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How do you love?
Like a fist. Like a knife.
- Anaïs Nin, Henry and June
Thieves. Nimble on their feet. Adept at hiding in the shadows, so much so that they would meld in with the darkness, become one and all, there but not there. Violence was not preferred, but if the situation called for it, they wouldn't hesitate to dispense one of the knives strapped on their bodies to defend themselves. Thieves would kill if they had to.
Good ones, that was. And Kara…oh, Kara was a good thief. She was the icon, the idol, the one whose seal of approval would drive another thief insane with pride, the one whose medal of shame would drive another thief to hide below ground and never resurface.
For more than a decade, Kara was at the pleasure of the Kryptonian queen, sneaking in and out of countries to steal secrets and treasure, toppling nobles and snatching ministers. Sometimes, even a husband or a wife if she was ever so bored. Mostly, Kara was dispatched to Luthoria, eavesdropping on state secrets and monitoring its monarch, the ever-manic Lex Luthor.
In essence, Kara was a pest in Luthoria. An annoyance. An itchy spot that couldn't be scratched away because of her swiftness.
That was, until Lex Luthor died and his sister ascended the throne, dry-eyed and cold-stoned. Unemotional and steel fist around the manage of her country. That was, until Kara married the Luthorian queen, and became an enemy of the state.
"It is a political move."
"Of course it is. Our queen wouldn't love a thief."
"Precisely."
"My queen."
"My queen."
"Kindly remove yourself from the beam."
"The view is nice here."
From below, Lena, the queen who had unwittingly ascended the throne when everyone least expected it, only sighed. Slightest smidgeon of an emotion. Otherwise, people – attendants and guards – wouldn't be able to tell that she was frustrated, given that she seemed to have perpetuated a stone-cold expression.
It was what made her so intimidating, from ministers to the little boy who had a tendency of running around the castle regardless of the warnings his mother had imposed upon him. No one could tell whether she was pleased or displeased. She could bestow rewards with the same expression; she could also sentence someone to the gallows with the same expression.
"Perhaps I should have chopped off your legs when I had the chance."
Hidden in the shadows unblessed by the sunlight, Kara smiled, bemused at her wife's nonchalant remark. She could imagine that the attendants standing against the walls, the attendants who hated Kara oh so much while having no choice but to serve her anyway, were gob-smacked at their monarch's unflappable threat.
Really, she couldn't understand how they were still shocked. The queen of Luthoria had attained quite the reputation for herself in the short years since she'd been crowned.
Despite her wife's impassioned plea, Kara remained perched on the beam, leaning against a supporting shaft, playing with the knife that she had refused to relinquish when she'd officially entered the country as the queen's fiancée, rather than the thief who had been a thorn in their side since Lena ascended the throne.
"Funny that – I think I would have still married you if you did."
"I married you," Lena enunciated, a hint of petulance at the tip of her tongue, though the others wouldn't have detected it.
"That, you did."
"Come down and have breakfast with me."
That was the most Kara would get, perhaps forever. It had been one year since their marriage, since she made herself public enemy of all Luthorians because she somehow snuck her way into Lena's bedchambers, like the thief she was. She'd learned that Lena Luthor never pleaded.
Heaving a dramatic sigh, Kara swung down to the floor, mother earth, with such ease that she didn't a few guards watching her with a mixture of jealousy and awe. Her loafers landed on the stone without making much of a sound, and she deliberately landed so close to the woman she'd married that some attendants gasped scandalously.
"My queen," she greeted breathily.
And just to scandalize them a little bit more, she did what she would habitually do whenever she was in her wife's presence, because there was no point resisting.
She leaned further in to capture her wife's lips in a chaste kiss. Chaste, because Lena was still the monarch, the ruler, the one whose palms held an entire continent, therefore she still had a reputation to protect.
When she drew back, Lena was still expressionless. Stone-cold in appearance. Though when looked at closely, there was no missing the twinkle in those marvelous green eyes, a hint that she didn't hate it. Well, good enough.
"I simply do not understand how the thief is still alive."
"You are not alone in that."
"Did Her Majesty not poison her late husband seven years ago?"
"Only one week after their wedding, no less."
Afternoon briefings were terribly boring. Only lies and manipulations, spouted off the mouths of ministers and ambassadors alike. If Lena wasn't so remarkably intelligent, Kara would have been worried about the state of the country.
But given that Lena seemed to have everything in control, Kara slumped in her throne, considerably smaller than her wife's and greatly uncomfortable in its lack of padding. Well, the blonde had slept in worst places.
So right there, in front of Lena's untrusted advisors and the guards who so vigorously hated her, Kara closed her eyes and feigned sleep. Inelegant and idiotic on the outside, but really, she listened to each and every word that was spoken in the briefing, fighting a smirk or two whenever Lena imparted a sharp rebuke at her government's obvious mistake of thinking her a similarly idiotic ruler.
"Do you take this government as a joke, Your Majesty?"
