Thanks again to the reviewers, much appreciated.

Disclaimer reminder - I make no claims to Voltron, or any other WEP character.

Chapter 13

Fighting to open her eyes as she awakens, Romelle groans at the pain in her body. Giving up the battle, she tries to remember what happened. But, memory is elusive. A wet cloth moves across her forehead and she reaches up for it. A hand takes hers and pushes it back down by her side. The cloth returns, followed by a voice saying, "Just rest."

"Where…am…I?" Romelle manages to ask past her dry throat.

"Safe," the voice with the strange accent answers. "Rest now, Princess Romelle."

"You…you…know me?" she stutters, trying to comprehend what's happening.

"Yes."

"Water."

The cloth moves away and her head is lifted. Feeling something by her lips, Romelle opens her mouth and cool liquid flows in. She manages two sips before it is removed and the man says, "Easy. Too much may make you sick."

Laying back, Romelle finally manages to open her eyes just enough to notice the dim light of a candle illuminating the area. Shifting her gaze, she makes out the face of the man next to her. Long, shaggy, dark hair covers his head and face, almost hiding the concerned dark eyes looking back at her. He picks up the cloth and resumes running it over her forehead and along her cheek before moving it down along her neck. Memory returns. Lotor, the Pit of Skulls, falling. Her eyes move back to the man attending to her. She should be terrified, given his wild appearance and what has happened to her, but something about this man tells her he won't hurt her.

The allure of sleep calls for her. Fighting against it, she asks, "Who are…you?"

"Nobody."

He says nothing more, turning away to dip the cloth back into a bowl next to him. As he turns back to her, Romelle tiredly shakes her head and demands, "Name?"

The expression in the man's eyes change to one of irritation, but he finally answers, "Sven."

"Sven," she repeats as her eyes slowly shut. Romelle senses the return of the cloth to her forehead but says nothing more as sleep reclaims her.

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The next time Romelle wakes, it is to sharp pains in her groin. Rolling to her good side, she shoves her hands against it and cries out in pain. Sven is at her side within a moment demanding, "What's wrong?"

Reaching out to him with a bloody hand, the princess cries out, "Hurts…it hurts!"

He takes her hand and pulls the blanket down with his free hand. Romelle listens to him say something in a language she doesn't understand then he says, "I'll be right back."

"No! Don't leave me!" Romelle cries out, reaching for him again.

"I have to get something to help you," Sven answers then pulls away.

Curling into a ball, Romelle continues to cry as pain racks her body. It feels like an eternity before he returns. He picks up a bowl, fills it with water, and pours the contents of a small vial into it. Moving over to her, Sven helps lift her head and places a bowl near her lips while ordering, "Drink."

Sipping the liquid, Romelle starts to pull away from the foul flavor. Sven won't allow her to turn away. Instead, he demands, "Drink all of it!"

Returning to the bowl, she drinks down the entire potion. Once Sven releases her, she lays down, and curls back into a ball. Gradually the pain recedes and her eyelids become heavy. Giving into the inevitable, Romelle drifts back to sleep.

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When she opens her eyes sometime later, Romelle finds Sven watching her in the dim candle light. Feeling the rough blanket against her skin, she glances back at Sven to ask, "What happened?"

He drops his gaze and picks at something next to him, "I think you know."

Tears fill Romelle's eyes as she turns away from him the best she can. A hand is on her shoulder the next moment and he whispers, "I'm sorry."

"N…no," Romelle stutters back, but refuses to face him as the tears continue to roll down her cheeks, "I didn't want…not…his."

"But it doesn't prevent it from hurting you any less," Sven remarks, his thumb gently rubbing the skin of her shoulder.

His touch doesn't fill Romelle with revulsion the way Lotor's did. Instead, it soothes her, calming her down until she stops crying. He withdraws his hand when she quiets. Turning over, she finds Sven still watching her. Sucking in a deep breath, another thought comes to mind, "Where are my clothes?"

He looks away from her and over to the low, burning fire while answering, "They were too bloody for me to save, so I burned them." His dark gaze returns to her, "The smell of blood attracts things down here that you do not want drawn to you."

Dragging in another shaky breath, Romelle nods back to him. Pulling the blanket more firmly around her, she tries to sit up only for the pain in her hip to cause her to freeze and gasp. Sven is by her side a moment later, helping her to lower herself back down as he says, "Easy, you bruised your hip in that fall."

"It feels broken," Romelle replies as she settles back against the pallet.

Sven shakes his head at her, "No, I checked. Just deeply bruised. It will take some time to heal."

Securing the blanket around her even though she knows he has seen everything, Romelle murmurs, "Is there something I can put on?"

"There is nothing."

Standing, he moves across the cavern and rummages around his things. He returns a moment later with two blasters. As he approaches her, he sticks one into his belt. Lowering himself and holding the other out to her, he says, "If you can stay awake for a while, I'll see if I can go find you something."

Romelle nods to him and attempts to take the blaster. Sven pulls it away and adds in a firm tone, "I need you to understand this. You can't go back to sleep. It's not safe. I will knock on the entrance three times before I walk back in. Anything or anybody else attempts to enter, you need to fire on them immediately. Do not hesitate."

"I understand," Romelle answers and he hands her the blaster.

She watches him stand and walk away from her. Just before the cavern entrance, Sven looks back at her once more and reminds her to be watchful. After she nods, he pushes out the large rock hiding the entrance and passes through it. Romelle listens to the sound of the rock being pushed back then settles herself for the wait.