Ok, legal stuff. I do not own Voltron or its characters(Lotor, Allura, Zarkon, Haggar, Keith...you get the point.) Voltron and its characters and logos are owned by WEP(World Event Productions and Toei Animations. I do not make any profit from this work. This is fanfiction and is done strictly for personal enjoyment and sharing it with other Voltron fanfic fans. All original characters(characters not already known to be in the Voltron universe) for this story are mine.
Chapter 3
A little time had passed as Allura finished the meal the prince had sent to her. While the food was good, Allura's disposition was not. If she had been on Arus where she belonged, she'd have been able to truly enjoy herself. The meal only soothed her hunter, not her nerves. She sat in bed with the covers up to her waist. The platter was set at the foot of the bed. She heard the door open. The maid who had brought her the meal entered and bowed politely. But she did not come alone. When Allura saw who accompanied her, she tensed up.
Lotor entered the room and quickly dismissed the maid. Allura's eyes narrowed as he approached her bed. "Don't come any closer." Allura said with a growl.
He wanted to get much closer to her, but to try that now would most likely result in another eruption of Allura's temper. For now, he would keep his distance if only to keep the princess calm. Though he did this, Allura did not let down her guard. The fact thats she looked at him with scorn and distrust bothered him.
"Was the food to your liking?" He asked.
"I ate it didn't I?" Allura answered.
"I'll take that as a yes. I didn't know what your preferences were. In the future, I'll have the maid make a list of your likes and dislikes."
"Where am I Lotor?" Allura questioned keeping the edge in her voice.
"You're somewhere safe. You need not worry about my father finding us." Lotor answered calmly.
"You realize that you've left my friends without a means for finding me. Without a pilot for the blue lion, Arus has no defense against Doom."
"Then they better find that twit friend of theirs and bring him back to Arus. That is unless he and your cousin have kids keeping them busy."
"Don't insult Sven and Romelle in such a manner! Sven is a dear friend and Romelle is family!" Allura spat.
"Calm down. Really Allura, you are far too sensitive."
"You've left my planet defenseless! If Zarkon were to attack now there's no way to protect my people! Even if they get sven back I won't know if they survive! My people could end up enslaved!"
"I know. Actually I'm hoping that Sven does rejoin as the blue lion's pilot. The Voltron force may very well save me the trouble of overthrowing my father." Lotor said with a hint of arrogance in his voice.
"What! You actually want Voltron to defeat your father!"
"Why not? By now your friends will know that I kidnapped you. Naturally they'll think I took you to planet DOom. And if they're actually sart enough to rescruit Sven, then they will attempt to rescue you."
"And what if they don't succeed, what then?"
"Then I will no longer need to worry about them getting in the way."
"How can you be so thoughtless!" Allura snapped.
"Actually I did put a bit of thought into this. The Voltron force will think you are on Doom and will attempt a rescue. If they defeat my father then I will take my place as king. Or my father will defeat Voltron, but most likely deplete a lot of man power and resources to do so. He'll be weakened, and that is the time I will strike." Lotor said remaining calm.
"You would let my friends do you dirty work for you, or make them lambs being sent to the slaughter."
"Well it sounds unpleasant when you put it that way. But the third option is, and this one is my favorite, my father and those bothersome whelps destroy each other. That would be perfect."
"You bastard! You sick, heartless bastard! You brought me here just so you can get your father and my friends can kill each other!"
Lotor's eyes narrowed as his displeasure began to manifest itself. But as irritated as Allura's outburst made him, he restrained his anger as that would make the matter only worse. "You're testing my patience, Allura. I brought you here to protect you and to make you realize we belong together."
"I'm not staying here. I'll find a way to escape." Allura vowed.
"And just where will you go Allura? You don't know anyone here except for me. And even if you do manage to get away, how would you get back to Arus. I brought you here, and only I can take you back. You're here, and you're mine. The sooner you get used to that, the better off you'll be."
"I'll never be yours. Allura protested.
"Yes Allura, you will. Here you will come to no harm, and you will learn to accept me." Lotor replied with a stern expression.
"You'd be suprised at just how long I can stay angry." The princess warned.