Kara sighed and lazily opened her eyes, not bothering to straighten up. This country hated her; she would have hated this country in return if it wasn't for the woman she loved so wholeheartedly. Beside her, Lena's eyes were burning into the side of her head, but Kara kept her gaze locked on the Agriculture Minister who had called her out.
For several extended moments, all was quiet, everyone waiting with bated breath for Kara to call for the minister's escort to the gallows.
"Maxwell Lord, isn't it?"
"Marquess of Craburn."
"Maxwell Lord then."
Lord bristled at her blatant dismissal of his title, as if he deserved to be addressed as such by a queen.
"My queen has everything under control," Kara answered his previous question, gesturing lackadaisically at Lena. "Besides, any input from me is not relevant anyway. I am simply a figurehead who somehow robbed the throne, aren't I?"
Whispers echoed throughout the court, a mixture of embarrassment and pride among the government members. Kara fought a smirk at the redness that crawled up Lord's neck.
She heaved a dramatic sigh and shook her head, pushing herself to her feet. Turning her back to the court, she faced her wife, and at that moment, she could tell that Lena already knew what Kara was up to, judging by the slight disapproval that edged at her lips.
She leaned down, propping a palm on the armrest of Lena's throne, and placed a deliberate kiss on her wife's lips. Between them, Lena could only release a gasp to show how much she enjoyed the kiss, though she remained unmoved otherwise.
Whispers grew louder among the court. It was almost like they'd never kissed anyone before, but Kara could guess that a couple of them probably had never kissed anyone before, since they were such rigid prudes who frequently mumbled a prayer whenever they crossed paths with Kara in the castle.
Bidding a quiet goodbye to Lena, the blonde descended the steps from the dais that housed the thrones, and swept out of the room without another word. Her attendants scurried after her, reasonably embarrassed at their mistress' unruly behavior.
"The way she kisses the queen!"
"Unbelievable."
"The gall of that thief."
Night had fallen. Activities had mostly ceased around the castle, save for the guard on the night shift, tasked with protecting the two most important people on the premise – one they vehemently hated and the other they fervently adored and feared all together.
One thing the guard didn't know, though, was that the chambers they were guarding were lacking one person. Kara had closed the door behind her once the attendants had dressed her for the evening, changed into another outfit that would ease her movements and keep her warm better than the pajamas in her closet, and slipped out the window.
First, she was, by and all, a thief; she lived for the night and the moon's blessing on her skin. Second, she made a promise to her wife, and she would damn well fulfil it tonight.
And climbed and climbed, she did. Trellises and brick walls and shallow footholds were not problems for her – Kara was the greatest thief in the world, and she'd had much practice to earn herself that name. Up to the parapet, and she stopped climbing, only to start leaping, unnoticed by night guards posted on the roofs of the castle.
Before anyone could know it, and no one could in the face of the greatest thief in the continent, the queen's thief sneaked into the chambers of the Agriculture Minister, dismissing his wife in favor of brandishing the knife she'd tucked into her boots. Her trusty knife and her trusty stealth.
Almost like he could sense that he was on the edge of dying, Maxwell Lord jerked awake, though not violent enough to wake his wife. Instantly, Kara had the sharp edge of her knife against his chin. One slip and it would slice into his carotid, though she'd never slipped. Well, she slipped one time, but anyone would slip in front of Lena Luthor.
"What's it like?" she asked quietly, lacking the menace that she ought to have.
A bead of sweat rolled down Lord's temple. He gulped and asked, "What's what like?"
She raised her brows. Not like he could see her in the darkness. "To go to sleep so peacefully, knowing that you've betrayed your country," she stated.
"I – I do not understand, Your Majesty," he stuttered.
"Am I not your queen?"
"Of course."
"Liar," she quickly rebuked, though not angrily. She still sounded calm and unmoved, her knife steady against his chin. "I am a thief. Robbed your queen. Robbed the throne. Robbed the peace and safety of your chambers," she rattled off. "Though I shouldn't expect much from you, given how you choose to lie to your queen on a weekly basis."
He gulped again. "That's a grave accusation…thief."
She smiled. "Better." In a swift move, she removed the knife and spun it in the air, nicking his skin just a little. He fought from yelping, so as not to wake his sleeping wife. "Our rice is short, you said. Our crops are dying from poison, you said. Our livestock are being slaughtered in the middle of the night, you said." Her smile reduced to a glower. "I saw the letters, Lord."
He made a weird noise. Something between a gasp and choking. It was entirely too comical, and Kara would have laughed, except this man was a traitor to the country and to her wife. She refused to let that go.
Ever since her entry to this kingdom, Kara had been suspicious of Lord. Initially, because he had been entirely too brazen in his pursue of Alex, her lieutenant, perhaps the only other person in this country who didn't hate Kara. And then she started attending afternoon briefings, and Lord became more suspicious for his constantly doomed reports of Luthoria's agricultural state.
