Mendacity

Kal was inside the palace working on installing the new electrical system for the past two days. Some of the royal guard would stand there for supervision and if he needed any help they were there ready to go. He thought it might be best to start the installation in the palace first and besides he hoped the Queen would be excited to see what Kryptonian technology has to offer. He felt as if his planet needed to aid others and what better way to start than on Themyscira? Kal thought of what his parents often said about Themyscira and how 'archaic' their civilization was. He didn't know whether his parents meant that in a bad way or good, but how would they know? Kal realized that his people didn't know anything other than their way of living just as the Amazons. Maybe that is why Diana was so shocked at the way of life of the Kryptonians compared to the Amazons. He rather liked spending time on Themyscira, but he did enjoy stepping foot on Krypton even if it was for a few days.

The only thing that made Themyscira more enjoyable was being with and or around Diana. A smile came to him as he remembered Diana. He was so glad he got to spend a few short minutes with her when they arrived back here from their trip. A few minutes was more than he expected and it was enough for now. He actually didn't expect anything from her after they arrived and he didn't want to pressure her, but it seemed like a regular routine for the two of them.

Kal thought of when he had that talk with Diana while they were on Krypton, about her behavior. He didn't want her to change herself, but maybe she has sort of changed. He felt as though he had changed his nonchalant attitude whilst being around her.

Just finishing installing one of the boxes in the palace on a wall, the keyboard was no bigger than the palm of his hand, luckily it was small and could be covered if Hippolyta didn't like the sight of it. He stood back and looked over to his left and saw Diana walking into the palace's main entrance.

Diana made eye contact with him and hid her smile as her hair covered half of her face as she turned the corner to head down the hallway.

Kal saw her smile and he beamed in return hoping that she would see just before she rounded the corner. Seeing that he was being watched by a group of guards he stepped back and pressed a button that correlated with the keyboard on the wall. Jor suggested that installing lamps all over the island was unnecessary because it would only create more work for Kal and the Amazons once the lamps died. He suggested that electricity should be used when needed and not for the sake of having it. This source of energy would be used on Themyscira in a different way than on Krypton and although it wasn't uncommon to have on Krypton, not all homes and buildings had it installed as it was costly.

Kal and his father decided that this kind of electricity should be activated by voice and thermal recognition. As long as someone is in the room and speaks aloud, the electricity should turn on when needed. Obviously this would only be used in the evenings, but Kal needed to test it immediately.

Typing in a few codes for the box to work he adjusted a few things and then stepped back.

Queen Hippolyta entered the room and made her way to where Kal was standing staring at some small flat box that she could only guess was some kind of alien tablet found on Krypton.

"How is everything coming along, Kal-El?" she spoke with a warm tone.

Kal turned his head to the Queen, "very well I am just fixing a few codes and it should be working in a few minutes. Once this box is installed it will make it a lot easier to install one in each building on the island.

Hippolyta nodded and was quite intrigued to see how this all would play out.

A few short moments later Kal spoke aloud to ensure that the system was able to work. His tablet was able to connect to the electrical system and recognized every warm body in the room. A smile came to him as he was able to see his system he and his father designed had actually worked. The room became brighter instantly.

Hippolyta looked around and the room was far brighter than the sunlight was letting in. "That is magnificent and ingenious!"

"It is quite remarkable. I am glad that this system works here," he nodded at his accomplishment and was relieved that Hippolyta was pleased with the new technology on her island. He realized this would be a culture shock to the Amazons, but he just wanted to help and he hoped that everyone would benefit from this invention.

Diana was in her room changing from her sweat drenched clothes from the training session she just finished. Her mother didn't want her to just jump back into her normal routine, but Diana didn't mind and to be honest she missed training those young men. It was thrilling to her and oddly satisfying to teach people how to fight like Amazons, whether they were men or women.

She had missed breakfast with her mother this morning because she just wasn't feeling very hungry, but she would meet her for lunch on her mother's balcony within the hour. After wiping herself down with a damp cloth she didn't have time to wash her hair as she would be late to meet her mother. Diana felt like she had ignored her mother and treated her badly sometimes her short life. After going to Krypton and meeting Kal's parents she realized that her behavior wasn't very inviting at times even though she felt her attitude didn't need an adjustment.

