Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron or its original Japanese version Golion. Both are the property of their original creators and/or importers/dubbers. I'm just borrowing them for some non-profit entertainment.

(A/N: Well, that was a fun little outing. Who's up for a little more sex? Hmm?)

The Sindariin

Chapter Eleven:

As fate would have it Fala never did get her chance to escape. Sincline stayed ever by her side and for the briefest of moments when they were separated he made sure that she was surrounded by a dozen or more of her guards. The most infuriating of missed opportunities came as she was washing her hands after using the restaurant's restroom. She had been wondering if she'd be able to swipe the knife from her place setting at the table so that she might have at least some version of a weapon when a cool breeze caressed her cheek. Looking to see what had caused the not unpleasant airflow Fala found that the bathroom window had been left open and it looked just big enough for a person of her size to squeeze through.

Just as she had begun to approach the little window to freedom, however, the troublesome Captain of her guard had entered to enquire if she was alright on the Emperor's behalf. Fala had gritted her teeth at the failed attempt and told her Captain that if Sincline was getting impatient waiting for her then he shouldn't have come along in the first place. The Captain then suggested that the Empress tell him that herself as it was not the place of her Guard Captain to tell the Emperor what he should and shouldn't do. She then made a casual remark about how it was dangerous for the Empress to linger near windows and how she might set herself up to be an easy target for any assassin.

Fala had flushed when the Captain closed the open window with a knowing smile and ushered the Empress back out of the restroom.

Curses! A whole minuet of planning ruined!

After lunch, Sincline took her to a production at the Nargothrond Imperial Opera House. She had made some off handed comment about being surprised that the Galra Empire even had some version of the fine arts never-mind actually appreciating them.

Her husband had growled in irritation that, just like any society, the Empire had its fair share of "useless artists" and those useless artists had their fair share of "moderate contributions" to the Empire's overarching culture and society. He had also reminded her that is was impossible for any nation to be comprised entirely of "savage barbarians" and that it was very small minded of her to think otherwise. Fala had flushed at his scolding, making her feel guilty but unsure as to what she was guilty about exactly.

They had sat in a private box with a perfect view of the stage below and the Empress had to marvel at the elegant spender of the Galran opera house. The dark green curtain shimmer iridescently when viewed from different angles and sparkling silver-dust had been polished into the finish of every wood surface in the place making her feel as if were sitting in a faerie-land rather than the theater of an hostile and alien nation.

Next to her Sincline studied the program, skimming the plot synopsis and taking note of the names of one or two cast members, the writer and the composer. When he was done he set the small disposable datapad aside and looked board and disinterested for the entire rest of the show.

Fala couldn't understand the language, but she found the music and songs sung by alien voices to be rather pleasant, more enjoyable in fact than she had expected. From what she could gather of the story the protagonist was a prince (of sorts) whom had been cast out by his father (there also seemed to be another brother involved in this but his role seemed unimportant in the grand scheme of the story to Fala). The prince then traveled to a neighboring kingdom where he met a princess and fell madly in love with her. The princess, however, did not share his feelings and turned him away. The spurned prince not taking the rejection well then began laying siege to her country (jee, that sounded familiar).

She had glanced over at Sincline at that point trying to gauge his reaction but he just looked board. And when the lights went up for the intermission he sent a guard down to fetch his book and a small reading light from the car.

The second half opened with the prince fighting the princess' chosen champion against a background of a castle under fire. The prince eventually triumphs over the champion and his army lays waste to the castle, completely leveling the paper-machete structure to the ground. Standing in the rubble of the destroyed castle with no princess, no kingdom and not riches he finds a small trinket of sorts and this single little bauble suddenly makes the annihilation of an innocent kingdom worth while.

The curtain fell, the lights rose, the cast came back out for final bows, the audience applauded and Fala sat confused and slightly disappointed.

