Chapter Text
Lena’s eyes snapped open as she heard the bells clang in the distance, quickly getting out of bed and slipping her training clothes on. Hastily pulling her hair up and tugging her knee-high boots on, she rushed out the door, careful to keep a respective pace along the way.
Coming up to the arena she spotted her brother and sighed. It’s going to be a long day.
“Well look who decided to show up.” Lex bellowed from the middle of the sandy pit.
“The bells just went off, brother, I couldn’t have possibly made it any quicker,” Lena replied, hopping down into the vast arena.
“I suggest next time you wake before the bells.” Lex drawled, looking over his glistening sword.
“Of course, brother,” Lena mumbled, pulling her sword from its sheath. “Shall we begin?”
Lex smiled at her wickedly and lunged at his sister without warning. Luckily, Lena was prepared for this and countered his blow with ease. The two went at it until a nervous, young squire appeared to give Lex a message.
“Your majesty.” The young boy said, visibly shaking in his boots. Lena felt sorry for the poor thing and gave him a kind smile from where she was standing behind Lex, careful not to let her brother see. She didn’t need to be reprimanded today.
“What is it?” The King snapped, glaring down at the boy who was now sweating.
“G-General Lockwood requests your presence to discuss an urgent matter.”
Lex’s jaw tightened and Lena watched his fists clench, afraid he was going to hit the young boy who couldn’t be more than twelve years of age.
“Lex,” Lena whispered. “Is everything alright?”
Lex turned to Lena who gave the boy a look that told him to leave, immediately, and then faced her brother. Lex grabbed her wrist and squeezed tightly, Lena didn’t so much as flinch.
“What did I tell you about using that name in front of the subjects?” Lex snapped, squeezing her wrist harder.
“I’m sorry brother,” Lena ground out. “I just wanted to make sure you were alright.”
Lex released his grip and Lena let her hand fall limply to the side. “Well, I’m not, but I will be. Just don’t let it happen again.”
Lena nodded and watched as her brother walked away. When he was out of sight she let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding and surveyed her wrist. It wasn’t broken. This time, she thought to herself and went to the dugout under the arena to wrap it up, where she kept supplies for Lex’s more, trying , days.
When she was finished, she walked down the long halls of the castle and made her way into the large study where she met their political advisor to study political strategies. While the old man droned on about things she already knew, her mind wandered to what could possibly have had Lex so frightened, well, she had an idea, but if that was it…
“Excuse, I must go, I have some important matters to attend to.” She got up from her seat and raced out of the room, not even waiting for a response from the old scholar. Walking at a brisk pace down stone hallways and down stairs, she practically ran into the stables and saddled her horse she had equipped in the early hours of the morning.
Riding towards the forest she heard shouts coming behind her and she steeled herself for the blows she knew were coming. Arrows pounded on the back of her armor she had built for herself and smiled as she realized it was holding up better than she could have possibly imagined. All of them were careful not to aim for her head, not daring to even get close to killing her, for fear of the king’s wrath.
She rode for hours until she reached the border of Luthernia and she felt warm arms wrap around her and lift her off of her horse.
“Shit.” She screamed, squeezing her eyes shut.
“It’s okay, I’ve got you.” A melodic voice murmured as she shifted Lena into a bridal carry.
“You-You’re not-” Lena stammered, getting a better look at the woman carrying her.
The golden-haired goddess only smiled, looking down at Lena’s face for the first time as green met blue and she seemed to be at a loss for words. They both were.
“No, princess, I am not who you’ve been coordinating with,” Kara finally side. “I’m Kara, Kara Zor-El.”
“You’re the princess,” Lena said in disbelief.
“That I am,” Kara chuckled, “I had to meet the princess who saved my people from mass destruction and my cousin from certain death.”
Lena blushed and averted her gaze from the princess. “I simply staved my brother off for a while, anyone would have done it.”
“No, they wouldn’t have,” Kara whispered, a distant look filling her eyes. “No one did it for my father.”
Lena tensed in Kara’s arms and they both went silent, neither one wanting to elaborate on the subject. They flew like this for a few hours before Kara finally spoke up.
“I hope you find Kryptonia to your liking, princess,” Kara said kindly.
“Please, call me Lena, my brother has probably already stripped me of my title by now.” She chuckled.
Kara’s face scrunched up in disgust and anger and let out a sigh. “You risked everything to help us, Lena. To Kryptonia, you are Luthernia’s rightful ruler and you will always be royalty in our eyes.”
For some reason, this made Lena blush. She had never put much stock in titles and always carried hers as a burden, but Kara made it seem like so much more than just power and riches. She used it as a show of respect, which Lena had never been gifted before being that she was the bastard child of a king who was despised by all kingdoms, even his own.
“Thank you, your highness,” Lena whispered, meeting sapphire blues once more.
“Well, if I’m calling you Lena, then you must call me Kara,” The blonde said cheekily.
Lena rolled her eyes playfully, “Kara it is.”
