It was a peaceful day on Planet Arus; Zarkon’s forces had just been trounced by the Voltron Force a week ago and were still reeling from the defeat. However, even as a rare quiet settled over the planet, the Castle of Lions was bustling with activity as everyone prepared for a grand Ball in honor of the Princess Allura’s twentieth birthday.
"Your Highness, what are you doing out here…
you’re supposed to be inside your room, having your gown for tonight pinned
and altered!" Nanny huffed marching into the rec room, eyes wide upon seeing
the Princess consulting with the rest of the Voltron Force. "Everything
has to be perfect – most of all you!" She placed a hand on Allura’s arm
and prepared to drag her bodily out of the room.
Allura’s groan was heard over the laughter of
her friends. "Nanny, please, the gown will be fine," she pleaded,
gently taking Nanny’s hand off her arm. "What we’re discussing here is
much more important."
"More important than your own birthday Ball,
impertinent miss?" sniffed Nanny, hands planted on her hips. "And after
we’ve gone through so much preparing and all…"
Coran cleared his throat hastily, seeing that
Nanny was about to go into an attack of the vapors. "Uh, Nanny, it is a
matter of diplomatic nature that we are discussing. It is very important
for Allura to be here among us as we plan for…"
"What Coran is trying to say is…" Pidge interrupted and grinning mischievously, preparing for the explosion. He paused dramatically for effect. "Some important Prince is coming to visit us, and he’s arriving in a few hours!"
Coran, forgetting to be dignified, shot Pidge a glare. The vapor attack was unavoidable now.
"Today! Today!" Nanny wailed, putting her
hands to her cheeks in an expression of horror. "It can’t be… there’s the
party to prepare for and chambers haven’t been prepared..."
"Well, we can’t really do anything about
it, Nanny," Allura reasoned, trying to soothe her distraught governess.
"Short of turning Prince Balcos away, just because it happens to be my
twentieth birthday." She smiled. "Look at it this way, it would just
be like preparing for Romelle, Sven, and Bandor if they had been able to
come." Allura’s friends form Planet Pollux could not attend the party because
they were too busy rebuilding a village that had been recently attacked
by a Doom fleet.
Nanny frowned and shook a fist at the unseen Prince Balcos. "Whoever that Prince is, he sure does not have any manners. Imagine, coming here unannounced. On the Princess’ birthday, no less! A polite prince would be considerate enough to inform us in advance that he would be coming," She looked at all of them over. "Well, I better see what’s happening in the kitchens now – and ask them to prepare for more guests if that Prince Balcos is arriving. And you all better make sure that you have proper clothing for tonight or I’ll personally see you all locked up in your rooms." With that Nanny picked up her skirts and stalked out of the room.
Inside Allura was breathing a sigh of relief – although she did enjoy parties as much as any other young girl, she didn’t think that giving such a lavish celebration just for her birthday was right. The only way Nanny was able to convince her to go through with it was to tell her that it was to be open to all the villagers near the Castle. And that it was tradition for every princess to celebrate her coming of age.
"Whew!" Lance said, laughing. "Nanny sure is a whirlwind. Never thought anyone so old could move like that."
"Ssshhh! She might hear you, then we’ll really get it," Hunk said, glancing towards the door just to make sure it was closed. "If she comes back in here we’ll never get to hear the rest of this Prince Balcos thing. So, Coran, where did this dude say he was from?"
"Planet Falkor, in the Canis Galaxy – and you’d know that if you had paid closer attention to our intergalactic star mapping lessons at the Academy," Pidge told him. "It was attacked by Zarkon many years ago, but their king was a strong leader and managed to snatch it out of Planet Doom’s slimy clutches. Isn’t that right, Coran?"
"Actually – the reason that Falkor was able to escape Zarkon’s forces was with the help of our forces, led by Allura’s father, King Alfor. During the time, Prince Balcos and his mother were sent to live here until the danger passed," Coran explained.
Allura laughed delightedly. "Oh, I remember him! We used to run around the Castle, knocking down many of Mother’s figurines in the process – until our parents all got fed up and locked us up in my room for one whole day." Her eyes glowed with the memory of much happier days.
"And he’s coming here for a visit?" Lance
asked. He glanced towards Keith and wondered about the stony look their
Captain had on his face. It had always been in Keith’s nature to
be silent; unless he had something good to say. But in the course of time
they had been together, Lance had never seen this kind of expression on
Keith’s face unless he was in the thick of battle. Coran had met
him earlier to inform him about this Prince Balcos’ impending visit, and
Lance had seen it on Keith’s face as the rest of the Voltron Force entered
the rec room for a hasty conference.
"Actually, he’s coming here to ask for
an alliance between our two planets," Coran answered carefully, glancing
at Allura. "He needs our help. It seems that Zarkon has taken new interest
in his planet, and he needs the protection of the Voltron Force."
Allura stood from the seat she had taken across Coran and moved towards the window, frowning thoughtfully. "But, Coran, if what you said about the historical ties between our planets is true, then he already is our ally. I don’t see why he has to come here and ask for assistance when…"
"Actually, what he wants is to marry you, Princess," Keith suddenly said from his seat, startling everyone. They were his first words since they entered the rec room. His face was carefully expressionless. "He wants an alliance with Arus and the Voltron Force, and he means to forge your planets together with a bond of marriage."
Indignant, Allura whirled around to face him. "That’s absurd! I have no intentions of marrying anyone but…" Her voice trailed off when she saw the expression on Coran’s face. "No, Coran… you can’t mean… he can’t mean…"
"It’s true, Your Highness," Coran replied. "Prince Balcos has requested for your hand in marriage. He is demanding it, in fact – in the name of your father. He says it was promised by your father when you were still children." He sighed heavily. He hadn’t wanted to break the news to her in this way, but Keith had thrown the gauntlet.
