Deadly Beautiful (SuperCorp Medieval AU)

Part 31

the one where it's almost completely self-indulgent introspection and I was totally loopy on cough syrup/nyquil. also, an important realization.

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Winn, Lena, and Kara sat alone at the end of one of the long, bench style tables.

"Where are we going to head next?" Kara asked quietly enough no one would overhear. "We certainly are not sticking around this close to the capital are we?"

"J'onn gave me the directions to rendezvous with the other members of the resistance. It's about two days' walk from here. I will gather the remainder of the supplies we need and we can set out. I would really prefer to put as much ground between the two of you and the castle as possible as soon as possible." Winn answered, looking almost sheepish.

Lena nearly immediately began to pelt the young man with questions as Kara leaned back to think. She wasn't sure she wanted Lena to be anywhere near some kind of resistance. Kara was more than willing to participate on the princess' behalf but resistance led to violence and Lena wasn't a fighter. She was skeptical but didn't have a better plan. Kara decided to suss it out anyhow. Once she was there she would better be able to figure out how she wished to proceed.

Her concern had to have been somewhat plain on her face because soon she found Lena's hand covering her knee comfortingly. It surprised Kara a bit. Lately, Lena had been more distant than usual. It wasn't Kara's place... or it previously had not been Kara's place to question it, so she had backed away as well; taking her cues from the raven-haired princess. No matter how much she may have disliked it. At the time it had seemed to be for the best. Now that there were no secrets between them, who knew what could happen.

Walking in the daylight was entirely preferable to the tunnels, the small party quickly found. With the sun shining down on them, the birds singing, and the leaves changing colors, the experience was actually enjoyable at times. Kara had good company and conversation to pass the time, though she never allowed herself to be anything less than alert for danger. Kara found herself smiling more than she could remember having done in a long time. When Winn began to sing happily to himself, she found it hard not to join in, and Lena realized she had never heard her sing before.

Lena turned from where they were walking and looked back at Kara, a smile forming on her face. It warmed the blonde woman's heart just as much as the sun did. Whatever had been holding her back seemed to melt away. For the first time, the two women felt as though they truly had hope again. She felt as though things would actually turn out to be okay. When Lena reached back, Kara took her hand.

Lena's hand felt impossibly soft, her long fingers curling against Kara's own. She would never have imagined ending up in this position. In essence, she had been freed from the bound life of a gladiator, sworn her allegiance to the princess of another country and befriended that same woman all within a handful of months. Lena knew who she was, truly knew and still seemed to care about her. She hadn't run or sent her away, or tried to make Kara's fight her own as some had. Instead, she had taken Kara as she was and accepted her.

Lena saw Kara as a woman and as a friend. When she took Kara in, she thought of strength and loyalty and a sense of nobility that had nothing to do with who her parents had been. Lena enjoyed learning more about Kara, she appreciated each new fact as though it were a puzzle piece to fit into her mental image of the other girl. She would be brutal in a fight, but Lena had also seen her lift children and play with them as gently as any nursemaid. Kara despised being made to sit down and study anything, but when the two of them would talk, she said things so wise and beyond her twenty-five years that Lena would want to run inside and write her words down. Every time they would spend time together, Kara would show her something new and Lena would be in awe of her once more.

She felt Kara's callouses brush against her palms and could see scars shine in the light on the backs of her hands and across her knuckles. Lena knew how they got there, even if she didn't know the individual stories to go with each injury. It didn't come easily to her; the marriage of the idea of Kara the warrior, who had killed and fought and been stained with the blood of opponents in the ring, who had killed the assassin sent by Lex, her brother, and the idea of the Kara who could sing with Winn and hold Lena at night when the nightmares came... expecting nothing in return.

Lena did not fit the two women together well, but when she walked beside of Kara and could see the scars on her hands and could look up into that joy-filled face, she felt as though maybe she understood a little better. Lena thought it was barely a scratch on her surface, it was astounding when she reflected on the hell Kara had been through. Now, Lena had a new image to mesh with the others. Kara had grown up a princess, the same as Lena had. She had been in another kingdom, not two weeks trek away almost at exactly the same time she had, in the little poofy dresses and the sparkly tiaras. Kara was as much an heir as she was. It did not seem like all of that ought to add up to the woman whose hand she held. Kara the princess, the sister, the gladiator and warrior, the friend and protector. Kara who had taken a knife for her like it was nothing. Kara, the woman Lena had begun to love.