Chapter Fifty-two
It was four in the afternoon, the sun was starting to set and Keith had yet to see Allura for the day. The excuses he kept getting from Nanny or any of the other maids he'd run into were beginning to wear thin. She's in town, she's buying fabric for her ball gown, she's discussing things with her seamstress. Nanny had in fact giving him a long lecture on how important it was that Allura have a new dress for the upcoming Ball, that they make sure to make her more than one dress and that she have options to consider. It was going to take a lot of planning and a lot of time and they were already running out of time.
He needed to know her decision about the Ball, he wanted to know if she would be making the strategically correct choice and not the one their hearts would prefer. He himself would much prefer to be her chaperone in more than name only in front of the world. He was proud to be the man of her choice, to be the one that the Crown Princess of Arus wished to have courting her. He smiled a bit as he made his way to the kitchen searching for someone else to ask where he may find her, because the Ball wasn't the only the reason he felt an urgency to talk to her.
He was worried about how they'd left things the night before, his dream about Tara had him more adamant about them starting to act on all the ideas they kept giving lip service to rather than only discussing them. He'd pushed her too far physically last night and his passion for her aside, he did need to know her better. He wanted to talk to her all night long about nothing if they felt like it - his dream had reminded him of he and Tara had done that for weeks before he even had gotten up the nerve to ask her out on a date.
Tara was the other reason, he was ready to talk about her with Allura. To tell Allura that he was in love with Tara and probably always will be but that it didn't effect his feelings for her, or how his feelings for her could grow, how he knew they would continue to grow in the direction they both wanted them to go in the more they were together, the more time they spent together.
They had to start putting in the time and effort on their relationship, which brought him to the one part of the conversation he was concerned about her reaction to. Allura put time and effort in with her relationship with Lance, Keith saw it, the world saw it it felt like and he needed her to understand they needed that too, maybe even more because they were more than her and Lance. He was jealous, yes, but the truth was she wasn't giving them what she was giving her friendship with Lance. Maybe it was less scary for her with Lance, safer? Keith wondered as he walked along, he hoped he could bring up Lance without making her defensive, or sounding too jealous, and not saying anything that sounded like an ultimatum.
He wanted them to talk with each other today, not have another discussion about talking that was another problem. But first he had to find her, he burst into the kitchen, startling a young woman in the room standing by the fire.
"You. Where is Princess Allura?"
"Uh, I don't know, I just got hired," the young girl stammered.
Keith stared. "What? Hired? By?"
"Nanny?" she pointed towards the small room that once had been a pantry, that Nanny used as an office. "She told me to wait for her out here while she filed away my application."
Keith sighed, Nanny was hiring new maids, without any vetting before a Ball. He put a hand at the base of his neck, but it did nothing to stem off more knots from forming there. "Where are you from?"
"Here," the maid said.
"I mean what Village."
"Oh. The main village," she said.
"Born and raised, in the main village?"
"Yes," she said.
"Uh..." Keith sighed, he looked the young woman up and down. Petite, tiny, she looked barely sixteen, and in the simple dress that Nanny made all the maids wear she blended into the woodwork of the kitchen like the rest of them. She only stood out because of her red hair, he supposed. "Do you like Doom," he asked lamely and realized he was really distracted by having not found Allura before sunset and this was the worse security check of his life.
"Do I like doom?" she asked and he saw her lips start to quirk.
"Forget it, if you see the Princess, please tell her Captain Kogane would like to see her."
"Yes, sir," the young woman said.
Keith turned around and left the kitchen. Allura maybe by this point would be in her bedroom by now, he hoped. He started down the hall back towards the wing Allura's room was located in, hoping he would find her inside her room this time. There was some saying about third time being the charm, maybe it would work for the sixth try instead since it was a multiple, he thought wryly.
~~.~~
Wearing nothing but a bra and knee length slip, Allura slipped out of the Kitchen pantry. "Thank you, thank you so much for not telling him where I was," she said.
The young maid turned and looked her up and down. "It's... well, my duty, Princess. Nanny hired me so... but why are you..."
"Nanny dragged me here, well to her office. I keep trying to leave but people... Could you get me Commander McClain, or Princess Romelle?"
"Why did Nanny drag you here?" the young woman asked.
Allura sighed, then pointed to the tattoo on her exposed right hip bone. "We were starting measurements for my new ball gowns, everything was going so well. She'd agreed with no fighting to let me pick royal blue fabrics, I was in heaven and then when my dress came off she screamed bloody murder about the tattoo. She's off looking for Coran I suppose."
"Oh," the young maid said, looking at the tattoo, then smiling. "It's sweet."
"Thank you," Allura smiled back. "I'm in a lot of trouble, but I really don't want to deal with it right now. So, uh, could you find me Lance or Romelle?"
"Sure, but uh, aren't you dating Captain Kogane?"
Allura sighed. "Lance or Romelle, please?"
