Illusions of Peace

Chapter Two

Winding along the sterile halls of the resurrected castle, away from the quarters of a heartbroken princess, sat four heroes luxuriating in their newfound free time. This freedom had been hard earned and after years of intense battle and war, they were making the most of it. Each member of the illustrious Voltron Force was partaking in different activities scattered amidst the pilot's lounge. Keith flipped through the pages of an old book that he had started months ago, but never found the time to finish. Hunk was attacking an innocent ham and cheese sandwich with intent to devour, and Pidge was patiently trying to teach Lance the finer points of Arusian chess.

" AAAHHH, I do not get this !!" Lance said as Pidge led him into checkmate for the third time in a row.

Pidge looked up from the game with a smug grin, " You don't try hard enough Lance. You've been to busy trying to annoy Keith."

It did not take a really perceptive person to realize that was the understatement of the year. Lance shot Pidge a nasty look before honing in on his best friend.

He had been taking cheap shots at Keith all morning. So far he had been unsuccessful in trying to rile him, as Keith had unwaveringly blocked every attempt. Finally in prideful desperation, Lance baited the one thing he knew would get some sort of reaction out of the stalwart ice block.

" Hey, Keith, about the prin-", but Lance was unable to even finish his line as Keith cut him off and was giving him a rather pissed off look.

" Lance, lay off about me and the princess. Your imagining something that isn't there," With that Keith resumed reading his book. Lance looked like he was going to say something else, but a look from Pidge made him snap his mouth shut and resume the chess game. Keith looked up from his book briefly to survey the room and the only thought that was going through his mind was about how right Lance actually was. As he and Pidge continued playing Lance cast a furtive glance as his friend. If he hadn't known Keith better, it would appear everything was okay except for the barely perceptible clenching of his jaw.

Lance was more than sure that Keith felt something for the princess but he was denying it to himself and every one else. Therefore, Lance felt it was his job to make Keith realize how he felt about Allura. Lance already knew that Allura cared deeply for Keith just from the many talks that they had often shared.

Lance frowned as he contemplated the situation, but he knew it was hopeless unless Keith opened up about his feelings and got over his stubborn sense of honor. Keith had this totally unreasonable idea that he was not good enough for the princess. If anything, he was more deserving than any royal fop, to marry the Princess. The whole Voltron force thought it was ridiculous that Keith had erected the thick stone wall around himself and deny himself his heart's desire. Especially when his desire returned the feelings wholeheartedly. But they also knew that it wasn't going to change. So they just sat by and let Keith do his own thing even though it would one day cause him grief beyond anything he had ever imagined….

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And so the idle weeks passed, a sense of unease coming to settle over the castle. Both Allura and the rest of the force tried to carry on as normal, but anticipation and dread of the inevitable reassignments had them all walking on eggshells. Arus had become their home and most the guys were loathe to leave it. They had all found something they had never expected from this assignment. A sense of belonging. But, as all good things do, it had to end sometime.

That sometime came a couple weeks later, on a warm day, the type of day that you would only expect good things to happen. A picnic was underway about a half mile away from the castle, a last minute outing arranged by Allura so she and the guys could spend some time together without the pressure of castle eyes. But as the cries and laughter rang across the meadow where a rambunctious game was underway, the worst of news was about to be broken.

Allura was sitting on a blanket, clutching her stomach as mirthless laughter caused tears to stream down her face. She was watching as Keith, Hunk, and Lance were involved in a sort of keep away game, but the game had become more of a comedic entertainment. Pidge was sitting next to Allura, also watching with extreme amusement.

A shadow across the meadow caught Allura's eye and she turned her head to see what it was. She noticed a guard from the Castle was coming towards her. With a sudden sense of dread and unease filling her, Allura scrambled to her feet. She quickly made her way to intercept the guard before he made it all the way towards the small group.

Still grinning at his teammates antics, Pidge cast a curious eye towards where the Princess had hurried so suddenly. His laugh died on his lips, and his smile tightened as he observed the couple. Allura was standing next to the guard as he bowed and spoke with her briefly. Pidge saw her nod, her posture rigid as something was handed to her. She quickly opened whatever was handed to her. She did not even acknowledge the guard's retreat as she stared down at a piece of paper. She stood there for many long minutes as her increasing silence sent a shred of dread down Pidge's spine.

By this time, the other's had noticed Allura's absence and the exuberant shouts had died down as they all came over to stand next to Pidge. They watched her with curious eyes as she made no move.

Lance leaned down and whispered to Pidge, "How long has she been like that?"

Pidge shrugged, " The guard delivered that to her about ten minutes ago…."

Finally, Allura turned her head towards the small huddled group. She was surprised to find herself the center of inquiry. She steeled herself for what she was about to do as she started over to the guys. As she came closer, Keith noticed her blue eyes were bright, unusually so. He felt his throat constrict with fear of the contents of the letter. He managed to croak out, "What did it say, Allura?".

She only looked at him for a moment, before thrusting the paper into his hands, and crossing her arms across her chest and ducking her head. She seemed to draw into herself as Keith quickly skimmed over the contents of the letter. She felt a hot tear slide down her cheek as Keith folded the letter up in stony silence.

" Keith, What did it say?" Hunk's voice penetrated the haze that had surrounded his vision. He shook his head dazedly as he moistened his dry lips, his throat parched as he his words tumbled out, " We got our reassignments…"

Lance looked at him alarmed. There was something else to this.

" When do we leave," He asked.

A sudden sob erupted from Allura, and she bit her lip to try and stifle it. Her world as she knew is had started to crack. She kept her head bowed and could not look up to meet anyone's gaze. Keith's blue eyes board into her golden head, as he gave a clipped, concise answer.

"Tomorrow."