Keith landed his Doom fighter just outside of where he knew the range of the Castle of Lions’ sensors to be effective. The trek would be a long one to the castle - perhaps two kilometers, maybe more - and he had to hurry; Lotor had a good ten minutes on him.
He had lost Lotor’s signal just beyond the outer limits of Doom’s atmosphere, but he had seen him. Only for an instant, but he had seen him, and it was going to be a race to see who got there first. Fortunately, Keith had the advantage of knowing the locations of the underground tunnels that led up into the castle. His only concern would be that of avoiding castle patrols, but Keith knew exactly who was stationed where, so it probably wouldn’t be much of a problem.
But Keith’s mind was hardly on castle security. Zarkon had contacted him about five minutes short of Arus’ atmosphere.
Someone must have seen him leave; someone other than Haggar. Anyone could’ve reported his departure to Zarkon. No one there trusted him there, and as such, they had been on him like green on a witch since he’d arrived. But it didn’t matter now; Zarkon knew he was here, and Keith didn’t much care that he did.
A single transmission was issued. “Bring her back here, and then we’ll talk.”
Keith took off his helmet. “Over my dead body.”
And it probably would be. Once Keith took Allura to where he knew she would be safe, and he returned to Doom, he would most certainly be punished for his actions. Well, if that would be the end of it, so be it.
Keith unhooked the overhead hatch and began a swift, careful trek toward the castle.
Allura watched the remaining sliver of Arusian sun sink beneath the horizon in the distance. The sky was glorious on this particular night, painted with its golden oranges, reddish hues, and violet hints that streaked the lower sky, charging into the land like the arrow tales of invisible celestial warriors. This was one of those warm sunsets, the kind that leaves you comfortable to just sit and watch until the very last bit disappears.
Allura inhaled deeply. Even the wind was somehow different today, more musical, and as it blew gently across the lake, flashes of reflected light came and went in waves of diamond brilliance. The faint cry of loons could even be heard somewhere in the distance. This was probably the most beautiful sunset she had ever seen, and yet, she was alone.
Allura still hadn’t accustomed herself to the fact that Keith wasn’t watching this with her. He usually took time after dinner to watch the sunset from the observation deck, one floor above her chamber balcony. And although they were never “together” during this time, she always took comfort in knowing that he was there. Always close by.
She sighed.
Deep in her heart, she knew that Lance and Sven would come back from Nebus without him, but it didn’t make the news any easier to take. Lance had been barely able to explain to her what happened. He fought back tears as he told her about having been so close, and then ending up having to leave him there. Everyone had already figured that Nebus had been some kind of set-up, only the answer to the question of why Lance and Sven were allowed to leave…well, that was yet to be determined. Considering the circumstances, they were lucky to have them back safely. They could’ve been two lions down and three friends short by now.
Allura shook the thought from her head, not willing to inflict any more anguish on herself. Sanity hung by a wisp of a willow, and she wasn’t going to be the one to break it.
She looked to the clock on the wall. It would be hours before she would be able to sleep, if she was to sleep at all. Nights had been the hardest these past few weeks. Once darkness set in and the castle became quiet, her demons would awaken to whisper terrible things in her ears.
“Your captain is dead,” they would say, and then they would laugh. “He doesn’t love you. He just came to use you and leave you to cry over him. You think he misses you? If you do, you’re a stupid, foolish little girl.”
“He does miss me!”
“Fool! He’s one the them now!”
“Shut up!” She threw her hands to her ears to block the noise, but all she could hear was the laughing. So loud, so horrible.
She needed to get out of this haunted room.
She left turned and left the balcony, forgetting to close the door behind her.
The Princess of Arus, now very capable at sneaking around her own home, crept to the entrance of the kitchen and peered inside. Luckily, it was empty. The dishes from that evening’s dinner had been washed and put away, and the countertops had been wiped down. No one would be in here until tomorrow morning.
She relaxed and walked inside. Her intention had been to grab another piece of Nanny’s killer chocolate cake, but she instantly decided against it. After all, what good would it do to be anxious and fat. She made her way over to the far end of the kitchen.
Allura wished she had remembered to change into her jumpsuit. Reaching the liquor cabinet required her to jump up onto the counter. She checked behind her – saw no one – and hiking up her dress with one hand, she grabbed onto the cabinet above with the other. With one gigantic effort, she pulled herself up onto the counter top and quickly opened the cabinet.
She eyed the rows of strange liquors before her with pensive thought. She wasn’t much of a drinker, so she didn’t really know what to choose. Then, she saw a label marked “bourbon.” Keith drinks bourbon. She grabbed the bottle and eased herself carefully off of the counter.
