She glanced across the small pond with only the moonlight to aid her. The air was still. Barely a sound. Where the hell was he? He was often late to their many trysts, but never this late. But, she knew if she left he would come... So she waited. She wondered if the members of the Polluxian council knew of their scarlet past. What would they say? Well, once Avoc was King there wouldn’t be much that they could say.
She listened to a small bird sing its morose night time song. Did it know they were going to war tomorrow? Were not birds fabled to know what was happening in the heart of those nearby? Or maybe it was a magpie. Death. Best not to look.
Suddenly she heard a soft sound from behind her. Footsteps. Could it be him? Still a ways off, though. She remembered not to long ago when he had sent their younger brother, Bandor, to tell her he would not be able to meet with her. How embarrassing! After that she was sure Bandor knew what was going on, or at least knew as much as a ten year old mind could comprehend. Insipid Bandor. Poor boy. He tries so hard.
She glanced around the steppe looking for a covered place. She ran over to a large tree only a few feet away. She ran her fingers over a place in the hard surface where Avoc had once carved their secret names. She knew it was silly, but it still touched her.
She listened and knew the footsteps to be too heavy for small Bandor. She would teach Avoc a lesson for making her wait.
Avoc entered the clearing and quietly whispered her name...”Romelle? Romelle-damnit.” He looked around despirately.
She laughed to herself as she plunged out from behind the tree and toppled her half brother over on to his stomach. He probably knew she was still there. He was just putting on a show for her. She sat up on his back and ran her fingers through his long hair as she whispered into his ear:
“Some warrior you are. You can’t even take to me!”
“We’ll see about that.” he said as he rolled over on top of her, careful not to suffocate her, and placed his lips upon hers. She wrapped her arms around his thick torso as she began exploring his handsome face with her lips. How she loved these moments alone with Avoc.
“What took so long?” she finally whispered brushing a red lock of hair out of his eyes.
“Romelle, you know we have much to do in preparation for tomorrow. After I - we - defeat Voltron tomorrow, Arus will be ours. All ours.” Did he dare tell her of their plans to overthrow Zarcon after wards. No, she would not like that. She was always a bit more reasonable than the rest of them.
“Oh, I see,” she replied, appalled. She certainly didn’t like this whole business with Zarcon. She wasn’t sure he was one to be trusted, she knew he had no intentions of sharing Arus. She pushed Avoc off of her and sat beside him. “You don’t really plan on going through with this, do you?” she said pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. Their father, King Cova, had talked Avoc into becoming one of Zarcon’s horrible Robeasts. Yes, maybe he was the best warrior ever to grace Pollux, but this was different. She knew her father had a polluted mind, but this was beyond reason. Jeopardizing the life of his eldest son like this.
“Romelle. You know I have to. I’m the only one who can restore the dignity to our house that Arus destroyed. There’s no other choice.”
“Of course there is! There are thousands of other ways to take care of this with out putting your self in such danger. This is horrid, what you plan on doing.”
“Romelle, don’t you want revenge for our mothers deaths. We will make Arus crawl for what they did to us so many times. Romelle, you were just an infant during that last attack. Only days old. You could not remember the pain and suffering they caused. they took your mother away from you. They stole that priveledge right from under your nose. They must suffer like we have, and I will proudly be the one to do it.”
“But, turning yourself into a Robeast.” she whispered.
He wrapped a strong arm around her head and softly pulled her to him. She placed her hand on his sculptured chest. A mighty Warrior. She knew that pride was the infectious disease that he had caught from their father. “My love, we both know that I am the only person strong enough to fight Voltron. Just think, once he has been defeated, and Arus is ours once again... you will be my Queen and there will be nothing to stand in our way.”
“Avoc, I think father is planning on promising me to Zarcon’s son, Lotor.” A shudder ran through her. That man was pure evil. After first encountering him in the arena yesterday he followed her everywhere. Of course, the attention was flattering, and he was very beautiful to look at. But, he would not shut up about another girl. Someone named Allura. How rude! He kept commenting on how much they had resembled one another.
His devoted attention to Romelle had not escaped the greedy eye of King Cova. He instructed Romelle to do what ever the Prince wanted. She escorted him to the arena, to dinner, and then tonight a private dinner. Just the two of them. The way he stared at her sent chills up her spine. The man was a heathen. When dinner was over she took him on a tour of the castle. On his request, of course. When the Prince noticed that they were indeed alone he threw roughly Romelle up against a wall and leaned his entire body up against hers. He had her trapped!
“What are you doing!” she shrieked. She tried her best to push him away, but he was just to big. He wrapped his arms around her and began kissing her violently. His hands began to wonder. Did he just call her Allura? In a panic she hit him between the legs with her knee. He could have had her head for that, and father probably would not even be troubled by it, but she didn’t care. She had never been treated so rudely before. She escaped him and ran as fast as she could to her and Avoc’s pond.
She didn’t dare tell Avoc what had happened. He would have stormed back into the castle and hung the Prince Lotor in front of everyone. She would tell him later, maybe.
“Just go along with it for now. When I am King of Arus tomorrow and you my Queen, Zarcon will no longer be a worry to us.... He hasn’t imposed on you has he?”
“Oh, no,” she lied.
A single tear rushed down her face and created a wet spot on his white shirt. She had a horrible feeling about this. And most of the time, her intuition was right. Avoc was to be turned into a Robeast in the morning. There was no way she would be going to see that. She wished she had been able to change his mind about this whole mess, but there was no stopping Avoc once he set on something. She felt this would be the last time they spent together. With out a word she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into the grass beside her.