Diana felt as if she owed her mother many apologies for the way she spoke to her at times. She also felt the need to apologize to all of her sisters for her brash behavior and blunt unneeded comments to them.

Sighing she grabbed a coral colored gown and looked at her body in the mirror noticing that she had a bit of a sunburn on her skin. Gasping she saw that her arms were rather red and she never got sunburned. Her body was used to the climate and the sun's rays. Also her skin was thicker than anyone's on Themyscira so she never really got 'burned' but just gradually tanned if she was in the sun longer than two hours.

Thinking this was strange she felt the need to cover her body with a sleeved gown so her mother wouldn't notice she rummaged through her wardrobe. Suddenly she kicked herself inward and realized that because of where she lived she had no gowns with long sleeves. Groaning she stood and slipped the gown on hoping her mother wouldn't call attention to it.

Making her way to her mother's balcony across the palace she saw that Kal was still in the main entrance. She glanced over and saw he was very engrossed in his work she decided not to distract him.

Kal could smell that smell which he knew was way too familiar to his nose. He looked around and saw Diana passing him subtly. He watched her walk away into a separate hallway and then Diana turned her head slightly revealing a shy grin. He saw her hand waving towards him and she turned around to head down the long walkway. Later tonight he hoped they would be able to see each other and maybe not be in such a rush. Kal hadn't been able to be with her for a long period of time for the last two and a half weeks. Putting that lovely thought in the back of his mind he asked the Amazonian royal guard to pick up the remaining boxes and to carry them to the next closest building.

Just as he was about to exit he took one last glance at the hall Diana entered and saw her round the corner. He figured that she was going to her mother's room. Grinning brightly he left the main room and found the next nearest building. With all the Amazons' help they would be done at nightfall and then that was when the real magic will happen.

Diana opened her mother's door and saw that she was sitting on the balcony with a small table of assorted foods.

"I thought you weren't going to make it, Diana," Hippolyta said taking a sip of her fruit wine.

Diana took the empty seat next to her mother and smiled gladly taking the glass of wine to drink.

Hippolyta looked at Diana's blushed skin and gasped setting her glass down. "By the gods Diana, you are so burnt! What happened to you?"

"I don't know, I was just in the sun as usual when I'm on the training grounds. My skin never gets like this. It is as if I am allergic to the sun," Diana knew that her mother would definitely make a fuss about this and she wasn't ready to hear any of it.

She touched her daughter's skin and Diana flinched moving her arm further away so she could no longer place her hands on it.

"Perhaps we should eat inside my room, away from the sun," Hippolyta got up and started to move the plates inside onto another table. She went back to retrieve the glasses of wine to bring them inside.

Diana stood up and felt a spell of dizziness hit her so she leaned herself against the nearby wall to hold herself up. Her mother looked back once the table was set and she saw a look of panic on her face.

"Diana, what is the matter?" Hippolyta came forward and grabbed her daughter to cling her closely so she wouldn't possibly fall. Sitting her down in one of the chairs, Hippolyta knelt down in front of her daughter examining Diana's skin more in depth.

"You are quite a mess. Maybe we should eat later and you can rest for a little bit. I shall give you some oil for your skin as well," she stood up and heard Diana sigh.

"Mother I am fine I have just not been eating a lot. I don't know if this burn as anything to do with it, but I don't feel right," Diana looked over at the balcony as the sun was shining brightly through the open space. She shook her head getting up once her mother turned her back looking through her collection of bottled oils. Diana went over to the large curtains and closed them so it was dark inside her mother's room now. Feeling a little more at ease once the curtains were closed she sat back down at the table.

Hippolyta turned around with a small bottle of oil in her hand and saw that Diana was sitting down drinking her wine casually.

"Maybe you should just drink water instead. It will hydrate you," she opened the bottle and dipped her fingers into the silky oil to apply it to her daughter's flushed skin. "This should make you feel better," smiling she stood up scooting her chair closer to Diana.

She touched her daughter's knee for comfort and frowned, "I am worried for you, Diana. I really think you should rest. This is very sudden. It is most strange, did anything happen on Krypton that was abnormal?"

