#romellia

Krolia had always had problems with her sense of self-control.

This, she had been informed of many times, was a bad quality in a Blade of Marmora member. Krolia always defended herself by saying that most of her impulsive actions did not actually occur in the field, though she did rely on her intuition from time to time. Her impulses struck her most frequently out of the action, when she wasn’t focused on the immediate danger of a situation; for example, trying to wrestle Antok barehanded…or having a child on on a planet where her entire existence needed to stay under wraps. It had always worked out eventually.

“Are you sure this is a smart decision?” Romelle said as she climbed into the cabin of the Altean ship behind Krolia, taking the passenger seat. “I told you, I really don’t know how to pilot.”

“Well, I do,” Krolia said. “The only thing I don’t know is how to read Altean. If you tell me what the controls say, I think we can work out a system.”

Romelle still looked hesitant. “If you say so…”

“Good.” Krolia pointed to a clutch located in a prominent place on the dashboard - could be an ignition starter. “What does the label on that say?”

Romelle leaned over to look at the button as she strapped herself in. “Well -  that one says ‘brake lock.’”

Piecemeal solution or not, they were prepared to lift off by the time Allura called for them all to depart. Liftoff was a touch shaky, as one might expect in any old ship, but once they had broken through the atmosphere the shuttle kept up fairly well with the Lions. Krolia waited until they were a few minutes out before she eased up and took some of her focus off of the steering; they looked to be in the clear for now, and the others would warn her of any approaching environmental hazards.

She looked over at Romelle, who seemed to be staring off in thought - while still looking in her direction. “Penny for your thoughts,” she said, borrowing a human idiom.

“Hmm?” Romelle blinked, then sat up. “Oh. Well…I was just wondering why you decided to pilot the shuttle instead of stay in the Black Lion. I would have thought you would want to stay with your son.”

Once, Krolia would have agreed utterly. After two years of living together - separate ships seemed like a good distance test. “He’s entirely capable of handling himself,” she said. “Besides, I think him and Shiro needed some alone time right now.”

Romelle’s brow wrinkled. “Oh. Well, wouldn’t it be more helpful to have someone else on board the Lion, in case Shiro needs medical assistance?”

Krolia barely kept herself from chuckling, though she couldn’t resist a slight smirk as she looked over at Romelle. “I mean that they need some alone time.”

“Oh!” Romelle seemed to catch the meaning that time - her eyes widened, and she flushed, her pale cheeks going pink. Alteans and humans had that in common, it seemed. It was cute. “Oh, I see.”

Krolia didn’t respond. After a few moments of silence, Romelle finally seemed to arrive at the question she wanted to ask. “Then - are the other Paladins, in their Lions - ”

This time, Krolia definitely chuckled. “Not that I know of. But I don’t ask them about their business.”

“Oh.” 

Romelle went quiet. When Krolia glanced over, she was fiddling with a strand of hair from her long blonde twin tails. She was a little awkward in the area of personal relationships, it seemed, as well as obviously unfamiliar with the world outside her little colony. But just because one could be a little awkward didn’t mean they were inexperienced. Roy had proven that well enough. 

Krolia shook herself a little, pushing that thought to the back of her mind as she felt Romelle’s eyes land on her. After a few ticks of the gaze not shifting Krolia looked over at Romelle.

“Are - ” Romelle swallowed audibly as she went pink all the way to her ears. “Are we - ”

Oh, dear stars. Krolia swallowed the laugh that bubbled up in the back of her throat. Though to be honest, it wasn’t as though she found the thought of Romelle laughable. Far from it, with her brilliantly violet eyes, her long, silky hair, her lithe form - and okay, Krolia was ending that train of thought there. But it was sweet how flustered she was.

A spontaneous thought wondered how much more flustered Krolia could make her.

“I hadn’t planned on that,” she said gently. “Unless you had?”

As it turned out, Romelle could go even pinker. “I-I was just wondering!”

“I’m flattered, either way,” Krolia said with a smile. “Though I doubt you’re much older than my son.”

Romelle huffed a little at that, crossing her arms. “I’m a hundred and two decaphoebs. I reached my majority ages ago.”

“Ah,” Krolia said, thoroughly mollified. “That’s fine, I suppose.”

When she turned back to look at the starry windshield, she got that unmistakeable feeling of being sized up in return after looking someone over, the gaze of two people evaluating one another. It was the way Krolia had looked over her fellow cadets when she had been looking for someone else to burn out a post-battle high with, before she joined the Blade and all her battles became secret. The way she looked at something when there was an impulse dancing in her fingertips.

This time, Krolia was the one to look over. “Were you planning on it?”

Romelle looked down at her feet. “No,” she muttered. “But I…I wouldn’t have minded if that were so. At all.”

