Chapter 2 - Preparations

Lotor slowly stood back to his full height and glanced down to the princess sitting so delicately on the edge of his bed. It was a place he had longed to get her for years and she now sat there willingly before him. Her tundra-colored eyes were wide in shock at the words she had just uttered.

"Absolutely excellent," he reaffirmed, releasing her hand at last. She inhaled a trembling breath and he couldn't be sure if she were about to scream or burst into tears. To her credit, her lips pressed together tightly and she just stared up at him stoically instead.

"Well then," she whispered. "What now?" The shudder on her breath was unmistakable, but she did not give in to the hysteria lurking just under her surface. He could see the waves of panic rolling through her, and in some dark recess of his heart, he was concerned for her mental stability.

"You shall get some rest while I make some arrangements," he said decisively. Her skin paled another shade. "I'll have some food brought up."

"You said I wasn't a prisoner!" The shrill tone to her voice struck him oddly – the princess was truly in a state of pure panic. It was an emotion he had not seen from her before. He had witnessed her fury, her fear and her determination. Never before had he seen her unadulterated terror.

"You are correct, and you are not a prisoner, my sweet. But until everything is in place, it is safer – for you – to remain here."

Allura couldn't decide whether to scream at the man, swing her fist or break down into sobs. She was certain her expression was ridiculous as it tried to account for her spectrum of emotions at what was happening.

"I…" She swallowed, watching his cold face, desperate for anything. A defense mechanism flipped on inside her and Allura felt a chilling strength flood her veins as her adrenaline died. Her lips pressed together thinly and she stared at him coldly. "As you wish," she said monotonously.

Lotor took a step back, unused to the coldness from the princess. She turned her gaze away from him and studied a nearby wall resolutely.

"Allura?"

"Make the necessary arrangements, please. I await further instructions," she continued, not looking toward him. Lotor reeled from the terrifying reaction she had. He stood in the center of the room staring at her, but she refused to meet his gaze.

"I'll be in touch with you soon," he supplied.

"Of course."

"You need to stay here," he added intentionally, trying to arouse her emotions again. Anger, fear, or even hatred would have been preferable reactions to the emotionless one she was presenting him.

"I understand."

Lotor remained where he was standing for a minute longer. With reticence, he turned to the door. He saw himself out, the door closing behind him. He lingered to test that it locked securely when he heard her.

She wept. The heart-wrenching sobs from the safety of the empty room caught him by surprise. He shook his head once. Allura would learn to love him. Fear was natural for change, he reasoned. She just needed time. Lotor peeled himself away from the door and went to make the formal announcement to his father.

"What does my incompetent son need now," Zarkon's voice echoed around the empty throne room.

"I came to announce that I have found a suitable queen. We shall be wed at the same time of the coronation in two days," he said. The evil smirk on Lotor's face was unmistakable.

"Oh? And here I thought you'd never stop chasing that princess of yours," he muttered from his throne as he twirled the golden scepter thoughtfully.

"I didn't." Lotor's grin grew wider as his father paused and just regarded him.

"Are you telling me that my inept son actually managed to get her?" Lotor threw his head back and released a deep-throated, evil laugh at Zarkon's response.

"Yes, my father. Allura has agreed – of her own free will, too – to become my bride and queen."

"And in what manner have you torn my Empire apart in effort to win her hand? You're not even king yet and I can't imagine what all you've destroyed," Zarkon muttered dangerously, quickly regretting his decision to pass the throne.

"Nothing of consequence," he replied smoothly, anticipating the wariness from the old man. "I gave her a guarantee of Arus' safety – her main concern. She couldn't pass up the chance," he explained, chuckling darkly. "A small concession on our part – there are many other planets to plunder, but no other as fair as she."

Zarkon studied the prince closely, as if he didn't believe him.

"And that's all? What about Voltron?"

Lotor rolled his eyes at his father before crossing his arms over his chest.

"I succeeded, didn't I? At any rate, we will need to prepare a wedding ceremony to happen during the coronation. Wedding before or after the crown?"

Zarkon stayed quiet a moment longer, lingering on the barter his son had made. He gave up on trying to get a concrete assurance that Lotor hadn't completely destroyed the Empire in his obsession with the princess.

"Wed her first, get that out of the way before her friends come for her. The crowning ceremony can follow right after. She'll need one too, if she is to be your queen," he added.

Lotor looked surprised – he hadn't considered a part of the coronation for her.

"You're correct, Father. I'll look into it. I haven't made any announcements yet – I don't want to draw her friends to us too soon. The ceremony is still quiet and small, correct?"

"We don't need our enemies to know there will be a transition of power before it is concluded," the king explained. "I like a good party as much as you, my son, but we do need to use a little discretion in this case to insure our strength. …You really didn't give away anything other than Arus?"

Lotor's face stayed impassive when his father circled back in an obvious effort to catch him off-guard and reveal a fallacy.

"Father, please." Lotor had no intention of explaining to his father about the rest of his barter with the fair princess. The coronation and wedding would happen before the slaves were freed. After the coronation, his father wouldn't have a say in the matter any longer.

He turned and walked out of the throne room, leaving the suspicious king scowling behind him.

"Two days, Sire? The coronation was slated for two weeks!" The Drule woman eyed the prince warily. "I don't think I can possibly prepare the slave girls in time for that, much less get everything decorated."

"Nevermind the girls," he said, eyeing his event planner critically. "Just the bare essentials of the ceremony are needed. Also, I need you to add a wedding beforehand and procure a queen's crown for my bride."

