Chapter Text
Here again in a long, boring Council meeting. Why was Lance even here? He wasn’t the one about to be ruling the country in a few years anyway, and he just wanted to be outside again. Long sheets of rain pelted the crystal windows from the storm in a dull roar, partially drowning out the Chancellor’s speech at the head of the table. Lance caught snatches about relocating troops and Balmeran crystal quintessence production. Someone else, Allura, maybe, kept asking questions about the pace of the production of a new fleet of ships. There were some smattering of answers.
These things dragged on forever. Each participant of the Council tried their very hardest to appease the Royal Family, each one trying to outdo the other for favor. They were all power hungry pigs. Lance really had no say in these things anyway. The second born child was just kinda there. He was here mostly for appearances. At some point a servant came by to give everyone a cup of Nunvil. Lance took his cup and thanked the servant, though he wasn’t going to drink it. He hated Nunvil despite everyone saying he should love it. It may be the nectar of the gods, but in Lance’s point of view, they could keep it.
Lance looked everywhere but the table. A huge crystal chandelier hung above them, casting a warm sort of light over the room in a dazzling display of reflected beams. The ceiling was painted with frescoes of the gods in their awe inspiring beauty. Vadus, god of archery and lightning, shot his lightning bow over the sky of Lady Allonis, the Mother of the Sky. The Three Gods of Love smiled down from the clouds, all wearing purple, the color of love, decorated with the bracelets of marriage. Marriage. Lance wouldn’t think about marriage right now.
The walls were decorated with portraits of dead Council members. Belles. Cyonos. Adelia. Ryma. Many more names, many more portraits. Each was shrouded with a sheer pink curtain as a sign of respect to those lost. Pink was the color of the dead.
His mother wore pink. Most wondered if Queen Fala was well when they saw her coloring. But Lance knew the real reason why she donned the color of the dead every day, and he had sworn not to tell anyone. Not even his sister.
But these surroundings, however, were not enough to keep him from hearing the words that snapped him back to reality.
“How fares Crown Prince Lance’s marriage alliance?” Councilman Tarin asked. Lance felt a sick sensation rear up in his chest that spread to the rest of his body.
“It is going smoothly,” Councilwoman Mast responded. She turned to look at the prince, locking his blue eyes with her vivid green. She was his favorite Council member by far but he hated that she was the one holding the key to his freedom. Just one click and he would be chained down.
“I am pleased to announce that the Kingdom of Thalmor has accepted our marriage offer. It is noted that Thalmor holds considerable strength in its walls and has defeated the Galra invaders off of its territory. It will be a valuable ally in the war.” Mast announced smoothly. Not one hint of emotion crossed her face. “Their princess will be coming to stay the customary two months with us in five weeks. We will have every luxury available to her for this visit. They will be married at the Starlight festival for the whole kingdom to watch.”
Lance tried to catch Allura’s eye, giving a glaringly obvious eye roll. Allura gave him a dirty look. They couldn’t let the council members know about how much Lance hated this idea. Hated how little control Lance had over his own life.
Instead Lance had to smile. Pretend everything was fine. Pretend that a marriage he didn’t want was the best thing in the history of ever.
“Crown Prince, do you find your marriage agreeable?”
This was what he had to look forward to now. A Starlight festival ending with chains to another person.
Forever.
Lance let himself betray no outward emotion. “Of course, Councilwoman Mast.” Poisonous words. “I accept.”
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Lance flopped down on his bed, sulking. This was the side that no one got to see, and he reveled in the fact that there was no cameras in his room. The last thing he needed was someone watching his sleep. A few times he had heard of an Altean hacking into the castle mainframe and watching the family do everything. Eating. Dancing. What creeped him out was the fact that whoever that Altean was had been watching him and his sister uninhibited.
His rooms were large and spacious. The walls were painted ocean blue with patterns of birds and stars. Adorning the ceiling were string lights of soft blue Balmeran crystals carved in the shapes of stars and planets, glowing blue with quintessence. His bed frame was made of petrified wood run through with bands of blue and fire opal, reflecting the light of the glowing planets. Burning in the corner was a stick of jasmine incense most likely put there by the servants. In the corner was a overflowing wardrobe filled with clothes he had found at the Gold Sage marketplace. A jewelry box held glittering necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. Large bay windows gave him the view of the Garden, all green and flush with cultivated life.
It was in here Lance could do whatever he wanted without judgement, without shame, and without any regard to anyone. And right now, he felt miserable.
Marriage. What an ugly word. Sure, this princess might be beautiful and charming and maybe he’ll grow to like her enough to continue the bloodline of kings, but it wasn’t on his terms. It wasn’t his choice. He was the backup sibling that only took over if Allura were to spontaneously combust. He wasn’t groomed to rule anything. He was the pretty face to give speeches to the crowds, kiss babies, and die without truly living.
He buried his head into an embroidered pillow at that depressing thought. He loved his sister, loved his life, but hated the rules and expectations weighing on him at every move. Crown Prince, lift up your chin. You must always look confident. You cannot wave at the crowds.You must never run. Always walk. Never laugh. Never cry. Never do anything.
Hell, he had never been outside of the Royal Walls. He knew very well that in his city of Ismiria there were three rings where people lived, and farms stretching far outside the walls to supply the city and some parts of Altea with food. He didn't even know what an ocean looked like.
He also knew that with each outlying ring, the wealth of the people grew smaller. The Outer Ring was where most of the poor and destitute lived and worked in the factories. It was also where he was most likely to find taverns, brothels, and dingy little shops and places.
