Quintants passed with little progress, and no word on the demonstration. “That is still under consideration,” was all they could get from the Council, and Shiro was getting worried. He didn’t like being cut off from his team in unfamiliar territory. He didn’t like the feeling of constantly being watched. He didn’t like having to keep his guard up for this long.
	The one good bit of news was that Allura seemed to be winning over Giani, in private, at least. She was making some good inroads with Welx as well. But even if she managed to sway both of them, that left three voices against. They needed one more.
	Hing was the obvious choice, but they kept so much to themselves that Shiro wasn’t convinced they didn’t have some way of just disappearing after meetings. He directed his attention to the secretive councilor but could learn nothing. It just made him envious. It’d be nice to disappear, to teleport, to become invisible. No point in longing for things he couldn’t have.
	Cohabitating with Allura was becoming easier. He hadn’t had a night terror yet, and while that tended to make him feel he was overdue for one, it still meant that, even with the strange bed and the shirt and the extra person – and that extra person being Allura – he was sleeping better than he’d expected. It still took him a little while to fall asleep, but once out, he slept well.
	Sometimes, he’d discovered, Allura twitched in her sleep. He watched her eyelids flutter, her brow furrow, and her lower lip tremble. At first, he’d just looked away, unsure of what to do. After this happened a couple of times, he finally reached over and put a hand on her shoulder. He’d intended to rouse her from what looked like a bad dream, but that hadn’t been what had happened.
	As soon as he touched her, she calmed. She snuggled in closer to him and the stress eased out of her face. In the morning, she seemed to have no recollection of the event, and he didn’t know whether or not to bring it up with her, so he’d let it drop. But each time she started to twitch, he calmed her now, and watched her drift back into untroubled sleep at his touch. 
	This is dangerous. But he only thought that way in the clear light of day (what daylight they had in the Diplomatic Palace). At night, watching her ease away from fear and draw nearer to him, he was just happy: that she could sleep, that he could help her, that he was doing something good for her. And that was, of course, what was dangerous.
	They had a semi-comfortable domesticity going on, troubled only by the fact that they were veritable prisoners and that their “domestic routine” was actually neither of those. They were on another planet and the only routine was the constant circumlocutions of the Council. Trade was, as expected, the sticking point, and they were sticking to it quite well. 
	They’d been there for most of a movement when it happened. The Council took one of their usual breaks. Shiro followed Allura out of the conference room but as soon as they stepped out, something caught the corner of his eye: Allura’s earrings were flashing. More than that; they were flashing in a pattern. A pattern he recognized.
	He put a hand on Allura’s shoulder and whispered into her ear, “We need to find somewhere private.”
	“Here? Now?” They glanced around and, seeing no one in immediate eyeshot, she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the nearest doorway. 
	The room was a mini-museum with display cases full of artifacts from Grashnaria’s history. Their tour guide had gone over all of them, of course. Such a room was bound to have cameras, but then they were assuming the entire Palace was bugged. 
	He shut the door behind them and tugged Allura to one side before pushing her back against the wall. “Shiro!”
	He put his hands on the wall either side of her, then bent towards her ear. “Guys, what is it?” he hissed quietly.
	“Oh good, it worked,” Pidge’s voice whispered through Allura’s earrings.
	Allura froze for a moment, then put her arms around him as if encouraging the embrace. For the cameras.
	“I told you it would,” Shiro could hear Keith say in the background.
	“What’s going on?” he asked. “We don’t have much time, and you guys are not supposed to be contacting us like this.”
	“This is important,” Hunk declared defensively.
	“Get on with it!” Lance insisted.
	Pidge’s voice took over. “First of all, we can’t reach you guys unless you’re on the top level. When you go downstairs, we’re lucky to pick up a stray word or two. Also means we can’t see if they’re spying on you, but whatever they’ve made those lower levels out of is really good at blocking signals. The Blue Lion can get a layout of the place, but that’s about it.
