Chapter 12
Kal slowly lifted the veil and exposed Princess Diana's face. His eyes widened as he looked at the blue eyes staring back at him. He didn't know what to say or think. Diana just kept staring into his dark blue eyes, not knowing what to do next.
He put his hand and lifted her jaw to the left then to the right slowly, examining every part of her face. He touched her nose then her lips with his fingertips ever so gently. Her eyes cast down towards the floor. Now putting both his hands on her cheeks he lifted her face up so their eyes could meet. Honestly he had a smile on his face. Just then he noticed that her veil was still covering her hair.
"Can I?" Kal asked unsure if she was willing to totally unveil herself.
Diana nodded her head and waited for him to take off her veil. He took the trim and lifted it off her head revealing dark raven hair tied back into a bun. Diana took a few pins out of her hair and it tumbled down her shoulders and back.
The Kryptonian slowly grazed his hand over the top of her head, allowing his skin to feel the softness of every strand of hair. Diana wasn't sure what he was doing and this seemed to be taking an awful long time, but she stood still the whole time.
Kal was now staring back at her face and still smiling as she was not. "Are you uncomfortable?"
"No. I am just unsure of what I am doing that is all." Diana said quietly. He came closer to her touching the side of her face.
"Your face is so…" he looked like he was having trouble finding the word. It took a few moments, "You are the most beautiful woman I have seen in all of Krypton," he smiled. Diana finally cracked a small smile and turned away blushing.
She walked to his bed and sat on the edge of it and patted the spot next to her. Kal took the seat next to her, not being too close, but close enough.
"Amayn used to tell me I was beautiful all the time. Every minute of the hour, every hour of the day. He would hold my hand, touch my thigh beneath the dinner table and talk sweetly into my ear when he thought nobody was looking. As the weeks passed by he started to drift away and would not talk to me. He says he fears me now. I am not surprised."
Kal realized that he could not be with her, she was married. He had got caught up in the moment with whatever this emotion he was feeling right now. Suddenly he was a bit…sad?
She sighed and continued, "His family does not like me at all. They despise me even when I just appear in the room. I fear the worst for myself when I return to the Arrakian palace. It is said that the wife is supposed to call it her second home, but I do not see that palace a home at all. It is very lonely, oh so lonely." Diana sighed and turned away not willing herself to look at the blue eyed Kryptonian.
Kal looked at her turned head and took her hand in his. "I know how you feel."
Diana slowly turned back to look him in the eyes. "How?"
"Krypton is a confining planet princess. We may have all this technology and power, but what will we do with it? We are not a planet of war or peace, but a planet just in-waiting. My parents have been designing spaceships for our planet for many years now. They are equipped to withstand anything. Currently they are working on a protective dome for Krypton."
"Why are the leaders of Krypton so afraid that they have to lock their people in their own planet?" Diana wondered, moving closer. This seemed a lot more confining than the Arrakian palace she was currently living in.
"Point being Diana, if anyone decides to attack Krypton, we will be ready and their planet will be destroyed. That is the ultimate objective. We have not been to war with any planets for many centuries, but the Kryptonian council believes the time is coming."
"You too have an oracle?" Diana asked quietly.
Kal gazed with a confused look, "Oracle? No, we use science to determine these happenings. We do not believe in such fables oracles tell to predict the future of our planet, our people."
Fables? Diana furrowed her eyebrows, but then realized that Kal-El is not from her home, her world. He is from another planet with different beliefs. She couldn't wrap her head around all the logic they used. She was beginning to think the Kryptonians had android hearts and brains of geniuses with no common sense, no sense of love at all or any emotion for that matter.
She then asked, "Do you like all of the destruction and science your planet has to offer?"
"Of course, but at times it has become a bit of a bore. My parents want me to follow in their footsteps to become a scientist. I do not mind this."
"What do you want to be, Kal?" Diana put her hand on top of his, looking deeply in his dark blue eyes.
For a moment he fumbled with his words, which he never does. "I…I…am unsure."
"There are many other worlds out there Kal, just waiting for us to explore. I feel like I am not to be at my home planet for my entire life. I have a purpose and so do you," she pointed her finger at his chest and he smiled as did she.