Her husband replaced his powder blue bookmark in her book and stood. Offering his hand to Fala he asked, "Well, my dear, what did you think?"

She ignored his offered hand and stood on her own. "I'm not sure what to think really. It wasn't all that great. Kind of long and drawn-out with an unsatisfying end."

The Empress expected him to rebut with a statement about her just not understanding Galran culture or being to soft-hearted to appreciate the protagonist's warmongering efforts. Instead he said, "Yes, well, Minra ni Bhomeh has never been very gifted where story telling is concerned, but then again, I doubt even the most skilled of writers could take the story of the Sindariin and turn it into a satisfying epic. It just can't be done. Children's stories should stay children's stories. But what did you think of the music my dear?"

Sincline locked arms with her and together they exited the royal box, their guards falling into formation around them so smoothly and fluidly that she didn't even notice until they reached the crowd of other patrons whom quickly shrunk back and out of their way.

The ride back to the palace was quiet and uneventful and Fala was disappointed at never having been able to manage an escape. She sat despondent in her seat next to her husband watching Demon Castle draw ever nearer in the window, a monolith of lights against the background of a dark and mottled landscape and sky. Her view was momentarily obscured as they passed through a forrest of dead black trees and she sat back with a sigh.

"It wasn't always like this, you know."

"What?" She looked over at her husband as he turned a page in his book, not bothering to look at her when he spoke.

"Galra. The planet wasn't always the way it is now." He explained. "During the Second Age a great cataclysm shook the entire planet, turing the sky black, burning the land and poisoning the water. Before that I'm lead to believe that this place more closely resembled some of the more humid climates of Altea."

"What happened?"

He shrugged. "Not sure really. From the descriptions it sounds like a volcano chain decided to all erupt at the same time, however, accounts from the event describe a great ball of fire falling from the stars, that would imply a large meteor. Of course, it could always be both."

Fala returned her gaze to the window, the castle was once again visible through the thinning branches of the ghostly forest. "What kind of trees are these?"

"Chalha. Their wood is almost as strong as tempered steel. There are a number of furniture pieces in the castle dating back to the Second Age made from chalha, very rare."

"Ah."

...

Sincline dismissed their guards at the lift up to the Royal Residential Wing and he and Fala rode up alone together. The moment the sliding door was shut, making a soft hiss as it did so, the Emperor wrapped his arms around her pressing his pelvis into her backside.

"Fala..." He whispered into her hair.

"What are you doing!" The Empress exclaimed in alarm. She struggled in his embrace as if she could actually getaway from him in the inclosed elevator. "Let go!"

"I want you." He made no move to loosen his hold on her and inhaled the scent of her hair deeply. His hand drifted up from her waist, over her breasts restrained within their bodice and up to her shoulder. One quick jerk and he had ripped the gauze bandage away, exposing his bite from their previous tryst. What little scab had formed over the wound was torn away with the bandage and fresh bright red blood welled up from it. He lowered his lips to the wound just as the lift doors opened.

"Don't!" Fala jerked free of his grip and dashed out into wide corridor of the residential wing one hand cupped over the open wound. She should have dashed to her rooms. Locked herself inside and away from him, pushed some heavy piece of furniture over the door that connected their bedrooms and searched ardently for a means of escape, real escape not just a semi-pleasent outing. Instead she turned and stared at him.

Sincline stepped out from the lift, as he stalked toward her one hand drifted up to his mouth. Taking the middled finger of his glove between his sharp teeth he slowly pulled the dark material from his hand almost sensually. Reaching his naked hand out toward her the Empress clearly saw the still fresh cut on his palm. The one he'd made back at the High Temple. "You're more than welcome to taste my blood in return, Fala."

She backed up. He closed the distance between them, once again wrapping an arm around her waist and melding his body against hers.

"I want you to." He whispered, offering the open slice in his palm to her lips.

Her stomach churned at the idea of drinking fresh blood let alone his fresh blood. She turned her head away from his upturned palm and facing the wall asked, "Why?"

