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Ariella's Crown

Story by Sheila Bliss The following is a story of Voltron I made up based on the T.V. cartoon Voltron by World Events Productions. I did not have World Events Productions' permission to do the story and therefore it does not have World Events Productions' endorsement.

After Lance had left seeking Karla, everyone was soon silent for a short period of time, still a little stunned over the behavior Lance had displayed.

Allura had noticed Darah's stone headband when her and Hunk had first walked into Castle Control, but all that had happened had taken her attention off it. Now that Lance was gone, she glanced back at Darah and briefly studied it.

"Darah, where did you find that crown?" she finally asked.

"Crown?" questioned Darah. "You mean this stone headband?"

"Yes, I'm almost sure it's a crown."

Allura walked toward Darah for a closer look and touched the stone headband, and then she said, "Coran, come here. You've got to see this. Is this what I think it is?"

Coran walked over and stood beside the queen.

"Yes, I do believe it is!" he answered sounding astonished. "It's Queen Ariella's crown! Where did you find this?"

Darah turned to Hunk with a look of "What should I say?" They had planned on keeping private the experience they had had with yellow lion.

Hunk answered for Darah, "We found it out in the desert by the yellow lion's monument."

"I don't think this is an accident," said Allura to Darah. "I think you are meant to have that crown. I don't know why, but since you've been here on Arus, Darah, it seems you've learned the way of the lion which is the way of the heart, their hearts, where righteousness is treasured and thought upon. The crown you wear I'm sure is the one that belonged to Queen Ariella, our first Queen of Arus. Legend has it she humbly made a crown of stone for herself because of all the civil strife Arus was experiencing because of her royal stature. It was used in place of a beautiful crown that has been said to have been made the by lions themselves. After Arus was reunited, it is said that Ariella gave the stone crown away to the lion with most heart for safe keeping. I don't know what it means that you've found it. But, I'm so happy you have found it. It's an incredible symbol of the change you've experienced as a person since you've come to Arus."

"Thank you, Highness," said Darah. "I mean no stature by wearing it except that taught to me by my culture as a Drule. I wear it signifying stature for myself equal to that of a Drule warrior. It is an honor bestowed upon females in my culture who are worthy of such rank. It is an honor signifying the integrity of a warrior, even though she may have never been in battle; or she may have and in which case it signifies retirement as a warrior retaining that integrity. Though I am ashamed of so much my culture has to offer, I am not ashamed of that custom. Hazar, once a high ranking Drule my people call a traitor which they also now would call me -- Hazar's sister Dorma had high rank of honor bestowed on her without ever being a warrior. That happened because she was Hazar's sister and he insisted on her being an official confidant -- a counselor or sorts is probably the best description. Hazar considered her input an inspiration for profound wisdom in his own decisions, and her knowledge and insight was highly respected by all highly ranked officials as well. She was highly sympathetic to the plight of our people for a new home planet. I'm sure it was her sympathies that led her to the advice that turned her and her brother traitor against the empire, all in desperation to save it. I see that now. No 'self-respecting' Drule would admit or even consider that Hazar and Dorma have done what all they've done out of desperation for ultimately the interest of the empire. And that's where so-called 'self respect' fails at its weakest. Drules, as I was, fail in the honor they so fiercely fight to retain. They fail by not considering the profound honor that is possible in such desperation that so clearly seems to be giving up, yet it leads to victory that otherwise was unimaginable. So I am not ashamed to retain the honor of a warrior in the integrity it represents. It's an honor I feel a kinship with Dorma in sharing, except that I am a warrior. There's an awe in the honor especially for me since it signifies denouncing all I have done wrong as a warrior, yet retains the integrity -- the power within dignity as a warrior -- it retains that integrity to live on and use it righteously."

"That's healthy to hold onto who you are," commented Tammy.

"Thank you," said Darah. "I was ready to denounce myself of any honor as a Drule completely, but when I found this (she touched the crown on her head), I realized some of my customs are the right thing for me to do."

"So when are you getting married?" asked Pidge.

"Guess we hadn't decided on that," answered Hunk. He turned to Darah and asked, "Is there a date you had in mind?"

"My answer would be as soon as possible except that I've decided I'd like my hair grown out first."

"You're growing your hair out?" asked Hunk, surprised.

"Are you disappointed?"

"No! Not at all! Except that I hope it grows out fast. Why have you decided to let your hair grow out?"

"It's proper to do now that I no longer consider myself a soldier. And, long hair is considered attractive on women by most Drules, although short hair isn't considered unattractive. Which do you prefer?"

Hunk answered, "you're beautiful with short hair and you'll be beautiful with long hair."

Darah smiled and kissed Hunk. The she said, "My hair should be about as long as I want it in about 4 months."

"That gives you a little time for planning," said Allura happily.

It was still unknown as to whether there was a specific purpose for Darah to have what was strongly suspected to be one of Queen Ariella's crowns. But it was a question no one felt compelled to seek out the answer to. One thing was certain, that it was exciting Hunk and Darah were engaged to be married!

Commentary: The incident vaguely described in the beginning of this story as involving Lance and Karla happened in the story Woeful Wooing . Some information about Ariella, such as her name, I do take from television series "Voltron the Third Dimension." She is known as the first Queen of Arus. I bring her character into the cartoon series by inferring that she is the woman who was involved the Legend of the Love Bridge, which was shown in the Voltron cartoons. Most "new" information from the "Voltron the Third Dimension" series I completely discount though because some of it conflicts with information from the first season of Voltron (though I consider the differences minor), and it carries on as though the second season of Voltron never happened. And in my opinion, that is fair to do, however I like how the second series of Voltron carries the story on better and I don't see that it conflicts with the first season. The part of this story where I describe why Queen Ariella had a crown of stone I created myself. And I created the part about Ariella giving the crown away to the lion with the most heart for the reader to infer that must be the yellow lion who had it buried by its desert monument for safe keeping. I also expected the reader to infer that Hunk and Darah would be awed to hear that since it was yellow lion that seemed to give the crown to Darah. A Transfer of Heart is the story where Hunk and Darah find Queen Ariella's crown. The phrase I have Allura use mentioning about "the way of the lion being the way of the heart" I took from an episode of "Voltron the Third Dimension" involving Queen Ariella. In that episode it's never really explained what that's supposed to mean. Given what all had happened with Darah, it seemed meaningful to bring the concept into this story. I clarify in this story that "the way of the heart" isn't just any heart because the human heart is actually known for being quite vile (Matthew 15:19 in the Bible, and I suspect several other belief systems have similar insight). So I clarify that "the way of the heart" refers to the hearts of the lions that treasure and think about righteousness. The part where Darah goes into detail as to what wearing the headband/crown means to her, is information I created based on what I had seen in the Vehicle Voltron series. In that series, Hazar's sister wears a headband of some sort and it seems she is not a warrior and yet holds much authority. The part about Darah's reasons for letting her hair grow out I created based on what I had see in the Vehicle Voltron series. In that series, Twila was a Drule female soldier with short hair, yet Dorma seemed not to be a soldier and had long hair. So I thought perhaps all female Drule soldiers had short hair, and for female Drules in authority who were not soldiers it's probably expected that she have long hair (so she is not mistaken as a soldier). As for a civilian female Drule, I infer that must be her choice based on that the female civilians I saw in the Vehicle Voltron series had varied hair styles.

[Author -- Sheila Bliss, based on the previous creation of Voltron by World Events Productions]

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