After their smiles died he grazed his lips against hers and she closed her eyes willingly as he took over, holding her face in his hands. Leaning back they laid on his bed. Slowly he paused and her eyes abruptly opened. He was looking down at her clothing.
"Your clothes," he touched the magenta fabric that lay against her olive skin. He began to take off the sash at her waist, releasing the dress from its hold. Slowly he took off the sleeves from her shoulders and the dress fell lazily on her elbows, exposing her gold under armor and fully tattooed body. His eyes widened as he saw all the blue and red markings all over her body. The tribal tattoos in her native language and many symbols inked on her skin before his eyes.
"Your…skin is inked," he stated just looking at all the symbols.
She smiled and continued to take off her gown, only wearing her shoes and bangles on her arms. Still in her gold armor it exposed her midsection which was free of ink. She stood and unlaced her sandals and slid off her bangles of her arms. The mirror in front of her she saw she was almost naked and she gasped as she saw Kal staring at her body from behind. A feeling a betrayal and remorse came over her. Her heart sank and she dare didn't look back at his intense gaze.
As she turned Kal saw the look in her eyes. "What is the matter?" he sat up on his bed.
"I…we should…I should not be doing this. This is wrong and immoral."
He stood and came next to her holding both of her hands. "What is so wrong about this?"
"Do you not understand what is happening?" she felt tears about to flood her eyes.
Kal looked at her unsure what to do. She had never seen a woman or anyone cry before. Kryptonians do not express this emotion. "What, why are you crying?" he asked obviously concerned.
Diana put her hands up to her eyes. Amazons don't cry she reminded herself. She stopped her tears and wiped her eyes from her cheeks. His hand wiped away the remanding tear drops on her lips and sat down on the bed, still looking at only her eyes.
"Why are you looking at me so?" Diana asked, furrowing her eyebrows.
"I have never seen someone cry before." A moment of silence passed between them. "I do not want to see this…this…sorrow come over someone. I don't want to see this sadness coming from your eyes." He paused, "Why are you unhappy, Diana?"
She smiled, "I am not unhappy. I am filled with uncertainty."
Completely clueless of her emotions he persisted, "Why? Why do you feel this way?"
"My country –I must maintain as a good model for my country, for my mother, my sisters, the Arrakians. I have already broken so many rules, Kal. So many." Her eyes filled with tears once more.
Not wanting to see tears fall from her eyes again he wiped her tears with his fingers. He felt the saltiness of her tears on his fingers and gazed at her. Drawing her into a sudden kiss Diana soon forgot what she was feeling so uncertain about. She had to protect her title, but behind closed doors nobody had to know what happened, did they?
Drifting back to his bed she laid still clothed in her armor and he was in his El uniform. Her hands were against his chest, the fabric blocking her hands from feeling his skin. His hand rested against the small of her back and she stiffened a bit but didn't resist after a few seconds, slowly relaxing her muscles against his.
This time she stopped him and she looked at his uniform. "Your clothes."
He paused and took off his long sleeved shirt and cape attached, revealing a perfect muscled chest and shoulders. Diana was used to seeing Amayn's lean athletic frame, but Kal looked like the Greek god statues she had seen in books and paintings. Drawing himself closer, she smiled and put her hands on his shoulder, feeling the muscles twitch beneath her touch.
"And you are the most beautiful man I have ever seen," she said softly, continuing to graze her hands across his upper body.
Kal studied her body and pointed to the crescent moon taking up most of her upper arm. The moon was wrapped around a bow and arrow. "What does this mean?" pointing to the tattoo.
"I am named after the Roman Goddess, Diana. She is goddess of the moon and she is also a huntress."
He nodded his head and noticed a Greek symbol just above her sternum. "And this? What does it say?"
"My name in Themysciran. This was the first one I received when I was seven years old. My sister, Donna, has one as well in the same spot. We are able to feel each other's pain and sadness. It glows slightly when those emotions pass between the both of us."
Fascinated by all of these tattoos he looked at every single marking on her body now, looking at some of the bigger details. Her legs were very detailed in art he noticed.
"You are very interesting." He smiled and touched her upper thigh, slowly coming up to her bare midsection. "I, I am sorry for how I acted when you first came here. I was unsure of you, I still am. I thought you were a bit strange. You are an alien to me. All these new emotions coming over me I am clouded and hesitant on how to feel."
