Chapter Six

"So, how has life in the castle treated you?" asked Clark as he strolled next to Lana after breakfast. The autumn morning gave off a gray tinted light, announcing the imminent winter. Lana smiled and looked down, placing her hair behind her ear.

"It is fine, they have given me wonderful clothes and I was assigned as Lady Lucy's personal maid. She is nice to me."

"Lady Lucy? Who is she?"

"Oh, she is the sister of, you know…" Lana made a grandiloquent gesture with her hand.

"Oh… wow, the One, huh? And… do you know her?"

"Not personally, I have only seen her from afar and have to kneel if I were to cross her path."

"I see. She must be very unpleasant. But tell me, how are the king and Prince Alexander? Are they as frightening as people say?" asked Clark as he played absently with a leaf between his fingers.

Lana looked around, cautious, before answering, "Oh… they… I try not to cross path with them, if ever. The guards tell horrendous stories about what goes on down in the cellars… but I try not to think about it and I concentrate on the good things, like the great banquets and balls."

He leaded her to the barn for he noticed she was chilling and was wearing only a thin dress.

"How can you stand that?" He frowned.

"Stand what?" she asked, genuinely confused.

"Many don't have enough food for the winter and the King throws extravagant parties. Men are dying in the war against Gotharia and the rebellions, and so many people dress in rags, yet you are given great clothes just to be presentable in front of the noble ones. It is not fair," he said with a frown as they started ascending to the loft.

Lana looked at him with a sulk expression and glassy eyes. "You say this all as if it is my fault…"

Clark regretted his comment. Somehow she always found the words that would make him feel guilty. "N—no Lana, that is not what I meant, I am sorry, please, have a seat." He offered her one of the chairs he kept up there, which she took.

"It is only that this is not how things are supposed to be. Father tells me this land was so rich before, When King Jor-El and Queen Lara reigned… he said that everybody was prosperous and there was no war… If the kings are designed by divine forces, then I can't understand why now we suffer so much. It makes me wonder if the house of Luth-Or is truly the rightful governor…"

Lana opened her eyes in horror. "Clark! What you are saying is blasphemy! Besides the One… she…" but Lana went quiet.

"Yes, yes, I know. The chosen One and the prophecy…" Clark grimaced. He, unlike the rest of the people, did not believe in prophecies and detested the idea of one's destiny being designed by divine entities.

"So, tell me more about your life in Tehm-El," he changed the subject.

Lana grinned. "Oh, do you remember Whitney?"

Clark grimaced inwardly at the mention of that name as the memories of endless taunts and abuses returned to his mind.

"Yes… what about him?" he asked reluctantly.

Lana kept her grin. "He is part of the royal guard now, you know, that is such an important position. He is becoming important in the eyes of the King too, or so he has told me. Well, Whitney has asked permission to court me."

She pretended not to notice the disappointed look Clark acquired.

"That's wonderful, Lana, I am happy for you," he said. She would always be above him; so pretty, always courted by wealthy, important men. She would never have her attention on him. After all, he was a freak of nature… If only he were normal…

"Thank you Clark, he is the one who made it possible for me to return home for the winter."

His deception was momentarily replaced by his curiosity. He asked, "and why is that? Aren't you allowed to leave when you please, with permission? Does it have something to do with the criminal the sentinels are looking for?" His mind wandered to Lois.

Lana's eyes moved rapidly like if the young woman was deciding either if to reveal the information or not. In the end she spoke; "yes… that's it… No one is leaving the castle these days and we all have been subjected to interrogations… but Whitney spared me from all of that."

Deception returned. Again, Lana decided not to give in to it; she knew he had feelings for her but… but she had Whitney now, and he was in the royal guard. Besides, there was something about the youngest Kent. Lana couldn't place her finger on it, but she knew he hid something yet she was never able to decipher it as much as she tried.

"Well, I've had a wonderful time but I must go home now. I'm sure Aunt Nell needs my help. I'll see you later, Clark," she said at last.

