Chapter Seventeen

“What is this?” Allura asked, shouting over the loud thump of the music. She was referring to the beverage that Emilee has pressed into hands in a unusual stemware. It was a peculiar bright green and smelled fruity.

“Appletini,” Emilee replied after a sip of her similar beverage. “Drink up! This is your license to party.”

The beverage was pleasant enough but Allura knew that it was going to get her in trouble. Nanny had never let her drink, even when wine had been offered with a meal.

Emilee had taken great pains to organize Allura’s party though. Allura looked over a throng of people dancing to the beat heavy music spun by a man working the turn tables in the front of the room. Many of them held glow sticks in their hands or had the draped around their necks. Emilee had converted one of the many ballrooms for the soiree, decorated it with a mirror ball and colored string lights. There was a full service bar at one end and a full DJ booth at the other end. Allura did not recognize a single face in the crowd. It was almost like Allura had actually gone to a club to have a night out. If she hadn’t walked down a hall in the castle and walked through the ballroom doors, she would have never guessed that they were still in the castle.

Allura was glad that Emilee has talked her into changing her outfit. Emilee has insisted on a hot pink tank top and denim mini skirt for the party. Although it was a little risque for her, Allura was now glad because all the dancing bodies made the ballroom warmer than usual. The hot pink high heels that she had strapped to her feet made Allura feel sexy and confident. She even let Emilee straighten her hair and streak in with more pink. It was almost like she was in disguise.

“I like this song!” Allura shouted as the beat shifted and familiar notes boomed over the crowd. Emilee just smiled and nodded.

“Let’s dance,” Emilee replied and then the quickly downed her drink. “Come on, drink up!”

“What the hell…” Allura mumbled and did the same. The drink made her cheeks feel warm as she set the glass down on the bar. Emilee was already on the move, pulling Allura into the center of the dance floor among the throng. The alcohol and the crazy outfit made it easy for Allura to forget all her princess training and she soon found herself shaking her hips to the beat.

“I knew there was a dancing queen in there,” Emilee laughed. Allura didn’t quite understand the comment but she didn’t care. She wanted to have some fun. Nanny wasn’t here neither were the Voltron Force, she felt like she could get away with almost anything. The only one that would be able to recount her actions would be Emilee.

Allura laughed as she watched Emilee start dancing with one of the men in the crowd and knew that she would not get any censure from Emilee that evening. Allura had to look away, she didn’t know that people could dance like that. She thought that was something strictly for the bedroom.

Allura was content to dance by herself among the crowd and the crowd let her. The DJ kept playing songs she loved and it kept her hips moving. Every now and then, Emilee would reappear with a couple of drinks, they’d chat a bit while sipping their cold drinks, then she would disappear for a while. It was inevitable though, Allura had to find her way off the dance floor and to the ladies powder room.

As the door closed behind her, the music was muffled and the air a little cooler as she looked over the lavish powder room. Several women stood in front of the large mirrors touching up their hair or make up. A couple occupied the sitting area, chatting and laughing at some inside joke. Allura walked past them all to the second room behind, to make amends for all the drinks she had partaken in.

Allura had just sat down when someone else entered the room, the woman’s heels clicking on the tile floor as she walked into an adjacent stall. Her friend was not that far behind her.

“This is quite the party,” the woman in the stall was saying to her friend who just waited near the sinks. “I can’t believe that this is all for the princess.”

“Well, I want the name of her party planner because this is crazy,” the other woman replied.

Allura just kept quiet.

“I still can’t believe that she is going to marry that monster,” the woman in the stall continued. Allura’s gasp was covered up by the woman flushing. “Seems sort of silly to celebrate a wedding when it’s to a Drule.”

“Have you seen the prince?” the other woman rebutted. “I could eat him up. And she is marrying him to save us. If she wants to have a party, I will be right there with her to party. Besides, there are Drules here at the party.”

Allura was thankful for the second woman standing up for her. Allura herself might not have been able to find the words in her partly inebriated state. It made her think though, she hadn’t seen any Drules on the dance floor.

After she heard the women leave, washed her hands and walked back to the dance floor. She made her way to the bar but did not see Emilee. The bar tender greeted her but she did not know what to order, she just pointed at a bottle that looked good. She ended up with a small glass in front of her and a shot of some clear colorless liquor. She watched another bar patron down his shot of liquor in one gulp and she did the same. She would have rather had another appletini. Emilee had good taste in beverages.

Allura turned to the crowd and sure enough there were Drules among the crowd now. Emilee must have agreed to this and it wasn’t until the people had a few beverages. To be more accepting of the aliens on the dance floor. She looked along the outer wall and noticed the large bouncers at the outer doors.

Allura ordered another shot and downed it quickly. She did a sweeping glance for Emilee again and headed for the door. She had a bone to pick and her sexy heels and the liquor gave her the confidence she needed. It was easy to skirt around the dance floor to the side doors where Drules and Arusians were being screened and let in to the party. No one paid any notice when she slipped out as the bouncers were more concerned with people trying to get in.

The night air was brisk and smarted the moment she stepped outside. The people in the line waiting to get in paid her no heed as she marched down the path. She knew the landing pad was not that far off from this side of the castle. She had no idea what time it was, surely it was past midnight.

Allura kept looking over her shoulder, certain that Emilee would be catching up with her any moment. Her cheeks were still burning from the alcohol despite the chill when she came upon the Drule ship parked near the castle. She didn’t slow down, she couldn’t let herself get discouraged now. Not when it was so clear in her mind what she wanted to say. He’d would have to hear her out, one way or the other.