Hell Hath No Fury
Disclaimer: I do not own Voltron or any of its characters nor any of its alternate universe personas. So sad, I could become fond of a Lotor with green eyes…
Part 5 of the Chivalry story arc: 1. Chivalry; 2. Lion House Restored (& 2A. LHR – Allura's POV); 3. Doomed Quest; 4. Alternate Choices; and 5. Hell Hath No Fury. While some of the stories can be read as stand alone, this one must be read AFTER Alternate Choices for it to make sense.
Rating/Setting: Rating is T, bordering M. There are some topics that could be triggers for some people; I will try to post warnings for those chapters. However, I'm never graphic or explicit in any of my writing. If you've read Alternate Choices, you should know what the trigger topics are. Setting is DotU in flavor.
Chapter Ten
~Day Three in the Mirror-verse, continued~
As Keith and Allura Alt made their way to the dining area for breakfast, he noticed the glances being sent his way. His clothing wasn't that unusual for the Empire. He had on black fitted pants and black knee-high boots that reminded him of riding attire. His shirt, however, was different. It was a long-sleeved red pull-over and while it wasn't form fitting, it was fitted. The most unusual aspect of it was the sleeve on his right arm. The area that covered his right bicep had distinct cut-outs that clearly allowed anyone to see his bond-mate armband. When he had questioned Allura, she said that it was customary for the Queen's bond-mate to wear such clothing. It identified his stasis. She actually had the gall to say that he should be pleased to have such notice drawn to him. It had taken everything in him not to make a sarcastic comment about that. His thoughts returned to the present as he heard her repeat his name.
"Keith? I don't like repeating myself."
"I'm sorry, you were saying?"
"As I told you earlier this morning, the new general has found several flaws in the facility defenses. I expect you to find all the flaws that she has found plus one or more that she hasn't. If you don't, then I'm afraid that one hundred of those prisoners you saved this morning will have to die."
Keith stopped dead in his tracks. "What?"
Allura stopped and looked back at him. "I have to know that you will do your best. If you do only something rudimentary or half-hearted, you will never convince my command staff of your worth."
"But I saved them this morning."
Thinking for a moment, Allura Alt nodded. "You are correct. I will have one hundred DIFFERENT prisoners of war selected for execution if you fail to meet my expectations." The Queen turned and headed toward the dining area mentioning that she did hope they had grape jam this morning as she missed having it yesterday.
Keith stood for a moment and just stared after her, listening to her inane chatter until he felt the tingle in his arm band. Moving to follow her, he wondered what curveball she would throw at him next. As they entered the dining hall, the curveball knocked the breath out of him.
Naveena Flynn stood from her place at the table and bowed to Allura. "My Queen."
Moving to take the seat at the head of the table, Allura waved her away. "Good morning, General Flynn."
Keith continued to stare. Naveena Flynn was the black ops commander promoted to general. He eyed her carefully, was this the Naveen Flynn of the mirror-verse or had Allura brought her through with her? Had the Naveena of this universe been replaced by his Naveena?
Allura turned to where Keith stood in the doorway. "Keith, come over and meet Naveena. She is the one that I want you to impress."
The Voltron Commander walked to the table and looked at the commanding General of Ormond's ground forces. "Good morning, General Flynn."
Naveena eyed Keith Kogane with distrust. She had heard all about him from the Queen, but then she thought the Queen might just be thinking with her libido and not with her brain. Taking a moment to look him over, she decided that she couldn't blame the Queen for wanting him. If he had brains to go with that body, he and the Queen would indeed make a formidable pair.
The Queen noticed the appraising eye of her general and said, "Watch yourself, General."
Taking her seat as Keith took his, Naveena responded, "I'm sorry, my Queen. I meant no offense. You spoke of his attractiveness and I have to say that you did not over exaggerate."
"You know I'm sitting right here," Keith said with irritation. With Naveena's open appraisal of his body and the dialog she was having with Allura Alt, Keith knew this was not the Naveena from his universe. He was surprised as he heard the queen ordering breakfast.
Allura gave her order and his to the maid that came to the table. "Yes, I know you are right here. However, you do not yet know your place and for that, I will overlook this aberration. However, I grow tired of having to remind you of your place. You do not speak unless spoken to in my presence unless I give you leave." She saw his raised eyebrow and laughed. "Since we are discussing the security of the fortress, I give you permission to speak freely this morning."
As his brows drew together in a frown, he formulated his retort only to be stopped by a not-so-subtle pulse from his arm band. Instead of his intended retort, a low hiss of pain escaped his lips as he closed his eyes.
