Allura awakened in strange surroundings. Her mind still wasn't clear. Her stomach felt better but her head was still cloudy. She tried to open her eyes, but found it difficult even in the limited light that entered the room. A soothing voice was next to her and told her to go back to sleep as a cold hand stroked her forehead lightly. She leaned into it, feeling mildly euphoric, and smiled as she closed her eyes again. She was laying down in what felt like heaven, a sea of pillows and covers made of the softest and finest fabrics in the galaxy cradled her body. The silk nightgown she was wearing felt like magic against her skin, each movement of the garment that brushed against her made her inhale and exhale sharply in exhileration.
Lotor hovered over Allura smiling as well, knowing the effects of the drug he had used to incapacitate her as he'd seen it tested on many slaves as the chemical formula was being perfected. Once he'd finalized his plans with Gareth, he ordered Haggar to concoct a new drug to render Allura helpless – one that would not frighten her so much once she awakened. One that would derive as much contentment as it did fear. He ran his fingers over her forehead and through her hair again, knowing that each touch that caressed her soft skin manifested a thrilling awareness throughout her body. He relished this experience, knowing that once the drug wore off she would be so different. This was his last chance to see her smile, a sight he held more dear than any other. He leaned down to kiss her lips, and climbed into the bed next to her as he wrapped his strong arms around her helpless form. She smiled again, eyes closed, and leaned her head contentedly against his shoulder. He closed his eyes as well, trying to savor each and every moment he had with his beautiful princess before she would awaken and despise him again.
"Alert me once she awakens completely," he ordered the guards standing outside of her doors once he'd finished relishing in her happiness. The motion detectors in the room would dictate once the drug wore off and she was able to walk around the room he'd taken great pains to prepare for her.
Johan felt very guilty about poisoning Princess Allura and the rest of the members of the Voltron Team, but he had no choice. He and his family had been taken by Drule soldiers in an Arusian slave raid. When they found out he worked in the kitchen at the Castle of Lions, Lotor presented him with an offer - slowly poison the Voltron team, or Lotor would kill his wife and daughter. He could see how the poison was affecting them…Pidge and Allura the most, since they were the smallest. But Keith and Lance and Hunk were exhibiting the effects, too, beginning to complain of dizzy spells and headaches. It seemed as though every doctor on Arus had tried to figure out what the cause was of their mysterious malady, but so far none had been successful. Johan was surprised when Allura agreed to go to her meeting on Caelia with King Gareth; he admired her loyalty to her royal duties. She only brought with her a minimal security team, since the rest of the Voltron force was sick and this meeting seemed like a simple dipomatic matter.
Keith didn't like the idea of Allura going to Caelia without at least one other Voltron force member. She was more sick than he or Lance, and Lotor had reached such a level of stalking that he had to assume the dark prince would be wherever Allura was going. And Caelia was far away…if something did come up, it would take them longer than usual to get to her…not that any of them were feeling up to it. He voiced his protests to her, but she wouldn't have any of it. She said Gareth had mentioned wanting to discuss joining the Alliance, and thought that maybe she could help him. Allura was too idealistic…she saw the opportunity for a new ally as a great victory, even though th planet was small had no real value. He was at least able to convince her to take her Blue Lion, and have the rest of her entourage follow in a different ship. She could protect herself much better in the lion, if she needed to.
Keith was sleeping when the communications panel in his room buzzed. "Commander Keith! Come quickly!" he recognized Corran's voice and hopped out of bed as fast as he was physically able to. Lance and Hunk weren't far behind him, but there was no sign of Pidge. Keith figured he must be feeling worse.
"What is it," Keith said, immediately concerned about Allura.
"It's the Princess!" Corran replied, a look of deep concern on his face. "Lotor captured her on Caelia!"
"What!" Lance exclaimed. "How did he know she was going to be there?"
Keith's expression turned to one of anger, and he clinched his teeth. He felt guilty for what had happened, as though he was somehow responsible. "Do you know for sure, Corran?" he asked.
"Yes," Corran said. "We received this transmission from Lotor's command ship a few minutes ago," he pressed a button and the recorded video began to play.
