Author's Note: Thanks to Ebon_Drake, BigZ1984, Emoz1205, & Carly Chameleon for your kind reviews.

There is extreme violence in this chapter

Okay, so you know how I said there are major character deaths? (Again noting the plural) Well this is it. This is not drill! Most of those deaths happen in this chapter. Also, please remember my note where I said it's not at all KXA friendly. I'm not joking. Never been a KXA fan and it will definitely show (not sure why I've never really been fan of KXA. But I suppose that is a subject for another time & possibly for a therapist).

From this point on, you should assume that this is not safe for work.

Anywho, you have been warned!

Chapter 2 - Massacre on Neve

The seeping puddle of blood in the snow, growing and advancing, was the first thing she noticed as she was dragged by her hair to the icy peak. It sunk a chill on her heart and a shudder ripped through her. Even as she approached and looked at the source of the flowing blood, a headless body, Allura's mind would not recognize to whom the severed head belonged. However, while her mind may have refused to acknowledge who it was, her heart couldn't ignore the red and white peeking out from the snow covered flight suit and her knees gave out.

"NO!" she screamed as if by doing so it could undo what had been done. She felt Mogor's two strong hands pick her up and force her to stand, before closing the final distance to Lotor. The victorious prince looked down at the vanquished body, his mouth curved in a wicked smile. He turned toward her, his shoulders back and feet widely planted; he just radiated superiority. His long snow white hair, whipping wildly in the wind, was barely distinguishable amongst the blizzard condition. His blue face and uniform had blood sprayed across them, accentuating the savagery behind his catlike eyes.

Then her mind turned to the sight of Romelle and when the two crossed paths, only minutes earlier, as a part of the exchange that Lotor proposed. The dark prince promised that, if Allura surrendered to him, he'd release her two cousins. Allura was ill prepared to see the condition of Romelle. Her cousin's dress was shredded at the hem and dirt stained. Bruises spanned the length of her arms. The pallor of her cousin's complexion and the way her skin hung off her bones startled the princess of Arus; as did the Polluxian princess' bent, almost crumbling posture. Allura's stomach hardened at the thought that by taking Romelle's place she would become Lotor's object of abuse. Tapping into her primal survival instinct, she twisted and writhed in Mogor's grip. For one brief moment she was free of his grip and she bolted.

Her freedom was short lived. Lotor had watched their struggle and raced after her. She had run for only a few yards when she felt the full speed of his sprint topple her to the cold, unyielding ground. Aches spread through her torso and she was sure she'd bruise. Pulling her to her feet by her collar of her flight suit, he hissed, "I don't like being doubled crossed." With those words, he aimed his pistol at Romelle in the valley below.

"Don't!" Allura begged, tugging at his arm, but he squeezed the trigger. He did this without hesitation or any sign of remorse. A beam of light erupted out and flew through the blizzard conditions. Before the princess could even pray that her cousins were out of range Romelle's body fell lifelessly to the ground. Another burst of light erupted from his pistol and the Polluxian royal blood line lay dead in the snows of Neve.

No, no, no! This wasn't supposed to happen. Keith had a plan. He would use his flight suit to attract the snow, so Lotor would not know it wasn't her approaching. Keith's plans always worked. He said Bandor and Romelle would be safely in their ships and Allura returned to her lion before Keith made his reveal. Lotor would be none the wiser.

Coran had warned them time and time again about their hubris; about underestimating the enemy. Doom had not become the dominant power in the galaxy through chance and stupidity. And while Voltron was powerful, it had well known flaws. Until now, Coran's warning appeared baseless. However, Lotor must have expected a trick; perhaps she accepted his offer for an exchange too quickly or maybe he saw something. Either way his men monitored their heat signals. So when another person entered the mix, invisible to the naked eye but not to their equipment, they must have suspected a double cross. The same equipment made it easy for Mogor to find Allura's hiding spot. And now her cousins and Keith were dead.

"Release the robeast!" Lotor ordered, his expression devoid of emotion. A tug on her flight suit's collar and they moved before she could say anything, before she could beg for her friend's lives. A hatch opened with a swish and the prince shoved her forward into the bay, toward a group of battle armored soldiers. None caught her fall as she stumbled to the ground. The loud thud of the prince's gait approaching had her rearing to her feet.

As she turned to face him, she tried to summon her bravado, but the coldness in his eyes seeped to her blood and she froze. He exuded none of his usual false charm. There was a hardness to his features that shouldn't have surprised her but still did. If this was a harbinger of things to come, Allura wondered how Romelle endured his treatment for so long. Her captor advanced on her again and she retreated backwards but a guard blocked her path.

"I'm not sure how you thought it was a good idea to cross me like that," he came to stand hunching over her, shoulders wide, only centimeters separating them. She cocked her head away and wouldn't look up at him, so he grabbed a fistful of her golden hair, and jerked her head to face him. A grunt escaped her and tears welled in her eyes. "But let me show you how I repay such actions."

