,” he said as they began circling each other.
“Yes, I know,” she teased him. “You once told me you wanted me to show you what I was made of. I haven’t forgotten that.”
“Well, now is your chance.” He then looked at her intently. “I am not going to dial down my moves, Allura.”
“Good. Neither will I.”
He nodded, gratification in his eyes. They both tensed, taking a stance, then lunged forward and clashed together.
At first the duel was going well. Continuously they parried, separated, then came together and parried again. Allura ducked to avoid a swing, Lotor dodged to avoid a jab, and they went back and forth, weapons clanging and pushing against one another.
Then Lotor started playing dirty. When he swung his sword down towards her head, Allura raised her staff horizontally with both hands to block it, but before she could react, he leaned down towards her and rammed into her with his left shoulder. The sudden blow knocked the wind out of her and she was sent tumbling to the ground, barely rolling out of the way in time before Lotor’s sword struck the ground where she previously lay. When she recovered from the shock and caught her breath, she sat up, leaning back on her hands, and glared up at him.
“You cheater,” she accused. “This is not how duels operate.”
Lotor stood in front of her, his sharp eyes watching her as his sword hung at his side. “Ah, but remember that this is not a proper duel,” he reminded her, though his tone was not condescending. “I am simply making things more interesting for the both of us.”
She continued to glower up at him, the adrenaline coursing through her veins, as well as a sharp pang of irritation and a desire to get back at him electrifying her heart.
His lips parted, fangs showing slightly as he sucked in a quiet breath, fervently taking her in. “I can see the rage in your eyes, Allura. Use it. Show me.”
That sparked a fire in her blood. He always managed to do that, didn’t he? He brought out that passion from deep within her, to make her recognize what she was craving, to get a taste of that thrill, that feverish exhilaration―that freedom ―everything she didn’t realize she’d been missing her entire life until she met him.
Snatching up her staff and swinging at him spitefully, making him step back, Allura got to her feet, refocused, and charged. Again they came together, weapons striking at one another. When Allura aimed for Lotor’s ribs, he grabbed the end of her staff and tugged her towards him, spinning her around so that her back was up against his chest as he used her own weapon to entrap her. She elbowed him hard in the stomach and he let out a grunt, loosening his hold on her enough so that she could grab his arm. Then, pressing back into his hip, she bent over and pulled on his arm as hard as she could. She flipped him and he rolled right over her, landing on his back in front of her.
Lotor’s eyes were wide and he breathed heavily. Allura stood near his head and rested her hands on her knees as she leaned over him, looking at his face from upside down.
“How is that for showing you?” she asked, panting.
He grinned, baring his fangs. “Someone’s learning,” he remarked in a low voice, praising her.
Their fight continued. Allura’s bun was starting to come undone from all of the intense physical activity, and soon her thick tresses fell in waves down her back. Compared to Lotor’s taller stature and skill with the sword which gave him the upper hand at times, she managed to use her smaller frame and her own training to her advantage, slipping away from his reach or reacting swiftly to his blows.
“You’re quick,” he said to her at one point, pushing her backwards when their weapons clanged together, getting closer to the edge of the platform. “Must be due to your small size.”
“Small?” Allura repeated. She grit her teeth and pushed right back, then swung for his head which he blocked before leaping away when he aimed for her neck. “Sir, I am taller than most Alteans.” She grinned. “Perhaps your reflexes have gotten worse with age.”
“Are you calling me old?”
“Older than I am.”
“Only by five years.”
“Still counts.”
Step and strike, strike and step, swinging down hard upon one another, pushing and pulling, hacking, slashing… faster and faster they moved with each other until―
Lotor swung at her, which she blocked before jumping away, but he followed, pressing forward. Allura’s muscles were shaking with exhaustion, her entire body drenched in sweat. She could see that he was getting worn out as well, strands of his thick hair sticking to his neck, his attacks less forceful. With one last effort, Allura pushed and aimed for his head. He whacked her staff aside with his sword half-heartedly, and finally they stepped back from each other. Hunched over, huffing and puffing, they made no more moves to strike.
“Might I―” Lotor panted. “―propose a respite?”
“Proposal accepted,” Allura groaned, also fighting to catch her breath.
Before she finished speaking, Lotor tossed his sword to the side and lay back on the platform, letting out a tired sigh. Allura too dropped her staff and lay down next to him on his right so that they were side-by-side. The room was silent for the next few minutes with nothing but the sounds of their heavy breathing slowly returning to normal.
Allura pushed her hair out of her face as she stared up at the purple lights on the ceiling, her chest rising and falling with each puff of breath that escaped her lips. Her blood was singing, her body was humming. She had never felt so alive. They should have done this sooner, she mused, back when they had their first argument in that hallway on Dunamis. Her racing heart gradually returned to normal, and the sweat began to cool down her heated skin.
She turned her head to the left and peeked over at Lotor. “Round two?” she asked with a grin, and she felt a warmth in her chest when he laughed.
He met her gaze and raised his eyebrows at her, though he was smiling. “Already?”
“You don’t want to? Does that mean I won since I was the last person standing?”
“Far from it. Give me a second.”
“Surely the Galra emperor does not tire out so easily,” Allura teased him.
“Speak for yourself.” Lotor sat up a little, leaning on one arm so he could face her better. His eyes traveled over her. “Look at you,” he purred. “Your face is flushed.”
Allura’s grin faded, all thoughts of being coy disappearing when he closed the gap between them, leaning down so that their faces were inches apart, his armor creaking as he moved in towards her. He reached out to stroke her white locks.
“Your hair came undone,” he noticed.
“Yes?” she prompted, somehow keeping her voice steady.
“I like it,” he told her quietly. His fingers threaded through her hair and brushed against her neck, and despite the fact that it must have felt hot and sweaty, he didn’t complain. There was warmth, adoration and… a hunger in his eyes as he looked down at her.
I want you, that sharp gaze told her.
Lotor leaned in even closer. Allura shut her eyes and waited, her heart pounding and her fists clenching in anticipation―
Then that obnoxious alert sounded from her wrist, startling them both. Allura barely resisted letting out a groan of frustration. Still on her back, she lifted her wrist to see the notification. Lotor backed away and sat up, running a hand through his now tousled hair. She sighed and sat up as well.
“Another message from Shiro. He says we are leaving soon.” Then with a scowl, she added, “I should have put this thing on silent mode.”
Lotor looked amused at her vexation. “If you had, then someone would have come looking for us, and they would have found us in…” The corner of his mouth lifted, eyes full of mirth. “...quite a compromising position.”
“I’ll put you in a compromising position,” she muttered, still cursing silently to herself that they’d been interrupted for the umpteenth time.
“I am sure you will,” he said, getting to his feet. “But for now it is best we leave before the others begin to wonder where we are.”
“Are you certain you do not want to do anything else?” she asked innocently.
Lotor smiled. “Yes, Allura. Besides, it is worth the wait, is it not?”
“It could be worth it right now.”
He laughed. “You little temptress,” he said, looking at her fondly as he extended a hand towards her. “I am afraid we will have to figure that out later.”
“You won’t know until you try,” Allura said in a final attempt to persuade him. Nevertheless she accepted his hand and he helped her to her feet.
“I know that once I start I will not be able to stop,” he told her softly, his sharp eyes glancing at her lips before meeting her gaze again. Then he grinned, baring his fangs. “And we have a ball to get you to, don’t we?”
They retrieved their weapons, then Lotor jumped down from the platform first, landing on his feet. He turned to Allura and offered his hand once more. She took hold of it, her own hand completely enveloped in his, and proceeded to hop off as well, but the height from the platform to the ground was greater than she anticipated. Unable to catch her balance, she fell into Lotor’s chest, gasping. He let out a grunt of surprise but quickly caught her, grabbing onto her upper arm and waist.
Allura’s heart was racing from the sensation of falling, but also because of the way she was pressed up against Lotor. Their overheated bodies which were pressed together engulfed Allura in a white-hot fire that she would gladly burst into flame for. She was certain he could feel her heartbeat. She lifted her head to look up at him. She did not miss the way he glanced at her lips, and she was looking at his mouth as well.
I want you, she thought, and the heat with which she gazed fervently up at him was not lost on him, she knew.
Breathing in and out, she kept her eyes locked on his and slowly stood up straight. As she leaned in towards him, she could hear him draw in a quiet breath. She smoothed her hands up his armor, placed her palms on his chest, and stood on the tips of her toes so that their mouths were mere inches away from each other.
“Kiss me, Lotor,” she said breathlessly.
“Allura,” he uttered her name like a prayer. His chest rose and fell, his pupils were dilated, his hands firm on her waist, and his claws were extracted, tickling her through her suit.
So his claws also appeared when he was excited…
“Perhaps we should…” Lotor trailed off when Allura reached up, the tips of her fingers hovering over his mouth. They barely brushed against his lips and she could feel the warm puffs of his breath.
She shook her head slightly, then reached for his shoulders. Their lips were only centimeters apart. Everything they’d talked about last night, every rational thought in her brain reminded her with blaring sirens to stop, that they shouldn’t do this, that once they crossed this line they were going to have to face the consequences, but she was done skirting around her feelings. She didn’t want to pretend, didn’t want to deny what she felt anymore. For once in her life she wanted to give in.
Allura wanted―no, she needed Lotor to go after what he wanted, too, to have his desires fulfilled, just like he wanted for her. She needed him to let go, to not hold back any longer, to break free from his restraints…
To see what he truly wanted, right here in front of him, and take it.
“Kiss me,” she whispered, her eyes half-lidded, “and don’t stop.”
And before Allura could take another breath, Lotor sighed, cradled the back of her head, leaned down―
And at last he kissed her.
The words finally, finally, finally… ran through Allura’s mind when they kissed for the first time, heat blooming from her heart and reaching all the way to her fingertips and toes. She felt Lotor break away and let out a shaky breath, almost as if he couldn’t believe this was real, before tightening his grip in her hair and kissing her again with more purpose, heat, and passion.
It wasn’t before long that every coherent thought disappeared and Allura stopped thinking entirely. The way Lotor’s mouth caressed hers, urgently yet tenderly… the soft sound that came from the back of his throat that was pure music to her ears… his large hand cradling the back of her head, his fingers buried in her hair… the way his arm coiled tightly around her waist so that there wasn’t a hair’s width of space between them―
―in that moment she knew nothing but him.
Bringing her arms up to wrap around his neck, Allura broke away to catch her breath, her eyes still closed as she touched her forehead to his.
“I was born to kiss you,” she whispered.
She heard Lotor sigh her name again before he lovingly kissed the corner of her lips, then pulled her back in, deepening the kiss and making her hum into his mouth. His hands traveled underneath her hair and up her back, gently pushing on her shoulders to encourage her to hold on tighter to him, then without warning he picked her up, hooking his hands underneath her thighs and holding her securely to him.
Allura gasped at the movement, looking down at him and grasping onto his shoulders as he walked forwards to place her on the edge of the platform. He kissed her once more in a way that made her stomach do somersaults, then with a grin he held the sides of her face and started peppering her with more kisses all over her―her lips, cheeks, forehead, chin, nose―anywhere he could reach as she laughed from the tickling sensation.
“Lotor!” she protested between giggles, grinning and squeezing her eyes shut.
He placed one more sweet kiss on the corner of her jaw before pulling away. She opened her eyes to look at him, and he leaned forward to lightly brush his nose against hers with the most blissful smile on his face that she’d ever seen.
“What is it?” she asked breathlessly.
Lotor exhaled, his soft gaze searching hers. “I…” He shook his head slightly, his smile growing and his fangs peeking out. “I’m really glad you’re here with me, Allura.”
Allura’s heart felt like it was going to burst with joy. She took in the beauty of this man before her. She reached out to stroke the lock of hair that fell over his face. Then her fingers trailed from his temple, to his cheek, to his chin, and down to the pulse point of his neck. Like her, his heart was racing, and she hoped that the happiness, affection, and maybe even the love she saw in him was reflected in her as well, for she truly felt that way, with her entire body and soul.
“I’m really glad, too, Lotor,” she told him softly.
There was pure delight on his face at her words, and he turned his head to kiss her palm. She smiled and leaned down to kiss him again, cupping his face in her hands. His arms wrapped firmly around her waist, bringing her closer to the edge of the platform and towards him.
“Mm, as much as I would like to continue this,” Lotor said in between kisses, his voice rough and gravelly, before he pulled away. “I really do think we ought to get going.”
Allura shook her head earnestly, entwining his neck in her arms to bring him back. “No, let’s stay here―” She kissed him hungrily, and she felt his lips quirk up in a smile.
“Allura,” he murmured against her mouth. One hand remained on her hip, his claws digging into her suit, while the other reached up to caress her cheek. “For once I would rather us have a moment that lasts long enough without someone walking in and interrupting us, don’t you?”
She leaned back to look him in the eye. “And who was saying that I should take what I wanted?” she asked teasingly.
He smiled wide. “Using my own words against me now, are you? You’ll pay for that.” He ran his fingers up the sides of her ribs, tickling her.
Allura laughed again, squirming in his arms. “Alright, you win. But don’t forget what you said about us having a second round later,” she reminded him, running her hands over his shoulders and down his arms. “Deal?”
Lotor cradled her cheek and brought her back down to him for one last searing kiss. He pulled away just enough to look at her, his indigo and lavender eyes gleaming with joy.
“Deal,” he told her softly.
Notes:
EEEE THEY FINALLY KISSED!!!! I sincerely hope you enjoyed this chapter!!! It feels good to get it out after waiting for so long hehe. Fun fact: Lotor and Allura's duel is inspired by Jaime and Brienne's in "A Storm of Swords"! I have not read the book myself nor have I watched Game of Thrones, but I am still a huge fan of their relationship, and there is no doubt that their duel in the book is absolutely iconic 😆👌
Also I don't mean to make Allura look like an idiot for not figuring out Lotor's true heritage yet 😅 I promise there is a reason for all of this haha!
Thank you as always for reading!!! 💖💜 Coming up next: the group encounters some unexpected turns at Do-Tarn's ball, and the consequences of Lotor and Allura's actions begin to catch up to them...
Chapter 11: After the Rain
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
“Entering the Ulippa System now,” Keith announced from the pilot’s seat. “Shouldn’t be more than a few minutes until we arrive to Grekagan.”
“Copy that,” Shiro returned. He then called to Allura. “Are you ready, Princess?”
“One moment,” Allura answered as she zipped up the back of her dress. She stood in the restroom which was towards the rear of The Atlas, the Earth ship in which Shiro and his cadets had been traveling around for the past three months. The door to the room was latched shut, offering her privacy while she changed clothes as quickly as she could.
She knew she should have done this long before their departure from Daibazaal. However, due to her and Lotor getting… sidetracked, she didn’t have enough time to wash up and change, so she had no choice but to make do and get ready in the space provided for her.
Looking in the mirror as she adjusted her tiara and patted down her hair, Allura couldn’t help but smile wide at her own reflection. She was not distracted, not necessarily. This mission on Grekagan was incredibly important, and she was going to do whatever it took in order for her and her friends to succeed.
That being said, that didn’t stop her mind from drifting off during the flight, remembering what happened in the training arena… the warmth of Lotor’s strong body as he held her in his arms, their hot breaths mingling, his fingers carding through her hair―
Clearing her throat, Allura straightened her back, maintaining the composure of a princess, then pushed on the latch to open the door. Heads shot up at her arrival.
“Wow, you look great, Princess,” Hunk said, who sat in between Shiro and Pidge against the wall on the left side of the cabin.
“You always look great,” Pidge said with a grin, giving Allura a thumbs up before turning back to her laptop and tapping on the keys.
“Thank you.” Allura was in her usual blue, gold, and white dress; it wasn’t anything they hadn’t seen her wear before, but she was pleased by the compliments regardless. She then looked towards the other side of the cabin where her own seat waited, and next to it was―
“Welcome back,” Lotor greeted softly, his glowing eyes traveling over her as a small smile pulled at his lips. He was far too big for the human-sized chair, forcing him to hunch over more than usual, his hands clasped together and his arms resting on his thighs.
She smiled back at him. It’d only been a few minutes since she’d last seen him, yet how did he look more beautiful than ever? Smoothing the folds of her dress, she walked towards her seat, her long skirts brushing against Lotor’s legs as she walked past him and sat down next to him on his right.
Lance, who sat up front next to Keith to co-pilot the ship, turned in his seat and gawked at her. “I’d be honored to have the first dance, Your Worship. I don’t wanna brag, but…” He grinned. “I’m pretty famous at the Garrison for my dancing skills.”
Allura arched a brow. “Is that so?”
“Yeah, famous for stomping on all of the girls’ feet,” Hunk muttered, and he and Pidge snickered.
“Shuddup, Hunk. That was one time, and Jenny Shaybon has even bigger feet than I do!”
As Hunk began recalling an unfortunate event at one of the Galaxy Garrison academy balls, Lance’s face turned red, snapping at him, until Keith yelled at them both to be quiet so he could concentrate on flying. Shiro quickly intervened and deescalated the situation.
Allura couldn’t help but smile as she watched the Earthlings. Much like Lotor’s generals, she enjoyed watching their group dynamic. She noticed that they’d dressed up differently for their mission on Grekagan. Instead of Shiro’s usual dark, greenish-gray Garrison uniform, he wore a white jacket with black shoulders and sleeves, as well as charcoal-colored trousers. The cadets had also changed, the traditional orange replaced by different colors: red for Keith, blue for Lance, yellow for Hunk, and green for Pidge.
The princess leaned back in her seat, her arm brushing against Lotor’s in their close proximity. She was feeling giddy, had felt giddy all over since the start of their flight. Unable to keep still, she fiddled with her skirts, needlessly fixing them and refixing them, and adjusted the gold bangles around her wrists.
“Don’t be nervous,” she heard Lotor murmur next to her. She turned her head to look at him. “You are going to be fine,” he said.
“I am not nervous,” she whispered back, though she appreciated the encouragement, and when he looked at her questioningly, she shrugged. “I am… happy,” she confessed with a grin. “Happier than I have felt in a long time.”
Lotor’s smile grew bashfully. “It is the same for me,” he returned softly.
Allura’s heart squeezed with joy. She wanted to take his hand, to thread their fingers together and lean on his shoulder, and she even saw his hands twitch. However, she was never in a position before where public displays of affection were an option for her, so she was not used to it, and it would be a little embarrassing while there were other people around.
Still, she couldn’t help but glance at his lips, and once more she recalled the way they felt against hers, soft and passionate as he kissed her, the way he picked her up so effortlessly, setting her on the platform, his claws digging into her hips…
No doubt Lotor knew what she was thinking, because his eyes darkened and he too looked down at her mouth. Clearly she wasn’t the only one who was preoccupied with thoughts of what happened a few hours ago.
The ship shuddered briefly, drawing their attention away from each other as it entered the planet’s atmosphere. Allura smoothed back her hair, glancing discreetly at the Earthlings. If they noticed her and Lotor getting lost in each other again, which they probably did, they didn’t comment on it, and for that she was grateful.
“Standby for arrival,” called out Keith.
“Standing by,” Lance replied, back to business as he flipped a few switches on the dashboard.
They touched down a considerable amount of distance away from their final destination, making sure to keep out of sight from any prying eyes that might notice a large, purple Galra walking about. Climbing out one by one, they took in the scenery around them. The evenings on Grekagan were a deep green and blue with a bit of fading yellow that followed the three suns slowly dipping beneath the horizon. Behind them was the woodland edge of a forest that stretched on for miles, its black trees twisting and contorting as they grew this way and that, and up ahead was the city inhabited by Grekagar civilians. The buildings glowed a bright gold against the night sky, and somewhere amongst them was Count Do-Tarn’s mansion.
“It’s going to rain later,” Keith remarked, hands on his hips as he looked up.
“Are you blind? There’s not a cloud in the sky,” Lance retorted.
“I have a natural intuition about these things.”
Allura glanced up. Indeed, the infinite stars and five moons shone brightly down upon them, not at all impeded by any sort of weather conditions. She recalled Coran telling her earlier about how dangerous the storms were on this planet.
They’d probably be fine.
The cadets helped Shiro bring out two Earth-made vehicles which were kept in a large, separate compartment underneath the ship. The Earthlings, along with Allura, planned to drive them to the mansion: her, Keith, and Pidge in one; Shiro, Lance and Hunk in the other.
Allura thought the vehicles strange upon first glance. Instead of hovering off of the ground like the ones on Altea, Daibazaal and many other planets, these ones had four wheels. They were called utility task vehicles, or UTVs, and sported the orange and gray colors of the Galaxy Garrison.
Lotor was to follow behind on a separate vehicle. Like the UTVs, it too had wheels, but with only two of them and was a black color. It was also smaller, yet sleek and appeared large enough for two people to sit on it.
“That’s my motorcycle,” Shiro said with a grin. Lotor, who had donned his cloak, stared at it quizzically before climbing on. “Press the ignition switch there to start the engine. Clutch on the left to shift gears, roll the throttle on the right, pull the handle to break―yep, you got it.”
The bike roared to life before the sound died down to a gentle purr. Lotor experimentally twisted the throttle a couple of times, drawing out a robust, throaty growl from the engine. He lifted his head, a pleased smile growing on his face.
“Very nice,” he said.
Shiro laughed. “Just bring her back safe, Your Imperial Majesty.”
“You have my word, Lieutenant.”
“I’ve got the earpieces up and running,” Pidge announced. She held her hand up to her ear. “Can everyone hear me?”
Allura heard her voice echo through the small radio in her ear. The group confirmed that they copied.
“These babies can pick up the tiniest whisper, the microphone is that good,” Pidge went on with a grin. “Don’t lose ‘em.”
“Remember to meet back here, should we get separated,” Shiro reminded them. Then he nodded determinedly. “Alright, let’s get going.”
Lotor caught Allura’s eye as she approached the open door to one of the UTVs, about to get in. They were silent as they regarded one another. There wasn’t any time to exchange words of encouragement, but by the warm and longing look in his gaze, she could tell what he was thinking.
You look beautiful, his eyes told her.
Allura’s heart warmed. She wished he could be there with her to have him at her side this evening. She knew, however, that although this wouldn’t be their most dangerous mission they’d gone on together, it was still extremely important for finally solving this case, and so it took priority above all else.
They smiled at each other in understanding, then she turned away to climb into the UTV, lifting the hem of her dress as she did so.
Not a minute later they departed, driving down old and worn roads, the evening sky giving Lotor enough cover in the darkness as he trailed after the UTVs. The hot climate of the planet made Allura perspire, but the speed at which Keith drove provided a refreshing breeze that caressed her face and gently ruffled her hair.
As they got closer to the city, she could see Do-Tarn’s gargantuan mansion. Built on the edge of a black lake, the building’s golden and orange lights gleamed brightly against the indigo and emerald sky, as well as reflected off of the lake, rippling and distorting with the waves. Dozens of ships from planets such as Rygnirath, Krell, and Pinto Sentos flew overhead, swiftly headed towards their destination. No doubt the party was going to be a full house.
Eventually the road split into two directions. The automobiles kept on the straight path, and from her seat next to Keith up front, Allura looked through the rearview mirror in time to see Lotor veer off to the left, taking a lesser known road that would lead him down a longer route around the lake and behind the mansion.
I’ll see you soon, she thought.
The UTVs pulled up to the front of the mansion along with several other foreign transports. A Grekagar with amber feathers and a white valet uniform stared, perplexed by the strange Earth vehicle. Then he blinked at Shiro and Keith, dumbfounded when they handed him the keys.
“Woah,” Allura heard Hunk say in awe.
Though she may have not liked the person who lived inside of it, the princess had to admit that the home was very nice, if not ostentatious. The mansion was five stories tall, its exterior heavily decorated with carvings and ornaments. A large, green glass dome was built into the middle of the roof, with four golden spires surrounding it, one each on every corner of the building.
And somewhere inside of that building waited its host, Allura’s target for the evening.
“We can do this,” Shiro said. She turned to see him to her right, holding out his arm for her in a very gentlemanly way as he smiled at her encouragingly.
“I know,” she returned, smiling back, then took his arm.
They walked together along the bright green carpet towards the entrance, the cadets following closely behind. Two larger-than-life red doors awaited them, and next to it stood a sky-blue Grekagar who held a tablet in her feathered hands.
“Princess Allura of Altea,” Allura announced herself, and when the Grekagar glanced at the humans with her, she added, “The count told me I was allowed to bring additional guests with me.”
The other woman scrolled through her tablet, looking for her name, then her eyes widened in realization. “Oh, so you’re Princess Allura!”
Allura nodded, not sure how to take that remark.
“Welcome, Your Highness. Having a wonderful evening.”
Judging by the exterior of the house, Allura had no idea what to expect when she walked in, but when she did she was taken aback. She and her friends followed behind many other guests through the front entrance and into the foyer. Surrounding them were several hallways that led to other areas of the mansion. Up ahead waited a corridor in the very back and center of the foyer, into which the crowd was ushered through. Allura did not miss the way the other guests turned their heads when she walked by, shooting her looks of surprise or distrust as they murmured to one another.
The corridor was lined from top to bottom with ornaments, and at first Allura thought it tastefully decorated, with maroon walls and trinkets arranged in a harmonious way. Then she saw what said trinkets were, and she felt an uncomfortable lurch in her stomach. On the walls were souvenirs from all over the universe, and most notable were the heads of exotic beasts. Some had fur, others had scales. A few were land beasts while a few more were aquatic creatures. They all shared one similarity, however. Looking down at the guests as they walked in, their sharp teeth were bared or their gaping mouths hung open in a gruesome display.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Pidge muttered. Allura glanced over her shoulder at her, sympathizing with the young girl. The crowd was moving slowly, and they still had a long way to go before they were free from the terrifying taxidermic exhibition.
“Let’s get her out of here,” Lance said with a serious expression. Hunk patted Pidge on the head comfortingly.
“That’s probably for the best,” Shiro agreed, then told Keith, “You guys go on ahead.”
Keith nodded. “Out of the way,” he barked, pushing past disgruntled guests who gave him dirty looks as he forced his way through the line. Hunk followed, then Lance, taking Pidge by the shoulders and quickly steering her out of the hallway.
Allura and Shiro stayed behind, and eventually they walked through another set of large, red doors which remained open for the evening and revealed the ballroom. Thankfully there were no dead animals on display, and once again she begrudgingly admitted to herself that it was nicely put together.
The ceiling reached far above their heads, the glass dome in the center providing a green-tinted view of the stars above. Delicate, spiral-shaped crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, continuously changing colors and bathing the room in gold, pink, purple, red, and so on. The bronze-colored floors were so well-polished that Allura could see her reflection in them. The back walls were lined with tall windows looking out onto the lake, and on the far left side of the room a band of Atlantians stood on a stage, performing the underwater songs of their people. Once again Allura noticed people staring at her, whispering and pointing, and once again she ignored them.
They found the kids on the far right by the buffet, which was made up of several long tables, every inch covered in a variety of dishes, so crowded against each other that the ones near the edges were in danger of falling off. As Allura and Shiro walked over, they saw Lance and Hunk standing with Pidge while Keith returned from one of the tables, holding a glass with a pale blue liquid in it.
“I couldn’t find any water, but I saw people drinking this,” he said, offering it to her.
Pidge gratefully accepted it and took a sip. She smacked her lips and her eyebrows rose in surprise. “Tastes like milk.” Then she and Hunk exchanged glances.
“Blue milk?” Hunk asked with a grin. “Heh. Nice.”
Lance forced out a cough. “Nerds,” he mumbled into his fist.
“Why, what’s so special about blue milk?” Keith asked.
“Seriously?” Lance gawked at him. “How can you not know about it? It’s from one of the most famous space-fantasy franchises of all time back on Earth!”
“Oh…” Keith folded his arms. “Yeah, I’ve never seen Star Trek,” he said nonchalantly.
The other slapped a hand to his forehead. “It’s not from Star Trek,” he told him irritably.
“Now who’s the nerd?” Pidge teased.
“Keith living under a rock and not knowing about blue milk does not make me a nerd.”
“Are you feeling alright, Pidge?” Allura asked the young girl.
“Yeah, much better.”
“Glad to hear it,” Shiro told her with a smile.
The group’s attention was then drawn to the high pitched squeak of a microphone and the music coming to a pause. Allura turned around and saw a familiar tall and bright green Grekagar standing in the center of the stage.
“Count Do-Tarn,” Keith remarked.
“Let’s go take a closer look,” Shiro suggested, and they walked over to join the gathering crowd.
The count wore a slim-fitting, red and gold jacket over a black shirt and trousers. Holding the microphone in one hand, he bowed deeply to his audience, then stood up straight with a proud grin. “Good evening, my most esteemed guests! I am your host Count Do-Tarn, newest member of the Universal Coalition’s High Council, owner and resident of the Black Lake Mansion, and proud citizen of the beautiful planet of Grekagan―but you already knew all that.”
He paused and bowed again as everyone clapped and cheered. Allura folded her arms, she and her friends standing stock still.
“Before we begin, let’s give a hand to our musical entertainment for the night shall we? Please welcome the underwater jazz group from Atlantia, Plaxum and the Chums!”
More applause as the band waved and bowed.
“Thank you for sharing your music with us. It is truly a pleasure to witness your exotic performance. Now,” Do-Tarn went on, turning back to the crowd. “I have noticed that some of you have already begun helping yourselves to my booze. And yes, I mean you Elder Blate, don’t think I didn’t notice!”
Laughter erupted from the crowd as Elder Blate, former High Council member, proudly waved a large bottle of liquor he held in his hand.
“I jest, of course. All of this, the music, the drinks, the food, the ball―it is all for you, my friends. I value each and everyone of you…”
He trailed off briefly when he noticed Allura in the crowd. She continued to stare at him blankly, folding her arms tightly across her chest.
“And you know me, I never forget a pretty face,” he went on, a self-satisfied smirk stretching his beak as he looked at her. Everyone laughed again, even if they didn’t know exactly what he was referring to. “I promise I will let you go so you can drink and dine and dance, but there will be a special surprise for you all later this evening, so don’t black out just yet! Now let the festivities begin!”
Cheers erupted as confetti burst from the stage and the band continued their performance.
“He’s… quite the character,” Hunk commented.
“You have no idea,” Allura muttered.
“What now?” Lance asked.
Just as the princess opened her mouth to respond, a familiar, deep voice came in through her earpiece:
“This is Lotor, checking in.”
Allura couldn’t help the relieved smile that formed on her face. Lotor, she thought. Am I glad to hear your voice.
Pidge was right; the microphones on these devices were impressive. Lotor came in so clearly that it sounded as if he was right next to her. The thought comforted her, having him with her even if she couldn’t see him.
“I have made it to the south entrance of the mansion. Security is minimal as we expected, but I will proceed with caution and report back momentarily.”
“Copy that,” Shiro answered. “We’ll keep our ears open.”
“Be careful,” Allura murmured.
“Copy that, Princess,” Lotor answered, and he sounded almost playful. Her smile widened into a grin.
“You guys aren’t going to flirt through the radio now, are you?” Lance asked, pretending to gag.
“Don’t be mean,” Hunk scolded him. “Let them be adorable.”
“Yeah, I think it’s cute,” Pidge added.
Allura’s cheeks warmed. Though Lotor did not speak anymore, most likely focused on his task, there was no doubt he heard everything.
“If anyone should stop talking, it’s you, Lance.”
“Shuddup, Keith.”
“Guys.” Shiro reigned them back in. “Let’s go over the plan one more time. Does everyone know our objective?”
“Yep, we’re snooping through the count’s house,” Lance replied, a little too eager at the idea.
“Not yet,” Keith said, rolling his eyes. “Until Lotor gives us the all-clear, we need to stay here and keep our cool.”
“Once he gives the signal, I’ll meet up with him to help him connect to the mansion’s security system,” Pidge said.
“And then we snoop,” Lance added.
“The princess will have to find the count first,” Hunk reminded him.
“I will be here to distract him,” Allura confirmed with a nod. “I do not think it will be difficult. He is easily entertained.”
“I’ll be able to shut down the cameras and sensors for about an hour,” Pidge said. “I can imagine the security team will try their best to reboot the system, but”―she grinned―“they haven’t seen me at my best.”
“And then we…?”
“Yes, Lance. Then we get to snoop,” Shiro said. “But don’t get carried away. We’re here to look for evidence, nothing more. If you feel that you are in danger, if something feels even the slightest bit off, you immediately communicate it through the radio and we’ll abort the mission.”
“Your safety is the most important,” Allura agreed, addressing the kids. “If you need to leave, leave. Let me worry about the rest.”
“Well, it’s a good thing nothing’s going to go wrong then, right?” Hunk asked, laughing nervously. “Right? Guys?”
“We’ll be fine, we’ve got this in the bag,” Keith told him confidently.
“It shouldn’t be long before Lotor contacts us again,” Shiro told them. “Until then, stay frosty.”
“Good luck seducing the count, Your Highness,” Lance jeered.
“Quiet,” Allura snapped at him, not only out of fear of nearby guests hearing him, but also because she didn’t want Lotor to misunderstand.
“Dude, don’t be gross,” Keith added. “The princess isn’t here to seduce the count. She just needs to keep him occupied.”
“Mm-hm, occupied. Ow, Pidge, don’t pinch me!”
“Lance, you’re on thin ice,” Shiro warned him, but Lance just snickered in response. “We need to split up and make ourselves look busy. Remember, stay focused.”
“Roger that,” Hunk said. “I’ll stay focused by heading to the buffet.”
“I’ll go with you. I hate dancing.” Keith followed him to the many tables on the other side of the room.
“And I’m going to look for some beautiful alien ladies to dance with,” Lance said with excitement. “Wait, Princess!” he exclaimed, turning to Allura. “You should dance with me!”
“No,” Allura responded flatly.
“Guess you’re stuck with me, then,” Pidge told Lance with a shrug. She took hold of his arm and led him to the dance floor where many other couples were swaying to the Atlantian music.
Shiro exchanged a nod with Allura before he left to go and socialize. She was about to do the same when she saw bright green feathers out of the corner of her eye. She turned to her left and saw Do-Tarn headed towards her.
“You finally changed your mind, Princess?” he asked, hands behind his back and looking at her with a smug grin.
“Didn’t take long to get to the count,” Lance remarked through the radio.
Allura loudly cleared her throat, hoping Lance would get the message to cease his commentating. “I did,” she answered Do-Tarn, clasping her hands together in front of her.
“And what do you think of my party?”
She glanced around and nodded. “Very nice.”
“What’s with the two-word answers?” Do-Tarn looked amused. “Have you gotten shy on me, Princess?” And when Allura scowled at him, he laughed heartily. “I’m joking! Dear Mother of the Universe, you can be so serious sometimes. Don’t you ever lighten up?”
“Did you invite me to your ball so you could neg me the entire time, Count?”
Do-Tarn pretended to look offended, putting a hand on his chest. “I would never do such a thing to Her Royal Highness. I invited you to have the honor of basking in your glorious, regal presence.” He bowed deeply, one arm across his stomach.
“Sheesh, this guy is such a brown-noser―or brown-beaker, whatever. He’s one sleazy son of a―”
“Shut up,” Allura hissed.
The count lifted his head, taken aback. “I beg your pardon?”
Allura lifted her chin at him. “You heard me.”
“Princess, you are…” He stood up straight, staring at her in astonishment. “You are one of the most interesting girls I have ever met. And believe me, I have met very many,” he added with a grin. “In fact, you are the only one who ever…”
Do-Tarn continued to talk, but Allura’s attention was drawn away when she heard Lotor’s voice come in through her earpiece again.
“I have made it inside the cellar and located the mansion’s security room.”
“Great,” Pidge responded enthusiastically. “I’ll be there in a bit.”
“Copy that. I will wait for you.”
Allura released a quiet sigh of relief. So far their plan was going well. Her attention returned to the count, who was still speaking.
“… spent a lot of money on it, as you probably noticed. And you will dance with me later, of course,” he added. It wasn’t a question.
“I shall consider it,” Allura replied in a stately tone.
Do-Tarn grinned again. “Playing hard to get, I see. Fine, I’ll play along. I must attend to my other guests, but don’t worry. When the time is right I will come find you.”
“No. I will come find you,” she said firmly. “Go and entertain the others if you must, but we will only dance together when I say.”
His grin widened. “You’ve always been so controlling, Princess. I like that. Then I eagerly await your summons.” He bowed once more.
Allura nodded once, then turned from him haughtily and walked away. She strolled about the enormous room, scanning the crowd for anyone she knew so she could occupy herself. She’d seen a ship from Pinto Sentos earlier, and there was no doubt that as a member of the High Council, Count Do-Tarn would have invited his colleagues.
As she wandered about, she did not miss the whispers and stares sent her way from the other guests when she walked past them.
“Is that Princess Allura?” she heard them murmuring amongst themselves.
“What’s she doing here?”
“I thought she was still on Dunamis.”
“No, she went back home to Altea.”
“Have you read the articles about her and Emperor Lotor?”
“Everyone has, obviously.”
“Do you think it’s true? That the two of them are lovers?”
“I heard there’s a secret baby involved.”
Allura rolled her eyes and continued walking, keeping her head held high and proud.
She neared the bar, which was close to the buffet, and at last she caught a glimpse of Princess Malocoti’s fiery red hair and baby blue skin. The Krellian princess was speaking with President Desto, the former in her usual fiery, yellow and orange dress, and the latter in her shawls, beads, and numerous ornaments. Both women turned their heads when Allura approached, Malocoti smiling enthusiastically at her while Desto gave her a respectful nod.
“Good evening, Your Highness, Madam President,” Allura greeted.
“Oh, there’s no need for titles between us anymore,” Malocoti told her, waving one hand. In the other she held a tall glass of a bright green drink which was currently half empty. “We’ve known each other for a few months now. We all get along here, don’t we, Desto?”
“I’d like to think so,” the older woman agreed, her deep voice calm and smooth.
“Alright, then,” Allura said, smiling genuinely. “I am certainly glad to see familiar faces here.”
“I concur!” Malocoti exclaimed. “I wouldn’t say I’m introverted, but sweet Mother of the Universe, the count is far more sociable than I am!” She took a long swig from her drink, and by the looks of it she appeared to be quite drunk.
“He certainly has a knack for making friends,” Allura agreed.
“And he’s so nice. We got here early and he gave us a tour of his house! You should ask him for a tour, Allura. It was so much fun. Wasn’t it fun, Desto? You were the one who insisted on it, after all.”
“Yes, it was very nice,” Desto replied easily.
“He sends us all kinds of presents, too. Why, the other day he sent me an antique music box that plays traditional songs from my planet Krell. It was so lovely. He knows how hard it’s been for us council members since this whole mess began with the Galra and Alteans―no offense, Allura―but it’s been stressing us out like no other. Right, Desto?”
The Pinto Sentian hesitated. “I believe we have all been impacted by it in a way. Some more than others,” she added, glancing at the Altean princess, whose smile had since melted off her face.
Allura pursed her lips. “It was never my intention to be the cause of distress for the High Council,” she began, choosing her words carefully, watching Malocoti set her empty glass on the counter and motion for the bartender to refill it. “I did what I believed was best for my people.”
“But has anything changed in the last three months?” Malocoti asked, heavily leaning on the counter with one arm. “Emperor Lotor returned to Daibazaal, and your planets are still on the brink of war, so I ask you, what has changed? And the answer is nothing.”
“Malocoti, I think you’ve had enough to drink,” Desto began, raising her long, gray trunk to rest on her shoulder.
Malocoti shrugged her off as her second round arrived. She snatched it up and drank from it before slamming it down and turning towards Allura. Her blue skin was flushed a dark navy color. “Allura. Sweetie. Let me give you some advice, from one friend to another.”
“Is that what we are?” Allura asked flatly.
“Princess to princess, then. Or woman to woman, however you want to see it. Just―” Malocoti waved her hand in a frenzied manner. “Let it happen, the war.”
Allura’s eyebrows rose. “What?” she said sharply.
“Everyone in the universe knows about the blood feud between your planets. It was going to happen eventually, and the attack on Altea was the perfect opportunity. We’re all waiting with baited breath to see who wins. So why not let your people fight it out and solve it that way?”
“Are you stupid?” Allura fumed, rage boiling in her veins as she clenched her fists.
Malocoti gawked at her. “Excuse me?” They were beginning to attract attention from nearby guests.
“What do you think Daibazaal and Altea did hundreds of years ago?” Allura went on, impassioned. “They already tried to fight it out, and in the process one billion people died! One billion. Can you even comprehend that? No, you cannot, because clearly there is nothing in that giant thing on top of your shoulders you call a head.”
“How dare you!” Malocoti pushed herself away from the bar, and in the process she knocked her glass onto the floor. It immediately shattered on impact, the green liquid staining the polished floor.
Allura heard startled gasps and whispers around her as Malocoti stomped towards her, right through the broken glass. A full head taller than Allura, Malocoti leaned down and got into her face, her four pointed ears drawn down in anger.
“You think that because you’re the perfect, pretty little princess that everyone loves so much, you can do and say whatever you like?”
“Malocoti, that is enough!” Desto said.
But Malocoti went on, stumbling drunkenly and barely managing to keep herself steady. “You’re no better than the Galra emperor. I hope this war starts between you two, then by the mercy of the Mother Herself, the universe can be rid of you both!”
Allura grit her teeth, ready for violence. Just as she was about to raise her fist to break Malocoti’s nose, however, she saw her swaying dangerously this way and that. “What’s wrong with you?” she asked her sharply, furrowing her brow.
“Nothing,” Malocoti snapped. “I’m just feeling a little… dizzy…” She put a hand to her forehead, then reached out with the other to grab onto Allura’s arm and balance herself. “I think I’m going to sit down for a bit…”
“Yes, you definitely should,” Desto told her sternly.
The Krellian princess didn’t manage a single step, however, before she immediately began to fall backwards.
“Ope, there she goes!” a nearby guest remarked.
Allura’s eyes widened. She swiftly came to Malocoti’s side and caught her as she fell into her arms. Malocoti let out a surprised yelp, then looked up at Allura.
“You… saved me,” she murmured in astonishment. “Thank you.”
Allura resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Malocoti was acting as if she’d just saved her from a collapsing building. “Don’t mention it,” she said shortly, still angry because of the things she said earlier.
“My hero,” Malocoti sighed. She grinned widely, reached up to touch Allura’s cheek, then instantly passed out without another word.
As Allura adjusted her hold on her, she noticed the surrounding guests laughing and pointing at the apparently hilarious situation. She looked over at Desto. “Does this happen often?” she asked.
“Too often, I’m afraid,” the older woman confirmed. She shook her head disapprovingly and sighed. “Follow me, you can set her down on one of the sofas over here. I would help but…” She gestured towards herself, at her trunk and large feet.
Allura nodded in understanding. Then, taking Malocoti by the waist and throwing the unconscious woman’s arm over her shoulders, Allura trailed behind Desto, carefully avoiding the mess on the floor.
“Everything okay, over there?” Hunk’s voice came in through the radio.
“Need some help, Your Worship?” Lance added.
“A little late for that,” Allura snapped at them, trying to speak as quietly as she could.
The two women walked towards the back wall of windows overlooking the lake where a diverse selection of sofas and chairs waited for tired guests to sit and relax. Allura set Malocoti down on an ivory chaise lounge, lifting her legs to rest on the cushions. Malocoti hummed in content as she slept.
“I must apologize on her behalf,” Desto said as she and Allura looked down at the sleeping princess. “She is notorious for getting out of hand at parties. One too many drinks and she gets a little… honest.”
“That is one way of putting it,” Allura muttered.
“Malocoti has a lot of opinions, some more drastic than others, but really, she’s harmless.”
“She should learn to watch her mouth, sober or not, because what she said back there certainly was not harmless.”
“Will you be alright?”
Allura sighed and took a seat on a burgundy sofa across from Malocoti. “I had no idea she thought that way, that she prefers Altea and Daibazaal to go to war.”
“And she isn’t the only one,” Desto warned her, sitting beside her on her right. “Pick any random member in the Universal Coalition and they will tell you exactly what they think of the Altean-Galra conflict. Some will be sympathetic to your cause, Princess, but others will say whatever they like. People on the outside looking in tend to think they know better.”
“But you do not think that way,” Allura said hopefully, turning to her. “You do not agree with Princess Malocoti, do you, Madame President?”
“I… understand where you are coming from,” Desto offered, and though Allura noticed that she did not answer her question directly, the older woman had a sympathetic look on her face. “I know that, compared to Malocoti or Do-Tarn, I may come across as the serious one at times, but I am only doing what must be done for the Coalition, as well as for my planet, which is in a very serious economic crisis.”
“I heard,” Allura acknowledged with a nod. She smiled sadly. “I suppose you are one of the few people who can truly understand my position.”
“Not many people carry the burdens that we do,” Desto agreed, returning her nod. “The life of a leader can be a lonely one, and it isn’t easy to find genuine friendship with those who relate to the encumbrances you must bear. Although,” she added, raising her eyebrows at the princess, “you must have thought you found such a connection with the Galra emperor―before his true intentions were revealed, that is.”
When Allura didn’t respond, her smile fading a little, Desto then looked serious again, turning in her seat towards her.
“Before you left Dunamis, there was a break in at a warehouse of a company that produces weapons. Surely your advisor told you about it?”
“He did,” Allura answered, maintaining a straight face, though she was surprised at the sudden change of topic. “He also told me that you think Emperor Lotor had something to do with it.”
“So far I am the only one, and I intend to keep it that way,” the president said, and she had a look of apprehension on her face. “Who knows what that man managed to get his hands on while he was there. If he found…” She trailed off, then shook her head. “What I mean to say, Princess, is that everyone has something to gain from a war between Altea and Daibazaal. Do you understand what I am saying?”
“Yes, but―” Allura furrowed her brow. “Madame President, is everything alright?” She had never seen the Pinto Sentian act this way before. She appeared troubled… even a little afraid.
Desto forced a smile. “Of course. I am simply feeling overwhelmed, I suppose.”
Allura nodded in understanding and put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. “You must have a lot on your plate,” she told her sympathetically. “You have responsibilities both to the High Council and to your home planet, I am sure it can be very stressful at times. I would do anything for my people, and I know you would do the same as well.” She smiled encouragingly. “I know things will work out for Pinto Sentos. You will get your people through this, and they will thank you for it, for they will come back stronger than ever.”
The older woman still looked slightly distressed, but her smile turned more genuine, and she was about to respond when their conversation was interrupted by a group of people who recognized the president and were calling her over. “I had better go fulfill my socializing requirements for the evening,” she said with a sigh, getting to her feet. Before she left, however, she turned to Allura. “It was good to talk to you, Your Highness. And I want you to know,” she added, “you always have a friend on the High Council.”
Allura watched the older woman walk away before she leaned back on the sofa and exhaled heavily, then glowered at Malocoti, whose face was squished into the cushions of the chaise lounge, her red hair a mess and her tiara askew. She had never taken Malocoti as the type to support a war. She always came across as cheerful and kindhearted, and during the meetings with the High Council on Dunamis, she had always taken the time to hear what she and Lotor had to say.
For the past three months, however, Allura had begun to learn that sometimes people were not as they appeared on the surface.
“Are you alright, Allura?” Lotor spoke softly in her ear.
Allura’s shoulders sagged and she sighed. His gentle voice caressed her ears, and it was as if he put a spell on her, melting the tension from her bones and calming the anger in her heart.
“I will be,” she assured him, just as hushed. Now that I have heard your voice.
“What Princess Malocoti said back there was not cool,” Pidge said.
“No kidding,” Hunk agreed. “Also, can I just say? President Desto is giving me weird vibes.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Lance asked.
“She’s scary.”
“Scarier than Allura?”
“Oh no, she scares me way more.”
“I can hear you,” Allura reminded them flatly.
“Ah! Allura!” Hunk let out a nervous chuckle. “Sorry, forgot that these radios work both ways, heh heh…”
“If I was in your position,” Keith told her. “ I would have punched that lady in the face.”
“Keith, that’s not helping,” Shiro admonished him.
“I almost did.”
“Really?” Shiro sounded surprised.
“I’d hate to get on your bad side, Princess,” Hunk said.
“I can speak from experience, her wrath is not to be underestimated,” Lotor spoke up. “Nor is her strength.” There was pride in his voice.
Allura’s cheeks warmed, knowing exactly what he was referring to. “Alright, enough talking about me,” she interjected. “Status update, please?”
“Lotor and I got the security system shut down,” Pidge reported cheerfully. “All cameras and sensors are completely offline for the next hour.”
“Great job, guys,” Shiro praised them. “Keep a close watch, okay, Pidge? The rest of you, split up and search the house. You’ll be joining us, Emperor Lotor?”
“Of course.”
“Great. Princess, you know what to do.”
“Copy that,” she said determinedly. She got up from the sofa and headed back into the throng. Due to the commotion earlier, nearby guests were staring at her as she walked by, but she continued to ignore them and made her way through the crowd, turning her head this way and that to find the count.
At first she worried he’d disappeared somewhere, but then she saw Do-Tarn surrounded by a crowd of people, men and women, young and old alike. He appeared to be regaling them with a particularly humorous story, for they would all laugh consistently whenever he spoke. Allura cringed as she approached. She was about to come across as the most obnoxious, arrogant, and entitled person in the universe, wasn’t she? Especially after the scene she’d caused with the very drunk Princess Malocoti.
Coming to stand at the back of the crowd, Allura loudly cleared her throat. Heads turned her way, and the reaction was mixed. Some stared at her with astonishment or interest, while others looked unimpressed or maybe even a little frightened―probably because of her temper.
“Count Do-Tarn,” she said, her voice loud and clear as she caught the Grekagar’s attention. “I believe you owe me a dance.”
He gave her that usual smirk. “As my princess commands,” he said with a deep bow. He motioned for the group to part down the middle and made his way towards her, offering his hand.
“I am not your princess,” she told him loftily. “Do not forget it.” Then she took his hand and they made their way to the dance floor.
“A privilege I will have to earn, then,” he said coyly as they turned towards each other and took their positions. When he placed his hand on her back, she gripped his bicep tightly until he winced from the pain. “Ow,” he complained, staring at her with an irritated expression.
“If your hand strays once, I will break it,” she said, smiling sweetly up at him.
Do-Tarn blinked, taken aback, then a smile grew on his face, revealing his sharp teeth from underneath his beak. “I believe you.”
The band on the stage began playing upbeat, classy music as Allura and the count stepped in time, spinning alongside the other couples. She remembered Do-Tarn was a more than decent dancer on Olkarion, and he still was, but she wasn’t about to pay him a compliment.
“This reminds me of when we first danced together on Olkarion,” he said after some time. “I can’t believe it was over a year ago now, can you?”
“Yes.”
Back then Allura did not know of the count’s reputation, but the more they danced and the more he talked, the more she had begun to dislike him. He never tried anything with her, fortunately for him. If he had, he would have walked away with a black eye―actually, something much worse than that.
“Such a shame King Lubos is dead,” Do-Tarn went on. “That man knew how to throw a party. Ah, I still remember when I first saw you, Your Highness. I had heard of the Altean princess and her renowned beauty, of course, but finally seeing you in person was something else. I thought you were the prettiest little thing I ever set eyes on.”
“Was that your attempt at flattery?”
“Are you not impressed?”
“You should know I have met with fifty-six suitors over the past three years, Count Do-Tarn. I have heard every sort of compliment under Altea’s seven moons. You will have to do better than that.”
“Was there ever one that charmed you?”
“Yes,” Allura confessed. “But it wasn’t from any of them.”
“Really?” Do-Tarn looked genuinely interested. “Who was it?”
“None of your business.”
He spun her around, and as promised his hand returned to its designated spot.
“I saw what happened earlier, by the way, between you and Princess Malocoti. I think everyone did.”
“Yet you did not intervene,” Allura noticed. Not that he would have been much help, anyway.
“Of course not. I am all about providing entertainment. You should know that by now, Princess. It is a pity she collapsed when she did, because I think it would have been rather funny to see two women fighting over nothing.”
“It was not over nothing,” she told him fiercely. “She insulted me when she―oh, forget it. I will not waste my breath when you are clearly not interested.”
“Yes, that’s probably for the best. I tend to tune people out when conversations get boring.”
“So that explains why you always looked brain-dead during the meetings on Dunamis,” Allura said with mock surprise . “I was wondering about that.”
Do-Tarn laughed loudly. “You’re a very funny girl, Princess! I like your sense of humor.”
They continued to move smoothly about the dance floor, spinning and waltzing by other couples, elegant and graceful.
“Princess Malocoti thinks it is best if Altea and Daibazaal go to war,” Allura began cautiously. “That the Alteans and Galra should fight it out to see who wins. Do you agree with her?”
“No,” he answered simply.
Allura raised her eyebrows. “Really?”
“That is the answer you wanted to hear, isn’t it? Oh, don’t look so offended. If your planets were to go to war, I would root for Altea. There, does that make you feel better?”
“But you would still expel us from the Coalition.”
“The High Council has deemed it so. And whatever the High Council decides, the rest of the Coalition must follow. It is the only way to ensure peace and order throughout the universe.”
“Those sound like the words of someone drunk off of their own power,” Allura said, narrowing her eyes.
“There are two kinds of people in this life, Princess: those who wield power, and those who yield to it.”
“A mind-blowing proverb. You should have it monogrammed onto all of your fancy suits.”
Do-Tarn laughed again. “You should always be this funny, you know. You’re very entertaining.”
She lifted her chin at him. “And which category do you fall under?”
“Why, the wielder of power, of course.”
“Then why do you grovel at my feet whenever you see me?” she retorted, smiling humorlessly.
He gave her a mysterious smile. “You really don’t know?”
Allura and the count continued to dance for some time, but it wasn’t long before the song came to a close, as did their conversation.
“A pleasure as always, Your Highness,” Do-Tarn said, bowing deeply.
“He’s leaving already?” Hunk’s voice said nervously in Allura’s ear.
“You’re leaving already?” she asked automatically.
“Believe me, I would dance the night away with you if I could, but I have other guests to attend to. Do enjoy the rest of the party, Princess.” The count bowed again, then started walking away.
“He can’t leave now,” Pidge said urgently. “If he finds out the security system is down, or he catches a whiff that we’re sneaking around his mansion, we’re in big trouble.”
“You can’t lose sight of him, Princess,” Shiro agreed. “You need to keep him occupied.”
“Wait!” Allura called out. Do-Tarn turned back around. “Why don’t we get a drink? You must be stressed having to manage such a… such a party.”
“Trying to get me drunk, are you?” he asked with a coy grin. “A tempting offer, but I must decline.” And he started to leave once again.
She racked her brain for a solution. She couldn’t let him get away.
“Hey, didn’t Princess Malocoti mention the count giving a tour?” Lance spoke up. “Why don’t you try that?”
“Huh. Your memory is unexpectedly not bad,” Keith remarked.
“Gee, thanks for the backhanded compliment.”
Allura slid in front of Do-Tarn. “Hang on,” she blurted out, raising her hands, and he looked down at her skeptically. “I want a tour of your mansion like you have been giving your other guests.”
“Where did you hear that?”
“Princess Malocoti told me. She told me how amazing your mansion is, so I want to see it for myself. After all…” She smiled sweetly, clasping her hands behind her back. “I did come all this way, and I am a princess. You wouldn’t refuse to give me a private tour, would you? Just the two of us― alone.”
His eyes widened slightly at the “alone” part, and he bared his sharp teeth in a grin. “Well, when you put it like that…” He pretended to consider. “Very well, Princess, but only because you asked so nicely. Come along, then.” He put his hands behind his back and headed for the doors out of the ballroom, Allura following behind.
“That was some quick thinking,” Shiro complimented her. “We’ll make sure to keep out of your way.”
“You’ve got this, Allura!” Pidge cheered her on.
Allura and Do-Tarn were let out into a hallway and approached a set of ornate stairs leading to the second floor. She stopped before taking the first step. The red walls and dim lighting around her made her feel like she was about to walk into the mouth of a great beast.
“Be safe, Allura,” Lotor’s low voice spoke softly in her ear.
“Stick close to me, Princess,” Do-Tarn called, who had already started up the stairs. He glanced over his shoulder at her.
Allura swallowed and nodded.
“I will.”
“Any luck yet, guys?” Keith asked as Do-Tarn led Allura down yet another hallway lined with prizes and awards he’d acquired over the years. The princess paid what little attention she could manage to Do-Tarn’s uninteresting lecture while simultaneously keeping an ear on her friends’ conversation, for she didn’t want their paths to cross unwittingly.
“Negative,” Lotor answered.
“Still looking,” Hunk confirmed.
“This is a certificate of my knighthood, given to me by Queen Luxia of Atlantia,” Do-Tarn said, gesturing towards a blue plaque on the wall. “I wonder if it is still legitimate now that she’s dead,” he added thoughtfully.
“Is that really all you care about?” Allura asked, furrowing her brow.
“And this here is the key to the city given to me by the mayor of the capital city of Grekagan…” Do-Tarn went on, though Allura’s attention was quickly drawn elsewhere when she heard Lance’s voice exclaim in her ear.
“Whoa, no way!”
“Did you find the bombs?” Keith asked.
“No, I found the count’s computer!”
“Lance,” Shiro warned.
“Hang on a sec. Dude, this Do-Tarn guy has a lot of dirt on a lot of people―like a lot. There’s tons of records on here of poaching, bribery, even embezzlement, whatever that means.”
“It means he steals money from people,” Pidge explained.
“That’s not what we’re here for,” Shiro reminded them. “We’re looking for the explosives and only the explosives.”
“But look at all of this stuff we could use to blackmail the count!” Lance protested.
“Stay focused.”
There was a sigh. “Fine…”
“Don’t fall behind now, Princess,” Do-Tarn called to Allura. “Let me show you my trophies.”
The count’s tour of his mansion continued and could be described as such: boring at its best and horrifying at its worst. Boring because he spent most of the time talking about himself rather than the house, which caused Allura’s mind to drift off, and she found herself yawning once or twice when he wasn’t looking. Even one-on-one with a guest, the count did not cease his theatrics or boastful nature, and it wasn’t before long that she was beginning to regret demanding a tour from him.
And it was horrifying because―
“This is where I keep all of my most prized trophies,” he introduced as they entered a large room, spreading out his arms and gesturing around him.
The floor was white, the walls were white, the ceiling, lights, doors―everything was white in order to contribute to a clean and pristine atmosphere. Either that or to let the “trophies” stand out more and immediately capture one’s attention. Along the wall and on podiums placed here and there about the room were more taxidermic beasts like the ones in the corridor she and her friends walked through earlier. However, instead of heads, these animals had their entire bodies intact, posed in a way to make them look menacing or graceful.
“This one I found on the back of a whale while traveling through the Quantum Abyss,” Do-Tarn said as he gestured towards a black and silver cosmic wolf. “Have you ever been to the Quantum Abyss? No? I don’t recommend it. Ah, and this one is a Yalex infant captured just as it hatched out of its egg. See its long, spindly legs there? Very dangerous. But this is the one I am most proud of.”
Allura followed him to the center of the room where the body of a large serpent was displayed, its long tail coiled around itself, the four petals of its jaws unhinged to display its many rows of sharp teeth. Do-Tarn put his hands behind his back, gazing up at the creature, and sighed in content.
“This is called the Baku. I got it during one of my trips to Atlantia. Obviously I didn’t kill any of these beasts myself,” he added. “I hired someone else to do it. I don’t like to get my hands dirty, physically and metaphorically.”
He turned around to face Allura, who stood a few paces away from him.
“Impressed yet, Princess?”
“Your exhibit is very…” She clasped her hands together in front of her, trying to find the right words, but nothing came to mind. “Well, it’s an exhibit, alright.”
Silently she circled the Baku, taking in the menacing exhibit, when once more she heard voices coming through her earpiece.
“Guys,” Hunk spoke up. “I think I found it. I found the bombs.”
“Are you sure?” Pidge asked, reading Allura’s mind.
“Yeah, they’re all packed into a bunch of crates in one of these fancy bedrooms. Galra and Altea, plus more records of the commission―it’s all here.” Then Hunk added in a mutter, “That was unexpectedly easy.”
“What are you complaining about?” Lance spoke up in disbelief. “We found the bombs, now we can get out of here!”
“Where are you located?” Lotor inquired.
“Fourth floor on the east side.”
“I’m on the fourth floor, I’ll come help,” Keith volunteered.
“Good work, team,” Shiro said. “Get lots of pictures. As soon as you’re done we’ll regroup.”
“If that’s even possible,” Lance mumbled. “This house is like a maze. I keep getting turned around in here.”
Allura breathed a small sigh of relief. At last they found what they were looking for. Their mission was a near success. All she needed to do now was reunite with her friends. If she could come up with some kind of excuse to leave…
“I always wanted to be an explorer,” Do-Tarn spoke up suddenly, coming to stand next to her in front of the Baku. She whipped her head around to look up at him. “And now with my lifestyle, it is a luxury I can easily afford. Each planet I travel to, I always bring back a souvenir with me. It’s become a bit of a tradition of mine. I was very much looking forward to my visit to Altea because of this.”
“Poaching is illegal on my planet,” Allura told him sharply. “We have strict laws against hunting game for sport.”
“I know that.”
“So then what trophy did you take from Altea?” she asked, raising a brow.
Do-Tarn smirked at her but didn’t answer her question, and the way he was looking at her sent a chill down her spine. Was he talking about when he helped plot the attack on her home planet… or was he talking about her?
He began sauntering towards her. “Come now, Princess. You’re intelligent; surely you’ve figured it out by now.”
Allura’s heart pounded uncomfortably as he got closer. She clenched her fists and stood her ground. “You are going to have to be more specific than that,” she said.
“Why do you think I’ve been so willing to spend all of this time with you? Why do you think I invited you to come here in the first place?”
“You invited a lot of people,” she pointed out.
“Yes, but it is you that I have always paid the most attention to, Allura.”
Do-Tarn stopped a foot away from her and she tensed. Any step closer and she would perform an armlock maneuver on him.
“How dare you address me by my…” Allura trailed off when she noticed something over the count’s shoulder. On the other side of the room, past the giant Baku, was a doorway which led into another red corridor, and in that doorway was Lance about to enter the room. He stopped in his tracks when he saw them. He waved and grinned sheepishly.
Allura tried not to react, but something on her face must have given her away, because Do-Tarn immediately noticed.
“What is it?” he asked, furrowing his brow. He was about to turn around, but Allura grabbed his arm to get his attention.
“It is nothing,” she said quickly. “Now, what were you saying?”
As discreetly as possible she glanced over to make sure Lance was able to get away, but just as he turned around he walked right into Lotor, smacking his face into the taller man’s chest.
Allura resisted the urge to slap her palm to her forehead. What in the Mother’s name were they doing?! They must have accidentally crossed paths while searching the house, and it was almost comical the way Lance began to fall backwards from the impact, about to hit the shiny floor before Lotor reached out and grabbed his arm to pull him back to safety.
But dear gods, they could not have come at a worse time!
Without a doubt Do-Tarn saw the alarm in her countenance, because he squinted his eyes at her, tugged his arm out of her grasp and made to turn around again. Desperate to save her friends from getting caught, Allura acted fast and wrapped her arms around Do-Tarn’s waist, tugging him towards her and hugging him.
Do-Tarn let out an oof as her arms tightly coiled around him. “Princess―”
“Don’t move,” she said. She held still, her ear pressed to his chest. She closed her eyes and counted to ten, praying that Lotor and Lance had managed to get away.
“Princess―can’t breathe―”
At last she released him and backed away so that there was a respectable amount of distance between them. She glanced at the doorway and found it empty. Her shoulders sagged in relief and she turned her attention back to the count, who was staring at her.
“I… got a little carried away there,” she said, forcing out a laugh. “It will not happen again.”
Do-Tarn continued to gape at her, then his large purple eyes narrowed. “Oh, I see what this is about,” he said, putting his hands on his hips. “Thought you could trick me, did you?”
Allura stilled. She looked up at him, her mouth drying and her heart began to race with apprehension, but she played dumb. “What do you mean?”
“You can pretend all you want, Princess, but I’ve known you for a while now,” he told her. “I can read you so easily. I know the truth. I know exactly what’s been going on with you.”
“Do you?” she challenged.
“Yes. First you refused me when I humbly extended to you an invitation to visit my home planet. Then after the attack on the opera house when everything was in shambles and that Galra ran away like the coward he is―”
Allura clenched her jaw.
“―you refused me once again. The next thing I know, your advisor is coming up to the High Council to tell us that you retreated back to Altea because you were homesick. No one heard from you for several days. Any news of you we only received from your advisor. And all of a sudden you change your mind and decide to come to my ball?” He scowled at her. “You think I wouldn’t figure out what’s really going on here?”
Her eyes widened. She didn’t know what to say.
“Wait, does he know?” Lance said in her ear, as if he was the very thought in her head.
“Shh!” one of the cadets, she didn’t know who, hissed at him.
Her palms began to sweat and there was ice in her veins as she continued to stare up at him. This was it. She was caught. Do-Tarn knew everything. He knew what she was doing here, knew where she’d been for the past few days, knew that her friends were rummaging through his house at this very moment.
This was bad, this was very, very bad―
Do-Tarn’s glower then faded. He tutted and shook his head, looking down at her sympathetically.
“You were lonely, weren’t you, Princess?”
Allura blinked.
“Wait, what?”
“Lance, shut up already!” That was definitely Keith.
Do-Tarn looked upon her with pity, then drew her into his arms. Allura, frozen with shock and relief, stood still.
“Poor little princess,” Do-Tarn cooed, patting her on the top of her head. “You’ve been through so much, haven’t you? You had to leave your home, your family, your people―and what did you get in return? A back-stabbing traitor who had you fooled since the very beginning.” He sighed dramatically. “I truly believed that having you work with the Galra Emperor was the right thing to do, that the two of you would reconcile your people and finally be done with this pointless blood feud, but I should have known better.
“Don’t feel bad,” he added, looking down at her. “He had us all fooled. And to think that he’s still out there roaming free after everything he’s done to Altea…” He tutted again and pulled her back into his chest. “You must hate him.”
“I…” Allura trailed off, her arms hanging at her sides, still recovering from the near-heart attack she had just now.
When Do-Tarn’s words sank in, she didn’t know how to respond at first. She didn’t want to lie and say that yes, she hated Lotor, but she couldn’t say the truth, either. If she agreed with Do-Tarn, Lotor would know she was only pretending, wouldn’t he? Especially after they’d been through together. He knew that she cared about him, he had to.
But even so, she couldn’t bring herself to say those words, because it would still hurt him, and it would hurt her as well.
“It is… complicated,” she finally answered.
“Don’t worry,” Do-Tarn told her soothingly. “That monster can’t hurt you anymore, not when you’re with me.”
“Don’t say that,” she said sharply, then reigned herself back in. “I―I don’t want to talk about him right now.”
“I can imagine. Out of everyone, you were affected the most by all of this, weren’t you? He got into your head, clouded your judgment, made you fall for him. It is obvious, Princess, and it is no wonder that everyone’s talking about you two.”
At that, Allura tensed and immediately pushed Do-Tarn away from her, sending him stumbling back in surprise. “It is because of you that everyone is talking about us,” she reminded him furiously. “You are the one who started the rumors in the first place.”
“You’ve got no proof,” he said smugly, folding his arms, “and it’s my word against yours.”
“Bold of you to assume that your word holds any value,” she retorted.
“In fact it does. Besides, the rumors would have started one way or another. That’s just what happens to people like you and him.”
Allura was seething. “Count Do-Tarn, you―”
“Excuse me, sir.”
The princess and the count’s attention was drawn away to a sky-blue Grekagar woman, the same one who greeted Allura and the Earthlings at the front door. She was tapping away at the holographic tablet in her hands.
The woman lifted her head to address him and nodded pointedly. “It’s ready for you downstairs.”
Do-Tarn’s face lit up. “Ah, excellent.” He rubbed his hands together. “I’ll be there shortly.” After the woman left, he turned to Allura eagerly. “At last it is time to unveil the special surprise for my guests.” He began walking out the way he came, and when she didn’t follow, he called over his shoulder, “Come along, Princess. You won’t want to miss this, I guarantee it!”
“We’re almost finished up here,” Shiro’s voice said in her ear. “Hold out for just a little longer, Princess.”
“Alright,” she murmured, then hurried to catch up with the count.
Once they returned to the ballroom, Allura slowed in her footsteps, watching as Do-Tarn left her and trotted back up the stage. Plaxum and the Chums had long since vacated with their instruments, leaving the place completely bare except for a microphone and a large, black curtain in the back. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the doors that led to the rest of the house close, its tall red doors sliding shut in a very final sort of way.
“My most esteemed guests, may I have your attention, please?” Do-Tarn called enthusiastically into the microphone. “Tell me, how have you enjoyed my party this evening?”
The gathering crowd cheered in response. Before Allura knew it, she was surrounded by hundreds of guests, all pushing and shoving to get closer to the stage.
Do-Tarn grinned. “That is exactly what I was hoping for! But just wait, my friends, for the night is about to get even better! You may have noticed the addition of this curtain behind me,” he said, gesturing towards it. “As you all know, I take great pride in my collection of artifacts and souvenirs from my travels. My latest passion has been that of zoology: studying the exotic creatures that inhabit our beautiful universe. What I have here―”
He was cut off by a thunderous, ground-shaking roar that came from behind the curtain, which trembled violently from the movement of whatever made that terrifying noise. It made the hairs on the back of Allura’s neck stand and goosebumps cover her skin. Do-Tarn flinched, as did the rest of his guests, all gasping and murmuring amongst themselves.
The count recovered himself and laughed easily. “I think the surprise is just as excited to see it as I am to show it to you! Never fear, my friends. Your safety is one hundred percent guaranteed. As I was saying, what I have here is something so rare that they were once thought to have been a myth, but tonight I will show you that they are very real!”
He walked towards the left side of the stage and lifted his free hand towards the curtain.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, native to Planet Ariel and my proudest feat yet―the Krelshi!”
The curtain dropped and the audience’s gasps of horror soon turned into cheers and applause of delight. Standing before them was a large beast, standing at about four stories high, almost as high as the ceiling. It was an animal Allura had never seen before. A thick, blue mane flowed majestically from its head to its chest, its tail the same color which resembled a cloud, while the rest of its body was covered in speckled, green fur. Red antlers grew from its shoulder blades and the knees of its back legs. Its four, giant paws were armed with sharp and deadly black claws, and its wide, yellow eyes and protruding, white fangs were frightening to look at, nearly paralyzing Allura where she stood.
The Krelshi was clearly very dangerous―
―and it was also very angry.
Six handlers tightly gripped ropes that were tied around its neck and front legs. The poor creature was overwhelmed by the bright lights and hundreds of people who stared and pointed at it. The noise was too much for it, and it roared again as it tugged on the ropes.
“How is that for a surprise?” Do-Tarn had to shout into his microphone to be heard. “But that’s not all, folks! During my journey I was lucky enough to bring back an additional souvenir. I give you not one, but two Krelshi!”
More applause and cheers erupted from the audience as a second beast was forced from backstage to the front next to its companion. It was smaller than the first, but no less enraged. When the Krelshi continued to struggle against their restraints, the dozen handlers pressed devices on the ropes which emitted a bright blue wave of electricity, running up the lines and shocking the beasts. They only roared and struggled more in response to the pain.
“This is horrible,” Allura murmured.
“Why, what’s happening?” Hunk asked.
“Allura, are you safe?” Lotor spoke up.
“Yes, I am fine,” she assured him softly. “But these poor beasts are getting tortured.”
“I’m afraid there’s nothing we can do about that right now,” Shiro said regretfully. “We need to focus on the mission. Can you meet us outside in five minutes?”
Allura pursed her lips. “Yes, of course,” she answered reluctantly.
“Come, don’t be shy!” Do-Tarn urged his guests. “Take a closer look, it’s perfectly safe.”
As the crowd shuffled forward near to the Krelshi, laughing and chattering excitedly amongst themselves, Allura had to force her way through to get to the doors, knocking into people who protested or glared at her. Struggling, she didn’t make it very far before another roar erupted from one of the Krelshi, shaking the ground underneath her feet and even the spiral chandeliers above. She glanced up at them and flinched when she saw one light fixture directly above the crowd, wobbling dangerously.
“Woah, careful there now!” she heard Do-Tarn say.
She looked over her shoulder at him. Even from this far away she could see the increasing apprehension on his face as the handlers were struggling to hold onto the ropes, the creatures only growing more and more agitated. The guests gasped.
“Uh, stay calm,” the count added to them with a nervous laugh. “I assure you there is nothing to worry―”
The bigger Krelshi raised its hind leg to kick at the equipment holding up the stage. It fell over with a loud crash, making the people cower back and scream. Its handlers tried shocking it again, but it withstood it this time and shook its mane violently. The ones who hadn’t let go of the ropes yet were tossed into the air and sent flying across the room screaming. The beast then lunged for the handlers which still had a grasp on the smaller one, swiping at them or stomping on them with its large paws.
Having fully registered the reality of their situation, the guests were in a full-blown panic, shrieking in terror and racing against each other to get to the exit first. Allura was nearly barreled into by a pair of Rygnirathi who were desperate to flee the scene.
“Sweet Mother of the Universe,” she said aloud as she watched the Krelshi run rampant throughout the ballroom, knocking over tables and sculptures or anything that stood in their path, which included people. If the guests weren’t trampling each other, they were squished by the unyielding, heavy feet of the beasts. Trying to escape itself, the smaller Krelshi unwittingly blocked the way to the doors, sending the people running in random directions.
“What’s that noise?” Pidge’s voice appeared in Allura’s earpiece.
“No time to explain,” the princess said quickly. She glanced around the room for another exit. “But you better get out now!”
“What about you?” Hunk asked anxiously.
“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine!” Allura spotted the glass doors leading to the lake in the very back and exhaled with relief. “Get yourselves out first and I’ll meet up with you as soon as I can!”
“We can’t leave without you,” Keith protested.
“Get going already!” she shouted as she began running across the length of the ballroom. “The mission comes first!”
“Allura ― ”
Just as she heard Lotor speak, she was abruptly knocked over and the back of her head collided with the hard floor. Hissing from the pain, she sat up, dazed. Someone must have bumped into her as they ran by.
“Lotor?” she murmured as she rubbed her head. No answer. That was strange, how did he get cut off? “Are you there?”
She reached up for her earpiece only to find that it was missing. Without thinking she glanced around her, though she knew it was no use. The fool who had knocked into her also knocked out the tiny device in her ear, and now she could no longer contact her friends.
“Oh, quiznack,” she muttered.
Hearing heavy stomping from behind her, she looked over her shoulder in time to see the bigger Krelshi lumber by and knock down a chandelier with one of the antlers on its back by accident. The fixture was sliced clean from the ceiling, its pointed spiral aiming for a small Arusian who was cowering in fear.
Scrambling to her feet, Allura sprinted towards the Arusian and dived for him, wrapping her arms around him. They slid across the floor and towards the stage, and she heard the crash of shattering glass behind her. She turned away to protect themselves from any shards that might fly their way. When she was sure they were safe, she leaned back and took him by the arm.
“There’s an exit right over there!” she told him, pointing towards the back wall of glass. “Hurry!”
He didn’t need to be told twice. Carefully avoiding the Krelshi, he made his way towards the door, where fortunately other people had begun to take notice and were exiting in a more or less orderly fashion.
“Are they gone?” a voice whispered, making Allura jump.
She looked to her right and saw Do-Tarn poking his green head out from behind the wreckage of the stage.
“The Krelshi,” he explained impatiently when she stared at him. “Did they leave?”
“What do you think?” she asked in disbelief.
The count turned away from her to see the giant creatures still smashing their way around the ballroom, looking for an exit.
“Ah,” was all he said as he emerged from his hiding place. “Well then, while they’re distracted I shall take my leave.”
“You cannot be serious! What about your guests?!”
“Better their necks than mine.”
“Then at least call the police!”
“I’d rather not get the authorities involved in this if you don’t mind. If they found out I smuggled two wild Krelshi into―”
“Oh, stop thinking about yourself for once and fix the mess you made!” she snapped at him.
“No, thanks.” Do-Tarn said nonchalantly as he dusted off his jacket. “So long, Princess.” And he calmly walked away.
“You coward!” Allura yelled after him, then she groaned in frustration. She was going to have to do this herself, wasn’t she?
As quickly and stealthily as possible she avoided the Krelshi, who were trying to break down the big doors out of the ballroom at the moment, and she hurried to direct the remaining guests towards the exit. She told one of them to contact the authorities, then stayed to look for anyone else who may have been left behind.
After some time she thought she’d gotten everyone, but out of the corner of her eye she noticed the many sofas and chaise lounges next to the glass wall, and among them was a shock of red hair.
“You have got to be kidding me,” she muttered. She ran over to Princess Malocoti, who by some miracle had not only not been stomped to death by the rampaging beasts, but she somehow managed to sleep through the violent disturbance around her. “Wake up,” Allura urged her, shaking her shoulder.