After assembling herself a perfect replica of what she remembered the drink to look like, she swirled the light brown liquid as she’d seen done before and watched curiously as ice cubes clinked against one another in a minor frenzy before quieting down. She couldn’t help but wince a little at the bitter aroma that rose up from out of the glass, but before thinking better of it, she plugged her nose and downed almost half of the glass’s contents in one breath. A forceful cough rose up from deep within her belly, but when she was finally able to quiet herself, a pleasant numbness spread over flushed cheeks, and she smiled.
“Wretched. How does he drink this stuff?”
She sat in the empty kitchen for a few minutes, enjoying the bourbon’s quick effects on her tense muscles. After taking a few more sips, she decided that what might suit her best now would be to listen to some music. Recalling the tape player in the ballroom, she headed off down the hall, drink in hand.
“Good evening, Your Highness.”
Allura startled, almost dropping her glass. “Good evening, guard,” Allura replied with her best sober impersonation. She hadn’t planned on anyone seeing her.
The castle guard eyed up the drink that she was trying to hide in her left hand and grinned slightly. “What’s my lady’s pleasure this evening?”
Allura glassy gaze drifted to the glass. “Oh, it’s…uh, bourbon.”
The guard chuckled under his smile. “If I would have known that Her Highness was a bourbon drinker, I might have sent her an invitation to the guard’s weekly poker game.”
The embarrassed princess relaxed a bit. It wasn’t very often that the castle employees talked to her so earnestly. “I’m afraid I’m not much of a poker player.”
“Well, Commander Keith plays with us on occasion,” he replied. “When he comes back, maybe he can teach you a few hands so that you might join us.”
Without thinking, she took another full sip of her drink and looked up to find the man regarding her thoughtfully. “Have faith, my lady. He’ll be back.”
She could only nod. “Guard, what is your name?”
He startled as if instantly remembering something of incredible importance, and he promptly bowed. “My sincerest apologies, Your Highness. My name is Castle Officer Montgomery.”
Allura favored the guard with an amused expression and gestured with minimal coordination. “Don’t do that,” referring to the change in their exchange to formalities. “Your name is ‘Castle’? That’s a funny name.”
Hesitantly, the guard stood. “No, Your Majesty, that is my ranking.”
The slouching princess took another drink. “You can call me Allura. What can I call you?”
“My name is Zachary, Your Majest…Allura.”
“Well then Zachary Montgomery, if Keith comes back, I’ll come to your poker game and drink an entire bottle of this stuff,” she said, taking another full sip.
“My Lady, might I observe that that seems a large drink for such a small woman.”
Allura laughed. “Large drinks for large problems, Castle Zachary Montgomery Guard.”
The tall man nodded with a slow smile and bowed to bid his farewell.
And then as he stood there watching her, she felt her breath get caught in her throat. It was one of those strange moments that can’t really be explained, but for whatever reason, something inside her made her feel as if she’d met him before. He did look familiar in some way. She’d seen him around the castle, of course, but those eyes; they seemed to know her in a way that made her want to get out of that corridor and fast. She found herself nodding to the guard and fumbling in her step to get away.
“Your Highness?”
She turned to find him still smiling at her.
“Yes?”
“Don’t forget to keep the faith, because sometimes, that is all we have.”
She glanced down to her drink, and when she looked back, the guard was gone. Allura took off in the direction of the ballroom, trying to figure out exactly when it was that she had gone crazy.
Allure tried desperately to be quiet, but the clickity-clack of her two inch heels against the hard floor combined with the liquor-induced grace of a ballet dancer wearing concrete shoes, and she entered the ballroom like a dizzy horse prancing on linoleum. Sorely lacking the appropriate balance to walk on her tiptoes, so she forgot about being quiet and starting thinking about what she wanted to hear on the stereo.
Leafing through the large cabinet of Arusian and intergalactic music, she began pulling out her favorites. Despite Lance’s constant effort to turn her onto earthen rock and roll, her favorites tended to lie in the realm of classical music, earthen and other. As a girl, she thought classical dull and tired, but as she grew, she began to appreciate the quiet details of the soft sounds. So much emotion in classical, so much more than in any other one type of music. Sometimes the sound of emotion can speak volumes more than the words of it.
Tonight, she wanted something angry and loud to drown out the voices if they decided to make a reappearance.
“Grieg ought to do the trick,” she said aloud. Putting the tape into the player, she turned up the volume.
For a while, she twirled around in time to the music in the center of the ballroom, stopping only to regain her balance or take a sip of the nearly emptied glass still in her hand, but after a good while, she finally exhausted and sat down in the middle of the floor in a giant puff of pink satin gown. For some reason, she thought it was funny, and she laughed. She then closed her eyes and listened as the music reach a bellowing crescendo.
