Chapter Four-
Phantasm
Allura began to open her eyes very slowly. She was afraid of what she would see when she opened her eyes. When she finally got the courage to open them she scanned the room she was in. It was beautiful. The room was large and spacious; the walls painted in an extremely light shade of red, almost so light that they looked white; extravagant paintings covered the walls, and priceless furniture adorned the room. The princess gave a relieved sigh. She had feared that her terrible nightmare was real, and now that she saw the beautiful room that she was in she thought it to have only been a dream. That's when the woman barged in.
"Good Morning, Princess! Remember me, Lahana? I'm here to serve you."
Allura stared at the woman as if she were some odd creature. Lahana's smile slowly began to fade.
"So it was real," Allura said. "I was hoping it was all some horrible dream." There was a long uncomfortable pause, then Lahana spoke.
"I know this has been horrible for you mistress but things will be fine. Nothing will happen to you here, I'm sure. The prince will take good care of you." At that remark Allura turned and gave her a disdainful look.
"That I don't believe. How can things be fine if I watched four of my best friends die? How is that supposed to be good? And Lotor? Him, take care of me?" She gave a bitter laugh. "I doubt it, or at least not in the way that you imply."
That silenced the slave girl well enough. She just stood there and stared for a while not knowing what to say to the princess' remark. She was most likely right about that one. But Lahana also knew that the prince wouldn't let anything happen to his princess.
"Prince Lotor requested that I tell you that you have free reign of the base as long as you stay out of the control room. He said you may venture anywhere but there, and for obvious reasons." She paused. "So if you want a tour don't be afraid to ask. I'll gladly show you around." But there was no answer from the princess. It seemed she had slipped back into the same semiconscious state as before. Well, Lahana thought, I guess I might as well leave. I won't be getting any kind of answer from her. She slipped quietly out the door.
Allura waited until she was certain the girl was gone to move. Of all things she didn't need or want a lecture about how Prince Lotor would take care of her. Maybe Lahana was right, but there was only a small chance of that being truth. The more likely scenario was that the prince would treat her like a piece of property. And when he was done with her he'd just dispose of her like he did the rest of the women that he'd inevitably had. There were rumors she'd heard from people, of course one should never rely totally on rumors, but even her own cousin Romelle had accused him of the same cruelties.
"Well, I guess I'll find out soon enough for myself." she thought out loud. Now she scanned the room again in search of something to get her mind off all the terrible questions swimming in her head. For a time she concentrated on the several paintings that surrounded her. After that she looked through the dresser drawers and closet for something to look at. Two hours passed and now she could find nothing that interested her. Lahana barged in for a second time.
"Don't you know how to knock?" Allura snapped. Lahana looked surprised but Allura was even more surprised. "I'm sorry, Lahana, I didn't mean to snap. It's just all this happened at once and I don't know what to make of it. I don't know whether to still be angry, or sad, or something else. I fear I'll lose my mind soon if things continue to be like this."
"You seem bored, Princess. Maybe you'd like to take that tour now?" She gave Allura an imploring look and waited for an answer. The princess gave a small smile and nodded.
"Anything to get my mind off all this."
Lahana and Allura were now nearing the close of the tour. They had seen nearly everything, except the control room and the slave quarters. It seemed that the princess had actually enjoyed seeing the base, whether it was just because of curiosity or for some other reason Lahana didn't really care. As long as the princess was happy things were fine. She really was truly beautiful when she wasn't worried.
"This is the slave quarters, Mistress. And these are my friends and 'CO workers', Myra, Beth, Elsee, and Kayle."
"Nice to meet all of you."
Lahana had been saving the slave quarters for last because she thought the princess would enjoy it the most -- people for her to talk to. Plus, Lahana needed to see what was going on in the castle. If anything happened the slave girls were the first to hear. She figured that hearing gossip and stories about her enemies would brighten the princess' day a little bit more. It always worked for them. So they all sat down and talked the night away. Late into the night, the sound of laughter could be heard ringing from the slave quarters.
On Planet Doom...
"So, Lotor, how did the attack go?"
"Well father. We demolished Galaxy Garrison as you asked."
"And what of General Gram and the others?"
"All gone, sire. The entire base was destroyed."
"Good. How many slaves were taken from Earth?"
"Nearly 6000 sire. We would have brought more but there was barely enough room for the 6000."
"I'm proud of you, Lotor. You've actually managed to do something right for a change. I'm surprised you didn't bumble this attack like you do all the rest of them. Maybe you are my son after all."
Prince Lotor glared at his father secretly. Lucky for him he was always kneeling when he spoke to his father. Zarkon always found a way to say something that should be a compliment and turn it around into an insult. That was the way Lotor was always treated. If he ever heard words of praise they were soon to be followed by a long string of harsh insults. No matter how hard he tried to please his father it never worked out the way he wanted it to.
"Father, may I have my leave to return to base?" he asked in as calm as voice as he could muster.
"Hmm, I suppose. I doubt you will be needed for anything here but you might send Cossack. I need to talk with him." Lotor ignored the underlying insult and nodded politely. Then he stood, bowed, and left for his ship. Now all he wanted to do was get back to his princess. It was time they had a little talk.
Chapter 5- A Time of Serenity?
Back to the Library
Back to Castle Control