	“Second of all, they’re transmitting.”
	“They’re what?” Allura asked.
	“We don’t know who’s receiving, but they are transmitting what goes on in your meetings to someone,” Pidge insisted. “Someone off-world.”
	“I don’t like this,” Shiro muttered.
	Hunk’s voice broke in, “And third of all, someone’s heading your way!” There was a soft click – presumably the team having ended their transmission – and Allura tensed. Her superior Altean hearing was likely picking up the incoming footsteps.
	Shiro swore quietly as he pulled away from Allura’s ear. He looked into her eyes, wondering which of them would come up with a way out of this first. She seemed lost, staring at him, and he couldn’t help wondering, Did I look like this when I was watching her descend the stairs towards me? She blinked out of her trance and turned her head towards the door; whoever it was must be drawing nearer.
	He made a snap decision and tucked his face in against Allura’s neck, kissing her there. She gasped despite the high neck of her cape being between his lips and her skin – or maybe she was just playing the part. 
	“Someone’s going to catch us,” she said, perhaps a little too loudly, sounding far more breathless than she should have been, as if they’d been at this for a bit.
	He couldn’t think of an answer, so he just pushed her collar down. “Forgive me,” he whispered against her throat, but if he could manage to leave a mark that just peeked out over the edge of the collar, it would sell the deception that much better. He kissed her skin softly in apology before sucking hard.
	She gasped louder; her hands balled into tight fists in his borrowed clothes. “Shiro,” and her voice was tremulous, almost pleading, and for a moment he forgot about everything else. His name on her lips, the way she had said it… it shot through him like a bullet.
	And then the door opened and there was a significant throat-clearing. Shiro broke away from Allura to turn to the sound, channeling his inner teenager-caught-necking-by-the-parents. 
	It was Hing.
	“I… did not mean to interrupt.” They cleared their throat again and shifted their weight uneasily.
	“N-no, no, it’s quite alright, Councilor,” Allura said, hurriedly righting her clothes and pushing past Shiro to smile at them. “We, uh… shouldn’t have been…”
	“I need to speak with you both. Alone. Tonight, after dinner. My room is on the second level, the door between the tapestry depicting the Unification and Lohmer’s rendering of Ketsendohn.” And then, as abruptly as they’d come in, they left, shutting the door behind them.
	Shiro looked to Allura in confusion. “Please tell me you paid better attention to the tour guide than I did.”
	She laughed. “Yes, well someone had to. I know where to go.”
	He sighed in relief. “Good. Uh… we should probably…”
	“…get back to the conference room soon,” she finished for him. “I agree.”
	“Um, about that… just now…”
	“You did good work,” she said, and then he saw her cheeks flare. “I mean, it was fast thinking to… Oh, you know what I mean.”
	He couldn’t help smiling. At least he wasn’t the only one feeling embarrassed. “I know what you mean.”
	She leaned in towards him to ask quietly, “How did you know the paladins were attempting to contact us?”
	He glanced around but didn’t dare leave her curiosity unsatisfied, not after the last time he’d denied her an answer. “Your earrings flashed. Not like normal when you’re receiving a transmission; they were flashing Morse code.”
	“Morse code?”
	“It’s an old Earth code, very basic, but very adaptable to different tech levels and situations. The Garrison still teaches it, in case of system malfunction or failure. They were sending the word ‘alert.’”
	She beamed and kissed his cheek as if they’d been flirting again. “Clever. Let’s get back.” She booped his nose and moved away.
	He nodded and began to straighten his clothing out, but she reached out and grabbed his hands, pulling him into a hug. “Wait to do that until we’re walking out the door,” she suggested in his ear.
	“Right. Good thinking.” He kissed her cheek this time.
	They broke the embrace and he headed back out into the hallway before smoothing out wrinkles and casting guilty looks around. She just walked with stately elegance past him towards the conference room, as if she had never done anything wrong in her life. But, just before they reached the door, she turned back to him and winked mischievously. Just to sell it to the cameras… and to whomever else might be watching, wherever they might be. 

