Author: Ashley

Title: Contractually Yours

Rating: M - Mature

Part: 11/?

Pairing: Mon-El and Kara Danvers (Zor-El)

Word Count: 3,071

Summary: Long ago, the Daxamites chased the Kryptonians off of their shared world. They were forced to live on a nearby moon. That Kryptonian moon is now running out of resources, while the Daxamites' planet is becoming a wasteland. The Royal Families have decided to come together in a truce to help everyone live better lives; a truce made with a signed contract involving their children; a contract that the children have no say in. Arranged Marriage Karamel AU.

Disclaimer: I don't own Supergirl, DC Comics or anything related to such things. The ideas, dialogue and plot points of this AU were inspired by the show, but they are my own. Plagiarism isn't nice. Please don't steal my ideas.

A/N: Hi all,

Sorry it took a while for this one! It's been a busy few weeks personally and work-wise. Thanks for being patient!

As an add on for this chapter, I posted a couple of pictures a few days ago that inspired Kara's dress in this chapter. Check out my Twitter page, but for those of you without Twitter or who don't actually wish to follow (no hard feelings ;) ) I also try to stick to using the same hashtag on Twitter for updates, sneak peeks and pictures. So if you search #ContractuallyYours, you'll get to keep up with things!

Enjoy!

Chapter Eleven: The Announcement

Day Twelve (Continued)

Kara sat at a vanity table in the dressing room, clad in the new white gown Mon-El's parents had forced her to wear. Although, after slipping it on her body, she had to admit that it was beautiful. It was a form fitting, soft material that hugged her curves in all the right places. It had three-quarter length sleeves with covered buttons trailing down her arm, a slight scoop neckline and a smooth skirt. She'd fallen in love with it within mere seconds of having it on.

Now she sat at the vanity, reading the novel she'd picked up from her room while Arden finished curling her hair.

"Curl my hair? Why?" Kara had asked with raised eyebrows. "What's wrong with my hair?"

"I like your hair," Arden insisted. "But Our Majesty Queen Rhea wants it curled for The Announcement."

Kara huffed. "Well, I'm all about what 'The Queen' wants." She plopped herself down at the vanity next to a heated hair curler. She eyed the curler. "I'm not very good at doing it though. Usually I get Alex to do it for me when it's needed for special occasions on my planet."

"Oh no, Pr…Kara. I'll be doing it. It's what I'm trained for."

"You were trained to curl hair? In a family who has a son?"

"I do it for the Queen nearly daily."

Kara couldn't even pretend to be surprised.

Kara looked in the mirror, using it to glance at Arden who caught her before she could look away.

"Alex…who you mentioned before…is that a friend from Krypton?" Arden asked curiously.

Kara brightened at the mention of Alex. "She is," she grinned. "She's my best friend. We did everything together…that is until I came here. We're so close, we might as well be family."

"That's nice," Arden nodded. "Will she be at The Announcement this afternoon? I would like to meet her if that's acceptable."

"Of course! But I doubt it," Kara shook her head. "She's going to come for the party Friday though. Well, at least I hope she is. Rhea would invite her right? I mean, my parents, too…people from my planet?"

Arden smiled sadly. "I'm not sure. She doesn't often think of others."

"Yeah," Kara scoffed. "I get that impression."

Mon-El stood in front of the full length mirror in his bedroom as he attempted to tie his necktie. He was never all that great at these kinds of things; the formal events, the Royal attire, tying ties. He'd choose a t-shirt and denim over robes, jackets and slacks any day. He only had a few minutes to twelve o'clock and surely his mother would any minute come storming in the room demanding that he get his ass in gear in time for the scheduled Announcement.

There was a knock on his bedroom door and he turned quickly, startled enough by the sound that he dropped the end of the tie and lost his place. He cursed under his breath.

"What?"

"My apologies, my Prince," Arden bowed in the doorway. "Your mother has sent me to ensure that you're prepared for The Announcement. Princess Kara is ready and waiting for you."

