Author's Note: So I have had quite a few questions asking if my story follows the cartoon or the comic books. I thought I had mentioned it at the beginning, but let me reiterate. My story follows the comics published from Image/DD (Devil's Due). It it slight A.U but for time-line purposes it takes place after the first arc (Image) but before the second arc (DD). There is a four month gap between the arc. This is where my story takes place.

Disclaimer: I do not, nor have I ever owned Voltron. I simply play in their world.

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Alluring Darkness

Chapter 3 (part I)

"She was a silent fighter,

with a demon in her lung,

That stole her breaths right from her,

Before they'd hardly pass her tongue,

He was a silent fighter,

Who was always taught to share,

And held his breath when he was with her,

Just so she could have his air."

-E.H

Another meeting down, Allura thought as she made her way slowly through the castle, and I still have much to do before the sun sets.

She was suppose to take a group of architects and geologists up to the surface to plan the layout of the first village above ground. The group would include several members of the Voltron Force, Keith being one of them. They weren't suppose to meet up for another three hours but she had decided to come and find Keith to discuss the joint venture.

So where could he be? I know he isn't underground because I've just come from there. So...her train of thought derailed as soon as she heard minute sounds coming from an unused weapons room. Curiosity piqued as to what was causing the noise, Allura turned the corner...

…and came to a dead halt when she found Keith inside.

He was in the middle of the nearly empty room, dressed in a simple black sleeveless top that exposed the broadness of his shoulders and the long, lean muscles of his arms to her widened gaze. The top was tucked into the top of those form-fitting red, leather pants that he was so terribly fond of.

I never realized how powerful he is, Allura thought with feminine appreciation, or how graceful his hands are.

She watched with avid eyes as his body moved and flowed, his hands moving through the air in graceful arcs. His movements reminded her of tree's in the wind, bending and blowing...but never breaking.

"What are you doing Commander?"

The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them.

His body stopped moving with such deftness of movement, it left her blinking in surprise as he opened his eyes to look at her.

"It's called T'ai-chi. A meditative martial arts we practice on Earth."

"T'ai-chi," she repeated tasting the foreign word on her lips, deciding she liked the name. "It is similar to our defensive martial arts style."

Keith gave her a look of surprise. "You practice martial arts?"

Allura arched a slender, golden eyebrow at him as she leaned up against the door frame. Her arms were folded beneath her breasts. "Why do I hear surprise in your voice Commander?" she asked, her tone holding caustic amusement, "do women of Earth not practice martial arts?"

"No, of course not," he replied and then realized how it sounded, "I mean, yes, of course they do. It's just that..."

"Just what Commander?" Her voice filled with cheerful menace and Keith sighed, knowing he was only digging himself even deeper beneath those indigo eyes of hers.

"Care to show me a demonstration, Princess?" If she wants to use titles, then I will oblige her.

Allura, who normally got very riled whenever someone used that particular word on her, merely blinked yet again in surprise.

"You...you want me to show you our defensive style?"

Keith gave her a peculiar look. "Didn't I just say that. I am always interested in the marital arts of other cultures. Unless you don't want to, that is."

"Oh no, no...I mean, yes I can give you a demonstration," she replied hastily and then let out a soft laughter, "but first I need to change my clothes."

She unfolded her arms to indicate to the dress that she was currently wearing. "Obviously I cannot do that in this." This being the pale lavender gown that fell to the floor, a bodice of dark magenta that molded her chest and hips like some kind of armor, capped off with long sleeves that were cuffed at the wrists.

Keith gave a nod of his head, and then indulged in a curiosity of his. "Why do you wear so many dresses? I was under the impression you prefer pants."

Allura sighed and decided to answer his question. "I just came from a meeting with some of the elders." She said by way of explanation, as though that simple statement was his answer.

Keith gave her a blank look and Allura rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips.

"There are some," she continued, "who still continue to adhere to the more...arcane...traditions of Arus. One of them being that the royal women of Arus do not wear pants when conducting meetings. The elders will not meet with me, will not heed my words, unless I appear before them 'as befitting a woman of royal stature and not that of a male'. That's a direct quote by the way." she told him archly as he tried, in vain, to hold back his amusement at her aggrieved tone.