"You can't stay mad forever Allura. I know you too well. In time you'll calm down and realize that this is what's best for you." Lotor said unphazed by Allura's words.
"What's best for me? What are you, my father now?" She asked sarcastically.
"No, but soon I intend to be your husband." Lotor answered.
"I am not marrying you. I would never marry you."
"You can say that all you want, but it won't change the fact that it will happen. You will be my wife and my queen. Perhaps you should try to focus upon that instead of worrying about things you cannot control."
"I...hate...you. I hate you and I will never forgive you for this." Allura's eyes were narrowed and her teeth showing. The venom in her voice was all too clear, even to the druel prince who stood before her.
"You say that now, but in time you will think differently. Perhaps when you've cooled down I can show you around the palace."
"There is only one place I want you to take me." Allura said still fuming.
"Let me guess...Arus." Lotor said with a bit of a snide tone.
"No. I'd like you to take me to the nearest, tallest cliff...so I can push you off of it!"
Her words were like daggers to him. He knew she didn't mean them, but still they hurt none the less. It was appearent that talking with her wasn't going to do anything other than fuel her anger. As much as her rejection hurt him, he still kept from losing his temper.
"I'll be sending a seamstress here later to take your measurements. Then you can have some suitable clothes made."
"I don't want anything from you." Allura growled.
"Well, if you prefer to walk around completely naked I certainly don't have a problem with that. But I think you would want to retain some sense of dignity. So when the seamstress arrives, do try to spare her your venom." Lotor said curtly and left Allura's room leaving her alone once more.
She sat on her bed trying not to cry. But how could she hold back her tears now? Her destiny seemed out of her hands. She didn't know where she was, and neither did her friends. Her friends could be walking right into a massacre, and she was powerless to stop it. At that moment cold, hard reality was settling in. And it felt like a suffocating weight upon her chest. Tears began to stream down her cheeks. She pounded her fists against the bed wishing it was Lotor's face instead. Yes, she'd been in his clutches before, but her friends had always been there to help her escape. But now she was alone. There would be no rescue this time. And worse, her friends would go to Doom thinking she was there. This time Allura feared Lotor would finally succeed in his goal. It seemed her worst nightmare was coming true.
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Lotor walked through the castle to get the seamstress. He was frustrated with the situation. He finally had her. his father couldn't harm her. The Voltron force would not be able to rescue her. He should have been basking in the light of his victory. Instead he was agrivated because Allura would not accept him.
"I hate you! I hate you, and I'll never forgive you for this!"
The words played over and over in his head making him even more frustrated. "I'm going to great lengths to give her the life she deserves, and all I get back is her hatred." He said with a growl.
He stopped and looked down at the floor and took that moment to try and collect his thoughts. He took in a deep breath and exhaled. "Yes I kidnapped her, but it was to protect her. She's in no danger here. She'll learn to accept me. She has to. There's no one else for her to turn to. She'll settle down. She's too kind hearted to hold a grudge." He said to himself.
As he walked the reality that she still held her friends in higher favor than him weighed upon his mind. "Why does she worry for those damn pilots when she has me? I can give her everything she wants. Once my father is dethroned she'll see she has nothing to fear. She'll come around. She has to. I'm not leaving her any other choice."
"Yes, she must accept you. You've taken away everything else that she holds dear. What does she have left?"
He could hear a nagging voice in his head. It was the voice he heard only in regards to Allura. And normally he was able to ignore it, but lately it was getting louder. He shook his head as he approached the seamstress's quarters.
"This is for her. I'm doing this for her. In time she'll realize that." He said to himself as he knocked on the door.
The door opened and the prince was greeted by a woman with outrageously bright red hair with dark green streaks in it. She wore a tight fitting lime green skirt suit and canary yellow high heels. A pin cushion was velcroed around her wrist.
"Your highness! I didn't know you were here! But I'm not suprised. Nobody tells me anything around here." Said Luna, the castle seamstress. Her tone was jubulant...almost to an unbearable point.
"I see you haven't lost your sense of...style." Lotor said staring at the somewhat strange color combination Luna wore. He couldn't help but gawk at her appearence. Most of the castle folk wore more sensibly colored attire, which only made Luna stand out even more.
