The Week – Part One

When Allura came down to breakfast the next morning, everyone but Vince and Pidge were there. Lance felt a lot better today than yesterday, and looked at her with interest. She looked lovely in a soft, dark rose colored dress that was decorated with a ruching design of flowers in the same color. It was beautiful against her skin, and hair, which she wore up today. She had her cornet on, as well as her favorite pearl drop earrings. Keith looked at her with longing, while Lance thought again of how unfair it all was.

As he thought that, he asked "Where are Pidge and Vince?" Keith said "Vince is sick, and Pidge had to go out to oversee some work on his house." Lance thought about that, and then said "Something wrong about a guy, whose girl friend owns a castle with hundreds of rooms, also has a house!" Hunk laughed and said "Actually, he owns a huge estate! Hard work is amazing Lance, you should try it sometime!"

Keith smiled over at Allura, and changing the subject said to her "Did you get my message about the testing trials?" She had gotten some food, said good morning to Andre, and was now sitting at the table. Allura had not appreciated Lance's comment about owning the castle, so she was glad that Keith had changed the subject. Allura said to Keith "Yes, I did and Tuesday is not a problem, as I'm free until dinner. Wednesday would work, if it was in the afternoon."

Lance was not pleased with the subject change, and decided to switch it back. He asked Allura "Are you having dinner with Pidge?" She looked at him and said "No, I'm having dinner with the Sea Merchant's League. Pidge is gone until Friday." He looked in disbelief, and said to her "He's gone until Friday? But you were gone all last week! When is he." Lance stopped, because it was one thing to tease Pidge about proposing, but even he wouldn't tease Allura about it.

Allura smiled at him, and said in an innocent voice "When is he what?" Keith just wished the whole conversation would end, while Hunk, Daniel, and Larmina all looked on with interest. Allura had backed him into a corner of his own making, and they wanted to see how he was going to get out of it. Lance thought for a moment, and then said with a big smile "When is he going to show you his house?"

She said "He says he has more work to do on it, so probably not for a while." Allura turned to Keith and said "Why do you need me to fly backup?" Daniel chimed up "Vince has the stomach flu like you've never seen!" Larmina said to him "Thank you for sharing that at the table!" Keith said "Larmina, you will fly Green with your Aunt as backup, instead of Vince." He turned to Allura and said "I'll send you the details of the testing course, and what is expected to be achieved by each Lion during the Trials."

After Allura finished she excused herself to get upstairs, while Keith told Daniel and Larmina that he was taking their class since Pidge was gone. Lance had waited until Allura was safely gone, and then said "I just don't see when he is going to propose! If she is not gone, he is! And yesterday, when they were together they went to Church, and watched a movie! And I have no doubt that they only watched a movie!"

Keith remembered what Melinda had told him the other night, and he said to Lance now "I think Melinda was right. He has probably already proposed, but they haven't announced it yet. Which will throw your betting pool out the window!" Daniel said "I agree with what my sister says. The Princess doesn't look like she is concerned about him proposing or not." Lance looked at him, and said "What would you know about it?"

Daniel was still eating, but between bites said "My oldest sister, when she was waiting for her boyfriend to propose was a nervous wreck! She was sure that it was going to happen on the next date, and when it didn't she was all upset. We were just about ready to pay the guy to propose to her, but then he finally did." He stopped, and then said "The Princess does not seem the least bit concerned about it."

Lance said "Well, she is as hopeless as he is! The last time I talked to him, he didn't have any kind of an idea about how he was going to do it, let alone the ring issue." Hunk gave Lance a glare and said "You are the last person he would discuss it with!" Lance, who was quite worked up by now, over the whole thing said "Well, he has to get on with it! He can't sleep with her until they are married."