"Well, she can wait a little longer, can't she?"

Arden remained silent, assuming it was a rhetorical question.

Mon-El sighed heavily. "Can you just tie this for me? I can't figure it out."

"Certainly, my Prince," she said as she bowed again and made her way over to him. She reached for the ends of the black tie and proceeded to get it into a perfectly arranged knot at the base of his neck.

"Arden," Kara's voice called out as she walked into the room, eyes focused on something in her hand, "I can't get this clip to stay in my hair, can you-"

She paused, finally looking up as Arden was patting at the tie now secured around Mon-El's neck.

"Sorry," she apologized. "I didn't know you were still getting ready," she told Mon-El.

He just stared back at her; his eyes sliding up and down her body, drinking in her appearance boldly. She took his breath away. Not that Kara noticed though, her own eyes skimming his form. She was taken aback at how charming he looked in his perfectly tailored black suit; a simple black jacket with a slim fit.

"Kara…hi," he stated quietly, his posture straightening as he used his hands to pat down the creases in his suit even though there weren't any. "Are you ready?" he asked as he gulped, wishing his mouth hadn't gone so dry so fast.

"I, uh…" she held up the clip in her hand. "I can't get this to stay in my hair," she stated to him before her eyes finally drifted over to Arden still standing in the room. "Arden?"

"Certainly, Princess," she smiled as she took the clip from her hand and moved to stand behind her. She pulled the sides of her hair toward the back, pinning the two pieces together to flow down the centre. "All set," she said quietly as she backed away. "Shall I tell the King and Queen we are ready?"

Kara looked to Mon-El and he coughed lightly to clear his throat. "Yes, please do."

Arden left and Mon-El took a step closer to Kara. "Shall we?" he grinned charmingly as he held out his arm for her to take.

She looked down at his offered arm and took a step back. "I can walk myself there, thank you," she stated before turning around and heading through the doorway. He smirked behind her before following her. That dress fit in all the right places. At least he'd get to watch her walk there.

"Do you two realize that it's 12:03pm?" Rhea's voice echoed in the foyer attached to the balcony.

"And I'm sure the crowd outside barely noticed," Mon-El said as he and Kara entered the room. "They're just happy they get a view of this beautiful event," he continued, sarcasm lacing every word.

"Princess, on the Prince's left side. You will enter last, Lar Gand will be first. Stay in line and don't say a word," Rhea instructed, her hands straightening out her dress while Lar Gand moved to adjust his collar and tie. "The doors open, we walk out, we'll make The Announcement. You're going to wave, smile, look deeply in love and then we'll come back inside."

"Yeah, I know how this works," Kara huffed. "We made announcements from our balcony on Krypton, too. You're not the first ones to think of the idea…"

"Keep your opinions to yourself, Princess. We've no time for them," Rhea scowled as she tugged at Mon-El's arm, pulling him closer in line as they moved toward the door. "Keep up," she instructed the both of them.

A set of servants stood at the sides of the two glass doors and they tugged away the curtains and swung open the doors allowing the Royal Family to step out onto the balcony. The crowd below cheered and clapped in excitement; anticipation over today's Announcement clear on their faces. They had advised their people that there would be an announcement, but nobody was informed as to what kind of announcement.

They stopped at the edge of the balcony, Lar Gand's and Rhea's hands landing on the railing in front of them.

"Good afternoon, citizens!" Lar Gand started. "As you are aware, we have a special announcement to make to you all today." He turned to Rhea. "I'll let our Queen take over for the joyous news!"

Rhea looped her arm into the crook of Lar Gand's, leaning on him gently as a cheerful smile spread across her face. Kara rolled her eyes as she stood there before looking down at the crowd below.