It was only a few minutes later that the two touched down in front of the castle, Kara gently setting Lena down as the brunette tried to get her bearings. Once Lena no longer felt like she was going to lose the contents of her stomach all over the Kryptonian princess, she looked up to finally witness the blonde in all her glory.
She was beautiful, long golden hair, which was slightly windswept but was still curled perfectly. Kara stood a few inches taller than Lena, which would be intimidating if the young princess didn’t look so damn adorable, but her strength was present enough as Lena saw muscles rippling underneath the sleeves of her tunic.
Lena realized she had probably been staring at the princess for far longer than was considered polite, but when their eyes met again she saw the blonde taking her in as well and the redness in her cheeks started creeping up even faster. She watched as Kara shook her head and averted her gaze, her own blush starting to form.
“My apologies, Lena,” Kara mumbled.
“That’s quite alright,” Lena said confidently, taking Kara’s arm in hers. “We best get going or your mother is going to wonder what’s taking us so long.”
It took Kara a minute to fully compute what was going on and stumbled after Lena before catching up with her. The two women strode up the stairs, arm in arm in through the large crystal doors and Lena gasped once she saw inside. If she thought the outside of the castle was gorgeous, the inside was completely and utterly magical, like stepping into a whole other world. The courtyard was full of life and color; birds flying, flowers in pinks, blues, purples, yellows and any color one could possibly imagine, some of the plants Lena had never seen before and she marveled at the beauty before her.
Kara let her take her time, but she could feel piercing blue eyes on her the whole time. Not urging her to rush, but out of sheer interest and something else that Lena couldn’t quite put her finger on.
“We didn’t have anything like this back home,” Lena told the blonde, still looking around the gardens with wide green eyes.
“Well, this is your home now, princess, so I hope you find comfort here.” Kara took Lena’s arm once more and led her past the fountain bubbling with crystal clear water in the middle of the courtyard. They walked through another set of crystal doors into the large foyer of the castle and once again Lena’s breath was taken away. The castle, which was made entirely out of crystal that changed colors when the light hit it, had huge floor to ceiling windows to allow in as much sunlight as possible and was filled with flowers from the courtyard in simple, but beautiful vases.
“Kara, it’s all so beautiful.”
“Thank you m’ lady, but I think the ancient Kryptonians and of course our lovely castle keepers are to thank for that,” Kara said, beaming as she looked around her home.
“I hope you don’t mind me asking, but the castle doesn’t seem heavily fortified. How do you keep invaders out with all of these windows?”
Kara chuckled and whispered in Lena’s ear, “the windows are not made out of glass, princess. They are made out of a very special type of translucent crystal that can withstand even the strongest of Kryptonians. Don’t worry, you’re safe here.”
“Oh, darling,” Lena turned to face the blonde and she watched as Kara slightly shuddered at the nickname, “I have a feeling I’ll always be safe with you.”
Kara just stared at her for a moment until the two heard a voice coming down the large hall.
“Kara! You’ve returned.” The figure flung itself at Kara and Lena staggered back slightly, a small grin forming on her face.
“Nia!” Kara replied, returning the hug, “I’ve missed you too, but it’s only been a few days.”
“I know, but it was still far too long.” The young brunette giggled.
Lena watched the interaction with wide eyes and piqued interest. She definitely was not accustomed to Kryptonian greetings, back home, no one was even allowed to look at royalty, let alone touch them, Lena was going to have to get used to this.
Kara’s eyes met Lena’s, both of them holding a glimmer of faint amusement. “Nia,” Kara said pulling away from the girl, “This is Princess Lena Luthor of Luthernia.”
Nia looked confused for a moment before curtsying, “Please to meet you, princess, I’m Nia Nal.”
“Please, call me Lena.” The ravenette said softly. “It’s nice to meet you, Nia.”
Nia looked at her surprised and simply nodded, seemingly trying to figure her out. Lena bristled slightly under the brunette’s stare and Kara immediately stepped in to break the tension.
“Excuse us, Nia, we best be going. We both know Alura does not like to be kept waiting.”
Nia only nodded again and gave the pair a small smile before turning down another hall and disappearing.
“I’m sorry about that,” Kara said lowly.
“It’s okay, Kara, I was expecting it. Warmth doesn’t usually accompany my last name.” Lena replied, a hint of sadness in her voice.
“Well it’s not right and I’m hoping with time we will fix that.”
Lena gave her a small smile and the two began their walk down the great hall once more. When they reached the end, Kara gave the guard in front of two more large crystal doors a big smile and he bowed deeply.
“Your highness.” He bellowed.
“Ah Kevin, come on. None of that please.” Kara said playfully, giving the guard a slap on the shoulder.
“I was just showing off for your friend here,” Kevin laughed.
“Oh, of course.” Kara chuckled. “Kevin this is Princess Lena, Lena this is Kevin, one of our finest castle guards.”
Kevin bowed to Lena. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, your highness.” The guard said, but something about his tone told Lena that it was not a pleasure to meet her at all. Lena watched as Kara’s jaw tightened as if she was about to say something, but Lena gripped her arm tighter and gave the blonde princess a pleading look.
