Chapters 16, 17 & Epilogue
Sincline | Sounds | Wallpaper | Cards | Links | Email
Princess Allura busied herself in her gardens gathering a bouquet of flowers
to sit on her nightstand. "They smell so lovely," she thought as she buried
her face among the silken petals. "Now I will have my garden with me all day
as I work." The life of a royal was not all play as many people mistakenly
believed. There were treaties to write, alien language to study, and a wide
range of other diplomatic and official duties. Allura spent several hours
each day at the desk in her room devoted to these tasks. She was determined
to be a good ruler, and all aspects of her position interested her. She was a
young ruler, not yet 21 years, but she knew the importance of the decisions
she made.
It was still not yet dawn, and there were only tiny fingers of pink light
creeping over the mountain top. The princess used a small lantern to do her
gathering by. She would roam through her garden until the sun began to rise.
Then she would sit on the fountain's edge and take in the spectacular scene.
Today's sunrise promised to be breathtaking. Allura was so caught up in her
own thoughts that she failed to notice a tall figure walk toward her. She
turned toward the fountain, and her back was to the intruder. Suddenly she
felt two strong arms take her from behind. She let out a small scream and
then relaxed. "Keith, Lance, Hunk, whoever you are, you had better let go.
You scared me, and I'm mad at you! What are you doing up so early?" she
asked. The figure slowly turned her to face him. Allura was momentarily
blinded by the sun that had invariably risen while her back was turned. All
she saw was the outline of a tall man standing before her. It was obviously
not one of her friends, for he was far too tall. The sun cast a white light
all about him, and it appeared as though he was on fire. He looked like a
beautiful heavenly spirit. Allura blinked once, then twice, and realized
instantly that this man was no angel. It was Lotor, Crown Prince of Doom, and
son to her father's murderer.
"I did not mean to frighten you, my love," he said softly, "but I could not
bear to be without you a moment longer."
Allura struggled in his grip and shouted loudly, "Someone help me! Lotor,
you shouldn't be here! You must leave at once! Someone help me, please!"
Allura pulled as hard as she could and managed to free herself. However, she
had pulled too hard, and she fell backwards. She hit the ground, and the
flowers she had been holding scattered everywhere. The frightened princess
turned and attempted to get up and away, but Lotor scooped her up quickly and
held her close to him.
It quickened his pulse to have the beautiful princess so near him. He could
feel her supple body through the thin nightdress she wore and smell her sweet
perfume. She struggled against him, and it excited him all the more.
"Lotor, I command you to release me!" Allura cried. "My friends will be
coming soon!" Allura was frightened, but even as she struggled to get away
she felt a strangely pleasant sensation growing in the pit of her being. This
man was evil, a mortal enemy, but he did not repulse her as he should. She
found herself attracted, and she fought that feeling with all that she had.
Lotor sensed her internal confusion and smiled. He bent down and whispered
in her ear, "My sweet, we are too far away. No one would ever hear
ANYTHING!" He let the final word sink in, and then he kissed her ear gently.
Allura's face burned hot at his suggestion and touch. She had never been
held by a man so, and no one had ever jeopardized her chastity. She had been
kissed once by a visiting prince, but it had been no more than a peck and had
even kissed Keith after a grand party. That kiss had been soft, gentle, and
sweet, and in time may have led to more, but they had decided quickly they
were better off as friends. "You will never have me!" Allura proclaimed.
Lotor plucked a flower from a nearby vine and ran it slowly down Allura's
body. "I intend to put my mouth wherever this bloom touches and, in turn,
watch you bloom, princess. The more your resist me the more I want you.
Forbidden fruits are always the sweetest," he said his voice filled with
longing. Allura whirled around intending to slap the prince for his
insolence. "You are a scoun....." Allura started to say. Just then Lotor
took her in his arms and crushed her to him. With one arm around her waist
and the other entwined in her hair he brought his lips to hers, hard in a
passionate kiss. Allura started, yet again, to resist when she suddenly
stopped. She parted her lips and returned his kiss. The dark prince was in
complete ecstasy when she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled in
closer. He could feel passion radiating off her in waves, like heat. Oh, how
he wanted her! Allura was momentarily lost in this new tide of emotion. Then
as she came back to the moment, she realized what she was doing. It was wrong
to desire this man. He was Zarkon's son. He was everything she had ever
feared and hated. She wrenched herself free and brought her hand across his
face in a resounding slap.
"You are a fiend! Stay away from me! You are a hateful, wicked man!" Allura
cried in a frenzy, trying to suppress what had just passed between them.
Lotor caught her hand and pulled her closer. "Princess, you have denied me
far too long. I almost believed you had no feelings for me. Now I see that
belief was wrong. You have given me unrefutable proof here today, and while
you may continue to deny it by word, your body betrays you." Then he turned
her palm up and gave it a gentle kiss. He placed the flower he had been
holding in her hand and said softly, "This is to remember me by, and you WILL
remember. There will come a day when you will accept your feelings for me.
