A Woman Grown - Two

Running..it felt both exhausting and yet exhilarating at the same time. It was dark still, not long until dawn, but Allura's eyes had adjusted to the darkness and she welcomed it.

Running..a basic thing really. Running free..running wild..running with the wind in her hair - if she took out the hairpins that held her hair up in the proper princess bun. The breeze in her face was a cooling one and yet her skin felt hot. There was an urgency here - run for her freedom, for her very life, for Arus too.

Lotor is coming..Lotor is coming..run..run..run..

Her pounding footsteps seemed to echo those words the further she ran, but then then they seemed to change of their own accord.

Free...free..running to be free..Allura's heart seemed to sing. She wished she were near Castle Lake now - she'd simply throw off all abandon and plunge into the icy lake with nothing confining her. She'd feel the water on her skin, the way goosebumps would prickle up when she'd hit a cold patch. The delicious sensation of floating free, unhindered by gravity. Flying Blue Lion was almost that way too. It was the only freedom she had really and even then she knew it couldn't last forever. Soon enough she'd be married off or Queen and then -

Allura stopped to rest, bending over to hunker down on her knees - a most unladylike posture according to Nanny. God, she was stupid. Running off without taking her small container of water. But she had been in a hurry and now she was thirsty. Well there was nothing to be done for it. She knew that near the Painted Caves was an ancient well that drew off an underground stream. In the ancient days of Arus, it had been an encampment of Queen Ariella's forces when she fought to regain the planet from the Viscount and would be king, Aerus.

She could just hear Nanny's fussing and screaming when she discovered that she was gone and a part of her wanted to go back. Another part of her did not, fearing that her father was right and that if she did go back, she'd just be humilated again. She couldn't take that anymore.
But her thoughts were jumbled as she thought about the merits of simply turning around and going back. She could face Lotor and she could face Nanny and Coran, stand up to them and tell them all that she was a woman who would one day become Queen of Arus on her own merit alone. But then again, would she? Would she instead try to sneak back into the castle, go back into her room and pretend that she had been asleep all along like the good little girl she was? Go back and hear Nanny's apology that wasn't really an apology because after all what she had done was for Allura's own good?
Allura swallowed hard and a moment later she began to run again - not sure if she was running to or from something..

Lotor had a good vantage point from where he stood. His tall figure was silhouetted against the tall trees and his cruiser was close enough to reach to make a clean getaway with the princess.He saw the Painted Caves nearby and smirked. Soon enough Allura would be his - and so would Arus and his father's empire. He deserved it after all the humilations he had endured under Zarkon.

Pampered son. Ha! If only others knew of what he had to go though for those very things. Riches, wealth and planets he had conquered. Beautiful and willing women were the crown jewels in his harem, but was he really free? No, he was not. Even when he had been successful at conquering planets for his miserable father, the old bastard still had to always put some insult or derogatory tone into his compliments - like mixing a dollup of poison into the sweetest wine, turning it bitter. Oh he was a grown man but to his father, he was nothing but a tool. Heir. Heir to what? To be bossed by his father until he was married to some simpering girl whose family happened to have connections? Never mind that he loved Allura, oh no. To his father, that love was weak and -

He sighed. It did make him weak. Weak enough to come here and try to convince her one last time to become his Queen. If he had been strong he would have took Allura a long time before this. Sated his appetite for her until she would have been another nameless pleasure in his harem. She wasn't though and he knew this in his heart. She was beautiful, but she was brave to stand up to his father's might - and his own stubborn desire to have her for his own. She was noble - foolish perhaps - but noble enough to save her planet from ruin. In battle she was not as adept as a seasoned warrior would be, but she held her own with a tenacity that few women possessed. Those were the qualities that he wanted for his Queen. Once he had daydreamed of her at his side, dressed in wedding finery and he had thought that it wouldn't matter if she wanted to be by his side or not. It did matter though, he thought with a pang. It did matter to him that she not look at him in fear and loathing. She thought him a monster because he was quite proud of the cruel things had done. In truth he would give everything just to have her accept him - no love him - even if he didn't deserve it.

Lotor shook his head angrily and he straightened up, his pride pushing through the tangled thoughts. He DID deserve her! After all, HE had conquered most of his father's planets, didn't he? He was worthy to be admired and worshiped.

~Are you, Lotor? Are you?~ A niggling of self-doubt slithered into his mind, but he ignored it by scanning the horizon for any sign of her. Perhaps she had changed her mind or perhaps she ran elsewhere! If he looked for her in his starcruiser, he was sure to be spotted and that wouldn't do at all.

And then she appeared. Lotor's eyes brightened at the joy of seeing her all alone. Now would be his chance!

Chapter Three
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