Greetings, Voltron Force, it started, and the image of Lotor's ugly face filled the screen. You are much too careless with your Princess…you shouldn't let her go out into strange parts of the galaxy alone, I certainly wouldn't…there are so many things that could happen to her! He began laughing in the maniacal way that they were so used to. But luckily some of those around her have genuine concern for her well being. She will be safe with me on Planet Doom, where the evils of the Universe will never be able to hurt her. Sadly however, you will not receive an invitation to our wedding. Ta ta, fools!
The laugh started again, and Keith slammed his fist down on the console. The camera shot switched from Lotor's laughing face to a sleeping Allura in a room they didn't recognize, but assumed it to be on Lotor's ship. It ended with that picture, and Keith turned to the rest of the team.
"Come on! We're going to pay a little visit to Caelia, Gareth has some explaining to do! Lance, you ride with me so that you can pilot the Blue Lion on the way back. We'll leave Pidge here, he's in no condition to fight if he needs to."
The three Voltron Force members nodded, and ran off to board their lions and head towards the the small, ordinary planet.
Upon arrival at Caelia, Keith opened a frequency to King Gareth, who granted them permission to land.
"How could you do it, Gareth!" Keith demanded, once they were escorted to the King's visitor receiving area and caught sight of him.
"I had no choice!" Gareth protested.
"Why didn't you call us!" Lance said angrily.
"I…I couldn't!" the frightened king replied. "He wouldn't let me!"
Keith growled but understood how Lotor worked. He wasn't in the mood to argue, anyway. "Fine…let's just get the Blue Lion and go."
"You aren't going anywhere!" a voice at the entrance of the room yelled.
"Huh?" the three Voltron Force members said in unision.
At that moment, the room was inundated with about 30 Doom guards. "Drop your weapons! Hands up!" they ordered.
"Oh what now!" Lance proclaimed.
"A trap?!?!" Hunk yelped.
"Just do it," Keith ordered. "We're way outnumbered." The three team members let their blasters fall to the floor and raised their hands.
"You!' the head guard said, pointing his gun at Keith, "Come here!"
Keith slowly walked towards them. When he got close enough, one of the guards raised a knee to Keith's stomach, hard. With Keith doubled over in pain, he took the opportunity to handcuff his hands behind his back.
"Hey!" Lance yelled, "Watch what you're doing!"
"Silence!" the head guard responded. He pushed Keith off into a group of about four more guards, who started to escort him out of the room.
"Where are you taking him!" Hunk yelled.
"I said, SILENCE!" the guard ordered once more. No one said anything for about a minute, until the guard's communicator beeped. "We're ready for departure!"
"Excellent," the guard replied. "If you don't mind, we will be taking your friend with us. Have a nice day!"
"Wait!" Lance yelled.
"Keith!" Hunk cried. But there was nothing they could do - they were greatly outnumbered, and had already surrendered their weapons.
Another guard began to speak. "Also, this planet is now the territory of planet Doom. You are not welcome here!" This guard, along with a few more of his friends, prodded them with the end of their blasters to walk outside where the lions . "Leave, and don't come back!" The guard slammed the castle door in their faces, and the two remaining Voltron Force members stared at each other, stunned.
"We've got to get back to Arus," Lance finally said. "Keith's got the key to the Black Lion, but maybe Allura left hers in the Blue Lion. I'll check and see." He climbed into the Blue Lion and luckily Allura, who hadn't made the trip in her uniform, had left the key inside. He gave Hunk a thumbs up and within minutes the two friends had lifted off from Caelia, headed back to Arus.
Allura woke up in the strange room a second time with a much clearer head. Lotor! She remembered darkly, the pieces of how she'd arrived on Doom slowly coming back to her. She remembered the dinner with Gareth, the ambush by the Drule soldiers, herself falling like a ragdoll into the arms of Prince Lotor.
She climbed out of the oversized bed and walked around the room, shivering partly because of the thin nightgown she was wearing and partly because of the eerie vibe the dark castle emitted. She noticed a pretty green dress hanging from a hook on one one of the walls and ran her fingers over its velvet surface. She sighed, thinking it would be warmer than what she was already wearing, and slipped it on.
"Prince Lotor, the Princess has awakened!" a Drule guard informed his dark ruler once the buzzer tied into the motion detectors in Allura's room had gone off.