Look for me again." With that, he turned and strode out of the garden
looking only once over his shoulder to gaze on her again.
Allura clutched the flower to her chest and ran her fingertips over her lips.
She could still feel where his mouth had been and the sensation was pleasant.
It troubled her that she did not find his kiss offensive, and she stood unsure
of what to do. Finally, she walked toward the castle filled with uncertain
emotion, and she continued to carry the flower with her.
Ayli thrashed about in her bed. She was in the throes of a horrible
nightmare. She had tangled herself in her blankets, and in her dream she felt
the arms of her father were crushing her. She couldn't breathe and tried to
cry out. The nightmare Zarkon laughed mightily and declared, "Don't try and
resist me, Ayli! You will die as your sister and mother before you! You
don't really believe their deaths were accident, do you?" The evil king was
squeezing the life from her. Suddenly she saw her brother running toward her.
HE would protect her! "Lotor!" she cried. She reached her free hand toward
him, but he never seemed to be any nearer. She was going to die!
Ayli woke suddenly and found her cheeks damp with tears. What had woken her?
A gloved hand touched her shoulder, and she spun to face the person behind
her.
"Ayli, are you all right?" Lotor asked.
Ayli sighed with relief and launched herself into her brother's arms. She
buried her face in his chest and sobbed. "I had that horrible dream about
father again! He was trying to kill me!"
Lotor petted Ayli's silver hair and picked her up. "I'll never let him hurt
you." He walked with her to a nearby chair and sat.
Ayli put her arms around his neck and laid her head against his shoulder.
"What if it isn't a dream? Maybe it's the future! I still don't know all
about the Sight. Maybe what I saw is something to come!" she wailed.
"Hush, little sister. It was only a dream. Our evil father will never put a
harmful hand on you! I'd kill him first! It was only a dream." Lotor spoke
to Ayli in the comforting sing-song rhythm of their mother's native language.
It never failed to soothe her after her frequent nightmares. Nightmares in
which Zarkon played a reoccuring role. Hate for his father stirred in Lotor's
heart again.
"Lotor, I don't think mother and Intaya's deaths were as we were told. I
think father is responsible, some how. Their deaths just don't make sense,"
Ayli stated. Ayli was still shook up by her realistic dream, but being in the
strong arms of her brother steadily calmed her. Lotor had always protected
her, and she felt safe when he was near.
"Ayli, I have my doubts, as well. I don't believe mother would have killed
herself. She was too strong. She never would have let father get to her.
Likewise, Intaya seemed healthy. I think she was poisoned!" Lotor's voice
broke with emotion. He had loved his mother and Intaya dearly. They were
both beautiful and kind. The pain of losing them both had been almost
unbearable. He had never believed the reports of their passing, and visions
of their deaths haunted him. If he ever discovered Zarkon was responsible his
revenge would be swift and complete.
Ayli looked up at her brother's handsome face and studied it. Sorrow, anger,
and shame moved across it. She understood his sorrow and anger, but he had no
reason to feel shame. Startled by this insight, Ayli reached up and touched
his cheek. "Lotor, you don't feel responsible for what happened, do you?"
His silence answered her question. "No, you must not. There was nothing you
could do. You were only 10 when mother died and away in battle when Intaya
succumbed. You could not have saved them!" Ayli cried.
"Maybe you're right, but I feel as though there was something I could have
done," he stated flatly.
"Let's talk about pleasant things, please!" Ayli asked, eager to bring her
brother out of his sudden dark mood. "What are you going to buy me to wear to
Karnyval?"
Lotor laughed loudly. "Why you greedy little wench! Who said I was getting
you anything?" he said.
Ayli smiled and said slyly "Oh, you know you will!"
"Of course I will. What color would you like the dress to be?"
"Lavender. It will go with my violet eyes nicely, don't you think?" Ayli got
up and pretended to dance around the room with an invisible partner. "And
make sure there's a lot of movement to the skirt. I don't want to trip at my
first ball!"
"You'll be fine. I'll have to drive the suitors away with my sword!" Lotor
teased. He started to rise from the chair.
Ayli saw this and flung herself back into his lap. "Oh no, you don't!" she
said. "I had a horrible nightmare and you're going to stay here until I'm
asleep." She snuggled up to him.
Lotor smiled and put his feet up on a nearby footstool. Soon they were both
asleep and dreaming. Ayli dreamed of dancing at the ball in the arms of a
handsome suitor. Lotor dreamed of the upcoming ball as well, but the partner
in HIS arms was Allura.
