It was nearly midnight on Arus when Lance landed Sven's ship in front of the Castle. All the lights were on, and he could see Keith waiting. Romelle had once again withdrawn into herself on the flight from Pollux; once he shut the engines down, he unfastened her straps and guided her off the ship to the waiting King of Arus. "Damn that little bastard," Keith said without preamble, jaw tightening as he took in Romelle's vacant expression. "Come inside; the others are waiting, and we've got to talk."
Lance nodded, slipping an arm around Romelle's hunched shoulders and guiding her into the Castle. Keith led them to a conference room, where Hunk, Pidge, and Allura waited. "Bandor's got every legal right to do this," Pidge said grimly as Lance seated Romelle. "Under Polluxian law, an unmarried woman is the property of her nearest male relative. Everything she owns just became his, and he can toss her out if he wants to."
"Doesn't make it right," Hunk growled. "I'd love to have five minutes with him, tell him what I think."
"Line starts behind me," Lance said quietly, arm still around Romelle. "So, what do we do? Damned if I'm going to let him just treat her like garbage he found in the street."
"For starters, he just cost Pollux her closest ally," Allura spoke up. "That he would treat a heroine and widow of a hero in such fashion. . .Arus will not be associated with so cruel a reign, no matter how legal." She turned to Romelle, putting a gentle hand on her cousin's shoulder. "Melle? Romelle, can you hear me?" When Romelle finally looked at and not through her, she continued, "You have a home here, for as long as you need. Bandor won't dare take you from here."
"Have to go through all of us first," Hunk rumbled, and the others nodded agreement. "Sawed-off little. . ."
Romelle nodded slowly, squeezing Lance's free hand. "Wh-what about Mira? If he can do this to me. . ."
"She's safe," Keith said firmly. "She's a Garrison cadet, Bandor can't pull her out on a whim. And Jeff will look out for her too."
Romelle looked down at the table, tears welling up. "I wish. . .I wish Sven were here. Bandor wouldn't be doing this. . . Sven wouldn't let him. . ." The tears began to fall, and Lance turned to take her in his arms.
"We won't either, sweetheart," he whispered into her hair. "I promise you that. No matter what it takes. Bandor's not going to hurt you anymore."
The conversation was interrupted by the chime of Keith's COM unit, and a nervous guard reporting a furious King Bandor demanding to speak with his sister. Romelle glanced up, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I. . .I don't want to talk to him. . .he'll make me go back. . ."
"He can't make you go back." Keith knelt at her side, a hand on her back. "Allura and I will protect you here. And you don't have to talk to him, either. Stay here; we'll go talk to him."
The princess took a shaky breath and shook her head. "No, I. . . I need to face him. Y-you'll all be with me?"
"Course we will," Hunk said, gentle as Lance had ever heard the big man. "Don't you worry about a thing."
"That's right," Lance confirmed, as Pidge nodded. "We'll take care of you. Let's go see what his Royal Little Jackassness wants." He helped Romelle to her feet and kept a protective arm around her as the team walked to Castle Control.
Inside, Bandor glowered down from the monitor, face glowing as red as his hair in his fury. "How dare you take my sister?"
"No one took her, King Bandor." Keith's voice was cool and deceptively mild. "In fact, it is my understanding that she left at your orders. I must say, I am quite disappointed, both personally and officially, that you would treat your sister in such fashion so soon after she lost her husband."
"As am I." Allura stepped forward, ice in her blue eyes. "Romelle is a heroine of the Doom Wars, and widow of one of the bravest men Arus has ever known. Your treatment of her is beyond reprehensible. I will send a formal note of confirmation, but. . .as of this moment, Arus is terminating her alliance with Pollux. Your treatment of women is inexcusable in modern society."
The king of Pollux paled. "You can't do that! I have every right to treat her as I see fit! It is the law on Pollux!"
"It may be the law, but that doesn't make it right." Lance glared up at the king, arm still protectively around Romelle's thin shoulders. "You made it clear that you didn't want to be bothered with her anymore; why the sudden change of heart?"
Before anyone could say anything, Romelle raised her face to her brother's. "You don't love me, and never have," she said softly. "You are no different than Avok and Father. Now that you've shown your true colors, I only want one thing from you. Let me have Sven, to bury him with his true family here on Arus, where I can be close to him. Please."
Bandor's face twisted in an ugly snarl. "No. He belongs here, where he can be honored. You want to be close to him, come home as you should! Do not make me come after you; you will regret it."
"The only one regretting such an act will be you, Bandor." There was fire and steel in Allura's voice. "You and your fleet are no longer welcome on Arus; any approach by you will be regarded as an act of war by Arus, and we will respond accordingly."
"Please," Romelle whispered, tears flowing down her cheeks. "I'm begging you. Just let me have Sven, Bandor. That's all I want."
"You want him, come home. He stays here." Bandor cut the communication; Romelle sank to her knees with a wail.
Lance went to his own knees beside her, gathering her into his arms and whispering softly. After a few minutes, he stood, still cradling her, and turned to his teammates. "Thank you, all of you. I'm going to take her to my room for the night; we can plan what we're going to do tomorrow." He headed out of Control, still whispering to the sobbing Romelle; Keith walked with him.
"Get some rest, Lance; we'll figure this out somehow." The king clapped his friend on the shoulder, leaned over and kissed Romelle's cheek, then walked away down the hall. Lance carried Romelle into his room, took her shoes off and laid her on the bed, then joined her, wrapping his arms around her and letting her cry into his shirt as they both fell asleep.
On Pollux, Bandor ranted and raved to his adoring queen for almost an hour before they went to bed facing away from each other. As soon as he fell asleep, he found himself in a barren, snow-covered landscape, a bitter wind howling around him. "Bandor. . .Bandor Mondal!" The wind picked up the snow and swirled it around him; when it died down again, Sven Holgersson stood before him. But he wasn't the quiet, mannerly Space Explorer Bandor had always known; this Sven was dressed in furs, black hair flowing loose, an enormous axe in his right hand. . . and fury flashing in his blue eyes. "Vhat de hell do you tink you are doing, treating Romelle so? I should kill you right here!" Bandor opened his mouth to retort, but found himself unable to speak. Sven advanced on him, hefting the axe menacingly. "Let me be perfectly clear, Bandor. Leave Romelle alone. I care noting for your laws; it vould be in your best interest to forget you haf a sister Romelle. If I haf to come to you again on dis, it vill not go vell for you." He swung the axe suddenly; Bandor dove for the ground, screaming. . . only to wake sitting up in bed, with Irenea shaking him.
Lance woke to a gentle, insistent nudge in his mind. Fireheart, you must wake. Blue has done something. . .rash. He sat up, careful not to disturb Romelle, but before he could question Red further, his COM went off, with an excited message that Blue was sitting in front of the Castle, and that the Force was needed immediately. He grabbed his boots and crammed his feet into them, then ran for the front of the Castle. The rest of the team was already standing there, eyes wide, staring at an inexplicably. . proud Blue Lion, lying on the tarmac, an object resting between her paws that Lance recognized as Sven's casket.
As he stared with the others, Blue lifted her head and roared defiantly. An unfamiliar female voice rang in his head, and the heads of the rest of the Force: Now. He is safe from the little madman, and I will guard him always, as Fireheart will guard his mate.