"Because..." He faltered, suddenly unsure of how to explain this most intimate of rituals between ardan to a foreigner. "Because I want to share."

Fala turned back to look at him, one golden eyebrow raised quizzically. Of all the possible answers he could have given her, that was the one she had least expected. The idea of Sincline sharing anything was preposterous to her, especially the idea of his sharing it willingly. And sharing not a possession but his blood, something his society seemed to have so many weird and confusing rituals and beliefs about... to say she was stunned in disbelief was a bit of an understatement.

Her husband sighed dejectedly and lowered his injured hand. He picked her up eliciting a yelp of surprise from his beautiful bride who struggled in his arms. Sincline ignored her, shifting his struggling wife in his arms to awkwardly open the door to his suit.

"What are you doing? Put me down!"

He said the word that activated the lights in the room just as the door swung closed behind them and picked his way across his sitting room to the bedroom beyond. Nudging the door open with his foot, he crossed the room to the sumptuous oversized bed and lowered his uncooperative wife down on the fresh and new navy bedspread. Fala promptly rolled off the bed the moment his arms were no longer restraining her, reclaiming a standing position, the Empress glared at her husband with the wide bed between them.

"What are you doing?"

He did not answer. Instead the heterogeneous hybrid removed his other glove as slowly and sensually as he had the first. His boots were the next thing to go, leaning against a bedpost for balance as he slowly unbuckled each shoe and tossed them aside. Next his sword belt, tunic and undershirt; then his trousers and underwear. He stood naked before her, the bed still separating them, a self-satifyed smile spread over his thin blue lips when he noticed her eyes roving his well toned frame.

Fala stood rooted to the spot. The door connecting her room to his was just behind her, all she had to do was turn and run and she could be safe in her own suit away from him. But she didn't move. Her eyes were drawn to his naked alien body. She took in the broad set of his shoulders, the smooth plane of his stomach and chest, his pectorals were tight and well defined and speckled with thin silvery white hair. His stomach drawn into six tight abs, to lower of which were framed by sharp angular swimmer-lines that drew her eyes to the patch of thick white pubic hair that crowned the base of his partially erect penis.

Sincline placed one knee on the bed, slowly crawling over it to the other side where his ardan stood transfixed by the site of him. He sat on his knees on the bed in front of her and gazed into her deep blue eyes wide with apprehension and leaned forward to kiss her... And it was then that she finally pulled away.

"Please don't." She whispered.

He growled low in the back of his throat and grabbed her wrist, pulling her back toward him, the other arm snaking around her back to pull at the lacing that held her dress closed. "Don't what?" He whispered, the hand holding her wrist moving to help his other hand with her dress' lacing. "Don't kiss my wife? Don't try and lay with my ardan?"

"I don't like it." Fala whispered in response, knowing it would have no effect on him. He didn't care what she did and didn't like. All he cared about was what he liked, what he wanted.

"That's because you can't relax." Her husband leaned back in to kiss her, pressing his lips against hers in a gentle kiss similar to the one he's given her in the High Temple before the statue of Aradianya, not invasive or demanding but soft and affectionate. He then trailed butterfly kisses across her jaw, down her neck and over her shoulder until he reached and closed his mouth once again over the open bite there. He lapped her blood up greedily while his hands finally managed to untie the lacing of her gown. The material fell from her shapely form exposing the tight restricting corset and unflattering bloomers she wore beneath it.

"How can I relax when the man I'm married to won't listen when I say 'no' and doesn't give a damn about me."

Another low growl rumbled out from his throat, this one full of frustration. Sincline seized her corset and with one hard yank wrenched the article in too, ripping it off her and tossing it to the side. He then grabbed her and throwing her onto the bed beside him asked, "Would you prefer I act as I did last night?"

Fala winced when her now exposed scratches hit the bedspread and threw her arms up when he climbed on top of her, pinning her to the bed. "Not on my back, please."