"Bye…" He rose up to see her go.

"She has got you perfectly around her finger, has she not?" A mocking tone reached his ears as soon as Lana disappeared from view. Clark rolled his eyes and turned to see Lois coming from her same hideout from last night. She stood up with her back straight and her face raised and proud.

"Do you always have to look like that?" Clark said with a glimpse of annoyance.

"Look like what, Smallville?"

He was about to correct her, but knew it would be futile. "Like if you were above the rest of us," he replied.

"Well, I can't help looking the way I do. If it makes you feel inferior to me, then that is your problem, not mine."

"And do you always have a comeback? You are deeply irritating. And what are you doing here again? In case you haven't noticed, this is what I consider my very own place among the property of my family," he said and let himself fall on the chair.

"Look farmboy, I am very sorry your little girlfriend has fallen for Lieutenant Fordman, I really am, but that is not my fault, don't take you anger against me, besides, if the girl can turn you into this whiny, broody child, then she can't be very good for you, now, can she?"

He tried to think of something clever to say but words escaped his mind and he dropped his shoulders in defeat, then, something hit him.

"Wait, how do you know Whitney's last name?"

"He is the right hand of L-- eh… Prince Alexander. Although King Lionel thinks that Whitney is only loyal to him… but I know better," Lois answered as she took the seat that Clark hadn't offered. He noticed then that she had something in her right hand.

"So that is what you came for?" He pointed at the splendidly adorned sword. "Do you know how to use it, at least?"

"I do," she answered, and to prove her point, she stood up and made a swift movement with the weapon, cutting the air with a sharp whiz. "My father gave it to me, and made sure that I knew how to handle it."

"Arrogant, obnoxious and with a weapon. I am not sure you father knew what he was doing."

"You would not say that if you knew who my father is." Lois might not agree with her father's decisions in many occasions, but she couldn't allow anyone to talk in such a way of him.

"Really? Why don't you tell me then, Lady Lois, countess of bossiness, the reason of why those in Tehm-El can't leave without being questioned?"

Lois tilted her head and crossed her arms, then she said, smiling, "Are you always this childish or it is only the effect Lana has on you?" Then she rested her sword on her shoulder and left with no more words.

Clark groaned, she always left him like that; frustrated and upset, and then, he would inevitably smile. For El, she was so confusing.

Lucy Lane-Eh bit her bent finger. Her worried eyes fixed on his father, who was readying his armor and placing his sword in its sheath.

"Father, what will you do if you find my sister?"

"I will thank the gods, first, and then I will bring her back," he said with a neutral voice.

Voices had reached the castle that a woman with similar characteristics to Lois had been seen in the eastern side of the kingdom, near a small town called Littleville. King Lionel had allowed Samuel to lead the vast party that would find her.

"But father… she does not wish to marry Lex… You know he is a monster, you know he will hurt her! Why won't you let her escape? Why didn't you help her when she asked for your aid? Why are you about to give her to him?"

Alexander Luth-Or manipulated and seeded pain and destruction at will if that served him and his purposes, Samuel was well aware of that, even if the rest of the kingdom was told other things about the 'benevolent' Prince. But Lex would never mistreat the One, would he? He wouldn't dare… the Council… the gods would punish him!

And Samuel had, as ancestral duty, to serve the loyal house. That's how it always had been.

He looked at his daughter with thoughtful eyes. "Lucy, I understand your worry, but it is her destiny. If the prophecy is not fulfilled, then the kingdom will fall. I have to do this."

"You are delivering her as a sacrificial lamb!"

"If it is for the greatest good, then, maybe that's how it must be."

"But is it NOT!" Lucy shouted and stormed out the chambers with tears in her eyes. Samuel closed his eyes for a second and finished with the arrangements. He had a mission to complete. His family had served the house of the Els for centuries already and he was the general of the entire army.

And it was true that now another house held the throne, but he still had an obligation to his kingdom.

Besides, he would bring Lois back, but it didn't mean he would not always watch over her and make sure that no harm went her way.