3.
Lena stood tall in Lex's office as they argued over her wellbeing.
"I can't just simply trust that you'll come back alive if you continue to go on your unplanned nature walks," Lex said for what seemed like the thousandth time to the Princess.
"Lex, I'll be fine," Lena responded, "I've gone multiple times, I don't see why you're all of the sudden interested in what I'm doing and where I'm going." Lex was leaning forward on his hands as he stood over his large desk. The front of his black cloaked fell across his chest with the Luthor family crest on his left side. Underneath was his dark armor that he wore every day, despite the fact that he had never seen the battlefield before. His crown covered his shiny head, and his face seemed to be chiseled with disappointment at Lena's statement. His stress that he held as a king deeply lined his face permanently.
Lena watched the young king walk from behind his desk to the large window, his hands folded behind his back that was as straight as a rod. She watched his back as he was faced away from her and waited for his response.
"Sir Clark should be here in any moment, but I have matters to discuss with you after I discuss urgent news with him so don't go anywhere," He finally broke the tense silence. She sighed quietly to herself as she acknowledged his statement. As if on cue, the large doors from across the room opened, revealing Sir Clark and his squire Kara Danvers; they were known as the two best swordsman in the kingdom, which puzzled Lena with the fact that the girl was just a squire with this title.
Her eyes observed the girl that walked alongside Lex's righthand man. They were speaking politics, and Lena had no care to hear him drone on about the evils of dragons.
The squire's long, blonde hair was tied up in a messy bun and the loose pieces clung to her forehead as if she just came off the field. She probably trained right before coming here with Sir Clark, Lena guessed to herself. She wore trousers that were snug against the girl's figure, and a large white shirt that was dirty with grass stains and dark spots was tucked into her pants.
Finally when the other girl looked over at the Princess, green eyes met electric blue and Lena was mesmerized. She was intrigued by the sudden connection that was always apparent every time they made eye contact, but every time Lena would sought her out or run into her, the skilled squire would dash out of the room with no word.
She had always admired the other girl. She often found herself watching the her when she sparred with the other squires or trained with the knights. Lena would watch her face light up as she shot snide comments to the men as she bested them with the stick.
Most of the time, Lena would make excuses for herself to go down to the medicine hall. She would discuss things in length with the healer, Alex, while hoping that the other girl would make an appearance.
She brought back to reality as she notices that there was a shift in the conversation between Lex and his knight when the latter shifted closer to the former, and thought it odd when the squire turned her eyes away from the Princess to her superiors.
When the pair was dismissed, she didn't miss the way the girl didn't even toss a glance in her direction as she turned and lead the way out of the large study. Lena deflated at this fact before Lex started speaking to her, breaking her dazed thinking.
"If you're not going to listen to me about staying in the castle, I think there is only one other solution here," Lex stated as he flipped a silver coin over his knuckles in his right hand. Lena watched the nervous movement he seemed to always do whenever he had to make a decision as he continued speaking.
"I'm going to hire you a personal guard," He paused as he looked over at his younger sister and walked back towards his desk, "They'll be with you at all times of the day, so if you decide to go on your unplanned outings, they'll be there to supervise you." Lena's eyes widened incredulously.
"A personal guard? Lex, I don't need a babysitter," She argued as she took a step forward.
"You're right," Lex agreed, "which is why I urged you to just stay in the castle, Lena. I'm not doing this to spite you, but for your protection." Lex took a deep sigh as he sat down at his desk and fumbled around with papers.
"There are a lot of people in this kingdom that want me dead, I'm sure," Lex continued after a few brief moments of silence passed between the two siblings, "Like that one time Sir Clark caught those two men a few years ago. Now… Well, now there are rumors of dragon eggs in the kingdom." Lena's eyes found her brother's when he stated that fact. She knew exactly what was going through his head.
"I'm not about to be like father and die at the hands of a dragonrider. That's why I banned them in this kingdom, and I was under the presumption that they were extinct, but I could be wrong. That's why I have to take precautions, my dear sister."
Lena remembered how devastated Lex was over the death of their father, so she understood why he was contingent over her safety.
"Okay, I'll have a bodyguard, but only under one circumstance," Lena agreed. Lex nodded and waited for the princess to explain further, "I get to choose my guard." Lex considered this as he leaned back in his large chair, his fingers dancing over his mouth.
"Fair enough, but I have to approve. I don't want someone who is incapable of protecting you," Lex answered. Lena smiled widely as she moved to stand closer to Lex's large wooden desk. As she did, the princess formed an idea in her head.
"Kara Danvers," She stated and watched as Lex's eyes went from holding amusement to confusion as he recognized the name.
