Office Visits

Coran was sitting in his office, looking at his tablet. He took a deep breath, and hoped he was doing the right thing. Count Fredericks knocked, came in, and sat down. Coran looked at his old friend, and thought of all they had been through together. "What are you working on?" Fredericks asked. Without a word Coran handed the tablet to him, and watched him read it. When he finished he looked at Coran and said "is this really necessary? Aren't there other options?" Coran replied "You are the one who told me we were running out of time!"

"Well if you had married her off at 16 or 17, like you should of, instead of letting her fly that Lion, we would not be in this situation." Fredericks said to him in a peeved tone. "If you remember, when she 16 and 17 we were at war" Coran paused, and then went on "and when the war was over with, there were not a lot of available princes around anymore." Fredericks conceded that he had a good point. "How did you square the whole thing with Tantalus and Cassius?" he asked out of curiosity. "That is not a conversation I want to have again, let me tell you!" Coran said "Luckily, they understood our reasons. Cassius and his advisors thought we were aware of their biology, and were willing to make accommodations for them." Fredericks laughed "At least you didn't have to have that conversation with Her Royal Highness!" He asked "When are you going to tell Her Highness?" Coran shook his head and said "I'm not. I am simply going to facilitate matters, and let Mother Nature take her course." Fredericks looked at him with awe "You are one devious bastard!" and laughed.

That afternoon, Coran walked down to Keith's office and knocked on the door. When Keith saw who it was he stood up while Coran walked in, and offered him a seat. Keith's office, thought Coran, was the model of what a soldier's should look like. Everything had a specific place, and was meticulous arranged to be as functional as possible. At least I don't have to worry about what he has on his monitor, thought Coran, as opposed to what Lance might have up. Keith, meanwhile, was looking at Coran. One of the many things that had surprised him when he came back to Arus was how much Coran had aged. He looked 20 years older, and walked with a cane to offset a bad leg. No one had said anything to Keith about what he must have gone through, so Keith figured it was none of his business.

Keith had also been amazed at how much Arus had rebuilt in the five years he was gone. He thought how much everyone, but him, had changed in five years. He knew that it was due to Allura; she handled so much more now than she used to. When he had left, Coran was the one in charge, and Allura his pupil. Now, he thought, Coran had done a good job teaching her. As he thought about Allura, he had to push down his feelings. He remembered when he left Arus, and she had been attracted to him, and how he kept her at arm's length. Right now he felt like the situation had been reversed.

"What can I do for you, Coran?" Keith asked sitting down. Coran said "it concerns a member of the Voltron Force, Keith." He went on "I know that it has impacted operations having Pidge tied up on the solar project, but it is an important step for Arus to take." Keith smiled and said "I hear that from Allura all the time. It's fine now, since things are calm, but some of the reports coming in from other parts of the galaxy have me concerned."

"Yes, I can see why. Maahox and Lotor are up to something, something in the Galena system." Coran said, and continued on "However, do you think anything will happen in the next two weeks?" Keith, wondering why Coran was asking about that time frame said "I don't think so. Lotor always likes to send a calling card before he attacks. Why?" Coran took a deep breath; he wanted to proceed very carefully with this.

"Allura is scheduled to leave in a couple of days on a Royal Tour, to inspect the areas that will be impacted by the Solar Project. I would like Pidge to come along." Coran stopped for moment, and then went on "I know that you have been concerned about Vince and his flying ability, so this would be the perfect chance for him to get more practice time in." Keith sighed, not having seen this request coming. "Coran, if you take Pidge that means that Larmina and Vince will be flying; if they fly I have to let Daniel fly too. Which Lion should I give him?" Keith finished crossly.

"Well I don't think you would want to send Vince up alone at this point, so Daniel could accompany him. Problem solved." Coran was glad that Keith's only objection so far had concerned Daniel. He had expected a lot more. Keith put on a passive face and said "I really don't have a choice in this do I? If I say no, you will tell the Princess, who will then demand that I let Pidge go." "Keith, Pidge, and Allura know nothing about this yet. You are the Commander of Voltron Force, and I would not say anything to them until I had cleared it with you."