"Wait a minute," Pidge interrupted. "What makes you so sure this guy is legitimate? We’ve been fooled about these things before."
"That’s true," Lance said, frowning again. "It could be another one of Zarkon’s nasty surprises."
Coran shook his head. "No, I know Prince Balcos from way back. I was, after all, already serving King Alfor when he first came to Arus, and I can vouch for him. Besides that, I have already had confirmation from Galaxy Garrison regarding his identity – he attended the Academy just a year after you, and his files there are intact and open for us to see."
"What about the story about Falkor being in danger, does it check out?" Lance asked.
"Falkor is too far for our own scanners to pick up energy build up around it, but according to input I requested from Galaxy Garrison, a huge Doom armada was hovering over Falkor just yesterday," Coran explained. He sighed seeing Allura’s mutinous expression.
"But, Coran, don’t I have a choice in the matter? My planet still needs me – I fly the Blue Lion, and I don’t have time to marry anyone… at least, not yet. And certainly not someone I don’t know!" the Princess exclaimed, a troubled frown marring her brow.
"You wouldn’t have to pilot the Blue Lion
anymore. There is the stipulation that, as your husband, he will be allowed
to pilot one the lions and be trained to be a member of the Voltron Force
in your place," Coran said solemnly. "You, as Princess of Arus and as your
father’s daughter, are honor-bound to keep his promise."
"It can’t be… I will not be forced into
this…" Allura’s voice trailed off as she suddenly realized the repercussions
of refusing the Prince’s proposal – especially if her father had sanctioned
it. She slowly returned to her seat and sank down weakly. The whole rec
room was heavily silent; everyone was too stunned to react to Coran’s last
statement.
It was Keith who broke the spell by standing up abruptly. "If the Prince is arriving in a few hours, we better get busy. Lance and Pidge, make sure that air space monitors are carefully situated around the Castle and watched. Intruders could take advantage of the distraction an entourage could provide and enter the Castle undetected," he ordered.
"Will do," Lance replied for both of them because Pidge was still muttering in indignation.
"I’m going up to Castle Control to check
out the land surveillance units. Hunk, please follow me as soon as you
get your jaw off the ground," he added. He paused in front of the door
and looked at the Princess, who still had a dazed expression on her face.
"And, Princess -- happy birthday." At that, he managed a feeble smile and
left the room.
"You better be telling me the truth, old witch, or I’ll have you retired and thrown into a pit of skulls so deep, none of your magic can save you," muttered Zarkon. "I am tired of losing to the Voltron Force. How can five young idiots keep on foiling us every time? Have your magic explain that, witch."
"Don’t you worry, Sire, our forces from Falcor are all set to enter the Planet Arus. My spies tell me that everyone in the Castle is too busy preparing for the Princess’ party to notice that a part of our fleet has already entered Arus’ air space. They have a nasty surprise waiting for them, poor, stupid little weaklings."
"And what do you have planned, Haggar?"
"Why, Sire – the Princess Allura’s wedding, of
course."
"Man, Keith, I sure would hate to be that dummy," Lance said dryly from behind him, making him whirl around instinctively, gun aimed and ready. Lance stepped back and held out his hands. "Whoa, Captain, I’m your teammate, remember?"
Keith slowly lowered his gun. "Is anything
the matter at Castle Control?" he asked, getting ready to aim again.
Lance looked at his friend closely as he fired
another laser beam. Right between the eyes again. Keith always had the
eyes of an eagle; he was an incredible shooter – and just as incredible
a swordsman. Lance had come down to the training hall to invite Keith to
a fencing match to let off some of his steam, to wind down after double-checking
castle security for tonight, but seeing Keith like this, he didn’t think
it would be so wise. After all, he just wanted to practice – he was too
young to die.
Keith turned to find Lance looking at him silently and cleared his throat. "Lance?"
"Maybe I should be the one who should be asking you that question, Keith. Are you alright?"
Keith shrugged. "Why shouldn’t I be?" he asked, aiming again. "How are the Castle defenses holding up? Did you check the air space monitors the way I told you to?"
"Keith, everything is fine," Lance replied. Except you, he added mentally, inwardly shaking his head at Keith’s change of topic. "We detected nothing on the monitors and the land patrols have been on full alert since this morning, in preparation for the party. Prince Balcos will be arriving just before the Princess is scheduled to make her grand entrance into the Castle ballroom. Nice timing, huh?"
"Yeah." One more laser beam, right on target.
"Lord, Keith, have mercy on the dummy, won’t you?"
Startled, Keith fired again – and the beam went straight through the dummy’s nether region. Lance winced. Something was bothering their commander big time, and Lance had his suspicions about what it was, but Keith wasn’t saying anything to confirm it.
"Keith, you’re my friend. I know that you don’t feel comfortable talking to people about your feelings – hell, neither am I – but if you’re really being bothered by something, it’s best you talk about it," Lance said in a rush, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably.
Keith’s frown softened, and it seemed to Lance as if Keith was recalling something in what Lance had just said. The moment passed, however, and the expressionless mask moved back into place.
"Thanks, Lance – but I’m okay, I really am," Keith said after a pause. "Don’t worry, if I need to talk, you’ll be one of the first to know."
Talking to Keith right now is like talking
to a stone wall, Lance thought to himself. He shrugged, but he was still
worried about Keith. The next laser beam went straight through the hole
between the dummy’s eyes. Lance winced again and left the training hall.