A prequel to sleapyGazelle's fic, Solace, which is a Shallura princess and bodyguard AU. Don't necessarily have to read her snippet to understand what's going on.

Princess Allura stilled herself as she suppressed a small smile that dared threaten her face. It would be unfitting for a princess to showcase her emotions at high court. Especially when the Emperor of the Galra Empire was standing at the dias of the stairwell leading to the throne.

But she couldn't help herself when Shiro met her eyes and made a funny face as if mocking Emperor Zarkon who was currently making some grand speech about honor and loyalty when everybody here knew what a farce this was.

The Galra Empire had been quietly making moves against Altea and her more closer allies; his visit from Zarkon was just an excuse to flaunt his military might.

Her attention was pulled from Shiro back to her father when he made a remark on Zarkon's continuous commitment to arms and how he hoped this would benefit their long held alliance with each other. This time, she let out a grimace before she could wipe it off her face.

As if the Galra wanted to keep the alliance when they had been hovering just barely beyond the neutral space the long ago agreement had established between the two planets. If the Galra sensed weakness, Altea would quickly become a warzone, leading to more destruction and chaos since they were the primary opposition and rational member of the two sides. Other planets were depending on this meeting to be successful; they see this as an opportunity to show their neutrality but also united strength against the possible onslaught that is known as the Galra Empire.

The Empire had already violated some minor details of the treaty that had been in place long before her father had ascended the throne. King Alfor refused to be the reason that Altea fell so he had also amassed military arms, although in a much smaller number than Zarkon's. She could see it in the way Shiro's new armor shone in the light and how his fellow Paladins, vanguards to the royals of Altea, sported helmets accompanied by the royal insignia.

She had a moment to appreciate how fit the armor was on Shiro before she was abruptly dragged away from her admiration by the sound of Zendark's smooth voice rippling across the room in a slither. "But surely Altea is not as weak as you say it is, King Alfor. I'm certain there must be someone willing to put this to a test."

The tension skyrocketed in the throne room and Allura was lost for a moment, having been momentarily distracted. But at Zandark's next words, there was no mistaking what he wanted. "Are you really going to turn down this opportunity to showcase your strength, Alfor," and the Emperor's eyes focused eerily on Shiro; her breath got caught in her throat because she knew what he was going to say next.

"After all, you have a Champion at your disposal. Why not show us your strength?"

She felt more than saw Shiro clench his fist and she refused to look at him because if Zendark saw this attachment she had to this boy who used to wear her pitiful flower crowns and still have those dry flowers hanging on his wall in his room, he would propose war right there and then. Instead, she kept an impassive face as her father stood up, tall, mighty, and echoed, "Yes. We shall show our strength." King Alfor looked pointedly at her guard who straightened his back and stepped forward, right hand on the bayard at his side. The same hand that had been taken earlier in some border planet's conflict with the Galra before the Empire loomed closer and closer to home.

"And who is the challenger, Zendark," her father asked and she still refused to look at Shiro; the Emperor's smile slipped higher and higher as someone taller than she could imagine walked up next to to Zendark.

"I present Sendak. I am confident he will provide us with the… entertainment we desperately need tonight."

Entertainment. Something in her stomach curdled as she placed her hands in her lap in a perfect pose of someone unaffected by what was currently being proposed. This was a game and her father surely intended to win because there was nothing he would not do for their people and she had always loved that about her father but now as both Shiro and Sendak stepped up to stand before the throne, she wanted to stop this before it began because this wasn't a game anymore.

Not when Shiro paled in comparison to Sendark because they had a history that Shiro didn't share with her when she finally saw him in the cyropod and she had brushed furious tears from her eyes at the sight of him because she could not afford to be emotional.

Now, some emotion she could describe but didn't want to threatened to crawl on her face as she watched her father step up to stand shoulder to shoulder with Shiro, and Shiro bowed low, low, like he was sinking.

She heard, "Tomorrow at noon," but her eyes were pinned onto the back that looked so small for a single moment before Shiro rose- and the tension was still so palpable but Zarkon had already bowed mockingly towards her father and stepped away with his own Champion at his side.

She stood up to dismiss her attendants and the crowd dispersed in small groups while the council gathered around her father. She paid them no heed and they to her as the royal entourage moved from this chamber to one that was more suited for matters such as this.

She saw nothing but the pristine white of Shiro's back before he turned to face her, his hand still gripped onto his bayard. He took one step, two steps to her and her hand came up before she could even stop it. Shiro's head tilted to the left from the force of the slap; he didn't stop her as she lifted her hand again before she balled it at her side.

"You could've refused. You didn't have to accept."

His lips thinned as his hand tightened around the hilt of the bayard before he let go, releasing the tension in his arm as he stood in guard position before her.

"You could've said no. You could've…" She felt her nails digging into her palms as she trailed off because Shiro had finally looked at her since they shared a moment of childishness between them earlier and it was like meeting him for the first time all over again.

"I can't lose you too," was what she ended up saying instead when she finally opened her mouth to meet Shiro's unanswered statement of duty and honor because they've known each other since they were children and this couldn't possibly be the moment where they fell apart now.

And as Shiro unfurl her fingers and ghosted a kiss over the nail marks on her hand, she barely heard his voice, sad, weary-

"So this is where we stand."

- Reviews are much appreciated.

- Hope everyone enjoys!