	“You enjoyed that,” Shiro accused her as they headed downstairs.
	“Dinner? It was quite good.” But she was smiling smugly.
	“You know what I’m talking about, dear.”
	She snickered. “You mean talking around them the same way they’ve been talking around us all this time? Giving them a taste of their own medicine and using a lot of words to say nothing? Because I certainly did no such thing.”
	He snorted. “Oh no, of course not.” He’d gone back into the conference room after the break expecting things to be tense, but Allura had apparently decided that being spied upon in return meant she could do as she pleased. And what pleased her was apparently vengeance.
	They’d gone from the negotiations straight to dinner, as usual, and he hadn’t been able to say anything about her behavior until now. “You owe me,” he told her.
	She stopped in the second level hallway, turning to look at him. “Owe you what?”
	“I had to hold in laughter. I had to keep from rolling my eyes. I couldn’t even grin! Do you have any idea how hard that was?”
	She patted his arm consolingly and then leaned in to kiss his cheek. “I’ll make it up to you later, dear.”
	That killed the mirth a bit. He cleared his throat and hoped his blushing would fade before they got to Hing’s door. “We need to focus up anyway.”
	She nodded. “I’m not sure what to expect. I don’t want to get my hopes up, but it’s hard not to. What if they’re coming around to our side?”
	“Well, we’ll see. Which door is it?”
	She sighed and pointed down the hall. “The Unification tapestry is down this way. Honestly, Shiro, I’m surprised at you! You should have been paying attention.” She set off in that direction.
	Naturally, he kept pace with her. “I was paying attention to other things – like potential exits and possible threats.”
	She rolled her eyes. “You’re overprotective.” There was no teasing in that; she meant it.
	And he replied honestly. “I’m exactly the right amount of protective.”
	“Ugh. Paladins,” she huffed. She stopped outside a door and knocked politely.
	The door opened almost instantly and Hing waved them inside. They stepped in and Hing shut the door behind them. Their suite was larger, with more personal touches: holopics of smiling faces, childishly crude paintings of family, more color.
	Hing did not seem happy to be there. “Thank you for coming. Forgive my rudeness, but this is urgent, and I am…” They paused and looked down at the floor. “I don’t even know what I am. Afraid? Hopeful? I’m not sure.”
	Shiro exchanged a glance with Allura. Speaking of emotions this openly was not normal for Grashnarians.
	Hing seemed to know it, too. They gestured to a couch. “I’m sorry to say all that to you. I am like those I represent. I was not raised here, and I am not highborn. Things are simpler in the country. But I am babbling. We must get to business.” They sat in a chair.
	Shiro made sure Allura sat first before seating himself. “What is it?” He probably shouldn’t have asked, should have let Allura take point, but apparently they weren’t standing on ceremony here.
	Hing looked Allura in the eyes. “You are prisoners here. You have been brought here with lies, and the Galra are coming for you.” Their gaze shifted to include Shiro. “Both of you. Tespod thought your marriage quite convenient. He will have a second present for Zevox.”
	Shiro’s blood had started running cold as soon as the word ‘prisoners’ was out of Hing’s mouth. I knew it. It was something he’d rather have been wrong about.
	Allura seemed made of stone though. “The Grashnarians have no weapon or method to repel the Galra.”
	Hing nodded. “The Galra left voluntarily and started this lie to lure you here. Even now, they are gathering their reinforcements. Zevox is the commander in charge of this sector. He wishes to present the princess and her Lions to the Emperor. Or at least the Black one, if nothing else.”
	Shiro thought back to his Lion, shielded and waiting just beyond the city walls. It’d be simple enough for a Galra cruiser to haul up. They’d have a hard time getting in, of course, but just having the Black Lion …and its Paladin. And Allura.