(AUTHOR'S Note: In this chapter I made mention that Lotor spoke in his mother's language, but all you read was English. I decided that everyone out there it intelligent enough to pretend that different languages are being spoken without me making one up. It does add a nice touch and I'm always impressed when someone does it, but if you want the language to be convincing it takes a little work and I really don't have the time. When Lotor is speaking to the slaves at the end of Chapter 3, he is speaking in the ancient language of Kyldare which very few know, including the citizens of Kyldare itself. That language is harsh and guttural, imagine a really, really harsh German, while his mother's language is very pleasant and soothing. The rest of the time he speaks in the Universal language. It makes it easy for all the planets to communicate with one another.)
Princess Allura sat in the rec room of the Castle of Lions and stared
wistfully off into space. The scene in the garden the morning before refused
to lay quietly in her mind. It played itself over and over. His touch, his
kiss. She was ashamed for allowing herself to lust after him, to feel any
attraction at all. His father had murdered her father. He was trying to
capture her planet and enslave her people. Her rational mind knew she should
hate him, but she found it hard to do so. Allura had gone to her garden this
morning like she did every morning, and had tried to pretend as though nothing
was different. She had stayed an extra hour busying herself with something
that had already been done trying to delay her return to the castle. He had
not come, and although she tried not to admit it she was disappointed. Her
daydreaming was disturbed by loud, raucous voices. Her friends tumbled into
the room, tripping and pushing.
"Hunk, get off of me! I can't breathe, you big oaf!" Pidge yelled.
"Whine, whine, whine! Are you SURE you're man enough to be on this team?"
Hunk questioned jokingly.
"Ohhh, them's fighting words, Pidge!" Lance commented.
Back and forth the banter went until Keith raised his hands in the air and
shouted. "OK! OK! ENOUGH! We all know Pidge is weak, Hunk is fat, and Lance
is stupid. Let's get to work."
"WHAT??" the rest questioned, stunned, their eyes wide and mouths open.
Keith laughed and threw a couch pillow at his friends. "THAT got your
attention!" he said. The others laughed and settled in on the couches around
the room.
Allura looked at her friends lovingly and sized them up. They were so
different from each other, yet they formed a cohesive fighting unit, and they
got along famously. Keith was the leader of the group. He had thick, jet-
black hair that touched his shoulders, and wide ebony eyes. All Allura's
ladies-in-waiting thought Keith was dreamy. He was tall, lean, and muscular.
He was only 21 years old, but sometimes seemed decades older. That was the
other thing about him. Although he tried to be light-hearted, he often seemed
to have the weight of the world on his shoulders. He took his duties
seriously and often needed to be reminded to smile. When Keith had first come
to Arus, Allura had developed a crush on him, and pursued a romance. They had
even shared a nice kiss after the Winter Ball, but the longer they knew each
other the more sense it made to be friends. They seemed now more like brother
and sister and were as close as siblings could be.
Lance was day to Keith's night. He was quick with a wise-crack or joke, and
sometimes the others had to remind him to be SERIOUS. He loved adventure and
never stayed bored long. He was also a favorite with the ladies. He had
auburn hair and coffee-colored eyes and an ever-ready lopsided grin. He was a
little taller than Keith and a little leaner too. Lance was 20 year old.
Although Hunk and Pidge were individual people, you had to view them as a
unit.
They were inseparable. They taunted and teased each other, but they were also
quick to defend one another if someone dared to criticize. Hunk had an olive
complexion and chestnut hair and eyes. He was a little heavier than the
others, for he had an enormous appetite, but he was still very capable as a
fighter. He was the oldest of the group at 23.
Pidge was the youngest at 16. He was small, but fast, and a whiz with
anything electronic. He looked up to the others, and they respected his
capabilities. Pidge had light brown hair and hazel eyes, hidden behind his
glasses. He was still a boy, but was quick becoming a man.
Allura considered this motley bunch her family. They had been though a lot
together. They had even saved each others lives.
"Allura, snap out of it! Are you dreaming of some handsome prince?" Lance
teased.
Allura blushed at his suggestion, then put on a frown and pretended to be mad.
"Lance, you are nothing but a uncivilized cur!" she huffed.
"Man, you're in trouble now," said Hunk. "No knighthood for you!"
"You'd better apologize," warned Pidge.
"Sorry, Princess! I was just kidding!" Lance apologized.
"Oh Lance. You're so easy to fool!" the princess said breaking into a wide
grin.
"Gentlemen, and lady, of course," Keith said rising to his feet. "I know
it's a pain, but we need to talk about defending this planet. Lotor hasn't
attacked lately, but that makes me think he's just working on something big.
You know he'll never give up, so let's work on some defense strategies."
So, they sat and suggested new maneuvers and discussed battle plans for
nearly two hours before breaking for lunch. Allura had caught herself
daydreaming several times during the meeting and the theme always seemed to be
the same. His touch, his kiss.