Again, I have to thank all my friends and supporters of my VERY LONG fanfic...thank you for hanging in there with me (the good stuff is coming...promise!)

The same old disclaimers: I don't own Voltron...yada yada yada

I now present...

Chapter Ten

On Lotor's ship…

It's a beautiful day and Allura stands in the middle of a meadow on Arus. She bends to pick some flowers, feeling more at peace than she ever has. A group of butterflies swoop past her and she smiles…nothing could possibly destroy the tranquil peace that she has here. She ventures further into the meadow until she spots an unfocused figure off in the distance. She stops, not sure of what to do, but then the figure stretches their hand out to her and she feels a light pull on her conscious to come to them. As she gets closer, the psychic link she shares with the unknown person strengthens and she must get closer. Suddenly, the figure changes and it's not only just one. Two images come into view and she begins to realize that they are moving, no longer paying her any attention. The closer she gets, the clearer the figures get and she pauses when she finally sees what is going on. Her beloved Black Lion commander and the heinous prince of Doom are locked on an intense laser sword battle. Lotor thrusts his sword towards Keith and he parries flawlessly, taking a slash at the prince's arm as he turns away. Lotor looks at the wound and snarls, rushing the Voltron captain; swinging his sword down and slashing Keith across his chest once again. He howls in pain, but refuses to back down. Stumbling back, he stares hard at his opponent, watching a confident smile form on the Doomite's mouth.

"You have strength and courage, explorer…but do you really have what it takes to care for Allura?" Lotor hisses at him and Keith lunges forward, taking him by surprise and cutting him deep on his chest as well. Grunting, Lotor watches him warily and they enter into a dangerous dance, circling each other in the field.

"You will never have her, you over-obsessed, walking disease!"

In answer, Lotor performs a quick spin that forces Keith to feint to the side. He then takes advantage and hits him in the side, knocking his sword to the ground. The pilot sees a chance and takes it…he turns to rush him and they both hit the ground. Keith sits up and starts to strike him unmercifully in his face; each blow hitting harder than the last. Allura can only stand there and cover her face with hands, praying to any and everything that her love will win this battle.

Lotor has to retaliate, so he kicks his leg up to dislodge the enraged commander. Keith falls forward and Lotor rolls away from him, sword still in hand. He realizes that he has to try to get to him…they are too evenly matched, so he taunts him once again.

"What do you think you can do for her…you, a mere commoner? She would never want someone as insignificant as you lying between her legs?"

No response…Keith locates his sword and crouches, preparing for the next attack. The total lack of reaction to his taunting words infuriates Lotor to the point of insanity. He blindly races forward, wanting to hurt him in some agonizing way, but Keith is ready. He feints to the side and when he passes, he hits him in the temple, hard. The prince falls to the ground…out cold.

It's at that time Allura races over to him and throws her arms around his neck. He gently strokes her hair and kisses the top of her head. "It's alright, my love…"

Suddenly, his voice chokes and he pushes her away. He clutches at his chest, puzzling Allura as to why…until the blood soaked point of a laser sword pushes through his chest. She screams as Lotor's haggard face appears at her love's left shoulder. The sword is removed and Keith falls forward with a sickening thud.

She screams and screams, watching her beloved's life force ebb away and the prince stalking toward her…laughing…

As Lotor looks down on her, his body tightens. He has been more than patient with her and it has gotten to the point where he wasn't going to take no anymore. His body has been hungering for her for way too long and he refuses to accept another pathetic slave in his bed when what he wants is lying before him. He stealthily moves over to bed and sits next to her. He listens to her moan and watches her body adjust to get more comfortable. The building heat inside of him explodes, but he gently runs his hand over her cheek. A frown covers her face, but she doesn't awaken. He gets bolder by letting his hand move down her body, lightly rubbing near her perfect breasts.

Still no response and now he desires one. He takes his other hand and performs the identical movement on her other side and she opens her mouth as if to say something. A breath escapes and she whispers a name. The prince lowers his head to hear what it is and freezes when she does repeat it…Keith.