"I'm sure you're all eager to hear the news, and we're eager to finally share it," she began. "You may be wondering why we have an additional member in our party today," she said as she held up a hand and gestured toward Kara. "And the reason why this young woman is standing with us is because she is going to be the newest addition to our Royal Family." She paused and waited; watched as confusion appeared on many of the faces in the crowd. "For you see, our Prince and this young woman are going to be married!"

Various members of the crowd below cheered, some of the women gasping in shock, hands rushing to their hearts as they took in the news. Kara recognized Winn standing in the distance; his hands clapping a smooth, non-excited clap that indicated that this announcement was of no surprise to him. Nobody around him seemed to notice.

Lar Gand raised his hands to quiet the crowd. "That isn't all," he assured them.

Rhea started up again. "This woman, by the name of Kara Zor-El, is not just our future daughter-in-law, but we must also inform you that she is in fact…Kryptonian."

Kara's eyes widened as she watched the shock appear on the faces of the crowd, a low-level mumbling filling the space as the citizens whispered back and forth with each other.

"Now, just hold on a minute while we explain what this means for us!" Lar Gand shouted over the mumbling and the people quickly simmered down. "Normally, we would be completely opposed to this relationship, and had we known about it early on, we would have swiftly put an end to it."

Kara looked over at her future father-in-law; watched how easily the lies slipped out of his mouth. Well, partial lies at least. She had no doubt that they would have never otherwise accepted a relationship between their son and a Kryptonian if not for the contract that was in place to benefit them.

Rhea looked over at Kara with a smile that she knew was obviously fake and plastered on exclusively for the crowd. "We've watched our son with her and we realize how in love they both are with each other. However," she turned back to the crowd. "This is an interesting situation because not only is Kara a Kryptonian, but she is the Kryptonian Princess. The only daughter of the Kryptonian Royal Family."

The mumbling started up again, louder this time, and Kara was just ready for them to get the whole damn story out and over with so that she could go back inside and get away from the scrutiny of their people.

"As such," Lar Gand cut in, "we've had various discussions with the Royal Family of Krypton and we understand that they're in an unfortunate situation-"

"Of their own doing!" a male voice shouted from the crowd.

"That's not for us to judge!" Lar Gand shouted back in response. "They are not going to be able to live on their planet safely for much longer. So we've proposed an agreement…a contract of sorts that will be fulfilled by both us and them. You see, our children are in love and they're going to be together. That's not going to change. But what is going to change, is how we treat one another."

Lar Gand and Rhea both continued on explaining the contract to the crowd, but Kara didn't hear a word. Her head was spinning. If this situation hadn't felt real enough over the last few days, it definitely felt real now. They were telling people. It wasn't a secret anymore. This was really happening and she was stuck here unable to do anything about it. She stared out at the faces in the crowd; all nameless to her, and yet already angry with her. Angry that she was Kryptonian. Angry that she was here on their planet. Angry that she had taken the Prince away from these women before they could. Her stomach was in knots and she could feel her teeth clenching, molars grinding together uncomfortably.

Mon-El leaned in toward her, his lips mere centimetres from her ear. "Remember to smile, Kara," he instructed at a whisper and she released the grimace that was most likely clear on her face, lips twisting into somewhat of a smile.

His lips pressed against her cheek in a kiss and it made her shiver. She liked to think that it was because he had touched her (and it was), but she told herself that it was because it grossed her out; fiercely ignoring the way that it really made her stomach flutter with nerves. He reached down and took her hand in his, lacing their fingers together with little effort and she almost pulled her hand right back; the feeling of his hand grasping hers almost nerve wracking. He looked directly at her with this huge smile on his face and her eyebrows furrowed for a moment as she tried to figure out if he was just a really good actor or if he was actually pleased with all of this.

And then he was lifting their laced hands in the air and the crowd below them was cheering and then she was being tugged off the balcony by their joined hands and back into the foyer. She heard the balcony doors swing shut behind her, the curtains sliding closed again, and Mon-El shook off her hand. Kara watched as he tugged at his tie, already loosening the knot and shrugging the jacket from his shoulders. She looked up at his parents who stared back at her in a way that made her want to shrink in on herself.