It was the furthest place a Crown Prince should even consider being. But it was an appealing thought. If he could just sneak out for one night, he could get away, see his city. Maybe he’ll ride one of the air trains. The idea of the air train filled him with excitement. With the promise of freedom.
It was incredibly stupid. Which was why he wasn't going to do it. Wasn't going to consider it. What would his father say?
Besides. He couldn't get out of the palace without a guard. Believe him, he tried many times. He couldn't just waltz outside doing the jig without someone seeing him. Not without a disguise.
This was so, so stupid.
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Lance found himself in the chamber of the Alchemists a half hour later. This was where all the magic happened, quite literally too. Everything important lived and breathed in this room of great scientific potential. At least, that's what Pidge said.
And it was Pidge he was looking for. He had a half formed plan in his head for an escape, but without Pidge’s help he’d be screwed over.
It was always hard to find anything in this room. It was huge, almost cavernous in its sheer size. The walls were grey and bare, as the inner mechanism of alchemy was all the room needed. Row after row of tables filled the room to packing point, and nearly every single one of them held an alchemist and some project.
Some experiments looked super cool, in Lance’s opinion. One scientist seemed to be working on some pod thing, that would seal up automatically when something was in it. Another one was holding a struggling fish that seemed to be able to speak. There were many more, many more sounds and smells and grinding machinery.
He found her hunched over a computer screen, furiously typing at some laptop looking thing. Her short brown hair was spiky at the ends, and she wore a green dress that Lance knew she hated. Her glasses were perched at the bridge of her nose, slipping down with sweat. Her Altean marks were green and slid almost all the way down her cheeks.
“Hey Pidge,” Lance said, wiggling his fingers in her face. “I have a science question. If I adjust the hyperspatial flow of the astroflux quantum polarity-"
“Just because you're using science words you've heard doesn't mean it's science, Lance. What do you need?” Pidge responded, shaking her head at his words. She sat back in her chair and eyed him, annoyed.
Lance sucked in a breath and looked around to see if anyone was watching him. He caught the eye of a pink haired alchemist watching him and gave her a death glare. She dutifully looked away.
“Well, I need your help. A bit. It's going to sound really really dumb and you can say no if you want and-" Pidge cut him off again. She was the only person in this whole castle that was brave enough to do it. She didn't care about his status. Lance respected that.
“What do you need me to do?” She asked, sounding resigned.
Lance picked at the fabric of his pants for a second. “I need you to help me sneak out. Of the palace. Undetected.”
Pidge contemplated this for a second. She was silent for a long moment. Lance waited breathlessly.
“Bribery.” She said at last.
“What?”
“Bribery. I'll help you do it, but if we get caught, we're gonna have to say that you bribed me into it so that I won't face prosecution. You're a prince, so they won't do anything to you. So you need to bribe me with something.”
“Money?” Lance offered.
“No, that's too easy, and I'm better than that. We gotta make this believable, Lance.”
Pidge said. “Lemme pick the bribe.”
“Hm? Bribe? What are you two doing?” Crap, that was Allura behind him, wasn't it? Lance turned around quickly, standing in front of Pidge as if to shield the tiny alchemist.
Allura stood, arms crossed and looked pretty pissed. Her hair was up in her standard bun and she had taken off the dress in favor of the alchemist uniform. Ah. She was here today.
Lance tried to sound nonchalant. “I don't know what you're talking about.” He tried to lean on the desk and look cool but instead he slipped and nearly fell. He settled on just crossing his arms over his chest and tried to look cross.
In a quick motion Allura kicked under Lance’s feet and caught him by his ear. He shrieked in pain but she didn't let go.
“You're a horrible liar. What bribe?”
“Okay, fine, I’ll tell you, just let me go!” She released him with a smirk playing on her lips.
Lance sighed. “I want to sneak out of the castle tonight, all right? Pidge said she’d help, so we were trying to figure out an excuse to get her out of trouble.”
“Don't involve me in this!” Pidge protested.
“You were already involved, alchemist. Anyway, you'd never get out of the castle looking like that.” Allura pointed to Lance's outfit.
“Excuse me, Princess? My name is Pidge, not alchemist.” Pidge retorted. Allura ignored her.
“What's wrong with my outfit?” Lance asked.
There was actually quite a lot of things wrong with his outfit. He looked every inch the prince. He had on a tightly fitted blue tunic made of Ardinian silks, and a long, flowing cape that trailed delicately behind him. A simple gold circlet rested in his curly white hair, the mark of the Crown Prince and Princess. His ears were adorned with sapphire earrings, much too expensive looking for an average Altean.
“So what do I do then?” Lance asked. He rubbed his ear, a nervous tick of his.
“I can get you some normal clothes, and you’ll need to shape change, too. Turn your hair brown, go a little taller, or something. Change the color of your marks too, or get rid of them. Something. Make yourself look so utterly average no one is going to look twice.” Allura instructed. “I should get back to what I was doing, before they notice I've been gone too long.”
She turned to leave. Lance grabbed her arm to stop her for a moment. “Wait, why are you helping me? You just attacked me in front of my friend here!”
She shrugged. “I realize that that was probably in poor taste.”
“You think?”
“Anyway, I'm helping you because you're my brother, and also because you're young. You're stupid. And you won't be in that much trouble if you get caught. Now, seriously Lance, I need to go.” Allura tugged her arm away from him and walked away.
There was a long silence between the alchemist and the prince.
“So what's the plan, man?”
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