"Clark's squire? She isn't even a knight!" Lex exclaimed as he leaned forward on his elbows and looked up at his sister.
"I've seen her in the courtyard, no one has bested her. Not even Clark. That's the kind of person I want protecting me," She said matter of factly, "Plus, I know you can pull a few strings and knight her if her not being a knight is a problem."
Lex sighed as he took the squire into consideration. Lena knew that he was aware of the squire's ability, and had even heard the king discuss her skill with his right hand man; Sir Clark has always made some excuse as to why the girl hadn't become a knight yet.
"Okay," The king simply stated, and Lena beamed at him, "I'll make arrangements. Have her move to the room connected to yours. Move your handmaiden across the hall." Lena nodded at her brother's orders, and after being dismissed went to find her handmaiden Jess to tell her of her room move. After she'd head to find her soon to be personal knight.
"What?" The two women exclaimed in unison at Lena's statement. When Lena first walked into the medicine hall and felt the thick tension between the two sisters. The squire was still in the same outfit she had seen the girl in earlier that day, except with the addition of a blacksmith's glove, while the healer wore a simple commoner's dress. But at the simple statement, the princess had made the tension between the two sisters dissolve.
Lena's eyes drifted between the two siblings as she repeated her statement, "Kara, you are going to be my personal knight." Lena watched the squire carefully as the color in Kara's face seem to drain.
"But, I'm not even a knight?" The blonde's eyebrows scrunched in confusion as she waited for Lena to answer.
"Yes, but that will soon change. I may not be able to tell you when exactly at this moment, but nonetheless, you'll start your new job tomorrow," Lena responded with a small smile as she spoke in her most regal voice. She didn't enjoy using that tone, but she didn't like others questioning her judgement more. The soon-to-be knight seemed to stand a little taller, as she bowed her head.
"As you wish, M'lady," the blonde stated without emotion. Lena let an uncomfortable silence fill the room, before clearing her throat.
"You are to move into your new quarters by tomorrow morning," Lena started listing off the squire's new duties and her uniform, "My hand maiden wakes me in the morning hour. You are to be dressed in your uniform by the time I finish my breakfast. Your uniform will consist of your armor which will be made for you… I'll make sure to arrange that with the blacksmith sometime later today."
"No need, Princess, I already have arrangements for armor," Kara bowed again, "Is there anything else, M'lady?" Lena shook her head, and Kara turned and quickly moved back to her room. Lena watched the door for a long time before Alex interrupted her thoughts with a cough, and the princess turned towards her.
"That's a little odd, don't you think?" Alex pondered aloud from where she was standing. The healer began to move across the room to a ladder that rolled along the large bookshelf.
"What's a little odd?" She asked as she followed the healer. Alex began grabbing books and handing them to the Lena, and Lena obliged unconsciously as she waited for her to answer.
"The all of the sudden interest in Kara," Alex grunted as she pulled more books off the shelf and climbed down the ladder carefully, "She went by unnoticed for years, even being the best swordsman out of all of your knights, and now she's being promoted to the very best job? That's odd." The healer dropped the books on the large research table, and Lena did the same.
"She wasn't unnoticed," Lena replied after moments of silence. Honey colored eyes filled with disbelief briefly met emerald colored eyes filled with curiosity.
"Matter of fact, Lex and I noticed her quite often," Lena started as she leaned on a part of a table that was free of any books or papers, "Lex would ask Sir Clark about her often, but he always had an excuse of 'Oh she's not ready,' or 'She's not properly trained in Knightly conduct.'" She mused this fact as Alex briefly stopped her movements over the herbs and flasks that were scattered on the large table and looked up at the princess.
"So, why now? Why decide that she needs to be your personal guard?" Alex asked, hesitantly adding, "Why overlook Sir Clark's objections now?" Lena sensed the hostility, and assumed that it was just the fact that her sister had to move out after living with her for years. Everyone in the kingdom knew the unbreakable bond of the Danvers sisters.
"Well, like you mentioned earlier, Kara is the best swordsman and if I'm going to be required protection, I'll only want best of the best to protect me," Lena justified; the princess knew the healer was overstepping boundaries by questioning her own authority and judgement of who became her personal guard.
Alex seemed to take the hint of warning in Lena's voice as she didn't probe the conversation further and instead stared down at the book in front of her. The two women stood in silence, as Lena argued with herself over her next move. She decided against herself to bother Kara any further and left the medicine hall towards her own wing of the castle.
It wasn't until much later when she saw Kara again. The sun had dipped well below the horizon and Lena was sitting in the large library that was down the hall from her quarters, which held four different individual rooms.
Kara had knocked lightly on the door of the library, while Lena sat in one of the padded chairs by the fireplace. The princess looked up to see the woman standing there with a two full knapsacks in each of her hand.