Malocoti let out a groan of complaint and waved Allura away, rolling over on the couch and burying her face into the cushions. “Five more minutes,” came her muffled voice.
“The party is over, Malocoti. The police are on their way.”
“Police? You tell them I didn’t do nothin’…”
Allura rolled her eyes. “They are not coming for you. Now come on, get up.” She tugged on her arm.
“Noooooo, I’m sleepyyyyy.” Malocoti wrenched her arm away.
“I do not have time for this!” With gritted teeth Allura grabbed her by the waist and hauled her to her feet, half-walking, half-carrying the drunk princess around as she did earlier that evening.
Just then the two Krelshi broke down the doors and began crashing through the rest of the house.
“Guess that’s our exit,” Allura remarked.
The mansion was unrecognizable at this point, so she could only guess where to go. Choosing the path forward, she began making her way through the wreckage and hauling the princess along.
“Are you rescuing me again?” Malocoti asked, her words slurred.
“Against my better judgment, yes.”
“That’s so sweet of you.” Malocoti leaned in towards her with a drunken smile on her face. “You’re so brave… and so pretty…” She planted a sloppy, wet kiss on Allura’s cheek. “Mwah!”
“Pull yourself together,” Allura told her with an exasperated sigh.
When they reached what she assumed to be the foyer of the mansion, she heard a pair of heavy footsteps running across the debris. Her heart lifted when she recognized them.
“Allura!” There he was, emerging from one of the darkened corridors to her right and running towards her.
“Lotor!” In her surprise and relief, Allura dropped Malocoti, who landed unceremoniously onto the ground with a thump.
“Ow,” Malocoti whined, but she made no move to get up.
Allura and Lotor met in the middle, reaching out for the other and grasping onto each other’s arms. Lotor was out of breath, panting heavily as if he’d been sprinting, and when he looked her over to make sure she was unharmed, he released the biggest sigh of relief.
“Lotor, thank the gods it is you,” Allura said breathlessly. She smiled, then furrowed her brow. “You did not leave?”
“Without you, Allura?” Lotor shook his head and returned her smile. “Not a chance.”
She looked up at him adoringly, her heart squeezing with gratitude and endearment, then she glanced at his mouth. She was so happy to see him she could kiss him right now―
The moment was then interrupted by a loud crash coming from above, startling them both, and they instinctively drew in closer towards each other, Lotor’s arm wrapping around her waist while Allura leaned into his chest. No doubt the Krelshi were still running amok.
“We should probably go,” Lotor muttered as he stared up at the trembling ceiling over their heads.
“Agreed,” Allura returned.
Their heads then turned towards Malocoti when she let out another groan. She curled up in the fetal position and muttered something about their voices being too loud.
“I almost forgot about her,” Allura admitted sheepishly.
“Is she…” Lotor stared at her quizzically, his brow creasing in mild concern. “…going to be alright?”
“Yes. She is only drunk.” Allura shook her head and went to pick her up once more, and Lotor followed her to assist. The two of them each took one of the princess’s arms and helped her to her feet. Malocoti lifted her head and noticed the Galra.
“Emperor Lotor…?” she asked, blinking slowly. “How is this possible?”
“It isn’t. You’re dreaming,” Allura told her in a deadpan tone.
“Oh. Alright.” And then Malocoti’s head fell forward, falling unconscious once more.
Her rescuers silently agreed to carry the princess in between them, Lotor taking her right arm over his shoulders while Allura took her left.
“Are the others safe?” Allura asked as they made their way out of the destroyed foyer and towards the front entrance.
“Yes, they will meet us by the ship.”
“I am glad to hear it. I lost my earpiece during all of the chaos, so I had no way to contact any of you.” She glanced over at him. “Thank you for coming back for me, really.”
He smiled. “You did the same for me once, though the circumstances may be a little different.”
“At least we are not drowning this time,” she joked as they kept moving.
“Or have rocks falling down upon us,” Lotor added.
“But we do have an unexpected third party,” Allura mused. “This definitely cannot count as a date.”
“Because we have company or because our lives are in peril?”
“The former, of course. Some of my fondest memories of our time together are when we were about to die.” She grinned when she heard him laugh. “Be careful right here, it’s a little slippery.”
Soon they arrived at the front doors, and they could hear Grekagar police sirens in the distance, shrill and warbling as they got closer. Lotor supported Malocoti while Allura went to take a peek.
“Help is on the way,” Allura said with a relieved sigh, then she turned to address the princess. “Malocoti, are you awake?”
“Hng?” was the response. Malocoti’s head lolled back against Lotor’s shoulder, her red hair shrouding her face like a curtain.
“The police are almost here,” Allura told her. “They will take care of you.”
Allura had to admit she was still upset with Malocoti for the things she said earlier, but the rage within her had since faded. At the very least, sleepy drunk Malocoti was much preferable to ranting drunk Malocoti. When she was like this, Allura found that she could tolerate her.
“I shouldn’t be long,” Allura said softly, looking up at Lotor.
“I will wait here,” he returned, his voice just as hushed, and he smiled warmly at her.
Malocoti half heartedly blew a lock of hair out of her face, sighed heavily, then unsteadily got to her feet. She turned her head to the right and saw Lotor, whose arm was wrapped around her waist to keep her upright.
She grinned stupidly. “What a gentleman you are, Your Imperial Majesty,” she cooed, letting out a drunken laugh as she turned her body towards him and took hold of his arms.
Lotor stiffened and stared silently at her with wide eyes, not sure what to do in a situation where a drunk woman was clinging to him.
“So pretty, too… Both you and the princess… Pretty…” With half-lidded eyes Malocoti reached up for him.
Now there was only so much Allura was willing to tolerate.
Without missing a beat she grabbed the back of Malocoti’s dress by the collar and yanked her away from Lotor.
“Hey!” the other woman complained.
“Alright, off you go,” Allura told her sharply, taking her by the shoulders and steering her out the door.
Outside, police transports and emergency vehicles were getting closer, racing towards the destroyed mansion. The surviving guests of the party were sitting, exhausted, on the front steps which were covered in plush green carpet. Only hours ago they had walked up those same steps, having no idea what they were getting themselves into. Allura felt a pang of pity for them. She deposited Malocoti on one of the steps, perhaps a little unceremoniously, then slipped back inside with none the wiser.
Lotor led her out the way he came: back through the labyrinthian halls of the mansion, down the lower levels to the cellar, until they emerged above ground at the south entrance of the house.
“Well,” Allura said once they got outside, standing up straight and putting her hands on her hips. “I think that went rather well.”
Behind her came a deafening explosion. She cringed and turned around to see that a fire had started on the third floor of the house; she did not even want to know how that happened. She then felt something cold drop onto her cheek, and she looked up to find that the stars and moons had disappeared, replaced by a thick blanket of dark blue clouds. They were rapidly forming, swirling and churning menacingly above them. In the distance she heard thunder, and gradually more and more drops of the icy water began to fall from the sky.
“It appears Keith was right,” Lotor remarked, also looking upwards. He caught Allura’s eye. “At least it will help with the fire.”
She grinned. “Was that optimism I heard from you just now, sir?”
He smiled over his shoulder at her as he kept walking. “Don’t get used to it, Princess.”
They neared the edge of the property. To their right was the lake, its surface rippling from falling raindrops, and up ahead, hidden among a small grove of spiraling black trees, waited Shiro’s motorcycle. By the time they reached it, the rain was coming down harder than before, and the temperature was dropping at a fast rate.
“Wear this.” Lotor produced his cloak from the back of the motorcycle and motioned for her to come to him.
“But what about you?” she asked as she approached. Already the two of them were getting soaked in the icy water.
“You need it far more than I do. Look at you, you’re shivering.” He draped the cloak over her shoulders, then raised the hood to cover her head, his fingertips barely brushing against her cheeks.
She took hold of his arm as he pulled away. “Will you be alright?”
“Of course. Now let us hurry before you catch your death. We will go through the city; it will be faster.”
The cloak was far too big and far too long for Allura, so she had to pull the hem all the way up to her waist to climb onto the back of the motorcycle behind Lotor. She wrapped her arms around his waist, he started the engine, and they took off down the road. The rain pelted relentlessly, becoming concerningly frequent as it poured down upon them.
The good news was that the roads in the golden city were mostly empty as they drove through, as people had shut themselves safely indoors, and the rain provided enough cover so that no one would be able to recognize Lotor should they look in his and Allura’s direction. Once in a while a hovering transport would pass by or an unlucky Grekagar would be seen sprinting through the rain, trying not to slip in the pond-sized puddles as they hurried to get to shelter. Because everyone was so busy taking care of themselves, they paid no mind to the strange vehicle with wheels speeding by.
The bad news was that the rain provided such a good cover for them, only getting worse with each passing minute, that eventually it got to the point where neither Allura nor Lotor could see two feet in front of them, forcing Lotor to slow down. They still had a ways to go, and it soon became clear that they weren’t making it out of the city while the storm raged on around them.
“Lotor, I think we should stop,” Allura said, having to raise her voice so he could hear her over the rain. She put a hand on his arm. She herself was freezing, and she could feel him shivering, too.
He nodded in agreement. The gentle purr of the motorcycle’s engine rumbled as they eased their way through the streets, looking around for a place to stay. The hood of the cloak was heavy with water and fell over Allura’s face, forcing her to push it out of the way. The constant wall of rain around them impaired her vision, but as they continued onward, up ahead she saw a neon yellow sign shining brightly in the darkness, as if the Mother of the Universe Herself was guiding them.
“Over there!” Allura pointed to it eagerly and patted Lotor’s shoulder.
He steered the motorcycle towards it, and though Allura couldn’t read the Grekagar language, it was clear the place was a motel. After parking among the other vehicles, they climbed off and Allura returned Lotor’s cloak to him. Like her, he was soaked to the bone and the cloak wouldn’t keep him dry in the slightest, but at the very least it would help disguise him.
Together they ran inside, splashing into puddles on the way, and the doors automatically hissed open for them once they got close. Allura exhaled slowly and closed her eyes briefly as they entered and the doors hissed shut behind her, soaking in the warm, dry air around her. It was a stark contrast to the frigid, flooded streets outside.
A singular yellow light shone from the ceiling, flickering in and out sporadically. The lobby consisted of one desk with a glass barrier which stood between them and the motel’s owner, who was an old Grekagar woman with gray feathers and sagging skin. She sat in her chair, her body slightly angled away from them, watching a soap opera playing on a holographic screen in front of her.
“Good evening,” Allura said as she walked up to the glass. Lotor came to stand next to her. The two of them were probably a pitiful sight, shivering and dripping all over the faded carpet, but the old woman didn’t bat an eye. In fact, she didn’t look their way for a second, far too engrossed in the show she was watching.
“I love you… most ardently,” the man said to the woman, the two of them standing underneath a gazebo amidst a fierce storm. “Please do me the honor of accepting my hand.”
Allura and Lotor exchanged glances. “Er, excuse me―” the princess tried again.
“I heard you the first time,” the old woman said.
A pang of annoyance ran through Allura, but she tried to remain polite, or as polite as she could think to be while she was drenched and shivering like mad. “We would like to book two rooms.”
“You’re out of luck, because I only have one room left.”
Allura blinked, her mouth falling open in surprise, then she looked up at Lotor again, searching his eyes which glowed in the shadow of the hood over his head. She bit her lip. Back in Castle Doom, the two of them had stayed in separate rooms, far away from each other―an arrangement implemented by Lotor, in fact. Admittedly she had invited him to stay in her room the previous night without hesitation, but they were in a different and more relaxed environment then. Here in the motel, however, where they were soaking wet, cold, and with no other place to go after escaping from a mansion which was getting smashed to pieces by angry Krelshi, it intimidated Allura as much as it excited her.
But as long as Lotor was comfortable with it, then so was she. The way that he looked back at her softly, she had a feeling that he was thinking the same thing. He gave her a small nod, and Allura turned back to the old woman.
“We’ll take it,” she said, then added quickly, “We are here on business. He is my business partner.”
“I didn’t ask. Here’s your key.” The woman slid it towards her, her eyes still glued to the screen. Thunder rumbled loudly outside and the building trembled, causing the light on the ceiling to shut off before flickering back on with difficulty, and the woman’s screen fizzled out for a few seconds until it returned to normal. “Darn storm’s messing with the power…” she muttered.
“Thank you,” Allura said with a stiff nod, then she and Lotor turned left to walk down the hall towards the rooms. Behind them, the doors opened again and another couple came running in.
“Do you have any rooms left?” one of them asked.
“You’re out of luck, because I only have one.”
Allura and Lotor both froze. They exchanged glances again, then Allura cleared her throat and leaned in towards him. “Just pretend you didn’t notice,” she whispered.
Lotor took hold of her hand. “I didn’t hear anything,” he whispered back. She smiled and they kept walking.
The second the door hissed shut behind them they were squeezing water out of their hair and clothes. The room was decent enough, Allura decided as she walked farther in and looked around. There was a bed, a closet, a restroom, and on the other side, straight across from the door, a window. She went up to it to look out. The storm was raging on as aggressively as before with no signs of stopping anytime soon.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Lotor go to the console on the wall to turn on the lights. A dim, blue glow emitted from fluorescent lights along the edges of the ceiling. Another crack of thunder sounded, making Allura jump. She looked up to see the blue lights flickering, struggling to stay on, until at last they sputtered out and did not turn back on for the rest of the night. Lotor pushed the same button on the console, then several more, but none of them worked.
“Power’s out?” Allura asked him, stepping away from the window.
“It appears so,” he answered. “Must be because of the storm.” He then cleared his throat and added quietly, “We can leave as soon as the rain stops.”
Allura nodded. That meant that not only were the lights not working, but the heating system as well, as everything was accessed through the console which was currently out of commission. The two of them fell silent, suddenly avoiding eye contact with each other. Allura was more aware of her wet clothes than ever, and a cold shudder ran through her.
Her face flushing, she turned away from Lotor to unclasp her cape which was weighing her down. The top of her dress wasn’t revealing in the least, but the act of taking off an article of clothing in front of him felt intimate, and when she went to him to take his cloak, it was difficult to look him in the eye. Wordlessly he shed it and gave it to her. She went to the restroom’s bathtub to wring the water out as much as she could from their clothes, then hung them up in the closet to dry.
Just as she was finishing up she was startled by an abrupt hiss of static. She spun around to see Lotor tinkering with a holographic radio which sat on top of a dresser next to the bed, glowing a soft teal color. There was only white noise at first, but after playing around with the frequencies a bit by sliding the knobs around, a pleasant, upbeat song with smooth vocals came through.
He glanced over at her. “Apologies,” he said sheepishly. “Good news is the radio works.” He smiled. “Perhaps your optimism has begun rubbing off on me after all.”
Allura couldn’t help but smile back, and they both laughed quietly, the tension easing between them. The thought occurred to her that he must have been nervous like her, and therefore wanted some background noise in order to calm them both down. It brought great comfort to her, a warmth blooming in her chest as she relaxed, and her smile grew as she regarded him. She then also wondered if, like her, Lotor had never been in a relationship before. There was never an appropriate time to ask, and it certainly wasn’t now.
Another cold wave ran through her, making goosebumps appear all over her body, and she promptly rubbed her arms. She glanced about the room, not sure what she was searching for, then looked at Lotor again.
“Warm me up?” she asked shyly, looking at him through her lashes.
He turned towards her and held out his arms. “Come here,” he said softly.
Happily she went to him and melted into his warm body as they embraced. His hand cradled her head while the other arm wrapped securely around her shoulders. She closed her eyes and pressed her cheek into his chest, clinging to his waist and savoring this quiet moment between them.
The gentle music from the radio was pleasant on her ears, and even the sounds of the thunder and heavy rain outside weren’t so bad now that they weren’t caught in the middle of it. Allura noticed that the two of them had started swaying unconsciously to the music, and she lifted her head to look up at him.
“Lotor.”
“Yes, Allura.”
“Because of the mission there was never a chance for us to dance together at the ball.” Her cheeks warmed. “Would you like to dance with me now?”
His eyebrows rose in astonishment as her words sank in, then his glowing eyes softened, crinkling at the edges. “How can I refuse such an honor?” he said in a near whisper.
“The honor is all mine,” she returned, and she beamed up at him when he took her hand in his and kissed it as they bowed to each other.
They took their positions, Allura resting her hand on his shoulder with Lotor’s on her back, and their other hands joined together. At first they laughed quietly, not used to this new kind of physical contact between them, but as they grew more comfortable they looked into each other’s eyes, getting lost in one another as they always did. Allura could feel the tension melting from Lotor’s shoulders as he held her, and though the music playing on the radio wouldn’t necessarily be considered proper music for the ballroom, they stepped in time with ease, standing chest to chest.
“Your form is very good, Emperor,” she said with a grin. “I am most impressed.”
“I must return the compliment, Princess. You are by far the best dance partner I have ever had, though I admit I have little to compare with.”
“Who else have you danced with?” Allura tilted her head, genuinely curious.
“Well,” Lotor said, releasing a sigh and glancing up as he tried to remember. “My first time dancing with a woman was when I was thirteen. She was about my age, and she was the daughter of a high ranking officer in the royal army. I was terrified.”
“Of her or of dancing?” Allura asked with a sympathetic smile.
“Both,” he confessed with a sheepish grin. “There were a couple more occasions over the years while I was in my adolescence, but I was never quite able to get used to it.” Allura nodded in understanding, and then he lifted his chin towards her. “What about you? Did all fifty-six of your suitors take you dancing?” He released her waist to spin her around once.
“Thank the gods, no,” she said with a laugh as she fell back into his arms. “Over the course of three years, that would be far too much. Altea does hold a ball every year, however, in the Castle of Lions. It’s coming up soon, actually, in about two months, during fire rock season.”
“Fire rock?” Lotor repeated curiously.
“Razor-sharp and boiling-hot,” Allura confirmed. “They can knock a hole right in your head.”
“…Sounds lovely.”
She grinned. “Yes.”
“You must miss Altea.”
“I do. Other than that, the last ball I went to was on Olkarion at the previous year’s Universal Coalition meeting.”
“The one where you met Count Do-Tarn.” The grim expression on Lotor’s face was undisguised, and Allura had a feeling there was something on his mind.
“Yes.” She pursed her lips. “Lotor… does it bother you that I danced with him? Or that I hugged him?”
He shrugged a shoulder. “It would be a lie to tell you that I am ecstatic about it, but…” He then regarded her sincerely. “I know you had good intentions, that you were only trying to protect Lance and myself. I trust your judgment, and I trust you.”
Allura nodded, but she could see the uneasiness in his eyes. “Then is it something else?”
Lotor hesitated, considering how to answer, his eyes downcast. “It is about what he said to you.” He paused, and she waited patiently for him to speak. “Allura… Did you ever hate me?”
She blinked, taken aback at first. “Hate you?” she repeated. Then she remembered what Do-Tarn said to her:
“Don’t worry, that monster can’t hurt you anymore…”
“You must hate him…”
“The day of the attack on Altea,” Lotor went on, his voice soft. “Your people found a Galra bomb and your father could only assume that I was trying to start a war. At that moment, you must have thought I was responsible, that I took the lives of all of those people, of your people.” His sharp eyes looked down to the left. “You must have hated me.”
“When you think of me, Allura… what am I to you?”
Allura recalled what Lotor had asked her the night they were trapped underneath the opera house, and she realized she never answered his question. She’d been too afraid, afraid to confront her feelings, and afraid to acknowledge the truth about her and Lotor, that she could never stay away from him, even from so early on. She kept everything she was feeling inside, and though there were still some things that would be hard to say to him outloud, she knew that there were certain things he needed to hear from her.
“And you?” she asked, her voice hushed. “Did you ever hate me?”
His eyes met hers again, surprise on his face.
“When you first came to Altea, you expected to be there for no more than a few hours, and yet you stayed for days. You were the one who was accused of something you did not do, and after that, everything changed for you when I stepped in between you and my father. You had to leave your home for three months and be involved in something you never wanted in the first place―because of me.” She shook her head. “You must have hated me, Lotor.”
Lotor searched her eyes, still silent, as if he didn’t know what to say.
“What the count said,” she went on. “What everyone else says, when they call you a monster, or when they compare you to him” ―the inner corners of her eyebrows lifted―”I know it hurts you. But I want you to know that not once did I ever see you that way.” She looked intently into his eyes, hoping he could see the sincerity in her own. “To me… you are you.”
He gazed down at her in awe, his lips parted as he drew in a quiet breath, his fangs peeking out. His luminescent eyes traveled over her face, and when they looked upon her with warmth and gratitude, she knew that he believed her.
The radio continued to play slow and smooth music, but the two of them had long since stopped stepping in time with it, swaying with each other and simply reveling in the other’s presence.
“We really have come a long way since then,” Lotor said quietly.
“Yes,” Allura agreed. Then she smiled, deciding to tease him. “Do you remember when we argued in the hallway after meeting with the High Council, and you said you wanted to kill me?”
Lotor’s eyes widened, then he forced out a laugh. “That was…” He trailed off and glanced away, looking absolutely mortified.
“Don’t worry, Lotor,” she said soothingly and he looked back at her. “I wanted to kill you, too.” They stared at each other, then he broke out into genuine laughter, and she grinned at him.
“It is not a moment I am proud of,” he confessed, and though he still looked a little embarrassed, his smile remained. “But there was something else, too. At the time, while we were yelling at each other, the truth is…” A subtle shade of violet colored his skin, visible even in the darkness. “I wanted to kiss you.”
Allura blinked up at him, her lips parting in surprise, and her face flushed as well. “I wanted to kiss you, too.” She smiled softly. “We were both holding back, weren’t we? We never said or did anything we really wanted to.”
“Yes. We avoided it for a long time. I think we have avoided a lot of things since then.”
They smiled at each other, but the amusement soon faded. They stopped moving to the music. Lotor gently took her hand and grasped it in both of his own, completely enveloping it, and held it up to his chest to bring her closer to him.
“Allura,” he uttered her name in his deep voice, then he spoke to her slowly. “I think it is time we finally talked about it… about us.”
Her gaze dropped, staring at his chest and their joined hands. The unspoken issue hung in the air―the “it” they’d been skirting around ever since they reunited in the sleepy streets of Drule―its presence stifling and uncomfortable in her chest, the real reason why they’d avoided talking about it for so long. It had plagued Allura’s mind for the past few days, had made itself a permanent home in the pit of her stomach, and Lotor’s words only made that pit grow larger, made the pain in her heart slice deeper.
She wanted to stop him from talking about it, to keep pretending for as long as she possibly could, because she didn’t want to talk about it. Because once he spoke, once they talked about it, once their conversation finished, that would be the end.
Desperately, so desperately, she didn’t want it to end. They’d only just begun.
“Allura…”
And of course everything she was thinking was plain on her face for him to see.
Allura swallowed the lump in her throat, and with great reluctance she lifted her head to meet his gaze. She couldn’t speak. Her heart was in her throat. The dread seeped into her body like the cold rain from the storm.
What was going to happen when they talked? What was she going to do? How were things going to change for them afterwards?
Lotor’s eyes flickered over her. “I…” he trailed off. “I do not even know where to start.” He drew in a breath, his gaze boring into hers as he shook his head slightly. “So much has occurred between us these last three months, it is difficult to decide where to begin.”
He hesitated, then looked at her determinedly, grasping her hand a little tighter.
“Allura, I―”
“Wait,” she told him softly, placing her hand on his chest, and he stopped.
Thunder rumbled in the distance. Rain pelted down, tapping on the window of their motel room. The quiet music from the radio turned melancholic and bittersweet.
Allura looked up at him and slowly shook her head. “Don’t say anything.” And when he was about to protest she raised her fingers to his lips. “I know… you think I am trying to stop this from happening, to stop us from ending.” She smiled sadly and lowered her hand. “I assure you I am not.
“I know what’s going to happen after the rain stops, after we walk out that door and meet with the others. I won’t try to deny it, or ignore it, or run away from it any longer. I promise. But I…”
The edges of her vision began to blur and she blinked a few times. She swallowed, and her voice lowered to a whisper, trying not to break.
“I can’t talk about it. I’m sorry.”
She was being unfair, and she knew it. It was clear that there were things Lotor wanted to say to her, and she had things she wanted to tell him, too. She wanted to tell him that she loved spending these past few days with him, that she wanted to go back to that mountain behind Castle Doom again with him. She wanted to take him back with her to Altea and show him her secret sanctuary by the little creek. She wanted to hold his hand and go on long walks together―to anywhere, really. The place didn’t matter, so long as he was with her.
She wanted to get to know him more, to learn about all of his likes and dislikes, to know what kind of music he liked, if he ever watched soap operas. They would stay up late and watch them, snuggling and cuddling together and laughing at the silly, overused tropes while secretly enjoying them. She wanted to know what all of his favorite books were so she could read them. She would show him all of her favorites, too, show him the library in the Castle of Lions, and when they were sure they were alone they would kiss behind the stacks until they forgot all about why they were there in the first place.
She wanted to take him exploring around the universe with her, to see how happy it would make him to travel again after so long. They would go on all sorts of adventures, journeying to every corner of space and discovering new things together. He would tell her about all of his past explorations over the years, and she would happily sit and listen to him talk for hours. They would stay up late talking about whatever they wanted, then fall asleep in each other’s arms and wake up late the next morning. They would do other things late at night, too, getting to know each other and all the different ways they fit together, breathless and intoxicated by one another in the dark…
And most of all, Allura wanted to tell Lotor that she cared for him, more deeply than she ever thought possible for someone who was not one’s own family. She wanted to tell him that she would never stop caring for him, that she could never care for anyone else like him in the universe because there was no one else like him in the universe. She wanted to tell him that her feelings for him were true, that since that night they stood on the mountaintop together and he told her the sky reminded him of her eyes, her feelings had slowly but surely been turning into something else―something that terrified her just as much as it electrified her―something more.
But she couldn’t say any of that. Because even after everything they’d been through together―all of the misunderstandings, all of the adventures, all of the quiet and peaceful moments between them―it didn’t change anything. What Malocoti said was true to some degree. They would be able to stop a war from happening, certainly, but what else had changed during the last three months? Nothing. In this motel room where they swayed to music playing from a little radio while a storm raged on, it didn’t change anything out there. Out there, in their worlds, in all the other worlds, in the infinite cosmos, everything was the same.
So there was no point. It wouldn’t change a single thing.
Allura couldn’t say it.
She could never
ever
say it.
With all of his ability to control his emotions, a skill which he must have honed and perfected over the course of his life, Lotor could not hide the hurt and disappointment in his eyes at Allura’s words, not from her, and it killed her to see him that way. The fact that she was the one causing him this pain was torturing her. She had to look away from him, and the tears threatened to come again.
It appeared their promise to each other earlier that day in the training arena, to pick up where they left off, was not going to come true after all.
When she regained control of herself after some time, looking once more at their clasped hands, she swallowed, moistened her lips, and took a deep breath.
“Lotor.”
“Yes, Allura.”
“After the rain, we will need to meet with the others.”
“Yes.”
“And after that we must take the evidence to Dunamis and finally clear your name.”
“I know.”
Allura looked out the window and realized with dismay that the downpour had lessened to a significant degree, and it wouldn’t be long until it ceased completely.
“We still have some time before the storm passes,” she said in a near whisper. She could not look at him. “Until then… what do you want to do?”
Her heart pounded in her chest as she waited for his answer, if he wanted to answer at all. She would not blame him if he said nothing, if he did nothing.
Lotor surprised her then, when he released her hand and gently took her by the chin, tilting her face up so that she would look at him. His claws were absent as he tenderly caressed her skin with his thumb. This touch was different. It felt like the last touch before he would never touch her again, before he would never feel her again. His glowing eyes roamed over her, and he looked like he was trying to memorize her, to remember what she looked like during the few moments that remained between them. Though the sadness in his eyes was still present, he managed a smile.
Then he surprised her even further when he leaned down and wrapped his arms around her shoulders in a hug. He bowed his head, burying his nose into her hair and silently breathing her in. Allura instantly reached up to entwine her arms around his neck and closed her eyes. This hug was different. It felt like the last hug before he would never reach out to her again, before he would never hold her and keep her warm again. Allura’s arms around him tightened, trying to commit his warmth to memory.
She wasn’t sure how long they stood like that, but she heard the rhythm of the raindrops begin to slow, and her heart sank with the most agonizing dread she’d ever felt in her life. When Lotor pulled back slightly, his hands smoothed up her arms and rose to cradle her face, and she noticed him glance at her mouth. Without missing a beat she balanced herself on the tips of her toes and held onto his upper arms, tilting her head up towards him and closing her eyes. She felt the ghost of his breath before he pressed his lips to hers.
This kiss was different. It was soft, slow, and bittersweet. While Allura’s grip on his arms was tight and unyielding, Lotor’s hands were delicate and light as a feather. He tenderly caressed her cheeks and the back of her neck, his fingers carding through her hair, holding her as if she were so fragile and precious to him. It was as if he was trying to communicate everything he felt for her through his lips.
The heat of him, the passion which he began to bury deep inside of him once more, the agonizing gentleness and slowness of his mouth moving against her own, the truth about his feelings for her―all of it reached Allura’s very soul and sparked a searing fire in her heart, threatening to set her aflame. It was too much and yet not enough. It felt like the last kiss before he would never invade her space like this again, would never let their warm breaths mingle like this again, would never taste her like this again.
When the sounds of the storm ceased, Lotor’s lips slowly dragged against hers, and he delicately kissed the corner of her mouth one last time before he pulled away. Allura’s eyes remained closed. She was breathing yet breathless, full of life yet near dying. Her eyes fluttered open, and she marveled at this beautiful, empyreal, god-like man before her. Her star dust. Her emperor. Her Lotor.
He looked down at her, his glowing eyes filled with the answer to everything, the answer to the question she’d been asking her entire life, the answer she received the moment she first saw him that day on the steps of City Hall:
It is you.
It has always been you.
Reluctantly they released each other, their hands lingering before finally falling away. Silently they donned their outerwear, still damp but significantly drier than before, then walked out of the room and down the hall. The old Grekagan woman sat snoring in her chair, her holographic screen absent ever since the power shut off.
The night sky was still dark above their heads, the air crisp and cold, making Allura shiver. She could feel Lotor next to her. His ever-present warmth was something she didn’t realize she’d become familiar with until that moment, as if it had become a part of her, and from now on she would have to get used to its absence. Even without looking she could feel the space between their hands, neither moving to touch the other, but not moving away, either, in case they brushed together and they could pretend it was by accident.
Lotor revved up the motorcycle’s engine as Allura climbed on behind him, and she was about to take hold of him, but she hesitated, and she felt a little silly for doing so. He must have sensed her apprehension, because he reached behind him to take hold of her arms and gently wrapped them around his waist. He placed his hand over hers briefly to make sure her hold on him was secure, and at last they took off.
The gentle purr of the motorcycle and the cold wind whistling in her ears were the only sounds that Allura heard as they left the golden city behind and drove down the unlit road back towards the black forest in the near distance. It felt very final, this drive they took together. The melancholy atmosphere was a stark contrast to the excitement and joy from earlier that day in the training arena. Where had all of that happiness gone? It was lost now, falling far behind her as the smoke from the engine fell behind them.
She’d known that there were going to be consequences, and here they were, tightening around her heart and chilling her to the bone like this frigid wind that seemed to blow straight through her. No doubt Lotor was freezing like her.
Carefully, Allura leaned in towards Lotor, tightening her arms around him, and pressed her cheek into the middle of his back. He did not flinch or stiffen at her touch, so she took that as a sign that he was allowing her to be close to him. She closed her eyes, relishing in the rhythmic rising and falling of his back with every breath. It was a sensation she could have very well gotten used to.
Tears gathered underneath her eyelids, but she did not let herself cry. There was a time and a place for that, but it was not at that moment. All she wanted was to hold onto him for one last time and remember…
Remember the one day when Lotor had finally been hers, and she was his.
Notes:
This chapter ended up being the longest one yet, with over 20,000 words!!! 😱 I really hope you enjoyed it!! I had a lot of fun writing it, and as per usual I already can't wait for you to read chapter 12!!!
Fun facts: I took the name Krelshi from Voltron Force! Though admittedly I have not seen the show myself. And the physical description of the Krelshi I took from a Korean mythological creature called Haetae. They almost resemble lions, which is perfect for Voltron! 😉 Also can't forget the famous "only one room at the motel" trope hehe. The scene with the motel owner is inspired by the Korean drama "Goblin" 😁
Thank you so much for reading!! 💖💜 Up next: as Lotor and Allura return to Dunamis to clear his name and the two must say goodbye, things are not what they seem and some questions remain yet unanswered...
Chapter 12: Latibule
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
What followed after was uncomfortably miserable and nearly unbearable. Once they arrived at the black forest, Allura and Lotor reunited with the rest of the group and, with the evidence in hand (contained in a small external drive) and the vehicles returned inside the ship, The Atlas shortly departed from Grekagan and made the journey back to Daibazaal.
The two of them didn’t avoid each other, both silently agreeing to maintain some degree of professionalism in the presence of the Earthlings, but they didn’t gravitate towards each other like they used to. No longer were there shared glances, casual touches, or soft smiles. They sat with one seat in between them on the ship, Lotor hunched over with his arms resting against the tops of his thighs and hands clasped together, while Allura sat with her back against the wall of the cabin, her arms folded as she pointedly looked away from him. If her friends noticed the tense atmosphere between her and Lotor, they didn’t comment on it.
Allura’s eyes began to droop. All of the excitement and adrenaline from the day’s events had finally caught up to her, and she felt extremely worn out. After nodding off for several minutes, trying in vain to stay awake, she at last fell asleep, the back of her head resting against the wall of the cabin.
She didn’t know how long she was out, but she was eventually awoken by the shudder of The Atlas as it entered Daibazaal’s atmosphere. She leaned forward to look out the front window and saw the familiar constellations of the system Altea and Daibazaal shared. About one point five billion kilometers away, a several hours’ journey, awaited Allura’s homeworld. It was only a matter of time before she saw her blue planet again, she knew.
The generals were waiting for them in the hangar bay of Castle Doom, and as soon as the group stepped out of the shuttle, Shiro announced their departure back to Earth.
“You are leaving?” Allura asked, her brow furrowing. “Already?”
The lieutenant smiled. “It’s time I got my students back home. My commander at the Garrison had approved to extend our arrival date, and unfortunately we’ve surpassed it, so the sooner we return the better.”
“I see.” Allura tried not to sound too crestfallen. It was all so sudden; everything was coming to an end so fast. Though she’d known this day would come, she still felt that she wasn’t prepared for it. “Then perhaps I will see you all at the next Universal Coalition meeting?”
“It’s unlikely I would get picked again as representative,” Shiro replied, and he too looked disappointed. “In order for it to be fair for the other instructors.”
“Of course.”
“We’ll be graduated by then,” Lance said, referring to him, Hunk, and Keith. “Who knows where we’ll all be stationed by next year. But Pidge will still be around the Garrison, won’t ya, Pidgeotto?” He rested his arm on top of her head and grinned. The young girl pushed his arm off and elbowed him in the ribs, prompting an “ow” from him.
“Nerd,” she told him, trying not to smile.
“I don’t get it,” Keith said.
“You’ve never heard of―” Lance shook his head. “I swear, Keith, you grew up under a rock.”
“No, I grew up in the desert.”
“I’m going to miss you guys,” Hunk told Allura and the Galra, swallowing and blinking quickly. “All of you.”
“Aw, that’s so sweet,” Ezor said, and her tone was sincere. “You’re even going to miss the boss?” she then asked skeptically, pointing her thumb at Lotor.
Hunk shrugged and smiled. “Yeah.”
“Yeah, I’m gonna miss him, too…” Lance admitted in a low mumble.
“What was that?” Zethrid asked, grinning.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to have worked alongside you, Earthlings,” Acxa said with a nod.
“It was an honor to successfully complete this mission with you all,” added Lotor, who stood next to Allura, his arms folded. “Your hard work will not go unappreciated, nor forgotten.”
“Thanks for taking care of us, and good luck with everything,” Shiro said. He held out his hand.
Lotor looked down at it, surprised at first. He then grasped it, giving Shiro a firm and friendly handshake. “Safe travels, Lieutenant.”
“Alright, group hug before I start crying!” Hunk announced, spreading out his arms.
Ignoring protests, he pulled everybody in―humans, Galra, and Altean alike. Allura snuck a glance at Lotor and saw that he was more surprised than ever. She almost smiled, but then bit her bottom lip and turned away, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in her chest.
With enthusiastic waves and teary smiles, Shiro and his cadets climbed aboard The Atlas one by one and took off into the red sky, ready for the long journey back to Earth.
Allura turned to the Galra and opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it again. She couldn’t think of what to say to them―to Lotor.
“What now?” Ezor spoke up, graciously breaking the silence.
“Time to bring justice,” Zethrid said, rubbing her knuckles.
“Indeed.” Lotor addressed his generals, back to business. “Prepare Sincline for takeoff as soon as possible . It is time to return to Dunamis.”
“You want to leave right now?” Acxa asked, eyebrows rising in surprise. “But you just got back. Don’t you guys want to―” She glanced between him and Allura, and she must have sensed the strain between the two of them. “Don’t you need to rest?”
“We haven’t a moment to waste.” Without waiting, Lotor turned and headed for his ship and added, his voice low and rough, “Let’s get this over with.”
The way he said it wasn’t harsh or snappy, but it still hurt, a stinging pain that jabbed at Allura’s heart. She shook herself mentally before following. The person she was now didn’t have any right to feel hurt, is what she told herself. Whatever word they could have used to label this relationship between them, it didn’t allow for any personal feelings anymore.
It was probably best if the two of them simply regarded each other as they did three months ago: disinclined allies and nothing more.
This was fine. She would get through this. She had to.
During the flight to Dunamis, Allura used the time to change back into her white flight suit and tie her hair back in a bun, then she took a seat in between Acxa and Narti up front. The trip passed quickly as she conversed with the generals, and she enjoyed herself. She was happy that she got along with them and that she could call them her friends, even if they were going to part ways soon. Lotor sat in the captain’s chair in the back of the bridge as usual, giving out orders and playing the part of emperor as he should. He sounded calm, cool, and collected. He sounded in control of himself and his emotions, as if everything was fine. He sounded all right, so he must have been all right. But Allura knew better.
Because she could feel his eyes on her the entire time.
It was around noon on Dunamis when Sincline arrived, and it wasn’t long after they entered the planet’s domain that several red police fighters emerged and surrounded them. Fortunately they made no moves to attack, at least while they were up in the sky. After being hailed by one of the officers, they were directed to land on the roof of the police station, Dunamis Police Department. Unlike most buildings in the city, the station was unique in that it was a mere ten stories high and shaped like a box, crowded by the thousand-floor skyscrapers around it.
Lotor was out of his seat the second the ship touched down. “Stay here until I return,” he told the generals as they too got to their feet. “If I don’t…” He trailed off. His expression hardened and he clenched his jaw.
“You will,” Ezor assured him.
“See you soon, Boss,” Zethrid added.
Kova let out a soft chirp, his ears drawn down and his tail curled up as he sat on Narti’s shoulder.
“Be careful,” Acxa said. Lotor nodded, then kept still, waiting for Allura, though he did not look directly at her.
The princess rose from her chair and turned to the four women. “I will not forget any of you,” she told them sincerely, trying to smile. “Thank you… for everything.”
“So long, Princess,” Ezor said, looking forlorn, as did the others.
A pain shot through Allura’s chest as she regarded them. Though their time together was short, she’d come to care about them very much, and it would take some time getting used to, not seeing them around as she had during these past three months. She glanced at Acxa, who managed a small smile of encouragement, though there too was sorrow in her gaze.
The emotion once again began welling up inside of Allura’s throat, but she swallowed and pushed it back down. “Goodbye,” she told them softly. With no small amount of hesitation, she turned away from them and walked past Lotor to exit the bridge.
The walk to the ship’s ramp seemed to take an eternity, and Allura couldn’t decide whether she wanted this brief moment alone with Lotor to last or if she wanted to get away from him as soon as possible. She hadn’t yet been able to process what had occurred between them last night and what was to come; it was too overwhelming and painful to think about.
When they arrived at the exit they stood in silence. From the inside of the ship Allura could hear the usual clanging of the surrounding factories, a sound she never thought she’d miss, as well as a commotion of frantic movement and voices yelling to one another. No doubt the police were gathering around the ship, weapons aimed and ready to attack if necessary.
To Allura’s left, she saw Lotor reach for the console on the wall to open the ramp, but he stilled, his thumb resting lightly on the button. For a few seconds he stood there, so motionless and quiet that she wondered if he even breathed. Her heart pounded in her chest as she watched him, waiting for what she didn’t know, but she waited.
Lotor inhaled sharply, turning his head slightly towards her, though he did not look at her. Allura still could not see his face, but she could tell there was something on his mind, something he wanted to say before he pressed that button.
Whatever it was, the moment soon passed and he apparently decided against it. His tense shoulders relaxed and he stood up straight, looking forward. Any pain, sorrow, anger, regret―anything that he was feeling inside―he refused to let it rise to the surface, and his mask slipped back into place, in control of himself again.
As they stood side by side, about to head back into reality, he at last spoke to her. His voice was low and smooth, his words short and to the point:
“Are you ready?”
Allura straightened her back, took a deep breath, and nodded once.
“Here we go.”
Waiting for them on the other side was a squadron of police officers, armed forces, and fighters that hovered above, shining bright spotlights upon the roof. The reaction was instantaneous. As the ramp lowered to the ground, the second the police caught sight of Lotor they immediately pointed their weapons at him. The head officer, a young Dalterion male about their age, held an amplifier to his mouth so that he could be heard above the whirring engines of the fighters, his long black hair whipping in the wind.
“Emperor Lotor, slowly exit your ship and walk down…” he trailed off, his red eyes widening.
The police were prepared to arrest the Galra Emperor as soon as he stepped off of his ship. What they weren’t prepared for, however, was―
“Princess Allura?” the Dalterion called out almost incredulously. The police officers hesitated, some of them beginning to lower their weapons at the sight of the Altean princess. Their superior quickly recovered himself. “Emperor Lotor, release the princess now or we will be forced to take action against you.”
Allura’s eyes widened. Of course, how could they have not seen this coming? Nobody knew that she was with Lotor this entire time, and now that she was coming out of his ship, the police thought he’d taken her prisoner somehow. If they hadn’t thought he was a threat before, they certainly did now.
Dozens of guns were fixed on Lotor once more as he began his descent. No. Allura couldn’t let this happen. The police had no idea that they’d come back to clear his name, and allies or friends or whatever they were now, she’d made a promise to Lotor that she was not going to allow them to arrest him. When he reached the bottom, stepping onto the roof of the building, she ran forwards and jumped in front of him, spreading out her arms and shielding him with her body.
“Your Highness!” the Dalterion exclaimed, shocked. He nearly dropped his amplifier as he motioned for his squadron to stand down, and he gawked at her. “What are you―”
“We have come to prove Emperor Lotor’s innocence,” she announced, raising her voice so she could be heard. Her heart was pounding in her chest and there was ice in her veins. As she lowered her arms, without meaning to, her hand brushed against Lotor’s arm, and she could feel the tension in his body. “And we have brought evidence that will indict the real culprit behind the attacks on Altea and Dunamis.”
The Dalterion was taken aback, blinking several times at her as her words sank in. Then he lowered the amplifier from his mouth and regarded her skeptically. “Alright, then show it to us,” he called. “While we verify your claim, you can come with us and the emperor will be taken to a holding cell.”
“Absolutely not,” Allura said firmly. “I will agree to give you the evidence and go with you, but he is staying with me.”
“Your Highness―”
“If you arrest him here then there is no evidence.”
“Then we’ll have to arrest you, too, and charge you for disobeying a lawful order.”
Allura stood firm. “No, you will not. Have you forgotten who I am and where I come from? What do you think will happen the moment my father, the king of Altea, finds out that you had his only daughter taken away in handcuffs? He will do anything to protect his family and his people, so what do you think he will do to those who cross him?” She paused. “What do you think he will do to you?”
The Dalterion clenched his jaw. The threat clearly worked, and he was not happy about it. Behind her, Allura could feel Lotor begin to relax as he let out a soft exhale.
“Besides,” Allura added, lifting her chin. “I have a friend on the High Council. President Desto will vouch for me.”
Looking directly into the Dalterion’s eyes, she stood tall and unwavering. She did not have the power to change things between the Alteans and the Galra, nor could she prevent the inevitable tragedy between her and the man behind her, she knew. But if she had the power to protect him, to help clear his name, to guarantee that he would return home safely to his people, then she would do whatever it took.
Allura spoke again, her voice clear and resolute:
“Emperor Lotor stays with me.”
From what Allura and Lotor heard as they waited in the police station, Do-Tarn’s arrest was a dramatic scene, mostly caused by the count himself, taken in front of the public when he and the rest of the High Council were in the middle of a meeting. Allura wished she could have been there to see it in person, but they were told by the Dalterion, who introduced himself as Sergeant Zane, to stay put. He informed them it was for their safety, but she knew better than that. The real reason was because the police wanted to keep an eye on them, specifically on Lotor, for everyone else’s safety.
They were, however, given permission to witness the count’s interrogation. After handing over the drive, Allura and Lotor were escorted to one of the upper floors of the police department by an intern, a young Olkari female, who kept glancing nervously up at Lotor as they walked together.
When they exited the elevators, they came upon a large area with navy blue walls and wide windows that looked out onto the street, and the room was in a complete frenzy. Officers rushed by, yelling at each other and securing their weapons as they hurried towards the elevators.
The ones who were not running about sat at their desks, making calls or filling out documents on blue holographic screens, or they were speaking with citizens in need of help. One officer was trying to settle a dispute between an Unilu and a Krellian. What they were arguing over was unclear, but it was getting so serious that they were on the verge of coming to blows, and the officer was trying to calm them both down. As they took in the scene in front of them, standing next to each other, Allura and Lotor automatically exchanged glances.
Perhaps we came at a bad time, his eyes told her, and she had to agree.
“You can wait over there,” the Olkari spoke up anxiously, gesturing off to the side. There was a small waiting area with a few chairs pushed back against the wall, and in front of that was an interrogation room which was currently empty. The intern was about to shuffle away when Allura called out to her.
“Excuse me.”
The Olkari jumped. “Yes?” she squeaked out.
Allura pursed her lips. She was about to ask how long they would have to wait, but she doubted that she would know as she was not one of the officers who partook in Do-Tarn’s arrest. It was also very obvious that she was frightened of Lotor, so Allura decided against it.
“Never mind. Thank you for showing us around.”
The Olkari nodded, looking once more at Lotor with wide eyes before she quickly scurried away. The princess and the emperor were left alone, and the melancholy, awkward tension returned. They immediately stepped away from each other, Lotor towards the back wall and Allura towards the large window that looked into the interrogation room. Without thinking she reached up for her necklace and tugged on it. She hoped the police would arrive with Do-Tarn soon.
Despite the racket happening around them, the silence and the distance between her and Lotor was difficult to endure, and his presence overpowered her senses as always. It wouldn’t do to simply look in the opposite direction and try to ignore him; she’d tried that in the past, and as a result she only became more aware of him than ever.
Half an hour passed. Then one hour. Then two. Allura was only getting more and more agitated, pacing back and forth along the length of the waiting room, which was not very big.
“I’ve about had enough of this,” she fumed. “What are they, stuck in traffic?”
“They must still be in processing with the count,” Lotor told her in a low, tired voice. He was leaning against the back wall, his arms folded and his eyes closed. “They have to search him, his belongings, his residence, and so on. Not to mention they need to go through the evidence we provided them. These things take time. Be patient.”
“I have been,” she snapped as she walked past him for the billionth time. “I have been patient for three whole months.”
“Then a few more hours will not kill you.”
“They might!”
Lotor opened his eyes, lifting his head from the wall as he watched her march to and fro. “Why don’t you go and rest? I will call you when they arrive.”
“No, I want to be here when they come.”
“Then at least have a seat.”
“I have sat for more than twenty hours straight over the last two days.”
“Are you hungry?”
Allura stomped towards him then, standing toe-to-toe with him. “Just because I am angry does not automatically mean that I am hungry!”
As if on cue, her stomach let out a low growl, and they both glanced down. Allura flushed as she looked up at Lotor, who was biting back a smile.
“Do not laugh,” she warned him.
“I am not laughing, I swear it.” Then he covered his mouth with his fist and began doing just that.
“Oh, you think this is hilarious, do you?” But even as she said those words, his laughter was always so infectious that she had to use every muscle in her face to prevent herself from smiling. “You think my suffering is entertaining?”
“I am not laughing because you are suffering, Allura.”
“Then what is so funny?”
“I am laughing because you…” Lotor smiled down at her, shaking his head slightly. “You are adorable.”
Allura’s eyes widened in surprise, then she let herself smile. “I never thought I would hear you say those kinds of words,” she said, a slight tease in her voice.
“Well,” he returned softly. “You have always managed to bring out a side of me that not even I knew existed.”
The two of them looked at each other, caught once again in the pull, the gravity between them that Allura could never resist. It seemed Lotor could never resist it, either. Her stomach did a flip when he glanced at her mouth, and she’d always liked the way his eyes focused intently whenever her tongue peeked out to moisten her lips. Their eyes met again. She found herself stepping in closer towards him. She knew she shouldn’t, but she couldn’t not want to kiss those lips of his, especially since they were so kissable, and soft, and warm―
Loud chatter erupted from a group of officers exiting the elevators, and Allura immediately jumped back. She and Lotor looked away from each other once again, and she closed her eyes and cringed. The fool that she was, she’d forgotten that they were in a public setting. Not only that, but they couldn’t do this anymore, and they both knew it.
Dear Mother of the Universe, Allura thought. How many times have we told each other that it was over before ending up back here again?
She glanced over at him, rubbing her forehead, and saw that he’d closed himself off once more, arms tightly folded and eyes looking down. Hesitating at first, and then making up her mind, she walked over to one of the chairs and took a seat. She turned her head to the right to look up at him.
“Sit with me?” she asked softly.
He stared at her and sighed exasperatedly. “Allura,” he said in a warning voice.
“If anyone needs rest, it is you,” she remarked. “Whenever you get tired, the lines around your eyes are more noticeable.” When Lotor’s lips parted in astonishment at her words, Allura quickly looked down at the ground to hide her blush. Then she folded her arms and grumbled, “And it’s only sitting next to each other. I’m not asking to cuddle.”
She heard Lotor release an almost inaudible huff of laughter. He did as she asked and sat down, keeping one chair in between them, clasping his hands together and leaning forward.
They fell silent, listening to the sounds of animated chatter, frantic footsteps sprinting to get to the elevators, and the beeps of buttons being pressed on holographic consoles. Looking out of one of the wide windows on the far right wall of the office, Allura watched the polluted skies of Dunamis shift from pale blue to rust colored, from mid-afternoon to sunset.
“Before they get here,” she heard Lotor say quietly next to her. “There is something I want to tell you.” And when he looked over and saw the apprehension on her face, he added with a dismal smile, “Don’t worry, it is not about us.”
She relaxed, and she felt ashamed for feeling so relieved. She nodded wordlessly and he looked forward again. A lock of pearl white hair fell over his left shoulder.
“Thank you,” he began slowly, “for what you did earlier, for standing up for me in front of the police. It was very brave of you. No one―” He swallowed, and when he spoke again his voice sounded softer, deeper, and more gravelly with restrained emotion. “No one had ever done that for me before.”
Allura’s heart pounded painfully in her chest. She swallowed as well, feeling her nose sting and her eyes water.
“But all of that changed when I met you,” he went on. “Time and time again you have stood up for me, ever since the beginning. You were the first person to believe I was innocent. You took a chance on me, put your life on the line for me. It was something I had never experienced before. I got to experience a lot of new things since I met you, in fact.” He looked over his shoulder at her and gave her a small smile, his eyes soft and misty. “So I want to say thank you, that is all.”
Allura’s arms slowly unfolded as she took him in. Seeing how vulnerable Lotor was in that moment, it made her want to wrap her arms around him in a hug. She wanted to push back the lock of hair over his shoulder, to comfort him while she held him close to her and embraced him. But of course she held herself back.
“Also,” Lotor added quietly, “I must say I was quite impressed by the way you threatened the sergeant. You were a very… minacious woman.” There was a hint of mirth in his eyes.
Allura shrugged one shoulder, sniffing and blinking a few times as she glanced away from him. “I was taking a leaf out of your book,” she said, and when their eyes met once more she felt a little proud, a small smile pulling at her lips.
Lotor’s smile grew, and they were caught in a quiet, peaceful moment. Just the two of them, shutting out the rest of the world around them until they only knew each other.
As always, they were interrupted when they heard a familiar voice emerging from behind the elevator doors as they hissed open. They turned their heads towards the voice, which was speaking rapidly and frantically.
“This is outrageous! I did not spend thousands of notes on this suit only for you to wrinkle it! Unhand me this instant!”
Allura and Lotor rose from their seats as Do-Tarn appeared. He was escorted by Sergeant Zane. The count’s green wrists were cuffed together behind his back.
“You can send me the bill from the dry cleaner’s later,” Zane retorted, grasping him tightly by the arm and tugging him along.
Do-Tarn muttered something rude under his breath as they proceeded towards the interrogation room. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Allura.
He narrowed his eyes at her. “You.”
Then he noticed Lotor next to her. His large, purple eyes bulged from their sockets.
“You―!” he choked out.
“Alright, in you get,” Zane told him.
“Did you two do this?!” Do-Tarn squawked at Allura and Lotor as he was marched forwards into the interrogation room. “When I set you up to work together, it wasn’t to put me in jail, you fools!”
They did not respond, walking side by side towards the window. Lotor stood to Allura’s right and crossed his arms. Without realizing she mirrored his posture.
“After everything I’ve done for you, this is how you repay me?!” the Grekagar continued. He leaned out the doorway, trying to get their attention.
Allura cocked a brow. What exactly had he done for them during the last three months, except play a part in attacking her home planet, frame Lotor, treat the two of them like trash, and flirt with her like the sleaze that he was?
Zane finally managed to get Do-Tarn inside. He punched a button to close the door behind them, then pushed down on the count’s shoulders to force him into the only chair in the room. There was a small pneumatic hiss as Zane released the cuffs, then put them back on as he brought Do-Tarn’s arms in front of him. A rectangular device emerged from the center of the table. It glowed a bright blue, as did the cuffs. With a loud zapping noise, the cuffs abruptly connected to the device like a magnet, jerking Do-Tarn forward and forcing him to readjust himself in his seat.
“Is this really necessary?” the count asked incredulously.
“You resisted arrest and nearly took out an officer’s eye when you tried to make a run for it,” Zane snapped at him. “So yeah, it’s necessary.” He braced his hands on the side of the table perpendicular to Do-Tarn and leaned forward slightly. “So, you want to tell me what you did?”
“I told you before, you have the wrong person! I didn’t have anything to do with the attacks!”
“There were Galra and Altean explosives found in your mansion on Grekagan. Unless the Mother Herself placed them there, I’m finding it very hard to believe that they don’t belong to you.”
“But they don’t! I’m innocent! I’ve never done anything wrong in my life, ever!” Do-Tarn insisted. “Can’t you see that I’m being framed?” He then turned his head towards the window. Though he didn’t know where Allura and Lotor were standing exactly, he knew they were there watching him. “Emperor Lotor,” he called out desperately. “Your Imperial Majesty, you were framed once, weren’t you? Surely you can understand the position I’m in!”
“We have proof that you commissioned those bombs from a weapons manufacturing company here on Dunamis,” Zane told him. “Invoices with your name on them. Care to explain?”
“If you help me, then I will help you,” Do-Tarn went on, still addressing Lotor. “I know we didn’t get along in the past, but that can change! We can be friends!”
“Answer the question, Count.”
Do-Tarn paused, staring. Then his pleading face faded, replaced by wrath and anger. “You’re a fool, Emperor Lotor! You have no idea who you’re messing with! Mark my words, you are going to regret this! When I get out of here―and I will―you’ll be sorry. I’m going to make you pay, you and your little princess!”
“Hey!” Zane shouted, slamming his hand on the table, and the count’s head whipped towards him. “You don’t talk to him, you talk to me, got it? Now fess up, Count Do-Tarn, or this is only going to get worse for you.”
The two men continued to argue back and forth. Meanwhile, Allura and Lotor stood stock still, arms folded as they watched silently.
“He is not making a very good case for himself, is he?” Allura muttered.
“Indeed, he is not,” Lotor agreed. “The count will say anything to save his own skin. It is difficult to discern his sincerity from falsity.”
“When it comes to him, I tend to lean towards the latter,” she said, glancing up and catching Lotor’s eye, smiling. “Makes it a little easier that way.”
His eyes crinkled at the edges, a subtle smile pulling at his lips as they regarded each other.
“Emperor Lotor, it’s been a while.”
They turned around to see President Desto exiting the elevators and making her way towards them. The ornaments on her clothes and jewelry jingled softly as she walked.
“Madame President,” Allura greeted, clasping her hands together. Lotor inclined his head to the Pinto Sentian.
“I’m pleased to have you back so soon with us, Princess,” Desto said to her, then turned to the Galra. “I never thought I’d see you step foot on Dunamis again, Your Imperial Majesty. Sergeant Zane told me about the evidence you handed over to the police.” She raised an eyebrow, addressing them both. “I believe it is safe to assume that you obtained it during Do-Tarn’s party?”
Allura and Lotor exchanged glances, coming to a silent agreement before they turned back to the president. “Yes,” they answered truthfully at the same time.
“And after all of the fuss in trying to get you two to work together,” Desto went on, “you two ended up solving this case without anyone realizing it. If you’d let me in on it, I could have helped you, you know.”
Once again the princess and emperor looked at each other. “His Imperial Majesty and I,” Allura began, turning back to Desto, “had decided to keep it between the two of us until we were certain about the mole.”
Desto’s look of disapproval then disappeared and there was a hint of a smile on her face. “You really came through. I must congratulate you both on the completion of your investigation, as well as thank you for your hard work. Also,” she added with a serious nod. “I am sorry we ever doubted you, Emperor. What remains of the High Council…” She trailed off, her eyes flickering over to the interrogation room. “… will be forever grateful for what you’ve done.”
“None of it would be possible without Princess Allura,” Lotor said, and his gaze sought Allura’s. “If it weren’t for her, we would not be standing here together on Dunamis in the first place.”
Allura’s heart warmed. “And if it weren’t for Emperor Lotor,” she returned softly. “We never would have made it this far.”
Lotor’s eyes traveled over her, and she had to force her gaze away before she lost all self control and did something embarrassing in front of the president. She cleared her throat and turned back to Desto, who was looking back and forth between them. There was a change in her dark eyes, as if she realized something.
“I had better leave you to it, then,” Desto said, bringing the conversation to an end. “Thank you again, and safe travels to the both of you. Emperor Lotor, Princess Allura.” She inclined her head to them.
The two of them returned the farewell, and the president headed back towards the elevators. Almost immediately after, the door to the interrogation room hissed open and out walked Sergeant Zane.
“Well, he’s not speaking another word until his lawyer gets here,” he said with a sigh, putting a hand on his hip. “Thank the gods; that guy never shuts up. But even if he had the best lawyer in the cosmos, the evidence you gave us is―” He exhaled, shaking his head in amazement. “It’s irrefutable. It’s more than enough to put him away for a long time.” He nodded towards them. “The people of Dunamis will not forget what you’ve done, and I’m sure this’ll be good news for both of your planets as well.”
“Having prevented a war from breaking out is usually pretty good news,” Allura replied with a nonchalant shrug.
“When do you predict his trial will take place?” Lotor asked.
“It depends on a lot of different factors,” Zane answered. “How busy the courts are for one, though I imagine with a case as serious as this and the people demanding justice, they’ll be willing to accept it sooner than later. The prosecutor―that’ll be the police department―will need time to form an argument with the evidence provided, talk to witnesses, all that jazz. While the defendant―”
He paused, and the three of them glanced over at Do-Tarn, who was sitting with his arms on the table, his cuffs still stuck to the device, and he looked very upset.
“―will need time to form a case of his own to plead for his innocence. There’s that and…” He shrugged. “Unless something changes, the criminal justice process is pretty straightforward, but it’s also slow, you know how it is. It could be at least another month before the count goes to trial and this case is officially closed. But hey, a few more weeks won’t kill you, right?”
“They might,” Lotor responded dryly, and Allura held back a snort.
“We’ll be taking him to a holding cell soon,” Zane went on, looking over his shoulder at Do-Tarn again. “He’ll be convicted for acts of terrorism and treason against the Universal Coalition, and you” ―he turned to address the Galra―”have finally proven yourself an innocent man.” He nodded resolutely. “You’re free to go, Emperor Lotor.”
The smile melted off of Allura’s face. “Is that all? There is… nothing else you need from us?”
“We may contact you if we have any further questions, but other than that, you guys are pretty much done here. You can return home to your planets.”
“Oh,” she said, her voice small. “I see.” So soon… She cleared her throat. “Er, thank you, Sergeant Zane, for helping us.”
“I should be thanking you, Your Highness,” Zane returned. He then looked at Lotor and grinned sheepishly. “And uh, sorry, Your Imperial Majesty, for pointing all of those guns at you earlier.”
“That is quite alright, Sergeant. It is not the first time that has happened to me.”
“Oh. Okay, well, I’ll have Twyla escort you back to your ship.” He gestured towards the Olkari intern, who had since returned and was waiting by the elevators, the fear on her face plain to see. Allura glanced at her, then turned back to Zane.
“I think we can take it from here,” she told him.
They took the elevator down to the first floor where a long, wide corridor led them to the lobby of the police station. Officers, employees, and arrestees passed by. Lotor had no obligation to walk with Allura all the way back to the ground level, especially since he would have to take the elevator again to return to his ship on the roof, but he did it anyway.
“We did it,” Allura said, amazed, as she and Lotor walked shoulder to shoulder. “We solved it.”
“I never thought this day would come,” Lotor confessed. He too sounded astonished. “But now that it has, it feels…” He searched for the word.
“Premature?” she suggested.
“Yes, premature,” he agreed with a nod. “It does feel that way, somehow.”
They fell silent as they continued down the hallway. Allura pursed her lips. She wanted to be happy that they succeeded, and she was, really. But still there was something bothering her, a niggling feeling in the back of her mind. She didn’t know what sort of expression she was making on her face, but Lotor must have recognized it immediately.
“You are not satisfied,” he noticed.
“Yes,” she admitted. Abruptly she stopped in her tracks and looked up at him, and he turned to her, waiting curiously. “Lotor, we never found out who that woman in Yadle District was, who the Puigian was working for. What if…” She furrowed her brow. “What if the police never manage to get Count Do-Tarn to talk? What if the woman’s identity remains a secret forever?”
Lotor considered, his eyes searching hers intently. “I understand where you are coming from,” he began gently. “But you must remember, Allura…” He shook his head. “During their conversation, the woman did not mention Altea or any plans to attack Dunamis. You said so yourself.”
“I know.”
“And neither did the Puigian. He never told us anything.”
“But I saw him on Altea,” she insisted. “And you said your reasoning for believing there was a mole on the council was because the second attack happened after you told them about the Puigian,” she reminded him.
“Perhaps I made a lucky guess and it was merely a coincidence.”
Allura frowned. “You don’t really believe that.”
Lotor nodded. “You are right, I do not. But I say this because all throughout the investigation, not once did we discover anything that connected the woman to the plot to start a war between our planets. Whatever the Puigian knew, whether he had anything to do with it or not, we never found out.” He paused. “It is possible that we never will.”
Allura’s eyes were downcast. “That is the realist in you talking, isn’t it?” she joked halfheartedly, then glanced up at him.
Lotor gave her a melancholic smile. “Old habits die hard.”
She sighed and nodded in concession. She did not blame Lotor for telling her these things; he was only being rational and honest with her. Still, she could not help the feeling that they were missing something, something right in front of them and so obvious, yet she couldn’t put her finger on it.
She lifted her head in surprise when Lotor stepped closer towards her so that they were nearly chest to chest. He did not touch her, but he looked like he wanted to. His hands twitched, and she could imagine them running down her arms to comfort her. However, he restrained himself.
“All is not lost,” he told her soothingly. “Do-Tarn will go to trial, he will answer for his crimes, and the Alteans and Dunamians can finally have peace, knowing that the man responsible is going to prison.”
“And you will return home an innocent man,” Allura added.
“And I will return home an innocent man,” Lotor agreed, and his eyes flickered over her. “You know,” he added, his voice soft, “what I said back there to the president… I meant it.”
“I know, Lotor,” she told him, her voice hushed as well. “I meant what I said, too. We did this together and…” She looked up at him intently, managing a smile. “I would not have wanted it any other way.”
He returned her smile, regarding her warmly, but it soon faded. “We prevented a war between our people, Allura. We accomplished what we set out to do.”
Allura knew where he was going with this. “It is why we came to Dunamis in the first place, three months ago,” she agreed. “And now that we have succeeded, there is nothing keeping us here.” She searched his eyes. “Is there?”
He swallowed and nodded, glancing away. “There isn’t,” he said in a rough voice. “Nothing that wouldn’t be difficult to part with, at least.”
She had to look away as well, and she took in their surroundings. At the end of the hallway she could see the police department’s lobby, and beyond that the front entrance that led out into the cool, dusty evening of the city. As Allura and Lotor stood across from each other on one side of the corridor, there were people rapidly passing by, paying them no mind and going about performing their duties. Everyone was moving so fast, trying to race against the clock as she and he once did, but now the two of them stood still. They were more aware than ever the remaining time they had together.
And that time was up.
Allura stared at Lotor’s chest. She inhaled through her nose, then exhaled slowly through her mouth.
“I suppose,” she said with great reluctance, “this is where we say goodbye.” She looked up at him.
He nodded slowly. “Yes, I believe so.”
Allura could feel the tears coming, but she did what she’d done diligently these last few days and forced them back down, swallowing the lump in her throat and blinking several times until she regained her composure.
“There is something I should tell you,” she began quietly, gazing into his eyes, “before we part ways.” He nodded again and waited, and she spoke slowly. “You do not have to thank me for a single thing, Lotor. It is I who should be thanking you. Because of you, I got to see and experience so many different things these last three months.
“For the first time I was able to do something for myself and be happier for it, and you taught me that. You taught me to show people that I was more, to bring out the fire within me, and you…” The inner corners of her eyebrows lifted, her heart squeezing with an ache she’d come to expect these days. “You were the first person to see me for who I really am. Not as the princess of Altea, but as me. All you have done for me, it is something that I, truly, will never forget. Thank you,” she said, lowering her voice and willing for it not to break. “Thank you so much.”
The pain and longing which she saw in Lotor, she felt with every fiber of her being, and she knew he could see it in her as well. As she reached up to touch her necklace, she felt her own heart pounding, the familiar dread seeping into her chest, her stomach, and every facet of her body until she felt completely numb to all of her surroundings. All she saw was Lotor… right in front of her.
He’d pushed her out of her comfort zone, this man did. He challenged her and made her question everything she’d been taught to believe, and despite the inevitable tragic ending, she’d do it all over again if she could, if only to relive every single moment she had with him, if only to remember.
She never wanted to forget, and she hoped that he didn’t, either.
Allura swallowed again and looked down, staring at the crystal juniberry flower in her palm. It reflected the cool blue colors of the corridor, tiny spots of light illuminating her fingertips.
Decisively, she reached behind her neck and unhooked the chain. She sniffed and looked up at him again, holding out the necklace. “I want you to have this.”
Lotor’s eyes widened, glancing down at it before meeting her eyes. “Allura, I cannot accept this,” he told her with quiet earnestness. “You told me your grandmother gave it to you.”
“She did.”
“Then it is far too precious to give away.”
“It is very precious to me,” Allura said firmly, “which is why I want to give it to you.”
“I…” He shook his head in regret. “I have nothing to give you in return.”
“You have already given me so much. Please, Lotor, take it.” She gently took hold of his hand and placed the jewelry in his palm. “So you have something to remember me by.” She tried to smile. “So you do not forget me.”
Lotor swallowed thickly, and he nodded. When she released him, he looked down at the necklace, holding it in his large hand like it was the most fragile thing in existence. His sharp eyes, shining more brightly than usual, lifted to meet her gaze.
“You know it is impossible for me to forget you,” he told her in a near whisper.
Allura bit her lip to stop it from trembling, praying Lotor didn’t notice. Neither of them moved, and then she abruptly stuck out her hand to shake. She couldn’t hug him, because she knew a hug would lead to a kiss, and it would only become more and more agonizingly difficult to leave each other, so a handshake was all they could do.
Lotor stared down at it, and he smiled softly as he took her hand in his, completely enveloping it in his warmth as always. They didn’t shake hands, however. Instead they were still, simply holding onto each other, looking into the other’s eyes and savoring the last time they would ever touch.
Allura couldn’t say goodbye, not to him. She could say it to the Earthlings and to the Generals, but not to Lotor. The words were caught in her throat, threatening to spill out into tears if she uttered them. So she smiled back at him and said the first thing that came to mind:
“I miss you now.”
His gaze softened, and he spoke to her, his voice as quiet and tender as hers.
“I miss you, too.”
With their smiles intact, not wanting to show the other how sad they were, they released each other. Their fingers lingered for as long as possible until at last they separated and began to step away. Allura could still feel his warmth on her hand, and she closed it tightly into a fist, hoping to keep it for as long as possible.
Before she left, she saw the way Lotor was gazing intently at her, those sharp, glowing, indigo and lavender eyes she knew she would never forget. This man whom she would never forget, he looked at her to say one more thing.
Don’t look back, his eyes told her.
She nodded once.
I won’t.
Then they turned away from each other. As promised, Allura didn’t look back. She kept walking down the hallway and heard the elevators open and close behind her, and yet she didn’t turn around. She held her head high, her steps determined and resolute as she made for the exit.
It was time to go home.
Altea was a sight for sore eyes. The sparkling blue of its oceans, the luscious green of its countries, the complex and ring-shaped structures which unceasingly swirled around the planet, Altean ships speeding by going either to or from home―Allura didn’t realize how much she’d missed it all until she saw her beautiful world after what felt like an entire lifetime.
Fala descended past the fluffy, white clouds and towards the surface, past the bustling cities, past wide stretches of forests and fields in which the wildlife flourished, until at last the Castle of Lions came into view. Built into the hills on the outskirts of the capital city, its white and cyan spires stretched high into the sky, powerful and majestic. It was exactly how Allura remembered it.
Her brow furrowed in concern when she saw people walking from the city and across the long bridge that led to the castle. There had to be thousands of them. What was happening?
“The people are anxious to see their princess again,” Coran said from his seat next to her, answering her unspoken question. “After being away for so long, and after everything you did for them…” He smiled at her proudly. “Of course they want to see you.”
By now the Alteans had noticed Allura’s arrival. She steered Fala to get closer so that she could fly into the hangar bay in the south entrance of the castle, and as she did, she could see the enormous crowd pointing and jumping excitedly at the sight of her ship. And when Allura landed in the hangar and saw her family waiting for her, her heart leapt to her throat, and she jumped out of the cockpit as soon as the latch lifted and ran towards them.
“Allura!” Melenor came to meet her in the middle, wrapping her arms around her daughter and hugging her tight.
“Mother…” Allura buried her nose in her mother’s hair and inhaled deeply, the familiar scent of floral perfume filling her up with warmth and nostalgia.
“Oh, how I have missed you, my daughter,” Melenor whispered when they pulled away. She reached out to cup Allura’s face in her hands, tears in her eyes. A lump formed in Allura’s throat, but she swallowed it down and smiled.
Princess Orla, Allura’s aunt, came forward to embrace her as well. “Welcome home, Allura,” she greeted warmly. Her long, white hair was tied back in an intricate braid as usual, growing past her waist, her periwinkle and white dress flowing regally behind her. When they parted, Orla turned to her nineteen-year-old twin sons, who stood next to their father Prince Consort Bokar. “Darlings, what do you say to your cousin?”
“Did you bring back any souvenirs?” Haran asked.
“Even better if it’s food,” Darius added. Like his father, he was the only member of the family who had long, straight, navy blue hair. All those born into the family, however, had matching pink markings on their cheekbones.
“Glad to see you, too,” Allura said sarcastically, stepping forward and wrapping her arms tightly around her cousins’ necks in painful but affectionate headlocks.
“Ow, ow! Alright!” Darius exclaimed amidst his and his brother’s protests. “Welcome home, I suppose!”
“Don’t hog her all to yourselves, now,” Rhiella complained. Allura released the boys so the queen dowager could finally get a hug. “How are you, Lulu?” she asked her softly, taking her granddaughter’s face in her hands and looking her over.
“Fine,” Allura answered, forcing a smile. She had no idea what else to say that wouldn’t send her into a downward spiral and get lost thinking about the past day’s events. Rhiella understood her and gave her hand a squeeze.
Allura then turned to her father who was standing some distance away. Her brow furrowed when she noticed that he wasn’t looking at her, his arms folded and his body turned away. Upon seeing his daughter’s safe return, he left the hangar without a word. It sent a pang of hurt to her chest as she watched him go. Though she told herself she could not understand the reasoning for his sudden change of behavior, there was an inkling in the back of her mind trying to tell her why her father was behaving this way. She refused to think about it, however, quickly pushing it out of her mind, and she turned back to the rest of her family.
“Thank you for watching over our daughter, Coran,” Melenor said as the man came over.
“Of course, Your Majesty. Your daughter accomplished an extraordinary feat. It was an honor to witness it.”
“Extraordinary, indeed,” Bokar said with an approving nod. “Well done, Allura. Though I have to confess, it is quite disorientating seeing you all together again,” he added with a chuckle, addressing the women. “I feel like I’m seeing four of the same person.”
“No more dilly-dallying, then!” Rhiella announced, and she took Allura’s hand. “Come, Lulu. Altea is waiting for you.”
“But I am not properly dressed―” Allura tried to protest, glancing down at her flight suit. She was in great need of a shower after so many hours of travel, and her body felt grimy and sweaty.
“That does not matter, dear,” her mother assured her gently. “You look beautiful. Go and meet your people.”
After making her way to the north side of the castle, a set of doors hissed open to a balcony and Allura was instantly met with cheers of celebration. She came to the edge, resting her hands on the white railing, and her jaw dropped. Now that she had a perspective from the surface rather than the sky, the amount of Alteans who stood before her sunk in. There were so many that the crowd stretched all the way across the bridge and into the outskirts of the city, over half a mile long. All of them had come to see her, calling and praising her name.
Allura’s eyes watered from the overwhelming love and gratitude she felt for her people. She sniffed and blinked her eyes rapidly, then grinned a wide, genuine grin, and waved at the crowd. Thousands of men, women, and children waved back, shouting with joy and pride as they looked up at her. They were so loud that they would not have heard her if she spoke to them, but she was so overcome with emotion that she would not have been able to find the words.
She went down to meet them personally, for how could she not? Accompanied by two sentries, she stood for hours outside the entrance of the castle as the citizens came to greet her. Some shook her hand, some gave her a hug, and all of them thanked her, praising her name and wishing the Mother of the Universe to grant many blessings upon her and the royal family. The hour grew late, Allura hadn’t slept properly or eaten anything in nearly a day, but being with her people gave her energy and filled her up to the top of her head.
Eventually the time came for everyone to return to their homes, and though she couldn’t meet them all, Allura’s heart went out to every single one of them, to the millions of Alteans who lived in the capital city outside the castle, and the billions more who lived in other parts of her world. She could feel their hearts reaching out to her as well, and her love for them was stronger than ever.
This― this was the life she’d been missing, to serve her people as their princess and future queen, to protect every single one of them with everything she had until she took her last breath. It was the life she’d known since the day she was born, the life she wanted more than anything else in the entire universe, and the life she would never take for granted.
It was good to be home.
All seven moons appeared in the sky by the time Allura walked through the front doors, wished her family good night, and took one of the lifts to her royal chambers on one of the upper levels of the castle. After taking a refreshing shower and dressing into her nightgown, she decided to hold off unpacking her things until the morning, for as soon as she dimmed the lights and sat on her bed, she felt the exhaustion overtake her and her body nearly refused to get back up.
She released a sigh, looking about her bedroom in contentment. She’d started sleeping in this room as soon as she figured out how to escape from her crib as a toddler, and it was exactly how she’d left it three months ago as an adult.
Suddenly the unchanged familiarity of it all caused a sinking feeling to form in her chest, and unprompted, a thought appeared in the back of her mind. Shaking herself mentally, she immediately pushed it aside and tried to think of something else. She heard small squeaks of chatter behind her. She looked over her shoulder and smiled.
“Are you trying to help me unpack?” she asked the mice. “You are very sweet, but it can wait until tomorrow. For now I want to revel in the luxury of sleeping in my own bed again.” She sighed and fell back against the mattress, her head landing on the pillows, then she let out a huge yawn. “Good night, my friends,” she muttered, too tired to pull the blankets over herself.