"Hence the dresses."

"Hence the dresses." she echoed with a long-suffering sigh. "Will you stay here? I will be back in only a moment."

Keith felt a sense of deja vu at her words. It had been nearly two and half months since their encounter on the roof the castle, her words now an echo of that night.

"Mmmm, alright. Will you stay here? I will be back in a moment."

"Yes," he found himself telling her, "I will stay."

This time it was Allura nodding her head and she slipped out the door, a small, pleased smile upon her face that he could not see.

I can't believe I agreed to do this, Allura thought as she did not-quite run through the halls, but walked rather quickly. She knew she had a thousand and one other details she should be seeing to but...I haven't been alone with him since three weeks ago when we did that land survey...

"Oh Princess!"

"No, not princess Suryn, it's Allura, remember?" hissed out a voice.
Allura looked up from her mussing at the sound of feminine voices in the castle. She found, to her startled pleasure, that she knew both of the girls.

The first, who had made the mistake of addressing her as princess, was a petite red-head with pale green eyes who went by the name of Suryn. She was, as far as Allura knew, fifteen years of age.

Her companion, the one who had whispered her mistake, was Bexa. She was taller than Suryn, nearing Allura's height and fast approaching eighteen years of age. Her eyes were the color of washed out periwinkle and her hair was pale brown touched with gold, like ripening wheat left in the sun.

Both women wore simple dresses, Suryn the color of burnt cinnamon with small, capped sleeves with the hem just barely covering her knee's. Bexa's dress was a little longer but still showed off her slim ankles, the color a washed out gray, but with a lovely dark blue sweater, the sleeves pushed back to her elbows and tied around her waist with a simple cord.

The girls were related, cousins. Both had lost their parents in the war but had surviving relatives that had taken the girls in.

"Bexa, Suryn," Allura greeted them warmly, "what brings you to the castle...and what is in your baskets?"

Both girls clutched brown, woven baskets by the handles.

"Hello Allura," Bexa greeted with a smile, "Suryn and I have the first batch of cakes with this year's fruit harvest."

"We...umm...were hoping to share some with the members of the Voltron Force. Since, of course, they're the reason we could make them in the first place." Suryn added, a dark blush across her fair skin.

Allura gave them amused looks. She had a pretty good idea who they were actually looking for. "Well," Allura said as though seriously considering their question, "I'm afraid the only member of Voltron in the castle right now is Commander Kogane."

"Oh...really..." replied a clearly disappointed Suryn and Allura relented in her mild teasing.

"However," she continued with a smile, "I do know that Hunk is meeting with Coran and few of the other architects in the western cavern. Pidge and Lance are in the bay that holds Green Lion running diagnostics and Sven, I am certain, is in the cavern with Blue Lion."

Both girls looked at her with delighted smiles.

"Thank you Allura!"

"Oh thank you Pr...I mean Allura!"

Allura gave them indulgent smiles. "My pleasure. Is there anything else Bexa?" she asked when the girl didn't immediately follow Suryn as she began moving away from her.

"You said Commander Kogane is here...right?"

Something tightened in Allura's stomach at her interest in the obsidian eyed male, "Yes, that's right." Allura forced herself to answer with a calm mien.

"Do you know where to find him?"

Ice slipped down her spine and her palms began to tingle. "Yes, I've seen him today. Why do you ask Bexa?"

Bexa grinned at her and slipped her hand into her basket, pulling a simple brown wrapped package. "Good, then you can give this to the Commander. Suryn and I hunted all over the palace and we didn't find anyone except for you."

Something loosened in Allura as she realized Bexa wasn't actually looking for Keith, just confirming that she knew how to find him.

"Oh...of course, yes I'll make sure he gets this."

The smell alone was making her mouth water. "I'm sure he'll love it."

Bexa was grinning at her, a definitely twinkle in her periwinkle eyes. "Yes, I'm sure he will. Bye Allura, make sure the Commander get's that from us!"

She was already grabbing Suryn's hand and leaving the castle for the tunnels.

Somehow Allura was sure Bexa had pulled something on her...she just wasn't sure what it was just yet.