It was then that Allura began to feel the overwhelming dizziness that comes along with way to much alcohol consumption on an empty stomach, and the room started to spin ruthlessly around her. She thought she might fall over, and she was hoping she wouldn’t be sick.
And then suddenly, there were arms around her.
Someone had found her and was going to take her back to her room. Good. She needed to sleep this off. Only when she opened her eyes did she realize that she was in more trouble than she could’ve ever imagined.
He wasn’t even looking at her. He was too busy checking out the surroundings as he was making their way out the back corridors to the outside exit.
“Put me down! I’ll scream, I swear I will!”
Lotor set her down but kept her arms in his forceful grasp. “Tell me it’s not true! Tell me that it’s all a lie!”
When Allura finally turned to look at him, she was immediately startled. Something about his abnormal manner had her curious. If she had her wits about her, she might not even have noticed; she would have been too afraid.
“What’s not true?”
Lotor then did something that came across as very odd to her, even in her altered state. He let go and sat down on the floor beside her. “All I’ve ever done is love you, and this is what I get for it.”
Allura then had a revelation. This was a dream. Of course it was! She had way too much bourbon, and she was having one of her token scary Lotor nightmares. She stood up and began making her way back into the ballroom, but from behind, she was grabbed forcefully by the arm.
“Ouch! That hurts!” Pain. You don’t have pain when you’re dreaming.
A sudden panic filled her six senses. She writhed in his grasp, but despite her best effort, he was successfully pulling her toward the door. She tried to scream, but he had his hand placed firmly over her mouth.
She thought quickly. And then she remembered…her shoes! With one free hand, she reached down, pulled off her right heel, and with one giant effort, she struck him square in the arm that held her fast.
Emitting a loud pain-filled grunt, Lotor unwittingly loosened his grip just enough for her to break free. Instantly, she kicked off the other shoe and tore off into the ballroom.
Allura thought about running for the door, but she knew she wouldn’t make it. She could sense him right on her heels. Spying the empty bourbon glass on the ballroom floor, she ran over and quickly snatched it up. With every bit of balance and coordination she could muster, she turned around squarely and released it. It hit his forehead and shattered, stopping him in his tracks.
In stunned silence, she watched him watching her as blood trickled from the fresh cuts on his face. And then she took off running again. The main exit was too far, but there was an alternate exit at the top of the grand staircase that was closer. If only she could make it.
By this time she had forgotten to scream. Every bit of energy was going into running. Oh, why did she have to drink so much? After an endless climb, she finally spotted the exit. But it was not to be. He had her in his full grasp now. He pulled her backside to him and held her so tight, she almost couldn’t breathe.
“I’m taking you away from here,” she heard him say. “We’ll go away together and never come back to this horrible place.”
She could smell the heat and blood on him, and she meant to scream, but all that came out was a tired sigh.
“It’ll be alright, my love. But we must leave now.”
Out of desperation, she took hold of the top banister of the staircase and held on for dear life. She was involved in a human game of tug-o-war, and she felt her fingers slipping.
“Let her go!” A booming voice echoed off the vast walls of the empty ballroom in every direction.
“Fool! Get out of here! She’s no longer yours!”
Allura looked up, and she almost didn’t believe her own eyes – against all hope, he’d come back.
“Keith!”
Lotor pulled her very firmly to him and whispered in her ear. “He means to harm you. Father sent him to take you back to Doom.”
“Liar,” she replied under strangled breaths.
“I told you to let her go, Lotor! I won’t ask a third time.” The former Captain drew his blaster and began to slowly make his way to the foot of the staircase.
Lotor ignored the heed but kept a constant eye on his approaching enemy. “Allura, you must come with me now.”
In one monumental pull, Lotor tore her from the banister. He lost his hold on her for only an instant, but despite reaching out for her outstretched arm, he watched her as she began a long, horrible tumble down the winding staircase.
She remembered the sensation of falling. She remembered Lotor calling her name, and the rustle of Keith’s cape as he ran up the staircase to catch her fall.
And then she lay there. No pain; no feeling at all. If she hadn’t heard the voices minutes later, the familiar voices of her loved ones, she would’ve forgotten where she was. They sounded worried. How much she wanted to call out to them - tell them she was fine - but her lips were still. At least she knew that he was there. At first she could feel him by her side; then he was gone, along with the others, and she felt herself floating away.
**Author’s Notes: Much thanks to the lovely Claire Francisco for the use of the name and character of “Zachary Montgomery.”**