Just as she was about to drift off a few minutes later, however, she heard excited and curious chittering from the mice. When it did not cease, she reluctantly sat up to scold them.
“I told you,” she began tiredly, “it can wait until―”
Her eyes widened. The mice, in their admirable attempts to be helpful, had come across something at the bottom of her rucksack. Platt was holding it in his little paws: a piece of rolled up parchment.
Instantly Allura recognized it, and her heart began to race. “May I see that, please?” she asked quietly.
Accepting the parchment from Platt, she sat up straighter and carefully unraveled it. She released a deep sigh when she saw the familiar series of sharp Galra numbers, written aggressively with black ink.
Lotor’s message.
She swallowed. Chuchule squeaked something at her inquiringly, and she turned back to the mice. “Oh, this? This is―someone gave this to me some time ago. You did not meet him, but he was… he was a big part of my life during these last three months.” The mice all blinked up at her, curious. She shook her head and forced out a laugh. “But that part of my life is over now, so there is no point in keeping this.”
Promptly she stood from her bed and went to the incinerator next to her vanity. The device came to life at the press of a button, glowing a bright cyan color and producing a quiet whirring, hissing sound, ready to destroy anything that entered its rounded rectangular mouth. Allura held the parchment over it, about to toss it in, but she hesitated.
“It would be best if I forgot about him, wouldn’t it?” she said more to herself than to the mice. “I cannot deny that he exists, but… he has nothing to do with me, not anymore.”
She pursed her lips, holding the parchment between her thumb and forefinger, prepared to drop it into the incinerator. Then she stepped back and quickly turned the machine off. The bright lights died down and it fell silent. She knew it was silly of her to want to preserve such a small thing. It was only a piece of parchment with his handwriting on it, nothing more. As much as she tried to convince herself that she ought to get rid of it, however…
“I cannot throw it away,” she whispered as she ran her fingers over the ink. “It is all I have left of him. It is the only proof of our time together that I can keep for myself.”
Should she have asked him to give her something of his? She hadn’t even thought about it, though she did not regret giving him her necklace, not for a second. But now she wished she’d done more after the fact. She’d spent so much time trying to ignore the inevitability of their parting, that by the time it came along, it felt as if everything was happening so fast, and all of the things she wanted to say and do only came to mind when it was long over.
When Allura’s vision began to blur, she blinked rapidly and instantly covered the parchment with her hands, afraid to ruin it with her tears or anything else that might get on it. She needed to protect it. She went to her vanity and tapped on one of the drawers, prompting it to open, and pulled out an ornate box. It was small, about as big as her hand, and she opened it to reveal all of the little objects she’d collected over the years, ever since she was a child.
There was a dried up juniberry which her grandmother had given her after showing her how to press them in between the pages of a book, pieces of currency from different planets, a bracelet she once made with crystals and string (far too small for her to wear now), a tuft of fur from a childhood pet which had been wrapped in translucent covering with great care, and so on.
Gently, Allura placed the parchment inside. Inside her special box it would be safe from any wear and tear, and if she ever wanted to take it out and look at it, she would know where to find it. She would try not to, of course. It was time for her to move on, she knew, but perhaps it was alright for her to hold onto one small thing, something to look back on and remember what she used to have with Lotor.
After putting the box back in its drawer, she climbed back into bed. The silence and emptiness of her room was more apparent than ever. Now that she was alone without her royal duties to distract her, all she could think about was him. It’d only been less than a day since they parted, yet it felt so, so much longer than that.
She pressed her cheek into her pillow and closed her eyes, trying to relax, but it was a long time before she was able to fall asleep.
“You look horrible,” Haran commented the next morning.
Allura was the second to last to enter the great hall, still in her nightgown and robe and barely able to keep her eyes open. She hadn’t bothered getting ready this morning and therefore didn’t take a look in the mirror, but she could imagine there were dark circles under her eyes and that her hair was crimped and more poofy than usual. At breakfast time everyone was welcome to start eating whenever they wanted, so the rest of her family were halfway finished with their meals by the time she arrived. She ignored her cousin’s rude remark.
It was a strange experience, waking up to see a white ceiling above her instead of the purple in her guest suite on Castle Doom, or even the red from her hotel room on Dunamis. Without a doubt it was going to take some time getting used to being back home.
“Good morning, dear,” Melenor greeted. “Come, sit down.” She pulled out the chair to her left. “How did you sleep?”
“Like a baby,” Allura murmured dully, sitting down and reaching out blindly for a cup of gnarlap juice. Her mother put it in her hand. “Thank you.”
“You must have warp sickness from traveling around so much,” Orla observed sympathetically. She and her family sat across from them at the table. “Remember when we got that when we returned from our vacation, Bokar?” she asked, turning to her husband.
“Oh, yes. I just barely got over it myself. Not pleasant at all. You may have it for a couple of weeks, Allura.”
“I am pretty sure she has always looked that way,” Darius commented, and he and Haran snickered, but they immediately stopped when their mother shot them a glare.
“Well, I didn’t get it, and I was with you four the entire time,” Rhiella declared as she entered the great hall.
There were “Good morning Grandmother”s and “Good morning Mother”s as she approached the table.
“Good morning, my dears.” She kissed the top of Allura’s head and took a seat next to her. “It is because my immune system is so strong.”
“Yes, we know, Mother,” Orla said.
“Your immune systems are weaker than mine, that is why you get sick so much,” Rhiella went on as she spooned kol porridge onto her blate. “You know what you need, Lulu? Spicy food, and lots of it. That and sunlight. Dunamis gets very little of it, and clearly it has had an effect on you, poor dear.”
“Thank you for your concern,” Allura said, now feeling slightly more awake as she took sips of the gnarlap juice. “But I do not think it is warp sickness. I am a little tired, that is all. I did not get much sleep last night.”
“Is everything alright?” Bokar asked with a frown.
“I… have a lot on my mind, is all.”
“You have been through a lot these last few months,” Melenor said, rubbing her back soothingly. “But things will be back to normal in no time, you will see.”
“Speaking of which,” Haran spoke up. “You must tell us everything that happened, cousin.”
“I want to know what it’s like on Dunamis,” Darius added.
“Polluted,” Allura answered simply, now munching on golden faisha berries.
“But you survived two explosions,” Haran pointed out. “What was that like?”
“Did you almost die?”
“Were you scared?”
“Why did you jump into the sinkhole?”
“Yes, that was quite stupid. Wasn’t it to save Emperor Lo―”
They ceased their chatter when Orla loudly cleared her throat.
“Oh. Sorry, Uncle,” Haran said sheepishly to Alfor, who sat on Melenor’s right.
Allura frowned, looking around the table. Everyone fell silent and continued to eat their breakfast as usual, but the atmosphere suddenly felt tense.
“What is it?” She glanced at her father, who had not looked her way once this entire time, intensely focused on his food. Melenor caught her eye and smiled softly, shaking her head subtly. Allura then turned to Rhiella, who raised her eyebrows exaggeratingly as she took a drink from her cup.
Alfor then loudly dropped his spork onto his blate, rose from his seat, and marched out of the great hall, all without a single word.
“We are not supposed to mention the Galra Emperor around him,” Darius explained when Alfor was out of earshot.
“What?” Allura said sharply. “Why not?”
No one said anything at first, then Orla spoke. “It is because of the rumors, is it not? I saw the articles.” Then she added to her sister, “No doubt your husband has seen them as well.”
“They’ve only increased after what you did at the police station, when you stepped in front of the emperor like that,” Bokar said.
“It was all over the Universal News,” Darius added.
“And that is why Father is angry? Because I wouldn’t let the police arrest an innocent man?” Allura asked in disbelief.
“It is not because of that, dearest,” her mother said gently.
“Then what is it?”
“I think you already know.”
Allura stilled, staring at her mother. Then she looked away, guilt and shame and regret building up in her chest, all for a variety of reasons that she couldn’t voice aloud.
“But Alfor has nothing to worry about, does he?” Orla spoke up again, trying to be cheerful. “Because those rumors are all false, aren’t they, Allura? Falling in love with a Galra…” She shuddered. “The idea of it is as sickening as it is blasphemous.”
“Agreed,” Bokar said, wiping his mouth with a cloth napkin. “Innocent or not, that man is still Galra, and he is the son of the tyrant Zarkon. He is not to be trusted. I am just glad this whole mess has finally been resolved so we will no longer have to concern ourselves with him or the rest of his kind anymore. Do not worry, Allura, you can put all of it behind you now.”
Allura’s blood boiled. She clenched her fists in her lap, tightly clutching onto the fabric of her nightgown. She loved her aunt and uncle, but in that moment she wanted to scream at them, to tell them how wrong they were. She thought she might explode right there on the spot, she was so angry.
Rhiella put a hand over hers to catch her eye. They do not mean any harm, Lulu, she seemed to say. Let it go.
Allura tightened her jaw. That sinking feeling she felt in her chest last night as she sat in her bedroom, she knew what it was now, and she could no longer ignore it. It was the reminder that really, nothing had changed. Even after everything she and Lotor did to save their people and prevent them from killing each other, it didn’t change a single thing.
Their conversation from the night they shared a drink in that old tavern rang in her ears:
“Our planets will remain separated,” he’d told her. “And you and I… will return to being enemies.”
“Things will go back to normal.”
“Yes. Back to normal.”
Allura and Lotor had already known this would be the case―the hostility, the prejudice, the discrimination―it would all remain the same. They’d known it was coming, but still, she hated it. She hated it with every bone, every fiber, every cell in her body.
But what she hated the most was that she couldn’t say a single thing.
Angrily, she grabbed at her spork and began piling heaps of food onto her blate. Not only was she starving, but the rage inside of her suddenly gave her an overwhelming appetite, and she figured eating her feelings was better than resorting to a shouting match with her family.
Things did go back to normal, or at least that was how everyone else saw it. Aunt Orla and her family returned to their home on the other side of the world; Allura returned to performing her responsibilities as princess, such as attending conferences, meeting with politicians, visiting with her people around the globe to perform charity work; and her family sat down to three meals a day everyday unless one of them was away on royal business. It was as if everyone was trying to pretend everything was as it always had been, as if the last three months didn’t happen at all.
This was impossible to do, of course, because there was one piece of evidence that no one could ignore, no matter how hard they tried. The empty lot on which City Hall once stood had since been transformed into a memorial to remember all of the lives lost that day, and even though people would pass by it in the bustling metropolis, going back and forth between destinations, they could not deny its existence.
Another confirmation that things were far from having returned to normal was the fact that Allura’s father was no longer speaking to her. Alfor barely acknowledged her existence and seemed intent on spending as little time in his daughter’s presence as possible, arriving late to or leaving early from meals, only speaking to her if absolutely necessary (such as during meetings), and overall giving her the cold shoulder whenever she was around.
Allura decided to discuss this issue with her mother and grandmother as they traveled to a small, seaside town off of one of Altea’s coasts. A sentry drove them in a sleek, white transport while the three women sat in the back together.
“You know how your father is,” Melenor said. “When he gets angry he goes the silent treatment route, but he will come around. And this is not the first time this has happened. Remember the time when you came home late from a ball on Rygnirath? He was upset then, too, but the next day he got over it.”
“But I have been home for nearly a week and still he refuses to speak to me,” Allura insisted. “Is he planning on ignoring me forever?”
“No, dearest, but you understand why he is acting this way, don’t you?” her mother asked her, her voice kind.
Allura pursed her lips. She had a guess, but saying it out loud was difficult. The words would always catch in her throat. Without thinking she reached up for her necklace, only to remember that it was no longer there, that she’d given it away. She glanced at her grandmother, who surely must have noticed the jewelry’s absence by now, though the queen dowager had not commented on it since Allura’s return home.
“Well, I am on Lulu’s side,” Rhiella said sharply. “This cannot go on forever. Alfor has always been so stubborn. If he refuses to put his pride aside and speak to his daughter, it will only drive them further apart.”
“I do agree that you two will need to talk eventually,” Melenor acknowledged. “You may have to be the one to start that conversation, Allura.”
“No, thank you,” Allura said stubbornly, folding her arms and slouching in her seat. “If he thinks I am going to come crawling on my knees begging for his forgiveness, then he has got another think coming.”
“Then you will have to be patient, dear, and wait until he is ready to talk.”
When the next day came along, however, and Alfor was insistent on sticking to his silent treatment method, finally Allura couldn’t take it anymore. After a grueling meeting with the royal council, the princess marched up to the king before he had a chance to slip away.
“Father, may I speak with you, please?” she asked, clasping her hands together in front of her. At the moment she was behaving cordially, but she was very close to snapping if he ignored her again.
“I am afraid I am quite busy―” he began to say, but Melenor interjected, rising from her seat and placing a hand on his arm. It seemed that she too was done witnessing her husband act this way.
“I think it is time you talked with your daughter, my love,” she told him. “Don’t you?” And then she gave him “the look.”
Queen Melenor was well-known for her patient and sweet-tempered nature, especially coming from a family filled with passionate, quick-to-anger people. Allura had never once heard her say an unkind word to or about anyone. Even as a child when Allura would throw tantrums or get upset, her mother was always gentle and understanding.
However, if Melenor―sweet and caring Melenor―gave someone what Allura and Rhiella had secretly taken to calling “the look,” then that person was on thin ice, and it would be wise for them to do as she said before she did something. And no one ever knew what she was going to do because they always did what she said.
On that day, Alfor was chosen to be subjected to “the look,” and he knew it.
“Yes, of course,” he said hoarsely. He cleared his throat and nodded. “You are right, darling.”
His wife’s loving smile returned, and she made to exit the room, giving Allura an encouraging squeeze on the shoulder as she passed her. The doors opened and shut with a hiss, and the room was quiet. Allura faced her father, who was absentmindedly stroking his white beard and observing the Altean banners that hung from the ceiling with interest.
“Father,” she began, keeping her voice even. “It has been a week of this and I refuse to endure it any longer. I cannot live the rest of my life this way. Can you?” When he did not answer, she went on. “Besides, we are not the only ones living in this castle,” she reminded him. “Mother and Grandmother are here, too, and the longer this goes on, the more it will become a burden on them as well.”
Alfor was silent as he considered, still stroking his beard, then he nodded and finally looked at her. “Alright,” he said shortly. “What is it you want to say?”
Allura exhaled, feeling relieved. This was progress, this was good. She set her shoulders back and took a deep breath. “I want to say that… I know these last three months have been hard on you and Mother. We nearly went to war with the Galra, and it would have been devastating if everyone had to suffer because of someone else’s selfishness.
“I set out to save my people, and I did just that. Along the way I formed a partnership with the Galra, and even though it may not heal hundreds of years of hatred between us and them, I hope you can find peace in knowing that their emperor never meant us any harm or ever desired to go to war with us. Now that we know he is innocent, perhaps you could look upon him with more kind―”
“Partnership?” Alfor repeated, cutting her off. “Is that what you have decided to call it?”
“An alliance, then,” Allura said, furrowing her brow, and she felt a pang of annoyance in her chest. “Or collaboration, however you want to label it. My point is, I know it was a risk, believing he was innocent, but it was a risk I am glad I took. He put his trust in me, and in return I wanted to do everything I could to help clear his name. If you are angry at me because of that, then there is nothing I can do, because I do not regret my decision.” She clenched her fists. “I will not apologize for it. If I could do it all over again, I would without hesitation.”
Allura fell silent and waited for her father to respond. Alfor stared at her.
“You really do not understand, do you, Allura?”
“Then help me to,” she said insistently, trying not to raise her voice. “Instead of ignoring me, tell me so that I can understand.”
He sighed in frustration and shook his head. “I am not angry because you unveiled the truth and proved that man’s innocence. You saved Altea from going to war. Did you think I would be upset over that?”
Her brow furrowed. That wasn’t it? “Then what―”
“I am angry because you lied to me.”
Allura stilled. Her heart pounded in her chest and her blood ran cold. She could not speak.
“You must take me for a fool,” Alfor said bitterly. “After the emperor disappeared, you told your mother and I that you wanted to stay on Dunamis because you needed time before you returned home. We agreed because we wanted to make sure you were well before traveling again, especially after you had to endure yet another attack.”
His eyes looked pained as he spoke.
“We were so worried about you, Allura. And then news of that man’s escape broke out, and we did not hear from you for several days, but we decided to trust you and wait until you were ready to reach out to us. We thought you were on Dunamis, just as you told us you would be―but that was all a lie.”
There was a fire in his eyes, and the anger began building up inside of him again.
“You were with him.”
Dread began to seep into Allura’s chest and down into her stomach, a most paralyzing notion that seized her, gripped her, and spread throughout her entire body like water freezing into ice.
“I…” She swallowed. Her tongue suddenly felt heavy in her mouth. She had no idea what to say.
“Did you think I would not figure it out?” her father went on, raising his voice. “I saw everything on the news, Allura. I saw you standing in front of him and protecting him from the police. The fact that you were there on that roof with him and his ship means that you came out of it with him, which means you were with him! You went to Daibazaal, didn’t you?” he demanded angrily.
Allura did not want to lie to her father again. Not because he deserved the truth, but because she wanted to be honest. She clenched her fists tighter as she found her voice. “Yes,” she answered.
Alfor’s eyes widened, as if he had expected her to contradict him and tell him he was wrong, as if he’d been hoping for it. Then he looked somewhere in between heartbroken and furious. “So you lied to me about where you were and you went to his planet for, what, a week? Allura, how could you?”
She kept her voice as calm as she could. “He needed to return home to be with his people, and he asked me to come back with him so we could complete the investigation.”
“Oh, is that what he told you?” Alfor retorted in disbelief.
Allura clenched her jaw, the desire to defend Lotor sparking a fierce fire that ignited her veins and melted the frost in her blood. “I knew I could trust him. I had no reason to do otherwise. He had good intentions, he always did.”
“You are too naive, Daughter.” Her father shook his head. “Men like him are only after one thing― especially men like him.”
“He is not like that,” she told him, gritting her teeth.
Alfor’s hands balled into fists. “Did he… did he do anything to you?”
Allura’s jaw dropped. “What?” she asked sharply.
“Did he touch you?”
She scoffed incredulously. “I cannot believe I am hearing this. I am done with this conversation.” Despite being the one to begin said conversation, she was now more than ready to end it, and she turned on her heel to leave.
“You stay right where you are, young lady, and answer the question!” Alfor barked. “Did he hurt you?”
Allura whirled back around. “Of course he didn’t!” she yelled.
“Are you lying about this, too?”
“It is the truth! Why must you assume the worst of him?”
“Because, Allura, he is not the man you think he is!”
“No, he is not the man you think he is!”
Alfor froze in place. He stared at her, numbly shaking his head in shock. “No, not you, too,” he said hoarsely. “Dear gods…”
Allura watched him with anger and confusion as he turned and walked away from her, his hand over his face.
“He is just like his father,” she heard him mutter. “He made you fall for him, and now he has corrupted you, too. My only daughter…”
Though Allura could not see his face, his voice sounded broken, and his shoulders were slumped. He looked so defeated, and she couldn’t understand why. She felt a pang of pity and remorse in her chest. As upset as she was at him for saying all of those things about Lotor, it also upset her to see her father this way.
Slowly, the anger began to fade. She closed her eyes and released a heavy breath, her shoulders sagging in concession. She could try to defend Lotor all she wanted, but it would not change anything. How long was it going to take for her to finally accept that?
Things were never going to change.
Allura opened her eyes and saw her father with his back still turned to her. He was bracing one hand on the back of a chair by the conference table to support himself.
“Father,” she began slowly. “I have always known that I am to become queen someday. I have worked towards it my entire life―I have wanted it my entire life. I know of my responsibilities, of my… my sacred duty.” Her chest tightened at the reminder. “I know my future is here with my people. I have dedicated everything I have to them. Everything I have ever done, like you and Mother, has been for them.
“So please, believe me when I say that I am not about to throw it all away to pursue some… some fantasy.”
She hated to say those words, to even suggest the idea that what she and Lotor had was a mere fantasy, that it was all delusional. She felt as if she was betraying him, but it was the truth. As much as it hurt her to accept it, the bottom line was that the two of them could never be together.
She and Lotor… they’d known that. Ever since the beginning.
“The emperor and I no longer have anything to do with each other.” She could hear the misery in her own voice; she could not hide it. “My time with him… I already knew that it was not going to last. I knew the end was coming, and it did. So there was no point.”
Her father at last faced her, and there was hope in his eyes. Allura felt so conflicted, for it upset her to see him this happy as much as it brought her relief. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she stood up straight and regained her composure.
“You need not fear, Father,” she told him calmly. “My honor is still intact.”
That afternoon Allura left the castle, walking out the large doors on the south side. She admired the palace gardens where juniberries, quinteroses, and twilight poppies grew, swaying gently in the warm breeze. She ran her hand lightly over the tops of the flowers, humming softly to herself, and kept walking, headed in the direction of the blue mountains in the distance.
After an hour of marching briskly through the fields, Allura looked back to see the Castle of Lions about three miles away to the north. She turned back around and, upon seeing that she arrived at her destination, smiled.
Before her was an old and large maerit tree. Three months ago it would have been covered in pink blossoms, but since then they’d fallen, leaving the dark, royal purple-colored leaves to continue growing alone. Next to the tree was a little creek which gurgled cheerfully, the sounds of the trickling water pleasant to Allura’s ears.
She took a seat on the grass at the edge of the creek and beside the tree, carefully avoiding smashing the wild juniberries which grew all over the fields that stretched on and on for miles beyond her. Leaning forward, she dipped her fingers into the cold water, flinching at the low temperature before flicking the water away. Then, adjusting her skirts around her to make herself more comfortable, she drew her knees up to her chest and leaned against the tree.
After her argument with her father, she had felt so emotionally worn out that she desperately needed some peace and quiet away from the castle. The first place that came to mind, naturally, was her special sanctuary. Only two people had ever been allowed to come to her secret place. The first was her grandmother, the second was Coran…
And in another universe, she thought sadly, clutching the fabric of her dress. You would have been the third.
She took in the sights around her―the clear and bubbling stream, the purple maerit tree, the green grass, the magenta flowers, the blue sky above―it all felt so peaceful. It was why she needed to come to this place after such a long time. It brought a lot of things back into perspective, reminded her of the beauty that surrounded her and why she needed to protect it so much, why she needed to protect her people so much. It wasn’t the only thing on her mind, however.
Allura closed her eyes. In the back of her mind, in a hidden corner of her heart, he was always there. She could picture him clearly: his lilac skin, his pearl white hair, his glowing eyes, his sharp fangs, his warmth, his laughter, his softness…
How had he been these last several days since his return to Daibazaal? Was he taking care of himself? Was he eating well? Was he getting enough sleep? Was he visiting his special sanctuary on the red plateaus and thinking of her as much as she was thinking of him?
“I thought I might find you here.”
Allura opened her eyes and lifted her head. “Grandmother,” she called out in surprise.
Rhiella smiled warmly, slightly lifting her lavender skirts as she approached the creek. She took a seat next to Allura in the grass. “I heard you were finally able to talk to your father. How did it go? Did you reconcile?”
“More or less,” Allura answered with a halfhearted shrug. “He is not going to ignore me anymore, that is for certain.”
“That son-in-law of mine,” Rhiella muttered. “He can be so stubborn, and he is absolutely horrible with confrontation. I am afraid you inherited that from his side of the family, Lulu.” She bumped Allura’s shoulder with a smile, then looked around her. “What a lovely day for a stroll, don’t you think?” Her granddaughter hummed in agreement. “And this place is wonderful. I remember when you first brought me here. You were, what, five years old? Yes, and you made me promise not to tell anyone else about this place.” She chuckled. “You were so serious and adorable about it, how could I refuse?”
“That would have been eighteen years ago,” Allura mused. “Yet sometimes I still feel like a child.”
“Oh, do not worry, Lulu. Everyone feels that way at times. You are not alone.” Rhiella sighed, leaning back on her hands and stretching out her legs, gazing once more at their surroundings. “This place is very special to you, I know. You do not show it to just anyone, and when you do, it is as if you are sharing a piece of yourself, opening up your heart and revealing the secrets hidden deep within.”
She looked over and tenderly tucked a lock of Allura’s hair behind her shoulder.
“There is someone you have kept hidden away in your heart during these last few months, isn’t there, Lulu?” she asked quietly.
Allura glanced at her, a pang of guilt in her chest. “Grandmother,” she began uneasily, “about the necklace―” But Rhiella waved her hand and shook her head.
“You do not have to explain, my dear,” she told her, and her tone was kind and sincere. “I understand, truly. And besides, it was yours to give away. You do not need anyone’s permission; you are allowed to do with it what you will.” She smiled. “Would you like to talk about him? Do you think you are ready?”
The princess rested her chin on her knees, gazing down at the creek forlornly. “I do not know,” she confessed. “I would not even know where to begin.”
“That is fine,” Rhiella told her soothingly. “You do not have to share everything all at once. Take as much time as you need.” She tilted her head. “Are you two keeping in contact with each other?”
“No.” Allura shook her head, and she felt the misery tightening in her chest. “He and I are… we are over.”
“Was it amicable?”
“As amicable as we allowed ourselves to be, I suppose.” She shrugged again. “After everything was wrapped up with the count, we said goodbye at the police station, and that was that.”
“At least you finally told each other how you felt, gave each other some closure,” Rhiella said encouragingly, then frowned when she saw the guilty look on Allura’s face. “You did talk about it, didn’t you? Oh, my darling Lulu,” she admonished her gently. “You can’t not talk about these things. Why didn’t you?”
“He wanted to, but I”―Allura closed her eyes and grimaced, the guilt and shame increasing―”I wouldn’t let him. I know, it was wrong of me.” She opened her eyes and stared at the creek. “I saw how much it hurt him, and he was sad, yet when we parted ways he did not shun me.
“He is the most incredible person I have ever met. Everyone tells me how proud they are of me for preventing this war, but they do not realize that he played a big part in all of this as well. None of it would have been possible without him. After everything we have been through together, after everything he has done for me, I wish I could repay him somehow. I would spend the rest of my life repaying him if I could.
“I know I will never meet anyone else like him again; there is no one else like him in this entire universe. And now I…” Her voice trembled and she quickly covered her eyes with one hand, trying not to cry. “I have lost him forever.”
Rhiella scooted closer to Allura and rubbed her back reassuringly. Her presence was a sorely needed comfort, and Allura appreciated that she didn’t say anything, waiting patiently until she was needed.
Allura rubbed her face, sniffed, took a deep breath, and forced down the painful emotions. “But none of that matters now. He is Galra, I am Altean. We were doomed from the start. He has his own life to live, I have mine. As future queen, I have responsibilities to fulfill. I must serve and protect my people. I must be married and perform my sacred duty, to provide an heir to the throne after me. You understand that, Grandmother,” she said, turning to her. “More than anyone.”
The older woman looked at her with love and warmth in her eyes. “Yes. I do,” she said softly. “I do understand. But, Lulu… you have to talk to him.”
“I can’t.” Allura shook her head. “There is no point. We ended things between us that day; it is over. I pray that I never see him again, because I do not think I would be able to look him in the eye. I can’t―” The tears threatened to come again. “I cannot even say his name, I feel so sorry towards him, Grandmother.”
“Oh, darling…” Her grandmother stroked her long, thick waves of hair. “I know it hurts. The pain can be so unbearable at times, I know.”
Tenderly she put her hand under Allura’s chin so that she would look at her. Allura blinked rapidly, willing her eyes to dry.
“You are a kind, selfless, intelligent, and beautiful young woman. The dedication and loyalty you have for the ones you love is remarkable. Ever since you were young, the attachments you formed were so strong that letting them go felt like it was the end of the world.
“I remember when your pet rabbit died, how you cried in my arms because you were so devastated. It broke my heart to see you that way. So what did we do? We cut off a tuft of her fur for you to keep, and then we held a little funeral for her in the garden. You were only a child at the time, but the farewell you gave to her was so full of tenderness, I knew that she knew you loved her.
“And when your grandfather fell ill and the doctors told us he was going to pass on soon, the entire family gathered around his bed together, do you remember? That was ten years ago now, I almost can’t believe it. He told us how much he loved each and everyone of us, and you know how he always told the funniest stories. He turned our tears of sorrow into tears of laughter. And one by one, each of us said our goodbyes. I remember seeing you hold his hand and speak to him softly, and the love you had for him and your family was so powerful, everyone in the room could feel it.
“I feel that same powerful love from you now, Lulu. It is even stronger than it ever was, now that you have matured and experienced many different things throughout your life, especially during these last few months. You have loved ones that you have lost, but you still have your family, don’t you? We are still here together.”
Allura nodded mutely.
“Your emperor is still here, too. In here,” Rhiella said, gently tapping on Allura’s chest. “And out there. You may have said goodbye, but you did not tell him how you truly felt. That is the difference, Lulu. You need to get closure, otherwise you will not be able to let go and move on.
“You are a grown woman capable of making your own decisions, so I will say this once and only once. Whatever choice you make, it is yours and yours alone. Do you understand, darling?”
Again, Allura nodded, and Rhiella caressed her cheek affectionately.
“Avoiding it will not solve anything. Running away will not solve anything. Believe me, I have tried. If you want it to be over―if you truly want it to be over―then the best thing you can do, for you and for him, is to talk about it. If you do not, I promise you it will haunt you, and you will be replaying that moment in your head for the rest of your life.
“It will never be over, not until you two talk about it―not for you, and certainly not for him.”
Lotor appeared in Allura’s dreams that night as she slept soundly in her bed.
In her dream, she was back by the little creek. It was night and she was walking through the fields. Altea’s seven moons shone more brightly and seemed larger overhead, as did the stars above. Instead of the usual purple colors of Altean nights, the heavens were bathed in shades of turquoise, cerulean, and pink. The juniberries glowed softly in the dark as she passed them, her white, gold, and blue dress dragging along the dewy grass. Everything felt so peaceful, empyreal, and celestial.
Up ahead next to the gurgling stream was the maerit tree. It was covered in pink blossoms, complementing the purple leaves, and standing beside the tree was Lotor. Seeing him made Allura’s heart soar with joy. He was bending down to pick a juniberry, and as Allura got closer, she saw that unlike the rest of the juniberries which were magenta, the one he held in his hand was red.
Lotor stood up straight and brought the flower to his nose to smell the sweet fragrance. As Allura approached, he lifted his head and saw her. She stopped in her tracks, and they both stood still.
“I was looking for you,” Lotor said in his deep, smooth voice.
They were still some distance apart, yet Allura could hear every word he said as if he was right next to her.
“I could not find you. Why were you hiding from me?” he asked.
Allura let out a laugh. “I was not.”
He held out his hand to her. “Come here,” he said.
Without hesitation Allura continued walking towards him, and when she reached him he presented the juniberry to her. Accepting it, she held it delicately and marveled at the beautiful, glowing red petals.
“How did you know this was here?” she asked in amazement.
“It always was.”
She looked up at him and smiled. “Thank you.”
He smiled back, then leaned down towards her, took her into his arms, and kissed her. With her free hand Allura held onto his upper arm, melting at the feel of his soft lips against hers and the warmth of his tender embrace. After a short while they pulled away, and she reached up to place her hand on his cheek, her other hand still holding onto the juniberry protectively.
Lotor instantly closed his eyes and leaned into her touch, and when they opened they glowed more brightly than usual. She was captivated by them, by him.
Delicately he stroked her cheekbone with his thumb, his gaze traveling over her face with that familiar intensity.
“Allura,” he called softly.
“Yes, Lotor?” she replied, just as hushed.
His eyes were warm as he looked down at her, yet they seemed a little sad when he spoke again:
“Is there something you want to tell me?”
Allura awoke lying on her back, and the image of Lotor gradually faded away from her as she stared up at the ceiling of her room which was bathed in darkness. She slowly sat up in bed and rubbed her forehead, feeling a little disoriented. Looking to her left, she saw the mice peacefully sleeping on the pillow next to hers. She smiled, then rose out of bed and pulled on her robe.
Pressing a button on a console attached to the wall, she walked through a pair of doors which hissed open and let her out onto the balcony outside of her room. She placed her hands on the ledge and sighed, feeling the balmy wind of the evening tickle her face. Down below was the white bridge of the Castle of Lions leading to the capital, the city still alive and lit up in white and cyan during the late hour. Up above, the moons and stars gleamed as they always did, and the sky was its usual many shades of vibrant purple―not turquoise, cerulean, and pink like in her dream, like the nights on Daibazaal.
“It reminds me of your eyes.”
She could hear his voice so clearly in her ears, as if he was there with her now.
“Allura…”
She closed her eyes and breathed in through her parted lips, picturing him standing next to her on that red plateau.
“When all of this is over, when we must go our separate ways…
“When you are far away from me, I will look up to the heavens, and I will always think of you.”
Slowly, Allura opened her eyes to see the stars, the same stars that her world and his shared. She began intently searching the sky. It took her a minute, but eventually she found what she was looking for.
There was a constellation called The Lion and the Wolf, two animal spirits that circled each other endlessly in the cosmos. On the point of the wolf’s left ear was a celestial body which glowed a bright red color.
Daibazaal.
Allura raised her hand and traced the edge of it, caressing it with her fingers. In Lotor’s part of his world, was it nighttime there, too? Was he looking up at the sky at the same time she was? If so, she hoped it wasn’t from the mountain, otherwise he would be freezing. Perhaps he had a balcony attached to his room as well. Perhaps he was warm enough to step outside and look up at the ether, just as she was.
She could imagine him in his dark sleepwear, the chilly wind ruffling through his white hair, his glowing yellow, indigo and lavender eyes taking in the vibrant colors above him. She could imagine him locating Altea in his sky as well, and she wondered if it was part of any constellation on his end.
She could hear him whisper softly into the night, so far away from her but close to her heart.
“I miss you now.”
Allura clasped her hands to her chest, holding the words tight to her body as she smiled and whispered back.
“I miss you, too.”
Notes:
You may be wondering why Sergeant Zane has a human name 😂 Fun fact, he is a character from DotU! Originally Count Zane from the planet Phylos who makes one-time appearance, he is one of my favorite characters! I decided to give him a role in this story and make him a Dalterion since I love the design of the aliens so much!
Also recently whenever I read Rhiella's dialogue I've started to hear in my head the voice of Adjoa Andoh, the incredible actress who plays Lady Danbury in Bridgerton. She'd be so perfect for the role! 😆
Thank you so much for reading, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! 💖💜 Coming up next: Allura gradually adjusts to life back on Altea, but she soon learns that she has yet a greater role to fulfill as the day of the count's trial looms ever closer...
EDIT 6/20/23: added a bonus mini comic!! Poor Lotor :'(
Chapter 13: Dinner and a Show
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
ONE MONTH LATER
The princess of Altea was bored again.
She’d taken to arranging the faisha berries, which had come as part of her dessert of creamy nebula cake, into a perfect horizontal line on her otherwise empty blate with her spork. On this warm evening in the bustling metropolis of Altea, Allura was on a date with another suitor her parents had picked out for her, and it was the first date she’d been on since the one with Bandor four months ago.
Glancing up at the man sitting across from her in the expensive restaurant, she smiled and nodded absentmindedly at something he said. His name was Garrett, a young man two years her senior who had recently been promoted to admiral in the navy.
He was good-looking by Altean standards, with long, wavy copper hair tied back in a low ponytail, bright green eyes, fair skin, and dark blue markings on his cheekbones. He was intelligent, well-spoken, gentlemanly, and he stood out to Allura in that unlike many of the other potential bachelors who came her way, he didn’t talk about himself the entire time, but actually tried to get to know her.
This date wasn’t the worst compared to her past experiences, and she really did her best to engage with him. But the bottom line was…
He just wasn’t her type.
“Your Highness? Is everything alright?”
Allura’s attention was back on her blate, and when Garrett leaned forward, he unwittingly jostled the table, making the berries fall out of line.
All of my hard work, she thought, trying not to pout. She lifted her head to meet Garrett’s gaze and saw him watching her with concern.
“Are you feeling unwell?” he asked. “Was it the food? Shall I call the waiter back and―”
“No, that is not necessary. The food was fine,” Allura assured him. “Forgive me for being distracted, it has been a long day.”
“I can imagine,” Garrett said sympathetically. “The responsibilities of a princess are not to be taken lightly, I am sure. To be honest with you, I was extremely surprised when my superiors got in touch with me. I mean, a chance to spend the evening with the princess? I could not imagine what was so great about me that would warrant dining with Your Highness.” He smiled nervously.
Allura took pity on him. “From what I have heard, you have accomplished a great deal yourself,” she told him, then shrugged. “There should be no question as to why you received such a big promotion at twenty-five years old. Do not sell yourself short, Admiral.”
His eyes lit up and he relaxed a little. “Please, call me Garrett. Also, I must admit…” He looked past her shoulder and his uneasy smile returned. “Having that around is quite intimidating.”
She didn’t need to turn around to know what he was referring to. Behind her, a short distance away, was an Altean sentry from the castle. It stood dutifully still against one of the red walls of the restaurant, spear in hand and ready to act should the princess be in danger. There was no doubt the other patrons and staff were twitchy around it as well.
“Are you certain it is not me you should be worried about?” Allura quipped, smiling. Garrett was taken aback by what she said, however, and blinked at her in surprise. Her smile quickly faded. “It was a joke.”
He looked relieved. “Oh! I see. Very funny.” And he forced out a laugh.
Allura cringed inwardly. She glanced around the restaurant and eyed the exit. For how much longer did she have to sit here?
A server approached the table to collect their dishes, a hovering platter following him around to carry them back to the kitchens. “Can I offer you any further refreshments, Your Highness?” he asked. “Perhaps some nunvil?”
“Yes,” Allura answered immediately. Dear gods, she really needed some alcohol at that moment. “Bring your strongest.”
The server smiled, bowed, and left. He then returned momentarily with a shiny white bottle of nunvil. Popping it open, he poured a proper amount into their glasses. “Shall I leave the bottle?” he asked.
“That would be lovely, thank you,” Allura said. After the server left, she snatched up the bottle and poured more of it into her glass until it nearly spilled over the brim.
Garrett stared at her in awe. “Cheers,” he said.
They clinked their glasses together, Allura almost spilling her drink in the process, and drank. She took a large gulp, then recoiled and nearly spat it back out. Forcing herself to swallow, she grimaced and scrutinized the offending drink, which was overwhelmingly sugary and syrupy on her tongue.
“Do you think this nunvil is a bit too sweet?” she asked, looking at Garrett.
“Is it?” He glanced at the pink liquid in his own glass. “Nunvil has always been sweet, hasn’t it?”
“I suppose so, but I―”
“But I prefer something stronger.”
Allura froze. A memory instantly flashed through her mind.
“You mean you prefer the taste of engine fuel. I am surprised your taste buds have not melted off already.”
Deep, genuine laughter filled her ears. Seeing him laugh and smile always made her heart squeeze and a warmth bloom in her chest.
Before she could stop herself, Allura began to picture the scene in her mind: sitting side by side at an old tavern in a small town late at night, warm lights and smooth music, knees brushing together, his infectious laughter and his wide smile revealing his sharp fangs, his glowing eyes gazing at her intensely, his warmth radiating off of him, his comforting touch on her cheek…
An oppressively painful sadness overtook Allura in that moment. It weighed down her heart, sending it plummeting to the ground, and her shoulders sagged as she stared down at her glass. She had been doing so well; for once she managed to make it through an entire evening without thinking of him. What was wrong with her?
When the two of them finished their drinks, Garrett walked Allura out to the busy street, all the while glancing back at the sentry trailing behind them.
“I am glad to have finally met you in person, Your Highness,” Garrett said, bowing respectfully to her. “When you returned home a month ago, I was overseas at the time, but…” He smiled. “When news reached us that you had come back, it was a happy day for all of Altea.”
Allura forced a smile, then pushed a lock of hair over her shoulder in an attempt to cool herself down. In a few short weeks fire rock season would begin, and already the nights had turned hot and the days even hotter. She was outside for only less than a minute and she could already feel the sweat building at the nape of her neck as she breathed in the humid air.
“Thank you for the meal,” she told him politely. She glanced at the sleek, royal transport in which the sentry would be escorting her back to the castle. “Well then, have a good―”
“Sweet Mother of the Universe, would you look at that!”
She turned back around to see what Garrett was referring to. Up ahead, projected on one of the many skyscrapers towering over the city square, was the Universal News. A female Nalquodian news anchor sat at a desk delivering the latest goings-on, and though the sound was muted and Allura couldn’t hear what she was saying, what showed next to the woman on the screen gave her enough context to figure it out.
A video played, showing former High Council member Count Do-Tarn getting arrested and taken to the police station. A headline translated into the Altean language announced that a month after his official indictment, the count’s trial was to take place a week from now.
Allura let out a long exhale as she stared at the screen. Finally, after all of this waiting, Do-Tarn was going to answer for his crimes, and those who suffered from the attacks could at last receive closure.
Then her heart stuttered to a halt when a new image appeared on the screen. It was a photo taken by the press in front of the since destroyed Senak Opera House. There Allura stood, smiling politely for the cameras, and standing to her left was―
“That’s Emperor Lotor,” Garrett remarked. “Isn’t it? And look, there you are, Your Highness!”
Allura drew in a quiet breath as she took it all in. Lotor’s expression was calm, cool and collected in the picture, so it must have been taken before that crass reporter dared to ask about their relationship. The headline now told of the investigation performed by the Galra emperor and Altean princess, an unexpected yet successful partnership. Even from a single still, Allura could see the power and strength which radiated off of Lotor. His masculinity, his handsome features, all of the sharp angles of him, those were the traits Allura knew very well, the traits of a man she had once known.
Upon further inspection, she didn’t realize how small she looked compared to him until she saw the two of them next to each other on the giant screen. She’d never thought to take a picture of the two of them together, and she was reminded for the billionth time that she didn’t have anything significant to remember him by other than the small piece of parchment kept safely hidden away in her bedroom.
He really was quite large compared to her, Allura thought, their heights a stark contrast to one another. Perhaps that was why he’d teased her a couple of times for being small or little. The way he would lift her so effortlessly in his arms, the way he would lean down to hug her or kiss her…
The screen went back to the news anchor, now giving a report on the financial crisis on Pinto Sentos, but Allura barely saw it as her vision began to blur. She swallowed, bit her lip and looked down at the ground, doing as she always did and willing herself not to cry. She knew she was not supposed to act this way; she knew she was better than this.
“What was it like working with him?” she heard Garrett ask. She sniffed and blinked her eyes rapidly, standing up straight and regaining her composure before the admiral turned away from the screen to look at her. “Is he really as frightening as they say? He certainly looks like it.”
A pang of annoyance ran through Allura and she bit back a retort. During the past month she had heard all kinds of questions and comments like that about Lotor from her people, and she’d been trying not to take it too personally. After all, like her, the rest of the Alteans were taught a lot of untrue things about the Galra, just as the Galra were taught untrue things about them. They didn’t know any better. However, she was never able to stop the irritation from building within her chest, even though she knew it would be pointless to try and make them see the truth.
She looked Garrett in the eye and told him calmly, “People will see what they want to see. Good night, Admiral.”
Without waiting for an answer she turned on her heel and climbed into the transport. The sentry was waiting behind the driver’s seat and they were off in the blink of an eye. As she made her way back to the Castle of Lions, Allura pressed a button on a console to lower the top of the vehicle, revealing the night life of the city around her and exposing her to the warm wind which whipped through her hair. She leaned out the side, resting her chin on her arm and watching the buildings as they zipped by. She closed her eyes and sighed, wishing her heart would cease its painful, rapid beating.
Everything seemed to be back to normal on Altea. Over the past month since her return home, Allura was able to readjust and perform her duties adequately as princess, as well as spend time with her family and get along with her father again. The two of them even traveled together a few times to perform charity work for the denizens, and it was as if their argument over Lotor had never happened.
Sometimes it felt like it was getting easier, being without Lotor. If Allura distracted herself enough, if she worked herself hard enough, she could get through the day without thinking of him. Other times, however, something would remind her of him, whether it was when someone mentioned Dunamis or the Universal Coalition in passing, when she flew Fala to get to somewhere on royal business, when she saw a stray cat wandering the streets of the city, or back at the restaurant just now when she was drinking nunvil.
Then all of those painful and joyous emotions would come rushing back, and she would drift off into her memories until she had to force herself to return to the present. Sitting in the back of the transport, Allura found herself craving the strong and bitter taste of rozoll, though she knew there wasn’t a single Galra product on her planet.
The nights were the hardest, being alone in her bed and alone with her thoughts. She often dreamt of Lotor. Sometimes they were quiet and peaceful, the kinds of dreams where they simply enjoyed each other’s presence, whether they were sitting next to each other or walking somewhere side by side. The privilege of being next to him was what she wanted more than anything.
And then there were the other kinds of dreams. The kinds where Lotor was above her and his luminescent eyes pierced through the darkness of her bedroom, the kinds where their soft gasps and heavy panting filled the hot air between them, the kinds that ended with Allura waking up and feeling stifled beneath her overheated sheets, her cheeks flushed and her body on fire…
Those were the kinds of dreams that prompted her to get out of bed immediately, step under the shower and turn the water on to the hottest temperature she could stand, bracing her hands against the cold wall in front of her which was slippery with condensation.
Allura had thought a lot about what her grandmother had told her, advising her to tell Lotor how she felt about him. During the past month she’d been tempted to reach out to him many times, but in the end she would lose her courage and decide against it. And because he didn’t contact her, she didn’t, either. She figured that he probably did not want to speak to her, anyway. Perhaps it was for the best, for it was what they had decided.
But still there was something missing. Allura felt as if she’d left a piece of herself back on Daibazaal, and perhaps she’d taken a piece of him with her as well. No matter how much she tried not to think about him, no matter how much she tried to move on…
She missed him.
The transport came to a smooth stop and Allura entered the Castle of Lions. She walked in through the large front doors, then tried to sneak past the great hall when she heard her mother’s voice call out to her.
“Allura, dear, is that you?”
She stopped in her tracks and cringed. She’d been hoping to get to the lifts and retreat to her bedroom without her parents seeing her, for she knew they were going to talk about her date, but she was caught.
I should have entered from the south side, she grumbled internally. She poked her head into the doorway of the great hall. There sat her mother and father across from each other at the dining table, sipping from their tea cups and working.
“Oh, hello!” she greeted cheerfully, stepping all the way out and clasping her hands behind her back. “I did not see you there. How goes it, my dear parents?”
Alfor, who was going over proposals on a large, cyan tablet in front of him, looked up at her with a raised eyebrow, then regarded her with amusement. “You appear to be in a very good mood, Daughter. I take it your evening with the admiral went well, then?”
“Er, it was alright.”
“How was he?” Melenor asked with interest, looking up from the letters she was writing on her own tablet and resting her chin in her hand.
“He was… he was fine. Very polite. We had a good time. Yes.”
“Really?” her mother looked surprised, as did her father, and the two of them exchanged glances. “I do not think I have heard you speak so positively about a suitor before. Does this mean you want to see him again?”
“Until then are you going to set me up with another one?” Allura asked suspiciously.
“Of course not, dearest.”
“Then I shall consider it,” she said, nodding resolutely. The more time she pretended to think about a second date with Garrett, the longer she could put off seeing another needless bachelor. She then faked a yawn. “I think I ought to go and get ready for bed now. I am quite tired. Good night.”
“Good night, Allura,” her parents told her lovingly, and the princess left.
She had barely walked in through the doors to her bedroom when she noticed the screen above her desk lit up, the bright cyan hologram blinking brightly with a notification that made her see sunspots. Squinting, she blindly reached for the console on her wall to turn on the lights, then walked towards her desk to disable the notification. There were two new messages waiting for her. Allura sighed, glancing briefly at the senders’ names, deciding she would look at them in the morning, and headed towards the bathroom to wash up.
Then she turned on her heel and ran back to her desk, eyes widening when she processed the names. One message was from Princess Malocoti, and the other was from the Dunamis Police Department. She furrowed her brow in thought. She hadn’t spoken to Malocoti since Do-Tarn’s ball, and could not fathom why in the universe the Krellian princess would be reaching out to her now of all times. Her message took less priority, Allura decided spitefully as she opened the one from the police.
Signed by Sergeant Zane, it was a letter formally requesting her presence at Do-Tarn’s trial in one week to serve as a witness on behalf of the Dunamis police. At first Allura was taken aback by this, then remembered that the sergeant had told her and Lotor that he might be in contact with them.
Her and Lotor… that most likely meant that Lotor was sent a letter as well…
Allura pinched her bottom lip with her thumb and forefinger, thinking. The trial was in one week, as was said in the letter as well as on the news. If she accepted the request, she would see Lotor in one week, maybe even sooner than that if they both arrived to Dunamis early. The thought terrified her as much as it excited her, forming a pit of both thrill and dread in her stomach.
She didn’t have to accept, of course. The letter was a request, not an order. And as much as she would be honored to contribute to putting Do-Tarn officially behind bars, Sergeant Zane had told them with confidence that the police had more than enough evidence to convict him. They didn’t necessarily need her help as a witness; she didn’t have to go.
But was Lotor going? Or was he hesitant like her, and would ultimately decide to refuse the request as well? If he didn’t go, then she certainly wouldn’t. But if he did go, then―
Vehemently Allura shook her head, forcing those thoughts out of her mind. She could not go down this path, not again. She was already struggling with trying not to think of the Galra Emperor on an hourly basis, and fantasizing about running into him on Dunamis would do her no good. Besides, she’d assured her father that she and Lotor no longer had anything to do with each other, and she intended to keep it that way.
What they had was a fantasy, she’d told her father, a delusion. Nothing more.
Her thoughts were interrupted when another notification appeared on her screen, a request for a video call.
Strange, Allura thought. I am not expecting anyone.
Then she read the name of the location from which the request was coming, and with a smile, she pressed the button to accept.
“Allura!” several voices exclaimed.
“Hello―oh.” Allura blinked. The screen in front of her was staticy and distorted, and she could only catch glimpses of people on the other end. “Hello, is anyone there? Can you hear me?”
“Just a sec!” Pidge’s voice called out. “We’re trying to find the signal. Lance, try tilting it up a bit.” The screen then became even more malfunctional and Allura could barely hear the Earthling. “That’s too much, too much! Okay… perfect!”
After a little more tweaking, the image became clear and Allura saw her friends. The cadets from Galaxy Garrison, as well as their instructor Lieutenant Shiro, were gathered around the screen and beaming at Allura.
“Yes, it worked!” Hunk cheered. “Hey, Princess!” Everyone greeted her enthusiastically, Lance from somewhere off screen; even Keith was smiling a little.
“It is so good to see you all,” Allura said, her chest warming with affection, then asked with astonishment, “How is this possible? From what I gathered from your messages, the distance between our galaxies impedes any sort of timely connection.”
“True, Earth still has some catching up to do technology-wise,” Shiro said with a sheepish smile. “We receive communications from outside sources no problem, but for us there’s a bit of a delay for any of our stuff to reach the other side. However, Pidge has―”
“Pidge made her own satellite so we can talk to you!” Lance’s face suddenly appeared, taking up the entire screen and startling Allura. “How’s it goin’, Your Worship?”
“… Hello, Lance.”
“Dude, quit hogging the screen,” Keith complained.
Lance grinned and took a step back to join the rest of the group, leaning his arm on the top of Pidge’s head, but she batted him away. “Pretty cool, huh? After all, it’s thanks to Pidge we were still able to play video games while we were in space.”
“Putting together your own satellite is indeed very impressive, Pidge,” Allura said sincerely with a smile.
The young girl rubbed the back of her neck and blushed. “It was nothing…” Then she perked up. “We’ve got some good news!”
“What is it?”
“We’re going back to Dunamis!” Hunk announced.
Allura’s eyes widened, then her smile grew. “Really? You are being serious?”
“I got our trip approved just a few minutes ago,” Shiro confirmed, returning her smile. “By Admiral Sanda herself. She, Commander Iverson, and a few others will be accompanying us.”
“Ya boy is going back to space, baby!” Lance said, shooting finger guns.
“That is great news,” Allura said in awe.
“I know, right?” He slicked back his hair. “It’s okay, Allura, you don’t have to say it. I know you missed me.”
“I’m pretty sure she was talking to all of us, Lance. Not just you,” Pidge told him, rolling her eyes.
“We probably wouldn’t have gotten permission from the admiral in the first place if we didn’t get invited to that dinner thing,” Hunk spoke up.
“Dinner?” Allura asked curiously.
“We got an invitation to attend some party,” Keith answered, folding his arms. “From that princess lady, the one you were going to punch in the face.”
“Princess Malocoti.”
“Yeah, her.”
“We weren’t expecting it at all,” Shiro admitted.
“We figured she didn’t know we existed,” added Pidge.
“She must’ve seen me at the ball but was too shy to talk to me,” Lance said with a dramatic sigh. “I s’pose I’m willing to give her a second chance.”
“Did you also get invited?” Shiro asked Allura, ignoring Lance’s comment.
“Now that you mention it…” Allura reduced the size of the video call to access her messages again, then selected the one from Malocoti. “I did. Coran is invited as well,” she said as she quickly read through it, then her eyebrows twitched upwards slightly. “It is four days before Do-Tarn’s trial.”
“That’s right. We’ll be attending that as well. What about you?”
“As it turns out, I was reading a letter from the Dunamis Police Department before you called. I have been asked to serve as a witness to testify against Do-Tarn.”
“Woah,” Hunk commented. “That’s crazy.”
“Yes,” Allura agreed, and she scanned Sergeant Zane’s letter again. “I must admit, I am not sure if I want to accept.”
“That’s okay,” Pidge said encouragingly. “But even if you don’t, you’ll still come to the princess’s dinner party, right?”
“I don’t know…” Allura trailed off uncertainly, and there was a chorus of protests from the Earthlings.
“Aw, come on, Allura! You have to!”
“It won’t be any fun if you’re not there!”
“Yeah, who else are we going to talk to?”
“You never talk anyway, Keith.”
“Shuddup, Lance.”
Allura’s heart warmed again and she smiled. “You are all very sweet, but it is…” She tried to think of an excuse. “It is all so sudden. I cannot plan a trip only a few days in advance.”
“It’s not like you haven’t been spontaneous before,” Keith reminded her, raising an eyebrow.
“And I am already so busy with all of my responsibilities here on Altea…”
“It’s only for a few days,” Shiro said with a shrug. “Surely your people can wait for you, right? They’ve waited longer.”
“But I―”
“Please, Allura?” Pidge begged, clasping her hands together in earnest. “If we’re traveling nine million light years to get there, then you’ve got to come, too.”
“That is a fair point. Altea is located in the same galaxy as Dunamis,” the princess admitted.
“Exactly! Besides,” Pidge added with a grin. “I’m pretty sure Emperor Lotor is going to be there, too.” This was followed by “Oooh”s from Lance and Hunk.
“You cannot know that for certain,” Allura said, and she was unable to fight back the warmth in her cheeks.
“If you were asked to serve as a witness, then I bet he was too,” Hunk reasoned. “And since you guys worked on the case together, Princess Malocoti probably invited him, right?”
Allura mentally clicked her tongue. Her friends had already pieced it together as she did. She knew she shouldn’t, but…
“Alright, I will go,” she said, lifting her chin. “For you and you only.”
Her friends erupted in cheers, and she couldn’t help the smile from pulling at her lips. Despite keeping in contact with the Earthlings over the last month, none of them were certain when they’d be able to meet in person again, so it was a happy surprise to find out that they were returning to Dunamis after such a short period of time. And if Lotor was going to be there, then there was no doubt the generals were coming along as well. It would be a little reunion for all of them.
The next day after a meeting with the royal council, Allura requested her parents, grandmother, and Coran to stay behind so she could tell them of her plans.
Melenor was encouraging. “I think serving as a witness would be a great opportunity, dearest. You should go.”
Alfor was more hesitant, however. “Have you already answered the sergeant’s letter?”
“No, not yet,” Allura answered. Normally she wouldn’t ask for permission, but she figured if she played by her parents’ rules, the more likely they would be to encourage her to go, and therefore not raise any unnecessary conflict.
“Then you do not have to accept if you do not wish to, Daughter. These things are never required, anyway. I am sure they will understand if you decline.”
“Given the princess’s contribution to the count’s arrest a month ago, it would certainly help earn the judges’ favor,” Coran spoke up helpfully, “and finally sentence the man to prison. The public would most approve if she made an appearance.”
“And it would be rude of Lulu to refuse a personal invitation from the Krellian princess,” Rhiella added.
Allura smiled at them gratefully. They always had her back.
“Princess Malocoti,” Melenor murmured, considering. “One of the members of the High Council?”
“The very same,” her daughter confirmed.
“Do we know her parents?” Melenor asked, exchanging glances with Alfor.
“I do not believe we have met them before.” Alfor then addressed Allura. “Describe to me her character. Is she a responsible person?”
Allura resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Her parents spoke as if they were arranging a playdate for children. “She is very…” She searched for the word. “Spirited.”
“Spirited?” Alfor frowned. “Not exactly the word I was looking for, Daughter.”
“Mildly inoffensive.”
“That sounds worse somehow.”
“Tolerable, then,” Allura suggested. “That is the bare minimum, isn’t it? Though admittedly we had an argument that nearly came to blows before she collapsed drunk into my arms.”
Alfor’s brow shot up into his hairline. “What was that?”
“None of it was my fault, I can assure you,” Allura said with a sniff. “And as Grandmother was saying, it would be rude if I refused to go, especially when Malocoti made the effort to invite Coran and myself in the first place. Perhaps this is her way of reconciling.”
“It is always good to make new friends,” Melenor agreed with a smile.
“Who else will be there?” Alfor asked, narrowing his eyes with suspicion.
“President Desto and other members of the Coalition, presumably, the Earthlings, and… most likely the Galra have been invited as well.”
The room fell silent, but Allura was not surprised. Not once since her argument with her father was Lotor’s name even whispered inside the Castle of Lions.
“Quite the crowd this princess chooses to run with,” Alfor muttered, and he appeared reluctant to accept.
Allura had expected this, of course, and was prepared for it. “I was also wondering if you, Mother, and Grandmother would like to come along as well?”
“Really?” Her father was surprised.
“Malocoti’s dinner is by invitation, so I am afraid only Coran and I can attend that. However, having all of you there to support me at the trial would mean the world to me. If my family is with me, then I know I will be able to focus and accomplish my task.” Allura clasped her hands behind her back, looking at her mother and father hopefully. “We can all go together, wouldn’t that be nice?”
Her parents exchanged glances again. Melenor smiled and nodded encouragingly at Alfor, who then turned back to Allura and looked pleased. “Of course, Daughter. We are more than happy to support you.”
“We could also invite Orla and her family to come along with us,” Melenor added. “Would that be alright, dearest?”
Allura nodded eagerly, hope and joy igniting in her chest. “Yes, absolutely. Please invite whomever you would like. That will not be a problem.”
“Then it’s settled!” Rhiella said with a grin, slapping her hand on the table enthusiastically.
“I will have to get in touch with Bii-Boh-Bi while I’m there,” Coran mused, stroking his mustache. “He owes me a lot of money.”
“Alright, then we are going to Dunamis,” Alfor agreed.
“Fabulous!” Allura clasped her hands together in front of her chest, her heart soaring. Then she reigned herself back in, clearing her throat. “Thank you, Mother and Father, for your approval,” she added solemnly.
The day of departure couldn’t come fast enough. As the days slowly trickled by until her family was to leave for Dunamis, Allura tried to keep herself busy in order to pass the time, and for the most part it worked. She still struggled to sleep, though it was more due to nerves and excitement than anything else.
Over the course of the week, she kept reminding herself that the sole reason she was returning to Dunamis was for her friends and for the trial only. It certainly had nothing to do with seeing Lotor again, of course it didn’t. She would be professional about it when she saw him again, she decided, remaining calm, courteous, and aloof. No doubt he would do the same, so there was no reason for her to get carried away while in his presence.
According to Sergeant Zane’s letter, the trial was not expected to last for more than a couple of days, as the police had reportedly built up a solid argument that would sway the public and convict Do-Tarn for his crimes. At times Allura felt a little uneasy, thinking about what the count had cooked up on his end, but she reminded herself to stay positive.
Do-Tarn was going to jail, the investigation would at last come to a close with no further bloodshed, and being in Lotor’s presence for a few days would be enough to satisfy Allura for when she returned home.
Four days before the trial, the royal family left Altea with warm farewells to their people, and set off for Dunamis. Allura was more than happy to fly everyone in Fala, with Coran offering to be co-pilot, and they were followed by the royal council, additional members of the court, and sentries in a larger Altean ship.
After a day of travel they dropped out of warp speed, and there was a strange nostalgia that the princess felt upon seeing the gray, industrial planet again after a month, the massive celestial body even larger than Altea as Allura stared up at it. It had been her home for quite some time, and there were a lot of memories attached to it, both good and bad.
Allura almost felt like a tour guide, answering questions from Haran and Darius, both of whom had never been to Dunamis before. At first she humored them, but eventually the way they constantly hovered over her shoulder as she descended the ship and flew through the city started grating on her nerves.
“What is that?”
“That is the police station. I am to meet the sergeant there after I drop you off at the hotel.”
“What is that?”
“That is a factory.”
“What is that?”
“That is another factory.”
“What is―”
“If you please,” Allura interrupted through gritted teeth as her patience ran thin. “I really need to concentrate on flying.”
“No, but really, what is that over there?” Darius pointed.
She saw what he was referring to, and her shoulders sagged upon recognizing the place. Up ahead was Phylos Central Park, its greenery as vibrant and noticeable as ever among the dark and dreary factories surrounding it. In the very center was a large, empty lot where a building undoubtedly used to be.
“That is where Senak Opera House once stood,” she murmured.
“Where you and…” Haran lowered his voice. “… AEB were trapped underground together?”
“Ye―” Allura turned her head and stared at him. “Ay-ee― what?”
“It is what Darius and I have started calling Emperor Lotor so that Uncle does not know who we are talking about,” Haran explained in a whisper.
“What does it stand for?” she asked as she looked forward again, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.
“AEB,” Darius said, then counted off on three fingers. “Allura’s Ex Boyfriend.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. He was nothing of the sort.”
“Liar. You’re blushing,” Haran noticed with glee. “He absolutely was, wasn’t― Ow, Allura, your elbow is really sharp.”
“Quiet before your mother hears you,” Allura scolded him, then she frowned. “Does it not bother you, knowing where he is from?”
“Who cares?” he said with a shrug, then he grinned. “What are you going to do when you see him again, Allura? Are you going to hug him and kiss him and―”
“Go sit down, both of you,” she ordered them, her face on fire. “And buckle in, we will be landing soon.” She sighed exasperatedly, shaking her head as she steered Fala towards Phylos Council Hall. “Dear Mother of the Universe, you two are as bad as Lance.”
The panels to the underground hangar bay slid open upon their arrival, and Allura navigated the ship inside with ease. Once they were directed towards a parking spot by a crew member, the family hopped out one by one, soon accompanied by the rest of the Altean party from the second ship. Automatically Allura began looking for a blue and gray cruiser before she quickly caught herself, then cleared her throat and led her family to the hotel lobby.
“You don’t mind checking everyone in, Coran?” Allura inquired as they walked up to one of the many reception desks.
“Of course not, Princess.”
“Are you meeting with the sergeant now, dearest?” Melenor asked.
“Yes, it should not be too…” But Allura trailed off, her eyes widening when a crowd of reporters suddenly flooded into the room, pushing their way through the front entrance of the hotel. When they saw Allura and her family, they began stampeding towards them like a pack of wild Krelshi.
“Princess Allura! Wait right there!”
“Your Highness, can we get an interview?”
“Look over here, Princess!”
Before she had a chance to react, Allura was overwhelmed by the press surrounding her and holotransmitters flashing in her face left and right.
“Princess, are you here to attend the trial in a few days?”
“What have you been up to during the last month?”
“Did you have a secret vendetta against the count?”
“Are you keeping in contact with Emperor Lotor?”
Microphones were getting shoved under her nose, and the questions came so rapidly that she barely had time to register one before another was thrown her way. Overwhelmed and trapped, she froze for a second before she felt her mother’s hand reach for her arm and pull her away to safety. Alfor, Coran, Bokar, and the twins created a barrier between her and the reporters as the women gathered around in a circle.
“I suppose we should have seen this coming,” Orla said, brow furrowed in concern.
“What can we do?” Melenor asked. Her arm was around her daughter, guarding her protectively.
The four of them looked at the mint-colored Unilu who stood behind the desk, checking them in.
“Aren’t you going to call security?” Rhiella snapped at her.
“Ugh, fine,” the Unilu drawled, rolling her eyes as she began tapping buttons on the holographic screen in front of her.
“If you can distract them, I can take the lift back down to the hangar bay and get out from there,” Allura suggested.
“Will you be alright by yourself, dear?”
“Of course, Mother. Do not worry about me.” Allura grinned. “I picked up a thing or two during my time here.”
“Well then,” Rhiella said determinedly, “ladies, our time has come. Good luck, Lulu.” And with that she took her daughters by the arms and led them back towards the chaos.
As Allura headed towards the elevators, she heard the reporters taking interest.
“Are you Princess Allura’s sisters?”
“I am her grandmother, the queen dowager Rhiella, and these two are my daughters: Queen Melenor and Princess Orla.”
“Wow, you all look alike! And so young, too!”
“Oh, stop it,” Orla said with a titter.
“I’m serious! Can you tell us your skincare routine?”
“We could, but then we would be here all night,” Melenor joked easily, and the crowd laughed.
Allura shook her head and smiled. An elevator soon arrived and she stepped in. Just as she pressed the button to take her down to the basement, however, she heard yet another commotion coming from the front entrance.
“There he is! Emperor Lotor!”
“Your Imperial Majesty! Come have an interview with the Altean royal family!”
The princess’s head snapped up, drawing in a sharp breath as her heart rate quickened. She tried to take a look, standing on the tips of her toes, but she couldn’t see anything from this distance. She thought she might have caught a glimpse of pearl white hair over the sea of heads, but before she could be certain the doors closed in front of her and the elevator descended.
“Glad you could make it,” Sergeant Zane greeted. As Allura was shown into his office by the Olkari intern Twyla, the Dalterion stood from his desk and went up to her and bowed. “Thank you for coming all this way, Your Highness.”
“Of course, Sergeant.”
“Please, have a seat.” Zane returned to the chair behind his desk while Allura sat across from him. “Can I get you anything?” he asked.
“I am fine, but thank you.”
Zane nodded. He clasped his hands in front of him on his desk, looking her over. “How have things been on Altea?”
“It was a bit of an adjustment at first,” Allura admitted, smiling. “But I managed.”
“Things are back to normal for you, then?”
“More or less. How are you feeling about the trial?”
“We’re prepared,” he answered confidently. “More than prepared, now that you’re here. I really appreciate you being willing to help out, both you and Emperor Lotor. You just barely missed him, by the way. He was here not too long ago. Perhaps you ran into him on your way here?”
“No, we did not see each other,” Allura said, somehow managing to keep her voice steady. So Lotor must have been on his way back from the police station when he walked into the hotel…
“Hm. Must’ve been bad timing. To be honest with you, I half-expected the two of you to come to the police station together.”
“Why is that?”
“Oh, well, I just assumed that―Ah, never mind. It appears I was wrong. Now, let’s talk about why you’re here.” He leaned forward slightly. “Have you ever served as a witness in a trial before?”
“No, but I am familiar with court proceedings on Dunamis. We are to meet at the courthouse downtown, correct?”
“Actually, not this time. We’ll be meeting in the assembly chamber in Phylos Council Hall, and President Desto and Princess Malocoti will be judging the trial.”
Allura was taken aback. “Really? That is a little unusual, isn’t it?”
“Unusual process for an unusual case.”
“Are you not concerned that there will be bias if the count’s own colleagues are the judges?” Allura furrowed her brow. “As far as I can tell, before his arrest they were all friends. Not that I am trying to assume anything, of course, at least about President Desto,” she added. “But you have to admit this is rather odd.”
Zane nodded as if he expected this. “The emperor said the same thing, so I’ll have to tell you what I told him. In this planet’s domain, yes, normally we would handle this case under Dunamis jurisdiction. However, this case doesn’t involve just Dunamis. I don’t need to remind you where the first attack took place, Your Highness. Not only were your people killed, but so were hundreds of other representatives from all across the cosmos. This is a universal matter, so the people who lead the Universal Coalition decided to take charge.
“And you’re not wrong,” he added with a frown. “It is odd, but whatever the High Council says goes. I could go up to them and raise a fuss about it, but it wouldn’t change anything.” He shrugged and smiled wanly. “My hands are tied.”
Allura’s mouth set in a straight line. She knew the sergeant was only following orders, and she couldn’t blame him, but the way he spoke sounded a lot like what Do-Tarn said to her when they danced together at his ball:
“Whatever the High Council decides, the rest of the Coalition must follow. It is the only way to ensure peace and order throughout the universe.”
“There are two kinds of people in this life, Princess: those who wield power, and those who yield to it.”
Was that really all there was to life? Waking up one day and being smacked in the face with the reality that one’s place in the universe was already predetermined, and that they would have to live the rest of their days knowing they couldn’t do a thing to change it?
It was a lot like the inevitable day in which Allura would have to choose a husband and perform her sacred duty, and it was a lot like the situation with the Galra and the Alteans, with her and Lotor…
Zane might not have known what she was thinking as she sat there in his office, but he must have seen that she was troubled. “Hey, Your Highness,” he said kindly, tilting his head so he would catch her eye. “You said that President Desto is your friend, right?”
“Yes, she is.”
“Then if you trust her to make the right call during the trial, then you’ve got nothing to worry about.”
Allura nodded. She was still unsure about all of this, but as the sergeant said, she could put her trust in President Desto. She would pull through, and hopefully Princess Malocoti would as well, even if the latter had some ideas that were a little extreme.
“We’ve still got a few last-minute details to take care of before the trial, so I’ll give you the rundown for serving as a witness the day after tomorrow,” the sergeant concluded. “Can you meet back here then?”
“Yes.”
The two of them stood from their seats, and Zane walked Allura to the door out of his office, pushing a button on the console to open it for her.
“Thanks again, Princess,” he told her, holding out his hand to shake. “You and Emperor Lotor have already helped out so much, so you two being willing to come back to Dunamis means a lot to me and the rest of the police department.”
She accepted the handshake. “You are very welcome, Sergeant. I am glad that I can be of service,” she told him, and she meant it. She was about to head out the door, then she turned back to him. “If you do not mind me asking,” she began hesitantly, “about Emperor Lotor…”
“Yes?”
“When he was here, did he… mention anything? About me?”
The sergeant regarded her seriously. “I’m not at liberty to say. Conversations between an officer and a witness are strictly confidential, Your Highness.”
Allura flushed. “Right. I understand. My apologies.”
Zane then smiled widely and waved his hand. “Nah, I’m just messing with you. No, he didn’t say much. He asked if you’d been in to see me yet. I said no, and he left it at that.”
The hours counting down to the dinner were agonizingly slow, somehow slower than the days leading up to the departure from Altea. Allura looked for anything to do to keep herself occupied. She had a late lunch with her family―Altean cuisine, because of course the first thing everyone wanted to eat was food from their homeworld―and Allura ate heartily despite how nervous she was.
Six hours left until the dinner.
Next she took them to see the assembly chamber in Phylos Council Hall where the trial would be taking place. Haran and Darius went ahead of the group. They emerged from one box to the next, exploring the gargantuan dome from top to bottom and poking their heads out and yelling to hear their voices echo. Orla and Bokar scolded them, calling out to them to be respectful.
Everyone else strolled along a walkway which lined the interior edge of the dome, marveling at the unique architecture around them. Rhiella hooked her arm through Allura’s so they could walk side by side, keeping up the rear of the group.
Allura had done her best to not let the anxiety show on her face, but Rhiella was one of the few people who could see right through the brave facade with which she presented herself. No doubt Rhiella knew exactly who was going to be at the dinner tonight and why it affected Allura so. However, as her grandmother had promised a month ago, she did not give her any further advice or opinion on what she should do. Instead she gave her a gentle and understanding smile, which Allura returned, though it was a little strained.
Five hours until the dinner.
She trained, she bathed, she read, she slept…
Three more hours.
She read some more, she answered messages from political envoys on her tablet…
Two hours.
One hour.
Thirty minutes.
She took her time getting ready, donning her blue, gold, and white dress, smoothing out the nonexistent wrinkles, fixing her hair, adjusting her tiara, fiddling with her bracelets and her earrings…
At last, ten minutes before the dinner, Allura met with Coran on the eleventh floor, one of the many levels which offered alimentations of every kind, and the level on which the party was taking place. As they approached an open doorway that led into a Krellian restaurant, Allura’s heart was racing every step of the way. She’d waited a week for this, the entire day for this, but now that the moment had finally come, she wasn’t so sure if she was as prepared as she thought.
They walked into the restaurant, welcomed by a staff member at the entrance, and were immediately greeted by familiar faces among a large group of guests.
“Allura! Coran!”
Allura grinned as the Earthlings waved to her, and she and Coran met them halfway.
“It is so good to see you all,” she said, her heart squeezing with affection as Shiro stepped forward to give her a hug.
“Good to see you, too, Princess,” he told her warmly.
Allura embraced her friends, even Keith, who was blushing all the way to his ears.
“I don’t like hugs,” he muttered, but he hugged her back anyway.
“How was the journey?” she asked.
“Oh, you know,” Hunk replied with a nonchalant shrug. “Six days straight stuck in a ship, trying not to pass out or throw up with Lance behind the wheel―the usual.”
“Hey, I got us out of that asteroid field, didn’t I?” Lance protested, clearly offended.
“You almost got us killed when you decided to get all fancy and take us through a bunch of rocks that were about to collapse in on each other,” Keith reminded him, folding his arms.
“You’re being dramatic. My first year in flight school, know what they called me? They called me ‘The Tailor’ because of how I thread the needle.”
“Nice work, ‘Tailor,’” Pidge told him sarcastically.
“See, Pidge gets it!”
“Ah, seeing you all bicker like this really takes me back to my youth,” Coran said with a sigh, reminiscing. “I was once on a ship that was on the run from a band of pirates, so we hid inside a cave on an asteroid. Turns out it wasn’t a cave, but the mouth of a giant space worm!”
“That sounds awful,” Hunk commented with a shudder.
“Believe me, it isn’t the worm you have to worry about, it’s the vultures hanging from its teeth!”
“The what?!”
Allura let out a small laugh. She really was so glad to be reunited with her friends again. How fortunate were they to meet like this. She glanced around at the other guests who were talking amongst themselves, but she couldn’t see any sign of the Galra. Perhaps they were not invited after all? She felt a strange concoction of emotions in her stomach, ranging all the way from relief to disappointment, and she didn’t know what to do with it.
“Allura, you made it!”
Grimacing at the familiar voice, Allura turned her head to see Princess Malocoti making her way towards her. With a cheerful expression, Malocoti came in for a hug, but Allura abruptly held her at arm’s length.
“I do not think you and I are quite there yet,” Allura told her.
“Don’t be like that! Come here, silly.” Malocoti hugged her anyway, leaning down to wrap her arms around Allura and squeezing her tight. “I’m so happy you’re here,” she said when she pulled away, smiling brightly at her. “We have so much catching up to do.”
Allura narrowed her eyes at her. Had Malocoti been so drunk that night at the ball that she didn’t remember what happened? It would certainly explain a lot. She cleared her throat and looked around once more. “Have all of your guests arrived, then?” she asked casually.
“Hm, no. It appears we are still missing―oh look, there they are!” Malocoti exclaimed with delight, spotting someone over Allura’s shoulder.
Behind Allura were the sounds of a group of people walking in through the doorway, and among them a familiar set of heavy footsteps. She stilled. Her heart pounded so strongly that she felt it in her chest, her throat, and her ears. She wouldn’t have been surprised if everyone else in the room could hear it. Then she swallowed and, recollecting herself, slowly turned around.
Emperor Lotor entered the restaurant, followed by his generals. He was as tall and proud and domineering as ever. His eyes immediately sought Allura’s, though his face betrayed no emotion as he approached. The Galra stopped a few feet away from Allura and Malocoti.
“Welcome, Emperor,” Malocoti greeted happily. “And welcome to your generals as well. I am so very glad you could make it.”
“Thank you for the invitation,” Lotor told her smoothly with a practiced smile, inclining his head. “It is a pleasure to be in the presence of Her Highness once again.” The words were surely meant for Malocoti, however as he spoke his sharp eyes turned once more to Allura.
“Oh, you smooth talker,” Malocoti laughed.
Kova leapt off of Narti’s shoulder and bounded for Allura, who opened her arms as he jumped into them. She smiled when he purred and leaned into her touch. She lifted her head, her smile growing.