Enough, she told herself and dropping her dignity, she ran for her bedroom, If I don't return soon Keith will think I left him alone!

Allura made it to her bedroom without anyone noticing her, for which she was grateful. She rooted through the broken dresser that housed her meager supply of clothing and found what she was looking for.

She began undoing the gold clasp at her throat and then the cuffs and allowed the sleeves to fall away.

With a sigh Allura wrestled with the buckle that was attached to her her bodice. The bodice was originally designed to be armor for Arusian soldiers, but with a little modification from a surviving member of the Weaver's Guild, it was now outfitted for her use. Coran had assured her that it would not only stop bow and knife attacks but that of laser fire as well without killing her outright.

As the bodice fell away from her body and the cloth around her throat, Allura did something that was rare for her.

She turned and looked into the cracked mirror atop her broken dresser. Her arms bare before her eyes she could just barely make out the dozens of tiny white lines that marked both arms from wrist to shoulder.

She knew those marks would soon become more visible when she worked up a sweat. Swallowing, Allura turned sideways and pulling her hair up into a tight tail, craned her neck so that she could get a look at her naked back.

Over half a dozen diagonal white scars ran from the top of her shoulder to the base of her spine. They were not long scars, as they had been done when she was but a child, but there was no mistaking them for what they were.

Whip marks. A few of the scars were raised where they crossed her spine. Allura closed her eyes, making a soft choking sound as the memories surfaced.

Her wrists burned where they were tied above her head. She had never felt such pain, such agony. Her feet dangled off of the floor, one shoe lying forgotten on the broken stone. There had been a ripping sound as the ragged tunic suddenly fell around her slim shoulders and she felt cold air hit her now naked back...a crack like thunder split the air...and she began screaming as fire lit her back and something warm and wet slid down her shoulders, past her hips and legs to make wet, dripping noises like water...but the copper smell in the air was not water but her own blood...

Allura clamped her lips shut, biting down so hard that the muscles stood out on her face. I will not scream, I will not scream...It was a litany in her head as she pushed the memories back into that black box that she tucked far away into a corner of her soul, where it belonged.

This, along with her arms, was why she never went sleeveless and never wore anything that dipped below the neck.

She did not want to see the look of horror, of pity, in the eyes of her people or anyone else, at what had been done to her.

It was also the reason she hated mirrors...and yet some day's the compulsion to look at what had been done to her body hit her hard and she could not help but look in the cracked glass.

Allura calmed her breathing, forced her limbs to stop shaking and went back to removing the rest of her clothing. She picked up the top she had pulled out of her drawer...and frowned when she put it on.

The tight sleeves only fell to her elbow, leaving her forearms exposed to the light of the day. The top, unlike the rest of her wardrobe, had a scoop neckline that left her collarbones exposed...and thanks to the bra she now wore, pushed up her breasts until just a hint of cleavage could be seen from above the neckline.

Wonderful, she thought, Keith is going to think I'm offering him an...an invitation rather than a demonstration!

It shouldn't matter to her what she wore. She wasn't there to put on a fashion show, but a demonstration. She knew Keith wouldn't care what she was wearing.

Not that he see's me as a woman anyway, she thought with a resigned sigh. It was over two months since their kiss...and there was nothing, in private or public, that hinted that he ever thought about it.

About that night. Or them.

Shaking her head at her thinking, and calling herself an idiot for it she pulled out the other piece of her clothing, a pair of supple pants that was very similar in the weave of Keith's favored leather, that belonged to her mother.

It had been part of a riding outfit, the only pair of pants Allura was certain her mother ever wore.

The were were tapered through the waist and legs, with just barely a flair at the ankle so that a riding boot could have been worn beneath them. Allura was lucky for the flair, for she was several inches taller than her mother, and the extra material just barely covered said ankle.

Allura made to leave the room...and stopped and stared at her scar covered arms. Despite the girls assurances that they hadn't seen anyone else in the castle except for her, she still felt...exposed.

Just in case, she thought as she pulled out a pair of silver cuffs that would cover from wrist to mid forearm. It would not cover all the scarring, but it was better than nothing at all.

She just hoped that Keith was still there, waiting for her return.