Diana whispered, "Show me how you feel, prince of Krypton." Now taking the laces from her golden armor and letting it fall to her waist.
Sacrilege.
Arrakus
"No, absolutely not." Amayn was now in charge of the kingdom as his mother was imprisoned with the Amazons on Themyscira until further notice. He faced Queen Hippolyta in the private royal chambers.
"I demand to speak with my daughters. I have not seen them in weeks and I must speak with them. This is not only personal, but also political. As princesses of Themyscira I must notify them when such serious disturbances occur on Themyscira."
"You imprisoned my mother! Trialed her for attempted murder! You are not a friend of the Arrakian kingdom. As now King of Arrakus I order you to leave."
"Prince Amayn I mandate that you notify my daughters of this immediately! You will face dire consequences!" she said as she was escorted out of the royal throne room.
"Nobody can punish me now, Queen. Be gone with you," he shooed her away and as the doors closed he sighed. Getting up from the throne heading into the study his parents used to go in. he addressed his guards, "I want our army training straightaway. Have our best men ready to go whenever I say. This means war." He left quickly to the study.
Arriving in the study he took out the documents that his mother made for the Amazonian and Arrakian compromise and printed them out to keep in his room for future reference if Hippolyta disagrees with the treaty she signed all those years ago. Looking at the third Amazonian princess he scowled.
"Notify Princess Diana that she needs to return home as soon as possible. Do not tell her the details. Simply a message from her queen mother that she needs to return to Themyscira, away from Arrakus, just for a while. I do not wish to see her face or any Amazon woman for that matter." Only having a deep thought in his mind that Diana had betrayed him somehow. He knew that she was up to something, but not knowing unnerved him immensely.
Krypton
A few hours later Diana and Kal lay together in his bed. He looked at the princess's tousled hair on his pillow and studied her face. Her eyes were closed as she was in a light sleep. Her face had distress on it and he kept staring at her. Slowly her eyes opened and she jumped back a bit.
"Why is it that you are always staring at me?"
"I am just studying your face."
"I am not a science project Kal," Diana said seriously and then looked down at her nude body beneath the covers. She gasped and hit her forehead with her hand.
"What is the matter?" becoming concerned he touched her face. He seemed to really like touching her face.
Diana sat up covering her chest, "I…"
She was about to talk about doubt again and Kal pulled her down against him. "Do not worry yourself, princess."
"I am not experienced at this." Her cheeks turning a bright pink from embarrassment.
"I am not either. It is not in our genes to have relations like this."
Diana looked at him confused, "Then, how does your race populate?"
"Science."
Of course, Diana thought. Everything is about science with this race. How could she have forgotten this? Resting against his chest. He took ringlets of her hair into his hands.
"Your hair smells of…flowers?"
Diana looked up at him and smiled. She had never seen such a smile on the Kryptonian prince since she had met him. Almost a month and a half she had been here, only growing closer to his family. Unsure of his mother's strange behavior she pushed it aside.
Kal's expression became serious. He had heard Donna wandering in the halls looking for Diana.
"Your sister is calling for you."
Diana sat up immediately and started dressing herself as quickly as possible. Pulling the veil over her head she left his room and saw Donna running down the hall to come see her elder sister.
"Diana! I have been calling for you for the last five minutes. Where were you?"
"Kal-El was showing me some Kryptonian formulas for a new project his parents are working on. What is wrong?"
Donna noticed she called the prince by his name but she didn't address it. Remembering she would ask her sister of this later, she had no time. "A message from Themyscira. Mother says it is urgent for the both of us to return to Themyscira."
"What has happened?" pushing all of those other thoughts out of her mind she followed her sister into the control room. A message from Amayn she looked at the screen and read it carefully. He did not want her to return to his palace but to her home palace. This is very odd she thought.
"We should leave tomorrow morning then, Donna. Did any other message come in revealing what the urgency was?"
"No. it is rather strange. I wonder what has happened." Both sisters thought for a moment. Kal came behind them.
"What seems to be the trouble?" he asked humbly and Donna noticed he was being nice and not so cold like he usually was. She looked at Diana then back at the prince unsure what was going on.
Diana answered him first, "Our mother wishes us to return to Ammos as soon as possible. Some urgency came up. We will have to depart tomorrow morning."