Krolia - well, she couldn’t entirely suppress a twinge of pleasure at that. Who wouldn’t be proud of admiration from someone young, pretty, and clever? Despite her honest reaction, she forced herself to give out a more mature response. “Like I said, I really do appreciate the thought - really. And if we weren’t stuck here…well.” She shrugged. “What I mean is, until we find some form of civilization, this is about as much privacy as we’ll get. And I still need to focus on piloting.”

Abruptly, Romelle leaned over the dashboard, pushing an innocuous button located underneath the steering controls. It beeped, and the ship subtly steadied itself. Krolia looked over at her in surprise.

“That,” Romelle said shyly, “is the autopilot.”

The two of them looked at one another over the dashboard. Krolia studied Romelle, taking in her still-pink face and her cute but practical clothing, and factoring in the possibility of seeing her blush with arousal instead of embarrassment; the possibility that she would get to see her with that clothing off. Impulses, impulses, impulses…

“Five doboshes,” Krolia said. She started unbuckling her seat harness as Romelle stared on, wide-eyed. “To start with. I want to come back and check on the autopilot then, just to be safe.”

Romelle nodded, hands quickly fumbling with her own harness. “And after five…?”

Unfortunately, Romelle doesn’t start this story much better off than she did in canon. She is a princess, but after losing her mother at her young age, she grows up lonely and withdrawn from court life. In an attempt to please her, her father the king marries a baroness who professes a desire to become her new mother, but shortly afterwards dies as the result of a hunting accident. Since Romelle is still considered young and inexperienced, her stepmother is made her regent.

Her stepmother recognizes that Romelle is the only thing keeping her from claiming the throne herself, and soon reveals herself to be cruel and conniving. She goes out of her way to make Romelle miserable, using threats to keep her under control. Romelle wants to escape badly, but has no idea where to go, as everyone else seems to find the queen charming and kind. During this time, she suffers a series of dark dreams which, while far from nightmarish, become increasing mysterious.

Once a year, their kingdom holds a grand tournament where knights from all across the world are invited to attend. Romelle usually finds it a boring event, but this year one of the challengers stands out to her: a knight adorned in black armor, who refuses to remove their helmet or give their name as anything other than ‘the Raven Knight.’ The unknown knight proves themselves to be a fierce warrior, ending the tournament with many prizes, but instead of claiming their glory in front of the royal court, leaves quietly in the dead of night. The next morning, Romelle wakes to find a messenger at the door with a gift for her, apparently from the strange knight: an ebony casket adorned with amethysts and rubies that contains a portrait of a strikingly beautiful woman - one dressed in black armor.

Romelle immediately recognizes her face from her dreams. When she falls asleep that night, she dreams of the knight, and this time is able to communicate with her. The knight bows and introduces herself as Krolia, a knight of the dark fae; years ago, Romelle’s mother had won a boon from her, and asked that Krolia would protect her daughter should she ever be orphaned and left to the mercy of the world.

Romelle is overjoyed to finally have someone by her side; while they determine Krolia visiting Romelle in her true form would draw too much attention, Krolia visits Romelle daily in the form of a raven, and guards her from the daily cruelties of her stepmother. They find a deep solace in one another: Krolia finds a reminder in Romelle of how it feels to see the world through curious new eyes, and Romelle is charmed by Krolia’s steadfast dignity and strength.

Unfortunately, Krolia’s job becomes more difficult than anticipated as the age of Romelle’s majority approaches, and her stepmother’s attacks begin coming with lethal intent. Krolia thankfully shields her from them, but despite not knowing why her attempts have been unsuccessful, the queen realizes that her stepdaughter’s pet raven is somehow in her way. In the night, the queen places poisoned knives in Romelle’s window, and true to the queen’s plan Krolia injures herself as soon as she lands, forcing her to retreat back to the Fae and leave Romelle unprotected.

Romelle knows something is wrong as soon as Krolia fails to appear in the morning. Desperately worried and with nowhere to turn, Romelle seeks out the castle’s own flock of ravens, bribing them with her jewels to find out what could have happened. They tell her that Krolia was poisoned by the queen, and had to flee back to the land of Faerie lest she risk dying; because they know Krolia cares deeply for Romelle, they also tell her that they overheard the Queen saying that the poison can only be counteracted by the venom of three young snakes.

That very night, Romelle leaves the castle. The road to Faerie is long and twisting, and she travels until her once-fine gown is filthy and torn and her silk slippers are worn through. Along her journey, she encounters three snakes who, for the price of her story, give her their venom and help her along the path. When at last she makes it to the land of Faerie, she comes to Krolia’s estate, a black castle surrounded by a alien landscape and full of otherworldly retainers. Despite her bedraggled condition, Romelle presents herself as having a cure for their sick mistress, and Krolia’s retainers bring her to Krolia’s sick bed, where she lies close to death.