“It has been a while, hasn’t it?” she asked, looking at Acxa, though her gaze flickered over to Lotor for a millisecond to find that he was still looking at her.
“Sure has,” Acxa said, returning her smile.
“Hey, Princess,” Ezor greeted with a grin.
“Nice to see you around again,” Zethrid added.
“Likewise,” Allura returned sincerely.
Then she looked back to the Galra emperor. He was at a respectable distance away from her, yet the tension was so palpable that she could feel every inch in between them. She did not miss the way his eyes traveled over her, and she would have given anything in that moment to know what was going through his head.
He looked just as she remembered, but different at the same time. Perhaps she had slowly begun to forget what he looked like in person. She couldn’t be sure, but what she did know was that he was more magnificent and beautiful since the day they parted. The lines under his eyes were noticeable, but otherwise he looked strong and healthy. That brought solace to Allura, for she had worried about him.
Having him in front of her now after a whole month, hearing his deep and smooth voice, seeing the way he was looking at her like that, his glowing eyes intense and smoldering, his warmth reaching her even from a few feet away―
―she was overcome with a joy that made her heart soar as well as pain that sliced right through it. Her feelings for him, stronger than ever, only cut that much more deeply into her. She was bleeding out in front of him, and yet there was nothing she could do. All she could do was hope to remain indifferent around him. After all, as she’d told her father a month ago, she wasn’t going to pursue something fantastical. It was only that, she reminded herself, a fantasy.
Calm and professional. She was going to be calm and professional about this.
“Lotor,” she greeted politely, keeping her voice steady.
“Allura.” He was as civil and serene as she.
“Lance, Hunk, Coran…” Lance said, appearing out of nowhere, startling Allura. He rolled his eyes at the dramatic scene. “Now that we all know each other, can we go sit down now?”
“Of course!” Malocoti began ushering her guests farther inside the restaurant. “I have reserved a private room for our dinner. Please, go right ahead.”
The generals followed the rest of the group, but Lotor stayed behind. As Narti passed by, Kova returning to her shoulder, she touched Allura’s arm in friendly greeting. Allura looked back to Lotor and clasped her hands together in front of her, clenching them until her fingers hurt. However, she maintained the proud air and professionalism of a princess. He too appeared as cool and composed as ever, and he said nothing.
“What’s taking you two so long?” Malocoti said, returning to them and apparently none the wiser to the intense atmosphere. “Come on, you slowpokes!” And to both Allura and Lotor’s surprise, she hooked her arms through theirs and began tugging them along. “I want my new best friends to come sit with me.”
“Is that what we are?” Allura asked as she blinked up at her, more stunned than insulted.
“Why, of course! We had such a lovely time at Do-Tarn’s ball, didn’t we?” Malocoti asked. The three of them walked towards one of the reserved rooms in the back where the rest were taking their seats.
“I think we have very different recollections of what happened at that ball.”
“Admittedly I was asleep for most of it,” Malocoti confessed with a shrug. “I never remember half the things that happen when I go to parties, but I do remember you and the emperor rescuing me. You carried me to safety when I was drunk and could barely stand on my own two feet. How can I forget that?”
“If that is all it takes to fulfill the criteria for a best friend, then you must have a lot of them,” Allura remarked. She thought she heard a soft huff of laughter from Lotor that was disguised as a small cough, and she felt an agonizing squeeze in her chest of endearment.
“You’re so cute, Allura,” Malocoti cooed. “Now come on! You two are sitting next to me and there will be no arguments.”
By sitting next to her, what Malocoti had really meant was that she was sitting at the head of the table, which was expected of the host, but that left Allura and Lotor sitting right across from one another. Allura glanced down the table to see that Coran, the Earthlings, and the generals were seated clear on the other side, far away from them. Coran caught her eye and gave her an apologetic smile, which Allura returned and shook her head subtly to let him know it was alright.
The Krellian restaurant had a fixed menu that they would be enjoying for the evening. Half a dozen waiters moved about the room with speed and efficiency, bringing them all glasses of water and appetizers and informing them that their meals would be arriving shortly. Chatter erupted around the table, but Allura had no idea what to do or say at first, so she drank wholeheartedly from her glass. During her time on Daibazaal she’d joined Lotor for plenty of meals, and the atmosphere was always relaxing and lighthearted between them, but now all she felt was jittery and couldn’t calm down.
Where was she supposed to look? At Lotor? The entire time?
When their eyes met again she felt her heart jolt as if jump-started by an electric shock. Lotor’s expression remained neutral, yet his sharp eyes were scorching, so blazing hot that she thought he might actually burn a hole right into her forehead.
Undeterred by his daunting and quite frankly seductive gaze, however, Allura refused to surrender and didn’t look away. Neither did he. Their intentions were close to spiteful, she felt. They’d silently agreed to another one of their staring contests, an absurd proposal for a power play that had no business taking place inside a restaurant while they were surrounded by dozens of other people.
Simultaneously their attention was drawn elsewhere when Shiro spoke up as everyone waited for their food.
“I wanted to thank you, Your Highness, for inviting us this evening,” he told Princess Malocoti. “It is an honor to dine with you.”
“What a gentleman you are, Lieutenant,” Malocoti said, flattered. “But don’t thank me. It is Emperor Lotor who deserves all of the credit. He is the one who reached out to me and asked that I extend an invitation to you.”
Allura stared at her in surprise, then glanced back and forth between her and Lotor. Were they keeping in contact with each other?
“You and the cadets deserve recognition for your help during the investigation,” Lotor told Shiro. “I am pleased you were able to make it despite living so far away.”
“Oh, that’s right,” Malocoti said in realization, touching his arm. “Earth is a long way from here, isn’t it?”
“About nine million light years,” Shiro confirmed.
Their conversation continued, but Allura did not hear anything further, for her eyes were glued to Lotor’s forearm on which the princess’s hand lay before she released him and said something else. If they were sending messages and exchanging touches so easily like that, then they must have kept in touch over the past month. That meant that they were getting along really well, that they were friends or perhaps something more.
There was no other explanation. Feelings of jealousy and hurt began to spread in Allura’s chest. She knew they were unwarranted, as she and Lotor no longer had anything to do with each other, but she couldn’t help it. Her mind was reeling. Soon he and Malocoti would start holding hands, and before anyone knew it they’d be announcing their engagement. How could they do such a thing, and right in front of her, too? If Allura didn’t do something within the next five seconds―
“Allura? Did you hear me?”
Her attention snapped to Malocoti who was staring at her with raised eyebrows. Allura glanced at Lotor, who was watching her as well. Praying to the Mother her blush wasn’t too obvious, she cleared her throat and turned back to the princess. “No,” she said, disguising her fluster with an air of loftiness. “No, I did not.”
“I asked what you have been up to since your return home.”
“Oh, well, this and that. Attending meetings and traveling around, you know how it is.”
“I certainly do,” Malocoti said, exhaling heavily, as if hoping to release all of her burdens in one breath. “Juggling responsibilities as both a princess and a High Council member can be so exhausting at times. And now Desto wants us to judge Do-Tarn’s trial in four days. It’s ridiculous.”
“Speaking of whom, I noticed she is not in attendance,” Allura commented with a frown.
Malocoti shrugged. “She said she couldn’t make it. I am assuming she is busy with her family. Oh look, the food’s arrived. We ought not to discuss any politics or royal dealings anymore. It isn’t good for digestion.”
The party was served a traditional Krellian meal which consisted of fifteen courses. Allura exchanged small talk with the people around her, including a female Atlantian named Plaxum, lead singer of underwater jazz group Plaxum and the Chums, the band that was hired to play at Do-Tarn’s ball.
It gradually became easier, being in Lotor’s presence. Certainly, she was aware of him the entire time, but she was able to eventually relax and enjoy herself. They did not exchange a word with each other since their greeting at the entrance. Lotor did not initiate conversation with her, and neither did Allura, and she figured it was for the best. However, once in a while she would catch him looking at her, or he would catch her looking at him, and they would make brief eye contact before turning their attention elsewhere.
As course number ten came along, alcoholic drinks were offered, which Malocoti happily accepted, ordering a round of gat-kraut for all of the adults. A large, crystal goblet was placed in front of Allura and the server filled it halfway with a dark purple drink that had a pleasant, flowery fragrance.
Malocoti rose from her seat to address her guests. “My dear friends, I want to thank you once more for joining me for dinner tonight,” she said. “The past few months have been incredibly harrowing for all of us, I am sure, and I want to dedicate this toast to the lives lost on Altea and Dunamis. May the Mother of the Universe watch over them.”
A few of the guests murmured in approval.
“I also want to dedicate this toast to new friends that I’ve made along the way: the Alteans, the Galra, and the Earthlings. But more specifically, to Emperor Lotor and Princess Allura, who not only solved this mystery and saved their people, but saved my life as well. Who knew the two of you would make such good partners?” She grinned at them.
Allura and Lotor exchanged glances. Satisfaction, pride, and gratitude bloomed in her chest as they regarded one another, remembering all that they’d been through and accomplished together. It brought warmth and comfort to her heart, but also brought emptiness and sorrow.
“To our friends and to the future!” Malocoti cheered. She took a large gulp from her goblet before sitting back down.
Normally Allura wouldn’t shy away from drinking, but this time she took a small sip, and she noticed Lotor doing the same. They looked at each other again, and she could tell what he was thinking.
Probably best if we remain sober in case she doesn’t, his eyes told her.
Allura shrugged and nodded subtly. Yes, probably.
There was a ghost of a smile on his face, and she was trying not to grin as well. She’d told herself she was going to be as calm and professional as she could during the dinner, and she was intent on following through with her plan. But it was so easy and felt so natural for them to fall back into the way it used to be between them: the lingering glances, the silent communication, the warm smiles… All that was missing were the casual touches, something she wished she could do more than anything at that moment. She wanted to reach out for him, if only to hold his hand and feel his comforting warmth like she used to.
Allura knew well enough by now that Lotor could tell what she was thinking by the expression on her face, so she had to look away from him, guilt and embarrassment eating away at her. She had no right to feel this way. That night at the motel still plagued her thoughts and her heart, the way she’d stopped him from telling her how he felt. Even now, sitting in this restaurant, she wondered for the umpteenth time what would have happened had she let him, had she told him how she felt, too.
Her grandmother was right; the longer she tried to avoid it, the more that moment in the motel would haunt her. But she couldn’t do it, she couldn’t talk to him about it. He was right there in front of her and she couldn’t do it. And of course he could see it written all over her face. He could see that she was still running away, and she was hurting the both of them.
By course fourteen, Malocoti was as drunk as she was at the ball, if not more, and Allura braced herself for the worst. She reached for her glass of water and took a big gulp, getting ready for the storm that was to come.
“So,” Malocoti said with a dreamy sigh. Out of the corner of her eye Allura saw her resting her chin in her hand and looking at her with a wide smile. “Indulge in any romantic escapades lately, Allura?”
Allura choked on her water. It went down the wrong pipe and she nearly spat it back out. Surrounding guests stared at her, startled. Face burning, she started coughing.
“Oopsie!” Malocoti laughed. “Don’t die, Allura!”
Reaching for the serviette next to her plate, Allura covered her mouth until she managed to cease her coughing. She quickly downed the rest of her water, but it wasn’t enough. Lotor placed his untouched glass in front of her.
“Thank you,” she said hoarsely, and emptied that one, too. She thanked the Mother that she didn’t spill any liquid on herself like a child. “Romantic what?” she asked when she caught her breath, even though she heard clearly what the princess said.
“Are you dating anyone?” Malocoti said loudly and slowly. “Besides the emperor, of course. I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” She laughed again. “You should see the look on your face! Weren’t those articles so funny, though? My personal favorite is the one theorizing that you two went to Daibazaal together a month ago. People come up with the wildest stories, don’t they? But no, what I mean to ask is if you’ve started seeing anyone since you returned to Altea.” She emptied her goblet and motioned for the server to come refill it after who knows how many rounds.
“Well, I…” Allura tried to think of what to say, and tried even harder not to look at Lotor as she answered. “I did see someone, but it wasn’t―”
“I knew it!” Malocoti exclaimed, slapping the table. “Give me the juicy details, I want to hear all about it!”
Allura glanced around. Thankfully most of the guests were preoccupied with their own conversations, but the ones sitting nearest to her were watching with great interest.
Lotor cleared his throat and spoke up. “Your Highness, I believe you have had enough to drink. Shall I call for someone to escort you back to your room?”
“Oh, you’re very sweet, Your Imperial Majesty, but I’m fine. Go on, Allura, how was your date with the lucky beau?”
Allura felt a pang of irritation in her chest. She could not lose her temper and cause a scene in front of everyone, but she was beginning to lose her patience. “I am afraid I will have to disappoint you,” she told Malocoti calmly, and she forced a smile. “It wasn’t anything exciting. We went to dinner, and that was it.”
“Is that so? It must be hard to find a suitable bachelor for you, Allura. You seem like the kind of girl with impossibly high standards. But eventually you’ll have to find someone, won’t you? So you can perform your sacred duty.” Malocoti winked at her. “Yes, I know all about that.”
The smile melted off of Allura’s face. Her hands, which were in her lap, clenched into fists, and her cheeks flushed out of humiliation and anger. She should have known something like this was going to happen. She subtly glanced around her once more. The guests were waiting for her reaction with baited breath.
The way she saw it, she had two options: she could run away and hide like she did at the opera house, or she could get angry and start yelling like she did at the ball. Neither would do her any good.
There was also the third option…
Lotor’s words from that night at the opera house echoed in her ears:
“Use that fire, that anger within you, and take revenge. Show everyone how wrong they are for underestimating you… be the infuriatingly proud woman I know you to be.”
She glanced at Lotor across from her. He did a good job at hiding it, but she could see that he was angry on her behalf, yet he kept still and waited for her to decide.
“Show me.”
Allura’s eyes lingered on him before she addressed Malocoti once again and smiled.
“Thank you for being so thoughtful, Malocoti,” she told her smoothly. “It means so much to me that you take great pains to keep up with my personal life. I can only hope that there is someone out there who will offer you the same courtesy.”
Someone at the table snorted.
“If I ever need help finding a suitable partner, you will be the first person I come to, I promise.”
Malocoti blinked at her, surprised, and for a second Allura thought that perhaps the princess wasn’t as drunk as she appeared, that she’d understood what Allura had said to her. But then she started giggling stupidly.
“You’re so cute,” she said with a loopy smile, then immediately fell out of her chair and onto the floor.
Allura and Lotor both sprang to their feet. Malocoti was curled up on the fancy carpet, knocked out cold with no signs of getting up anytime soon. A server entered the room, saw the unconscious princess, and looked anxious.
“Um, I’m afraid Her Highness can’t stay here if she is this intoxicated,” he said.
“She should probably be taken back to her suite,” Plaxum spoke up. “Any volunteers?”
No one said anything. Allura and Lotor exchanged glances.
“Sweet Mother of the Universe, I cannot believe we are in this situation again,” Allura grumbled as she and Lotor stood in the elevator, ascending to the higher levels of the hotel.
Malocoti was as limp as a rag doll, draped over the emperor’s back as he carried her, her cheek pressed into his shoulder.
“I think we ought to take this as a sign to not attend anymore parties with her,” Lotor mused, his voice low. “Though you must admit it gives the two of us some quality time, does it not?”
Allura turned to look at him, her arms crossed over her chest grumpily, and saw that he was trying not to smile. She released a quiet huff of laughter, shaking her head as she looked forward. “If she tries to kiss you again I cannot guarantee her safety.”
“Very ominous, Princess.”
She then groaned in frustration. “She is so two-faced. One minute she acts as if she wants to be friends; the next she turns into a drunken, blithering idiot.”
“We seem to have run into a lot of people like that these last few months―two-faced, I mean.”
The doors opened onto the six hundred and fifty-sixth floor and they exited the lift, Allura stomping down the dimly lit red and gold hallway while Lotor followed behind. To their right was a window that took up the entire space of the wall and stretched all the way to the other end of the corridor, providing a view of the night life of the city: churning factories, gleaming skyscrapers, and a smoky, aegean blue sky.
“I mean, can you believe her? Asking questions like that. It was despicably untoward. I have never asked her those kinds of questions, mostly because I could not care less about her, but also because it is extremely personal, and contrary to what she may believe, she and I are not friends.”
“This is the one, Allura.”
Allura turned left and went to the doors to which Lotor was referring. She angrily punched in the passcode that they had to coax out of Malocoti earlier, spending several minutes trying to keep her awake and decipher her slurred speech.
“If I wanted people to know about my dating life, I would have told them by now,” Allura went on. The doors hissed open and they entered the suite. “But I have not, and I never will. What about that do people not understand?”
Allura approached the scarlet canopy bed first and pulled back the blankets. Lotor sat on the mattress, and Allura took hold of Malocoti’s arms to disengage her from Lotor and help him lay her down. After tucking the princess in and setting her tiara on the nightstand, Allura stood up straight with her hands on her hips, letting out a long sigh of frustration. She looked up at Lotor as he got to his feet and pouted at him.
“You agree with me, don’t you? It isn’t right, what she said.”
“Yes, I agree with you,” he told her gently. “It was uncalled for. She is no different from that reporter at the opera, nor the people who wrote those articles about us.”
“I could never get him to admit it, but I am certain it was Do-Tarn who started those rumors in the first place,” Allura said with a scowl. “That rotten, good-for-nothing, brown-nosing piece of―”
Malocoti rolled over with a sigh, smacking her lips and continuing to sleep peacefully.
“Shall we?” Lotor asked, gesturing towards the door, and Allura nodded. The two of them walked side by side down the long hallway, and slowly her anger began to fade.
“That is the life of people like us, I suppose, but Malocoti of all people should understand that.” Allura frowned deeply. “I thought I had gotten used to it, but it still astounds me when people try to intrude on my personal life like that. Nothing feels private anymore.”
“Are you going to be alright?”
“Yes,” she said with a nod, and she let out another sigh, her shoulders sagging. “At least it is over with.”
“You did the right thing, standing your ground and keeping calm in front of everyone,” Lotor told her.
Shrugging a shoulder, a wan smile pulled at her lips. “I figured it would be better to save face rather than cause a scene, but I should have known it was coming. Perhaps if I had―”
“Allura,” Lotor interjected. He stopped in his tracks, as did she, and she looked up at him in surprise. “She is the one who ought to have saved face, and she is the one who caused a scene. Intoxicated or not, it was her choice.” His voice was low and his eyes regarded her intensely. “You did nothing wrong, do you understand?”
Her lips parted in astonishment, then she nodded. Lotor’s eyes softened, crinkling at the edges.
“You have come a long way since that night at the opera house,” he told her quietly. “I am proud of you.”
His words warmed Allura’s heart and made her blush. “Thank you,” she returned, then she smiled. “I was following your advice, actually. I remembered what you told me when you came to find me. You have always pushed me to live up to my potential, to show others that I am more than what they think. Thank you, Lotor, really.”
Lotor smiled back, though there was a sadness in his eyes, hidden just barely beneath the surface. “You know, I see a lot of myself in you, Allura,” he said softly. “Growing up, I…” He trailed off, then shook his head subtly, deciding against finishing that sentence. “I could not bear to watch you go through what I did. You know your self worth, and I do not want you to lose that part of yourself, ever.”
Allura’s heart squeezed with pain and sympathy for him. As much as she wanted to know what happened to him during his childhood, as well as the unknown years in which he’d mysteriously disappeared and banished as the rumors said, she knew it was better for him to reveal those things at his own pace. In due time, he would tell her when he was ready.
Then the cold, harsh reminder seeped into her chest and froze her heart, weighing it down and dragging all the way to her stomach―that there wasn’t going to be a chance for him to ever tell her, because their relationship, whatever it could be defined as during those three months, was over.
Allura mentally clicked her tongue, closing her eyes briefly and opening them again as she inwardly chastised herself. What a fool she was. Her mind could no longer gallivant from one nonsensical, naive thought to another. She could not allow it, could not allow herself to hope.
It is all a fantasy, she reminded herself. A fantasy. A foolish dream and nothing more. Pull yourself together.
She cleared her throat. “Shall we?” she asked quietly, nodding towards the elevator. She forced herself to look up at him.
No doubt Lotor could read what she was thinking, for his eyes hardened and he swallowed thickly. “After you,” he said, his voice rough.
They entered the lift and descended, the shame and guilt increasing in Allura’s chest with every floor that passed by. The comfortable and relaxing atmosphere between them had long since faded, turning cold and resentful. Allura hadn’t meant for things to get this far, but here they were, having to stop themselves before they went back to their old ways, back to how it used to be, back to when they were something more.
The silence between them was filled with nothing but tension, the unspoken words hanging in the air like a thick fog she could not see past. And yet she could not keep herself from gravitating towards him.
Allura peeked up at Lotor. His shoulders were stiff and his eyes were downcast, a frown on his face. How she wished to know what he was thinking.
Her lips parted and she drew in a quiet breath, gathering her courage. “Lotor―”
She’d barely said his name, drawing his attention towards her, when the doors to the elevators hissed open and an elderly Atlantian couple walked in, prompting the other two to stand near the back of the compartment and make room.
As the couple chatted quietly with one another, Allura and Lotor automatically exchanged glances. She’d done it without thinking, and he must have too, for his eyes widened ever so slightly as if he was surprised, before he quickly turned away from her and regained his composure.
Seeing this made her stomach sink, though she should have known better. It had been an entire month since they’d last seen each other, after all. As easy as it was to fall back into their old habits, the reality of their situation had not changed, and all they could do was hide what they were truly feeling inside from everyone else.
So she looked away from him as well and stood tall, shoulders back and hands clasped together, maintaining the proud and practiced air of a princess.
This distance, this barrier between her and Lotor… it was always meant to be this way. It was time she finally accepted it.
The following morning Allura joined her family for breakfast in a room reserved especially for the royal family. The meal passed peacefully with everyone chatting amicably with one another as they ate.
When they’d finished and Allura was about to follow them out the doors, Coran put a hand on her shoulder so he could walk with her.
“Allura,” he began in hushed tones as the two of them made their way down the halls together past the other patrons, trailing behind the group. “Did Princess Malocoti settle in alright?”
“Indeed she did,” Allura replied. Then she added with grim satisfaction, “Though I am willing to bet she is having a particularly egregious hangover this morning.”
“You do not like her very much, do you?”
“For good reason,” she said defensively. “For multiple good reasons, actually. You should have seen the way she acted at Do-Tarn’s ball, Coran, she―” She stopped herself, raising her hands and taking a deep breath. “Forget it, it is all in the past. I can assure you I have learned my lesson. I will never again attend another party with her present.”
“Speaking of which,” Coran said, and his expression was uneasy. “After the dinner… Allura, I have to ask―”
“Coran,” she stopped him sharply. “I know what you are going to say. Nothing occurred last night between the emperor and I. You need not worry.”
“Right,” he said. He began stroking his mustache anxiously as they continued to walk together. “Of course. I’m sorry, Allura.”
“Whatever for?” she asked, fiddling with the cuffs of her flight suit and trying to smile. It quickly faded, however, when she saw her friend looking surprisingly guilty. “Coran, what is it?”
He glanced ahead of them, where Alfor was walking side by side with Melenor, then he turned back to Allura. “Yesterday, in the hotel lobby with the press,” he whispered. “Emperor Lotor arrived just as you left, and your father…” He trailed off, hesitating.
Allura’s mouth set in a straight line. “What about my father?”
“Well, the truth is, he―”
“Princess Allura?”
Allura wanted to whirl around and snap at whoever called her name and interrupted such an important conversation. When she turned around and saw a hotel staff member, an Olkari male, approaching from the other end of the hall, however, she reeled herself back in.
“Hold that thought, Coran,” Allura murmured to her friend. “Yes?” She waited, trying not to look too impatient as she clasped her hands together and waited for the Olkari.
“Your Highness,” he greeted with a bow. “A message came in for you early this morning.” He held out a small, green holographic card for her to take.
The princess accepted it, and the man bowed once more before turning to leave. She unlocked the card, which revealed a message written in the Dunamian alphabet, and after scanning through it, her eyes widened.
“Excuse me,” she called out. The man turned back around. “Tell me, who gave this to you?”
“Afraid I can’t say. It just showed up at our front desk addressed to you. We don’t ask questions or open our guests’ messages, Your Highness.”
Allura nodded, dismissing him. Her brow furrowed as she read through the card again.
“What is it, Allura?” Coran asked with concern.
She held it up to show him. It read,
“The trial is a sham. If you want the real truth, meet me by the banks of River Lorn tonight at midnight. No police. Come alone.”
Coran was taken aback. “No name attached to it?”
“None.”
“This is… unexpected.”
“That is an understatement,” Allura muttered, glancing at it once more. “This is all so sudden. I need to be careful about how I proceed with this.”
She fell silent, her mind reeling. If what this person said was true, that the trial was indeed fraudulent, then she needed to hear what this person had to say. But with the trial happening so soon, with how certain everyone was that Do-Tarn was going to be convicted of his crimes, crimes that he had to be responsible for, it put her in a very difficult situation.
“What do you want to do, Allura?” she heard Coran ask.
If she really wanted to, Allura could ignore the message. She could forget what she saw and follow through on her promise to Sergeant Zane, to serve as a witness and play her part in sending the count to prison for what he did. She did not have to agree to this mysterious person’s demands and show up at their desired meeting place. She would never have to think about this message ever again.
But no… she knew she was not the kind of person to do such a thing. She wasn’t the type to shy away from whatever it was life threw her way, and she wasn’t about to start now.
Allura considered. “This message, it could be nothing,” she said. “The timing is rather odd, but on the off chance that it is something, it is best we keep this to ourselves for now. We do not want to alarm everyone over something uncertain. Do not tell anyone, not even the High Council. I will handle this, but I cannot do it alone.” She paused, her heart pounding in her chest. “I need to tell―”
“You want to tell Lotor.”
She nodded, and smiled a little sheepishly. “I have to. He is the only person I know I can trust with something like this.”
“I know.” Coran gave her a kind smile, though the uneasiness in his eyes remained. “Go and find him. I shan’t tell a soul.”
“Thank you, Coran. I do not know where I would be without you.” She placed a hand on his shoulder gratefully, then turned down a hall, quietly sneaking past her family members, and headed towards the elevators.
She pressed a button on a console to call a lift, then folded her arms, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited. A pleasant ding sounded as the doors hissed open, but just as she was about to enter she nearly collided into the chest of the very man she was looking for.
“Oh―!” She looked up at him, her lips parting in surprise. “Lotor…”
“Allura,” Lotor returned, just as astonished. “I was on my way to find you.”
He walked forward, exiting the elevator, and as she backed up she couldn’t help but let her eyes wander over him. Her mouth went dry. Even after all this time, being so close to him, she couldn’t calm down.
She shook herself mentally and cleared her throat. “What a coincidence,” she said loftily, lifting her chin. “For I was on my way to find you as well.”
Lotor’s fangs peeked out, his eyes traveling over her as he took her in. He was about to respond when they heard a group of voices coming from one end of the hallway. Lotor glanced around, then saw something over Allura’s shoulder. He nodded towards it. “Shall we?”
Allura turned to see what he was referring to, then looked back at him with raised eyebrows. “I suppose that will do,” she conceded with a shrug.
“After you, then.”
The group was getting closer, so they had to hurry and make their way into the storage closet. Following after her, Lotor quickly pressed a button and the door shut with a hiss, leaving them in near darkness.
Her cheeks warming, Allura reached out to turn on the lights, a gentle, orange glow flickering above their heads, and she glanced around. This closet was considerably larger than the last one she and Lotor found themselves in back on Daibazaal.
When the two of them were squished together in that cramped space, arms wrapped around each other… the air hot and stuffy between them, drawing ever closer so their mouths would meet―
Ignoring the pounding in her heart and the fire in her cheeks, Allura put as much distance as she could between the two of them, which was not very much, and looked up at him. “How did you sleep?” she asked.
Lotor stared at her quizzically at first, and even she had to admit that it was a rather odd start to their conversation, given their currently hard-to-define relationship, but he did not admonish her for it.
“Just fine, thank you,” he answered softly. “And you?”
“Quite well.” She then cleared her throat and stood up straight, back to business. “There is something I must tell you.”
“And I you.” From his person Lotor produced a green, holographic card identical to Allura’s. “I take it you received one of these as well?”
She nodded, showing him her own. “Who could have sent these?”
“I do not know,” he confessed. Sighing tiredly, he leaned back against the wall across from her and folded his arms. “But whoever it is, I would not be so quick to trust them. It could merely be a ploy to cause further unrest―spread misinformation, and they are using us to do it.”
“Or their intentions are good and they truly want to help,” Allura offered optimistically.
The edges of Lotor’s eyes crinkled. “I thought you might say that,” he said.
A ghost of a smile passed over his face, and at first Allura wanted to convince herself that it could have been a trick of the light, but she quickly realized, with a painful jab in her chest, that she knew him well enough by now to know otherwise. Soon, however, the ease on his face disappeared and a crease formed in the middle of his brow in concern.
“You think it could be a trap,” she guessed.
“This was our investigation, after all,” he reasoned. “And now with only three days left until the count’s trial, we both suddenly receive an anonymous tip boasting of groundbreaking news?” He shook his head. “The timing is too perfect. I only want to consider all of the different possibilities, Allura.”
“Yes, I know,” she told him gently. “It does make us easy targets.”
Now that they were talking of matters that did not pertain to them personally, Allura could feel the atmosphere between them slowly relax, the tension gradually fade. She couldn’t help but notice that the two of them had intentionally not touched each other as they stood together in this small closet, however, just as they’d carefully kept their distance last night at the dinner and afterwards when they took care of Malocoti.
She sighed and leaned back against the wall as well. “I want to be proud of the work we accomplished these last few months, and I am, really, but…”
“But you are worried we might have missed something,” he finished for her.
“Yes. I still find it odd that the two remaining High Council members are judging the trial, but at least the public seems overwhelmingly in favor of convicting Do-Tarn.”
“That is to be expected. They want someone on whom to place the blame after such tragedies occurred.”
“And look where it got you these last few months,” Allura added with a wan smile.
Lotor shrugged a shoulder. “It was not all bad, I must admit. I got to meet you, didn’t I?”
Her cheeks warmed. “Lotor…”
He smiled softly, then lifted his chin towards her. “So what do you want to do? You want to meet whoever sent this message?”
Allura nodded, then frowned. “If what they are saying is true, then this changes everything. Do-Tarn continues to insist that he is innocent, and he refuses to give up the name of the one he was relaying information to. The person who sent this…” She held up the message again. “What if they know who the woman is?”
“The woman you heard in Yadle District.”
“Mm-hm.”
Lotor ran his fingers over his mouth, watching Allura as he considered. “It could be dangerous,” he said finally.
He was not trying to convince her not to go, Allura knew, nor was he unwilling to go himself. Rather, he was giving her an opportunity to back out. After all, it was what they had decided a month ago, and nothing had changed since then. They were so close to the end, and he was letting her make the decision to want nothing to do with him anymore once all of this was over.
And yet despite what she knew what her family and her people would want, why in the universe would she ever do that?
“Anywhere with you, I could expect nothing short of danger.” Allura smiled a little. “Will you come with me?”
Lotor returned her smile. “I would be a fool to refuse such a tempting offer.”
River Lorn was on the outskirts of the capital city, and was an unpleasant sight to behold. A man-made body of water, it carried debris, used materials, and other pollutants from the factories into a lake that stretched beyond farther than what Allura could see in the dead of night. A thick blanket of mist hung in the air accompanied by a rank smell that she did not wish to know the source of.
And not only was the place ugly, with dreary gray buildings and boardwalks, but it was also devoid of any life―or at least that was what the princess hoped, as she shuddered to think of what might be living in the bottom of the foul lake, aquatic creatures mutated by the toxins that had steadily poisoned them over the last fifty years.
She and Lotor walked silently side by side along the edge of the dock that overlooked the lake, passing tall street lamps that flickered ominously above them. Allura stopped and rested her hands on the railing.
“This is the meeting place, then?” Lotor asked, coming to stand next to her.
“‘By the banks of River Lorn’,” Allura quoted with a nod. She glanced around. “It is midnight. They should be here by now.”
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Lotor’s hand drift towards his hip, resting on the hilt of his sword hidden beneath his cape. She looked up at him.
“Still think it is a trap?” she asked, the corner of her mouth lifting.
“I noticed you did not forget to arm yourself,” he noticed, nodding towards the collapsible staff strapped to her side.
“You said you wanted to consider all of the possibilities,” she returned with a shrug as she patted the staff. “I am doing the same. The two of us can hold our own in a fight, can’t we?”
“Indeed,” Lotor mused. “Us fighting each other is a different story, however, if you recall.” There was a glimmer of amusement in his eyes.
Allura looked away to stare at the dirty water in an effort to hide her smile, watching the waves below crash into the strong, sturdy posts holding up the dock. “Yes, I remember,” she said softly, thinking of their duel back on Daibazaal all those weeks ago. When she turned to him once more, her smile melted. “But there was neither a winner nor loser.”
“You say that as if it is a bad thing.”
“Someone has to come out on top, do they not? And besides―” She paused, hesitating. “It was not real, that match. You and I used completely different weapons. They are… incompatible.”
The humor quickly faded from Lotor’s eyes as her words sank in. “Is that what you truly believe?” he asked her, his voice low and rough.
“It is a fact, Lotor. It has nothing to do with belief.”
But even as she said those words, Allura struggled to convince herself of them. This way of thinking was no different from four months ago when she’d kept telling herself that she needed to stay away from Lotor, that even the tiniest hint of a connection she felt with him was wrong, that it was a sin.
Even after all this time, she was still living in denial.
Lotor’s mouth set in a grim line as he stared down at her. If he was going to say something, Allura never found out, for his eyes strayed to something behind her. His eyes hardened, he stood up straight, and he was back to being the serious emperor, calm and in control of himself once more.
“Here they come, Allura,” he said quietly.
Allura turned around to see a figure emerging from the mist. She felt Lotor come to stand next to her. The figure approached, wearing a dark gray cloak with the hood up to fully conceal themselves.
She swallowed thickly, watching as they got closer and closer. She could only hope she’d made the right decision in coming to this place. Beside her, Lotor shifted his weight, his hand still on his sword and ready for anything. Even if she couldn’t say it out loud, if there was one thing that Allura was sure of at that moment, it was that she was glad Lotor was there with her.
Nodding to him, the two of them stepped forward to meet the figure in the middle, standing a few feet apart from each other and remaining silent, the only noise around them the rushing of the filthy water and the usual clanging and grinding of the factories in the distance.
“I wasn’t sure if you’d come,” the figure said, and their voice trembled slightly, as if they were nervous. “But I’m so glad you did. Thank you.” At last they reached for their hood and lowered it to reveal their face.
Allura recognized her immediately, the sky-blue feathers and large, golden beak. Her eyebrows shot up. “Hang on, you’re Count Do-Tarn’s secretary,” she realized. “Aren’t you?”
“Ex-secretary,” the Grekagar female corrected. “My name is Mirana.”
“But you still worked for him,” Allura remarked, folding her arms.
“Do not hold it against me,” Mirana said, a little indignant, though the anxiety in her manner was not hidden. “Since the count’s arrest I have had nothing to do with him,” she insisted. “Believe me, I asked to meet with you with peaceful intentions.”
Allura pursed her lips. Mirana seemed genuinely afraid, and it must have taken a lot of courage to show her face in public after having worked for such an awful man, and perhaps even more courage to come all this way in the middle of the night to deliver a message of vital importance. The princess took pity on her.
The emperor appeared more skeptical, however. He crossed his arms as well. “You said in your message the trial is a sham?” he asked.
“Yes.” Mirana nodded eagerly. “The arrest, the trial, the last month used to build up the anticipation for his official sentence―all of it. It’s a setup,” she said seriously. “A lie.”
“How do you know?”
“Because”―she hesitated at first―”I know who’s really responsible for the attacks.”
Allura and Lotor exchanged glances. She turned back to Mirana, frowning. “Why did you not say something earlier?” she asked. “You could have come out with the truth when the count was arrested, and yet you have remained silent until three days before the trial is to happen.”
“Perhaps this is all a scheme to receive attention from the media,” Lotor added suspiciously. “It would be the perfect opportunity to make a name for yourself; you would not be the first person to attempt such a thing.”
“I know it looks that way,” Mirana acknowledged meekly. “And I will admit, it was a well-paying job. I knew about the count’s many interests that were… morally questionable, but I still chose to turn a blind eye and do what I was told.
“He was not a good man, I know. He used his position to gain power over others and flaunt his success. He smuggled two living Krelshi into his ball and several people died during the stampede. You know this, Your Highness, you were there. You saw it.”
Allura nodded. “I did see it,” she said quietly.
“I know he has done many terrible things,” Mirana went on, “and were he to go free, I would not return to work for him, I can promise you that. But knowing what I do now, knowing that the real person responsible for all of this mess is still out there…” She shook her head. “I cannot in good conscience let a man suffer the punishment of a crime he did not commit.”
Mirana’s words reached Allura, and she felt compassion and empathy for her. She did not like the count, not one bit. But if what Mirana said was true, if Do-Tarn was indeed not part of plotting the attacks on Altea and Dunamis, then Allura would never forgive herself if she turned a blind eye and contributed to the imprisonment of a man who was not guilty.
The count’s situation was remarkably similar to Lotor’s, she realized, and when she looked up at the Galra and saw the expression on his face, she knew that he was thinking the same thing. Lotor and Do-Tarn were not the same, not by a longshot. Do-Tarn had done plenty of other terrible things, but in this case now there was a possibility that he was innocent, and it would be wrong of them to turn their backs and ignore it.
Allura caught Lotor’s eye and gazed up at him imploringly.
Let us at least hear her out, she communicated to him silently.
She could see the reluctance on his face, for he too did not like the count. However, as he searched her eyes, the tension in his shoulders faded, he let out a long exhale, then nodded once in agreement.
As you wish, Princess.
Allura smiled up at him gratefully, then turned back to Mirana. “Alright,” she said determinedly. “Tell us what you know.”
Mirana released a big sigh of relief. “Thank you,” she said, and though she still looked fearful, it also appeared that a huge weight was lifted from her shoulders. She took a deep breath and stood up straight. “You must know, not long after Do-Tarn’s arrest, they threatened to kill me if word got out about what I saw that night at the count’s ball.”
“They?” Allura repeated, furrowing her brow. “The people behind the attacks, there is more than one?” Once again she and Lotor exchanged looks.
“I do not know how many exactly are involved,” Mirana admitted. “But it is definitely an organization made up of several people, an operation whose sole purpose is to start a war between your planets. They have come this far, willing to frame you, Emperor Lotor, and now Count Do-Tarn, in order to get what they want. I believe they are getting desperate.” Her eyes widened and she began to panic, shaking her head frantically. “That is why I could not tell the police. I did not know who I could trust. I know I should have said something sooner, but I was afraid for my life!”
“It is alright, Mirana,” Allura told her soothingly, reaching out to touch her arm. “You can tell us. What did you see that night?”
Mirana took deep breaths and tried to calm down. “Before the ball began, I was put in charge of making sure all of the rooms in the mansion were suitable for the guests. Do-Tarn had planned on letting a few of his favorites stay overnight, you see.
“Some of the guests arrived early and he offered them tours around the house. As I was going around and checking everything, I saw crates of Galra and Altean bombs stacked into one of the bedrooms, on the fourth floor, and I saw the person moving them.”
“Who was it?” Lotor asked darkly.
Mirana swallowed, the fear returning, undisguised in her eyes. “If I tell you, do you promise to protect me?”
“We promise,” Allura assured her. She placed a hand on her shoulder. “You can tell us, Mirana.”
The Grekagar took another deep breath, nodding. “The police thought Do-Tarn was the mole on the High Council,” she began, “but it wasn’t him, it was―”
A high-pitched noise, like a thunderclap, shot through the air, a purple blast that zipped right past Allura’s ear and sliced through the side of Mirana’s neck. The young woman cried out from the shot and grabbed onto Allura before she fell backwards and hit the ground with a thump.
Allura gasped, and she and Lotor were on their knees in an instant, crouching on either side of Mirana. The princess tugged at the clasp of Mirana’s cloak, revealing the gaping wound in her neck, then quickly pressed her hands into it in an effort to stop the bleeding.
She then reached out for Lotor, taking hold of his arm. “Lotor, call the police,” she told him desperately.
He nodded wordlessly and got to his feet, quickly accessing the communications on his gauntlet. He spoke into it, but Allura didn’t hear him. His words were muffled and far away as her attention was focused on the woman bleeding out in front of her.
Allura’s stomach churned and her blood froze at the horrific sight, bright purple blood gushing from the artery in Mirana’s neck and soaking her clothes. Mirana was crying softly, tears spilling from her large, silver eyes and mixing with her blood as it streamed down her throat, but she could not speak due to having gone into shock.
“You’re going to be fine,” Allura told her. “Help is on the way, just hold on. You’ll be alright.” Mirana nodded weakly.
Lotor returned shortly, kneeling across from Allura once again before he turned his head and noticed something in the distance.
“Allura,” he called her name, his eyes widening. Allura followed his gaze.
At the top of a building some distance away, the source of the shot, was the silhouette of a hulking figure, barely visible in the smoke-filled night. Realizing they’d been spotted, they got to their feet and quickly ran off.
“Lotor…” Allura said shakily, and he looked back to her. She glanced over him. He appeared unharmed, thank the Mother. “Are you alright?”
“Yes,” he answered softly. “You?”
She nodded, though her hands wouldn’t stop trembling as they pressed into Mirana’s wound. Whoever had shot the poor young woman, it was hard to tell if their aim was off or not, but if they’d missed by just a few inches to the left, if they’d gotten Lotor instead…
Allura’s bloody hands were then enveloped in a blanket of warmth as Lotor placed a hand over them, covering them completely. She looked up at him and drew in a sharp breath.
In his eyes she saw the safety and security she’d always felt when he was with her. He nodded to her assuringly. Undeterred, unshaking, he remained strong, and because of that so could she.
In all of this uncertainty, in all of this change or lack thereof that had sent her into self-inflicted spirals of doubt over these last few months, he was still there. He was her constant.
She returned his nod, and the two of them worked together to save Mirana while they waited for help to arrive.
Notes:
And we're back into the action once more! A special update: I have officially upped the chapter count of the story! After careful rearranging and much stressing over upcoming storylines lol, instead of 16 there will now be 17 chapters! I hope you won't mind sticking around for one more week! 😉
Fun fact: Garrett makes a small cameo in this chapter, and is based off of a character from DotU! The original Garrett is actually Coran's son, though the Coran we know from the VLD has no children, so there is no relation here :)
Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this one!! 💖💜 Up next: as Allura and Lotor cope with the scare of Mirana's attempted murder, hidden secrets and pent up feelings finally make their way to the surface after so long...
Chapter 14: Secret Friends
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
“Doctor Trayling, please report to the front desk. Doctor Trayling…”
Inside Phylos City Hospital, a female voice spoke soothingly from unseen speakers. Nurses and doctors observed patient charts in the halls while intently conversing with one another. Family members visited their loved ones as they recovered from illness or injury, and on the very far side of the building, tucked away in a secluded corner, away from all of the noise and commotion, waited the princess and emperor outside the operation room.
Allura was never one to keep still, pacing back and forth along the length of the hallway, arms folded and eyes down. In stark contrast, Lotor was as quiet and motionless as a statue, leaning against the wall and standing next to chairs in which no one sat. His arms too were crossed over his chest, his eyes shut. The both of them had long since cleaned themselves of Mirana’s blood, having waited in the quiet hall for the past three hours since her surgery began.
The place was just as Allura remembered with its blue floors, blue walls, blue chairs, blue uniforms… Even the fear and anxiety she’d once felt while she waited for hours inside that blue patient room after surviving the attack on the opera house, it was all still present, and she wondered whether she’d truly gotten over what happened during that time.
The memory of that night caused a shudder throughout her body and made her skin crawl. As she continued to pace, Allura chanced a peek at Lotor, who looked tired as he usually did, so much so to the point that she thought he might fall asleep standing up. The image of his weakened state when they were trapped together was as clear in her mind as if it’d occurred only yesterday. The exhaustion in his sharp eyes, his labored breathing, the dark blue blood in his hair…
She’d been very close to losing him that night, and she thought she might have lost him on this night as well.
Allura’s thoughts were interrupted when she heard the doors to the operation room hiss open behind her. The surgeon, a Balmeran male, emerged, removing the mask covering his mouth as he approached.
“How is she, doctor?” Lotor asked, stepping away from the wall.
The other man exhaled tiredly, clearly worn out after a long surgery in the late hours of the night. He looked satisfied, however, and nodded assuredly to them.
“We’ve managed to stabilize her,” he answered. “The surgery was a success.”
Allura let out a long sigh, her shoulders sagging. The relief that washed over her was overwhelming, though she couldn’t find the words to say. Without thinking her and Lotor’s eyes met, the solace in his gaze mirrored in her own.
“How soon until she recovers?” Lotor then inquired. “We would like to speak with her.”
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible.”
“What do you mean?”
The Balmeran pursed his lips. “She is alive and stabilized, just as I said. However, because of the extreme amount of blood loss, she has fallen into a coma.” He then looked grim. “It’s hard to say when she’ll awake, or if she’ll ever awake.”
The three of them fell silent as his words sank in, and the princess felt a fearful alarm grip her chest, a most dreadful sinking feeling, and she swallowed thickly. Poor Mirana… She’d only wanted to reveal the truth, to be rid of the guilty burden she’d carried with her for an entire month, but all of that had changed in an instant. She hadn’t asked for this; none of them had. What was to become of her?
“Is there anything you can do?” Lotor spoke, as if reading Allura’s mind.
“She will be transferred to the intensive care unit where she will receive extra care from us. We’ll make sure she’s healing well and getting all of the right nutrients and fluids while she’s comatose. Other than that, unfortunately there’s not much else we can do.” When Lotor and Allura looked disappointed, the doctor added on a more cheerful note, “It could have been a lot worse. If she were hit in the spinal cord she might have been paralyzed, or if her jugular veins were struck she would have drowned in her own blood. She’s very lucky to be alive.”
Allura suppressed a shudder at the imagery, then glanced at Lotor once more. She couldn’t get it out of her head, the fear that he could have been the one shot instead of Mirana. If the blast had gotten him… if he had been the one drowning in his own blood, the warm, dark liquid streaming down his throat while Allura struggled to keep him alive, praying to the Mother that is was not in vain―
She shook herself mentally, trying to rid those horrible thoughts from her head. “Thank you, doctor,” she said, at last finding her voice. “For all of your help.”
The Balmeran smiled. “You two did the right thing, being there with her and stopping the bleeding. If it weren’t for you, she might not have survived.” He gave them a nod, which they returned, then he turned around and walked back through the doors into the operation room.
Allura stayed put as she watched him leave, but once he was out of sight and she and Lotor were alone in the hallway once again, she let out a long, tired sigh and sat on one of the chairs. Her shoulders slumped, she hunched over, and she buried her face in her hands.
“Allura,” Lotor called out to her quietly, concern in his voice. “Are you alright?”
“Yes,” she answered, her voice muffled behind her hands. “I am only tired.”
“I can understand the feeling.”
He fell silent, and she could hear the hesitation in his voice, could feel it in the tense air between them, before he came closer to her. She lifted her head and, to her astonishment, watched him kneel before her. He rested one arm on his knee, looking at her with caution yet sympathy in his gaze.
“You did very well,” he praised her quietly. “You helped save Mirana’s life.”
“I could not have done it without you,” she returned, attempting a smile.
His sharp eyes flickered over her face. “What is troubling you, Allura?” he asked softly.
At first Allura was going to insist that she was fine. It was an instant reaction she’d unwittingly developed throughout her life in order to avoid worrying others, to meet the high expectations of a princess, and to always ensure the safety and security of others before her own. But Lotor was one of the very few people who could see right through her facade. He was one of the few people who could understand the burden she’d carried with her since the day she was born, for he too carried such a burden.
“I…” Allura swallowed. “I was frightened,” she said in a near whisper.
Lotor’s eyes softened, and the inner corners of his eyebrows lifted ever so slightly. “I was, too,” he said, his manner gentle. “But you need not worry. You are safe now, there is nothing to fear.”
“It is not myself I am afraid for, Lotor.”
He tilted his head subtly, not quite understanding, and Allura bit her bottom lip. Her hand twitched, the fear of rejection holding her back at first, for the two of them had not touched since their reunion at the dinner party. But how could she resist? She needed to touch him, to feel his warmth, to be sure that he was really there with her, that he was safe and unharmed.
Finally making up her mind, she reached out and took hold of his hand. To her great relief he did not pull away. He did not move, simply waiting for her to speak, and the warmth of him instantly melted the unease and tension in her bones.
“After everything that has happened,” she said, her voice hushed as she looked at him intently. “I… I do not want to let you out of my sight.”
Lotor’s lips parted, his fangs peeking out as he drew in a quiet breath. He looked down at their hands, then slowly and carefully turned his palm upwards to hold onto her, completely enveloping her hand in his own. He closed his eyes and sighed. “Allura…” he uttered softly before looking up at her again.
Allura squeezed his hand, hoping he could see the sincerity within her. “When Mirana was hurt,” she began, “with you next to me, the truth is, I―”
“Emperor Lotor, Princess Allura!”
Allura’s head whipped around to see Sergeant Zane running from the other end of the hall. She instantly dropped Lotor’s hand and got to her feet, him soon following after as the Dalterion approached.
Zane panted as he stood in front of the two of them, his hands on his hips and a look of incredulity on his face. “Looks like we ended up seeing each other sooner than expected,” he remarked.
“It appears so,” said Lotor in a low voice.
The sergeant looked back and forth between them, and his expression turned sympathetic. “I got here as fast as I could. Any news yet?”
“Mirana survived the surgery,” Allura told him, “but because she lost so much blood she has fallen into a coma. They do not know when or if she will awake.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said, a crease forming in the middle of his brow. “And you two? How are you guys holding up?”
Allura smiled wanly. “We survived,” she offered half-heartedly.
Lotor came to stand next to her, his arms folded once again. “Any sign of the shooter?”
Judging by the look on Zane’s face, Allura had an inkling as to what he was about to say. “I have a team out there scoping the crime scene as we speak. Nothing yet, but it’s only been a few hours. Something may turn up.” He frowned. “What exactly happened?”
“Mirana had information she wished to share with us about the trial,” Lotor explained vaguely.
“Really?” Zane’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Information that would help our side?”
“Perhaps.”
“Well, what did she say?”
Lotor caught Allura’s eye briefly, and in those few seconds they had a moment of silent communication, remembering what Mirana had said about not wanting to involve the police. If Do-Tarn wasn’t the mole (something Allura still wasn’t quite so sure about), if it really was Desto or Malocoti, two of the most powerful people on the planet, who knew how many people they had in their back pocket, including people like Sergeant Zane?
But Zane had been willing to listen to them when they’d returned from Daibazaal a month ago to clear Lotor’s name. Anyone else would have insisted on arresting him, for that was what the mole and this mysterious organization Mirana mentioned would have wanted. They would not have let him walk free. It was why this whole mess began in the first place, to frame Lotor and start a war.
Lotor looked at Allura intently. Do you think we can trust him?
She nodded subtly in return. I want to try.
His eyes softened, then he turned back to Zane. “Mirana used to work for the count as his secretary,” he began. “The night of the ball, she saw someone moving the evidence into one of the rooms―presumably the real mole on the High Council.”
The Dalterion was taken aback. “So what you’re saying is,” he realized slowly, “if the mole isn’t Do-Tarn, then that means―”
“It is either Desto or Malocoti,” Allura confirmed grimly.
An uncomfortable knot formed in her stomach at the idea. Her first thought was to assume it was Malocoti, for she refused to believe Desto was capable of such a thing. She’d told Allura they were friends. But even Allura had to admit that Malocoti didn’t appear capable of such evil, either, as unpredictable as she could be. Then again, she’d seen a lot of things she never thought could happen, happen.
She sighed, shaking her head. “The fact that the shooter was there to silence Mirana only confirms that what she knows must be true,” she concluded.
“And now we know why the High Council members are acting as judges for the trial,” Zane added thoughtfully, “to ensure the count is imprisoned for good.”
“Indeed, this does not bode well for our cause,” Lotor said.
“Where do we go from here?” Allura asked.
The Dalterion shook his head slightly, shrugging a shoulder. “Under normal circumstances, with this turn of events I could put in a request to delay the trial until―Mirana, is it? Until Mirana wakes up and we question her. Only…”
“We do not know when that will happen,” Lotor finished for him.
Zane nodded. “And not only that, but the High Council would deny the request anyway. What Mirana knows is highly valuable, and we can’t let anyone know what we’re on to.”
“You want to go on as if nothing’s happened,” Allura guessed, and she couldn’t help the feeling of disappointment settling in her chest.
“I’m afraid we have no other option. If the real mole finds out what we’re up to, they could sabotage everything, and Mirana’s voice will never be heard.” Zane looked determined. “The count’s trial is still taking place in two days. Everything will proceed as planned, and in the meantime, we can only hope that Mirana will come out of her coma and she can tell us the truth.”
Lotor shook his head. “That is not good enough,” he said firmly. “There are too many uncertainties, too many factors outside of our control, and we are running out of time. There has to be something we can do.”
Allura looked up at him curiously. “Lotor, what are you saying?”
He glanced at her. “Perhaps it is time we take matters into our own hands, find the truth ourselves and bring this case to a close once and for all.”
“You want to go behind the High Council’s back?” Zane asked, surprised.
“It would not be the first time for Lotor and me,” Allura admitted, and she couldn’t help but feel a little proud at the fact.
“So I’ve heard.” The sergeant smiled. “I guess I should count myself lucky you two are letting me in on your little schemes this time. Alright, then.” He sighed and put his hands on his hips. “I’ll do some digging, find out what information I can. I still need to go over the security footage of the river. Perhaps there’s something there that will shed some light on the identity of the shooter.”
“And Lotor and I can keep a close watch on Desto and Malocoti,” the princess suggested.
“Sounds like a plan,” Zane agreed. “I’ll send some officers to keep watch over Mirana while she recovers,” he added assuredly. “She’ll be safe.”
“Thank you, Sergeant.”
“It’s nothing. I’ll keep in touch. Good luck, you two.”
The journey back to the hotel was short, and when Allura and Lotor walked through the front doors of the hotel and into the lobby together, they were met by one of the employees, a towering Karthulian with dark blue scales.
“Princess Allura,” she greeted hurriedly, bowing to her. “Thank goodness you’re here. We’ve all been wondering where you were, your family especially.”
“My family?” Allura repeated with raised eyebrows. “This early in the morning?”
“Yes, Your Highness. Your generals are expecting you as well, Emperor Lotor,” the woman said, addressing the Galra. “They’re all waiting for you both in one of our conference rooms. Please, right this way.”
Allura and Lotor glanced at each other uncertainly, but silently agreed to follow the Karthulian, who led them down one of the many halls and into one of the rooms normally used for large meetings. The doors hissed open to reveal Allura’s parents, Rhiella, Coran, as well as Acxa and the other generals, all waiting anxiously when the princess and emperor walked in.
“Allura!” Melenor called out, immediately vacating her seat and going up to her daughter, taking hold of her hands.
“Mother, what are you doing up?” Allura asked her, surprised. “It is near dawn.”
“We heard someone was shot and that you had to go to the hospital. Are you alright, dearest?” Melenor looked over her worriedly. “Are you hurt?”
“I am fine,” Allura assured her. “Yes, someone was wounded tonight, but that is all I can tell you.”
“At least it wasn’t anyone we knew,” Ezor remarked, then flinched and glared at Acxa when she elbowed her hard in the ribs. “What? We’re all thinking it.”
“I certainly am,” Rhiella agreed.
“Mother, please,” Alfor said exasperatedly. He then regarded Lotor with narrowed eyes, and rising from his seat, walked towards him. “What are you doing with him, Allura?” he asked in a warning tone. “You promised me your business with him was over.”
Allura knew well enough to expect this behavior by now, and was not surprised. Nevertheless, it still irritated her. “Things are far from over, Father,” she said, trying to keep her temper at bay. “I cannot explain everything to you, but it is not what you think.”
“Only two days since your return to Dunamis and already you two cannot seem to stay away from one another. What else am I supposed to think? Did this Galra force this upon you?” Alfor demanded, gesturing towards the other man.
“This Galra has a name,” Allura said defensively, and without thinking she moved to stand partially in front of the emperor. “And his name is Lotor.”
“Allura,” she heard Lotor say softly behind her. “You do not need to do this.”
She glanced up at him. “Yes,” she told him with fierce determination. “I do.” She then turned back to her father. “Lotor was my partner during the investigation these last few months, and these women are my friends,” she added, nodding towards the generals. “I trust them, and it is time you started to do the same, or at the very least trust my judgment.”
Alfor would not be dissuaded, however, and Allura figured she’d gotten her stubbornness from him.
“Daughter, do you wish to court scandal?” he asked incredulously. “If people find out that you were together tonight, it would cause even more rumors to spread. Things are already bad enough as it is.”
“It was my wish that he be with me tonight.”
“Allura―”
“All I can tell you now is that the young woman who was hurt is in serious condition,” Allura interjected, “and her survival is of the utmost importance to the investigation. This was our case, Lotor’s and mine. Anything that has to do with it also has to do with us. You cannot deny that, Father.”
She clenched her fists and, taking a deep breath, looked Alfor in the eye defiantly.
“Surely you can understand that this goes beyond any mere scandal or childish rumors. If people wish to talk, let them talk. I do not care. I cannot tell you any more, but you must believe me…” Her eyebrows knit together, desperate for him to listen to her. “This is so much more important than any of that.”
The room was quiet. Alfor stared at her, taken aback and stunned by her words. Allura had done that quite a bit these last few months it seemed, rendered her father completely silent. She wasn’t sure if she ought to be proud of that or not.
Melenor then reached out to place her hand on her husband’s arm. “My love,” she told him tenderly. “It is very late, and these two have been through more than enough tonight. We should let them rest.”
The king looked like he wanted to protest, but seeing the gentle look on his queen’s face, a silent understanding seemed to pass between them, and he slowly began to relax. He nodded, then turned back to Allura.
“So this… is what you wish for, Daughter?” he asked slowly. “To work alongside this man once more?”
Allura nodded without hesitation. “It is.”
He clenched his jaw, his eyes hardening, but he said nothing more.
“What a relief His Imperial Majesty was with our Lulu tonight,” Rhiella chimed in, easing the tense atmosphere in the room. “It would have been dangerous for her to have gone alone. Don’t you agree, Melenor?”
Allura’s mother looked up at Lotor, astonishment in her eyes. “Is it true, Emperor Lotor?” she asked. “You were with Allura during the incident?”
The man looked surprised that she was addressing him. He glanced at Allura, who nodded assuringly, before speaking to Melenor. “Yes, Your Majesty,” he answered.
That appeared to satisfy her. “Thank you,” she told him sincerely.
Lotor shook his head. “It is I who should be thankful. Because of Allura, I…” He trailed off, then cleared his throat, and said in a low voice, “Well, she is a remarkable young woman.”
“Yes, I know,” Melenor said, smiling. She then glanced at Allura, and there was no doubt she saw the blush on her daughter’s cheeks, for her smile grew knowingly. “Do get some rest now. The both of you have been through much tonight, I am sure. Come, dearest.” She took Allura’s arm and together the Altean royal family left the conference room.
Allura was surprised at her mother. She had assumed that she would never approve of her and Lotor’s partnership (or however one wanted to label it), but thinking back on it, upon Allura’s return home and her brief falling out with her father, her mother had remained kind and understanding every step of the way. She had not said one unkind word about Lotor or the Galra, had even gone out of her way to speak to him, and as always she showed her husband by example that there were times when it was best to speak, and other times when it was best to listen.
Love and gratitude warmed Allura’s chest for her mother. Before they walked out the doors, she looked over her shoulder at Lotor, who was discussing quietly with Acxa. He noticed Allura staring and gave her a small, reassuring smile, and there was undisguised thankfulness in his eyes. She smiled back, then turned back around left with the others.
“Did you manage to sleep at all?” Acxa asked.
That afternoon, she and Allura walked together through the halls of Phylos Council Hall just outside the assembly chamber. The princess had just been suppressing a yawn when the general spoke.
“Only a little,” Allura admitted tiredly. “I had a difficult time falling asleep.” She brushed a long, thick lock of hair over her shoulder and shrugged. “Too much to think about, I suppose.”
“I bet,” Acxa said sympathetically. “But I’m glad you’re safe, Your Highness. The girls are, too.”
“Thank you,” Allura replied, smiling genuinely at her. “And you do not need to refer to me by my title, Acxa. We are friends, remember?”
Acxa returned her smile. “That’s right, we are,” she said, nodding. “Okay, then… Allura.”
Allura grinned at her, and the two of them continued to walk side by side down the corridor. Then she stopped in her tracks when she saw someone at the other end. “Speaking of friends…” she commented sourly.
The Galra looked at her curiously, then followed her gaze. “Princess Malocoti,” she noted, recognizing the Krellian. “Rumor has it you two are not on good terms.”
Malocoti, who was speaking with a colleague, turned her head and noticed the two women staring at her. She raised a hand and waved. “Allura!” she called cheerfully.
“Tell that to her,” Allura muttered, then an idea popped into her head. It was very possible that Malocoti was the mole, and with the trial coming up so quickly, Allura would have very few chances to do some digging. “Actually I need to speak with her. Will you stay with me?” she asked Acxa. She smiled sheepishly. “I could really use the moral support.”
“Sure thing.”
“Fabulous! Thank you.” Then to Acxa’s surprise, Allura hooked her arm through hers, keeping her close as they continued down the hall and met Malocoti in the middle after she ended her conversation with the other person.
“Afternoon ladies,” she greeted with a bright smile.
“Malocoti,” Allura returned with a curt nod. “You have met General Acxa, yes?”
“Indeed, I did. Briefly at the dinner party. How did you two enjoy it?”
“Um…” Acxa and Allura looked at each other. “It was definitely unforgettable,” the general offered.
“Some parts more than others,” Allura added.
“How lovely,” Malocoti said. “I quite enjoyed myself as well, though I woke up the next morning with the most excruciating hangover. I feared my head was going to split open!”
“Poor you,” Allura commented, unable to stop the sadistic smile from pulling at her lips. She then cleared her throat, refocusing. “Malocoti.”
“Yes?”
“I was wondering,” she began carefully, “if you would like to spend some time together?”
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Acxa look at her with a raised eyebrow, clearly wondering what she was up to, but she didn’t say anything.
“Really?” Malocoti’s eyes widened in surprise. “You want to spend time with me?”
“We have a lot of catching up to do. You said so yourself at the dinner.”
“Very true. I did.” Malocoti beamed. “Of course I would love that, Allura―”
“Alright then, how about we―”
“But I’m afraid I can’t.”
Allura was taken aback. “Pardon?”
“My schedule is packed full, you see. There’s a soiree happening tomorrow night at the museum, and I will be extremely busy planning that.”
“You’re having a soiree the night before the trial?” Acxa asked skeptically. “Don’t you think parties should be the least of your priorities, given how important this trial is?”
“I suppose so, but it was Desto’s idea anyway,” Malocoti said nonchalantly, waving a hand. “She said it was to be one last hurrah before Do-Tarn’s trial, and how could I refuse? I do so love parties.”
“Yes, I know,” Allura said flatly.
“You two are more than welcome to attend, of course. In fact, everyone is! It’ll be an open house. You will come, won’t you, Allura?” Malocoti grasped Allura’s hands. “Desto insists, but I insist as well.”
Allura pursed her lips. If Malocoti was up to something, if she was using this soiree as a cover up to carry out her plans, then Allura needed to take this opportunity and keep an eye on her.
“Very well,” she agreed loftily. “I shall be there.”
“And you, General?”
“I’ll be there, too.”
“Wonderful!” Malocoti exclaimed. “Then I will see you both tomorrow night. Bring as many people as you like!”
The Krellian then took off without another word, and Allura grumpily turned on her heel to walk back the way she came, with Acxa right beside her.
“Can you believe her?” Allura muttered under her breath. “Acting as if nothing happened at the dinner and pretending to be my friend, and all the while she’s been the one responsible for this whole mess in the first place.”
“Why do you think she’s the one?” Acxa asked.
“How can she not be? She is absent-minded, immature, deceitful, and the most bigoted, two-faced flirt I’ve ever seen! Not including Count Do-Tarn, obviously.”
“And that makes her the mole,” Acxa deduced, the cynicism unhidden in her tone of voice, and when Allura gave her a sharp look, she sighed and raised a hand in concession. “Look, I know what she said at the dinner was wrong―”
“You should have heard what she said at the ball, too.”
“―and even if she doesn’t turn out to be the mole, I’m not saying you have to force yourself to get along with her. You can’t be friends with everyone, right?”
“No,” Allura agreed reluctantly. “I suppose not.”
“What I’m trying to say is, you already decided you hated Malocoti, and because of that, anything she does, whether good or bad, is instantly wrong in your eyes. Your bias has clouded your judgment, and now it’s easy for you to make her the villain.”
Allura frowned, considering, and the two of them fell silent. Then she spoke. “I never really thought about it that way.” She glanced at Acxa, tilting her head. “Since when did you become so open-minded?” she teased, a genuine smile forming on her face.
Acxa blushed, but played it off by shrugging a shoulder. “People can change,” she argued good-naturedly. “Besides,” she added, smiling a little at Allura. “It was you who taught me to be more open-minded. That’s what friends do, they help each other.”
The princess’s smile widened. “You are right,” she affirmed. “If there is one thing I have learned these last few months, it is knowing where one’s true friends lie.” And with that she looped her arm through Acxa’s again, and the two of them went on their way together.
As the rest of the day passed, afternoon turned into evening, and evening into night, though the furthest thing from Allura’s mind at that point was sleeping. Her thoughts were still far too occupied, and she was restless despite the previous night’s harrowing events. She did not want to dwell on such a small thing, however, for if she knew there was anyone who was struggling the most during that time, it was Mirana.
The hour was late when the princess decided to leave the hotel, bidding her family goodnight and heading out into the city. She opted to walk instead of taking a transport and made her way on foot towards the hospital on the other side of the city plaza.
One of the receptionists directed her towards the intensive care unit, and it was easy to find which room was Mirana’s, as it was the only one guarded by a police officer, who was a tall Rygnirathi female. The woman nodded to the princess as she approached, then pressed a button on a console, prompting the door to hiss open and allow her entry.
The room was dimly lit by a singular, pale blue light. A wide, rectangular window on the opposite side of the room provided a view out into the city, showing the glowing skyscrapers, the clanging factories, and the countless transports that zoomed through the sky, taking their passengers from one place to the next.
Allura’s shoulders sagged upon seeing Mirana. The young Grekagar lay underneath baby blue sheets on the only hospital bed in the decent-sized room. A cylindrical cup covered her golden beak, connected to thin pipes attached to a machine in order to help her breathe while she was comatose. Intravenous needles and tubes were inserted into the tops of her sky blue feathered hands. Peeking out of the top of her white hospital gown were small, sticky pads placed over her heart, bound to wires which were linked to a heart monitor on the right side of her bed, producing a steady beeping from its holographic screen.
Allura pulled up a chair and sat at Mirana’s bedside, facing the window with her back to the door. She adjusted her skirts around her, smoothed the nonexistent folds of her dress, and watched over Mirana as she slept.
The monotonous beeping from the heart monitor was oddly soothing, and Allura very well could have been lulled to sleep by its metronomic patterns, drifting off as she sat in the chair had she not heard voices coming from the hallway just outside the door. It hissed open behind her, and when she turned her head to see a man standing in the doorway, her lips parted in surprise and her heart skipped a beat.
“Lotor,” she called softly.
“Allura,” Lotor returned, his tone of voice just as hushed and astonished. He stood in place, looking like he wanted to come in, but he hesitated. He cleared his throat and put his hands behind his back, standing up straight. “May I join you?”
“Please.”
He relaxed a little, the tension in his shoulders slightly fading, and he nodded to the police officer before walking in, the door sliding closed behind him.
“What are you doing here so late?” she asked, watching him grab a chair to take a seat on her right, though she had to admit she was happy to see him.
“Same as you,” he responded, letting out a tired sigh as he sat down, his leg unwittingly brushing against hers. “I wanted to check on Mirana, see how she is faring.”
“No sign of her waking yet,” Allura reported. “Though according to the nurses she appears to be healing exceptionally.”
“That is good news.”
“Mm.” She looked over at Lotor, her eyes wandering over his face, taking in his sharp features, the tired lines around his eyes. “How are you?” she asked softly.
“I should be asking you that,” he said. He looked her over. “Are you alright?”
“Of course. Why would I not be?”
Lotor’s lips parted, contemplating before he spoke again. “Earlier this morning,” he began carefully, “it seemed as if you wanted to tell me something―before Sergeant Zane arrived, that is.”
Allura knew to what he was referring. She turned away to stare out the window again. “It was nothing,” she said. She pretended to take interest in the flying vehicles hovering in the polluted sky, like that of tiny insects arranged in neat little lines as they inched towards their destinations amidst the busy traffic.
She knew she was only making excuses and that Lotor would be able to see right through her. Sure enough, out of the corner of her eye she saw a look of disappointment pass briefly over his face, but he did not push her.
Clearing her throat, Allura decided to change the subject. “I ran into Malocoti today. Apparently she and Desto are planning to host a soiree tomorrow.”
“Acxa told me. I take it you wish to attend?”
“Yes,” Allura answered, nodding firmly. “We had best meet with Sergeant Zane tomorrow and form a plan. Time is running out for us, I fear.”
“Indeed, it appears we have yet another deadline on our hands,” Lotor mused. “That seems to be the norm for us, doesn’t it?”
“Yes.” Allura’s brow furrowed in deep concentration. “Malocoti must be planning something big. It is the perfect opportunity for us to find out what she’s up to.”
Lotor nodded as well, though there was some doubt in his voice when he spoke up again. “I agree that the timing is suspicious, and it would be most beneficial if we were there to find out any information we can. However”―he paused, glancing at her―”you seem rather decided on condemning Malocoti. What makes you certain she is the mole and not Desto?” He gave her a knowing look. “Are you sure your prejudice is not playing a factor here?”
“Acxa said the same thing.” Allura frowned, put out. “You doubt me, don’t you?”
“Allura,” Lotor admonished her gently. “You know I do not. Now, do not take this the wrong way―”
“Careful,” she warned him.
“―but you do have a tendency to judge others quite harshly. Once you have decided how you feel about someone, it is very difficult to change your opinion.”
Allura opened her mouth to argue, then stopped herself. With a sigh she folded her arms and leaned back in her chair. “Well, I suppose you are right.” Then she glanced at him, and seeing the astonishment in his eyes, she pouted. “I am not so proud that I am unable to admit when I am wrong.”
“True, you do possess some humility, despite being the proudest woman I know,” he teased her.
Her cheeks warmed. “Oh very well, I shall at least consider the possibility that Malocoti is innocent.” She then glared at him, still feeling a little defensive. “My opinion can change, you know,” she said.
“I know.” Lotor smiled. “I have seen it myself, and I am very proud of you for it.”
Biting back a smile, Allura kept a serious face and narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you attempting to win me over with flattery, sir?”
His smile grew. “Do you think I am capable of such a thing?”
“I cannot deny that you have an impressive amount of charisma compared to most. It can certainly be quite… distracting at times.”
“Well now, I believe it is you attempting to win me over, Princess.”
“Is it working?”
“I think you and I both know the answer to that question.”
Allura saw the mirth in his eyes, and finally she couldn’t help it. Her face split into a grin, and the two of them laughed quietly to themselves.
“You know, I have to thank you, Allura,” Lotor then told her.
“Whatever for?”
“For defending me in front of your father earlier,” he explained, and though there was some uneasiness in his eyes, his manner was sincere. “Since the day we met, your passion and ferocity have never ceased to amaze me. It is something I have always admired about you.”
Allura looked at him gratefully, then she too felt a little uneasy. “Do you mind if I ask,” she began carefully, “what exactly happened between you and my father when you met in the hotel lobby? He will not speak of it; no one will.”
Lotor’s mouth set in a grim line as he looked forwards, considering how to answer. “It was civil,” he promised, then the corner of his mouth lifted. “You will be pleased to hear that I did not pull out a weapon this time.”
The princess bit back a smile. “And?” she prompted.
“And,” he continued, “he told me, for everyone else’s sake, that I should stay away from you.”
Allura clenched her jaw. She nodded curtly, looking out the window as well. “I see,” she remarked. “Clearly you did not listen, if these last two days are anything to go by.”
He caught her eye briefly, smiling wanly before looking away again. “I know he is your father, but…” He shook his head. “I could not agree with him.”
“What did you tell him?” she asked curiously.
“I told him,” he began slowly, “if that is what you wish, for me to stay away from you… that I will do whatever it is you ask of me.” He looked back to her, his voice lowering. “Anything you want, Allura, I will give it to you. All you have to do is say it.”
Allura’s lips parted, drawing in a quiet breath, and her heart warmed. “I would do the same for you,” she said quietly.
His eyes softened at her words, then the corner of his mouth lifted. “I had better keep my wishes to myself, then.”
“Lotor…” Allura flushed at the implication, but returned his smile nevertheless.
Their attention was then drawn to a group of doctors and nurses rushing by, their voices and footsteps muffled yet still heard through the thick door of the patient room.
“Must be an emergency,” Allura noted.
“Must be,” Lotor agreed, and automatically the two of them turned towards Mirana, who lay perfectly still as before. Her expression was serene and relaxed, which hopefully meant that her coma, however undetermined its length, was a peaceful one.
“Do you think people in comas dream?” Allura asked.
“I do not know,” Lotor said, and he contemplated her question. “If so, I would certainly hope that she is dreaming of something pleasant and not the traumatic event she went through last night. That she could remain in blissful ignorance until her return to the real world… that would be the most merciful thing for her, I believe.”
Allura hummed thoughtfully. Her eyes strayed to the thick layers of gauze that covered her neck, concealing the critical wound that nearly took her life. It brought back the memory of what happened at the river… the purple blast that whipped through the air in the blink of an eye and struck the poor woman, watching her fall backwards with a look of terror on her face, the purple blood that gushed from her neck and soaked her clothes.
It brought back a different memory as well.
Allura drew in a quiet breath, debating on whether or not to speak, then she made up her mind. “Can I tell you something?” she asked Lotor.
“Anything.”
She pursed her lips, still hesitant. “What I wanted to tell you this morning,” she began slowly. “The truth is, I was scared, but not for me, and not even for Mirana. Or at least, I was mostly scared for someone else.”
She moistened her lips, and she could not look at Lotor. She kept her eyes on the wound on Mirana’s neck, considering how to go about this, for she had never said it out loud to anyone before. Putting it to words was somehow more difficult than she anticipated.
“I…” She exhaled, closing her eyes briefly before opening them again, shaking her head slightly. “I could not stop thinking about what happened the night we were trapped together underneath the opera house. We had no way out, you were hurt, and I…
“I remember that all I could think about was how I hardly even knew you, how I would never have a real chance to know you, and yet I was fearful of losing you. That was when I realized I would never be able to let you go, not after everything we had been through together.”
She paused, giving Lotor a chance to speak if he wished. Instead, he remained silent, waiting patiently for her to finish, and she took a deep breath before continuing.
“And then last night,” she went on, her voice lowering to a near whisper. “When Mirana was shot and bleeding out, still I could only think of you. If you were the one who was hurt, or worse, I do not know what I would have done.”
Her eyes dropped down to her hands which lay clasped together in her lap, and she felt her nose sting and the edges of her vision begin to blur.
“I do not know if I could bear it, to see you in pain like that again. What I do know,” she said softly, lifting her head to look him in the eye, “is that I was ready to die with you, right there in the water.” She gave him a teary smile. “I still am, it turns out.”
The pain and sorrow on Lotor’s face was mirrored in Allura’s own, she knew. He did not speak at first, rendered speechless by her words, and he searched her eyes earnestly.
“Allura…” he murmured, blinking and swallowing thickly.
She shook her head again, sniffing and blinking her eyes. “It is alright,” she assured him. “You are neither obligated to say nor do anything. Having you here with me is enough, but I want you to know that…” Her chin quivered and she quickly looked away to hide it, praying to subdue the emotion threatening to overtake her. “I am so glad you are safe.”
Turning away from Lotor, Allura was prepared to simply sit there, to suffer in silence and endure this palpable barrier between them, the barrier that she herself had created. She was surprised, then, when Lotor reached out to take hold of her hand, prompting her to look up at him in astonishment. His misty, luminescent eyes traveled over her face, and he squeezed her hand gently before releasing it and reaching up to tuck a lock of hair behind her shoulder. She found herself melting at his touch, for she could never resist his warmth.
He smiled softly at her. “Come here,” he said.
