Chapter Text
She had heard the rumors.
Galra were not subtle, and they certainly didn’t shy away from speaking their minds. They did not censor themselves. Did not flinch at what others might consider more unsavory topics. They were blunt.
Allura could respect that.
But the rumors…stars, they made her want to run and hide on the nearest uninhabited planet.
It wasn’t that she felt pressured. It wasn’t that she feared for her safety or dignity. But at the same time she knew what was…expected of her. Of them.
Takkel Masi.
Children. Specifically the Blood Emperor’s children.
And that involved…certain acts. Acts that she wasn’t entirely unfamiliar with, but this marriage by its very nature was unexplored territory. For the most part it was nice. It was comfortable. Respectful. Everything it needed to be.
Except…well, they hadn’t taken that leap yet.
They shared chambers, shared a bed, spent nights together. She had touched him, and he her, and every time Lotor had been patient, had reduced Allura to a gasping, flushing mess with fingers and tongue. But the rest of him…
That was a different story.
There had been a few nights, a few attempts. They had all stalled before they had made it very far. Allura was not a cowardly woman, but every time she got Lotor unsheathed, the reality of their situation became all too clear.
Lotor was large.
Massive, even. She didn’t know how he measured up by Galra standards, but by Altean ones, he was impossibly thick. Especially at the base.
The zol, it was called.
Damn that thing.
“We don’t need to,” Lotor told her, his voice soft and understanding. Stars knew he had said the same plenty of times before. “Not tonight. Not…not ever, if you don’t-“
“You know we have to,” she insisted. She looked back at him, blanket clutched around her shoulders, and she caught a glimpse of his eyes – gleaming with concern – under a fringe of silver bangs. “If I’m going to…if I’m going to become the Kra Zel Tir, we have to.”
“The title of Kra Zel Tir is an archaic one at best,” he insisted. “Allura…you’re worth so much more to the empire than simply being the bearer of the Takkel Masi.”
“Me becoming the Kra Zel Tir is the linchpin of this treaty. If I don’t…if I can’t…”
“Allura.” His voice was firm, but unendingly kind. Patient. As he’d always been. “There are…there are other ways.”
She shuddered at the thought. Oh, he was right of course. There were other ways, more artificial ways, and they were perfectly respectable. But she didn’t want to do it that way. If she was going to become the Kra Zel Tir – the fertile empress – and bring forth the next generation of the Galtean royal bloodline, she wanted to do so in love, in passion, in the natural way.
Call her old-fashioned, but she couldn’t help her preferences.
“I want it this way,” she said, her hand wandering to Lotor’s thigh. “I do…please don’t mistake my hesitation for unwillingness-“
“I don’t.”
“I just…I’m not sure I can…handle it.”
She felt ridiculous. Of course she could handle it – her body could accommodate him with enough time and effort. But the thought of it, the thought of what they were doing…it made her seize up. Clamp down.
Deny entry, as it were.
Beside her, Lotor swallowed. “Perhaps there is a way,” he offered. “I only hope…well, I hope you won’t take it the wrong way.” He brushed the hair back off of her neck, leaning in to press a gentle, almost chaste kiss there. “There is a custom…an old custom, granted, but one that’s still respected, albeit rarely discussed. The Kara Zor.”
“Kara Zor…” she repeated. The term was strange and foreign, and she rolled it around on her tongue and lips to get a better feel for it. “I…don’t know how that translates.”
“It doesn’t, really,” Lotor admitted with an odd little smile. “But the concept is one that stretched far back through the Galra’s royal history. In the old days, it wasn’t uncommon that the empress would…take on other partners. For various reasons.”
Allura’s eyes widened.
“Trusted individuals,” Lotor quickly added. “Often members of the royal guard. Thoroughly vetted Galra who accepted the title with pride.”
“You’re suggesting I take on some kind of…some kind of concubine?”
“Of course not. Merely…well, perhaps someone could help you…” He took a breath. “Adjust. And perhaps if that person is not me, you won’t be so consumed with thoughts of what we’ve set out to do…”
Allura’s mouth had gone dry, and she got up and dragged the blanket to the bathroom to draw a glass of water. Another partner, a member of the royal guard – someone to teach her how to handle a zol, as if it was a test that she needed to pass before she could graduate to conceiving a true Takkel Masi. It was ridiculous. It was vulgar.
It was…genius.
The thought surprised her.
Every time they tried, every time Lotor went to ease inside of her, she took one look at his face and realized just what the future held. Just what they were doing. The words Kra Zel Tir and Takkel Masi echoed through her head, and the moment she began the spiral it was unstoppable. And next came pain and embarrassment and frustration.
It made taking Lotor’s zol impossible. But if she could experience it, learn what it felt like, learn how to handle it without having to keep afloat in all of the thoughts of the future…
Perhaps it could work.
“I need to think about it,” she said.
“Of course.” Lotor held out a hand. “Perhaps we should sleep on it.”
She nodded, set the glass of water on the nightstand and slid into bed with him.
Movements passed.
Allura…considered the idea.
She turned it over again and again in her head, weighing the pros and cons. Trying to find the best way forward.
The matter would be handled with utmost discretion, but Lotor assured her that it was not a shameful practice. It was anything but. She would not lose the respect of her Galra subjects – in fact, he considered, they may even view it as a sign of respect and strength, her adopting another aspect of their culture.
The title of Kara Zor was not passed to just anyone. There were highly respectable members of the royal guard that would never dream of attaining it. Few had Lotor’s trust – and hers – in a way that would make them a suitable Kara Zor. There was just one name that they both agreed upon, speaking in hushed hypotheticals. And just thinking about it – not to mention saying it aloud, like it might actually happen – made Allura’s face flush so hot that she could barely stand it.
