Deadly Beautiful (SuperCorp Medieval AU)

Part 30

the one after their flight from the castle is through and we all have to deal with the post bed-sharing awkward sweetness  

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When Lena woke up, Kara was still asleep. Never in the months Lena had known Kara, had she still been asleep when Lena had awoken. Kara's deep sleep was a testament to all the previous day had taken out of her. Kara had spent the night with one hand curled loosely around one of Lena's wrists as though she were afraid the other woman would disappear during the night. It was still there when Lena awoke, warm if somewhat heavy.

Kara had kept them moving at a quick pace the day before with only the barest amount of time allowed for breaks.The urgency seemed to be harder on her than the rest of them, however. Her shoulder clearly pained her, no matter how hard she tried to disguise the ache. By the time it became obvious the strain had become unbearable, they had come to the end of the tunnel and Winn took over as the guide to the inn. Kara lagged slightly behind the group as her body required. Kara was stronger than anyone Lena knew, but Kara was not taking care of herself the way Lena thought she should.

While she cared about everyone else, Kara Danvers/Zor-El never seemed to care much for herself. Lena sensed this was a conscious decision. Over the course of the past few months, Lena had realized more went on in the blonde's mind than she let on.

Kara had an incredibly quick mind. She knew people saw her as all brawn and no brains, continually crushing the problems in front of her instead of solving them. Underestimation which she turned to her own advantage.

Lena settled back into the bed and leaned against Kara, deciding to keep a much closer eye on her. Her own legs were still sore from their flight through the tunnels. She could not begin to guess how Kara's already abused shoulder felt. The joint had been put through more than its fair share of hardship as of late.

Lena closed her eyes and allowed her mind to drift as she pretended to still be asleep. Everything had been moving so quickly the past day she had not begun to process it all. She had been run out of her home, the only one she had ever known and watched as her friend fought her tyrant of a brother. Lena had learned the same friend had been hiding her true identity since her brother appointed the champion as her personal guard. Kara was, in fact, the heir to the Kryptonian throne... the same Krypton Lena had been raised to hate her whole life.

Peace had only come between their kingdoms in recent years, since Kara's uncle, the Lord Non, had become king. Lena did not remember much about his predecessors and had known nothing of their daughter. The fire that had destroyed the original Kryptonian palace in Argos City, however, had been legendary. The tales told of a blaze so huge border towns in Luther could feel the heat.

Rumors of foul play had abounded but all Lena's father Lionel had cared about was that Non was much more readily corrupted. Knowing what she did now, Lena wondered distantly if her father had played a part in the murder of Kara's parents. The mere thought of such ruthlessness made her sick.

Under other circumstances, Lena wondered if she and Kara could have been friends earlier in life. As two young princesses, they might have grown up as companions and played together in much the same way she had with Sam Arias. If Kara had been able to grow up without having suffered such losses, would she be anything like the woman Lena knew today? She groaned at her own thoughts. She was driving herself mad.

The Kara of today had found her way into Lena's life and she was just grateful she had her. In all likelihood, without her, Lena would have been killed in the assassination attempt. Lena took deep steadying breaths in an attempt to relax back to her sleepy headspace. Her nose was met with the scent of grass and leather that enveloped Kara. Heat radiated off the woman beside of her as though she had absorbed every ray of sunshine lucky enough to warm her tan skin.

Lena focused on Kara's scent of leather and warm grass, the way their feet tangled together, and the warmth pressed against her; softly she fell asleep once more.

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"Lena, I managed to sneak your mug of tea upstairs, because I know you can be kind of mean without it, but you really must come down if you intend to break your fast this morning," Kara said as she sat down on the bed beside of the sleeping woman with a kind and gentle smile, made softer by the warm glow of the sunlight streaming through the window.

Lena blinked her heavy eyes as she looked up at Kara. The other woman looked like an angel, as Lena cleared her bleary vision.

"I am not as spoiled as you think I am." she said, put off by Kara's comments, and general niceness.

"You are exactly as spoiled as I think you are, and if you are going to blend in amongst the townsfolk, you are going to have to manage." Kara chuckled, placing the mug in Lena's hand as she spoke. When their eyes met, she wondered if Kara's had always scrunched at the corners when she was laughing or if that were new somehow. It had the strange effect of making sapphire blue eyes sparkle and Lena's stomach twist into uncomfortable knots at the same time.