She returned his smile. Willingly, gratefully, she leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder while his arm wrapped around her protectively and comfortingly. She closed her eyes and breathed him in, his spicy and masculine smell, a scent with which she had become familiar since their first conversation the day she arrived on Dunamis―an entire lifetime ago, it seemed.
“I really missed this,” she whispered, keeping her eyes closed. “Talking with you, being with you like this… I missed it.”
I missed you.
“I missed it, too,” Lotor whispered back.
The two of them fell silent, listening to the steady rhythm of Mirana’s heartbeat, the quiet chatter of the hospital staff and patients from outside in the hallway, and the soothing sounds of traffic in the city barely muffled by the window in front of them.
The silence was comfortable and soothing, with no need to interject with words, no need to do anything to break the awkward tension, for there was none. Allura was not surprised by this in the least, of course. Though there was still a lot on her mind, she felt that she could sit for hours next to Lotor and not say a single word, simply enjoying his ever-present warmth. In another life, perhaps she could have.
It was difficult to say how long they stayed like that, sitting side by side, leaning against one another and their arms wrapped around each other, but eventually the door hissed open behind them and in walked the police officer.
“Oh,” the Rygnirathi spoke, sounding slightly flustered, as if she’d walked in on a private moment.
Allura lifted her head and looked over her shoulder, but did not immediately pull away from Lotor, and neither did he from her. She waited for the officer to speak.
“Um―” The woman raised a fist to her mouth, clearing her throat and still looking quite abashed. “I’m afraid visiting hours are over now, Your Imperial Majesty, Your Highness. You are more than welcome to return tomorrow morning, however.”
Allura and Lotor exchanged glances before at last pulling away from each other and sitting up straight in their chairs. “Yes, of course,” the princess said. “We shall be on our way, then.”
The two of them walked out the front doors of the hospital and into the chilly, polluted air. The dusty, dark blue sky was filled with smoke, further illuminated by the brightly lit buildings that surrounded them.
Allura and Lotor stood next to each other, though they intentionally kept some distance between them. She cleared her throat, smoothing back her hair and clasping her hands together, and regained her sense of propriety.
“I suppose it is time we turn in for the night,” she said airily, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye.
“Yes, I suppose so,” he agreed quietly. He looked over at her briefly, before clearing his throat as well and began making his way down the long flight of steps and towards the city street.
Allura stared at his back as she watched him leave. She felt regretful that they were parting ways so suddenly, even though she’d been the one to speak up first, and as always he respected her wishes. Despite their intimate and vulnerable conversation from mere moments ago, he was ending their evening together, giving her every chance to walk away from him and pretend that they were no more than two strangers who had once reluctantly formed a partnership in order to prevent a war.
But she didn’t want their evening to end. She wasn’t ready to say goodbye yet.
“Wait,” she called out, and he turned around. “Are you going back to your room?”
“I could,” he said. “Though admittedly I am not tired. You?”
“I am not tired, either,” she said.
She stepped forward, walking down the steps towards him, and soon the two of them were meeting in the middle until they were at the same height, with him a few steps below her.
Allura clasped her hands behind her back and looked at him through her lashes. “Would you like to…” She blushed. “Do something together? For old time’s sake?”
Lotor’s lips parted and he drew in a quiet breath. Allura found herself staring at his fangs, then she met his gaze again. He was hesitant like her, afraid of what might happen should they get found out or end up crossing the line like they’d done before. They both knew they couldn’t go through it all over again, only to endure another painful farewell.
But gods, she just couldn’t stay away from him.
His eyes softened as he looked at her, and his tense shoulders relaxed. “Well,” he said with a sigh, glancing around him, at the city still buzzing with life despite the late hour. “The night is still young.” He turned back to her. “Any ideas?”
They were both silent as they considered, then they smiled at each other.
“Alcohol,” they said simultaneously.
Allura waited for Lotor on an empty balcony located on one of the upper levels of the hotel. The barrier surrounding the balcony was completely transparent yet sturdy and provided a breathtaking view of the bustling capital city of Phylos. She sat at the top of a set of stone steps, feeling the cold breeze caress her face and hearing the metronomic grinding and whirring from the factories far below. A pair of doors hissed open behind her and Lotor’s heavy footsteps approached. She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled.
“About time,” she joked.
“Apologies,” he returned coolly. “It was never my intention to keep my princess waiting.” He took a seat next to her on her right, carrying a dark red bottle in one hand and two short cylinder glasses in the other.
Her smile grew, then she reached for the bottle. “Allow me,” she offered. She felt his eyes on her as she unstoppered the heavy bottle and carefully poured them each a glass of umber-colored liquid. “Should we make a toast?” she asked him with a grin as she handed him his drink.
Lotor laughed softly, understanding her reference to the dinner party two nights ago. “Nothing comes to mind.” He considered. “How about…” He turned his body slightly towards her and raised his glass. “To a future where we do not have to rescue a drunk Princess Malocoti for the third time?”
Allura laughed as well. “Now that you have said it out loud, it is definitely going to happen.”
“Well then, it means you and I will cross paths again, doesn’t it?”
The inner corners of Allura’s eyebrows lifted slightly as she looked at him. Lotor’s eyes flickered over her, then he smiled gently.
“Cheers,” he said.
“Cheers.” And they clinked their glasses together.
Allura savored the smoky flavor on her tongue and the burn in her throat as she drank the rozoll. She leaned back on one hand, closed her eyes, and sighed. She wanted to savor this moment as well, this precious and fleeting time with the man next to her. She opened her eyes and turned her head towards him to find that he was already looking at her.
She smiled shyly. “What is it?”
He lifted his chin towards her glass. “I see you have taken a liking to engine fuel.”
Allura laughed. “I will admit, you won me over. As of today, I am officially a Galra liquor enthusiast,” she told him proudly.
He laughed as well. “Glad I could convert you. Though the gat-kraut was not bad. I may try it again in the future.”
“Hm.” Allura took another sip from her glass and watched him closely. “Lotor, I have to ask…”
“Yes?”
“Are you and Malocoti…?”
Lotor’s eyebrows twitched upwards slightly. “You are wondering if she and I are involved romantically.” It wasn’t a question.
Allura flushed with embarrassment, but she kept her eyes on him and nodded. “When you reached out to her to ask her to invite Shiro and the others, it sounded as if the two of you were keeping in contact with each other.” When he stared at her silently, she forced out a laugh and added quickly, “If you do not wish to answer, I understand. It is none of my business, I know, so I do not have any right to―”
“No, Allura.”
She stilled. Lotor’s expression was calm but serious as his sharp, piercing eyes bore into hers.
“I am not in any sort of relationship with Princess Malocoti. After I received her invitation, I wrote back asking her to invite the Earthlings, and she agreed to it. If I had a reason to contact her again, I would have, but I had none, so I did not. Besides,” he added. “I do not think I am her type.”
“Oh,” Allura said simply, then she grew apprehensive again. “But is she your type?”
“No.”
“What is your type, then?”
His gaze remained fixed on her as he drank from his glass, and when he lowered it his tongue peeked out to moisten his lips. “You know what my type is,” he told her, his voice husky.
Allura’s cheeks warmed and her grip on her glass tightened. Lotor’s eyes traveled over her once more, his fangs showing as he drew in a quiet breath, before he turned away to lean forward, resting his arms on his thighs with his drink in hand. His long legs, even when bent at the knees, went past several steps from where he sat.
“What about you?” he asked quietly before taking another sip. “You mentioned you went on a date. How was it?”
“It was alright,” Allura answered honestly. “It was a blind date with one Admiral Garrett.”
“An admiral,” Lotor mused, and he sounded a little surly. “Very impressive.”
Allura bit back a grin. As if being an emperor wasn’t already impressive. She decided not to tease him, however. “Yes, my grandfather was an admiral as well,” she said before emptying her glass.
“And he is bachelor number fifty-seven, I presume?”
“Fifty-eight, actually,” she corrected him.
He looked over his shoulder at her, his brow furrowed. “Who was―”
“You were.” Allura’s face heated up again as she poured herself more rozoll, then she added seriously, “Now that I think about it, Admiral Garrett is not really my type, either.” She motioned to refill Lotor’s glass.
“Is that so?”
“Yes. As everyone knows, I have impossibly high standards,” she said, setting down the bottle and smiling at him. “Only one person who meets them all comes to mind.”
Lotor’s eyes crinkled at the edges, and they gazed at each other silently, but soon the amusement faded and they looked away from each other. They could joke and flirt all they wanted, but what in the universe were they supposed to do with all of this information? It wasn’t going to help either of them.
Allura couldn’t help but be selfish and want more. She wanted Lotor in her life; it was as plain and simple as that. Despite the ongoing resentment between their planets and her father’s vehement disapproval of Lotor that she still couldn’t understand, there had to be a way for them to still be around each other, even if it wasn’t in the way she truly wanted.
She looked down at her drink, cradling it in her hands as she drew her knees up to her chest.
“Lotor.”
“Yes, Allura.”
“What if we tried being friends?”
“Absolutely not,” he answered immediately, his voice cross.
“You didn’t even hear what I have to say,” she protested, pouting at him.
Once more he looked over his shoulder at her, his expression skeptical, but he waited patiently.
“We are going to run into each other again eventually. The next Universal Coalition meeting is eight months away, and who knows, we may see each other even sooner than that.” Allura sat up straight and nodded determinedly. “We need to decide how we are going to interact.”
Lotor smiled wanly. “I do not know if a friendship between an Altean and a Galra would meet anyone’s approval.”
“Secret friends, then. No one has to know.”
He looked forward, shaking his head slightly as he raised his glass to his lips. “That is even less appealing,” he muttered before taking a drink.
“Give it a try?” she pleaded with him, leaning forward to catch his eye. Perhaps her delivery was a little over the top, but she wanted Lotor to consider it. When she got his attention she raised a shoulder cutely and then, knowing his weakness, batted her eyes at him. He clenched his jaw, and she knew she’d won him over.
“Very well,” he agreed. “I shall consider it, but in return you are not allowed to do things like that anymore, Allura.”
“Like what?”
“Do not act innocently with me,” he warned her. “You know very well to what I am referring.”
Allura was so tempted to provoke him further, just to see what he would do, but she managed to resist the urge, at least for now. She grinned and nodded. “Alright, you win.” Then she shivered as a particularly strong gust of wind blew right through her. “Shall we head back inside?”
“Already?” he asked, watching her as she stood and dusted herself off.
“Yes, there is something I want to show you. As a friend,” she added. “Come on, then.”
Lotor got to his feet. “Are we leaving these here?” he asked, referring to their drinks. They had only drunk about two glasses each.
“We can come back for them later,” she assured him, and she took hold of his hand.
“Allura―”
“Friends can hold hands,” she told him stubbornly. She tugged him towards the doors that led back inside the building. “Quickly, now. We haven’t a moment to waste.”
Without further protest, Lotor followed along as she led him through the dark halls of the hotel and towards the elevators. Fortunately for them there weren’t many people around as the hour grew late, which would be most ideal for the place she was taking him.
The lift stopped on the one thousand and first level, the highest floor of the hotel. Lotor looked at Allura curiously, then walked side by side with her as they exited together, grasping her hand more firmly and enveloping it in his own.
Allura watched eagerly as his eyes widened when they came upon their destination. The large room was dimly lit by faint, blue fluorescent lights. The high ceiling was made of glass, supported by muntins and tall, white pillars that circled all around the edge of the room. They could see the stars and heavens up above. A giant hologram of Dunamis was projected in the very center of the room, rotating slowly and endlessly. Around it were more, smaller holograms that projected simulations of the births of stars, maps of systems and galaxies, the elliptical orbits of every kind of celestial body, and there was even a telescope larger than life on the far right side of the room. That and much more, covering almost every inch of the room, with some space in between each of the presentations so people could walk through. This place was―
“An observatory,” Lotor realized. “Fascinating.”
“Isn’t it?” Allura led him farther inside. “We are high enough to see over the pollution. Only from the tallest buildings can you see the sky.”
“A rarity on this planet, to be certain.”
“This is what I wanted to show you,” Allura said.
Lotor released her as she went up to a console. After pressing a few buttons on the screen, a whirring noise echoed as panels came from both sides of the room to cover the ceiling. The blue fluorescent lights glowed brighter, and then the room was filled with an infinite amount of small, bright, turquoise-colored projections, all of different shapes and sizes.
“Each of these is a perfect rendition of every documented celestial body within our galaxy,” Allura explained. She walked up to one particular group of projections. “Look here, this is our planetary system.” Lotor came to stand across from her. “Here is Daibazaal, and here is Altea,” she told him. At this small scale, the two planets were only a few inches away from each other.
“One point five billion kilometers apart,” Lotor murmured. “And yet they appear so much closer together.” His and Allura’s eyes met, then he began walking around, studying all of the tiny cyan planets, asteroids, and stars around him. “So many different worlds and heavenly bodies within our galaxy alone. One could spend an eternity trying to see them all, and yet there would always be something more.” There was a wistful look in his eyes. “Seeing all of this reminds me of my exploring days.”
“Tell me about them,” Allura said, coming closer to him.
He looked at her and smiled skeptically. “I was not in many life-or-death situations. Most of my expeditions consisted of collecting data and trudging through the many different landscapes I came across. I think you would be bored to tears if I told you about it.”
“You don’t know that.” She came up to him so that they were toe to toe and put her hands behind her back. “How could I be bored when I am with you?” She smiled up at him, and his eyes softened.
“Perhaps another time,” he said, his voice quiet and gentle as his gaze flickered over her.
Allura drew in a quiet breath. The way he looked at her never ceased to take her breath away and make her heart race. Despite their valiant efforts to restrain themselves, Allura wanted to go to Lotor and melt in his warm embrace once more, especially after being apart from each other for so long, and she could see that he wanted the same thing.
It was his sharp, glowing eyes that gave him away, ever since the beginning, she realized. As the two of them stood before each other, Lotor looked as if he was using every ounce of his willpower to keep himself under control, to prevent himself from going to her. Glancing down at his hands, she saw them flex very subtly, and her heart squeezed with delight and yearning.
Even after all this time, he still wanted her, too.
She shot him another smile before walking past him, her shoulder brushing against his arm, and she approached one of the displays. It was one large panel that stretched to nearly the entire length of the room, glowing a soft seafoam green as it showcased a simulation of Dunamis’s system, the planets and moons moving along their elliptical orbits around the two suns in the very center.
“Do you like it here?” Allura asked hopefully, glancing over her shoulder at him.
Lotor smiled and nodded. He walked on the other side of the panel, which was opaque enough to properly show the star map, yet translucent enough that the two of them could see each other. “I do,” he answered. “I had no idea this place existed.”
“Neither did I at first.”
“So you have been here before.”
“I have.” Allura hesitated, then said, looking forward, “Once when I was missing you. Friends can miss each other, can’t they?”
“Certainly.”
They fell silent as they slowly walked side by side along the glowing panel. Perhaps it was better this way, having a barrier between them. They could still talk to each other and spend time together, but from now on there was going to be a line that they could no longer cross, not anymore.
“So what am I allowed?” Lotor spoke up after a while.
“Hm?” Allura turned her head to look at him.
“Now that we are… friends,” he began, and he said the word as if it left a bad taste in his mouth. “It is important that we establish some ground rules―boundaries―therefore preventing any complications distinguishing our relationship between that of friends and anything else.” He met her gaze, and he looked serious. “Say we meet again in eight months. What am I allowed to do to you?”
Allura nearly choked, gaping at him. “Wha― to me?”
“You know what I mean.”
“What are we, signing a contract?”
“Answer the question, Allura.”
Face flushing, Allura looked forward again. “Well, if we run into each other at the next Coalition meeting, we will have to be professional about it.”
“I can be professional,” Lotor said coolly. “Can you?”
“Of course I can,” she snapped.
She heard a small huff of laughter from him. “What are your thoughts on physical contact?” he asked.
“A handshake ought to be appropriate enough.”
Out of the corner of her eye she saw him shake his head. “That is not good enough for me. It is too formal.”
“Are hugs good enough for you, Your Imperial Majesty?” she inquired sarcastically.
“Excellent idea, Your Highness. How long should they be?”
“You want to get that specific?”
“I propose ten seconds.”
Allura had to laugh. “Lotor, that is too long. How about two seconds?”
“That is barely a hug at all,” he remarked. “Five seconds. Deal?”
“Alright, deal.” She smiled and shook her head. “What else do you want to do?”
“I could kiss your hand. It is not unexpected when greeting royalty,” he added when she was about to protest.
“Fine, but do not get carried away.”
“Speak for yourself, Princess. Can you trust yourself not to lose control around me?”
“Can you?” she retorted.
He smiled at her, and there was mirth and fondness in his eyes, then he turned to look forward. They were nearing the end of the panel. “What about you?” he asked quietly. “What do you want?”
You, Allura thought. She cleared her throat. “There is something,” she said haughtily, lifting her chin. “I will agree to meet your demands, but on one condition.”
“I am all ears.”
When they reached the end of the display, they turned to face each other, standing toe to toe. Allura’s eyes slowly traveled from his chest to his face, and her mouth went dry. Lotor’s hands were behind his back, and his expression was calm and controlled, but his eyes told all.
The way he was looking at her, it was as if she were the physical embodiment of the heavens, the universe, the very empyreal cosmos itself.
Allura swallowed thickly. “You and I cannot be in a room alone together from now on,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady. “I… do not think it is wise.”
Lotor’s eyes searched hers. “If that is what you wish for,” he replied, his voice low. “Then I will do as you ask.”
She nodded in acceptance, then glanced at his mouth, and without thinking she wet her lips. Whether intentionally or not, he did the same. She wanted to reach out and touch him. How could she not, when he was right there in front of her, with no barriers to keep them apart? Their eyes met, and Lotor saw everything. His chest rose and fell, his lips parted as he drew in a quiet breath, and his expression mirrored her own with anticipation and longing.
And at last he broke free from his restraints.
Slowly, he took a step closer to her and reached out for her, his large hand running down her arm before tenderly grasping her hand.
“Allura…” He uttered her name like a prayer. She would never tire of hearing him speak her name.
“Yes?” she whispered. She held onto him, marveling at the way the heat of his touch always affected her, making her blood rise to the surface and her whole body gravitate towards his, like two binary planets eternally trapped in each other’s orbit.
Lotor hesitated at first. “I know that we both decided that it was best for us to―” His eyes were downcast. “To end what we had, but…”
His sharp gaze snapped to hers, glowing brightly amidst the blue and cyan lights around them.
“Is that what you really want?”
Allura released a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. When he looked at her like that, how could she resist him?
Who was she trying to fool? Lotor was no fantasy, no delusion, nor any other lie she’d tried to convince herself or her father to believe. This man before her was so much more than that. And he deserved the truth. She’d been keeping it from him for too long; she needed to tell him.
Making her decision, she looked into his eyes and shook her head. “No,” she answered, her voice still hushed. “It isn’t.”
The hope in his eyes made her heart squeeze with the adoration and sweet yet tortuous desire she felt for him. He inhaled sharply, his fangs glinting in the light.
“I cannot be your enemy,” he told her softly. “I cannot be your ally, and I…” His eyes searched hers fervently as he shook his head slightly. “I cannot be your friend, Allura.”
“Lotor…” she murmured. Her stomach was doing somersaults. Her heart was pounding in her throat. She felt him lightly tug on her hand, and without question she moved in closer towards him.
He lifted their joined hands to his chest. “You once told me that you wanted to follow your heart,” he said. His voice was low and rough with subdued emotion. “I want to do the same, and mine is telling me that this is right, that we are meant to be together.”
Meant to be together… Allura’s heart melted.
Lotor leaned down towards her, speaking with eager yet tender passion. “My feelings for you are true, and I know you have feelings for me as well. Allura…” He grasped her hand a little tighter. “What does your heart tell you?”
Their faces were mere inches apart. Allura glanced at his lips, then looked into his indigo and lavender eyes, captivated. She was mesmerized by this man, she was―hypnotized, spellbound, utterly and willingly bewitched by him.
His eyes, his warmth, his smell, his vulnerable yet intensely passionate side which had gradually shown itself during these last few months, his rough edges, his flaws… Every little thing about him that made him Lotor, she loved it all. She loved him.
Too overcome to say it in words, Allura could only do one thing in that moment.
She kissed him.
Allura balanced on the tips of her toes and surged up to meet Lotor, pressing her mouth to his and hoping she could convey all that she felt for him through her lips. She released his hand so she could reach up to touch his face while her other arm wrapped around his shoulders, bringing him down to her.
Lotor let out a small noise that sounded somewhere in between surprise and relief before he immediately kissed her back, delicately cradling her cheek in his large hand. The kiss was brief yet searing and intense, and the two of them had to pause and catch their breath. Their eyes remained closed, resting their foreheads together and trying to process that this wasn’t a dream, that they were really right there in front of the other, that they were finally in each other’s arms again.
With a sharp exhale Lotor buried one hand into Allura’s hair and brought her mouth back to his. She hummed softly as he kissed her deeply and hungrily. He took her by the shoulders, and before she knew it he was urging her backwards until they stumbled into one of the pillars, her back pressed against it with Lotor’s hand behind her head to prevent her from smacking into it. He bent his knees to bring himself closer to her, wrapping his arms tightly around her as his hands traveled up her back and underneath her hair while she encircled his shoulders in her arms, molding their bodies together.
How she had missed feeling his warmth, wrapping around her like a blanket of fire, searing her with the most agonizingly delicious heat that set her heart, her body, her very soul aflame.
Their kisses quickly grew more passionate and heated, even a little desperate, and soon Allura had to break away.
“Wait, wait…” she told him, panting heavily and clinging to him.
She was so overwhelmed and breathless from everything: the feel of Lotor’s lips against hers and his arms wrapped around her after so long, their bodies pressed together, their hot breaths mingling. All of the feelings inside of her threatened to burst out at any moment.
“There is so much I need to say to you. I―” She ran her hands across his chest. “I do not even know where to begin.”
“It’s alright,” Lotor assured her, caressing her cheek and breathing hard as well. “You do not need to say anything.”
Looking into his eyes, she shook her head and reached up to hold onto his arms. “Yes,” she insisted. “I do. I should have told you that night on Grekagan, but I didn’t because I thought it wouldn’t change anything, but―”
She was rambling. Her mouth couldn’t keep up with the flurry of thoughts in her head. Lotor gazed at her intently, cradling her face in his hands.
“I should have. I should have told you everything. I want you, Lotor. I want to be with you. I have wanted to be with you all this time, I never stopped. I should have told you sooner, I’m sorry―”
Lotor kissed her hard, communicating with everything he had in him, telling her that it was alright, that there was nothing to forgive, that he wanted to be with her, too.
“I missed you,” Allura whispered in between their desperate kisses. “I missed you so much.”
“I missed you, too,” he said, his voice rough. “Allura…”
He dragged his lips along hers, and she licked the seam of his mouth. She could taste the rozoll he’d been drinking earlier, and when their tongues slid against each other he let out a quiet groan that was music to her ears.
His hand traveled down to her waist, his claws lightly scraping against her body. He kissed the corner of her mouth, then smoothed a lock of hair behind her shoulder before he began kissing along her jaw and her neck.
“Lotor…” Allura whispered, her face flushing. She let out a shaky sigh at the new sensation of his lips upon her neck, tilting her head back against the pillar and keeping her eyes closed.
“Do you want me to stop?” she heard him murmur against her skin, and it was as if his deep voice reverberated throughout her entire body.
“No,” she told him breathlessly. Just the opposite, in fact. She felt she might die if he stopped what he was doing. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders to bring him closer, burying her fingers into his thick, pearl white locks.
“I have wanted you,” Lotor said roughly as he continued to kiss down her throat, tugging on the collar of her cape to expose more of her neck and taste her. “For so long. I could never say it before. Allura―” His fangs lightly grazed her, and she whimpered softly, tightening her grip in his hair.
Lotor then lifted his head, his glowing eyes gazing down at her in astonishment.
“What is it?” she asked, panting, her chest rising and falling as she looked up at him.
“That sound you made,” he murmured, and he smiled, his eyes softening.
Allura’s cheeks warmed further as she returned his smile. She reached up to touch his face, her thumb lightly stroking the lines around his eyes, before her fingers trailed down and suddenly pinched his cheek.
“Ow,” he said, even though she knew it didn’t hurt.
“I needed to be sure that I was not dreaming,” Allura told him. She grinned.
Lotor blinked at her, then his face split into a wide smile, his eyes crinkling at the edges. He tenderly caressed her cheek as he touched their foreheads together, closed his eyes, and let out a quiet laugh.
4/21/25: Another beautifully romantic piece by captainicequeen555 on Tumblr!!! 🥰
Notes:
Thank you so much for reading!!! I don't think there are any fun facts this time 🤔 but who knows, I may remember something later haha
I have to admit I was a little embarrassed about sharing the 3rd illustration for this chapter :^) Though it is not overtly sexual or graphic by any means, it is still not what I normally draw, and up until now I was worried about what others might think once they saw it.
But whenever I get worried about things like that, I always think about this quote from Quentin Tarantino (admittedly I've never seen any of his movies lol) who said that you should be embarrassed to put your stuff out there, that you should listen to the voice in your head that is telling you to tell the truth as you know it.
Personally I take that to mean that it's okay to be embarrassed, because at the end of the day you decided to step out of your comfort zone, and you can be rest assured and satisfied in knowing that not only were you being authentic and true to yourself, but you also created what you wanted to create to the best of your capabilities. So feeling a little embarrassed? I'd say that's a teeny tiny price to pay in exchange for all of that! 😁💖💜
EDIT 7/06/23: I made an announcement on my Instagram and Tumblr that the story will be taking a two-week hiatus and returning July 21st! I am hoping to take this time off to take care of my mental health as well as make these last few chapters something that I can look back on and be proud of, and know that I did the absolute best that I could! I am very excited to share the rest of the story and I hope you can look forward to it! Thank you so much for sticking around thus far and I will see you in two weeks!! 💖💜
Chapter 15: The Last Time
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Allura was positively twitterpated.
Down the hall of the four hundred and eighty-seventh floor of the hotel she walked, hand in hand with Lotor, holding onto his arm and leaning her head against his shoulder. She hadn’t let go of him since they left the observatory together, and was more and more reluctant to do so the closer they came to her suite.
“Which floor are you staying on?” she asked, looking up at him curiously.
“Right below this one,” he answered. “They gave me my old room―4863.”
“They gave me mine, too,” Allura smiled, snuggling into his arm again. Then her head whipped up in realization. “Hang on. Mine is 4873. Are you telling me that our rooms were right on top of each other this entire time?”
“It appears so, yes.”
“How did we not know about this before?”
“Well, given our…” Lotor paused as he searched for the right word. “… antagonistic relationship in the beginning, it makes sense that it never came up, don’t you think?”
“I suppose you’re right,” Allura answered, then she grinned. “Antagonistic is certainly one way of putting it.”
He smiled. “And how would you describe it?”
“Intense. Or provocative.”
“Provocative?”
“Sultry.”
Lotor laughed. “Who was being sultry?”
“Don’t think I didn’t notice the way you looked at me during those three months, Your Imperial Majesty,” Allura teased him. “Your eyes tell all.”
“You are not guiltless, either, Your Highness. I have become exceptionally skilled at reading your facial expressions, and I can always tell when you are objectifying me.”
“I am appalled at your accusation, sir,” she said haughtily, turning up her nose. “I have nothing but the utmost respect for you and your not-at-all distracting body.” Lotor laughed again, causing a warmth to bloom in Allura’s chest as she smiled at him.
When they arrived in front of her suite, they turned to face each other, their hands still joined, fingers interlocked.
“What do we do now?” Allura asked softly. “For us, I mean, going forward.”
Lotor’s glowing eyes were warm as he regarded her. “It will come to us,” he assured her gently. He tucked a lock of hair behind her shoulder, then stroked her cheek with his thumb. “We will figure this out, and we will figure it out together.”
Allura beamed, looking up at him adoringly. She glanced at the doors to her room, then let out a whine of complaint, falling into his chest and wrapping her arms around his waist. “I do not want to say goodbye yet,” she lamented.
He chuckled and embraced her, holding her tight as he kissed the top of her head. “I knew you were physically affectionate, Princess, but I did not realize it was to this extent.”
“I am making up for lost time,” she insisted.
She could not deny that she was quite surprised at herself as well, however. She did not think of herself as a clingy person, but Lotor always managed to bring out a side of her that even she did not know existed. They both tended to do that to each other, in fact.
Allura closed her eyes, inhaled his spicy, masculine smell, then let out a long sigh. “And I do not want to hide what I feel for you anymore.”
“Neither do I,” he returned quietly as he stroked her hair. “Allura.”
“Mm?”
“This means we are together now.”
“Mm-hm.”
“You and I are officially a couple.”
“Yes,” she answered, smiling into his chest.
“No rules, no boundaries… and we can do whatever we want together.”
Allura opened her eyes and bit her lip, a confession appearing in her mind, one that she’d been wanting to tell him but could never find the right time. She lifted her head to look at him, then pulled back slightly to grasp both of his hands, lacing their fingers together.
“Lotor.”
“Yes, Allura.”
“I should probably tell you,” she began, “despite having met with all of those Altean suitors over the years, I have never actually been in a relationship before.” Her face warmed. “You are my first.”
His gaze softened and he gently squeezed her hands. “You are my first as well.”
She smiled, then felt her cheeks flush even further. “So, anything more… it can wait until after the trial, right?”
Lotor tilted his head slightly. “I am not sure I underst―Oh.” His eyes widened a fraction, and a subtle shade of violet colored his cheeks and ears, then he appeared to be trying not to look at anything below her face.
Despite the slight embarrassment from broaching the topic, Allura couldn’t help but grin at him. One minute this man would be so bold with her, then shy the next, and she loved him all the more for it.
Though he was abashed like her, he released her to soothingly run his hands down her arms. “Of course, Allura. We do not need to rush into anything. You and I,” he added, the edges of his eyes crinkling, “we have more than enough time to figure things out, and we will figure it out together.”
She smiled gratefully, then glanced down and laughed softly. “What an eventful past few days it has been for us,” she mused.
“Yes,” Lotor agreed, and she could hear the uneasiness in his tone of voice. “Allura, about your father―”
“Oh, don’t worry about him,” she interjected quickly. “I will figure out what to tell him and the rest of my family when the time is right.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” Allura nodded firmly, then her smile grew as she gazed up at him adoringly, squeezing his hands gently. “As you said, we are in this together. For now, let us keep it between the two of us.” She grinned. “It’s a little more thrilling that way, don’t you think?”
Lotor laughed gently, willing to play along. “Alright, then. As you wish, Princess,” he said, then he paused. “You know, I envy you, Allura. You have a big family. It must be…” His smile remained, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “It must be quite something.”
The inner corners of Allura’s eyebrows lifted slightly, her heart aching with the desire to comfort him. She stepped in closer towards him and reached up to touch his face. Instantly he closed his eyes and leaned into her palm, then gazed down at her.
“You have a big family, too, Lotor,” she assured him benevolently, delicately caressing his cheekbone with her thumb. “Acxa, Ezor, Zethrid, Narti, Kova―even the Earthlings. And…” She blushed. “You have me as well.”
“Allura…”
Lotor’s voice was thick with restrained emotion as his glowing eyes searched hers. He placed his hand over hers and turned his head to kiss her palm before smiling down at her. Allura’s smile widened. She rested her hands on his chest and balanced on the tips of her toes, tilting her chin up towards him.
He leaned down and cradled her face in his hands to give her a kiss. He pulled away slightly, beamed at her, and they kissed some more, their lips moving slowly and tenderly together. He wrapped an arm around her waist to bring her close as she encircled his neck in her arms. Allura hummed softly, her heart full to the brim with joy and endearment because of this man before her.
There was still a lot going on for the both of them during their time on Dunamis, but once it was over, once they were able to take a moment to breathe again, they would have all the time in the universe to figure out this new chapter of their relationship. She had no idea what or how she was going to tell her parents, but that would come to her in time. There was something else, a niggling feeling in the back of her mind, a reminder that there was yet one issue she was purposefully avoiding, but she pushed the thought aside for now. She didn’t want to think about it. All she wanted was to savor this precious time with her emperor.
When Lotor kissed the corner of her mouth, brushed his nose against hers, and loosened his hold on her, Allura knew that their night was finally coming to an end. Sensing her reluctance, he hugged her, cradling her head to his chest and squeezing her tight to him.
“Do not worry,” he told her in a low, soft voice. “We will see each other again tomorrow, but for now it is time to sleep.”
Allura held onto his waist and nuzzled into his warmth. “I miss you now,” she murmured.
“I miss you, too,” Lotor returned, just as hushed. He then leaned back to gently take hold of her face once more and kiss her forehead. “Good night, Allura,” he whispered.
She smiled. “Good night, Lotor.”
Their hands slowly and reluctantly parted as Allura walked into her suite. Their eyes remained on each other, their soft smiles lingered, until at last the doors hissed shut between them.
Now alone, Allura ran to her bed and fell back onto the mattress, staring up at the vermillion canopy above her and grinning like a lovestruck fool. She closed her eyes, brought her clasped hands to her heart, and released a deep, enamored sigh.
The princess woke up late the next morning, wrapped up in her sheets and sighing into her pillow. Rolling onto her back, she stretched her arms over her head and blinked slowly, and upon remembering the previous night’s events, grinned and covered her mouth with both hands to keep from giggling like an infatuated adolescent.
She hummed to herself with no particular tune in mind as she got ready for the day, washing up and donning her white flight suit. She caught herself smiling when she looked in the mirror to tie her hair back into a bun and put on her tiara and earrings. Her cheerful mood carried on as she almost skipped her way through the hotel, her footsteps light and her heart high in the sky.
“Good morning, family!” she sang upon entering the privately reserved room for the Altean royal family. Heads turned her way, surprised by her enthusiastic greeting, but they returned her salutations nonetheless.
“Did you sleep well, dear?” Melenor asked, smiling when her daughter came up behind her seat, wrapping her arms around her shoulders in a hug.
“Yes, I did,” Allura said cheerfully. She took a seat next to her mother and began loading her blate with breakfast (Altean cuisine again).
“You are awfully chipper this morning,” Haran remarked.
“Did you hit your head or something?” Darius asked.
“Boys,” Orla warned them.
Allura smiled easily, then reached across the table and patted her cousins on the tops of their heads. “No, but thank you for your concern.”
“Did something happen, Daughter?” Alfor asked, almost concerned as he watched her continue to fill her blate to the brim, humming to herself all the while.
She shrugged a shoulder. “I am in a good mood, is all.” Then she addressed the whole family and Coran, who sat next to Rhiella across from her. “I want you all to know that I love you very much, and I am so glad you decided to come to Dunamis with me.”
“We love you, too, dear.” Melenor laughed gently, pleased to see her daughter so happy.
“Something is definitely wrong,” Haran whispered loudly to his brother.
Allura took a sip of her gnarlap juice and saw Coran and Rhiella staring at her, the former suspicious and the latter thrilled. She smiled at them in response, popping a few faisha berries into her mouth and savoring the sweet taste on her tongue.
When everyone finished up and set out for the day, Allura was about to leave as well when Coran called for her, lingering behind the rest of the group.
“Allura, do you have a minute to talk?”
She opened her mouth to respond, but Rhiella interrupted, stepping in front of Coran and taking Allura’s hands in hers.
“You must tell me everything, Lulu,” she told her eagerly.
Allura laughed. “Just a moment, Grandmother. What is it you wanted to say, Coran?”
Coran shook his head and smiled cheerfully. “I shall yield my time to Her Majesty first.”
“Excellent,” Rhiella remarked, and with that she hooked her arm around Allura’s as they walked through the halls with Coran trailing behind them, passing by other guests of the hotel who were on their way to or from breakfast. “So?” her grandmother prompted, lowering her voice. “You saw Emperor Lotor again, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” Allura sighed dreamily. “We kissed.”
“You what?!” she heard Coran protest incredulously behind her.
“Oh hush, Coran,” Rhiella told him shortly before turning back to Allura. “As soon as you saw him? Oh my, Lulu, how very bold of you.”
She laughed. “Oh no, that was much later. We spent some time together after visiting the hospital last night.”
“The hospital? Probably not what you were expecting out of a romantic evening with the emperor.”
“Granted, the seriousness of this case is not to be taken lightly,” Allura acknowledged, nodding determinedly. “But still I”―her smile returned―“I cannot help but feel… happy, because Lotor and I are finally together now.”
Rhiella clasped her hands together with joy. “Oh, that is absolutely wonderful! We are so very happy for you, Lulu. Aren’t we, Coran?”
“Y-yes, of course we are.”
“Thank you,” Allura said, raising a brow in amusement, though it soon faded when she saw the troubled expression on her friend’s face. “Coran, what is it?”
The royal advisor pursed his lips, considering carefully. “Allura, if you have a moment, I would like to talk to you about―”
He was interrupted when a loud beeping noise came from one of the glowing cuffs around Allura’s wrist, a notification for an incoming message.
“Hold on,” Allura told Coran. Curious, she tapped her wrist to reveal a message. It was from Sergeant Zane, asking her to come to the police station as soon as possible. “I had better go,” she said as she scanned through it.
“I take it this has to do with the investigation?” Coran asked, raising an eyebrow.
“More or less.”
“Then you’d better get going,” Rhiella urged her.
“Yes. I am sorry, Coran, but I am afraid our conversation will have to wait.”
“That’s alright.” Coran forced a smile. “We can talk as soon as you return.”
Allura nodded, waved goodbye, then raced for the elevators.
It was a ten minute drive from the hotel to the police station. Allura hopped off of the small Altean transport, tugging off her helmet, and entered the building, the translucent doors sliding open with a hiss to welcome her in. She fixed a few flyaway hairs as she exited the lift on the ninth floor and found the sergeant waiting outside his office talking to someone.
“I got here as fast as I could,” she began. “I hope I did not keep you―” She stopped when she saw that Zane was speaking with none other than Lotor. The men turned to her. “―waiting,” she finished, smiling wide.
Lotor stood up straight with his hands behind his back, and upon seeing Allura, his eyes warmed and he returned her smile softly.
Quickly regaining her composure, she nodded to him courteously. “Lotor.”
“Allura.”
“Not at all, Your Highness,” Zane spoke up in assurance. “I asked Emperor Lotor to come at the same time as you―makes it easier for me so I don’t have to go over everything twice.” He looked back and forth between the two of them. “I take it it won’t be a problem?”
“I am fine with it,” Lotor answered, still looking at Allura. “Princess?”
The princess was more than fine with it. Now that Lotor was right there in front of her, she wanted nothing more than to run to him and jump into his arms, but obviously it would be extremely inappropriate to do such a thing inside a police station.
Calm and professional. She was going to be calm and professional about this.
She cleared her throat and clasped her hands together in front of her. “Yes, it is perfectly acceptable,” she said with a nod.
“Great,” said Zane, scanning through his tablet in his hands. “Let’s head into the conference room to talk, there’s more space in there.”
The Dalterion stood in front of a wide, blue holographic screen inside said conference room as he spoke. Allura and Lotor opted to stand as well, listening intently with their arms folded.
“The team I sent down to River Lorn combed every square inch of the crime scene,” Zane began. “They were unable to find anything. However, I checked all of the security cameras in the area and found this.”
He gestured towards the screen which displayed footage of the river and the buildings surrounding it, and though the quality was dark and grainy, Allura could still make out a figure standing on one of the rooftops, their back turned to the camera.
“The shooter,” she realized.
Zane nodded. “Yes.”
They watched in silence. The mysterious person, who was large in stature and wore a thick cloak to completely conceal themselves, got down on one knee, and took aim with their weapon. The familiar purple blast burst from the end of the gun, and moments later they got to their feet and ran off, having been spotted by Allura and Lotor at the time.
“Is that all?” Allura asked with a frown.
“Unfortunately there is no further evidence of the shooter’s having been there that night, and next to nothing as to who they might be.” The sergeant looked disappointed as well. “I’m afraid this is all we’ve got.”
“Wait,” Lotor interjected quietly. “Go back and stop when the shooter takes aim.”
Unsure as to where the emperor was going with this but willing to go along, Zane rewound the footage using the tablet in his hands, bringing the figure back into view. He then paused it just as they were about to shoot once more.
“There.” Lotor stepped towards the screen, nodding to it. “Their grip on the weapon, tell me what you see.”
Allura came close as well, squinting her eyes and peering at the low quality image. Admittedly she had more knowledge on wielding a staff more than a gun, as the former was her weapon of choice. However she did notice―
“Their grip on the gun is wrong,” Zane agreed, and his red eyes widened a fraction. He pressed the play button to watch the purple blast zip through the air. “And the way it recoils when they fire, it almost looks like they’re about to drop it.”
“They are shooting with their right arm, but they must be left-handed,” Lotor said.
“That would explain why they were unable to kill Mirana after all,” Allura added thoughtfully. “They missed and only nicked her neck instead.”
“Still did a lot of damage,” Zane remarked. “But you’re right. For whatever reason this person had to shoot with their non-dominant hand, and as a result they failed to kill Mirana.”
“Indeed,” Lotor muttered, and Allura glanced up at him. His expression looked serious as he stroked his chin, deep in thought.
“Lotor?” Allura called quietly, and he looked at her. “Is everything alright?”
His tense shoulders relaxed as he regarded her, though he still looked uneasy. “Yes,” he answered. “Only… a thought had just occurred to me.” His mouth set in a grim line, then he shook his head. “It could be nothing.” He stood up straight, regaining his cool and calm composure, and addressed both her and Zane. “Now, what of the event tonight?”
“Right, the soiree,” Zane began, moving on. “You think the High Council is planning something?”
“They have to be,” Allura answered firmly. “Whether it’s Malocoti or Desto or both, we need to keep an eye on them.”
“There are going to be a lot of people there tonight,” the sergeant warned. “If this event really is a cover up and either one of them is up to something, it could be dangerous. We’ll need to be careful.”
“We will be fine. This is not the first time Lotor and I have done something like this.” The princess then looked up at the emperor, a smile forming on her face. “If he is with me, then I know we can succeed.”
Lotor’s gaze softened and he returned her smile. It made Allura’s heart skip a beat. Somehow he looked more magnificent and beautiful than ever before. Without thinking she glanced at his mouth, watching the way his fangs peeked out and glinted at her. Dear Mother of the Universe, how she wanted to grab his face and kiss him right then and there―
She cleared her throat and turned back to Zane, clasping her hands together in front of her. “So,” she said airily. “We need to form a plan.”
“My thoughts exactly,” the Dalterion said. “I have a few ideas I’d like to run by you two.”
From his tablet to the screen he began showing them maps and blueprints of Phylos City Museum of the Arts, inside which the soiree would be taking place, where and what time to meet, who to expect at the event, etc.
For the most part Allura was able to pay attention, though once in a while she would glance up at Lotor, and their eyes would meet. They would smile at each other once more, then turn back to the front.
Calm and professional. She was calm and professional…
The heat radiating off of Lotor was as intoxicating as always, and she found herself inching closer towards him until her shoulder brushed against his arm. He noticed the gap between them closing and looked down at her with a questioning look in his eyes.
What are you up to? he seemed to ask.
Allura shrugged and raised her eyebrows. I don’t know what you are talking about. Then she batted her eyes at him.
His lips parted as he drew in a quiet breath, and his gaze traveled over her, sharp with intent. She grinned at him cheekily, knowing she’d charmed him.
“Hang on a second,” she heard the sergeant say, and she whipped her head towards him. He glanced back and forth between the tablet and the hologram, his brow furrowed. “Some of this information isn’t correct. I’m supposed to have the itinerary for the event.” He sighed. “Twyla must’ve given me the wrong file. I have to go get the correct one.”
“Of course, Sergeant,” Lotor said smoothly. “Take all the time you need.”
“Please, excuse me.” Zane smiled apologetically, then swiftly exited the conference room.
Allura watched the door hiss shut after he left. She turned back to Lotor when he surprised her by leaning down and giving her a quick kiss.
“Lotor…!” Startled, she glanced at the door again, then turned to him, raising her hands. “What are you doing?” she whispered.
“Giving you a proper greeting,” he told her huskily, his glowing eyes shimmering. “As well as rightfully administering retribution on account of you weaponizing your eyes against me just now―” He leaned in once more, but she put her hands on his chest to keep him at bay.
“Don’t be silly,” she said, trying and failing not to smile. “We cannot do this here of all places.”
“Why not? No rules, remember?” he purred. “Come here…”
Lotor wrapped his arms around her waist to bring her in close to him, and Allura instantly melted into his warm touch. He dipped his head to kiss the corner of her mouth, her jaw, and her neck.
“I love your smell,” he whispered.
Allura giggled when he nuzzled into the space behind her ear, the feel of his lips and his hair brushing against her skin tickling her.
“I love the way you smell, too,” she returned, her smile widening. She balanced on her toes and wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he continued to place kisses along her neck. “What’s gotten into you?”
“I missed you, Allura,” he murmured into her skin. “Did you not miss me?”
Allura closed her eyes, shivering at the way his growly voice resonated throughout her entire body, the way his large hands traveled over her back and left goosebumps everywhere they touched. “Of course I did,” she told him, “but the sergeant will be back any second.”
He nipped at her throat with his sharp fangs, causing her breath to catch, then he lifted his head and gazed down at her. “You know,” he said, coiling his arms more tightly around her waist. “I believe I recall a proprietorial young woman being unable to keep her hands off of me last night.”
“Who was she? I’ll kill her.” Allura grinned when he laughed, then she reached up to rest her hands on his shoulders. “We were alone then, Lotor.”
“We are alone now, Allura.”
The way he was looking at her, it was as if he wanted to devour her whole with his eyes alone. She had never seen this side of him before: bold, cuddlesome, titillated Lotor, and he was this way last night in the observatory as well. Perhaps this was one of the many deeply hidden parts of him that she’d managed to bring to the surface, or perhaps he was finally going for what he wanted after restraining himself from her for so long. Either way, Allura liked it. How could she resist him?
“Now who is being sultry?” she teased. But even as she said that, her hands started smoothing down his chest. She looked down as her hands moved farther, and she pressed her palms against his firm stomach. She bit her lip.
“Objectifying me again, Princess?”
Allura lifted her head, and when she saw the mirth and fondness in his eyes, she grinned again. “No, I am looking respectfully,” she insisted.
Lotor laughed softly, then they met in the middle and kissed. He pulled away briefly, brushing his nose against hers. “You taste sweet,” he said softly.
“Mm, breakfast probably,” Allura murmured absentmindedly, caring for nothing else except to have his mouth on hers again. She buried a hand into his hair and brought him back down to her, kissing him hungrily, for he was far more preferable than any sort of sustenance in the entire universe.
Lotor tilted his head to the other side and captured her lips again fervently, his hands traveling up her back as he held her to him, their bodies pressed together from their chests down to their legs. With one large hand splayed across her shoulder blades, the other began sliding down the side of her body―
―then the door hissed open and in walked Sergeant Zane.
“Oh,” the Dalterion said.
Allura and Lotor immediately sprang apart, stepping away from each other until there was a respectable amount of distance between them.
Zane blinked, then he pointed his thumb behind him. “Should I come back later?” he asked.
“It’s not what it looks like,” Allura said quickly, then cringed, her face flushing. Was that the best she could come up with?
She cleared her throat and clasped her hands behind her, then glanced at Lotor. He was slightly turned towards her, one hand on his hip while he wiped the corner of his mouth with the other. Their eyes met.
Allura sighed and turned back to Zane. “Alright, it is exactly what it looks like.”
The man didn’t look surprised. “Yeah, I had a feeling there was something going on between you two.”
“Er, would you mind… keeping it a secret? For now.”
“It’s not a problem,” he assured them with a shrug, “but you should know, you’re not doing a very good job at hiding it.” He smiled. “All someone has to do is put you guys in a room together and they’ll figure it out pretty quickly.”
“Are we that obvious?” Allura asked, her face heating up even more. She and Lotor exchanged glances again.
“Very,” Zane said.
The three of them soon finished their discussion of their plans for the soiree, and after saying their goodbyes, Allura and Lotor walked alongside each other down the hall on the first floor, passing by officers and other staff members.
“The sergeant was a lot more accepting than I expected,” Lotor mused.
“Yes,” Allura agreed.
Their bodies unconsciously swayed into one another, shoulders and arms brushing while they made their way towards the lobby. Allura was surprised at the sergeant’s easygoing reaction at first, but she thought that perhaps she ought not to be from now on. After all, there were quite a lot of people who were embracing of their relationship: the generals, the Earthlings, Rhiella, Coran―even her cousins Haran and Darius didn’t seem to mind. Perhaps she and Lotor had more support than they initially believed.
Allura looked up at Lotor and tried to glower at him, but a smile pulled at her lips instead. “Let this be a lesson learned, Emperor, to not get carried away like that again. I think ultimately we ought to set up some rules.”
“If only to break them, then I agree with you wholeheartedly.”
“Lotor.” Allura laughed and shook her head. “Honestly, sometimes you can be so―”
“Diverting? You told me once before.”
“No. That would sound dangerously close to a compliment.”
They smiled at each other. Upon reaching the front entrance, Allura was about to leave when she noticed that Lotor was still beside her.
“Hang on,” she interjected, stepping in front of him and putting a hand on his chest. “Where do you think you are going?”
Lotor glanced at the translucent sliding doors, then back to her. “Outside,” he answered simply.
“We cannot leave at the same time,” Allura protested, feeling scandalized. “I should go first. Wait five minutes, and then you can come out.”
He seemed reluctant, but in the end decided to humor her. “As you wish… but what if I manage to catch up with you?” he asked, his voice low. He took a step towards her. “What will we do then?”
Allura’s mouth went dry as his words sank in, and she began picturing very vividly in her mind what they would do. She glanced over him.
Lotor laughed softly as he read her expression, the edges of his eyes crinkling. “Four minutes and fifty-five seconds, Princess,” he teased her.
Blushing once more, Allura turned up her nose at him and marched out of the police station, but she couldn’t prevent the grin from forming on her face when she felt his eyes on her.
As promised, Allura met with Coran once she returned from the police station. She found him on a balcony on one of the upper levels of the hotel, and upon walking in through the doors she realized it was the same one on which she and Lotor had shared a drink the previous night. The red bottle of rozoll and crystal glasses still sat at the top of the steps. The two of them had forgotten to come back for them after all, she thought with amusement.
Her old friend was waiting by the edge and looking out into the city, folding his arms while stroking his mustache pensively. He turned when he heard her coming and smiled kindly.
“Allura! Thanks for coming.”
“Of course, Coran,” she returned. Then she shivered as a cold gust of wind whipped right through her and she folded her arms, shuddering but welcoming the breeze. Today the weather was exceptionally warm on the surface of the industrial planet, and even though the temperature was always cold at this altitude, it felt refreshing somehow.
“How was your meeting with the sergeant?” he asked, resting his hands on the transparent ledge around them.
“It went exceptionally well. We have a plan for the soiree tonight.”
“That is good news.”
Allura frowned when she noticed him gripping the ledge, and though the smile remained on his face, he looked tense. She wondered if he was stalling. “Is everything alright?” she asked.
“Of course!” he said a little too cheerfully, and when she raised her eyebrows at him, he pursed his lips and began stroking his mustache again. “The reason I asked to meet all the way out here is because I didn’t want anyone to eavesdrop on our conversation.”
“Coran, tell me what is wrong.”
He hesitated, then nodded. “Alright. I’m sorry, Allura.” His smile looked forced. “I was going to talk to you this morning after breakfast, but I saw how happy you were and, well… I didn’t want to ruin everything.”
Allura furrowed her brow, but waited patiently for him to continue.
“I have known you since the day you were born. I have witnessed every challenge, every heartache, and every triumph you have ever taken on. When you were grieving, I grieved; when you were joyous, so was I. And these last few days…” He smiled sadly and shrugged his shoulders. “These last few months, I had never seen you so happy, and you deserve all of the happiness in this universe, Allura.
“I am sorry it’s taken me so long to finally accept that you have grown up, that you are an adult more than capable of making your own decisions. So I will not ask what exactly occurred between you and Emperor Lotor these last few days. I can only assume you have been spending a lot of time together, but”―he raised his hands in concession―”it is your life, so I promise not to pry. But I have to ask…”
He sighed, dejection on his features as he looked at her.
“Are you in love with him?”
Allura blinked at him, at first taken aback. Where was this coming from? And what could she say? She wanted to be truthful, but even she did not quite yet know what the truth was, and seeing the expression on Coran’s face, it made her reluctant to answer.
So she asked him a question in return instead. “Why are you asking me this?”
Coran looked conflicted, and he appeared to be considering his words carefully. “I never really saw the two of you together until now. The other times were so short and fleeting, and I could never fully grasp the depth of your relationship with him, not until the dinner three nights ago, and then afterwards when you returned from the hospital. I watched the two of you very closely. I saw the way he was looking at you, the way you were looking at him…
“Do you love him, Allura?” he asked again. “Because it is clear that he loves you.”
Allura stared at him in silence, and she began to understand where he was going with this. She turned away from him, bracing her hands on the ledge and looking out into the city.
“There is no way you can know that for certain,” she said quietly.
“Yes, there is,” Coran insisted. “You can see it in his eyes. Every time he looks at you he is telling you he loves you. I can see it― everyone can see it… You even breathe in sync.”
There was that niggling feeling in the back of her mind from last night, the foreboding dread that she was still avoiding, even after all this time. The breeze suddenly felt harsher, less soothing, and seemed to freeze her on the spot. Her hands felt like ice as they gripped the ledge, but she grasped onto it tighter. She shut her eyes, imagining Lotor in front of her only a short while ago, his warm embrace, his infectious laughter, his sharp eyes which always softened when he was around her.
“Tell me what it is you want to say, Coran,” she told him calmly, opening her eyes and staring down at the churning factories below. She wished she could turn up the volume of their rattling hum somehow, filling her ears with nothing else so she wouldn’t have to listen to Coran.
“I wish you nothing but happiness for you, you must know that. More than anything I wish I could always see you as happy as you have been since we returned to Dunamis, but Allura… you need to decide.”
Allura tensed her shoulders and braced herself, her heart pounding in her chest as Coran spoke the next words:
“You can’t be with Emperor Lotor and be the princess of Altea at the same time.”
Staring down at the smoky buildings―the busy streets crowded with hovering transports taking their drivers to their destinations, tiny pinpricks of Dunamian citizens walking about―Allura wished she could be down there with them and not up here.
“Allura,” Coran called to her, and he sounded regretful. “If you are to be queen someday―”
“I know.” Her heart was now in her throat. She was shivering, whether from the cold or something else she wasn’t sure, but somehow she managed to keep her voice steady. “If I am to be queen someday, if I am to lead my people, if I am to fulfill my responsibilities and perform my sacred duty―”
She felt her nose sting and her vision blurred. A lump formed in her throat but she swallowed it down and blinked rapidly.
“―I have to let Lotor go. I know, Coran.”
Her hands felt numb. Her face felt numb. Her body felt numb. Her heart felt numb.
“But I don’t―” Her voice was so soft that she wasn’t sure if he heard her over the biting, howling wind. “I don’t think I can do it.”
She swallowed again, then at last turned to Coran.
“I can’t leave him,” she whispered so that her voice wouldn’t break. “Not again.”
Coran looked heartbroken for her. “If,” he began slowly. “If you decide to be with him, there will be repercussions, Allura. And they will be serious.”
Allura nodded, blinking quickly once more as she turned back to stare down at the city. “The Galra and the Alteans are no closer to reconciliation than they were four months ago,” she acknowledged once she maintained her composure, and she smiled humorlessly. “A union between the Galra emperor and Altean princess would never be welcomed by either side. My people would never accept it. My own family would never accept it.”
“What are you going to do now?”
Allura exhaled through her nose. She didn’t want to have this conversation anymore. Her heart hardened and she pushed herself away from the ledge. “I am going to focus on the event tonight,” she said shortly.
“Allura―”
“That is all that matters right now,” she told him over her shoulder as she walked away. “I will see you and the others later this evening.”
She marched through the halls of the hotel with no destination in mind, her heart pounding painfully and her mind reeling dizzily.
What a fool she was. What a complete and utter fool. Any chance at happiness for her and Lotor was too fantastic to come true. Why did she keep trying to convince herself otherwise? If she was with Lotor, she was neglecting her family; if she was with her family, she was pretending Lotor didn’t exist. What was she going to do, go back and forth between the two for the rest of her life? It’d only been a day and already the idea of living a double life was emotionally draining her. It wouldn’t be fair for her and it wouldn’t be fair for Lotor, either.
And Lotor… How would his people react upon learning that their emperor was involved with the princess of their sworn enemy? All his life he’d worked so hard to get to where he was today, just as she had done. To have all of that taken away because of one single person would be cruel to him.
Allura didn’t want to ruin his life, but she didn’t want to hurt him; she couldn’t do that to him again. If only there was some way they could be together… but it was impossible.
She clenched her fists as she walked. The way she saw it, she and Lotor had two choices: either end things for real this time, or―
“Rhiella?”
Allura stopped in her tracks and turned around. Her jaw dropped. Coming from the other end of the hallway was a large, bulky Galra man with a towering stature, heavy armor, a thick tuft of dark blue hair with white streaks, and a long, jagged scar on the right side of his face.
“Chief Commander Mogor,” Allura said aloud without thinking.
Her first thought was to wonder why the man was on Dunamis. But then she remembered that her family had commanded Altean officers and members of the court to accompany them on their journey, and she figured Lotor must have done the same with his own people.
Mogor stopped a few feet away from Allura, staring at her in astonishment. “It can’t be… is it really you?”
“Oh. No, I am afraid you have the wrong person,” she said quickly, raising her hands and flushing. “Rhiella is my grandmother. I am her granddaughter Allura.”
His yellow eyes widened. “Ah.” He then bowed to her. “Princess Allura, it is an honor to meet you, Your Highness.” When he stood up straight he looked a little flustered, which was charming to see from a man whose voice was so gruff and harsh, and at first glance seemed to have a permanent scowl on his face. However, she’d learned well enough by now there was always more than met the eye when it came to the Galra.
“It is an honor to meet you as well, Chief Commander,” she returned respectfully.
A few short minutes later, Allura was offering Mogor a can of Galaxy Fizz as he sat on a bench in one of the hotel’s many lounges. He was surprised at the offer, but accepted the bright blue soda can and murmured his thanks.
Allura took a seat to his right, and they didn’t speak at first, popping open their drinks and taking slow sips to fill the silence. Behind them, a ceiling-high window the length of the room provided a view out into the city, the goldenrod clouds passing by in the early afternoon. In front of the Altean and the Galra, guests of the hotel were passing by, reading on scarlet, cushy chairs, playing a game of cards, or watching Garfle Warfle Snick! hosted by Bob on a wide, holographic screen.
Mogor cradled the Galaxy Fizz in his too-big hands, arms resting in his lap. “Forgive me for mistaking you for Her Majesty earlier,” he apologized in his deep, growly voice. Allura turned her head, having to crane her neck to properly look him in the eye. He smiled sheepishly. “It’s the hair,” he added.
“That’s alright,” she said kindly and sincerely. “I get mistaken for her, my mother, and my aunt all the time.” She grinned. “I am used to it.”
“You really look so much like her.” Then he furrowed his brow. “How did you know who I was, Your Highness?”
“My grandmother told me about you. And…” Allura glanced around. “This is supposed to remain a secret, but since you and my grandmother knew each other and I trust her judgment, I am going to trust you as well, sir.”
Mogor nodded slowly, then waited.
She lowered her voice. “A month ago, about a week before Emperor Lotor returned to Dunamis to clear his name, I was on Daibazaal. He invited me to come back with him,” she quickly added, not wanting to give off the impression that an Altean had illegally entered Galra territory―well, no more illegally than she’d already done, anyway.
The commander blinked at her, stunned, then he narrowed his eyes. “So you were the private who came in with His Imperial Majesty and his generals. I knew I didn’t recognize you among the others.”
“You can tell the soldiers apart?” Allura asked, surprised.
His brow creased. “Of course I can. If you take the time to get to know your subordinates, it’s not difficult.”
“Right. Naturally.” Allura mentally berated herself for going back to her prejudiced mindset without thinking.
“Also, I noticed that you didn’t have any claws,” Mogor told her, and he looked at her like a stern parent. “I’ll admit I had my suspicions, but I figured Emperor Lotor had his reasons, so I didn’t pry.” Then as Allura took a sip from her drink, he added thoughtfully, “So if you were there during that week, does that mean the rumors about you two are true? You are secretly lovers?”
The princess spat out the soda and coughed, startling a family of Krellians nearby.
“Are you alright, Your Highness?” Mogor asked, his gruff voice colored with concern.
“M’fine,” she said hoarsely, setting down her drink. She looked up at him, patting her chin with the back of her hand as her face burned from embarrassment. “Lovers?” she repeated, mortified and still coughing. “You have not been reading those articles, have you, sir?”
He shrugged. “I think everyone has.”
“Oh, gods…” Allura hunched over and buried her face in her hands. She was never going to hear the end of this, was she? “I can assure you, Chief Commander,” she told him, her voice muffled. “They are filled with nothing but that of the delusional writings of money-grubbing imbeciles.”
“From my experience, lies can be based on some truth,” she heard him say before he took a sip from his drink. “It makes sense now, you and him. We were all wondering why he was in such a good mood during that week.”
Allura’s head sprang up. “Really? He was?” Granted she’d been with Lotor almost every hour of every day while she was on Daibazaal, and he did seem more relaxed and well-rested, but she thought she might have been seeing what she wanted to see.
Mogor nodded. “I’ve been around him since he was a boy, and he didn’t have many reasons to be happy back then. But…” He looked at her and grinned, baring his fangs. “If you are anything like your grandmother, then you must’ve rubbed off on him, Your Highness.”
Allura blushed, staring down at her hands as she smiled. “I think he rubbed off on me, too,” she said softly.
The delight soon faded away, however, when the reality of her and Lotor’s situation came rushing back in full force, crashing into her chest and crushing her heart on impact. She didn’t know what to do. Part of her didn’t want to do anything. She wanted to sit on this bench, not think about a single thing, and hope the problem would go away on its own, but obviously that wasn’t going to happen. Avoiding it wouldn’t help anybody, her grandmother had once told her.
Allura slowly sat up straight and looked up at the Galra. “Do you mind if I ask you a question?”
“Ask away,” he said with a shrug.
“Why did you and my grandmother decide to end things?”
Mogor took another slow sip of the soda as he considered. “Rhiella is an incredible woman,” he began gently. “I still remember the day we first met, when she saved my life.” He let out a growly chuckle. “One tiny yet strong Altean woman hauling a behemoth of a Galra man out of the burning wreckage. It would have been a sight to see, I’m sure.”
Allura smiled at that, eager to hear more of his side of the story.
“Our time together was short, but I never forgot about her, and though we eventually parted ways, I have no regrets.” He looked at Allura and smiled again. “I look back on those memories fondly, Your Highness. Over the many decades since we parted ways, I was able to move on, meet my wife, and start a family with her, though she passed away many years ago.”
“I am so sorry to hear that,” Allura said quietly, the inner corners of her eyebrows lifting as bittersweet compassion warmed her chest.
Mogor still remained smiling, a warm and fond smile as he remembered a lifetime of happiness. “Here, look at this,” he then spoke.
From his person he produced a handheld, holographic device, and showed it to Allura. On it was a recent image of Mogor and his family: him, his four children with their spouses, and six grandchildren.
“And here is the newest addition to the family,” the commander said excitedly. He pulled up another image of a newborn Galra baby with thick, dark blue hair, his meaty fists reaching out for the person taking the picture. “My grandson, Mogor.”
Allura looked at him and beamed. “They named him after you? That is so sweet.”
Mogor looked very proud. “I can already tell he’s going to be a strong lad.”
“You have a beautiful family, sir,” she told him sincerely.
“Thank you, Your Highness.” Mogor put away the device, then looked at her. “When I was with Rhiella, in the beginning all that mattered to us was staying together. We even made plans to run away together.”
“Run away?” Allura repeated, her eyebrows shooting up in surprise. She hadn’t even thought such a thing was an option before.
“Yes. To abandon our families and our responsibilities―everything―and we were really going to do it. But we quickly realized it wasn’t going to be that simple. We decided it was best to go our separate ways and try to live fulfilling lives without each other, and we did. I had a family, and I continued to serve as a commander for the Galra Empire, something I’d always wanted.
“And Rhiella―well, you already know, Your Highness. She was married, had a family of her own, and became queen to her people, something she’d always wanted. And to see her legacy with my own eyes,” he said, smiling at Allura, “it is incredible. I’m sure she is very proud to have you in her life.”
Allura returned his smile, then Mogor regarded her with sympathy in his eyes.
“I know the expectations of an Altean princess are great. You carry a heavy burden on your shoulders that is paramount to your culture, to perform your Yul’mai, your sacred duty. Rhiella did it, your mother did it, and someday soon it’ll be your turn.”
Allura knew he didn’t mean any harm by what he said. She glanced down, nodding a little, then looked back up at him, her smile strained.
“Your grandmother knew what she wanted, and that was to put her people first. Not once have I ever resented her for it. And think of all of the great things in our lives we would have missed out on had we chosen to run away together.” Mogor nodded determinedly. “I will always look back on my time with Rhiella with fondness, and I am grateful for all that she did for me. We were able to discuss it, our relationship, and we came to a true understanding. I knew she cared for me, and she knew that I cared for her. And though it was a long time ago, I have been very happy, and I know that she has been, too.”
Allura pondered what Mogor said for a long time, even as she returned to her hotel suite to be alone. She knew she ought to be prioritizing the soiree later that night, but her conversation with the commander wouldn’t leave her head, causing her heart to pound unceasingly and her blood to feel like ice.
For hours she paced about her room, thinking and thinking and thinking until her brain and her legs began to ache. Then she lay on her back on the bed, staring up at the red canopy and thinking some more, and for the rest of the afternoon she had no desire to move, not even to wash up and change into her dress as the hour of the event drew closer.
She thought a lot about what Coran had said to her, too. She thought about what her grandmother said, what her father said a month ago when they had that argument which both of them pretended didn’t happen.
Why was there always so much pretending? Why was she always pretending? Ever since the beginning, trying to deny her feelings for Lotor until she thought she was going to lose him. If she’d been braver and acknowledged the truth earlier, would things have turned out differently? Though she knew there was no point in lingering on the past. She’d made her decisions, and she had to live with them and learn from them.
At one point she fell asleep, curled up on top of the blankets, still wearing her flight suit, and for a short while her mind let her forget everything and submerged her in the blissful, ignorant, dreamland that sleep provided. But the second she awoke, the anxiety and heart palpitations returned and she was engulfed in dread and misery once more.
Reluctantly and unsteadily she sat up to check the time. Evening was drawing near. Her family was no doubt preparing to leave for the soiree, and if she did not get ready soon herself, they would start to wonder where she was. She bit her lip. What was Lotor up to? She needed to see him, needed to talk to him. Who else could there possibly be to discuss this situation with than him? That’s what Rhiella and Mogor had done. It was possible that Lotor had already left, however, and it would be better if she spoke with him after the soiree.
But no… something was telling her that she needed to go see him as soon as possible. She had no idea what she was going to say once she saw him if he answered his door, but she suddenly felt an overwhelming premonition wash over her and seize her body, that this conversation with him couldn’t wait, that there wasn’t going to be another chance to tell him if she waited. Perhaps she was feeling this way because she was overwhelmed, stressed, and unable to think straight, but the feeling grew stronger and stronger, and she worried what would happen if she waited for it to pass.
Making up her mind, she marched out of her room and took the lift to the floor beneath her own. She found Lotor’s room with ease, but hesitated when she raised a fist to knock.
Shaking her head and taking a deep breath, she gathered her courage, rapped her knuckles on the door three times, then took a step back and waited. A few seconds later, her heart pounded when she heard a pair of heavy footsteps approaching, and the doors hissed open.
“Allura,” Lotor said, a surprised expression on his face. “I did not expect to see you so soon. I assumed you would be getting ready by now.”
She glanced over him and managed a half-hearted smile. “I could not wait, I suppose.”
His eyes softened as he regarded her warmly. Then, glancing around the empty hallway, he smiled wide and took her hand, pulling her into his room, and before the doors even had a chance to close he took her face into his hands and kissed her. Allura gasped into his mouth at the sudden movement, holding onto his arms as she kissed him back.
Lotor pulled back a little and brushed his nose against hers. “I missed you,” he told her in a near whisper. He stroked her cheek with his thumb as he looked her over.
Allura couldn’t find it in herself to respond just yet. She balanced on the tips of her toes to kiss him again, carding her fingers through his thick hair, and felt his lips quirk up in a smile as his arms wrapped around her waist to bring her closer to him. She let out a shaky sigh as Lotor delicately kissed the corner of her lips, then her cheek, her jaw, and her neck before his mouth came back to hers, tenderly caressing it with his own.
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders a little tighter, trying to memorize the way his body felt against hers and the way he always kissed her so tenderly yet passionately. The fear of the possibility that this could be the last time he would ever hold her like this, that she would feel his warmth like this, overtook her, and she wanted to savor it for as long as she could.
Lotor leaned back again. “You’re trembling,” he said. He smoothed her hair out of her face, his luminescent eyes full of concern. “Allura, what’s wrong?”
She gazed up at him, releasing a quivering breath, and reached up to touch his face, smoothing her palm over his cheek and the ends of his hair. She felt weak and unsteady, as if her body was made up of nothing but wobbly bones and gooey flesh, and the only thing keeping her upright was Lotor’s strong hold on her.
“Allura,” Lotor called her name again, his voice gentle yet firm. He ran his hands down her arms. “Something happened. What is it?”
“I…” She swallowed, then glanced down to grasp both of his hands in hers, interlocking their fingers together. “I need to talk to you. About us.”
When she looked up at him again, he was silent, searching her face intently. Then his jaw tensed, his sharp eyes hardening as he regarded her, but he didn’t pull away from her. Nodding stiffly, he waited for her to speak.
Allura drew in a sharp breath, then shook her head slightly, getting second thoughts again. How she wished she could tell him without hurting him. Already her heart felt like it was being split into two, and she had a feeling that she would never be able to put the pieces back together after this.
Instead, she was the one to pull away. She released his hands and walked past him farther into the room. She couldn’t look him in the eye as she spoke; it was impossible.
“There is… still one more thing,” she began. Her back was turned to him, her shoulders tensing. She noticed the layout of his suite was completely identical to hers as she stared at the canopy bed. “Something we avoided discussing all this time, ever since we first talked about it that night in the tavern.”
Lotor gave no acknowledgement to indicate that he knew what she was referring to. She went on.
“You once told me that you do not want to marry because you see no point in it, given your circumstances. It is your life, and you should be free to do with it what you will. Whatever decision you make, I promise that I will always respect it.
“But for me… it is different. I do want to be married someday. Not only that, but I must. I have a responsibility that is expected of every future Altean queen, and that is to be married. I have to marry an Altean, and once I am, I have to―”
Allura squeezed her eyes shut. It was excruciating, trying to get the words out, but she needed to say them. She needed to accept them.
She clenched her fists and opened her eyes. “I must perform my sacred duty and produce an heir to the throne―”
Heavy footsteps sounded behind her. She looked over her shoulder to see that Lotor too had turned away from her, hunched over slightly with one hand on his hip, the other running over his mouth. She could not see his face. What kind of expression was he making? What was he thinking about?
Slowly, Allura turned towards him. “All my life I have wanted to become queen. I have worked hard for it; I have given everything I have to my people. You have done the same. You know what it’s like, more than anyone else, what it means to sacrifice, to give up what you love in order to become who you were always meant to be, to show everyone that you are more.
“I will not force you to agree or disagree with me. That is not why I came here tonight. I came here because I wanted us to talk about it―so we can decide what to do together. That is what we said we would do, and that is what I want for us.”
And yet he would not look at her. Her heart pounded painfully in her chest.
“Lotor… say something,” Allura pleaded.
It felt like an eternity before he spoke. His back still turned to her, his head still bowed, he lowered his hand from his mouth, and his voice was low and gravelly as he spoke.
“So what you are saying is,” he said slowly, “we must end things between us. For good this time.”
Allura swallowed the lump forming in her throat. “It is what would be best for everyone,” she admitted, and though she spoke softly, she could not hide the dejection in her voice. “Not a single thing has changed since all of this began. Our people remain the same; they are still divided. It would be best for them if we did not see each other anymore.”
She saw Lotor nod subtly, accepting what she said, and he did not speak again.
“But…” she began, and her heart began crawling up her throat. “There is another option.”
He lifted his head and turned it slightly towards her, though she still couldn’t see his face. Allura made a step towards him, took a deep breath, and said:
“We could run away together.”
She could see Lotor freeze, could see his shoulders tense as her words sank in in the heavy silence that followed. Finally, he turned around to look at her, and he didn’t look skeptical or hopeful or even surprised.
Instead he looked so… sad.
“We could leave our planets, our system, our very galaxy if you wish,” Allura went on. “Out of all of the infinite galaxies in this universe, there has to be one where nobody knows who we are. We could go anywhere we wanted― do whatever we wanted, you and me.”
She took another step forward.
“Just the two of us. Together.”
The way he was looking at her, his shoulders sagging, the burdensome exhale that escaped his mouth and made his chest fall as if releasing his last breath, and his eyes filled with such sorrow and heartache―
He looked as if he’d already made up his mind.
Lotor’s eyes searched hers as they stood several feet apart from each other, and a small, dismal smile pulled at his lips. “That is the optimist in you talking, isn’t it?” he asked softly.
Allura’s eyes filled with tears, but she managed to smile back. “Old habits die hard,” she said.
Their smiles faded as they looked at one another, then Lotor glanced away from her, his eyes downcast.
“I will admit,” he spoke in a low voice. “The thought of asking you to run away with me, to be with me in secret, or to tell you that I will wait for you as long as it takes―has crossed my mind more times than I could ever keep count.”
Allura swallowed and pursed her lips, fighting the emotion crawling up her throat. Hearing this from him elated and broke her heart at the same time, further tearing her to pieces when she thought she could no longer be torn.
“And you are right,” Lotor continued. “We have not spoken about it since that night. I never wanted to, because… the thought of you being with someone else―”
His jaw tightened, his fists clenched, and his eyes shut before he opened them again. His gaze met Allura’s, sharp and piercing, an inflamed and passionate rage, a numbing fire that burned and penetrated straight through her like ice.
“I hate it,” he growled. “It kills me, knowing that you must belong to someone else when I cannot have you, that you must be married and have a child with that someone, something I―” He paused, swallowing, and his voice was thick and raspy with repressed emotion. “Something I will never be able to give you. Allura…”
The anger faded from Lotor’s eyes and the sadness returned. He slowly moved towards her, and without thinking Allura met him in the middle until they were less than a foot apart. He was silent as he looked over her face.
“You are the most remarkable woman I have ever met. My entire life changed the moment I met you. There are things in my past that I have done, things I wish I could go back and fix, but I cannot, and for a long time I hated myself for it. For a long time I thought I was better off alone, that there was no one in this universe who could ever care for me, that I was nothing.
“But when I am with you”―he shook his head slightly, the astonishment unhidden in his expression―”I do not feel that way. When I am with you, you make me feel strong, important. You make me feel like a man. And if I could have made you my princess…” His eyes darkened as he gazed at her with a quiet, barely restrained hunger. “… I would have.”
Allura’s chest rose and fell, her lips parting at the very thought of it, of being his―of truly being his. That hungry, dark, and passionate side of him, she wanted it all. She wanted him, and she wanted to be his, too.
Lotor searched her eyes, and the sorrow returned. The inner corners of his eyebrows lifted slightly, and his voice was rough as he continued to speak.
“I want you, Allura. More than anything in this universe, I want you. I―” He exhaled heavily, hesitating to say the next words. “I deeply care for you, and I always will. But asking you to leave everything behind, your own family, just to be with me is selfish, no matter how much I want it. You and I both have greater roles to fulfill, and as someone who has tried, I tell you now―I promise you―that running away will only fill you with regret for as long as you live. You will be unhappy, knowing what you gave up.
“We cannot run from this, Allura. It is going to be difficult from now on, not being next to you. I cannot deny that. I cannot do this without you… but I am going to have to try.”
Allura swallowed and nodded, her gaze dropping to his chest. She had already known that, despite the small, naive part of her that hoped they would find a way to be together, this conversation was only ever going to end one way.
“I care about you, too, Lotor,” she said, lifting her chin to meet his eyes. “And my life changed since that day we met, too. Since that day, I felt myself drawn to you, and as time went on I could not stay away from you. I really―” Her nose stung and her vision blurred, but she blinked rapidly to keep the emotions at bay. “I really liked you, and I only liked you more and more as I got to know you better.
