Wash This Over Me

Chapter 5

The both of them returned to Lotor's room after he caught the Red Paladin drifting off to sleep. Comfortable silence settle between them as they got ready for bed. Lotor stood in his bathroom, staring at the mirror at how his hair was a half frizzy, half wavy mess from the braid Lance did earlier.

It would be unacceptable for him if he wore his hair this way in front of his army or even his own father. But in the privacy of his own room, he found it endearing. It showed the evidence of the hard work that Lance had done for him, despite his situation.

Still he tried to get his hair to be somewhat acceptable, knowing that it would give even more evidence to the army of why he shouldn't be a ruler to them. Even if he's seen soldiers with worse hair care than what his hair was before, it was different when he was the son of the Emperor. He had to be presentable.

He looked in the mirror to see that his hair still had a wavy quality to it, but still he didn't mind. From there he cleaned his teeth and put on clothing that he wore to bed. Heading out the door, he saw Lance looking through his books he had collect throughout his life. It was a bigger collection than most in the army would have, but he knew it was pitiful compared to planets that had entire buildings dedicated to them.

Lotor silently crossed the room to peak over the paladin's shoulder. He saw the book title and it caused a soft smile to spread. "I haven't read that in a long time. Perhaps I could read it to you before going to sleep?"

His voice caused Lance to jump up and give out a string of curses that couldn't be translated directly by his translator. Still it caused him to chuckled at the flurry of faces that past through the other's face as he realized it was only Lotor who snuck up on him.

"Don't do that!" Lance hissed out at him. The pout on his face caused Lotor to chuckle for a few more seconds

"I didn't want to disturb you from book hunting." Was all he said, going to his bed. "Not many in the Galra Empire have such a collection that I have. That whole case I spent my whole life collecting."

"That's all?"

"I'm afraid so. With Zarkon's way of conquest, anything that held knowledge that could be held against him was destroyed. The very few planets that were given to me to rule over years ago, I asked them for any books that I could take into my care. It took a lot of convincing and trails before I was allowed the privilege to keep such knowledge with me." He said, pulling the covers back and got into bed.

He remembered some of the rituals he had to go through to obtain some of those books. Most were hard, made to challenge those who were to be the keeper of the planet's knowledge and history.

Still he knew that keeping books that were precious to the inhabitants were vital to his plan. It created trust that would be needed to keep the Empire alive. To fight against rebels such as Voltron.

"So you would have a planet's record of history kept safely tucked away until your reign is stable to give back rather than holding information away from them?" The surprised tone in Lance's voice wasn't new. Even his generals had doubts about it the first time he presented it them.

"While my father prefered to rule through fear, I would rather have those I've conquered to trust me to take care of them. Even if it means letting them have the information to take me down if they choose to do so."

The conversation had taken a heavier turn, but still it felt good to be honest with someone about what he had planned for the empire. Lotor did allow some planets to governing themselves within the Empire and seemed to make them more loyal to Empire as a whole. It just seem much more beneficial than leading through fear.