The young maid nodded. "Yes Princess," she said, lifted the long skirts she was wearing and walked off.
Allura watched her leave, with a small sense of relief. She felt horrible for avoiding Keith all day, for asking every maid she saw to lie to him for her: I'm not in my room, I'm not here, I'm still in town. Please just tell him I'm not here. The main problem with avoiding Keith was she'd ended up avoiding everyone else but Nanny as well. She hadn't wanted to avoid Lance, but it'd ended up a side effect of her avoidance tactics with Keith. She wanted, no she needed to talk to Romelle as well, maybe even more than she wanted to talk to Lance. But she wanted to see him more than anything else.
She couldn't believe the sun was already starting to set, and she really couldn't believe Nanny had dragged her in her underwear down to the kitchen. She heard the door opening and she flew into the pantry again, hiding behind the door.
"She has tainted her body, Coran. Her pure beautiful skin has been marred and polluted, and with one of those beasts!"
"Nanny, you must calm down, I do not know what it is you are talking about."
Allura cringed, this was going to be one of the worst moments of her life and she wasn't sure she could avoid it as easily as she'd been avoiding Keith.
"Calm down, calm down. A Princess should be pristine, Coran. Pure and untainted, without any blemish. No piercings, and no, no, inkings of blue beasts on their hipbones! She's tainted her body beyond repair, there is no way to take this back, it's... She's gone! She's left... she's loose in the Castle in her underthings!"
"Nanny, you brought her here in her underthings?"
"I was beside myself with anger, I didn't know what I was doing. That tattoo is an abomination... Oh, no, where has she gone!"
"I'm here," Allura said, walking back into Nanny's office. "I found it difficult to sneak out of the kitchen, being in my under garments."
Coran turned to look at her and then turned right back around, took over the jacket he always wore and handed it over to her. Allura took it and pulled it on but didn't close it right away knowing he'd be clearing his throat soon enough to ask to see the tattoo. Seconds later the throat clearing came, "Allura, ahem, uh, the tattoo?" he turned back toward her.
She nodded, opened his jacket a bit, and poked out her right hip. Allura watched as Coran took in the tattoo, his eyes giving nothing away as to his feelings on it. Meanwhile Nanny was still making noises as if she'd caught Allura naked in bed with...well someone. It was a tattoo of blue lion, not the end of the world.
"Allura, what is the meaning of this."
"Well, I got it because I love flying and Blue is my lion and I feel connected to her and through that connection I feel more connected to Arus..."
"Allura!" Coran yelled. "That is not what I meant, I mean what were you thinking, marring your body in this way! This is not becoming a Princess, this is not acceptable behavior!"
"Allura!" Lance's voice called out from the kitchen. "Allura?"
Allura winced.
Coran's face grew stony and he pulled a communicator out of his pocket. "Captain Kogane to Nanny's office, please. Commander McClain, please join us in here," he yelled, poking his head out of Nanny's office.
Lance walked in and sent her an apologetic glance for not beating Nanny and Coran to the kitchen. She shrugged back and noticed how he was looking at her wearing Coran's jacket, to Nanny who was literally wringing her hands and still muttering. "She's tainted," and back to Coran's stony face. "So, uh, what exactly is going on here?"
"I'm going to wait for the Captain to arrive."
Lance rolled his eyes. "Is this a Voltron Force matter, because it doesn't look like one to me?"
"I believe it directly relates to keeping, you, in line. That is a matter for Captain Kogane."
"Me? In line? Coran, are we going to fight again?" Lance asked.
"Yes, Lance, I believe we are. Because I am quite sure, you are 100% responsible for Allura having marred her body with that, that...tattoo of Blue Lion."
"He did not!"
"I wasn't there," Lance said.
"Coran what is it... Allura!" Keith said walking in all business but his face split into a smiling seeing Allura. Allura felt her guilt turn into a weight in her stomach at seeing it, she moved her eyes away from him and to the floor.
"I find that hard to believe, Commander. Allura do not defend him."
"I am not defending him, he had nothing to do with my decision to get a tattoo."
"What?" Keith said.
"Their mad, Allura has a tattoo. She's only had it months with no one noticing so I don't get the big deal," Lance muttered.
Allura had to stifle a giggle.
"You have a tattoo?" Keith said.
"You didn't know about this, that is good to know. However, I do believe that he had a hand in her getting it and I want him punished accordingly."
"Again, I wasn't there."
"He had nothing to do with my decision."
"Where is it?"
Allura sighed and started to open her coat.
"PRINCESS!" Nanny screamed.
Allura ignored her and showed Keith the tattoo, but her eyes met Lance's for the first time since last night and suddenly she was all butterflies and felt a rush of heat; especially knowing she was only in her underwear. She was grateful when Lance looked away, it looked like he forced himself to but it was a good thing because they couldn't do anything here, they couldn't talk here or touch here. Not in front of Keith.
