Chapter 35

A Moment Like This

Prince Kal-El and Princess Chloe split, with both agreeing to keep his identity away from her parents since they didn't want Grand Duke Charles and Grand Duchess Sophia to get any ideas and start pairing them, just to see how well they looked together. Both shuddered at the thought as Chloe thought she had more than enough to look forward to when it was her turn to rule Krakovia, without adding the political headache of trying to prove to the Alemanni nobility that women were equal to men in most respects. And as for Kal-El, he didn't want anything happening that might make a marriage with Lana more difficult to obtain.

Kal-El was halfway out the door, when he thought of something he wanted. "Would you do something simple for me, Chloe?"

"Sure." She smiled slightly, and teased, "The man who bought me that huge necklace has a favor or two coming, don't you think?"

"I didn't buy you that necklace for favors."

"I know you didn't…which is why I'm doing the favor for you." Chloe stepped back to a small side table and poured herself a stiff drink. "What would you like me to do?"

"The young woman I escorted here tonight, Lady Alicia, is only fourteen and this is her very first social engagement. She's a good kid and has been looking forward to this night her whole life. If you would just pay her some special attention, it would make her night a complete success."

Chloe nodded her head thoughtfully. "I remember being that age. True, I had no worries about making the right connections, but it was the excitement of finally entering the wider world of adults that got me so excited. Beautiful dresses, splendid uniforms, dancing, music…everything. Yes, I'll be happy to help make Lady Alicia's day."

Kal went back to playing the role of Clark of Kent, bowed low to the princess, and thanked her.

"What are you getting out of my kindness?" Chloe asked. The question was shrewd, which was to be expected of the Krakovian heir to the throne.

Clark smiled as he straightened up. "Just a dance or two…with this woman I have in mind."

Chloe instantly caught Clark's not-so-veiled reference to his statement that he had 'just the woman in mind.'

"She's here? Tonight? Oh, I have to meet this woman. After all, if you get your wish, she could become an important connection for Krakovia." Chloe's tone of voice clearly told Clark she wasn't really interested in making a connection. She just wanted to see the woman Clark intended to marry.

"You've already met her, Chloe."

"Really? Who is she?"

"She's Harry's escort for the evening, and also my intended, the Lady Lana Elizabeth Lang."

"Oh wow!" Chloe quirked an eyebrow at Clark. "Does Harold know?"

"Yeah. I told Harry that 'getting friendly' with Lana was not the healthiest thing he could do."

"You didn't actually threaten to hurt my brother did you?"

"No, I promised to kill him." Clark shrugged one shoulder. "You know Harry. He wouldn't have taken me seriously otherwise."

"Now I see why you two get along so well. You have the same rough sense of humor."

I wasn't kidding, Clark thought, but that's something I probably ought to keep to myself.

Clark followed Chloe out of the room and closed the door behind them. Once back in the ballroom, he waited while Chloe summoned a servant with instructions to find Lady Alicia. That task became much easier when Clark told them Harry was with Alicia and then he used his hearing to locate the heartbeats of Lana and Alicia so he could provide the servant with a rough estimate of where they were.

Chloe followed the servant at a distance, and Clark followed her. When Harry finally came into sight, the servant had just reached him. Both girls Harry was with were easily visible then, with Chloe taking a second look at Lana before shifting her gaze to Alicia. "Lovely women," Chloe breathed. "Both of them."

"True." Thinking how that was true of all the Lang women, Clark said, "Their sister is around here somewhere, and I promised Harry…I mean, Harold, that I'd introduce him to her escort sometime."

The servant was bringing Harry, Lana, and Alicia closer. Chloe was watching them, mostly out of idle curiosity, at the moment when both girls realized they were headed toward Clark. She could see both young women smile more widely, even as they drew in identical deep breaths and straightened their backs.

That was all Chloe needed to see. She wasn't close to Clark; she couldn't even claim to be friends with him yet, but he seemed to be a nice guy, and if things worked out for him, he was going to be the ruler of her largest and most powerful neighbor sometime in the future, so she thought she ought to do him another favor.

"Ka…lark?" Like her brother earlier, Chloe caught herself just in time.

"Hmm?" he answered absentmindedly, as he watched Lana seem to float her way through the crowd.

"Look at me." He did, albeit reluctantly. "You have a problem."

"I have many. What new one do you have to add to the list?"

"Lady Lana isn't the only Lang woman who seems to have her heart set on you."

"Lois doesn't li…oh. Alicia?" Chloe nodded firmly. "How do you know?"