“Being with you made me so happy. You were always there to help me without question, no matter how many times we were against each other. You comforted me, you taught me and showed me so many things that I know I will never be able to experience again, not the way I experienced them with you. I always felt that I could talk to you about anything. You changed everything for me. You made me feel like I could do anything.”
She took another step towards him so that they were nearly chest to chest. More than anything she wanted to reach out to him, and she could see it in his eyes that he wanted to do the same thing, but they held back from each other. It was something they’d done ever since the beginning, and perhaps would have to do forevermore.
“There is no one else like you in this universe, Lotor,” she told him with all of the tenderness in her heart. “What planet you come from, who your parents are, what you’ve done in your past…” She shook her head, looking intently up at him. “It does not matter to me. You are a good man. You are special to me―you will always be special to me. I will always remember everything you have done for me. Thank you, Lotor.”
“No,” he returned, his voice hushed, and the pain Allura felt was mirrored in his eyes. “Thank you, Allura.”
She bit her lip to keep it from trembling, and she willed herself to maintain her composure. “And so…” she began quietly. “What do you want to do?”
Lotor’s gaze flickered over her, the same thing on his mind, but he could not bring himself to say it. Allura knew that, like her, he was ignoring the inevitable, pushing it far away and pretending it didn’t exist, though the two of them should have known better than that by now.
He glanced away from her, his eyes downcast once more. “You should go, Allura,” he told her, his voice rough. “The time of reckoning is upon us.”
Allura nodded, and yet she could not move. She stared at his chest again. She was doing everything she could to not break down into tears in front of Lotor. It was not because she was afraid of him seeing her as weak, but because she knew if he saw her cry, he would try to comfort her, and that would only make it that much harder to leave. Looking up at him, she could see in his misty eyes that he was trying to keep it together as well.
Every cell in her body was gravitating towards him. In the past she’d done everything she could to resist him because she thought it was the right thing to do, but now it felt wrong to not reach out and touch him. It was second nature to her now, and it ripped her heart out to see the grief in his eyes and knowing that she could not embrace him to comfort him. She wanted to reassure him somehow, to say something cheerful, anything to make this farewell less painful.
If they decided to end things for good this time, after tonight, after she walked out of this room, they would be strangers again. She knew now that they could never be friends; she’d finally accepted it. If she was around him―if she even saw him―she was always going to want more, and so was he.
She’d wanted them to figure out this new chapter of their lives together, to finally not have to hold back in showing him all she felt for him, but she realized that that was never going to happen. She’d already lost her chance. Unless―
Allura lifted her head to look at him once more, her heart pounding in her ears.
Unless she showed him right now.
“You’re in love,” her grandmother’s words echoed in her ears.
She bit her lip. This was it. There wasn’t going to be another opportunity after this.
Tell him. Tell him now.
Lotor looked back to her, and as she gazed up at him, she saw his eyes widen in realization.
Allura drew in a quiet breath. “Lotor, I―”
“Don’t.”
She stopped. His voice was deep, gravelly, and dangerous.
“Don’t say it,” Lotor told her.
The searing heat and agonizing longing simmering just beneath the surface radiated off of him in waves as he stared down at her. His chest rose and fell. His sharp eyes darkened.
“If you say it… I won’t let you leave.”
Allura swallowed, her heart pounding in every facet of her body as his words sank in. She wouldn’t have been surprised if he could hear her heartbeat. A part of her―an overwhelming part of her―wanted to say it anyway. She wanted to see what he would do, what he was capable of―what they both were capable of.
Instead, against every bone in her body, she resisted the urge, and she nodded. The edges of her vision blurred once more. A month ago at the police station they’d smiled through the pain and sadness as they held hands, but she couldn’t do any of that now. She could not touch him, because if she did he would touch her back and neither of them would be able to stop. They’d gone through it plenty of times to know that for certain. And she could not smile at him, for she did not want to pretend that she wasn’t sad.
Finally, she brought herself to speak, using all of her strength to keep her voice from shaking. She sniffed quietly.
“Then I shall see you soon,” she told him. “And we will finish this one last time.”
He nodded shortly, his expression stony, cold and unfeeling, though she knew well enough by now that he was hiding his emotions from her once more, that his mask had slipped back into place.
“Yes,” he agreed grimly. “One last time.”
She returned his nod, and the tears were threatening to overflow. Her bottom lip trembled, so she quickly walked past him and headed towards the doors before she lost control of herself and regretted it forever.
Phylos City Museum of the Arts, one of the most revered and treasured places on the planet, was affectionately named “the Blossom of Dunamis” by the public after its debut over twenty years ago. The building was designed to emulate the shape of a flower in bloom, the sturdy yet elegant petals glowing a fuschia color that was vibrant yet pleasant on the eyes.
The place was filled with lively chatter, music, and various festivities when Allura walked in through the front doors with her family. Led through the high-ceilinged halls and eye-catching exhibits, they were shown into one of the largest venues in the museum, a ballroom in which a variety of artworks were on display. From abstract to realistic paintings, from lifelike to shapeless sculptures, the room felt alive in its own way, even without the hundreds of people moving about, and it was a spectacular sight to behold.
Allura took in her surroundings as her family joined the crowd. Plaxum and the Chums, the underwater jazz group from Atlantia, played soothing music on a small stage in the very back of the room while guests visited with one another, conversing animatedly as they admired the artwork. A second floor, an internal balcony, wrapped around the edges of the room, showcasing additional pieces and allowing access to more guests as they arrived.
In the corners of the room and in the shadows where the warm, orange lights from the ceiling did not touch, diligently waited security guards, silent and serious as they observed the event. Allura noticed among them Sergeant Zane, who gave her a nod which she returned subtly. The Dalterion, like her, would be keeping a close watch during the soiree.
No sign of Malocoti or Desto yet, however, nor the Galra for that matter.
As Aunt Orla and her family wandered off to view the displays, Allura heard familiar voices calling for her.
“Allura!”
“Princess, over here!”
She looked over her shoulder and smiled easily. “Hello,” she greeted the Earthlings kindly, then she turned to her parents. “Mother, Father, I am sure you remember Lieutenant Shiro and his cadets?”
“Of course,” Alfor said with a nod as the humans bowed to him, Melenor, and Rhiella. “You are once again a long way from home, Lieutenant.”
“Yes, Your Majesty, and we brought company with us this time,” Shiro said.
He nodded towards the center of the room, where another group of Earthlings were walking about, presumably among them Commander Iverson and Admiral Sanda (whom Shiro mentioned briefly once before). Allura noticed four young cadets around Keith and the others’ ages, walking and looking around with great interest at the alien environment.
“That’s James Griffin and his team,” Hunk spoke up.
“Didn’t he and Keith get into a fist fight once?” Lance asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah,” Keith answered nonchalantly.
The cadets continued chatting amongst themselves, and Shiro had started up a friendly conversation with Alfor and Melenor, but Allura heard none of it, for out of the corner of her eye, she saw familiar pearl white hair, and a great painful weight started pulling at her chest and settled in her stomach.
Lotor entered the ballroom with his generals and commanders, and Allura couldn’t help but notice that many of the guests skirted around them as they passed by, giving them a wide berth.
The emperor’s eyes sought her own, the Alteans waiting with grim expectation as he and his people came closer. Despite the shame and heartbreak building up inside of Allura as they regarded one another, she did not look away. She knew she should not give in, should not let herself be distracted when their plan took greater priority, that she should stand tall and proud, just as Lotor would want her to.
But all she could think about at that moment was how much she wanted to go to him. Only hours ago she had easily done just that, reached out to touch him, melted into his arms, and kissed him. However she clasped her hands together in front of her and restrained herself. It would not do to give herself away when everyone was watching.
Melenor looked like she wanted to say something, to greet the Galra in some way, perhaps out of thoughtfulness for her daughter. She looked at Allura in concern when the latter could not bring herself to speak. Alfor too said nothing. Whether it was to respect his daughter’s wishes or to continue to give Lotor the cold shoulder Allura wasn’t sure, but his unkind manner was not missed by the Galra, for Commander Cossack soon spoke up, addressing his emperor.
“We should move along, Sire,” he said in a low voice. “It is clear that the likes of us are not welcome on this side of the room.”
Lotor turned his head slightly towards him and nodded reluctantly before moving on. He passed right by Allura, glancing at her once more, and her fingers clenched until they hurt with the effort to not reach out for him. Chief Commander Mogor passed by, and though he did not exchange a single word with the Queen Dowager Rhiella, undoubtedly having noticed her, he gave Allura an encouraging nod, and she smiled half-heartedly in response.
Acxa was at Lotor’s side as usual, her blue and yellow eyes darting back and forth between him and Allura, and there was no doubt that she knew at last something of their situation, though it was difficult to determine how much. Though there was sympathy in her expression as she caught Allura’s eye, she almost seemed… disappointed.
A pang of guilt hit Allura square in the chest and she had to look away. Against her will the memory of what Acxa had told Lotor in the hospital after Senak Opera House was destroyed came to mind:
“Whatever you think she may have done for you, she’s not going to stick around once all of this is over, I guarantee it.”
It hurt Allura to know that she not only lost Lotor in her life, but most likely Acxa as well, after all of their misunderstandings. And it killed her to know that ultimately Acxa was probably right, that she may have made her final decision that everyone had been warning them about.
“Allura?”
Allura’s head whipped around to find her parents, Coran, and the Earthlings looking at her with concern.
“Dearest?” Melenor called gently, touching her arm. “Is everything alright?”
“I…” Allura trailed off, glancing around.
The Galra were long gone now, having moved to the other side of the room. She found Lotor, his back turned to her as he left with the others. He would have disappeared into the crowd completely were it not so easy for Allura to seek him out, and she had to admit that it stung, watching him walk away like that.
“Yes,” she said quickly to her mother. She forced a smile. “Everything is fantastic.”
There was a slight frown on the queen’s face, and her eyes wandered towards the Galra once more, and then a change of expression, as if she was contemplating something.
Allura cleared her throat and turned to the rest of the group. “Shall we take a look around?” she proposed. “Otherwise we will be in everyone’s way.”
“Excellent idea,” Coran spoke up. “Right this way, Your Majesties. Come along, Earthlings!”
They all followed along, and as Allura lingered behind, she saw Rhiella give her a sad but understanding smile. Allura wondered what was going through her grandmother’s mind, having seen her past lover again after so many years. She returned her smile, or at least she tried, and she wordlessly went to catch up with her friends.
Eventually she fell away from the group, paying some attention to the art displays, though mostly her eye was on Princess Malocoti, who had since entered the room and was performing her duties as co-hostess and making conversation with her guests. But where was President Desto?
Gazing absentmindedly at one colorful painting, Allura looked over to see her mother coming to stand next to her.
“This one is beautiful, is it not?” Melenor asked.
It was an abstract piece, loosely depicting two figures in a romantic embrace, the opennes and intimacy of the image making Allura’s cheeks warm.
“It is,” she agreed quietly.
“Has the young woman in the hospital recovered yet?”
“No,” Allura answered with a sigh, her shoulders sagging. “But in the meantime we have a plan. It is only a matter of time now.”
“Is it safe?”
“Yes, Mother,” she assured her, smiling. “And we will succeed. There is no one I trust more than Lotor to―” She stopped herself, the painful ache forming in her chest once again. She cleared her throat and turned her attention back to the painting, though she was no longer looking at it. “We will succeed,” she finished quietly.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw her mother studying her carefully, and she silently berated herself for having given herself away after all. She tried to concentrate on the painting, but it was no use.
The queen was silent as she too looked upon the artwork. When she spoke, her voice was as gentle and soft as always. “The life of a royal is one filled with many trials and tribulations,” she began. “The road to success is long and treacherous, and it can feel overwhelming. Your grandmother knew this, your aunt knew it, as did I, and now during these last few months it has been your turn to get a taste of what it is really like.”
“The taste is quite bitter,” Allura joked wanly.
Melenor smiled. “It certainly seems that way at times, doesn’t it? But it is not always, dearest. Your grandmother taught me and my sister, ever since we were children, that the pressures of the throne are great, but they can turn into something most extraordinary. I know you must have seen it.”
Allura pursed her lips. “Doesn’t it ever… feel lonely?” she asked reluctantly. “Bearing it all on your own?”
Her mother considered. “I suppose it did in the beginning, yes, but things changed when I met your father. And then we had you, and I knew that we could accomplish anything so long as we stayed together. That is all I ever wanted for you, Allura. That is why we wanted to find a partner for you.”
“So I can fulfill my sacred duty,” Allura acknowledged grimly, her stomach lurching at the reminder.
“Oh, not only that, dearest,” Melenor insisted gently. “Your father and I, we want you to be happy, to experience the joys of life as we did and continue to do so.” Her smile turned sad. “Never in a million years would we ever want you to feel pressured to do anything, but I see now that that responsibility has burdened you greatly. I am sorry, Allura.”
Allura stared at her, surprised. Her mother reached for her hand, giving it a squeeze.
“A parent should never be too proud to admit when they have done wrong,” she said, and her loving smile returned. “You are our greatest gift and joy, and we will always love you no matter what.”
Allura tried to smile back, but the pain in her heart was too much. All she could do was blink her eyes rapidly when the edges of her vision began to blur. She sniffed and turned away, her eyes downcast.
“It breaks my heart to see you this way,” Melenor said, sorrow in her voice. “You should be proud of yourself, Allura. You have accomplished many great things these last few months. You have been a most devoted princess to your people.”
But Allura shook her head. “I have not been the princess I should have. I have failed you,” she said, her voice sounding strained to her own ears. “You and Father, at more things than you may ever know. The things I have done and seen, the secrets I have kept, the―”
She swallowed the lump in her throat and blinked her eyes, forcing herself to meet her mother’s gaze.
“―the desires within my heart which I had prayed to forget time and time again…”
She trailed off, seeing the surprise on Melenor’s face. And when the queen glanced over to where the Galra were gathered on the other side of the room, it was clear that she knew.
“I am so sorry, Mother,” Allura whispered, her voice trembling. “You must be so disappointed in me.”
“Oh, darling.” Melenor stepped closer to Allura to rub her arm comfortingly. “You do not need to apologize. You have done nothing wrong, do you understand?” She smiled again, and there were tears in her eyes as well. “We cannot help who we love. Do not give up. Even now, there is hope. You have a choice. You and him both do. There is still time.”
Allura shook her head again as she struggled to maintain her composure. More than anything she knew she could not break down now of all times, surrounded by so many people, but she was on the very brink. She felt so consumed by the overwhelming grief, a torment that had overtaken her since she and Lotor said goodbye at the police station a month ago, and had not left her since.
“I wish there was something I could―” She sighed shakily. Without thinking her eyes sought Lotor once more in the crowd before she forced her gaze away. “Mother, I do not think I can do this.”
Melenor reached out to her, tenderly cradling her face in her hands, love, encouragement, and understanding in her eyes.
“You are the crown princess of Altea,” she told her, her voice kind yet firm. “You are my daughter. But most of all, you are Allura. There is nothing you cannot do.”
Allura blinked a few times and nodded, attempting a smile as she grasped her mother’s hands, giving them a grateful squeeze before letting go. She took a deep breath, stood up straight and, with one destination in mind, made her way across the length of the room.
The musicians had begun a slow number, prompting many of the guests to make room for a dance. As she walked Allura’s steps grew more confident, and ignoring stares from the others, she went right up to Lotor, who saw her coming from some distance away and regarded her silently as she approached.
For a split second she hesitated, and then gathering her courage, she held out her hand to him. “May I have this dance, Emperor Lotor?” she asked.
Lotor’s surrounding commanders and officers regarded her mostly with distrust and hatred, but the generals were encouraging, with a look of relief on Acxa’s face as she stood by. Lotor did not speak at first. His eyes went from her face, to her hand, then back to her face.
“Allura,” he said softly. His voice and expression were solemn. “Are you sure?”
She nodded. “We still have a little time left,” she returned. She sounded more sure of herself, and looked up at him determinedly. “And there is no one I would rather spend it with.”
Those words were meant for him and him alone, but she did not care who heard her, whether it was the Galra, the Alteans, her father, or anyone else who saw the two of them together and assumed they knew everything about them, because they didn’t. After everything they’d been through, it was impossible for anyone else to understand, but she didn’t care. Her hand was still outstretched towards him, waiting as her eyes were fixed on him and only him.
Lotor’s eyes softened, and though the sadness was still present in his gaze, just as she was certain it was present in her own, he nodded and took her hand.
“One last time?” he said in a near whisper.
She nodded again. “One last time,” she returned, her voice just as hushed.
They walked onto the dance floor together, Lotor grasping her hand more firmly, before they took their places among the other couples. As they drew closer together, his hold on her became more confident, his large hands holding her securely and reassuringly. Allura in turn held onto him just as tightly.
Whispers reached her ears. She could see everyone staring at them as they moved in time to the slow, melancholic music. No doubt Lotor could see that they were acquiring an audience as more and more people began abandoning the art displays and gathered around the edges of the dance floor to watch. He glanced around them.
“Do you want to stop?” Allura whispered, searching his eyes intently.
Lotor spun her around once, and when she fell back into his arms, there wasn’t an ounce of uncertainty on his face as he shook his head. “Just keep looking at me.”
Despite the breaking in her heart, a small smile pulled at Allura’s lips and she nodded. She knew everyone was watching, she knew her family could see it all―that her father could see it all, but that was the furthest thing from her mind.
After all of this was over, if they truly decided to part ways for good this time, the next they would see each other would probably be at the Universal Coalition meeting the following year. Had Allura let herself, she would have felt the dread creep into her chest and weigh her down. She would have dwelled on the possibility of a future unpleasant reunion, how they would greet each other as strangers, leaving the past and all that they’d been through behind them.
How they would eventually become just like Rhiella and Mogor, choosing their loyalty to their people above all else, living their separate lives, only to look back with regret when they were old and it was far too late to change anything.
How there was so much she wished to say to him, for him to know. How these last few days―these last few months with him―felt like a dream, and if given the chance she would do it all over again, if only to be by his side. How she was tired of having to say goodbye to him so many times. Already she’d said so much to him, and yet it felt like it would never be enough.
But Allura wasn’t thinking about any of that.
All she saw was Lotor, right there in front of her, holding her close to him and looking at her in a way that she knew was mirrored in her own expression. Nothing else mattered. It was just the two of them.
As the song came to a close, Lotor noticed something past her shoulder and his face turned grim. “President Desto is here,” he whispered.
Allura followed his gaze, seeing the Pinto Sentian waiting for them among the crowd. The older woman regarded them solemnly with her dark eyes before walking away, prompting them to follow her. Allura turned back to Lotor and they let go of each other.
“Shall we?” she suggested, keeping her voice low. He nodded.
Though there were still some stares and whispers directed their way, the attention of the audience gradually drew elsewhere as more couples took to the floor and music went on. Allura and Lotor navigated their way through the crowd side by side until they stopped in front of Desto, who stood in one of the shadowy corners of the room, far away from prying eyes.
“Your Imperial Majesty, Your Highness,” she greeted them with a bow.
“Madame President,” Allura said, dread creeping into her once again. “Is there something you would like to tell us?”
“Where is Princess Malocoti?” Lotor added.
“I wouldn’t go after her if I were you.”
“What are you talking about?” he asked, his voice darkening.
Desto hesitated. “I was ordered to come fetch you, to tell you to follow me because Malocoti asked to meet with you, but she has said nothing of the sort. You are walking into a trap. This event tonight, it was all my idea, a ploy, a setup in order to draw you away and distract everyone else from what is really going on behind the scenes.”
She took a deep breath. Her manner, once always so serious and critical, was now anxious and hurried.
“You must know, everything I did, it was the only way my planet could be saved from the brink of collapse. I need what they promised me, to free my people from financial ruin and debt, otherwise they will only suffer more.”
Allura’s blood froze the more she heard Desto speak. There was that feeling, a premonition trying to warn her of something. Time and time again her grandmother’s words to trust her gut had inspired her to make many life-changing and downright frightening decisions these last few months, but she wasn’t the only one. Hunk too had shown this way of thinking, and on multiple occasions had shared just what he thought of other people.
The princess swallowed, clenching her fists. Hunk had said rather vehemently that he did not like Desto, that she made him feel uneasy. Allura would trust her friends with her life, and she knew now to heed her young friend’s gut feeling.
She looked up at Lotor, and seeing the expression on his face, she knew that he understood her.
His eyes flashed as he turned back to Desto. “It was you,” he realized, his tone lowering dangerously. “You are the mole.”
Desto’s expression turned grim, but she did not respond.
“You do not even try to deny it,” Allura said, clenching her jaw. “It really is you, and all along I was so sure that it was Do-Tarn. He left the opera early that night, but…” Her eyes widened. “Now I remember. You left, too. You are the one who commissioned the weapons, then framed Do-Tarn in order to cover your tracks.”
“I told you once, Princess,” Desto said bitterly. “That everyone has something to gain from a war between the Alteans and the Galra.”
“And you seek gain in the form of war profiteering,” Lotor growled.
“You have no right to judge me,” the Pinto Sentian argued in vain. “Everyone has heard the rumors of your responsibility for the destruction of an entire planet, Emperor. You do not care for the lives of others.”
“You do not know anything about me,” he said angrily, baring his fangs.
Desto then turned to Allura desperately. “Princess, surely you can see where I am coming from. You too would do anything to save your people. We understand each other, you said so yourself. We are friends.”
“I thought so, once,” Allura admitted, the rage building up inside of her. “I wanted to believe that you had no fault in this, that you were innocent, but now I see that I was wrong once again. Do not dare compare yourself to either of us, Madame President. You have sunk to a level far too low for that.”
The older woman looked like she had expected this, though she still seemed disappointed. “Very well,” she said. “I know I will never be redeemable in your eyes. In the meantime, you ought to worry about the safety of Malocoti.”
“What did you do?” Allura demanded.
“Only what I must.”
Allura was about to respond in anger, but then she felt Lotor’s touch on her arm, and she looked up at him.
“Allura,” he said quietly, though there was fury in his eyes as well.
She sighed and nodded. “I know. Let’s go find her.” She turned back to Desto. “Our conversation is not finished, Madame President. We will deal with you when we return.”
“If you return, you mean,” Desto replied. “You had better hurry if you want to find Malocoti. I believe she walked out the back doors.”
Ignoring the threat, Allura exchanged glances with Lotor, and the two of them left the ballroom together and headed down the corridor towards the rear exit of the museum. The building was so large that it took some time to navigate, even as they hurried along, but finally they found the exit and were met with the chilly night air of the city, surrounded by dark alleyways that snaked in between the magnificent structures of the capital.
Still there was no sign of Malocoti, and for a moment Allura worried that Desto had lied to them. That was until they heard a commotion farther down the dank and dirty alleys, coming from only a short distance away. She and Lotor crept along the side of a warehouse as the noise grew louder.
Right as they were about to turn a corner, Lotor stopped abruptly in his tracks, reaching behind him to take hold of Allura’s waist and motion for her to come closer.
“What is it? What do you see?” she whispered, putting a hand on his arm.
His eyes narrowed as he peered around the corner. “Ultra Droids,” he muttered. “About half a dozen. And I see Malocoti as well.”
As if on cue, the Krellian princess’s voice rang clear in the smoggy night. Her tone was colored with confusion, and she was clearly very drunk.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked. “Desto is supposed to be here.”
At first none of the robots responded, and as Allura crept closer to Lotor to get a better view, leaning against him, she saw one of the droids grab Malocoti’s arm.
“What are you doing?” she demanded, trying to wrench free, but the droid’s grip was unyielding. “Unhand me this instant!”
“You will come with us,” it told her in its mechanical, bone-chilling voice.
“Let me go, you’re hurting!”
“Lotor, we have to do something,” Allura whispered to him urgently.
He looked over his shoulder at her. “Those droids will not go down without a fight,” he warned her quietly.
Allura smiled. “I think we know each other well enough by now―I always come prepared.” And from the folds of her dress she produced her staff, pressing a button to extend it.
Lotor returned her smile. He looked around the corner again, and before reaching for his sword hidden underneath the cape around his waist, his hand sought Allura’s. “No matter what happens, we watch each other’s backs.”
She squeezed his hand reassuringly. “Deal,” she said.
And then, brandishing their weapons, they stepped out of their hiding spot, drawing the attention of the Ultra Droids.
“Allura? Lotor?!” was all Malocoti managed to get out before the droid who had her captive dragged her off to the side while the other five charged.
Staff in hand, Allura met them head on with Lotor always in her sights. Stabbing, hacking, and slashing they went, severing the robots’ limbs or heads from their bodies. Still they kept coming, crawling or limping towards them despite their slowly failing systems.
It wasn’t before long that they were completely surrounded. Allura felt Lotor behind her as they stood back to back, their weapons raised, and outside of the circle one of the droids continued to hold Malocoti captive, though she was too afraid to try and break away this time. Her heart pounding, Allura glanced over her shoulder at Lotor.
“Release her now,” he threatened, swinging an arc with his sword to keep the droids at bay.
“Enough of this,” a female voice then spoke in an almost bored manner.
Allura spun around, searching for the source of the voice. She heard the whirring of a weapon charging, the loud zapping noise of a stun gun being fired, and before she knew it her body went numb all over and she collapsed onto the ground as everything went black.
When Allura awoke, it was to the irritating feel of a harsh, white light shining upon her closed eyelids, making her wince and furrow her brow, but her body and her limbs felt far too heavy to even raise a hand and block out the light. Despite the cold, hard ground beneath her, she was tempted to fall back into unconsciousness.
With difficulty her eyes slowly fluttered open to see a dank, dirty, gray ceiling above her. She couldn’t remember where she was or how she got there. Was this all a dream? Was she back in her bedroom on Altea, lying beneath the covers as the early hours of the morning crept in?
Then it came back to her. The soiree, Desto, the droids, Malocoti, Lotor―
Allura quickly sat up and instantly regretted it as a throbbing pain pierced the back of her head. She winced as she gingerly rubbed it with her palm, feeling a small but noticeable welt.
“Took you long enough. I was beginning to worry you’d never wake.”
A young woman’s voice echoed throughout the room. Besides the one bright light shining upon her head, Allura could see nothing else. It was dark, and the space around her seemed infinite, as if she were stuck in this eerie spotlight in the midst of the shadows forever.
As if there was no way out.
One pair of footsteps sounded somewhere to her right, and she whipped her head around to find the source, once again grimacing at the pain in her head. All but the woman’s chest and face emerged from the black, revealing the loose and colorful clothing she wore. Allura got to her feet as swiftly as her body would allow her, now on high alert.
“Welcome back, Your Highness,” the woman said smoothly.
“Who are you? Where am I?” Allura demanded. “And what have you done with Lotor and Malocoti?” She then reached for her staff only to find that it was missing.
“Looking for this?” The woman held up her weapon, still extended, and turned it over in her hands idly.
“I will not need it in order to take you down,” Allura retorted. “Now answer the question before I make you.”
“I think you will want to reconsider that idea, Your Highness.” Then the woman spoke into the darkness. “Bring him in.”
A doorway appeared with a hiss and in walked Lotor, forced into the room, his arm held in a vice-like grip by the claws of a much larger Galra whom Allura had never seen before. An eye patch covered where his right eye used to be, his purple fur and batlike ears were shaggy and unkempt, and he wore a dark cloak that covered him from head to toe.
Allura’s and Lotor’s eyes met. Seeing him alive and unharmed nearly made her knees buckle both out of relief and fear.
“Lotor,” she whispered, her shoulders sagging.
“Allura,” he returned, his voice hushed. “Are you hurt?”
She shook her head, then addressed the woman, clenching her fists. “And what of Malocoti? What have you done to her?”
“Relax, Princess, we have returned her to her hotel suite,” the woman answered lightly, “where she will wake up and be none the wiser about the events of tonight. She will not remember a single thing. You know this of course, Your Highness, you have spent plenty of time with her while she was intoxicated.”
The more the young woman spoke, the more Allura began to realize she recognized her voice. Once again she looked at Lotor, who remained clear on the other side of the room from her, her eyes widening, before turning back to their captor. “It’s you,” she breathed, taking a step forward. “I know you.”
“Have we met before?” The other sounded genuinely curious. “Well, I suppose you will have heard of me at one point. My younger brother has a habit of running his mouth needlessly.”
With that she finally stepped out of the shadows and into the light. The first thing that shocked Allura was how innocent this woman looked, and how young, too, around her age. Her countenance was unassuming, her long, blonde hair tied back into two ponytails, and her face was―
“You are an Altean,” Lotor said, taking the words from Allura’s mouth. “You are Bandor’s sister Romelle.”
“So you two have heard of me,” Romelle remarked with satisfaction.
“You are the one the Puigian Qal was working for,” Allura spoke, and her blood began to boil with rage. “You are the one responsible for the attacks.”
“I cannot take all of the credit.” Romelle then nodded to the Galra holding Lotor. “Can I, Sendak?”
Before Sendak could respond, Lotor cursed at him. “You traitor,” he spat, wrenching free from his grip. “You have betrayed your people and the Galra Empire.”
“Of course I did,” Sendak growled in a blunt, harsh voice. “After you banished me upon taking the throne―after you did this to me!”
He ripped off his cloak, and to Allura’s horror, revealed that he was missing an arm.
“I was meant for greatness!” Sendak went on, bellowing. “I was a mighty warrior, and you took everything from me!”
“You have always been so loyal to Zarkon, Sendak. So brave, and yet so incredibly stupid,” Lotor snarled back. “I banished you because you turned against me at the Kral Zera. I cut off one arm, and I would gladly sever the other.”
Sendak roared in anger and raised his large, clawed hand to strike.
“Don’t touch him!” Allura screamed, stepping forward, her entire body tense and ice cold with fury and fear. “Don’t you dare lay a hand on him!”
Romelle sighed in annoyance at the dramatic scene. “Leave, Sendak.”
“But we agreed to do this together!” the Galra protested angrily, advancing on the small Altean and towering over her. “You promised me my revenge!”
“Not when you are behaving like a child,” she retorted, lifting her chin at him and trying to appear unintimidated, though she stiffened and her hand hovered over one of the two guns strapped to her side. “Now go. I will handle this.”
Sendak bared his fangs, growling, but did as he was told and roughly pushed past Lotor to leave the room. The door shut behind him and Romelle sighed again.
“He is far too unhinged and unpredictable to be trusted completely,” she said, mostly to herself. “Though I must admit the Galra can be useful at times, the violent brutes that they are.”
“I take it he was the one who tried to kill Do-Tarn’s secretary Mirana,” Lotor said darkly.
Romelle nodded and looked over Lotor as if noticing him for the first time, her lip curling in disdain. “Because of his missing arm he failed his task, no thanks to you, Emperor.” She said the last word as if it left a bad taste in her mouth.
“You deceitful, cowardly girl,” Allura interjected furiously. “It was the two of you conspiring together this entire time, both the Alteans and the Galra, and all the while you tried to frame both of our planets to start a war. How could you do it? How could you end the lives of thousands of people and feel no remorse? What tragedy did you suffer that would make you do such a horrible thing?”
Romelle blinked at her, genuinely surprised. “There was no such tragedy, Your Highness,” she answered simply. “All we want is to make money. Money and power, and we roped in President Desto to accomplish just that. She helps us start a war between Altea and Daibazaal, we make money off of selling weapons, and in return she gives us information and influence on the Universal Coalition.
“But I must admit I was very impressed by you, Princess, despite the fact that you ignored my little brother after getting his hopes up.”
“That was all part of your little plan, wasn’t it?” Allura retorted. “Find a way onto Altea using your own family, plant Galra explosives inside City Hall, murder all of those innocent people… You even went so far as to break into the police archives and steal the evidence.”
Romelle smiled. “I never should have underestimated your intelligence, not even Emperor Lotor’s, though Galra he may be. I never could have predicted your proposal to give him a fair chance to prove his innocence after the first attack, nor your stubborn diligence to carry on with the investigation when Count Do-Tarn had the idea to have you two work together. An annoying obstacle in our plan, that was,” she added, rolling her eyes. “But it made framing him all the easier. After that, it was only a matter of pinning the Alteans and Galra against each other again.”
“You did all of this to start a war and reap the benefits of the suffering of others,” Lotor thundered. His shoulders were tense and his claws were extracted. “You would have the blood of Allura’s people and my people spilt all for the sake of making money.”
“Why yes, Your Imperial Majesty, and our very last step in the plan was to kill you,” Romelle acknowledged, nodding towards him. “We were to get you alone tonight, kill you, and your people would have no choice but to accuse the Alteans for your murder. As it happens, we got you and the princess together, another thing I could not have predicted, but I am not opposed to killing you both.”
Allura swallowed, her heart pounding in her chest. No, Lotor was not going to die. She would not allow it.
“Let Allura go,” Lotor snarled, advancing towards Romelle. “Or I’ll kill you. I will kill you and everyone you have ever―” He stopped in his tracks when she raised her weapon, but instead of pointing at him, she aimed it right at Allura instead.
“Stop right there,” Romelle said quickly. Allura saw her clutching the gun so tightly that her knuckles went white and her face went pale. It was clear that she was in fear for her own life, and she spoke with false bravado, her voice trembling slightly. “I would choose your next words very carefully, Emperor. We wouldn’t want my finger to slip and accidentally pull the trigger, now would we?”
Murderous intent shone in Lotor’s glowing eyes, but he stood still and did not move while Romelle’s gun remained on Allura, whose mind was reeling. In a last-ditch effort for the other woman to listen to reason, the princess raised her hands and took a step forward.
“Romelle, please,” she began, trying to keep in control of her voice and not startle Romelle so as to set the gun off. “You must let us go. Starting a war will result in the deaths of countless lives. It has happened before, and it will happen again. If money and power are what you want, there are other ways to go about this.” When Romelle did not answer, Allura grew desperate. “Please, let us go. Killing us will only make us martyrs. Is that what you want?”
Romelle was silent, by some miracle actually taking Allura’s words into consideration, and she slowly lowered her weapon. Allura couldn’t help the hope that sparked in her chest, positive that she could convince Romelle and they could put an end to this.
“You are right,” the young Altean said slowly. “It would make the two of you martyrs, and the results of your deaths would only cause further confusion. I cannot allow that, not when I have come this far.”
Her jaw set determinedly, then she aimed the gun at Lotor, who flinched.
“Killing him should be enough,” she reasoned.
“Wait!” Allura cried out, keeping one hand raised as she took another step forward. “Romelle, listen to me! It does not have to end like this!”
“I will not allow anyone to foil my plans any longer!” Romelle shouted.
“Then take my life instead!” Allura insisted, tears springing to her eyes. She clenched her fists. “If you must end someone’s life tonight, let it be my own! Please… just let him go.”
“No,” Lotor immediately interjected, and he addressed Romelle. “Kill me if you must, but Allura goes free.”
“Lotor, don’t!” Allura begged.
“If this is the way it ends, then so be it,” he said. “Go ahead and kill me, but you will spare her life and release her. Please.” His voice turned rough, and he sounded less angry and more like something akin to fearful, maybe even desperate. “Before you kill me, let her go. Do not make her watch.”
“No, please…” Allura whispered, the tears threatening to overflow.
All the while Romelle watched this exchange between the two of them, and a look of suspicion formed on her face. Then her eyes widened and she glanced back and forth between them.
“I had thought it strange that you two continued to work together, even after all this time,” she began, realization coloring her voice. “How you always seemed to be next to one another, and those rumors that began after he went missing…”
She trailed off, then stared at Lotor, gawking at him.
“You’re in love with Princess Allura,” she realized. “Aren’t you?”
Lotor did not reply, but he didn’t need to, for his silence was answer enough. Romelle let out a harsh, incredulous laugh.
“This is rich!” she exclaimed. “A Galra falling in love with an Altean, how more sacreligious can you get! It is against the very laws of nature!”
She laughed again, then shook her head before regarding Allura sharply.
“As the princess of Altea, you have sworn your life and loyalty to your people. Do you still hold true to your promise?” she asked.
“Always,” Allura answered immediately, for despite her honesty, she was also willing to say anything to save her and Lotor’s lives. “I would do anything for my people. That will never change, not for as long as I live.”
That seemed to satisfy Romelle, and a small sadistic smile pulled at her lips. “Hm. Well then, here is your chance to prove it, Your Highness.”
Then she gripped the gun by its short barrel and extended the handle towards Allura, who furrowed her brow in confusion.
“What―” she began.
“Kill him,” Romelle told her. “And then I can blame you for his murder and the Galra will declare war against you. In return, your life will be spared, and you will have proven your loyalty to your people. It is a gracious offer, Princess.”
Fear gripped Allura as she stared at the gun. She shook her head. “No,” she said, her voice breaking as she looked back at Romelle. “Don’t make me do this.”
“If you do not do this, I will,” Romelle said, producing the second weapon from her holster. “Either way, the emperor is going to die, it was the plan all along. And wouldn’t it be merciful to have him die at your own hands rather than someone else’s?” When Allura did not respond, she added furiously, “Take it!”
Wordlessly Allura took the gun with shaking hands. It was small and light yet seemed to weigh a ton in her palms.
“I will count to three,” Romelle warned her. “If you fail to shoot him, I will do it myself. One…”
Allura could not say or do anything, only stand there and stare down at the weapon, her heart in her mouth and on the verge of helpless tears.
“Two…”
“Allura.”
Lotor’s voice rang clear through the commotion, bringing Allura back and grounding her. She looked to him desperately. Was this going to be the last time she ever saw him? His expression was calm. He nodded slowly.
“It’s alright,” he said softly.
He was about to lose his own life, and yet he was doing everything he could to comfort her in his final moments. Allura wanted to scream, but her voice would not work. Her fingers felt numb as they grasped the weapon. She was cold, frozen, paralyzed with fear and despair, and she didn’t feel as if she were in her own body anymore. All she felt was the ice in her veins and the trigger beneath her index finger.
“Three!” Romelle shouted. “Time’s up, Princess!” She raised her weapon and pointed it at Lotor.
A shot went off. It was the loudest noise Allura had ever heard in her entire life―louder than the fiery blasts inside City Hall, louder than the thunderous explosions inside Senak Opera House―and it would be louder than anything she’d heard since this very night.
She would never forget that sound for as long as she lived.
She would never forget what she had done.
Notes:
Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, as well as the cliffhanger!! >:) Have a fantastic weekend! 💖💜
EDIT 7/23/23: Totally forgot to add a fun fact! The conversation between Allura and Melenor is HUGELY inspired by the conversation between Daphne and Violet in Bridgerton season 1. I like to imagine the song Love is A Choice, which plays during the scene in the TV show, would also fit well in this story! :)
Chapter 16: New Beginnings
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The white blast hit Romelle square in the chest, and instantly she fell to the ground with a thud, her face agape with shock. Golden blood soaked through the pink and white flowy material of her blouse, and soon the young Altean moved no more.
Allura collapsed, landing hard on her knees, still holding the gun tightly in her hands as she continued to stare at the dead body, but then she tore her gaze away when she saw Lotor running towards her. She wanted to go to him, but her legs suddenly felt weak.
“Allura,” Lotor called softly, kneeling in front of her and blocking her view of the body. “Allura, give me the gun.” His hands felt warm against her freezing ones, and she let him gently pry the weapon away from her. He set it aside, then tenderly took her face in his hands, carefully looking her over. “Are you alright?”
Seeing him before her, alive and unharmed, renewed the strength in her body and she managed to speak. “Yes,” she answered hoarsely. “Are you?”
He sighed in relief when she responded to him. “Yes,” he assured her, nodding.
She reached up to touch his cheek. Only seconds ago she had nearly lost him. She needed to feel him, to touch the warmth of his lilac skin, to know that he was really there with her.
“I couldn’t―” she choked out, swallowing thickly. “I couldn’t let you die.”
Her face twisted, her vision blurred, and for once she didn’t try to stop the tears from coming. Lotor’s eyebrows drew together and his eyes turned misty.
“I know,” he said, his deep voice breaking. He drew her in, running his warm palms over her hair and her cheeks. “I know, it’s over now. We’re safe.”
His words, so comforting and heartbreaking that they were, made Allura release a sob as she too reached up to cradle his face in her smaller hands. Everything she’d been holding deep inside, every emotion she’d pushed away and kept hidden from everyone, even from herself, she knew she knew she didn’t have to anymore, not when she was with Lotor.
And seeing the tears well up in his glowing eyes, to see him in such pain, to see him ready to cry with her, finally broke her, and she cried, falling into his chest as they embraced. Lotor held onto her tightly, one hand cradling her head to his chest while the other rubbed her back. Allura pressed her cheek into his armor, breathing him in and holding onto his arms.
Once she started letting it all out she couldn’t stop, and as she listened to Lotor cry softly above her, his teardrops gently landing in her hair, she wondered if it had been a long time since he last let himself cry, too.
They stayed that way, huddled together on the cold, hard ground, hugging and shedding tears and letting themselves release what they’d been holding in for what felt like the first time in an eternity.
Once Allura and Lotor were able to figure out where they were, they made contact with the authorities for help. Romelle and Sendak, it turned out, had taken them hostage in an abandoned warehouse a short distance away from the museum, so it wasn’t long before help arrived in the form of several Dunamis police transports.
As she walked out with Lotor into the chilly early morning, greeted by the smoky pink dawn of the city, Allura was surprised to see not only Zane coming out of the vehicle closest to them, but Coran and Acxa as well. The Galra woman sprinted out to meet them as soon as the bay door opened, reaching out to take hold of their arms, out of breath.
“You’re alright,” she exclaimed, closing her eyes and releasing the biggest sigh of relief. When she opened them she regarded them both with solace and fury. “Don’t ever do something like that again.”
“Life or death situations are inevitable for us, I’m afraid,” Allura quipped half-heartedly in an effort to lighten the mood.
She glanced up at Lotor, whose eyes were still a little swollen and puffy from all of the tears he’d shed earlier (she was certain she looked the same), but he managed to give her a soft smile.
“Don’t joke about that,” Acxa said almost exasperatedly.
Just then Coran came up and hugged Allura tightly. “I’m so glad you’re safe,” he said, and he looked and sounded shaken. He pulled back, holding her at arm’s length and inspecting her. “Are you hurt anywhere?”
“I’m fine, Coran,” she told him calmly, then she smiled. “Thank you for coming to meet us.”
“It’s nothing to be thankful for,” he said, sniffing and teary-eyed, then he returned her smile. “Now let’s get you two out of here.”
The other police transports stayed put and a team of officers filed out to assess the scene and take care of the body waiting inside. Meanwhile, the ride back to the station seemed endless as Zane asked them question after question while Allura and Lotor sat side by side inside the spacious vehicle.
The princess was exhausted, both physically and emotionally, and the last thing she wanted to do was recount the traumatic event that had just occurred, but she understood that it was best to do so while the memory was still fresh, so she held back any complaints and dutifully answered all of the sergeant’s inquiries.
“So it really was the Alteans and the Galra after all,” Coran murmured at one point. He stood off to the side, absentmindedly stroking his mustache, eyes staring at nothing.
“Yes,” Lotor confirmed grimly. “An ironic twist of events if there ever was one.”
“This Sendak you mentioned,” Zane, who sat across from them, mused thoughtfully. “You say he was one of your commanders?”
“One of Zarkon’s commanders,” the emperor corrected him. “He tried and failed to claim the throne at the Kral Zera a year ago, so that day I banished him and several others who refused to pledge their loyalty to me. You saw no sign of him?”
“None,” Acxa said. Like Coran she too remained standing. “To think he’d been here this entire time right under our noses…” Her luminescent eyes were alight with anger. “If he ever shows his face again, I’ll kill him.”
“General,” Zane remarked. “I don’t know how you do things on Daibazaal, but here on Dunamis we―”
“I’ll help you,” Allura added.
“Princess,” the Dalterion protested.
“Allura!” Coran exclaimed simultaneously.
“What of Desto?” Lotor interjected.
“Once we return, I’ll get an arrest warrant from the court,” Zane promised. “Your testimonies should be more than enough to indict her.”
The officer who sat up front manning the vehicle turned slightly in his seat to address the sergeant. “We’re coming up on the station now, sir.”
The other man nodded, then turned back to Allura and Lotor. “When we arrive you two will be asked to give your accounts of what happened. News quickly spread of your kidnapping, so…” He smiled wanly. “Expect to see the press swarming the station.”
They nodded in acknowledgement, and then Zane’s expression grew serious.
“I just have one more question for you,” he began uneasily. “And I want you to be honest with me.”
“We have nothing to hide,” Lotor said.
Zane nodded, then said slowly, “Which one of you shot Romelle?”
To his surprise, there was no hesitation on Allura’s part, no hiding or reluctance to tell the truth, and she answered evenly, “I did.”
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Coran and Acxa staring at her in shock.
“I did what I had to, she gave me no choice,” Allura went on defensively when Zane too gaped at her, speechless. “She wanted me to take Lotor’s life or she would do it herself, so I took hers instead.”
The shock of having taken another person’s life for the very first time hadn’t fully registered for her yet, and it was possible that once it sank in it would be difficult to process, but at that moment she remained calm and determined. She looked at Lotor again.
And I would do it all over again, she thought. Just as you did for me.
Lotor’s eyes traveled over her before they softened, and she knew he could read what she was thinking.
I know, his gaze told her.
The remainder of the flight was brief and silent as they soon came upon the box-shaped building that was the Duamis Police Department. As the sergeant had warned them, a crowd had formed around the front entrance, most of them made up of the press, but many were citizens as well, gathering around and curious to find out what the commotion was all about.
Fortunately for Allura and Lotor, their police escort opted to land on the roof of the building so that they were far enough away from any flashing holotransmitters and intrusive questions from reporters.
Unfortunately for them, they were instantly met by an entire squadron of officers the moment they stepped through the bay door, weapons out and aimed right at them.
“Princess Allura and Emperor Lotor, freeze and put your hands up!” a woman’s commanding voice boomed through an amplifier.
“What―” Allura barely managed to get a word out before several officers charged at her and Lotor, getting behind them and grabbing their wrists to cuff them together. “How dare you! Unhand us at once!”
“Sergeant,” Lotor called warningly to Zane, who looked just as shocked and furious as they.
“What is the meaning of this?” the Dalterion demanded. He took a step forward to fight off the officers holding them, but another immediately came and pushed him back with their hand on his chest. “These two haven’t done anything wrong! Who authorized this?”
“Stand down, Sergeant.” From the group of officers emerged the chief-of-police, a middle-aged Atlantian female. She held a voice amplifier in one hand, and was clearly the one who’d ordered them to freeze earlier.
“Chief, come on,” Zane protested. “You gave me this case. You assigned me to work with Princess Allura and Emperor Lotor so we could get their help. They are our allies. Do you really want to arrest them after everything that’s happened?”
The chief, authoritative and commanding as she was expected to be, had a trace of sympathy and regret in her eyes. “It’s not up to me,” she answered, and she didn’t look happy about it. She then addressed the two royals. “Your Highness, Your Imperial Majesty, by the authority of the High Council, you are being placed under arrest for conspiracy and treason against the Universal Coalition―”
“What?” Allura blurted out. “You cannot be serious! Can’t you see that the High Council is corrupt?! Desto was working with the people responsible for all of this! She is the one you should be arresting!”
“Take them away,” the chief told the officers grimly.
Allura did not resist as she was marched through the squadron and towards the entrance of the building on the roof, as she knew it would do her no good to cause more of a scene and try to escape, only to incriminate her further. However, that didn’t stop her from continuing to yell at the chief while she and Lotor were escorted away. Rage and desperation filled her voice.
“You must listen to me!” she went on. “You are making a terrible mistake! Desto is only going to cause more damage within the Coalition, and you are letting it happen!” She then looked to Zane. “Sergeant, you must do something!”
The Dalterion looked helpless as he watched them get marched away, and the regret that his hands were tied, that he could do nothing for them, was evident on his face. Allura was unable to say anything more as she and Lotor were forced into the building through the sliding doors, then into one of the many lifts as six officers surrounded them, taking them down to the lower levels, but to where exactly she did not know.
As they rode the elevator in silence, Allura glanced up at Lotor, who stood to her left, and who hadn’t said a word since the officers had grabbed them. His expression was oddly calm, she noticed, and she spoke softly to him.
“Are you alright?” she asked in a near whisper, even though she knew the officers could hear her.
He met her gaze and nodded. “You?” he returned just as quietly. “Are you hurt?”
She shook her head. “No, I am fine. What about you―”
“Quiet,” one of the officers, a tall lanky Olkari, snapped at them. “Detainees are to remain silent while in custody. Those are the rules.”
Allura looked over her shoulder, glaring daggers at him. “Why don’t you take your precious rules and shove them up your―”
“Allura,” Lotor called to her.
She looked back to him and saw admonition yet slight amusement in his eyes. The doors to the lift hissed open and they were marched out onto one of the basement levels of the station, an intimidating, brightly lit corridor filled with holding cells on either side.
The walls were a cold gray, with red, fluorescent particle barriers in every single cell to prevent the prisoners from escaping. Several of the inmates came up to the barrier, watching the newcomers with interest. Some of them hollered and catcalled, some ignored the commotion, and some simply sat motionless in their cots, blank and hopeless stares in their eyes.
That very last part made Allura’s stomach lurch uncomfortably. She had no idea what was to become of her and Lotor now, or how long they were going to stay in this place, but she feared becoming like some of these people.
The officers at least had the decency to unhand the two of them and let them walk on their own. They went to the end of the corridor, which split off into two directions, and as soon as Allura realized that Lotor was being taken to the one to the left and she to the right, she dug her heels into the floor.
“Hang on,” she said shortly. “Where are you taking us?”
“Detainees will not speak unless spoken―” the Olkari began.
“Answer the question already,” she snapped.
He sighed. “We are taking you to separate holding cells. Inside you will be interrogated about the events of last night. You are to give your full accounts of what happened, and then we will decide where to go from there.”
“I am telling you,” Allura said, reaching her limit. “It is President Desto you should be arresting, not us! She is the one who needs interrogating!”
“Listen, Princess, I’m just doing what I’m told,” the Olkari told her irritably. “Sergeant Zane has obviously taken a liking to you and the emperor, but even he can’t disobey orders, especially from the High Council.”
He then nodded to the officers, who continued to urge them along. Allura’s heart pounded in her chest out of fear and worry for Lotor, for herself, for their situation…
What was to become of them?
“Allura,” Lotor spoke her name once more, and still he had a look of calmness and assurance on his face. “Just be honest and tell the truth.” He nodded and smiled softly. “Everything will be alright.”
Allura pursed her lips, then nodded back. The fear was still there, the uncertainty about the future still present, and hearing those words from anyone else at that moment would have felt disingenuous and maybe even a little pandering. But knowing Lotor and the kind of person he was, knowing all that they’d been through together, she knew that she could always rely on him no matter what happened.
Be safe, she silently told him.
You, too, he returned.
Reluctantly, Allura turned to the right towards the seemingly infinite hallway, and looked over her shoulder once more at Lotor as he went to the left. Praying that it wouldn’t be the last time she saw him, she tore her eyes away from him and let the three officers escort her to her unknown destination.
Her final stop, she quickly found out, was one area within the basement that was completely empty. This particular corridor, packed full with jail cells as the previous one, hadn’t another living soul in it. Her cell, like all of the rest, was a very simple one, with only a singular cot and nothing else. This did not bother Allura, for at the very least it was clean and well kept.
Once she was directed inside she turned on her heel to face the officers, and the Olkari immediately pressed a button on a console to activate the particle barrier, leaving a thick, red film between him and Allura.
The princess folded her arms. “Well?” And when the man stared at her, perplexed, she elaborated, “Ask your questions, then. The sooner I answer them the sooner I can leave, yes?”
“It’s not up to me, Your Highness,” he said as he accepted a blue holographic tablet from one of the other officers.
“Or you can ask Sergeant Zane to tell you what I told him,” she added irritably as she watched him scroll through the information displayed on the device, no doubt filled with details of the investigation over the last few months. “Otherwise this is a waste of time. Where have you taken Lotor? And what of Coran and General Acxa?”
“I’ll be asking the questions here, Princess.”
She grit her teeth. “If you hurt any of them, I swear I’ll―” She stopped herself, closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. She opened her eyes. “Alright, then. Proceed. I have nothing to hide.”
The next few hours were nothing short of mind-numbingly grueling and incredibly frustrating as the Olkari made her go over every single detail of last night, having her repeat herself to the point where she began to feel like a broken audio recording. She kept her promise to Lotor to answer every question and recount every event honestly, but despite all of that, the officers still didn’t seem to believe her.
“What was your reasoning for shooting one of your own kind in cold blood?” the Olkari asked.
“I told you,” Allura said with a frustrated sigh as she paced back and forth inside her cell. “Romelle gave me no choice. Either she wanted me to kill Lotor or she was going to do it herself. How could I let him die? So I shot her instead. It was the only way.”
“You were conspiring with another Altean in order to infiltrate the High Council, but then you changed your mind and wanted to take all the power for yourself, didn’t you? You and the emperor.”
“For the last time, it was Desto who was conspiring with Romelle and Sendak! Lotor and I were doing everything we could to solve this mystery of who planned the attacks, ever since the beginning!”
“You’re lying. You two teamed up to start a war between your planets. President Desto has confirmed it.” He lifted his chin, folding his arms. “And we’ve seen no evidence of this Sendak.”
“That is because he escaped! I am telling you, he must have heard the shot and realized Romelle was dead and decided to flee before the authorities arrived. If you want proof of his existence, check the security footage at River Lorn!”
“Sergeant Zane showed it to us already, but that proves nothing.”
“And where is he now?”
“He’s been denied access to see you since your arrest. I’ve been assigned to handle your interrogation.”
Allura groaned in frustration, ready to hurl something, but finding nothing else she instead kicked at the particle barrier. It did nothing to help her situation, but it did make her feel slightly better.
“We are getting nowhere with this,” she fumed.
“That I can agree with,” the Olkari admitted, sighing. “Alright, one last question.”
“What?” she snapped.
“What is your relationship with Emperor Lotor?”
Allura blinked, taken aback at first. When she recovered herself she demanded, “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Only everything, Your Highness. Everyone knows about the ongoing feud between your planets, and yet you claim to have saved his life last night. Why would you do that?”
“Don’t forget about the time she saved him from the opera house,” one of the officers behind him spoke up.
“And the articles written about them,” said another.
Allura rolled her eyes. “It would appear every single person in the entire universe has read those confounded articles,” she muttered.
“I certainly have,” the Olkari confessed, shrugging a shoulder. “So tell us, Princess, what’s going on between you two?”
“Fifty notes that they’re secretly dating,” one of the officers murmured.
“I’ll take you on that bet,” her colleague responded.
“That is enough,” Allura interrupted flatly. She turned on her heel and continued her pacing. “I have humored you for long enough, and unless Sergeant Zane comes to see me, I refuse to answer any more questions.”
The Olkari arched a brow. “Nothing to hide, huh? Then we have no choice but to keep you detained.”
Allura stilled and became silent, for the idea of staying in a place like this for who knew how long was frightening, but she decided then and there that she was not going to aid the police, not when they didn’t believe her and were treating her this way. So she steeled herself and conceded with gritted teeth, “So be it.”
The Olkari was clearly unsatisfied by her further lack of cooperation, but he said nothing more and soon exited the hallway with the other two officers in tow, leaving her alone.
Or at least that was what she thought at first.
Allura had just released a dejected sigh and was about to sit on the cot and rest (for her legs and feet were sore from all of the pacing) when she heard a voice coming from the other end of the hall:
“As far as first interrogations go, you held out impressively well there, Princess.”
Instantly recognizing the voice, Allura let out a groan. “Oh dear gods, not you,” she lamented.
Ignoring the protests from her worn out body, she walked up to the shimmering barrier to spot the source of the voice.
The area was not as unoccupied as she originally thought, for across from where she was and several compartments down to her left, was one cell inhabited by a rather familiar-looking Grekagar with emerald green feathers. He too walked up to the edge of his prison and stared at Allura.
“Yes, me,” Do-Tarn replied smugly, his sharp teeth displayed in a grin. “Look at us, we’re neighbors! How lucky are we?”
Allura clenched her jaw. Even from a distance, the urge to punch that smile right off of his golden beak was strong. “How lucky indeed,” she said sardonically.
“So how are you, Allura?” he asked casually, leaning a shoulder against the barrier and craning his neck to get a good look at her. “Other than getting kidnapped and shooting your fellow Alteans, you’re looking good.”
“I presume you heard everything, then.”
“How could I not? I am only a few doors down, and you spent most of the time yelling. Poor officers. I’ve been on their end before, and let me tell you, your wrath is certainly a sight to behold.”
Allura stared at him, and though she couldn’t see much into his cell, he appeared to be living in more-than-exceptional conditions. “So this is where you have been for the last month.”
“What do you think? Not bad, eh? I would offer you a tour, but…” He tapped the red screen with his knuckles. “It is a downsize compared to my mansion, to be sure, but it has its perks.” With that he produced a steaming cup of tea, drank from it, and sighed contentedly.
“Enjoying favors from the police department, I see,” Allura remarked, raising her eyebrows.
“Indeed. I am a High Council member, after all.”
“You mean ex High Council member.”
He shrugged. “Regardless, even from all the way down here I managed to pull a few strings to get what I wanted, and I will not forget their kindness towards me.” Then his easy going mood quickly faded and grew more sinister, more wrathful as he added darkly, “just as I will not forget who it was that put me here.”
Allura’s hands balled into fists, but she did not care to hear what Do-Tarn had to say anymore, so she decided to go and lie down on the cot where he couldn’t see her.
“Not in the mood to talk? That’s a pity. I don’t get much company down here, you see. But don’t worry, it’s only a matter of time before you realize that you have only me to talk to.”
Grimacing at the thought, Allura shut her eyes, ready for some much needed rest. Right before she fell asleep, her very last thought was of Lotor. But what else was new? Though she fell into a fitful sleep, having troubling dreams that she couldn’t quite remember but knew had to do with being unable to find him, and when she awoke a short while later she was left disturbed and unrested.
It was difficult to determine how much time passed while Allura was stuck in that tiny jail cell. Perhaps due to her royal status, the food brought to her during mealtimes was always extravagant and plentiful, but for once she was in no mood to eat, not in a place like this and certainly not in the presence of Do-Tarn, who ate his food heartily and called for more when he was finished. Prison life suited him well, apparently, at least that of an overprivileged politician, though he didn’t hesitate to constantly remind Allura as to why he was there in the first place.
“I’ve had nothing to do except grow fat and lazy this last month thanks to you,” he would say. “Nothing but eat, sleep, and take a crap in this fancy toilet they’ve given me. Do eat up, Allura, or that food shall go to waste.”
“Have it all yourself, then,” she wanted to spit at him, but she was determined not to entertain him with petty remarks of her own.
She was denied any communication to the outside, could not contact Sergeant Zane or her family, and she still hadn’t a clue where Lotor was. Do-Tarn talked plenty about the Galra emperor as well, aiming to rile her up and make her say something back to him.
“How is Zarkon’s bastard son doing, by the way? Did you stop pretending there was nothing between you two and confess your feelings?” he asked, his tone mocking. “Or did he finally move on to some other unlucky, impressionable young woman with a pretty face?”
Allura lay back on her cot, squishing the thin pillow to her face in an effort to drown him out, but it was no use. Do-Tarn asked many other things about her and Lotor, too, vulgar things that are not worth repeating. They’d finally made her patience run out, and she was about to start cursing at him when she heard two pairs of footsteps making their way down the hall.
Her pointed ears twitched at the sound, and she sat up to see Zane approaching her cell. Next to him was the Olkari intern Twyla.
“Sergeant!” she exclaimed, pleased to see him. She quickly got to her feet and walked up to the particle barrier, fixing her hair and adjusting the folds of her dress. “I was wondering when you’d show. What time is it?”
“It’s late,” Zane answered. “Past dusk, Your Highness.”
“Already? Then we haven’t another moment to waste. Have you come to release me?” she asked eagerly. “How is Lotor? And Acxa and Coran? Have you heard from my family?”
But when she saw the look on his face, her good mood instantly faded.
“What is it?” she asked apprehensively. She looked back and forth between him and Twyla, who also wore a disheartened expression.
“Princess,” Zane began reluctantly.
“What is it?” Allura repeated, an edge to her voice.
He exhaled. “Well, I have some good news and I have some―”
“Do not leave me in suspense, Sergeant,” she cut him off. “Whether the news is good or bad, I shall determine that for myself.”
Zane raised his hands in concession and nodded. “Your friends and family are fine. They heard about your arrest and are worried about you, but I promise you they’re all safe.”
She nodded back. “And… Lotor?” she asked, biting her lip.
“He’s fine. He’s staying in a cell just like yours on the other side of the station, in fact.”
As soon as he spoke the first two words, Allura’s shoulders sagged in relief. Lotor was alive. He was safe. Though she wished desperately to see him, it gave her some comfort to know he was alright. She wanted to sit back down on the cot, suddenly feeling weak at the knees, but she maintained her composure and asked quietly, “You saw him?”
Zane’s red eyes softened. “Just now, yes. He asked a lot about you, too.”
That made her smile a little, then she grew serious once more. “Sergeant, you are not here to let me go, are you?”
His grim expression returned. “I am here to release someone, just not you.”
With that, he nodded to Twyla, and the young woman walked to the end of the corridor.
“Seriously?” Allura protested in disbelief, watching Twyla as she pressed a button on a console, prompting the particle barrier to disappear and allow Do-Tarn to exit. “Why him of all people?”
“The chief got a call a few minutes ago,” Zane explained, and he too appeared displeased. “President Desto and Princess Malocoti have pardoned him and reinstated his position on the High Council. And you, Your Highness… you and Emperor Lotor are to stand trial for treason against the Universal Coalition.”
“This is ridiculous! How can―” Allura stopped herself when she saw Twyla returning, this time escorting the count. The Grekagar stopped when he arrived in front of her cell.
“What an unexpected turn of events!” he crowed, and he looked very happy about this situation indeed. “Only a month ago you looked on as I was hauled away and humiliated in front of the entire universe. Now I stand on the other side. How ironic, wouldn’t you agree, Allura?”
She glowered at him. “You got your wish, then, didn’t you?”
“Don’t be so sure,” he told her, and he bore his sharp teeth in a wide grin. “I will gladly return to my seat on the council, and once I do―what was it you said to me? That you would do everything in your power to bring me down? It feels like a lifetime ago, doesn’t it?”
Allura did not answer, clenching her fists and wishing with everything she had that she could reach the particle barrier and throttle Do-Tarn where he stood.
“That is just what I am going to do, Princess,” the count went on. “I am going to return the favor. Once I get out of here, once I am a free man”―he released a contented sigh―”once I’ve got my life back, I am going to make sure you and your traitorous Galra pay for what you’ve done. And do you think I will stop there? Oh no, Allura, this is only the beginning. I’ve got something very special in mind for you two.”
“That’s enough,” Zane interrupted. “Do you want to get out of here or not?”
“Gladly,” Do-Tarn answered, a satisfied smile on his face. “Thank you for your service, Sergeant. Your treatment of me has much improved since you arrested me a month ago. I haven’t forgotten, you see. So don’t you forget it.”
The sergeant’s jaw clenched, clearly having picked up on the threat, yet he would not let the count get the best of him.
“Shut up and get out of here already,” he warned him, “before I put you back in your cell.”
“As if you would disobey a direct order from your superior,” Do-Tarn scoffed. “But I can see when I am no longer welcome.” He turned back to Allura and smirked. “See you tomorrow, Princess.”
Allura continued to glare at him, refusing to respond and standing defiantly. When Twyla and Do-Tarn walked away and were finally out of view, however, she sighed exasperatedly, taking a turn about the small cell and running her hands through her hair.
“Princess?” she heard Zane call cautiously.
She looked over at him, then felt shame overtake her. She pursed her lips, contemplating what to say. “Sergeant,” she began uncertainly, “it was never my intention to get you involved this much.” But to her surprise he shook his head.
“I’ve met plenty of people like the count before. They never have any shortage of things to say, but they also have no spine.” He smiled reassuringly. “He doesn’t scare me.”
“Things are looking… quite bleak, aren’t they? At least from where I stand.”
He shrugged. “Maybe you need a change of perspective,” he suggested.
She smiled wanly. “Unless you can come up with a solution to get me out of here, I think such a change is unlikely. The High Council has officially taken control of the situation again,” she mused bitterly. “Though I suppose I should not be surprised at this point. And just when I thought things were finally over…” She sighed. “Malocoti does not remember anything from last night, does she?”
“Not a thing,” Zane confirmed.
“She has no idea Desto set her up, nor that Lotor and I were kidnapped,” the princess realized. “And because of that she’s going to go along with whatever Desto says.” Her mouth set in a straight line. “Had Malocoti remembered what happened, she would have been our last chance to get us out.” She paused. “Is there anything we can do to pin Desto down?”
He shook his head dejectedly. “I’m afraid not. She holds all the power now. She’s untouchable.”
“But she confessed everything to us,” Allura argued, her brow furrowing. “She said outright that she was the mole, and she even admitted to having tricked Malocoti and the two of us in order to lure us into a trap.”
“It’s not enough. Romelle is dead, Sendak is missing, Malocoti has no memory of last night, so there is no one else to back your claims. It’s your word against Desto’s, and right now she’s fixed on turning the public against you. If she succeeds, it’s not going to look good for you and Emperor Lotor tomorrow at the trial.”
Zane fell silent, watching Allura as she began to pace again.
“Your situation does seem pretty bad, doesn’t it?”
Allura raised an eyebrow. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
He smiled. “No, but maybe this will.” And with that he glanced over his shoulder, checking on the security camera some distance behind him, attached to the wall. Moving to the side and turning his back directly towards it, he faced Allura and took something out of the pocket of his uniform.
The princess glanced at it, then back at him. “What are you―”
He raised a finger to his lips and shook his head slightly. Slowly and discreetly, he reached for a button on the console and pressed it. A rectangular opening appeared inside the particle barrier, far too small to escape from, but big enough for Zane to slip his hand through and give Allura the object. She accepted it, and realized that it was an earpiece. She looked up at him, astonished.
“Change of perspective,” he told her quietly, his smile returning. “Don’t worry, Your Highness. I’ve got a plan.”
Allura furrowed her brow. “What sort of plan?” she asked, keeping her voice down.
“I can’t tell you everything, and even now I’m not a hundred percent sure if things are going to work out for all of us. I may not be able to get you out of here tonight, and I may not be able to stop the trial from happening tomorrow, but I think there’s still one more thing I can do, and I’m going to do everything I can to help. Just trust me on this.”
Though she was uncertain, she nodded. “Is there anything I can do?”
“Put in that little earpiece, of course. Other than that, you’d better get some rest. You’ve got a big day ahead of you.”
He inclined his head to her, then at last turned around and went back the way he came, leaving Allura officially alone. Carefully she inspected the little device in her hand before inserting it into her ear, putting a hand up to it as she walked away from the particle barrier and farther into her cell, out of view from the camera.
“Hello?” she spoke softly. “Is anyone there?”
At first there was no response. Then―
“Allura.”
To hear that voice again after an entire day of being apart, Allura was so overcome with relief that she finally had to sit down, resting on the cot as a sigh escaped her. “Lotor,” she breathed. “Are you alright? Did they hurt you?”
“No,” he assured her. “And you? How are you?”
“Brilliant,” she offered half-heartedly.
“I asked the sergeant to find a way for us to talk. I know it was a risk, but I… I needed to hear your voice.”
Allura’s cheeks warmed and she smiled. “It is good to hear from you,” she said.
“You, too. I take it the sergeant brought you up to date on everything?”
“Yes, he was just here. He told me about the trial tomorrow. He also said he has a plan, though he would not tell me what it is.”
“He did not tell me, either, but truthfully I am not too concerned.”
“Really?” she asked, surprised.
“It is because of you that I was willing to put my trust in him in the first place,” Lotor reminded her. “Things may seem uncertain now, but there may still be a chance. There may yet be hope for us. Do not give up, Allura.”
Allura blinked once, amazed, then a small smile pulled at her lips. “You really have become quite the optimist, haven’t you?”
“I suppose you rubbed off on me,” he answered, and she could hear the smile in his voice.
Her smile widened and she closed her eyes, basking in the soft, soothing sound of his deep voice and imagining him next to her. How she wished he was there with her now, if only so she could see him smile.
The pleasant feeling soon faded, however, and she slowly opened her eyes. “Lotor,” she said.
“Yes, Allura.”
“What do you think will become of us? Not just with the trial, but… us.”
Lotor did not answer at first, contemplating her question. “I wish,” he began slowly, his voice quieting further. “I wish for things that I cannot have. Ever since I met you, I realized just how many things I had been missing in my life, things that I wanted desperately, despite the fact that I knew I could never have them, not in the way that I could have them with you.”
“Lotor…” Her cheeks heated up even more.
She could hear the warm fondness in his voice. “And you? What is it that you wish for, Allura?”
“I wish…” She hesitated. Though she’d said so much to Lotor these past few months, had pushed herself to be honest and open with him, it was still difficult to say what was truly on her mind. Even now, she battled internally with herself, trying to decide if it was worth it or not.
But she knew she needed to tell him. She needed to let herself be vulnerable with him, for he had done the same for her time and time again.
“I wish we could stop worrying about the next time we have to say goodbye,” she said. “That for once we didn’t have to think about when it’s all going to end.”
For a moment she’d worried that she’d said too much, for Lotor did not answer at first, but then he spoke, his voice soft and comforting, wrapping around her like a warm embrace:
“Well… there is a first time for everything, right?”
She smiled and nodded, even though she knew he couldn’t see her, but that didn’t matter. “Right,” she whispered.
They fell into a comfortable silence, but Lotor must have been able to hear how tired she was by the sound of her voice, because he soon spoke up again.
“You should get some rest, Allura.”
“I do not know if I can sleep now,” she confessed. “Will you keep talking to me?”
“Of course. What would you like me to talk about?”
She considered. “Tell me about one of your adventures.”
“Very well,” he answered, his voice tender and affectionate. “Lie back.”
Allura did, folding her hands together across her stomach, thankful for the dimming lights in her cell, and closed her eyes. “You’ll stay with me until I fall asleep?” she asked in a near whisper.
“I will be right here,” he promised, just as hushed. “Allura.”
“Yes?”
“I want you to know… that no matter how far apart we are from each other, no matter the distance, no matter―” She heard him draw in a quiet breath. “―no matter what happens to us tomorrow…
“I will always be with you. I promise.”
With her eyes still closed, she pictured him lying next to her, and she smiled. “I promise, too.”
And so as Allura gradually felt the heaviness of sleep overtake her, she heard Lotor begin recalling the time he visited a far-off planet a few years ago, one that contained the ancient remains of a lost civilization, its lands reclaimed by nature, its forgotten cities filled with carvings and depictions of a mythical realm Allura had only heard about in fairytales called Oriande…
Until at last she fell asleep to the sound of his comforting voice.
The following morning, Allura was escorted out of the station by the Olkari officer, who had her transferred to a standard police vehicle to take her to Phylos Council Hall. From the moment she stepped out and was marched towards the assembly chamber and into a private office, she did not see or hear any news of Lotor. She did, however, see her parents, grandmother, and Coran upon entering the office.
“Allura! We were so worried about you,” Melenor exclaimed as she and Rhiella hugged the princess fiercely. Her mother leaned back to look at her. “Are you alright? Are you hurt? You look like you haven’t slept a wink. Dear gods, look at those dark circles under your eyes. What did they do to you?”
“Nothing, Mother. I am alright. What about the others? Are they all safe?”
“Your Aunt Orla and her family are fine,” Rhiella assured her. “They will be attending the trial, as will we.”
“It will be alright, Allura,” Melenor added quickly in an effort to comfort her daughter. “You have done nothing wrong. They will see that. They must.”
Allura smiled and nodded, for she did not want her family to worry. She then turned to her father, who walked up and placed his hand on her shoulder.
“I am relieved that you are safe, Daughter,” he said, and the pain in his eyes was evident.
“I am fine, Father. Really.”
“These people had no right to take you like that,” he added furiously, glancing at the Olkari officer with rage in his eyes. “You do not have to go to trial, Allura. There is another way. You can come home with us, and you will be free under Altean jurisdiction. And if they come after us… we can go to war.”
Allura frowned. “Father, you cannot mean that.”
“I do mean it. I will do whatever it takes to keep my family safe.”
Hearing this from her father saddened her. She shook her head. “I understand where you are coming from, truly, and I am grateful to you, but running away and waiting for a fight to happen will not do us any good in any situation. The right thing to do is to attend this trial and confront the High Council.” Then she added determinedly, “For my sake… and for Lotor’s.”
Alfor’s eyes hardened at the mention of the Galra. He retracted his hand from her shoulder and stepped away from her. “Not this again,” he fumed. “Can you not see that it is because of him that this entire mess began in the first place?”
“Father―”
“If he had not come to Altea, if he had not joined the Universal Coalition, none of this would have happened.”
“It is not Lotor’s fault,” Allura insisted. “After all this time we finally found the real people responsible, and I can promise you, he had nothing to do with it.” She furrowed her brow. “You do believe me, don’t you?”
Her father hesitated. “Of course I do,” he said. “But Allura, regardless of his involvement in the incident, he is not entirely innocent. He is using you to get to me, to cause suffering within our family, I am sure of it.”
Allura opened her mouth to argue, but then stopped herself. In the past she’d always been ready to defy her father, to raise her voice against him until they resorted to shouting, but she knew now that doing so wouldn’t accomplish anything. She needed to be the bigger person. So keeping her cool, she took a deep breath and clenched her fists.
“You are wrong,” she said calmly.
“Allura,” Alfor protested exasperatedly. “Listen to me. You do not know what you are doing, trying to defend this man. You do not even know him, and you are…” His jaw tensed. “You are blinded by your feelings for him.”
She shook her head. “Not everything is about you, Father. I admit there are many things that I still do not know. I do not yet know the full reality of taking on the burden of the throne, of the responsibility of an entire planet like you and Mother do. I do not know or understand the feelings of a parent who is only trying to protect their child.
“I do not know what exactly this grudge is that you have had against Lotor, ever since he first stepped foot onto Altea, and perhaps even before that. I do not know everything about his past, the truth of his lineage, or what he went through during the years of his banishment. I do not know about any of that, and I admit it all with every ounce of humility that I have.
“But what I do know,” she concluded, the confidence within her giving her strength. “Is that I trust Lotor with my life, just as he trusts me with his. I know he cares for me. I know he wants to help me, and I know he would want us to face this trial together.”
She held her ground, looking up at her father with sorrow yet determination in her heart. Seeing this, Alfor’s shoulders sagged as he shook his head.
“You cannot protect him, Allura. Our family, our people ―everyone― is going to be against you two. This trial is evidence of that very fact.”
“I can protect him,” Allura insisted. “And I will. I will protect him from everyone else, and I will do it without question, no matter what they say.” She smiled a little. “After all, it is from you whom I got my stubborn side from.”
Alfor still did not look convinced by all of this, however. She took a step forward.
“This trial is going to happen, and I know that I have the choice to run from it, but I am choosing to stay and fight. I know it will not be easy.” She paused, hesitating. “Mother, Father, Grandmother… the members of the High Council are going to do everything they can to convict me.”
“What do you mean, Lulu?” Rhiella asked, concern on her face.
“There is something you should know.” Allura pursed her lips, then forced herself to speak. “The night Lotor and I were kidnapped, I… I did something, something I never thought I would have to do in a million years, but for the person I care for the most in this universe, I did what I had to.”
A crease formed in between Alfor’s brows. “What are you talking about? Coran, what is she talking about?” He turned to his advisor demandingly, for Coran had remained silent this entire time, the look on his face giving away that he knew exactly what Allura was referring to.
“The High Council will use it against me,” Allura went on, drawing her father’s attention back to her. “And I wanted you to hear it from me first. The truth is, I―”
But she never got the chance to say it, as a pair of doors hissed open and a guard entered, standing at the ready. “I am to escort the Princess to the assembly chamber now,” the woman said.
Allura looked over her shoulder at the guard, her heart pounding in her chest, then she turned back to her family, who stared at her with confusion and fear in their eyes. To her own surprise, she managed to smile at them.
“I am choosing to have hope,” she told them. “Just as you said, Mother. And I know Lotor is, too.”
“Allura…” Melenor murmured, her eyes filling with tears as one hand came to cover her mouth. Alfor took hold of her other hand, grasping it tightly, his face overcome with emotion as well.
“This will not be the last time we see each other,” their daughter promised them. “Everything is going to be alright.” Her smile remained as she gave them one more look, then she turned around to follow the guard out the doors.
As she silently walked down the curved hallway towards the assembly chamber, she looked to her left where a wide window stretched to the length of the corridor, looking out at the city. She stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening in amazement.
It appeared the entire planet had come to attend the trial, that and more. Members of the Coalition, the press, and citizens of Dunamis were continuously making their way inside the building. There were so many, however, that there was no way to accommodate them all inside the chamber, so the majority of the crowd remained outside, even having spilled out onto the street and disrupting traffic.