	“Why are you telling us this now?” Allura asked them.
	“I cannot withstand the lies. I went along with this because I was worried about my people. The Galra have had us under a stranglehold for so long. Tespod made this deal with Zevox, hoping for his own personal glory. Frex I’m not sure about, but I know Giani and Welx went along with it for the same reason I did: it might win our people better treatment. You’ve been through the city; you’ve seen what it’s like. 
	“This city lives a beautiful lie and tries to push aside the truth that we are dying. Tespod no longer cares about his people; he cares only for himself. But he has the backing of the Galra, and we… we are defenseless. There is nothing we can do to stand against him, so we try, as best we can, to help in what ways we are able. It isn’t much, but it’s better than nothing.”
	It was more than Shiro’d ever heard Hing say at one time. It was full of contradictions to the ways he’d been told to communicate with the Grashnarians. It was frank, straightforward, and there was a plea to Hing’s tone that begged for understanding.
	“I do not know how to help you,” Hing finished. “And I cannot aid you openly. The Galra know all our families. They have not made a threat against them, but…”
	“It’s implied,” Allura sighed. “I understand.”
	“Thank you for telling us,” Shiro said. “The truth is a good starting place.”
	“Your bravery in coming forward with this will not go unrewarded,” Allura promised. “We’ll do everything we can to help you and your people.”
	Hing seemed confused. “You are still prisoners here. The Galra will come when they have a large enough force.”
	“Let us worry about that,” Shiro told him. “Fighting the Galra is what we do.”
	They sighed. “For what it’s worth, I wish you luck. The stories of Voltron have been heard here. It’s hard to believe them; you were right to say that rumors can be exaggerated. But… I would like to believe them, very much.”
	Allura rose elegantly to her feet and smiled reassuringly. “We will prove ourselves to you – and the Galra. Believe that.”
	Hing showed them to the door. “Please, do not reveal that you know, or, at least, that you found out from me.”
	“We’ll keep your secret,” Shiro promised.
	“Oh, and can I ask? It… might seem silly, but have you tried the fruetana yet?”
	“Oh, no, we haven’t actually,” Allura said apologetically.
	Hing ventured a hesitant smile. “My family is renowned for their fruetana. Please try it and let me know your honest opinion of it. They are all quite curious about whether aliens would enjoy it.”
	Allura beamed back a smile. “We’ll go have some right now. Thank you for letting us know. About everything.”
	Hing nodded and held the door for them. “Thank you for listening. Honest opinions on the fruetana, please!” That last was a little loud; Shiro wondered if it was for the benefit of whoever might be watching from the hallway.
	Hing had been very frank in their suite; either they didn’t think it was bugged or they knew it wasn’t. What point was there in bugging someone solidly under your thumb? Shiro wasn’t sure Tespod – or the Galra – were that trusting. But Hing apparently believed it to be true, as paranoid as they seemed to be about any public spaces.
	“One last thing,” Hing said from their doorway.
	They turned back to face them. “Yes?” Allura asked.
	“You might want to be more careful where you choose to have your dalliances. You two would have sent Frex into seizures at the impropriety earlier today, and Tespod would probably have been convinced you two were up to something more nefarious than just romance.”
	Allura blushed. Well, at least I’m not the only one, because he knew his face was hot. He just cleared his throat as Allura forced a giggle. “Thank you for the warning. I was already planning a stern lecture for Shiro on controlling himself.”
	Shiro shot her a Look for that, which she ignored as she waved brightly at Hing who finally closed the door. 
	“Oh, I’m getting a lecture, am I?” Because they were in public, and he was willing to trust Hing’s paranoia.
	“After we try the fruetana,” she declared, heading back towards their rooms. “Hing’s on the verge of being insulted by our thoughtlessness.”
	“Is there a way I can change your mind on that?”
	“The fruetana? Not a chance.”
	“Not that. You know what I’m talking about.”