“Please let us in, Kevin,” Kara said authoritatively, leveling the guard with a stare.
The guard seemed surprised at her sudden change of demeanor and nodded once before beginning to open the doors. “I must warn you, the queen is not pleased with you.”
Kara stiffened as a guilty look crossed her face and Lena only had time to shoot her a questioning look before they were met with the wide throne room and an irritated looking Alura gracing one of the two large, crystal thrones.
Coming up to the thrones, Lena bowed and then Kara, who took a little longer getting up than was necessary and still held that guilty look in her eyes, though she looked as regal as ever.
“Mother.” Kara began, “allow me to introduce Princess Lena of Luthernia.”
“Princess Lena, it is so lovely to finally meet you. I must thank you for all that you have done for Kryptonia, we are forever indebted to you. We hope you find Kryptonia to your liking, you may stay as long as you wish.” Alura said gracefully.
“Thank you, your highness.” Lena replied just as effortlessly, “I hope you don’t mind me staying for quite some time, as I don’t believe I have a home to return to.”
The queen nodded in understanding, “our home is your home, princess. Kara will show you to your quarters and once you are comfortable, we will discuss how to move forward next. We appreciate the risk you took in coming here, princess, your bravery will not go unnoticed.” The queen smiled. “We will have a banquet in your honor this evening.”
“Your majesty, that’s really not necessary. I’m happy to help bring my brother down, no matter the cost to me.” Lena’s eyes hardened slightly as she spoke about her brother, so much time hiding her true feelings, it was strange to speak them out loud.
“All the more cause for a banquet, princess,” The queen replied, leaving no room for argument.
“Thank you, your majesty.” Lena bowed once more as the queen turned to Kara.
“Kara, show Lena to her quarters and make sure she’s comfortable. When you are finished, we need to talk.”
Lena heard Kara gulp and almost burst out laughing, almost. Kara guided Lena out of the large room and once more through the large crystal doors past Kevin, who gave Kara a knowing look.
“What was that about?” Lena asked curiously.
“Um,” Kara mumbled bringing her free hand up to rub the back of her neck sheepishly, “I wasn’t exactly supposed to be the one that came and got you.”
Lena stopped and looked at Kara, “I knew it! I knew it wasn’t supposed to be you, it was supposed to be a man named Jimmy, Jimmy Olsen.” Lena recalled. “Also, we both know princesses don’t run errands, especially one’s as dangerous as this.”
“Exactly!” Kara replied passionately. “I have all this training and no one ever allows me to utilize it because I’m the princess and I have to stay safe to protect the El bloodline ,” Kara mocked.
Lena chuckled, amusement filling her eyes, “you know, just when I think I can’t possibly like you more, you say something like that.”
The two froze, both seemingly taken aback by what Lena had said.
“You… like me?” Kara said softly, not daring to speak above a whisper.
“Well, uh, what I meant was-” Lena stuttered, frustrated at her inability to produce a coherent sentence, which was very unlike her.
“I like you too.” Kara blurted out. “I know we just met and it’s probably way too soon but I feel like I’ve known you forever and your eyes are just so pretty and that uniform, oh my gosh you’re just so beautiful and, and-”
“Kara,” Lena interrupted. “Slow down.”
Kara nodded and took in a big gulp of air, following Lena’s instructions as she dramatically demonstrated breathing in and out.
“This is crazy, right? Don’t you think this is crazy?” Kara asked, running a hand through her hair.
“Yea, but it’s a good kind of crazy, don’t you think?” Lena bit her bottom lip and watched as Kara’s line of sight made its way there. “And we can take things slow if this something you want.”
Kara nodded and smiled, all worry gone from her face, “very much, princess.” this time, Kara took Lena’s hand and they walked up a flight of stairs and went down a long hallway and stopped in front of a door. Lena shyly ducked her head down to avoid Kara’s gaze, her insecurities finally catching up with her.
“Kara,” she murmured, suddenly finding the floor very interesting.
“Yea?” The blonde whispered.
“I-I’m not an easy person t-to… be with.” Lena said so softly only Kara’s superhearing would be able to reach it. A sheen of tears filled her eyes as she willed them not to fall.
“Lena…” Kara trailed off, gently lifting Lena’s chin and staring into her eyes. “We still have so much to learn about each other, but I have a feeling you’re much easier to be with than you think you are. And if not, I’m up for a challenge.”
The two laughed at that and from that moment on, Lena knew her life had changed forever and that she would be content looking into those blue eyes for the rest of her life.
_________
“Where is she!” The king bellowed as he threw his sword across the room.
“Your majesty, we tried to catch her, but she was already too far ahead and our scouts informed us that her horse was found in the woods alone, with no trace of the princess.” General Lockwood informed.
Lex seethed as he paced back and forth.
“Find her or it will be all your heads, understood?”
Everyone in the room nodded towards the king and departed.
“I will find you, sister, no one escapes my clutches that easily.”