"Princess, I'm here to move some stuff into my new room," the squire said professionally. Lena started to get tired of the air of professionalism radiating off of the girl.
"Ah, okay," The princess slammed her book shut, placing it on the long, short table that stood between two other chairs, before heading off to lead Kara towards her new bedroom.
"I hope you'll find yourself situated nicely in the new room, it should definitely be a step up from your last room," Lena said as she opened the door to her quarters. The room lead to what looked like a common room; on the far wall was a brick fireplace with couches and chairs sat around it. Behind that was a dining table large enough to hold up to 6 people, one on each end and two on each side. Plants and bookshelves decorated any empty space. To the left of the fireplace was a window nook, that had a large padding that looked as if it had been used very often.
"I lived in my last room for 6 years. I liked it. It was cozy," the squire responded after a few moments. Her voice seemed to be laced with something, but Lena couldn't seem to identify it, so she let the comment slide by.
To the left of the room were two doors side by side, and to the right were two doors that were on opposite ends of the wall. Each of these doors lead to a separate room.
"So the first door on the left wall is my piano room, while the second is my actual bedroom," The princess explained to the squire as she walked to the right of the common room, "on this side, you have my study and your room." Lena opened the door to the bare room that held a large bed, an armoire, and a chest that sat at the foot of the bed. Kara walked into the room and carefully set her bags on the bed.
"Is that all your stuff?" The princess asked as she leaned against the doorframe. The squire nodded as she turned towards the princess and crossed her arms. Lena noticed that she still wore the same outfit that she had worn earlier.
They both stood in an uncomfortable silence for a few moments, before Lena began to dismiss herself for the night. Kara spoke before she could though.
"Why me?" She whispered, almost inaudibly.
"Come again?" The princess responded, as she scrunched up her eyebrows.
"Why am I your personal guard?" The squire shifted on her feet nervously. Lena watched the girl fidget, before answering.
"You know, I've answered that question twice today. To King Lex and to your sister, Alex." Lena didn't miss the flinch at the mention of her brother. I wonder what that's about Lena thought to herself.
"King Lex?" It was Kara's turn to be confused.
"Yes, my brother wanted me to have a personal guard, and I chose you."
"You chose me? Why?" Kara dropped her folded arms as she stood rooted to her spot.
"Because you're the type of person I want protecting me," Lena started. She could tell that this woman in front of her had insecurities about her ability. It intrigued the princess that someone who wielded a sword so easily would doubt their own skill. She understood the excuses that Sir Clark had made every time the subject of the squire was brought up with Lex.
Lena continued, "You're brave, and you don't step down from a challenge. Plus I've never seen you lose a challenge before." Kara's eyes flickered with even more confusion.
"You've never seen me fight before though," Kara spoke slowly. Lena smiled at the girl.
"I've seen you many times, Kara," Lena responded with a yawn, "Excuse me, I must say that it has been a long day. I think I will turn in for the night, and I think perhaps you should too."
"Yes, M'lady," Kara responded as she bowed her head.
"You know, you don't have to do that," the princess said, as she stood up from the doorway.
"Do what?" Kara asked as she sat herself against the edge of the bed. Lena looked over at the two knapsacks wondering why she hadn't started unpacking.
"The whole 'M'lady' thing. We're going to be spending a lot of time together, we might as well make it enjoyable," Lena explained.
"I don't think that's polite," Kara started to fidget with her fingers and her eyes dropped to her hands, "It goes against customs, and I'd really rather not upset the King."
Lena sighed and left the conversation to die there. She'd try to warm the girl up later, when she wasn't yawning every few minutes. The princess turned on her heel after saying a quick goodnight, and then heading off to her bedroom.
That night Lena dreamt of dragons attacking the Luthor kingdom and Kara rescuing her from the throes of danger. She woke suddenly with her hair clinging to her forehead from sweating in her sleep.
She sat up in her bed as she wiped her forehead. Her mouth was dry, and she had decided to head out to the common area where she knew Jess, her handmaiden, left a pitcher of water.
The princess slid her feet against the wooden floor in her slippers as she sleepily made her way to the dining table and poured herself a cup of water and guzzled it down quickly.
She closed her eyes tightly as she remembered bits and pieces of her dreams. She was interrupted when she heard a noise come from inside Kara's room. It sounded like a crash, and then almost an animal growling.
She fought with herself as she tried to figure out if she was going to ask the squire if she was okay, but then quickly thought against it. The princess knew it was late, and the air between them had always felt uncomfortable and awkward.
You can just ask her about it tomorrow the princess thought to herself as she made her way back to her bed.