"Your Majesty, these are the other members of the Voltron Force." Keith began to make the introductions as he waited for Sven to roll Hunk off the couch. "Lance. Pidge. Hunk and Sven. Guys, Her Majesty, Orla of Cador."
"We were not expecting your arrival, Your Majesty, but we are grateful that you came when you did." Keith continued, taking a seat behind his desk. "Maybe now we can get to the bottom of everything... In the past few days, we've discovered secrets within secrets within even more secrets..."
Assuming the traditional position of the Prime Minister — behind and to the right of the sovereign — Coran winced and lowered his eyes in deference to the truth in Keith's words. He cleared his throat and addressed the youngest space explorer. "I couldn't help but overhear what you said to Lance, Pidge. Your powers of observation are to be commended."
"I was right, wasn't I?" Pidge asked shrewdly. "There IS something strange about the way that the plants grew back."
"Not really," Coran answered. "Not strange. I call it special, although some would call it magical."
"We aren't going to talk about the metaphysics of how life is created, now, are we?" Lance asked. A chestnut eyebrow arched skywards as he simultaneously rolled his eyes. "Please, spare us, Coran. I for one heard enough about that in philosophy classes in the academy."
Coran ignored Lance's interjection and turned to Keith, continuing to speak as though he had not been interrupted. "The rapid recovery that Pidge noticed how quickly wastelands were reborn is due, to a certain extent, to what Arussians call X'pquiaan, a special affinity that the land the members of the House of Lyonnaise have to the land."
"That's why neither you nor Allura left Arus after Zarkon started attacking. You're linked to the land too, aren't you?" Keith asked. Catching sight of the strange looks being sent in his direction, he reassured them by explaining further, "Allura once told me that Coran's family was distantly related to hers."
The prime minister nodded. "Many of the old Arussian nobility have familial ties to the House of Lyonnaise." A hint of humor gleamed in his eyes. "For example, three centuries ago, an ancestor of mine — my great-great-great-great-grandmother — earned titles and wealth for her family by serving as King Varen the Second's favorite mistress. I am directly descended from her son, the king's bastard."
"So you feel the needs of the land too?" Sven asked.
"Not exactly," Coran replied. "I can sense when the land is in distress, but I cannot pinpoint the cause of the problem. Only the monarch and the heir to the Lion Throne have that ability, to feel the need, as you called it, and use their powers to heal the planet."
"The powers of the faerie queen," Keith murmured as he propped his elbows on his desk and rested his chin on his clasped hands. "Allura told me that story when I asked her to tell me about the taking of the sword."
Coran nodded. "Because the prince loved his land so much, if Arus was in danger, he was in danger. And if Arus was hurt, he was hurt. So, when the faerie queen cast the scrye spell to watch over her prince, she inadvertently tied herself to the land. The bond that she created eventually became known as the X'pquiaan bond and was passed on to her children and her children's children through the centuries that followed."
"Do not discount what we are telling you," Orla cautioned noticing the fleeting disbelief that flashed across the faces of the space explorers. "The energy created by the bond can be sensed by magic users. The archives in Cador document the failed attempts of many unscrupulous magic users to harness the power of the bond for their own nefarious means."
"Why did they fail?" Hunk asked.
"Nothing comes without a price," Orla explained. "Magic users must be willing to sacrifice something for their power. The faerie queen keyed her spell with her blood, so only those who share it — like some of the ancient nobility and the House of Lyonaisse — feel the bond. But besides that, she also built another safeguard into her spell, like Coran told you. Only the monarch and the heir can harness the power of the bond."
"So we can expect Haggar to come back." Lance stated bluntly. "We all know how greedy and ambitious the old witch is and if what you're saying is right, the power in the bond will call to her like honey to flies."
"Only this time, she'll be rested and at full power," Sven said grimly, his eyes dark with memory. "She was just toying with us earlier. From what I read of Pidge's report, it seemed like she was just experimenting with her powers."
"So, we wait." Keith murmured thoughtfully, swiveling his chair around to stare sightlessly out of the windows that that lined one entire wall of his study."
"And hope... and pray," Nanny muttered in a voice that trembled as she spoke. Bowing her head to disguise the tears that welled up in her eyes, the governess worried her ever-present prayer beads between her thumb and finger.
An uncomfortable silence fell across the room as everyone stared at Nanny's bent form. Although the governess tried to hide her feelings, her shoulders shook with suppressed sobs and tears darkened the immaculately white, starched skirts of her uniform.
The Voltron Force exchanged mutually helpless looks with Coran. The princess' governess had been a source of strength for them and her determined efforts in maintaining the daily routine formed the framework around which life in the castle continued.
"It's just like Juliana again," Nanny added as tears flowed down her lined cheeks, misery making her look years older than she actually was. "It's happening again... Just the way it happened before, years ago."
Orla's blue eyes turned midnight with emotion as the queen gracefully rose from her seat and knelt before the woman who had loved and served her sister and her niece, offering wordless sympathy and support.
"What do you mean?" Keith asked in a tone that demanded immediate attention. "It happened before... WHEN did this happen before? If this situation has had precedents, we should go back and study them."
An old but still keenly felt grief flashed across the queen's face.
His body tight with expectation, Keith leaned forward as Orla opened her mouth to speak only to clasp her hand over her mouth to muffle a sob.
A heartbeat passed in silence. Then another. And still another.
"Haggar transferred into the body of another Daughter of Cador once before," Orla finally explained once she had regained control over her emotions. "My sister's. The nameless one used Juliana's form to draw Voltron up close and then used my sister's magic to split him up into the five lions that you fly now."
"Why am I not surprised that I don't know this?" Lance muttered sarcastically. "I suppose that's the reason why the queen is buried outside the castle instead of in the Royal Crypt with King Alfor?"
"From dust we came and to dust we shall return," Coran murmured. "The crypt holding the bones of the kings and queens of Arus lies far below the castle, deep within the planet to remind us of that fact... When Juliana... killed herself... there was nothing left to bury." Breathing heavily, he took another moment to compose himself. "The monument outside the castle is empty. It is simply a marker to a life spent in the service of the people of Cador and Arus."
"And it harm none," Orla agreed, her voice strengthening as she continued speaking. "My sister chose to die rather than allow her body and her powers to be used against those she loved the most." She looked across the room and met Pidge's eyes with her own. "My niece told me that you have a twin so I know you will understand me when I say that my sister and I had a special bond. Through it, we could feel each other's joy and pain. She was in me as I was in her.
"You felt her die, didn't you?" Pidge breathed, remembering only too well the emptiness he had felt when Chip, his twin brother, had been seriously injured in one of the Vehicle Force's many skirmishes with the Drule empire.
The stricken look on the queen's face answered the young space explorer's question. "I'm sorry. That must have been tough," he said, cursing himself when he was unable to think of anything more intelligent to say.
"It was like dying myself." Orla said bluntly. "And I have never been the same since. When my twin was alive, I was never lonely, even after Juliana left Cador to marry Alfor. I could sense her in my heart. But now, there is an emptiness that nothing can complete."
A bitter smile tilted the corners of the queen's lips. "And my powers have weakened considerably too. When Juliana was alive, it was child's play to open a portal between Arus and Cador. But now, it takes most, if not all of my strength."
"So where does that leave us?" Sven asked. "What do we do now?"
"As Keith said, we wait." Coran answered simply. "If Haggar has transferred to Allura's body as you say she has, she will be back. She cannot help it. The ties that bind Allura to Arus are too strong for her to ignore."