"It's easy to see when you know what you're looking for, and as a woman, I know."

Clark shifted his view from Lana to Alicia, but couldn't manage to see what she was seeing. "I'll take your word for it Chloe, thanks." His eyes went back to Lana, and his smile grew incrementally wider with each step she took. Clark stayed back though to give Chloe time to separate Alicia from Lana.

"Harold!" Chloe said. Her voice was as bright as her hair, making Harry wonder what in the world was going on.

"Hi, Chloe, what's up?"

"Sir Clark here has told me that his escort, Lady Alicia I believe, is enjoying her first ball this evening."

Harry deferred to Alicia so she could answer for herself. She quickly dipped a low curtsy, and then said, "That is correct, your Highness. Both that it's my first ball, and that I'm enjoying it immensely."

Chloe enjoyed Alicia's youthful enthusiasm. She gestured her forward and looped her arm through Alicia's once she came within reach. Without even looking back, Chloe said, "Come along, Harold," and then turned her attention back to Alicia. "I can well remember my first ball, and once Sir Clark told me this was your first, I became quite determined to make yours the success mine was. So, I intend to introduce you all around."

Alicia's eyes sparked with excitement as she and Chloe moved around the periphery of the room, with Harry trailing along behind. Chloe worked the crowd with the political instincts of a born politician, making sure everyone got a chance to meet the girl by her side. It wasn't lost on Alicia that being introduced in this manner gave an implied recommendation of her to everyone they met. She could confidently expect social calls from a number of these people, and might even get some invitations to visit in return. This was the breakthrough her family had been looking for. She was so happy to have been the one to make it, and reminded herself to thank Clark later for making it possible.

Clark and Lana stood side by side and watched as Chloe, Alicia, and Harry left, and then Clark turned to Lana, who looked up at him with shining eyes. The previous dance had just ended, and Clark wanted to claim a spot on the floor quickly, so he dove right in.

"May I have this dance, my Lady?" Clark asked. His question was formal, but his eyes danced with merriment as he spoke.

Lana responded warmly, with a burbling laugh. "Why yes, kind Sir, you may."

Clark had offered Lana his arm as he made his request. She gladly curled her hand around his arm when she accepted, and arm-in-arm, they headed for an open space on the parquet dance floor.

As they lined up across from each other, with Lana in her silver-accented blue dress and Clark in his green and gold coat, white knee breeches, and black boots, it was plain to anyone who chose to look that they were a spectacularly handsome couple. But anyone who stopped and looked more closely noticed something more. As the music started and the dance began, Clark and Lana moved as one. Sure, part of that was due to their four-hour-long daily practices, but there was a fluidity, an ease to their movements, as if each was perfectly comfortable with the other, that extended well beyond the results of practicing.

Chloe did both. She happened to catch a glimpse of Clark and Lana just as the music started, and smiled to see how perfect they looked together, but when she saw them a minute later, after the dance had started, she came to a stop and watched them, partially for herself, but also partially for the young woman at her side.

Chloe was already taking a liking to Alicia, but she knew the girl needed to learn the truth about Clark's interest in Lana. Even from this distance, Chloe could see the love those two shared. Their love was so palpable, that Chloe swore she could almost feel it. Surely even a lovestruck girl like Alicia will see it and understand she doesn't have a chance.

Chloe chanced a glance at the brown-eyed blonde at her side and saw someone who was trying mightily to hold back tears. Chloe pretended she hadn't seen a thing and kept her attention on Clark and Lana. Someday I want to be loved like that, Chloe thought. I want some man to need me, and not my title, so completely that all else is secondary to him spending one more moment with me.

The dance had started, for Clark and Lana anyway, at the proper distance, with several inches in between their bodies, but by the halfway point, their bodies had molded together and the side of Lana's face was pressed into Clark's chest, as they took full advantage of the little time afforded them to be together.

Chloe sighed in appreciation of the sight before her, while Alicia continued her fight to keep from crying. She sniffled a few times, and when Chloe took another peek, a lone tear was crawling down her cheek. Figuring Alicia had suffered enough, Chloe took her by the arm and turned her away from the painful sight before her.

Lana and Clark were oblivious to the little side drama going on with Alicia; all they had time for was each other. Lana had been having fun most of the night so far, but nothing compared to this moment, and to this man. So big, so powerful, and yet so smooth in his movements, and so gentle a touch as he held her. Lana was in awe that he was hers and hers alone. While the possibility that he might be forced to marry someone else lurked in the back of her consciousness, she was thrilled beyond words over what she had here and now.