His expression melted from frustration to something the Empress refused to admit resembled concern and he turned her over onto her hands and knees, ripping her bloomers off as he did so. "Alright." He whispered. "You don't have to be on your back."

He began licking the cuts on her back, the feeling of his tong running up the length of her spine making the Empress tremble with something she refused to admit might resemble 'want'. Fala felt his stiff member rub between her thighs and her heart leapt into her throat. "No. Please no."

She flipped over into a sitting position, crossing her legs and wrapping her arms over her breasts. She stared wide eyed at his engorged erection, a clear sticky bead of pre-cum dripping from its tip. Here eyes flicked up to his face to see that he was not at all pleased with her continued resistance and she searched madly for a way to placate him while still keeping him from spearing her with that thing of his.

"I have been very patient with you thus far..." He warned.

Considering what Amue had told her of her time with him, Fala believed it and she did not want him to louse was tiny bit of patience he had left. Her mind raced through what little she knew of the male body searching for something else she could do for him aside from spreading her legs and submitting. She remembered his words in his office earlier that day, 'suck him off'. She gave his long thick rod another glance, this one appraising. She really didn't want to put it in her mouth but if it was a choice between that or between her thighs she decided that in her mouth was the lesser of the two evils.

"I just... I don't want it inside..." She began, unsure of how to phrase it exactly. Her cheeks colored at her own words. "Can I... I could suck on it for you instead."

He raised one amused eyebrow, an interested smile on his lips. "You'd rather I cum in your mouth?"

Fala fidgeted, she hadn't thought of that. "I... I'd prefer if you came... outside...?" She confessed, expecting him to once again turn angry and force himself on her.

Instead his smile broadened. "Why, Fala, you've got a bit of a dirty side to you."

"What?" She blinked, not understanding.

He leaned forward and gave her another gentle kiss. "Alright, my dear, I'll cum for you."

Sincline stretched out on the bed next to her, reclining back on the pillows, his arms behind his head, casual and relaxed. He gazed at her expectantly, his expression full of warmth and affection that she felt didn't belong on him.

Fala didn't want to suck on him, she really really didn't want to suck on him. She wanted to be safe in her room, or better yet on Altea light-years away from him. But the thought of Altea reminded her that her planet and people were still under his control. She would be no safer from him there than here in this room. And if she refused his sexual advances what would he do to her people in retaliation? With a sigh of resignation the Empress leaned over his pelvis, grimacing at the pungent scent of his quivering member. She closed her eyes and licked his long shaft experimentally. The bumps and ridges that spiraled his length felt odd against the soft slippery flesh of her tong and she wondered what they were.

He sighed the moment he felt her mouth on him, relaxing a tension he didn't know he had.

She licked the pre-cum from his tip and once again grimaced at the pungent and bitter-sweet flavor. It wasn't exactly unpleasant, but it most certainly was not pleasant either, it was simply a flavor. But it was the texture that Fala found so revolting. Thin but sticky and very slippery. Like meted sugar, almost.

"More." He ordered.

She lifted her mouth from his erection and took a few calming breaths to steady her nerves, her heart hammering against her chest before plunged the thing deeper into her mouth.

"Yes..." He husband sighed softly. One blue clawed hand drifted down to stroke her golden hair in appreciation. "Use your tongue."

Fala suppressed a whimper of disgust and flicked her tong along one of the ridges that textured his thick shaft, eliciting from him another sigh of pleasure. At least one of them was enjoying this. She explored the alien texture of his member with her tongue while her lips massaged what little of his shaft she dared take into her mouth. His tip dripped more and more slimy pre-cum onto the back of her tongue and she fought to keep from gaging.