Kal, dismayed, by hearing that she had to leave by tomorrow. He didn't show his sorrow so he simply nodded his head agreeing with the arrangements.
The next morning Mala and Euboea packed the princesses belongings ready to board their ship. Diana was donning her veil as a knock came to her bedroom.
"Enter," she was still fidgeting with her veil when she saw Kal come into her room in her mirror. She spun around and they just stared at each other.
"I am…saddened that you must leave so abruptly," that took a lot for him to say, considering his background. His parents were due to come back later in the evening as they finished early with the meetings and project designs.
Diana approached him and set her hands on his broad shoulders. "I know. I am sorry but my duties call."
He nodded knowing exactly what she meant by that. "I do not know enough about you, Diana." he came closer to her.
"Perhaps we…" she stopped mid-sentence, not wanting to continue that sentence knowing it could toy more with her emotions. "It is best that we leave these feelings behind and go on with our lives, Kal. As I do wish I could stay a few days longer, I cannot. I, I…am sorry."
Steeling himself for this answer that he knew he would like to hear but he didn't like to or want to hear this coming from her lips. He felt like he would never meet another woman like her in his life. Looking through her veil he saw the tears filling her eyes again. He lifted her veil and she gasped.
"I don't like it when you cry these so called tears of yours." He wiped them away and she continued to cry, knowing that she was going back to her miserable marriage once she returned. Although finding it odd that she was to see her mother first was interesting.
"Your Amazons await you, princess." He veiled her face again and she nodded her head exiting the guest room she had stayed in.
As all four Amazons boarded the ship Diana couldn't look behind her. Once the hangar closed she unveiled her face staring back at the enormous Kryptonian El palace and turned away. A rush of emotions came back to her as she was reminded of last night and all their other nights. At first he was so cold and distant towards her, but how, in such a short time did she commit the greatest sin of all? Only the Gods know. Diana retreated to her room and asked of everyone not to disturb her for the rest of the day. They would arrive on Themyscira in four days.
Diana undressed herself and wore a simple white gown and walked around barefoot in her private room. She looked at all the glass on the floor and walls, remembering her first time on this ship when she went to Arrakus. She scowled as she thought of Amayn, then her face softened, hugging herself she tried not to cry again. She would be unhappy forever living with a sin for the rest of her married life.
Themyscira
Four days later their ship arrived on Themysciran soil and Hippolyta awaited their arrival. As time was different in space than on Ammos, they had only been gone three weeks as opposed to three and a half months. As the princesses and two Amazons trailed off the ramp Hippolyta smiled as she came walking towards her daughters to hug them. She unveiled Diana and saw she looked very tired.
"Diana, I am happy that you have returned. I have missed you so much." She hugged her eldest. She looked at Donna and cupped her cheeks with her hands and kissed her forehead. "And I have missed you too as well, Donna."
Donna smiled and hugged her mother back.
"Mother, why have we cut our trip short? What is the urgent news?" Donna asked of her mother.
Hippolyta's expression became serious and her features hardened. All followed her to the palace to discuss the issue further.
As they reached the throne room Hippolyta explained what happened in the past week with the Arrakians and Themyscirans. Donna and Diana sat there as still as boards.
"Queen Aline is in our dungeons? By Aphrodite," Diana held her heart with her hand, not believing that the Arrakian Queen would stoop so low as to murder her mother. She had no idea what kind of hatred she had towards her mother, but now she understood why she was not very welcomed into her new home by the King and Queen, especially the Queen.
"It appears she has more malice than I thought she had. She is kept in our dungeons until further notice by both councils. I do believe that Prince Amayn, well now King Amayn, wishes you to stay here until he says he is ready to see you." Hippolyta said a little disturbed by this request from Amayn.
Diana thought of what happened on Krypton. Dear Hera he knows! No calm down Diana, he doesn't know anything. He knows of nothing that went on behind closed doors. She thought why he didn't want to see her. He was probably still mourning his father's death and his mother's stripped title. He had new problems now. He is King of Arrakus now and she is now…the Queen. A realization came to her. She is now the new Queen of Arrakus.
AN: So I lied, I came back. I took a break from studying. Finished in two hours. Heavy stuff in this chapter and new realizations for both parties. Kal is finally coming around to be more open to his feelings.
I shall be back after exams (: for real this time.