	“Well, maybe if you take some time tonight to think about what you’ve done…”
	He shouldn’t. He knew he shouldn’t. But it was on the tip of his tongue and it was too good not to say. “…instead of what I could have been doing if Hing hadn’t walked in on us?”
	She was walking ahead of him, but he saw the tips of her ears go red and grinned. Of course, he was blushing, too, but she couldn’t see that. 
	“Yes, definitely do not think about that.” 
	“As you wish, my princess.”
	She sighed. “You’re impossible sometimes.”
	“You married me.”
	“I had little choice,” she shot back in mock-irritation. 
	He couldn’t help laughing. She was enjoying herself; it rang through her voice like a bell. He didn’t need to see her face to know she was probably smirking or grinning.
	“You always had a choice. You had your pick of anyone in any galaxy.” 
	She stopped and turned back to face him as they came out onto the third level. “And yet I chose you.”
	“For which I am eternally grateful.”
	“You should be!” she declared, before sticking her tongue out and marching off towards their rooms.
	He jogged to catch up with her. “I am, I am! How should I prove myself to my princess?”
	“Not in public. Getting caught once today was enough.”
	“I was just asking a question!”
	“You’re impossible.”
	“You like it.”
	She huffed. “Unfortunately, I do.” 
	Shiro blinked. That… sounded genuine to his ears. She probably just means the banter. It is fun. Or she didn’t mean it like it sounded, or I heard her wrong or… or SOMETHING. 
	She opened the door and walked into their rooms; he hurried after her and made sure the door latched securely behind them. She headed straight for the freezer drawer.
	He wanted to talk about what Hing had told them. Maybe they didn’t bug their room, but ours? Still can’t be sure. He wished the paladins had been able to hear all that. It certainly explains the transmissions; they’re broadcasting the meetings to the Galra.
	Honestly, it wasn’t a bad plan at all: they were isolated out here, away from the Coalition’s aid. Voltron was the most powerful weapon in the universe, but it needed all five pilots. Their marriage cover had given Tespod and the Galra the perfect way to get him away from his team.
	All because of my screw-up at the ball. All because…
	Allura pressed a box of fruetana on him. The lid was off, and it had a small wooden spoon stuck in it. “I picked one at random for you.”
	“Allura, I’m… so sorry.”
	She cocked her head. “For what?”
	“For all of this.” He looked her in the eye and willed her to understand. He couldn’t explain when they might be overheard. 
	It took her a moment, but realization lit up her eyes. “You don’t have to be sorry.” She took his free hand in hers. “I’m not. I’m not sorry for any of it.”
	“I didn’t know I’d be making things so much worse.”
	“Stop berating yourself. We’ll figure something out.” She smiled. “We always do. Together. That’s why I married you.”
	A smile started to tug at one corner of his mouth. “I don’t deserve you.”
	“Yes, you do.” She squeezed his hand. “You always have.”
	He swallowed hard. Don’t make the same mistake again. Too late. He was staring. He knew he was staring. She was so close, her hand in his – his own hand, not the Galra replacement – and she was smiling at him. She wasn’t dressed like some goddess of the cosmos, either. He couldn’t blame anything this time except himself, and no matter how much he tried to push it down, the realization surged through him.
	This is a bad, bad time for this.
	But would there ever be a good time? They were fighting for peace, for freedom, fighting to restore hope to the entire universe. And that fight could very well claim their lives. They might lose here, now, on this very planet. And if they did… 
	There was never going to be a good time for this. Having realized it, his impulse was to say it. He didn’t like hiding things. He didn’t want to wait. He could, if he had to – years of training and self-discipline had taught him how – but some part of him was still that impulsive young boy who wanted to go out into the universe and see the stars. Even if – and maybe because – it was dangerous.