"You what!" The hot-tempered planner just stared incredulously at the prince. "You're getting married now too?"

He flashed her an appreciative, fanged smirk.

"As it turns out, yes."

The silence that dropped between the over-stressed party planner and the prince who just threw a wrench into her plans was heavy.

"So you want me to plan, coordinate and execute a wedding-"

"Yes."

"-and a coronation-"

"Of course," he grinned at her.

"-in two days' time. Just to be clear," she said slowly, staring at him.

"That is correct, Selna. I have faith in you. Forget the slave girls or the processions, we just need this ceremony to be swift and proper," he added. He cringed inwardly at the thought of Allura's reaction to his dancing girls at their wedding.

"Anything else I should know about? A funeral, perhaps?" The irate female quirked an eyebrow at her unpredictable ruler. There were few in his inner circle that Lotor tolerated anything less than absolute servitude from. Selna was one of them.

"That will be all for now," he said as he turned on heel, eager to get back to his bride-to-be. Selna huffed slightly, irritated by her workload increase as he strode back to his chambers.

Lotor paused outside the locked door to his room to take a deep breath. He listened. There was no sound from within. He hesitated a moment, straining his impeccable hearing to catch even a sound of her.

It was silent.

Lotor grew concerned that she was either injured or had escaped and quickly keyed the door open. The prince half-expected to have something thrown at him as he entered, but he was met with no such hostility. A first-order scan of the room revealed the princess was gone, and with a dark curse he began searching more closely in an effort to discover how.

He froze. Lotor's furious eyes fell upon Allura's body. She had managed to claw at some of the heavy furniture in the room and was curled up behind an askew dresser. His anger melted as quickly as he knelt down to her sleeping form.

Dried tear streaks shimmered in the dim lighting as she breathed slowly. Lotor reached in and tenderly eased her fragile frame into his arms and lifted her from her place of safety. She stirred only slightly while he carried her to the bed and settled her onto the mattress.

After making quick work of her combat boots, he pulled the covers over her and stepped back. Allura's soft skin was near-translucent from stress, her cheekbones taught and her lips dry. Beads from the last of her tears still clung to her thick lashes as the trails dried on her face.

It was a fairly easy deduction to the crown prince that she had fallen asleep while crying, but the dresser surprised him. He walked back to where he had plucked her from and noticed the deep gouges in the heavy furniture, as if she had desperately clawed at it with all her strength. He frowned. She had sought the closest place to refuge she could find and expended all her strength to acquire it.

He tossed one last look back to her as she lay dwarfed by his bed. He contemplated his next move carefully before moving to the door. He left the bedchamber, the door closing behind him. He didn't bother locking it this time – he doubted Allura would be awake anytime soon. The amount of energy she had liquidated in her torrent of emotions had completely exhausted anything she had left.

He moved down the hallway, mentally ticking off his lengthy list. The wedding was an unexpected surprise development that would have his staff scrambling. Worth it. He knew he was straining their ability by moving the date forward two weeks, but he was not troubled by it. His only concern at the moment was Allura herself.

Lotor pushed open the door to his private entertainment room and stalked toward the smaller throne sitting on a pedestal. At his entrance, all of the precariously-clad girls jumped up and began dancing for him as they had many times before. Two women approached him with a vessel of wine and a glass to offer him a drink. He eagerly accepted the beverage and downed the drink quickly. The woman with the bottle poured another and the slave who had brought the glass turned to leave them.

"You, wait!" He reached out and grasped the girl's wrist. She gasped in surprise, turning around to stare at the prince, eyes wide with fear. "I have a special job for you." The slave trembled delightfully in his grasp as he drew the pretty girl toward him. Lotor's 'special requests' were often quite licentious. "Come with me."

She offered no resistance as her lord led her down the hallway. She herself had never been chosen for one of the prince's personal escapades, but she had heard enough from the other girls to be sheet-white at the prospect. Why he had chosen her, she couldn't fathom. His preference had always been for the blonde-haired and blue-eyed slaves. Mia's long, brunette hair had marked her as unfavorable in that category, much to her relief.

He stopped them outside a door and he stayed still. The way his head tilted toward the door, he appeared to be listening.

"My lord?" She shirked back from the fearsome prince when he looked down at her with a dangerous intensity. She whimpered as his grip on her wrist tightened painfully. After waiting a moment he opened the door carefully and peered inside. His tense shoulders relaxed slightly as he saw the golden princess still curled up in his bed where he had left her.

Nudging the door open all the way, he dragged the young girl in behind him.

"I want you to take care of her," he instructed carefully. Mia's eyes widened in surprise at the obscure request from the prince. He continued as the shock registered on her face. "That's Princess Allura of Arus. She's to be my bride soon. See that she eats, bathes and has proper clothing befitting a queen. Food will be brought up shortly. Understood?"

Mia hesitated and nodded once, her green eyes wide. The prince released her wrist and the slave wandered into the room.

"Let her rest for now. Once she's awake, you are to care for her as needed. Should you do your job well, I may release you from your binds," he added cryptically. He smirked at the slender girl as she gasped. With a last, troubled glance to Allura, he vacated his bedroom, locking the door behind him. There were still far too many things to do in such a short amount of time.

I'm not terribly fond of this chapter, but it needed to be done. There was some information that needed to be revealed this way, and you can expect more action in upcoming chapters.