And then one night, while Lena was asleep, Kara sneaked out the window and entered Lord's study. Breaking locks and surveying the books, finally locating letters hidden behind a secret compartment in the bookshelf. Letters that detailed Lord's correspondence with Queen Rhea of Daxam and his selling of their crops to the country with a massive profit to his accounts.
"Fortunately for you, I am not a murderer, merely a thief," she announced. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Unfortunately for you, my wife is a murderer, not a thief." And she was so damn proud of Lena. He choked again. "Tomorrow, I want you to list down all your transgressions, attaching the letters, and deliver them to the queen. Or I will return and I will not hesitate to slit your throat right next to your wife."
"You just said you're not a murderer."
"Oh, I'm not," she breathed, hardening her features. "But I am more than willing to kill for my wife." She replaced the knife in her boot and stood up, towering over him. "Do we have an understanding, Lord?"
"Yes," he whispered shakily.
"Wonderful. Nice chatting with you. Have a good night," she bade before climbing out the window.
Up the wall, up the trellises, to the parapet. Unnoticed by the guards again, she returned to the chambers she shared with Lena. The queen was seated by the fireplace, flipping through a book and dressed in a nightgown, evidently waiting for Kara's return.
She looked up, unsurprised, when Kara cleared her throat to alert the woman of her return. Lena allowed a small smile at the sight of the blonde and flipped the book shut after slipping a bookmark in place. She sidled up to Kara, and the thief welcomed the woman into her arms.
"Had your fill for the night?" Lena asked, tucking her head under the blonde's chin.
"You won't actually kill him, will you?" Kara queried, wrapping her arms tightly around the raven-haired woman's waist.
Lena hummed. "Depends on my mood tomorrow."
Kara drew back a little, though refusing to release Lena, just to have a look at her wife's magnificent face. "I am in awe of you, my queen."
"Careful, I may still chop off your legs."
The blonde chuckled, not afraid at all. What she did was leaning down to kiss her wife for the night, carrying to their bed to ensure that Lena would be in a good mood in the morning.
"The thief does not like vegetables."
"And?"
"The queen has ordered the kitchen to reduce greens."
"The thief will soon die of malnourishment."
"And what a joy it will be."
Breakfast had just finished. Lena had stood up, getting ready to make her way to her studies, where she would be dealing with the government for the rest of the day, perhaps even forgetting about lunch and dinner. Kara made a note to send one of the attendants to the kitchen to whip something up for her wife.
In the meantime, she didn't simply let Lena go. That just wouldn't do. She wouldn't see Lena for gods-only-knew-how-long, so she should get her fill while she had the chance. As such, she didn't hesitate to stand up as well, despite the amount of food still available on the table, made on request from the queen of Luthoria to satiate Kara's inhuman appetite.
She rounded the table, allowed the attendants to help Lena put on her cape, and caught the woman's waist to turn around so they could face another. In Lena's eyes was anticipation and bemusement, as she always was. She never verbally approved of Kara's overtures, but she had never explicitly refused them either.
The blonde kissed the queen, open mouthed and the opposite of chaste. This was breakfast; the day had hardly begun. Reputation wasn't important as yet.
Kara smiled into the kiss when Lena heaved a soft moan, so quiet that only the two of them could feel the rumble. This would be a guarantee that Lena wouldn't hang Lord today; perhaps she would only exile him or send him to prison for the rest of his life, which would be an act of mercy, all things considered.
"Have a good day, my queen," she bade.
"You caught me a traitor last night. I fail to see how good it will be," Lena retorted with an upward tilt at the edge of her lips.
Kara hummed and only shooed the queen away, taking her seat at the breakfast table. She made sure to shoo all the other attendants and guards away as well, leaving only Alex with her.
"You hate this, don't you?"
Slathering butter and strawberry jam on a piece of lukewarm toast, Kara relished in the way the sun warmed the side of her face as it mercilessly shone upon the balcony they were on. She took a thoughtful chew of the toast, briefly praising Maxwell Lord for keeping the butter and strawberries so fresh despite his acts of betrayal.
"I am a thief," she finally said. "Never a queen."
"And yet."
"I fell in love with my queen since the day she had me captured and threatened to chop off my legs. I kept doing stupid things just so she will look at me, like leaving trinkets in her bedroom and betraying my country to propose to her," Kara recounted, remembering the early days of their odd courtship, and marveling at how her weird tricks successfully seduced Lena. "Becoming queen is just one of the many stupid things I've done for her and will do for her."
"You were a princess."
"I abdicated."
"Foolish move."
Kara chuckled. "I could have your heart torn out right here." Alex raised her brows challengingly. "I shan't, because you're the only person who likes me in this whole gods-damned place."
"So does the queen."
Kara shrugged. "My queen doesn't have a choice. She loves me."
Alex pondered for a moment, watching the thief munching on more toasts and stew, as if it was lunchtime and not merely breakfast.
"You got caught on purpose, didn't you?" Alex deduced.
"My wife has a cute face, and I just had to kiss it."