Chapter Two-
The Hand of Chaos
Allura couldn’t bear to watch. She wanted to help the team but there was no way the guards would let her get by. The princess tried to think of a way to get to them but none came to her. All she could do was sit there and watch helplessly.
A horrible of metal scraping against metal filled the room as the lions fought to escape the grasp of the tentacle beast, but to no avail. With a sickening sound, the robeast began to crush the lions. Allura let out a horrified gasp. Nothing had ever happened like this! Voltron was losing! The robeast seemed too powerful, too fast. There was no way they could get out of it and Lotor knew it. This had been his plan all along and everything was going according to plan.
Allura and Lotor watched the battle from different vantage points, but they both saw the same thing, and both gasped at the sight of a sudden bright flash of light. The princess’ gasp was that of fear, and Lotor's more of wonderment and excitement. The battle was over. Except... this time it wasn't the mighty lions that prevailed. All that seemed to be left of the lions was a bunch of scattered debris that was once the pride of Arus and the universe.
"No!" a now frantic Allura cried. "No, it can't be! There's no way they could of lost! Oh no, Keith, Lance, Hunk, Pidge. . ." Tears streamed down the princess' face. She knew there was no way they could have survived a blast like that. The ships themselves were no longer ships but merely floating scrap metal. All of her friends were dead – Lotor had killed them but so had she. She wasn’t there to help them and they died as a result. The princess of Arus hung her head and cried, her only solace that Lotor hadn’t remained to see her do so.
Lotor was ecstatic! A victory! Finally a victory! It had been so long since they'd had something to celebrate, and now they had one. All the men gave a loud cheer of triumph. Lotor was beaming.
No more lectures for me he thought with a big grin. His smile grew even wider as another thought popped into his head. ...and no one to take her away from me either.
"She's finally mine."
The thought of the Voltron Force gone and especially that blasted Keith, made him very happy indeed. No more trouble. The universe would fall to them soon without the help of their "mighty robot".
"They put up a good fight. But they were no match for my robeast. Not this time!" once more a cheer went up from the men. Lotor's spirits were high -- he decided to have a bit of a celebration party.
All night they celebrated with never-ending supplies of wine and food. Such a feast hadn't been seen since the time of King Alfor's death at the hands of Zarkon several years earlier. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, including Lotor. He spent most of his time indulging in his wine. The other men, who many of which had already had a little too much to drink by now, were enjoying harassing the scantily dressed slave girls that were serving them. Lotor paid no heed as he was in his own little world dreaming about the glory he would have when he told of how he defeated Voltron with one messily fleet-- a fleet of only about fifty ships, a robeast, and three hundred men when whole armadas had never been able to take out Voltron. Ah, to rub this in father’s face . . . A smirk passed over the prince’s handsome features at the mere thought.
At first all he could think of was Allura, but after a few drinks he slowly began to forget her, and perhaps that was his purpose from the beginning. And by the time the celebration was over, it was far into the early morning hours. Strangely enough, Lotor was already beginning to feel the effect of his on-coming hangover. Once his head began to throb, he decided it was time to retire for the evening, or in this case, morning.
All night Allura had wept. The shock of her friends' deaths was just too much for her. She blamed herself for the tragedy, thinking there was something she should, or could have done. Slaves came often to check on her, and to see if anything was needed. They had taken her out of the room where she had dinned with Lotor and moved her to a luxurious room in a far wing of the sinister base. There she had stayed all night long.
Lahana, one of the prince's most trusted slaves, had been assigned to wait on the princess for what ever need she had. But for various reasons, the young slave wasn’t happy about it.
"I don't know, Lahana. It can't be that bad."
"Maybe you don't think so, but I do. I don't see why I have to serve that...that...woman."
"Lahana, she's said to be one of the kindest people there are. I mean, the prince seems to like her."
"Hmmp! The prince likes every woman!"
"Shhh! Someone might hear you!"
"I don't care if anyone DOES hear me, Myra!"
A group of drunken guards staggered down the hallway towards the slave quarters. The women could already hear the laughter and leering echoing off the halls.
Lahana was not in a mood for this, "Be quiet out there! Can't you see we're trying to do something here!" she said leaning on the door frame and shaking her fist at them angrily. A couple of them turned back towards the woman and smirked. They began to walk towards the women.
"Lahana, this might be a good time to take up your job with the princess,"
"If they even touch me, Lotor will have them skinned alive."
One of the other slave girls turned towards her, "Maybe, but now that the prince has her, he might not want you anymore."
Lahana hadn't thought of that. "Fine. I'll go. Anything's better than being around these guys." She pushed her way past the men and their groping hands and made her way towards the grand chamber where the princess was staying.
When she opened the door, she saw a beautiful woman sitting on the edge of the large bed. The sheer despair that was written all over the princess’ face shocked the woman and in that moment Lahana lost all of her unjustified hatred for the woman. The princess just sat and stared at the far wall of her chamber lost in her saddness. Allura had not even noticed her guest. Lahana took a couple of tentative steps towards her and spoke in a soft gentle tone.
"Excuse me, Princess. I'm Lahana, his majesty sent me to serve you," Allura turned her head slowly towards Lahana, but said nothing. Lahana didn’t know what to say.
After a short pause, "Is there anything you'd like, Princess?" Allura slowly shook her head no. Lahana sighed. "Well, if you need anything just ask for me. All right?" She didn’t move.
Silently, Lahana walked slowly over to the door. Before closing it, she took one look back at the princess, but she had only turned back to stare at the wall before her. Lahana closed the door and headed back to the slave quarters. She was no longer angry with the woman, she only pitied her now.
To Chapter Three-Ferral Times
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