Diana shook her head and grabbed a slice of a peach with some bread, munching on it slowly. "Well, I did eat this plant there, but nothing strange happened to Kal and the Els. I was the only one who got ill from it, but I doubt that is the cause of my sunburn and dizziness." Shrugging it off hoping that her mother would too she continued to eat her bread and fruit.

"Maybe they poison your food?" Hippolyta asked suspiciously with a raised brow.

Diana reacted with slight irritation lacing her voice, "no mother, how could you say such a thing? Look, just forget about it, I am feeling better already, alright?"

The Queen mother felt that her daughter didn't want to continue this conversation because of the possibilities of where it could lead to. She didn't really believe any of the Els would poison her daughter, but she thought she'd ask just out of curiosity. If she wanted more information that Diana wasn't telling her she could always ask Kal-El, which she might. That thought remained in the back of her mind, but for now she dropped the topic and continued with a new one.

"It is nice to see you eat something," she smiled humbly.

Diana returned the smile and swallowed her food, "it must be the trip. I am not used to travelling so far away from home. Anyway, let us talk about something a little less dense." She stared at her mother who wasn't really willing to change the subject but relented.

She continued, "Did you have any meetings with the council while Kal and I were gone?"

Hippolyta nodded, "I took a day trip to United States to visit on a new Themysciran program that needed to be approved."

Diana cocked her head to the side in confusion, "what new program?"

"I am allowing our island not only to male students but to female students as well from all over the globe, including Krypton and Almerac if they choose to participate."

Diana frowned, "why was I not informed of this program? How long have you had this idea planted in your mind, mother?" She was feeling a little annoyed now.

"For a few months now. Our male student program has been going so well and I decided that we needed to expand ourselves to allow women too. Most of our island is full of women anyway, I did not think it would be a problem. Besides I needed to get it approved first before I spoke with you or anybody about this."

Diana could get behind that but that didn't really make her feel any better about not being included in her mother's 'good' intentions.

"so I am only assuming that it was approved?" Diana asked as she finished a mouthful of bread and wine.

Hippolyta nodded, "yes and our students have been helping construct a new building to hold all of the female students. They have been working on it for the last two months on a more secluded part of the island, but far from the Bana."

Diana's initial reaction was definitely shock. She couldn't believe her mother was doing this right in front of her and Kal's noses the entire time. She felt the need to tell Kal about this, but she really didn't want to think about Kal and her mother at the same time right now.

"Oh I forgot to mention this as well," Hippolyta paused and saw her daughter was staring intently at her. "A new planet has joined the council. Planet Thanagar is very similar to Krypton when it comes to science and discipline. Katar and Shayera Hol will be coming here with an entourage next week. Queen Maxima will also be coming here next week as she asked if she was able to stop by."

Stop by you say? Diana didn't like that woman at all. "Excuse me, Maxima is coming here?"

"Is that a problem?"

"It will be if my fist meets her face," Diana mumbled drinking her wine.

Hippolyta raised her eyebrow, "what was that, Diana?"

"Nothing," she smiled.

After they both finished eating Hippolyta walked Diana down the hallway with their arms linked.

"Mother, I'm fine, really. I am going to the library and I will be back later," Diana trailed off until her mother's voice stopped her.

"Will you be back for dinner?"

Diana sighed inwardly, "I don't know, if I'm not back on time just leave a plate for me in my room." She quickly exited the palace exhaling a much needed sigh of relief. She had never felt so mothered by her mother in her entire life. Suddenly she is all over her and Diana didn't understand why. She wasn't exactly surprised that she was worried about her, but it was just odd in a way. Diana was beginning to wonder why she wasn't feeling herself and why she got a random sunburn.

Making her way into the library finally she went into the medical book section. There were so many different books to choose from and since their library wasn't exactly 'modern' she felt a little disadvantaged compared to the rest of the world and other advanced planets.

She was able to choose one of the larger books that basically had everything in it. It was like a giant encyclopedia of medical illnesses which often included medicines for cures etcetera. As she walked over to a secluded area of the library she noticed that everyone was staring at her. Feeling self conscious she hurried over to sit down on a large pillow on the floor in the corner.

