“I’ll hear you when you’re calling
I’ll catch you when you’re falling
Don’t worry I will always be there
Like never before...”

Asia – Don’t Cry (1983)

CHAPTER 23
Hours later…

When Romelle came to she found herself in a dark tunnel. She was lying face down on a pool left by the rain. Her body throbbed with pain. It hurt even to think, but it was impossible not to. Her thoughts turned to Lotor hitting her savagely…and taking her again…and again…and fresh tears spilled over her face. Would Bandor and the Voltron Force be able to rescue her? Maybe that demon has told them that she’s dead. She closed her eyes and fought back a shout. ~I have to go on…my brother needs me…my planet needs me~. She then began to shiver violently, the temperature was coming down rapidly and she crawled at the last patch of light coming from the edge of the pit.

Meanwhile back at the surface…

Prince Lotor came out of the castle. He was still gloating over Romelle’s punishment. “Poor little Princess Romelle!” he sneered. He then turned to the guards. “Guards! Let’s make sure she didn’t survived the fall” he said. “Yes your highness” they replied and reached for some shovels and lanterns. They went back to the pit of skulls. The Drule commander said, “We must abide by his wishes, or he will have our heads. Shovel with all your might!” he said and they began to remove the skulls, while Lotor looked on from afar.

It was already dark. Romelle could barely keep focused on anything in this cold. Everything in her mind was becoming fuzzy. She heard heavy steps walking towards her. She raised her head and saw a tall lone figure carrying a candle. ~I must be dreaming~ she thought. She closed her eyes for brief moment and then opening them she looked on as the figure stood in front of her. It was a man with long black hair. He was wearing a light blue shirt and a pair of navy blue slacks. The passive expression on his face turned to one of shock. ~It can’t be! I must be mad!~.

She stared at him for a few moments. ~Those eyes! I’ve seen them before!~. She was overwhelmed with fear and quickly stood up and tried to run away. “Please – don’t come near me!” she cried. But he ran after her and blocked her way. “Don’t…” he cut off her cry with his free hand. “I’m not going to hurt you!” he whispered loudly. She widened her eyes. “I’ll let you go if you promise not to scream”. She nodded slowly and he lowered his hand. A faint smile appeared on his face. “Don’t make a sound or they’ll come for you”.

“W-who are you?” she asked nervously. He turned his head to the left and said, “They’re coming! Let’s go!”. He blew off the candle and reached for her hand. Lotor and the guards entered the tunnel. “HEY YOU!” a guard yelled. Lotor became enraged. “FOOLS! BRING HER BACK!”. They ran after the couple, while firing their laser guns. “Someone is with her…it looks like a Terran!” the commander said. “A TERRAN?! DON’T LET THEM ESCAPE!” Lotor bellowed.

The pursuit continued. He took her along a maze of tunnels. Romelle felt that her legs would give up any minute. Suddenly, she stumbled and fell. He came to her aid and lifted her up. “Come on! We can’t waste time!”. A few minutes later they reached the end of the tunnel. He pushed her into a cave and crouched down against a wall.

“You’re safe now” he said. “I-I’ve seen you before” she said while trying to catch her breath. He turned away from her, toward the mouth of the cave. “You’re wrong. We’ve never met” he replied curtly. ~Why did he save me then?~ she wondered briefly. “I’m princess Romelle from planet Pollux”. He whipped around and saw her. ~It’s Romelle! It isn’t a vision after all! What is she doing here???~. As if she could hear his thoughts she said, “I was Lotor’s prisoner. He tried to force me to marry him”. He frowned. “You as captive, and I as slave…have experienced absolute evil from Lotor”. She lowered her head and her eyes glistened with tears. “He’s worst than his father” she said.

She started to shiver and folded her arms around herself. “I’m c-cold” she said shakily. He stood back up and looked down at her. “I’ll start a fire”. She gazed at him while he was building the fire. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she had met him before, but where? His voice sounded familiar. God! She was so confused! She was a bit afraid of him, but he had rescued her from Lotor and she was grateful.

She was forcing herself to stay awake, but her body wouldn’t agree with her. She crawled over to him and burrowed against his warm, solid body, leaning her head on his shoulder.

“I’m so tired and cold”.

“You should sleep” he said while looking intently at the fire in front of him.

“What about you?” she said softly.

“I’ll be fine Princess” he replied.

“Thank you for rescuing me” she whispered and snuggled closer to him. He felt lost for a few moments, but then his arm locked around her back. A few minutes passed and she drifted into the land of dreams without realizing that he was lovingly stroking her hair. He then gently laid her down without a word. He gazed at her sleeping figure and noticed the bruises on her face and arms. Something wet trailed down his face and splashed a tiny drop on his hand. More tears fell…some now on her blue dress. ~I dreamed of you so many times. I wanted so desperately to see you again, but not this way. I’ll take care of you, I promise~.