Larmina looked at him with blazing eyes, and said "That is my Aunt you are talking about!" Keith and Hunk were all set to rebuke Lance, but he said "Larmina, you can't have it both ways. You get upset because we don't talk in front of you, so you spy and eavesdrop. If you had overheard that remark you would not have batted an eyelash, so you just need to figure out what you want." Larmina stood up, threw hew napkin down, and told Lance "You are awful! And my Aunt IS NOT HOPELESS!"

When she was gone, everyone, including Andre looked at Lance with shocked expressions. Lance saw them, and said "Oh come on, she has been spying on the servants since she was ten, and why is this kind of talk a shock to her?"

Daniel looked at Lance with contempt, and said "The Princess is her Aunt! What part of that don't you get?" Keith and Hunk had to smile at the idea of Daniel trying to explain appropriate behavior to Lance. Keith said, "I think we are done with this conversation!" Hunk said to Lance "You really need a hobby! Have you thought about knitting?" He was privately thinking 'he needs to knit his mouth shut'!

After everyone started to leave the table, Keith caught Daniel's eye, so he hung back. After the room had cleared, Keith told him "Look, go see what is going on with Larmina, and when she is ready to go, text me, and I'll meet you in the classroom." Daniel looked at Keith, and saw hurt in his eyes. He told him "I'll take care of it, and we'll text you when we are ready."

Daniel was still shocked that Lance had made that remark in front of Larmina! He was a mix of fast forwardness, and old school behavior. However, he regarded Lance, Keith, Hunk, and Pidge in a different school. He knew that even, in spite of how he had been raised, some lines weren't just crossed!

Daniel looked in the Hanger Bay, but then decided that she was probably in the gym. He walked over there, and saw her doing some boxing drills with a rubber bag hanging from the ceiling. She attacked it ferociously, and after watching her for a couple of minutes said in a loud voice "Would it help if I put Lance's face on it?"

Larmina turned to look up at him with shock; she said "What are you doing here?" He smiled and said "Keith doesn't want to teach class until we are both there. He asked me to see what was happening!" She looked at him with her blue eyes blazing and said "I'm annoyed!" He loved how she said it in a cool tone voice, as if her food at been served at the wrong temperature.

He sat down and said "I think that is a fair statement on your part." Larmina, who had been expecting a whole lecture on proper behavior said "Really?" She took her gloves off and exiting the ring, came over and sat next to him. Daniel looked at her, remembering how the first time he had seen her he had thought how beautiful she was; and then finding out practically at the same time that she was niece to the Crown Princess! After almost a year he had no problems addressing her as his equal, but knew that right now he needed a different approach.

Larmina was furious at how Lance talked about her Aunt, even knowing that he was in love with her. It wrapped up with the conversation that she and her Aunt had had, about how they were public people, and that their lives were open for comments. She wanted to tell Daniel about that, but then thought about how he and Vince had tried to tease her.

They sat next to each other for a couple of minutes, and then she said "I don't know how my Aunt does it!" Daniel looked at her, and said "Does what?" Larmina looked at him in disbelief and said "Everyone is placing bets on when Pidge is going to propose, and you heard Lance's comment! Other people are saying the same thing about them! And her relationship is the biggest news story in the galaxy!"

"What is it that bothers you? You are not being speculated about! And your Aunt and Pidge seem to have it under control." Daniel told her in calm voice. Larmina looked at him, and said "But don't you see, I'm next! You and Vince saw that, when you were joking about Alexander. But really, at the end of the day who is going to want to have anything to do with me, knowing it gets you the number one spot on the galaxy news?"

Daniel smiled, understanding what was going on with her. He said "Larmina, there will be lots of guys who will put up with what Pidge is putting up with!" She looked over at him, and he said "I can't even tell you how many guys at the Military Academy have your picture on their bulletin boards! Not only are you beautiful, but your Father is a hero of Arus!" Larmina looked at him in shock, and said "You're not teasing me?"