He began bucking his hips, forcing his length deeper and deeper into her mouth with every thrust, slow at first but growing with speed at every thrust. Only when she felt his tip ramming into the back of her throat did he taper off to a steadier pace that was only just bearable. Her lips were almost to his base now, he was so deep in her mouth and she continued to massage his shaft, what couldn't fit in her mouth she stroked with her hand hoping to bring him to a sooner finish. Her tongue still flicking around his shaft, teasing his bumps and ridges, making him moan with abandon.

Both of his strong clawed hands were on her head now, forcing her down on him, his stiff erection as deep in her mouth as she could take him. His thrusts once again became quick and forceful and Fala wondered if he was close to his climax. Would he remember to pull out and not cum in her mouth? It occurred to the Empress then that he hadn't actually promised he wouldn't cum inside her, just that he would cum.

His tip hammered at the back of her throat and Fala was sure she was going to gag. Then, suddenly, he pulled out from her mouth, but before she had even registered this she felt a hot jet of sticky... stuff hit her in the face. Three quick spurts, the first landing almost dead center between her eye (which were closed, thank God!), on her chin and over her breasts. She rose back to a sitting position, blinking at her husband, his hot white cum dripping off her face and down onto her breasts. She felt disgusting and decided that this was just as bad as having him inside her for real. His cum felt nasty on her skin and stank terribly! She wanted a shower, she wanted a shower badly.

"You look so cute covered in my jizz." Sincline muttered. Leaning forward he wiped some of his cum away from her lips before kissing her. This time he did stick his tong in her mouth, but after his penis she decided it wasn't so bad. She let him explore her mouth with his but made no motion to return the action.

"I want a shower." She said when he finally pulled away.

"Alright." He muttered, flopping back down against the pillows as he did so. "We'll shower, just give me a few minuets."

Her husband pulled her down next to him and he cuddled up close to the disgusted and mortified Empress, burying his face in her hair. Fala did not want to wait for him, she did not want to shower with him, she didn't want to have anything to do with him. She listened to his soft steady breathing, felt the warmth of it on the back of her neck, and she wondered if he was going to fall asleep as he had after their first time. Would she be able to sneak back to her own room once he had nodded off? Or would he wake to the sound of her moving and insist on a second go-around as he had the previous night? Sincline's arms snaked around her lithe frame, apparently he wasn't asleep. One arm curling under her, pulling her body flush against his the other wrapping itself over her shoulders, his hand fondling her wet and sticky breasts.

Fala laid there in his arms letting him molest her further while her mind screamed for a way out of his arms, out of his bed, out of his room, out of this God dammed castle!

He took one sensitive nipple between his thumb and forefinger, applying the slightest bit of pressure making her hiss. "Please stop."

"You're still horny." He muttered into her hair. His hand released the delicate bud on her breast and drifted down her form, sliding over her flat belly, her curved hip, down between her thighs... one clawed finger gently nudged its way between the soft lips of her labia carful not to nick the sensitive tissue with his nail. She felt him smile against the back of her neck. "So wet... did sucking me off really make you that hot?"

"No." She growled, flushing at the accusation. His finger continued to rub between her lower lips, massaging the responsive bud of her clitoris in a way that Fala was loath to admit was pleasing. He body felt hot all over and she was sure a bright blush covered her skin. She wished he would just stop, she didn't like how such an evil hateful man could make her feel this way. She did not want sex with him, but her body... whenever he began his amorous attentions her treacherous body would respond in earnest.

"Don't deny it, me dearest." Sincline whispered, withdrawing his finger from between her thighs. "The proof is right here."

He ran his wet finger over her cheek, mingling her clear feminine nectar with his thick white seed. Fala shuddered at the sensation, a not of revolution twisting in her stomach and she feared she might be sick. Well, fine! It would serve him right if she ended up vomiting on his bed. Let's see him say she was secretly enjoying herself then. Ha! Stupid, egotistic, self-entitled, narcissistic bastard!