But the more she thought it over, the more she imagined it, the more…normal it became. And if it could get them over this hurdle they faced, then perhaps…
“Lotor,” she called, her lip caught between her teeth when she found him in his study. “I…I think I’ve made a decision.”
He looked up from his screen, his expression perfectly neutral. He waited. She wrung her hands.
“I think…perhaps it would be in our best interest for me to take on a…a Kara Zor.”
With a swipe of his hand the screen vanished, and he approached her and laced their fingers together. “Is it in your best interest, my queen?” he softly asked her.
“I…” Truly, she hadn’t given it much thought. She was more worried about the treaty, about their union, about the future of the empire. Of the bloodline. Her own best interests were the universe’s best interests, weren’t they?
Lotor’s hand cupped her cheek. “It’s your decision, Allura. Not mine, nor the empire’s, nor anyone else’s. The Kara Zor is meant to serve the empress and the empress alone.”
She swallowed. “I…I want to,” she said, surprising herself. “I do. I want to make this work. I want to learn…to experience everything offered to me.”
Slowly, she turned to press a kiss to his palm, feeling his claws grazing her cheek as she closed her eyes. “I want you,” she said. “And everything that comes with you.”
Lotor let out a shuddering breath. “I’ll make the arrangements.”
Three quintants later, Lotor summoned Kolivan to their chambers.
It must have been a strange request to hear, Allura was sure, and straight from the emperor himself, no less. But Kolivan didn’t hesitate. He arrived precisely at the time that was requested of him, and waited at the door when Lotor opened it to greet him.
“Blood Emperor,” he said with a solemn bow and an even more solemn expression. Or perhaps it was nervous. Or intrigued. Allura found it hard to tell.
“Please,” was all Lotor said in reply, stepping aside and gesturing for Kolivan to enter.
Allura found herself straightening her shoulders, as if in an effort to make herself feel taller. It was an impossible feat, given Kolivan’s height. He towered over both her and Lotor, all broad shoulders and long limbs that stretched almost the entire length of Allura’s body.
He bowed to her, more deeply. Trying to reduce the space between them, she wondered? “Empress.”
“Kolivan.” She hoped her voice wasn’t shaking as much as she felt like it was. “Thank you for coming. I know this was a…strange request.”
“Not at all. I go where my emperor and empress command.”
“Your loyalty is unendingly appreciated,” Lotor told him. “But for the record, we didn’t call you here to command anything of you. It’s more of a…request. One that you’re free to accept or deny without any consequence, I assure you.”
Lotor looked at her, and a moment later Kolivan followed his gaze.
Oh.
Oh, of course.
The Kara Zor was meant for the empress. Nobody else. And so she had to be the one to ask.
Stars help her.
She swallowed, threading her fingers together in front of her hips and drawing a breath. “Kolivan…I’d like to ask you…to invite you to become my…” Ancients, her cheeks were burning. Her palms were sweating. Her stomach was in knots. “…my Kara Zor.”
The silence that followed was stifling. For the first time since she’d known him, honest and pure shock bloomed across Kolivan’s face. “E…empress…”
“I-it’s only a request,” she said. Would she feel more or less foolish if he accepted? She honestly didn’t know. “If you don’t feel it would be right…”
She trailed off, and only when she’d been silent for a good several ticks did Kolivan finally speak again. This time, he dropped to one knee. “Empress…you honor me.”
She blinked. “I…I do?”
“Incredibly.” He looked up at her, and even without the irises that she was so used to seeing, she could tell there was fire in those eyes. “If you would have me…yes, I accept.”
Her stomach flipped.
“Oh…”
She looked up at Lotor.
“Um…wonderful. Thank you.”
Just how was she meant to respond to that? Truly, she hadn’t thought they would get this far. She hadn’t bothered to consider a reply.
When Kolivan stood again – how did he suddenly seem even taller than before? – his expression was unreadable. He looked as though he’d just heard the new guard rotation. Certainly not like he’d just accepted the job of bedding her.
“If I may,” he said, “I will need some time. Just a few quintants, to ensure everything is in order, should my absence be required.”
“O-of course,” Allura breathed.
“You have my word, my empress, that I will exercise utmost discretion in this matter.”
She felt a weight lift off of her, albeit a small fraction of the one that still laid heavy on her shoulders. “Thank you.”
When Kolivan had taken his leave – Allura still had no idea how excited he truly was about the whole thing – Lotor slipped his arm around her waist. “Are you relieved?”
“I suppose I am that he accepted,” she sighed. “But we still haven’t…done much else.”
“And you’re sure this is what you want? If you change your mind, there’s no shame in rescinding the offer.”
“I’m sure,” she insisted, and she turned in his arms to look at him. “Are you?”
He blinked. “Me?”
“It won’t…bother you? Me being with someone else…”
“I am the one who suggested it to begin with,” he reminded her.
“I know that. But it was all talk. All hypothetical. Are you sure you’ll feel the same if…if something truly happens? If I’m sharing our bed with a member of our personal guard?”
He squeezed her hands. “Allura. I would not have suggested this if I would have been held back by some sense of…possessiveness or jealousy. If this is the path you believe is best for you, then I support it. Completely and without judgement or resentment.” Gently, he drew Allura’s hand to his lips. “Let your intuition lead you where it will, my queen, and I will gladly follow you anywhere.”
Her face flushed for what had to be the hundredth time that day, but it was not in any way unpleasant.