Needless to say, the trial today was going to be more than a full house. Allura kept walking. The reality of what was about to happen soon hit her in full force, and the fear and anxiety within her increased with every step. Not for the first time she wondered how Lotor was doing, but she knew it was only a matter of minutes before she found out.
The walk to one particular set of doors felt very much like a walk to the gallows, with a feeling nothing short of doom weighing down Allura’s chest as she came to stand in front of it. The guard next to her held a hand up to the earpiece she wore, presumably receiving orders.
She murmured something back, turned to Allura to say, “Right this way, Your Highness,” then at last pressed a button on a console attached to the wall, prompting the doors to hiss open and allow them entry.
Allura hadn’t forgotten how massive the assembly chamber was, not by a longshot. However, the room appeared much smaller now that thousands of people occupied it. From top to bottom the several hundred boxes lining the dome-shaped room were packed with people, some overwhelmingly so to the point that they were in danger of overflowing.
The audience was already alive with animated chatter, voices blending together like the buzzing of insects, and upon the princess’s arrival, shouts and exclamations of recognition reached her ears, though she couldn’t make out what they were saying.
Who knew we were so popular, Allura mused internally as the guard led her to her own box. Perhaps we should tempt scandal more often. Her first thought was to tell Lotor so, for she knew that would make him laugh, and then her second thought was to try and find him in the gargantuan hall.
Sure enough, across from her, clear on the other side of the chamber, another pair of doors slid open to reveal the Galra emperor himself. He too was accompanied by a guard and led into a box alone, and the moment their eyes met there was a passing look of relief on his face, something Allura felt all too well once she saw him.
It had only been a day since they were last in each other’s presence, only a few hours since they’d spoken, and yet it wasn’t enough―certainly not enough given their current situation.
A few levels up above her Allura saw her family, her friends, and several of the Altean court members and advisors having taken place inside a few of the boxes. On Lotor’s side the Galra were arranged in a similar way. Even in a situation like this their people remained divided.
The sharp banging of an instrument echoed throughout the dome, and gradually the chatter from the large crowd died down.
“And now that the accused have arrived, let us begin,” a familiar voice announced, her words amplified clearly throughout the chamber.
Allura looked up to see the rectangular, hovering vehicle in which the remaining three members sat. Desto was in the middle, with Do-Tarn and Malocoti on either side, their backs leaning against high-backed chairs and their hands resting on the ledge of the vehicle.
“The trial of Princess Allura and Emperor Lotor will now commence,” Desto continued, “with Count Do-Tarn, Princess Malocoti, and myself acting as judges, and the members of the Universal Coalition as jury.”
She held a tall staff in her long, gray trunk, presumably the object used to make the banging noise a short moment ago.
Seeing the Pinto Sentian in her place of power, acting as if she hadn’t taken part in the most serious and violent acts ever witnessed on Allura’s planet over the last several hundred years, made the princess’s blood boil, and she noticed that Desto seemed unable to look her way at first, as if too ashamed.
The thought brought her an odd sense of grim satisfaction. She had to admit at least to herself that Desto had indeed managed the feat of making it this far. However, Allura was not about to allow the older woman to feel an ounce of pride over the things she’d done.
“Your Highness, Your Imperial Majesty,” Desto began, addressing Allura and Lotor, though she still did not look at either of them. “You stand accused of treason, of conspiracy against the High Council and Universal Coalition, and for plotting with terrorists in order to start a war between your planets. How do you plead?”
“Not guilty,” answered Allura immediately, her voice ringing clear inside the chamber. “Those are the crimes of your own making, Madame President, not ours.”
The bold statement caused murmurs to erupt throughout the room, though with the thousands of people present, it was impossible to hear what they were all saying.
Desto’s dark eyes flashed and she banged the staff again to quiet down the chatter. “I have only scratched the surface in regards to your wrongdoings, Your Highness,” she said spitefully. “Sneaking behind the council’s back and lying to us, aiding and abetting a fugitive, running from the police, property damage, theft, kidnapping―the list goes on and on.
“Or shall I get more specific? Emperor Lotor,” she said, addressing the Galra. “You openly admitted to killing a Puigian for information. Do you deny it now?”
Lotor’s expression darkened. “No,” he answered in a rough voice. “But it was not for the reason you think.”
“And you, Princess Allura,” the older woman went on. “Two nights ago you murdered one of your own kind―an Altean. Do you deny it?”
At this, not only murmurs, but gasps and shouts burst from the audience, and Allura didn’t need to guess what they were thinking. She chanced at looking where her parents stood, and it broke her heart to see the shock and hurt on their faces.
Ignoring the painful feelings forming in her chest, she tore her gaze away from them and back to where Desto sat, fire in her veins.
“I do not,” she answered.
More protests and yelling arose from the people, but still Allura could not make out what they were saying. Do-Tarn was looking rather self-satisfied by all of this, but Malocoti was different. Allura caught the Krellian princess’s eye, and she couldn’t help but notice that the latter seemed distraught and confused by the situation, as if she couldn’t fathom what was happening.
“Then I believe I’ve made my point quite clear,” Desto said. “Now, with your crimes made known to the Coalition, I move to vote against the princess and emperor, and as punishment give them a lifetime of imprisonment on Dunamis soil.”
Yet even more murmurs echoed throughout the chamber as her words sank in, and the blood in Allura’s veins turned to ice.
“Anything you would like to add, council members?” Desto asked her colleagues.
“Absolutely,” Do-Tarn spoke up. “For attempting to destroy the foundations of the very Coalition we hold most dear, I propose Altea and Daibazaal be expelled and never allowed membership within our society again.” A cold smile formed on his face. “Your planets and people will be blacklisted, and the two of you shall forever remain on this planet.”
At this, the Alteans and Galra rose in an uproar, protesting against such an outrageous conclusion.
“You cannot allow this to happen!” Allura objected, having to raise her voice amidst the yelling.
“If you do, it will mean war,” Lotor agreed angrily.
Do-Tarn shrugged. “Then so be it. That is what you wanted, isn’t it? However,” he added, his smile turning cruel. “If you were to get down on your knees―right here, right now―and apologize for what you did, I might be willing to consider pardoning you.”
Allura grit her teeth. “Never.”
“Suit yourself. I did give you a chance.”
All the while as protests and objections continued to fill the dome, Princess Malocoti remained surprisingly quiet, and Allura turned to her desperately.
“Malocoti,” she began. “You do not believe any of this, do you? Lotor and I have helped you on multiple occasions. We saved your life the night of the ball on Grekagan. We tried to save you two nights ago at the soiree as well.
“It was Desto who set you up. She is the one who lured you into a trap and had you surrounded by Ultra Droids, but we went looking for you. You do not remember, but Lotor and I fought all of them to save you, and we would have succeeded were it not for Romelle, the very person Desto was working for all this time. Surely you cannot think we planned all of this. You must believe us.”
“I…” Malocoti trailed off, clear conflict on her face, but she seemed at a loss for words.
“Don’t answer, Malocoti,” Desto interjected. “She is lying to you.”
“Allura speaks the truth,” Lotor insisted vehemently. “And you are using your power to cover your tracks and place the blame on us.”
“That is enough!” Desto shouted. “You two planned all of this, and for your crimes you shall receive punishment. Now we will let the rest of the Coalition decide, and once they have voted against you, you will remain on this planet as prisoners for the rest of your days.”
“I wouldn’t count on that, Madame President.”
From one of the boxes a voice spoke up, and realizing who it was, Allura frantically searched for the source. Down on one of the lower levels towards the bottom of the dome emerged Sergeant Zane.
“What is the meaning of this, Sergeant?” Do-Tarn asked, raising an eyebrow.
“There’s still one person you haven’t accounted for in all of this,” the Dalterion began, and he stepped aside, allowing someone behind him to come forward, a Grekagar female with sky blue feathers.
“Mirana?!” Do-Tarn called out incredulously. “What in the Mother’s name are you doing here?!”
Allura caught Lotor’s eye, and she knew the hope in his gaze was reflected in her own. Mirana looked uncertain and overwhelmed by the thousands of people staring at her, but Zane gave her an encouraging nod, and she took a deep breath and stepped towards the edge of the box.
“Members of the Coalition, my name is Mirana,” she began. “I used to work for Count Do-Tarn as his secretary before his arrest.”
“This is a waste of time,” Desto cut her off sharply, and she appeared quite anxious. “Guards, take this woman away.”
“She has a right to speak if it has something to do with the princess and emperor’s trial,” Zane insisted. “You must allow her to speak… unless you have something to hide, Madame President?”
Desto glanced about the room, no doubt hearing the mutterings from the members of the Coalition, many of them growing suspicious of the Pinto Sentian. She swallowed thickly, then regaining her serious composure, replied, “Very well. Proceed.”
Zane’s words must have helped Mirana to find the courage to speak, for she now seemed more confident as she continued. “Your Highness,” she said, addressing Malocoti. “Princess Allura and Emperor Lotor are telling the truth. It is President Desto who is lying to you.
“Over a month ago you were invited to the count’s ball and given a tour of his mansion. While he did so, I was given the responsibility of checking all of the rooms to make sure they were suitable for the guests.”
“Yes…” Malocoti said in quiet realization. “Desto and I did get a tour from Do-Tarn, and I remember seeing you there. Then at one point we got separated.” She frowned and looked at the older woman next to her. “And we couldn’t find you for nearly half an hour.”
“She’d purposefully split off from the group, Your Highness,” Mirana explained. “She had orders from Romelle and Sendak to move crates containing Altean and Galra explosives into one of the bedrooms. I caught her just as she was leaving, and―”
“These are slanders!” Desto shouted as she banged the staff, her dark eyes wide with panic. “They are libels! You’re lying! Guards, I order you to take her away now!”
This interruption caused an outrage within the Coalition.
“Let’s at least hear her out!” one voice called.
“Yes, let her speak!” exclaimed another.
Allura was amazed by the commotion occurring. These people really did want to hear the truth, and for once they were choosing to deny the High Council. She sought Lotor again, and he gave her a slight nod, hopeful expectation in his eyes.
“You were there, Madame President,” Mirana went on fiercely, her voice ringing clearly and now absent of any hesitation or fear. “I caught you in the middle of moving evidence meant to frame the count, and you threatened me. You told me all about the organization you worked for, about Romelle and Sendak, and you threatened to have me killed should I ever reveal the truth to the public.
“Well, your threat certainly worked. Over the next month I lived in fear for my life, always looking over my shoulder, afraid to say or do the wrong thing lest they should come after me. Until at last I realized I could not live the rest of my life in silence, so I asked Emperor Lotor and Princess Allura to meet with me.”
She looked at the two of them, sincere gratitude in her expression, before she continued speaking.
“They were willing to listen to me… and they saved my life.”
Malocoti’s brow furrowed. “How do you mean?” she asked.
“President Desto must have long informed Romelle and Sendak of what I knew, Your Highness,” Mirana answered, “and had me followed, for it is Sendak who was responsible for this.”
Carefully she reached up to undo the collar of her blouse which went up to her neck, and revealed, to the shock of the audience, a bandage that covered a large portion of her throat―the blaster wound she received a few nights ago.
Malocoti’s eyes widened as she looked upon the wound, then she addressed the two royals. “Is this true?”
“It is,” Allura replied earnestly. “Mirana asked to meet with us four nights ago to tell us who was really behind the attacks on Altea and Dunamis, but before she had a chance she was shot.”
“The doctors told us she had fallen into a coma due to the blood loss,” Lotor added. “Princess Allura, Sergeant Zane, and I had no idea when she would awake, but we had hope that she would.”
“And I’m here now,” Mirana confirmed, “to tell you all that Princess Allura and Emperor Lotor are innocent. They saved my life! Were it not for them, I would be dead.”
“She speaks the truth, Your Highness,” Zane told Malocoti.
Malocoti pursed her lips, glancing at Desto, who was looking desperate.
“Do not listen to those who only claim to be your friends,” Allura spoke, drawing Malocoti’s attention back to her. “Listen to those around you, to the people who have shown their devotion through action, not empty promises. Listen to the people you have sworn your life and loyalty to.”
The Krellian princess contemplated silently and deeply for a brief moment, and when Allura saw the resolve in her eyes, she knew she’d made up her mind.
“You are right,” she said at last, and she looked around the room at the Coalition members. “And what do the people say?” she asked.
“The Grekagar tells the truth!” some of them yelled.
“Desto is responsible! Arrest her!” called others.
“No, you can’t do this!” Desto protested. “I have served the High Council and the Coalition dutifully for the past six years! My place is here!”
“You served only yourself,” Malocoti corrected. “And your place is inside a prison cell. As for Do-Tarn…” She arched a brow. “I have become all too familiar with your illegal activities as of late. What do you have to say for yourself?”
“That you’ve got nothing on me,” Do-Tarn snapped. “I have a right to my seat on the council, I still have authority here!” He glared at Allura, enraged. “And I will use that authority to make you pay! You and your emperor deserve to be locked up and their planets expelled from the Coalition!”
“Objection, Your Honor!” a young voice called out in the midst of the chaos.
Allura raised her eyebrows. “Lance…?” she murmured.
She craned her neck to see the Earthlings seated in a box near to her family. Lance was leaning over the ledge with his arm outstretched.
“Are you sure that’s the right thing to say here?” she heard Hunk ask.
“I don’t think it is,” Pidge remarked.
“And why are you raising your hand? We’re not in school.”
“Shuddup, Keith.”
“Lance, what are you up to?” Shiro asked uncertainly.
“Just trust me on this!” Lance insisted, then he turned to the High Council. “Your Count-ness,” he greeted Do-Tarn with a grin. “You say that there’s nothing against you, but oh boy, do I got some dirt on you!”
“Who is this child?” Do-Tarn commented with disgust. “And why are we letting him speak?”
“Uh, rude much?”
“Show us, Earthling,” Malocoti said.
“Your Highness, I’d like to present to you… this!” And Lance held up a small external drive before plugging it into a console inside the box.
With Pidge’s help, a large, holographic screen soon appeared, taking up the majority of the dome for all to see. It displayed bank accounts, electronic messages, and invoices dating back to several years, all containing the evidence of Do-Tarn’s blackmail against authority figures, as well as the purchases and smuggling of illegal animals from all across the universe.
“How did you get all of this?” Shiro wondered, impressed.
“When we were snooping through the count’s mansion. I know you told me not to get carried away, but…” Lance grinned sheepishly. “I couldn’t help myself.”
Allura had to smile and shake her head. Lance’s timing probably could have been better, though she couldn’t deny that the theatrics certainly elevated the dramatic moment.
“So?” Pidge spoke up hopefully. “Is this enough to lock up the count for good?”
Malocoti smiled. “I daresay it is,” she replied cheerfully. “Guards, take away President Desto and Count Do-Tarn. They are under arrest.”
“Malocoti, listen to reason!” Desto protested, trying and failing to wrench free from the guards as she and Do-Tarn were dragged away from their seats. “You’re not going to listen to them over us, are you?”
“I am,” the princess answered. “Lotor and Allura have saved my life at least three times now. That is far more than I can say for you, especially since you apparently had me kidnapped by Ultra Droids.”
“That was―that was just an act! They weren’t meant to do any harm!”
“You foolish girl,” Do-Tarn spat. “All of those gifts I gave you, you had better send them back!”
Malocoti rolled her eyes. “If that will make you feel any better, then certainly.”
The crowd hollered and cheered as the two were taken away, soon disappearing through a set of doors and leaving their seats on the High Council for the last time. Allura was impressed by Malocoti. The young woman was capable of more than she realized, even if she still was unbearably annoying when drunk.
Malocoti sharply tapped the staff to quiet everyone down once more. “Well then,” she said brightly as she glanced at the six empty seats next to her. “It appears I am the last council member remaining.”
“Does this mean,” Lotor began cautiously, “that you will let us go?”
“I am afraid it is not that simple,” she told him, though her smile was sympathetic. “You two may have proven your innocence in trying to start a war during these last few months, and you accomplished a great many things during your investigation together.”
“But?” Allura prompted uneasily.
“But we cannot ignore your other crimes: aiding and abetting, breaking and entering, lying to the authorities, stealing evidence from crime scenes, to name a few.”
Allura pursed her lips. Malocoti was not purposefully trying to paint her and Lotor in a bad light, she understood that, so she found she couldn’t blame her.
“I admit we did some… questionable things,” she said slowly. “But it was all for the sake of the investigation.”
“We had no choice,” Lotor added. “There was no way for us to play things by the book once we realized there was a mole on the council.”
Malocoti nodded. “That is true. However, that is not all. We cannot forget the reason this whole mess started in the first place, and that is the feud between your two planets.”
Allura and Lotor exchanged glances.
“Your people have been at a standstill for hundreds of years. It was your very people who used that to their advantage, trying to start a war for their own benefit. It goes against everything the Universal Coalition stands for, and I cannot turn a blind eye to all of the damage it has caused.”
“So you mean to kick us out,” Allura guessed, trying not to let her temper rise.
The other woman shook her head. “It is not up to me. I may be a High Council member, but I am only one, and the very last one at that. It is up to the rest of the Coalition to decide.” She gestured towards the thousands of people seated in their boxes. “If you can convince us that your planets are no longer at risk of going to war, that we can trust you to remain within the Coalition peacefully, then perhaps we can work something out.”
She nodded to Allura and Lotor, giving them a chance to say their piece, and the entire chamber fell into an almost deafening silence as they waited. Allura looked about the room. Delegates and representatives from all over the universe had gathered to attend this spectacle of an event, to receive justice after the tragedies which occurred over the last few months, and to see what was to become of the princess and the emperor.
Raising her head, Allura saw her family waiting expectantly as well, and the pressure of her and Lotor’s decision began to weigh down on her. Her family was depending on her, her friends, her people…
But she didn’t know what to do.
She then looked across from her, at the numerous Galra who stood dutifully as close to their emperor as possible. The purple and black colors were a stark contrast to the Altean blue and white. They were on completely opposite sides of the room, as far away from each other as they could be, just as they’d done for the last few centuries. Perhaps it was always meant to be that way.
Her eyes wandered to the generals, to Acxa, Ezor, Zethrid, and Narti―the women whom she’d been fortunate to get to know and to regard as real friends of hers, friends she could not bear to lose if she could help it. Would she have to remain separated from them forever, all because of something that happened long before any of them were born?
At last she looked to Lotor, who appeared just as at a loss as she. More than anything she wished she could go to him, to comfort him and to be comforted, to at least feel the tiniest sliver of hope that they’d be able to make it out of this mess, to know that they wouldn’t have to keep saying goodbye.
To know that they could stay together.
Then a memory came to her, one that was so precious and coveted that she couldn’t help but replay in her mind. It was the night she’d first arrived on Daibazaal, when Lotor led her up the mountain to show her the night sky above and the cities below.
As she’d stood side by side with him and looked down at the red valley, at the ships coming in and out, at the great black structures alight with glimmering purple, and at the bustling empire that lay before them, filled with the lives of people who had hopes and dreams of their own…
…it was then that Allura had realized that her and Lotor’s people weren’t so different after all, that they had much more in common than she originally thought all those months ago.
A light went on in her brain and her eyes widened. Perhaps that was it. Perhaps that was the solution the entire time, so obvious and yet only now was she able to see it.
Her eyes sought Lotor’s once again, and he might not have known exactly what she was thinking at that moment, but he waited for her to speak nonetheless.
Allura moistened her lips and drew in a quiet breath. “Emperor Lotor,” she began, keeping her voice steady and her gaze fixed on him. “What would you say… to uniting our planets?”
Even from a distance, she could see his eyes widen a fraction, and more whispers and quiet discussions filled the room. Allura could tell that Lotor had not expected this, and even she had not expected it of herself, but as he carefully and sincerely considered her words, his eyes softened and a ghost of a smile appeared on his lips.
“I would say,” his voice low yet clear, “that I am willing to hear you out.”
Allura returned his smile, empowered by his words, then turned to the rest of the Coalition. Her mind was reeling, her thoughts racing from one place to the next. She didn’t have a plan, not really, and depending on how she went about this, depending on how she played her cards, this would either end very well or very badly.
But she had to try.
“Members of the Coalition, Princess Malocoti,” she said. “In order to appease the rest of the universe and promise to keep the peace between Daibazaal and Altea, I propose that the two planets should unite.
“If we continue to fight and remain separate from one another, there will never be peace, and it is only a matter of time before something like this happens again. So I say we join our peoples, put aside any hostility and prejudice, and come together as one.”
An Altean advisor stood from his seat and walked to the edge of his box to be heard. “Princess, I must object,” he said seriously. “I know I must speak for many other Alteans when I say that this proposal is unwise. How can two enemies ever come together? Perhaps your time away from your people has clouded your judgment, and the Galra emperor has been a bad influence on you during these last few months.”
“That is not true,” Allura defended, though she kept her calm and proud composure, looking back at the Altean evenly. “It is the exact opposite. You must think that two people from opposite sides, two people whose fate as enemies had already been decided for them long ago, could never work together.” Allura shook her head. “You would be wrong. It is possible. What Lotor and I did these last four months is proof of that, and in their own twisted way, Romelle and Sendak were proof of that as well.”
The Altean man sat down, clearly humbled, though he remained doubtful, as did the other Alteans present and many other members within the audience.
“Emperor Lotor is a good man,” she went on. “I have learned so much from him, and if it were not for him, we never would have prevented a war with the Galra, nor would I be the person I am today.”
Malocoti leaned forward in her seat with interest. “You seem rather intent on defending him,” she noticed. “I have come to know some of his character, and I would agree with you that he possesses admirable traits, both that of a good man and respectable emperor. But hearing it from you of all people is surprising to me, Allura.” She tilted her head. “Why do you go to all of this effort to fight for him?”
Allura hesitated, for deep down inside, she knew the answer. She’d known the answer for a long time, had felt it building up inside of her since that night on the mountaintop. She never thought she would voice it aloud here of all places, in front of thousands of people who had given her and Lotor their undivided attention.
But if she could do it here, she could do it anywhere. She knew who she was, what she was capable of, and she wasn’t afraid anymore.
She thought about the two choices she had: to end it or to run from it.
Then she realized that there was a third option. There always was. Like everything that happened to her during these last four months, the answer was right there in front of her this entire time. All she had to do was reach out for it―
Allura looked at Lotor and smiled softly at him.
―to face it together.
She kept her gaze steady on him, and his eyes widened in realization.
“I will fight for him,” she said, and though her voice rang clear throughout the chamber for all to hear, those words were meant solely for him. “I will defend him. I will stand between him and the entire cosmos until my very last breath. Because, members of the Coalition―
“I am in love with Emperor Lotor.”
The reaction was instantaneous. If the shocked and amazed outbursts from the audience were anything to behold before that moment, it had increased tenfold. Gasps and exclamations echoed from every box, reached every hidden corner. Someone even shouted, “I knew it!”
The emotion in Lotor’s eyes was unhidden. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to. His bright smile and luminescent eyes were enough to send her heart and stomach doing somersaults, and when he overcame this revelation and maintained his composure, he too turned to address the Coalition and Malocoti.
“Princess Allura is right,” he said. “Alteans and Galra are meant to work alongside each other. The proof of this is clear to see in what we accomplished together, and”―he paused, as if mentally preparing himself to say the next words―”the proof is within my own family.”
He took a deep breath, then looked at Allura.
“I am half-Galra and half-Altean. My mother was Honerva, a brilliant Altean alchemist who married Emperor Zarkon nearly thirty years ago. She was his wife and empress.”
The shock was felt among the audience once more, though Allura paid little attention to them, staring at Lotor as her jaw dropped to the floor.
It all made sense now: the intentionally placed mystery behind the identity of his mother, the way he would always skate around the subject, the fact that he was half-Galra, how he always seemed nervous when talking about it with Allura…
And yet he’d tried to hint at something in between the lines, how he wasn’t surprised about Rhiella and Mogor, how he knew how to read the Altean language, and how he even knew what a juniberry was. How did Allura not see it before?
There was trepidation on Lotor’s face as they continued to regard one another, some remorse and regret for not telling her sooner, but before he could say anything further, Alfor suddenly stepped forward.
“I have heard enough of this,” he interjected angrily, fuming at Lotor. “I was willing to listen to you for my daughter’s sake, but I cannot bear it any longer, not when you continue to omit the truth. You are deliberately hiding parts of the real story, and it is time I came out and said it.”
“Father…?” Allura called out, confused.
He looked at her, hesitating for a brief second, before turning back to Lotor as the fury in his eyes returned. “Yes, Honerva did indeed marry your father thirty years ago,” he acknowledged. “But it was against her will.
“I know this because she was my closest friend. We went to school together. We both wanted to pursue alchemy ever since we were young, but all of that changed when she met Zarkon. He corrupted her, kidnapped her, took her back to Daibazaal, and then killed her as soon as she gave birth to a son. Because of your father―” His voice broke a little, though the anger within him remained. “I never got to see my friend ever again. And you, Emperor Lotor, you are living proof of that.”
“That is a lie,” Lotor insisted, just as enraged. He held onto the ledge of the box in a vice-like grip. “Honerva left Altea to be with Zarkon and chose never to return because she knew her people would never accept the union between an Altean and a Galra. They loved each other, I know they did.”
The frustration and desperation within him, for people to believe him, was palpable. Allura stepped closer to the edge of her own box, gripping it with both hands as she listened.
“Unfortunately…” Lotor’s eyes were downcast as a look of guilt and resentment passed over his face. “Due to the genetic incompatibility of the two races, they were unable to conceive at first, and when they finally did, there was a problem during the pregnancy. Honerva became very ill, and she and I both nearly died during the birth.”
Allura’s heart broke for him as she heard those words, and she even saw a mixture of shock and pity on her father’s face.
“We both survived,” Lotor went on, his voice rough. “But her health continued to degrade over the years. Eventually she died when I was ten years old, and until his death, Zarkon never failed to remind me that I took the life of his empress away from him, though he kept me around for her sake.”
He shook his head slightly as if fighting off a bad memory, before he lifted his head to address Alfor once more, still leaning heavily against the ledge.
“I know how you, your people, and everyone else in this entire universe, must feel about Zarkon. He was a tyrant, a merciless ruler, and perhaps some of you might have even seen him as a monster. When he banished me, he―” He clenched his jaw. “He killed the only friend I had, blamed me for it, and then sent me away for nearly a decade before summoning me back to Daibazaal as he lay on his deathbed.”
Alfor was silent, as was the rest of the Coalition. Malocoti’s hands covered her mouth, and no one spoke a word, so Lotor went on.
“Zarkon built his empire on the bones of his enemies, but I am not Zarkon. For a long time I will admit I was prejudiced against the Alteans,” he confessed. “Not only because of the bad blood between them and my people, but because my mother never had the desire to return to her home planet. She was disappointed in you,” he told Alfor, though there was no mocking or sarcasm in his tone of voice. “She told me that you were once friends, but when she came to you to tell you about her and Zarkon, you would not listen, so she left and never came back. My dislike for your people stemmed both from the Galra and my own Altean mother. But then...”
At last his eyes met Allura’s, and his gaze softened.
“Everything changed when I met Princess Allura,” he said, his voice warm and gentle. “She saved my life. The two of us worked very hard on this investigation, and it is because of her that we were able to find the real people responsible for the attack, and finally expose the corruption within the High Council.”
He smiled sadly, his eyes intently searching her own as he continued.
“My mother’s identity was kept a secret for the rest of her life, and so I too kept her secret,” he said, and Allura knew that he was speaking to her directly, and that he was trying to explain himself to her. “My parents knew long ago that the universe was not ready to accept the union between an Altean and a Galra, but because of Allura, I now believe that it is possible. Only four months ago we met for the first time, but now I cannot imagine my life without her in it.”
His smile grew, hope and happiness in his gaze as he looked at her.
“I am madly in love with this woman.”
The reactions from the audience had become quite predictable at this point, but Allura didn’t hear them. All she cared to hear, all she cared to see was this man standing across from her, so far away from her physically, and yet she’d never felt closer to him. It made her want to risk it all by running to him and taking him into her arms to kiss him senseless.
She beamed at him, the love and gratitude a tender warmth blooming in her chest and spreading throughout her entire body. He nodded to her, encouraging her to speak, and she turned to face Malocoti.
“After everything that has happened,” she said, her voice calm and even. “This only proves that now, more than ever, the Galra and Alteans must unite. You wanted us to convince you that we stand for peace, and this is the way to do it.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one of the Galra commanders, Commander Gnov, rise from her seat.
“Perhaps you’ve forgotten, Your Highness, but our people have been enemies for hundreds of years,” she said. “Whether a Galra or an Altean struck the first blow, regardless someone was killed in cold blood, and a billion more lost their lives over the years of the war that followed. We cannot simply forget what happened, no matter how much time has passed.”
Allura nodded. “You are right,” she replied. “We cannot forget the past, but that is not what I am asking you to do. What I ask of you, what I ask of all of our people”―she looked to the Alteans as well―”is not that we forget the past, but that we learn from it.”
She gazed about the room, determined. “It will not be easy,” she admitted. “The road ahead will be unpredictable and dangerous, but together with Emperor Lotor, I know we can accomplish anything.” She shook her head. “I do not want only tolerance, I want acceptance. Our people were meant to be together.”
She fell silent, and she hadn’t even realized how hard her heart was pounding in her chest until she’d stopped talking. She clasped her hands together in front of her and waited for Malocoti to speak.
The Krellian princess was stunned into silence for a long time, and when she finally recovered herself it was not without astonishment.
“In order to decide your and Lotor’s fates, I will need a moment to discuss with the rest of the Coalition,” she said. “In the meantime, you may wait outside in the hall.”
Even with the Alteans and the Galra the only ones standing by in the corridor, the place was crowded and noisy with chatter, the atmosphere tense and restless.
Allura anxiously paced back and forth, her long skirts swishing around her legs and dragging along the crimson carpet as she marched endlessly, arms swinging at her sides impatiently. Clear on the other end of the hallway was Lotor, and even after all they’d passionately declared inside the assembly chamber, they could not go to one another. Their people still stood visibly apart from each other, refusing to interact or look the other’s way.
“How long has it been?” Allura asked as she walked past her family for the umpteenth time.
“Not ten minutes,” Coran answered.
The princess sighed noisily through her nose. “What is taking them so long?” she muttered. “Surely they must have come to a decision by now.”
“Be patient, dearest,” she heard her mother tell her soothingly. “I am certain it is only a matter of time now.”
“What happens if they say no to your plan?” Darius spoke up, and his parents must have silently berated him, for he quickly protested, “What? I am only asking.”
“Have faith, Lulu,” Rhiella chimed in. “These things always have a way of working out in the end.”
“And no matter what happens,” Melenor added. “Know that we still love you and are proud of you.”
Allura glanced at her mother gratefully. Even after they’d learned what she had done, that she had taken someone’s life, her family was still as understanding and encouraging as always. She really was lucky to have them.
“You have certainly changed these last few months, Allura,” Orla said in amazement, but then she frowned. “However there is one thing I still do not understand. You seem to trust Lotor unconditionally.”
“Yes,” Allura answered simply.
“But how can you, knowing who he is?”
The princess stopped her pacing and looked her aunt in the eye. “Because he was always there when I needed him,” she told her. “And in turn, I wanted to be there when he needed me.”
Orla pursed her lips, and Allura had an inkling that her aunt didn’t one hundred percent approve of her relationship with Lotor, but Allura did not feel negatively towards her. She simply did not understand, and that was alright. She didn’t need to understand everything.
Allura then noticed her father staring at her with a stunned expression. “Father?” she asked cautiously. “Are you alright?”
It took him a while to find the words, and when he did he shook his head in astonishment. “I could never comprehend it before,” he began quietly. “Why you continued to go to such lengths for him, over and over again. But now, seeing the way you look at him, and the way he looks at you…”
He swallowed, his eyes shining more brightly than usual in the golden lights above him.
“You really do love him, don’t you?” he asked. “And he really loves you.”
Allura turned to look towards the far end of the corridor, where Lotor stood. He was surrounded by his generals and commanders, speaking to them in hushed tones, when he caught Allura looking at him. When he saw her, watching her watching him, his eyes warmed and he gave her a comforting smile, which she returned without hesitation.
“Yes,” she said softly. “Yes, I believe so.”
Eventually Allura was able to find enough patience within her to cease asking how much time had passed every few minutes, and she felt great relief when at last a guard walked through the doors and informed them they could come back in.
Everyone returned to their original places, the Alteans and Galra to theirs, and Allura and Lotor to their separate boxes across from each other. Malocoti banged the staff to cease the lively buzz of chatter among the audience.
“After much deliberation, the Coalition and I have come to an agreement,” she announced. “But before I tell you what it is, I must ask you one more thing.” She regarded Allura and Lotor, and for once her expression was quite serious. “I must admit I never saw it coming, the two of you becoming so loyal to one another. It surprised me, and your regard towards each other is certainly a stark contrast to the first time you met with the High Council back on Altea. So I ask you now: if your planets unite, can you two vouch for each other, for all that you’ve done in the past, and will continue to do from this day on?”
There was no hesitation on either Allura or Lotor’s part. “Yes,” they answered simultaneously.
Malocoti nodded. “Then the Coalition has officially decided to―”
“Wait,” Alfor spoke up.
To Allura’s surprise, her father took a stand once more, and at first she worried he was going to object again, but there was no trace of anger or desperation within him this time.
“Might I say one more thing, Your Highness?” he asked Malocoti.
“Of course, Your Majesty.”
The king cleared his throat and needlessly adjusted his clothes, obviously stalling at first, but then the queen reached out to grasp his hand. She smiled encouragingly, and he nodded and squeezed her hand gratefully.
“I must confess that I am a stubborn man stuck in my old ways,” he began, and he cleared his throat again, swallowing thickly. “For a long time I failed to see past my prejudices, and I was intent on hating the Galra for as long as I lived, even when a very dear friend tried to convince me otherwise.
“But now, because of my daughter, I have begun to see not only the good in the people whom I thought were my enemy, but also a chance to unite two races that have been torn apart by war and hate for a very long time. It will not be an easy task, uniting our people, but it is possible. If…” he said cautiously, eyeing Lotor. “That is something the Galra emperor is still interested in.”
Lotor was surprised at this. He looked at Allura, who smiled and nodded supportively, then he looked back to Alfor. “It is,” he confirmed.
Alfor nodded. “Then this old king is satisfied.” And he sat back down.
Malocoti looked very pleased. “I was already confident in what the Coalition had decided,” she spoke up. “But hearing this now only confirms our decision.” She smiled at Allura and Lotor. “After all, it is thanks to you two that this mystery was solved, the terrorists were found and stopped, and a war prevented.
“By order of the High Council and Universal Coalition, we fully pardon Princess Allura and Emperor Lotor, clearing them of all charges―”
Allura gasped in delight, her hands coming to cover her mouth, and the chamber began to erupt into cheers.
“―as well as allow Altea and Daibazaal to remain within the Coalition.” Malocoti grinned. “Congratulations, you two. You’ve saved your people and earned your freedom back.”
Turning towards Lotor to catch his eye, Allura found that he was already looking at her, wearing the happiest smile she’d ever seen on his face. Without another word they both turned to exit the assembly chamber, leaving the joyful ruckus and celebration behind, the sound muffling when the doors hissed shut after her.
Allura lifted the hem of her dress and sprinted down the hallway, her heart pounding in her chest. The building was big and the distance greater than she would have liked, but it wasn’t before long that she reached the halfway point and saw Lotor running towards her.
Without warning she jumped into his arms, clinging to his neck and letting out a laugh when he lifted her up and spun her around. He laughed softly and held her tightly to him, then released a deep sigh into her hair.
As he set her back down they continued to embrace. Allura squeezed her eyes shut, her arms still wrapped around him as she molded her body into his. She reveled in the feeling of him being so close to her again, the familiar tough material of his armor beneath her palms, his strength and his warmth which ignited her entire being.
Eventually they both leaned back just enough so they could look at each other, Lotor’s arms remaining tightly entwined around her waist as she held his face in her hands. Around them they could hear the crowd gradually making their way through the exits and spotting the two royals caught in an intimate embrace, but Allura didn’t pay any attention to them.
Seeing Lotor’s tears made her own eyes well up, and she beamed up at him. “We did it,” she told him. She was overcome with emotion, her voice soft and trembling despite how truly happy she was. “We did it, Lotor.”
“Yes, Allura,” he answered. He reached out to caress her face, then searched her eyes intently. “No more goodbyes?” he asked in a near whisper.
She shook her head earnestly. “No more goodbyes, no more last times,” she promised as she smoothed her thumbs over his cheeks. “I’m in this now, for real.”
Lotor’s face split in a wide smile, the relief and joy radiating off of him in waves. “I love you,” he said.
Hearing those words from him, it was then that Allura realized that from the moment he told her missed her as they talked late one night in the sleeping halls of Castle Doom, and every moment after that, he’d been telling her that he loved her. Maybe he’d been telling her long before, too, and she’d been telling him the same thing.
Allura blinked rapidly and swallowed, her heart in her throat. “I love you, too―”
She barely got the words out when he brought his hand to the back of her neck, bringing her in and kissing her hard. She let out a small sound of surprise before immediately melting and kissing him back, smiling against his lips when he lifted her again and held her close to him.
It was only after he set her back down once more that Allura finally registered the large crowd which had gathered around them, among them the press who held holotransmitters that flashed in their faces, but Allura felt far too happy and carefree to feel annoyed.
Fortunately for her and Lotor, the attention of the press was soon diverted to two people in handcuffs being escorted by guards down the hall. Desto and Do-Tarn looked anything but happy about their situation, and they glared at Allura and Lotor as they stopped in front of them.
“I suppose you think justice has finally been served, don’t you?” Do-Tarn asked them mockingly. “Well now, here is your chance to finally take all of your anger out on me, Allura. Go on. Hit me.”
Allura raised her eyebrows, and exchanging glances with Lotor, turned back to the count.
“I will do nothing of the sort,” she said loftily. “In fact, I have to thank you, Count.” She then leaned into Lotor, placing a hand on his stomach as he wrapped an arm around her waist. “After all, it is because of you that Lotor and I ended up working together.”
“Indeed,” Lotor added. “It is now one for the history books, just as you said.”
Do-Tarn scowled, but for once had nothing further to say.
“You think you’ve won,” Desto spoke up. “That this is all over, but it is far from over. Sendak is still out there,” she warned them, “and there will be plenty more people like him and Romelle trying to stop you two and everything you stand for.”
“Let them come,” Lotor said.
“We are counting on it,” agreed Allura, and with that the two criminals were taken away at last.
Immediately after, Malocoti came to find them, and to their surprise, hugged them both, though Allura figured she probably ought to have expected that from the Krellian princess at that point.
“Well done, you two,” she praised them, then she smiled apologetically. “I am sorry for not believing you sooner.”
“It’s alright,” Allura told her, and she meant it. “Desto had taken control of everything, and for a while there wasn’t anything we could do. It wasn’t your fault.”
“In the end we were able to prove our innocence with your help,” Lotor reminded her. “Thank you. I am only sorry you had to bear the burden of the High Council on your own.”
Malocoti’s smile grew and she shook her head. “As long as I am able to do the right thing, any amount of burden is worth it. Speaking of which,” she added brightly, “now that there are six empty seats on the High Council―I still have five years to go―we should expect members of the Coalition to begin announcing potential candidacy very soon. Perhaps you two would like to throw in your names for consideration?”
Allura and Lotor exchanged looks again, silently communicating with one another, before turning back to the princess.
“We’ll think about it,” they answered at the same time.
“Very well, then! Oh, here comes Sergeant Zane, so I’d better let you go. But don’t think I’ll be letting you go so easily, you two! After accomplishing such a triumph, we must celebrate! How about tonight? Yes, that’ll do it. I will throw together a little party for all to attend, and it will be spectacular, just you wait!”
“That really is not necessary…” Allura began to protest, but Malocoti was already happily walking away. “Sergeant,” she then greeted with a smile when Zane approached. “Thank you for all of your help.”
“We are in your debt,” Lotor told him.
The Dalterion waved a hand casually. “Nah, it was nothing. It’s my job, after all. I’m just glad Mirana finally got the chance to tell the truth like she’d wanted.”
“So that was your plan, then?” Allura asked curiously. “To bring her in as a surprise witness?”
Lotor raised an eyebrow. “And you chose not to tell us.”
“Come on, don’t tell me you haven’t had to omit things during this investigation for good reason,” the other man pointed out.
“Well…” Allura murmured, unable to argue against that.
Zane smiled. “Last night before I came to see you, I got a call from the hospital. They told me they thought they might have seen Mirana move but couldn’t be sure. I was hopeful she might awake in time for the trial, but I didn’t want to get your hopes up over nothing, so I had to keep it a secret.”
“I suppose it all worked out in the end,” Lotor remarked.
“It really did, didn’t it? And now you two are famous! Well, even more famous than you were before, I guess. Which reminds me, it’s probably best if you separate for now.”
“What?” Allura only drew closer to Lotor. “Why?”
“You’re kind of drawing a lot of attention,” Zane said. He glanced around them, at the gathering press and spectators continuing to watch them with interest. And when the couple was reluctant, he added reassuringly, “It won’t be for forever, just until things start to calm down. Your people are waiting for you, Princess, as are yours, Emperor. I’m sure they’re anxious to see you.”
Allura bit her lip, then looked up at Lotor imploringly, for she didn’t want to leave him so suddenly, not when they’d just reunited.
Lotor didn’t look happy about the idea, either, but he grasped Allura’s hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. “This is not goodbye,” he told her soothingly. “We will see each other soon.”
“How soon?” she asked, pouting.
The edges of his eyes crinkled. “Well, that is part of the excitement, isn’t it, the not knowing?”
She tsked. “If you say so,” she said, then sighed and nodded in concession. Then she held onto his hand when he began to pull away. “But I expect you to make it up to me later,” she told him, looking up at him intently.
A small, knowing smile pulled at his lips. “I fully intend to, Princess,” he returned softly.
The sound of his low voice and the way his glowing eyes traveled over her made Allura’s cheeks warm and as if she were being unraveled inside. She bit back a grin, her eyes wandering over him as well.
The moment was quickly interrupted, however, when Zane cleared his throat. “As adorable as it is to watch you two flirt, you really ought to get going.”
Allura nodded again, glanced at Lotor once more before releasing his hand, then left with Zane to go find her family.
The trial had felt like it lasted an entire week, yet it was only just after noon by the time Allura reunited with her loved ones and they made their way back to the hotel on the upper floors of Phylos Council Hall. They were all eager to speak with her, particularly her younger cousins, to congratulate her and ask her what she was going to do next now that the investigation had finally come to a close.
Allura, however, was feeling emotionally drained after such a harrowing day, and Melenor and Rhiella must have picked up on it, for they quickly shooed everyone away to give her space and privacy in her own suite.
After a refreshing shower and changing into her nightgown, Allura collapsed on top of the bed, not bothering with the blankets, and instantly fell asleep.
When she awoke many hours later, at first she couldn’t remember where she was, waking up with a severe case of bed head and feeling incredibly groggy, and she was tempted to fall back asleep. Against every tired bone in her body, however, she made herself sit up, smoothed her hair back as best as she could, and rose to draw back the burgundy curtains concealing the ceiling-high windows.
It was past sunset, with Dunamis’s two suns barely having disappeared behind the smoky horizon, casting vibrant shades of rust red and aegean blue across the ether. Over the few months Allura had resided on this planet, it was a sight she’d seen seemingly countless times. Day after day, night after night, this view from her window was something she’d unconsciously taken for granted.
The towering skyscrapers, the busy streets and skies overloaded with heavy traffic, the dark clouds formed by the constant pollution, even the irritating, metronomic clattering and clanging of the factories that never ceased operating… Allura found that she was already nostalgic for all of it, as if she’d grown into a new person and was looking back on an old memory.
It was difficult to predict how exactly things were going to change after today, or what exactly Allura was going to do, but she did know that it was only a matter of time before she returned home to Altea. Who knew when would be the next time she returned to this planet?
If she was certain about one thing, however, it was that this place, Dunamis, had come to mean so many different things to her, both good and bad, things she never could have predicted. In the end, they had all resulted in the person she was at that very moment, had turned into something wonderful, and had come to mean something special to her.
The next time she came back to Dunamis, whenever that was, she would not be able to look upon it the same way ever again, not even in the way she was now as she gazed out into the city, watching the evening slowly settle over the skyline. It was strangely sad to think about, but…
Allura found that that was alright with her.
Donning her dress once more, now cleaned and freshly pressed, Allura found a message waiting for her on the holographic screen on her desk, having come in earlier while she was asleep, and containing an invitation to the party Malocoti had promised only mere hours ago.
She walked arm in arm with her grandmother, following behind the rest of the family as they went up to the two hundred and ninety-ninth floor of the hotel, and upon exiting the lift, Allura’s eyes widened.
The entire level had been cleared out and reserved for the party alone, now filled with gold and blue decorations, numerous long tables piled with heaping plates of food, self-navigating platters floating about serving drinks, and―as expected―Plaxum and the Chums performing on a well-lit stage in the very center.
Malocoti certainly knows how to work fast, Allura thought in amazement.
The guests, made up of members of the Coalition, had already arrived and were conversing animatedly with one another, nearly covering every square inch of the massive, circular room (thankfully no reporters were invited). It was a lovely party to be sure, with the walls replaced by a singular window that provided a three hundred and sixty-degree view of the capital around them.
However, Allura was rather interested in a different kind of view.
As soon as she entered the room and began looking for signs of Lotor, heads nearest to the elevator turned her way, and immediately people began approaching, eager to meet the princess and offer her congratulations.
Allura, surprised but quite pleased, shook many hands and said many thanks as she met with dozens of people. Eventually she began to feel overwhelmed, however, and her grandmother had the courtesy to drag her away from the crowd so she could catch her breath.
“Thank you,” she said sincerely as they stopped by the window. “I am still not quite used to all the attention; it feels different from Altea, I must admit.”
Rhiella smiled in understanding. “And you will have to get used to it, I’m afraid. You’d already made a name for yourself at the start of the investigation, but now after what happened at the trial, rare will be the place you go that people do not know your name.”
Allura grimaced. “Perhaps I ought to start searching for that place, then.”
Her grandmother chuckled. “It will not be all bad, you know,” she went on, hooking her arm through Allura’s once more as they walked together. “Better that people know who you are because of the good things you have done rather than the opposite. Besides, you will not have to bear it all on your own, will you? You will have your emperor alongside you. Don’t think I didn’t notice the way you’ve been looking for him since we arrived,” she added teasingly.
The princess laughed at that. “I suppose I have started doing it without thinking.” The amusement soon faded, however. “To be honest with you, I am not certain Lotor and I will be able to be next to each other all of the time.”
She stopped in her tracks and looked at Rhiella, a crease forming in the middle of her brow.
“He has his own responsibilities, and I have mine. I cannot help but think that were it not for Romelle and Sendak trying to start a war between our planets… Lotor and I never would have gotten to know each other in the first place. Who knows where our lives would have ended up at this point in time?”
Rhiella looked surprised at first, then her expression turned sympathetic. “I know how easy it is to get lost in that way of thinking,” she began soothingly. “Believe me, I have been there. But it is not good to dwell on such things for too long, Lulu. We cannot change the past, cannot predict the future, even. All we can do is be in the present, and live with the choices we have made.” She paused. “Are you happy with the person you are now?”
Allura thought about it, then she smiled. “Yes,” she answered honestly. “I am.”
The older woman smiled warmly. “Then that is enough,” she told her.
“And you, Grandmother? Are you happy?”
“I believe so. I have you, my grandsons, my daughters, my son-in-laws, though right pains those two can be in the―”
“Chief Commander Mogor,” Allura exclaimed in astonishment as the large Galra approached.
“Your Highness,” he greeted in his gruff voice, bowing to her. “I must congratulate you on winning the trial today. The other commanders can come across as cold and prickly sometimes, but…” His rough-looking face softened as he smiled genuinely at her. “Many of us were rooting for you.”
“Thank you,” Allura said, returning his smile. She then glanced at her grandmother, who surprisingly hadn’t spoken a word yet.
“Rhiella,” Mogor spoke, his voice quieting. “May I… Is it still alright to call you that?”
Rhiella visibly swallowed, and Allura was amazed to see a tinge of red spread across her cheeks. “Of―of course,” she replied, clearing her throat. “How… how are you, Mogor?”
“Very well, thank you.”
Allura’s jaw dropped momentarily before she quickly picked it back up and tried not to smile. This was the first time she’d ever seen her grandmother appear so flustered, and it was amazing to see that her past lover from so many years ago still managed to affect her in that way.
“I will let you two catch up,” she offered, not minding that they barely acknowledged her as they were far too occupied with each other, and she quietly slipped away.
Then she realized that if Mogor was here, then so were the rest of the Galra, and so was Lotor…
She searched for him among the crowd, and at first was disappointed when she could not find him, but then she saw a familiar Galra woman with midnight blue hair and black horns, and she smiled, coming up behind her tapping her on the shoulder.
Acxa turned around. “Allura,” she said, surprised, then she smiled. “You guys did it. You saved our people and our lives.”
“We all did it,” Allura corrected her. “If it weren’t for you and the others, we never would have made it this far.” She smiled back. “I want to thank you, Acxa. For everything.”
“What are friends for, right? I guess you’ll be able to see more of me and girls from now on, now that our planets are going to unite.”
Allura’s smile widened. “Yes, that’s right. I am looking forward to it.” Then she drew in a quiet breath, hesitating. “Acxa, I know we never really talked about it since The Inferno.” She pursed her lips, a little unsure of how to go about this. “Now that Lotor and I are―”
But Acxa raised a hand and shook her head. “It’s okay, Allura, you don’t have to explain anything.”
“Are you sure?”
The general nodded. “He and I made our peace some time ago, actually.” She smiled sadly. “You know, I owe a lot of things to Lotor. The day I first met him he saved my life, and when he offered me a place at his side, I knew then that I wanted to dedicate everything I had to serving and protecting him, for as long as I lived. I don’t regret any of it, and I would do it all over again if I could.
“He’s a good man, and even though the two of us aren’t meant to be anything more, my feelings for him haven’t changed. I care about Lotor, and I always will, but…” Acxa then paused and blushed, her turquoise cheeks stained a dark blue. “I care about you, too.”
Stunned at first, Allura blinked at her, and then her heart warmed affectionately. She stepped forward and fiercely hugged Acxa, who froze in surprise for a brief second before she melted and hugged her back.
“I care about you, too,” Allura told her softly. “Thank you.”
“You’ve already thanked me,” she heard Acxa joke lightly.
Allura then pulled away and grinned. “I know,” she said. “But I mean it. I am lucky to have you as a friend, Acxa.”
Acxa’s smile returned. “I’m just as lucky, Allura.”
Over the Galra’s shoulder Allura then saw Coran standing some distance away, waiting patiently for her, so she turned back to her friend and grasped her hand, giving it a grateful squeeze. “We should do something together sometime, us and the girls. How would you feel about paying a visit to the Castle of Lions?”
“Like a sleepover?” Acxa shrugged. “I’ve never been to one before.”
“Neither have I, but I think it will be fun!”
She laughed. “Alright, then. Keep me posted.”
Allura grinned. “I will.” She squeezed her hand again, then made her way towards Coran.
“Enjoying the festivities, Allura?” her old friend asked her brightly, his hands behind his back as he stood up straight.
“I am. But I noticed that you are not joining in, Coran, why is that? You have always been the life of the party.”
“And I am ready to commit to upholding my reputation very soon,” he assured her, smiling wide. “But I wanted to talk to you while I still had a chance.”
She tilted her head. “What do you mean? You can always talk to me, you know.”
“I know, but things are going to be different from now on, Allura. There is much work to be done if you are to unite Altea and Daibazaal. You will be very busy with travel, meetings, making proposals and the like. You are fully coming into your role as princess of Altea, and…” His smile remained despite the forming tears in his eyes. “You have grown up and become a most capable young woman. I am sorry it has taken me this long to fully accept it.”
“Oh, Coran…” Allura’s heart squeezed. “I know a lot has changed and will continue to change, now more than ever, but I am still the same person. I am still me.”
“But things will not be the same,” he told her. “Things haven’t been the same since you first left home four months ago. I just kept ignoring it, hoping you would stay the innocent, little girl I’d known for twenty-three years. You are going to have your own priorities now, to your people, to the Coalition, and… to Lotor, as well.”
It broke Allura’s heart to see her dear friend this way, to see him so upset, though she knew there wasn’t anything she could really do about it. All she could do was assure him that she was going to be alright. She looked down at the ground, smiled, then lifted her head to look at him again. “It turns out I can have both, Coran. I can be the princess and be with Lotor.” Then she added jokingly, “I proved you wrong.”
“Yes,” he admitted, managing a laugh. “It hasn’t been the first time you’ve done so, and I daresay it won’t be the last. I’m proud of you, Allura. I really am, and I wish you nothing but happiness as you make your way into this universe without me.”
Her nose stung and her chin quivered, and finally she pulled Coran in for a hug, embracing him and communicating all of the love and affection she had for him as she squeezed him tight. Coran held onto her just as fiercely, then when he pulled away he wiped a tear from his eye.
“I want you to know,” he added, putting his hand on her shoulder and giving her a watery smile. “That despite never having any children of my own… since the day you were born, and everyday after that, I have loved you as if you were my own daughter.”
Unable to speak, for she knew she would start crying if she did so, Allura nodded, placing her hand over his and grasping it.
Coran patted her on the shoulder, then stepped away, wiping under his eyes again. “Your father is coming,” he said quietly, regaining his composure and smiling easily. “Your Majesty,” he greeted with a bow.
“Coran,” Alfor returned. “Might I steal my daughter away for a moment?”
“Of course. I shall leave you to it, then.” Coran looked like he wanted to say more, but he instead bowed once more, his smile remaining, and left the father and daughter alone.
“Take a stroll with me?” Alfor asked Allura, who nodded. They drew away from the attention of the crowd and towards the edge of the room, walking alongside the infinite window. “Truthfully, I thought I ought to grab you as soon as possible, as I saw the other guests trying to make their way towards you.”
“Abusing your powers for personal gain, I see,” Allura joked.
“I still have a few strings I can pull, even this far away from home,” Alfor said good-naturedly. He pretended to look at her sternly. “Do you think less of this old man? I might have just saved your neck back there.”
“I could have managed,” she insisted, smiling. “If I can fight off half a dozen Ultra Droids, surely a few overexcited guests cannot be that much different.”
“I cannot argue with you there,” he said with a chuckle, and it was nice to know that they were back to talking the way they used to, even if some things remained unchanged between them after what happened over the last few months.
They made their way towards an alcove and gazed at the city skyline, still alive with light even as the hour grew late.
“You have managed incredibly well these last few months, Allura,” Alfor went on. “I realize now that I was far too protective over you, ever since you were young.” There was a pain in his eyes. “You see, you are my only child, and I love you more than anything, but I am afraid that my love for you blinded me from the truth, and that was to let you make your own way in this universe. I am sorry, Daughter.”
“I forgive you,” Allura told him sincerely, and her heart warmed at his words. “I am glad that you allowed me to come to Dunamis in your stead, even if I did worm my way around it,” she added sheepishly. “I did it to save our people, I was not lying about that, but I think a part of me also did it so I could prove myself to you.”
“And you did very well,” he assured her, putting his hands on her shoulders. “But my dear, you have nothing to prove. All your life you have proven yourself, I can see that now.” He smiled, and there were tears in his eyes. “The years passed by in the blink of an eye, and you have grown up to be a responsible young woman. I am so proud to have you as my daughter.”
Allura’s vision began to blur again and she sniffed. To hear from a parent that they were proud of their child was something many sought, and Allura didn’t realize how much she needed to hear it from him. She had that now, but she was also proud of herself and how far she had come. She hugged her father, wrapping her arms around his middle and knocking the wind out of him.
Alfor chuckled and stroked her hair. “You are going to make a wonderful queen someday, Allura,” he said. “And I hope that when that day comes, you will find the right person to rule our people by your side.”
Slightly suspicious, Allura drew back and narrowed her eyes at him. “Does this mean you will be sending more suitors my way?”
Her father shook his head. “No, that business is over. I realize now that you are more than capable of choosing the person you want to be with.”
Allura nodded smugly. “Yes, I am.”
Alfor smiled, then looked about the room, presumably searching for his queen in the crowd. “I cannot express enough how lucky I am to have your mother at my side. She is honest with me, tells me when I have done wrong, and yet she never ceases to be kind and gentle towards me and everyone else around her. She has shown me in so many ways how to be a better person, to be the husband that she deserves.
“It is a rare gift to find someone like that, Allura.” His eyes softened. “And I think perhaps you have found that person for you.”
She beamed. “I believe I have.”
“You must hold onto that person and never let go. There will be times when you struggle, times when the rest of the universe will try to fight against you and make you doubt every decision you ever made, and it will be hard. Perhaps you have already gotten a taste of what that is like.”
“In more ways than one,” Allura answered with a shrug, though that was an understatement.
“Then you will also have seen how worth it it can be in the end. The trials you go through together will bring you that much closer and make your bond stronger. It is a most precious gift, so don’t ever let it go.”
She smiled and nodded. “I won’t,” she promised.
He smiled back fondly, reaching out to affectionately touch the side of her head with his palm. “Good,” he said, then his eyes were drawn to something some distance away behind Allura. He stood up straight and cleared his throat. “Emperor Lotor,” he greeted.
Allura whirled around, unable to stop the smile from forming on her face as she saw Lotor approach, emerging from the crowd and holding two glasses of nunvil in his hands.
“King Alfor,” he returned, inclining his head. “Would you like to… join us for a drink?” he asked. His manner was a little stiff and uncomfortable, clearly not used to having a conversation with Allura’s father that wasn’t hostile, but his attempt was commendable, and Alfor appeared to take pity on him.
“That is not necessary,” the older man said, raising a hand. “I will let you two enjoy some time alone. I think it is about time I found my wife and kept her company.”
“Of course.” Lotor fell silent, clearly having more to say, and Allura watched him curiously. “Allura once told me that your hobby is to travel,” he said.
Alfor nodded. “It is.”
“It is one of my interests as well,” Lotor offered awkwardly, and Allura felt her chest squeeze with endearment, proud of him for making an effort.
“I see.” Alfor considered. “Then perhaps one of these days we can sit down and swap stories of our adventures.”
Allura stared at her father in amazement. He gave her a subtle wink.
Lotor looked relieved. “I would like that,” he replied in a low voice, nodding.
The king nodded back, and then giving his daughter one last pat on the shoulder, left to join the party, finally leaving the two of them alone.
Allura looked up at Lotor, coming in closer towards him, balancing on her toes to speak to him, and he automatically leaned down towards her to listen.
“There is something so indescribably sexy about you standing in the middle of a crowd,” she whispered, and when their eyes met she grinned.
The edges of his eyes crinkled as he laughed, then he held out one of the glasses to her. “I figured you could use something to drink after having to speak to people all day.”
“In fact I am parched,” Allura said, gratefully accepting it. She eyed the pink liquid before looking up at him again. “I thought you said nunvil was too sweet,” she teased.
He shrugged a shoulder. “I am willing to give it another try.”
They clinked their glasses together. She downed hers in one large gulp just as Lotor was taking a sip from his own. He smiled, gave her the rest of his drink, which she also finished quickly. He then took both empty glasses from her and set them down on a floating tray that whizzed by.
“I believe congratulations are in order,” Lotor then said to her, standing up straight, and when she tilted her head, he explained, “It is because of your plan to unite our planets that our people were saved and our lives spared.”
“You deserve just as much credit,” she insisted. “It was you who inspired me to speak. Were it not for you, none of this would have been possible. Thank you,” she told him sincerely.
“I should be thanking you. You restored my hope for the future.” Then the corner of his mouth lifted. “I would have given up on the dream of peace long ago, were you not so stubbornly tenacious.”
“Hm…” She stroked her chin, pretending to think. “I rather prefer the term endearingly charismatic.”
Lotor laughed again and she smiled. She always wanted to make him laugh, to see the joy light up his face. She wanted to be the one to bring that happiness to him, and a big part of her wished she could have done so during the years when he was all alone.
Remembering all that he had said at the trial, she reached out to touch his arm. “Lotor… I am so sorry about your mother,” she said quietly, her heart aching for him.
He shook his head. “Don’t be.” Then his expression turned apprehensive. “It is I who must apologize. I know I should have told you sooner, the truth about my lineage, but I was afraid that…” He trailed off when Allura stepped even closer towards him, her hand slipping into his and giving it a comforting squeeze.
“I understand why you did not tell me,” she told him softly. “It can’t have been easy for you, having to carry such a burden all on your own for so long. I do not think less of you for it, I promise. In fact, I…” She smiled warmly. “I think we have become a lot closer now, you and I.”
Gratitude and adoration shone in Lotor’s eyes as he gazed upon her, then he lifted her hand up to his lips and kissed it. “Thank you,” he told her.
Her smile grew, then she noticed something past his shoulder. “Perhaps Galra and Alteans have always been destined to be together,” she mused, and she nodded towards what she was looking at.
Lotor glanced over his shoulder, and the two of them quietly watched Rhiella and Mogor, who remained in the same spot by the window where Allura had left them, conversing intently with one another.
“Perhaps,” Lotor said quietly.
Allura looked at him, falling silent before she spoke up again. “Do you think you will ever be able to accept it?” she asked. “The decision that your parents made all those years ago?”
Lotor looked back to her, and reading the expression on her face, knew what she was referring to: his inability to have biological children. “It has taken a long time to accept that part of myself, but… I know that they never intended for any of that to happen when they had me. Honerva was a good woman, though neither she nor Zarkon were perfect parents.
“To put it simply, Zarkon was a very complicated man,” he said, his eyes downcast. “Even before my mother passed, he did things that hurt a lot of people. And she knew exactly what she was getting into. She enabled him, used her knowledge and newfound power as empress in order to help him conquer planets and maintain his tyrannical rule over Daibazaal. It affected the way I was raised, and continues to shape the way I see many different things today.”
He then lifted his gaze to meet Allura’s, determination and sincerity in his eyes.
“But I know that they loved each other. Truly. I may have some bitter memories, but there are some that I cherish, some that I can still hold onto, and I have no regrets. The only regret I have is that I did not try to reconcile the part of myself that was Altean sooner, or try to understand your people before all of this happened.”
“I wish I had gotten to know the Galra sooner as well,” Allura returned. “But at the same time, had things been different, we would not be the same people we are today.” She smiled up at him. “I am happy with the person I have become, I am happy that I met you, and I have loved our time together.” Then she added optimistically, “Perhaps now you will be able to accept your Altean side, just as you have accepted your Galra.”
Lotor gazed at her in astonishment, then his eyes softened with a warm look that she felt with her whole body. He cleared his throat and glanced away briefly to take something from his person, a small black casket, and he opened it for her to see. “I think it is time I returned this to you.”
Allura stared at the juniberry necklace in surprise. “It was a gift,” she reminded him, looking up at him.
“And I have treasured it greatly during our month apart,” he assured her gently. “I will be forever grateful that you gave it to me, but I do not think it will look nearly as good on me as it will on you.”
She shrugged a shoulder. “You will never know unless you try it on,” she quipped.
He laughed softly, then held up the necklace by both ends of the chain, gesturing towards her. “May I?”
She smiled and nodded, and he came around to stand behind her. She pulled her hair over her shoulder to make it easier for him, and as he hung it around her neck, she saw that many guests of the party were looking their way, having taken notice of their interaction. She lifted her chin; let them see. If there was anyone she couldn’t be more proud to be seen with, it was Lotor.
After hooking the clasps together, Lotor’s fingers lightly brushed against her neck, and Allura suppressed a shiver despite his warmth. He came back around to admire his work. “Just as I suspected, it looks better on you.”
Allura laughed, then she nodded towards him. “What will you do, now that this is all over?”
Lotor put his hands on his hips and glanced around the room. “Well,” he sighed. “Dunamis certainly won’t be requiring my presence anymore. I should return home as soon as possible.” He looked at her. “What about you?”
“I suppose I must also return home,” Allura admitted. “A princess has her duties. As does Daibazaal’s emperor, yes?”
“That is true. Though if I may…” He took a step towards her, smoothing back a lock of hair behind her shoulder with one hand and stroking her arm with the other. “With this new union in progress, it will mean many hours of meetings to discuss a peace treaty. Frequent travel between our planets will probably be required. To solidify the alliance between our people, of course,” he added seriously.
Allura bit back a grin and nodded very business-like. “Of course,” she agreed. “I look forward to working with you, Emperor Lotor.”
His eyes softened as they traveled over her face. “Allura,” he called softly. He placed his hand on her cheek, his thumb gently stroking her skin. “Four months ago, I never could have imagined meeting someone like you. From the moment we first met, to every argument, every quiet conversation, the times we were together, and the times when I was fearful of losing you…” He paused, the inner corners of his brow lifting slightly as he gazed into her eyes. “With each passing day, you were slowly taking up more and more space in my heart.” He smiled. “I never could have anticipated falling in love with you, but it was the best thing that ever happened to me.”
Allura’s nose stung as she smiled back. “I never could have anticipated it, either,” she returned, reaching up to hold onto his arms and leaning into his warm touch. “There were so many people against us, and perhaps there always will be, but it does not matter. It does not matter to me that people do not understand, that they have no idea what we have been through together. If they only take one small look, at any place or any time, they will know that―what you and I have―it is real, and it is true.”
Lotor’s smile remained, though there was a hint of apprehension as his eyes searched hers, his hand falling away from her. “It will not be easy,” he reminded her. “Sendak is still out there, there will be others like him, like Do-Tarn and Desto, whether they be Altean or Galra or other, who will do everything in their power to try and stop us. And the roles and responsibilities we have to our people, what you have to your people…” He trailed off, hesitating. “Will not all be possible if you are with me.”
He struggled to say it, but Allura knew what he was referring to, her sacred duty which was expected of her as future queen.
The burden of it used to plague her the moment she was old enough to understand what it meant, but remembering what her mother told her at the soiree, that there was always a way, that there was always hope, made her feel confident and comforted. After all, she had two cousins who were more than eligible to continue the royal bloodline. The responsibility of it all did not rest on her alone, she knew that now.
Allura reached up to touch Lotor’s cheek and smiled up at him. “As rulers of our planets, we may bear the burden that many do not, but that does not mean we cannot carry our own hopes and dreams. If there is anything I have learned these past few months, it is that we are not bound to our fates as we once thought. I do not want to have to choose between my heart and my duty. I want to do both, and I know that I want to be with you, Lotor.”
“Allura…” he uttered her name softly.
“I love you,” she told him. “With all that I have, every part of me, I love you. And I will never stop fighting for you… for us.”
The gratitude and admiration was unhidden on Lotor’s face. He closed his eyes, leaning into her palm, before opening them again, his luminescent eyes shining.
“I love you, too,” he returned. The determination returned and he nodded firmly. “We will get through this― together. You and me.”
She nodded, beaming up at him. “You and me.”
The tender love and affection which she felt for him was reflected within him as well, and as his gaze flickered over her, landing on her mouth, her smile widened. She balanced on the tips of her toes, lifted her chin and closed her eyes. She felt his warm touch as his hands caressed her face, a ghost of a breath brushing against her lips as they were about to meet in the middle―
―when suddenly they were interrupted by a chorus of voices coming their way.
“Hey, Princess!”
“There you guys are!”
Allura opened her eyes, leaning back from Lotor as she let out a sigh. “Hello,” she greeted, turning her head to see the Earthlings approaching.
“Oops, hope we didn’t ruin the moment,” Hunk said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Not at all,” Lotor said as he reluctantly let go of Allura, and though he was very good at hiding it, she could tell that he too was annoyed by the interruption. The thought made her feel giddy for some reason.
“We wanted to stop by and tell you how proud we are of you two,” Shiro said, smiling. “I don’t know when the next time will be that we meet, but it’s been an honor working alongside you.”
“Likewise, Shiro,” Allura said, returning his smile.
“It is a privilege to call you our friends,” Lotor added.
Shiro inclined his head, then addressed his cadets. “Well, I think we’ve kept Her Highness and His Imperial Majesty away from each other for long enough, don’t you think?”
“It’s only been, like, two seconds,” Keith remarked.
“Oh, that reminds me!” Lance spoke up eagerly. “Since you guys are going to be uniting planets and all, you’re definitely gonna need a new name, so I’ve been brainstorming and came up with a few ideas.”
“Lance…” Pidge muttered, sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose.
“Just hear me out, alright? How about―” he paused dramatically. “Galtea! Eh?” He raised his arms and looked around the group, very proud of himself. “It rolls right off the tongue! Wait, I’ve got more!” he protested as his fellow classmates began dragging him away. “Altazaal? Daibaltea? Come on, work with me here!”
Allura shook her head and laughed, then glanced up at Lotor, who looked down at her with amusement in his eyes.
“Now where were we?” she asked coyly now that they were alone again, moving in towards him and taking hold of his hips possessively.
Lotor laughed. “Come here,” he said. And with that, he gently cradled her face in his hands, smoothed her hair from her cheeks, then leaned down and pressed his lips to hers in a passionate kiss.
Allura hummed softly, surging up to meet him as she wrapped her arms around his neck to bring him closer, and she didn’t care who was watching at this point. She felt safe and secure in his arms, and as he fully enveloped her in his warm and fiery embrace, his hands wandering underneath her hair and up her back as she clung to him and molded their bodies together, their kisses becoming more fervent yet still tender, she felt something else stirring within her. It was a feeling that she’d felt before whenever she thought of him, heating her up from head to toe and sparking a feverish desire to bloom within her chest.
Lotor gently kissed the corner of her lips before pulling back slightly to look at her, and by the way his eyes darkened, it was clear that he was thinking the same thing.
Then his expression softened, and he reached up to delicately brush his thumb along her cheekbone, caressing the pink marking on her skin. “Would you like to go and enjoy the rest of the party, Princess Allura?” he asked quietly, smiling at her.
Allura’s heart was pounding in her chest, feeling every inch of his body pressed to hers and the way his claws lightly scraped her waist as he held onto her. The two of them would have to separate soon, go back to their home planets and resume fulfilling their roles to their people, and though it wasn’t going to be their last farewell, now that they were finally together and they would be joining their planets, it was difficult to determine just how long it would be before they next reunited.
But that was alright with Allura. They had time, lots of it, and for now all she wanted was to be by his side, to walk beside him as they met with their friends, and simply enjoy his presence for as long as she could. And as she gazed up at him, searching his eyes intently, she knew they understood each other.
She looped her arm through his, smiled back, and said, “I would love to, Emperor Lotor.”
Notes:
This chapter ended up being a whopping 24,000 words, folks!! 😱 The longest chapter out of them all, but we're not quite done yet! We've still got one more chapter to go, the epilogue which is coming next week! It is going to be a particularly special one hehe, and I am super duper excited to share it with you! I hope you can look forward to it!
Fun fact, the title of this chapter, "New Beginnings", is taken from a song of the same name that I'd chosen many months ago to be this story's theme. Within the last year I've gotten super into synthwave, and as soon as I heard it I knew that the epicness yet bittersweetness of this song would be the perfect fit for The Empyreal Within 😊
I have so much to say in terms of how honored and grateful I am for all of the love and support for this story, but all of that mushy, sentimental stuff can wait until next week lol. Thank you as always for reading, it means the world to me!! 💖💜
EDIT 8/3/23: Unfortunately I've had to delay chapter 17's release to next week Friday instead! It's been a really busy last few days what with moving houses and all, however I hope you can still look forward to the epilogue! It is slowly but surely coming together and I am more excited to share it with you than ever!! Thank you for all of the support as well as your patience!!
Chapter 17: Epilogue
Notes:
WARNING! The last portion of this epilogue contains implied sexual content. Nothing graphic or explicit, and I try to keep it tasteful, however I wanted to give a quick heads up in case it is something readers may not wish to engage with :)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
THREE WEEKS LATER
“…but before we let our gentle viewers get back to their favorite television program Garfle Warfle Snick! hosted by Bob, we here at Universal News have the pleasure of providing you with the latest goings-on in our beautiful cosmos.”
A female Nalquodian news anchor with cobalt blue skin sat with her hands folded on the desk in front of her, smiling pleasantly at the camera as she spoke. The words “Universal News” written in the Dunamian alphabet shone in bright white letters behind her on the back wall, which shimmered with all sorts of vibrant colors.
“Nearly one month has passed since the famous trial of Princess Allura and Emperor Lotor versus the Universal Coalition and High Council,” she went on. “And the media is still buzzing over the two young royals! The Altean and Galra first made history several months ago when they were assigned to work together to investigate the tragic events which took place on Altea during the annual Coalition meeting, and later here on our beloved planet Dunamis.
“Thanks to them, not only did they bring justice to thousands of losses from both attacks, but prevented countless more when they found the real culprits responsible for attempting to start a war between their planets. And that’s not all, folks, because we’ve got a very special guest with us today to tell us all about it! Sergeant Zane of the Dunamis Police Department, thank you for joining us.”
She turned and inclined her head to the Dalterion who sat at the other end of the desk, a few feet to her left.
“Of course,” Zane said, clearing his throat. He was clearly uncomfortable, as it was his first time being on the news or any form of media, but he remained calm, donning his police uniform and looking very professional. “I am happy to represent the DPD and answer your questions.”
“Wonderful. So tell us, how did you meet Emperor Lotor and Princess Allura exactly? I heard you are close with them?”
“Well,” he began, raising a fist as he cleared his throat again. “I think of them as my good friends, yes, but it wasn’t always that way. After the emperor disappeared following the attack on the opera house, I was assigned to find him and arrest him. I even led the squadron sent to bring him down when he tried to escape Dunamis.”
“You apparently did not succeed, it looks like,” the news anchor chimed in with a hearty chuckle.
Zane laughed as well, though it was a little forced, and he looked slightly offended before he went on. “We were unable to follow his ship out into space due to some… unexpected damages to our police fighters, and it wasn’t before long that the emperor was safe back in the domain of his home planet Daibazaal.
“To my and the rest of the station’s surprise, he and Princess Allura both returned to Dunamis together to prove his innocence, and that is where I met them in person for the first time. I’ll admit it was a rough start at first. I don’t think any of us made a very good first impression.” His smile grew more genuine and his manner more confident. “But they showed me how dedicated they were to solving the mystery behind the attacks, how dedicated they were to saving their people, and I knew I could trust them.”
“You continued to work with them over the days leading up to the trial?”
“One month after Count Do-Tarn’s arrest, correct. With Princess Allura and Emperor Lotor’s help, we not only found the true mole in the High Council, but also learned the identities of the people responsible for trying to start a war between Altea and Daibazaal. They did not just Dunamis, but the entire Universal Coalition a great service, exposing the truth to the public.”
“Indeed, they did,” the news anchor acknowledged. “Can you share any details of the aftermath of the trial?”
“Count Do-Tarn and President Desto were arrested and will be locked away for a very long time. As for the duo the president was working for, one of them, a Galra named Sendak, is still missing and we’ve seen no sign of―”
“Oh no, no,” the Nalquodian cut him off, waving her hand. “I’m talking about Emperor Lotor and Princess Allura.”
“Well… the last I heard, they returned to their respective planets and are planning to create a peace treaty in order to―”
“I mean about the two of them specifically, Sergeant.”
“Excuse me?” Zane raised his eyebrows. Normally he was a well-tempered man, but he was gradually becoming more and more irritated by the interruptions.
“Everyone knows what happened that day at the trial. You saw it yourself, Sergeant, you were there! You saw it in person when those two surprised the entire Coalition by confessing their love for each other, right in front of everyone!”
“Oh―well―” Zane cleared his throat once more. His previously regained confidence in talking about his line of work was now quickly dissipating at the abrupt change of topic, and he appeared quite disarmed. “It’s not really my place to comment on their relationship.”
“But you must know some juicy details! It was quite the spectacle, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Spectacle?” the Dalterion repeated, furrowing his brow. “They were fighting for their lives during that trial. I don’t believe it’s appropriate to reduce the significance of what happened to a mere spectacle.”
The Nalquodian was undeterred by his reproach, however. “Regardless,” she said, turning back to the camera with a wide smile, “it was certainly a moment to remember, dear viewers! During the trial, the audience was in for a shock when the two royals not only announced a sudden desire to unite their two planets, but they finally revealed the true nature of their relationship, something that many people, including myself, had been suspecting for a very long time…”
Clear on the other side of the galaxy which Dunamis shared with countless other planets, about a twelve-hour journey from the industrial planet, was Altea. Inside the Castle of Lions, Princess Allura walked into the great hall to find her parents and grandmother watching the Universal News, and she arrived just in time to hear what the news anchor was saying about her and Emperor Lotor.