"Excellent!" Lotor exclaimed, excusing himself from the meeting he was holding with some of the Doom senior advisors. "Gentlemen," he nodded, "Soon everything we have discussed here today will be a reality."
Allura was sitting down in one of the oversized chairs at the oversized dining table almost hoping Lotor would visit her soon so they could get their awkward script out of the way. Marry me! No! Yes! No! she thought to herself as she rolled her eyes. He was so pompous, annoying, and rude.
At that moment the large door opened and the imposing figure of Prince Lotor appeared. She stood as he entered not out of respect, but to show him that she wasn't afraid.
"My lovely Allura, you're looking as radiant as ever," Lotor said, smiling as he walked over to her. He tried to pull her towards him for a kiss but she resisted.
"Don't touch me," she hissed, "And no, I'm not going to marry you, so don't ask."
Lotor laughed…he seemed to be in a better mood than usual. "You know me too well, my love, but all in good time. Come with me, we're going on a little trip." He extended his hand to her but she scoffed at his invitation.
"I'd rather rot in a cell in the bowels of this castle than go anywhere with you," she retorted, folding her arms against her chest and narrowing her eyes.
Lotor shrugged, trying to pretend that her words didn't hurt as much as they actually did. He went to the communications station in her room which had three monitors on it. He activated the largest of the three using a code, and a planet as seen from space appeared onscreen. He gestured for her to come closer to see what he was looking at.
"What?" she asked rudely, suspicious of anything he had to show her.
"Come closer, my dear, and look at Planet Arus." Allura bristled slightly at the mention of her homeworld and relunctantly walked over to where he was. He gently took her by the shoulders and guided her to sit down in the chair in front of the station.
On the screen she could see her beautiful planet Arus surrounded by Drule battleships.
"So you're going to attack my planet again? How many times will it take for you to learn that you're never going to win, Lotor? Voltron will defeat you once more, then my friends will come and rescue me. You're delusional," she muttered, tired of the repetitive nature of their relationship. She tried to stand up and move to a different part of the room so that she wasn't so close to him, but his hands remained firmly on her shoulders and he pushed her back into the chair.
Lotor smiled smugly, knowing that for once he had the upper hand. He leaned forward to speak directly into her ear. "Mistake number one, my dear, the blue lion is still on Caelia without its pilot, so Voltron physically cannot be formed. Mistake number two, the remaining lions are busy at the moment at Caelia, Doom's newly acquired territory, trying to get back their lost lion, which means Arus is left unprotected. So it is quite simple. You will marry me, or I'll give the order to unleash every weapons cannon I have on your very vulnerable homeworld. For the remaining four lions to make it back before significant damage is done would mean they'd have to defy the laws of physics. As impressive as Voltron is, he isn't that impressive. All you have to say is 'yes', Allura, by signing this contract, and I'll call all of them back to Doom. It's up to you, my dear, your planet or yourself." He laid down a piece of paper and a pen in front of her on the desk.
Allura's face was sticken with horror as she stared at the nightmare that unfolded before her on the monitor. "No….you wouldn't," she began, shaking her head as tears started to form in her eyes.
"Yes, I would, love. Not so smug, are we now," he replied evenly, releasing his hold on her shoulders as he walked to the dining table to pour himself a glass of wine. He then sat down in one of the chairs, sipping the wine and watching Allura struggle to come to terms with what he'd just told her. She continued to stare at the screen for a time, taking everything in slowly. Finally she wiped her eyes and stood up sluggishly, turning to face him.
"You can't…the people on Arus are innocent…they've done nothing to bring this upon themselves!" she breathed in deeply, trying to maintain her composure as she pleaded with him not to destroy her home.
"I've told you your choices, my dear," he replied, not interested in the slightest what the people of Arus had or hadn't done. "Pick one."
"Lotor please," she said, becoming nearly hysterical as she resorting to begging. "Please don't make me choose between....please..." she went over to where he was sitting and fell on her knees before him, trying anything she could to try to get him to change his mind and not force her to make this horrible decision.