"Of course not! What kind of seamstress would I be if I didn't have fashion sense! So, what brings you by?" Luna asked.
"I need you to get some measurements for me?" Lotor answered.
Upon that statement several young ladies rushed foward with starry eyes. They all had their hands clasped together over their hearts and completely dreamy expressions.
"The girls here have been dying to get your measurements." Luna said with a mischevious twinkle in her eye.
"Ahem, that's not exactly what I meant. I need you to take measurements for my fiancee'." Lotor said with a cough.
Upon hearing the word, fiancee', the girls began to groan and grumble with dissapointment. They slowly walked away mumbling to themselves.
"Oh hush! It's not like any of us has a shot at him anyway." Luna scolded.
Then she turned back to the prince. "So, who is the lucky lady?"
Princess Allura of the planet Arus." Lotor answered.
"She's the one you've been telling us about. Is she as beautiful as you say she is?" Luna asked.
"Indeed she is. Beautiful and spirited." The prince answered.
"I wouldn't expect you to chose anything less in your future wife. So, what does your father have to say about this?"
"He doesn't have anything to say about it. He doesn't even know I'm here."
"Oh...you and your lady love eloped? How romantic! If only I'd had a strapping young prince to carry me off in the middle of the night..."
"In your dreams!" One of the young ladies called out sarcastically.
"You hush before I start practicing accupuncture on your head!" Luna shouted.
Lotor sighed and shook his head. He could imagine Luna telling him that if she'd been thirty years younger and of noble birth she'd have shamelessly thrown herself at him.
"So, your father doesn't know yet?" She asked.
"No, he doesn't. And he's not going to know. He has no knowledge of this planet, and I intend to keep it that way. This is one world he's not going to get his claws on." Lotor replied.
"If he did..." Luna said turning serious for a moment.
"He won't. I've gone to great lengths to keep this place a secret from him." Lotor said.
"Oh, enough of this gloomy buisness. So, when do we get to meet the bride to be? I can't wait to see her!"
"Yes, about that. She's staying in one of the guest suites for now. We'll have a more... permanent arrangement after the wedding. She's still... getting used to her new surroundings and isn't up to company at the moment. But once she's settled in I'll be sure to have you meet her." Lotor answered.
"She must be very excited!"
"Excited isn't the word I'd use..." Lotor thought to himself looking down at the floor for a moment.
"Sire, are you all right?" Luna asked.
"I'm just a bit tired. I'll will try to arrange for you to meet Allura tonight. You can get her measurements then." The prince answered.
"Wonderful! I'll be sure to bring the pattern book, fabric samples, my measuring tape..."
"Please try not to get too excited. It will take some time for Allura to get used to everyone here."
"Don't you worry sire. The girls and I will make her feel right at home."
"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some buisness to attend to."
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Coran waited in the castle control center hoping to reach planet Pollux. The other members of the Voltron force also waited with him. Nanny, upset as she was, decided to distract herself with her chores. If she'd been in with them crying and worrying incesently, the others would most likely gone insane. The team tried to keep still but found the task nearly impossible. Keith found himself pacing like a caged animal. Hunk attempted to meditate and focus his energies upon staying calm. Pidge sat occassionally cleaning his glasses and nervously played with his hair. Lance cracked his knuckles and pounded his fist against the palm of his other hand. The look on his face was one of pure agression.
"If I get my hands on that yellow-eyed son-of-a-bitch...": He growled.
"Yah, well get in line cause I get first strike on his blue ass." Keith replied with a hiss.
"Coran, are you there?" A young voice called over the castle intercom.
"It's prince Bandor!" Pidge exclaimed.
"Your highness, thank heavens I've reached you. Is Sven there? It's urgent that I speak to him as soon as possible." Coran replied.
"He's having lunch with my sister. What's going on?" Bandor asked.
"Grave news your highness. Princess Allura has been kidnapped, and I've no doubt Lotor is behind her dissapearance." Coran answered.
"I'll get Sven right away!"
Within a matter of moments Sven rushed to speak with Coran. Romelle accompanied him.
"Coran, how long as Allura been missing?" Sven questioned in a worried tone.