His hand returned to its ministrations between her thighs. Two fingers this time, one outside still massaging her neglected clit, the other slithering its way inside of her. "If you're patient a bit longer I'll be able to satisfy you with more than just my hands."

"That's not necessary." his wife growled through gritted teeth. Why did his finger inside her feel as good as it did? His penis had hurt some much the previous night. Granted a finger was a dozen times small than his long fat organ, but she would have thought that part of her would be so sore that anything forcing its way inside it would have hurt. But his finger didn't. Fala didn't want to admit it, not even to herself, but his finger felt... good.

"It may not be 'necessary'." Sincline crooned in her ear. "But I want to. I want to make you moan, I want you to scream my name in ecstasy. I want you to cum for me even more than I cum for you."

"And I want that shower now."

"Of course, my dear." He withdrew his fingers from inside her warm and receptive body and Fala was disturbed to find that she missed the sensation. Her husband rolled off the bed and snaked his arms under her, lifting her into his arms.

"I can walk on my own, thank you!" The Empress struggled out of his embrace and dashed to the bathroom the moment her feet hit the soft carpeted floor. She would have closed the door on him, had he not been right on her heals, pressing his way inside behind her, once again wrapping his arms around her and holding her close to him.

"You're so stubborn, my dear." He trailed butterfly kisses down her neck following the familiar path to the bite mark he'd made on her shoulder. When his lips closed over the open wound she pulled away.

"Can I please just shower in peace?" She asked. "I'm tired and covered in... I just wanna get clean and go to bed."

"Of course." Her husband brushed past her and turned on the faucet, toggling the hot and cold temperature gauges he set the water at a level that both he and Fala would find agreeable and stepped in.

HIs wife gritted her teeth. What part of 'I' did he think meant 'we'? Self-obsorbed bastard! But she stepped into the shower all the same. At the moment all that mattered to her was washing his slimy disgusting seed from her body. They could quibble about his selective hearing later.

The water was warm but not hot, the water pressure strong but not overly so. Her hair was soaked the moment she stepped under the stream and it clung to her shoulders and back, curled around her chin and breasts, framing them perfectly.

"You're so sexy, Fala." Sincline whispered and leaned down to once again kiss her forcefully on the lips. HIs hands roved over her back and buttocks, irritating the gashes he had made there the previous night and making her hiss into his open mouth. He pulled away and grumbled in displeasure. "I am counting the days until your weak human skin is mended."

"You don't like my complaints, don't tear me up." She snapped back and turned her back to him. The water now cascading down her face she allowed herself a brief moment to weep, using washing the cum from her face as a pretext to bury her head in her hands. She felt Sincline's hands on her waist but she ignored him. There wasn't anything she could do to prevent his molestations anyway. He leaned down and licked the upper most tips of her scratches making her flinch. "What are you doing?"

Her husband did not respond. He continued licking her wounds, traveling downwards slowly and steadily, not leaving a single bit of the long gashes un-caressed by his tongue. He had to crouch on his knees when he reached the marks on her soft round buttocks and Fala started in shock.

"What are you doing!"

He ignored her question as he did the first time she'd asked and licked along each horizontal gash before climbing back to his feet. Sincline wrapped his arms around her once again, this time carful not to press his body against her back and irritate the marks on her back. "Better?"

"Now that you've stopped, yes."

The heterogeneous hybrid frowned into her hair. "Sometimes I wish you were a half-breed like me."

"And sometimes I wish your father had killed you instead of the other way around." Fala snapped.

He turned her around in sudden rage, forcing her to face him. Her eyes were bright with sudden startled fear and he glared at her with all the menace he could muster when he snarled, "You'd be dead now if my father were still running things! Do you think he would have left you alive once your precious planet had surrendered? No! He would have killed you the moment Altea was under his control! He would have sent you to the Area to be slowly beaten to death for the entertainment of the populace or maybe would have chained you up in the banquet hall and put you through umaraque. The point, my dearest wife, is that you would be dead right now if it weren't for me!"