Lana at least vaguely acknowledged the threat to her happiness posed by Clark's far off parents, Clark himself wasn't allowing thoughts like that to even enter his mind. To him, he was dancing with his bride, his duchess, his princess, and all was right with the world.

Some people took notice of the young couple and the elegance they demonstrated as they glided across the dance floor. Others noticed that Prince Harold's lovely escort was being swept off her feet by someone other than the prince. Everyone who saw them, however, recognized they belonged together.

"I'm not supposed to be this happy, am I Clark?" Lana asked. She was almost giddy with joy at how things were turning out this evening.

"This happy and more," Clark replied archly. "My bride-to-be deserves nothing less." He wiggled his eyebrows when Lana looked up at him, and she collapsed back against his chest in a fit of giggles. Clark calmed down and spoke in all earnestness. "At least, making you happy is my highest goal as a man."

"Then you're succeeding, Clark, beyond your wildest dreams."

Not content with just one dance, Clark and Lana spent the next dance together as well, before Clark took his love by the hand and led her out onto the wide terrace just outside the room and down into the garden. As soon as they stepped into the thick grass pathways of the garden, Lana kicked off her shoes, and Clark stooped to collect them for her.

"Ooooooh, that feels nice!" Lana enthused. Just being barefoot was making her feet feel great, after hours in her tight, confining shoes.

The weather outside was perfect for a nighttime stroll, as the heat of the day had long since dissipated and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The stars twinkled in the darkness, reminding Clark of the way Lana's dress sparkled as she moved. Given the way he was feeling, Clark was fairly sure everything would remind him of Lana one way or another.

Looking about, they could see a tall hedge maze in one direction and a sharply-trimmed parterre garden in another, but Clark led Lana in another direction, toward a series of low, neat rows of plants. When they moved in close, both of them could smell the various aromas that clearly marked this as an herb garden.

"It's a beautiful night," Lana said, as she craned her neck a bit to take in the stars above.

Clark's eyes had been locked on the beauty of her face from the moment they stopped moving, and yet, he couldn't agree more with what she had just said. "Yeah…beautiful."

There was a dreamy quality to Clark's voice that made Lana look at him, and when she saw how he was staring at her, she understood his meaning, dipped her head and blushed.

Disturbed that Lana would ever feel embarrassed that he found her to be beautiful, he placed one hand under her chin and raised her eyes back up to his. Keeping his finger just under the tip of her chin, Clark said, "You don't ever have to be embarrassed that I find you beautiful. It's just another mark of my love." Clark's face began to lower toward Lana's. "Be proud of it." It moved in closer. "Revel in it." Closer still. "Enjoy it," he whispered, just before he pressed his lips against hers.

Soft as baby's breath, exhilarating as an ice bath, and hot as the sun, the kiss seemed to go on and on. Neither Clark nor Lana wanted it to stop, in fact, they weren't able to stop it until Lana ran out of breath.

She collapsed against Clark's chest, and played with one of the gilt buttons on his coat as she gulped in air with one shuddering breath after another, Lana couldn't think. Clark had consumed every corner of her mind, just as he'd already taken over her heart, and the whole of her being was focused on him.

Clark had dropped the shoes and was holding Lana close to him as he rocked back and forth ever so slightly to the sounds of the distant ballroom. As with her, his mind was filled to overflowing with the sights, sounds, and scents of the woman in his arms. For this one moment, nothing existed for him but her. She was his beginning and his end, and he held her that much closer in a vain attempt at making the moment last forever.

Their reverie was rudely interrupted by the nearby sound of a drunken partier emptying his stomach into an ornamental bush.

"Come on, Lana," Clark said, with great reluctance, "let's get back inside before you are missed."

"Do I have to go?" Lana pouted.

"No, you don't," Clark said, as he turned her in his arms so they were both facing the terrace and the open doors beyond. "I will never make you do something you don't want to, but you are the official escort of the prince. And though he knows about us and our connection…"

Lana reluctantly finished Clark's thought. "…he does have a right to expect me to be by his side for most of the night."

"Yeah." Clark gave Lana one good, tight squeeze. "Letting you go, even for the rest of the night, does hurt a bit…but I'll get you back in the morning."

"Mmm…I can't wait."

"Too bad. If I have to wait, so do you." Clark released Lana from his arms and stepped around her to take her by the hand, as she stepped into her shoes. "Come on, Beloved, let's go."

"Okay. Wherever you lead, I will follow."