Coran waited for Keith's response. "Yes, I am the Commander, but I also know that Voltron resides on Arus, and is the property of Arus. At the end of the day, everything comes down to Arus, right?" Keith asked Coran, not expecting an answer, so he went on "Fine, take Pidge with you. It will be good for Vince to get some more flying in. For someone who has so many gifts in his possession, it is unusual that flying is not one of them." Coran chatted with him for a couple more minutes, and then left. As he walked away he couldn't believe how easy that way.

After Coran had left, Keith sat back in his chair and shook his head. 'At least it was polite of Coran to ask me, I guess; he could have just done it' Keith thought to himself. Coran had always been on good terms with Keith, but he knew at the end of the day, for Coran, it was all about Arus. Keith sighed, and shifted in his chair. 'It might be good to be away from Allura for a while' he thought, but wasn't sure if he wanted Pidge around her that much. He had always thought his heart could not hurt any worse than it had, when he had seen the picture of Allura and Lance at that wedding. However, when he saw Pidge dancing with Allura, pulling her close to him, he felt like his heart shattered.

'If I had ever danced like that with her' he thought, I would never have heard the end of it, 'but, oh, it's just Pidge, so no big deal.' Keith knew it was not fair of him to be jealous of what Lance and Pidge had with Allura. He had made the decision to remove himself, so he should be able to live with the consequences of it. He knew everything Lance and Pidge had done for him, especially Pidge. He would never have made five years if it had not been for them. He also knew the situation with Allura was his fault. He should have talked to her as soon as he got back, as Lance told him to. "We were all so busy' he thought to himself. Plus, if he talked to her, he would have to acknowledge his feelings now, and from five years ago. He didn't think he was ready; 'but if I'm not ready now, will it be too late when I am ready?' he thought to himself.

While Coran was talking to Keith, Allura was in Lance's office. Earlier, on the way back from some flight time Allura had asked him privately if she could talk to him this afternoon. Lance said yes, guessing it was about Keith. He knew that Allura and Keith had not really talked since Keith returned. Lance was sure of it, because when it did happen Allura was going to let Keith have it. Lance didn't think Hunk and Pidge could have installed enough sound proofing to keep that discussion quiet. He was annoyed with Keith anyway, about his feelings for Allura. Watching Keith look at Pidge and Allura dancing disgusted him. Keith needed to man up, in Lance's opinion; he either told Allura how he felt, or moved on.

Lance looked across at Allura waiting for her to start. She was holding several leather bound journals in her hands. "I need a favor Lance." She smiled at him "It concerns a member of my family." Lance laughed and said "I like Larmina a lot, but if you are having problems with her I think you need to deal with it." Allura gave him a look, and said "You were there the other morning, when she was asking about her Father, right?" "Yes, seemed perfectly reasonable to me." Lance said, by now having figured out that Keith was not going to factor into it at all.

She held out the leather bound journals "These are the journals that Larmina's Grandfather brought with her; the ones she wants to read." Allura paused, and then went on "I have never read them, they have not been turned over to the archives, and I have kept them in the safe in my room." "Allura, what do you think is in them?" Lance asked, interestedly. "You remember how I said that Father had sent my Brother on military maneuvers that summer? That wasn't the truth. Reynaud had been banished from the Castle for his behavior." Allura looked at Lance, and continued "I only found out a couple of years ago why he had been banished." Lance waited for the next sentence. "He was caught in a compromising position with a servant." Allura said, as if that explained everything.

When Pidge had suggested this, it had seemed so easy. Of course, talking about it with Pidge was not the same as talking to Lance about it. "Allura, if all it took to banish him was bedding a housemaid, that seems a little extreme." Lance said, thinking I'm glad that King Alfor is not around now, or I would be long gone. Allura took a deep breath and said "It wasn't a house MAID!" Lance, now making the connection sat up very straight. "I see." He said, with a smile on his face.

"I'm glad that you think it is funny Lance!" Allura sounded annoyed. "Who knows what he wrote in these journals about his doings. I know that Larmina wants to know about her parents, but she doesn't need to know everything." Lance looked at her with a serious face "I understand that right now you want to screen what she knows, but at some point she needs to know the whole story."

Allura shook her head "I know that at some point she will need to know, but I don't think she needs to know all the sordid details right away." Allura paused, and said "Would you read the journals and see what is in them? Once I know I can decide what to let Larmina see." "As a favor to you Allura, I will do it. Who knows I might even get some good ideas!" Lance said, leering at her. "Honestly Lance, there is just no end to what you say!" With that Allura put the journals on the desk and left.