A tidal wave of fury encompasses him and he savagely takes her by the shoulders, determined to awaken her…to let her know that her damned Captain was not here, nor was he ever to be. It is at this time that the horrible part of her dream hits her and she emits that horrible scream; taking him by surprise. He forcefully places his mouth on hers and kisses her brutally, her eyes popping open and her hands trying to push him away. He pulls back and lowers his lips to the side of her neck, all the while the princess is fighting against his steeled grip. "NOOOOOO!" she screams yet again, but he ignores it saying, "You will NEVER say that name again! You are mine and I am tired of waiting…" His hands grasp at her tunic, rending it from her neck to her waist. She fights harder, able to slap him when she gets on hand free.

"Vixen…" he says mutely and he holds her down to look at the twin globes that he has been dreaming about for months. The nipples pucker in fear and the cold air, but are the most beautiful things he has ever seen. He cruelly takes one in his mouth and another flurry of twisting and squirming comes from the Princess. "Stop…no…STOP!!!!" she cries and suddenly she is left alone for a brief moment. "I will not stop and I WILL make you completely mine!" he growls as he hurriedly tries to unfasten the offending clothes that are choking his rock-hard member. If he doesn't possess her now, he will rupture something…

Allura struggles to cover herself and move to the furthest corner of the room. She had hoped she would have some more time…be able to figure out some way to get out of here intact, but it looks as if her time is out and she knows she has no chance against his strength. Her eyes betray her fear as he continues to fumble with his clothes. He's able to remove his shirt and is about to remove his pants when the door flies open and Katia steps in. "Ohhhh…" she breathes and Lotor spins to glare at her. Strangely enough, she doesn't flinch and looks at him coolly. Allura breathes a prayer of thanks, but stays in her corner. The murderous haze that had taken him over begins to subside and he takes a deep breath to calm himself enough not to kill the young girl that has ruined his fun. The stare translates to death for Katia, but she just says, "I was sent to make sure that the Princess was prepared for the arrival on Caspia."

Lotor stares at Allura, not paying attention to anything that the girl was saying. He was THAT lose to taking what he wanted and the plan to make her want him would have been utterly destroyed. "See to her. Have another dress sent to her," he commands as he straightens himself and stomps out the door. Allura sinks to the floor and begins to cry exhausted tears. Katia rushes over to her and pulls her into a comforting embrace, softly stroking her hair and whispering encouragement to her. "It'll be okay…don't worry." The princess pours out her fears and terror and Katia lets her, stroking her hair and continually telling her that it'll be okay.

"Princess, it'll be fine. He'll leave you alone for a little while. Please, let's get off this floor and get those clothes off you. I'll bring you a basin to wash off."

She shivers as she remembers the near attack that Lotor attempted and gets up. Moving over to the bed, she's still clutching the torn clothes as she watches the young servant leave the room, leaving her to her thoughts. How could Romelle have borne this? I want to die…no, I want HIM to die! All of the fear she had within her has rapidly changed to a deep seeded anger. How dare he? What the hell gave him the right to treat her like this? She plops down on the bed and waits for Katia to return; praying ferverently that her captain would come to get her…but the only way that would happen is that he would have to know that the girl that is there isn't her. For this to have lasted as long as it has, she must have been coached well on how to portray the Princess of Arus.

But Keith would know…his heart would tell him…won't it?

Another shiver runs down her spine and she has to tamp down the worry that she might lose her friends and family…especially Keith, the love of her life. The door slides open again and she sees Katia balancing a basin and a pile of clothes. She moves over to her to help, grabbing the clothes and heading back over to the bed. The young brunette places the basin down and pulls a cloth out of her pocket. "Here you go…I know you'll feel better after you clean up a bit."

Allura rushes over to the basin and quickly dips the cloth in to wash herself. "Oops, here you go," says Katia again, and she removes a piece of sweet smelling soap out of the other pocket. She grabs the soap and starts to scrub viciously at herself, making Katia wince at the sight of the emerging red skin.