He started to lead her out of the bay by her hair. Wincing, she pulled back. The angry fire burning behind his eyes grew brighter and it threatened to consume all who stood in its path. She wanted to be brave in that moment but a satisfied smile swept his face. The princess knew then her fear crept to her eyes. She hated herself for showing such weakness and the power it gave him. He released her hair and seized her upper arm in his vise like grip.

Lotor's men bowed as he strode through the darkend passageways with his prize. A few of their glances ventured up to her and she could see the knowing, prurient gleam in their eyes. She swallowed hard and repeated to herself: don't cry!

She was led through another set of doors to what must have been his command center. The soft glow from the countless data screens provided the room's primary light source. With a mere nod of his head two soldiers stood from their stations, climbed the steps to where they stood, and seized Allura's arms. Lotor slid into his command chair, his long, muscular legs outstretched in front of him, and barked, "On screen!"

"Witness the demise of Voltron, my love," he chuckled.

Smoke already billowed from the torso of the lifeless green lion. Her focus turned to the other two lions, both of whom had gaping holes in their outer hulls. Hunk's lion flew in an irregular pattern before crashing into the frozen surface. A blanket of red and orange flames engulfed his lion. Allura felt what little color she had left drain from her face as Lance attempted to flee the atmosphere but was intercepted and caught by the robeast. Her hands flew to her mouth and a shrill scream escaped her as she watched the robeast tear the lion in two. Her cries were drowned out as the officers and soldiers in the command center jumped to their feet and erupted in cheers.

"Retrieve the black and blue lions. They'll be a nice addition to today's spoil." She didn't need to look at him to feel his eyes scale her trembling, slender form. They stopped when they reached her pale, tear stained face. The princess refused to meet his gaze. Her pride forbade her from giving him the satisfaction of seeing her so defeated.

And what made it sting all the more was that it was an avoidable defeat. She gambled her people's well-being based on her feelings; her desire to help her two cousins. If Coran had been there he would have been quick to admonish the foolishness of risking the well-being of the entire Arussian population for two people who she didn't even know existed a year earlier. And if she was being honest with herself, following Keith's plan was the height of naiveté. They were all naïve to think they could fool the prince. However, Allura was certain Lotor already had plans to show her the error of her way. Her friends' deaths were only the beginning of that instruction.

Her mind flashed back to Romelle's skeletal frame and bruised body and felt a fine tremor run through her. There was no one to save her. No one! She couldn't even save herself. Because if she did, how much more would her people suffer? Her eyes drifted down to him and she didn't realize that he was still staring up at her. He seemed pleased but she had no idea with what exactly.

"Take her away!" he waved his hand.

Two guards grabbed her arms and tugged ever so slightly. She thought to resist them but to what end? To be brutalized by the prince? Her people abused? So she walked without struggle, looking only at the ground. The ship began to hum and vibrate. Minutes later she felt a change in gravity as the ship left the atmosphere and the artificial gravity kicked in. She wondered where they were headed: Doom or Arus? Neither seemed like an attractive option to her. If it were to her home world, she feared the retribution he'd seek because of her deception. Of course the alternative was her prison.

Her escort eventually stopped, entered a code into a keypad, and a door opened. One of the men extended their arm into the room. She expected it to be a cell but it was a suite. His suite! If she were in her right mind, this would bother her. But in that moment, she couldn't bring herself to acknowledge anything. Not her friends' death. Not her people's defeat. Not the fact that she was in Lotor's bedroom. All she could do was cry.

She stood from the foot of his bed when he entered. He smiled, liking the way she looked being so close to his bed. For the moment she was silent. This is a first for her, Lotor laughed to himself. He had expected more of a fight when he entered and part of him was disappointed. But the prince knew she wasn't an idiot; naïve at times, but no idiot. Allura would have been dead a long time ago if she had been. No, this petite girl, who may have looked fragile was anything but. No, his princess was a survivor. So he knew she must realize the gravity of her situation. This knowledge was there in the puffiness of her blue eye and rosiness of her nose. "I give you a week to mourn your losses," his voice absent of any tenderness or malevolence. "Then you will uphold your end of our bargain."

"What bargain?" she hissed.

"The bargain you tried to back out of," he narrowed his eyes on her as she glared back at him – her defiance rearing its pretty little head. He clenched his hands and then released them. Ah, his old friend and nemesis, how pleased he was to see her insolence. He felt his pulse quicken. He lowered his voice and said, "Certainly by exchanging yourself for your cousins you understood you would be mine!"

"But you killed them!" she choked on her words.

"And whose fault is that?"

Mine, she thought to herself. All of them dead because of her and yet she couldn't bring herself to agree with him. "I'm not yours!" she seethed, eyes hard and jaw locked.

Lotor walked toward her and jerked her chin toward him. "You are mine!" he whispered in her ear. "The manner and the form of that possession, I leave up to you. You should think very carefully about yours and your people's future during this coming week. You could be at my side as my wife and future queen and your people free citizens of the empire. Or you can be on your back as my whore and your people slaves. But make no mistake, all your paths lead to my bed!"

He turned on his heels and walked out of the room. She could still see specks of blood in his snow white hair and it brought her tears rushing back anew. Instead of pondering the choices laid before her, her mind screamed over and over: This hell is not mine! This hell is not mine!