CHAPTER 24

He looked into her terrified eyes and smiled with glee. “You will give yourself to me”. He covered her body with his own. “I’ll take you again Romelle” he whispered huskily and then kissed her neck. She started to struggle to free herself and screamed, ”PLEASE! SOMEONE HELP ME!”.

“PRINCESS! WAKE UP!”.

As she opened her eyes, she saw the concerned face of her savior with no name. “You were having a nightmare. Are you all right?”. She sighed with relief and buried her face in his chest and sobbed, “Lotor was trying to rape me again!”. He clenched his teeth and fought back tears. HIS Princess had been beaten and raped by that bastard! He placed his arms around her and took a deep breath. “I’ll never let him hurt you again” he said in a soothing voice. She didn’t know why, but she believed him. “Why are you so nice to me?” she whispered. “Because you’ve been through a lot” he replied. ~And because I love you~ .

She continued to cling to him. Soon her sobbing became little sniffles, and after a while her body finally relaxed. He gently laid her down and smiled softly at her. “I’ll be back” he said. A few minutes later he returned with a cup of water. He knelt beside her and caressed her cheek. Her eyelids fluttered…and he jerked his hand away from her. “W-what’s wrong?” she whispered. “Shh…just let me take care of you”. She nodded mutely. He then ripped a piece of cloth and rinsed it. He then placed it on her bruised cheek and she closed her eyes. Those bruises on her face couldn’t hide her beauty. He wouldn’t let Lotor touch her again, not even if he had to die for her.

She opened her eyes. “Thank you, I feel much better”. He smiled slightly and continued to move the cloth over her face. “What’s your name?” she murmured. He tensed up. “That’s not important right now, you must rest”. She blinked. “I’ve seen you before”. “Please – no more talking” he said in hushed tone. She closed her eyes again and smiled softly. “All right. You can tell me later”. He smiled to himself and thought that princess Allura was right, Romelle doesn’t give up that easily. But soon his smile faded and his eyes blazed forth in fury. He was going to kill Lotor for this aggression, but first he needed to take care of her.

INTERLUDE 4

King Zarkon sat on his golden throne. Sitting at the base of the stairs that led to his throne was Hagar. “Where is that foolish son of mine?” he sneered. “I suppose he’s still looking for Princess Romelle. The guards told him that a Terran rescued her from the pit” she replied.

“I thought he was going to defeat the Voltron Force and conquer Arus soon, but instead he’s only thinking about those wenches. They’re going to be his downfall”.

“Sire – give him time. I’m sure he’s going to give you a surprise very soon”.

“He has failed so many times, maybe I’ll do to him what he did to Yurak, turn him into a robeast and force him to fight Voltron”.

“That’s an interesting idea” she cackled.

Zarkon reached for the armrest and pressed a hidden button. Minutes later, Cossack entered the throne room. He knelt down at the base of the stairs.

“Your majesty?”.

“Cossack! Where’s my son?”.

“Prince Lotor went to planet Azur for some rest and relaxation. You know, he’s been under a lot of stress lately and I suggested that he should take a few days off and…”.

“SILENCE!” Zarkon shouted.

Cossack bowed to him. “Yes sire”.

“Call my son and tell him that I want him to return as soon as possible!”.

“Very well your highness” he said and hurried off.

“Azur! Bah! I should have destroyed that planet years ago. That’s where I met Lotor’s mother. Stupid bitch! Why did she leave me?”.

“Maybe because she was tired of the constant abuse” Hagar mumbled under her breath.

“What did you say?”.

“That maybe I should go back to my laboratory. I’ll find a way to conquer Arus and Pollux”.

“You do that. Perhaps without Lotor’s interference we can achieve victory”.

“Yes sire”.

But Zarkon and Hagar didn’t know that Cossack had lied. Lotor wasn’t in planet Azur, he was in Drule, talking to Marshal Kezor. Lotor told Kezor that he had spent all these years away from Doom conquering planets and building his forces. He had even assimilated many of his father’s own planets. Kezor had to admit that Lotor was the most ruthless conqueror in all the galaxy, not Zarkon.

Lotor wanted to overthrow his father, but there was still much to do before that. He had to destroy Voltron and bring the Voltron Force to their knees. He had a great plan to destroy Voltron, but he needed the support of the Drule Empire. Kezor realized that Lotor would be a great ally and offered to help. The two men agreed that the day of reckoning for Arus and their neighbors was coming…very soon.

To Part Eight

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