"She vanished last night. Keith said Nanny went to Allura's room to wake her up this morning, and she wasn't there. Her bedroom window was opened, and we found a cloth with a strong sedative applied to it." Coran answered.
"And you think it was Lotor who kidnapped her?" Sven asked.
"It has to be him. Only he would be so bold as to kidnap her." Answered the aged advisor.
"That monster has Allura! He's taken her back to planet Doom. Sven, we have to get her back!" Romelle exclaimed.
"I'll get back to Arus as soon as possible!" Sven called.
"We'll have a ship ready to leave right away!" Romelle exclaimed.
"We will be waiting. Come as quickly as you can." Coran said and turned off the communication channle.
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A couple of hours had passed since the argument. Lotor returned to Allura's room with Luna and several of her assistants. The princess still had an unhappy look on her face. Lotor frowned at her expression half out of guilt and half out of frustration. He remembered her telling of her perpencity to stay angry. Though she didn't exactly look angry, she didn't look too forgiving either. He let out a sigh.
"This is Luna, the castle seamstress. She's come to take her measurements and have clothes made for you. I will leave you in her capable hands. Do be nice to her. She's just doing her job." Lotor said and left the room.
Allura breathed in a sigh of relief when the prince left. Her look of disspleasure turned to one of confusion when she saw Luna. She'd never seen a woman with such an odd sense of style. The princess didn't quite know what to make of her. She could only hope the woman would suggest more sensible style for her. Allura was also taken aback by Luna's reaction to her.
"Oh my lord! Prince Lotor said you were beautiful, but I never expected you to be so drop dead gorgeous! I can't wait to show you the patterns and fabrics!" Luna chimed as she rushed toward the princess.
"Come here! Come here dear girl, and let me get a good look at you!"
Allura cautiously pushed away the covers and slowly willed herself out of bed. Luna grabbed her hand and pulled her into a more lighted part of the room.
"Come now, I won't bite. Let me get a good look at you." Luna encouraged. The woman's bubbly mood was in stark contrast to Allura's less than sunny disposition. She really didn't want company, nor did she want an outrageously happy seamstress taking her every measurement. But as Lotor stated, the woman was just doing her job. Plus Allura couldn't stay in the same nightgown all the time. She'd have to have clothes so she gave no protest as the assistants helped take her measurements.
"I can honestly say I've never seen anyone who looks as beautiful as you my dear. Perfect figure, flawless skin, gorgeous hair...no wonder prince Lotor fell head over heels for you."
To that Allura said nothing. She didn't care what Lotor felt. As far as she was concerned he was an insensitive, egotistical and self-centered jerk. But for politeness sake Allura endured the woman's hyperactive banter. She stayed quiet while the assistants measured her chest, shoulders, hips and height.
"So my dear, have you any preferences for your wedding dress?" Luna asked.
To that Allura began to sputter and cough. That was a subject the princess was certainly in no mood to discuss.
"Are you all right my dear?" Luna asked somewhat suprised by Allura's reaction to the question.
"It's a... little early...t...to be talking about a wedding!" Allura sputtered as she struggled to catch her breath.
"I'm sorry your highness. Are you into long engagements?"
"The longer the better!" Allura gasped.
"Um...ok. We've got the measurements. I'll uh...just leave these fabric samples and patterns with you dear. Take your time." Luna said and ushered her assistants out of the room.
Allura was left with the fabric swatches and a book of patterns. She knew she should have been trying to find a way to escape, but she knew she'd be recaptured. And she feared what Lotor might do if she tried to escape. Granted, the few people she had contact with didn't seem to act threatened or even afraid. In fact, Luna was quite chipper and so were her assistants. It was something Allura noted, but wasn't giving much thought to at the moment. She knew that for the moment she was stuck on a strange planet with no hope of getting home. With an exasperated sigh Allura sat down on her bed and began looking over the patterns and fabric samples. She began to flip through the squares of fabric with little interest. The colors went from sea foam green to deep shades of red and blue. She did notice one color was conspiculously absent. There was not one piece of fabric that had pink as the main color. She huffed a frustrated sigh as she flipped through the samples. Some of them were solid colors of fabric while others had elaborate floral patterns and intricate fluer de lis designs. Some samples had dark hues as the background with lighter colored designs. Others were the opposite. While yet others had a color with designs of the same color but a darker or lighter hue.