He laughed, thinking about some of the guys that he had talked to, and how they all wanted to know about Lady Larmina; he said "When you are presented, you are going to have lots of dancing partners! I'll be lucky to get once dance with you! I'm pretty sure that they won't care if they get talked about, or bet on." Larmina said, "They really asked about me? What did you tell them?" He almost laughed, at how fierce she looked.

Daniel said "Vince and I told them that you were an incredible fighter who would have us for breakfast if you could!" Larmina looked at him intently, to make sure he wasn't joking. He said "If by some chance Alexander had asked about you, we would have told him the same thing!" That got a smile out of her, so he decided to mention something else.

"You know that Lance, in spite of all the grief he is giving Pidge, would love to be in the situation that Pidge is in, right?" Daniel asked her, and she said "After you pointed it out to me the other night, I can so see it!" He told her now "Larmina, he did have a valid point about you." Daniel stopped, and waited to see her reaction.

Larmina said "Him! I don't think so!" Daniel laughed, and said "There is an old earth saying, even a clock that doesn't work is right twice a day!" It took her a little bit to figure that out, and then she said "What was his valid point?"

He said to her "Larmina, your spying and eavesdropping does put you in an odd position." He phrased it like that, hoping she would understand what he was trying to say. Larmina knew very well what he was telling her, it was the same thing her Aunt and Coran had told her too. She said "I know that it is wrong of me to spy and eavesdrop on everyone. But no one understands what it is like to not be told anything! I still remember what I felt like, when I first arrived at the Castle."

Daniel looked with interest at her and said "What do you mean?" She told him the story about the night that she had arrived, and how her Grandfather had left her with an Aunt she had never met. Larmina finished the story with "Everything and everyone was so strange, and so different from my life with my Mother and Grandfather. I just thought that if I knew what people were talking about, it would help me figure out what to do. Coming from the Hill Country, I have always known how to be stealthily and quiet. If you weren't, you didn't survive."

This was news to Daniel, who didn't know about Larmina's early years. He told her as much, and said "I just figured that you had been at the Castle your whole life, and that your Mother had died when you were little." She smiled at him, and said "No, I had a whole different experience for the first ten years of my life." Daniel said "I don't know much about the Hill Country, what was it like?"

Larmina told him about what life was like, after the Drules had decimated the countryside. He couldn't imagine being a child under those conditions, but it was obvious that her Mother had loved her very much, and been very protective. He said to her "You should write all this down! This is a part of Arusian history that should not be lost!" Daniel had been more impressed with Dean Locke than he was willing to let on, and enjoyed the stories the old man told.

She looked at him and said "You really think I should? But everyone knows all about the Hill Country." Daniel said "Vince and I have spent a lot of time with Dean Locke, and there are lots of gaps in Arusian history since the Drule invasion." Larmina said "I have my Father's journals, which talk about what life was like before the invasion."

Those journals meant so much to Larmina, the only connection she had to her parents, and to her Mother's world. She told Daniel that, adding "I wish I had a picture of my Mother!" Daniel looked at the sad expression on her face, and said "You don't have one at all?" He was having a hard time imagining that. She shook her head, and said "The Hill Country was very primitive!"

Daniel had an idea, and said "Can you see her in your mind?" Larmina closed her eyes, and saw her Mother's face right away. She opened them, and said "Yes, very clearly!" He said "Vince draws very well, as you know, right?" Daniel stopped, and she nodded her head. He went on "Maybe he could see into your mind, and see what you see, and draw it?" He wasn't sure if it would work or not, but figured that it might be worth a try.

"Do you think he could? Or would?" Larmina asked, and Daniel replied "Once he stops puking you can ask him!" That earned him a laugh, and he said "Let's get to class, so poor Keith doesn't have to dwell on your Aunt!" Larmina, for her part was thinking over their conversation, and remembering Daniel's remarks about how 'how beautiful she was, and that he would be lucky to get one dance with her.' She thought about the fact that he thought she was beautiful and would want a dance with her!