Deadly Beautiful (SuperCorp Medieval AU)

Part 4

  or the one where Kara is good at what she does and really kind of hot. Lena hates almost every minute of this and her brother is a douchecanoe  

Kara strode confidently across the sand to stand across from her opponent. An attendant wheeled over a cart and offered both of them a wide arrangement of weapons. Kara chose a short sword called a gladius and whipped it through the air a few times to check its balance and stability. Sabotage was a factor in some of the big name matches. Betting on the Games was a commonplace occurrence.

Lex encouraged gambling and would participate more often than not. Lena did not know how she felt about the gambling thing since she did not know where the vast majority of the money ended up.

A bell rang somewhere in the distance, drawing Lena's attention back. The two women circled one another wanly. Lena's breath caught in her chest and held; almost painfully. Tensions in the arena were higher than anything Lena had ever felt before. It was well known how skilled Kara was, but the other gladiator had a near impossible height advantage of twelve inches at least. Lena was terrified for both fighters. Her anxiety was a bit too vocal though, an audible gasp escaping.

"You know Lena, one day that little mouth of yours is going to get you into more trouble than you will be able to get yourself out of." Lex said in his most dangerous tone of voice. His not so veiled threat only adding to the amount of tension building up in Lena's body.

Kara's sword only narrowly deflected her opponent's away from her flank. Lena squeaked audibly and jumped in her seat. The clash was louder than Lena expected. Sure, Lena had been to these matches before but she had not ever allowed herself to immerse herself in watching one of the matches. She honestly did not know how she was supposed to react.

"If it seems like my sister might be getting hysterical, please take her elsewhere, Ms.Sawyer." Lex added after the squeak.

"Yes sire, I will be sure to do that." Maggie said in a neutral and completely emotionless voice. It gave Lena chills everytime she heard her best and only friend speak that way. It did not sound like the Maggie she knew and loved so it scared her a little bit.

The blades clashed repeatedly and sparks flew, bringing Lena's attention back to the powerful blonde and the way Kara's muscles moved underneath her skin. The gladiator was graceful even when fighting for her life. Lena felt like she was watching a dance as opposed to a battle.

"She is beautiful." Lena muttered under her breath, where not even Maggie could hear her. She could already hear all of the I told you so's.

This sure as hell was not love. Lena knew she was just more than a little enamored, but almost immediately she had wanted to get to know the blonde fighter whose very skin seemed to deflect the steel of the blade as though her flesh was metal as well. Lena wished she had some kind of book on the other woman to learn all there was to know. She knew her curiosity would only deepen when she got to meet Kara; if she ever got to meet Kara. Lena felt like maybe she would be more starstruck than the other woman ... and Lena was the princess of the kingdom.

At the sight of first blood, Lena had to turn away. It was only for a moment, then another clash of blades brought her right back in. She stopped breathing for the remainder of the battle. Lena felt sick at the way Kara's opponent began to slow down. Blood trickled down the larger woman's flank and seeped into the leather of her gear and cloth of her clothing. The winner was already quite evident. Kara grew more serious then, and began to slash for the more vulnerable places not covered by her leather armor.

Lena saw the blade bite furiously into the other woman's shoulder and stick there. Kara put a foot in the middle of her opponent's chest and shoved; kicking the other woman off of her gladius. Blood sprayed and Lena visibly flinched once more, much to Lex's amusement. Lena ignored him and returned her attention to the last moments of the fight. Kara wrenched the other woman's blade out of her grip and threw it to the side, far out of reach. Though her opponent was not dead, Kara slammed the blade into the sand and turned to look to Lex for him to end the match.

He stood at the edge of the balcony and looked down over them all. His face went dead cold and his voice flat. "Finish it." he commanded. It was how nearly every single one of Kara's fights finished, Maggie would tell her later. Kara did not want the blood of those innocent people on her hands.

Her head bowed and eyes lowered as she pulled the gladius out of the sand and cleaned it on her breeches. She knelt by the other woman and said a few words very softly before Kara gave the other woman a hand up just to her knees, her head bowed and ready for whatever was going to come next.

Lena could not bring herself to watch what she knew was going to happen. The resulting cheers made her suddenly feel more sick than she could hold back. Maggie took her hand and led her down the hall in a hurry.

"Deep breaths, my lady." Maggie advised. "I know it was hard."

"Yeah, if I threw up Lex would never let me hear the end of it would he?" Lena said, her pale skin even lighter than usual. Maggie thought she seemed a bit green around the edges as well.

"It is best not to then, is it not?" Maggie recommended hesitantly.

"Do not worry. I probably will not." Lena said as she pushed up onto her feet and leaned against the wall. "I am just glad Kara made it. I hate she had to kill the woman especially when she put up her best fight and should have been allowed to heal and try again. I hate this, I really do."

"I know sweetie, I do, but from the position you are in now, there is not anything you can do." Maggie said morosely. She knew how much this stark reality pained Lena. The Princess was not hardened like a lot of the other nobility in the kingdom. She was as tough as nails but her heart was still tender. Maggie loved that about her. Lena would make a wonderful queen one day if they were at all lucky.

"How did you like her, little sister?" Lex asked when Lena returned to her seat feeling a bit better.

"She is strong as all get out and hot as hell to boot. I guess I like her alright." Lena said, her cheeks pinking up as she stared down at her feet in mild embarrassment.

"I had thought even you must be impressed by her talents.." Lex said knowingly. "She is a force to be reckoned with and I have got plans for her later on."

A knot formed in Lena's throat at the words. She hated the tone of his voice and had too many ideas of what her brother could mean. Lena knew too much, about his proclivities and the way his men looked afterwards. She did not want that poor gladiator woman anywhere near her brother. Kara Danvers had enough of her own problems to deal with.