"That could have gone better," Rhea spoke first.

"What more could you want?" Mon-El asked angrily. "You made your announcement. You prevented a riot over allowing your son to fall in love with a Kryptonian. I think we did quite well."

And then he stormed away.

Kara watched him leave before her eyes flicked to his parents again. When they didn't say anything further to her, she decided to take leave of them before they told her she was required to do some other just as awful thing as that announcement was.

When she made it back to Mon-El's room, he was already half undressed; moving around the room shirtless. She averted her eyes as she moved toward her own room, intent on taking off the formal dress and putting on something more comfortable. She tried her best to avoid looking at him in his shirtless state, but she had to admit…he was pretty well built. Her eyes were trained on the rippling muscles of his back when he'd cursed under his breath.

"Ah, shit. Kara!" he called out loudly before spinning around, jumping slightly when he noticed she was already standing in the room. "Oh," he said. "I didn't know you were right there."

"I wasn't watching you change!" she suddenly shouted awkwardly. She furrowed her eyebrows for a minute, confused at her own outburst and he looked at her with a similar set of furrowed eyebrows.

He shook his head to brush off her comment before looking down at the object in his hand. A little box. He opened it up.

"My mother would kill me if she found out that I forgot to give you this before the announcement." He opened up the box and Kara saw a thin silver band sitting inside, sparkling softly in the light of the room. That's when it hit her.

That was an engagement ring.

Her engagement ring.

She watched as he pulled it from the case and then it was flying at her; thrown by him across the room and she reached out just in time, fumbling slightly as the ring bounced between her hands as she tried to gain control of it.

She held it up between her pointer finger and thumb as she looked down at it. It was a plain band, solid silver colour throughout. No diamonds, no gems, nothing fancy or unique about it. Just a solid silver band.

"My engagement ring…"

"Your engagement ring," he repeated. She looked up at him and that's when she noticed for the first time that he was already wearing a silver band on his left hand.

"It's identical to yours?" she asked as she looked down at the ring between her fingers again.

"Silver as per the contract," he nodded as he watched her.

"I don't even get to pick my own ring?" she asked.

"Who do you think picked it out? Because I can assure you that it wasn't me."

"I'll be stuck wearing this ugly thing forever," she sighed.

"You don't like it?" he questioned with a quirked eyebrow.

"I don't like the fact that I have to wear a ring in the first place."

"We have to switch them to gold courtship rings after the wedding, remember? You can choose what you want then."

"If this whole thing even lasts that long…" she trailed off as she slipped the ring onto her own finger.

He crossed his arms across his still naked chest. "Oh, so you've finally decided to go out and find someone to have sex with."

She glared at him. "There are other ways to break this contract," she said simply as she moved toward her bedroom.

He furrowed his eyebrows as he followed her. "Well, I highly doubt that you have the stomach to find a way to kill me in a 'non-suspicious' manner. So, let me guess…you're gonna abstain from sex for a year…so that you don't get pregnant and thereby don't produce an heir?"

Kara nodded as she kicked off her shoes toward her clothing rack. "That's exactly what I'm going to do."

"Brave," he nodded.

"Excuse me?" she asked as she turned around to face him again.

"A year is a damn long time, Kara. Good luck keeping your panties on for that long," he laughed.

"You're disgusting," she stated. "Now, get out so I can change."

"Haven't you heard?" he asked as he leaned against the doorframe of her room. "We're madly in love and our parents can't keep us apart. Surely, you're not too shy to strip naked in front of me…your lover."

Kara stomped toward him, her hands both landing squarely on his chest before she shoved him backward. He laughed as he stumbled back into his own room and she slammed the door. She leaned her back against the wood as she sighed heavily.

This was going to be a long year.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Please favourite, follow or leave a comment if you can!

Twitter: _ashleymaria_