Interesting turn of events, Lotor mused, not expecting his ultimatum to have such a devastating effect on her so soon. Maybe the drug is still influencing her somewhat...."You try my patience, Allura," he said calmly. "I will say it one more time. Either you agree to marry me and sign this contract, or I will decimate every living thing on Arus. I am through with discussions and I am through with this ongoing game between us. Tell me your decision, now."
Allura squeezed her eyes shut, as if hoping by some magic spell she could wish herself away from her current personal hell. She realized she'd been holding her breath, and exhaled slowly, trying to keep the final pieces of strength that hadn't left her yet in place.
"I won't do it," she whispered, standing up and shaking her head from side to side as she clenched her fists, "I won't turn Arus over to you."
"Fine," Lotor replied sharply as he picked up a hand-held communicator. "Have it your way. This is Prince Lotor, on my mark I want every ship to fire on the planet until they've run out of weapons. 3, 2, 1……"
He didn't have time to say, 'mark', as Allura's terrified screams interrupted the transmission. "NO!" she yelled, lunging towards Lotor and trying to grab the communicator from his hand. His reflexes were impeccable, and he easily moved his hand out of the way before she could get to it.
"Hold," Lotor said, talking to his ship again. He stood up to look at Allura, who was crying openly now and making no effort to hide it. He reached inside his tunic to retrieve a hankerhcief and lightly began rubbing her face with it, silently admiring her beauty even in her panicked state. "Have you had a chance to reconsider your decision, my love?" he murmured into her ear.
She nodded slowly, and started to cough a bit as a result of her heavy sobbing. He gently escorted her back to the table to sit down, where she buried her head in her hands and continued to cry.
Lotor leaned against the table and stroked his face as he let her have her moment of grief. He silently watched her for a time, himself also sad that she would view spending the rest of her life with him as such a horrible fate. There wasn't anything he could not, would not, give her…all she had to do was ask. It's only temporary, he thought, justifying her sorrow to himself, She's just in shock…she'll be alright after she has some time to think everything over. He waited patiently for a few minutes more until her crying seemed to subside some, then went over to the communications station and picked up the pen and contract he had presented to her earlier.
"Here you are, my love," he said softly, lowering himself to one knee and lightly rubbing her back. He also offered her the hankerchief he had used earlier.
Allura took the hankerchief so that she could wipe her eyes and actually read the contract.
I, Allura, Princess of Arus, agree to the following terms:
1) I agree to marry Prince of Lotor of the planet Doom within thirty days
2) If I, for whatever reason, do not marry Prince Lotor within thirty days, I forfeit all claim to Planet Arus and its possessions to the Doom Empire.
She gasped as she read the second line, realizing that even if the Voltron force managed some kind of miraculous rescue, if she didn't marry Lotor she would lose her planet. He had covered all of his bases this time, obviously learning a powerful lesson from his previous failures. She stared blankly at the words in front of her, pausing to think that at least for right now, at that moment, she did not belong to him. She wondered how long she could stall….maybe the Voltron force was planning to rescue her! Maybe if she could hold Lotor off for just a little while more….her thoughts raced violently through her head as she became desperate for any way out. Maybe he hadn't locked the door…maybe there were no guards…maybe she could use the wine goblet as a weapon…frantically her eyes searched the room for something, anything, that would save her from a life under the control of Lotor. Maybe...maybe...maybe.....
Lotor watched Allura carefully, trying to be as patient as possible as she resigned herself to her fate, but patience was not one of his virtues. "Allura…" he said, softly but sternly, bringing her from her illusion of hope back to the nightmarish reality in front of her. "Enough stalling; I will not be tested again. As I said earlier, my dear, the games are over."
He picked up the pen from the table and held it in front of her eyes, indicating he was tired of her procrastinating. She slowly took the pen from him and inhaled deeply, closing her eyes once more. I'm sorry, Father…she said to herself, finally surrendering once and for all. She exhaled quickly, signing her name as she did so. Once she'd finished the final stoke in the second "a", she threw the pen down hard across the table as though it was burning a hole in her hand.
Triumphantly, Lotor went to stand up, pausing only to kiss her on the top of the head as he did so. She sat numbly in the chair and stared at the floor, having no more tears to cry and not wanting to exhibit any more sign of weakness.