She chose samples that were neither too dark or too light. The designs were simple as she didn't want to choose anything that was too elaborate. She had simple tastes and chose what she felt was appropriate to those tastes. Then she started going through the pattern book. There were dresses with plunging necklines. Others had slits that went to daring heights. Still others were backless and some had all three elements. Those patterns Allura aredently refused. The last thing she wanted was for Lotor to see her in such risque' fashions. Going through the patterns she found more conservative styles that suited her. If she had no choice but to be around the prince, she didn't want to give him any ideas. Though she surmised she could be dressed like Nanny and still give him potent fantasies.
"He can look at me in conservative desire or he can not look at me all." She said in an irritated tone.
After looking through all the samples and patterns she picked some silk and satin fabrics in hues of coral, lavender and spring green. The color she didn't pick was blue. At the moment, that was the one color she wasn't very fond of. She also picked dress patterns she knew Nanny would approve of. Perhaps being in such attire would cool the libido of a certain druel prince. Having marked her choices , Allura got up from the bed and walked to the ornate vanity. She looked at herself in the mirror. She didn't pay attention to the vanity itself. She just looked at the reflection of confusion and distress looking back at her in the mirror.
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Lotor sat in his quarters trying to keep himself from going to Allura's room again. He knew it was too soon. The princess no doubt would not be receptive to him at the moment. He let out a sigh wondering how long it would take to bring her over to his side. He knew his father didn't understand why he tried to hard to win Allura's heart when so many other women would kill to be his bride. Yes, they would kill to be his. He wouldn't put it past his father to gather all the perspective brides and let them fight to the death with the winner becoming Lotor's wife. But while he would have a willing bride, he would not have what he really wanted, and that was love. He would have a woman who would use him for power and wealth. And in addition to being in a loveless marriage, he'd have to watch his back. Imperial brides were known to kill their husbands after producing heirs. And the deaths were almost always under mysterious circumstances. And Lotor wouldn't put it past the chosen bride to make an attempt on his life. If a royal wife could put her husband out of the picture and get away with it, her child would inherit great weath and power. And through that child, so would the wife inherit great wealth and power.
The prince was sure that as long as he produced a few heirs to the throne, Zarkon wouldn't be too broken hearted if something were to happen to his only son. He wouldn't put it past his father to help said bride in making Lotor vanish.
"No. I won't marry any woman my father choses for me. The moment she gives birth she'll be plotting my untimely death." He said to himself.
He shook his head thinking of the uphill battle he now faced. Allura wasn't going to make things easy for him. He knew that the moment he took her off Arus. It would have been easier to accept a willing bride, but what he wanted was Allura. And if he could win her heart and defeat his father he would have both power and love. He wouldbe the king his father could never hope to be.
"I am going to change the empire. My father has all but destroyed the honor and glory it once had. And I will give Allura a life she could have only dreamed of. Why should I have to choose between power and love when I can have both."
It's been a while since I've had a chance to post a new chapter. Admittedly I've got seven chapters now in total completed, but it's hard finding time to get them typed up, and this month has been absolutely crazy for me. Real life can really knock you for a loop when you least expect it.
Anyway, as you will see things aren't going exactly the way Lotor would have hoped. Allura can't stand him and it will take some time for these two to start coming together. The next chapters are basically Lotor trying to make Allura warm up to him, and Allura not having it. Also , some new characters will come into play throughout the story. One of them is being introduced in this chapter. Heh, Luna is kind of an interesting character because she's kind of...out there so to speak.
My thanks to those who have read and reviewed and hopefully the story will continue to be entertaining. For now, Allura will be resistant and Lotor will try to keep hold of his wits while dealing with her refusals. I know in the series he had quite a temper and never took to refusal very well, but here he deals with it a bit better than he does in the original show. Now that Lotor has Allura away from her friends he doesn't feel the need to threaten the lives of innocent people in order to make her give in. So he's being more noble in this story, but still has his moments when he can be an absolute jerk. He's troubled as well in this story and the source of that angst revolves partly around Allura but also around Lotor's mother. And that's all I'm gonna reveal for now...