She had to stop avoiding Keith and talk with him. But not before she spoke with Lance, and maybe not before she spoke with Romelle. She glanced over at Lance's profile one more time before taking a quick breath and looking Keith in the eyes. "See, it's really not a big deal," she said but she lost her confidence mid-sentence. Keith's black eyes looked furious and she didn't understand.
He stared at the tattoo, then he spun around grabbed Lance by the shoulder and clocked him in the jaw. Lance staggered back, his arms coming up looking ready to hit back but he managed to stop himself. "What the hell, Keith?"
"Why the fuck do you and her have matching tattoos?"
"What? Uh, no we don't."
"Yes. Yes, you do. Those two tattoos are by the same artist, they had to have been done at the same place, probably at the same time, Lance. The lions are in the same arch above the hip bone above the skin and drawn the exact same damn way... Matching fucking tattoos with my girlfriend so explain it to me right the fuck now."
"Dude, calm the fuck down," Lance said, hands up. "If we had matching tattos... I'd uh... I'd have blue and she'd have red... we have our own lions. Breathe. We just picked the similar styles thats all..."
"Lance..."
"At different times," Lance through out looking at Coran.
"Yes. At different times."
"So if I talked to the tattoo artist, he'd verify this?"
"Well, uh the artist isn't on Arus right now," Lance stammered.
Allura sighed, the artist wasn't even born yet for all she knew. She didn't know when the paintings the lions they'd chosen were from and maybe Keith did have a point. They'd picked the lions from the same painting, Lions that represented them in a painting that was about them as a couple. She'd never thought about it before but in some way they'd both wanted something from a painting that was about them; they'd hid behind their lions to do it.
"Lance stop side stepping and tell me who the artist is."
"He doesn't have to do any such thing, Keith. I went there on my own, the only he did was tell me about the guy and that he wouldn't be on Arus much longer. That his work was relativiely fast and painless. He showed me the pictures he had of the lions and I really liked the Blue one. I went. I did it. On my own... and I haven't tainted myself Nanny. I don't care for your definition of proper Coran. And really trying to blame Lance for decisions I make is really pathetic, Coran... And you, Keith, you are better than petty jealousy, please?" Allura asked, hoped, because she didn't want Keith to hate Lance, hate her. She still loved him, she did, she loved him.
She loved Keith.
She loved Lance, she looked over Keith shoulder at him and spoke mentally.
I don't know what to do, I need to find Romelle. Wait for me at the bench?
I'll wait. Lance answered, his voice final and rough in her head. She knew he meant for as long as it took even if she could hear the edge of impatience in his tone. She smiled and met Keith's eyes which were now serious with an edge of shame. "I need to take care of some things. Nanny pulled out of my meeting with my seamstress. I need to find her and finish. Then I need to talk to Romelle, about some things and then I would like some time for... I'll find you when I'm ready, Keith."
Keith sighed. "Fine."
"Wait," Coran said. "Allura, I need to know your answer in regards to the Ball. Will you doing as Keith and I suggested you do, and appearing open to a Royal Attachement to one of the four Princes? I need to know this for when I answer their RSVPS, to our invitation to the Ball, which I should do today as they all came in today. I am running out of time."
Allura sighed, she looked at Keith and while it was all in stasis on one level in her head when she looked right at him, if she shifted her eyes an inch over and an inch up and she met Lance's hazel eyes she knew clearly what she was going to do. But Coran was taking the third ball choice out of her hands at this moment and even if he wasn't could she do that to Keith? She sighed. "I will be pretending to be open to a Royal Marriage. But Coran, I want it crystal clear to you. I will be pretending."
"Very well, Princess. You will not regret this decision," Coran said.
"I need to lay down," Nanny muttered. "Shoo, shoo, all of you. Princess, someday you will be the death of me!"
Allura gave her the best apologetic smile she could muster as she turned to leave the room. "I'll walk you," Keith started to say but Allura turned. "Keith, I told you, I'll find you."
Keith sighed. "Right."
Allura took a deep breath. "Lance?"
"We're good."
She couldn't help it if her smile went a little to big, she hoped it didn't but it felt like it had and she felt Keith glower as it happened. She hated the idea of hurting him but she didn't know if there was a way around it. Walking out into the hallway, she saw the young maid she'd met in the kitchen walking towards her again and she grabbed her arm.
"Excuse me, hi. Could you find me Seer Mira?"
"Oh, uh, sure..."
"If I'm not in my quarters, ask her to check Princess Romelle's or my garden bench, please?" Allura asked, her heart beating as her hope rose. Maybe Mira could give her something, a clue, anything on what to do about the pain the situation was going to cause. "Thank you... I'm sorry what's your name?" Allura said realizing she'd asked a lot of this young maid and didn't know her name. Only the young maid was already turning a corner. Allura sighed, she'd have to catch her name some other time.