Getting comfortable and opening the book looking up nausea, dizziness and sudden fatigue. She didn't exactly know where to start first. Science was never Diana's strong suit compared to other areas of expertise and she didn't want to ask for help that's for sure because someone might tell her mother. Diana didn't think she could handle anymore of her mother after what happened at lunch. Flipping through the pages she was able to find a few things that made sense, but those often meant that you were usually bitten by a venomous animal or stung by an insect. She knew that wasn't the case here.

After about five minutes of reading and flipping through ten pages of all the possible illnesses Diana was becoming frustrated with this book and herself. Perhaps there was nothing with her and it was all just in her head? No, most likely not. Diana wouldn't fabricate something just for the sake of it, although she could think of a few people that would do such a thing.

Coming to the last page of the section in the book it was almost like she told this book her exact symptoms minus the sunburn. The nausea, the fatigue, the dizziness, everything was exactly how she felt so she read all the way to the bottom of the page.

She almost believed she had this illness until she read the word, "pregnancy?" She crinkled her nose and closed the book setting it to the side. Resting her chin on her hand she sighed deeply.

"Impossible," she stood up and hastily exited the library after she placed the book back on the shelf where it belonged.

As Diana made her way out of the library she was buried in her thoughts completely ignoring everything and everyone around her.

Kal saw Diana heading his way and she looked like she was in a bit of a trance. He smiled happy to see her and sauntered over towards her.

"Diana, we have finished installing all of the system's boxes in every building on the island, except the Bana area."

"Impossible," Diana said to herself dismissing Kal's great news.

"What?" Kal was very confused now at Diana's response.

She looked up and saw Kal staring at her strangely, "what?"

"I said we finished installing the system and you said impossible, are you alright?" He wanted to come closer to her but knew there were many eyes around so he opted out.

Diana nodded coming to the realization that he was telling her something that was a great achievement, "Oh that is really nice, Kal. Congratulations," she started walking off without him.

Kal raised an eyebrow and followed her. Congratulations? This is not some kind of birthday.

"Diana!" He called out and everyone's eyes gazed at him and he flushed, clearing his throat, "Princess," he ran to her and grabbed her shoulder pulling her aside.

"Hello? Diana? Are you alright? You seem a little off. It will be dark soon and I will be giving a demonstration in the palace to showcase the new electricity here. Maybe after we can spend some time together?" He was hopeful at least, but the more he looked at Diana, the more unfocussed she became. He lay his hands on her shoulders and shook her body a bit to snap her out of the daze she was in.

Diana looked up and frowned, "what did you do that for?!" She shrugged his hands off of her shoulders.

He didn't react to her strange behavior, "did you hear anything I just said?"

"Yes, you installed the electricity and something about showcasing..." she was going back into her deep thoughts again. She didn't really want to be around him now, but perhaps this wasn't the case with her. She cannot even have children so her mother told her a long time ago.

"I think you should get yourself checked out, Diana. You're worrying me, seriously," he bent down and looked into her blue green eyes. She finally looked back at him.

"Kal, please don't do that, I am thinking," Diana folded her arms and started to walk away from their little secluded area in between two buildings.

Kal followed her as discreetly as possible and the more he followed the more Diana began to walk faster. What the hell? He was really confused now. He grabbed her arm and lead her into the forest up ahead where nobody could watch.

"Diana you're scaring me, what is wrong with you? Are you still feeling sick?"

Diana stared into his eyes and didn't know what to say to him. She certainly couldn't tell him what she was thinking right at this moment or maybe never because he might think that she is crazy or making this whole illness thing up, but she wasn't. She thought she should really stay away from reading books from now on. They plant ideas in the mind that don't even make sense in reality sometimes.

"I...I just want to be alone right now, I'm sorry Kal. Good luck on your...good luck," Diana brushed passed him and flew back to the palace leaving him alone in the forest. She entered her window to her bedroom and shielded herself with the curtains.

She sat down on her bed, resting her slender hand on her abdomen. She didn't feel any different and perhaps it is all in her head. For now she just wanted to sleep through the rest of the late afternoon until the morning. Feeling bad for leaving Kal out there in a confused state she probably wouldn't get to sleep anytime soon.