	He knew this feeling. He knew it from a childhood spent looking through a telescope when he should have been asleep. He knew it from the jealousy he’d had watching the heroes of sci-fi shows explore the galaxy. He knew what it felt like to be consumed and to give yourself over to it willingly. He knew what it was to be so deeply in love that you couldn’t imagine yourself without it.
	He licked his lips. “Allura, I…”
	“Oh, our fruetana will melt if we just keep standing here!” She stepped back, pulled her hand away from his, and shoved a spoonful of it into her mouth.
	Reality fell in on him again, and he shook his head. “R-right. We can’t have that.” He followed her example.
	It was good. A little bit like ice cream, but chunkier. “It’s… it’s like spicy fruit? Strawberry,” he said.
	“But cold,” she agreed, nodding. “This one is almost too sweet for me.”
	“Here, let’s switch.”
	They literally ate away the rest of the evening with fruetana sampling. Allura liked them all but had two favorites, the ones Shiro called “mint rain” and “sweet lettuce.” She devoured both of those boxes by herself, but fortunately, those were his least favorites. He found one that tasted like citrus snow, somehow, and found it very refreshing after the somewhat heavy dinner they’d had. He classified them by his own tastes: spicy strawberry, citrus snow, mint rain, candy ice (the one Allura had found too sweet) ... She had her own names for them, but he gave up trying to pronounce the Altean words with a semi-frozen tongue. They tasted and swapped and ate until he was sure he was going to burst, and that was when Allura left him to clean up, heading to the shower.
	Once that was done, he tried to meditate and, for the first time in a very long time, failed utterly. His heart was full of his feelings for Allura, his mind full of trying to figure out a way out of this trap they were in, and his stomach was full of fruetana. Eventually he homed in on the most important of the three.
	I can tap out some Morse code for the team once we’re on the top level. Hopefully Allura’s earrings will pick it up. So that covers getting the info to them. But that still leaves the question of what to do. I can’t get to my Lion. They’re not going to let us leave.
	He was still lost in thought when Allura came out to let him know the shower was free. He nodded and walked past her into the bathroom, still pondering. He worked on it all through the shower, through drying off, through getting ready for bed. 
	He didn’t think of anything else until he walked out of the bathroom into the bedroom. Even then, it took a second for his brain to tap him on the shoulder. Allura’s staring at me.
	“W-what?” he asked. He felt fine, aside from his worrying over this problem. Nothing seemed to be physically wrong that his brain could identify, but that didn’t mean anything.
	She swallowed. “Um. You… forgot your shirt. Dear.”
	He looked down at himself. “Oh, sorry. Force of habit. I was thinking and…” We might be under surveillance right now. “…you know I prefer sleeping shirtless.”
	She blinked. “Yes, of course, but you haven’t been lately.”
	“Would you rather I put my shirt back on?”
	“No!” She blushed. “I mean, if this is how you’re comfortable, i-it’s fine.” She forced a grin. “If any of our hosts come to the door, I’ll be sure to protect your modesty.”
	He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess I just keep surprising you today, don’t I?”
	“Stop thinking and get some sleep,” she said instead, still blushing. 
	He felt more nervous approaching the bed now than he had the first night. Now that attention had been drawn to the fact that he was shirtless, it seemed he could feel every scar on his skin burning under her gaze, mementos of violence and trauma in his life, most of it at the hands of the Galra.
	I won’t let them do this to you, he silently promised her as he slid beneath the sheets.
	She curled up against him, as she had been doing the last few nights. But tonight, she draped an arm over his body. And she surprised him by whispering in his ear, “I won’t let the Galra hurt you again, Shiro. I promise.”
	He was stunned for a second, but then he smiled. “Thank you. And I promise you the same.”
	“Good night.”
	“Good night.” He closed his eyes. His plans for the next quintant filled his mind almost instantly, but he shoved them aside for now. She was right that he needed to rest. He basked in the lingering taste of fruetana on his tongue and the soft sounds of Allura’s breathing next to him. He let himself melt into sleep.
~End of Chapter 3~