"As I said, I tire of reminding you of your place." She watched with appreciation how effectively the band had silenced what she knew to be sarcastic response.
"My Queen, what is your plan?" Naveena asked as she sipped her coffee, drawing the Queen's attention to her.
Allowing her eyes to move from Keith to Naveena, she answered, "Commander Kogane is to have full access to the current security maps and defenses of the fortress."
Naveena put her cup down quickly and leaned over to speak urgently to Allura. "Is that wise, my Queen? You just said yourself that he doesn't yet know his place. Giving him access to our security plans-"
The Queen raised her hand stopping Naveena in mid-sentence. "Giving him access to what we currently have shouldn't be that much of a breech, if what you say is true about the security." Glancing over to Keith, who sat quietly for the moment, she continued, "He knows what the consequences are of failing to meet my expectation in this regard. The Commander knows that he has to find all the security concerns that you found plus at least one additional one that you did not find." Allura's eyes were on Keith's face and she saw the muscle in his jaw clench. "You won't fail me, will you Commander?"
Controlling his anger, Keith replied, "I won't fail you." He felt a tingle in his arm and lifted his chin a little as he added, "My Queen." The electric charge faded and he knew he had given her what she had wanted.
"How long does he have to complete his task?"
Allura paused as the servants had appeared with her meal and Keith's. Once the attendants were gone, Allura replied, "Until dinner tonight."
Keith didn't say anything. It wasn't much time, just nine hours. He knew it was pointless to argue and he knew the task had to be large as he saw a small smile grace Naveena's lips. It was a smile that said she had already won. However, there were one hundred people counting on him and he wouldn't let them down.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Lancelot stood to the side of the gym with a smile on his face as he watched his duplicate face off with Allura and a composite replica of a lazon sword. The lazon sword was rumored to be Queen Allura's weapon of choice when she chose to fight in close quarters. Therefore, they had chosen to duel with the swords after the hand-to-hand combat.
Orla divided her attention between Lancelot and Eleanor. Both intrigued her. The young man beside her was obviously very close to the Arusian Queen. In many ways they appeared as siblings. It was obvious that he was proud of her abilities and well he should be. Eleanor had faired quite well in the hand to hand combat with Lance. Throwing him twice and putting him in a submission hold once. It was obvious that Lance had underestimated the Queen of Arus, even with his alternate's warning. He was being more careful with the sword. Eleanor hadn't balked at the suggestion of using real swords instead of fakes, but Lancelot countered there was no reason to go to Ormond with any injuries. So Eleanor and Lance were currently fighting with composite versions of the lazon sword.
"Come on, Allura, you can do it." Lancelot muttered under his breath.
Out on the mat, Eleanor and Lance circled each other. Eleanor smiled as Lance slashed at her with the sword and she nimbly jumped to the side and swung her sword, hitting him on the butt. Her tinkling laughter carried across the gym. This was the third time that she had tagged him and he hadn't tagged her at all. It was obvious to her that this version of Lance hadn't trained extensively with a sword of any type. Eleanor said a silent prayer of thanks to Keith and to the practice she had engaged in during her time at Lion House.
Lance stood with one hand gripping his sword and his other on his butt. Looking at Eleanor with a frown, he said, "You know that's going to leave a mark."
Eleanor smirked at him and then winked as she said, "I'm sure it's not the first time a woman gave you a bruise."
Without turning his back on Eleanor, Lance called over his shoulder, "Lancelot, you didn't tell me that she had a sadistic streak."
Lancelot smiled as he crossed his arms in satisfaction, "She's not sadistic, Lance. She's just good. And watch out, she can be a little sarcastic too."
"Too late, brother, I've already gotten a taste of that after she hit my ass with the sword." Giving his full attention to Eleanor, he bowed and laid his sword down. "I yield, your Highness. I see no further need in wounding my ego. Hopefully, my doppelganger has been entertained enough watching you kick my ass and his."
Bowing in return, Eleanor replied, "Oh, I'm sure he'll enjoy teasing you about it. Just remember though, I beat him on occasion as well."
Lance offered his arm and escorted her over to the wall where Lancelot and the Resistance leaders waited. Stopping in front of Lancelot he said, "Well?"
Lancelot smiled as he knew exactly what his alternate meant. "Our butt looked exceedingly well as it was kicked."
The assembled group laughed. Lance and Lancelot were a pair, not opposites. Allura just wished it were so with her alternate.