"Order your ships away from my planet!" she suddenly demanded, looking up at him, "If your deal is off then so is mine!"
"As you wish, my bride," he replied, not bothering to remind her that he didn't take orders from anyone. He brought the communicator to his face again and said, "This is Prince Lotor. I want all ships in Arusian space to leave now and return to Planet Doom."
"Yes, my Lord," the Commander in charge of the expedition acknowledged.
Lotor walked over to the table and picked up the paper that Allura had just signed. "If you will excuse me, my love, I have business to attend to. I'll have my lawyers draw up a second contract detailing the more political intricacies of our union. Is there anything specific you would like for me to include?"
She looked up at him, surprised that he would give her such an option.
"Yes," she said softly, an obviously defeated tone to her voice. She stood up from the table to appear in a more official position. "Lotor...." she whispered.
"Yes, Allura?" he responded, happy to hear her speak his name in a manner that was diffrent from the disgust he'd grown accustomed to. He walked back over to her, placing his hands on her shoulders again.
"I have no delusions about our……arrangement," she began, looking up at him. Her eyes were still very red and puffy, indicative of the recent pain he had put her through, and he could see that whatever she was going to tell him was very difficult for her. "I...I know that you will be in command, no matter what the situation is. I only ask that you still allow me to govern Arus. Please don't let anything change with Arus...my people are so important to me, please don't hold them responsible for my actions toward you in the past...." She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes again as she thought about her subjects. Her situation was deplorable enough, but her people were innocent. She couldn't bear it if he hurt them because of her.
Lotor's lips turned upward into a smile, knowing that he had her in an interesting predicament. He leaned forward and kissed her, finding it thrilling that she didn't try to pull away.
"I am willing to leave Arus under your rule, but that all depends on you, Allura, and your level of commitment to me...accept our marriage as your future and me as your King completely, make this willing gesture for me and I will be more than happy to leave your precious planet untouched except for a few small security stations, per protocol...." His voice trailed off, leaving the knowing answer up to her.
Allura understood his insinuation very clearly. If she wanted to retain Arus, he would demand more from her than just the unwilling compromise she'd already made. He wanted her to truly and without hesitation accept his offer of himself, of their lives together as husband and wife. It was the only thing she had kept for herself up until then, that small and private level of resistance to him. Her spirit, the one remaining battle he had not yet conquered, was the final piece of the puzzle that she was able to hold over his head and taunt him with. The last battle of a psychological war that up until then, she had won. She gritted her teeth as she mulled it over in her head...her people versus her pride, dignity, and honor. But how much honor could she realistically hope to maintain if her people were suffering in slavery? She decided it was a sacrifice she was willing to make.
"I understand" she said softly, lowering herself into a small genuflection before him. It killed her inside but ultimately she knew this was worth it for the sake of her people. She went to bow her head but he put a finger under her chin first, tilting her face upwards to regard her beauty one more time and remind himself that finally, after all of the fighting, all of the years he had tried, time after time, to posses her, that now she was his at last. She stood upright and tried to look him in the eye, but couldn't. She was still too ashamed of the power over her that she had just handed to him, seemingly with no reservations whatsoever.
Satisfied with her sacrifice, Lotor kissed her once more and murmured, "Excellent, my love, continue to behave this way and you shall have your planet...."
Allura nodded sadly, knowing that his offer was forever conditional upon her. If she ever displeased him, no matter how trivial it was, he could take Arus away from her without a second thought. Her people would constantly be at the mercy of her actions and the whims of his erratic personality. At that moment another wave of sickness fell over her, a combination of the Volyrul that was still in her system and the overwhelming emotions of their discussion finally taking their toll on her. A wave of dizziness engulfed her and she grabbed onto Lotor as she could feel her legs turn to spaghetti. Lotor caught her easily, frowning as he wondered how much damage the small amount of gradual poison she'd ingested had really done. He picked her up and carried her to the oversized bed, making sure that she was comfortable.
"I'm sorry, Allura," he said, kissing her forehead and pulling the soft blankets over her. "I promise that you will feel better soon."
For some reason she believed him as she closed her eyes, her mind wanting to completely analyze the day's activities but her body not allowing it. She drifted off to sleep, still not understanding what had transpired over the past 24 hours.