"You don't have to do that…you're gonna hurt yourself. I told you that it would be okay, he didn't do anything drastic to you."

Steadily scrubbing, she murmurs, "I feel like I can't get clean…" and a tear falls from her eye. Katia grabs her hand to halt her self-torture. "I know how you feel, and this doesn't get rid of the feeling. You just have to train yourself to try to forget, to let yourself remember not to let one horrible incident ruin the rest of your life."

Allura stops and stares at her waiting for further explanation and the servant sighs. "I was once a loving wife on the planet of Sevala in the Stygian Galaxy. When Lotor ravaged my home, he killed my husband and captured what people were left after the occupation. I was sent to his harem for a while, but while I was there I found out one significant fact about that horrid man…his preference is for virgins, which is one of the reasons why he is so obsessed with you. He has to be first in everything, even a woman or she isn't worth the time. I was only sent to him for a few times and each time I mentally withdrew so I couldn't tell you what exactly he did to me...all I do know is that I felt dirty and unwanted. I wanted to die at first, but then I realized that he was losing interest in me. He had found a new conquest…a girl named Alira, who was a brown haired, indigo eyed beauty. Once he broke her in, he was pacified with me and allowed me to be a hand servant." She takes another breath and turns to go over to the window, staring out at nothing. Allura covers herself with a towel and sits on the bed, watching her try to contain emotions that have been locked away for quite some time. Katia's hand rests on the window sill and she continues to stare at some hidden thing.

"I'm sorry that you had to remember all of that. The things that have been done to you...
The servant turns again and flashes a sad smile. "I told you those things to let you know that there is hope. You can find your way home again." She comes back over to Allura and takes her hands, holding them tightly. "From what I hear about the Voltron force, they will be here soon for you…"

The stricken princess shakes her head vehemently, "No, they don't even know I'm gone. Lotor replaced me with a clone and I don't know how to get in touch with them to let them know!"

From the way that Allura is worrying, Katia senses that there is more to this than she's telling and decides to coax her into releasing her pain. "It's okay, Princess. I have the feeling that the fact that she's there is not the real reason you're so worried…what else is so wrong?"

Allura takes off the towel and pulls the new tunic over her head before she stands and hugs herself. Her head drops and she says quietly, "She's supposed to be me...that means that she has to act just like me or they will find out, right?"

"Yes…"

She turns tortured eyes to her companion and Katia can read the absolute pain and anguish in her gaze. She waits for Allura to continue. "It took so long for me to admit it to myself, afraid that I was just being a foolish young girl; but after some time, I realized that I was just fooling myself and finally decided to end my self-inflicted torture."

Still puzzled, Katia asks, "What did you figure out?"

She moves back over the bed, tears flowing out her eyes. "I fell in love with Keith, commander of the Voltron Force…and he loves me. For her to really be me; she has to be with him and I don't know if he will be able to recognize the difference." The young woman sighs and takes her in another embrace.

"Does he really love you?"

"Of course he does. We have been fighting too long for it not to be real."

Katia smiles at her warmly, "Then he will know it's not you."

A tearful face looks at her, "How will he know? She looks and probably acts just like me!" The servant laughs a little, "You really don't know, do you? When it is true love, you share a connection that goes beyond the physical…your souls connect on another plane and nothing can change that…not even death." She lowers her head and continues, "Your captain will know in his heart, body and soul that his true love is not there. You can connect to him, can't you? You do have that ability, do you not?"

"What are you talking about?" asks Allura, hope filling her heart.

"I have heard that Arusians have the inherent ability to communicate telepathically, but only for short periods of time, and the connection is stronger between two people that are destined to be soulmates."

Allura thinks a moment, she had always known the connection to Keith was more than the love they share, but she had never used that link…never thought it was possible. Closing her eyes, she concentrates on her love, trying to reach out to him with her entire being…

**Keith…I'm here, my love…and I'm coming back to you…**