"That's not true!" His wife snarled back. "I would have escaped and gotten away if it weren't for you! I was almost out, back on the Angband! I would have gotten away! I would have found Amue, I would have gotten off planet, I would have gotten back to Altea! Golion would be back together and we would have defeated you!"

If Fala had thought he was angry before he was suddenly livid now. She stepped backwards into the shower stream away from him but he grabbed her, turning them both around he pressed her against the shower wall, her hands bracing her against the impact. She could feel his hot breath on her ear and the Empress shuddered when he said in a voice far to soft and temperant when compared to his mood, "You shouldn't say such nasty things, my dear. You might feel that way now, but your tune will change. Just you wait. One day you'll wonder how you could have ever thought of leaving me for your pathetic little Golion Team."

She shuddered at his words. Why was it that when he said 'Golion Team' it sounded like 'Kogane Akira'?

"...Now brace yourself." He guided her hands to a steel bar fitted into the wall in front of her, the kind of thing they put in showers to deter slipping. Her fingers curled around it hesitantly, wondering just what exactly he was planning to do when she felt him slide one of his legs between hers, spreading them farther apart.

"No!" She gasped.

"Don't fight me, Fala!" He snarled, his hands pressing down on hers, causing just enough pain to make her reconsider her position but not enough to do any real damage. He remembered just how fragile she was, how easily he could damage her with his superior strength.

"But you already had your climax!" She wailed, partly out of pain and partly from hysterics.

"And its high time I gave you one of your own." Sincline crooned back. "Its time you learned just how pleasurable being my ardan really is. I'm going to fuck you so senseless you won't be able to think about anything but my cock inside you. You'll beg for me to fill you and you'll never again think about leaving me for your paltry and plebeian Golion pilots!"

...

General Gibra's command ship, the Glamdring, landed just outside of Castle Gradam on Altea. A squadron of soldiers fanned out as the gangplank was lowered and Raible stiffened at their presence. The old strategist and steward had come to meet the Galran General when he arrived, hoping to coax the villainous marauder into allowing him to retain his position as Steward of the non-existent Altean court so that he could be ready and in a position to help the rest of the Golion team when they finally came back to steal Blue Lion. He had come unarmed with no guards to protect him but the Galran soldiers searched him anyway, forcing the old man to the ground, his hands on his head, his legs spread slightly. It was only after the squadron's commanding officer was satisfied that he was nothing more than a harmless old man that the General exited his ship.

Gibra stepped down the Glamdring's gangplank with the measured and purposeful gate of a man that had lived a life of discipline and control and Raible thought that he could have been a soldier of Altea were it not for the air of conceited pride that also wafted around the alien General. He stopped just short of stepping on the strategist and the old man was gifted with an uncomfortably close view of the General's highly polished brown boot. He snapped something out in that dreadful language of theirs and Raible was dragged back to his feet by the collar of this shirt.

"You are Raible the Strategist, Steward of Altea." The General said, it wasn't a question. "I am Gibra fin Surkhal, the Red General of Galra. The title does not refer to the color of your people's blood."

"Oh well that's comforting." The strategist muttered. The corner of the General's eye twitched minutely and Raible made a mental note that the Galra could hear better than a normal human. To Gibra he said, "I am honored to greet you General Gibra fin Surkhal and I welcome you to your world."

The steward gave an over exaggerated bow. He had committed himself to playing nice with the occupying Galran forces until the boys could find a way to penetrate the barrier protecting the capitol and save Fala. He gritted his teeth, putting on a grim smile that he hoped woudl look welcoming to the General and raised his eyes to the alien's own golden pupiless ones.

"This world is not the domain of his Eminence the Emperor Sincline Hangalra, we are welcome to come and go as we please and you should feel honored to serve us, Steward." The General barked back.

"Of course." The words tasted like acid in Raible's mouth.

"Now, take me to Blue Lion."

...