“After being graciously pardoned by Princess Malocoti,” the woman continued. “The two were seen together in the hallway―”
“Sweet Mother of the Universe!” Allura yelped, clapping her hands to her mouth, and her family stared at her with wide eyes, startled.
On the holographic screen projected onto the white halls of the hall, the Universal News displayed a rather incriminating image of Allura and Lotor in the corridor outside the assembly chamber. They were locked in a tight embrace, arms wrapped around each other and kissing as dozens of members of the press surrounded them and took pictures.
“What is that doing there?!” Allura demanded. Her cheeks reddening, she immediately jumped in front of the screen to cover up the image, but it was too late. Everyone had already seen it.
“I was wondering the same thing, Daughter,” Alfor spoke up, though he sounded more flustered than disapproving. He cleared his throat loudly, diverting his gaze from the intimate photograph as he put his hands behind his back. “And I thought the Galra emperor had more of a sense of propriety.”
“He did!” Allura exclaimed, then quickly corrected herself, sighing and closing her eyes briefly before opening them again, raising her hands, “He does. It is the fault of those reporters, obviously! They have no right to display those images without our permission.”
“Well, in their defense―now, hear me out, Lulu,” Rhiella said with a smile, seeing the fire in her granddaughter’s eyes. “The two of you were hardly subtle about your public displays of affection.”
“That is one way of putting it,” Alfor muttered, still quite rattled by the intimacy of the picture which had been enlarged to take up the entire width of the screen. He took a seat at the table to absentmindedly peruse a collection of messages on his holographic tablet.
Allura peeked over her shoulder at the screen, and despite the deep embarrassment she felt, she couldn’t help but relive the moment… When Malocoti had just barely finished pardoning them and the two of them instantly made for the exit to find each other, racing through the halls and going as fast as their legs would carry them until they met in the middle, when Lotor lifted her in the air and held her tight, when he told her with the biggest smile on his face that he loved her…
She caught herself smiling and cleared her throat, folding her arms and turning away from the hologram as she maintained a straight face once more. Thankfully, the image soon disappeared and the news eventually moved on to a different topic.
“Do not fret, dearest,” Melenor said gently. “This exposure to the media may be a blessing in disguise. If there was any doubt about your relationship or your intentions for peace, there certainly will not be any now.”
“Melenor is right,” Rhiella agreed with a firm nod. “Whether it be the media or any other fool who tries to convince you otherwise, their opinions should not matter. All that matters is that you and him remain honest and true to each other, and to your people.”
“We are very proud of you,” the queen added with an encouraging smile. “You worked hard these last few months and continue to do so since your return home, both you and Emperor Lotor. Isn’t that right, my love?” she prompted, leaning over to nudge her husband in the ribs.
Alfor, who was still staring at his tablet and pretending not to listen, lifted his head and glanced at his wife. “Yes, of course, darling. Our daughter has indeed accomplished a great many things.” Then he added for Allura’s sake, “As has Emperor Lotor.”
Allura, still humbled and sheepish, couldn’t help but feel a little pleased by the praise, partly because it meant more to her coming from her family and their opinion meant a lot to her, and partly because she appreciated that they (especially her father) were making an effort these days when it came to Lotor.
The king no longer made any objections to his daughter’s relationship with the emperor, though it was still a little uncomfortable and difficult to come to terms with after only three weeks. Allura was not concerned, however. There was plenty of time for Alfor and Lotor to become acquainted with one another; at least that was what she hoped.
“He is to arrive tomorrow, yes?” Melenor inquired. “To present his proposal for the treaty?”
“Yes,” Allura confirmed. “Over the next two days he and I will be presenting our sides, both to the Galra and Altean councils. It is what we have spent the last three weeks working on.”
“And how is he?”
“Well,” the princess began uncertainly. “Truthfully, the two of us have not had much time to―”
But she was cut off when an alert appeared on the holographic screen behind her. Allura took a step back, and she and her family waited as a video call from Coran came in.
“Coran, what news?” Alfor asked.
“Your Majesties, Your Highness,” he greeted cheerfully. “Altea’s orbital security network has just alerted me of a foreign ship’s arrival.”
“A ship?” Melenor repeated curiously. “What sort of ship, Coran?”
“Emperor Lotor’s, Your Majesty.”
And with that, another video popped up onto the screen, showing a small, one-manned fighter descending into the planet’s atmosphere, its body painted a steel blue and charcoal gray with bright orange and blue accents.
“Well, praise the Mother!” Rhiella exclaimed. “The emperor has arrived a day early! Isn’t that something, Lulu?”
But Allura did not answer, nor did she hear her grandmother’s question. She was already long gone, for as soon as she heard Coran utter the words, “Emperor Lotor”, she raced out of the great hall and towards the hangar bay on the south side of the castle.
Bursting through the sliding doors and into the vast, high-ceilinged, white and cyan room, she quickly tapped a few buttons on a console to allow the large hangar doors to slowly slide open and let the Galra fighter fly inside. She waited impatiently for the ship to land in front of her, and once it did, the opaque, convex canopy over the cockpit lifted to reveal the pilot seated inside.
Emperor Lotor no doubt saw Allura as soon as he entered the hangar, for he quickly unbuckled himself and, tugging off his helmet to properly see her, his eyes lit up and he smiled wide. She returned his smile, letting out a soft laugh as she watched him jump out of the ship in the least safest way possible, and ran to meet him in the middle.
They collided into each other and embraced one another tightly. Lotor lifted her off her feet and spun her around enthusiastically, making her yelp in surprise before erupting into giggles. His bright smile remained as he set her back down.
“Allura―” he began, but no sooner had her name left his mouth was she taking his face into her hands to kiss him deeply. He kissed her back, and she sighed when his lips trailed along her cheek and jaw, then he finally held her tight to him once more in a fierce hug.
“Oh, Lotor,” Allura breathed, exhaling in relief. “I missed you so much.”
She balanced on her toes and closed her eyes, reveling in his familiar, spicy scent and comforting warmth. In turn his hands gripped her hair and pressed into her back, keeping her close to him.
“I missed you, too,” he replied softly into her hair. “Allura…”
Allura leaned back to get a good look at him, cradling his face again. He looked tired, as the lines around his eyes were noticeable, but he appeared strong and healthy, even better than how he appeared when they’d talked over the rare video call over the last few weeks, and her heart soared with delight.
“You look well,” she told him, beaming. “How are you? How was your flight?”
“I am fine,” he promised. He turned his head slightly to grasp her hand and gently kiss her palm. “The flight was long, but more than worth it.”
Allura’s heart swelled with joy. Then she looked past his shoulder at the ship. “You came by yourself? What about Acxa and the others?”
“Well now, Princess, I thought you would be pleased to see me,” he admonished her, but the smile on his face let her know that he wasn’t offended. “Especially after three weeks.”
“I am,” she insisted, laughing. She leaned into him and smoothed her hands over his chest. “And not that I am complaining, but I thought we were not to expect you until tomorrow.”
Lotor was about to respond when he was cut off by a very intentionally exaggerated, “Ahem!” coming from behind Allura.
The princess looked over her shoulder to see Coran and her family waiting expectantly (her friend and her father particularly intent on appearing as stern as possible). Reluctantly she let go of Lotor and, remembering the incriminating images on the news, decided to keep the public displays of affection to a minimum, and opted to stand a few inches away from the emperor.
“I see our guest has arrived,” Alfor noticed in a polite tone.
“Indeed, he has,” Allura responded smoothly, clasping her hands together in front of her. “Father, Mother, Grandmother. Lotor is here.”
“Yes, we noticed,” Melenor said with a smile, a teasing glint in her eyes. She inclined her head. “A pleasure to see you again, Emperor Lotor. Welcome back to Altea.”
“About time, too!” Rhiella exclaimed. “Allura has spent many hours preparing her side of the treaty, and when she wasn’t working herself to the bone she was talking about you endlessly.”
“Grandmother,” Allura berated her through gritted teeth, and her cheeks warmed despite herself.
“Well, it’s true.”
Lotor returned Melenor’s gesture, dipping his head respectfully. “Thank you, Your Majesties, for welcoming me back to your planet.”
Like Allura, he was back to being calm and professional as always. However when he exchanged looks with the princess, the edges of his eyes crinkled out of fondness and amusement. She managed a sheepish smile before turning back to her family.
When Alfor had still not spoken to Lotor directly, his wife pointedly elbowed him in the ribs. He winced but didn’t complain. “Y-yes, we hope you enjoy your stay, Emperor Lotor,” he said, clearing his throat. Though there was neither spite nor hostility in his manner, it was clear that he remained quite awkward around the Galra.
“It is an honor,” Lotor returned. Then he added, making an effort, “and just ‘Lotor’ is fine. I would like to think there is no need for formalities between us.” It made Allura’s chest squeeze with pride and endearment.
“Very well, then,” Melenor agreed kindly. “But only if you will refer to us just as comfortably. Now, I am sure you are tired from your long journey. Perhaps Allura can show you around and you can get some well-deserved rest?”
“Absolutely,” Allura agreed, nodding eagerly, for she was dying for a chance to finally be alone with Lotor after what felt like an eternity of not seeing him. She inched towards him, reaching out for his arm to tug on it and lead him away. “Then we shall see you tomorrow. Good ni―”
“Now hang on just a moment, Your Highness!” Coran interjected, bristling to the point where even his mustache appeared to stand on end. “As a princess, it is beneath you to have to show a guest your own home. It would be improper!”
Allura and Lotor exchanged glances. “Improper for me to give Lotor a tour of the castle?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “Or improper for us to be alone together?” And judging by the slightly perturbed look on Coran’s face and his lack of response, it appeared to be the latter.
“I agree with Coran,” Alfor spoke up, folding his arms. “He should be the one to show Lotor around the castle, though I suppose you can tag along if you wish, Daughter.”
“Father, not you, too,” Allura protested.
“Oh, don’t be ridiculous, Alfor,” Rhiella chastised him sharply. “Your daughter is a fully capable and grown woman. I thought these last few months were more than enough to teach you that.”
Alfor appeared offended at his mother-in-law’s scolding, and Allura, who kept a firm grip on Lotor’s arm and refused to let go, was ready to keep arguing. But then she got an idea. With no small amount of reluctance she released him, then clasped her hands together and stood up straight.
“Very well, Coran,” she said loftily. “I accept.”
Melenor frowned. “Are you sure, Allura?” she asked. “Lotor is your guest. It is your decision.”
“I know,” Allura assured her, smiling. “And my decision is to have Coran show the both of us around the castle. That would be lovely, would it not, Lotor?”
She looked up at the Galra, who was watching her curiously, clearly wondering what she was scheming.
Go along with it for now, she communicated silently, subtly winking at him.
Quickly catching on, he nodded. “Certainly,” he agreed, and then addressing Coran, said, “I am sure you know everything there is to know about this place.”
Coran looked surprised at Lotor’s comment at first, and then very pleased with himself. “Why, yes,” he said proudly. “I do.”
“Then that settles it,” Alfor concluded, satisfied.
So leading the tour Coran went, and follow him Allura and Lotor did. They kept several paces behind him, nodding at and acknowledging the things he said, and though Allura did a fair job at listening to (or at least pretending to listen to) things she already knew before, she couldn’t help but notice Lotor glancing at her from time to time.
After one particularly long lecture about the ancient artwork carved into the iridescent, pearl-white walls of the great hall and a dramatic retelling of a famous duel that took place in the palace gardens many years ago, the three of them ventured into the library.
The white walls, ceiling, stairs, and bookshelves of the vast room surrounded them, illuminated by gentle cyan lights like everything else within the Castle of Lions. Lotor looked around, fascinated, his footsteps slowing as they passed a few dozen of the shelves around them, past books and scrolls and holograms.
Allura appreciated that he took an interest, but she had been to this place a thousand times, and with only one objective since his arrival to her planet, she was becoming quite impatient. No doubt Lotor noticed her growing vexation, for once Coran began recounting the history of the unique Altean architecture and looking the other way, the emperor finally leaned down to whisper to her.
“Might I ask what you are up to, Princess?” he asked in a low voice.
Allura looked up at him, and seeing the mirth in his gaze, managed a grin. “Not to worry, Emperor,” she returned, her voice just as hushed. “I have a plan.”
“Yes, I thought you might,” he remarked, a ghost of a smile on his lips. “I suspected you had an ulterior motive when you first agreed to this… stimulating tour.”
She put a hand on her chest, feigning offense. “Are you telling me you are not enjoying the spectacular sights of my home?”
“How can I, when I already have a spectacular sight right here beside me?” Lotor asked, grinning at her, and the two of them laughed quietly together.
“Keep up now, you two!” Coran called behind him. He glanced over his shoulder at them, raising an eyebrow. “Are you even listening?”
“Of course we are, Coran,” Allura replied instantly as she and Lotor stood up straight. “We are enjoying your tour immensely.”
“It has been most informative,” Lotor added. “We could not have asked for a better guide.”
Coran must have known they were buttering him up, but he couldn’t resist the flattery otherwise. “Well,” he said, stroking his mustache, and looking very proud indeed. “I don’t know every inch of this castle for nothing! After all, my ancestors helped build these very walls long ago. Now then, if I may draw your attention to the flying buttresses over the…”
He turned back around, gesturing to the massive supports above them, and Allura watched carefully as he went on his way past more bookshelves. As soon as he was out of sight, she grasped Lotor’s hand and quickly led him out of the library and back the way they came.
“So this was your plan all along,” Lotor remarked.
He and Allura walked hand in hand, having snuck out of the castle together and taking a personal transport. They strolled through the busy streets of the capital city, passing by towering buildings packed in cozily together, and people in a hurry to get to their destinations. The night life was as alive and vibrant as ever, the lights from structures illuminating everything in a gentle blue and cyan glow overhead. The nights over the last two months had become increasingly hot and humid because of the upcoming fire rock season, and Allura wasn’t outside for five minutes before she felt herself perspiring. There was that and the constant stares from Altean citizens directed towards her and Lotor that were troublesome, but she chose to ignore them.
“I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean,” Allura answered Lotor, feigning ignorance.
“Keep Coran occupied,” Lotor began, musing aloud. “Wait until his attention is drawn elsewhere, and then at the last possible moment, make a run for it with none the wiser―all so you could get me alone.” The corners of his eyes crinkled in amusement. “Should a princess not possess a certain sense of propriety?”
She shrugged. “I learned by example. It was you who got me into breaking the rules, after all. Besides,” she added with a grin. “You forget that we are in the city, Lotor. We are not alone.”
“You only need to say the word, Allura, and I am sure we can make an arrangement.”
Allura laughed and shook her head. “There will be plenty of time for that later, but there is something I want to show you first.”
They continued to make their way through the city, past the brightly lit skyscrapers displaying images and Altean letters through colorful holograms and signs, past sleek hovering vehicles taking their passengers from one place to the next. And though it was impossible to ignore every single mistrustful glare or scrutinizing glance sent their way―or rather, sent Lotor’s way―causing a sharp pang of irritation to form in Allura’s chest, she was as determined as ever not to give in, and held her head high.
Soon they came upon one spot in the capital that stood out from the rest in that it was completely devoid of any buildings. A flat, silver plane shone like a beacon even amidst the busy traffic, containing three stone monoliths, the largest and tallest one standing in the very center. Into these monoliths were engraved over a hundred names in the Altean language, glowing a soft, teal color.
Together, Allura and Lotor walked up a set of steps towards the tall structures, and the latter instantly recognized where they were.
“This is where City Hall once stood,” he realized, his voice quieting. He looked at Allura. “Isn’t it?”
She nodded, and the two of them fell silent as they took in the sight of the memorial before them. At the base of the monoliths, the citizens had come to lay juniberries, decorating the area with flowers and pink ornaments as a way of paying their respects to the lives lost during the tragic event.
Allura looked up at Lotor and, seeing the serious look on his face, gently tugged on his hand. “What are you thinking about?” she asked.
He drew in a slow, quiet breath and did not speak at first, contemplating what to say. “I was thinking,” he began, his voice low. “I never told you how sorry I am…” He looked at her, his eyes dim and somber. “For what happened here that day.”
She was surprised at him at first, and the painful truth of it all must have been too much for him, for he turned his head to face forward again, unable to look at her.
“Whether or not I had decided to join the Coalition,” he went on. “Whether or not I had decided to come to this planet five months ago, Romelle and Sendak―or someone else―would have eventually found a way to carry out their plans.” A shadow passed over his face, a brief moment of anger setting his eyes alight, before he exhaled heavily and his shoulders sagged. “But I am sorry that it had to happen here, to your people… and to you.”
Allura remained silent at first, the inner corners of her eyebrows lifting slightly as she continued to watch him. Her heart ached to see him this way, and she wished for nothing more than to comfort him. Taking a step closer towards him, she gently squeezed his hand so he would look at her, and when he did, the sorrow in his gaze nearly brought tears to her eyes.
“It is painful to think about it,” she admitted. “To remember what happened to all those who suffered, my family, my people. But…” And she gave him a small, encouraging smile as she grasped his hand a little tighter. “There was one very good thing that happened that day.” Her smile grew. “I met you.”
He returned her smile, and they were silent once more, looking upon the memorial still with humble mourning, but now with a spark of hope and happiness within them.
In an effort to cheer him up, Allura led Lotor deeper into the city and towards a great, white bridge that overlooked the wide streets below. They opted to climb the many stairs instead of taking the lift, and all the while she spoke excitedly about her plans during his visit.
“There is so much I want to do while you’re here,” she told him. “I am confident in our proposals for the meeting tomorrow, and I think you will quite enjoy the ball tomorrow night. It is a once-a-year celebration of Fire Rock Night, and I am most looking forward to seeing the generals there as well. The day after that, we will hold one last meeting to solidify the plan for the peace treaty, and then it will be up to the people to decide. It will take some time, but I expected as much.”
They reached the top and walked along the bridge. Night had at last fallen and the sky turned a dazzling shade of violet, allowing the clouds to part and the stars and moons to shine brightly overhead.
“Once this last meeting is over, we will finally have some free time together,” Allura went on, glancing up at Lotor brightly. She looked forward again, leading him towards the middle of the bridge. “I want to show you my special sanctuary by the little creek, the one I told you about. We could even travel to the countryside, spend a few days by the sea, just the two of us. Wouldn’t that be lovely? And we could do whatever you like. Anything you want to do, just say the word.”
She then felt Lotor’s hesitation. “About that…” she heard him trail off.
His hand slipped from hers, and she stopped in her tracks, looking over at him in concern. “Is everything alright?” she asked with a frown.
“Everything is fine,” he assured her, though he looked slightly apprehensive. “Back in the hangar, I never got a chance to tell you that”―he sighed, closing his eyes and opening them again―”once the meetings are over, I must return to Daibazaal immediately.”
It took a couple of seconds for his words to sink in, but once they did Allura’s heart plummeted. “But that means you will be here for only two more days,” she realized, unable to hide the disappointment in her voice. “So soon?”
Lotor nodded. “I am happy to be here, Allura,” he told her softly. “And I wish I could stay longer, but…”
He sighed, walking away to stand by the edge of the bridge, placing his hands on the railing as he looked down at the traffic below. He shook his head in regret.
“Conditions on my planet are restless, to put it lightly. Sendak is still out there, and only a few days ago we received intel that he has formed a faction among the Galra called the Fire of Purification, a group whose sole purpose is to stop this unification from happening, as well as dethrone me. On top of that, there is another group among my people―rebels. They call themselves the Blade of Marmora.”
“I have never heard of them before,” Allura said.
“They have existed since before Zarkon’s reign,” Lotor explained. “Only recently have they begun to show their faces again, and are causing further unrest within the empire.” He sighed again, tiredly running a hand through his hair. “I have no idea what it is they want.”
Allura considered, coming to stand next to him and resting her hands on the railing as well. “Perhaps their intentions are more honorable than Sendak’s,” she offered optimistically.
Lotor glanced at her, the corner of his mouth lifting. “Perhaps,” he mused.
“Is there anything I can do?” she asked.
His lips parted, fangs peeking out and glinting under the soft, blue lights from underneath the roof of the bridge. “Would you…” he hesitated. “Wait for me? I know you have many responsibilities of your own, and I do not know how long it would take, but I want to take care of this situation as quickly as possible. I may be able to return within the month.”
“Oh.” Allura’s face fell. “Unfortunately I will not be here by then. I am going to Earth in a couple of weeks. The Galaxy Garrison wants to be more proactive within the Coalition, to improve and strengthen relations among the members, and have asked me to offer my expertise on the matter.”
“You do possess an extraordinary talent of bringing people together,” Lotor mused, a small smile forming on his face.
She smiled back, but it soon faded and she felt forlorn again. “It will require many hours of travel,” she told him. “Not only to Earth, but to other planets as well. It could be a while before I return home.” She looked up at him, searching his eyes earnestly. “Had I known about your situation, I would have put in a request to delay the trip.”
But Lotor shook his head. “These kinds of situations… they cannot be helped. It is no one’s fault, Allura. We are only doing what must be done.”
She nodded, but she didn’t feel satisfied somehow. Lotor’s eyes flickered over her, and he looked like he wanted to say something more, but then something in the sky caught his attention.
His eyes widened a fraction. “Are those the fire rocks?” he asked in hushed amazement.
Allura followed his gaze. In the purple ether above, tiny balls of fiery red light, that were twice the size of stars from their perspective, were flying across the heavens. Endless amounts of them sped across the sky, leaving trails of sparkling, dusty orange before eventually petering out.
“Yes, they are,” she replied, smiling a little. “At this size, they are still too small to enter the atmosphere without dissipating, so we are safe tonight.” She glanced at Lotor and her smile widened. “It’s the ones tomorrow night you will need to worry about.”
He chuckled softly, and they both fell silent as they watched the falling rocks continue to blaze through the purple night.
Allura might have been watching the sky, but her heart and her head were somewhere else. She couldn’t help the disappointment and dread that crept into her as she thought about Lotor having to depart so suddenly. He’d only just arrived, and now it felt like he was already leaving.
Over the past three weeks the two of them had kept in contact as often as they could, though they barely had enough time to talk as it was. With planning their sides of the treaty, as well as fulfilling their duties and responsibilities to their respective planets, it turned out that they were far busier than they originally predicted.
It had always been that way, of course, even long before they met; it had only become more noticeable now with their new relationship added into the mix. Allura had been looking forward to seeing him again, and because of the great importance of planning and forming this peace treaty, she had assumed they would be spending more time together.
But now all she could feel was the anticipatory grief of his departure in two days. She’d known this would be the case, for the two of them had discussed the reality of their situation at Malocoti’s party back on Dunamis, but still, knowing it was one thing; living it was another.
She looked down at her and Lotor’s hands gripping the ledge. They were only inches apart, so close to one another but not touching.
Navigating her life as a princess and navigating her relationship with Lotor… it was going to be a lot harder than she thought.
But that didn’t mean it wasn’t possible.
Allura scooted closer towards Lotor to lean her head against his shoulder. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him smile as he leaned in towards her as well, bringing an arm underneath her hair to wrap around her waist.
“I was looking forward to spending time with you,” he said softly, his warm breath fanning over her hair. “And I wish I could have told you sooner, about me leaving, but things have been so…”
“Chaotic?” she suggested.
“Yes, chaotic,” he agreed. “And busy. I feel that I have no time to do anything else except be the emperor.”
“I know the feeling,” she said sympathetically. “There never seems to be enough time, does there?”
“If I did not need to sleep I could get so much more work done.”
“You and me both. Oh well, we must succumb to the weaknesses of our mortal bodies. Such a pity.” She smiled when she heard him laugh softly. “It really is a beautiful night, isn’t it?” she then asked, snuggling up to him and placing her hand on his back, threading her fingers through the ends of his hair.
“It is,” Lotor agreed as they watched the fire rocks fall high above, and below them the busy throng of traffic, a peaceful night in the city.
“It is these kinds of nights that are etched into your memory, the kinds you remember forever…” Allura lifted her head to look up at him and smile. “…for as long as you live.”
His glowing eyes softened, and he released her waist so that the two of them could face another as he took hold of her hands. “I am sorry it has to be like this,” he said quietly.
She shook her head. “It is no one’s fault, just as you said,” she told him earnestly. “You once told me that we both have greater roles to fulfill, and you were right. I can see now that this is the way to do it.” She shrugged a shoulder. “It is why we decided to do this in the first place, is it not? To unite our planets and bring peace and harmony back into our people’s lives, so that we can do this together.”
She squeezed his hands gently as she said the last word to emphasize, then stepped in closer towards him.
“Though I am sad we must say goodbye so soon, I want to make the most of the time that we do have.” She smiled. “It has always been like that, hasn’t it? Just the two of us, taking on the rest of the universe while we count down the remaining hours until our next goodbye. And I know it will be worth it, because it is you and me.”
The astonishment and appreciation shone in Lotor’s eyes as he listened to her words, and he nodded slowly. “You and me,” he repeated. He returned her smile, then smoothed a lock of hair behind her shoulder before running his hands down her arms. “Your optimism never fails to amaze me, Allura. Have I ever mentioned how incredible you are?”
“You could stand to mention it more,” she joked, grinning when he laughed softly at that, making her heart warm. She reached up to touch his face, and he leaned into her palm, closing his eyes before opening them again, his luminescent gaze wandering over her adoringly. “If anyone is incredible, it is you, Lotor,” she said in a near whisper. “And I am glad you are here with me now. I love you.”
“I love you, too,” he said, just as hushed.
Hearing those words from him made her heart feel like it could burst from the pure amount of joy and love she felt because of this man, just like when she heard him say them the first time. She balanced on the tips of her toes as he leaned down towards her, meeting in the middle for a kiss. He pulled back slightly, and there was happiness within him as well, but also a sweet sadness as he tenderly caressed her cheek with the backs of his fingers.
“I believe you and I were made from the same stardust, love,” he said.
Allura could say nothing more, completely overcome, her heart filling to the brim with emotion. She held onto his arm, her eyes shining, then they closed when he leaned in again to tenderly press his lips to the corner of her mouth, a soft sigh escaping her. They continued to kiss on that bridge, not a single care in the world if anyone was watching.
It was past dusk by the time they returned to the castle, holding hands as they walked through the white halls. The cyan lights had long since dimmed because of the late hour, and Allura couldn’t help but notice that both she and Lotor had begun to slow in their footsteps.
“Well, here we are,” she said reluctantly when they reached the guest suites on one of the top floors. “Your chambers are here on the west side of the castle, as far away from my own as possible.” She pouted, looking glum, and Lotor chuckled.
“No doubt your father’s and Coran’s idea, no?” he asked. “Speaking of which, I do not think your family’s royal advisor will be very happy to learn where we have been today.”
“Yes, I am sure he will give me an earful tomorrow for ditching him,” Allura agreed, but then she added, smiling up at him, “but it is worth it, now that I finally got to be alone with you.” Then she sighed exasperatedly. “If only you weren’t so far away,” she complained, glaring at the doors to his room like they offended her personally.
Lotor smiled. “We must retain a sense of propriety, remember? Knowing you…” He smoothed her hair from her face, his thumb brushing against the pink mark on her cheekbone. “You might get carried away.”
“How dare you accuse me so,” Allura said reproachfully, coming closer to wrap her arms around his hips. “If anyone is in danger of getting carried away, it is you, Emperor Lotor.”
“You take that back,” he demanded huskily.
“Or what…” Allura trailed off, grinning as Lotor leaned down to kiss her softly, gently cradling her face in his hands.
Their kisses were chaste and brief, and Lotor didn’t let his hands wander anywhere below her waist, but soon Allura found herself wanting more. She leaned into him, humming softly into his mouth, and her palms smoothed up his chest and towards his shoulders to bring him closer to her.
“Allura,” Lotor said in between kisses. “What about maintaining a sense of propriety like we just talked about?”
“I don’t know what any of those words mean,” she murmured absentmindedly, and she felt his lips quirk up in a smile as he laughed again.
His hands traveled up her back and underneath her hair until he gently gripped the back of her neck and pulled away slightly to look at her, his sharp eyes traveling over her. “Is this your attempt at seducing me?” he asked, his voice gravelly.
“Is it working?” She tangled her fingers into his hair.
“You have always tried to provoke me, Princess. Ever since the beginning.”
“And one of these days I will succeed,” she promised.
“What makes you think you haven’t already?”
The silence that followed as they held each other tightly in the dim corridor was deliciously intense and enticing, and the way he looked at her with those bright, luminescent eyes of his would surely be her undoing, if they weren’t already.
“Walk me back to my room?” she then asked, batting her eyes.
Her efforts were not lost on him, she knew, and the way his lips parted as his gaze flickered over her, it was obvious that he was considering it. Then he smiled and shook his head. “If we keep this up, I am afraid we will never say goodnight.”
“Perhaps not out here, no,” she said, bringing her arms up to wrap around his neck, but he gently untangled from her and gripped her shoulders to hold her back. “Lotor…” she whined.
“We have a big meeting tomorrow,” he reminded her, apparently having come to his senses, and he firmly kept her away when she tried to grab at him again. “We should stay focused.”
“Hmm…” Allura reluctantly took a step backwards, then sighed dramatically, tossing her hair over her shoulder and resting a hand on her hip. “I suppose it would not do for you to get distracted around me.”
“Speak for yourself,” he teased her. “You have quite a condemning track record of being unable to keep your hands off of me.”
“Then let us wipe the slate clean, shall we?” she suggested haughtily, raising her hands. “Starting now, until the meetings are over, we do not touch one another.”
Lotor let out a laugh. “And what brought this on?” he asked, his voice fond as his eyes crinkled at the edges.
“Don’t think you can do it, Emperor?” she asked, biting back a smile.
“I never said that, Princess. What about the ball tomorrow night? Are you saying that we cannot dance together?”
“It is hilarious that you think you are going to last that long.”
Lotor appeared to be seriously contemplating her silly idea. He folded his arms, his fingers running over his mouth as his eyes traveled over her. Then he nodded and mirrored her posture, raising his hands in concession.
“Very well,” he said at last. “I agree to your terms. What do I get when I win?”
Allura grinned. “I think you mean when I win. We will decide when you lose.”
“I wholeheartedly accept your challenge, then, and I look forward to your loss.”
“I was about to say the same thing,” she returned smugly.
It turned out that their little impromptu game of not touching wasn’t very difficult, at least at first. The next day the morning passed peacefully and cheerfully, with the Galra generals and the rest of Lotor’s war council arriving and welcomed as guests in the castle. The Altean royal council soon came as the hour of the meeting approached, and as both sides gathered in the conference room, they were wary of each other at first. Once they saw Allura and Lotor comfortably speaking with their friends, however, the others gradually began to warm up to the idea of interacting with those who had once been their enemies.
“It is so good to see you again,” Allura said happily, hugging the generals when she saw them. She grasped Acxa’s hands excitedly. “Thank you for coming all this way. It is thanks to you that we are able to make this treaty happen. I only hope it will go through.”
“It will,” Acxa told her encouragingly. “We’ll make sure of it. Right, guys?”
“You bet,” Ezor agreed with a grin.
“Don’t worry, I have ways of making people listen,” Zethrid promised, rubbing her knuckles intimidatingly. Then when Acxa glared at her, she protested, “What? It was just a joke―mostly. And Narti’s got my back. Right, Narti?”
Narti nodded firmly, and Allura laughed. Ezor then lifted her chin towards the other side of the room.
“Hey, what’s up with Mogor and your grandma?” she asked.
Allura looked over her shoulder to see Rhiella and the chief commander. They stood near the large conference table, speaking together in hushed tones in what appeared to be a private conversation.
“Ah,” Allura acknowledged with a nod before turning back to the girls. “They knew each other a long time ago. After the trial they decided to rekindle their…” She searched for the appropriate word. “…friendship.” She glanced at them again, and it was clear that the way the elderly couple were looking at one another spoke of anything but friendship.
“Is that so?” Ezor asked, raising an eyebrow, then she grinned, baring her sharp fangs. “Then you and Lotor must be really good friends, Allura.”
She and Zethrid began snickering, Acxa rolled her eyes at them, and though Allura felt her cheeks heat up in slight embarrassment, she wasn’t offended. At the mention of the emperor, she began looking for him among the large gathering of Galra and Alteans, and to her surprise, she found him speaking with her father at the front of the room.
By the way they were conversing, still with some stiffness yet interest in their manner, she assumed they were discussing their travels to different planets throughout the years. Seeing them start to get along made her happy, and not only that, but as Allura let her eyes wander over Lotor, watching the way his mouth moved as he spoke, the seriousness of his gaze, his hands behind his back, his towering posture poised and strong…
She wondered, how did he become more magnificent and beautiful since she last saw him?
Lotor must have felt her watching him, because his eyes quickly sought Allura’s and his expression softened into a small smile. He turned back to Alfor to excuse himself, and the king nodded, catching Allura’s eye as well and looking satisfied.
“Good morning,” Lotor greeted her and the other women. His hands remained behind his back. “Might I steal the princess away for a moment? The meeting is starting soon and I would like us to go over our presentation one last time.”
“Of course,” Allura answered immediately. “Excellent idea.”
“Take all the time you need,” Acxa assured them.
“Don’t take any detours, you two,” Ezor jeered.
“Ezor,” Lotor warned her, and she stuck out her tongue in response.
Allura and Lotor left together and found a private office to use, and for a while the two of them managed to stay on task. They remained on opposite sides of the room and were so engrossed in their work that in the beginning it was easy enough to concentrate.
Allura stood in front of a console, one arm folded over her stomach, her other hand tugging at her necklace as she silently went over the topics she was going to cover when giving her half of the treaty’s proposal. Meanwhile Lotor sat on a white sofa, looking over his own work on a purple, holographic tablet.
It was easy to not get sidetracked by the other, or at least that was what Allura thought, for as the hour of the meeting approached, they found themselves glancing over when they thought the other wasn’t looking. Finally their eyes met, and they smiled at each other before turning away, but it was far too late. Lotor’s presence was overwhelming as always, even from clear across the room, and Allura couldn’t help but say something.
“How is it coming along?” she asked casually, idly sifting through documents on the screen in front of her.
“Fine, I think,” he replied. “Though I want to make sure I do not miss anything important during the meeting.”
“You won’t,” she told him encouragingly, and he lifted his head to look at her. “I have seen your work, and I think it is brilliant. You are more than prepared.”
He smiled. “We both are. Your half of the presentation will be perfect, I know it.”
She returned his smile brightly and turned back to the screen in front of her. Then she heard him clear his throat.
“I received a message from Princess Malocoti this morning,” he said. “About the upcoming campaign for new High Council members. I assume you got one, too?”
“I did,” Allura replied. “She must still want us to run for two of the empty seats.”
“Are you considering it?”
She turned to face him fully, leaning against the console and humming thoughtfully. “I do not know,” she confessed. “We are already so busy with taking care of our own planets and putting together this peace treaty. And what with our own separate commitments over the next month, it would add a lot more to the workload.” She nodded towards him. “What do you think?”
“Well,” he sighed, considering. “The High Council has a history of selecting corrupt leaders, and in the past they have used their influence to sway the members of the Coalition in order to receive votes. If we were to be elected ourselves, we could help put a stop to that.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Allura agreed.
“And,” Lotor added. “I believe there is another incentive to join―a more personal one.”
“And what is that?” she asked curiously, tilting her head.
He kept his eyes glued to the tablet, clearing his throat again. “With the two of us on the High Council, it would mean traveling to Dunamis fairly frequently,” he explained. “We could… see each other more often that way.” He briefly looked her way before returning his attention to the device. “Something to consider.”
Allura bit back a grin. With a firm nod, she said seriously, “You present a very compelling argument, sir.”
He looked at her again, his eyes softening and the corner of his mouth lifting knowingly. “Do I, now?” he said, his voice low.
“Absolutely. If we both happen to be elected, it will be difficult at first, juggling all of our responsibilities, I cannot deny that. But…” She shrugged a shoulder and smiled at him. “If we can find ways to be together and do some good in this universe, then I believe it is worth it.”
Lotor’s smile grew. “We are on the same page, then.”
“Yes. We have always made a good team,” she said softly. “Haven’t we?”
He nodded, and they were silent, looking at one another, the atmosphere tense and electric between them. Allura’s mouth went dry as her eyes traveled over him. She knew she ought to focus on her work, but being there with him now, the way he sat so carefully yet attentively, ready to jump to his feet at a moment’s notice should the occasion arise, the way his shoulders and his lean, muscular body hunched over, his luminescent eyes shimmering, regarding her as intensely as always…
Gods, he looked positively sinful at that moment.
There was no doubt that Lotor could read what she was thinking, because his lips parted and he sucked in a quiet breath. “When does the… meeting start?” he asked slowly, his voice rough.
“Soon,” she answered quietly, then she added half-jokingly, “Shall I set a timer?”
Lotor laughed softly and he shook his head, turning his attention back to his tablet, but only a second later his eyes lifted to meet hers again. He must have seen the way Allura was looking at him, because his smile faded and his gaze darkened, sharpening with intent.
“Perhaps,” he began, clearing his throat, “I ought to vacate the room so that I do not… distract you.” His voice lowered and his shoulders tensed as he spoke, and that was more than enough for what remained of Allura’s willpower to crumble.
“Oh no. You stay right where you are,” she insisted. With her hands behind her back she sauntered over to him, swaying her hips this way and that. “As you said, we are both more than prepared for this presentation…”
She loved the way his hungry eyes traveled over her as she got closer.
“And I think we could use a break, don’t you?” she asked innocently, smiling at him.
Lotor didn’t say another word, but instead set his tablet aside, immediately taking Allura into his arms when she came forward to sit in his lap. She straddled his hips and caged his face in her hands as they kissed like two starved individuals, even though they’d been in each other’s presence for most of the morning.
Allura hummed softly as Lotor tangled his fingers in her hair, then she abruptly broke the kiss and pulled away. He pursued her, but she held him back, placing her hands on his shoulders.
“Actually, I think you are right,” she told him, and she grinned cheekily. “Perhaps we are getting too distracted.”
She clapped him on the shoulders and made to stand, but she didn’t get far before he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back into his lap.
“Lotor!” She laughed breathlessly when he wrapped his arms tightly around her, giving her a searing kiss on the mouth before his lips began trailing down her jaw and finally her neck.
“Allura,” he chastised her, his voice a deep growl as he spoke into her skin. “When you do things like that… how can I let you go now, you illecebrous woman?”
Allura shivered as his fangs scraped against her skin with the most feather-light touch. “Lotor…” she repeated his name in a whisper, stroking his hair and encouraging him.
He pulled away, looking up at her with awe as well as desire in his glowing eyes. His pupils were blown wide. “Allura.” He uttered her name with such reverence and affection. Then he smiled crookedly at her. “What about our little agreement?”
Truthfully she had forgotten all about that. “Oh,” she mused.
“‘Oh’? Is that all?” Lotor laughed heartily. “Was it not your idea in the first place?”
“Mmm…” Allura absentmindedly played with the ends of his hair as she contemplated. “Then who won?”
He thought about it, resting his hands on her hips. “I say we both lost at the same time,” he suggested.
“It is only fair, isn’t it?” she agreed, shrugging a shoulder.
She gave him a quick peck on the lips, beaming at him, then another, and then smiled wide when he drew her back in for a longer, more fervid kiss. As their kisses became more earnest, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down with her until she was lying back on the sofa. His weight on top of her was absolutely divine.
Lotor let out a huff of surprise at the movement, then his arms snaked underneath her back, holding her close to him as their kisses grew more heated.
“Are you sure this is alright?” he asked softly in between kisses, and she appreciated him asking. After all, the two of them had never gone this far before, though Allura had been wanting to for a long time now. She suspected it was the same for him as well, the way he held her in his arms, his large hand sliding down the side of her body and pressing her against him.
“Mm-hm,” she answered. She opened her mouth to him, tasting him, and the soft groan that he made when their tongues brushed was a sound she would commit to memory for as long as she lived.
Again Lotor began kissing down her neck, smoothing back her hair. She hummed and smiled in response, then he pulled back, bracing himself up on one hand as he looked over her, breathing heavily. Allura’s hands were on either side of her head, her chest rising and falling as she watched him reach out to caress her face, lightly running his thumb along the pink marking on her cheekbone, before wandering down her neck and catching his claws on the chain of her necklace.
There was a look on his face as he gazed upon her, admiring her body, and when their eyes met her breath caught, for in his eyes she saw an eagerness but also a tenderness that made her nose sting and an endearing warmth to bloom within her chest.
“What is it?” she whispered, holding onto his arm.
“You… you are so perfect.” Lotor shook his head slightly, and a shy smile formed on his face. “It is still hard to believe that this is not a dream, that this is real―that you are mine.” His smile faded, the same bittersweetness in his eyes present as it was last night on the bridge.
Allura blinked rapidly and swallowed the lump in her throat. “Lotor―” she began, but he shushed her, running his thumb ever so gently over her lips.
He shook his head again. “It’s alright,” he told her. “You don’t need to say anything.” And his smile returned, warm and loving.
She gazed up at him, completely captivated and mesmerized by this man above her, as he leaned in once more to kiss her softly. She felt his lips quirk up when she entwined his shoulders in her arms to bring him closer. As they kissed, with Lotor caging her in with his body, Allura could feel the tension and nervousness from him at first, but when she melted into his touch, her mouth pliant and willing just for him, he grew more confident, his manner more impassioned.
Allura smiled into the kiss, laughing a little when his large hand smoothed down the side of her body and tickled her ribs before coming to her hip, just above her thigh. She gasped softly, their lips barely brushing, her heart racing in anticipation as he was about to touch the rest of her―
And then a loud beeping sound pierced through the air, coming from the console on the other side of the room. They both froze, then looked at each other.
“The meeting,” Lotor said, gazing down at her.
It took a moment for his words to sink in, and when they did Allura’s eyes widened. “It’s about to start,” she realized. “We’re going to be late.”
Lotor removed himself from her, climbing off of the sofa and taking her hand to help her to her feet. “It appears we lost track of time,” he remarked.
“We always have the worst timing, don’t we?” Allura asked, pouting as she smoothed back her hair and fiddled with her skirts. Then their eyes met and they both laughed.
“Shall we?” he prompted, offering his arm for her to take, which she gladly accepted. “I believe we both have a very important presentation to give.”
“How right you are,” she agreed, smiling up at him. He returned her smile, gave her a quick kiss, and they left together arm in arm.
The meeting went on for longer than expected, but ended on a much more positive note than Allura could have hoped. The idea of uniting two planets, two races that for centuries had intentionally kept as far away from each other as possible, was still not easy for people to swallow, and they voiced their concerns as such.
However, as the princess and emperor worked together to present their argument, their plans, and their goals they hoped to accomplish with this peace treaty, the Alteans and Galra were willing to listen. Eventually it was decided that the second meeting the following day would be dedicated to discussing further possibilities. Allura caught Lotor’s eye as they concluded, hope blossoming within her, and she left the conference room in high spirits.
The ball was set to take place later that evening. Allura unfortunately did not have much free time in between. She spent the majority of the day visiting with advisors, answering messages sent from envoys, planning for future charity work trips, etc., until at last it was time for the big event of the year.
Brilliant colors of blue, pink, and purple lit up the ballroom. Musicians warmed up on their instruments, getting ready to play traditional Altean music fit for the dance floor. The Galra guests intermingled with the Altean council, advisors, and other members of the court who were also invited.
What Allura was looking forward to most of all, however, was taking place very shortly. In the back of the ballroom, tall windows stretched to the height of the ceiling and provided a stunning view of the palace gardens and the purple night sky above. Soon the fire rocks would stream past the stars and moons, and then celebrations would officially commence.
Allura arrived at the party a little late, and seeing that most of the guests were present, she scanned the crowd for Lotor, but could not find him. She asked those nearby if they’d seen any sign of him, but to no avail.
“Good evening, Your Highness,” a familiar gruff voice greeted.
She turned around and saw Mogor and Rhiella approach, walking arm in arm through the tall doors just after her.
“Good evening,” she returned with a grin.
“This is a spectacular event,” the older man offered.
“Isn’t it?” Rhiella agreed proudly. “We are quite the party planners if I do say so myself. Right, Lulu?”
“You and Mother and Aunt Orla did most of the work,” Allura reminded her.
“Yes, but that is only because you have been so busy with this peace treaty. She gave an excellent presentation, didn’t she, Mogor?”
“I believe so,” Mogor said with a serious nod. “The meeting went better than expected, Your Highness, and I could see that you care very much about the unification of our planets.” His eyes softened and he smiled. “Thank you.”
Allura smiled back. “It is an honor to be a part of all of this, and Lotor deserves just as much credit. By the way, have you seen him tonight?”
Rhiella frowned, looking around at the party goers. “Hm, I’m afraid I haven’t―oh look, there he is now!”
Allura turned toward where Rhiella was gesturing, and sure enough, Lotor stood near to where the musicians were practicing. He was discussing with his generals, and it appeared to be serious, so Allura guessed it must have had to do with either Sendak or the Blade of Marmora. But when he looked over and noticed her, his eyes lit up and he smiled, to which she beamed in return.
Rhiella then leaned towards Mogor to speak to him softly, asking him to get her a drink. He nodded, grasped her hand tenderly before leaving, and the queen dowager came to stand next to Allura, who glanced at the chief commander as he left.
“Are you happy, Grandmother?” she asked, for seeing Rhiella with her past love and how much they seemed to dote on each other made her chest squeeze with fond endearment.
“I am,” Rhiella answered sincerely. “We get strange looks wherever we go, but it is to be expected.”
“I know the feeling all too well,” Allura said, then she paused. “Have you told Mother and Aunt Orla? About you and him?”
“I have―not as much as I told you, of course, but they know about us.”
“How did they take it?”
“Orla, as expected, was not so open to the idea…” Rhiella trailed off, a little disappointed. Then her mood lifted and she looked at Allura, her jeweled eyes lighting up. “But Melenor’s reaction I did not see coming. She did not seem shocked at all. She was very encouraging, in fact.” She smiled. “Perhaps I should not have been so surprised. She has always been kind and understanding, and has always had a keen eye, that one.”
“Very true,” Allura agreed, grinning. “I think she may have picked up on my and Lotor’s situation the second she saw us together.”
“Why Lulu, that is because the two of you cannot pretend to be indifferent to one another, even if your very lives depended on it.”
Allura had to laugh. “I suppose you are right, if these last few months are anything to go by.” She shook her head, glancing at Lotor again, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Rhiella tilt her head curiously.
“And what about you, darling? Are you happy?”
The princess looked at her, surprised at the question at first. Then she nodded and smiled genuinely. “I am,” she said. “It will be hard to have to say goodbye again when he leaves, but…” She shrugged a shoulder, her smile growing. “After everything that has happened, I know it will be alright. So yes, I am happy. Lotor makes me happy.”
“I am glad to hear it. You know, I had a thought that might help with your peace treaty.”
“I am open to suggestions.”
“It has become clear to me from today’s meeting that, though more optimistic than expected, it will still take some time for the Alteans and the Galra to truly accept one another, perhaps even after my lifetime. But I think I know a way you and Emperor Lotor might be able to speed that up.”
Allura tilted her head, curious.
“How about you two get married?”
The princess’s eyebrows shot up. “Married?” she repeated, though she knew she ought not have been so surprised by her grandmother’s words. She pursed her lips as she considered. “Strengthening the alliance between our planets would benefit from a marital union from their rulers…” she admitted.
“Indeed it would.”
She glanced over at Lotor again. They’d only spoken about it twice in the past, the concept of marriage, though she knew it was a source of complicated feelings for the both of them. For her, it only brought the burden of her sacred duty which she’d dreaded since she was old enough to understand its significance, though she knew now that that role did not belong to only her. And for Lotor, it was his parents’ situations and his genetics which he deemed an imperfection, a flaw within himself, even if Allura did not see it that way.
Nevertheless, it was hard for him to address it, as was the topic of marriage, and so the two of them had not thought to discuss it since that night before the soiree. Marriage was not only about starting a family, she knew, and finding a partner to spend the rest of her life with was something she’d always wanted, ever since she was a child.
And so Allura did wonder if, after all that they’d been through together, perhaps Lotor had changed his mind.
She looked back to her grandmother. “Definitely something to think about,” she said with a smile.
Rhiella returned her smile fondly, grasping Allura’s hand and giving it an affectionate squeeze. “Since the very moment I saw you two together, the way he looked at you and you at him, I could see the love and devotion between you. It is powerful, Lulu, and it is stronger than any mere wedding ceremony or marital act. Whatever you two decide, it will be the right choice, as long as you decide together. And you are right. It is going to be hard, being apart from one another, and time always seems to run out right when you need it the most. But do you know what I do when that happens?”
Allura shook her head, waiting expectantly.
“Whenever I am feeling overwhelmed or feel that I cannot bear the burdens life throws my way, I tell myself to take it a day at a time. If that is too much, I take it an hour at a time, and if that is still too much, I take it a minute at a time.” She nodded encouragingly. “You can do this, Lulu. You have already succeeded, and I know you can do anything.”
Her nose stinging, Allura squeezed her hand back. She and Lotor had promised to make the most of their time together, and she was still determined to keep that promise. But hearing those supportive words from her grandmother meant the world to her, and she didn’t realize how much she needed them until now.
“Thank you, Grandmother,” she said, but Rhiella shook her head.
“I want to thank you, Lulu. Were it not for you and your emperor, I would not have had the courage to be with Mogor again.” Her eyes filled with tears but her smile remained. “Thank you.”
Allura drew her in for a hug, squeezing her tight, and when they let go Rhiella sniffed and wiped her eyes.
“Well!” the older woman said. “I believe the meteor shower will be starting soon. You should go watch it with Lotor, while I get that drink Mogor promised me.”
The princess laughed and nodded, then looked to where Lotor stood with his generals. He caught her eye again, and after exchanging a few more words with the women, he came and met her in the middle.
“Enjoying the party, Princess?” he asked when they stopped in front of one another, standing chest to chest.
“I am about to,” she said coyly. “And you? Are you alright?”
“Better now that you are here,” he said, the corner of his mouth lifting.
Allura smiled back, then she noticed the astonished exclamations from the guests, and looking around, saw everyone heading towards the windows. She looked back up to Lotor eagerly.
“It is about to start,” she said. “Come with me.” She briefly touched his arm and he followed her, wading through the crowd, who made room for the two royals and allowed them to stand in front of one of the windows.
Vibrant shades of purple, from royal to violet to amethyst and to lavender, the seven moons and trillions of stars, painted the canvas that was the cosmos like a piece of artwork. And cutting through were large bursts of orange and red light, leaving the air shimmering with their fiery blaze.
Gasps and murmurs of amazement echoed through the audience as they watched, and Allura too was captivated by it all. It was something she’d seen year after year for as long as she could remember, but somehow this time was different. It was as if she was seeing it with completely new eyes, and…
She glanced up at Lotor, who was mesmerized by the fire rocks as well, and she smiled.
…it was a sight more magnificent to behold with the man she loved next to her.
Lotor looked over and caught her staring. He smiled back, then reached out to take hold of her hand before they both turned to continue watching the meteor shower.
Eventually the guests grew tired of the display, which would go on for the rest of the night, and the music began, signaling the start of the ball. Allura and Lotor, however, remained in front of the window, standing in comfortable silence and viewing the sky in contentment.
After a while she looked up at him again, her eyes trailing over his sharp profile and handsome features, his glowing eyes, his sharp fangs, and his lilac skin. Drawing in a silent breath, she spoke quietly:
“You are perfect to me, you know.”
He looked at her, surprised, and as he searched her eyes, she could tell that he knew she was referring to their shared moment in the office earlier that day.
She turned her body slightly towards him, tenderly grasping his hand, and smiled softly. “Do you remember what you told me, that night before the trial, when we were separated?”
He did not answer, but instead waited patiently for her to speak.
“You told me,” she began. “That no matter how far apart we are from each other, no matter what happens, that you will always be with me.
“I want to do the same for you,” she said gently yet firmly. “Whatever comes for us in the future, we will always be together.” Then she said, the inner corners of her eyebrows lifting, “I am yours. I always have and always will be yours. And I am right here, Lotor. We still have time.”
His lips parted, unable to speak, so she took a step closer to him, taking hold of both of his hands.
“Let’s play a little game,” she suggested. “Are you interested?”
Lotor smiled at that. “What sort of game?” he asked, no doubt thinking of their childish competition earlier.
Allura smiled back. “This one is much simpler, I promise. It is called ‘minute by minute.’ No stakes, no wins or losses. Only one objective, and that is to take things one minute at a time, whether we are together or”―she blinked a few times as her vision blurred―”when we are far apart.”
“Allura…” he uttered softly.
She comfortingly squeezed his hands. “So,” she began, standing up straight and looking him in the eye. “Do you think you and I will be alright for the next minute?”
Lotor was silent at first, his fangs peeking out as his eyes flickered over her face, a painful sadness in his expression. But then his eyes warmed, he smiled, and he nodded. “Yes.”
She nodded back, her smile growing as he leaned down to gently caress her cheek and kiss her. It was sweet and chaste, and he kissed the corner of her lips before touching his forehead to hers, wrapping his arms around her waist to hold her close.
“Thank you, love,” he whispered, his eyes remaining closed. “Thank you for everything.”
Allura reached up to touch his face, her fingers lightly tangling into the ends of his hair before her palm rested on his chest. Then she closed her eyes.
“Thank you,” she whispered back.
The better part of the next day was dedicated to the second and last meeting of putting together the peace treaty between Altea and Daibazaal. The discussions went well into the afternoon, with a recess in between, and during the break Allura went up to Lotor. He instantly caught her eye and immediately came to meet her in the middle when he saw her approach.
They stood close to one another, Lotor with his hands behind his back and Allura with hers clasped together in front of her. She glanced around and cleared her throat, stalling for a brief second before looking up at him.
“Lotor,” she said, lowering her voice so only the two of them could hear. Her eyes lingered on his lips before meeting his gaze. “When do you leave tomorrow?”
“Early in the morning,” he answered just as softly. His eyes flickered over her.
“Tonight is your last night, then,” she acknowledged reluctantly, managing a smile, but it felt strained.
Lotor shook his head. “No, not the last.” He smiled. “There will be more. And the night is not yet over, Allura.”
Her smile became more genuine. “I know.” She glanced at his mouth once more. “What do you want to do after this?”
Slowly he took a step closer to her, his luminescent eyes sharpening with intent. “Did you have something in mind?”
She swallowed, her heart racing. “Well, I―”
“Your Highness, Your Imperial Majesty,” an Altean advisor called to them, drawing their attention away. “We are ready to continue when you are.”
To Allura’s great relief, the rest of the meeting proceeded smoothly, which was good news for two reasons. One, because just as she and Lotor had hoped, both planets were willing to consider their proposals for the peace treaty. It would take time for it to come to an official decision, of course, and there would be many more hurdles for them to jump before any unification took place, but things were finally looking up for them.
And two… because Allura and Lotor couldn’t seem to take their eyes off one another the entire time.
At last the meeting came to a close. The members of the conference were pleased and eager for both planets’ future endeavors, the gathering came and went, and the guests headed back to the city or to the grand hall to attend dinner before turning in for the night. There was plentiful food, lively chatter, and a warm and comfortable atmosphere between enemies who were slowly turning into allies.
The one thing that was apparent, however, the one thing that was noticed among all of the patrons as they sat down to dinner, was the absence of two particular young royals, who had mysteriously disappeared after the meeting concluded. Their presence was missed, but fortunately the meal went on cheerfully without them, and that night on Altea was a peaceful one.
On the south side of the Castle of Lions, out of the large doors of the hangar bay, emerged a small, personal transport fit for two people. Allura piloted the vehicle, with Lotor sitting behind her and his arms wrapped around her waist, as the two of them sped through the palace gardens.
The starry night shone upon their heads, illuminating their bright, white locks of hair, the wind whipping through them and cooling them from the hot and humid evening. They headed north towards the mountains and far away from the castle, speeding through green fields for several minutes until at last they came upon their destination.
The transport came to a smooth stop and they climbed off, Allura lifting the hem of her dress as she led the way through the tall grass. Lotor was right beside her, observing the juniberry flowers growing around them and marveling at the way they glowed in the dark, casting everything in a gentle, magenta light. In the distance, the periwinkle mountains faded into the atmosphere, reaching majestically up into the violet sky.
“Here we are,” Allura spoke up happily.
Her heart soared when she heard the familiar gurgling of the little creek. She approached the old maerit tree with its dark purple leaves, and with a sigh leaned back against it with her hands behind her.
“Do you like it?” she asked, watching for his reaction. Somehow she felt a little nervous, waiting to see what he thought of her special sanctuary, and she wondered if he felt the same way when he showed her the red mountaintop on Daibazaal.
Lotor nodded as he looked around, slowly making his way towards her. “It is beautiful,” he said. “Ever since you told me about this place, I had been eager to see it for myself.”
He came to stand in front of her and rested his hand on the tree trunk, caging her in on one side. His eyes traveled over her, then his face softened with warmth and fondness as he smiled.
“And now I have,” he concluded quietly.
Allura sucked in a quiet breath as he leaned in closer to her, and she bit her lip and let her eyes wander over his body. During the meeting, the tension and electrified air between them was palpable, and all the while the princess had found it difficult to concentrate on anything else except for the anticipation of finally being alone with the emperor afterwards.
Their eyes met, and then she grinned cheekily up at him, slipping out from under him and turning away to stroll alongside the creek with her hands still clasped behind her back.
“I do not take just anyone here,” she said with a lofty sigh, lifting her chin as she walked. “Only two other people know about it.”
“Oh yes?” she heard him say, the amusement undisguised in his voice as he kept a few paces behind her. “Then this place must be very special.”
“It is.”
“I am honored, Allura.”
When she turned around he came up to her again, his hands behind his back as well, and he stood up straight as he regarded her.
“I realize now,” he began softly, his luminescent eyes taking her in, “that it is moments like these that I must never take for granted. As rare as they may be, being with you like this, I value them more than I can say.”
He took a step forward to run his hand lightly down her arm, his other hand pushing a lock of hair over her shoulder and smoothing down her back.
The inner corners of his eyebrows lifted slightly. “I know it may seem like we are always saying goodbye, counting down the minutes until we part ways again. But to me, it only makes our time together that much more precious.” He smiled. “And we can count it minute by minute, just as you said.”
Allura returned his smile, coming closer to rest her palm on his chest. “I am glad you feel that way,” she told him with all the sincerity she had. “And I hope that―even though you may be returning to Daibazaal tomorrow―you can consider Altea your home as well.” She looked up at him, earnest and wishful.
Lotor’s smile grew, and he reached out to touch her cheek. “Wherever I go―wherever we go,” he said tenderly, caressing the pink mark below her eye. “You are my home, Allura.”
Allura’s heart swelled with joy, her eyes bright and shining as she gazed up at him adoringly. “And you are mine,” she returned, her voice hushed and reverent.
His eyes softened, then he grinned crookedly as he glanced over her pointedly. “Quite a small home, however,” he said, a slight tease in his voice. “Don’t you think?”
She laughed. “Small?” she repeated, then with a mischievous grin, added, “I’ll show you small.” And before Lotor could react she tackled him to the ground.
He landed on his back, letting out a grunt of surprise, his eyes wide as he looked up at her. His crooked grin returned as she laughed.
“You think you are funny, do you?” he asked, his voice low and dangerous. He took her by the waist and rolled them over in the tall grass so that he was on top of her, then began tickling her mercilessly.
“Lotor!” she protested in between peals of laughter. “Alright, I yield, I yield!”
He gave her a respite and braced his hands on either side of her head, delight in his eyes that was mirrored in her own as he laughed quietly along with her, his thick, pearl-white hair falling over his shoulders. Soon, however, Allura’s giggles died down and Lotor’s smile faded as they gazed at one another, now having become aware of their situation.
Her chest rising and falling, her heart pounding, Allura glanced at his lips, and he was looking at her mouth as well.
Lotor’s tongue peeked out to moisten his lips. “Allura―”
She surged up to kiss him, wrapping her arms around his neck to bring him down to her. He sighed and kissed her back, his arms snaking underneath her to hold her close to him. His brow furrowed slightly as his mouth caressed her own, tender yet passionate, and her hands smoothed over his shoulders and down his back, clutching fistfuls of his hair and arching into him.
As their manner grew more heated, with open mouthed kisses and sweet sighs fanning over one another’s lips, Allura could feel the excitement within her growing and heating her up. She could feel the excitement from him, too. Hooking a leg around his hip, she brought him even closer and they both exhaled shakily into each other’s mouths. Lotor broke the kiss, his lips dragging against hers as he touched their foreheads together, panting heavily. He lifted his head to look into her eyes, a beautiful shade of violet coloring his cheeks.
Allura’s face was burning as well. She reached out to touch his face, running her thumb along his cheek. Catching her breath, she gazed up at him fervently. “Lotor,” she whispered. “I want you.”
“Allura…” he breathed. “I want you, too.” He smoothed her hair out of her face, searching her eyes intently. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” she said, nodding, then leaned up to kiss him softly. She lay her head back and smiled at him. “Yes,” she repeated.
Lotor returned her smile warmly, then gave her another kiss before reaching for the clasp of her cape to let it fall off of her shoulders and into the grass beneath her. Climbing off of her, he took her hand and helped her to her feet.
“Turn around,” he told her softly.
She did so, her heart pounding with nervous excitement, and he gently tucked her hair over one shoulder to access the zipper at the back of her dress. Slowly and carefully he pulled it down to the base of her spine, then pushed her dress off of her shoulders, his large hands smoothing over her bare shoulder blades and revealing her slip. He exhaled softly, his warm breath caressing her skin.
Allura sighed as she felt his touch there for the first time. Through his gloves she could feel his ever-present warmth, yet everywhere he touched left goosebumps across her body. He leaned down to kiss the juncture between her neck and shoulder, and she tilted her head to the side, closing her eyes and smiling as his lips began trailing up her neck, placing soft kisses.
He continued to push her dress down her arms. Allura tugged her hands out of her sleeves and stepped out of the dress, letting it fall to the ground. She turned to face him, her cheeks warming when he stepped closer towards her to reach for the hem of her slip around her thighs, his chest brushing against her own. His claws lightly scraped against her legs as he proceeded to pull the slip off of her.
Allura raised her arms to assist, but when Lotor was about to tug the undergarment up and over her head, she felt a sharp pain tugging on her right ear.
“Ow―” She winced. “Ow. Lotor, wait.”
“What is it?” he asked, immediately halting his movements and lowering the slip back down with a look of deep concern on his face.
“My earring is caught,” she whined. She reached up, but he gently stayed her hand.
“Allow me,” he offered. Carefully he unstuck the strap of the slip from her earring, then at last successfully removed the article of clothing, leaving her in her bra and underwear. “Are you alright?” he asked, running his hands down her arms soothingly.
“Yes,” she answered, pouting as she kicked off her boots. She then looked up at him, her face splitting into a grin and they laughed together.
Lotor gazed down at her with the purest look of love and endearment in his eyes as he leaned down, kissed her forehead, and took her into his arms. Allura melted in his warm embrace, wrapping her arms around his waist and pressing her cheek into his chest.
“I will remember to watch out for that next time,” he murmured into her hair.
Allura’s stomach did a flip and her chest warmed at the idea of a next time with Lotor. She lifted her head, tilting her chin up for a quick kiss before reaching for the buckle of the cape around his hips. She tried to undo the clasp, but after struggling for about thirty seconds she gave up and sighed impatiently.
“I need help,” she confessed sheepishly.
Lotor laughed gently. “I know, it is a little complicated. It takes some time to figure out.” He demonstrated how to do it and the cape fell onto the grass.
Taking her hands in his, he showed her where the clasps of his armor were, then delicately pressed on her fingers to undo the clasps. Catching on, Allura got to the rest of them, lightly tugging on his arm so that he would turn around and she could reach the ones in the back. Then one by one, piece by piece, his armor came off, leaving him in a slim-fitting dark gray shirt and leggings.
Lotor tugged the shirt over his head, and as much as Allura wanted to stop and stare at his naked torso, first she wanted to help him out of his pants. The two of them were blushing more deeply than ever as she reached for the waistband and began pulling them down. He stepped out of them, now only in his underwear.
Allura swallowed as she looked over him. Many times she had pictured what his body might look like underneath all of that armor, but seeing it for the first time, with all of his fading scars like a map of his life…
It was so much more beautiful and magnificent than anything she could have imagined.
She looked up at him to meet his eyes, raising a hand tentatively. He smiled shyly, then took hold of her hand and placed it upon his chest. She smiled back and slowly ran her hand down, marveling at his lovely lilac skin and muscular body. When her hand reached his stomach he twitched and let out a breathy laugh, and they looked at each other and laughed quietly together. He placed another soft kiss to her forehead in endearment.
“Take this off for me?” Allura asked him in a whisper, referring to her bra. Lotor nodded once, nervous yet excited. She turned around again, her own heart thumping louder and louder in her chest.
He smoothed back a lock of her hair and kissed her shoulder again before tugging on the strap of her bra. He pulled it down, then the other one. Her face on fire, Allura reached behind her to unhook the clasps, then turned to face him again. Seeing him blush as he stared made her heart squeeze with warmth.
She reached out for him, delicately skated her hands across his chest, down his arms, and then she held onto his shoulders to pull him down for a kiss. Pressing their bare chests together caused the most delicious friction, as did everywhere else they touched. Lotor cradled her face as he kissed the corner of her mouth, then along her jaw and neck before coming back to her lips. Emboldened, his hands snuck underneath her hair and explored her back, their kisses growing more heated yet still tender.
Hooking his hands under Allura’s thighs, Lotor lifted her into his arms. She gasped into his mouth, then smiled and wrapped her legs around his waist. With one arm tightly wrapped around her body and holding her close to him, he carefully lowered her down to the ground so that she lay back on top of her cape, their mouths never parting. Then he braced himself up on his hands to look at her.
In her peripheral vision Allura could see the glowing juniberries all around her and above her, their magenta lights shining upon Lotor’s lilac body and reflecting off of his luminescent, yellow, lavender, and indigo eyes. Everything was glowing, he was glowing, and she felt she might be glowing, too.
“You are so…” Lotor murmured, caressing her cheek. “Beautiful.”
Allura smiled. “So are you,” she told him softly.
Lotor returned her smile bashfully. “Allura, I…” He trailed off, his eyes glancing down to the left. “I should tell you, I have never once―” He cleared his throat. “That is to say, I do not have any prior knowledge of―”
He stopped when she lightly brushed her thumb across his lips.
“That’s alright,” she whispered, still smiling up at him. “Neither do I. We will figure this out together, just as we always have. You and me.”
His eyes warmed. “You and me,” he repeated in a hushed voice. He delicately kissed her thumb, then came closer to her, supporting himself on his forearms, and gently carded his fingers through her hair. “Anything you do not like, you will tell me?”
“Mm-hm. You, too?”
Lotor nodded. He smiled at Allura, then leaned down to meld their lips together once more.
The night was empyreal. The vibrant shades of purple in the sky with the moons and stars shone overhead, the little creek gurgled quietly and cheerfully, the magenta juniberries glowed ethereally and almost magically, and the balmy and humid air warmed the planet and settled over two lovers’ overheated bodies lying in the grassy field, arms wrapped around each other as they slowly cooled down.
Allura lay on Lotor’s chest, lazily running her fingers across his bare skin while he stroked her hair with one hand. Every once in a while she’d press a kiss to his jaw, or he to her forehead, and they remained in silent bliss. Soon he began to fall asleep, so she whispered that they should get dressed and head back to the castle. He looked so adorably peaceful and relaxed that she was tempted to stay put, but she knew that future Lotor and Allura would be grateful that they slept inside in a real bed rather than outside in a field.
She was glad they had the foresight to take a transport rather than walk, for they were both tired and it was late by the time they returned to the Castle of Lions. They held hands as they made their way through the thankfully empty halls and took the lift towards Allura’s room. She decided to keep the lights dimmed, and she smiled when Lotor came up from behind, wrapping his arms around her waist and burying his nose in her hair.
“You smell good,” he said in a sleepy, gravelly voice.
Allura grinned, then turned around in his arms to reach up for him and kiss him. She felt warm all over, and it wasn’t only because of the comforting heat she always felt from him. Her entire body was singing, a pleasurable hum running through her veins and making her feel so alive despite how tired she was. She melted in his arms as he kissed her back tenderly and lovingly, taking his time to taste her and feel her.
When they pulled away, Allura ran her thumb along his chin, then blushed as she asked, “Take a bath with me?”
Lotor’s eyes were warm and affectionate as he looked down at her. He smiled and nodded. Allura gave him another soft kiss before taking his hand again and leading him into the bathroom, opting for the bathtub instead of the shower. Ever since she was a young girl, Allura had always thought that the tub was far too big for her, and even as an adult it was more of a small pool than a bathtub. She and Lotor would fit comfortably inside with ease and plenty of room to spare.
After turning on the hot water, she went to the sink on the other side of the luxurious room and placed her tiara and earrings on the counter. From the mirror she watched Lotor remove his armor as he’d done earlier that evening. She’d had more than a decent view when he was illuminated by the juniberries underneath the twilight sky. But now seeing his body under the brighter lights of the bathroom, she couldn’t help but stare. He caught her looking and smiled.
Smiling back, she turned to walk towards him, unzipping the back of her dress. Lotor stripped down until he was fully naked, though Allura kept her slip and underwear on. “I want to wash your hair,” she told him eagerly.
He looked a little surprised at first, as if he hadn’t expected such an offer, but he let her lead him towards the tub which was nearly full with water, steam coiling off of its surface. Lotor stepped in and sat back against the edge, letting out a tired sigh as Allura sat on the ledge behind him and dipped her feet into the water.
She reached for a bottle of shampoo next to her. “You do not mind smelling of quinteroses? It is more of a feminine scent.”
“S’fine with me,” he mumbled. “Though I ought to warn you, I may fall asleep.”
Allura laughed. “That’s alright,” she assured him. “Just relax.” Using a large pitcher, she scooped up the hot water to wet his thick hair. He sat up and leaned forward to make it easier for her, then exhaled in content when she began lathering his hair with the soap, massaging his scalp as she did so.
Lotor had a lot of hair which required a lot of shampoo, but Allura was more than prepared for that, having long and thick hair herself. She hummed softly as she washed him, and after thoroughly rinsing out his hair, she squeezed out more soap into her hands, running her palms along his back, arms, and then reaching around to clean his chest and his neck.
She smiled at the way he turned to putty in her hands, looking the most relaxed she had ever seen him; she liked being able to take care of him, and she liked even more that he was letting her. Setting the pitcher aside once Lotor was clean, Allura leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him from behind and kissing his cheek. He placed a hand on her arm and leaned into her touch.
“You managed to stay awake,” she said with a giggle.
“Barely.” He looked over his shoulder at her, smiling, then tugged at her slip. “Your turn,” he told her. Allura quickly undid the knot in the back of her hair before he tugged the slip over her head and slid her underwear off as she removed her bra. She lowered herself into the water, her cheeks warming when Lotor brought her to sit in front of him, her smaller frame caged in by his long legs.
He did the same for her, soaking her hair with water, then squeezed a considerable amount of shampoo in his hand to wash her hair. Allura closed her eyes and hummed, her scalp and neck tingling at the sensation of his fingers massaging her and running through her thick tresses.
“I think the last time someone washed my hair for me was when I was a child,” she spoke up after a while. “Either my mother or my grandmother would help me bathe until I could do it myself.”
“It was the same for me,” she heard Lotor say softly. “When I was about five or six, I remember my mother washing my hair like this.”
Allura opened her eyes and looked down at the soapy water. She recalled him telling her that his feelings surrounding Honerva were complicated, for her ways of life as Zarkon’s enabling empress contradicted her ways as Lotor’s affectionate mother before she passed.
After taking his time rinsing her hair to make sure all of the suds were gone, Lotor began washing her body, starting with her back and shoulders.
“Lotor.”
“Yes, Allura.”
“Will you tell me about her?”
He didn’t tense or falter in his movements, so she took that as a good sign.
“If you are comfortable with it, that is,” she added, turning her head slightly towards him. She didn’t want to push him if he wasn’t ready.
“Of course,” he told her in a low voice, and pressed a kiss to her shoulder. “What would you like to know?”
Allura smiled, delighted, and looked forward again. “What is your fondest memory of her?”
“Well,” Lotor said, releasing a sigh as he considered. He poured water over her back, then scooted closer towards her to spread soap along her arms. “I remember I used to help her in her greenhouse. She cultivated many different species of plants for her research. I cannot say I was particularly helpful at a young age, but I would help pick the weeds or water the plants. She never let me go near the flesh-eating fly traps, however.”
“I cannot imagine why,” Allura said, and she smiled when he laughed at that.
“If you would like, the next time you come to Daibazaal I can show it to you, her greenhouse. It is upkept to this day.”
“I would love that.”
Allura then fell silent and bit her lip, thinking. Even without seeing her, Lotor could tell there was something on her mind.
“What is it, Allura?” he asked softly as he rinsed her off once more.
“Do you… do you think she would have liked me?”
Lotor stilled, and for a moment Allura thought he might not say anything. Then he lightly tugged on her arm so that she would turn around and face him. His sharp eyes searched hers intently.
“I have heard mothers can be very protective over their sons,” she said with an apprehensive smile, shrugging a shoulder.
“As are fathers over their daughters,” he returned, and his smile was warm. He gently took her by the chin. “Who wouldn’t like you, Allura?”
“You never know.”
His thumb ran over her chin as his eyes traveled over her face. “Well,” he said in a near whisper. “Regardless of what she might have thought, it would not have mattered to me.” His hand lowered to her neck and underneath her thick, wet hair, and he brought her closer to him to rest his forehead against hers, closing his eyes. “You and I… we are in this together. And I will always choose you.”
Allura closed her eyes as well, reaching up to take hold of his arm, and everything felt so peaceful as they breathed each other in, basking in the other’s presence and reveling in the warmth and comfort around them.
Eventually they cleaned the rest of themselves up, climbed out of the tub, and dried themselves off as the water drained, then went back to the bedroom to don their sleepwear (Allura had taken the liberty of sending a sentry to retrieve Lotor’s clothes for him). They climbed into bed and settled cozily underneath the blankets as they embraced, facing each other.
“I had dreamed of this,” Lotor said, smoothing a lock of damp hair out of Allura’s face. “More times than I would like to admit.”
“I dreamed of this a lot, too,” Allura replied, then she grinned. “Though the amount of clothing involved varied each time.”
He laughed quietly. “Is that so?” He paused, his glowing eyes flickering over her. “You know,” he said, his voice a near whisper. “I think I could get used to this… sleeping next to you, waking up in the morning with you being the first thing I see.”
Allura blinked, and as his words sank in, a spark of hope ignited in her chest. Perhaps marriage was something he wanted after all. They did not have to speak of it now, however. There was plenty of time for that in the future. “I think I could get used to it, too,” she returned, her voice just as hushed and her eyes alight.
Lotor’s gaze softened as he continued to stroke her hair, regarding her with warmth and adoration. “I love you, Allura.”
She smiled, her heart fluttering and her stomach flipping. She remembered when he’d told her so earlier in the field as he’d laid above her, both of them breathless and intoxicated by one another underneath the empyreal cosmos and sweet, summery air. She’d said it back to him, reveling in the feel of his overheated body pressed against hers.
Allura scooted closer towards him, reaching underneath his hair to rub his back, then lightly brushed her nose against his. “I love you, Lotor.”
Returning her smile, Lotor kissed her softly on the corner of her lips, then her mouth, before he held her to his chest and sighed. Allura nuzzled into the soft material of his shirt, inhaling the scent of quinteroses and him, and soon the two of them fell asleep in each other’s arms.
THE END
Notes:
And that's a wrap, folks! First off, one fun fact about this chapter: the minute by minute bit is taken from one of my favorite TV shows called "SKAM" and is a method I use to help me whenever I am having a hard time myself 😊
Second, though this may be the end of this story, I actually had a few ideas for one shots that take place before and during the story that I was considering making its own little series on AO3, some of them from Lotor's perspective. Maybe we could have illustrations for those too! If that is something you might be interested in reading, please let me know! It is always a privilege to hear from you!
And finally, thank you so so much for taking the time to read this story. I started working on it since November of last year and it's the longest story I've ever written AND finished! It's been a healing process in a lot of different ways, and I am so grateful that I had the opportunity this summer to dedicate my time to it. It's going to be strange now, not having to think about working on getting the next chapter out and stressing over it lol, but it's been a great learning experience and really incredible journey. Thank you for being a part of it with me! I'll always love these two beautiful space elves!! 🌌✨
Thank you once again and have a fantastic weekend and rest of your summer!!! 💖💜
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Greenwren on Chapter 1 Sat 01 Apr 2023 05:00PM UTC
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Greenwren on Chapter 2 Fri 07 Apr 2023 06:47PM UTC
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Greenwren on Chapter 3 Fri 14 Apr 2023 07:00PM UTC
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Imseen on Chapter 3 Mon 17 Apr 2023 11:16AM UTC
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